#Die for Me. Live for Me. Your Life is Mine. (The Council of Twelve) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

morihaus · 3 years

Text

Apotheosis

Winds howl outside of the Imperial Palace. Belharza, son of the Emperor Alessia, sits alone in his chair in the chamber of the council. The weather has not been the only thing weighing on the city of Rumarium; for days now the Emperor has been poor of health, the toll of all her life's toil and struggle finally arriving to meet her on her deathbed, the somber hand of Arkay, the bitter kiss of Kyne.

Twelve hours hence, she has been dead. Her son survives her as only child and heir to her throne. The city mourns her, and as word spreads, all of Cyrod mourns its mother, its liberator and caretaker, its Emperor for 23 years- just 23, such a pittance when stacked up to the tyranny of the Ayleid hegemony, which to men seemed to stretched beyond the farthest point of remembrance, so many lives ago that the time before exists only in myth. The First-crowned Queen-ut-Cyrod deserved better than this. Belharza's mother deserved better.

He feels a breeze blow in from behind him, a wind coursing through the marble halls of the palace, blowing his long dark hair over his shoulders. It is only wind, and then, footfalls on the floor, slow and heavy, in stark contrast to the flight of the wind. Belharza lifts his head and glances over his shoulder. A massive minotaur fills the doorway to the council chamber, long hair waving and curling down his shoulders like a sky of black clouds. His horns are tall and proud, wrapped with rings of gold and ebony, strung with strings of hawk's feathers. Two large wings are folded on his back. The cold wind blows behind him.

He regards his son with deep blue eyes, clouded and gray, belying his true age. The old bull looks weary. "Belharza." His voice is deep, carried and reverberated by the chambers even as he addresses him gently. He steps forward, his armor of fur and iron the only noise apart from his footsteps, and the gentle wind that surrounds him.

Belharza stands up from his seat. He meets the eye of Morihaus- he can see now why his mother has often remarked their resemblance with a melancholy smile, although his own hair does not roll like the clouds do, his own eyes do not hold the dangerous glimmer of lightning, nor does his form hold the foreboding rumble of thunder. He did, however, sprout a small pair of wings from an early age- too small to be useful, but just enough to be there. It is among the only things his father has ever given him.

"Father." Belharza speaks flatly, his mood dark, unfit for this meeting he had always dreamed of. He never knew Morihaus growing up, he'd taken flight from the Imperial City before he was born, something his mother had never been bitter over, and for the most part, he'd followed her line of thinking. He had often wondered, though, speaking with the clan of Morihaus- for he was a great uncle to many war chiefs and soothsayers- and hearing tales of his greatness, his good humor and passion for song, and he wondered too while speaking to the Paravanics who had fought alongside him and his mother, who spoke of him as a great general, savior of men, one who could clear a treeline with his voice- he wondered what it would be to meet his father, this mythical figure of his boyhood who so many grownups seemed to know.

He wondered, but he had never pictured the meeting like this.

Morihaus walked so that there was only a small distance between the father and son, and then bowed his head- in sympathy, in apology, in reverence, Belharza could not say.

But he says this: "She is gone." And when his father does not move, he continues. "She has left us. Gone to join you, I suppose." His words are without venom, he states them as a fact he wishes to grow used to. His father raises back up to meet him. His features are set in a worried frown. "I am sorry, Belharza." He breathes into the room as a whisper. "For my loss?" He asks plainly. "Or, do you wish to amend your own absence from my life?" His face does not change. "I should like to apologize on both accounts, dear Bel."

"Did you come to see her?" Belharza asks, neutral once again.

Morihaus nods. "I felt her time approach and made haste." The face of a minotaur is not extraordinarily emotive to a man, but to a man-bull, like Belharza, he can interpret the subtleties, the shame painted on his face, the guilt in his eyes. "In service to my Mother Kyne, I have carried many souls of great warriors on wing to her realm, or to the realm of Shor... it was understood between us, your mother was a great warrior, an ardent follower of her ways, and she would have her place there. But when I arrived..." He becomes quiet, his full and melodious voice withdrawing back down his throat, filling his lungs up heavy with bitter words.

Belharza makes no motion to speak. He only looks at his father, expectantly. He continues, eventually.

"What I witnessed is... difficult to explain. You were present- did you see? As she passed?" Morihaus asks. Belharza nods. "I was there." He pauses. "...I may have seen, something. I see many things that others do not. Mother always said you were to thank for that, your divine blood." The old bull nods at him. "Aye, that is the truth. The mortal and the divine, they see things differently. On that balcony, at her side... he arrived before me."

"The Crusader." He says, half-questioningly. "Pelinal."

A huff of hair blows out from Morihaus's snout. "It looked that way. But Pelinal is dead. He was torn asunder in this tower, he spoke to me as his spirit passed into a place I could not follow. And this... apparition, in it, I did not sense his spirit. Did you hear?" Belharza nods quietly, Morihaus continues. "What he spoke of, the et'ada, the beginning place, the movements of the heavens... in life, he never did say much of the gods. He served them, and I knew him as kin, but he has always held a distaste for spiritual matters, spoken in mortal tongues. I cannot fathom why he came to Paravania, nor what he meant to say."

"He took her," Belharza says, glancing to the floor. "I saw- I thought I saw. It looked as though he carried her up, up into the heavens."

"He steals mine own honor." Morihaus snorts, almost laughs. Then, again, he grows serious. "My uncle was never one to covet in life. He hungered, he wanted, but he did not covet that which was another's. He would have nothing to do with Perrif's soul, nothing before my mother and I."

His son looks back up to him. "Where... where did he take her? To the halls of Shor?"

Morihaus shakes his head. "I have been myself- Pelinal's spirit does not reside there. It cannot reside there. I would have carried him myself if he could." He hangs his head some, recalling the passing of his uncle, and finding himself on complicated ground betwixt mundane and immortal once again. "I have thought on it in these past years. At times, I blew through the great fields and forests, delved into the deep oceans, soared to the highest points in the clouds, hunting his spirit, without luck. I am wise enough to confess my stubborn nature, for divine I may be, I am still a bull, and I hunted for long on my own before thinking to ask my mother."

Belharza tries to conceive of what his father says- the shape of a bull with the wings of a hawk, darting throughout all of creation to find a departed soul. He suspects it may be more complicated than that, some divine metaphor twisting around it, but then again, he recalls fondly-remembered stories his mother would share of Morihaus, his willfulness and the strange places it could take him- times he would cross over the Jerrals, travel half the continent while meant to be petitioning in Skyrim, to return to Cyrod and meet with her at night.

The image of his father, flighty and wild, turning over logs and stones searching for the lost Pelinal, it's almost enough to lighten his expression. But this is just his own mind wandering. Perhaps they are more alike than he knows.

"Understanding my mother is no mean feat," He says, regarding his son. "Strange as I must seem to you, know that to me, my divine parent is just as alien. I am her, but as am I my mortal mother, my mortal people, my mortal self, and some of her perceptions are all but lost on me. She told me little, she told that Pelinal had done what was needed of him, and to die with the revolution's victory was a good end... but as to his whereabouts, she said he was not her soul to keep." "Then whose?" Belharza asks. He is met with silence, frustrating silence. He asks more forcefully. "Whose? Where is my mother's soul? What did he do to her?" "He pulled her up- made her from mortal to spirit, so she might lay among the heavens forever. Queen-ut-Cyrod, brighter than the stars-" "I don't care for your poetry-" Belharza loudly asserts, his own voice now booming in the hall. "I don't care for your god-talk- dammit!" He turns to one side with a huff, boots clattering against the tiles of the chamber. He paces away from his father in no particular direction, approaching a column and glaring into it.

Morihaus looks on, forlorn. He sighs, and the breeze almost wraps itself around Belharza's shoulders as it tussles his hanging braids, like some form of comfort. "I'm sorry. This... is what I hope for, Bel, but whether it is the truth, I cannot say."

"What do I care?" Belharza shakes his head, clenching his fists at his sides. "Whether her spirit is in one place or another- she's gone, that's what has happened today, and that is the grief I will carry for the rest of my life. What is the point in wondering where she is? The realm of Kyne, of Shor, of Akatosh, it makes no difference, she is gone to me any way." His voice grows ragged as he chokes with tears, his eyes stinging with bitter sorrows. Though a grown man, he feels helpless like a child in the face of such a loss- his mother had been his world, and now the shadow of death had ripped her away from him, and she was gone, forever.

His father approaches him, but leaves a fair distance, just slight enough for his whispering voice to carry to him. "Do you remember what she told you, Bel, about me? When I was gone to you?" Belharza does not reply, only taking a breath as he remains fixed on the pillar in front of him. "...I am a spirit, Bel. I am more than my body, more than a man-bull. I am the skies and storms, the thunder; I am movement, I am the movements in the hearts of men, I am their battlecry; I am the wind in the rolling hills, blowing the grasses and flowers; I am the breeze in the canopy of the forest, swaying the branches; I am the gale upon the sea, the scent of it in your lungs, I am the very breath that you take." Belharza finally turns to face his father again, without expression, with tears on his face. Morihaus is not shaken from his words. "When a mortal dies, their spirit is released into a vast cosmos. They are gone from their lives, from their loved ones, but from there, there are many roads, countless paths that a soul can take... do you understand?"

He only receives an expectant look. Belharza's face lightens somewhat. There is hope in the winding words of Morihaus.

"Though I was forced to leave you, and could no longer walk this world as I had, I found my ways to you- to both of you. It has been, and will be forever, a great pain that I could not stay... but there are some ways in which my presence could be felt, some ways in which I was there all along." Morihaus steps forward, slowly raising his hand to brush Belharza's hair from his face, as gently as the breeze, as his own mother's hand. "Your mother will be gone as I was. You will feel her. She will still be with you."

---

Belharza was anointed Emperor before the Elder Council and the citizens of the Imperial City, including his divine father, who could not stay for long, but was pleased to see and know his son as a man, and content to answer the questions of the citizenry to the best of his ability, or at least his want.

The new emperor spends the first weeks of his reign still in mourning, but more hopeful for having spoken with his father and his other relatives, who gave him heart to imagine his mother at peace. He spends much of his days outdoors, honoring her memory in the gardens and outside the city walls, even beyond the shores of the Rumare and into the jungles. On one occasion, which would be a moment only for him to know and remember, he stumbles upon a field of flowers below a small hill. He finds it a good place to say his piece, and there he would speak to his mother, expressing his deepest affections and tearful goodbyes. All of the sudden, he feels drops of water landing on his bowed head, and he looks up to see a spring running from the rock, a spring which had most definitely not been there before. As though the land of Cyrod itself were weeping for him.

At this, Belharza only smiles knowingly.

#tesfest21 #mori writing #belharza #morihaus #cw for death and grief

76 notes · View notes

bipercabeth · 4 years

Note

48 for percabeth! I hope u feel better about the show

Annabeth has known that Percy was going to die from the moment she met him. Four summers. Best case scenario.

Twelve-year-old Annabeth wasn’t particularly concerned about falling in love with the trouble-making son of Poseidon who drooled in his sleep. Freshly sixteen Annabeth sometimes wishes she had opted for the quiet life some children of Athena prefer: strategize, keep your head down, live a comfortable and unremarkable life. She hardly would’ve crossed paths with Percy outside of the occasional class or Capture the Flag. He and Grover could’ve found someone else to be their best friend, or maybe they would’ve bonded as a pair. And Annabeth would have kept her distance from Percy in the name of self-preservation, knowing they would only have four bittersweet summers together at best.

The summer before the Titan War is not the best case scenario. Percy is hardly ever at camp except for quests and Kronos-related meetings. He chooses to spend what they both know is his last of their four measly summers away from Annabeth. Grover is nowhere to be found, Thalia is with the Hunters, Luke is hosting the Titan Lord, and Annabeth feels more like a scared little girl than she has in a long time. At least she isn’t the runaway. That title fell to Percy.

It feels like an insult to Annabeth’s love for Percy to wish they hadn’t met. She is so much better for having loved him. For loving him—present tense. But she says this while he’s still here. His smile may not be directed at her that often, but he still smiles. Sometimes Annabeth can even stomach the jealousy of Rachel being the cause of that smile, because at least someone is giving him joy before this all goes to shit. When it does, maybe Annabeth will understand what it means to wish him away, if only to end the pain of having known and lost a person like Percy Jackson.

The feeling isn’t new. Annabeth’s gut has twisted in previous conversations where someone would bring up high school and college plans. Percy would talk animatedly about getting his license at sixteen, and Annabeth was left with a dry mouth she could not twist into a smile. He would beam at Beckendorf’s plans to attend NYU in the fall and make the older boy promise to swing by Sally’s sometime. Even Beckendorf, who had never heard the full Great Prophecy, could not stop the microexpression of pity.

When Annabeth first heard the prophecy, it was too much for her ten year old mind. There was no face to connect to the doomed fate, no cursed blade to reap the hero’s soul. Sometimes her young brain conjured an image of Thalia, but that was a nightmare of its own. Every night, Annabeth would watch Olympus fall at the hands of someone she hoped never to know.

She still gets those nightmares, only the visuals have improved. Percy is in every single one of them, saving or razing Olympus depending on the night. He never survives. You cannot outrun fate. Annabeth has tried.

Still, she is a daughter of Athena, and Athena always has a plan. When Percy dies, Annabeth will fall to pieces. In a lucky string of events, she might fall alongside him. It’s a war, after all. But she has a sneaking suspicion that she will outlive him. She has a plan for this as well. The shroud they made when he was stranded on Calypso’s island was nice and communal, leagues ahead of the one the Ares cabin shroud that still makes Annabeth’s blood boil. But deep in her soul, Annabeth knows that she alone will make his shroud. Just as she’ll burn it; just as she’ll care for Sally in his stead; just as she will lay blue roses on his headstone every time she’s in the neighborhood; just as she’ll be there for Grover, for Clarisse, for all of camp when he’s gone. She will do it alone. Annabeth held the sky, once. She will shoulder this as well. How much heavier could losing her best friend be than the weight of the world? In her anticipation, they feel the same.

She will build a monument for him, something to last the ages as he was supposed to, as permanent as the love he has given her. It will overlook the gods on Olympus, a reminder of the boy they failed. The boy who was too good for them all. Regardless of how the war goes, this will always be true.

He was never built to last. Nothing good ever can, and he’s been burning the candle at both ends for a while now. He was meant to burn bright, not long.

Annabeth sits in the dark of the Big House rec room, the only quiet space now that camp is in full war preparation. Well, the only quiet space apart from the beach, but Annabeth knows the smell of salt air and the sound of waves will be her undoing. That is another key feature of her plan: never go to the ocean again.

She curls her knees into her chest, feeling every inch the child that she is. But children are not supposed to have plans for their best friend dying. Children are not supposed to have their first kiss out of fear that said best friend will die before their four summers are up.

The door opens, throwing the room into harsh shadows and blinding light.

“Um.” Annabeth can’t see who’s talking, but she’d know his voice anywhere. “Chiron said there was a war council meeting today.”

She raises a hand to block out the light and give her eyes time to adjust. “Yeah, later.” To Annabeth’s horror, her voice is hoarse. Her throat is clogged with tears.

Percy’s sneakers stop shifting in the carpet. “Are, uh... are you okay?”

He sounds hesitant to ask, like he’s expecting vitriol to spew from Annabeth’s mouth. And, in fairness, sometimes it does. But Annabeth doesn’t have vitriol in her right now. The awareness that she does not have many days left with Percy is painfully acute. To spend them angry feels like a waste.

“No, I’m not.” By now her eyes have adjusted to the light, and she looks at him through bleary eyes.

Percy stills when he sees her face, looking ready to bolt. He points to the door. “Do you want me to...?”

Annabeth sniffles. “I don’t want to be alone.”

What breaks her is how quickly he is by her side. For all their faults, it is the one thing she can count on. As long as she lets him, Percy will come to Annabeth when she’s hurting.

She doesn’t tell him how deeply that statement is carved into her, that she is carved from loneliness the same way he is carved from guilt—the pitfalls of pride and loyalty.

A kid carved from loneliness cannot plan to be held the way that Percy holds Annabeth. Such a selfless love was unfathomable as a little girl; how could she ever have accounted for it? He just... holds her. He doesn’t try to talk or look at her face. He’s just there, unwaveringly. It kills Annabeth to know he won’t always be. It hurts to be with him, but it will hurt so much more to be without him.

The dam breaks, and Annabeth sobs into Percy’s shoulder. He’s taller than her now, grown only to be cut down young. Still, he is steadfast, grounded, secure in his roots. The way a towering oak has no reason to fear a chainsaw until the cutting has already begun.

“You’re my best friend,” she tells him, because she’s not sure she’s ever said it and it’s something he deserves to hear. “No matter what, you’re my best friend.”

Percy strokes a gentle hand along the back of Annabeth’s head. “And you’re mine,” he assures her. He doesn’t say you’re my best friend too. Just you’re mine. As if the fact doesn’t haunt her. She is his, irrevocably.

A gentle knock at the door interrupts them. Annabeth recognizes Silena’s quiet footfalls and almost withdraws from Percy, but he makes no move to.

Silena’s voice is soft, not smug like Annabeth expects. “War council in fifteen. Figured I’d give you two a heads up.”

Annabeth meets her eyes over Percy’s shoulder. “Thanks.”

The older girl ducks her head in something resembling shame. “It’s the least I can do.” She leaves.

“How much longer?” Percy asks when the door clicks shut. It isn’t an impatient question. In fact, Annabeth doesn’t know exactly what he’s asking.

She gives an honest answer. “However long we have left.” And the sun begins to set on the fourth summer.

#ANYWAY THIS IS BECAUSE OF JERSEY'S FIC WHICH HAS HONEST TO GOD FUCKING BROKEN ME #I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT ANNABETH KNOWING PERCY WAS PROPHECIZED TO DIE THIS WHOLE FUCKING TIME #SHE HAD NIGHTMARES SINCE SHE WAS TEN! I'M WOUNDED #drabbles #my fic #my percabeth #pjo fics #jersey tag #iris messages #anon

408 notes · View notes

valkyriesryde · 4 years

Text

Release the Hounds {7/?}

Chapter Seven: Here Comes Trouble

Pairing: Persephone!Steve Rogers x Hades!Reader

Chapter Summary: Its time for Demeter and Hades to stand before the gods of Olympus and plead their case.

Word Count: 2,300ish

A/N: The title and gif really say it all for this one, some pinnacle moments for all of our characters heheheh

Series Masterlist ~ Masterlist

“I didn’t think you would make it,” Hades turned to face Loki, dressed in a deep dark green suit, a folder under his arm. They stood in room hidden behind the meeting area, if she focused Hades could hear the voices of those sitting out there, waiting for the discussion, likely talking about what they thought.

No one told her this would be amongst lesser gods and nymphs as well. No one told her there was time allowed for questions from those who had them. She thought this was just between the twelve olympians. Her breathing hitched in her throat as she stared at Loki like a deer caught in headlights.

He dropped the folder on the table and held her shoulders steady as her body began to shake. Convincing the olympians, convincing Thor, that would have been easy. But this felt like a trap.

“I can’t do this Loki, you can do it for me, you know what to say much better than I do.” She pleaded him, her fingers stretched out and back into fists by her side.

“No.” He shot back, his hands opening her hands and holding them tight. “This is not my fight, I’m merely one of your soldiers, you’re the queen. You’re the one they need to hear it from.”

“They won’t have remembered what I’ve done, some of them it was too recent, some it was just another blip in their lives, most won’t even know of it. This won’t work. There’s no point to any of this!” Her voice began to rise as she pushed him away. The crown on her head started to feel heavy as gold dripped through her hair.

Steve stood in the hallway, Demeter had told him to sit and be witness to the biggest fall since Cronus. He had snuck away in hopes of seeing Hades before it began but what he found instead was a door left ajar and the sounds of her and Loki.

Through the crack he could see her profile, her crown black and the ends sharp, there were no jewels, no more gold as it had seeped through her hair completely. Her blazer had been pulled off and thrown over the chair, her floral blouse now stained in black.

“This is how they see me Loki, they see me as death. Is this not what I should show them?” Her voice was gold and desperate but before Steve could step in, before he could hear Loki’s response, a throat clear came from behind him and Thor stood there before him.

“Evening lad,” he stepped back and gestured for Steve to walk by his side, the god of spring followed, glancing back to the room where he swore he could hear Loki’s voice getting louder and angrier. “I want you to be the one to introduce her, I’ll warm up the crowd for you.”

Thor didn’t even look at Steve after he spoke, he simply stepped onto the stage and behind the podium.

“I don’t think she’ll be speaking.”

Wanda, Pietro and Sam leaned against the wall at the back of the room. Pietro had picked out as many of Demeter’s nymphs as he could find and he found them sprinkled across the room.

“She’s planned something.” He whispered to the two on either side.

“So have we,” Sam’s eyes shifted over the room as well, he nodded at Bucky and Natasha on one side closest to the stage, Rebecca on the other. “If they make a move, they won’t get anywhere near her.”

“What’s that?” Pietro’s eyes locked onto a vine that was inching its way through the cracks in the wood of the stage, it twisted and turned towards the middle slowly as Demeter stepped down the stairs that at first Pietro thought it was from her. But they kept growing as Thor stepped forward.

“Asphodel,” Wanda breathed out and stood straight. Behind Thor, at the back of the stage, they had begun to sprout. “He’s here, maybe he’s seen her.”

“In order to keep things fair you must hear from both sides. You must take into account other’s opinions and their perspectives on the matter. Not every side of the coin is the same. So, Steve?”

Gasps rang through the room like an echo, the asphodels flourished before quickly closing their buds as Steve stepped out onto the stage.

“She’s not happy,” Sam smirked, the three turned to see Demeter, her face hot with anger and embarrassment but she quickly tried to compose herself, as if to make it seem like Steve would stand by her.

Steve stood behind the podium, he cleared his throat and scanned the crowd, movement catching his eye to the left. Loki stood beside Rebecca, he stood tall and composed and nodded to Steve. A message, a question or favour. It’s up to you. So Steve pulled his shoulders back, he gripped the edges of the stand and looked straight ahead.

“Like Thor said, there are always two sides to every coin. Every drachma tells a story. Now I’m hear to tell mine.”

The vines connected at the front of the stage, the asphodels blossomed again behind him, stronger and taller than before. He felt power behind him, he held everyone’s attention and no more than his mother.

“The Underworld is no place for the living, my mother is right about that. But the mortal world reeks of death. It’s in their religions, it’s in their philosophies, they hold onto the actions of the deceased for centuries. The Underworld is the place they dream of, it’s what they fear, it’s one of the last great unknowns.” He swallowed the lump in his throat that threatened his speech and he thought of her.

He thought of the power she held, of the home she had built. He thought of how she welcomed him with caution, how her subjects were her equals. He thought about what Wanda had told him ‘we respect ourselves, our realm and our queen,’ and it made sense to him.

“Hades is not death. She does not give the final blow and she is not the one that carries the souls. She is not the lies that you fear.”

He was confident, everything he believed in, every small part of him that thought it stupid that he believed in her so much was eradicated as he stood on that stage. If there was any fear of what Demeter would do once he left the safety of everyone’s eyes on him it was pushed aside by the weight of a hand over his. He flicked briefly down and breathed deeply as it pulled away from him, speckles of gold left atop his hand.

“She is the riches the mortals seek, she is the keeper of the metals you make your shields from, she is one of us, the same as that of Loki and Thor.” He knew that they wouldn’t believe him unless they saw her and he still felt her presence, it was now or never. Hades may not want to speak to them, she may even hate him for this but he had to, they had to see her as he did. “She and those of the Underworld deserve the respect we give to each other, they’re no different from us.”

Steve stepped back from the podium, he turned to his left and held out his hand for her. There she stood, her crown stood glowing in the shadow in it’s golden glory, eyes strong and a smirk as she reached out her hand and took his. He guided her to where he stood, the vines had turned into mint leaves all poking out between the wood, the asphodels still stood behind her.

Sam held the blade in his sleeve, Demeter looked too in shock to do anything but he wouldn’t let his guard down, none of them would.

“I would firstly like to say that this was not my doing,” Hades looked to Loki who just smirked and tipped his head to her and the crowd. Whispers rang through. “And I don’t think that there is much more that needs to be said. For those who don’t know me, for those that have only heard the rumours of what I looked like I’m sorry to disappoint if you were hoping for red horns. I am Hades, sister to Thor and Loki, goddess of riches and minerals, ruler of the dead and Queen of the Underworld. It has come to my attention that my presence is both wanted and unwanted on the council of the twelve Olympians. I see both sides of this debate, I understand your queries and concerns, your worry of what I can bring or how exactly I can help.”

All those on her side stood proud as they watched her address the group. Thor had made his decision long ago, this wasn’t about him, this was about his people.

“I think it’s time you know what I do in my role. I’ve consulted before, with matters in the mortal realm and here in Olympus. Every week Thor and I meet and we discuss our realms and any issues that the other may need to be made aware of. We give each other advice, we work together in order to make sure our realms are the best they can be. I like to think we do a pretty good job.” There was a soft smile on her face as she spoke, she had zoned out the nymphs and those she didn’t know, she ignored their shock as she focused on those who matter most to her. Her judges, the ones who stood by her side and her brothers.

“I recognise that Thor is your king. I have no plans of changing that, I respect him too much and love him too dearly. I see no point in moving from the Underworld either. I’m happy where I am and I know you’re happy where I am as well. But Steve was right when he said death is intricate to the living, life and death are not separate. Mortals have famine, they have diseases, and take risks… they have war.” Her voice hitched slightly as a few of the twelve looked down. “Where there is life there is death, when summer ends the leaves die and when they fall they fall into the Underworld where they cover the meadows and those who were once living continue to thrive with the ones they spent their lives missing. In no way do I wish to take over or even have any real say in the events in your lives and the decisions made for Olympus. But I stand here before you because I wish to be with my family once again and witness them doing what I’m so proud of them for, protecting you.”

Loki was the first to start clapping, he cheered and beamed as others joined him. Some even stood from their seats. The judges smiled proudly as they clapped for her, but they knew that this was only the beginning, if Hades was allowed on the council the chances of things worsening were great. If Steve continued to stand by her after this, well, they feared what lengths Demeter would go to to keep what was hers.

Bucky found Steve behind the stage, he moved quickly as he grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hallway.

“Hey what are you doing?”

“We need to get you out of here and now.” He looked over his shoulder, fear in his eyes. Demeter was on a tirade and Bucky was pretty sure Steve would forget what the sun was if she got to him.

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere she can’t find you.”

The doors slammed shut behind him and before he knew it they were dressed in mortal clothing and stepping out of an alleyway into the busy streets of a mortal city.

“She’s one of the few who often come to the mortal world Buck, you really think this is going to work?” They both were constantly looking over their shoulder, eyeing every stranger that walked past them with suspicion as they kept moving down the busy streets.

“This is New York, arguably one of the most monster, demigod, nymph invested places in the world.” Bucky opened the door to an apartment building and pushed Steve inside. “She’s got spies but not many here, and if anything will mask your scent it’ll be this place.”

Bucky guided them up the stairs and into a modest apartment. There wasn’t much to it, a lounge with two couches and a standard tv mounted to the wall. A kitchen, pristine as if it hadn’t been freshly cleaned and down the hall Steve guessed was at least one bedroom.

“Besides, the best huntress, even if she did say yes, wouldn’t think to look in one of her own homes for you.” Bucky smiled brightly, he fell onto the couch and swung his legs onto the coffee table, making himself at home as if he knew it well. He did actually, this building was one of the places he and Rebecca went when they wanted to get away, they were the only ones who knew about it as far as he knew and he knew that Rebecca was loyal to him before anyone else.

Steve sat on the opposite couch, he buried his hands deep into his pockets and hesitantly pulled out what appeared to be a paper flower.

“What ya got there?”

“A black dahlia.” He looked up at Bucky and back down to the flower in his palm, there was white under it, a small note addressed to him.

Steve, thank you, I feel as though I owe you another favour every time our paths cross. So here is a gift I got MJ to conjure for you. Tear off a petal, let it drop to the floor and step on it, it’ll lead you to me if you ever need my help. I’m sorry for the chaos that has become your life, I hope that things will settle. Know that I’m forever grateful for what you continue to do for me. Yours, Hades

Chapter Eight: The Protector

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

Permanent Taglist [27/50]: @witch-of-letters @buckysmischief @marvelsangels @momobaby227 @weirdlyokaywithit @disgustangg @bucky-blogs @sebbbystaaan @geeksareunique @stuckonjbbarnes @ellieisgae @mushyjellybeans @lovesmesomehiddles @this-kitten-is-smitten @itsunclebucky @kitkatd7 @lokisironthrone @supraveng @thinkoutsidethebex @binkysteebnpewter @starbxcks @agent-barnes40 @theannoyingnightmarecollector @starkerhowlter @fckdeusername @murdermornings @thefridgeismybestie @wonderlandfandomkingdom

Release the Hounds Taglist [25/50]: @little-dark-empress @matsumama @anasteas @anjali750 @brastrangled @moonchild-stark @kaithezaftig @fafulous @sucker-for-my-fandoms @truly-insatiable @nerdamongnerds @henderwhore4life @the-girl-of-many-fandoms1414 @brooklyn-1918 @elsasshole @powerful-vixen @dramaqueenarg @princess-evans-addict @lexy9716 @megzdoodle @majorcurious007 @king-seb @whenescapingdinosaurs @aikeia @jubileestreetv @learning-howto-be-myselfx3

#steve rogers x reader #release the hounds #steve rogers angst #steve rogers fluff #greek myth au #steve rogers au #steve rogers fanfiction

85 notes · View notes

thelittlesttimelord · 4 years

Text

The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of Eleventh Chapter 46

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: The Fall of the Eleventh Chapter 46 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 46/? SUMMARY: Elise Smith is now a teenaged Timelord. In addition to losing the Ponds, the fields of Trenzalore are calling. But first they have to figure out exactly who Clara Oswald is.

[A/N - I really love this chapter. I hope you do too!]

They went back to their respective TARDIS’ and sent a message to the High Council.

It read “Gallifrey Stands”.

The High Council chamber popped up on their screens.

“Hello, hello, Gallifrey High Command, this is the Doctor speaking,” the Doctor said.

“Hello! Also the Doctor. Can you hear me?” Ten asked.

“Also the Doctor, standing ready,” the older Doctor said.

“Dear God, three of them. All my worst nightmares at once,” High Council members said.

“General, we have a plan…” Ten started.

“We should point at this moment, it is a fairly terrible plan…” the Doctor said.

“And almost certainly won't work.”

“I was happy with fairly terrible.”

“Sorry, just thinking out loud.”

“We're flying our three TARDIS’s into your lower atmosphere.”

“We're positioned at equidistant intervals around the globe. Equidistant. So grown up.”

Elise giggled, happy that the two versions of her father were finally getting along.

“We're just about ready to do it,” the older Doctor said.

“Ready to do what?” the General asked.

“We're going to freeze Gallifrey,” the Doctor told him.

“I'm sorry, what?”

“Using our TARDIS’s, we're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time,” Ten said.

“You know, like those stasis cubes? A single moment in time, held in a parallel pocket universe,” the older Doctor explained.

“Except we're going to do it to a whole planet,” the Doctor said.

“And all the people on it,” Ten added.

“What? Even if that were possible, which it isn’t, why would you do such a thing?” the General asked.

“Because the alternative is burning,” the Doctor said.

“And I've seen that,” Ten said.

The Doctor looked at Elise, who stood next to him. “And we never want to see it again.”

“We'd be lost in another universe, frozen in a single moment. We'd have nothing,” the General told them.

“You would have hope. And right now, that is exactly what you don't have,” the Doctor said.

“It's delusional. The calculations alone would take hundreds of years.”

“Oh, hundreds and hundreds.”

“But don't worry, I started a very long time ago,” Ten told them.

An older, much older, Doctor’s voice was heard. “Calling the War Council of Gallifrey. This is the Doctor.”

“You might say I've been doing this all my lives,” the Doctor said.

One by one, new voices were heard. Voices from the Doctor’s younger incarnations.

“Good luck.”

“Standing by.”

“Ready.”

“Commencing calculations.”

“Soon be there.”

“Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another.”

“Just got to lock on to his coordinates.”

“And for my next trick…”

“I didn't know when I was well off. All twelve of them!” the General groaned.

“No, sir. All thirteen!” his second in command said, “Sir! The Daleks know that something is happening. They're increasing their fire power.”

“Do it, Doctor. Just do it. Do it!”

Elise looked in on the High Council chamber and recognized one of them. “Father?”

The Timelord spoke her true name and Elise flinched.

“That isn’t my name anymore,” she spat.

“You can deny it all you want, but you will always be my daughter.”

“See, there’s where you’re wrong. When a Timelord graduates the Academy, they choose a name. That name is a promise. Well guess what? I’m of age and I choose the name Elise Amelia Smith. Because I am the Doctor’s daughter and I always will be.”

Even though she couldn’t see it, three versions of the Doctor were smiling with pride at her. One who had no idea who she was, one she’d met apparently, and the one who was responsible for raising her.

“I look forward to running away from Gallifrey.” She grabbed the lever and flipped it shouting, “Geronimo!”

“Allons-y!” Ten yelled.

“Oh, for God's sake,” the older Doctor groaned, “Gallifrey stands!”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They returned to the National Gallery for a good cup of tea before saying goodbye.

Clara sat on the bench with the older Doctor, while Elise, Ten, and the Doctor stood in front of “Gallifrey Falls.” Both Doctors were wearing their glasses.

“I don't suppose we'll know if we actually succeeded. But at worst, we failed doing the right thing, as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong,” the older Doctor said.

“Life and soul, you are,” Clara quipped.

“What is it actually called?” Ten asked.

“Well, there's some debate. Either No More or Gallifrey Falls,” the Doctor said.

“Not very encouraging,” the older Doctor commented.

“How did it get here?” Ten asked.

“No idea,” the Doctor said.

“There's always something we don't know, isn't there?”

“One should certainly hope so,” the older Doctor said. He stood up. “Well, gentlemen, it has been an honor and a privilege.”

“Likewise,” Ten told him.

The Doctor nodded his head. “Doctor.”

The older Doctor turned to Clara. “And if I grow to be half the man that you are, Clara Oswald, I shall be happy indeed.”

“That's right. Aim high.” Clara kissed him on the cheek and the older Doctor approached Elise.

“You are an exceptional woman. He should be proud of the way he raised you.” The War Doctor gently kissed her forehead and Elise hugged him.

She wished she could take away all his pain. “It’s been an honor meeting you. They shouldn’t be ashamed of you. I’m not.”

“Thank you, my dear.” He looked at his older incarnations. “I won't remember this, will I?”

“The time streams are out of sync. You can't retain it, no,” the Doctor told him.

“So I won't remember that I tried to save Gallifrey rather than burn it. I'll have to live with that. But for now, for this moment, I am the Doctor again. Thank you.” He turned to look at the TARDIS’. “Which one is mine?”

Everyone looked at the war-torn TARDIS.

“Ha!” He went inside and the TARDIS dematerialized.

“I won't remember either, so you might as well tell me,” Ten said.

“Tell you what?” the Doctor asked.

“Where it is we're going that you don't want to talk about.”

“I saw Trenzalore, where we're buried. We die in battle among millions.”

“That's not how it's supposed to be.”

“That's how the story ends. Nothing we can do about it. Trenzalore is where you're going.”

“Oh, never say nothing. Anyway, good to know my future is in safe hands. Keep a tight hold on it, Clara.”

“On it.” Clara stood up and Ten kissed her hand.

He started to go into his TARDIS when Elise grabbed onto his coat.

“Wait.”

Ten turned to her. “We’ll meet again. Don’t you worry”.

“But not like this. We’ll be back at the beginning”.

Ten smiled and put his hand on her cheek as he kissed her forehead. “Saving you is the single greatest thing I’ll ever do. You are beautiful and clever and so, so brave. He’s lucky to have you and I’m proud of you. So proud of you”.

Elise smiled through her tears as he opened the door to his TARDIS.

“Trenzalore. We need a new destination, because I don't want to go.”

Those words caused a pang in Elise’s hearts. Those were the last words he ever spoke before regenerating.

His TARDIS dematerialized, leaving one TARDIS left.

“He always says that,” the Doctor said. He walked up to the painting.

“Need a moment alone with your painting?” Clara asked.

“How did you know?”

“Those big sad eyes.”

“Ah.”

Clara put a hand on his face and kissed his cheek. “I always know. Oh, by the way, there was an old man looking for you. I think it was the curator.”

Elise stared at the painting for a moment longer, before turning to go back into the TARDIS.

“He’s me, you know?” the Doctor said.

She looked at him. “I know. I only see you, no matter what face you have.” She went inside, leaving the Doctor alone.

He sat down on the bench in front of the painting. “I could be a curator. I'd be great at curating. I'd be the Great Curator. I could retire and do that. I could retire and be the curator of this place.”

“You know, I really think you might.” An older man entered the gallery.

The Doctor stood up. “I never forget a face.”

“I know you don't. And in years to come, you might find yourself revisiting a few. But just the old favorites, eh?”

The Doctor winked at him.

“You were curious about this painting, I think. I acquired it in remarkable circumstances. What do you make of the title?” the curator asked.

“Which title? There's two. No More or Gallifrey Falls.”

“Oh, you see, that's where everybody's wrong. It's all one title. Gallifrey Falls No More. Now, what would you think that means, eh?”

“That Gallifrey didn't fall. It worked. It's still out there.”

“I'm only a humble curator. I'm sure I wouldn't know.”

“Then where is it?”

“Where is it indeed? Lost. Shush. Perhaps. Things do get lost, you know. And now you must excuse me. Oh, you have a lot to do.”

“Do I? Is that what I'm supposed to do now? Go looking for Gallifrey?”

“Oh, it's entirely up to you. Your choice, eh? I can only tell you what I would do if I were you. Oh, if I were you. Oh, perhaps I was you, of course. Or perhaps you are me. Congratulations.”

They shook hands.

“Thank you very much.”

“Or perhaps it doesn't matter either way. Who knows, eh? Who knows?”

The curator left the gallery and not a second later, a small girl came running in.

“Grandpa!”

“Clarice!” A woman with blonde hair came running in after her. “I’m so sorry about that”, she said. The woman had an American accent. Something the Doctor didn’t hear very often.

The Doctor smiled. “It’s no problem”, he told her.

“He looks like grandpa when he was younger”, Clarice said.

“He does doesn’t he?” the woman said, with a twinkle in her eye, “Now come along, darling”.

“Bye!” Clarice said and ran out of the exhibit.

“I’m sorry again. She’s a bit excitable at times. Reminds me so much of my father”, she told him.

“It’s really no trouble. I love children.”

The woman looked at the painting. “Interesting, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Funny. It looks like somewhere I know. Somewhere from a dream.”

“Who are you if I may ask?” She had to be part of UNIT to even access this gallery.

She gave him a coy smile. “The Curator’s daughter.”

The Doctor’s mind started racing as she walked off. Was she…? But then that would make the little girl…

He looked back the painting.

Oh, he was going to be busy indeed.

#eleventh doctor #eleventh doctor imagines #eleventh doctor fanfiction #Tenth Doctor #tenth doctor imagine #war doctor #war doctor imagine #clara oswald #clara oswald imagine #the littlest timelord #the littlest timelord: the fall of the eleventh #day of the doctor

10 notes · View notes

talpup · 4 years

Text

Lost Song: 3

Summary: The war between the Dragons and Griffons ended 233 years ago, and both races right along with it.

Or so it was believed. There are three individuals that will soon change that.

Kai is the last of the Dragons and he seeks to take what he sees as his rightful place and rule over all of Oblvi. Meanwhile, Shouta, the last Sphinx, wants nothing more than to do his job; keep the peace and and teach the young Fourth’s to hopefully avoid the mistakes of their ancestors. And Teris, a Foundling who is just trying to understand and survive in this strange new world that is supposedly her own.

All three have their own wants and desires, but Kai’s plans, Teris’ existence, and Shouta's past mean that none of them may get what they want.

This fic is rated explicit and has warnings of sex, violence, and other possible triggers.

If you prefer reading off AO3 here’s the link for that: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24009679/chapters/58115158

3.1

“Director.”

Nedzu paused in the hallway just outside his office. “Aizawa. It’s a little early. Even for someone as dedicated as you.” The Director saw Teris struggling to keep up with Shouta's longer steps as the Sphinx made his way closer. “Teris. Good morning. I hope you found your new residence to your liking.”

“The place is fine. The company on the other hand--”

“Don’t.” Shouta cut in, not in the mood to hear any more of her sullen offense.

He had somehow fallen asleep despite last nights troubling epiphany. Score one for exhaustion. But upon waking up he had been even more ill at ease. Showered and dressed, he had woken Teris.

Not having followed her out of his rooms last night he hadn’t known which chambers she picked as her own. Rather than knocking on doors till he found her, he had simply entered each.

Shouta smirked into his capture weapon at the memory of Teris’ temper of the intrusion. He pulse quickened recalling the image of her. Hair mussed. Scowling. Topless. Covers thrown off in her sleep, showing perfect long legs and a lacy pair of black panties.

He cleared his throat. “Sir. I need to speak with you. It’s important.”

“Of course.” Nedzu said brightly.

The Director entered his office.

Shouta paused at the door.

Teris halted almost bumping into him.

“Stay here.”

“What? Why?” She demanded.

“Because I said so.” Shouta rumbled eyeing her over his shoulder.

“If I’m just gonna stand out here, then why did you bring me at all?” Teris questioned thinking how she was eager to get to Kai and start learning.

Because you’re a Griffon and I wasn’t about to let you enter that Dragon’s den, Shouta thought. You might be a tiresome, angry, prideful nuisance; but you’re mine. Part of my Ilca, he quickly corrected the self thought. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you go to Kai for lessons until I’m sure Nedzu knows what you are and has good reason for sending you there.

“Just stay put.” Shouta clipped.

Teris blinked at the door sharply shut in her face. She growled, making at face at the now gone Sphinx. She had only known Aizawa for less than twelve hours but she hated him. He was rude. Passively and full on aggressive. Arrogant. Bossy. Handsome. Smelled nice. No wait. She went back to rude and started the mental list over again.

Seated inside the Director of Traverseen Hall’s office, Nedzu offered. “Tea?”

“No. Thank you.”

“How are you and your new Ilca members getting along?”

“Not well.” Shouta answered honestly.

“Well, you’re use to being alone and they’re new. Only just a few days ago they probably thought themselves normal humans. Living in Terra, with no knowledge of our world or Fourth's.”

“She’s a griffon.”

Nedzu set down the tea pot. “Well that didn’t take you long. And to think I gave you the shortest time of at least a month to figure it out.”

“So you knew.” Of course he knew, Shouta thought. The Fourth’s that thought Hybrids less than simply had look at Nedzu to have their faulty thinking debunked. The Director’s lineage might have been so muddled he wasn’t capable of human form; but he was of superior intellect to any other species Shouta knew.

Nedzu nodded. “As does Elder Yagi and Arbitrator Todoroki.”

“And that’s all? No one else knows?”

“Other than you. Well… There is Shuzenji and Twice. But that was unavoidable. Nagual’s and House Elves are connected to the places they serve, and with Traverseen Hall being built for griffons…”

Shouta nodded. He couldn’t say if he was relieved or angered that the Council hadn’t been informed. He was certainly furious that he hadn’t been told.

“May I ask how you realized what she was so quickly? As far as we’re aware she doesn’t know, and has yet to display her true form.”

“There were a few things. But the one that secured it was Twice. House Elf called her Mistress.” Shouta said not wanting to explain the events of last night that had riled Teris up enough to cause a hinting of her true features.

Nedzu sighed and shook his head. “I told him to be more mindful.” He looked at Shouta almost pleading. “You have to understand. This is a very sensitive and dangerous thing. If the Council learned what she was--”

“They would put her down.” Shouta finished, distantly.

He remembered the Council wanting to do the same to him after he had been discovered. How the Tree Spirit that had happened upon him had saved his life not once but twice. First His Purple Highness had found him; spelled and buried beneath the rubble of his packs ruined home. Then the Dryad King had convinced the fearful Council to let him live.

Even now the Council watched him carefully, though not as carefully as they watched Kai. They were concerned. Worried that he would seek retribution for the mass genocide of his species that the dragons and griffons had ordered. The mass killing of sphinx's who had been guilty of nothing other than wanting no part in a war that had embroiled every other species of Fourth.

“Exactly.” Nedzu said.

Shouta blinked away the memory of the angry, fearful Council of Elders that had shouted and pointed at his younger self declaring he shouldn’t exist. That the sphinx's had been wiped out. And that he had to die to secure the tentative peace they were working so hard to build.

Shouta’s hands closed into fists. He wasn’t a danger to the Council. But if they discovered Teris was a griffon and called for her head he would become one. He would fight anyone who threatened her and her existence. She was his. A member of his Ilca, he corrected.

“The Council cannot know.” Shouta stated firmly.

“No. Not yet.” Nedzu agreed.

“Not yet?”

“Why do you think I have ordered Kai to instruct her?”

Shouta silenced a growl at the mere mention of the Dragons name.

Yes. Dragons and griffon’s had both ordered the extermination of his species when the sphinx's, just as ancient and powerful as them, had refused to choose a side in their war. But it was dragons who had attacked his home and killed his pack.

Shouta had been so young that he didn’t remember anything of his past before being found. Only a shout of warning that a clan of dragons and their servants were attacking. And the few terrifying moments where he had been made to crawl between a small crevice of rocks, while the roars and shouts of his pack fighting and dying echoed in the distance. He couldn’t even remember the face of his mother or father. Just the face of what had surely been a Gargoyle; because that was the only logical way the Fourth would have been able to preform the stoning spell that had seen him locked in stasis. He would stay that way for more than two-hundred years until the day His Purple Highness happened upon him.

Shouta looked across the desk at Nedzu. “You think that having Kai instruct her without knowing what she is will create some sort of tie. A care or friendship that will make him disregard the fact that she’s a griffon when it’s learned.”

“Yes.”

The Sphinx shook his head. “Kai will not forgive or forget. To him she’s an enemy. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Kai and Teris are not enemies. Neither battled in the war. We don’t know her full story yet, but unlike you, Kai wasn’t even alive back then. His egg was found and hatched long after the Fall of Crowns.”

Shouta knew the story. How one of the Elder’s on the Council had found a dragon egg and took it upon himself to secretly set the right conditions for it to hatch. Though Shouta himself had still been a young-ling at the time, he wouldn’t have given the egg life. He wouldn’t have smashed it. Unlike dragons, he wasn’t a murderer. But just because he refused to kill, didn’t mean he would afford life.

He huffed at the Director’s hopeful foolishness. “It won’t work.”

“You don’t know that.”

Shouta sat forward, dark eyes sharpening. “I know. And so do you. Or at least you suspect. I know for a fact that you watch Kai even more closely than the Council does.”

“And yet I have found no proof of misdeed.”

“Only because you haven’t looked hard enough.” Shouta muttered.

“Do you think I would endanger the last griffon if I had even a hint of circumstantial evidence that Kai was up to something? Trying to reclaim the lost dragon throne?”

“The only proof you need is that he’s a dragon. There are things about the species that can’t be changed. A dragons need to rule above all else is one of them. Even if Kai wanted to fight it. Which he doesn’t. He wouldn’t be able to. It’s in his nature.”

“I think your history is clouding your judgment.”

“My history is clouding nothing. It gives me clarity. Makes sure I remember what you and the Council seem so keen to forget.”

“You think you’re the only one that lost in the war? Did you forget who I was held and tested on by?”

Though the Director’s voice hadn’t be sharp, Shouta lowered his head.

“You weren’t the only one who suffered at the hands and claws of dragon kind. At least you have the good fortune of limited memory. I was old enough to remember every moment. Every cut. Every test.” Nedzu hopped off the chair and came around the desk to stand before the Sphinx. “You’re right. I don’t trust Kai. But I hope. Hope he can and will do better than those he came from. For Teris’ sake, you should hope the same.”

Shouta's head lifted, mouth opening.

“The order stays. She’s to be instructed by Kai.”

The Sphinx’s shoulders tensed, back straightening as he gave one last ditch effort to deter the Hybrid from this course of action. “She’s part of my Ilca.”

“Aizawa. I don’t want to argue. And neither do you. We both want what is best for her. If she is to be allowed to live, you better hope that Kai and she get along. That once he learns she’s a griffon, he will look passed it. It is the only way we will be able to convince the Council not to extinguish her life.”

3.2

Tense with wary unease, Hari entered his Leader’s office. “Kai. You have a visitor.”

“I’m not here to visit.” Shouta gruffed, stepping passed the Arepyiai and into the Dragons lair.

At Aizawa's rough deep timber, Kai’s hand stopped its writing. His eyes sharpened even as the words on the page in front of him unfocused. It was a good thing he had ordered his Ilca to be mindful even within the confines of the dorm yesterday. Surely the keen eyed Sphinx would have seen or heard his men give away some thread that could be pulled to unravel his plans of supremacy.

Teris entered, scowling at Shouta as she passed him to stop before Kai’s desk.

Shouta's hand twitched. He had to restrain himself from grabbing and pulling Teris back from the Dragon. Kai was dangerous to all life he didn’t think he could rule. And with Teris being a griffon…

“Sorry I’m late. I would’ve been on time if it weren’t for Aizawa's insistence that I follow and wait for him.”

Shouta’s teeth pressed together at Teris’ complaint. Did she think he had enjoyed his mostly sleepless night of worry as he waited for morning? That taking the time to meet and speak with Nedzu had been something he had done for himself? He hadn’t let her come straight to Kai’s for her sake and safety. Even now he was making himself late to class just so he could be sure she was safe and Kai understood that she was his. Damn it! That she was part of his Ilca and under his care.

Shouta glared at Teris wondering how he could both detest and want to protect someone so much? Though they had just met, it was understandable why he disliked her. Teris was a thankless, insufferable woman. But the urge to claim and protect? Shouta blamed it on the Ilca tie. The way it could effect a Fourth’s mental to make a bind weakly similar to that of a pack.

Kai turned to Teris, gold eyes slowly gliding up her body. She was even more proud and perfect than the first time he saw her.

Dark gaze on Kai, Shouta's upper lip twitched, the heckles on the back of his neck rising slightly.

Setting down the writing quill, Kai focused on the unwelcomed Sphinx. “You didn’t need to escort her, Aizawa. I made sure Teris knew exactly how to find me.”

“As do I.” Shouta told.

Kai’s fingers curled at the subtle threat. “You can seek me out anytime, Aizawa. I’ll be ready.”

Hari straightened, muscles tensing, prepared to defend and die for his Leader if the Sphinx attacked.

But Kai knew better. As much at they hated each other. Neither the Sphinx or Dragon would lash out in violence. They both had too much to lose.

Giving a taught taunting smile, Kai went on. “But until you have what it takes, I suggest you leave. We both have pupils to teach. And you’ve already cut into Teris’ time of learning.”

“If anything happens to her--”

“What would happen to her?” Kai questioned, over the Sphinx. “Just what kind of lessons do you think I’ll be teaching her?”

Nothing good, Shouta thought. “I’ll be watching.”

“So nothing new.” Kai needled.

He had been watched his entire life. In the beginning it had made him feel like a death row zoo animal. But as he had grown, Kai had learned to ignore the ax the Council had over his head, ready to snuff out his life at one wrong move. Over the years those still loyal to dragon kind had sought him out, infiltrating into positions that would serve and protect him. Those welcome and willing servants had made sure he not only survived within the Council’s constraints, but thrived, allowing him to draw ever closer to his rightful throne.

Shouta glowered. He knew the Dragon was up to no good. That Kai wanted to rebuild what was lost and rule. But he had no proof. “I expect her back an hour before sundown.”

“You’ll get her back when I send her back.” Kai told, muscles in his neck and jaw jerking in effort to battle down a growl.

Though successful, there was still a biting sharpness to his voice that made Teris tense.

Both the Sphinx and Dragon responded to her unease. Shouta stepped protectively closer. While Kai’s hand slid over the desktop toward her.

Forcing his tone to settle, Kai went on. “And you need not escort her each day, Aizawa. Teris will find her way to me. I’ve made sure of it.”

“I’ll escort and do whatever else I wish with her. She’s mi—my Ilca.”

Kai’s golden eyes turned molten.

Shouta silently cursed the near slip, blaming his lack of sleep.

Teris spun around, glaring at the black haired Sphinx. “You most certainly will not! I’m my own person. And if you think for a moment that I’ll tolerate you barging into my rooms each morning, ordering me about, just to make me wait outside Nedzu’s office while you--”

“Nedzu?” Kai cut in. His flash of interest turned smug as he looked back at Shouta. “You had a meeting with the Director this morning? Was it about me?”

“Not everything is about you, Chisaki.”

“Of course not, Aizawa. Just most everything.”

Shouta stole a look at Teris as he turned his back on the Dragons taunting smile. “Before sundown, Chisaki.”

“If I’m finished with her.” Kai called after him.

Without a word Hari followed Shouta to see the Sphinx out.

Kai found himself strangely disappointed that the office doors were left open. He told himself it was because hearing them close would have bothered Aizawa to no end. It had nothing to do with him wanting a further sense of intimacy with Teris. He had just met her. And though he might've thought she had been a dragon for an instant during their first meeting, she wasn’t. So why then was there an undeniable jealous anger still bubbling inside him at Aizawa's barely avoided admission that he had already claimed her?

Burying the curious emotion, Kai fixed his gaze on the beautiful Beast. “Forgive me if I startled you with my temper or came off as controlling. It’s only that with someone like Aizawa, it’s necessary to remind that he doesn’t command everything. No doubt you’ve already seen glimpses of his possessive, domineering nature.”

Teris glanced back at the open doors Shouta had marched through. “I don’t know about his nature but he’s been nothing but rude and overbearing thus far.”

“It’s an act. Something he does to make up for the coward he truly is.”

Teris turned back at Kai. She might've thought Aizawa many unsavory things already, but a coward wasn’t one. Then again she had only just met him.

“It can’t be helped. All sphinx's are.”

“I thought he was the last?”

“The last for good reason.” Kai said, thinking that if Aizawa ever threatened him again, he would personally finish what dragon and griffon kind started, and expunge the final sphinx from existence. “But that’s a lesson for another day. I have some books for you to read. Sit quietly and do so while I work.”

Teris arched an eyebrow, her defying question clear.

Normally Kai would've been irritated by any hint of disagreement; but for some reason he thrilled at her silent challenge. “Surely you’re self-sufficient enough to do that.”

“Self-sufficient enough to do so in the comfort of my own dorm.”

“And chance dealing with Aizawa if he returns for lunch?” Calculated as the leading question was, Kai told himself it was because Nedzu would cause problems if he didn’t keep and instruct her. He was pleased when Teris bristled at the thought, unaware that the Sphinx rarely ever took a proper lunch. “You clearly don’t like him. Any particular reason why?”

“Several.”

“Did it have to do with the oath he made you swear to join his Ilca?”

“Oath?”

“When new Ilca members are accepted there’s a swearing. It’s part of the bind that links the members together. The Leader states what’s expected. Usually something simple and unoriginal like being loyal to the Ilca and upholding the law.”

Teris’ eyebrows knitted together, head shaking. “Aizawa didn’t ask us to swear anything.”

“It’s done at the dorms main doors. Before you enter as Ilca members.” Kai prodded.

Teris thought back and shook her head again. “No. There was no oath or ask for one. All Aizawa said was welcome and he accepts us or something.”

Kai scoffed. The Sphinx was even more artless than he gave him credit for. Kai remembered the vow he had demanded each of his Ilca members make. To put his life and plans above all else, and be willing to die for his efforts, viewing their lives as expendable if it meant saving his or securing his aims. Aizawa could have demanded the same loyalty and devotion; but instead the Sphinx had required nothing.

“I suppose that’s a good thing.” Kai murmured more to himself. “It means Aizawa's hold is all the more limited.”

“Hold!” Teris echoed.

“There’s no need to worry.” Kai assured. “Aizawa foolishly asked nothing of you when you joined his Ilca. Even if he’s claimed you, there’s nothing he could demand of you.”

“Claimed? Like... on a personal level?” The idea of the aloof, abrupt Aizawa being so affected by someone that he claimed them seemed unlikely.

“As I said. There’s no need to worry. Now. Why don’t you get to reading. I’ll quiz you during lunch and then, the real lessons can begin.”

3.3

“Aizawa!” Oboro called.

With a whoosh of air and smell of ozone, the Venti was suddenly down the long hallway and in front of the Sphinx.

Shouta sighed. He couldn’t understand why Oboro insisted on trying to be friends with him when everyone else hated him simply for what his was. A part of him was certain Nemuri had something to do with it, Oboro not only being in her Ilca, but one of her two boyfriends. Yet she clearly hadn’t told Kan to do the same. So he wasn’t sure.

Shouta came to a halt, tempted to walked around the Venti but knew evasion was futile. “Where’s Yamada Hizashi?”

“Aw! Look at you! Concerned and protective of your Ilca already. I knew your were a big softy, Shouta.”

“Will you--” Shouta’s hissing command to tell Oboro to shut up and lower his voice cut off. Ignoring a passing group of students he assured the Venti. “That’s not it.”

With a jerk of his chin, Oboro answered the Sphinx’s query. “He’s right behind you. Just not as fast as me.”

Reaching the two, Hizashi puffed out of breath from the dash. “You’re fast!”

“Wind Spirit!” Oboro grinned.

Hizashi turned to Shouta, eyes and smile just as bright and shining as Oboro’s. “Shou!”

Great. There were two of them now, Shouta thought.

“I can call you Shou right? Oboro said it was fine.”

“Well if Oboro said it.” Shouta grumbled.

“Awesome!” Hizashi beamed.

No. That wasn’t what he meant. Shouta's mouth opened, but Hizashi had already moved on.

“Oboro said I’m probably half elf. Isn’t that cool!”

Shouta’s dark eyes rolled to the white haired Venti. “What was your first clue? The slightly pointed ears?”

“Yeah!” Oboro exclaimed.

Shouta studied Oboro a moment, unsure if his response was genuine or mocking. “Did you at least tell him he’s likely High Elf?”

“High Elf?” Hizashi and Oboro rang out in unison.

Literally bouncing with excitement, Hizashi asked. “What’s a High Elf?”

“What makes you say that?” Oboro questioned.

Shouta sighed. So much for catching a nap during lunch. At least with the two around it would help deter and distract him from the urge to go check on Teris during the break.

3.4

Kai was actually enjoying himself. Seated in a private dining room of the Ilca dorm, he quizzed Teris. Over the course of their lunch he had discovered she wasn’t just a pretty, young beast of ancient and powerful heritage. She had sharp mind and quick wit. Not only had his pupil retained everything she had read this morning; but she asked intelligent questions that would lead to new and better understanding.

He wondered why Aizawa and the others that taught the Ilca course at Traverseen Hall complained so much. Teaching was easy. If they faced difficulty in their job, it was either because Traverseen Hall was too accepting in who they allowed in the course. Or the instructors themselves were lacking.

“Tell me about Pieces?” Kai questioned, knee and part of his thigh brushing hers under the small, round table. Though she didn’t move against him, she didn’t pull back like the first time their legs had touched. Her acceptance had his heart hammering so hard it drummed in his ears drowning out the first part of her answer.

“Pieces. The shortened and more commonly used term for ‘Piece of Their Person’. When the four divisions. Beast, Demon, Spirit, and Sprite. Agreed to meet to try and work out a peace that would end the first great war of Oblvi called the War of Divisions, the Beast and Demon Kings thought it prudent that no weapons be allowed at the talks. But members of the Spirit and Sprite councils feared for their Kings if they attended unarmed.”

“And rightly so. Any beast or demon would have the advantage against any spirit or spite.”

“Any?” Teris questioned.

Begrudgingly, Kai was forced to amend. “So long as the fight wasn’t on the spirit or sprites claimed territory. But even then, so long as the beast was capable they would win. Beasts are the superior division of Fourth's.”

Teris frowned, but didn’t argue. How could she? As far as she knew the only spirit or sprite she had meet was Hizashi. Still, Kai’s claim made her uncomfortable, whether it was true or not.

Ignoring the unease, she went on. “It was finally agreed that they would come in their human forms and have the meeting place spelled so they couldn’t return to their true forms while there. The four rulers also agreed that they and their entourage would be allow to carry a single item of their choosing for protection. This item would be thought of as a piece of a Fourth's person, hence the name. And the act of trying to forcibly take or demand the removal of that item would be viewed the same as the taking of a limb. After the War of Divisions the allowance of a single item being stylized as a Piece of Their Person, along with the rules of non-removal remained. At first the item Fourth’s carried and called their piece changed depending on situation. But as time went on the standard became a single item that once chosen could not be changed.”

“Excellent.” Kai’s leg stretched out, foot hooking under her ankle. “Now let’s see if you can theorize half as well as you can memorize. Tell me. Why does the Council foolishly view pieces as a troublesome hindrance to peace and order when they are a right of vital importance?”

“Uh…” Teris blinked. Her mind sifted through what she had learned and what little she knew of the Council and this world. It would've been easier to think if Kai’s leg wasn’t touching hers, the coolness of his body making hers feel heated. “Because Fourth's are now able to take something off of their true form and use it while in human form.”

Kai expression hardened a fraction. “Are you asking or telling me?”

“Telling?”

Kai’s eyes narrowed.

Teris quickly thought over her response and repeated with more certainty. “Telling.”

Kai’s hand came to rest on the table, a hairs breath from hers. “Good. When Fourth's first began carrying pieces human forms were the exception, not the norm. Back then they had very limited abilities when in human form. Because of that, most pieces were potions, protective amulets, or hand held weapons such as swords. Things able to assist in a fight while in human form. But during the last two ages our human forms have grown in strength and endurance. It has allowed many to be able to literally take a piece off of their true form and make use of it.”

“I don’t--” Teris shook her head not understanding.

“You’ve seen Aizawa's piece. The capture weapon he wears around his neck?”

She nodded.

“Arbitrator Todoroki’s piece is a claw from his true form. With it, he is able to harness many of his true forms abilities. In a battle between Aizawa and Todoroki, who do you think would win?”

“Based simply on their pieces. Todoroki.”

“Exactly. Only pure bloods of older, superior species are able to take a part of themselves as their piece.”

“So the thing meant to help level the imbalance of power has now created a disparity of it.” Teris surmised, wondering why Shouta had picked the scarf-like piece he had when he was of pure and ancient blood.

“There will always be an imbalance of power. That’s why the Council’s concern is as senseless as it is wrong. Our beastly ancestors and those of the demons who wrongly caved to the spirits and sprites for the sake of an easy peace were short-sighted. They willingly weakened themselves to make the truly weak feel stronger. This change that’s happened over the last two ages. A pure bloods ability to take a literal piece of their person and call upon their true forms power. It’s simply natures way of rectifying a false sense of equality that never should have been.”

Teris exhaled. She wasn’t sure she believed everything Kai said. It sounded more like opinion than fact. True or not, she certainly wasn’t happy with it. Hizashi was said to be a hybrid of spirit and sprite. The thought of anyone viewing him as less than simply because of what division of Fourth he was upset her. But there was something she did appreciate about Kai’s words and that was his lack of fear. Everyone else she had met spoke about the Council in a sort of anxious hush. But not Kai. Not only had the Dragon showed no apprehension when speaking about the Council; he had disagreed with them to the point of near disparaging.

Kai got to his feet. “Come.”

“What? Time for more reading?” Teris toyed.

“No. I’m going to show you my piece.”

Her breath hitched. She knew exactly what Kai meant, but his tone of voice and the way he looked at her made it feel as if he were referring to a much more personal and private piece of his person.

Kai’s hand extended. A curious thing considering he hated touching lesser Fourth's and avoided doing so at all costs. But his leg had been touching hers of the better part of an hour and he wanted more. He wanted to feel her warmth and skin, not experience it through the layers of their clothes.

Teris glanced at Kai’s offered hand, hesitant to take it.

Kai almost reached out and grabbed hers. He was both well acquainted and unaccustomed to being denied depending on the person and circumstance. His secret subjects obeyed without question. But he wanted more than blind obedience from her. He wanted acceptance. And so he held himself back and waited.

Finally, Teris placed her hand in his.

Kai’s fingers wrapped around her silken skin, reveling in her warm hold. He pulled her to her feet and turned.

Teris laughed when Kai rushed out of the room and down hall, tugging her along.

Kai chuckled with her. He couldn’t explain it but his was happy. Excited even. To share his world and thoughts with another. Someone intelligent and hungry to learn. His disappointment about her not being the dragon he first thought she was was long gone. She was still a beast of ancient pedigree. The power of her aura and ability to appear fully human, a clear sign that she was of pure blood. She was the first person he had met that was anywhere near worthy of being his mate. And though it was early days yet, as a Dragon that had just reached his prime, Kai’s mind couldn’t help but go there.

They entered his office and came to a halt.

Breathless, Teris smiled.

Kai looked her over, smiling in return. She was...beautiful. He normally would've been bothered by the mussed hair their dash had caused. A clear flaw that told of further weakness. But on her he found the imperfect disarray sheer perfection.

“Kai?”

He watched her lips move, heart beating faster. As wonderful as her sweet voice made his name sound he couldn’t help but think how much better it would be if whispered in heated need.

“My piece. Yes.” Kai’s thumb caressed her smooth, warm skin before reluctantly releasing her. His hand gripped her shoulder the other reaching behind her to close the door.

Even though she hadn’t seen another soul since Aizawa and Hari had left, the door to Kai’s office had remained open all morning. Having it closed felt strangely intimate. Making her feel all the more alone with him.

She leaned back slightly, his face extremely close. “I have to admit, the way you said it back there seemed a bit... suggestive. You are just going to show me the piece of you person… Right?”

Kai’s fingers slid from the door, his other hand slipping down her arm, the inside of his wrist grazing and scenting her. “That was the idea. But if you wish to see something more…”

She exhaled a half laugh.

His eyes darted over her face. It must’ve been the change of lighting because for a moment her nose appeared more pointed.

“I think we should stick to the piece of your person for now. We just met and I don’t know enough about the way of things here. I don’t want to see us accidentally courting or mated.”

Kai stepped back, shoving down his disappointment and cursing his instincts. Though interested, it was way too early to tell if she was truly worthy. To think that dragon, sphinx's, and griffons had a prime of six to eight hundred years and he had just begun his. If he didn’t find someone worthy of even just sleeping with soon…

“Agreed.” He turned and moved to his desk. “But just so you’re aware. Fourth's can’t accidentally be mated. Nor can they be forced into it. Mating is for life, and both parties have to be aware and willing to be bonded.” His back to her, Kai added. “As for relations before being mated… Let’s just say Fourth's are often quite unconstrained with sex.”

“Well that explains last night and this morning with Aizawa.” Teris muttered.

Kai nearly crushed the beak-like mask that was his piece. A raging jealousy a thousand times worse than this morning boiled to life. It shocked him. Teris had spoken true. They had just met. He wasn’t even certain she was worthy of bedding, let alone taking as a mate. So why the angry jealousy?

He cleared his throat, fingers fiddling with his mask. And kept his back to her, not trusting himself to effect a calm, disinterested expression. “What happened with Aizawa?”

Teris sighed, eyes rolling at the man in question. “Nothing. Last night was a mistake on my part. But it was his fault. He’s the one who left right away telling us to choose any rooms we wanted.”

“Rooms?” Kai echoed. Whatever it was had happened in one of their quarters?

“Don’t worry. It won’t be happening again. I’m pretty sure I chewed his ear and ass out enough to ensure that.”

Though he wanted to know every detail, it was enough to know that she had found whatever it was unwelcome enough to tell Aizawa as much. Still, it was an effort not to demand she explain. “If it continues. Tell me. I’ll take care of him.”

“I can take care of my self. Besides, rude and bothersome as he is, I don’t think Shouta means any harm.”

Kai battled down a snarl, lip twitching at her use of Aizawa’s given name. It intensified the urge he had to seek the Sphinx out and make sure Aizawa never got near her again.

“Are you gonna show me your piece?”

Are you going to tell me exactly what Aizawa did? Kai thought. It didn’t help that he already hated the Sphinx. That his mind was conjuring up images of Teris and Aizawa in--

“Kai?”

Kai turned around, mask in hand.

“That’s it?” Teris asked, taking in the tasteful ornate beauty of it.

Kai nodded. He couldn’t show her the full capabilities of his piece. Like Aizawa, he hadn’t been allowed to take something off his true form or even choose a clear, defined weapon as his piece. The mask was only suppose to allow him a limited portion of his fire and a literal shadow of his true form. But thanks to Joi, his piece could do so much more.

Kai smirked and held out a hand. “Let’s go outside. I’ll show you what it can do and maybe give you a peek of my true form.”

Teris shook her head in chuckling humor as once again there was a hinting suggestiveness in his tone and gold eyes.

Kai smile grew, happy that this time there was no hesitance when she took his hand.

3.5

Shouta stood in front of the large windows of his Ilca’s great room watching the sunset. Hizashi sat behind on a couch reading a book about High Elves and shouting out things he found of particular interest. Which apparently was everything given how often he shouted out.

Arms crossed, Shouta's fingers tapped against taut biceps. He had said he wanted Teris back an hour before sundown. Of course he hadn’t expected Kai to care and comply, but he had expected Teris to listen and obey. She was his. Damn it! She was part of his Ilca. Why did he keep on thinking of her as his? She wasn’t his. More over he didn’t want her. He had just met her and already found her a tiresome, arrogant, troubling woman.

It was because he was a couple years into his prime, he reasoned. The beast within him wanted to couple. To find a mate. And Teris being a griffon… She would make a perfect mate. Shouta shook his head. No. No, she wouldn’t.

How long had it been since he had sought Nemuri out for release? Four? Five months? His eyes narrowed counting. Six. It had been six months. As much as he hated to, it was clearly time to ask the favor again. His self release could only do so much. And now with a beautiful young Griffon in her own prime, that self release would do even less. At least Nemuri understood it for what it was and didn’t seek to make anything more of it. She was fine without kissing or intimacy, just letting him fuck till he was done, and leave with an awkwardly mumbled thanks.

The front door opened.

Shouta watched Teris enter in the windows reflection. She was smiling. Why was she smiling? She had nothing to smile about. She was late and had spent the day with Kai. Kai. Who was much more charming and smooth than he. Who was a handsome, powerful Dragon. A Dragon who was also in his prime and no doubt looking to couple and mate.

Shouta ground his teeth, swallowing the burning bile that rose in his throat at the thought. That’s when the smell reached him. He sniffed, forcing down a growl. Kai had marked her with his scent!

Shouta turned. “You’re late.”

“Excuse you?”

He stepped to her, the crisp, clean smell of linen and winter air assaulting his nostrils as he drew near. “I said I wanted you back before sundown.”

“What’s more important? Me learning or your stupid curfew?”

“You can sit here and read, just the same as Hizashi. Or is your learning capability somehow less than?”

“You’re less than.” Teris snapped.

Shouta arched an eyebrow.

Teris gritted her teeth and the lame comeback. She glared hating the Sphinx’s somehow stoic but smugly amused expression.

Sighing, Shouta tried to smooth things over. “I didn’t make the order to demean or upset you.”

“I doubt that.” Teris scoffed.

“I did it for good reason.”

“I’m sure you never think you’re wrong.”

Shouta's eyes hardened.

Hizashi looked between the two. Aizawa had been worried. It was why he had tried to distract him by engaging with interesting bits he read. Why didn’t the Sphinx just tell her?

Unable to stop himself, Shouta reached out. His heart clenched when Teris flinched. What did she think? That he was going to hurt her? Even if she wasn’t his—his Ilca, he was still a member of the Ilca. A protector of the people. She had nothing to fear of him.

His hand fell on her shoulder, heartened and hurt when she didn’t pull away but tensed. In his own weak attempt to scent and reclaim her, Shouta's fingers and inner wrist trailed down her arm. “You’re to return an hour before sundown. Don’t be late again.”

Teris bristled at his words even as her shoulders eased at the warm, soothing smell of earth and musk that made her feel protected and at home.

“Don’t stay up too late.” Shouta’s hand fell to his side, already missing the warmth of her.

Teris turned, mouth open to snap something snide but stopped. She watched Shouta exit the dorms, telling herself it wasn’t disappointment she felt when the door closed without a backwards glance from him.

So this fic will have a LOT more world building than my others. Please feel free to comment or send me an ask if you have any questions.

I write for my own enjoyment, but edit and post for yours. If you enjoyed reading this at all please comment and let me know. It’s the only thing that encourages me to keep editing and posting.

Thank you to those who have left hearts. And a special thank you to those who have left comments or re-blogged. They really mean a lot.

Special thank you to @inorganicone2230 who knows of my love for the mythic and encouraged me to start this fic without stressing about the other two I’ve got going. Your friendship means the world to me. And I can’t THANK YOU enough for reading the draft of this chapter and stopping me from deleting it.

#bnha #aizawa shouta #kai chisaki #hizashi yamada #oboro shirakumo #shouta aizawa #chisaki kai #yamada hizashi #shirakumo oboro #hari kurono #nemuri kayama #bnha nedzu #yandere #my hero academia #fandom zines #au #lost song

6 notes · View notes

frederickwiddowson · 4 years

Photo

The Acts of the Apostles, the history of the early church, by Luke the physician - Acts, chapter 24, comments: Paul argues his case against the high priests and their spokesman, Tertullus

Acts 24:1 ¶ And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul. 2 And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, 3 We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words. 5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: 6 Who also hath gone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law. 7 But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands, 8 Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him. 9 And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.

In the English legal system today there is a Solicitor who typically prepares the case and a Barrister who argues in court, although their roles are not always so clear. Here, the orator Tertullus is to make the case against Paul. Orators were very important in the development of what would become our modern legal profession. The ability to speak on behalf of one’s client was important to getting at the heart of a complaint or a defense.

A Roman citizen had the right to face his accusers, as Paul is doing here.

Acts 24:10 ¶ Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself: 11 Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. 12 And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city: 13 Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. 14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets: 15 And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust. 16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. 17 Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings. 18 Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult. 19 Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me. 20 Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council, 21 Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

Acts 24:22 ¶ And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. 23 And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. 24 And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

26 He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him:

wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him. 27 But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

Paul’s defense was convincing enough to Felix to keep him safe from his accusers with the added bonus that he hoped a ransom of some kind might be paid to free Paul. So, it is clear from this passage that Felix is guided by greed as well as by curiosity.

Paul referenced the resurrection of both the just and the unjust. This was a common thread throughout the Bible. Job spoke of the resurrection.

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. 15 Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

Isaiah speaks of a resurrection.

Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

Daniel speaks of a resurrection.

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Hosea speaks of a resurrection.

Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

And Jesus makes it clear that the God’s dead have not ceased to exist and the following passage makes it plain that the Jews knew of the resurrection, although some did not believe, as it is today.

Matthew 22:23 ¶ The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, 24 Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. 27 And last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. 31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.

0 notes

swissmissficrecs · 7 years

Text

First-Person POV Fics

I just saw a post complaining about first person POV fics and I was all ??!!??!? because some of my FAVORITE fics are in the first person, to wit:

(Disclaimer: This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the first-person POV fics in my bookmarks. This is just the ones that were appropriately tagged. If I have time I’ll go through more closely and make a second list.)

Act IV by SilentAuror (39K, Johnlock, Explicit) After Sherlock is shot, John moves back into Baker Street. They spend the autumn together as John tries to make sense of his life and make some important decisions about both Mary and Sherlock. Canon-compliant, excerpts from His Last Vow.

Against the Rest of the World by SilentAuror (151K, Johnlock, Explicit) Sherlock has been away from London for nine hundred and twelve days and counting, and has no idea what sort of reception to expect when he finally returns. Post-Reichenbach.

Anyone Else by SilentAuror (39K, Johnlock, Explicit) Sherlock is in the middle of a case involving a vigilante serial killer when he discovers that John has been cheating on Mary, and not with him.

Coming of Age by 221b_careful_what_you_wish_for (13K, Johnlock, Mature) It’s not easy growing up when your father is best friends with Sherlock Holmes. It’s even harder when you stumble across their secret.

He Was a Friend of Mine by SinceWhenDoYouCallMe_John (38K, Johnlock, Explicit) Sherlock presses his nose into my hair and inhales. “Told myself the whole way here we wasn’t gonna get into this again,” he says low. His breath moves soft against my scalp, and his words rumble deep into my bones. It sounds like the open sky throwing wind against the boulders up on Baker, rattling the thin walls of the tent with the rushing force of the mountain.I hum. I don’t believe him for a second – steppin’ out of his gleaming white Ford back in Signal with his best shirt on and his curls all combed lookin’ up at me like he just took a breath after five years of holding it.I know because I did the same.

Hounds by quietasasleepingarmy (21K, Johnlock, Explicit) Sherlock enlists John's help with a case that falls far beyond his area of expertise. Post-HLV.

Mind the Gap by sweetcupncakes (45K, Johnlock, Explicit) An introspective journey through the life and relationships of Sherlock Holmes. "I can hear the bones hum beneath pale and freckled skin, this sack that holds my form together. Bits and pieces that start at the bottom and end at the top, hiding the blood, muscle, fat. Cells, knit together, constantly in motion. They'll live and die, and replicate, until total equilibrium is met."

Not Broken, Just Bent by Schmiezi (87K, Johnlock and Warstan, Explicit) "For a second, I allow myself to remember teaching John how to waltz. There is a special room in my mind palace for it. A big one, with a proper parquet dance floor. For a second, I go there. I remember holding him, closer than the World Dance Council asks for, excusing it with the fact that we are training for a wedding, not for a competition. For a second, I feel his hand on mine again, smell his sweat, hear the song we used. For a second, I allow myself to love him deeply. For a second, only a second, that love reflects on my face." Fix-it for S3, starting at the end of TSoT. Written from Sherlock's POV. If you like to see Mary as one of the good guys, you might want to stop reading right here.

Penumbra by Saki101 (46K, Johnlock, Explicit) A gothic AU of the Sherlock universe inspired by the universe of Dark Shadows (the television series), presented in four episodes*, and written for the Miniseries March Challenge at Fall TV Season Sherlock. Preview: In Maine, there was Collinwood and the three centuries of history that were woven into its walls. In London, there is Holmeswood Manor (or the Manor on Baker Street as the urban legends have it), tucked now into a city street when once its oak woods rolled from the heath to the river. John’s grown up with its stories of ghosts and wizards and things that hunt in the night. They are certainly not going to keep him from interviewing for a residential post at the Manor because he cannot afford London on an army pension and there could not possibly be any truth to the tales.

Pattern Behaviour by SilentAuror (14K, Johnlock, Explicit) Sherlock doesn't even know why he resents John's dates so much. Until the day he does know. Slight angst, unrequited feelings (but don't let that scare you off!)

Shallow Grave by SilentAuror (31K, Johnlock, Explicit) Starts as Sherlock's plane is taking off at the end of His Last Vow. When he finds out that Moriarty is alive and that he's being recalled from his mission, Sherlock decides that he should have told John how he felt before he left. So he walks off the plane and kisses him.

Table for One by SilentAuror (13K, Johnlock, Mature) Sherlock has returned to London, only to find that the John he left behind has changed. Why is he spending so much time alone in cafés, hardly eating, limping again? Why has he become so beige? Sherlock slowly begins to realise that this is not going to be as easy as he had thought.

The Quiet Man by ivyblossom (157K, Johnlock and Warstan, Explicit) "Do you just carry on talking when I'm away?"

The Progress of Sherlock Holmes by ivyblossom (62K, Johnlock and Warstan, Explicit) “I had,” he said, “come to an entirely erroneous conclusion, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from insufficient data.”

The Road Less Traveled by verityburns (56K, Johnlock, Mature) Sherlock realises that John's dating habits involve an unacceptable level of risk... what if he meets an unusually tolerant woman and ends up getting married?

The Semantics of Crop Circle Formation: a case study by Sherlock Holmes [unpublished] by canolacrush (41K, Johnlock, Mature) "Look at these photographs," I said, gesturing to the wall of crop circles. "What do you observe?" "Crop circles," John replied."Obvious. What else?" "Are...are those intestines surrounding them?" "Yes. The majority are bovine and ovine in origin. The farmers who have acquired these crop circles in their fields have also had a tenth of their livestock murdered and arranged thus." "Why?" John said, presumably in a rhetorical fashion.I detest rhetorical questions. "That is what I must find out, John."

Through the Looking Glass by obsidienne (96K, Johnlock, Mature) When you chase criminals over rooftops, death is always a possibility. We woke up in 1889 instead. Which is not a place two men in a relationship want to be.

Tomorrow’s Song by agirlsname (24K, Johnlock, Mature) How can he think a relationship with me would be a good idea? I am the sort of person to take a break from my life and when I come back after two years, I expect to find it exactly as I left it. In reality I find it shattered to pieces. (I actually equate you with my life. When did I start doing that?)

#rec list

150 notes · View notes

blackmormonmed · 5 years

Text

I once saw a bird fall dead from a limb without once ever feeling sorry for itself -Yeats

The above quote opens my essay in order to inform the reader that what I write should be read with the understanding that my experiences described made me who I am today at fifty years old, and not be taken as a sympathetic excuse.

I will begin as Copperfield might, and then I was born - in Oakland California 1969, 105th and east 14th street Sobrante Park, a far cry from the beauty and kind community of Utah. My struggles were not uncommon to what one would see in a movie based on the inner-city ghettos of America. I cannot single myself out because so many youths shared my circumstances and worse across the globe. By the grace of Heavenly Father, government aid and working after school, I was known then as a latch-key-kid. My mother, with the help of the money I earned, was able to manage me attending high school. My love of education was immeasurable, I wanted above all things to leave East Oakland, better known as the killing fields, and chase my dreams of becoming a Physician. The only way that I would be able to achieve this was through an athletic scholarship, as that was the only way that I knew of in the 1980s as a road to a young black youth’s exodus. I did not receive a scholarship, but that did not diminish my dreams. Though the financial opportunity was not present, I knew that I could overcome it. I began working in a salvage yard before I finished high school receiving my General Education Diploma which was an immensely proud moment for my mother. After several years saving as much as I could here and there, I managed to save enough for my first semester of Junior college in the mid-1990s. My dreams could now come true. I would swim for the college team and gain my scholarship via that avenue. My focus was swimming and not where it should have been, academics. I only saw the junior college as a springboard to a university where I could shine and pursue my educational dreams, I was young and foolish and flat out stupid to waste that opportunity. While attending the Junior College I fell in love with the woman that would become my wife and before I could see my dreams through to completion, my daughter Margo would be born. She was the most amazing thing that would now be my focus, perhaps my dreams could be hers as once my mother's dreams had once become mine. I would have been the first in my family to walk across the graduation stage of high school, and now Margo would be the first to have that honor but I vowed on her birthday it would not be the dream of high school graduation but the higher stage of college.

Margo grew as did my family’s need for financial stability. I sought employment elsewhere and decided that whatever job I would find I would do it with excellence as if it were my dream, as the fantasy of becoming a Physician slowly began to darken on my horizon. I entered the Motion picture industry as a Production Assistant, worked my way up to Boom Operator and then the head of the department Sound Mixer.

Fortune would shine on me years later after starting a conversation with a physician at the University of California Los Angeles Johnson Cancer Institute, Dr. Naismith. He was fascinated with the films I had worked on, and when I told him of my lost aspirations of medical school, he invited me to come by his lab if I ever wanted to learn a bit about science in my spare time. I jumped at the chance. I wasn’t a student, nor had I had any formal training. I convinced him to let me clean his lab after work. I soon was taught some basic laboratory techniques, Pipetting, western blotting, and how centrifuges were used, thus began my journey as did my love for science reborn. My adventure of learning was cut short once again by the need for family stability. The physical exhaustion of working twelve plus hour days, family and two jobs took its toll. I had to choose the job that actually paid, but I will be forever grateful for the glimpse into the world of microbiology provided by the kindness of Dr. Naismith. Over several years of extremely hard work the team, I worked alongside achieved the film industry's highest honor of the Academy Award for best sound in a motion picture. There was money, I moved my mother from East Oakland to live out her last days with my wife and daughter. My employment kept me on the road most of the year, which I did with a heavy heart and regret not being able to spend the last days of her life with my mother and my family, and that this was nowhere near what I thought my life would be. The strain of my mother’s debilitating illness and death, along with my absence lead over time to the end of my marriage. This started a downward spiral in my life leading to a seventeen-year addiction to Cocaine.

...

0 notes

acoldsovereign · 7 months

Text

THE COUNCIL OF TWELVE.

THE RUN DOWN:

Maiz rules twelve planets, all conveniently located within the outer stretch of North to West Galaxy. The most important ones to note are the Inner Ring*: Kokytus, Karosea, Gesh, Tun'l, Solemm, and Vaporr. Her kingdom/empire (whatever you wish to call it) is broken down into two sections-- the Inner Ring (which contains the first six planets also called Inner Planets) and the Greater Ring aka the Outer Planets (the other six).

Because of the position, location and neutrality of each of these planets, they're not under the jurisdiction (and thus, the protection) of the Galactic Patrol. The latter is required to stay anywhere from 50 to 100 feet away from all of the aforementioned planets' upper atmospheres.

Some of these planets like Kokytus, Gesh, and Tun'l are undergoing climate crisises because of Maiz. In verses where this storyline is attached to her, she's actually trying to do something about it-- not because she cares about the inhabitants, but because she cares about the aspects of Saiyan Culture she'd have to rebuild from scratch all over again. She'd view it as a waste of resources. It just so happens to have the side-effect of saving some of her subjects. Some and not all, because she's a believer in "the needs of the few vs the nameless many".

Some of these Races are dying out slowly underneath her. The Kokytans, again, as an example. They were not meant for fighting and in some threads, she will be looking for active replacements. They don't reproduce normally and their native diet was interrupted, which means she's been technically starving them. Adaptions were introduced too early/quickly and only a certain strain of them have shown capable of keeping up. If the amount that can adapt is less than what's presently available, they will ultimately die out within the next ten Earth years. Maybe less. Even after everything, these slaves are trying their best to prove their usefulness to her, to not be tossed away like toilet paper.

The creation of this network was and still is-- to first and foremost, preserve Ancient Saiyan Culture. Therefore, anyone criticizing the way she coped with the Saiyan Genocide, or the fact that she survived at all will earn her ire quickly. She didn't choose to survive but she's here and she doesn't care who has to suffer or die for it. She does this out of love, out of grief, out of loss-- she's never truly over it and it's quite easy to tell. Survival is a sore spot for her, because had she had her way, it would've been her who died and Bardock who lived. Or her mother. Maybe both. Either way, this is what she chooses to do, how she chooses to spend the rest of her days; building up a giant memorial spanning several planets for those she lost, for the next generation that will never come..... The most tragic part is she can't stop. She doesn't want to. If she does, she's forced to see the futility of it all. She'd see what a monster she became-- the same one that haunts her nightmares periodically:

SHE'S BECOME FRIEZA.

#Ship Dynamics: You're Lucky to Have Me #Die for Me. Live for Me. Your Life is Mine. (The Council of Twelve)

3 notes · View notes

sdheath · 5 years

Text

108. The Unbearable Madness of Being

This is a long one. But worth getting to the end. Nothing makes us suffer more than our own minds. The first part is a poem - the second is a rough transcript about a young drug addict and schizophrenic called Richard. This is all about his struggle against delusion and psychosis - his struggle to live and to die

"Dekay of timber, lead and glass The Great Hall is fallen down Ruyne of this castell is compleet” Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 1538, talking about Nottingham Castle A winter of speed and ice-cold vodka hidden behind the skip, in a cleaner’s bucket cooled by the falling snow. Yes, he was lonely but never left alone. His gods told him things: a constant stream of the ways things should be. Even in his dreams, he sat amongst them, always, on the fringes of underworld society learning about real power.

Heroin, when he could get it, flicking syringes and tightening belts and dirty yellow rubber tubes; sitting in a council flat that had slowly spiralled, and come to mean nothing to him but somewhere to negate the pull of gravity - somewhere to stub out your fags - line up the lager cans. And under the bed he keeps the only fragments of his life left Like his precious Wilson Staff 100 junior His stroke is still text book - and being a small man the raquet still does him well and photos - I don’t know who made me smile like that I look like a little demon - somebody was making me happy And the scar - like a sepia map of the Australia only visible when his hair was shaved closely. In and out of the fortress - always on the suicide watch He wants to kill himself but not because he is sad His gods promise him a crown on Boxing day They say the deadline is immovable - prepare a way That’s all they seem to care about Prepare a way and we will make you King Consequently - in the walls of the fortress Richard feels quite perky - looking forward to Christmas But he needs to win a game with his warders before they’ll let him home His Christmas gifts for his mum and his nan are cheap but thoughtful For Richard the boiling oil came from someone he should be able to trust not tipped from above the portcullis - but from a chip pan by a stepfather one of a long long line of men his mother needed for the drugs/drink/rent

Richard's story

“Things aren’t going to well. Hopefully I’ll heal and get away from the drugs” He threatened someone with a (neighbour) with a knife and assaulted a nurse - put in the Willows - intensive care ward for psychiatric patients.

Richard believes everyone can hear voices but nobody will admit it to him

“The gods won’t let me brush my teeth - I pulled this girl in a night club - she kissed me - “Wait a minute I don’t want to know you - your breath stinks”. But the gods won’t let me wash your teeth.”

He has hallucinations, hears voices and his thinking is delusional. Believes in the gods and their words with the conviction that anyone believes their own thoughts. Since 19 (listens to his gods). Talking to psychiatrist:

“Life is mad - noone else in the history of time is like me … gods will give me spirit to rule England. I’m going to get four bags into the syringe and try and get them into my arm. If I die and end up in hell then I’ll be happy. Now if I take it and I don’t die and I wake up the next day - it’ll mean the gods are messing me about - because the gods have told me that I’m going to hell on Christmas day - hell for me would be great - so if I wake up Boxing day and I’m not dead and I’m not in hell I’ll be right pissed off because that just means everything is fucked, do you know what I mean?”

“When I was young and my mum had a boyfriend and they were both pissed - he was six - scared shitless - threw it at his mum - his mum was scared you see - she didn’t want to get beaten up - the guy who did it didn’t want to leave the house - she got him to hospital eventually”

Richard looking at a photo of himself when he was a young boy

“Better looking when I was younger - at 5 - looked stocky - went on holiday - you looked like a happy kid - yeah I was on holiday - it was good time - crikey - I look different there - I’ve got a fish. Crikey I don’t know who that is making me smile like that. i look like a little demon. This is me when I was about nine or ten - my eyes look a bit tired - that’s me when I was about twelve - this is me on holiday - I worked out a bit there - you can see my chest is a bit bigger - I liked it on holiday - it was nice.

Were you happy at that age?

Long pause: “I think so yeah. I was abused when I was at secondary school - once I was abused my school time wasn’t very good because I knew that people knew. Abused sexually by the head teacher - didn’t tell the head - should have done really. 14 if you do it at the age of 14 then society tends to say that it’s your fault - your advanced enough - but I wasn’t - I hadn’t had a girl friend.”

A few months later - just before being forced back (sectioned) into a mental hospital

“I was awake all night - I had some speed - it was good - so I had some more. At some point I’ll stick the needle in my arm and I’ll wake up in hell hopefully.

Everybody knows there’s an afterlife - everybody knows there’s a hell and a heaven. I could take this overdose and go to hell and get loads of spirit and when I get out of hell I’ll be king of england and then one day I’ll be master of the universe.h

In hospital for more than 4 months. Richard’s home is a flat - housing association - but hasn’t been home since he was sectioned. Going with a member of staff to collect his mail. The flat is filthy - covered in beer cans, syringes and general squalor. Richard is visibly ashamed.

“Bloody hell - excuse me it’s really really lousy in here. Someone must have broken in and when they couldn’t find anything - obviously I’m not happy about the state of my flat. It’s usually untidy but it aint like this - somebody’s broken in and sorted it for money. Strange even thought it looks the state it does it still seems like home. Only take a couple of hours tops to tidy it up. Someone’s been having heroin or crack - now this is probably one of my oldest possessions - think of that what you will - and this is a Wilson staff 100 junior - I’m only a small bloke so I don’t a full size racket - no pun intended - I miss playing tennis.”

After leaving hospital he tries to overdose - put it in his arm - 30 seconds and he passed out. Was not alone. Next time - on Christmas Day he will make sure that he is on his own. He talks to his psychiatrist - faking a positive outlook.

“Let’s face it there’s no such thing as the afterlife - when you’ve lived your life you’ve lived your live. The idea that I would become superior in the afterlife is nonsense. There’s no such as an afterlife. I want to get out there and pull a chick - I want to make my grandmother a great grandmother. I’ve got no intention to commit suicide - I want to live life.”

As Christmas approaches Richard talks to the camera

“It’s a bit annoying to be moved to this ward.”

Paranoid that the nurses were taking energy from him. Shouting at nurses.

“At Christmas I’m going to take a heroin overdose and die - I’ll be honest - I’ll say I feel fine - say I’m happy - I’m not going to commit suicide - I’ll get out of hospital and go an do it.”

Despite his plans to kill himself he’s feeling festive. He goes into Bulwell (Nottinghamshire).

“It’s only a small shopping centre but has three pound shops and 3 charity shops - it’s wicked - y’know what I mean. This - you know sometimes you don’t get a present because you think about it sometimes something just jumps out at you. Well at the time it just jumped out at me - it’s like I like the design the aluminium and plastic but the problem is - it’s, like, a whisk. Why’s he bought me a bloody whisk but she’s stopped drinking and she’s not eating that much she needs to do more cooking - so that’s why I bought mum a whisk and this - the only way to get alcohol into my gran is in liquer chocolates so I’m going to forcefeed gran liqueur chocolates all day Christmas and see if I can get gran pissed. Wraps presents. Apparently you should have a glass of wine and some music -

After another session with the psychiatrist.

I talked to them about my gods - and they wouldn’t let me out - so I decided not to talk to them about my voices and hopefully people will think I’m a bit more sane. Doesn’t look that way - not home for christmas - maybe a couple of hours to give my family their presents and open mine. I was reading a book by the Dalai Llama that tells you to think of those worse off than you. I get food and a fair bit of money that’s good - but not everything is good. Basically yeah I ‘ll commit suicide when I get a chance to. Not at Christmas - yeah I’ve been told that I can do it anytime after Christmas and go to hell - whenever they let me out I’ll just commit suicide - that’s the good thing - usually I have to wait until Christmas. To get big in spirit and train to become a king. So that’s the good side of things at the moment. Doesn’t have to be at Christmas.

Your gods have told you that have they?

“Yeah. Sometimes I wish that I didn’t have gods - makes things difficult. But what am I meant to do?

I’m looking for another word for shopping - give me another word for shopping.”

Why do you need another word - BIG LAUGHTER

“I dunno - BIG LAUGH - why why does the snow fall on the grass?

Is that it - yeah - is that - do you know when you’re filming do you reach a pause like that? Yeah - like a natural pause - and that’s where you’re meant to stop. Great - you learn something everyday.”

4 months later he died of a suspected overdose.

4th September 2019

#bipolar disorder #psychotic episode #schizophrenia #poem #long read #sd heath #spilled ink #mental illness #sectioned

0 notes

dailybiblelessons · 5 years

Text

Friday: Preparation for the First Sunday in Lent

Hebrew Scripture Reading from The Twelve Prophets: Jonah 4:1-11

But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.¹ And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

¹This phrase appears in Exodus 34:6, part of a passage about the Lord before Moses.

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.¹ Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

¹This verse is quoted in part in Romans 3:4, part of a passage about Jews and the law.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Romans 1:8-17

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God's will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you–or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish–hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”¹

¹Habakkuk 2:4

Year A Lent 1 Friday

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image Credit: © Copyright Steve Daniels and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons 2.0.

#A Lent 1 Friday #anger #bush #Jonah #mutual encouragement #Nineveh #power of the Gospel #salvation #spiritual gifts #worm

0 notes

acoldsovereign · 7 months

Text

THE KOKYTANS.

Blue-skinned and translucent, all of their organs are visible from the outside. They are all 5'0" max, aside from one-- Ollvrox. That one in particular is barely under six feet but this is considered a mutation, one that finds them outcasted amongst the enslaved subjects under Maiz's reign. Ollvrox is, also unfortunately, the Eldest Living Kokytan that remembers life before her invasion and subsequent conquest. They are 60.

The Kokytans have no concept of gender nor sex, as they have no outer or inner genitalia. They all look the same, more or less. They don't discern or understand differences aside from genetic mutations. B.M. (Before Maiz), if one was found to have a mutation, they were either exiled from mainstream society (becoming the scientist/medic caste) or they were studied (modern concepts of medicine and technology came out of these practices).

When Maiz crash landed, there were thousands upon thousands of them. During the siege, that number dipped drastically. After they surrendered to her, the population recovered, but the numbers were never the same. If they weren't dying because they performed their new duties incorrectly or they didn't address her properly, it was due to botched operations and forced medical procedures. Around this time, a hundred Kokytans were sacrificed, tortured and killed in order for Maiz to master her new technique: COLD INSTINCT.

The Kokytans are a telepathic Race. Although they have mouths (which would suggest a digestive tract, and therefore a stomach), they don't speak with it. Their ki technique allows them to bind themselves to one another ala hive mind, and track each other as well as 'hijack' another Kokytan's body if they sense one of them is in danger. Due to many of the original Kokytans dying off during Maiz's siege, it's unknown whether this was natural, brought out because of evolution, or if it was a side effect of the experiments under her orders. None of them would be able to tell you. To make things worse, many of them have abandoned their old ways and their scientific minds are now geared towards violence and war. Regardless-- their thoughts are charged by their ki, and they can project them into their target's head*.

Kokytans have cerulean-colored blood and purple organs. Therefore, their veins, nervous system, brain, etc are all varying shades of purple. To be frank, the Kokytans are an atrocious, hideous Race without the charm of being/looking humanoid. Their eyes are small, beady and luminous under low lighting, their teeth shrink with each generation, growing more uneven and their lips are salmon pink-- cracked, and dry. Their heads are elongated and squid-like. They have hollow cheekbones. Three to four fingers on each hand with no opposable thumbs (the flesh underneath their fingertips can be adhesive to grab onto objects easier). Modern Kokytans have sturdy, strong shoulders and resilient arms but the rest of their strange bodies are terribly squishy. Despite Maiz's best efforts, the Kokytans are just not made for fighting. They are useful in other ways though, and she mainly employs them for their scientific and technological know-how, their espionage potential, as bodyguards, grunt/foot soldiers, as a display of power or force, etc.

BONUS:

While Planet Kokytus wasn't the first planet she ravaged (that honor goes to Frieza Planet #699999), it was the first she conquered. This feat was achieved at the ripe age of 13.

Planet Kokytus is a crystalline wonderland of frost, ice and cold (Think of Krypton's Fortress of Solitude except it's everywhere). Amazingly like Earth, they have four seasons but they're all variations of coldness. One could say they experience different degrees of an eternal winter. Water is present on the planet as well. Since most of Kokytus is frozen, the water underneath is either clean or holds pollutants (from the partial Genocide Maiz wrought upon them. This remains a current problem as the planet has underwent a bit of a climate crisis because of her; there is slightly less ice and the mountains are melting slowly . . . .)**

**Water filtration systems were built. A.M. (After Maiz) Kokytans fell ill and got sick because of the water. The Kokytans that came after developed robust immune systems as a result of this.

A decade after she asserted herself as the High Queen of Kokytus, a rogue Kokytan buckled under the weight of her tyranny and broke through the carefully crafted hive mind to try to kill her. The would-be murder weapon was similar to a polearm. The attempt backfired spectacularly, even though she was caught off guard by the 'outburst'. After the individual was subdued, she had them cooked. She never ate a Kokytan again (or drank their blood) after that incident-- "they taste disgusting. How disappointing."

*Their ki allows them to supercharge their feelings and thoughts. Since the Earthly definition of emotions are "the physical way feelings are expressed", it would be entirely accurate to say their ki technique is essentially that-- applied feelings/emotions weaponized as telepathy. They can use that ability to 'read' thoughts but that's a misnomer; what they're really doing is reading ki signature. If there's an intent or feeling behind it, best believe a Kokytan can and will pick it up.

#Ship Dynamics: You're Lucky to Have Me #Die For Me. Live For Me. Your Life Is Mine. (The Council of Twelve)

2 notes · View notes

acoldsovereign · 7 months

Text

tag drop.

0 notes

dailyofficereadings · 4 years

Text

Daily Office Readings June 25, 2020

Psalm 105

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. 3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 4 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. 5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered, 6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,[a] children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

7 He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 8 He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 9 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.”

12 When they were few in number, of little account, and strangers in it, 13 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 14 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.”

16 When he summoned famine against the land, and broke every staff of bread, 17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 His feet were hurt with fetters, his neck was put in a collar of iron; 19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord kept testing him. 20 The king sent and released him; the ruler of the peoples set him free. 21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his possessions, 22 to instruct[b] his officials at his pleasure, and to teach his elders wisdom.

23 Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham. 24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful, and made them stronger than their foes, 25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.

26 He sent his servant Moses, and Aaron whom he had chosen. 27 They performed his signs among them, and miracles in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark; they rebelled[c] against his words. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and caused their fish to die. 30 Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies, and gnats throughout their country. 32 He gave them hail for rain, and lightning that flashed through their land. 33 He struck their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their country. 34 He spoke, and the locusts came, and young locusts without number; 35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land, and ate up the fruit of their ground. 36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first issue of all their strength.

37 Then he brought Israel[d] out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled. 38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it. 39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night. 40 They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance. 41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river. 42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.

43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. 44 He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, 45 that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!

Footnotes:

Psalm 105:6 Another reading is Israel (compare 1 Chr 16.13)

Psalm 105:22 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb to bind

Psalm 105:28 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb they did not rebel

Psalm 105:37 Heb them

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Numbers 17:1-11

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each ancestral house. 4 Place them in the tent of meeting before the covenant,[b] where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you. 6 Moses spoke to the Israelites; and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs; and the staff of Aaron was among theirs. 7 So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.[c]

8 When Moses went into the tent of the covenant[d] on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his staff. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the covenant,[e] to be kept as a warning to rebels, so that you may make an end of their complaints against me, or else they will die.” 11 Moses did so; just as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

Footnotes:

Numbers 17:1 Ch 17.16 in Heb

Numbers 17:4 Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth

Numbers 17:7 Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth

Numbers 17:8 Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth

Numbers 17:10 Or treaty, or testimony; Heb eduth

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Romans 5:1-11

Results of Justification

5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand; and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.[e] 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Footnotes:

Romans 5:1 Other ancient authorities read let us

Romans 5:2 Other ancient authorities add by faith

Romans 5:2 Or let us

Romans 5:3 Or let us

Romans 5:9 Gk the wrath

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Matthew 20:17-28

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

17 While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; 19 then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.”

The Request of the Mother of James and John

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”[a] They said to him, “We are able.” 23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

Footnotes:

Matthew 20:22 Other ancient authorities add or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

#June 25 #2020

0 notes

dailyofficereadings · 5 years

Text

Daily Office Readings January 29, 2020 at 11:00PM

Psalm 50

The Acceptable Sacrifice

A Psalm of Asaph.

1 The mighty one, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire, and a mighty tempest all around him. 4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” 6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.Selah

7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9 I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds. 10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the birds of the air,[a] and all that moves in the field is mine.

12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine. 13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b] and pay your vows to the Most High. 15 Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips? 17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. 18 You make friends with a thief when you see one, and you keep company with adulterers.

19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20 You sit and speak against your kin; you slander your own mother’s child. 21 These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one just like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you.

22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver. 23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way[c] I will show the salvation of God.”

Footnotes:

Psalm 50:11 Gk Syr Tg: Heb mountains

Psalm 50:14 Or make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God

Psalm 50:23 Heb who set a way

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Psalm 59-60

Psalm 59

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam, when Saul ordered his house to be watched in order to kill him.

1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me. 2 Deliver me from those who work evil; from the bloodthirsty save me.

3 Even now they lie in wait for my life; the mighty stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, 4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

Rouse yourself, come to my help and see! 5 You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel. Awake to punish all the nations; spare none of those who treacherously plot evil.Selah

6 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths, with sharp words[a] on their lips— for “Who,” they think,[b] “will hear us?”

8 But you laugh at them, O Lord; you hold all the nations in derision. 9 O my strength, I will watch for you; for you, O God, are my fortress. 10 My God in his steadfast love will meet me; my God will let me look in triumph on my enemies.

11 Do not kill them, or my people may forget; make them totter by your power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. 12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter, 13 consume them in wrath; consume them until they are no more. Then it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob.Selah

14 Each evening they come back, howling like dogs and prowling about the city. 15 They roam about for food, and growl if they do not get their fill.

16 But I will sing of your might; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been a fortress for me and a refuge in the day of my distress. 17 O my strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

Psalm 60

Prayer for National Victory after Defeat

To the leader: according to the Lily of the Covenant. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

1 O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; now restore us! 2 You have caused the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair the cracks in it, for it is tottering. 3 You have made your people suffer hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us reel.

4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, to rally to it out of bowshot.[c]Selah 5 Give victory with your right hand, and answer us,[d] so that those whom you love may be rescued.

6 God has promised in his sanctuary:[e] “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. 8 Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? 10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies. 11 O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless. 12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

Footnotes:

Psalm 59:7 Heb with swords

Psalm 59:7 Heb lacks they think

Psalm 60:4 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb because of the truth

Psalm 60:5 Another reading is me

Psalm 60:6 Or by his holiness

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Psalm 118

A Song of Victory

1 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” 4 Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

5 Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. 6 With the Lord on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me? 7 The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in mortals. 9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 12 They surrounded me like bees; they blazed[a] like a fire of thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! 13 I was pushed hard,[b] so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. 14 The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly; 16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” 17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. 18 The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.

20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.[c] 25 Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.[d] We bless you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.[e]

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

29 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Footnotes:

Psalm 118:12 Gk: Heb were extinguished

Psalm 118:13 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb You pushed me hard

Psalm 118:24 Or in him

Psalm 118:26 Or Blessed in the name of the Lord is the one who comes

Psalm 118:27 Meaning of Heb uncertain

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Genesis 16:15-17:14

15 Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him[a] Ishmael.

The Sign of the Covenant

17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty;[b] walk before me, and be blameless. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be Abram,[c] but your name shall be Abraham;[d] for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring[e] after you. 8 And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”

9 God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. 13 Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Footnotes:

Genesis 16:16 Heb Abram

Genesis 17:1 Traditional rendering of Heb El Shaddai

Genesis 17:5 That is exalted ancestor

Genesis 17:5 Here taken to mean ancestor of a multitude

Genesis 17:7 Heb seed

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

Hebrews 10:1-10

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it[a] can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ[b] came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book[c] it is written of me).”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will[d] that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 10:1 Other ancient authorities read they

Hebrews 10:5 Gk he

Hebrews 10:7 Meaning of Gk uncertain

Hebrews 10:10 Gk by that will

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

John 5:30-47

Witnesses to Jesus

30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But I have a testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in[a] you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

Footnotes:

John 5:42 Or among

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE)

#January 29 #2020 at 11:00PM

0 notes