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void-kissed · 11 months

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for ur writing ask game, talk abt any of ur reborn fics :]

Clara. My treasured friend. I am going to be here for months. This is one of the best asks I've ever received and I mean that

(source: this post by void-kissed - hey, that’s me!)

Name a piece of writing that I’ve posted, and I’ll give you some thoughts and analysis of it! - I should probably try and limit this to one bullet point per piece, because I'd like to talk about multiple, but.. who knows what will happen, haha

This will probably get VERY long, but oh well! You asked for this! And I am only too happy to provide what you have asked for!!!!

Alright, here we go!!

Okay, so, I believe the first piece of writing I did for Reborn was To Stand Before The Void, back for Sapphic September two years ago. This is the scene where Luna and Adriana find each other within the Void itself, and.. while it covers some pretty serious thoughts of Luna's that I'll admit I wasn't really sure how best to explain in my writing, I like to think it does still hold up.

One thing I do want to point out is that the events shown in this piece are the reason why this selfship's name is "void-kissed"! As a result of being in the Void as they were here, both Luna and Adriana end up with some.. lasting consequences, shall we say. Luna becomes even more one with the shadows than she already was, almost disappearing into any nearby darkness if you aren't looking at her directly, while the white freckles Adriana had across her face spread into star-like marks found all over her hair and body - she also becomes able to see some of the things that Anna can about people, such as Cain's pitch-black eyes and Taka's broken wing. (I'm not sure whether to say she's aware of her wings by this point though - maybe she can start to feel them, but can't see them/figure out which wings they are until the Giratina quest?)

The stars Luna is walking on are "lifeless" and not shining very brightly at the start because of her intentions to escape into the darkness of the Void, as well as to show that the Void is not really a very good place. However, they are still brighter than the ones Cain was running on because of Luna's own affinity with the Void, as shown by how she is later able to manipulate the New World somewhat thanks to the power of her Emerald Brooch.

I referenced Anna a lot in this writing despite never calling her Anna - for example, she is of course both "little Fantasia" and "the little girl with the Jirachi doll" that is the only one not unsettled by Shade's presence at the end. I also used the quote that Anna is shown with on the wiki page for Reborn about falling stars wishing on each other, because I thought it led nicely into saying that "Right now, Luna's wish was to fall". Anna also supports Adriana in not wanting Luna to die, in the form of the "wishes of the starlight" that are present when she makes her decision.

In the game itself, Luna is very associated with Alice in Wonderland - all of her Pokémon are nicknamed after characters from Wonderland, and Luna's adopted parents even represent both the Mad Hatter (Radomus) and the Looking Glass (Serra) respectively. But if Luna herself is Alice, and is a girl who wishes to live in a land of fairytale, then that makes Adriana Wonderland, the place (or, rather, person) she feels truly at home with. This is the conclusion Luna comes to in the Void, and why her story continues even after the point where she thought she was going to end it.

Luna mistaking Cain for Adri mainly just came out of the fact that both have a fair bit of purple in their outfits, but even then they don't really look all that similar (Cain's design is very bright and colourful, whereas Adriana's is a lot more subdued). So it was mostly just to try and pad things out and show that Cain also gets out safely here (which I could retcon now that I know what the full game does, but oh well).

The first line that Shade says at the end - "Abyss is unrelenting.." - is what he says to the player before battling them if they lost to him in his Gym, while the other lines are ones I made up and tried to make fit how he normally talks. He's the one that successfully pulled Adriana and Luna out of the Void, and he's basically telling them to both keep going and make it to the end of the game by experiencing the final episode/chapter together. But in less fourth-wall-breaking terms than that.

Overall: you can definitely tell I wrote this back when Episode 18 was still the newest update to the game. I think that what I changed in it (i.e. Luna and Cain surviving the Void) could still be true to my version of events, since Cain could still become Umbral during or right before the Diancie quest after getting lost in the New World beforehand maybe? I forget when it is that you see him stuck in there, but I know it's quite early, and maybe his having also been void-kissed contributed to higher susceptibility to the Umbral state. And considering Luna comes back to Reborn during the literal first postgame quest of them all, I don't think much is negatively affected by having her just.. have survived the whole time.

Timeline-wise, I think this one can definitely apply to both third and second. You can just explain it as Shade having dragged the player out of the Void before then going back in for Luna and Adri in the third timeline.

Oh dear, that was perhaps a lot for just one piece. Oh well!

The other piece of writing that I've done for my selfship with Luna was Return on Crow's Wings, which describes Luna and Adriana finally being able to reunite after Adri got stuck in the Carnelia region, since Agate City was not safe to travel back through. For context for those who haven't played the game, the last time the two had met was the Gym battle that Adriana had with Luna, where she won her ninth Gym Badge, and they meet again just after Adriana gets her thirteenth Gym Badge. It's been long enough for Reborn City to become very revitalised as well.

This writing is labelled as only being applicable to second timeline, but the only reason for that is because of Adri flying on the back of Kelaino, her Honchkrow; I hadn't finalised her mono-Ghost-type team yet when I wrote this, so any depiction of her with Pokémon that aren't Ghost-types during the maingame story (except Sidera and Argent) refers to second timeline. However, the same events do still happen the same way in the current/third timeline; it's just that Adriana flies back with the help of Drifter, her Drifblim, instead. I rendered that here, incidentally.

The way the end of the battle is described, with Argent knocking out Noivern and so on, was actually how it went when I played through the game after Episode 19 came out! I remember writing down what happened on each turn of the battle specifically for the purposes of this writing piece.

I actually wrote the last lines of this piece first, because I had used them as a caption for a render of the ending that I'm fairly sure I ended up making before actually finishing the writing. If I hadn't have written those lines, I would probably have let the piece continue to show Luna's reaction outright, and probably ended it on Adriana and Luna finally being able to embrace again after so long ^-^

Technically all you said was Reborn fics, so I can mention Tale of a Corybantic Blade here! It's the piece of writing that's all about Corybantia, Adriana's Honedge, going from when she first finds it in the Mirage Tower to when it evolves to stop Titania stabbing Taka. Again, this is a second-timeline-only piece, because Adri doesn't travel through Tourmaline with Taka in the third timeline.

When I wrote this piece, I had two questions in mind: how many references could I put into one piece of writing, and could I write a piece about Pokémon without making it clear that it's about Pokémon? I like to think that the answer to both of those questions was "yes".

I actually have written an entire analysis document myself about all the references I put in, which you can find here! So.. I probably shouldn't elaborate any more here. I invite you to go and read the document if you want the full analysis of that piece, hehe~

I do have one more piece of Reborn writing, technically, but it's very very short, so I don't know how much I'd say it counts as an outright fic. It's this scene, which I wrote out about the concept of Saphira having an opportunity to go and deal with Sigmund like she so desperately felt she needed to, during the Labradorra section, because Adriana had to heal up her Pokémon before battling him and the PULSE-Mr. Mime.

This piece didn't have a ton of opportunity for me to do anything particularly fun, but I did enjoy portraying Saphira as so furious that "a dragon's fullest might could not have held the Gym Leader back". I also managed to slip in both her and Adriana's Trainer titles as part of this, so that was fun.

Rereading it, I have just noticed one fun thing that I did - namely, describing Adriana coming back into the control centre "just as she had done both a few minutes and one clock ago". This is referencing how Noel refers to the previous timelines as being "clocks ago", rather than, say, "days ago", which I remembered thinking was neat! So, in turn, this line is referring to this piece being ostensibly set in third timeline, as Adriana has already gone through the game's events once before in second timeline.

In general, I also just thought the last three sentences built up to a very vivid image. Sigmund deserved what he got.

Okay!! There we go!! Well over one and a half thousand words of my rambles for you, friend!! Thank you so so much once again for this opportunity, and goodnight!

#a call from the void #heart of the void #selfshipping #here we go #love: dark dreamer (luna)#selfship: void‑kissed (luna/adriana)#self‑insert: soul‑touched (adriana)#..I did mention some of the others but I might just leave it there for the tags if that's alright #of a city reborn (pokémon reborn)#out of the inbox #selfship asks!#clara tag!#to look back on when i'm sad #so I can remember how much thought I put into what I do or something #thank you very very much once again for this opportunity friend #everyone who hasn't played the game and probably a fair few people who have may be slightly lost in all this lore oops #sorry about that #I just Really Like This Game

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silenceinternalmonologue · 3 years

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A Review of Loki (2021)

[The following is an exact transcription of Twitter user @/diolesbian ‘s thread linked here . They gave me permission to cross-post their thread on my Tumblr. Keep in mind that this review is fairly long and quite critical of the series. I agree with this review wholeheartedly, and would be welcome to discuss it with anyone else.]

Loki is a character who has died many times, but his own series may be his most brutal character assassination yet.

1. Loki’s role in the series. Instead of tackling Loki's most villainous state of mind in Avengers 1, the series literally speedran through his development in the subsequent films, after which they almost entirely halted his character progression.

Because this series was set right after Avengers 1 it had the responsibility of developing Loki further in place of The Dark World and Ragnarok. In Episode 1, this development was kicked off by having Loki watch a reel of some of his defining moments in the MCU, allowing him to see his future all the way up to his death in Infinity War. Sadly, this scene ended up being the most development he received in the entire series. And arguably, this isn’t even true development but more like a speedrun of his character up until that point, serving as a simple tactic to explain why he wouldn’t be acting all dictatorial and murderous during his own series. As soon as he had been made “good” (read: docile) enough to follow along with the plot, his agency was completely thrown out. From that point on, the series wasn’t about Loki making things happen but about things happening to Loki.

Loki was supposed to be the main character, but he wasn't the protagonist in this story. In fact, he was more of a side character than we’ve ever seen him be in the MCU before, perhaps excepting IW and Endgame.

A protagonist is by definition someone whose important decisions affect the plot, whose development is followed most closely by the audience, and who is opposed by an antagonist. Loki exhibited none of these traits in this series. Especially the latter half of the story, he was reduced to simply reacting to the revelations around him, such as the reveal that the TVA members were all variants and that Kang was the true mastermind behind everything. He never truly involved himself or acted based on any of these plot points, and hardly played a key role in what was supposed to be his own story. Even in the films, where Loki is a side character, he makes choices which impact the plot to a larger extent. He almost seems more like a background character in the role of protagonist than in the parts he plays in the films.

2. The antagonist. The TVA could have worked as the perfect setting for Loki to have a new arc. It’s a thematic antithesis to who we know Loki to be. But when this Loki turns out to not be who the audience thought he was the TVA’s thematic significance falls apart as well.

In Episode 1, the TVA’s Agent Mobius enlists the help of Loki the Variant to pin down a greater foe who we are told is another, more malicious version of Loki. Order and chaos meeting in the middle, teaming up to take down an enemy, who even happens to be the protagonists’ literal evil self: that works, it sounds promising. But this dynamic is soon undermined when Loki leaves with Sylvie. Still, the benefit of the doubt is easy to grant here: a story about tricksters is bound to contain twists. But by Episode 3 the series is halfway done and the TVA has been appointed as the main antagonist again: we’ve now established villains three different times. And then the Cloud Monster At The End Of Time is introduced, and finally Kang. In other words, the Loki series has no consistent antagonist, no one to pit its main character against. And this is where we once again miss out on an enormous aspect of Loki’s potential characterization.

Protagonists are always defined by an antagonist, whether a purple Titan, a flat tire, or themself. Loki is not given anything to define his morals, motivations, or development in opposition to and this is a huge oversight. Especially given the fact that Loki has taken on the villain’s role in the past: how is the audience supposed to know that the “bad guy” is now a “good guy” if there’s no “even worse guy” to stand up against?

3. The plot. A plot should show off its MC’s strengths and match their personality. The Loki plot hardly relied on his presence at all, he didn't play a key role. The story had so little to do with Loki that it seemed as though he has barely any impact on “his” narrative.

One of the most central conflicts in the Loki series doesn’t involve him at all: it’s between Sylvie and the TVA. This plotline was a good concept overall, but its main problem is that it’s practically the only conflict in the series. Loki himself, as mentioned before, isn’t set in opposition to anything or anyone. And thanks to his relationships with Sylvie and Mobius being weakened by conflicting storytelling devices, he appears to be in a bubble by himself away from the rest of the cast for much of the story. First he follows Mobius around, then Sylvie, then he wanders aimlessly in the void before following Sylvie once again and learning that Kang is a Really Bad Guy who he should be opposed to even though by this point he has interacted so little with the story unfolding around him that the audience doesn’t even understand why he should be choosing to play the hero.

The plot and the characters both suffer by being so incredibly unrelated to each other. A series, especially an MCU one, should tell an overarching narrative through the perspective of its main character.

In the beginning of the series, when Loki was still getting his bearings in the TVA, this lack of decision-making was more understandable, especially since some of his skills were still being shown-- he discovered Sylvie was hiding in nexus events, and he made the choice to leave Mobius and follow her. But by the latter half of the series he still hasn’t had much impact on the story or taken any actions of his own, and simply allows plot points to happen to him. Just because the Loki series had to introduce the TVA and Kang didn’t mean it had to forgo telling a story about its protagonist. If Loki’s story had been intrinsically tied to the overarching plot points, if his choices had been some of the primary factors determining how events ended up taking place, the series would have succeeded in every aspect. But instead Loki is pushed aside by the plot of his own series, a plot which subsequently ends up coming across as largely hollow and pointless due to its lack of character drive.

4. Loki’s arc. One of the main reasons MCU Loki is loved is for his excellent character development across his films. TVA Loki was extremely lacking in that aspect and chances to take his character in interesting new self-aware directions were thrown away without much thought.

Throughout the MCU, Loki is on a journey with many highs and lows. He goes from a bitter and disheartened prince standing in the shadow of his brother, to a self-loathing Jotun bent on destroying his own people in a desperate attempt to win his father’s love, to a half-mad partially mind-controlled dictator with delusions of grandeur fueled by his own insecurity, to a prisoner wondering what there is left for him to lose, to a savior of Asgard’s people finally coming to accept his place in what is left of his family, to a tragic sacrificial victim who knew he had to die so the true hero might live on. That’s a hell of a journey, incidentally shown in less than TWO HOURS of screen time, and the prospect of TVA Loki embarking on an equally stimulating one, this time told over the course of over four hours and shown from his own perspective the entire way through, was exciting. But as it turned out, this relatively simple expectation went completely unmet.

For a story trying to say so much about individuality and self-acceptance, the Loki series seemed to pass by every obvious opportunity to tackle those questions.

Sylvie’s introduction seemed like a good idea at first: Loki would be able to literally bond with himself and learn to accept who he is that way, and forays could be made to explore what Loki’s personality could have been like if he grew up under different circumstances! But aside from a scene or two in Episode 3, this was not how things ended up going. Loki didn’t come to any grand or important conclusions about his identity, he didn’t choose to act differently, all that happened was a vaguely-worded confession of pseudo-romantic feelings which was cut off in the middle, made no sense, and weakened the narrative in a whole host of other ways explained elsewhere. Loki’s encounter with other versions of themself in the Void was similarly meaningless: Loki didn’t end up expressing or demonstrating a single thing he learned from meeting all of those alternate selves, despite the fact that there was potential for massive self-discovery there.

Less than 2 hours of MCU screen time portrayed Loki more coherently than this entire series. Loki is loved because of how much he changes, and it felt like he didn’t in this series. He started off lost and stayed that way throughout the entire plot.

By the end of the series, it was impossible to identify who Loki had become. He said he didn’t want a throne, but it was not obvious why not. He looked sad to be betrayed by Sylvie, but never expressed what that meant to him. He seemed afraid once Kang was unleashed, but why? Why did he care about the Sacred Timeline? What were his motivations? Throughout the series the answers to these questions became less and less obvious, culminating in the final episode which ended without a single moment of reflection or explanation as to who Loki had become. He wasn’t a villain, but only because he wasn’t murdering people. He was in some capacity a hero, for… being against Kang, probably, but once again with no explanation as to why Loki had decided to feel that way. He never seemed self-assured in his heroism, as if he hadn’t chosen the role for himself. Again, making one’s own choices that shape the narrative are what differentiates a protagonist from a side character, but Loki did not do that in this series.

5. Loki and Sylvie’s relationship. Loki and Sylvie had the potential to be a powerful duo representing the process of self-acceptance but instead they were reduced to a strange pseudo-romance.

Despite Loki’s many developments in the films, he never truly liked himself. He has been known to act extremely confident and self-righteous at times, but this is merely the opposite side of the coin containing his self-loathing and insecurity. Having him literally meet and subsequently befriend himself in Episode 3 was a move towards developing this aspect of him and potentially teaching him to finally accept himself as he truly is, but this buildup was all shattered in Episode 4 when the relationship is portrayed to have romantic undertones. Instead of a powerful struggle to accept oneself, the relationship between Loki and Sylvie becomes a twisted thing which is memeable at best (selfcest LOL amirite?) and outright damaging to both characters and the very concept of loving oneself at worst.

Ultimately, Loki and Sylvie's relationship didn’t add anything to either character’s development and actively detracted from what could have been a touching story.

Romantic love is extremely different from self love; romantic love has connotations including dating conventions and sexuality which are impossible to ignore and in this case serve as a distraction. And on top of ruining a potentially powerful storyline, this strange relationship makes both Loki and Sylvie seem out of character. Loki is once again one thousand years old and he has never even had a true friend, so why would he possibly fall for someone after knowing them for only two days? Meanwhile in Sylvie’s case, Loki’s “feelings” for her cause the audience to pay more attention to her romantic life and gestures rather than her actual character and motivations.

6. Loki’s Sexuality and Gender Fluidity. Loki’s sexuality and gender has been shown in several comic runs, and the series was advertised as featuring this representation as well. But due to several fundamental errors and problematic storytelling this also fell flat.

Sylvie’s introduction filled many fans with hope regarding the portrayal of Loki’s identity. In the MCU neither of their LGBT identities had ever been touched upon, while the series introduced a female variant of Loki and explicitly stated their sexuality. But this portrayal soon unraveled, most notably in Episode 5, in which many other Loki variants were shown but not a single one besides Sylvie was non-male. On top of that, when TVA Loki mentioned Sylvie and referred to her as “a woman Variant of us”, the other Lokis agreed that that sounded “terrifying”. Why should a genderfluid being be afraid of a version of themselves presenting as a different gender? It read as both fluidphobic not to mention strangely sexist.

The pseudo-romance between Loki and Sylvie only aggravated the situation. Not only did the nature of the “relationship” seem to follow heteronormative storytelling tropes (falling in love after a couple days of knowing each other, one party being reduced to a love interest, valuing romantic love above any other type, etc) but it also seemed distressing and offensive to many genderfluid people. A romance between a male and a female Loki, one of which doesn’t even call herself by that name, seems to be implying that an individual becomes someone else when merely presenting as a different gender, which of course isn’t at all the case. The writing wasn’t necessarily malicious here, but it was certainly ignorant and potentially even harmful. The opportunity was there to translate Loki’s powerful comic representation into the framework of the MCU, but this attempt did not succeed.

7. Loki’s characterization. Loki is a chameleon, but there are certain traits fundamental to his character. These traits were either ignored or actively mocked in the series. The audience already knew “what makes a Loki a Loki", but the series threw that knowledge away.

Episode 1’s premise of stripping Loki of everything he is used to was an intriguing setup to ensure the discovery of the core of who Loki truly is. The only problem was that this truth didn’t end up being found at all. Mobius made fun of Loki’s most defining traits, such as his habits of lying to manipulate people and acting out of a place of insecurity, which seemed to be a signal for the narrative to forbid Loki from exhibiting any of those traits from that point on in any way. This reduction in Loki’s character was reflected in everything, from his lack of humor (in the films he’s even funny while he’s taking over the world!), the underpowered way in which he fought against Sylvie (he’ll use magic to dry his clothes, but fight with a damn vacuum cleaner?) to the way that he wore the same boring outfit in every single episode-- it may sound shallow, but clothes are important when presenting a character. Every one of Loki’s looks in the films said something about him and his state of mind, and sadly that bland TVA outfit seemed to convey that Loki really was nothing more than a subservient pawn in what was supposed to be his own story. Ironically, the writing stripped Loki of everything that made him Loki, and left us with nothing but a Jotun-shaped void to be swayed by the whims and wills of the characters and plot devices surrounding him.

8. Loki’s past and abilities. This series could have elaborated on aspects of his character which had been teased at in the films and theorized about by fans, but ended up being a disappointment in this aspect as well.

Aside from Loki’s characterization and development, something else the series ignores is much of his canon story in the films. Since Thor 1, a truth that always overshadowed Loki was his Jotun heritage. He struggled with it up until the time of his death, clearly visible in his relationship with his foster family. It’s understandable that Loki was supposed to be independent from Thor in his series, but that’s no excuse for completely ignoring this central part of who Loki is. It doesn’t matter how much he goes through or how much his circumstances change, this feeling of unbelonging sits deep in Loki’s core and should have been both explored and explicitly discussed in the series. A series all about Loki was the perfect opportunity for him to finally confront and explain his relationship with his heritage, and potentially come to terms with it as well. And this isn’t even to say how cool some more insight on Loki’s Jotun inheritance could have been-- hypotheticals aren’t the point of this review, but it would have been fascinating to see Loki reacting adversely to heat like he has been hinted to in the past or even using his ice powers like he did in Thor 1.

Loki's magic was tragically underused. It felt like he was stripped of all of his magical powers even after his TVA chains had been removed, and this was never explained.

A second huge oversight is his magic. His powers are all over the place in this series. They were always a bit vague in the films, but this series was the opportunity to set that right and explain exactly what Loki was capable of as a sorcerer, especially now that the MCU has embraced magic more than it had ten years ago. But instead, Loki showcased an inexplicable lack of magic use-- again, the vacuum cleaner fight can be presented as evidence. There is a single scene in which Loki says that he learned his magic from Frigga, but no information is given as to how much he learned or why he doesn’t always favor spells. His power levels are incredibly inconsistent (he forgoes using magic when first confronted by the TVA, but is later shown using telekinesis to save himself from being literally crushed to death). And, strangest of all, there is a scene in which he tells Sylvie that he “can’t” enchant living beings. Loki, the millennium year old Trickster sorcerer god, who can hold an Infinity Stone with his bare hands, reanimate Surtur in the Eternal Flame, and trick the average person using illusions with ease, can’t cast a little enchantment? And if so, why not? The series offered precious few explanations concerning Loki’s magical abilities and instead only raised more questions. And in this way, Loki is once again relegated into the background and left with not a single shred of any new characterization or development.

Loki contains multitudes, but the series reduced him to two dimensions.

This isn’t to mention every other facet of Loki’s story that could have potentially been explored to great success in this series-- his torture and subsequent partial mental influence at the hands of Thanos just before the events of Avengers 1 is one obvious example, as is his youth on Asgard, as are his suicidal tendencies (people don’t tend to survive falling off the Bifrost, and he knew that when he threw himself off of it), plus infinite other facets of him. Of course, it was both necessary and more interesting for this series to be its own story rather than one which lingered on past films-- but that’s not to say that none of these plot points should have come back, at least subtly, to play a role in this story. Plot points exist to be brought back later, not completely ignored. Otherwise a story may as well be written about a completely original character.

#loki #loki 2021 #loki disney+#loki discussion #loki discourse #loki spoilers #lokius #loki x mobius #loki x sylvie #sylki #marvel #marvel discourse #loki review #mcu loki #loki series #loki season finale #loki season 1 #loki ship

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psalloacappella · 4 years

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Red (oneshot)

Title: Red Pairing: SasuSaku legit i don’t write anything else Word Count: 3400~ Rating: E, for like explicit, not for everyone. NSFW. Ya get it. Tags/What you’ll see: Sakura getting the office and oral she deserves

Summary: An old dress, a new office — Uchiha Sasuke offers regards to both.

Ao3 | FFN | ↓

(I have to preface when I post this that my top-tier amazing friend convinced me to do so and reminded me not to delete it this morning in the cold sober dawn lol. I consider this absolutely self-indulgent)

“Ah, Sakura?”

Jade eyes alight and ringed with red, her subordinate regrets interrupting what seems to be a bout of sickness or sadness; she’s been busy lately. They all are.

Spine bent in bass clef camber, in exhaustion, she straightens at his words into a ramrod illustration of diligence. Over scrolls and haphazard paperwork, empty mugs sitting in their own fossilized dregs, she snatches up a fountain pen to preserve her dignity and reputation. At her age she’s been handed enormous tasks that she only imagined in her wildest dreams, and most of those, in the past, were of love and marriage and not the nightmares and duties which replaced them.

Extreme stress manifests in mysterious and chaotic ways; she intuitively knows this, especially today, as she basks in the quiet glances, the way their eyes follow her long, long legs leading into ankles in heels that feel like cages. Her choice of a dress underneath her white coat today feels like a wanton beacon, but her battle reputation precedes her, legendary and terrifying; no one will dare blithely approach legs like those or earn the ire of her dangerous hands, so delicate until they’re crushing mountains and throats.

Electricity, a buzzing in the marrow of her bones; she taps the pen on the desk in a stilted rhythm.

She regards the young medic with a hazy gaze for a moment, then waves a hand. “Sorry, I’m just—”

He steps over the threshold; Sakura raises her chin, lips taut.

“No no, I’m sorry,” he insists. Under her bright eyes he feels the beginnings of idiocy and bumbling; his boss makes him tongue-tied, stupid. Younger than him, in a league of her own as she stands at shoulders with new legends; lethal, inured to all the stories about herself.

He notices the ochre on her lips like an invitation.

“I wouldn’t come too close today,” she says. Grants him a demure smile, the type that doesn’t quite fool her friends but still works with fools like him. “I’m not feeling the best. It could be contagious, and that wouldn’t be helpful to our operations right now.”

“Yes, of course.” Agreeing, nodding fervently with the obedience of a particularly compliant breed of dog. “If I may — you work so much. Too young to be feeling so tired.”

A laugh, it bubbles — starts from her chest as a giggle and drips from her lips as honey. Makes her quake, mottled red seeping through the skin of her chest as a sieve, collarbones sharp.

She looks feverish; she looks like a dream.

In turn she struggles to keep the waver out of her voice, knowing she’s lit up as fulgent as rouge festival lanterns and there's no way to kill the current.

I’ll never live this down — have to get him out of here

The cough she musters up is weak and if this was Ino, or gods forbid, her teacher, they’d call it pathetic. For a young man trapped in her sphere of admiring attraction, it does nothing but induce sympathy. But her legs are shaking, the situation is dire, and she’s loath to have another round of torrid rumor on the flapping lips of civilians and staff.

“Ah!”

At her cry, she lets her temple fall into her hand and her subordinate rushes forward. Gasping, she raises her other one, trembling.

“No, please. That sounded worse than it was. Just a headache coming on. In fact,” she rasps, “if you can let Shizune know I’ll be taking the next hour to recoup? A nap, maybe that’ll help.”

“I don’t know if I can leave you like this.” His tentative step earns her sharp gaze again, pursed lips that start his mind wandering in a way that makes him blush. Physically shaking his head to clear it, he nods slowly, finally, backing out of the doorway.

The hollow sound of Sakura’s kneecap hitting the underside of the desk rings in the space. Her gullible underling starts forward again, but the foreboding slap of her hand on the desk stops him cold. Acute, like it’s one to the face.

Sakura brings her knees together, swift, crushing his damn near regal bone structure and the handsome high bridge of his nose between the muscle of her thighs. A warning.

She glances down at him, he’s slicked with sweat — the glimpse of his glittering black eye and swirling purple one bring her too close to a wave she can’t indulge; she’s still this unwanted visitor’s boss until he closes the fucking door.

“Just me being clumsy! Do as I’ve asked and let her know, and,” here her breath hitches, hand leaving the desk, fingers burying themselves in dark messy hair, “th-thank you for worrying. I appreciate it.”

She’ll pay for the smile she gives this man, a sparkle of hope, like he’ll ever earn his boss’s favor in that way, as if he’ll measure up in any lifetime to the man that has her heart, the man on his knees under her desk.

“Sure. I mean,” horrified at his own too-familiar tone, “of course, right away, ma’am. Miss. I—”

“Oh go now. ” It stutters out in jete musical meter, resembling pain — or other things. “Please.”

She doesn’t have to tell him to close the door, though she’s surprised he didn’t find another excuse to stay with her. Oh, he has it bad. But there’s no time to think —

Sinking into her chair, her hands grip the armrests with an intensity that forces music from them, cracking underneath her fingers. And now all the words of the last few minutes tumble from her lips, an unintelligible medley of curses and pleas cradling the half-formed shell of his name.

Without warning, she yanks him back by the hair and almost comes right there: His eyes scalding her, the mess on his stupid and incredibly fuckable face, a talented and dangerous mouth settling into a smirk as he thumbs an errant bit of her off his lip.

“That was close. Ah, so are you.”

He says it with such smugness and vanity. Quivering in her office chair under nothing but his stare, still in the grips of the unrelenting buzz and hum he’s enticed, and he absolutely notices.

“One of these days, we’ll be caught!” Tries to sound stern even as he rolls his neck and shoulders with a pithy nonchalance. “Stop that. So arrogant, preening like that—”

“Me? That’s rich.” He lazily trails a finger from her swollen, hot clit to her opening, lingering and lush to force all the heat and sounds he’s craving — her fingernails dig into her thigh while the pallor of her skin and dress seep and marry, reflections of one another. “Why did you wear this, Sakura?” Nudges the fabric with his nose, and she mumbles something hazy under his resumed touch; lost in orbit, in a void, in a place unearthly.

He starts the routine again, pressing his mouth to the inside of her thigh. Frowns at the irritating strip of fabric that constitutes clothing; it’s been twisted and pushed aside anyway. Her skin burning against his face, a lean cord of muscle taut underneath her pale skin. Vaguely threatening, but she’s yet to crush him to death and he’s on the second round of bringing her there and back again, and close calls such as those seem to stoke something smoldering. Some days, it feels like the only thing worth pulling himself out of bed for.

He fucks like he fights: Relentless, consuming. But that essential difference for the former is he never gives an inch; here, he pours it all in, something like an endless apology. Maybe she knows and that’s why she wears the red dress he won’t admit he prefers and paints her lips and runs the entirety of this village hospital system with grace and her own brand of gentle ascendancy — why he’s desperate for just the ragged edge of danger.

One of her legs shudders, the frenzied tap-tap-tap of her heel stammering against the floor in a cadence fit for instruments. “Sasuke-kun.”

Between the presses of his lips leading a hot, agonizing march back to her core, an arrogant noise in his throat escapes, rich and amused. “So this — is your new office?”

“Mmm,” she confirms, still clinging to the chair. The only support she has; the room’s spinning and every cell is vibrating, pink eyebrows knitted as she fights to remain upright and solid and somewhat human because the door’s not locked and she knows he knows, knows he doesn’t care and frankly neither, really, does she. Melting like basalt in unending, stifling heat.

Calloused fingers walk up the soft skin of her calf, catching and searing, sundering the delicate layer where they brush to release the pent-up steam underneath.

He’s fire; she is earth.

Always, all of him ablaze — possessive in its own discipline but a thing begging for taming. He builds the pyre here, as he has been for the last hour or so, to focus himself, patiently coaxing it into something chaotic but fruitful. Lately all he’s felt is the joyless, sober embodiment of a tool to be used though perhaps this is the same, a compulsion by any other name.

But it can’t be, not with her looking like this. Striding down her hallways with purpose while bending the horrors and ills of the world to her indomitable will. Certainly this dress is no accident, as it never is, not with him coming off a mission full of blood and necessary evil.

Dragging the thin, sorry excuse for fabric down the burning skin of her leg, Sasuke’s tongue finds her clit with terrifying precision and rips a moan from her throat, pulling a jerk of her hips against his mouth. The shockwave shared, vibrating as wires intertwined, a forcible current.

Leans back, takes her in: Her trembling, knuckles white from the fatal grip on the arms of the chair, knees sinking inward toward one another. The sight of this rich red dress against the stark, starched white of her coat blending with the mottled pinks and crimsons painting her cheeks and chest. Unraveling before him, extraordinary, even while this space belongs to her.

This, sometimes, feels like undeserved forgiveness.

Because she is always, always in living color.

Adjusts his own knees, shifts, a catch of air in his throat as he accommodates the hard length of his own caged cock. They’re no stranger to claiming desks and other surfaces as their own, but she has strings on him and there's authority in here now, where she holds men at the door with a flicker of her gentle jade eyes borne of the grueling process which created her.

Sliding the useless fabric into his pocket, raises his chin to her. Stares as she bites her lip and struggles for composure, though it’s difficult under the gaze of a man like this.

He waits, and the only sounds are ragged breathing from both.

“Please,” she whispers. Quivering, even at the ask. “Before someone comes back.”

“You worry so much,” he says. “Relax.”

“I’m sorry, I just—”

“What did I tell you,” he hisses, “about apologies?”

She blinks, startled, and her lips part. A sparkle, a brilliance emerging in her eyes as she clenches and unclenches her fingers. Still, they shake a bit, the anticipation and remnants of the rise and current before still lingering, lying in wait. Predatory. A wetness floods to her lips and she swallows it down, leveling her eyes to his glittering, savage gaze.

With a deep inhale, she spreads herself before him, knees apart. Blushing invisible, lost in the red that’s already dappled every inch of her, she exhales the rest of her timidity with an edged, sharp expression and hopes she’s being clear—

Sakura just barely glimpses the fierce red in his gaze before he answers with his tongue, deft, ardent, and divine.

Breaking the chair arms beneath her delicate hands again, scrabbling to stay on the beautiful planet before it turns her loose. Sinking, again, the boundaries of atoms dissolving — they are nowhere but bliss.

Like before, the careful building of a fire, the agonizing escalation: He drops a kiss here, employs a firm tongue there, skirting the easy option in favor of the tease as he peels her back, layer by layer. Running it the length of her slit, heart skipping a bit at the dangerous quake of her thigh muscle; how long it's taken to differentiate between pleasure and impending crush. Again, the sensation of crawling into the den of something prized and feral. He feels it, her writhing and the pace and canter of her breathing and she’s liquid gold, fucking melting —

Her hips jerk, hard, when his tongue swirls around her clit, the cry coming from her jagged as broken glass and trembling like music, all things that make his own situation difficult to manage but he will, because these sounds entrench him firmly in reality. Alive. Knees screaming on the hardwood floor, unyielding as his cock cradled only by fabric and not as he wishes, by her hands or her red, red lips like the kind she’s wearing now.

Instead he slows her down again, pendulum swings between teasing and a furious rhythm that coaxes the full spectrum of human sounds from her beautiful throat. Rewarded for it with a whiny gasp as if breaking the surface of water, mingling with his own as he catches his breath. The end of it careens into words, something rough, he’s not even quite sure what he’s saying but he imagines, neither does she.

This—fucking dress—!

Nice, isn’t it?

Gets you attention

But only from you, S-Sasuke-kun

And her hand lands on his head again, thin fingers yanking his hair and guiding him as he splays her open, lays her bare. His name never quite fully leaves her lips, dancing with fragments of alternating pleas and curses. Just for that, for something he’d never thought he’d ever hear in his life, he grimly knows he’d write a fucking sonnet just to hear her like this — and with his tongue, he does, or at least approximates. The tremors of her shift deeper now, approaching release; she’s so slick it feels vile, indulgence in sin. All of which is smeared on his lips, his face, tasting of tang and salt; how many times has he been told he’s selfish? Guilty. Greedy, too, as he pauses to breathe—

looking up at her, he has an idea but can’t possibly know the extent of this, how she’s absolutely wrung out and beyond this dimension, hell, this galaxy, every inch of her humming in tune with the universe and brimming with absolute, inescapable heat, muscles taut and and begging for climax. Though the soft edges of her green eyes that see through him and everything else, rolling back, mouth open and lips parted in mimeo of an oracle, sunken in the weight of divinity, might give him some clue.

Don’t stop, please—!

— he’s there, with his fingers buried and soaked and deep, playing that just-right rhythm with a thumb on her clit that’s been worked to the edge and back again over the span of her busy afternoon. Hairs part from his scalp without remorse; her nails scrabbling and fingers clinging as she prays and sighs and curses occasionally, quietly, into the limp back of her hand. As if she’s really still trying to maintain a semblance of professionalism in the throes of being launched into orbit.

So very close. He knows by the slightly erratic rhythm, the pulsating of muscles inside and out and around him, tight and he steals a quick breath to endure and ease his fingers out to redouble effort with his mouth because the way she’s sounding, that sharp icy note on the ragged edge of pleasure and pain, tends to be the signal, the tipping point. The tremor her free hand sends through the bones of the chair. Knees apart as far as she can manage and desperately meeting him at the hilt —

Steady through until the end.

Release comes as glass shattering, atoms splitting. Unintelligible words trapped in amber, in a moment, in desire. With a mouth full of fire, he rides it with her through every wave, persisting through her slow and ebbing tumble back down to earth. To him.

He leans back at last, groaning at the pain in his knees. Watches her tremble and twitch, wringing out the very last dregs of her orgasm, displacing everything coherent left in her head.

Seconds stretch into minutes, and he gets to his feet as she languishes in a pool of pleasure, steeping as scalding tea.

At some point her hand rises to her own lips, limp and wavering, to clean her own unabashed drippings with an expression of dizzy surprise. The white dissipates from her vision and she finds his eyes on her again, one still richly red in its sole mission of memorizing the glowing after.

“Oh.” That’s all she says, breathless.

Sasuke brings fingers across his own mouth, rolls his jaw side to side, and something about his expression of smug satisfaction resonates, strings of a plucked instrument, a pull again of desire that threatens to ruin the sanctity of this brand new office and the role that comes with it.

For a moment she leverages the chair to rise, then loses strength — she lowers herself back in it, arms still quaking.

She reaches for him, plucking at his shirt. Hair flyaway, askew from her frenzied fingers, still in his mission gear.

Yanking him down by the collar, she crashes her mouth against his, red and hot, the tang and taste of herself immiscible with his own. Whatever sound he makes, this growl or rumble or ache, splits them open.

What pulls them apart is the grating sound of their former sensei’s voice: “I heard from a bird that someone in here was sick?”

Sasuke feels them in the room now and pulls away. Half-turns, finds himself leaning on her desk in a way that’s almost too casual, but necessary — his knees are shot through. Sakura smiles too widely, masking a secret; after all, both still feel the pinpricks of liquids drying in the new air.

“From your darling subordinate,” Kakashi twinkles, grinning underneath his mask.

“That one who follows you around like a puppy,” Naruto supplies, pouting.

Kakashi tilts his head toward him, both still lingering over the threshold. “Terrible, hm?”

Naruto misses the jibe and instead turns his wide ocean eyes on her new space. Whistles. “Man, Sakura-chan, this office is niiice. I’m jealous.”

“You’ll be in your new one soon enough,” she says, and there she is, her usual self. “I have faith. Anyway, this office comes with responsibility.”

“Well if anyone can do it, it’s you.”

“He was under the impression you were sick. Looking at you now, though,” and here Kakashi pauses in a manner all too deliberate, eyes sweeping over Sasuke’s cloak and belongings in a chair, and ends it with looking right at him, “you seem all right. Exhausted, I imagine.”

Her flush threatens to undo them both.

“He’s . . . sweet. To care.”

“He’s a fool,” Sasuke mutters.

“Perfect, you’re dressed nice,” Naruto crows. “How did you know we’d come make you celebrate? You didn’t eat, I bet you didn’t!” He eyes Sasuke up and down, at his unusually ruffled appearance, and clicks his tongue. “You didn’t even go home first, did you? Shitty boyfriend.”

The damage he committed on his recent mission pales in comparison to the crimes Sasuke wants to indulge now.

“Anyway, we’ll wait out here. After all,” Kakashi says, inclining his head, “this is your space now.”

Sakura exhales long and slow as they step out into the hallway. Covering her face with her hands, she groans. “No matter my job, I’ll never escape embarrassment, huh?”

Standing at last, she readjusts her clothes and kisses the underside of Sasuke’s chin. She reaches for his pocket and he moves easily out of her grasp.

“Sasuke-kun!”

“Pointless now. I’ll keep it.”

No matter what time, season, dimension, he regards all of her — the dress, the lips that held their color, the new flush simmering on her neck and chest — and craves, endeavors, to always love her red.

#sasusaku #psalloacappella #sasusakufanfic #smut #sasusaku smut #uchiha sasuke #haruno sakura #sorry it's shameless #whatever ya'll #give me good head or give me death

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aikoeisbon · 4 years

Text

Haunting

Levi x Reader

TW: Self Harm

Therapeutic drabble. May be triggering to some, but it's how I help myself.

The sweltering heat of a midsummer's day had convinced a large amount of the survey corps to remain inside, and as a result, the stables were void of all people. You, on the other hand, had been scheduled to care for the horses on this particular day. You had discarded your jacket, opting to wear your undershirt as you worked to muck out stalls and feed the horses. As hot as it was, you figured your steed would appreciate a nice, cool bath, so you slipped her halter on and lead her down the long pathway of the stable towards it's rear, where the buckets and water were. You rolled up your sleeves as you began to fill the buckets, throwing sponges in there and allowing them to soak prior to lathering your horse with a bit of blandly-scented soap.

"Oi." A voice startled you as you snapped your head up towards the source of the noise. Levi was approaching your mare, hand outstretched for her nose while his eyes flickered down towards you. You heaved, carrying two buckets of water to beside your horse before shifting to return for the third, only to find Levi carrying it over with ease.

"Thanks. What brings you here?"

"I was looking for you. Hanji said you were on stall duty." Levi replied as you poured water onto the mare's back. He grimaced as she shook her coat, flinging specks of water onto his face.

"Did you need something?" You inquired as he wiped the droplets off his face with his forearm.

"Erwin wanted to speak with you." He stated in answer, watching as you began to scrub the mare with a sponge.

"The Commander?... Must be important then. I'll be finished in a bit. And here I was thinking you missed me." You raised your gaze up to meet his grey orbs and shot his a humorous smirk as you hunched over a bucket, rinsing the sponge and returning back to washing the animal. She dropped her damp head down, pushing Levi with it as she raised it against him, using him as a scratching post.

"Tch, cut that shit out." His brows furrowed, irritated with his now somewhat wet uniform with pieces of black fur here and there. He pushed her head away from him, in which she had responded with a low nicker. Levi moved beside you, reaching for a sponge to help out. As he went to stand straight again, his eyes picked up a bit of color from your arms. He trained his gaze on your flesh as you scrubbed away, his expression becoming flat as he identified the dull red stripes. The more closely he paid attention, the more lines he discovered- though these were white. Living in the underground, he was not blind to the fact people did this to themselves. Though as hard as things were for them, he still somewhat struggled to understand why. He understood being angry with yourself- even to the point of hating yourself or your situation so much you were suicidal. But to worsen your pain by making it physical? He could not wrap his head around that. From what he saw in the underground, whatever you were feeling or going through must have been as dismal and extreme as it would be in the underground. It caused him great concern, but his unenthused face did not reflect that. He simply narrowed his eyes, and shot his hand out for your arm.

"What?" You said almost defensively, startled by his sudden movement. It hadn't clicked what he was doing until you followed his line of sight, only then realizing your scars were in plain sight. You furrowed your brow, attempting to pull your arm back to your chest only to find it was secure in Levi's grip.

"Why?" He muttered, snatching your other arm in his iron grip as well. His chest tightened when he saw the same type of marks on that arm as well.

"Let go." You commanded, your voice quiet and low. His grip was unrelenting, his stare stern and serious. "Levi, let go!!!" You raised your voice, throwing your hands down in another attempt to free yourself from his grasp. He released you just as quickly as he grabbed you again, this time by your upper arm rather than your forearms. "Stop it!" You complained angrily as he led you to sit down. He noticed you wince as he grabbed you, and could only imagine why.

"Tch." He frowned. "Don't move." He ordered as he left you at a bench a near distance away. You watched him quickly finish bathing your horse, the fury in his eyes not at all wavering. The pit in your stomach was creeping up your throat. Would he find you disgusting now? Would he think you were too much to handle? Crazy? A risk? A liability? The anxiety you felt over those thoughts did nothing but intensify the longer this dragged on, until finally Levi walked past with your horse in tow. "Come on." He commanded, his voice still cold. You knew him better than anyone, you've seen what love looked like in his eyes, as well as malice, but this expression in his steel blue hues... You couldn't identify it. Maybe that is what scared you the most: The fear of the unknown. Perhaps Levi shared this fear too, which is why he felt this tense uneasiness. How long had you been doing this? How could he have missed this? Was there more you were doing he did not know about? Why wouldn't you come to him? Was it something... he did to cause this? As Levi locked the horse in the stall in front of him, you felt as though you were shrinking behind his back.

"Those could get infected." Is all he said before you grabbed your jacket and followed him back to headquarters, beelining for the infirmary. Levi was relieved to see it was empty, as he had plenty of things to ask you about. "Sit." He directed, pointing at a chair.

"Please don't tell the others about this." You pleaded quietly. His eyes and their ice-cold glare finally met yours.

"I'm more concerned with why you didn't tell me." He stated flatly as you removed your jacket once more, offering your arms out to him. His eyes traced over the red lines. Most were old, having healed completely and left nothing but white lined scars. Some seemed fresher, the scars still red- almost purple- and rather thick. The ones he was most worried with, were the dark red, thick lines that seemed days old. At the very least, none were still bleeding...

"It's embarrassing. It's none of your business, anyways..." You responded meekly as Levi cleaned your arms with antiseptic. They were closed enough to where you felt very mild pain, at worst.

"If someone punched you, it'd be my business. If you went missing, it'd be my business. If you got sick? My business. What makes you think this is any different?" Levi spat, leaving you in silence. He sighed. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. Do you know what these say to me?" He questioned earnestly, his eyes flickering up to yours. You raised your brows in subtle inquisition. "They tell me you don't trust me enough to tell me what's on your mind. That I won't or can't help you, so instead you take it out on yourself. Thing is, you won't know if I can help you or not unless you give me a shot."

"I'm sorry..." Your words shook, tears welling in your eyes.

"...Am I doing something wrong?" Levi's question earned your attention, and for the first time, you saw the man you loved with a truly broken countenance plastered on his face, his pain pooling in his eyes. You reached out to him.

"No, no, no... Levi." You quaked, pulling him against you as you came to your knees out of the chair. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The guilt of doing this is half the reason why I do it. I feel so pathetic, like even if I spoke out, nobody would believe me. I didn't want anyone to think less of me, like I was crazy, or did this for attention, I-"

"You are crazy, brat." Levi muttered, raising an arm to run his fingers through your hair and keep you pressed against him as he supported himself with his other arm. You could hear in his voice he said that with a smirk. You chuckled under your breath.

"Crazy about you," you laughed. "but that's besides the point. I... wanted people to continue thinking I'm strong. Not some weirdo that succumbs to her problems like... this." You backed away from him, looking downcast at your own body. "There's so many things I wish were different about me." Levi listened intently.

"Doing this doesn't mean you aren't strong. Everyone has their own ways of coping, some are healthier than others. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you keep doing this." He watched you swallow, seemingly nervous beneath his intense gaze. "I don't know what's right or wrong when it comes to coping. I never have. But there's no way I'll stand by and watch the woman I love tear herself apart." You remained quiet, hanging to each of his words. He moved closer towards your face, sure he was making eye contact. "This is our problem now. If you feel like hurting yourself, we'll go spar. If that doesn't take your mind off it, I'll show you hurt. You need to focus when training anyways." You couldn't help but grin internally at Levi's tough-love methods of helping. "But you're done doing this. I can't believe I'm only noticing now."

"Well, there's a reason why I'll only sleep with you when the lights are out."

"...Erwin needs to see you. Remember this talk." Levi muttered as he picked himself off the floor, offering a hand out to you.

"Wouldn't forget it if I tried."

#levi ackerman #levi #captain levi #aot #snk #shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #fanfic #aot fanfic #levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackermann #ackerman #hajime isayama #reader #mental health

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blacinfinity1289 · 3 years

Text

Yo,

"Normal speech" people talking.

'Normal thought' people thinking.

"Kyuubi/Dragons" Kyuubi or Dragons Speaking.

'Kyuubi/Dragon thought' Kyuubi or the other Dragons thinking.

"Jutsu/ Magic" is being used.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail. They belong to their owners. I don't even own the cover photo. Enjoy.

Not Yet

Prologue

New World and A Deal

In a place famous for duking out a conflict, 2 figures fought. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke fought. They fought for their own ideals. Naruto's being the one to bring his Rogue friend back to the village he called home as he gave his word to Haruno Sakura, his teammate. Sasuke's was to go to a man who can give the power to kill 'him'. The person who killed their parents and his clan. The man who he looked up to in his childhood. The man promised their parents that he will take care of him in their absence. The man who he called Older Brother.

This is not just a clash of ideals but morals as well. Sasuke was prepared to kill the blonde annoyance if it comes to that. He is prepared to do anything to attain power. Naruto is also prepared to do anything to bring Sasuke back to their village. Do anything to bring his 'brother' back to their home.

They clashed again and again but no victor emerged. Sasuke's Sharingan fully matured in their clash. Naruto used a tail-less bijuu cloak to keep up with Sasuke's newly improved speed and reflexes. Sasuke activated his Curse Mark Level 1 to counter Naruto's boost in power. Naruto entered the 1 tail version 1 cloak. Sasuke activated his Level 2 of Curse mark to counter it. It is still a stalemate. Tobi, or rather, Uchiha Obito came to watch the fight and if possible, capture the Kyuubi Jinchuriki if possible and the moment presents. He is watching the fight lazily with his Sharingan. Awaiting an opportunity to get the Kyuubi. The fight reached its peak.

Naruto charged with his Rasengan, his signature attack which is highly enhanced by the potent and corrosive Kyuubi's chakra which changed the normal blue ball of chakra into a reddish-blue ball of spiralling chakra. Sasuke countered it with his Chidori which merged with the vile nature of the Cursed Seal and changed into Purplish black. The two attacks collided with each other. No one is giving in to the other. Both the combatants continued to channel all the chakra they had into their attacks.

Soon, because of these unrelenting forces, a tear occurred in the space surrounding the attacks. It moved to Naruto's side of the attack. It is a blackish white hole that started to suck in everything in its radius. Obito knew that. It is a long-range version of his Kamui. Which means Kakashi is here. He watched in interest what happened next. But he didn't expect the result.

The tear widened. Instead of a blackish-white hole, it is completely black with purple tints and started to suck Naruto in. Sasuke fell to the ground in exhaustion and is looking at his blonde-haired friend in confusion. He didn't understand what was happening. Obito felt his right eye activate and chakra channel into it, automatically. Half of his reserves were drained dry and the blonde Jinchuriki was gone, fell into the tear in space without any trace left behind of him. Kakashi also felt similar effects, but his complete chakra reserves are drained from the use of his left eye.

Inside the Seal

The Kyuubi is watching the events with a bloodthirsty grin. The blonde idiot is using his Chakra more and more. If this continues, he can tempt him to break the seal. Suddenly, he saw a tear in space and his eyes widened. 'There is no way such a minuscule attack created a tear in space' he thought to himself. He knew the power in both the attacks may be high, but it is not even compared to his Bijubomb. So, there is something external that created the hole. He sensed the Scarecrow, the teacher of his container activate his Mangekyou and the effect being pulled towards Naruto's side. But unlike just being sucked into it, the blonde fell into something deeper.

It is a black void with a purple outline filled with nothing. He knew what is going to happen. Due to the high concentration of power and reckless use of a space-time Ninjutsu, the blonde is not sucked into space-time jutsu, but instead, he is tearing the dimension and probably gonna go into another one or gonna die. He didn't care for his life though. This means his freedom. He got a murderous grin on his face. He is going to enjoy and soon, his cage burst open and his chakra started to forcefully rip out of the cage. Everything sealed in the seal had unlocked and brought them into the mindscape. He is going to add insult to injury. He got his chance.

"Hahahahaha" he laughed in glee.

"See that Naruto. You are dead now" said the Kyuubi, confusing the blonde boy. As soon as Naruto came in, 2 more holes formed and came out a blonde man and a red-headed woman. All the chakra in the vicinity surrounding Naruto got sucked into the hole which closed as soon as he got completely sucked in only leaving a small gap. The chakra from Obito and Kakashi also followed in and due to their lingering chakra another crack opened on the other side and Naruto slowly started travelling in its direction. All the chakra that got sucked didn't have anywhere to go but Naruto, as he is the only other source of Chakra there and latched to him soon merging with him.

"Kyuubi," said Minato, impassively.

"Minato," said Kushina in confusion.

"Yes, Yondaime. It's me. But I think you should be worried about your son now" he said with mad glee. Minato seeing the cage opened turned to Naruto who had a shocked look on his face.

"Naruto" yelled Kushina and hugged her son tightly. For Naruto all this is new. He finally met his parents. The people he wanted to find out from his childhood. 'Yondaime is my father' is the only thought Naruto had and involuntarily hugged the woman hugging him.

"What happened Naruto. Why is the seal broken?" Minato asked. Kyuubi laughed and too happily replied of what happened.

"So, Naruto is being sucked into another world because of the hole in space," asked Minto awestruck.

"Yes" replied the Kyuubi happily.

"And why are you not sucked away with him, I thought the Shiki Fuin is a soul level seal," asked Minato. Kyuubi gave him a toothy smile and replied.

"Because we Bijuu can't cross the dimension. We can unless the user has higher power to take us. We are bound to the realm of Elemental Nations for eternity" he said Cheerfully. He is happy that he had finally got his freedom after 100 years of imprisonment. Naruto slowly started moving towards the hole on the other side.

"Well, it can not be helped then," said Minato and hugged Kushina who is hugging Naruto, making it a family hug. Naruto went back from the hug and punched Minato in the stomach. Which hurt him a little.

"Why" is the only question Naruto asked.

"I'm sorry that I placed this burden on you son, but when I faced that masked man who claims to be Uchiha Madara, I couldn't help but think of your future. That is why I entrusted you with the power of the Kyuubi so that one day you can master it with the help of your mother. I sealed some of our chakras in you as a way which enables us to meet you at some point in time in your life, but I didn't expect that to be like this" said Minato, regret and guilt evident in his voice.

"I saw your childhood from the seal and I regret sealing the Kyuubi in you and blindingly believing the villagers would understand and fulfil my last wish," he said in a sad tone.

"I'm sorry, son," said Kushina. But for Naruto, it is different. He finally met his parents. The newly acquired chakra in him triggered something in him. His eyes changed from that of Cerulean blue to Red with 2 black tomoes in each of them.

Naruto hugged his parents tightly.

"It's alright guys. I am fine and I got the chance to meet you. That's enough I forgive you" he said with a smile that shames the brightness of the sun.

"Thank you, son. We felt blessed when we had you. We loved you so much" said Kushina.

"You have made our lives more brighter by being our son. Thank you for choosing as your parents, son" continued Minato.

"No matter what, remember that we always love you, Naruto," they said in unison as the hole neared and the Kyuubi was 1/4th of its original size, looking at them in amusement.

"Even in your last seconds, you continue to amaze me. Humans" he said in a deep tone.

"As you have impressed me, I'll give your son one of my abilities, which might help him in this new world," he said and pushed some of his chakra into Naruto which got absorbed instantly.

"We shall give you our most powerful Jutsu as well, son," said Kushina and transferred some of her chakra into Naruto.

"You already know Rasengan. I failed to master it completely. Find a way to add your elemental affinity into it son, as for my most prized Jutsu, I have sealed it in your seal. When you think about it, you will get it. Think of Hiraishin and you will get it" he said and the Kyuubi almost disappeared.

"Finally, freedom" were his last words as his chakra completely vanished from the seal into the Elemental Nations to reform.

Minato and Kushina saw Naruo's body slowly disappear as well, so they moved forward and hugged him.

"Thank you for being our son, Naruto," said Minato.

"No matter what, we are proud of you," said Kushina.

"Well be watching you from the other side, Naruto. Don't come to join us soon. Add our life to yours and live a long, happy life" they said again in unison. Naruto gave them one last smile and replied.

"I will, Mom, Dad, that's a promise of a lifetime," he said, tears falling from his eyes freely. All the chakra that is surrounding him merged into including that of his parents and they disappeared in gold particles. Naruto cried tears of joy. His wish to see his parents has come true. He finally met them and they loved him a lot. His eyes spun wildly large amounts of chakra unconsciously being into them, his eyes bled and a pattern appeared in them. Instead of 2 tomoes, they have a swirl pattern in them.

But just before he entered into the new dimension completely, Naruto could have sworn he had seen a man who is made of pure chakra with a blue ethereal form leaving his body, some of his chakra left in his body as he is still alive. As the Kyuubi explained about forcefully being ripped off a living vessel leaves a small amount of residue behind as in the case of Kyyubi's chakra being left behind and his parent's chakra merging with his own and now the man's also included. But what shocked Naruto is the expression on the man's face. He had a sorrowful expression as if he lost something important. Naruto didn't have enough time to think about it as he is fully concentrated on the tear. His body flew towards the tear. When he reached the tear, he was violently shoved into space like a star. His body heating up because of the friction.

July 7, X777

A few moments earlier, Heartfilia Manor

Layla Heartfilia has opened the eclipse gate to allow the Dragon Slayers access from the past to the present. She had a key missing, so she used her own life force to supplement it. It has gone perfectly. All the 5 Dragon Slayers has passed through it without any problem. However, soon as the gate was about to close, another star passed through the gate before it was completely closed. The star went in another direction as compared to the Dragon Slayers to North. She didn't know how there was a sixth one, but she didn't think much about it. Her health started to deteriorate as it is and she fell unconscious after that.

Naruto was violently shot into the air and travelled into a far north and crash-landed into a thick forest. His body was severely burnt and bruised because he travelled through space and his chakra coils have largely expanded due to the extraction of the Kyuubi and he is suffering from a severe case of Chakra Exhaustion. He couldn't do anything but open his eyes for a moment to see brilliant yellow reptilian eyes looking at him, curiously, before going unconscious.

For Aldoron, this is all different. He knew the date and year and what is going to happen today. The Dragons will use the Eclipse Gate to come to the future to defeat Acnologia. He is one of the victims after all, and his fight with the Apocalypse Dragon has left him in this severely weakened state. He saw a star coming in his direction and landed in front of him. He saw into the crater curiously to see a child, who smelt like a fox. He may be around 10-12 years old, according to his estimation. And the fact he managed to stay conscious through all of this ordeal impressed Aldoron. When leaned to get a look at the child, he managed to get a glimpse of Red eyes, which changed into cerulean blue, which looked confused at him before he lost his consciousness. His body was burnt and bruised as if he had travelled in the void and Aldoron got into work. If he planned this right, the boy I. front of him would be his key to defeat Acnologia for him.

He saw the boy heal himself and it is very fast. He also helped the healing process by sending his Nutrients into the boy helping him recover faster. Naruto was unconscious and came to his mindscape. He saw the residue of Kyuubi's chakra behind the seal. It would be at least 6-8 tails worth, not that Naruto know it, it is locked away in the cage. When he tapped it, it opened and the chakra came rushing into him, engulfing with its vile nature and bloodlust. Naruto felt rejuvenated and bloodlust at the same time. So he willed it back and due to the absence of the Kyuubi's will, the Chakra went back into the cage roaming aimlessly. Naruto sighed in relief. He finally got rid of that fox that haunted him unknowingly for his whole life. Now the first question that came to his mind was, where was he. He knew that he saw some kind of gate, which he passed through when he entered this place. And he could remember that he saw yellow glowing reptilian eyes like Orochimaru's before going unconscious. He shrugged it off. He is going to go face whoever it is when he woke. He should know whether what his father told was true or not and he thought about the Hiraishin and a scroll came in a puff of smoke. He opened it and read.

'Dear Naruto,

If you are reading this, then you must have met my chakra in you. I am sorry that I have to place the burden of the Kyuubi in you. But I can't think of a better person than my son who can defeat that masked man, who claims to be Madara Uchiha. In this scroll are the contents of mine and your mothers most treasured possessions. The right one is mine, while the left one is your mothers. Kushina and I love you, son.

Your loving Father,

Namikaze Minato'

Naruto opened the scroll by channelling some chakra into it. He saw 2 sides like his father said which had Kanji for Tou-san and Kaa-chan on it. He pressed his finger on his father's side and it took some blood from and opened.

There are 3 scrolls in it. One scroll has the Kanji for Rasengan, another for Hiraishin and another for Jutsu on it. Before opening all these, he also opened his mothers scroll. In a puff of smoke, some scrolls came out. One has the Kanji for Chains on it. Another has the Kanji for Benihime on it and another Uzumaki Clan Jutsu and finally a letter from his mother. He opened it and read.

'Dear Naruto,

If you are reading this, then that meant that you have met mine or Minato's chakra in you. I'm sorry that you have been placed with the burden of becoming the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. I know how it is to be a Jinchuriki and the loneliness you would feel. When she is about to pass the Kyuubi to me, Mito-baa-chan had told me that the only way to defeat the hole caused by the Kyuubi is to fill the hole with love. She explained that because of her love for Shodai-sama, she had managed to defeat the loneliness. I also found love in my friends at Academy and Minato. Find someone to love and protect, son. That will fill your heart.

Your loving Mother,

Uzumaki Kushina'.

He opened the Hiraishin scroll and started reading it. He sealed all the other scrolls into the large scroll and continued his reading. Both scrolls had sealing supplies in common. They had paintbrushes and ink in them. As he is in his mind, he didn't need any food or sleep here. He read for what felt like days.

Outside World

Aldoron has been observing the child curiously. After he started treating him, he felt a foul presence that had abnormal amounts of Bloodlust and Killing Intent to it. It surrounded the boy for a minute and it disappeared as soon as it came. But what flabbergasted Aldoron was that the boy's body healed more than what was healed in the last 3 hours. His skin was back to its tan completion where it is pale before. The bruises on his skin also healed to some extent. His magic or something like what which Aldoron couldn't decipher also increased by a margin of 30 times, but dropped as soon as the cloak disappeared. Aldoron continued his observation as his future plans depended on the boy in front of him.

2 days Later

Naruto was fully healed from his exhaustion and dimensional travel. What would take weeks for others or at least a week with Aldoron's help took the blond just 2 days to completely get healed. His reserves are still recovering as they are currently at 25% of his total, expanded reserves because of the extraction of the Kyuubi and merging of all the chakra that the hole sucked into him. He woke up groggily, sitting in an upright position. He knew that he was in a forest as he saw it before going unconscious.

Aldoron peeked at his large head as Naruto woke up. His body seems to have adjusted to his new surroundings as he stood up, keeping balance. He looked in all directions to get a perfect idea of where he was. Naruto looked up to see a giant wooden head looking at him. This confused him. 'Did a tree bark looking at me and it is interested in me' thought Naruto to himself. He was confused. But Uzumaki Naruto doesn't give up, that is his Nindo, ninja way.

"Um, excuse me Bark-san, can you tell me where I am" asked Naruto. The Dragon seemed to be confused like didn't it understand him. 'Now I should learn a new language again' thought Naruto. He sighed to himself and gestured to the Dragon like writing in the air and the Dragon nodded to him.

1 week Later

It took him 1 week to learn the basics of the new Language. Midway, he discovered the secret of his signature technique which changed everything. As Naruto was doing his daily routine, which included him and the Dragon shouting to each other what they are thinking about the progress and the Dragon drawing weird symbols on the dirt to explain it to him, he was in his mindscape, skimming through the scrolls his father gave him. It had the Shadow Clone Jutsu in it as well. His interest piqued, Naruto read about the Jutsu.

Shadow Clone Jutsu:

Rank-B

The Shadow Clone Jutsu (Kage Bunshin no Jutsu) is a technique developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

Similar to the basic Clone Jutsu, this technique creates copies of the user. However, these clones are real instead of illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing techniques, including the Shadow Clone Jutsu itself, on their own and can even bleed, but will usually disperse after being hit by a strong enough force. The clones can also disperse on their own or be dispelled by the user of the technique. When dispelled the user and other clones get the information that the clone learned. This technique requires at least jounin level chakra reserves and dispelling multiple clones at once may cause brain damage and leads to death in case of low chakra user. clones depend upon the amount of chakra that the user has.

This revelation made Naruto jump in joy and he made nearly 100 clones. All of them practising already learnt letters of the language and the Dragon appreciated his effort and made different texts on different trees and ground, thus speeding up his learning the language. He learnt more than half of it and just the difficult ones were left to learn, which he is sure of learning in the next week.

He was completely healed now and his reserves are full. He also learnt another useful technique from those scrolls. Which is called Great Clone Explosion (Bunshin Daibakuha).

Great Clone Explosion (Bunshin Daibakuha).

Rank-A

Range- 5m

The user creates a shadow clone, intending for their opponents to attack the clone at close range. After a certain amount of time has passed, the clone detonates, creating a large explosion. It is that simple. Just make a clone, go near the opponent, then BOOM. Naruto had a devious grin on his face at that. Oh, how well he is going to use on Kakashi or Sas..u..ke. It hit him like a train. He is not going to do anything to them. As he is not with them and probably, won't gonna meet them as well. He had tears falling from his eyes and his eyes changed to that of a fully matured Sharingan.

Suddenly everything seemed clear to Naruto. He went to a nearby stream to see what's wrong. There he saw it. Instead of his bright blue eyes, his eyes were Red with 3 Black Tomoes in them.

"Sharingan," said Naruto aloud. 'But how' he thought. From what he knew, only Uchiha can awaken their Sharingan. If he had one, then that means he is an Uchiha it something' his brain hurt at that. 'That's why I don't like to think more' grumbled Naruto to himself. 'Whatever, I had Sharingan now. Cool' exclaimed the blood and danced around like a headless chicken.

"What are you dancing for Brat" came a gruff voice that reminded Naruto such of the Kyuubi.

"Nothing you old Lizard" he called out getting a growl out of the Dragon.

"Now that you have learned the language, let's get into business, shall we," he asked and Naruto nodded. He knew that anything is not free or done from the goodness of heart is a weakness as seen in his case when he did his best to save Sasuke only to be thrown into this new world, getting separated from his home. That made him chuckle humourlessly. 'Home, now that is new. I was not treated well from the beginning. Always the stupid kid and the Demon who use make trouble. No one even cared for me there. Jiji did his duty as a Hokage, not to care for him as he blindly gave all power to the council. Kakashi didn't even teach him anything but Tree walking. Jiraiya is a different case entirely. He couldn't get past my father's death and taught me Rasengan as a right of passage. Tsunade, she loved me, yes, but she couldn't do anything as she herself is stuck in the past' thought Naruto to himself.

'Wow, what a family do I have' he couldn't hold back anymore. 'If have to get another chance to have a family again, I'm going do everything in my power to protect them' he vowed to himself and went to the place where they could talk.

"So, what do you want from me," asked the blonde in a business tone. A near-death experience did wonders to his attitude and behaviour.

"Straight to the point, eh. Well, I want to make a deal with you" said the Dragon.

"Tell me already. I should know where I am and plan...things" Naruto said the word planning, something new to him. He is a person who plans on the fly and for him to plan everything out before doing is something to get adjusted to.

"I expected at least that much. After all, you are not supposed to come from the Eclipse Gate" he said in an amused tone.

"So that thing is called the Eclipse Gate, huh. That's a nice name" said Naruto offhandedly.

"Yes, it is an instrument" he stopped himself there.

"Well, let's come back to business. I want you to be my student and learn my magic" said Aldoron.

"Huh," said Naruto in confusion.

"Let me tell you about the world you are in. This is called Earthland and you are in Guiltina, a place where we Dragon Gods live in. We use magic here and there are so many types of Magics. I particularly use Dragon Slayer Magic, God Slayer Magic and a combination of both. I also use Earth Dragon and Water Dragon Slayer magics as wood made of those both elements. There are some more that I will explain to you when the training begins. Different kinds of Dragon Slayer Magics are lethal to Dragons. There are other magics like God Slayer Magic, Devil Slayer Magic and others that you can learn. Magic comes from the particles of Ethernano that is present in Nature. Is this clear so far" asked Aldoron and Naruto nodded. Then he explained about Mages, Guilds and Kingdoms. He also explained about the Dragon and God slayer magic in detail, how they can consume their element etc.

"So, you want me to become your Dragon Slayer," asked Naruto in conclusion.

"Yes, that way I can take revenge on Acnologia when he comes for the remaining Dragons," he said in a grave tone.

"Is this Acnologia powerful" asked Naruto.

"Yes, so powerful, that I can't defeat him on my own when I fought him and all these wounds are because of him," he said gesturing to all the cuts and bruises on his massive body.

"What is in it for me," asked Naruto.

"Powerful magic, possibly family in the remaining Dragon Slayers and a life full of adventure, probably," he said. At the mention of Family, Naruto made his decision.

"Then I accept," he said with a cheerful tone. Aldoron was taken aback by his acceptance.

"Are you sure?" he asked to confirm. Naruto smiled at him and nodded his head.

"Well, then I'm going to implant a Lacrima which will give the ability to use my magic," he said, gesturing to the greenish-black Lacrima crystal he pulled out.

"This is maybe painful," said Aldoron and Naruto nodded. He doubted that, he didn't scream in pain when the Kyuubi was forcefully extracted from him after all. The Lacrima was put above his chest, where it merged in. He did feel a bit of pain like his body is restructuring. His chakra and magic mixing. Forming a more powerful variant. He could feel his reserves expand and power course through his body. After 5 minutes it settled. Naruto sighed in relief.

Aldoron was surprised. The child in front of him didn't feel in pain, not even flinch. 'He must have done through alot' thought the old dragon.

"Ok, Naruto are you ready to learn the Magic," he asked as if to confirm. Naruto nodded his head.

"Good, let's begin," he said and Naruto just made a cross sign. 100 clones popped into existence, this shocked Aldoron. He didn't he can do this many clones.

"Go on, tell me what to do and we are going to do it," said Naruto gesturing to his clones, while he sat in a meditative position and started meditation.

And Cut.

That's it for this chapter folks. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Read, Review and Comment your opinion on the story.

If you have any questions, ask me in reviews or PM me.

Any suggestions are welcome.

RR.

Thank you for reading.

Black Infinity 1289,

Ja Ne.

#fanfic #naruto #fairy tail #strong #dragonslayer #godslayer #my fic

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teethands · 3 years

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FF HEADCANON LIST

CRACKS KNUCKLES these are all imported from google docs bc thats where ive been keeping all my thoughts :] im not sure if theres any repeat HCs in here and im sorry if someones got to me before i have but these all came from my own brain !!! these are all very miscellaneous HCs but they generally revolve around vivosaurs and revival. some of them are rather macabre so a solid CW warning here for mentions of dinosaur body horror and death. ALSO SPOILERS FOR FOSSIL FIGHTERS 1 AND 2 BUT MOSTLY 2 LETS GO

modern boneysaurs/zombiesaurs

i think it is entirely possible to replicate a boney/zombiesaur outside of whatever sorcery zongazonga used to resurrect them in the first place. i think its relatively well known undead vivosaurs are a direct result of ZZ and his ancient tournament, and although zombiesaurs are usually claimed to be used in such tournaments most often, i think boneysaurs are just a variant of that but where less used due to weakness and general incompatibility. theyre all undead vivosaurs. thats it. on to the meat of this headcanon, boney/zombiesaur resurrection: i think zombiesaurs could be the result of attempting to revive a deceased vivosaur, while boneysaurs might be caused by man or machine malfunction while reviving a fossil. i think this might be an interchangeable effect: zombiesaurs might emerge from resurrections, and boneysaurs might emerge from revivals, although altogether i think this entire phenomenon is extremely rare. fossil revival goes entirely against the laws of nature and thus, nature must step in at some points to attempt to stop the process, although common fossil park high-tech machinery probably stops most instances like this from happening. boneysaurs emerging from failed revivals are almost always the cause of very poor cleaning, (maybe attempting to revive a heavily damaged, failed fossil head?) or outdated/unkempt fossil revival machinery. boney/zombiesaurs were so common in ZZ’s time because of such poor methods of revival. at some point during a “doomed” fossil revival, the skin and flesh of the vivosaur its supposed to resemble never quite “renders” in. the skin is registered and stitched together, but only holds the bones in place with an unknown black substance, leaving it void black in the same way a texture in a video game may just fail to load. presumably boneysaurs are almost always immediately dead in the revival chamber after the process is over due to lack of functioning organs, skin, etc, without some kind of support or magic. or maybe they are magic- every bad unnatural part of a revival machine fused into one being, and thats what allows them to live on. on the other hand, this could mean any type of boneysaur could emerge from any dinosaur- pterosaurs, therizinosaurs, raptors, maybe- maybe- just a thought, maybe even super revival vivosaurs could have this effect happen too. so, so rarely though. so rarely, its probably never even happened before in recorded vivosaur revival history.

as for zombiesaurs- this phenomenon could happen when a recently deceased vivosaur is attempted revival. recently deceased, as in, undecayed flesh-still-in-tact. i imagine this happens much more often than boneysaurs- although, i dont think many people are trying to revive dead vivosaurs.

zombiesaurs, fresh from the revival chamber, are almost always damned and in pain, and serve as a reminder to fighters that the laws of nature can only be twisted so far, and they are best be put down. presumably no fossil cleaning facilities will allow a fighter to attempt to revive a dead vivosaur due to the danger and the frightening, disturbing nature of zombiesaurs. fossil damage + neon goo every fighter has encountered the bright purple (green in the OG FF) substance that appears during cleaning when a fossil is too damaged in one area. this material wouldnt be produced from the fossil itself, but rather generated by the fossil cleaning machinery when it detects damage within the bone, kinda like a 3D printer. this is why fossil cleaning is so meticulous, and why it has to be done in such specific conditions with heavy surveillance and a tight time limit. this prevents the vivosaur from having broken bones when it is revived- it is a bright, obvious substance, and it feels much like a warm, firm jelly with a hard, synthetic core that sews bones together. maybe its different in other regions, explaining the color difference amongst games. it is almost completely unnoticeable when the vivosaur is revived, nearly perfectly mimicking bone and flesh to prevent issues later on in the vivosaurs life. as good of a bone mimic as it might be, i think a very heavily damaged bone would still be a weak point during battle or an area of pain or irritation for the vivosaur. that is why it is best to clean your fossils as well as you can. maybe this goo is designed to be replaced with real bone by the vivosaurs body later in life, but i have yet to think about that too much. perhaps its soft enough to be destroyed and replaced by the body’s natural healing functions, but hard enough to act as bone? And perhaps thats why its best to let your vivosaur rank up (rest+heal) before taking them to battle. UNRELATED HEADCANON- GUHNASH COULD HAVE HAD A COOLER DESIGN. I DONT LIKE HIM HE LOOKS LIKE A TADPOLE. i have a vision in mind for a cooler guhnash redesign- i like the snake-ish look, but maybe he could be like. an infinitely long being. nobody knows where he starts or ends. a head at the front of an infinitely massive body that consumes everything, and nobody knows where the eaten planets goes. kinda like a jörmungandr-like being. idk i just think a “planet eater” with living brains should be more eldritch and god-like and mysterious. ANYWAYS vivosaur ecosystems? there is literally no way a vivo ecosystem wouldnt form. NO WAY. so many dinosaurs and seeing how OFTEN they are abandoned- refer to the opening scene of fossil fighters champions- it would not be any surprise feral vivosaurs wouldnt breed and form small ecosystems among themselves and around fossil parks. its not an uncommon sight to see pterosaurs flying overhead or sauropods munching on trees, although id bet theropods and more dangerous vivosaurs would have teams of park rangers to keep them under control. refer once again to FFC opening scene. this would explain the seemingly infinite amount of fossils in the dig sites, how you can find vivosaurs in only specific areas- although thats leading into a rather dark topic and i would rather not talk about it right now LOL i will leave that open to interpretation. jurassic park knock off SOME OTHER LITTLE MISC HCS TOO SHORT TO WRITE ENTIRE TOPICS ABOUT: because ZZ is a mix of boneysaur and zombiesaur and hes also an ancient sorcerer he smells fucking rank. so fucking bad. hes got maggots and shit hes only held together by magic but somehow he kicks ass. but hes fucking stinky so at what cost boneysaurs have no concept of feelings and arent really desirable as vivos and zombiesaurs only know rage and pain, also making them undesirable, for very very good reasons. they are taboo to talk about among fighters but most of the time they are only myths because of how rare they are feral vivosaurs dont have medals, only revived vivos do. that means they are standalone animals and they are also generally undesirable for fighters but they can still be tamed, if one wishes. theres way, WAY more fossil parks and dig sites than shown in the games. fossil battling is as well known and used as much as people love music and video games in the fossil fighters universe. vivosaurs are an essential part of society, although there is often controversy on the ethics of fossil battles and revival. pokemon knock off alright thats all i feel like typing for now thanks for reading this far lads. i love dinossuars. i wanna write some things on dinaurians but maybe later after ive introduced saar here :)

#thank u for reading #also moth i love u i know u where excited to read this but im not sure how well u can understadn !!!!!! GBDFHBGSDJ xoxoxoxo #im not very good at writing headcanons these are just my dino thots #dino thots? oh you mean dinaurians?#fossil fighters #fossil fighters champions #hcs #headcanons #vivosaur #boneysaur #zombiesaur #yeehaw

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searchingwardrobes · 5 years

Text

If I Die Young

Happy birthday, @followbatb ! This fandom isn’t just made up of writers and artists, it’s also made up of faithful readers like you. I so appreciate you following my stories, and I hope your birthday is fantastic! This story will seem in the beginning like it’s tragic with the title and the whole “major character death” tag, but it’s not what it seems. Just remember the Underworld arc and the whole “mostly dead” thing in The Princess Bride 😉

Summary: Killian reached the edge of the river and sank carefully to his knees beside the bed of reeds and roses he had spent all night weaving together. He deposited his love gently upon it, the soft petals of the middlemist roses seeming to embrace her. He stepped back, pressing his eyes closed in a silent prayer before pushing the precious cargo gently into the water. He clung to the tenuous hope that the rumors were true; that this river fed into the most legendary of waters: the River Styx. A Captain Duckling Enchanted Forest AU in which Killian goes to the Underworld for Emma instead of the other way around. Based on the song by The Band Perry.

Rating: T

Trigger Warnings: Major character is dead (but Killian goes to the Underworld, so . . . )

Words: 2,000 and some change

Also on Ao3 and part of my Fandom Birthday Playlist

Tagging: @kmomof4 @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @winterbaby89 @jennjenn615 @thislassishooked @bethacaciakay @teamhook @tiganasummertree @snidgetsafan @delirious-latenight-laughs @kday426 @let-it-raines @shireness-says @welllpthisishappening @wellhellotragic @distant-rose

If I die young, bury me in satin. Lay me down on a bed of roses. Sink me in the river at dawn. Send me away with the words of a love song.

Princess Emma’s arms swung limp against black leather. Her head was flung back at an uncomfortable angle, her long golden hair tumbling like a waterfall. She hadn’t gone completely cold yet, but her face was unnaturally pale, her lips void of color.

Captain Killian Jones, known by most as the fearsome pirate Hook, carried his load with a grim face, a single tear tracking down one cheek. He should have known the Dark One would take this love from him just as he had once taken Milah. He had doomed the princess from the moment they met. He should have stayed far away from her, but he was weak. Weak or his Emma was too stubborn and feisty to take no for an answer. Probably both.

He reached the edge of the river and sank carefully to his knees beside the bed of reeds and roses he had spent all night weaving together. He deposited his love gently upon it, the soft petals of the middlemist roses seeming to embrace her. They seemed fitting. It was a field of middlemist roses where they had shared their first kiss. Ever since, they always made him think of her and the love they shared. She looked exquisite, even in death, her white satin dress giving her the aura of a goddess. He bent and kissed her cold lips, another tear falling upon her cheek as he pulled back. Those weren’t the lips he had come to love; they weren’t warm or pliant or eager.

He stepped back, pressing his eyes closed in a silent prayer before pushing the precious cargo gently into the water. He clung to the tenuous hope that the rumors were true; that this river fed into the most legendary of waters: the River Styx. If not, he would most likely be dead in a matter of days. No one would believe that Emma had not died by his hand. He was a pirate, after all, one with a vicious hook at that. Her body disappearing wouldn’t bode well for him either, nor the secrecy of their romance. He was bound for the gallows if this didn’t work.

He would welcome the gallows if this didn’t work.

The little raft bobbed gently on the water, the current taking it softly as a fog rolled in. Killian was scarcely aware of his feet taking him into the waters, his eyes straining as he waded in, desperate not to lose sight of his love. Yet the fog was unrelenting, and he could no longer see her golden hair or the blush of the roses. Tears coursed down his face now, his chin falling to his chest as his eyes slid closed.

“Come aboard.”

Killian startled, looking up to see a dark hooded figure aboard a small boat. He stood in the bow, extending his bony hand to Killian, yet he could not see the being’s face.

“Come aboard, mortal. The Queen Persephone wants an audience with you.” When Killian still hesitated, the being sighed in irritation. “It is what you seek, is it not? A way to save your love from the Underworld?”

At that, Killian shook off this stupor, and took the sailor’s hand. Charon, he realized, ferryman for the dead. How the craft sailed, he had no idea. It had neither sails nor oars, yet it glided through the misty waters all the same. All concept of time fled Killian’s mind, and before he knew it, they were on a dark and foreboding shore.

Wraiths swooped through the air, and the fog seemed ever present as Killian made his way to the castle not far from the river. Charon had stayed behind, assuring Killian that he needed no guide. The man (being?) had been right. Something intangible seemed to pull him towards the castle, keeping him on the right path.

The castle itself was made of something like obsidian, it’s towers black and sharpened to points. The gate was made of a mixture of charred bones and spikes that resembled black ice. They opened for Killian automatically, and an invisible hand seemed to push him forward.

The floor was ebony marble, polished like glass. The throne room was empty but for the two thrones at the far end. The one on the right was as black and sharp as everything else, the man upon it white as a corpse in contrast. Yet Hades was handsome in a sharp and angular way, his long elegant fingers idly petting one of the large heads of Cerberus, the three headed dog of the Underworld. The imposing creature, as large as a horse and broad as a lion, hummed through one of its frothing jaws, taking obvious pleasure in its master’s ministrations. Yet the other two large heads growled as Killian drew near.

“Calm Cerberus, dear,” the figure on the left said gently.

Queen Persephone, in contrast, was soft and bright in every way. Her skin was tanned, like someone who spent most of her time in the sun. Her hair was a soft brown like earth turned over in the spring. Her eyes were as a bright blue as the sky, her lips and cheeks as rosy as flower petals. Life itself married to death. It was a perplexing picture.

Hades gave a command to Cerberus, and all three heads immediately calmed, resting their chins on the dais. Hades turned to Killian then, steepling his long fingers beneath his chin. Yet when he spoke, he addressed his wife.

“You know they always look back. Why waste your time?”

“Love is never a waste,” Persephone argued. Hades actually smiled then, clasping his wife’s hand and bringing it to his pale lips. Persephone smiled fondly in return, then looked back at Killian. She rose from her throne, made of cherry wood instead of black marble, and stepped down from the dais to approach the pirate.

“I am honored to be in your presence, goddess,” Killian said as he bowed. He didn’t think “majesty” was the right word for a deity, and hoped he had addressed her correctly.

He was relieved when the goddess smiled at him. “I think you just might be different from the others, Killian Jones. A princess and a pirate, a most unlikely pair. Like the god of the dead and the goddess of spring. Most people think my husband tricked me into eating that pomegranate, but I ate it willingly.”

Killian was surprised at the fondness in her eyes. Persephone turned then and snapped her fingers. A young woman in a gown of deep purple and a bronze colored hooded cape hurried to the goddess’s side.

“Guide Captain Jones down the hidden road out of the Underworld.”

“Yes, my queen,” the woman said, bowing low.

Persephone turned to Killian again. “I am sure you have heard the tale of Orpheus.”

Killian bowed once again. “Aye, most honorable Queen, I am not to look back or I will lose my love.”

Persephone gently took Killian’s chin and lifted his gaze to hers. “That is right. Go and do not look back.”

The sad expression on her face wasn’t at all encouraging. Neither was the sinister expression on her husband’s. He had the oddest feeling this was a game to them.

Nevertheless, he followed the hooded woman out of the throne room and out of the castle. She led him past the desolate royal grounds, past the fields full of wraiths and fog, and into a dark and foreboding forest thick with gnarled trees and thorns. Just as they entered the woods, she turned to him and threw back her hood. She had the alabaster complexion and colorless lips of one of the dead, yet her beauty was unfading. Her mahogany hair shimmered despite the darkness, and her chocolate brown eyes swam with both sadness and intensity.

“I am forbidden to assist those I guide, so listen to me carefully now.”

“Who are you?”

Her gaze lowered to the dead leaves at her feet. “One who knows more of love and loss than most can imagine.”

Killian’s eyes widened. “You’re Eurydice, the woman Oprheus loved. The one he almost rescued from death.” She simply nodded, and Killian’s jaw clenched. “How cruel to give you this task!”

She gave him a sad smile. “It wasn’t given to me, I requested it. Perhaps one day love will conquer death, and I wish to be there to see it.”

He clasped her hands in his one. “Thank you.”

“Now,” she said, putting her hood back over her head, “not only can you not look back, neither can you reach back. So keep your hands at your sides. Don’t try and check in any way that she’s there behind you. Also, Hades doesn’t want to let any soul go from his kingdom. Believe nothing you hear, no matter who the voice sounds like. And finally, you can’t look back until both of you are out of the tunnel to the Underworld.”

Killian nodded. He knew the story of Orpheus well, and that had been his mistake. He had stepped out into the land of the living, and thought it would be safe to look back at Eurydice. Sadly, his love had not yet crossed the threshold, and she had disappeared like mist before his eyes. The voices she was warning him not to listen to had to be Emma’s, who else could tempt him to look back? So he filed that away as well. He threw back his shoulders and drew in a steeling breath. He could do this. For Emma.

“I’m ready.”

Eurydice nodded. “I can’t look back either once we begin, so keep your eyes on me and don’t stray from the path. Emma is to keep her eyes on you in the same way, so she is depending on you as well.”

Killian swallowed hard, and sent up a quick prayer to whatever god or goddess would listen and take mercy on them. Eurydice faced forward and plunged into the wood.

Killian quickly learned that it wasn’t just what the voices said. (Are you sure she’s really there? Can you really trust Hades? What about your brother? Doesn’t he deserve to be saved too? Don’t you love him just as much?) It was the pull they had on him, the tugging on his heart to doubt, to fear. It took much more willpower than he had anticipated not to give in to their suggestions to glance back or turn around and go back for his brother. And though he had been prepared for Emma’s voice, he had underestimated how strongly it would affect him. Her pleas sounded so desperate, frightened, and broken. (Help me, Killian! Please! They’re hurting me! I can’t see you! Where are you, Killian?) So afraid was he of losing sight of Eurydice and getting them both lost, his eyes went dry staring at that bronze cloak as she wove between the trees. It was no simple trail, that was clear, and without a guide he and Emma would be hopelessly lost.

Finally yet suddenly, he was in the bright sunshine, just a few miles down the riverbank from where he had watched Emma’s body sink at dawn. The urge to spin around, to see if his love was really there was strong, but he resisted the temptation. It would be just like Hades to trick them. To tell Eurydice to guide him, then go back later for Emma. Instead, Killian went to the edge of the water. It wasn’t the ocean, but the gentle rush of the current calmed him nonetheless. He took in deep breaths as the sun sparkled on the water, praying, waiting.

“Killian,” a familiar voice whispered at his side. The slender fingers of one of her hands wrapped around his bicep, the other closed around his hook. Though it was only cold steel, he swore he could feel the warmth of her hand through it.

He turned to look at her, her bright jade eyes, her pink lips, her rosy freckled cheeks. He choked on a sob as he pulled her close to him, breathing in the familiar cinnamon scent of her hair. He buried his fingers into the soft strands and trailed kisses along her cheeks.

“You’re here, you’re really here,” he choked out.

She laughed as he kissed every available spot on her face; her nose, her chin, her forehead. Then his lips found hers, and the memory of them cold and still fled as she kissed him back with abandon. They kissed until their lips were swollen and they were gasping for breath.

“I love you,” Killian told her, his forehead pressed to hers.

“I love you, too,” Emma whispered back.

In the shadows just beyond the threshold, Eurydice smiled beneath her bronze hood. She watched Killian Jones scoop Princess Emma into his arms, watched the princess wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him with passion and exhilarating happiness. As she turned from the scene to descend back into the cold darkness, she couldn’t wait to tell Queen Persephone that love had finally conquered death.

If I die young bury me in satin. Lay me down in a bed of roses. Sink me in the river at dawn. Send me away with the words of a love song.

#cs ff #enchanted forest au #captain duckling #greek mythology #hades and persephone #eurydice #the underworld #fandom birthday playlist #for followbatb #on her birthday #if i die young

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nyarnamaitar · 5 years

Note

Completely unrelated to anything going on on your right now but I was just wondering, since you posted some about Manwë, what are your headcanons of Melkor? Canon or modern or whatever you want!

Thanks for the ask, Anon! I love Melkor (even though I’m often annoyed with the way fandom tends to treat him).

I’m going to list some canon and modern AU headcanons I have about Melkor.

Canon:

- Melkor has black, unruly hair and golden eyes.

- Melkor is Manwë’s older twin.

- Melkor’s intense; even when he’s not speaking, he’s the centre of attention.

- Manwë’s a far better singer than Melkor; when they were young, Melkor didn’t mind this and enjoyed Manwë’s songs. Later, they became a source of envy, longing, and pain for him.

- Melkor has a short attention span, which often gets in the way of him achieving true greatness.

- Deep down, Melkor realises Manwë’s a better king than he’ll ever be. He’ll never admit as much, however.

- Melkor’s a solitary being; he can be incredibly charming when he wants to be, but he’s generally disinterested in having friends. (Manwë’s the opposite; even though he seems to be much more introverted than Melkor is, he’s much better at making friends... And his friendships almost always last.)

- Melkor intensely misses the bond he used to have with Eru and Manwë.

- Melkor has many fears, much more than people realise. When in the Void, his anxiety almost suffocated him.

- Deep down, Melkor feels guilty and longs to return to the Light. However, certainly after destroying the Two Trees, murdering Finwë and stealing the Silmarils, he also realises that he’s burnt way too many bridges to ask his brethren for forgiveness.

- Melkor’s never been in love with Varda. For him, she was a possible ally with massive amounts of power and --fully aware of Manwë’s feelings for Varda-- a way to hurt his little brother just as much as Manwë’s hurt him.

Modern AU:

- His wardrobe solely consists out of black trousers, black T-shirts, black turtlenecks, and the occasional purple or red piece of clothing.

- He’s a big spender, but since he’s born into an ancient, noble, and wealthy family, he can afford to bathe in luxury.

- He’s incredibly jealous of Eru and Manwë’s bond. (This one’s basically canon as well.)

- Melkor hitting puberty ushered in a Dark Period for his family.

- From his late teens up until his late twenties, Melkor alienated himself from his family. When he grew older, however, he realised how much he misses and needs Manwë, so they reconciliated. Their relationship’s still tumultuous, though, but the both of them wouldn’t have it any other way.

- Growing older, Melkor moved into Manwë and Varda’s family home and became the Resident Grumpy Uncle.

#eru iluvatar #manwë #melkor #varda #tolkien

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jafndaegur · 6 years

Text

Sesskag Week: Day Two

Surprise and Cherish

Sesskag Week 2k18 | Day Two: Fleeting, Whisper, Touch, Cherry Blossoms

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

Their group was down-trodden and exhausted. In the previous week, nothing but fighting Naraku’s puppets had occurred. It was quite frankly demoralizing, feeling as though they were getting closer and closer to their goal yet never truly reaching it. Towards the end of the second month of their combined forces, Sesshomaru brought everyone back around to the village at the edge of the Inuyasha forest. The group that his half-brother had allowed him to lead sorely needed a break, he could see it in all their faces, in all their eyes—despite that they never once complained, although that may have been through fear of him. But he knew that not all warriors could be like himself, on the unrelenting road of conquest. The group morale needed a touch of care before they could go on. More than likely, they would not have another chance to rest like this. No. They would not.

Kagome took a breath of relief and watched as Kaede came to greet them. Shippo and Rin were eager to say their hellos to the old woman. Sango, Miroku, and Kohaku had also gone to meet the priestess, thanking her for the hospitality in their brief respite before they would have to continue onward.

“You want to go home, don’t ya?” Inuyasha’s voice was hushed as he stepped up beside her, looking down on the ground as he refused to gaze at her.

Her heart sank a little. “I don’t know when the next chance will come. I want to see my family one last time before we move on. I can tell Sesshomaru is making a strained exception for this.”

“Yeah. The bastard’s making an exception for us…or for them,” the hanyou gestured to their friends with a brief nod of his head. “After this he’ll drive us forward without break or remorse…this is his heads-up I guess.”

With a soft hum, she tried to wonder if going home would be the best decision after all.

A hand on her shoulder surprised her, and her attention swung to Inuyasha again. He still could not look at her, but he stared forward, watching their friends converse happily with Kaede. “Go on,” he said. “I’ll cover for you.”

Kagome’s eyes widened in surprise before she slowly pulled away. She tried to force out the words of thanks but she just couldn’t find a way to say it. All she could hear in her head were his pleas of I need time. Would he not even follow her to the well as he normally did? She felt his fingers linger on the curve of her shoulder for a brief moment before his hand fell to his side, and she knew then that was when she needed to run. So, she did. The wind fled and entered her lungs in gasps, and it stung her face and skin. She’d already been resolved to how he felt. So why did it hurt? It had hurt. It hurt so much. It hurt, it hurt it hurt it ithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurtsithurts…

Her hands gripped the side of the Bone Eater’s Well and she was more than ready to tumble down into its depths—

when a sharp grasp caught her arm and yanked her back.

Stunned gold eyes met hers, a pursed lip, and brows raised in disbelief.

“Miko, what on earth,” Sesshomaru’s voice was clipped and his chest huffed slightly as if he was struggling to speak, “are you thinking? This one did not bring our travels to a halt for you to kill yourself.”

“Let me go please,” she begged, her feet alighting on the ground as he guided her away from the well.

“Get ahold of yourself,” he growled. “You are not in your right mind if you think you can escape our cause through death. This Sesshomaru expected more of you miko.”

His words surprised her and for a moment she couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“I thought higher of you.” His brow furrowed, and he shoved her arm aside with disgust.

Suddenly, it dawned upon Kagome. He didn’t know. The daiyoukai had not known them long enough to know about the well and its magical properties. And while she had been genuinely distraught about her situation with Inuyasha, she had no intention of hurtling herself to an untimely demise without seeing her family first.

A giggle broke past her lips, and she hurried to cover her mouth.

The Inu was glaring daggers.

“Sesshomaru.” She reached out and gently held his clawed fingers in her hand, noticing as he tensed and stared skeptically at her before he allowed the small gesture. “I want you to see something.”

The anger in his expression slowly disappeared and he remained quiet as she led him back to the lip of the well. She sat down its rim, never once letting go of his hand. He stood behind her, watching in judging silence.

“Follow me,” she gave his hand a light tug, her head tilting back to stare at him with bright bluebell eyes. “If anyone can, surely you can.”

That statement was strange. Was she complementing or reassuring him?

He said nothing as he gathered her up into his arm, supporting her against her chest as she squeaked in surprise. Had she not been expecting him to select a gesture like that? Perhaps not. But he felt no remorse or regret at picking her up, this would be the easiest way to figure out what she meant. The great daiyoukai hopped up onto the side of the well before staring down. He could clearly see the dirt bottom and the protrusions of half-buried demon carcasses.

“Do not waste my time, miko,” he warned.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Just jump, and then you’ll see.”

With a soft hum at her confidence and none of the unstable emotions from earlier, he decided to trust her—and jump.

There was a burst of warm air as they fell down the well. Light erupted all around them in a conflagration of blues and purples. Sesshomaru gasped out, his hold on Kagome tightening as he realized they continued to fall downwards. Strands of her black hair fluttered and swirled along with the silver strands of his, like tails to kites in the sky. There was no seeming end or beginning to the space they were in. In the void where they fell, there was only light…

And Kagome.

His feet landed on soft ground with a gentle thump, and whatever powers had guided them away released their hold on them. The daiyoukai doubled over, his senses assaulted with so many scents and sounds that he felt as if he were drowning. He had not felt this way for a very very long time, since he was a pup under his father’s guidance at least. His eyes watered and his ears felt as though they were bleeding. What was this horrid place? Where were they?

Kagome’s embrace on him suddenly became stronger, and he found that she pulled herself up just a bit, hugging him closer to her.

“I forgot how sensitive youkai can be. Inuyasha wasn’t really phased, but you…you are twice as aware as he is, huh?” Her voice was soothing against the cacophony all around him.

He sought her comfort immediately, drawing her flush against him and breathing in her smell. Amid the acrid atmosphere, she smelled of cherry blossoms and cardamom. His hand gripped her side as he buried his nose against her shoulder.

She patted his back gently, hushing and cooing encouragement as if he needed it like a whelp would.

This damn woman. This damn human woman. What is she doing to me?

His trembling eventually stilled, his senses were completely filled with her. He was able to block everything else out. An exhale brushed past his lips.

He stood up straight and stared down at her. In his mind he found that he could not place a reason to be cold or aloof towards her in regard to his moment of uncharacteristic weakness. She had been so distraught earlier, and he had treated her almost as if she were a traitor. Almost. Had she truly given way to any sort of betrayal, he would not have been so lenient. However, given that something clearly happened when he jumped through the well, he knew she’d been genuine in her confusion as to why he would be upset at her. She had been going somewhere. And he had berated her with harsh words. And even now, when he experience a lapse of pain, she sought to comfort him.

“Apologies,” he whispered, so softly and so lowly, he hoped she did not hear it.

But the wide round eyes of hers told him she had.

Her throat constricted just a bit as she stared up at him. What was this feeling in her chest? The way he looked at her caused something to churn slowly, and not unpleasantly. Perhaps she was being wishful but that concern in his eyes—she hoped…They had only been traveling together for a short time, sharing one-sided conversations and stories through their journey. But still there was a feeling, a sort of lightness in the air that surrounded them. It reminded her of something special. Of a closeness between them.

“Let me show you my home, Sesshomaru,” Kagome murmured, her hands sliding to rest on his shoulders.

He set her down wordlessly. A nod.

She took his hand again, leading him up the stairs of the well house. The girl slid the door open and allowed the sunlight to stream in. Her gaze flickered to the daiyoukai, who for once, did nothing to hide his incredulity at the sight. She wanted to laugh. This was the most she had ever seen him express. Ever.

She gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“Kagome,” he stated suddenly.

Her belly fluttered for just a moment and she followed the trail of his gaze to her house.

“We have much to talk about, it seems.” His words were gentle. His gaze as he stared down at her was equally so. His face held no emotion, but the honeyed depths of his eyes told everything she needed to hear.

Kagome couldn’t help but cherish the fleeting moment of hope in her heart.

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　　✿✼:*ﾟ:.｡..｡.:*･ﾟﾟ･*

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adapted-batteries · 7 years

Text

The LiTs Go Clubbing

Fandom: The Librarians

Rating: Teen and up (only for a bit of language)

Ships: Jassekiel

A mission leads the trio to a club in NYC, where Stone gets to rescue both of his co-workers, and possibly save most of Manhattan from being sucked into a void.

This is set in the Land Pirates AU that my other story “You Sultry Land Pirates Ruined My Dig!” is set in. This story may make more sense if you’ve read that beforehand in terms of previous interactions and such.

Also posted on my Ao3.

Edit on October 14th, 2017: I realize that I never explained how they got to the Portland Annex or how they met Jenkins, so I added a bit in to kind of fix that. To clarify, in this universe, Flynn actually knows about Jenkins and the Annex already, so Jenkins shared the backdoor technology years ago with him (I'm not sure why he didn't know about Jenkins in the show, kind of odd he didn't know after 10 years). The Portland Annex is the LiT's and Eve's main base of operations, while Flynn works back in New York City, but he's only a door away to get to their Annex.

-----

Just three weeks after Dr. Stone, Ezekiel, and Cassandra received their invitations, they found themselves off on a mission, this time without Colonel Baird to guide them. She had been training the trio to be Librarians like Flynn, with the help of Jenkins in the Portland Annex, where Flynn had booted them to for training. Of course said Librarian was off chasing down some lead on Dulaque hopefully, and had dragged Colonel Baird with him.

Dulaque was a sore subject for the two land pirates. Ezekiel and Cassandra had been hired by him to take the book of Serhem from Dr. Stone’s excavation. At the time they didn’t know any better, but since their enlightenment to the world of magic, and consequently Dulaque’s troubling gathering of magic artifacts, both felt guilty for working with the man.

Today, thankfully, the clippings book sent them on an unrelated mission to New York City. Apparently some “strange happenings” had been going on near a specific set of blocks, and after Cassandra’s mental mapping of locations, in a pentagram-like pattern around a particular building that housed a club on the first floor and basement. After spending a day investigating the various sites of the magical incidents (namely people disappearing or things appearing in puffs of purple-black smoke) the Librarians-in-Training (or LiTs as Flynn liked to call them) decided a visit to the club that night was in order.

Ezekiel and Cassandra were well-equipped wardrobe wise to go clubbing, however Dr. Stone walked into the main room of the Annex looking like he was about to visit a country bar in rural Oklahoma. “Seriously? A cowboy in NYC, that won’t stick out one bit,” Ezekiel scoffed, leaning against the table while he waited. He had on a pair of low cut black boots, slim, black pants, a blue and yellow plaid sports jacket over a striped shirt, and a mustard colored ascot with a broach to tie it all together.

“Hey, I don’t have all the new ‘threads’ in my closet like you two do,” Stone retorted, looking down at his maroon and tan plaid shirt and dark blue jean combo self-consciously. “I think my outfit is just fine, thank you very much.” Stone was secretly glad he decided to leave his black stetson in his truck.

“You don’t get out much, do you Mr. Stone,” a booming voice said behind the cowboy, making him jump slightly. Jenkins had just walked through the same door Stone had moments before, a worn book in hand. “Unfortunately with this one, I have to agree with Mr. Jones. In a New York club, you will stick out like an ent would walking down the street.” Ezekiel’s eyebrows arched for a moment.

“Really? That’s the analogy you go for?” Stone replied, annoyed. “And how do you know what’s in to wear?”

“I may not be up to date in this century’s fashion, but I do know that clubs haven’t changed that much since I last went,” Jenkins explained.

“Jenkins...clubbing...I just can’t picture that,” Ezekiel chuckled.

“I’ve not been in the Annex for that long, Mr. Jones,” Jenkins replied coolly, looking down at him for effect. “I’ll have you know I frequented the Cotton Club, among other places.”

“Pretty sure the club we’re goin’ to isn’t gonna be like the Cotton Club,” Stone said, stifling a laugh from the thought of Jenkins clubbing. Jenkins narrowed his eyes at Stone like he knew what the cowboy was thinking, so Stone looked back down at his clothes. “It’s not like I’ve got anythin’ else to wear anyway,” he mumbled. Jenkins shook his head while rolling his eyes, then continued to his desk.

“Mate, you’re in a magical library. I’m sure we can find something more...modern,” Ezekiel laughed, amused by Jenkins’s expression.

“Oh boy,” Cassandra’s voice rang through the Annex. Both men looked to the door as she walked through. She had on some high-heeled, leather boots that went just over her ankles, black leather-like leggings to match, a dark blue pea coat with gold hemmed edges, and a white scarf with a different broach than Ezekiel’s. “A trip to the costume room, before we go?” She nodded to Ezekiel, then turned back on herself to go to said room.

“Ya’ll know how to make a man feel inadequately dressed,” Stone mumbled as he followed her out.

“At least we actually help you fix it too,” Ezekiel replied, play-elbowing Stone in the side as they walked behind Cassandra.

Twenty minutes and a few outfits later, the trio returned to the main room in the Annex with a freshly made-over Stone. Cassandra had found a black sleeveless jacket and a grey waistcoat, Ezekiel found a navy undershirt that tastefully highlighted Stone’s biceps, and a leather chest strap thing that he insisted looked “cool” over the waistcoat, and Stone, feeling left out in the neck department, found a navy and dark blue dotted scarf with a little black brooch on it. They let him keep his dark jeans and tan workman boots, now that he wasn’t a flaming cowboy.

Jenkins glanced up from another book he’d acquired while they were busy. “Much better,” he commented. He grabbed a piece of paper and stuck it in the book to keep his place while he dialed up the backdoor for them again. “Now don’t have too much fun while doing your reconnaissance,” Jenkins added.

“Yeah yeah, we know,” Ezekiel said, dramatically looking up at the ceiling. “Hurry up and open the backdoor already.” Jenkins huffed, but within seconds the magical blue glow seeped around the doors.

“Call when you’re ready to come back. It should open in the same place, hopefully,” Jenkins said, holding the door open for them. Without hesitation, Ezekiel lept through the door; Cassandra and Stone looked at each other like mildly exasperated parents before doing the same.

It was around ten at night, but the street itself was lit as bright as day from various neon signs and street lights. They were down in Greenwich Village, on a Friday night, so many people were wandering from bar to club to food or other places that young people go on Friday night.

“Alright, Club 10 should be just around the corner,” Cassandra stated, pointing towards a group of people going the same direction.

“What an original name,” Stone remarked sarcastically as they started walking.

“It's at least accurate, considering it's on 10th street,” Cassandra replied. Stone just shrugged in response. “So what do you think we should be looking for in there?”

“I dunno, anything magical,” Ezekiel answered distractedly as he looked around them.

“Gee, I hadn't thought of that,” Stone smirked. “I’d look for any sigils, repeating patterns, runes, et cetera. The magic seems to be more European than anything else.”

“I’ll be sure to check the bar,” Ezekiel quipped, jumping back into the conversation.

“Actually that’s not a bad idea,” Cassandra started. Both men looked at her, confused. “I mean that would be the best place to hide potions in plain sight, or use them on people.”

“With that in mind, it’d be best to not drink anythin’,” Stone added, eyeing Ezekiel.

Ezekiel sighed dramatically and stomped a foot. “You guys are no fun, I swear.”

“If ya want to drink something that may turn ya into, oh I dunno, a stone statue or magically dissolve your insides, be my guest,” Stone replied with shrug. “Though if ya find something like that, I bet Jenkins would like it if ya brought it back to him.”

As the trio rounded the corner, they saw a fairly good sized crowd filling the sidewalk outside a brick building adorned with a simple white neon sign that said “CLUB 10” in blocky print. A bouncer stood a couple feet above the crowd on a concrete platform leading to the entrance, frowning at no one in particular. People filed in regularly, suggesting there wasn’t much of a wait to get in. A driving bass line and synths escaped through the opening door, but all evidence that a club was housed inside the brick walls disappeared once the simple looking glass door shut.

“Ugh, lines,” Ezekiel said as they neared the mass of people. “I bet there’s a backdoor somewhere.”

“Or we could just wait, like normal people,” Stone retorted. “Course a thief like you probably wouldn’t understand that concept.”

Ezekiel narrowed his eyes at Stone. “Mate, you can’t steal anything good if you don’t have patience.” He glanced up at the slowly moving queue, scrutinizing the people like he was a king looking down on peasants. “A thief knows when it’s worth it to wait.” He then looked back to Stone with a mischievous look in his eyes and a smile on his face. Stone countered with a scowl of his own, knowing Ezekiel was planning something. Remembering Cassandra, Ezekiel glanced at her, getting a look that told him it was pointless. “This time, we wait,” he said, surrendering with a sigh.

Much to Ezekiel’s approval, they only spent about ten minutes waiting before they got their chance to enter. Though the building looked old, the walls seemed to be totally sound proof, as the bass unexpectedly hit them. The atmosphere was characteristically “clubby”: various colored lights flicking around an open space, a dj booth towards the front, dimmed lighting with somewhat comfortable looking seating against the walls, a bar to the right set into the wall. The crowd mainly clustered towards the dancefloor, but a fair few people dispersed around the edges, and some entered and exited two glass double doors on the left, wisps of smoke puffing out when they opened.

Stone was going to tell the other two he thought they should split up, but of course Ezekiel was already gone. He gave Cassandra the ever frequent look of “Why does he have to do that?” to which she responded with the only answer anyone ever did: a shrug of the shoulders and a small, pitying not-quite smile. Not feeling like yelling over the music, he simply pointed opposite directions with his thumbs, and Cassandra nodded back, then strode towards the mass of people. He thought he saw a glimpse of Ezekiel’s head over by the bar, so Stone decided to cover the left side of the room, and whatever lay behind the double doors.

Following the wall, Stone found nothing unusual about the rather plain decor. No hidden runes, no magical circles in the floor, nothing that would suggest magical happenings going on in this building. It looked just like a club, nothing else, except for the tinted double doors. Though he may not be familiar with club layouts, he didn’t think many regularly had smoke emitting basements. Going down the L-shaped steps that lay just behind the doors, he guessed correctly that it was a sort of designated smoking room, though he smelt more than just tobacco and weed smoke. If anything there were floral notes, herbal even, like someone was also burning a variety of incense too.

It was just as dark as the floor above, but there were no strobe lights to give extra light. Unlike outside, the bass thudded through the ceiling, mingled with the low murmur of the twenty or so people talking amongst themselves as they sat on various couches, chairs, and the rug covered floor. A little bar sat in the corner nearest the stairs, selling overpriced cigars and such, staffed by a bored looking attendant. He skirted the room, sticking to the old wood-paneled walls, trying to get the layout, but he knew for a fact this room was only half as deep as the floor above, something that wouldn’t be very unusual for a basement if it hadn’t been for the door hidden behind some fake plants where the rest of the room should be.

Deciding that the others should know about the mystery door, Stone returned back to the main floor. Instinct took him to the bar, where he found Cassandra talking to a girl fairly intently at one of the couch and coffee tables nearby and Ezekiel being chatted up by some guy with gelled up hair at the bar. He hadn’t known Ezekiel for long, but he could tell Ezekiel didn’t care for this guy’s advances. Stone couldn’t see the stranger’s face, but Ezekiel was having a hard time hiding his discomfort with weak chuckles and eyes darting to and fro. It wasn’t long before that darting zeroed in on Stone, eyebrows moving up ever so slightly and eyes widened. The stranger said something that got Ezekiel to look back at him, but Stone was already on the move.

The somewhat muscly white guy didn’t seem to have volume control anymore; Stone could hear what he was saying even though he was still ten feet away. “So like, I waz thinkin’, m’place izn’t far, maybe we cou’ ditch thiz dump,” the stranger slurred, sloppily grabbing at Ezekiel’s shoulder like he aimed too far over. Ezekiel shrugged it off and mumbled something Stone couldn’t hear, which apparently pissed off the drunk dude as his grip returned tighter to Ezekiel’s arm. “Hey, I bought you a drink babe, leazt ya can do iz come wi’ me.”

“Hey, Ezekiel, I’ve been lookin’ all over for you man!” Stone butted in, purposely bumping into the stranger’s outstretched arm so he could be as in between the two as he could without being super obvious. It worked enough to make the drunk drop his grasp as he looked over Stone.

“Oh, hey Stone,” Ezekiel said faux nonchalantly, a hint of relief slipping out.

“Hey, I got here firzt, I get dibz,” the guy said, narrowing his eyes at Stone before standing up from where he’d been slouching against the bartop. Stone could still take him on, no problem, but now the guy went from maybe an inch taller than him to a good half a foot at least. “Beat it before I beat you.”

“Well that’s funny ya think you got ‘dibs’,” Stone started, doing air quotes, “‘cos this one here is mine.” He saw Ezekiel’s eyes widen slightly at the statement, and apparently so did the dude.

“I don’t believe you. Yur just tryna take ‘im from me,” the drunk snarled, forcefully shoving himself against Stone to move him out of the way. Stone stumbled back a bit, not expecting the drunk to assault him, but quickly returned the hip check. That brought him more room than he’d lost as the drunk stumbled back towards the counter for support, his legs not quite getting the whole “standing up” thing.

“Be forceful all ya want, but like I said, he’s mine, and some drunk kid ain’t gonna take him from me,” Stone replied, almost growling the last bit of his statement. The drunk was already back on his feet, about to get rid of Stone once and for all, so Stone wrapped his arm around Ezekiel’s waist and in a mild panic, kissed him as soon as Ezekiel looked at him in reaction to the arm.

Stone wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but the two pulled apart as they heard the drunk slur out “fuck you,” and watched him stagger off towards the mass of people on the dancefloor.

“I, uh, I think he’s gone,” Ezekiel stuttered. Stone remembered he was still holding on to him and that their faces were very close, so he released his grip and put a good few feet in between them.

“You alright?” Stone asked, watching Ezekiel carefully.

“Yeah. It’s not the first time I’ve had to deal with those types of people before,” Ezekiel answered, brushing it off like he totally had it under control. Stone decided not to patronize him about it. “He actually gave me some info, before he decided to show me he couldn’t hold his tequila worth shit.”

“Wait you drank something?” Stone interjected, eyes widening in concern.

“I’m not that stupid, Stone, God,” Ezekiel retorted, back to his normal self. “The floor is probably gonna be sticky in the morning, but Piss-Brain wasn’t exactly paying attention at all.”

Stone literally sighed with relief, earning a curious look from Ezekiel. “Ok, so what info did he give you?” Stone asked, hoping something good came out of Ezekiel’s suffering.

“There’s been word on NYU campus that some students were in a cult, somewhere in this area,” Ezekiel said, moving his arms around like he was trying to make a semicircle in front of himself. “And apparently the weird magic things started up just as those rumors started going around the school.”

“Well that makes what I found more fun then,” Stone started, leaning closer to Ezekiel so no one would hear. “Half the basement is behind a rather poorly hidden door.”

“That can’t be a coincidence,” Ezekiel said.

“I’ve got the bad feeling it’s not,” Stone added. “If we’re gonna find what’s causing it all, it’ll be behind that door.”

“We need to find Cassandra and check it out,” Ezekiel began, searching the vicinity for her. “Well shit.”

“What?” Stone asked, turning on his heels to see what got Ezekiel’s attention. Sure enough, the asshole from a few minutes ago had invaded where Stone had seen Cassandra before. The other girl was nowhere to be seen, and Cassandra was quite obviously sliding down the small couch away from him, quickly running out of space. “Well I guess I do get to punch someone tonight,” Stone huffed, rolling his neck and moving his shoulders like a boxer.

Ezekiel grabbed his arm before Stone could charge over to them, spinning the cowboy in disguise around to face him. “Wait, if you make a scene you’ll get thrown out,” he said, eyes pleading, a look Stone hadn’t seen before.

That look took a mere three seconds before it broke Stone’s anger. “Alright. I’ll handle it civilly,” he relented. “Go downstairs and check out the far wall, where a cluster of fake plants are. No one will pay you any mind down there. I’ll bring Cassandra down in a couple minutes.”

“Please, don’t make a scene,” Ezekiel said.

“I promise I won’t, don’t worry,” Stone chuckled, amused by Ezekiel’s concern. Noticing a pressure that had been there for awhile now, Stone glanced down at Ezekiel’s hand wrapped around the middle of his forearm. “Though I can’t do anything if you don’t let me go…”

“Oh, sorry. Alright, door badly hidden, got it. Was it locked?” Ezekiel asked, quickly changing the subject.

“I don’t know, I didn’t try it while I was there incase it was trapped or something,” Stone replied. “I figured you could best handle that.”

“Right, I am the best,” Ezekiel smirked, even adding a wink, before making his way to the double doors.

Cassandra seemed to be holding up better than Ezekiel had looked, however she also looked like she was seconds away from slapping the idiot. Just as before, Stone swooped in, grabbing the hand about to make a speedy connection with the drunk’s face and pulling her up to him. “Hi Cassie,” Stone drawled, trying to sound as infatuated as he could. “This punk givin’ you trouble?”

“You again!” The drunk yelled, but his yell didn’t get over the din of the club. He stood up to attempt to intimidate Stone again. “Now I know yur fakin’. Where’z th’ twink, I liked ‘im better anyway.”

“Where he went is none of your damn business,” Stone replied coolly, still holding onto Cassandra.

“Hid ‘im frm me, did ya? Well she’ll work too,” the drunk said, taking a step towards them. “If you’d been nice ta me, I wuld’ve invited ya too.”

“Nope,” Stone started, pulling Cassandra with him a couple feet back, making the dude stumble forward where he thought he was going to grab her. “She’s mine too.”

“If he’z yurz, Sh’ can’t b’ yurz too,” the drunk reasoned out loud. “Go on, kiss hur thn if she’z actully yurz.”

Stone did exactly as the drunk demanded. Cassandra didn’t seem near as shocked as Ezekiel had been, and in fact she pulled away first to play her part. “Have you never heard of polyamory before?” she asked, voice dripping with venomous sweetness as she stuck to Stone’s side.

“You people are sick!” the drunk yelled yet again, this time backing away from Stone and Cassandra like they were diseased animals. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t remember that there was a coffee table behind him, and took a rather ungraceful trip to the floor.

“Serves ya right,” Stone laughed, turning himself and Cassandra to meet up with Ezekiel. It was easy enough for them to disperse into the crowd and leave the drunk half awake on the floor. “There’s a secret door down below, probably where we’re looking for,” he whispered into Cassandra’s ear while they navigated through the stuffy room.

“What was the whole 'he’s yours' thing about?” Cassandra asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

“I had to rescue Ezekiel from that asshole,” Stone replied, shouldering his way past some people.

“I assume you probably did the same thing as you did for me?” Cassandra asked, piecing it together based on the drunk’s reaction.

“More or less, yeah,” Stone answered. “I was gonna just punch him for you but Ezekiel practically begged me not to make a scene.” Cassandra looked at him, waiting for him to explain why he suddenly listened to Ezekiel. “That boy has puppy dog eyes and he knows how to use them,” Stone added, trying to explain himself.

“He normally uses them on...sources of information…” she said, hoping Stone would get what she was saying.

“So he manipulated me?” Stone asked as they neared the glass doors.

“Well I can’t say that for certain, since there’s those eyes and then there’s Ezekiel being real with you eyes too, and he could’ve been concerned about what would happen to you if you got in a fight, soo…” Cassandra started, backpedaling.

“We can talk later,” Stone said, grabbing the glass door and opening it for her. “He can explain himself then.”

Like before, a wave of smokes greeted them as they descended the stairs. He saw Cassandra wrinkle her nose a bit out of the corner of his eye, but for the most part she walked calmly, taking in as much of the surroundings as she could with her eyes and ears. Only a few less buzzed people and the attendant glanced boredly in their direction, but most people still kept to themselves.

“Why do I smell sage burning?” Cassandra asked, leaning towards Stone to whisper.

“I gotta feeling it’s coming from behind the door, ‘cos there’s no incense burners in here that I could find,” Stone answered, scanning the room for Ezekiel. “But the sage is new, it smelt more like lavender before.” The dim light didn’t help at all; anyone not standing near a lamp or low overhead light were silhouettes more than distinguishable faces. He figured Ezekiel would be watching for them wherever he was, so he gently tugged Cassandra by elbow towards the most direct route to the back of the room.

A shape leaned against the wall next to the door, arm bringing a hand to a face. A faint glow flared as the person inhaled, then the hand returned to near the hip as they breathed out a cloud of smoke. Stone wasn’t sure how he was going to get this person away from the door so they could get in, however person didn’t let him have time to think up a plan.

“Took you long enough,” Ezekiel said, stepping into the light in a rather dramatic fashion. He took one last draw from the stump of a cigarette before leaning over to a nearby table and sticking it in the bowl of sand. “I almost had to start another one.”

“You smoke?” Stone asked, keeping his voice quiet.

“Only when I need to, like now,” Ezekiel replied with a shrug. “The door’s not locked or trapped that I can tell.”

“So how are we going to get in without people noticing?” Cassandra asked, glancing around the room.

“Easy, I just need to disable the lights in here for a bit, let them clear out, then viola, no one’s in the room to see us sneak in,” Ezekiel explained.

“Ok, how are ya gonna do that?” Stone asked.

“Lucky for us they’ve got an alarm setup I’ve hacked numerous times before, so I can set off the fire alarm in a few seconds,” Ezekiel explained, waving his phone for effect. “It will most likely get the fire department though, even if I can successfully block the signal, and there’s a chance management does like they’re supposed to and call the alarm company.”

“Sounds like we gotta work fast, disabling or preferably taking whatever’s behind that door,” Stone concluded, glancing around the room for himself. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the trio at all. “I say go for it.”

“Ok just give me a minute to bypass the trigger for the emergency lighting, ‘cos that won’t help...alright let's hope that block holds...and,” Ezekiel pressed a button on the screen and within a few seconds, and alarm blared overhead.

“Dammit the lights didn’t turn on, ugh, Alright everyone needs to go upstairs immediately, follow the crowd,” the attendant yelled over the alarm, annoyance filling his voice. The crowd, though slowly and with reluctance, got up as he instructed, filling up the stairs in a not particularly rushed fashion. While the crowd hid them and occupied the sole employee, the trio quickly moved all the plants out of the way, revealing a simple wooden door that matched the panelling around it.

Ezekiel reached for the doorknob first not bothering to open it quietly. Sure enough it swung open easily, revealing the rest of the room with unfinished walls and a concrete floor, a few electric lamps dotted about, and most disconcertingly, a large circle on the floor with things sitting in what looked to be specific places with a startled group of five or so college-age looking people standing around it.

“Y...you’re not supposed to be here,” the one nearest them stammered. He looked fresh out of high school, still not quite grown into his body, and he wore an obnoxious looking dark robe that was several inches too big in all directions. He also held a notebook with scribbled handwriting all over it.

“Yeah? Well you’re not supposed to be doing magic!” Stone shouted, getting his desired effect of startling the kids more, except for one, who seemed annoyed more than anything. Her robe fit her better, and she looked like she knew exactly what she was doing, or wanted to do anyway.

“Brett it doesn’t matter, just finish the ritual!” she shouted at the lanky boy, who frantically looked back at her, then at the intruders, then to his notebook.

Stone was moving before he even finished the first word. “Oh no you don’t!” he roared, closing the space between himself and Brett faster than he anticipated. This also meant that instead of merely grappling the boy, Stone sent the boy flying to the ground and about gave himself the same fate. The kid, very much afraid of the wall of man that just tried to flatten him, tried to scurry back into the circle and away from Stone, smudging some of the runes. The kid wasn’t paying attention to holding onto the notebook either, letting Stone easily pluck it out of his hands. “Collect whatever they’ve got here,” Stone commanded, turning his head slightly to Ezekiel and Cassandra behind him.

“What is this stuff?” Ezekiel asked as he neared the kids, who all backed away from him slightly like they were afraid he’d do the same thing Stone had.

“Well, if I’m reading this scrawl right, I’d say it’s Latin, and the circle’s probably something out of a 16th century Germanic folklore book,” Stone answered, squinting down at the notebook.

“You can’t do this!” The girl from before shouted, trying to be more intimidating than she probably felt.

“I’m sure as hell not gonna let you suck up the people in this building into wherever people and things have been coming and going,” Stone retorted, narrowing his eyes at her. “Do you even know what you’re dabbling with?”

“Actually yes I do,” she replied, putting her hands on her hips defiantly.

“If you actually knew you wouldn’t be messin’ around with this stuff,” Stone said. The girl had a quick eye conversation with Brett, who cowered next to her. Then without warning, the kids shot towards the back of the room, pushing a panel aside that revealed stairs that probably exited outside in the alleyway behind the building. Ezekiel started giving chase but Stone called him off. “Let ‘em go, I’ve got their spell book and based on the wear, is the only resource they had for information.”

“Are you sure?” Cassandra asked, peeking over his shoulder at the notebook, arms holding a few snuffed candles, a foot of some animal, and some bundles of herbs partially blackened.

“If anything, we’ve put a halt to their activities for a few days at least,” Stone responded, glancing around the room. “Take a picture of that circle, I’m sure Jenkins will want to see it.”

“Already on it,” Ezekiel said, holding his phone above himself to get the whole circle in the picture.

“You wouldn’t happen to have found anything else useful at the bar, did you?” Stone asked as he looked around the edges of the room for anything else the kids may have left behind.

“If by useful you mean this,” Ezekiel started, pulling a small, dark rectangular bottle out from his coat’s inner pocket, “then yes, I did. I noticed the bartender giving it to people who asked for a drink called “forget-me-not” and decided to nick it after I saw someone drink it and suddenly...well...change demeanor way quicker than alcohol ever could.”

“They probably have more things up there,” Cassandra suggested, walking towards the door. She leaned against it, listened for a moment, then abruptly stood up straight and pointed towards where the kids ran. “People coming, we gotta leave now!” she said in a hushed whisper. With quick nods of understanding, the men followed Cassandra into the staircase. Stone grabbed the discretely hinged board and pulled it closed behind them, but stopped to listen to the voices that echoed off the concrete.

“See I told you someone was snooping around here, Carl was right when he texted you about the people hovering by the door before the alarm went off,” a voice said, sounding uncomfortably familiar to Stone. Ezekiel poked him in the shoulder to get him moving, but Stone waved him off, still listening. “I bet you it was the same guy who was fucking with my game earlier.”

At that bit of information, Stone glanced at the two with wide eyes. “Drunk guy from tonight is in on the magic, and not actually drunk,” he whispered, leaning back towards the door.

A new voice talked now, this one sounding like a lady. “I’m sure Freisha got them all out before whoever it was could get them. She’s my apprentice for a reason. Go on and occupy the firemen while I shroud the door so they don’t go snooping where they shouldn’t.” The man mumbled something and Stone heard footsteps and the door shut.

“Ok, they left, let’s go,” Stone said, turning around and ushering the two up the stairs. Sure enough, the stairs brought them to a slanted door that opened into the alleyway, which thankfully was empty. To the left, red and blue lights reflected off buildings, making weird shadows.

“We can go the long way to get back to the backdoor’s last location,” Cassandra said, shifting the things in her arms. Stone realized he only had the notebook so he grabbed the candles from her to lighten the load.

“I’ll call Jenkins and let him know we’re ready,” Ezekiel said, pulling out his phone and typing on it.

Fortunately for the LiTs, the firemen had no desire to look in the alley, so they easily put distance between them and Club 10. Stone caught them up with what he heard while they walked to the location they originally arrived in NYC. The backdoor mostly stayed there, only moving a couple doors south of where it had been.

“I assumed you would be longer,” Jenkins greeted them as they stumbled into the Annex.

“We kind of had to leave before some crazy witch found us,” Ezekiel said casually, pulling out the bottle and ignoring Jenkins’s look of confusion. “I think this is a potion that does something.”

“What an astute observation,” Jenkins quipped, before turning to Stone and Cassandra who had dumped their items on the table. “So what exactly did you find?”

“I thought it was kids messing around with magic, but I think someone’s teaching them...though poorly,” Stone said, handing Jenkins the notebook. “The stuff in here is hastily compiled, like they were taking notes from someone, and I think their teacher about found us.”

“This teacher I take is the ‘crazy witch’ Mr. Jones referenced?” Jenkins clarified, flipping through the notebook.

“Yeah, and one of her goons may have gotten on our trail,” Stone mumbled, glancing at the other two LiTs.

Suddenly Jenkins’s eyebrows furrowed, his expression almost grave. “Did you see the lady?”

“Uh, no, I only heard her,” Stone answered, glancing towards Cassandra. “Who were you talking about before Asshole came over?”

“Um, I’m not sure, she just told me about what had been going on in the club, the rumors,” she started, thinking hard. “Nothing about her struck me as ‘magic’ or anything, and she didn’t sound the same as the lady I heard before we hid in the stairway.”

“Based on this,” Jenkins held the notebook up and pointed to a series of notes, “I have reason to believe this may be Morgan le Fey.”

“Morgan...le Fey...like Arthurian legends?” Stone asked, hoping he was wrong.

“Yes. Which could be very, very bad,” Jenkins confirmed, setting the notebook down on the table.

“Wait, how do you know it’s her?” Ezekiel asked, looking down at the notes.

“When it comes to old magic, such as hers, there are things that get...invented, or discovered, by those with great skill. Now as people use it, the wording or techniques change, and especially over a thousand years, the originals don’t exist in their pure form anymore. However, this method of summoning,” Jenkins paused, pointing at the passage, “that is something Morgan developed a long time ago.”

“Ok, but she wasn’t doing the magic, she couldn’t have been, unless she got sloppy,” Ezekiel thought aloud.

“I don’t think she was, I mean those kids were about to do something before we burst in the room,” Stone said.

“So she’s training kids, but for what?” Cassandra asked.

“What indeed,” Jenkins hummed. He grabbed the bottle of potion Ezekiel had set down on the table. “Was this the only bottle there?”

“It was the only bottle the bartender used regularly, that I didn’t recognize, and that made people act different,” Ezekiel answered. “I would’ve liked to hit the bar before we left, but our hasty exit didn’t exactly allow for it.”

“And what exactly do you mean by ‘different?’” Jenkins asked, looking at the bottle intently, slightly swishing the liquid inside.

“Uh, well, they seemed almost like glowy, like after they drank they were more, I dunno, important or something,” Ezekiel attempted to explain.

“More prominent in your field of vision, perhaps?” Jenkins suggested.

“Yeah, I guess,” Ezekiel confirmed. “Why would people want to drink that?”

“Well, as their clever name suggests, the potion is meant to make a person be more memorable, or unforgettable, presumably to get laid or whatever you kids do nowdays,” Jenkins explained with a roll of his eyes. “It used to be something struggling dukes or brash princes would buy to enhance their reputation artificially.”

“So we not only have potentially dangerous rituals to deal with and a legendary sorceress, but potion selling as well,” Stone said.

“Unfortunately yes, and this needs to be shut down or at least mitigate whatever she’s intending to do,” Jenkins confirmed with a look that suggested he was none too pleased about this development. “Morgan is extremely dangerous. I’ve not heard of her whereabouts in at least a century, so I don’t know what she’s planning, but it must be big enough to jump on the Library’s radar.”

“Should we wait for Flynn and Colonel Baird?” Cassandra asked, glancing to the other LiTs. Ezekiel gave a look of disapproval, but Stone looked more apprehensive.

“Regardless whether you want to wait, it would be wise to do some research before going back there,” Jenkins suggested, pointing up above them. “What the Library has of magical literature on European magical practices will be upstairs. While you do that, I want to make sure this is the potion I think it is, and mix some common antidotes and cancelling potions as I have the feeling they will come in handy.”

“Can we actually take her out?” Stone asked, not thinking highly of their chances against her.

“Oh no, Morgan’s about as powerful as it comes. We’ll only be a minor setback to her, but as long as that setback saves people, then we will have done some good,” Jenkins answered, a faint, pitying smile on his face. “I suggest finding safe ways to dismantle activated circles, potential locations for wherever they are summoning things from, other things they may summon, and so forth.” With that, Jenkins nodded to the LiTs and strode through the double doors to his lab.

“I’m gonna look over this notebook we got, try to make some more notes of my own, though I’ll make sure to be more readable,” Cassandra declared, collecting the notebook and her own notebook that had been sitting nearby on the table.

“Guess that means we’re stuck on reading duty,” Stone said, lightly whacking Ezekiel in the arm before he walked over to the desk he had claimed as soon as he arrived at the Annex to grab his own well-used notebook and a pencil. Cassandra had already settled in at the main table, busy writing something down.

It turned out the Library had a lot on European magic, a whole bookcase-full in fact. “Uh, I guess I’ll take the bottom three shelves, and you can look through the top three,” Ezekiel suggested, squatting.

“Sounds like a plan,” Stone replied, pulling a book out from from the shelf above Ezekiel’s head. “I think we’ll be here for awhile.” Ezekiel had grabbed an old looking book and sat with his back against the shelf, next to the balcony railing. Stone sat down next to him, balancing his book on his left leg and his notebook on the right, flipping through the first few pages, but his mind drifted back to the club. “So what was that face back in the club?”

“What?” Ezekiel glanced up from his tome, eyes squinting slightly in confusion.

“You know, that face you made when you begged me to not sock the dude to get him away from Cassandra,” Stone said, tilting his head down slightly. “I’ve seen a fair few of your faces by now, this was new.”

Ezekiel opened his mouth, closed it for a second while he reconsidered his statement, then spoke. “Am I not allowed to show concern about you getting thrown out by the bouncer while we were in the middle of an important mission?”

“Sure, but you don’t strike me as one to actually show pure concern like that,” Stone shrugged. “You always joke around or laugh it off or use sarcasm, but you looked at me like I was about to walk into my doom or something.”

“Maybe you were a little past diffusing jokes,” Ezekiel suggested, turning the conversation back on him. “To me anyway you seemed really aggressive, and I needed to stop you before you acted on it.”

“So you used your manipulation eyes on me?!” Stone retorted, not sure why he felt so worked up.

“Wha-manipulation eyes…” Ezekiel paused, leaning against the railing and looking down at Cassandra, “did you give him that?”

“He asked, I answered with the information I had available,” Cassandra replied loudly.

Ezekiel sighed and leaned back against the bookcase. “Look, yeah, I know how to manipulate people, that’s old news. I didn’t want you getting in a fight, making a scene, getting hurt, so I used what I thought was the better of my two options,” he explained, suddenly finding the top of the bookshelf across from them very interesting.

“Other option?” Stone inquired, raising an eyebrow at him.

Ezekiel looked back at him, and Stone swore he saw a faint blush on Ezekiel’s face. “Uh, well, I mean right after your little scene with Asshole, I thought I could, um, shock you like you did me.”

“I wasn’t actin’,” Stone mumbled under his breath, looking back down at his still empty notebook.

Ezekiel wasn’t letting him escape, eyebrows raised in curiosity. “You weren’t?” he asked, feigning ignorance.

“Uh, I mean, well,” Stone stuttered, suddenly flustered at Ezekiel’s attention. Ezekiel couldn’t help but laugh at him a little.

“Don’t worry, I know you’re the jealous type,” Ezekiel added. Stone started to object but Ezekiel cut him off. “It was easy enough to notice when you rescued Cassandra.”

“Am I not allowed to care about the well-being of my friends?” Stone retorted, throwing Ezekiel’s earlier statement back onto him.

“Uh, sure, but you’re the one that not once, but twice, asserted we were ‘yours’ to defend us,” Ezekiel replied. Stone bit back his comment; Ezekiel decided to get in some banter. “I totally understand why you’d want us for yourself, we’re both super hot.”

“You’re right,” Stone said with a straight face, besides the slight raise of his eyebrows. From down below Cassandra choked on something, coughs echoing through the Annex. Ezekiel was just as caught off guard, mouth hanging slightly open. Stone shrugged, pokerface broken as he snickered a bit, unconsciously running a hand through his hair. “It’s not like I could deny it, especially when we first met. I figured it was pretty obvious.”

“Um, well, I didn’t know you felt that way,” Ezekiel stammered, not sure how to respond.

“I had my suspicions,” Cassandra called up to the balcony, now recovered from her cough attack.

“Ya know ya don’t have to yell, ya can just come up here,” Stone called back to her. The squeal of a stool sliding on polished floor, along with the patters of what sounded like bare feet, signaled Cassandra’s hasty ascent to the balcony. Within a few moments she appeared at the top of the stairs looking the same as she had been when they went up, albeit lacking her boots. For a moment she looked quite giddy, but Stone’s glimpse behind the personality he normally saw faded as quickly as she had ascended the stairs. He saw her and Ezekiel look at each other, full on eye conversation going on. After several seconds of awkward silence, Cassandra eventually broke it.

“Based off how you acted, and tonight,” Cassandra continued her statement, now a lot less loud and echoing. “I wasn’t for sure, but it felt like a pretty good guess.”

“You weren’t gonna say anythin’ about it?” Stone asked, glancing from Ezekiel to her.

“I didn’t to...disrupt...our work-relationship,” Cassandra explained. “You weren’t exactly friendly to us at first, but then you relaxed, and then tonight…”

“I didn’t actually agree with her, but tonight made me reconsider,” Ezekiel added.

“Ok, so what does this mean? Are you guys sayin’ you feel the same way?” Stone said.

“I mean…” Ezekiel started, glancing from Stone to Cassandra and back to Stone.

“Yes,” Cassandra responded for the both of them. “Though I think we have a very pressing mission and if we’re alive afterwards, then we can figure out whatever this is.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Stone added, glancing down at the books still open on his lap. Motion in the edge of his vision made Stone look back up; Cassandra closed the distance from where she had been standing near the staircase to them, kneeling down next to Stone.

“However, that rescue was fun, and I didn’t get a chance to thank you for it,” she said with a smile on her face. Cassandra then leaned in and kissed him, quick but not quite chaste, before pulling back and standing up.

“Uh, y...you’re welcome,” Stone stammered, smiling back up at her. She gave him a smile back before turning on her heels and descending the staircase. Remembering Ezekiel, Stone looked over at him with a mild look of expectancy.

“What, are kisses the standard unit of thanks now?” Ezekiel asked with exaggerated exasperation.

“No, but I figured-” Stone started, thinking he had to explain himself, but Ezekiel cut him off with his own thank you kiss. In the back of Stone’s mind, he wondered if Ezekiel was trying to one-up Cassandra. Ezekiel pulled away before he could think about it any longer.

“There, happy now?” Ezekiel taunted, smirking at Stone’s mildly dazed look.

“Yeah, very,” Stone hummed, smile making his eyes squint. “Is that how you’re gonna thank me from now on?”

“Depends on what I’m thanking you for,” Ezekiel toyed, enjoying himself way too much.

“Before you two end up making out up there, can you at least find some useful things so we can prevent the potential destruction of the lower portion of New York City?” Cassandra called, annoyance mixed with amusement in her voice.

“Fiiinnnee,” Ezekiel sighed dramatically at the ceiling. He then winked at Stone, who got considerably more flustered by it than he should have, and resumed reading the book in his lap. Stone wasn’t exactly focused on his work now, but he figured with that looming promise, he could find something useful in the bookcase of information at their disposal.

-----

So in terms of the outfits, I couldn’t really think of anything so I opted for the Club Effigy outfits mostly for both Stone and Ezekiel. For Cassandra I modified hers to match her edgier personality she has in this au. Also, the club is fictional, that I know of it doesn't exist.

I intended for the focus to be the jassekiel, however my brain really liked the plot I had and went wild with it, so much for that I guess. Though if you’ve read my other works, it’s fairly obvious that I do this a lot. I have no clue if the plot regarding Morgan le Fey will get resolved, I didn't really write with a resolution in mind, but who knows what I'll end up writing over the summer.

#the librarians fic #the librarians #jassekiel #jacob stone #cassandra cillian #ezekiel jones #jenkins #land pirate au #clubbing #magic

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