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wrenhyperfixates · 3 years

Text

Of All the Places

Chapter 9

Pairing: Loki x reader Series Summary: Washing up in a small town in Oklahoma was definitely not part of Loki’s plan when he came to conquer Midgard. There is one good thing about it, though: No one recognizes him as the one who just wreaked havoc in New York. So, Loki plans to recover from the battle and move on with his life. The only problem? He’s not sure he can leave you. Chapter Summary: A morning with you and a talk with John make it clear to Loki what he has to do. And, perhaps letting the right people in on his secret wouldn’t be so bad, after all. Chapter Warnings: some very fluffy bits and tons of pining A/N: From here on out, it’s going to get pretty plot heavy, so be prepared. Feel free to let me know what you think :) Updates every Friday.

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiant @lunarmoon8 @twhiddlestonsstuff @marvelousdaydreams @parkastoria @lokistan

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Disclaimer: Gif not mine

Loki regained control of consciousness slowly, each sense returning to him one at a time. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so soundly without having been injured. The last thing to register in his brain was your weight on his chest. You were on top of him even more than you had been last night, but he did not mind in the slightest. Instead, he smiled softly at your sleeping form, listening to the sound of your deep breathing. His eyes fell to your lips, parted ever so slightly, and he was overcome with desire to kiss you awake. He shook his head a little at the ridiculous idea.

He intended to sneak away and leave you to rest, but you foiled his plans by snuggling closer to him in your sleep, pinning him where he was. Looking down at your peaceful form, he caught a whiff your scent. It made him feel safe, a sensation he’d not been familiar with in a long time.

“Loki,” you whispered in your sleep.

“Yes?” he prompted, his heart beating a wild rhythm.

“Cold.”

“Ah, I see.”

It was silly to be disappointed. He shouldn’t have expected much else, after all, but it was not so uncommon for someone to make a confession in their sleep. He pulled the blankets tighter around you. For good measure, he said an enchantment to warm you up and ward off the cold radiating from his body. You released a sigh of joy and cuddled closer still.

Loki supposed he could go back to sleep, he very much would have liked to in fact, but now that he was up, his mind was racing. Now that he was sure of what he wanted, he’d need a plan to get it. To get you. The only problem existed in the form of his incompetence toward mortal courting procedures. He was vaguely aware that it was usually referred to as dating nowadays, but that didn’t exist on Asgard, so the word held very little meaning to him. A twinge of sadness shot through his heart as he realized Thor would probably know, considering his infatuation with that mortal woman, Jane Foster. Someone that he had been kept away from because of Loki. Now that he had you, his own mortal to love and cherish, he felt it an indescribable evil that he’d done such a thing.

“G’morning,” you mumbled in a groggy voice, too recently out of sleep to be embarrassed by your position just yet. You looked up at Loki and rubbed your eyes. “How’d you sleep?”

“Better than I have in a long, long time.”

“Yeah, hard work will do that to a person.”

“Perhaps,” he said, trailing one hand gently down your arm as the other came to rest on the small of your back. “Or perhaps it was something else.”

“Oh! Well, um, you know,” you fumbled for a coherent sentence, his words suddenly brining you to your senses. “It was probably the work thing. Building a barn, all that dancing. It takes a lot of a guy.”

You nervously laughed and made like you were going to roll off of him, but his arm didn’t budge, holding you in place.

“Well, for whatever reason, I am still rather tired. I would not mind a lazy morning.”

His beautiful grin convinced you to stay, and he couldn’t resist humming a little Asgardian tune as you absentmindedly played with his hair. It was a song Frigga had sung to him when he was just a child, before the malice had rooted itself in his heart. It always reminded him of a simpler, more innocent time. Here, with you, he felt that same feeling he did then.

“That’s really pretty,” you said once he was finished. “What song is it?”

“Something from deep in my memory. I am afraid that is all I can say.”

“Oh, well that’s good that things are coming to you in bits and pieces. Your brother, that book, this song—you’ll remember everything before you know it.”

“And yet, nothing could compare to this.”

“Yeah, this town is pretty charming.”

“I suppose you do not remember the last conversation we had about this,” he tsked. “It is not the town that I am referring to.”

Your eyes went wide as you looked at him. No matter how many times he said something like that, you wouldn’t get over it. Often, he couldn’t believe he said them, either, for a whole slew of reasons. For one, falling in love with a mortal was the last thing he’d ever imagined for his life. Though, now that he knew more about humans, he found it far more believable. And for another, he just didn’t have all that much confidence that anyone could love him like that. Why say such things if the feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated? That was the thing, though. With you, he dared hope they might be.

You opened your mouth to say something, but were cut off by the creaking of the barn doors. A loud meow came from Taffy as she made her way up to where you were, but you knew the cat wouldn’t have been able to open the doors. You and Loki looked at each for a brief second, both mortified and nervous to be found in such an intimate, vulnerable way. As a voice sounded from down below, you hastily broke apart, and Loki immediately missed your warmth.

“Are you out here?” Mama shouted, calling your name.

“Up here,” you said, leaning over the edge. “Loki’s here, too, in case you were worried.”

“Well, of course I was worried, but not ’bout him. Do you know how close I came to a heart attack when you weren’t in your bed this morning?”

“You are aware I’m not five anymore, right Mama?”

“Yeah, well, with your judgement,” she said, eyeing up Loki as he appeared beside you, “you sure seem like you are sometimes. Now hurry along before you miss breakfast.”

Well, the truce was nice while it lasted, but Loki guessed that whatever points he’d won with her from saving Matt were canceled out by his evening with you. Apparently she wasn’t too keen on the idea of you two cozying up with each other. Not that he meant that in a weird way or anything, but last night had been pretty intimate. And that wasn’t even mentioning this morning.

Shooting Loki an apologetic smile for Mama’s comment, you scurried down the ladder as not to upset the woman more. The raven haired god sighed and followed you, casting one last longing glance at the pile of blankets and pillows where you were snuggled together just moments ago.

“Listen here, boy,” Mama menaced in a low tone, putting up a hand to stop him. She checked over her shoulder to make sure you were already out of the barn before continuing. “I won’t be losing another one of my babies to an untrustworthy stranger.”

“I believe I already told you, I would never hurt them, never hurt any of you,” he almost pleaded. “That is not my intention.”

“Just because you don’t mean to hurt someone, doesn’t mean you won’t.”

She stalked out before Loki could get another word in, not that he really knew what to say. She was right, after all, especially when it came to him. How many people, how many families, had he destroyed in his path of life? He’d certainly ruined his own.

The God of Mischief sat down on a hay bale, burying his head in his hands. He felt distraught beyond words, torn between his head and his heart. His mind was screaming to let you be, but his heart—oh, his poor crippled heart!—was begging to never be away from you. And, in the end, wouldn’t leaving lead to pain for you, too? Whether you loved him back or not, he knew you cared in some way.

“Loki, you alright out here?” John called from the barn doors. “Mama said you were coming along, but you-know-who was starting to panic that you’d fainted or something.”

The trickster god smiled at your concern for his well being. It only strengthened his conviction that you wouldn’t totally scorn him if he were to tell you how he truly feels. Still, the thought of actually doing that was so daunting that he hid his face again.

“I am fine,” he said, taking in a deep breath. “Just fine, thank you.”

“You’re not,” John replied as he sat next to Loki. “We’re friends, right man? You can talk to me, too, you know.”

“It would be quite a lot to unpack, I am afraid,” he admitted with a wry laugh.

“I’ve got time.”

“I...” he began, unsure of how much he could say without revealing the truth. “The whole time I have been here, I have felt that I should leave. But now I do not know how I could do that without hurting those I care about. I also cannot fathom staying here forever without telling my true feelings to...” he trailed off, not quite ready to admit it out loud just yet, but when John said your name, Loki confirmed it with a nod. “For the first time in a while, I do not know what my next move should be.”

“Well, for starters, be completely honest with me, God of Mischief and Lies.”

“Pardon?” Loki deadpanned, his mouth dry.

“I know, Loki. But before you run off, I haven’t told anyone.”

“When? Why?” Loki questioned, at a loss for words.

“Remember when I went into the city the other day to get supplies after the tornado?” Loki nodded. He would have gone, too, but there was still too much damage around the farm from the twister for both of them to take off. “I found out then. Some small newspaper ran a story on it, and I put the pieces together.”

“And as for the why?”

“Because you’d literally just saved my son not forty-eight hours before. You didn’t have to do that, but you did. So I don’t care what they say, I don’t think you’re all that bad. Or bad at all, really. Don’t worry, you’re secret’s safe with me.”

Loki nodded slowly, comprehending the information he’d just been given. John really was a friend to Loki, but he was something more, too. He was almost what a brother should be, in Loki’s mind at least. He was like how Thor used to be when they were children. There was one time, before he’d received any kind of training, when Loki’s spell had backfired on him. It had hurt, both emotionally and physically, but he was too fearful of being reprimanded to tell his parents. Thor had sat with him then, much like John was doing now.

“I cannot even begin to thank you,” he finally said. “And I truly promise that I will do everything in my power to protect this family, not hurt it.”

“I believe you, but you have to promise one thing.”

“And that would be?”

“Tell them how you truly feel.”

It was a fairly reasonable request, all things considered. And John had insisted multiple times that you felt the same way about him. So perhaps this story wouldn’t have such a tragic finish after all. Then again, did villains get happy endings? Or maybe Loki wasn’t the villain. It’d been a bit since he hadn’t thought himself one, but in light of everything that had happened over the last month or so, he was starting to see things in a more favorable way.

“Alright,” he agreed. “I will do it, but you must give me time to plan.”

“Deal. And I hope you know, you’re going to have to tell them the truth sooner rather than later. About all this.”

“I do know. And it will be sooner. The last thing I would ever want to do is hurt them.”

“It’s like I said before, Loki, I believe you.”

After thanking him again, they headed to the house, those three words ringing in Loki’s ears. I believe you. It had been a long time since anyone had believed Loki. Maybe he could believe John and accept that you liked him too. Maybe. But he wouldn’t have to guess for long; he knew he’d be finding out very, very soon.

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potatotrash0 · 2 years

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Idfk shit abt Honkai but since u listened to my cringe I want to listen 2 ur ideas as well ^_^

Anonymous said:

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR AU <3

HELL YEAH I’ll provide necessary lore so hopefully this won’t be Entire Jibberish dkfnskdnf

Also most of my ideas are. Literally just sdr2 related </3

So first off, in Honkai Impact, Honkai/Houkai (written both ways) is a manifestation of the Will of God. Said will happens to include the desire to destroy humanity every time it gets too strong. Houkai can manifest as a lot of things, though Houkai Beasts are the things mostly seen in the game.

Anyway, Herrschers are like. What you get when the Houkai takes control of a human vessel. They’re suuuper powerful and have complete control over the Houkai. It takes a shit ton of power to defeat one and they get varying powers depending on which Herrscher they are (Herrscher of the Void, Corruption, Ice, etc.) They also get little Herrscher Cores that power them. I think when the cores are removed from their vessels, they condense into Herrscher Gems. Don’t quote me on that, but also I don’t care bc I do what I want with my AUs

Valkyries are female soldiers who are deployed in order to fight the Houkai, but because Dangan has too many men for me to make excuses for, I’ve added them in as Einherjar ;;;;

There are several ranks, from D to S-rank. I think D and C-ranks tend to stay on ship and tend to like. Crew stuff? Dealing with storage and supplies and stuff. B-rank and up are the soldiers sent onto the battlefield, with B-ranks being the most common. S-ranks are like. Incredibly rare, you’d have to be extraordinarily strong. (Though typically they still struggle a little against a Herrscher.)

——————————————————————

Now!! With the canon lore dump done, to avoid me lore dumping for my own AU, I’m just gonna spit the character roles for now and elaborate when and if I am asked about it dkfjkedn

Starting off with Hajime, he starts off as a like. A B-rank Einherji? He’s rather weak compared to everyone else in the 77th Squadron (Class 77-B). Not to say that he’s incapable of taking care of himself, but in terms of power or strategy he’s definitely outclassed by like. Nekomaru or Twogami.

He doesn’t stay this way of course. Izuru does have to come into play bc I can’t ever not have him there dkfnkebdks.

Basically HPA is still a piece of shit! They perform human experimentation in pursuit of creating a Herrscher for some Fucking reason, undecided just yet but I think the original Kamukura just wanted to study Houkai and the current scientists on staff are just taking it out of control but that’s off topic.

Anyway, their brand of unethical experimentation this time involves trying to take the Herrscher Gem that they have and basically use a human as a walking holder for it until it condenses into a Herrscher Core and turns the vessel into a Herrscher. Buuuut yknow. You typically won’t be able to just strap someone down when they suddenly gain the power to destroy cities so predictably, their plan backfires and HPA is destroyed and Herrscher Izuru disappears into Towa City, one of the only safe houses from the Houkai. (Spoiler alert, that doesn’t last long.)

Specifically, Izuru is the Herrscher of Reason. That happens to give him the ability to create a replica of any object as long as he knows how the object works and how it’s constructed. He could also potentially create a copy of another person, though I’ve only seen one example of that and it was a Herrscher recreating their own mortal body? So maybe that’s how Izuru and Hajime eventually become separate people but idk

Hajime is still bouncing around in there, losing his fucking mind while Izuru wreaks havoc on his school and effectively gets one of his closest friends killed but yknow that’s a different part of the AU <33

——————————————————————

And that’s the lengthiest character explanation I promise dkfjwkdnkd

Chiaki’s um. I. I made her a Herrscher too but!!!!! In my defense HPA had nothing to do with it she’s just a Pseudo-Herrscher of Ice.

She was born with a natural stigmata, making her much stronger as a Valkyrie but the Houkai energy in it could overtake her mind at any moment. And um. Yeah Hajime actually goes missing when he signs up for the Kamukura project and she might have lost her shit when she saw a crumpled flyer and realized that was what Hajime was talking about when he said he was going to finally become strong enough to help people instead of relying on his friends to carry him.

Anyway she gets to freeze the HPA people going after her alive :) she’s not an actual Herrscher but she has power rivaling one and I think she should be allowed to go off the rails a little. A few atrocities. A sprinkle of destruction. Her body kinda gets vaporized helping Hajime take back control from Izuru and escape though……

Umm oh Junko’s here and gets to be fucked up!! Yknow how HPA does the human experimentation? Yeah they’re not the only ones to do that.

In canon, there’s the Current Era and the Previous Era, an old civilization that I believe was mostly destroyed by the Houkai. Junko happens to be from that Prevous Era. She survived the Final Houkai Eruption that destroyed her Era by going into the Sea of Quanta, a sort of space between universes. That, along with her being injected with Houkai DNA (the aforementioned experimentation), sorta made her stay alive for several thousand years? At some point after Izuru goes MIA, she escapes from the Sea of Quanta, ready to Fuck Shit Up :)

What fucking shit up means is. Undecided as of now but for now she’s just kinda here to see whatever the hell would be the most entertaining. She thinks it’s funny to see Hajime burst a fucking vein dealing with her shit. Also Mukuro is there as her ah. Backup? Muku works as a sort of double agent with Makoto and the 78th Squadron since she didn’t get trapped in the Sea of Quanta like Junko. (Yes Mukuro has the Houkai DNA, they both get tails and horns!!)

Other than that…….well I’m thinking V3 is a like. Separate continuity to DR1 and SDR2. Like they’re in a whole different era. The Neo Realm would be like the NWP in a way? Comprised of the memories of the previous casts, kinda like just a training simulator or maybe a bubble universe in the Sea of Quanta created by Hajime. Idk I just wanna see Kokichi and Hajime fight haha

#pspspspspsps honkai and dr mutuals or followers come talk to me about this #or someone ask me follow up questions i just wanna talk honkai i’m starving skdjskdj #em answers #rainyboot #anonymous #danganronpa #sdr2 #sdr2 spoilers #dr1 #dr1 spoilers #hajime hinata #izuru kamukura #chiaki nanami #junko enoshima #mukuro ikusaba #caps cw #swearing cw

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ratcandy · 3 years

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UHHH THE SECOND IDEA FIRST

OKAY Time's disastrous universe let's get it boys

Below is a VERY long personal-story related ramble because a lot happens here and there's a lot to explain and I'm being enabled (c/w death, a LOT of memory erasure, Gods being idiots, and. If I need to add anythin else here someone better let me know hehehe)

feat some dumb lil doodles here n there because i felt like it

Exposition time first!

At the beginning of everything, eight universes were created, each differentiated by color. A Universe Owner is assigned to each universe, and that entity is then responsible for their universe's laws of reality, the lives of the characters, and... whatever else they decide to mess with. This is so I can allow myself a lot of freedom in making stories in many different areas n such without worrying about it following another story's rules >:)

Okay exposition time done! for now!

One day out of the blue, the God of Time decided that they wanted a universe all for themselves. They wanted to create life!! They wanted to make a world!! It'd be fun! It'd be a whole vibe!

So, against the wishes of the God of Balance, Time made a ninth universe and fruitlessly tried to keep it hidden from everyone else. This backfired instantly. A huge argument broke out between Time and Balance, as the latter was pissed, but Time won in the end and was allowed to keep their universe. Balance is just upset there's not a nice even number anymore. He'll get over himself eventually.

Straight up having a great time now, the God of Time went hogwild and fleshed out their universe to the best of their ability. Beautiful lush forests, stunning pink skies as if it were in a continuous sunrise, crystal-clear waters that glimmer ever-so-brightly!! Yes!! Pretty!! And immediately after, they created creatures!! And people! To inhabit their world!

Elegant flying beasts, colorful people of all shapes and sizes, bustling towns with trade and life and energy and!!! Yes! Yes!! Vibes!!

Time was living their BEST life.

But. Well. This is my story. things gotta go wrong now

SO! First, something to note about how the God of Time works:

Time's primary job is to keep the Time Fire from ever going out or touching the ground. The Time Fire is an eternally burning flame, forever shifting from vibrant color to vibrant color, getting bigger and burning stronger with every passing millennia. It also... y'know. Allows time itself to function. If it goes out, time will stop. If it touches the floor, time will go NUTS and parallel/alternate universes will go haywire, clashing into one another and messing up reality.

The God of Time, luckily, has powerful psychic abilities.. The tall mans just put the Time Fire in a sort of protective bubble, constantly floating above the ground, and left it in a temple at the center of their universe. Epic. All works out

Well. All SHOULD have worked out.

At some point, Time left their universe to have a meeting with the Gods, and on their way to Oblivion - often a meeting place for deities - they witnessed something Very Unfortunate.

One of the Universe Owners, Hesit (white universe), was being torn to pieces by an intruder in the higher realm. By killing and consuming Hesit, possession of the white universe was transferred to said intruder: a big asshole named Vexis. Time tried to confront Vexis immediately after. This was a mistake, as Vexis panicked and attacked Time. Seeing as Gods cannot die, Vexis instead trapped the god in his newly-acquired universe - binding him there forever.

So now Time is imprisoned in the white universe, lost and confused, not knowing how to get back out. And Vexis doesn't plan on telling anyone about this.

The other gods soon realize that Time has gone missing. Very soon, actually, because... well. With Time being swept away into the white universe and being held prisoner there, uhm. A certain something important isn't being held suspended anymore.

The Time Fire.

It hasn't fallen yet, but it's gradually sinking toward the ground, and sometHING has to get a hold on it soon!! Or HELL WORLD!!

Balance loses his MIND!! We have to do something about this before time becomes a catastrophic, unfixable disaster! And also we're missing a god!! This is not good!! At first, Balance goes looking for Time, but realizes he doesn't really uh... have the time to be doing that

So, in desperation, he searches his mind for possible solutions. He gets one, crazy idea, and practically begs the God of Death to help him pull it off. Death agrees, because this is the one (1) time Death acknowledges that the mortal realm being in danger might be a bad thing.

To put a long plan short, Balance used Death to turn the Goddess of Pain into a pseudo Goddess of Time.

Pain had previously been wreaking HAVOC, and Balance was NOT happy about it. Way too many mortals were dying, then not dying, then losing their sanities, then losing control of themselves, and it was just. Very messy. He didn't feel great about using her to replace Time, but he didn't have many options. And he needed someone to take over. So, he and Death worked together to erase Pain's memories and turn her into a Goddess of Time.

They couldn't give her psychic abilities, though. So, how'd they deal with the Time Fire? It now permanently rests on Pain/Time's back. As in, the flame is constantly burning her spine for all of eternity, steadily searing her flesh but never allowing her to die. She's grown progressively numb to it over many, many years, but that doesn't make it any less unfortunate for her.

Balance feels awful about this. Especially since Pain/Time doesn't remember who she was, and believes she's always been Time. This is how it's always been. The universe around her is one she made, one she owns. Anytime Balance stops by to visit (as Time cannot move now from the temple with the fire), she greets him so kindly, so happy to have company... and he just feels terrible, knowing what he's done to her.

Well... at least that's settled. This cannot possibly go awry in any way shape or f----

The new Goddess of Time is trying her best to make creations for her universe. After all, that's what she's always done! These are her children, essentially, and she needs to have more. This, uh... well, the Goddess of Pain was not made with creating in mind, rather destroying. So, despite her valiant efforts, half of her creations come out... a Lil Messed Up. But she loves them all the same and keeps them around!!! Even if they're... worse for wear, or not quite like the rest!! They're her children. Yea!

At some point, however, her creating takes a bit too much from other universes' energy, and a mortal from another universe just ends up appearing in Time's. His name is Dustivan, and he is reasonably confused. One moment, he was vibing with his sister and her wife, and the next-- where the hell is he. why is the sky pink. who is this block man approaching me

The block man in question is named Maurice, and he is a sort of guardian for Time's temple. The Time that's always been here. The Time that has always looked like that and never been any different! (All of the Original Time's creations had their memories wiped, too. This Goddess of Time is the only one there's ever been! That's your mother, see. There is no other Time. She created you. Don't worry about it)

Maurice greets Dusty under the assumption that this man is just another new creation, and is soon told that "Uh, no, I'm... from some place else? I have a family? And a home, elsewhere?" M. Maurice is a lil confused. But he asks Time about this.

Time has no idea what he's talking about, either, so Maurice just... calmly escorts Dusty away, promising to get back to him later. We'll figure this out, man, don't you even worry about it

Now, there's a bit here that's only loosely developed! That being Dusty's stay in Time's Universe! Lil man meets a lotta folks, gets used to this weird world he's living in, makes good friends with Maurice and Maurice's maybe-more-than-friends-:flushed: friend Arin, aaand has a great experience! Because Time's universe is incredibly serene and peaceful, even with the new management!

Straight up vibi--- oh no wait what's this

Somehow, Maurice, Arin and Dusty find out about the whole... thing that happened with the original Time, and Pain being turned into the new Time. Maurice and Arin get their memories back and freak out a little while Dusty is just standing there like "big rip on you guys I guess"

Shenanigans ensue and Maurice goes back to Pain/Time, thinking it'll definitely work out if he tells her everything that happened so her.

Hey so it doesn't work out

Pain regains her own memories, and becomes ABSOLUTELY PISSED OFF, shedding the form forced onto her and returning back into the Goddess of Pain. In her transformation, however, she shook the Time Fire from her back, screaming in the agony that caused her, and. well.

she hit the floor (she hit the floor) next thing ya know, time fire got low low low low low low

Time itself was sent into disarray. The God of Balance felt it happen, FREAKED OUT, picked up the God of Death and just BOOKED IT into Time's Universe, dashing toward the temple. But it... was no longer a temple! It was very much destroyed. Balance is faced with the rubble of the former temple, the Fire just chillin on the ground, Arin bleeding to death after being attacked by Pain, Maurice fretting and trying to keep Arin alive, and Dusty aboutta also fucking die because Pain is angry. Alongside the bodies of whatever other poor creations/people just happened to be nearby the temple when this went down. Which was probably quite a few, as the temple was almost always open to visitors.

Death and Balance did the exact same thing again, though with added struggle. Pain was reverted to Time, the Time Fire was yeeted right back onto her spine (followed by a shriek of... pain), and Balance practically collapsed onto the floor hoping to never get up again

Death, however, forced him up, gesturing to the creations around them and uh. hey. their minds. wipe 'em Balance was very tired by this point, but began wiping the survivor's memories, running into Dusty and realizing "hey wait a minute. you're not from this universe" and just kicking that idiot back to where he's supposed to be. might've forgotten to wipe that one's mind but uh i'm sure that's not important

And that's essentially the end of that plot thread! Life continues as if nothing happened, afterwards. Time was restored (though a fuckton of "discrepancies" are now notable throughout the universes, as if time went Wonky or something), the people are thriving, and Maurice & Arin... the latter of which did indeed survive... are wondering if there's something important they were supposed to remember.

nah. probably not

there's a few side stories with characters in Time's universe, including another survivor of the Pain Realizing Who She Is incident... though he got the hell outta dodge and managed to keep his memories. making him a sort of fugitive as Balance has to track that idiot down and fix that problem but!!! this is already a very, very long post, so. WOO

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the-house-of-the-nine · 4 years

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In Mind of Misery: Reflections, Part 4

[Forward: Since the end of “In Depths Below” the Nine have been busy trying to reclaim Lazarius’ family fortune, rebuilding, and forging new allies. We are current in the WoW Timeline with this entry, NZoth has risen, the world is in chaos, and now, the Council of Nine are at a disadvantage. New Readers, please note each of the roleplayers as the following...

[ L.K ] - Lazarius Kashebahl, Algus Kross, Doctor Whistletorque, Marseille

[ V.D ] Verzatea Duskflame , Pame

[ S.K ] Siida-Ray Kashebahl

[ K.A ] Koltun Ancientveil

[ J ] Jursol (AND JIMBA!)

And as always, thank you so much for continued support, posting, reblogs, likes and friendly messages! Please enjoy! ]

[ V.D ] The rush of emotionally provoking events had been lost upon the Confessor. True, she'd admire the affection shared between old friends - a welcome moment of serenity and wholesomeness - but there was the weight of Lazarius's original decree. Temporary leave? Loss of precious lives, of the Nines council no less, on top of the sense of hopelessness that awaited the world.

Rather than stand and fight, they had to thin out to ensure longevity of their people? War was afoot. A raging war of titans beyond mortal knowledge come to wreak havoc in ways few were prepared to fight. And the Nine were meant to hide in their underground layer and... Wait? The structure could very well become their tomb if they weren't careful.

But in Teas heart, while she wanted to remain and protect the last of her family... She also wanted to protect them in ways that meant directly fighting the enemies threatening their world, outside of the Bastille, in the battle fields. It wasn't long before the confusion became an expression of determination, her eyes flickering down toward her wand briefly before tucking it away.

If magic was out of question for the time being, then perhaps she'd have to touch up on her skills. The art of the sword had been a passion before the wand became a new challenge for her to perfect. But of course this entire monologue went along in the span of a minute, filled with silence from the shifty eyed Confessor who'd return to writing in her journal.

This would be timed perfectly with Lazarius's quiet plea for validation of Varis safety-- it'd surely mask Teas plotting with a look of discomfort over the possibility of Varis fate that lay in the unspoken sight... Koltun walked in alone.

Pames silence could easily be written off as the kaldorei doing what she did best. Quietly lurking in the solitude of being the wallflower, her arms remaining firmly crossed over her chest whilst observing. Soaking in the whims and words of those inhabiting the library. Though it was clear in Pames eyes, similar to Tea, she had a distant reflection in them. What the world was coming to made right and wrong a difficult game to play.

[ K.A ] Vari wasnt here... The line of Koltun's back stiffened beneath Lazarius' question, his expression darkening. She should be here. There were no other places she would go, would even WANT to go after everything in Silithus. He couldn't look at Laz or the others, dipping his head down and to the side to avoid their looks and nearly smacking Laz on the head with a horn.

Stupid stupid stupid stupid. She should BE HERE!! fury welled within the pit of his stomach, coiling about the ball of fear that forced his gaze away and burned it's way up into his chest.

Felfire seared dark circles through the worn fabric of his bandana wrapped about his head, covering the empty sockets of his eyes.

"We got separated." The hunter practically growled, inhaling deeply to try to calm the building storm within him.

“There was, an attack. Not just our operation, but the Alliance and Horde. Silithid swarmed from the gates, overran everything. We fought as long as we could. . .Loki, Krazzlowe. . .everyone that was there, gone. If we weren’t fighting or killed, they were rounding up anyone who was alive. We had to abandon the site. . .”

The demon would slam his fist into the table as he snarled.

"I searched for her and her forces in Silithis with my elite, but their trail was lost within a storm of sand."

He licked his lips, taking another calming breath.

"I broadened my search the next day but all my men and I could find were strange, mutated Silithids... they wreaked of the old God... "

Whatever happened after that seemed to pain the Bladewarden, clawed hands clenching into fists until the leather wraps around his fingers creaked.

"Vari and I had decided should we become compromised or separated, we would rendezvous here... after I salvaged what I could and helped whoever was still alive. . .I buried my men and returned here as we had planned..."

“By the sunwell... dont let me lose her again..” he thought.

[ S.K ] Hearing what had happened to her sister, after trying so hard and spending so much time attempting to bond with her; the young heiress would calmly stand from the table and walking out the back door.

She needed to center herself, find calm, and hopefully make things right here. If she had lost her elder sister; it would not be because she failed, nor would she allow anyone else to falter because she was not upholding her duty as Matron of this order.

[ L.K ] Lazarius would not let the man who had come to be his brother suffer in his rage. Nor would he allow him to blame himself. “Koltun...”. Lazarius exclaimed; rather direct and form.

“You saved innocents by doing what you did.”. He placed his wrapped mummified hand against the chest of his brother. “Vari too. None of us could have prepared for this . . .”.

Lazarius was partially gripping Kolts shoulder and squeezed, it was enough to give him that reassurance. “We WILL find her.”.

“If I may...”

Suddenly from the back of the room came a voice that split the hardness of the reality.

“...I will find Lady Kashebahl, walking death myself I am much closer to the realm she suffers.” Kross was not wrong, and Lazarius knew this when he peered over at the families eldest; the old steward who had cared for their family for so long.

“You would venture out? Alone? Find her?” “Lazarius peered toward the old Gilnean.

“Should I fall in my quest my phylactery remains hidden; it will take time for me to be restored but as endless as my service to you; so too will be my determination to find Pyravari.”

Lazarius would look toward Siida first; he knew she would approve, but his eyes fell on Koltun.

“You need rest, and to see the doctor. Hydrate and get well. I will need you to help us...will you allow Kross to go in your stead?”

[ V.D ] There was a pause for a moment, one filled with Verzatea watching quietly before finally putting herself to action. She moves across the small area, walking on the outside of their gathered circle to touch and brush her fingers across surfaces, her fingers swirling with a pale purple magic. As she walks the magic could be visibly connecting each surface she touches with a thin solid purple line (as thin as twine, surrounded by a pale haze).

In the end, after completing the circle, those physically outside of the drawn circle would hear muffled voices speaking utter nonsense. In other words... She sought to offer them privacy.

"Surely the spectral alone is not all to be sent for our Harbinger?"

Verzatea weighs in then, confident to speak with added privacy, concern evident in her golden irises.

"The prospect of Old God soldiers having been so close--," Tea sighs softly, shaking her head before remarking,

"There’s a chance great peril is at hand. Too much for a one man rescue team. I'd recommend more going with Kross to scout the area; Defenses are sparse with lack of bodies to fill the guard roles, but the Bastille will protect it's patrons. We can spare the expense of lacking bodies for these two missions-- Both the issue of Raelyndias magic. . .,"

Teas eyes review Lazarius before eyeing Koltun,

"And locating Pyravari."

[ L.K ] “As you say the world is falling into chaos and You would risk the lives of our own in a time of great peril, than allow me to do my job. I cannot die again Confessor.” Kross stated as he peered between the other members of the acting council.

“Any additional aid will not only slow me down but get in the way. If NZoths forces kill me I will return to my phylactery. If they capture me; they will be in desperate need of aid...” Kross remained firm in his stance.

“I can do this...it is my duty to this family...and to someone I am especially fond of. Please...”

[ K.A ] None of what was occurring around him helped his anger. It bubbled violently, rumbling up through his chest and out into the thunder of an agitated growl. Such were the issues that arose with the particular brand of demon Koltun had; out of hatred and despair, chosen to bind himself too. He had gained a temper. Felfire eyes darted between Laz, Kross and Tea, chest rising and falling with each desperate inhale of fury.

They each quarrel over what is mine to find, and seek to ground me! his thoughts rampaged. weak, in need of rest? Stay and do nothing? Break the promise? NO!! "Enough!!"

The hunter suddenly bellowed, large, leathery wings snapping out in dramatic emphasis to his command. His inner self fought to reign in his anger, cracking his voice when next he spoke, sweeping the others with his glowing gaze.

"Kross is right. But I will not be grounded here. I'm going with him."

Koltun looked to Lazarius, regarding the man briefly before covering his bandaged hand with the clawed one of his own and squeezing.

"I am fine. Give me supplies. It's my duty as much as Kross'. I failed her once, Lazarius. Please don't make me fail her again. I can keep up with Kross, and should Vari's mental stability be lost to us, I can bring her back. What is left of my elite will stay here with you and set up defenses. I cant take them with me anyways. Few can fly and to become what we are, you have to lose a part of your mind. They would be a liability... I've already witnessed it."

He sighed, anger leaking away to leave his shoulders slumped slightly.

"I lucked out. I got the broken piece back, and that piece is out there now. Besides... Kross loves my company, right old man?"

[ V.D ] There was genuinely nothing that had encouraged a reaction from Pame throughout the conversations besides the roused aggression of the demon hunter. The Kaldorei stiffened, her eyes fixated solely on the side of Kolts head whilst a single hand dropped to grip the handle of her blade. Yah know... Just in case. She wasn't terribly familiar with the being, though he certainly made her feel .. On edge.

Verzatea's narrowed gold eyes soaked in the hypocrisy that was the senile old ghost, deeply offended at the prospect of him accusing her to be... Stupid? Naive? How fucking dare! The grip she held her journal and quill with tightened greatly in an effort to ground herself before her lips part to defend her position.

Though it was Koltuns timely flare of anger that roused the Confessor. She'd instead stare at Koltun, brows furrowed now whilst glancing around for other reactions. Surely no one else thought his behavior normal and acceptable? Well, when ever had Tea been one to quietly abide the recklessness of others without challenging them. Thus, with as level a voice she could manage, Verzatea appeals toward Koltun,

"I'd recommend against you aiding the spectral. Rest assured, its not a matter of you cannot help, but rather your affections for the missing in action could cloud your judgement. Perhaps your... Anger," she carefully jots down something as she speaks,

"Is better spent on another job to distract you; Otherwise, in certain scenarios that are probable, your anger and gung-ho attitude could be a liability."

With that concern raised, Tea interjects secondly.

"Though if you genuinely will entertain his request, Lazarius, Id recommend that before the mission starts you should have Whitsletorque give Koltun a mental and physical health check before sending him back into the field."

To Be Continued: In Mind of Misery: Reflections, Part 5

@pyravari-kashebahl

@miss-irascible

@thebladeitself

@whatadarkbitch

@siidaraykashebahl

@zandalaridruidofgonk

@frompage112

#guild writing #original content #our group #thehouseofthenine

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monstersdownthepath · 5 years

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Spiritual Spotlight: Ceyannan the Shepherd

True Neutral Psychopomp Usher of Final Words, Lost Souls, and Searches

Domains: Community, Repose, Protection, Strength Subdomains*: Home, Psychopomp, Purity, Resolve

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 7

Obedience: Seclude yourself somewhere silent and begin a prayer that causes blood to weep from your nose or existing wounds. Reflect for 1 hour on the isolation and the sound of blood dripping. Benefit: Gain a +4 insight bonus on Diplomacy checks to gather information and Survival checks when tracking.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals.)

The relentless and unstoppable retriever of lost mortal souls demands that you sit still and quiet while you bleed for an hour. There’s just something amusing by that to me.

Anyway, getting somewhere nice and quiet can be a lot harder than it sounds in some areas of the world, so I wonder if the Shepherd allows for areas of relative silence? It’s got to be quiet enough for you to hear your own blood dripping, so I suppose anywhere with little enough noise for that would suit this Obedience just fine. You’ve also got to seclude yourself, so someone barging in on your ritual voids the ENTIRE thing and forces you to start over, which can be harsh if an enemy attack interrupted it in the first place.

Now, for the elephant in the room: Bleeding everywhere. It’s not pretty. It’s going to smell. It’s going to stain everything that can be stained, so it’s best to get yourself some magical healing beforehand to shut up your other wounds to keep the blood flowing from your nose and only your nose. At that point, it’s like the world’s goriest and most unpleasant netti pot, except you’re more stuffed up afterwards! God, bleeding from your nose every single day is going to wreak unholy havoc on your poor sinuses. imagine the scabs! Imagine them. I did so you have to, too.

That can’t be healthy, either. A cruel DM may have some consequences for your daily bloodletting, so be prepared with Potions of Cure Nosebleed on the side. And speaking of, I find it a little strange that Ceyannan knows a prayer that makes you bleed on command. I’d imagine that takes a bit to learn--perhaps it’s a questline itself?--but I’d also imagine that pulling it off to freak out your allies or enemies on command can lead to a lot of hilarious scenarios that you should totally do at every opportunity.

Ironically, bleeding from your face apparently makes you a better diplomat than an intimidator. Unfortunately, both of these skill checks are narrow in their application; you can only gather information and track people more effectively, which DOES make you a scary bounty hunter... but little else.

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: Death's Hound. Gain Tireless Pursuit 3/day, Whispering Wind 2/day, or Countless Eyes 1/day.

Oh hey! It’s Tireless Pursuit again! And it’s just as bad here as it was with Barzahk!

Yawn. Moving on,

So, Whispering Wind and Countless Eyes! Wind is a strange spell to me. It travels an enormous distance over time (1 mile/level at anywhere from 1 mile an hour to 1 mile in 10 minutes), but aside from picking the destination of the spell, you have no real say in who gets to hear the message you deliver. Once it reaches a predetermined destination, it spouts your message whether or not anyone (or everyone) is around to hear it. One thing that confuses me is the second-to-last line in the spell: “When the spell reaches its objective, it swirls and remains in place until the message is delivered.” This seems to state that the message is only delivered when someone CAN hear it... But every single other portion of the spell indicates that the spell ends immediately upon reaching the objective. It’s weird!!!

Countless Eyes is weird in a different direction. Whoever you touch with this spell--including yourself--gets eyes growing all over their body. For an enormous 1 hour/level, the target has a swarm of disquieting eyes everywhere on their person, granting them all-around vision and immunity to being flanked. It’s funny to me that it mentions immunity to flanking when the universal monster ability All-Around Vision already confers immunity to flanking, but I suppose it’s just reminder text.

Anyway, it gives no real advantage to Perception or any huge combat benefit, but being immune to flanking can come in useful against monster swarms, and having eyes literally in the back of your head can prevent lots of ambushes. Slapping it on your scout before sending them in to get a look-around is just as viable as giving it to the squishy member of the party to keep them alert to incoming threats and preventing them from being crunched by flanking monsters, and its lengthy duration means it’ll likely last all day... Which is a double-edged sword if you have to interact with mundane folk.

Boon 2: Smell of Death. You gain the Scent ability. Your sense of smell is particularly acute in regard to Undead, granting you Blindsense (30 feet) for the purposes of detecting all forms of Undead.

Huh! Turns out having your nose bleed every single day for months sharpens your sense of smell! So much so that you gain a supernaturally acute nose that makes you very difficult to catch by surprise. Scent is a very low-key ability that can save you a lot of pain if you have it, catching wind of hidden foes lurking within 30ft of you and giving you a heads up as to what kind of enemies are nearby. Just make sure to actually pause now and then to actually take a deep breath, because a powerful nose is less useful if you’re huffing and puffing while you charge down a hallway!

Blindsense is Scent Except Bigger, a distinction that was always blurred in my head due to the similarly-named but significantly more powerful Blindsight, but Blindsense allows you to pinpoint the exact square a creature is hidden in and alerts you to the presence of beasties sneaking around you, though you still rely on your actual sight to properly hit them or defend against them. While limited to the Undead, the ability generously points out that it detects “all forms” of Undead, including invisible and incorporeal spirits or lurking haunts (ghostly ‘traps’ waiting to be sprung). If your DM frequently uses haunts, then this ability is just as valuable as some method of detecting traps, if not MORE due to its radius.

So yes, this is indeed a good ability even though it’s not as impressive as some Boons are. Being able to keep sneaky ghouls, wispy vampires, or creeping ghosts from getting the jump on you is worth quite a bit, and the general usefulness of Scent is something many may not expect.

Boon 3: Soul Lock. 1/day as a full-round action, you can trap the soul of a sentient creature that has died in the last minute, creating a soul gem (size Fine; 1 HP, 2 hardness). Anyone attempting to resurrect a creature whose soul you have trapped must make a caster level check (DC 10 + 1/2 your HD + Cha mod) or the spell fails. If the soul gem rests in an unholy location, the DC is raised by 2. On success, the soul gem is shattered and the soul is freed. You may also destroy a soul gem you have created as a standard action. You can maintain a number of soul gems equal to your Charisma modifier (min 1).

Ever wanted to make damn sure someone stayed dead? This ability is the equivalent of a level 9 spell, Soul Bind, but with some very important and powerful differences. Normally, trapping a soul is unfeasible due to the ridiculous material component cost (1000gp per HD of the target) and the fact it’s negated entirely by a save... However, Soul Lock bypasses both the need for materials AND grants the poor soul no save against being trapped in a gemstone, which technically means that this ability is more powerful than a level 9 spell.

Or, well, as powerful, since the tradeoff is that Soul Bind flat-out prevents all forms of attempted resurrection, whereas Soul Lock can be defeated with a caster level check. Still, though, having the gem potentially shattered due to the Big Bad’s minions bringing them back is a small price to pay for the fact that you can no-save-allowed slorp up the soul of any creature as soon as they die, no matter where they are. it even works on nonhumans, allowing you to snatch up the fleeing souls of powerful monsters with mechanics that allow them to come back over and over. ... No, you cannot trap a Great Old One, as most of them only debatably have souls and they tend to come back immediately, just manifesting in their slumbering forms.

The biggest issue with this power is what you do with the souls you’ve acquired. Delivering them to their proper afterlife is likely the best course of action, or dropping them off with the proper authorities in the Boneyard. Just leaving them to languish seems unnecessarily cruel and useless, considering the restriction to how many you can maintain, but assuring that they get what they deserve is a good enough use for this power. Interestingly, you can also steal a soul from a fate they don’t deserve and save them, this power technically allowing you to yank a soul back from the grips of a Devil, a Devourer, a Hag, or any number of foes with the power to tear the soul from the body.

You don’t even have to be present for the death itself to capture or rescue someone, because if you’ll notice, there’s no listed range limit on this ability. You can actually snatch away a soul that died a world or even a whole plane away provided you’re aware of it!

You can read more about them here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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coeurvrai · 4 years

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We have made it guys, we have fucking made it back to a Serefin chapter! It’s a bloody miracle! I swear, the predominantly Nadya chapters felt like they would never end. And I have never missed mediocrity more than when I read Nadya’s chapters. Let’s see what this dumbass is up to.

Svoyatovi Leonid Barentsev: A cleric of Horz, he lived in Komyazalov as an academic who taught the Codex of the Divine. It is believed Tranavian assassins poisoned him, but his body was never recovered nor found.

If his body was never recovered or found, then how the bloody hell would you know if he was poisoned or not? Why would an assassin poison someone and then dispose of their body? His body is just gone and the immediate conclusion they jump to is that he was poisoned? The fuck? Why not just straight up killed? Who’s to say he wasn’t dismembered or gruesomely stabbed or something?

Serefin’s in his bedroom and Kacper comes in. He’s looked better. Serefin mentions that he hasn’t had a drink in hours and that’s a very good thing! I am proud of you, Serefin, keep it that way. But anyways, Kacper doesn’t have very good news for him, after getting a little roughed up by a Vulture.

He mentions that members of noble families were missing and then:

The Vultures and the king were working together—though Serefin knew that wasn’t quite true. Puppet strings. They had nearly succeeded in their goal with a new experiment, so said the papers. But their last was too strong-willed and difficult to control. They were moving to a new step in their gruesome process and placing his father at the center of it.

It felt like a sick joke. As if everything had been in front of his face the whole time but he had been too focused on the wrong things to see it. The Tranavians’ flight from the gods hadn’t been so simple and easy as magic and atheism.

...

If he was reading this correctly—and he wasn’t sure he was—the Vultures had found a way to more power than any mortal should ever be able to reach, and they were going to give it to Izak Meleski. For a price. A sacrifice. That little anecdote from Pelageya about a mortal becoming divine now felt sickeningly ironic. It would only cost Izak his son, a paltry trade in the grand scheme of things. What was Serefin’s life in comparison to unlimited power?

This was his father’s chance to finally prove to his kingdom and his people that he wasn’t just a weak king and weak blood mage. He would be more; he would be greater. He would become a god.

So here it is! A plot twist that I predicted ages ago - that Serefin’s father, with the Vultures, is planning on attaining godhood. And this way, he kills two birds with one stone - getting rid of the focal point of his inferiority complex and getting the sacrifice necessary to obtain all of this power. Through Serefin, he will become better than Serefin. Also gosh, I wonder who the other experiment was.

Serefin gets pissed off and is like “fuck dad”, and uses his blood magic to destroy all the magical bug spells placed on his room.

“Do you know who this former success is?” Serefin pointed at a line in the report.

“The Black Vulture is likely, but, no, I have no idea.”

Serefin rubbed his forehead. The Black Vulture wasn’t important right now.

GOSH, I WONDER WHO THE OTHER EXPERIMENT WAS.

Seriously, for real. Malachiasz is the bloody Black Vulture and the experiments just explain his powerfulness that makes him more powerful than Mr. Scary High Prince himself. There we go, plot twists done!

Also I love how Serefin just dismisses the Black Vulture entirely, a person who is the supposed king of all of these mega Ironteeth witch blood cultists.

When had his father’s mind snapped? He tried to think back further—he had been so out of touch with what happened in Tranavia while he was at the front; were there signs all along? He thought of the Tranavian villages he’d ridden through, destitute and close to fading away entirely. His father seemed indifferent about the plight of the country as a whole, the plight this war was spurring forward. It hadn’t always been like that. He remembered when his father cared, even if it was years ago.

He might never know when things had changed.

Izak Meleski reminds me of Garon, except Garon got Valg’d by a dragon god and kidnapped a child and made that child his child. At least Izak hasn’t done that, at least. So that’s a plus! Also, I oddly feel for Serefin in this moment, the idea that he feels like it was his fault for not noticing sooner, that he should’ve seen the changes in his father and could’ve done something about it.

They realise that his father is planning on using the blood of all the noble blood mages who have come for the Rawalyk, on top of Serefin’s.

“I’ll be dead, so I don’t really care what will happen to my father.” Serefin countered. “But, what if . . . what if it has been done before?” he muttered, mind racing. “The answer is here.”

Kacper lifted his head. “What?”

“The witch. The witch’s words, blood and bone. ‘Gut the Kalyazi churches, melt their gold, grind their bones.’ What else did she say?”

“‘What if those gods the Kalyazi worship aren’t gods at all?’” Kacper asked, horror lacing his voice.

Serefin nodded slowly. He didn’t care about the Kalyazi gods, but if they were something else entirely, what would that mean for Tranavia?

I mean, that depends on your definition of what a god is. Just because you think they might’ve been once human doesn’t mean they aren’t gods, it’s all about interpretation. If one believes that the Kalyazi gods are gods, then that’s what they are, even if they didn’t pop out of nowhere into existence.

Like, that’s how religion works - it’s all about belief, really. If enough people believe in something or someone, then you give them power. Then, to you, they become what you believe them to be. If Kalyazin believe their pantheon are gods, then that’s what they are, regardless of what they truly were.

“So, what do we do?”

Serefin tried to think but came up blank. What could they do? What could they do when his mad father was steps away from godlike powers?

What could they do when the very girl who communed with these creatures had slipped from their grasp and was out in the world to wreak havoc?

“Do we truly have no way to find the cleric?”

Kacper’s dark gaze met Serefin’s pale eyes knowingly. “Is going back to the witch wise? Your father will suspect you’re up to something.”

Serefin waved to the blood smeared on the table behind him. His father already suspected. “I am up to something.”

Oh boy, if only you had the opportunity and the magic to track down the cleric and bring her back to the capital- oh wait. Look, Serefin, despite all the odds I have ended up liking you the most because you’re the most tolerable character in this book, but I am going to continue to hold that against you because it’s still stupid. And against the author, ofc.

Although, in hindsight, it’s probably a good thing that you didn’t, because then your father would’ve used her blood to fuel his godly plans and that would’ve turned out terrible for you. Also yes! More Pelageya! She’s fun.

Ostyia turns up to get ready for dinner and they give her the report from the salt mines. She reads and she isn’t happy about it, either. She burns the letter with elemental blood magic and she says they can figure shit out later.

Serefin grimaced. A god. Hearing it aloud made it feel all the more real and all the more terrifying. There was a reason Tranavia had broken from the hold of the gods. There was a reason they had rejected the rules and the customs, the constant oppression of having a being greater than you rule over you by their own idea of morality. What his father was doing wasn’t going to change anything; it was just going against the entire essence of being Tranavian.

If Serefin had to cut him down to restore the throne to what it should be, so be it. His father had lost his right to the throne by reaching for this kind of ideal. Reaching for more power was one thing—that was admirable—but this? This was too far. It would crumble Tranavia’s already delicate government.

See, this is a tad bit interesting and makes sense under the circumstances of what Tranavian society is now. It’s like how they conspired to kill Julius Caesar because they feared all he wanted to be was King of Rome, and that went against the very existence of the Roman Republic.

His father is not worthy to rule not because he’s a weak blood mage, not because he’s power hungry, but because it goes against their principles. Serefin simply defines he’s not worthy of leading Tranavia because he no longer is worthy of calling himself a Tranavian, basically.

It’s far more compelling than the absolute clusterfuck that was going on in Nadya’s POV.

#sarah reads ws

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heroes-hq-blog1 · 5 years

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PARITY IS OFFICIALLY READY TO JOIN THE ACADEMY!

› LEILAH AINE › 23 YEARS OLD › POWER BALANCE › 4 YEARS IN THE ACADEMY

POWER

Basically, Leilah is able to stabilise or manipulate the balance of things. Not in terms of literal balance (though that is a small part of her powers), but more like in the scales of balance, but literally and figuratively. She can neutralise something if someone’s power is far too unstable, or boost someone’s power, magical, physical, mental using her own manipulation of power balance.

STRENGTHS

Power Neutralisation/Balance: The most basic of all her powers, Leilah is able to stabilise, contain or suppress, or boost any type of power or thing, as long as it works on the idea of neutrality or balance.

Bomb Creation: With the boosting or suppressing of the powers, Leilah is able to create bombs using these pure sources of energy, however she requires to tap into other’s power sources or magical sources in order to create those.

Negation Field: When Leilah fully and purposely loses all her control over her powers, she literally scatters power negation all over the place, creating a field with herself as the core centre that negates every single kind of power in existence, when she tips the scales of balance towards the negative side of the scales to entirely erase powers

Berserk Field: When Leilah fully and purposely loses all her control over her powers and boosts everyone’s powers within the radius of her field, creating a field with herself as the core centre that boosts or replenishes all offensive and defensive powers by leaps and bounds as she tips the scales of balance towards the positive side of the scales to entirely boost powers

WEAKNESSES

Power Neutralisation/Balance requires a great amount of control, concentration as well as precision. With this amount of control, also comes the great amount of focus that Leilah definitely needs, which tires her mental capacity out if she doesn’t have enough mental stamina. She also has to rely on her 8 sided dice totem to help decide the degree of concentration that is needed. If she rolls an 8, the lesser the amount of control needed, since the totem will act as a medium, but the lower the number she rolls, the more the amount of control, as well as the deeper the mental duress.

Power Neutralisation/Balance also makes her incredibly vulnerable to physical attacks, because she has to fully focus on the essence of balance and control whilst using her powers, and focus everything on her mental stamina and state.

Bomb Creation’s weakness is the fact that Leilah requires a SOURCE in order to create these bombs of power. She has to tap (physically touch the person) into a pre-existing source in order to create these power bombs, and she cannot create bombs out of inanimate objects. It needs to be something like electricity, magic, hex/chaos powers, viruses/ sicknesses etc.

Bomb Creation’s other weakness is that it requires immense focus and imaginative visualisation. If the visualisation of the form of the bomb and the focus to accurately suppress the bomb’s power is not enough, the bomb may end up exploding before its even used, and injure Leilah in the process.

Negation Field’s weakness is that it has her as the core centre, whilst releasing all her power’s reigns means that she’s able to wreak havoc in other areas, Negation Field only has a range of 25 meters, and its only in circular form, like a dome.

Negation Field’s other weakness is that it has a time limit. Leilah is only able to hold the field for 10 minutes, before everything starts automatically balancing out due to the innate nature of her own powers.

Berserk Field’s weakness is its time limit, which has a duration of 15 minutes. Leilah can hold the field longer if she experiences intense emotions, but she cannot control who she boosts within her field, which also means that usually her enemies get boosted as well, as soon as they step within her Berserk Field. However, she can narrow down her focus into wrapping the field around specific individuals and connecting them by a thin line of connection, which would render her mentally tired after using it (usually requiring sleep), as well as physical vulnerable when she’s concentrating.

Berserk Field’s other weakness is its backlash, the scales of balance cannot tolerate the sudden boosting of powers without dealing an equal backlash on the user, hence Leilah suffers all the punishment of whoever uses their powers within the Berserk Field freely for the duration of 15 minutes. (she will fall into a coma for a couple of days, physical wounds will appear etc.)

ORIGINS

Leilah doesn’t remember her parents. For as long as she’d remembered, she’d been just called Girl, for most of her childhood life. After all, there were far too many orphans within the orphanage in Ireland, and the matrons of the Aife Children’s Orphanage didn’t want to get too attached to the children that all seemed to die so easily. Or at the very least—that was until Leilah appeared.

They tell her that it had to be a goddess of Celtic origin that had sent her (she’d been found, wet, bundled and abandoned on the doorstep of the orphanage) , fed her the fantastical story that all children wanted to hear—a child of a moon goddess, perhaps, for her skin as pale as moonlight. Moon-kissed, blessed by the gods—though that was only found out when she lived within that orphanage, nameless, for five long years. Leilah had always been more intelligent than the other children, more..self-aware, as though something else was within the solemn girl.

The event that had bestowed Leilah her name had been a tragic one. One of death and sickness, or a close shave with death. Sister Miranne had been ill, and Leilah couldn’t bear to watch the woman who had been on of the nicer matrons that had taken care of her, just simply…fade away. Her tiny feet had shuffled into the sick room, quarantined for all their safety, and staunchly guarded, the eight sided dice that Sister Miranne had given her as a birthday present balancing perfectly in her palm as she braced herself on her toes and spun the dice.

If the number lands on anything above 5, I will touch her.

Leilah had the inkling that she could do something, though the something was something that she didn’t understand or know…yet.

The dice falls to an eight, and Leilah reaches for the woman’s hand.

…

Sister Miranne miraculously stabilises the very next day, the illness still ravaging her body, but less rabid, less….unequalised.

Leilah is on the swing, apart from the other children of the orphanage, who despise her for her dark hair, dark eyes and Asian features—but the touch of Sister Miranne’s hand on her back is a deeply reassuring one.

“ Thank you.” She tilts her head up and blinks at Sister Miranne, whose cheeks were still sallow from her ordeal. “I felt you take something away. Thank you.”

Wrong. Leilah didn’t bother correcting her, simply shrugging in a laidback manner, eyes lightly flickering.

“ I’m glad you’re alright.” She’d always been too matured for her age, unsettling even, at times, but Sister Miranne smiles at her for once, eyes creasing as the corners of her lips curl upwards happily.

“I’ve decided a name for you, want to hear it?” It’s the first time that her interest is stirred, and Leilah shifts in her seat.

"Leilah Aine. Leilah is for the night, the dark haired beauty, and Aine—radiance and light, after the goddess wealth and summer that we believe in.”

….

Leilah doesn’t remember how the academy finds her either (rumours of a girl with the ability to counter death and heal had reached the academy’s ears)—partially because she didn’t really care, and partially because she truly forgot all about it. But they did, and she ends up enrolling in (one of the sisters told on her) the school for heroes. These people whisk her off from the orphanage that she’s known as her home for her entire nineteen years of her life, amidst screams, tears and the refusal that warps Leilah as they pry her fingers away from Sister Miranne’s hands, who lets her go as quickly as she grabs her hands, who she’s come to see as someone like her own mother.

Such betrayal. She only watches as the Sister takes another child’s hand with a smile and leads the younger girl back into the house, the words of the heroes that had come to take her in ringing in her ears.

That woman. She gave you up to us. Leilah’s eyes only fall on the 8-sided dice, spinning it between her fingers as they seek to find the answer to the kind of power she has.

Power Balance. Neutrality. Equilibrium. Even they couldn’t pinpoint a singular name to what was described as her power.

It’s a good power. They keep telling her. You can save people. Be a hero.

But the point was—Leilah didn’t want to be a hero. What was so great about being a hero? She just wanted to be Lei. Normal, gentle, and quiet—Lei. To her surprise, school is pretty normal—at least until they find out that she can balance and negate powers, and she’s almost everywhere in case any mishap. Training sessions, regular sessions, anger management classes—literally everywhere where there was an ounce of danger—Leilah was there.

And fuck did she really hate it. It wasn’t as though she was immortal, or could get away from any danger—she was mortal, and injuries fucking hurt.

But powers weren’t choices either, and apparently, being heroes weren’t choices either—because within months of her being everywhere negating powers and saving people, she received the invite into the Divine Nine.

“…Can I reject this?”

“Don’t you want to save people?”

No—she doesn’t tell them that as she accepts the card after rolling the 8 sided dice in her pocket. I just want to be normal and alone.

The number lands on the lucky number 7, but Leilah is anything but lucky.

#hq:accepted #irene #red velvet

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powerbottomranmaru · 7 years

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so the long zangetsu shin au inspired by long agito by @blood-ritual. here are some rough as fuck notes about that. none of it will make sense. i just gotta info dump it all somewhere before i go insane.

ryoma is somewhat of an inventor but mostly serves as a healer who conducts his experiments on people who need to be healed. because people are willing to let him test new herbs and medicines on them, he’s become the healer with the best success rate. he doesn’t live in any certain kingdom because he doesn’t want to submit to any one leader, he thinks he’s too good for that. he ends up taking in the generals of the opposing armies one night because they’re dying not far from his doorstep and he figures he might as well. they’re staying with him and they talk to each other and when they can actually walk out of his house they have a peace treaty drafted to take back to their kings.

takatora is zangetsu shin aka the god of war and the scariest motherfucker to piss off. he’s very intrigued in this human who managed to end a war by doing nothing more than refusing to let two people argue with each other while they were under his care. he takes his human form and goes to visit ryoma, injuring himself and claiming he’s a traveling merchant who got injured on his trip and wants nothing more than to be healed. while he’s there, he listens to ryoma talk about his aspirations and his dreams and he’s moved by this mortal who reaches for the stars. so he goes back to where the gods live in their enchanted forest-- the equivalent of helheim-- and calls to ryoma in his dreams.

ryoma is like “yeah okay” and packs his things and goes into the forest. essentially you can’t survive the forest unless one of the gods has called you to their side because their magical protection enables you to find the pathway to the castle. otherwise you’ll die of starvation or dehydration before long because the flora isn’t edible and there’s no drinking water. smarter humans have brought food and water with them but no one ever finds the castle through sheer will of force. humans that kaito kumon deems worthy of his service can live, but their only real option is to live in service to him.

kaito is overlord baron, the god of chaos and strength and power who protects the weak and oppressed. he watches over children abused by their families and uses his powers to punish parents who endanger their children. as a child he ran away from his abusive home and found himself lost in the forest. he would have died except mai takatsukasa, the goddess of the forest, took pity on him and cared for him. when he was older, she gave him a golden apple from her tree that gave him his godlike form and powers, and kaito uses that power to protect those who were in a bad place like he was.

mai has always been and always will be. her very spirit and being is tied to her shrine, which is the massive tree at the heart of the forest that spawns the golden apples when someone worthy of claiming them comes along. there used to be other gods and goddesses, but when most of them went bad in a mad grab for power, mai took up fighting and slayed them because she couldn’t have them wreaking havoc on the human world. her love of humans and her belief in them is what lead her to decide that she would preserve the powers of the former gods and goddesses and when humans who were worthy came along, she would grant them the power necessary.

she doesn’t live alone, either. rica and chucky are essentially forest nymphs who came from the tree and they live with mai and take care of her and help care for the tree. they serve as her messengers to the other gods and goddesses-- of whom she is the most powerful-- and they fiercely protect her because her powers are way stronger than anyone else’s are. she shows up in visions only to the humans deserving of godhood.

takatora was a warrior who fought endlessly for the king he followed and he was far more successful in war than anyone else was. he was in the midst of battle to protect a small village and when an enemy warrior went to kill a woman and her children, takatora intervened and nearly died in the process. as he laid dying, mai came to him in a vision and willed him to survive only if he would come to the forest and claim the power that was rightfully his. he was able to make his way to her tree, where she plucked a golden apple for him and gave him the powers of the god of war and the form of zangetsu shin.

yoko minato is marika, the goddess of nature, and she preserves the forest, cultivates the actual vegetables and fruit safe enough to eat, and her being is tied to the nature that humans encounter, as well. she and ryoma become fast friends because he realizes her herbs and plants have a lot of interesting properties and he offers to help care for them in exchange for having access to them. she has a human lover named touka akatsuki.

touka was an archer for the army who flew marika’s banner quite firmly even though most kings who care about that fly banners for zangetsu shin or baron (warlord and strength/power). she and her squadron of warriors were especially well-known for their strength as a unit, stronger than pretty much any group possible, and she made a name for herself because she’d viciously defend farmers who otherwise couldn’t fight for themselves. doing that caught yoko’s eye because it was clear to her that touka not only understood just how hard it was to take care of the land like that but she also had great respect for it and saw it worthy of being defended, so she drew her to her side.

sid is also here. sid is sigurd, the god of lies and trickery and deceipt and basically how to be shady. he was one of the best conmen living and by and large had no great attachment to anyone or anything, he just lived day to day and did what he had to do to get by. takatora and yoko were visiting the human world and talked to him a bit, and sid felt something off about them so he didn’t try to con them and instead warned them about some of the other conmen that live in the area. he also totally noticed a few shady people following them and decided he was going to intervene. sid pretty much believes solely in stealing from bad people since like, they deserve it. takatora and yoko didn’t.

long story short he ended up mortally wounded and mai reached out to him and told takatora and yoko to bring him into the forest. sigurd is on every charm and token that thieves and conmen keep on their persons almost religiously, though sid is in the human world far more often than people would think. he likes to see how modern day humanity is working out.

oren is bravo, obviously, and though he was also a famed warrior who could have become the god of war, he ended up becoming the god of family relationships when he put his life on the line to protect jonouchi, whom he’d always seen like a surrogate son since jonouchi’s father treated him like shit for not being the man he wanted him to be. mai was touched and invited them both to come live at the castle, jonouchi gaining immortality in the process, but oren is the only two of them to be a god. he and baron get along quite a bit when it comes to punishing fathers who don’t deserve to have children.

lastly micchi is the god of death, ryugen yomi. he was always too weak and sick to fight so he stayed behind and did his best to tend to the bodies of the dead, giving them proper burials and leaving flowers over their graves. he and his father had a very terrible relationship because micchi was never who he was supposed to be and his father punished him for it liberally. micchi just snaps one day and fights back and he accidentally kills him in the process, and of course the soldiers try to chase him down because that’s a crime no matter what was happening to him. he ran into the forest to try to get away and mai felt his presence and felt the heavy aura of death around him, so she offered him a golden apple. he resides over death and the peaceful passage between this life and the next, the peace that comes from long illness and painful wounds.

oren’s human lover is bando because bando spent most of his life tending a fruit stand and a pub and he was like a shoulder for every kid who had a bad home life and he caused some pretty heavy strife in his village because he got between ryoji hase and his parents because hase wanted something different for himself and his parents didn’t agree. oren ended up inviting both bando and hase to come stay with him, and he and bando fell for each other very quickly. it was doubly good because hase and jonouochi adore each other.

kaito has several humans who live at his castle, which is separate from the bigger one. shura was his first, a person kaito called to because he stood up for his friends and fought someone who tried to hurt them. shura no longer lives there because the two of them are both too different and too similar to get along, so shura decided he was going to travel. kaito was worried for his safety and he went to mai, and she created a lock for shura to wear on a chain around his neck born from her tree. when he steps into battle, kaito’s protection gives him armor that nothing can break through. he uses this to fight various monsters. sometimes he sends kaito presents.

zack came into the forest looking for someone, anyone, who would help peko when no healers could save him from a deadly infection. he stubbornly survived for a week and kaito, impressed at his strength and skill, came to him and offered him a place in his service. zack agreed on the condition that peko could be saved, so kaito took one of marika’s fruits and healed him and brought him to his castle too. zack likes to explore the forest, which is how he found the other castle that stands away from the rest-- ryugen yomi’s.

micchi isn’t exactly a talkative person, he doesn’t really spend time with the others, so zack finding him is a surprise to him. zack comes to visit him and they talk a lot. sometimes he brings peko with him, it just depends. peko used to be a dancer who taught zack how to dance and decided to stay with him instead of travel anymore, and they teach kaito how to dance.

shapool also lives there. he was the son of a noble who adopted him to have an heir and then who tried to have him killed when he had a biological son. shapool was dying but not dead yet and kaito came out of the forest and saved him and then brought him into it to keep him safe and keep him nearby. shapool adores kaito far more than any of his other humans and the two of them are like brothers. shapool also explores the forest a lot because he loves meeting the animals, and mai loves having him come to visit her.

yuya stumbled into the forest with rat by accident, the two of them on the run from thieves, and they both nearly died. yuya’s survival skills kept them alive long enough to impress kaito, who came to collect them to come tend his home and serve him. they both actually really like him despite the fact he scared them at first and both of them would defend him viciously if given the chance.

kouta comes into the forest looking for ryoma when his sister gets sick and no one else can help her. he heard that ryoma walked in and never came out and even though he knows he has no hope of finding him, he has to try. kaito plans on letting him die as most humans do, but kouta’s dumb perseverance intrigues him so he comes to him and asks him what he’s doing in the forest. kouta tells him his sister is dying and kaito offers to save her assuming both of them would be willing to come into the forest. akira gets to stay with marika when ryoma is finished taking care of her, and kouta comes to baron’s castle.

kouta likes it there, actually. he loves spending time with shapool, who is boundless energy and excitement and joy. he likes hanging out with yuya and rat, who are both easy to get along with kinda guys who are more than willing to show him around and help him figure out how to do his work. he likes peko and zack, who are levels above him and yuya and rat but who never act like it. he begs them to teach him how to dance because he was learning how before he came here and he wants to finish those lessons up.

he’s also the one who starts asking about shura when zack mentions him once or twice in conversation, but kaito is quiet on the subject. kouta finally ends up going to mai about it, which is kinda hard because rica and chucky don’t just let anyone near their goddess girlfriend. kouta swears on his life that he only wants to know what happened and mai tells him about how kaito and shura argued so much that shura decided to leave and how mai gave him special armor that would arise from kaito’s love and protective feelings over him to keep him safe no matter where he was. and he starts pushing for kaito to bring shura home.

kugai kudo is the healer who takes over for ryoma, but unlike ryoma he’s also a warrior who basically turned his back on his kingdom in order to take up ryoma’s work and help people. sid becomes interested in him when he sees someone has taken up residence in ryoma’s old house and he drops by to visit him, saying he isn’t sick or anything, just he’s heard some rumors and is curious. kugai humors him and tells him what he wants to know and sid drops by every now and then to say hi. but of course that betrayal isn’t going to stand for long and kugai eventually has people come after him for betraying his kingdom. sid ends up saving him and bringing him into the forest.

there are also some evil gods from another faraway kingdom who try to invade and kill and takeover but they aren’t important yet.

#zangetsu shin tag

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tw6464sloreblog · 7 years

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The traitor legions

*the canon traitor legions remain mostly unchanged, except a few characters being swapped out and their names are different, except the Black Legion. For example, Ahzek Ahriman is not the one who casts the Rubricae, his brother Ormuzd Ahriman is, so Ormuzd is the leader of the Brotherhood of Dust.

*The traitor Emperor’s Children are known as the The Glorious Symphony; the traitor Iron Warriors are the Steel Tyrants; the traitor Night Lords are the Raptor Legion (heh); the traitor World Eaters are the Blades of Wrath; the traitor Death Guard are the Reapers of Despair; the traitor Thousand Sons are the Brotherhood of Dust; the traitor Word Bearers are the Prophets of Chaos; and finally the traitor Alpha Legion is the Brotherhood of the Hydra

*one last thing before I describe each traitor legion: there are no legions dedicated to a specific God. You can have Slaaneshi world eater traitors, Khornates thousand sons traitors, etc yeah I’m going to somewhat drop this idea, but I’’ll say that there are a few... “converts” to the other chaos gods, but they’re so rare that they’re practically none existent.

*The Azure Legions have already been detailed in my Chaos Ultramarines post, which is located here: https://tw6464sloreblog.tumblr.com/post/160804538767/chaos-ultramarines, so I’m gonna move on…

*The Dark Angels traitors form the Fallen Angels, except there aren’t any remorseful traitors amongst them; they’re cold, heartless and cruel crusaders of the Dark Gods, led by their Knight-Lord, Luther. They are crusaders of Chaos, striking with the precision of a broadsword and the power of a Claymore. They are masters of the sword, and of corrupting local populations into rebellion. They are often the least mutated marines, allowing them to easily pass as loyalists and wreak havoc upon their “allies”. None of the Fallen regret rebelling upon Caliban, rebelling against what they saw as a corrupt system of government; their only regret is that they failed in destroying the home of the Lion.

*The White Scars traitors form two Warbands: the Ronin, a band of disgraced White Scars who wield power nodachi and wander the Galaxy, selling their services to the highest bidder, as both a form of employment and as atonement; they’re made up of warriors of the Chondax campaign who instantly realized that they had damned their souls forever.

-The second, much larger group is known as the M'Andshu Hordes, led by Khan Khuu Tetsugai, who killed the Great Khan of their brotherhood and took over, using whatever bike squads, skimmer craft, fast moving tanks and flyers to strike swiftly and then move on to the next target of interest. They raid and pillage with incredible speed; almost all of their warriors are mounted, and if they’re not mounted they’re in transports ferrying them to battle.

*the Space Wolves traitors, many of whom actually split into two separate Warbands: Skyrar’s Dark Wolves, who are made up of warriors who are pretty much the Warriors of Chaos if they had guns, chainswords and power armor. They’re less conquers and more just raiders, killing and burning worlds for the slightest provocation; this may lead some to think that this aggressive form of fighting makes the Dark Wolves predictable, but any thoughts of an easy victory against the Wolves are shot down when their leader, Skyrar, is leading from the front. Skyrar is utterly unpredictable, manic and insane; whether this is due to his ingestion of a herb that supposedly boosts his fighting prowess, his constant exposure to the warp, or because he’s always been crazy, enemies should think twice before underestimating (or overestimating) the Chaos Jarl.

-The second warband is known as the Fangbound, led by Svane Wulfbad, who have given into the Canis Helix, transforming into something resembling the Wulfen (think the Wulfen models used in the 3rd Edition Eye of Terror campaign), before eventually transforming into a heavily corrupted form, known as the Fenrir.

*the Imperial fist traitors eventually form the Teutonic Lords, who are basically the Black Templar if instead of being zealots for the emperor, they were zealots for chaos. Also, some of them ride chaos steeds, because a horse is often times a better mount than a bike in certain terrains. They are still masters of siege warfare and defensive lines; however, they’re much more aggressive than their loyalist brethren, valuing counter-charges and shield walls rather than dug-in positions.

-Their bizarre form of martial honor has led many to assume that the Teutonic Lords are... to put it lightly, a bit thick. However, anyone who has fought against one of the high-ranking commanders of the legion, known as Barons, can attest that some Teutonic Lords are anything but honorable. While some of the Dukes and Their ultimate leader, Archduke Ferdinand of Charlemagne (the world upon which the Teutonic Lords have built their homes) value acts of bravery and valor, Barons will do anything to win,

*the Blood Angels traitors form the the Angelis Mortalis aka the Angels of Death. They struck their brethren during the Signus Prime campaign, where their leader, Apollyon, grew jealous and spiteful of their Primarch and begging for a real challenge, made a pact with the Chaos gods to grant himself and like-minded individuals the same abilities as a primarch. Of course, this pact didn’t come without a price; while they did gain almost Daemon Prince-like levels of strength, speed and agility and near-immortality, the Red Thirst present in these warriors went into overdrive. They stopped resisting the call of the Red Thirst, giving rise to cannibalistic tendencies and unparalleled savagery equivalent to the Black Rage; however, while the Black Rage only affects a small group of marines, the Angelis Mortalis are an entire legions worth of marines, all gorging on blood and flesh with reckless abandon.

-Thankfully, unlike the mythical undead creatures of Old Terran myth, most warbands of the Angelis Mortalis are unable to spread their curse through the exchange of bodily fluids or a bite. However. some warbands dedicated to Nurgle have found a way to transfer their curse via a virus; this method is ineffective, as if the Angels of Death are close enough to bite someone, chances are they’ll probably be ripping them apart to get to the blood and flesh faster.

-They also still go down to bolter shells and blades the same as everything else, as they also lack the common weaknesses present in the Vampires of legend, such as sunlight, garlic, silver, etc.; however, A few members of the Ordo Malleus have noted a few observation in regards to their weaknesses:

A) The Angelis Mortalis rarely launches attacks against Shrine Worlds. Whether this is due to the fact that Shrine Worlds are heavily defended or if this is due to some other outside force is unknown, but what few records of operations upon Shrine Worlds carried out by the traitors of the Ninth Legion have noted that the moment that Drop Pods struck down upon the world, the Marines bodies had totally disintegrated, becoming dust.

B) they are noticeably weaker in sunlight. They’re still faster than most mortal warriors and their loyalist brethren, but direct exposure to solar radiation causes their metabolisms to expend more energy, meaning that they become more tired and sluggish as fights drag on. As such, the Angelis Mortalis prefer to strike upon days of either heavy cloud or rainfall, or at night, becoming bedfellows with the Raptor Legion.

-This casual consumption of the living means they now require an bi-monthly intake of blood and flesh (the amount required for consumption varies on the level of restraint a Marine may have), and if they don’t get it after several weeks, they start to look like addicts, willing to do anything for just a drop of blood and a quick bite of flesh; their skin becomes more pale, they become more sluggish, become thin and atrophied, start to become delirious and seeing hallucinations.

-Their legion is organized like an aristocracy, with Kings, Princes, etc., based upon the age of each of the lords, with their ultimate master being known as The Supreme Lord of Blood and Night. This positiion of authority has been held by Apollyon since the Signus Prime campaign. each of whom has command of an army of Marines, as well as an auxiliary force called “Thralls”, who are similar to the Renegades and Heretics in terms of capabilities and appearance, with a few key differences; Thralls, in addition to serving as an allied force and as cannon fodder, double as a food supply if freshly available blood and flesh is nowhere to be found.

-They have become more and more vampire-like in their appearance, having grown giant, bat like wings, which protrude from their armor and wrap around them like a cloak; in addition, they have filed their fangs and claws to a monomolecular point, making them brutally vicious combatants even without their weapons.

*the Iron Hands traitors form the Gauntlets of Morlock, who are made up of the criminals, murderers, sociopaths and madmen of the clans of Medusa, all united under the Iron Lords of Clan Morlock. They continually give up more and more of their flesh to the machine, embracing the philosophy of “The Flesh is Weak”. As such, they have become close allies to the Dark Mechanicus, and are rarely seen apart.

*They eventually split into the Gauntlets and the Warband of Perfected Flesh, who replace their internal organs with robotic replacements. Both of these bands of traitors serve as a reminder to the loyalist Iron Hands and their successor chapters as to why the flesh and the machine must remain always in balance.

*the Salamanders traitors split into two groups: the Dragon Warriors, led by Vai'tan Ushorak, an ex-chaplain from Nocturne, who taught a corrupted version of the Promethean Creed, preaching domination over those deemed too weak to defend themselves; Vai’tan was eventually usurped by the Sorceror Nihilan, who continues to lead this warband today.

-The Dragon Warriors’ main strategy is massed infantry assault with a heavy emphasis placed on flamer, melta and other heat-based weaponry. They are also consummate smiths, being one of the only non-Hashut aligned or Dark Mechanicum forces able to bind a Daemon to a physical weapon.

*The second group, the Children of Purgatos, led by Purgatos, a Salamander marine from Terra itself, who grew tired of Vulkan’s charity and selfless nature ruining the fighting prowess of the 18th Legion. He accepted the restructuring of his legion, but never inducted himself into the Promethean Cult. As the Great Crusade dragged on, Purgatos became more and more agitated and frustrated at the compassion of Vulkan and the Prometheans, who valued the lives of what Purgatos saw as the “weak, teeming masses” over his own sons. Eventually, it all came to a head during the Ambush at Istvaan V, where Purgatos and those loyal to him turned upon their brothers, slaughtering the Prometheans in their company before turning their attention to the Primarch.

*the Raven guard traitors form the Shadow Vultures, a band of stealthy raiders who often prey on weak targets and proceed to rip them apart, until all that is left are carcasses and ash. They are merciless and cruel, often targeting innocent civilians at random using sniper rifles with camo cloaks, to further hide themselves and to hurt morale by being ghostly assassins. They are one of the few Traitor Legions to keep the Moritats and destroyer formations, their casual use of Rad Weapons making them a boon in the eyes of the Vultures. Their honorless tactics are a far cry from their compassionate loyalist counters, a fact not lost on the Vultures, who often make use of human shields when confronted with their foes.

-Their eyes have become pitch black

Well, that’s pretty much all the ideas I have for the traitor legions at the Moment. Let me know what you all think of the ideas I’ve put forth! Thanks for reading!

Updates: changed the name of the traitor alpha legion, changed the entry for the Ronin

update 2: changed the name of the white scars traitor legion what use bikes and speeders and such.

update 3: changed the name and title of the main leader of the M'Andshu Hordes

update 4: massive changes all around, I felt like cleaning upon some stuff and adding more to others.

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silverdragonazura · 5 years

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The Good and the Bad

A/N: So this was a narrative assignment I had in school and I'm really proud of it so I cleaned it up a bit and decided to post it here.

The emperor has fallen. All his subjects are dead. I have warned him countless times of the dangers a war this large possesses. Now there is no one left.

There is nothing left for me to do. I have fulfilled my purpose: bring prosperity and good fortune to society. Now that there is nothing else to do….I want to explore. There is so much more to this world than just here.

I don't have any companions. There are very few of us dragons in the world and most are too busy with their own mortals. The only companionship I do have come from the awe and worship in the people’s eyes. My prowess is basically endless, I can do whatever I want. But….I want a friend.

And I can't get that here now. I shift into water and start my journey with a thrum of excitement.

There are screams. I flinch as a small child wails. It hasn't even been that long since I last heard….

I don't reveal myself. I don't know why. Surely, my presence would ease the humans’ distress. Then I look up. And I am glad that I have decided to stay hidden.

There is a large shape looming over the small village. Dear me, that is a fearsome sight. If the mortals saw me, they would have assumed that I came to wreak more havoc on their quaint little town.

It's a western dragon! Someone potentially as powerful as myself. Although we both share the title of dragon, there are some very distinct differences. For one, those are some massive wings. Secondly, it has very rough edges, sharp nails and scales covering every inch of its body whereas I have whiskers and soft feathers. There is a hungry glint in its eyes as it torches the village to the ground. It's vengeance.

This worries me. Who could have hurt such a beautiful, but deadly creature for a glimmer of satisfaction to light up its face as it spits its flames?

I hear a shout, triumphant cries, as the warriors arrived to kill the fire-breathing beast.

Well that won't do.

I make it so all of the warriors’ attacks miss. It alerts the other dragon to their fury. And to my presence.

A look of utter bewilderment crosses its features before it turns and flees the remains of the village. Its mighty beats of its wings are drowned out by the victorious cheers of the now much smaller village as they sound out behind me but I couldn't have cared less.

I couldn't bring myself to sympathize with the mortals’ losses during the attack. I may be kind, but karma is a big factor in my sympathy.

I swiftly fly after the other dragon, leaving behind the broken village, in pursuit of my soon-to-be friend.

It's just the two of us in the open sky. Hard eyes narrow in suspicion as they swivel over in my direction and the other dragon finally turns around to face me.

“What?” it snarls. Wow, westerners are so rude.

“I was wondering if you were alright.” It comes out like a question.

It scoffs. Well. “Why don't you ask those morsels down there? Aren't you supposed to be helping them? Yeah, I know about you easterners,” it adds when it sees my confused expression, “‘brings prosperity and good luck’. You're essentially gods, aren't you?” It wasn't a question.

“We’re not. Gods, that is. We're more like messengers of the universe.”

It grumbles, “Conceited, the lot of you.”

I bristle. “Well, you obviously came here for a reason. To tell me that I bring dishonor to my family? That I shouldn't have burned their little village to ashes? That I should be better than this? Piss off, I won't be your little pity project.” It spits embers in my face and storms off.

Really, I'm not going to make it easy for it by backing off now. I shoot a toothy grin at its back and fly after it.

A deep and heavy sigh breaks through the silence. “Damn, you're stubborn.” It's cracking. I'm ecstatic.

I blink innocently up at the swirling pools of fire it has for eyes. “Whatever do you mean?” I try to hide my growing smirk. By the frown on its face, I've failed miserably. Although I wasn't really trying that hard.

“This- whatever this is, stop it! I already told you to piss off!”

“Not until you tell me that you're alright.”

Various emotions fly by in a blur before settling on an affronted stare. Another sigh. “I'm fine.”

“Honestly.”

They make a noise of frustration before leveling me with a look that would kill on sight. Through gritted teeth, it replies with “I'm….better than before the attack.”

That was this morning, I can still see the flames licking at everything in sight. Spots of light dancing across the other dragon's scales, lightening its dark body with red flecks.

I nod. Right now, it is night and I am in dire need to some sleep. My silver coat is special, when the moonlight hits it, it gives off a faint golden glow. I've only ever approached humans at night - it turns less heads - so they bask in my radiance.

They hesitated for a second then barreled on ahead. “You don't have anywhere to go do you.”

Well, I mean, when you put it that way, I sound pathetic. “Yes.”

A sigh. I'm starting to think its vocabulary is mostly comprised of sighs.

“There's a clearing about a hundred feet in that direction.” It points towards the east. “Any closer and you're dead.”

“Why are you doing this still? It's been two weeks!”

I've just bestowed this area of forest with good luck to increase the chances of prey passing by.

“I already told you, I want to help.”

“Yes, but why?” They sound frustrated. Good, I think, maybe now we can talk for more than three minutes.

“Maybe I just want to be your friend.” I reply nonchalantly, even though I was anything but.

They look taken aback by that, as if the thought never crossed their mind. Then they chuckle, chuckle, and it turns into booming bellows.

“Alright, I'll humor you.” The laughter dies down. “But I'm not exactly a great candidate for a companion now am I?”

“What do you mean?” Puzzled, I turn to face them better.

“Well, you're a symbol of protection and good fortune, I bring death and danger wherever I go. I am also very prickly and anitsocial and will push you away constantly. Surely, this friendship will fall flat.”

“Ah, but I've already seen the good qualities in you.” I move a foot forward.

They start with surprise. Then furrows their brow. “What?”

“During the attack,” they wince at this but otherwise holds their ground, “you seemed hurt. I saw that gleam in your eyes then. You were planning on hurting whoever it was that hurt you back and just as painful.

“I have already seen death and destruction.” I think back to the war that raged across my lands despite my pleas to stop it. “I know what death looks like and how others look when a loved one’s been taken too soon from them. And I saw that in you. You had good reason to burn whoever it was to a crisp.” Another look of astonishment, and perhaps amusement, flickers briefly across their face at this.

“Besides, who else could I possibly make friends with who would treat me like them, as a friend? And I like you. I've never had actual friends before so my standards are pretty low.” I admit the last part quietly.

A pause.

“Well….I guess since I'm never getting rid of you,” they shoot a look at me as if they were asking instead of declaring their decision. They bow towards me. “My name is Atlas.”

I grin at them. Atlas grins back.

“I don't have a name, but I was called the Moon Dragon on multiple occasions.”

Atlas snorts. “Of course,” they mutter quietly, but they still that grin gracing their face so I don't take it to heart.

“Well, friend, I guess you can come along with me.” I smile stupidly at being addressed as friend. I feel my whiskers floating higher and higher above my face in elation.

I've made a friend, and I'm never letting go of them.

#my writing #i'm proud of this #dragons #the prompt was an eastern dragon gradually befriends a western dragon #short story #my post

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wrenhyperfixates · 4 years

Text

Of All the Places

Chapter 2

Pairing: Loki x reader Series Summary: Washing up in a small town in Oklahoma was definitely not part of Loki’s plan when he came to conquer Midgard. There is one good thing about it, though: No one recognizes him as the one who just wreaked havoc in New York. So, Loki plans to recover from the battle and move on with his life. The only problem? He’s not sure he can leave you. Chapter Summary: It’s a new day and Loki meets the rest of your family. He begins to formulate a plan, but it’s derailed by your hospitality before it can even begin. Chapter Warnings: none A/N: Alright, here we go. Chapter 2! Let me know what you think, and if anyone has any predictions they’d like to share, I would love to hear! Updates every Friday. Enjoy :) P.S. It’s spooky season! That has absolutely nothing to do with this fic, but it’s one of my favorite times of year

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiantfavs

✥ Start at Beginning ✥ | ← Previous Chapter | Next Chapter →

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

Loki woke up feeling a lot more alert than he had the previous day. After convincing you that he had amnesia, he spent the rest of the day drifting in and out of slumber, assisting his rapidly healing body get better even faster. He got out of the bed and stretched his aching muscles before scanning the room with fresh eyes. It was even more bare than he had originally realized, but he could tell from patches of less faded paint and wood that there was a time when it wasn’t so sparsely decorated. He flipped a switch by the entrance and the lights came on, sending a surge of panic through him that had him running over to the TV. He let out a sigh of relief when it still did’t work. Though, perhaps that was just because he was so terrible at using Midgardian technology. He stilled for a second and heard a faint mechanical hum easily identified as a generator. The cable would be back sooner rather than later, he was sure, but from looking out the bedroom’s single window, Loki knew he was in the middle of nowhere and that the internet connection was probably spotty at best. With any luck, he would be fully healed in the next few hours and could take his leave.

As he worked on massaging out the remaining dull ache in his body, Loki’s eyes finally landed on a bright pink piece of paper left atop a pile of clothes. His eyes skipped to the bottom where the signature was and, seeing that it bore your name, he went back up to the top to read it. He tugged off his sweaty, bloody clothes and pulled on the ones you’d written were left for him. The material of the shirt was soft enough, but the sweatpants were dreadfully baggy for someone who preferred form-fitting clothes that displayed his physique. Certainly, though, you’d been thinking of the comfort level of what you believed to be a very injured mortal, so he tried to remain thankful. Loki folded up his old clothes and left them in the spot where his new ones had been moments ago.

Back at the window, Loki was once again trying to determine precisely where he was. Besides the landscape, your voice and that of your father’s provided some clues to the most likely locations. He still had to be in North America, he was sure, and though he suspected it was the United States, there wasn’t anything confirming it at the moment. Your father did have a slight twang to his voice, though, so it supported his theory that he was probably in one of the southern states. Other than that, all Loki could determine was that this was a farm; a nice remote farm where he could hide from his oaf of a brother and his new overly heroic friends.

Loki called out to the Tesseract, and it appeared in his hands. Such power for such a tiny object, he thought as he turned it over in his hand. The last time it rested in his palm, he’d not fully been himself. Even so much as looking at it made him feel a little queasy now as he thought of all the crimes he’d committed with it. For it. But when his life is on the line, Loki had learned, there is very little he’d not do to save himself. It was one similarity he shared with mortals that he’d rather not. It was also one of the few he’d actually admit were there. But, no, some mortals were righteous beings. He knew that, but had trouble separating those of a higher caliber from the rest of the species. He wondered what kind of mortal you were, before being pulled out of his musings by a delicious aroma. He debated for a minute before once again tucking the Tesseract away in its dimensional pocket and heading out of the room, down the stairs, towards the amazing scent coming from a lower floor.

“Not a thing,” he heard your voice ring out as he got closer.

“Or so he says,” responded an unfamiliar female voice.

When he rounded the corner he saw it belonged to a woman that must be your mother, or else your older doppelgänger because of how alike the two of you looked. Your dispositions, though, could not have been more different. The first person to notice him lurking half-in, half-out of the room was a small boy who pointed at him.

“New friend!” he cheered. “New friend!”

Such innocence as Loki had never known continuously amazed him. He feared he could be dangerous for this child, but he would be gone so soon that he wouldn’t even be a blip in the boy’s memory.

“I would very much like to be your friend, indeed,” Loki said, crouching down to the boy’s height as he toddled over. The adults in the room all shot each other glances, but no one moved to do anything. “And what might your name be?”

“I’m Matt. And I’m this many,” the child responded, proudly holding up four fingers.

“A pleasure to meet you, Matt. My name is Loki.”

“How many are you?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Oh, far too many to count on fingers, little one. In fact, I am 1,047 years old,” he said, realizing that it would probably just be seen as a joke to amuse the boy, rather than a fact.

He laughed at Loki’s statement, but before he could reply, a woman that was presumably his mom called him over. “Don’t bother our guest right now, Matt. He’s still recovering,” she scolded.

“I assure you, it is completely fine, Mrs...?”

“Johnson. But, please, feel free to call me Ana. And this is my husband, John.”

“Glad to make your acquaintance,” Loki charismatically said, though on the inside he was laughing at the name “John Johnson.” These mortals and their foolish names. “And I do believe we already met,” he added, turning to you.

“Yes, we did. You were so out of it I wasn’t quite sure you remembered. This is Mama,” you said, gesturing to the woman who Loki had correctly identified as your mother.

“Hello,” she drawled, fixing the god with an icy stare.

“Papa, did you hear? Loki’s awake,” you told the man walking out of the kitchen with a plate of light brown disks stacked high.

“Glad you’re up, son. Just in time for pancakes, too,” he said, immediately diffusing the tension brewing between Loki and Mama. “Come on, plop yourself down on a seat over here. You must be pooped, and I promise we don’t bite.”

Loki sauntered over to the chair Papa had gestured to and sat down. Feeling a fuzzy mass moving between his sprawled legs, he peered down and saw a grey-brown cat under the table. He’d never been one for pets, but the soft fur was comforting to his weary soul.

“Taffy,” you tsked at the feline before looking back up at Loki with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I hope you’re not allergic.”

“Do not worry, I am not. At least,” he added, remembering his lie from the day prior, “I do not remember that I am.”

Loki appraised your charming family in your quaint farmhouse, almost feeling bad to intrude. Though, he reminded himself, he’d be out of your hair before you knew it. Papa was the only one happily chattering on about this year’s harvest, oblivious to the tension at the table, or else ignoring it. The God of Mischief refocused on the plan he’d created this morning; he needed answers. You were seated beside him and, besides your father and nephew, the only one who didn’t seem wary of him. And you were really the only viable option as Loki didn’t want to get sucked into a conversation about the wheat crop with your father, and Matt was at the age where he was only vaguely aware he was on planet Earth.

“If you do not mind,” he started, turning to you, “I have a few questions.”

“Of course you do. Sorry, I’m such an idiot,” you said smacking your forehead. “Please, ask away.”

The way you immediately seemed to blame and degrade yourself reminded Loki of himself. The difference, however, was that you did it aloud while Loki kept it bottled up. Whose way was better, he didn’t know. Perhaps neither was really good.

“It is quite alright,” he reassured you. “To begin, where exactly are we?”

Apparently it was some hole in the wall in Oklahoma, so Loki had been fairly correct in his middle of nowhere assessment. Apparently, you weren’t outrageously far from Oklahoma City, though Loki felt it best he avoid cities for a little bit. The nearby town that your farm was technically a part of was a very close knit community, so you knew that wasn’t where he was from.

“I see,” he said, planning his next move. “And that is how far from New York?”

“Far. Why? Is that where you’re from?” you asked, getting excited for Loki that he might already be getting his memory back.

“I am not sure,” Loki lied. “I just seem to think that is where I was headed. Or coming from.”

“Maybe you were at some kind of convention,” John offered, tuning in to the conversation. “Aren’t those a big thing in New York City?”

“It would sure explain the clothes!” Papa added.

“Great. Let’s send him back there,” Mama said, already standing up like she intended to drive him there right at the moment.

“Mama,” you harshly whispered, hating how unwelcoming she was being.

“Maybe he was on vacation from England. He does have an accent,” Ana chimed in, hoping to prevent a fight.

“I am afraid that I do not remember,” Loki muttered.

He was thankful no one was even concerned about how he arrived here. There was something else, too. He was feeling uncharacteristically ashamed because of how helpful you all were being. Well, most of you were being, anyway. He reminded himself again that he would be gone within the hour.

“It’s ok,” you soothed. “Like I said yesterday, you can stay here for as long as you need. In fact, I insist that you do.”

“I... Thank you.”

Loki still planned to leave rather quickly, but the kind look in your eyes compelled him to stay for a little while longer. After all, it couldn’t hurt to think about his next move a bit more. If he were to use the Tesseract again, Heimdall would surely notice. So, he’d lie low for a while and then get off this accursed planet.

“Well if he’s going to be staying here, he better help out some,” Mama grumbled. “I won’t have any freeloaders on my farm.”

“Now now, honey,” Papa said, patting her hand. “He’s still injured, after all.”

“On the contrary, I would happy to help,” Loki interjected, shooting a charming smile at Mama. “I am feeling much better now.”

“See, Earl,” Mama said triumphantly. “He’s fine.”

Everyone else tried to fight on Loki’s behalf but, between him and Mama, it was a losing battle. Eventually, it was time to clean up from breakfast, and you took him away from the clattering of empty dishes to find him so work clothes. The trickster god got a much better look at the rest of the house while you led him higher and higher until you reached the attic. You hesitated a second before opening a box labeled “James’s Clothes.” As you gently picked up the shirt on top, Loki peered over your shoulder wondering who this stuff belonged to.

“My brother’s,” you began before he could ask, sensing the question on his tongue. “We were going to donate them anyway, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter. And don’t worry, I’ll talk to Mama before she sees you. I’d give you some of John’s things, or Papa’s even, but you know.”

Indeed, Loki did know. Though he was roughly the same height as both the men, he was much leaner than they were. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing he understood. Your little distracted speech left him with even more questions than before, but something in him was screaming not to push you, to think of someone else for once. So, all he said was thank you. After a quick pit stop in the room from the night before to change into the bundle of clothes you’d given him, Loki made his way back downstairs where yet another argument was taking place. He was certain that his arrival was causing more tension than normal. His mind briefly flitted to his own family. It all seemed so picturesque, once, but that time was long gone. His mother—or Queen Frigga, as he supposed he should start calling her—never changed. She was as kind and gentle as ever, yet still possessed this refined regality and power. In other words, she was the complete opposite of Mama, who turned on her heel and made a disgruntled sigh as she exited when Loki appeared.

“There ya are, son,” Papa greeted once she was gone. “We had an idea while you were up there. We should make you up a missing person ad. I’m sure someone’s bound to know who you are.”

There was that sickeningly Thor-esque optimism in Papa’s voice. Not to mention the nickname “son” which, for someone like Loki at least, was one of the worst thing he could be called. He did his best not to grimace.

“No thank you,” he replied, before continuing at the behest of your confused looks. “I certainly would not want to put you out any more than I already have.”

“Nonsense. We just gotta find the camera,” Papa said, already moving past him.

Loki just sighed, deciding he’d find a way to stall later. When he finally looked back at you, your hands were clasped behind your back and you were nervously shifting your weight.

“In the meantime,” Loki began, picking up where he left off with your father, “why not show me what I may help with?”

You took him out to the chicken coop and taught him how to collect eggs. He supposed it made sense this was the task left for him considering you all still thought he was a fragile human. As you taught him, you prattled on about your life and your family. You mentioned how Mama met Papa, and how your sister met John, but nothing about your brother. Loki was on the verge of asking, but he didn’t want to make his time with you awkward. Even more than that, he didn’t want it to seem like he cared. No need to cause any extra pain when he inevitably left, right? Though your glittering eyes and stunning smile were working overtime to convince him otherwise.

“That’s all there is to it,” you said, finishing up your tutorial. “Any questions?”

“None at all. You are an excellent teacher.”

You two shared a laugh, and Loki was shocked by how easily conversation was flowing. Though, he let you do most of the talking, lest he reveal something that does not align with the rest of his story. All too soon, you had to leave to take care of your other chores. For a second, Loki felt as if he missed you already, but he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind and focused on the task at hand. Just a week, he repeated in his mind as he gently placed eggs in the basket you’d given him. Just a week.

As he approached the farmhouse, he noticed a thick newspaper on the long driveway. He went over to examine it and, sure enough, he’d made the headlines. No clear photos of him attached, luckily, but the clothes were distinctive enough that you would recognize him for sure. Loki looked side to side before performing a quick spell to get rid of the paper. He headed back over to the house before anyone could notice him, ignoring the annoyingly persistent guilt bubbling within him.

“Just a week,” he muttered to himself again as he neared where you were on the front porch. “Just a week.”

But deep down, he already knew it would be much longer than that.

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words-writ-in-starlight · 7 years

Note

So, you mentioned there are different type of magic users in your Alleirat story. Any chance we could get a break down of the different types?

GODDAMNRIGHT YOU CAN

So Isuppose the thing that bears mentioning that the way magic works in Alleirat isthat a magic user (called a ‘worker,’ except for those who use fire magic) hasinherent ability for a mode of using magic—they can channel magic in fire, inwater, in plants, in metal, whatever, but they can’t do magic in anything else. Someone who can channel magic through livingplants can’t do the same with thread or water or fire, and they’ll never beable to learn. So this can get REALLY specificreally fast—someone might specifically be a silk worker, for example, or abronze worker. It’s more common,however, to specialize into a wide category, like ‘weather’ or ‘metal,’ so I’llcover a few of the more common and/or pertinent ones.

Firemagic, obviously. Fire magic is reveredas blessed by the Wanderer, the Alleirai god of fire, battle, and lies. Brenneth, the main character, is a smith,which—in this universe—means that she’s specifically a broadly trainedblacksmith with the ability to work in fire magic. This is pretty much what itsays on the tin, with one major exception: unlike most fantasy universes wherea mage can summon and throw fireballs, this is mundane fire, which means it needs fuel. A fire worker of sufficient power can project a pillar of fire, but it’sincredibly short lived and impractical as a weapon. Combat fire workers generally carry smallgrenade-like packages that splash flammable oil over their target, when theycan then ignite with ease.

Brenneth is something of an exception to thisrule, because her trademark is something called white fire—white in Alleirat indicating death/deadly. White fire isn’t actually white in color, butit’s the colloquial name for dragon fire, which needs no oxygen and no fuel savefor the magical power and anger of the wielder. Brenneth earned her title of Fireheart by her preferred fighting styleof igniting her sword with white fire—she refuses to teach this trick to anyoneon the argument that it’s a dangerous technique with the potential for massdestruction, and she expects it to die with her.

Weathermagic, also obviously. Weather magic isrevered as blessed by the Lady of Stars, the Alleirai goddess of storms, stars,and fallen things. Crispin is a powerfulweather worker—and a fallen thing, and yes I am very pleased with that goddess. Again, pretty much what it says on the tin,although to varying degrees. Someweather workers expend themselves completely bringing down a single lightningstrike, others—like Crispin—can rally hurricanes and still be standing. Crispin is one of only a very few weatherworkers in history to be powerful enough to summon winds that are sufficiently strongand precise to carry him. Much like firesmiths, combat weather workers often use an aid to direct their magic—it’senergetically taxing to aim lightning strikes, more so the further from one’sself the strike is going, so many weather workers carry rapiers. They strike the rapier, which is close to themselvesand strongly conductive, and then direct the charge at their target.

Plantworkers are also pretty much what it says on the tin, with the exception that alot of plant workers have actual plant heritage—briatan are tree-people, descended from the universe-equivalent ofdryads. The briatan are more powerful, but less precise than pure human planetworkers. Irea Akekrei, generally knownas Krei, the daughter of Brenneth’s old right hand woman and Brenneth’s newmilitary ally, is briatan and apowerful plant worker—akekrei means oak. Krei, like many briatan plantworkers, has tattoos in various plant-based inks on her arms, which she canmanipulate and move around at will, and, also like many plant workers, shewears cuttings of vines and other plants on her person, which she can use asweapons. You know that scene in Sky Highwhere Layla flips out? Yeah, like that.

Flesh workers,ironically, are probably the most feared people in Alleirat, save Crispinhimself. Flesh workers channel magicthrough living flesh, which means they’re the magical healers in-universe. However, a flesh worker is equally capable ofhealing a mortal wound or of clappingtheir hand to someone’s chest and making their heart explode, making every bonein their body shatter, or flaying them alive. The moment blood stops moving through the body, a flesh worker’s poweris no longer capable of affecting an individual, but up until that point… As long as they have skin-to-skin contact, aflesh worker can do pretty much whatever they want, no matter howphysiologically improbable it is. Theonly thing they really can’t do isreattach a completely severed limb. Incidentally, this is the most common kind of worker overall—and again,there are degrees—and the most common type of worker to go full dark side. There’s a whole cadre of flesh workerassassins because, shocker, they’re the best at it.

Deathworkers, on the other hand, are viewed in a similar way to healers in mostfantasy universes—people literally cannot fathoma death worker going dark side. Deathworkers are basically a variant on necromancers, with the ability to seespirits who’ve become trapped on the “wrong side of the day” (Alleirai religionsays that spirits exist between days/on the other side of a day, and keep watchon their loved ones) and raise the dead as…puppets, I guess. It’s very rare that the latter ability isused, and generally death workers are sort of like grief counselors/priests,responsible for performing funerals and speaking to the bereaved.

That being said, death workers are fearsome in combat. There are stories from back when Alleirat wasa bunch of small warring city-states, millennia ago, about death workers atwar, and this is how they usually go.

Two armies have been at war for years, and one,City-State A, is finally losing. Theyknow that if City-State B wins the war, they’ll sweep in and slaughter everyoneleft in City-State A, burn their cities—the traditional Sack of Magdeburg-esquesituation. So, a powerful death workerwho’s been serving to ensure that all the spirits of the dead are safely on theother side of the day goes to her lord.

“Lord,” she inevitably says, “I have the powerto end this war, here and now.”

Her lord demurs, because what she’s offering ishorrific in the Alleirai culture—you neverever tamper with a dead body except to put them to rest in the mannerspecified by the dead person. This is acapital crime.

“I will do this, and you cannot stop me,” shesays. “So bring in all the guards andtell the camp to go to sleep, and I will save us, and then I will die for whatI’ve done.”

Her lord agrees, because what other choice isthere? And the camp goes to sleep, andthe death worker walks out onto the battlefield, where the bodies of the deadare neatly laid out and waiting to be laid to rest. She stands in the middle of the dead, and shereaches out her hands, and all around her, they stand and take up weapons andmarch toward the enemy lines. There is asingle night of battle. Every enemysoldier who falls is raised to march in the death worker’s army, and there arealways more dead bodies to drive forward.

The sun rises. The camp wakes. The enemy linesare decimated, littered with dead bodies, and some distance away, somewherewith a clear view of the entire battle, the death worker lies dead.

The worker wreaking havoc as a weapon of alordling when Brenneth and Crispin come back to Alleirat? A death worker fallen through from Earthnamed Hoshiko, with no friends, no support, and a conviction that she’s goinginsane. ILY Shiko, I’m sorry I’m mean.

#asked and answered #anonymous #worldwalker #starlight writes stuff #original work #sorry this got long #there's a lot of magic in this universe okay #like 1/4 people is a worker of respectable power #but the ones that matter are death workers plant workers weather workers and fire smiths #flesh workers are just cool #flesh workers make great assassins guys

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iamtherainqueen · 7 years

Text

Shit hits the Fan

I tried to remember the last time I had seen Alec this upset: or if I ever had at all. Over the centuries, he had mastered the art of controlling his emotions: but in my presence alone that perfect control had started to slip. He was fighting it hard of course: I wouldn’t have expected anything less.

We stopped as soon as we were sure we awre out of earshot of our gracious hosts: no need to involve them in our mess any more than necessary.

It was times such as this that really made me appreciate what a perfect weapon he truly was: how dangerous and lethal he could choose to be in the fraction of a second. He looked like the caged lions Caius used years ago: pacing wildly, eyes darting, searching for any excuse or opportunity to attack.

“Alec…” I murmured gently and then immediately found myself pinned against the trunk of a tree behind me: not very unlike where I had been an hour ago, trapped in Anthony’s embrace. The only difference between then and now I began to realize was that now I wasn’t afraid.

The wind rushed out of my lungs from the impact of his body against mine and still I was not afraid. Here in his arms was where I had always felt safest.

“I could let you live without me.” He growled, from deep in his throat like he did when he was really angry. “You know that I would… If that was what you wanted. I would do anything that you asked me to…” He continued, forcing himself to control his fury: tracing the curves of her collar bone with his trembling fingers as firmly as he dared.

Kali was anything but fragile, but there was always the truth in the back off his mind that she was half mortal: and that that part of her would always be in some degree of danger in his presence.

“I would do anything for you, Kali.” He repeated. “But I cannot allow you to be hurt, by anyone: intentionally or not.”

“He’s not the same, Alec.” I gasped, his cold fingers making me shiver in the winter air. “He’s changed…and I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid of what he might do.” I gathered what courage I had left and focused on the memory of less than an hour ago, my pupils dilating as I shared the images I was scared for Alec to see: his worst fears come true.

Silence: and then, “He doesn’t love you, Kali.” He whispered coldly, deliberately. “He doesn’t. He loves the fantasy he’s created of you… It’s the only thing that’s kept him going all these years: and that is what makes him dangerous.”

“He has nothing left to lose.” I added quietly, agreeing with him, my breath rapid with adrenaline. We were both clinging to each other now, minds racing. “I love you, Alec.”

My words seemed to surprise him and I felt my heart ache. “Alec, I love you.” I repeated, reaching up to cup his face in my hands. “I love you and I know what I want. I want you, Alec: I always have.”

Everything else seemed to fade away after that, all the fear and uncertainty forgotten when his lips pressed against mine. “Can you ever forgive me?” I asked him, this last anxiety lingering in my mind.

I think I actually smiled when he replied simply, “There is nothing to forgive.”

We were insatiable: frenzied and impatient in the snow around us, ignoring the twigs and leaves that tangled in our hair, the dirt that stained our skin from the forest floor.

There was nothing but us now: him and me, our bodies twisted together.

His weight on top of me was intoxicating and I let myself become drunk with the sensation of his breath on my neck, the burning cool of his hands on my bare skin.

“Oh god, Alec… I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you!”

~ ~ ~

She didn’t know I was there, but he did.

He’d probably known I’d been following them for miles: but this was what he wanted.

I didn’t want to look: but I didn’t have a choice. I needed to see this, to remember and commit every detail of this betrayal to memory.

She had lied to me, lied to my face. Had she ever even considered the possibility of leaving him for me? Really truly considered it? From where I was standing, it certainly didn’t look like it.

She bent to his will, melting under his touch just as easily as she had mine an hour ago. Now, I couldn’t see anything but red.

He’d made sure I’d gotten a perfect view, and it wasn’t until he looked up and locked eyes with me that I found the will to turn and leave: running as fast as I ever had.

This was what she wanted: she had made this abundantly clear. I could still hear her voice ringing in my ears as I ran, in no direction in particular.

I ran and I didn’t stop until I reached the outskirts of what I now knew to be Seattle’s city limits.

She had betrayed me: taken my life and thrown it away without a second thought. She had decided to save my life, with no intention of sharing it with me.

I decided to show her what a mistake that decision truly was.

~ ~ ~

Meeting new people wasn’t exactly Tatiana’s favorite thing to do: in fact she’d spent the majority of her life avoiding it, but she figured she could make an exception. After all, any friend of Edward��s couldn’t be that bad: and if Alice liked him enough to marry him he had to be great.

Reassuring herself with these thoughts she let Edward lead her back down the staircase and out onto the front porch.

The first thing she noticed was his height: he looked particularly tall next to Alice she thought: but then again so did most people. The second thing she noticed were his scars. Bite marks of all different sizes covered his skin like some kind of elaborate tattoo. Clearly this was someone who had fought many battles, and lived to tell about them all. Even Felix and Demetri didn’t have scars like that and they were older than the actual dirt on the ground.

Alice appeared to be physically forcing him to approach the house, dragging him slightly behind her in a way that made Tati think that he probably wasn’t that excited to meet her either.

“Jasper is the newest vegetarian in our family.” Edward whispered, just loud enough so only she could hear. “He had an….accident in September last year. He hasn’t trusted himself since.”

“Tatiana!” Alice grinned once they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Hi, Alice.” Tati smiled in return.

“This is my husband, Jasper.”

Tatiana thought she saw him nod at her but she couldn’t be sure: he looked to be somewhere between anxiety and actual physical pain.

“Hello.” She greeted, deciding to remain where she was: obviously if he wanted to be any closer to her he would. She had never met a vampire who had been tempted by her blood, but Jasper didn’t look the type to take chances ever.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said suddenly, surprising only Tatiana she supposed. “Edward has told us all about you.”

“Oh… Great.” She muttered, fighting the blush she felt rising to her cheeks.

“As if there were anything but good things to say.” Edward chuckled, giving her hand a squeeze.

Alice started to speak again, likely to confirm her brother’s claim, but before she even uttered the first syllable a strange glassy look overcame her, and Tatiana got the impression that she wasn’t standing there with them anymore.

The vision probably only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like hours.

Tatiana hadn’t been blessed with the ability to read minds or see the future, but even she was able to sense the distinct and sudden shift in mood.

“What is it?” She asked, growing more anxious by the second. “Is it Kali?” She continued, assuming the worst. “Is she-“

“She’s fine.” Edward interrupted her before she could get worked up any further.

“It’s not her…” Alice echoed her brother as she came back to earth, the clouded look fading from her eyes. “It’s Anthony. He… He saw Kali and Alec in the woods. They were… He’s very upset.” She summarized, exchanging a glance with Jasper.

Tatiana wasn’t sure if this information made her feel better or worse: worse she decided. “Where is he?” She demanded.

“He hasn’t decided where he’s going…but he’s headed back toward Seattle.”

“What do we do?” Demetri asked, Tati suddenly aware of his and Felix’ sudden appearance among them.

“Nothing.” Lokey replied, emerging from the glass house. “He’s unstable right now, unpredictable. He’s not thinking clearly… Kali is out first and only priority here: and I will not expose her to any more risk than she has been already.”

“So we just let him wreak havoc on the good people of Seattle?” Tati asked, insulted and disturbed by the idea.

“If Anthony chooses to draw that kind of attention to himself, we’ll have no choice but to put him down: it’s the just the chance that we’ve been waiting for.” Lokey shrugged and Tati found herself shocked by his nonchalance.

“Don’t you think that Kali will notice that he’s gone?” Tati grumbled, running out of both arguments and steam. With Alec and Kali gone, Lokey was in charge, and she got the feeling that he’d been preparing for this exact opportunity for a while now.

“That doesn’t matter anymore.” He brushed her off. “Before we left, I spoke with Aro, and he made it very clear. The threat Anthony poses to Kali now is more important than her desire to save him. We’ve let this little experiment go on long enough.”

“Our job is to keep her safe.” Felix added quietly. “Not to ensure she gets everything she wants.”

Tati found herself torn between her duty and her friend. Of course she knew that Alec was a far better match for Kali than Anthony would ever be, but she also knew that Kali would never agree to the plan Lokey had suggested.

Was there any chance for this to be resolved peacefully? Tatiana wasn’t feeling particularly optimistic…

~ ~ ~

Kali was entirely exhausted. Alec had truly been in rare form tonight, and she struggled to gather the energy she had left to even consider making the trek back to the Cullen’s.

Alec seemed more than happy to wait, stretched out in the withered grass around them, her head resting on his chest.

“We should get back.” She sighed. “Anthony will be losing his mind by now...” She didn’t think twice when he didn’t respond: she was used to these one sided conversations in his company.

When she finally managed to find the strength to stand again, she shrugged into her clothes trying her best to make herself look presentable. She hadn’t even taken ten steps back toward the Cullen house before she stopped again, frozen in her tracks by an all too familiar scent.

“He was here.” She whispered. “Anthony was here. You don’t think that he saw-“

She stopped when she turned to face Alec again, the expression on his face telling her everything she needed to know. She didn’t even need to look back where they had been laying, she knew that he had seen everything, she knew that Alec had let it happen.

“What have you done?” She asked, her voice cracking, her heart sinking to her feet.

“He would never have let you go if he thought you still loved him.” He replied simply, quietly. “You know he wouldn’t.”

Kali didn’t know what to say. She felt like her brain had short circuited. She couldn’t seem to speak or even form a complete thought. She couldn’t seem to do anything but run. She turned and ran back toward the Cullen’s home, praying that Anthony would still be there, not looking back once to see if Alec was behind her.

~ ~ ~

A rustle in brush across from the Cullen’s front porch made them all stop momentarily: they were back.

Kali appeared first, and Tati knew immediately by the look on her face that she was well aware of the situation at hand, even if she didn’t have all the details.

Alec followed behind her, maintaining a distance Tatiana thought was unusual.

“Where is he?” Kali demanded, searching each and every one of their faces, her own turning to rage when no one offered any information. “Tell me where he is!” She hissed at Demetri, getting as close to in his face as she could considering their height difference.

Demetri glanced at Lokey briefly which only seemed to infuriate Kali more. “You do not answer to him, you answer to me. Now tell me where he is or I swear-“

“Kali.” Tati interrupted, moved to action by her friend’s clear distress. “Stop, just stop for a second ok? Please.” As ready as everyone seemed to keep Kali out of the loop, Tati couldn’t keep silent. She’d been meaning to speak with Kali since her first conversation with Anthony in the dungeon, and it was long overdue. The consensus seemed to be that it would be easier to control Kali by withholding information from her, and she couldn’t bring herself to agree. Kali deserved to know everything, to understand everything, then she might be able to make a decision with a clear mind. “Come with me.” She asked. “I’ll explain everything, I promise.”

Kali was furious, but it was quite obvious to her who was trying to help her here and who was not. She trusted Tatiana with her life, more than any of the men beside her at the moment all of whom would always bow down to her father before her. “Fine.” She conceded and turned back toward the woods, the only place one could have a private conversation around here it seemed.

Alec stepped toward her briefly, his mouth open as if to say something but he didn’t get a chance. “Don’t.” Kali snapped, avoiding him completely. She would deal with him later. “Let’s go.” She nodded toward Tati, and took off back into the forest, the last place she wanted to be.

Everyone was staring at Tati now, wondering what exactly she was trying to do. “I’ll be back soon.” She promised Edward, trying her best not to make eye contact with anyone else.

She started down the steps and after Kali but hesitated for a moment, stopping only to speak with Jasper briefly, “It was nice to meet you.” She smiled half-heartedly, hoping he would understand.

She was surprised when he smiled back, a genuine smile. “The pleasure was all mine.” He replied, a look of approval in his eyes that she didn’t really understand.

Figuring Kali was already halfway to Canada by now, Tati smiled again, meaning it this time, and ran as fast as she could, following the trail she had left behind.

#caroline #rpg #writing #aw hell yes #shit is getting real

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mysticnaturechild · 6 years

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I decided to do these together not intentionally but because they go together very well. We’re Going to touch on Samhain/Witch’s New Year and the Thining Veil. I hope to give some great information on both of these subjects, and maybe inspire someone that has been wanting to start a little boost.

Most know Samhain as Halloween happens on October 31st each year right in the middle of Fall, but some would ask why would the pagans new year happen at this time? It has to do with how we view life and death. It also is old crops and vegetation die to be reborn in the spring as new life. Samhain is the time that the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is the thinnest. In ancient times it was believed that this is the time that our ancestors would return to visit us, to give help and advice. People set out lights in hollowed-out turnips to guide the spirits of the dead (the fore-runners of the modern Jack-o-lanterns) and put out food as an offering (which evolved to the modern tradition of “trick-or-treating”). Pagans are not afraid of the spirits of the dead. They are our friends and family. They are our ancestors who gave us life. We call them our “beloved dead”. Death is a natural part of life, in fact, a gift of the Goddess. If nobody died, there would be no room for new things to be born, not change or growth. Nobody really knows what happens when they die. Most Pagans believe that our spirits live on in one way or another while our bodies return to the elements and sustain other lives. There are many beautiful names for the place where our spirits go: Summerland (the place that is always summer and never winter), Tir n’a Nob (The Irish “Land of the Youth” where spirits grow younger and younger until they are young enough to be reborn) , Avalon (the Isle of Apples, where the dead wander in the orchards of the Goddess, where the trees bear fruit and flowers at the same time), and Heaven (where streets are paved with gold, and the spirits are transformed into angles and spend eternity in the presence of God). However we imagine this place, it is a place of peace and rest where we stay for a time until we are ready to be reborn again, perhaps as an animal or a tree or as another person. In each life, we learn new lessons, so our spirits are always growing wiser. Samhain is also our New Year’s Day. It may seem strange to have a new year begin in the fall when the days are growing shorter and colder. But death and birth are two sides of the same coin. It is the time of death and the time of new beginnings, when we think about hope and change and what the next year will bring. At Mabon, the God Lugh died in order for us to live through His abundance. During the intervening time, He has gathered the spirits of those that have died over the year and waits for the night so that they may pass through the gate to the other side. This is the time to revere our ancestors and to say farewell to those that have passed this last year. The abundance of the fields now gives way to the power and strength of the Horned God of the Hunt. This begins a time of darkness when the land begins its slumber and from now until Yule, the days grow shorter and darker. Winter storms begin to sweep, down from the north. The time when the earth rests is begun at Samhain. We celebrate the year passed and the year to come. We light bonfires and perform rituals to honor those that have gone before. A sacrifice of bread and wine are offered to the Gods as thanks for Their guidance throughout the past year and in advance for the year to come. Originally the “Feast of the Dead” was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the “wandering dead”. Today a lot of practitioners still carry out that tradition. Single candles were lit and left in a window to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones home. Extra chairs were set to the table and around the hearth for the unseen guest. Apples were buried along roadsides and paths for spirits who were lost or had no descendants to provide for them. Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos. The Wee Folke became very active, pulling pranks on unsuspecting humans. Traveling after dark was not advised. People dressed in white (like ghosts), wore disguises made of straw or dressed as the opposite gender in order to fool the Nature spirits. This was the time that the cattle and other livestock were slaughtered for eating in the ensuing winter months. Any crops still in the field on Samhain were considered taboo and left as offerings to the Nature spirits. Bonfires were built, (originally called bone-fires, for after feasting, the bones were thrown in the fire as offerings for healthy and plentiful livestock in the New Year) and stones were marked with peoples names. Then they were thrown into the fire, to be retrieved in the morning. The condition of the retrieved stone foretold of that person’s fortune in the coming year. Hearth fires were also lit from the village bonfire to ensure unity, and the ashes were spread over the harvested fields to protect and bless the land. Various other names for this Greater Sabbat are Third Harvest, Samana, Day of the Dead, Old Hallowmas (Scottish/Celtic), Vigil of Saman, Shadowfest (Strega), and Samhuinn. Also known as All Hallow’s Eve, (that day actually falls on November 7th), and Martinmas (that is celebrated November 11th), Samhain is now generally considered the Witch’s New Year.(by Mike Nichols copyright by MicroMuse Press)

HERBS:

Pumpkin, Apple, Nuts, Thistle, Chrysanthemum, Broom, Oak leaves, Sage

INCENSE:

Apple, Nutmeg, Sage, Mint

COLOR:

Black, Orange

DECORATIONS:

Jack-o-Lantern, Photos of deceased loved ones, Apples, Fall leaves, Autumn flowers, Squashes.

FOOD:

Apples, Nuts, Cider, Mulled wine, Pumpkin dishes, Cranberry muffins, Herbal tea.

The Altar

The Altar at Samhain can be covered with a black or orange cloth. Upon it, pictures of our beloved dead and things that remind us of them are very appropriate. Symbols of the season, such as pumpkins, pomegranates, gourds, Indian corn, and fallen leaves make wonderful and beautiful decorations.

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THE FEAST OF SAMHAIN

Because the climate of the seasons was once so difficult to predict, Samhain was a celebration of bounty but also a time of fear. No matter how much preparation was done, one could never be sure what was to come or whether the provisions for winter would be sufficient. Oftentimes, an early frost was interpreted as otherworldly spirits blighting the vegetation with their breath. This type of “weather as omen” belief may have given rise to the notion of dead spirits cavorting about and faeries plotting to steal away human beings on Samhain night.

In faerie lore, Samhain is the night of the “wild hunt,” a notorious and rambunctious ride when scores of faeries come racing out from within their hollow hills to wreak havoc throughout the towns. Meandering mortals avoided traversing near the sidhe, or faerie mounds, out of fear of abduction. And if one did venture out during the wild hunt, it was only under the auspices of a protective charm, such as salt or iron. Turning one’s clothing inside out was another way to protect against faerie mischief. Faerie lore claims that a stone with a natural hole through it, dry but found near the water, would enable the wearer to enter the faerie realm and return from it unharmed. This same type of amulet was also believed to protect horses from faerie mischief and theft.

Perhaps it was the practice of wearing charms for protection that led Samhain to become a night for divination. Many different methods of divination were used by the Celts in order for young girls to learn the name of a future husband. Others sought to get a glimpse of the future and obtain information about a future occupation. Some of the techniques they used included burning nuts in the hearth fire and making assumptions based upon which nuts exploded and which did not; pouring molten lead into cool water, then interpreting the shapes that formed in order to get clues about a future occupation; and the baking of soddag valloo, or “dumb cakes,” a Manx Gaelic custom involving cakes, which were baked directly on top of the embers of the fire. Eating the cake in silence was thought to encourage prophetic dreams in young women seeking to learn the identity of their future husbands, provided that they left the room without turning their backs on the fire. Babies born on Samhain were thought to possess divinatory power and were often treated with special respect as well as fear.

Samhain is also the time when rituals were held to honor the dead. Benevolent spirits were beckoned and tempted with favorite foods that they enjoyed during life. Malevolent spirits were banished and kept away. The origin of the jack o’ lantern is rooted in the belief of wandering spirits and ghosts. The lantern’s glow was meant as a beacon for the spirits of the dearly departed, while the terrible faces carved therein were meant to frighten away any spirit with ill intentions. (from The Wiccan Year by Judy Ann Nock)

Myths and Misconceptions:

Contrary to a popular Internet-based (and Chick Tract-encouraged) rumor, Samhain was not the name of some ancient Celtic god of death, or of anything else, for that matter. Religious scholars agree that the word Samhain (pronounced “sow-en”) comes from the Gaelic “Samhuin,” but they’re divided on whether it means the end or beginning of summer. After all, when summer is ending here on earth, it’s just beginning in the Underworld. Samhain actually refers to the daylight portion of the holiday, on November 1st.

All Hallow Mass:

Around the eighth century or so, the Catholic Church decided to use November 1st as All Saints Day. This was actually a pretty smart move on their part – the local pagans were already celebrating that day anyway, so it made sense to use it as a church holiday. All Saints’ became the festival to honor any saint who didn’t already have a day of his or her own. The mass which was said on All Saints’ was called Allhallowmas – the mass of all those who are allowed. The night before naturally became known as All Hallows Eve, and eventually morphed into what we call Halloween.Honoring the Ancestors:

For some of us, Samhain is when we honor our ancestors who came before us. If you’ve ever done genealogy research, or if you’ve had a loved one die in the past year, this is the perfect night to celebrate their memory. If we’re fortunate, they will return to communicate with us from beyond the veil and offer advice, protection, and guidance for the upcoming year.

If you want to celebrate Samhain in the Celtic tradition, spread the festivities out over three consecutive days. You can hold a ritual and feast each night. Be flexible, though, so you can work around trick-or-treating schedules!

Samhain Rituals:

Try one — or all — of these rituals to celebrate Samhain and welcome the new year.

Celebrating the End of the Harvest Samhain Ritual for Animals Honoring the Ancestors Hold a Seance at Samhain Host a Dumb Supper Honor the God and Godde<contributed by Oeflili (Beth Baker) 10-16-13>

Samhain Ritual

Items needed: 4 quarter candles altar decorations stone, feather, water large basket with apples or nuts cakes and wine (good non-alcoholic choice here is apple cider) container to dispose of apple cores

Cast the Circle

East, South, West, North! Let the people gather forth! Air, Fire, Water, Earth! Sacred circle now sees birth!

Call the Quarters

EAST: (Lights Eastern candle) Let there be a light kindled from the spirit. Blessed be this Eastern Gate and blessed be the element of Air.

SOUTH: (Lights Southern candle) Let there be a light increasing and illuminating the South. Blessed be this Southern Gate and blessed be the element of Fire.

WEST: (Lights Western candle) Let there be a light radiating in the West. Blessed be this Western Gate and blessed be the Element of Water.

NORTH: (Lights Northern candle) Let there be a light reflecting in the North. Blessed be this Northern Gate and blessed be the Element of Earth.

Casters: Let these powers be as one.

All: So mote it be.

Here are other things you can do to celebrate Samhain:

Samhain Nature Walk. Take a meditative walk in a natural area near your home. Observe and contemplate the colors, aromas, sounds, and other sensations of the season. Experience yourself as part of the Circle of Life and reflect on death and rebirth as being an important part of Nature. If the location you visit permits, gather some natural objects and upon your return use them to adorn your home.

Seasonal Imagery. Decorate your home with Samhain seasonal symbols and the colors of orange and black. Place an Autumnal wreath on your front door. Create displays with pumpkins, cornstalks, gourds, acorns, and apples. Set candles in cauldrons.

Ancestors Altar. Gather photographs, heirlooms, and other mementos of deceased family, friends, and companion creatures. Arrange them on a table, dresser, or another surface, along with several votive candles. Kindle the candles in their memory as you call out their names and express good wishes. Thank them for being part of your life. Sit quietly and pay attention to what you experience. Note any messages you receive in your journal. This Ancestors Altar can be created just for Samhain or kept year round.

Feast of the Dead. Prepare a Samhain dinner. Include a place setting at your table or at a nearby altar for the Dead. Add an offering of a bit of each beverage being consumed to the cup at that place setting, and to the plate, add a bit of each food served. Invite your ancestors and other deceased loved ones to come and dine with you. To have this as a Samhain Dumb Supper experience, dine in silence. After the feast, place the contents of the plate and cup for the Dead outdoors in a natural location as an offering for the Dead.

Ancestor Stories. Learn about family history. Contact one or more older relatives and ask them to share memories of family members now dead. Record them in some way and later write accounts of what they share.

Give thanks. Share what you learned and have written with another family member or friend. Add names of those you learned about and wish to honor to your Ancestors Altar.

Cemetery Visit. Visit and tend the gravesite of a loved one at a cemetery. Call to mind memories and consider ways the loved one continues to live on within you. Place an offering there such as fresh flowers, dried herbs, or a libation of water.

Reflections. Reflect on you and your life over the past year. Review journals, planners, photographs, blogs, and other notations you have created during the past year. Consider how you have grown, accomplishments, challenges, adventures, travels, and learnings. Meditate. Journal about your year in review, your meditation, and your reflections. Renovate. Select an area of your home or life as a focus. Examine it. Re-organize it. Release what is no longer needed. Create a better pattern. Celebrate renewal and transformation.

Bonfire Magic. Kindle a bonfire outdoors when possible or kindle flames in a fireplace or a small cauldron. Write down an outmoded habit that you wish to end and cast it into the Samhain flames as you imagine release. Imagine yourself adopting a new, healthier way of being as you move around the fire clockwise.

Divinatory Guidance. Using Tarot, Runes, Scrying, or some other method of divination, seek and reflect on guidance for the year to come. Write a summary of your process and messages. Select something appropriate to act upon and do it.

Divine Invocations. Honor and call upon the Divine in one or more Sacred Forms associated with Samhain, such as the Crone Goddess and Horned God of Nature. Invite them to aid you in your remembrance of the Dead and in your understanding of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. If you have lost loved ones in the past year, ask these Divine Ones to comfort and support you.

Transforming Expressions. If you encounter distortions, misinformation, and/or false, negative stereotypes about Paganism and Samhain in the media, contact the source, express your concerns, and share accurate information. Help eradicate derogatory stereotyping with courteous, concise, and intelligent communications.© 2013 Circle Sanctuary, Inc. All rights reserved. https://www.circlesanctuary.org/index.php/celebrating-the-seasons/celebrating-samhain

Crafts that you can do this time of year:

Make a Scrying Mirror

Samhain is a time to do some serious divination – it’s the time of year when the veil between our world and that of the spirits is at its thinnest, and that means it’s the perfect season to look for messages from the metaphysical. Scrying is one of the best-known forms of divination and can be done in a variety of ways. Basically, it’s the practice of looking into some sort of reflective surface — such as water, fire, glass, dark stones, etc. — to see what messages, symbols, or visions may appear. A scrying mirror is a simple black-backed mirror, and it’s easy to make one yourself.

To make your scrying mirror, you’ll need the following: · A clear glass plate · Matte black spray paint · Additional paints (acrylic) for embellishment

To prepare the mirror, first, you’ll need to clean it. Use any glass cleaner, or for a more earth-friendly method, use vinegar mixed with water. Once the glass is clean, flip it over so that the back side is facing up. Lightly spray with the matte black spray paint. For the best result, hold the can a couple of feet away, and spray from side to side. If you hold the can too close, the paint will pool, and you don’t want this. As each coat dries, add another coat. After five to six coats, the paint should be dense enough that you can’t see through the paint if you hold the glass up to a light. Once the paint has dried, turn the glass right side up. Use your acrylic paint to add embellishments around the outer edge of the plate — you can add symbols of your tradition, magical sigils, or even your favorite saying. The one in the photo says, “Thee I invoke by the moonlit sea, the standing stone, and the twisted tree.” Allow these to dry as well. Your mirror is ready for scrying, but before you use it, you may want to consecrate it as you would any other magical item. To Use Your Scrying Mirror If your tradition normally requires you to cast a circle, do so now. If you’d like to play some music, start your cd player. If you’d like to light a candle or two, go ahead, but be sure to place them so that they don’t interfere with your line of vision. Sit or stand comfortably at your workspace. Begin by closing your eyes, and attuning your mind to the energy around you. Take some time to gather that energy. When you are ready to begin scrying, open your eyes. Position yourself so that you can look in the mirror. Stare into the glass, looking for patterns, symbols or pictures — and don’t worry about blinking, it’s fine if you do. You may see images moving, or perhaps even words forming. You may have thoughts pop spontaneously into your head, that seem to have nothing at all to do with anything. Perhaps you’ll suddenly think about someone you haven’t seen in decades. Use your journal, and write everything down. Spend as much time as you like gazing into the mirror — it may be just a few minutes or even an hour. Stop when you begin to feel restless, or if you’re getting distracted by mundane things. When you are finished gazing into the mirror, make sure you have recorded everything you saw, thought and felt during your scrying session. Messages often come to us from other realms and yet we frequently don’t recognize them for what they are. If a bit of information doesn’t make sense, don’t worry — sit on it for a few days and let your unconscious mind process it. Chances are, it will make sense eventually. It’s also possible that you could receive a message that’s meant for someone else — if something doesn’t seem to apply to you, think about your circle of family friends, and who the message might be meant for.

Spirits in the Smoke

Before you get started, be sure to brush up on your Incense 101. By the time Samhain rolls around, your herb garden is probably looking pretty sad. Now’s the time to take all those goodies you harvested and dried in September, and put them to good use. This incense blend is perfect for a Samhain seance, divination session, or for any other autumn working. This recipe is for loose incense, but you can adapt it for stick or cone recipes. As you mix and blend your incense, focus on the goal of your work. Do you wish to contact the spirit of a long-dead ancestor? Are you hoping to bring some visions your way in a dream? Or are you may be looking to enhance your own meditative abilities? Focus your intent as you blend your ingredients. You’ll need: · 2 parts Cinnamon · 1 part ground cloves · 1 part Dragon’s Blood resin · 1 part Hyssop · 1 part Patchouli · 2 parts Rosemary · 1 part Sage · A dash of sea salt · Mixing the Magic · Add your ingredients to your mixing bowl one at a time. Measure carefully, and if the leaves or blossoms need to be crushed, use your mortar and pestle to do so. As you blend the herbs together, state your intent. You may find it helpful to charge your incense with an incantation. For example, if you were going to use your incense during a seance, you could use this: · The veil has thinned, the moon is bright and I blend this magic on Samhain night. Celebrating life and death and rebirth with these herbs, I’ve harvested from the earth. I send my intent by smoke in the air and call on those whose blood I share. I ask my ancestors to guide and watch over me, As I will, so it shall be. · Store your incense in a tightly sealed jar. Make sure you label it with its intent and name, as well as the date you created it. Use within three months, so that it remains charged and fresh.

Make a Witch Bottle

The witch bottle is a magical tool that has been reported in use for centuries. In early times, the bottle was designed as a way to protect oneself from malicious witchcraft and sorcery. In particular, around the time of Samhain, homeowners might create a witch bottle to keep evil spirits from entering the home on Hallow’s Eve. The witch bottle was usually made of pottery or glass, and included sharp objects such as pins and bent nails. It typically contained urine as well, belonging to the homeowner, as a magical link to the property and family within. In 2009, an intact witch bottle was found in Greenwich, England, and experts have dated it back to around the seventeenth century. Around the Samhain season, you may want to do a little bit of protective magic yourself, and create a witch bottle of your own. The general idea of the witch bottle is to not only protect yourself but send back the negative energy to whoever or whatever is sending it your way. You’ll need the following items: · A small glass jar with lid · Sharp, rusty items like nails, razor blades, bent pins · Sea salt · Red string or ribbon · A black candle Fill the jar about halfway with the sharp, rusty items. These were used to deflect bad luck and ill fortune away from the jar. Add the salt, which is used for purification, and finally, the red string or ribbon, which was believed to bring protection. When the jar is halfway filled, there are a couple of different things you can do, depending on whether or not you’re easily repulsed.

Magical Protection

One option is to fill the remainder of the jar with your own urine – this identifies the bottle as belonging to you. However, if the idea makes you a bit squeamish, there are other ways you can complete the process. Instead of urine, use a bit of wine. You may wish to consecrate the wine first before using it in this manner. In some magical traditions, the practitioner might choose to spit in the wine after it’s in the jar because — much like the urine — this is a way of marking the jar as your territory. Cap the jar, and make sure it’s sealed tightly (particularly if you used urine – you don’t want any accidental spillage), and seal it with wax from the black candle. Black is considered handy for banishing negativity. If you’re having trouble finding black candles, you may want to use white instead, and imagine a white ring of protection surrounding your witch bottle. Also, in candle magic, white is typically considered a universal substitute for any other color candle. Now – where to stash your bottle? There are two schools of thought on this, and you can decide which one works best for you. One group swears that the bottle needs to be hidden somewhere in the home – under a doorstep, up in a chimney, behind a cabinet, whatever — because that way, any negative magic aimed at the house will always go straight to the witch bottle, avoiding the people in the home. The other philosophy is that the bottle needs to be buried as far away from the house as possible so that any negative magic sent towards you will never reach your home in the first place. Whichever one you choose, be sure that you’re leaving your bottle in a place where it will remain undisturbed permanently. If you do believe someone may be trying to harm you or your family with malicious magic, be sure to read about Magical Self Defense.

I hope you all enjoy this I tried to get as much information in this as possible and hope that maybe it can inspire someone this Samhain. Love and Light. Blessed Be )0(

Day 13 & 14 I decided to do these together not intentionally but because they go together very well. We're Going to touch on Samhain/Witch's New Year and the Thining Veil.

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wrenhyperfixates · 4 years

Text

Of All the Places

Chapter 4

Pairing: Loki x reader Series Summary: Washing up in a small town in Oklahoma was definitely not part of Loki’s plan when he came to conquer Midgard. There is one good thing about it, though: No one recognizes him as the one who just wreaked havoc in New York. So, Loki plans to recover from the battle and move on with his life. The only problem? He’s not sure he can leave you. Chapter Summary: Loki continues to struggle with his emotions as he tries to figure out his bond with you. On top of all that stress, he finally learns what the rest of the world is hearing about New York. Chapter Warnings: long, angsty, and fluffy A/N: Woohoo! Fourth chapter is here! Totaling almost 5,000 words, the longest thing I have written to date. Any comments, questions, or predictions? I’d love to hear them and chat with you! Well, guys, gals, and non-binary pals, hope you enjoy :) Updates every Friday.

Tag List: @lucywrites02 @frostedgiantfavs @lunarmoon8 @twhiddlestonsstuff

✥ Start at Beginning ✥ | ← Previous Chapter | Next Chapter →

Disclaimer: Gif not mine

Loki hadn’t slept well in days. Between nightmares and dreams of you, his mind was a constant hub of activity. He didn’t need as much sleep as you mortals did, but after the whole ordeal with Thanos, the lack of rest was taking a toll on him. You were the first to notice, and started hovering even more than normal, something Loki was reluctant to admit he liked. In his final days on Asgard, he’d made himself a complete loner, going so far as to isolate himself from Frigga. It was nice to have some companionship again. That was as far as Loki ever let his mind wander, though, cutting himself off before he could deeper analyze the constant pull he felt toward you. Certainly there wasn’t even anything else to analyze anyway, he convinced himself. You were, after all, only human.

Before he could get lost in thought again, Loki refocused on Matt’s caramel blonde hair as he chased him between the barn and the house. The boy’s light curls were the only thing he’d inherited from his father and looked almost exactly like Ana otherwise. It made Loki wonder how he never guessed he was adopted, seeing as he looked nothing like either of his parents. This fresh air was really starting to get to him, he decided, because he was continuously going down these deep contemplative paths in his mind. It was a constant loop of his feelings for you, his true heritage, and how he was taking advantage of your family. Then again, it may have been the traumatic, near-death experiences and hours of torture that was doing this to him. That was the one thing he always liked to forget about.

“Tag, you’re it!” Loki cheered as he tapped Matt.

The challenge in this game, for Loki at least, was not to overtake Matt’s strides too quickly. It was the perfect balance of fake chasing and finding just the right moment to execute the tagging. Still, he was having almost as much fun as the child was.

“Now you’re it!” Matt declared a few minutes later when Loki let the boy catch up to him.

If there was anything to admire about the kid, it was his tireless energy. Loki was glad to have found someone to keep pace with him as far as that went. His mind, too, was kept plenty stimulated by late-night talks with you. Ever since you’d showed him the creek a few days ago, you seemed to talk into the wee hours of the morning. He’d never noticed before just how deep and intelligent mortals could be. It was quite the accomplishment that you were changing so many of his opinions in such a short time. Then he realized he was thinking of you yet again and cut off the train of thought before it could persist.

“Loki. Matt,” Ana called, waving at them from the front porch.

After scooping the boy up in his arms, Loki jogged over to where she was standing. Matt was happily transferred to his mother’s arms as he was carried into the kitchen for snack time. The God of Mischief looked out over your land, trying to give in to the feeling of contentment he was so close to achieving. If only he didn’t constantly have that voice in his head telling him he was a monster, he didn’t belong here. Maybe then he could be happy. A part of him wished he’d lost his memory for real.

“Oh, there you are,” you said, walking out of the house. “I’m heading into town if you want to come with me and see if anything jogs your memory.”

“Yes. I would like that very much.”

As the two of you made your way to the car, you repeatedly tossed and caught your keys in a nervous pattern. Loki held the door open for you as you got in and quickly hurried around to the other side. He stared at a weird strap by his seat as he sat down. You saw his look of befuddlement and couldn’t help but let out a little laugh.

“Do you not remember how to use a seatbelt?” you asked kindly as he nodded his head yes. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you came from an alien planet.”

Then you reached across his seat to buckle him in. Unfortunately, it was a bit farther than you realized, and you fell into Loki, hand splayed on his chest, his hands immediately reaching out to steady you. For a minute, the only sound in the vehicle was your pounding hearts. You cleared your throat in embarrassment as you finished your task. The air between you held a distinct awkwardness, and Loki realized that this was the first time you’d been truly alone since the creek. It sent a thrill down his spine, even as he tried to ignore his racing thoughts. Determined to look anywhere but in your direction, his eyes landed on Mama, scowling in the window. She’d made it clear that she wasn’t keen on him spending so much time with you and Matt. If he was any smarter, any braver, he would listen to her and just leave already.

“So,” you began, clearing your throat again and driving off, “how are you feeling today?”

“I am quite well, thank you. I do believe I am fully healed.”

“Promise to still take it easy, ok?”

“Alright.”

You lapsed into silence as you cruised along the road. Loki stared out the window, hoping to find some clarity in the scenery streaking by. You were a mortal, he should not have felt any sort of attachment to you. Then again, he hadn’t spent time with one since the Middle Ages. It had all been so dreadfully dull back then, but things had changed. You and your family were so exuberant, so captivating. But he was a god, and he should not concern himself with that. In fact, he should be on his way of this planet, which was maybe not so miserable, after all.

Before long, you reached town and pulled into a small parking lot of a building with a sign that said “24 Hour Convenience Store” and had many light-up neon signs, declaring they were open. You got out and Loki followed suit.

“Anything look familiar yet?” you asked. “I know you don’t live here, but maybe you passed through.”

Lying was his specialty, and it’s what he should have done now. He could hear himself in his head, his silver tongue weaving a tale about how things were coming back to him. Then he could pretend to contact someone and create an illusion, so you believed he had a happy reunion with his family. It would be prefect; he would leave and you wouldn’t worry about him. He truly wanted to believe it would perfect, anyway, but it wasn’t. Not if he never saw you again. There must be something special about you, he decided, and the Tesseract brought him here so he could figure it out. That was it. That had to be it.

“I am afraid not,” he replied. “Perhaps I came from the other way.”

“Yeah, maybe. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out,” you comforted him with a hug, mistaking the reason for his sadness.

His body went stiff in your embrace. He hadn’t been hugged in centuries. Granted, that was in part his fault because he was afraid receiving hugs from his mother would hurt his carefully crafted image. Now here you were, holding his body against your warm frame. Once his mind cleared a bit, he awkwardly hugged you, too, and gave your back a few uncertain pats. He should not have been encouraging this behavior, but he was. Maybe if he caused some mischief he’d feel more like his old self. Or maybe he didn’t want to be that person anymore. It was all too much. He was exhausted by the incessant back and forth of his thoughts. He untangled himself from you and gestured to the store.

“After you,” he said.

You pushed open the glass doors and were greeted by the cashier as you walked in. Loki followed you to the back where the refrigerator section was, and he chivalrously held the milk that you’d come to pick up. You also grabbed some coffee grounds and then proceeded to checkout. After setting down the items on the counter, Loki turned over a chocolate bar in his hands, feeling like a child as you took it out of his hands and put it down with the other items. You grabbed a few other bars too, flashing a smile at Loki and keeping up a conversation with the clerk all the while.

“And who’s your new friend?” the cashier, whose name tag said Mr. Berkeley, asked you.

“This is Loki. He’s staying with me until... Well for a while,” you finished, not sure how much Loki felt comfortable revealing.

“Where’re you from, sonny?”

“Unfortunately, I cannot remember. It seems I had some kind of horrid accident,” Loki explained before you could fret anymore. He was very tired of being called son by people when he was a thousand years their senior, though. “I was very lucky to have found my way onto their farm.”

“Well, that’s quite a story. You should talk to the newspaper, get the word out.”

You shot an “I told you so” look at Loki to which he responded with one that said, “We’ll talk about this later.” Before either of you could say anything, though, the news came on the TV which Loki hadn’t realized was on.

“Do you have cable back?” you inquired as Loki began to panic. “It’s still out on the farm.”

“Nah. I got a satellite on the roof. Just got it set up again this morning.

You nodded along as the anchors began the next story. “New York is still reeling from damage, but the group of superheroes, going by the name of the Avengers, is leading clean-up efforts. The perpetrator has still not been caught-”

Loki discreetly turned the TV off with his powers before you could hear any more. He’d have to make sure the satellite took significant damage before leaving.

“Dang it. I just fixed that damned thing,” the cashier said.

“What was that all about?” you asked, completely bewildered by the sudden influx of information. “What happened in New York?”

“I guess you missed it in the paper last week,” Mr. Berkeley explained. “Some crazy group of aliens attacked, led by some power hungry god. Supposedly it was Thor’s brother, but they haven’t disclosed that information yet. Reckon they want to wait until he’s caught, avoid a panic.”

“Oh my god. That’s terrible! Gosh, you miss one paper,” you laughed, trying to keep the mood light.

A dark cloud passed over Loki’s features, even as Mr. Berkeley laughed along. Despite those SHIELD agents covering this up, word had still gotten out in some capacity. He had to be careful, or else he was going to get caught, and then you’d be in danger. He cursed under his breath. Your safety should be the last thing he was worrying about, and yet it was the first thought to come into his mind. A little kindness thrown his way should not make him into the mess he was. Of course, there were so many other things to like about you, too, and he kept finding more. He didn’t want to, he didn’t want any of this, but the Norns were punishing him for something. What would have happened, he wondered, if he’d listened to Thor and just held on that fateful day? If he hadn’t let go of the staff and fallen to what should have been his ultimate demise?

“Sonny, are you alright?” Mr. Berkeley asked as you laid a hand on his arm.

“Fine, but I think we should be going. I’ll meet you outside.”

He jerked away from your touch before you could do anything else and stalked outside. At least the satellite was hanging half off the roof with a huge dent in its side. He opened his door and got into the car as you unlocked it and raced over to him.

“Loki! Loki!” you called as you hurried over. “What was that? Are you ok?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all. Can’t you see I’m fine?” he snapped, struggling with the seatbelt. “I’m fine,” he whispered again.

“Hey, look at me,” you soothed, filled with compassion and placing a hand on his cheek. “Whatever it is, just let me know. I’m here for you. Talk to me.”

Loki’s eyes fluttered shut as he enjoyed the warmth from your palm. He let go of the seatbelt and took a few deep breaths, just like his mother had taught him. A part of him wanted to hang onto this anger, knowing that it might finally drive him to leave. He knew from experience, though, that acting in moments of blind rage would never lead to anything good.

“Is it New York? Did you remember something?” you gasped. “You had felt it was important in some way.”

“Perhaps,” he said after one last steadying breath. “It may have triggered something. But really, I am just a little tired. Maybe I am not as healed as I thought.”

He turned his head away and rested it against the window as your hand dejectedly fell into your lap. It’s not that he wanted to pull away, but he knew it’s what was safest for you.

“Ok then. We’ll go home.”

Loki whispered his thanks and succeeded in buckling up. He closed his eyes as the car started and a wave of emotions crashed over him. When you said home, he immediately pictured the farm. He knew he shouldn’t, but he did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Loki holed himself up in his room for the rest of the day, working through the new information he’d learned. He pretended to be asleep when Ana came to bring him some dinner. Notably, you had not been the one taking care of him, and he cursed himself for pushing you away. He didn’t even bother trying to convince himself it was for the best; he knew it wasn’t. After so many years on his own, he finally had a friend, and he drove you away. Why he expected anything less from himself, he didn’t know.

At some point, he fell into a restless sleep. The food from last night was still on the bedside table, but it was now joined with the Snickers bar you’d bought for him yesterday. Someone had also come and tucked him in. Maybe he hadn’t lost his friend, after all. He opened the chocolate and took a bite, delighting in the sweet and nutty flavor. He polished it off, then waved a hand over the rest of the food, causing it to disappear. He wasn’t much in the mood for eating it, but didn’t want you to worry. He nearly ran into John as he walked into the hallway with the empty tray.

“There you are!” John exclaimed. “We were getting worried. Do you need the doctor?”

“No, I am quite alright, thank you. I think I just needed some good sleep,” Loki lied.

“Only if you’re sure. Take it easy today, though, ok?”

“That’s an order,” you said, appearing behind your brother-in-law and taking the tray from Loki. “Are you hungry? You missed breakfast, but I can heat up some leftovers from you.”

“I am fine,” Loki began, but noticed you frown. “Though, I suppose I could do with a small breakfast.”

“Great!” you said a little too brightly. “I’ll meet you down there.”

“Loki, can I talk to you for a minute?” John asked, pulling him aside. “What exactly happened yesterday? We heard about New York, but it seemed like there was something else bothering them.”

Loki felt a pang in his chest at the man’s words. As if the news weren’t upsetting enough, he’d been rude to you. He could only imagine how you would feel if you knew he was the one who had caused the mayhem. He wanted to pin the blame on someone else, but the blood was on his hands and he knew he had to take some responsibility. Doing that would help him change, which he recognized was absolutely necessary after all that had happened.

“I fear I may have upset them,” Loki started, shedding his old ways by telling the truth. “I was not feeling quite right, and I turned them away. Now they clearly blame themself for it. I deeply regret it, but I am not sure there is anything I can do.”

“Just talk to them. Apologize.”

Loki did his best not to look shocked, but the last time he said sorry was when his parents caught him playing tricks on Thor, and even then it was done begrudgingly. He wasn’t even sure he could make it sound sincere.

“Listen, I’ve got an idea,” John said. “We’re heading to the city today if you want to tag along. They’re off to get some gifts for Ana while I’ve got a few potential distributors to meet with. I’m sure they would be thrilled to have your company. Unless you’re not feeling well, of course.”

“No, I’m feeling fine. That is a great idea. You have my thanks, John.”

“No problem. Now, you’d better head down for breakfast before we both get in trouble,” he laughed.

With a final nod of gratitude, Loki took off down the stairs. His light footsteps went undetected as he neared the table, once again giving him the opportunity to eavesdrop on Mama’s suspicions.

“I know something else must’ve happened yesterday. You weren’t upset over nothing.”

“It’s just the New York thing,” you replied. “I’m fine. Really.”

“You tell me what that boy did right now or so help me I’ll kick him out of this house myself!”

“Mama! He didn’t do anything wrong. I get that what happened with James hurts, believe me I do, but you can’t let it run your life. You have to be able to trust others, to trust me,” you pleaded.

“How dare you drag your brother into this,” Mama shot back, her voice cracking. “How ’bout you trust my gut when it tells me that boy is trouble. I swear-”

She was cut off by Loki doubling back and thudding down the stairs, making his presence known. He’d heard more than enough of that conversation and wouldn’t allow you to feel any more hurt than you already were.

“Good morning,” he coldly said to Mama as he walked in, nostrils flaring slightly before he regained some composure. “I am not interrupting anything, am I.”

“Only our entire lives. Why don’t you go to the police, huh? And what about the missing person ad? Why haven’t we gotten that out yet? I don’t know what game your playing, but when I figure it out, believe me you’ll be sorry.”

“Fine! You want to know what I am doing here? I do not know. I have no idea why I ended up here or why I have stayed as long as I have. So when you ‘figure it out,’ by all means, please let me know.”

“Fine!” Mama shouted as she stormed off.

Loki was comforted by the fact that in his little outburst, he hadn’t technically told any lies to you. Half-truths? Most certainly, but no outright lies. Now that he was left alone with you, though, he felt embarrassed he lost his temper. He cleared his throat before speaking.

“I am sorry,” he said, not looking at you.

“Loki, you don’t have to say sorry for defending yourself. I understand.”

“That’s not what I’m apologizing for,” he confessed, now looking into your eyes. “Yesterday I was not feeling quite right, but I should not have snapped at you nor pushed you away like that. For that, you have my sincerest apologies.

“It’s really ok, it happens to everyone. I just care that you’re feeling alright.”

You stayed where you were standing, still hesitant to move toward Loki out of fear of being rejected again. So, it fell upon Loki to close the distance between you. He took your hand in his and placed a kiss to your knuckles as a light blush coated his cheeks.

“Thank you, darling. I assure you, I am feeling more than alright now.”

Whatever was about to happen between you next was cut off by the beeping of the microwave. You finished putting together his breakfast before sitting with him at the island. Though your relationship had been repaired, the conversation was still a bit choppy and awkward as you found your footing in the friendship again. John walked in just as you were cleaning up, whistling a happy tune.

“Ready to go whenever you guys are,” he said as he leaned against the doorframe.

“You’re coming?” you asked Loki, feeling worried for his health. “Are you sure you’re up for that? I can even stay behind with you if u want.”

“Please, do not change your plans on my account. I am in a great condition to go.”

You still seemed reluctant, but agreed he could come as long as he let you know the second he started feeling unwell. He conceded, and you went to fetch your jacket with the promise you’d be back in a minute. John gave Loki a thumbs up, to which he replied with a very self-assured smile, bolstered with confidence by your latest exchange.

A few minutes later you were all piling into the car, with Loki insisting you took the passenger seat and that he’d ride in the back. He was very pleased to get the seatbelt buckled on the first try, and the two of you shared a laugh at the little inside joke. His cheeks burned slightly, remembering how you’d fallen against him. Over the next few hours, you passed time by talking, laughing, and singing along to the radio. Just as you were entering the city, a troubling thought occurred to Loki; the people here had heard the news. Even if it hadn’t been officially announced that he was responsible for New York, those rumors about him had to have included a description. Sudden inspiration struck as John parked the car.

“You don’t happen to have a hair tie in here, do you?” he inquired.

“Yeah,” you replied, reaching into the glove compartment. “Ana keeps some in here for emergencies.”

Loki thanked you as you passed it to him and quickly put his hair up in a low bun. When he turned his attention back to you, you were staring at him, and he gave you a charming, lopsided grin that had you ducking your head in embarrassment.

“Ok,” John said with a clap of his hands once you were all on the sidewalk. “We’ll meet here in, say, about 5 hours.”

“Sounds like a plan,” you agreed, before waving goodbye.

Now it was just you and Loki again as you took off towards some stores to look at some baby gifts for Ana. It would still be half a year before the baby arrived, but you were always indecisive when it came to purchasing gifts. On the way, Loki ducked into a small shop and bought a pair of sunglasses, furthering his disguise. Between that, the new clothes, and the different hairstyle, he felt pretty confident in his ability to blend in.

After two-and-a-half hours of shopping, you’d found a bunch of things to maybe get, but hadn’t decided on anything. You would go back and look some more, but you were bone tired after all the walking around. The fact that you were so exhausted made you concerned for Loki’s condition, too, not entirely trusting that he would tell you if he was feeling ill, despite his promise to.

“How are you holding up?” you cautiously asked, afraid of a repeat of yesterday if you pushed too hard.

“I am doing quite well. You, however, seem to need to stop for a spell. Come, let us rest for a minute.”

He led you over to the food court of the mall you were at and pulled out a chair for you to sit in. He glanced around at the options and, though there was nothing there that appealed to him, there was certainly something that you liked. Besides, he didn’t need to eat, but your frail mortal body would need some sustenance sooner rather than later.

“Can I get something for you to eat?” he offered.

“How about we go see a movie instead?” you proposed, eyeing up the nearby theater.

“Only if you eat something.”

“Wow. Look at how the tables have turned,” you laughed. “Fine, but you have to also.”

After a minute’s debate, you and Loki agreed on a comedy starring your favorite actor. It wouldn’t have been Loki’d first pick, but after all the stress and angst of the last 24 hours, he figured he could use a laugh. You also convinced him to try some popcorn and Pepsi. He wasn’t much a fan of the soda, but the snack was tasty enough. Though, you did end up stealing half of his after finishing your own, which was fine with him. The best part of the whole experience, though, was getting to hear your laugh over and over again. Loki thought it might be the most beautiful sound he ever heard. Well, perhaps the best part was actually when your arms brushed each other as you both went to put them on the armrest at the same time. Loki filed away all these little mental notes to dwell on at a later date. Or, if he were lucky enough to rein in his hurricane of thoughts, never again.

“Well, that killed a lot of time,” you said after the movie ended and you were stretching out, aching from having sat for so long. “We’ve still got some left though. What do you want to do?”

“I believe there was a library over by where we parked. Let us go there,” he said, quickly thinking up a plan.

By the time you walked over, there was only about twenty minutes left for him to complete what he needed to do. He hurried over to where the computers were, and though he wasn’t particularly adept with modern Midgardian technology, the directions taped to the wall were clear enough that he was able to look up a book. He sent you off to get it, claiming that the title had just popped into his head and that he was certain he used to love it, and that he wanted to check on the status of a few others. You obliged, hoping that seeing the book would bring back some more of his supposedly lost memories.

Once you were gone Loki quickly searched for information on what he learned was being referred to as the Battle of New York. Thankfully, there was as little information about him circulating as Mr. Berkeley had said. Mostly, it was just speculation and stories from people claiming they’d been there. A great number of posts and photos had been deleted, too, and Loki assumed that they were ones with more valid claims and information. Knowing how SHIELD is, Loki was sure it was all removed almost immediately, so he felt relatively safe but decided he couldn’t be too careful.

“I found it!” you said, setting the book down as Loki closed out the tab he was on.

“Wonderful! Thank you,” he replied, flipping through it. “Most unfortunately, the other books were checked out.”

You leaned over shoulder to look at the book in his hands. “That’s too bad. What about this one, though? Triggering any memories?”

“Well, I think I enjoyed reading. Other than that, I am afraid not.”

“That’s ok. We’ll keep trying.”

Your hand slowly drifted over to rest on his, and he gave you a brilliant smile. It made him wish he’d found a friend in the universe far sooner than he had. Then maybe he wouldn’t have ended up in the hands of Thanos, committing atrocities against his family and strangers alike. Then again, if none of that happened, he never would have met you. He was torn over which he preferred.

“There you guys are,” John said, walking up to where you were. “Ready to head back whenever you are.”

After putting the book back on the shelf, you were ready to leave. Loki hung back with John as you exited.

“Your plan has worked miracles, my good man. You have my sincerest gratitude,” he said.

“No problem, dude,” John said, patting Loki on the back. “Glad to bring a happy couple back together again.”

Loki’s steps faltered. Between his companion’s smirk and teasing tone, Loki knew it was meant as a joke. Mainly, anyway. John really was very off the mark, though. He and you were merely friends, nothing more. And surely that was just barely so, seeing as you were a human. There was no way you meant anything else to Loki. Right?

It wasn’t until you were back on the road, and Loki couldn’t stop looking at the back of your head, that he even began to realize just how much trouble he was in.

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