#yeah I've pulled out old ass lore for what is going on

[kit-williams]

Golden Apotheosis

My turn to finally introduce a Sentience Custode of my own! However, with a twist! Ya'll remember that Shard I made with @sculptorofcrimson and @bispecsual? Well I'm introducing a stand in for her in husbandry... and don't worry the boy in this fic is a stand in for Valdor (or maybe you should worry).

Please big thanks to @bispecsual for also beta reading

Enjoy

WORDCOUNT: 6524

@egrets-not-regrets @liar-anubiass-blog @barn-anon @bleedingichorhearts @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan

@ms--lobotomy

Thank @squishyowl for the dividers

tw: Nudity, blood, death (very much on brand with 40k so far) POV shifting

The blood that ran down her naked body was still warm. Aurora trembled with fear as she knew she was destined to die today... there was a horrifyingly calm acceptance of that fact that ran through her. She opened her mouth to breathe and spit out blood that leaked into her mouth. She was blind as she refused to open her blood covered eyes as her arms were held out by large hands... her long brown hair now stuck to her back as it was heavy with blood and all she could hear was the loud booming voice of the "preacher" Astartis... Aurora felt something placed on her head as it dug into the skin of her scalp and chants and jeers flooded her ears.

Large thumbs swiped over her eyelids allowing her to finally open. Her eyes only briefly scanned the gathered crowd of Astartes as she was dragged to a raised platform and her eyes looked to her cell companion. Aurora didn't blame her even if she apologized again and again for what was going to happen... it wasn't her fault that she was being held hostage to get her Astartis to behave, she learned his name was Ari... Aurora didn't blame Ari either. Her hands were held over her head as she was strapped to a metal pointed wheel, a star of Chaos, she somehow knew... she looked over to her fast friend who was silently crying as she was held by an Astartis in black and gold. The unwilling sorcerer approached, glancing at his human.... glancing to the marine holding his bonded... who gave her a squeeze causing her to scream.

The "preacher" kept speaking as Aurora looked at who she assumed was Ari. His body unarmored as she looked over his face and for a moment when their eyes met she could see the regret in them for a fleeting moment before they hardened as he painted her flesh with symbols that made her mind hurt. His hands soon moved and glowed as his voice took on a double voice melding with his own. She felt her body pulse as warp stuff bled from her brown-gold eyes.

They thought it was fitting given the close resemblance she held to many of the depictions of the Carrion Emperor to give her a golden laurel. Several of them could see it... how swollen her soul was... and with Ari pushing more warp into it... it only made it a better sacrifice.

Ari wanted no part of this... he hated this... he was no human killer! But... but... his human was in danger.

Aurora looked up at the sky and there was silent pain that rushed through her body. Something inside of her was pulsing as, unknown to her, more and more of her soul was forced to take in raw warpstuff. Empowering her and making her ripe for an offering to the gods. She felt like the seams of her entire being were being ripped apart to the point she could no longer take it and she screamed, "SOMEONE HELP ME!" Desperately she screamed as she forced her throat raw.

But within the warp that those fallen Astartes were feeding her soul too... all that was there was the laughter of thirsting gods...

Apollo was falling. He blinked as he was indeed falling as his armor was adjusting and informing him of the calculated time till impact. His bright blue eye behind those ruby red eye lenses twitched around in their socket as he was fed information from several sources. He was about to land in a gathering of Chaos Space Marines... during the middle of a ritual... Perfect timing he thought to himself . Apollo twisted his body like a cat, unhindered by his armor, as he was made to move unnaturally. He arched and his armor braced and readied himself as his hands gripped his Guardian Spear. Where he was... will come later he had to eliminate a cancerous growth first. But, as he fell his eyes glanced towards the altar and a breath before impact his eyes caught gold.

It was a baseline human female covered in blood. On her head rested a mockery of a golden laurel that his Master was fond of. His eyes met hers for a split second and pools of gold-brown looked at him... afraid. Vines of warp like energy akin to some violent xenos flora wrapped and latched onto his soul... he was going to save her... he was going to save her regardless... but he was going to save her... for she looked far too much like Him.

Limbs and viscera exploded outwards as Apollo made impact with a traitor marine. As the smoke cleared it was already far too late for them. Before even the words "Custodes!" could leave the mouth of the traitor that spotted him... a dozen of them were already dead.

Ari's eyes widened as he knew he had only precious seconds... his eyes flicked over to the marine holding his human and all Ari had to do was twitch and their head exploded. She was opening her mouth to scream as Ari flooded his body with the lashing warp to fuel his speed. He needed to out maneuver the Custodes. He was kind enough to cut Aurora free as within breaths he was suddenly by his human as the warp wrapped around the both of them and before Aurora realized it... they were gone. They fell to the forest floor as Ari held his bonded tightly... safe.

However, Aurora was far from safe. She was still in so much danger as she scrambled to her feet after being freed. Her heart was beating wildly as she still felt like she was coming undone and her hands covered her ears as she trembled in pain, a scream ripped from her throat. The warp that had bled into reality whipped around her... it hurt! She was scared! And she poured all of her emotions into the currents around her.

Help me please... a voice in his mind pleaded as the Dread Host, Apollo, cleaved a limb free from the traitor in front of him. He danced between the ruptured metal and dying marines. He violently shoved the bubbling anxiety down, a feeling he had thought he had forgotten how to feel, as his eyes drifted towards the screaming and pained human his mind raced something screamed at him... SAVE HER... SAVERHERSAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHERSAVEHER he gritted his teeth as something in his mind screamed at him in his own voice... he felt compelled to listen but he twirled watching his Guardian Spear slice through metal like it was butter. "Working on it." He snarled out to himself.

Aurora swayed on her feet as she regained some semblance of steadying herself and made to get away! The Golden Astartes could do that right? What help would she be... though she barely turned to run before a hand wrapped around her throat. Her hands looked so tiny as she tried to pry off metallic fingers from around her throat. The Feral Astartis snarled at her in that dark tongue, it wasn't Gothic, and it made something inside of her hurt. The dark apostle looked toward the custodes being swarmed before rushing off with the half ready sacrifice. It was just a minor setback... he would try again.

Aurora reached out to the golden warrior looking at the red eye lenses on that white faceplate... before she moved out of the camp at a sickeningly fast speed. Apollo's head snapped to the direction of his charge. His mind rapidly did the math at how fast he could get to her. He was finally done playing as his spear ripped open bellies before he turned on his heel like a flamenco dancer as he ran after them. Apollo needed to know why she looked so much like Him. He had joked or, now that Apollo reflects, perhaps in His own way admitted that He had many paramours over the years; both before and after the creation of the Primarchs. Apollo remembers him being young and bold enough to ask, "Should we be expecting any secret children my lord?"

He remembers the faint smile that was only in His eyes and not upon his lips as he ordained to answer Apollo, "No Apollo. I haven't had any in thousands of years."

Aurora was sobbing again, her tears cleaning the sticky blood on her skin, leaving their trails against her lightly tanned skin as she felt the hand around her throat squeeze. She was going to die... she had allowed herself to feel a fleeting sense of hope when he fell from the sky like a golden star... no... there was no golden hero here to save her. She opened her eyes as her brain had trouble registering the golden mass rapidly approaching her as... her brain told her.... it shouldn't move that fast... that smoothly... she felt sick as it moved so smoothly and so quickly that she couldn't register properly the fact he had already grabbed the dark apostle's arm and had already ripped it clean from its socket.

She only registered the sudden fact that she was falling now after a horrifyingly instantaneous sound of screaming metal. All Aurora knew was that at this momentum she was probably going to die if she hit the ground. However she blinked as the sound of leaf litter scattering met her ears as she was pressed up against a golden chest plate as she came to a stop. Her heart was beating like the wings of a hummingbird as her brown-gold eyes darted around. She looked up seeing the white facemask of the golden marine... she looked over her shoulder and could see the other dead on the forest floor.

Apollo watched as those gold-brown eyes looked around and back at his faceplate once more before she started to wildly weep against him. He normally wasn't good at handling their outbursts but he focused on the golden "laurel" on her head tangling with her hair was a bunch of scrap metal twisted and painted. His deft fingers moved it free of her scalp and wickedly tossed it at the dead marine watching the "leaves" sink into his skin. He felt her fingers grip his armor as he moves her, slightly wrapping her naked form in the black cloth he has wrapped around his waist. Apollo had many questions but as she started babbling up at him between her tears he realized he did not understand what she was saying... Apollo like all custodes was well versed in many imperial languages but this... this he did not know. He looked over her body as she was dehydrated and slightly underfed but otherwise she was healthy which soothed something inside of him. Apollo knew he wasn't good with baselines but he did his best to soothe her as now... he had to find his way to civilization.

The local Astartes were scrambling as there was a Custodes, an unknown Custodes, heading their way. Traitor and Renegade Astartes retreated from the immediate vicinity and entered hiding. A Custodes was a force of nature and would rip through a community like a tornado. Those at the wall gained confirmation as this was not one of the few that they knew of which meant this was a recent arrival... an unbonded Custodes. They would make things difficult as only bonded Custodes would allow the tentative truce between the Loyalists and Traitors continue... all by their mercy. So they were dealing with potentially two unbonded Custodes... they prayed to the Emperor and to the Dark Gods that no more were sent.

Apollo looked at the fortifications as he approached them picking up on Imperial Fist architecture mixed with Iron Warrior. His eyes narrowed at the joint project as he knew about the Ultramarine approaching him as his hand held the passed out bundle closely to him. He held his Guardian Spear at his side as the Ultramarine finally spoke, "Noble Custodes." Apollo could hear the accent as an old Mcraggian dialect and given the crusade pattern armor he was wearing... Time Displacement. Apollo theorized.

"Ultramarine." Apollo replied emotionlessly. The human in his arm whimpered softly, twitching slightly.

The Ultramarine looked at the Custodian's legs that were covered in dried blood. However his eyes kept glancing at the passed out human wrapped in the black cape of the custodian, covered in blood. He prepared to speak again but Apollo cut him off.

"When am I." He demanded.

"024.M2." He says automatically. The Ultramarine was surprised at the way the Custodian seemed to move in a way as he took a deep inhale.

"Where are we." Apollo turned to face the Ultramarine now, his grip on the spear becoming a little tighter.

"We are on Terra, my Lord."

Apollo stood there processing the conversation; he's never heard of a large time displacement going backwards. Ancient marines being shot forward in time was more common than not but... it could happen just he has no recollection of anything this severe, "When are you from."

"986.M30, my Lord." Internally the Ultramarine knew he was breaking protocols with these lines of question... they were supposed to ease in new arrivals... but then again this was a Custodes... and they had nothing ready for Custodes.

"I see." Apollo said as the silence before coming at him with, "I also see traitor marines in your midst."

"When are you from, my Lord?" The Ultramarine attempted deflection... Apollo could have killed him for such insolence.

"001.M42." Apollo said with a clipped breath.

"I... I see." The Ultramarine replied.

Apollo could see the micro movements of the armor... could see the way he was inhaling... he was clearly on the vox talking to others. He could order his machine spirit to override their encryptions to have full access to their conversation... but he refrained... for now. He glanced back down to his charge? He hardly was an Aquilian Shield to think of her as a charge but it felt right... a warmth that cradled itself between his hearts. His eyes pulled away and returned to their icy gaze as he looked around his mind playing stratagems of how he would dance between target to target he was confident even with her in his arm that he could kill them all. He had sparred with several Captain-Generals even the greatest of them all, Valdor. He was part of the host that was the Emperor's wrath... he was one of his Master's scalpels... and he saw much cancer to be removed.

"My Lord," Apollo looked to the Ultramarine, "if you will follow me... there is a lot we must inform you about." He started walking and Apollo adjusted his charge in his arms. Her golden eyes opened for a brief moment as the bags under her eyes were heavy... the way her hand shook weakly as she slurred out something in the language he did not know... how she curled against him once more before passing out again.

Apollo's eyes flicked about as they walked through the city seeing the baseline's glance about, none of them wearing any signifying colors that they were serfs or a part of some faction that Apollo knew of. The sky was a crisp blue that he knew few worlds had such a blue sky naturally and he is certain that if the Ultramarine was correct... the night sky might have a number of stars he knew by heart. But his eyes flicked to various windows as Apollo made mental notes of the traitor marines and any "loyalists" that would give him trouble should what they so desperately wanted to tell him... was unsatisfactory.

They approached the base as his eyes flicked to the defenses, far more lacking than what would normally be called for, his eyes flicked to the humans there. Negligible variables in his mind as they would die to simple flicks of his spear and they would be gone. He looked at the approaching Salamander Apothecary sizing them up, "Lord Custodes. I can take the human-" He starts slowly moving his arms to offer to take them.

"Dehydration and the beginning stages of starvation." Apollo says quickly, passing the bundle to the Salamander. He ignored the desire to pull her closer... he ignored the desire to rip her back into his arms... he ignored the desire to keep her close and have her stay with him. His icy blue eyes flicked to the Salamander... he would be a simple bump to cut through should he need to collect her; it would be easy to find her.

He followed the Ultramarine still into a meeting room as Apollo looked at the dozen of marines in the room. He stood like a statue in the doorway looking between each one of them planning out how he would kill each one and how he would move onto the next. When Apollo was satisfied with his stratagem he finally spoke, projecting his voice, "I have been here a total of three hours. And for that entire first hour I spent killing Traitor Astartes." He pauses for a moment, "In the past twenty minutes I have seen Thirty-two more. So gentlemen," He said with almost a snarl in his voice, "Tell me what is so important that should convince me to not start slaughtering you all."

It took them an hour to explain the bare bone basics. Apollo then made them stay an additional four to go into detail on every piece of information. He met with Loyalist "traitor" legion marines... A renegade marine... and one very brave Chaos Space Marine. Apollo processed the information in that painful silence, well painful for the Astartes as he was fine. He finally made a calculated move as he took off his helmet and pinched his brow. Utilizing a disarming technique to lure them into a calm but to express a desire to truly emote.

Apollo calculated the time span was roughly one of a ten thousand years with the earliest they were dealing with was one of the Uncrowned Princes fresh from the Unification Wars to the most recent which was a Primaris marine and himself being the latest to arrive from the Indomitus Era. "I'm satisfied with the explanation." Apollo said as there was a silent collective exhale of relief. "Have one of your Librarians determine if the human I brought in is... bonded to me."

"Yes my Lord." Someone said as Apollo stood up to leave the room.

Aurora feels that she's somewhere else... she's in a bed. She opens her eyes looking at the medical bed she is in as she sits in shock just remembering how she had fallen against her 'hero' as she had been calling him. Her hands began to tremble as... it... it was over? A click and a trill bring her eyes over to molten colored eyes of a large Salamander who is holding his hands open trying to look submissive, "Hello there little one." He says gently.

Aurora wanted to be brave... that she had handled being captured for the past few weeks with some dignity... Aurora wanted to be so very brave but she had accepted that she was going to die in some horrifying way... and tears fell from her brown-gold eyes. She wept as it was finally over... oh god it was finally over! "Shh Shh you're okay." She felt a hand on her shoulder and leaned into the gentle touch as she cried into his offered shoulder.

A nurse would come in eventually as she calmed down and slowly explained her ordeal and Aurora asked with a weak voice, "Can we call my mom? I've... I've been missing for awhile. My college probably called her."

"Of course Aurora. Do you want anything?"

Aurora swallowed softly, "A shower."

Aurora sighed happily as she felt fingers against her scalp. The last time she had been cleaned was in the camp by an Astartis that kept leering and getting too handsy.

"Diana." Another Nurse spoke through the door, "Big guy that brought her in wants to see her with the Librarian."

"Tell them I'm in the middle of bathing her." Her nurse said as she gently rinsed her hair.

The next voice through the door was in Gothic and sounded like an Astartes. Diana spoke it back... sounding more and more annoyed before sighing. "I swear for giants from space or whatever they really don't understand the concept of shame or that people don't like to be naked around them." She looks down at her, "They need to check something and don't want to wait I can-"

"It's fine. Just please... can... can you keep washing my hair." Aurora said with a whimper.

"Of course."

Apollo heard the whimper in her voice through the door as it soon opened as he saw those gold-brown eyes looking at him... there was shame in those eyes. He silently took in a sharp breath as he felt something painful rest between his hearts. His master needed to be taken care of. Each one of the Ten Thousand had done their part in lovingly taking care of Him before and after his placement on the throne. Apollo was no different as his eyes scoured her body... spying spots of blood still in her skin... her hair having knots in it... blood caked under her nails... all accompanying that look of shame in that golden gaze. He felt the deep aching need to be the one washing her hair... "Check." He said softly and quickly breaking himself from more thoughts.

As the librarian gazed into the warp... he did not know what he was looking at. There was a mess of "chains" and "vines" all around the Custodian. Writhing, locking, withering, pulling, coiling, unlocking... in a mess that he couldn't find what he sought. He looked to her and found the "tether" for a bond and followed it back... "Yes. She is your bonded."

Apollo turned away without another word and he threw his weight around to get what he needed as he took a "crash course" in the current local language called English. Once he grasped the basics, the noosphere was opened to him, simply called 'The Internet'. Apollo's mind rapidly took in what he learned as with what he saw made ten thousand year old memories danced across his mind. Cultures of ancient Terra became new again back home... ideas and images that are young or even old here and now cling to life and importance twenty-eight thousand years into the future and even older. Ideas were reused, rediscovered, once more lost, and once again found time and time again.

Apollo keeps watch over his new charge, he was made to kill not to coo at mortals like the Aquilian Shields or the Emissaries Imperatus often did, but he was digesting all that he had learned so far as his eyes looked to his charge and that gnawing in the back of his mind... she looked so familiar. Early the next morning an exhausted looking woman is escorted by the nurse to her room and through the window Apollo watches the two embrace and weep. Aurora, he reminds himself of her name as he replays the conversations she had with him after he saved her before she passed out.

"Captain," He voxes the appropriate leader, "Inform the bases near where she lives that I will be following."

"Right Away."

Aurora felt disappointed that she never got to properly thank 'hero' for saving her. Sure she saw him around but she also saw how everyone walked on eggshells, which would be impressive given how most of them were in that armor of theirs, around him. But she was going to be heading back home as she had found out she was a couple hundred miles away from home and where she was going to college... oh college... she started to think about college again.

"Ow." She is pulled from her thoughts as her mom gives the middle of her forehead a flick as she looks at her confused.

"None of that. I will be taking care of everything until you're ready to go back to college." Her mother said.

"But-"

"Aurora." She felt her mother hold her shoulders, "I have been living in limbo waiting to be told you were found dead. Please let me be the mom?"

Aurora could tell her mom had gotten a bit thinner... she always kept herself together even through the roughest parts of her childhood and she could tell she had taken the news about her being taken... badly. "Okay." She relented and hugged her mom smiling as she felt her kiss the top of her head. Aurora knows she wasn't planned for but her mother never made her feel like, as she put it, an oopsie.

"I'm going to finish up your discharge papers. And then I'm sure the nurse will come get you."

"Can you bring me something to eat?"

"I'll ask the nurses, kiddo." Her mom said before leaving the room and Aurora was left with her thoughts.

However, her eyes caught gold moving outside and she quickly rose out of bed and opened the door seeing 'hero' walking down the hall. "Hey big guy, wait." She called out as she moved towards him, oh sure she shouldn't be out of bed but she didn't want to miss this opportunity. She felt so small standing next to him and looking up at him as he now had a black shoulder cape that she vaguely remembers being wrapped up in... but he was looking down at her. She swallowed and smiled, "I'm probably going to be leaving soon but I've been wanting to thank you so much for saving me." She can't help but rise to the tips of her toes as she says 'thank you' just smiling up at the silent guardian.

Apollo, hidden behind the white faceplate and red eye lenses, felt something wash over him... praise. It was the same sort of warmth that he would get when He praised him. She looked ready to leave at his silence but Apollo placed his hand on her head giving her a gentle pat on the head. He removed his hand to not let strands of her hair get tangled in his servos. She smiled up at him, the smile reaching her golden-brown eyes, and once again that ten thousand year old part of him melted in the same way... that he was eager to get again. She quickly rushed back to her room and Apollo watched that waist length silken brown hair, a shade he knew by heart, sway with each quick bouncy step.

Eventually her life had to keep moving back forward and Apollo watched it all. He watched her blossom back to life, like the spring flowers she often loved to wear in the flower crowns. Her golden-brown eyes glittering with joy and laughter; sparkling in a way that stirred something within him. It made Apollo want to get closer... it made him want to touch her in ways that made him hesitate to get closer for he was disturbed by feeling such desires so intensely.

There were a handful of Custodes here and when they were from were also as varied as the Astartes. But they had a smattering of personalities and how they were handling these bonds... Odysseus; he could tell; was still in mourning and handling the bond with suspicion. Kaeso on the other hand urged him to enjoy it and Apollo bit his tongue when he wanted to remind Kaeso how to behave. However, Kaeso was behaving... behaving how he had been during the Unification wars and the Great Crusade... not to how he was used to him acting since those 'happier' times.

"It's you!" Aurora said excitedly as she looked up at Apollo whose armor was now clean and glittering in the light that fluttered between the leaves. Apollo looked at the crown of cherry blossoms on her head and could not help but think of how similar it felt to a laurel...

"Hello Aurora." Apollo finally spoke to her.

Aurora's eyes widened for a moment as she finally heard the soft masculine voice that came from the helmet, she was used to them having deep voices; and his was still deep compared to a normal human; but it was softer than what she expected. He watched her smile soon after taking steps to close the distance between them. And as she smiled at him Apollo watched the gold in her eyes glitter and glow in seeming approval of him. He took a knee and her smile grew once again, rounding her cheeks, as she bore her teeth in that very human gesture of a grin, even showing her gums slightly. "I am a Custodes. I go by many names each given to me for a deed I have completed. My deeds are numerous and my name long but you may call me Apollo."

Apollo smiled under his helmet as she grinned approvingly at his introduction and it made him feel good, but he didn't know why and part of him no longer cared. "I am your bonded." He stated and he listened to the way her heartbeat lept up as she giggled happily even bouncing slightly to show her uncontained joy at his statement. Even going up to him and giving him a hug. Apollo normally did not like mortals touching him or being close to him, but this felt nice.

Words flowed easy between them and when Apollo removed his helmet he heard her gasp. He felt something inside of him savor the way she held his face watching her eyes dart around his features. Cooing about the freckles that danced from one ear, down to the cheek below his eyes, over the bridge of his nose, and ending at the other ear. She looked over his strawberry blonde hair but it was clear she was enamored with his freckles... but she looked at him in a way he didn't know why but it made him crave for her to look at him more... to hold his face still... to look at him... to be so alive... he couldn't stop seeing his dear beloved Emperor in her.

"What's on your mind, Apollo?" She cooed at him.

"You look," He paused for a moment debating on telling her but decided it wouldn't hurt, "like someone I knew."

"Well, I'm certain you saw what my mom looked like. I do share at least half of my DNA with her." Aurora teased as she cupped his face still, running her thumbs over his cheeks.

"What of your father?" He said tilting his head, as he had quickly determined that she enjoyed him being emotive; a thing he noticed Astartes who wear their armor often with their human do... pantomime their expressions. He watched her exhale and roll her eyes as she pulled her hands away. Apollo held back a frown at the lack of contact between them.

"Never met him. Mom literally only met him once. Though it's a really funny story on how he got my mom, for context she never really randomly slept with people, to sleep with him." With her gestures and movements it was an often told story. "She was at some bar and tells me that she looked at the other end of the bar and sees the most handsome man she's ever seen. Tall, strong jawed, silky brown hair going to his... as she puts it 'nice ass', swore that his eyes had to be gold, and just had some European air about him; though... tangent we learned that he might have actually been Anatolian when I took a DNA test. But... " She waves her hand resuming the main point, "She waited a bit as she was certain that no one that good looking was at this bar alone. But he was so she decides to shoot her shot and they get talking." Aurora makes a grand gesture for the next words, "Massive nerd with many fields of interest, so my mom, also being one, saw that as a point in his favor. But that's not the thing that riles my mom up and gets her to sleep with him, oh no... so she asks him his name," She builds the suspense for a moment, "he called himself 'Revelation'." She waves her hands at the reveal. But she soon shakes her head and laughs, "My mom and I have had a laugh at that given how it sounds like she had already made up her mind to have sex with this stranger but it's funny that him being a 'mysterious' handsome stranger named Revelation. Is what cemented it for her. But yeah they had sex and nine months later I came into the world."

Apollo's pupils became pinpricks as he was, as was most of the ten thousand were, privy to many of His names and he distinctly remembers Revelation being one of them. His breathing remained steady, no outward sign betraying his emotions, but his heart was racing as time crawled for him as he finally really looked at Aurora drinking in every detail... he wasn't losing his mind as he could see it. She was his Master's child.

"I might know your father." Apollo said.

"Do you now?"

Aurora blinked as she had been doing so for the past 5 minutes digesting what was told to her after Apollo had info dumped a lot on her. She had to sit on a stump half way through his explanation of her father... "Okay so... let me go through the highlights. My dad is an immortal space warlord, who is also worshiped as a god, but heavily insisted that he wasn't a god... when apparently he liked to play god genetically. He was also a really shitty dad because how else do you get nine people who call you dad to want you dead?"

"That is a gross simplification of everything." Apollo stated bluntly.

"THAT ISN'T SAYING NO APOLLO!" She shouts. Apollo just huffs as he decides to not give her a vocal answer but he is pleased when she presses him for more, "And you want to find him because he made you when he was playing God but its not out of a familial obligation it's because you wholeheartedly serve him?"

"Correct."

She is quiet for several moments before letting out a sigh as she looks to him, "Okay Apollo I won't stop you from finding him. I'll even do my best to help you but I need you to answer something for me."

Apollo preened under her acceptance of his desire to find her father, "Gladly."

Aurora felt mean for what she was about to say but if what he had told her was true... he was like ten thousand years old... he could handle this easily. "What will you do when you find him? The man you know does not even exist yet and he might never exist. Given how he's the one who makes both you and apparently the Astartes and since you," she points to him, "are here and now and you're from the really far future and none of it includes mentions of this happening? Means that this is probably now an alternate timeline, if you believe in that of course. SO Apollo... please tell me... what are you going to do?" Her words struck at something deep inside of his psyche. His mind came to a screeching stop. "Oh God... Oh God... Apollo? I didn't mean to break you." Her voice cut through to his mind as he finally heard her again after being frozen still as a statue looking through her.

Apollo knew that this endeavor was utterly selfish... it was flawed and flimsy enough for a baseline mortal to see the holes in it... but he just wanted to serve a living Emperor again... he just wanted to see the life in his eyes once more... she was right... he wasn't the same man who had handcrafted him into what he was... Apollo felt himself mourning again as his hearts ached in pain as he looked at his bonded... his dearest Aurora... she was alive... oh she was oh so very much alive.

The golden chains that bind him and tether him to his beloved master are violently twisted apart with only few of them loosely hanging onto him as the vines dug and pushed under the claps and cuffs that the chains were wrapped around. Apollo was in that dark grief again as his mind rushed and tried to pull him out and there calling his name looking up at him concerned was Aurora. His thoughts coalesced crashed on that singular thought of how she was his beloved Master's child... and the poison blossom bloomed over his hearts as vines wrapped around his neck... around his being... holding him tightly as even the vines wrapped around the broken chain links leading back to his Master and held them in place.

"Apollo?" Aurora looked up at him concerned as he had stood there looking through her and being completely emotionless.

If he could not love and serve his beloved Master here... then the princess... this tiny Empress in front of him would have to suffice. Something deep inside of him was utterly thrilled at the thought of holding her again... her being so easy to pick up and hold... so small and fragile... her hands against his face again whispering praise to him... so small... and all his.

"Apollo? Are you okay?" She whined softly feeling guilty for causing him to shut down basically but Apollo smiled at her and nodded.

"Thank you Aurora. I needed to hear the truth." He gently took one of her hands and dropped to a knee as a practiced warm smile graced his face, "And with that... I am ready to diligently serve you. I vow to keep you safe. And to be as a bonded should be, my Lady." Apollo said his icy blue eyes watching her face as he then kissed the back of her hand before turning it slightly and kissing her pulse point on her wrist. He contained his smile as he felt it against his lips and heard her pulse quicken. His eyes drank up the blush on her tanned skin.

She squeaked as he picked her up, princess style, easily and once more Apollo regarded her blush akin to being praised! Words once more again flowed easy between them as he carried her back to where she was staying as he could tell she was excited to have him as her bonded... perhaps not as excited as he was but he was certain in time she would be.

Perhaps Apollo could see why Valdor was so enamored by the Shards he often collected... so deliciously small... and all very much his.

[idyllic-affections]

Hello hello helloooo again, Aphe my good friend!

Tis' I, 🐉Anon!!!!

And I'm back again to scratch that HSR x Reader brainworm you've been afflicted with.

But first, I'd first like to congratulate you on bringing Imbibitor Lunae home! And I absolutely feel you on the sudden amassing of oc ideas (I may or may not have come up with a couple of whole ass planets of my own, one of which I've been working on writing up, but that is a tale for another time!)

Anyhow, I approach you tonight (in my timezone) with a brainrot appropriate for both my anonymous moniker, and the occasion at hand. That's right, this ask features the one and only... Cold Dragon Yooooooung! Not to be confused with Cold Dragon Younger or Cold Dragon Youngest

Imagine, the reader is a member of the Astral Express, among the younger members, let's say pre-teens to early teens, and they're a bit of a bookworm. And since Dan Heng has essentially turned the Archives into his room, he's finds himself often being visited by them, sometimes [Name] chats him up, sometimes they're just chilling their quietly as they read through the stories and files that the crew of the express have accumulated over the course of their journey. Perhaps [Name] takes a particular shine to the numerous tales of dragons from across the cosmos, including those of their progenitor, the deceased Aeon of the Permanence, Long. Perhaps over time, Dan Heng takes becomes something of a big brother to [Name] looking out for them, and always makes sure to bring back stories from the world the crew visits for them to look at when they return from missions. Imagine [Name] gazing upon Dan Heng's true form as their eyes light up like stars, and they can't help but go on a lengthy tangent about how absolutely awesome he looks, and how they bet he's so super strong in this form (which like... he is!)

Just a kiddo having an absolute hayday as they find out their big brother figure is a dragon-person!

HI BELOVED..... ahhhh ty!!!! as i told 🐱 anon, i love and adore him. he came home within the first 10 pull and i just think that was so real of him. so much realer than kafka. who never came home. smh. /lh AND YEAH hsr is so fascinating, really. it gives me many oc thoughts.

OHHH I LOVE THIS BRAINROT 🐉 anon must know me well.... i am a professional dan heng liker. also, to be fr with you all, i kind of already know what's up with dan heng LMAO the lore-reading instincts were too strong. dan heng il was sitting right there... what was i supposed to do, not listen to his voice lines and read what little i have unlocked in terms of his story? /lh so this brainrot is fine for me. i don't know everything but i do know enough to respond well to this brainrot, i think.

dan heng would be a good brother i think... blood really doesn't matter. what matters is that he formed a cute bond with this little nerd /aff who is always in the archives with him.

his little sibling will only be allowed to go on trailblaze missions when he feels that they're old and strong enough (even if himeko and mr yang are okay with letting [name] go, if dan heng isn't, then they are stuck on the express LMAO but i don't think they'd mind. they'd just chill in the archives and read while they wait). speaking of which, you know how dan heng has that very... martial art style of fighting? i think he teaches them how to fight properly because, you know, they'll need it. he's always very careful not to hurt them and offers them his quiet form of praise when they do well. AND MAYBE. when the trailblaze mission is concluded, and the astral express is still docked, he'll take them to whatever planet has been visited and will let them explore and observe that planet's unique properties. probably also takes them to a local bookshop. just dan heng having a cute outing with his bookworm little sibling once he knows it is safe to do so.

and ohhhhjshsjg hear me out. dan heng in his true form being so so protective of [name], moreso than he already was before (BECAUSE HEAR ME OUT: dragon instincts)... like. first trailblaze mission. [name]'s in danger. dan heng quietly picks them up, tells them not to look despite the fact that they aren't some naive little kid (to which they oblige, hiding their face in the junction between his neck and shoulder, a little embarrassed that they couldn't handle it themselves), supports their weight with one arm, and fucking WRECKS everything that posed a threat to their safety with the other hand.

AND CONSIDER wounded [name]...... dan heng being something of a hissy, overprotective older dragon brother and refusing to let anyone get too close to them until the other members of the astral express crew manage to talk him down (mostly himeko and welt i think...... march would make it worse unintentionally LMAOOO and stelle is. chaos. so. yeah), eventually managing to convince dan heng to hand over poor wounded [name] so that they can treat whatever wound they got. he's hovering over their shoulder the majority of the time anyway, though, and that's honestly probably really comforting. like yeah. maybe it's a little excessive. but he so blatantly cares a lot about their safety and i just think that would be so reassuring. him letting them squeeze his hand if it hurts too much........ i love playing around with nonhuman characters and how their more feral instincts manifest. dragon instinct dan heng.... cries he's so protective in my brain

but on an even cuter note--dan heng always picking up books and trinkets he thinks they would like while he's on trailblaze missions. he sees something and he's like.... wow.... [name] would like that....

and [name] rambling about how cool he looks and how strong he is *head in hands* PLEASEEE i think he'd be a bit embarrassed and maybe even a little uncomfortable but he knows they mean well.... and it grows on him. like. he starts to find it super cute and endearing :(((

[helsingvania]

Hi it's 4 am and the state of star wars animation has pissed me off so hard that I woke up 2 hours early.

I am SO FUCKING SICK OF THE CLONE WARS. Every single time a new spinoff is made the more I've grown to despise and apathetic towards all of its characters. This 15 year old show is continuously beaten to death and whatever was good in what frankly was a mediocre show is never used meaningfully again. Because it's all given to ahsoka.

Every single thing is given to ahsoka. I don't have any reason to like ahsoka anymore because of her over exposure just tries me now. Even at the points I do enjoy her gets overshadowed by everything that's been going on in the past 4 years with star wars. And now these characters are finally given the attention they deserved years ago...I just have to ask why do I care?

Yeah barris is interesting, but it's just so null to me since they're only NOW talking about her when that's one of the first things that should've came up in a clone wars spinoff. I don't give a shit about the final season, I have no reason to be invested in the bad batch. What does peak my interest is too little too late.

And I think the clone wars animation just needs to die. This art style - I DONT CARE HOW GOOD THE ANIMATION IS - is falling apart at the seams as we're constantly seeing the clash of old models and new models in the same room. They can't even render people of color or aliens properly with this style.

Thrawn doesn't look like an alien anymore.

And I'm going to talk about the other half of tales of the empire. Why the fuck is Morgan only getting shit NOW. AFTER SHE WAS KILLED IN THE FIRST SEASON OF AHSOKA. They literally were pulling shit out of their ass for that show regarding her and now they're back peddling to explain what the fuck was going on in that show. this isn't necessary, you had the opportunity to flesh her out but you didn't. So why should I care now? And I'm not excited to see animated thrawn again because this is in tandom with ahsoka. They didn't do him justice by showing how much of a threat he was in ahsoka, and I know they're not going to keep that up here. Thrawn is a fun villain but they amazingly missed everything that made him memorable.

I've been having thoughts about the state of this series film area and it just makes me want to ask. Is this meaningful? Does this add anything that's game changing? Or does it serve just explain things that people forgot to do in another show?

Andor is meaningful. It takes character's mentioned back stories and shows what they mean in the most horrifying implications possible. Cassian has been in this battle since he was 6 years old....not against the empire, but against imperialism. To him there was no difference between the Republic or the empire. A new view of this universe, a one showcasing the horrors of the wars.

Rebels is meaningful. It not only explained more of the horrors of the empire so younger fans can understand, but it also expanded upon the lore of the force which makes it more interesting and fascinates me endlessly. It's original characters all have unique traits and stories to them but they've all been wronged by war and the empire in more ways than one. They get focus and we're expanded upon naturally in one show.

What makes these shows meaningful? What does knowing how Morgan met thrawn adds to the extended narrative? How does this effect the universe and how we see it?

We don't know yet. But I don't have faith it will.

[chaos-proffessa]

Idk pt2 for the last fic, let me know if you want anything in particular same things apply as last time also possible contagion idk we'll see how I feel and if there's a pt 3 idk also reminder all my characters are 18 plus and in Colledge I forget how old they are specifically but there in thier 20s (also if you want me to expand on thier lore please ask questions)

Riely smiled down at his sleeping friend, he gently ran his fingers through onyx's hair as he leant into Riely's chest. Onyx stirred and muffled a cough into his fist. "mmf hmm?, wha' time is it?" Onyx asked groggily looking up to his friend. "It's around 11am, how are you feeling?" "Like ass, snFf!..... Your comfy.." onyx muffled as he leant back into Riely's chest. Riely muffled a laugh at his friends actions, "ok buddy as much as I love you being this openly affectionate for once let's get some meds in you" Riely gently placed a hand to onyx's cheek "jeez you feel like a furnace" Riely said worriedly, reaching over to the table he grabbed the thermometer and passed it to onyx "ok onny you think you can get through it this time?" He joked, "yeah.... I got it" onyx mumbled placing the thermometer in his mouth and waited.

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

"hmmmm... 102 yep you've got a fever onny" Riely grabbed two boxes and held them out for onyx to see "ok do you prefer liquid or tablet?" He asked reading the back to see how much of each to give "SnFf... Do I haf'to can I jus' sleep it off?" He yawned reaching for his glasses. "No bud, sorry onny but if your fever were maybe a few degrees less than yeah... But....." He trailed off holding the boxes higher weighing them both out in his hands. Onyx groaned weakly reaching for the tablets "how many?" "One now and then another in four to six hours" Riely quoted. "...Kay" onyx sighed taking one of the tablets out of the packet and swallowing it down with a sip of his tea, cold tea. "Eww whys'it cold" he whined placing the mug back on the table with a dull thud. "Cuz it's been sitting out here scince four AM, member? Or is your brain melted from that fever already" Riely joked tilting onyx's head to the side to look into his ear "helloooo is my bestest buddy in there or what! Or Are you melted!?" He whisper-yelled into onyx ear. Onyx laughed pushing Riely away "stop! M'not melted!!" He laughed, his laughing quickly dissolving into a round of harsh coughs as he doubled over. Riely winced and rubbed onyx's back. "oh sorry bud easy does it, there we go deep breaths" Riely coached helping onyx catch his breath "s'okay" he coughed "I'm ok, snDff! ghhh mbaybe just g-gimme a minute" onyx huffed out calming his breathing, leaning back into Riely's side with a few sniffles. Riely looked down not able to see his friends face he heard a few hiccuping breaths "w-woah... Hey onny don't cry.... You know I diddnt mean the whole brain melt thing right?, your really smart.... You... You ok?" Riely said worriedly rubbing onyx's shoulder "i-im'b hiH!..... Mm'fide... Just..." Onyx sniffled, Riely wrapped his arms around his friend resting onyx's head into his chest "I've got you onny.... I'm sorry you must not be feeling to well huh?, don't worry I'll be here the whole time to help you get better and-" he was cut off by a sudden jolt from onyx "hiHH!-TTSSHH!!! ehhH HEhH-TTShhhEW!! HhhihhH-ChhiEW!-CHhu!-TsSHhh!!! Ghhh SndDffK!! snFf! Hhh scuze mbe...." Onyx muffled "c-cad you pass mbe the tissues please?" Onyx asked his cheeks burning in embarrassment. Riely laughed and passed him the box "bless you onny, you had me worried there" "you really thought I'd cry over that?" He snickered "you really thiHhh ink in that s-scensitH-ihHIVE-TsSHHH!! hiH-TTShhHYU!! SnDf!! Ghh" onyx pulled back from Riely muffling the small fit into his hands, he sniffled a few times before grabbing a handful of tissues from the box.

"Bless you!"

"Thagks...... SnFf!"

[institute-of-planar-shitposts]

Characters Out of Context

➥ Include one character quote — of your choosing ⁠— from each chapter of your WIP (or as many chapters as you’d like).

➥ Give absolutely no context, save for what’s between two parts of an interrupted sentence, should that occur. You may mention who said it.

Tagged by @liltaz-asatreat because I know for a fact he's fishing for more Sunshine lore jdjdbfmdbkcnfkf he is in luck as its really the only WIP I have to pull from at the moment, though I'll throw in my favorite TMZ lines too :>

The Misadventure Zone

Chapter 1 - Lup: "Look, if the guy’s afraid of the dark to the point of not remembering torches exist, I can’t be blamed for the shenanigans I pull."

Chapter 2 - Lup: "Who is? I mean, one second you're just having a good time, feeling great, and the next, some asshole catches you with your pants down and whoops, there goes the momentum."

Chapter 3 - Lup (listen she has all the good lines okay -): I" feel like I just got run over by a goddamn semi."

Chapter 4 - Killian: "Oh, so sorry, Brian, I thought, you know, your entire betrayal thing kinda took precedence over the idle conversation."

And now Sunshine! I'll do the finished planned chapters first and then stuff from snippets after that. There's so many gab happy candlenights dhjbdnsbfkf -

Chapter 1 - Sunshine: "Don't suppose you've got any fantasy aspirin on you?"

Chapter 2 - Sunshine: "I just - I mean, me, people have heard me perform, but it's - you're like, the best. I guess I just... I don't know, I just kinda assumed that one day, you'd be out there surpassing Beyoncé, or something."

Chapter 3 (which will probably be split to hell fjjdjf) - Merle: "We're on a mission, Susan.”

She gives him a withering look. “It's Sunshine.”

“Not very sunny to me,” he snickers.

“I will Frostbite you, old man,” she warns.

“Why are you always picking on me?” he whines.

“Cause you're the one who stomps on the buttons!”

“I'm just joking around!”

“I know that, but you could at least try to remember my goddamn name!"

Chapter 4 - (these are Sunshine's roommates) Lillian: "Think of the children, Nora!”

“What children?”

“The very real children that definitely work with the Bureau!”

Chapter 5 - Lucretia: "You’re not going to let me say no to this, are you?"

Sunshine: “Respectfully, Ma’am, no, I am not."

From here on its just snippets :>

Interlude 2

Sunshine: "Lucas Miller, if you don't shut your ass up right -"

Candlenights party

"Come on in!” Magnus says, moving so she can do so. As she passes, he leans down to add in a whisper, “Maybe you can get Johann to play something more upbeat?”

Meeting Istus

Sunshine: "I'm gonna walk into that fucking explosion." (Still makes me laugh ngl hdjdjkfnd)

The Chalice talk

Sunshine: "Don't. Fucking - just don't. If you try to make me relive that again, I - I'll - I'll fucking - blast you into the stratosphere. Don't fucking test me. I don't care if it hurts June, if you try to -”

“I'm not gonna do that, Sunshine, promise,” it interrupts. “It's okay. You can look; it's stopped.”

Magnus and Sunshine hanging out

"Go for it. Just uh, remember I've kinda got swiss-cheese for a brain right now.”

Wonderland

"Yeah, yeah, you’re a great wizard."

Returning from Wonderland

"We'll see you later, Annie,” Merle says.

“Still Avi."

More reunion tour

“I could go for like, a good tea right now.”

And finally! The beginning of stolen century

"Don't try to think ahead, Sunny, okay? I need you to follow me on this.”

I don't really have anyone to tag so... If you see this and wanna do it yourself, tag me so I can see it? :0

[rebelyelll]

Chapter 13 Author's Note

I am so sorry if this update came across as cringey in any way, shape, or form. I was having fun, okay? 😭 That line Tenmei makes on the way to the heist was something I just made up. However, I didn't know what a #0 hex machine screw nut was until this moment lmao. Ahhh, the joy of researching for fics, am I right?

Also, yes. That was a "deez nuts" reference he made... lol.

I'm not too proud with the display of one bit of the lore. The soap opera. Omg... I don't know, I don't watch soaps. Although I do faintly recall that being all there was on TV back when I was in school. I had this dinky-ass Zenith in my old bedroom growing up, and it was an antenna TV. Literally the only channels I had were 3, 12, maybe 9 on a good day, 24, and 32 sometimes. AUX was also one, obviously. Probably my most favorite of all of them if I'm being honest, because I always hooked up the SNES any chance I got.

Yeah. I'm that old. Surprise! 90s kids - if you know, you know.

Anyways, back to the soaps talk. I did NOT enjoy watching that shit. Even if I didn't sit there and consume a lot of it, I recall the fact I just couldn't get into them. So, if the soap opera scene in Chapter 13 is janky and weird, that's partially why lmao. It's because I know next to nothing about them. I didn't like writing that, but I felt like it would be a neat opportunity to expand a bit on the lore a little. In a way it serves as a little joke about the Days of Our Lives never ending.

And then there's the Gendarmes segment. Oh boy. This one is based on a personal memory of mine from when I was around 2 or 3 years old. If you are familiar with the show Cops, then yeah. You get it. My dad used to watch that show ALL the time. My mom would tell me about how every time the theme song came up on the TV, toddler me would run through the house going "bad boys, daddy, bad boys."

Sometimes I like to imagine how that scenario played out. The way my mom talked about it, I wish I could remember something like that. It's a sentimental thing between me and my dad, so it is immortalized now!

Oh right! Another thing I keep forgetting to bring up is the French translations in the fic. No, I don't have anyone as a translator. Let me explain lmao. I research the hell out of translations. Punching things in google translate and going "good enough" isn't the extent of it, either. I dig deep. I need to know it's the right one. I've taken some French courses on Duolingo, but I'm not the best at it retaining what I've learned sadly. (That's with most anything I learn about mind you.)

It's funny because it's always the trivial knowledge that sticks; seems like it's never the important stuff lmao. Learning languages is pretty hard. I'm okay with Spanish. I took a high school course and learned how to conjugate verbs and the use of pronouns. Fun fact about my school: we USED to have a French class, but that got replaced with the Spanish one for some reason. I don't know why. I'm glad I got to learn Spanish, because I've memorized quite a bit (curse words included). But I really wish we could've kept the French courses. That would have been pretty useful and fun.

I keep swearing I'll go far for writing research, too. Especially for Whiplash. To the point I'm like "I'm going to France to learn to speak the language." But I ALREADY know that if I did that, with the little knowledge I've got, it'll boil down to me saying: "bonjour! comment ça va?" and the other person will utter unfamiliar words in a long sentence or two and, I just stand there frozen. "Huh...?" lmao.

Damn, that would be cool if I could do that, though. Oh, well! lol.

I can't remember if the fic states this or not in the narrative, but Canneberge's name is French for Cranberry. I said to myself: "what if I pulled a Golden Wind and named a character after a fruit, haha". Well, that was part of the naming scheme with them, the other reason they are named that is after the band, The Cranberries. I won't go too in depth with this character's stand or character concept just yet, because the fight between them and Tenmei continues in Chapter 15. So, I'll just save that information for that author's note when the time comes. Recurring characters like Husselhoff and Tiny Dancer are back. Their dynamic's one of my favs. I do worry though that people will read it at some point and say: "Ughhh, this trope is cliche and dumb." I wish my brain would shut up, man...

If you've ever played any of the older Final Fantasy games, you may recall a couple characters named Biggs and Wedge that make cameos throughout the series. Husselhoff and Tiny Dancer are loosely based on that, because that was something I always got a kick out of when I'd play the FF games. 6 and 9 being the two that really stood out. Never played 7, so I can't say for sure if they make an appearance there. 8, I don't remember?? But I think they did? It's been years since I played FF8. Since I played any of them lmao!

I want to say 4 had a Biggs and Wedge as well, but.... ehhhh...?

References

The Chapter title, Keeper of the Seven Keys -- a reference to a song by a power metal band called Helloween.

the soap opera characters, Edith and Marko -- Edith is named for Edit Piaf, a French singer. Marko is named after the bass guitarist of Nightwish, Marko Hietala (omfg I hope I spelled that correctly...) Note: HIS VOCALS ARE KILLER IN THE BEST WAY

(I can't think of any others right now, so that probably sums it up there.)

[aewinning]

Hey you!!! Long time no chatting (uni is still kicking my ass, possibly harder than last time) it's me, the anon who begged for the scara/tighnari maintenance fic (tbh i still brag about that, it was an AMAZING fic). I just read "A Certain Dreamlike Quality"!!! Fucking chef's kiss. Very very nice. Lovely concept as usual. And Kavetham felt even more in character than ever. I really really liked the comment about Kaveh treating Alhaitham's granny's journals with care, it was very sweet. And i also started thinking about that whole porn trade in Port Osmos. Like yeah it makes sense, Teyvat SHOULD have pornography. Probably not what u wanted the reader to focus on but it did seem like a nice subtle world-building element. Either way, really good work!!! Also ur gonna get Baizhu soon!! I think i remember u being excited about him finally being playable. If im mistaken then sorry lol. Im saving up for kaveh. Anyways have a nice day!!! Looking forward to more delicious writing!! 🤗

Hello hello! Welcome back and I hope university eases up on you soon! Thank you for the kind comment and I'm glad you enjoyed the fic, it was so much fun to write. I do hope to do more for them at some point especially after Kaveh's profile/lore drops, but right now I'm working on getting out the third fic in my Baizhu/Childe/Zhongli series haha.

I did spend a lot of time figuring out where Alhaitham would go for sex research of the places we've been, lol. I probably thought about it TOO much, to be honest. My thoughts:

Mondstadt probably has plenty of naughty content, being as open as it is, likely in poem or novel form for the most part? Liyue probably has more traditional erotic paintings and a few instruction manuals, often in less savory sales stalls off the main street (like under the docks).

Same for Inazuma, though it may not be an art form that's flourished while Inazuma was in the grip of so many decrees. I bet it's about to undergo a renaissance though, with the loosening of restrictions and resumption of imports. And Sumeru...the Akademiya probably has some dry old books on sex from people that have never had it, focusing on anatomy, but I imagine Port Ormos the party town probably had quite the fun knowledge capsules when the Akasha was functioning, haha.

Fontaine is probably about 5 years out from filming the first adult movie. idk about Natlan's current status due to the game's allergy to giving us Natlan lore, but Snezhnayans probably pass dirty mags around the barracks and give each other handies to keep warm. And you KNOW there are a lot of pinups that look suspiciously like the Harbingers, lmao.

You are also correct that I am hella looking forward to Baizhu! He's who I've most looked forward to ever since I met him when I started playing in 1.3. Two years of waiting! I have about 360 wishes saved for next patch and unfortunately I want Nahida, Nilou, Baizhu, AND Kaveh, but the good news is that I'm 40ish into pity on a guarantee right now. I may decide to skip Nilou in favor of going for Baizhu's weapon, we'll see. I refuse to go below 180 pulls before his banner, he WILL come home one way or another.

Good luck on your own Kaveh pulls when the time comes! He looks like a really fun unit and I'm planning on triple crowning him myself b/c babygirl deserves to be treated just as well as Alhaitham even if he's not a 5 star. (Which will make...4 dendro guys triple crowned for me. Send help, I have an addiction.)

[fallenrepublick]

OMG okay, I just made this account so I could follow you, like I've been reading all your stuff from a while now, but always from the browser, not the app because I was honestly too lazy to download it... Lol Anyways, your writing is just PERFECTION. 💖 If you are taking requests I would love to see what if Maul just found out he had a kid with you when he always thought you died over a year ago? And now he suddenly reunites with you to find out not only that you're alive, but had a baby. Thx💖

Oh my god?? Thank you so much?? That’s so nice of you goddamn???

Warnings: It’s sorta angsty! Woah shocker amiright... OH and I KNOW that some of you are gonna be on my ass about this but I’m only gonna say this once. I KNOW THAT FEMALE ZABRAKS DON’T HAVE HORNS. I KNOW, OKAY?? I JUST DON’T CARE. Plus, we. have. never. seen. a. hybrid. zabrak. The genes could get fucked if it’s a hybrid, okay WE DON’T KNOW SO I DON’T WANT TO SEE ANY OF YOU LORE DETECTIVES IN MY INBOX GOING “uH aCTuALLy” BECAUSE I DON’T CARE

You. You. You. That was all Maul ever thought about these days. His failure.

Granted, he had certainly failed in many instances before, but never like this. He had conquered this gods-forsaken planet for you. You. And then what? A nameless, faceless assassin dares to come take you from him? And the worst pain of all was that he wasn’t there. He wasn’t with you and you paid the price for it.

Knowing that one should let go of such a thing was much easier said than done, and though the loss had taken place over a year prior, it had no less devastating consequences on Maul’s psyche. People often said that one doesn’t know how much they have until they’ve lost everything, as if losing everything were some sort of punishment for an ungrateful mindset. Never had he been ungrateful for you. For other things, perhaps. But not you. And still, you were gone regardless.

The halls always felt empty, even when they were full, and the city lights seemed dimmer, even if they shone just as brightly as the day before. He rarely went out, and when he did, he kept to himself as always, finished his work, and went on his way. That was just the way it was. Before, you might have tugged at his arm, leading him through the streets, stopping and peering into windows, the warm light from inside reflecting off of your bright eyes. You might have stopped to listen to the lively melodies that sometimes played in the square or leaned over to look into the rippling fountain that stood in the middle still. Perhaps you would stop in the middle of the walk to close your eyes and feel the breeze on your face, the wind brushing your hair behind you, and a content smile resting on your lips. Not on this day, though.

No. This day, he was alone, as he had been for the past 365 days, and that meant his dark hood was pulled over his head, blocking out any light from touching his features. A shadow.

As he travelled, he ignored the commotion around him, the lives and existences of others completely meaningless to him in all respects, the less time he was forced to be among them the better. Though, he couldn’t help but imagine you there, smiling at him, laughing. He had to close his eyes and force his emotions back down when he felt tears threatening to fall.

But the moment of peace didn’t last. Without warning, he felt a pain in his chest, a tightening and almost stabbing sensation that sent him gasping and almost toppling over. Baring his teeth and holding his hand to his hearts, he stopped in his tracks, attempting to will the pain to cease, or at least identify any cause. Never had he sensed anything like this, but the ache was too prominent and forceful to ignore. He had to know.

Tenderly straightening himself back up, he studied the crowd, scanning faces, watching the tops of buildings. Something familiar. Far in the back. And with that, the pain subsided, at least temporarily.

If only for a moment he saw it, it was enough for him to go barreling through the crowd, pushing through bodies and dodging arms, damning his heavy mechanical legs for not being faster. His target had moved down an alley, behind the distant buildings, and he wondered for a moment if he had hallucinated it, an occurrence that wasn’t particularly rare these days.

But the desperate hope that it wasn’t his imagination drove him to follow still, his struggle across the obstacles acting as a sign from fate perhaps that he should stay away. He had never really paid much mind to fate anyways.

You. He stopped in his tracks, chest heaving from the rush of trying to catch up. You lowered the hood of your cloak, turning your head in his direction, eyes wide and curious. You were wearing the same thing as the last time he saw you, but you carried… something.

He didn’t know what to say to you. What was he supposed to say? All he did was shake his head, muscles tightening in shock, as if he had been thrown into an icy lake. You turned away, looking down, a sadness and form of shame written all over you.

“It can’t be,” he whispered, voice wavering and lip shaking. “You’re-”

“Dead?” you finished for him, contempt hidden under your words, though not necessarily directed towards him. “Yeah, I should be. I guess we can’t all get what we want, can we?”

Maul’s face looked as if he had just been shot. “Want? You think I wanted this?”

“You would’ve looked for me if you didn’t.” Hot tears had begun running down your cheeks. “I was left there, and I had to figure out how to get out on my own. Some bitch has a bounty on my head, and you didn’t think I should’ve at least known about it?”

“I searched for you,” he said, tentatively moving closer to you. You didn’t bother backing up. “Every minute of my life for six months. It was only when I had no choice to return that I stopped. Even now, I have search parties dedicated to finding you. Your presence has not left my mind for even a moment, my Starlight. I swear it.” He had finally reached you, taking hold of your upper arms, rubbing soothing circles into your skin with his thumbs. As his gaze met yours, you felt safe, the paths of his tattoos a pattern you could recreate even with your eyes shut. You hadn’t felt safe in a long time.

His eyes drifted down to the bundle of cloth in your arms, sea green and soft. Though, the majority of it wasn’t cloth at all.

“Eris,” you said, brushing at the sleeping child’s fuzzy hair. Small horns had already begun pricking up from her skull. “Only about four months old now.” You could visibly see him trying to do the math in his head. “...Yes, it’s yours, please relax.”

He nodded a moment, then stopped. “You named her without me.”

Your soft laugh sent waves of warmth through him, a sensation he had almost forgotten existed. His hand brushed against the baby’s cheek, lighter than yours in tone, as was a trait of the Night Sisters, but she had your eyes, and he thanked the gods for it.

“You are coming back?” he asked, his concern about how many of your feelings for him remained taking over. “You’ve no obligation to, but I could never live with myself if I let you go again. As it stands, I have nothing here for me anymore, and I would follow you to the ends of the galaxy if I had to. Staying at your side allows me to strive for all that I have no desire for on my own, if only to relieve any stray dissatisfaction that might torment you otherwise.”

Smiling, you looked up at him, a hand reaching up to hold his face. “I’m coming back. I’ve missed you. More than anything.”

[musashi]

are there any stories/facts about your job/coworkers you can comfortably share? maybe something cool they did/you did with them recently? anyone that stands out in particular among them, without getting too specific for. clear reasons?

what's cheeseburger up to atm? any notable stories or anything about him recently, or has he been just living his best life as usual?

which of the skyloft NPCs do you particularly like? for arguments sake, this is excluding the more story relevant ones, so no groose + his gang, no zelda obviously, etc.

as an opposite to that, talk about groose! i've always loved him as a character, and the bits you've said about him and his relationship with link and zelda is always great! also, any notable kin memories you have of groose? especially things that occured after he left skyloft, or even after the demise fight. what did he get up to after the credits rolled?

fun stories about your loftwing? were there any traits you and him shared notably? or any that were more opposite?

what are some of your favorite things about your favorite iterations of zelda? what i mean by that is like... what do you like best about tetra/wind waker zelda? what about skyward zelda? botw zelda? they're similar but all unique people, so what endears you the most about each of them?

i know this is a lot, so don't feel like you have to answer in any specific time frame. take as long as is comfortable, and i hope this helps!! ~🍄

these are so many!!! thank you for being so generous!!!

are there any stories/facts about your job/coworkers you can comfortably share? maybe something cool they did/you did with them recently? anyone that stands out in particular among them, without getting too specific for. clear reasons?

most of the ppl i work w are. kinda rude to me all the time so i mostly just drown them out so i don’t go insane. but there is this one kid who is just, like, a ray of sunshine every time he walks into a room. and he works so hard and he cares about his work and i feel like he’s the only bitch who gets me. we vibe over zelda and will just get into debates about the lore on the clock and i look forward to seeing him a lot. 

what's cheeseburger up to atm? any notable stories or anything about him recently, or has he been just living his best life as usual?

he’s just doin he. he sleeps a lot. sometimes in boxes. sometimes under beds. sometimes directly on top of me.

a few weeks back i went to the ER for what i figured out was a kidney stone and while i was literally on my bed writhing in pain trying to hold out until my grandparents got there cheeseburger just like, jumped up on top of me and immediately starting pissing on me, as if to say haha, check this out. i can urinate better than you.

which of the skyloft NPCs do you particularly like? for arguments sake, this is excluding the more story relevant ones, so no groose + his gang, no zelda obviously, etc.

i love all of them so much oh no... everyone i love i love for kinnie reasons like i am tempted to say jakamar cause even though he’s kind of a sleazy dude he, as previously mentioned, smuggled me woodscraps to whittle fsdgjkfsgh

but parrow gives good hugs. and henya always has snacks hidden somewhere. and pumm will give you soup on the house sometimes if he can tell you’re in a rough mood. and and and........ i wuv skyloft. this is all kinnie bullshit actually.

as an opposite to that, talk about groose! i've always loved him as a character, and the bits you've said about him and his relationship with link and zelda is always great! also, any notable kin memories you have of groose? especially things that occured after he left skyloft, or even after the demise fight. what did he get up to after the credits rolled?

talked about him a lil bit in my last ask hehe

fun stories about your loftwing? were there any traits you and him shared notably? or any that were more opposite?

aepon & i were the kind of pair where we seemed really dissimilar on the surface but i think if anyone actually knew us they’d be able to discern pretty quickly that we were 100% twinning. like at face value i was a pretty calm and quiet person who was just, like. spacey and sleepy and vibing while things happened around me, and aepon was this absolute speed demon who had the biggest, loudest presence any time he entered a space. ppl in skyloft called him my red terror.

but the thing about my bird is that he was stubborn to a fault, and recklessly brave, and he just didn’t. stop. and he loved fiercely, the second i was awake in the morning i’d hear him circling overhead and shrieking his happy little shriek, he’d fill my head with all his thoughts of hanging out with me while i was trying to concentrate on work. all those things, we had in common, but i wouldn’t have been able to tell you that. someone like zelda probably would have. 

i think the best representation of it is at the beginning of everything when the tornado took zelda, the both of us just. dove right in. nothing else mattered, no conflict existed within either of us, i didn’t have to steer him in or send my intentions into our shared headspace, he just turned into an arrow flying straight into danger, and i went with him and we were one living being. like that’s our core. we are very opposite, until shit gets real, and then we are this beautiful unity tearing through the clouds. 

what are some of your favorite things about your favorite iterations of zelda? what i mean by that is like... what do you like best about tetra/wind waker zelda? what about skyward zelda? botw zelda? they're similar but all unique people, so what endears you the most about each of them?

HOW DO I COUNT THE WAYS I LOVE ZELDA AHHHHH

oot!zelda’s determination to defy fate... the way she refuses, from the start, to give in to darkness even though she’s only a little girl. the way she sees my commoner ass just waltz up into her private garden after breaking into her house still dressed in my stupid forest clothes and shes like. oh fuck yeah, wanna help me overthrow the gerudo king? and we’re, can’t stress this enough, ten. she’s so confident like she never worries about being powerless or out of her element, she never for a second believes this isn’t something she can fight. and when everything goes to shit she just keeps fighting!!! and still has the time to remind me that i can keep fighting too!!! literally where did she get that personality i love her so much!!!!

tetra’s fucking... simmering fire. her perfect balance between action and thought. like you can tell she’s pissed off and wants to start throwing punches but she always has the self-control to assess if it’s the thing to do in the moment. I CAN’T DO THAT!!! i’m pissed off i want to swords!!!! that motherfucker over there is PROVOKING ME!!!!! and tetra has the same fire inside her but she’s always just, like, “shut the fuck up, link. put your sword away. we need to get the jump on him.” and im like, AHHHHHHH because she’s always right. literally always. i don’t know how she does this but i think about it constantly. i love her level head and her scheming heart and her choice to carve her own destiny. i like how she finds out she’s a legendary princess from an age long past with sacred blood and shes just like ‘that’s cool but actually i’m tetra and i like to cuss and steal.’ and just does that forever. it resonates with me especially because even though the gods acknowledged me as the hero of winds i, like, wasn’t a ‘true’ incarnation of the hero. it’s just what i decided to be with what i was given. she and i are two sides of that coin and there is something beautiful abt that i don’t have words for. in a lot of ways she was my inspiration.

skyward!zelda’s um. everything? everything. i am so in love with her. i am so in love... with her. i am finding it harder to describe her than everyone else here which is so silly because she’s easily the person i was closest with. she’s just, like, made of fire and love? of passion. everything she is stems from what she loves--she loves old legends, and cliche romance stories, and stargazing, and going on adventures. zelda romanticizes everything in her life, she’ll stop mid-sentence to make you look at the sky because it struck her as particularly beautiful today, meanwhile i’m just like. thats the sky i see it every day i live here. and she’s so brave, so fierce, so resilient--there’s literally nothing that could scare her, i’m certain she got to the surface and immediately started spitting curses at blins, if ghirahim had actually found her alone she would have tried to come at him clawing and spitting. i was always so chill because all my anger was Stored in The Zelda, she’d just fight half my battles for me before i could register they were battles. idk. zelda was such an optimist who took everything in stride and believed, no matter what, that she could make it her own and make it beautiful and find something to adore within it. i might have had a quieter disposition, but she was always better at dealing with change than me. it was calming. i love her so much.

botw!zelda’s passion and inquisitive heart, oh my god, oh my god. i’m going to fucking fight everyone in the kingdom who ever made her feel like she talks too much. god it enthralls me, the way she just talks and talks and talks and LETS ME LISTEN, she lets me just SIT THERE and BASK IN IT like some kind of COLD REPTILE ON A ROCK. i literally cannot comprehend how she can fit so much knowledge about so many different things in her brain, and the way she’s ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT, literally just getting together with her techie friends and building whole ass machines when she was like 6 years old. shes looking at me like ‘oh this child prodigy curse my shortcomings why cant i be pulling enchanted swords when IM 12′ and im like PRINCESS YOU’RE FUCKING COOLER THAN ME LIKE CONGRATS I TOUCH A SWORD SOMETIMES AND YOU COULD LITERALLY MAKE A ROBOT TO DO THAT FOR YOU oh my god the way she doesn’t see how incredible she is makes me go insane i feel insane just thinking about it she’s the coolest fucking person i’ve ever met she’s the coolest person in hyrule the kingdom is too good for her i want her to take apart hyrule castle brick by brick and just leave a note behind that says ‘im too cool for you’ and then she gets on my ancient magic motorcycle and rides off into the sunset to some paradise far away and if i’m LUCKY she takes me with her. i love zelda

[moonflower-31]

You Found Me - Gabriel x Reader

Warnings: Language? Somewhat? Oh and some self doubt, but not a lot. There is a looot of angst though. This is part of a two part oneshot. Hope you enjoy the feels.

Pairing: Gabriel x Reader

Character(s): Gabriel, Dean, Sam, Castiel

You were worried, to put it simply. Gabriel had told you three weeks ago he'd start to change. That he would take you out more. See you more in general. Not go off to Chuck knows where, doing who knows what.

You were worried. Yeah. That's the word. You were also pissed. Pissed he hadn't answered your prayers at all in those three weeks. Dean and Sam and Cas had all been through all the ways to try and bring him back, figure out what was going on, except to summon him. You had insisted that be the first thing they do, but Cas had intervened. He had said that if Gabriel was gone somewhere, that it was probably good reason. And that he would answer them in other ways.

But look where that got you?

"Look, kid, I know you miss your archangel douche of a boyfriend but-" Dean starts, looking up from the table he sat at in the main library. You rolled your eyes and looked up from your lore book on angels.

"But what? Dean? He might actually be in real danger! And you're sitting there--eating take out!" You exclaim, gesturing to his heart-attack-inducing food in front of him. Dean immediately gave you an offended glare and wrapped an arm around his food. You rolled your eyes again, and then put your eyes back to the book you were reading. No one would tell you the summoning for an archangel. And since the only archangel that would be able to be summoned would be Gabriel, you figured your chances of getting his ass back here were pretty good.

"Come on, let him live a little! I mean, I don't like the guy but every now and then, a guy has to have his alone time. Find himself. I did it. Sam's done it more than once." Dean reminds. You shake your head. Dean continues. "What I'm saying is maybe you should stop trying to summon him and let him come when he's ready. I'm sure he's fine, alright? He would have let you of all people know he was in danger if he was." Dean reminds again.

You grumble and slam the book in your hands closed. "You know what? I'm done. Done with you, and Sam, and Cas's petty excuses! It's like you don't even care!" You exclaim, and stomp out of the library.

You stomp off and slam the door to your room closed, locking it behind you as you collapse onto your bed, wishing and praying for Gabriel to return.

He hadn't returned in three weeks. Not even when you were in danger on hunts and you prayed to him. It made you question if he even loved you anymore. The thought of it made you sick. But it was possible.

You felt your chest heave and tears began to pour from your eyes as you sat back up and pulled the book from where you had dropped it beside the bed. You began wiping away your tears only for new ones to take their place. You opened the book and kept scouring the pages as a knock came to your door.  You immediately hid the book under your sheets and then stood up, and went to the door.

"Who is it?" You ask.

"Castiel. Dean said you were upset."

"Go away Cas. I'm fine. Just distraught over your damn older brother, nothing new." You grumbled, walking away from the door and sitting back on your bed.

A flutter of wings sounds and you look up, finding the trenchcoated angel standing at the foot of your bed. "Y/N... Gabriel will be okay. I promise." He says, looking at you with as sincere enough eyes as an angel can probably muster.

You let out a sad chuckle. "Really Cas? Same speech as last time? I just want him back... I don't want to lose him..." you say, hugging your arms for a moment as you fight the incoming tears. Castiel walks over and wraps his arms around you in a comforting hug, letting you wrap your own arms around him as he holds you. You're appreciative of the gesture as he lets you cry, and lays you down on the bed when you fall asleep. Your first real sleep in days.

~~~~

When you reawaken, it's later in the day, around midnight. You sigh and check your bed, seeing the book still there. You bring it out and start flipping through it, until you find it. And after a few quick translations, find out what you needed for summoning your absent boyfriend.

You write a quick note of the ingredients you needed, and then got up. You had some of the ingredients. But lacked two. You needed some herbs and some leaves that were hard to come by. So you needed to talk to someone.

"Yeah, those'll do. Thanks. I'll be down to pick them up in a few hours. Thanks." You say, hanging up on the friend who owed you a few favors. He had some of the ingredients that you needed. And all you needed now was to put it all together. And say the chant, of course.

You were walking out of your room, when Sam stopped you. You raise an eyebrow as the tall, moose-like man stood in your way.

"Uh...Sam? What are you doing?" You ask, a bag of essentials on your back.

Sam gives you a bitch face. "Really? You really don't think I didn't see you sneak that book into your room? I've read it. And it has what we've been telling you we shouldn't be doing. Wait it out. Alright? I promise, it's all gonna be okay-" Sam starts.

At this point, you were done of hearing that. After so many instances of Dean, Sam, Cas, hell, even Charlie saying it, you were done. Absolutely done. So you snapped.

You immediately shoved Sam out of the way as soon as his guard was down, pinning his sleeve to the wall with one of your knifes. Sam calls out to Dean to alert him of your escape, but you're too quick. You race up the stairs behind you and then you exit the bunker, racing down the road as adrenaline fills your veins.

You didn't dare take the Impala, knowing Dean would kill you if you did.  He rarely let Sam off the hook when he took it. So what's to say he wouldn't kill you?

You finally slowed down near a gas n' sip, and found an abandoned car. You went into the store for a moment, and picked out a few of Gabriel's favorite sweets. You took them to the counter and payed for them before going back outside, and hotwiring the abandoned car.

The adrenaline had finally left you after you'd been on the road for awhile. You'd left your phone at the Gas n' Sip, so you weren't able to be tracked. Damn Sam and Charlie's hacking abilities.

You finally pulled up to your buddy's place around 4 am, and parked in their driveway.

"Damn, Y/N, you look great for three years gone." Your old pal Brad said as he opened the door. He opened the door for you to come in soon after, drinking a beer.

You smile but shake your head. "I'm sorry, but this is an urgent hunt. I need those ingredients now." You say.  Brad chuckled.

"Really? You ain't gonna sit down and tell me how you've been with those... those uh.." Brad starts.

"Winchesters." You remind, nodding a bit. "Yeah uh... not now. I don't exactly have the time. But uh... I promise, ill come by soon. Okay?" You promise. Brad chuckled.

"I'm just messing with ya. I know you're busy. Just lemme know if I can help at all. Okay? Any time of night or day. I've got open ears." Brad says, smirking at you with a broken smile. You smiled and nodded.

Brad soon disappeared behind the door, and after five minutes returned with the herbs you needed.

"Take care now. Call me if you ever need anything else." He says as he sees you off. You nod, and wave back at him as you climb back into your stolen car and pull back onto the dark road.

It wasn't until 5 am that you found the place. It was old, it was rusty. It was perfect. You found an old table and set everything up. You used your lighter and lit up the ingredients, soon after uttering the chant.

"Rah ah gah ee oh es Vee nu nohno kee ah seh peh teh poh ah ma lah deh zod" you utter, and a bright light enters the room. You shield your eyes and wait a few moments before you hear him.

"Really? You're resulting to summoning me?" Gabriel grumbles, looking at you annoyedly. "Im busy, Sugar." He says.

You weren't listening. You were merely relieved that he was okay. You walk around the table, and then wrap your arms around him, almost too tightly.

Then he pushes you away.

"Sugar, please. I'm busy. Can't this wait?" Gabriel asks. You look up at him dejected.

"Busy? You're just 'busy'?" You ask, venom and hurt in your voice. Gabriel looks a bit hurt by your words, but doesn't react otherwise.

"You promise me that you'll spend more time with me, cuddle more, hang out more, watch more movies, but no. No you're 'busy'" you hiss, looking at Gabriel with tears in your eyes.

"Yeah, I am. I’m not gonna keep having this conversation right now. Like I said, I'm busy. I have somethings I need to do." He says, looking at you.

You furrow your eyebrows. You stomp forward and you grab his collar. "You know what would have been appreciated? Gabriel? If you would let me know you were okay! I've been worried about you this entire time! 'What if he's been kidnapped and he's being tortured? What if it's my fault?' Wow, but you're too busy!" You spat, shoving him back and turning away from him.

Gabriel sighed. "Y/N, please, okay? I couldn't get back to you. And besides, this isn't something you should be worried about. I don't understand why you were so worried-" he says. You nod your head as you turned back around. You were done.

"Why am I so worried? Gabriel I have lost so many people, so many. So yeah, im sorry that I just don't want to lose another. Especially not you. But no, you can't understand that, can you?" You growl back. Gabriel rolled his eyes and went to speak again.

"Don't twist my own words against me-" he starts. You shook your head and pointed in his face.

"No, no you need to listen. You, don't understand how hurt you've made me. How badly, I kept thinking about myself. Thinking that you just didn't love me anymore. So you know what? I'm done. I don't care of you still do, or still don't. I'm done." You snap, shoving him back as you toss the altar over.

Gabriel goes to speak again, panick filling his eyes. But you shake your head.

"No, Gabriel. You've done enough damage." You hiss. "Come find me when you understand how I felt." You say before you cut your hand and start drawing a sigil on the wall.

"Sugar, please, we can talk this out-" he starts, walking towards you just as you finish the sigil and hit against it with your hand, sending him back wherever you'd summoned him.

You felt tears re-emerge from your eyes as you walk out of the building and climb into your car. You turn it back on and start driving down the road, sniffling a bit as you decided that enough was enough. You stopped by another Gas n' Sip and walked up to the pay phone.

You dialed a number in after using the last of the money you'd brought. After a few rings, the line picked up.

"Hey Brad... mind if I cash in that favor?"