#what if the princess studies magic under a character that would normally be cast as the villain?

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Folklore Friday

(This wasn't on the schedule, but the idea just hit me)

She is two years old when he rises to the position of royal advisor. Everyone is busy fussing over the newborn prince, and nobody notices the princess wandering where she shouldn't. Nobody but Lord Ulfric. He finds her trying to pull one of his secret books off the shelf -- the ones inherited from his mother, hidden from the rest of the court -- with little success.

"Pretty!" The princess beams and points to the grinning, golden skull on the spine. "S'as a happy book?"

"Er...for some, I suppose, your highness." Ulfric awkwardly lifts the girl off the floor. "Best get you back to your nursery, eh?"

She is five when Ulfric begins to feel that the king is ignoring his advice. Matters of economy, justice, education, all given a perfunctory "yes yes, I'll see to it, of course."

Even Princess Aria's own education seems to have fallen by the wayside in favor of increased military activity near the borders of their kingdom. Ulfric had advised caution there, as their neighbors were known to have a penchant for snatching territory that was already inhabited, and so he wasn't complaining there. But as he watches Aria pelting down the halls with a frog in one hand and a cookie in the other, chased by her weary nursemaid, Ulfric begins to think the royal children's time could be used more constructively.

Aria is six when Lord Ulfric catches her in his private laboratory once again and offers to teach her to read. She points to the book with the golden skull and says, "Read me that one!"

"When you are older," Ulfric says firmly.

When Aria is ten, she realizes that there is something strange about Lord Ulfric. She's not sure most royal advisors have secret laboratories where they experiment with potions. She doesn't think most royal advisors have books wrapped in chains and strange artifacts hidden away. And she knows there is a prejudice against magic among the nobles.

"You're a wizard, aren't you?" she asks boldly, sitting on his workbench in her tattered play clothes.

Ulfric looks up from where he is crushing several small crystals to go into a chemical solution. "Now whatever gave you that idea?" he asks dryly.

"Father wouldn't like it if he found out his advisor was a wizard," Aria says thoughtfully.

"I imagine he wouldn't."

Neither one brings it up again.

Aria is twelve when she discovers that, despite being the firstborn, she won't inherit her father's throne. She's angry, and hurt, and betrayed. She begins to spend more time in Ulfric's lab, even when he's not there.

"It's a foolish tradition," she snaps one day. "Theodore is only ten! If something happens to Mother and Father, they'd have to wait even longer for him to be old enough to rule than they would if it were me!"

"The ruler of the kingdom can easily change that law," Ulfric says patiently for the hundredth time, "For now, you must focus your energy on planting the idea in the king's mind. And remember, if you make him think it was his own idea, he's less likely to question it."

"Is that how you get your work done, Uncle Ulfric?" Aria asks shrewdly.

"Yes," Ulfric answers. "Being an advisor is difficult when the person you must advise has a history of ignoring advice. You have to get creative sometimes. Now aren't you supposed to be reading a treatise on judicial reform?"

By the time Princess Aria is fifteen, Lord Ulfric is more her advisor than her father's. Thanks to him, she knows how to read people, when to conform to expectations and when to defy them. How to balance the budget of a kingdom. Where to place watchtowers to protect the vulnerable places of the land. And she knows other things.

Ointments to make her invisible so that she can slip out of the castle and interact with the real world. Rings that let the wearer understand the speech of birds or fish -- Theodore had been delighted when she gave him one for his twelfth birthday -- and flowers that can be made into deadly poisons. She knows ways to protect herself from the more common curses that fall on princesses. She can counteract most enchanted sleep spells without help.

And she knows that the king is steadily driving their kingdom to ruin.

She is sixteen when the suitors begin to arrive, and seventeen when her parents realize that she will never choose any of them. When the king sets up a grand tournament and declares that the prize is Aria's hand in marriage, most of the kingdom is appalled. What if the winner should be from an enemy kingdom? What if the winner is a cruel brute? Has the king even considered that? No, no he has not.

Princess Aria goes to her teacher and confidante the moment the news reaches her.

"Uncle Ulfric, something has to be done about Father," she says reluctantly.

Ulfric is already preparing several fearsome tasks to weed out the suitors, which did involve calling in a few favors owed to his late mother by the witch-in-the-well.

"Even without the issue of your future and wellbeing at stake," he agrees, "The kingdom does not have the money to waste on an extravaganza of this sort."

With the kingdom of Spindle making ominous advances on the edge of the Bespelled Woods, and the dread Captain Cinder making her annual attack on their sole port, the kingdom of Tangle was in a bit of a pinch. The king's idea of a solution is to marry Aria off as quickly as possible to gain access to other kingdoms' arms and resources to bolster Tangle's own depleted stores.

If he'd just compromised on the trade agreement with the territory of Neverspring, they might not have been in such a pickle. But it's too late to cry over spilled milk now.

"Uncle Ulfric," Aria says as she bursts into his study one night, "I need you to get rid of my brother."

"I beg your pardon?" Ulfric sputters.

Aria waves a hand impatiently. "He's old enough for a Quest, right? Find one that won't get him killed. We need him out of Tangle for the rest of the summer."

Ulfric sets down his scroll and runs his wrinkled hands over his face. There is more grey in his beard now and he likes to remind Aria that she's half the cause. He suspects there will be more grey there soon.

"Dare I ask why?" he asks.

And Aria holds up the book. The golden skull seems to wink at Ulfric from the spine.

"We need to overthrow the king while there's still a kingdom to save," she says bluntly. "I know you've been considering it for a long time. I just want Theodore out of harm's way when it happens."

[dimitribelikov]

The Belikov Chronicles: The Tasha Conundrum Pt.2

✶ This one got pretty long. I even ended it quicker than planned, so hopefully it’s not too overwhelming. Admittedly, this installment deals less with Tasha, and more about Dimitri’s feelings towards Adrian. **There will be a Pt.3 and probably a Pt.4. ✶ notes : All dialogue is straight from Frostbite, chapter 15. The rest is mine, based on characters written by Richelle Mead. ✶ warnings : some language ✶ ships : romitri ✶ Part 1 can be found here  |  more one-shots featuring my version of Dimitri can be found here

       My argument with Rose the day before had left me in such a darkened state, that I had completely forgotten about my original mission to check in with the guardians and find out more news on the Strigoi attacks. It was just as well, though. I knew there wasn’t going to be any big revelations unless someone where to come get me. I ended up spending the evening in Tasha’s company. Over dinner, she went on and on about her radical ideas for reforming the Moroi’s views on defense. Usually I ate her passion up with fascination, but I couldn’t help but find myself distracted. I mean, Adrian? Really?

Yet as soon as the vampiric morning came, I had only one thought on my mind as I left my room: to find Janine Hathaway to go over the tragedy that had happened and the ensuing arguments that had unfolded in the Moroi meeting. Janine was someone that I had always looked up to, and she seemed a bit more forthcoming with information than others. Surely with her, I could get a better grip on what was going on in our world. I knew that I could also provide some insight for the guardians into the Moroi side of things via Tasha’s conversation at dinner.

I was a one tracked mind, striding through the hotel’s hallways with no other worry in my head, let alone the fight with Rose. Until I heard her very voice from an open door. Damnit. Even in the wake of such important matters, her voice was able to bring me to a screeching halt, curiosity replacing my earlier determination.

I paused, wondering what she was doing in this wing of the resort. Almost immediately I realized that the open door belonged to none other than Adrian. Again?! Thoughts of her staying the night danced through my mind, but I pushed them out right away. 

“I just want to know what’s going on here,” she demanded of her audience.

Sure enough, when I stood just behind her and was able to take in the scene of Adrian’s room, it looked as though Rose had just arrived. Further puzzling was the appearance of Lissa there. Surely Adrian couldn’t be that much of a scoundrel, I thought. Then again, with the stories I’d heard, I wouldn’t put it past him. “Me too,” I said, announcing myself. I could hear the short tone in my voice, but was careful to keep my expression neutral as I studied every detail of the room.

Rose had turned to regard me with a surprised look, and though I loved the victory of catching her guard, I couldn’t help but notice the cloud fo perfume that surrounded her. Had she actually gotten dolled up for the Ivashkov loser?

My annoyance deepened at the thought and I invited myself in, clinging to the one weapon I had: my authority. “Male and female students aren’t supposed to be in each other’s room.” I’m pretty sure a younger me just rolled his eyes and made a gagging sound at the lame “adult speech”.

“How do you keep doing this?” Rose demanded of Adrian, ignoring my recitation of the rules.

“Do what?” he replied. Ugh, that fucking grin. I wanted nothing more than to smack it off his face!

“Keep making us look bad!”

“You guys are the ones who came here.”

Adrian’s reply snapped me back into the argument. The two, innocent, young girls were visiting his room unescorted? I was beginning to sound like my old headmaster, but I didn’t care. “You shouldn’t have let them in. I’m sure you know the rules at St. Vladimir’s.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have to follow any school’s stupid rules,” Adrian replied. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to actually argue this. In that moment, the girls might have well not even existed. All I cared about what putting the rich brat in his place. Somewhere in my head, a logical voice was reminding me that the Moroi were above me. They come first. I shouldn’t be so harsh in my judgement of him, but I just couldn’t help it.

“Perhaps not. But I would have thought you’d still respect those rules.” Gross. Now I definitely sounded like my old headmaster. Before I could worry about that too much, though, Adrian fired back. And he hit below the belt.

“I’m kind of surprised to find you lecturing about underage girls,” he said cooly.

I froze, feeling anger grow at the audacity with which the Moroi spoke back to me. Under that anger, though, there was fear. What had he’d heard? Clearly that had to be a dig about me and Rose, but I’d been so careful. Surely no one else knew a thing. Right?

“Besides, nothing sordid was going on,” he continued. “We were just hanging out.”

Yeah. Hanging out. Alone in his room. Nothing sordid about that, I thought sarcastically. “If you want to ‘hang out’ with young girls,” I replied, taking another small step towards him. “Do it at one of the public areas.”

My anger was unexpectedly side tracked when Adrian laughed. There was something about that laugh that didn’t sit right with me. My suspicions were confirmed when he went off, rambling about the oddest things. It wasn’t a normal way to win an argument, that was for sure. My head tilted as I studied him, wondering if he was actually as unhinged as he sounded. Just how dangerous is this guy?

Finally he wrapped up the odd soliloquy by actually agreeing me. Though hearing Adrian admit that he was a bad influence didn’t earn much sympathy from me, I was grateful that the discussion was over. It had taken a turn into dangerous territory with a near accusation about me and rose–– and then whatever that was.

Lissa, Rose, and I took our exit into the hallway, starting the walk back into the lobby. “One’s marked with life, and one’s marked with death,” he had said. It was lunacy and I shouldn’t put too much thought into it, but I couldn’t help but feel a strange sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“That was . . . strange,” Rose had said.

I couldn’t even be mad anymore. The odd turn in Adrian’s demeanor had cast a sobering spell over us all. “Very,” was all I could manage.

Stepping out into the hustle and bustle of the lobby woke me up from my tumultuous thoughts. I knew I couldn’t let Rose simply leave without trying to warn her. Whether I was jealous or not (and I adamantly promised myself that I wasn’t), I was her mentor. It was my job to steer her clear of danger and this situation was no different. “Rose. Can I talk to you?”

I saw her exchange a look with Lissa, but mercifully, the princess left us to our privacy. We moved to the side of a room, avoiding the groups of Moroi who were hurriedly checking out in the wake of the new attacks. Alone with Rose, I could feel my emotions begin to spike again. The jealousy of seeing her with Adrian, the protectiveness of needing to be a good mentor for her–– and now the scent of whatever perfume she’d gotten her hands on. She’d never worn any in the time I knew her, but the crisp, sweet fragrance toyed with my imagination.

Quickly pushing such thoughts away, I tried to figure out how best to tell her what was on my mind. I was still mad about her accusations the previous day, but this wasn’t about me. This was about her. “That was Adrian Ivashkov,” I said, trying and failing to keep the disapproval from my voice.

“Yeah, I know,” she replied quickly. I wonder just how much she knew about him. 

“This is the second time I’ve seen you with him.”

I was sure I could detect annoyance in her eyes, and knew I was losing her attention. “Yeah. We hang out sometimes.”

My stomach dropped as my eyebrow arched. That was the second time I heard that phrase used. I wasn’t oblivious to Rose’s reputation at the Academy, but I also felt that I knew her better than that. Sure, I’d caught her in a very compromising position with the Zeklos kid once, but she’d seemed to have learned from that. Or at least taken the lesson to heart in a mature way. Yet I wasn’t sure that there existed a world in which “hanging out with Adrian Ivashkov” could be anything innocent. “You hang out in his room a lot?” I asked, sounding more accusing than anything else.

I knew Rose too well, though. She wasn’t one to simply take a lecture and peacefully leave. If she felt backed into a corner, she fought. While that was usually something I admired in her, in this moment, I was worried about what rebuttal would come. 

Apparently, even my worst guesses weren’t nearly as bad as what she actually came up with. “What happens between him and me is none of your business.” It wasn’t lost  on me that she did a near perfect impersonation of myself the previous day. Shit, she’s good. Logically I knew that she was just trying to get back at me for the Tasha thing, but I couldn’t help the sudden assault of mental images of Rose and Adrian that bombarded my mind. Thanks to my guardian training, I was able to keep it all hidden from my expression.

“Actually,” I retorted, not missing a beat in my scramble to gain the upper hand. “As long as you’re at the Academy, what you do is my business.” Checkmate!

Rather than ending the argument there, however, it only ramped up, each of us firing back in quick succession. We were a good match for each other in the ring, and clearly that sparring spilled out into other areas of our life.

“Not my personal life. You don’t have any say in that.”

“You’re not an adult yet.”

“I’m close enough. Besides, it’s not like I’ll magically become an adult on my eighteenth birthday.”

“Clearly.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Was she actually blushing at that? “I meant––”

“I know what you meant,” I cut her off, not wanting to travel down that road right now. Adrian’s borderline accusations still bothered me. “And the technicalities don’t matter right now. You’re an Academy student. I’m your instructor. It’s my job to help you and to keep you safe.” I idly wondered who I was trying to convince more, her or me. “Being in the bedroom of someone like him . . . well, that’s not safe.” 

I hoped she understood what I was trying to convey. I didn’t want to fight. Our argument the previous day killed me, but I wasn’t going to let her self-sabotage herself, either. Rose had the potential to be great. Perhaps even one of the best. I wasn’t going to let a spoiled, rich, royal ruin that for her.

“I can handle Adrian Ivashkov,” she muttered. The sudden mental image of those two in a sparring ring did much to lighten my mood, but not enough to derail me from on the topic at hand. “He’s weird–– really weird, apparently–– but harmless.”

Well that was hardly true. Adrian might not be a killer or anything, but he certainly one of the least harmless guys I knew. What happened to Mason? Why wasn’t she with him? I actually like that guy.

A thought occurred to me just then. This whole time I’d justified myself not being jealous because I was okay with her being with Mason. Yet Mason was absolutely harmless. He was safe. It was obvious to anyone in the same room as those two that he was completely head over heels for Rose, but I never saw the same passion for him in her eyes. Her being with him never seemed like a threat–– ignoring the fact that I had nothing to be threatened with since I’m not even in the equation. I can’t be. It wouldn’t be right. But throw someone like Adrian in? Hell yeah I was suddenly threatened. Rose deserved better than him, but I knew how easy it was for him to get his way with that cocky grin.

Fuck. I really am jealous.

“Speaking of personal lives,” Rose said, mercifully cutting off my traitorous train of thought. At least, I thought it was a mercy until I heard what she was getting at. “I suppose you were off visiting Tasha, huh?”

My own personal revelation weighed too heavily to allow me a quippy, or even scathing, retort. “Actually, I was visiting your mother.”

“You going to hook up with her, too?” At least one of us was on their argumentative A-game.

My mind was too much of a mess to truly react to it, though I had to admit, it was a pretty good line. “No, we were looking over some new data in the Drozdov attack.” After that, any signs of jealousy or mentions of Tasha and Adrian were forgotten as we spoke about the Strigoi problem. Though the heaviness of the situation pressed in on us, I was glad that Rose could set aside our pettiness and take the real problems to heart. I kept calling her a young girl to Adrian, but she truly is mature beyond her years. That didn’t counter the fact that she’s underaged and shouldn’t be anywhere near that jackhole, but it reminded me that she’s more than just a student. One day soon, we’d be working side by side, and I looked forward to that. I may be assigned as her mentor for now, but as we spoke about the Strigoi threat and Moroi politics, I knew that Rose is more than that. She’s my equal. It felt right to divulge the guardian’s knowledge of the Strigoi’s whereabouts to her.

“Why’d you tell me this, anyway?” she asked eventually. “This is guardian stuff. Not the kind of thing you let novices in on.”

I paused, turning over the words in my head. Our heated emotions were gone, and in the wake that followed, I thought back to the way I had been treating her lately. I thought of her as my equal, but I didn’t treat her that way. I wanted to change that. “I’ve said some things . . .  the other day and today . . . that I shouldn’t have. Things that insulted your age. You’re seventeen . . . but you’re capable of handling and processing the same things those much older than you do.”

“Really?” she asked. The look of hope that kindled in her eyes melted my heart then and there. This was how I liked her best, full optimism and void of the anger that always seem to follow her.

I nodded, feeling the hint of a smile on my lips. “You’re still really young in a lot of ways–– and act young–– but the only way to really change that is to treat you like an adult. I need to do that more. I know you’ll take this information and understand how important it is and keep it to yourself.” I was man enough to admit when I was wrong, and my recent treatment of her had been just that. Surely it wasn’t too late to set things right–– and hopefully steer her away from certain disaster.

A moment passed between us. Looking into Rose’s eyes, I could swear that I could hear her thoughts. She wanted to be the kind of person that I wanted to treat her as. I think on some level, we both understood the burden that our futures carried as the last Dragomir princess’s guardians, but we were also both looking forward to carrying it out together.

That moment of peace was short lived, however, when a familiar voice greeted me. “Dimka!” With those two syllables spoken by Tasha Ozera, I felt the mood instantly shift between me and Rose.

to be continued . . .

[carriagelamp]

~ Queer Lit 30 Day Book Challenge ~

I decided to do this challenge I came across for June! Originally it was designed as a “day-by-day” thing, but my June was way too hectic to do a write up every single day… so I decided to make a nice compilation for the end of the month instead!

This is perhaps not the “purest” form of the challenge but I wanted it to be personal for me. Growing up when I did and where I did, I had very little exposure to queer books, especially age-appropriate queer books. That being said, there’s some books on this list that are really only “queer” by technically, or through a secondary character rather than the main character. I debated whether to include these but finally decided that, yes, I would. I owe it to myself. Even though some of these books that aren’t “as queer” as other, they were (or are) really important to me as a queer person and my journey is understanding that, so I wanted to acknowledge them!

More info about the books and the challenge under the cut!

Day One: First Queer Book You Remember Reading

Color by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki

Remember how I mentioned a lack of available, age-appropriate queer books? I was one of those kids who was definitely exposed (probably too young) to queer manga/yaoi. It wasn’t necessarily what I wanted, especially as a wee ace teen, but it was the best I had at the time and it meant the world to me at the time, to see same-sex relationships even if looking back on them is very “YIKES”.

I’m sure I read others before this, but Color is one of the first that I really remember and which I a) actually owned and which b) wasn’t completely repellent in hindsight! I haven’t reread it in probably over a decade so I have no idea how it stands up, but at the time it read like a much more “realistic” account of two teenagers developing a crush and starting a relationship and as a questioning teenager it really helped me realize that this was a real, viable option.

Day Two: Queer Book That Reminds You Of Home

The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

I hummed and hawed about this one for a long time because honestly I tend to read books that make me feel far from home. I decided to go with The Witch Boy though because it’s a story that challenges gender norms and stars a large family out in the woods, running wild and exploring magic, and honestly it gives me vibes that remind me of vacationing with my extended family. We’re also partially ginger and inclined to run wild in the woods. If we knew magic we’d have used it for sure.

This book is about 13 year old Aster, who lives in a family where the women all become witches and the men all become shifters. Aster, however, has no interest in shapeshifting and instead finds ways to study magic and learn the arts of witchcraft while constantly being pushed out by his female relatives… though everything might change when a new danger, that may or may not be connected to Aster studying magic, begins to appear.

Day Three: Queer Book That Has Been On Your TBR Too Long

Beneath The Citadel by Destiny Soria

That was an easy choice, this has been sitting on my bookshelf for months, staring at me accusingly every time I enter my room. I’m really excited to read it (Magical heist? Rebellion? With an asexual protagonist? Yes please) but for some reason I have not gotten around to it. Some day, baby, some day.

Day Four: Queer Book With A Name Or Number In The Title

George by Alex Gino

George is an absolutely charming middle grade novel about a child named George who the world perceives as male… but who knows she’s definitely a girl. The novel begins when her class decided to put on a play about the novel they had just read: Charlotte’s Web. George is desperate to play Charlotte, her favourite character, but isn’t even allowed to try out because it’s a “girl’s role”. George and her best friend struggle with how to handle this problem and manage George’s secret amid elementary school and home drama.

This book is really adorable – it was a nice, easy, cozy read for an adult, and would also make a great read aloud to elementary-age children if you want to introduce them to transgender characters.

Day Five: Queer Book Where The Protag Has A Fun Job

The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris

Not actually a queer protagnoist, but a queer side character who plays a major role in the series. Mister Vernon, one of Leila’s fathers, has arguable the coolest job: he’s a retired stage magician turn magic shop owner, which is complete with large rabbit, hidden room, and tons of fascinating gadgets to help a young practical magician learn their trade. He is hands down one of the neatest character in the series and is a major catalyst throughout the series.

The first book follows Carter, a runaway orphan who practices street magic to get by, as he runs away from his horrible uncle and winds up meeting a gang of magic-loving friends in a small town. Hiding from his uncle is only the beginning though, and the mysteries surrounding the town and Mister Vernon become thicker and thicker as the series goes on.

Day Six: Favourite Queer Graphic Novel

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

There’s lots of fantastic queer graphic novels out there, but I have to name Check, Please! as my favourite (and not just because I’m Canadian and am legally obligated to at least show interest in a hockey story). Check, Please! is the friggin cutest story about Eric “Bitty” Bittle, former figure skater and avid baker, who joins the Samwell University hockey team. The story is told in the form of Bitty’s vlog as he recounts the bizarre quirks of the Samwell hockey team, his struggle to overcome his fear of checking, and his growing crush on the team captain, Jack. Seriously guys, this is cavity-inducing sweetness and you can read it all online for free, here on tumblr @omgcheckplease or at its own website, checkpleasecomic.

Day Seven: Queer Book You Often Reread

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Another book I haven’t reread in years, but this was the first queer novel I ever read (and owned!) so I read it obsessively, first the copy from the high school library and then my own copy (which is, let us say, well-thumbed by this point). It was pure fluff, in an aggressively diverse, relentlessly accepting, rainbow-coloured high school and it was exactly what I wanted in high school, and it still makes me happy whenever I remember it. It’s a straight-up high school romance, pretty traditional to the genre, but it has the most delightful supporting cast you could ever ask for. Maybe I should reread it again this summer…

Day Eight: Queer Book With A Happy Ending

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst

This was a bit more of a “yeah it was fine” book for me, but honestly… queer people deserve some average, run-of-the-mill YA fantasies. As far as my normal reading preferences go, run-of-the-mill YA fantasies are my bread and butter. And this one has a cute sapphic romance to go with it. It’s about Denna, a princess with a dangerous secret: she has a magical Affinity for fire, despite being betrothed to the prince of a kingdom that aggressively prosecutes and fears magic-users. So now Denna is in a strange land, trying to hide her increasingly volatile magic, solve an assassination that rocked the kingdom, and deal with the growing connection between her and the prince’s wild sister, Mare. It has court intrigue, a murder mystery, horses, and lots of confused sapphic pining so it’s totally worth picking up if you want a light summer fantasy adventure.

Day Nine: Queer Book With (Over) 100 Pages

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

I decided to try to get as close to 100 pages as possible! River of Teeth is a 114-page novella that I haven’t quite finished (work and covid stress happened) but which I am fucking losing my mind for. I can’t recommend it enough. It’s peak alternative history, about queer hippopotamus-riding cowboys in Louisiana during the early 20th (late 19th?) century. Like… I don’t know how to emphasize how unbelievably cool this book is. Genderqueer demolition expert with a giant crush and a penance for making things blow up and attempting to poison guests when they’re bored?? Check. Gay gunslinging hippo-riding cowboy with an angsty backstory (and also a giant crush)? Check. Sexy, fat, badass lady con artist with an albino hippo that she spoils? Check. Like damn guys. I’m not done the book and I’ve already bought the sequel because I know the second I pick it back up I’m not gonna stop until I’ve ploughed through it all. This book is the epitome of “refuge in audacity” and “rule of cool”. Is it over the fucking top? Absolutely but that’s the point.

Day Ten: Favourite Queer Genre Novel

The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare

I’ll be honest, I’m a little shaky on what counts as a genre novel (isn’t… everything… a genre??) so I decided to interpret it as “slightly trashy YA supernatural fantasy” because that sure is a hella specific genre I’m weak for.

I really thought I was done with the Shadowhunter novels, I thought they were a goofy series I left behind in teenagerhood that I could look back on with amused indulgence. And then I found out that there was a novel specifically about Alec and Magnus and! Oh no! Ding dong I was wrong. I fell back in hard because listen… I love them. They were one of the first canonical same-sex relationships I ever read about in an actual novel, they meant a lot to me then and still mean a lot to me now. I have nothing to say to defend myself here except that this book wrecked me and I can’t wait for the sequel.

Day Eleven: Queer Book You Love In A Genre You Don’t Read

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connel

I am very rarely a slice-of-life / romance genre sort of person. I like my stories cut with a heavy dose of fantasy, scifi, action-adventure… something. So a graphic novel that’s not only a romance, but one about an unhealthy relationship and infidelity is like… super outside my usual range of reading material. But it was very much worth the read! The art was stunning, and the complicated emotions it tapped into really touched me. I’m very happy to have read it, and was so damn satisfied by the end.

Day Twelve: Queer Book With A Strong Sense Of Place

Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller

Linsey Miller is one author I very actively follow, I love her works and they always have very distinct, complicated worlds with unique societies and magic systems. Belle Révolte was her latest book and followed a prince-and-the-pauper type of story, in which wealthy Emilie des Marais is determined to learn noonday (magical) arts in order to become a physician, someone who can actually work to make her home a better place… but this is not something a proper lady would ever be allowed to do. So she flees her finishing school and meets poor, but magically gifted, Annette Boucher and offers her the chance to switch places. Annette goes back to school as “Emilie” and gets to hone her skills at the midnight arts while Emilie will use her name to sneak into medical school and fight her way up the ranks to physician. This is a challenging enough task, with rebellion roiling just beneath the surface and the country about to slip into a arrogant war that threatens the lives of hundreds…

Day Thirteen: Queer Book That Really Made You Think

Our Dreams At Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

This is a four book manga series that is completely breath-taking. It’s touched by magical-realism and completely drowned in visually stunning metaphors and symbolism. Seriously, I’ve reread these books multiples times trying to digest how the wide variety of symbols overlap and contradict and compliment and challenge each other. I still haven’t really gotten a solid handle on it, it’s very fluid, so yeah… definitely makes me think.

The story starts with Tasuku Kaname who believes he may have just been outed as gay by a high school friend, and feels like he’s watching his entire world crumble around him. He is seriously considering taking his own life, when he runs into the mysterious woman “Someone-san” and winds up leading him to a drop-in center that’s run by a local non-profit, and is also a hub for a number of queer people in the community. The books follow Tasuku as he grows, learns, makes mistakes, and confronts his feelings, along with a number of other members at the drop-in center. It is completely beautiful, optimistic, but also quite stark and harsh at its look at homophobia and transphobia in modern Japanese society and how it can effect people in different ways. I just bought book four and can’t wait to read it and see how everything ends.

Day Fourteen: Queer Book That Made You Cry

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

Holy shit guys. Listen. Listen. If you don’t read any other book on this list, please consider reading The Marrow Thieves. It is hands down the best book I’ve read so far this year. Another book that doesn’t have a queer character as the protag, but as one of the main supporting characters and listen, his story fucking destroyed me as a person. That romance just… aaaaaaah. AAAAAAAAH.

Anyway. The Marrow Thieves is a Canadian dystopian novel. It takes place in a post-climate change world in which society has been ravaged – partially due to the wildly different and extreme weather patterns, but also through a strange disease that has spread through the population that has left people completely incapable of dreaming. Now unable to rest, process their lives, and dream of a future, people are being driven insane and only one group appears to be immune: North America’s First Nations people appear to be unaffected. And so they begin to be harvested, rounded up and collected in “school” in order for people to suck the marrow out of them to give to white people afflicted by this disease. The Marrow Thieves follows a First Nations boy named Frenchie as he flees the recruiters and tries his best to survive in this post-apocalyptic like wilderness, banding together with other First Nations people who are heading north, where they hope to find communities of their own people with whom they can shelter and start to rebuild their lives.

It’s a YA level novel, not very long, and such an insanely good read. I cannot emphasize enough PLEASE GO READ THIS BOOK. 

Day Fifteen: Queer Book That Made You LOL

Mostly Void, Partially Stars by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Welcome to Nightvale always makes me laugh and it was a lot of fun to get to read the transcripts of the episodes. I’m a sucker for novelizations/transcripts of shows. It was a nice nostalgia trip and gave me an excuse to go back and relisten to some of my favourite episodes too! If you’ve never gotten into Nightvale… hey, it’s a classic! Podcast is fucking stunning if you’re into podcasts, and if you’re not but would enjoy a weird, queer, eldritch horror comedy then try the book! It’s the first “season” compiled in text form, exactly how it’s heard in the show.

Day Sixteen: Queer Book That Is Really Personal To You

Jughead volume 1 by Chip Zdarsky et al

Including this one because gee golly it sure did make me want to fight a lot of people for quite a while. It was one of the first stories I ever found/read that had an explicitly asexual main character… (and a character I already really loved! Which I now got to feel an even stronger connection to! It was so fun and validating!) so it was super awesome how like half of tumblr decided for a year there that this was apparently a cardinal sin. Imagine… one single version of old, long standing comic series deciding to retcon a character to represent a heavily under-represented community… imagine being so fucking angry about that that you decide to start a hate campaign on the internet. So much fun to live through that as an ace person. Anyway, these comics were nothing amazing but I sure do love them aggressively out of pure spite, even now that the aphobia on tumblr has died back down I will hold this to my chest and adore it.

Day Seventeen: Favourite Queer Book Sequel or Spin Off

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

Honestly do I even need to say anything here? Is there any queer person who hasn’t read Mackenzi Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue series? If you are someone who hasn’t read it yet… go do that?? Absolutely stunning, one of my all-time favourite book series. It’s the perfect combination of hilarious and goofy, intense action, heartfelt character development, and a dash of “wait was that supernatural or??” This sequel was fantastic, this time focusing on Felicity, Monty’s sister, and her quest to become a physician despite being a woman in the 18th century. Awesome look at femininity, feminism, asexuality, and race. (Also… OT3? OT3.)

Day Eighteen: Favourite Queer Book By A Favourite Author

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

One of those “ehh is this technically queer? Not really but close enough, it is in my heart” books. It was one of the books I read as a teenager when I was still beginning to seek out and try to explore queer lit in so much as I could.

Terry Pratchett is, hands down, my favourite author, and though he doesn’t tend to write explicitly queer literature, his exploration of gender through allegory is top fucking tier. Everything to do with the dwarves in his series is fascinating, and a really great challenge/critique/exploration of gender, and this is the book that takes it to the next level (and brings in at least implicitly queer characters). It’s about Polly Perks, who lives in a small, war torn nation, choosing to join the army in order to find out what happened to her brother. However, as tradition dictates, she can’t join as a girl… so she disguises herself as Ozzer, a young man. There’s a lot of twists and turns, and as always Pratchett delivers fantastic humour and just absolutely delicious satire.

Day Nineteen: Queer Book That Changed Your Life

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson

This was the book that made me realize that I, as a queer teacher, could have queer kid lit in my future classroom. Maybe a comparatively small revelation, but a really important one to me. It made me realize that this didn’t need to be something I kept a secret in my professional life and which could really positively influence children, especially queer children. It was the first queer children’s book I ever bought.

Day Twenty: Favourite Queer Book Series

Candy Color Paradox by Isaku Natsume

Alright… I’ll admit it, this isn’t actually my favourite series, but I’ve used my favourites in other spots. And this is a good one! Definitely more of an actual “yaoi” than the other manga I’ve included (here there be sex) but it has a very different vibe that what I’m used to from that type of manga. The main pair are actually both capable, mature adults, with careers they actively care about, and who get together in the first volume! 

The rest of the series is less about them angst-ily toeing around their relationship, and much more about them learning to grow as a couple and balance their work and relationship and society. It’s funny and sweet, and I really enjoy these two losers. It’s a very low-stakes enemy-to-friends-to-lovers story, in which Onoe (a reporter) and Kaburagi (a photographer) are paired up on a news story they’re supposed to dig into together. What starts as a bickering rivalry gradually becomes respect, friendship, and love~ Onoe is a gremlin of a protag, so he’s a treat to follow.

Day Twenty-One: Queer Book That You Recommend A Lot

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller

To repeat myself: Linsey Miller is awesome! This is my favourite book of hers, the first of a duology. It’s kind of like an intense, edgy Tamora Pierce novel with murder. In this world, the Queen has a team of assassins known as the Left Hand. They’re an elite group that keeps the Queen safe and does the dirty work that needs to be done to protect the kingdom and keep the encroaching nations at bay. When the assassin Opal is killed, a contest is announced to find the new Opal. People from all over come to complete for the honour of being one of the Queen’s royal assassins, including gender-fluid thief Sallot Leon. Sal has some deep motivations to become Opal that go beyond a loyalty to their kingdom, but they’re going to have to survive their competitors if they even wants a chance at it… (Sal generally goes by either she or he in the books, but I’m using they in this instance since it’s in a more general sense.)

Day Twenty-Two: Queer Book That Made You Take Action

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Uhh, I don’t really have any books that made me take action per se, but this one sure gave me a lot to think about. It’s about deep sea mermaids who originated from the pregnant slave women tossed into the ocean to drown during passage to North America. From those dying women, this race was born and were taken in by whales, raised and protected until they could descend into the deep ocean waters, to form their own safe society. Their collective past is so painful though that as a species they’ve developed a very short term memory. But a people can’t live without any ties to their roots and so one of them, the Historian, holds all the memories for their entire species and shares it with everyone once a year so that the community can be connected to their ancestors before once again returning the memories to the Historian for safe keeping. Yetu, the current Historian, is so overwhelmed by these memories, that she can no longer take it – she flees her people, her responsibilities, and her pain and escapes to the surface instead...

Day Twenty-Three: Queer Book By An Author Who I Killed Is Dead

Cybersix by Carlos Trillo

I cannot emphasize enough, this is not actually a queer comic, it is in fact a very homophobic, transphobic and sexist comic written by a horrible person.

That being said, he’s dead and I own it now the TV series was essentially about a genderqueer superhero and a very confused bi biology professor who has a crush on both personas. I had a passionate crush on both personas as a child, and I will cherrypick this comic until I die in order to enjoy the only kickass genderqueer/genderfluid noir antihero I’ve come across. I am valid and I am not open to debate or discussion. Do not read this comic it’s horrible (but consider watching the show).

Day Twenty-Four: Queer Book You Wish You’d Read When Younger

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

This is such an incredibly soft story with the nicest art. There’s so much understanding and compassion in it and its exploration of gender and self-confidence and being true to yourself would have been very reassuring to me as a child, especially by late elementary/middle school. 

Day Twenty-Five: Queer Book In A Historical Setting

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

A retelling of Achilles’ and Patroclus’ relationship from childhood to the Trojan war. So yeah, you can imagine that this was also a candidate for Day 14 :’) I haven’t read this one in years but god it was lovely and emotionally destroyed me as a person.

Day Twenty-Six: Queer Superhero Book or Comic

Overwatch: Reflections by Michael Chu and Miki Montillo

I don’t really read superhero stories very often (the comics have always driven me a little bonkers, trying to find a way to enter the totally unapproachable Marvel/DC canons, and the MCU burnt me out years ago for every other sort of superhero story) so this is the closest I can get. Tracer’s a superhero yeah? Anyway, I, like every other queer person in the Overwatch fandom, lost my fucking mind when this dropped for Christmas a few years back and officially declared Lena Oxton not only the face of the entire franchise but also a lesbian. It’s an adorable little comic and Tracer’s girlfriend is a sweetheart.

Day Twenty-Seven: Favourite Queer Children’s Picture Book

Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack

There’s a number of sweet queer children’s books that are popping up these days, but this is my favourite just because it’s less about “explaining the gays to children” (though those books also have their place) and more of a cute little fantasy adventure in which the actual protagonist is gay. It’s about a prince who sets out to find himself a bride who can help rule by his side, but it quickly becomes clear that he isn’t interested in any of the girls. Instead, when a fire breathing dragon threatens his kingdom, he meets a brave knight who fights along side him. It’s very supportive and the art is lovely.

Day Twenty-Eight: Queer Book That Made You Feel Uncomfortable

Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann

This is a book with an asexual protagonist that I was originally really excited for. I know there are a lot of people out there who really enjoy this book and connected with it, but it didn’t do it for me. Maybe because my expectations were too high, but the protagonist’s experience with asexuality was vastly different than my own and the narrative voice ended up rubbing me wrong (and let’s be honest, slice-of-life romance is NOT my usual genre at all). So it’s not “made me uncomfortable because it’s Bad And Wrong” more just… totally vibed wrong with me. Maybe the perfect book for other people but definitely not for me, I had to return this one unfinished because it’s portrayal of asexuality just made me so deeply uncomfortable.

Day Twenty-Nine: Queer Book That Made You Want To Fall In Love

The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

This book had to make it on here somewhere, and honestly it could have gone in a lot of different spots, but I chose to put it here because the relationship between Monty and Percy is so incredibly sweet and authentic it really does make you want something like that. TGGTVAV (for anyone who has somehow not heard of it) takes place in the 18th century, and is about Monty, his best friend (and crush) Percy, and his sister Felicity going on a final “hurrah” tour of Europe before Monty's father finally tries to pin him down in England and force every part of Monty that’s deemed “unacceptable” out of him. So Monty intends to live this summer up… until everything goes off the rail and the three of them are suddenly fleeing across the continent with assassins at their heels and a strange, stolen artifact in their possession.

Monty has a lot of growing to do in this novel, and that’s one of my favourite things about it. For his and Percy’s relationship to ever have a chance, Monty needs to learn and change and actually communicate with other people, and it makes the relationship feel strong. Not a fluffy, surface level romance that often happens in YA but something built from the ground up by two friends who really want to make it work. Ahh, it’s lovely. One of my favourite novels.

Day Thirty: Queer Book With Your Favourite Ending

My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame

A two-book manga series that was completely stunning. It deals with queer relationships and homophobia in a very stark, real-world manner that you don’t often get in manga, while still being incredibly loving and sympathetic. The book is about Yaichi, a single father whose estranged brother (Ryoji) recently died. One day, a Canadian named Mike arrives, introducing himself as Ryoji’s widower. Mike had come hoping to visit his late husband’s homeland to try to get some closure, and Yaichi ends up inviting Mike to stay. The whole story looks Japan’s societal biases, through Mike’s experiences, Yaichi’s thoughts, feelings and prejudices, and those of his daughter who adores Mike. 

Seriously, this is one of the kindest, most earnest looks I’ve ever seen to internal prejudices that critiques them without demonizing the person who feels them. Instead it lovingly embraces grief, growth, and love. This series made me cry multiple times, was good enough that even my straight brother practically ordered me to go out and buy the second book when he finished the first, and the ending was just *chef’s kiss*

Honourable Mentions

A few books I really wanted to fit on my list somehow but couldn’t quite manage it, so here: All Out an anthology of historical fiction short stories about queer teens. The Tea Dragon Society series and Princess Princess Ever After, graphic novels by the amazingly talented Katie O’Neill. Heartstopper a webcomic turn graphic novel by Alice Oseman about a pair of rugby players. The Different Dragon a cute picture book in which the boy has two moms and which is about accepting different ways of being. And Lady Knight a part of Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series because because Kel is word-of-god aro(and/or ace) and I’ve adored that series and Kel since I was about thirteen so by god I’ll take it.

- 

Now for those that wanted to do their own challenge, I found it on @gailcarriger’s blog.

[cosmostasia]

Cosmostasia’s Story

So as I mentioned in my first post, Cosmostasia is the character that I played in a long-form Dungeons & Dragons campaign with some of my best friends in high school. Obviously we were all getting ready to graduate, go off to college, etc., so we decided that once we completed our last campaign objective, we would find a way to tie up the story. It was a kind of bitter-sweet realization, but we made a lot of amazing memories along the way!

I joined the game during my junior year in high school, probably a few weeks after the game itself was started. My then-friend (now girlfriend) was in the game and had invited me. This was my first game ever, and honestly, I’ve never had so much fun with D&D! Our DM was an expert in just about everything, ran the game smoothly, answered just about every question... He’s a great DM, but I’m sad to say that since graduation he’s had almost no time to run another game.

But that’s all reminiscence about better days, not the story!

My character - at the time, named Anastasia - was a shapeshifter wizard. Most of her studies involved mapping the cosmos, reading star charts, and understanding the movements of the celestial bodies. I’ve always loved space, so it felt right making a wizard who was also an astronomer!

As the campaign went on, my girlfriend’s character (a tiefling bard name Tarx) basically became Anastasia’s love interest. Yes, there was romantic and intimate involvement, but we never really went into that kind of detail at the table - it was more heavily implied, “fade to black” than anything. Of course, that never stopped my mind from racing and thinking about how our characters did things... Normally, Anastasia had a relatively small bust, but Tarx was pretty open with his preference. Anastasia, of course, is a shapeshifter.

You get the idea there.

Moving on though, we went on to deal with a lot of problems throughout the world, from roving bandits and raiding orc factions, to entire armies of undead being raised and controlled by an ultra-powerful lich named Victus. Victus would become a recurring villain for us since whenever we killed him, his soul just returned to his phylactery and he would reincarnate at an unknown location in the world.

Our final campaign arc involved the Queen of Sarpathion, Queen Anisterian von Draxxis. A few of our questlines had involved going and saving some of the princes and princesses of the von Draxxis royalty - apparently they had been kidnapped at different points and no one was able to find them. Or at least, no one was brave (or stupid) enough to challenge the people that did it. From bandit chiefs to full-blown warlords and archmagi, one of whom turned out to be an ancient black dragon (imagine fighting THAT at level 10!!). Well, we managed to round the three of them up and bring them home to safety.

W R O N G .

Turns out what we had actually done was deliver Queen Anisterian the three children she had borne specifically for a blood sacrifice. For context, the von Draxxis line were all tieflings - part of the only reason Tarx cared at all about them was because they were like him, and he’d been treated poorly in other kingdoms.

Apparently Queen Anisterian was waiting until just the right moment when a solar eclipse would coincide with a planetary alignment (which my character knew about btw! We had been talking about this for months in advance!). During that brief moment, the time would be right for her to sacrifice her offspring and drink their blood, turning her into a matron vampire.

What she hadn’t been counting on was that our party in had become good friends with Dimerius, Alistarge, and Valliana von Draxxis. Lots of fun adventures and hard-fought victories were won by their sides. As such, if she was going to hurt them, she’d be answering to us. She also didn’t know that this ritual (which was apparently copied from the Book of Vile Darkness) would also cause untold instability in the Weave around the ritual site. Basically, you use magic within a mile of this place, and reality has a pretty solid chance of just unraveling itself. Fun, right? We got to learn this because one of our characters was a less-than-good-and-not-in-a-neutral-way vengeance paladin, and he���d managed to catch a glimpse of the Book of Vile Darkness the last time we’d dealt with Victus. It was that moment when we realized something was up (you know, a section that explicitly states “the blood of three of the mother’s offspring” seems a little obvious). That’s when we started making our way to Castle Draxxis with some help. 

This was around the time we were going to be concluding our campaign; we were all level 16 and were very capable of taking on such a threat. We’d worked with a lot of people and by that point, we were able to convince enough allies to band together and lead an invasion on Castle Draxxis. Of course, every time we had been there since the first time, the castle always felt slightly more... Off. And Queen Anisterian herself was sickly and unwell. She’d even made the comment at one point that her reign would soon be at its end, and then the kingdom must answer to her eldest son.

As we led the invasion, her armies fought as we suspected they would, up until the gargoyles adorning the buttresses and spires of the castle began to crackle and move. They came alive and made it impossible for us to march on Castle Draxxis.

The NPC that we’d appointed the sort of de facto general (Petram, a retired general for the army of one of the human kingdoms) told us to try and find a way in ourselves, and they would keep the bulk of the Queen’s forces distracted.

We make our way over the outer wall, fight off the gargoyles that noticed us get in, and made our way to a secret passage that Valliana had shown us. The Queen apparently hadn’t posted any guards at the passage, and we were able to make our way to the throne room with only a few brief encounters with royal guards.

By the time we had gotten there, the sun had been eclipsed by the moon and we could already hear the screaming. We opened the door as she was taking the last gulps of Valliana’s blood - the brothers already lay dead at the foot of the throne.

She underwent a violent transformation, and immediately forced half of the party to kneel before her (she charmed them and gave the command to kneel). Our cleric, Volmund the dwarf, was kept busy running around the room un-charming everyone, and Tarx did his best to help with his countercharm, but... her save DC was really high and we were not rolling well.

In the end, we had all been charmed and forced to kneel before her. She had been casting spells left and right, I had been casting spells, and because of the instability, we were beginning to notice reality shift and obscure. Of course, as we’re all powerless and unable to do anything, she began channeling a spell that was pretty much either going to kill everyone in the room except her, or tear through the fabric of reality. On the bright side, we all got to roll another save before her next turn, and then we’d be able to do something!

Except that we all failed. You know how people are usually like “Ugh I don’t want another elf in my party”? Make sure at least one of you plays a damn elf.

It got to my turn (right before hers) and I made my roll. Of course, I also failed. I then asked my DM if being charmed and forced to kneel also meant that I was unable to speak. He gave me a look, thought about it, and gave a smirk. “Sure, you guys are able to speak while you’re charmed - she didn’t say “Kneel and be silent,” so I’ll allow it.”

When we last defeated Victus, the one item that we were able to loot from him was this beautifully crafted ring. Everyone in the party already had a ring of some kind, so Tarx gave it to me as a sort of promise ring. However, our DM said that as I put it on, I felt this overwhelming magical energy flow through me (being that I was the only real magic-user in the party, Anastasia was sensitive to these things). I spent some time identifying the ring and learned that it was an innert Ring of Wishes! Of course, no charges on it so it was really just a fancy ring at that point. Everyone else had already forgotten about it, but I was texting the DM under the table and asking questions about the implications of having the ring near such a huge source of power/disruption. He said that it might (on a very, very lucky percentile roll) restore one of the charges to the ring.

I whispered into the ring, and said “If you can hear me... I wish for a way to survive long enough to fix everything Queen Anisterian has done.”

The DM raised his eyebrows, and rolled a percentile.

He laughed.

Hysterically.

Once he composed himself again, he said “Your wish... Has been granted.”

Everyone else at the table was just so confused and excited and panicked all of the sudden, and then, since Queen Anisterian had completed her round of channeling uninterrupted, was able to basically cast a spell that would drain all of our life forces until fell over as dried, dusty husks.

Before casting, the DM rolled a percentile (as he had been doing any time magic was used during the fight).

He laughed again.

“You all feel this horrible sensation as your blood, your life force, your very souls, are drained from your body. The pain is absolutely agonizing, and lasts for what feels like eternity in that instant. And then, as Queen Anisterian is laughing maniacally and relishing her new power, her hand suddenly flashes with a blinding light.”

He then turns to me specifically.

DM: “When you wake up, you don’t know where you are. As far as you can see all around you are nothing but distant stars and nebulae.”

Me: “Wait... What happened to everyone?”

DM: “The entire world blinked out of existence. You, however, have been granted immortality - and immunity - by your wish. You’re out in open space, but the lack of oxygen, the temperature... It doesn’t bother you, you actually feel fine.”

Basically, our DM had intended that a roll of 10 or lower on a percentile would cause reality to collapse on itself, but only enough to affect our world to different extents. Rolling a 10, for example, meant Castle Draxxis would blink out of existence.

He rolled a 1.

When he rolled for my ring, he rolled a 100.

We all kind of sat there basking in the sheer improbability of rolling a 100 and then a 1 right after (I think it’s a 1/10,000 chance? I’m an artist who likes space, not a mathematician). Then as the realization of what had happened settled into us, I had so many questions that I barely knew where to start. “Am I near where the planet was? Was I shot away from the blinkpoint, or was I teleported somewhere?”

He told us that I had basically been knocked out cold by the sudden magical reverberation (again, magic-sensitive) and fell adrift into space. Anastasia was able to identify where some of the planets were - the moon was not caught in the blast, but there was a massive chuck taken out of the side where the blinkpoint hit it and it was just floating adrift around the sun. From that, we were able to determine how long it had been (”Can I please roll an Intelligence check to figure out how long it’s been since the planets were aligned?” “Hm... Actually no, you just know how long it’s been based on their positions.”). Figured out that I’d been out cold for a week.

Anastasia panicked at first, frantically trying to get the ring to work again - but you know, it only regained the one charge. It’s innert. She cried for her friends and for everyone on her world. She cried for hours, knowing that she could have made a better wish. Knowing that her self preservation came at the cost of literally everything.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a glimmer. At first she thought it was a star, but realized it wasn’t one she recognized. She cast Fly on herself (can’t exactly swim through space) and made her way over, and as she approached, she found what looked to be some sort of crack in reality.

It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that this was the blinkpoint, and even looking at it made her feel like she was being electrocuted with magical energy. She decided that, being immortal, maybe touching it might do something? Who knows at this point, right? Even if it killed her or unmade her altogether, at least she wouldn’t be immortal and stuck with the guilt for the rest of eternity.

She reached out, and her hand connected with the fissure... And it pulled her in. She couldn’t see anything around her, being locked in an inescapable abyss. But that painful sensation that came from the blinkpoint had... faded. It was a dull hum in her mind now. She had the idea to cast Detect Magic, and the DM described the scene.

“You cast Detect Magic, and as you do, your eyes adjust to the scene around you, where you see all around you this intricate, perfectly woven latticework of microscopic threads. They cross in every conceivable direction, glowing in an impossibly numerous array of colors. This... is the Weave.”

By passing through the blinkpoint, I had basically transcended, and was able to perceive magic itself. And then, a voice came to me that caused every thread to resonate and vibrate.

???: “I see that you have found your way to that which lies between. A space betwixt realities.”

Anastasia: “Yes... I... Who are you? Can you help me?”

???: “I do not have a name. I am simply the Weaver of Magic.”

After a brief discussion about the implications of weaving space, time, and magic to bind everything together, the Weaver had a proposition.

Weaver: “You see, Anastasia... I also require assistance. Reality needs stability within the Weave, but I am unable to exist anywhere except within the Weave. I cannot leave this place. I could grant you the power to reverse the mistakes of the past, the power to right the wrongs of this Anisterian. But I would request that you act as the eternal guardian and curator of magic throughout the Planes.”

Anastasia: “Oh, I... I don’t know if I would know how to do that. You wield tremendous power, and even the gods find magic to be a fickle thing! Where would I even begin?”

Weaver: “Your gods find magic to be fickle because they have not embraced the Weave. You, however, may be granted this power freely.”

Anastasia: “You mean... You mean I could become a goddess?”

Weaver: “I do not fully understand these “gods,” but in your terms, yes. You would become Goddess of Reality.”

Anastasia: “That’s... more responsibility than I’ve ever known possible... But I can save my friends this way?”

Weaver: “I will allow you to undo the damage to the Weave. This will revert your reality to the moment before the threads were torn, and allow you to change the outcome of everything that had happened.”

Anastasia had to think long and hard about it. She would spend the remainder of her existence - the remainder of time - as a goddess, protecting and weaving magic throughout all of the Planes. That, of course, was nothing compared to the guilt of being the only survivor of her entire world.

She accepted the agreement, and the transformation began. Threads from the Weave wrapped themselves around her, covering her entire body until she was wrapped in pure magic. When she could see again, she was back out in space, adrift near the fissure. She looked at her hands instinctively, and noticed that her skin was glassy-smooth. Looking at her hands, her robes, her hair, she saw the same glass-like smoothness, but was able to look into herself and see the deepest parts of the cosmos within herself.

She had been transformed into the Goddess of Reality.

She looked to the fracture and began to focus. In the past, she was able to occasionally channel raw magic into different objects in order to activate them. She used the same process, but rather than the magic needing to be coaxed out of her, it erupted from her hands and shot into the fissure.

The fracture slowly crumbled into itself, and soon showed the entire world exploding in reverse. The moon lined back up with where it was, the planets unwound their orbits to realign, the planet reformed itself around her.

Within moments, she was floating just above the floor of the throne room right where she was, her hands raised at Queen Anisterian’s channeling hand. She held a hand out to Anisterian, and clenched her fist. Every thread of magic that had been woven into her unraveled and spun itself into Anastasia’s palm, and she was able to guide the threads back to the slain children of the queen. They would slowly reawaken and rise, and Queen Anisterian’s power was rendered innert.

Our party was able to stand up, and we apprehended the Queen and were able to throw her into the dungeons with no trouble. She was no longer capable of using magic in any form, so leaving her down there would pose no threats.

Alright, roll credits - that was the end of our campaign!

From then on, Anastasia changed her name to Cosmostasia, and wandered the Planes curating all of the torn threads of the Weave, ensuring that magic wasn’t being abused in a way that damaged it, etc.

Yes, Cosmostasia continued to visit her homeworld and help those in need, but given that she was a goddess and had some very pressing responsibilities, she couldn’t be there as consistently as our other heroes. Plus, when she was home, she was trying to take time off and be with her beloved Tarx!

If you made it this far, thank you for reading the entire thing!! I’ve always wanted to illustrate it and make a comic or something, but... that’s a project for another time lol. But now you have some context behind Cosmostasia!! :)

[wewillwriteyou]

Crazy Little Thing Called Love || Chapter 1

Prologue

➴Meet the characters [part 1] 

A few elements from the main plot: A fine line falls between fiction and reality: what starts as a musical slowly becomes a game-changer. Tables will turn and it will get clear as the sun that the only unstoppable power in life ... is love. 

Summary Chapter 1: Alexandra arrives at the campus, while Joe has already bumped into high gear for his drama’s course project but he knows he can count on Elizabeth and Denise’s help.

Word count: 3.5k+

Warnings: Some language here and there

A/N: The time has finally come and we couldn't be happier to share this first chapter with you! We do hope you’re all going to enjoy this story and don’t hesitate to let us know what you think about it! Love you, folks 🖤 xxx

Sunday, 29 September 2019

“Are you sure this will solve all my problems?” “Trust me, Princess: follow the East’s path and in the cave where the sun never sets you’ll find all the magic you’ll need”

Magic!

Freddie’s voice perfectly screamed in Alex’s headphones and she suddenly woke up. Her neck was hurting and she could feel pins and nibbles trespassing every bone of her spine.

She stretched her back and yawned, before turning off the music and checking the hour on her phone. She had been travelling on that damned bus for two hours and a half, but to her “out of whack body” it felt like an eternity.

Alex rubbed her eyes once or twice, before diverting her attention to the countryside outside the window: fields, fields and again, fields. She sighed and abandoned her back against the uncomfortable seat.

An hour. You can survive for an hour.

She repeated to herself, mostly to convince her tired body that sixty minutes more on that bus weren’t actually hell on earth.

All of a sudden, her phone rang and the name “MOM” appeared on the screen. Alex smiled and picked the call up.

“Sweetie! Where are you?” her mother’s voice was so loud that the two old people sat on the two seats in front of Alex turned around. She politely smiled and heard them mumble something, that made her roll her eyes.

“Hi. I’m probably lost somewhere in the East’s fields” she sighed, abandoning her head against the window of the bus.

“But you should be almost there, right?” her tone didn’t hide her preoccupation and that made the girl giggle a little.

“I guess I’ll arrive in less than an hour – she said, before looking around to make herself sure nobody could hear her – but let’s admit that traveling with this bus company surely wasn’t the best idea we have had” she then added, lowering her voice as much as she could.

Her mother chuckled and, after a few more recommendations, she said goodbye to her and Alex soon found herself alone again. Or at least, her only company was the thousands of thoughts that were clouding her mind.

Clouded as much as the sky above her head.

***

“Is he really going to do this?” Denise was laying on the bed, with her legs up against the wall and her head upside down, dangling from the mattress, and her braided hair nearly touching the floor.

Elizabeth nodded “He is… He’s even more convinced after Gwilym told him nobody had ever been able to impress Professor Cattleman. He has every intention of being the first one to do it…” she suffocated a chuckle “You know that when Joe fixates on something, there’s nothing and no one that can dissuade him”

Denise chuckled along, “I know, I know…” she picked up her phone from the nightstand and mindlessly scrolled through Instagram “Has he cast someone yet?”

The girl shook her head as she carefully browsed through the paper sheets she was trying to organize on her desk.

“The auditions are tomorrow, if you’re interested” she winked without turning around and Denise started to cackle.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Not my scene…”

“You don’t need to act if you don’t feel like it… You could always provide visual effects…” Elizabeth suggested and the other girl cackled again.

“Why do you want me so bad to participate?”

Elizabeth finally turned around, her auburn ponytail following the movement of her head and giving it all a sense of theatricality.

“You dare ask me why!? Because we can use all the help we can get!” she tried her best Joe impression and made the other girl laugh out loud and roll on her side.

Elizabeth grinned “It was good, wasn’t it?”

Denise nodded, still shaking from laugher “You’re getting better. If he writes a character based on him, I’ll make sure the part is yours”

Now it was the time for the redhead to laugh. She clapped her hands together and pretended to be surprised “Really?!? I’d be honored to play the illustrious Joseph Mazzello in a play”

“Did someone mention my name in vain?” the door opened in that instant and Joe made his entrance, a stack of paper under his arm and three hot coffees on a tray in the other hand.

“Speaking of the Devil…” Elizabeth uttered, making Denise chuckle again. She then turned to the boy next to her “We’re always talking about you. You’re a hot topic in our daily conversations”

He flipped her off, then proceeded to hand her a coffee and then sit on the bed next to Denise, who had rolled to sit up straight in the meanwhile. He handed her the coffee as well and started sipping his own.

“So Dennis,” Joe began, immediately regretting the two words that had just fallen out of his lips. Elizabeth facepalmed and Denise half laughed.

“Crap, I’m sorry,” he muttered, shutting his eyes and shaking his head in embarrassment.

Denise lightly patted him on the shoulder “That’s okay, Joe” she said, “everyone has a hard time getting used to it…”

Joe looked at her “Yeah, but they shouldn’t. I’m really sorry, I promise it won’t happen again.”

The girl gave him a little smile, “Thanks, but that really is okay… I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”

He nodded and sighed, “Changing subject from this awkward and want-to-bury-myself-in-the-ground moment,” he said “I had something to ask you, my friend”

He turned in her direction and Denise mirrored him, smiling widely. They were sitting so close her knee was almost touching his and she could feel electricity running through her spine. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt that. Even before the operation and the huge change in her life, Denise had always felt like melting into a puddle when Joe was around. And at that moment, even after the awkwardness that’d happened, he could have asked her to climb on top of the building and she probably would have done it.

She gestured him to continue as she sipped on her coffee. He did.

“I was wondering… you study Design and Visual Arts, right?”

“Well done Columbus, you’ve discovered America” Elizabeth said, still immersed in her papers and trying to lift off the tension Joe had – involuntarily – created.

“Oh fuck off, Liz, don’t you have a paper to read?” he said mindlessly, earning a – well deserved – middle finger from the girl.

He turned back to the girl sitting beside him, “Do you think you could provide me some unused panels? I was thinking of how to set up the scene on stage and I was wondering if you’re interested in taking care of that part…”

Denise cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Elizabeth, who was openly smirking and still reading.

“Did you two talk beforehand?” she asked.

Joe furrowed his eyebrows “About what? We’re together every minute of every day. We talk about lots of stuff…”

“About these visual effects…” she added.

Joe shook his head “No I thought about it while I was at the cafeteria… I came here to tell you guys” he moved his eyes from one to the other “Then I made a fool of myself by misgendering her, and then here we are”

The two girls laughed and Joe smiled lightly, happy to be getting back to normality.

Elizabeth was still smirking against her hand and Denise wondered how they did that… They were always on the same page, like they had one mind, and were often able to complete each other’s sentences. She wondered how could it be so easy for them to understand each other. They were not siblings, they weren’t dating, they were just great friends with this natural, effortless chemistry.

Whilst her huge crush for Joe barely allowed her to behave like a normal person around him.

“Why?” Joe asked.

She shook her head “No reason… I’d be glad to help you; I’ll see what I can do”

Joe’s face lit up and he bent over to hug her, making her heart jump in her chest “Thank you so much, Den, I’ll text you all the details later…” he got up to throw his empty cup in the trash can near Elizabeth’s desk and leaned on the table “Do you have something to do today?” he asked the redhead.

Elizabeth turned her head in his direction “Tons of things. What do you want?”

Joe tried out his best puppy eyes “Will you help me set up the stage for tomorrow?”

Liz rolled her eyes “I can’t Joe, I have to finish rating this for the Student’s Counsel and then my new roommate’s gonna come and I’ll have to show her around… I really can’t today”

Joe kneeled beside her, propping his elbows on the arm of her chair joining his hands. Elizabeth was trying to ignore him and focusing on her reading, a cheeky grin on her lips.

You won’t have it your way this time, Mazzello, she thought and yet she knew way too well how these things went. She had known him for way too long to not know exactly his moves. She just had fun teasing him.

Joe sighed heavily and theatrically and she snorted “Fine! I’ll see what I can do…”

“That’s my girl” Joe jumped up and Elizabeth turned around to smack him on the arm “Hey! What was that for?”

She scrolled her shoulders “Just felt like it… Now please let me finish this before the new girl arrives!”

She got up from her chair and gently pushed him towards the door, “Thanks for stopping by, now go…”

“So this is the treatment I receive after bringing you free coffee, huh?”

“Yeah yeah, thank you doofus, now piss off” Liz closed the door behind him and spun around to lean on it, closing her eyes and chuckling. He’s a helpless cause, she thought to herself, what would you do without me, Joseph?

Denise just smiled at her, a teeny tiny bit of jealousy stinging her heart.

***

“Yes, can you please be careful? It’s – Alex was saying to the bus driver, but the man completely ignored her words and almost threw her precious guitar on the ground – fragile” she mumbled.

With a loud, angry sigh, the girl bent down to recollect all her stuff that the gentleman had so patiently left on the grass near the big, iron gates of her new college. She reserved one last disappointed gaze to the bus that was now driving away, before turning on her heels ready to face a new life’s chapter.

Sure, walking with a big bag hanging from her shoulder, the guitar in her right hand, while she was dragging a heavy suitcase with the other one, wasn’t what Alex would have described as a beautiful experience. But it was definitely an experience.

The edifice was stately, looking like an old castle. The garden was green and, even if that autumnal morning it was full of brown leaves and little puddles then and there, Alex was ready to bet it looked fabulous during spring and summer.  

After a few more struggling steps, she reached the entrance and, pushing the door with her back, she finally entered the building. The hall was exactly as she had imagined it: big, bright and full of students. It actually resembled one of those rich hotel’s halls, with a big counter in the front and a few armchairs in each angle of the room.

“Hi!” a friendly voice rang from behind Alex’s shoulder. She turned around to see a tall, skinny boy smiling at her. The girl was confused, to say the least, and she must have had a strange expression all over her face because the boy laughed a little bit as he approached her.

He had short, brown hair and a pair of crystalline eyes. A tiny bit of beard completed the look, well-matched with the college’s uniform he was wearing.

“Aren’t you Elizabeth’s new roommate?” he asked, pointing his index finger to her figure.

“Yes – Alex vaguely answered – and you are?”

“Oh, I’m Gwilym. Gwilym Lee, a friend of Liz. I’m in the welcoming committee for new students” he extended his long arm to shake Alex’s hand and, with a smile, she accepted his offer and let her fingers wrap themselves with his.  

“I am Alexandra Piper, nice to meet you”

“The pleasure is mine. Do you need some help?” Gwilym giggled, indicating the bag, the guitar and the suitcase that surrounded Alex. She softly laughed and raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sure that is a great physical exercise, carry all these stuff all alone, but I won’t lie: a pair of other hands won’t be bad at all” she said, letting her elbow rest on the handle of the luggage.

“You’re funny – the boy commented with a smile, while with a fluid movement he put the bag on his shoulder – you and Elizabeth will surely get along very well”

Alex followed Gwilym through what it seemed an infinite number of corridors and she mentally thanked every god up above, because without his help, she would have never found the dormitory.  

“Here we are – he announced, stopping himself in front of a door with the number eight-nine-six hung on it – now I have to go, but I’m sure Elizabeth is already inside waiting just for you” the boy proudly added leaving the bag on the floor.

“Thank you so much, Gwil. Can I call you Gwil right?” Alex cheekily asked, smirking a little. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he repeatedly nodded.

“Sure you can. And, I assume I can call you Alex” Gwilym curved the angle of his mouth, just enough to give the girl a flirtatious smile, while he started to walk down the hallway. Alex smiled to herself, and when she turned her head in his direction she saw he was already looking at her.

“Your assumptions are correct” she grinned back. Gwilym nodded one last time, before waving his hand in the air and disappearing behind the corner.

Alex smiled one last time, before taking a deep breath. She faced the door for some seconds more, before finally raising her arm and let her knuckles knock against the wooden surface.

Muffled voices and indistinct noises came from inside the room and sooner as Alex expected, two smiley girls appeared in front of her.

“Alexandra!” a reddish-haired girl jumped in her arms, hugging her tight.

“Don’t mind her, she’s crazy” the dark-skin girl commented, leaning her shoulder against the door’s frame. Alex chuckled and patted on what she understood being Elizabeth’s shoulder.

“Oh shut up, Didi. ‘m gonna quote the buzz kill behind me: don’t mind her, she’s boring – the redhead joked, breaking the hug and looking into Alex’s eyes – I’m Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz”

“Alex - the girl replied, extending her arm to shake her hand, then she pointed to the buzz kill – nice to meet you, too!”

“Denise. And the pleasure is mine”

“Love your hair, by the way” Alex immediately commented, indicating the long, purple braids that adorned Denise’s head. The proudest expression drew itself on the girl’s face, as she looked over Alex’s shoulders where an annoyed Elizabeth was puffing.

“Thank you! Finally, someone with taste has entered this old, close-minded place full of blind people – Denise theatrically said, walking closer to Elizabeth who was looking at her with raised eyebrows – good luck with this one, Alex. See you later, girls” she then added, walking down the hallway and waving her hand in the air.

“I can’t with her – Liz chuckled, before giving all her attention to Alex – I’m all yours now! Let me help you with your stuff!” she said, already lugging her suitcase inside the bedroom.

The room was pretty small, but all the furniture was well placed creating enough space for two people to comfortably live together. There was even a tiny, private bathroom and the window opened to the garden.

“Not bad” Alex commented, nodding to herself as she followed Liz inside, closing the door behind her back.

“I’m glad you lik- oh my God! Do you play guitar?” Elizabeth cut herself off when she noticed the instrument that Alex had just deposited on the floor. The brunette laughed, taking her beloved baby and putting it on the empty bed.

“Yes, I forgot to mention it in the mail of presentation – she said, opening the case finally revealing the wooden guitar to Liz’s adoring eyes – I attended music courses since I was very young, because my father is a conductor”

“Wow! Can I touch it? – Liz shyly questioned and didn’t hesitate to extend her hand after Alex had nodded – I mean, you told me you’re studying at the conservatory, but I couldn’t imagine you were also a guitarist”

Alex giggled and caressed the back of her neck.

“Well, actually, I can also play the piano, the bass and, even if at a beginner’s level, drums” she was visibly blushing, mostly because of the admired gaze Elizabeth was giving her.

“We should go, then! Can’t wait to show you the auditorium and the entire music section of our college!” the redhead announced, taking Alex’ hand to guide her outside and drag her down the corridor.

The two almost stumbled on the stairs and basically trampled an entire row of students who were waiting in line to buy something at the vending machines.

But Elizabeth was too excited to stop, even to care about it, and Alex soon found herself flooded with a literal sea of information about anything and everything. She was sure she would have not remembered half of the things she was being told, but Liz reassured her.

“The only really important places are the cafeteria and, well, for you, in particular, the auditorium, which is where we’re going now”

“You’re aware that your college is a bloody labyrinth, right?” Alex joked, following Elizabeth around and trying to imprint inside her mind some strategic points that could help her to re-find the way.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it sooner than you think. It’s not that difficult once you understand that, basically, ninety percent of the classrooms are unused or useless or too old and that teachers' fun is to watch us arrive late to class because they love putting a lesson here, in the music wing, and the other one in the science department”

Alex giggled and scrolled her shoulders, then thanked Liz who was keeping the door open for her.

“Wow – the brunette let out, as soon as they entered the auditorium – this is indeed bigger than the one we had in my old college!” she said in excitement, spied by Elizabeth proud and gloating eyes.

“Look! A piano!”

“No, there’s no way I’m going to play it right now” Alex immediately said, but Liz was already running towards the instrument. Once she had reached it, she started to make persuasive gestures that had all the intention to be an invitation.

Alex burst out laughing and shook her head, knowing she stood no chance. She sighed and walked in her direction.

“Move” she firmly said, but with amusement in her voice. Elizabeth giggled and clapped her hands before positioning herself on the other part of the piano, leaned against it with her elbows.

Her fingers were trembled in anticipation, as she let them slightly touch the black and white keys, ready to make them sing.

But, as her index finger was about to press a C –

“Liz! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Joe shouted bursting into the auditorium, basically running to reach the two girls.

“I’ve had an amazing idea for the comedy. Hi – he nonchalantly said to Alex, but when he noticed she was new he stopped himself and snapped his head in her direction again – hi! Oh, nice to meet you! I’m Joseph, well for you Joe”

“Hi Joe, I’m Alexandra. For you Alex” she replied, raising her eyebrows.  

“I like your humor – he winked at her and then pointed straight to Liz – idea. Big idea. The comedy becomes a musical. I just need a couple of students who can sing and play instruments and … “ he froze.

“And what? – Elizabeth asked while Alex’s eyes were jumping from one face to another as if she was witnessing a tennis game – you know I’m scared when you think too much” she added, putting a hand on her hip.

But Joe was still immersed inside his mind, until he slowly rotated towards Alex indicating her with his finger.

“Do you play the piano?” Joe scanned every single word as a light bulb was almost visible as it lighted itself up, above his head.

“Ehm … yes?” Alex answered, hesitant and confused.

“You’re in! – he snapped his fingers and headed to the exit again – ah, Liz, you were useless. As always” then smugly grinned, starting to walk away again.

“Oh fuck off, Joseph” Elizabeth talked back, but her tone was cracked by chuckles. When the door closed behind Joe’s back, Alex looked up at Liz, who couldn’t help but laugh in front of the question mark that was her face at that moment. She flipped her hand in the air and commented:

“Forget him, he’s a weirdo”

-

Chapters: next ⤑

A/N:  Hi folks! We are so excited to share with you this first chapter! Here, you’ll get the chance to meet some of the main characters and we hope you’ll love them just as much as we do. Hope you’ll like it folks and if you do, please do not hesitate to tell us! Like, comment, reblog and share! 

Cheers lovesies

Tag List:  @littledarlingwellaway - @petriwhore - @bohemiandelilah - @misshystericalqueen - @loki-lover095 - @inthelapofthe39 - @starsoflovingness-wq - @minetticatinwonderland - @cairdes20 - @friendswillbefriendsblog - @o-holynight - @trash-record-collection - @please-stop-me-now - @theappleofmybri - @imgonnabeyourslave - @babygotblueeyes - @mi55chanandlerbong - @deaky-with-a-c - @luckytrashgooprebel - @thosequeenboys​ - @rogahs-drowse​ - @rogerismyfairyking​ - @killer-qu33n-of-disaster​ - @sunshine112​ - @a19103​ - @queenlover05​ - @modymody99​ - @bensrhapsody​ - @peterwandaparker​ - @sjeunhaelover​

[miningmyminecraft]

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A caregiver named Jaica is employed by Vivian, a successful businesswoman who recently found she was unwell. Little does Vivian know, Jaica performs a considerably larger function in her life— one which reconnects her to her distant son. At that time, Siguion-Reyna, son of movie legend Armida Siguion Reyna, was known special info for breaking barriers. One of his earlier films, additionally that includes Roces, wasLigaya ang Itawag Mo sa Akin, which illustrated rape. It was initially given an X rating and was only aired to the general public after quite a few concessions that resulted in scenes on the slicing ground.

When Lito’s fellow inmates notice he’s an harmless man, they assist smuggle in his young daughter Yesha so the two can proceed bonding. Starring Kapamilya actress Kathryn Bernardo and Kapuso star Alden Richards, Hello, Love, Goodbye is the best-grossing Filipino film of all time.

This intensive, months-lengthy course of results in a movie that literally looks like nothing else that Pinoy cinema has to offer. Ulan could be about love, nevertheless it’s not your average Filipino romance. The film stars Nadine Lustre as a author named Maya, who’s struggling to find romance and happiness. As Maya journeys via life,Ulan weaves fantastical tales from her creativeness and childhood as a reflection of her psyche. We see her speaking withtikbalangsin one second, and typhoons in one other.

If you’re trying to celebrate the occasion within the consolation of your personal house, you might be interested in doing so by catching up on must-see titles Philippine cinema has to supply — or, when you’ve already seen them before, watching them unfold all over again. Initially hard to find , these motion pictures have been made accessible to extra audiences thanks to different streaming platforms.

Most of the Philippines' critically acclaimed films are gritty and heavy, but this Maryo de los Reyes basic sticks to the reality of highschool, which is light, relatable, and fun. There are many extra intricacies between and after these occasions, and you may need to essentially watch Karnal to understand why it's such a fantastic Filipino movie. The combination of a powerhouse forged and formidable director Peque Gallaga led to this beautiful Filipino traditional.

The movie tells the story of mysterious happenings in a remote village which end in Ferdinand E. Marcos implementing Proclamation No. 1081, which locations all the Philippines under Martial Law. The movie delves into the difficulties of the village folks as they cope with this new proclamation. The drama Himala takes place in a poor Filipino village and stars Nora Aunor, Veronica Palileo, and Spanky Manikan.

When the brother, the youngest of the siblings, declares that he plans to get married, the sisters devise a plan to speak him out of it, revealing the deep-seated animosity they've for each other. The romantic drama The Hows of Us stars Kathryn Bernardo, Daniel Padilla, and Darren Espanto.

Any benefit thisAlvin Yapan filmevaporated when word got out that a canine was killed throughout production. Based on the true story of the "Gata Four Massacre" in Caramoan, Camarines Sur, it received a number of accolades and obtained positive critiques. The dog killing, nonetheless, resulted in Senate hearings and closed-door meetings. The scene was eventually edited out, but its impact has one way or the other lasted. Have you ever come across a movie so controversial, so bold that the President needed to step in to ban it from public viewing?

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Anyone who didn’t will nonetheless benefit from the 5 stories’ easy however meaningful takes on adolescence. Another more distinctive Filipino love story that came out in 2019 wasIsa Pa with Feelings .

It seems to be the case for lots of the nation's most groundbreaking movies. Mang Kepweng was a popular comic strip by Al Magat a couple of humorous village albularyo. The character was dropped at life by comedy legend Chiquito and it spawned a number of installments, with Mang Kepweng and Son being the fourth film within the sequence. Dindo Fernando, Vilma Santos, and Hilda Koronel play a person, his wife, and his lover on this Danny Zialcita film about the intricacies of marriage and adultery. The in style Filipino movie won six prizes on the 31st Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards , including Vilma Santos' third Best Actress win.

It’s a type of films where the protagonist has to make a tough alternative – on this movie, K’na has to make a sacrifice between her village clans and real love. all not on Netflix – can now be accessed freed from cost, due to the kind hearts of our filmmakers. We’ve listed 10 of these local films – from blockbuster hits to horror movies – under. It’s a black comedy by the use of city fairy tales and magical realism. It has impeccable use of cinematic language — from scoring, to cinematography, to editing.

It reached P880 million box office mark after a month of hitting the cinemas. The movie is not a typical “LizQuen” love story that showcases the Philippine Art and nostalgic 90’s vibes. It depicts the story of a pair who faced many challenges from their school romance to turning into actual adults entering the real world. 2019 has been a great yr for Philippine cinema as it supplied numerous motion pictures that entertained a lot of Filipinos throughout the globe. You can watch more award-successful Netflix Originals, documentaries, motion pictures and TV reveals by choosing a plan that’s best for you.

The film tells the story of the romance between the young couple, Primo and George, who dream of building a life collectively and are already devising their future. However, their plans are put to the take a look at when they're confronted with obstacles that put their relationship in danger. Set in the Philippines in 1972, the drama From What is Before stars Perry Dizon, Roeder, and Hazel Orencio.

The movie tells the story of Elsa, a Filipina villager who claims she has been visited by the Virgin Mary. The go to changed her life as she now appears to have particular healing powers. Her newfound talent begins to trigger hysteria in her small village.

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This Jose Javier Reyes movie is known for being known as "a properly-made gentle porn movie" by none aside from then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Live Show, which was originally named Toro, depicted the lives of poor individuals who had to resort to performing lewd acts on stage to outlive. It is among the few extensive-launch movies that featured full-frontal nudity. After pressure from the Catholic Church, the President herself had to suspend it from airing on theaters. Though initially banned by the MTRCB, it was allowed to re-air after the title, which meant pay-per-view sex, was changed.

The film tells the story of Basha and Popoy, a young couple deeply in love who spend all of their time together. But when clashing ambitions and tensions come into play and the couple splits up, they're both feeling devastated and heartbroken. Strangely sufficient, pandemic motion pictures have turn into extra in demand because the coronavirus outbreak. If you have received the guts to sit by way of movies that observe the results of a virus, check out our suggestions. A record of greatest Filipino motion pictures would be incomplete with no Dolphy starrer.

It indulges the equipment behind the love team to flex its muscular tissues, creatively and financially, proving the online value of the pair by putting out an enormous-display romance that’s so rigorously calculated to a fault . And lastly, it indulges the actors to show their benefit as reliable actors, with tacked in confrontation scenes and weepy dialogues that profess the true nature of formulaic love. The marriage is a attainable gateway to a greater life however Teria’s leaving, the way in which the movie is a one-take shot of her going across the island earlier than reaching the pier, more so embodies the ills and the heartaches that kind the core of the Filipino diaspora. Are the “mainstream” and “indie” labels even applicable nowadays, when budgets and industry don’t considerably differ?

If it’s a matter of sensibility, how can we distinguish when “impartial” filmmakers are directing studio-backed motion pictures, whereas established actors and filmmakers from the big networks are also increasingly going “indie”? And let’s not even delve into the query of whether or not it’s primarily based on notions of quality.

Produced by then-married couple Nora Aunor and Christopher de Leon, the World War II-set drama follows Rosario , a woman deserted by her lover when he joins the Resistance, solely to then fall in love with a Japanese soldier . But Hello, Love, Goodbye is the mother of all migrant dramas—and never why not pinoy movies just because it's officially the best grossing Filipino film of all time. The dramatic motion crime movie Metro Manila, set in Manila, Philippines stars Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, and Althea Vega.

The story revolves round beautician Coring as he takes in Nonoy , who is the son of his crush. With Lino Brocka behind the digital camera, Ang Tatay Kong Nanaydelves into the themes of homosexuality and single parenting through a comedic lens. This Filipino film is a traditional rich-woman-poor-boy romance delivered to life by actors Vilma Santos and Bembol Roco and director Celso Ad Castillo.

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The movie follows the story of Oscar Ramirez and his household who flee a lifetime of poverty in a small village in northern Philippines to the bustling heart of Manila. The quick paced lifestyle and hardened locals quickly overwhelm the household, and Oscar should do what he needs to to survive in the massive metropolis. The romantic drama One More Chancestars John Lloyd Cruz, Bea Alonzo, and Derek Ramsay.

[whitecrownsblackthrones-archived]

Chosens|The Line of Infinity

As part of a deeper dive into the lore & creation of the Immortal Realm world, I will be diving into the many Chosens that were selected by Ying & Yang throughout the years, as the Chosens have shape the world more then anything. Note that, I will not be doing ALL of the chosens which existed, as some of them aren’t notable or worth talking about. I will be talking about them in no particular order, so bear with me, as I may be jumping from era to era. These characters will also be available for rps, but only via request.

In this installment, we will peak into the lives of the mystifying Lord Masters of the Mystic Arts, with their secretive lives & traditions, however, we will only go into deep drives on three people of this honored line, the two Lord Masters who acted as Chosens, Diamond & Nickel Infinity, & the current Lord Master, Quartz Infinity.

Note: Later in a different post, there will be a deep drive into the Original Lord Master who began this long line of masterminds & magical experts.

Face-Claim(s): Lyse Hext, Final Fantasy XIV(Stormblood version) | Taki, Soul Calibur | Zhuge Liang, Dynasty Warriors 9

Originating from one man, by the name of Isorin Infinity, the Line of Infinity is a name passed on, from one generation to the next to those who are demeaned worthy & powerful enough to carry the title of Lord Master of the Mystic arts. There is a zero bias standard for this title, meaning when a female comes to possise this title, it does not change to ‘Lady Master of the Mystic’ but remains the same as ‘Lord Master’, & is not passed down through any blood connection to the current standing Master, only to those who are powerful enough, meaning there is no limit to who can stand to become a possible Lord Master. Race, gender, origins, beliefs, even criminal records are completely irrelevant to the standards of becoming a Lord Master, only power, wit, discipline & having the presence of an open mind matter in this field. Because of this, there have been many, many cultural changes in the home shine, named ‘Mystic Shine’ of the Lord Masters, believed to be found in the northern mountains of the kingdom, Lyttona.

Traditions

With the coming of each new Lord Master, traditions states that they much surrender their birth name & take on a new one, of which their new last name will always be ‘Infinity’, likely to represent the forever on going line, & their new first name must be a known mineral of the earth, to represent the home world they were born upon.

Living at the Mystic Shine means living similar to that of a hermit or even a monk, to live off the land around them. Chores, studying, & much time meditating. There is also much time spent exploring the multiverse, as the goal of the Lord Masters is to explore & understand the multiverse around them. To discover all it’s secrets, both good & bad, to gain the knowledge that other beings are otherwise unable to handle. Lord Master are also known to live incredibly long lives, even by age immortal standards.

A Lord Master is also forbidden from dating or getting married, if they are single when they first approached for training, & must renounce all worldly possessions, for must their focus must be to that of their study of the multiverse & that alone. It is believed to, that the hermit lifestyle, combined with not seeking out partnership & having no valued possessions will grant the Lord Masters the quickest access to Heaven upon their death.

The Mystic Arts

The Mystic Arts itself is often compared to wizardry & witchcraft, in truth the mystic arts compacts both of these magics, plus a few others, including(but not limited to) elemental manipulation, eldritch magic manipulation, some reality warping, inter-dimensional travel & dimension manipulation. Each Lord Master has their own preferred & favored form of the magic, but all of them are required to be able to preform a majority of mystic powers, if not all. More powers are always being added to the list of mystic spells, as Lord Masters are always creating new sort of magics & abilities. 

To perform these arts, the user should have a certain degree of physical strength to be able to continuously cast these powerful spells, without such begins to take a tole upon the user’s body. As such, it is a requirement for Lord Masters to have their body in a certain physical condition at all times, usually done through undertaking some sort of fighting training & practice, though it appears the style of fighting does not matter.

Nickel Infinity

Of the three Lord Masters, Nickel was the first chosen to become a Lord Master. Born under Lady Ying’s gaze, it is known she originally hailed from Vlaqinn, but there are no records of what her birth name was, or what her childhood was like. First records of her appear in 1000 B.E, when she was sighted as a shinobi-in-training, undergoing Karate, Taekwondo, & Ninjutsu combat training, while also studying magical arts closely with remarkable skills in both. She appeared to know at the beginning of her life what she wanted too do, noting many times in her personal journals that ‘she knew ever since she was a baby, that she wanted to be the next Lord Master. Like the gods themselves were guiding her to this fate.’ Such eventually lead to her taking her master’s place as the Lord Master of the Mystic Arts.

She is noted mostly for her strange ability to light her body up with symbols when casting spells, as well as her favor towards espionage based magics. Invisibility, shadow movement, mist creations & other of these sorts she used to suit her shinobi based fighting style. Supposedly, she was also the creator of the Oblivion Blade, which was originally a Kodachi, before the blade was found by Queen Figg(a chosen who lived after Nickel’s time) & was transformed into a longsword. It is unknown what the purple energy in the sword is, but it was sighted by Nickel in her person journals to ‘slay all that is unwanted, & that which should not be’. By this, it is believed that Nickel may have used this weapon to kill many times before, but what is unknown & unclear.

Nickel was know as a woman of a serious nature, her duty must come first, it must always come first. She did not like to make small talk, & was noted as something of a mute. Her position was no game to her, & rightly so. She also had something of an ego, her position as Lord Master was serious, & as such, everything she says & does must be taken serious as well, as she liked to think, but this is often lead to the gaining of much pride.

Nickel was believed to have died around 2019 B.E, a shorter life then what most Lord Masters live. The Lord Master, Mica Infinity, was known to have come after Nickel’s death.

Diamond Infinity

Born under Yang’s sigil, Diamond appears first in 2050 B.E, a few years before the coming of the Death Plague that would ravage the world. Because of this even less is know about her then normal Lord Masters. Though she is sighted as a survivor of the Death Plague, who went on to live until 5971 B.E. Few who knew her called her a joyous spirit, who enjoyed the outdoors, & loved to do painting & needle pointing in her free time, if she was not mediating. She was always calm, but she always had something of a light in her voice, that showed her enjoyment of life.

It is unknown where she originally was born, the best theories suggest she hailed from Jailiam or Vlaqinn, as she was noted to be able to write in the languages from those countries(Latin, Koran & Japanese).

Her favorite use of magics appeared to be those like levitation, teleportation, transformation & the use of power seals & signs for varying effects & uses. Diamond was also believed to have an incredibly powerful form of foresight, more powerful then the foresight normally used by other Lord Masters. She also appears to have greatly studied a form of martial art, but which one & how many has been left unclear.

She was also noted to be a great beauty of the ancient world, often called ‘One of the Seven Greatest Beauties in the world’. The saying ‘Shine bright like a Diamond’ was originally ‘To shine bright like Diamond’ & was to compare a person(usually a woman) to Diamond Infinity, meaning they were beautiful, wise & powerful as Diamond was.

After her death, the next Lord Master know to take her place was the man called Natrolite Infinity.

Quartz Infinity

As of 9818 B.E to now(2020 A.E.), Quartz Infinity was served as the Lord Master of the Mystic Arts. He is not a chosen by any means, but has much knowledge about chosens, including the ones of the current day Princesses Ann Yang Li & Suzanne Ying Li. 

Quartz is described as a humble man, who enjoys late nights under the moon, & spending his time away doing calligraphy & stargazing with his favorite cup of tea in hand. His preferred form of physical training is Jiu-Jitsu, specifically Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to use only as a defense measure, while his preferred forms of spells appear to be all wind-based spells. Showing he is easily a man who wants to avoid all conflict, & will not strike until all opinions have been exhausted.

It was by his advice that the old war that once ravaged the world came to an end, after assisting the King of the Intelligence Kingdom, John Li, in organizing a Declaration of Peace & having the Kingdoms of the world come together to sign it. This massive feat has earned Quartz much respect & adoration from across the Immortal Realm.

Today, he still lives at the Mystic Shine, though it may be that he is looking now for someone to take his place as Lord Master, to be blessed with a worthy protege.

[ichigo-daifuku]

Love Holiday

Wizardess Heart+ Fanfiction [Read on AO3]

Zeus Brundle/Liz Hart

Liz Hart, an excellent wizardess, casts a spell and ends up finding her soulmate.

Zeus Brundle, the pinnacle of all creations, alive or dead, summons his.

Valentine's Day Fluff

Word Count: ~4.2k

After class ended, the warmth of the sunset had rained down the academy. In the Prefect’s office, Alfonse, Caesar, and I were finishing up some paperwork when an unfamiliar bird flew through the window. It carried a package wrapped in a beautiful cloth in its claws. The three of us watched in wonder as the bird set the package on Caesar's desk. Afterwards, it perched itself on a tall stack of books nearby.

"Hey, Caesar. You got something from Hinomoto?” Alfonse asked as he walked towards the bird.

"I think this is from my friends," Caesar responded while untying the knot of the package.

"That's right! Didn't you study in Hinomoto for three years?" I asked Caesar.

He laughed in response. "You remembered."

"Of course." I laughed as well. He mentioned that little tidbit when we first met.

Out of curiosity, I went a few steps behind Alfonse. Despite my experience with animals, I have never seen such a colorful bird as this one. The creature had a red wattle and an indigo hood. Its dark green plumage shone like emeralds under the beams of the sun. The gray tail of the bird wagged in slight motions as we gazed at it.

"Wow! Do you know what it's called?" I asked Alfonse.

"This is a green pheasant," he said as he leaned down and observed the creature from various angles, like one would to a specimen. "It's a popular familiar from Hinomoto."

Without warning, the bird gave out a loud squawk which made Alfonse lean away.

"The bird is asking for some treats, Alfonse," I gave the best translation I could for him. That bird sure had an attitude…

"Oh, right." Alfonse took some sort of herb from his pocket and gave it to the bird. After it had taken the treat in its beak, the bird flew out the window.

"Aww... It's gone," Alfonse said, disappointed.

"It's probably just going to go around the academy. I'll have to send my reply, so it's going to come back," Caesar assured Alfonse. "Hey, check these out!" He gestured at the contents of the unwrapped package.

We turned to Caesar's desk and sure enough, it was filled with gifts of all sorts. Big and small. Heart shaped and pyramid-shaped. There was even a jar of paper cranes!

"You've got a postcard here." I pointed out.

"Could you read it for me, please?" he asked, still busy as he unwrapped the smaller gifts.

"Sure." I picked up the postcard. In the photo was the younger Caesar with his friends under a giant cherry tree. "To our dearest Piggy," I began.

"Ugh..." Caesar's reaction on the nickname was the same as ever.

"How have you been? You've got some chocolates from your admirers for this year's Love Holiday. Wow, you're still popular here as you can see. We hope they'll get to you in time."

It was a day before Love Holiday, a special day that only came once a year. It was a day when couples all around the world reaffirmed their feelings for each other. In Hinomoto, the women expressed their affection by giving chocolate. At least, that was what I heard once from Azusa.

As soon as I read about the chocolates, Caesar rummaged through the sea of gifts and found the cute boxes tied with red ribbons. He opened one of them and offered some chocolate to us.

"Hold on, there's more," I told him. "There are also some gifts from us, so you can find your Princess Piggy. We miss you, Caesar! Come visit us in Hinomoto soon!" The postcard was signed by the class which Caesar belonged to in Hinomoto. I thought of how close he must be with them as I set the postcard down the table.

Curious, Alfonse asked, "What do they mean by that?"

"It's probably this one." Caesar held up a book with a red cover, flipped it open to a certain page, and passed it to Alfonse.

“The Red String of Fate,” the blond read the title out loud. “Oh, this is quite interesting, isn't it?”

The passage from the book said that in Hinomoto, two people whose fates were intertwined would meet each other no matter the time, place, or circumstance. The invisible cord which connected people was called the Red String of Fate. The magic spell would make the invisible string visible.

"Why don't you try it, Alfonse?" Caesar said and took out a pig-shaped chocolate from one of the boxes.

"What?" Alfonse looked up from the book in confusion.

"You're just scared you'll find a venus flytrap on the other end." Caesar laughed and proceeded to eat the chocolate.

"Why don't you be the one to try it, Caesar?"

"Me? Nope!"

Alfonse turned to me and asked, "Do you think he's just scared he'll find a pig on the other end of it?"

"No way!” I shook my head. “He'll probably find someone's familiar," I laughed and played along Alfonse's joke.

"Now that you mention it..." Alfonse pretended to consider and narrowed his eyes, "I bet it's going to be Seth. Remember when Piggy Caesar thought Seth was going to eat him?"

"How could I forget that?" I giggled. "But I'm gonna put my bet on Taffy. I wonder how Randy would react, though."

Alfonse gasped. "But what if…" he said in a whisper, "Elias…”

I feigned surprise. "Oh my. Didn't he turn into a boar the other day?"

"Again," Alfonse nodded. “My little brother…”

"Guys, I'm still here…" Caesar said, his eyes closed in frustration.

As Alfonse and I laughed at his reaction, Caesar turned to me and suggested, "Why don't you try it, Liz?"

"What? Why me?"

Alfonse nodded in enthusiasm. "Yeah! You've never tried Onmyo-jutsu, right? It'll be fun!"

It'll be fun, he said.

"W-Well, since I've never tried, I'm not sure how I should do it."

Caesar handed me the book which was still flipped open to the page of the soulmate spell. "You just have to write these characters in the air." He pointed at the section of the page with a larger text. There were numbered arrows as guide on how each stroke began and ended.

"Huh? But what if I make a mistake?" I told them, worried.

"You won't!” Caesar waved his hand in dismissal of the pessimistic thought. “You're a skilled wizardess after all."

"What do you say, Liz? Want to try it out?" Alfonse asked.

I gave it some thought. "Okay, I'll try it!" After all, what could possibly go wrong?

"I'm excited!" Alfonse said.

“Me too. This will be interesting,” Caesar chimed in. “Anyone in particular you want to see on the other end of the string?”

The hues of someone's vibrant gray hair flashed through my mind.

I hid a blush and quickly dispelled the thought. “Well, I don't want it to affect the results.”

“Oh, so there is someone!” Caesar teased.

“She's right, though,” Alfonse agreed, “It would be best to clear your mind when casting this spell.”

Caesar nodded. “Well, go on, then.”

I held the book in one of my hands and began to trace the characters in the air with the other.

“運命の赤い糸”

(うんめいのあかいいと)

(unmei no akai ito)

The moment I finished the final character, a magic circle with a red glow appeared on the ground where I stood. It was written in more Hinomoto alphabet I did not understand. In a few seconds, the light shone brighter than ever and I closed my eyes in reflex.

“Did it work?” I feared that I failed the spell, just like the old days. But it would be understandable since this was my first attempt in Onmyo-jutsu.

“Take a look,” I heard Caesar say.

When I opened my eyes, everything looked and felt normal. When I brought my hand up to check the results, it was then that I realized I succeeded with the spell.

A magical thread was wrapped around my pinky finger in a few loops, as an actual string would. There wasn't a knot or if there was, I couldn't see it. The red string seemed to pass through the middle of the door without a problem.

“Whoa…” Caesar tried to touch the string but it went right through his hand. “I have to admit, this is kind of cool.”

“Let's follow it,” Alfonse suggested.

“But what if it's not someone from the academy?” I told them, “Who knows, it might be someone from overseas, like Queensblade, maybe?”

“Well, we won't know unless we try searching for its end,” Caesar said.

Alfonse nodded. “Let's just look around the academy. If the string goes beyond, let's go back.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

When we went out of the office, there were Day Class students who were still present and walked around the corridor. While they passed through the string, they acted as if nothing was there.

“They can't see it, right?” I asked the two.

“Hmm…” Alfonse held out the book and started to read around the section where the spell was written. I didn't even notice he brought it. “It says here that those only present when the spell is cast would only be able to see the string.”

Relieved, I said, “Okay. Thanks, Alfonse.”

“Come on, let's go!” Caesar said.

The three of us walked around until we reached the courtyard. The orange glow of the sunset made it a bit difficult to see the string.

I squinted my eyes as I tried to see better when Alfonse asked out of the blue, “Hey, is the little prince your soulmate?”

The little prince?

“You mean 'baby prince’?” Caesar joked.

“Huh?” I turned to see Lucious as he walked towards our direction with his hands in his pockets. “N-No way!” The Prince of Nighttime couldn't possibly be the one… He's like a little brother to me!

As I thought in panic, Lucious reached us with a bored expression in his face. “You look suspicious. What are you guys doing?”

“Erm… This is going to sound a bit strange, Lucious, but could you – um…”

“What is it, Baroque? Spit it out.”

“Hi, I'm Alfonse. Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile on his face and reached a hand to Lucious to shake.

“I know who you are, Goldstein. What are you on about?” Lucious took his hands out of his pockets and nudged Alfonse's hand away.

“It's not him,” Alfonse said.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“What are you talking about? Tell me what's going on!” Lucious demanded with an angry voice. Caesar gave him a brotherly pat on the back and proceeded to fill him in with the details.

“This sounds fun so count me in,” Lucious finally smiled and said.

The four of us walked through the courtyard as we chatted. The sky's color darkened as time passed which made the glow of the red string more apparent, although invisible in the eyes of Lucious.

Soon enough, we found ourselves in the deeper parts of the academy.

“Don't tell me…” Before I could finish my sentence, the red string has led us the last place we expected it to; the academy's graveyard. It still creeped me out no matter how many times I've been here.

We stopped walking and our line of sight followed the path of the string. It seemed to stop in one of the coffins.

Caesar ran the other side of the said coffin to check. “The string doesn't go through this side. It ends inside.”

I marched to the coffin. Upon closer inspection, it was etched with script I didn't recognize. I took a deep breath and set my hands out to open it.

The bright light from my palms made the script glow in response. With a rumble, the lid of the coffin opened by itself. Its inside emitted hazy fog and green light.

Caesar peeked in the coffin's inside. “Oh, it's the entrance to the Night Class.”

“Caesar, don't tell me you expected a corpse would be my soulmate?”

“O-Of course not!”

One by one, the four of us climbed into the coffin. In no time at all, we were underground. I tried my best to step down the staircase correctly. The red string glowed within the darkness but it wasn't enough to be a light source.

“Ouch! That was my foot, Alfonse!”

“Sorry, Lucious.”

Their voices echoed through the void. Within a few minutes, we arrived at the section of the path lit with pale blue candles that made our journey down a little bit easier.

“Well, we're here,” Lucious said once we reached the bottom of the staircase.

Alfonse tapped my shoulder. “Are you nervous?”

“No, not really,” I answered. “I just hope it's not Viggo.”

“Talking about me behind my back, losers?” a voice spoke from the entrance.

“Viggo,” Caesar greeted with a sour expression on his face, “How nice to see you.”

“Technically, you were the one behind our backs, Viggo,” I informed him.

“Whatever,” he replied and narrowed his eyes at my raised pinky finger. “Out for some tea, are you?”

Before any of us could reply, Viggo had left with a swish of his Night Class robes.

“Ugh, let's go.” Caesar was first to follow the red string's direction.

The Night Class was such a stark contrast from ours. Every time I pass by their hallway, I couldn't help but make an internal comment about its resemblance to a prison. It used to scare me at first but little by little, I think I've gotten used to it.

The red string went on for quite some time. I was beginning to think there wouldn't be an end to it when Alfonse pointed out that it was bent to a different direction. In our quest to follow the string's direction, we found ourselves in front of a familiar door.

An angry voice from inside the room was audible from where we stood. “Didn't you see?! I finished it before you? So I win!

“No, I finished eating the last one before you,” another voice said, this one a little bit calmer.

“No way! I did! You've never beaten me in a hotdog eating contest!” There was a loud noise as one of the chairs fell down to the floor.

“No, I won. Don't assume you can always win. It's me this time.” A shuffling sound, as if the chair was pulled upright.

“Whatever! Let's race with hamburgers now!” By this time, the voices seemed to be louder, nearer.

“Sure. I'll win no matter how many times we try.”

“Humph! You'll regret saying that!”

The door flew open and a gaudy orange scarf welcomed my view. When I peeked at the hand which held the knob, I was overcome with shock. My vision focused on the rings he wore and the red string around his little finger.

Zeus Brundle, the pinnacle of all creations, alive or dead, was my soulmate.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” he asked, the bicker with Hiro temporarily forgotten, surprise evident in his voice.

“We were… um…” Caesar tried to find an explanation, in shock as well.

Before he could even finish his sentence, a magic circle appeared under my feet. In panic, I took a few steps backwards and managed to hold onto the person beside me before I started to fall.

The next thing I knew, I was back to the Prefect's office with Alfonse.

What just happened?

“So…” Alfonse spoke, “Zeus, huh?”

That night, Caesar sent me a magic note that said not to worry since he and Lucious made up a white lie to get Zeus off our backs with the sudden appearance of the magic circle. At that moment, I couldn't be more thankful to my friends.

I needed time to gather my thoughts. The next day, I found myself avoiding their main subject of interest.

After one of my morning classes, I saw Zeus in the corridor as he craned his head around, clearly in search for someone.

“Hey, you!” His booming voice echoed through the corridor as I stealthily ran away.

It so happened that Elias had come out of an empty classroom. I recognized it as the one we used to practice magic in.

“Elias, help me!”

His amethyst eyes were wide both with shock and worry. “L-Liz? What's wrong? Are you alright?”

I heard the heavy footsteps of someone running towards our direction.

In panic, I opened the door and took refuge in the empty classroom only to leave Elias to deal with Zeus.

“Where is she?”

There was a long pause before Elias replied, “Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Goldstein Number Three! Where's Liz?”

“Hey! Why am I 'Goldstein Number Three’ now?!”

“Whatever, you Loser Day Class student!”

I can only imagine the glare Elias must be giving Zeus.

“By the way,” Elias finally replied, “Klaus is looking for you.”

“What? Why is he in the academy again?!”

And that was all it took for Zeus to be distracted and leave.

Later that day, I was walking back to the dorm when I saw some Day Class students playing Ladilz.

Guy was about to wave at me to join them when I saw that not only the Day Class students were there but also some Night Class students. The unmistakable orange scarf caught my eyes even from afar.

Sorry, Guy.

I pretended to be in haste and walked in a quick pace to the library, the last place Zeus would think of hanging out in.

It was nearly nighttime when I decided that my attempts to read in the library had been futile. I walked back to the dorm and sighed. I thought about the box in my bag and what I should do with it.

It was then that a sudden pale blue light glowed on the ground. I looked downwards in confusion to see a magic circle beneath where I stood. It was a peculiar circle with some modifications.

There was only one person who made magic circles like this.

The brilliant light grew stronger until it masked my vision. I closed my eyes at the intensity of the brightness and felt myself being transported.

The next thing I knew, I was in the office of the Night Class Prefects.

In the corner of the room was Alfonse, a worried expression on his face. Beside him was Klaus, who rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

Caesar was present as well, although he seemed awkward with the turn of events. Lucious stood there, eyes wide. Hiro sat in one of the chairs, sleepy as ever.

In the middle of room, standing with his jaw slack, was Zeus.

“Zeus,” I called his name and looked at him in shock.

“W-Wait… I – I…” the pinnacle of all creations, alive or dead, stuttered. While it would have amused me on another day, the confusion took over.

It was then that Zeus, cherry red in the cheeks, ran out the door.

I looked to my other friends for an explanation. “What was that all about?”

“Sorry, Liz.” Alfonse was first to break the silence. “You see, Zeus was ranting how you've been weird since yesterday…”

“So, he used summoning magic to bring me here?” I clarified.

“Yes,” Klaus replied. “But not in the way you think.

“Caesar said something about soulmates,” Lucious told me. “And Zeus being Zeus… Well, you get the picture.”

“After King Kook's failed Strange Taffy summon,” Hiro rubbed his eyes and began to say, “That idiot wanted to show off his summoning magic and bragged how he could probably summon his… soulmate.”

As the pieces connected together, I ran to the door to follow Zeus.

There was only one place he would be right now.

I was right. I found him there in his usual table in the Night Cafe, as he stared blankly in the distance, a drink on the table untouched.

“Hey.” He turned to me with a slight shake of surprise.

When I sat across him, he didn't stop me. He kept quiet, which was so out of character for him it worried me.

I wondered how I should talk to him.

Zeus tapped his fingers twice on the table. In no time at all, a drink in front of me appeared. It was a vivid orange on top and a transparent red all the way down. A slice of orange decorated the rim of the glass.

“Thanks.” I looked away and took a sip. This drink took me back to the first time he took us here in the Night Café. It was the same one he got for me.

We spent the entire time in the Night Café in silence. When we finished our drinks, the both of us stood up and he mumbled something about walking me back to my dorm. I didn't mind.

We walked side by side in an uncomfortable silence and by the time we reached the academy's courtyard, I couldn't take it anymore.

“Zeus,” I began by calling his name, still clueless on how to approach the situation. “I'm sorry… for being weird.”

“You'd better be!” Zeus frowned, slightly back to his usual self. “Care to explain?”

So, I did. I told him about the Onmyo-jutsu and did my best to recount the events that transpired yesterday. I couldn't help but look away when I explained the part about the soulmates. After all, he did run away when he summoned… me.

When I finished my story, Zeus had his arms crossed as he reflected on what I told him.

I sighed and opened my bag. I took out the small box I kept there and cast a Clesko spell to turn it back to its original size. I've got nothing to lose at this point, so might as well.

“This is for you.” I handed him the box tied with a blue ribbon.

He looked at it with wide eyes but took it, nonetheless. “What's this?”

“Open it.”

When he did, he looked even more surprised, if that was even possible.

“You mentioned that you wanted orange cake last time,” I explained, “I baked that… yesterday morning.”

“Before the Hinomoto magic?”

My cheeks burned in embarrassment. “Yes.”

He hummed in response and seemed to be pleased with my answer.

“I figured you'd get your fair share of chocolates today so I wanted to give you something different.” I internally facepalmed as I babbled but I wasn't done yet. “I didn't know if I should give it to you… I don't want you to think that I'm only doing this because I found out that you're my… soulmate.”

Even if Zeus and I had an affinity with each other, it didn't necessarily mean that we would end up together, that I knew. Still, I wanted him to know how I felt for him.

“The truth is,” I gulped nervously, “I like you, Zeus. I've liked you for a long time now.”

I looked away, terrified of what his reaction might be. After my confession, there was a chance that Zeus would feel awkward and never talk to me again.

Or would he? After all, I was only a single line in his long list of admirers.

My thoughts were interrupted by his sudden outburst.

“Y-You – ! I was supposed to confess first!”

What?

I raised my eyes to meet his and couldn't help but notice that his cheeks were as flushed as mine, if not more. It was endearing.

He set the box on the bench near us and in a sudden motion, a bouquet of red roses was thrust into my hands. Did he have this all this time? Where did he even keep this?

An elegant white paper was used to wrap the flowers and a red ribbon tied them together at the bottom. The roses themselves were not in full bloom yet, but the flowers were larger than a typical rose.

“Wow… They're so beautiful…” There was nothing else I could describe the flowers as.

“Of course! Those are from our family's garden after all!” Despite his proud retort, the tone of his voice lacked its usual arrogance, as if he was relieved of my reaction.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. In Queensblade.”

Oh, right. Zeus was from Queensblade.

The words I uttered yesterday echoed through my mind.

“Who knows, it might be someone from overseas, like Queensblade, maybe?”

With the ridiculousness of the situation, I laughed harder than ever.

“Hey! What's so funny?!” Zeus demanded, no doubt confused with my antics.

I flung my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes. “Thank you, Zeus. I'm so happy.”

After a few moments, he finally responded. “I like you too, you know? Since the very first day.” He wrapped his arms around me in return, in the same way he returned my feelings for him.

“What? Really?”

“Yes, really.” He began to run his fingers through my hair. “So, are we dating now?”

“I don't know.” I looked into his blue eyes, never been able to admire them as closely as before. “Are we?”

Under the moonlight, Zeus and I shared our first kiss. I knew, from that moment on, the fragrance of red roses would always remind me of this moment.

This work was posted on AO3 during Valentine's Day (Love Holiday)!

[tomcuddlesfic]

God of Mischief & I

TITLE: God of Mischief & I

ONE SHOT / MULTICHAPTER: One Shot

AUTHOR : tomcuddlesfic WHICH TOM/CHARACTER:  Tom x Loki

GENRE: fluff / romance / FIC SUMMARY: What happens when you catch the God of Mischief causing mischief? Caroline is on a date with a nice guy. Just not the right guy according to Loki. When Loki takes a joke too far, they both might just learn that not everything is all fun and games after all.

RATING: R --There’s light smut

AUTHORS NOTES/WARNINGS: It’s been a long time since I last wrote something but I FINALLY watched Thor: Raganork (I know I’m beyond behind) and I was intrigued by Loki. I normally don’t write Loki Fan fiction just because he does little to nothing to me but after reading an interesting article about how people blame their little accidents on the god of mischief instead of their own clumsiness, I thought that was fun to write something based on it. 

Also, I wrote this in third person and it shifts from past/present and also from focusing more on one character’s emotions at certain times and then it alternates. It might get confusing so I apologize in advance.

AS ALWAYS FEEDBACK IS MUCH APPRECIATED OKAY ENJOY.

It was all his fault.

Caroline was on the floor, knees scraped and stinging. She squeezed her shut in hopes of holding back her tears but it was no use. Her shoulders dropped as she let out a quiet sob. A figure blocked out the light casted from the street lamp beside her. Growling, she looked back at the man who made a mess of all things.

“You’re hurt.” The man stated plainly, hands in his trouser pockets. He seemed bored of her like she should get up now and continue to play along with his game.

“Thanks to you.” Caroline spat. Before she knew it, the man scooped her up in his strong arms. One minute she was on the street outside of the bar and the next, she was in an expensive looking apartment. She blinked several times, sure that all the alcohol she drank during her date with a bald accountant named Jerry that her friend Melissa set her up with had something to do with it. Caroline was sure she blacked out and only woke up now to the stranger’s apartment but if her suspicions were correct, blacking out had nothing to do with it.

Loki didn’t set her down until he made to his bathroom in the master suite. He had told himself he had gone a joke too far and didn’t want the human to suffer anymore and that’s why he didn’t set her down right away, allowing her to walk to the bathroom herself and not because of the fact that he enjoyed the feel of her womanly curves pressed against his body. The human sitting before him had caught him in his act. Usually, he was discreet. Nobody saw him cast small spells that resulted in what humans called little accidents or clumsiness. But she saw. Her brown eyes had looked past her pathetic date to him just as he flicked his hands in the air, casting a spell to knock over the beer on her date’s lap. She had narrowed her eyes, intrigued by the coincidence. Just as she looked away, he wanted her attention back on him. Loki waved his hands again, this time casting a spell to knock over her date’s chair just as he was sitting back down from cleaning up the mess on his lap. Her gaze immediately went back to him. Loki smirked at the memory of her sauntering towards him in her pretty summer dress and short heels. She was beautiful for a mortal.

“What are you doing?” Caroline had demanded. She knew she was acting crazy. There was no such thing as magic. But seeing the smirk on the handsome man’s face made her think she was right all along.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  The man brought the crystal glass filled with amber liquid to his lips, smiling before taking a sip.

“I see what you did.” She had said with as much intimidation in her voice as possible. However, at only five foot three, it’s hard to be intimidating to a man who easily towered her judging by his long sleek legs stretched out before him. “I don’t know how you’re doing it or what exactly are you playing at but this date is important to me so find your entertainment somewhere else.”

Loki grinned at the memory of earlier tonight. He couldn’t resist especially when he was confused as to why someone so stunning would waste their time on a pudgy middle aged man who didn’t have the slightest idea in seducing the opposite sex. He had also found out her name through tuning into their conversation. Caroline. A name fit for a small thing like her.

Throughout the night, he had made more accidents happen. Until her date had rushed off when a bottle of ketchup exploding on his white shirt just as he was squeezing some out on his plate for his fries. The woman had looked over him, eyes narrowed with hatred. She was cute even when angry, he had thought.

“You are despicable!” She had stomped her foot, yelling across the bar to where he sat. People had looked at her like she had gone mad. Without another word, Caroline stormed off only to mysteriously trip on her own two feet.

“Let me take a look at you.” Loki retrieved the first aid kit from under the washroom sink. After being banished to Earth, he had found his healing powers to be weaker and in need of medical equipment created by humans.

“Don’t touch me.” Caroline sniffled, shifting her leg out of his way just as he was about to inspect it.

Guilt flooded his senses. This was new to him, he realized. He had caused his father to fall into slumber, betrayed his brother multiple times, tried to rule New York, and killed countless beings and humans but nothing compared to the guilt he felt when he saw the tears he had caused to fall down her face. Without thought, Loki reached out and gently brushed the few tears off with the pad of his thumb. They both froze in that moment, staring at each other.

“Just who exactly are you?” Caroline gulped, her eyes searched his face for answers. He was so close to her, she could see the multiple shades deep green of his irises. One hand still resting on her bare knee and the other gently on her neck, he sucked in a quick shallow breath.

“Loki.” The trickster replied quietly like he was confessing his sins in church. He almost barked out a laugh at the sound of his cracking voice. A God himself, feared by many for his supernatural powers, and fearless in great wars is found vulnerable and weak before a mortal woman. Loki studied her neutral expression, aching to move closer to her. The space between them was little but yet he mourned the distance. He was captivated by her.

“You have a strange name.” Caroline’s broke into a slow smile. She was slightly inebriated from the cocktails she gulped down after the disastrous date the man before her caused but the warmness spreading through her body had nothing to do with the alcohol.

“Not as strange as my attraction for you, princess.” Loki returned the shy smile before hesitantly lowering his mouth inches to hers. He could smell the sweetness of her scent, drawing him in. He cleared his throat, blinking furiously to clear his clouded vision.

“How do you do that?” Caroline tilted her head so she could see his face. The bathroom was spacious with a luxury tub, a shower, and a sink with enough counter space to dine on but somehow when he was in it, his presence and body made it feel so small.

‘Do what?” Loki said with nonchalance, ripping open a package of sterilized wipes. He gently wiped down her wound, feeling more and more awful every time she winced and jerked her leg.

“The tricks.” She leaned forward, taking her lower lip into her mouth. “You’ve been waving your hands all night and every time you do that, things happen.”

He nodded his head, unable to meet her eyes. Would there be judgement in them? Fear? He was too afraid to look because if he looked, the illusion of someone who didn’t fear him for what he was would end. “Short answer would be that I’m a God. God of Mischief to be exact.”

Caroline tilted his chin up with the crook of her finger so he looked directly at her. “You know that’s pretty cool. Except the part where you know you ruined my date and made me fall on the floor.”

Loki laughed, feeling relief for the light banter instead of delving deeper into the reasons for his guilt and shame for who he was. He continued bandaging her up, stopping when she rested a hand on his. When she tipped forward again due to her drunken state, he caught her in his arms, their faces dangerously close to each other.

The desire and need to kiss her was strong. His heart thundered, his head grew dizzy, and his body hummed as saw her eyes look at him with lust. This wasn’t mischief or mind controlling powers. This was a woman who desired all of him.

It wasn’t right.

Of all the morally wrong things Loki has done in his existence, he knew it was even too much for him to ruin someone so pure and so good like Caroline. He was beyond worth saving. A God who was unredeemable and didn’t deserve happiness for all the destruction he has caused.  Just as he was about to pull away, Caroline grabbed his shirt and kissed him.

Caroline felt his whole body freeze. Through her hazy gaze, she saw his eyes had widened, fixated on her. Maybe she had been reading the signs all wrong, the thought quickly passed in the back of her mind. Cold panic flashed her senses before she abruptly pulled away from him only to have his hand on the back of her neck draw her back into a deep intoxicating kiss. He devoured her, parting her swollen lips, tasting her sweetness. She groaned, hands grasping his shirt to pull him right against her chest. Loki easily maneuvered his body between her soft thighs, feeling the heat of her core against his hard cock. He wanted her. He needed her.

Large calloused hands ran up her silky thighs, drawing up the flimsy fabric of her summer dress, exposing the wet stain on her white panties. Loki growled against her neck when pushed closer off the edge of the bathroom counter to rub herself against him. He could feel her wetness seeping onto his trouser pants. This woman was going to be the death of him, he realized as he ripped down the thin straps of her dress to reveal full breasts topped with pink nipples that begged to be suckled. Tearing down the rest of the fabric, she was left with nothing but her panties in front of him.

“So fucking beautiful.” Loki moaned as he cupped her breast and brought a nipple in his mouth. Swirling his skillful tongue around the hard tip, he ran his hand down the soft curves of her body, squeezing her ass before slipping into the front of panties.

“Loki!” She gasped, finger nails digging deep into his biceps. “Please.”

Many mortals have begged and pleaded for his mercy but the sound of sweet Caroline begging for him and the only release he could give to her was nothing compared to it. His heart thumped wildly against his chest as he looked at this mortal that wasn’t running for the hills, afraid of him but instead trusted him enough to expose the most private parts of her body and soul to him.

“I got what you need, princess.” He whispered harshly into her ear before dropping a kiss on the crane of her neck. His long fingers slipped easily into her hot slick folds. Her tiny body thrashed against him when his thumb pressed down and circled on her clit.

The friction was exhilarating. Caroline voluntarily spread her thighs wider for his better access as she dropped her head back, feeling every sensation through her body. Her toes curled as he fit one digit up her pussy, filling her in a way she never experienced.

“Fuck.” Loki spat out as he continued to pump his finger in and out of her tight hot cunt. There was no way she could be as tight as she felt around his finger without being an innocent. An unfamiliar possessive need raged throughout his body.

Mine.

The word burned in his mind. Caroline was his. Nobody will ever come close to her ever again as long as he was still alive.

Curling his finger inside her, Caroline squealed when he found the spot that seemed to be where every single one her nerve endings began and met. A need within her that she didn’t know she had was fulfilled as he continued rubbing the spot. She was on the brink of exploding around him. Her breath caught her throat as the ache grew and grew until she couldn’t contain it anymore. Bright bursts of light filled her vision as pleasure overcame her entire body.

He continued his motions as her pussy quivered, tightening and releasing around his thick fingers. Her body was so responsive. So needy. So beautiful. He watched intently at her, storing every second of her orgasm in his memories, not wanting to forget any moment of this stunning sight. It was expected of him to be the playful trickster everyone had known him for. He would be unattached with little to no emotions. Sentiment was definitely not a part of his agenda. But deep down, he knew Caroline struck a nerve. He didn’t countless women when he could have one.

Caroline shivered when she felt her thighs slipping against each other caused by own juices. She slowly fell forward into his warm chest, arms circling around her and catching her before she fell to the floor. Caroline knew it would be silly to think anything could begin from this. The handsome devil standing before her probably didn’t feel the same strong connection she felt. Of course, leave it for a virgin to romanticize things that weren’t actually there.

Loki smoothed down her hair, dropping kisses on the crown of her head. Slowly, he inserted an arm under the back of her knees, swept her up, bridal style, and carried her to his bed. Her eyes were closed, face flushed, and looking as perfect as all the stars in the galaxies.

Tucking her in, he laid a soft kiss on her cheek, not missing the small smile that curved her lips when he pulled away. Loki knew he should go. These powerful emotions stirring inside his chest were overwhelming and he needed time to sort them out. Just as he was turning away, a hand clasped around his wrist, stopping him in his tracks.

“Don’t go.” Caroline pleaded, fully awake. “Please stay.”

Loki studied her. Without another word, he gently removed her hand and stepped back, unbuttoning each button on his dark silk shirt, revealing lean muscles that rippled under his pale skin. He dropped the shirt on the floor, moving his attention to his belt. Her gaze fixated on every movement he made. And if he wasn’t already a God, he knew that with just her eyes looking at him like the way she did now, he would feel like one. Hell, he even felt like the honorable one people actually worshipped. His pants soon joined his other clothes on the floor, leaving him only in his black boxer briefs that did nothing to hide his thick erection caused by her and only her.

She gulped when he walked around the bed, slipped under the covers, and drew her right against him. Her bottom nestled perfectly against his thickness, allowing her to feel just how hard and hot he was.

“Loki.” Caroline whispered, adjusting her position before the arm draped around her waist tightened, stilling her motions.

“Sleep, princess.” Loki murmured into her ear, lifting off some of the pressure of expectations for the rest of the night. “I ask nothing from you tonight but don’t test my patience. I find it running very thin with you almost naked around me.”

Caroline remained quiet, chewing on the bottom of her lip. She knew this was a horrible idea. She barely knew the man lying beside her but the attraction between them was undeniable. Turning around so she faced his chest, she cocked her head up to see his eyes closed, pretending to sleep.

“Shouldn’t I do something?” She asked ignoring his earlier statement about sleeping. It seemed only fair that he sought for his release as she did hers. Her hand trembled as she trailed it down his muscled stomach, feeling him suck in a breath before seeking lower and lower until her fingertips grazed his hardness. She gasped when Loki grabbed her hand in his and stopped her in her place.

Loki squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

“Woman, the only thing you need to do is sleep.” Loki grounded out through clenched teeth. When he opened his eyes, he met wide brown eyes filled with uncertainty. For a brief second, he caught the look he was all too familiar with pass her face. She felt humiliated. Still holding her hand, he brought it up to his mouth before kissing it softly and allowing her to cup his face. He turned towards her touch, seeking warmth and love. “You’re the only person who has ever made me feel like this. It’s madness. Of all my years, I’ve never felt this way so please, Caroline. I’m trying for once in my life to do the right thing. And the right thing is to give you time and to not rush into things we’re both not ready for. We can take things slow, yes?”

He looked into her eyes, searching for answers. Once again, he found himself showing the most vulnerable sides of him to a woman that managed to break down all his walls.

For a moment, Caroline was sure Loki had only done what they did out of pity. So when she offered to reciprocate pleasure and he flat out refused, it hurt. She might not have been a sexual goddess but she knew she wasn’t all that unattractive. But maybe it was her inexperience that made him uninterested in taking things further. She felt embarrassment to suggest such a silly thing but his next words were like a balm to her stinging wounds.

“Yes.” Caroline nodded, chewing her lower lip before speaking again. “So this isn’t a one night stand?”

“I don’t think I can ever let you go after this let alone let it be a one-time thing.” Loki scoffed sarcastically before hushing her to go to sleep.

[defendersofaurita]

Title: Retrace I: What Defines

Author/Artist: AnchoredTether

Rating: M [graphic depictions of violence, major character death, dark themes]

Pairings: Plance [Pikelavar], Kallura [Thunderyun]

Series: Defenders of Aurita

Chapter: 7/?

Summary:   With the evil wizard Dakin defeated, Block can finally save his village from being turned to stone. Meklavar seeks to retrieve the Jewel of Jitan, Jiro needs to avenge his master (and twin brother) and slaughter the Leviathan, Valayun continues her search for the runestone, and Pike seems to have an agenda of his own. Revelations are brought to light and a mysterious ranger may be the key to solving their problems.

Note: Chapters with ��Retrace” in their title are flashbacks!

CH 07 :: RETRACE I : WHAT DEFINES

There was no indication for being dragonborn.

Princess Yekaterina didn't find out until she was thirteen.

She was watching King Samuel and prince Matvey practice fighting, with her father teaching her brother various defensive and offensive spells. She couldn't cast magic and always felt a deep longing and disconnect when she watched the brightly colored spells bounce off their shields. It was simultaneously beautiful and begrudging.

She should have probably been reading up on history books or helping her mother with the gala invitations, but she snuck to the outdoor arena and hid under the wooden bleachers, her honey eyes watching fervently between the gap of the seats. She could hear her father give instruction between their parries and watched how her brother's blue markings and her father's green illuminated each time they started to cast a spell. Even though the only markings on her skin she could see without a mirror were the ones that graced her collarbone, she was disheartened to know she would never see hers glow as her father's did.

She watched them practice nearly every day and every day was the same mix of fascination and disappointment. This time was different, however, when Matvey cast a fire spell and Samuel deflected it…

Sending the fire straight toward the wooden bleachers where Yekaterina hid.

They were horrified when they heard her screaming but it was quickly cut short when Katya realized she wasn't in pain. She pulled herself free from the fiery wreckage, half of her dress burned away and her face set in confusion. She was completely missing her sleeve and a chunk of her skirt, the rest of her yellow dress in tatters and covered in ashen streaks. She looked down at her bare arm as if it weren't a part of her, her father's concern barely reaching her ears as he knelt down and his hands held hers.

"Katya, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Only when his hands gently held her face and forced her to look him in the eyes did she resurface from her daze. "Why… am I not hurt…?"

After putting out the flames with a water spell, Matvey stood next to them and looked from his father to his sister and back again. "Did I cast the spell wrong…?"

"No, it wasn't an illusionary spell it was well cast fire." Samuel pointed to the blackened hole in the benches. "It clearly burned through the wood, it should have burned through your sister as well."

"It burned through her clothes, but not her skin…"

Samuel stood up, his face pensive as he looked down at his daughter. "Matvey, help your sister get a change of clothes and both of you meet me back in my study." He turned to head back towards the castle, picking up his sword and shield as he left.  

  ][ --- ][

  "You think I'm what?"

"Dragonborn." The doors to the study were shut, leaving the royal family in quiet privacy. Samuel stood behind his desk where several tomes lie open, while Katya and Matvey sat in armchairs, Colleen timidly standing next to her daughter with a hand on her shoulder. "The records speak of legends of dragonborn and how they were immune to fire… individuals who bore the soul and power of a dragon."

"Isn't that a myth?" Collen asked. "Just some fairytale from ages ago?"

"How else could one explain why the fire did not burn Katya? Didn't even hurt her?"

"It didn't even feel hot…" Katya said softly. "It only felt warm. How is it that I've lived my whole life and never been burned until now?"

"It's not like you've ever worked in the kitchens, dear." Colleen reminded. The life of a princess wasn't one filled with inconvenient dangers. "Food that would have normally burned someone's mouth might have gone unnoticed to you all these years…"

"That explains the chicken pot pies!!" Matvey stood up with a sudden burst of energy. "One night she was chowing down on hers as if it wasn't a thousand degrees and calling me a pansy for being unable to eat mine until she was nearly done with hers! That was the night I realized my sister was dangerous…" He said in a far too serious tone.

Katya frowned at her brother then looked back at her father. "What does it all mean though? A-am I cursed or something? Have I not been an elf this entire time? Am I even your daughter?"

"Of course you're my daughter, Katya." Samuel reassured with a sadness in his amber hues. "There is much we do not know concerning dragonborn, and I'm afraid it will difficult to find the answers we seek. The last recorded dragonborn was hundreds of years ago, and what little is written down is obscured by legend and superstition. This discovery needs to remain a secret between us. We do not know how many people out there would try to kidnap you for your power or kill you out of fear. I will consult Alfor and Korhan since they may have some insight concerning the matter. Don't worry, Katya… I will learn all I can about this. You mustn't live in fear of what you are. Know that this doesn't change how much we love you in the slightest. You are still princess Yekaterina Telcontar, but more importantly… you are still my daughter." 

Katya held back her tears, nodding softly as she felt her stomach continue to tie itself into knots.

  ][ --- ][

 ][ music ][

Being a princess who lived in a castle offered little to no solidarity. If Katya wasn't surrounded by her family or nobles or teachers, there was always a guard or servant nearby. She went to the one place where she knew the guards would at least be at a greater distance, hopefully far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear her crying.

She contained the turbulent hurricane within herself incredibly well. When she wanted to cry she kept a strong face and nodded. When she wanted to fall to the ground and never get up, she kept walking. When she wanted to do nothing but scream she kept her frustration contained in curled fists at her sides. Her father decided she would have her training intensified so she could properly defend herself. While she was excited to practice more fighting (she already loved fencing with Korhan), she knew her teachers would not go easy on her, and they hadn't. She couldn't cast magic which meant she had to be twice as good at physical combat than the average soldier if she ever hoped to win in a fight against a sorcerer or mage. Being so short had its disadvantages as well… her training had so far been nothing but brutal.

Several days passed from her self-realization and she couldn't take it any longer. She briskly walked to the one place where she knew she could get a shred of privacy: the orchard. 

As to be expected there were several guards stationed around the walls that surrounded the orchard, but there were no guards within the lines of trees and it went on for acres. Once she crossed the fence into the orchard a guard acknowledged her.

"Oh your highness, are you going within the orchard? I'll have a few of us accompany you."

"No," She said a little too forcefully, and quickly decided to soften her voice, "No, it's alright. I… need some time to think. If I'm not back within say…. An hour, come and look for me."

"Yes, your highness." The guard said with a bow of his head.

She made her way deep into the rows of trees, past the pears and oranges and found herself amongst apples. She could only see two guards from her position and they were afar off. She let out a groan of frustration which sounded more like a growl. Every hurt and confusion boiled inside her until she felt it would consume her. She slumped down and pulled her knees to her chest, burrowing her head and releasing the floodgates. The sobs wracked her body and she hated the sounds that escaped her throat.

The crack of a branch snapped her head up as she looked wildly around for the source of the sound. Upon closer observation she saw beneath one of the trees several feet away from her had a basket of apples and a pair of shoes. She stood up, wiped the tears from her face and walked over to inspect the tree. She saw the source when she looked up into the branches and saw a boy grasped onto a branch. He was hugging it like cat stuck in a tree who was scared to come down… which wasn't too far from the truth considering he had feline ears and a tail.

"A-are you…"

"I'm sorry your highness!!" He squeaked, to which Katya just blinked in surprise.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"You startled me so I hid up here and then you started crying and then I felt really bad for not giving you privacy but if I leapt down from the tree that would have scared you so I just kind of stayed up here and…I'm sorry I didn't mean to intrude!!"

Katya was trying her best not to laugh at his adorable rambling apology. "It's okay, you're not intruding. You were here first. I would think I would notice you climbing up a tree… guess I must really be out of it…"

"Oh I didn't climb, I jumped." The cat boy said so matter-of-factly.

"You…" She looked from the ground up to where he was clutching the branch. "…jumped?!"

"Yeah. Easy-peasy." He pulled himself up and landed back on the grass only to demonstrate his jump as he launched himself back into the tree, swinging himself up onto a branch to perch upon.

She could feel her jaw start to slack. "You just jumped six feet."

"Yeah?" He said as if it were obvious. "All khaliit can do that." The claws of his cat-like feet dug into the bark of the tree and his tail swayed languidly as it helped him keep balance. Katya was staring at him a bit longer than she should have. The boy arched a brow. "Have you never seen a khaliit before or something?"

"Uhh what! Yes, of course I…" She folded her arms and pouted defiantly. "Well, not this close, no."

He laughed. "Well I've never seen a princess this close, so I guess we're even."

She smiled. "You can come down, you know."

"As you wish." He landed softly in the grass. The redness in his cheeks intensified, one of his ears flicking nervously. "I-I can go make a trip to the kitchen - I mean I've gathered a good number of apples - that way you can get the solitude you sought. I won't tell anyone about you crying, in fact, consider it wiped from my memory." He made a motion with his hand going over his head, ears flattening back with his hand to emphasize the point. He started to reach for the basket of apples but the princess stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait…" She felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. His wording stuck out to her, caused her to reconsider the solitude. "…Can you keep a secret?"

The boy looked at her hand on his shoulder as if it were something to cause the king to execute him. His sapphire eyes locked with her amber and she noticed this close that his pupils were slitted, a strange combination of both feral and beautiful. "Yes, your highness?"

She took a step back, releasing her hand and a sigh of relief. "I just found out I'm dragonborn. And I'm not handling it very well."

"You're… dragonwhat?"

"Exactly. No one really knows what it's supposed to mean. Supposedly it means I have a soul of a dragon… and apparently I'm immune to fire…"

"Wait, so you can't be burned?"

"No… that's how I found out all of this to begin with. My brother nearly cremated me."

The boy made a face, his cat ears pinning back. "And I thought my siblings were rough…"

"It was an accident… but still…" Her eyes fell to the ground. "I just… I feel like I don't even know what I am. And it scares me…"

The boy was already incredibly nervous being in such close proximity to the princess and now he was uncertain how to comfort her when she looked like she was on the verge of crying once more. "For a long time… I was led to believe I was nothing more than an animal…" He said softly, his expression sad. "It took me a long time to break that mindset, and I… actually still struggle with it sometimes… but you can't let one thing define you. You're not just a princess. You're not just an elf. You're so much more than that, and if dragonborn happens to be one of those traits, then… maybe it's not as bad as it seems to be."

Katya's brows furrowed in anger. "I sure hope no one here was making you feel like nothing more than an animal or I'll personally beat them to death."

"Oh no no no no it was no one here!" He waved his hands defensively, subtly scared at how aggressive she became over the matter. "M-my previous masters…"

"Previous masters? What were you…"

"A slave? Yes."

Her expression fell, the knots in her stomach tightening. "I… I'm so sorry…"

"It's nothing you need to apologize for. Your father was actually responsible for saving my family."

"How do I… not know about this?" She suddenly felt like she fit the stereotype of being a royal who knew nothing about her people, not even her own servants, and it made her sick to her stomach.

"It was a long time ago. I think you were only six or something."  

"Still… What's your name? I don't even know your name…"

"Pike. Pike Cimclan."

She nodded softly. "I at least recognize your last name. Is our head chef your mom?"

"That's her! We're the only khaliit in the castle staff that I'm aware of. There might be some in the royal guard who are khaliit, but there's so many of them there's no way I would know."

"I only know the head generals of the guard. My dad probably knows everyone individually." She sighed. "I'm just… so bad with names and faces and… people in general."

"Me too…" He agreed with a nervous chuckle. He blinked a few times then narrowed his eyes as he looked down at her with an encouraging smile. "But just remember that it's not what you are that defines you, but the choices you make. It's who you decide to be in your everyday decisions that define who you truly are."

Katya smiled at him, wiping away a tear from one of her eyes. "Thanks Pike… You've really helped me feel better."

"My pleasure. It was something my mom always taught me." He leaned down to pick up the basket of apples and grab his shoes. "I really should be heading back though, otherwise my mom will think I took a nap… again."

"Fair enough." She had to work really hard at holding back a giggle at the thought of the cat boy being prone to taking naps in the afternoon. She pointed to his shoes and then to his feet. "Quick question before you go, why do you wear shoes when you literally have paws for feet?"

Pike deadpanned. "They're not paws, they're khaliit feet… okay they're paws but for the same reason you wear shoes? I don't fancy having dirty or cold feet." He shrugged. "I take them off when I climb trees because I like to utilize my claws."

She gave a thoughtful nod. "I guess that makes sense. If you had fur would you still wear shoes?"

"I! I don't know! Probably?" He scoffed. "You ask funny questions, your highness."

"Sorry." She held up her hands innocently. "Curiosity killed the cat."

"Oh, we're making cat jokes now?" He asked in jest.

"Okay, that was pushing it, I'm sorry." They both laughed and Katya couldn't remember the last time she felt so light and carefree. Speaking with Pike helped ease her worries and lift her burdens, and she looked up at him with a warmth in her eyes. "Perhaps I'll see you around?"

"Perhaps." The way he said it felt like a promise. Before leaving he offered her a formal bow, then headed back towards the orchard entrance, calling over his shoulder, "Take care, your highness." 

Katya smiled at his back. "I will."

[braincoins]

Unnamed Urban Fantasy World-Building Bible

Okay, so at this point I’ve got most of the world built and relevant history gone through. As such, HERE COMES AN INFO DUMP. Some of this was in the previous post, but there honestly wasn’t a lot there. This should hopefully whet your appetite for what’s to come. 

Keep in mind that this is sort of “first draft” world-building. Things may be tweaked, thrown out, or altered later. (Also, the Blades section under “Lost Swords” formatted all weird, but it’s still legible, so I don’t feel like fixing it)

------------------- Cast of Characters -------------------

Keith Ward – orphaned son of Steven and Carol Smith (nee Krolia Kogane). Grew up in an orphanage with no knowledge of his parents. Immediately after high school, enrolled with the CPD and entered police academy, where he met Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane. Graduated and is a full-time CPD officer; his partner on the force is Iverson. Is still very close with Shiro and looks up to him like a big brother. Human with unknown elf heritage.

Katherine “Pidge” Holt – daughter of Samuel and Colleen Holt (nee Gunderson), younger sister of Matthew. MIT freshman who finds out her father and brother have both gone missing: Sam from his job as a CISA compliance officer at Galaxy IT Services and Matt after having taken a leave of absence from his job as a Computer Forensics Examiner at the CPD to go try to hunt up Sam. They’ve been missing for six months, and Pidge drops out of college to come back home to find them. Human Normie.

Darius “Hunk” Garrett – child of Dwayne and Ellen Garrett (nee Jorden), younger brother of Jasmin, older brother of Aliyah. The Garretts are Masks. Hunk is an alchemist who has a mobile lab based in a food truck. He also serves food, as would be expected. He learned both alchemy and cooking from his father, and he’s very close to his family. He also studies physics (as he believes it helps with his alchemy (and it does)) and is a very handy mechanic, keeping his old food truck up and going when it probably should’ve given up whatever ghost it had years ago (he bought it from a junkyard and fixed it up himself). His older sister is a bank teller but had no interest in alchemy; his younger sister is learning alchemy but wants to be a veterinarian. Human Mask.

Lance McClain – child of Scott and Juanita McClain (nee Garcia). Middle child in a pack of 8 children; Juanita’s widowed mother also lives with them. His two oldest siblings have moved out and one has started his own family (the other’s in college). The McClains are Masks, and Lance grew up with Hunk, as they’re the same age. They’ve been best buddies since grade school. Lance is a musician, and a very talented one, and he’s learned many powerful spellsongs. Spellsinging is considered a form of alchemy, using soundwaves, vibrations, pitch, tone, and rhythm to affect one’s environment instead of the more usual chemical, medicinal, or culinary forms (that Hunk knows). Lance chafes at the Masks’ rules but obeys them. However, he’s started noticing that he’s spellsinging when he doesn’t intend to be. Human Mask.

Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane – child of Kenichi and Yumiko Shirogane (nee Shimizu), older brother of Ryou. Shiro always wanted to be a police officer, to protect and serve. He felt it as a calling. Out of high school, he went to community college to study criminal justice, then enrolled in CPD’s police academy, where he met Keith. He graduated top of his class and became a CPD police officer. His partner is Harris. While at the CPD, he met and befriended Matt Holt. He wonders about Matt’s sudden leave of absence, but assumes his buddy is dealing with family stuff (as he said before he left) and is busy. Human Normie.

Allura ve Alfor, Princess of Altea – daughter of King Alfor and Queen Aetheria of Altea. Allura was trained in diplomacy, leadership, magic, and combat by her parents and her father’s advisor, Coran. She doesn’t know alchemy, but she knows her father’s code that he wrote his notes in. She is an excellent shifter, able to alter her appearance at will, though it takes energy to keep any form that is different from her normal one (how much energy depends upon how different the form is). Fortunately, she has an incredible reservoir of magical energy along with her own life force. Forbidden from joining the battle against the Dark Lord & Lady, she survived and agreed to be sealed away rather than forego her vengeance entirely. She is focused on avenging the death of her father and her people. At the last second, her four pet mice jumped onto her and became frozen in the crystal as well. One of the last true elves alive.

Coran vu Hieron – Royal Advisor to King Alfor before his death. Coran was a loyal advisor and friend and would gladly have gone into battle with Alfor had he not been tasked with protecting Allura. To that end, he also agreed to be sealed away, to stay with and watch over the princess. What he lacks in magic and shifting abilities he makes up for in seemingly endless knowledge. After he acclimates to 2018, he takes the somewhat more human name of Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe (he may have gone a bit overboard). One of the last true elves alive.

Honerva ve Cree/Haggar – Royal Advisor to King Alfor before she succumbed to darkness. One of the best alchemists of her day, aside from the King himself (who was strong in magic as well as alchemy). While he focused on training the human alchemist Myrddin, she believed that alchemy might not be wholly good. Using the motto of “all light casts a shadow,” she began searching for that shadow, hoping to set boundaries on such power so that it would not be misused. Instead, she went too far over that boundary and wound up corrupted by the Dark Lord Zarkon of the Daibazaal realm. His true form cannot be comprehended by normal mortals, and so she summoned him to this world by letting him take the body of Alfor’s best friend: Aetheria.

Zarkon twisted Aetheria’s body to suit his own needs, making it more powerful and less recognizably humanoid. He took her blade and warped it as well, making it his own dark weapon. And he took Honerva as his bride and high priestess.

Honerva began experimenting on humans and elves, using her knowledge of alchemy and her access to the dark energies of the cosmos to see what could be done to make them more powerful and more useful to Zarkon. She also began summoning the minions of Zarkon to this realm in preparation to conquer it. Alfor and Myrddin went to confront and stop her, with the army of Altea behind them. The battle was fierce. Myrddin, Alfor, and his generals (Blaytz, Trigel, and Gyrgan) fought against Honerva and Zarkon directly. The generals fell one by one as Myrddin shifted from trying to kill their opponents to simply containing them. As Alfor was killed, Myrddin managed to seal Honerva and Zarkon into a magical vault in another realm.

In Myrddin’s records, Honerva is only ever referred to as Haggar or the Dark Lady, just as Zarkon is only ever the Dark Lord. He had known (and loved) Honerva (though she had never returned his affections) before she succumbed to darkness. He could not reconcile the woman he had known with the creature he had fought, and so he gave her a different name.

Haggar desires only to serve her Lord and husband and to increase his power as well as her own. True elf corrupted by ancient dark magic; essentially a Dark Elf.

------------------- People, Places & Things ------------------- 

Alchemy – the combination of science and magic pioneered by the elves. Alchemy in its strongest form could potentially manipulate reality itself (essentially by fudging the rules or finding loopholes), but most modern alchemy focuses on the interconnections between all living things and the world upon which we live. Alchemy is most commonly thought of as chemical in nature: brewing potions, making salves & ointments, etc. There are myriad medicinal applications. Alchemy can also be used in combat, for self-defense, and in any sort of creation/manipulation endeavor. Cooking, baking, painting, writing, singing, playing an instrument, even assembling a piece of furniture or an engine. A strong understanding of physics can help open up the possibilities of alchemy.

Altea – Kingdom of the elves, destroyed 1,445 years ago. Its last crowned monarch was King Alfor. All alchemy originated in Altea. The kingdom was destroyed in 573 CE by the forces of the Dark Lord Zarkon and his Dark Lady, Honerva/Haggar.

The Church – as in the organization of Christian faith, most especially the Catholic Church. While it is true that the Church saw magic as antithetical to the power of the One True God, it was the destruction of Altea that truly convinced the Church that magic led to darkness. They characterized Zarkon and his armies as the Devil and his demons, and those who continued to do magic or alchemy as being like Haggar. At best, an alchemist would unwittingly bring evil into the world; at worst, they were an active helper in the schemes of the Devil. 

As monotheistic faiths - but most especially Christianity - grew, magic became vilified. Even suspected practitioners were exiled or killed. Most of the people who were hanged, burned at the stake, etc. for witchcraft were actually perfectly innocent, normal people. A few were Masks, either because of their use of alchemy or because they were taking the fall for true magical beings, as their oath requires. A vanishingly-rare amount were actual magical beings, and, of these, most were Shifters, not Witches.

Elves – What happens when True Fay interbreed with True Shifters. The elves helped the humans create alchemy, believing that science and magic could enhance each other and lead to a greater understanding of the cosmos. They also wanted to give magic-less humans a way to help themselves. Elves were long-lived, but not so much so as Fay; a typical Elf lifespan would be about five centuries. In 2018, the only Alteans/True Elves left alive are Princess Allura (Alfor’s daughter) and Royal Advisor Coran.

Fay – Sprites, pixies, gnomes, goblins, fair folk, wee folk, etc. The Fairies of legends and myths. Fay are typically mischievous and very scrupulous about their rules. They often delight in deceiving others with these rules, but clever people can find a loophole to turn the outcome to their advantage. Ever since the Rise of the Church, Fay have made themselves scarce in the world. Ironically, despite the Catholic stronghold in Ireland, the Fay are most easily found there, where the native people have seen no problem in worshipping the Christian God and still respecting the rules of the aes sídhe.

Technically the Fay live in their own realm, Faerie, separate from the human world (which makes it all the easier for them to hide away). This realm is not unlike Daibazaal from which Zarkon hails, in that it is a separate realm of reality with its own rules and natural laws. Faerie is a much nicer place than Daibazaal though. Fay are extremely long-lived, with normal lifespans in the millennias.

Galra – Technically the word “Galra” is Altean for “monster.” In 2018, it most commonly refers to the Galra Cult: the cultists who worship Haggar and Zarkon. They are the descendants of elves and humans who followed the Dark Lord and Lady before their defeat (but somehow survived the battle). Most cultists are human, but many have elf blood (even if extremely diluted) in their veins. They know only what’s written down, so they have no idea that Haggar has any name other than that; they are unaware that “Galra” is not really what they should be called (similar to how Neo-Nazis are unaware of the origins of “Nazi” as an insult). But they are fanatically devout. However, some people do leave the Galra; they’re typically hunted down and killed. 

Krolia was a member of the cult before she left, changed her name to the more inconspicuous Carol, and married Keith’s father. She was pregnant when the Galra found her and she barely escaped with her life; her husband wasn’t so lucky. She stayed hidden and on the run; when she gave birth to Keith, she took him to a Safe Place zone and left, hoping to spare her son from the bloodthirsty cult. Eventually she found others who had left the Galra; they’ve taken her in. She’s tried to keep track of what happened to her son over the years but is still too afraid to contact him. Just in case.

The Journals – King Alfor had five journals of alchemy, all written in a personal code of Alfor’s own devising. The first is a simple notebook, recording the alchemical knowledge already extant in the world. Volumes 2-5 are Alfor’s, Myrddin’s, and Honerva’s notes and experiments with alchemy, along with anything they could find about what others had concocted. They came up with new ways of constructing experiments, discovered more truths about the world, and became powerful. They established new concoctions and rituals, new potions and spells. The fifth volume specifically details the rules of alchemy as they were known to the three of them and sets out a method for safely and effectively using alchemy to create “on the fly” as it were, rather than just memorizing tried-and-true methods. The Masks have volumes 1 and 3 of Alfor’s journals; the Galra Cult has volumes 2 and 4. Volume 5’s whereabouts are currently unknown to the world at large, and that is because it was hidden in a place that only Allura knows.

The Lost Swords – A legend told in Mask families about five swords hidden from the world by Merlin, who feared their awesome powers would be used for evil. The Lost Swords will only appear when humanity stands upon the brink of destruction.

In reality, these are the five enchanted blades Myrddin made from the swords of Aetheria (Blade of the Black Lion), Alfor (Blade of the Red Lion), Blaytz (Blade of the Blue Lion), Trigel (Blade of the Green Lion), and Gyrgan (Blade of the Yellow Lion).

Blade of the     Black Lion –     originally the sword of Queen Aetheria, corrupted by Zarkon’s dark     energies. It was cleansed of its taint through the focused enchantments of     the other Blades, thus it was technically the last “created.” It is the     most powerful blade and carries a minor, basic sentience. It seems to…     remember its past and struggle with it. Its wielder’s desires can easily     tip the blade back into darkness.     Myrddin tied it to the energies of the sky, of storms, and of the cosmos.     It can call and channel lightning; temporarily blind people; lift its     wielder into the air and enable them to fly short distances; push people     back (or even knock them down) with powerful storm gusts; and allows its     wielder to use magic. Like all the blades, it also protects its wielder     from its own element. It also has the unique ability to temporarily     “borrow” powers from the other blades, so long as that blade’s wielder     focuses on doing so. (For example, for the Black Blade to borrow the Red     Blade’s power, Red’s wielder must stand still and focus their will on     channeling their power to Black. This often leaves them vulnerable.)     When the Red Blade’s power is     focused to the Black Blade, it can send short bursts of super-heated air     towards the target.     When the Green Blade’s power is     focused to the Black Blade, the storm winds can narrow and snap like     whips, able to draw blood from many rapid, powerful (but small) attacks.     When the Blue Blade’s power is     focused to the Black Blade, it creates torrential rain and full on     thunderstorms in a localized area.     When the Yellow Blade’s power     is focused to the Black Blade, the blade becomes unbreakable and its     wielder is granted an impenetrable shield wall (in front of the sword     itself)     When all other Blades’ powers     are focused to the Black Blade, it elongates (though doesn’t become     heavier), strengthens, sharpens, and burns with a magical flame. The Black     Blade can cut through reality itself if its wielder wishes.     Regardless of the Black Blade’s alignment, it will never, ever, ever harm Allura.     Wielded by Shiro

Blade of the Red     Lion –     originally the sword of King Alfor, who sacrificed himself to buy Myrddin     the time he needed to seal Haggar and Zarkon away. Tied to the energies of     fire, of passion, of purity. It can call and channel flames and protect     its wielder from the negative effects of heat and fire, including all     forms of radiation. The blade is always burning hot to the touch to all     except its wielder.     Wielded by Keith

Blade of the     Green Lion –     originally the sword of General Trigel. Tied to the energies of growing     life, of vitality, of logic. It can call and channel strong and/or thorny     vines. The blade is envenomed with a virulent toxin that will lead to     paralysis and, eventually, death; only its wielder is immune to it, as     they are to all poisons. They cannot be harmed by any animal or plant     found in this realm.     Wielded by Pidge

Blade of the     Blue Lion –     originally the sword of General Blaytz. Tied to the energies of water,     ice, and emotion. It can call and channel water and protect its wielder     from severe cold, as well as allowing them to breathe underwater so long     as the blade is drawn and in their hand. The blade is freezing cold to     anyone save the wielder.     Wielded by Lance

Blade of the     Yellow Lion –     originally the sword of General Gyrgan. Tied to the energies of the earth,     of stone, of unity. It can call and channel rock and stone, very useful     for forming walls and shields. It protects its wielder from suffocation or     paralysis, though its blade will petrify anyone (other than its wielder)     who touches it.     Wielded by Hunk

Masks – humans who are aware of magical beings and actively help hide them from those who would destroy them. Technically, Masks are as non-magical as any other human, but they still have access to alchemy. They take their charge of not revealing the existence of magic to normies (other humans) very seriously. Masks were as likely – if not more so – to be killed in witch trials and purges than true magical beings were, though the vast number of those killed in these witch hunts were innocent normies. Masks take an oath to protect the magical elements of the world with their life, but such a sacrifice has not been needed in many centuries. Technically they have typical human lifespans, but alchemy is often as good as and sometimes better than medicine, so it’s not uncommon for Masks to outlive normal humans by a decade or so.

Myrddin – known to most of humanity as “Merlin,” he was the greatest human practitioner of alchemy ever seen. Alfor apprenticed him when Myrddin was still a boy, and the two became fast friends. Myrddin was also smitten with Honerva, but she never returned his affections, and he never spoke of them to her. Still, he counted her as a friend, and she was friendly with him in their interactions.

Together with Alfor and Honerva, Myrddin helped create the bulk of extant alchemy in the world today. He also chronicled his life and the fall of Altea. He went mad after sealing away the Vault, the Blades (Lost Swords), and Allura & Coran. He became known as Myrddin Wyllt (Myrddin the Wild), a madman – some said a prophet – who wandered the land until his death.

Normies – humans who are unaware of magical beings or the existence of magic or alchemy as anything other than historical beliefs of superstitious peasants or the elements of fiction. It is rare that a normie is made aware of the existence of magic, but it happens occasionally. Usually a normie is then tasked with protecting what they have found; if they do not agree to become a Mask, they are typically killed or branded as crazy.

Shifters – those capable of changing their shape. True Shifters can look like anyone and can even take animal forms (thus giving rise to legends such as kitsune and werewolves). They can stay in whatever form they want for as long as they want and still retain their identity and minds (though Shifter hybrids – Elves and Witches – usually don’t have this ability). Shifters do not have animal-like senses unless they are in animal form, and even then they have the same advantages and disadvantages as those animals would have. Of all the magical beings, the Shifters are the ones who most carefully hide their nature from the world, as many of the legends of their kind paint them to be ravening beasts. Given ideal conditions, Shifters can live well into the 300 range, but nowadays it tends to be closer to 210 – 220. (Fast food hasn’t helped.)

The Seals – Magical locked doorways created by Myrddin. The first was a complete accident: Myrddin was trying to find a way to contain Haggar and Zarkon’s power when he saw King Alfor run through by Zarkon’s sword. The shock and horror (plus his already pumping adrenaline) enabled him to create the Vault and lock them away in some other realm. He had no idea how he’d done it.

He used alchemy to enchant, create, and link the five Lion Blades/Lost Swords, and then sealed them away in the same realm (though keeping them inaccessible to the Vault). The seals on the Swords were tied to the seal on the Vault so that when Haggar and Zarkon were released back into the world, the Swords would be, too. However, having no idea how else to create the seals, he re-focused on the trauma of that moment when Alfor was cut down. He replayed the horrible creatures he’d seen, the true power of what lurked in the darkness of the Daibazaal realm, all the friends he had lost. Rather than letting himself heal from his mental and emotional wounds, he continued to gouge them open, one seal at a time (for each Blade).

He used this same technique to enclose Allura and Coran in life-sustaining crystals and then to lock them with the same seal. The crystals will return to the world when the Blades do, but they can only be truly unlocked when in the presence of any one of the Blades. Then both crystals will be unlocked. This was a complicated sealing, and it took the last of Myrddin’s sanity to complete.

Undead – These are creatures created by magic (usually Fay or Witches) rather than being inherently magical beings. Usually they’re what modern Western culture would call “zombies” (in the sense of being unintelligent rotting shamblers; they typically aren’t cannibalistic unless created to be so). Ghosts can occur if someone dies from a Witch’s hex or a Fay’s curse.

Vampires – NO.

The Vault – The prison Haggar and Zarkon were sealed into. That prison was then cast into an alternate dimension (neither Daibazaal nor Faerie). This was the first seal and it was not tied to the others (though the Lost Swords’ seals were tied to the Vault’s). The Galra Cult eventually found a way to dissolve the seal, breaking open the Vault and returning Haggar and Zarkon to the world, about a year before the start of the story.

Witches – True Witches started out as human/Shifter hybrids (just as Elves came from Fay/Shifter unions). They look human except for golden eyes (still human eyes, just golden in color). They have limited ability to shift, and most take utilitarian forms such as a bird of some sort for travel, a fox or wolf for hunting, and a mouse, rat, or snake for spying. Staying in that form for too long will threaten their identities as they become more and more animal-like. Most Witches focus their increased energy reserves (from the Shifter blood) on doing magic. Modern Witches often do alchemy as a useful supplement, but historically it was considered a dilution of magic and no proper Witch would be caught dead doing that sort of thing. Witch magic tends to be very nature-based, and though most try to put more good than bad out into the world, a Witch crossed can be a VERY dangerous thing. A True Witch dying before 100 is almost unheard of; some have made it to 200 but that’s pretty rare. 150’s about a good average.

[starfan1934]

Part of Your Dimension Pt. 1

This doesn’t take place in the canon story line in any sense, but I tried to add plots from the show into this. It’s characters from SVTFOE, but I’m working towards the concept of the group of mermaids in H2O Just Add Water, a show about three mermaid friends with the one human who knows about them. But when Star Butterfly is one of the mermaids, you know things are going to get crazy.

Chapter 1

Marco yawned. “Come on, Marco!” Rafael said, lugging the tanks onto the boat.

“We want to get out there before everyone scares all the fish away!” Angie said.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Marco muttered. He helped his parents load everything else onto the boat and then hopped onto the bow. He cast off, and the boat slipped away from the dock. They headed out to the open sea. After two hour’s journey, Rafael brought the boat to a stop.

“Alright, family, we’re here!” Rafael said. “The newest reef restoration project site!”

“Honey, this is amazing!” Angie said as she looked at the crystal clear water.

“We have to document what the reef looks like now,” Rafael said, “So try to get photos of everything.” He handed his wife and son a camera, as well as a knife and spear gun. “Now, we don’t know if sharks will be around, so be careful.”

“Yeah, Dad, I know the drill,” Marco said. “Take photos, look for litter, and don’t touch anything alive.”

“That’s what we do!” Rafael said happily. “It’ll get you ready for college, right?”

“Yeah, Dad, sure,” Marco sighed. He put on his gear and stepped off the back. He sank into the water, paddling back to the surface to communicate that he was fine. He went off on his own, snapping pictures of reef formations and fish. He was watching the sand below him, swimming on autopilot, so he didn’t notice the girl until she slammed into him.

“Hi, strange creature!” she said, grinning.

Marco stared at her for a moment, and then he realized she was talking underwater. He also realized that she wasn’t wearing any dive equipment. “What?” he gasped, back-pedaling. He searched for his secondary regulator, and held it out to her.

“Oh, for me?” she asked, surprised. She took it. “What do I do with it?”

“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. He took it from her and pressed it to her mouth. She put it in her mouth and breathed in. She choked, and started coughing hard. She spat it out of her mouth, and took deep breaths of water. “What are you doing?” he asked, but then his eyes happened to wander down. They got wide as he saw her tail. “You’re a mermaid?” he asked.

“Mewmaid,” she said, hitting her chest to clear her lungs. “What was that?”

“It’s how humans breathe,” he said, “I thought you would need one.”

“Nope, we breathe water,” she said. “So you’re a human?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m Marco.”

“I’m Starfish Butterflyfish,” she said, “But my friends call me Star.”

“So where did you come from?” he asked.

Her face fell, and she looked down. “Um, well, I lived in another dimension, called mewni,” she said.

“Lived?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, still not making eye contact. Her tail was swishing up the sandy ocean floor. “I just turned fourteen, and on the princess’s fourteenth birthday she always receives the royal wand,” she paused to show him the wand strapped to her hand, “But I caused a lot of problems with it and I blew a lot of stuff up so I got exiled to this dimension.”

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“On this reef!” she said cheerily. “Here, let me show you my cave.” He followed her over the reef, staying a few feet to the left of her fins so she didn’t knock his mask off. He followed her to a shallow alcove with seaweed piled up. “Welcome to Butterflyfish Castle!” she said with a forced enthusiasm.

“What about staying warm?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m fine,” she said, waving away his concern. “There are hardly any cold currents in this area,” she said, “They don’t make me wake up shivering ever!”

“How often?” he asked gently.

She looked down. “A lot,” she said.

“What about sharks?” he asked.

“They sometimes stay away,” she said. She suddenly put her hands behind her back.

“Let me see your hands,” he said. He swam closer, looking at her face. She darted her eyes up but tried to avoid eye contact. “Please?” he asked. She pulled her hands out from behind her back, and he took them gingerly. He noticed that her hands were webbed, similar to a duck’s, so she couldn’t operate her thumb the same way a human could. Her knuckles were red and raw. “You punched a shark?” he asked.

“Their noses are sensitive,” she said.

“That’s really brave,” he said. She smiled shyly. “I thought you had magic?”

“I do,” she said, “I sleep with the wand under my pillow, but the shark bumped into me and woke me up, and when I held out my arm to cast the spell it tried to bite my arm and grabbed my wand, and it pulled it out of my hand. So I punched it until it dropped it.”

“You’re crazy brave, you know that?” Marco asked.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling more now.

“Anything other than your wand that’s important to you here?” he asked.

“Not really,” she said, looking around, “Why?”

“You’re leaving,” he said, “You’re coming to stay with me.”

“What?” she asked, surprised.

“My family hosts foreign exchange students all the time,” he said. “You’re just interdimensional instead of international. We’ve got a rehabilitation tank behind our house. My parents are marine biologists, and sometimes if a manatee or turtle gets really injured they need round the clock care, so my parents take care of them at home. The tank is heated, is deep enough for you to be far below the surface, and is wide enough for you to be able to stretch out while you sleep. I can probably carry you to the tank from the beach.”

“I can become Mewman if I need to,” she said.

“Really?” Marco asked.

“Yeah, as soon as I dry off, my tail will turn into legs and I’ll be a Mewman,” she explained, flapping her tail for emphasis.

“Do you want to just be a Mewman at our house then?” he asked.

“Well, I do have to return to water for at least six hours a night,” she said, “And on the night of the full moons I will be a Mewmaid all day and night.”

“Full moons?” he asked.

“Yeah, when all three moons are a full moon,” she said, “Do you not have full moons here?”

“We only have one moon,” Marco said.

“Whoa, that’s so weird!” Star said.

“So will you come with me?” Marco asked, holding out his hand.

“You’re sure it’s okay?” Star asked, “I don’t want to cause any trouble for you.”

Marco could hear the hope in her voice though, and the fear of him saying no and leaving her alone in an unfamiliar world. “It would be our pleasure,” he said. “Welcome to the family, Starfish Butterflyfish.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, and then yelled, “Hugs!” She grabbed him in a tight bear hug, and immediately hit her arm on his dive computer, tangled her arm in the hose for his regulator, and then hit her wrist on his tank. “Ow!” she yelled.

“It’s difficult to hug when I’m in dive gear,” he said, “Let’s wait until the boat and I’ll give you a hug, okay?”

“Alright!” she said cheerfully. He was amazed at how happy she was now that he had said she could go home with him. “This is a boat?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said, “What did you think it was called?”

“Metal whale,” she said.

“Just give me a minute, okay?” he asked, “Hop onto the back and then wait for me there.”

“Okay,” she said, swimming down. She looked up and shot upwards, breaking the surface and arcing through the air. She landed on the platform sticking off the back of the boat. Marco threw his flippers up next to her, and she pulled his tank up next to her once he took it off. He climbed onto the boat before stowing the gear. He pulled down one of the folding benches, and then stepped onto the back of the boat.

“Okay, here we go,” he said, kneeling next to her. He put one arm behind her back and one arm under the crook of her tail. He picked her up easily and set her on one of the benches.

“Marco!” Angie called. “We’re back!”

“Coming!” he said. He took their flippers and their tanks, and they climbed up onto the boat.

“Oh, hello,” Rafael said, noticing the girl but not seeing her tail yet. “Were you here before we left?”

“Mom, Dad, this is Starfish Butterflyfish,” Marco said, “She’s a Mewmaid.”

“A what?” Angie asked, and then her jaw dropped. “Oh, wow!” she gasped.

“Hello,” Star said, flapping her tail shyly. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Marco explained what had happened to her and what he had offered. “Of course you’re welcome to stay with us!” Angie said.

“Really?” Star asked, beaming.

“Of course!” Rafael said. “This is an amazing opportunity.”

“You don’t get to study her unless she wants you to,” Marco said, “She’s still a person.” He froze. “Oh, I forgot, she’s going to turn into a human soon,” he gasped, frantically looking for clothes for her.

“Mewman,” Star corrected.

“I have something,” Angie said. She went down into the cabin and came back with a beach dress. “It’s not an everyday kind of thing but it’ll last until we get home,” she said. She helped Star put it on, and then Star pushed herself up off the bench so she could push it past her butt down to her tail. A few minutes later Star winced.

“You okay?” Marco asked, sitting down next to her.

“My tail’s changing,” she said, “It’s just a little surprising the first time.”

“Here,” Marco said, holding out his hand. She smiled at him, and then took it. She squeezed tightly, and Marco gently squeezed back. He watched as her green fins paled and shortened, slowly turning into feet. Her toes formed last, splitting apart and then wiggling. The webbing on her hands disappeared, leaving normal hands. Her gills sealed up, and she took a deep breath through her nose. “Well,” she said, letting go of Marco’s hand, “That wasn’t so bad.”

“That’s good,” Rafael said. He was driving the boat back to the house. “So you have never been Mewman before?”

“Nope!” Star said, wiggling her toes.

“So you don’t know how to walk?” Angie asked.

“Not a clue!” Star said. “It can’t be that difficult, though.” She stood up. The boat happened to hit a wave at that moment, so Star wasn’t even upright before she was already falling onto her face. Marco caught her before she hit her head, and helped her back up onto the seat.

“Let’s wait until we get to solid land before you learn to walk, okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess that would be good,” she chuckled, embarrassed. “Why don’t you tell me about your world?”

“Alright, well, I guess I’ll start with school,” he said, and dove into an explanation of school.

Chapter 2

“Here we are,” Rafael said as they pulled up to the dock.

“Whoa,” Star gasped, “Your castle is amazing!”

“We just call it our house, sweetie,” Angie said, “But thank you!”

“What’s that?” Star asked, pointing to the giant building on the other side of a large fence.

“That’s the Echo Bay Marine Research and Rehabilitation Facility,” Marco said. “My parents run it.” He stretched, pulling his arm from around Star’s shoulder. “Alright, let’s get you inside.” He scooped her up like he had when she had a tail. He set her on the edge of the dock, climbed onto the dock, and then carried her to the house. “So, we don’t have any other clothes for you right now, but Mom will get some for you later,” he said. “For now you can take a bath I guess?”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“You sit in fresh water and get dirt and salt and stuff off you,” he said. “I saw a mermaid liked it in a movie I saw once.”

“Sounds cool!” she said. He carried her upstairs to the bathroom, setting her on the edge of the tub before turning on the water.

“Do you want it hot?” he asked.

“Not as hot as a volcanic vent,” she said.

“It won’t get that hot,” Marco promised. He poured in some bubbles because Star seemed like the kind of person that would enjoy bubbles. He was right, based on her squeals of delight. “Okay, you can take off the dress and get in the water once I leave the room,” he said. “When you’re ready to get out, drain the water, dry off, and put the dress back on.”

“Okay!” she said. “Thanks, Marco!”

“Anytime, Star,” he said with a grin. He went downstairs and helped his dad finish unloading the boat while his mom went shopping for clothes for Star. She came back with several bags. “These seemed like the kinds of things she would wear,” Angie said, holding up a green dress with a pink octopus on it.

“Mom, that’s so weird!” Marco whined.

“Oh, hush, it’s adorable,” Angie said. “I’ll take them up to Star.” Marco sighed and dropped onto the couch. He surfed the channels, searching for a good movie. He stopped on Splash, since that seemed right up Star’s alley.

“So, how do I look?” he heard Star ask. He turned to look at the staircase. Star was standing in the octopus dress, waiting expectantly for his review.

“You look great!” Marco said. As strange as the dress looked, it looked completely normal on her. “Want to watch a movie?”

“What’s that?” she asked, walking over.

“It’s a story you can see,” he said.

“Wow!” she gasped, hopping onto the couch next to him. “I didn’t realize humans had magic.”

“Well, we call it electricity, but it does seem like magic,” he explained. He offered her the bowl of popcorn, and she stared in wonder as she picked up a piece. She popped it into her mouth, and her eyes got wide.

“This is delicious!” she said, grabbing more. They sat back and watched a movie marathon, but during the second movie, Star’s head spun towards the window. “Did you see something?” she asked. “It looks like there was someone spying on us.”

“There is,” Marco sighed, getting up. He walked over and opened the window. “Janna, you’re not even being subtle about it.”

“Were you hoping I would be here?” she whispered.

“Get out of the bushes,” he muttered.

“Ah, so who’s your new lady friend?” she asked.

“Hi!” Star said, running up to the window. “I’m Starfish Butterflyfish! I’m a Mewmaid from Mewni!”

“A mermaid?” Janna asked. “Cool!”

“They’re Mewmaids according to her,” Marco said.

“Do some humans live in bushes?” Star asked Janna.

“No, Janna just likes to spy on people and doesn’t have a sense of personal space or privacy.”

“I see,” Star said. Janna’s face was an inch from hers, studying her shrewdly.

“So, did he rescue you from a woman-eating shark?” Janna asked. “Did you jump into his boat to escape a monster?”

“He invited me to stay here,” Star said.

“Whoa,” Janna gasped, “So he asked you to live with him? That’s a big step on the first date.”

“It’s not a date!” Marco protested. “She just needed a friend.”

“For now,” Janna said, “Who knows what you might need later?”

“Get out of here,” Marco said wearily.

“No, come watch movies with us!” Star yelled, dragging Janna over to the couch. “Have you ever tried this popcorn?”

“It’s great, isn’t it?” Janna said with a grin. She put her feet up on the table and started eating popcorn.

“No, Janna, please, come in, have some popcorn,” Marco muttered.

“So do you have a pet shark?” Janna asked.

“No,” Star said.

“Anglerfish?” Janna asked.

“No.”

“Vampire squid?”

“No.”

“Giant Isopod?”

“What’s that?” Star asked.

“A giant ocean bug,” Marco explained.

“I have a warwhal,” she said, “I like to find young warwhals in the wild and tame them.”

“Warwhal?” Janna asked.

“It’s the size of a dolphin, but has a giant horn on its nose,” Star said, demonstrating by holding up a finger to her nose.

“Oh, a narwhal,” Marco said.

“You Earth people have weird names for stuff,” Star said. She hopped up and said, “Hey, let’s go swimming!”

“Awesome!” Janna said. Star went upstairs to change and Janna ran next door. The two girls then ran out the door and over the sand.

“Hey, wait up!” Marco said. He changed into swim trunks and ran after them. By the time he got there, Star was already a mermaid again. She was doing flips and jumps, which Janna found awesome.

“So, can you do, like, dark Mewmaid magic?” Janna asked, “Sing to hypnotize sailors to drown them and eat them?”

“Oh, no, that’s gross!” Star gasped, grimacing.

“Sounds fun to me,” Janna said, shrugging. “Can you make me a mermaid?”

“Of course!” Star said. “Magical Fish Girl Transform!” The wand shot light from the top, and Janna was enveloped in a pink blast. When the blast cleared, Marco and Star screamed.

“What? What’s wrong?” Janna asked.

“Don’t worry, I can fix this!” Star yelled, panicking, “I think.”

“What happened?” Janna asked. “Why can’t I turn my neck?”

“Star did it backwards!” Marco said, freaking out almost as much as Star, “You’ve got the top half of a fish and the bottom half of a girl!”

“Wait, what?” Janna yelled. She started splashing around, screaming, “Fix it, fix it, fix it!”

“Um, Magical Girl Fish Transform!” Star yelled. Janna was turned into a real mermaid by that spell, and she now had a long black fish tail. Her hair fell aside, and something popped up from her forehead.

“What’s that?” Janna asked, tilting her head back to see. The thing fell forward and dangled in front of her face. “Cool, I’m an anglerfish!” she cheered. She scrunched up her face in concentration, and the tiny lure lit up.

“That’s so awesome!” Star gasped, “And it worked this time!”

“Good job, Star,” Marco said, “Let’s not do that again, though, okay?”

“Yeah, sure, fine, whatever,” Star said, waving away his concern. “It’s my wand, I can do what I want.”

“Not for long!” a creepy voice yelled. Something jumped out of the water, and Star pulled the wand out of the way just in time.

“What is that?” Marco asked as the strange crocodile fish man circled them.

“Ludo,” Star hissed, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the wand, Princess Butterflyfish,” Ludo cackled, “And I brought some friends.”

Shark-men, octopus-men, and lobster-men burst up out of the waves around them.

“Just you and me,” Star said, then added, “And all of them.”

“Don’t forget us,” Marco said, jumping onto a rock. He flipped through the air, landing with a hard kick on a lobster-man’s face. The crustacean crumbled into the water.

“You said she was unguarded!” Ludo yelled at a giant frogfish. The fish shrugged its fins.

“Not even close,” Janna said. She jumped towards Ludo, slapping him in the face with her tail so hard that he flipped upside down and fell on his head. Star jumped behind the monsters and yelled, “Giant Tuna School!” A massive cloud of Tuna the size of cars exploded from her wand, slamming into Ludo and his monsters. The weight crushed them, and the monsters ran or swam away as fast as they could.

“You all know how to fight?” Star asked, surprised.

“I do karate,” Marco said.

“I just fight,” Janna said. “It’s fun.”

“That’s so awesome!” Star said, “We can go on fighting adventures and stuff!”

“Eh, maybe,” Janna said, “Sounds like a lot of work.”

“I’ll go,” Marco said, and Star grinned.

“Well, I’ve got some dark magic rituals to study,” she said. “You all have fun with your light magic.”

“Thanks!” Star said, “You too!” Janna swam back up to the beach and turned back into a human. She walked back to her house. “Ready for another adventure?” Star asked, and Marco grinned as he nodded.