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maladaptive-ninja-returns · 4 years

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Dawn (5)

Loki x fem!Reader

ONE/TWO/THREE SHOT

Warnings:hurt, danger, wild beasts

Summary: A truce to end all wars leads to an alliance between Earth and Asgard in the form of Loki marrying a mortal. None of them what this. None except fate.

Word Count: Whenever my brain is excited I dance. Today I danced- it was the worst but I had fun- because I had an off from work. And because I knew I was going to write :D Yayy!!! People should not see me dancing when I am alone. Especially when I am in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil. No wonder that stray cat has a weird look on her face whenever she comes by for some milk and I am in the kitchen.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

"You do realise I am being kept alive for negotiations. So, it wouldn't kill to give me a cloak at the very least! I am freezing here!"

"Then why did you rip your skirt apart!"

"Are you kidding me?! Can you not see my legs?!!! They cannot handle the itchy fabric, you dumbfuck! Look at all the redness! Now get me a goddamn cloak!"

The stubborn stares go on till the guard decides to give up and get out of the tent for five minutes of silence. "Do not run because we will-"

"Do I look like I am in shape to run? DO I?!!"

The orc gurgles in irritation before stomping out and you get down to work.

It was not easy to tear into the fabric with the hidden knife strapped to your thigh. But once the first slit was made, the ripping was easy. Something you had learned while hanging out with Sybll was the sturdiness of the Vanaheim fabric that you were wearing. It has three layers. The first one being cotton harvested in the local fields that lets the legs breathe. The third and the innermost one is the silk woven by the silkworms cultivated by the royalty. But the second layer is the most interesting one. This used thin stretchable threads to wire a protective sheath around the cotton and thus the body. The thread work is done almost like body armour, loose enough to breathe in, tight enough to leave no room for error. But there is another thing about these threads that is the most crucial thing to getting you out of here. They have high tensile strength.

Your hands have already got to work to get those threads apart. Surprisingly it is easy to do so once you realise it is all one huge strand going about. It is hard to slash it into multiple pieces but your knife seemed to have done half the job for you. One end of the strands go to the end of every lamp and candle- even the oil lamps- in the tent, tied together by the other end to meet one thread that you tie around your fingers just when the orc enters the tent.

You are quick to straighten your back and look down on him. “Well?”

“Master says you can survive the night. If you don’t he’ll get you a coat.”

Son of a-

“Okay,” you shrug, getting up and picking the remnants of your dress in your hand before walking towards the opening of the tent, “come on then.”

“You are not going anywhere, missy,” the ugly creature growls, trying to stop you by placing his arm in between you and the path to the opening.

“Thanks to your master, now I have to pee because of the cold. And trust me this won’t be the first time I do it tonight.”

The orc has a shade of confusion and fear colouring his face that is followed by hues of hesitation. “Unless you want the tent to reek of piss,” you add, making it easier for the orc to huff and growl before walking in front of you.

Wrapping the remnant of you the poofy part of your dress around your shoulders, hiding the string in your hands that are thin and transparent enough to not be seen.

The cold air outside brings some relief along with a pit of anxiety in your stomach as you watch many more orcs sitting around the fire while many other armoured ones roam about other tents, growling, gambling, drinking and causing as much of a ruckus as they could.

A couple of wild eyes look at you from one corner or another, forcing you to tuck the ripped fabric closer to you. Some try to stand in your way and watch as you squeeze through whatever narrow passageway they leave for you, all the while letting you curl a few more strings by the poles that housed the burning torches.

A couple more tedious steps and a racing heartbeat, and you are by the edge of the forest, searching for a good vantage point.

"Don't go too far. I will catch you," the orc grunts at you.

You give him a stink eye before taking a few more steps uphill within the trees. "Keep an eye out for any perverts or animals," you order the creature, who in turn scoffs and spits on the ground.

"Great. I would rather be eaten by a wild boar than be kept prisoner," you mutter loud enough for the orc to hear and scratch his bald head, ponder upon it and then turn around in disgruntled annoyance.

The moment his gaze has averted, you drop the fabric from around you and pick up the mess of the threads. It is a miracle that none of the connections seems to have broken yet.

Okay, here goes nothing.

Wrapping the bunch around your palm, you gather enough air in your lungs and yank the strings running down towards the tents, trying your best not to grunt or scream in agony the threads put on your palm.

There is some movement. And then there is a faint sound of something snapping. What follows is a ball of fire going up in the air where you were being held against your will. And yelling. Lots of yelling.

Gradually the fire is being seen in more tents, orcs and white elves running around trying to make sense of the mayhem.

The orc that has accompanied you watches the fire, a layer of a certain fear building in his eyes. He starts to turn around but is stopped with a dagger to his throat.

One blow to the throat and then make sure you take the weapon out. Let them bleed to death. Just like Natasha taught you. You hesitate to take the dagger out but are promoted to do so- with a light scream- when the orc tries to claw into your arm, bringing his own death unto himself faster.

It is disgusting; the gargling, the trembling body that collapses on the ground, the failed attempt of him reaching out for you with eyes that are about to pop out while he drowns in his own blood. It is disgusting but you cannot seem to take your eyes off the helpless figure of that creature. With zero ideas about what your subconscious is thinking, a step is taken towards the writhing body till you can hear cries coming closer to the edge of the forest, forcing you to come out the trance and run into the deep for your life.

Sybll does not see it coming. The orcs or their attacks. She knows she isn't alone in the forest but she does not realise it will be the orcs that she will run into while searching for Y/N.

No words are exchanged. No greetings or warnings. Just the exposed dirty fangs of the emotionless creatures bared at her as she tries a protection spell. It does work, but only against the first attack. She knows the only option she now has is to run.

Oh, spirits of the forest, help me!

It does not take much time for them to catch up to her, surrounding her to play with her before they can feast on her in whatever sense they want to.

The first orc to step towards her- while the others howl and hoot with a sense of victory- disappears with a black whirlwind that comes and goes in the blink of an eye.

It confuses the orcs, making them look all around them before one of them tries to go for Sybll. This time too, the black whirlwind comes and takes this one. Now, the fear in those yellow eyes is real. The fear of the unknown striking from the darkness.

But it doesn't take a while for them to witness the golden eyes glimmering in the darkness at them, seemingly floating in the black as it watches them, their every step, every little ounce of fear trickling down their murky bodies.

The strikes happen without a warning. Before she can blink, the orcs are gone. All that is left of them is an arm dumped at her feet.

She never sees it coming. The predator or the prey.

It is getting harder to breathe. The running and the fear that is burning you inside out are not working too well with your tired limbs. It is hard to suppress the clamorous breathing when you hide yourself behind a tree. The cacophony of the party searching for you comes and goes from a distance, adding certain minutes to your life. It is a boon that the moonlight cannot reach down to the ground in here, making it easier for you to hide or walk about without being seen. What your frail little heart does not contemplate is that the enemy has thought of the same.

Once the silence seems to have returned around you, you get up and make your way towards the edge of the cliff where the moonlight seems to be filtering through the leaves and trees. Need to find a way back. Need to find a way back. Oh, Gods, I hope Sif and the others are okay. I’m sure they’re okay. This idiot just wanted me. Yeah, yeah, they are definitely okay. Didn’t see them back at that camp so-

A snap of a twig sounds somewhere behind you just when you reach in the clearing, realising the vulnerability as the moon makes your skin glimmer under its borrowed light.

“I love the attempt, my dear,” Torbarik’s voice comes from the edge of the forest before he steps into the light, “but you should have thought this through.”

Six elves just like him, three on either side come out behind him, their weapons thirsting for some blood in those itchy hands.

“I did, actually, think this through.” You did not. “Either I reach back to my family safely or you, Torbarik, will die by their hands when they come for blood for my death.”

Torbarik’s thick brows rise a little in mild surprise, his eyes moving between you and the thousand feet deep valley behind you. “Do you really want to kill yourself?” he mocks you, chuckling at your futile attempt to threaten him.

“I would rather die than live in your-”

“Is that how badly you want to get out of your marriage?”

That hits a nerve.

“Excuse me? This has nothing to do with my marriage.”

“Did he chuck you out of his room on your wedding night?” the elf guffaws and his men follow suit, rubbing you in all the wrong ways.

The fear that his elf had been inculcating inside you till now seems to be fading away as something else is starting to take place. Rage, probably.

“Stop it.”

“Is that what you said when he tried to have his way with you?” The laughter that follows itches every part of your brain.

You do not utter a word till they are done holding their stomachs. “What happened? Cat got your tongue?”

You do not blink and Torbarik, for the first time that night sees something feral shine from inside your eyes. “Say another word about Loki from your maggot-filled mouth and I will personally cut your tongue and feed it to you before slicing your throat and driving a blade right through your skull.”

They try to chuckle at the threat but the perilous aura surrounding you makes it difficult to do so.

Torbarik smiles and takes a step towards you, closing the distance enough for him to run a finger on your cheek. He does not show it but he can feel his insides tremble when you do not so much as change the pattern of your breathing on his touch.

“Turn a smidge more ferocious and I might start to do things to you that I have been thinking about for a while my dear,” he whispers to you.

It is hard to keep up the rock-like facade but you are lucky to be interrupted by a voice from the edge of the trees.

“Stop!”

All eyes turn to the voice, not being able to handle the shock to see you stand there.

“What in the nine circles of Hel?!” Torbarik is shifting his gaze between you next to him and you standing close to his guards. “Guards!” he yells at the elves to capture the one that just came out of the forest while you are stepping away from this one as your brain tries to take in your doppelganger.

The guards barely get close to her when they are thrown back into the clearing by huge black clouds growling and snarling at them.

Wolves!

With their teeth bared and their golden eyes sharp at their prey, they have their claws dug in the ground, waiting for something.

Oh. Oh, Gods. Oh my-

The doppelganger looks right at you and gives you a knowing smirk before softly declaring, “Árás,” and breaking all Hel loose.

The wolves jump at their prey. Agonising screams and cries fill the night and Torbarik watches with a newfound fear the end of his greatest men, his mouth agape, his skin whiter than it was before.

That is when he watches- from the corner of his eyes- your figure starting to run in the direction where your mirror image stands, giving in to his impulse and catching hold you buy your waist, before restraining you with a hand around your neck and the other arm around your torso.

“Let me through or she dies!” It is yelled more like a command than a request, of course.

The doppelganger takes a step in your direction. You can feel Torbarik’s erratic pulse in his hold around you when he pulls you a step back towards the edge of the cliff with him.

She steps, watching him before turning to you.

“I think,” she starts, looking down at your legs before catching your eyes again, “you do not realise how dangerous she is, Torbarik.”

And then it hits you.

Struggling with one hand, you use the other to fish underneath your dress, going for your thigh holster and feeling the cold hilt of your blade under your fingers.

The next bit happens in a flash. The distracted elf never sees the rage-filled stab coming for his thigh and ends up screaming. The pain loosens his grip on you, allowing you to stab back right by his lower rib cage and stepping away from him.

Even in the agony, his curses at you do not stop but for the moment in which green and yellow glow emanate from your doppelganger and in her stead stands Loki.

Torbarik is on the ground now, bleeding as he looks up in shock at Loki.

“Loki, my Prince,” he utters, wincing through the pain while trying to crawl towards the God, “I think there *grunts* might have been a mis-*inhales*- misunderstanding.”

Loki watches the elf with a blank expression before turning his head to watch you. Within a few steps, he is standing in front of you, looking down at your face, taking in every little scare and every bruise that has started to form. You can feel his gaze on every wound and spots of dried blood on you, unsure what he was going to do.

Loki’s hands are in the air around you as a black fur coat appears in his grasp that is wrapped around your trembling frame, restoring some warmth within an instant.

He does not shift his stance, but he does turn to look at Torbarik hiding a knife while trying to make his way to Loki.

“You hurt my wife,” Loki declares into the wind that has started to blow, “there is nothing we can work around now.”

With that declaration, he whistles, and the wolves come back already hungry for some more violence.

“Loki, n-no,” Torbarik stammers at the sight of the fanged beasts slowly making their way towards him, “we can have a t-truce!”

“Taka hann í burtu,” Loki announces to the wolves, stopping Torbarik’s heart.

Torbarik begs for mercy as the wolves drag him into the forest by his legs, the sounds going away with them; for good.

Once the silence resumes, Loki turns back to look at you. The wind is bringing with the smell of moist soil from a place that seems to have witnessed fresh showers. He does not realise soon enough that you are still in a little shock, looking at him to make sure he really is standing there.

“Y/N,” he finally speaks, “are you all right?”

The pent up emotions have no place for a release but the eyes. And so they rise up with the moisture, waiting on the edge to fall at a moment’s notice.

“You came.” Your voice trembles and it scares you that it does, forcing you to take in as much air as you can.

“Why would I not?” he is surprised. “Did you have doubts?”

You stop breathing, going blank for a few seconds. “A little?”

All he does is smile, giving you soft eyes. “Come on, let’s get you back to the pal-”

“You’re wearing black. Is this a stealth suit of sorts? Is that a braid? In your hair?”

Your voice is soft and filled with curiosity. Loki realises you have never seen him in this attire before. Neither have you seen those braids in his hair.

“Yes. And yes,” he answers patiently, not realising how much he is liking this.

“I like it,” you reply, your eyes still stuck on his braid running from one side of his head down the length of his hair, “it looks really nice.”

Your voice says that but your face somehow feels it is in pain. And just as Loki is about to ask you, he feels his body jerk back a little when you step in to wrap your arms around his torso.

You do not know if he approves of this, but you do know that you need this right now. Just a few seconds till your body calms down and regains some sense. And the will to walk without any breakdowns that you are not made aware of beforehand.

It is a need for you but it is a confusing surprise for Loki. He does not remember the last time he was hugged. He is sure it must have been Frigga on the other end some ages ago though any memories of that love are nothing but a blur. He has never had a touch stop his breath like it does today. And this? Your gesture of embracing him as tightly as you can, leaning on him for some sort of comfort after being chased by danger sends his conscience into a slow whirlpool of its own. That whirlpool, instead of sucking something in, seems to bring out this unexplainable warmth in his chest that he has never felt before. How could he? He has not been hugged like this before. And so, the God of Mischief is left speechless, standing at the edge of the world with a human, making him do the one thing for which he cannot give himself a rational explanation.

He wraps his arms around you, hugging you back; feeling the glow in his chest grow denser and brighter by the second. His hand rests on your head, caressing it, feeling lighter just by that action. At that moment he knows.

He knows what is the one thing he is going to care for till the end of his life.

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efrmellifer · 4 years

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Ancient Words

Etien went out dressed in her hat and gardening boots and a plush velvet coatee in a sunny yellow—not entirely an appropriate outfit for Ishgard, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the yellow stuck out against the blacks and grays and the occasional soft pinks of the clothing people wore as they crossed the stones (so did the blue she’d taken to wearing, but at least people were used to that). A little more importantly were the flashes of exposed flesh visible below Etien’s shorts and over the tops of her stockings.

Not a good outfit for braving the chill. But it was fine, she only needed to make it to the Aetheryte.

When she arrived at her destination in the North Shroud, glad of an environment more suited to her clothes, she took a deep breath.

Oh, she’d wandered the Shroud—recently, even. She was familiar with these locales, with the plants she could harvest and the wildlife she could see.

But she always had been. And today, she did not walk these paths as Eorzea’s hero, or as a humble botanist seeking to do some logging and gathering. She wore the clothing of one, of course, but it functioned as a disguise this time.

Because this time, she was walking a path all too familiar.

She was walking the path home.

Etien was acutely aware how calling the little house in Alder Springs “home” chafed. But then, even when she called Ishgard home, she hadn’t really settled there, though she hated to say so. Indeed, ever since she’d picked up and run off from here, she’d never really put roots down anywhere, had she? Constantly blowing through, leaving great change in her wake, but never getting to stay.

She might have loved Doma the way she loved Ishgard, if something had grabbed a hold of her the way the aftermath of the Dragonsong War had bound her to its key players.

But what would have snagged Etien, when her heart was held already?

Doma wasn’t the place for her, as much as she’d enjoyed her time there. She knew, greatly enjoyed the company of, her comrades who now called it home, but… she couldn’t.

Even Il Mheg, where she was friends with the ruler (well, come to think of it…), where the king was loyal to her in a completely different sense than fealty, where she had gathered wool and taken down bears and tasted of the sap and passed out from working so hard and sleeping so little—even The Kingdom of Rainbows, forever young, couldn’t keep her in its wings forever.

Whether it was where she was born, where she had been adopted and married into, or where she was seen as the most treasured ally, all had their hold on her, and yet when she was asked for her homeland, she answered “I’m chartered with Gridania.”

She had been shaking her head, mumbling and kicking rocks the whole way, getting another little scoff at herself. Some things didn’t change, no matter what happened in the years intervening.

She could see the house now, could see M’ertle hanging laundry and M’ynstrel heading inside, probably after a walk to fetch something. She stepped over to a tree, slicing into it “for sap” while she waited for the yard to clear out. She was going to look like an idiot, but better she be nothing but a foolish botanist than be recognized, called to as M’etien.

She played with a piece of bark that had chipped off into her hand.

It was strange, the things that scared her. She still dreamed about scars that weren’t hers, about waking up one day to a cold bed because her warmth against the chill had walked out on her, about Hydaelyn taking her up on the offer to sap her strength until Etien had no use, about being as alone as she had been the day she’d made her sojourn outward.

Her siblings were both inside the house now. Thank the Twelve.

She took out her scythe as she approached the house, stepping toward her mother’s garden, and slicing off a bunch of treasured roses. She lifted them to her nose, taking in the fragrance she hadn’t know she’d missed. Maybe she’d press them. Or give to Aymeric. Or press them and give them to Aymeric.

But now was the time to muster up every skill she’d learned in her youth, all her sneaking through the forest and everything she’d gained after leaving, how to be light on her feet in evasion.

She moved past windows, crouching low to the back of the house, until she found the familiar window.

She’d only had to sneak in like this once—she thought to herself “oh that was years ago,” and had to suppress her snort at how obvious that was—but she still remembered how to pop the hinge apart so the window opened in a way that she could get all the way through it.

And then, Etien was sitting rather like a frog on the floor of her bedroom. She stood up, looking around. Nothing had changed, nothing had been moved.

It had, however, been dusted.

Her hands hovered at her sides, frozen, subconsciously stopping herself from touching anything.

Her things! Everything she’d had to leave behind all that time ago.

Before the rain of stars and the fights against gods and the tragedies and the love and the--

She felt like a completely different person from the kit who had slept in that bed, stared out this window. She felt… bigger. And it wasn’t the heels of her boots, those were flat. No, something had changed in her that she hadn’t noticed and now had no name for.

In any case, dawdling was going to get her caught, and the very thought of it made her breath catch in her chest (not even in her throat). So time was of the essence. She stepped to the bookshelf, scanning the titles.

They dusted in here. Every space was going to be noticed. But she’d come all this way. Let them think burglars did it. Hells, she’d break the window on her way out for it.

But for now… books. Etien slid her favorites, the most well-worn, from the shelf, looking them over before she slid them into her bag.

She felt the weight of each settling onto her joints as her bag filled. She laughed softly at it. The literal weight of the past on her shoulders.

She flipped open the cover of one title to see her name written in that tight-looped scrawl of her hand, a graceless “M’etien” designating to whom this book belonged. She closed the book and slipped it into the bag, too.

She was going to struggle to get out with any ease now, so she stopped grabbing her books off the shelves now.

This time, it really was goodbye. She couldn’t come back here again for anything—her books, her clothes, her first bow.

It was time to let rest the young woman who had been this room’s occupant. Her place was here, that much was clear.

And the Champion of Eorzea, Hero Between Worlds, had to go home.

Etien wiggled out the window, cursing herself for being so focused on the gesture that she didn’t think about the process of performing it. When she had gotten far enough away from the house, she lobbed a rock with the aim she’d cultivated over the last five years—or was it six now?—breaking her window.

And then she stole away into the Twelveswood, just like she had the first time.

It felt easier, kissing it all goodbye, once she was safe and warm back at home, purring without meaning to as Aymeric brought her another cup of tea.

“Thank you, darling,” she mumbled between breaths as he set the cup down.

“You look tired,” he mused, sitting down next to her, lifting the corner of the blanket settled over her lap and dropping it over his own.

“I am,” she replied, her eyelids getting heavier by the second. “I think I still need recovery time from…”

“The last few years?” Aymeric supplied.

She laughed, caught off guard. “Unfortunately. But before I start sleeping like the dead, I have something for you.” She dragged over her bag, unloading the books.

Aymeric picked one up, looking at the cover, flipping through the pages. “These are well-kept.”

“They’re not that old,” Etien sighed. “But. I know you borrow my books. Or at least, you borrowed the ones I brought when I first came here. And I know you wanted something more to read. So I snuck into my room in the house in Alder Springs and I took as many books as I could carry.”

Now Aymeric opened just the cover of the book, seeing Etien’s name on the inside. “Well. An excellent move.”

She tipped her head.

“When we have children, we ought to have something to read them, and your favorites would be a good choice.”

She flustered a touch, blinking the shock away. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” It still struck her, what a thought. Children. And Aymeric reading these stories to them. To even think about it was like dreaming.

#hehe BTN ability joke #I wrote this one first and wouldn't you know I accidentally Did A Theme #so that's fun #fic #Aytien #towards the end

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whatnameshallitake · 5 years

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I could’ve loved you

//to everyone i could’ve loved, but didn’t//

The non-chronological personal project of mine, as was requested by @writingonesdreams

This was written for everyone I could’ve kept falling fallen in love with, but ultimately did not.

I’m only posting the first two people on the list! Sorry~ Maybe someday, I might post the rest? Lmao ive fallen in love too many times

The whole work is below the cut~ I hope you enjoy ;D

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I | “Home is learning to forget”

•

Whenever I’m with you, logic escapes me.

You make me wonder.

You make me believe.

You made me hope.

I remember a boy of happiness.

—A boy who rose together with the sun, who accompanied the winds on whispering joy into my eardrums.

His words trembled with laughter and merriment that it made me believe in magic in the world.

I remember the warmth in his eyes as he stared into mine, heat filling my cheeks with every passing second.

I remember his hands as they held mine in a comforting grip— calloused slightly, with long fingers. They removed every worry and regret etched on my palms.

Do you remember? You smiled at me.

It made me believe in wonder.

Hope is a powerful thing—

You told me you wanted to be an astronaut.

It seemed fitting that you would want to escape this place.

It seemed fitting that someone as otherworldly as you would want to come home again.

I could almost hear the call of the cosmos, of the sun exclaiming, ‘My child, you belong here’

After all, you were a child of the sun. The sea of people could never compare to the sea of stars. You didn’t need to be held abound by gravity.

I could almost understand your heed to the universe.

It called out to you, I know.

But I could never understand why you couldn’t be home here.

Once upon a time, you told me a secret.

‘I see the stars. I feel the sun. I hear the cosmos.’

I know. I know enough. I know you.

‘I wouldn’t mind not coming back home

—if it meant coming back to you’

I know the universe. I kno— What?

In this small space of eternity that only held two people—

You and Me

—I understood two things:

One, the familiar presence of your heat was overwhelming.

In this infinite space between us, your warmth reached out to me. Your hand reached out to me and your laugh left me speechless when it finally reached me through the endless, empty, nothing, space between us.

The sun probably granted you the flames to burn, but I didn’t mind much. I was happily ablaze, standing next to your dancing fire. It didn’t matter that I would burn, I wasn’t afraid of fire. I wasn’t afraid of you.

I was afraid of losing you.

Two, the familiar presence of your heat was overwhelming.

In this infinite space between us, the emptiness stretched out until you were beyond reach. The cold suddenly struck me.

It was suffocating.

I didn’t realize how much I was accustomed to your warmth that I forgot you brought it with you.

You brought with you the heat.

this cold is unsettling where are you i need you

i miss you

—you told me i could be your home

Things you brought with you, on your voyage across the sea of stars:

the wonder

the warmth

the joy

the light

the magic

Things you forgot:

Dusk settled and our long day ended.

You were a child of the sun. You rose with him every morning.

You left me to the cold night as it did.

I rose with the moon in mourning.

Maybe that was why the glamour of the dark was lost on me.

I didn’t see the appeal of the moon and the stars.

—They weren’t you.

And as shadows crept and settled against the eternal void you left within me, I learned how to forget the light you provided.

I learned how to forget the warmth, and the wonder.

I learned how to forget the joy and magic that you gave me.

I now know one thing, from this empty space—

—you left behind:

The cold can’t embrace me like you did.

—It’s hopeless.

I could’ve loved you,

but I wasn’t the home you returned to.

You, sun child.

You, I know.

I don’t need logic nor belief.

I understand enough.

You were the first of many

I remember a boy of happiness.

—The boy who rose together with the sun.

I never could forget him.

“welcome home...”

—the wind did not whisper back

•

II | “The day I left the Ghost of You”

•

The one left in rubble is not to be pitied

—he is to be respected and revered.

It wasn’t as cold as I remembered.

It wasn’t as broken as I thought.

It wasn’t as empty as I’ve known.

It wasn’t as lonely as it looked.

Static noise only reached my ears even when the sea of people chatted away.

I didn’t look to see the heavy words that floated around the atmosphere in a deceptively calm manner.

All I could hear was the tap, tap, tap of my feet.

My feet carried me to my place.

My feet carried me to many places, and I’ve learned to know when and where I was needed.

And right now, it seemed as if the universe needed me to drown in the sea of people.

‘Is it sure it needs me here?’

I did not gain a reply; not that I expected any.

The sea of people continued to spew out nonsense. At least, to me it was.

The return of the tap, tap, tap accompanied me as I was led to a child.

Curious.

What makes a human mature?

Is it to reach a certain age? To experience a certain event? To know certain information? To meet certain people?

I don’t know.

I don’t think I ever will

I was still stuck in this barren wasteland.

A handful of faceless people bump into me as I continue down the icy path.

It was down a slope, into a new set of shadows that I’ve never encountered before.

It really shouldn’t have surprised me; I had absolutely zero experience with the dark when I entered the empty space between.

But now, as the path led on, it was quickly becoming second nature to walk this road.

It has become familiar to the point of normalcy.

Now that was dangerous.

And for what?

“You arrived earlier than expected.”

I don’t really know.

The universe led me to this boy, and I am but a servant to it’s whims.

“Care for a match?”

And the game began.

Once I regained my bearings,

Once I regained my logic,

I became infatuated with problems.

I quickly fell into the methodical process of solving, and thinking, and the systematical way of the numbers.

“Your magic is useless here”

—silence

You’ve lost the innocence of youth.

It is evident in every empty smile you bear, with every haunting stare you send me.

You have dead eyes.

Then, I suppose you are…

Chess is a favourite of mine.

I’ve come to adore the thrill of the challenge it offers— every opponent with different techniques and strategies.

It was easy to revel in the rush of things, to jump from one contingency plan to another.

Device a strategy, watch it crumble, revise it.

At least I had something to fall back on when everything else stumbled.

I didn’t need to hope.

I already knew.

I remember thinking why the universe led me to you.

I didn’t receive an answer.

I remember you asking if I regret doing this to you.

I d—

Ah...

Your face is annoying.

Your voice is annoying.

Your smile is annoying.

You’re annoying.

But I still listened to your idiotic nonsense.

The shit that flow out of your mouth is astounding. Do you expect me to believe that you kiss your mother with that mouth?

Hah. Disgusting.

But still...

Just finish your turn, it’s your move anyway.

One day, the cosmos came to harvest a seed that I planted.

I faintly remember the magic that used to keep it alive.

The universe killed it, sadly.

But never mind.

A stronger, more vicious seed was cultivated to prevent it from happening again.

This one had thorns now.

An evil intention made itself known within the walls of my mind.

I fell to the temptation of hatred.

One plus one is two, as the mathematicians would say.

Therefore, one thing led to another.

From across this massive chessboard, the stares increased in duration.

We played with the pieces, picked it up and put them away.

That day, I found another thing to play with.

You are but a shell of a child— so beaten and bruised.

I was to be the new one you toyed with, as was penned by the threads of life.

The tables have turned now

Sometimes, on the rare occasion that I catch you peacefully asleep, I memorize every plane and lilting line that make up your face.

You look so blissful that I can almost forget the feeling of emptiness your eyes hold.

I can almost forget the pain and loneliness your exhales carry on into the dark.

I can almost forget the weightless footsteps you impart upon this barren wasteland.

I can almost forget that you’ve lost yourself in the eternal void in between.

I can almost forget that you’re nothing but a gh—

this is a dangerous game we’re playing.

‘i wasn’t aware that this was a game’

we need to stop before i—

‘shush, no need to fret. i’m here’

You fingertips draw small circles on the dip of my back.

In the middle of this small piece of silence, an epiphany comes to me.

‘Your hands don’t feel like nothing, no more’

I push down my dread and pretend to be unconscious

It all fucking makes sense now.

dear diary,

today i found out what a villain must feel like all the time.

it starts out with the thought of, “this will satisfy you”

pushes you with the thought of, “you’ve already come this far”

and it ends with, “what have i done”

...

do you notice what’s different? what’s wrong?

it never ends with a, “sorry, i’m so sorry”

Your annoying face is now too sickeningly happy.

Your annoying voice turned so sickeningly sweet.

Your annoying smile became too sickeningly bright.

And as your sweaty hands grab my cold ones,

As your poisonous lips touch mine,

As your tired mind race against mine—

My thoughts are silenced with the mere weight your mouth places against my own.

I close my eyes to avoid yours.

You’re so sickeningly in love with me that it hurts.

Deep in the shadows, you laid your heart bare to me.

It was broken and dark, one that I really did not expect to belong to someone as young as you.

But then, it did make sense. How could your eyes be so dark if it had not yet seen the light?

No, only a battered and bruised and lost soul could condemn the path that led me to you with such sad shadows.

Suddenly, all of the regret and pain and sadness and hate and hurt and—

It all made sense now.

Ah.

This is annoying.

But still, I listened.

“This...”

The words flowed out of your mouth easily enough, but why did the wind still strain to carry them? For a split-second, I wondered how such words felt so heavy.

“I give this to you.”

My throat dropped to the stone cold floor.

“What?”

I barely noticed my traitorous tongue move on its own accord. In my mind’s eye, I was still frozen in shock by what my ears have just picked up.

“I love you.”

Ah.

“I love you so fucking much.”

The slowed speed of the wind which carried the weight of your statements finally made sense. It was so heavy, it managed to break whatever was left of me.

So fucking heavy that it made me wonder again.

“Thank you.”

nonoNoNonONoNonOnoNONON—

I left.

I stood up and raced up the dark path that’s become so familiar in the terrifyingly short amount of time.

I left so quickly, hastily, I didn’t even notice the wilting flowers along the road.

I failed to notice the tears that started to flow down your face.

I didn’t notice pieces of your heart that lay there,

broken, unmoving, silent,

tragic—

Those were the pieces that I played with.

I’m sorry. I’m so s—

Although you were a child, you’ve seen a lot of dark things. Dark things that completely shrouded your life beneath the shadows.

You didn’t even get to see the light again— even after your eyes stopped being so dead and started to fill up with joy at the mere sight of me I—

I took it from you.

I’m so so—

What takes a human to mature?

I may never know.

I’ve forgotten how it was like to be human.

I’m s—

I never did go back to you;

After I left...

I heard that you died, but ghosts can’t really die a second time.

I’m so sor—

Years and years and years passed

—it’s only been days.

You won the game.

Checkmate.

You won before it even started.

You didn’t even have to do anything, I—

Ah.

I see.

...

it took me a while to realize,

no one really won,

we both lost something the day i left.

I’m—

My feet carried me to places where I was needed.

To this day, I’m still puzzled how I left you.

You needed me, didn’t you?

I’m so sorr—

A child drowned in the middle of the sea.

The sea of ghosts that whispered,

“You

You are dirty

and You

are worth nothing”

He had no choice but to listen.

Unknowingly, he became a ghost himself.

I could’ve loved you,

but I didn’t want to lie.

Yes, the universe led me to you.

But I was the one who placed you second.

And to your question

My answer is,

...

I don’t regret it.

—but why does it hurt so much?

Yes, it was nothing I ever imagined it would be.

But I still left.

I’m so sorry.

#adelie writes stuff #writeblr #writing #i couldve loved you

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ahumanexperiencemoment · 5 years

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“I talk to the kids about bees and tell them about cides. Anything that’s a cide means kill. Anything that means kill is not good. Pesticide, herbicide… we don’t need it. We need to stop it and that’s the most important thing because if we don’t, we not gonna be here....”

What got you involved in beekeeping?

I will never forget stepping on a bee when I was three years old. I stepped on em... I don’t know, I am t three years old, what I know? I stepped on a bee and got stung. Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated with bugs. And then after hurricane Katrina, well, before Hurricane Katrina, I was helping my friend Adrian with bees. He lived over by the Mississippi river bridge, right up from Marti Gras Boulevard. So, I was helping him with the bees before the storm. After the storm, he got robbed three times in less than a month and his wife says, “Babe, we got to go, I can’t stay, I feel so violated in my own home.” So, they found property across the lake and they moved across the lake and before they moved across the lake, he gave me three splits. Which is, you rob a queen cell from a hive, and you put it in with a couple of frames of… maybe a frame of brood and a frame of honey and you hope for the best. He gave me three, two died over the winter, they didn’t make it, but one did and that was it. I got started from there.

When was this?

After Katrina, right about 2006, I started with the bees and then three years later, I am out here at the market and I have been out here ever since. So that’s 2009 or 2010, I been here. Nine or ten years I have been here.

So, you said that you started off with one that survived, what do you have now?

Fifty. So, I’m busy, I make all of this. I make the soup, I make the salve, I make the lotion, I make the sealer, I make everything. I gather the pollen, the honey and then I got sourwood, and I got orange blossom and those come from monofloro…, so I bring the bees to an organic citrus farm in Georgia. Then I got a friend and we do the sourwood in the foothills of the Smokies and when the bees are finished in Georgia, I bring them up to him and he works the bees on the sourwood. And then he says hey, it’s ready so I give him some money and then I got get the bees and bring them back south and I let them winter down in the organic citrus farm area. They take off the wildflower if there is any in the springtime and put empty frames on them. I get there, sometimes they’ve harvested, sometimes they haven’t but usually normally wait till they have done it because sometimes, I don’t usually have a whole lot of time because that’s my busy time of year, the springtime cause I do conventions. That’s the other job that pays the taxes and the insurance and all of that stuff.

The wonderful thing about the bees that it has brought to my life is being able to help people and be able to help somebody with something that they can’t get help for anyplace else. I saved my cousin’s life with propolis tincture and propolis pills. He had pseudomonas and he was in a hospital in North Oak’s Hospital. Six and half months, they couldn’t get his wound closed because the hardware that they put in his back was infected with pseudomonas and told them to take out the hardware and they said they can’t take out the hardware until the wound closes but the infection is not going to go away until you take out the hardware. So, I called him, cause his parents, you know just don’t get along, cause I stand up for and I’ll tell a doctor that he is an idiot as quick as look at him. I have no problem with that. Cause they aren’t as smart as I am sometimes. I’m not saying I am the smartest person in the world but, you know, if you only know what they taught you in those books and what they pumpin through the pharmaceuticals, then you don’t know a whole lot. So, anyway, I went to the hospital, found out that he had pseudomonas. I asked him what he has. So, I took this with me (holding a bottle of tincture) and some pills and we did a little aromatherapy on him to life up his spirits, then I dumped the alcohol based tincture in his back and he is biting the pillow and screaming like I just shot him. Make a long story a wound that a hospital couldn’t get closed in six and a half months was closed in a week.

Wow, that’s incredible.

Right? And I am not lying, I am not trying to sit here and tell you this. I am not going to park the Lamborghini in a six-car garage selling propolis for twenty dollars for half a ounce. It’s just not going to happen. But I am not interested in making money, I am interested in educating people about what needs to be done. And what needs to be done is that we need turbines in the Mississippi river instead of all these fossil fuels that we are using and the nuclear power because what are you doing to do with the waste from that? How about putting it in the backyards of everybody who is benefiting from it, like all of the shareholders? Those people? Give it to them. The share that they have, that’s the amount that they get when the rods are spent. Why not? It makes the most sense. But it’s all at our expense.

So, if you could go back to your eighteen-year-old self or another eighteen-year-old, what would….

I do, I talk to the kids about bees and tell them about cides. Anything that’s a cide means kill. Anything that means kill is not good. Pesticide, herbicide… we don’t need it. We need to stop it and that’s the most important thing because if we don’t, we not gonna be here. Do you know… I am not sure if it’s half a kilo but that’s a pound point one, right? Five hundred grams of glyphosate which is the main ingredient in Round Up has been used on every acre of cultivated land in the world. It is the most widely used chemical on the planet and being used by the megaton every year. Bayer owns Monsanto, Monsanto and Bayer are the largest producer of glyphosate on the planet, yet they say they care for bees. They care for bees as about as much as I care for cockroaches. They say they care for bees, but they just don’t tell you how they care for bees and they could care less. Because if you are producing glyphosate and the neonicotinoids and the nicotinoids, a synthetic form of nicotine that’s toxic to insects, it’s neurological toxin to them. So, when the bee uptakes anything from the plants that have been treated with, the plant concentrates these pesticides or herbicides in the nectar, in the pollen and that’s what the bee wants. So, when the bee takes it in, it can’t find its way back home. So that’s how you have seized colony collapse. And they are saying that’s not true. Well… yeah… okay… but we never had this problem before we have glyphosate and before we had neonics. We might have had some mites, but they could handle the mites because they had a strong immune system but the chemicals that they are giving the bees are weakening their immune systems. So, now they can’t handle the poor immune system and the chemicals and the mites, so they blame it on the varroa (mites) but it’s not the varroa, it’s the chemicals… and that’s my story and I am sticking to it. Because it’s true. How about let’s put some toxic stuff in your water and you gotta drink this stuff, because that’s the only water that’s available to you and it makes your immune system bad. Let’s send you to the hospital. What’s gonna happen? You are gonna get deathly ill because you can’t fight the germs that’s in a hospital. You’re gonna get MRSA or pseudomonas or whatever else is traveling around in the air system cause they really don’t clean that. You could be in the same room and the guy next to you has got pneumonia talking and hacking and you are in there… you are gonna get it cause your immune system is compromised. Well, that’s what they are doing to the bees. It’s not like we don’t have other alternatives. They are just turning a blind eye to it. Nobody wants to hear about biodynamics and health organics. Biodynamics… ya’ll go look that up. Biodynamics, the fruit is larger, it lasts longer, and you get more from the acreage than you do by commercial, chemically fit fed plants and GMOs (genetically modified organism) and all stuff like that. I’m not saying GMOs are all bad. It’s bad that they treat them with the glyphosate. They systemically seed coat it and that’s when the glyphosate concentrates in the nectar and in the pollen. If they didn’t systemically seed coat it, it would be alright but then they couldn’t spray it with round up and the plants would live. They are genetically designed to resist the glyphosate and that’s why they can seed coat it with it. And it can concentrate in the nectar and it doesn’t bother it (the plant). But if you don’t think that’s not going to hurt us in the long run, you got another thing coming. Every commercial on television is, oh, try this medicine. Ask your doctor about this. Then the next commercial that comes on is “Do you have Mesothelioma? Have you been exposed to asbestos?” Okay, well that’s a chemical that something we were using in housing and in brakes and everything twenty-five, thirty, fifty years ago. Or what about the other, the mesh that they put into your stomach? Or the medicine that you took that caused lymphoma? Or whatever, because one commercial is about the lawyer that’s suing the drug companies and the other is about get this from the drug company. It’s crazy. I mean, I am talking to doctors and stuff and they don’t even know about this (pointing to her tinctures and salves). The doctors don’t know about ichthammol, do you know what ichthammol is? Drawing salve, black salve?

I’ve heard of it.

Yeah, you use to could get it at every drug store in the world. You can’t hardly find it anymore. You can find it at the feed stores. It’s drawing salve. Like if you get a bruise? My grandma use to put it on us to draw that bruise out, like that. We used to put I on our hands when we would catch shrimp. You go to pick the shrimp and you put them in the scale to weigh them out and you get the little tips in your fingers and you can’t grab them to pull it out cause it has barbs on it. And the little cuticle, like cuticle material, you can’t pull it out, it breaks. But if you put the black salve on it, slather it on it, it would back out. You can use it on horses when the horses run in briars and stuff. They would put it on to draw the things out. You can still buy it at the feed store. If you ask a doctor what it is, he doesn’t know. Most of them have no idea.

I got run over by a car in 1990, I had a bruise on my leg that went from here (pointing to her hip) to here (pointing to her knee). The doctor said, that ain’t going away. I said, pfftt.. makes you an idiot. So I says, I will be back. I gotta come back and see you anyway. I said the bruise is going to be looking good by then. I went back six weeks later, and I slathered my leg with ichthammol and I’d sleep with it like wrapped around my leg like a diaper. He couldn’t believe it (bruise was gone). I was like, ya’ll don’t know everything. You are not even trying. Because one way is not the only way. When western medicine meets eastern medicine and you put the two together, we’re gonna have something. But when the left hand don’t know what the right hand is doing, we still stuck.

Gina Lanier

Gretna, Louisiana. 2019.

#ahumanexperiencemoment #Gretna #gretnalouisiana #gretnafarmersmarket #beekeeper #bees #save the bees #louisiana #LifeStories #life

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sublimeperfectionland · 7 years

Text

New Moon of the Dark Kingdom Chapter Ninety One - Metallia’s Choice

Zoisite and Kunzite have found true love, but when some old friends, a vengeful god, and a pair of evil twins are gunning for the Shitennou all at once, life is not going to be easy

[Scene: Metallia's parlor.]

Zoi: So let me get this straight. You want me to pledge allegiance to you, just so you can tear me apart for scrap, for when you build your Black Moon Clan part 2?

Death Phantom: Not at all. Shitennou do not have physical form when parted from their soulstone, therefore, any genetic material I harvest from you would evaporate within seconds. Since I must rely on...more conventional means, killing you would be quite counterproductive, otherwise I would have done so already-

[Metallia clears her throat]

Death Phantom: My pardons, your grace. I sometimes forget he is your property, even if he hasn't taken an oath.

Metallia: [eating pie] Understandable. Continue.

Death Phantom: As I was saying, the boy's remarkable DNA renders him completely immune to mind magic. Anyone with a rudiment of knowledge of human genetics knows that a boy must inherit his X chromosome from his mother. Since I'd rather not utilize a Shitennou for my purposes if I don't have to, I scanned her, along with of all surviving relatives of her lineage. The same defect is present in her, but nobody else, which tells me that she is the fountainhead of the mutation.

Zoi: You stay away from my mother!

Death Phantom: Don't worry. She is too old to be of use to me. Overripe and near the end of her fecundity. She has only a 50% chance of passing the chromosome to her offspring. It is not present in the child she is carrying in her womb, and I have no guaranty she is fertile enough to produce another.

[Levels his gaze at Zoi]

Death Phantom: But you are young and male. Your reproductive capacity is nearly limitless. Once provided with a harem of biologically-compatible female companions, you can sire a new race of Shitennou, bound by oath to serve me, and cultivated to share your unique gift. [Turns to Metallia] So my deal is this. I will erase the blood debt owed by your sons, and in exchange, you will make a gift of this boy to me, as well as six human maidens of my choosing, to be elevated to serve as his brides, so that I might breed a new race of Shitennou.

[The Shitennou at the Death Phantom for several seconds in shocked disbelief before Zoi starts laughing. Soon Neffy and Jeddy start laughing too. The only Shitennou not laughing us Kunzite, who is clutching Zoi and staring at the Death Phantom in wide-eyed horror.]

Zoi: I hate to break this to you...but I'm physically incapable of breeding with any woman.

Death Phantom: No, you are mentally incapable of breeding with any woman. Fortunately, I don't need for you to have a functioning brain.

[Zoi and the other Shitennou stop laughing as his words sink in]

Death Phantom: I don't need mind magic to reduce you to a gibbering idiot incapable of lucid thought. If a month of torture doesn't break you, a sharp spike through your eyesocket could suffice-

Kunzite: MOTHER! YOU WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!

Metallia: SILENCE! THIS A MATTER BETWEEN TWO GODS! YOU HAVE NO SAY IN ANYTHING! YOU PUT YOURSELF IN THIS SITUATION BY MURDERING HIS FOLLOWERS! NOW ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES!

[Kunzite lowers his eyes and goes quiet]

[Metallia finishes her pie]

Metallia: He's right. I will not allow this.

Death Phantom: [does a double take] You take orders from a slave?

Metalia: [livid] No, I do not! Not any more that I take orders from The Failed God of Nobody!...[gives the Death Phantom a baleful stare]...You came here seeking justice for the murder of your worshippers! In this matter, the boy is blameless!

Death Phantom: Blameless! He killed six of my best men!

Metallia: Six grown men! Who broke into his father's house to murder him without provocation, merely as a means to upset MY son! Six of your finest warriors! Including your high priest! All well-versed in magic and combat, against a scrawny, underfed little human boy! And he managed to kill them all! That is nothing to boast about!

Death Phantom: He had a gun!

Metallia: A gun that your high priest practically handed to him! And you think after that, you have earned a fresh start? [shakes her head and then sips her coffee] The boy is off limits to you.

Death Phantom: I will have my retribution!

Metallia: I agree, but Your grudge is with his brothers. Not him.

Death Phantom: If I can't have this one, I will kill the other three!

Metallia: No. You may kill ONE.

[The room goes silent]

Metallia: You heard me. Kill any but the youngest, and we'll consider the matter finished.

Death Phantom: [fiendish] Any of them?

Metallia: Whichever one you'd like.

[Death Phantom draws himself up to his full height and regards the Shitennou]

Death Phantom: Yes...I believe in cases like this it is customary to make a sacrifice of the firstborn.

[The Shitennou, who have been holding their breath, all look at Kunzite, who stands there unmoving, then to Metallia]

Metallia: [goes back to sipping her coffee with a wave of her hand] So be it. Go ahead and kill Kunzite. He's been screwing up anyway.

#new moon of the dark kingdom

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rosethornewrites · 3 years

Text

Fic: a grain of millet drifting, ch. 2

Relationship: Niè Huáisāng & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Original Characters, Nie Huaisang

Additional Tags: Assassination Attempt(s), Introspection, Regret, Travel, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV Wei WuXian

Summary: On the road to the Unclean Realm.

Notes: 亨祥 is Hengxiang, meaning no trouble and good luck.

Chapters: 1

AO3 link

----------

It didn’t take long for Wei Wuxian to decide he quite liked Nie Hengxiang. The young man was intelligent and quick on his feet, and also truly interested in cultivation theory. Nie Huaisang had perhaps chosen him for more than just his skills. Had he expected Wei Wuxian to catch him? If so, he wondered if he’d disappointed his old friend in taking so long at it.

Nie Hengxiang was perhaps a little older than Sizhui, but not by much, and his earnest gruffness reminded Wei Wuxian a little of Jin Ling. In some ways he was like the ducklings he’d become so fond of, even if he’d been sent to babysit him.

As it turned out, none of the assassins had been quite stupid enough to have any identifying information on them, either about who they had been in life or who contracted them. Which meant a little more work, something he had the impression Nie Huaisang was handling on his end.

After their tea and chat, Wei Wuxian placed several arrays around their campsite, promising at the young man’s curious expression to explain them the next night.

In the morning they broke their fast with dried fruit from Wei WuXian’s qiankun pouch and dried spiced meat from Nie Hengxiang’s. After breaking camp and disabling the arrays, they searched the body again, took turns digging the grave, and heaved the corpse in with little fanfare.

After they filled in the grave, Wei Wuxian pulled out a stick of incense to light and a bit of joss paper to burn.

“Wei-gongzi, why do that for a man who tried to kill you?” Nie Hengxiang asked.

“It wasn’t personal, just his job, the poor fool. I’d rather he stay at rest, regardless. There’s enough resentment in the world already.”

About the fifth time Nie Hengxiang called him ‘Wei-gongzi’ as they made their way to a main road, he decided that had to stop.

“Aiya, I’m not a young master of anything. I’m not even part of a sect. If you have to call me something, maybe Wei-qianbei?”

The youth took to it readily, and as they walked and dealt with Little Apple having a tantrum over a rotten apple, he asked about the events at Yi City.

“I heard some of what happened, that you rescued the juniors of several sects and kept them safe through it all, but…”

But he was a curious young man, Wei Wuxian extrapolated when he trailed off. So he told the story of Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and poor little A-Qing, and how they’d eventually solved the mystery.

“Unfortunately, Xue Yang turned most of the townspeople into living and fierce corpses, so sects had to send cultivators to clean up that mess,” he said.

Then he explained the details about the old woman at the Zhizha shop who didn’t know she was dead, for whom he had threaded a needle so she could go about mending clothing she would never wear.

“I didn’t know how she would react to learning she was dead,” he said sadly. “I couldn’t risk her losing what was left of her spiritual consciousness and becoming a threat, and the juniors were already frightened enough. I hope she was laid to rest.”

Someday, perhaps, he would go back to Yi City to make sure it had been cleaned up properly, to lay offerings for the victims of Xue Yang’s indecency and help any lingering spirits pass on.

“I’ve never been on a night hunt like that,” Nie Hengxiang murmured, looking thoughtful.

“It wasn’t a normal night hunt at all,” Wei Wuxian said. “It was a man-made disaster. You’re unlikely to ever see anything like that.”

Though he hadn’t been the culprit, he still felt partly responsible for that mess, too. Had he not laid the groundwork Xue Yang had built upon at the behest of Jing Guangshan and Jin Guangyao… But that way lay madness, Wei Wuxian knew, and he shook off such thoughts.

He told some stories about the more normal night hunts he’d been on, back in the day, and some of the weird yao he’d encountered. In return, Nie Hengxiang shared some of his own encounters, discussing some of the yao found only in Qinghe.

It was different, having someone to talk to, someone who asked questions about the talismans he mentioned. Normally the road was long and quiet, missing a presence, but for the moment he could forget that absence.

Before long they came upon a larger town, one situated at the crossroads of smaller, more rural roads like the one they were on, and more-travelled ones like the one they would take to get to the Unclean Realm.

Lunch was at an inn, and when he checked his purse to be certain he had enough to cover it, Nie Hengxiang insisted the Nie sect would pick up the tab while they travelled to the Unclean Realm.

That was handy.

He ordered without regard for price, in that case, choosing a dish heavy in meat and spice, and some baozi. While they were waiting he jotted out a message for Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan,

Unexpected detour. Going to the Unclean Realm. Will write you later.

Wei Ying

Lan Zhan would know who it was from; Wei Wuxian had learned how to send the Jin butterfly and then had promptly altered it so it was a blue rabbit with wings, something that had made his zhiji smile.

After a moment of thought, he sent out a second one.

Jiang Cheng,

Nie Huaisang sent a babysitter. Caught him taking out an assassin. Guess people still want me dead. Going to the Unclean Realm. Not sure what’s going on, but will update if it involves you or Jin Ling.

Wei Wuxian

He didn’t think Jiang Cheng would particularly care, but the last several times things got sticky, it had impacted him and Jin Ling. At least this way he’d have warning.

Then, just to be an ass and because Nie Huaisang probably already knew he’d been caught, he sent out a third.

Nie-zongzhu,

Nie Hengxiang is great company. I look forward to imposing on your hospitality.

Yiling Patriarch

Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment as the messages went out, but patrons of the inn looked on in amazement at the little creatures that buzzed around over their heads briefly then floated through the inn window on their way to their destinations.

They were approached shortly into their meal, and Nie Hengxiang tensed as though the man was a threat until he started speaking about a haunting nearby—fortunately in the direction they were traveling, just off the main road.

Wei Wuxian glanced at his babysitter, who nodded without hesitation.

“We’ll head that way after we finish here,” he told the man, who fell over himself bowing and kowtowing and insisted on accompanying them.

The spirit was simply a lonely child who had died of illness, and it didn’t take much to call up her spirit and communicate. The child wanted to play, and didn’t quite realize she was dead. Once Wei Wuxian helped her understand and let her know she’d get to play in her next life, she was gone.

The man, as it turned out, was her father. He was heartbroken, but happy she’d been put to rest. He let the man babble about the girl for a bit, knowing it was a kindness to listen. She had been the only remnant he had of the wife who had died in childbirth, and had been sickly her whole short life, never able to play as the other children did—which explained why she had lingered.

As they left, he gave them a sack of fruit from his harvest. Peaches, as it turned out, juicy and sweet. He wouldn’t say no to free peaches.

First, though, Wei Wuxian took three out of the bag and handed them back to the man.

“For your daughter’s altar,” he told him.

He didn’t remember being dead, didn’t know if anyone had burned joss or incense for him, if there had been an altar where offerings of food had been left. Maybe it was because he’d left no ghost, for reasons he didn’t feel like considering; he liked to think he’d just gone without resentment, but there were darker possibilities. He didn’t want to know.

Wei Wuxian had no idea if the peaches would reach the child as her spirit found what came next, but it comforted him to think perhaps they would, and he was sure it would comfort her father.

Sometimes he wondered if that was the point of offerings for the dead.

Little Apple, as it turned out, should’ve been named Little Fruit, since she also turned out to be fond of the peaches. They were able to make good time on the road, the donkey assuaged.

The trip to the Unclean Realm passed with few incidents, though they stopped several times when asked for help with spirits and, once, a fox yao. The common folk were happy they were willing to stop, and Nie Hengxiang didn’t comment when Wei Wuxian used the name Wei Yuandao.

The last night, though, Wei Wuxian woke to the sound of someone dying, a familiar gurgling gasp, and found his companion had run through an assassin who had been trying to sneak in through the second-story window of their room at the inn. He should have expected another attempt, some last-ditch effort to get rid of him before he would be surrounded by Nie disciples and thus essentially untouchable.

Six assassins, though? Whoever wanted him dead was spending an awful lot of money on it.

“We probably could’ve questioned him,” he commented instead around a yawn.

“Not my job,” Nie Hengxiang grunted, already rifling through the poor idiot’s robes.

That told Wei Wuxian that Nie Huaisang had other disciples with that skill handling some even more unfortunate morons, which was oddly kind of him, Wei Wuxian thought. If he truly had sent his obviously assassination-trained disciple to keep him safe in secret, and had others working to find those trying to kill him, maybe this was Nie-xiong simply wanting him to be safe, not the Headshaker with his plan for vengeance.

The more he considered, the more he thought about how lonely his old friend must be—his dage dead, slain by someone he’d once regarded as a friend. Wei Wuxian knew vengeance was only just so satisfying, but it ultimately left you empty.

Killing Wen Chao hadn’t brought back Uncle Jiang or Madam Yu or the rest of the clan slaughtered at his behest. Looking back at it now, it sickened him a little to know how far gone he’d been after the Burial Mounds, taking pleasure in the torture even of someone like Wen Chao.

No wonder his behavior had worried Lan Zhan.

Nie Huaisang, who seemed innocent and indolent back when they were fifteen and the war was just a speck on the horizon, who would have happily spent his life reading spring books and painting fans…

How did he feel, now that his revenge had been achieved, after a decade of nothing but planning for it?

Wei Wuxian’s bet was on “empty,” but it was something to determine when they reached the Unclean Realm.

“You seem remarkably calm,” the young man said after tossing the looted body out the window to handle in the morning.

Hopefully some poor mediocre wouldn’t stumble upon it before then, but they’d hear them screaming if it happened.

“Honestly, it’s not the first time people have tried to kill me, or even the second,” Wei Wuxian said with a shrug. “It’s not really all that exciting after the first few times.”

Nie Hengxiang nodded as though that made sense to him, which was a little funny to Wei Wuxian—he lived it, and it still made no sense to him, true though it was.

Case in point, he blinked and it was morning, the attempted assassination not impacting his ability to get back to sleep in the least.

When he sat up, he found he was alone for the moment, so he popped his head out the window and found only dried bloodstains in the dirt. Nie Hengxiang was disposing of the body.

When he came back, his robes weren’t mussed or dirty, and Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow curiously.

“Paid for a pauper’s burial,” Nie Hengxiang said when he noticed. “Seemed easier.”

Meaning a proper burial with the offering of incense, and offerings left for the anonymous dead would also go to assuage the assassin’s resentment. It was a kindness, and Wei Wuxian nodded his agreement with the decision.

Part of him wondered if this was what Nie Hengxiang did if he killed in or near a town, or if his own treatment of the first assassin’s grave, burning incense and joss over it, had influenced his decision. He was young yet, so perhaps it had.

Maybe it was just Wei Wuxian hoping he made a positive difference in the world this time around somehow.

Just thinking that made him feel old.

Truth be told, they were little more than a few hours outside of the Unclean Realm. They could have made it there the night before, but he hadn’t seen a need to rush and hadn’t wanted to deal with a potential ambush in the dark.

Plus Nie Huaisang wouldn’t get to pawn him off to a guest room and have eight hours to acclimate to his presence this way. He’d have to deal with Wei Wuxian for most of the day. Maybe mean, maybe petty, but they had things to talk about anyway.

Travel was uneventful, especially after he mentioned his concern about an ambush and Nie Hengxiang laughed at the idea.

“This close to the Unclean Realm? Maybe if they’re suicidally stupid.”

The way he glanced at the landscape around them, as barren as it was, made Wei Wuxian wonder if they had gained an additional escort.

And so instead Wei Wuxian rode Little Apple, kept moving forward by the enticement of a pear on a stick, bought from a stall on the way out of town, and played a few drinking songs he’d heard on his travels on Chenqing.

Time passed quickly, and soon they were approaching the gates of the Unclean Realm.

He felt a little like he’d been pulled back to the past when he saw Nie Huaisang waving from atop the battlement, just as he had when they’d set out with Chifeng-zun during the Sunshot Campaign.

This time he was headed toward, not away, and he had the tiny flicker of a golden core where there had been a gaping emptiness seething with resentment, but he felt shaken by the similarity all the same.

#the untamed #untamed fanfiction #mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #cql #mdzs #wei ying #wei wuxian #nie huaisang #untamed fanfic #untamed fic #mdzs fanfic #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic #cql fanfic #cql fanfiction #cql fic #my fanfiction

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hollowworldentertainment · 4 years

Text

Unbridled Rage

Anodyne stared down at his planet, with eyes of disbelief as he saw those who resided upon it celebrating. His body shook with rage as he spied a new deity being praised by his people. They sowed seed and the new deity would fly by, waving his hands causing the crops to mature instantly. The swirling clouds Anodyne crafted to reside upon Hollow had long since departed.

“I guess travelling universes has a downside.”

Anodyne peered to his side and noticed a familiar face.

“Lord Anodyne, your absence has been noticed.”

“You are full of useful information Conductor.” Anodyne turned towards his old friend

“What have you been doing in my absence then? How did you let my world become over run?”

“It is simple, you did this by neglecting it, then leaving it for over a century.”

“What do you mean? I thought me leaving was the neglect, what neglect are you referring to?”

“Why, leaving your arrogance all over the place by allowing that other deity to live.”

Anodyne dug his hands into his skull and pulled down his skin as he spiralled on the spot in frustration.

“Sylum said that the cross was one of the absolute ways to hold a deity.”

“Oh it was, but unfortunately a hundred years of a deity whispering in the ears of mortals is too much for them. That coupled with the fact you have made no presence during that time lead to those forgetting. They never forgot you, but they forgot how you were.”

Anodyne stopped his turning and faced his planet with a fire in his eyes.

“I say we make them remember.”

Energy started to rise around Anodyne as he let his rage fill him, a rage that was subsided by a hand being placed onto his shoulder.

“If you are to fight on Hollow you are surely to lose. The Holites will give praise to the Risen God.”

“Wait, the Risen god is the name he is using? Does this have any relation to the psychos we followed in Hell?”

Both Anodyne and Conductor stared at each other, they thought hard for a moment before Anodyne spoke.

“I guess, time does run weird in there. My deity for time made it their pet project, it confuses me to death. It runs the same as current time, but multiplies the time for every permanent resident. Eventually the sun burns out and the sentence is served.”

“Even by that logic the Risen king could not have served his sentence, that time has not passed.”

“That is just the first rule, there are around twenty. I don’t remember, that was a job that I was glad to pass on. Fuck having to deal with time, that guy has like a ridiculous number of rules to follow. Hold up.”

Anodyne disappeared and quickly returned with another individual, she seemed a little shaken by the experience. She shook her long hair out and turned to Anodyne.

“I can’t be here, why am I here?”

She started to fly away but Anodyne dragged her back against her will, forcing her to remain still.

“Please I need to be elsewhere, I can’t be here, please let me go.”

The desperation in her voice gave grins to Anodyne and Conductor, she squirmed as she tried to release herself from her invisible binds.

“Listen Tukon, we just need to find out if the Risen god is the Risen King from Hell. You should know hell, your bizarre project.”

Tukon stopped squirming and started staring into the distance, her vibrant green eyes swirled and turned black. Muttering under her breath she turned back to Anodyne.

“Risen left.”

“So he did finish his sentence, must have already done his one hundred years.”

“Did not finish his sentence, left.”

“They can’t leave Hell, it is not possible. He must have finished his sentence.”

“I don’t make mistakes, if I did this universe would be in chaos. Risen left, did not finish his sentence.”

All three stood in silence before Tukon muttered.

“I can send you to when he left. Since you don’t believe.”

“Right now.”

All three disappeared in a flash, appearing in Hell.

“Follow him, he leaves soon.”

Tukon left again leaving Anodyne and Conductor in the rocky landscape of Hell.

“Where do you think he is my lord?”

“My guess is the stone pillar, the one with a cave on the top and scaffolding made from bones. Why do I ever leave this place?”

As Anodyne stared out over the blood streams that carved through the landscape he failed to notice those behind him. A crude blow made purchase with his head, turning with fire in his eyes he saw two scared individuals.

“Oh we are dead, that is Anodyne.”

“Beat it, I am busy.”

Before Anodyne finished the two ran off with full haste, leaving anodyne to stare back at the shanty town made from human flesh.

“You leave because as fun as it is, people here are inherently stupid. At least those on Hollow create things of actual interest.”

“Are you telling me you don’t find that interesting?”

Anodyne pointed to the top of the stone pillar before them, atop swaying in the slight breeze were strange plants.

“Let’s look at that.”

Anodyne teleported over to the top of the stone pillar and found himself in the middle of a lush garden. Deep crimsons and dark purples spread like a weed over the top of the stone pillar. The spined plants curled and swayed, others had large fleshy openings that let loose plumes of a red mist into the air. The violet sun illuminated small intricate patterns over all the plants, giving them a slight glow. Standing centre on a raised piece of stone was the Risen King, a staff in hand. Swirling his hand over the top of the staff, the eye adorning the top followed his hand. The eye then snapped its direction off into the distance and the Risen King spoke.

“Xai, xai, xai, XAI.”

From under the plants bones started to shift, pulling the plants from their rocky binds. What seemed to be a large bulging bush covered in eyes rose into the air. A colossal serpentine body made from bones and flesh rose into the air, the head was a vast collection of eyes that all peered in different directions that gave a spherical shape for a head. The mouth less creature strained and attempted to pull up its vast wings, but kept falling under their weight. A collection of bones started to stack upon themselves, climbing upwards towards the serpent, then another pile starts, and another. Soon the monster had six angular legs that braced its body. Again, it strained at the wings, this time it ripped the plants that grew over it. Raising its wings high in the air those around cheered as the voiceless beast held its form.

“You said these idiots can’t make anything. But they built that monstrosity, and these plants have been cultivated. This world is interesting.”

“What interests me is how this beast is involved with the escape from this world.”

“I guess we watch on.”

The beasts million eyes focused on one point after darting aimlessly. They stared intently at the eye that resided upon the Risen Kings staff. He moved it side to side and watched with a grin as the monstrosities eyes followed.

Risen king turned and walked to the end of the rocky top, the serpent leaning slightly trying to follow the staff. He called out to the crowds of those that amassed in the skin shanty town.

“This is the fruits of our labours, we have grown a creature that will be our salvation. Using the psionic plants to bind the bones of our scrap pile into a body and legs, the skin we harvested bound to be wings. Finally, the eyes of those who vexed us all grouped in a bouquet to give vision to our creation.”

The Risen King leaped forward off his perch, the winged serpent coiled around the spire, destroying the scaffolding stairs that gave others access to the top. Once below the Risen King it stopped, forming a small podium on its spine out of bones it received him. As many eyes that could rolled back and stared at his staff.

“I have absolute control of this creature, this great serpent of eyes. Our saviour. Now watch as it takes me high into the sky where it shall use its abilities to release my soul from this realm.”

The great serpent flew higher in the air, its body laid relax and drooped towards the ground as its wings kept it aloft. The eyes started to move and started to wind around the Risen King. Laying on his back he was carried across the eyes till he sat in the centre of their cluster. With a pale blue light, everyone watched as the Risen king fell limp, his tense body loosened completely and fell from the eyes. His corpse caught alight as it fell and burned to ash before colliding into the ground, his staff however collided with full force and shattered.

Anodyne watched as the creature started to fly erratically, everyone below understanding that the beast was angry. It started to swoop down and claim people into its eye mass, disintegrating them and absorbing their souls.

“Well that is how he got out, they created a demi god from psychic plants and the remains of the living dead. That makes this the third demi god the Holites have made.”

“Maybe they will create too many demi gods and replace themselves with these greater being.”

Anodyne gave a light laugh at what Conductor said.

“If that does happen we reset this world. Demigods are strong, but they need lesser beings, they would all fight for territory till only one remained. Not fun to rule over one being, I have tried it before, not that great.”

“One day you will have to tell me about that my lord, but for now shall we follow the Risen?”

Anodyne let off a long winded sigh.

“Can’t, he left this universe. He must have finished his 100-year sentence of life before I sent him down here.”

“What 100-year sentence are you referring to?”

“I assumed you knew, every being in existence has to live life as all stages of life. At the sentient stage like humans you live 100 years, either in one life or through reincarnation. After that you are reborn as a deity, like me. Sylum hinted at further stages, but I can’t imagine a stage after deity.”

“Ah so this Risen must have already lived 100 years, so once he died he should have become a god. Instead you sent him to hell meaning his soul could not pass on, then this demi-god used its abilities to remove him from this plane by killing him and releasing his soul.”

“Yes, but unfortunately that staff broke. Because the lives it took after that did not have their souls released, the demi-god ate it. Should be interesting to see what this thing will become.”

Anodyne snapped his fingers and Tukon reappeared.

“When did this happen? Relative to my current time in Hollow.”

Tukon thought for a short while and used her fingers to try and calculate in her head.

“A short while.”

“For fucks sake Tukon, this is the third time I have asked you this, and this is the third time you have said a short while. The first time it turned out to be around forty years, the second time it was slightly over a billion years. So please use a more specific term for measurement.”

Tukon thought again for a short while, her eyes darting around as they closed slightly. Muttering under her breath she concluded.

“Close to ten billion years ago, with a variation of a few million either side.”

“One of these days you are going to have to write down your rules for how time works in Hell, because I would not have guessed anywhere near that. Anyway, you have done all I need. Go back to your tasks Tukon.”

Tukon gave a slight bow and flashed away, Anodyne and the Conductor did the same to return to the outer space of Hollow.

“What now my lord?”

“Now, now I show this Risen god the full force of my unbridled rage!”

To anyone who likes my stories, you can find the full catalog on my website, additionally you can find me on a variety of other social media.

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dumbledearme · 6 years

Text

chapter one

~~ read Metamorphosis here ~~

Effie stood near the mines watching the workers come and go. They were all sweaty, dirty, smelly, but to her they looked damn beautiful. The sweat made their skin glow, the hard labor made their eyes shine. It was like there was nothing else in the world: only their efforts and her inclination to go down there and help.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” her mother came rushing, her oily skirts moving from one side to the other as she moved her legs in that aggressive march of hers. “Haven’t I told you you can’t be here? You’re gonna get in their way, Effie. Or worse.”

“What could be worse than that?”

Her mother gave her that condescending look. “They might think you’re… offering yourself.”

“Well, I might be. I do want to help them! And I should be able to. I have good strong arms. I could carry at least—”

“That is not what I meant.”

The realization came slowly. Effie’s eyes widened. Her hand twitched.

The mother sighed. “Oh, Effie. The Seam is no place for a girl.”

“Where is my place? Behind the stove? Wasting away in that house with that bastard that does nothing to help you—”

“Don’t talk about your father—”

“Cleitus isn’t my father!”

“He is! And he’s good to us. He… Well, Cleitus might not be the best of men, but he certainly—”

“—is one of the worst. You are blind, mom. You can’t see it. If you could… you wouldn’t leave me alone with him. The way he looks at me, he’ll soon—”

The slap came fast, hard, sharp. But that wasn’t the first nor would it be the last. Effie looked down; she didn’t care to see the regret that always took over her mother’s face after moments like this. Regret paid for nothing. Effie couldn’t do anything with regret.

“You can’t say these things about your father, Effie. It isn’t right. Now go home. We have work to do.”

“Cleaning after that pig isn’t work.”

“But it’s all you’re gonna get,” her mother snapped. “I’m sorry if your life is such a disappointment. I did the best I could. I can see you’ll never be satisfied with what you have. You’ll keep those big dreams of going to the Capitol, of escaping this poverty, but that’s all they are, Effie. Dreams. Reality is here and now. Accept it and it might hurt less.”

“Are you going to stand there chatting all day?” Cleitus called from a distance. Even from afar, Effie could smell him: alcohol and the putrid smell of cigarettes. Her stomach twisted.

“I want distance from that man,” said Effie ignoring her mother’s promises that Cleitus was her father. That wasn’t the true. Both of them knew it. Her mother had that little wood box, her most precious possessions, the one she kept hidden under the kitchen sink. More times than not Effie caught her crying over that box. She didn’t know what was inside, but she was sure it was about her father. “And I won’t spend the rest of my life working in that bar of his. You know what he does. Sells drugs and cigarettes to people. Keeps the money to himself. And we work our asses for nothing so he can keep up with his drinking.”

“I need you to help me, Effie,” pleaded her mom suddenly looking very small. It was a marvelous thing how small people, instead of making Effie feel big, made her feel tiny. She shrunk into almost nothing, nodded and followed her mother back to Pieter’s.

Serving tables was definitely not a dream job. Effie went from one side to the other in the bar, refilling glasses of beer, serving a dozen sandwiches to the buns who lived in that part of District 12. They talked loudly, they burped and they just couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.

Effie grabbed a butter knife and threatened Marcus Davis with it. It was always him and his hand on her ass. She had reported the fat man a thousand times but no one ever did anything about it. “If you touch me again, I’ll cut you.”

The idiot had the nerve to look offended. “What is wrong with you, kid?” he asked. How could Effie ever answer him? How could she explain to the man with a boner, who just called you kid after grabbing your ass, that pedophilia was a crime?

“You touch me again, I’ll cut off your hand and the thing you have between your legs that barely works anymore since your wife left you, Mr Davis.”

Marcus Davis’s face turned bright red. He immediately called Cleitus to fight his battles for him.

“Aurelia!” Cleitus shouted. “You have to control this girl! The client is always right, ain’t it?”

“You don’t like it?” Effie threw the knife at his feet and he danced around it pathetically trying to avoid it. “Find another poor soul that’ll work for free. I dare you.”

“Effie,” said her mother in that tone of voice she used as a warning. “Enough. Take the trash out for me, will you?”

Effie did as she was told. She always did as she was told.

It was already dark outside. Effie put the trash in the can and decided to take the rest of the night out. Maybe sleep near the clearing. Anywhere that wasn’t home. Anywhere she didn’t have to be afraid.

School was a mixture of excitement and fear. Effie enjoyed learning new things, but most of all, she loved learning about the history of the districts. District 3 definitely had the smartest people and District 5 was perhaps the most essential one there was. But her favorite was District 9.

When Effie was very little she had had a dream. She was outside and there were no fences. The sun was rising, everything looked so orange. As she walked between the fields of crops, she felt like she was walking on the sun. Everything was warm and beautiful.

She knew exactly why it held such a fascination. The teacher was very thorough in her lesson. The one fact that could be said about District 9: they had food.

“Wholesome food produced from nature is the cornerstone of a healthy Panem,” the teacher had said all those years ago. “District 9 cultivates and mills the most nutrient-rich grain possible and takes pride in providing this fertile harvest to our nation. In Panem’s bread bowl, real nutrition and a thriving country live hand in hand.”

That was the most beautiful thing Effie could think of. A land where you don’t go hungry. Someplace where the pain in your stomach didn’t exist, didn’t stop you from sleeping. A land where we have for us, and we have for all.

“Are you listening to me, Miss Trinket?” the teacher asked. Someone nudged Effie on the side bringing her to the present.

“Hmm? Yes.”

The teacher made a face of one who didn’t believe. “What was I saying?”

“She wasn’t listening,” said someone from the back of the classroom. “She was thinking about how we’re all so hungry to pay attention to you, Miss Janine. And I have to say, she has a point.” As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly. Some of the kids laughed.

Haymitch Abernathy. How Effie despised him and at the same time… No, she despised him alright. He was tall, blonde, thin, arrogant — Effie could spend the entire day listing the things he was. He sat there with that stupid grin on his face like he had said something extremely smart that deserved applause of something. As if. Like she needed his help with anything.

Then again, she had been thinking along those lines, hadn’t she? She wanted to feed her people. She wanted their lives to be better. Was it all a coincidence, what he had said and what she had been thinking? Was it because they were, indeed, all hungry? Or did he somehow just knew?

“Don’t start with me, Mr Abernathy,” said the teacher, “or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Oh, please, do.” More laughter. What a clown.

Miss Janine chose to ignore him. A wise choice, Effie thought.

“I was saying, Miss Trinket, no citizen is too young to support the constructive efforts of the Mining District, and in turn, the gallant efforts of Panem.”

“Yes, they are making a difference, aren’t they? We work, they eat,” said Haymitch with sarcasm.

“The Capitol channels their hope and optimism toward Panem’s peaceful future.”

“It’ll be incredibly peaceful,” he said with indifference, “when there are no more people.”

Effie got out of there with Haymitch Abernathy’s words still in her head. The cheek of that boy. And yet… no truer words were ever spoken. Outside the school, she found herself face to face with a poster of the Capitol’s propaganda about coal mining. Their pride and commitment is truly the warmth and light of our lives!, it said.

“Their pride and commitment will get us all killed,” said Haymitch from behind her.

Effie sighed. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

He seemed to think about it. “No. Now say, Trinket, how about we go to Greasy Sue and-”

“Can’t. I’m busy.”

“Doing what? And don’t say washing your hair. We both know you haven’t washed that in years.”

“Maybe I should. It’s getting kind of itchy.” That made him smiled. “Besides, anything to get you to leave me alone.”

Haymitch pretended to be offended. He placed his right hand above his heart and made a pained face. “You’re killing me.”

Effie rolled her eyes. “Haymitch, seriously, I have work to do.”

“Not today,” he said smiling like someone who holds the key to another world. “Didn’t you hear? Today everyone needs to be at the Square.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Something or other.”

Effie looked around. Everyone was, in fact, moving toward the Square. Thinking she’d better follow, she turned her back at Haymitch. But he couldn’t take a hint. She could feel him walking behind her.

The Square was packed when they arrived. It was a large space but not large enough to hold District 12’s population of about eight thousand. Latecomers like them were directed to the adjacent streets, where they could watch the event on screens at it was televised live by the state.

There was a temporary stage set up before the Justice Building and a group of around twelve strangers from the Capitol. Two of them were by the podium: a short weird looking man with a blond wig and a taller one who looked absolutely rich.

“Welcome,” said the short one in a booming voice. “I’m Claudius Templesmith and this is my very good friend, Plutarch Heavensbee. We come to you with a proposition; one that you must have heard of already. The Project Metamorphosis.”

Effie had heard about that but she couldn’t quite remember what it was. Haymitch made a tsking sound beside her.

“I wanna get closer,” she told him.

Haymitch didn’t look pleased. “Of course you do.” He grabbed her hand and guided her through the crowd while Claudius Templesmith spoke.

“Our program is looking for a girl to be the face of our country. We want someone with potential, someone who can speak, walk and act as an example of all the good things we have in Panem. All of your girls are invited to try out. Every age, every color, every style.”

The Square was surrounded by shops and there were bright banners hanging on the buildings. The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops were filming the crowd as much as the stage. When they got near a short wall, Haymitch took Effie by the waist and lifted her up. She stood high on the wall where she could see everyone, everything. The camera man beside her turned the camera at her.

“What are you doing, girl?”

“Just wanna watch the show,” she explained. The man shook his head and that was when someone shouted, “Stop!” Effie looked up just in time to see her surprised, dirty face showing in the big screens of District 12. Her hair was almost brown and looking like a rat’s nest. Her skin was pale, ugly. But her blue eyes were large as she saw herself and they kind of looked like stars.

The man who had shouted was the young Plutarch Heavensbee. He wasn’t looking at the screens — he was looking directly at her from across the Square. Then he moved, came her way, pushing people aside, until he was right in front of the wall. He reached out his hand as an offering. Hesitantly, Effie took it and he helped her down.

“You’re beautiful,” he said touching her hair. Effie slapped his hand away, her heart racing. Plutarch raised both hands in surrender. “I mean you no harm. This is my job,” he gestured around to the big event. “And you are… gorgeous.”

Effie had only the vague idea that everyone in the Square was watching them. She couldn’t take her eyes from the stranger. He looked like the prince charming from on of those books Ingrid liked to read before bed. Was this a joke? Or did he mean it? Did he really find her… gorgeous? Oh, yeah, right, as if…

“Yes, you are,” he insisted as if reading her mind. “You look clean, fresh, young.” He studied her attentively, then said, “I want you to sign your name on the Metamorphosis program. I want you to be the face of Panem.”

#hayffie #metamorphosis #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #fanfic #dfcrosas #crossover #the hunger games #panem #the selection #district 12

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royalnovels-blog · 7 years

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MGA Chapter 1915

Chapter 1915 – Strange Creature “What sort of legend?” Chu Feng asked. “According to the legend, the Blood Devouring Insects are not the only living creature in the depths of the Blood Devouring Killing Formation. In addition to them, there is also a kind of very special, stupid and interesting creature,” Xian Miaomiao said. “Very stupid and interesting creature? What is it?” Chu Feng asked curiously. Chu Feng felt that the creatures that could survive in this place would all be very extraordinary creatures. For Xian Miaomiao to describe that creature that mystically, it was even more evident that the creature was extraordinary. “As for its exact appearance, I am also not certain. Merely, I’ve heard from my royal father that the creature originated from the Ancient Era. Then, for some unknown reason, it hid itself in the depths of the Blood Devouring Killing Formation.” “Furthermore, my royal father said that that creature is very stupid. However, it possesses a special sort of power that seems to be extremely beneficial to world spiritists.” “Furthermore, that creature is capable of speaking the moment it is born, and will consider the first creature that it sees to be its parent. Furthermore, it will wholeheartedly devote its life to that creature.” “You just so happen to be a very powerful world spiritist. If you are to encounter that creature, you will be able to gain enormous benefits,” Xian Miaomiao said. “Hearing what you said, I also wish for that legend to be real,” Chu Feng smiled. Afterward, in the following days, Chu Feng and Xian Miaomiao continued to search for the Ancient Era’s Immortal Flowers. Chu Feng was using his Heaven’s Eyes to carefully observe his surroundings, and Xian Miaomiao was using her special perception to search her surroundings too. However, in the blink of an eye, three days passed. Yet, they were unable to obtain any harvest. Due to the fact that they were using their perceptive abilities the entire time, Chu Feng discovered that Xian Miaomiao appeared to be somewhat exhausted. Thus, he suggested that they take a rest. Right after Chu Feng suggested that they take a rest, Xian Miaomiao fell asleep on the large tree beside Chu Feng. It could be seen that the girl had truly exhausted herself. Seeing Xian Miaomiao like this, Chu Feng felt a bit of heartache. Although she was always laughing and appeared to be very carefree, she was actually someone who worked very hard. Over the course of the several days he had been with her, Chu Feng was able to determine that. “Chu Feng, it won’t do to continue like this, Is that girl truly certain that there are Ancient Era’s Immortal Flowers here?” At that moment, Eggy started to worry. The reason for that was because Chu Feng and Xian Miaomiao had searched for three days straight. However, over the course of those three days, the two of them had not even managed to travel five percent of the entire Blood Devouring Killing Formation’s central region. From this, it could be seen how vast this place was. Furthermore, although Chu Feng and Xian Miaomiao were wearing Blood Devouring Armors, their abilities were still restricted in this place. As such, they were unable to unleash their maximum speed. Thus, judging from the current state of affairs, even if Chu Feng and Xian Miaomiao were to continue searching for the Ancient Era’s Immortal Flowers without stopping to sleep or rest, they would still need tens of days in order to travel through this entire central region. However, the Blood Devouring Armors could only be used for a limited time. Furthermore, Chu Feng was unable to immediately manufacture new Blood Devouring Armors. Thus, if their Blood Devouring Armors were to lose their effectiveness, Chu Feng and Xian Miaomiao would end up dying in this place. This was what Her Lady Queen was worried about. “I can sense that the Blood Devouring Armors are capable of persisting for at most thirty more days.” “In order to prevent the unexpected, Xian Miaomiao and I can only stay here for at most twenty more days. We must save ten days of time to get out of here. If we are unable to find any Ancient Era’s Immortal Flowers in twenty days, we will have no choice but to give up,” Chu Feng said. “Mn, you must put your own safety first,” Seeing that Chu Feng had already considered the matter, Eggy finally felt relieved. Right at that moment, Chu Feng stood up and set up a concealment formation that covered Xian Miaomiao. Then, he left by himself. Chu Feng was not planning to rest. He did not wish to waste time. Thus, he planned to search for the Ancient Era’s Immortal Flower by himself while Xian Miaomiao was asleep. After searching for roughly two hours, Chu Feng’s speed suddenly slowed down, and he revealed a pleasantly surprised expression. Although he had not managed to discover any Ancient Era’s Immortal Flowers, he had managed to discover a creature. It was the first creature other than the Blood Devouring Insects that he had seen here. It was a little red insect. Its length was about as long as one’s index finger. However, it was extremely thin, and resembled a little earthworm. However, with only a single glance, Chu Feng was able to sense that it was emitting an extraordinary aura. It was most definitely not an ordinary insect. “Eggy look, that insect looks so stupid. Could it be that legendary creature that Miaomiao spoke of?” Chu Feng said in a very joyous manner. “It’s very possible. Based on its appearance, it seems to have just been born, and still a larva. Chu Feng, quickly, get over there. See whether or not it will recognize you as its master,” Eggy said. “Woosh~~~” At that moment, Chu Feng suddenly accelerated. Like a flash of lightning, he leapt and immediately arrived on the giant tree which that insect was lying on. The sudden gale caused that little red insect’s body to tremble. However, it did not try to escape. Instead, it turned its head around and used its large black eyes to stare at Chu Feng. It said, “Who are you?” ‘Holy, it actually really knows how to speak. It seemed that what Miaomiao said is true,’ Seeing that the insect was actually speaking, Chu Feng was overjoyed. Thus, he steadied himself and said with a very amiable face and a soft voice, “I am your mother.” Hearing those words, the little red insect immediately shrunk back. Then it said, “You’re a male.” ‘Holy, it was actually able to see through my gender? It seems that it is not as stupid as I imagined it to be,’ Chu Feng was startled. However, he did not panic. Instead, he said, “I am your father.” “Oh?” Hearing those words, the little red insect revealed a questioning gaze. It ignored Chu Feng and began to slowly crawl away. Then, it stopped and curved its body. At the moment when Chu Feng was carefully observing it, confused by what it was doing, the little insect suddenly turned around and revealed an insectoid smile, “I am your grandma.” After it finished saying those words, the little insect suddenly leapt into the air. It turned into a ray of red light and shot toward the distance. It was so fast that even Chu Feng was startled by its speed. “Trying to escape after scolding me? You little insect, see if I do not catch you,” After encountering such a strange creature, Chu Feng would naturally not let it escape. Chu Feng’s body shifted, and he directly unleashed his Azure Dragon Dashing Technique to chase after the insect. Chu Feng did not dare to underestimate that insect. Although it was very small, it was extremely fast. However, even though Chu Feng had unleashed the Azure Dragon Dashing Technique, he was still unable to catch up to that little red insect. “Come, grandson, come chase after your grandma. Come, come, quickly, come,” The insect was extremely vile. Not only was it running away with great speed, it was also insulting Chu Feng nonstop. “Damn bug, you actually dare to look down on me,” With a thought, Chu Feng immediately revealed his Thunder Armor. After his cultivation increased to rank two Martial Emperor, his speed also increased rapidly. “Woosh, woosh, woosh, woosh, woosh~~~” However, after Chu Feng increased his speed, that red little insect’s speed actually also rose dramatically. It became many times faster than before. Even though Chu Feng had increased his cultivation, he was still only able to maintain his distance to that insect, and remained incapable of catching up to it. “Haha…” “Trash…” “Moron…” “Idiot…” “Retard…” “You actually tried to deceive your grandma?” “You’re destined to only be a grandson.” “Come, chase after me, come catch me.” “Lelelelelelelele…” Seeing that Chu Feng was unable to catch up to it, that insect actually began to mock and ridicule Chu Feng. Chu Feng was even able to see that the little insect was actually sticking out its tongue at him and emitting a provocative sound with his tongue. It was mocking Chu Feng using all sorts of methods. Previous Main menu Next Click to Post

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nemesis-nexus · 7 years

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Full Harvest Moon 2017 HAIL MARDUK, most Glorious and Exalted Father Satan on High, HEAR US! In recent days we have seen the devastation that nature can wreak across the board with the arrival of Hurricane Harvey who spared no time en route to slamming into the Gulf Coast of Texas and dumping TRILLIONS of gallons of water on those in the Houston area and all along the coast line and then slowly trudge off to Louisiana! We saw a veritable replay of what occurred in North Dakota when it came to people setting aside their differences and coming to the aid of their fellow HUMAN when times were at their most dire! We saw humans remember their humanity when they went above and beyond to help our animal kindred, one group on a small boat held a trapped horses head above the water line so it wouldn’t drown while they tried to free it! We saw that no matter how much hatred the ALLEGED white nationalists AND the ANTIFA groups forced on EVERYONE both in their path and in their wake, that they do NOT represent the general population of the US nor do they represent ANY part of the sane population! In fact I contend that BOTH of these groups are nothing more than paid agitators who were sent out on a mission to create a HUGE distraction and sadly in places such as Charlottesville, VA they succeeded, their success was short sighted though because after the violence began BOTH sides showed their true colors! When they came to Boston, the ANTIFA group did not start rioting until AFTER the “Freedom of Speech” people left the area, that was when ANTIFA started attacking numerous people – INCLUDING THE POLICE! So what do we take away from this? That those who claim to be anti-fascist are sometimes the BIGGEST fascists out there as well as the most violent! They did NOTHING to help their cause but their actions nearly justified what their purported enemies were doing as far as just talking is concerned! In short they made the ones they were fighting against appear rational and sane (which we KNOW Nazis are not) by comparison! This is why no matter what is going on it is absolutely necessary to view ALL sides so as not to be swept up in rhetoric and assumptions! What we ultimately take away from this is to not feel as though you HAVE to choose aside ESPECIALLY when agenda of BOTH seem to be highly questionable! We also take away that our governments hands are NOT clean in any context! The fact is our government could have stopped Charlottesville AND Boston from happening by stepping up patrol and calling in the National Guard like they did in North Dakota! IMAGINE THAT, calling in the riot police and National Guard to actually STOP A RIOT and GUARD THE NATION! I guess when people are actually willing to PHYSICALLY fight back it’s not as easy to run them over versus when all they are doing is PRAYING! GO FIGURE! Father it never ceases to amaze me what some humans are willing to do to other humans if you pay them enough to do it! It makes me physically ill just thinking about how even those in power would sell out their own country if the price was right! I am tired of this “looking out for number one” attitude that a lot of people use to justify their disloyalty whether it’s to a country, to a Family or even to a friend! These are the same people who will pitch a fit if you have the nerve to call them out on their backroom dealings! They will not only DENY everything, they will spin up a whole lot of yarns trying to make YOU look like the one at fault even if you have more than enough damning evidence to prove otherwise! Fortunately in our age of electronics we are able to save anything and everything that is posted online, on social media and even spoken in public! It’s a shame that it had to come to this but humans can be some of the most underhanded beings anyone could have the displeasure to deal with and as such we must ALWAYS watch our backs especially when it comes to engaging people we don’t know whether it’s for business or pleasure! There have been many things that have occurred in the last year starting with Standing Rock and the NODAPL movement, what is unbelievable is that INNOCENT PEOPLE are STILL fighting to get the bogus and completely unconstitutional charges leveled against them dropped! Perhaps the most important lessons taken from the struggle, especially in reference to the nights of October 27, November 20, 2016 and February 22, 2017 is to always stand your ground no matter who stands against you because a lot of the times the ONLY person or people doing the right thing is YOU and the only person or people that those who are unable to fight have to rely on is YOU! This does not mean that we take responsibility for everything and everyone, not at all, what it DOES mean is that if you see something happening that you KNOW isn’t right, NEVER assume that ‘someone else’ will take care of it because 9 out of 10 times, ‘someone else’ is assuming the same thing which means NO ONE is taking care of it or stepping up! If you should find yourself in a situation where you are in fact part of a large group or movement, remember to not get caught up in the goings on but to ALWAYS pay attention to EVERYTHING and EVERYONE around you because unfortunately the larger the group or movement, the more likely it is to have infiltrators planted in the middle of everything whose ONLY intention is gathering enough dirt to undermine the movement and if they can’t find it – THEY’LL MAKE IT UP! These kind of shady dealings don’t just happen with movements such as NO DAPL or any of the movements that rose from it (NOKXL, NOENBRIDGE, NOSABATTRAIL, etc) it happens all the time in the Satanic Community where those whose sole intention is to undermine Father and all he has done by continuously trying to REMOVE Satan from Satanism! Suffice it to say if you don’t believe in Satan then you are not a Satanist, calling yourself anything that uses someone else’s rank and title then claiming you only like “the idea” is not only unforgivably disrespectful to the Deity himself, but makes you look foolish and wanting! You want all the glory Father actually put his neck on the line to acquire without having to do anything to deserve it or acknowledge the one who put his neck on the line for US! You either believe in the Deity or you don’t and if you don’t you are not a Satanist, no two ways about it, I don’t care WHO has you convinced otherwise! Father there have been many changes in the last year, some good, some not so good and some that have the Earth itself shaking its head… There are many things that we can control, such as how we respond to certain things and there are things we cannot control such as the weather. While Harvey and now the latest threat of Hurricane Irma, will do what they want to do because there is literally no way to stop them, we can anticipate their arrivals by keeping tabs on where they are en route and plan accordingly. These plans may include having to pack up evacuate the area, something NO ONE wants to voluntarily do, but for the sake of survival it is imperative that people do not allow a misguided sense of loyalty to their area to wind up being their own undoing! Hurricanes do not care where you are, where you are from or where you are going, the only function of a hurricane is to do as much destruction as it is physically able to for the duration of its time! It will take you, your house and your entire city out and never look back, so regardless of how “rooted” to the land you are, if the situation calls for it, DO NOT HESITATE TO GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT! You can always go back after and help with the clean up, but you can’t do that if you are DEAD! Always remember that THINGS can be replaced, HUMANS and ANIMALS can NOT! Devoted Dragon who oversees everything and makes us stand on our own feet to make the changes necessary to enable life to keep going, you are our rock in every storm! We are able to keep cultivating our own corners of nature, planting seeds, growing crops and harvesting them when the time is right. One parallel that can be drawn between the seed you plant in the ground to grow and the seed you plant in someone’s heart and mind to grow is the level of care in which you tend to it! The more you water a seed, till the soil and make sure it has plenty of space to grow, the more likely it is that you will have a bumper crop that will give you additional seeds for another crop the following year! It is the same with humans, the more devotion you show towards a project, keep all the pests out of the garden and make sure that all the seeds within the walls have enough space to maintain their integrity, the more likely you will have a group of people that will give their loyalty NOT out of obligation but because they WANT to! If you plant a seed then proceed to stomp all over it, you will not only crush the seed before it has time to sprout, you will also destroy your own garden! Not only will you not have any crops to harvest NEXT year, you won’t have any to harvest THIS year! Again it is the same with humans, if you plant a seed and then proceed to tell people that they are idiots for asking questions or that they are cowards because they don’t want to pull a publicity stunt just for the attention then not only will you find yourself surrounded by WEEDS which will grow anywhere they are able to, you will find yourself surrounded by the most disloyal people imaginable who wouldn’t think ONCE let alone TWICE before knifing you in the back for what they think is a better deal. Unfortunately for them they often find this cycle repeating itself indefinitely as well as being subject to the very same disregard! Enlightened Emissary of the upper most Echelons, you planted many seeds many years ago giving those who cultivated these seeds the ability to plant their own to keep the cycle of Life going! Over the years we have seen the results, some good, some not so good, but the one thing we see over and over again is that when humans are really taken to task that they usually rise above it! No matter how much they may argue amongst themselves over whatever issue is circulating at the time, most humans will put aside their petty differences to do what needs to be done at the time! In recent years we have seen this ratio teetering in the other direction where we have humans who have amassed material wealth not caring one iota about what happens to those who don’t have as much because they THINK that whatever is happening or whatever may come to pass, that they exempt not only from the situation, but their actions or lack thereof! This is why they are impervious to their own corruption and as such continue to act as though their actions or lack thereof have no consequences that THEY have to worry about! Imagine their surprise when the REAL Harvest begins and they are the FIRST to go! Blessed Father Marduk, now is the time of the Harvest Moon, when the seeds that were planted and cared for during the Season of Rebirth and the Season of Life burst forth in a wide array of different crops ready to be reaped from the Earth and stored for the Winter Season of Death! This is only the beginning of the crop Harvest and right around the corner we have the Autumnal Equinox that, given everything that has already happened between the Perseid Meteor Shower, the Solar Eclipse, the Asteroid, Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma it should be a very interesting time! I will be heading out to the Midwest to spend it with my Family out there, I look forward to it as I have not seen them in TWO YEARS! I would like to take this time to say Thank You to all the Members of my Temple, especially those of you who followed me from my previous station and stayed loyal throughout everything that has happened! The seed I planted in January of 2015 and have kept meticulous care for these last 2.5 years has proven to not only yielded more than I imagined in the sense of how many have joined since and even though some only passed through, many others stayed! As such I would like you to know that your presence is both acknowledged and appreciated! Without you there is no Temple, you are what makes the difference! You may notice that I don’t run the gamut with printed posts or memes like some do, this is because I don’t want to simply dictate information, I don’t want to come off as someone who tells you what to think or how to feel about anything! Instead I prefer people ask questions and speak their mind (as long as it’s done in a respectful manner), no one can tell you how to feel about anything, this is why we offer counseling for those who may be going through a rough patch but don’t want to post publicly! My first loyalty is and will always be to the Deity, my second loyalty is to my Family both Blood and Spiritual! As such I will defend the honor of the Deity regardless of who the aggressor(s) is or are and I will step up and step on anyone who is giving my Human Family a hard time IF the situation calls for it! This doesn’t mean I am a reactionary who flies off the handle for no reason, if I do feel the need to say anything there is ALWAYS a reason why and if I feel the need to ACT on anything it is because I feel I am doing what must be done at the time it needs doing! While I may mention these activities in the Temple, this DOES NOT mean that ANYONE is obligated to join me in pursuing them. I believe that knowledge is power and it’s hard to make an informed decision without knowing what is actually going on! That being said I wish everyone a very blessed and bountiful Full Harvest Moon! "Harvest Moon Words and music by Anke Summerhill Time so long ago I can still remember how it used to be The old mill by the river Now its grinding days are through But I know it's standing there still It's the night of the harvest moon Now you're by my side Will you tell me good-bye soon The sun will soon be rising And the stars, they'll go to sleep But these are memories to keep Grandpa taught me to ride My bicycle out in the yard around his house And when I'd go too fast He'd always slow me down But those times now lie in the past And it's the night of the harvest moon Now you're by my side Will you tell me good-bye soon The sun will soon be rising And the stars, they'll go to sleep But these are memories to keep And when I think about those days When I wore a young girl's face And that moon was shining down on me Well, that old moon he's shining still And he lives out by that mill A reminder of how simple life can be When it's the night of the harvest moon Now you're by my side Will you tell me good-bye soon The sun will soon be rising And the stars, they'll go to sleep But these are memories to keep Memories to keep. -Anke Summerhill” ZI ANA KANPA! ZI KIA KANPA! MAY THE DEAD RISE AND SMELL THE INCENSE! Etiamsi MULTA Et Nos UNUM Sumus Nos Sto Validus Ut Nos Sto Una! Semper Veritas, Semper Fideles, In Diabolus Nomen Nos Fides! AVE SATANÍ! (We Are ONE Even Though We Are MANY And We Stand STRONGEST When We Stand TOGETHER! Always TRUTHFUL, Always FAITHFUL, In Satan's Name We Trust! HAIL SATAN!) Ave URURU! Ave EA! Ave DIMUZI! Ave ININNI! Ave GILGAMESH! Ave ENKIDU! Ave TIAMAT! Ave ABSU! Ave MARDUK! Ave SARPANITUM! Ave SATANÍ! HAIL SATAN! HPS Meg "Nemesis Nexus" Prentiss

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