thoselethalarts

[thoselethalarts]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* Happy Birthday Stahli! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Tomorrow (5/22) is Stahli’s birthday! In commemoration he’s getting his union jacket birthday card and a matching SSR story in a set of three that will be releasing on the day of!

Be sure to save up your gems for this sweet gothic skunk coming soon to a gatcha near you~

[thoselethalarts]

TWST x TF2 - Twisted Fortress AU

Hiiiiiii I've been obsessed with the idea of combining TWST and TF2 for years now and I've had these team/class assignments in my head forever so I feel it's time to release them into the wild. If you're like me and love putting your favs into senselessly dangerous situations, please accept this humble offering of my passion 😊💕

- Team RED -

Scout: Kalim, Grim Soldier: Deuce Pyro: Riddle Demoman: Ace Heavy: Jack Engineer: Cater Medic: Trey Sniper: Leona Spy: Ruggie, Jamil

- Team BLU -

Scout: Floyd Soldier: Sebek Pyro: Epel, Malleus Demoman: Lilia, Silver Heavy: Vil Engineer: Idia Medic: Azul Sniper: Rook Spy: Jade

Detailed loadouts 👇 and extra thoughts for everyone's assignments and battle strategies

Riddle - Pyro Pyro main to the absolute core. Hyper-attentive of spychecking his teammates and teaching the enemy a lesson when they break past their first line of defense. Power struggles with Leona over who is in charge of their team's strategy each round. Leads group charges in for control of the point/flag, but can easily be enraged and goaded into overextending to chase down someone that's pissed him right off. Primary: Stock Flamethrower Secondary: Detonator Melee: Powerjack

Trey - Medic Originally started as a heavy main, but since his team is so aggressive he ended up picking up the mantle as a medic. Uses battle medic strategies and weapons, better at doing harm than healing it. But, he's always there when you need a quick fix. Gives Riddle preferable treatment, and usually gives him the über when they charge into battle. Primary: The Blutsauger Secondary: The Quick-Fix Melee: The Solemn Vow

Cater - Engineer More of a battle engie than a traditional defensive builder. Loves how cute the mini sentries are, and throws them down both as a distraction and for backup kills whenever he's led into the heat of battle. Sometimes forgets to repair his machines at the home base because he spends too much time covering for his teammates. Primary: Widowmaker Secondary: Pistol Melee: The Gunslinger

Ace - Demoman Him and Deuce charge in at the same time with the goal of taking out as many people and buildings as physically possible before they die. Has a tenancy to fight with Riddle and Leona over when they should charge ahead, and usually ends up getting him and Deuce killed due to sheer recklessness. Primary: Iron Bomber Secondary: Quickiebomb Launcher Melee: Ullapool Caber

Deuce - Soldier Him and Ace charge in at the same time and cause mass hysteria on the battlefield in the form of too many explosions everywhere all at once. However, they always end up abandoning their crowd and dying together in doing so. High energy suicidal tactics with occasional payoff. Primary: Liberty Launcher Secondary: Mantreads Melee: Equalizer

Leona - Sniper He likes a job that's as little of work as possible, so he makes himself a comfortable nest and doesn't move from it until he's been spotted. Doesn't get many kills, as he's studying the enemy's movements between shots, but the shots he takes are what make all the difference. He's REALLY good at reading the enemy team's strategy, and will radio in to the rest of his team when it's time to rush and when it's time to fall back. Fights with Riddle over the role of leader constantly, even in the middle of combat. Primary: Hitman's Heatmaker Secondary: Razorback Melee: Kukri

Ruggie - Spy It's all about timing. Once the gates open, he goes into hiding and dives behind enemy lines to get to work. He analyzes the enemy's strategies and wait until they start to spread out, then he works to level out defenses on the back end to prepare for an ambush or charge. Primary: Diamondback Secondary: Cloak and Dagger Sapper: Standard Model Melee: Conniver's Kunai

Jack - Heavy Plays defensively to keep their back end strong. His whole build is built around taking damage for the sake of his allies and rushing into battle at a moment's notice to wipe out the competition. Sometimes hovers around where Leona and Ruggie are if they're being targetted, which give their locations away to anyone paying close attention. Doesn't always follow the rest of the crowd and patiently waits for Leona's orders before charging in with the rest of the team. Primary: The Brass Beast Secondary: The Dalokohs Bar Melee: Gloves of Running Urgently

Azul - Medic He religiously studies meta builds and only uses what's "unquestionably the strongest" whenever he steps into the battlefield. Hides behind his bigger teammates for cover while firing off shots and charging his über all the while. Doesn't let you forget that your life is in his hands. If you wrong him on the battlefield he'll withhold your heals and make you suffer until you're begging for forgiveness. Primary: The Crusader's Crossbow Secondary: Stock Medigun Melee: The Ubersaw

Jade - Spy Absolutely insidious. His entire goal is to fuck with people until chaos and infighting take over on the enemy side. Changes into enemies and teammates alike and plays the long game to set up for the perfect kill. Works in tandem with Floyd for ambush attacks on people that overextend from the rest of their team. Primary: Ambassador Secondary: Dead Ringer Sapper: Red-Tape Recorder Melee: Spy-cicle

Floyd - Scout Uses "weird" weapons just cuz he thinks they're fun, and charges into enemy lines and jumps on top of them for crazy melee kills. He's constantly charging into the heat of battle even if it's unsafe to do so, but he's having too much fun messing with people to stop. Engages in annoying suicidal tactics to lure people away from the main lines so him and Jade can pick them off when they're left defenseless. Primary: Soda Popper Secondary: Bonk! Atomic Punch Melee: Holy Mackerel

Kalim - Scout He's just having WAY too much fun. His whole kit lets him blast himself up into insane locations and stay alive longer without needing to retreat for recovery. If he didn't have Jamil always watching him and his kit helping him stay healed, he'd be dying every 5 seconds from sheer recklessness. Primary: Force-A-Nature Secondary: Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol Melee: Candy Cane

Jamil - Spy He's constantly scheming on how he can easily demolish the enemy from behind the scenes, but he's too busy following Kalim around and keeping him out of harm's way to actually do any of them. He ends up taking the fall way too often for Kalim's sake, but his sacrifices sometimes end up helping the team stay afloat even if he gets frustrated about it. Primary: Le'tranger Secondary: Standard Invisibility Watch Sapper: Standard Model Melee: Your Eternal Reward

Vil - Heavy Serving major cunt strutting around the field in 6" heels while wielding a weapon that can turn you into swiss cheese in 0.5 seconds. His kit is built around teaming up with Epel and demolishing competition in a flurry of flames. He argues often with Idia over how they should be leading their team. Primary: Huo-Long Heater Secondary: Family Business Melee: Killing Gloves of Boxing

Rook - Sniper Obvious huntsman sniper. Hovers around Vil when they rush into battle and snipes anyone that gets in his blind spots. Somehow is able to pull crazy trickshots from all the way across the map that piss everyone off. Makes it his mission to hunt down where Leona and Ruggie are hiding every moment he gets. Primary: Huntsman Bow Secondary: Jarate Melee: Bushwacka

Epel - Pyro Hot tempered and hotheaded, he picked pyro to be his main because torching people into cinders screams "powerful" in his eyes. He's all aggression and all attack all the time until Vil chews him out for abandoning his post. His kit was designed to have synergy with Vil and to douse the enemy with flames as long as possible. Primary: Degreaser Secondary: Scorch Shot Melee: Axtinguisher

Idia - Engineer The Absolute Worst. Type of guy that studies meta loadouts, setup locations, bottlenecks, and flank strategies for every single map and gets absolutely Infuriated when nobody follows his strats. Thinks he's playing competitively even when they're on a casual map. He's way too cocky and fearless once he gets his sentry turret to lv3, but he refuses to leave his base of operations once he's set his machines up. Can't hold his own in a 1v1 at all, and refuses to charge into battle unless he has someone tank the damage for him. Primary: The Rescue Ranger Secondary: The Wrangler Melee: Golden Wrench

Ortho - Idia's machines :3 He's just a cute skin attached to all of Idia's buildings. Makes him even more pissed and distressed whenever one of them gets damaged or destroyed.

Malleus - Pyro He's a godamn dragon, what else would he be if not a pyro? His entire kit is based around flying into enemy lines and engulfing everyone around him in flames as much as possible. Everyone thinks he's thinking 10 steps ahead, but really he's just having fun causing panic on the battlefield. Idia wants to yell at him for breaking formation, but he's good at keeping enemies off his ass when he needs it most. Primary: Backburner Secondary: Thermal Thruster Melee: Sharpened Volcano Fragment

Lilia - Demoman He keeps it old school. Plays entirely stock builds and is absolutely ruthless with them. But despite appearances, all of his weapons are "strange" quality that keep track of specific kills with insane numbers tied to them. Terrifying enough on his own, even more menacing when he's leading a charge with his allies in tow. Primary: The Grenade Launcher Secondary: The Stickybomb Launcher Melee: The Bottle

Sebek - Soldier Obsessively follows Malleus, Lilia, and Silver literally anywhere they go. If Malleus leads a charge into battle, he's following right behind him. If Lilia pushes onto the point, he's flying in with him. If Silver is in a pinch, he'll abandon his post to shoot some rockets his way. He has great strategic planning when it comes to leading charges, but gets too easily distracted by what the rest of his team is doing to actually execute anything. His whole kit is based on support and healing, providing backup to his allies in need. Primary: The Black Box Secondary: The Concherer Melee: The Disciplinary Action

Silver - Demoman 100% pure melee build. He's an absolute monster with his sword, and usually partners up with one of his more explosive comrades to cover what he can't hack into pieces. Primary: Bootlegger Secondary: Splendid Screen Melee: Eyelander

Grim - Scout He's nimble, quick, and astonishingly good at getting behind enemy lines, but terrible at sticking with the group and holding his own in a 1v1. His kit is basically all the smallest and lightest weapons that a cat can handle. Can't give him something too big or he'll blow himself clear out of the arena! Primary: Shortstop Secondary: Mad Milk Melee: Wrap Assassin

[thoselethalarts]

I had a dream about TF2 and now my hyperfixated ass is thinking about my TWSTxTF2 AU again.

[thoselethalarts]

Inhuman Characteristics

I saw this post floating around on my feed, and thought it would be fun to explore questions like that with regards to my more inhuman TWST OC cast members~

○ What does their skin feel like?

In his human form, he feels the same as a normal human, though his resting skin temperature usually feels colder than a normal human's (98.6°F for a human, 94.6°F for him). In his daemonic form his skin feels velvety soft, with hardened carapace plates lining his spine and sternum area of his chest.

○ What do they eat?

Matt feeds off the emotional release of his victims. He can extract this emotional essence forcefully, along with trace amounts of their soul essence, but he prefers to absorb this release passively to prolong the lifespan of his victim and thus continuously feed from them for much longer. He can technically feed of any emotional release, happiness, sadness, anger, love, but he's got a taste for one emotion more than others: fear. His Father noted that this is an immature trait to have, as compared to other emotions fear is more sweet and decadent. For them, it's the equivalent of someone saying that candy is one of their favorite foods.

Matt can technically still eat human food, but it doesn't provide the same nourishment that he needs to thrive as a living being. In human cuisine one of Matt's favorite foods is chocolate.

○ How long do they need to sleep?

Technically speaking, Matt doesn't have a biological need to sleep. He can stay up for years without resting while not exhibiting any signs of fatigue. However, he does sometimes like to sleep as it gives him a chance to shut his senses down and let his mind rest.

○ How were they born?

Matt was born from a concentration of pure eldritch life energy somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of what's now called Brazil, at some point between 1500-500 BCE. After a several century long incubation period, he awoke in the oceanic void and swam to the nearest shore. The indigenous life in this area were the first humans he'd ever interacted with, and are where he first learned how to speak.

○ What colour is their blood?

Oil black, dark but with a faintly iridescent sheen in the right lighting.

○ How long is their average life span?

Technically speaking Matt could life forever, as long as he's able to feed off enough living beings to satisfy his body's needs. For his age he only needs about 1-2 human-level intelligence victims in order to stay healthy, but as he ages that number will increase exponentially until he'll require the energy of an entire planet, or several planets' worth of victims in order to stay healthy. If he fails to meet his body's needs, he'll start to fall into atrophy and will exhibit more obvious physical symptoms of aging.

○ Do they have a culture for their species?

None that he's aware of. His species only consists of him and his Father, and since he was completely disconnected from his Father for most of his life, there is no culture they have that he knows of, other than to Kill, Consume, Reproduce, and Spread his influence across the multiverse.

○ Do they have family?

Not anymore. Matt (and Marcus) murdered his Father, Lord Za’lgatoth N’gaphandel the Immortal God of Chaos, in an attempt to keep him from bringing about the end of all time.

Technically speaking, Matt and Vantablack are distant blood cousins. The Entity was spawned from Lord Za’lgatoth, but due to the way their species reproduces, every next generation can be considered a new species of their own from the effects of eldritch genetic scrambling and recomposition. Neither of them know know they're technically related.

○ Do they have more or less senses than a human?

Matt has the same basic senses as a human, but he also has two additional senses: Darksense and Empathysense (Emotion Detection). He can sense the presence of all living things in a radius around him if they walk through any nearby shadows that his body is connected to. He can also sense the emotional wavelengths of all living creatures nearby him.

○ What is their best sense? Is this normal for the species?

His best sense is his empathysense, to a degree that it can overwhelm him if he's in too poor of a state of mind. His sense is typical for his species, but his sensitivity to it fluctuates with his mood.

○ Are they religious or spiritual?

He believes in the existence of various eldritch entities that are intertwined throughout the fabric of the multiverse, who exist as the embodiment of abstract concepts that are forever true within every timeline. He's come in contact with multiple of these entities, which further cements his faith in this belief.

○ What does their skin feel like?

His skin feels the same as any normal human's, with large amounts of fur-like body hair on his back, chest, and legs. His normal resting body temperature is slightly higher than a normal human's (around 100.0°F).

○ What do they eat?

Meat. He's a carnivorous creature, and eating too many non-meat products upsets his stomach. He's technically lactose intolerant, but his favorite food is still all-meat pizza. He cannot digest onions, grapes, chocolate, avocado, alcohol, or artificial sweeteners, as they make him very sick.

○ How long do they need to sleep?

He needs to sleep for about the same amount as a normal human does, but he likes to break up his rest periods throughout the day, like how a cat does.

○ How were they born?

He was born as an ordinary kitten from an ordinary feral cat, was adopted by a human and lovingly cared for most of his life. Due to living in an area that had a naturally high concentration of magical energy, when he was 10 years old his tail split in two and he was "reborn" as a nekomata.

○ What colour is their blood?

Red, the same as a normal living creature.

○ How long is their average life span?

Nekomata lifespans can span as long as 400-600 years, though there are legends of nekomatas living for over 1000 years. Phobos is younger than 100 years old, though he lost track of exactly how old he was after his 35th birthday.

○ Do they have a culture for their species?

Nekomata are mostly solitary creatures that live their long-extended lives seeking entertainment and pleasure in any forms that they can. They usually hold great disdain for humans, looking down on them and holding them with no higher regard than a pest or common housepet. Local culture varies depending on their environment, from having strictly defined colony territories, social hierarchies, and turf wars (a la Warrior Cats), to being more loosely defined and dog-eat-dog in terms of who is respected and who is stepped on.

○ Do they have family?

Phobos doesn't know what happened to his mother or other littermates. His only family that he's known for most of his life is that of his caretaker, Theodore Banner, but Theodore is no longer alive, so Phobos now has no one.

○ Do they have more or less senses than a human?

He has the same basic senses of a human, but he also has a heightened sense of vision that allows him to see glimpses of normally invisible forces in the world around him, like magic, ghosts, and demonic energy.

○ What is their best sense? Is this normal for the species?

His best sense is his sense of smell, though his sense of hearing is also incredibly keen as well. This is typical of cats.

○ Are they religious or spiritual?

Phobos is deeply spiritual, though he doesn't talk about it much. He believes that all living things have some kind of soul-like essence within them. He doesn't follow any specific god or deity, but doesn't necessarily believe they don't exist, either. He holds a deep disdain for humans because he feels they're the reason that nature is disintegrating around him.

○ What does their skin feel like?

In their human form their skin feels about the same as a normal human's, but noticeably softer than a human's skin should be. Their resting body temperature is much warmer than a human's (98.6F for humans, 101.5°F for them). In their natural form their skin feels silken smooth, like satin. The quills that grow along their shoulders and back feel rough in comparison, like brushing your hand the wrong way across a strip of velvet.

○ What do they eat?

They are a sort of "emotional vampire" who feeds off the soul essence of their victims. To feed, they physically subdue their victim, then use their powers to incapacitate them and forcefully absorb trace amounts of their life force and memories from their body. Their victim is left comatose for an indeterminate time period afterwards (depends on how much energy and how many memories were stolen from them).

Vantablack can technically still eat human food, but it doesn't provide the same nourishment that they need to thrive as a living being. Their favorite foods are sour and salty, like salt and vinegar chips or dill pickles.

○ How long do they need to sleep?

Technically speaking, Vantablack doesn't have a biological need to sleep, but they enjoy sleeping so they do it anyway just to "take a break" from existing. Their biological clock is almost nonexistent, so they're prone to oversleeping.

○ How were they born?

Vantablack was born from a concentration of pure eldritch life energy in an area known only as The Dark Lake, deep in the heart of The Fog. After several centuries of incubation, they emerged from the lake and crawled ashore, learning how to walk, how to hunt, and how to mimic nearby life.

○ What colour is their blood?

Pearlescent white. For their species, the color of their blood darkens as they age. Eventually, their blood will turn into a vibrant orange color, and then it'll shift into a deep oil black.

○ How long is their average life span?

Similarly to Matt, Vantablack has the capacity to live forever as long as they are able to meet their body's basic energy needs. Vantablack has no concept of how old they are in human time, as The Fog is a bit of a time vortex. They could be anywhere from 20-125 years of age at minimum, but they couldn't tell you what the exact number is. Maturity-wise, for their species, they are considered a young adult.

○ Do they have a culture for their species?

They were only able to grow so close to their Mother/Father before they escaped Her realm, so their only sense of "culture" is a desire to emulate Her actions, but to do it better than She ever could.

Entityspawn live with the desire to create and nurture their own pocket dimension, which they call their "realm". This realm is one of the primary sources of entertainment for the entityspawn, as they nurture and care for the realm like a twisted living terrarium. This realm is also a primary source of their nutrition, as the creatures that they collect to supplement their realm have their life force slowly drained to feed their "caretaker". It's common for entityspawn to turn their realms into games of endless life-or-death, pitting their creatures against each other for their own pleasure. The creatures that die have part of their life energy harvested as punishment for their failure, and they are then brought back to life to continue the game over and over again. Entityspawn take pride in their longest living and most powerful "killers" and "survivors" that they've raised as part of their realm, and they judge each other based on how large their realms are, how long they've lasted, how complex they are, and how many living creatures are currently part of their realms.

○ Do they have family?

Their closest blood relative is a creature known only as The Entity. They have respect for The Entity, but mostly feel ambivalent toward Her existence. There is a part of them that wishes they could have learned more about their species before they left the realm, but at the same time they felt so stifled in how they were able to live that they resent Her for treating them the way She did.

Technically speaking, Vantablack and Matt are distant blood cousins. The Entity was spawned from Lord Za’lgatoth, but due to the way their species reproduces, every next generation can be considered a new species of their own from the effects of eldritch genetic scrambling and recomposition. Neither of them know know they're technically related.

○ Do they have more or less senses than a human?

They have all the typical senses of a normal human, but they also have a sixth sense called the Killer Instinct. Whenever they are locked in a chase with their prey and they get particularly excited, they can sense where their victim is even if they are hidden entirely out of sight.

○ What is their best sense? Is this normal for the species?

Their best sense is their sense of vision. Under specific circumstances, they can see the physical shape of their victim as a pulsing white aura, even through walls and across great distances. This is normal for their species, and this ability will grow stronger as they grow older and their native power levels increase.

○ Are they religious or spiritual?

They don't believe in any kind of god or deity, but instead want to become a god.

[thoselethalarts]

I'm going fuckin mental, watching random tl clips from the jp version of TWST Ch 7 and now I wanna write custom dreams for all my OCs UGHHHH

[thoselethalarts]

I saw the original manga cap floating around again and remembered I quickly made this years ago lmao

(Inspired by something stupid I did in the discord)

[thoselethalarts]

I didn't think it was possible but the 5th year anni rerun of the mermaid tail cards proved me wrong 😭💕 Finally... they're all mine... I can finally be laid down to rest.....

[thoselethalarts]

Dark Waters - Burnout

Rating: T Warnings: Explicit language, threats of violence Nyx is feeling stressed and overworked. He decides to try and find a quiet place to relax, and he meets some serious trouble along the way. (Direct sequel to "Break and Enter")

Nyx was enjoying his time at NRC, but he couldn’t help but feel so exhausted by it all the same.

Day in and day out, everything was always the same, and it was always work. Work, work, work, that's all he felt like he did anymore. He was tired of all the stress, all the essays, all the tests, all the club activities, all the homework, and all noise from being surrounded by loud and annoying people... and despite the careful instruction, the lectures, the scoldings, and the praise he got for his grades, he still felt isolated and aimless when he wasn’t in class. As he got further into his academic career, the questions of what happened next were plaguing him constantly. Third years talking about internships, fourth years disappearing only to one day come back and seem to have it all figured out. It scared him. He thought he knew what he wanted out of life, but being constantly surrounded by the questions of What If made him wonder if he really was on the right track.

It used to be that on his days off he would hop on his computer and play games with his friends or he’d doodle in his sketchbook, but over the last few months he felt too tired to draw and too tired to socialize. Now all he wanted to do was hide away from his responsibilities and sleep all of his free time away.

I need to get out of here. I need an escape. Somewhere, anywhere I can just get away from all this shit and just be alone without someone or something breathing down my neck.

He wanted to stay in bed, to hide away under the covers, but the impulsive urge to find a way out was becoming too strong for him to ignore. Nyx rolled out of his bed, quickly changing out of his pajamas and into his uniform with a flair of magic. He was comfortable in his own room, but even from in there he could hear the incessant chatter of his dormmates laughing and partying through the door. Putting on headphones and drowning them out only worked so well. He wanted someplace quiet and secluded, a place where he could be on his own. His own little sanctuary. He grabbed his phone and his headphones, and one of the magic broomsticks that were free for public use, and left his dorm in a rush.

He soared through the open air of the Night Raven campus, hovering not too high so as to not exhaust his broom too quickly. Even just taking a moment to get some fresh air helped him to relax, the cool breeze and late afternoon sunshine felt good to be a part of. But going for a leisurely glide wasn’t his goal here, he wanted to find that special place that he could call his own.

He'd never had the chance to explore too much of the campus on his own. Night Raven College was so big and expansive, just walking from his dorm to the main building in the morning every day was enough to make him sweat. But, now that he had permission to fly on his own, life was getting much easier for him. Every day he flew up to the main building for class, and every day he saw little landmarks that caught his interest.

He started his flight near the Mystery Shop. There was a large clock tower close by the building where a few groups of students collected to relax, so for now he left that area alone. Behind the Mystery Shop there was a dense thicket of trees and a steep cliffside that led to a ravine. Being close to the water could be a fun retreat to have, but as Nyx flew along the ravine he couldn’t find anywhere that he could comfortably sit or stand without getting soaked. He followed the flowing rivers to the edge of the college campus, then followed the thickets and underbrush back onto school grounds. Despite his best efforts, everywhere he went seemed to attract some groups of people. Students explored the open forests, sat at the edge of the rivers with their feet hanging over the edge, played in the open fields and practiced their magic where the prying eyes of authority wouldn’t see. Every piece of land seemed to be silently “claimed” by a clique, posse, or activity of some kind. Nyx sighed, dejectedly floating on toward the dilapidated building that was Ramshackle Dorm. The estate was quiet and mostly abandoned (save for its newfound residents), so perhaps he could find his sanctuary somewhere around here, he figured. But, as he flew closer, he noticed the illustrious Malleus had already made this location his own. His infamous senior was circling the building and peeking in through the windows on the second floor. There wasn't anything for him here that hadn't already been “claimed”.

He checked his phone, realizing that he’d been doing nothing but flying aimlessly across campus and exploring its depths for almost an hour. He probably should take a break and let his broom rest, he figured, but he still the hollow feeling of wanderlust pulling at his heartstrings. Nyx landed his broom by the thicket of trees behind Ramshackle dorm and sat down on the grass beneath their shade. From here, it was peaceful… quiet. A gentle ocean breeze rustled through the leaves of the trees and caressed his body. He liked places like this, where he could be alone with his own thoughts and his music for at least a little bit. He didn’t bring his sketchbook with him, but in a place like this he could theoretically make this his own little sanctuary. If Malleus wanted the building, then maybe he could at least keep the trees.

He looked up past Ramshackle dorm, where the imposing body of the main school building split the horizon and loomed ominously above the rest of the campus. It was crazy to think that he went into a building as vast and imposing as that every day, just for the benign ritual of going to class. Even though he’d been here for almost two whole years already, he felt like he still hadn’t seen even half of the whole building yet. Hallways and corridors ran both inside and out through the entire building, with entire wings dedicated to specific fields of study. You could get lost for hours in those endlessly winding hallways if there weren’t signs to point you in the direction, and even then he sometimes still found ways to get lost in their depths.

Staring up at the school, he paused as something special caught his eye. There were many high-reaching spires that made up the iconic silhouette of the main college building, but from the rear there was one in particular that captured his attention. There was a single lone spire that stretched up even higher than all the rest around it.

He’d heard people talk about that spire before, but he’d never realized just how out of place it looked from this angle. It was so disconnected from everything else on the building. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know what that tower was for. He'd never had any reason to go up that far, and from here he couldn't even tell how it could be connected to the rest of the building on the inside.

Staring up at the tower, he suddenly felt an incredible urge to fly up and make a mark on it.

It was an unspoken Night Raven College tradition to make your mark somewhere on the school at some point before your graduation day. Students would jump and tap the bottoms of banisters and archways as they pass by underneath, and the well-worn wood and stone as well as the dozens of stickers left behind was proof that they were there. Signatures and graffiti are frequently scrubbed from the stone walls and fences, but if you fly to special places where people rarely travel you can still find where students of the past have made their mark and have yet to be found and washed away. It's become a rite of passage: leave your mark somewhere on campus, somewhere special where it won't be erased, somewhere where you'll be remembered forever.

Above all else, that one, lonely tower has captured the hearts of so many members of the student body. Everyone that learns to fly always wants to make it to the highest point of the island. And they always get their wish, because the third year flying class final exam involves an obstacle course race through magic, floating rings scattered randomly across campus. The course changes every year, but every year one thing has always stayed the same: the very last ring in the exam is always at the very tip of the roof of that spire. It's become infamous across generations of Night Raven students, a grueling test of a magician's speed, agility, and endurance. Nyx has heard whispers of it from the moment he enrolled, and as intimidating as it was he looked forward to the day he'd finally be able to overlook the entire island from the peak of Night Raven College.

Perhaps... today should be the day he does it. Perhaps that could be his special place.

Nyx had confidence in his flying abilities. He might not be the best in the class, but he's still good enough to leave most of his friends in the dust. He hadn't been resting for long, but he felt like he could easily make it up there if he played his cards right.

Nyx hopped back on his broom, breathed out a sigh, and took flight. He swirled around the perimeter of Ramshackle Dorm, picking up as much speed as he could and rode the momentum to launch himself into the air. He quickly ascended up to the main building's height, breezing over the courtyard and climbing higher still.

Halfway up the building he found himself looking down at the tops of the lowest level rooftops, and his stomach dropped from the sight. He'd never been so high up before, and he suddenly felt intimidated by just how high he was. His broom wavered from his drop of confidence, and the hair on his tail stood on end. He shook off the feeling of dread and pressed on, gripping his broom tight enough to turn his knuckles white as he pressed onward.

The tower was closer now, he only needed a little bit more and he could sit upon the rooftop he'd admired for so long.

But... Nyx wasn't ascending any more. His height was starting to plateau quickly. Before he realized it, his broomstick started to rapidly lose elevation, and he lost total control of his direction.

“No… no no no! Shit! SHIT!!”

The nose of Nyx’s broomstick tilted downward, nosediving directly into the base of the tower. He gripped the front of the broom, jerking it up and to the side as hard as he could to change course. The broomstick careened around the tower, narrowly missing it and veering directly into the main building roofs behind it. Nyx kept pulling back to halt the broom’s speed, but it wasn't enough to stop him completely. The front of the broomstick smashed into the side of the building, sending wood shrapnel flying and sending Nyx tumbling across the roof. His body rolled off the tiles, falling with a thud onto a large flat roof immediately below.

“N-Ngghh... fuck that hurt...” Nyx groaned. He rolled onto his back, wincing and rubbing his arm in pain before slowly rising into a seated position. Chunks of wood and straw bristles had exploded all around him from the impact, but what was left of his broom was nowhere to be seen. He inspected himself for injuries, finding that thankfully he didn't break or sprain anything from the collision. The worst he was dealing with was a skinned knee, a scrape on his hip, a sizable splinter in his leg. He took a few moments to tend to his shallow wounds, mending them up with some healing magic. He'd deal with the bruises later. Once he was done he breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, thankful that he didn't take any more serious damage from such a scary fall.

Slowly rising to his feet, Nyx looked around to figure out exactly where he was, and how he’d be able to get down. From how he landed, he had to have been on a balcony roof somewhere at the back of the school, because the tallest tower was looming high above him and casting a shadow over his landing zone. There were several large A/C units built along one side of the roof, and multiple electrical boxes were attached to the wall nearby them. On the other side against the wall, a series of pipes jutted out from the floor and ceiling and fed into what looked like a large water tank. This must be one of the main balcony landings that the building used for maintenance, he figured. It was an all-in-one stop for fixing whatever the problem was inside.

There were no windows looking out into the landing, but there was a door that lead back into the main building. He walked over and tried the knob, but it was locked. A tingle of magic from the knob piqued his curiosity, and he pulled out his magical pen and attempted a spell to force the door to unlock. The spell failed instantly, proving his theory correct: the door must be enchanted so that only certain people could open or unlock it. As long as he was here, he’d have to find some other way to get down, hopefully before someone on staff found him up here where he clearly wasn’t supposed to be.

He looked around to find his broomstick, following a trail of debris to the edge of the roof and looked down. What was left of his broom had fallen to a landing landing far below him, and staring down at the height made his heart skip a beat.

“Fuck, I hate that. Mmh... what should I do...” He muttered to himself, sitting down on the edge of the building before vertigo took over. He pulled his pen forth again, swishing and flicking it to levitate the broom's remains back to his side. It didn't take a genius to realize there was no way he'd be able to use it to fly back down again, but he didn't want to leave it behind for someone else to find later on.

Muttering a soft “damnit” under his breath, Nyx tossed the broken broomstick aside and scrubbed a hand through his hair in thought. He didn't have a broom to help him fly down, and there was absolutely no way he could climb down from where he was sitting. He had to have been at least three or four stories above the ground at minimum, and while the unusual architecture of the main campus building left plenty of things to climb down and leap across, he didn't have enough confidence in his agility to bother. He especially lost any confidence in climbing down every time he looked down and he felt the overwhelming urge to throw up.

Nyx chewed on his lip nervously, rummaging mentally through every spell he had unlocked in his brain. He could try and cast a featherfall spell on himself, but he’d just learned how to cast it and didn’t have the confidence to test his luck under these conditions. He could try and whip up a wind spell to cushion his fall, but if his timing was off even by a microsecond he could end up as a wet pancake on the ground. Nothing he knew would be safe or practical enough in a situation like this.

Weighing his options, he reached down and snatched his phone out from his pants pocket. If he couldn't get himself out of this alone, then he'd have to call in someone that could help him. Thankfully, he still had reception and battery to spare, and he knew at least a few people that could possibly fly up and rescue him. He scrolled through his contacts list, landing on Kalim’s name first. He quickly rang up his dorm head, hoping perhaps he could bring his magic carpet and help him out of this situation. The line rang and rang… but then went to voice mail. He quickly hung up and then dialed again.

“Come on, Kalim, come on…” Nyx quietly begged, but his hopes fell on deaf ears as his phone went to voice mail again. “What the fuck..? Jamil…?! Please…?!” He pleaded, ringing up the next person on his contact’s list. The phone rang and rang once again, this time finally being picked up. Nyx’s ears perked up and his tail wagged with delight.

“Jamil! Listen, I know this is gonna sound crazy but I-“

“Hey, sorry Nyx, I’ve got three pans on the stove right now, so I’ll have to call you back. Bye.”

“W-WAIT! Hold on! I’m-!!” Nyx’s heart sank in his chest as the line went dead, his tail curling up beside him. He felt crushed, staring at his phone in disbelief. Tears welled up in his eyes. He was running out of options faster than he could think of them. He landed on the number of one of his best friends, Lee, and dialed the number. The phone rang and rang… and then went straight to voice mail.

“Damnit, Lee…! Why is nobody… Oh gods, that’s right, Lee and Kalim have club together today! Fuck me, why now?!” Nyx had to fight back the urge to throw his phone across the roof. His vision grew blurry as he continued scrolling through the numbers, tears dripping down his face silently as he scrolled through names.

Idia… there’s no way he’d come and get me, he can't even leave his room most days. I don’t know how to contact Ortho directly, Ruggie doesn’t have a phone, and Azul would just hold it over my head! Fuck, that's really everyone I know... everyone that I'm friends with. I don’t have… anyone else… except them.

There were only two people left that he knew the numbers too. Only two people that might possibly save him. Nyx stared at the names on his contacts list. He was still incredibly pissed at them for the “late night drowning incident” at the pool, but he didn't know what else he could possibly do.

Nyx’s thumb hovered over his phone hesitantly. He really didn’t want to talk to them right now. He didn’t want to place his life in their hands after they already broke his trust once already. They probably wouldn't even care that he was in danger at all. In the back of his mind he could practically hear them laughing at him and his misery all over again. But… he was running out of options. He didn't want to be stuck here hungry and cold all night long. So he clicked the button and watched the line ring, taking in a deep, shaky sigh as he held the phone up to his ear.

The line rang… and rang… and rang…

“This is Jade. How can I be of assistance?” The sound of Jade’s voice came through on the other end. Nyx felt a soft wash of relief settle over his shoulders at hearing another person's voice finally come through, but that relief came with more anxiety once he realized what he had to do.

“J-Jade, I uh… I need help. It’s an emergency, please, I… I didn’t know who else to call,” Nyx sniffled. He tried hard not to sound like he was crying, but the harder he tried the more his voice wavered. Every word was painful to speak, and tears were running down his face before he had a chance to stop them. The other end of the phone went silent, before he heard a muffled clattering noise and a response of, “One moment, please hold on.”

He could hear Jade talking to someone indistinctly on the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of a door closing and him clearing his voice, “You said it's an emergency? What's the problem, Nyx?”

“I-I’m… stuck on the roof of the school building. I tried calling Kalim and Jamil and Lee and... just, n-nobody’s answering their phones,” He choked on his own words, stifling a sob and rubbing the tears from his eyes, “I-I’m... scared. I'm too high up to climb down, I d-don't have a broom, there's a door here but it's locked and I can't -hic- I can't do anything...! I don't know what to do, man, I just need help.”

The other line was silent for a moment, followed by the sound of Jade breathing out a soft sigh, “…If I may be honest for a moment, Nyx, I’m not exactly the best of fliers. I may have better ability than someone like Azul, but in a case like this… I think you’d be better off finding someone else for this job,” Jade confessed, “Are you positive that there’s nobody else that can help you?”

“I don't k-know any other numbers. N-Nobody… Nobody else is even p-picking up their phone. And if I call the Headmaster I’m gonna -hic- gonna be so screwed…”

“…I understand. I’m currently on shift at Mostro Lounge, but I’ll see what I can do. Can you wait for just a little while longer?”

“I-I… I can try. Just... d-don't forget about me, please...?”

“I won't. I’ll do what I can, just please wait for me. I’ll talk to you soon.”

The line went dead, and Nyx felt the weight of his anxieties settle heavier over his shoulders. All he could do was wait... wait and hope that he made the right decision.

Nyx sat with his back against the wall of the school building, hugging his knees to his chest. He wanted a retreat, but this was hardly the getaway that he was hoping for. Now he just felt so hopelessly alone. Every person he knew either brushed him off or wouldn't answer at all. He put his trust into so many people, and none of them were there when he actually needed them most. He felt heartbroken and lost, all he could do was sit there and sob.

Time slowly passed as he was swallowed up in his own melancholy. His eyes burned and his throat stung, so he summoned a small orb of water with a bit of magic to quench his thirst and wash his face. He wasn't crying anymore. Now all he felt was empty and numb.

He sighed softly, looking out into the horizon that stretched out beyond the school campus. From up here, all he could see was a smattering of forest treetops and then an endless, open ocean stretching out into infinity. It was getting late now, and the sun was drifting down over the horizon, basking the world in an ethereal golden glow. He could hear the soft hiss of ocean waves crashing against the nearby shore, and closer he could hear the soft songs of crickets and the trill of songbirds carrying on the wind. It was a peaceful evening, beautiful, even. It soothed his broken heart a little, but it also made him wish he didn't have to go through so much to have the chance to experience it.

“…iiish… Pufferfiiiiiiish~!”

Nyx’s ear twitched. It was distant, but he thought he could hear a voice calling his name.

Someone’s actually looking for me..? And of all people it’s him?

Nyx quickly hopped up to his feet, glancing around to try and determine the source of the sound. It didn’t sound like it came from below, so perhaps above? He looked up at the many walls and vacant windows that had been surrounding him for hours, before finally landing on the form of Floyd, shouting his name and waving at him from the window of a nearby tower. He was wearing his dorm uniform, clad in a black suit and lavender shirt.

Floyd hopped through the open window and leapt effortlessly over the stone barrier of the passageway encircling the tower he was on. He landed on the roof not far below, sprinting across its ridge and making his way closer before stepping down and sliding across the plane of tiles down to his level. He hit the end and hopped down, tucking and rolling on impact with the flat roof that Nyx had been trapped on. Floyd then popped up to his feet, adjusting his dorm hat with a flair and held his arms out triumphantly, “Ta-da-da-daaah~! How’s it hangin’, pufferfish?”

Nyx was dumbfounded. As impressive as the display was, right now he just didn’t know what to think. He stared blankly at Floyd and blinked at him, his eyes still visibly red from crying, “…Bad. It’s going bad, dude, how do you think it’s been going?” He scowled, crossing his arms across his chest, “I’ve been stuck up here for hours trying to get someone to help me. I didn’t even call you, so what the hell are you doing here?”

Floyd’s smile quickly faltered and he frowned back at Nyx, “Obviously, I’m here to help you. I was workin’ at Mostro Lounge when Jade told me to come 'n see where you were at. You’re literally impossible to see from anywhere on the ground, so I’ve been trackin’ your scent and walkin’ across campus for like an hour and a half just tryin’ to figure out where the hell you were. Which, speaking of-” He paused and pulled out his magical pen, firing off a lavender colored flare straight up into the air, no doubt to let Jade know where he'd been found.

“Well... great. I'm glad you're here and all, but don't expect me to be cheerful, cuz I'm really just not in a good mood.” Nyx clutched his sleeves tighter, seething with bitter rage, “Absolutely nothing that I wanted to do today went right... not one single fucking thing. All I wanted was to find somewhere to relax, and instead I ended up crashing up here, fucking up my broom, getting stranded for hours with no way out, and nobody gave a single shit about helping me until it was almost dark. I'm tired. I'm cold. I'm hungry. And I just... wanna go home.”

“Tch. Well don't blame your shit mood on me, it's not like I even knew any of this was happening until Jade told me you called.” Floyd sneered, his expression turning sour as he drew closer to Nyx. “...So, why did you call Jade and not me?”

“I was kind of panicking, man! Everyone I called was either not picking up their phone or just straight-up hanging up on me!” Nyx snapped, glaring up at Floyd with eyes still wet with tears of frustration, “Honestly, I didn't want to call either of you. I'm still pissed off at both of you for what happened at the pool.”

“Ugh, seriously?! Come on, that was like over a week ago!”

“Yeah, and neither of you cared enough to apologize to me about it!”

“I told you we were just messin' around! I ditched the Lounge to come here to help save your sorry ass, ain't that enough to make it up to you?!”

“How the hell do you even expect to ‘rescue’ me from here, anyway?! You didn’t even bring a broom or anything!”

Floyd blinked at him, looking around at the chunks of wooden shrapnel and the destroyed remains of what used to be a magic broomstick blankly. “…Did you even think about it at all?” Nyx asked, flabbergasted at Floyd's visible honesty.

“Well, no. Jade said he had it under control, so I didn’t worry about it. All I had to do was find you, and I did, so my job's done.”

“Yeah, you did so well at your job that I feel so much more saved now. You're a big fuckin' hero Floyd, glad you showed up.”

That last jab seemed to activate Floyd's hair trigger temper. He bared his teeth, a low and inhuman growl rippling up from the depths of his chest. The sound raised hairs on the back of Nyx's neck. He'd never heard such a noise come out of Floyd before, let alone any human or non-human. It ignited a sort of primal fear in the recesses of his brain that only intensified as he stomped up to Nyx and butted his chest against him, “You know, you're really pissing me off with all your bitching and moaning. Do you want me to squeeze you? Cuz right now I'd really love to break your scrawny fuckin' neck.” he snarled.

Nyx was taken aback at Floyd's sudden show of aggression. Anger and frustration had completely left the building. Looking up at Floyd, all that was left in him now was an intense feeling that he really didn't want to be there anymore.

As if on cue, a second flair rippled up in the air, drawing the attention of both Nyx and Floyd at the same time. Standing on the edge of a nearby window's balcony, as Jade had finally come to make his long-awaited appearance. He held a broomstick with him, and seemed to hesitate for a moment as he lifted off from his landing. Slowly and awkwardly he hovered across the same tiled roof that Floyd had triumphantly parkoured his way across and made his way to touch down at the landing they were at. He breathed a sigh of relief as his feet touched solid ground, and he quickly removed himself from the broom, clearing his throat and smiling amicably at Nyx and Floyd.

“My apologies for the wait. Since you mentioned you didn’t have a working broom, I brought an extra for you to use for our descent,” He cheerfully announced. He raised his broomstick, revealing that his ride over was actually two brooms tied together with a thin piece of rope. He got to work undoing the tie to release the second broom, and Floyd backed off from Nyx and threw his hands up in resignation.

“See? I told ya Jade had it under control! You got all worked up over nothing, and now we can go. You fuckin' happy now?”

Jade looked up at Floyd in surprise, quirking a brow at Nyx questioningly, “My, I must have missed so much while I was on my way here.”

“Not really,” Nyx huffed, feeling lost and dejected. His voice went soft and wavered, as he once again felt tears welling up in his eyes again, “Not like you'd care, anyway... none of it fuckin' matters at all.”

“GODS-! What’s your fuckin' problem, huh?! We’re literally here right in front of you trying to help your dumb ass right now!” Floyd fumed, “We went out of our way to come out here and help you and all you've done is whine about it!”

“What’s my problem?!” Nyx growled, the tears in his eyes spilling over and running down his cheeks against his will, “My problem is... that I’ve been stuck out here for HOURS waiting for literally anyone to come and help me! Literally anyone, except for you! I didn't want to call you guys, but I had no choice! I trusted you both once, and it got me nothing but pain and trust issues!”

“And you’re still hung up on that! Come on, pufferfish, we were just playin’ around! That was over a week ago, and you didn’t even drown!”

“FRIENDS DON’T TRY AND FUCKING DROWN EACH OTHER!!”

Nyx shouted, his voice cracking as a sudden burst of sobs wracked his body. Floyd's scowl started to waver, and he slowly unclenched his hands at his side. Jade, who had been simply standing aside and quietly watching the conversation play out, looked at a loss for words. Nyx's sudden show of emotions left them both unaware of what to do, but more than that... friend was a word rarely used in earnest with them.

“I seriously… actually thought... you guys were my friends. I-I trusted you. I trusted you the whole way there n-not to get us caught, and you didn't... I was... happy.” Nyx sniffled, wiping his eyes furiously to try and dry his tears, “We just- we spent the night there and we were having fun and then both of you just... tried to d-drown me. I laughed about it the first time, but the second time… it just... hurt.”

Nyx kept his gaze down, his ears drooping. He couldn't bring himself to move, all he could do was stand there, letting his tears and pent-up frustrations spill from him little by little, “Just... h-how am I supposed to trust either of you to help me when I really... really need it...? How do I know... that you’re not gonna try and p-push me off my broom once we’re in the air? How do I know Azul isn’t down there, waiting for me... waiting to hold this over my head and try to pressure me into a fucking contract for you helping me now...? I can't... I just can't... I'm just... scared.”

Jade and Floyd shared a dumbfounded glance. The silence between them was almost deafening. Nyx didn't expect them to respond, certainly not kindly. He just sniffled, clutching the sleeves of his jacket and sinking back down against the balcony wall. He sat again with his knees curled up against his chest. He just didn't want to deal with any of this anymore. He wanted to vanish, wanted to disappear.

“…I guess I didn’t think you actually thought of me like that.”

Nyx heard Floyd murmur, half under his breath. He walked over to Nyx's side, shoes clicking against the balcony floor and causing Nyx to cower down into his knees as he drew near. But instead of being kicked or mocked like he was waiting for, Floyd sat down beside Nyx and breathed out a heavy, exasperated sigh.

“Ya know… I really did have a lotta fun that night,” Floyd sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke, “I don’t… I dunno, I feel like not a lotta people like to humor me when I wanna do something fun with them. Usually only Jade ‘n Azul will hear me out if I wanna do something. Sea Snake, Otter, and Crab’ll do stuff with me sometimes, and Goldfish gets all worked up and it’s funny, but it’s... it's not the same thing.”

Nyx's ears perked up at Floyd's voice. It felt odd to hear him speak so honestly.

“It’s just… different when it’s you. I feel different around you than I do with… basically anyone else. I don't really know what to call it, but... I guess 'friend' is close enough. So... yeah.”

Nyx slowly unfolded one of his knees from his chest, flinching as Floyd reached over and grabbed his hand, leaning against his shoulder.

“I uh... I didn't really think that things changed that much since the pool thing. And I don't want things to change between us like that now. Like, if it were anyone else, pufferfish, I wouldn't have wanted to come here. So you can be pissed at me for what I did then, but don't be pissed at me for bein' here now, alright?”

Nyx sniffled, giving a silent nod as he leaned against Floyd's weight. That simple touch was enough. It lifted some of the weight tying down his heart, made the emptiness fade away little by little.

“Ahem... I understand it may be difficult for you to believe in us, since we’ve broken your trust once before already… but if it’s alright by you, perhaps you could consider this our way of attempting to repay that debt, so we may start over again from scratch.” Jade proposed. He rested the broomsticks against the balcony wall, crouching down and seating himself on the opposite side of Nyx. “Because… I feel much the same way that Floyd does. I’m thankful that we were able to share time together as we have, and I’d like to continue to do so with you in the future.”

Jade reached out to Nyx's other side, holding a gloved hand out to him gingerly, “Would you be willing to give me- …give us a second chance?”

Nyx looked down to Jade's hand, relaxing his other knee and taking his hand in his own. Words were still difficult to manage, so he settled for giving him a quiet nod in response. Jade smiled, a smile that felt more genuine than he think he'd ever seen Jade wear before. Nyx shifted his weight so he now leaned against Jade's shoulder, closing his eyes and letting himself relax. The weight of Floyd leaning against him was a lot more substantial when he put his weight on Jade, but it wasn't unpleasant. He felt Jade gently rub his thumb against the back of his hand, a small gesture that made warmth pool in his chest.

“Ya know... you said you wanted a getaway or whatever, but this place ain't too bad. I didn't even know it existed until now. So guess you crashin' out here wasn't all that bad after all~” Floyd said with a smile. He was right, despite the circumstances the view from up here was genuinely breathtaking. Not that long ago Nyx was able to look out at the sun dappling the endless ocean, and now as he looked up at the sky where the sun had vanished. Tiny dots of stars were already starting to cover the sky like a thousand diamonds strewn across a blue blanket.

Nyx snorted softly, “Yeah... It's nice, but... I think I'd be less upset if I actually got where I wanted to be and didn't totally fuck it up on the way there.”

“Where exactly were you trying to fly to when you crashed?” Jade inquired.

Nyx raised his head, reaching up and pointing at the roof of the lone tower casting a fading shadow over them. Floyd followed his gaze, suddenly bursting out into barely restrained snickers, “Up there?! If you'da made it up there I woulda straight sucked your dick about it, cuz that's fuckin' crazy.”

Nyx's cheeks burned in embarrassment, “L-Look, I just thought it'd be a fun place to be. Like... imagine sitting up there, looking out over the whole island, having an ice cream or something...”

“The idea's certainly a romantic one,” Jade chuckled, “Perhaps one day you'll make it up there. I suppose when that happens Floyd and I will be able to join you as well. Maybe Azul will be able to as well.”

“You're being a jackass about it, but that would be fun, actually. I'd like you guys to be there with me when I do. I wanna do it at least once before we graduate.”

“Yeah~ It's a plan then, let's do it~” Floyd hummed.

“…Well, if it’s any consolation, it looks like you aren’t the only person to have somehow found his way up here, Nyx.” Floyd and Nyx glanced up to Jade curiously, and he gestured over to the nearby A/C units lining the wall.

There was a smattering of graffiti scrawled onto them and the wall behind them in black ink. Old school memes, signatures, doodles, even a few proclamations of love on campus had survived the years and the elements. This place was so secluded from the rest of the school, not only was Nyx hidden away up here, but these signs of life had somehow survived too.

“Huh... Hey... you guys got a pen?” Jade and Floyd exchanged a glance before simultaneously reaching for their magical pens. “Like a marker pen, not a fountain pen.” Nyx added.

“Oh. Actually, I do have one on hand,” Jade paused, fishing around on the inside of his coat and presenting a permanent marker. “They're prohibited on campus, but I enjoy using this for field sketches when I'm on my hikes. It should still have some ink.”

Nyx grabbed the marker from Jade and tapped Floyd to let him up. Floyd reluctantly pulled away from Nyx, letting him stand up and approach a blank piece of the A/C unit's side to crouch down beside. He brushed some of the dirt and dust from its surface, then popped off the lid of the marker. He scribbled quietly against the stone, narrowing his eyes in concentration as Floyd rested an arm on his shoulder and leaned against him to watch. On the wall he drew a small doodle of a fox sitting on top of a tall tower, with its tail curled around the base of the spire. Beneath it he scrawled his initials, and a simple message at the bottom: “I Was Here.”

Floyd grinned ear to ear as Nyx reached over to offer him the pen, and he got to work doodling right beside Nyx's drawing. He drew a second spire beside the first, with a long, cartoonish eel curled up along its base and leaning over to bite on the fox's tail. Beneath it he signed his own initials, and then leaned over to pass the marker back to Jade. Jade smiled as the two of them scooted back to give him space to work.

He tapped the cap of the pen to his chin in thought, then reached over to start on his own doodle. He drew a third spire on the opposite side of Floyd's, with strands of dark-leafed ivy creeping up its length. At the top of the spire he drew the rooftop covered in tiny mushrooms, with a large one at its center. Like Floyd and Nyx, he signed his initials at the bottom of his drawing, then popped the cap back onto the marker and placed it back in his inner pocket.

The three of them sat back and admired their work. They'd made their mark. They were here. And if luck was on their side, they would be “here” for many more years to come.

“...If we don't come back, at least we got to be here once,” Nyx said with a smile. He sighed softly, pushing himself up to his feet and dusting himself off. “I'm so godamn hungry... I hope Jamil made some extra dinner I can steal, cuz the last thing I wanna do when I get back is cook.”

Jade chuckled at his complaint as he and Floyd likewise rose to their feet, “You're more than welcome to join us at Mostro Lounge if there isn't any. I'm sure Azul would be delighted to have you.”

“Man, I don't even want to think about that right now, don't put him in my head after the shit I've been though today,” Nyx playfully admonished.

He approached the two brooms leaning against the wall, grabbing one in each hand and holding them up, “Soooo... you only brought two brooms. Who’s sittin’ bitch with me on the way down?” Nyx asked with a grin. Floyd smirked as he glanced over to Jade, who sheepishly raised his hand. “I’d prefer not to raise my blood pressure trying to fly on my own twice in one evening, thank you.”

“Yeah right, you just suck~” Floyd snickered.

Nyx and Jade readied themselves on one broom while Floyd grabbed the other. Floyd’s technique left something to be desired as he clung to the staff like a caterpillar on a twig, but in an instant he was off the ground and zooming down to the ground with a joyful cry of “WHEEEEEEE~!” all the way down. Nyx felt Jade tighten his grip on his middle and take in a deep breath as he floated the two of them up just enough that their feet no longer touched the ground.

“Please… don’t go too fast,” Jade requested with a nervous smile. Nyx smirked, slowly floating their broom off the edge of the roof before diving down almost as recklessly fast as Floyd did.

[thoselethalarts]

For all your drawing/writing needs, I made some annotated maps of the Night Raven College campus! I saw one of these done for the entire campus map that was annotated in Japanese, so I wanted to make one in English!

There's some locations on the maps that we don't know what they're used for yet (as of the end of Ch 7) and I marked those locations with a "???" until we get clarifications on what they're for (what the hell is that weird L-wall for near the chicken coops anyway??). But! regardless, I hope this is useful to whomever needs them!

[thoselethalarts]

NO HE'S SO CUTE I'M GONNA CRYYYYY I'm treasuring this forever I'm printing him out and putting him on my fridge he's on the fridge now goodbye

[thoselethalarts]

𝓚𝓪𝔃𝓾𝓸 𝓖𝓾𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓸 - 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓒𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓼

An (almost) complete compendium of all of Kazuo Guerrero’s character cards and personal stories! SR Groovies and SSR Dorm Card + story to come!

~ Personal Stories (ENG) ~

( R ) School Uniform: “I Totally Forgot!”

( R ) Gym Uniform: “I’m So Stupid…!”

(SR) Lab Uniform: “I Can't Really Turn Back Now.” ( 1 || 2 )

(SR) Ceremony Robes: “I Won’t Let You Down!” ( 1 || 2 )

(SSR) Dorm Uniform: “(AS OF YET UNNAMED)” ( 1 || 2 || 3 )

(SSR) Birthday Suit-Up: “Happy Birthday!” ( 1 || 2 || 3 )

(SSR) Union Jacket: "Happy Birthday!" ( 1 || 2 || 3 )

[thoselethalarts]

Strawpage!

It feels a little trivial spreading this here since the ask system already exists, but I recently made a strawpage! I spent FAR too much time working on it, and I'm for sure gonna be tweaking again in the future, but I thought I'd set it down here for whomever likes that sorta thing!

Send me some doodles or questions here if you'd like!

[thoselethalarts]

Dark Waters - Break And Enter

Rating: T Warnings: Attempted drowning Floyd's experiencing phantom pains from staying in his human form. Nyx proposes a remedy, so the two of them break into the pool after hours for a late night swim.

Nyx was warned early on about the infamous ebbs and flows of Floyd's ever-volatile mood swings. He'd been warned that Floyd was impossible to read, for one moment he'd be excited, cheerful, and bursting with energy, and then the next moment he'd be moody, depressed, and almost worryingly lethargic. It was something to adjust to, sure, but that didn't mean that Floyd was entirely unpredictable. He learned that, for the most part, Floyd was very forward with his emotions and how he was feeling, and that he craved “pleasure first” above all else. “He won't do it if he thinks it's boring”, was what he was told, and that one rule was all he needed to understand Floyd's deeper mentality.

But sometimes... Floyd really did make it the guessing game easy for him.

Since that morning, Floyd seemed all sorts of tense and on edge. He didn't talk much when Nyx greeted him, and he hardly spoke in class at all. His brow was creased like he was perpetually fighting off a migraine, and Nyx couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps a headache or a stomachache was the cause of his poor mood.

Floyd’s mood seemed to worsen when they got to their P.E. class. Calling him “uninterested” in their morning exercises would have been an understatement, in fact he refused to participate entirely. As Coach Vargas drilled them through sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, and stretches, he hardly moved a muscle. When it was time for “warm-up” laps around the field, Floyd instead chose to wander off and collapse into the grass beneath the shade of a nearby tree.

Nyx detested P.E. with every fiber of his being, but he still put in the minimal amount of effort he could bear just to keep himself from failing. Even in his worst of moods, Floyd was usually leagues more energetic and enthusiastic than him to move his body around. He’d never seen Floyd in such a state before… it made him feel concerned that something was seriously wrong.

Nyx walked his laps around the field, not caring enough about how long it took him to finish as long as he got there in the end. He peered over at Floyd as he started to pass by, glancing in Coach Vargas’s direction before breaking from the path to hobble over to Floyd’s side. Floyd was laying face up on the grass, his arms and legs spread wide out beside him like a starfish on the ocean floor.

“Hey, you good over here, my man?” Nyx asked as he sat down in the shade beside him, “You've been grumbling and groaning, like, all morning. Do you have a headache or something? Cuz I can ask for some painkillers if you need some.”

“No... 's not my head,” Floyd groaned, “It's my fins... they really really hurt. And I already took some painkillers. They're not. Helping.” Floyd stretched his legs out as far as he could muster for emphasis before relaxing them again. “They've been hurting since this morning and I haven't done anything to make 'em sore. It's kinda starting to piss me off.”

“Your... fins? You mean your legs, I think...” Nyx pondered. Floyd's aquatic lexicon was something he was learning to translate little by little every day. “What do they feel like?”

“I dunno, it's hard to explain... It feels like when I'm swimming and my tail gets caught on something and I can't get it out. Like it itches and just hurts, but it hurts in a place I can't stretch out or anything. It's just there and there's nothing I can do about it and I just want it to stop.”

Nyx watched as Floyd alternated stretching his ankles and straightening his legs out in front of him restlessly. His brow creased in thought, “Hm... well, I dunno how accurate this is, but if you didn’t do anything to hurt yourself and it feels like your ‘tail’ is what’s hurting… that kinda sounds like phantom limb pain, dude.”

“Phantom what? The hell's that mean? I'm not a ghost...” Floyd grumbled, flopping his arms across his face and covering his eyes.

“You've never heard of it before? It's like, uh... when someone gets a limb amputated, like an arm or a leg - or I guess in your case a fin - sometimes they'll still be able to 'feel' that part of them, even though it's gone.” Floyd perked his head up slightly as Nyx explained, “I don't know anything about merfolk transformation ‘cept for what you ‘n Jade told me, but you guys got two legs where your tails used to be, so maybe your 'tail' is hurting even though you don't have it equipped right now.”

Floyd gave a soft snort at the use of the word “equipped” being used to refer to his own tail. After a moment, he sighed, taking his arms off from in front of his face and letting them flop down uselessly at his sides again, “Hmm... I haven't been walkin' around on land for a super long time, but now that ya mention it I feel like I feel a lot better after I swim around for a bit...”

“Well, there you have it. Maybe you can take a dip in the gym pool or something and you'll feel better again. Give your fin a chance to ‘breathe’, so to speak.”

“Maybe...”

The two drifted into mutual silence shortly after, Nyx watching as his fellow classmates continued their laps around the field. He contemplated getting up and pretending to finish as he saw some of his classmates wrapping up their own set of laps, but stopped as Floyd pushed himself up into a sitting position, propping himself up on his hands as his legs still spread out before him.

“Hey. How's about you go for a swim with me, pufferfish?”

Nyx quirked a brow at the unexpected question, “What, like after school?”

“Yeah, why not?”

“I mean I guess I could… I thought they closed off the pool today for practice or something, though.”

“So what? We can just slip in through the window when it's dark and we'll be able to swim around all we want~”

“…What? You wanna... break into the pool?” Nyx hesitated with his words, keeping his voice low so none of their classmates would catch wind of their conversation, “You know we could get in serious trouble for doin' shit like that, right?”

“Yeah, and that's half the fun~ Also, we could get in trouble only if we get caught~”

Nyx sighed. Of course he had to end up getting close to someone with little regard for any rules on campus. It’s not like he considered himself “straight edge”, but he didn’t very well like to go around looking for trouble when he didn’t need to. Keeping his head down and breezing through life trouble free was all he really cared about.

Although… there was a part of him that did think the idea was kinda thrilling... and out of all the rules to break, busting into a pool after hours for a little swim was a relatively tame one...

Nyx heaved a sigh, the allure of forbidden pleasure winning over his rational thinking, “Alright, fine, I’m in. So, how do we do it, exactly? I'd rather not try 'n do something stupid like this without some kinda plan.”

“Don't worry, I’ll figure it out~ Just meet me at the green side of the building after curfew, and I’ll get us in. Just don’t keep me waiting, or I’ll be pissed.”

Curfew at Night Raven College started at 10pm sharp. After that, no students were permitted to freely roam campus outside of their assigned dormitories (unless they were a Housewarden or Vice Housewarden, of course). Sneaking outside of his dorm already felt risky enough, so Nyx convinced Kalim that he forgot a library book across campus and needed to get it before tomorrow. Kalim was so trusting, even if Jamil could tell Nyx was clearly lying, so he got a cute handwritten note giving him permission to leave.

Level 1 passed, now onto Level 2.

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be much in the way of security around this late. Despite the lax amount of security ghosts roaming outside, Nyx’s heart was pounding in his chest the whole way across campus. Every step he took, every time his shoe scuffed the ground a little too hard or his tail brushed against something as he dove for cover, the thrill of what he was doing and how much trouble he could get in if he was caught was made flagrantly clear to him. Slowly, carefully, he made his way from the Hall of Mirrors, past the Mystery Shop, across Main Street, and toward the “green side” of the Gymnasium.

Thick foliage covered the side of the Gym that was closest to Main Street, so Nyx took shelter among the trees and underbrush and took a moment to catch his breath and steady his nerves. He felt almost lightheaded from the rush of getting this far… he understood now why some people willingly became thrillchasers, though he didn't think he'd want to be doing anything like this again in the near future.

“Floyd…? Floooydd… Where are ya, man?” Nyx whispered through the leaves. A few moments of silence passed, and all he could hear was the gentle rustle of the wind stirring through the leaves around him. The sharp sound of a twig snapping behind him made his heart stop in his chest. Before he could react, Nyx felt someone roughly grab his shoulder and yank him down into the bushes. He yelped as strong arms pulled him roughly into a submission hold and a hand clasped firm over his mouth.

“You’re so friggin’ loud, pufferfish, are you tryna get us caught?” Floyd whispered against his ear.

Nyx’s ears tilted down in a mix of shame and frustration once he realized who it was that actually found him. He tried to pull Floyd’s hand away from his mouth, but Floyd only strengthened his grip and pulled him tighter against his chest. “Shh. Quiet.”

Nyx glanced up, noticing Floyd was fixated on something just outside of their hiding spot. He followed his gaze to the front of the gymnasium, where a security ghost was fiddling with his keys as he locked up the building. In his panic, he didn’t hear the front door of the gymnasium opening at all.

It was at that moment Nyx realized he could feel Floyd’s heart pounding in his chest. This position was oddly intimate. Floyd had him trapped in a strong hug, though he was also just one movement away from putting him in a chokehold at the same time. It felt a little weird being this close, but it also made Nyx realize… Floyd must have been just as nervous about doing this as he was. Not only was he nervous, but he also cared about him enough to not let Nyx get caught in the act, when it’d be so easy to let him take the fall.

The front door clicked as the ghost turned the lock, pulled on the handle, and then turned and whistled a merry tune as he floated along on his way.

Nyx and Floyd simultaneously let out a heavy sigh, their bodies relaxing and Floyd finally released Nyx from his grasp.

“Thanks, man.” Nyx smiled, tilting his head back to look up to Floyd behind him.

“Wouldn’t be as fun if we got caught now, would it?” Floyd replied with a smirk.

Nyx hummed in agreement, shifting himself away from Floyd and reclaiming his personal space. “Okay, so how exactly are we getting in? You said you had a plan.”

“Don't sweat it. I unlocked one of the windows earlier, so all I gotta do is get it open. C'mon.” Floyd gestured for Nyx to follow, leading him along the side of the building and stopping in front of one of the windows. He took a quick glance around and reached up to fiddle with the outside latch.

While Floyd worked to open the window, Nyx kept a lookout for any other staff or security that could blow their cover. Nyx was thankful at this moment that there was so much lush foliage surrounding them, otherwise this would have felt like a much more dangerous mission than it already was. Floyd clicked his tongue against his teeth as he fiddled with the window, finally sliding the pane open. He easily pulled himself up through the window, then reached back and helped Nyx inside when he failed to scale the wall as easily as he did. In the blink of an eye, just like that, the two had officially broken in.

Nyx hadn’t the opportunity to use the school pool yet, but he'd always had the urge to peek inside every time he came to the gymnasium. He could smell the chlorine through the door every time he passed, and now that he was finally here in person and could smell it much more clearly. It smelled almost welcoming.

The pool room was much bigger than Nyx expected it to be. The walls were clad in white tiles and the floor was bare concrete, still slightly damp from people using the pool earlier that day. Much like in the basketball court, there were seven brightly colored banners hanging along one of the walls featuring emblems from each of their dorms, and the ground had the words “NIGHT RAVEN” painted alongside the short end of the pool. Many of the walls had two-pane windows that were high above the ground, like the one that Nyx and Floyd had used to break in, while along one of the walls there was a line of large single-pane windows that reached toward the ground. The single pane windows were closed off with thick, heavy shudders for the night, keeping the forbidden guests of the pool concealed from any would-be spectators. The whole room was completely dark, with the only light illuminating it being the light of the moon peeking in through the high windows from the outside.

The pool itself was large, long, and deep, with floating lane dividers lining the interior in stripes of faded gold and purple, and strings of similarly colored flags were strung across the pool's width at specific intervals. The pool had a shallow entry area off to one side, but it was clear that this place meant to be for diving and competitive racing more than it was for casual swimming. That was fine by Nyx, he had lots of experience swimming in the past, so he was sure that he'd have no trouble in a pool like this.

“I'm gonna change over here,” Nyx whispered to Floyd. Floyd shrugged and strolled across the room, already yanking his shirt off from over his head before throwing it haphazardly onto a chair lining the wall.

As Nyx shed his overclothes, he noticed a list of rules painted in red on the tiles above him.

No Running No Food or Drinks No Rough Play No Mermaid Forms No Magic Pool is Open from 10am – 6pm

Looks like we're gonna be breaking a hell of a lot of rules tonight... I really hope we don't get caught.

Nyx placed his overclothes onto a chair in the corner of the room, leaving him just in his Scarabia swim trunks and a pair of goggles. He snorted a small laugh at seeing the literal trail of clothes Floyd left behind on the floor leading up to the pool. His smile faded though, as he noticed a third set of clothes neatly folded underneath another one of the chairs midway across the room. He approached the chair and knelt down to inspect them. It was a gym class jumpsuit. He couldn't tell what dorm it belonged to, but he could tell that it was different from the one Floyd shed on the way in.

“…E13…” He mumbled aloud. Him and Floyd were in Class D together, so it wasn’t either of theirs, and he didn’t know the classes of anyone else that he knew off the top of his head. “Maybe someone forgot it after the club meet today…?”

Nyx flinched as Floyd loudly splashed into the pool, causing every hair on his body to stand on end as he dropped the jumpsuit where he left it. “Good fucking gods, dude...! Are you trying to get us caught...?!” He angrily whispered at where Floyd had dived in.

Nyx approached the edge of the pool, narrowing his eyes as he struggled to see through the dark waters. Giving a soft “hm”, he brushed his bangs from his face and peered at the water with his usually concealed pale white eye. He scanned the water, trying to see if he could see Floyd’s form beneath the waves. His eyes widened as a dark humanlike mass floated to the surface, and he quickly leapt away from the water just in time to narrowly avoid Floyd leaping out and grabbing for his legs.

“Aw, hahaha! I really thought I was gonna getcha~” Floyd snickered, folding his arms on the edge of the pool and grinning fin to fin up at Nyx, “How'd you see me? I thought humans had terrible darkvision.”

Nyx scoffed and gestured to his pale eye, “I've got better darkvision than a human does, remember? I can see pretty good in the dark normally, but this eye adjusts way faster than my other one does. It's why I usually keep it under my bangs.”

He let his hair fall back in his face again and crossed his arms with a grin, “So if I come over there you aren't gonna try and get me again, are ya?”

“Hmm… If I say 'no', does that mean you'll believe me?”

Nyx rolled his eyes, approaching the pool and sitting himself down on the edge to rest his feet in the water. Floyd frowned, grabbing Nyx’s ankle and tugging on his leg, “Come ooon, I thought we were goin’ swimming,” he whined.

Nyx shuddered at the cold of Floyd's hand and kicked his leg to shake him off, “Gimmie a minute! I just wanted to get a good look at you before I got in. I’ve never actually seen a merman in their normal form up close before.”

Floyd cocked his head to the side as Nyx took in his radically altered appearance. Nyx noticed before that Floyd’s natural body temperature was much lower than his own, even in his human form, but now he could really feel the difference between their bodies when Floyd grabbed him. The “natural” human skin tone he usually wore was replaced with dark teal and white, with darker teal stripes etched across his cheeks, hips, and biceps. His ears were now replaced with long, almost elflike fins that moved with his expressions much like Nyx's ears did with his own. It was easier for him to read what he was thinking when he was in this form, Nyx noted. Floyd didn’t have any scales that he could see, even in his aquatic form. His whole body looked almost silky smooth, but there was an odd, slimy residue left on his ankle where Floyd had grabbed him. In the darkest depths where his body vanished beneath the waves, Nyx could swear he saw pale blue speckles of light lining the edges of Floyd’s fins and lighting up his dark body markings. He noticed it before when they were hiding in the bushes, but Floyd’s golden eye also glowed brightly in this moonlit darkness.

“So... is it rude to ask what species you're supposed to be? I can’t make your tail out too well in this lighting.” Nyx asked.

“I'm a moray eel!” Floyd cheerfully replied, raising the end of his tail fin out of the water with a gentle splash. “What species are you supposed to be? Not like you ever told me.”

“Arctic marble fox,” Nyx answered with a smile, “So I guess that makes us even now, doesn't it?”

Nyx pulled his goggles on over his eyes, then took a deep breath before plunging himself into the water and diving beneath the surface. He could adjust to the cold better than most, it was in his blood after all, but the chill still made him shiver as he let the waves flow over him.

Floyd dove beneath the surface as well and followed Nyx as he swam partway across the pool before inevitably having to swim back up for a breath of air. Floyd flipped his tail out of the water as Nyx surfaced, splashing him with a large wave and causing him to splutter. The moment Floyd peeked out of the water at him, Nyx retaliated by splashing him back. The two of them laughed, chasing each other across the pool and diving between the lanes while engaged in their little splash fight. Any semblance of keeping the noise level down was forgotten as they lost themselves in a brief moment of freedom.

Nyx felt a lightness in his chest as he watched Floyd swim and dive around beside him. Once again, seeing Floyd as himself made this moment feel… so strangely intimate.

Every day he saw Floyd in class, but he’d only ever seen a surface-level version of him. Now he got to see him as he always was. This was the real Floyd, with no magical smoke and mirrors to make him look like him and walk like him. Floyd’s muscles flexed and rippled differently beneath the skin as he swam, he could turn on a dime underwater and dart past at speeds he could never hope to reach. In the dim lighting, the fluttering lights that lining his tail shimmered like starlit ribbons against the deep, dark blue. This was his home, what he was made for.

Nyx understood now why there were so many tales of sailors being led to their death by the call of sirens. Watching Floyd was simply mesmerizing.

Nyx blinked a few times and shook his head at his own thoughts. Was this a normal feeling when you're hanging around a mermaid? Either that, or perhaps the cold water was getting to him more than he thought it was.

After a few minutes of splashing and chasing each other around the pool, Nyx moved to the side and hooked his arms over the ledge to catch his breath. It was incredible that Floyd still seemed to have stamina to spare, meanwhile he felt more winded now than he ever had before in his life.

“C’mon, pufferfish! I wanna race again!” Floyd called to him from across the pool.

“Just gimmie a minute! I need to catch my breath,” Nyx responded, tiredly waving Floyd on. Floyd seemed disappointed, and dove back down under the water while Nyx rested, leaving him alone at the surface of the water.

It was in those moments of silence that Nyx became acutely aware of his surroundings. The soft, low hum of the ventilation rushing through the building, the gentle laps of the pools waves splashing against the sides, and the pale white glimmer of the moon dancing across the water as it streamed in through the windows all captivated his senses. He took in a deep breath, feeling at peace amidst the quiet waves.

“I shoulda brought some tunes or something, this place has such a crazy vibe after dark...” Nyx murmured, mostly to himself. “I thought this was gonna just be a one time thing, like I'd never wanna do this shit again after tonight, but... maybe I might have to after all.”

Something brushed against the bottom of his leg underwater, pulling him back from his moment of peaceful wonderment. He rolled his eyes and kicked back against the force beneath the surface.

“Very funny, Floyd. Is trying to drown me all that you can think of?”

Floyd splashed his head back above the water… all the way on the opposite side of the pool from where Nyx sat. “Huh? Did you say something?”

Nyx blinked at him, “You've… been over there the whole time?”

“Yeah, stretching out my fins, why?”

“Then who- what just-?”

Two familiar cold hands suddenly grasped Nyx by his ankles, and in a split second he was pulled down into the watery abyss.

He didn’t have much time to suck in a breath of air before he was pulled down, and he already felt weak from swimming around with Floyd for so long. Panic and adrenaline pumped through his veins like lightning, giving him a dose of energy he needed to fight against his assailant and his exhaustion. He kicked and thrashed against the near-invisible presence, but his feet felt too heavy and slow from the water resistance to make a strong enough impact. The hands grasping at his legs held fast against his retaliation, claws digging into his skin as they fought for tighter grip.

He didn’t have his magical pen, but he knew he had to fight back. It was sink or swim, do or drown.

Nyx threw his arms out beside him, concentrating his magic on the water around him. Flurries of bubbles and swirling tides concentrated in his palms like tiny hurricanes. He shot his hands downward, unleashing a torrential whirlpool against the near-invisible force. Claws scraped down his skin as they lost their grip, ripping dark red marks across his legs as they slipped away. The moment Nyx felt his anchor untether from his legs, he frantically kicked and swam up toward the beckoning light of the moon gently ghosting the water’s surface.

A rush of water shot up beside him, the presence shoving him roughly against the pool wall and pinning him in place, forcing precious bubbles of air to escape him from the impact. The presence loomed over him, clawed hands tightly gripping his wrists.

A single, glowing golden eye stared at him from the abyss, and a sinister grin of razor-sharp teeth glinted from the moon’s light above.

Adrenaline, panic, and fear were all he felt before, but now all Nyx could feel was red-hot indignant rage.

Nyx opened his hands against the wall and water swirled within the pits of his palms once more, the temperature quickly rising within them. The presence sensed his incoming attack, quickly releasing him and attempting to put distance between them before Nyx threw his hands forward and let loose a scalding hot whirlpool of water. The strength of the blast nearly blew him out of the pool, and he gasped for air as he was finally allowed to resurface.

Nyx spluttered and coughed as he frantically splashed towards the pool ladder, clinging onto it for dear life before pulling himself out and onto the concrete floor. His lungs burned, his chest hurt, his hands stung from the scalding water of his last attack… but he was alive. The air in his lungs and the ground beneath his knees was proof of his survival.

He was alive. And he was furious.

“W-What the hell… is your damage, Jade?!”

Nyx glared at the water as Jade rose to the surface of the water, chuckling lightheartedly if though he hadn’t just tried to drown him.

“I do apologize, Nyx. From below, you looked like such a tasty morsel… my base instincts overcame me for a moment,” he smiled. The same cruel, sharp-toothed grin he wore when he revealed himself reflecting dangerously in the moonlight.

“Damn, he got you good~ I didn’t think you’d actually slip away that easily!” Floyd cackled, swimming over to Jade's side and casually resting his arm on his brother's shoulder.

Nyx growled low under his breath before being cruelly interrupted by another coughing fit. He wiped the water from his mouth, scowling at the two mermen, “Please… tell me this whole endeavor wasn’t just a plan to get me in the water and fuck around with me. Tell me you did not just do that to me.”

“Hey, that's mean, 's not like that was the plan all along,” Floyd complained, swimming up to the pool’s ladder and clinging onto one of the poles, “I actually did just wanna come out here and stretch my fins. And ya know, you were right! My tail does feel a lot better after swimmin' around for a bit~ It was Jade's idea to fuck with ya, he thought it’d be mad funny to hide at the bottom of the pool and jumpscare ya~”

“Passing the blame onto me, even though it was actually your idea in the first place? I’m fairly certain I saw you go for his legs first,” Jade admonished as he swam up to the other side of the pool ladder, “You can be so cruel, Floyd, I simply did what you were unable to do.”

Nyx huffed, pushing himself up to his feet and wincing at the shooting pain from his legs. The marks left behind from Jade's claws weren't too deep, but some of them were starting to bleed, and every movement stung like hell. “Well ya know what? Good for you, Floyd. Glad I could fucking help, and this is what I get in return. I fucking hate both of you right now for that, how about you both fucking suck.” Nyx stomped his way across the room and yanked up his towel up to dry himself off. “I'm done, I'm leaving. Have fun swimming alone, you dicks.”

“So soon? I only just got the chance to enjoy the water with you both.”

“Aw, c’mon pufferfish! Don'tcha wanna swim for just a little bit longer~?”

“You two. Can fuckin’ bite me.” Nyx growled.

“Really?!” Floyd cheered, almost too excitedly.

“NO, NOT REALLY! I’m gettin’ the hell outta here before you both kill me for real!”

[thoselethalarts]

𝓚𝓪𝔃𝓾𝓸 𝓖𝓾𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓸 - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂

(SSR) Union Jacket (Part 3): “Happy Birthday!”

(Savanaclaw Dorm: Birthday Party Venue)

Phobos: ‘Kay, one last question and then we’re done. Phobos: “If you had to pick a different dorm to be a part of, which would you pick?”

Kazuo: Diasomnia! Wait, no, Octavinelle! Er… or maybe Heartslabyul? Uhh-

Phobos: Ugh... alright, here we go again...

Kazuo: Sorry! Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, I swear. This actually is just a harder question to answer than I thought it would be. Kazuo: It’s, like, every dorm has all this history behind it. They all have their own climates, their own cultures, and all that makes them so interesting to me! Kazuo: Ideally I’d love to spend some time in all of them, just to have the chance to experience them all for the hell of it. Kazuo: I know that’s not the question I’m supposed to give, but if I could be unbiased for a second then that’d be my final answer.

Phobos: Didn’t take you to be the kind of person to care about the history of them. Phobos: I admit, there’s a lot of history buried in every brick of this place, I’ve just never really cared enough to study any of it myself.

Kazuo: Well, I only get one chance to experience this whole school, I figure. I’ve gotta make the most of my time here and learn everything I can before it’s too late. Kazuo: To answer your question according to the rules though… I think I’ll have to go with Ignihyde. Kazuo: Its connection to the “Lord of the Dead” is really fascinating to me. I wanna know more about the Underworld mentioned in his myths, and how that relates to ghosts and The Other Side.

Phobos: Hm. Makes sense that would draw you in, since you have a lot of connection to death and souls and stuff like that.

Kazuo: Totally! Ever since I became a reaper, it’s become a huge passion of mine to learn more about specters, the afterlife, the underworld, reincarnation, all that jazz! Kazuo: Plus, the gamer culture in Ignihyde kinda interests me too, I won’t lie. Having some likeminded people to hang out with and play games with sounds like a lot of fun~ Kazuo: Maybe you and I could even spend more time together then! Since we don't get to normally otherwise.

Phobos: ...I dunno about that, but... whatever.

Kazuo: Alright, so that was the last question, right?

Phobos: Yup, that’s that. Well, with the exception of one little thing at the end.

Kazuo: Heheh~ The “Gift of Good Fortune” right?

(Kazuo takes his glasses off and tucks them into his pocket)

Kazuo: I’m ready for it! Hit me with all you’ve got!

Phobos: You’re really getting into this.

Kazuo: I told you, I wanna experience everything this world has to offer! So don’t hold back, man!

Phobos: Alright, alright. Just don’t regret your decision in sayin’ that when I knock you on your ass. Phobos: Happy birthday, Kaz.

(Kazuo gets splattered! by a tinful of cream)

/ End

[thoselethalarts]

𝓚𝓪𝔃𝓾𝓸 𝓖𝓾𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓸 - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂

(SSR) Union Jacket (Part 2): “Happy Birthday!”

(Savanaclaw Dorm: Birthday Party Venue)

Phobos: I’m not gonna waste any time, so let’s just get into the interview. Phobos: “If you were stuck on a deserted island and could take only one person with you, who would you take?” Phobos: You can’t pick anyone from your own dorm for this question.

Kazuo: A deserted island, huh? Are there any specifications as to where? Kazuo: Like, is this off the coast of a mainland? In the middle of the arctic? Along the equator or in the tropics? Kazuo: And what about the size and native biodiversity of the island? Is there any information about that?

Phobos: …I wouldn’t think too hard about it if I were you. They didn’t make these questions to be “thinkers”.

Kazuo: Maan… Alright, I get it, I shouldn’t be taking them too seriously then. Kazuo: …Nngh, it’s no use! That just makes it harder! Every island is so different, the way I’d act on them would change completely depending on what it’s like there! And it’d change who I’d wanna bring with me, too…

Phobos: (sigh) Look, I get what you’re saying about every island being different, but yeah, these are just meant to be “for fun” questions, not something deeply analytical. Phobos: So are you gonna be sitting on this for a while, or…

Kazuo: Sorry! Sorry, I’ll make up my mind, I swear. Kazuo: I think if I had to pick someone, I’d pick Matt!

Phobos: Matt, huh? You guy’s ‘re close, so I guess it makes sense.

Kazuo: That’s true, but there’s more to it than that. He told me he’s been all around the world, so I bet if we got stranded somewhere he’d know roughly where we are no matter what kinda island we were on. Kazuo: Once we have our location triangulated and we figure out how far we have to travel, him and I could find our way off the island and onto the mainland whenever we wanted, no problem! Kazuo: Plus, knowing him, he’d probably wanna get back to Marcus as soon as possible, so it’d give him a good reason to work with me in taking off together.

Phobos: Hm. That’s fair enough.

Kazuo: What about you? Who would you pick?

Phobos: Er- This isn’t a “show and tell” kinda interview. It’s not about me, just you.

Kazuo: I know, but I thought it might be fun to ask. If ya don’t wanna tell me, that’s fine, we can just keep this professional.

Phobos: I’d prefer to keep it that way. Ugh, you’ve got way too much energy…

/ To Be Continued…

[thoselethalarts]

𝓚𝓪𝔃𝓾𝓸 𝓖𝓾𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓻𝓸 - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓸𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂

(SSR) Union Jacket (Part 1): “Happy Birthday!”

(Savanaclaw Dorm: Birthday Party Venue)

Kazuo: Man, I’m so glad I spent the cash to keep this letterman jacket after today. Kazuo: It’s so comfy, and it’s all special-made for me! I wonder how they got my measurements… Probably “magic” or something. How cool~ Kazuo: Ah, well, not like it matters. It’s birthday time! I'm gonna do everything I can to make the most of the day~

???: Aren’t you forgetting something?

Kazuo: Huh? Wait, did I? Who’s-?

(Phobos walks into the lounge)

Phobos: We’ve got some work to do before you go off and start chillin’.

Kazuo: Oh shit! Phobos, good to see you, man! Kazuo: You’re totally right, I did forget about the birthday interview thing. That’s what you’re here for, right?

Phobos: Yep. (yawn) Right when I’d usually take my midday nap, too, so my energy’s gonna be kinda low. Phobos: Anyway, here. This is for you. I didn’t have any wrapping paper, so I just used an old newsletter to stuff the packaging.

Kazuo: Ah, that's fine, I don't care either way. Thanks, man! You mind if I open it now?

Phobos: That's kinda the idea, yeah. Go for it.

Kazuo: Sweet! Let’s see what we got~

(Kaz opens up the gift bag)

Kazuo: What’s this? A camera tripod?

Phobos: Yeah. I remember you tellin’ me about how you do vlogs and videography ‘n shit, so I figured you could use something like this. Phobos: It has multiple attachments for different kinds of camera bases, and also an attachment specifically for holding mobile phones, too. Phobos: Lastly, it has a strap that you can connect a camera or phone to so you can attach it to your head or chest instead of keeping it seated on the tripod itself. I dunno if that’s useful for you, but it’s an extra piece of the package.

Kazuo: Oh man, you mean I can pull a Marble Hornets with this?!

Phobos: I dunno what that is, but sure, probably.

Kazuo: Dude, this has so many parts to it, what an awesome find! Thanks, Phobos! I’ll make absolutely sure to use every part of it to the fullest! Kazuo: I wonder how easy it’ll be to bring all this with me once I go home…

Phobos: I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

/ To Be Continued…

[thoselethalarts]

Canis. Canem. Edit.

I had SO much fun working on this!! Both me and my amigo love Bully and TWST, so I thought it would be fun to turn our shared passion into a collab and fuse the two chaos schools into one! Please accept the first years (+Yuu Yamada and Vantablack) as a ragtag group of Bullworth bullies 👊🐍🐀💀

Lineart @lechatalunette

Colors/BG @thoselethalarts

Close ups and clique details 👇

Yuu: Jimmy Hopkins

Yuu Yamada is lechatalunette's protagonist for their "Extra Twisted" version of NRC! It's only fitting that she takes the role of Jimmy in the world Bullworth. In both stories, Jimmy and Yuu's roles are about the same: kicking the living shit out of everyone until they learn how to be friends.

Vantablack: Gary Smith

Vantablack is a two-timing, backstabbing, manipulative piece of shit, just like Gary! Of course they would try and cozy up to the new kid and make her do what they want, all to fuel their delusions of being a crazy smart supervillain aiming take over the school (and perhaps... someday the world).

Ace: Cliqueless/Bully

Ace is the kind of guy that probably lingers between cliques and accidentally befriends people from all over cuz he's good with socializing, so him being cliqueless in the beginning checks out for him. If this was part of a storyline though, I'd like to see him ditch the sweater for a Bully white polo halfway through as he embraces being Mean lmao

Deuce: Greaser

Deuce was a toss-up for me originally, because I thought him and Ace both being bullies would be fitting for the Adeuce combo. But that being said, I think Deuce's penchant for mechanics makes him an easy pick for the Bullworth greasers! Trade out the Magical Wheels with bikes and motorcycles, and you've got new age bad boy Deuce with hobbies to play with.

Epel: Prep

Poor Epel can't escape the rich boy dorm even in Bullworth. I imagine in the Bully universe he doesn't come from the same Old Money that most of the preps do, and probably only hangs around in the clique because he wants to be part of the boxing club. They'd welcome him in cuz he's a pretty boy, but he would HATE everything about them and be quick to turn against them if it meant he finally got the chance to crack some skulls in.

Jack: Jock

Jack's role as a jock felt like a no-brainer, since he's already a pretty athletic dude in canon. If the TWST cast were completely switched with the Bullworth cast I can see him taking on the role of Damon pretty easily, providing the muscle Leona needs during The Big Game.

Sebek: Nerd

Sebek was also a bit of a challenge for me to decide on because, like Jack, he's a very athletic character and I wanted to make him a jock also. But, there was that part of me that wanted everyone to be in a completely different clique, so I decided he could go with the nerds. Combat with the nerds is very organized and militant, which is remniscent of Diasomnia's military aesthetic, and I can totally see him arming himself with a bottle rocket launcher in the heat of combat! (Maybe him and Jack will have some conflict too, like perhaps he used to be a jock but then changed sides to the enemy 👀 Who knooowwss....)