#I'm assuming that all the souls in that sword (or most of them) held it before and some kept it on their backs

[dubiousdisco]

Johnny's ass keeps pushing Sento away from the support on his back because it's too big btw, do you think Sento knows. Is Sento aware that johnny's cheeks are constantly pushing it. And if so, do you think Sento cares at all, being a sword and all. Is that mundane for a sword. Does Sento compare whose backs or waists or butts or hands felt nicer. Does Kenshi know. Would it tell Kenshi that his hands are the most caring but Johnny's ass is the biggest.

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV Write Entry #7: Bug Juice

Prompt: noisome || Master Post || On AO3

A/N: Assumed spoilers through Patch 6.4: The Dark Throne. This was originally going to be a food porn entry, but work nonsense yesterday sucked the soul out of me, but here at least is what I planned to cap the whole entry off with!

Yes, there's a reference in here. No, I'm not telling you, it ruins the surprise.

--

Alakhai set the bottle on the table with a resounding thunk. The clear liquid within sloshed loudly.

“Oh, Rereha is going to pitch a fit when she finds out she missed this,” Y’shtola muttered.

Zero canted her head to the side as she examined the bottle unblinkingly. “I presume this isn’t water.”

“Oh no,” Alakhai said, and she let herself smile a very feral smile. “We have introduced you to the joys of fruit, and spice, and dumplings, and cake, and oysters.”

“Bleh,” Heron said with a grimace.

“Silence, heathen.” Alakhai waved an imperious hand at her sister without looking at her, her gaze firmly fixed on Zero. “There are three things that all civilizations develop independently. You have met two of them: swords, and dough stuffed with assorted fillings and then fried. Now you meet the third: alcohol.”

Synnove began giggling into her bowl of payasam. Y’shtola said nothing, but smirked. Heron groaned.

Zero flicked her gaze from the bottle to Alakhai, then to Y’shtola, and Synnove, and Heron, then back to the bottle. A thoughtful hum was the only sound she made.

Alakhai reached forward, and yanked the cork from the bottle.

Y’shtola wheezed. Synnove choked on her payasam. Heron jerked backwards, her face contorting the exact same way Galette’s did when the carbuncle smelled something utterly foul. Zero blinked.

“What in the seven hells, Alakhai?” Y’shtola croaked.

“This,” Alakhai said with relish, “is a bottle of Jacke’s moonshine.”

There was a moment of horrified silence, and then:

“Doesn’t he make that out of potatoes and shoe leather?!” Synnove said, green eyes huge as she curled up further onto the low divan in an attempt to get away from the bottle.

“Not even the courtesy to introduce her to good booze, who raised you,” Y’shtola said with a shake of her head.

Heron covered her face with her hands and groaned louder. “Alakhai.” The despair was clear despite being muffled.

Alakhai smirked and picked up the bottle. Poured into an empty glass. Set down the bottle. Picked up the glass, and held it out to Zero.

The woman took it gingerly and leaned back, bringing the glass up to her face. She took a single sniff, and her nose faintly wrinkled as the corners of her mouth tightened. Considering how utterly impassive Zero was at the best of times, that was as loud a noise of disgust as Synnove hissing at alfalfa sprouts. Alakhai oozed smugness.

“And you willingly consume this?” Zero said.

“Unfortunately,” Y’shtola said.

“Why.”

“Depending on the alcohol, for taste,” Heron said from behind her hands. “Shite like that? To get drunk.”

“The propensity for inebriation as a form of entertainment lacks any sense,” Zero said. She sounded especially flat.

And then she tossed the moonshine back in a single gulp.

Synnove shuddered from head to toe. Y’shtola’s ears flattened in sympathy. Heron peered cautiously between her fingers. Alakhai merely smirked.

Zero blinked. And blinked. And blinked again. Stared down at the glass in her hands for a very long time. “Oh,” she said at last. There was a flush on her cheeks, the pink almost magenta against the paleness of her skin. “That is revolting. I hate it.”

Alakhai held up the bottle, smirk widening. “More?”

“Please,” Zero said, and held out her glass. Alakhai dutifully poured it to fullness.

“The most dramatic of fits,” Y’shtola sighed as Synnove made a gagging noise next to her.

PREVIOUS || NEXT

[weiwuxianismybae]

Disciples of Baoshan-sanren (or anyone related to her) who leave her mountain are destined to die a terrible death.

Or are they? Let's look at that starting from the recent to the oldest, Wei Wuxian included.

Xiao Xingchen re-entered the world at the age of 17 and made a name for himself by helping anyone who asked for his help. After a night-hunt where he showed his prowes, clans small and big invited him to join them and yet he declined them all. He wanted to start his own sect with his dear friend Song Zichen. Sect based on same ideas instead of blood relations.

So, what happened? Well, read the chapters 28-42 (or ch. 7-8 in Seven Seas translation) for a full story. In short, he tried to help Chang Ping and caught Xue Yang, but because that demon was working for the Jin (you know, the most influential clan) he was allowed to live (and to continue to work for the Jin). The Jin even threatened Chang Ping to retract his accusations to let Xue Yang roam free again. And what did that lead to? Xue Yang took revenge on Xiao Xingchen in the most gruesome way: he targeted his dear friend and destroyed Xiao Xingchen's dignity (you know, made him kill innocents, something that goes against his core believes). Xiao Xingchen would not have met his terrible end if not for the influence of the Jin clan. But who gave them that influence? Sure, they're rich, but so what? If the cultivation world was as righteous as they say they are, then the Jin clan would not have held as much power as it did because of all those bootlickers (looking at you clan leader Yao).

Wei Wuxian...... do I need to say anything? The whole book is about how he got screwed over by the cultivation world. One moment, he was praised as a war hero, and the next the son of a servant dared to call out his betters for their hypocrisy, and he was called a heretic, a demon.

Jiang Cheng, “Wei WuXian! Don’t you understand? When you’re standing on their side, you’re the bizarre genius, the miraculous hero, the force of the rebellion, the flower that blooms alone. But the second your voice differs from theirs, you’ve lost your mind, you’ve ignored morality, you’ve walked the crooked path. You think you can be immune to all those condemnations as you stay outside of the world and do whatever you want? No such precedent has happened before!”

(ExR ch. 73)

(And who helped with that, Jiang Cheng? Anyway...) Would he have met his tragic end if not for the elitism and corrupted morals of the cultivation world?

Cangse-sanren and Wei Changze. I'm not gonna speculate on this since we are not given much. The only thing we know is that they died during a night-hunt and since Jiang Fengmian found Wei Wuxian on the streets of Yiling, it is reasonable to assume that they died somewhere near Yiling. And what else is near Yiling? Burial Mounds! Who knows, their deaths could very much have been an accident. However, how did Burial Mounds come to be? It's an ancient battleground; wars happen all the time, so who cares. But! Who made it worse? Who used it as their personal body disposal ground? The Qishan Wen clan!

Wen Chao continued, “The Burial Mound is right in Yiling. You Yunmeng people have probably heard of its name as well. It’s a mountain of corpses, an old battleground. If you find a spot wherever on the mountain and dig your shovel into it, you’ll be able to dig out a corpse. Any nameless corpses would be tossed here as well, wrapped in a mat only.”

The sword array descended slowly, approaching the black peak. Wen Chao, “Look at the dark air. Tsk, tsk tsk, the hostile energy is strong, isn’t it? And the resentful energy is thick, isn’t it? Even us at the Wen Sect weren’t able to do anything about it. We could only surround it and prevent people from going in. This is still daytime. At night, really any—thing can be found there. When a living person goes in here, both the body and the soul, they cannot return, unable to get out for all of eternity.”

(ExR ch. 60)

Instead of liberating the resentment, they made it worse. Sure, they say that liberation was not possible, so they sealed it away. But still, why make it worse?! If not for the disregard for human lives, the Burial Mounds would not have become what it is and Wei Wuxian would not have had to go through that hell on Earth.

Yanling-daoren. Well, we know even less about him than Cangse-sanren, but this time, I want to speculate! Let's look at this excerpt from chapter 40 (ExR):

Xiao XingChen, “You’re right. The first disciple who left was very outstanding. When he first left the mountain, due to his mastery over his skills, everyone praised and admired him, and he became a famous cultivator of the righteous path. But afterwards, people don’t know what he went through, but his personality changed drastically, and he suddenly became a villain who killed people without blinking twice. In the end, he died under thousands of swords.”

So... what did he go through? Well, we don't know, but that's why we're speculating! How does cultivation world see Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian? Let's look at chapter 43 (ExR):

Lan Yuan was Lan SiZhui’s birth name. He protested, “I was not making excuses for him. I was simply suggesting that we may not want to make conclusions before we understand the entire situation. You know, before we came to Yi City, a lot of people also claimed that the YueyangChang Clan’s Chang Ping was killed by Daozhang Xiao XingChen for revenge, right? But what was the truth?”

Xiao Xingchen was praised all over, but in the end one conformation that the sword used on Chang Ping was Shuanghua and everyone came to that conclusion. What did Lan Wangji say again?

Lan WangJi slowly shook his head, “One should not comment without understanding the whole picture.”

(ExR ch. 30)

Riiiiiight. For the context, Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji his opinion on the situation after he heard that lingchi was performed with Shuanghua. So, it's logical to assume that the cultivation world saw Xiao Xingchen as this hero that after a defeat (to the Jin) turned on innocents (Chang Ping). But he did not! It was Xue Yang exacting his sick version of revenge.

And Wei Wuxian? Well, I already said it, didn't I? Hero turned monster. "How dare he! He is just a son of a servant!"

So, it's realistic to assume (in my head that is) that Yanling-daoren went through similar shit as Wei Wuxian, but without the life motto of "Remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don’t hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free." Or being as forgiving and good as Wei Wuxian.

Are Baoshan-sanren's disciples destined to die terrible deaths after leaving her mountain? I don't know. Something that all these people have in common is that they were respected and held in high regard and then died horrible deaths with their reputations in taters. You can call it destiny or moral failing of the cultivation world ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[starwalker03]

imagine if you'd mixed a soulmate AU into WMLP. Who would be soulmates? What kind of soulmate au would fuck with the characters the most?

oh boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. soulmate AUs are so fun to mess with, because you can change the parameters for what a soul mate is. like are they destined lovers? are they the perfect pair? or are they simply two people who are always going to meet, be drawn together, are cursed to share their stories, regardless of feelings?

what I'm saying is: WMLP with Dick and Slade as soul mates.

oh my god that would fuck Dick up SO BAD.

especially if he didn't find out until Slade was running a sword through his chest. and it would make his struggle to fight back against Slade's manipulation so much harder. His complicated feelings as he mourns Slade and yet despises him? dialed up to the max. it's so juicy.

Additionally: When Bee forces M'Gaan's mind open, it overwrites her own soulmate and essentially makes Bee her soulmate in M'Gaan's mind. like any association with her real soul mate is wiped away and redirected to Bee, so even though they're not soul mates her brain still reacts to Bee that way.

you know there was a short while when I started writing this fic when I considered doing aquabird (Dick and Kal) instead of birdflash. purely because when I started writing this fic is when I fell into aquabird shipping lmao. it would be interesting if they were soul mates in this fic, though, as the leader of the team and the assumed future leader of the team. like a captain and right hand man. Kaldur's horror and grief would be so much worse, hearing Dick was killed under his leadership, if they were soul mates. i mean that can be said of the entire team, but especially if it were Dick. Dick is the youngest, so Kaldur probably wouldn't pursue anything romantically (at least not until they're both older) so he'd have to live with the fact that he never got to have a relationship with his soul mate. then on top of that, his failure leads to one of the best child heroes, assumed to be a future leader, to fall into a new role as an assassin. Kaldur would feel responsible for ruining his potential.

There is, of course, the other possibility: one of the manta soldiers being Kaldur's soul mate. I have had some thoughts on Kaldur's relationships with the soldiers and whether any of them go beyond friendship (I actually started touching on it in the chapter I'm currently writing lmao) so imagining the added piece of them as a soul mate? delicious. held captive by them, the power dynamics, the inherent toxicity? nom nom. the fact they'd have to hide it from everyone? so good. and the soldier wouldn't be able to do anything without looking like they're trying to sleep their way to the top. and Kaldur can't do anything without the possibility of incurring his father's wrath upon an innocent soldier.

oh also if it was Zatanna, with what Kaldur has done to her... that's also a thought. both of them being the magic users of the team gives them a fun duality, and they both have daddy issues.

Conner and M'Gaan being soul mates would work i guess. I'm meh about it because I'm meh about them as a couple. the show really just... meh. and after season two it's like BRUH Conner LEAVE HER. but anyway. in this fic it would have that tragic lovers thing of being torn apart, watching your lover slowly degrade and knowing you can do nothing about it. meanwhile they watch as you are unchanged, and they hate you for it. mmmmmm. yeah. that'd make them interesting to me.

other than that, there is the possibility of Conner not having a soul mate, because he's a clone. or him having a pre-programmed soul mate which is whoever Clark's and Lex's soul mates are, which is disturbing and the worst and I should really write a fic of that. or someone should because the potential for all kinds of horrible nonsense is very compelling.

I haven't considered any kind of romantic subplot for Artemis to be honest. I mean, canon wise she only really has Wally. other than that there's the comics, where she was with icicle junior. i mean the joy of finding your soul mate, being with him for such a short time, and then the grief of losing him so soon would be interesting, I suppose, but no mor interesting than it already is for the two of them to have been together as normal. Artemis forcing herself to move on and falling out of love with Wally only for him to come back would be heartbreaking for her, especially if she couldn't find it in herself to regrow those old feelings and try again with everything going on in her life. especially because Wally probably wouldn't have had a chance to fall out of love while in the speed force. it is a bit depressing, but not very compelling to me.

I guess there's Roy. she could have some kind of strange platonic sibling-esque soul mate bond with him. it would have made her joining the team, so much more difficult, and then being forced on an opposite side to him only to chose to stay against him once free because your friends are more important. and then for her to hear Dick kicked him off a roof and almost killed him and see Dick be so blasé about it would be an interesting spin on things. but it's not interesting enough that, given the scenario of rewriting the fic with soul mates, I would add it in.

mmmmm these were some delicious thoughts thank you for giving them to me.

[haryuwu]

🪞 Twisted Wonderland | Le Mirage

Note: This fic may contain inaccurate descriptions of the fictional characters from Twisted Wonderland so I suggest not to react violently if you notice them. This is also a fan fic specifically for my character Lulu (Louise)! Imagine it as one of the events in-game, it's fun that way. Please excuse my grammar as well, I'm not so confident with my writing...I hope you guys enjoy reading though!

Ever since the incidents of each of the houses within Night Raven College has been dealt with, no students with loose lips were issued. All staff and students were also told not to tell a single soul outside the school’s premises about those incidents. If Styx were to come and get those who were corrupted by the extremity of blotting, they must not recklessly provoke any of them nor get themselves harmed—is what the Headmage had announced months ago. No more over-blotting occurrences followed since then. And so, a new semester has begun.

Grim and the Prefect of the Ramshackle dorm were given a new task from Headmage Crowley to participate in the preparation for the upcoming Ball of the Evening within the Night Raven College. This was the first time the students have heard about such an event but they had no choice but to do as the headmage says.

The housewardens were called into a meeting, the prefect of Ramshackle dorm included, to discuss the event's preparation. The school's cafeteria was decided to be the place for the ball as there will be only selective guests allowed to set foot in there. On the other hand, each of the houses has to decorate their popular areas for the guests to visit.

However, the headmage has forgotten to fill them in who will be attending the ball. Due to the headmage's busy schedule, he leaves before they could ask an important question.

The students in the Heartslabyul dorm decided to decorate the tea garden as most of the students of Night Raven College find the Unbirthday Party an interesting theme to be celebrated. However, they revised a few of the decorations as it is inappropriate to celebrate the Unbirthday Tea Party too early and the housewarden might scold them for not following a certain rule. But no one has denied the fact that a tea party would be an acceptable plan as the event will be held exactly on the 5th day of the month.

"I'm still confused, why do we have a ball though? Isn't this an all-boys school?" Ace Trapolla, one of the freshmen of the school that was recently punished for not following rule number 469. He painted all roses red when in fact the guests attending will be considered new friends of the school. 

Ace complained with an exhausted sigh as he sat sluggishly on a chair from all the work when Cater Diamond, their senior, took his place on repainting. Ace, for that matter, still couldn’t shake the feeling of uneasiness after hearing some of the guests will be from the Royal Sword Academy.

"I heard there will be guests attending other than the Royal Sword Academy representatives—Ah, I messed up the ribbon…" Deuce Spade, another freshman, on the other hand has been helping yet still making little progress. He was one of the unfortunate ones to be punished because of Ace's mistake earlier. 

"What I heard is that there will be ladies attending as well~" Cater, who has been repainting the red roses to white joined in their gossiping. "It would be nice to see beautiful ladies to take selfies with, don't you think so, Trey?" With a playful smirk, Cater caught Trey quietly approaching them from afar with his hands occupied with a tray of sweets.

"W-Why are you dragging me into this? Don’t assume things about which guests will be coming,” Trey Clover, who just arrived at their conversation, excused himself to join them while holding cups of tea, juice, and biscuits in a tray. 

“Whoever they are, I'll do my best to keep them entertained in Heartslabyul during their visit so it won't trouble our housewarden.” Everyone working at the tea table, cleaned up a space for the tray he’ll be placing down. Their eyes cannot resist the sight of sweets and other snacks. “Anyways, please help yourselves. You guys have been working all day."

"Awesome! I'm starving," Grim began stuffing his mouth with other delicacies that Trey had baked for them as soon as he grabbed them from the tray. 

"Hey! Stop robbing our food! You weren't even helping us to do all this work!" Ace immediately pulled the tray away from Grim before he could grab another for a bite. 

Grim gulped down a tart before speaking, "Well I'm helping out Prefect to whatever task that was given to them. That still makes me a helper, right?" He said while eyeing the prefect who could only sigh in response. 

"You must be more exhausted than everyone else here. Why don't you take a break with us?" The Prefect questioned Trey in worry. They knew he had been following Riddle's orders and preventing anyone from fighting one another. As a response, he painfully chuckled about the fact he's been overworking the whole day.

"As much as I want to take that offer, I couldn't sit with you guys even just for a moment. Though…I still appreciate the thought," with lips curved up wryly, he refused to rest as they were already behind from all the decorating work. Thanks to a certain someone messing up the colors.

Suddenly, a familiar individual caught the students' attention as all of their slouching backs miraculously straightened up. When Trey had caught onto what was happening, he greeted, "Ah, Housewarden! Do you need something?" It is the housewarden of the Heartslabyul dorm. His complexion already tells everyone that he’s greatly bothered by their chattering during work.

"Yes, I do really need something. Your presence and assistance, vice housewarden Trey," Riddle Rosehearts, the housewarden of Heartslabyul dorm, is close to breaking his temperament. They can see his veins slowly appearing at his temples with eyes twitching due to the sight of slackers roaming the dorm. "Although I'm not the type of person to punish you for something that has been troubling you the whole day. It is also my mistake, I apologize."

"T-That's very kind of you. Thank you,” Trey was dumbfounded by Riddle’s apology, yet it lifted the burden feeling from his shoulders. He was able to smile warmly afterwards.

"Ah, speaking of guests, the headmage hasn't clarified who will be attending. Only a few of the Royal Sword Academy representatives and their headmage are guaranteed to attend." 

"So stop dilly dallying and do your job properly!" Riddle shot them a glare who was obviously neglecting their duties. He sat down on the chair that Ace immediately offered to avoid getting on his nerves again and asked Trey in a whisper to prepare him tea. 

"But it is indeed strange that he hasn't told us housewardens about who exactly will be attending. The ball may be the one of the main events, but aren't we supposed to bring a muse with us?" Trey inquired as he poured tea into Riddle's cup. While taking a sip to his cup, the headmage suddenly appeared behind them. 

"The event is to commemorate the birth of a new Saintess, of course!" Exclaimed the headmage who startled most of his students. 

"GAH! Please stop doing that…!" Ace screamed when the headmage appeared behind him. Everyone will never get used to this.

"A new Saintess?" Said the Prefect who was tasked to check each of the houses of the school.

"Yes! It has been 4 decades since the last birth of a Saintess. I received an important message from the Mirage family about this news and they chose Night Raven College to hold a ball for her." Explained the headmage who's currently ecstatic about this news. The Mirage family must be well-off in riches. 

Cater ran back to their spot as soon as he heard what they had been discussing. "Wow! then this will be the first time we'll meet a Saintess."

"That's right! The Mirage family has been one of the greatest mages who possess powerful magic. They all remained pure and free from blotting. However, when the last Saintess passed on, their abilities also died along with her breath."

"Even the generations that followed the Saintess' footsteps couldn't revive the lost magic. So they gave up trying until a miracle happened. The current daughter of the Mirage family was able to use this ability."

"Was this ability normally passed onto the heir of the Mirages, headmage?" Deuce, who has been silently fiddling on the ribbon, finally asked him about this certain ability. However, headmage Crowley shook his head with a shrug as it seems to be unknown to him as well.

"Inheriting an ability is a rare case but perhaps the Mirage folks are an exception. However, that ability has never been revealed to anyone for decades. The Mirage family has always been secretive when it comes to their family history," checking on the headmage's expression, he doesn't appear to be lying about how limited his knowledge is when it comes to the Mirage family.

"But what I do know is that if word came out, people will start to assume all questions will be answered by the beholder of this ability. To avoid getting too much attention from the people, the information about the Saintess' ability must stay confidential." Sighing, the headmage was asked another question.

"It must be tough to keep their ability a secret," said the Prefect who used to ask about their friends' signature spells out of curiosity.

"Ah, speaking of the new Saintess, she just turned 18 recently. Despite the young lady being just around your age, please refrain yourselves from being too casual whenever you chat with her,"

"We were especially selected to hold the Ball of the Evening for her. This is part of their tradition."

"But Headmage, that doesn't answer why we have to attend the ball as well. What are we going to do there exactly? We're not going to just dance there, are we?" With Ace's question to the headmage, everyone couldn't stay silent. "I mean we have a suit ready from Sam, but who are we gonna dance with?"

"Yeah, but dancing with the ladies would be very nerve wracking. I don't even dance well enough." 

"That's really a shame, Trey. You're missing out! Don't worry, I'll teach you some of the moves that are trending these days. It'll be fun to join us in the Pop Club to train. #GotDMoves #FootLoose!" Cater nudged Trey's arm to encourage him to dance with them. 

"Thanks…But I don't think it's that type of dance you're expecting it to be for the ball."

"I suppose it'll focus on ballroom dancing rather than just random twists and turns, Cater," Riddle stated in a disappointed tone.

"I was only joking! I know what a ballroom dance is…!"

"Hahaha Seeing Grim dance like that would be fun to watch. Would the Prefect crouch to reach for his arms or would he be lifted instead?" Ace teasingly asked the two while pulling up a mean grin.

"Hey! I don't plan on dancing like that! I'm not even allowed to attend the ball," Grim stomped his feet on the table and almost hit Ace's hand with a spoon after getting insulted.

"Then you'll be staying in the Ramshackle dorm? Wouldn't that make you lonely without our Prefect?" Deuce inquired while eyeing Ace. Ace gave him a shrug as a response.

"We'll let him stay with us while the Prefect attends the ball with headmage," Trey smiled as he answered with assurance.

"But I wouldn't tolerate any trouble while you're around here. I've only accepted this because this is under the headmage's orders," Crossing his arms, Riddle warned Grim with brows always furrowing. "You two as well." He then included Deuce and Ace, complaining once again in sync.

"What? Why us, too!?"

Headmage Crowley, however, had to clear his throat to get their attention back to him. It seems it is another important matter to add in their knowledge. This event is a very important matter for the Mirage family. 

"Sorry to ruin your parade, but the Ball of the Evening next weekend…won't be including the dance." With that said, everyone stopped chatting and arguing as silence took over the tea garden. And so, all of the students near their table sang in harmony…

"...Eh?"

To Be Continued ➵ Next Chapter

[swashbucklery]

Hi! I watched Willow after you started talking about it & have gotten swept up by feelings, so thanks for the rec! When it comes to Kit/Elora, I keep coming back to Kit's gender stuff. Her whole life, she's been doing "being a princess" wrong, and then it turns out there was another princess-type person in the castle the whole time, who (seemed to) fit so much better into the role, gender-wise? And Kit's jealous because Elora might be more special, but also because Sorsha might like her more?

Combining your messages into one post anon because it feels like the continuation of the same thought (and I assume they're both from you).

I think the line that really got under my skin when it comes to Kit and like - IDK if it's gender or butchness bc sometimes that can be a gender and sometimes it isn't - but her Whole Gender Sexuality Situation. It's the line when she's speaking with Elora under the stars in the Shattered Sea, and she mentions being jealous of Elora because things come easily for her, and Kit feels like nothing that matters to her has ever been something that wasn't a fight.

(I am paraphrasing, but.)

And there's a whole essay there about what the show tells us about Kit in ep1 and how we can extrapolate back to understand Baby Kit, the steps of who she must have been to grow into the person we see there.

(I also spend a lot of time thinking about - what social rules are there around gendered behaviour, around whether men and women are cool to socialize or whether that's considered taboo, especially given the standards Kit would be held to as a ~royal heir~. Was Jade asked to be Kit's training partner because they naturally gravitated toward each other, or was it because Kit was training with men and Sorsha was worried about her ~honor being besmirched~ rolling around with boys all day.)

Baby Kit who - it's not that she doesn't want to rule per se but she really struggles with the way that Sorsha is trying to teach a very specific approach and style that is tied to the assumptions of like. Kit will naturally be emotionally intelligent, she will want to attend to and anticipate others' needs and feelings as a way of quietly leading and alliance-building, she will understand the deft and subtle application of social niceties as a lever to manage affairs of state.

(Which ends up coming out, by the end, as Kit just rejecting being a princess altogether, but I think that's the easiest shorthand to express the complex knot of this-fits-weird she's got going on.)

And it's interesting, because actually - I think about this a lot in the Shattered Sea ep, where Kit spends the non-sword, non-kissing parts of it just full-on staring at Elora. It's the crux of her sorting out what it really means that Elora is their last hope and also trying to reconcile like. This is it. They're going to have to function as a unit and what does that mean, really.

(Which: ultimately what it means is putting trust and faith in Elora whole-heartedly, in a way that she's really never done with anyone before, and if that isn't just the most staggeringly high fantasy romantic thing idk what to tell you.)

But the point I'm trying to meander towards is that Kit actually has - not all of those skills, because emotional intelligence doesn't come as naturally to her as it does to Elora by any means - but some of them. She has the capacity to do it, but it's effortful. And I think a lot about baby Kit fighting to be allowed to approach the world in her own way, and the way that resonates along the axis of gender or of queerness.

(It's like - where is that post about being in elementary school, and the teacher asking for some big strong boys to put away the chairs and the instant baby butch urge to carry 16 chairs at once because there is something about being strong, being helpful, that resonates deep in the baby queer soul. That's feels like my read on Kit.)

(And it's queerness in the sense of not fitting normativity; wanting to carry 16 chairs is not about love is love desiring women it's about wanting to occupy space in the world in a way that the world doesn't have a paradigm for.)

So I think there is for sure this moment of relief for Kit, of like oh good Elora can be the princess and I don't have to. She's so much better at it. But I think there's also this intimate realization of - even though Elora will be great at it, it doesn't feel natural to Elora either. And Kit wanting to insulate Elora from that stress and scrutiny. Like in my heart, Kit starts giving Elora crash princess lessons on the way back because she's like look they're going to expect you to know what fork to use and there are 1304982 forks and you're going to be so hungry and this shouldn't matter but it matters but don't worry we've got you.

(The way that Kit has too much confidence because she's trying to use that confidence to get people to allow her to be who she is. The way that she's able to let it go when she's allowed to be a brave knight, is able to then use her softness to her advantage. The way that Elora doesn't trust intuition, gets in her own head too much, because she keeps being told that she's a great hero but she doesn't feel it yet. The way that Kit believing in her gives her the space she needs to trust herself. Somehow this translates into Kit being awful at actually doing court etiquette but amazing at teaching it. You get it.)

And yes there is the pretty butch/femme aesthetic and yes Kit wants to bring Elora to a ball and wear a fun little suit and cape and get to open doors for Elora with her absolutely bananas trailing gown. Of course.

But I think a lot of what gets me is the way that they're two halves of the same coin to the point where they kind of mesh. Elora is going to be the Empress but she needs Kit to be her protector; Kit needs to be a princess but she needs to be near Elora to keep her safe. The way they bicker because they're so similar; they're on the same path but they're coming at it from different angles and so they can't quite see it at first, but once it clicks it clicks, you know?

[heyitsbugette]

Demon Spawn System

"Okay, I'm doing this for my own benefit..."

chapter >

Died at the hands of The Heretic, Damian Wayne Al Ghul met his fate with dignity and grace as he accepted death as a natural process. As embarrassed as he was to lose a match against his own clone, the mere copy of him; the boy was honorable and undaunted until the last minute of his existence.

However, there came a time when he regained consciousness, and the first thing he saw was not the face of his father with those held features and the frown under the Batman mask, no. Rather, the beautiful face of the devil himself in a designer suit, the person who had his existence at the mercy of his pale hands adorned with pianist's fingers. He was tall, skinny, but under the suit you could see that he was no wimp, for all was worth, the stranger looked elegant, who's legs were so long that he could easily reach the perfect height to be a model. The boy seemed to be around 17-18 years old, as opposed to Damian who was only in his tender 15 years.

"Damian Wayne, heir of the league of assassins and the latest Robin to hold the mantle, eh? Not bad~ Thinking that I could get your soul was not something that was in my calculations, but I'm not complaining at all about this twist in events." With a sly smile, the blond boy received him with a quizzical look that ran over the body of the deceased fleetingly as if he were inspecting it. Damian instantly felt uncomfortable and tried to attack, pointing his sword at the blonde's neck, but his victim didn't flinch.

"Who the hell are you?! Speak up or I'll cut your throat!" Furiously the shorter one complained, but he was clearly not having the desired effect on the older boy.

"Are you done? I'm here to talk business. Naturally it didn't take long for you to realize that you're dead. But if you can do something for me, I can resurrect you back to your normal life. But how improper of me! Where are my manners? My name is Félix, Félix Graham de Vanily." That deal was unbelievable, too much to be true, so there must be a trick involved, Damian thought, who soon questioned with interest, more concealing his intentions.

"How can I believe you? And what do you expect me to do?" Those questions from the dark-haired boy were something that the blue-eyed man had anticipated, and without saying a word he simply snapped his fingers, showing him to the surroundings of the two holographic screens full of information. In one of them was Damian's profile, compiling all of his personal information about his civilian and heroic identities, as well as his movie life records organized by date into each folder; Likewise, entire unopened folders floated around him in color codes that Felix himself knew how to distinguish even without labels.

"Fair enough. Although your actions within the league have been deceitful and have caused a great deal of negative emotions, your duties as Robin have helped redeem yourself, thus the universe has given you a second chance. Naturally, you must be able to restore balance, and you have been chosen to become an agent of the divine Systema just like your predecessor, your butler Alfred Pennyworth." The taller one suddenly raised a hand and with his index finger called one of the folders so that it floated towards his hand, suddenly opening and revealing the life-size three-dimensional figure of the aforementioned when he was much younger. A handsome 25 year old Alfred wearing a general's outfit full of elite insignia that conglomerated his achievements.

"Is that… Alfred?"

"Yes. Your grandfather before me was the former leader of The divine balance system. He gracefully retired on a perfect winning streak. Agent A was admired by most of our agents as the ultimate executor of bastards."

"Yes… That sounds like Alfred. You've got me, Graham. But I need to know the terms of the contract before I agree."

"Naturally."

The pair facing each other were more alike than they could assume at first glance. Both were intelligent and strategic, capable of bringing their enemies to their knees begging for a second chance, masters of martial arts and deception itself. Felix in particular had criminal abilities as an illusionist and a thief, but if Damian lost at anything, it was in business intelligence.

"Listen, Wayne. Your mission is much more complicated than what I would assign to a rookie. But being you one of ex-agent A's trusted people and after reading your file as Robin, I can't find a better candidate for this mission. You need to transmigrate in the miraculous universe and solve the consequences distribution disaster immediately, and when the system decides that you have achieved a successful job, the points you have accumulated will help you pay your debt to the universe to re-incarnate. And once you have enough points, you will have a chance to revive." The stern eyes of his now leader had a certain hint of regret, as if this mission was especially personal for him, and although Damian noticed it, he preferred to save his impressions for when he had more information. Thus, he silently nodded and accepted the electronic tablet that the older gave him into his hands, open in the file that he had to read in detail. In it were the general description of the universe and its respective problems.

Damien then began to read aloud.

"Paris, France. Under the terrorist attack of Hawkmoth, a villain capable of turning basic human emotions into lethal weapons of destruction, turning civlians into monsters. Syren being the best example of that. Oh… Here's a hyperlink for more information… Uhm … I see, the protectors of France are teenagers with no previous training who were forced into the mission without a mentor during their first months, after that, their guardian was compromised and lost his memories, so the new guardian is in the most dangerous position now."

"Indeed. Saving Ladybug from akumatization is our priority if we want to save this universe from Hawkmoth, she is the most competent heroine among several universes I have visited, but the plot is against her in many aspects, to the point of blaming her for actions that she didn't provoke, and lay the consequences that others have earned into her. To be honest, I feel a little sorry for the girl."

"She started her heroine career at when she was 13 years old with no mentor… If Batman were here, he would be having a heart attack listening to all this shit…"

His companion nodded in response, in agreement with his new recruit's casual comment. After that he clapped his hands twice, and behind the two slowly appeared a couple of individual sofa for eachother; Felix wasted no time taking a seat, while Damian turned back a bit perplexed that he hadn't seen those chairs right there before, only to then sit across from his employer.

"Wayne, your duty is to infiltrate a class of your choice in Françoise Dupont, and discover on your own the identities of the heroes to save Ladybug. I am not allowed to give you more information, as not to upset the balance, since the clue that I've given you is big enough. But I warn you to be careful around Adrien Agreste, your main target." Graham de Vanily's face suddenly turned somber, something that alarmed the recently deceased, and on alert he decided to read his file in search of any clues. Nothing else seemed suspicious.

"Adrien Agreste? He doesn't seem very smart, but that could be a mask. What threat does he pose? Do you need me to kill him?" He suggested, but Felix denied much to the juvenile killer's notorious disappointment.

"No, that would be giving him a very easy way out to play the martyr, plus it wouldn't help you get points. But in case it wasn't clear before, that boy is not your ally. I need you to destroy his resources, since his plot armor is too powerful. In fact the most brazen I've ever seen from a male lead, as you'll find out when you finish reading his background, which is why I personally got the right kwami to assist you in your quest as your ally." And with a determined smile, the demon stood up from his seat suddenly, extending to the minor the golden pen that rested in the pocket of his suit. And in front of him a contract materialized in the air prepared under the conditions that the two of them discussed earlier. Said contract would force Félix to fulfill Damian's wish when the time came.

A searing silence, a white room, and in the center, the black kwami in question looking at him with a triforce of huge eyes, and a shark smile. He called himself Null, a creature small enough to hide in his pocket, a being of few words much to the relief of the former hero, who was in no mood to deal with a chatty fellow.

Once the contract was signed, The divine system of balance accepted the former blood prince as one of its own.

[saturnsstufff]

The Empress- Darker the Weather // Better the Man

Warnings: topics from the empress, Violence

Sarah laid on the makeshift cot. Lately with how everything had been pulled out, the war seemed like it had no end. Her eyes danced dully well her fingers fiddled with the locket from her lovers. Tears easily welled her eyes at the thought of them waiting for her.

Distant, everything is scattered

She missed them, she missed them more than she thought she truly would. The way their fingers danced warmly around her locks. Or how mornings were spent wrapped up tightly within her wives arms, the cold artic air contrasting to the warm blankets. She just missed the softness of the lingering moments.

When your mind is shattered and torn apart

She knew the war wouldn't last forever, yet with every passing day, it seemed the ending was fading. Sarah knew she shouldn't be mad at Technoblade or (y/n), but she couldn't help it.

Maybe it started with (y/n), the way she clinged and lulled the grand emperor into a false sense of pride. She easily Loathed that. Everyone within the empire assumed the Emperor was in control, but Sarah- being the general, knew exactly who had the power.

In an instant, I can be indifferent

But could she really bring herself to hate her? After all she was pregnant with the Emperor's baby as of currently.

She knew she shouldn't, yet it was so easy...

When she walked into the tent to see the Grand Emperor packing his things- it left her seething. He was going to leave them- leave his troops- his people- people who gave so much in hopes to end the conflict quickly. Technoblade should have known others were missing important family events, yet here they stood, proudly serving under his name.

The blame is always shifted from the start

And it was all because She, called- begged, him to come home.

She couldn't linger about any longer, she needed to distract herself. So grabbing a cloak she left the base camp, although some of the men asked about where she was leaving too. Sarah simply wiped her eyes with pride and assured them of her return.

Leafless treetops in the snow

Views of death and bitter cold

The walk towards the nearby village was a bore. Due to the cold, barely any animals found home within the snow, anymore Sarah was starting to see the appeal of moving somewhere warmer.

Instead of visiting a bakery or a warm café, Sarah found herself wondering into a bar. Perusal, only the odd were within the warm walls. Brute men and sly women hogging up around the bar.

Without a step of hesitance she took her seat at the bar, the two brooding men beside her looked as if they should have scared her off. Yet when they tried to comment on Sarah's seat she simply sent a cold glare. Towards them, a wordless death threat of silence.

When the men backed off, they ultimately decided to move seats completely. In turn a younger gentleman took their seats.

Sarah didn't acknowledge him, something seemed off about it, yet she couldn't place her finger quite on it. The man took a glance to her, his fluffier Blonde hair radiating a familiar tone.

"You seemed troubled..." the man purred, sending Sarah into a eyeroll. Typical men. She thought, knowing exactly where this was leading.

"Don't think like that." The man said, his green eyes flashing slightly as a warning. "I'm only here to hear out a strangers problem... I'm hear to help." He mused.

Although Sarah was offset and held the high urge to not tell a thing to this man. Something told her it was worth it. She needed to get it off her chest.

So she did.

And through that, she felt her nerves lessen. With layer, and layer dropped about Technoblade, his wife, his family, everything. She felt a silver lining.

Something that should have stuck out to her however, was when she went on about Technoblade, the Man seemed to just know everything about him. Even things she didn't know- things that seemed future related. It was odd.

Yet here she found herself, drink in hand, explaining her problems to a lost man at a bar. Through the end of her rant, the only thing he had to say was "Men are hard, but im sure you've herd it before..." at the line she shrugged and looked to her glass.

The swirling bourbon within held her reflection, but something eerier about it, was when she glanced to the man inside the glass. The reflection, although looking exactly like the man beside her, when looking closer she saw halo's crossing over his face, Golden beams of bended light.

When she looked back to the man, he was looking at her unamused. "You know, there is a saying out there, that you may find, useful..." the man said.

You can take all you want, but not who I am

"What is the saying..." Sarah asked cautiously, now alarmed from the mans reflection. She watched the man take a drink before smiling- almost sinisterly.

"The Darker the Weather, the Better the Man" he said. Sarah gave a odd look to him, not understanding, but it didn't take long for the man to elaborate. "Say something hardens the man your talking about. Something that will truly drive him cold. He may turn out better than you expected. After all, weaklings rarely survive war." The man said casually.

The line rang around inside Sarah's mind, what could make techno so cold, that he refused to go home. The man watched her, trying his best to hide the wicked smile he held.

But the darker the weather, the better the man

And then it hit her. Almost like sheer brilliance, it hit her dead on.

You can take all you want, but not who I am

The letters to you.

You can't have my-

When Wilbur was tasked with waking you up, it was easy to say he was always overjoyed. With techno being absent from your side, Wil always tried his best to make you smile. Sometimes even Tommy would tag along.

Of course, Tommy didn't understand the severity of the moment how heartbroken and lost you felt, but he could easily tell you were sad at the least. So he also tried to cheer you up.

Sun shines through an open window

So on days he woke you, he would often run into Technoblade room, your silhouette laying within the oversized bed. He often viewed it as misplaced for how lonely your body looked.

But that didn't ever stop him from pulling the curtains open, the light rarely shined brightly through the glass, but in the end it did allow more light within. Well Wilbur pulled the curtains, tommy would often bounce on your bed, doing his best to make you smile.

Close the curtains real slow to hide the light

Although you would hide your face and try to hide, tommy wouldn't stop his smiling and joyful laugh. Yet Wilbur would always watch how your eyes would linger to techno's side of the bed. Wilbur hadn't seen the letters between you and techno, but he always saw how they tore you up. Whatever he was saying was hurting you, and Wilbur despised it.

But in time, maybe I can change it

At the least Wilbur was thankful you had Orion beside you, he was able to calm most of your haywire nerves. Of course, Wilbur never liked how close he was to you. But, he understood it was a time where you just needed someone.

We'll find someone who feels the same as me

Wilbur saw how you tried to hide your pain, your long nights spent crying, the days you refused to eat, the way you refused to acknowledge techno's lost presence. It was obvious who you were not on good terms.

Wilbur couldn't help his curiosity, he knew it was wrong, yet he did it anyway. When you had left your office for bed Wilbur snuck in, it was the first time he was in Technoblade office alone. The sword you made held high on the wall, truthfully it was poetic.

On a plaque underneath it, was lettering inscribed "the Empress" like the embodied empress, the sword similarly hung alone. With care he slid into your chair, slowly pulling the letters out to read.

You broke me down and stole my soul

And oh was his pissed. For good reason, he saw why everyone was so upset with him.

Left me vacant and all alone

Out of everyone, Orion was the one to see you at your worst. Never had he assumed he would have been so close to someone that he would have gave everything to take your pain away. It left his blood boiling to see you hurt the way you were.

Months of being alone, feeling lost, unloved, unwelcomed. It truly left him with a burning hate. Orion knew he could treat you so much better, that he could take care and provide for you and your infant child.

Over the time techno was gone, he felt he was the only commander to truly hate his leader. Hate what he puts others through, he hated the sorrow he brought along.

But the darker the weather, the better the man

But nothing compared to the pure rage Orion felt when he herd what techno did to you. When you all rested at Foolish's summer home, you didn't lay with techno right off the bat, instead you explained what happened between techno and you.

And Orion was livid.

Techno had put his hands on you- had put his hands on your throat. Orion felt every bone in his body scream to get even. No one raises a hand to those they love, it was just a unspoken law. Orion would have taken to Technoblade as well, only thing holding him back was your tender soft words.

"Please don't- please Orion... let it stay between us..." you begged to him. Soft doe eyes pleading to the Enderian.

You can take all you want, but not who I am

Although it gnawed at Orion’s heart, he respected your call and left it lie. But that didn't stop what fallowed.

With the Enderian's blood flowing strong with rage, emotion, and the urge to defend, he couldn't help the way his eyes slit with the dragons hue, the blood curdling purple that drove fear into those around him.

You were far down the hall, everyone was asleep, it was a perfect time to let everything go.

You can't have my

And go he did..

He had never felt it, even though his blood ran with the Enderian's, he had never felt his anger hit the point of breaking.

The point that others forewarned him about. The point where his jaw would dislocate and his skin would tear open to allow the canines of a monster to show.

It wasn't a side he thought he had.

You can't have my

Yet when the thought laced through his mind again. The thought of techno putting his hands on you, he felt the pop, and the blinding rage that fallowed. Throwing the nearest object as he let the curdling scream out.

You can't have my soul

When techno undressed for the night, he couldn't explain the shame and hurt that he felt. He couldn't meet his own gaze within the mirror. He knew you were willing to bathe with him again. Lay for the night and try and wish it to be what it once was.

But he knew he Hurt you. He knew it wasn't his direct doing, but he was involved- he took it too far.

He could still see the nail marks from where you grabbed his face, he hoped it wasn't the same for your neck.

He didn't deserve you.

He knew it. The way he lashed and you too willing asked him to bathe with you like it was over. You taking his hands, his face his body into your hands, you were truly too wonderful. To amazing for him.

But the darker the weather, the better the man

When you stepped into the bathroom he saw your tired eyes, your arms firmly around Thena. He saw how attached you were to her. She was your world, she was the world techno wanted to live with.

Techno knew he had no right to ask to hold her, not after what he had done to his tiny family. Yet he couldn't help but want to feel you and her in his arms. He wanted to redeem himself and show you he was worthy enough to protect you both.

You can take all you want, but not who I am

After all he was still your husband and her father in the end, it was his job, his one thing he cannot mess up. He knew others were on the line. Others more important than a endless battalion, you were his wife, his life, the mother of his daughter.

You were his world.

But the darker the weather, the better the man

So from that day, he swore. Dare anyone lay a hand on his wife, and daughter. He would raise hell upon them.

He would never loose you too like he almost did.

You can take all you want, but not who I am

[shootingcookielover]

Warnings: Uhhh Remus being Remus, I think, otherwise... Kidnapping, I suppose and... Attempted murder?

--

Prince Roman had come to face the Serpent, had come to cut the beast's head right off. And he was going to! Becaus he wasn't scared.

At all. Remus was wrong.

Remus was always wrong.

So Roman entered the caves, sword firmly grasped in his hand. When he reached the biggest cavern, he stopped. (It wasn't because he was too afraid to go further, there couldn't be any bigger caves than this one. Surely.)

He drew in a deep breath and yelled, voice barely shaking from anger, not fear: "Serpent! I've come to slay you, foul beast!"

His words echoed along the vast room around him and he felt very small all of a sudden.

He couldn't hear anything but his own echo for a bit, but when that finally died down, his heart sunk into his stomach.

Some kind of... Scratching sound was heard, but also that sound that a body makes, a body that's dragged along rough stone. (He remembered vividly that time Remus had pulled one of their servants' kids on the ground for an entire day. Roman had found it odd and a bit off-putting, but they had seemed to both enjoy themselves, so he had left them to it.)

But there was also the distinct ruffling of fabric and, on rare occasions, a blink of something yellow reflecting what little light there was.

Roman should have brought a torch, he thought, but it was too late now. He gripped his sword tighter, raising the tip against whatever may come from the darkness.

His heart dropped all the way to his feet when the serpent stood to it's full height in front of him.

Whereas before the vastness of the cave had made him feel inferior, now he felt so utterly and incredibly small, he could barely breath. He took a hesitant step back, but no more than one.

Somewhere deep in his brain there was still that thought, that stubbornness, that he wanted to prove he wasn't a coward. It kept his feet rooted to the spot, even as his sword shook with his fear.

The serpent let out an amused chuckle that sent spikes of terror and adrenaline through Roman like fireworks.

The beast shifted again, but it was too fast and the cave too dark for Roman to know what it did.

Not until giant fingers grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him off the ground with ease.

Faced with a situation like this, some fight bubbled up inside him. He thrashed weakly, quiet pleas and sometimes threats falling from his lips, but nothing he did affected the Serpent.

The fingers only gave him a bit of a shake and the sword, already held in a fumbling, weak grip, clattered to the ground, alongside his crown. The only token still connecting him to his kingdom, tumbling off into the darkness below.

Any and all fight left Roman as the beast flicked it's wrist just so that he was atop it's hand.

It had raised him towards it's face; half of it oddly human, while the other clearly wasn't.

"You've come to slay me?", The creature questioned, one hand dramatically indicating itself. "I'm almost flattered!"

Roman didn't know how to respond, couldn't, even if he had known how to. His voice seemed broken and all that fell from his lips were fragments of sentences never quite formed in his fear-addled mind.

The Serpent hummed and Roman felt his breath catch, felt his heart studder and his adrenaline spike. His mouth clicked shut and he was afraid. So, so afraid.

"Well, assuming you have given up on that, quite frankly, impossible endeavour...", The beast's eyes moved across Roman's comparatively small frame. Took in the details of his hair, left a mess by the crown he'd worn before. Took in the red sash neatly tied across his torso, the white clothing and the obviously expensive brown leather boots. "I think I'll keep you."

Finally, with the last bits of desperation and terror and utter confusion, Roman managed to ask a question. "W- what?!"

Not a long question, but a question nonetheless.

The Serpent chuckled, not answering the Prince's question, not even with one of it's own. Instead, the beast reached out with a finger of it's unoccupied hand and gently stroked Roman's head.

"You're cute."

Not even a repeat of his earlier question made it past his lips this time. All he managed were distressed gurgling sounds that were vaguely worrying, but not enough so that the Serpent noticed.

It slithered off, into the depths of it's domain, carefully clutching a tiny human in it's hand. A human that realized with sinking dread that, no, that cavern hadn't been the biggest one.

Not by a long shot.

--

His steps were soft and inaudible in the damp air of the cave. Instead of a lit torch he carried with him a lamp, not yet housing the flickering light of a flame.

He didn't intend to draw any attention to his presence, not now anyway.

He was here for one purpose and one purpose only; to get his moron of a brother out of trouble. That idiotic twin of his had somehow thought that running of to fight a gigantic Naga was a good idea.

Roman didn't even know the creature's name, for the stars' sake!

Remus stopped in his tracks to stare at the darkness in contemplation. Logan was rubbing off on him.

A giggle escaped him as that thought was accompanied by the most pleasant of visuals his mind could conjure. Oh, how he wished Logan would make more of those delightful screams he seemed to be bursting with!

A joyful skip to his walk, Remus continued down the tunnels. Knowing his brother, Roman hadn't bothered to step out of the main cave into one of the side ones.

And people thought Remus was the dumb twin.

Maybe he was, he mused, as he skipped along and kicked some water up from a nearby puddle. He was following his brother into certain death, after all.

At the mouth of the fourth cavern, Remus stopped. Perhaps to revel in the delicious thought of a cavern-monster that just waited for travellers to step past it's mouth, so it could crunch them with it's rock-column teeth before swallowing them.

Or, perhaps, because he caught sight of something. Of something familiar.

Through the thick darkness he could make out the vague shape of a crown and a sword. While he'd never been quite as good at vision-enhancing magic as his brother, when he fell to his knees next to the items, he knew they belonged to Roman.

He didn't mind the cave's dampness seeping into his pants from the ground, didn't care about the chill digging it's way into his legs, settling into his bones.

He only cared about his brother.

With shaking fingers he reached out, one carefully tracing along the edge of Roman's most priced possession - a katana that had been custom-made just for the prince.

It was sharp as ever, giving Remus a small cut along his fingertip. He didn't care about that either.

He numbly picked up his brother's crown and sword, gathered them into his trembling arms.

"Roman...?", He whispered into the cold, uncaring darkness of the cave-monster's belly.

He received no answer, of course, and he hadn't expected to. Not if he was being entirely honest, and there was rarely a time were Remus was anything but entirely honest.

His legs shook when he stood, they didn't shake anymore when he stepped out of the cave.

Warm sunlight chased the cave's chill right out of him, but there was something deeper, darker it could not even reach. Something that had settled into Remus' soul the moment he'd pieced together that he would actually not see his brother again.

Logan sat not too far from the entrance to the tunnels, a book propped up on his lap. Remus would have found the sight endearing, had he not been carrying the last remains of his brother.

The royal advisor looked up when he heard Remus' steps. With quick movements the book was packed up and Logan was on his feet, approaching the dour looking Duke.

"Is Prince Roman--"

"Dead.", Remus said, not caring that he had cut the other off. He stared down at the items in his arms. In the daylight it became even clearer that these were Roman's.

That tiny scratch in the metal right beneath the third crystal, the one Remus had made and always refused to answer Roman about. The small chunk of metal that had come off when Roman had fallen out of that tree in the courtyard, the one that looked a bit like a hunching figure.

The crystal that looked just a bit too smooth, a bit too round, a bit too different from the others.

"He's dead.", He repeated, as if needing to clarify. "Roman is dead! Killed by a snake or a cave or maybe a fallen rock!"

Remus clutched the crown and sword tighter.

A hysteric laugh bubbled forth from the prince at that.

"Could you imagine that, Logan?! The great prince Roman crushed into tiny little pieces of flesh and meat and bone and skin and brain, all scattered underneath a rock?! Inside a cave? Never to be seen again?!"

He laughed more, he felt light-headed, tears were falling from his eyes. "Buried under tons and tons of earth, never able to get a proper burial pyre!"

Logan placed a calming hand on Remus' shoulder and the Prince's laughter ceased. There was only pain in his eyes, not a trace of mirth as he looked into Logan's eyes.

"That thing killed my brother, Logan.", He mumbled, arms tightening around the sword and the crown once more, not caring that the blade cut into his arm.

"I'm going to get my revenge. I'm going to kill it, too, Logan. I'm going to cut it up into tiny little itsy-bitsy pieces while it is still alive, to hear it scream and cry and yell and beg in agony for it's worthless life, but I will not spare it. I will never spare it. Do you understand, Logan?"

The royal advisor could only nod, already he was forming plans in his head on how to best help the prince. The only prince, now.

Remus gave a mirthless smile and walked past Logan into the forest, soon disappearing from the cave's field of vision.

He left only a small trail of blood behind.

--

So uh

The fic I made to go with that piece of art up there that was pretty much just a doodle

Uhhhh yeah hope you like it. I'd like to continue it, but I know I won't have the motivation/energy to see it through to the end so. Uhm. Maybe there'll be more, but probably not.

[lightshelldarkyoak]

Part 2: Moon Crossed Lovers

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!", Hades screams from the top of his corroded lungs as he tries to claw Hou Yi in half.  Hou Yi responds in kind while loosing arrow after arrow into Hades's shapeless form, "ABOMINATION'S FIRST!", said Hou Yi. Ever since Hades revealed his true form to Hou Yi the only sound heard in the distance has been that of battle.  Souls of the damned screaming in agony as they are forced to aide their master in pinning down the lone marksman. The fleet-footed marksman himself manages to dodge their un-dead grasp with ease, unleashing volleys of flaming arrows into the night while hes at it. Most would assume this battle of titans's to be a stalemate. Unfortunately though for Hades, Hou Yi was starting to get the upper hand. The heavenly marksman trained with the bow ceaselessly, even before acquiring the Raven Bow. Not even one day went by without training being involved in his daily regimen. Meanwhile, Hades lead a very sedentary lifestyle by simply sitting on his throne, watching the River Styx flow by, and listening to the throes of anguish as Cerberus mutilated those who dared to unlawfully exit or enter the underworld. thus with this grand difference in both ability and tempered skill the battle seemed to be nearing its end. however unbeknownst to both gods, a third more graceful goddess was about to make her way into the fray.

  Still deep within the caverns, a simple argument was ensuing over direction and pride: Chang'e: are you sure we're going the right way Mon? The Moon Rabbit: yes madam , if you follow me through this path here we'll make it to the surface in no time. Chang'e: That what you said the first time Mon. Not only did we not make it back to the surface,  it took us an extra two hours to make it back to the camp!

The Moon Rabbit: NOW LISTEN HERE MISSY! I may be an old moon rabbit but I still have pride in my animal instincts! and theses rabbit ears of mine heard a sound this way!

Chang'e: ugh, very well Mon.

The Moon Rabbit: That is another issue!

Chang'e: Hmmm?

The Moon Rabbit: why do you call me Mon?

Chang'e: Well your name is The Moon Rabbit correct?

The Moon Rabbit: YES IT IS INDEED I, THE ALMIGHTY MOON RABBIT! Chang'e: .........

The Moon Rabbit: (The most trolling look you can Imagine) 

Chang'e: ....Well your name is too long

The Moon Rabbit: Its my name madame

Chang'e: I like Mon better, its cute! 

Moon Rabbit: b-but madame

Chang'e: yes Mon?

Moon R. : I-

Chang'e: Yeessssss Mon?

Moon: ......I don't have much of a choice do I?

Chang'e: *shakes her head and brandishes a smile so bright it lights up the cavern* nope!

Mon: *sighs* very well, from this point on I shall be....Mon.....

Chang'e: Splendid! now lead the way Mon!

Mon: Uuuuuuuuugggghhh ..........!

  "Madame, I believe we are nearing the origin of the sound I heard not long ago, as well as the surface!" Mon explained with glee. A sparkle had returned to Chang'e eyes that Mon could only remember seeing when he first met her on the moon's surface. Granted, this sparkle shines much brighter for two reasons. Not only does Chang'e have a chance to finally look at the planet where most of her memories lie, she may finally get to see her beloved after so much time has transpired. "Now madam I must warn you of the dangers that are out-", before Mon could get a word in, Chang'e dashed into the open now dawn with reckless abandon. Hope and joy welling in her heart she bellowed, "MY BELOVED, I AM HERE!"

Dashing out into the sea of tranquility, Chang'e stretched her arms to feel the solar winds flowing through her kimono and kicking moon rocks along the way just for fun. eventually, she came to a stop and properly started stretching. In the process of all this stretching she knocked off what was most likely a millennia's worth of space dust from her kimono. Mon not exactly too enthused with all the dust, begins to have a sneezing fit because of it. Chang'e notices Mon's discomfort and performs an elegant crescent spin move that knocks all the surrounding dust away in one fell swoop. as She leans down to brush some dust off the rabbit's muzzle she asks, "Mon are you alright?" Mon replies, "I'll be fine madam, but we have bigger dilemmas to tackle". Chang'e responds with a quizzical look and tone, "where?" Mon simply points and says, "look". Chang'e looks in the direction Mon pointed, at first she can't make it out because of how bright it is compared to the caverns. Eventually her eyes adjust and after a bit of squinting she sees them, but most importantly him. His red scarf, long flowing ponytail, his distinct headdress, his eyes burning with determination to go beyond his limits, and finally his bow of feather and steel shining like a lighthouse in the distance on this vast ocean of rock and sand. overcome with emotion, she wailed one name: "HOOOUUU YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"

Back to Chang'e and Mon, they were watching in the distance to see if the battle was over or if they heard Chang'e's voice. "Madame I think the battle is over" said Mon. " did he win, do you think he heard me?" Chang'e replies. "I believe so but its strange that the skeletal figure disappeared all of sudden" said Mon. "OH! I see him! Hiii my love!", Change yells joyously while waving. "hmmm, that's odd", Chang'e points out. "What's that?" Mon replies, "the last time Yiyi ran that feverishly was when a boulder was about to fall on me".  ".....................Madame I have a plethora of questions for that statement alone" said Mon. "Regardless, he does seem panicked. I wonder wh-" before Mon could finish his pondering, Hades's black visage arose from the ground enveloping everything in darkness. "Salutations Wench, I'll be borrowing your form " Hades said with a wicked smile. "MON HELP ME!", Chang'e yelled "MADAME WHERE ARE YOU, ITS TOO DARK!" Mon replied in panic. "YOU'RE IN THE WAY VERMIN!" Hades roared as he knocked Mon into a nearby dune. "GAH!" Mon reeling from the blow drifted into the sand dune and fell unconscious. "Mon!" Angered by Hades's treatment of one of her eternal companions Chang'e proceeds to threaten him appropriately. "SHOW YOUR PRESENCE SO I CAN END YOU MYSELF!" she yells with righteous fury. "very well, but be careful what you wish for. hihihiAHAHAHAHAH" Hades responds knowing full well his final plan is complete and unveils the darkness. As the darkness cleared and vision is returned to Chang'e's eyes a figure stands before her that is both bewildering  and yet very familiar. "So?" , said the figure flashing a cheeky smile. "how do I look?" the figure responded again with a near perfect replication of her voice. At this point Chang'e realized the horrors of what had transpired. What was standing in front of her was Hades, but in the form of herself.

"You monster", Chang'e spat as her graceful demeanor cracked for the smallest of seconds as she stared straight into herself knowing full well what Hades' s final scheme was. "Monster?" hades laughed " i'm just a damsel in distress and for all we know, you could be the monster here" Hades said with sinister elation. Chang'e had just about enough of Hades's illusion and prepared to dance his head clean off his body. Sadly before she could twirl, Hades's grabbed her arm and said "I would be careful where you spin princess, since lover boy is almost her". Understanding the gravity of the situation before her, she held back. Knowing full well the consequences of killing her clone right in front Hou Yi.

Hou Yi, now having caught up but gasping for air utters his beloved's name "C-gasp wheeze Chang'e where are you?". in perfect unison a response is heard, "here I am Hou YI".  Standing up properly from his hunched and haggard stance, Hou yi speaks, "strange, did your voice always res..o...nate". If it wasn't for the situation at hand, Hou Yi would have fainted. He was looking at not one but two Chang'e's, Both Identical in voice and pose. "C-Chang'e?" Hou Yi asked, "yes?" they both responded. Confounded by the turn of events, the marksman hunched over again for air but also to think. After a couple Moments of pondering , He realized there was only one thing to do. "lady and god of death, one of you is the my most cherished one." The Chang'e's looked on in silence while Hou yi continued, " I will find out who your identities are with questions and events that only me and Chang'e know, and once I figure who is who". he paused, "ONE OF YOU WILL DIE!" , the pressure from that statement alone sent shivers down both the Chang'e's spines.  So now begins the final gambit of the god of underworld, a game of memories with one wrong move or answer from either side leading to death.

Question after Question, with each being farther back and more specific than the other. A fool-proof plan except for the fact that each Chang'e had a perfect answer. Hades's was able replicate everything about Chang'e including past memories that only her and Hou Yi knew, all it took was a little help from the Oracles. Hou Yi was starting to run out of questions and patience. Meanwhile Hades was snickering on the inside as his perfect plan was coming to fruition. Simply put, running down the clock until Hou Yi would have to guess or finally buckle from the stress. If Hou Yi picked him and shot Chang'e he would wait until Hou YI inevitably came in for a hug and reap his soul. On the other hand if Hou Yi did shoot him but collapsed after, Hades would use that chance. By appearing from below Hou Yi, Hades would attempt to take him to the underworld with his ultimate ability before Chang'e killed him. It was a dastardly double edged sword that only Hades, the the god of the afterlife could forge. "Everything is going to plan" Hades's said in his mind.........Or so he thought. A couple feet away from this deadly game a certain fluffy companion was waking from his impromptu slumber.

Mon, The Moon Rabbit was stuck headfirst in moon sand for at least an hour before regaining consciousness.  When he did arise his response was.....unique to say the least.  *PTOOIE* "Goodness me the last time I had my head dunked in the sand for that long was when I lived with my nineteen brothers and sisters!", Mon said right before spitting more moon sand out. *Ptooie* "Now, where has the madam been whisked away to" taking the power of the impact into consideration, Mon guessed that he had not been sent flying too far. After scanning the area for what felt like an 10 minutes Mon saw a recognizable Figure in the distance making his guess correct. "there you are, but wait... there are two! hmmm" mulling his thoughts Mon had an idea. "lets try this for size", in a matter of seconds after speaking Mon's eyes  began to glow bright jade and that's when he saw it. "HA!" Mon scoffed, " you may be a master trickster but these jade eyes of mine see EVERYTHING, TALLYHOOO!". With pep in his hop and brimming with confidence, Mon scurried towards his master in order to break Hades double-edged sword into pieces!

Hou yi: .......Favorite toe....

Chang'e and Hades: ......Pinky......

Hou Yi: .......if you were Jing Wei, how would you say hello .....

Chang'e and Hades : ........Oh hey fam.........

Hou YI: ............THATS IT, I'M SORRY BUT  ITS TIME TO CHOOSE!

Chang'e's mind: NO MY LOVE

Hades's mind: FINALLLLYYYYYY!

Mon steps onto the scene in gallant bunny fashion!

Mon: HOLD IT!

Hou Yi: a talking rabbit?

Chang'e's mind: MON!

Hades's mind: VERMIN!

Mon: Never Fear, for I have a plan Sir Yi, but it requires secrecy.

Hou Yi: Tell me your secrets small creature

Mon, proceeded to whisper something in everybody's ears and at the end of it, everyone was ready.

Hou Yi: Could both Chang'es please move several paces from each other

Chang'e and Hades: Yes my love

As both Chang'es moved away from each other, Mon stuck with the original as they moved farther away from Hades's reach but stopped in perfect range for something else

Hou YI: Its time small creature

Mon: indeed sir Yi......... MY INSTINCTS ARE TOP NOTCH!

As Mon hollered this abnormal comment, Hades stayed perfectly still while Chang'e did a perfect twirl

Mon: *wink* there you have it

Hades: what?

Hou Yi: *smirks* indeed

Hades: pardon?

Chang'e: *giggles*

Hou Yi: NOW MY LOVE!

SUNBREAKER!

Chang'e:  RIGHT BEHIND YOU!

WAXING MOON!

Hades: AGH THE PAIN,  I CAN'T MOVE ! NO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ! NO! STOP! IT BURNS!  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

Chang'e and Hou Yi unleashed their ultimate abilities in glorious fashion and timing! Crescent blades flew from Chang'e's kimono, cleaving through Hades's being and stunning him in place! Meanwhile 8 molten suns come crashing down where Hades stands practically incinerating him on the spot! This volley of fire goes on until the dust clears leaving the god of the afterlife in such a state that his only salvation is death and a quick return to the realm he left. "D-*COUGH*-damn you" Hades whimpered as he tried to reserve what life and energy he had left. Hou Yi being the chivalrous individual he was spared Hades's from his arrows point so that he could speak one last time. "H-how *cough* d-did you know?" Hades asked sincerely.  "Elementary" Said Mon, "these Jade eyes of mine can see who has consumed the potion of immortality and unlike you Hades, these two  practically looked like they were glowing". "....I see.... guess in the end that "light" was never meant to be mine after all...." Hades replied sullenly. " Well, anyway last words O' god of the underworld" Hou Yi said in snarky manner followed by Chang'e giving him a light smack for being petty. "Just five" Hades responds in kind, "See you in the underworld, ahahahahAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHMUUHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAhhaha...hhaa.hh...aa..........."

The ominous glowing miasma that constantly flowed from Hades's form began to dissipate, eventually his entire being began to disappear until not even his presence remained. After Chang'e and Hou Yi finished watching Hades fade out of existence, a plan thousands of years in the making was finally coming to fruition. Chang'e and Hou Yi simply turned, held each other in their arms, and a simple conversation ensued.

Hou Yi: ......So, any ideas? we might be on this rock for awhile

Chang'e: a few.....but you'll never get to know them until I say so <3

Hou yi: Ha! i'm a pretty patient man as you can see!

Mon: Yep! say no more! if you need this bunny he'll be in the cave!

Mon hops away as fast as possible realizing he's a third wheel

Chang'e & Hou Yi: ......pfttHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Chang'e: sure, sure, anyway I believe there is a thousand-year monologue we could never quite address. *smiles* care to help me?

Hou Yi: *grins* of course......... Chang'e, where are you?

Chang'e: Here I am Hou Yi. I'll be right here beside you, Always and forever.

.......yes they kissed, Happy?!

-Fin-