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Keeptober 2022

Prompt #1: Black Swan. @keeptober

1460…

“Devoid yourself from feasting on that!” Shocker yelled as a dog approached her pendant.

Shocker, aka Misty Stearling, 21 years old and a Psionopath, was one of the founding members of the Black Swan.

Over 3, 4 months ago, her friend, Leto, had proposed the idea of a rebel organization when they were stating what they would change if they were Councilors.

At first, everyone had shrugged and agreed, thinking it was a joke, but a week later, Leto had approached them each and given them a note written in a cipher they’d boredly developed in Study Hall as Level 5s.

He whispered in their ears to meet him at a certain time while dropping a temporary leaping crystal in their pockets.

Naturally, they got curious and decided to follow what he told them to.

All of them showed up at some abandoned warehouse located somewhere in the Forbidden Cities.

They were assigned tasks and roles by Leto, who told them to address him as Anonymous when meeting or mentioning him.

They were skeptical about following the idea at first, but Le- Anonymous, had reminded them of what the future could hold if they continued with their ideas, and, with that in mind, they’d all sworn to secrecy.

However, months later, seemingly no progress had been made and Misty was just about ready to tear her hair out if she heard of another failed raid on the Council’s registry files.

The dog stepped away from the pendant, but not after it sniffed it and left, relieving Misty.

She was already late for the meeting and a ruined pendant would only ruffle Anonymous’s feathers.

Misty picked up the pendant and dusted it before opening up a nearby shop door where the meeting was held.

From what little English text she’d learned from hanging around her crush best friend, Linguist, aka, Landon Ethiopia, she could read the letters S a l r s and o v n on the hanging sign.

She assumed that the store was named Saltry’s Oven, but maybe it was just the way it looked in Elvin runes.

Upon entering, Misty was bombarded with all sorts of noises and smells.

In the corner, there seemed to be a drinking competition of sorts and a man seemed to be winning. Misty squinted and realized it was Landon.

She sighed and went over to him. Landon was known for doing the most stupid-ass shit if he was drunk.

Thankfully, Landon rarely got drunk at parties, but they were only 21.

When Misty got close enough, Landon spotted her.

He smiled dumbly and put his arms around Misty.

“Miiiistyyyy!!! Drinking mates, ‘tis the fair lady I was boasting of!” his syllables were drawn out and his vowels sounded lazy.

Misty sighed and supported her friend.

“My friend, how much hath thou consumed?”

“Thirty!”

“Shots?”

“Gallons!” he giggled.

“Cheater!” a human cried from his drunken state. “T’was-hic twenty-hic nine-hic!”

Landon squished Misty’s face and said “Do not deem his words true! He is a miscreant and a fool!”

“Discontinue this infantish act! Good day, but we must take our leave.”

Misty hated the way things were going. Usually, it was her who acted like that while Landon made sure she didn’t do something stupid.

She sighed and, still supporting Landon, walked around looking for a table with their friends.

After a minute, she spotted their hooded cloaks and headed to them. Misty was trying to ignore how Landon leaned on her, but it was hard since he was leaning over to squish her face every 5 seconds.

She was sure that by the time they sat down, her face was red and rivaled the drunk blush Landon had.

Anonymous offered her a drink and was about to offer some to Landon, but took it back and replaced it with water when he saw his state.

Landon got mad, but didn’t say anything or do anything and passive aggressively sipped the water.

Anonymous sighed and clapped his hands.

“Considering our research hath forfeited to the drink, I am afraid we must discuss another topic.”

The meeting went by quickly with the discussion of their latest endeavors. Gale, or Bree, had revealed that the Council was planning on opening Atlantis, the city built for humans.

This left them in mixed feelings as they exited the pub.

Landon wouldn’t stop clinging onto Misty even when she had leapt to their shared apartment in Eternalia.

“Hath anyone spoken of thy starry eyes?”

“I do not think anyone hath made a comment so far.”

“‘Tis a shame. I have not enough honor to behold thy beauty.”

Then, Landon grabbed her face and kissed her squarely on the lips. When he pulled away, he sighed and passed out.

Misty blinked at his state and laughed.

Well, that was one roadblock cleared.

1560

Miranda, the daughter of Landon and Misty, surveilled the scene in front of her.

She was with her fellow second-gen Black Swan trainees on their debut mission.

Her parents had always told her that she’d take over as her mom since she had the Psionopath ability.

Her friend, Jaeno, would take over her father’s position. Not that she was bitter about it.

She was happy for him and celebrated him, but now, they had to focus on what they had to raid.

Mr. Anonym, their advisor, told them that for their first mission, they’d have to find out how to alter and hack the registry files within a week.

It wasn’t common knowledge, but the Registry had an operating building disguised as a human ruin in the Amazon Forest.

They had 3 training Technopaths, 2 Psionopaths, including herself, 2 Conjurers, 1 Pyrokinetic, and 1 Vanisher, but that was the best they got while the other adults were away on different jobs.

The Technopaths were set up snugly while the rest of them patrolled. They had a 5-mile radius of the place and they all made sure to cover up any visible tracks.

Miranda bumped into someone and whipped out her knife to their throat.

It was Jaeno.

She slumped disappointedly and went past him, focusing on what she had to do after she apologized to him.

Within an hour, she saw the go-signal from where they had their camp set up.

She and 1 Conjurer, Elina, would sneak in and hook up some device to the registry files.

If it proved successful, the Technopaths would produce more and use them to retrieve and/or alter a file.

If it failed, then, there was always a time for Exillium.

Miranda scaled the side of the wall, hoping that Elina was doing the same on the opposite side, otherwise the plan wouldn’t work.

When she reached the top, she took out a tool to open the hatch. When Elina arrived, she zapped the bolts connecting the hatch and unscrewed them using her telekinesis.

With combined strength, they lifted the hatch and slid down, one after the other.

What they didn’t expect was the fact that the Technopaths didn’t specify what they had to hook the machines up to, so they just second-guessed where they put them.

They rechecked if they attached the gadgets properly, and when they were sure, they levitated themselves out.

When they got back to the camp, they were scolded for forgetting to close the hatch and not checking if they were alone.

Miranda and Elina didn’t understand what they were talking about until the Technopaths told them that the gadgets had been disconnected and taken.

1660

Pyla nervously fiddled with the ring she had in her pocket.

It was not an engagement ring, unfortunately. It was a ring meant for destruction.

Within the hour, she’d have to throw it under a door crack in hopes that it did its job well and killed an entire room of human assassins.

It was wrong and went against her moral compass, but it was for a better future and the Black Swan.

Her Imparter crackled to life and the voice of her boyfriend, Ondine, whispered, “Ready yourself to toss it in 5 minutes. Be cautious, my dearest.”

“I promise.”

“When thee arrives home, we will marry.”

“Ye- wait, darling, are thee telling lies?”

“No, my love.”

The hail ended and Pyla stared at the Imparter for a minute before shaking her head and concentrating on the task at hand.

In 5 minutes, she heard a knock coming from far below the hall. It was the pattern they’d agreed on, but it seemed a bit… off.

Nevertheless, she tossed the ring under the door crack and heard the sound of a room burning down and multiple people banging on the locked door.

She was actually surprised that Fork Man actually went through with this idea, but, hey. It was for the world, right?

Pyla didn’t know how wrong she was.

It turned out that it wasn’t her friend that knocked; rather some other person. Her friend was still inside, and he had burned with the humans.

1872…

Mylla held her breath as she watched the humans that tried to conquer Atlantis drowned.

She was not sure what to feel.

The humans had wanted power and were greedy, but some were her friends and she had warned them of what could come.

Arrogant fools.

The Black Swan had tried to tell the humans to change their ways and look where that ended.

Kory, her “good friend”, saw what was going on through her head and squeezed her hand.

Mylla calmed down and squeezed back.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not. Let’s just go home.”

Mylla stayed unresponsive for a minute before nodding her head sadly.

When they reached their house (they’d recently bought it and were in the middle of moving everything from their old apartment to there), Mylla made a beeline for her training room.

Kory felt her wife’s sadness, but they both knew it was for the best.

2002…

Lareia headed into the kitchen and started to unpack the boxes that held her and her wife’s kitchen equipment so that she could cook dinner.

That was the arrangement they’d agreed on when they started discussing a future together. Soni was terrible at cooking and would only burn the house down, so when Lareia felt like it, she cooked and even stress-cooked sometimes.

Just as she put a big bowl down on the table, her Imparter rang and she knocked over the flour. Lareia cursed as she answered the hail from her advisor from work, Mr. Forkle.

“This better be important or-”

“SAME-SEX COUPLES CAN HAVE CHILDREN!” he excitedly interrupted her.

The flour fell to the floor again when Lareia processed what he had said. She and Soni were planning on adopting a child and a pet, but this news changed everything.

“Wh- How? Are you sure?”

“Well, it was purely by luck and tweaking with a side dish of mistake.”

“And the proof?”

“Hold on.”

Forkle left the frame and when he came back, he held a newborn in his arms. It had dark skin and a naughty expression on its sleeping face.

“The baby’s adorable! Gender and parents?” she asked as she picked the flour up again.

“Unnamed; girl. Don’t you love your daughter?”

The flour joined the floor for the third time that day.

Lareia’s eyes widened and she froze up when she realized that the baby did look like her.

“Wh- b- how- WHEN?!”

“Let’s just say that the beta test for Project Moonlark wasn’t so successful. Your DNA, and Soni’s, fell in while you were both working on it. The baby might not have the combination we want, so it’s defective. It will still be powerful, but not as useful. I already have a couple-”

“NO!”

“No?” he repeated.

“If you’re giving her to another set of parents, you’re doing it over my dead body.”

“Are you sure? I mean, no offense, but your powers combined aren’t very-”

“Forkle, I take all offense when you say that. You just told me I have a daughter and now you’re breaking the news that you want to give her away? We might be friends, but this is out of hand.”

“I’m just saying. You’re a Polyglot-Beguiler and Soni’s a Psionopath. Those are useful powers, but-”

“But? Forkle, for once, have some compassion for a child.”

“This could change things for another couple’s life!”

“You’re asking me too much.”

“You won’t be seen as fit parents!”

Lareia plopped the flour in the bowl angrily.

“Is that what it’s about? Soni and I are both women so we can’t raise our own child?”

“No, but-”

“I don’t want to hear if there’s a ‘but.’ You’re being homophobic. I thought you’d accepted the fact that we’re some of the first same-sex couples in the Black Swan a long time ago.”

“It isn’t that, I promise!” Lareia crossed her arms and gave him a steely look. “Look, you and Soni are young. I want you both to live out your lives without caring for a baby.”

“Young?! We’re 25!” she yelled, exasperatedly. “I guess it’s okay if you did it with a horse, but if two women had a child, it’s socially unacceptable?!”

“I didn’t-”

“Don’t deny it. I’m getting my baby and I’m quitting the Black Swan. Soni might keep her job, but as long as I know what happened here, I will not work for you again.”

She ended the hail and turned off all the electricity before leaving for the Black Swan research facility that had the baby.

Lareia opened the necessary doors with her access pass.

By the time she was in Forkle’s room, her anger had cooled a bit and had reduced to a steely glare.

Forkle was still in the room, but her baby was nowhere in sight.

“Where is she?!”

“In the nursery. You better get to her before someone adopts her.”

Right then and there, Lareia slapped Forkle.

“You’re horrible.”

She stormed out of the room and ran as fast as she could to the nursery. When she slammed the doors open, she saw her crying daughter being picked up by an unknown couple.

Lareia stomped over to them and grabbed her baby as gently as she could. When she nestled her baby into her arms, she stopped crying.

“That’s our baby.” the man said angrily.

“Wrong. She’s my baby. She might have been conceived accidentally, but she’s very much mine. We can run her through the DNA test if it will please you.”

The man huffed, but his wife agreed to it.

Lareia went over to the DNA testing section of the nursery and put some of her baby’s tears on the child's side with her finger. And for her side, she licked the slot for the parents, careful not to jostle her baby.

The machine took both DNA samples and studied them for a minute before spitting out a confirmation that they were related.

The woman sighed and said, “You may keep your baby. I’m sorry I doubted you. It’s just that my husband and I have wanted children for so long that we considered adopting the next opportunity that came our way.”

Lareia softened herself.

“Well, I’m sorry for snatching her away from you. My wife and I have always wanted a child of our own as well. It’s not biologically possible, so when I heard I had a daughter, I just- I don’t know what got into me. I’m usually the cool-headed one.”

Lareia expected the woman to foam at the mouth with queerphobia, but she just looked startled.

“I’m really sorry if I disgust you, but not really.”

This managed to wipe the look off the woman’s face into a laugh.

“I’m so sorry for laughing. It’s just that my sister is exactly like that. My sister just had a newborn daughter with her wife, Lesedi. I was just so surprised at how casual you were with admitting.”

She just shook her head.

“It shouldn’t be that way. Elven society really should be open.”

Extra:

Soni entered the house, exhausted and her hands full with take-out. She’d spent the entire day, running errands for the Black Swan.

All she wanted to do was cuddle with her wife until they both fell asleep.

Unfortunately, said wife was nowhere to be seen or heard.

Soni tried to keep herself calm, but she failed. Her wife wouldn’t leave the house when she knew Soni would be home soon, right?

What if-

Her thoughts were, thankfully, interrupted when she heard loud sounds coming from their room. The sounds were then followed by the sound of her wife’s familiar creative curses and the sound of a baby crying.

Wait, baby crying?! She wouldn’t have adopted a baby without her agreement. Probably.

Sighing, she went up the stairs in search of an explanation. When she got there, she saw Lareia holding a baby’s head to her shoulder while rocking side to side and humming something.

Lareia cheered up at the sight of Soni and motioned for her to join

her.

Soni reluctantly walked over to her wife just to stare at the tiny, dark-skinned infant.

“Should I even ask? Or did someone leave a baby on our doorstep?”

“She’s mine.”

Soni looked at her skeptically before Lareia burst into laughter.

“I’m confused on what to do or feel.”

“Oh my Eternalia, you’re so oblivious, darling.”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that term of endearment until I get my explanation.”

This made her laugh more.

“Okay, I’ll stop laughing and explain it to you.”

She led Soni to their bed and explained everything.

By the time she was done, Soni had their daughter in her arms and the most overprotective look in her eyes.

Lareia loved the sight and just died when Soni and their daughter, who they’d decided to name Eleina, fell asleep. She snapped a quick picture and kissed them both on the forehead on her way out.

Extra Extra:

2017

The sound of the doorbell rang through the house.

Lareia got up from where she was sketching on the kitchen table. Soni and Eleina were out shopping and would be home in a few minutes. That couldn’t be them.

Nevertheless, she got up and opened the door. Standing in front of her was a girl that looked Eleina’s age. She had dark skin, black dreadlocks with a blue streak, and turquoise eyes.

“Um, hello, who are you?”

“Does Soni Ethiopia live here?”

Lareia internally sighed. Interactions like this usually generate homophobia.

She tensed up before answering the girl.

“Yes, but-”

“Oh no- I’m not here to voice my opinions. I’m looking for a good Psionopath teacher. My aunt told me that she had an acquaintance with a powerful Psionopath for a wife.”

Something seemed to nag Lareia that she should have recognized who this girl was.

“I’m… sorry? Come on in. I know who you’re talking about.”

The girl perked up a bit and followed her into the house. Lareia led her into the living room where she interrogated the girl.

“So, could you tell me who you are?”

“Maruca Chebota. My aunt said that you wouldn’t recognize me, so she said to give the name of Lady Aura.”

Lareia thought for a bit and it clicked that the woman she was talking about was the one she’d bumped into 15, 14 years ago when Eleina was barely a day old.

“Ahh. I remember your aunt. She was a very understanding woman. How is she?”

“She’s doing great and she has kids of her own now. Are you Soni?”

Lareia looked at her blankly for a moment and burst out into laughter.

“Am I Soni? Ah- ha! Ah, kid, you’ve got a sense of humor. No one’s ever mixed me up for my wife.”

Just then, the door opened and Soni and Eleina burst in, multiple bags floating in front and behind them.

“Hey, love. Who’s this young lady?”

People I keep locked up (tell me if you want in or out. Sorry if you didn’t want to be tagged out of loyalty):

@gay-otlc

@even-if-in-another-time

@xanadaus

@booksscienceandmath

@hunkyhair-my-beloved

@ultralazycreatorfan

@gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss

@stellar-lune

@bookwyrminspiration

@orionalumn

@an-ungraceful-swan

@chaotic-bumblebee-agenda

@sunset-telepath

@when-wax-wings-melt

@bianavacker-is-bi-as-hell

@arcadialedger

@fintan-pyren

@aromantic-fucker

@black-swans-and-moonlarks

@lady-hunkyhair

@if-only-i-was-fictional

@stellasencen

@florida-fruity-frog

@fandomsarefriends-notfood

@the-abandoned-schoolbus

@mynamisfab

@katniss-elizabeth-chase

@winterfireice

@camelspit

@that-glasses-dog

@presidentroarie

@that-multi-fandom-mess

@arson-anarchy-death

@constant-sapphic-breakdown

@squishmallow36

@callas-pancake-tree

@rusted-phone-calls

@thebestbookshelf

@everenvacker

@axels-corner

@coldtragedytaco

@life-is-soup-i-am-fork1

@thefruitsaladdemon

@aroace-dadwinstan

@synonymroll648

@kamikothe1and0lny

Go check out my main: @/never-mourn-the-good if you want

#keeptober 2022 #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc #black swan #woo! first time to have a post in keeptober!#maruca chebota #mr forkle #kotlc forkle #keeptober #keeptober2022

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