#but it mostly about how in fanfics six year olds are treated like adults

[ratsunie]

do you ever read fanfictions and think that some of you dont have an a idea how the six year olds behave? like sorry but ive seen soo much fanfics when kakashi or naruto or anyone is fucking six or five and is treated like a thirty year old man. and i get it a lot of them are time travel tropes and stuff and they're not really six year olds BUT why everybody treats them like they fucking adults ! THEYRE LITERALLY SIX ?? theyre stupid small kids ...... they can't make life decisions for themselfs ! what the fuck you

[davidmann95]

A different theory on the Master of Masters’ Identity

The consensus at this point has definitely settled on that the Master of Masters is someone we know - when Back Cover dropped I would’ve guessed he was a whole new figure, but in the wake of what III pulls at the end I’d say it’s reached a point where he’s probably gotta be a familiar face for it to feel like he’s been appropriately set up (though I’d also kind of dig if he was simply a resident of the ‘realistic’ world of Verum Rex who was screwing with the Disney fairytaleland). At this point, the two big theories are that it’s a time-travelling eeeeeeevil future Sora or that Demyx has been pulling a very, very long con, and while I’m not sure if either or both of them started as a joke (I swear I recall ‘evil future Sora’ being an idea tossed around for multiple mysterious figures in the past), they’ve got serious traction now.

I’m sort of ignoring the possibility of Demyx here; consider that a parallel track to what I’m thinking, as opposed to Sora which I’ll discuss a bit directly as a compare-and-contrast with my theory. I actually think it’s not totally unreasonable, but after Luxu, it’d be real, REAL hard to pull that particular trick and not have it feel like it was coming up with diminishing returns. Not impossible, but hard. And for that matter I think it being Sora could also work; if nothing else it’d be interesting to see how that guy of all people gets from THAT point A to THAT point B, which I suppose is the core of the appeal.

But assuming a couple of givens - that it’s someone we know, that the Master of Masters is indeed a very, very bad guy even if he’s doing what he’s doing for what he might consider good reasons, and that he’s either the endgame opponent of the entire franchise or that he’ll play a critical role in said finale - while I’d agree he’s a time-traveler who’s broken bad (in a series so much about growing up, what’s a better final opponent than the threat that you ‘grow up’ in all the worst, most cynical ways?), I don’t think he’s Sora.

I think the Master of Masters is more likely to be Riku.

I’ll list off what I’ve got below in two categories, the first being evidence. I don’t think I’ve got any real indisputable smoking guns here, but to be fair, unless you consider MoM and Demyx both pointing at people to be a clincher neither does anyone else, and I’d at least say there’s enough that if I’m right people won’t really be able to say that it wasn’t appropriately seeded, with one or two points I think really do solidly support Riku in a way that doesn’t quite fit with anyone else that we know of. After that, I’ll go into why I think it’s the more interesting option character-wise/thematically.

Evidence

* Right at the top, regarding the one bit of physical evidence we have: if we’re treating Sora and Riku as the only two serious candidates given only they’d pack the necessary punch, the Master definitely sounds more like an adult version of the latter than the former, at least going by the English voices. For that matter Ray Chase also voices Noctis, clearly the main aesthetic model for Yozora who’s himself repeatedly and explicitly compared in-universe physically to Riku. A stretch, but between Xehanort and Eraqus being Star Wars vs. Star Trek in BBS and then Spider-Man vs. Venom in III, it’s perfectly fair game to declare that Nomura enjoys playing those kinds of meta games with the castings.

* Obviously the Master’s personality doesn’t quite line up with anyone we know, but while his degree of over-the-topness is unique, as is that he speaks like a ‘real’ person instead of a Disney or Final Fantasy character (and given Xigbar, Genie, and Hades all act a lot wittier and more casual than the other characters and the Master’s probably in that 1000+ year old club too, we might be able to assume that’s just a trait it takes awhile to pick up in the universe of Kingdom Hearts), most of his other traits can be traced back to Sora or Riku. He’s playful and encouraging like the former, sarcastic and biting and full of himself like the latter used to be. It’s been acknowledged more than once that the two have been picking up each others’ personality traits, with Riku picking up some of Sora’s exuberance and free-spiritedness (though he noticeably tended towards the expressive, dramatic side all on his own when lost in his own darkness) while it’s hard not to imagine Sora’s gotten some of his snark in his attempts at being more like Riku. But the big Master of Masters personality thing when he’s actually apparently being sincere and serious? That “you ultimately need to do what your heart feels is right”? Sora may be the one to say May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key after he learned about the phrase, but Riku’s the one who in both II and III argues for the right of allies to seemingly lay down their lives in service of where their hearts guide them.

* Biggie: the Master of Masters has a connection to Dream Eaters, being able to create the Chirithy. Riku’s been one.

* Another biggie: the Master of Masters presumably carries a great deal of light in him, since he’s able to pass among the other inhabitants of Daybreak Town and seems to value it when waxing mournfully about events to come, but given what he goes on to do he surely harbors a great deal of darkness as well. So much so that it would be difficult to not notice, especially in a world where it was an anomaly, unless he was able to hide it where it couldn’t be felt by others. Contained within himself alongside his light, in a way that very pointedly only one character we’ve seen has been able to do.

* Not as big, but still notable: if there are physical differences between the Master and Riku, or if the Master as some have speculated has lived through the generations by possessing others like Luxu, it’s worth noting Riku’s worn another body before himself.

* A stretch post-III where it turns out acquiring new Keyblades isn’t the biggest deal, but it’s worth pointing out that Riku giving Kairi Destiny’s Embrace is still the only time we’ve seen someone directly give someone a Keyblade the way the Master apparently gave them to the Foretellers, rather than potentially bequeathing one in an Inheritance.

* While the Master is manipulative in general, it’s his treatment of Aced that most clearly stands out as him setting the stage for these friends to tear each other apart, and it’s him playing on his students’ desire for power and significance just as Maleficent once played Riku. If it’s Riku under that hood pulling the strings of impressionable youth, he hardly could have had a better example to follow.

* Speaking of the Foretellers, each of their names corresponds with the Latin title of one of the seven deadly sins. The one that doesn’t belong with one of the six and therefore presumably lies with the Master himself would be Superbia - as eagle-eyed players have noticed partially scrawled on the mysterious Black Box - meaning Pride. And if there’s one sin that most clearly defined Riku at his absolute lowest moment, it’s pride.

* The Master of Masters acts in a way that suggests he has some manner of not entirely malevolent intentions, even if he’s perfectly willing to use the worst of means to get there. And again, when at his worst, Riku’s the one who tends towards Going Too Far for Good Reasons.

* It can be reasonably assumed the Master has some sort of massive, cosmic role of significance given all these other mighty Keyblade wielders hold him in unquestioning reverence, and while we don’t know what his power might be, it’s presumably tied in some way to Kingdom Hearts. Riku meanwhile was originally going to be the one to receive the Kingdom Key, a blade that, while it hasn’t been directly acknowledged yet, clearly has a connection to the X-Blade, marking him from jump as a figure of tremendous import above perhaps every other major character until he botched it and Sora wound up with that gig.

* Assuming the Master of Masters wants to get at Kingdom Hearts - and of course he does, what else do the villains ever want in these - and’ll get closer than anyone else because he’s the final villain, it means Riku wasn’t wrong in the first game when he said “It’s up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world.”

* The Dark Riku alongside Xigbar in the Keyblade Graveyard is the only apparent instance of pair-the-spares when it comes to the villains in the final battle rather than having any thematic connection...unless it’s actually the (offshoot of a past version of the) Master of Masters and Luxu. In fact, including Ansem since he starts off as part of that fight, that brawl would then be a reprise of you battling the first forms encountered by Sora of the three biggest villains in the entire series.

* Speaking of the Dark Riku, his crack about the Mark of Mastery is notable in this context, especially since it comes out of nowhere and Riku doesn’t seem to know entirely what he means. Was that something deliberate?

* And speaking of Xigbar, I’ve already seen fanfics and whatnot centering around Sora-is-the-Master retconning in that Luxu was actually ‘babysitting’ his master’s past self. Worth noting in that light that he spends almost as much time around Riku as Sora: he meets Sora personally face-to-face at the beginning of II and III, but every other time they run into each other it’s when Riku’s right nearby, whether in an upper level of the Castle chamber in their fight in II or fighting both in III or Riku being in Sora’s dream during their DDD confrontation (mostly stuff that’s clearly just meant in the sense of ‘Riku and Xigbar often show up during important plot stuff, of course they’d end up nearby a few times’, but it’d be easy for the creators to retcon as Luxu keeping an eye on him while misdirecting to make it seem like Sora was his real target). But as opposed to his loud, scenery-chewing confrontations with Sora, he was trailing Riku in the Land of Dragons once upon a time - the first time we ever see him face-to-face - quietly in a way that isn’t usually his style even given his noted skill at recon. And if Riku’s the Master, Riku being the last one to say something to him prior to his ‘death’, declaring him unworthy of the Keyblade when a version of him will go on to entrust him with the Keyblade most important to his plans, gets a major charge.

* As someone’s pointed out since, this, which Nomura joked is the sort of thing only the Master of Masters would do (though A Fragmentary Passage really has so far been the odd man out in the secret movies in how little has played out of it; I guess Sora vanishing must have been knowing foreshadowing in retrospect, but a lot of the rest hasn’t come to fruition. Abandoned plans for the series, or ones yet to materialize?).

* Not actually evidence, but if he was the Master then the end of DDD where he mutters to himself “I’m...a Keyblade master?” is another bit that would take on a delightfully ominous air with the benefit of hindsight.

Thematic reasoning

In terms of character, I feel like this opens up considerably more in a much more organic fashion than the possibility of Sora being the big bad. Not that that wouldn’t obviously offer a great deal, but to do so would involve reshaping or inverting a great deal of the character and thematic arcs we’ve seen thus far, while having it all come down to the final fight for Riku’s soul and by extension the world of light as a whole would by contrast do a lot to bring things full circle.

For starters, in the ‘full circle’ sense, along with Riku being the first major adversary of the series (while Maleficent was pulling the strings, Riku was the one dogging your heels, the rival with a personal stake in the conflict at hand) the most prominent imagery now associated with Xehanort, Luxu, and the Master of Masters began for the players with Riku. The Gazing Eye, the outfit and fighting posture later taken up by Vanitas (a connection that remains tantalizingly unexplored to this day), the dark but unmarked Heart symbol of the X-blade, the very concept that there could be multiple Keyblades; he’s even one of the two we see wearing black cloaks in their first appearance. In the world of the game those are all forces that battered Riku about amidst his fall that had been set in motion before he was even born, but as a story experienced by the players those symbols all trace their origins back to him as the first, most personal antagonist. While he’s redeemed himself about as much as one person possibly could - and I’ll say right here that I think when it comes down to it he’ll grit his teeth and stick to his guns on that rather than becoming whatever the Master is - he is and always will be inextricably linked with the series’ imagery for the forces of darkness in a way no other character can be. Dig down past all the layers of continuity and Norts to the most basic idea of what a Bad Guy is in the world of Kingdom Hearts is, and a possessed Riku in front of Hollow Bastion’s keyhole is what’s waiting at the bottom. Any feasible last boss is already on some level an offshoot of that.

But that’s just why it would be a nice clean fit in terms of visual symbolism. More substantially, the Master of Masters being a potential future version of him immediately answers the question of what to do with the dude character-wise. Yozora makes it very clear he’s still going to be important going forward, but as III also made clear, his existing character arc has been closed. He’s fought his way back into the light, been willing to sacrifice that light in himself and any hope of returning home to help the friend he once betrayed, still found salvation, came to terms with the person he was and wanted to be, and was recognized as having mastered his power and his heart. His story could in every way that matters be done, but obviously it isn’t, which means there must still be something for him to deal with; something more than saving Sora, which while as serious as it gets is still for him old hat.

(Going into Sora for a bit: him being the Master of Masters could no doubt be fascinating, in the self-reflection it would induce in Sora, in the conceptual scale of the threat, in the horror it would induce in those close to him, and in Riku in being put on the other side of the equation of having to save his friend from himself. But even aside from how radical a departure that would be personality-wise, it’s a prospect that doesn’t really address Sora’s existing fears or flaws. He’s filled with doubt, yes, but regarding his perceived lack of strength rather than a simmering moral rot; his darkness when glimpsed in a few of his forms seems to be something feral rather than actively malevolent, and he already has a plot-significant counterpart to explore the darkness in himself in Vanitas. Perhaps a desire for greater strength to protect his friends could be written as leading to him losing his way to the extent necessary to pull such a 180, but that’s already Riku and Terra’s misstep to pull themselves up from. It’s shocking in a way that’s enticing, absolutely, but I think part of why it would be shocking is that without either majorly reframing some basic stuff or retreading well-worn ground, it simply doesn’t fit as well as you want it to.)

But if Riku sees a familiar face under the hood, and looks at the blue eyes that once sat in his sword and in the mirror and realizes that there’s no outside force making him do terrible things to people he loves this time? He’s faced with a threat new to the series: that in the end, redemption might fail. Whether there’s timeline shenanigans that mean this guy lived a different life, if he backslid, if he’s clear-headedly making decisions he believes are for the best, or if he just had a really bad day that knocked him off the wagon; the counterpoint to the idea that there’s a light in the dark - the way III demonstrated in such an effective way in the Keyblade Graveyard with the endings of so many enemies - is that there’s a darkness buried down no matter what that still has a chance of breaking through no matter how mightily you’ve steeled yourself against it. It’s a completely different, far more visceral and meaningful fear than the idea of Sora being the one to break bad: in that case, the idea is captivating because it’s so alien and foreign and bizarre. Here, it’s frightening because Riku knows exactly how it could happen, and he’s grown enough to feel the shame and horror of that possibility when he’s already had to live with the consequences of it once. The Organization spent III trying to poke holes in the basic tenants our heroes live by, and this is the ultimate manifestation of that spiritual challenge - that the growth our heroes have seen might come undone by their own hands. And Riku fighting desperately to prove he can remain the person he’s fought so hard to become, and Sora and Kairi fighting to save him along with themselves and each other, is the final conflict.

It’s not just a prospect that would bring urgency back into Riku’s character, it’s a possibility that would reverberate through the whole cast with a severity that it simply couldn’t with Sora. Obviously Kairi and Mickey would stand with Riku and believe he would manage to turn out alright no matter what (though that loyalty is still complicated given an evil/morally-dubious Riku would likely go after Sora - he may have already if he had something to do with bringing him to the world of Verum Rex), but what about the rest of them? They all believe in Sora and his inherent goodness and owe him their lives, but for most Riku’s simply some guy they know, a friend of a friend. Roxas was a victim of his darkness even when he was trying to do the right thing. Terra’s already likely consumed with guilt and could likely see the prospect of his hand-picked successor once again falling to darkness like he did to simply be another on the list of his own sins. Ven might look at him when in his dark outfit and be reminded of his brother. And while Axel knows friends can come back to you, he’s a pragmatic dude who’s seen just how much they can change in the first place. When the battle lines are being drawn in a war even greater than Xehanort’s, would every last one of them really stand with him when they’ve been told he’ll betray them, as he’s betrayed those closest to him before? A prophecy of Sora going wrong would just be a catalyst to bind our heroes closer together to prevent that. That Riku might turn on them could strike at the fissure that would threaten to blow them apart, or if it doesn’t that’s an even greater display of good faith on their part than it would be with Sora. Hell, even on the antagonistic end, Maleficent as an opponent seeking to usurp the Masters’ ambitions is an immeasurably different conflict if she’s up against a Riku who’s gone down the path she first steered him towards.

At the end of the day, the question is why this would be worth making the story of Kingdom Hearts about when Sora is still supposed to be the main character. I laid out earlier some of why I don’t think Sora as the Master would work, but the real deal is this: not only is the Master of Masters a counterpoint to Sora, the Least Disney character in this universe whereas even when next to Mickey Mouse the spiky kid is distinctly the Most Disney, but more importantly to be the Master of Masters would undo the last of Sora’s original premise. For all that he’s become, he was still born, as Xehanort put it, a dull, ordinary boy, surrounded by Chosen Ones and unique entities of every stripe who joined their ranks and ultimately led them purely on the strength of his decency and determination. Riku was literally a Chosen One courtesy of Terra, blessed with one of the ultimate Keyblades and tearing the sky down by sheer force of his will to be more than what one world could contain, the vessel meant to open the Door To Darkness and the one who conquered his own darkness in a way no one else could, who in the end was selected as Master. He is Maximum Protagonist, in every way a Figure Of Destiny, whereas Sora is so much not that, so profoundly the spammer in the seemingly inevitable works of fate, that the first time he meets the first trilogies’ main villain the guy comments on how unremarkable he seems to be, and the last time they meet Sora’s ultimate rebuttal is against the idea of destiny as a straightforward thing any one person can control. For Sora to actually be the guy writing destiny, to have always really been the most important of them all, is to undo that. For him to fight the ultimate figure of destiny, for that to be the guy who was his counterpoint from the very first scene before your Xehanort’s and Roxas’s and Ven’s and Vanitas’s and Luxu’s - the cool guy and fighter and dreamer and Serious Leader-Type Important One to Sora’s cheery, insecure dork in shoes the wrong size who seemed born to be the sidekick - is to bring that story full circle. And it’s to give him the chance to do the one thing he fought for in I and II that he was never able to do himself: save Riku. Because saving his friends is what Sora’s story, and all of Kingdom Hearts, always has to come down to in the end.

[thirstyforred]

Forlorn IV - Trick or Treat

written for @tyrias-library Halloween Fanfic Week 2019

and now something completely different, also the whole thing is now on ao3

"Lemmie just set up the recording and we can start..."

"So? What exactly are we writing here? Like an interview or article, or something?"

"Just a short article about your plans for Halloween. But I want to try this new recording crystal in case this is the day I finally make you spill the beans... "

"You're not my therapist..."

[barelly audible] "Thanks the Six, I'm not. [normal volume] Halloween! Do you celebrate it and if yes, how? What are your Halloween traditions?"

"Well, I celebrate it, but I think it's more a krytan tradition."

"I see... Oswald Thorn is a figure from human history, but he also every year invades the Lion's Arch. Wouldn't you say that it's more like we all have to deal with him?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's just that growing up in Ascalon, ghosts kind of lost their novelty on me."

"Wait, aren't you a norn?..."

"It's kind of a stupid question."

"I'm sorry, it's just..."

"Nah, it's ok. I was born in Hoelbrak, but my parents were trades so we moved around a lot. Mostly in Ascalon, you know trading back and forth with the charr."

"I see... We will have to set up another meeting for that story. Back to Halloween, now... So, you don't feel any kind of thrill when the Mad Realm mixes with our old Tyria, that's it?"

"Not really. You know, adult life is already so goddamn weird. The powerful spirit of a guy wearing a pumpkin on his head decides to invade us for 3 weeks just to tell his lame jokes? This might as well just happen. But I try to have some good time anyway. Eat an unholy amount of sweets and beating the Mad King in "Mad Kings Says"."

"So, in the end, you do celebrate like any other tyrian."

[laugh] "Yeah, I think we all, all citizens of Tyria, now need some kind of therapy. Shit goes weird all the time and we're like "Oh, it's just Tuesday".”

"Do you also wear costumes?"

"Of course, dressing up is so much fun! Last year I did the Lunatic Court with my friends, but for this year I'm still not set on a single idea. I heard that Palawa Joko is getting popular."

"Sexy Joko?"

"Is there any other Joko than Sluty Joko? [laugh] No, that would be in bad taste. And also I don't want to be killed on the spot if Mad King sees me."

"Oh, so the gossips are true? They hate each other?"

"Ooh, don't even get me started... There's this whole mascarade going on to keep any news that we defeated Joko, from Thorn's ears. If he ever hears about his beloved archnemesis being actually dead, he would invade us for real. [beat] Could you not print this part? I'm too young to be beheaded."

"Of course. You say you have some other ideas for a costume, care to share? Is it Bloody Prince Thorn?"

"The twinkiest twink? Nah, I was actually thinking about Mr. Gum Drops."

"Pardon, who?"

"Gum Drops. Mad King Thorn's invisible pet pony. [beat] Don't look at me like that, half of Lion's Arch will be mummies or skeletons or other shit. I'm trying to be innovative."

"Commander. If you wish to dress up as an invisible horse..."

"Pony..."

"Pony... so be it, but with all due respect: that's the worst idea I have ever heard. And remember I heard a lot of your bad ideas."

"I could make it sexy, you know."

"Invisible pony? I truly doubt."

"You're the worst interviewer, you know it?"

"And yet, I'm the only one that manages to turn your rambling into readable content."

[muttering] "And what you're dressing up as this year? Steve the labyrinths nightmare?"

"No, my fiance and I are doing Tequatl the Sunless, he will move front legs and head, and I take care of the back and wings."

"Nerds..."

"Well... You said that Mr. Pony was only one of your ideas. What was the other?"

"Bria the Ascalonian necromancer. She lures, kills and then eats cubs in the Iron Marches."

[barely audible] "That's fucking obscure. [normal volume] Very in your style. Anyway, I think that's enough for today, it supposed to be only a short piece. Editors need extra space from this year's reprint of Mad King's story. You want to see next week, to start on that "Norn in the Ascalon" story? Though I have a feeling it will be more than a single article."

"No, tomorrow we're set to Gorthmar Valley, and then to beat the shit out of Jormag. I'll send you a word once we get back. Bye!"

"Of course, see ya! [long beat] Wait, did she say Jormag?"

[cherryblossomcheesecake]

How Rare & Beautiful: Chapter 2 - A FFXV OC Fanfic

Getting kinda generous with the chapters here. Two days in a row now, but fair warning, this is only because I'm on reading week and I'm actually balancing assignments well right now. We're still kinda building up Soo-Min as a character in this chapter but hopefully if all goes well, next chapter will feature some familiar faces. I'm also trying to keep to a consistent word count, anywhere between 1,700 to 2,000 is what I how to write per chapter, besides special chapters that just have to exceed that limit. This is mostly done for the readers benefit do y'all can get chapters faster, while being an obtainable goal for me. Hope you enjoy this new chapter. I highly recommend that you listen to "frostfall" on youtube as it was this chapter's inspiration and complements it well. WORD COUNT: 1,805 words POSTED: 02.21.17 Master List Previous Chapter

Frostfall - Jeremy Soule

I let Miss Renata fuss over me for the next day before she allowed me to be around the other children again. Even then, if the other children were being too loud around me, they were shooed away by the old woman or her husband.

I took refuge in the books the couple kept around the house and occasionally the newspaper, if Mr Faustus was finished with them for the day. Through them, I had learned that I had ended up in a realm called Eos, and was currently living in Insomnia, the Crown city of the kingdom of Lucis.

In order to help me "remember", Miss Renata had gone over my details on file with me. In this world, I had been born to some Goryean immigrants and left on the foster home doorstep at 9 months old. The old couple had named me Cassia when I was brought here 8 years ago, but at the thought of using a name that was not my own, I demanded to use the name I knew as my own. With a lot of grumbling and sighing on the old couple's part, they reluctantly changed my name to Soo-Min.

While I had been recovering from my head injury, the other children living in the foster home had attempted to get me to participate in their games. I tried to be involved as best I could and play the part of an eight year old, but more often than not I found myself nose deep in a book about the history of Lucis and the Royal family.

But Miss Renata and Mr Faustus were concerned for me, and how reclusive I was becoming. The elderly couple went out of their way to try and speak with me, to get me involved with the other children's games. I only smiled and asked for more books to read. Eventually, the couple gave up and began giving me books in place of dolls and games. The other children also gave up in trying to include me in games, unable to come up with something that would hold my interest for longer than five minutes

Every once in awhile, there would be a hype about how potential adopters would be stopping by and take a child home. But I never really took part in it; I was a strange kid who wanted to read instead of play, and more often than not, the couple usually wasn't interested in adopting an immigrant.

It was one of those days where a couple was coming to potentially adopt, and the house was in a frenzy trying to get everyone and everything in order. I had dressed nicely as Miss Renata had requested and set up the dining room table with some refreshments with one of the older girls earlier this morning.

I sat on a couch in the sitting room, reading a battered copy of The Cosmogony, in an attempt to learn about the beliefs of the people of Eos. The Astrals were a fascinating subject and I was so thoroughly engrossed in the old tome that I was unaware of someone sitting down beside me.

"I always found that the young people never truly appreciated the legends of the Six like they used to. It's refreshing to see a child so engrossed in their tales." I startled at the sound of the stranger's voice, looking away from the book to my left.

Sitting on the left end of the couch was a man somewhere in his late thirties, wearing a casual suit as he smiled gently at me. His hair was a golden shade of blonde, with kind green eyes staring down at me. I jolted as I realized that he was waiting for me to respond.

"Oh, um… I like reading just about anything, especially since I hit my head a month ago and can't remember what was taught in school." I explained quietly, looking down at the book that lay in my lap.

"What would your favourite genre of reading be? Mine would probably be crime novels, if I'm being truly honest." the man stated with ease, leaning an elbow against the arm of the couch.

"Probably history and the Cosmogony. Since they're both interesting and important, of course." I offered, looking up with a small smile, "The legend of the rejected king is one of my favourites."

"Well, that's refreshing to hear. Not many learn about that one after preschool... " the man mused, trailing off as he caught sight of a woman lingering in the doorway.

"Ah, Myung-Hee, come here. I'd like you to meet someone, sweetheart." the man called out to the woman, who smiled lightly as she approached the two of us. The small woman was dressed in a pretty blouse and a loose skirt, her dark hair piled up on her head to reveal her brown eyes, features attributed to Goryean heritage. The woman took a seat across from us in one of the armchairs that littered the room, smiling lightly at the man beside me.

"This is my wife, Han Myung-Hee. I'm Aetius Farron, forgot to introduce myself earlier." the man introduced with a chuckle, shaking his head at his forgetfulness.

"Soo-Min." I offered, bowing my head lightly in return. Myung-Hee laughed lightly, looking between her husband and me.

"So, Soo-Min-ssi, has my husband been talking your ear off about books? He'll chat about his obsession with anyone he can." the woman asked with a laugh, a slight accent staining her words, but understandable nonetheless.

"Actually, it's nice to talk about books for once. None of the other children want to hear about the Six or old legends, they just want to play all the time. So I'm often alone and reading." I replied with a sad smile, looking down at the Cosmogony resting in my lap.

"Sometimes being alone with a book is the best thing in the world." came Aetius' response, the man trying to be helpful in some way as he patted my head with a heavy hand. I looked up again, forcing a warmer smile onto my face.

"So, what do you do for work?" I asked out of honest curiosity, as the couple had been the first adults to have an extended conversation with me when looking to adopt. And considering I actually liked them, I might as well put in some effort.

"We both work up at the Citadel, actually. Myung-Hee is one of the Prince's caretakers and I work in the Crownsguard." the blonde-haired man replied, looking at me carefully as he answered my question. I nodded lightly, my shoulder-length black hair swaying around me.

"I've only seen pictures of it in my history books on the Lucian Royal family and the kingdom itself, but it looks so amazing. And the fact that it's ages old makes it even more awesome, in my opinion. It's so cool that you get to work there." I gushed, my love for old buildings flooding my tone with admiration. Myung-Hee chuckled at my enthusiasm, smiling fondly at me.

"Yes, it's quite the honour to be working in such grandeur. Though I must admit the magic tends to wear off when you're trying to wrangle the Prince into his bath or attempting to get him to eat vegetables occasionally." the woman said, laughter apparent in her tone as she spoke fondly of the Prince.

"Between you and me, my wife has the fun job out of the two of us." Aetius mock whispered from behind his hand, driving me into a small fit of giggles.

"I'm sure brandishing a sword and beating up other members of the guard are just as fun, dear." Myung-Hee countered with a wide smile, brushing invisible dust from her skirt as she and her husband stood from their seats.

"It's been a pleasure, Soo-Min. But my husband and I have to speak to Miss Renata and Mr Faustus, enjoy the rest of your day." the woman said, Aetius ruffling my hair before standing and guiding his wife out of the living room in search of the two caretakers.

After the sounds of their steps had faded, I set my book on the couch beside me and followed in their wake. Tailing the couple to the dining room, I lingered just outside the doorway as they spoke with Miss Renata and Mr Faustus.

"Are you sure you wish to adopt her? The poor child has been a handful ever since she hit her head and awoke with no memory of anything. She is trying to relearn eight years of information and we need to be sure that you aware of this added commitment." Mr Faustus cautioned the couple, his voice stern.

"We're quite capable of handling her, Mr Faustus. She'll have the best education available and we'll treat her as if we were her parents from birth." Aetius assured the elder man, taking on a professional tone that he hadn't use with me.

"My husband and I are aware of how special of a girl Soo-Min is, the conversation we shared in the living room is proof enough. We believe that we can give her what she needs to succeed. We're positive we want to adopt her." Myung-Hee said, unfaltering in her words as she spoke to the older couple. I smiled brightly at the thought of the nice couple adopting me, excited and hopeful that my caretakers wouldn't deny this opportunity.

With a heavy sigh, Miss Renata finally spoke after a moment of silence.

"Very well, once Soo-Min has agreed to the adoption, we'll sign the paperwork. We must put her feelings and opinions into consideration as well, Faustus." The man grunted lightly in response, "Very well then, I'll go fetch the kid."

Before he could stand for his seat, I stepped into the room, much to the surprise of the adults.

"I'm sorry for eavesdropping but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know if Aetius and Myung-Hee were planning to adopt me." I apologized, bowing my head slightly as I spoke.

"It's alright, child. But do you agree to your adoption? It's a lot to process for most children, let alone one in your situation." Mis Renata questioned, her gray gaze sweeping over me in concern.

"Yes, ma'am. Nothing would make me happier than to go home with them." I spoke calmly with a smile on my face, praying to the Six that Miss Renata wouldn't find a reason to doubt my sincerity.

"Very well then. Go collect your things then, we have paperwork to sign." the old woman sighed, standing from her chair to retrieve my file from the office. Myung-Hee and Aetius smiled happily at me before I disappeared out of the dining room and up the stairs to my room to collect my things.

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