#but eventually he can form it on command when outside the void

[melanodis]

thought abt if his arm is just a void manifestation instead of a solid object... good luck on the zariman buddy

[ddarker-dreams]

Yan Risotto Nero with a F Reader who has low iron HCs. Commissioned piece.

Risotto Nero utilizes every method at his disposal to run frequent surveillance on you. He could entrust this task with his La Squadra subordinates, and maybe he would if it was for business, but this is a more personal undertaking. The skills he's sharpened from engaging in assassination throughout the years come in handy. He learns your routine, when you're most likely to be alone, what routes you take, his justification being that he can't properly protect you if he doesn't have this knowledge.

He is extremely methodical — for a time. He isn't the type to enter your home and leave behind evidence of his presence. No window or drawer is left askew. Risotto considers this a form of profiling. Engaging with you one-on-one is too risky, a fact that leaves a void in his being. He exercised better self-restraint than most yanderes would bother to employ. Eventually, though, the gnawing desire to know you won out against any shreds of respect for what little privacy you have left. What does your wardrobe look like? What television channel did you leave off on? How is your cooking? These questions and more oppress him to the point that satisfying his curiosity overwhelms any flimsy moral justification that he's simply 'looking out for you from afar.'

The life he leads is chaotic and wrought with bloodshed. You bring a semblance of normalcy, this sweet consistency that he finds endearing, though he'd never admit it. Once you're finally in his possession, you'll have a difficult time gauging his motivations. He isn't physically or verbally affectionate, the few words he utters are more like commands, and his demeanor as a whole is intimidating. What you will pick up on eventually is his micromanaging of your diet. He's unnervingly silent should you lash out, allowing you to get your frustration out of your system until exhaustion settles in, yet when it comes to your physical health, his boundaries are firm.

How he came to learn of the low iron levels in your body is somewhat bizarre. His Stand, Metallica, boasts the ability to manipulate iron. The writhing bunch made their displeasure known upon you entering his vicinity. Since Stands are manifestations of the user's soul, Risotto's hypervigilant care for your well-being bleeds into his Stand's behavior. They clued Risotto into the issue so that he could see you're taken care of.

Mortally harming the human body is more in his skillset than healing it. He is curious to see if his Stand could potentially boost the iron in your body to the levels necessary. Unfortunately, this falls outside his purview, he decreases iron in his opponent's bloodstream by focusing it and turning it into a weapon. He can't influence the levels themselves. Regardless, his Stand still enjoys lingering near you. They have no shame expressing how smitten they are, unlike their stoic user.

Risotto isn't a captor who demands much from you. About the most he'll ever ask is for you to fill the air with conversation, should uncomfortable silence ever linger. There's a warmth to your voice that sets him at ease. The topic doesn't matter and he probably won't chime in aside from an occasional word or phrase. Everyone has their own way of relaxing after a stressful day at work, this just happens to be his.

While he is sweet on you, he doesn't shy away from letting you feel the weight of various consequences. For instance, since you're more likely to feel fatigued, he expects you to sleep and wake up at a certain time. Should you try staying up later than he permits out of spite, he won't stop you. He intends to never reveal his Stand's full capabilities — such as how he can manipulate iron to reflect light around his person, effectively rendering him invisible. Unbeknownst to you, he'll be in the corner of the bedroom, unimpressed with your disobedience. Some lessons are best learned firsthand. The following day, when exhaustion weighs you down, he'll reproach any attempt from you to seek caffeine or a nap. He takes a "you've made your bed, now lay down on it" sort of approach.

This serves a dual purpose. While it's also a nonviolent method of 'encouraging' your adherence to his wishes, it also paints him in this omnipotent light. How did he know you were awake? You specifically wait until he left the room before indulging your mischievous streak. Does he have night vision cameras installed? How does he know your iron levels without taking blood for bloodwork? Over time, these strange instances build up inside your psyche. You get the sense he isn't exactly like most people yet the full extent of it is lost on you.

As a result, paranoia sets in, heady and thick. You overestimate his capabilities. Should you try this escape attempt, seeing as you're home alone? ... Are you home alone? Your hand will hover over the doorknob, covered in perspiration, internally weighing if the risk is worth it. Meanwhile, this could be an instance where Risotto actually isn't present, yet the threat looms in the air all the same.

Ultimately, he wants a healthy dosage of fear, not a debilitating amount. His rules are rather straightforward and most pertain to your health. He never loses his penchant for observing you while you're unaware, but figures what you don't know can't hurt you. When you are cognizant of his presence, he tries somewhat to come across as less intimidating. He doesn't want you cowering at the sight of him. This leads to mixed results, more often than not. He can reassure you that he isn't going to hurt you all he wants, but his towering height and muscular appearance do little to dissipate your concern.

He might not fall for blatant attempts at manipulation, but should you be sweet on him, you can earn a few privileges. It just takes a lot of mental preparation to go up to this man and try for a hug. The stress almost isn't worth the potential benefits.

[autumnalwalker]

Find The Word Tag

Thank you for the tag, @cljordan-imperium.

My assigned words are: excuse, tactic, bubble, vertical, & ribbon.

Passing the tag to @fearofahumanplanet, @dontjudgemeimawriter, @ceph-the-ghost-writer, and @writingpotato07. As well as the usual open tag for anyone else who may wish to join in.

Your words shall be: sweet, grow, enough, curiosity, & form

Excuse: Empty Names, in-progress side story

The Rogue had one particular item in the castle they were looking for.  They had always heard of cake, and had often even gotten as close as smelling its sweet aroma from a bakery’s window, but they had never had it themself.  But by all accounts it was a treat, this “cake,” and surely the Princess’s nameday cake must be the finest of them all.  And besides, they’d been looking for an excuse to break into the castle for some time.  They would have done so eventually, just to see if they could, but if there was cake to be had, all the sweeter.

Tactic: Empty Names, Chapter 2

The necromancer wastes no words as he charges the wizard.  As he runs, his other arm shreds its sleeve as it bulks up and grows talons over its fingers.  A morbid parody of dance ensues back and forth across the stage.  The necromancer rains down crushing blows and Ashan casually deflects them with shields that flicker in and out of existence.  More spikes erupt from below and Ashan gracefully sidesteps.  The necromancer’s face twists in rage and Ashan’s remains placid.

Eventually, the necromancer grows frustrated with this game and changes tactics.  He extends the tendril of his right arm once more, sending it plunging toward the one audience member still seated.  Ashan makes a slashing motion with the wand followed by an upward flick and a wall of what looks like glass rises to cut the stage off from the rest of the room.  The tendril crumples on itself as it slams into the newmade wall.  

Bubble: Empty Names, Chapter 4

The labyrinthian halls of Bridgewood Manor are dimly lit at night by flickering blue-white flames bereft of both smoke and heat; tamed into regularly-spaced sconces and trained to ignite when approached and extinguish when left behind.  The result is a system delightful in its needless complexity, like so many of Carnette’s creations.  The lighting used to be brighter and more even but, like so many of Carnette’s creations, Sullivan still hasn’t figured out how to maintain it properly without her.

This is how he spends his nights, in lieu of sleep, in a bubble of light drifting through dark corridors.  Or at least, how he spends his nights when he’s at home and not out diving headfirst into whatever hedonistic pit he can find.  Some nights these walks have a purpose.  Mapping architecture that no longer shifts at its mistress’s command.  Identifying the hidden passages she never got around to showing him.  Finding ways into rooms she left locked.  Other nights the walking is an act of meditation.  Step after step, focusing on the void outside the bubble of light, and clearing his mind.  It’s not sleep, but it’s close enough.

Vertical: The Archivist's Journal, Day 60

Initially, I stuck to the shallows, some primal fear keeping me from swimming out over spaces where I couldn’t see the bottom.  Eventually I worked up the proper mix of curiosity and courage though.  Mostly by not looking down until I was out over the center.  Once I did, it was equal parts unsettling and awe-inspiring.  Spiraling down below me, swimming in great layered circles were schools of fish in greater quantity and variety of species than I would have imagined in an isolated body of water like this.  Long plants lined the not quite vertical walls the slope had turned into, waving like streamers in the flow of the prevailing upward current.  And yet still, situated near directly over the center with the sun not long past its noontime zenith I could not make out a bottom.  Surely it must stretch down below sea level at a bare minimum.

Ribbon: The Archivist's Journal, Day 55

After that exchange we continued to sit on the porch and watch the mists until the sun began to go down.  We actually saw another distant giant, although this one was different from the last one I’d seen in everything but scale and sluggish pace.  This one was serpentine in form and drifted through the air.  Dozens of long, thin appendages trailed down behind it, writhing as the giant twisted its way through the sky.  Or at least, I interpreted them as trailing ribbons.  To Maiko’s eyes they were spindly legs connecting the creature to the ground.  Hard to truly say one way or the other, obscured as it was.

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

Scattered AU Masterpost Part 1

This is a collection of all material associated with the Scattered AU (read about the premise here)!

Join the new Discord server here

AU material under the cut (because this is growing super fast already)

Due to post length limit (which is apparently a thing), find Part 2 of this AU here.

A few ideas to get us started:

- Tango and Zedaph spawned relatively close to each other, but they haven't found each other yet and each think they are alone. They keep just barely missing each other in their exploration of the area. Maybe, with the powers of Zed's perfect sense of direction and Tango's laser-sharp perception skills, they'll finally stop walking circles around each other...maybe.

- Xisuma spawned alone, deep underground in a massive, confusing cave system. He desperately wants to figure out what's going on and how to fix it, but a bad run-in with the Warden damaged his helmet, leaving him unable to use admin commands.

- Mumbo spawned the farthest out of anyone, right next to a woodland mansion. He quickly realized that hoping to stumble across another person this far out is a lost cause, so he's trying to create some form of communication using a combination of redstone and Evoker magic. The Evoker isn't very helpful, and it isn't going well.

- Joe and Vintagebeef were the only ones to successfully spawn at spawn. They aren't really sure what's going on, but they've decided to build a small village as a base of operations while they figure it out (and to signal signs of life to anyone who might successfully find their way back)

- Cleo spawned in a village, and is currently hiding out in a house while trying to convince the villagers to trust her. Let's just say they aren't thrilled to have a zombie in their midst (and the iron golem is even less pleased)

- Impulse had the misfortune to spawn in a guardian temple. Between the guardians and the constant threat of drowning, he's been in a death loop since the world started.

- False and Stress spawned right next to each other. They figured out pretty early that something was wrong with regen, and using their combined strengths, they made it to the Nether to get ingredients for healing potions. They are now on a mission to find the others and distribute the potions to whoever needs them.

- Ren actually managed to travel a good distance back to the world center, before getting pretty badly injured. With no regen, and knowing he'll have to start the journey all over if he dies and respawns, he's decided to pull together a small base and take shelter while he waits to be found.

- Scar spawned on an outer End island, with no idea how to get back to the Overworld. He keeps finding strange glitches in his surroundings, and he swears he can hear soft Vex laughter whenever he turns his back...

- Keralis spawned in the Nether, and he is absolutely terrified.

That's all I have for ideas so far. The location of the others (and what happens next) is up to you!

Contributions so far:

- Bdubs spawns in the void, but he just doesn’t die. Maybe it’s spawn protection, maybe it’s the glitches, but he just keeps falling and falling and falling further from the bedrock, unable to do anything to help himself as he descends further into the void

- @fluffy-papaya

- After wandering around aimlessly for days or maybe weeks, Tango finds an automatic farm for... well... he's not sure, exactly. But he does know who built it- it's got Zedaph's mark all over it. So he stays there, fixing broken Redstone, trying to figure out what it does. And when Zedaph returns to collect melons (so that's what this thing is for), he finds Tango waiting for him.

- @rayveewrites

- Etho spawns in a underwater cave, but there is air in it and for some reason a shipwreck so he can get some wood and tools. But he has to get out to contact anyone because the reception in caves don't happen to be the best, little does he know just outside the cave is the monument where Impulse is, they're so close yet so far from one another

- anonymous

- Maybe Etho ended up spawning at the very top of a mountain, he could see far from up there and has a general idea of where he is, but no idea how to get down as all around him is powderd snow hiding ravines, and cliffs. . . And a few goats that Etho has narowly avoided getting headbutted by. (Etho went to the mountain after escaping the cave)

- @ciaravixen

- Welsknight spawned in the Nether

- (paraphrased) Ren fell down a ravine in the mountains on his journey to the world center, and decided to make a small cabin base rather than try to carry on injured. Doc spawned in those same mountains, and may find him eventually.

- anonymous

- Grian spawns on the tallest peak of the highest mountain. Surrounded by thick fog and almost ever-falling snow, with crevasses and cliffs that drops thousands of blocks to the ground around every corner. No trees, no life, and barely enough air to breath. It's so cold. A thin red sweater isn't nearly enough to keep him warm.... he's likely caught in a death loop for quite awhile as he refreeze over, and over, and over again. And when he does manage to climb down, an ice pillager lies in wait...

- @therainofsweetmelody

- Scar’s End spawn is on a single island- he can see other islands around him, but they’re just out of jump reach- he tried, and fell and died, and respawned back onto his little island with the whispering voices around him a tad louder, and the islands just a bit farther away. He stops trying to jump to them eventually, out of fear they’ll vanish and he won’t have anything to focus on besides the whisper of ice cold hands and wings on his skin

- anonymous

- Oh! Maybe since Xisuma’s admin helmet is broken and he’s unable to run any world commands, that means mob hermits like Cleo, Doc, and Jevin aren’t quite the same. Maybe Cleo locked herself in that house for the villagers protection as much as her own. Maybe Doc eventually joins a lone creeper pack. Who knows! -💧

- anonymous

- Zed and Tango spawned in the same jungle biome, explaining the melon farm and why they could be literally three blocks from each other and still not be aware of each other’s existence. -🟣

- The first thing Scar does once he first spawns in (besides from almost having a panic attack) is take a jump into the void. This of course does nothing. He checks out the rest of the end islands around him, and finds a rather large end city just in render distance. There should be treasure or something that could help him survive, right? -🟣

- Keralis was lucky enough to spawn in a warped forest biome and next to a basalt delta, so he’s got wood and stone. It takes a bit, but he gets full gold armor and finds his way to a nether fortress. He figures with the broken regen that the other hermits will try to go for potions. Maybe he finds Stress and False, maybe not. -🟣

- I apologize if I'm sending too many asks, please feel free to say if so! I'm just already so invested in this idea, and absolutely love where it's all going! Shattered au brainrot go brrrrr - anyways; Cub spawns in a valley within the messa. To one side an abandoned village covers the cliff, and to the other, mines drill deep into the rock. A stream luckily runs through the valley, though it's slowly drying up. He can hear strange sounds in the mines, and feels something in the village watching

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- what if the hermits caught in death loops start gaining scars and marks from all their deaths? like impulse had permanent scars from the guardians and grian’s hands are permanently blue from freezing to death all the time

- anonymous

- X finds some axoloyls in a lush cave and falls in love. He gets some wood from said cave and gets some buckets so he can keep them -🟣

- Cleo gets stuck in a death loop with the iron golem, who is blind to her not attacking the villagers. One of the smarter villagers realizes she’s not fighting back, and calls the golem off. -🟣

- (paraphrased) After the iron golem is called off, Stress and False find Cleo badly hurt in the village house. They make sure she's comfortable and safe before going to the Nether to get potions, where they find a battered Keralis and carry him back. They turn the house into a little hospital while they brew potions and take care of Cleo and Keralis until they're strong enough to move on.

- anonymous

- Stress and False have set up a Nether Portal near a Nether Fortress, for easy escape to the relative safety of the Overworld. Keralis has never been more relieved in his life than when he found that portal.

- @/rayveewrites

- Doc spawned a thousand blocks away from ren, not knowing hos friend was there he happened to go in that direction. He managed to get materials, tools and food for himself before he sees rens little hut

- anonymous

- Jevin was one of the luckier hermits, when it came to where he spawned. He woke up in the shallow green waters of a floral cave, illuminated by glowing rocks and berries. He wasn't... quite alone. Although no other hermits could be seen, he quickly found a small family of axolotl living in the closed-off cave. They became his companions as he tried to assess his situation, and served as comfort when he realised his communicator was almost useless. Being slime, the environment was very welcoming

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- Xb spawns in the middle of a desert, with not even a village in sight. While he's used to being in distant lands with limited resources, he's very much not used to it on the Hermitcraft server with limited contact to the others. As the nights go by and the sands grow more hostile thanks to never-burning husks, he grows more and more lonely.

-@/basaltdragon

- At first, Doc is elated when he spawns on a mountain surrounded by goats. That is, until he discovers that none of his fellow hermits are there with him. After being headbutted down the mountain into the snowy tundra below and left on precariously low health, he hunkers down in a nearby igloo. But it's not exactly easy in a food-scarce biome when his only contacts are two villagers and the horde of strays that gather outside each night...

-@crows-in-space

- in one sense of the word, scar is safe. There's enough chorus fruit on the island to keep him alive, and despite his concerns the enderman don't even bat an eye at him. Theoretically, he could survive for longer than many of the others. But the whispers keep nagging at him, pushing him closer and closer to the edge. Sure, he could survive, but how long could he stay on this deathly quiet piece of land before someone would find him? He can see the faint outline of an End City on one of the fading islands, and every passing moment it haunts him. If he could just give in for a moment, let the powers of the vex harness his body for just a few seconds, maybe he could make it over and gather some gear- maybe even an elytra- and then he'd be set. But fear and logic talk him out of it. He's made deals with the vex before, and that quick trip across the islands could put him in a much more dangerous position than only being stranded...

- @/crows-in-space

- What if after scar gives up, he finds his vex mask lying on the floor with a tag saying ‘do it, it’ll help you get across’ (shade's note: Scar does it)

- anonymous

- For the Scattered AU: Scar gets an elytra, and after much internal struggling he decides to take a chance and leap into the darkness for hope of finding another island. During his terrifying glide he hears a distant scream from the void that is so familiar, but he can't quite place it, and he's in no hurry to risk flying any lower to check it out. - M

- @petrichormeraki

- Iskall and doc's robotic eye glitch out so they don't have any depth vision, so no mater where they spawn, they Are bound to die a few times from missinterprating how far away an Arrow or trident is, and how fast something is coming at them.

- @/ciaravixen

- I initially thought of this for Ren, but since there was already an idea for him, it could probably work for Iskall instead; He spawns in the middle of a scorching desert. Dunes of sand for as far as the eye can see, with barely a cactus or dead Bush in between. No water, no life - only the ever-present heat of the sweltering sun, and the large skeletons everywhere. He manages to find an abandoned temple after days of dragging himself through the sand, and spies a desert village on the horizon

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- Scattered AU! The way the "not killing Bdubs in his own spawn in the void" glitches work is similar to the forgiving void mod works where when you hit the bottom of the void you are teleported to the top instead of taking damage, but since Bdubs can't see anything in the void he doesn't know this (beyond a constant falling) feeling until he manages to "fall forward" enough to find some end islands, he finds scar this way but is so excited to see him he died from fall damage right in front of him

- @theclockworkowl

- (Scattered AU) Piggybacking off the death loop scars ask, when/if Bdubs is rescued from the void, he's in ROUGH shape. His external limbs are blackened and freezing with frostbite from the void (voidbite?), and his bones are permanently weakened from his form being subjected to the cold abyss for so long. Bdubs needs to relearn gravity after falling for so long, and doesn't use elytra anymore. The solid ground under his feet is something he'll never sacrifice for convenience ever again. - M

- @/petrichomeraki

- Wels spawned in a giant crimson forest in the nether. Towering mushroom trees, thick red vines, with piglins and hoglins he constantly has to run away from. But he finds something.... interesting as he's exploring. A house has been built into a wall, a mixture of nether and overworld blocks. Stepping inside, someone clearly lives there - someone who's not a piglin. Imagine his surprise (and relief) when a certain familair knight walks through the door. "Helsknight?"

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- xB wakes up in a dripstone cavern. It's damp and cold and the spikes are very tall, forming a sort of natural cage around him. At the very least, zombies and mobs can't get through, but the longer he stays there, the weirder the sounds get. There... wasn't a new mob for the dripstone caves, right? Right? (i'm trying VERY hard not to do new hermit OR crossover headcanons for scattered au. i swear) ~@betweenlands

- Scattered AU! Everyone Etho dies He spawns in a new place, first it was the underwater cave, then it was the top of a mountain, but it wasn't until he spawned inside an ocean monument and saw impulse trying to escape just as he was dying he realise the importance of the pattern, He was cycling though each of the other hermits spawn locations, which made all the wierd almost hermit made wierdnes make sense, the underwater one was his but the mountain was Grian's spawn spot,

- @/theclockworkowl

- Can the hermits see death messages? (They can) I'm imagining the potential angst of that, where normal world messages (achievements, commands, deaths) go through just fine but the others can't chat. The helplessness of watching their friends' names endlessly filling the chat and having no idea where they are, having no clue how to help, not even being able to offer comfort.

- @/basaltdragon

- Someone had mentioned xisuma also ending up in a floral cavern with axolotl, right? What if this was the same cave Jevin found himself stuck in? After days and days of clawing at stone, xisuma finally breaks into a cavern filled with faint light. After discovering the friendly acolotls, he notices a strange blue mass floating in the water.... and is almost startled to death when he sees the skull faintly showing through the slime, and the familiar wobbly voice coming from it. "Xisuma?"

- Doc and Grian (and later on, ren) spawned on the same mountain. Grian, of course, at the very top: stuck in the endless snowpeak, towering high above the clouds. Doc, meanwhile, ended up at the base, surrounded by snow and goats and giant taiga trees as far as the eye could see. Once Ren got stuck in the ravine, he often heard a familiar scream before a sickening splat every now and again, as the ravine lies almost completely below the highest peak. He's afraid to check his communicator.

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- grian’s practically given up since there’s not much for him to do. there’s no food and his hands are too frozen to mine. a little fox stays by his side at least. he’s about to freeze again and his health is low and he hears crumching footsteps approaching. he assumes its the iceologer coming for him but instead he hears “grian?” and he can make out blurry figures before he passes out and wakes up wrapped up in a blanket infromt of a fire. (whoevers managed to find and rescue him is up to you :D) (Shade's notes: the person who found him was Doc, and he took him back to Ren's cabin to warm up)

- anonymous

- Scar isn't the only one changed by the time he reaches spawn. Impulse drags himself up onto land finally, breathing heavily, and there's something different about him. Sharper teeth. The shadow he casts more inconsistent. Always faintly smells like saltwater. And his eyes glow faintly, a pale washed-out non-color like light at the bottom of the ocean. Something suggesting nonhuman geometry. Something sleeping that had to reawaken to escape. ~@betweenlands

- Eventually, Etho spawns in a jungle. By a complete stroke of luck, he sees the smoke of a campfire. Tango and Zedaph are happy to see someone- anyone- else. Especially when it turns out Etho somehow managed to get the coordinates of a certain Ocean Temple. Sure, it's far, but they can make it. After all, there's an 'I' in team ZIT, and they aren't leaving him behind.

- @/rayveewrites

- (summary of a couple different writing peices) After escaping the Guardian Temple, Impulse set out to find any other Hermit he could. He has gained some unnerving qualities and abilities that he doesn't really understand, but he's trying not to think about that right now. After defeating several mobs he should not have been able to defeat with his level of progress, he now possesses one Totem of Undying. He met up with Zedaph, Tango, and Etho on their way to find him. They are now hosting him at their campsite and are glad he is safe, but Etho is unnerved and suspicious of his more unsettling attributes.

- I had sent this idea right after the inbox closed, rip. But anyways - what if mumbo ended up befriending the evokers and pilligers in the woodland mansion? Of course, it wouldnt be like that at first- the constant death to the axes and swords and magic, the growls and yelling and cursed glares. But he always came back to work on the redstone and evoker magic in a desperate attempt to contact the others. Eventually, the evoker stops sending their vex, and the pilligers stop swinging their weapons

- @/therainofsweetmelody

- (Scattered AU) After Scar gives in to the Vex. Bdubs is barely conscious to begin with; dying to the void so many times really took it out of him in every way possible. But when he is awake, what he sees makes him scared. Scar with faded, cold eyes. Scar with transparent wings, gone in a blink. Scar being able to do things he shouldn't. Scar says it's to get them out of there, but every day he gets a little paler, a little colder, and Bdubs grows more worried. - M

- @/petrichomeraki

- Perhaps xb and Iskall are on opposite ends of the same desert? On one side, high sand dunes covering miles, with a single desert temple and isolated desert village hidden amongst the cliffs and hills. On the other, the deep flatt valley next to a Mesa mountain, flat nothingness stretching far past the horizon. It would still take quite a long time for them to find each other, but at least there's a change they could meet... and, perhaps, over that mountain, cub could be somewhere in the mesa

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- Iskall and Xb eventually find each other in the desert. Sunburned, dehydrated, and sand-blasted, they hug when they first meet despite not knowing each other well. And they try their best not to die, because what are the chances they'll ever find each other again? Two heads are better than one for finding their way to the rest of the hermits.

-@/basaltdragon

- Its probably a week or so of falling before bdubs managed to move enough to finally see the end islands just barely rendering in the distance. As someone had mentioned, perhaps he became so hopeful that he missed his mark, hitting the ground with a sickening splat just blocks beside scar. It took bdubs almost another week to get forward enough to see the islands again. This time, he landed right on scar... sending the vex back to his spawn several islands away, and leaving bdubs alone for days

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- While Bdubs and Scar are more than happy to have found each other again, their moments together are tense and filled with gaps of uncomfortable silence. There's an unspoken agreement hanging over them: Scar doesn't question Bdubs' frozen and frail state, and Bdubs pretends not to notice how Scar's skin has gotten pale and ghost-like, or how he glances behind him often, like he's being followed by a shadow only he can see. Though of course, Bdubs does notice. The whole server does. Grian wakes up in a cold sweat from a dream of Scar's ruthless attempts to destroy the mycelium resistance. Cub feels his own ties to the vex magic acting up once again, now worrying more than ever what Scar may have encountered in this broken world. Even Mumbo's evoker friend begins acting different, though Mumbo can't seem to determine whether it's out of excitement or fear...

-@/crows-in-space

- Scattered AU After the Wels meeting Hels Headcanon I imagine maybe Hels offers a deal to insure his safety on the Hermitcraft Server in exchange for Wels safety in the Nether. Wels very reluctantly agrees adding to the deal that Hels won’t hurt anyone. To bad he didn’t notice his Evil counterpart cross his fingers while shaking on it.

- anonymous

- Scattered AU:  TFC spawns on the main end island, dragon and all. With out proper preparation he’s been stuck in a death loop since the world’s start. Sometimes, right before he dies, he wishes that the janky respon would de-age his body; he’s not the agile young man who could take down the dragon solo anymore.

- @liagrace-b

- Scattered!Grian can’t fly. His normal down-featherly wings look like every feather has been plucked off, leaving the very sensitive skin open to the elements. But the world’s code itself has altered the physics of the wings themselfs. Grian can feel how much heavier the wing structure sits on his back, meaning that they couldn’t let him glide even if fully feathered. Poor Grian hasn’t survived the freezing cold long enough to know if his feathers would grow back with enough time.

- anonymous

- EX somehow gets into the scattered mix. Spawning in the Deep Dark, the exiled admin is terrified, and will stop at nothing to find his brother. 🌙

- (Scattered AU) Scar and Bdubs, after months(?) of travel, make it to the Ender Dragon's island. Bdubs is scared for both of their lives; he is in no condition to fight, he can't even STAND, and he's so, so afraid to die and be condemned to falling forever in the void once again. Scar says nothing, only gently setting his friend down behind an obsidian pillar before his skin goes completely translucent, his eyes clouding white. (Paraphrased: Scar defeats the dragon, him and Bdubs meet up with TFC)

- @/petrichormeraki

- the plugins do not work, so singleplayer sleep is out. Beds do reset spawn point, so the Hermits who spawned in a place where they can get them would do well to make several and use them as checkpoints along their journey (and hope that they don't get broken, especially for those who had to escape death loops....)

- (my answer to some questions)

- Those trapped in death loops change, adapting until they aren't harmed anymore or till they escape. After all, what are players if not adaptable?

- @permafrost782

- Xisuma blames his broken helmet for being unable to admin, as some sort of comfort. But there is no comfort there. The truth is, not even Joe, Tango, Cub, or Hypno can access the chat, can even begin to run commands to fix what has gone wrong. If they could, they would have teleported everyone to 0,0 and reset the worldspawn. Those partnered with any of the admins feel a certain kind of hopelessness. Those without feel a different kind of hopeless.

- @/basaltdragon

- To add to the scattered AU: Though i had seen someone explain the void connecting to the end so Bdubs gets out of that fall, i had the thought of this; What if eventually the void loops around with the overworld's sky, so he's basically in a continuous loop if falling to his death and respawning in the void until he finally is lucky enough in his falls to get over water and live. After that he just has to stay alive otherwise he returns to the void..

-@aetosofvalla

- Somewhere, in the back of Scar’s vex-addled mind, there’s the worry of Jellie. Where is she? Is she with another hermit? Did she spawn in with another village again and will he have to find her again? -🟣

- (Scattered AU) Cub and Scar have been linked by the Vex ever since their deal. One day, Cub's iron armor burns against his skin all at once, and through the searing pain is a horrifying realization that Scar has given in. - M

-@/petrichormeraki

- After a while Cub gets the resources to build a nether portal, but then he finds his portal has connected with someone else's. He finds himself lost again, without access to the farms he's built or the resources he's gathered, but at least he knows a friend is close.

- anonymous

- The End duo come across another end city. There’s a boat at the far end. Scar flies up on delicate vex wings to get the spare elytra and other loot. They’ve been walking for far too long. He floats down (as if he had the slow-falling effect. There’s only health in the brewing stand. Bdubs’ worry for Scar increases) with an extra set of trousers, boots, an elytra, the potions and a pic. Scar offers the elytra to Bdubs. He refuses. It’ll take longer to walk, but he never wants to fall again🟣

- Mumbo gets caught up in redstone work and doesn't bother trying to find anyone else. So when another hermit finally finds him, he has to stop his evoker friend from attacking. Whether or not he's successful is another thing.

- Anonymous

- (Scattered AU) Consider. When Doc finds Grian on the mountain peak while exploring the terrain, a message sends through everyone's communicators. <Grian was blown up by a Creeper>. Doc doesn't get a death message that time, despite both of them suffering the consequences of a surprised Doc in a server where mob-oriented hermits are more volatile than they should be. Doc doesn't go looking for other hermits again after that, and Grian is shocked into numbness at the dawning realization that his monster friends might be so much worse off than he thought. - M

- @/petrichormeraki

A summary of where things stand so far

- scattered au pog!!! hypno is in a seemingly endless flowery field. it was nice at first, but there's no trees, no food, and hardly any water. the sun is so hot. flowers aren't filling. hypno thought he liked being alone.

- Anonymous

- Mumbo doesn’t succumb to the magic of the mansion like perhaps Cub and Scar have, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t entirely unaffected- his skin becomes a little more washed out, instincts a little more violent- he certainly can’t go into villages anymore, otherwise the iron golem will smash him to bits

- @/fluffy-papaya

- With Scar using Vex magic, the Vex turn their attention to Cub, trying to tempt him at every turn. More then once he's found his mask in one of his chests, staring up at him, or awoken in a cold sweat from a dream full of vex. So far, he's resisted the temptation. Wether that lasts is another question entirely.

-@/bat-connoisseur

- Maybe eventualy hypno realises Even flowers would need water to grow, or that the bees must have a bee hive somewhere around here, and the bee hive is always connected to a tree(I think thats the case in Minecraft). So he tries to find where the buzzing comes from and follow the bees around.

- @/ciaravixen

- cleo bases a lot of her identity around being a zombie, right? she probably isnt too happy to be cured. she probably cries all the time it takes her to heal. it had to be done, but that doesnt mean she has to like it. and she doesnt, not one little bit.

- Anonymous

- that ask about Mumbo not bothering to look for anyone got me thinking.... Mumbo getting too caught up in his work with the evokers to look for the others. Mumbo making friends with the illagers. Mumbo knowing that it's completely reasonable that nobody has found him yet, but still getting the creeping feeling that no one is coming for him. Mumbo spending all his time with his new friends because, after all, they're here, and the hermits aren't... All this to say that, when the hermits eventually do find him, he might not be very inclined to leave...

- @/crows-in-space

- At one point, Mumbo's new friends are just...watching him try to do his stuff, observing. Mumbo's getting increasingly frustrated when ne of the evokers watching him breaks off and hands him something. At first he thinks its a totem of undying, its shaped like one, but its strange. Made out of iron, and its eyes are diamonds instead of emeralds. Then it starts to burn his hands and he passes out from the pain. When he wakes, its gone and he moves on, a bit more wary of his 'friends'. Maybe it was a mean joke, or some kinda of strange inhiation for the mansion maybe Except next time he's frustrated, he thows his hands up annoyed and fangs rise out of the ground around him and snap at the air. He cries out, confused, before looking at his hands which almost look like they've been painted with gray paints. it wont come off. He seems mentally the same but now he starts to experiment with his new found abilities. Maybe they can help with his redstone or even find others.

- Anonymous

- after trying a poisonous flower, hypno respawns back in the field. this time, he tries walking in a different direction. maybe this is the way out.

- Anonymous

- The flowers in Hypno’s area are just so perfect... blooming dandelions don’t lose their seeds when he brushes against them, petals that are crushed underfoot quickly regain their shape- and if his mind wasn’t so affected, he would’ve noticed the flower he picked was quickly replaced by another

- @/fluffy-papaya

- The Moobloom has one unique feature: The ability to leave behind flowers in its path... that is, the ability to alter the world around it simply by walking. These flower plains are not particularly large, maybe eight or so chunks across in each direction, but glitched world generation spawned in a herd of mooblooms, and all they've been doing is walking around causing little distortions, one on top of the other. From the inside, where Hypno is standing, the plains go on forever. The air is thick with buttercup pollen that's slowly dulling his sense of space and time. He has to pull it together, somehow. Force the world to recognise that he's walking forwards in a straight line. Or he'll be wandering in circles forever...

- @/draconic-dreams

- another hermit- maybe beef? sees the edge of a deep, fragrant field. on the horizon, not far away, is hypno, walking in circles. he calls but he cannot hear beef. something tells the man not to go into that field- at least, not without a flint and steel. (Shade note: Beef and Joe saved Hypno and are currently sheltering him (unconscious) in their spawn sanctuary)

- anonymous

- Maybe if they went through the exit portal and it glitched but good. They don't think about the fact it should send them back to their spawns, Scar feels something at the back of his mind that very much isn't him tell him to change his mind, stay in this place becuase they'll just be trapped if they try to leave, but Bdubs grabs his arm and jumps in before Scar can say anything. For a second, blessed silence, Scar's mind feels clear and normal. then they show up at world spawn and scare theother

- anonymous

(Shade note: people at the spawn haven now include Joe, Beef, Hypno, TFC, Scar, and Bdubs)

- Once Keralis and Cleo are healed up, the village gang starts going to 0,0 to try to meet up with others. On the way, they find a flower forest (potentially the same one Hypno’s in). They find some mooblooms and fall in love (this was def not done bc I want some fluff, nope not at all /s) -🟣

- Mumbo receives a set of robes from his evoker friend. He’s loathe to get rid of his suit, but at the same time... well, all the better to fit in, right? This is a glitch and fluke anyway, and he might as well blend in if the illagers ever turn on him. That’s it. That’s the only reason he tosses the suit jacket into the fireplace, don’t be silly. It has nothing to do with the feeling that he just doesn’t want to leave...

- anonymous

- I’m imagining Shattered Impulse looking like the Fishman from Shape of Water + the teeth of an Angler fish and the ability to unhinge his jaw. Poor guy probably gets mistaken for a glitched mob when someone finds him.

- @/fandomrecycling

- Yes hello it's me again. After the pollen spells breaks for Hypno (and whoever else might have tried to save him beforehand...), he notices he's a little different. he can't always control how he moves, he doesn't like eye contact, and he takes an even bigger interest in his, well, interests than before. Basically Tourettic Hypno go brrr (I am tourettic so feel free to ask me clarification!)

- @/fireflower-dusk

- I don't think Keralis has been mentioned except for being in the nether so I would like to contribute that he spawned in that soul sand and skeleton biome that has almost nothing in it.

- anonymous

- Mumbo, being hundreds of thousands of blocks out from spawn, is the last hermit to be found. Even after the glitch was fixed, Mumbo was so caught up in his research and new abilities that he no longer felt it mattered. He'd been apart from the hermits for well over a year now; and a long time ago he gave up hope that they'd come back for him. This was, of course, until he woke up one morning to a disturbance outside. When he goes to check the source of the racket, he's left frozen in place at the sight of Iskall on his mansion's doorstep. And at the end of it all, despite Mumbo telling himself that he was better alone, Iskall's hand on his shoulder, reassuring that "Yes, I'm here, yes, I'm real, and no, I'm not leaving, you spoon." Is enough for Mumbo to break, clinging to Iskall as if he'd disappear at any moment, murmuring "I'm sorry" over and over like a broken record. -🧸

- Maybe after Wels and Hels make their deal, and Wels gets some gold gear and a respawn anchor to click, Hels shows him how to create a portal to Hels the place to which from there, they think they can get into the overworld. The only catch being that to get in to Hels the place you need to focus all of you emotions onto pure hatred and anger, but the question is could Wels do it?

- Anonymous

- Hels taunts Wels about how no one came to get him, and plants ideas about how this was done on purpose, about how he's the only one to spawn in the nether for a reason. He tells him the hermits want him gone. And Wels of course becomes angry but he becomes angry at Hels for trying to tell him his friends didn't care about him. He's also angry at himself though, maybe for thinking he hasn't done enough to make his friends want to keep him around. He is never mad at the hermits though, never them

- TFC's concerned. Even if he thinks it's great he found Bdubs and Scar, the latter shouldn't be able to just kill the ender dragon alone. TFC doesn't know much about Scar but the man can barely fly usually, why did he turn into a vex, anyway? vexes don't exist in the end. TFC need to ask, at least to make sure he's ok, but everytime he tries he stops in his track once the cold, icy blue eyes stare back at him. devoid of the usual warmth his green ones have.

- Anonymous

- (Scatter AU) Saw someone mention the other ops on the server and had a thought: Tango is a programmer with a specialty in game programming. He’s probably sitting at the campfire thinking of every single way the game must have been corrupted to cause this many problems. If he could just get into the code, maybe he could fix some of these problems. I’ll bet he’s driving himself a little crazy thinking of everything that could be done to fix the world and not being able to do anything...

- Anonymous

- Cub was lucky, he thinks. Seeing the many death messages in chat, he's torn between gratitude that he's ended up with what almost looks like a normal spawn, and worry for his friends. After gathering enough resources to stay reasonably safe, he knows what he has to do next. So when he encounters Xb, he eventually suggests he takes some resources and a bed he's salvaged from the abandoned village and heads towards 0,0, hoping there'll be someone there. (1/3)But as for him... well, there's an obvious place to head as far as he can see, for someone with a safe enough spawn point and the ability to gather resources. A place where he knows for sure he'll find someone else, someone who needs help. After all, unless this world is even more messed up that it seems, there's only one place where a player would be killed by the Ender dragon, and he knows exactly how to get there. (2/3) (Shade note: Him and xB were not successful in finding the Hermit who the mystery portal belonged to. They must have died in the Nether and returned to their spawn point. XB resists the idea that they split up, but he sees the logic in it and agrees to start the long journey for 0,0.) (pt. 3 was eaten by the inbox)

- Anonymous

- Maybe one of the reasons Cleo doesn't like being a human as much is because she had chronic pain (particularly in her back) when she was alive, and when she gets cured after meeting up with False, Stress, and Keralis, her back pain comes back (along with all the other pains of being alive)

-@/justme123abz

- Whenever Etho spawns, wherever Etho spawns, he takes it upon himself to tell each and every Hermit he can find to head towards 0,0. He's not sure why, but he believes that if they get everyone together, they can figure out how to fix the broken world.If there aren't any Hermits in sight, he'll make a sign out of whatever's avalible before going searching. It's a complete pain to try and build anything coherent out of sand and cactus, but he has to try. He has to get everyone together. It's their best hope. It's their only hope.Even Evil X. Even Hels. Everyone. He doesn't care about past grievances. They need to get through this. And their only option is to do it together. (Shade note: He doesn't stay with Team ZIT for long. He probably dies trying to protect them from something, knowing that it will only result in him finding another Hermit anyway. Even though he himself isn't making any progress toward the origin, he counts it as a victory every time he can guide one of his friends just a little bit closer.)

- Doc Ren and Grian himself thought that him being found and safe would fix everything right? yea no he has horrible fevor, he struggles to retain warmth depsite 2 feet from a fire, he's tired and has a hard time stay awake becuase on the mt he slept alot, he barley eats cuz he cant hold too much down rn. He cant stand being alone or he'll start to panic, ands he's just trying to ignore the new fox fetures he has desperately when he's aware enough to do. Doc and Ren have a hard time ahead of them.

- Anonymous

- Mumbo was trying to make a machine with redstone and evoker magic to contact the hermits right?so what if he did build the machine ad at first his only way to get the magic was to go annoy the evoker hoping he would try to hit him and instead hit the machine to power it. Plan backfired so many times because of the vex killing him before. So when Mumbo becomes apprentice he wants to try power the machine himself but it breaks because he can't control how much magic he uses yet.time to study magic

-@/artsarasp

- Etho dies with the Zit and ends up back in it. Next he ends up in X's spawn, there's no one around but he finds the bloody tunnel X punched himself, and races down it to see in the distance Xisuma and Jevin in a cave.He calls out to them, only to get overwhelmed by zombies that just spawned, He manages to gurgle out 0,0 before he dies again. (He's now determined to be the messenger of meetings, even willing to die on purpose to find them all). After that? Ren's old spawn, now he has to track ren

- anonymous

- I guess hypno’s been... hypnotizd 👉😎👉

- We need more Jevin and xisuma interaction content, be it fluff or angst, how aware is jevin by the time Xisuma gets there? How many axolotls do they take with them on the way to the surface?

- @/ciaravixen

(Shade comment: We need more Jevin and xisuma interaction content, be it fluff or angst, how aware is jevin by the time Xisuma gets there? How many axolotls do they take with them on the way to the surface? )

- Mumbo having to learn how to use the magic, the evoker will probably also try to teach him how to summon the vex, even if Mumbo really wants to just focus on the magic and not the evocation.What if he's able to summon Scar since he gave his name to the vex? just by accident and Mumbo gets so startled by Scar's new appearance that he immediately interrupts the evocation and makes Scar dissappear. Scar reappears where he was before confused cause for a moment he saw Mumbo?did he allucinante??

- @/artsarasp

- Scattered AU! So what if what happened with EX and Hels happened with old hermits to? Like Biffa, Generikb, Jessassin etc etc. Everyone is concerned as it is but then they see a death message from one of them and realize it's even worse then they thought.

- Anonymous

- Once Wels and Helssknight are in Hels the have to sneak around a lot. Hels isn’t as popular there as he had previously boasted, that’s why he had tried to take over the over world. Cue heart to heart talk before a Hels version of another hermit cuts them off. (Can you pick the Hermit I’m kinda stuck here)

- Anonymous

- Iskall must have not even known the direction he was walking from his desert spawn, so its purely by luck he ended up finding the mansion mumbo resides in- his cybernetic eye is fixed almost instantly upon his arrival by mumbo and iskall feels his hope fades as he realises they’re /so/ far from the hermits. I also guess he must be worried about whats happening to his friend right before him, mumbo wouldnt willingly give into the vex and evoker magic right? 1/2 But he isn’t so sure anymore, the days at the mansion are quiet and uncomfortable as Iskall has to be wary of the illagers that walk the halls, mumbo assures him of his safety, but theres no light in his eyes - he doubts the illagers welcomed mumbo at first- The usual banter isn’t there at all, its dead silence as mumbo keeps on working and Iskall can see how paler his skin becomes and the blue scars that litter his body 2/2

- Anonymous

- Etho died and respawned at the true spawn once. Beef was elated to see him and was afraid if he let him go, he would disappear. He didn’t want to lose his friend again. In the end, he does, he was actually with Etho when he dies, and he never lets the feeling go.

- @/harley-the-pancake

- aww poor etho! At least he's okay with this new role as messenger. Now i can just imagen he ends up at Ren's spawn and manages to track the man, nearly dying but staying alive and- thats a house in the distance! He goes over and nearly runs into Doc, who invites him in surprised and they catch each other up, their spawns and Etho's situation. They're overjoyed to hear about the others and Ethos glad to see them realtivly okay. Grian's condition is worrying however, changed and still weak (1) They agree they need to start heading to 0,0 but Ren is nervous about leaving safety, Doc wants them safe, and with Grian still sick and weak from laying in snow for weeks it'll take a bit until he's stable enough to travel (he'll probs have to be carried anyways). Etho stays for a few days at their insistence for rest, he wants to keep going there is more hermits out there he hasn't found, they are insistent that he take time to recover. Then, he lets himself die. Off to the next hermit! (2)

- Anonymous

- This is for the very very beginning, but maybe before False meets up with Cleo, she spawns in a warm ocean biome. Coral structures fill the water around her, and tropical fish dart between them. It would be almost peaceful, were it not for the fact that False was encased in a cage of coral.It’s a gamble every time. She has to try and smash her way out of her colorful prison before the tide rolls in, slow and steady water rising up her body and over her head. The water makes her movements clumsy and arduous as she tries to free herself, racing against time to escape the awful tide. (Pt 2) OH SORRY I HAD AN IDEA (this is from the coral False anon)What if Stress and False both spawn in that biome and they have to try and help each other out before the tide comes in?? Added angst if one of the times one manages to escape but the other doesn’t

- Anonymous

- (scattered au) Every time that a hermit dies the universe and the world file starts to corrupt, the way that things are going if everything doesn't go back to normal soon, then the world will crumble on itself with the hermits inside.

- Anonymous

- Admins log, day: ⬛⬛⬛ I've finally managed to find my way to the drip stone caves, weirdly I think I may have a good connection down here, I'll try to contact the others, if they haven't forgotten about me yet. (Shade note: Far away in the woodland mansion, Mumbo rubs his eyes and marks down another failure on his latest contraption. How long will it be until he can generate a signal? He has no way of knowing that, for a single moment, it worked. He stopped checking his communicator a long time ago, so he doesn't see the single message until much later: <Xisuma> can anyone hear me?)

- At some point Etho cycles round to Doc's spawn. His friend is long gone but there are five creepers in formation watching him. Waiting for something.It takes a moment for him to recall the trick of unfocusing his ears just right, so that their hisses resolve into words. He hasn't had to do it for years, after all. He hasn't run into General Spaz since he left Chocolate Island.“It'ssss been a while, Esssssho” the General says. “Let'sssss make a wager”The General reaches out for a handshake... it seems the glitch finally gave him a pair of arms.(ancient Etho lore go brrrr)

- Anonymous

- Both the snow and the void are cold, and getting stuck in there means getting frostbite a lot is fairly likely, so Grian and Bdubs would be unlikely to get out with all their fingers...

- @/bat-connoisseur

- Based on a little piece of this ask where it was mentioned that Hypno passed out only three steps outside the flower biome, I start to wonder, how long was he wandering in circles without food? Why did he collapse so immediately? Was the biome itself perhaps sustaining him? Keeping him "healthy" (if you could call it that) and alive? COULD he have starved to death if he hadn't been pulled out? Or would he have just kept walking? And walking. And walking...

-@/asexualbert

- An idea focusing on evil xisuma. He ended up spawning on the nether roof, stuck with nothing but mushrooms and bedrock as far as the eye can see. No communication, no water, no way out. He can probably eat the mushrooms, at the very least.... but there may be some bad side effects from it. It's disheartening and lonely up there, dying from starvation over. And over. And over. At one point, etho may have spawned there as well... but of course, he wouldnt last long. Condemned to endless roof...

-@/therainofsweetmelody

- Okay, hear me out: after Hypno’s been out of his illusion for a while, he starts to get headaches. He doesn’t think anything of it, until he wakes up one day with small horns growing and flowers in his hair. In conclusion: Moobloom!Hypno

- @/harley-the-pancake

Art:

- An Impulse

- A Grian

- A Guardian Impulse

- A Void Bdubs by @/sweetest-honeybee

- This Hypno by @/irys-97

- an Iskall and a Grian

- a fox Grian

- A Guardian Impulse

- a suffering Xisuma

- Mumbo and Evoker doodles

Writing:

Up. He needs to go up. He spawned too deep in the world, and though he'd heard of underground spawns there was no way, no way in the world that being so deep under was normal. Every cave he crawled up either came to a dead end or opened into a massive, mob-filled cavern, and somehow he still hadn't found even half a mineshaft. He could spend hours upon hours painfully clawing his way through the stone, but he keeps convincing himself it'll be faster to find a cave that leads to the surface. The pounding heartbeat of a warden stills rings in his ears, an ever-present reminder of his terrible luck. If only he could get some wood. Just a few planks, some torches. Anything. It's almost as if the stone doesn't want him to leave.

- @basaltdragon

- Buried by @arts-and-drafts

- Cleo grits her teeth and pulls a leather cap low over her head and stays on the outskirts of the taiga village, where the less scrupulous people go. She can't stay here long, if an iron golem catches her she's going to end up social spawning a bunch of less sapient friends and wiping out the village. The air is cold and thin out here, close to the mountains. The strays leave her alone. She's not sure how to feel about that. ~@betweenlands

- "A poem, by Impulse" by @/rayveewrites

- Pulse by @/arts-and-drafts

- Unnamed Impulse fic by @bat-connoisseur

- Another Impulse fic by @/betweenlands

- Don't think about it by me (@shadeswift99 )

- A poetic fic by @irys-97

- this short anon piece

- If I lose myself by @/arts-and-drafts

- Mountainside by @/basaltdragon

- Sleepwalk by @/betweenlands

- This Grian fic by @silverechosandsmileymasks

- A Jevin fic by @/basaltdragon

- This Hypno piece by @/fireflower-dusk

- This Iskall anon

- Alternate Impulse fic by @/rayveewrites

- Short Grian fic by @rk9-mew2

- an alternate headcanon for Mumbo

- This Xisuma fic by @/bat-connoisseur

[solomonish]

Growing Pains (Lucifer & Mammon)

At first, Lucifer thought that to fall with those he loved more dearly than anyone was the final blessing the Celestial Realm would bestow upon him.

But Father did not intend to stop after taking Lilith from them. He just took her first - the brothers still had themselves and each other to lose.

ao3 link: here!

---

The office in the manor was slowly becoming more and more cluttered as Lucifer continued to drag stacks of paperwork and countless manuals on Devildom culture into the house when he returned from his meetings with Diavolo. The business he had been tasked to sort out for the rest of his existence needed to be started on right away, leaving Lucifer tied up with an amount of work fitting for the place he now had to learn to call home. Instead of navigating the new life with his brothers, he had to spend his time navigating the halls of the palace or bent over an old wooden desk. The impressive castle doors now instinctively sent a pit into his stomach and finding the Royal Butler Barbatos waiting for him to lead him so he wouldn't lose himself in the halls hurt Lucifer in a weird, bruising way he had never felt before.

By the time he got home, the house was normally quiet. It scared him, at first: after spending so long in battle, silence could only mean something bad. During the first days, he found his brothers huddled up in the same spot, unwilling to be alone. Beel and Belphie would be curled around each other in some way, inseparable as they had always been. Mammon could be found sprawled over the carpet,, one hand gripping Satan's ankle or wrist as if that'd be enough to stop one of his rampages. Perhaps it was; from what Lucifer heard, every day he was getting better, learning more. Mammon wasn't the only one gripping him; Asmodeus was often cuddled next to Satan, clinging tightly to his arm or sometimes even to him. He was getting awfully affectionate lately, but maybe it was doing Satan some good. Only Levi wasn't directly touching anyone, but even though his back was turned, his new tail would occasionally twitch and brush against one of his brothers.

These scenes gave Lucifer pause, the feeling he was learning to be pride swelling in his chest. Everything was alright. Mammon had kept things under control.

He left them alone, not wanting to disturb their peace, and continued his work, the task distracting his mind and the affection distracting his heart from the crippling grief that loomed above them all.

Eventually, though, the brothers disbanded. The quirks he had noticed growing in them soon became hallmarks of their new beings: Asmodeus' affections were becoming increasingly licentious, Belphegor could hardly be found awake regardless of the time, items turned up missing and wound up in Mammon’s possession...each of his brothers seemed to spiral further and further towards degeneracy, save for Satan, who was as sinful as it got and instead retreated into himself and forming a grudge against everyone for his status as what seemed like a half-baked replacement.

Ever the dependable brother - a thought that was now strangely accompanied by a twinge of something unpleasant instead of the warm, affectionate delight Lucifer was used to - Mammon still tried to keep everyone together.

At first, it seemed to work. Nobody seemed entirely willing or even purposely trying to avoid the others. However, it seemed that the sin they began to embody were too great an obstacle none of them knew how to hurdle. Any interruption infuriated Satan, and Asmo seemed offended at the concept of taking his own time away from himself to check in on his brothers. Beel and Belphie could never be taken away from easing the effects of their sins for long enough to hold a meaningful conversation, and Levi had already dug himself so deep in a self-deprecating hole he seemed convinced any efforts to connect were the beginning of an elaborate prank to make fun of him. When items turned up missing immediately after Mammon’s visits, doors started slamming if they even opened.

Still, his attempts to keep the camaraderie alive meant Lucifer had more time to spend on the paperwork. It was a good system - at least, that’s how he felt. Evidently, Mammon didn’t feel the same.

Normally, on the days where Mammon made a futile attempt at his rounds (days that were becoming more and more scarce throughout the week), Mammon passed by Lucifer’s door. This time, there was an angry knock on the door, more of an alert to Mammon’s presence than a request for permission. The door didn’t bang against the wall, but Mammon had twisted the doorknob rather ferociously and Lucifer almost flinched at the noise it made. Taken aback by his brother’s stormy entrance, he nearly watched him approach impassively. There hadn’t been any opportunity to discuss the proper, respectful way to enter his workspace - clearly, this needed to be remedied soon.

“What’re ya even doing in here?” Mammon bellowed, looking around. The shelves that had books in them were put together nicely, the sturdy wood packed with old books about a life they both used to find reprehensible. How cruel of their father to force them to live what He made them fear most.

“You can lower your voice,” Lucifer answered, dropping his pen on the desk. When he leaned back, ignoring the way his upper back twinged at the change from his previous slumped posture, he met Mammon’s eyes and was surprised to see genuine frustration behind them. “I’ve been working.”

A scoff had never sounded more irritating to Lucifer’s ears. “Is that what it is? Because to me, it seems like you’re avoiding us.”

Lucifer scrunched his eyebrows. “Where did you-”

“Is that it? What, we all lost so now we’re losers and you can’t stand to look at us?”

“I never-”

“Or you couldn’t fill the void left when you were thrown out as the world’s best lapdog, so you became Diavolo’s instead?”

“Stop right there, Mammon,” Lucifer commanded, standing from his seat. His voice had a steely chill to it that it never had before, one to match the resentment burning inside of him. Instinctively, Mammon backed off. They didn’t know much about their new predicament, but they knew how the seven of them ranked in power, and Lucifer would always come out on top. “I’m won’t concern myself with where you got these foolish thoughts from. Perhaps it would benefit you to spend less time with Levi-”

“Levi? How could you know if he even had anything to do with this? When’s the last time you saw him?” Mammon shot back. “Spending less time with anybody isn’t the answer to anything, though of course it’d be your answer to things.”

Lucifer sighed. “I’m working out the details of this situation so you don’t have to worry yourselves with it.”

Mammon didn’t have an immediate response to that, instead watching Lucifer with betrayed eyes. He seemed to deflate over time, a resignation falling over him that forced his fire out with a sigh. "We were a team, Lucifer. What the hell happened?"

There were obvious answers to that, and there were not so obvious answers. Faced with so many options, Lucifer found himself unable to choose between them, and instead stared blankly at Mammon. Slowly, Lucifer sat back in his seat without breaking eye contact.

We've been ripped away from everything and left to become scabs over the wounds we've been given. All I'm trying to do is give you the freedom to heal however you need to, to keep you from the chains that could have just as easily awaited us as this fate did.

I'm hiding from you a burden that is too heavy to pass on - if I move it from my shoulders, I fear my arms would be too weak to carry it to you.

There were so many ways to tell Mammon that Lucifer had to lock himself away, the door a heavy shield against his own grief and the ever-growing work that buried him and the secret he carried. Even if Lucifer didn’t trust his own mouth to only say what was necessary, he could just thank Mammon for his efforts, tell him that he trusted Mammon more than anybody to keep together the one thing that ought to stay intact after the holy hell they’d created. But something inside him bristled, swelling uncomfortably until he felt like a balloon ready to burst. Gulping down his thoughts, Lucifer resumed his writing, the pen scratching against the paper more ferociously than the claws of any creature by which they now found themselves surrounded.

"I don't need your help," Lucifer answered simply, with finality. Though the words rang true in his mind, they were leaden with the way they pulled on his heart and tasted like iron on his tongue.

Mammon scoffed again, narrowing his eyes so Lucifer wouldn't be able to notice the tears that began to gather within them. "Fine, then. I-I didn't wanna help ya out anymore anyway."

As Mammon stomped out the door of his office with a huff, Lucifer felt something snap inside him. It wasn't in the way pent up rage unleashed itself, apparently, somehow in the form of a sixth brother, but more in the way one holds on desperately to a branch too thin for the weight. Once it snaps, the plummet is rough, with stronger branches breaking up the fall and taunting tossing them around in a cruel ricochet. Outside of the thick wooden door, it was startlingly quiet, as if the house itself was forcing Lucifer to grapple with the final thread holding them together being cut with his own words.

The pain started in his chest, the way it always did, wrapping around his heart and lungs like thorny vines. The spot on his lower back, occasionally tickled by phantom feathers, throbbed as his entire brain seemed to weigh heavier in his head. After a near eternity surrounded by laughter and the beautiful, enchanting hum of Celestial life and a thundering of battle that would ring in his head for the rest of his existence, the silence seemed like a stifling blanket, the final lock on the cage they had been forced into.

When one opposed Father and lost, he truly did lose everything.

[drazavonia]

Kairi’s MEMORIA FORMS

ATLA

For the majority of Avatar the Last Airbender, Aang "accessed" the Avatar State in moments of immediate and genuine danger.

The Avatar State is the pure cosmic power of Raava that greatly enhances Bending Capabilities.

However, as the reincarnation cycle went on the spirit of each Avatar became tethered to Ravaa, giving them their connection to each succeeding Avatar.

During Aang's time as the Avatar, when the Avatar State activated, the previous Avatar spirits took control of his body. They use the current host as an "Avatar" to exercise their power and control acting as a defense mechanism for the Avatar.

The best example of this would be in Book 1 Episode 8. After learning of his goal from Roku inside his chamber, Aang was about to be assaulted by a firestorm waiting outside so Aang/Roku activated the Avatar State. 

Once shot with fire, the spirit of Roku blocked it and returned fire. Roku used Aang as his Avatar to protect him from mortal danger.

In Final Fantasy VII, Mako crystallizes into Materia. “The knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic... or so they say.” -Sephiroth

“Materia is crystallized Mako. Metaphysically, Materia calls upon the wisdom of the Lifestream to manipulate nature manifesting as the phenomenon of magic for most Materia, although other Materia enhance the user's abilities.” 

In Final Fantasy IX, a Crystal is the progenitor of every world. An entire world’s existence begins with the crystal and its’ entire lifespan is recorded within the crystal until its’ death. This includes the individual lives and memories of all living things inhabiting said world.

**In Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII, after Bhunivelze is defeated, all of the souls Lightning collected and used as a sword, had traveled to “The Void” and culminated into a crystal. **Once Lightning, as the Savior, touched the crystal of souls, all of the memories of the XIII trilogy played through her mind. The original world’s history or memories were recorded and preserved in the Crystal through the rescued souls. The Progenitor Crystal then bursts heavenward, sending the souls contained within to the new world to be created.

*In Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, the warriors called upon by Materia and Spiritus left behind their memories in a crystal by touching it. Spiritus was able to give shape to these memories in the forms of the characters. In cutscenes that take place after their creation, these “doppelgangers” act no different from their true counterparts. They also talk about themselves and the events of their games as if they were participants. In other words, these memories were all that was necessary for creating completely new replicas of the main protagonists, minus a heart/soul. After Spiritus gave these “vessels” containing previous memories form, Materia gave them souls in order for them to “exist”.

KH MOM

This theory may only make sense for now if Nomura is using similar thematics and lore of the crystals from Final Fantasy.

In KH3R, it was revealed Xehanort had crystallized Kairi’s heart in a similar fashion to Serah in XIII. When Sora gathered all seven of Kairi’s crystal heart fragments, to assemble them, all of the guardians were needed. Using their keyblades, the hearts of the guardians transferred their light to each of the heart pieces, forging Kairi’s heart anew. 

I think this may be the equivalent of the guardians touching Kairi’s crystallized heart, and immortalizing themselves as a part of Kairi’s heart.This includes the memories and experiences of their entire lives.

Sokai’s joint situation command is called One Heart. The name implies Sora and Kairi’s hearts are intertwining to become two halves of a whole or literally becoming one heart that they share when they are together, like melding.

The wings and feathers of One Heart consist of memories. The memories that are the main focus of the attack are those consisting of Sora and Kairi. However, 13th Vessel found that within the code of ReMind, the wings consisted of memories and experiences from the other guardians who helped put Kairi back together.

This would explain how Melody of Memory could take place from Kairi’s perspective, from within her heart. Kairi traversed her heart to find a clue about Sora and that heart contained the memories of all the Guardians of Light.

When Kairi got to the end, her final heart fragment took the form of Xehanort as a response to Kairi’s desire for information. When Xehanort  overwhelms Kairi, he initiates the final blow only for the Kingdom Key to appear in Kairi’s hand followed by her transforming into Sora. 

I don't believe this to be the heart of Sora, because right after that scene Xehanort states, “Your voice can’t reach us here. Now I’m certain of where your heart is.” And it was essentially confirmed by the end.

The figments that appeared within Kairi’s dream were, The Memory of Sora and Xehanort. 

Similar to how Aang was the Avatar for Roku’s spirit to come through and protect him in episode 8 of Book 1, Kairi became the Avatar for Sora memories to come through and protect her in the Final World.

Kairi is a princess of heart, being one of the only seven remaining hearts consisting of pure light. This is a lot like Raava, the spirit of pure light and all good in the world.  

Artist: GeorgePg

In KH3 it was even confirmed that the pure lights of the princesses can be passed on to new pure hearts, just like the Avatar reincarnation cycle.

KAIRI’S AVATAR STATE

Aang couldn’t go into the Avatar State willingly, each time the previous incarnations of the Avatar would take over Aang’s body when the Avatar State activated in response to whatever mortal danger Aang was currently in.

Aang eventually opened his seven chakras, proceeding to let go of his romantic feelings for Katara, allowing him to enter the Avatar State by will (only once before Azula killed him). Aang gained control of the Avatar State by the end of the series, and revealed he could enter or exit at his behest.

Kairi’s memories of Sora manifested as his Keyblade first, then her form changed to Sora. 

So, here are some of the ways this new Memoria power could be shown:

Projections

All of the abilities Riku gained while traversing the sleeping worlds were still his to use. Sora and Riku were able to use the Dualism Blade from the sleeping worlds as well.

Kairi’s princess powers pretty much break a lot of the conventional rules concerning darkness. She was able to restore Sora’s true form as well as project her light from within the Heartless Storm to guide him through.

This makes me think that she can either project her memory powers the same way keyblades are simply materialized, as formchanges or as links from KH3.

Essentially form changes for Kairi. However I would compare the way these could possibly work to Drive Forms.

Kairi’s usd Sora’s fighting stance as a base for developing her own fighting style. 

From the fights we’ve seen her against with Xemnas and Xehanort, Kairi is a very close quarters fighter. Much like Terra, melee is her main focus, but unlike Terra if you pay close attention to her, she kinda just attempts to wail on her enemies, forgoing a lot of defensive maneuvers. Kairi doesn't have a refined fighting style.

Through training with Aqua, I’m sure she’ll be able to iron out her base combat, but if she does go on a world tour, similar to the Dark Road Mark of Mastery Exam, she would have to gain new skills and use them repeatedly on her journey to refine them. (Like us, the player.)

In MoM, Sora’s Kingdom Key materialized first. This could mean that like Xion originally, Kairi can either produce copies of the guardians’ keyblades or she can transmute keychains out of them. Either way aside from maybe enhancement abilities or shotlocks, they’re essentially just basic keyblades for her. No transformations or forms from the keyblades themselves.

Memory Links

The new Memory Links could start as Rage Form* situation commands. When her HP dips into red, she can call upon the memories of the guardians to take over for her. This would unfortunately mean that we’re not necessarily playing as Kairi, but all of the other guardians. 

Alternatively, they could mechanically work as Links/D-Links. Kairi channels these memories, summoning them as the guardians to aid her in combat.

As she grows into her own, instead of having to rely on the guardians to bail her out of trouble, just like Aang she can learn to gain control of these Memory Links to use as she wants. Kairi could gain experience in the different fighting styles of the guardians, kind of like the bending forms (preferably cutscenes, but I couldn't see them taking it that far).

MEMORIA FORMS

Artist: GeorgePg

The Memoria Forms would be the final evolution of her memory powers. Instead of summoning the guardians to fight by her side or take her over completely, Kairi could weave the Memories of the Guardians into form changes or drive form like power-ups blended with her light powers. 

M-Form (Sora): Second/Limit Form

M-Form (Riku): Dark Form

M-Form (Aqua): Spellweaver/Water based form

M-Form (Ventus): Wingblade/Wind based form

M-Form (Terra): Rockbreaker/Earth based form 

M-Form (Axel): Firestorm/Blaze based form

M-Form (Roxas): Dual Wielding(I'd imagine having a heart that literally cannot be defeated darkness would make it capable of wielding two keyblades. The Duel Attack Reaction Command/Generates OKP & OBV keyblade projections.

M-Form (Xion): HOLY?

M-Form (Mickey)?: ULTIMA?

SYMPHONIA FORM

Artist: GeorgePg

Essentially, The Final Form equivalent for Kairi. I stated the concept in another theory, but it would be the Namine Fusion Concept from Dead Fantasy.

If Kairi can use or project the keyblades of the guardians, then perhaps by the end of her training, she can materialize all of them at the same time.

There’s also The Nameless Star and the power/memory she could pass on to Kairi if she chose to reside in her heart.

It’s entirely possible that this power is limited to her dreams. It’s also possible that this could’ve been a one time thing with no further significance. But apparently none of that stopped me from putting way too much thought into this theory. 

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “Sand and Stars.”

This should get interesting quickly 

The GA council chambers were silent. Many alien races stood in solemn silence as they watched the footage.

The Rundi chairwoman averted her eyes as the last wreckage of the ship vanished into the void leaving behind only its jettisoned parts.

“Commander Vir has been announced Missing In Action.”

The Council chamber glanced between each other, sure that he was more than just missing. The human representative, seeing the looks on their faces lowered his head, “It is a human tradition that a man or women be presented only as Missing in Action until a body is found.”

“But…. That will be… forever.”

“Then commander will be forever known as missing in action protecting his planet, protecting your planets , and everything he loved…. We would ask, in human tradition that we…. Have a moment of silence for Commander Vir.”

Off to the side, Lord Celex stood atop his pedestal eyes fixed on the repeating footage before him, watching as the ship carried a great warrior into blackness. A great warrior and a good friend, someone that lord Celex had always respected and come to admire though he had never told the human that. Around the room others were thinking the same.

The Drev councilor had known the commander’s ties to the Drev nation, known his membership in two separate clans. And to him it was as if he was losing one of his own.

The Rundi chairwoman felt similarly…. As if she too had lost a friend, an who had always been more than willing to meet her people on their own level, to speak with them the way they spoke among themselves, and to follow their traditions to matter how arbitrary.

“The UNSC  is declaring war against the Burg. We do not expect the GA to understand, to care or even to participate, but we do ask that you do not impede our progress….” The human paused eyes narrowing slightly, “You will NOT impede our progress.”

There was silence around the room as some of the council chamber shifted.

Eventually Lord Celex hopped forward, “We will not impede your war human, but what of those who wish to stand with you.”

That seemed to surprise the councilor who turned, “Lord Celex?”

“Commander Vir was an ally, and a friend. He has treated the Celzex nation with not but respect and friendship. Humanity has stood behind this council since the beginning, since the Drev war.” He turned to look at the Drev councilor, “I feel that it is only fair my people do the same…. I find that it would be the best way to honor a man who honored us.”

There was a pause before the Drev councilor stood, “Commander vir is one of our own, a Sentinel of the Wandering tribe, and a declaration of war on him and his is a declaration of war on us and ours.” He slammed his spear against the floor, “Let humanity and the Drev stand beside each other in war, as we once stood against each other, and let the galaxy tremble before our assembled might.”

The Gromm stood next, “We owe the commander a great debt for saving our people, first form illness, and then from the Burg invaders as they first attempted war upon us. We will join in the fight, though supplies are most of what we can offer.”

A Tesraki stood, “We will join sides with the humans.” Turning to look at the FInnari who stepped up to add.

“As shall we. Commander Vir saved our species from extinction.”

The entire council chamber didn’t stand, but those who did were more than enough. The warriors and the arms dealers, and the politicians.

For the first time in thousands of years a majority of the GA council chamber was going to war.

***

Landing in a human life-pod is not an experience Dr Krill had ever wanted to experience, but un luckily for him, his entire life had been about things he had never ever wanted to experience ever in his entire existence.  IT had all started when he insisted on staying behind until all his patients were put onto life pods or moved onto a different part of the ship. Dr. Katie had gone with a few of the critical cases and he had seen his last human off before realizing that there was no room left in the life pod for him. Oh well, those sort of things tended to happen but what was he to do really so he moved his way over to another one of the pods.

Obviously it had occurred to him the gravity of what was going on. The Commander had initiated a protocol which would seal on contained units inside the ship and then break it into pieces violently throwing the backwards and out of reach for the black hole, or.... whatever it was.

However, the med bay was in a position very close to the command structure of the ship, s it would be one of the last to be jettisoned. However, that didn't look good for their options of escape, so he had ordered the others out as quickly as possible and stayed behind to put the last things together before getting himself to his own life pod.

When he did, he strapped himself securely in.

IT had taken a bit longer for him to figure out the controls than he would have liked, but with a press of a button, he had been rocketed off into space.

The view hadn't been all that great, in fact Krill had almost lost his cool upon seeing the debris of the ship being shot away from the massive black swirling vortex which had caused a rift in the very fabric of space itself. Krill nearly lost his cool, or let’s be completely honest, he did in fact lose his cool and he did so very violently and very suddenly freaking out silently inside his pod where nothing and no one could hear him. He watched as the last segment was shot off past him and towards the still warring battlefield of Kree airspace.

IT seemed odd to hi that that part of the ship would be going so much faster than hi, that was until he realized what was going on. Beside him The command deck of the UNSC Harbinger was slowly gaining speed towards the swirling vortex, and so was he. HE squealed in surprise and panic, and tried everything he could to get the shuttle moving faster, but it seemed as if he had gone to far already. Dr. Krill was being sucked into the event horizon of a black hole. Of course not that Krill knew much about black holes. I mean it was black and it was a hole in space so he sort of assumed that is what was going on, though he couldn't really have said for certain.

Did it matter?

He was going to die.

HE had never thought it was going to end like this, but looking over at the other ship, he realized he wasn't entirely alone. Commander Vir was aboard that command deck, probably watching fro his captain's chair as doom rose up to meet hi. Dr Krill wished there was some way to contact him, maybe to bring a little bit of comfort before the two of them died, but he knew that was impossible, so he sat, and hoped that maybe the commander wouldn't notice him there. It was probably better if he thought it was only him as he plunged into the darkness.

They began moving faster and faster and faster towards the opening. Krill turned away eyes noble to look.

The closer they got the more the air seemed to warp around in until the very essence of space itself seemed to tear and break. He felt himself being pulled in many directions all at once, not all that unlike a warp.

At any moment he expected himself to be torn in half.

The world went black and then it went red, and then everything around him went white. He was swirling, his body trembling.

He felt sick, horrible, as bad as any warp on a human ship had ever been for him, and then suddenly everything was silent.

Krill waited for an inevitable death that never came. He opened his eyes and looked around expecting to see nothing but black, but instead, a delicate blue light was filtering in towards him from the outside. He turned in his seat blinking in surprise when, instead of death, he saw the glassy blue surface of a planet with delicate lines of clouds swirling over its face, deep blue water, and the brown and green, almost like earth though, he could tell by the landmasses that it wasn't.

Keill turned to look back behind him, but found nothing to be there. The black hole just have collapsed in on itself.

But no, that wasn't right, it wouldn’t be a black hole at all but some kind of warp tunnel, which made more sense. Now that he thought about it other than being black, the hole hadn't looed much like a black hole.

He turned to his other side, though if that meant that HE had survived, than maybe it also meant....

He didn't see the other part of the ship just now, but it’s not like he had 360 degree vision.

There were also more important things to think about right now, the number one being how he was going to survive all of this. The lifepod only had a few hours of sustainable air before he was going to die, and that meant he had to land the pod quickly. Luckily for him, he wasn't expected to pilot. It had a protocol for this, and he only hesitated for a second before pressing the button and holding tight as the shuttle began it's slow descent towards the face of the planet.

It had been an almost tranquil approach for the first few minutes, maybe the first half hour.

That was until they hit upper atmosphere and little tongues of flame began licking at the side of the the windows.

KRill rattled in his seat being shaken like  juice in a jug as he careened from the sky..... not slowing down as he could.

HE did not like this at all.

WHy wasn't he slowing down?

Why wasn't he stopping?

The fire outside his window grew up until he could see nothing. He was pushed back in his seat screaming as he plunged from the sky going from one horrendous death straight into another. he clasped the sides of the seats as the ground rose up at an alarming rate. A few hundred feet above the ground and its engines fire suddenly jolting him so violently that he completely backed out. Luckily he wasn't awake for the next part when the padding was deployed and he hit the ground, the shuttle bouncing and tumbling for a moment before coming to rest in the shallow waters of an inland sea.

And there he lay unconscious as the star above him curved over the horizon and vanished down into nothingness.

***

Stars spun in the night sky overhead as smoldering pieces of wreckage burned. Hot oil melted into the sand along the side of the beach as the native animals ran for cover in whatever direction they could find to save themselves from the great and intense heat. A set of vibrant white rings orbited the planet cutting over the sky above them.

There was a crashing off in the distance, and under the glow of the stars, a panel of metal crashed to the ground, and a hand clawed upwards towards the sky glowing gently in the cast white light from the planetary rings.

The hand bent down to grasp at the metal before it, pulling the body up and from the interior of the smoking wreckage. It fell to the ground with a thud sending up a wave of sand in all directions. Overhead stars winked and fire crackled. The silhouette lay prone for a long moment before weakly clawing at the sand, pulling itself away from the wreckage and across the open sand of the beach dragging its body towards the glittering surface of the water which reflected like a mirror the stars above.

It reached the edge dipping a hand into the water’s surface sending ripples out over the starry night sky.

It lay there for a long moment under the stars with the fire burning distantly at its back.

The ripples dissipated over the glassy surface dissipating to turn the sky and the water into one seamless whole.

Commander Adam Vir Rolled onto his back one hand still resting lightly in the water clothes singed and smoking as he stared up at the stars overhead turning to reflect off the glassy surface of his eye.

The vastness of the universe stretched out before him spinning overhead in a slow churn of eternity as he fell in  and out of consciousness, the stars his only companion in the darkness.

He shivered slightly, not from the cold, or the chill wind pulled over to him from across the water, but eventually his eyes closed and he slowly faded out his mind taking him somewhere safe and warm as he lay, just another piece of the wreckage on an alien planet.

[levisnackajack]

The Wrath of War

A/N

I had enough inspiration to write up another chapter. I had to skim through the events bc we all know how it went! Please let me know if you wanna be tagged or if you enjoyed the story! 

Chapter Three

Success.

Eden felt as though her heart would jump through her lungs and out of her chest. 

She was one of the top ten cadets in the 104th Southern Division. Scoring third after Mikasa and Reiner. 

In all honesty, she couldn’t care less about being part of the top ten. It wouldn’t change the fact that she would sign up as part of the Survey Corps. She just wanted to know that when she challenged herself; she was able to succeed; regardless of whether the mission held meaning to her. 

Eren pulled her and Mikasa into a tight embrace after the ceremony; Armin running to join in as well. They laughed and smiled; Eden felt like she was listening to the most beautiful song in the world. 

The fierce girl held rare moments like this protected behind the walls of her tender heart. Within pages of a book concealed from the outside world. 

That book was filled with memories of her and her friends. Her parents’ faces were barely visible on any of the pages. 

Her childhood wouldn’t necessarily be classed as tough. But it made her struggle as she grew; the lack of parental affection making her yearn to fill the void with all the love her friends would gift her. She was an only child; her mother wasn’t the exact epitome of a loving parent and her father was too busy with work; he almost always forgot when her birthday was each year. 

Eden grew to never depend on others (apart from her friends, of course); because she knew that no one in this world owed her anything and all luxuries came with a price. 

Brushing her cold thoughts aside; Eden beamed against Eren’s jacket, eyes widening at the sound of Mikasa’s soft chuckle. She looked up; her own shock reflected in tboth boys. 

The naturally somber mood soon came back and settled around everyone. Eden was so used to seeing glares, frowns and listening to gruff voices; the flicker of a smile was incredibly strange.

“This is it guys. We’re so close, I can practically feel the ODM gear strapped onto me as we fight these fuckers beyond the walls,” Eren announced darkly, tongue gliding against his lips. Armin nodded and Mikasa’s eyes sparkled. 

Eden sucked in a deep breath, lashes brushing against her skin as her eyes slipped shut. 

Soon, all this training would pay off. Her life would have a grander meaning. 

She smirked. 

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Eden huffed as she listened to Jean swearing under his breath beside her. Freshly graduated, her division was tasked with cleaning the artillery unit atop Wall Rose. 

No one verbally complained- but everyone looked very much disappointed. Each cadet yearned and thought over what their future branch would entail. 

Suddenly, all their thoughts were cut short by a figure which loomed over the wall, making their blood run cold. 

Commands were yelled out, ODM gears were tightened and the sound of the shrieks echoed through the air. 

But with a loud crack, the Colossal Titan disappeared as quickly as it appeared. There was no time left. 

The fresh cadets mixed with the Trost Garrison unit; intently listening to the strategy that could potentially cost them their lives. 

Eden was split up from Eren and Armin; tasked to accompany Mikasa and the elite Garrison unit with ensuring that all civilians were evacuated away from the northern gate’s rear. 

The girl did not know when the wall was breached; when the Titans swarmed in. It all happened way too quickly; she didn’t have enough time to catch her breath before the soldiers around her began dropping dead. 

Squeezing the grapple hooks of her ODM gear, the clasps sunk into the flesh of a titan with its back facing her way. Activating the gas mechanism, Eden propelled herself forward, heart beating soundly as her mind assured her that it was all a game. 

Just another mindless target like the ones we trained on during our time with the Training Corps.

Twisting her blades through the air, she let out a bloodcurdling scream as the surface of her weapons carved out the back of the titan’s nape. A moment later, it crumbled to the ground; the girl standing on its back hooking her clasps onto the wall of the closet building. 

Eden felt nauseous. She begged her mind to stop racing. She needed to focus. 

Soldiers around her fought for their lives only to be ripped into shreds between the teeth of the inhumane murderers. 

Following Mikasa, they battled hard against the seemingly infinite swarm of titans gushing through the breached wall. It was only when Armin’s cry reached her ears caused her to lose her concentration; that flicker of a second nearly costing the girl her life. Meticulously slicing the titan’s fingers off; she sprinted up its arm; her next blow aimed at its nape. 

Too many of them, too little soldiers. 

Eden abandoned her post, slaughtering any monster in her way as she looked for Armin and Eren. 

She found the blond boy with his head down, skin a sickly green color, eyes flowing with tears. Her own hazel eyes widened, cold chills peppering her skin. 

“Armin, where’s Eren?” 

Nothing. 

She asked him again, this time harder only to have his eyes meet hers in response. She took a step back. His answer had a cost of over one thousand words. 

Her mind must have completely blanked out- she didn’t notice Mikasa’s presence who had followed her back to their friend. She didn’t notice how her fellow raven-haired friend sprinted off the rooftop soundlessly, fingers pressing on the gas mechanism recklessly. 

Eden no longer had control over her body. Throwing herself into the sea of titans, she slashed and punctured every demon in her way. 

It was only when she heard the unfamiliar screech that something snapped in her- waking her of the nightmare reverie that took control of her body. Grief.

Still bruised and bloodied, Mikasa, Armin and Eden helped Eren up as he silently fumed at the confrontation. The Garrison Regiment...everyone was afraid of him. They had pointed canons at the four soldiers; their lives saved by Armin’s persuasion abilities that miraculously worked on Commander Pixis. 

Hurriedly making her way beside Mikasa, they jumped from one rooftop to the other; eyes planted on Eren. 

Eren was a titan. 

He had let out that same screech that had made everything tremble around Eden. Eren was responsible for saving all the surviving soldiers during the Battle of Trost. He had thrown himself to rip apart any titan in his way. 

Now, it was their duty to protect him as he risked his life to seal the breached wall. 

It took time and effort and a few more lost lives; but eventually Eren carried the boulder atop his shoulders; wedging it in between the broken wall. Eden and Mikasa followed him closely; taking turns mutilating incoming titans as the other one trained her eyes onto Eren. 

Once Mikasa had pulled Eren’s unconscious body out of his titan form; Eden swore under her breath as they backed up against the sealed breach. More titans headed their way. 

Eden tore her eyes away for them, raising a brow at Mikasa. 

“How much gas do you have left?” 

Mikasa checked her mechanism, shaking her head slightly. Eden nodded, flexing her wrists as she gripped her blades tightly. Activating her hooks, she gracefully flew through the air towards the first titan. A tall, incredibly ugly-looking titan. She clicked her tongue as she moved out of reach when it swung at her. She drove her dagger through its flesh, grinning as its blood sizzled against her blade. 

It was almost like a dance to her. Whipping through the air; carving through its nape; jumping off its back and onto the next victim. She felt like she could drown in the exhilarating feeling their deaths gave her. Knowing that one less person would suffer the traumatic scene she had witnessed when she was at the tender age of 13. 

After God knows how many slashed titans; Eden landed on the shoulder of an Abnormal. Her brows knitted together, she mustered enough energy to strike its spinal cord before someone clashed into her from the side. 

She gasped, panic overwhelming her as she struggled against the tight hold latched on her waist. A soft “tch” echoed through the air. Eden opened her eyes in confusion; her ponytail coming undone as her savior gripped her painfully tightly. She stared up at him puzzled; his bored, hooded stare, clenched jaw and knitted brows. 

Before she knew it; the man had thrown her onto the ground beside Mikasa carelessly; his compact green cape flowing with the wind as his silver eyes landed on her face for the first time. 

“Idiot. Did they not teach you to keep an eye out on your surroundings? Where is the Alpha Squad?” He inquired, his voice cold and emotionless. But the contortion of his expression betrayed how deeply irritated he was with Eden. 

“It’s just...us right now,” Eden replied, her tone reflecting his own, causing the man’s eyes to narrow dangerously. He scoffed, muttering an insult under his breath directed towards Eden before grabbing at his blades and heading back towards the titans. 

Eden felt the goosebumps litter her skin. She was so focused on that titan; she probably missed one trying to kill her from behind. 

She watched in awe as this man nonchalantly placed himself back into the battleground; his moves graceful and lethal. 

Eden wondered who the hell this man was. 

[the1stn0elle]

Attack on Titan Analysis Prt.1

This analysis will contain MAJOR spoilers for the AoT series, so if you wish to not have anything spoiled be warned now. This is also not a FULL analysis of the series since it is so ridiculously plot heavy. It would take probably over 100 pages for me to get to everything I'd want to, so this is all for now :)

Summary:

Attack on Titan (AoT) follows the story of a civilization of people forced into living trapped behind walls due to the fear of the giant human-like creatures called titans who thirst for nothing but human flesh and blood. Titans have terrorized the remainder of humanity for many years and the population has been kept safe behind the 3 walls Maria, Rose, and Shina for an entire century. The main 3 characters of the story Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackerman, and Armin Arlert witness the end of a century of peace as the colossal peeks above the 60-meter tall walls that have successfully protected humanity for 100 years and kick a giant hole in it, exposing all of the civilians to the horrors of the bloodthirsty titans. The 3 friends strive to become members of the survey corps, a group dedicated to protecting the people from titans and uncovering the many mysteries of the existence of titans; in order to reach their goals, they must complete grueling training to prepare them for venturing outside the walls to slaughter titans and bring the creatures to their extinction, but the duty of a corps member evolves being prepared for one’s likely and untimely death while fighting against the titans. AoT is a thought-provoking story that is based around perspectives and discovering the mysteries surrounding the near extinction of humanity. Questions are posed throughout as the plot is filled with twists and surprises, and morals are questioned as the viewers grapple with themes such as “do the means justify the ends?” and “who is the real enemy?”.

Analysis:

Part I: Erwin Smith

(MAJOR SPOILERS)

The Monstrous Commander

AoT is very morally complex in the sense that when an entire group of individuals risks their lives by going outside the walls to save humanity, an individual must lead the herd. Said individual goes by the name Erwin Smith, the commander of the survey corps. Erwin is an individual who must send thousands of his soldiers to their death during each expedition outside of the walls; Erwin’s a pretty morally gray character since his job is to ultimately save humanity but the question is at what price? Immeasurable sacrifices are made in the form of human lives as a successful expedition may result in the loss of more than 40% of the soldiers due to being devoured by titans. At an outward appearance, Erwin is a strong leader who is willing to become a monster in order to provide the eventual win of humanity over the titans, but when diving deeper into his character he is a man who is caught up in his childhood desire to learn all the answers to the mysteries about titans and the world that he lives in.

In these few panels, Armin Arlert picks apart how commander Erwin is an amazing leader despite what many people may believe since he has the ability to make sacrifices even though the outcome may be devastating as many lives will most likely be lost in the process. Armin’s opinion of a great leader is brought around again at different points in the story to emphasize its importance.

Part II: Eren Jaeger

The Boy who Wished for Freedom

Eren Jager is the main character of AoT and might be one of the most dynamic characters in his amazing character development throughout the story. Eren starts as a hotheaded teenager whose only desire is to eradicate all the titans after witnessing his mother and hundreds of people die after the collapse of wall Maria by the colossal and armored titans. His bloodthirst for killing the titans is unnerving in its intensity but he’s become dedicated to the cause because he no longer wishes to live like cattle enclosed in walls for the rest of his life. Eren’s core value throughout the entire series is freedom. Each and everything Eren does is to attain freedom in the hellish world he was born into. His value of freedom is most notably portrayed when Eren is out with his father Grisha Jaeger to visit the Ackerman family; Eren finds Mikasa in her home with the dead bodies of her parents accompanied by dangerous individuals attempting to kidnap her. Eren’s solution to the situation is to aid Mikasa in killing the individuals who have murdered her parents. The turn of events is quite frightening as both Mikasa and Eren were only 10 years old at the time, but it highlights Eren’s desire for freedom. He saw that Mikasa’s freedom was being threatened and he felt so passionately about this that he was not fazed at the prospect of killing the kidnappers who were trying to steal someone’s freedom.

Eren and Armin are able to bond over an illegal book that has drawings and descriptions of the world outside the walls and both boys instantly develop the desire to travel outside the walls to go see the vastness and beauty of the ocean. It serves as a goal to mark their eventual freedom from the terrors of the titans.

After the breaching of wall rose by the colossal titan the cadets experience their first real mission and witness many of their comrades die in the jaws of titans. Eren has headstrong and confident as ever lands himself into the stomach of a titan after protecting Armin from being eaten. Eventually, it is revealed that Eren can turn into the creatures he despises with his whole being. A titan. Following the discovery, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are tasked with the challenge of trying to convince the leaders of the military factions that Eren is on humanity’s side and will not resort to killing more people. The major event is followed by many trials and questions in whether or not Eren is a threat to humanity until he is finally taken into the care of the survey corps where commander Erwin and “Humanity’s Strongest” Levi Ackerman are finally able to convince the military police to give them custody of Eren. It is concluded that Eren is to be kept alive as a comrade of humanity as he claims that his childhood home in wall Maria has a basement that holds secrets about the titans.

A Life that Carries Weight

As the story progresses, Eren goes from a headstrong hothead to a boy that carries an immense amount of weight on his shoulders. Eren realizes that his very life holds a great weight; many soldiers and civilians die for the small thread of hope that the Jaeger home’s basement holds important information about the titans that will lead to the victory of humanity. The world of AotT is nothing short of being bleak and void of hope so it is understandable that Erwin and other members of the corps are willing to take the risk because what do they have to lose? Up to this point, Eren has faced numerous great losses ranging from the death of his mother, learning how he caused the death of his father, his most trusted comrades being uncovered as traitors, etc. Eren’s mental state is in tethers as he tries to come to terms with the meaning and value of his life and begins to wonder if he was ever “special” to begin with but has been burdened by a special path of life by his father. All of these events take place in the royal government arc of the story. Historia Reiss (formerly known as Krista), a character who was previously only in the background assumes an important role as it is revealed that she is some of the last bit of true royal blood left in the world.

Following Historia’s growing importance to the story, we learn more about the titans and where they come from. I won’t get into all of the technicalities of the 9 titan powers and whatnot but the most important fact to note is that all titans existed as humans at some point in time. Due to the complexity of the topic, I will only graze the surface and state that humans become titans with an injection of spinal fluid from an individual of Eldian descent, this includes almost all of the humans that reside within the walls (I will come back to this sometime later). Rod Riess, Historia’s father has received help from the interior military police to capture his daughter and Eren to have Historia inherit the power of the attack titan which is currently held by Eren (was given to him by his father Grisha). Eren snd Historia learns that the 9 major titan powers are passed down when one consumes the individual possessing the power; this means Rod wishes to have Historia eat Eren so she gains the attack titan power, meaning the power will be in the hands of a pure royal and only those of royal descent can fully harness the power of the 9 titans.

Eren’s capture by Rod is marked by the total collapse of Eren’s mental fortitude as it all but crumbles when he discovers the crimes his father has committed and the consequences of his actions that have led Eren to shoulder such an enormous burden that the once confident boy has lost all hope in himself and his existence.

Now before I get into the next few parts of Eren’s development I have to address the powers of the attack titan, the power that Eren currently possesses. The individual who carries the power of the attack titan can see the memories of their future inheritors which equates to the user being able to see the future. Up to this point, it has been confirmed that only those of royal blood can fully utilize the 9 titan powers. can

Following the events between Rod Reiss, Eren, and Historia, Historia is tasked with taking the throne as the current king is a fraud. At Historia’s crowning ceremony and the ceremony to commemorate the few survivors of the battle at shiganshina where the corps was finally able to uncover the truth about the titans with the information in Eren’s basement, a simple touch of Historia’s hand grants Eren to fully use the power of the attack titan and the future is revealed to him.

The scene marks the complete loss of the Eren Jaeger the viewers are familiar with and marks a new chapter in the story because at this point forward quite literally everything changes.

[wolf-with-a-pen]

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door Part 1

TW: Death, Unreality, Swearing, Main Character Death, Angst?

Masterpost, Next

Tell me if I have missed a trigger warning, ask if you would like me to tag this with anything, and I hope you enjoy.

If you don't like any of the triggers above, this is sort of a prequel so you can skip to Part 2, unless you don't like angst, then it is even worse.(Edit:Looking at part 2 its worse, and you don't lose many of the above so just dont read it I guess.)

Word Count: 3962

FOR EDWARD it was a normal day. Well as normal and as close to a day as you could get in heaven. Everything merged into one- nobody knew how long they had been there, and nobody could know unless they saw the passing of the days in the simulation they called "Earth". There were few who remembered, and even less you could approach or talk to without putting yourself in danger. Edward was not one of these. They were unable to see Earth- or even anything other than the blank canvas created for the angels to roam, a few small civilisations created by the guardians for those who were more homesick the only solid thing on the landscape. Nobody knew why it was that way. Nobody dared ask. Everyone ignored it, hoping that it would not hurt them. It didn't for the most part. But then you could say the same about the Guardian Angels.

Cruel and soulless were the most common words used to describe the Guardians, and they were right on one count- they had no soul. Most people didn't remember the personalities of the people before due to most of the Guardians being the originals. The few that weren't were the first few to arrive from the simulation, to what they deemed to be "heaven". And so, the simulation continued. Even after death. The few that did remember the Guardian's original selves were so withdrawn you could not find them if you tried. They were the only ones that knew what happened to turn all of the people like that. But they refused to answer, they knew something that was so dangerous, if they told someone they would die. So, they didn't. Everyone wondered. Nobody realised that they would find out. Nobody could have predicted it.

It was the 4th of May. For once Edward knew that. But then, every now and then they paid a visit to one of the old ones. Just to visit, check in on them. Most knew one or two and how to find them. Some became friends. Some of those searching disappeared. It was the way it was. No, the day was definitely the 4th. He remembered that vividly - who could forget with what happened that day. It started as per usual- with Ansel being an idiot as usual. After being abruptly woken up, they managed to shout a few swearwords to get him out of their room, and laid back down. Well, as well as you can when you and your bed is soaked. “Again?” they thought clambering out of bed and heading into the bathroom. “I guess it’s one of the downsides of siblings.” For Ansel was his younger brother- not by much mind you, but he still enjoyed pranking and annoying his sibling at any chance he got. Edward didn’t really mind. Not that much. Sure, he was a pain, but they loved him more than they would admit. Once they managed to dry themself off (for the third time that week) they got dressed, and ready. One of the downsides of heaven is every surface is blank and almost certainly not reflective- nobody knew what they looked like except from other’s perspectives or how they remember what they looked like on Earth. Edward died long enough ago they forgot what they looked like. They didn’t mind though. It doesn’t really matter when you’re trapped in a void.

“Idiot,” Edward reprimanded jokingly, ruffling Ansel’s short wavy hair.” If you weren’t my brother you would be dead by now.”

“Is that a threat?”

“So what if it is?”

"You know you won't win Mx Long Neck. "

"Don't be so sure Mr Witch Hazel. "

"Now you have done it!" Ansel smirked, running head first into Edward, knocking him to the ground with his force. Within minutes they were both laid on the floor in a pile on top of each other, exhausted and looking rather dishevelled - no serious wounds beyond some of Edward's pride (as predicted, he lost). It would heal pretty quickly. It always did. Well, usually.

"You win this time, but I will win eventually. That is a warning." Edward threatened, smiling.

"Maybe, but not any time soon."

"Don't be so sure." Edward replied." You ready to go? "

"Yeah, just need to put the gifts in the basket."

"OK, I'll help. "

They stood up, Ansel springing to his feet, Edward taking more time.

"Hurry up, the quicker we leave the quicker we can see Jojo"

"Excited are we?" Edward teased.

"Of course I am, we only see him once in a while."

"Come on then, we've got a Jojo to meet."

It was an hour later they arrived, gifts and food in tow. It always took too long in Ansel's opinion, but that was the way Joseph liked it- to live on the outskirts of society. His house was out of the way, and cosy looking, almost like a cottage. It was short and thatched - similar looking to a Victorian house but in cottage form. Outside there were plentiful flowers, almost always in bloom. Having no seasons did have its benefits. Gardening was always easy and possible. Plants always looked healthy. Jojo (as his friends called him) took this to his advantage. A quaint little chimney was always spilling out smoke, even when the fire was off. Edward always felt at home and loved the little place. It always reminded them of their childhood home. Joseph himself, was an older man- he had managed to live until his body gave up of old age. It showed on his face- it was slightly more weathered and worn than some of the others and he looked like he had seen a lot. Despite all this, when he entered heaven he was reverted back to closer to how he looked when he was most happy, therefore he had the appearance of a teenager, twinged with some of the feature of an older man. He wore a wide brimmed hat on his mop of dark brown hair, which framed his emerald eyes. Always, he would wear on a short sleeved shirt with long trouser shorts.

Quickly, they walked up to the front door, eager to see one of their few friends- most people couldn't handle their personalities. Knocking, they heard Danny, Jojo's grandfather's childhood best friend and Great Dane begin to bark: clearly he was as excited to see them as they were to see him. Before Joseph could even get to the door, Danny had managed to open the door- one of his many talents- and jumped up at the pair, resting his paws on their shoulders and giving them a thorough 'hello'. "Hello boy," Edward murmured, in the way all people do when talking to animals and children. "I've missed you too.

"Danny! Let our guests come in! I'm sure they don't want to stand in the doorway all day." A familiar voice rang out, Danny instantly obeying, running back inside and sitting by the sofa. "It’s good to see you again, although the gap was a little bit longer than last time. Anyway, come on in, we have a lot of time on our hands, and a lot to catch up on."

"Thank you Joseph, " Edward replied, always polite as possible.

"Thanks Jojo," replied Ansel who was not.

Both entered the house, bringing the gifts and placing them in the hallway, before entering the living room and sitting down. It was how they remembered it. The sofa was opposite a brick looking fireplace and against the wall of the old wooden stairs, which lead to the front door. In front of them was a rug, square and red on the wood floor, with an armchair at each end. To the left was door, leading directly to the dining room, and to the right was a window, with an immediate view of the garden and the void around them. The rest of the house was a mystery to them- they didn't need to go in there so they didn't. Ansel secretly wanted to but he was sensible enough to not try to sneak around and see what Jojo was hiding.

It was a few hours later when he had asked. “What day is it Jojo?” Ansel inquired, “I assume you know.”

“Of course I know,” Jojo replied, unfazed by his straight to the point nature,” but do you want to come and see for yourself this time?”

“Would I!”

“If you wouldn’t mind it Jojo, I think we would both like that,” Edward inputted

“Sure, I don’t mind. Come on let’s go, heel Danny.” Jojo commanded, standing up and heading for the door. Danny sprung up and followed, looking expectantly at the pair of brothers, both of whom were excited, once he had caught up to his master. He knew he wasn’t his original master, but knew he was as close as he would get, and adopted him as his own, obeying every command. Edward and Ansel followed close behind as they set out on their trip. Once they left the house, Jojo warned them not to touch anything over the other side and not to get too close or it would alert the Guardians to their presence. They both agreed not to. Only one would remember. Carrying just a small picnic they set off, covering large amounts of blank flat ground in just a short time- they went through areas they had never seen before, met some people in the other civilisations before finally arriving at the final outpost, an intimidating tower and wall separating heaven, hell and earth. It was one of the only textured buildings in the entire place and was a distinctive shade of mauve that instantly drew the eye. At the front it had a window not dissimilar to that of a drive-through.

“Brought your apprentices this time Joseph?” questioned the guard, an intimidating but polite woman from within the window. Behind her was a smaller person, attempting to hide behind its short bob length hair, wearing clothes most of the angels wouldn’t dare wear (although they are allowed to wear anything, most avoid black and darker colours due to guardians not liking them). It was wearing a black shirt with a lilac ascot and black jeans. Edward hadn’t seen anything like it around the area, and for some unknown to them reason, found that comforting. They ignored that thought.

“Yes, I have,” Jojo replied, turning to Edward and Ansel. “Edward, Ansel, meet Biff and behind her is Isi, the recordkeeper for all of the people who cross the border. Isi, Biff, meet Edward Longneck Smith and Ansel Caitlyn-Rose Smith."

"Pleasure to meet you," Edward stated.

"Hi!" Ansel exclaimed, "You look cool!"

"Thank you," Biff replied, "it's a pleasure to meet you too."

"Hi," Isi timidly replied. "It’s nice to meet you. We don't usually see new faces around here. I have marked you all down, you can go through now if you're ready."

Joseph thanked them, before moving to the door and turning around. "Come on you two."

Edward and Ansel followed quietly.

Across the border was nothing like they were expecting or had ever seen. A spherical plain room, bright white on one side (the side they came through) and black on the other opposite them. In between those two sides, were the realms the demons and angels watched over, one that was instantly recognisable to them as earth, and about 3 visible other realms that none of them could name. Ansel was left speechless by the wonders he saw- a rare occurrence- and both could barely believe what they saw in some of the other realms. But most of all they saw themselves. For the first time in what seemed to them forever, they could see their reflection in the sphere.

Both studied themselves, memorising their appearance, knowing they might not get this chance again. Edward had a medium brown mop of hair, slightly curly and quite long, especially in comparison to Ansel, whose hair was shorter and a light copper brown, though it was still wavy. Both had brown eyes – Edwards a startling bronze-amber colour, Ansel’s a more chocolate brown, but still had an amber undertone that couldn’t be ignored. One thing Edward had remembered is why they got their nickname- Longneck. Both had normal necks, but Edward’s was slightly (honestly, quite a bit) longer, and to them it was noticeable. Ansel’s face was rounded, but Edward noticed theirs was slightly more defined. Looking down, they saw their clothing: white jeans and a grey button up shirt, with a pair of fairly plain dark grey trainers, that looked pretty worn.

At this point, they looked back to where their brother’s reflection was, only to be met by the abyss. “Look Longboi, it’s Ash!” They heard from behind them. “And she’s visiting our graves!”

“Wait, really?” Edward blurted out, shocked that it would show them someone they knew, and that they actually remembered them. Quickly, they turned on their heels and sprinted over to where Ansel was now stood, staring intently through the sphere. “Wow, it really is her.”

“I know, didn’t she hate us at one point?

“Yeah, but once I died I watched her and they appeared to regret what she did.”

“That’s good, she finally understands her actions have consequences, and not everything is about them.”

“Yeah. Shame she didn’t learn it earlier, I wouldn’t have objected to being friends with them, her personality was nice when she wasn’t being an asshole.”

“I noticed that too.”

Down below Ash was crouched down, placing flowers on the two graves next to each other. Their eyes were a similar shade of brown to Ansel, but her hair was a much darker brown and straight, cut at shoulder length except for a centre parted fringe. Black was all they were wearing, I mean it is typical of people to wear black when in mourning or to pay respects, but it was a change – most people hadn’t seen her in anything other than bright colours, and the two had never seen her in anything so not revealing as what they were. Instead of her old show-all-the-skin-possible outfit, she was wearing a dress, still short but more concealing, and it was simpler than the outfits they remembered. “I am sorry. I hurt you, and why? Just because I was jealous. I apologise for all I did to you, and I promise in the two years you have been gone, I have changed.” Ash stated.

“Only two years?!” They exclaimed, surprised at the lack of time they had spent there.

“Yes, only two years.” Jojo answered.

“Wow.” Ansel murmured.

“I forgive you,” Edward stated, towards Ash despite knowing that she wouldn’t hear. They turned around and begun to study the other realms. “Can you tell me a bit more about these realms I haven’t seen Jojo?”

“Of course Edward, which do you want to start with?”

Ansel had zoned out at this point, drawn towards the portal to Earth. “It wouldn’t hurt if I go through it. Just for a second to tell Ash we forgive her, and then come back. They wouldn’t notice, I mean they are distracted.” Ansel thought. He made sure that nobody was watching, before tentatively stepping through the portal. Quickly he said “I forgive you” and left before Ash could notice he was there. When he got back, he saw Ash looking around her, before quickly leaving, spooked by his voice. He saw Edward looking and knew he was in trouble, but not how deep he was from that one small action. I mean, it was harmless, wasn’t it? He re-joined the group and acted as if he had been there the whole time.

When Edward has a chance to confront their brother, it was an hour or two later- Jojo had walked them through everything he knew about the 4 realms, or as much as he was able to in the time they had, and as such left them no time to talk to him. It was on the way home that the had a chance- Jojo led them to a park before heading home to get a picnic for them, as a reward for accompanying him. “Why did you disobey him? He said not to touch anything or go into the other realms.”

“I don’t know why, I just felt drawn to it in a weird way.”

“I believe you, you wouldn’t lie about something like this, but just be glad that nobody else saw, if you were found out, you would be in massive trouble, not just with Jojo, but with the border guards and also possibly the Guardians. Be more careful. I don’t want to lose you.” Edward lectured, but that sort of lecture you know is for your protection- the kind that you know is sensible and are likely to follow.

“I promise now, nothing like this will ever happen again.”

“Thank you.”

The rest of the “day” was pretty peaceful and happy- they ate the picnic, played a bit in the park, and traipsed home, dropping Jojo and Danny at their home, before starting back themselves, taking their time for once. That was one of the good things. And one of the few things Edward would remember. However, to Edward that walk felt like agony. They had a feeling that something very, very bad would happen. The kind that can’t be averted, only postponed.

Once they got home, they could already tell something was wrong- for one, the door to the house was unlocked and open despite being locked when they left. Second the note taped across the entire doorway was kind of a bad omen. Only one group of people communicated that way. If you received one, you were unlikely to return. Ever. Edward signalled for Ansel to stay where he was, before carefully walking towards the house, stopping just about where they could read the note. “Ansel Caitlyn-Rose Smith must come to the Guardian’s temple as soon as possible.” Edward instantly felt fear flood through his body, adrenaline joining it shortly after. “Ansel, they know!”

“Wait, what?!”

“They! Know! Ansel! They have summoned you!”

“No, they can’t. They can’t can they. So that means..?”

“I’m scared that the answer to that is yes.”

“No, I don’t want to. I don’t want to. I can’t. I just can’t. I don’t want to become like them.”

“I don’t want you to become like them. Not now, not ever. But if you don’t go it may be worse for you. You may end up gone with no hope of recovery. It is better you go and face the current consequences than disobey further and get punished worse. I am sorry, there is no way out- they can track you through all of the realms. I can’t promise you you’ll be safe, but I can promise I will find a way to fix this place, and save you, even if it kills me.”

“Alright. It makes sense. I still don’t like it. But it makes sense. Can we spend some time together before I go?”

“Yes, Ansel, want to go inside and watch some TV before you go?”

“Please.”

It was at this point they both trudged indoors, attempting to keep how fearful and emotional they were from each other, because both of them knew that Ansel would be lucky to make it out alive. That was the guardian’s way. Both knew this. The tension was thick enough you could cut it with a knife. If Ansel wasn’t so worried, he probably would have tried. But he didn’t.

“I am going with you,” Edward insisted.

“You sure?” Ansel tentatively asked.

“Nothing could dissuade me.”

“Thank you Longneck.”

“You’re welcome Witch Hazel.”

They set off, through the village. All of the people had seen, all of them knew one or both of them had been summoned. Most looked with pity. Or anger. Or disappointment. Or all of them. Or none of them. But they were all there. Watching as they traipsed into the distance. Wondering if anyone would come back. Wondering if they did come back – would they still be the same people.

It took a long time to reach the Guardian’s court. For the siblings, not long enough. Anything to drag out the experience, the walk up to the place they may not return from. It was a towering Parthenon-style building, built in glowing white and much larger than it needed to be. At the entrance stood 2 statues of what they presumed to be some of the different interpretations from the different realms they ruled of what an “angel” looked like. As they got closer they realised they were not statues as such; they moved and talked as if they were alive. Once they got to the door, they tried to enter the building, but failed. The angels stopped them. Pointing to Ansel, they boomed “Only he may pass.”

“I guess this is where we part.”

“I guess it is.”

“See you on the other side.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ansel murmured, before crossing the blockade created.

“Ansel, I’ll miss you,” Edward spoke out loud, as they watched him disappear from view.

Normally, Edward would have stopped there and waited, but today they felt braver than usual. Probably because they knew their brother was at risk, but they decided to return the favour of doing something stupid and reckless. Guessing from the way the angels were made, they were unable to move, and so as long as they stayed out of range of them, they could sneak in through the side of the building. Making sure the angels believed they were walking off, back where they came from, they circled around to the side of the building, gaining a view of inside the building. All of the guardians were in a circle around Ansel, who was looking rather like a deer in the headlights. Most of the people Edward didn’t recognise, but one they recognised from visits and checks on the village. The one thing the guardians had in common- their eyes were pure white, no pupil or iris. Apart from that, they were anyone. All different ethnicities, ages and genders. All different. All to be feared. Edward watched on as they all linked hands, creating a barrier around all of them, one that they could see, but not touch or get anywhere close to. Glowing white tendrils surrounded all of them, snaking threateningly inwards- towards Ansel. Eventually they all linked together forming a bubble around him that gradually shrank around him, disappearing from view, before bursting back out again. Only this time, the bubble was filled with a glowing ball of light, that blinded anyone who could see it. It disappeared into the sky, leaving Ansel laying on the floor.

Intimidatingly, a creepy voice boomed “Now you have lost your soul, rise Guardian Ansel and join us.” The body on the floor, snapped open it’s eyes, revealing a lack of pupil and iris, with a chilling look, before calmly standing up and facing the voice, which Edward could not see the face of. Floating, the new Guardian made its way into the crowd, joining it in standing to attention. “Now then, go find more suitable candidates, we need to expand the army if we want to destroy earth and hell. Soon, all of the realms shall be ours, and nobody will be left to fight back.”

“Yes master,” replied all of the Guardians in union, instantly setting off to perform their wishes.

Edward couldn’t look anymore, and they knew if the guardians found them they’d be in trouble, so they turned and left. Alone and hurt. No family left.

[loruleanheart]

Desired Fate, Chapter 10

Read on FF.net

Read on AO3

The atmosphere around him had become much colder and darker as night descended on the Gerudo Highlands. The prophet stirred. Everything hurt, but there was also the headache that only intensified when he tried to reason with what had happened.

It had to have been a dream… A very terrible and ridiculous dream… Yes, a dream… Not a prophecy...

His mind couldn’t accept that Hylia herself spoke to him.

Yet, If it hadn’t been real, then how had he survived Sooga’s attack?

Hylia… That vile goddess had turned his whole world upside down, her ways more bewildering to Astor than even the Yiga Clan.

The conflicting thoughts had been tormenting to begin with, now they were only magnified to an unbearable intensity. As devoted as he was to the Calamity he was only mortal, and he didn’t want to perish over what he’d so blindly followed for too long. But the alternative would make him a failure in Calamity Ganon’s eyes, and wasn’t the Calamity the only thing that mattered? 

She had known everything… Every thought and emotion no matter how deep or repressed, she had laid it all bare, and it terrified him. He feared his thoughts of the princess and his potential to be disloyal to Calamity Ganon.

That wasn’t the only thing he had to worry about. The Yiga Clan was almost certain to make another attempt on his life, and they knew the location of his hideout. The prophet gave a frustrated groan and turned to leave the Gerudo Highlands before a potential ambush could be devised by the clan.

He began to wander northeast aimlessly, only having a vague idea of where he was going. Eventually, desert cliffs gave way to lush green fields.

He could see Hyrule Castle’s silhouette in the distance, and he began to feel jittery, nearly breaking into a burst of insane laughter. He tried to focus his thoughts on how ironic it was that he and the princess now had the Yiga as a common enemy. Anything to not have to think about what was revealed to him by the goddess. It couldn’t be true…

Oh, I’m sure that would go over well. The king would be so thrilled… The prophet thought facetiously.

He gave Hyrule Castle and its surrounding town a wide breadth, also avoiding villages or other areas where people might congregate.

As he rounded the perimeter of the Lost Woods he couldn’t help but notice how visible the back of the castle was from this vantage point. Which window belonged to the Princess? The castle’s wide moat separated the ground he stood from the castle, but still, it was breathtaking to be so close.

The Lost Woods was much the same way. It was surrounded by water, with only one foot-path going in. The pink flowering top of the Great Deku Tree could be seen at the center of Great Hyrule Forest, and Astor thought back to that fated day he crossed paths with the princess before that great, imposing tree. Somewhere, within those woods was a much more mysterious place he had only seen in visions -  that place where the Silent Princess flowers grew rampant, and he was intent on finding it.

oOo

“No matter what it takes, you must awaken your power before the Calamity returns.” King Rhoam’s commanding voice filled the castle’s sanctum.

Zelda looked down, gathering her resolve. If the Calamity was going to rise on her 17th birthday, as newly uncovered images from the broken Guardian indicated, she didn’t have much time left. 

Whatever it takes? What is that supposed to mean? I’m already doing everything I can.

She bit back her protests, one more time, ever the good, obedient daughter. “Understood.”

“I sense you have become complacent regarding your duty,” King Rhoam said, becoming colder.

Zelda slowly looked up, at a loss. She could sense Impa’s sympathetic gaze on her, and she wanted to cast a glance back at the advisor in shared exasperation but thought better of it. “I - I’m sorry father. Please believe me. I’m trying my hardest. I really am -.”

“No more, excuses, Zelda! From this moment on you are to have nothing to do with the childish hobby you’ve been carrying on with Sheikah technology and you are to devote yourself fully to unlocking your power. You must be single-minded in this crucial duty. Or perhaps it is your poor attitude that is interfering with your training.”

Zelda flinched internally, but it barely showed on the outside.

“Yes, I understand… I will try harder.”

The King’s expression hardened and he raised his voice. “No, you don’t try! You do it! You are going to the Spring of Courage immediately, and Link and Impa are to accompany you, do I make myself clear?”

The Princess held her head high as she headed to her chambers to change into her ceremonial white gown. As soon as she was out of sight she let out a big huff and nearly broke down, but somehow held herself together.

She took her time getting changed, disconsolate and a little bit spiteful to have been humiliated in front of her friends. 

The gown was pure white and was designed with the goddess Hylia as inspiration. It was a small consolation to feel closer to her ancestor by donning the dress and royal heirlooms. 

She fixed her hair, undoing her braid and brushing it out. She put on the gold bracers and tossed her hair to one side to fasten the gold Hylia crest necklace passed down in the royal family for countless generations.

As she languidly moved about her chambers, her mind raced with thoughts of hopelessness. She had already trained at the Spring of Courage and Spring of Power in the past, and both had yielded no results. All that remained was the Spring of Wisdom on Mount Lanayru, and she would only be permitted to make the trip up the mountain when she reached the age of 17. But with knowledge of the day of Calamity Ganon’s return she knew it would be too little too late.

Before she left her chambers, Zelda paused to look at herself in the mirror. She gave a sharp exhale. All of Hyrule was believing in her, leaning on her to save them... or at least that's how it felt. Zelda wasn’t unaware of the fact that she was the subject of mockery among those who were aware of her unfulfilled duty. And although those closest to her were doing their best to support her, a void remained.

The worst was coming. She knew it. If only she had someone to brace herself against for when the Calamity would inevitably rise and consume everything and everyone she loved.

Zelda rested her forehead against the mirror and closed her eyes, holding back tears one more time, unsure how much longer she could hold on before she gave out.

oOo

Astor found himself in that mysterious place. The one seen in his visions as of late, particularly when the princess drew near to him. It was an ethereal and dark forest, hidden away within the Lost Woods much in the same way as Korok Forest. Perhaps it was the goddess who led him there and allowed him to find it, although Astor wasn’t sure if it was real or illusionary.

Moonlight peaked down through the tops of the trees, the blue and white Silent Princess flowers seeming to glow in its light. Was it always night here? It was clearly a refuge for him.

He took an uncertain step forward, looking around. There was a small spring of clear water.

He thought of the princess and how she would likely go to the Spring of Courage and Power soon. Let her try, the prophet thought. She wasn’t going to be unlocking that power anytime soon. He could envision her visiting one such spring, her shoulders bare, her dress clinging to her form as she stood in the water so focused on unlocking the power that evaded her. That jittery feeling came back in full force.

Kill her… You’ll be in control again… 

No, no… I must stay as far away from her as possible, lest the goddess’s prophecy comes true…

He wasn’t sure which one was Lord Ganon’s will. His trust in the Calamity had been so compromised he couldn’t discern Ganon’s or even fate’s design any longer. There was a part of him that wanted so much to remain faithful to Lord Ganon. He didn’t know how else to exist, even knowing that to remain loyal would end in regret for a prophecy unfulfilled and his own death.

The prophet held his head in his hands. He hastily disrobed, leaving his clothing in a haphazard pile, signaling his mental disarray. He got into the small spring, completely bare save for the circlet he wore with the Malice Eye. Many bruises from his earlier fight marred his pale skin.

Thoughts and feelings he might have easily shoved away before were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. No, it was downright impossible after the goddess’s parting words, and his thoughts of the princess were running wild. He could feel the distance between himself and the Calamity widen further, and he panicked.

He slid under the water’s surface, holding his breath as long as he could. If Hylia was merciful maybe he’d drown and in death, those vexing feelings would stop plaguing him. The urge to take a breath was increasing, and he came back up, gasping.

Astor relaxed a bit, resting his head on the edge of the spring and stretching out into a comfortable position in surrender, hoping this place was indeed illusionary and that no one would stumble upon him in such a state, not that travelers typically explored these woods for fear of becoming lost.

This place was so… otherworldly… so beautiful. Astor wondered briefly if Calamity Ganon could even ‘see’ or perceive this place.

And at last, he confronted the goddess’s prophecy with a clearer mind, although wavering between doubt and resent. How could it come true? He had acted with such cruelty toward Princess Zelda, why would she ever look at him with anything other than disdain?

Astor had once been very disciplined in his mindset towards the princess and his plan to bring about her demise, but he was out of reasons to fight what had been repressed. His thoughts of her lingered and then intensified. He yearned to embrace her, to touch her, and ached to feel her hands on him. He was paralyzed by the thought, but he couldn’t deny how exquisite it would be to give in to those feelings if the opportunity ever arose, despite knowing he would continue to resist out of fear of losing himself.

The desire to have her was increasing to a point of no return and Astor knew he would have no peace until he could, at the very least, see Princess Zelda again.

[nothisis-ridiculous]

Take Me Home Now: Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine: The Radio Reminds Me

Set after the events of ME3.

A rewrite. Ao3.

FemShepxKaidan

Notes: I know this is a slow build, but it was always meant to be more about the re-entry of Shep than a romantic story. I will have more Shenko content, I just don't want different expectations put on this work.

The mass of biotics division huddled around a central table, while most craned their heads to get a better view, some jostled their way in closer. Jane only approached because it was something to bide her time, well really, it was to avoid Rahna and their 'friend date'. Specifics were not important.

"What's going on here," Jane questioned.

Three-quarters of the biotics stood taller, and all stopped moving. The woman still spoke with the authority of a commanding officer, would have been if... well, that wasn't important either. Here, she was just Jane. Even after the deference, the biotics instinctively gave her as they allowed her front row access to the device on the table. Jane chalked it up to her reputation for holding her biotics at full force with a faulty implant rather than face the reality of her other-self.

Jane picked up the comm, looked it over, then promptly set it down, "impressive paperweight?"

A brave student snickered, plucking the device from the table, "did they not teach you old folks tech?"

"Said the 2nd Lieutenant to the N7," Jane smirked, "tell me, how long did it take to put your bars on and still leave them crooked?"

The kid fussed, trying to wave away his faux pass with some technobabble and blustering. Leave it to Alenko to be soft on his kids.

"We've been scanning the airwaves for news, news outside of earth," the soldier finally stammered out, "I found a promising channel I just have to.."

"Well, everyone is waiting."

"Aye, Aye ma'am."

The kid nodded, bringing out the interface of his omnitool, punching out codes until the box relented.

"Relayed July 23rd. Charon Relay is inoperable. Mass relays comm buoys inoperable. Attempts to fix relays have begun. Repeat message."

"The 23rd was a week ago," a voice commented from the crowd.

"Is there another channel?"

"Please respond. We are alive. This is Commander Bailey, C-Sec, on a looping message. Please respond. We are alive."

The lightness a simple broadcast brought to her shoulders was rejuvenating, sublime in the brief moment of having one friend survive the war she wrought upon the galaxy. Until the weight returned in the form of a warm hand resting on her left trap, prior commitments and all.

"Jane."

"Rahna."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Jane leaned back, folding her arms tightly across her chest. Proficient in the use of silence, she kept an easy stare at Rahna. If she had to play the hostage, she wasn't about to make it easy, defiant yet still compliant. Speaking now put her into a position of giving something away- well something more than she wanted to give away. With the level of fame Shepard had reached curious hands liked to get into her file, while against the rules, those with access often did. What else could be juicer than personal details on the Commander? On her failures? Successes. Her psych profile.

It was violating.

"It's good to hear someone on the Citadel is still kicking," Rahna broke first.

"If anyone could have survived, it was him."

"Someone you knew well?"

"Compared to most C-Sec officers, he was a dream," Jane allowed her face to relax, "a real cut through the red tape kind of guy. Bailey really came through during the Cerebrus coup."

Rahna nodded, returning with a small smile, "that sounded like a tense situation. Everyone back home was shocked we never thought Udina-"

"Udina was a rat."

"You would know," she mumbled, "I'm glad it ended as well as it did. Without losing another friend."

Jane's lips tightened, shoulders bracing for the mental impact of the emotions she wanted locked beneath the surface. The cacophony of feelings blurred and grew, loss, regret, pleasure, reconnection, and the legion of secondary emotions attached to the cold anger freezing her system. A brittle connection shattered, leaving behind a numbness.

"Is this all about Alenko?"

Rahna's eyes widened, reeling, the blunt words not within the realm of what she expected, "that wasn't-"

"You couldn't; you rejected the man he was," Jane snarled, pitching forward on her chair, "is this jealousy? I can armchair you right back, Strawberry."

The woman chuckled, "you've heard about me."

"Yeah, I've heard about you. I don't need to go snooping into your file."

"Then you should know we reconnected a couple years back- and nothing happened," she returned cooly, "it was obvious he still had feelings for another."

The immediate surge of pride warped with bitter jealousy, her throat tightening. If she didn't know better, Jane swore her heart stopped the long pauses between the beats petrifying the organ. Her world grew cold, hollow. This jealousy was certainly foreign, the Commander was better than this. Mary knew better, knew that after all Kaidan had returned for her- had written that after all this mess, he didn't know, they both didn't know then.

The Yeoman's call that she had a message at her private terminal had grown past the stage of annoying- Mary had hinted once that Chambers should switch it up. Apparently, her tone had been too jovial, and a week later still nothing had changed. Not even a crack at a 'message for you' or a plain 'message.' With a sigh that Kelly met with a quick glance, Mary sauntered over to the terminal. The sender had her retreating.

While she was under no guise that she had privacy, Mary liked the illusion of it.

Back in the empty room of the Captain's Cabin, Kaidan's picture flickered on accusingly. Still, Mary grasped for it, a thumb tenderly resting over his cheek.

"I want to think you're angry, that you'll tear me a new one. But we both know better."

She set the frame down, looking away, focusing on the one-third finished model of the Athabasca Class Freighter. It seemed like a simple ship, not something flashy like a Geth Dreadnought or Sovereign, but it was apparent to what drew her to the model. A sentimental reminder of the Canadian she loved. The man that stared at her when she walked by. The one she talked to in the billions of moments she regretted working for Cerebrus. Kaidan was silent, but it was better than nothing, the picture at first was a warning to what Cerebrus could take from her. Now it became a lifeline. Unhealthy. But a small drop in the bucket compared to the Suicide mission she had thrown herself headfirst into.

"You could never stay mad at me long... you'll even expect me to, to-"

Tears tumbled from her eyes, the first to come since her time aboard the 'fake' Normandy. One painted in colors and emblazed with an emblem that made her skin crawl. It was all wrong.

It filled her head with screaming.

Mary didn't read the message that night.

Or for the next week.

Kelly stopped reminding her about one unread message.

Shepard put the Athabasca down gently, careful not to disturb the drying sealant. Her eyes flickered to the picture that stared at her, "I know it's time to look."

They hadn't spoken in that time, either.

Kaidan was predictable. His gentleness- his compassion. The love he claimed to have for her obvious, even if Mary was fighting to ignore it. After all this, after turning up in bed with a terrorist organization, he still beckoned her to be careful. To return to him when, if, things settled. Most of all, his honesty.

Damn, did it hurt. Her heart squeezing and constricting itself.

Could Mary blame him for attempting to live happily?

She wanted that for him. In her current situation, she would do nothing but bring him strife. It was selfish to reach out now. To clamor for his attention, to stir up old feelings. To let him become a target. The Illusive Man had tried once; what was to stop him from doing it again? As much as she hated bringing Anderson into her troubles, it was becoming apparent she needed to lean on him, at least to get Kaidan out of the line of fire.

Mary left the message unread. Call it revenge or heartbreak.

"You didn't know?" Rahna pressed, her fingers raking across her forearm, "I thought you- well. It was only to reconnect; that's how I got recruited to Biotics Division, eventually. I don't think he had been assigned-

Commander?"

Jane's pupils narrowed, "what do you want from me? This is- this-"

Rahna tried to interrupt, but Jane was not finished, "do you like seeing me squirm? Do you like that I'm not the person you saw on all the vids?

What fucked up reason do you have for doing this? You were stupid enough not to see Kaidan for who he is. You spurned him for trying to help you. I bet you couldn't even look him in the eye. Beauty...sure. But kindness? I see someone who can't stomach a hard decision and is infected with naive idealism. He stopped Vrynnus from torturing more kids, like he did to you, and you just-

Now you have to pull me into this? Do you regret losing him after seeing the compassionate man he became over the years? You could pull anyone, is only the capable and handsome Spectre enough? Or is it more fun to gloat over the decimated competition?"

Rahna watched as Jane rubbed at her cheek and the strange flashing scars. Observing the woman's tension across from her as she only grew more enraged as it did not elicit the reaction she desired from the accusations, pity filled the void that might have been anger.

"I doubt either of us has moved through life without regrets," her voice was silk and cool, "Kaidan and I could have both handled that better. Perhaps I was naive, but what is done is done. There was no longer a spark; we both knew that was the end of an 'us.'"

The blonde huffed.

"I won't lie and omit that I have seriously breached protocol and decorum by perusing your files; the 'Commander' is a fascinating subject to anyone that paid attention. She was hope to many," Rahna looked her in the eyes, playing the woman's staring contest, "can't blame a girl for being curious."

Jane slowly settled into her chair, swiveling her eyes away, arms folding across her chest. More so in a move reminiscent of a pouting child, but it was a start.

"Do you know what your file said? Specifically your psych evals?"

The woman didn't look at her, going stiff as stone. Jaw flexed in her effort to maintain silence.

"Brass had you tabbed for immediate evaluation after the war," she let that settle in, the woman's throat bobbed, "and more than that. I see someone who needs help. Selfishly- I hope I can help. Even a little, even if it is just someone to listen. After you have helped so many."

"Shepard is dead."

The Commander walked out of the room for the last time.

[notringwinner]

[ ... ] — ACCOLADE.

— Any award, honor, or laudatory notice — re:   Fanmail

[ ... ] — AESTHETIC.

— Having a sense of the beautiful; characterized by a love of beauty. — re:   Aesthetic Posts

[ ... ] — BILBO BAGGINS.

— ❝ I come from under the hill, and under hills and over hills my path has led. And through the air, I am he that walks unseen... ❞ — re:   Bilbo's Thoughts

[ ... ] — BERSERKER.

— Violently or destructively frenzied; wild; crazed; deranged. — A warrior who fights with frenzied rage in battle. — re:   Bifur

[ ... ] — CHRONICLE.

— A chronological record of events. — re:   Admin's Life

[ ... ] — CLANDESTINE.

— Characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment; private or surreptitious. — re:   Anonymous Messages

[ ... ] — CUTTHROAT.

— A person who cuts throats; murderer. — Ruthless. — re:   Dwalin, son of Fundin

[ ... ] — DISTRACTION.

— That which amuses, entertains, or diverts; amusement; entertainment. — re:   Memes

[ ... ] — ENDORSEMENT.

— Approval or sanction. — The signature, instructions, etc., placed on the reverse of a commercial document, for the purpose of assigning the interest therein to another. — re:   Promotions

[ ... ] — FEAST.

— Any rich or abundant meal. — re:   Recipes & Food

[ ... ] — FESTIVITY.

— Festive character or quality; gaiety; merriment. — re:   Christmas, 2015

[ ... ] — FINANCIER.

— A person skilled or engaged in managing large financial operations. — re:   Gloin, son of Groin

[ ... ] — FRIPPERY.

— Finery in dress, especially when showy, gaudy, or the like. — re:   Wardrobe

[ ... ] — GAME.

— An amusement or pastime. — A competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance — re:   Wardrobe

[ ... ] — GLOSSARY.

— A list of terms in a special subject, field, or area of usage, with accompanying definitions. — re:   Dictionary

[ ... ] — GOURMAND.

— A person who is fond of good eating, often to excess. — re:   Bombur

[ ... ] — HAWKEYE.

— One who bears keen eyesight. — re:   Bofur

[ ... ] — HEALER.

— A person or thing that heals; a medical practitioner. — re:   Oin, son of Groin

[ ... ] — HEDONIST.

— A person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification. — re:   Bilbo Baggins

[ ... ] — IMPULSE.

— The influence of a particular feeling, mental state, etc. — re:   Sexual Urges

[ ... ] — INDOMITABLE.

— One who cannot be subdued or overcome, as persons, will, or courage; unconquerable. — re:   Thorin II Oakenshield

[ ... ] — INGENUITY.

— The quality of being cleverly inventive or resourceful; inventiveness. — An ingenious contrivance or device. — re:   Admin's Creations

[ ... ] — INSTIGATOR.

— One who urges, provokes, or incites to some action or course. — re:   Gandalf Greyhame

[ ... ] — JUDICIOUS.

— Using or showing judgment as to action or practical expediency; discreet, prudent, or politic — re:   Elrond Earendilion

[ ... ] — KIN.

— Someone or something of the same or similar kind. — Of the same kind or nature; having affinity. — re:   The Company of Thorin Oakenshield

[ ... ] — LARCENIST.

— A person who commits larceny, i.e., the wrongful taking and carrying away of the personal goods of another from his or her possession with intent to convert them to the taker's own use. — re:   Nori

[ ... ] — LORD.

— A person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler. — re:   Sauron ( filed under 'The Lord of the Rings' )

[ ... ] — MARTINET.

— A strict disciplinarian. — Someone who stubbornly adheres to methods or rules. — re:   Bungo Baggins

[ ... ] — MELODY.

— Musical sounds in agreeable succession or arrangement. — re:   Music

[ ... ] — MEMORABLE.

— Worth remembering; notable. — re:   Good Times

[ ... ] — MINUTIAE.

— Precise details; small or trifling matters. — re:   Small Headcanons

[ ... ] — PATRICIAN.

— Befitting or characteristic of persons of very good background, education, and refinement: — re:   Dori

[ ... ] — PERSIFLAGE.

— Light, bantering talk or writing. — re:   Skype / Friend conversations

[ ... ] — PORTRAIT.

— A likeness of a person, especially of the face, as a painting, drawing, or photograph — re:   Admin Photos

[ ... ] — PRECIOUS.

— Of high price or great value; very valuable or costly — Highly esteemed for some spiritual, nonmaterial, or moral quality. — re:   The One Ring

[ ... ] — PROPOSAL.

— The suggestion of something for acceptance, adoption, or performance. — A plan or scheme proposed. — re:   Wishlist

[ ... ] — PROSE.

— The ordinary form of spoken or written language, without metrical structure, as distinguished from poetry or verse. — re:   Saved Writing

[ ... ] — RECOGNITION.

— The acknowledgment of achievement, service, merit, etc; the expression of this in the form of some token of appreciation. — re:   Bias Lists

[ ... ] — RENOVATE.

— To restore to good condition; make new or as if new again. — To reimagine; refresh. — re:   Blog Work

[ ... ] — RIDDLER.

— One who speaks in riddles. — re:   Gollum

[ ... ] — RIDDLING.

— Any enigmatic saying or speech. — re:   Admin's OOC Posts

[ ... ] — SAVANT.

— A person of profound or extensive learning; learned scholar. — re:   Ori

[ ... ] — SANCTUARY.

— A sacred place. Any place of refuge; asylum. — re:   honorwinning

[ ... ] — SCION.

— A descendant. — re:   Frodo Baggins

[ ... ] — sempiternal.

— Everlasting; eternal. — re:   Thorin II Oakenshield & Bilbo Baggins

[ ... ] — sentiment.

— An attitude toward something; regard; opinion. — re:   PSAs

[ ... ] — SLANDER.

— A malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report. — re:   Hate Mail

[ ... ] — tête à tête.

— A private conversation or interview, usually between two people. — re:   Messages

[ ... ] — usurper.

— One who seizes and holds (a position, office, power, etc.) by force or without legal right — One who uses without authority or right — re:   Smaug the Golden

[ ... ] — valorous.

— Courageous; valiant; brave. — re:   Fili, son of Vili

[ ... ] — venturous.

— Having or showing a disposition to undertake risky or dangerous activities; daring. — re:   Kili, son of Vili

[ ... ] — verdure.

— Greenness, especially of fresh, flourishing vegetation. — re:   Nature

[ ... ] — vindictive.

— Disposed or inclined to revenge; vengeful. — re:   Thranduil Oropherion

[ ... ] — wanderlust.

— A Merriweather, innate desire to rove or travel about. — re:   Places

[ ... ] — wayfarer.

— A traveler, especially on foot. — re:   Belladonna Baggins

[ ... ] — wise.

— Having the power of discerning and judging properly as to what is true or right; possessing discernment, judgment, or discretion. — Possessed of or characterized by scholarly knowledge or learning; learned; erudite. — re:   Balin, son of Fundin

THE RINGWINNER MAIN VERSE

ALIAS: Bilbo Baggins AGE: 51 LOCATION: Erebor

An open-ended verse in which Bilbo returns to the Shire after his journey. Whether he stays or goes is up to the thread's discretion.

THE WILD CHILD THE CHILDHOOD VERSE

ALIAS: Bilbo Baggins AGE: From 1-33 LOCATION: The Shire

The lost years, in which Bilbo serves as the local black sheep of Hobbiton. Curious, naive, and somewhat invasive, he wishes to learn all he can about the land beyond his homestead's borders.

THE BAGGINS THE PRE-QUEST VERSE

ALIAS: Bilbo Baggins AGE: From 33-50 LOCATION: The Shire

Properly tamed, Bilbo Baggins lauds the title of one of the most respectable Hobbits in the Shire. He has little to no interest in associating himself with anything to do with adventures, thank you, and would especially rather not deal with troublesome wizards or barbarous Dwarves.

THE TOOK THE QUEST VERSE

ALIAS: Bilbo Baggins AGE: 50 LOCATION: Variable

Baggins or Took? Bilbo struggles with compensating his two warring mindsets as he acquaints himself with the world outside of the Shire -- and the Dwarves who have led him straight into it.

THE DEBAUCHER THE MODERN VERSE

ALIAS: BARNABAS Beckett Baggins AGE: 33 LOCATION: London // Variable

Beck is a boarding school baby and is set to inherit his father's investments. He's savvy and bears formidable intelligence -- but lacks direction in his life. He fills the void by seeking thrills and letting his imagination run wild, and co-heads Durin Corporation, a security conglomerate, with his partner Thorin Oakes.

THE RENEWAL THE GOD VERSE

ALIAS: Bilbo, God of Renewal AGE: Variable LOCATION: Variable

Charming, spirited and not the least bit cunning, the God of Renewal spends half the year tending to the livelihood of fields and forests. The other half, however, sees his life spiral into welcome darkness, where Bilbo is known as Consort and formidable lord of the dead.

THE RAVENCLAW THE HARRY POTTER VERSE

ALIAS: BARNABAS Beckett Baggins AGE: Variable LOCATION: Often, Hogwarts

A clever Ravenclaw who tends toward Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, but has a strange affinity for the Dark Arts in later years. He's also got a knack for Charms.

THE SUNCHASER THE STAR TREK VERSE

ALIAS: Beckett Baggins AGE: 33 LOCATION: Variable

Wherein Beckett holds a career in Starfleet as second in command under his captain, Thorin.

THE CORSAIR THE PIRATE VERSE

ALIAS: Beckett Baggins AGE: 33 LOCATION: Variable

Beckett seeks his cousin, Dominick Baggins, formerly under the employ of the King's Navy and now missing for several months. He will do anything, include stow away on pirate ships, in order to find him. Swords and bar fights haven't stopped him yet.

THE 411 THE UNDERGROUND VERSE

ALIAS: [REDACTED] AGE: [REDACTED] LOCATION: London / Variable

He is cunning, shrewd, and greatly enjoys his ability to run people in circles. His loyalties are hard to pinpoint and his services come at a high price. If one wants information from him, they've got to intrigue him first -- be it a solved riddle or an exceedingly lavish gift. secrets are his trade, and he is not willing to part with them easily. Often he can be found working as an informant for the highest bidder -- unless they win him over completely, that is.

THE KNIGHT THE KINGSMAN VERSE

ALIAS: Percival AGE: 33 LOCATION: London / Variable

❝ After the death of his father, Percival's mother takes him to the forests where she raises him ignorant to the ways of men until the age of fifteen. Eventually, however, a group of knights passes through his wood, and Percival is struck by their heroic bearing. Wanting to be a knight himself, the boy leaves home to travel to King Arthur's court. After proving his worthiness as a warrior, he is knighted and invited to join the Knights of the Round Table." ----LE CONTE DU GRAAL

In which Beckett Baggins takes up the mantle of Sir Percival, rectifying the wrongs of the world with panache and aplomb.

THE SURVIVOR THE WALKING DEAD VERSE

ALIAS: Beckett Baggins AGE: 33 LOCATION: Variable

He used to co-own the most profitable business in the world, but it's all gone to shit and they operate on a new kind of currency. Separated from the man he loves, Beck's ongoing mission is to locate Thorin Oakes. His weapon of choice? One reliable dagger and all the cunning a multi-millionaire can still afford.

THE INSPECTOR THE GARGOYLES VERSE

ALIAS: Beckett Baggins AGE: 33 LOCATION: London

Detective Inspector Beckett Baggins isn't really surprised to be thrown off of the Eyrie Building on an investigation. What does surprise him is the winged, beclawed creature who snatches him right out of the sky -- and proceeds to offer him a story his inner novelist could never resist.

THE INSPECTOR THE GARGOYLES VERSE

ALIAS: BARNABAS Beckett Baggins AGE: 33 LOCATION: Variable

Beckett is The Ghostwriter, who can bring ideas to life with the flourish of a pen and turn invisible at will. He uses his powers as he sees fit and tends not to be persuaded into teamwork, preferring to set forth his own sense of justice.

THE DUALITY THE BBC SHERLOCK VERSE

ALIAS: John H. Watson AGE: early 30s LOCATION: London

In which Bilbo Baggins is John Watson, and John Watson is Bilbo Baggins. ...Wait. That can't be right, can it?

Too bad he can't remember.

( Based on this plot. )

THEY LOOK SO SHARP, THEY LOOK LIKE ONE THE QUINTUPLET VERSE

ALIAS: Bilbo Baggins AGE: Variable LOCATION: The Shire

One Bilbo Baggins is quite more than enough for Middle Earth to handle. Four is just overkill.

[raevenlywrites]

The Ties That Bind 13 of ???

I couldn’t settle after the oaths. I just couldn’t. The ground seemed to hum with power, and as much as I wanted to do my part to be agreeable, I could not focus on peace talks while my head sang with ancient resonance. I felt half-blinded by ghosts, though as Zane had said scent wasn’t the word, sight wasn’t right for what I was sensing either. It was as if my body was trying to inhabit a different life, moving through steps that were not my own. Something important to the Shardae magic had happened here, and under other circumstances I might have been intrigued, even followed where it led. But I could not focus on either it or Zane, so eventually I gave up on both and asked to return to the farmhouse. If Zane was disappointed to leave this place of such significance to his people--and apparently mine--he didn’t show it.

 I sent Karashan towards the serpiente lands and Raymond to the Lyssia farm, both looking out for the serpiene guards that would be coming to join Adelina and Zane. The rest of us walked with the serpiente, I in deference to their lack of wings, and my remaining guards split between ground and skies as was their formation when I was in the fields. So we had plenty of advanced warned when Raymond returned with news of a small army.

Army was too strong a word for the score of soldiers, but it was exactly the word for their intent. They had swarmed the Lyssia farm and set up a base--so that my mother and her branch of the Royal Flight could land in safety.

 The air in the farmhouse had shifted considerably. Where the Ladies Lyssia had been careful but relaxed around myself and Zane, they were positively on edge around my mother. Maybe the difference was the swarm of soldiers, but having felt exactly this way in my mother’s presence myself, I was fairly confident she was the cause.

 Power poured from her, responding to the emotions we usually kept so carefully leashed. It would take a song to give it concrete shape, but there were battle cries as well as lullabies in our body of hymns.

 I held to Zane’s hand tightly, partly to extend my shield of control to him, partly to keep my body firmly in line with whatever shot any soldier might take. I knew I couldn’t guard him from every angle, but this was the best I could do.

 My head still rang with power, distant echoes of that long forgotten memory we’d raised in the ruins. It wasn’t as blinding as it had been, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was walking in someone else’s footsteps. The wind seemed to whisper in the forgotten tounge as the wings of so many soldiers filled the skies. They circle like vultures, I thought, scenting death on the air. It served to fuel my determination. No more blood would be spilled. I had sworn it.

 So had Zane.

 We approached my mother hand in hand, her fury lashing out to reach us at the sight. I stood firm, bolstered by the power of my vows and Zane’s hand in mine. I wished I held Rei’s hand in the other, but I understood the man at my right needed to be free to react to whatever may happen. He would always be my soldier first and friend second. It saddened me to know that this war had taken him from me even as he walked beside me still. Raymond on his other side was another ghost, the memory of Vasili so strong in his presence here.

 I was filled with an overwhelming sense of having done this before, having faced down this queen before. Only her face kept swimming, the golden aura of her power going ghostly white, silvering with the patina of false memory. I shook it away, even as it cried out at being disregarded. I couldn’t untangle these ghosts right now. I needed to be present.

 “Shardae.”

 One word held the entirety of my mother’s displeasure. Question, condemnation, concern, command--my mother could get so much mileage out of so few syllables. I’d always wished for such clarity of purpose when I spoke, dreamed of the day I could address the Council or even a single General with such authority. But when I answered her now, I felt my voice cling on the way out, made small by something inside me that did not know how to be anything else.

 “Mother.”

 “We were most distressed at your letter,” she said, voice utterly void of emotion. It had all leeched into the power that was coursing and snapping around her. “Once we had actually received it.”

 Beside her, her closest guards flinched. Just a tightening around the eyes, but it was there. I wondered if standing that near to her was hurting them, or if they were recalling a fuller fury when she’d been given word that her daughter had acted outside her authority.

 It was such an odd dance between mother and me now. Something had gone out of her at Xavier’s pyre, burning away as completely as the body of her last son. She’d told me then that my time as queen had come. But then there were moments like this, or when she’d ordered us away from the Mistari camp, that her insistence she step down seemed so... empty. How was I supposed to lead our people without the backing of their current queen? We couldn’t survive a war on two fronts. We just couldn’t.

 “We appreciate your concern for Zane’s wellbeing,” I answered, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning. “As you can see, my healing--“

 “Danica, please.” Her words cut mine down, slicing through the sorry lie as cleanly as the paper it had been written on. “I don’t know why you felt the need to concoct such a ridiculous ruse. It’s idiocy is what had me tearing through field and forest looking for you. I’d thought it the work of traitors; I know my own daughter would never pen something so ridiculously and obviously false.”

 I felt my own anger try to rise, the urge to scream building in the back of my throat. This was why my speech always came out so small; if I gave it any rein at all, it would roar out of me, years of things unsaid pouring out in a vicious wave.

 Zane squeezed my hand, distracting me from my control. My eyes darted to him for only a second, but I thought I saw him smiling. Was it his arrogant mask, or was he trying to encourage me?

 I gave up trying to craft a delicate response. I simply spoke my mind.

 “Why is it so ridiculous, mother? Why is it so hard to believe that if I received word of someone in need of my aid that I could go to them? I sat with Gregory Cobriana even though there was no hope of saving him. Why then would I not sit with Zane Cobriana, if he asked me to come to him?”

 Zane’s hand tightened in mine again and I squeezed back, wishing I could give him a smile as well. But I had to keep my composure, both for appearances and for the sake of the power that danced so erratically in the air.

 “I was hurt, Nacola,” Zane said, startling us all. “My heart was sick with despair--“

 “How dare you!” a guard snapped, though whether it was at his lying to the queen or addressing her by her first name, I couldn’t say. Beside me, Zane said softly, “Adelina.”

 I dared to glance at his other side, where Adelina had slipped into that carefully ready pose. With a mad giddiness, I realized it could just as easily be the beginning of a dance as a fighting pose. My heart ached to see Maeve’s kin so ready to fight. Those white scales were the most beautiful in the firelight, dancing with hot reds and golds to compliment the cool blues and purples of my lady’s power--

 I shook my head, violently, trying to dispel these double visions. The power was too thick, I couldn’t breathe.

 “Enough,” I gasped, though it somehow rang through the space, even though I’d barely had breath to send it on its way. It rode on the eddies of power like a wing on the wind, going where the currents pulled it.

 “We should not fight like this,” I said, feeling the words as both my own and not. I gave up trying to dispel the power and just let it guide me. “I would not stand against you, mother of my heart, but neither will I stand with you in war.”

 My mother shivered, shimmering in the power that swirled thick between us. Its silver light snaked across her skin, forming almost patterns, almost letters--

 “You know I do not desire war,” she said, and again, the words sounded echoed, doubled back on themselves and twisting with whispers of wind. I clutched Zane’s hand tighter. I desperately needed its grounding, something solid and real to keep from falling to these ghosts. I had never seen such magic before--never seen any magic at all. But I had also never stood at the scar between my mother’s power and mine. Maybe that was the difference.

 “Then we have no reason to fight,” Zane said, startling us all. Her voice--his--was a misstep, a tiny dissonance in the building song.. But I felt the tide of it, and would not let it slip away. I had sworn to Emune and Raymond on this very ground that this war was ending. I called on that and the words Zane had just spoken to me in the ruins, and hoped they would be enough to shape whatever power we were weaving.

 This war was ending.

 “These hands are sworn to peace,” I said, feeling my words take us further from that ringing place where the ghosts of the past tried to swallow us down. “Kiesha’s kin has sworn to help me build a peace, and before two of my flight I did so swear that I would reign in peace.” It was an odd choice of words to call on Zane’s ancient ancestor, but it was too late to question the names of power I was drawing on. So much of magic was simply instinct, clinging to whatever ancestral knowledge still guided us.

 “So, mother,” I concluded, feeling the power condense as I prepared to hand it off, “will you leave peacefully, or will you have me foresworn?”

Or will you risk my words turn back on me, I added silently to myself, and have me never rule at all?

The air was thick, with power, with tension, with those spidery silver lines that seemed to be the weft of fate itself. I clutched at Zane’s hand in mine, and again was startled by the timber of his light tenor voice against the memory of richer alto that was supposed to go with those scales.

“And I as well. I have sworn to do no more harm save to defend myself, and as Arami of the serpiente that extends to all my people as well. I gave that oath to the heir of the Tuuli Thea, and will give it again when she becomes queen.” He squeezed my hand and gave me a wink, completely at odds with the serious nature of the moment. “Just to make sure it sticks,” he added wryly.

“Enough of this,” my mother said, sounding only like my mother once again. Zane’s wrongness seemed to shattered whatever contest of wills had been building between us--no doubt his intention. “Shardae, this is no place to conduct royal business. If you wish to treat with the serpiente prince further, can we at least move these discussions somewhere more secure?”

“Secure for you,” I heard Adelina mutter, and felt Zane’s spine stiffen. But she had a point.

“We had been intending to spend the week somewhere more neutral,” I said with forced lightness. “The rest of Zane’s guard are already on their way. So unless you intend to invite them all back to the Keep, I think Zane and I are good out here, thanks.”

My mother bristled. “You can hardly expect me to let you spend a week in the wilderness with a serpiente-- Andreios, speak some sense into her.”

I boggled at that. I’d expected her to order me, dismiss me, bodily drag me back to the Keep even. But to entreat Rei?

To my utter shock, Rei took my free hand.

“Until Danica declares me her pair bond, I can only speak as her guard. The Arami has sworn not to harm her. I don’t like it, but it’s not my place to forbid her from doing things I don’t like. I’m sorry, my queen, but your daughter is as headstrong as yourself. No one has ever been able to talk either of you into doing anything you don’t want to. Unless a fight breaks out and I am forced to bodily evacuate her, I don’t think there’s any appeal I can make that I have not already tried.”

Except for that one, I thought, understanding now why he’d taken my hand. The kiss in the ruins hadn’t changed anything for me, but apparently it had been all the go ahead Rei needed to declare himself my pair bond. It made me want to snatch my hand away, but as he’d also said, that was mostly stubbornness. I was grateful for his show of support, and felt powerful with both men on my side. Surely my mother would see now that the tide had indeed shifted, and it was time to let me rule as she kept saying I should.

 “So that’s it then,” she said more than asked. “I just return to the Keep and try to calm the tide of frantic people with the reassurance that you just want to take a little camping trip with the Arami of the serpiente?”

 “I don’t think Danica cares much for the idea of camping,” Zane said with his false cheer. “The woods didn’t seem to agree with her.” To me, he said more quietly, “If your people need you then you should return. We can continue our talks another time. There’s no need to lose what ground we’ve gained here today through stubbornness.”

 I bit back a sigh. “I don’t think you understand my mother. After this little stunt, I’ll be lucky to have only four guards on me at all times. There will be no getting away, and absolutely no way she’ll let you come to me.”

 “Is she queen here or you?” he shot back.

 Fair enough.

 “Prepare the court,” I finally answered her. “Let them know that once Arami Zane’s escort arrives, we will all be returning to the Keep to continue our talks.”

The Ties That Bind Tag list: @thehellinsideyourhead @therecouldbecolorsandlove @adventuresofacreesty @writing-with-melon @rainydaydarling

Raev’s Gen Tag List (should I tag you guys in this? It IS a thing I wrote. I’m gonna say yes unless you guys are like “no of course not we’re sick of hearing about your stupid fic for a twenty year old book XD)

No one has complained yet so yall gonna keep getting tagged :P

List is currently: @lordkingsmith @writinglyra @drbibliophile @mperialscribe @adie-dee @adie-dee @lexiklecksi @writinginslowmotion @raenawrites @apollon-arium @anika-writes

[maximumsnow]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Faith (Airdorf Video Game) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: John Ward (Faith Video Game), Amy Martin (Faith Video Game) Additional Tags: Michael is kinda here too but not the main focus, yet anyway, First game has five endings but here's another one because I don't have problems, Faith Crisis, Other note John is Specifically called A Young Priest so he's like mid-twenties here, Canon typical violence referenced, I've been calling the verse this leads into the demon children au, But I'm not sure how much further I want to go with dedicated writing, So enjoy this and I may or may not come back with more.

Summary:  What if John was able to speak with Amy at the end instead of only having the option to shoot her or leave her to die?

The gun was heavy in John’s hands. There was only a single bullet in it, and the words written in red on the wall made it clear who it was for.

“KILL HER.”

This was the only way to finish the job, wasn’t it? Amy was already too far gone physically to be brought back, and putting her soul to rest was how he had to end it.

Wasn’t it?

That’s what his teachings had taught him. They had been very insistent that there was generally a point of no return, and Amy had crossed it.

Then why would she run? Was it a ruse?

Why was a demon telling him to end her life? That in itself should be a red flag, shouldn’t it?

When had he gotten to the point that killing a child would be the kindest mercy he could offer her?

John knew what the demon possessing her could do. He had been front and center to the performance, and it still haunted his nightmares, despite what he had told the psychologist. The fact that everyone kept telling him it couldn’t have been real only added fuel to the fire of his broken mind.

His reflection felt less and less like him as the days passed.

He shuddered as he stepped out of the broken down house. The woods were eerily quiet outside of the wind blowing through the trees. The white creature that had chased him was nowhere to be seen, and he didn’t hear the telltale rustling of trees that warned him of its coming.

Even if she was still possessed, Amy’s body would still be weak after the confrontation in the attic and throwing herself out of the window. Whatever he did next had to happen now, or all the lives lost would be for naught.

The blood trails were hard to follow, but even when the red blended in with the foliage, the sharp smell of rust would guide him along.

If she wasn’t dead yet, he doubted she would be alive for much longer. Human bodies only had so much blood they could lose, and demons were quick to forget that when playing with their pawns. The consequences were only temporary for them, after all.

He had to finish this. Not break down like he had a year ago.

That was what he told himself as he continued his hunt through the dark woods.

The sound of crashing through the underbrush caught John’s attention, and he swung the gun in that direction and waited with baited breath and a thundering heart.

When a herd of deer ran by, he didn’t ease his stance until silence fell again, and he was sure that whatever had spooked the animals wasn’t coming behind them.

He contemplated going in that direction, on the off chance Amy had gone that way, but the blood trail was too fresh for him to ignore. And the likelihood of finding something else was high.

Eventually, the trees opened into a clearing, and at the far end, he could see Amy. The torn hem of her dress was flecked with blood, and even from this distance, he could see blood seeping through the cuts in her back. She was facing away from him as she staggered towards the woods.

John had to make a choice.

He could shoot her and end it now. He could let her live, and the demon could use her for more death and destruction before she perished. He could leave her, and she would die from her injuries because the demon had already left.

One could never tell which ploy a demon would use to kill their victims. It was often safer to kill a vessel to make sure the demon couldn’t hurt anyone in that form anymore.

But she was a child.

And he wasn’t even a decade older than she was.

Please, God, take this cup away from me.

His eyes were starting to blur.

… When did his face get wet?

Trails of tears were falling down his face as the weight of what he was contemplating fully hit him. The grip on the gun had grown shaky as it pulled him down.

He dropped it when he dropped to his knees.

I can’t do this, Lord.

The safety was still on, thankfully, but the impact made a noise that made the mostly purple blur turn into a brown and purple blur.

When he wiped his eyes, he could see the red void her face had turned into pointed in his direction.

I’m going to die.

The realization should have scared him. Especially since he knew how violently his end would be at her hands. But all he could feel was a vague sense of relief and guilt. It would no longer be in his hands to do this, but everything indicated that he had failed her again.

Unless…

“Amy, is that you?” He didn’t mean for his voice to catch on her name, but he knew he was throwing a hail Mary.

“You’re that priest? Why are you...” He wasn’t sure how she could see given her condition, but the way her head moved indicated that she was looking him up and down. He could see her body tense as he assumed she saw the gun.

She backed away from him, but her legs did not agree with the movement and she fell to the ground. “It’s gone! I swear!” She started to scoot herself backwards. She probably didn’t think he’d believe her.

Did he?

The distortion in her voice was gone, but that was something the demon could easily turn off when it wanted to. That was how it convinced the officers that what happened the year prior was a vast misunderstanding gone horribly wrong.

John’s arms refused to move. “I-”

Why can’t I do this? I can’t fail her again. I can’t. I can’t. I can’tIcan’tIcan’t-

“Watch out!” Amy’s voice cracked as she suddenly jumped to her feet. The movement wasn’t smooth given her condition, but she started bolting in his direction.

He couldn’t do it. Instead he fell forwards onto his hands in fear as he waited for the end.

That’s when he heard it. There was rustling behind him, and he was again reminded of the other creature hunting in the woods.

“FAAAaaaATHhHEEeeeERRRrr!” The cry activated the habit of yanking his crucifix out, and he swung it around behind him as he tried to turn and stand at the same time.

It wasn’t necessary.

As the creature leapt towards him, a red arm swung out over him, caught its face, and threw it against the ground.

His eyes traced the arm back to its owner, and it went back to Amy’s face. The connection made him scramble away from her, but she collapsed as the arm retracted back into the void.

“Leave her, demon!” He cried out as he pointed the crucifix towards Amy. At this point, he wasn’t expecting the command to work, but the gun wasn’t practical to grab for now, and the protection the crucifix offered was better than nothing.

“Purge the demon, now! Before he gets back up!” She called out instead. She wasn’t jerking away from the cross, but she wasn’t really in a state to run, either.

… He couldn’t point the cross at both of them, and the tangled limbs on the white creature were already starting to scramble to stand up again.

He had to take a chance.

John finally stood up tall and pointed the crucifix towards the demon possessed creature and started to recite the Latin that Father Allred had forced him to memorize. Even if his own faith in a higher power was fading, his faith in the words was strong.

The creature caught on to what he was doing, and the unnaturally long arms and legs started to crawl backwards.

Until the red arm once again appeared and latched onto a wrist that was far too thin for a creature this size.

It struggled against the grip and screamed a wordless cry that reverberated in John’s ears, but he could vaguely still hear Amy over the horribly loud noise. “Keep going!”

He kept speaking the words of the rite even as his ears started to ring, and he persevered even as a clump of dirt was chucked in his direction.

As he finished the last word, the screaming and flailing suddenly stopped as the creature suddenly dropped limp.

The red arm disappeared as well, and John could fully take in the scene. The white vaguely humanoid creature was laid out like puppet with the strings cut, and the glowing red eyes were shut as if they were asleep. Amy’s bloody form was nearby, and since she was face down, it was easy to forget what had happened to her.

She hadn’t reacted to the crucifix even when the creature had pulled her into the line of fire, and he now had to consider what that meant. As well as figuring out whether the rite had worked on the other… what he had to guess what had once been a human.

Neither reacted to the cross being pointed at them now, and even if the host appeared unconscious, demons did not like holy symbols being directed towards them.

The gun was close by, he remembered. Even if it only had one bullet… He stopped.

Instead he stowed the crucifix away and stood over Amy with an offered hand. “Can you stand?”

There was a moment of silence, and he suddenly feared that maybe it was too late. Then a quiet voice said, “Yeah. It hurts though...” She turned over and weakly reached for his hand.

He pulled her up and offered her a shoulder to lean against. “You lost a lot of blood. I have some bandages in my car, but we have to get there first.”

“What about...” She trailed off as she looked towards the unconscious person.

John weighed his options, before lightly pushing her away. She got the hint and balanced herself so that she could stand without him. In a move that he only learned from one of his college friends, he picked them in a fireman’s hold. The hands and feet were only barely off the ground, but despite the their relatively large size, they were much lighter than he expected.

Whatever that demon had done to this person’s physical body was extreme. He highly doubted this would ever come undone. Much like what had happened to Amy’s face.

Thankfully, Amy could manage without his aid, because even if the other formerly demon possessed person was lighter than expected, he was not someone who lifted for a living.

The trek back to the car was extremely quiet. He had so many questions to potentially ask Amy, but he didn’t think she would be able to give straight answers right now.

He also had questions for the person passed out on his shoulders.

The car was a welcome sight on the side of the road, and for the time being, he laid the person down in the back seat. It was cramped, to say the least, but there was a chance that someone could drive by, and possibly freak out if they saw them.

As for Amy, he bandaged the worst of the wounds, but the first aid kit he kept in his car was not meant to handle so many at once.

“We should probably go to the hospital,” He said as he patched up a nasty gash on her arm.

“How are we going to explain this?” She said with a wave at her face. If her face had simply been mutilated, it would have been difficult, but the red void made it impossible to explain to an everyday person.

He sighed. “I don’t know. But you jumped out of a window-”

Amy interrupted, “I know. I was in the backseat of my own body.” The reminder made her voice tremble.

There was a visible flinch as he muttered an apology. Instead he tried to go back to the original topic. “We can try a mask or something, but most places don’t like it if they can’t see your face,” he mused aloud.

“You know that won’t work.”

“… I know.”

With the worst taken care of, she sat in the passenger front seat, and he got in the driver’s side.

Night was starting to fall as he followed the winding roads back to the town he lived in, and Amy passed out within a few minutes of the drive starting.

With both of his passengers out cold, he could think on the last few hours without interruption. He hadn’t needed to take a life tonight, and he was grateful for that above all else. He hadn’t signed up to be a priest in order to kill people.

… Frankly, he hadn’t really signed up to fight demons like this, either, but that was what his training had been focused on, for some reason.

While he once would have attributed his success to Providence, now he wasn’t so sure. There were a lot of lucky circumstances today, for sure, but a part of him was. Uneasy. About what was to happen next. He wasn’t considered experienced enough to say that the exorcisms were successful, but they had to be if they weren’t reacting to the crucifix anymore, right?

He wasn’t sure even what the next move could be for Amy and the other person, but he had a few contacts in the Church that were still willing to speak with him.

Maybe someone else with more experience would know what to do.

[mythologyfolklore]

Don’t hurt Demeter’s trees. I’m serious. Don’t.

(Aka, why messing with the goddess of nurture, agriculture and fertility is a stupid idea)

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Demeter loved her trees, she loved the Dryades who lived there and she loved their merry dancing in her sacred groves.

And she would be damned, if she let anyone take that cheer away from her!

But lately she had no reason to be cheerful.

No, it wasn't about Persephone; it was summer, thus she was here with her mother.

Oh no.

Demeter and the other gods were pissed at Erysikhthon, the king of a wealthy kingdom in Thessaly.

He was insolent and scorned the gods. None of the Olympians had ever received sacrifices from him, despite the prosperity they had bestowed onto the kingdom.

So they were holding council on what to do with him.

Ares had just suggested to flat out kill him in the most brutal manner to make an example, when Persephone entered the hall and informed her father, that a group of visitors asked for an audience.

The Olympians exchanged curious glances and murmured among another.

The King of the Gods nodded and asked his daughter to show the visitors in.

Persephone went back outside, only to return to the assembly with a group of visibly distraught and black-clad Dryades and, to everybody's surprise, with Nemesis, the dark and inescapable goddess of righteous indignation and retribution.

Zeus frowned: “I see, you must have been greatly wronged, if punishing Nemesis is with you. What happened?”

The Dryades started to chatter and rave all at once and all the Olympians could make out was “Erysikhthon”, “sacrilege” and “justice”.

Nemesis held up her hands. “Settle down, girls. Let me handle this.”

They fell into mournful silence and the daughter of Nyx stepped forth, her black sword in hand.

Her floating black hair and blazing eyes gave away her subdued wrath and her raven wings were partially spread.

“Hail to you, King of the Gods, Champion of Justice!”, she addressed Zeus. “And you happy Olympians. Hear me! And avenge a wrong that has been committed not only against the Nymphai behind me, but also against All-Nourishing Demeter.”

Demeter's face darkened. “Explain!”

Nemesis turned to her with a grim mien. “These are the Dryades¹ from your sacred grove at Dotion. And they are mourning their sister, the Hamadryas of the ancient and giant oak you loved so dearly. Erysikhthon went into your grove with several armed men, felled her tree and heeded not her warnings, nor the pleas of her sisters.”

One of the mourning Dryades darted forward and prostrated herself before Demeter's throne.

“Hear us, generous Demeter, Noble Goddess, Erynis²!”, she clamoured tearfully. “He murdered our beloved sister, just so he could build a roof for his new banquet hall! Oh Corn-Mother, we beseech you, avenge our fallen sister! Give us justice! Give us revenge! We cannot stay at that grove, as long as that godless villain walks around unpunished!”

Demeter rose from her throne and nodded.

“And punished he shall be”, she guaranteed the distraught Nymphai. “Now return from whence you came. And rest secure in the knowledge, that his will be a most horrible fate.”

The Dryades bowed to everyone and saw themselves out, pacified by the promise of retribution.

Nemesis lingered. “Do you have a plan, Potnia³?”, she asked the corn goddess. “Do you need my assistance?”

Demeter declined: “No, thank you, Nemesis. I already have the perfect punishment for him.”

The goddess of retribution nodded and left – without bowing to the Olympians.

For a few minutes the council sat in silence.

Then Zeus turned to his sister: “So, what is that perfect punishment you meant?”

The golden-haired goddess elaborated: “The fact, that Erysikhthon felled my tree to build himself a dining hall gives me an idea. So he wants to hold feasts in this hall that has my favourite Nymphe's blood all over it? He wants to hold banquets? Well, then hold them he shall! I will command Eris' daughter Limos to inflict him with cruel hunger! He shall feast and feast and never be sated! He shall starve in front of full tables!”

Zeus nodded. “Very well. A cruel punishment for a cruel man. Good luck, sister.”

Demeter nodded at him and left the assembly to set her plan into motion.

She summoned the strongest mountain Nymphai she knew and out of them chose a red-haired Oreias.

“There is a barren, frosty landscape at the furthest outskirts of Scythia. A grim landscape, where nothing grows”, she told the Oreias. “That desert is home to Limos, the Starvation-Bringer. What I want you to do is take my chariot and my Drakones and travel to that bleak place. Find Limos and give her an order from me: bid her to haunt Erysikhthon, king of Thessaly and not let my power of abundance stop her. I want her to fill him with her emptiness and unquenchable hunger. Good luck.”

The Nymphe thanked her and mounted the chariot and took to the skies with it.

And so the brave Oreias followed the directions given to her by Demeter.

It took her a while to get there, but when she did, it wasn't long until she found Limos.

The personification of hunger was practically crawling across the rocky wasteland, plucking the scarce weeds.

Even from afar, the sight of her almost made the poor Nymphe throw up with how horrific it was.

Limos was all skin and bones, her stomach was practically nonexistent and her teeth were rotting, her hair was thin and coarse and her skin a deathly shade of grey. Her ankles, elbows and feet were swollen and clubby, instead of fingers she had claws and her eyes were void of colour, life or even hope. Her ribs stood out of her chest like small tombstones.

She truly was hunger and starvation incarnate.

Not daring to come close to the Kakodaimona⁴, the Nymphe called out to her: “Limos!”

The wretched creature looked up and smiled hideously.

“I am as old as mankind”, Limos rasped. “But never before has anyone other than my mother and siblings visited me in my barren home. Welcome, child! I would offer you hospitality, but I have nothing to offer at all. What can I do for you?”

The Oreias called back: “I'm here at the bidding of Demeter!”

“The Corn-Mother? What could the Giver of Plenty possibly want from me?”

Demeter, as the goddess of nourishment and prosperity, and Limos, goddess of hunger and famine, were immortal adversaries and polar opposites, hence they could never meet in person.

The Oreias gave the Kakodaimona Demeter's order and after receiving Limos' answer (a slow nod), hurried to leave, for the Starvation-Bringer's presence was beginning to cause a gnawing feeling in her stomach.

Demeter was satisfied, when her messenger returned her chariot and informed her of Limos' consent.

That very night, the daughter of Eris entered the bedroom of Erysikhthon and bent over his sleeping form. Limos opened his mouth, placed her hands onto his forehead and stomach and filled him with her emptiness and unquenchable hunger, just as Demeter had ordered. Then she vanished, leaving the mortal to feel the gnawing sensation even in his sleep.

In the next months, Erysikhthon proceeded to devour his entire fortune, spending all the resources he had on food.

When he had no more money left, he went on to sell his daughter into slavery.

In her peril she prayed to Poseidon, who had once been her lover and received from him the gift of shapeshifting. In this manner she escaped every attempt at being sold and finally decided to run away altogether, away from her godless father.

Eventually his hunger drove him to digging his teeth into his own flesh and he died a most cruel death.

Demeter was the Giver of Plenty, the nurturer of the world.

Angering her always lead to suffering and misery beyond comprehension, for she was as unyielding and merciless as she was generous.

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1) Dryades are tree nymphs. Hamadryades are the nymphs of oak trees specifically. 2) Erynis ("The Fury/The Wrathful One"), one of Demeter's epithets. 3) Potnia ("Mistress/Lady/Queen"), one of Demeter's (and Persephone's) epithets. 4) The Kakodaimones ("Wicked Spirits") are malevolent spirits begotten by Eris, the goddess of strife and discord.