#its always multiple choice questions and nothinge ever seems like the right choice | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

haberdashing · 4 years

Text

No Puppet Strings Can Hold Me Down (4/?)

The Magnus Archives fanfic. An AU that diverges from canon between episodes 159 and 160, in which Peter Lukas’ statement that “he got you” takes on a different meaning.

on AO3

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7

The time between leaving the Magnus Institute behind and getting on the open road felt like a blur.

They’d stopped at Martin’s flat briefly, and the flat was cozy and comfortable and might have been nice to linger in under different circumstances, but as it was all that happened there was a mad dash to pack things away and Jon feeling his own heartbeat race every time he heard a police siren in the background. (Apparently, though he’d seemed to have a decent enough time there in Elias’ body, and certainly hadn’t found it especially difficult to leave, Jonah Magnus was no more eager to land himself in jail now than Jon himself was.)

Then the two of them--the three of them?--got in Martin’s beat-up blue sedan, and Martin began to drive.

If he were himself, Jon might have volunteered to drive. It had been a long day for him, but Martin certainly could say the same, and it might have been a nice gesture, taking that small necessity away from Martin, letting him sit back and relax as Jon got them where they needed to be. (Which was, they had decided, an old safehouse of Daisy’s in Scotland, far from here, far from the police, far from just about anyone who might want to follow their scent.)

As it was, Jonah didn’t volunteer to drive, and John was grateful for it, because he didn’t trust Jonah Magnus not to drive the car into a fence post or something if he decided that was what best fit his master plan, whatever that was. (Also, did he even know how to drive? John couldn’t remember Elias ever driving, and Jonah Magnus was from the 1800s, after all...)

They listened to the radio for a long while, even once they got far enough away from London that the familiar stations started to dissolve into nothingness and static, Martin occasionally humming along to whatever song happened to be playing or tapping the steering wheel in beat with the rhythm as Jon remained quiet and still both inside and out. The city slowly turned into the suburbs which slowly turned into the countryside, vast and practically empty, rolling green hills and quaint cottages dominating the landscape as far as the eye could see.

It felt like a breath being held, like the pause between heartbeats, like a space between what had been and what might be.

Eventually, they were far enough from the city that no pattern could be heard in the static coming from the radio, and one of them turned it off--Jon honestly wasn’t sure if it was Martin’s hand or his own that pushed the dial in, only knowing that one second there had been cacophonous static ringing through the car and the next second there was only a strange, distant silence.

Martin was the one who finally broke the silence.

“This reminds me of some of the field trips I went on back in school... have you ever been to Stonehenge, by any chance?”

Jon shook his head and muttered “No.”

(Jon wasn’t sure if Jonah Magnus Knew that Jon hadn’t been to Stonehenge, or whether it was simply a lucky guess, but it was true just the same. Jon hadn’t gone there during his school days, and he wasn’t really one for taking vacations--real vacations, that is, not being kidnapped or hiding out from a murder charge or trying to stop the end of the world--and on the rare occasion he’d left town of his own accord, he’d always found other destinations more appealing than Stonehenge, much as he appreciated the history behind its construction.)

Martin let out a soft laugh as he replied, “Would not recommend it.”

Jon didn’t know what exactly about that statement was worthy of laughter-

-until, suddenly, he did.

Jon saw it all, clear as day. The packed school bus, where songs turned to screams intermittently and pencils and erasers got flung about on multiple occasions as a young Martin inched close to the window and tried desperately to focus on the cheap fantasy novel he’d brought along in his backpack. The children groaning and shuffling their feet as adults tried to explain why a bunch of rocks were exciting enough to be worth riding a bus for hours, only actually growing excited when one of their number sneaked under the rope separating the artifact from its visitors and tried to touch one of the rocks in question, getting a stern talking-to from the supervising teacher for his troubles. The bus being even louder and more chaotic on the way back, somehow, and young Martin giving up on the fantasy novel and turning to a polka-dot notebook, doing his best to channel his frustration with his current situation into pretty words to set down on paper...

He hadn’t meant to Know it, of course, but that had never stopped him before, either. But it was good to know that- that he could still Know things, that that at least hadn’t been taken from him, not that knowledge alone could do him much good, as a mind without a body-

Jon was jolted out of his thoughts and back into the present situation by the sound of Martin’s voice.

“Just because we’re out of range of the radio doesn’t mean it has to be silent in here, you know. We just need to provide our own music, that’s all. And you know, one of those old school songs just got stuck in my head again...”

Jon waited, curious to know which one of the dozen or so--fourteen, okay, thank you Eye powers--songs that had been sung on the school bus that day was once again coming to mind for Martin. None of them seemed particularly apt in Jon’s mind, but perhaps Martin saw things differently, was making connections that Jon hadn’t made, unobservant and cerebral as he could be-

“I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves...”

Internally, Jon cracked up.

Externally, Jonah in Jon’s body groaned slightly and grabbed his temple with one hand.

“Everybody’s nerves, everybody’s nerves...”

The best part about it was that Martin was singing the song with every bit of certainty and passion that he’d used when occasionally singing along to snippets on the radio, if not more so. Martin’s singing voice was--well, he probably couldn’t make a career out of it or anything, but it was nice in its own way, surprisingly soothing even, given the current source material...

Jon’s body groaned exaggeratedly and curled into himself until his head was nearly touching his lap.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. But at least we’ve both got it stuck in our heads now, right?” Jon didn’t exactly have the best perspective with which to view Martin’s face at the moment, so he heard more than saw the wry smile as Martin continued, “Better than facing it alone, at least.”

Jon felt himself mumble, while still awkwardly curled up, “’s still not nice.”

“I’ll promise you a lot of things, Jon, but I’m not sure I can promise nice.”

As the car lapsed into silence once more, aside from a bit of humming on Martin’s part, Jon got an idea.

Hey Jonah?��Or Elias, or some maniac, or whatever the hell it is you want me to-

What?

The annoyance and frustration in Jonah’s voice were palpable.

Jon took a second to savor the moment before he began.

I know a song that gets on everybody’s nerves...

Don’t.

Or what? What are you going to do to me? Turn me into a murderous monster? Stop me from controlling my own body?

I didn’t make you kill Lukas, if that’s what you’re referring to there, and your... monstrosity, as you put it, is the result of a series of choices you’ve made over the years, decisions that I did not force upon you-

The question still stands. So much has been taken from me already. What else could you possibly do?

Jonah didn’t respond for a moment, and Jon took the opportunity to return to the song that Martin had so helpfully brought to his attention.

Everybody’s nerves, everybody’s-

...you’ll see.

What?

Jon asked not because he didn’t hear Jonah--if “hear” was even the right word for their current means of communication--or because he didn’t understand what Jonah Magnus was getting at, but because he wasn’t going to let Jonah get away with giving a vague statement like that and not elaborating further.

I said, you’ll see what else I have in store for you soon enough, Jon. In the mean time, I suggest you not test me, lest you end up regretting it.

In the silence that followed, Jon really, really wished he knew whether Jonah Magnus was bluffing.

#tma #tma au #tma fic #tma fanfic #the magnus archives #the magnus archives au #the magnus archives fic #the magnus archives fanfic #personal #my writing

9 notes · View notes

tetrakys · 5 years

Text

Falling - part 5

Lance/Guardienne route following the events of episode 26.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

I was a mess.

I’d spent the last weeks trying to figure out what to do with my life. Who to trust and, at the same time, how to save Eldarya.

Things were getting worse every day, earthquakes were getting stronger and more frequent, high tides and storms. Even the volcanic region was acting up, with new eruptions every week.

It seemed like the world was about to end soon.

I was pacing around my room trying to think about my next steps. Once Leiftan had been outed for the lying traitor he was, he’d been captured and was now held in the cell, strictly monitored. My heart still hurt at the thought, and I swallowed hard trying to keep my cool. I’d taken possession of some of his books before Ykhar could put her hands on them, and I found some very interesting rituals that only aengels (or deamons) could perform.

One of these was about accessing the deepest, innermost thoughts of whoever you most desired, something that would have been extremely useful when we had to deal with Naytili. But… alas, it had been his plan all along, hadn’t it? Let us run in circles and waste time so he could accomplish whatever he had devised.

Well, now I was going to use it on him. Poetic justice indeed.

I only had a tiny doubt about whose thoughts my heart most desired to access, his or Miiko’s. These past weeks I’d kept an eye on her, and I knew, without a doubt, she was keeping secrets from me.

Again.

Everyone in my life kept lying to me, but now I was strong enough now to take matters into my own hands, I was sick and tired of everyone making a fool of me.

Leiftan had lied to me since day one.

Miiko and the Light guard had tricked me in more ways than I could count, using me as a bait multiple times and destroying any chance of going back to my world and reunite with a family who would remember and love me. Apparently, they were still plotting something behind my back.

And… him.

I felt like punching the wall at the mere thought of him.

But he is the only one who has never lied to you, isn’t he? A little voice whispered in my head.

I didn’t care, he had kidnapped me, threatened me, almost killed me multiple times and, despite all that, when I’d been stupid enough to offer myself to him on a silver plate, he had rejected me.

I didn’t want to see him ever again.

Someone knocked on my door. It was an over-excited Aleja who’d run to tell me that the whole HQ was on high alert because Lance had been spotted in the Alchemy lab. I snorted in my mind, it hadn’t been the first time he’d stolen something from the guard lately, and they’d never managed to capture him.

I hadn’t even tried, at this point I just wanted to stay away from him and didn’t want to take part in this battle they had going on, they were both wrong anyway.

However, today he had perfect timing. If everyone was running around HQ trying to capture him, security around Leiftan would be looser, giving me the perfect chance to proceed with the ritual.

Having made up my mind, I gathered all the ingredients I needed, ingredients I had “borrowed” here and there in preparation for this day. There was already a thief running around pilfering HQ, no one suspected me in the least.

I paused for a moment thinking about how the old me, not even a couple of months ago, would have never conceived stealing, tricking the people around her and preparing illegal rituals.

The new me, however, was pissed.

I run through the chaotic corridors, people were busy inspecting every room and hole, it was perfect. I took the stairs that lead to the cave and, in a few seconds, I was in front of the prison door, no guard in sight.

I stepped in the room and my eyes immediately found Leiftan in his cage, a physical and magical prison much stronger than the one from before. This one was enough to hold a grown deamon, allowing for daily (but fruitless) interrogations. The sheer power required had been taking its toll on Miiko and everyone involved.

“Erika…” he said, immediately standing up, coming as close to me as the cell allowed. “What’s going on?”

“Apparently your business partner has showed up again for one of his nightly shopping expeditions in the Alchemy lab, everyone is trying to catch him to say hi.”

He scowled and was about to reply when he noticed I was setting up the place for the ritual.

“What are you doing?” he asked, “wait… I know what you are doing. You can’t Erika, it’s too dangerous, it requires lots of power and ability.”

“Stop cuddling me and treating me like a dumb, powerless fool,” I cried out.

“I don’t… Erika, I love you. You’re my soulmate. I’ll tell you anything you want to know, you don’t need to do this.”

“Because you’ve always been so forthcoming so far, right?!” I asked arching an eyebrow, sitting in the middle of the circle I’d drawn on the floor.

I started chanting the words of the spell, but as I was about to complete the incantation something happened.

The door burst open and Lance, followed by Miiko, Jamon and the whole Light guard, entered the cave. Damn… how could I’ve forgotten about the escape route I’d helped create not so long ago? Was I going to enter Leiftan’s mind, now? Or Miiko’s? Anyway, I was going to get some answers out of this.

The moment the last word came out of my mouth, time stopped and everyone got stuck frozen mid-movement. A blue light surrounded me and then quickly spread in the whole area, as if searching the right target, the one my heart most desired to connect with.

I watched it reach the person physically closest to me, Leiftan, and move on. It touched Nevra, Ezarel, Miiko, and still expanded and searched, until it reached the person I least suspected.

And then, it was only darkness.

........................

What a waste of time, I thought as we reached the top of the cliff. Memoria was supposed to hold the answers to all my questions, I’d done anything these past years, stolen, betrayed, murdered to be here and meet my people. To understand and free them from their suffering. And now that I was one step away from getting everything I wanted, I was stuck on this island with the girl.

I looked at her, she appeared so carefree, so innocent, while dancing with those worthless creatures. She had no idea, did she? About how rotten this world really was.

I almost envied her.

She kept dancing at the melody, surrounded by their lights, and I couldn’t help but stare, almost captivated by her movements, by her light-hearted smile, her aura.

I realised I’d taken a few steps forward as if to join her, only when she stopped and turned around, bumping into me.

“It’s only me…” I replied at her startled face, trying to reassure her.

Reassure her? Why would I? She was supposed to fear me.

Our eyes met and something twisted inside me, as if something long time dead had just awakened.

......................

What was that?

I thought when I was back in the darkness, bodyless but my conscious again my own.

I’d recognised that moment, that night on top of Memoria’s cliff. I’d seen myself, but with someone else’s eyes.

I was in Lance’s memories, I could experience his thoughts and feelings.

Before I could understand the meaning of all that, I lost myself again.

....................

Chanting the last words of the spell, I felt the barrier between our bodies disappear and my hand touch her own.

She felt… soft and warm. Even though I could tell she was feeling slightly cold in that cavern, her body wet, her white underwear leaving nothing to the imagination.

Suddenly, I was feeling warm too.

Looking into her violet eyes, I tried to discern what she was thinking. She was usually an open book, displaying all her emotions on her face for everyone to read and take advantage of, but in that moment, she was looking back at me as surprised and as captivated as I was. Before I could make up my mind and take a step back, she intertwined her fingers with mine. What…

“We’re out of options, Jamon…”

The ogre and the damn kitsune! How distracted could I have been to not hear them coming?!

I hid us behind a rock, threatening the girl not to make a sound. This looked like a secret meeting of some kind and I wanted to hear what they were discussing.

“I don’t like it either,” the uptight kitsune said, “but the Oracle is dead, and Eldarya is starting to give first signs of imminent destruction. I don’t know how long we have left.”

“Jamon knows Miiko, but…”

The girl tried to speak, I head to shut her up, but threats could only do so much. The feeling of her soft, warm body gave me a few ideas, so I lowered my lips to her skin and started kissing and biting on her neck and ear.

This was… more pleasing than I thought it would be. And I’d thought about doing things to her many times. How could I not? I was sure she would be shivering and blushing in barely concealed pleasure as she was doing right now, but I had no idea how this would affect me. I had to keep my thoughts straight.

“We have to complete the sacrifice, there’s no other choice.”

Ah… that was it, then. I knew it was coming. I knew these selfish, disgusting people would not hesitate to sacrifice us as soon as they got the chance. I’d been correct all along, taking my brother away had been the smartest choice.

“There are two dragons left, the deamon and… an aengel.”

I tightened my hold on the girl, they knew about her then, a wave of possessiveness I was unable to explain rushed through me.

“I don’t want to, but it’s the only choice we have…”

They wanted to sacrifice her. The sweet, little thing shivering in my arms. She was so innocent but at the same time so strong and brave. Taking on the man who had kidnapped and threatened her with such confidence. Helping the useless people who had taken everything away from her the same way they’d taken away everything from me and my brother.

They had no right to touch her, she was mine.

MINE.

Again, I lowered my lips to her neck and staked my claim.

..................

I was back into my own mind, in the same intangible nothingness as before.

Confused and surprised, but now I knew what Miiko was keeping from me. She wanted to sacrifice me to save Eldarya, and not just me, Valkyon, Leiftan and Lance too.

I felt betrayed all over again. A part of me knew she might see no other choice to save Eldarya and its people, that same part even agreed with her, maybe that was my destiny, maybe that was my purpose in this story, to die in order to save the world.

But… it wasn’t just me. I couldn’t even begin to accept the fact that three men who I cared about… yes, I cared about all three of them, had to die with me. I could die for the world, but could I take them with me?

No.

As soon as I realised that, I lost myself again.

.....................

The girl was looking at me with challenge in her eyes. How could she be here, so confidently facing the man who’d been about to kill her just a few days ago? I’d been seriously ready to do it, it was my intention and the best possible solution to all my problems, if she couldn’t be sacrificed there was no chance Eldarya could be saved. And there would’ve been no reason for them to try to sacrifice my brother too.

I’d been so stupid, trying to find thousands possible ways to avoid that, one crazier than the other, but when I’d seen her in the garden, under the Hundred Years Cherry Tree with that filthy deamon’s hands all over her, I’d lost my mind.

I was ready to put an end to everything, ready to be done with this.

And in the end… I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

She’d laughed at me, mocked me for my ineptitude, the same way she was doing now.

She knew I couldn’t kill her, even if a part of me wanted to.

She’d finally found out that her sweet, nice boyfriend wasn’t so sweet and nice after all, and she’d run straight to me out of spite and hurt. She wanted to use me to forget and punish.

For once, our intentions aligned.

I quickly undressed her and lied her on the altar on top of Memoria’s cliff. Looking at her from above, half naked and willing… ready for me… she was a sight for sore eyes.

The moment I touched her, I knew she was exactly what I needed. I’d never seen anything so beautiful and perfect in my life and I was ready to lose myself in her.

For one brief moment I thought that even my twisted, sinful self could deserve something so pure and strong.

But then I saw her face, looking at the night sky. Her words, so far and distant, and I knew she wasn’t really here. And I realised, without a doubt, that I wanted everything from her, not just her body.

I wanted her heart, her mind and her soul.

................

“Are you having fun?” a voice said when I was back in the void. It wasn’t really a voice, there was no mouth to pronounce words and sounds, but the message was clear anyway.

“I’m sorry,” I projected, feeling like I needed to apologise for sneaking into his mind uninvited and… for other things.

“At least you know the truth about those sick, selfish bastards.”

“I know the truth about many things now…” I replied.

Silence fell for a few seconds, and I thought about everything I’d witnessed. The spell was supposed to show me his deepest feelings and most inner thoughts.

And, I’d seen me, just me. His mind was full of me.

“As soon as the spell is broken, we have exactly ten seconds to escape through the passage through sea. You can’t stay here, it’s too dangerous now.”

He hesitated, then added, almost pleadingly, “come with me.”

I could tell his tone was unsure, but it didn’t need to be, my mind was made up.

“Yes,” I simply replied. “Take me away, Lance.”

#eldarya #lance #ashkore #writeblr #my writing #falling

91 notes · View notes

real-pcy-exo · 5 years

Text

Baekhyun x reader (Angst)

Trigger warnings: Mentions of blood, murder, mental illness

He couldn't take it. It felt like he being torn in two. But in reality, it still was somewhat true. Torn between wanting to do something polar opposite of each other. Torn between life or death. Quite literally. Death was inevitable. The faster a person accepted their fate the better, wasn't it? And why was accepting death in open arms frowned upon to begin with? Not that he wanted to die right now. But did he have any other choice? It would have been thousand times better than going back to the prison they call hospital. "Swallow these pills" they said. "You'll become better" they said.

Once upon a time he believed in them, in their lies. But he opened his eyes. He made him realize a lot of stuff children are not being taught in school. Getting out of his dazed state, he stared into nothingness of the city in front of him. The night time in cities had always been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. No loud horns but still some sounds from vehicles from the street still could be heard. The stars in the sky could not be seen due to pollution. But the twinkles of lights coming out of windows from houses made the whole scenario seem ethereal. As if it came right out of an aritst's imagination. Everything in this world amazed him since childhood. Well it was innocent like amazed in his childhood unlike now. Maybe then he was amazed seeing his monkey toy sing and clap until battery runs out and it dies. But now he was amazed how low humanity could step, how they sing and clap until they run out of will and die in their mortal body. Yet they still considered themselves superior and everything including their own kind inferior. How these human did stuff even animals they consider soulless wouldn't do.

"B-Baekhyun?" A velvety voice ripped through the silent night. He looked over his shoulders only to become breathless. You were standing there in a mess he had created not minutes prior though he could not tell because time wasn't something he ever worried or thought about. He only worried and thought about you. You, looking like an angel in distress in front of him looking at him as if he was a fallen angel himself. But he knew he lived in him ever since he was born. With him inside fighting, winning and controlling him, he could never become an angel or taste heaven. Though he tasted your mouth. It was as close to heaven as he could go to. Taking in your messed up appearance, he felt a bit guilty though it didn't last long because he was still fighting with him. "Can you please step down from the railing?" You asked him slowly as if he no they were a child. He looked forward once again to look at least 20? 30? stories down to find the streets he grew up in, the streets he had decided to breathe in his last cold breath of air. Sighing, he stepped down onto the pavement. "I can't control it." He whispered so lowly he thought you wouldn't be able to hear it but you did. You always heard him, listened to him and talked to him unlike others. "It's taking over me" he suddenly wailed out like a mad man, " Go away! Don't come any where near me!" Only to yell out, "Please don't leave me, no don't!" Not even seconds later. Sensing his distress, you moved forward to hug him. It grounded him but only for seconds before it ignited something within him. You always held a certain power over him. He didn't want to stay so he stayed. He didn't want to leave so he left. He was confusing himself. Running around in circles around you. His whole world revolved around you. He embraced you harder before whispering into your ears, "Are you going to stay?" So lowly your weren't sure if it was humanly possible. "Are you?" You nodded your head meekly at that. You've never been more sure about anything before in your life. A chuckle that sent a shiver down your spine following by a low whisper of "Bad girl." He detached himself from you but kept his grip on your arms. He looked like him for few seconds while saying "He won." Before a smirk made its way into his face saying cockily, "I won." Then he looked confused for a second making a statement that came out more as a question, "We won?" Then he tightened his grip onto your arm that had become painful and nodded to himself, "We did. We won."

A warm house. The dad was spending some time with the children to make up for being hogged up in office all day. The mother was smiling at them while preparing dinner. "The missing cases of 20 people finally has been solved by the amazing detectives of our town." The father looked up to the TV at that. "The Mr. And Mrs. Byun also referred to as the modern Bonnie and Clyde was the cause of this massacre. Byun Baekhyun had been apparently a patient of multiple personality disorder and was under medication until he lost control over himself and left. Though there are no evidence the his wife being simply another victim or helping him in his crime. The couple was found dead inside their shared apartment. The details of this case is still yet to be revealed by the force." The husband muted the TV before turning towards the mother. "Such world we live in." Said the father, "It would be such a shame if they got the wrong people though." The mother smirked at that, "Well Baekhyunnie darling, it really would have been."

A/N: This fic was inspired by Baekhyun's solo 'Psycho' which is a really good song. I'm working on the Sehun fic I promised and trying to come up with a good plot for a zodiac sign au fic. Anyways, I hope you guys like the fic and have a nice day ^^

#baekhyun fluff #baekhyun drabble #baekhyun x you #baekhyun x reader #baekhyun angst #exo fluff #exo fanfiction #exo drabble #exo #exo angst #bbh #byun bacon #byun baekhyun #baekhyun #exo bbh #exo boyfriend #exo byun baekhyun #exo baekhyun #exo blurb

81 notes · View notes

izzy-b-hands · 5 years

Note

20-30!

Thank you so much for asking!!!!

20. Favorite character to write?

Already answered, but I don’t mind re-answering cuz I thought maybe I’d narrow my three way tie, but alas, no lol. Still a tie between Ahkmenrah, Snafu, and Skwisgaar.

21. Least favorite character to write?

Ooh-tbh, Larry from NATM just because I feel like I always make him an asshole? Like, I haven’t published all my fic ideas for NATM because I keep making him really mean? And in some it works but in others I’m like ‘jesus chill Lee he’s just a Dude trying his best’ but also at the same time I feel the way Stiller played him and his character arc means he’s got some major ego to him as the films go on? Idk that isn’t a hot take or anything just me being frustrated with Ben Stiller lol

22. Favorite story you’ve ever written?

Hard choice, because I love all my kids, but I cried after writing this one lol: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186781309036/you-know-that-i-love-you

It hit some personal stuff for me, so to be able to have it work organically in a fic so I could also like, mini therapy session myself? Cool af. Also, ppl seemed to like this a lot too, and while that validation isn’t the only reason I write, it’s always cool when my writing makes ppl happy.

23. Least favorite story you’ve ever written?

I don’t really have a least favorite, but I do have some I’m more frustrated with, due to how long they took me to write, etc. Currently? The answer to this is my Mark the Date series because A. it is taking me a day and an age to finish it and B. I feel like it kinda flopped, so it’s hard to pull up any energy to finish it, but like...I may as well now lol. I’ll get it done eventually.

24. Favorite scene you’ve written?

Oh god tbh I have too many I love just cuz like

I can go back to how I felt writing them and yeah

But as of most recent fics, I really this bit:

-Snafu patted the blanket near his head, and waited for Eugene to put out his pipe and lay back beside him before snuggling close to him. “You could be right. Could be God. Could just be love.” “How’s that?” “I think love has its own way. Even before you meet someone, even before you know you’re fallin’ for ‘em. Love’s just…out there, like the air or somethin’. Finds you when the time is right, and finds who you click with. You gotta do the rest, the stayin’ in love part, but that bringing together, that first spark…that’s love just existing, and doin’ what it needs to so the world keeps spinnin’, so people make it through tough shit,” Snafu replied. “I like that,” Eugene said. “Think love did a good job with us. Makin’ sure we found each other.” Snafu pressed a kiss softly to the corner of Eugene’s mouth. “Sure did. Wouldn’t ever want to be with anyone else. I don’t even know what that looks like, and I don’t want to.” “Same here,” Eugene’s mouth was warm as he kissed him back. “Here’s to love for making sure you found me.” -

from this fic: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186926226531/absolution-is-the-taste-of-your-lips

Because I’m sappy af more than I let on, and also this was a chance to like, write out my own feelings via Snafu. And that was a pretty cool and fulfilling thing for me, ya know?

25. Favorite line you’ve ever written?

oh god this is another hard one to narrow down but

I always come back to this line and go ‘oh shit did I really write that. Nah, someone better than me at this had to have. They briefly possessed me or something”:

-Music and talking and shouting and footsteps collide kaleidoscopic in his ears, but none bearing the one sound that he’d run to if he heard it.-

from this fic, mentioned twice now in this post lol: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186781309036/you-know-that-i-love-you

I really love alliteration, and for me this line just sums up how it feels to walk thru a city when you aren’t just wandering really, but are looking or waiting for someone, and have that awful yet sometimes good feeling of expecting to hear or see them but it feels like you’re waiting or searching forever and in the meantime the city just lives on around you, a stopped platelet stuck in a vein full of vitality. Like, idk if it hit any of my readers that way, but that’s what I was trying to get across lol, so the line always hits me hard in a good way when I scroll thru my writing tag and see it.

26. Story you’re most proud of?

Gosh

I gotta choose just one kid for this aldsfkja I’m bad at choosing I love my gaggle of ragtag goofballs. I have an original piece I’d choose for this, but I’ve never posted it on here, so I’m gonna choose out of my fanfic on here instead.

One I am really proud of is this one: https://aboutthatmelancholystorm.tumblr.com/post/186781309036/you-know-that-i-love-you

and I know it’s the third time it’s been part of an answer on here but

I really love this one idk. Thinking back to how I felt while writing it, how it all flowed in a certain way. The whole experience was just something else, and I’m proud of this one in a certain way I find myself, funnily enough, unable to describe.

27. Best review you ever got?

Okay this sounds cheesy but like

I really do love and appreciate every review or review-like thing I’ve ever gotten so I can’t choose just one for this

Like, y’all gotta understand, I’ve deleted some of it and erased traces of it from my blog, but I’ve written for years on here, I have some stuff on my ao3, and for the longest time I got nothing back, or very nearly nothing. Maybe a few likes, but no comments and not much else. I always just rolled with it and assumed I just wasn’t writing anything good enough to inspire reviews. Idk if that’s true or not, but in any case it means I cherish every comment, like, reblog, and anything review-like in nature because I’m so grateful to have it now, and I know it could well be pure luck that I stumbled up on a really supportive bunch of fandoms with great readers.

In other words, thank y’all for every kind word and like and reblog and also I may be an immortal feeding off of validation of my art, but we’ll see on that last bit, because I haven’t tested it.

28. Worst review you ever got?

One from middle school. I’d just finished my very first novel, gave it to a friend to read, and he said it ‘smacked of being too fanciful and childish, something only kids and women would read’ (it was a YA fantasy novel so I mean... what exactly he expected, idk cuz he knew what it was before I gave it to him, like it’s supposed to have those elements as a lot of these sorts of novels/stories do, and that isn’t a bad thing about them at all, so like...what his damage was idek.)

Also this is the same dude who texts me randomly and is really weird abt his friendship with me and happens to be an English teacher now (RIP to his students.)

Anyway, after he said that I tossed a review right back, because well, middle school and also I was very upset with him because I’d not asked for anything other than a general ‘if you picked this up randomly and started it, would it suck you in enough to keep reading or would you put it down’ like that was literally all I needed him to answer for me. So I told him his latest novel (his second at that point) was essentially just him masturbating to his own opinions (because he’s an arguer, who loves to tell ppl they’re always wrong, and that’s by his own admission) for one hundred pages, and not in a way that anyone else would care to read. He was pissed, but so was I. We didn’t talk for a good week, and we had almost all our classes together lol.

Like, getting nothing back in review sucks too, but this one has stuck with me forever. Best part? I mentioned it to him a few years back, and he only vaguely remembered it, and followed it with “but I’ve said a lot of rough stuff about your work. I mean, it deserved it at the time, but you might be good at this someday!”

I didn’t smack him, but I really, really wanted to.

29. Favorite story/poem of another author

This doesn’t specify on Tumblr or not, so I’ve got two: one from outside tumblr, and one from on here.

A. When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be by John Keats

When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,Before high-pilèd books, in charactery, Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;When I behold, upon the night’s starred face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, That I shall never look upon thee more,Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love—then on the shoreOf the wide world I stand alone, and thinkTill love and fame to nothingness do sink.

B. Again, this Tumblr one could be a huge ass list because y’all on here are amazing, but one I’ve been rereading over and over again recently is @xmxisxforxmaybe ‘s Remnants series, which can be found here: https://xmxisxforxmaybe.tumblr.com/post/186702235396/remnants-complete-work

Like, Ahk as a character is captured so well, and I love the way the plot twines and also when the smut comes up? Very good A+ smut, something I value pretty highly on and off Tumblr because man, sometimes smut is just work to write, so I appreciate it when it’s really good. All around, this series has captured my heart and I legit have a link to it saved on multiple devices so if I need something to read, I can just pull it up right away.

30. Hardest part of writing?

Self-doubt. It’s the biggest hurdle for any artist, regardless of the art in question I think, but with writing it seems to double down a lot. Like, you have to really get out of your own head, even as you spend all your time there with your writing ideas. Shit gets weird and twisted, man.

For the longest time, I really let self-doubt defeat me too, and I regret the time I lost to that. I still get hit with it randomly, cause I don’t think it every really goes away for any writer, not even the big names like Stephen King or Neil Gaiman (who I’m half tempted to @ on here purely because I wanna know his feelings on this stuff because I respect and admire him as an artist and his thoughts very much, but also he’s a very busy man so I’m not gonna bug him by doing that lol.)

All there is to do is to work with it, push past it, and most importantly keep writing. I have days where that feels like the hardest thing, but each day I manage to get past it and get the words down? I let myself feel proud of that, and mark it as an achievement in my Big Book of Stuff I’ve Done in This Life.

#text post #ask box things #these answers got long and wordy but I doubt that surprises anyone lol #this helped to answer a bunch of these too #finally got me to a point where I feel ready to try and sleep even if I'm not tired #so thank you to everyone who asked me stuff!!!!#apineappleheart

4 notes · View notes

singularityy2 · 3 years

Text

[HONEY FF]

┌────── ⋆⋅♤⋅⋆ ──────┐

chapter one

INTRODUCTION

└────── ⋆⋅♤⋅⋆ ──────┘

YUNO KAMISHIRO TURNED IN her bed once more, trying to find a comfortable position to fall asleep for what seemed to be hours. The small girl frowns as she rubs her tired eyes in frustration, a long quiet sight slipping past her dry lips.

The fairy stood at the edge of her bed staring at the girl. Yuno opened her eyes to be met face to face with the beautiful women. She frozen in shock, taking in her appearance. The girl had a tight beige dress with flowers in her hair, but the thing that caught her attention the most were the huge pair of beautiful wings that glimmered in the moon light that shined through the thin curtains that hung by her bedroom window. She looked as if she came straight out of a fairytale.

"I'm sorry." Her smooth mesmerizing voice spoke as she slowly approached Yuno who was still frozen in confusion and shock.

"What?" The small girl croaked out as the fairy slowly approached her, the lady stretched forward and placed her hand to hover over Yuno's head. In a split second, another person appeared in the room.

"She's perfect." The young woman smiles as the other girl bowes before taking her leave, disappearing away from human sight in a split second. Yuno's trembling hands clutched onto the soft material of her blankets. Her mind was telling her to run, scream for her parents, her mind forced herself to choose between fight or flight. She code neither, her body staying frozen in place.

"I need you to listen to me." The lady says as Yuno furrows her eyebrows, her eyes staring back into the gold ones of the lady. Yuno felt herself being controlled as she relaxed her body, she felt as though her body had a mind of its own, as much as she refused her body complied to the lady's wishes.

"What's your quirk?" The beautiful raven haired lady asks as Yuno stares at her in fear and confusion. When she doesn't answer, the lady's eyes begin to glow a color brighter than her own.

"The four elements." The four year old whispered as her attention was placed on the lady, her eyes mirroring the lady's.

"That's incredible." The queen whispers, no one she ever knew has had four quirks. The girl herself would have been strong with her own quirks, but now she's going to be stronger than ever with the Queen's help. She orders her to lay down. Yuno looked up at her celling, confusion floating in her head. She couldn't control herself, and she hated every second of it.

"When I give you this power, you will be taken somewhere in your mind. A man will be there. He will help you from there." She explains as Yuno laid quietly, tears slowly began to form in her eyes. Yuno nods her head in understanding. The queen tilted her head in confusion at the girl who easily understood, or pretended to understand. She was taking in all the information so well, but in reality, Yuno was just scared. The queen had made Yuno put all her trust into her hands in the time being.

"It's going to be very overwhelming but you will be very powerful Yuno. I'm sure of it." The Queen smiles as she lifts her hand so it hovered over her chest. Yuno looks at her, nodding in understanding.

"I apologize, this is going to hurt." The lady says as Yuno felt paralyzed. A loud cry left Yuno as she felt as though hot metal was being burning into the skin on her chest.

Her parent's eyes widen, hearing the cries of pain from their daughter. They rushed towards her room, going to open it only to realize it was closed shut.

"Yuno! Sweetie!" Her mother yelled as they banged frantically on the door. Even the Pro Heros couldn't open the door that was being magically shut by the Queen. Yuno yelled in pain as her chest burned, her tiny fists clutching the covers of her bed. Her screams were load and clear, tears slipping out the corners of her eyes.

"Yuno!"

"Yuno?" She stops screaming, her head turning to the sound of the voice, almost giving herself whiplash.

"Pleasure to meet you, Yuno. I'm Kageyama." The gorgeous man says as he approaches the frightened girl. He crouched down to her level, grabbing a piece of her long lavender hair.

"Nice to meet you." Yuno whispers as she looks down to her feet. He smiles gently at the girl, feeling the fear and confusion pour off the girl.

"Well. Let's get right to it, shall we?"

After what seemed to hours of Kageyama explaining what was going to happen, they finally got to the part he was most excited to do.

His hand outstretched in front of him, multiple words beginning to appear out of nothingness. What Kageyama had explained to her was that due to the fact that the legacy was passed on to her, she had to choose new quirks that correspond to the past queens.

"I'm not sure." Yuno whispered as she began to fiddle with her fingers, her eyes scanning over the multiple choices of quirks that were all too tempting.

"You can choose for me." Yuno says as his eyes widened, the boy looking down at her with wide eyes. He looked from the wall to her once more, a finger pointed at him now.

"Me?" He questions as the child simply nods.

"O-okay!"

Yuno was busy trying to see how big the room actually was, but after constant walking and not getting anywhere, she concluded that the room never ended.

Kageyama snapped his fingers, the young girl appearing next to him.

"That was difficult." He sighs as he turns to Yuno, a smile plastered on his face.

"Hopefully you like them, Yuno." Kageyama says as his eyes avert from her towards the empty spot beside her, a bed quickly appearing.

"What did you choose?" Yuno asked as his eyes widen.

"Oh right! Right!" He says as they take a seat on the bed that was identical to her own.

"I chose Hair, Crystallization, Bomb, and Repair." Kageyama says as Yuno waited for him to continue. "I'm sure you'll get a hang of it. You're still so young and have much to learn. Now let's get you back to your parents, shall we?"

He says as Yuno lays down on the mattress.

"This is going to sting." Kageyama says as he places his hand on the middle of her chest, the burning sensation coming back to her. Yuno once again screamed in pain.

"It's okay!"

"It's okay." The queen whispers to Yuno. The queen finally finished the transfer. She sat down on her bed, turning her body to face her.

"If you ever need me, I'll always be here." The Queen whispers as she leans forward to touch her temple as they blocked out the shouts of her parents.

She slowly began to disappear.

"What's your name?" Yuno questions before the beautiful fairy could leave.

"My name is Crystal. Queen of the fairies. Well was queen of the fairies." She giggles as she holds onto Yuno's hands.

"What was your quirk?" Yuno questions.

"I was a Crystal fairy, and I had the ability to use the other powers of all the other queens." She explains as Yuno nods in understanding.

"Will I be able to do that as well?" Yuno questions her.

"Yes. It is now time for me to leave. Remember if you ever need me I'll be in your dreams or whenever you want to talk." Crystal smiles as her body forms into pixie dust, disappear from human sight. The door busts open as her worried mother and worried father come tumbling in. They run to the girl and hold her tight.

"What happened?!" Her mother cried as Yuno felt lightheaded and began to fall asleep. Her hand raises up and twirls a piece of her mother's purple hair between her fingers.

"I'm tired." Yuno whispers as she falls asleep in her parents arms. They stare down at her with confusion as her mother grabs her nightgown and pulls it down slightly to reveal the seven sided star that was now permanently tattooed into her skin.

They looked up at each other, confusion plastered on their faces.

"A fairy?"

Yuno gasps as she stood in a bright white room. She saw someone approaching her. She quickly lifts up her hand, going to defend herself with her quirk.

"Yuno." Crystal whispers as Yuno drops her hand to the side as she sees the queen.

"Where am I?" Yuno whispers as Crystal approaches her and crouches down to her level.

"We're in your mind." Crystal smiles as Yuno goes to her side and begins to touch her large wings.

"You're really pretty." Yuno whispers as she goes back in front of her and holds the Queen's face in her hands.

"So are you, Yuno." Crystal smiles as she stands up and offers a hand to Yuno.

"You have to go meet the rest of us. We're going to be teaching you all about us so you can use it later." The queen smiles as Yuno grips onto her hand.

"Okay."

Ahhh this is the first chapter🥺 I hope y'all like this book🥰

0 notes

undertale-rho · 4 years

Text

Underearth: Book 4 - Chapter 22

The inside hosted architecture like Frisk had never seen before or since. Ahead of him was a grand staircase that led to upper floors, yet the walls of the main hall also hosted staircases. Doors to other rooms aligned with the floor, along with multiple walls, and a few up in the ceiling as well.

"We should split up." Calibri said. "If anything gets found, send out a pulse-wave and run back here."

"What's a pulse-wave?" Frisk asked.

Calibri brought his hands together to demonstrate. With his eyes glowing red, as soon as his hands contacted one-another, a blast of red energy erupted from them. The pulse of red energy continued outward until it disappeared just a few inches from his hands.

"That was a weaker version. In the event you find something, you'd need to make a bigger one that covers the entire mansion. Just be careful, the bigger the pulse, the more AURA you'll expend."

The two then split up, with Calibri starting from the first floor and Frisk climbing the grand staircase and starting from the second.

Over the following few hours, they searched the massive structure, occasionally running into one another, more often from different angles, with one being on the other's wall or ceiling. After many hours had passed, they both arrived on the roof of the structure.

"Did you find anything?" Frisk asked when he saw Calibri.

Calibri shook his head. "I take it your search was just as fruitful as mine?"

"Unfortunately..."

They both heaved a sigh and sat down. Frisk took this time to look around at the surrounding environment.

"Do you know where we are?" he asked.

"Not a clue. I've never even heard of a place like this." Calibri replied.

"Guess a question regarding its size is also out..."

They both then sat there in silent contemplation regarding what to do. A few minutes in, Calibri spoke to break the silence.

"So," Calibri said, "if your magic isn't sourced from LOV, where'd you get it all from?"

Frisk looked at him. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying to dodge.

"I've been watching your every move since your first RESET. Remember when you spotted me in Snowdin?"

"Yeah, I remember." Frisk gulped.

"During that run, you had a very... novel grasp on magic, having it just... happen around you. It looked like it was in the same vein as LOV, but you weren't killing anybody, so that's out. Next time around, though, you were slaughtering all, LOV's magic developing with each kill. Now, here you stand, or... sit, with masterful control over your own magic. So I ask, how? How'd you go from being completely incompetent to mastering a few types in basically no time at all?"

Frisk let out a sigh. Might as well tell him... he thought.

"It was relatively recently. In the last World. It started after I absorbed Toriel's SOUL."

"Wait, you absorbed her SOUL?"

"Yeah. I mean, it was there. I thought, hey, let's grab this thing, and so I did, and absorbed it, and then suddenly I just... had great magic. Didn't really think much of it further."

"Interesting. And what about everybody else? Everyone I rallied against you. Did you absorb their SOULs too?"

"Of the ones I could. Sans didn't release his SOUL, and everyone after Gerson turned to rock after I killed them, except Mettaton."

"Well that checks out. That would be all the Boss Monsters you fought. And you said everyone after Gerson turned to rock? That'd be around the time I'd gotten the Human SOULs to them."

"What's a Boss Monster?" Frisk asked.

"Remember when I said some Monsters only having a hundredth of the SOUL strength instead of the more normal thousandth?"

"Yeah."

"That's what qualifies a Boss Monster. They're just ten times more powerful than the more average Monster you'll often find."

"I see... So, backing up a bit, does absorbing a SOUL turn you to rock after you die?" Frisk asked.

"That would seem to be the case, with Monsters absorbing Human SOULs, at least. I don't see any other reason it would happen." Calibri then looked right at Frisk. "Would you mind if I... searched your SOUL?"

"What!?"

"Would you mind if I searched your SOUL?"

"I know what you said, I just... didn't understand it."

"I want to use my magic to investigate your SOUL to see if there's any signs of absorption. There's only ever been one documented case of somebody absorbing somebody else's SOUL, and that was Asriel absorbing Chara's. You're a sudden new case that I can actually study here and now. Err, with your permission of course."

"You want to study me."

"Err, yeah... word choice isn't my best quality." Calibri said, nervously laughing afterwards.

"Will it hurt?"

"No, not at all. I had my SOUL vigorously studied for the first ten-or-so years of my life. You'll hardly notice a thing. Maybe a bit of mental discomfort, like somebody looking at you while you're naked since your magical sensitivity is rather high, but that's hardly the same as physical pain."

Frisk took a deep breath. "Alright, I don't see why not. I would like to know a bit more myself, so yeah, go ahead."

"Excellent!" Calibri said, his excitement barely stifled.

Calibri placed one of his hands just above Frisk's chest. As he watched him, Frisk noticed his eyes start glowing red, which was quickly followed by an uncomfortable sensation, like somebody grabbing your very heart. As soon as it happened, Frisk took another few deep breaths.

"You alright?" Calibri asked, his primary focus on the situation at hand.

"Yeah, just... hurry please."

Calibri didn't respond. After a few more seconds, the glowing ceased, along with the awful sensation. No later had it stopped had Frisk collapsed backwards, breathing deeply.

"Incredible." Calibri said. "There's no sign of what I thought would be present after an absorption whatsoever."

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked, still lying on the ground.

"The SOUL ESSENSEs, the source of consciousness, they're all gone. There's only yours. This must be why your head isn't filled with the literal voices of those you absorbed screaming at you."

Frisk laughed a bit. "What makes you so sure of that?" he asked.

Calibri gave him a weird look. "Are the literal voices of those you absorbed screaming at you? Being that it's not you remembering them to make yourself feel bad, but them actually having an actual presence inside you."

"No. There's nothing." he said.

"That's what I thought."

"So, this SOUL ESSENSE. If I don't have it, where'd it go?" Frisk asked.

Calibri shrugged his shoulders. "Passed on, I guess. You did kill them, after all. Passing on is typically what happens after your SOUL is gone."

"Passed on?"

"Whatever you want to believe regarding that. Gone to Heaven or Hell, gone to be re-incarnated, vanished completely from existence, whatever. It's just not here anymore."

"I see."

The pair went silent again. After a few minutes, Calibri started shouting.

"LOOK!" he said, shaking Frisk while pointing off at a dark patch of sky.

"What about it?" Frisk asked, sitting up and looking off in the direction Calibri pointed.

"I saw a dim red glow coming from that direction. It could be something worth checking."

"A dim red glow... What does that have to do with anything?"

Calibri looked back at Frisk. "What all do you know about SOULs?"

"Besides the stuff youâ€™ve just told me, pretty much nothing."

"Great! Long story short, SOULs glow in the dark. LOV glows dark red."

"You think that could be it?" Frisk asked, getting ready to stand up.

"It's better than sitting here, doing nothing."

They both stood up and approached the edge of the roof.

"So where'd you see it?" Frisk asked.

"Right over there." Calibri said, pointing to a small white point of light.

Frisk squinted at the point. Just above the white light, Frisk could just barely see a dim red against the infinite black. Upon spotting it, both Frisk and Calibri jumped from the building, the lack of gravity allowing them to simply drift away.

Drifting through the nothingness, Frisk eventually looked back at the structure they had left. It was now only a pinprick of light, as it had been before. Ahead, the light they sailed towards grew larger and larger. As they got closer, it became clear that the source of the white light was a small dish-like platform, circular in appearance. Floating above the platform was a distinct heart-shaped object, heavily encrusted in an extremely dark-red, spiky object which was separated into multiple plates, a brighter red light shining through the narrow gaps in-between.

"H... holy shit." Calibri said, his voice barely audible. "That's... a lot of LOV..."

"Hello Partner." Chara's calm voice pierced the darkness. Looking down at her, Chara was standing in the center of the platform, directly below the giant SOUL above. Her smile lowered slightly when she saw Calibri. "Who is this? How did he get here?"

Frisk and Calibri landed on the platform. "Wouldn't you like to know." Frisk said.

Her frown reverted to that eerie smile she almost always wore. "It doesn't matter. So, Frisk. Have you thought about my offer? Join me, and we can cleanse this world of the vile presence of Humanity."

"Enough, Chara. I'll never help you destroy Humanity. I'm here to stop you."

Chara laughed. "Fine." she said, her voice on the verge of acid. The chitinous figure appearing behind her. "Then both of you will be the first to die."

Chara vanished completely as the chitinous figure shot forward at Calibri, its progress halted by a sudden surge of bones erupting from the ground. Where the bones touched, chitin of its exoskeleton began melting, a lavender glow emanating from the molten bits.

"Frisk!" Calibri said. "Let's waste this thing."

Nodding, Frisk brought up his hands and launched a stream of fire into the bones. As the fire engulfed the field where the figure was trapped, its chitinous form shot from the inferno, charging Calibri once again. As soon as it escaped, Calibri rolled out of the way towards Frisk, seemingly already knowing that it would charge.

"You really need to stop doing that." Calibri said.

"Doing what?" Frisk asked, stopping the flames while the chitinous figure slowly regenerated from its wounds.

"Throwing fire magic around like you do. Fire magic is real fire that burns SOUL AURA as its fuel, SOUL AURA being what is used when preforming magic. Think mana from a bunch of fantasy worlds. Those bones I summoned were just SOUL AURA, especially with the karma magic infused within them."

"So, when I threw the fire, it burned through the bones?"

"Exactly. Try using soul magic instead. I'm sure your unique formations, whatever they may be, would be more useful than the other magics you've attained."

"But isn't that thing made of magic too?" Frisk asked, staring at its nearly regenerated body. "Shouldn't it burn with the bones?"

"It should, yeah." Calibri said, also watching. "From its lack of major injuries, and being on fire, when it emerged, I'd wager it's extremely skilled at both fire and ice magics, so it could counteract both burning and freezing temperatures."

At this point, the chitinous figure had finished healing itself, its eyes ceasing their red glow as its posture re-steadied to attack.

"We're out of time." Calibri said, getting himself ready to dodge whatever would be thrown his way. "Just use soul magic for now until we know more."

"How? I don't really even know how I'm using what magic I am. I just think, and it happens."

"That's pretty much it. Since you absorbed the SOULs of those Monsters, you gained their power, magical expertise, and the spells they knew. It's gonna be instinctual for you. Don't think about it, just do it."

The chitinous figure's eyes turned orange as a blast of heat and flame shot from its hands, deflecting off a shield summoned by Frisk.

"Good. Just like that, but with soul magic this time." Calibri said. "Like so."

Calibri's eyes then glowed red as a swift red wave of energy shot into the ground and rushed towards the chitinous figure, emerging as more bones that impaled the creature. As soon as the bones struck their mark, numerous skulls appeared around the platform, a small point of lavender light sparking to life within their terrible maws moments after their summoning.

The chitinous figure thrashed through the pain and melting, snapping free of the bones that impaled it, firing another beam of heat right at Calibri, who blocked it with a summoned shield. The chitinous figure then appeared from the flash, its claws burning with murder as it hastily closed the gap between it and this unexpected Human.

"CALIBRI!!!" Frisk shouted, throwing his hands up as he closed his eyes, hoping that something would happen.

The darkness of his eyelids only made the silence that followed worse. It quickly became too much and Frisk cracked his eyelids. Before him was the chitinous figure, barely moving, as particles of sand whizzed around it.

Calibri looked over at Frisk. Upon seeing that his eyes were glowing red, a smile broke across his face.

"Nice work." he said, moving out of the way of the chitinous figure. "So, this is your innate magic." Calibri walked around the small dust storm before heading to where Frisk was standing. "Seems like you've nullified its movement." he said.

"No." Frisk said, his head starting to throb. "I, can't explain it, but it feels like it's moving in there."

"Interesting. So maybe just a slowdown, like slowing time within this specific spot... Most interesting indeed..." Calibri then summoned a small bone-knife and threw it into the storm. The knife, almost as soon as it had completely entered, halted its progress, which was followed by Calibri saying "Interesting..." a bit more.

"Can you do this another time?" Frisk asked, his head feeling like it was being crushed.

"What? Oh, right. Sorry." Calibri looked back at the storm. "Let's finish this thing off. Stop focusing on maintaining the storm. Think about something else."

As soon as Frisk stopped thinking about the dust storm that had formed around the chitinous figure, the dust stopped swirling and fell to the ground, disappearing soon after. Once the storm dropped, the figure and knife thrown in moved again. Roughly a second after it began moving again, impact fractures appeared all over its body, which was followed by it screaming in pain. Calibri, unconcerned at this, pointed his hand at the figure. Simultaneously, the skulls surrounding the platform all opened their jaws and fired great lavender beams at the chitinous figure, beams which held their fire for a quarter of a minute before fading. The target which they fired upon was nowhere to be found when the beams faded.

Above them, the great SOUL in the center cracked, shooting lavender liquid in multiple directions. Remembering it, Calibri had one of the skulls ram the object.

"Wait!" Frisk said upon seeing this, running to Calibri.

"What? We're close, we can end this now. Is that not what you wanted my help for?"

"Sort of, but my goal was to save Chara, remember?"

Calibri looked off to the side. "Right, yeah. I remember." he then looked back at Frisk. "Real quick, though, I have a question for you. What makes you so sure she wants to be saved?"

Frisk raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"From what I've learned with you and past subjects, LOV only gives its host the DETERMINATION to press forward with murderous goals and intents. You wanted power, and LOV convinced you to grow it for that power. She wants to wipe out Humanity, and likely has since she was in the Underground. Why do you think the Dreemurrs are separated as they are?"

Frisk simply stared at Calibri, his mind racing through this information. As it coursed through, Frisk remembered something the Timepiece had told him.

"Yet, despite this, Chara is still alive in there. A tender, loving soul who only wants the best for everyone."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Calibri asked.

"Because I felt it before, back when those SOUL fragments were connected to my own SOUL."

Calibri went silent, his own mind now racing.

"Alright." he said after a minute. "But if you really want to do this, we're gonna have to work fast. LOV is a parasite, and there's likely not much of those fragments left after that fight."

Above the two, the shell around the SOUL shattered, its separate tectonics turning to dust as a much smaller version fell to the ground, forming a crater upon landing. This inner shell, upon landing, cracked itself slightly. From within, a golden liquid began seeping out.

"We haven't got much time." Calibri said. "Alright, here's what's gonna happen. Pay attention because we'll only have seconds at best. I'm gonna crack open the shell and tear out the fragments. As soon as their free, I want you to use the life magic you got from Toriel to sustain the fragments. That may buy us just enough time to force a fusion back with your SOUL. Understand?"

"Life magic?" Frisk asked.

"Think about being compassionate and using your magic at the same time. Try using it right now."

Frisk tried. Almost instantly, his eyes started glowing green as a green aura formed around his hands.

"Excellent. Seems like you got the hang of it." he said, looking back down at the LOV-encrusted SOUL. Calibri then summoned a long, four-pronged polearm, pointing it at the SOUL. "Ready?" he asked.

Frisk nodded.

"Alright. Three. Two. One. NOW!"

Upon shouting now, Calibri shoved the end of the weapon into the SOUL, golden liquid spilled from the opening like the insides of an egg. As the liquid spilled, small red slivers started to become visible. As soon as they were visible, Calibri dispelled the polearm as his eyes glowed purple. The slivers shot upwards, breaking from the sides of the inside of the shell, and out into the open air. As soon as they exited, Frisk's eyes glowed green again, his hands hovering over the fragments.

Seeing them maintained, Calibri focused his magic into fusing the slivers with Frisk's SOUL. Shortly thereafter, the slivers shot straight into Frisk's chest, the pain of this fusion causing him to scream out, clutching his chest as he collapsed to the alabaster floor and lost consciousness.

Sozo : LOV

Previous First posting First of this book Next

#undertale #undertale au #undertale rho #UTRStory #underearth #sozo

0 notes

athina39 · 7 years

Note

senpai will u ever write dazai pov for your latest fic?

kouhai, ask and you shall receive!

♣ home is where the heart is♥ [read dazai’s pov @ AO3] ♦ [or read below the cut :D]♠ the intermission is 100% dazai’s pov + 100% flashback to the Moment dazai realized he’s 1000% into chuuya

your heart is my home

He’s leaning against a cool metal railing, splintered off from all of its buddies on the ceiling above that—oh dear, it looks like it’s all precarious and about to collapse on top of him.

On a day where everything has happened so far according to his plans—managing to use No Longer Human against Crime and Punishment just before both of their Abilities have been erased, restraining and gagging the Demon so that he’s ready for detainment, orchestrating every single person at his disposal so that they’ll arrive at this precise moment—getting crushed by an unstable building seems like a fitting end.

If he manages to just slide a couple more meters to the right, using his blood to lessen the friction of his body against the flooring, he’ll reach and topple over a broken tenth-floor window. He’ll have even more internal bleeding, some more broken bones, possibility of dying at more than fifty percent. Then again, if he stays here as the ceiling collapses – Atsushi-kun and Akutagawa-kun do not know the meaning of restraint when fighting, even as temporary allies – there’s a ninety-nine percent chance of dying.

It’s been a long twenty-four years. He’s managed to save people, screw some people over, helped others live, pushed others to death. He’s managed to stop a worldwide disaster – even at the cost of having Abilities permanently erased from this world – and he’s managed to defeat a long-time enemy. It’s a fairly eventful life, the gaping hole inside his chest that somehow has been partially filled by OdaSaku’s outlook in life still churning and gnawing at his entire being.

The people he’s currently with—he respects them, their shining brilliance in accepting life. The people he’s left behind—he respects them, their grim determination to thrive from the deaths all around them. He wants to continue existing just as much as he wants to exit this game that has dragged on for too long.

With his less-damaged arm, he rummages in his coat’s pocket – takes out his phone and a necklace. To be honest, he’s forgotten about the necklace – he’s removed it from its usual place prior to the final confrontation with the Demon, in a half-hearted attempt to keep it safe from harm.

Like a lot of things, the necklace started off as a whimsical joke, something that he’s thought of springing off in its intended target once things were less tense, reserved for a day that he needs cheering up because there’s always something incredibly fun about seeing that hatrack’s confused and enraged face. He’s fond of revealing things slowly and purposely, so he’s sure that even until now, that petit mafia is still not aware of the culprit behind his unevenly-chopped off hair.

So he ignores the necklace for a moment, focusing his efforts on his phone instead. He thinks of leaving a cryptic dying message – scratch that, multiple cryptic dying messages to various people, idly wondering if Ranpo-kun will manage to solve it quickly or if he will be tainted by the idea of a death of a colleague, lazily speculating the chances of the midget drowning himself in bottles of wine from receiving his message, half in celebration and more than half in enraged confusion.

He fiddles with the recording app – because hey, he still has a gorgeous face even if it’s a bit bloody and scratched, and these people deserve to see his face and hear his voice as he recites riddles to distract them from the fact that it apparently only takes one well-placed steel beam on top of his head to shut him up eternally.

But in a day where everything has mostly gone according to plan, it’s almost fitting that he ends up half-frozen, half-interested in the most recent recording showing up on his app. Logically, he already knows what’s in that recording. He’s the one who recorded it to begin with. But he can’t quite stop his fingers from opening the recording – the tinny sound reverberating fully inside his skull, the shaky video steady in his mind’s eye.

(It’s not an entirely coincidental meeting – Hirotsu-san has mastered the terribly neutral tone even in texts, managing to sound without any ulterior motives when he tells him about an embarrassment making a spectacle of himself at one of the bars in the outskirts of Port Mafia’s territory. But there’s no pressure in that message, no coaxing about making sure his ex-partner doesn’t die of alcohol poisoning, no guilt-tripping into taking responsibility for driving their most powerful Executive into a hot mess. It leaves him with a choice and that’s how he too-lightly makes his way to the bar that has no Port Mafia security lining up the entrances and exits.

He’s already taking out his phone and recording the plum-flushed cheeks of the midget, reddened eyes nearly overshadowed by his drunkenness, coat strewn around and shirt unbuttoned halfway down. “Too careless, Executive Chuuya~~~♪”

Chuuya, drunk as he is, merely groans like an aggressive cat against the wooden bar, questionable liquid near his mouth. He generously thinks that it’s spilled wine and drool, instead of something saltier and more painful.

“What would your beloved subordinates say about their favorite boss?”

He plucks the abandoned cellphone with one hand, stifling a grin when the most recent phone records all show his number, calls to M A C K E R E L in short bursts of 5 to 10 seconds, because he picks them up and doesn’t say anything until Chuuya starts screaming before he hangs up. The message drafts have 88 unsent items, more than half of them ridden with typos and capslock, all of them with a disquieting sense of loss and anger.

He sends all of the drafts to their intended recipient, his own phone buzzing seconds afterward and making the video shaky.

“I’m recording you so you can see how noisy your snoring is, you know. So irresponsible – I can kill you easily like this, you see.”

He thinks of a world without Chuuya and stops short, because he nearly drops his phone. He resumes recording the hatrack’s drunken snoring, incessantly poking at the other’s face – wait, he orders whiskey on the rocks and takes out the block of ice and presses it against the other’s swollen cheek instead.

Chuuya, who hates the cold ever since before, groans louder and tries to swat him away. Fortunately for his entertainment, the action only causes the man to flail about and free-fall from the bar to the floor. Unfortunately for him, he witnesses the other man’s strange ability to control his Ability when unconscious, his own Corruption corrupting him to the point that it automatically activates when he’s about to get his nose broken by collapsing on the floor, lessening the impact and instead just leaving him as a pathetic lump on the floor.

He’s never been a kind man, so he keeps the recording on as he nudges Chuuya’s body with his shoe. “Still alive, you drunkard?”

It’s not entirely unexpected, but the commotion apparently drags some semblance of consciousness to the other, blue eyes blinking blearily up at him. It’s not entirely unthinkable, but the fact that the first emotion on the other’s eyes is a mix of recognition and relief—it stops his breath short and his grip on his phone slacks again.

“D-Dazai.”

It’s a strangled sound, almost as though Chuuya’s had to wrench his name from somewhere deep, buried by years and resentment. It’s a wonderful sound, because he’s always wanted to be buried deep into nothingness. It should be a wonderful sound and instead it only makes him bend his knees as he lowers himself to be nearer to the reeking alcoholic mess in front of him.

“Where do you want me to take you, partner?”

It’s not supposed to sound so genuine, but maybe it is. He plans on dumping Chuuya on some abandoned alley regardless of his answer anyway – it’s not like he’s interested in sneaking around Port Mafia security with a deadweight lightweight on his arms at two in the morning.

“Aren’t I—” Chuuya makes a wretched, retching noise, the reddened rim around his eyes bringing out their blueness even more as he stares, blinks, stares some more. How he’s able to keep his right hand steady in angling the phone by his knee, he’s not entirely sure. “—but you’re here—already—I’m home?”

Dazai drops his phone then, the video ending with the immense confusion on Chuuya’s voice.)

Moments before the ruined building collapses entirely, Dazai Osamu’s phone records a grainy video taken with steady hands, the split-second transformation of apathy to determination captured. There’s only one line in it, spoken as a green pendant stuffed with a supposedly-shocking-joke of cut-off complementary red locks, settles into the other’s chest.

I need to go home.

#Anonymous #athina replies!#athina writes fic #home is where the heart is #soukoku #dazai osamu #nakahara chuuya #bungou stray dogs #lovely soukoku fam is lovely

14 notes · View notes