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shinjukuspiritcommittee · 3 years

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Health and Sports Day (another draft)

"President! This is the umpteenth time you've posted this first chapter! When are you going to release the rest of them!?" I know I know. But each time I do it I'm not satisfied with the way it's going so I just simply scrap it and start over from scratch. Plus I wanted an excuse to break in my new computer!!! %%%

Health and Sports Day

The school bell rang throughout Yoyogi Academy that signified the end of another long day of studying and preparations. On most days students would be making their way to clubs and practice but today was a bit of a special day. Once a year Yoyogi Academy hosts what's often now regarded as a city wide Field Day, to some being known as Sports Day. It's almost a given that the Academy that is home to many athletic Natives and Transients alike would be hosts of such a regarded day. While the actual Field day was a handful of days away students would take this time to start preparing the school with decorations and booths to both sign up students across multiple schools and to raise awareness of other topics tangentially related to the event.

The students flitted about the school this way and that trying to get their decorations hung; with a few in particular arguing where certain decorations should go. Amidst the excitement were a pair of female students who both attended the same class in the second year. One was a gray and white tigress with black stripes across her body dressed in her track suit holding a ladder steady for the second girl. The human girl atop the ladder fiddling with the decorations that would hang across the windows wore a more standard girls' uniform for the academy while keeping her chestnut brown hair in a ponytail. All the while carefully making sure all the decorations were hanging securely through the red glasses on her face. The tigress yawned with a bit of annoyance since it had been a good while since she was standing in place. "Are you done with admiring your handiwork, Yui? We've got other places to decorate."

The human girl laughed in response before stating "I'm almost done, Durga. It'd be embarrassing if our decorations fell. Worse if it actually hit someone in the head..." She trailed off wondering the latter was plausible. They were just paper decorations after all.

"It'd be too embarrassing if we were the last ones to finish! I don't think I could live it down." The tigress supposedly named Durga yawned out. "Plus it's just really boring watching you fiddle with paper. I gotta get my blood pumping somehow!"

The girl named Yui Hisakawa sighed to herself and came down the ladder. "All done here." Durga was about to take off in an excited dash for outside before Yui continued. "But we still have the other side of the hallway to do."

The Therian classmate groaned in frustration. "Ugh where are the boys when you need them?"

"They've got their own prep work to do for Field day which is a lot harder than this." Yui explained. "I think they're getting the actual field set up for all the games we're gonna be having. Although..." Her mind started to wander. "Where did Tatsuya run off to anyway?"

"That boy you hang out with? I thought he said he was going to the Nurse's office." Durga then got annoyed. "I swear if he's skipping out on work by faking an illness..."

"T-Tatsuya's not like that..." The human girl replied with a nervous twinge to her demeanor. She'd hate to have her or her friend get on their classmate's bad side. Though now that she mentioned it where was Tatsuya? While it was true he would often head to the Nurse's office it was usually never for this long. She just hoped it wasn't anything serious keeping him...

%%%

Whilst there was a serious incident breaking down within the infirmary it had nothing to do with the girl's friend and classmate Tatsuya Satou- the dark haired male student sitting in one of the waiting chairs within the office. While Tatsuya wore the standard boys' uniform of the academy he wore it a bit unconventionally with the jacket of the uniform almost like a cape while he wore his plain white tee shirt instead of the standard buttoned collar shirt. Tatsuya was currently fiddling with some string in silence while the nurse, Mineaki Arima, was currently overlooking an unconcious third year that just so happened to be a large brown bear. In the seat next to Tatsuya was a german shepherd therian wearing his green and white sports jacket named Yasuyori. Their unconcious classmate was named Ashigara and what lead to this situation however...

Not too long prior the group of boys had been working setting up goal posts and flag poles out all across the field. However Tatsuya was being called inside by Mineaki for something important. Ashigara, getting a bit peeved Tatsuya was "leaving early" tried to storm off too but neglected to notice a flag was still tied to him. When the other boys tried to stop him or untie the flag it was already too late as Ashigara tugged on the flag a bit too hard and one of the posts clocked him square on the noggin... Needless to say there was a large mess of posts to pick up and the hassle of getting the bear's large frame up to the Nurse's office. So whilst the other boys went back to clean up the mess Ashigara accidentally created Yasuyori and Tatsuya agreed to stay in the office in case he'd recover.

Yasuyori was watching nervously and had this uncomfortable rigidity while he sat. Would Ashigara ever wake up? Was there something different he could have done? Were thoughts that raced through Yasuyori's mind as he watched Mineaki give a full examination of Ashigara. Meanwhile Tatsuya didn't really react much to the situation since he was intensely focused on his crafts project. Though he did take a brief moment to look over at the bear and then to the dog. Tatsuya could tell the dog was nervous and very concerned with the well being of his friend and finally broke his concentration on the string. Tatsuya hesitated before finally sharing his thoughts. "...Don't worry. He'll be okay." This snapped Yasuyori out of his stupor and he looked down to his junior. His junior was looking up at him and then to the nurse and bear.

The nurse finally finished giving the wound a look. "Okay... So, there isn't any serious damage. Just the blunt force from the pole left him dazed." Yasuyori breathed a sigh of relief and his body eased up. The two went over to give Ashigara a look and of course he had a bit of a ridiculous look across his face. Yasuyori began to feel embarrassed about the whole thing since seniors are meant to be role models for their juniors and here they were being complete wrecks in front of one. Meanwhile Tatsuya grabbed hold of Ashigara's wrist and took those strings he was playing with earlier and wrapped them around his wrist. Yasuyori and Mineaki watched with curiosity.

"W-What is that?" Yasuyori asked.

"It's a... 'I hope you get well soon' bracelet." Tatsuya replied. ""It's... my way of trying to help."

"H-Help...?"

Then suddenly Ashigara shot up from the bed with a start and let out a loud scream. "What happened!? Where am I!?"

"A-Ashigara!" The dog Therian stammered out. "You're alright! This is just the Nurse's office."

"Nurse's office? The heck am I doing in here?" He pondered as he scratched his head. As he did he felt an extra thing dangle from his wrist. "Hm? Aww look at that! It's so cute! W-Wait a damn second! Why am I wearing a friendship bracelet!?"

"I made it." Tatsuya put briskly. "Do you take a problem with that?"

"Uh... no..." Ashigara murmured as he bashfully looked away.

"You just hurt yourself really bad. You shouldn't be making so many sudden moves-" Yasuyori tried to argue with Ashigara but he just jumped straight out of the bed.

"No can do! We've got a festival to prep for and I can't trust those juniors with anything unless they get into an accident. C'mon!" Ashigara suddenly fled the scene and Yasuyori just sighed.

"I'm so sorry. I'll bring him right back Mr. Arima..." Yasuyori grumbled as he went to go get the suddenly active Ashigara.

"Seems he walked that off pretty well." Mineaki laughed to Tatsuya.

Tatsuya just shrugged. "The senior class is full of weird folks. But... they are fun..."

"Now while they're away I needed to tell you something important. You're results came in." Tatsuya perked up with intrigue at the mention of his results. Not too long ago Mineaki had taken Tatsuya to the hospital so he could get a physical exam done in preparation of the yearly Field day. Despite Mineaki being a medical professional himself he couldn't administer the exam himself given he was technically Tatsuya's current guardian. "While your doctor and I both agree your results are a step up from last year..." Mineaki sighed. "I hate to say you didn't pass." The student was taken aback by the news but remained silent. His facial expression only read as mildly gloomy and Mineaki couldn't bring himself to look directly at his student. "I'm sorry, Tatsuya. But... don't worry. You'll still be able to attend at the very least with the volunteer work in the first aid tent..." Tatsuya hadn't really been paying much attention. He was just waiting for Mineaki to dismiss him which he eventually did and the student walked out of the infirmary very briskly.

On his way out he almost ran right into Yasuyori who had been dragging Ashigara by his jacket back to the office. "O-Oh. Sorry I wasn't paying attention..." Tatsuya apologized.

"Don't worry about that. Trying to get this one to come along was a hassle. Compared to him you're practically a saint."

"Right. Um... I gotta go so..." Without waiting for a goodbye Tatsuya took off in a hurry. At first Yasuyori was puzzled by Tatsuya's demeanor but then he processed Tatsuya wasn't going in the direction of the field.

That night Tatsuya lay sprawled out on his back on his bed just staring out his dorm's window. He's watched that sun set so many times by this point it was practically burned into his mind. The way the Pillars illuminated the schoolgrounds at night also started to leave an impression on him as those lights filled Tatsuya with a strange sense of comfort. He could never explain why being able to see outside was always such a relief for him, but whenever he could feel his emotions welling up all he'd have to do was look at the tranquility of the night right out that window. It was always enough...

"Knock knock..." Yui said as she casually let herself into Tatsuya's dorm room. The boy briefly looked over and saw the girl had a dessert from one of the local corner stores in her hand as she offered it up to her friend in the hopes the two could talk. He finally sat up on the bed with Yui planting herself right next to him and the two wasted no time in digging in. In the middle of their late night snack Yui finally breaks the ambiance of their chewing with "So, I heard something happened today..."

Tatsuya looked on confused before processing what she meant. "Oh, right. One of the upperclassmen wound up hurting himself. So it kept me in the infirmary a lot longer than I meant to be."

"Ouch. How bad was it?"

"Clocked himself clean on the head with a flagpole. He's okay now, but..."

"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you went back to the dorms in such a hurry..."

Oh. So she did find out about that... "I didn't pass." It was probably better to rip off that bandaid now as opposed to trying to hide it later.

#housamo #tokyo afterschool summoners #sfw #fanfic #update #yoyogi

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summonerscenarios · 3 years

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hi juno, i just saw sugar cubes with cat motifs that could double as emergency snacks on twitter today and it's the cutest thing I've ever seen!! that being said, how would the feline transients (of your choosing ofc) would react to MC giving them those cat-shaped sugar cubes for their Valentine gift? thank you in advance! (´ ∀ ` *)

sdfghjgf yikes it’s like 1am but IT STILL COUNTS. HAPPY VALENTINES FOLKS hope ya’ll are treating yourselves with the love and appreciation you deserve!! and here’s a lil post for the day, hope ya like it~!

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Durga

With Valentines coming up, Durga wanted to be one of the first to give you a present for the holiday, which means of course she’s gotta be the first to get there and get you something to blow the rest of the competition out of the water. It looks like you had the same idea however, as the pair of you just about barge headfirst into one another right outside of the Yoyogi dorms, sending the pair of you, and your respective gifts, spilling across the floor. It’s a humorous flurry of asking why the other got there so early, apologizing for the collision as the pair of you drop to your knees and check on the packages, and in the mixup Durga ends up picking up your package instead of her own.

Thankfully, the contents haven’t spilled over but the packaging is more than a little ruffled, and as her thumbs move to smooth the wrapping back out she spots the little name scribbled into the top corner. Her name, to be precise.

Durga lifts her head up to look over at you as you hold up her package, and from the expression on your face as you look at the little attached tag that she’d scrawled your name onto, you’re just as surprised as she is. You can’t help but laugh - what are the chances that you both ended up running into each other after looking for the other? Durga finds herself laughing along too at the sight of your grinning, and once it dies down you start urging her to open up her valentines gift; you really wanna see what she thinks of it!

While Durga tries to avoid sugary stuff, she can’t really deny her sweet tooth when you’ve gone out of your way to get her something so sweet, and that, coupled with the cute little cat motifs make her cave before she even sees your face, hopeful that she’ll like them. Plus, it’s valentine's day, right? She can make an exception juuust this once...it’s a stroke of luck that they’re the perfect thing to snack on while watching you open your own valentine’s gift, hiding her face in the box seeing your expression light up once you’ve peeled the wrapping away to look at the present she got you as a show of appreciation (and maybe something more who knows…)

Tezcatlipoca

It was the little cat motifs that sold you on buying the sugar cubes - they were just too cute to pass up! And it didn’t help that as soon as you’d seen them the first person that came to mind is Tezcatlipoca, if anything it’s what convinced you to buy them just for him to enjoy with valentine’s day coming up! Wrapping them all up was fun too - it had taken a while to get the kind of paper you were looking for, along with getting it all wrapped up and looking presentable enough to impress. There was a lot of care taken into getting them all the way over to the base, including having to bribe some of the luchadores with treats to slip the box past with you (which you would have done anyways, it was fun seeing them bristling with excitement when you’d pulled out some chocolate boxes you’d got just for them), but you’re sure it would all be worth it once you actually got the gift handed off to the jaguar therian - he’s all about sacrifice, so maybe giving would be nice for a change~!

That ends up going about as well as one expects, and you realize that once you pull the gift out from behind your back and hold it out to him the moment he whirls around, flashing him a beaming smile as you present it to him. Deadass thinks it’s a trick at first - he stares down at the box like he's waiting for some kind of test as if you’ve got a hidden trick up your sleeve, which unless he’s expecting the trick to be those tiny little cubes of sugar (in which case someone spilled the beans on your gift), is completely unwarranted. In the end you have to explain that because it’s valentines day, a day where you share your affections to others in the form of gifts, you decided you’d get a little something for him, with it being a holiday and all. (that he of course knows...maybe...not.)

That’s when Texcatlipoca takes the box off of your hands, and you’re kind of anxious watching him peel away the wrapping and pull out the small container of treats. He flicks open the lid with ease, and is greeted by rows of small, finely decorated sugar cubes, with cutesy cat faces and small, paw shaped confections for good measure. Adorable is the best way to describe what you’d gifted the feline, and as his eyes flicker over the lid of the container to look at you, you find yourself giggling and sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck as you explain that when you’d seen them you’d thought of him, so who better to give it too, right? You’re quick to add that they serve as great emergency snacks in a pinch too, hoping the double use was as appealing an idea to Tez as it was to you.

He’s not one to be outdone by your gifting gesture, so be warned that upon accepting your gift Tezcatlipoca is going to see this as a chance to outdo the gesture tenfold before valentine’s day has come to a close - you’ve caught him off guard with your small gift, and he’s going to return that sentiment in abundance, excited to see how you’ll react to the surprise.

Sitri

Sitri’s opening up more to valentine's day this time around, though you still thought you’d twist up the gift from the typical chocolate that people give out and think outside the box in terms of valentine’s gifts. The only trouble was picking out what you were actually going to buy - you wanted something that would make for a nice gift, as well as something that Sitri would appreciate and enjoy, so you’d wracked your head thinking of the perfect gift for the upcoming holiday.

That’s when you’d come across the sugar cubes - you’d actually heard about them from Ryota when he’d gushed about a store specializing in cat themed treats and how they were coming out with a valentine’s line. It was the perfect place to start looking for a gift, and so as soon as you had a free moment, you’d stopped by and managed to snag yourself a box of the cute little cubes before they’d gone out of stock. You had the option to get them pre-packaged, but you’d instead opted to hand-wrap them yourself so that you could include one or two other little goodies that you’d gotten for the occasion. It took a bit longer than you thought it would have, but by the time you’ve got it packaged up and tucked neatly away in a little gift bag, it’s right in time for valentines day, so you’re eager to head out and deliver your gift to the feline transient first thing after school.

Even though you’ve gotten him valentines gifts in the past, Sitri’s still surprised and a little flustered when you come up to him, holding out the gift bag to him with a warm smile and greeting of “Happy valentines, Sitri!” as you present him with the gift you’d picked out. That reaction is only amplified once he opens the lid and looks down at the cute cat cubes looking back up at him with adorable faces and whiskers decals to really seal the feline look the treats have got going on. Admittedly, they’re not usually the kind of thing Sitri goes for, mostly thanks to those years chasing the ‘cool cat’ ideal, but as he’s opened up more, as well as with your expression anxiously waiting for his response, he finds himself not minding the gift in the slightest. If anything, he’s more worried about the gift that he got you - you’ve put so much thought into his gifts, he hopes that your gifts can hold a candle to them as he fishes out his own gift to give to you.

Nomad

With valentine’s coming around once again, you were determined to get Nomad something this time around. Sure, you’d gotten him things in the past, but those had mostly been in the form of time spent together going out to eat places and such; this time you wanted to go out of you way to get him a gift from the heart, something that would help convey your appreciation for the gruff tiger therian. Even if it was just a small little gift, you were set on going out and getting him something, which is exactly what you do the moment the shops start setting up for the holiday in question...you just really wish you had a better idea of the kind of thing that Nomad would like to receive.

You don’t really peg him as the chocolates for valentines kind of guy - he’s worked enough valentine’s gigs you’re sure he’d like an alternative gift for a change - so you’d sought out something you wouldn’t normally have picked. Which is what led to you finding those sugary treats, and the moment you looked at them in the little decorative boxes on the display stand, you just knew that those were the treats you were going to gift Nomad with.

You don’t end up giving Nomad his ‘gift’ face-to-face however. Something came up that pulled you away from being able to give them to him in person (because seriously, what is with you getting dragged into other people’s problems during the holidays? You need a break), so you ended up having to leave them back at his office. By the time that he finally returns to the office he finds the small, cutely decorated box perched precariously right in the middle of his desk, with a small note attached to the top. Confused, but interest peaked enough to approach, the therian plucks the note off with one hand and picks up the box as he settles into his desk chair, reading over your hastily scrawled message.

‘Sorry I couldn’t give this in person but I hope you like em! Apparently they double as emergency snacks, that’s neat,huh? - call me later and tell me what you think! xx’

Popping open the lid of the box, Nomad soon finds out what your message was talking about, and he plucks up one of the cubes between his claws as he holds it up, brows quirking as he takes in the cutesy cat motifs that have been meticulously molded with the sugar cubes to make an undeniably adorable design. He shakes his head a little at the thought of how much bother you must have put yourself through getting so worked up trying to find these little sugar cubes. With that being said he definitely ends up keeping them - after all, imagining how excited you’ll get is enough to make him pluck a few out to try as he fishes out his phone to give you a call.

#Anonymous #housamo #housamo imagine #housamo headcanon #tokyo afterschool summoners #imagine #headcanons #durga #housamo durga #tezcatlipoca #housamo tezcatlipoca #sitri #housamo sitri #nomad #housamo nomad #request #ask

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20thcentury-kylo · 3 years

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Tides Of Memory Chapter 2

Surprise!! Wanted to have this up yesterday but things sorta got out of hand, and tbh after this I'll be kind of busy so I atleast wanted to finish this one- anywho Enjoy

A wild flower hill overlooks the calm sea at dusk. The sky’s color fades into a midnight blue as the moon and stars peak from the clouds. Ebisu sits among the wild life- Guitar in hand as he hums a simple tune.

“Just breathe… just breathe- it’ll all be fine~” Soft strums from the instrument follow in simplistic patterns. As he gazes up to the stars above he feels no words could better fit the moment. Amongst the chaos of interstellar wars and the literal end of the world- a scene like this- it’s peace.. He could believe that it would all be fine. Kiome had already gone back- most likely to keep Ebisu from seeing him break down completely, but Ebisu knew.. He could feel it in his soul- the scared tremors, the subtle shaking in his hands. The rose haired musician swore he’d be strong for the both of them, he wouldn't make Kiome face this alone, he didn't have to be alone, not anymore.

“Maybe it's the question.. Maybe it's the answer~”

The quaking roars were gone, but Kiome was nowhere to be found. He promised to stay away but as Ebisu runs through the ravaged battlefield the only thought coursing through his mind is finding the chubby swordsman.

“Kiome!!” He pleads out their name gaining no response. With every step he takes, dread seems to fill him more and more.

“Just breathe.. It'll all be fine~”

The blood won't stop pooling between his hands, the tears in his eyes won't either. In the midst of it all he somehow finds the strength to laugh.. How unfair it all was. His beloved laid there dying in his arms and yet here Kiome was… singing to him. How unfair the world could be. The last thing he sees before the light envelopes them is the pained smile on his face, as he whispers it one last time

“Darling… i love you~”

Ebisu is a 17 year old boy living in the Nakano ward in Tokyo with his adoptive guardian. He loves tales of the sea, of lost treasure and one day hopes to venture out there on his own, to maybe find his own lost fortune. Ebisu has the strangest dreams filled with even stranger people, and fleeting whispers of feelings that leave dull aches in his heart.. The words always echo in his mind and he can't seem to explain the tears in his eyes as he wakes. It was all so… confusing, and yet when their eyes met… when their eyes met suddenly the distant haze seemed to be clearing.

They're such a soft shade of amber- so warm so… familiar. The feeling that follows is so intense that he can't stop the stream of tears that follow soon after. The boy in front of him winces- bringing a hand to graze his forehead, yet never breaks eye contact.

“I-i’m sorry, are ya okay?” Ebisu tries his best to compose himself- stifling the tears long enough to pick himself up off the ground.

“Dont worry ive been through worse.” whatever was ailing him seems to have subsided and yet- they stay there, gazing at one another in a tense silence. The boy eventually begins to speak when he’s caught off by a shout from the distance.

“Hey! That creep snatched My wallet!” The cries of a knocked down pedestrian follow as the therian sprints away. Instinctively Ebisu checks his pockets to find his own wallet missing.

“That little sneak-” The fisherman prepares to apprehend the transient- brandishing his signature fishing rod and hook. Yet before he can even start the backswing- the stranger he’d just met is already dashing towards the thief.

“Oh no ya dont!!” Before Ebisu can blink the apparent swordsman is already flying at the transient- his still sheathed sword arced forwards. The encounter is over in seconds with the captured therian pleading apologies as he scurried off. He’d been so stunned at the boy's ability that he hadn’t noticed the small faded blue wallet being shoved in this direction.

“You dropped this..” Their hands brush slightly as he takes the wallet- and Ebisu’s mind fixates on the fleeting warmth. He wants to thank him sincerely, yet the blush flooding his cheeks keeps his eyes averted choosing instead to focus on his newly re-acquired wallet.

“I um- I never got your name~” Ebisu manages to stutter out- still refusing to meet eyes with the mysterious swordsman.

“HEY!!” The recognized shouts of none other than Nankano’s resident viral sensation, Benten. She practically flies at them, her phone camera trained on the chubby swordsman.

“Kiome! Didn’t expect to see you ‘round here, especially pulling off moves like that~” In the midst of her excited rambling he hears the name…

“Kiome…” It’s almost scary how naturally the name rolls off his tongue. Ebisu finds himself unable to control the smile that sneaks its way onto his face.

“Ebisu- you manage to find anyone for your little adventure, I’m still rarin to go of course~” The sudden reminder of his previous endeavor has him more embarrassed than he honestly should be.

“Ebisu huh.. Well If it's adventurers you need- you’ve just found the right guy.” Kiome expresses with a subtle wink. The nervous giggle that erupts from the rose haired boy resembles more of a shy highschool girl rather than a trained fisherman. Ebisu escorts the 3 of them back to the restaurant he helps run. For once he was thankful for Benten’s presence, having her between them with her excited chatter was perfect for keeping him distracted. Even so he couldn't help but sneak a passing glance at the chubby swordsman when he got the chance.

They sit down discussing the plans over some tea, and while Ebisu, and Benten fall into their usual banter- Kiome is reminded of the warnings his friends gave earlier

“Yeah, I've been hearing a lot of those recently as well, though in the end- it doesn’t change what we hafta do.” Benten’s proud declaration earning a chuckle.

“Actually, I looked into those before- judging from the location of where these pirate ships were being sunk, it’s most likely they were confronted with mermaids; the Daughters of The Waves-” Ebisu informs them. From what he’d gathered- the mermaids were likely guarding the treasure. As he keeps explaining- Kiome gets that same unsettling feeling from before- this wouldn’t be some light adventure… This was serious. By the time they’d finished the three of them settled on a plan; Benten was in charge of finding a crew- people strong enough to stand against the apparent threat that awaited them, a crew that now included Kiome, and Ebisu would handle getting the ship, supplies, and salvage equipment ready which from the sounds of it- he was already on top of. Benten had parted ways at the shop's entrance, eager to begin her search- leaving the two boys alone, Ebisu having offered to walk Kiome back to the station. So as they strolled side by side- Ebisu decides to break the silence.

“Y’know this may sound weird but- I have the strangest feeling… that we’ve met before, somewhere.” His words cause Kiome to turn with a pondering expression, he had no memories of a past life, but somehow he held the same feeling.

“It’s weird but… I know what you mean~” From there they fall into light conversation, a simple game of 20 questions passes between them yet both still held the strange possibility in the back of their minds. Before they knew it the train's electronic whistle was heard from afar.

“Guess the fun's over for now huh~” Kiome’s words followed by a breathless sigh.

“Yeah heheh , i guess so..” The pearl eyed boy parrots back. Kiome turns to him, suddenly unsure of what to do. A hug?, just a handshake? To keep himself from dallying he settled on the latter, extending a hand out to his escort.

“Nice meetin’ ya-' ' Ebisu stares a bit in awe at his hand for a moment before slowly reaching back with a hand of his own. Their hands meet in a subtle shake, it's the first real contact they've had, and Kiome can't help but notice how soft Ebisu's hand is. There’s a whisper of a feeling, warm, and nostalgic- the two seemingly lose themselves in it for the moment. It lingers even as they let go, and with sheepish smiles and stuttered goodbyes the two part ways.

In the clear star filled night- the haze further clears on their memories. Ebisu finds himself unable to find easy rest, finding comfort among the midnight sky. As he sits illuminated by the moon- lost in thought, something long forgotten seems to return to him. He has no idea what it means but the prospect has him anxious and excited to find out

‘I wonder what it looks like’ He muses in his thoughts. Gazing up at the moon's glow.

“San Diego~”

#Housamo #tokyo afterschool summoners #Tides Of Memory #mc5 x ebisu #kiome #fanfiction #my art #clip studio paint #i have an 8 work day stretch coming #so i wont rlly be active :p

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summoner-chan · 4 years

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✨⭐[幸せな4周年!/Happy 4th Anniversary!]⭐✨

4⭐ Ose came home today with the FIRST ticket and I've never been so happy!! I've been wanting his 4⭐ for so long now and now that I've gotten it, I started writing a self indulgent fic of Summoner-chan using up the Platinum Lil Salomon card just for Ose! Hope everyone enjoy reading it!

Hurried footsteps echoed lightly through the halls, almost resembling like an excited child awaiting their gift under the tree when it was Christmas morning. The brunette couldn't help but giggle and grin with joy, gripping the single card in between her fingers. The thought of surprising her favourite familiar made her heart blossom with flowers, butterfies swooning in her stomach. The short female hastened her steps more, eager of seeing the therian clad in a white suit

The leopard was idling by the garden, the various plants and flowers from otherworldly realms made him felt that he had visited the realm just by looking at them. Truly, it gave him a sense of serenity and tranquility. Being a triple agent was certainly thrilling but exceptionally exhausting to say the least, though, he didn't expect to have become one of the familiars of the very infamous guild master and her guild, Hanasaki Abuto of The Summoners

And he certainly and absolutely didn't expect to be tackled from behind as a loud cry of his name soared into his ears, their arms wrapped around his midsection and as the grip tightened at every second. His suave smile grew even wider as he very well knew who it was before looking over his shoulder only to be greeted with brown orbs glittering in the sunlight, a toothy grin that was accompanied by the giggles slipping through her lips

The fem eased her grip as she let the therian turns his body to face her, diving her face into his broad chest and having to earn a light chuckle out of him. Large diamond spotted hands caressed the cheek of his beloved summoner, his heart swelling with adoration as she leaned more into his touch before placing her small gentle hands on his own, her dazzling smile seemed to pull him more into the dangerous game called love. He had his fair share of affections but not as strongly as he felt towards the young lady

"My, my, boss. You seemed to be such in a good mood while being even more cuter today. Has a miracle happened while you dear handsome familiar was away?" The leopard therian cooed, a surge of pride coursed through his veins when his green eyes caught up to the reddening hues of her features. Now that he had taken a great look of her face, he noticed that the usual full lips was glossed and it was slightly tinted, marvelously enhancing the natural colour and it went gorgeously well with her sun kissed skin.

Oh how ironic it was that he was granted with such a heavenly view despite being a creature from the depths of Gehenna. He wholly welcomed the gift that whatever ethereal beings had given to him, whether it be the Gods of the Heavens or the Devils of the Hells or maybe it was mix of the two but either way, he's not complaining of it. The sight of a card adorned with the lines of gold covered his field of vision before having it lowered, the young lady peaking through as if to see his reaction

It seemed to be that his summoner had recently got a handful of Platinum Lil Salomon tickets as she calls it, from what she had enthusiastically explained to him before, it had the ability to summon a familiar of their own choice, even summoning to an even powerful and stronger variant of the familiar. The male didn't considered himself special or eye catching compared to the other familiars she had on her team like for example, the butler from the Ikebukuro Berserkers and the prosecutor from the Rule Makers as both had evolved into their highest form unlike him, who has still yet to be given the opportunity of having the privilege of such

A feeling had wormed through its way into his heart, a feeling that he tried to extinguish but the leopard had underestimated its untamed fire, rivaling to even the fire that spawned in the lowest pit of Gehenna. The notorious feeling that could sever, crush and erase bonds like no other was jealousy. The man would rather lop his head off than let his charming, collected and flirtatious image to be stained with jealousy, no, he wasn't going to submit and surrender to it so easily without battling the wretched emotion with all his might

The therian closed his eyes and hummed as if in thought as he had guessed that she was going to use it to summon more variants or get the same kind to increase the strength for the other two companions but went along using a trick up his sleeve. "Looks like your devilish familiar is a bit clueless today, boss. Mind enlightening me who's the lucky man who's going to be summoned?" said the spy. The brunette's smile was replaced with a pout, her brows furrowed as she let out a huff and her hand was quick to playfully smack the therian's chest before the male breath out a small 'ouch' from the attack

"You're really going to make a girl say it first?..." Oh? Well that's new. Make a girl say it first? What in the world did his summoner was going to say? The fem felt like she was shrinking under the gaze of her familia who turned quiet and merely was waiting for her answer by the looks of it. Oh how she wanted the ground to swallow her up whole, sadly, miracles don't happen that often so she's left with to deal with her own embarrasment. Her gaze was anywhere else than gazing into those hypnotizing green eyes, resembling to a precious mineral stone that she adored, emerald

Clearing her throat, the fem raised the fancy card up, using it as a shield to block her blushing face and to avoid looking at her own familiar to save herself from the embarrassment. The card slowly started to glow, the colours shifting from red to green to grey before settling down with purple. As the card glowed, the image of the goat transient that was on it, too, changed as well, morphing entirely into another transient. The image swirled vigorously and the glow grew brighter and brighter, the therian having to squint his eyes from the light. With a loud shing, the purple mysterious glow faded and turned into mist, covering the pair as the wind picked up and blew it all away gently

The choice of the summoning has been done, now all the summoner of the card have to do is to cast the card, just like summoning familiars from the App (Gacha). The fem was shaking with anticipation and nervousness, the silence of her familiar was eating her away, was he not happy that he was chosen? "Boss" The sudden call made the therian's summoner jumped at the sound of her addressment, pulling the card closer to her face as she let out a shaky hum as an answer of his call. "Don't be like that... Won't you see your darling familiar's face, boss..?" The brunette bites down her lip when the side of her face was fanned with hot, long, breaths of air. Large calloused hands were placed on her waist, sliding down agonizingly slow before resting themselves on the hips, thumbs drawing circles on the clothed area

A gasp had slipped through, the fem's voice quivering when the therian placed his lips on the unprotected skin of her neck, easing his way up while leaving soft kisses on the flushed flesh, soft pants were also induced from the mere action. "Still not budging, I see? How admirable of you to stand your ground after that stunt I pulled, boss. Though...I doubt that you'll last after this one" With a lick of his lips, his resting hands started to move down further, inching closer and closer to his beloved summoner's backside. Just as he was about to reach, the young lady let out a squeal of surrender, her hand tapping on his white clad shoulder as the other still held on to the card

"I'll look at you! I'll look at you! Just- You're going to make me overheat from all of that..!" Chuckling, the male swiped the card away from her fingers, the young lady letting out a strangled 'hey!' before quickly shutting up when the leopard placed a firm hold of her waist, their faces undeniably close. "Not so hard isn't it, boss? You could have listened to me sooner but, ah, alas you caused your own downfall, didn't you?" The leopard donned in the suit said teasingly, sending out a wink into the fem's direction

"Now there's must be a reason of why you chose me, say boss?" His only response was silence, his summoner batting her eyelashes at him, putting on the 'I don't know what you're talking about' look. Most of her friends and familiar were all too knowing of this look, the girl being a terrible liar while being blatantly obvious that she was hiding something. With the rule that the therian had, he had already seen through her, completely capable of seeing the answer that he looked for but the leopard wanted to hear it from her own very lips instead, it's more fun teasing and irking out the answer rather than by using that Rule of his.

"I w-wanted to summon that Red Oni!"

"Didn't you already have him, boss?"

"I-uh! w-wanted you to be stronger!"

"How nice of you to think of me boss but that's not entirely it isn't it?"

"You said that you wanted evolve right!! Then I took the chance and used the card for you!!"

"Indeed I do but there's no reason for you to willingly do so when you have other tons of familiar befitting of the card. Unless you have something important to tell me..?"

"Urk!.."

The brunette whined, all of her lies were cut down by the statements and questiones that her familiar dropped down on her. There's no more room to run to anymore, she's cornered and the truth is begging to be told, her heart leaping out from her chest from the frenzied situation. The summoner's lips moved but the sound of the words were extremely dimmed and it came out as a muttering to herself, fingers fiddling with the hem of her school jacket. The reaction from her is truly priceless! The male's sensitive ears took note of the words she just said but there's no way he's going to miss the opportunity to tease her more, filling up the desire to take her right then and there from the cute reactions she's giving

The leopard placed his hand behind his ear and leaned down, his signatures smirk on display for the world to see "Hmm? I couldn't hear what you said, boss. Mind repeating that for me?" The young lady started to stutter and trip on her words, all of this amused the therian that embraced her. Her hands reaching up to her face before cupping them, eyes shut and brows furrowed, the blush on her face was apparent "Because I love you, alright!" Yes, the answer that he was finally waiting for, the confession of her love to him. Before all of this event happened, the leopard therian had gotten his answer just by glancing to the cheery summoner of his when they hugged him. Their confession of love was written all over them

Ose figured his summoner had enough of his teasings, gently pulling her hands that cupped her face, his expression softened when the girl looked up to him with the same brown orbs that he stared into when he was summoned. The therian came nearer to his summoner, the space between them no more as two figures melded into one, lips pressed with one another, the summoner's eyes widen in shock before fluttering them close before kissing him back with the same fervor he's giving to her

The therian pulled away reluctantly, his sense of thought chipped when a soft moan of his name reached his ears, quickly regaining back his thoughts as he pressed another kiss on her temple. For now, the silence between them was all he needed. The love that was kept away in his heart blossomed, dancing with joy and happiness as the sun shone on to the waves and bid the flowers goodbye before another beacon of light replaced it, which was the Moon. The spy planned on returning the feelings that his summoner had for him in another different way but this was sufficient for him too, he guessed

Hoho! Quite lengthy than I expected to be honest but still happy with it!! I hope that everyone is having fun with the Anniversary!! Summoner-chan, signing off!⭐

✨⭐[幸せな4周年!/Happy 4th Anniversary!]⭐✨

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aelowan · 3 years

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Special Delivery – A Books of Binding Short Story

Cian woke in the dark to an urgent rapping on his bedroom door. Winter’s low voice carried through the wood. “Cian, we’re on.”

Cian sat up in bed, trying to parse that. On? On what? English wasn’t his first language and sometimes idioms — he hoped it was an idiom — tripped him up. He pulled his jeans on and made his groggy way across the spacious room to find Winter on the other side of his door, dressed in her usual loose dress and cardigan, her purple bag over her shoulder and her surgical bag heavy in her hand. She hadn’t taken the time to put her hip-length white hair up in a bun, and it rode one shoulder in a careless braid.

She was lovely.

He pushed his own long, sleep-tousled hair out of his face. “What are we on?”

A small, exhausted smile played about her lips, and he wanted to kiss her until the shadows under her ice-blue eyes faded away. “’On’ means it’s showtime,” she explained, not terribly effectively. What was a ‘showtime?’ “We have a delivery to attend. Corinne’s started bleeding heavily, and Doc says she can’t stop it.”

Cian’s brows shot to his hairline. The Lion Queen? Oh shit. “Is it the placenta previa? She’s five weeks early.” Which wasn’t too terribly early for a human or a vampire, but with a therian’s five-and-a-half-month gestation it could make things complicated.

Winter nodded. “Which means that either she got pregnant during an earlier heat than we thought, or the placenta’s started pulling away from her uterus, which I think is the more likely. Either way, I suspect we need to deliver the baby tonight. If she’s having contractions it will tear the placenta apart, leading to hemorrhaging. Now, you get dressed, and I’ll wake up Etienne so he can drive you out to Xanadu on the motorcycle. I need you at the top of your game, and making you ride with me in the Bug with its old steel chassis won’t help with that.” She sighed. “I really do need a new car.”

Cian shuddered at the thought of riding in the Bug. He’d ridden in more than one older model vehicle and gotten sick in the process. He was sidhe, though, and not a lesser fae, so sick was the extent of it. A lesser fae might come away with more serious injury or even death. The little pixies in the gardens here on the Point avoided Winter’s vintage car at all costs. “Yeah, a new one would be good. Maybe we can go shopping for one this weekend?”

Winter gave him a tired smile, but tired as she was it still reached her eyes. Cian couldn’t have said that only a few weeks ago. “Yes, maybe.” She checked the time on her phone. “We need to head out as soon as possible. Doc is perfectly capable of performing a c-section if she needs to, but I’d rather be there in case things get complicated. I’ll meet you in the foyer in five minutes.”

Cian shut the door as Winter moved toward Etienne’s room and turned to get ready. It was just the three of them rattling around in this huge house, where once there had been dozens of wizards, all part of the extensive Mulcahy family. He could tell that Winter liked having the company, and he liked it, too. So did Etienne.

Long hair pulled back in a neat ponytail, worn boots and a new sweatshirt against the mid-November chill, his silk-lined riding chaps to protect him from the Harley’s frame, and he was ready to ride as soon as he got his helmet and riding jacket together. Worry for Corinne dueled with excitement. This would be his first time attending a birth. He’d assisted Winter with several surgeries already, but Corinne was the community member closest to delivering and currently the highest-risk pregnancy. She was also one of Winter’s closest friends, and Winter said she felt better knowing he would be backing her up with his healing gift. Cian was happy to help.

Etienne was still putting his auburn hair up into a ponytail in the high style he preferred as he hit the stairs and nodded to Cian. “Get your things. It’s going to be a cold ride, even for you.” His red plaid overshirt was slung about his neck and the new black gun rig for his old Glock jostled lightly against his chest with each stairstep he took.

Cian stood at the bottom of the double staircase beside Winter and watched the faerie knight descend, his bootheels thudding softly on each wide tread. He waved a hand indicating the Glock under Etienne’s left arm. “Expecting trouble?”

Etienne smirked and pulled on the overshirt as he touched down from the last step. “Always. This is Seahaven, after all.”

Winter shook her head and offered a rueful smile but didn’t disagree. “I’ve got the car loaded and ready to go. Be careful out there. The roads might be a bit slick after that rain.”

Etienne’s smile stretched into a rake-hell grin and Cian felt his belly flop. By Dagda, Etienne had a sexy smile. “A little rain isn’t going to stop us. Now, let’s go help Corinne.”

Cian handed Etienne his helmet and his old worn leather coat before getting into his own, new, silk lined coat. Winter’d had it made for him when she’d noticed he was showing about an inch of wrist below the cuff of his old one.

Winter hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder, determination showing in her eyes. “Okay, let’s do this.”

The rain had subsided to a sprinkle, which did nothing for making the ride out to Xanadu any safer. Etienne sat a little higher in his seat, vigilant, and managed to avoid most of the puddles.

Most.

Cian tried to ignore his cold, wet boots as the three of them pulled into the covered Xanadu employee parking lot, Winter leading the way in her yellow Bug. They were met at the back entrance to the primary hotel that crowned the largest island in the resort complex. Corinne owned all of the islands in Eriksson Bay, and employed both the dolphins and the selkies as well as her entire large pride of lions. Scores of humans worked in the park, too, but they were offered only limited access. No need for some curious teenager to die just because they got a peek behind the Veil of Secrecy.

Santiago, Corinne’s husband, mate, and Chief of Security, waved as they approached the private elevator. Worry etched deep lines into his brow, cutting into his light brown skin. Cian noticed that he’d shaved his head, but it was already showing fine stubble with the force of his therian regeneration. “Winter, thank god you’re here.” His English was flavored with rich Cuban Spanish, as were most of the lions he had brought with him from Miami to merge with Corinne’s lioness-heavy pride.

Winter offered up a confident smile and gave the Lion King a quick hug. “It’ll be all right. I can get little Bella out in under a minute if I need to.”

Cian knew that Winter’d had to perform emergency c-sections in the past and knew what she was doing. Therian couldn’t get sick or infected, but they could develop conditions that put a pregnancy at risk, like Corinne’s placenta previa. Most therian lived on the edge of society, victims of poverty, abuse, and malnutrition. Pregnancy loss and high infant mortality were common.

But that wasn’t a concern with Corinne tonight. The Lion Queen led one of the biggest groups in Seahaven and was one of the most powerful and wealthiest therian on the West Coast.

Santiago ushered the three of them into the elevator and swiped his resort ID through the reader, granting them access to the private floors and the penthouse where the pride lived. “Doc says Corinne and the baby are both holding steady, even with the blood loss. She’s got both of them on monitors.”

Winter looked to Cian. “With heavy bleeding, what is keeping Corinne and Bella stable?”

Cian thought about that for a moment. “It’s Corinne. She’s strong enough that her healing ability is regenerating blood before she can lose too much, so Bella isn’t being stressed.” He paused. “Yet. There’s a limit to how long her body can heal itself and maintain the baby at the same time. She’s burning through an incredible amount of calories, and once she’s depleted, she’ll be vulnerable.”

Winter smiled her approval. “Excellent. You’re picking this up quickly.”

Etienne looked pleased but said nothing.

Santiago listened intently, tension singing across the backs of his hands, stress making his dark-eyed gaze intense. “But you can save her — save them — can’t you, Winter?”

Winter exuded confidence even as Cian could feel her exhaustion through the veil of his healing gift. “I’m here to fight. We’ll get Corinne through this.”

They exited the elevator one floor below the penthouse where Corinne and Santiago lived and travelled at a brisk pace past closed doors and the soft sounds of sleeping lions until Santiago pushed open a set of frosted glass doors at the end of the hall.

Doctor Gloria Park’s domain.

Glass, chrome, and bright lights, the small clinic and surgery suite gleamed like a shrine to modern medicine. Winter’s backroom clinic was smaller and homier — and a lot busier — but Cian could tell by the way she glanced around that Winter admired it and all of the shiny toys Doc had to play with.

Cian had to admit that he did, too.

“Doc, they’re here.” Santiago raised his voice just enough to be heard on the other side of the two frosted glass doors that bracketed the main room of the clinic.

Doc emerged from the door on the right, butting it open with a hip, her gloved hands marked by blood and ruddy betadine. A bloody streak smeared wet across her white coat at the waist, but she ignored it. She flashed a quick smile of greeting at the new arrivals, her slightly hooded eyes crinkling at the corners and tugging at her small epicanthal folds, her short, no-nonsense, black hair tucked beneath a surgery bonnet. “Excellent timing. I’m prepping Corinne now. How do you want to do this?”

Winter took her surgery bag from Etienne and began moving toward the surgery suite. “I think we should first administer my painkiller potion, and then once it kicks in, we can take a closer look.” She gestured to the blood on Doc’s coat and hands. “Is that all hers?” In any place other than Seahaven that might have been an odd question, but Cian was quickly learning that chaos seemed to reign above all, here.

Doc made a short shrugging gesture. “This time, yes. Contractions started about an hour ago.”

Winter nodded, all business. “Then we’ve got no time to waste. Santiago, do you want to come in and keep Corinne company?”

Santiago smiled, visibly relieved. “Si. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Etienne crossed his arms and leaned a hip against a table. “I’ll wait out here. Haven’t attended a birth in a while, but I bet it’s going to be crowded enough in there as it is.”

Winter flashed the faerie knight a warm smile of gratitude and pushed through the door, Cian close behind her, Doc and Santiago bringing up the rear.

The surgery suite was small, but airy and brightly lit. Corinne sat reclined in the center of the room, gravid belly painted a lurid yellow-red with betadine, long red hair tucked into a surgery bonnet to keep it out of the way, full lips looking pale. Even still, she was glamorous. She opened her eyes as they entered the room, and she smiled a tired smile. “Hey there.”

Winter returned the smile with one of her own as she pulled out a surgery bonnet for herself and passed another to Cian. “Ready to have a baby tonight?”

Corinne chuckled softly and reached out for Santiago’s hand as he reached her side. “You have no idea. But someday you will.”

Winter’s smile turned a bit wistful. “Maybe.” Cian wanted to hold her, just for a moment. He knew she expected to die young, like the rest of the Mulcahy line. She was the last.

Cian found a chair and brought it to Santiago so he could sit at Corinne’s head.

Santiago took the seat and stroked Corinne’s forehead. “Mi corazón.”

Winter tucked her long braid into the surgery bonnet and Cian followed suit. “This is going to go very fast. Your contractions tore the placenta and that’s what’s causing the bleeding. It’s still a total occlusion, still entirely blocking the cervix, as we saw on the ultrasound during your checkup last week.”

Corinne gave a single nod, exhaustion and worry etched into the corners of her eyes. “Did I do something wrong? She’s so early.”

Winter shook her head no and dug into her surgical bag. “Sometimes babies just come early. Nobody’s at fault.” She looked at the monitors showing both Corinne and the baby’s vitals and Cian followed her gaze. Both were holding steady so far. “But Bella’s at a good weight. She should be fine. And your strength is keeping her that way. But I still want to get her out with all speed. We need your bleeding to stop.” As she spoke, she pulled a tumbler from the bag, filled it with cool water, and added three drops of light blue potion, drops that never quite mixed in, instead swirling about like whisps of metallic smoke. “Here, drink all of this down as fast as you can.”

Corinne took the tumbler and knocked it back, then locked her jaw as her entire body shuddered. “Good lord, what was that?”

Winter retrieved the tumbler before it ended up on the floor. “Painkiller potion. It will last for a few hours. It also gives us the ability to go in after little Bella without you feeling any pain and without giving you enough human anesthetic to knock out the Fifth Fleet.” Cian knew from Winter’s explanations that therian could burn through human drugs at an alarming rate. Only magical solutions could withstand their incredible metabolisms.

Corinne shuddered one more time, and then leaned back with a sigh and closed her eyes. “Oh. Oh, that’s much better. Thank you.”

Winter gave her friend’s hand a squeeze. “Good. Now let’s meet your daughter and get that bleeding stopped.” She shrugged out of her sweater and pulled a couple of scrub tops out of the surgery bag, handing one over to Cian. “This is going to be pretty straight forward,” she began to explain, mostly to Cian. Doc already knew what she was doing. “Cian, I want you as tech on this so you can get as much experience as possible. You’ll suction the amniotic fluid out of our way, and I’d like you to use your touch healing to tack Corinne back together once we deliver the placenta, so she heals correctly. Corinne is strong enough that she’ll probably heal faster than I can suture her. Doc, if you can keep the incisions open long enough for me to go in and get the baby and the placenta, we can get her delivered in the next few minutes.”

Doc gave a thoughtful look at her queen’s belly and then to the monitors. “I think that’s reasonable. The bassinet’s already warming, so you can just plop the baby in there while you deliver the placenta and we get the bleeding stopped, and then as soon as the umbilical cord stops pulsing, we can cut it.” She cast a grin at Santiago, who was massaging Corinne’s temples. “Feel like cutting the cord?”

A smile spread across Santiago’s handsome face. “Si. I thought that was just a TV thing.”

Doc let out a soft chuckle. “No, it can be a dad thing, too. Bella’s welcome to the world.”

Winter handed Cian a clean absorbent pad, and he replaced the blood-soaked one beneath Corinne, tossing it into the operating room trash with the rest of them. He could only thank Dagda that she was a therian, and a queen. A human would be in dire straits by now.

Doc lifted an electrocautery scalpel from its tray, the steel glinting under the bright lights, a long wire stretching to the base of the machine beside her. “Ready when you are.”

Winter explored Corinne’s belly, feeling out the position of the baby within. “She’s breech, which is normal with placenta previa. First incision down here, across the lower abdomen, and then we very carefully cut into the uterus.”

Doc snorted. “Don’t teach me to suck eggs, kid.”

An amused smile tugged at Winter’s mouth. “Yes, ma’am. Cian, get ready with the suction, please.”

Cian flipped the machine on and held the wand at the ready, tucking himself against Corinne’s side opposite of Santiago so he could both reach and stay out of the way. He’d done this in surgery with Winter before. There had just never been a baby involved. It didn’t make him nervous, though. Winter had faith in him.

Winter shifted just a little to the side to give Doc more room. “All right, let’s do this.”

Doc spread her fingers across Corinne’s lower abdomen, her hands rock-steady, and made the first deft incision, a tiny whiff of smoke rising as she made the long cut, stopping bleeding before it could start, exposing the flesh of Corinne’s uterus. “Get the retractors ready,” Doc murmured to no one in particular.

Winter reached around her and picked up the two steel retractors, looking for all the world like salad tongs to Cian’s mind. He’d used them before, but the first impression was always the lasting one.

Doc carefully centered her scalpel and indicated a small band of muscle just to the side of her hand. “Pay attention to this, Cian.” Her voice was low with concentration. “Corinne is a lioness, and her uterus works a little differently than a human’s. Instead of basically just being nestled in place by the other abdominal structures, it’s held in place at two points, acting as shock absorbers. She’s built to hunt and fight while pregnant.” Doc shifted the position of her scalpel. “We don’t want to cut those, so we’re making a bit of a smaller incision instead.”

Cian nodded, absorbing the lesson. “Will the baby still fit through?”

Doc nodded. “It’ll just be a tighter squeeze, but she’ll be fine.” Doc deftly nicked the edges of the first incision, pushing against Corinne’s healing ability. “Cutting now.” She pierced the uterine wall without hesitation, drawing another long, bloodless, horizontal line across Corinne’s abdomen.

Immediately a tiny foot appeared, pressed against the intact, translucent amniotic sac. Winter smiled as she applied the retractors. “Very nice.”

Doc grinned. “It’s what we do. Ready to catch?”

Winter nodded. “Trade you.”

Doc and Winter traded tools in a dance born out of years of practice. Doc had been Winter’s primary teacher as she learned trauma surgery, after the death of her Aunt Curiosity.

Winter cut into the amniotic sac with a delicate touch, careful of the moving baby beneath. Cian shifted behind her, suctioning fluid as best he could, until Winter slipped her hands inside and began to ease the baby out.

Corinne’s eyes widened. “Oh, that feels weird. How does she look?”

Winter slipped a hand further into Corinne’s uterus, sloshing fluid over her wrists and onto the pad. “Well, all I see right now is her little butt, but her head is coming free… right… now.”

Corinne raised her head, eager for a peek. “Can I see her?”

Winter mopped the tiny baby’s face off with a pad that Cian handed her, suctioned her little nose and mouth, and held her where Corinne and Santiago could see just in time for Bella to raise her first vigorous objections to being pulled from her warm retreat. Winter beamed. “Look what you two did.”

Santiago’s eyes reddened with joy and he kissed Corinne’s cheek. “She has your hair, mi corazón.”

Corinne grinned, unable to take her eyes off the baby. “She’s beautiful. Just beautiful.”

“And messy.” Winter handed Bella off to Cian, who wrapped her in an absorbent pad and carried her to the cozy bassinet. She was so tiny, and so fierce. “Let me finish this with Doc and Cian’s help and then she’s all yours.”

***

If you like this story, check out our other free short fiction and all things Seahaven at https://www.aelowan.com.

#The Books of Binding #therian #lion #wizard #fae #sidhe #childbirth #pregnancy #placenta previa #premature baby #premie #Winter Mulcahy #Cian #Corinne Lyons-de Vera #Santiago de Vera #Doc Gloria Park

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thegreatpikminzx789 · 5 years

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Yggdrasil’s Nexus: Prologue (Chapter 2) - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

Wattpad|Ao3|Fanfiction.net

Summary: With the reunion of father and son, the whole family will soon be thankful the Highlander is safe. Even when that's the case, an answer eventually comes to Korey as he decides on what to do next.

Introduction|Next Chapter

AN: I apologize for the delay in writing this. Life and boredom kind of took me over, especially when I’m trying to prepare for something in May. Depending on how I’ll handle things, maybe you’ll see another chapter from me. But anyways, enjoy!

From the protection of the city of Maginia, the colors of the city of Tharsis' buildings are much lighter than they appeared to be through the white, transparent cover that hanged above them. But not that it mattered to Shreya, a young girl who was wearing some clothes a black-haired female Hero gave her as a welcoming gift to Maginia. Staring at the city of Tharsis was all that she had been doing recently, as she let a pair of hands brand her brown hair into twin pigtails.

Her yellow eyes gazed to a gray haired Medic who was sitting right beside them, seeming to be reading a book of notes. All Shreya was wondering about was when her big brother was coming back. She wanted to look for him, but didn't want her hair to be messy in case they bump into her father in Tharsis.

"Mommy, when's Karim and Keiko coming back? They've been gone for nearly two hours..." Shreya asked, fiddling with her fingers as she shifted back her focus to the city of Tharsis. "I'm not sure." A sweet and caring voice spoke behind her.

"Maybe it's taking them a while to find some new clothes for him. I'm not sure what kind of clothes they would have here..." She continued, finishing up the second strand of her pigtail. The gray haired Medic glanced up from his book, turning to the two girls, seeing Shreya stand up and adjust her hat.

The skin colors of Shreya and the woman she called mommy contrasted each other- Shreya having human skin color, while the white haired woman had blue skin. There's also the fact that Shreya's hair color reminded the Medic of the hair his guild leader that he met in Etria. He promised the two people in front of him that he would guide them to where Korey was, but he was unsure where he was, after he left Armoroad...

"Perhaps that may be the case, but if they don't come back within the next day, they'll likely be left behind." He groaned, unsure how long the Maginia will be staying here beside the city of Tharsis. Whatever the amount may be, depending on the amount of adventurers that come, there may be little time left...

"Hey, Hilda, Simon... Sorry I'm late!" A familiar voice called out to the group, as they turn to see Keiko approach them, wrapped a bit in bandages.

Simon stood up in surprise, rushing over to the Therian. "Keiko, what happened to you?! Did you get attacked by someone?!" He exclaimed, quickly inspecting the covered areas on her.

"No, it's nothing too serious, Mr. Simon. I merely tripped when I was searching for Karim." Keiko reassured him, causing him to slow down, but maintain a worried expression on his face. Hilda let out a sigh, shaking her head as she approaches her. "Even when I told you not to trip, you still somehow do..."

Simon looks over the bandages, surprised that they were wrapped very carefully, almost as if they've been applied recently. "Who was it that healed you, exactly? These bandages seem to be wrapped with care..."

Upon being asked, by the gray haired Medic, Keiko turned to face him with a smile on her face. "You're not gonna believe it, but when I was looking for Karim, I found Korey within Tharsis!" Hilda and Shreya let out a surprise gasp when they heard Korey's name.

"Papa healed you, Ms. Keiko?" Shreya exclaimed, getting rather excited to hear that her father was nearby, and in the city that she had been staring at for a while.

"Yeah, he did. He must have learned a lot if he was able to do so." Keiko nodded, seeing the small child jump in joy.

"After two years of searching, we're finally going to be reunited..." Hilda sighed with relief, glad the many days of searching for her beloved would soon be over. "Oh, and he also said that he wanted to see some of his old guild members." The Therian added, having almost forgotten the very thing she was asked from him.

"Then I volunteer to go, seeing as I promised to help guide Hilda and Shreya to see him. If Karim is next to him, he should be easier to spot." Simon declared, putting the book that was on the table inside his bag.

Shreya turned to face her mom, who glanced at her in return. "I'm so excited, mommy! We get to see papa again!" The excitement in her daughter's voice made Hilda smile.

"Korey would be so happy to see us, my daughter. Come, let's prepare to head into Tharsis and make our way to him, rallying a few members who would want to see him." Hilda hummed, motioning her daughter to follow behind her as they make their way inside the building.

"You guys go do that, I'm gonna- oooow, get some rest." Keiko groaned in pain from trying to move. "Perhaps for the better. No need to harm yourself any further." Simon sighed, urging the Therian to get inside.

.................................

Back at the guild house, Yukina, Shirota, Logre, and Frederica all look around outside, looking around for someone. "He couldn't have gone that far..." Shirota pondered, trying to see if she can see him through the crowd of explorers.

"I sure hope he'll be alright." Frederica sighed, trying her best to look for Korey. Logre glanced at the blonde haired gunner, with his typical friendly smile.

"You put too much worry on yourself, Frederica. Just keep looking, he'll be fine." He assured, hearing the millennium girl sigh before continuing her search.

The red haired monk soon spots Korey approaching. "Guys, I see him." Yukina exclaimed, before spotting the smaller person walking alongside him. "And it appears as if he's brought somebody with him."

Shirota turned where Yukina was looking, spotting the small person as well. "That person is rather small, though..." The dancer points out. The Highlander approaches the four person group, seeing them glance at him, mixed with relief, but also worry.

"S-Sorry for taking so long guys, things happened..." Korey chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Why the kid, though? Is he a new recruit or something?" Logre inquired, causing Korey to glance at Karim for a second to understand the Imperial's question.

"Oh, he's not a new recruit. This is my son." Korey revealed to the group.

"He's your son?!" The four of them exclaimed, startled, yet surprised by the news he suddenly dropped on them.

Korey nods, turning to his son and lets go of his hand. "Why don't you introduce yourself, my boy?" He queried, seeing Karim nod in response to his question, turning to face the group before him.

"My name's Karim! It's so nice to meet ya!" The white haired child chirped.

"D'aaaaawww, he's so adorable~" Shirota couldn't help but coo upon hearing the child's adorable voice, rubbing her hand through his white hair, earning a few giggles out of him as he enjoyed the session from her, removing her hand and smiled back at the beaming child. "I'm Shirota, the Dancer of Korey's guild." She introduced herself, standing up afterward.

Yukina kneels down to face the child, smiling as she comes face to face with him. "The name's Yukina. I'm a monk that traveled from High Lagaard." Karim nods and turns to the next person who knelt to his height.

"I'm Logre. Though you're free to call me 'Whirlwind' if its too confusing." Logre introduced himself, giving the child his friendly grin he normally greeted other explorers when he was called Whirlwind.

"And I'm Frederica Irving. Nice to meet you, Karim." Frederica concluded the introductions, giving the small child a handshake as she spoke to him. Karim looked up at the Imperial.

"Mr. Logre, why do you wear such heavy armor?" He asked, making Logre blink for a moment before he took a seat next to him and sat in it, motioning for the child to come to him. "You see," Logre began, picking up Karim and placed him on his lap.

"I came from a worn-down empire who attempted to use Tharsis' Yggdrasil tree to try and bring new life to the land. But thanks to Korey over here, he helped me and Baldur see the error of our ways, letting me assist him in the battle to defeat the Titan that emerged from the tree." As Logre explained, Karim's eyes widened in surprise, before turning into a face of amusement.

"Woooooow, I wish I could've seen my daddy beat up that Titan!" Karim chirped, wishing he was there to witness the battle Logre mentioned. "Although it was a dangerous battle... With you there, it probably might have worried Korey if he never survived the battle." Shirota argued, crossing her arms after giving the child's words some thought.

Frederica nodded her head in agreement with the dancer. "The Titan wasn't no pushover, and neither was that fail-safe measure that was left behind by the people who were in the Yggdrasil Project. Even with Wufan, Kibagami, and Logre beside us, it was still difficult to take down the Heavenbringer."

Karim looked towards the blonde hair girl, doing his best not to fall off Logre's lap. "I bet it was really cool, though! My father once told me he took down a dragon that mommy once encountered in our Yggdrasil tree." He disclosed, as Korey felt everyone stare at him, probably wanting some validity from him.

"Yeah, that we did." The Highlander sighed after taking a couple of seconds to debate to himself. "But enough about that, why don't we head inside to see more of my guild members, Karim?" He asked, wanting to move on from the topic at hand.

"But I wanna wait til mommy and my little sister come to see all your new guild members!" Karim replied, raising a couple of eyebrows from everyone. Korey was quite confused when he mentioned a little sister.

The sounds of rushing footsteps caught his attention, turning around to be introduced by someone hugging him out of the blue.

"W-Wha-?!" Korey yelped, trying to maintain his balance as he looked at the person hugging him... "I've missed you soooo much, big brother! We've been looking for you for years!"

There was no way... He really felt like he was dreaming. That was the voice of a sister he knew all too well, even looking at her similar hair color and heterochromia of her blue and green eyes.

"M-Misaki?!" Korey finally spoke up, breaking free of the short trance of recognition. She looked up and grinned from ear to ear, hugging him more tightly a few seconds later.

"You honestly have no idea how much we've been waiting to see you!" Another familiar voice called out to Korey, seeing Kyo walk up to him and the others. Her hair was a few inches longer, but other than that, she was completely the same person he was friends with back on Arcania.

"Kyo! You're here too?" Korey gasped, trying to break free of Misaki's grasp. The Celestrian nodded to his question before turning to Misaki and motioned for her to stop hugging him, getting a sigh out of Misaki before separating herself from him.

Karim got off of Logre's lap, running up to hug Misaki, who gladly returned with a hug of her own. "I told you we'd find papa!" Korey heard Karim converse with Misaki, who was also ecstatic.

"Just how many surprises are there, today?!" Frederica exclaimed, honestly surprised at how these two people knew Korey. Granted, she likely should've seen this coming eventually, but with little information on his very first guild, it was surprising to see them for the first time.

"Papa!" Korey quickly turned to see a young girl with a dark blue hat and dress, with a pink cape. Her yellow eyes, as well as seeing her brown hair was enough to cause another memory to snap back into Korey's head. He wasted no time in kneeling down and accepting the girl's hug.

"I missed you so much, papa!" She beamed, feeling her father's arms wrap around her. "Same here, Shreya... God, how did I manage to forget my own children this entire time?" Korey pondered as he continued to hug Shreya for a bit, before separating himself from the hug and reveled in being around his children once more.

"I guess your memory might be coming back into place if this is all that it takes..." Yukina commented, placing her finger on her chin as she tried to soak in all of the information that was happening before her and the others. As Misaki stood up, Karim looked to his left, gasping as if seeing someone familiar.

"Mommy!" Karim called out to, wasting no time in rushing towards the person he called mother. Shreya turned around, letting out a short chuckle before breaking free of her father's hug and followed Karim. Korey stood up and brushed his pants before turning his attention to where the kids were going to, freezing right in his tracks as he spotted who they were running to.

Logre and the others soon turned to face the approaching person, being dragged by the hands of the children. "That's one interesting mother those kids have..." He muttered to himself, trying to get a good grasp on what species the person in question is as he stood up from his chair.

Her white hair, mixed in with some light blue spots on her hair was a soothing combination, with the exception of the red antenna's that sprouted from behind two protrusions of her hair. The clothes she wore were quite familiar to him, as they were the Harbinger clothes that most female Harbingers wore. The blue skin, while drastically contrasting the skin colors the children bore, along with the cyan eyes that he grew to love. She was finally able to break free of the children's grasp, as her velvet arms- adorned with some grey spikes, along with a strange gray and red symbol, brushed at her dress.

Korey steeled himself and walked forward to the person he had waited so long to meet again... She approached him, as both of them stopped half way between, raising her hand and touched his cheek. He... placed his left hand on hers, a small smile forming on his face as he felt the familiar smoothness of her hand grazing against his.

"Hilda..." Korey sighed, bringing his other arm around his beloved, bringing her closer to him. "We're finally back together, Korey. I'm so glad to see you're okay." Hilda smiled, staring at the Highlander's blue eyes.

Korey tried to hold back the tears he was getting from hearing her voice again. "I-I'm so," He stuttered, wiping his tears away with his left hand. "So glad to see you again, after the pain and suffering I've dealt with without you."

Hilda gave him a few pats on the back, before giving him a quick kiss on the lips, causing his face to turn red in the blink of an eye. "There's no need to worry anymore, dear. I'm just glad we never stopped looking for you..." She sighed in relief, tracing her hands to hold his hands. "Along with a few members of your old guilds."

"O-Old members?" Korey questioned, before looking behind her as she walked to stand by his side. A girl with light green hair, red scarf and white clothes, ear covers with an interesting pattern, along with what appears to be wings sprouting from behind it, along with two diamond shaped trails below it.

Next up was a white skinned Sovereign, though her familiar green and red tipped hair and forest-like clothing was all too familiar to him. Following behind them was a Celestrian with red and orange hair, a Pugilist with black and yellow hair, and the all-too-familiar gray-haired Medic from the Midgard Library, Simon Yorke. The two green haired girls made no effort to hide their excitement of seeing Korey again, evident by their combined hugs on the Highlander.

"Lola! Hibiki! You girls are here too?" Korey chuckled, returning the hug for the two of them.

"Yep!" Lola chirped, excitement filling her very voice. "We've been waiting for mooooonths to see you again!"

The Forest Princess nodded in agreement. "We art pleased to see thee once again, Korey. And this time, with thy entire family." Hibiki added, giving the Highlander one of her rarest smiles.

"Man, I wish you were with us to see how huge the family's gotten!" The Pugilist hummed, quickly catching Korey's attention as he spots the Pugilist and male Celestrian approaching him. "Ayako, Ion! It's nice to see you again!" Korey grinned, giving both of them short hugs.

"Ion glad Korey is safe and alive. If Korey died, Ion would not know what to do..." Ion's voice quavered a bit, almost as if he had been fearing the worst outcome.

"At least you found him in the best case scenario, Ion." Korey could only grin upon recognizing the voice, quickly removing himself from the hug as he noticed Frederica approach a gray haired Medic. "Simon!" She chirped, easily getting a smile formed on Simon's face.

"It's been quite some time, hasn't it, Ricky?" Simon chuckled, greeting his friend back in Etria and High Lagaard. Yukina looked around, almost dumbfounded at what had happened.

"I am so lost on what's happening." Yukina sighed, admitting her confusion at long last. "This is amazing, but at the same time, I feel as if we're left in the dark as to who everyone else is." Shirota added, sharing her expression of confusion.

As Korey turned around, he noticed Logre looking at him, almost as if he's urging him to explain something. "O-Oh, yeah, I guess introductions are in order." Korey spoke up, motioning for the others to settle their conversations, clearing his throat before motioning to the small girl.

"Shreya is my daughter that me and Hilda had a year after Karim was born. This is my wife, Hilda, the girl with the blue and green eye is my sister, Misaki," Korey began, doing his best to keep a clear voice as he motioned to the next person. "The Celestrian woman is Kyo, the guy in the green robe with red and orange hair is Ion, Ayako's the one with black and yellow hair, Simon Yorke is from the Midgard Library, Lola came from someplace within Armoroad, and Hibiki was a Forest Folk I encountered in High Lagaard."

Korey had to let out a huge sigh after that. God, he hasn't given a long-winded introduction before, but boy, he's gonna have a hell of a time the least he expects it.

"And judging from the looks of things, it looks like a lot more of Korey's members are soon going to join the family~" Ayako hummed, placing a hand on his hip.

Frederica couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion. "What does he mean by that?"

"He usually tends to act like a father towards anyone he meets. Questioning him is like asking a brick wall..." Simon explained, sighing as he rubs his hand on his head.

Korey couldn't help but chuckle. "Now you know how I felt when I first talked to him. He's just that caring."

"Plus, you seem to have gotten a ton of guild members the last time we saw you." Kyo chimed in, divulging the conversation. "They've been on the Maginia, waiting to see you again."

Oh boy...

"Including everyone from your first guild!" Misaki added, causing Korey to gulp to hide his worry. Who knew being the leader would've eventually lead to this?

"T-That is quite a lot of people to manage, though!" Korey stuttered, soon turning his attention to his approaching children.

"That is a lot, papa! But I know you can do it!"

"Yeah, me too!"

Korey's worried stance started to lower upon hearing his children's encouragement. At least they know how to keep him up whenever things looked down or whatever caused him to be worried.

"Given your leadership skills, it seems like everybody we met who knew you had some great memories traveling with you." Hilda noted, her hands grazing up at his arm before wrapping her own arm around his. "It would please everyone, including us, if you came back..."

Well now that's just a given.

"Of course I'd come back to you, Hilda. You, my family, and friends are what kept me going, and I don't intend on stopping anytime soon." Korey assured, placing a kiss on her cheek and causing a giggle to come forth.

Shirota couldn't help but inquire something that she had been wanting to ask. "Then, is your mind made up about going on the Maginia?"

Korey's eyes turned to look at the brown skinned dancer, with a smile on his face. "Just because I'm finally reunited with my friends and family doesn't mean we can stop soon. Wherever this Maginia will take us, we'll have the adventure of our lives!"

The sound of sniffling caught everyone's attention, as they turn to see Yukina trying to wipe away at some runaway tears that couldn't help but escape her grasp. "Man, you grow up so fast, Korey..."

Logre grinned as he placed a few comforting pats on her shoulder. "To be honest, he's already grown up, seeing as he's got a family of his own."

"Still doesn't mean I'm wrong..." Yukina uttered, wiping away another tear from her eyes as she tried to calm herself down.

"I'm sure the Count will need to hear my decision on traveling to the Maginia." Korey spoke up, causing Logre to give him a glare that, although wasn't menacing, urged him to do something.

"Then just go already. You're the leader, you should know when to make the first move." Logre insisted, giving him his casual happy-go-lucky grin.

"Logre right." Ion concurred without hesitation. "Korey should speak with Mr. Count person."

"What is this, everybody remind Korey day?" Korey groaned, rubbing his head in confusion.

"We'll make it seem that way until you get going." Hilda teased, finally giving Korey the incentive to go.

"Okay, fine, we're going..." Korey sighed, urging the group behind him to follow behind him. "I'll start making supper, so don't stay there for too long!" Korey heard Yukina call out to him. Despite knowing that she wasn't his actual mother, Korey couldn't really help but feel confused about the huge family he's getting himself into.

He nodded in response, holding Hilda's hand as she walked beside him, finally able to do so after two painstaking years of waiting for this moment. Nobody'd blame them for having missed each other for that long.

"Come on, kids!" Lola chirped to Karim and Shreya, who were a bit behind from the group. "Coming!" They replied, trying their best to catch up with their father and mother.

.............................................

After going through the same street he traveled through multiple times to report their mission to the man himself, the group arrived at the Outland Count's place. Some of Korey's old guildmates were quite surprised by the huge size of the place, but followed behind them nevertheless. Korey and Shirota soon tell everyone to wait beside the door and keep their noises down.

Probably wanting to surprise the Count with the news he found on his own might not have been a great idea, but if he was gonna kill two theoretical birds with one stone, he was going with it, dammit. As Korey opened the door, he spotted Baldur conversing with the Count. The squeaking of the door caught their attention, as they spot Korey peeking through the door, along with Shirota.

"Oh- ummmmmmm," Korey began, shifting his eyes to almost any direction he can look at. "I-Is this a bad time to come in?"

Though he probably might've been mad, the Count's smile held no malice towards their eavesdrop. "Ah, Korey, Shirota. We weren't discussing private matters, but next time do knock." The Count replied, rubbing Margarita's fur with his hand.

"Y-Yes sir." Korey sighed, urging Shirota to go through the door before he followed afterwards, slowly closing the door behind them, but keeping it open so slightly. "I came here to discuss about the guildhouse with you, but I also bring a bit more regarding how many people I brought with me. I figured you and Baldur might want to meet them.

"New recruits, am I not mistaken?" Baldur couldn't help but ask, wondering why he would announce new explorers at a time like this.

Korey and Shirota looked at each other for a couple of seconds, before Korey shrugged his shoulders. "It's easier to show than to tell." Korey replied as he turned and opened the doors, motioning for the others that were waiting outside to come into the room.

Lola was instantly taken in by the room's decor. "Woooow, this room is the most coolest one of all~"

The Count had to reassure Margarita, as he glanced at the many faces that entered the room. "Are you fellows friends with Korey?" He asked Hilda who stood by her beloved's side.

"Everyone else here is." She answered the Count's question. "As for me and my children, we're more of a family to Korey, than friends."

Baldur couldn't help but blink. After all, he's seen at least a few married couples back in the empire, including Shira and her husband. Seeing Hilda was quite a surprising change of pace...

"So, you're... Korey's wife?" Baldur inquired, wanting to get some assurance to make sure he wasn't going crazy.

Hilda turned to face the Imperial Prince. "Yes, I am. The name's Hilda, the last remaining Arken in existence. And these are our children, Karim, and Shreya."

"Pleased to meet ya!" Karim waved at Baldur upon hearing his name, as Shreya followed suit. "Yeah, pleased to meet you!"

Before Baldur could sink in the information he heard, he saw Margarita walk to the two children, sniffing them to determine whether or not they're a threat.

"D'aaaaww, it's a puppy!" Karim cooed, doing his best not to frighten her. Eventually, Margarita's ears perked up, starting to feel at ease with the amount of people in the room.

Shreya couldn't help grin from ear to ear. "Soooo adorable! Is it alright if we play with her?"

The Count gave the children an eager smile, seeing as the children would need to do something to rid themselves of boredom. "Go right ahead, lads. We'll be discussing something in the meantime."

With the go ahead from the count, the kids start petting and using the dog toys to play with Margarita. After assuring himself that everything will be fine, he turned to see the gray haired Medic. "I assume you must be this Simon Yorke fellow Korey once mentioned to me."

"Indeed I am." Simon nodded as he confirmed the Count's assumption, as the two shook each other's hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet with one of the Midgard Library members. Words of your efforts had often been the word of gossip when explorers from Etria came here." The Count proclaimed, seeing Simon grin as they finish shaking each other's hands.

"I wouldn't be surprised. After solving the mystery of the Yggdrasil Tree, there wasn't much one can do in Etria, so me and a few others from the library went back. Korey and Ricky are the only ones who still travel together."

"That they do." The Count concurred with Simon's explanation, before looking around the room and seeing the others had been waiting patiently. "Now, may I ask who the others are?"

Upon hearing his question, Hibiki made her move by bowing to him before raising herself up and looked at the Count with her scarlet eyes. "I am Hibiki. It's a pleasure to meeteth thee." Kyo, Lola, Ayako, and Misaki introduced themselves shortly afterward.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I am Prince Baldur of the Yggdrasil Empire." Baldur introduced himself, shaking Hilda's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Baldur." Hilda hummed, as the Count glanced at Shirota. "So, Shirota, introductions aside, why did you and Korey come here?"

"Ah, you see, Korey finally made up his mind to head to the Maginia, and we were wondering what we should do about the guild house." Shirota explained, seeing the Count smirk a little, likely as if he predicted their reason for being here.

"Well, Baldur and I have been discussing a bit about that particular thing, and we decided to come to a conclusion."

Shocking that despite their hatred back in the Empire's domain, they eventually managed to grow past their previous debate. Korey turned to Baldur, waiting for an explanation from the Prince himself.

"The Count will be looking over after our guild house. Since Maginia will be a temporary home as we explore the new region, we'll need our home to be ready for when we arrive back."

Shirota sighed in relief upon hearing Baldur's explanation. "I see. We'll need a place to come back to eventually, so that's justifiable." She hummed, clasping her hands together.

"Although with that being said..." Korey, on the other hand, let out a rather questionable sigh as he turned to face the Count.

"After we do visit this place that the Maginia will take us too, I won't be the guild leader of the Refulgent Guild. I have a home to look forward to, back with my family and friends..." Korey explained, his gaze soon looking away from the Count as he spoke.

He felt someone clasp his hand in reassurance, turning his head to see Hilda attempting to calm him down through a smile of hers... Though it wasn't enough to fully cheer him up, he smiled back with whatever strength he could muster.

"Then, who might take up your role as the leader?" Shirota couldn't help but question Korey. The very question made him perk up, as if he was expecting that question to be asked.

"Baldur will." He disclosed, getting gasps from Shirota, the Count, and Baldur himself. "For now, he's going to be traveling with us as a guild member on the Maginia."

Baldur couldn't really believe what Korey was doing here. Here he was, seeing a Highlander, who led four guilds before their encounter, never giving up his position as guild leader on all of the times he told them he had led his guilds. This felt like it was all a dream, for Baldur never expected to truly find himself descending from ruling an empire to leading a guild.

"Y-You really trust me to be a leader? Even after what I wanted to do originally?" Baldur couldn't help but question the Highlander's decision.

But Korey was stubborn in his decision.

"I'm sure Logre would agree with me fully on this, Baldur. He would've made you the leader if he felt like it, but he believed that day will come eventually." Korey explained, leaving the prince stunned and silent to ponder the information the Highlander left him with.

The adults in the room fell silent as they let Baldur think to himself, hearing only the sounds of the dog toys being thrown and Karim and Shrey's cooing and adoring Margarita. The Count eventually cleared his throat, bringing all of them back to the point of discussion.

"Back to the subject, there's something I wish to discuss with you, Korey." He began, shifting a couple of papers he had to the side, handing them to Korey.

"What's this about?" Korey inquired, unable to fully grasp what was written on the papers.

"When the princess and her soldier assistant was here, I asked if he could secure a guild house for you, along with seeing if they can take your airship with you." The Count began, taking a moment to sip the drink provided to him by a butler.

"And he allowed that airship of yours to be held. He should be able to get you a guild house by the time you make your guild there."

Hilda and Shirota gasped in excitement upon hearing that news. "We'll be able to have a guild house there?" The dancer spoke up, trying her best not to freak out like she did the last time when they were given their guildhouse the last time.

The Count's nod was all that she needed to know to confirm her question. "Oh, thank you for doing this for us, Count!"

Korey and the Count couldn't help but chuckle at her amusement. "It's the least I can do for the guild who saved the land of Tharsis, after all. Why, even some adventurers who won't go to the Maginia will help protect the town while you're gone."

"That is forsooth reassuring." Hibiki hummed, her hidden relief of the town being attacked was out of the question.

"Knowing that there are others to protect the town you care about in your place does ease one's worries." Simon added, glancing over to Karim and Shreya, as a smile formed on his face.

"Anyways, if that's all you've come to discuss, then I will see you off tomorrow morning. You should head back and make preparations to leave." Baldur tilted his head up as he heard the Count speak, nodding as if he was following an automatic protocol whenever meetings had ended back in the empire.

"Sounds good to me. We'll see you tomorrow, Count." Kyo commented, urging the other members of Korey's guild to start to walk out of the room.

"Karim, Shreya! We're heading back to the guild house!" Korey called out, seeing the children stop what they're doing and turning to face their father.

"Ooooh, do we have to?" Karim sighed, wanting to play with Margarita some more.

Hilda smirked, as if she's been through this before.

"I guess you must not be that hungry, then. No deserts when we get back to the Maginia~"

Her jest worked wonders on the children, quickly dropping the toys they held. "Okay, okay, we're coming!" Shreya shouted, rushing over to grab her father's open hand, with Karim grabbing Hilda's hand. With the family together, they made their way out of the door.

The Count knelt down and picked up Margarita, holding her in his arms as he waved goodbye at the leaving group of people.

"Have a good afternoon!" He yelled to the group, who took a moment to stop and look back, shouting the same thing to him before leaving the building.

Today was a day Korey would never forget. But who said it was over just like that? He still had to check up on the others, for god's sake!

For now, he wanted to just embrace his beloved the moment when they're free from dinner.

#eo #eon #Etrian Odyssey #etrian odyssey nexus #writing #spoilers for another fiction of mine #did i mention spoilers #spoilers abound #at least for EOV #still spoilers #that's enough spoiler tags

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karamelsecretsanta · 6 years

Text

Karamel Fanfic: As long as you are safe

Author: @emarasmoak

Rating: General Audiences

Characters’ tags: Kara Danvers, Mon-El, Imra Ardeen, Querl Dox, Winn Schott

Additional tags: Karamel Secret Santa 2017, KSS 2017, Karamel fanfic, Karamel endgame, Angst, Legion of Super-Heroes

Fic summary: Mon-El has been able to keep focused on the mission, but this may change once Brainiac meets Kara. Written after 3x09.

Notes: This fic is a gift for @chriswoodfandom and part of the 2017 Karamel Secret Santa Exchange

Merry Christmas, darling!!! I love your blob and your endless fangirling about Mon-El, Karamel and Chris Wood!! (3 of my favourite things in the world). This is a multi-chapter story and I’m working on it.

Also I want to send a million thanks to my wonderful beta, @kbcountry37-blog. She is the best! All mistakes are only mine.

Chapter 1: Brainiac’s move

Chapter summary: Brainiac asks Kara out on a date in Mon-El’s presence. Mon-El’s POV.

———————————————————————–

We have just finished the debrief after our return from Fort Rozz and I hear Brainiac talk to Kara.

“Our records mentioned your strength and your intelligence, but I see that they do not properly reflect your beauty and grace. I have heard Mon-El talk about your eyes often but I was not aware that your hair could shine like that. Watching you fight was exciting. I find you very attractive.” Said Querl.

I can see Kara glancing at me with a pained expression when Querl mentions me, but she then looks back at him with an akward smile.

“Err… thanks, I guess.” Kara says.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” Querl asks her.

“What?” Kara responds.

“What?“ I say. It seems that Kara and I have spoken at the same time.

“Dinner. With me. Isn’t this the appropriate social convention when someone has a romantic interest in a woman in this century?” Querl asks.

Kara blushes, and opens her mouth to respond to Querl and I suddenly find myself talking before she can say a word. "You can’t.“ I declare.

"I can’t?" Querl asks as he looks back at me with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"They can’t?" asks Winn with very wide eyes.

Damn Brainiac. Is he doing this to irritate me? It is working. Annoying jerk.

I can hear Imra’s voice inside my head. "What are you doing, Mon-El?”

I can feel Kara’s eyes on me and I try to ignore everyone else while I speak to Querl. “You can’t. We have to work on our ship. We need to repair it. Remember?" I ask him with a pointed expression.

"You can keep on working on that on your own. Aren’t you a qualified engineer?" Querl challenges me.

He knows perfectly well that the ship is not that broken and that we could fix it if we wanted to. I cross my arms and I try to give him my best "this is an order” face. "I am. But I need to pick your brain on the therian pump. Isn’t superior intelligence your superpower, Brainy? We have go to the ship right now.“ I say.

My face is a scowl and I can sense Imra’s voice. She is almost face palming. "Both of you! Stop whatever this stupid game is. Grief, I work with children" Imra says in our heads.

"Okay. I will follow your orders as our supreme leader.” I can hear amusement in his voice. “Kara, I still want to have dinner with you whenever possible. Maybe tomorrow?” Querl says.

“Sure. Make it tomorrow.” Kara says with exasperation in her voice.

Uh oh. I know this tone. Kara is angry. Probably at me.

“Yes, she is.“ Imra states in my head.

Querl looks at me again and winks. What is he up to? Brainiac smiles at Kara and leaves. I start moving towards the exit after him and then I hear her voice.

"Mon-El, wait." Kara says.

She has put her hand on my elbow and I feel powerless.

"I need to talk you for a second. Alone.” Kara says.

I open my mouth to say "No”.

“Please?” Kara asks.

“Mon-El, don’t!“ Imra says telepathically.

Kara's eyes have always been my Kryptonite. "Of course. Do you want to talk somewhere else?” I ask her.

“Sure. The training room will do.” Kara states.

Imra gives me a warning in my head. “Remember that I cannot help you unless we are in the same room.“

“I know." I reply. I can feel Imra’s worry while I leave with Kara.

I enter the room after her, and she ensures that the window blinds and the doors are closed. Then she turns around and looks at me.

"What was that?” Kara asks.

Crap.

“What was what?” I reply.

She scoffs, "I can’t believe it.“ She says.

Yep, she is very angry with me now.

"What?" I say. I try to look like I don’t know what she is talking about, but I’m well aware that it won’t work.

"Stop this. You don’t get to act as if I am anyone else. You know perfectly well what I’m talking about.” Kara says.

I do. But I still hope that if I fake ignorance she will let this go.

“No, I don’t.” I reply.

She huffs and gets closer to me. Rao, help me. I just want to kiss her so bad.

“You forget that I know you, and this is not the first time that I have seen this display of macho jealousy. It doesn’t look good on you, Mon-El.” Kara tells me.

“Jealousy? Pffft. No. Querl…” I say.

“Mon-El, please” Kara says. She looks at me with sadness in her eyes. "Please don’t do this. Not to me. I don’t understand you. I’m so confused. I need you to be honest with me. Please, Mon-El. What is going on with you?“

It breaks my heart that I can’t be honest. I hesitate. Rao, I hate this. I feel a pain in my chest and I look into her eyes. I can see unshed tears and I feel the need to hug her. I want to touch her face. I need to kiss her. She looks at my lips and I look at hers. I can feel her body so close to mine. My heart is stammering in my chest. I shouldn’t kiss her. Our breaths are mingling now. Our foreheads are almost touching and I can see turmoil in her eyes. My hand starts to move towards her face.

I have to leave immediately. I move away from her. I cannot look at her, or I will kiss her and damned be the world. "I’m sorry, Kara. I have to go now.” I tell her.

“But…” she says.

At this point I’m almost running out of the room, and I feel like a coward.

I go to the ship, and I find Imra waiting for me in the Legion common room. I start to pace around the big table.

“It didn’t go well, did it?” Imra asks me.

“You know that I hate when you enter my mind without my permission, Imra.” I tell her.

“Should I remind you that I have your permission to do it whenever I feel that it is necessary to keep you focused on the plan? Your plan. Your orders. And we both know that you were about to tell everything to Kara. And I didn’t even need to enter your mind to know it. It is obvious.” Imra states.

I stop near her and scratch my face. "I’m sorry, Imra. You are right. And I know that you are trying to help. It’s just… I couldn’t control my emotions. I shouldn’t have let Querl’s words to mess me up.“ I say.

"Yeah, I wonder what he is up to. He likes his games. And I accept your apology.” Imra replies.

“Thank you, Imra. I mean it.” I say. She nods and I sit down defeated in the chair closer to her. "I know that he can’t help behaving as an obnoxious jerk sometimes, but right now I have an intense desire to punch him in the face.“

"Yeah, I know the feeling. He has that effect on people.” Imra replies.

We both laugh and she then briefly touches my hand. "Are you okay? I can feel that you are having several conflicting emotions inside you.“ Imra states.

I scoff. That is the understatement of the year. I still feel an intense desire to go to the DEO, find Kara and kiss her senseless. I am upset because I can’t. I am so worried since her first fight with Reign. I swear to Rao that I thought that our records were wrong and that she was going to die. I have been so scared since that moment. Without Imra’s help I would have been unable to remain calm and focused on the mission.

I avoid Imra’s gaze. "Kara wanted to know what was going on with me. I lied to her again. I hate myself. I’m not being honest with her, and I’m hurting her.” I say.

“I know how you feel, Mon-El. Believe me, I know. I am the one that is helping you control your emotions, remember? You were the one who asked me to do it. And I still don’t like it. Kara should know the truth.” Imra tells me.

“You don’t know her, Imra. She would not care about her safety. It’s just the way she is.” I state.

“Even if we explain to her that her life is the key for the future of the world? That her survival is the only thing that can stop the spread of the darkness? That maybe that would prevent the World Killers from murdering Garth?” Imra says.

I look at Imra and I see one single tear in her face. I take her hand. Garth’s death was difficult for everyone, but I was the only one who could understand her pain about losing the love of her life forever.

We stay in silence for a minute, and then I talk again. "I know Kara. She will say that she will find another way, and she will try. In the end, it may not be sufficient. When the moment comes, she will not put her safety above others and everything will be lost. She can be a bit stubborn, you know.“ I explain to Imra.

"Then she reminds me of someone. Mon-El, you should at least tell her that we are not married and that you never stopped loving her. She feels the same about you. You deserve to be together. This situation is hurting both of you.” Imra says.

“I can’t. She knows me better than anyone else. If we get back together, she will find out that I have to die to protect her. She will try to stop me. She will risk everything to save me.” I state.

“She needs you. You need her. Even if you can only be together for a short period of time. Both of you are suffering so much. I sense the endless love each of you have for the other, and it’s overwhelming, Mon-El.” Imra says.

I say nothing, and then Imra sighs. "Mon-El.“ She whispers and I look at her. "If I could have Garth back in my arms for just one minute, I would take it. It would be worth it. I’m sure that it would be the same for you. For both of you.”

“That’s because you are stronger than me, Imra. I am a coward and I have always been. If I get to have Kara in my arms again I may not have the courage to give up my life when the moment comes.” I say.

“You are wrong. You are one of the bravest people that I have ever known, Mon-El. Your love for her is your strength. You need to talk to her.” Imra says.

“I won’t, Imra. I know that you want to help, but this is the right thing to do.” I tell her.

Imra looks at me with a sad smile in her face and says nothing. We have had this conversation so many times. We have discussed this repeatedly as a team and at the end the decision is always the same. This is my call, as the Legion leader and the person who knows Kara. She leaves me alone.

I sigh and I take the necklace out of my shirt. I need to feel it in my hands so it can give me some strength. Kara was right. We were so many years apart and she was always with me. I kept her in my heart and I worked hard to become the man that she believed that I could be. I feel shame because I’m lying to her again. I need to remember that she was the one who taught me that a hero has to do whatever it takes to protect citizens above else. I have to save the world from Reign’s destruction. I promise myself that I will be strong. I can do this, as long as she is safe.

I only wish that I could kiss her just once before my death.

———————————————————————–

Chapter end Notes: I would love to hear your thoughts about this chapter and story. Specially @chriswoodfandom

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cozzaink · 7 years

Text

An Excerpt from my Upcoming Novel: “Tales Untold”

Note: Since my annual visit to Dover International Speedway this weekend at the Monster Mile, I'd like to dedicate this post to an excerpt from my upcoming novel "Tales Untold". This is an ode to my contradicting personality, NASCAR fans with similar tastes as myself and of course the drivers who inspired such characters. Thank you for taking a sneak peak and by 2018 you will be able to read the whole thing! But for now enjoy . . .

After the opening ceremony, the dragons were introduced in order of their starting positions. Each one rose into the air gracefully and refined. One behind the other until all ten were in the air, different sections of the crowd roared. Then finally a green flag was waved and the cheers erupted in unison. Asher stood up with the rest of the crowd to see the creatures rush past. Pumpkin and Nymphaea hollered at Warhardt as if he could hear them, but they blended in quite well and it was clear that they were enjoying themselves. The race pressed on excitingly. Asher and Therian followed very easily. Each time a dragon lead a lap, they earned a point. Every so often someone would lose the wind and swoop out of control resulting in a crash-landing and a yellow flag being waved and the race would stop to re-set, then they would pick up where they left off. Fans would shout angrily whenever this would happen. Soon, a white flag was waved and the whole arena became the most intense. Asher leaned over to Pumpkin. “What does that mean?” he asked. He pointed to the flagman. Pumpkin leaned over to Asher. “Final lap,” she said. She continued to clap and cheer. Asher looked back down at the track. He could see Pumpkin’s favorite dragon, Warhardt, neck-in-neck for the lead with Jinomire. He could see the excitement in her as she cheered him on. The dragons came around the final turn. The crowd went wild. Then something went wrong. Warhardt lost the wind and control of his flight. He and Jinomire knocked into each other. Then he was taken up into the fence that divided the track from the crowd. Everyone pulled back to avoid getting hit by the dragon or the broken fence. Warhardt tumbled across and back down onto the track. All the other dragons flew past him, slowing down. When he hit the ground, fans leaned forward again. He transformed into his human form. He was firm and broad in his human form. At this distance one couldn’t tell but assume that Warhardt was tall. Due to his messy blonde hair one could also assume his eyes were blue. Some people gasped at the sudden transformation. Jinomire made a steady landing nearby and as he did so, transformed into his human form as well. He appeared a little smaller than Warhardt, but just as fit to fight in a duel. Jinomire had dark hair and carried himself with the proud posture of a nobleman. Warhardt lifted his head, attempting to get his bearings back. He looked up at the flagman, who waved a red flag. Warhardt bowed his head in disappointment. A vicious rouse of boo’s erupted from certain fans. This included Pumpkin and Nymphaea. “What does the red flag mean?” Asher asked. Jinomire made his way to Warhardt and helped him up. “It means, The Pit. Because they were both so close to leading and so close to the finish, the judges are forced to believe Jinomire did that on purpose. Since they can’t know for certain whether Warhardt just lost the wind or was pushed by Jinomire, both dragons are given the opportunity to fight for their honor. The only way they can do that is man on man combat only, in The Pit,” Pumpkin explained. “What happens if one of them turns back into a dragon in The Pit?” Asher asked. He watched as the two men entered The Pit and were locked in. “They get disqualified,” Pumpkin answered. The crowd shouted and booed at the situation below. The other dragons had transformed back into their human forms as well and sat down on the track to watch their competitors battle each other. The two looked up at the flagman and awaited orders. The green flag dropped and Warhardt grabbed the first weapon he could get his hands on. Jinomire followed through. They charged toward each other and Warhardt threw the first swing. Jinomire blocked the opposing weapon with his own and raised his fist under Warhardt’s chin. The force threw his head back and Jinomire pulled his weapon back toward him. Warhardt swung again and hit Jinomire in the face. He was shoved to the floor from this. Warhardt took his chance and pounced down on his opponent. Jinomire was trapped under the attacking Warhardt. He managed to block a few blows, but was unsuccessful for the most part, until finally he grasped hold of his weapon again and swung, hitting Warhardt in the face. Warhardt was thrown to the side and Jinomire got off his back and pinned Warhardt. As the fight escalated, the crowd grew more angry and excited. Pumpkin watched breathlessly while Nymphaea shouted and cursed along with the crowd. Asher was eager to see where this was going. He watched intensely, admiring every defense mechanism. He observed very closely how the pinned warrior would escape his attacker and what he would do to avenge his damages. Eventually the fight came to a close with Warhardt standing over Jinomire, his back flat on the ground, pinned down at the neck by two weapons in the hands of Warhardt. The crowd roared with wild cheers. Warhardt looked up at the judge in the grandstand box. Every fan in the crowd raised their fists and either had their thumb up or down. Asher looked around in confusion, then he noticed Pumpkin and Nymphaea with their thumbs up. He loyally raised his own fist in the air with his thumb up, although he was unsure what it meant. The judge observed the crowd, then slowly raised her fist into the air. There were a few moments of thrill while she pondered on a decision. Then she gave a thumb up. The crowd roared with delight and pleasure. Warhardt gave the judge a grateful nod, then tossed the weapons aside and offered his hand to Jinomire. He accepted and Warhardt helped him to his feet. The flagman waved a checkered flag. “What just happened?” Asher asked excitedly. “Warhardt just won!” Pumpkin said. She jumped up and down with thrill and embraced Asher. He returned the embrace and a feeling of longing swept over him. She barely noticed anything and pulled away to turn and hug Nymphaea in celebration of the win.

#cozzaInk #monstermile #nascar #dale earnhardt jr #chase elliott #writing #fantasy fiction #dragons

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shinjukuspiritcommittee · 4 years

Text

Health and Sports Team Building 1

Fan Event 1

Location: ???

Oh, you’re back. Why? Because you wanted to…? Or maybe… because you felt you had to? You really didn’t get much of a say in it I’m guessing. I’m in the same boat I guess. A lot of the things I know just get decided for me and I don’t ever have any control in what I do. It’s why I asked. I’m just curious if you ever felt that way, that’s all…

~~~

Location: Shinjuku Academy

After another long day of classes, it seemed a well deserved respite was in order for you and your friends. You let loose a rather loud yawn which your friends took notice to. “Finally gettin’ tired of classes?” Kengo teased. You explained that wasn’t quite the case, but rather just exhausted altogether from the lack of sleep.

This seems to have alarmed Shiro. “Oh really? I wonder what could have kept you up.” Shiro’s cold gaze pierced through your sleepiness. You panicked a bit while you responded that students from Yoyogi Academy had kept you out a bit later than normal on your way back. “Hmm, well you are quite popular so it’s no surprise.” You tried to deny you were that popular…

“I agree with Shiro.” Moritaka added. “You are quite known after all that’s happened this past year.” The comments made you a bit sheepish and you wondered aloud if they really thought so.

Ryota laughed. “Yep! There’s just something about you that draws in all sorts of folks. You’ve made a lot of friends too and get involved with all these crazy schemes.” Ryota had a point all things considered. Especially since your sports academy friends did give you a personal invitation to go to their school for their Health and Sports day event. This surprised your friends. “Are they allowed to do that?” Ryota asked with a bit of concern.

“Most cases, no.” Shiro replied. “But since we all celebrate Health and Sports day differently…”

“Whaddya mean? Don’t we all just get the day off?” Kengo asked.

“We do, but Yoyogi Academy is still one of the few prominent schools in Tokyo that still celebrate Health and Sports day. Schools all across Japan used to celebrate it but over the years it’s importance has dwindled quite a bit. At the very least Yoyogi Academy tends to draw out a bit of a crowd every year given the number of athletes that participate so it makes for a nice excuse to watch them compete.” You commented that sounded like a fun day and get a bit excited at what sort of events they might compete in. “All sorts of things like a relay race and tug of war.”

“I once heard they did a Cavalry Battle. Is it true!?” Ryota asked with an equal amount of excitement.

“It’s one of the more uncommon ones but I believe there was…” Shiro pondered. Those didn’t quite sound like normal games. Now you were more excited to see such events play out. You even suggested all your friends should go. “Well, I’m not against going to watch.”

“Lame.” Kengo replied. “If you’re gonna go to a sports school the least you could do is not act like a total bookworm!”

“And maybe you might learn a thing or two about better health habits.” Shiro quipped right back.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, really. Just all those sweets are gonna catch up to you one of these days.”

“...You little-”

Ryota couldn’t help but laugh at the two’s bickering as it was commonplace for the two to act like that while Moritaka sighed. Ryota continued on through his laughter “While I’m not the biggest sports fan, I’d love to go watch and cheer too.”

“Hmm, perhaps I could hone my skills with their sports clubs.” Moritaka added. “Do you think they have Kendo students?” That actually reminded you that they do. In fact, you met one yesterday…

One day earlier

Location: Shinjuku Park

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” A girl with her brunette hair tied up in a pony tail asked you as you were on your way back while on your guild patrol. You took a mental note of her uniform and how her hair was quite unkempt. However familiar she was not a girl you’ve interacted with before. “You sure?” You suggested she might just be mistaking you for someone else. “Hmm… not really. I couldn’t forget a face as cute as yours~.” Well- Wait, hold up. Cute? “Yep.” She chuckled as she took a comical step forward, getting close but not quite touching you. Just who was she?

“That’s enough Yui.” Durga said as a small group of three Yoyogi students jogged up to you; Kyuma, Gunzo, and Durga. “Tatsuya was right, you’re gonna scare people just running up like that.”

The girl who was apparently named Yui backed away from you laughing to herself. “C’mon, can’t I have a bit of fun? They’re totally someone who definitely looks like they need a date~.” You interjected what that was supposed to mean. “That you’re cute. You think so too, right Durga?”

“W-What does that have to do with me!?” Dura stammered out while blushing from embarrassment. “Besides, this one’s a pal of ours!”

“What a funny coincidence!” Gunzo laughed. “Guess we took our jog a bit too far up. So what brings you the way out here?” You didn’t want to burden them with your responsibilities too much so you simply said you were out for a stroll since it was Shinjuku Park. While everyone else was convinced, Yui took notice something of you. You noticed but neither of you said anything.

“Well, whatever the case it’s good to see you again!” Kyuma said. “David’s pretty happy to see you again too.” You were glad David and Kyuma were doing well. “We’d love to stay and chat but we should probably head back soon. We’ve gotta make sure everything is ready for tomorrow.” What was happening tomorrow?

“You haven’t heard? Sports Day is coming up.” Gunzo answered. “Its basically a day when we all take the time to learn more about healthy living. Well all of us in the Academy at least.”

“Yeah, it’s mandatory for us…” Durga sighed. You pointed out she didn’t sound very excited. “Yeah, well… the work’s kinda boring and we had to waste a bunch of good days for training to set up for some boring lectures! It’s definitely dreadful!”

Yui then cut in. “That’s no way to talk! We get to do as much outside as we do inside, remember? Can’t have fun without a little torture!”

“Oh, right! I almost forgot about those since I didn’t do any of that work…” She admitted bashfully.

“It’s too bad you can’t play with us.” Gunzo said to you. “It’d be great to be on the same team again!” You actually brought up your school was giving you the day off and you didn’t have much planned so a day outside sounded like a bunch of fun. “Wait, seriously!? Some people get all the luck…” He grumbled while Legion murmured to him you were still there. “Uh, I mean-! That’s great! Totally!”

Kyuma then got on board with the idea. “That sounds like a lot of fun! I hope we get to play against each other!” You told Kyuma you looked forward to it. “Alright! I’m getting pumped just thinking about it!”

“Whoa, hold up a sec!” Yui jumped in. “You can’t just invite anyone to play in these events with us… can you?”

“Well, I’m sure Mr. Arima or Mr. Avarga could get you approved.” Kyuma suggested.

“Hmm, actually… Tatsuya’s been at the infirmary a lot lately… maybe he can help.” Yui brought up.

“Ever the reliable Den Mother.” Gunzo said. “I’m sure he’s able to convince Mr. Arima. The two are also doing that seminar together, right?”

“Yeah, I think…” You were confused by who they meant. “Oh, right. Tatsuya is a classmate of ours and a member of the Kendo club like me.” Yui explained. “I’ve known him for quite a while… hmm, maybe you two should meet sometime.” He sounds pretty nice. “Yeah…” She said that with a bit of concern in her voice.

“He really is! He’s always helping us around campus and all sorts of smaller things.” Gunzo said.

“Though his lectures…” Durga sighed. “He’s almost as bad as the coaches about studies…”

“Well, maybe if you did study a bit more and got your grades up he wouldn’t be so hard on you.” Kyuma chided.

“Let’s not talk about that! We gotta get back before curfew anyway! See ya!” Durga then bolted off without her other three friends.

“Hey wait a sec- You can’t just ditch us like that!” Gunzo cried out as he and Kyuma charged after her.

Yui looked back at you a bit nervously. “Y-You know… you really should come. I know it’ll our friend happy!” You said you would but what made her so sure Tatsuya would be happy. “He just… would, okay? I can just tell by looking at you! Anyway gotta go bye!” She then charged off after her friends too leaving you by yourself to ponder what to do.

Present Day

Location: Shinjuku Academy

Everyone remained silent as you recounted your story the whole way through. They all took a minute to process what was said until Kengo finally spoke up. “Some just have all the luck.” You asked what that meant since it didn’t seem out of the ordinary for you. “You always get invited to all the fun stuff!” I-It’s not always… was it? You were just the one who had the free time to do so. Besides there wasn’t any harm in extending your invitation out to your friends.

“Yeah, that sounds good at least!” Ryota said. “It’s too bad Toji is gonna be busy tomorrow. I’m sure he would have enjoyed that lecture they were talking about.”

“I know I’m curious.” Your advisor stated. “It’ll be nice to get a change of pace for a change too.”

“Now you’re talkin’!” Kengo whooped.

“I’ll be accompanying you as well then. I would love to test my skill against athletes of that caliber.” You were confident Moritaka could stand his ground and even beat them. “I’m not trying to be THAT impressive. But… it does sound nice.” The canine therian went on sheepishly.

Meanwhile…

Location: Yoyogi Academy Dorms

Tatsuya had wrapped up his work for the day and was ready to turn in early to get a head start on tomorrow’s preparations since he had to do that lecture on mental health with Mineaki and an upperclassmen pretty early in the morning. As he was nearing his room someone called out for him. “Tatsuyaaaa~!” You called out as she jogged over. When she reached him she panted and took a sip of her sports drink. “Man, you shoulda came on that run with us~.”

“Well I was busy.” Tatsuya pointed out while motioning to his bag.

“Oh, right uh…” Yui hesitated at her misspeaking. “Anyway, about Sports Day tomorrow I realized we hadn’t talked much about our plans after that lecture.”

“We haven’t talked much, but I’ve been making plans.”

“What kinda plans?” Yui asked. Tatsuya wordlessly pulled out a paper from his bag and before presenting it to Yui he made her promise to not tell anyone about it. Once she agreed he showed the contents to her and it was all of his approved sports for Sports Day. Yui was taken aback by how many rejections there were. “There’s no way this is real? Can Mr. Arima really pull you from this many activities!?” Tatsuya nodded. However before he could explain Yui continued speaking. “There has to be a mistake. I’m sure I can persuade Mr. Arima to give you a chance. It’s probably your grades or something right? Don’t worry we’ll get this fixed.”

“Wait a sec-” Tatsuya tried to stop her but she took off again for the main building with his paper still in her hands. He took a picture of it so he remembers what sports he was approved for but his main concern was that paper getting lost and getting loose. Tatsuya sighed to himself. “You can’t just fix things because you want to…”

Location: Yoyogi Academy

Yui raced down the halls hoping Mr. Arima hadn’t turned in for the day so she could talk about Tatsuya’s case. While she made it to the office only a student was standing there. “What’s wrong?” He asked as she came up.

“Uh… I was looking for Mr. Arima…” Yui breathed. “Is he not in?”

“You just missed him. He made his way back to the dorms.”

“Dang it, I musta just missed him…” She sighed. “Thanks anyway, er…”

The canine therian replied with “Yasuyori, third year.”

“Ah okay… Uh, you can just call me Yui! I’m a second year. Anyway, thanks again!”

“No problem.” He told her as she ran off to go find him. “Yui, huh? She seemed nice. It’s too bad she missed him…” For some reason he was rather melancholic as he spoke to himself about her.

#not a HC but something I had that I wanted to share #tokyo afterschool summoners #housamo #sfw #OC #fanfic

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thegreatpikminzx789 · 5 years

Text

Beyond the Stars - Etrian Odyssey V - Chapter 6

Wattpad | Ao3 | Fanfiction.Net

Chapter Summary: The Lux Guild begins to explore the labyrinth, only to find a mysterious item of sorts. When things turn for the worse that night, they turn to an experienced treasure hunting guild for help.

AN: Starting from here, there may be certain points where I will use prompts from @theshatteredrose to fill in some story segments for Beyond the Stars. Not that there's anything wrong with having nothing but explore and explore, but sometimes a little fun with another guild can add variety, and it never hurts to change things up a bit.

Drayce belongs to TheShatteredRose.

The day was still bright, as the Lux Guild finally set foot in the first floor of the labyrinth. The soft, wet grass soaking against their feet- well, for Keiko, the grass merely felt like an obstacle. The sun's rays pierced through the leaves, hitting the floor with enough sunlight for explorers to venture through the floor.

"Whoa… this is… beautiful..." grinned Korey, as he looked around in awe. "Ladies, and gentleman, this is the Yggdrasil’s first stratum: the Tutelary Forest." Hilda declared, as the other girls started to wonder a bit from the group.

"It’s so gorgeous… Out of all the forests I’ve been to, this one takes the cake." Kyo sighed, glancing toward Keiko as she knelt to place her hand in the water.

"Even the water here is pretty… Ooooooo~" the Therian cooed, making little ripples in the water.

"So, who’s going to do the mapping?" questioned Demetria. "Well," Hilda began. "I won’t be in charge of mapping the floors after a certain point on the third floor, but I can teach you how to make maps, Demetria. We’re going to need someone with a sharp eye, and you proved that often back in Iorys."

"Alright," Demetria nodded. "I suppose learning never hurts…" Hilda takes out a piece of paper and places it in Demetria's hands, as she goes over how mapping works. The brown skinned Celestrian walks over to Korey.

"I’d never thought we’d see such a beautiful sight for the first floor…" she began, the fencer nodding in agreement. "Neither did I, Kyo… Once we’re done with the mission, we can start climbing the Yggdrasil tree beyond the first floor." Korey hummed, noticing Keiko hopping around a bit before stopping next to Kyo and Korey.

"It’s going to be so much FUN!" she chirped, as the fencer couldn't help but chuckle at her excitement. "You bet it will, Keiko. I guarantee it!" He beamed.

"Though, are you sure our current equipment will get us through this first floor?" Kyo inquired, seeing as everyone got new weapons to start off their journey through Yggdrasil. "I’m positive, Kyo. We’re gonna need to get items from monsters in order for new weapons to be made, as Syrik said to us, it shouldn't be hard..." Korey reassured the Celestrian.

"Though certain monsters have conditional drops… And I’ve heard that explorers had quite a hard time trying to get some of them." Keiko protested, as Korey placed a finger on his chin, almost reconsidering his previous sentence...

"...Okay, maybe it WILL be harder than I thought." He admitted, as Keiko and Kyo laughed at his sudden take back of his sentence. Hilda and Demetria soon stood beside them.

"I’ve taught Demetria the basics of mapping, but for the time being, I will map out this floor and the second floor. After that, it’s completely new territory beyond one particular point on the third floor." Hilda declared, letting everyone else know why they had to wait for as long as they did.

"Got it. Everyone ready to go get this mission done?" Korey inquired, though needless to say, he already got his answer when they nodded at him.

They start by marking off the left side of the beginning area, as Korey notices some fish around a certain part of the area. "This spot seems like it’d be a good spot to get some fish…" Korey noted, as Keiko overheard the Fencer.

"It sure will. But we’d be here all day if we do…" Keiko disputed.

Well, she's right about that. Depending on how good the fisher is, they'd either be here and gone in a few minutes, or just stuck here for hours. "...Good point. Let’s just get back on track." He sighed, getting up to follow the others.

After coming across a guard whose watching over some chickens, they continue onward. Even conquering a mud puddle, for one weird reason or another... Yet, despite their searching and mapping of the entire area, they've yet to encounter one monster.

"I’m staaaarving…" Keiko groaned. Kyo rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Keiko? We JUST ate right before we left to go see Prince Ramus, how could you be this hungry already?" She questioned.

"She can be like that, on occasion... something I don’t quite understand how it works." Demetria stated. "Well, once we’re done here, we can get something to eat at the inn." Korey reassured the Therian, as she sighed, looking around a bit before noticing an acorn on the ground.

"Oooooh, an acorn…" she groaned, making her way over to it, with no one else paying attention to where she's going. "That’s nice, Keiko, just don’t try to-" Hilda stopped herself, both in speech, and in movement. She made a sharp turn to face Keiko.

"Don’t eat that acorn, Keiko!"

"Huh? Why not?" As Keiko turned to face Hilda, the Therian was blissfully unaware of the acorn breaking free, gaining eyes and feet, before jumping and hitting Keiko on the head. "Owww!" She yelled, getting knocked to the ground as the Acorn attempted to tackle her head multiple times.

Everyone else's attention turned to Keiko when she heard her yell in pain. "Keiko!" Korey gasped, bringing out his weapon as he swiftly went to Keiko's side. Demetria pulled Keiko away from the sentient acorn and helps her up.

"You bloody idiot! Why did you think it was just going to be food for you?!" Demetria shouted, as the other Therian weakly reached for the Acorn. "It looked so innocent, I just wanted to eaaaat it…" She replied.

"That’s a Rabid Acorn, Keiko." Hilda began, placing the map away. "Alone, or with groups similar to it, it poses little to no threat, but when grouped with two other creatures, these guys can become a problem real quick." she explained. Korey quickly realizes she did not draw her weapon.

"Aren’t you going to help us fight it?" he asked. "And end the fight like that? I already have some experience fighting against these creatures, you know... because..." Hilda looked away from Korey, the fencer recalling what she meant.

"Oooooh, right, right, I getcha…" He uttered, before focusing his attention back to the Rabid Acorn before him. "Kyo, let’s show it how its done!" The purple haired Celestrian nodded in return.

"Got it." Kyo hummed, taking out her staff as it emitted a purple light, before turning red like a raging fire. "Taste Fireball, sucker!"

She points at the Rabid Acorn, as the energy condenses together at the end of the purple light, forming a literal fireball, launching it at the Acorn as it falls backwards from being hit. Beta hears a bush shake, growling as another Rabid Acorn shows up to assist in the fight, making its way right for Kyo. "More company. Go get ‘em, Beta!" Demetria ordered, shooting an arrow at the Acorn to get its attention.

Upon being hit, the Acorn turned to the source of the attack, only to be greeted by Beta's sharp claws in its face, launching it back. "How about this?! Optic Thrust!" Korey yelled, swiftly running to the launched Rabid Acorn and cuts through it, as its now split corpse falls to the ground, as the other Acorn finally managed to get up.

Keiko starts growling. "Why you’ll… you’ll pay for this, Mr. Innocent Acorn!" She screamed, charging right for the Rabid Acorn.

The poor thing didn't even see it coming. Before it did anything else, Keiko went in, swords swinging like a madman, and just cutting the Rabid Acorn to shreds. And it kept going for a while.

"I think it’s dead, Keiko." Korey said, befuddled by Keiko's constant swinging. "Keiko, I think that’s enough…" Hilda tried, but still no sign of the Therian stopping anytime soon. They turned to Demetria, who sighs before taking a deep breath.

"Keiko! That’s enough!" She yelled, getting the Masurao to stop swinging wildly. "Wha-?!" Keiko blinked, looking where the Rabid Acorn once stood.

It literally turned into mere powders of what remained of it. Freaking brutal, yet surprising, coming from somebody who called an Acorn, 'Mr. Innocent Acorn'. "O-Oh… d-did I just do that?" She asked, looking at the others when she did.

"Yes... Yes you did." Korey confirmed, before a sudden snarl made everyone on high alert. "Seems like we’ve attracted something..." He uttered, as Hilda blinked in surprise.

"Huh… here I thought we wouldn’t see them this early into the first floor." She spoke to herself. "See what, Hilda?" Keiko inquired, curious as to what she was talking about.

"...A Wild Dog." She began. As if the timing couldn't be excellent, a giant red hound-like creature rushed out of the bushes, charging right towards the Harbinger.

"Hilda, watch out!" Korey warned just in the nick of time. She swung her scythe at the dog, causing it to stop then and there, leaping backwards to the others.

"Thanks for the warning. I've heard that their bites can hurt quite a lot. I suggest you be cautious and not stand too close to it." She thanked Korey, before warning everyone of its bite.

"Understood! Take this!" Demetria shot an arrow at the Wild Dog, as Beta shortly followed suit, scratching the enemy before backing away before it could strike back.

Kyo’s staff soon starts emitting a light blue glow where the purple light once remained. "Icicle Lance!" Kyo raised her staff into the air, before pointing at the enemy, as a few icicles launched from the lance. The Wild Dog flinched every time the icicles hit it.

Hilda couldn't help but whistle in surprise, looking at the Warlock with a smile on her face. "Impressive... I never thought you knew the weakness of a Wild Dog this quick." She complimented, as the purple haired Warlock blushed a little bit.

"Heheh, I may have guessed that on my own but... T-Thanks for the compliment. " Kyo admitted, trying to hide her blush as Korey rushed in for the final blow on the enemy.

"Hiyaaah!" Korey yelled, slashing his sword at the Wild Dog, as it let out one last whimper before it falls, no longer breathing. Korey takes out his weapon, and cleans the sword of the blood on it, as everyone started to calm down from the battle that occurred.

"That takes care of that… And we didn’t even have to suffer more severe injuries." Korey took a deep breath, sheathing his weapon as everyone else started to sheathe their weapons too.

"That’s a start." Hilda nodded, before turning to Keiko, who was rubbing her head where the Rabid Acorn hit her. She notices Hilda, and looks to face her.

"Although I can only advise you- more specifically, to everyone: there will be points in the labyrinth where we can get food. But whatever you do, do not go trusting suspicious food, like the Rabid Acorn. If more Wild Dogs were around, that would’ve been quite disastrous…" Hilda explained, as the Therian gazed at the ground for a few seconds.

"I’m sorry, Hilda… I’ll try and heed your advice." Keiko apologized, feeling the Harbinger's hand pat her shoulder. "Apology accepted, Keiko." she beamed.

"It’s a learning experience for all of you, and I’m only telling you what I know so that you all can survive the labyrinth. Cause while it is pretty, we’re not even close to starting on our journey. To die here this early is, shall we say, a kick to the face..." She continued, getting the map she previously stowed away back out.

"But now that the monsters are gone, we can proceed back on track." Demetria beamed, getting up from petting her hound. "Right… The sooner we get the samples and the map complete, the better." Korey concluded, leading the guild away from the area the battle occurred.

After walking around for a few minutes, they spot the huge tree they had seen earlier from the entrance of the stratum. "This must be the tree where we get a branch sample, right?" Korey asked.

"Indeed. There should be one that’s close enough for us to reach it..." Hilda noted, as Demetria points to the nearest one.

"There's one. Keiko, can you reach it?" Demetria queried, as Keiko stood under the branch and grabbed the branch, snapping it at the end portion. "Got it!" Keiko exclaimed, as Kyo chuckled to herself.

"Talk about cheating with height..." Kyo grinned, as Korey scratched his head. "Well, she does have those shoes that make her seem more taller than one would expect." He explained, leaving the Celestrian to shrug.

Demetria walks over to Keiko, before her eyes glanced at something in the water. The Harbinger noticed and walked up to her. "What’s up, Demetria?"

Demetria turned to look at Hilda. "There’s something down where Keiko pulled the branch sample, but I’m not sure what it is..." She replied, pointing to where she saw the item. Korey bent down and placed his bag down beside him.

"Allow me to try and get it." Korey hummed, reaching in the water. It took some time to get an actual grip on it, but he soon gets it out of the water, washing some of the dirt on it revealing the item to be a box of sorts. It was decorated rather fashionably, jewels and gems placed all around it.

"Whoooaaa…" Kyo gasped, looking at the box from afar. "That's soooo cooool!" Keiko squealed, as Demetria knelt to her knees to gaze at it.

"It’s so beautiful..." Demetria chirped, shocked at the sheer beauty of the decorated box before them.

"Is that a jewelry box?" Hilda inquired, as Korey looked at it from multiple angles to be sure. "Seems like it. But who would leave it here on the first floor?" Korey wondered.

"I'm not sure who, since nobody seems to be around to confirm its theirs..." Kyo also wondered. "Can you try opening it?" Keiko inquired, thinking there might be some way to open it.

Korey attempts to slip his fingers through the line and break it open, but after trying a few times, nothing seems to come to fruition. "Can’t get it to open..." He admitted, the box quickly vanishing from his vision.

"Let me try..." Demetria spoke, as she tried bashing it against the ground, hoping it would eventually give in. "Don't do that, sis! What if the thing inside that box is fragile?!" Keiko exclaimed, as Demetria stopped in her tracks.

She did have a point. It's a box. It's most likely containing something within it. Demetria dusted off the dirt on it and sighed in defeat, handing it back to Korey.

"Are you sure it’s not magically guarded?" questioned Hilda. "I can’t be sure. Even if I happen to know what it is, getting it off might take some time..." Kyo spoke up after trying to detect its mana. She probably wasn't proficient enough to detect what kind it is.

"Oh well. Might as well take it with us and see if we can find any means of opening it..." Korey shrugged, placing the jewelry box in the bag and started to stand up. "I suppose it can’t hurt to take it along, seeing as that didn’t happen before on my first visit…" Hilda agreed.

"So all that’s left is the dirt sample, right?" Keiko commented, as the white haired girl nodded in return. "Right. The map segment Ramus required to be drawn is already done, so the sample of dirt is all that remains." She explained, letting Korey take the lead once more.

It didn't take them long to find the spot in question. The ground had a different texture compared to the floor they've been walking on this whole time. Kyo grabs a sample, slipping it into a plastic bag that Korey had brought in his bag.

"Done and done~" Kyo beamed, giving the sample to Korey to place in the bag. "Well, that about does it for the mission, I must say." Demetria hummed, glad the mission is over with without any major issues.

"Indeed. Everyone did a fantastic job." Korey grinned, giving everyone a smile, which caused a few of them to smile as well.

"The second floor onward won’t be this easy, Korey. We must exercise caution at all times." Hilda reassured him, recalling the words she said earlier from their battle with the Wild Dog and Rabid Acorn.

"Right. Anyways, let’s report to Prince Ramus." Korey concluded, after looking up at the sky to see what time it was. They made their way back to the entrance of the Tutelary Forest, and walked back to Iorys, making it back around sunset.

Prince Ramus was reading a book that intrigued him, before he noticed the Lux Guild approaching him. He placed the book down as he stood up and walked over to the approaching guild.

"I see you've returned. Did you get the samples, along with completing what I outlined on the map?" Ramus inquired.

"We sure did!" Keiko replied, handing him the samples, and Hilda showed off the map to him. "Ah, marvelous work. Marvelous work indeed." He hummed, handing the samples of the dirt and branch to the guard next to him.

Korey placed a finger on his chin, seeming to be in deep thought for a moment before looking at the Earthlain prince. "So, why make us go through the labyrinth to get a sample of wood and dirt?" he inquired.

"It’s to make sure that the explorers are worthy of traveling through Yggdrasil. And you all passed with flying colors." Ramus explained. "Exploration of the Yggdrasil is now open to you, members of the Lux Guild."

Needless to say, Keiko, Demetria, and Kyo both cheered in joy, as Hilda and Korey grew smiles on their faces. "Oooooh, it feels like I’m dreaming…" Keiko sighed, placing her hands next to her cheeks.

"Seeing the prince again, or the fact we’re finally exploring Yggdrasil?" Demetria inquired, confused by what Keiko meant. "Prooobably both~" Keiko replied, leaving her twin sister to sigh and shake her head.

"Now that you’re able to explore the labyrinth, you can now buy an important item known as the Ariadine Thread." Ramus began. "They’re helpful since they return you to Iorys in a matter of seconds. Just show this card to Syrik and he’ll sell you them." he continued, picking up a card and hands it to Korey.

"I see. I guess it can't hurt to get at least one or two of these Ariadine Threads before we head back into the labyrinth." Korey noted, placing the card in his bag.

"You’re also now able to handle the quests at the tavern. We only allow certified guilds to tackle the quests that are posted there." Ramus added.

"Probably for a good reason, I assume?" Kyo queried, as the Earthlain Prince nodded in response.

"Anyways, we should head back to the inn, night’s about to fall." Hilda declared, as everyone took note of the sky's color slowly changing. "Good idea…" Demetria concurred.

"I hope you rest well tonight." Ramus hummed, waving good-bye to the guild before him. "We will, your Highness." Korey waved back, before catching up with the others.

As they arrive back in Jenetta's Inn, the green haired Therian hoped over to them as soon as they entered, wondering how the exploration mission went. Hilda and the others took turns on explaining how it went, and that they made it with not problems whatsoever. "That’s wonderful! Soon, you’ll begin climbing the Yggdrasil for real!" Jenetta hummed, clapping her hands in joy.

"Yeah, everyone’s excited to get started. It only feels like yesterday that we started out recruiting three guild members..." Kyo chuckled, already feeling like they've accomplished so much.

"It sure feels like it, Kyo." Korey agreed, as he lets out a yawn, before placing some money in front of Jenetta. "Anyways, we need a room to rest, Jenetta." He groaned, trying to stay awake.

"Ah yes, your room. Let me show you to your room for tonight~" Jenetta graciously accepted the money, before skipping to the stairs, motioning for the guild to follow her. She stops at the third door on the second floor, opening the door for them.

"If you need anything, feel free to let me know!" Jenetta added, as Korey, Keiko, and Demetria passed by her. "Got it, Jenetta." Hilda noted, before closing the door after Kyo came in. Korey opened the curtains to reveal the gorgeous night sky...

"Well, this room is more bigger than the other room..." Kyo commented. "Still got two beds though." Keiko sighed, not liking the idea of having to deal with two beds. They were close to having more beds, but not in the way she expected it to be.

"I guess she just expects us to be all comfortable with each other, or something." Demetria shrugged, unable to find the right words to call Jenetta's attempt of 'group bonding'. "But there’s only one man in our entire guild. Here I thought a guild full of girls would tickle his fancy, or something." Hilda disputed.

Keiko couldn't help but snicker at what Hilda said earlier. "That’s something I certainly never thought you’d say..." She began, seeing the Harbinger's cheeks turn red and attempted to hide her face from the other girls.

"Argh, Keiko, why’d you have to point that out?!" Hilda groaned, as Keiko chuckled to herself. Korey sat on the bed and took out the jewelry box from the bag, gleaming at it in wonder.

"Just what are we going to do with this thing? We can’t take it around the labyrinth with is, it’ll just be dead weight." He asked, as Kyo placed a finger on her chin.

"I don't know. We just don't have the right means of opening it somehow..." Kyo uttered, feeling like they were getting nowhere with this subject matter.

"Either way, we might as well prepare to for bed. Come on, girls." Demetria sighed, motioning for the girls to follow her, following closely behind her.

As Korey stands up to place the box down, he is startled by the sound of the window crashing behind him, quickly turning to face the source of the crash. "What the-?!" he yelled, as the girls swiftly turned to face the same noise he heard.

In front of the window was a Therian. From his garb, he appeared to be a Masurao, with black hair and light brown skin. "Excuse me sir, this room doesn’t belong to you!" Demetria exclaimed, as the Therian stands up from crashing through the window.

His purple eyes darted to the Fencer, who had a tight grip on the jewelry box. "Jewelry box... must obtain!" The man yelled, charging right at Korey, swinging his fist at him. Korey dodges the first swing, before he gets picked up by the Therian and thrown against the wall on the other side of the room.

"Agh!" Korey screamed in pain, falling onto the bed below him. "Korey!" Hilda yelled, grabbing her scythe as Kyo activated her staff.

"That’s my friend, you bastard!" The Celestrian exclaimed, starting to cast a spell, as her staff's purple light soon changed to a golden yellow. "Feel the Lightning!" Kyo screamed, as lightning bolts emerged from her staff, striking the Therian and getting his attention before he could get any closer to Korey.

Hilda made her move, charging right at the Therian, as her scythe is soon enveloped in electric miasma. "Paralyzing Reap!" Hilda slashed at his chest, causing him to flinch back, taking a few steps back as he covers his chest, blood soon staining his hands.

"Why you... pesky Harbinger!" The man snarled, attempting to move closer to Hilda, who backed away from him. "Air Blade!" Keiko hollered, slashing at the Therian so fast that it created a physical form of air, making direct contact with the Therian Pugilist.

Beta jumps and attempts to bite the Pugilist, but the man punches Beta away before he gets an arrow to his left arm. "Graaah!" he yelled in pain, clutching his shoulder.

"It’s over, you intruder! You can’t outmatch us!" Demetria exclaimed, as the man looked around to see himself cornered and surrounded. He clenches his fists in anger.

"You keep shiny jewelry box for now... But next meeting, won’t be so lucky!" the man grabbed an item from his pocket, and tossed it to the ground, as smoke appeared from where he stood, causing everyone to cough at the sudden surprise.

When the smoke vanishes, the Therian is gone, but the window is still destroyed.

"What the hell was that about... That was just rude to bust into our room and try and steal our prized jewelry box!" Keiko growled, placing her sword away now that the threat had been cleared.

"I have no idea, Keiko..." Demetria sighed, as she tended to Beta to make sure he was alright. Hilda climbed onto the bed and turned Korey over, who still had the box close to him.

"Are you alright, Korey?" Hilda asked, as Korey attempted to sit up. "I-I’m fine... But why the sudden concern over me all of a sudden?" He inquired, feeling a little confused.

Hilda's cheeks turned red, as she tried to avoid eye contact with him. "I-It’s just because you’re our guild leader! We wouldn’t want you dying to a Therian Pugilist of all things, that’s all!" She exclaimed, concluding the discussion rather fast.

"My dear guests, what’s with all the ruckus going on up here?" Jenetta's voice asked from the other side of the door. Demetria gets up from petting her hound and opened the door to speak with Jenetta.

"Listen," the dark skinned Therian began. "as strange as it is to say this, some Pugilist decided to bust through the window and started to attack us over a jewelry box we found in the first floor of the Tutelary Forest." Demetria explained.

"Oh my... no wonder I heard a window crash earlier!" Jenetta gasped upon seeing the proof of the window crash. "I don’t want to risk it happening again while we’re asleep so… mind taking us to another room?" Demetria asked.

The green haired Therian nodded. "Why, of course! I just have to make sure I have someone repair that window tomorrow. Right this way, my beloved guests!" She motioned, as everyone grabbed their belongings and followed behind the innkeeper.

Thankfully the room she picked was father from the scene of the attack. Keiko and the others didn't mind if it was similar to the room they were in earlier, they just decided to get to sleep as soon as possible. When morning arrived, the sound of knocking on the door soon rouses Korey from his sleep.

"Ugh... who could it be this time?" Korey sighed, sitting up and rubbing his eye. The same knocking sound occurs again, causing Hilda to groan in annoyance.

"Do you think it’s Jenetta trying to tell us that it’s morning?" Hilda asked, as Korey was unaware if that was the case. "Let’s go check, just to be sure..." He uttered, as the two got out of bed and made their way to the door. When Korey opened the door, he was- for lack of a better word, surprised at who stood before them.

Some guy with a dark red coat, red hair, blue eyes, and light brown skin lowered his hand and looked at the two people who were looking at him. "Terribly sorry for disturbing you at this hour, but is this the room where the Lux Guild is residing in?" He asked, seeming a little bit lost.

"Y-Yes... that would be us." Korey stammered, as he let out a yawn and stretched his arms. "Who are you, anyway?" Hilda asked, having never seen the man before.

"Oh, terribly sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. The name’s Drayce, leader of the Angelward Guild." Drayce introduced himself, extending a hand as if in greeting.

"Drayce, huh… I’m Korey, leader of the Lux Guild." Korey uttered, before introducing himself and shook Drayce's hand. "And I’m Hilda." Hilda disclosed her name, shaking Drayce's hand after Korey withdrew his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you two. Do you mind if I discuss something to your guild in the lobby about something?" Drayce asked, as Korey tilted his head, seeming a little slow on the uptake.

"About what?" He asked, just so he can get a refresher going on in his head.

"About the attack that happened last night. I heard there was a fight here and I wish to know the details of what happened." The red haired man explained.

Korey and Hilda stare at each other for a couple of seconds, before glancing back at Drayce. "Sure, just allow us a few minutes to get dressed and wake up our other guild members." Korey agreed, seeing a smile bloom on Drayce's face.

"Got it. See you in a little bit." He said, making his way down to the lobby as Korey closed the door, before turning to face the other girls.

"Rise and shine, girls! I repeat, rise and shine!" Korey announced, eventually getting the girls to stir from their sleep.

"Is it... morning already?" Kyo asked, rubbing her eye as she sat up. "Yeah, it’s morning, Kyo. Better get dressed right away." Korey instructed, going off to get dressed himself.

"Why’s that?" Keiko inquired. "Somebody wishes to discuss with us about the attack that happened last night." Hilda explained, as she starts getting dressed.

"At this time of day...?" Demetria groaned, questioning why someone would speak with them this early. "Better now than never, Demetria." Hilda urged, not wanting to argue with the Therian in the morning.

"Alright, Hilda..." Demetria sighed, getting up to let the other girls get dressed. After everyone is dressed, they take their possessions, items, and weapons, making their way down to the lobby. Korey notices Drayce waving at them, and approached him.

"Sorry if we kept you waiting." Korey chuckled, taking a seat in front of Drayce, as Hilda took the seat next to Korey. "It’s fine, Korey, I'm in no rush." Drayce replied.

"Who’s this guy, Korey? Is he a friend of yours?" Keiko inquired.

"Heh, I wish I knew him. Only met him a few minutes ago." Korey chuckled in response to Keiko's question.

"The name’s Drayce, guild leader of the Angelward Guild." Drayce introduced himself to the other guild members. "Interesting name... I’m Demetria, and this is my twin sister, Keiko." Demetria motioned to the 'taller' Therian beside her.

"Pleased to meetcha, Mr. Drayce!" Keiko hummed. "My name’s Kyo. It's certainly is nice to meet you, Drayce." Kyo spoke, smiling at the Dragoon before her.

"The pleasure’s all mine. Please, take a seat." Drayce motioned to the other chairs, as Kyo, Keiko, and Demetria sit down on the empty chairs.

"Now then," the red haired man began. "from what I understood, somebody came into one of the rooms in this very inn and attacked someone from this guild in particular. Am I right?"

Everyone nodded in response. "Yes, that’s correct. Although the attacker went straight towards me, he seemed to be after this thing..." Korey began, taking out the jewelry box in question and placed it on the table.

"A jewelry box?" Drayce pondered. "Tell me; where did you find that?" he asked, wanting to know where they found it.

"We found it on the first floor of the Tutelary Forest. We didn’t know why it was there, and we certainly can’t open it, no matter how hard we tried..." Hilda explained to Drayce.

"I see..." Drayce placed a finger on his chin. "I guess if you can't open it, there's no way of knowing what's inside." He muttered to himself.

"I don't quite get it though," Demetria wondered, looking at Drayce as she continued on. "the man that attacked us was Therian, yet he fought like a Pugilist. Do you have any idea why that's the case?" She continued, hoping the Dragoon would have an answer.

"As far as I know, since explorers are working together to get through Yggdrasil, the government allowed for every race to learn the skills of a particular class." Drayce explained, placing his hand down part way through his explanation. "If a Therian can become a Pugilist, they can, much like an Celestrian can become a Botanist." He added.

Drayce turned his attention back to the jewelry box. "Still, why would someone target a jewelry box of all things?" He questioned.

Korey shrugged in response, having no idea why the Therian Pugilist went for the box. "Beats me. For all we know, something of value is inside, we just need to know how to open it." He sighed, glaring at the jewelry box.

"Then allow me and my guild to assist you." Drayce began. "You see, unlike other guilds, we’re not interested in exploring the Yggdrasil."

Hilda looked at him in surprise. "You're not? Then, why do you go to Yggdrasil for?" She asked, wanting to know more about Drayce's guild.

"We’re more interested in the treasures and myths the Yggdrasil contains, Hilda. I believe this jewelry box may be something worth your while." Drayce continued, explaining his answer to the white haired Harbinger.

"I see... well, all of us are quite intrigued on what may be in the box." Hilda glanced at the jewelry box. "Korey, what do you think? You’re our leader, after all." Demetria asked, as everyone turned to face him, waiting for an answer.

Korey let out a deep sigh. "As much as I want to leave this to a professional, I can't say I'm intrigued by whatever may be in this box. And even if that Therian Pugilist comes back, we'll have more in numbers than he might have..." Korey mumbled to himself, before shaking his head to rid himself of the thought, looking at Drayce with confidence in his eyes.

"We'll be glad to have you assist us, Drayce." Korey declared. Drayce's smile made itself apparent once again. "Thank you, Korey." He thanked.

"So, where do we start?" Kyo inquired. "Let's start by heading to my guild house. Follow me." Drayce began, getting up from his chair and pushed it in, motioning for Korey and the others to follow him.

Korey grabs the jewelry box, and starts following Drayce, with the four girls following close behind him, heading out of the inn as Drayce stands next to a caravan. "We'll be going to the Crescentia via caravan. It’s easier than walking all the way there." Drayce continued once everyone was close enough to hear him.

"Crescentia?" Korey questioned. "That's the name of the guild house I inherited. Great name, isn't it?" Drayce quickly explained.

"It sounds cool!" Keiko hummed, giving Drayce a quick chuckle. "Thanks. Now, let's get in." He urged, letting the girls go in the caravan first, as he and Korey follow them soon afterward, as the caravan began to head towards Drayce's guild house.

#Etrian Odyssey #Etrian Odyssey V #EOV #EO5 #Writing #Angelward Guild #Lux Guild

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thegreatpikminzx789 · 5 years

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Beyond the Stars - Chapter 5

Archive of Our Own | Wattpad | Fanfiction.Net

I have been SOOOO behind on writing, and with Etrian Odyssey Nexus on the rise, I figured I should at least get back into writing to prepare for the ordeal that is the upcoming Nexus game. I also hope you don't mind me skipping over Syrik for a chapter, as despite mentioning him a few times, I'll be introducing him later.

Korey, Kyo, and Demetria reach the Council Hall after Keiko is already looking around at the Hall’s interior decoration and slowly moving to the prince, while Hilda seems to be trying to catch her breath after being dragged by an overly excited Keiko. Upon hearing the trio approach her, she turns to face them.

"Yeaaah, I forgot to mention my sister really loves meeting royal people, Hilda. I think the hype finally got to her head… My apologies for not telling you that sooner." Demetria explained to the exhausted Harbinger, as she stands up, flicking the sweat off her head.

"I’d still appreciate a warning, at least… felt like I ran a fucking marathon." Hilda complained, approaching the trio as Kyo looked around in an attempt to find Keiko. "I assume she went on in to meet the Prince, then?" She asked, as the white haired girl nodded in response to Kyo's question.

"She’s been staring at the interior decoration for some time, and I guess she got tired of waiting and went on without waiting for all of you..." Hilda sighed, as the brown haired Fencer started making his way into the Council Hall. "Well, guess that concludes that question. Let’s not keep his Majesty waiting." Korey addressed, as the four of them, without further incentive, entered the Hall.

As the group proceeds without stopping, they hear Keiko conversing with Ramus, contrasting Demetria’s worry she was likely gonna stir trouble the moment they entered, though it might change soon. "Hope we weren’t interrupting, Your Highness." Korey announced, trying not to come off as rude. Ramus and Keiko turn to face Korey, as Keiko waves at the guild, though mostly at Demetria.

"Oh, no, you’re not. In fact, Keiko here was just about to go out and get you guys… But, seeing as you stand before me, I believe that saves us plenty of time." Ramus addressed, looking at the guild standing before him, recognizing a familiar face.

"Ah, so you’ve brought Hilda as well?" He inquired, as Keiko easily answered before Korey or Hilda could answer the question. "Yep! Korey was pretty nice to offer the three of us a spot in his guild! Hehe~" As she said that, she was kind of close to Ramus, and that could prove troublesome if the guards happened to witness it.

Demetria sighs before walking up to Keiko and grabs her by her Therian ear, dragging her away from Ramus. "If you can stop being in the Princes’ bubble space, the more relieved I will be!"

"Ow, owie, my ear, I’m sorry, I’m sorrrrrryyyyyyy..."

Ramus chuckles a bit before looking at Korey. "I trust you’re the leader of this guild, then?" Korey nodded, and does a quick bow. "The only leader the Lux Guild will ever need. My name is Korey, and to get straight to the point of why we're here, we would like to take the beginner’s mission, Your Highness."

Ramus nodded, quickly understanding that the guild before him is new to Iorys. "Ah, yes, the mission. The mission is simple- in order to prove your dedication to explore Yggdrasil, you’ll need a tree and mud sample from the first floor. And of course, mapping out the first floor is also part of this test. It’s better to be safe than lost." The prince explained, to the guild, before turning to Hilda.

"Regrettably, you’ll have to retake it as well, Hilda. It may come off as unfair to have your new guild-members rely on you for everything, especially given the circumstance of your previous situation." Hilda let out an annoyed sigh, but quickly get's over her minor anger moment. "It’s alright, your Highness. I’m relieved to hear it, if anything." Hilda acknowledged, thankful that she was not rushed to continue where she left off.

It would've put her friends and her guild-members in danger, as they have no knowledge of the first three floors. Better to just roll with the flow and slowly make progress than rushing headstrong into danger. As Hilda continues her train of thought, Ramus grabs a few materials relating to map making, and hands it to Korey.

"You’ll use these to map out the first floor, and for most of the floors the Yggdrasil will have. Marking which areas are important, where things are, and what the floors are like will give us knowledge of what Yggdrasil contains." Ramus begins, before heading back to grab something. Korey hands some of the materials he had to Keiko and Demetria, as Ramus gave Korey two books.

"What are these?" Korey asked, as Hilda grabbed one of the books from him and quickly glanced at the title, and some of the pages within it. "A Monster and Item Compendium. Not every explorer will recall exact details of a monster or item from their memory, so they are essential to remembering which enemies and items we'll find in Yggdrasil." Hilda explained, as she glanced in Korey's direction.

"I can fill in some of these pages for us in advance, but you will all need to get some map training. Especially you, Korey." She continued, as Korey gulped as Hilda's glance turned into a stare. "Why do you make it sound like I'm gonna goof off while the others work?" Korey questioned, as Hilda quickly dismissed his question before handing the book she had back to him.

Kyo turned to Ramus and bowed, seeing as they are ready to leave. "Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Prince Ramus. It was an honor to meet you." Ramus simply gave the Celestrian Warlock a smile. "It’s no big deal, really. Speaking with the explorers is what will help us all with the exploration of Yggdrasil, and hopefully, solve the mysteries that lie within it."

As Korey and the other start to leave, they are quickly stopped by Ramus, seemingly forgetting to say something. "Before you leave for Yggdrasil, I suggest you prepare yourself by going to Syrik’s shop. You’ll never know what Yggdrasil may bring, so I suggest going there before going to Yggdrasil." Korey and the others nod at his advice, making their way out of the Council Hall and head to Syrik’s shop.

Kyo recounts all the money they had brought with them with Korey, making sure that none of the explorers they pass by steal some of their money without them noticing. "Three hundred is not much to buy us every equipment in the shop, Korey..." Kyo spoke in concern, seeing as half of their money combined isn't enough to buy everything the shop may have to offer.

"Yeah, it might not… We’ll just have to be equally sparring with weapons and armor. It’s better worth trying to find a balance than risk damage over getting severely hurt." Korey suggested, thinking on behalf of not only him or Kyo, but to the rest of his guild-members. It would be a tough balance to keep, considering the source of income may come purely from items contained within Yggdrasil.

"Hilda, is that you?"

A familiar voice reaches Hilda's ears, as she stops and turns to face the familiar voice.

"Father…?" She asked aloud, causing the others to stop and turn to Hilda, before noticing someone approaching them. The armor the man wore was enough to give Korey the idea that the man in question is of the Dragoon class. His black hair and beard could easily match with his black long coat from a glance. Hilda walks up to him as he knelt down to Hilda's height and the two embraced each other in to family hug.

"D’aaawww, that’s heart warming..." Keiko sighed, beaming at the sight of (possibly) a parental figure. "Demetria, is that guy Hilda’s father?" Korey questioned, as Demetria took a few seconds to recall something that Hilda once told them before Korey and Kyo arrived.

"I'm not sure. She did say her father was a Dragoon, but we weren’t introduced to him in person…" Demetria responded, as Hilda and the Dragoon separate from the hug, looking at each other as the man stood up from kneeling down. "I see you’ve finally manage to find a guild." He began, as a smile formed on his face simply from glancing at Hilda's own smile.

"Indeed I have, father. I'm finally going to be heading back into Yggdrasil again!" Hilda grinned, clearly excited about the road ahead of her. "Indeed you are, my lovely daughter." He chuckled, as he approached Korey and the others, looking over the four of them as Hilda walked alongside him.

"So, who is the leader of this guild?"

"That’d be me, sir. I’m Korey." Korey quickly answered, reaching his hand out in greeting. Despite the difference in height, the black haired man greets him back and shook Korey's hand in return. "A fine name, lad. My name is Tyrone. Who might these girls be?" Tyrone inquired.

As if on cue, Keiko proceeded to introduce herself first. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Tyrone. I’m Keiko, and this is my sister, Demetria!" Keiko placed her hand on Demetria's shoulder, giving her the hint to introduce herself next. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Tyrone. This here is Beta."

Beta barks and wags his tail when Demetria called his name. "And I’m Kyo. It's nice to meet you, Tyrone." Kyo smiled, as Tyrone smiled back, letting go of Korey's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially you, Korey. You gave my daughter another chance where an ungrateful bastard left her." Korey tilted his head in confusion. "Uhhh, thanks? But who’s the ungrateful-"

"It’s best not to mention his name… It just irks me if it ever gets brought up." Hilda cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "But aren’t we likely to meet him in Yggdrasil, Hilda?" Kyo asked, causing Hilda to think about her own words for a moment.

"...Yeah, you're right, Kyo. Guess that kind of makes it harder..." Hilda sighed, gazing at the ground for a few seconds before Keiko decided to change the subject. "So what brings you here, Mr. Tyrone?"

"Oh, I merely wanted to check up on my daughter. I’ve been meaning to visit sooner, but frequent trips to the labyrinth for materials caught me up recently…" Tyrone explains as he places a hand on Hilda’s head and rubs through her hair, causing Hilda's cheeks to turn red. "After all, she is the only thing I have to call a family."

"Daaaad, stop it, you’re embarrassing me..." Hilda commented, trying to hide her blush from the others. The way Hilda spoke made Korey chuckle for a couple of seconds, before Tyrone lifted his hand from her hair. "I’ll see you later, Hilda. I still need to finish some repairs on the house before I can show it to your friends."

"R-Right. Later, father." Hilda acknowledged, as Tyrone soon headed out from the guilds' sight. Although Keiko kind of had a question that she wanted to ask him, she figured it'd be better if she asked Hilda about it. "You had a house the entire time? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because father has been working on it long before I came around. He’s just finishing up on some final touches on it." Hilda admitted, turning to face Keiko and the others. "Anyways, let’s make our preparations for the first floor. The sooner we get this done, the better."

Hilda continued, looking towards Korey as if awaiting her next move. "Right. Let’s go, everyone." He finally spoke up, as they continued onward to the shop. Despite wasting a bit of time talking to Tyrone, they make it to the shop without any issues.

Soon, the journey through Yggdrasil begins...

#Etrian Odyssey #Etrian Odyssey V #etrian odyssey story

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