#which means at least in daemon stuff it makes sense why all their buildings seem primed for things much bigger than they are

[kariachi]

Okay, I may have made that post 40% so I could get those thoughts in line before coming over here and making this post, which mostly about the overarching changes daemons make to community construction with a partial focus on the alien species I work with.

So, as we’ve discussed previously, because most species on Earth are human-sized or smaller, most local’s daemons are human-sized or smaller. As a result there’s not too big of an overall change. Homes tend to be a little larger, personal space is held to a higher place as a general rule, communities tend to be slightly more spread out, community populations tend to be a bit lower. There’s a lot of more exacting changes in, pretty much everything, to accommodate daemons and their various shapes, but on a large scale the changes tend to mostly be with space allotment.

The same thing is the case for Osmosians and Perison, both of which are also on the large end for terrestrial species on their homeworlds- Perison moreso than Osmosians. Community populations are smaller, homes/dens are larger, personal space is a bigger deal. The general Osmosian population on the homeworld is smaller. Perison men who Settle as their equivalent of megafauna are less likely to marry. Osmosians are more often Separated than other species and hold a nicer view on the matter (it’s just, easier to end up Separated in the Osmos System, shit went down there and Osmos V is a massive semi-livable desert).

Lenopan don’t actually have much change, on the other hand. They already normally are pretty spaced out dwelling-wise, and have large-ish properties. It doesn’t hurt that, as I’ve mentioned previously, they’re one of the biggest species on their homeworld. Equivalent to something like a kodiak or polar bear on Earth. Pretty much everything on Haseil is smaller than a Lenopan, and by a good margin, so there’s not a lot of change necessary as a general rule besides a touch more personal space given.

Erinaens are actually where you see the biggest change, with severely lower population density, larger homes, and homes being made higher and lower on trees than in non-daemon works, though their laxer equivalent to the Taboo of daemon touching means the personal space isn’t so much an issue. This is because while all the species above are either megafauna or borderline megafauna on their homeworlds, Erinaens very much aren’t. On their homeworld they’re a medium-sized critter, sorta the equivalent of a racoon or coyote in comparison to the big leagues. This means that, while it’s still not the most common thing in the world, Erinaens are the most likely of the species I often work with to Settle as something as big or bigger than themselves. As a result, larger homes and more commonly with easier access to thicker branches, the sky, and sometimes even the ground in particularly bad cases, are more common, the larger homes necessitating fewer homes per tree, forcing the species to spread out more than in other universes.

[theplatinthehat]

*nails my piece of paper to Philip Pullman’s front door*

So, I made a joke earlier today about writing up my grievances with the world-building of the His Dark Materials trilogy. I genuinely didn’t think anyone would be interested enough to ask me about this. But someone did, so I’ve abandoned the actual jobs I needed to do today and went away to cobble together this post to summarise My Thoughts (and no-one was more surprised than I to find that there were more than two).

Let me say that these are my thoughts and opinions on this particular canon of work. I don’t judge anyone who likes them (hell, I love the idea of daemons and I certainly think there are some interesting concepts explored in the series) and you are more than welcome to disagree with me on any (or all) of the points that I outline below. And you’re certainly allowed to acknowledge that there are issues with a text and still find enjoyment from them. I’m not looking to Cancel anyone – I just have questions and I’m prepared to shout them into the void.

If anyone does reblog this, I ask that you don’t tag it with #hisdarkmaterials or #hdm, because that’s unfair on the people who are using those tags to curate a positive fandom experience.

Caveat to all of this – I haven’t read the books, but I have watched the current BBC/HBO series in great depth. I’m also writing a fanfic called The Shadow Mandate set in the world of His Dark Materials and that has required me to do extensive research and engage with multiple sources about the world. It’s as a direct result of this research that much of these questions and critiques have arisen. I am planning to read the books soon though (mainly so I can roast them more thoroughly)

Don’t send this to Philip Pullman (or Philman, as I will probably refer to him from here on out). 1 – he isn’t going to care what I say (he’ll just say it’s a metaphor and to not read too much into it or something equally as infuriating) and 2 – I don’t care what he says.

Now all that boring stuff is done, let’s get to it. I’m putting this all under the cut so the poor folk who want nothing to do with this can ignore at their leisure.

This will possibly get a bit tongue in cheek in places – just a warning

One Church to Rule Them All, One Faith to Bind Them

So, one of my main questions about the world of His Dark Materials is the Magisterium and the Holy Church. And that question is “How?”

Overlooking the fact that this was probably a conscious decision by Philman to Make A Point, I still have questions behind this behemoth of an institution. Based on my research, I’m of the understanding that Lyra’s world parted from our own when John Calvin became the Pope, and transferred the seat of Papal power to Geneva. After Calvin’s death, the Magisterium was formed and they consolidated power from there.

In my mind, this just doesn’t work. Because it makes it sound like Calvin was the only person standing between the Catholic Church and the Protestant Reformation. Whilst he had a big role in the Reformation, he just wasn’t the only person working for reforms (I mean – Luther? Hello? He had 95 problems, and Indulgences were all of them). You could probably argue with me on this, as he was a significant figurehead of the Reformation, but there were so many people working for change in Europe at the time that I would have thought that someone else would have taken that place (you can read more here).

The lack of denominations also doesn’t really sit with me because if there’s one thing I know about Christians, it’s that we love to argue over teeny-tiny details and build whole new ways of worshipping around them. The fact that the Magisterium doesn’t just tear itself apart is, to be honest, quite surprising. And, you know, the Eastern Orthodox tradition was already a thing at the time… (here’s a brief overview of the East-West Schism of 1054)

I’d also like to point out that Papal power was dominant in Western civilization. That leaves a lot of the world for the Magisterium to then suddenly gain power of. Or did Philman conveniently forget that Judaism (although the Jewish people had suffered significant persecution in Europe by this time), Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism (and many others) were all already very well-established religions in other parts of the world that I doubt would have taken too kindly to the Magisterium’s political advances. This idea of a religion having such a heavy-handed control over the whole world just seems a bit too far-fetched for me to believe.

However, I have to acknowledge that I say this as a white, Western Christian – perhaps people genuinely feel that is the case.

I do know that the witches are mentioned at having their own religion, but I can’t really find any information about it, so I can’t really compare them. It could well be that other religions and faith practices are mentioned in the books themselves, but I’m struggling to find them (do the shamans count? I’m not sure). Perhaps this is just me, but one religion consuming the whole world (or, at least, the vast majority of it) doesn’t strike me as particularly plausible.

 Beast from the East

This is probably my most serious critique of the series, and one that’s actually been the most nightmarish for me to deal with in my own expanded world-building of Lyra’s world for The Shadow Mandate. This is an issue that has been discussed at length Marek Oziewicz in the paper ‘Representations of Eastern Europe in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Jonathan Stroud’s The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series’ – which I highly recommend you read!

(And it dunks on Ms R*wling too – what a treat!).

I’ll do a little summary for those of you who haven’t got the time to read a whole paper:

The His Dark Materials trilogy is told from a very British point of view (understandable, the author is a white British man)

Britain is a positive and exciting place, where all the characters are individuals with the capacity for good or evil

The general geographical sense of the world-building is that the further East you go (in Europe) that the less ties the people have to the Holy Church and the more barbaric they are – see the Tartars and their ‘Breathless One’ practices

The Eastern European races are frequently described with qualities such as “cruelty, pitilessness, barbarism, fierceness, physical and emotional instability” (Oziewicz, p. 8)

A lot of nationalist stereotypes surround the peoples of these races/countries

I mean, the treatment of the Tartars (which is a living, breathing ethnolinguistic group) as a whole is pretty disturbing. They’re described to be like a ‘warmongering race of xenophobic genocidal humans who want to conquer the whole of the Earth’ (Quote) - compare that to the complexity of the characters from the West. Oziewicz notes that the Tartars are somewhat akin to the Imperial Guard of Star Wars, as their helmets have ‘no eyes – or at least you couldn’t see any eyes behind the snow slits’ (Northern Lights, p. 289). As far as I can tell, they’re pretty much just tarred with one brush – made particularly plain by the fact that all Tartars seem to have identical wolf/husky daemons – unless that was a requirement when the Magisterium put the job posting on Indeed.

So, a whole nation of people has been reduced to a single archetype – one that plays on existing prejudices in British culture. That just feels like extremely lazy world-building to me – I don’t know a single country or ethnic population that could accurately be described as one archetype.

I also feel that a lot of other countries in the world are written off with sweeping generalisations – or just kinda lumped together? So, a lot of my research has involved me looking at the canonical list of Globetrotter Maps, and a whole bunch of countries tend to get lumped together – particularly, I’ve noticed, the South American countries. It does this really intriguing and complex world a major disservice. As I said, this is something that I’ve had to grapple with for my own work – and I hope that I’ve done enough work so as to begin to dissemble what Philman started.

 A new and exciting way to get around the ‘G’ slur

For those of you who are unaware (although, you’re on Tumblr – how could you possibly not be aware?) the G-slur is considered to be a pejorative description of the Romani ethnic group, associated with idleness and itinerancy. It comes from the mistaken European belief that the Romani people came from Egypt (they aren’t). You can read more about that here and here.

Philman decided to name his ethnic group known for travelling and trading as they go ‘Gyptians’. I won’t insult your intelligence by explaining any further.

Should I let this slide with the explanation that the term is so pervasive in Britain that it’s actually a legal term? Perhaps, but I’m not going to.

 Kill Bill God

My only issue with this is that if Philman wants to kill God, he should kill… God. Not some angel with a superiority complex. But seeing how badly some people took it, I can understand why he didn’t. I still think he’s a coward.

 Sex, Dust and Dragons

I have a whole other bone to pick with Philman about his obsession with sex in children’s literature, but that’s not what you’re here to talk about. No, you came to hear about His Dark Materials.

It’s established in the world that Dust doesn’t settle on children because they don’t have experience – they are too innocent. Based on the research I’ve done, and the language used in both the film and the mini-series is this maturation from childhood to adulthood is though protosexual experiences e.g. kissing. And this is what Mary Malone’s role as ‘the serpent’ is – she’s the one that make Lyra think about her sexuality for the first time:

As Mary said that, Lyra felt something strange happen to her body. She found a stirring at the roots of her hair: she found herself breathing faster. She had never been on a roller-coaster, or anything like one, but if she had, she would have recognised the sensations in her breast: they were exciting and frightening at the same time, and she had not the slightest idea why. The sensation continued, and deepened, and changed, as more parts of her body found themselves affected too. She felt as if she had been handed the key to a great house she hadn't known was there, a house that was somehow inside her, and as she turned the key, deep in the darkness of the building she felt other doors opening too, and lights coming on. She sat trembling, hugging her knees, hardly daring to breathe, as Mary went on...

Marzipan, The Amber Spyglass

(That’s such a long quote)

It’s then made explicitly clear that it’s the intimacy of Lyra and Will’s relationship, and the touching of one another’s daemons, that causes Pan and Kirjava to settle in their true forms.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was right – love really does change everything.

Here’s where things get a little bit petty.

So, if Dust begins to settle on children once they’ve had their first ‘sexual awakening’ – what about those people who don’t ever experience that? Because, believe it or not, asexual people have existed for a very long time. If they don’t experience this, then would their daemons settle? What are the implications of this? Are asexual people remaining in the ‘childlike innocence of the Garden of Eden’? (Quote)

Asexual fans of His Dark Materials, I pass this question to you – do you lack a soul because you’ve never experienced sexual desire? Is sex truly instrumental on the road to maturation? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and what you’d do if your daemon never settled. Would you let them shift into a dragon? I know I would if I were in that position.

This issue, to me, is massively indicative of the prevalent attitudes towards the asexual community. There is a tendency for media products to portray a-spec people as immature because they don’t experience sexual attraction – which is just not true. The ace community has said many times that they feel that this attitude infantilizes their orientation, and it’s a view that needs to be challenged. Check out this source for more information on the microagressions faced by this community – section six is particularly relevant. Asexuals are mature – despite this lack of ‘experience’ that Philman seems to think all people need to have in order to become free-thinkers. This just isn’t true. I don’t understand why society seems to believe this theory, but with its prevalence in media it’s not too difficult to see why this view pervades.

Anyway, the only reason I’m so petty about this particular aspect is that I’m so bored of reading stories where sex and romance are the most important thing. I think heresy is a much more interesting sin than sex, so that’s what The Shadow Mandate will be about once I’ve finished it.

I also have some more minor world-building issues both in HDM and the later Book of the Dust trilogy including, but not limited to:

Why is it New Denmark? The Dutch were quite famous for reaching America – New Amsterdam being the original name for New York. Admittedly I’m only cross about this because I got mixed up in my own world-building.

There’s even more ‘othering’ of non-British races – particularly the Skraelings who are analogous to the Inuit people (but possibly a term for all Native-American peoples) who carry out ‘barbaric’ practices such as trepanning

Witches can’t forgive men that turn them down. Well I don’t have much of a problem with this as such, but it just makes me think of that quote about fairies from Peter Pan – “Fairies have to be one thing or the other, because being so small they unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time.”

The treatment of Pantalaimon by Lyra in subsequent adventures

Malcolm Polstead needs to leave Lyra tf alone

 I appreciate that this is a very long and whingy list about things that I don’t like, so congrats on making it this far! I’d love to give you something – perhaps your time back – but alas, my powers only extend so far. I appreciate that the His Dark Materials books are well-loved and that most people would probably disagree with what I’ve said – I just have lots of questions and Philman doesn’t have as many answers as I would like. But then again, should I really read this much into the work of a writer who seems willing and capable to ignore the personality of their protagonist for a whole book? I don’t know. But I do know, that axolotl daemons would require a lot of work.

(I have beef with Philman – thank you for humouring me)

Leave your hatemail in my inbox <3

[merlevum]

Dormiens rex De Aurora

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Final Fantasy XV Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum Characters: Gladiolus Amicitia, Ignis Scientia, Prompto Argentum, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Nyx Ulric Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, cyrofreeze, cryovat Summary: Gladio must travel through a fall Insomnia. Ignis does his best not to let him dwell on his thoughts. 

Gladio regained his strength and retained his body heat without needing extra clothing or the thermal blankets after the second day. The moment Gladio was given the go-ahead, he started his usual routine of stretching and limbering out his stiff body. A thousand years certainly had not been kind in that regard, but after the third day, he was feeling at least somewhat better. Ignis brought him clothes, showing him to a shower they had brought the second day Gladio was more fully awake. They warned him about taking too hot of a shower before leaving him.

The clothes, while not exactly his usual Crownsguard uniform, were comfortable enough. Supple leather pants and a fitted shirt accompanied by combat boots and a set of boxers and socks. Well, it was better than what he had before. His Shield tattoo peaked out where his shirt stopped, but that didn’t bother him. Not really. It was meant to be seen and meant to warn people to step the hell away from him or anyone he was with. Every shield from the Amicitia family had gotten something either a tattoo, a pendant, badge, whatever to show exactly who they were. Though the Amicitia genes probably did more for him than the tattoo. Even his father had a tattoo of the bird with wings wide open on his shoulder. Apparently, his old man had worn more sleeveless shirts than even Gladio. Slicking back his hair, he noticed at least he didn’t need to cut it for a while, guess being frozen had some perks. Though, it looked like he could do with a bit of a shave. Maybe he could ask Ignis for some stuff.

The week passed in a flurry of trying to get his body back into condition and watching over Noct. Ignis and Prompto were in and out throughout the week, making sure the pretense they had come up with was kept when it came to their scientist. Gladio still wasn’t sure about all of this, but he was going to be damned if he was going to stay in this room for one more day. Aside from sitting still, he hated having to hide like this. The four walls around him were starting to get rather cramped, but he couldn’t leave with Noct still asleep.

No one said what they speculated, but Gladio was starting to worry if fears of Noct ever waking up were going to be confirmed one day. The prince was known for napping, but this was getting ridiculous, but then there had been that one time. Gladio shoved the thought away as he straightened his form a bit and focused on his push-ups. He had worked up a decent sweat and working on a cool down.

“Good afternoon, Gladio. I’m glad to see that you are able to move around without too much trouble,” Ignis stood in the doorway, shifting his glasses. Gladio noticed the slight twinge to the assistant’s cheeks but figured it was from walking here from the outpost. Apparently, Ignis had explained earlier that week, the climb from cryovat building to the outpost was a bit of a distance. “Have the doctors finished clearing you?”

‘Yeah, perfect bill of health. More than I can say for sleeping beauty though.”

Gladio knew he was being bitter and irritable, but he couldn’t help it. A week in a room without windows, or any sense of what was going on outside of the room was really grating on him. He still couldn’t pull his sword from the Amiger, so he was forced to continue to strengthen his core. Without some form of protection, Gladio knew he would need to be ready to protect Noct with his own body for when he finally woke up. Still, he couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t get access. Was it because of Noct, or was it because of King Regis?

“That’s not fair, Gladio and you know that,” Ignis said with a sigh.

“Fair or not, I’ve been stuck in this room. Noct hasn’t woken up, and I’m damn tired of just standing here doing nothing.”

Gladio practically prowled the room he was confined to. Ignis could have compared him to a coeurl if he hadn’t felt a twinge of guilt. The medical team had already alerted him to Gladio’s foul mood. Perhaps it was time he let Gladio see what the outside world looked like now after a thousand years. He bit his lip, wondering if he really should let Gladio go out. They would have to go through Insomnia first and foremost and then come back down through Insomnia to get back here. Was Gladio ready to face that?

“Gladio would you--” he stepped closer to the Shield, putting a hand on the other’s shoulder. “Would you join me for a walk? You’ll want to put on the jacket, it’s rather cold out there and we can’t have someone recognize you’re not from here because of your skin.”

“My skin? What’s wrong with my skin?” Gladio was not in the mood for half baked truths today and frankly, he didn’t give a damn about hurting Ignis’s feelings at the moment either. He shrugged out of the comforting hand to face him.

Gladio was taller, but then he was used to towering over people. He was an Amicitia after all, and their male line tended to be rather tall. Still, Ignis wasn’t small by any means and if the grip he felt the past week and the way he had gotten him out of the cryovat, Ignis wasn’t weak either. But if Ignis thought they weren’t going to be butting heads or Gladio was just going to follow everything Ignis wanted, he had another thing coming. Gladio didn’t follow blindly.

“If you haven’t noticed, Prompto and I are both fairly light skinned. When Insomnia fell, according to history, so too did daylight. The nights grew longer until there was no sunlight. Since then, people have had to make due with artificial light. When it comes back, we will all have to adjust to the actual sunlight again. Since you’ve been frozen, your skin has not had to go through the lack of sunlight. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb, I’m afraid. And while I trust our little outpost, there is always the chance that someone loyal to the empire will spot you.”

There was no sunlight? Ignis and Prompto had never seen a sunset or even a sunrise? Their world was just dark? “W-Wait, what do you mean? Why is night? Wasn’t that connected to the Starscourge?”

“It was and still is. Gladio, we haven’t solved the problem of the Starscourge completely. We've only been able to reverse the effects of those who are infected but not yet turned.” Ignis leaned against the wall, watching Gladio. “Why don’t we continue this while we head to the outpost. Talk like this scares the medical team and I dare say you could do with a bit of fresh air.”

Grunting in response, Gladio grabbed the jacket he supposed would have gone knee length for most, but only to his own waist. It covered up his tattoo and skin. Ignis handed him a pair of leather gloves and a hat. Gladio didn’t like hiding. He wasn’t a spy, he wasn’t some outlaw, and yet he here he was. He technically was supposed to be dead and the only place he could even think to call home was supposedly gone. Begrudgingly he dawned on what Ignis gave him and then followed him out of the room.

Unlike when his father had taken him down, Gladio found there was a broken down stairwell that they used instead of the elevator. Who knew if the elevator was still operational? Or maybe, just maybe, they didn’t know how to use it? You needed a code to get it working, especially to come down here, but the stairs worked too. He could use the exercise honestly.

“The Starscourge, did you ever figure out what it truly was?” Ignis asked, shifting his glasses as he led Gladio through the building.

“We didn’t. All we knew was the Oracle had the power to cure it. If King Regis or anyone else knew, they didn’t tell Noct or me.” Gladio grunted. His legs protested a little as they started their incline. At least he was moving now, he could focus on the way his body moved instead of how helpless he was in the room.

“Right.” Ignis seemed accustomed to the climb making Gladio wonder how many times had he come down here? “The Starscourge is actually an organism which takes away the light. People have described it as “drinking the light” away. I don’t think they’re wrong necessarily, since many of the victims, start showing signs of darkening and black skin, along with a black fluid coming from the body. Once the scourge takes over the body completely, the person turns into a daemon.”

Ignis glanced back when he didn’t hear the familiar sound of Gladio’s boots. The Shield had stopped, staring at him with his mouth agape.

“Are you kidding? Those things? Those creatures were human once? How the hell--” Gladio ran a hand over his face. Ignis frowned, unsure of why such news would come as a surprise. “You said the cure you have doesn’t actually reverse this, right? So, with no daylight and you telling me about the daemons, then it means that you still have issues with it."

Ignis nodded, eyes working towards the conclusion that Gladio and the others from Insomnia had fought daemons but knew nothing of their origins.

"Great. Another thing to add to my growing list of shit to worry about.” Gladio started walking again. Just another damned thing to mull over until Noct woke up.

Ignis hummed. “You won’t have to worry about daemons until you leave the outpost. For some reason, Insomnia is one of the few places daemons dare not to venture after it’s fall. We’re still not exactly sure why though.”

The way Ignis spoke, Gladio knew he couldn’t fault the guy. They were just part of two different worlds. Insomnia was his home and standing strong before he was under. Ignis was trying to spare him, Gladio could tell, but the way Ignis spoke, it was clear Insomnia was just history. Insomnia was just a pile of ruins. But nothing could have fully prepared Gladio for what he saw when they stepped through the front doors of the cryovat building and into the streets of Insomnia.

What Gladio remembered and felt was just yesterday, was nothing like what he compared it now. Standing at the entrance of the building, all he could do was stare. He had grown up on these streets. Played and goofed off with others. He drank with the Glaives at certain bars and even picked up his sister. All of it. It was just all gone. Where once tall buildings stood, with streets winding this way and that to connect all of Insomnia, lay in ruins. Even the more crowded areas he could remember where the Glaive stayed, or the barracks of some of the Crownsguard, it was all different. There was no music coming from the streets and vendors he used to frequent. No car engines purring as they drove past. There was no sound of the wall guards or anyone he knew. It was deadly silent, save the humming of the large floodlights that illuminate the path Ignis wanted them to take.

“Gladio....if you need time--”

“We should keep moving.” He would have to face this some time or another. Now or never, so he could start to move forward. “Insomnia fell, and it won’t be coming back the same way. Not when you said something was built on top of it.”

Ignis stayed quiet but stayed close as he followed the floodlights. Gladio was grateful, not really wanting to talk about the Starscourge or Insomnia anymore, not when his home looked like this. Mostly though, he just didn’t trust his voice to break. Not when he saw all the destruction Niflheim had done to his home. What the Starscourge had done to the people he loved.

All of this was just too much for the Shield, but if he just shoved it down, at least for now, everything would be okay. But this wasn’t just someplace he didn’t know. This was his home. Some of the roads were still there from what Gladio could see in the pitch black of night and the black structure that was built overhead. As they walked there were pieces of buildings and craters in the streets, things they had to avoid. The way Ignis took them, it was to one of the main roads that would lead out of the city. Overhead, he could barely make out a distinct dome structure thanks to the floodlights. It was solid, yes, but what was it made out of? How would Noct react to all of this? Gladio was barely taking it in because of how dark it was and focusing on anything but who might have lived there or if he recognized a storefront at all.

“.....Fucking, Six.” Gladio’s breath hitched at seeing the remains of his own home thanks to a floodlight.

Breathe.

In.

Out.

His fucking home was half destroyed and in ruins. Iris. Jared. Talcott. Shit. He couldn’t keep it together. The tears started again as he sank to the ground. Ignis turned when he heard the curse. Staring in the direction Gladio looked, he pursed his lips.

“Gladio....” Ignis reached out but let his hand fall. How was he supposed to comfort the Shield? There was nothing he could say, no consolation that might provide some hope. This happened a thousand years ago. “Gladio, it’s best not to dwell on this. At least not yet.”

The Shield looked up at Ignis, eyes filled with confusion before his brows knitted together and Ignis knew he had said the wrong thing.

“Not dwell on this? Shit, Ignis! Yesterday I was fucking around with the Glaives and making plans to go out drinking at the bar that was just down the road from here.” He stood, clenching his fists, but Ignis didn’t move. “That house--That’s my house. How can I not dwell on it! My family is gone. My home is gone! How the fuck should I feel?”

Ignis looked away from Gladio lips a thin line. He expected Gladio to crack, but now he had to choose his words carefully if he was going to get the Shield to come around again.

“Gladio, grieve all you like, but it won’t change the circumstances. If you dwell on this, put the blame on yourself or the empire, or whoever, you’ll spiral deep to a path you’ll not come away from unscathed. Revenge does things to a person. His highness needs you when he wakes, but not someone who is bent on only revenge and doesn't think with a clear head.”

“If he wakes,” Gladio said through clenched jaws.

“Gladiolus! Listen to your--”

“I wouldn’t say another word Ignis.” Gladio drew up to his full height, eyes narrowed. “You won’t like what happens next.”

“Is that a threat? For fuck's sake.” Ignis sighed. He rolled up his sleeves, staring at Gladio from above his glasses. “You won’t listen to reason, will you? No, you’re the type that needs to be reminded you aren’t at the top of the class.”

Gladio clenched his fists. How dare Ignis think he can lecture him. Neither of them knew shit about each other.

“If that’s how you wish this to go, Gladiolus. Just remember, I did not want it to come to this. But it seems you think I don’t care. When I know what it’s like to lose those close to you. I might not understand what it must be like to see your homes in ruins like this, but then I’ve never really had a place to call home.”

What? Gladio let go of the breath he seemed to have held without him realizing. Ignis watched him, rather unimpressed, but Gladio relaxed a little. What the hell was he doing? Ignis had done nothing but try to help him and this was how he returned his thanks? He rubbed his hand over his face, letting out a long sigh, the anger was suddenly gone.

“I....I’m sorry,” he said, not looking at Ignis. “I just--”

“It’s a lot to take in. I understand that much, Gladio.” Ignis seemed satisfied with Gladio’s lack of rushing at him to step closer again. “Listen, you can grieve and you can yell and be mad at the world, but it won’t change what has happened. But you and his highness obviously have something you must do otherwise you wouldn’t have been put into the cryovat. You have a job, Gladio.”

He nodded. Of course, he had a job to do. Gladio wiped the tears from his eyes. He didn’t know how to really come to terms with all of this, but Ignis was right. It was the duty of the prince to keep moving forward and Gladio would have to do the same.

“Walk tall....”

“Excuse me?” Ignis asked, rather confused.

“It’s what his majesty would say so those who left to go on a mission. He’d tell them to walk tall.” Gladio gave the man a half smile. “I shouldn’t have....threatened you like that. You’re only trying to help.”

Ignis nodded. “Then we should best be on our way. There are makeshift stairs from where this road leads out of Insomnia. The outpost is just above us, where we can find Nyx.”

Gladio followed Ignis’s lead once again. Though he couldn’t help but glance back at his home.

Missing a step, he realized that he needed to go back to his house. At least once. There would be the family armoury there. If he couldn’t summon anything from the Amiger, at least he’d have a weapon to defend himself from daemons. He didn’t care if Ignis thought they were safe here if it was perpetually dark, no place was safe. Besides, Ignis was right, he had a job to do. Protect Noct and in turn the people who were left to the fate of Niflheim and for that his resolve strengthened. Insomnia might have been in ruins, but it’s people weren’t. That much was clear when he traced the pattern of some symbol that’s on the labcoat Ignis was wearing. The motif of Insomnia was there even if it was combined with that of Niflheim. He wondered if Ignis knew? Where there other signs of Insomnia still out there now? Catching Ignis watching him, Gladio looked down at the ground, his cheeks burning.

The road to come out of the city was long, even by car. Walking it was rather tedious and Gladio could feel the intrusive thoughts starting to creep back. The sooner they were out of Insomnia the better.

“Hey, Iggy? C-Can you just talk about something? Anything’s fine. Just something.”

“If you’re sure,” Ignis said, continuing on the road, careful of a small crater. Gladio stared at Ignis’s back so he didn’t have to look down in the crater and see something that might trigger more memories. “Well, since you’ve been asleep for so long, why don’t I talk to you about the outpost a bit.”

“Sure.” He could see the muscles pulling and straining of Ignis’s back as they made the steady climb up towards where the old wall of Insomnia still held in parts.

“The history between Insomnia and the creation of the outpost is hazy at best, but from what Nyx and I have gathered, it seems the outpost is where the current resistance started. We had no idea about Insomnia bellow it’s depths, but we found that the area was free of daemons. As I've stated before we don't know why, but we took it as a sign that this place would be safe.’ Ignis glanced back. “I say we, but I mean the people who started the outpost almost 800 years ago.”

Gladio nodded, trying not to look at the buildings they passed. If he focused on Ignis's voice, everything didn't feel like it was crushing around him. Not to mention he caught Ignis looking at him with those concerned green eyes of his.

“The world was plunged in darkness, Niflheim included, but they were prepared for the daemons and anything else that might have happened as if they were aware of it. Regardless, the outpost started off like any other, just trying to protect it’s people. Now though, it is the unofficial start of the Hunters. They protect the people when they can, but mostly they are considered hunters of the daemons.”

Gladio furrowed his brows. Start of the hunters? "Wait, Ignis. There were already hunters when Insomnia was...well you know. What happened to them?"

"Hmm. We weren't aware that there were. I did say our research had holes and gaps. Perhaps something happened to the original band of Hunters.”

The two came upon the man-made steps Ignis warned of. Looking up, Gladio took a deep breath. It would be a bit of a climb and his legs were already starting to hurt from just the trek here. He really needed to get back into training his tired muscles. He nodded for Ignis to continue when the other glanced at him as if calculating if Gladio needed a break or not. The steps were made from clay, but they were well used, meaning Ignis and the others came down here pretty frequently. Did they check Insomnia as someone would ruins? No, he didn’t want to think about that right now.

“--Nyx always did say that they served a purpose here.”

Shit. Ignis had kept talking. “Um...What about you? Are you part of the Hunters?”

“Me? Gods no. I’m a man of the sciences, not of a man to go traipsing about after daemons. No, I’ll leave that one to Nyx. He’s much better suited that I am.” Ignis gave Gladio a smile. “But I do know the signs, and I do help them when they need something.”

Gladio didn’t believe that for one minute. Ignis was ready to tussle with him earlier as if he was confident enough to know he could beat Gladio in a fight. There was no way someone confident enough for that didn’t go out and help the Hunters with fighting daemons, but Gladio said none of this. If Ignis didn’t want to tell him everything that was fine, so long as it didn’t hinder Noct and the mission they were on. His legs hurt, muscles he supposed that haven't been used for a thousand years and encased with ice, he couldn't expect his body to react the same way it normally would.

“Signs?” Gladio could tell Ignis was slowing down to match Gladio's steps for his sake, to which he was eternally grateful.

‘Yes, the Hunters have certain signs to show where their loyalty lies. Those who wear certain badges or who make certain gestures are loyal to the resistance. I did mention the resistance started here. Over the last two hundred years, we have certainly expanded, but we’re still without a way of bringing about the dawn. But now that we know you and his Highness are here, I’m sure the Hunters will have a different outlook.”

Ignis waved his hand to dismiss the comments, but Gladio could see the hope behind Ignis’s glasses. They had all been fighting to preserve themselves without any real promise of finding the answer to the empire and the Starscourge. Gladio looked away, not sure if Noct and he would even be able to provide that. They didn’t know any secrets that might help and if the Astrals knew, they were certainly quiet about it all.

"Hasn't the empire caught on to it?" Gladio asked, trying to find some badge or way of knowing that Ignis was part of the resistance.

"Gladio, we've been around for two hundred years, we know how to hide things well enough. Do you see the symbol on my back? Within it, and only if you look closely and know where to look you will find a crest the resistance first found in some book. Nyx said it was from the Kingsglaive? But perhaps you would know better than us." Ignis shrugged out of his lab coat as he came to a stop. He pointed where the crest was on the symbol.

Sure enough, Gladio recognized the crest of the Kingsglaive.

"Did you know what they did?" Gladio asked, as he handed the coat back to Ignis and they continued walking.

"I'm afraid not. We know they were an organization, but other than that nothing. Much of Insomnia's history before the fall was either burned or left in rubble." Ignis watched Gladio's face twist in discomfort, but at least the Shield was holding on.

"The Kingsglaive were a group of people who were....outlanders as some called them. They were from Lucian territories whose homes were destroyed by the Niffs. They sought refuge in Insomnia and a lot of them went into the service of the Kingsglaive for various reasons. They used the magic the king offered to them to be able to warp and use magic themselves, but they had to learn how to. Drautos was the head of them." Gladio supposed if he couldn't access the Amiger, he doubted any of the Glaives could have accessed that power either if there were any. With what Ignis told him, he doubted they had, perhaps Niflheim had gotten rid of them all.  

"Magic? Fascinating. Do you possess this power as well?" Ignis asked, pulling out a little notebook from one of the pockets on his lab coat.

"Not at the moment. I think since freezing, that power is supposed to pass on to Noct, but since he hasn't touched the crystal or worn the ring, he doesn't have that power yet." Gladio wondered if they would get that power back if Noct wore the ring. Maybe, but if his lessons as shield and protecting Noct were right, Noct would need to touch the crystal first.

"I see. Well, let's hope we can wake his highness. I'd very much like to see this magic in action. Though, if the crystal is involved somehow, then there might be a problem. The crystal lies in Niflheim." Ignis watched Gladio, waiting for him to grow in despair, but the Shield only sighed.

"If that's the case, then we have a long road ahead of us."

Gladio's breathing was laboured by the time they reached the top of the stairs with a thin layer of sweat settling on his skin.

"Though, I honestly can say I don’t understand much about magic. I was only part of the Kingsglaive for a short period of time before I was put at the task of being the Prince's Shield. I had different lessons to learn then."

Ignis hummed as he punched in a code on a panel to make the metal door before them open, letting in a cool breeze that felt wonderful against his flushed cheeks. Motioning for Gladio to go through first, the Shield stepped up and into the night sky and open land.

Instead of the barren lands surrounding Insomnia, Gladio found that bits of forestry had started to reclaim the land again. Perhaps the fall of Insomnia meant that the land could repair itself from the harm that the Lucians and Niffs had done to the land. Seeing the trees, and feeling the breeze for Gladio felt like the first time in a long time. Sure they wind and breezes in Insomnia, but there was just something about the outdoors like this that really helped to relax the mind. He loved camping, and his father had taken him a few times, it was nothing like this. Those times were orchestrated and in special environments.

"Enjoying the view?" Ignis asked, closing the door. "We keep it sealed with a code only we know so that no one else can get in."

Gladio nodded, still drinking in his surrounding. Ignis smirked, knowing the Shield had not even turned around yet. When Gladio did, the awe in his turned into complete and utter surprise.

"What the--" Gladio smacked Ignis on the arm, sending the poor man pitching forward. "Iggy, you said this was supposed to be an outpost. This is like a city!"

The outpost was almost the size of Insomnia. There were plenty of buildings, though none of them had the same regal appearance as Insomnia once held. These were more crudely built, but safe enough to house in. Lights illuminated the city from the middle to the outside with floodlights, probably to keep the daemons and other creatures at bay. Smoke rose above the structures, sending wonderful smells of food that Gladio hadn't had for a week. Oh, they were going to hit a vendor or two before they headed back down to Noct. There was some music, but the biggest difference Gladio loved about this place, there were people. Laughter, conversations, yelling, everything! It wasn't deathly quiet, or silent to leave him with only his thoughts. This place was alive. The world had succumbed to the darkness, but the people were still very much alive and thriving.

Iggy laughed, a sound that had Gladio stare at him. He straightened his glasses, watching Gladio.

"It is an outpost. A rather large one, at least on a map. Forgive me, I thought you might enjoy seeing it for yourself instead of me trying to describe it to you. The less Niflheim knows the better. Come on, we need to get through the residential area before we get to Nyx." Pulling out a phone, Ignis texted Nyx now that he had reception. "By the way Gladio, why are you calling me Iggy?"

[dicecast]

The Core Realms of the Outer Planes

-Introduction of the Planes, as written by Sigil Scholar “First Dawn” as punishment for a great crime she committed against nature itself.  She can be found in Sigil University giving extremely grumpy lectures about the multiverse until her community service is entirely over.  

Part 1: The Core Planes

The most famous Planes are of course, the Outer Planes, so much so that they are quite frankly, over done, and I find this assignment to be entirely beneath my time and dignity to have to explain.  The popularity of these monuments to limited imagination isn’t surprising, after all each of them represent a facade of a simplistic, reductive, and all together uninspired morality that shackles this world to the corpse of absolutes.  Each of them is dramatic and superficially excited, and for the average prime I imagine it must be quite exciting to discover that not only is Hell real, but that it is build upon metaphorical representations of Lawful Sins. But for those of us wordly enough not only see the larger framework but also to challenge base assumption, the unimpatnative nature of these 9 planes isn’t just uninteresting, it is actively detrimental to true planar study. These 9 planes are so overly studied so that all other fields of Planar examination are left woefully understaffed, with more and more time and effort being dedicated to 9 realms which frankly weren’t very interesting to begin with.  This is similar to how the four “Classical” Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water) have become popular that there are more scholars dedicated to the Plane of Water than their are to all of the other 17 elemental planes combined.  This planar brain drain is not just frustrating and tedious, it’s also dangerous as the denizens of say, the Middle Planes are actually just as threatening as Demons but lack the symbolic residence to have people make the proper preparations.  There are more paladin demon hunting orders than I can caught, but the designs of the PLane of Dreams can evidently walk freely, as their machinations are not laced in the mask of objective morality.  Even within the Outer Planes, the vast majority of scholarship goes to the Lower Planes, the realms of Evil, likely because of how ultimately simplistic they are.  Discarding cultists, nobody likes demons, and so there are book upon tedious book written about their evil, their depravity, and their lack of complexity, all of which boil down to “Demons are bad, we should kill them.”  The Upper Planes, far more challenging in their conceptions, have little in the way of scholar, because defining what is evil is easy, defining what is good is challenging.  Seriously can I write about anything other than this, I mean god, this is child’s play stuff?  

Ok Fine

   There are 9 “Core” Planes, which embody, as you might imagine, personify one of the Night Alignments.  I might as well mention now, the Outer Planes have a creepy obsessive fetish with symmetry, which will get tiring very very quickly I assure you.  These nine planes can be subdivided into the “Upper” “Lower” and “Central”  Planes, personifying Good, Evil, and Neutrality respectively, and it’s all very nice and neat and infantile.  Let’s do the Lower Planes First, which as the personification of evil, are utterly overdone in terms of the popular imagination.  There is nothing more tedious than the many many texts on the Lower PLanes, so I will try to sum them up as quickly as possible. One thing first, these planes are the largest infinite planes in the multiverse ,because evil is the most powerful force in the multiverse, luckily they are always fighting each other in The Blood War so we don’t have to deal with it, and I’m sure you know this already.  

   The most overrated of them all are The Nine Hells of Baator, Home of the Devils, Beings of Law and Evil, and every layer of it has been so particularly scrutinized that I suspect many of the scholars (such as those who wrote the Gates of Hell manuals) are actually in the pay of the Nine.  Hell is a land of rigid unyielding law, but I want it duly noted it is not in fact, fascist.  It isn’t absolute, mindless dehumanizing law, instead it is the most evil aspect law can possibly have, namely Feudalism.  The Law of Baator is strict, unyielding, and inhuman, but above all it is unfair and arbitrary.  The laws are contradictory, inconsistent, and utterly self destructive but they are literal law, even if they make no sense.  This is law to such a demented degree that they don’t make any sense, a hypocritical system which is absolute in its incompetence and inhumanity and yet stills frustrate continues to exist.  The Hells are not realms of absolute obedience and conformity to an absolute law, they are an incomprehensible set of rules and obligations that pretends to be a realm of absolute obedience and conformity, which is even worse.  The Hells are ruled by the “Lords of the Nine”, 9 freakishly powerful Devils who serve as Feudal Lords, lead by the “Lord of the Nine” the enigmatic and entirely overplayed Asmodeus, who if you read his news briefs, is the most clever, intelligent, funny and sexy entity in the world, but everybody else sees him as a prat.  

        The opposition to the Nine Hells is the realm of Chaos and Evil, The 666 Infinite Layers of the Abyss, is a realm of absolute paradox, staying with the fact that it supposedly has infinite layers but in fact has 666 (scholars have counted 667).  Populated by the Demons, this realm is crawling with every horrific evil imaginable and is the largest plane in existence, for every one Devil, there are at least a million demon, likely more.  A single Lawful Evil Mortal soul can create 9 devils, while a single Chaotic Evil soul can create a huge amounts of demons.  This is fundamentally and explicitly unfair...and that’s the point.  The Abyss is a realm where rules don’t work, in fact any attempt to even conceive of rules are folly, and trying to put it into a box is futile in itself.  All generalizations are proven wrong and all trends fail because the Abyss actively rejects it, and the plane itself almost seems to delight in thumbing its nose at conventional understanding, occasionally producing good demons just to confuse everybody else.  As a rule demons are sadistic, cruel, and anarchistic but of course...that’s a rule.  The Abyss is forever in a war against themselves, each layer has a Demon Lord who wishes to claim the title of “Demon Prince” but only three really have a shot and they have fought for millenia, Grazz’t Lord of Lust and the Triple Realms, Orcus the master of Undeath and Divnity, and of course Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons.  However combat is tedious and so is the Abyss, so let’s move one.

   The least appreciate Lower Plane is Abaddon, the realm of the Daemons, who are in many ways the more moderate evils and thus less focus is paid to them, which I think is largely unfair, because that makes them the most human.  Daemons are oriented around 4 principles of evil, Hypocrisy, Bigotry, Vindictiveness, and Ignorance, and individual Daemons will drift between these as if they were wearing hats. It is very hard to sum up Daemons because they are evil in a very relatable way, they are most famous for their vast corporations of soulless bureaucracy, but Daemons also can have a great deal of personality individually, though almost always in as needlessly dickish a way that they can.  Daemons are all hypocrites who lack any core or foundation other than circumstances, and so what type of viciousness they represent varies from moment to moment, and unlike their extreme counterparts, it’s never ideological.  Daemons are at their core nihilists, and are evil without justification, logic, intention, or even knowledge, they are the random everyday evil of your average man.  Which is why I find them superfluous and am going to move one.  

Editor's Note: I have to also mention they are ruled by The Four Horsemen. There, moving on.  

Moving on to the perpetually overlooked “Central Planes”, these are the realms of neutrality and really don’t have the scholarship they deserve.  They are not in constant war, while Law and Chaos disagree, each mostly acknowledges the necessity of the other, but instead try to find a balance, which is of course, extremely difficult.  

    First are The Outlands, the great patchwork that connects the Outer Plane, and at the center of this infinite plane is the Spire, on top which lies Sigil.  Every square mile of the Outlands is different, almost a patchwork of aspects of other planes, and you could walk through a forest into a desert into a great mechanical wasteland in the span of three minutes.  This plane has the largest mortal population, and is responsible for many of the fundamental rules of reality, and keeping the Balance of the Planes intated.  Ruling over this are The Aeons, mysterious cosmic entities who keep the illusion of the world intact, or possible weave a new one, enematic and unknown.  Their ruler the Monad has as far as I can tell, never been seen and likely doesn’t exist.   

   Next to the Outlands is The Maelstrom, supposedly the origin of life, and an ever shifting realm in its own right, but this is a realm of creativity, language, and the senses, things that fundamentally reject any limitations placed upon them.  The realm is one of potential good and bad, independence and free will, and the native Proteans, strange snake like creatures who seem to wish to push against all restrictions, and offer up radical visions of what could yet be.

      Next one is Mechanus, the realm of Gears, which maintains the universe itself.  This gigantic endless system of  gears and systems is the realm of math, shapes, physics, and systems, consistency and understanding. It has little interest in societal rules, which it finds all together too inconsistent and self serving, but instead cosmic rules, like the notion that 1+1=2 unless you can prove otherwise mathematically.  The natives are known as Modrons, and each resemble different forms of law, most look like shapes (Cubes, Pyramids, squares) but other are equations, and the greatest resemble strangely enough different forms of dice.  

Next are the Upper Planes, where the forces of good dwell, and are some of the smallest realms in the world, for here dwell the forces of absolute good.  And as much as the edgelords out there like to claim otherwise, they aren’t well intended extremists, they cannot be anything other than absolutely good, they are defined by their very good nature on a fundamental level incomprehensible to a mortal.  These planes are on the verge of destruction, barely holding their own against the vast hordes of evil, but despite this, they stayed strong and part of that is through their unity, these planes have difference but they work together and help each other, their differences make them stronger and allow them to prevail over the forces of evil.  Also i want to make this clear, they are not ruled by Gods, Gods are entirely different things, these are secular realms.  Just assholes.  

The most famous are the Seven Heavens, where Law and Good come together as one, ruled by the Archons.  Built around a Celestial Mountain, the seven layers are all built around the theme of betterment of the self, souls come here and improve steadily, ascending the layers.  The natives here believe strongly in goodness as the result of governance, and hope to build institutions, orders, and structures to allow good to flourish.  Militarily, they are armies, which is why they get the most attention, the Archons go forth in hoards to try to stymie the forces of evil where they can, and when they do show up, it is indeed magnificent.  

Next is the Realm is the Blessed Fields of Elysium, ruled by the kind Aasimons, creatures of love, relationships, and community.  This realm is idealism, understanding, and goodness as the result of personal happiness.  The souls here try to find joy in themselves and those around them, for those who are happy will turn away from cruelty.  The Aasimons are the least known of the Good Exemplars, for they focus not on dramatic heroism whenever possible, but instead on the smaller acts to try to make good have a chance.  Childcare, helping broken homes, providing medical aid or psychological care, first responders to disasters, grief counselors, or simply a mysterious women in a bar who is willing to lend a sympathetic ear, Aasimons go often in secret the Material Plane to help keep the spark of hope alive in what little way they can.  To them, depression is where evil emerges, and joy is what allows the goodness within you to come forth.  

The Transcendent Glades of Arborea is where Chaos and Goodness come together, with the Azatas serving as its manifestation.  Aborea is a vast wilderland except more wonderful and magical than any that exists, colors, sensations, and pleasures exist as no mortal co comprehend them, and seriously they throw the best fucking parties you have no idea.  This is a realm where man’s base nature is good, and without limitations and restrictions placed upon it, they can come forth and enjoy the morality that lies within us, and Azatas hope to tear down the institutions and systems to force mortals to choose selfishness rather than compassion.  Azatas, like Archons, go forth and fight evil ,but they do so as individuals or small bands, of scouts and infiltrators.  Many times a force of evil has suddenly fallen apart due to the secret machinations of the Azatas, and more than a few times villians have found they prefer getting really high in Arborea than taking over the world.  

Once these 9 realms were balanced equally but ever since the actions of mortals have determined their power, evil has been winning, and so much so that Good as a force is no longer a factor.  If the legends are to be believed, this new circumstances was created by the Upper Planes themselves as the price to give mortals true choice of their actions, thus condemning themselves to their own destructions.  The Upper Planes by all right should have been wiped out long ago, destroyed by the forces of evil, and yet they prevail, because in a world seemingly resigned to darkness, there is just enough kindness that the light stubbornly refuses to go out.  

There you go, 9 overdone, over analyzed, over handled bullshit system which isn’t worth any respect, and I think that the whole thing is a colossal waste of time.  

[wmsreads]

It begins with absence and desire. It begins with blood and fear. It begins with a discovery of witches.

This book was chosen as Between the Lines’ April adult book of the month and I’m still slighting on the fence about how much I actually liked it. I’ve changed my rating of it a few times since I’ve read it and the more I think about it as I write this review, the more inclined I am to just go middle of the road with three stars, because I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. It’s been a minute since I finished the book so this review might be all over the shop but just bare with me ok?

This may seem like such a petty thing but it’s been a few weeks since I finished this book and I’m still pretty bitter about the title. “A Discovery of Witches” would indicate that this book is mainly about witches, right? I was absolutely down for that, I love witch stories; that’s why I recommended it for book of the month! However while there is a fair amount of stuff about witches, there’s still far more information about vampires in my opinion. This is probably because Diana refuses to accept that she’s a witch and therefore doesn’t want to learn anything about witches, and I get where the title came from (the above quote is in reference to the magical manuscript she finds) but again, we don’t learn that much about the manuscript in this book. Both things will probably be explored more in the second book, but in that case this book should have been called something different.

In the beginning of the book, I absolutely loved Dianna’s character. At first glance she seemed strong, smart, independent, and completely determined to do everything in her life without magic. In short, someone any young girl could aspire to be. And then she met a vampire and all of that flew out the window. Sure she was still smart, nothing could change that, but once she met Matthew she became completely dependent on him, obeyed every order he barked at her, and seemed to completely lose herself. These things didn’t make me hate Diana as a character, they just took the shine off the glow she previously had in my eyes. I really hate seeing this happen to strong female characters, it’s so disheartening to think that some authors think that being in a relationship means you give up everything you are.

That’s not to say that I hated Matthew either, quite the opposite actually. If felt like his character was consistent throughout the book, which makes sense as a centuries old vampire isn’t suddenly going to change his ways in the span of a few weeks. I didn’t like a lot of the things he said and did, such as demanding Diana obey him at all times, killing an innocent witch for sending a picture and then lying to Diana about it, bonding with her without even asking her permission, drugging her with his blood without telling her, and basically just keeping everything hidden from her until it came back to bite her in the butt. However, as much as I didn’t like those things, I felt like they made Matthew’s character more interesting and less like the modern version of vampires you see in so many paranormal romance books these days. He constantly became angry at the drop of a hat, he was insanely possessive, he keeps many secrets from Diana, and warned her over and over again that he couldn’t be trusted. I feel like he was very clear about who and what he was from the beginning and while I didn’t like a lot of the things he did, he was a very well written character.

The romance between Diana and Matthew struck me very much as a more adult version of Twilight. Don’t get me wrong I’ve nothing against Twilight, but that kind of insta-love, can’t-live-without-you kind of love has been so insanely overdone in the young adult genre and I expected more from a supposedly adult book. At least Twilight had an actual consummation of the marriage in it. I didn’t dislike the romance aspect, it was merely alright, but for all the reasons I’ve mentioned so far I was just disappointed that it wasn’t executed better.

The biggest issue I had with this book was with the massive amounts of unnecessary information thrown at the reader for no reason other than to fill pages. There were certain things we needed to know the backstory of, such as the Knights of Lazarus, because it comes into play later in the book, but did we really need all that information about religious manuscripts, scientific findings, rowing, wolves, horse riding, wine, and yoga? I don’t think so. It seemed as though the author used all of this pointless information just to show off how much she knew about those things and it just came off as pretentious and slightly boring. Instead of all of that useless information I would have prefered to learn more about Diana’s ancestors, the history behind daemons, more about what happened to Matthew’s father; basically anything that would add more weight to the story and not just bloat it with things that didn’t matter. That being said, the amount of detail the author gave when it came to describing scenes was very well done. Her descriptions of Oxford and its surrounding areas was so thorough and detailed that I feel like if I ever went there I could easily find my way around and pick out some of the places Diana went in her travels around the campus.

One other thing that’s been bugging me since I finished the book is that Diana admits at the start that she occasionally has used magic in her day to day life but “only when it’s emergency” (because drying clothes and not wanting to walk downstairs to get a step ladder to reach a high book are emergencies) and realises later on that she’s been using it in her work all along, well before she ever met Matthew. However towards the end of the book we’re told that she can’t use her powers at all because her mother bound them so that they would only start working when Matthew showed up. So which is it? Can she only use her powers when it’s convenient to the story?

All in all, there was so much happening in this book that it felt like it took me forever to finish it. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it’s good to have a lot going on, but when all that action amounts to is the book ending right as it’s starting to get REALLY good; that is frustrating. It felt like the entire book was building towards Diana learning to use her powers and figuring out how to get the manuscript… and then it just ended as they time-walked out of the present to go do just that in the past. All we get is a vague note from Matthew left in Diana’s aunt’s house that may mean they made it safely but we can’t possibly know for sure without reading the next book… Which of course I’m going to do, because damn it Harkness you can’t just leave me with half the story like that!

Check out A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness on Goodreads.

“The question of why you're here —how we're all here— really does consume you," I said slowly. Matthew studied his wine. "It's the only question worth asking.”

[xenosgirlvents]

Abaddon-tier

Abaddon often gets made fun of in the fandom and, though I do tend to avoid the places this happens most because of other things I don’t like about those places, I’m aware enough of the basics.

But, honestly, I don’t even know why he gets so much flakk in particular, doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Admittedly we gotta look at this from two different angles; pre-Fall of Cadia and post-Fall of Cadia, but either way it baffles me.

If we’re talking pre-Fall of Cadia he’s no worse than all the other big bads of 40k. I mean what does Abaddon stand accused of? Attacking a lot, getting beat then running away? You know who else fits that description? Ghazghkull, Eldrad, the Swarmlord, Nazdreg, Grukk, Mogrok, the Beast(s), all the Daemon Primarchs, all the Phoenix Lords, Illic, Eldorath Starbane, every Farseer from Dawn of War, every Warboss (but Gorgutz) from Dawn of War, Kharn, Fabius Bile, Ahriman, Skarbrand, M’kachen, M’kar, Nkari, Kugath and so many more that I’m not gonna list them all.

If we’re talking even just pre-Fall of Cadia the only villains who can claim to not just attack, lose and run away are Gorgutz conquering Kauruva (which he promptly apparently abandoned including the huge army he must have had stashed away there for reasons), Huron defeating the Space Wolves and Guard in the Hollow Worlds System and Imotekh cause he’s by far the most successful Xenos bad guy.

I should note that Asdrubael doesn’t even get to appear on this list because though he’s never suffered major losses he’s also never did anything of note really either. He’s practically got one major battle to his name and that’s just a raid on a barely known Imperial dock with no-one of important opposing him. If you ask me Asdrubael gets far too much credit from the fandom for a character who basically only ever does one thing “Whoops I got a problem! Better throw an Imperial Spaceship(s) at it”.

But anyway the point is even pre-Fall of Cadia Abaddon is, at worst, on the same level as almost every other Xenos character and Chaos character in the setting so why does he get picked on so much?

Now, if we’re talking post-Fall of Cadia, its even more baffling. Practically every Black Crusade has been altered now that Abaddon’s core aim was actually achieved, and he actually managed to win a decisive victory against a major concentration of Imperial forces (although of course no Space Marines of extreme import were there, since GW apparently couldn’t stomach letting them lost to the setting’s Big Bad even >_>).

Abaddon has shown he’s way above Ghazghkull, the Swarmlord [insert entire list from before] so I have no idea why there’s an ongoing sentiment that he’s a ‘loser’. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he is still a ‘loser’ in a sense that all his 10000 year plans and military build up have achieved astonishingly littled and, even once he took Cadia, he stalled for 100 years immediately and apparently the Imperium’s already moving to retake Cadia so there is that, but even if we keep that in mind it still makes Abaddon among the most successful villains in the setting. It just boggles my mind how much logic must be twisted to think Abaddon, instead of any of the other numerous examples, should be particularly made fun of.

I mean what is the main take away of all this? Simple. Huron is by the far the greatest warlord Chaos has ever known and, honestly, Abaddon and the Daemon Primarchs should go ask him for lessons on how to not lose as soon as Loyalist Marines show up. I mean it was Red Corsairs who helped Kairos take out the whole Terran Crusade (WHO THEY THEN CAPTURED AND DID NOT KILL BECAUSE OIHOIHPOH) and it was Huron who faced a whole invasion of Guardsmen, Inquisition forces and Space Wolves and actually won, repulsing the invasion and just being the military victor. That’s so insanely rare for Chaos, to just hold the ground and win, repulse the enemy, instead of doing the favoured tactic of Daemon Primarchs which is to run away and then throw shade about how they lost but it ‘didn’t mean anything ;_;’

That being said I am down in the dumps over Primarchs. My goodness 40k really is just going to become the Primarch Show. I honestly hate Ynnead. Despite having been excited for Ynnead’s role in the plot for years I have now come to just hate and detest it. Ynnead is a weakling who’s sole purpose is giving the Imperium stuff, Yncarne can’t even beat Ahriman. I just want Khaine to take over, he’ll fail, but he’ll at least try something for the Eldar. Freaking useless Ynnead and Cegorach.

[raviollinoxfleuret]

One More Tomorrow

- I’ve been getting a bunch of really nice messages for my story so far and honestly, I’m glad you guys like it so far! You’re comments mean so sooo much to me! You can also find me on AO3 and FanFic too btw! I’m also sorry about this chapter being kinda shorter than the last two and taking a bit to post it ^^; -

( chapter 1 ) ( chapter 2 ) Chapter 3: Daemons

Rating: G/A Word Count: 3,915 Pairing: Ardyn/Fem!OC (( slow build ))

Summary:       “Could there really be daemons here? I've never seen one... before...” her voice trailed off and her feet paused in their stance as she swore something passed across up ahead, but the two men continued walking, leaving the girl behind unknowingly. “You guys... wait...! Ardyn!” Terrified didn't feel like a strong enough word for how Esme felt. Unable to move or even speak louder than a whisper, her heart banged hard, trying to escape from the captivity of her chest, and suddenly after a single blink, Ardyn and Gil's silhouettes vanished in the mist. How did they not notice leaving her behind?       “She took one step back wanting to turn around to wait outside with the chocobos, but something stood behind her and the beating from her heart stopped for a second as she peeked over her shoulder.

The journey reached about four hours in and while Esme lied across the metal bench in the carriage, Gil remained awake, still with his arms crossed but this time he watched the girl. Something about her screamed out to him that he needed to protect her. Maybe it was because it's what his king wanted or maybe something greater. Regardless of what it truly was, his sights remained on her. The group was getting close to the eastern coastline of Accordo at this point, having to take a short trip on a ferry into a different region; Cleigne.

The terrain changed the further they went as well and the rocks beneath shook the cart, one being large enough to wake Esme. The sudden jolt caused her to slide forward, letting out a yelp,  almost falling onto the floor. Luckily, Gil was there to help catch her.

“Wow... you're fast.”

“Good,” his single hand fully supported her wrist as he easily managed to get her back onto her feet.

“Thanks...” she sat back down, the force fully waking her senses. “It's almost like you were trained for that.” she scoffed. “Unless a certain king happens to be rather clumsy so you're kinda prepared for that sort of thing.” he laughed.

He laughed!

“Wow!” Esme was in awe at the sight. She didn't need to be around him for a day to know how stoney of a man he was. He let out  heavy sigh as his emotions ceased.

“He can be at times. He is human after all.”

“I suppose you're right.” feeling the cart come to a halt, Gil stood up, taking a look outside, mumbling with the other men for a minute and then sticking his head back in. He had to lean over so much because of his great height.

“They're stopping for a moment to get stuff. You can get out and stretch a bit, if you like, or get food if you're hungry.”

“Are you getting anything?”

“Probably not. I'll probably just go stretch my legs. I'm... obviously a little cramped up in here.” The Oracle innocently giggled and it caused him to smile. “Ladies first,” his finger flicked up the lock on the inside and pushed the door open for her. Almost blinded by the sun, Esme lifted her hand over her face as she stepped out and looked around. It was practically a desert where they were. She would say how beautiful of a day it was if the setting contained a little more green life.

“Enjoying the ride so far?” Looking to her left, it was Ardyn speaking while he made his way over to her, letting his hood go down.

“So far it's alright.” The pair strolled around the cart and towards the small shop.

“Gil's not much of a talker, especially around anyone new.”

“He's kind. I even managed to make him laugh.”

“No you didn't.”

“I did.” Esme waited for a moment and looked back in search for Gil. Walking slowly from the other side of the carriage, she called out to him. “Hey, we had a nice ride, right?” he nodded in response, stoic in expression.

“Okay, but did she really make you laugh?” his arm raised up when asking the question. Gil froze and instead of answering, he gave a wry smile and turned back to stand behind the carriage, out of sight. “Well what do you know?” Ardyn smirked down at Esme and she hid the smile that had grown on her face, continuing towards the mini-store.

“Welcome, welcome!” an elderly man greeted the two passing the entrance. “Oh my Eos, do my eye deceive me?”

“No, it's really the king of Lucis,” dragging her remark, Esme's face bore a small scowl.

“What? No! You! You're the Oracle aren't you?” Esme's eyes widened and Ardyn's gaze shot down to her, his grin becoming more heartily witnessing her reaction. He relished in her modesty.

“I...I guess.” the question caught her off guard.

“Oh, how wonderful! Everyone around town has heard all about you and everyone you've saved towards the west of Accordo. You're from Altissia, right? Oh, how much I'd love to go and visit there on day, the City on Water!” The shopkeeper fell into a short-lived daydream. “If I had known that a celebrity was planning to show up, I would've tidied up a bit!”

“N-no! It's alright!” there was a nervous giggle that came from her as she shook her head and hands frantically.

“Why... you must be here to go help out those in Litus! Yes, they've been waiting for you to make your way over here!” But now her expression was puzzling. Litus? No one told her anything about them.

“They're... affected with the Scourge...?”

“Yes. A majority of the town it seems, all the tourists have steered clear since it practically took over. Didn't you know?” She shook her head. Esme never treated a whole town before. For her it was limited to three or four people-a-town. But a majority of the populace? Not only that, but she started thinking about the last time she even set out to help anyone. Two weeks or so... how bad could a town get after that amount of time.

“Which way is it to...Litus was it?” The sound of Ardyn's voice shook her from her thoughts.

“You just head further up the road here,” the old man's hand motioned behind him at a window where a road could be seen. “It shouldn't be more than maybe five miles I'd say.” The king looked to his left at Esme, who already had her gaze on him and they both nodded in agreement.

“Well thank you for letting us know. We'll definitely go see them.”

“That's good news to hear! Please help them however you can, there's a lot of children that live there. Also please help yourselves to anything you need from my store! It's on me!”

“Thank you.” But before they could start their scavenging, the man asked them one more question.

“By the way, why'd you think I was gonna say the King of Lucis? Like I care if he came in here!” As the situation at hand fell quiet and just a bit awkward, the young oracle glanced up to Ardyn, who was scratching the back of his head.

“Well... you see, this tall fellow to my left happens to be King Ardyn Lucis Caelum.” Esme gleamed as the old man's eyes boggled at his newly learned discovery.

“Sir... Your majesty! I-I-I didn't mean it! You are most certainly welcomed in here almost as much as she is! My apologies for my rudeness!”

“Nope, it's quite alright, please! She's already informed me enough and in different nuances  about my position in and over Accordo. So relax, I understand.” Beginning to once and for all walk through the few short aisles, Ardyn grabbed enough waters for the few traveling within the group and Esme snagged snacks she believed to be universally enjoyed. They thanked the shopkeeper yet again and walked out holding multiple bags in each of their hands. Gil looking over, immediately jogged to grab all the ones in Esme's hands, placing them into the under-carriage storage.

“These bags of waters are much much heavier, Gil, just so you're aware.”

“You'll be alright.” there was a sulky look on his face when Esme began to chuckle.

“Gil will become my shield when this trip is over. You'll have to find yourself a new one, your highness, so maybe you should start searching.” The remark she made was accompanied with a wink she so naturally shot at Ardyn, and rather unintentionally. How did that even happen? There was an internal panic after her action was committed.

“You be careful with who you wink at, madam Oracle.” The way his voice honeyed the words caused her face to jerk in the opposite direction of him.

How coy. She thought.

“You want to ride with me this time, Es?” the honey in his tone was still there, or at least she believed she could still hear it from him and quickly strolled around the cart.

“It's Esme, and no thank you!” unable to wait for Gil to open the door for her, she swung it open and dove inside.

“Quite the tease, huh? I don't think she even realizes it.” There was a scoff from Ardyn and one of the other men at his side chimed in, as he re-mounted his Chocobo. “We're heading up this road, my friends,” his finger pointed straight ahead and motioned to go passed the intersection. “It seems like there's a town up ahead that needs help, so this will be our first stop.” Joining Esme in the carriage, Gil locked the latch on the door a second time and they picked up the trail again.

“Are you feeling alright, Lady Oracle? You face seems pretty flushed. You're not catching a fever, are you?”

“No, I'm fine.” her left hand lifted up holding her forehead. “You can just call me Esme by the way. Lady Oracle sounds kinda weird, doesn't it?” There was a small snort that came from her and it caught his attention. The innocence that emanated from her brought a warm feeling to him internally; a feeling he'd forgotten some ago already. When the minutes passed, the group finally arrived to their destination, Gil and Es however unaware until they felt the cart come to a quick halt. The king's right hand stood up first and looked outside from the window.

“Is this it...?” His question was whispered, like he was hiding.

“Why? What's wrong?”

“It's just the way everything looks. Wait here a moment.” moving away from the window, Gil left the the carriage. Mumbling could be heard from the outside and Esme went over to take a peek of where the road had led them, but it was too foggy to see.

“Would you mind joining us? We're going to have to walk the rest of the way.” she jumped at the sudden sound and presence of Ardyn at the door.

“So we're here then?”

“Yes. The chocobos are a bit shaken up with the current surroundings. It's never really a good sign, but we can't really hear anything up ahead either...” he paused, his eyes trailing to his left in thought. “Well, that's not necessarily a good sign also I suppose.” the king backed up as Esme made her way to exit the ride, not forgetting to grab and throw on her shawl. The very moment he spotted her hand reach out, his took it to help guide her down while she stiffened up from the touch of his soft palm.

“Um...” Seconds after completely setting both feet on the dirt floor, the young girl yanked her hand away, her cheeks getting hot for a second time today. “Thanks, but-” the extreme want to tell him how she could get down on her own wanted to be stated, but she held back her remark. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, but... anytime.” Scrunching up her face, this time he winked at her.

“Please just stop.” It was a mumble under her breath as she walked away from him and they both went next to Gil and the other four men.

“Are we ready?” All of them collectively nodded, except for Esme who was a little confused at the situation. Ready for what? What was waiting up ahead? The town could barely be seen as they ventured further in.

“Will the chocobos be okay alone?” She looked back to the creatures, both the small and Ardyn's own.

“They should be. Fortunately they're capable of fending for themselves. Should the situation get tough, they're also very fast runners.” Gazing up at the tall king to her right, he kept his attention forward when speaking, almost looking a bit nervous. It was something she noted in the way his jaw clenched and how his eyes peered. “Could this really be it…?” Ardyn, Es, and the other men looked around at the sight that was literally grey in color, as if the whole place had burned down.

“Was there a fire?” Esme asked.

“This town… it’s too late for them. We’re too late.” Ardyn's tone adjusted to one more serious as he looked on at the scenery. “Gil… stay on your guard. Daemons might be on the prowl.” “Yes sir.” Looking to her left, Esme watched the right hand of the king take a firm grip on the handle of his weapon.

Daemons?

“Stay close to me, Esme.” With no hesitation, she did as she was told and moved just behind the king. They furthered into the barren town that was overtaken with such a dense smog, the sun was practically hidden. The other few men, Ether included, followed behind until Ardyn gave them orders.

“Ether, Laurus—you two span to the left and should you find someone—or anything, let me know. Remus and Creon, you guys go to the right; likewise with orders.” His demands were silent enough only for the men to hear. Ardyn worried over tipping whatever could be lurking in the shadows off. The men went their separate ways while Ardyn, Esme, and Gil continued on forward into the ominous fray. The silence was unnerving for all of them, especially Esme. The small huts and homes on either sides of them were rubble. It was as if bandits came through, pillaging and destroying everything they could. “Could there really be daemons here? I've never seen one... before...” her voice trailed off and her feet paused in their stance as she swore something passed across up ahead, but the two men continued walking, leaving the girl behind unknowingly. “You guys... wait...! Ardyn!” Terrified didn't feel like a strong enough word for how Esme felt. Unable to move or even speak louder than a whisper, her heart banged hard, trying to escape from the captivity of her chest, and suddenly after a single blink, Ardyn and Gil's silhouettes vanished in the mist. How did they not notice leaving her behind? She took one step back wanting to turn around to wait outside with the chocobos, but something stood behind her and the beating from her heart stopped for a second as she peeked over her shoulder. Coming face to face with something that more than towered over her, far taller than Gil even, the color of its skin was grey while adorning the likes of a vibrant colored kimono and holding a katana proportionate to It's height over their shoulder. A drop of sweat dripped from the side of her forehead with a single labored breath at the being that stood in wait directly behind her. It barely had a face even though creature hid half of it under a large bamboo woven hat. It’s black beady eyes were shown as it looked down below at the girl before It, causing her to quickly jump forward in an effort to get away. Her legs could only take her so far in one leap. Looking back one more time, the terrifying creature lifted it’s arm up high with the sword, ready to swing it. Still trying to run, her sights moved back to the path in front of her, only speeding deeper into the dark fog, but the unexpected force blow behind her knocked her off her feet. With her arms skidding into the dirt and hair flying, Esme’s heart rate accelerated. She didn’t know what to do except face the kimono’d creature. But when she looked back, it was gone. She hyperventilated, still petrified on the ground. What just happened? “Ardyn!” She called out but with no answer. The oracle trembled, pushing herself up slowly and looking all around her. There was a strange and abnormally loud sound of metal creaking and sloshing from her front. Black ooze formed a large puddle-like-portal from the ground and through it came a flaming blade first and then it’s wielder. With an arm three times the size of her own body, it’s fist crashed upon the dirt lifting the rest of it’s body above. A true beast with a bulked up body that was the color of bloodstain red with yellow markings on the shoulders and horns poking out, she was unsure of where the face even was. Without even waiting for it to gather it’s balance after coming through, Esme scooted back desperately to get away. She sweated profusely from how scared she now became and from the heat of the monster. Was this a daemon?? She let out whimpers as the distance didn’t seem like much between the two. It spotted her and like a farce, leisurely made it’s way to her. Like the one before, the beast raised it’s sword up behind it’s wide back ready to swing. The pressure from inside her chest was much for her to handle, but she managed to stand up and run into a ruined home. There was no door and the furnishings inside smelled of fungus. Finally making a swing with his fiery weapon, it destroyed whatever was left of the roof, coming after Esme. Going more through the home, she spotted a hole in a wall large enough for her to go through. But her escape proved to be in vain. Halting in her tracks after getting out was the tall kimono’d creature from before, as if it was waiting for her. Swinging the katana yet again, It didn't give her a chance to react this time. Where did Ardyn and Gil disappear to? “Ah—!” Esme managed to almost evade what would’ve been a deadly blow, receiving only a slash on her lower leg. Falling over, she leaned against the wall of the house before, clutching onto the wound that began to gush with blood and tears from the pain began to fall. The only and last thing she could think of was Leviathan. She was right…. how short lived was this adventure…. Everything was too overwhelming and finally, as the creature closed in on her, she fainted.

–

The two men lingered deeper into the cold town still with their guards up. Something about the atmosphere had fallen too quiet for Ardyn and when he turned his head to the right, it was when he discovered the missing oracle. “Esme!” Yelling her name, he no longer cared if something there found them. He knew he could handle it, whether Gil was there or not. “When did she disappear?” Gil looked back with his king, his voice becoming slightly agitated. “I’m not sure… Shit! What if something got her?” “I’m sure she’s okay, my king. Esme will turn up…” The pair reversed back in the direction they originally came from, their sights observing every inch around them, hoping to spot some sort of clue. They however came to an instant standstill when black ooze spewed and opened up on the floor in front of them. Patiently waiting to see what would emerge, they drew their instruments. Both of the men had become accustomed to this scenario after dealing with it a fair amount of times before. Gil’s great katana unsheathed and Ardyn’s magical weapon summoned fourth into his hand. “An iron giant!” “Don’t get careless, Gil!” Both of them leaped forward, beginning to attack it, but the monster managed to take a hold of Gil’s body for a moment, lunging him about twenty feet away. The large man's armored feet skid against the dirt as he managed to slow himself down and stand back up. “Gil!” Ardyn looked to his friend, spotting another black portal opening from afar. The king stabbed the giant in the back, slicing right through it’s arm and down into the abdomen. Finishing the beast, Ardyn hurried over, wanting to warp directly to Gil, but a wall of fire expanded and kept them separated. A Red Giant. Neither of the two enjoyed coming across this specific daemon. They were tiring and extremely tough to kill. The king gasped, at a loss for a decision. Look for Esme. Or Find a way around and assist Gil. The king never liked to doubt his partner, especially in a combat situation; Gil was more than suitable to handle a Red Giant on his own. “Go! Look for the Oracle! She’s in far more danger than I am for all we know!” Ardyn could here the sound of Gil’s grunts and metal clanging as he made a plea to his king. “Please be careful, my friend!” Hesitating for a second, Ardyn ran in the opposite direction of Gil in search of the girl. He didn't get far before hearing the clamorous sound of some building being wrecked. So he followed the echoes and came in confrontation with the back of a second Red Giant.

Guess there's no avoiding you lot. There was no delay in his swift action as he swooped forth to cut down the daemon. The flaming hot blade came close to taking the mighty king out, but he warped around to it's blind-spot, making one final lunge. Piecing his sword straight into the neck of the brute, Ardyn jumped back as it fell over, fading away before the body could hit the ground. The he heard a yelp close by. “Ah!” spotting a hole in the wall he ran through it and there she was laying on the floor, eyes closed with a daemon ready to finish her off. The king and the lanky creature collided, Ardyn successfully stopping the swing. He noted the blood on the ground directly below him that trailed off from Esme. Getting her to immediate safety became his top priority as pushed off the daemon's blade from his and forced It back far enough for him to take Esme up into his arms, warping out of the area. Making his way back to where they originally came from, his mind was in chaos; Was Esme close to death? What happened to the others? When would he be able to meet back up with Gil? Something about the distance he ran started to feel even more off in his head. Were the chocobos and the carriage this far out? Maybe he was just in a panic that everything seemed more a mess than it truly was. Kneeling down, he made sure to keep Esme cuddled up safely with one arm and used the now free one  by sticking two fingers in his mouth, blowing a whistle. Seconds passed when the tapping of speedy feet finally came rushing through the fog and his trusted stead came running to the rescue. “Kweh!” “I knew I could count on you!” Ardyn got back up, the black bird bending down, waiting for her guardian to get atop. The weight grew heavier with Esme laid over on the body of the chocobo, but it made no difference for the winged creature. Ready to take off, She awaited her next command. But it was hard for her to rest easy sensing the negative aura surrounding them. “Easy, my dear...” his free hand patted the feathered body while the other arm was hooked around the oracles chest as he did his best to hold her against him. He was nervous watching the distance, waiting for some sort of sound or someone. But nothing. The king swallowed hard and bit down on his lower lip, making the final decision to lead his bird away from the overtaken town to safety.