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pengiesama · 5 years

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Home for the Holidays (Fic, TOZ, Sorey/Mikleo)

Title: Home for the Holidays Series: Tales of Zestiria Pairing: Sorey/Mikleo

Summary: It's Shepherdsmas Eve, and Sorey and Mikleo are preparing to host dinner at their place. Then Maotelus rips a hole in reality and accidentally resurrects their dead biological family as seraphim.

Meeting the in-laws for the first time is always awkward.

Part of the Sormik Advent Calendar 2019, for the “12 Days of Christmas"/"12 Pains of Christmas” prompt “Meeting the In-Laws”.

@sormikadventcalendar / sormikadvent (Twitter)

Link: AO3

Read on Tumblr!

“Hi,” Maotelus said, popping his head out of the chimney and into the fireplace.

Mikleo screamed, dropping the tray of sweets and hot chocolate he was carrying with a loud crash.

“Merry Shepherdsmas Eve,” Maotelus continued, undeterred. “Sorry to drop in unannounced, but got a quick question for you. I kinda did something that might’ve torn a rift in the Earthpulse and I need someone to keep an eye on a few things while I figure things out down there before it eats reality. And ruins Shepherdsmas.”

“Wh—wh—” Mikleo sputtered, trying to get a handle on the situation he was being presented.

“Mikleo? I heard a crash, are you okay?” Sorey poked his head into the room. “Mao? When did you get here?”

“Sorey!” Maotelus greeted warmly. The red pom-pom hat he was wearing had caught fire while he dangled upside-down over the fireplace. “Merry Shepherdsmas Eve. Listen, I need you two to babysit some new seraphim that popped out of a teensy tiny little fissure in the Earthpulse that I caused while I was trying to break someone out of Hell Prison.”

“Oh,” Sorey said. “Um. That sounds fine?”

Mikleo made a strangled quacking noise, like a furious, confused duck. Sorey gently reached out and hugged him around the shoulders, stroking his long hair back from his face.

“It’ll be fine, Mikleo, it’s just hosting some guests! That’s what Shepherdsmas is all about, right?”

“Shepherdsmas was originally observed as a religious holiday in the Asgard era and was intended by the human religious authorities as an extremely solemn and boring occasion to reflect upon the accomplishments and sacrifices of past Shepherds,” Mikleo said flatly. “And today it is mostly about buying presents.”

“Sounds like someone needs to learn about the true meaning of Shepherdsmas,” Maotelus commented.

Mikleo sounded like he was about to explode. “EVERY YEAR! EVERY YEAR YOU SAY THAT AND EVERY YEAR WE’RE CLEANING UP THE MESS FOR DAYS AFTER—”

The air shimmered with iridescent energy, and the earth rumbled ominously.

“Okay I gotta go now have fun with your guests and by the way they’re the seraphic reincarnations of your biological human families be back soon!”

Maotelus blew out the fire in the fireplace with a puff of breath, darted up the chimney, and stuffed a big red bag down after him. The red bag landed in the fireplace, and wriggled this way and that, as if stuffed full of living creatures.

…like the seraphic reincarnations of their former human families.

The bag tumbled over, and the tie at the top was finally yanked open from the inside.

There were two women; one, Muse, as Mikleo dimly remembered her from that tiny, lonely room in the Mabinogio Ruins so many centuries ago. Her hair had turned a shining pearl white, with green tips. The other woman, with white-red hair, was unfamiliar, but had Sorey’s wide green eyes, and a distinctive resemblance besides. Selene, he remembered her name, and her name alone. To his shame, he knew nothing else about the woman…but the way she clung to Muse’s arm, seeking comfort, was a start.

The other bag inhabitants were…

…not quite the kind of seraphim they had expected.

“Get that ratty tail of yours out of my face!” snapped a bluish-purple Normin.

He shoved another Normin away from him, who fell to the floor with a sound resembling a squeaky toy. This Normin had a small lion’s tail, and a mane that caused his beret to not fit quite right. The lionesque Normin flailed furiously, like an upended turtle.

“Another life! Another life and another chance to take my revenge on you and this miserable world!” snarled the lionesque Normin.

The bluish-purple Normin spotted a fireplace poker, and immediately went for it. Muse yelled in dismay and picked him up before he could grab it.

“Um…” Sorey cleared his throat. “Merry Shepherdsmas?”

Their guests startled, only seeming to just realize they were in someone else’s house, and being watched. Muse’s gaze fell on Sorey first, then Mikleo. Her eyes were clear, unclouded, focused; not like their sightless gaze from their last meeting. She stared at him; stared right into those eyes that matched her own.

It was a long moment before Mikleo could find the words to speak.

“Hello,” Mikleo said quietly. “I don’t know what Maotelus told you, if anything. But, you’re seraphim. This is a land called Glenwood. Do you remember anything from before he plucked you from the Earthpulse?”

“Mikleo?” Muse asked, her voice trembling. Tears welled in her eyes. “A-are you my Mikleo?”

It was odd, being hugged so tightly and loved so desperately by someone he didn’t know at all.

“Michael,” Lailah said sternly. “Stop fighting with your tablemates. It’s Shepherdsmas and we must put past squabbles behind us.”

“I am one of the Shepherds in that Shepherdsmas,” Michael replied. “And that means that I can squabble as I choose to.”

Everyone was trying very hard to enjoy their annual Shepherdsmas dinner. Michael and Heldalf – for it was indeed they who had reincarnated into Normin forms – were strapped into makeshift baby highchairs and were currently locked in a ceaseless battle of wills. This took the form of Michael throwing his vegetables at Heldalf and Heldalf making grand and impotent threats as he was steadily coated in mashed potatoes.

Mikleo didn’t know why this kind of thing always happened when it was his and Sorey’s turn to host dinner at their place.

“I shall bring darkness down upon this world! Malevolence to smother out suffering!” Heldalf yowled, thrashing in place in his highchair.

“I shall bring peas upon your head,” Edna replied, scattering a handful of peas on top of the mashed potatoes covering him. “Man, Meebo, your uncle is way cooler than you. This is the best Shepherdsmas ever.”

“Michael, please,” Muse pleaded. “Mikleo, he’s not usually – well, no, he is usually like this, but…”

“It’s fine,” Mikleo assured her.

And honestly, it was; Mikleo was used to the house being a mess after these dinners. And beyond that, he didn’t have strong feelings about his uncle, even knowing his…contributions to what happened during that time. It was just so long ago, and he didn’t remember him at all. Or anything, from back then. One of the perks of living such a long life was the ability to have all such things lost to the mists of time.

But unfortunately, it would take some time for these new recruits to adapt. Surely it would’ve been more merciful for Maotelus to keep their memories from back then locked away.

For all Mikleo’s awkwardness with his biological mother, it hardly compared to the palpable awkwardness between Sorey and Selene.

“…”

“…good chicken,” Selene commented, poking the meat on her plate.

“Yeah,” Sorey replied. “It’s, um. Really good.”

“…”

“…I put some spices on it.”

“A-ah. Yeah.”

“…”

Mikleo couldn’t really blame Selene for being disoriented. Surprise, you’re alive again, it’s a thousand years in the future, and that premature baby you thought was probably going to die right after you died is actually alive and well and also saved the world a while back and is now an immortal being of the elements. He could deal with her reaction to the information a lot more easily than he could Muse’s – Selene reacted to these things like Sorey did, after all; by going quiet and inward to process. Mikleo could handle that. He would give them space and hover on the sidelines to fret. But Muse was hovering, herself, and fretting a whole lot, and was still clearly eaten up by guilt and trying way too hard to make things okay when things weren’t un-okay in the first place and he’d just really like some space. Every time she tried to reach out and awkwardly touch his arm he’d flinch away from the unfamiliar contact and she was clearly taking that as some sort of sign that he hated her. Mikleo understood for the first time in his life why humans disliked family gatherings so much. He wanted to set a fire on the table, grab Sorey by the wrist, and escape off into the winter night.

“So…” Zaveid said, bravely steaming in to steer the conversation. “Wind and fire, huh? I got some know-how about that kinda magic, if you ladies need a teacher…”

The table went dead silent again. After a few moments, a handful of mashed potatoes hit Zaveid square in the nose.

“Who keeps giving him more potatoes!?” Muse outburst, somewhat hysterical.

“That’d be me,” Edna said, holding out the serving bowl of mashed potatoes to Michael so he could refill his plate with ammo.

“Everyone,” Lailah announced, rising to her feet. “On this day, this Shepherdsmas, we are here together as a family, to come together and celebrate togetherness…”

“Together and stuff,” Michael said under his breath. Edna snickered.

“MFF,” said Heldalf, under a mountain of muck.

“And so,” Lailah went on. “We should give thanks and reflect upon the meaning of the season…”

“Um,” Selene quietly interrupted. “I’ve been meaning to ask…Shepherdsmas. That’s a…thing now?”

“Oh, yes indeed,” Lailah said. “Please don’t hesitate to ask things, dear, I’m sure you have questions.”

Selene gave an awkward smile, and Mikleo felt his heart warm at how the expression so resembled Sorey.

“T-thanks. Back…back then, I guess, I thought it was just some thing the Shrinechurch made up to let them trot out a fake Shepherd and scam donations out of people…”

“Well,” Sorey began. “Historical sources indicate that was definitely the case for the holiday during several periods. But when resonance started to improve and humanity began to establish stronger ties with the seraphim again, it started to gradually change form, eventually becoming the gift-giving exchange it represents today…”

Sorey was in his element, infodumping on history, and when Sorey was comfortable, Mikleo was comfortable. Selene began to relax in turn – Sorey’s good moods were truly contagious – and with Selene and Mikleo soothed, Muse herself settled as well. Even Michael’s potato assault began to peter off in the face of Sorey’s continued lecture.

They could count another Shepherdsmas as saved.

Everyone else was asleep for the night, sequestered in guest rooms, and Mikleo and Sorey finally had some time to themselves.

Mikleo sighed deeply, allowing himself to decompress to the rhythm of Sorey’s heartbeat under his ear, and the feeling of his fingers in his hair.

“It’s always a surprise with Shepherdsmas, isn’t it?” Sorey said.

Mikleo grunted. “At least when your friend gets it in his head to mess around in the Earthpulse. Or get drunk. Or both.”

Sorey laughed, and Mikleo’s mood couldn’t stay sour for long at the sound of it.

“I guess. But the weather tonight is so cozy, and everyone’s asleep now, so…”

Mikleo could guess at what he was implying. He closed his eyes, leaning in, pressing against Sorey’s mouth with his own…

A flash of light filled the room, and in an instant, there was a cat-sized white dragon sitting in the branches of their Shepherdsmas tree; tangled in the lights.

“Okay, now that’s cleared up,” Maotelus said. “A little more help fell out of the rift in space-time. It’s a Shepherdsmas miracle.”

“Hello boys,” Zenrus said warmly. “Good to see you again.”

Sorey and Mikleo startled, and leapt from their spot on the couch to greet him.

“Gramps!”

“By the way, I’ll be doing this again sometime,” Maotelus said. “Hell Prison ain’t easy to jailbreak. I’ll try to grab your two squires next time though – they ran away from me when they saw me for some reason.”

“Were you a giant dragon at the time?” asked Sorey.

“I was a giant dragon at the time,” Maotelus confirmed. “And breathing fire.”

“Hmm,” Sorey said.

“Hmm indeed,” Maotelus said. “But it was still pretty rude, I think.”

#sormik #sorey/mikleo #soreymikleo #suremiku #soremiku #soymilk #tales of zestiria #sormik advent calendar #a tenderly crafted fanfiction

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ice-cream-beat · 5 years

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Tales of Zestiria Perfect Guide translation

Investigation: Fates Tied to the Shepherd

T/N: so this section is really heckin interesting (in my opinion) because it clears up some of the more confusing (also in my opinion) story elements on top of providing some new insight on certain backstories, including Mikleo, Muse, Dezel, Rose, Maltran, and even Konan’s family.

contains major game spoilers!

The fates of some people were left as gaps in the Shepherd’s journey. Some of these details went unnoticed, but in exploring the hidden mysteries of these truths, we can see the true meaning of the “salvation” that Sorey and his friends sought.

Q1: What is the origin of the affair with Rolance’s royal family? →Konan, the Imperial Prince, fell to malevolence when he came into contact with Dezel.

The aforementioned affair was the incident five years ago in which the infamous Wind Riders were blamed for the murder of a member of the royal family. The pasts of Sorey’s comrades were deeply embroiled with this matter--even though Konan, the second imperial prince, was already tainted by malevolence to begin with, Dezel’s presence was the trigger that sent him over. In his strong desire to see the Wind Riders continue on, the warped nature of Dezel’s blessing influenced Konan and prompted his hellionization.

However, there were rumors that Konan was not the biological child of the late Emperor Dorann. His doting mother, the queen, was plotting the assassination of his older brother and the first imperial son, Leon. This tragedy was bound to occur at some point, and the Wind Riders were in the wrong place at the wrong time when they were framed by Konan. It could perhaps be said that the incident was unavoidable.

Outline of events:

>The queen and Konan form a conspiracy

>They scheme to kill Leon

>The Wind Riders are hired; Konan is engaged to Rose >Konan becomes friendly with the Wind Riders

>Dezel’s blessing amplifies Konan’s malevolence and hellionizes him

>Konan has Leon assassinated

>Konan arrests Brad, the leader of the Wind Riders, and executes him

>Rose murders Konan

>Lafarga is hellionized by Konan’s malevolence >The stigma of the blame for Leon’s assassination causes the Wind Riders to disband

>The Wind Riders change their name to the Scattered Bones and begin a new life in the underworld of society

Q2: Was Symonne the source of Dezel’s revenge? →Because of his lapse in memory, Dezel mistakenly blamed her for what happened.

In the years following the incident with Rolance’s royal family, Dezel attributed the downfall of the Wind Riders and Lafarga’s hellionization to Symonne. In truth, however, this was merely a fabrication of his faulty memory. She was only a spectator at the time, desiring to see the outcome of Dezel’s cursed blessing (which was the same as her own) as a means of measuring his worth.

Caption: Dezel himself was the catalyst for the tragic affair, but he was convinced that Symonne, who was only present by coincidence, was the actual culprit.

Q3: At what point did Dezel begin possessing Rose? →In the days of the Wind Riders.

Dezel secretly manipulated Rose during her time in the Scattered Bones, helping her to survive in the harsh world. However, to go back further, she had been serving as his vessel since the time of the Wind Riders. Despite her high resonance, Rose reached the point where she denied the existence of seraphim--perhaps as a result of trauma during her childhood when she once witnessed Dezel’s appearance.

Caption: Rose had no way of knowing that her talents as the leader of the Scattered Bones were actually a result of Dezel’s power.

Q4: Was Mikleo reincarnated in Camlann? →He died, was reborn, and afterwards met Zenrus.

As a result of the reckless violence that the Hyland army inflicted on Camlann, Mikleo was mortally wounded, and then killed when Michael used him to inflict his curse on Heldalf despite Muse’s cries of protest. In other words, Mikleo’s human life ended during the Camlann Incident.

He was miraculously reborn as a seraph and encountered Zenrus, who had arrived at the disastrous scene. So it was that fortune favored Mikleo and he was able to survive.

Caption: Reincarnation is a mystery that even high-ranking seraphim cannot manipulate. Could Muse’s love have given birth to the miracle of his reincarnation?

Q5: What caused Maltran to become a hellion? →The betrayal of her allies in a past battle.

Maltran wasn’t only a hellion, but one who operated as Heldalf’s subordinate following an incident ten years ago. Jealous of her military achievements, the soldiers in her own unit turned on her and attempted to kill her, which was the trigger for her transformation. For this reason Maltran was more fastidious than Alisha, and in her strong desire to cleanse the warped world of its corruption, she chose the path of dirtying her own hands.

Caption: With the sword of the fallen Shepherd Asura in hand, Maltran declares that destroying the world is the only way to purify it.

Q6: What is the meaning of the inscription on the grave [in the credits cutscene]? →“Rose” in the modern language.

After Sorey’s journey was over, a grave was erected on a hilltop. On the stone was engraved “Numin,” or “Rose” in the modern language, therefore indicating that this grave was Rose’s. Incidentally, the person visiting Rose’s grave--the one who had succeeded Sorey as Shepherd--was none other than her successor. He also held the Celestial Record in hand, and can be considered the one who inherited the will of Sorey and his friends.

Caption: Between the pair of daggers lying on the tombstone and those assembled around it, one can guess the owner of the grave.

#👀#jay translates #tales of zestiria #tales of zestiria: perfect guide #dezel #rose #mikleo #muse #maltran #prince konan #no one cares about him but he'll get a tag anyway #bolded sentences were bolded in the book #I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS ABOUT THE DEZEL/ROSE TIMELINE NOW HOLY HECK #-cries- and give me more about muse pls i love her

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linarxs-blog1 · 7 years

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If Michael was in the four kingdom au Teresa would be dishing out threats like it was halloween and he was trick or treating.

#{{ I'm sorry but I just kinda love the thought of her threatening anyone who dares to even look at Muse or Mikleo unkindly }}#{{ The royal family is very dear to her so if shitty uncle michael was a thing you bet she would be threaten his ass.}}#{{ BECAUSE SHE COULD HOLD UP HER END OF THOSE THREATS HERSELF. }}

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eachainn · 6 years

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The Tide to Rock You to Sleep (Tales Whump Week Day 3: Self-Destruction)

Author’s Note: More from my side of the Dragon Bride AU. Title taken from Tranquil Lullaby by Jenia Lubich.

“Death is only the beginning.” -The Mummy

The shrine was a hive of motion, as it always was. Human and seraphim were passing in the halls, sometimes moving aside to allow the seraphim in their larger form. Pups scurried among their feet, racing off down the passages. Mikleo was sure that they were going to the top of the mountain to run in the fields up there, or out towards Camlann to visit the humans and seraphim there.

Mikleo knew that they were all running away from Michael and his lessons, and they would probably succeed. They all had his uncle figured out now. All they had to do was wait until Michael warmed to his topic and then sneak out. Michael wouldn’t be aware of their absence until he was done. By then, there was nothing he would be able to do.

Mikleo chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He should round them up and take them back, but they were bound to get some kind of education. There was always something to do in the village or the shrine. If they weren’t lending a hand, than Velvet was more than happy to help them with hunting lessons. Even play was important to their proper education, or so he had read. Mikleo was sure that the author that he had read it from had never actually seen any animal, or else their approach wouldn’t be so timid. Years of marriage and three clutches had given him plenty of time to watch pups at play. All of it looked something like hunting, and he still flinched every time. At least the fear was gone.

Mikleo watched another bunch of pups make a break for it, shaking his head. He should stop them, or at least make the attempt. As Sorey’s husband he had some kind of loose authority. Mikleo didn’t quite know if there was a title to go along with it, but he hardly exercised the power. He didn’t need to. The most he had to do was act as a final word in decisions, but that was a formal environment. Even still, it was something that he had to talk to Sorey about. Their lessons might be boring, but they were important.

The pups were protected here by Sorey’s and Maotelus’ domains and the Aroundight Forest. Any humans that did come to them had sought them out purposefully. Save for Malfore, it was never malicious and even Malfore had stumbled in by accident. Still, rumors drifted in. Dragons were being sighted in the skies again, and there wasn’t a Shepherd to be heard of. If anything, they were getting more people fleeing from cities than the towns in the far corners of Glenwood. It was good progress and something that they could be proud of.

He tipped his head back, smiling as he watched the humans and seraphim moving around. He should get up and do something, there were plenty of little things to be done, but he didn’t want to move. He was comfortable where he was, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to.

Mikleo frowned up at the ceiling. He felt tired, but that wasn’t new. The heaviness was. Moving was getting difficult because he was stiff all the time. Mikleo supposed that it made sense. He might have looked like he was in his twenties, but he was at least in his sixties. It was hard to track time when he couldn’t mark it out on his own body.

He sighed and let his eyes closed. What he wanted to do was just sleep. It didn’t matter that he had slept will the night before, it was never enough. Mikleo winced, rolling his shoulders. The ache didn’t go away, but settled stubbornly back in place. It was probably just his imagination that it was worse, centering towards the middle of his back. Mikleo shifted to rub at it, pausing as his vision blurred before settling into the pounding headache.

He hissed, reaching up to rub at his head. It felt like his whole head was pulsing, Mikleo feeling heavy and like his head was going to split apart if he wasn’t careful. He pressed the heel of one hand against his forehead, holding it there until it stooped.

Mikleo gasped, taking a few deep breaths. He didn’t dare raise his head, not when he wasn’t sure that the headache would stay away. It was happening more often, and this was the fourth or fifth one of the day. Or maybe it was more. Mikleo couldn’t remember.

He rubbed hard at his forehead, giving up a moment later. This was something that he was going to have to ask Selene or Zenrus about, maybe Phi if he could be found. One of them would have an explanation. If not, there was always Sorey when he got back, but that would be later in the day.

Mikleo scanned over the humans and seraphim. He wasn’t surprised that Selene and Zenrus weren’t inside. If anything, they would be outside, which meant getting up. Mikleo sighed, pressing the heel of his hand against his forehead again. He could easily send someone off to find them, but that would involve questions that he didn’t want to deal with at the moment. Mikleo sighed, looking up again.

He frowned when he saw a familiar black, grey, and white dragon rushed past with a bunch of others. Mikleo sighed, recognizing the red banding on their wings, back and muzzle.

Mikleo muttered a curse, before raising his voice in a shout as he went to get up from where he was sitting. “Kocis!”

The dragon yelped and turned to look at him, Mikleo seeing his son’s eyes widen in surprise, but then his vision blurred.

All the lectures about staying and listening to Michael disappeared in the roaring in his ears. It quickly turned back into the pulsing, skull-splitting headache. Mikleo gasped and stumbled forward, reaching up for his head, but everything felt so heavy.

He swayed in place for a moment before the weight and the ache of everything drove him to his knees and unconsciousness.

Mikleo woke up to someone talking. It was muffled, Mikleo having to take a moment to realize that it was because it was coming from behind him. Mikleo kept his eyes closed, listening with more concentration than it should have taken.

After what felt likes hours he was finally able to recognize Sorey’s voice and the familiar cadence of an old epic. Mikleo smiled, at the familiar story of a young prince who traveled to a mist wreathed island and found a seraph he loved there.

Mikleo reached up to touch Sorey’s hand, confused about why it took so long and needed so much effort. Still, it was worth it to stroke his fingers across the back of Sorey’s hand.

The story cut off abruptly, Sorey’s voice catching on a word. Mikleo felt Sorey’s fingers curl into his shirt, the seraph making a few more starts on continuing before he felt Sorey shake his head,

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Mikleo blinked slowly, processing the question. It felt like only a moment, but it must have taken longer because Sorey gently turned him over.

He gasped at the pressure of Sorey’s hands on him. Distantly, he could hear Sorey apologizing, but that was far from his mind. He didn’t understand why the lightest of touches hurt so much. He arched on the bed, immediately grabbing at Sorey’s shirt. Then he was being brought close into a gentle hug. He felt Sorey’s tail curl around his ankle and a wing drape over him, Sorey enclosing them in their own private space. Mikleo swallowed and tipped his head up, the motion slow and enough to make him sweat.

Sorey cooed, reaching up to card his fingers through Mikleo’s hair. Mikleo let himself slump into the touch, more than happy to stop moving. He stared at Sorey, smiling at him. Sorey didn’t smile back, Mikleo wishing he could reach up and wipe the tears away, but he didn’t think he could make it. It was better to just answer the question while he was awake. Sorey didn’t look like he would be patient enough to wait for him to finish a nap.

Mikleo sighed. “I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know?”

Mikleo wished that he could shrug in the face of Sorey’s disbelief. “The headaches make it hard to think. And I thought it was because I was getting old.” The corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile as Sorey scoffed. “I am old.”

“I know.” Mikleo wasn’t sure if he was imagining the sad tone in Sorey’s voice. “I just…I wish you had told me sooner.”

“You were busy.”

“Not too busy for you.”

Mikleo narrowed his eyes. “It was important.”

“Like Alisha would allow the princess to step out of line.” Sorey’s fingers curled in Mikleo’s hair for a moment. “Muse can handle things well enough. And I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate knowing that something happened to you. And Kocis was so panicked when he flew out.”

“Kocis?”

Sorey nodded. “He thought he had caused this.”

“No.” Mikleo stared at Sorey’s chest for a moment before going to lever himself up. He was surprised when Sorey pulled him down again. “Sorey?”

“Staying here…might be best. I’ve told everyone else to leave us alone.”

“Why?”

Sorey looked down at him before cupping his cheek. “The change is happening.”

Mikleo tried to get the words to make sense, turning them over in his head before it made sense. His eyes widened, Mikleo licking his lips. “Oh.”

Sorey seemed to take that as his word on the matter because he tugged Mikleo closer. Mikleo was happy to use the excuse to clutch at Sorey, trying to ignore the way that his heart was beating fast.

He had known that humans would become seraphim if they stayed close to them. Sorey had told him that while he had still been fixed on getting back to Ladylake, but it had been something far in the future. It had still been firmly in the future when he had seen his mother and uncle undergo the change and, to everyone’s surprise, Breunor just three years after he and Uno had straggled in. It hadn’t even crossed his mind when they had extended an invitation for visiting or staying to Alisha and Rose. The only time he had acknowledged it was when Malfore had been at the shrine. But that was back when he had felt it, like an instinct that something was changing. But it had been long enough that he had gotten used to it and ignored it.

In retrospect, that had been foolish of him.

He tipped his head forward to rest it against Sorey’s chest, relaxing as much as his body would let him as Sorey carded his fingers through his hair.

Mikleo didn’t know how long they laid there. It was long enough for him to start drifting off, comfortable and safe in Sorey’s arms. Then, between one breath and another, he couldn’t breathe.

Mikleo arched and gasped, trying to draw in a breath even as he clawed at Sorey. Something was wrong, he couldn’t breathe. But the pain was still there, in his pounding head, through every breath that he couldn’t take, through every part of his body until he wasn’t sure that there was anything but pain. Even Sorey’s voice was gone.

He clawed at what was in front of him, blindly seeking something to make it stop. But it wasn’t merciful, the pain and aching got to an unbearable point before it stopped.

Blessedly, it stopped.

It all stopped.

Then it came rushing back, a burst of energy that make him shake. The pressure and pain held for a moment before rushing out of him.

Mikleo arched his back, feeling the energy burst free of him, the force of it practically dragging him backwards. He clawed at anything he could reach until he slumped, breathing heavy and utterly exhausted.

He came back to himself in stages, Mikleo drifting in and out of unconsciousness or what seemed like it. He could feel some kind of weight on his back, but it wasn’t the same of what had been before. It was easily to forget about it when he could breathe without pain, and he could hear Sorey’s voice again.

“The prince climbed up through the familiar passages, hoping for a glance of his beloved. He made it to the room they had carefully crafted together, the visions of everything that could go wrong filling his head. Then, he saw the small pile of blankets, and he knew in his heart that the seraph was there.

“He strode across the room, pulled back the covers and…” Sorey’s voice wavered and cracked, Mikleo gasping as Sorey dragged him closer. “Mikleo?”

Mikleo licked his lips, trying to get his throat to work. All that escaped was a croak. Mikleo frowned and swallowed, about to make another attempt when Sorey sighed, the breath coming out as a sob.

“Good.” Sorey hugged him tight. “I was worried. You were in so much pain.”

Mikleo didn’t know what else to do but nod. There was no point in hiding it, not when he had been writing in pain and clawing at Sorey. Mikleo stared at where his hands were curled in Sorey’s shirt, squinting as he looked for damage. It didn’t look like he had managed to do much, which was surprising, but a relief. He didn’t quite know what happened, his mind was still fuzzy and scattered. But Sorey was there, and that was enough.

He shifted so he could get closer, pressing himself as close to Sorey as he could. It felt better there, safe and tucked under Sorey’s wing. Although it was uncomfortable now.

Mikleo huffed, weakly trying to wiggle into place. Something on his head was blocking his perfect position, but Sorey seemed to understand. Sorey shifted his head so Mikleo could tuck himself there. He felt Sorey’s wing rise, Mikleo getting the vague sense of something moving behind him, but he couldn’t quite figure out what.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw something teal and green move, Mikleo giving the feathers a quick glance before pushing it out of his mind. It was too hard to think about anything other than settling close and letting the fuzziness in his head ebb away. He could feel the ache still, but it was starting to go away. Mikleo resettled himself, feeling something rest against his leg, but lifting his head would mean moving out of his comfortable position, and Mikleo was sure that he wouldn’t be able to move for much longer. He just needed to rest until all of the aches and pains went away.

He nudged his forehead against Sorey’s chest. “What happened next?”

Mikleo was sure that his voice slurred over his words, but Sorey seemed to understand. He nodded, the angle of it weird, like he was hitting something. Mikleo didn’t have the mental strength to spend too long on it, not when it felt good just to lay there and when Sorey was stroking over something on his back that felt good. Except that it wasn’t quite his back.

Mikleo tried to puzzle it out, but he was distracted as Sorey took a deep breath and continued on with the story.

#sormik #TalesWhumpWeek #my fic #tales of zestiria

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carnelianwings · 8 years

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to add on with your thing with michael, and for more angst, consider the fact lailah most likely recognized mikleo as michael's nephew, as mikleo carried on the physical traits michael and muse had. i can't imagine how she would feel about that.

Oh god, um . . . here we go:

The first time she gets a really good look at Mikleo is inside the Shaorune Inn, where he reads as Sorey sleeps off the fever from his pact with her. She had her doubts before at the Sanctuary, but now, up close, there was no mistaking it. Even though his hair was the snowy white-blue of a Water Seraph, there was no missing the familial resemblance in his fine cheek bones and piercing violet eyes.

Mikleo had to be related to Michael and Muse.

Sorey shifted in his sleep, muttering something, and before she had time to stand from her seat, Mikleo had already set his book aside and stood, picking up the cloth and wetting it once more with cold water from the basin on the nightstand before replacing it on Sorey’s forehead. Mentally, she sighed - she knew Mikleo could be everything she couldn’t for Sorey: confidante, emotional support, and, most importantly, the one that would ground Sorey and help him when the burdens of being a Shepherd became too much.

“Is something wrong?” Mikleo asked, finally noticing her attention on him.

Outwardly, she smiled, and tried to ignore her memory of the first time she saw those same violet eyes, grateful her oath prevented her from speaking of Michael. He had been young, so young . . . “No, not at all. Let me know if I can be of assistance.”

Forgive me, Muse, Michael. I’m sure this isn’t what you would have wanted for him . . . but if Sorey is to succeed in his task, Mikleo must join us.

Yes, because I’m in a really creative mood today, take that drabble as my answer, anon.

#soymilkheaven answers an ask #tales of zestiria #fanfic #sorey #lailah #mikleo #mentions of muse and michael #Anonymous

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mistbow · 1 year

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It’s still fascinating to me that these scenes are similar to each other, and they both set everything in motion.

Shepherd who sacrificed their younger relative to the leader of the Lords, and in result, the main antagonist/final boss was in some ways born. Though I also want to point out these particular lines in the screenshots I uploaded.

Both are “younger sisters” who call for their “older brothers” to stop the sacrifice in which the younger male relative used as a sacrifice are more directly related to them than the Shepherds. This is not immediately obvious in English, but even though Arthur is Velvet’s brother-in-law (義兄), in Japanese, you still call them by “brother”; “義兄” is read as “gikei” but this is not true in “(お)義兄さん”, which is read as “(o)niisan” despite being written like that. So yes, in Japanese, both “兄さん” and “義兄さん” are read as “niisan”, that’s just how the language works between the spoken and written forms. (In some cases, even written “義兄” can be read as “ani” like “兄”, but that’s beside the point here.)

Of course, the situations and circumstances are (very) different (Arthur doesn’t end up like Michael, neither Velvet like Muse nor Laphi like Mikleo; and what made these scenes happen in the first place are different too), but this illustrates the cyclicality of the history. The Buddhist views time as cyclical and consisting of repeating ages. The Wheel of Time.

#mino talks zesty #mino rambles #the endings of both games too illustrate the cyclicality #battle between shepherd and loc #then the protagonist kills their arch nemesis #but they are also family in some ways #then they each do their own 'sacrifice' so to speak #to greatly change the world #so yeah #parallels

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kresnikcest · 10 months

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Torn between “LoC!Michael holds a very very soft spot for Mikleo” and him just pulling an Artorius and visibly not giving a shit because reincarnation

#the only reason why i might not go with the first one is that muse already exists #but BECAUSE muse exists i sort of want michael to love mikleo and be very sad over him #v #zes

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hyliansnacks · 7 years

Photo

This is all mostly a self-indulgent au where Lailah brings Mikleo back to Ladylake with her and raises him there. More under the cut if you wanna indulge with meeee

I’m not exactly sure when Lailah stopped being Michael’s prime lord, but for this au I just imagined that she was there the whole time during and before the attack on Camlann. I feel like Muse would have spent some time with Lailah, so eventually they become good friends! So Muse entrusts Lailah with Mikky at the fall of Camlann and here we are with the fluff!

Lailah tries her best raising Mikleo, like teaching him all these things about hellions, why they have to stay in Ladylake, crafting paper cranes, puns probably. Though Mik is pretty inquisitive and asks her a lot of stuff that Lailah can’t answer cuz oaths so she dances around them with the randomness that pops up in her head. That doesn’t stop him though! He finds lots of books around the city and brings them back to the shrine church to read with Lailah. Eavesdropping on humans is a decent pass time, too, aha.

Just thought that this would be a cute little idea! I hope you had a little bit of fun with this ^-^

#tales of zestiria #lailah #mikleo #fanart #kimmy draws #more background practice!!#also not at the same time lol

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laindir · 7 years

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[fic] ember dunes

Series: Tales of Zestiria Rating: T Genre: AU. Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction, Cyberpunk/Dieselpunk. Character(s): Sorey, Mikleo, Atakk, Lailah and Rose. Brief mentions of Michael, Muse and Zenrus. Warnings: Descriptions of minor violence (?? I think it’s minor-ish but YMMV), blood and injuries, pseudo-science terminology/technology. Also, slight hurt/comfort feels... kind of. I love to die in pain and feels. Summary: In which Sorey treads in his mother’s footsteps and ventures out beyond the City Dome, only to stumble upon an injured young woman and her strange companion droid. Prequel one-shot to verdant green. A/N: And... of course, the first fic I share for 2018 is one with more pain and feels. Of course. Anyway, this was an extremely self-indulgent excuse to write more sci-fi AUs and to experiment/go back to writing more descriptive action scenes set against a backdrop of introspection. Or something, lol. Inspired by many things, but mostly by this track playing on loop.

Fic can also be read on AO3.

The dunes were a burnished bronze, glowing embers under twin suns. Sorey could feel the scorching blaze through the blue-and-white layers of his tunic and cloak, his skin prickling with the heat and sweat. The tinted goggles and mask strapped over his face provided some relief from the harsh weather at least, shielding his eyes from the blinding glare as he gazed ahead.

The Dust storms have not yet begun this morning. He paused midway through his trek up a rise, allowing himself a brief respite to bask in the solitude of the golden landscape, to take in the sight of the horizon before him. Clear weather was a rare enough occurrence—he was more used to the feel of grit and sand lashing across his mask and clothing; to sullen, dreary grey and dusky yellow mist even within the City Dome.

But out here today, despite the relentless heat and the imperceptible glint of Dust all around him—today, the sky was boundless, a splash of brilliant azure, and Sorey felt strangely content.

The thin wisp of clouds above brought with it also a glimmer of memory—a conversation from years before, when he and Mikleo were still children and a weekly terror in the basement lab, much to Uncle Michael’s chagrin and to Aunt Muse’s amusement. Sorey smiled, the memory tempered with both fondness and a touch of embarrassment. Simpler days, remnants of what was and a lingering ache that never truly went away…

“And that one there—that looks like a Klein bottle, doesn’t it, Mikleo?”

Twelve-year-old Sorey can barely contain his excitement as he peers through the eyepiece of Uncle Michael’s refurbished spyglass. He pushes the contraption closer to Mikleo, nudging his best friend for a better look. Mikleo crinkles his nose doubtfully at first, but Sorey recognises the spark within those violet eyes; knows that Mikleo is as eager, as curious to see it for himself. He watches with hushed anticipation as Mikleo peeks cautiously through the eyepiece with pursed lips.

Then with a soft, almost begrudging huff—“You do realise it’s impossible for that phenomena to exist in 3D, don’t you?” Sorey frowns, then chuckles, arms crossed over his chest now. His tunic sleeves are still too long for him; only his small fingers are visible at the hems. “Well, yes, but imagine, Mikleo, if you will. Imagine if one end of the cloud dissipates fast enough just as the other end passes through the nexus point—and you’d get a Klein bottle! Don’t limit yourself to spatial constraints!” Mikleo, stubborn as ever, only grins smugly, even as his eyes are aglow with mirth. “And you have your head up in the clouds all the time. Besides, that’s non-Newtonian!”

The ghostly whispers of their shared laughter echoed still through his mind when there came a sudden electronic screech of surprise, followed by a muffled thud. Atakk’s shrill whistles quickly drew Sorey out of his reverie; he scanned the track marks snaking through the sand ahead of him. The droid had trudged along only to tumble off the edge of the slope.

Sorey carefully picked his way down the incline, sliding to a stop beside Atakk. The droid had tipped over its side, its domed head half-buried in the sand.

“It’s all right, I’ve got you now,” Sorey said gently, even as Atakk continued to complain loudly, wheels rolling about uselessly. He pulled the droid back upright with ease, brushing off the sand from its short torso.

A series of clicks and then a disgruntled bleep—

Sorey laughed. “I know you hate sand, yes. I mean, I’m not too fond of it either. It just gets everywhere. And don’t worry, I’ll watch my step around here too.”

He knew better than to be too distracted when venturing out like this—besides the scorching heat and the blanket of toxic Dust in the air, unseen dangers lurked beneath the dunes as well. He paused, the corners of his lips twitched into a smile. Mikleo would no doubt be chiding him as well if he were here now, for dawdling instead of focusing on his routine checks on the moisture harvesters.

“Better hurry with the water rations before the weather turns and a storm comes your way. You know how fast they can hit you.” A digitized voice chimed abruptly from the comlink strapped over his wrist. A moment later, the small blue holo-screen of a young man’s profile was projected out in front of him.

Sorey let out an amused sigh—right on cue, as expected. Always like Mikleo to be reining his attention back to the task at hand. “Since when were you able to make the comlink do that?” he asked, glancing back at the holo-screen. He watched as another beam of light was projected out from the comlink, sweeping across the land before him. “I did some tinkering around and got Atakk’s help to do minor upgrades to all existing communicators.” Mikleo explained through the static as the image on the holo-screen rippled. The glitch only lasted mere seconds however, and his voice and features came in sharp clarity again once the signal stabilized.

“They now have a feature set to run automatically. So it’ll relay information back to the Vault in timed intervals, in case a scout is unable to do so themselves, or in the event of emergencies. It’s always best to be prepared for anything outside of Camlann, after all.”

“And you’d managed to program all that by yourself? That’s pretty awesome!”

“It’s just an added function to better monitor the surroundings,” Mikleo said, his tone modest, but Sorey didn’t miss the look of pride that flitted over his features. “To be honest, it was actually an idea I got from you.”

“Wha—wait, really? ” “Remember that incident with the prickleboar stampede? How they tossed and trampled all over the old hoverbike like it was synth-foam?”

Sorey flinched at the memory, one hand raised to tap at his cheek sheepishly. “Yeaahh… that was, uh, wild. What’s that got to do with our comlinks though?”

“The prickleboars smashed the bike up so badly we couldn’t even get the nav-scanners on its system to work. But remember how you had managed to salvage enough of the parts and attached it to your wrist brace?” Sorey nodded; he recalled how he’d hastily rewired all the components to his old communicator’s power core, then reconfigured it so it could work as a temporary nav-scanner. “This added feature works on the same principle, really,” Mikleo continued. “The comlinks are now all fitted with a scanning chip. So even if the main nav-scan system on the transport gets busted, you would still have a portable backup you can use to gather data that can still be transmitted and further analyzed by the techs back here at the Vault.”

“That definitely sounds handy. Guess I can inspire some really great ideas, too, huh, Mikleo?”

“Hmm. You’re admittedly pretty good when it comes to thinking on your feet—I’ll give you that much.”

Sorey grinned abashedly at the unexpected praise. He would’ve returned a teasing quip or two, but something had already caught Mikleo’s attention; he glanced away, long fingers brushing ash-brown hair back from his brow and securing it with a silver clasp to keep in place as he clicked at several keys before him.

“That said, are you just going to stand there all day, staring up at clouds? I know it’s a fairly good day but we have a schedule to keep.” “I was just appreciating the skyline. I mean, we don’t even get to see real clouds in Camlann anymore. Besides, it’s not like I can’t take in the sights and collect the water rations at the same time.” “Oh?” Mikleo’s voice was light, as though humoured. Even through the signal inference and static on the holo-screen, Sorey could make out the tiny smirk upon his lips. “I wasn’t aware that you’d finally mastered the art of multitasking, so colour me a little surprised.”

“Now you’re just teasing,” Sorey huffed, nose crinkled in mock-annoyance. He ignored Mikleo’s soft chuckle as the holo-screen winked out, and continued through the sand until he reached the sturdier, rocky path he knew would lead him to one of the many solar-powered moisture harvesters built around the edge of the City’s borders.

Setting his pack down on the ground, he pulled out a tool-kit and crouched beside the large, rusting machine before him. He easily popped the small hatch in its side open, flicking the touchscreen to life and keying in the codes to begin a sequence of standard calibration and maintenance checks. As the machine continued running its tests, Sorey straightened up and gave it a quick glance-over: the huge umbrella dish was pointed at the sky, the reflective mirrors glinting a piercing diamond-white, like the unfurled petals of an enormous sunflower hungrily soaking in the sunlight.

Atakk twittered as it wheeled towards the harvester’s collection tank, dragging a metal trolley stacked with empty silicone containers behind it. Sorey hurried to its side, and together with the droid’s help, began to fill the containers up with water from the tank dispensers.

He paid no heed to the faint cry at first, engrossed with his work. Desert skipper-rats were common in the area; he’d seen the rodents chittering and skimming across the sand nearby many times before. But the cry didn’t cease, growing into what was unmistakably a weak noise of pain. Sorey looked at Atakk, who had paused and swivelled its domed head at him as well.

“I’m not sure either,” Sorey replied as the droid beeped a query. “You stay here, Atakk. I’ll go check it out.”

The droid beeped anxiously at the same time as Mikleo’s voice buzzed sharply over the comlink, “Sorey, wait—”

Sorey was already bounding lightly over the path however, searching around for the source of the cry. He heard Mikleo’s grumbles of at least let me scan the area for any feral animals, and would have offered quick apology. But his foot caught on something then, and he was tumbling over the edge of the rocky outcrop into the sandy basin below.

Ow… He winced, rubbing dirt away from his face as he tried to sit up, only to brush his hand against something—something wet and slick. His heart twisted at the bloody sheen across his palm; turning, he saw the limp figure of a young woman sprawled on the ground just beside him. She seemed unconscious, but was groaning in pain, her short red hair plastered over her bruised face. Her clothes were in tatters and she was bleeding from several lacerations all over her arms and legs.

Sorey froze at the sight, a lump in his throat. It wasn’t the woman’s injuries that had unnerved him, but the network of black, spidery lines running steadily from a deep gash in her right calf. Even the skin under her eyes were mottled, tinged with sickly purple.

“Be careful—she’s been infected with Dust…! H-hey, what are you doing?”

Sorey had gestured at Atakk, who wheeled towards him through the sand, dragging his pack behind it with extended metal claw grips.

“We can’t just leave her out here like this, Mikleo. The heat will kill her!”

“Never mind the heat—she’s been infected, Sorey. You know as well as I do what that means.”

“I still have three more antigen vials left.” Sorey replied stubbornly, retrieving the med-kit and a spare gas mask from his pack. He quickly strapped the mask over the woman’s face and then slowly, gingerly, injected two vials of antigen into her left thigh.

“—ilah..?” She murmured, flinching slightly at the touch, eyes still closed.

“We don’t know if this will work…”

Sorey swallowed, but said nothing, studying the woman’s face instead for any signs of distress. For the antigen to be effective, two doses had to be administered within an hour of the infection—he had no idea how long she’d been lying here, injured and exposed to the deadly air.

“And… I hate to say this—because I want her injuries seen to as well—but we don’t know if the Council will even allow her to enter Camlann.” Mikleo’s tone was low, but Sorey knew there was no unkindness there, only concern mixed with unease.

Food and resources had always been scarce in these arid lands, but since the War began in earnest, every Domed City scattered across the Aroundight Flats guarded their rations fiercely. Many did not welcome strangers from beyond their borders, and were especially hostile toward neighbouring cities, the fear of invasion and siege attacks always looming at the back their thoughts, like a rising cloud of stinging gnats. The Council of Camlann would not be so keen to allow the woman through their gates. And yet… Sorey shook his head; he could not find it within himself to leave her in the desert to die.

“I’ll just have to take my chances. If it comes to it, she can have my food rations—I can always hunt while collecting water rations.”

It wasn’t the best of plans, he knew. Sorey steadied himself for Mikleo’s barrage of protests. But his friend only fell silent, ruminating for a long beat. Then finally, a deep sigh—

“In any case, we don’t have much time. You should really get her and yourself out of there now. The creature—hopefully it’s just one?—that had attacked her might still be stalking close by.”

“A-ah, right!” Sorey said; then in a gentler tone, “Thank you, Mikleo.”

With her arms slung over his shoulders, Sorey lifted the woman over his back. He glanced over at the droid. “Atakk, go on ahead to the hoverbike with the rations. I’ll be right with you.”

Atakk chirruped an affirmative, wheeling resolutely back up the path to where Sorey’s hoverbike was parked in the shade of a bare ironwood tree.

Sorey moved as fast as he could, but with the added weight upon his back, it was harder for him to keep his footing through sand and loose soil that easily gave way. He was only a several paces away from the ironwood when he caught sight of movement from the corner of his eyes. He paused his steps cautiously, straining his senses for any hint of a prowling animal.

“Mikleo, are you picking up on any life-forms in the area?”

Before Mikleo could reply through the comlink, there was another flash of movement, to his right this time. Sorey fingered the hilt of the weapon at his belt, ready to snap the laser-blade to life and—

“Oh, my! How daring for a human to be venturing out here all alone!” An electronic, feminine voiced called out from somewhere behind him. The mechanical whine of an overworked engine signalled the approach of another, clunkier transport speeder. The pilot—another woman… no, droid..?—jumped off and landed before Sorey could move away, towering a full head over him. She was a little bit scratched up, much like the speeder, but there was an aura of measured grace in her stance; in her slender white-and-silver build, and in her red headpiece that glinted crown-like under the sun. Her metal fingers were clasped together, as if in concern.

“W-who are you?” Sorey asked warily, balking slightly under her luminous stare.

“You’re an explorer, aren’t you?” the droid said. “I was just wondering, if by any chance—oh! There you are, Rose.”

She pointed behind Sorey, at someone or something he could not see, only to let out a soft gasp. She immediately reached forward to squeeze his shoulder, fussing over the woman slumped over his back. “Oh, no. Dear Rose, what happened…Oh, please be all right! This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have left you—”

“Hey… hey, it’s okay,” Sorey found himself saying, feeling a sense of pity at the droid’s growing distress. “Rose—uh, that’s her name, right? I stumbled upon her just a while ago. She’s pretty beat up, and I’m not sure how long she’s been exposed to Dust, but I’ve given her two doses of antigen as a precaution. That should keep her stable while I get her to the nearest med-centre in Camlann. I could really use more help though, to be honest—my hoverbike isn’t big enough to hold us both and the water rations my city needs for the day.” He smiled gently. “You must be Rose’s… companion droid? May I ask what’s your name?”

The shaken droid tilted her elegant head, searching his face with her glowing teal eyes and then bowed graciously. “My designation code is CES-LAI05, but you may call me Lailah. It was given to me by Rose.”

“Lailah. Right.” Sorey nodded to where Atakk waited by the ironwood, gesturing her to follow him. “I’m Sorey. Come on, you can fill me in on details as we ride. Mikleo says it’s too dangerous to linger here, so—”

An eerie, menacing growl cut through the air then. The ground beneath them trembled, as though a large creature was charging towards them. Sorey felt a jolt of fear and apprehension rippling instinctively in his gut; it seemed the creature had been tracking their scent and had finally found them. He grabbed Lailah’s arm and ran, pulling the companion droid towards his hoverbike.

“Here, take my bike—it goes a lot faster,” he said, strapping Rose in just as Lailah slipped into the seat beside her and powered up the controls. “Get Rose away from here now. The nav system is already programmed to the route back to Camlann!”

Sorey whirled around before Lailah could speak, searching for his own droid. “Come on, Atakk, we need to go!” He leapt into the speeder’s pilot seat, and once he was sure Atakk was strapped in, he gunned the engines to life.

“It looks like a mantis antlion and it’s approaching way too quickly,” Mikleo said over the comlink, his voice tight with worry. “Hurry, Sorey.”

Just as both vehicles rose into the air and began to move, there was another roar—louder, closer this time—and suddenly, a monsterous black insect burst forth from the rise behind them.

Atakk let out a panicked whistle as Sorey banked sharply to the right, avoiding the long grasping claws. It did not seem to notice them however, its line of vision focused on the hoverbike speeding away before it. With a feral screech, the antlion leapt after it.

No! Sorey thought frantically, turning the speeder around to give chase. The antlion was fast and much larger than he had anticipated—four metres of waxy obsidian shell, raptorial claws hooked with serrated edges, and bone-crushing mandibles, it was an apex predator of the dunes. It would easily outrun the hoverbike.

He revved the engines as he approached the insect, and slammed the speeder into its side with as much as force as he could muster, throwing it off its pursuit of the hoverbike. The antlion staggered from the blow, whipping around furiously. Distracted from its initial quarry, it turned its attention now to Sorey, reaching out with those long claws.

Sorey tried to dodge the attack, but the insect lashed forward, claws catching the side of his speeder, the serrated edges grazing through fabric and flesh. His shoulder burning with pain, he heard Atakk’s wail of fear and the indistinct buzz of Mikleo’s voice through the comlink—right before the speeder skidded across the sand and crashed to a stop.

Though half-stunned, Sorey’s fingers were instinctively curled around the hilt of his laser-blade, snapping the weapon to life. The antlion was upon him in seconds and he struggled to keep the insect at bay, slicing away with the flashing orange blade.

But the antlion was driven by hunger and the scent of blood. It lunged forward, claws ripping off Sorey’s gas mask, before it pinned him down with its fearful jaws. The insect tightened its grip around him and Sorey retched, Dust burning through his lungs as he struggled to break free.

Pain flared through his body, but Sorey fought to angle his weapon closer, piercing the bright blade through that weak spot between the joint of the insect’s left limb and thorax. The antlion bellowed at the contact, clamping down harder. There was a grisly crunch, the splintering, snapping of a rib bone or two—Sorey cried out, writhing as he felt the pressure crushing against his chest, his strength fading rapidly.

And then, just as abruptly, the jaws around him went slack. The antlion collapsed to its side, jaws and legs quivering in death. Sorey tried to stand, but the pain was overwhelming, white spots dancing in his vision. The last thing he saw before sinking into darkness was Lailah balanced on the insect’s back, her left arm now transformed into a large saber that she’d driven straight through the antlion’s head, green ooze bubbling down the blade and staining the golden sand. *

Lailah had injected the last vial of antigen into his thigh when he blinked awake, his body already convulsing with pain. Atakk let out a relieved beep, wiggling close beside him.

“Sorey?” Lailah glanced over him anxiously, one hand pressed hard against the gash in his side. Blood was still seeping from his wounds. “Sorey, please, stay with me. You must stay awake.”

He could barely hear her voice over the throbbing in his head and the growing dizziness; over the sharp tightness in his chest. The droids continued to patch him up as best they could, but he knew, with only a single dose of antigen and without a mask, he was already running out of time.

Ignoring the pain and extreme weariness, he struggled to his feet. At his insistence, Lailah continued to ride with Rose in his hoverbike, while he and Atakk took the speeder. They hastened back to Camlann, racing across the dunes as fast the engines allowed. The comlink around his wrist had been smashed in the attack, but thankfully the hoverbike and speeder’s communicators and main nav systems were still functional.

Sorey tightened his grip on the controls, keeping his thoughts focused on reaching the Domed City, and—

Mikleo.

Fatigue was wearing him down rapidly, his limbs heavy like lead. But he struggled to keep his thoughts coherent, tried to speak anyway, his voice raw. “Atakk… can you get us through to the Vault? To Mikleo…?”

Atakk beeped, light flashing over its front panels as it worked diligently. The communicator quickly buzzed to life with the sound of a flustered, but familiar voice: “—rey, do you copy? Sorey, Atakk, please answer me!”

“W-We’re still here, Mikleo…“ Sorey managed, weakly. "We… we managed to get away somehow—” A wince and a painful gasp. “—I lost your comlink. In the attack—sorry.”

“Never mind that. Are you and Atakk all right? I’m tracking your location right now… You should be able reach in Camlann within an hour… Sorey? Sorey!”

It was difficult to focus through the haze of pain—though the bleeding had mostly stopped, his wounds still ached profoundly, his body convulsing harder now from shock. Breathing hurt the most; each ragged gasp he drew was agonizing, like fire surging through his lungs. The Dust infection had taken root within him—already he could feel the onset of nausea, a heavy chill settling deep within his bones.

Atakk’s flurry of replies drew Sorey’s thoughts back from the pain.

“—how badly is he injured, Atakk? Wha—Dust?? Okay… Just… R-Right, keep monitoring them and send me all the updates. I’m informing the med-centre right now to be ready to receive them both…”

Sorey had wanted to reassure Mikleo, that he was still fine, that he was still there. But it took all of his mental effort just to keep awake, his breath short and his vision edging precariously towards the darkness whenever the flashes of pain grew too much. He coughed again, the metallic tang of dust and blood heavy on his tongue.

Feverish, he held on stubbornly, the speeder and hoverbike blazing ahead towards home.

Only when Camlann’s gates were sealed shut behind them did the exhaustion finally bear its full weight down upon him. The hoverbike and speeder pulled to a stop before the waiting group of medics, Mikleo already rushing forward. Delirious, Sorey struggled down from the speeder and collapsed into Mikleo’s outstretched arms.

“Sorey!!”

Half-conscious from the pain, Sorey could hardly make out the look of raw anguish over his friend’s face. But he forced himself to reach out anyway, brushing a hand lightly over Mikleo’s cheek, and smiled gently.

“It’s okay, Mikleo… I’m here,” he whispered tiredly, eyes heavy as he leaned into Mikleo’s hold; falling deeper into the darkness. “Please… Help Rose…”

Everything thereafter was muted sensation; a kaleidoscopic rush of sound and movement, of blurred, frantic cacophony. He saw ash-brown streaks, and gleams of radiant violet; a patch of brilliant blue through the clear skylight of the city gates.

Everything was grey; dust and ember flickering, dancing between the void of white and black.

Then, Sorey saw nothing at all.

Seventeen human years isn’t too long—but it feels like he’s aged a lifetime within the last two seasons.

Three days after the funeral, and Mikleo stands with him now among the wilting plants in Aunt Muse’s old greenhouse. The indigo urn sits empty in a corner, and they are kneeling on the ground, dirt and grass stains streaked upon their clothing.

Sorey watches as Mikleo places the seeds within the ash, then covers them with handfuls of dark earth. The twinge of grief and loss still burned in his heart, but at least… at least Gramps is at peace now—finding his way back to Michael and Muse, and perhaps even to Selene, his mother, if death is where she had ventured of to all the while.

At least his family’s whole now, together, while he and Mikleo gaze on, longing, yearning.

There’s a brush at his hand, and Sorey turns, feeling Mikleo’s fingers gripping his hand tightly, like he’s holding a life-line.

Don’t you dare leave me too, is what Mikleo doesn’t say, but what Sorey hears anyway in the touch. He smiles, eyes red-rimmed, but still verdant and bright in the fading sunlight.

I’m always here, Mikleo—I promise.

—End—

Notes: Some tl;dr information about terminology, AU backstory/lore and the general timeline of events:

-In mathematics, a Klein bottle is an example of an abtract surface.

-Solar-powered moisture harvesters: relatively new(?) technology that can provide renewable energy, water, and heat, especially to remote, off-grid areas or communities.

-This events of this AU takes place in a post-apocalyptic future (think Nausicaa and Ergo Proxy) on a continent once called Greenwood (centuries ago, before the War). The War of the Dying Cities took a heavy toll on both the populace and the environment, rendering many areas inhabitable due to the nuclear fallout. Survivors now live within Domed Cities and rarely venture out due to high levels of radioactivity (called "Dust” in this world) that still lingered in the environment. Certain hardy plants and wildlife have slowly begun to return, but most of the land is still arid and harsh-hence why the continent is now called The Wasteland. The air outside the Domed City is also still too toxic for humans - the level varies depending on the exact area, but left untreated, even exposure to small doses can be detrimental to a person’s health. “Dust infection” is the term used for radioactive poisoning.

-Camlann is built over a deep groundwater (“fossil water”) aquifer that runs through the desert. For centuries the city had relied upon it as their main source of water. However, it was clear from recent studies that the groundwater was not renewable and was depleting at a much faster rate than expected.

- Selene and Muse were part of a research team that estimated the aquifer will dry up within their lifetimes. They had sought to construct other means to gather and store (renewable) water for the citizenry. The moisture harvesters that bordered the city were some of the technology they had invented for such use. The citizens need venture out several times a week to collect the water rations from the harvesters.

- Mikleo and Sorey are Bio-engineering research graduates. Their interest in the study of ecology and mechatronics was, in part, due to Michael, who is a well-known Robotics scientist within the Academy’s research circles and Muse, who worked as a conservationist. Sorey’s mother, Selene, was one of the few who dared brave the safety of the City Dome to explore the endless sand dunes outside. Shortly after giving birth to Sorey, she headed out on a scouting expedition, searching for the famed oases rumored to exist somewhere in the Elysium valleys. She never returned to Camlann.

- When the boys were 16, the Council of Camlann approached Michael to recruit his skills for Project War Machine. However, he refused to co-operate as he’d only wished to apply robotics for the betterment of their people, not to create weaponized droids in the War of the Dying Cities. He and Muse were punished severely for their refusal.

- Gramps became Mikleo and Sorey’s sole guardian after Michael and Muse’s deaths, but he was old and frail. He succumbed to the Dust Plague as well around the time the boys turned 17.

- Sorey’s light-blade was Selene’s first handcrafted weapon. She’d left it with Michael as a keepsake for her son before she left Camlann.

- Sorey and Mikleo are about 19-ish here.

TBH, I didn’t expect to be invested in this AU again (I’m not great at following-ups with my random one-shot AUs…), and I’ve got some ideas I’d like to play and experiment more with… I HAVE SOME HAPPY, CUTE IDEAS FOR THIS IDEA TOO DW LOL. So, there might be more episodic one-shots in this verse.

Thank you for reading! Comments and critique are welcomed for my fics - I’d like to hear what you think, if you’ve enjoyed this so far.

Also also: I’m so sorry, Sorey, for writing this aghsjfdhgsk. But well. You hurt/break the character you love the most LMAO.

#tales of zestiria #sorey #mikleo #rose (toz)#lailah (toz)#fics & everything in between #this fic should be rated: eVERYTHING IS PAIN #anyway this was a great piece to explore and write #i'm really pleased with this piece #will dumblr finally show this in the tags or am i still marked as spam

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applegelstore · 7 years

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Orchestra AU thoughts in three charming parts

A few people voiced their interest, so I figured I could explain what’s actually behind the orchestra AU idea, since this one isn’t exactly a crossover with some other franchise, and therefore you can’t guess any context from what you know about the other part of the crossover :,D Feel free to skip, it’s just text, but if you wanna talk orchestra AU with me, please go ahead! Warning, way too long post ahead (why did I spend an entire afternoon on this?):

PART 1 (basics)

The AU as such is the one where nothing hurts and everything is musical jokes (or musical sex jokes in Zaveid’s case) and shameless geeking. And it’s actually supposed to be a cross-Tales thing. With Rollo probably following Ludger wherever he goes like a dog, and nobody ever minds. And Phi probably following Velvet around, and nobody minds that, either.

So far I’ve deduced the ensemble from official material as follows:

Jr. Conductor: Cress

Jr. Jr. Conductor: Phi (in training, probably. THEN AGAIN CRESS SHOULD STILL BE IN TRAINING, TOO, HE’S 17, LIKE 90% OF ALL JRPG PROTAGONISTS EVER)

Solo Soprano: Tear, Lailah (not official, but try to fight me on these ladies)

Solo Bass: Zaveid (come on, he’s bass)

Solo Piano: Mikleo (this isn’t official either, but you can try to pry the “Mikleo plays piano” headcanon from my cold, dead hands)

Violin: Mint, Ludger, Sorey

 Viola: Alisha (I guess it’s supposed to be another violin, BUT IT LOOKS SO BIG)

Cello: Velvet

Double bass: Richard

Flute: Milla, Mikleo

Clarinet: Rose (and probably abusing it to stab people)

Trumpet: Jude, Elize, Dezel

Trombone: Eleanor

Percussion: Rokurou, Luke, Edna

As you can see, we don’t have a FULL orchestra yet, but we also have a fuckton of games left.

PART 2  (what most of you are here for. The Sormik spinoff)

…Everything was plot- and painless, until my unhelpful brain decided that we need some Sormik spinoff, some sort of plot, and also some fantasy/dark fairytale shit because I always fall for that. Also there’s the thing that we never learn in the game who the heck Mikleo’s father is, so there was room to fill with AU material. So, some of you may know that I’m a huuuuuge Seventh Wonder fan. If you didn’t, now you know. Seventh Wonder are super duper fucking amazing, and Tommy Karevik is a god. …Ah pretty ripped hipster teddybear god. Okay, back to topic. So there’s this song, King of Whitewater, which is about a water spirit luring in children (…and their relatives) with beautiful violin melodies. From this general theme, my unhelpful brain deduced the following, dark fairytale-ish concept:

When she’s still young and naive, Muse meets the very lonely water spirit. Eventually, she feels pity for him and falls in love with him. But sooner or later she misses a normal human’s life in a normal human town, and when he doesn’t let her get away and turns violent, she runs away, highly pregnant. She refuses to tell anyone who’s the father; the only one he trusts is Michael, who agrees to help her raise the child, too. They hope everything will be well. Yeah, you all know who that child is. Anyway, the water spirit is pretty heartbroken, and that makes him even more violent, and also feel betrayed for that yet unborn child. And from that day on, starts luring in little children who never see the light of day again.

Muse doesn’t know about this. And leads a normal life, believing she escaped.

All is fine until someday during a scouting trip in the woods between Camlann and Elysia, little Sorey and Mikleo get lost in the woods and accidentally find a mysterious (TM) lake. It’s surrounded by mist so thick they can hardly see anything, but all the time, soothing, beautiful violin music plays. Because that’s how the spirit lures in children. Because he wants his child back.

To which little Sorey of course violently disagrees, but it’s not like two little children had much of a chance to escape, so Mikleo talks the spirit into a compromise: stealing children isn’t okay, no matter the circumstances. At least wait til I’m of age. And please stop killing other children in the meantime. The spirit agrees and lets them go. Sorey is of course a crying mess. Somehow through his tears and apologies he manages to promise Mikleo that the spirit won’t get him. And Mikleo trusts him. Problem is that the spirit isn’t exactly stupid either, so he enchants the children so they forget everything that happened instead of like, running for help. Oh, except the song (which is the violin solo in King of Whitewater btw). They never forget the song. They just forget how and where they learned it, and ever since that scout trip it’s their personal thing that they often play for fun, believing it to be some kind of nursery rhyme. And nobody ever suspects a thing.

Everything is perfect. Everything is beautiful. They grow up to be smart kids and with wonderful grades in school. They become marvelous musicians. They meet wonderful friends in high school. Of course they eventually start dating.

But then Mikleo’s 18th birthday draws near and for a couple of weeks, things get weird. He gets nightmares in which he drowns or gets lost in the mist, nightmares in which Sorey dies or simply gets missing, nightmares that he can’t make sense of. He hears the song all the time in his head, failing to remember where he’d learned it. The morning after his 18th birthday party, he wakes up in Sorey’s arms and everything ought to be great and perfect, but somehow it isn’t. He asks Sorey whether he remembers the song they learned as kids. Or how they learned it. What’s it called, even. He doesn’t know, but he remembers the song and plays it for Mikleo. And suddenly, bit by bit, Mikleo remembers. So does Sorey, but much slower.

Sorey leaves for college and Muse and Michael are already gone for work, but Mikleo stays in bed because he’s tired. Sorey has a bad feeling about this (TM) but leaves him be. Mistake. When he gets back home, Mikleo is nowhere to be found.

AND HERE’S THE PROBLEM. I’m stuck here. I have not the slightest idea how to fix this and stop Mikleo from getting lost in a lake in the woods for the rest of his life. Sure, okay, Muse and Sorey violently disagree, BUT WHAT ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO DO ABOUT IT. Violent violin battles are some of the less ridiculous “solutions” that have come to my mind so far.

If anybody knows how to give this thing a happy ending that doesn’t involve any deus ex machina moves from any end, I’d be grateful.

The worst thing about this is that experience tells me that I’d have zero trouble to actually leave Mikleo lost in the forest for the rest of his life if this was one of my original stories. Most of them are made of pain and suffering, seasoned with cute animals and super-natural shit for balance.

PART 3 (random Sormik related tidbits)

-Camlann is a tiny, mountaineous town which they love very dearly -they have to travel quite a bit each morning for high school and college (the former where they meet the rest of the squad) and later on to study some music or history related, they still visit their families often because they like it so much -I kinda want Selene to retain her maiden’s name and make it Shepherd for the sole purpose that Zaveid can then continue calling Sorey Sheps -also I came up with this bit about their living situation -shortly before Sorey and Mikleo start dating, they borrow the keys to a concert rehearsal room at some point, so they can practice their grand piano/violin duet a bit (Mikleo only has a piano at home, not a grand piano). It’s gonna be part of a huge concert thing, so it’s only one part of the show with an entire orchestra and occasionally other solos or duets -a hurricane cuts off all public transport for the evening and the entire night, and it’s also goddamn dangerous not to have a roof over your head for the time being -so they’re trapped in the rehearsal room until morning when the storm has subsided and public transport is also working again -once they’re too tired to actually practice once the evening gets late (like. very late. more like middle of the night/morning), they abide their time watching the storm through the rehearsal room’s hugeass windows -at some point, sleepy hormone rushes favor the confession and kissing bit -they have fond memories of thunderstorms afterwards -when she eventually hears about the thing, Rose is hollering with laughter because she probably had bets going that it would take them getting locked up in a room to finally confess and make out after years of mutual oblivious pining. She wasn’t entirely wrong, and probably made lots of bucks with her bet -anyway, when they finally perform their duet weeks later, the entire audience agrees that their duet was one of the evening’s highlights, and Sorey probably spends all evening smiling like an idiot and happily holding Mikleo’s hand -considering that the whole thing could be shamelessly crossover-y, I might get flutist!Milla giving flutist!Mikleo kindly big sister advise feelings (no, not relationship advise, because she’s the worst at that. Hey, not everything has to be Sormik-related) -not sure whether she’s still a vessel for Maxwell, but if lake spirits are a thing, why shouldn’t Maxwell be a thing -fun fact: I hate suits.

#orchestra AU #feat the official Sormik spinoff #no actually it’s not official sorry for trolling you

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looveel-realm · 7 years

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Hi Loveel!! Sorry for the stranger messaging you!! Orz I will try to be brief!! In the Sormik Discord, I and some others got into a huge brain spree of an AtlA AU, and I was so excited I was gonna start writing one--AND THEN I got cued in to the fact that u already kinda started one!! WHICH IS AMAZING. THE ART IS GORGEOUS, BY THE WAY! But I just wanted to give a heads-up/ask for your headcanons for the AU? any input would be great as I sit down and actually write this (if you're ok with that!)!

So basically the ideas I had inmind (but beware I already had a sort of story because that’s usuallyhow I work when I create an AU so this will be pretty long XD ). Tobegin with I already wrote some of the ideas a long time ago when Iposted Mikleo design (which I assume you might have seen ? ) The au I had in mind is kinda a mix between atla andlok.

Sooo, ideas ideas !Basically the ideas I had in mind was that a long ago Michael (theprevious avatar) and Heldalf were best friend. Of course Heldalf knewwho Michael was and bit by bit, as the heir of the fire nation’sthrone, he grew hungry for power and wished to control the avatar’spowers. Michael sort of knew it but still wanted to believe in hisbest friend, he made a mistake tho when he talked about the spiritworld with Helfald. The man got obsessed about this world and triedto take it over but opening the gates (while manipulating Michael forhim to help because of course he couldn’t do anything alone). Michaelfound out at the end and tried to fix his mistakes and stopHeldalf to have his way.

During this event he disappearedand you can pretty much assume he died in the process because Soreywas born.

Sorey is Heldalf’s son tho Heldalf totally do not know that. Selene was a concubine and left himwithout telling him about Sorey. When she learnt she was pregnant, she flew from the palace,fearing for Sorey’s life (as he was a bastard but could still inheritthe throne). She took refuge at Zenrus’s place but died giving birthto Sorey. Zenrus raised Sorey like his son (well, grandson), helped a lot by Lailah, who was their neighbour’s daughter. Theysoon discovered that Sorey was the avatar (with the classic testwhere we put various item before the baby, one being an item that wasdear to a previous avatar, and if the baby pick that item withouthesitation and he’s very found of it you can assume he’s the avatar.) First a great news, it soon became a danger as Heldalf, always morehungry for power and becoming more and more paranoïd each day,ordered that all the kids from 5 to 7 years old were killed, as oneof them would be the avatar. He of course never knew that the newavatar was actually his son. He never learned the reasonwhy Selene left him, letting him feel uterly betrayed.

Gramps and Sorey had to leavethe Capital, helped by Lailah who sadly had to stay behind. After aperilous trip Gramps and Sorey finally arrived to the Northwater tribes. Their chief, Muse (well unofficial chief. She’s likevice-chief ? She was married to the previous chief but she’s nota waterbender so they still choose an other waterbender to representthe tribe. But she’s wise so people still come to her for importantissues and considering her links, she still has some power inside thetribe. Plus Mikleo is already considered as the future chief by lotsof people, considering he has all the rights and is a very talentedwaterbender. ) was a old acquaintance of Zenrus seeing as she’s thesister of the precedent avatar and that Zenrus was Michael’s firemaster. Seeing Sorey is quite a shock for Muse at first because evenif deep inside she knew her bother was dead, she now has a clearconfirmation.

Since Sorey and Gramps are underMuse’s protection, Mikleo and Sorey obviously meet rather quicky.Mikleo has a fragile health and as a kid, he could not go out thatoften. He’s still a genius in water bending and Sorey learn to bendthe element as much with their master than by Mikleo’s side, who’salways ahead of him, especially since water is the hardest elementfor Sorey to learn.

They grow up, educated asbrothers, Mikleo becoming more and more protective of Sorey asHeldalf’s power grow even more and the war become more and moreviolent (between the fire nation and the earth nation, mainly). Everything change tho when Alisha comes to theNorth tribes. She’s seeking the help of the avatar and heard rumorsthat he might be hiding here. Mikleo don’t trust her at first, butSorey does and decide to leave the tribe to help her. Anyway, he hasto learn the other elements and since there’s already rumors, he’snot safe anymore in the north tribe and might put them in danger bystaying here. Mikleo wants to come to protect him too, Sorey refuses,not wanting to put his dearest person in danger and saying thatMikleo is too weak anyway (because he used to be really sick andsometimes can still be). Obviously, Mikleo doesn’t take this verywell and challenge Sorey in a fight, saying that if he win againstthe avatar then Sorey has to admit he’s wrong about him being aweakling. Sorey accept and, partly because Mikleo is a puissant waterbender, and partly because Sorey can’t bring himself to hurt Mikleowhile Mikleo is so angry he go all out on Sorey, Mikleo win. Theythen leave the tribes with Alisha and their adventure begin.

When they leave Muse tell themabout Michael being the previous avatar, seeing as Sorey might seehim when he’ll be able to activate the avatar state, she wants tospare them the surprise. She also ask Sorey to tell him she stillmiss him deeply when he sees him and to not be a naive idiot like herborther was because it cost him his life (tho Mikleo add that he’shere to ensure it doesn’t happen).

The rest I sort of talk a littleabout it in the Mikleo post but damn it will be long. But yeah theygo to help Alisha’s city, Sorey tries to learn the other elements (air and earth) He meet Edna, a genious eartbender from a noble family wholeft home searching for his brother who disappeared in the waropposing the fire nation and the earth nation, Rose, a non-bender whotravel a lot with her marchand cover but is in reality a bounty hunter who is after the avatar’s head at first, then decide tohelp the team. She’s a little like Asami with lots of weirdtechnological stuff that she uses like weapons tho her daggers stayher favorite weapon ( she’s old school). She’s accompanied by Dezel,an airbender who was exiled by the air nomade (he doesn’t havetattoos). They also meet later Zaveid, a nomade air bender who leftthe nomade because they’re way of living didn’t suit him. He now travel the world officially to live his young years the bestway he can (hunting for babes), unofficially searching forEizen, like Edna. When he finds the team he stays with them becausehe was searching for Edna to escort her anyway. During their trip they learn a lot about the world, a little bit about the past too.

Lailah tries to help Sorey toget in the avatar state (even tho she was only a small child, sheknew Michael and he told her a lot about all the avatar stuff, plusshe spent a hell of a time with Zenrus too) but seems like there’salways something blocking him, even tho Sorey really want to get thestate to at least sees Michael. Like for Aang in atla, his block ispartially due to his feelings for Mikleo.

When he’s able to speak with his previous lives, he talk with Michael and then learn he’s Heldalf’s son (Michael knew because Muse, Michael and Selene were childhood friends and came from the same village. He’s the one who helped her escape when she was pregnant). Helfalf eventually found out too at some point when he learned for real that the avatar was still alive and started chasing him. He then changed his plan, feeling like it’s fate and that his son will lend him his power if he learn the truth. He then wants Sorey to join him. In the end Sorey still decide to stop him tho (helped by Sergei who was a soldier of the fire nation, a non-bender, who was so sure that the avatar was evil and then found out that no, he was not, he just has been lied to all his life)

arf sorry it just got so freaking long in the end OAO

#atla!au #sormik #toz #ask #atla ask #krisseycrystal

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