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tiens-letters · 2 years

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The only hope I had was the freedom of death by your hands that held me together

Dottore (Angst)

9k words

tw: gore

not proof read

It was a burden. The weight of the power you hold in all the land. Any human who has enough ambition would dare to covet it and any god even given divine powers would lust after it. You were powerful, able to end civilizations and make a new world altogether. Many would think that you are a sovereign being but you too are limited to mortality than what most would believe. You were human with a blessing of a god and you felt cursed and dirty. All your younger years was spent on trying to outrun those who wanted you, trying to escape tradition the elders placed on you when you tried to live a normal life as a child and then to the gods who would descend from their high place to take you away. No one was there to protect you, it was you all along that had to fend for yourself because everyone else wanted what you didn’t want. Thus, your hand was tarnished by blood, both by mortal and immortal, you had no choice, it was the heavy decision you always had to make in order to survive and live. Every night, however, you would remember what they looked like, how their eyes burned with greed and desire, even in their final moments they still tried to touch you. Their screams still reverberate in your head as you burned them alive, of their covetous nature. Each and everyone was the same as you tried to conceal yourself from their prying eyes.

That is until you met him, the doctor. That was during your brief stay in Sumeru did you meet this man who shunned by his peers and teachers. You did not think much of his appearance for you thought it was beautiful. Long wavy blue hair that resembles the ripples in the ocean on a bright summer day, his eyes twinkled like rubies under the sunlight and like blood in the shade, his skin was that of snow, now you just wondered how it felt like under your own skin. You were not one who easily comes to trust people, no, you were paranoid, as countless encounters of those who wore a mask before you were soon broken by their own selfish desires but you knew kindness, one thing no one has ever given you. You helped him that day to figure out a problem he’s been trying and failing to get right upon seeing the familiar scritches of his notes and diagrams, you knew what it was upon seeing it as it was presented, more like forced to you by one of the elders whose fate was met by drowning in his own quarters. He thanked you, though skeptical at first as to why someone would even bother to help him. He found you intriguing, eccentric even with the way you presented yourself and how you were clueless as to most of the things in the world. You did not have time to even enjoy the small things in life as you were to busy trying to stay alive. You were both the same in some way.

Soon that one meeting turned into two and then three to four times a week ,you seemed to stay longer in sumeru as you spent more time with him. Both of you found the meaning of friendship, one he did not even think of having in his closed off life. He liked how things were, you were there, his only companion and his passion for the vast knowledge the world has to offer.

“Please come with me.” he asks you one day, it was after man had approached him late into afternoon as he tinkered with one of his new experiments.

“What for?”

He explains everything calmly, though the excitement in his eyes were hard to miss as he speaks about the many possibilities of changing the world.

“I can protect you properly there. Away from the humans and gods that dare lay a finger on you.”

“Did you tell the man about me?” Right, with all the excitement and promises the man ‘Pierro’ brought he forgot to mention you

“No but I am confident they will welcome you as well.” he looked a bit desperate, you were his only friend after all. One who he has come to cherish and one who soon he realizes as someone he can never leave.

“Please?”

How could you say no when he asks you like this, you were always weak to his entrancing eyes.

“Alright.”

…

You followed him as he left the academy, the same place that shunned him and called him a monster. The man, Pierro, though surprised did not show it as he simply acknowledged your being there. He took you both to the snowy and unforgiving alps of Snezhnaya and inside a fortress that you’ve only seen in picture books. There were people who loitered around in different uniforms all fit for the bitter cold weather. You two were also given warmer clothes once settled in your own quarters not far from each other. The room was spacious, something you’ve never had before and it felt daunting for everything made you feel alone. Your eyes wandered to the bed, Pierro did mention to rest before meeting the Tsaritsa.

You could only hope for the best that she was not like the rest of the gods as you settle in the large bed, trying to get comfortable but to no avail, it was as if your body didn’t want to let you rest even if you so much has desired it. And then you remember how you slept back then whenever you were unable to, which was almost every night when the fear of nightmares has presented itself once again, you would seek him.You sought for his embrace, it never failed to bring you peace and deliverance away from your dreams. You opted to leave for his room, you own pillow clutched to your chest, you opened the door to the man himself

“Oh.” his crimson eyes widened in surprise, a hand froze midair in a gesture to knock, so it was a mutual feeling after all

“I couldn’t sleep.” you sheepishly say, warmth rising up to your ears in embarrassment

“Me too.” he states and then silence followed, just a moment of just looking into each other’s surprised and tired eyes

“Then, would you like to come in?” you ask and he nods

He enters the room glancing around, his stature looked elegant under the cold moonlit night, it was as if he truly belongs in this place, like a perfect piece to a large puzzle. He then turns to you, hand outstretched.

“Shall we?” you couldn’t be more happier to oblige as you both lay down on the not so large bed anymore, faces in line together, sleepy expressions on your faces as your body finally allows you to get comfortable.

“What will happen now?” you ask to which he smiles, a gesture that he reserved for you and you only, it was something rare, different from the ‘smiles’ he would give to others, this was genuine and filled with gratefulness.

“I finally become someone who can pursue what they want without any restrictions, I get to make a great contribution without people throwing scorn at me and most of all, you get to witness it all. This greatness you spoke of, that man spoke of, we will have it. Together.”

It made you happy, over the moon from his answer, it was more than what you needed to reassure yourself that you are finally free from the chains of the curse you carry.

“I’d like that very much.”

…

Affection, neither of you knew what it was, not even when it started nor when it became a deeper thing that one simple word could not even define it anymore. You don’t know how things even came down to this but you just floated along for the ride, you watched him blossom into the person he was meant to be, and as part of the Harbingers that served the great cause of the Tsaritsa, the possibilities were endless. He enjoyed creating, learning and becoming more powerful day by day. He shared it with you, the dream he’s had, it became true.

“Good morning dear.” majority of people knew you are lovers, only the new ones would assume that you both were simply close friends because of how discreet you are whenever it came to public appearances but behind closed doors was different story in your shared home away from the palace. It was found in morning caresses as both naked bodies tangled in the sheets held each other close, in the day where both of you had your respective tasks to do was the glances that stayed longer every time you ran into each other and at night, they were where you both could be just yourselves as lips met each other, conveying pent up feelings on when one of you would be assigned far away from each other or the simple readings and lighthearted chatter by the hearth.

“ ‘morning.” you smile up at him, he looked so beautiful in the morning light you could kiss all over again if it weren’t for the time and duties you both would attend to. You were assigned to a small village in the outskirts to visit due to the sudden rise in a certain disease. You sat up first, naked body opting to move towards the bathroom only to be pulled down by none other than Dottore.

“Going so soon?” he asks you, a lopsided smirk on his face

“We must, our duties await us I’m afraid.” your hand finds the back of his neck pulling him down

“I hate for this to end.” he whispers in between kisses

“Me too.” another lingering kiss “me too, my love.”

“How long?” he sighs against your lips

“Best I can do is a month. Depending on whether the snowstorm will hit or not.” Snowstorms were common occurrence in Snezhnaya, you’ve been used to it for quite some time now but the only downside to it is the travel time to get between places. Sometimes it can be deadly and sometimes it was like a passing breeze, it all depends on how prepared one is and by far everyone in the land are all pioneers to handling such a weather.

“That’s a long time to wait.” You can hear the disappointment in his voice as his hand trails up an down your neck

“You lasted 6 months without me.”

“And Tsaritsa forbid I’d have to go through that again. It was horrible!” there was that dramatic side of him again “6 months of not even touching you or having you in bed!”

“Are all your ideas geared towards sex?” you lift an eyebrow “if it is then I’m really going to put in a request for a longer stay and I promise you it wont be 6 months only.”

Only you and whoever above has bothered to know that this man is a monster during your intimate moments and the many days were you unable to walk because of his inhuman stamina.

“Wait!” you begin to get up from the bed “Hey! I was joking!”

“Sure you are.” you wink back at him as you slide into the bathroom.

“Get back here!”

…

You’re finally prepared to leave and after a lot of convincing by Dottore to atleast bring one of his clones for the sake of his inner peace. You sat inside the carriage, his clone opposite to you.

“You better be back in a month.” he tells you from the end of the patio steps, Fatui coat hanging off his lithe figure

“And if it takes long?” you were testing him and he knows it “What will you do then?”

“I’ll come to you, whether you like it or not.”

“You just can’t keep your hands to yourself can you Doctor?” you chuckle

“Give me a break.” his clone mutters in front of you, clearly annoyed at how mushy you both were getting with the real body.

“Alright. Let’s leave.” you roll your eyes at the antics of the other one, though they may be the same but sometimes the personalities differ, just like this one. You then turn to your lover “I’ll see you soon.”

“Safe travels, dear.”

And then you were off, the mansion getting smaller and smaller from your view until it was truly gone from your line of sight. You grabbed the reports sitting beside you, archons, it going to be a long day.

“Doctor.” the man turns towards the source of the voice, there stands the man who brought him here and away from the palace that scorned him “There is something we must discuss.”

“Well? Spit it out then, I havent got all day to gossip.” Dottore still had so much projects running at the same time that he has to attend to and idle chatter was not his forte unless it was with you

“I prefer to discuss this with you in private.” Pierro states. “I believe it has something to do with your, companion.”

Pierro knew how to pique the doctor’s interest, if it not for new experiments or ideas that involved creating a higher power then it would be about you, the person he confided in the most.

“Alright, let’s go to my study.” he huffs, wondering what else it could be that he did not know of about his dove.

…

‘It was the one of harbinger’s that spread the plague’

‘impossible! It couldn’t be one of them.’

You overhead two recruits chatting as they set down boxes of supplies, you were in your tent, finishing up on a few more reports before calling it a day. Conversation topics do not really bother you but this one in particular seemed to entice you, so you found scribbling away as you listened in.

‘They say it was the doctor.’ you halted, now that was impossible

‘hmm, if it was him then it would be possible. Seeing as we’ve been ordered to bring in a few healthy villagers to his lab.’ Gossip, you were sure of it. It was probably from his enemies or from those who just did not like him. Many people didn’t like him and it still continued on up to this day.

‘do they know?’ now they were talking about you, you knew Dottore was not someone to hold back secrets from you but this, this was simply unbelievable

‘The twelfth has always been with him, they probably know or even planned it along with him.’

You did not even have any idea of the disease until a week ago and he could not have gone here for you knew it would take long to journey back and forth unless,

“Here’s todays report.” Dottore’s clone comes in, a file tucked under his arm as he lifts the flaps of the entrance

Of course.

The man had genetically manufactured replicas of himself, this was just one of them. You looked at the one before you, the resemblance painful in his face and clothes.

“Were you here a month ago?” you ask him, quill gripped on your hand tightly

“No.” he states as a matter of factly, “Would there be a reason for me to be here?”

Then it wasn’t this clone. Or the recruits were lying, after hearing it from a another source.The grapevine twists and so is the truth as it gets passed from mouth to mouth.

“Forget it.” You shook your head, trying to dismiss the thought away “Hand the reports over.”

“People are getting better thanks to you.” he states, placing the file on your desk

“It’s my duty as one of her Majesty’s subordinates.” Right, you were fighting for a good cause, it would be impossible for Dottore to become the cause of all this suffering.

“You and your devotion.”

Little did you know that today was the start of all the doubts you would be encountering about your lover. Slowly, you began to hear things about him, the things he did were almost the same things that the people who coveted your power wanted to do to you. The small details of the inhumane experiments he did behind the doors of his lab from recruits that passed by your tent and those who lingered for a second. It went from men to women being altered to somehow fit being a vessel of a deity, the failures he had along the way as they spoke about how much bodies they had to dispose off. Even children were no exemption from his cruelty in pretense of wondrous breakthrough for his goal. It made your stomach churn as they ran their mouth carelessly about what they witnessed,

‘he made them fight each other while being enhanced, I saw it myself and I could not spend a second longer looking for it was truly disturbing!’

‘ they tore at each other like animals, it was as if they lost their reasoning, it was gruesome. We had to clean the remains afterwards and I tell you, it was not a simple task! There was flesh and blood everywhere, other even excused themselves from cleaning because they felt sick.’

‘Archons! How terrible that one of the lord harbingers would do this!’

‘it is The Doctor after all, he’s always striked me as someone who do that.’

‘this is why I avoid him at all costs, you never when he lays his eyes on you!’

You never know when he lays his eyes on you. You couldn’t breathe, everything seems to twist, your focus zooming in and out, the mind was not even helping at all. You began to imagine what it looked like, the experiments, the torment he caused and all the works. It made you doubt him even more and as the mission was ending you somehow dreaded going back. To finally confirm the idle chatter of some recruits about the man you’ve been with for many years now. Could he have thought of you the same way he did to the people he used as lab rats? Did he want to take you apart as well for his own gains of achieving godhood that he never had for he was not blessed with a vision. So many thoughts drowned you, you know it was better to confront the man himself, if it was a lie then you could just simple dismiss it as some gossip made by bored recruits but if it was real? It frightened you to the core, because then everything you had with him was all a lie. Nothing of it was real for he was only using you to get what he wanted his whole life. To finally spit in the face of the gods above. Through you he had a chance to do so.

“Lord Harbinger?” you forgot you were in a meeting with one of the captains of the troop you came with, their eyes were full of concern as you werent listening, too busy paying attention to your own destructive thoughts

“Apologies, what were you saying?”

“Oh, I was confirming whether we should move the date of departure a bit farther because of the sudden spike in diseases.”

“Yes, yes. Let’s do that captain.” you agreed immediately, the words coming out of your mouth smoothly, that was what you wanted right? A bit more time to clear your head enough to face him after the sudden rush of doubt that clouded your mind.

“Alright, I will take my leave then Lord Harbinger.” The title made you recoil but not enough to be visible in the prying eyes of the captain. You just nodded as you watched him leave. Sinking back into your seat with a sigh, you could feel the headache coming.

‘Get a hold of yourself, there are patients waiting for you.’

…

Dottore was feeling antsy as you did not arrive by your expected date from the mission. He did promise that he would go to you if you did not arrive on time, knowing you hate it when he does that. Conflicted at the moment, he forgets to pay attention to the person in front of him laid upon the gurney. To even describe them as a person was the least out of all descriptive words in a normal human’s vocabulary, maybe a monster or an abomination would fit best. The dark red veins that ran across their body along with the bones that grew and morphed into a gruesome shape that altered the appearance of the human, the red sceleras too were no exception as a result from the altering of cells.

“Will you please shut up for once!” the harbinger yells as he hits the screaming person below him which only increases in volume, not caring if its vocal chords were in the verge of exhaustion.

“I cant think with all the noise you’re making!” another hit to the already bruised and swelled up cheek of the person. A disobedient animal would be the better fit for this abomination he’s created. He grabs a syringe, green glowing liquid gushing out of the needle as he presses it into the neck of the experiment.

“Maybe this will shut you up.” he hisses, crimson eyes watching it spasm and settle down as if it were sleeping. Removing, the syringe from its flesh he tosses it aside not caring if it it broke into two because of his strength. The thoughts of you in his mind was bugging him all day, unrelenting as it was as he tried to work on his projects.

“You killed it.” he finds the eyes of those that are identical to his, a disappointed scowl on his face as he writes down on the clipboard that hung on the gurney

“It was a failure anyway.” Dottore scoffs, loosening his tie to get rid of the stuffiness he feels in his chest

“It may be but that was the last one we have in our list. The rest are just weak to even go through with this process and because of you and your worry about the twelfth we are compromised for better results.”

“You don’t get to talk to me like that.” hisses the original, his creations were his pride and joy and sometimes also a pain in the ass. He did not need the nagging of his own right now for he was more hung up on the thought of you not arriving on time. The things you do to this man was even beyond him himself.

“But you know I am right and now we need more volunteers.”

“You know full well where we get them. Do your job and get out of my sight!” Yells Dottore, the agitation in his veins becoming stronger every second he stands there. There was no letter from you or whatsoever that you would be prolonging your stay and archons above know how much he tries to tell himself that you forgot or were to busy to inform him. He just simply found out from one of the official reports that came in, courtesy of Pulcinella.

He grabs his coat in a rush as he yells at one of the recruits to ready a carriage for him. He knows he is acting on impulse but he could barely give a shit at the moment.

Pantalone looks on from the window of his study at the small figure of the Doctor leaving in a flurry. The mirage that stayed long for so long before you will finally settle to revel dry hot sand that settles in your throat. Finally this show is slowly coming to an end and has the front row seat to it.

“What will you do then Doctor?”

…

You should have expected him to be there after going past your promised return. He stood before you, lips upturned in mild dissatisfaction. You don’t move, your lips shut in silence as you look at him. You didn’t know what to say, those stupid rumours shook you so. He shakes his head and just takes your hand and leads you back into your tent with a steadfast grip.

“Dottore---”

“Sweetheart.” he cuts you off with that cold tone of his, “You didn’t tell me you were extending your stay here.”

“I apologize, I was busy with tending to the patients and forgot to send you a letter in time.” You spoke with a controlled tone, as if it were simply talking to your subordinates but this? Never did you speak in this manner with him.

“And you didn’t greet me in when I arrived,” he looked dejected now as he stepped closer, lips a hairsbreadth away from you “Are you that tired to even grant me your time?”

“Like I said--” he loves cutting you off only this time it was with his lips and like usual as if by default yours moved along with his as well in longing, the nights where you both slept alone and days where you did not see ach other boiled down to that moment as lips brushed against each other. Your hands clutching his coat as he held your face, fingers leaving small caresses along the way.

“Did you miss me?” he asks in between breaths

“Always.” it slips out of your mouth as if it were as simple as breathing. Your heart meant it, every single letter of it down to the emotion conveyed in the kiss. A small whimper leaves you as he bites down on your lower lips, drawing blood but it does not deter his purpose to devour your lips in earnest longing. And when he finally reared himself back from stripping you then and there, he pulls away.

“You’re coming back with me today.” he states

“Why? I still have patients to tend to.”

“Then leave it to the rest!” he seemed to be in a rush for some unknown reason he wishes not to disclose with you. “That’s what these idiots are here for anyway.”

“As much as I’d love to come home with you but I can’t leave these people just yet.” what are you hiding?

Dottore still tries to convince you to go home with him but you stood firm. People are dying and your heart goes to them but you knew in the back of your mind that you weren’t ready to truly find out about the truth behind those rumors. So you distanced yourself a bit more from going back home to him, thankful that fate has allowed you a little bit more time. You just wished that after all this was the opposite of those rumors when you’ve finally had the courage to ask him about it.

“Fine! Stay here then! Stay here with the humans you oh so love!.” He yells as he leaves your tent, you couldn’t move at all. His words rang throughout your head, the trauma of the past simply shows how much it impacted him, he still hates humans, his own kind. The rumors then came flooding in, slowly fitting in one of the many spaces in the paragraph of the stories about him. When you started working as a harbinger, you were admittedly wary of everyone, always looking behind your back just in case someone would try to hurt you but in most of your encounters, there were more kind ones than the bad. Something changed in you when you had been subjected to more good that it almost made you forget the bad. You slowly grew out of your shell, it was a tough journey but you still came out on top, now working in a specific unit that caters to helping people.

You watched him leave for the center and you let your doubts followed him.

…

“Have you ever wondered what’s behind the closed door 12th?” Pantalone speaks beside you, he does not look at you as his eyes were too busy looking for a book to read from a higher shelf

“What do you mean Regrator?” you pause from looking over the table of contents of the book held within your grasp. Its been three days since you’ve returned and Dottore was nowhere in sight. He was avoiding you, always making excuses or simply vanishing, probably off to his other lab.

“You are quite the naive one aren’t you? Or do you just pretend not to know?” Did he know? You finally look at him, to find him already staring back at you, a smile that hid the serpent beneath the flowers so well painted his face,

“Know what?”

“Dear me, you are still stuck in that mirage.” he shakes his head in mock pity

“Just get to the point you bastard.”

“It’s better for you to find out yourself, that way I’d be more entertained.” and then he leaves in a whirl of dark blue, a leather book intact in his hand. You wanted nothing more than to throw a book at him, that snake! But what he said did intrigue you, it pulled at you the same way the rumors did to you during your mission in the outskirts. Now your mind is telling to you to search for answers. and you will have them one way or another if the man in question does not give it to you.

Fool.

You should not have crossed that bridge. You should have simply turned your head away and held your hands to your ears away from the rumors that circulated him. You should have listened to him only and went back with him that day. So much what if’s of a better outcome yet it could never escape the harsh reality of it all. You thought that they were fighting for a greater cause but they too were the same, only greater with more resources unlike the rest of the humans who tried to take you.The whole time you’ve been looking through rose tinted glasses and you were so naive to question things but what can you do when you’ve been fed false reassurance the whole time you were taken in. They’ve shown you only what you wanted to see, as if it were all planned from the start.

‘do you think they are ready?’ It was the voice of Pulcinella, muffled as it may from closed doors but you it bled through nonetheless. You just happened to pass by on your way to submit a report to Pierro. But the man himself was also in the same room as The Rooster. So you listened and archons, did you regret it so much.

‘ They will be once Dottore has finished up with his own experiments, he did report on a close breakthrough.’

‘ Then he better get a move on, her majesty has been asking and I have not given her a satisfactory answer!’ Pulcinella exclaims,

‘ Give it time my friend, it will be ready by the time our envoys arrive in Natlan.’ you couldn’t hear any longer as you left in a rush, papers clutched tightly, you made it into your own office. Everything was spinning, the room was closing in on you as you tried to breathe but to no avail. Instead, you were on the floor, a hand to your chest as you struggled to chase oxygen that eluded you.

You do not hear the man who calls out to you, only that you saw the monster who was the base of all the rumors that made you spiral into madness.

‘Don’t touch me!’ you scream, crawling away from his grasp that follows you

‘Sweetheart, breathe!’ his face was blurry through your tears, your heart pounded in fear as his touch felt like acid on your skin and when you didn’t let up, you felt a sharp pain to the side of your neck making you cry out in pain. You wondered if that was it, the end you wondered about by his hands.

‘I apologize for this dear.’ he whispers, finally holding you in his arms as you feel your consciousness slipping away. It scared you for what he might do to you, what they will do to you, what they will use your power for. After all, they were all the same.

…

There was a letter by you window sill, within it was a key and small eloquently written note.

‘ a small gift for your recovery.’ there was no name under but you knew who it came from. The thought of that serpentine smile of his made you shiver. You eyed the key, thinking back on what he said that day in the library. After your unfortunate eavesdropping, you were in bed the next day, exhausted down to the bone. What’s worse about being left alone with yourself was the thoughts that ran amok, they began to tear down the rest of the good things you held dear about your lover, painting him a diabolical character in your story. Destructive as they were, you listened to them intently just like the old days where it was just you alone in an abandoned shack or beneath a tree during thunderstorms. So you let them run and free, to torment you for trusting way too easily and to even falling in love. And you cried, you let the pillow soak up the salty agony of your emotions as you once again feel the comfort of sleep.

You avoided him, even when he sat by the bedside to take care of you and all you could think of was how much longer was he going to keep up the facade he has been showing you the whole time. You avoided him even going as far as to change your walking route towards places where you are needed only to not see him and have your focus break. You only spoke a few words whenever you were behind closed doors. Sleeping in the same bed was not the same anymore as it felt colder and more spacious.

And then this day, where you decided to finally go to the lab within the central Headquarters of the Fatui, the strong pull led you to a door in the cold murky dungeons of the fortress. Maybe this was where Pantalone wanted you to go to, and maybe it was because of his ‘pity’ that he gave you the key in order to finally free yourself of the lies they constantly fed you.

You turned the key with bated breath and steeled yourself as to what you will witness once inside.

And then you saw.

It was a large lab and as you walked about yous aw many other contraptions you’ve never seen before, each and everyone can easily take a life. Large tubes that looked large enough to hold a fully grown adult within it stood in the middle as if they were pillars holding up the whole place of what seemed to be like a cold metal hell for those unlucky enough to be taken in. You stepped closer to unravel on of the tubes and the sight was haunting. It made you want to hurl after seeing the contents, it was of a child well at least what resembles it, large boils covered its whole body each and every one of the lumps seemed to have its own life as they throbbed and wriggled. It was eating away at the host whose face was also covered in it, the only things that looked human to it was its eyes, they were empty, void of life as if simple waiting for its end. Unsatisfied, your hand moved to unravel the rest, it was a the same failed experiments of humans as marked on the label below, others had boils, some had more limbs than normal, and the rest had a tentacle like worms coming out of their body, all of them had the same expression of emptiness. The curtain was pulled away from the last tube to reveal a human in pristine condition, it was asleep without a care but what shook you the most that it felt like you were looking at yourself in the mirror. It was you, another you in a glass tube. So he made a clone of yours too, this was what Pierro and Pulcinella was talking about behind closed doors. This is the breakthrough they spoke of, a clone of yourself, a perfect vessel for your powers. What will happen to you then after they take it? Discarded? Killed? Many possibilities but all of it leading to your own demise.

Having fallen below, you let your body take control as if were a puppet. You went through his desk, reports upon reports of failed experiment were written out meticulously and in great detail, the next stack was about potential vessels all of them unnamed, he did not care whether they were women or children, as long as it fits his standard of candidates they were then all the same lab rats in his eyes. The clear disregard for ones life shows how much he’s become, how worse he got over the span of the years, feeding into his ideals and heresy. You wondered then were you just a long term project of his. Perhaps he too did not care about your own name as he’s ever called you through pet names. One of the drawers were locked and you assumed it was about the clones as you did not see any of it atop his desk nor in his shelf.

Like a marionette, you let yourself be guided by the destructive curiosity of your to wander even more, and like a helpless prisoner in your own mind you simply watched through the bars in agony as every truth was revealed.

The other room was more abominable than the last. Within it was a large cage in the corner and you were thankful it was empty, however you could not say the same for the gurney, and broke your mind further.

A woman, no older than twenty-two lay atop the gurney, skin painted in the sickly color of black, blue and yellow. She does not have long as her chest heaved in shallow laboured breaths. There were countless needle marks on both of her arms, you held her hand as she stirs from her slumber. Bleary eyes looking up at you, they were a beautiful forest green that reminded you of the calming and vibrant greenery back in Sumeru.

“Are you the twelfth he spoke of?” she asks you weakly

“I am.” you wanted to cry seeing her speak, she had more to life than this cruelty

“You know,” she begins, a lone tear leaving her eye “I was home tending to my the flock when they took me. Im glad lord harbinger that they didn’t take my family or celestia forbid my little siblings.” She still had faith in the archons even in this state. So you listened to her story, as if it were to compensate at least a little bit for the pain she has gone through. It tore through your own walls as every word she let go of were like a mallet against the bricks.

“I’m so sorry.” apologizing was pathetic, they were mere words at this point but you meant it even if they weren’t your sins to commit, you still asked for forgiveness if only your words could reach those who have passed then you would beg them too. “Im sorry.”

“I’m glad that its you to see me go than that demon. Thank you for listening to my story.”

You didn’t say anything as you continued to hold her dying gaze.

“May I ask you for a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Please look after my family when I’m gone and if you can, tell them that I’m doing alright.” The woman tells you, a smile of relief stayed on her face, she trusts you.

“I promise, Nadya.” you try to mirror her smile but fails when more tears come out

“And please leave this place, someone such as you who is more sunlight than the bitter cold of this place do not belong in a place like this. You are meant for something far greater, I know it.” The vibrant thriving forest in her eyes began to die faster as he breathing became slower and her temperature dropped lower. This was it, to see another person die before you and you could do nothing about it. You mourned her and let the last wall break. Your heart went with hers.

…

“What do I get in return if I help this family on the outskirts Twelfth?” Pantalone stands across you from his office

“ Everyone of my assets. I won’t be needing them anymore.”

“To give up one’s assets is the same as giving up everything you’ve ever worked for and your position and yet you’re willing to do that just for a family you never even met?” you could practically hear the gears in his head turning, thinking as to what may be the cause of your appeal and when it clicks he smiles up to you

“So you know. Now will you accept?” you hate how he knows everything

“If I do, I would like to know what you will do after.”

“How about I surprise you Regrator? You love don’t you?” you sneer as he just smiles on

“I love surprises Twelfth.” he pushes a contract to you “Sign here please.”

You wasted no time in signing it and you felt lighter, all these did not have meaning anymore to you after yesterday. The weight was lesser as you left his office and heading towards your own quarters within the palace, you didn’t want to go to the place that was built from lies and deception, it was not home anymore so you opted for the nearest place you can at least get lesser memories from.

What you didn’t expect was that the man you were trying to avoid was there, expecting you inside already. He stood on the balcony that overlooked the jagged cliff below.

“Darling, I was expecting you.” he greets you, a hand outstretched towards you. You say nothing as you step forward, your heart already burning from hurt, anger and guilt. Holding his hand wasn’t the same and gone was the heart fluttering feeling you feel whenever he kissed you.

“I saw it all.” you spoke, not once did you look at him as you told him all you’ve seen.The things he kept from you, the conversation, all the things you’ve heard and felt.

“So you’ve been there, darling--”

“You deceived me and I loved you blindly, Dottore. Now I wonder if anything of this was real ever since you became a harbinger.” tears began to flow down your cheek no matter how hard you tried to fight them back.

“It was all real my love, let me explain.” why did it hurt even more to hear him call you that, you didn’t believe it any longer

“Don’t you dare come to me and justify your crimes!” you never screamed at him like this in your whole relationship and you felt something break further and further within “You are just like them…”

It was true, the things he did was nothing different from how those who came after you, wanting your power. It was truly a burden, that damned blessing they coveted so, it destroyed you inside. And in your broken mind you dared to look up at him, the man was speechless for the first time.

“You changed so much over the years and now that I am presented with the truth, I could not see you in the same way as I did before. It hurts because until now there is still a part of me that loves you.” you hold your hand towards his cheek, maybe if times were different then it would not have come to this. “and I am sorry to do this.”

You are not willing to give them what they want and if this is the only way for their plan to fail or to set them back then so be it but it does not reassure the idea of them still bringing innocents into this grand conquest of theirs.

“What are you--” he feels warmth spread throughout his being, through every nerve, pore and fibre, he sees everything backwards but as it rewinds the memories of you are terminated from his memory drive, the conversation you have right now was even removed and instead replaced by one that made you into an enemy of the tsaritsa.

And in this fake memory you conjured he was ordered to kill you by a dagger to the heart. You released your hand, it took a toll on you, back finding itself against the doorway of the balcony. Manipulating memories were simply a part of the gift you carry and as you looked at the man before you once again, it felt different. You never told him about this part of your power.

“So the rat was here all along.” he smiles to himself, congratulating him for a job well done. He steps closer a dagger lurking beneath his coat as a gloved hand trails its way down your face. “It’s a shame to let a pretty thing like you go, you would have been a suitable specimen.”

“I will not submit to that foolish archon’s will.” you spat, making your acting more profound and then you feel it, the cold sharp sting that made itself home in your chest.

Finally.

It felt so light, so peaceful and so serene. There was no more weight on your shoulders. You felt free and you wondered as you look up to the sky with your tired but relieved eyes. Has freedom always felt like this? It was like being a bird in the sky, that soared through the clouds, eyes taking in anything and everything they see from above. Was this how those beautiful creatures felt like whenever they spread their wings?

It felt so warm even as your body touched the floor, all you could see was the sky, gray and gloomy as it may be but you saw your memories flashing by, the happy ones were stronger at least you would be carrying the memory of him not as the monster but as the man whom you’ve given your heart to, the man who held you when nightmares came to torment you, the man who read to you whenever it was your day off, the man who kissed you the hardest but held you softly, these were the memories of him you wanted to keep, even when it was fake you still wanted to keep it no matter how foolish it was because to you it was a good lie.

You close your eyes, the very same ones he loved to hold gaze to. And as you feel your breath come to halt all you could ever feel and think was freedom. You were so tired of running back then and now you were weary from the painful truth. Selfish as you may be, you left the world with a satisfied smile.

…

Ah, but that was your mistake.Overcome by your emotions you forgot that there was another. One that resembles him so much, one that represents him when he was too occupied with you in his grasp, one that was not your lover.

One that could never be him.

Your murderer.

His mind that has solved so much complex problems could not even comprehend why you were lying on the cold balcony floor, his clone staring down at you as if you were just on one of your weird antics.

“What are you doing darling?” he asks, a foot away from the doorway. You meters away from him

“Oh? You’re here.” his clone smiles at him, something’s changed he can tell by the way it smiled sadistically towards him “If you were here a bit earlier, you would’ve enjoyed torturing this human but here we are.”

“Torture them? What the fuck are you talking about?” that was until he gets closer, a better view as to what has actually befallen you.

Deep dark crimson liquid bloomed from your chest like a slow moving fountain from the knife that was his, it was kept in the drawer of his desk in the mansion but alas, you were too good at bringing forth objects from different places. Your clothes soaked it up greedily, akin to how grass thirsts for water. It was not beautiful at all, not when it was you who was in that situation.

Dottore stills, it was as if he himself was frozen in ice. He looks at you, eyes as red as the blood that poured out of you. Time has stopped and he seemed to feel the cold nip at his very being. How could this have happened? Finally a question he does not know the answer of. And it frustrates him, it eats him up inside bit by bit. His heart thumps within his chest, he does not know of this emotion but it hurts, it hurts him physically, his whole body just aches and he does not know why.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” he finally snaps in rage, an emotion he’s quite well aware of, which he knows personally.

“I just did what her majesty told me to.” shrugs the other, the same face as his and the he realizes that this was the same face you saw before you died. The Tsaritsa never told him anything at all, as all orders are always relayed through Pierro and then to him, never had he directly received them from her.

He concludes that the clone did it on it’s own but for what motive he did not know of as it claims it was from the Tsaritsa herself. This one has become a failure, the closest a clone can be to being its creator.

If a creator can give life, it can take it away.

And so he did. He takes away the almost perfect creation that was made from his own flesh, with one bullet to the head it was all over. A gun, it was the most efficient way for someone who was not blessed by the archons he hated.

He does not feel any satisfaction as he watched the clone stumble back into the railing and fall into the cliff below. In fact he feels the numbing cold of the storm that razed throughout the center. He kneels down to pick up your limp body in his arms, were you this light? He does not care whether the blood soaks him too, in fact he embraces it as he embraces you.

This was not supposed to happen, he was supposed to save you from further decay upon looking at your results from the day you collapsed. That was why he made the vessel but what use is it when you are dead. It was all for naught and he still does not understand why this happened. Had someone threatened you? Were you ordered to?

What’s more he does not get it when he looks at your face, the serenity painted permanently on your face, like everything that was weighing you down left you and now you’re free and happy in relief that you can be whatever you want.

“You promised you were never going to leave me.” his voice comes out as a whisper, hands pulling your body closer to his. He does not even realize he’s shed tears as he buries his head into your shoulder.

“Why. Why. Why. WHY?!” it sounded so miserable at this point as if he was sent back to being a child who was scorned by his whole village. The cold nights where he would curse at celestia for how pitiful his life is.

He sat against the wall, behind him was the raging storm outside. Your body still encased in his arms with his coat wrapped around you as if to keep you warm. Time has long gone become irrelevant at this point, he just feels and feels until there is nothing else within the cavity of his chest, All of it going with you to wherever you are right now. And in the morning, when he has woken up, he does not find you in front of him, instead there was gold dust on where you once lay. Right, you too were an ethereal being.

He gathers it with no word, pale almost bluish hands struggle to put them all in the vial he has and as he gathers them, he leaves the pieces of himself instead, never to be part of him again.

Maybe that was why the Doctor always has that ridiculously large earring that contained blue liquid but if you did happen to look closely, there were millions of tiny gold dust in it.

Maybe that was why the Doctor covers half his face in order to not be reminded of the color that drained from your body that day.

Maybe that was why the Doctor has become more cruel to people, more ruthless, calculating and toyed with everything beneath and before him.

Maybe that was why the Doctor kept the file of you still locked in his desk, the one you could not open. It was there where he put a detailed procedure on how to extract the power in order for you to live longer and in harmony and bliss with him.

Maybe that was why the Doctor let the other you stay in that tube forever, because he wanted to remember what you looked like, frozen in that age you left him.

Maybe that was why Dottore had completed the part of who he is right now through your death.

Dedicated to : @kozapple (they requested it)

Happy Birthday :> mwah

ill try to get some doodles done. If i dont feel lazy lmao

#dottore #dottore angst #dottore imagines #dottore x reader #dottore genshin impact #angst #genshin impact #genshin impact angst #genshin impact oneshots #dottore one shot #dottore fanfic #genshin impact fanfic

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jpitha · 1 year

Text

Just a Little Further 13

Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Ugh, really? Bad is so black and white Melody. We're better than that.

No, look at what you're making me do!

Making? Melody we're not making you do anything. We're facilitating. This is all stuff you wish you could do, but couldn't. Don't lie, we're in here too.

What are you?

We're you. The part of you that you try to keep submerged with gallons of coffee. The part of you that's really good with firearms and chalks it up to practice. The part of you that knows computer systems inside and out but never seemed to figure out people.

We fixed all that.

We're a Builder.

And you are too.

So you're the nanomachines.

No, we are Builders. The nanites help you to remember who you are. Who you are meant to be.

Then what are the nanomachines?

Think of them like... an insurance policy. We knew we probably weren't going to be around forever, we didn't know what would happen to us - by the way? Being stuck on Earth with no Gate and having to start from scratch and coming up with a better way to traverse the stars anyway? Full marks. You haven't told anyone here you can link right? Good.

Anyway, we figured that if one of us, or a descendant or hell, even a pretty close relative found a Gate and like the foolish, curious monkeys we (yes we) are touched it, you'd get the nanites and they'd help you to... remember what we were. What we are.

Melody, you have to realize.

We are in charge here. Us. You. The whole of Reach of the Might of Vzzx. The whole of FarReach. The whole Galaxy. You are in charge. You are Empress.

You're tired. You need to eat, you need to sleep. Tell everyone here whatever, it's fine. Half of them don't believe it and the other half, like Captain Q'ari, know it in their hearts and are already frightened. Play at it all you want but when you're ready to take your mantle as Builder,

I'll be right here.

"Melody?" It's Dr Irenimum. He's at the airlock. "Melody? Do you want to come to the infirmary?" He didn't tell me, he asked.

"Yes, please Doctor Irenimum. I think something is wrong with me."

When I get there, I lay on the table and he begin another scan. The hum of the machines is so soothing, I nearly fall asleep. Before I can nod all the way off he says. "Okay Melody, I'm all finished. Let's take a look at what we can see."

He spends a moment looking at the results. His body language says he has bad news and fears telling me.

"What is it Doctor? Please tell me."

"Uh well Melody, it looks as if the nano machines have... replicated further. Do you feel the same as before?"

I laugh dryly. "In what way Doctor? You saw me outside right? I'm apparently taken the mantle of Builder and am now a living God to everyone onboard this Starbase and-" I look at my hands "-I have the power to back up that claim."

"Er, um, no, I meant more like your weight. You're nearly two kilograms heavier. All of it nano machines."

I'm what?

"Dr Irenimum, isn't that a whole lot of nano machines?"

"Hmm yes, yes. Trillions, if not more. Yes. Working in concert I imagine they make you formidable. Increased processing power, increased reaction time, you apparently can understand all languages and can now manipulate fields to rearrange matter nearly on the atomic level. Whoever these Builders originally were, they were nobody to trifle with."

They were us, Melody. Humans were the Builders. Are the Builders.

Shh.

"Is... Is there anyway to remove them? Or turn them off?"

"Off? No, no I don't think so no." Dr Irenimum thinks for a moment. "Well, maybe a very very strong magnetic field. But that would also have the unfortunate side effect of killing you too. Plus, with a density this high and clearly how much work they're doing with your body, I have a feeling that turning them off will just kill you outright."

He's right. There's no getting rid of us.

"But, er, other than that." I chuckle darkly "I'm okay?"

"Oh? Yes yes, you're better than okay I'd say. Compared to the baseline scans we took when the mission started you're in better health then ever."

See? We have good points too. With us, you need never die.

"Melody? I believe we've removed beyond the realm of the physical to the... metaphysical." Dr Irenimum makes a face. He hates religion. Good, that make two of us. "You know you're not a God and... most of us here know you're not a God, but they out there?" He gestures towards the airlock. "They're pretty sure you're a God. Given you you reacted today when the security guards tried to break up a... congregation of your worshippers? I'd say that their side it looking better and better."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Doc, you don't think I'm a God, do you?"

For the first time since I came in, he looked me in the eye. "Melody. There is an old, old K'laxi religion. It's about the Gates actually. See, we had no proof, but one of our religions stated that there would be "doors in the sky" to other worlds. Time passed, and we moved on and left the religion behind - well, most of us anyway - but when we went into space, and found the Gate? Well, you could say there was quite the revival of the religion. More than a few wars were fought over it. Once we learned how to traverse the gates and there were no Gate Builders around anymore, we figured maybe it was just a legend, or maybe it was something that was true aeons ago, but was left in the dust of history."

Dr Irenimum looks away. "Then we met humans."

"They sure met the description we had in the holy books of the Builders. You had no Gates though! It couldn't be you. You traversed space in a whole different way and when we asked you about the Gates you had no idea what we were talking about. It was a coincidence."

He looks me in my eyes again. "But now... Now, we traverse the Gates in a ship built by humans and modified by K'laxi. A human touches the Gate and it reacts in a way never seen before. A human touches the directory stone and you get wild... powers, there is no other way to describe it. A human with these powers brings us across the Galaxy and we find a Starbase full of species we've never met and when they first see you Melody. When they first talk to you Melody, they act like God came to visit."

"When a group of their churchgoers shows up and security comes to break up the group with violence you cow them all with words and light and force and they are compelled to do your bidding."

"Okay then Doctor. What does your religion say about the Builders?"

Once again, he meets my eyes. "Nothing good Melody. It feared your return. Their Empress was known as Tep’ra’fel - the undeniable. It said she literally could not be disobeyed."

"Melody, I fear that our old religion is right. Captain Q'ari doesn't know what to do. I think her family was still religious even in these more... modern days. She fears you."

"But what do I do Doctor? I don't want to be a God." I nearly wail.

You are you who are Melody. There is no denying yourself.

"I don't know Melody. You are who you are. Have solace in the fact that you are a good person, and have shown all of us here on FarReach that fact. You are a kind, generous, good person. A little bit of Godhood won't change that." He pats my back. "It's late. Go sleep. Things will be clearer in the morning."

I get up and thank him and go to my quarters. The ship is dark and quiet, by ship-time it's late. I am exhausted. I barely have the energy to take off my uniform - ugh vestments now I guess - and crawl into bed.

Another night, more wild dreams.

****

This time I'm in a throne at a Starbase. Maybe the one we visited? Maybe not.

I'm there, and everyone fears and loves me. Everyone.

I tell them so, and they agree. I tell them to build the Starbase and it is done. I tell them to build a gate and they build it. This one isn't active yet, the ring is folded tight to the asteroid. It's towed by a ship - a Starjumper? - no, it can't be - towards a gate and it disappears off to the far reaches of our - my - empire to expand. Any sapients we meet along the way become my subjects. I am Builder. I am Empress. I am.

A courier ship traverses my Gate. They approach my Starbase with news of my empire. A small race of newly found sapients - they call themselves K'laxi - have rebelled. They had the temerity to kill their overseer and close their Gate. How did they learn to do that? No matter. I will go and see to the Gates reactivation personally.

The messenger fears giving me the bad news. This is right, but I am not without pity. I do not destroy them for the crime of bringing me bad news. If people fear to bring me bad news they will hide it from me until the empire totters over, all the while I think everything is fine.

No. The messenger is rewarded. A new ship, bigger, more comfortable. A promotion. Command of Courier Corps Ten. Go forth and give me the news - good and bad - of my empire.

****

You know, when that happened originally you had the messenger killed and the ship destroyed. You are learning.

But, killing the messenger only tells everyone else to keep bad news from me - her. Then she wouldn't know when things fell apart.

Which is what happened yes. A mere century after that incident, the K'laxi closed their gate permanently. The only time you were disobeyed on such a level before that was when the splinter group of Builders on one of your furthest colony worlds conspired to close and lock their Gate and prevent anyone from entering it. It was theorized they destroyed their own Gate, though until now we had no idea.

On Earth?

That's what you call it yes.

How long ago was this?

I don't know, it's not like you keep the same calendar. Tens of thousands of years probably. More even. Given the statue and how well we're integrating, not long enough for genetic drift to change you that much though. No more than fifty thousand is my guess. The K'alxi though? That was much more recent. It's one of my last memories.

So what, I'm a... reincarnation of the Empress?

A... memory maybe. A double exposure. The nanites contained enough of her personality that we can give you her abilities and you are a Builder - it wouldn't work if you weren't - but now?

Now you can do it right.

With that, I wake up and get dressed. Good work previous me to make sure my uniforms are clean and pressed. I put one on that doesn't look like Holy Vestments or something. I check the time - 6:30am ships time. and realize it's still an hour before breakfast. I go to the kitchenette and make some coffee.

Really Melody? After all that, you're still going to sully yourself with.. Caffeine?

Oh goody, you're still here.

I'm no dream Melody. I am us.

Well I am the Empress, and I want coffee.

Oh, you admit you're the Empress? Tsh. Fine. Get your coffee.

While I'm making coffee Mei'la comes in. "Oh good morning Mei! I say brightly."

"G-good morning Melody." She says, awkwardly.

"Mei, what's wrong? I'm still Melody, I'm still me"

She knows you're not.

"Sorry Melody, it's tough. My... Mother's mother on that side of the familial group was very religious growing up."

"Oh. I spoke to Dr Irenimum yesterday about K'laxi religion."

"Yeah, so I'm a little freaked out to meet God."

"Mei, I don't know how many people I have to say this too, but I am not God!"

She knows you are.

"Melody, I have to say, I'm not so sure." Mei'la tries to stand straighter, to look me in the eye, to have me deny that she's wrong. Part of me is so proud of her. What a good subject.

"Mei'la, would it be easier if I was God, or if I wasn't God."

"Well, if you weren't God, I'd be less scared of being your friend. But if you are God, key, how many K'laxi are friends with God?" She laughed weakly.

I laughed too. It was funny. Plus, I knew that was the reaction she wanted to hear. How did I know that?

You know how.

Quiet, you.

"Mei'la. Is that why the Captain is acting so out of sorts?"

She nods. "Captain Q'ari was even more religious than my mom's mom. Her whole family has been churchgoers for centuries."

Shit. "I should go talk to her."

Mei'la flicks an ear. "I don't know Melody. Maybe."

Come. Let's see how malleable our Captain Supplicant is.

I said Q̷̢̭͚͙̤̠͙͍̝̑̒̆̐́͌͛͐̒͋̍̈́̚u̶̧͖͚̟̬̱͒̀͛̐̀i̷̭͚͙̭̅͌͆͋e̷̮͇͇̳͖̔̿̊ţ̴̨̱͇͍̥̤̣̳̓̿͂͐́̎̓̔́̈́̐͆̑̕ͅ, you.

Don't go and threaten us with a good time now.

Part 14

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans go on adventure #humans are space oddities #sci fi writing #writing #humans and ai #humans and aliens #the k'laxiverse #jpitha #just a little further

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sweetestofchaos · 9 months

Text

Blackthorn Ch 12 | M.YG

Ginkgo Spirit - The Prince returns to the palace with Namjoon safely but he is missing one person.

a/n: As always thanks to @sailoryooons for being my beta and making the banner. Character asks and the taglist for Blackthorn are always open! Minors do NOT interact with my work, please and thank you.

a/n 2: Shout out to @colormepurplex2 for the wonderful Namjoon edit!! Also, the taglist is still open as well.

Taglist: @thickemadame

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

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Tears had long since stopped rolling down Namjoon’s face as he sat on the forest floor surrounded by dead bodies and blood. His robes were soaked, stained so badly he knew he wouldn’t be able to wash the blood out. Koya flew down from the trees and landed on Namjoon’s shoulders. The bird chirped and nudged at Namjoon’s temple before Namjoon sighed and looked down at the tiny sleeping ginkgo tiger in his lap.

“I’ll be okay, Koya. We’re fated after all. I’ll meet him again in another lifetime.”

The wind picked up and the air around Namjoon vibrated with power. He glanced upwards at the treetops and Koya flew off his shoulder. The bird went up above, high in the air and circled around until the black dragon in the distance roared.

It was enormous, all back with two large matte black horns that sat atop its head, just above its long curved ears. Small, black spiked horns framed large golden eyes and ran down the sides of its jawline. Its nose was long and had two large, slitted nostrils and there were black crystal-like growths on its chin. Rows of sharp teeth poked out from the side of its mouth and showed a glimpse of the terror hiding inside.

Agust’s golden eyes locked onto the familiar bird that belonged to Namjoon and went off in that direction. On his back, doctor Hyungwon clung onto one of the black spikes that ran down the length of the dragon’s body, starting from the base of his long neck. The man’s face was slightly green and he kept his eyes squeezed shut tightly to keep from seeing the world so high above the ground.

Hoseok was perched on Agust’s back as well. His eyes were rolling flames, orange and red that shifted in the light while his skin glowed with a blue-yellow tint. His black hair whipped around his face and steam rose from the very stands. As Agust got closer to Koya, Hoseok stood up and rolled his shoulders. He looked at Hyungwon and called out to the doctor.

“Let’s go. He’s going to shift!” Hoseok picked the man up by his armpits and wrapped his arms around Hyungwon’s chest. “Hold on.”

Agust’s body rippled with a golden glow before it started to shrink and morph into a more human form. Hyungwon shouted as the solid body under his feet disappeared and he hung in the air. Hoseok would have laughed if he wasn’t so worried about Namjoon and Jungkook. Heat surrounded his body and smokey, mist-like wings carried him in the air as he descended towards the ground.

Agust’s giant leathery wings were angular, the inside almost entirely see-through, especially when viewed from a distance. Curved talons grew from each wing, ending like giant scythes. They shrunk in size, but did not disappear as the treetops below got closer and closer. There was nowhere to land and as Agust opened his mouth to burn the trees, they started to sway and shift. Agust and Hoseok hovered in the air, the latter confused as they watched the trees move out of their way. Koya chirped from down below and Hoseok clicked his tongue.

“The God of the forest must be here…”

Agust grunted and continued his descent to the ground with Hoseok and Hyungwon right behind him. As his feet touched the forest floor, Agust felt a powerful presence. It was all around, in the air, under the ground, and protected every single organism in sight. Hyungwon’s legs gave out as he touched the ground and Agust huffed out a thick plume of black smoke.

“Where did the bird go?” Agust scanned the area and found no trace of Koya. A power not his own swirled in the back of his mind like a distant memory and Agust found his feet moving east. He did not care for his lack of clothing nor the eyes of any creatures lurking in the distance.

“You feel it too?” Hoseok questioned as he lifted the doctor up by his armpits once again. He kept an arm around the man’s waist and helped him walk. “There is a very old and very powerful presence here with us.”

Agust inhaled and licked his lips. His forked tongue flicked out quickly before he hummed, “Blood has been split.”

“We need to hurry.” Hoseok tugged on Hyungwon and the doctor picked up his pace. He knew that lives were on the line and he was there to save them.

As they walked farther in the forest, the scent of blood and flowers mingled together thickly. The green grass started to darken, and as Agust took another step forward, the squish of mud under his bare feet made him pause. His eyes zoned in on a gathering of red spider lilies and he growled lowly.

“When did the gardener become a God?”

“What?” Hoseok stood by Agust’s side and looked at the red spider lilies. There was a haze that surrounded the area, something hidden in plain sight with old magic. “Namjoon isn’t a Go-” Hoseok’s word died on his tongue as the haze started to clear and there in the center of red spider lilies sat Namjoon, only his appearance had changed.

His standard robes were replaced with flowing white that had green and blue flowers stitched into the fabric. The white was now soaked a deep red, his hands were tinted from the blood that he wiped off on his chest and his face was flawless. His subtle imperfections were gone, replaced with smooth skin that glowed from within, a soft green color.

“N-Namjoon?” Hoseok’s voice was just above a whisper and carried on the wind.

Namjoon’s head turned and they could see the dried tears on his face, his brown eyes now completely green and Hoseok felt the sorrow seep into his bones.

“I-I couldn’t save him…I was too late,” Namjoon spoke and smiled sadly. “Jungkook had such a beautiful and pure soul. He tried to save a tiger that was being hunted.”

Agust watched as Hoseok and Hyungwon walked over to Namjoon. Hyungwon crouched down and carefully checked Namjoon’s face to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

“Were you injured at all, Namjoon?” Hyungwon stared at the man in front of him, knowing that it wasn’t the Namjoon that he knew. “May I see your hands?”

Namjoon looked down at his blood-tinted hands and swallowed thickly. “Do you know what a ginkgo spirit is, Hyungwon?”

“A ginkgo spirit?” Hyungwon thought over the question and a lesson from his childhood came to the forefront of his mind. “It is when an animal is wrongfully killed and its spirit is led to a ginkgo tree by the wind, correct?”

Namjoon nodded his head and smiled but it was anything but happy. “You are partly correct. The spirit of the animal is led to the tree of rebirth, a ginkgo tree, by the guardian of the forest. Power from the leaves grants the spirit the chance at a new life with the tree’s blessing.”

“I never heard that version before,” Hyungwon admitted and Namjoon looked at him. His green eyes were dark and murky, like the seaweed that washed up on shore. “Namjoon…where is Jungkook?”

“Jungkook?” Namjoon looked down at his lap and carefully unfolded his arms before he placed them at his side. There in Namjoon’s lap, a tiny gingko tiger cub slept peacefully.

Hyungwon stared down at the tiger cub and Hoseok dropped to the ground beside him. Namjoon’s lower lip quivered and Hoseok’s eyes started to burn. Namjoon didn’t have to speak anymore, everyone understood that Jungkook had given his life to protect the tiger and in the end, he was granted rebirth through Namjoon.

“Is-” Hyungwon cleared his throat and took a deep breath before he spoke again. “Is there anyone still alive?”

Namjoon scoffed and shook his head. “Those who clung to life, I snuffed out. Souls with such malice are not given any mercy.”

Hoseok’s hair no longer smoked, his skin no longer glowed, and his eyes were a sparkling amber once more. The adrenaline in his blood no longer ran red-hot, and as he stared at the sleeping tiger cub, he frowned.

“What are you going to do with the cub?”

“I was unsure of what to do with him,” Namjoon sighed and he looked behind Hoseok to Agust, who had watched them silently. “I think the Princess would accept him as my engagement gift, don’t you agree, Agust?”

Agust narrowed his eyes and clicked his tongue. “If you wish to grant the Princess such a little beast as a gift…” Agust glanced at the sleeping cub and crossed his arms over his chest. “I suppose it’s as good a gift as any.”

“You would really have the Princess raise him? Why not keep him yourself?” Hyungwon wondered and Namjoon shook his head.

“Our time together in this world has passed. Jungkook will do well to keep the Princess safe.”

“I fear that the Princess will not accept the cub once she learns that it was born from Jungkook’s soul,” Hoseok voiced and Namjoon picked himself up from the ground.

“No one is to tell the Princess the truth…well the whole truth.”

“You wish to lie?” Hoseok stared at Namjoon with wide eyes.

“Not lie. We will tell a half-truth.”

Hyungwon and Hoseok glanced at the sleeping cub and sighed. “Do you think that is wise?”

“For the sake of the cub and to spare the Princess from any feelings of guilt, yes. It is our best option.”

“Agust?” Agust narrowed his eyes as Namjoon called his name and stared unblinking. “I need to speak to the Prince.”

As gold shifted to black, scales melted away and the wings that sprouted from Agust’s back flattened once more into their correct space like they were never there. Prince Yoongi stood in place of Agust, bare as the day he was born and stared at his friend with watery eyes. He knew Jungkook well. The young man was extremely talented and funny. However, he could not ignore the question that Agust didn’t ask.

“Namjoon.”

“Your Highness.”

“I think we need to have a nice conversation with drinks? Don’t you agree, Hoseok?”

Hoseok wiped at his damp eyes and cleared his throat. “Drinks sound wonderful, Your Highness. Doctor?”

Hyungwon nodded his head with a sigh and looked around at the blood soaked ground. “A drink would be much appreciated.”

“Let’s head to the nearest river to wash. Namjoon I packed new robes for you.” Hoseok motioned to the bag that Hyungwon carried and Namjoon nodded his head in thanks. "Yours are in here as well, Yoongi."

It was early the next morning when Byulyi woke the Princess and hurried her into a thick spearmint green robe and slippers. Wheein quickly wrapped her hair into a neat high bun before they led her to Aga and Mingi, who waited outside of the Prince’s chambers. The Princess was confused but the look on Mingi’s face let her know that something had happened. Their footsteps were quick. Silver started to spill into the Princess’ eyes, and before she could start to worry about what was wrong, she saw Prince Yoongi, Hoseok and Namjoon all standing out in the courtyard. The palace gates had slammed shut behind them and the Princess’ ears rang.

She chirped loudly and all three men’s heads snapped in her direction. Her eyes flooded with tears and she sprinted across the stone pathway. As she slammed into the Prince’s chest, she cried and he held her tightly in his arms. The Prince whispered soft words and squeezed her body tightly to his. Their hearts beat together frantically, and when the Prince pulled away, he smiled.

“Sorry, we kept you waiting.”

The Princess shook her head as the Princes wiped at her tears with his thumbs. Their faces grew closer and closer until their lips touched. Namjoon quickly turned his back while Hoseok sighed and rolled his eyes.

“We weren’t gone that long, Princess.” Hoseok’s voice was teasing with the warmth of understanding laced in. He had felt the same way when he thought Namjoon was hurt.

"Sa ase," Aga spoke up and the Princess pulled away. She bit her lip as heat warmed her face while the Prince simply licked his lips and smiled.

“I believe Namjoon has something to tell you.” He stepped out of the way and Namjoon stood before the Princess with his hands and arms tucked away in his sleeves.

“Are you well, Namjoon?” The Princess searched his eyes and then slowly counted the men in front of her, there were only three. “Where is Jungkook?”

Namjoon frowned and shook his head. “You will have to forgive him, Princess. Jungkook is a free spirit. Good, warm and pure…”

The Princess saw the way Namjoon’s brows pulled together, the way his eyes misted and his face flushed. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on his bicep.

“Jungkook will not be joining us. He um-” Namjoon cleared his throat and blinked his eyes quickly. “He stumbled upon a group of poachers that were hunting a tiger. He fought well but there were too many of them.”

“Oh, Joon…”

Namjoon slowly pulled his arms from his sleeves and held a tiny tiger cub in his hands. “This is a ginkgo tiger. He is what came of Jungkook’s sacrifice and I wish for you to have him.”

The Princess stared at the tiny cub. The cub had green and yellow ombre fur, starting from the head and going all the way down to its tail. It had pale yellow whiskers and its tail fanned out at the end like a large ginkgo leaf. The Princess found herself smiling sadly. She knew how ginkgo spirits were created and she sent a silent prayer to Jungkook for his valiant sacrifice.

“I-I think you should keep him..her?”

Namjoon smiled and stretched out his arms. “Jungkook would have wanted you to have him. He knows I’m not the best with animals.”

As the Princess started to disagree, the tiger cub opened its eyes and stared right at her. She was surprised to see that the cub had heterochromia; one eye was pale yellow and the other was a deep brown. The cub whined as it wiggled in Namjoon’s arms and before it could fall to the ground, it leaped into the Princess’ arms.

“Oh!” She hugged the cub to her chest and giggled as it licked at her chin. "Ki jan ou dous, ti bebe a." She cooed at the cub and nuzzled into the fur at the top of its head. Prince Yoongi stepped beside Namjoon and patted his shoulder before he walked over to the Princess’ side.

“I will talk with the head builder and have an outdoor-”

“You will do no such thing!” The Princess hugged the cub closer to her chest and glared at the Prince. “He will stay in my room. There is ample space for him.”

“My gem.” The Prince placed a hand on the Princess’ lower back and kissed her temple. The Princess stared up at him through her lashes and he sighed. “As you wish, Princess.”

She turned her attention to Namjoon who watched them with a fond smile on his face. Princess Keena stepped up to him and rested her forehead against his chest. Namjoon chuckled and wrapped his arms around her lightly.

"Si ou se yon bon moun menm apre lanmò ou renmen tonm."

“What does that mean?” Namjoon questioned as the Princess pulled away and stared up at him. The cub started to purr as she stroked the top of its head and Namjoon watched.

"If you're a good person, even after death your grave is loved."

Namjoon closed his eyes and tears silently streamed down his face. “He was one of the best people…he is very loved, even now.” Namjoon whispered as he thought about the rock and flower grave he made in Jungkook’s honor in the middle of the red spider lilies where his and the tiger’s body were reborn. Namjoon scratched under the cub’s chin and sniffled before he opened his eyes. “What will you name him?”

“I’m sure he will tell me in due time.”

“Tell you?” Namjoon raised an eyebrow and the Princess grinned.

“As the guardian of the forest, you should know that everything in the world has its proper name. Animals are no different and this cub will tell me his, in time.”

Namjoon looked at the cub and he saw that teasing fire behind the multicolored eyes. Namjoon laughed- he knew that look anywhere. “Take good care of him, Princess.”

“You can visit him whenever you would like, Namjoon.”

“We should head inside, Princess,” Aga cut into the conversation as attendants started to mill around the outside. The Princess wasn’t dressed properly and he refused to have anyone stare at her. The Prince removed his outer robe and placed it on top of the Princess, even though she wore a robe already.

She bowed her head as the Prince tucked her underneath his arm and they headed back to his chambers. Hoseok crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the young royals leave and he sighed.

“Do you get the feeling that she knows?”

Namjoon looked after the Princess and shrugged his shoulders. “The impundulu is old and holds a lot of power. She may only understand birds but animals talk to each other regardless of species. Jungkook’s spirit is a part of the tiger, so I wouldn’t put it past him to show his true self every now and again.”

“What are you going to do about the butterfly house?” Hoseok dared to ask and Namjoon tugged at his ear lobe in thought.

“Hyunjin is a skilled painter.”

“The carpenter’s son?”

“Mmmhmm. He hides it from his father but I’ve seen his work. I had planned on having him help Jungkook…but I’m sure Hyunjin will be fine on his own.”

“Very well. I support your decision. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help out.”

In the Prince’s chambers, Princess Keena sat on a plush rug while the cub scampered around, sniffing at everything. The Prince disappeared into the bathing water to wash the grime from his body and Aga sat on the settee with his elbows resting on his knees as he watched the cub.

“When will you leave His Highness’ chambers? You cannot stay here forever.”

“I am aware of that Aga, thank you.” The Princess giggled as the cub found the tie of her robe and started to swat at it. She waved it around for him to play with and glanced over her shoulder at Aga who sat with a frown on his face. “I will speak with the builder today and inquire about a bed and playpen for the cub. I would think that such a project would not take too long. I will resume my lessons tomorrow, now that Yoongi is back.”

Aga stared at the Princess as she played with the cub. He had not missed the way she called the Prince by his first name. “And the cub?” Aga inquired, choosing not to comment on the Princess’ familiarity with the Prince.

The Princess thought about what to do with the cub and she grinned. “He will join me!”

Aga grunted and rubbed a hand down his face. "Poukisa ou teste m konsa?"

The Princess’ laughter filled the air and Aga fought the smile that wanted to settle on his lips, “All the best guards are tested daily.”

As the day went on, the Princess spent her hours with the head builder to discuss a proper living habitat for the cub. While the Prince had the time, he sent Hoseok away under the guise of needing something from the Emperor and the stable hands. He had not forgotten what he had worked on before he left to help Namjoon and he wanted to bring his focus back to his surprise. While Hoseok was away, the Prince left a message for him with the guards at his door. He found his way to the butterfly house with no issues. Kai and Wonho bowed low at the sight of him.

“Where is the kitsune?” Prince Yoongi questioned and Kai informed him that San was stationed at the main entrance of the butterfly house inside. The Prince turned his attention to Wonho, who had yet to speak. “If anyone asks, this one went to relieve himself.” Before Wonho could respond, the Prince grabbed Kai’s arm and pulled him inside of the main gate. He walked briskly to the main entrance of the home and San bowed low.

“The both of you will come with myself and the Princess at sundown in a fortnight.”

“Your Highness-”

“Tell no one and make sure you both fall ill.” Prince Yoongi looked between the two guards. “Do I make myself clear?” His eyes flashed golden and they both nodded. “Splendid. Now, here is a list of items that you need to get before then.” The Prince shoved a folded paper into Kai's hand and took a step back. He smoothed out his robes and looked around.

The green haired guard unfolded the paper and read over it quietly with the kitsune beside him. Kai’s eyes widened and he looked at the Prince. “Y-Your Highness-”

“We’re going over the wall?” San was excited and a little worried. How did the Prince know that they often snuck out before they became the Princess’ guards?

“If there is anything that I missed, do not hesitate to acquire it.” Prince Yoongi pulled a blue, black and gold duru-jumeoni from his robes and handed it to San.

The two guards shared a look before the kitsune spoke up, “Your Highness…if I may?” The Prince nodded his head and San continued. “I may know how to pass through unnoticed but I know nothing of the town.”

“Likewise, Your Highness.”

Prince Yoongi frowned. “Where do you go when you leave the palace walls?” Both San and Kai’s faces heated up at the question and the Prince sighed. “The Vine…” Prince Yoongi was at a loss, he should have known. He remembered visiting the town when he was younger but quite some time had passed since then. He didn’t want to take the Princess out and risk getting lost. If Kai and San could not help him in town then who could?

“I have seen Minho in town,” Kai spoke up and the kitsune nodded his head in agreement.

Minho? The Prince didn’t recall ever hearing that the older man left the palace.

“I have never seen him in-” San cleared his throat and Prince Yoongi rolled his eyes. “The Vine, but it seems like he knows his way around the town.”

“Three is more than I would like to have,” Prince Yoongi muttered to himself and Kai handed the paper to San.

“I will stay back and make sure that no one suspects a thing while San and Minho act as escorts.”

“Very well.” The Prince nodded his head in agreement. “Have Minho enter the fifth garden, there will be instructions for him to follow. He will know what to look for once he is there.”

“Yes, Your Highness!” The guards both bowed and Prince Yoongi walked away with his head held high. Kai followed behind him, five steps back and the Prince bit his tongue. He was excited for his engagement announcement now, since some time together at the night market would be his gift to the Princess.

As the Prince entered his chambers, he found the Princess on the settee fast asleep with the cub curled into her side. He smiled and dragged the back of his knuckles down the Princess’ cheek before he leaned down and kissed her temple. As he pulled away he noticed that the cub had woken up and watched his every move. Not wanting to have the Princess wake up from her nap, he scooped the cub into his arm and walked over to his desk. He placed the small fur ball on the desk and sat down. “What will she call you, hmm?”

A knock at the door made the Prince frown and the door opened shortly after. A maid entered with a covered tray. When they noticed the Prince, they bowed low and he motioned for them to place the tray on his desk. The maid bowed once more as they set the tray down and hurried out of the room. Prince Yoongi glanced at the Princess’ sleeping form and sighed. It seemed she always requested snacks. He lifted the lid and small butter cookies were stacked neatly on a plate along with two dragon fruit jelly mooncakes and a nice selection of flavored croissants.

Beside him, the cub whined as it looked at the food and the Prince scratched his nose between his thumb and index finger. He picked up a butter cookie and held it out for the cub. The cub sniffed at the sweet treat and nibbled at it quickly.

“Slow down, little one. You will give yourself a stomach ache,” he warned with a fond smile on his face. The cub gobbled down three more cookies before the Prince covered them back up. “If you eat anymore, you will turn into a cookie and my gem will be very irate with me.”

The cub looked at the Prince with wide, wet eyes and nuzzled into his hand. “Hummm…cookie? That’s not a bad name. What do you think?” The cub was a nice shade of green that reminded the Prince of matcha cookies and it just so happened to be one of Jungkook’s favorite snacks. He picked the cub up and held it up to his face. “Cookie?” The Prince tried the name on the cub and it looked right at him. He smiled and nodded his head. “Very well, from here on out you will be called Cookie.”

When the Princess woke up, it was to voices whispering and when she sat up, the Prince was sitting with a woman that she had never seen before. The woman was older, with a wrinkled face framed in thick, grey ringlet curls. She wore a simple pleated grey skirt with a bright green ruffle blouse tucked in at the waist. The Prince caught the Princess’ eyes and he smiled before he motioned for the woman to pause the conversation.

“My gem, come. Join us.”

Princess Keena stood from the settee and smoothed down the skirt of her cognac colored boubou before she walked over to the desk. The woman bowed low in her seat and the Princess bowed her head.

“This is Duttu. She has worked with the royal family for generations.”

“It is an honor to work on your request, Your Highness.”

The Princess was confused. What request had she made? The Prince rested his hand on the back of Princess’ upper thighs as she stood by his side and she noticed that the cub was sound asleep in the Prince’s lap.

“I called for Duttu to design a collar and name plate for your little one.”

“Oh, thank you, Duttu.” Princess Keena bowed her head once more and Duttu smiled as she nodded her head. “But, I have not figured out a name-”

“Ah,” the Prince chimed in as he pointed to the tray on his desk. “It would seem that the cub is quite fond of cookies. He nearly ate them all and would have left only crumbs had I not stopped him.”

The Princess giggled and noticed that the cub had tiny cookie crumbs on his mouth and some had fallen into the Prince’s lap.

“I thought it was only right to name him, Cookie.”

“Cookie?” The Princess repeated the name and the cub in the Prince’s lap peeked its eyes open. “I think that is a very handsome name for such a grand being.”

“Would you like to see the design?” Duttu asked and the Princess shook her head.

“I will leave this matter in your hands, Duttu. I trust His Highness’ judgment.” Princess Keena picked Cookie up from the Prince’s lap and brushed off the crumbs from his snout. She bit her lip when the Prince squeezed the back of her upper thigh. “I will take Cookie outside for some air. Please, excuse me.” She walked away from the Prince quickly and once outside of the chambers, she smiled at Chan and Jooheon.

“You seem happy, Princess,” Chan raised an eyebrow at the cub in her arms.

“He has a name! Would you like to guess?”

“Matcha?” Jooheon offered and Chan stared at him confused. “What? It’s a ginkgo tiger, he’s green!”

“No, but you are close.”

“Jade?”

The Princess laughed and shook her head. “He wasn’t named for his color.” Chan and Jooheon shrugged their shoulders and the Princess smiled. “Cookie! His name is Cookie.”

“Cookie?”

Jooheon reached out and scratched under Cookie’s chin making the small cub purr in delight.

“It’s a fine name, Princess.”

“Are you going out?” Chan wondered and the Princess nodded her head. “We will escort you.”

She nodded her head and started to walk off. Two guards that the Princess didn’t know took up the post in front of the Prince’s doors and she wondered where they had been before. Once outside, she placed Cookie on the ground and the little cub ran and leaped from place to place as he chased butterflies and got lost in the tall flowers.

“Chan?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Where is Aga?”

“He is with Lieutenant Jung at another war council.”

“And my maids?”

“At the butterfly house preparing for Hyunjin to paint.”

“Hyunjin?”

“Yes, Princess. He is the royal carpenter’s eldest son.”

Princess Keena nodded her head and squatted down as Cookie ran back to her. The little cub climbed into her arms and she stood up right with a smile on her face.

“I want to show Cookie my garden. I think he will like the flowers.”

Chan and Jooheon followed the Princess to the seventh garden and they stood guard while the Princess sat underneath one of the blackthorn trees and Cookie ran around. It was a peaceful lull in their busy day of training and standing guard. It was a break that they always enjoyed when in charge of the Princess’ wellbeing, and with Cookie now by her side, the two of them were sure that their days as the Princess’ guards would become filled with a lot more excitement.

In the morning, it was announced that Lady Zarrin was out for the time being due to a sudden emergency that needed to be handled. With that news, the Princess’ lessons were put on hold for the day. The lessons were to be taken over by another tutor and the Princess was curious as to who would stand in Lady Zarrin’s place.

The lesson schedule was altered since the new instructor was a teacher for younger noble women and the school was unable to find a suitable replacement. The Empress understood and the other tutors were flexible with their time. The schedule for the following month was to be followed in order: species studies with Kenigo, language arts with Wen and civics with Saina before the Princess had her lunch with the Prince. Afterwards, the lessons would resume with history taught by Tempus, etiquette with the new tutor and the day would end with Kwangseon and Ellarian who taught music and dance.

The morning of the lessons, the Princess was dressed in a kaba for the day, which was made of an orange blouse with a carmen neckline that hung slightly off the shoulders. The blouse was patterned with pale yellow and green diamond shapes with two-inch white lace that hung from the bottom of the blouse. A matching mermaid skirt that had four inch slits up the side with white lace stitched inside completed the outfit. The Princess didn’t want her hair styled much today, so Hyejin kept it simple as she pulled the Princess’ braids back into a large bun that sat at the base of her neck and attached diamond encrusted gold clips to the braids that were spaced out neatly and evenly.

The lesson room was filled with fresh flowers from the garden and Cookie napped on a blue cushion in the warmth of a sun spot on the floor. The Princess waited for Kenigo, the naga, to enter the room. Kenigo was from a smaller tribe that sat on the border of two neighboring towns and he was a proud creature. The naga were known for their strength and quick reflexes as well as their ever present snake bodies.

Kenigo was not like most of his kind from what he had told the Princess. He was soft spoken and had the kindest yellow eyes with rounded pupils instead of slits with thick black and blocky eyebrows. Red scales under his eyes and on his cheek bones framed his face along with his short wavy black hair that always seemed to be in his eyes.

Kenigo had four black antennae with teal tips at the back of his head, that laid down but rose when angered or threatened. He was over six feet in length. From the top of his head to the tip of his tail, he was ten feet long. He had wide upper shoulders, four muscular arms (two came out on either side of his ribs) and a red underbelly that complemented his black and teal tail that had red scales going down its length in large circles. Kenigo’s lower body was beautiful in the Princess’ eyes. She liked that when Kenigo wore his open kimono, she could see the black and teal scales that went along the side of his ribs; plus his abs were hard to ignore.

The Princess had thought that Kenigo would be strict and stern but he was easy going and answered all her questions without any trace of judgment. The door of the room slid open and Kenigo slithered into the room with a smile on his face. He bowed and Princess Keena bowed her head in greeting.

“Good morning, Princess.”

“Good morning, Kenigo.”

“I have spoken with Wen and we would like to have our lesson together today, outside.”

Kenigo’s black and grey kimono swished around as he motioned to the door and the Princess rose to her feet. The weather was inviting enough and she had been itching to spend the day outdoors. “Since Wen is an Oni and we are discussing the demon species, he offered to give a more personal insist on the topic.”

“That is very kind of him. I wish not to keep Wen waiting much longer…will you both be okay if Cookie joins us?” The Princess motioned towards the sleeping tiger cub and Kenigo’s laugh was soft as he nodded his head. She lifted the cub carefully into her arms and kissed the top of his head before she followed Jooheon out the room with Kenigo behind her.

The three stepped outside and Kenigo kept to the Princess’ side as they made their way to where Wen was waiting in the bamboo rock garden that was a mid way point between the butterfly house and the palace. Wen was dressed in his usually flamboyant and colorful hanfu. Bright greens, red and pinks made the Princess smile because Wen resembled a rose bush. Kenigo lowered himself closer to the ground which made his normally eight foot height drop to seven and again the Princess smiled.

She watched how Wen’s hazy orange-red eyes brightened at the sight of Kenigo and he tucked his hair behind his ear before he took a step closer. Kenigo was no better in the Princess’ eyes as the half serpent inched his way in front of Wen and lowered himself to the ground even farther so that he was only about half a foot taller.

“These colors suit you, Wen.”

Wen’s eyes darted to the Princess and he was quick to bow before he offered a smile. “Princess, Good morning. Oh! We have a new guest with us today?”

“Good morning, Wen, this is Cookie!” The Princess handed the sleeping cub to Jooheon and turned her attention back to the Oni. “I didn’t know you and Kenigo were close.”

Kenigo crossed his lower arms across his chest while one of his upper arms scratched the back of his neck, “We’re not t-that close,” Kenigo stumbled over his words and Wen just smiled.

“Shall we get started on today's lesson, Princess?” Wen moved the conversation to a more important topic and the Princess let it go.

The Princess’ lessons moved quickly one by one and soon it was time for lunch. Jooheon led the Princess to the seventh garden with Cookie, where she had started to have lunch with the Prince daily. Today was no different, however. The Prince was dressed in a black cross collared robe that had gold beadwork stitched along the thick collar. A black leather belt was wrapped around his waist with gold buckles and he wore a black silk robe over top with wide sleeves that had a gold dragon on the ends of the sleeves with red ink clouds. His hair was pulled away from his face in a half updo that had the top half twisted into a single neat braid with a golden clip attached to the end.

He stood upon the Princess’ arrival and watched as Jooheon pulled the seat closest to him away from the table. Once the Princess was seated, Prince Yoongi dismissed Jooheon along with ordering him to take Cookie away and sat in his seat with a smile on his face.

The table was filled with seafood today, since at their last meal the Princess had expressed how she missed the fresh fish from her homeland. Garlic lemon shrimp with broccoli, blackened salmon with avocado salsa and a spinach salad topped with fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, feta cheese crumbles and a sweet poppy seed dressing acted as the main course. To round out the meal, medium rare steak bites with roasted potatoes and baby carrots were on the side in case the Prince wasn’t satisfied with the seafood.

“I hope you enjoy today’s meal. I spoke with Aga to find out a few of your favorite dishes.”

The smile on the Princess’ face was worth it. Before she could decide what to start with, the Prince grabbed her empty plate and put an equal amount of the salmon and shrimp in the center before he filled the sides with broccoli and salad. The plate was set before her and she watched as the Prince zoned in on the steak and potatoes. Other dishes such as rice, enoki mushrooms with garlic and scallion sauce, beef noodle soup and jukkumi bokkeum were within the Princess’ sight and her eyes flashed silver. The Princess wanted the stir fried octopus more than anything on a bed of rice with the enoki mushrooms on the side.

The plate before her was removed and replaced with the jukkumi bokkeum. She looked over and saw that the Prince had her original plate in front of him and he was already digging into the salmon. Princess Keena picked up her chopsticks and carefully pinched a piece of steak between them before she held her hand out to the blonde beside her. The Prince said nothing as his face heated and he took the offered food. He chewed slowly, savoring the flavor of the meat that was suddenly doused in deep affection from the Princess. As he swallowed, he licked his lips and smiled as the warmth in his stomach slowly spread towards his heart.

“Gamsahabnida.”

“Cheonman-eyo."

The Princess responded, knowing that the Prince had thanked her in old Laibic language. Prince Yoongi’s eyes widened slightly. He knew that the Princess was learning proper Laibic, but he hadn’t thought Wen would teach her the old language as well. He was impressed and proud of her.

“Are you enjoying your lessons today?”

“I always enjoy my lessons.”

The Prince rolled his eyes and the Princess narrowed hers as she popped an octopus into her mouth.

“Mother tells me you will have a new tutor for etiquette. Are you excited?”

Princess Keena shook her head softly. “I fear that Lady Zarrin went easy on me. I have heard that the new tutor is older.”

Prince Yoongi huffed, “I doubt Lady Zarrin went easy on you. She points out mistakes and works with you to correct them. There is no need to berate or belittle someone if they make a mistake. As a royal, it is our duty to move with grace and show no flaws before the people that we lead.” The Prince took a sip of his wine and cleared his throat lightly. “However, the only thing that separates us from the masses is the title our blood grants us. Outside of that, we are the same and we make mistakes.”

“You are full of wisdom today, my Prince.”

A smile tugged at the Prince’s lips and his gaze dropped down to the plate in front of him. He picked at the shrimp and lifted one to his mouth before he glanced at the Princess beside him. “I do share the soul of a very, very old dragon.”

The Princess giggled and nodded in agreement. “Should I give thanks to him?”

The Princess’ words were teasing but Agust stirred deep within the Prince’s being. His eyes melted into golden orbs and Yoongi clicked his tongue.

“Be careful Treasure…”

The words were low and rumbled like a storm at sea, it made goosebumps cover the Princess’ skin and hair rise on her arms. A warning within such a jest was a warning still and the Princess took a slow sip of water from her cup.

“My thanks would have you-”

“The food is going to waste,” the Princess had interrupted Agust’s words and the blond beside her narrowed his eyes. “Have some, steak. You seemed to like that just fine.” Again, she pinched a piece with her chopsticks and held her hand outward towards the man who had started to lose the battle with his dragon inside. “Come now my Prince, it’s getting cold.”

Golden eyes glanced down at the meat and when he licked his lips, the Princess noticed that the tip of his tongue had become a deep indigo color. The man before her wasn’t just the Prince but Agust and she knew to take the warnings that surrounded him seriously even if he acted softer in her presence.

“Ahhhh.” She smiled and twisted her wrist around, the steak at the end of her chopsticks moved this way and that.

A plume of smoke fell from Agust’s nose as he huffed and he was quick to snap his teeth around the end of the chopsticks and close his lips. Golden eyes locked with brown and as he pulled back, his tongue flicked the ends of the chopsticks. He sat back in his seat, crossed his arms over his chest and chewed silently. Slowly, gold gave way to inky black and the Prince was once again before the Princess.

“Did he cause distress?”

The Princess shook her head and smiled once again. “It seems he was more interested in me than the meal.”

The rest of the lunch went by without further incident and the two royals walked back to the butterfly house, arm in arm while Cookie darted around their feet. At the gate, Chan and Minho both bowed before the royals and opened the doors. Cookie scampered off ahead and as the Princess had started to walk away, the blond reached out and grabbed her wrist. His hand fell to her palm and their fingers laced together. The Princess turned to face him and smiled as she squeezed his hand lightly.

“Don’t fret, Princess. Have faith in your abilities and everything will go smoothly.”

“Was that your dragon or-”

Prince Yoongi growled and pulled the Princess into his arms, their entwined fingers pressed between their chests. “You enjoy stoking the flames, Princess?”

She stared at the man before her, wide eyed and quiet before she tilted her face upwards and pressed her lips to the underside of his jaw. Black scales, firm and slightly cool, caught the warmth that seeped from her lips. Before the Prince could respond, the Princess pulled away, slipping through his fingers like sand and disappeared behind her gates like smoke in the wind. He stood outside of the butterfly house, frozen. Jooheon cleared his throat from behind the Prince and that pulled him back to Earth.

“K-Keep up the good work,” Prince Yoongi grumbled and walked off in the direction of the palace. He had a meeting with Duttu about Cookie’s collar and he planned to surprise the Princess with the finished product.

In the late night when the moon was at its highest and smothered by clouds, two figures cloaked in darkness sat in the farthest corner of the Marmota tavern. It was a hole in the wall, filled with unknown patrons that made deals with devils and sold their souls for a moment of happiness at the expense of someone else’s life. Smoke hung in the air like a veil while drinks slushed and spilled onto the floors from careless cheers and fists slammed against table tops.

A barmaid carried over to pints of eastern blaze mead and set them on the table as she smiled at the two cloaked figures. The taller of the two nodded his head and the barmaid dashed off to deal with another table.

“W-Why did you ask me to come here?”

“You chose to come here.”

“There was a note folded in with my belongings with no signature…”

The man grabbed his cup and raised it to his mouth before he took a long sip and set it down. “You were wrongfully dismissed. Banished from the palace for what? Trying to save that woman’s reputation.”

The woman across the table pulled the hood of her cloak down. Brown eyes were bloodshot, dark bags sat under eyes and a deep frown rested on her face. Thick white bandages were wrapped around her throat and tightened as she talked. “I did everything Her Majesty asked of me and she threw me aside like common waste!”

“You served Her Majesty well.”

“It’s the Prince’s fault! He…he’s a monster!” The woman touched her neck tenderly and flinched as she remembered the way the Prince’s nails dug into her skin.

“And that is the future ruler of the Empire, how horrid.”

The man pulled a small scroll of paper from his robes and slid it to the middle of the table. The woman looked at the scroll and reached out, her fingers touched the man’s and she gulped. As the man pulled his hand away, the woman wrapped her fingers around the scroll and tucked it into her own robes.

“What is this?”

“The young Prince wishes to sneak out of the palace to the night market…do what you will with that information.” He downed the rest of his drink and stood. “The future of the empire is in your hands…Yongsun.”

Before the man could walk away, Yongsun grabbed his robes. “Who are you? Why are you helping me?” She tried to see under the hood of the man’s cloak but all she saw was the start of a mask that covered the man’s nose and upper face.

“I am no one. Just following orders.” As he spoke, the man pushed Yongsun’s hands off his robes and disappeared from sight.

#yoongi smut #yoongi fic #dragon yoongi #yoongi x oc #bts fantasy au #bts soulmate au #daechwita yoongi #blackthorn ch 12

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seii-fantasy · 1 year

Text

I've been thinking abt some ideas

RoR characters x Bayonetta! Reader (Headcannons and One shots) idk why, since yesterday i kept thinking abt these ideas

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RoR character x Kitana!Reader

I love MK since i was a children and i rlly want to make hcs abt this

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And other ideas i've been thinking about

Beelzebub x Wanda! Reader (From Marvel)

Synopsis: Beel is a danger because he's been cursed by Satan himself and Reader is also a danger bcs she can go in the Multiverse , or destroy and create new world by her mind since the people saw her as a dangerous person evryone fear her and won't approach her , until Reader met Beel in his lab acciendentally while she wanted to go in another universe . What will happen?

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Qin Shi Huang x Sakura! Reader (From Naruto)

Synopsis : A strange woman was fighting against some enemies , she looked weird the enemies would say , but very strong and beautiful the people would call , she can break many walls by one punch . She was currently working as a doctor in the kingdom of Qin . Now she has been called to the Valhalla to be the doctor of the Human side , the Oldest Valkyries showed her the Einherjars for the Ragnarok , our dear doctor has saw a familliar person when she was training (in secret of course) He seems familliar but yet they rarely saw each other when they were still in Earth . Did Qin remember her or no?

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Hades x Izanami! Reader (From Blazblue)

Synopsis: How in the world there's another God of Death , and yes a new God of Death was here and yet that was not a God but a Goddess , many of the deities would call her a doll , the others would call her the Evil Goddess but Hades seems to see her as an equal , her way of thniking , even tho sometimes she seems to be aloof . Our dear new Goddess of Death had many vessel at her mercy such as Lihiyo* her trustful maid , Kiyera* the queen of the Katmerilya and Naraya* one human who wasn't scared of Reader when she came on earth to cure her boredoom . Our dear God of Underworld seems to be interest by our dear Reader . Will she accept him as an equal or uses him as her puppet like she did to the others people?

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Lihiyo is Reader tsutful maid , she know what Reader is doing behind people's back sometimes she offers to help our Goddess , sometimes Reader accept but when she see that her mission is way more difficult she decline the offer of her servant

Kiyera is the queen of the Katmerilya kingdom , she's the most powerful witch a kingdom constitued of witches , sorcerer , she rules the kingdom with an iron fist , no favoritsm , if they dare to betray her they will die by her hands . The Katmerilya kingdom is devoted to Reader and they are ready to do everything to please the Goddess . The ruler of Katmerilya is considered to be one of Reader ! Descendant and shall be honored like a God/Goddess like Reader is.

Naraya a mere human that Reader took interest in , one day Reader was in Earth since she was utterly bored in her own kingdom , she came on earth , thinking that she might found something that might cure her boredoom as she came people would avoid her saying that she's the repreesentation of Misfortune only one human wasn't scared of her it was Naraya a human that wasn't like any other she was pure and kind different from anything you've seen before.

(Lihiyo , Kiyera and Naraya are OC , they're no manga character )

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Poseidon x Aquarius! Reader (From Fairy Tail)

Synopsis : How? A mere human got a mermaid , she's a mermaid and she doesnt need water and she's floating , interesting . The Zeus Enalios thought , as he kept looking at the mermaid who was talking with her mistress or should i say her old childhood friend. No matter how Poseidon kept trying to send sign to her , the mermaid was often distracted by her mistress calling her or some friends coming to annoy the hell out of her but everytime she's alone on the beach ; Poseidon wouldn't miss the chance to send her a sign so she can see it , or one day Poseidon want to appear infront of her . What will happen ?

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Brunhilde x Male!Reader (But he will have soul power just like Ermac from Mk)

Synopsis: Again , again , more round lost , Humanity is gonna get annihilated within hesitation if they loose the others round , now that her triumphant card was beaten by Zeus , The Greatest Sumo was beheaded by Shiva , Lu Bu had the same death , it was caused by the Berseker of the Gods . What next ? I sacrifice all of my sisters , myself and the Einherjars for this Ragnarok !? What if we loose again ? We're gonna get send to Niflheim if we continue like that ! The oldest Valkyrie thought as tears felt down on her rosy cheeks "Let me in the next round , i shall prepare myself for this round ! I've been caged by the Gods for the way to long i rather fight than die" a voice was heard as Brunhilde looked at him , he was tall h/c , e/c and some souls were floatting around him repeating what he was saying . And the h/c-ette introduced himself as Brunhilde put him for the next round but deep down the heart of the Valkyrie was beating fast at the sight of the h/c man and the time pass they become best-friend and when his round arrive , Hilde(its still Brunehilde but i call her Hilde) wanted to confess her love for the man but she was afraid that he might die in his round! Will she have the time to confess her love or no?

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Nostradamus x Zafina ! Reader(Tekken)

Synopsis: Nostradamus kept pranking everyone (cough Loki come and get yo child) everyone kept falling for his pranks instead of one person , you . How many time he tried to prank you , he always failed it you always caught him like everytime he tried to prank you :

Nostradamus : *disguised as your nightmare*

You : Nostradamus i know its you , drop the act

And Nostradamus always left you , upset that you always found out abt his pranks or one day you found yourself face to face with your rival but it is not Nostradamus ; one thing there's a beast inside of you and it's slowly getting the control of your body . Will Michael will help you or no

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Buddha x Konan ! Reader (Naruto )

Synopsis: You've been called to the Valhalla , to be one of the Einherjars ; but you've placed to the last round (Brunhilde-san why put me in the last round) , since you had time before your round . You sat under a tree and kept making origami to cure your boredoom and a God who's always eating sweeting around saw your origamis floating around and want to know how you make them , you introduced yourselves it was quite rare for you to saw a God fighting for the humanity and for Buddha it was quite rare to see a mortal doing such things with paper and now you're teaching him how to make different figure with the paper

(Srry if you find this one horrible)

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And Heracles x Asuka! Reader(Tekken)

Synopsis: Some of the Gods sees you as Hercules but in female version , you clearly hate violence , you helped those in needs . Many parents would like to have you as their child ... etc but to be quick you always wanted the peace in your village , even thought sometimes it will means to hurt yourself (by Fighting the enemies ) or else . And one day a danger is attacking your village and it's way more dangerous than any other creatures you've met , unfortunately you cannot do anything feeling guilty , to not be able to fight the creature , a man came , he was taller , holding a club whom has a head of a lion , tattoo on his right arm , blue eyes , spiky orange hair you couldn't say much more about him .This man was none than the legendary Heracles . The man that became a God just by saving his city from the eternal annihilation that was menacing his city . After slaying the creature , your village celebrate the victory of Heracles by organizating a banquet in his honor and you want to thank the man that saved your city but he was already on his way to meet you . What do Heracles want?

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makutamewtwo · 6 months

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Introduction to Jaala, the strange nature of his birth, his youth, his emerging adulthood, and his first visit to Hell!

Plate 1: Jaala at his current age of 20-something in a certain pose

Aw Heck, um I mean Hell, It's Jaala Leeds! This tricky imp isn't a particularly powerful demon and is about as low on the hierarchy as you can get. He commands no legions and spends most of his time slacking off and pulling low-stake practical jokes, the kind that even the one being pranked can laugh at or that involve some unconvincing plastic junk. Jaala does have one thing that makes him unique among devils: he was born of a human via the unity of two humans, without the involvement of a succubus or incubus. The reason Jaala was born like this seems to have been due to a prophecy. It was said of the ancestors of the Leeds family, who in the late 1700s early 1800s lived in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, that, due to Father Leeds' occult interests, Mother Leeds' 13th child would be a Devil. Now this seemingly did not happen then, but the prophecy must have been in the back of the gods' heads (perhaps Apollo took notice), and therefore it was made so for the next descendent of the Leeds brood who had 13 children the 13th would be born a devil.

Now the modern Ms. Leeds, mother of Jaala, lived in Drollerieville a bustling city mostly ruled by, in the mind of its politicians, conventionality. Ms. Leeds was active in the local LGBTQ+ community and acted as a surrogate mother for the children of many couples, 12 to be exact. You would think going through the pain of childbirth 12 times would be enough for Ms. Leeds but she had not yet had a child with her husband Mr. Leeds, so they unified, and soon enough Ms. Leeds was with child for the 13th time. When the embryo was visible via ultrasound, what most would consider an abnormality was noticeable, the fetus resembled a hybrid between a human and a goat. Any "normal" couple would have been shaken by this, but strangely, despite no awareness of the prophecy, the Leeds couple was as overjoyed and filled with love as any couple seeing their child for the first time.

A few months of gestation later, a fuzzy crimson child was born, a little prematurely, who immediately cried out a wail that sounded more like a bleating baby goat than a human infant. The child drew surprisingly little attention for his strange Satyr-like appearance but had to stay in the hospital for some weeks after his birth, but luckily, he was without any major ailments and was able to go home. Jaala as an infant could be described as clever and loud. His wailing could be heard across the whole neighborhood, and he was able to walk within weeks. It took him awhile to say his first word, which was the standard "Mama" for the curious, and there was a worry that he could only make goat vocalizations; however, there was a sigh of relief when he spoke. As a baby, Jaala did not have horns, nor a point at the end of his tail, his ears were disproportionately large, and he was very fuzzy. Jaala grew fast, but only as fast as a human child, in fact, despite his goat-like exterior, the doctors said that he was, for all intents and purposes, a human, except for his head which was like a combination of a human's and a goat's, and his cloven hooves. When his teeth grew in, however, they were very sharp like a carnivore's, Jaala was already observed to be omnivorous, so this was a little odd and very hard on Ms. Leeds, so she switched to bottle feeding. Eventually Jaala went from a baby, to a toddler, to a kid!

Jaala's days in Elementary School were difficult, he made some friends but was bullied a lot for his animal-like face. He also had trouble with the teachers as he didn't cotton to their authority that much and also found that he didn't enjoy the curriculum that much either. He liked to read, but by himself and hated math with a burning fiery passion. He also swiftly ended up with a teacher who was Christian though she wasn't supposed to express it. "I know what you are, devil." she would whisper to Jaala at any opportunity. Jaala didn't understand this, he hadn't, before attending school, thought he was that unusual. Sure, he looked and acted a little different than other people, but he still had a human heart. He had never put much mind to religion but had seen The Devil in cartoons, Halloween decorations and books of old folk tales, sure they were both red and The Devil had hooves sometimes like him, but implying these things meant that he was wicked like The Devil was difficult for Jaala who was generally a kind, gentle, and sensitive boy. He came home that evening crying. Jaala's parents were not happy with this unprofessional behavior from someone working with in the school system and got Jaala moved to a class with a nicer teacher. This teacher encouraged Jaala to do what he liked, while still teaching him the subjects he didn't care for, but it was fine. Jaala was learning and that is what mattered.

Eventually Jaala was in Middle School, an awkward time in everyone's life. He started experiencing changes but not just the usual ones, his fingers grew sharp golden talons, his tail gained a sharp bony point, and large horns grew from his head. He filed his talons, tail point, and horns down to avoid any hazard but still had trouble lying on his back and going through narrow doorways. He also started to feel angsty, he loved his parents who had supported him but he started getting mad at them for telling him what to do, he felt like he was being judged by his classmates for his different appearance. He found out about the rebellious figure of Lucifer and immediately related to him. Jaala came to understand something: regardless of if he was a demon or not, the idea of being one was kind of cool! He started vandalizing Church grounds and creeping around them hoping to scare the nuns. These pranks seemed harmless to him, but he was becoming known and loathed by the religious community who were treating him as a scapegoat for all the "problems" they had. When he and his parents found a local religious publication talking about "An Imp of The Devil in Drollerieville" they realized that if the local politicians caught wind of this, Jaala, only a mischievous tween at the time, could have become a political scapegoat for all the local issues. Jaala had to lay low and stop pranking out in the open, instead, he started doing graffiti and minor vandalism under the cover of dark without his parents' knowledge. Having stayed out of the eye of the public, Jaala was able to graduate middle school with few issues.

Jaala, of course, proceeded to High School, you would expect that, given how High School is often imagined, That Jaala overcame social ostracization and became the prom king and went on to marry that special someone who he met in High School, you would be wrong. Jaala generally laid low in High School, he had found himself to be a bit of an introvert, but he had a few close friends and some pleasant acquaintances, the classes were difficult, but he graduated and was, incidentally, now 18, he decided to chill for a year before seeking higher education. However, what he didn't know was that the Forces of Hell had been observing him, remotely viewing his antics, he wasn't incredible but he was distinctly devilish. Now you might think that this would be a horrible situation and that they were going to tempt him or mark him for death, but you view hell as a human, the demons viewed him as one of them, though he was especially interesting for one reason to the Demons of Hell, his body...no not in THAT way, most demons don't have physical flesh and blood bodies they are merely spirits without physical forms, so Jaala having a flesh and blood body was certainly a novelty. They started projecting themselves into Jaala's dreams which was quite disturbing for him, "We know what you are, devil," these apparitions would say, often times in the form of, people, sometimes even ones he knew, animals, and even his own reflection. The first time Jaala had one of these dreams it didn't shake him, though as these dreams got more intense and frequent Jaala started to be suspicious, these weren't just anxiety dreams, there was more to this, he was being communicated with. This came to a head when his reflection in a false awakening dream breathed onto the mirror and, in the condensation, drew a sigil, a sigil with his name on it, 4 Ankhs surrounding a goat's eye. Jaala didn't understand the relevance of this (he didn't have his Ankh necklace yet, but how he got that is another story) but he understood the assignment. He spent the entire day drawing and redrawing the sigil until he could finally draw it from memory.

Plate 2: Jaala’s Sigil

That night he went out to an alleyway. He was so tense his back felt like it was made of concrete, but he was determined to do what he needed to. He got out a can of spray paint, shook it well and onto a brick wall on the side of an abandoned building he painted the sigil, the smell of spray paint faded into the awful stench of brimstone as a doorway to Hell opened.

With very little hesitation, Jaala held his breath and plunged into the portal, falling on his face on the red clay of Pandæmonium, the employee housing of Hell. His senses were assaulted by cacophonous sounds, horrible stenches, and the foul taste of hellish clay. Jaala succumbed to overstimulation and fainted. He woke up in a comfortable bed in a well-furnished and air-conditioned apartment. He didn't know it, but the devils who had made contact with him had carried him to his room in Pandemonium. Jaala was puzzled and decided to look out the window to see where he was. Millions of demons who were each going about their business, stoking flames, eating, napping, talking, generally going about their day to day. Jaala saw this and felt sympathy for them. They were not all that different from the people of Drollerieville. Sure, they were spirits of frightening appearance, but they seemed normal enough.

Jaala left his apartment to be greeted with an unbelievably long hallway. Luckily a door marked "stairs" was right in front of his room, so he opened it. Inside it was too dark to see anything. Jaala stepped inside and felt movement under him, it kind of felt like an escalator, soon enough Jaala was greeted by a single light and a door. The door was labeled on a gilded sign "Mammon's office." Hesitating a little bit, Jaala opened the door and was greeted by a businessman-like demon at a desk, smoking an expensive cigar. On his desk a plaque read "Mammon CEO of Pandæmonium Apartments LLC, Archdemon of Greed." Mammon looked like a human businessman at first to Jaala, but then he noticed his face, an upside-down bag with a dollar sign on it covered most of it, and his jaw looked like a skull's jaw but with razor sharp teeth. He seemed to have dollars sticking out of every visible part of his person. He almost reminded Jaala of old political cartoons of "Boss Tweed" that he had seen in High School History class.

"Ahh, you must be that imp that I have heard so much about," Mammon coughed out in between puffs of his cigar. "What is like to have flesh?" Jaala understandably felt threatened by this statement, his face scrunched into a frown, "Oh, forgive me, that wasn't a threat, you're just a rare breed! Would you care for a mint?" Mammon corrected himself and pointed at a bowl of stale, melted together mints.

"Look," Jaala managed to get out, "It's nice here, but I was called here through my dreams, my Beelzebub damn dreams, do you understand what that feels like?" Jaala raised his voice more than he meant to and covered his mouth in embarrassment.

Elsewhere in a deeper part of hell, the peppy and egotistical giant fly, Princess Beelzebub's antenna twitched upward, smacking against her escoffion. "Huh, my Antenna, that’s unusual!" the Princess of Hell exclaimed, "There must have been an invocation to me... I'll get to it later." she said going back to flirting with her many suitors.

Mammon's expression was difficult for Jaala to read, he already wasn't the best at reading expressions and Mammon's eyes were covered by the bag over his head, assuming he had eyes at all. There was a period of awkward silence and Jaala's breathing became heavy and uncomfortable, he worried that he was going to be killed and that, for all he knew, the shortness of breath was caused by some kind of noxious gas that was pouring into the room. In reality he was very anxious, and his breathing was shallow, and the cigar smoke that filled the room certainly wasn't helping either. He and Mammon just stood there staring at each other, until Mammon broke the silence "I'll give you one thing, kid..." he said in a quiet voice "you've got spunk!" Mammon burst out into a genuine, mirthful laugh interspersed with throaty coughs and hacks. He didn't seem to be angry, nor was there any malice in this laugh.

Jaala smiled uncomfortably; his breathing normalized a little bit. "But... uhh..." Jaala stammered out to the Archdemon of Greed, who was in a coughing fit from his laughter "Why have I been guided here, what do you expect of me?" "Ahh, yes, yes, ahem" Mammon cleared his throat, he spit a wad of black bile into a spittoon on his desk, which melted through it and the desk. "Well, to be frank with you, you aren't that evil, but you certainly are, how should I put this... Devilish, do you understand what I mean, Mr. Leeds?"

Jaala was starting to feel more comfortable, Mammon seemingly had no malicious intent for him, despite clearly being an authority, something which Jaala loathed and feared with every fiber of his being, Mammon was speaking to Jaala on his level, Jaala noticed an old plastic chair in front of the desk as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he turned the chair backwards and sat in it facing Mammon, hoping to impress him with a old tactic to look cool that he had learned in his edgy middle school days, "Please, Mr. Leeds is my father, call me Jaala," he said in a manufactured confident and almost smug tone of voice, "Please clarify what you mean by devilish, because I'm not quite sure I understand."

"Well," began Mammon in a clear voice, no doubt the voice he used to speak to investors, "we here at Pandæmonium Apartments LLC cater to all kinds, but we tend to categorize them as 'devils' or 'demons' but this is a broad strokes term, many many kinds of spirits populate Hell and make it the wonderful diverse workplace that it is including, but not limited to, 'daimons', 'shedim', 'gods', 'fallen angels' from everywhere in the hierarchy, 'lilu', 'mazzikin', and even some 'faeries' and 'djinn.' Isn't that wonderful?"

Jaala's head was spinning, he was even more confused, he may have been a demon, but he wasn't a demonologist so most of these terms meant nothing to him and didn't clarify anything. He replied "Uh, yeah!"

Mammon let out another hearty laugh. "Okay, well let me cut to the chase, given your devilish nature, we in Hell have taken notice and, even though you're basically a gristly human of meat and bone, we still consider you one of our own and you may, as you wish, come and go to Hell whenever you like, simply by drawing your sigil."

Despite how honest he seemed, Jaala became suspicious that he was being tricked by the smooth talking but rough voiced Archdemon of Greed. "Wait, wait, you set me up a nice apartment just because I'm a demon? What do you want from me? Do you expect me to torture damned souls? Do you expect me to pay you money? Are you going to claim my soul when I die? I may be a demon and I'm also a human but I'm no fool!"

Mammon took a long drag of his cigar, clearly considering his next words carefully, "I wasn't going to say this because I felt it would sound insulting, but, we expect nothing of you, Jaala Leeds. We don't need your human money as we have our own currency, Beastmarks, we don't need your service as your physical body is too weak to survive the oppressive environment in which the souls of humans are tortured. In addition, we don't think you could psychologically handle it either, and we do not lay any claim to your soul, nor do we ask for it, the fate of your soul is... uncertain." The Archdemon made a gesture with open hands implying balance scales.

Jaala's tension lowered a little, but the statement about the fate of his soul intrigued and frightened him. He decided it would be best not to inquire further about it. "So, I'm allowed to leave whenever I want to?" This whole situation had been emotionally intense for Jaala, and he was ready to head back to his earthly home and take solace in its familiarity.

"Yes, but allow me to tell you one more thing..." Mammon's tone was suddenly very serious, Jaala picked up on this and listened closely, his floppy ears visibly perked up a little as Mammon spoke "Hell is a very dangerous place for a living being, it's not designed with them in mind. Due to this, you might want to stay near Pandæmonium, It's safer than most places in Hell. It's also important to know that your fellow demons are liars and deceivers, they shouldn't be trusted much, take everything they say with a grain of salt, this even applies to me. Judging by how you acted during this conversation, this shouldn't be much of a problem for you though, will it?" Mammon took a long drag of his cigar and coughed almost to punctuate the statement he had made.

Jaala didn't think that Mammon had noticed his hesitance, but apparently, he had. "So, can I just leave now?" Jaala asked, he felt that he had most of the information he needed.

"Sure, but if you fall on your face, my imps won't be there to pick you up!" Mammon smiled with a surprising amount of warmth for a greedy tyrant, he opened a desk draw and rummaged through it and finally pulled out a pen that was burning with light. "I stole this pen from heaven before I fell, it seems no one missed it!" Mammon tossed the pen to Jaala, who fumbled it in his talons before finally getting a grip on it. "Just make sure you give it back, It's a rare find!" Mammon smiled and, though Jaala couldn't be sure, it was almost like he was winking. Jaala drew his sigil with the pen.

The sigil was drawn in pure light, illuminating the dark room, the walls were fleshy and seemed to be breathing, a sleazy pin up calendar was nailed into it behind Mammon’s desk, staining the nail with blood. Jaala didn't stay long to observe his surroundings, he had seen enough and, frankly, it made him feel viscerally ill. He plunged into the circle and left.

Soon after, Princess Beelzebub appeared in a cloud of blood-sucking flies. Mammon immediately jumped from behind his desk and fell on his face at her feet, "Great art thou, O Princess of Hell!" he cried out, shivering.

"Oh, hi Mammon," Beelzebub cheerily buzzed "did you invoke me, do you need me to let loose a plague of flies on those filthy, filthy humans?"

"No Great Princess, honored be thy name, that will not be necessary, it was not I who invoked your unholy name, it was a guest in my office." Mammon belted out, his voice muffled by the fleshy floor.

"Okay~," Beelzebub sang out, enzymes dripping from her mouth, "then, who was this guest who used my name in vain?"

Mammon choked, he didn't want to reveal Jaala's name to her, but he had no other choice, she already knew it, nothing escapes her she just liked to act playful, "Jaala, great Ba'alah of creeping things." he sputtered out nervously.

"Okay~," she said, "that He-Goat knows not that he shouldn't speak my unholy name in vain, but if YOU invoke me for no reason, I'm going to have to cut off..." Mammon gulped at this pause, knowing all too well what she was going to say next "...your funding~!"

Mammon wept and gnashed his teeth out of agony, though he had been warm in front of the sensitive Jaala, the only thing he truly cared about was money, "Yes, Great Princess Beelzebub" he said through his tears "it won't happen again." Jaala regained consciousness in the same alleyway that he had entered Hell from, it seemed as if no time had passed and it all kind of felt like a weird dream, though a stale mint stuck to his butt suggested that this was more. "Aw, gross," Jaala thought "I knew I should have swept my hand across the chair before sitting in it, that office was a total sty!" He quickly got up and dusted himself off, a lasting odor of brimstone briefly wafting through the air before petering out. Jaala quickly went home and immediately took a long, cold shower, mulling over the events that had taken place as the water dripped off his horns "So Hell is real huh, I wonder what else I thought humanity made up is true," Jaala thought, shampooing his ears.

The filth of Hell washed off his body but was still in his mind as he tried to lay his weary head to rest, but his mind was rushing, and he couldn't sleep due to a combination of excitement and fear. The next morning, he hadn't slept a wink and was trying to decide if he should tell his family. He supposed that maybe Breakfast was a poor time to talk about his amazing voyage to Hell, so he waited until afterwards to tell the amazing story. Jaala's parents were certainly surprised, but not upset, they listened to the story with great interest, they suggested consistently packing burn ointment every time he visited Hell. Jaala had never suffered a burn in his life, but he agreed. Jaala continued to practice traveling between Earth and Hell whenever he desired, he quickly learned that he could use these sigils to appear almost wherever he desired, as long as he had been there before. He quickly imagined the pranking opportunities, just sticking his arm through a sigil could allow him to tap someone on the shoulder, to pants an important politician during an important speech, to invert all the crosses at the craft store all while remaining unseen... then he considered that any of these would have the issue of the appearance of a clawed hand emerging from a Hell portal to do the prank which would probably make waves, so this flight of fancy quickly faded from his mind.

He did, however, learn to master the art of travel by sigil in a few years, Jaala was now 20-something. He had saved a fortune on bus fares and hadn't yet learned how to drive because he had become so adept at subtle travel via Hell. He manifested himself in subtle places to get where he needed to go without the Hell portal startling fellow citizens. He would manifest unsubtly and theatrically at parties sometimes, and even set fancy cocktails alight with Hellfire, though those who drank them complained of a revoltingly pungent aftertaste and tended to practice temperance from then on, still, certainly a neat party trick. He started to keep his horns, tail point, and talons sharp as he had learned how not to injure others with them. Jaala would learn about others like him, other "monsters" and supernatural beings. The idea made him giddy, he had rarely been lonely, but he was truly not alone, other people like him existed! He knew for certain, even though he still lived a somewhat normal life, the world (or even worlds) seemed much bigger to him, and he knew that this wouldn't be his last adventure!

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sylibane · 9 months

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ocverse meme 2,6, 19, and 20 for as many or as few verses seem interesting to a given question

Posted this morning because tumblr would not load last night:

2) if you gave an in depth description of your story to someone who was not all the way paying attention, what would their takeaway be?

The Engine of the Ocean – people go on a magical sea adventure to stop a cursed diving suit.

The Thief of Memories – thief and detective fall in love.

The Garden of Curses – Sherlock Holmes but they’re girls and they break curses.

Another Forest, Another Door – basically Narnia happened forty years ago and it’s still messing with everyone’s lives.

Hover – was a normal fantasy world until the sun disappeared. Somehow, everyone is not dead.

6) speaking of tv adaptations, why would yours get cancelled? (other than capitalism)

The Engine of the Ocean – gets complaints about being “un-American” because one of the villain factions is the descendants of time-space-displaced English Puritan colonists.

Another Forest, Another Door – teen show downplays juicy potential teen drama in favor of hanging out with dragons, ratings are not high enough.

Hover – catgirl main character unfortunately reminds too many people of Cats 2019, nobody watches.

19) describe the sillies you think about but that dont go in the story.

The Engine of the Ocean – there are a couple of minor villains who are more or less Jessie and James and are thus presumably getting into even more wacky shenanigans than what are seen on-page (especially once they get their cat back). Also Jenny’s younger siblings only appear in a couple chapters and thus I don’t think I fully convey how much of little snots they are.

Hover – I don’t know if this quite counts but this setting/story has been around since I was 11 and so many things have been dropped or changed. At one point whether a species was considered people or not was determined by if they had an amulet associated with an element, and the humans’ element was ‘power’ (as in like political power) and their amulet was offhandedly given to a ten-year-old on his birthday. A major city had all its residents’ homes built into the singular wall surrounding it and got most of its food from a singular field of vines sustained by broken crystal shards, also on said wall. One character had a history teacher who was secretly the god of time and therefore looked like the Tenth Doctor. There was a flying city of semi-transparent blue rabbit people. (Actually I might bring that one back.)

20) your ocverse just got a movie trilogy a la hunger games style. how have they horribly mangled your message/theme so that the movies are now a showcase of what the original was condemning?

The Engine of the Ocean – downplays the historical worldbuilding elements and wraps everything up at the end with no concern about what happens to the setting next, thus missing the theme of “historical events can have effects in the present”.

Another Forest, Another Door – drops the ensemble and focuses on a few characters from Earth while the nonhuman characters are all stuck in supporting roles, missing the “hero of another story” aspects and the idea that the other world is a place in its own right and not just somewhere for humans to go for character-building adventures.

#the engine of the ocean #the thief of memories #the garden of curses #another forest another door #hover

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weebsinstash · 2 years

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Came back to your blog after 3 months because i knew u would have some hot political takes. Was not disappointed.

Well I'm, I'm not trying to post about politics too much on this blog, because this blog is supposed to be a source of comfort, but like. This is. An extremely significant development for human rights in America. A really really massively horrible development because they're not just taking away abortion rights, they're using it as a precedent to go after gay marriage and other things next. Like for example? There's literally a sitting Republican US senator from Texas named James Cornyn and he literally, i shit you not, retweeted former president Obama talking about how we should undo laws preventing segregation next

Like this isn't even a fucking joke anymore. I can't even fathom it. That a sitting member of our government not only said something as disgustingly heinous as "yeah now that abortion isn't constitutionally protected we should do the separation of races next" but decided to say it by retweeting our former black president like ????? This country is actually going down in fucking flames right now???? We are actually descending into Christo-fascism while being told this is democracy in action???

Like even when I write things about abusive partners or reproductive abusers, that's still in the scope of fiction. We can all read it and consume it and sure, it might make some people uncomfortable, but we all know it's not real. But now in reality the country im living in is being taken captive by the deeply conservative religious far right and now, being forced to have babies even if it kills you is something politicians in my country are FIGHTING to do

Like. Jesus Christ. Did you know in 2019 Ohio tried to pass a bill where, in the case of an ectopic pregnancy, the doctor is ordered to reimplant the fetus into the womb or face "abortion murder charges". Like, literally, that is literally a surgery that does not exist and has never even been successfully attempted. We literally do not even have that science yet. It is literally impossible. But these psychotic fucks are so out of touch that you either listen to them or they throw you in jail

Oh and uh. It doesn't even end here? Have you guys heard that across the pond, the UK government is trying to overturn a law that is literally called the human rights act and. Reading everything that would be undone makes me physically sick. If that law is overturned, if you're chronically ill or disabled even just with autism the government can assign you a DNR without your consent? Just basically fucking say you don't deserve to live and KILL YOU? They're also going to rule on if police are obligated to protect your human rights, very similar to a case we had here in America, 2005 Castle Rock, where the Supreme Court decided that no, the police aren't obligated to protect you.

So yeah uh. I'm kinda of just honestly constantly depressed and panicking a lot and that's why I don't write a lot anymore. Like I WANT TO but. It's like I'm living in a nightmare.

Also last thing I want to say. Please for the love of God start doing research TODAY about the candidates for your state's primary elections coming up in August. I live in Minnesota which is basically THE ONLY STATE IN THE MIDWEST that is currently protecting abortion rights and the Republicans are already firing up their base to try and elect a new governor. Like I literally hear old men talking about taking back the house and the senate on the bus and i want to SOB

I just really, I'm fucking crying, I just really cannot BEG ENOUGH that we all get out to the polls because it keeps getting worse. The Republicans are trying to break your spirit and make you lose faith in voting and we CAN'T, we have to keep voting, it's the only power we have! We can't just watch them ruin our country and ruin our planet and ruin our future!

So yeah. Please start doing research if you're in the states and start researching who is running for governor, secretary of state, etcetera, because uh. The Republicans are probably going to take everything back including the next presidential election and. They're literally setting things up where they'll have the majority power for decades. The fact that the Supreme Court has become majority conservative is going to shape all of our laws for decades to come until some of them either die or be removed. I'm just scared. I dont think there's any coming back from this. I think our country is only going to get worse from here on out, and we're going to take the rest of the world down with us

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the-broken-truth · 2 years

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I've the Indiana Jones book so I was wondering of you can make a seacond part where the reader comes back after finding the ambrosia

Broken Truth (Tossing a flask in the air and catching it in the palm of her hand): I was thinking about the Second Part of the Doctor Jones Reader Story, I was just waiting on you to request it, Wereman. Thank you. Now, let the words weave together!!!

It has been almost a year since [Reader] left the village in search of the elixir of the Greek Gods - The Ambrosia - in order to obtain immortal life and divine power so that he would be able to be on par with his wife and daughters, to be able to stand beside them and protect them from whatever may come their way. Alcina was confident in her husband's abilities but he was just human and anything could happen to him; that's what made her worried about him and if something like the Ambrosia really existed then it was going to be heavily guarded and well protected, anything could happen to him and Alcina wasn't there to protect him.

Alcina was on the phone with Mother Miranda about the upcoming Lord Meeting when the Village Leader asked Alcina what was going on with her husband, Alcina explained that [Reader] went on a quest to find the Immortal Elixir of Ambrosia so that he would be able to live forever and be on par with Alcina and their daughters but Miranda scoffed at this. She too was researching the Ambrosia and if [Reader] found the Ambrosia, she intended to take it for her research in reviving Eva, because, in her eyes, it would be wasted on a mortal man. Alcina ground her teeth and yelled at her mother that she was not going to take the Ambrosia from her husband when he was so close to finding it and living forever. She hung up the phone and sobbed again when a familiar scent hit her nose but it was stronger and...altered.

That's when Bela burst into the room and looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her face. She announced that a figure was seen flying in the direction of the village and it matched their father's description. Alcina looked at her daughter with wide eyes and rose from her seat, running to the front of the castle, opening the door and stepping outside in the sun, she looked around but she didn't see her husband's truck but the scent was there and it was strong, then she remembered what Bela said... Flying.

She looked up and her eyes widened as she watched the figure o her husband floating in the air, descending at a slow pace before landing before Alcina with a smile on his face. He was a few heads taller but was still smaller than Alcina, and his muscles were more defined and noticeable as if he was working out during his time away. He had a flash of blue in his eyes as he smiled up at his wife before floating up to her and placing his lips on hers. Alcina let her tears fall as she wrapped her hands around him to pull him closer.

After going inside, [Reader] explained that he found the solid form of Ambrosia but it needed to be pounded into dust before mixing it with the water from the divine pool and consuming the liquid form of Ambrosia. He used the last of the Ambrosia because humans thought you were just supposed to eat the stone alone and it never worked for them. [Reader] showed the power he had over the basic 4 elements and he smiled as he was now immortal - he would never fear death again and he would be there for his daughters and wife all the time.

That's when the phone rang.

It was Mother Miranda.

Alcina was going to answer the phone but her husband held up his hand and walked over to the phone and picked it up. The phone call when something like this.

Mother Miranda: Alcina! How dare you hang up on me when I was talking to you?!

[Reader]: It's good to hear your voice again, Mother Miranda.

Mother Miranda (Taken Aback): [Reader]? You've returned? I didn't hear your truck enter the village, how did you get back here?

[Reader]: I flew back - Divine Power has its' benefits you know?

Mother Miranda: You have divine power? You found the Ambrosia?! You have it with you?!

[Reader]: Yes, I found the Ambrosia but I don't have it on me, I consumed it and absorbed the divine power of the elixir it made. I am no longer human, I am a Demigod.

Mother Miranda: YOU USED THE AMBROSIA?! HOW DARE YOU?! I COULD HAVE USED IT FOR EVA, IT WOULD HAVE RETURNED HER TO ME WITH DIVINE POWER!

[Reader]: You know that I was looking for Ambrosia so that I would live forever with my daughters and wife.

Mother Miranda: You wasted the divine elixir on yourself when you should have brought it to me. I'll have to experiment on you so that I can revive Eva with the power that should have been hers.

[Reader]: No.

Mother Miranda: No? What do you mean no?!

[Reader]: I heard what you said to Alcina about me just being a phase for her, you wouldn't give her a Cadou for me so why would I give my Ambrosia to you? I found it. I used it. It's gone. Now, I shall see you at the next Lord Meeting and we shall have a conversation. Good afternoon, Mother Miranda.

[Reader] hung up the phone.

#resident evil village #alcina dimitrescu x male reader #dimitrescu daughters #mother miranda

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that-shamrock-vibe · 2 years

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Superhero Spotlight: Mutants In The MCU (Spoilers)

Disclaimer: As the title suggests, I will be diving deep into the Marvel Mutant section of the Marvel Universe. This will include spoilers for the finalé of the recent Ms. Marvel series, so if you haven't yet seen it don't read on until you have.

Introduction:

While not officially named in the main MCU-616 canon, Mutants are now officially in play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the "game-changer" reveal that Ms. Marvel aka Kamala Khan is in fact a Mutant/Clandestine hybrid.

This was revealed when Kamala's bestie Bruno discovered an abnormality in Kamala's DNA that makes her different to the rest of her family that descend from her great-grandmother Aisha's Clandestine genealogy that he describes as a mutation.

Aside from the obvious, the troubling thing about this reveal that seems to cement the path the MCU is taking Kamala in is as soon as he states this the opening bars of the very classic and nostalgic theme tune from the 90s X-Men animated series plays...this actually terrifies me.

The Problem With Kamala:

As much as I appreciate the Ms. Marvel series for everything it has done to positively represent Pakistani culture from religion to family and mythology when it comes to Djinn. I honestly don't think the creatives knew how to handle Kamala Khan's origin story when you take out the factor that she is originally supposed to be an Inhuman.

At first it seems that Kamala is a Djinn and the bangle simply unlocked these powers, it's even stated in the second episode that the bangle acts as a totem for these powers as they are supposedly inside her.

We also have it stated numerous times that Kamala's powers and ancestry are connected to the Noor Dimension and in Islamic faith, the Nūr is a symbol for god's guiding light so making Kamala a half-human/half-hybrid being of light would make sense with her hard-light abilities.

However, despite Kamala supposedly being a Djinn, which is a genie and therefore situated in mysticism, the show continues to push Ms. Marvel into the Marvel Cosmic section of the MCU with her idolising Captain Marvel and bringing in the Light Dimension and making Kamala's ancestry from said dimension therefore making her an alien-hybrid.

It just would make sense if Djinn were introduced in this series...which I don't even know if they are now...that they would sit alongside witchcraft, mysticism, sorcery and chaos magic...rather than space vikings and blue aliens.

I just want to reiterate, I feel the series getting Kamala's Pakistani culture authentically well done was probably the best part about this series, but then if you completely deviate from the comics and rather than making her an Inhuman or even a Djinn make her a Mutant, it takes away not only from the strong foundation the series has built up with representing the Pakistani culture, but also stretches Kamala into so many corners of the MCU that she supposedly is the one character to connect them all which has never been Ms. Marvel's story.

Mutants vs. Inhumans:

Where this problem may have stemmed from is the fact that Kevin Feige adamantly does not care for the Inhumans and simply does not want them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was made clear when the originally conceived Inhumans movie became that horrendous Inhumans series to which the only payoff for that has been the inclusion of Anson Mount as the Earth-838 Black Bolt who was part of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

But I knew when the idea was originally brought up for Ms. Marvel joining the MCU that there was a high probability she would not be an Inhuman...which I was concerned about because it the idea was also floating around that instead of Inhuman Feige would turn her into a Mutant.

It's just very frustrating both as a massive X-Men megafan but also someone who actually likes certain Inhumans introduced in the wider MCU canon. I thought Quake from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and both Black Bolt and Lockjaw from Inhumans were all great characters and all could have done well in the wider MCU.

The fact that also what is supposedly now happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe stems from what is happening in the comics of late, where not only were Inhumans originally pushing out Mutants but now they're making Mutants more cosmic-based, is also a worrying factor for me.

Particularly if these changes aren't successful, like I hear the recent cosmic mutant change is, then why does Feige believe that not only is this the right way to go for the MCU, but how this is the right way to finally introduce Mutants into the MCU after so many years of fans waiting and hoping that Feige would finally do for the X-Men what he has done for the original B and C list superheroes like the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Mutant Genesis:

Not to say that Kamala is the first Mutant discovered in the MCU chronologically, but if she is actually a Mutant then this sets a bad precedent going forward that takes away from what makes Mutants unique. If Kamala is a Mutant, it's not quite clear as to where her Mutant x-gene came from. Her mother's side of the family which goes back to her great-grandmother has the Clandestine genealogy, and it was established in X2 that the fathers traditionally carry the x-gene, so does that mean Kamala's dad has the gene?

In a way it would make sense as Bruno would have only supposedly scanned Kamala's grandmother, mother and brother given it's that side of the family...so why scan the father and therefore obviously overlook the x-gene, but then there's a second problem.

If Kamala's great-grandmother Aisha is responsible for making Kamala a mutant, then why have the same powers as Kamala. Mutants don't inherit powers from parents/grandparents. A parent and child can both be Mutants and have similar powers but not the same power. Magneto and Polaris have similar linking powers but not the same powerset, Cyclops and Havok as brothers have similar powers and immunity from each other but not the exact same.

Now yes, Banshee and Siryn as father and daughter have the same powers but Siryn's is seemingly more evolved it's not effectively the same powerset.

Young Avenger or Young X-Man?:

When the Ms. Marvel series was announced, it was heavily implied that Kamala would eventually help form the MCU's version of the Young Avengers, while in the comics Ms. Marvel was never part of the Young Avengers and instead part of the Champions, it still makes a lot more sense for the Captain Marvel fangirl to be part of the Young Avengers team as opposed to the X-Men.

There are enough young Mutants already to be included without turning Ms. Marvel into a member of the X-Men. Also it's the fear that if she does join the eventual team, is she going to be as annoying as Jubilee was in the 90s series? Because honestly that's how the character seemed to be in her series.

There are obviously the New Mutants as the "Young X-Men" team, but if you're talking about a female young Mutant who somehow as the access or powers of an extra-dimensional plane of existence...we have Magik already for that, don't dilute what is already potent.

Also, Mutants already have Muslim representation in the form of Dust, who has never had a turn in live-action, yet was also part of the short-lived Young X-Men comic series...why then would we have Ms. Marvel as a Young X-Man who is her own brand of uniqueness and found fan-favouritism as part of the Avengers, if you already have these characters that could reach the same level of fan-interest if given a fair chance.

Conclusion:

Overall I am genuinely just not happy with Ms. Marvel being a Mutant, it's not even the old trope of dropping the bombshell then re-watching the series to discover the little hints that finally add-up. I mean major fans already knew Agnes was Agatha Harkness in WandaVision from the start, but after the reveal and killer song intro, looking back and connecting the dots made a lot more sense.

Here though, there is no indication that Kamala is a Mutant and I'm not entirely sure how exactly she is. Yes Kamala can easily be the only Mutant in her family, but with her also being a Clandestine on her mother's side, the explanation that the hybrid DNA created the mutation makes no sense when you consider her brother Aamir is not at present a Mutant.

Then also with Najma being a Clandestine and her son Kamran being a hybrid, does it make him a Mutant?

Again, the way in which Kamala's origins have been handled from a superhero perspective have just reeked of sloppiness this entire season, I don't even think the creatives knew the trajectory they were going in and just made it up as they went along.

Also now Ms. Marvel is a Mutant, does this mean that The Marvels will introduce more Mutants for her to interact with?

The term mutant or mutation could extend to most "enhanced" individuals in the MCU, but the human genus Homo Superior term of Mutant is a separate subspecies. Technically the likes of Spider-Man, Steve Rogers and the Abomination are mutates, but the likes of the X-Men and supposedly Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are Mutants.

This again creates more of a dilution not only for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in the MCU but also Wanda's sons Billy & Tommy. All four of them are Mutants in the comics, and realistically should've been the first set of Mutants introduced into the MCU, but having Scarlet Witch being a Nexus Being within the Marvel Mystic corner, and I'm guessing Wiccan will also be in that section, and Quicksilver and Speedy seemingly only being "enhanced", having Ms. Marvel officially be the MCU's first Mutant introduced when she isn't even a Mutant in the comics just disparages the more fan-favourite introductions impact.

Ultimately I am actually really nervous for how Mutants are going to make their mark on the MCU officially, bringing in the X-Men, the Brotherhood, how they're going to tie-in with the established characters and what the reception will be.

So that's my thoughts on the current MCU Mutant situation, what do you guys think? Post your comments, check out more MCU Spotlights as well as other posts.

#mcu #marvel #marvel cinematic universe #ms. marvel #x-men #mutants #inhumans

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sagaiv · 2 years

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Black Adam Thoughts

I have been working non-stop so I don’t have the energy to write a full review, so I’ve decided to just make a bullet point list of my thoughts on Black Adam.

Doctor Fate was my favorite part of the movie. Pierce Brosnan does great in the role and easily steals the scenes he’s in even if he’s just eating a mint while the others are fighting.

Doctor fate is a character I have always thought was criminally underutilized in DC’s properties. He has really interesting powers, drawbacks, and a backstory that makes him a fascinating character. I really liked getting to finally see him on the big screen.

Lorne Balfe’s score is phenomenal. It got me excited every time I heard it playing.

The film didn’t really sell me on Black Adam being a threat that had to be taken out. It didn’t seem to want to commit too hard one way or the other, hero or villain, which made his arc fall flat to me.

You could really feel Black Adam’s power. There was no point in the movie where I felt he wasn’t the unstoppable force everyone kept saying he was. DC has had trouble consistently selling the power of its heroes on the big screen in the past (when they were still trying to copy/play catch-up with marvel mostly) but that isn’t a problem here.

There’s the implication that Adrianna and Amon are direct descendants of Black Adam with the necklace that has been passed down in their family being seen on Teth Adam’s wife in the flashbacks, but this is never brought up verbally and is a detail that could be easily missed. This is something that could go a long way when it comes to explaining Black Adam’s desire to protect them and sell me on why he acts so differently from the villain everyone tries to portray him as. It could have been a redemption in his mind. He failed to save his family in the past and he doesn’t want to fail in the same way again.

I called the twist during the first scene of the movie. I knew which character Black Adam was immediately. If they really wanted this to be a surprise it should have played out a bit differently, but I wasn’t bothered by it.

I liked the visuals of the movie. I appreciate that DC lets its directors and cinematographers be creative. They all have their own distinctive visual flair.

The action was really fun. I liked the battles in the first and second acts and thought they did a fine job of bringing the spectacle I wanted when I entered the theater. The third act battle falls short for me though and it can feel like it's a copy and paste of most superhero third act battles that only really separated itself visually in the one v one between Doctor Fate and Ishmael.

I actually liked that we got to see the human side of things within the film. Too often the human are completely ignored to focus on the “gods among us”. It works in the context of the story and I appreciate that they called out the Justice Society for thinking they know better than the people they are saving about what is best for them.

One of the biggest problems with Black Adam is the fact that it asks so many questions that it just doesn’t answer. The biggest example of this is how it criticizes black and white views on morality but it never looks deeper than the surface level. It’s not a particularly deep film.

This doesn’t have to do with the movie itself but I really like the passion that Dwayne Johnson clearly has for the role in all the promotions he’s done for it.

Atom Smasher and Cyclone are really unneeded. I liked the visuals for Cyclone’s powers and thought Atom Smasher was funny but they don’t have arcs to undergo and remain unchanged and underdeveloped by the end of the film.

The villain was really forgettable. I had to look up his name to write this.

The mid-credits scene was really cool. I would love to see Superman and Black Adam duke it out. (again wasn’t sold on Black Adam being an irredeemable threat that had to be eliminated but I would still love to see that fight)

#black adam #spoilers #doctor fate #pierce brosnan #dwayne johnson #the rock #balck adam thoughts #DC

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thegirlwiththelantern · 2 years

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Hey! I write book release posts on my book blog, China Sorrows. But I like them to be specifically for books I'm personally excited about. In looking for 2023 releases I came across quite a few books I don't want to read but which would probably be really exciting to other people, so here some are.

Quick note- because I'm not covering them on my blog I didn't hunt through various sources and if the one I found doesn't list a synopsis, I won't. I also don't list synopsis for sequels in case of spoilers.

I'm going to cheat this time and include some books which I am excited for! They're marked with a little asterisk* for ease.

The Surviving Sky (Rages #1) by Kritika H. Rao (queer)*

High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below. Charismatic, powerful, mystical, Iravan is one such architect. In his city, his word is nearly law. His abilities are his identity, but to Ahilya, his wife, they are a way for survival to be reliant on the privileged few. Like most others, she cannot manipulate the plants. And she desperately seeks change. Their marriage is already thorny—then Iravan is accused of pushing his abilities to forbidden limits. He needs Ahilya to help clear his name; she needs him to tip the balance of rule in their society. As their paths become increasingly intertwined, deadly truths emerge, challenging everything each of them believes. And as the earthrages become longer, and their floating city begins to plummet, Iravan and Ahilya’s discoveries might destroy their marriage, their culture, and their entire civilization.

Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai (chinese)*

As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she is underemployed as a magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency. Meanwhile dreamy half-elf Luc, the agency’s top security expert, has his own problems and secrets. In this xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy, a Chinese immortal and a French elf navigate romance, family loyalty, and workplace demands.

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (indigenous)*

Anequs, a fifteen-year old indigenous girl, has never been away from her isolated island community. But Anequs has just bonded with a dragon hatchling, and thus become the first Nampeshiweisit – person in a unique relationship with a dragon – that the island has seen in more than two hundred years. That’s something that does not go unnoticed by the colonizing powers that be. Now, in accordance with the colonizers’ laws, Anequs must attend an academy on the mainland and prove her competence in dragon husbandry and magic. If she can’t or won’t perform to their very specific expectations, her dragon will be put to death. Anequs must navigate two cultures’ worth of traditions and wisdom, trying to fill a role no one has held in two hundred years. There are no mentors who can teach her precisely what she needs to be, so she must find her own path. She rekindles lost traditions, pieces together new ways of doing ancient things and traditional ways of doing new things. She must comply with the laws and regulations imposed on her by colonizers while also staying true to her people’s values and beliefs.

Fake Dates and Moon Cakes by Sher Lee (queer, chinese)*

Love wasn’t on the menu… Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs—in memory of his mom, as well as to bring much-needed publicity to Wok Warriors, his aunt’s struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan’s stomach do backflips. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even makes a sizable donation to Wok Warriors. Feeling obligated to return the favor, Dylan agrees to be Theo’s fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. In Theo’s glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just for show…but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. For real. Then Theo’s relatives reveal their true colors—and with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can’t risk being distracted by rich people problems. Can Dylan save his family’s business and follow his heart—or will he fail to do both?

Your Wish is My Command by Deena Mohamed (egyptian)*

Your Wish is My Command is the story of three people who are navigating a world where wishes are literally for sale. Mired as they are in bureaucracy and the familiar prejudices of our world, the wishes that are more expensive are more likely to work as intended. Three wishes sold at an unassuming kiosk in Cairo link Aziza, Nour and Shokry, changing their perspectives as well as their lives. Aziza learned early that life can be hard, but when she loses her husband and manages to procure a wish, she finds herself fighting unreasonable regulations and inequality for the right to have – and make – that wish. Nour is a privileged college student who secretly struggles with depression and must decide whether or not to use their wish to try to ‘fix’ this depression. And, finally, Shokry must grapple with his religious convictions as he decides how to help a friend who doesn’t want to use their wish.

Changelings: An Autistic Trans Anthology edited by Ryan Vale (trans, autism)*

Nothing about us without us! A young adult anthology of stories about trans autistic characters by trans autistic authors. These last few years have been difficult for the transgender community. This has included frequent attacks on autistic trans people, claiming we can’t possibly understand who we are or what we want. This book focuses on autistic trans people telling our own stories. It aims to explore autistic trans joy and challenges and to show all the autistic trans young people out there that they are not alone.

Hamlet: Prince of Robots by M. Darusha Wehm (queer)*

Something is rotten in the state of cybernetics. Elsinore Robotics is on the cusp of a breakthrough—the company is poised to create the first humanoid androids powered by true artificial intelligence. Their only rival, Norwegian Technologies, lost a publicly streamed contest between their flagship model, Fortinbras, and Elsinore’s HAM(let) v.1. But when the first Hamlet model is found irreparably deactivated, the apparent victim of wild malware, the field of consumer cybernetics is thrown wide open. However, Hamlet v.1’s memories were not entirely lost in the accident. Hamlet v.2 swears to avenge his progenitor, but is plagued by the aftereffects of integrating Old Hamlet’s backup into his own neural matrix. Beset by doubts about whether his feelings are truly his own, he worries his love for his boyfriend, Horatio, is an illusion, all the while driven by a consuming need for revenge. While he has a method, there is a madness in it, and Hamlet’s actions will leave no corner of Elsinore unscathed.

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran (vietnamese, queer)*

When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised. But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound, while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves her cryptic warnings: Don’t eat. Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house—the home her family has always wanted—will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house’s rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.

If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude (queer)

On the morning nineteen-year-old Avery Byrne plans to end her life, she learns an asteroid will end the world in a matter of days. She fights her way home from college to help her family and be with the girl she loves, but while they chase their final tomorrows, can Avery embrace her own?

Board to Death by C.J. Connor (queer)

Board to Death is the first in a queer cozy mystery series featuring a 30-something professor-turned-board game shop proprietor who juggles keeping his father's Salt Lake City-based board game shop alive, a budding romance with the handsome florist next door, and a murder that threatens the game shop's livelihood.

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao (queer, polyam, chinese, disability)

[sequel]

Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by Mae Coyiuto (filipino)

Chloe is officially off the waitlist at USC, and thus one step closer to realizing her dream of becoming an animator in the United States. But before she leaves home, her auntie insists on planning a traditional debut for Chloe’s eighteenth birthday (think sweet sixteen meets debutante ball). To make matters worse, her father, intent on finding Chloe the perfect escort for the party, keeps setting her up on one awkward kaishao—or arranged date—after another. But . . . why does her dad suddenly care so much about her love life? And what happens when she actually starts to fall for one of the guys, only to have to leave at the end of the summer?

The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans (queer)

Pitched as TOO BRIGHT TO SEE meets DOLL BONES, the middle grade novel follows River, who can see monsters and enter a spirit world called The Otherwoods--but would rather avoid both at all costs. When their crush is kidnapped and taken to The Otherwoods, River must face their fears and find the confidence to believe in themself in order to save her.

The Song of Us by Kate Fussner (queer)

Love at first sight isn’t a myth. For seventh graders Olivia and Eden, it’s fate. Olivia is a capital-P Poet, and Eden thinks she wants to be a musician one day, but for now she’s just the new girl. And then Eden shows up to Poetry Club and everything changes. Eden isn’t out, and she has rules for dating Olivia: don’t call. Don’t tell her friends. And don’t let anyone know they’re together. But when jealousy creeps in, it’s Olivia’s words that push Eden away. While Eden sets out to find herself, Olivia begins a journey to bring Eden back—using poetry. Both Olivia and Eden will learn just how powerful their words can be to bring them together . . . or tear them apart forever.

World Running Down by Al Hess (queer, trans)

Valentine Weis is a salvager in the future wastelands of Utah. Wrestling with body dysphoria, he dreams of earning enough money to afford citizenship in Salt Lake City – a utopia where the testosterone and surgery he needs to transition is free, the food is plentiful, and folk are much less likely to be shot full of arrows by salt pirates. But earning that kind of money is a pipe dream, until he meets the exceptionally handsome Osric. Once a powerful AI in Salt Lake City, Osric has been forced into an android body against his will and sent into the wasteland to offer Valentine a job on behalf of his new employer – an escort service seeking to retrieve their stolen androids. The reward is a visa into the city, and a chance at the life Valentine’s always dreamed of. But as they attempt to recover the “merchandise”, they encounter a problem: the android ladies are becoming self-aware, and have no interest in returning to their old lives. The prize is tempting, but carrying out the job would go against everything Valentine stands for, and would threaten the fragile found family that’s kept him alive so far. He’ll need to decide whether to risk his own dream in order to give the AI a chance to live theirs.

Caught in a Bad Fauxmance by Elle Gonzalez Rose (queer)

Aspiring artist Devin Báez's winter vacation devolves into hijinks after his family's long-time rivals, the affluent Seo-Cookes, challenge them to a bet that could cost the Báezes their beloved lake cabin. But when the enemy's attractive son comes to Devin in desperate need of a fake boyfriend, he reluctantly agrees to set aside loathing for love to take down the Seo-Cookes once and for all.

The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis (queer)

In 1996, 16-year-old Audre is having trouble fitting into her new town, where everyone seems to believe there's a Satanic cult in the woods. But when the pastor's daughter—Audre's crush—goes missing, she starts to wonder if the town's obsession with evil isn't covering up something far worse.

Shoot the Moon by Isa Arsén (queer)

Pitched as THE ATOMIC CITY GIRLS meets THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, about a queer female engineer at NASA working on the 1969 space race and her unusual discovery linked to her childhood in the 1940s, which explores the high human cost of scientific progress and the driving need for both intellectual fulfillment and romantic love, no matter the time and place.

A Prayer for Vengeance by Leanne Schwartz (queer)

After centuries trapped as a statue, plus-size Gia wants revenge, but if she's going to kill the immortal man who doomed her and usurped her sister, she needs to get her hands—and likely her blade—on the handsome autistic poet whose prayers woke her. Publication is slated for fall 2023; Lee O'Brien at Irene Goodman Literary Agency brokered the deal for world rights.

Nightbirds by Kate J. Armstrong

The Nightbirds are Simta’s best kept secret. Teenage girls from the Great Houses with magic coursing through their veins, the Nightbirds have the unique ability to gift their magic to others with a kiss. Magic—especially the magic of women—is outlawed and the city’s religious sects would see them burned if discovered. But protected by the Great Houses, the Nightbirds are safe well-guarded treasures. As this Season’s Nightbirds, Matilde, Aesa, and Sayer spend their nights bestowing their unique brands of magic to well-paying clients. Once their Season is through, they're each meant to marry a Great House lord and become mothers to the next generation of Nightbirds before their powers fade away. But Matilde, Aesa, and Sayer have other plans. They know their lives as Nightbirds aren't just temporary, but a complete lie and yearn for something more. When they discover that there are other girls like them and that their magic is more than they were ever told, they see the carefully crafted Nightbird system for what it is: a way to keep them in their place, first as daughters and then as wives. Now they must make a choice—to stay in their gilded cage or to remake the city that put them there in the first place.

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