#also I only recently noticed that spike is incredibly short and that’s a little funny to me

[andro-dino]

silly little thoughts

[xbaepsae]

the ebb and flow | part four

“In the five years you’ve known him, you’ve never really stopped to notice how much he has changed. Long gone is that awkward thirteen-year-old boy.”

[demigod!jeongguk x demigod!reader]

genre: percy jackson!au, mythology!au, demigod!au, enemies to lovers!au

word count: 1.9k

rating: pg-13

warnings: the usual character tension, nothing really too crazy...besides a shirtless jk lol

a/n: omg i love this chapter so much! eeek. it’s just very exciting imo lol. hope you all enjoy :) xoxo

→ series masterlist!

the fifth summer – in which you come to a realization

“How come I’ve barely seen you these last few days?”

It’s the third day of you fulfilling out your punishment with Jeongguk, and surprisingly it hasn’t been that awful. When you both are busy cleaning, you guys rarely talk. There is just always so much to be done, it leaves little room for conversation. But this is ideal anyway; the less you have to interact with Jeongguk, the better.

Looking up from your lunch, you see Haru blinking at you. She’s the head counselor for Aphrodite’s cabin now. “Oh, hey. What’s up?”

Even though she’s technically not supposed to, she takes a seat at your table anyway and gives you a concerned look. However, on her pretty face, even concern looks beautiful. “There’s a rumor going around that your cabin got in trouble.”

You freeze. “Who did you hear that from?”

“I heard some of the younger Aphrodite girls gossiping last night,” Haru says, “and they mentioned your name and Jeongguk’s.”

“Oh,” you don’t even know what to say. Styx. If the Aphrodite cabin knew, then everyone is bound to find out sooner or later. “Yeah, it’s a long story.”

Haru cocks her head. “Well, good thing I’m a great listener.”

As one of your closest friends here, Haru knows much about the history between you and Jeongguk. When you tell her about the attempted capture the flag game and how you’re stuck cleaning stables with your enemy, you can tell she’s struggling not to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing,” she lets out a giggle. “This is all just too perfect.”

“What do you mean?” you ask, getting up to throw the rest of your meal as an offering. Walking out of the dining pavilion, Haru follows you closely behind.

“What I mean is,” she begins, looping her arm through yours, “that I can’t be the only one here who notices something.”

You have zero idea what she’s talking about. “Notice what?”

Haru suddenly forces you to stop in your tracks, angling your body towards the volleyball courts. “Notice that.”

Narrowing your gaze towards that direction, you notice there are a number of people there—especially girls. Rarely does a large crowd like that gather during this time of day; it’s the afternoon and an incredibly hot summer in Long Island this year. Your eyes move from the crowd to the players, and that’s when you see what Haru was talking about. You realize Ares’s cabin is playing against Poseidon’s, which means Jeongguk is—

“Why does he have to be so hot without a shirt on?” Haru muses, fanning herself.

From this angle, you can see the way his shorts ride dangerously low on his hips and the sweat that glistens across his skin. His hair has grown considerably long recently, and he has to continuously brush it back to reveal his eyes. As he moves to receive the ball and jumps to land a spike, you can understand why the girls are looking at him like he’s a god and not just a half-blood.

In the five years you’ve known him, you’ve never really stopped to notice how much he has changed. Long gone is that awkward thirteen-year-old boy. Obviously, training here at Camp Half-Blood makes campers leaner and more muscular, but Jeongguk looks…good—really good—which you hate to even think about.

“He looks okay,” you manage to say before you tear your eyes away from him.

Beside you, Haru huffs. “You’re so lame, y/n. Can’t even admit that Jeongguk is hot.”

“He’s annoying, that’s what he is.”

“Whatever you say,” she rolls her eyes. “I think he looks especially delicious these days.”

After you drop Haru off at Cabin Ten, you walk towards yours and proceed to finish some summer work. Well, it’s not really work per se, but more like something you just really wanted to do. Since you’re going to college in New Rome this fall and majoring in architecture, you’ve been redesigning a few buildings and even creating your own. Like most Athena children, you love creating and can’t wait to see what your future holds in the field.

You are so caught up in your work that you don’t even notice that much of the day has already passed by, and you should probably grab a quick dinner before heading to the stables. As you rush through dinner, a few of your half-siblings bring up your punishment, clearly feeling bad that you’re the one who’s taken responsibility for everything.

“As head counselor, I had to,” you explain.

“Yeah, but it’s not really fair,” one of them says. “I mean, we all wanted to give Poseidon’s cabin a run for their money.”

“They’re all so arrogant since their godly parent is one of the big three.”

“Zeus and Hades campers are the same.”

You listen as your cabin begins complaining about all the other cabins and their various faults, but their voices fade when Jeongguk passes by your table. He’s walking with Jimin and gives you a look that you can’t decipher. But before you can delve too deeply in it, Aphrodite’s table calls him over. Flashing them his signature smirk, he leaves without another glance.

“How’s it been having to work with him?” Namjoon sets his plate right in front of you, breaking your attention away from Jeongguk.

You shrug. “He’s an asshole, but it actually hasn’t been that bad. Could honestly be worse.”

“Think you’ll last the rest of your punishment?”

“I hope so,” you sip from your goblet. “Or else Chiron is going to have my ass, and not to mention Mr. D is supposed to come back next week.”

“Oh yeah,” Namjoon muses like he forgot that the god of wine runs the camp. You don’t blame him—you often forget that too. “Where is he anyway?”

Thinking back to the head counselor meeting you had a few weeks ago, you try to remember what Chiron had told you all. “I think he just had some business to take care of in Olympus. You know, twelve stuff. Meetings perhaps?”

Namjoon nods before you tell him that you have to leave. “I’ll see you guys at the campfire later.”

“Sure; see ya.”

***

You finish your portion of the stables quick—cleaning has gotten easier as the days have gone by—and wait outside the stables.

It’s not like you want to wait for Jeongguk’s slow ass, but you have the key anyway and there’s no way you trust him enough to just leave it. So, you settle for watching the last remnants of the sunset in the sky. From here, you can begin to make out the smoke from the nightly campfire. And slowly, the smell of burnt marshmallows begins to fill your lungs and thought brings a smile to your face. 

For a moment, you’re so caught up in your thoughts that you don’t even realize that Jeongguk is already beside you. When you realize that he’s awfully close to you, a gasp leaves your lips. “Holy Styx, you scared me!”

You except him to respond with something snarky, but he doesn’t. Instead, he begins to walk away, and you frantically attempt to lock the gate and follow him. On the way to the campfire, you stay a few feet behind Jeongguk, and you can’t help but think about Haru’s words from earlier today.

As much as it pisses you off, Jeongguk is super attractive these days. However, although he looks good, you can’t get over his attitude that often clouds your judgement. He’s a pain in the ass, and you can’t wait for the rest of the punishment to fly by.

When you both arrive at the campfire, the singing has already begun. Well, the singing by Apollo’s cabin at least. You try to get as far away from Jeongguk as possible, finding a seat beside Min Yoongi, son of Hades. The pale boy gives you a weird look, probably wondering why you’re sitting beside him.

“What in Zeus’s name do you think you’re doing?” he asks, confirming your thoughts.

You feign innocence. “What do you mean?”

“Y/n, you never sit here.”

He is partially correct—you usually sit beside your own cabin or Haru—but you two are friends…right? You voice this thought to him, but Yoongi just rolls his eyes—clearly not enthused by you or Hoseok’s lyre playing. “Oh, don’t be like that, Yoongi. We are friends.”

“What have you been doing with Jeongguk?” he suddenly changes the subject, and everyone’s singing seems to fade into the background. “You two aren’t…sneaking around, are you?”

The suggestive look on Yoongi’s face would be hilarious any other moment—because he rarely shows any emotion—but you choke at his assumption instead. “Oh gods no. Why would I do something like that?”

“Beats me,” Yoongi shrugs. “All I know is you both look suspicious as fuck.”

“Well, you’re wrong,” you huff, “Jeongguk and I aren’t sneaking around. That’s disgusting.”

“Then what are you two doing coming to the campfire together?” If Yoongi doesn’t know about your punishment, then most people probably don’t know either. That brings you a little relief.

Although you don’t want everyone to know, you also don’t mind telling Yoongi. As a Hades kid, he mostly keeps to himself anyway. So, you answer his question and reveal that you actually got in trouble, which is why you’ve been spending extra time with the son of Poseidon.

“So, yeah, Chiron’s making us build teamwork skills,” you practically spit out.

Yoongi hums, eyes moving from you to glance at the fire. You take a moment to observe him, glancing at his dark hair and dark clothes. How does he manage to get away with not wearing the camp t-shirt? Maybe he just doesn’t care.

“Interesting,” is all he says.

“How so?”

Yoongi doesn’t answer your question; instead, he asks, “So, how’s it been building teamwork skills with Jeongguk?”

“I mean,” you begin, “it could be worse, I guess. Jeongguk and I usually fight all the time; but we really haven’t these last few days.”

“That’s some progress, yes?”

You nod. “I suppose.”

“Think you’ll hate the poor kid forever?” Turning your head to face him, you notice a weird expression in his eyes. You don’t really know what it means.

“I don’t know,” you answer truthfully. “Forever’s a long time.”

Silence passes between you after that, the both of you paying attention to Chiron’s announcements. Afterwards, more music is played, and more singing is done—some campers even get up to dance with the nymphs. Eventually, the night ends and everyone slowly begins to walk back to their cabins. You’re about to join Namjoon and the rest of Athena’s cabin when Yoongi’s voice holds you back.

“I think you should give Jeongguk a chance.”

You raise a brow at that. Is he being serious? “What?”

“He’s not as horrible as you make him seem,” Yoongi says, which causes you to roll your eyes. “I’m serious.”

“Are we talking about the same person?” You almost want to laugh. Where is this even coming from? “Because if so, you have a really different perception of Jeongguk than I do.”

“Maybe I do because I’m a child of the Big Three too, which means I empathize with him; but at the same time, you’ve only seen one side of Jeongguk—the side you want to see. The side he shows when you two are at odds.”

You think about this for a moment, but quickly shake your head. “I don’t know, Yoongi.”

“Trust me,” he says before leaving you to stand there all alone.

[queerfilmclub]

Q&A with Christina Xing

For the first week of Queer Film Club, you voted for Christina Xing’s short film HOW THE MOON FELL FROM THE SKY AND NO ONE EVEN NOTICED. It was an incredibly sweet film about growing up Queer in a small town. With gorgeous art direction, creative flair, and musical sensibility, Ms. Xing’s film leaves a strong impression, but what’s most impressive about this project is that the entire cast and crew was comprised of high school students. Even the beautiful score was performed entirely by a high school orchestra. She was kind enough to join the Queer Film Club Facebook group to answer some of our questions.

Queer Film Club:

How did you secure funding for this film? Do you have any tips you’d like to give to fellow young filmmakers? What kind of equipment were you able to have access to?

Christina Xing:

So we actually only had about $3,000-$4,000 at the time of shooting. Half of it was through a grant from Seamless Strategy and the other half was through my friend's production company. (beginning of the film)

I'd say my biggest tips for young filmmakers is to always think the opposite when it comes to creating things. don't go to the places where most people will secure their funding, brainstorm places where no one has thought about securing funding before. same thing with the resources within the film (equipment, orchestra, dancers, etc) I went to an arts boarding school but most people only focused on the arts in their discipline. so I thought the opposite, what's a way to utilize all the arts at my school?

We had access to the schools gear (c-stands, stingers, general gear) but had to get crafty with camera and camera setups due to lack of money and resources

QFC:

You seem to have a keen eye for art direction, what are some of your favourite set designs in film history? How about some favourite musicals?

Christina:

Thanks so much! I grew up watching musicals so I found myself taking a lot of interest and inspiration through there. THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, PIERROT LE FOU are some of the main films I pulled for inspiration on set designs (and some of my favs in history)

QFC:

Who are your biggest filmmaking role models? If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, who would you choose?

Christina:

My favorite filmmakers of all time are Fellini and Ozu. But if I could collaborate with anyone in the world, I would choose Spike Jonze or Michel Gondry because I think they are always bringing fresh concepts and perspectives to the table. they also come from the world of music video and commercial, which I appreciate.

QFC:

What were your main takeaways from the production of HOW THE MOON FELL FROM THE SKY AND NO ONE EVEN NOTICED? Did you learn any important lessons you’d like to share? If you were to make this film all over again, what might you have done differently?

Christina:

I think with that film, that was the first time I completely trusted myself and just made something I cared about with no focus on how it would be perceived or seen. It was also made with all my best friends and we had some of the best memories through creating that film together. My biggest take away is that if you aren't creating a labor of genuine love with people you love, you're not ready to be creating that project. It took so much love to make that film possible, I couldn't have done it myself. I think often young filmmakers worry too much about making something that impresses others, wins awards or 'changes their life'. The film I least expected to do that, ended up changing my life the most. If I could do it all over again, I would have probably focused more on sound. I cringe a lot when I think about the ADR and sound of the film. It's a shame we didn't find a way to funnel more money in to getting good lavs.

QFC:

Do you have any funny anecdotes from the set? What was your favourite part about working on this project?

Christina:

So much of the film was so grass roots. We stayed over night at my best friend Shane Bagwell's house (he photographed the film) and had a big old spaghetti dinner together, most of the scenes "within the movie" were shot at his house. Shooting till the early morning and then we hit the movie theater the next day with little to no sleep at all. It really was like one big summer camp adventure with everyone I loved. but the difference was, we were counting down the days together because we were all seniors and high school and knew that this would be the last thing we could all make together in a very long time.

QFC:

What inspired the character of the man on the moon? What did he represent to you and the writer, Jack Fossett?

Christina:

Jack actually wrote a play that was about the man on the moon (i.e the film inside the movie that they were making was Jack's original movie concept) but then I told him about my unrequitted love experiences and he ended up writing a beautiful story about growing up gay in the middle of nowhere. For me the man on the moon represents someone who will one day love you for you. Someone who will see you and you won't have to compromise yourself for. There's someone out there for everyone, even if it seems like they're on the moon.

QFC:

That's really sweet! As a member of the upcoming generation of filmmakers, what quality do you admire most among your peers? What do you see for the future of cinema?

Christina:

I think my class of filmmakers is fixed on telling authentic stories from their different background and cultures. We aren't striving to fit any old traditional hollywood boxes any more. We're building our own round table of filmmakers, whether hollywood likes it or not. We aren't taking no for an answer. I see a bright future for cinema. I know we have so much more progress to make but the fact that I'm able to grow up in the era of THE FAREWELL and MOONLIGHT even existing is pretty cool.

QFC:

What was the initial spark that lit the flame for you to want to become a filmmaker? What were some of your early influences?

Christina:

I think honestly, I grew up in alabama as one of the only asian girls in my school. I was always obsessed with movies like JUNO and 500 DAYS OF SUMMER. Growing up and no one near me was interested in the same things. I loved the soundtracks and the honest sensibilities those films had. I had always wanted to make coming of age movies from my experiences, I just only recently realized I could make them from an Asian American perspective without shame. But I think like most young filmmakers, I really latched on to Wes Anderson's work and my older films had a lot of his style and quirks. I grew out of that eventually, thankfully.

QFC:

What do you like to do when you’re not making movies?

Christina:

I'm a big fan of music! I feel like I'm listening to music 24/7. when I'm not making films, I'm almost always hanging out with my friends or chatting on the phone with them. I love spending quality time with people I love and the few days where I'm not swamped with work I love making them count.

QFC:

Finally, I checked out your latest short, THIS OLD DOG, and it brought me to tears. Do you have any exciting projects on your horizon that we can look forward to? What areas or topics would you like to explore as you continue your filmmaking journey? Do you have anything you would like to plug?

Christina:

Thank you for these lovely questions. I absolutely had a blast filling these out. They were great questions! Thank you for also watching THIS OLD DOG, I feel like that has been my most mature film I've made and I'm excited to explore more of that within myself as a creator. I have a new film called HAVE YOU EATEN YET coming out during the winter time. It's like a part II to THIS OLD DOG, as it's about my mother. I'd love to explore a coming of age feature next about my experiences growing up in Alabama. I've been working on it for a while now and would like to start securing funding for it this winter! If you guys like my narrative work, take a look at some of my music videos and things I think ya'll will also enjoy them. Thank so much again

QFC:

Thank you so much for being here, I'll be looking forward to your upcoming short!

Christina Xing's short films THIS OLD DOG (2020) and HOW THE MOON FELL FROM THE SKY AND NO ONE EVEN NOTICED (2018) are available on YouTube.

You can view Christina's music videos and commercial work at christinaxing.com.

Here is a list of all the films mentioned in this Q&A

Read reviews of HOW THE MOON FELL FROM THE SKY AND NO ONE EVEN NOTICED written by members of the Queer Film Club

[xcamay]

Special edition! #1 - Kisses. (1/?)

Hi everyone! :3 Let me present you a bunch of ficlets related to my new AU, Aqours as parents! [others are coming soon ...]

(I forgot to mention that in this AU just like almost all my other AUs and fics, two girls can have a baby together, just like a boy and girl can have one. Because .. It's magic! And it's pure love! I hope it doesn't bother anyone btw...)

Neck kiss. [→ NSFW] Thursday, January 1st 2026

Mari took up the challenge for New Year's Day, again, promising her old friends that the party was going to be wild and shiny. And, for the tenth time Aqours decided to celebrate New Year together, as a group and as best friends, Mari did succeed : the evening was wild and shiny. The music was great and rousing ; the buffet was incredible, some dishes were even new for most of them and exotic ; and Aqours was still as lively as ever, which resulted in so many fits of laughter, in dance challenges and in never-ending conversations. As usual, they spent an amazing evening, and each committed couple came back home around 4AM.

But the night is still young, and dawn is not ready to rear its head.

"Y-You-chan ..." Riko murmurs, her hands lost in her wife's already disheveled hair.

You lightly hums in return, her mouth clamped around Riko's hardened nipple, as she lets her tongue roam all over it, causing the musician to suck in a sharp breath. Electric waves flow through Riko's entire body, making her shiver. It is all because of this expert tongue, but also because of this knee placed between her legs, which is tirelessly rubbing this specific spot ... And it is driving her crazy.

"You-chan," Riko huskily calls -and she smiles when You finally raises her head, with that small angelic grin of hers.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong?"

"No." The red haired woman shakes her head, her left hand now placed on You's cheek -and another smile paints her lips when she instantly spots her wedding ring. "I ... I just want you to kiss me."

A soft chuckle escapes You's lips at this, but she doesn't have to hear it twice. As she lowers her head and brushes her lips against Riko's, she whispers, "Needy tonight, aren't you?"

"Hush," Riko quickly retorts, her back arching ever so slightly as You presses her knee even more between her legs.

Riko muffles a gasp as she traps You's lips with her own, finally obtaining the kiss she was craving. Their smiles instantly grow wider, and their tongues soon brush each other, performing a sensual dance. The fiery kiss lasts for a few long seconds and, as You reluctantly breaks it and starts sitting up straight, Riko lets out a whine, her hands quickly grabbing her wife's shoulders.

"No ... Stay."

"I'm not going anywhere, Riko-chan you silly," You gently laughs, planting a quick peck on her lips. "I just want to take off–" her hands hurriedly grab her panties, and she tosses them aside "–that."

That. The last article of clothing which was just waiting for that ; being carelessly thrown onto the floor.

"You-chan ..." Riko shakily breathes. She instinctively tilts her head on the side the moment You attacks her neck, her hot breaths tickling her at first.

"Riko-chan–" You kisses her pulsating point "–we're going to have this baby–" she plants a few other kisses after gently nipping at some spots, as if she was healing them "– I promise."

In the meantime, one of You's hands has found its way between Riko's legs, causing the pianist's muscles to tense up and her back to arch. She whispers her lover's name, one hand clawing at the back of You's head, as she feels the beginning of a smile against the sensitive skin in her neck. It is when You slips two fingers inside her that her mind goes blank, and Riko instantly gives in to the carnal pleasure.

Happy kiss. Wednesday, July 8th 2026

"Oh my," Shima said, the palm of her hand resting on her cheek, pensive, "It does sound like implantation bleeding."

"Implantation ... Bleeding?" Chika repeated, puzzled.

"Yes. It's part of the early signs of pregnancy, but it's less common than nauseas or tiredness."

"Ohoh," Mito piped in, a teasing smirk paiting her lips. "It seems like Baka Chika did a lot of unprotected hanky-pankies with Kanan~"

"S-stop that!" Chika furiously blushed, pushing one of her big sisters' face away. "I'm sure it's because I'm going to have my period!"

"But you did say that it stopped the day after, and that it was a light bleeding," Shima remarked, her finger tapping her chin. "How many days have passed since you lightly bled?"

"A week ..."

"Don't you think you should have had your period now, after one week?"

Chika never replied to her sister, as she was already running for the nearest supermarket, totally freaked out.

"This is nonsense ..." Chika mutters as she puts her shorts back on, not even thinking of pulling up the zipper.

The young woman grabs the rim of the washstand, shoots a glance at her reflection in the mirror, and deeply sighs. She waits a little bit, swinging on her feet, before looking at the watch. They said to wait a few minutes before checking the result ...

"It's been more than two minutes, I can check, can't I?" She muses, before extending a shaky hand toward the item she'd turned upside down a few minutes ago.

Not even a second after, Kanan jumps with surprise as her ginger haired lover darts into the living room, a deep scowl on her face. Chika looks dreadfully mad, and it is certainly the first time that Kanan cowers in front of her.

"Um, sweetheart, you–"

"IT'S WRONG!" Chika suddenly screams, making Kanan flinch. "GET ME ANOTHER ONE!"

"What–"

Kanan can't say anything else, freezing the moment Chika throws a pinkish stick right in her face.

"GET ME ANOTHER ONE KANAN-CHAN!" she demands once again, stomping her foot onto the floor.

Kanan rubs her forehead, lightly groaning, and takes a look at the stick. She raises an eyebrow before her amethyst eyes land on the girl in front of her. "Chika, this pregnancy test ... It's positive, isn't it?"

"GO BUY ME OTHER ONES!"

"Ok ok," Kanan quickly says as she hurriedly reaches the front door, grabbing her dark blue purse at the same time. "I'm going!"

Once her blue haired lover has left, Chika returns to the bathroom, her heart thundering. She turns the water on, deeply inhales, and splashes her face with cold water.

"It can't be ..."

She soon gets lost in her thoughts, still shaken up by the recent news, her mind filled with what could happen if she really is pregnant ; yes, what could happen. What it implies, too. The impact it's going to have on her finances, on her life in general ... But also on her life with Kanan.

If she really is pregnant, it means that there will be a little human growing up in their own cosy nest, a bundle of joy relying on Kanan and her all the time. It means cries in the middle of the night the first few months and toys and diapers everywhere. It means spitting up and drool on her clothes all the time, and boo boos, and spikes of fever when it's time for teething. It means that they have to entirely secure the house. It means fright each time he or she will approach the oven or the gas stove ; when he or she will run everywhere and brush past pots, curtains, furniture ; when he or she will try to go up or down the stairs ...

But if she really is pregnant, it also means other things. It means ... It means that Kanan and her will be here for all their little bundle of joy's first times. His or her first smile. His or her first peal of laughter. His or her first words. His or her first steps. It also means that they will be proud to introduce their newborn to the world ; that they will be proud each time someone will say "Oh, look at this adorable sweetheart!" or "This baby is so cute!" ; that they will be proud of the apple of their eye, in general. It means hugs and cuddles, whether it be in the morning or before going to bed, or once Kanan or Chika herself has picked him or her up from the daycare center. It means sweet and warm and reassuring kisses, to say hello or goodbye or goodnight, or after baby has been scared by something or got hurt. It means encouragements each time he or she is about to do something great for the first time in his or her entire life, but also laughters after some tickle attacks or funny things babies can do without even wanting it ... And it means bedtime stories, and funny games, and new discoveries, and–

"Chika?" Kanan's voice suddenly snaps the ginger out of her reverie, and the latter quickly opens the door, finding herself face to face with the blue haired girl and two rectangular boxes. "I took these, I hope it's ok–"

"It is!" Chika hurriedly grabs them, before slamming the door in Kanan's face, who only blinks twice.

"Alright ..."

And Kanan can do nothing except wait for Chika to use the pregnancy tests again. She doesn't even think of cooking or watching TV to pass the time, and just impatiently taps her foot on the floor, her arms crossed above her chest. After less than ten agonizing minutes, Kanan's head perks up as she hears a few shaky and shuddering breaths coming from behind the door. She instantly knocks on it, calling her name, worried.

"K-Kanan-chan ..." Chika finally opens the door, and Kanan sucks in a surprised breath when she notices that her crimson eyes are glistening with tears.

"Chika– oof!"

And, as Chika tackles her lover into a bear-crushing hug, she ecstatically yells, "I'm pregnant!"

She starts laughing and grabs Kanan's hands, tightly, making the two of them spin in the corridor. "I'm pregnant Kanan-chan, I'm pregnant~" she singsongs, before crashing her lips onto Kanan's, happily.

Kanan wraps her arms around the future mother's waist, bringing her closer, pressing their lips together even more. Chika is still giggling against her mouth, almost breathlessly, and Kanan can swear that she has never seen the bubbly girl as happy as that.

"Chika ..." She tenderly smiles, her thumb stroking the ginger's cheek.

"We're going to have a baby, Kanan-chan!"

As an answer, Kanan only tightens her grip around Chika and showers her face and neck with soft, messy and quick kisses. The latter bursts into laughter, but still hugs Kanan back, not even trying to get away from this vicious embrace.

"Kanan-chan, stop that~"

And she does, giving Chika's lips one last, loving kiss.

"You scared me for a moment, though," she says when their lips slightly part. Chika's ruby eyes slowly flutter open at this, curiosity veiling them. "I thought you didn't want to be pregnant."

Chika sheepishly chuckles, scratching the back of her neck. "You know that I'm sometimes bad at dealing with sudden and big news like that ... I wasn't expecting it and I freaked out for a moment, it seems so crazy after all Kanan-chan! I have a baby inside me, no wait– I have our baby inside me, it's just–"

"I love you," Kanan interrupts her, brushing her bangs aside and planting a new kiss on Chika's soft skin.

"We should tell the others!" Chika excitedly squeals. "We have to call You-chan and Riko-chan, and Mari-chan, and–"

"Wait, Chika." Kanan is quick to detain her dynamic girlfriend by the hand, drawing her closer again. "We should wait a little bit, for Dia and Mari at least."

"What, why? They're your best friends, they're going to be our baby's aunties, they have to know!"

"Chika." Kanan rests her hands on her shoulders, as if to hold her in place. "I know that, and I really want Dia and Mari to know about all this but ... They've been trying for years now."

"Oh ... Right ..." Chika's smile wavers and drops as she remembers this small detail.

"Let's just wait a little bit before announcing it," Kanan pulls Chika into a hug, one hand instinctively slipping under the ginger haired girl's tank top and resting on her lower abdomen. "We'll go see the doctor this weekend to see for how long you've been pregnant first, mh?"

Chika eagerly nods her head, arms wrapped around her amethyst eyed lover.

"We're going to be two incredible Mamas, Kanan-chan!~"

Belly kiss. Sunday, February 21st 2027

"Riko-chan, I found it!"

Riko looks up from the book she was reading the moment You's cheerful voice fills the living room. She slowly closes it and wedges it between the two big cushions she's resting against, before smiling when her ashen haired wife plops down next to her, with another book. It is a pinkish one this time, with the big title writing in a girly manner : 'A sweet name for the sweetest baby girl'. As Riko briefly reads that, she lets one hand draw circles on her rounded belly.

"Where was it?" She curiously asks, her head soon finding refuge on You's shoulder as the latter sluches into the cushions.

"At the back of my nightstand. I forgot I put it here last time," You sheepishly laughs, before resting her head against Riko's, opening the book right on the contents page. "So ... They sorted the names per category, uh ..." She glances at her wife's beautiful tummy, extending her hand and tickling its side. "Wakey wakey, Tootsie~ Mommy and Mama want you to hear your future name–"

"If we find it," Riko butts in, her fingertips turning around her belly button.

"We'll find it, Riko-chan!" You widely beams at her wife, before exclaiming, "Oh, she's waking up!"

"I know." A tender smile graces Riko's features as she feels their little girl slowly moving inside her.

Soon, a small lump forms under Riko's fingers, before it moves toward the spot that You is currently tickling.

"Good afternoon, sleepyhead," You greets their unborn baby girl, leaning over and rubbing her nose on the bump. "Mommy and I are about to give you the best name ever, so you better hear that! The best name for the best little girl ever~"

She places another kiss on Riko's beautifully swollen belly, right before the latter's fond amber eyes. It takes them almost ten minutes to stop babbling and cooing to their sweetheart, finally paying attention to the book again. They both skim the first pages, returning to their previous position with Riko's head resting on her wife's shoulder.

"Mmh," You slowly hums as she places one foot on the coffee table, cracking her ankle, "Oh, here. What about Haruka, Riko-chan?"

The answer is almost immediate :

"Too common."

You glances at her lover, surprised, but keeps reading the page nonetheless. "Alright ... What about Sakura, then? That's a sweet name."

Riko shuffles even closer, the side of her tummy gently colliding with You's hip. "It's sweet, yes, but it's just like Haruka, too common. We see and hear it everywhere, You-chan ... I don't want my daughter to have the same name as four of her future classmates."

"You have a point, Riko-chan."

The names come one after another, and the swimmer ends up sighing each time.

"What about Asa?"

"What the heck, isn't it an old name?"

"I guess that's a no. What about Shiko?"

"I don't like it."

"Mh ... And Kanta?"

"I've never heard of this name."

"... And?"

"No."

"... ... Ok ... And, oh, look! It's cute! What about this one?"

"Ucchi? No."

"Mou, Riko-chan, you're picky!"

"You-chan, we're about to choose the name of our baby. It's really important." Riko's amber eyes are deadly serious as she says that. "She's going to have it from beginning to end. We're going to call her like that all the time, during her entire life, just like her friends and her lover. And her teachers, too. Her friends are going to give her nicknames related to her name, and all. It's ... It's vital. We have to give her the best name ever."

"I know th–"

"So no," Riko goes on, "I don't want her to be called Sakura or Ai or Mei or Yui, because those are names which are too common. I don't want an old name like Kogō for our daughter either."

"I got it, I got it. You want the perfect name. And I want that too!" You smiles and nuzzles her lover's crimson hair, before placing a soft kiss on the same spot. "Then, what if you look at the book and pick the ones you like?"

Riko only hums, gently taking the book from her lover's hands and using the curve of her belly as a support. She turns the page, silently reading the names and then their description, origin and meaning -if they interest her. You's smile never leaves her face as she stares fondly at the pregnant woman next to her, and it even grows wider each time she notices the cute crease between Riko's eyebrows each time she unconsciously frowns. When she reads, Riko's face always ends up being very expressive : either she presses her lips hard or bites them, or she raises an eyebrow in surprise or frowns and shakes her head when she's not fine with whatever is happening in the book, or she wrinkles her nose or, on the contrary, a small but adorable smile paints her lips, ...

It's like Riko is reading her the entire story, without saying anything.

And it never fails to make You lovingly grin. She got to know all this after so many calm nights spent together, in their comfy bed. Riko has always loved reading, and she often does so before going to bed, when the two of them don't feel too sleepy, or when they're not tangled in the sheets in one of the most passionate embraces ever.

"... -chan? You-chan?"

You blinks several times as she hears her name, her sapphire eyes landing on Riko's curious amber ones.

"Ah, sorry sorry, I was lost in my thoughts!"

"I saw that." A gentle smile finds its way on Riko's lips, before she glances at the book still resting on her belly. "I was saying, what about Risa? I like this name."

You seems to ponder this for a few seconds, but shakes her head, which makes Riko pout. "No ... It's one of my cousins' name."

"Oh, right. Then, um ... Shiki?" Riko looks at You, before they both shake their head at the same time. "It sounds too childish."

"Yeah. Another one?"

The dark crimson haired musician hums lightly again, swiftly turning a page.

"Oh! Suzuko, I like it!"

You raises an eyebrow. "Not me."

Riko slides a frustrated hand through her long strands, heaving a sigh, "It's going to be too complicated, we're not on the same wavelength."

"Hey, don't say that! We'll be when we find the perfect name!"

"Why did Chika-chan and Kanan-san choose Anju first, it's such a cute name," Riko growls as she leans her head back on the big cushion behind her. "We'll ask them for advice if we're too desperate ..."

You takes advantage of this new position and shuffles closer, tucking her head into the angle of her wife's neck. She chuckles and nods, before lazily pointing at the last name on this page.

"Rio ..." She half-reads, half-yawns, before placing a hand in front of her mouth. "Wait."

She shifts her position again, finally sitting up, and the two lovebirds share a glance, before uttering the same syllable at the same time :

"No."

You laughs as she adds, "It sounds too much like Riko!"

A chuckle leaves Riko's mouth as she closes the book, throwing it onto the coffee table. She then stretches and whines a little, hands placed on her belly, "Oh my baby girl, we're not ready to find you a name!"

"Daijobu." You nuzzles Riko's cheek before leaning toward the round tummy, her lips already on the tight skin. "Have a good nap, dear princess. Mama is going to make Mommy relax a little, so she won't be too worried about all this name thing!"

Overjoyed kiss. Thursday, February 25th 2027

After stirring the breaded chicken, the dashi, the mirin, the onions and even the soy sauce in the wok, Mari brings the wooden spoon to her lips and tastes the still-stewing dish. She hums, unconsciously moving her head and tapping her foot on the white tiles, as her small purple speaker blasts the first notes of one of her favorite metal songs in the kitchen.

"Now, the eggs," she mutters to herself, grabbing the bowl with the two beaten eggs in it.

She pours them in the wok, stirring again, before a buzzing sound catches her attention. She looks at her phone, the screen displaying a new text -and a smile automatically brightens her face.

'I made a quick detour, I'm sorry, but I'll be here soon.'

Mari grins as she types back, 'No need to worry hon~ I'm waiting for you~', before sending it. She then takes the speaker, waits for the song to finish -it's one of her favorites, after all!- and turns it off. She knows it's going to both annoy and weary her soon-to-be-wife if she comes back home and is only greeted by one of those 'aggressive things'. She chuckles as she remembers that ; Dia used to describe Mari's fave songs like that a lot during college, when she was unexpectedly dropping by her place. It only became worst when they moved in together -much to Mari's amusement, as Dia always makes this cute surly and snobbish expression each time she hears metal tunes.

The young woman's ears perk up when she hears the door open, and her smile instantly widens.

"Dia~," she squeals, rushing into the corridor and instantly throwing herself into Dia's arms, nuzzling her chest -a bad habit of hers. "You're here, darling!"

"Mari, not now," Dia says through gritted teeth, pushing on the blonde's shoulders to push her away.

"Eh?" Mari blinks as she straightens up, completely astounded by this reaction. "What's wrong?"

But Dia has already slammed and locked the restroom door, leaving a stunned Mari in the corridor. Alright, Dia does not like when her girlfriend shows up out of the blue and pulls her into a tight hug only to bury her face into her chest. Mari knows that. But Dia has never -never- repulsed her like that. Not even when she felt too sick or when she really wanted to go to the bathroom after a long day at work ... Something is wrong, definitely.

"Dia?" Mari hesitantly approaches the door, placing a hand on it as if it was Dia's arm or face. She even glues her ear against it, trying to hear if Dia is sobbing ...

But she flinches and steps back when Dia roars, "Leave me alone! I need to do something!"

"Uh ... Do you feel ill?"

"Mari."

Dia's voice sounds so pleading that Mari doesn't have any other choice and obliges.

"Fine. But call me if you need anything, alright?"

Hearing a muffled 'yes', Mari nods -even if Dia can't see it- and returns to the kitchen, keeping a close eye on the katsudon in preparation. She instinctively grabs the wooden spoon from earlier and fiddles with it, worry starting to gnaw at her. Dia isn't fine. The only times she acted so distant were when they were t–

No.

Dia promised her she would stop thinking about that ; and Mari promised the same thing in return.

She heaves a deep sigh and looks at the utensil in her hands, almost indifferently. No, she is mostly lost in her thoughts and–

"MARI!" Dia's screeching voice snaps her out of her reverie. "MARI!"

Aside from being screeching, Dia's voice sounds strangled, filled with tears and sobs, which makes Mari run to the restroom without even thinking first. She is about to force the door open, too worried, but Dia unlocks it, causing her to freeze for a split second. It's not only the surprise of the door opening before she can do something that strikes her ... But the tears flowing on her fiancée's face.

"Dia ..." Mari's hands automatically cup the brunette's cheeks, brushing the tears away with her thumbs. Her voice drops in a whisper, "What's wrong, did something–"

"Mari," she interrupts her, choking on another sob while leaning in Mari's frail -almost shaky- touch. "I ... I-I'm pregnant ..."

Everything around Mari seems to stand still for a few seconds as she proceeds the information. She can only hear her heart thumping in her chest, resonating in her entire body, while her mind keeps repeating Dia's words. I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant. Some simple words, but with a strong meaning behind. It is even more intense for the two of them, Mari thinks, as they suggested having a baby two years ago.

... Two years ago.

"M-Mari ..." Dia amost whimpers, not expecting Mari to be as silent as that. "Please–" the imploring tone makes Mari blink "–please Mari, say something ... We've been waiting for this to happen for so long ..."

It was so sudden, impromptu, and even unforeseeable -because yes, Mari pushed aside the idea of having a baby a few months ago- that she doesn't know how to properly react. After all ... She gave up. As much as she hated that, she gave up on having a baby with the love of her life -because it was impossible ; Dia wasn't supposed to become pregnant ... not after all those unsuccessful attempts, not after all those tears and screams and fights. At a loss for words, the blonde only tries to blink her forming tears away, before pulling Dia into a strong embrace. She tucks her chin on the top of Dia's head, hugging her even tighter, as the brunette bursts into tears.

It is the second time in her entire life that someone (Dia) has rendered her speechless. The first time was ... In her spacious king-sized bed, in the huge room her father saved for her in his brand new resort hotel in Uchiura. Dia was naked, right under her, her dark and silky hair spread out all over the comfy pillows. On that night, the Kurosawa heiress was beautiful -and she was Mari's, and only Mari's.

This is the second time Dia has shut her up. And it's one of the first few times Mari's tears are freely and endlessly flowing. Tears of relief ... But tears of happiness mostly.

"I-is ... ... F-for real ...?" Mari shakily breathes in Dia's hair, one of her hands bringing the latter even closer while the other tenderly strokes these dark locks.

Dia wordlessly nods her head, giving a quick sniffle before raising her head. Watery turquoise eyes land on golden ones and, as she grips her future wife's shirt, Dia flutters them close.

No words need to be said, and Mari mimics her, before locking their lips in a gentle kiss ... Which quickly escalates, soft breaths and sighs blending together.

"I think we deserve a chocolate pudding tonight," the blonde murmurs against her lover's lips, their eyes slowly opening.

Dia's smile has never been so blinding and enthralling to Mari's eyes, and the latter can't help but capture these beaming lips again, with more fervor.

Happy belated birthday to Chika (with this happy event) and Honoka! Even if our hyperactive ginger baby isn’t here ... For now. c: (Just a last message to tell you that I certainly won’t post anything before September, I’m going to be busy in August but I’ll do my best to write as much as I can in the evenings and maybe when my nephew is napping!)

See you, guys~ I hope you liked those ficlets!

[real-life-pine-tree]

Rehabilitation: A New Flower Blooms (7/?)

Side effects may include a loss of self-identity and individuality, frequent nightmares, questioning your own existence, severe mental trauma, constant panic attacks, spontaneous crying at random moments, and a strong desire to stay with loved ones at all cost. Co-written with @violetganache42​​​​. Takes place between Chapters 6 and 7 of Arc-V Aftermath.

While that was going on, loud dragon roars could be heard from the Obelisk Blue dorm at Duel Academy. Why was that? Because Yuri set up his alarm clock so he would wake up to the sound of Starving Venom's roars every morning.

The cabbage-haired counterpart politely turned off his alarm and stretched. "Good morning Dennis," he said after yawning.

"Good morning Yu-" Dennis started to say, then he looked at his roommate and smirked.

"What are you so happy about?" Yuri asked.

"It's your hair," Dennis answered. "It looks a lot like Yuya's hair."

"Don't be ridiculous," Yuri said as he got up and walked over to the dorm bathroom. "My hair looks nothing like-"

He cut his sentence short when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror. His dual-colored purple and pink hair stuck out in downward-pointing spikes all around his head with the exception of two short spikes pointing upwards. His bed head did look awfully similar to his Pendulum counterpart's hairstyle.

Dennis let out a small laugh. "Very funny, McField," Yuri dryly said as he left the bathroom.

"But it kind of is," Dennis pointed out as he also got out of bed to get dressed. "You're the complete opposite of Yuya, yet your messy hair looks just like his."

Yuri walked over to a potted plant near a windowsill. "Just be glad you're one of my closest allies," he said, opening a nearby ant farm and using tweezers to take out a few ants and put them on a Petri dish.

"Otherwise you would have carded me at this point?" Dennis jokingly asked, recalling one of their usual jokes.

"Don't be absurd," Yuri said. He proceeded to use the tweezers to place the ants in the mouths of his Venus flytrap (which he nicknamed 'Goddess'). "After everything we went through, that joke of ours is no longer funny."

Dennis wasn't sure what Yuri meant by that; was it because carding people is now considered illegal and Leo had his students stop using that tactic altogether? Either that or Yuri's revival in Yuya's body had him have a change of heart and doesn't want to anyone to mention carding at all. Or maybe…was it because he saw his best friend card himself?

Dennis was silent for a few minutes as Yuri watered his plant. "Is it because-"

"Dennis McField, I swear, don't you ever pull a stunt like that again," Yuri interrupted, his voice cracking in sorrow. "When I found out what you did, I was so upset. It was against Leo's orders to show no weakness, but I didn't care." He started shaking as he placed his watering can next to Goddess. "Yet that sign of weakness is what caused Zarc to fully corrupt me."

Dennis felt a pit of sadness in his heart. "You really see me as a friend?" he asked.

"I wasn't sure at first," Yuri admitted, walking over to the dorm's closet and taking out his uniform. "But after I got my body back, I realized something."

"What's that?" Dennis asked.

"You're more than a friend," the Predaplant user confessed, looking at his roommate. "If I wasn't attracted to girls, I would have asked you out on a date by now."

Dennis let out a small chuckle. "Funny," he said. "That's exactly how I feel about you."

Yuri's eyes grew wide as tears slightly started to form. Dennis actually looks up to him as more than a friend? Well, he and Celina rarely saw each other since Leo kept them separated, leading to the Obelisk Dueltainer to fill in the gap; as a result, they have been inseparable ever since.

"You...really feel that way about me?" Yuri asked.

"Of course," Dennis answered, having finished putting on his uniform. "Ever since Leo put us in the same Obelisk Force branch, there was something about you that drew me towards you. Maybe it was your dueling style or even your personality, but I certainly felt a connection between us. That was why I wanted to be your second-in-command when you were promoted. Because while you never saw me as a friend at first, I could tell that you deeply care about me."

Yuri smiled softly. "Thank you, Dennis," he said. "I'm glad someone still cares about me."

"What about Sora?" Dennis asked.

Yuri headed back to the bathroom and picked up a dark green comb that was soaked in a cup of water. "He is a recent friend," he explained, using the damp comb to comb his hair into place. "I have known you for a good number of years."

He never forgot the day he met his first ever friend at Duel Academy. Throughout his childhood, he grew up without any friends because of his skills. He was incredibly talented and enjoyed defeating his opponents, making him virtually unbeatable; however, all the students feared him to the point where they stepped aside where they saw him walking by. Due to his rather impressive strength, no one dared to approach him, leaving him without any friends. He didn't mind though…at least, from the outside. Deep inside, he really wanted company and share his strength with someone in duels, but with everyone not even going near him, it only made his insecurities and nervousness worse. In fact, the only one that accompanied him was his own shadow.

So when Yuri met Leo, things changed. He finally had someone he could look up to. And a few weeks later, he was placed in Obelisk Force, where the biggest change of his life occurred.

"Yuri, this is Obelisk Force Branch 3A-2," Leo informed. "From now on, these soldiers are your comrades."

To Yuri's surprise, a boy his age with curly red hair rushed over to him. "Nice to meet you, Yuri," he happily said, shaking his hand. "My name is Dennis McField. Let's be partners from now on."

"P-Partners?" Yuri asked, surprised by Dennis' boldness.

"Yeah," Dennis said. "The Professor has talked about how strong you are, so I want to be seen as your equal."

Yuri couldn't find the right words to describe how he felt, but his face said it all, from his eyebrows raised up in surprise by what he heard to his slightly ajar mouth. Dennis was the second student who wasn't afraid of him and truly accepted him at Duel Academy; Celina did get to meet him a while ago, but Leo keeping the two generally distant prevented her from expressing her opinions on his strength face to face. In other words, Yuri's first encounter with his new partner made him finally feel welcomed at this school.

Yuri smiled softly at Dennis. "Thank you," he said, knowing this was the beginning of a wonderful partnership.

Back in the present day, Yuri had just finished combing his hair into place, looking exactly like his usual hairstyle than Yuya's, and was about to get dressed into his usual uniform. "I never forgot that day," he said as he took off his sleepwear shirt and tossed it into a nearby hamper.

"Neither did I," Dennis agreed, spraying some cologne on his wrists. "And we have been inseparable ever since."

"By the way, I noticed Goddess has sprouted some new bulbs," Yuri said, changing topics. "Have you been taking care of her in my absence?"

"Of course," Dennis answered. "I even looked over the care guide you wrote for her so I never forgot any important steps."

"I see," Yuri said. "So did anything important happen while I was away?"

"Not much," Dennis replied. "Another student gala is coming up. Sora already asked out that Blair girl from Slifer Red, and I already agreed for us to go on a double date with the Tyler sisters."

"The Tyler sisters?" Yuri repeated.

"Is there something wrong with them?" Dennis asked.

"There is," Yuri admitted, having finished putting on his uniform and giving his hair one last check. "I was hoping to ask Miss Celina out."

Celina? Why her? Isn't he aware that they have a rivalry with each other ever since Zuzu was revived? So naturally, the Performage user had to ask.

"Why Celina?" Dennis asked. "Aren't you two rivals?"

"Of course we are," Yuri answered. "Need I remind you that Duel Academy galas have sparring duels as a side activity?"

"Oh right," Dennis said. "We haven't had a gala in such a long time that I forgot about that part."

Duel Academy galas are similar to regular galas, but they have their own alterations. Every year, the students dress up formally in dresses and suits, regardless of what their rankings were; Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue students were required to wear regal clothing whenever they attend this annual event. In the ballroom, a long, fancy table is set up not too far from the entrance and a variety of exquisite foods and drinks are aligned on it for the attendees to sample or have. One of the corners of the room has an orchestra playing music in front of a dance floor for any couples to waltz to the rhythm. What makes Duel Academy galas different than most galas is everyone who took part in them were permitted to duel in the gymnasium.

"Precisely," Yuri said. He left the bathroom as he spoke. "And I wish to duel Miss Celina during the next gala."

"Are you sure?" Dennis asked. "I-"

"Of course I'm sure, my dearest friend," Yuri said. "And since we are now both in proper attire for today, shall we start things off at the survival arena for morning practice?"

"Actually, Leo dismantled it," Dennis explained.

Yuri was surprised to hear that. "What about the dueling obstacle course?"

"It was also dismantled," Dennis repeated.

Yuri was silent for a few seconds. "...Then the underwater breathing dorm-"

"Also dismantled," Dennis explained. "And before you say anything else, I'm afraid to report that ever since Zuzu was revived, Leo got rid of all of the training areas."

Yuri shot his eyes wide open and had his mouth opened a little and his bushy eyebrows curved in a similar manner to what he did when he thought Yugo was making fun of him on what happened to Zuzu back in the Synchro Dimension. This time, however, he was more heartbroken by what he heard. With all training areas dismantled, what will the students do instead of train?

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Yuri asked.

"Leo is trying to make Duel Academy more like a normal boarding school," Dennis explained. "So in place of the training areas, he established extracurricular activities and clubs. I, myself, joined the drama club."

"But... But I spent my whole life training to be a soldier," Yuri said. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Join the gardening club?" Dennis suggested.

That intrigued Yuri's interests. "Gardening club?" he repeated.

"Yeah," Dennis answered. "You can even show off Goddess."

A small grin appeared on Yuri's face. "Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to show off her new bulbs..." he decided.

Taking the garden pot that had Goddess in it off the windowsill, Yuri and Dennis left their dorm room and exited through the male Obelisk Blue dormitory doors. Having a variety of clubs being hosted in the rooms that once had training areas admittedly seemed like a good idea; after spending over a decade being trained to carry out the Arc Project and Revival Zero, it felt nice to have the students finally express their different interests. It would also give them opportunities to meet the other students and make new friends. In Yuri's case, joining the gardening club would be a perfect chance to show off his pet Venus flytrap to a certain someone, especially since the plant's bulbs have appeared.

Inside the Academy, Dennis led the way because he knew which room the gardening club was being held. As Yuri followed him down the halls, a familiar figure was pacing herself in the opposite direction of where they were heading. He recognized the indigo hair and orange handkerchief anywhere: it was Celina and she was back at Duel Academy! It was quite surprising to see her here of all places.

"Miss Celina!" Yuri exclaimed, sounding a little too happy. "What brings you here?"

"Don't get too comfortable," Celina said, holding some papers. "I'm not staying here for long."

"What?" Yuri asked. "Why-"

"I tried to tell you about this," Dennis interrupted. "Look at what she's holding."

Yuri looked at the papers. "Transfer files?"

"Yep," Celina said. "Starting today, I'm transferring to Paradise Prep."

Just like that, Yuri felt his heart shatter, but it was more like it broke in half. Celina transferring to Paradise Prep? Why would she do that? He had plans to go out with her to the upcoming gala and now they're being thrown right out the window. Deep inside where his shattered heart was, he could feel a burning sensation within him starting to surface, almost as if he needed to be with her. No, it felt more like he has to be with her. Noticing how heartbroken his friend was, Dennis took Goddess as a way to make sure the former doesn't accidentally drop her out of his hands.

"But Miss Celina, you cannot leave!" Yuri begged, sounding a bit frantic. "I was hoping you would attend the next gala with me!"

"Look, as much as I would like to improve Duel Academy, I need to take a break from this school," Celina explained. "I want to have a normal education-"

"BUT YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!" Yuri yelled out, his eyes glowing purple much like when he Awakened.

The sudden outburst shocked Celina and Dennis, nearly dropping her transfer files and gripping the pot tighter respectively. Was this another side effect of Yuri retaining his original body again?

Fortunately a single glance at his plant made Yuri snap out of it, causing his eyes to stop glowing. "Dennis, be careful," he said. "Goddess doesn't like it when someone grips her pot too tightly."

"Sorry Yuri," Dennis said. "You kind of...went dragon."

"Did I?" Yuri asked.

"Look, I have no idea what's going on," Celina said. "But if you really want me to attend the school gala, I'll go."

Yuri let out a delighted chuckle. "Why, thank you," he said. "I promise it will be an evening you will never forget."

Shortly after that ordeal, the Obelisk duo arrived at the gardening club, which used to be a room where stealth training was held. They remembered how there were special computers on the upper floor that were implemented with Solid Vision with mass, creating simulated scenarios of different difficulty levels to help the students practice what they know about stealth. Now everything has been reconstructed to make it look more like a shrine room with two tables set up parallel from each other with flower arranged on them and the right side of the room having a scroll hanged up, which contained a picture of a small bird sitting on a tree branch.

In front of the young teenage boys was a girl around the same age as them, sitting on her knees and trimming a small flower tree. She has long, straight, black hair tied into a short ponytail with a purple ribbon and icy blue eyes which appeared to be glazed. She wears a transparent light blue veil on top of her head, a pair of antennae that resembled flower pistils located in between her front bangs and above her short, thick yet feminine, black eyebrows, and a burgundy kimono with a pink and light yellow floral pattern on the sleeves and bottom along with a cream sash with a scarlet ribbon tied on it, white socks, and a pair of tan flat sandals.

The girl's name was Lotus Hanazoe who specializes in ikebana, a Japanese art of flower arrangement. She was originally from the XYZ Dimension, but after the Interdimensional War had ended, she began attending Duel Academy; it marked a huge milestone in the school's history since it primarily consists of people from the Fusion Dimension, but seeing an XYZ resident taking part in the school after the events of what happened felt like a subtle sign of forgiveness to Leo. Of course, Duel Academy has a policy that students transferring from their old schools must start out in Slifer Red, so she was no exception.

"And it seems we have visitors joining us today," Lotus said, speaking to the attending students. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Dennis McField and Yuri from the now-disbanded Obelisk Force."

"Correct," Yuri said. "And allow me to introduce you to my plant." He held up Goddess. "Behold, the world's most perfect Venus flytrap!"

The students were a bit surprised. "A Venus...flytrap?" Lotus repeated. "That seems a bit...off."

"Oh, you have nothing to fear," Yuri proudly said. "Ever since the Professor gave me Goddess as a gift, I have made sure she was properly taken care of. She has a strict diet of ants and water once every two weeks with the occasional fly as a treat on special days. And look, she has sprouted new bulbs!"

The students weren't sure how to react to this; even after the War had ended and Zarc split back into his reincarnations again, they never forgot that he was the same kid who was so powerful at Duel Monsters that he made himself infamously feared around the Academy. He's a nearly invincible Duelist with very few friends and the students still couldn't believe that he ended up having a higher status than Obelisk Force because of it.

Yuri quickly noticed the students' feared expressions. "I see..." he said, sounding a bit heartbroken. "I can tell when I'm not needed." He headed for the door. "I shall leave you to your club-"

"Hold on," Lotus said. "Am I detecting genuine guilt in your voice?"

Yuri didn't respond. "I can tell that you feel genuinely upset for what happened to everyone in the four dimensions," Lotus continued. "And while your plant doesn't appear to fit in among the greenery that the other students have, I suppose we could give you and your Venus flytrap a chance."

"Really?" Yuri asked.

"Lotus, are you sure?" a Ra Yellow girl asked.

"Of course, I'm sure," Lotus answered. "Yuri of the former Obelisk Force rank, while I heard about your vicious dueling methods, I also heard about how much you care for plants."

"Well I do," Yuri said, proudly showing off Goddess once more. "Goddess is my pride and joy. I even created a small contraption to help feed her once every two weeks when I'm absent."

"I see," Lotus said, showing interest. "Do tell."

As Yuri explained everything about Goddess, Dennis notified him that he'll be heading over to the drama club in the meantime. So with his friend busy with his club, Yuri was enjoying the atmosphere of the gardening club. But a few minutes later, he recognized a familiar face.

"Missy?" Yuri asked. "Is that you?"

A red-haired girl wearing an Obelisk Blue uniform smiled and saluted Yuri. "Nice to see you again, head commander," she said.

"You two know each other?" Lotus asked.

"Of course," Missy answered. "We were in the same Obelisk Force branch."

Yuri definitely remembered meeting Missy Kochou shortly after he met Dennis. She had always treated him with respect during their training and throughout the War, so seeing her again was a pleasant surprise; he was also amazed that she still respects him even after Obelisk Force disbanded.

"We bonded over sparring sessions," Yuri said. "The Professor always paired us up due to similar dueling levels."

"I see," Lotus said. "Then how about showing us a little sparring session?"

"I don't know," Missy said. "Yuri has probably gone soft because of that Yuya kid."

"I beg your pardon?" Yuri asked, sounding mock-offended.

"You heard me," Missy replied, holding up her Duel Disk. "So are you still the same powerhouse I always knew, or did spending a good number of weeks with that flashy tomato showman make you vulnerable?"

Yuri chuckled. "If it's a show you want, then it's a show you shall have!"

A few minutes later, the entire gardening club sat in the schoolyard to watch Missy and Yuri duel each other. The two activated their Duel Disks, added five cards to their hands, and shouted, "Let's duel!" If Yuri remembered correctly, Missy's strategy revolves around summoning her Insect Princess and using the Field Spell card Insect Garden to control the opponent's weaker Insect-Type monsters and forcing them to attack with the Equip Spell Insect Pheromone. He may have the advantage because his Predaplant archetype consists of Plant-Type monsters.

"Ladies first," Yuri said.

"Oh, you're too kind," Missy said with a smirk. "But you'll see that I have changed my strategy since we last met." She drew a card. "I play the Spell card Insect Barrier! Then I'll set a monster on the field, followed by a face-down card. Your turn."

"Very well," Yuri said as he drew a card. "I'll start things off with the lovely Predaplant Spinodionaea!"

Missy let out a laugh. "That's the best you can do?" she asked. "That measly weed is only useful when I have a face up monster."

"Oh, I'm not done," Yuri continued. "I activate the Continuous Spell Predaponics, allowing me to special summon Moray Nepenthes."

Missy wasn't scared at all. "Well it's too bad they can't attack," she said.

"Whatever do you mean?" Yuri asked.

"Because of my face down: the Trap card DNA Surgery!" Missy answered.

"What?!" Yuri exclaimed.

"It's simple," Missy said. "As long as this card is on my field, your precious plants are forced to transform into insects."

There goes his advantage; Yuri never expected Missy to play DNA Surgery because he was hoping her strategy would be ineffective. Now, it was him that needs to figure out how to get out of this situation as he witnessed Spinodionaea and Moray Nepenthes transform into Insect-Types while retaining their plant-like features. Not even Starving Venom could attack.

"You... You tricked me!" Yuri exclaimed, horrified to see his plants stripped of their 'beauty'.

"Of course I did," Missy said as she drew a card. "So with my field being completely untouchable, I'll flip summon Parasite Paracide and leave you with a little parting gift in your deck."

"Parting gift?" Yuri repeated. "What are you-"

Before he could finish, Parasite Paracide materialized onto the duel field and dashed right towards his deck, landing face up on top of it and causing it to shuffle afterwards. This was the first part of its effect because if he draws this card, it is automatically special summoned onto his side of the field in face-up defense mode and is inflicted 1000 damage. To make matters worse, all monsters the opponent controls become Insect-Type. It's no wonder why it was called Parasite Paracide: it was capable of finding a host to live on and spread its disease to the host's monsters, resulting in them becoming Insect-Types themselves.

"But that's not all," Missy continued. "Next I summon Pinch Hopper. And since it's an Insect monster, I can play the Spell card Worm Bait to get more bugs. But they aren't worried. As long as my Insect Barrier is active, they won't have to worry about getting destroyed."

Yuri was in a huge pickle now. Missy had Pinch Hopper and two Insect Tokens on the field, which can't be destroyed thanks to Insect Barrier. He always knew she was a strong student with her Insect deck, but he didn’t expect something like this to happen to him. Staring at the Insect-Type Spiniodaea and Moray Nepenthes, he wondered if his counter strategy would still work. His eyes shifted towards his deck and grew a bit concerned about the risk of drawing Parasite Paracide and losing 1000 LP…until he realized his counter strategy could still be used thanks to a new card he recently got.

Taking a deep breath, Yuri drew a card from his deck...and smirked. "What got you so happy?" Missy asked.

"Oh, nothing," Yuri casually answered. "I'll just summon Predaplant Squid Drosera in defense mode, switch my other two Predaplants to defense mode as well, and set a card face down before concluding my turn."

Missy just stood there confused on what Yuri even did. Why spend a turn switching his monsters to defense position and playing a face-down? Wasn’t he aware that part of her strategy involves her having his monsters being forced to attack? It didn’t matter to her anyways.

"No matter," Missy said as she drew a card. "With my monsters left intact, I'll use Polymerization to fuse Pinch Hopper with the second Parasite Paracide in my hand. Come on out, Insect Princess!"

Originially just a regular effect monster, Leo upgraded her to a Fusion monster to further help Missy’s status as a Fusion user, but her stats still remained the same: Level 6, WIND Attribute, Insect-Type, 1900 ATK, and 1200 DEF. Even her effects hasn’t changed; all Insect-Type monsters are switched to attack position when she’s face up on the field and she increases her ATK by 500 whenever she destroys an Insect-Type monster in battle.

"So now that my lovely Insect Princess has arrived, all of your Predaplants are forced to switch to attack mode," Missy said. "And I think I'll start my assault with the weakest one. Insect Princess, attack Squid Drosera!"

Unfortunately for her, Yuri smirked right as she initiated her Battle Phase because he knew she would pull something like that. "Why, thank you," Yuri said.

"For what?" Missy asked.

"Because now that Squid Drosera is heading for the Graveyard, each of your special summoned monsters receive Predator Counters latched onto them," Yuri answered. "And there's not a thing you can do to stop my lovely plant's ability!"

"I'm not scared," Missy said as three Predator Counters materialized onto the field and clamped to Insect Princess and the two Worm Tokens. "You can't still attack."

"Oh really?" Yuri asked. He drew a card, resulting in a wicked grin appearing on his face. "Well I beg to differ because I activate the Trap card Dragon Tribe!"

"What?!" Missy asked.

"Yes, that's right," Yuri said. "My time with Yuya never made me weak. It only made me stronger. And on the turn that I activate Dragon Tribe, all of my monsters become Dragon-Type until the end of my turn, so now your Insect Barrier is ineffective!"

Missy was left flabbergasted as Dragon Tribe transformed the Insect-Type Predaplants into Dragon-Type monsters while still having their plant-like features from before. Yuri had a satisfied look on his face as he saw his precious Predaplants undergo such a magnificent transformation.

"It's not the same as their original beauty, but I suppose it will do," Yuri said. "But I'm not done. With the power of Polymerization, I fuse Spiniodaea and Nepenthes in order to bring out the most toxic monster ever seen!" His wicked grin widened as his eyes became more dragon-like. "You'll never look at greenery the same way again! I Fusion Summon the vicious, voracious, and venomous Starving Venom Fusion Dragon!"

The dragon's head stretched out and opened up the mouth, revealing thin traces of saliva in between his upper and lower jaws. His tail extended in place as an “eyelid” shot open to reveal a dark yellow-green orb covered in what also looked like saliva. He raised his entire body up with glowing toxic green eyes before letting out his signature roar, resulting in his orb-esque scales on his body and joints of his claws to glow red and yellow. He then locked himself into attack position upon completing Yuri’s Fusion Summon.

Missy stood there completely shocked by what had just happened. Floating in front of her and the insect monsters was none other than Yuri’s powerful ace monster that secured him a huge number of victories with his duels throughout his entire life.

"But wait, there's more," Yuri continued. "By sending my second Squid Drosera from my hand to the Graveyard, my treasured dragon has to attack every monster that has a Predator Counter."

Missy realized what that meant. "All of my monsters have Predator Counters..." she stated.

"Precisely," Yuri said. "But don't act too upset. You should be honored. Starving Venom hasn't had a delicious meal in weeks, so he feels rather peckish."

"So your dueling style hasn't changed at all," Missy said.

"Indeed," Yuri said. "Now Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, it's feeding time! Finish this duel once and for all!"

Starving Venom’s wings opened up to reveal four saliva-covered mouths, in which two of them stretched out to consume and destroy the two Worm Tokens, dealing a total of 5600 damage. It was followed with Starving Venom extending out his wings, shooting out purple and magenta lightning bolts and an aquamarine blast at Insect Princess, resulting in an additional 900 damage. With a total of 6500 damage, Missy’s Life Points depleted down to 0, securing Yuri a win for the first time since his loss to Yuya.

"I do believe that is a victory for myself," Yuri said, giving Missy a two-fingered pointing gesture. He stopped upon realizing what he was doing, wondering why he would do such a gesture.

Missy approached Yuri. "Not bad, high commander," she said. "You're still as vicious as the day we met."

Lotus, along with the rest of the gardening club, was shocked. "Wow..." she said. "That was...incredible."

"We have to let him join," Missy told Lotus. "Sure Yuri has rather violent dueling methods, but he has a huge soft spot for plants."

"Well alright," Lotus said. "Yuri of Obelisk Force, welcome to Duel Academy's gardening club."

Yuri widened his eyes and raised his short, bushy eyebrows right as Lotus finished her statement because he was wondering to himself if he heard what he thought he heard her say. Fortunately, that quickly turned into proud acceptance as he thanked her for letting him join. To him, his life-long desire of other students accepting him into the Academy and making him feel welcome was finally starting to come true.

[ckcker]

Spit-Take’s Last Squirt

I look down at the parking lot of the apartment complex, I briefly think the back of a woman’s head walking away from me is the front of a hot guy walking towards me.  I hear a deadbolt unlock and turn and am invited inside.  Crossing the threshold of Rob’s apartment door sinks a throttled prick through my body akin to stumbling into a rusty and bubble-wrapped metal spike apparently for sale in an antique store.  Even as the top door hinge passes by my temple as a snubbed showbiz air kiss there is a flash in my mind of something, unrelated to the physical apartment and also a thing I will never be able to remove, that asks to keep my focus in two places at once.  Between these two places, the feet and the head spitroast me with their perverse negotiations.  My initial trauma is at this point overused as a topic and let’s agree boring to think about; my mind starts to suggest trauma spinoffs instead.  I am given a glass of water by Rob but then ask for a beer as, without asking, my memory gifts me excruciating yet kinkily edited content of my attempts to recover.  One of the best ways to come back from a nervous breakdown, I decided in the aftermath of that notable moment, is to do it very very quickly, ‘few solutions are as correct as speed-processing a massive landmark shift in the perception of reality,’ I had soothed myself in the aftermath.  I was hoping for something shittier than an IPA, I drink the IPA and turn, I notice the back of what I believe is an old woman’s head and body resting on the couch.  

After my  ˹survivable event˼  it was typical for all of the dying to retire inward. I believed I could bring back my life in the same way that people made jokes about being dead inside to prepare for the end of the world.  Alright, the remodeling of total defeat into pragmatic quarantine.  Enough disaster movies had passed, everyone notices catastrophes have entertainment value, I would walk past and look in the glass reflection of a recently opened Thai street food spot run by white ex-skaters, I evaluated my drilled in face and greyed out options, my de-emphasized terror: maybe even I could be entertaining. My original twist on the concept of recovering was to imagine my strength and ability as limitless. To decide I could pre-understand the well-flung implications of my situation, of a mind unable to cope with learning all of the things that are possible.  I wanted to turbo-ravel a lights out unraveling; the poet who wanted to be a cop.  I turn to Rob and say nothing about the apparently older woman, he also says nothing about her, asks, “what kind of music do you like?” before playing an Ace of Base song and I don’t have to answer.  The woman seems to be activated.  Her limbs slide against her torso and she turns to look around the room, then briefly at us but again at the room, then one certain spot on the wall to the right of where we are standing where she settles and says “hi” in a warble expelled as a foehn.    

I return the hi and am introduced to Gail.  I thought of all my failed solutions.  For instance, attending several satellite Occupy Wall Street protests, where discussions of income inequality and widespread mobilization were annotated with shouts, why is there fluoride in our water and end the fed.  One important takeaway involved a large man yelling along to the song being played on the sound system, “fuck you I won’t do what you tell me,” for two repetitions of the lyric before realizing no one else would join him and vanishing into embarrassed aerosol.  A successful protest fixates on a way for everyone to feel more or less the same emotion at a coordinated moment.  A successful protest is very sharply art directed and does not relish the display of rehearsed outrage.  The foot I thought I’d taken out of my ass and put through the door had somehow ended up in some other ass.  Feel it for the first time again.  Though people will regularly re-watch movies only waiting for their favorite lines to be said, it seems they rarely stop to consider protest tactics they have seen before.  I thought I had the patience, the dedication for such things, I tapped out naturally and in gas form. “She needed a place to stay for a bit,” Rob tells me, Gail says nothing but smiles lightly, looking at us in some awesome combo of salivating for a response and indifferent to the fact of being trapped behind twenty successive panes of stained glass.  Tchah, the experience of watching an ancient demon fail an eight week long beginner’s course on improv. “I see,” I conclude, Gail’s expression remains the same.  “Wow…’Beautiful Life’ is such a good song,” Rob says. The song moves to the front. I say, “Yes, I do love ‘Beautiful Life.’”

I had tried walks and not just sometimes but many walks.  Down the city cul-de-sac at a certain time.  Listening to wordless music, this one some sort of ambient dramatization of Eurydice’s botched escape from the underworld, a repetitive melancholy chunnel.  Then a rotation: it becomes Britney from an era when pop turned us around an axis both blingy and higgedly-piggedly-nigh-fucky-wucky, gently increasing the healing concept with each exacting flail, that there may be a consolation for all problems leading up to and including the end of the world.  The consolation was dancing all night.  Of course the time of my walks was twilight.  Fried mindsets gave the music much power as a narrative soundtrack; as I looked at a single branch of a very tall tree overhead and caught in sunset and streetlight, jiggled evocatively by wind, and heard a sort of coincidental despair-organized belch from the buckled gut of the mp3, I attempted to speed things up by trying to lose my mind all of the way.  This did not work, I had to stay somewhere in between.  

I went on more walks alone but never too far from my amazing bed.  It was crucial to be within 30 walking minutes of somewhere unsurveilled where I could lay down and catalogue mysterious headaches, as mysterious headaches had rightfully been selected as the center of my world.  The speed of losing a mind is incredibly hard to measure.  Gail also listens to ‘Beautiful Life’ and clearly does not know what it is, I don’t feel familiar enough with Rob to confront the question of how they know each other, I try:

“Are you two related?”

“No no no, haha,” Rob’s voice enters an excited tone. Gail emerges a glacial grin that, even as it forms one of the most approachable configurations able to be realized on a face, still seems misdirected from the hook of a comforting social cue, “no, I met Gail at a bar last night.  At Tina’s.  She just needs a place to stay for a little.  She just moved back here.”  “I spent many years in Lawrence, with my family,” Gail says.  

“I see.”  

Context clues point to homeless, I ache to know much more, Rob twirls around with unbridled pizazz.  He puts his two arms straight out towards me, “what would — ohhh!!”  He retracts his arms. “I was going to ask if you wanted something to drink.” Gail rests, “but you already have a beer,” and here he must have felt the panic to entertain away a social gaffe by immediately giving a clear-cut logical explanation, “my mind has been wiped away this week.  So much molly…           Well…   good.”  

“Yes.”  

“Yes INDEED hunny. This past weekend just about mummified me, I’ve been in a sarcophagus all WEEK, did you do anything fun?”

“Umm.”

I remembered then I was trying to stop using umm. I was coaching myself to be quite fearless and brave when entering sentences.  The CEO of a major newspaper-then-media company once said, before filming a segment for an in-house spot on the company’s approach to advertising its newly launched free weekly targeting 23-35 y/o young professionals, ‘I’m not an umm guy.’  This dialogue, delivered to the video director who was reminding the CEO to look straight in the camera and avoid using expressions like “umm” and “uhh” since they communicated unpreparedness, nerves or insecurity, revealed in its choppy severity a set of verbal and body language constraints that likely this man thought of all the time in order to conjure his short and long term goals.  Likely he thought of them almost as much as I thought about mysterious headaches.  I had been hired to help craft services for the shoot and spent much of the time sitting against a wall print of a famous basketball player, staring at the glass-walled office and elevators meant to enhance, via the perspective of ‘more space’ given by such architecture, a tech-oriented workplace for the media-damaged graduates.  See-thru offices offer more natural light, the young people of the era seem to enjoy a certain kind of light.  Another two-day job to float me, and an opportunity to rebuild a stomach for being outside of my incredible room.  “I stayed in on Saturday,” then I pause before continuing, “I watched a movie.  A documentary,” which I had watched for 17 minutes before moving to my window to observe the parking lot for 45 minutes, followed by bed.  

Rob seems uncomfortable with this idea, “you should come out with us this weekend. There’s some stuff going on.  Maybe you can come to this super fun party, it’s a queer party.  In fact it’s a conspiracy theory-themed queer party.”  Gail moves her left forefinger a splanch.  “It’s really funny! And good music, people dress up, it’s called……….Femmetrails” there is a pause of expectation which I do not know how to meet and which is ignored “it’s really funny and lots of dancing. My friend Blake hosts it. But in drag.  And, guess what his drag name is” I try to remember: was it a parking lot I observed, or a man in his early 40s masturbating within a fingerprint-shrouded computer screen “Georgia SORROWS.  Gail’s going to come!”  Gail has stopped grinning and seems to be unreachable for the length of a square breath before a small shift in her sitting style punctures the proto-gargoyle droop. “Yes I am going to come” she confirms.  “Yes and you should too,” it appears Rob is attached to the idea.  I clean out my lower mouth with my tongue, with mouth closed.  “That would be, maybe” this seems to be enough of an answer for everyone.  

Rob sits on the ground, I begin to prepare my body to also sit on the ground.  It had been a meat lover’s pizza approach to self-healing.  Kava tea from the pharmacy chain, sugar abstinence, performative meditation, I slipped into nonsensical jogging regimens, coffee abstinence, I walked gently in frozen empty parking lots, I didn’t touch anyone for a full year, “my balls are lost halls,” short term CBT and do-it-yourself biofeedback, waiting for hyperventilation so I could write about it, and all this supported by typical means: substantial daily hard alcohol acceptances and fearless ibuprofen stuffings.  And to heal oneself completely, one must never enlighten others to the full extent of the problem and the drenched map of half-solutions being applied, regularly, in secret.  Yes, I had as much spiritual discipline as a teen in an Intro to Photo class taking b&w photos of homeless people on the street.  I sit down at least four feet away from Rob and twelve from Gail, who in the meantime it has been discovered does not know the story of Amanda Bynes’ breakdown.  She also does not know who Amanda Bynes is.  Neither Rob nor I have any interest in making that clear.  The super gonorrheic minutiae that line and then bedazzle the mental process of a terrified person do not enter conversations as smoothly as quotes from 23 year old cult TV shows canceled after two seasons.  Not a shock, only a condition that makes the thoughts turn ever more crunched, ever more specific and internally bound, glowing with unpopular culture.

[gerrinson]

The journal of Allinav - part deux

The continuing adventures of the brave group, as told from the viewpoint of the character Allinav. Again, I take no credit for anything but the storyline, this was all written by the player, in character:

Entry Eight.

Where do I even begin. To say that things have taken a turn for the worst would be putting it lightly. I guess I will pick up a few days after where I left off, off in the distance the Worlds End mountain range towers over the landscape, and just a short walk away is the town of Helforth. This town is quite different from any town of which I had the grace to visit before, it's design was that of multiple circles, one nested inside of the other, on the outside were the farms, livestock, gardens, everything you might need to survive out here amongst the forests and the mountains, and as you worked your way in you found your self surrounded by buildings, that while not nearly as impressive as those you would find in Absalon, were still much better then you would expect. As we began our entrance into town, just outside a raised up on spikes, were the heads of two Goblins. It was here that we had the what I initially thought was the pleasure of meeting the Mayors son, as we made our way to the mayor himself, his son told us of the Goblin warparty that he had intercepted, how he and his men had fought off dozens of goblins, and how the heads on the pike where take of their leaders. I've seen the likes of this man before, back home we would hear stories like these in the bars, and someone claimed to have fought off a few goblins, or a couple of orcs. Always a far cry from the truth, but it was no business of mine, or our party to tell the mayors son that he was a liar. Our job was clear, find the source of the missing livestock, and put an end to it.

After a brief discussion with Mayor Havershem, we have determined that these theifs have been stealing in a pattern, that if true, would mean that there are potentially two farms still left to be stolen from, and after deliberation we have decided that the best option is to hide out on the farm of the Egerton family, and hope to catch the thieves in the act. The Egerton's by the way grow turnips. Barrels and barrels of turnips. More turnips then you could possibly imagine. Night fell as we waited, as we spread ourselves out around the main barn, everyone had a job, and an area to watch, and despite my best efforts, nobody was disguised and hiding amongst the juicy bait of the wheel barrow full of turnips. It was shortly after midnight when the thieves arrived in force, It was dark and I could only make out what looked like 4 Goblins, but what they lacked in numbers, they more then made up in both skill, and stealth. Yoshi was knocked unconscious before anyone even knew the Raiding party was on us, And if not for Simon and Drogo on the roof, we may not have ever known they were there.

Both Ilyat and I had been hiding inside of the barn Waiting to jump out as soon as the thieves arrived, and let me just say, from experience, when an Orc charges out of a barn in the middle of the night, the look on a goblins face is quite prices, that is for the split second it takes them to react and unless their arrows. The fight was brief, and only so because as soon as ilyat charged all but one of the goblins was able to flee. And its here that things took a turn for the worse.

After securing the Goblin and setting up sentries to make sure no other Goblins formed a rescue party, and making sure that Yoshi was in fact, not dead, Simon and I attempted to get some rest while Ilyat, Yoshi, and Drogo kept watch. Rest, however was not going to be an option. After a short while I woke to watch sounded like fighting, but it was just Yoshi, full on fur mode standing over a recently smacked, screaming goblin. Despite all our efforts it continued to scream, Ilyat was screaming, the goblin was screaming, Yoshi was just staring, and of course nobody actually even speaks goblin. After some time Simon was able to communicate with it, via writing words into the dirt of the barn. The basic jist of what Simon was able to uncover was that the Goblins were NOT the bad guys, and that the humans had stolen from THEM.  After even more discussion, it became clear that as the sun was rising, and with any hope of sleep quickly evaporating, that we would have this goblin lead us to their leader to get to the bottom of the situation. A few knots here and there and we were off. Funny thing about Goblins in a complete panic at the sight of a raging Orc, they make zero attempt at covering their tracks, even without the help of our little tied up friend, we would have been able to follow this path directly to their camp with little trouble... That is of course, if Drogo would stop running directly into any and all traps. As we neared the camp, and started to hear noise, and to a greater extent SMELL the latrines of said camp, Drogo was tasked with scouting ahead to make sure we were not walking into an ambush. A few minutes after he left the first of what I can only imagine were dozens of early warning traps was sprung, and the sounds from before erupted into chaos. With little options, we decided the best thing to do was to release the goblin, as a means of him informing what no doubt was a sizable force, that we were in fact NOT enemies, and that we were just looking for information. This gamble paid off as we were not only unharmed, we were escorted to the goblin camp to meet their leader Karth Boghat, and once again things the story gets worse. The heads on the pike in town, were that of his wife, and another.

The reason for the Livestock theft quickly became apparent in our talk with the Karth Boghat. The Goblins, upon learning of an invading army of the Stone Guard Orc Clan, decided that instead of fighting, it would be best to leave. In order to do so, they sent a party to town to warn the mayor and the people of the incoming army, and to trade with them for the supplies needed to survive a long journey on the road. It this this small party that the mayors son came upon, a part of friendly goblins, none of which were fighters, but in fact traders. The Mayors son murdered them, stole their gold, and put their heads on pikes for all the world to see. It is disgusting to see just how ugly the world can be. After a brief meeting with Old Meklo, our party split up to try and accomplish as much as possible in what little time we had to spare with an army of orcs not more then a couple of days away. Ilyat, Yoshi and I were to go back to town, retrieve the heads of the Goblin traders, inform the mayor of the impending attack, and return to the edge of the forest to regroup with the Drogo and Simon. It was a pretty good plan... all except for the part where halfway back to town we ran into Gronch the mighty, son of Grunch the war leader. I'm still a little hazy about the details of what happened next, but I do know two things, One, I'm pretty sure Ilyat is married now and heir to the Stone Guard Clan, and Two, I finally got my first taste of real battle, that taste was my own blood. I remember seeing Yoshi cause a spray of colors, and I remember thinking that now was the time to attack with my morning star, and i remember waking up and feeling incredibly woozy, so woozy in fact that in my stupor I decided that the recently decapitated head of Gronch might come in handy.

Deciding that now would probably NOT in fact be a good time to split up, we decided to scratch the initial plan and head back for the others, about half way there we heard was sounded like an incoming undetermined amount of horses, it turned out to be young Meklo.

After a brief introduction, he was kind enough to give us a lift, as well as delivered some packages from the Pathfinders guild, mail, mission updates, a giant pile of gems for yoshi.

We met up with the others, while still somewhat dazed, and continued to brandish this horrific head of the Orc warrior, we finally as a group returned to town. and again things got worse. The mayor was dead, If I had to wager a guess i'd say I'd know who did it, however based on what the mayor covered up for his son Randy, the punishment seemed worthy of the crime. As we hurried to make preparations and gather the towns folk, via ringing of the church bell, The mayors Son randy decided that now was the time to turn on the bravado. Incoming Orc army? Impossible! Goblins were just looking to trade goods and warn the humans? Not likely! Not all Orcs smell like Lavender Randy! ok that one seems reasonable. It was becoming very apparent that Randy was not going to listen to reason, and while his murder of the goblins would be reasons to allow ilyat to tear him limb from limb, what we needed right now was a little bravado of our own. The people don't have the time to sit around, they needed to get out of town right now. Luckily, I still happened to have the now rather moist decapitated head of on Gronch the mighty. If you have never seen a 7 foot tall grown man soil himself, just toss him the skull of the warchiefs son, and then confront him with the facts in front of the entire town he was supposed to protect. After proving once and for all that Randy was in fact a coward, we convinced the towns people to grab only what they deemed was essential and leave town at once. After clearing all of the holy relics from the chuch, and retrieving the goblins stolen gold, we decided that it might be best to make it look as if part of the town had been attacked by a Different clan of Orcs, a little blood here, a warchief sons head on a pike there, and a taunt about someone's mother being a light lover, it was time to move on... it was also around this point that I noticed Drogo was carrying a stack of books he had taken from the church. I wasn't aware that he was quite so religious, but the thought that he might be taken a turn for the better made the events of the previous two days seem like a distant memory. There might be hope for Drogo yet.

Entry Nine.

My mother is dead, she had been sold into marriage when I was a child. My emotions are too confusing to properly put down into words.

Entry Ten.

We have received updated orders. We are to rendezvous with Amari Tazen, the woman that had been transporting skulls to the verdun forest shrine. Her convoy was attacked and the skulls and relics stolen. We are to attempt to retrieve said relics and escort her to her final destination.

Entry Eleven.

Drogo received more money juggling, then I did playing my harp, Tiny little evil monster, always stepping on my proverbial toes. On top of that we recovered two Nixie bodies, those same nixie that we had helped before, with tatzle worm size bite marks. Nobody tells the tales of the bad days of an adventurer.