#zircon pinned | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

threeletterslife · 2 years

Text

20 | Legends of Darlaria

⨰ summary: You wake up amidst a war with no recollection of your past. Faced with suspicion and distrust, you struggle to assimilate into a foreign nation—otherwise known as your home. But on your enlightening journey to search for your identity, you come face to face with the General of the Army.

⨰ pairing/rating: yoongi x reader & jungkook x reader | PG-15

⨰ genre: 70% angst, 30% fluff | war!au & magic!au

⨰ warnings: profanity, mentions of death and dead people

⨰ wordcount: 5.8k

⨰ join the taglist! (pm/send in an ask/reply/reblog)

⨰ previous | series m.list | next

⧖⧗Circa Zircon⧗⧖

You gasp awake, hair clinging to the sides of your face, your blankets tangled up tightly around your legs.

You’d dreamed of him again. The man with the boxy smile. It was the same dream as last time, where he’d helped you drag a dead body across the battlefield. Except for this time, you recognized the body.

It had been Doyun’s.

Suddenly, anger floods into your system—the kind of fiery anger you’ve never felt more. Your face grows hot, and your heart beats faster in your chest. You feel like squeezing something, chucking something across the tent. You feel like screaming. So you immediately sit up from your cot, ripping your hair out of your face. Your fists begin to shake as you stare at them, teeth gritted, eyes squinted.

Why is she dead?

No.

How dare they kill her? Who the hell did the Darlaeans think they were to just—just cut her damn life short?

“Who’s to say? There are years of existence ahead of us.” You remember her words so clearly now.

“That’s also true… Even a year changed so much. I guess we’ll never know what will happen in the future. Whether we’ll become legends or not.”

The memory makes something twist inside of you. Something dark, something violent. Without thinking, you grab the dirt container from under your futon, getting ready to hurl it across your tent. But when your trembling arm is in the air, you can’t seem to do it. You’re squeezing the container so hard that it might just crumble, yet it never does. Slowly, gradually, your arm falls back to your side. Your arm is still shaking.

You stare at the container in your hand, knowing full well what it holds inside. The desire to get rid of it hasn’t gone away, but maybe you’re just weak. You can’t seem to cut the ties of the only clue you have to your past. With a sigh, you stash the container back under your futon, trying to take deep breaths to calm yourself down. When that doesn’t work, you try lying back down, attempting to think happy thoughts—the warmth of Heli, the crackling kindling of the evening bonfires, the beauty of Alder in the winter. But no matter what you do, the anger stays.

It must’ve been piling up inside of you—for weeks. And maybe yesterday had something to do with it too. All of the officers had gone on a trip to Elu to begin the dreaded drafting process—the one that had been delayed due to the unfortunate incident nearly four circas ago. You’d prepared yourself for the worst: for riots, for screaming, for angry, pointing fingers. Captain Bak even told you that they might throw food at you—tomatoes, stale bread, cooked potatoes. But when you’d arrived at Elu, somehow it was worse than what you’d expected.

The Elunians were wearing white. Their homes were decorated with white chrysanthemums. In fact, every single one of them had the white flower pinned to their chest. They bowed down to you and the other officers as you passed. And when the General gently reminded them of the mandatory draft, there was no opposition at all.

It was solemn. Too solemn. It wasn’t anything like the happy, bustling Elu you last saw. Children were crying. So were the adults. You weren’t sure if they were sobbing for Doyun or for their loved ones who might meet the same fate.

You would’ve felt better if they’d been angry.

As if to make things worse, there is no truce this year. The Darlaean General turns down the General’s offer. It worsens your state of mind. You no longer have an appetite.

Nothing seems to be working. At every turn, at every corner, there is some form of bad news waiting. It becomes hard for you to smile, to exchange small talk, and maybe that affects your relationship with the other officers. But you could also care less.

“Hey.”

You slowly look up from your battle plans. It’s Nayoon, and though you’re fatigued and distressed, she’s your friend. It wouldn’t be right to turn her away.

“Hi,” you say, feigning a smile.

She sits down next to you on the snow-covered grass. “I know you haven’t been talking much,” she says. “I just wanted to check in on you…”

“I’m fine,” you say. “I was just working on a new formation for your sector.” You never got to congratulate Nayoon on her promotion, but it feels wrong to do it now when it happened weeks ago.

She looks like she doesn’t believe you. “Well, I just finished reading the Lieutenant’s note.” She says those heavy words so casually, so conversationally, that it takes you a moment to register the weight behind them. “I put off reading it for a while,” she says. “I was scared to.”

You remember that note. You couldn’t even get through the entire thing.

“I didn’t like it,” you say. And maybe that’s insensitive to say, considering it was what Doyun wrote as her last words. But—“It felt impersonal. Like I wasn’t reading her real thoughts.”

Nayoon turns to look at you; there’s a bit of hurt on her face. “Really?”

And even though you know you should stop: “It was full of euphemisms,” you say. “I couldn’t even finish it.”

“You didn’t finish it?”

“I just… couldn’t.”

Silence.

But it’s the horrible kind, where you’re each waiting for the other to fill it, except neither of you ever does.

When the silence becomes too unbearable, Nayoon finally speaks. “I think I understand,” she says in a quiet voice. “I thought the note was comforting. When she told me that death would bring her closure, I believed her. And I still choose to. Because I think that believing that brings me closure about her absence as well. But I guess you knew her better than I did to know her words weren’t all the truth.”

You let her words sink in. Then: “But what about my closure?” you say, painfully aware of how selfish that may sound. “What if I never get it? What if I hold onto Doyun like she always held on to Minhee? What if I…” You feel the tears coming again.

“I think your closure will come,” Nayoon says. “It’ll come in a moment you’d never expect it.” She glances down at where her right arm used to be. “Loss isn’t easy, Y/N. I think I’m still dealing with mine. You always start thinking about what could’ve been, you know? It just comes naturally; we can’t really do much to stop it. But…” She smiles. “It took me a long time to realize this. I think genuine closure is a myth. Unless you get your memories wiped, you’ll always, always hold that pain in your heart. You’ll have days when it hurts more than usual, and you’ll have days when it feels like it never happened at all. But that’s what closure is to me,” she says. “It’s acceptance. But I allow myself to feel sad sometimes, because who wouldn’t?

“It’s okay if you feel like you can’t get to this point now,” Nayoon tells you. “But one day, before you know it, you’ll be there.”

There’s a long moment of silence before she sighs at your unresponsiveness. “Everyone grieves differently. Everyone copes differently, too,” she says. “Just give yourself time. Let yourself understand your emotions. It may not work for everyone, but it worked for me. Maybe you can start with that.”

Her words unlock a memory deep in your mind.

Everyone has a different way of coping with loss and death. My advice to you is to find your way of coping now. Because there will be many more deaths and losses.

The General had told you that—who knows how long when. It couldn’t have been more than a year ago, but it feels so far away as if several years have passed since it happened. You also can’t quite recall your exact response.

But you do remember one thing. You’d confessed to him that you would never be ready for any kind of loss. Yet, you’d also made a declaration: When the time comes, I promise I’ll be strong. Those words had come out of your mouth at some point in the past. You’d completely forgotten.

But you’re trying. You haven’t broken down since the day Doyun died. You’ve been diligent about your work, never taking extensions, never wanting to disappoint. You’ve been quiet, numb and you haven’t (recently) caused a scene with your melancholy as an excuse. You’ve been trying to set a good example—especially to the freshly drafted soldiers—trying to fake that you’re okay, that you’ve been quiet and unsmiling because you’ve been busy, not because you’re miserable.

So the time did come, and you did try to be strong.

But what’s the use of being strong for others when you don’t feel strong yourself?

“Major Ahn once told me something,” Nayoon says, forcing you back into reality. “Right after I came back from Elu, he asked if I was faking it. I asked him what he meant by that, and he asked if I was faking being okay. Faking accepting myself. I had to think about it because I had been faking at one point—remember my happy little letters to you? But after my big outburst, I think I let off too much steam. I started feeling weirdly empty. I wasn’t sure if I was faking it or if it was genuine acceptance. After a while, I couldn’t tell the difference.” She sighs. “But Major Ahn told me that the art of faking is beautifully dangerous. You fake because you think of others; you think if you’re in a position of authority, you can’t let anyone down—surely not with your emotions. But if you keep it all in, one day, you’re just going to explode. He told me that if I ever felt angry, depressed, or nostalgic for the better times, I should come to talk to him. He told me that it’s okay if I fake my strength as long as I work to fix that gap between what I show to others and how I actually feel.”

You finally look Nayoon in the eye. “Have you fixed the gap yet?”

“Not quite,” she answers, shaking her head. “But I’m getting there. Slowly. You know, just at my own pace. But what I mean is, Y/N, if there’s a discrepancy in the way you feel and the way you try to act, then you can try to fix it. Reflect about it alone, then when you’re really ready, open up to someone. Tell them about it. Or write it down. I don’t know. Just don’t keep it inside.”

Don’t keep it inside.

You suppose that’s all you’ve been doing. The anger you felt today, the sadness you’ve felt underneath the numbness of the past few weeks… You haven’t told anyone about it; you haven’t tried to dwell on it, either. All you’ve done is keep it inside.

But you don’t want to be a burden, either. As soon as you share your inner turmoil with others, they’ll be put on the spot—to react, to help you in some way. What if you don’t want the help? What if you want to figure this out by yourself?

Nayoon seems to sense your mental anguish. She nods, placing a warm hand on your shoulder. “Take your time,” she says. “Take all the time you need.” Then, as if reading your thoughts, she leaves you alone, though she keeps glancing back to see if you have changed your mind.

But you haven’t.

And you are okay with that.

It’s the first thing you’ve been okay with for weeks.

You finish the rest of Doyun’s note.

It’s been a week since your conversation with Nayoon. You’ve been chewing on her words ever since you listened to them. It had been good advice: don’t expect the closure to come, but let it happen to you. Allow yourself to feel sad, allow yourself to participate in the worldwide phenomenon known as the art of faking, yet give yourself space to mend the gap between what you show to others and what you know you’re feeling yourself. Take your time, too. It’s all wonderful advice, even if you couldn’t bring yourself to thank her. Maybe one day you will.

But before that, you had suddenly become compelled to read the rest of Doyun’s note. So you did. The verdict? You still don’t like it. There had only been a paragraph left, anyway, and it just wasn’t enough to change your opinion about it.

I’m content about my death, dear soldier. So there’s no reason for you to be upset on my behalf. I enjoyed my time as Yoongi’s lieutenant, but I’ll enjoy retirement even more. I’m off to sing with the spirits now! Whoever you are, you’ve done good work, soldier. Don’t miss me too much. And if you do, crack open ‘Hongji’s Tale.’ You’d be surprised.

Sincerely,

Kang Doyun

Instead of closure, you’re left with a new opening.

Doyun had once told you that she was like Hongji. Though you’ve already returned Nayoon’s copy of the stories back to her, you still remember that tale—as clear as Ara’s lakes. Will recalling it really help? It doesn’t really hurt to try. You can’t exactly lose her again, and if it doesn’t work out, you already feel pain, so more of it won’t do much, either.

So you lie down on your futon, hands resting on your stomach. Then, you close your eyes and begin to imagine.

Doyun was always an old soul stuck in a young body, people would say. She was wise beyond her years, but not in such a typical omnipotent way. She was loud, spunky and always said what was on her mind—all in good humor, too.

As the Solarians grew, thanks to Hwayoung and Hosoo’s contributions, the people realized that they needed a leader of sorts to keep them all together. They were apprehensive at first, for the last leader they’d dealt with had been a mind-numbing Darlaean tyrant. So they were careful in choosing their pick.

In the end, they appointed Doyun’s father to be the face of the Solarians. He was kind, wise, sensitive and wanted what was best for his people. But his weakness resided in the fact that he knew very little about how to govern a nation. So his daughter, Doyun, became his most trusted advisor.

She was tall—even for her age—and she would often loom over the other members of their newly made government. But she was also a bright, friendly person, who didn’t mind being her father’s right-hand advisor, despite her qualifications to take his place, because she never wanted to be the face of anything.

Solaria was still a growing nation, and Doyun wanted to make sure its roots were clean and uncorrupted. She listened to the people, compromised with them and came up with solutions to benefit just about everybody. When the people wanted to take more than what they were given—to cut down the forest to build a town—Doyun stopped them. Instead, she guided them to a flat dirt terrain, just next to the woods, where she allowed them to build their town there. The town became known as Elu and it quickly became the capital sector. The woodsy grassland became known as Alder. And soon, with enough travel, Doyun realized that there were three other distinct terrains: a desert, a mountainous region and a cold, arctic tundra. She named them Aithne, Aella and Ara. Each sector was for one of the four distinguished spirits, and the final one, Elu, was where everyone could live in harmony.

When the people wanted to demand more from the spirits, ask them about wielding earth and air, it was Doyun who stopped them. She wasn’t gentle with them, either. She knew how to call out people’s faults—she wasn’t afraid of doing it. If someone had to hear the truth, to be brought back to reality, she was the one who did it. Doyun soon became the voice of wisdom, of altruism and of reason. And while the Solarians admired her father for being kind, they also admired her, for she made an excellent advisor.

Sahn, the spirits of earth, was impressed. They had always been fascinated with human nature, unlike Sooht and Soo, whose interest only began when they spotted Hwayoung and Hosoo. But seeing Doyun made Sahn realize that humans are much more capable than they’d first thought. They were capable of living in harmony with nature, of creating an entire civilization without hurting a single tree or throwing dirt over a small pond.

Sahn knew what they had to do. They visited Doyun in the middle of the night, where she had been sleeping in her tent in Alder—her home. And they shared their ability to wield earth—an element of wisdom, of groundedness, of reason. Doyun woke up the next day with a clear mind. She became the first earth medium amidst the Solarians.

You approach her in your imagination, reaching out to her, though the outline of her body is fuzzy and backlit by a shining white light.

“An old soul, huh?” you tell her.

She grins. “I guess.” She cocks her head when she takes in your disheveled state. “How are you holding up?”

“Me?” You shrug, though you still feel so damn empty inside. “I’m fine. Just a little tired. But we’ve been looking over the training of the new soldiers, so I guess that’s warranted. There’s just so many of them.”

“How’s Maj—Lieutenant Ki?” she asks.

“She’s great,” you say, “but she’ll never be like you.”

“Never be like me, huh?” Doyun snorts. “Well, she shouldn’t try to be someone she isn’t, anyway. Face it, Y/N. No one will ever be like me—not even Hongji.”

“But that’s the thing, Doyun! No one will ever be like you, so how am I supposed to deal with you being gone?”

Her gaze softens. “Am I really gone?”

“You’re dead, Doyun. I’ll never see you again. I don’t even remember the last words I spoke to you. All I remember is that stupid thing we said. That we’ll have years of existence ahead of us, that we’ll never know what’ll happen in the future… If we’ll become legends.”

“I guess we were wrong,” she answers. “If it helps, I don’t remember my last words to you, either. There. We’re even.”

“But it’s not just about us being wrong,” you say. “It’s about… I-I… I don’t know what it’s about! I’m just sad, Doyun. I miss you. I want you to come back. I want to see you again.”

“Aren’t you seeing me now?”

“Well, yes, but it’s different.”

“How?”

“You’re not… you’re not real.”

Doyun gasps, placing an offended hand on her chest. “Flaming hell, Y/N! Just because I’m dead doesn’t mean a figment of me in your imagination can’t be real! I’m as real as ever,” she says. “See?” She reaches out to you, her hand grazing your own. And you gasp as you can feel her. Your hand doesn’t go right through. She’s warm, her hands are rough, calloused, but that makes her more real than ever. “You can visit me anytime you want,” she says. “I’m not gone. I’m in your head.” She grins. “Creepy, isn’t it?”

“For Sooht’s sake,” you say, shaking your head. “You’re so unsentimental.”

“I embrace it,” she answers. “But since we’re already here, can you do me a huge favor?” she asks.

“Of course!” you say, though it comes out desperately. “Of course I will, Doyun.”

“Tell Yoongi that I’m sorry,” she says. “Just let him know that I should’ve finished what I’ve started. I suppose I’ve accidentally left him hanging again.”

You have no idea what she means. But before you can even ask, she begins to step away.

“I think I hear Minhee calling my name,” she says. “I’m going to leave, all right?”

“Wai—” The words die in your throat. You nod. Because you know she’ll be back. You can visit her again—anytime you want, just as she said. “I’ll talk to you later,” you say.

“Of course,” she answers.

And when you finally open your eyes, for the first time in a long while, you feel full.

It is the last day of Circa Zircon. One circa has gone by in a blink of an eye. You still can’t believe that’s how long Doyun’s been gone. It feels like it was just yesterday when her burial had taken place, but it also feels like years ago, the last time you saw her in person.

You recall the last winter day you spent in Alder. You had been with the General, sitting together in the cold of the night, confessing that you have nothing to lose. So much has changed. Now, you have everything to lose. Does this make you weak? All those people you’ve come to care for, all those soldiers who you know the names of… If you lose them as you’ve lost Doyun, you’re unsure of how you could cope.

Every time you miss her, you visit her in your mind. She’s always there, waiting to talk to you, to help you accept. In a weird way, you’ve taken Nayoon’s advice. You haven’t been keeping it inside at all; words come out so easily with Doyun, and she listens, reacts, tells you what you need to hear, often without sugar-coating it.

You visit her grave today after dinner, settling down on the wet grass and staring at the mound. You talk to her as if she’s really there.

“I still haven’t been able to tell the General,” you say. “It’s just been hectic around here. Shifts of positions, new soldiers, new battle plans… I don’t really get to see him much.”

You imagine that she answers: “You haven’t been able to? Or have you been avoiding him?”

“Me?” you laugh. “I haven’t been…”

Oh, yes you have. When meetings are over, you rush out before he can get a chance to call for you. When he’s on cooking duty, you meticulously steer clear of the cooking tent. Even when you’re walking around the camp, you’re extremely cognizant of your surroundings, for what if he jumps out from nowhere and tries to talk to you?

“I wonder why,” Doyun muses. “I sincerely wonder why.”

You sigh. “Me too.”

You wait for Doyun to respond, but she doesn’t; instead, you hear a completely new voice coming from behind you.

“You look better these days.”

It’s the General. Strangely, you knew he would come. Maybe that’s why you came here. To finally stop this stupid cycle of avoiding him, though it’s still unclear to you why it began in the first place.

“Do I?” you say as he settles down next to you on the grass.

“You seem happier.”

“I think I feel that way too,” you say. You sigh, leaning back and closing your eyes. “I think I’m on my way to accepting it.”

“Accepting it…” he echoes.

“I’m sorry,” you tell him, looking over at the man sitting next to you, cross-legged. “I never got to thank you… for consoling me…”

“I only sat next to you,” he says. “I didn’t do much.”

“You told me to be gentle with myself,” you say. “I’ve been trying. But I also promised you that I’d be strong in the face of disaster. I’ve been trying to keep it too.”

“Have you?”

“She told me to tell you she’s sorry.”

Yoongi freezes.

How in the hell did she tell you that? Was it before she died?

“She told me to let you know that she should’ve finished what she started,” you say. “She says she’s sorry that she left you hanging again. She said it was an accident.”

He stares.

She’s talking about the letter to him. Right? What else could she be talking about? But how do you know about the letter? Or do you know? And how did Doyun tell you?

He suddenly feels a swell of emotions in his chest, and the memories begin to flood back to him—the good and bad ones alike.

“Come on, say it!” she’d said with a wide grin and sparkling eyes. “Say it or I think I’m going to lose my patience!”

He was never one to be so sure of his words before, but these rang inside of him like a large, golden bell—the truth. Genuine honesty. “Doyun, I… I want you to be my lieutenant.”

She’d laughed in happiness. “Look how far we’ve come, Yoongi. Just look. We’ll be amazing together. I’m excited. Aren’t you?”

There also had been moments where he wanted to shrink away because she’d made him feel so small.

“You,” she’d screamed, poking into his chest with her index finger. “You are a fucking idiot! You fucking disgrace! You monster!” She’d hit him, punched him that day, but she wasn’t mean enough to leave bruises. Just enough to leave him feeling sad, leave him feeling horrible. “You killed her! It was fucking you!”

He couldn’t even say anything. Because it was true. He made a mistake; he’d made so many mistakes. He didn’t know that they’d slay an entire unit in the third sector. He didn’t know she wouldn’t come back…

“I wish you never asked me to become your stupid fucking lieutenant! You kill everyone around you. Monster!”

This had also been the first time she’d talked to him in weeks after the death of her girlfriend. The first few things she’d said to him. He felt like he was burning alive, like her words were scorching him raw.

When her anger calmed down, she became quieter. She’d whispered—and Yoongi could never forget this—she’d said: “I want to resign. I can’t stand working for you anymore.”

He didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know what to say. So he dropped to his knees, and he begged her to stay. He must’ve looked pathetic. She was crying when he’d finished. Tears of anger? Of sadness? Both? He still doesn’t know. She’d left him in his tent after that, but he knew inside that she wasn’t going to resign. She couldn’t. Because if she did, where would she go?

But there were good times too. Especially in their younger days. He still remembers the first time they’d met.

“No, no! You’re doing it all wrong, stupid,” she’d chastised him. “Be gentle with it. Pull the leaves gently. You’re not yanking Darlaean hair; you’re trying to pull up a carrot.”

They were both so young then. He wanted to learn more about being an earth medium—a facet of himself that his mother forbade him to explore. And she was there, willing to teach him, even though she was scary and sometimes could be a little brash with her words.

When he first met her, she didn’t know he was General Min’s son. She wouldn’t have dared call him stupid if she’d known. But they laughed about it years later.

“You’re anything but stupid,” Doyun had told him. “Well, at least now you aren’t,” she’d said. “The way you were yanking those carrots up though, that was pretty idiotic. But it’s okay, Yoongi. You’ve learned.”

He also remembers the great potato incident.

“Hey, Yoongi!”

“D-Doyun!” She’d always been taller than he was. A lot more intimidating, too.

“Can you do me a small favor?”

But maybe he really was an idiot, because he got caught stealing extra rations for other people twice in a row. He could just imagine the look of disappointment on Doyun’s face. Yet she’d surprised him, stealing extra rations herself and bringing them to him. He had been so scared of her then.

“This wasn’t so hard,” she’d said, throwing him a couple of warm potatoes. “Eat up, Yoongi.” She’d spared him a small glance before leaving him in his tent, alone, with a couple of potatoes in his arms.

Then there were the times they discussed you.

“I’m sorry I doubted you, Doyun.” Never in a thousand years did he think she would stay up the whole night looking for your missing file—to prove your innocence.

“What did I tell you? I’m rarely ever wrong.”

“I trust her,” she’d said after they’d interrogated you. “Do you?”

“Of course I do.”

He only began trusting you because of her.

“I’m not going to beg for forgiveness,” she’d told him a week after her first and last outburst ever directed towards him. “Not as you did, anyway. But I want you to know that I’m sorry. I was angry. I… said some things that I regret. But I should’ve known. I don’t work for you, Yoongi. Never have. I work with you.”

Work with him. Come to think of it, they’d always been in tandem. They’d always seen eye-to-eye, for she often said everything he was thinking. He would never have to tell her to bring her reports in, she’d never have to ask for him to sign them; it was like they read each other’s minds. And in moments of disagreement—such as the instance of you—they always came together in the end. Usually, Doyun was the one who was right.

He doesn’t realize he’d been crying until you tell him so. He’d also forgotten that you were there, next to him. His breath hitches when he hears your voice.

“Oh, sir, you’re crying.”

It takes a moment for him to answer. For Sooht’s sake, he forgot how hard it is to speak when crying.

“I-I’m sorry,” he wheezes. “I…”

“It’s okay,” you say, voice soft. “You’re grieving.”

He wonders why it’s happening now, in front of you, after all those weeks. Maybe he was too busy with his work that he never got the time to think that she was really gone. Maybe he’s been suppressing it. Maybe he’s being vulnerable now. Maybe it was because you delivered her apology.

But Doyun didn’t have to apologize. She’d already done enough when she was alive. She didn’t owe him a finished letter. She didn’t owe him anything.

In fact, he was the one who owed her everything. She accepted him when no one else did. She loved him when his mother forgot to. She talked to him when Yoonsoo ignored him. She helped him, she reassured him. She’s the reason that he’s here today, beloved by the nation, when he’s really a fool and she deserves more of the credit.

He cries harder. They’re pathetic tears. He wonders what you think of him. You must find him pitiful. Why is he always so weak around you? It disgusts him.

You let him cry, let him express his emotions. But you don’t leave him completely unattended. Your hand reaches out, and you place it on his arm. He shifts closer to you. It’s a good sign.

You experience the first few hours of the new year with him. You really meant it when you told him, two circas ago, that you’ll follow him until you die. That you could never find him pitiful.

You stare across at Doyun’s grave, and you can see her smiling. “Thank you,” she whispers. “Thank you for telling him.”

“You’re welcome,” you whisper back.

⧖⧗Circa Garnet & More⧗⧖

This is your life now.

After a while, the dull aching in your chest goes away. You find yourself talking less and less to Doyun; only because she seems so happy now, always telling you about Minhee and what new thing they tried that day. You don’t want to bother her too much. She seems content. Satisfied.

As the cold snow sheds itself from the Alderian forest and spring begins to prepare itself to sprout, you begin to think that yes, maybe Doyun deserves the rest.

As warm spring morphs into a hot summer, you ask the General to grow white pansies around Doyun’s grave. They look beautiful, and they match Minhee’s grave as well.

As the leaves begin to redden and the weather grows chillier, you become accustomed to her absence. You no longer find yourself thinking of her every day, every hour, every minute, every second. When you miss her, you miss her, but there are more times than not when you just simply feel… fine.

Is this the acceptance that Nayoon told you about?

By the time winter rolls around again, you’ve come back. The new soldiers had known you as the quiet, workaholic officer, which hadn’t really been the real you. Now, you’re laughing again, staying after the officer meetings to have lunch with your friends. You can smile without feeling guilty; you can sleep without being haunted by the thoughts of her.

You take up training again, and it helps, moving your body, real physical exertion, being able to wield fire in so many versatile ways. You train with Nayoon, who tells you that you’re improving quickly. She’s an excellent third sector captain, easily handling the stress and pressure of being the officer of the most dangerous sector. She even works well with Major Chu and Captain Yoo, but then again, you haven’t ever seen her not get along with others.

Lieutenant Ki is quieter, a lot calmer than Doyun ever was. She’s soft-spoken yet opinionated, and she tries hard to build a stronger bond with the General. They were out of sync for circas, never having worked so closely together. There were small arguments here and there and even more disagreements. Officer meetings would stretch on for hours and hours… But you think they trust each other now. People genuinely love Suhyun—the Flare Shot—and they have absolutely no problem accepting her new position.

Still, there are often people at Doyun’s grave, paying their respects. You nod to them whenever you arrive as you frequent there yourself.

In the public’s eye, you are the bright officer with boundless ideas. But away from their gaze, away from their admiring looks, you are you. You cry sometimes while going to sleep. Some days are harder than others, but generally, you’re okay now.

A year passes by so quickly. Just like that.

Visiting Doyun’s grave, training along with the soldiers, honing your crafts, spending time in the medical tent, picking up some valuable skills from Joon, riding through Alder’s forest on the back of Heli, writing battle plans in the dead of the night, feeling warmth, feeling something foreign growing in your chest when you speak with the General.

It’s all so normal now.

This, this is your life.

Death. Rebirth. Fighting on. Survival.

Watching people leave you, watching new ones take their place. Remembering, feeling nostalgic, crying.

It’s become a cycle.

It’s normal.

It’s acceptance.

⨰ previous | series m.list | next

⨰ a/n: this chapter was very taxing to write. death is something that is difficult to deal with in real life, which also makes it difficult to portray in writing. but i'm pretty satisfied with the outcome. i did keep my promise! you'll be seeing more of doyun after all :)

please consider telling me your thoughts with a comment, an ask or a reblog :) i love hearing readers' impressions/rambles/predictions! if you want to join the taglist, send in a private message, ask, reply to this post or reblog with your request!

58 notes · View notes

andrewmoocow · 2 years

Text

Little Homeworld Life chapter 12: Samhain Night (originally posted on October 31, 2022)

AN: Boys and girls of every age, wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see, this our town of Samhain Night. Wait, that can't be right! Well, that's the point! Since according to the Crewniverse, holidays as we know them like Halloween and Christmas don't exist in Steven Universe, I might as well produce my own versions of them that are basically the same. Anyways, let's gather 'round, pull up a chair, share some candy and start exchanging some spooky parody stories in the vein of the earliest Treehouse of Horror specials from The Simpsons. Now please be warned that some of these can get pretty dark, so viewer discretion is advised. Okay? Okay. Now then, let the Samhain Night horror begin!

Synopsis: The Gems share spooky stories and candy on Samhain Night.

Cast:

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl, Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl, Volleyball

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Laz, Zuli

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball, Navy

Christine Pedi as Holly Blue Agate

Casey Lee Williams as Cat's Eye

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Gal Gadot as Desert Glass

Maddie Ziegler as Serpentine

Courtenary Taylor as Beryl

Willa Holland as Albite

Hayley Kiyoko as Morganite

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Reagan Gomez-Preston as Jenny, Kiki

Brian Posehn as Sour Cream

Lamar Abrams as Buck Dewey

Susan Egan as Rose Quartz

Jackie Buscarino as Vidalia

Featuring Sarah Jessica Parker as Dumortierite

Cavetown as Diaspore

Bruce Campbell as Lord Ashton

Sam Raimi as Henry the Crimson

With Jonathan Majors as Father Black

And Alex Brightman as Zapupu/Onion

"OMG, Jasper, I love your costume!" White Topaz squealed as she gawked at Jasper's purple bodysuit and white cape with shoulder pads, topped off with a matching turban that had a dark purple dome at the top. "I think it really fits you!"

"Thanks, Peridot helped me make it." Jasper replied as she looked at White Topaz's red bodysuit with crab-like claws and a large scorpion tail at the back. "How did you get the scorpion tail, honey?"

"Had to get a little help putting this together." White Topaz answered. "Look, I can even make it move!" She pulled on a string to make it pivot up and down.

Tonight was Samhain Night, the spookiest time of the year when people and Gems alike dress up in costumes and travel around to collect candy. The citizens of Little Homeworld were no different in getting into the Samhain spirit as they threw a big party to celebrate the occasion.

"So then I said, "OBJECTION!", and the guy just responded by taking a sip of coffee before giving his rebuttal!" Teal Zircon, who had her hair slicked back and a blue suit with a golden pin on her chest, said to Desert Glass, who was dressed as a chainsaw-wielding cheerleader with a plastic head hanging from her waist.

"How's my phone booth coming along?" Serpentine asked Nephrite and Albite. Serpentine was wearing a brown pinstripe suit and carried around a strange torch-like device in her hand. Nephrite was dressed in standard pilot gear with a duck bill over her lips, and Albite had on a straw hat, a red vest, jean shorts, and sandals. The two of them were constructing a navy-blue phone box for Serpentine to complete her costume with.

"Coming along quite nicely, Serpentine." Nephrite answered while putting the finishing touches. "It may not be bigger on the inside like you wanted, but I think we did our best regardless."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's take a picture!" Albite declared as she pulled out a camera to snap photos of Serpentine posing with the box.

"Check it out, Demantoid; we're matching!" Beryl cheered as she compared his colorful shooting star sweater to Demantoid's pine tree cap and puffy vest. "Isn't that cool?!"

"I fail to see how we match." Demantoid replied bluntly as Pyrope towered beside her in a red biker jacket, black leggings with white boots, orange gloves with a metal bracelet, and her hair in a much shorter style. Just then, the Warp Pad started humming, and the Crystal Gems disembarked with their own costumes.

"Good evening, everyone!" Pearl greeted her students while dressed as an Amazon warrior in red and blue armor. "Is everyone having fun on Samhain Night?"

"I don't get it!" Black Rutile, dressed in a green cape over a metal suit of armor, declared. "What's the point of all the pumpkin carving and candy anyways? And don't give me any garbage excuses about how it brings us all together or something!"

"From what I've heard, this is supposed to be the end of the harvest season." Holly Blue replied while carving a pumpkin in a drill sergeant's uniform. "Hey, anyone seen Cat anywhere?"

"Last I checked, she was on the prowl for something." Aquamarine, who was wearing a strapless white dress and a matching bolero over it while her hair was styled into an off-center ponytail, responded. Just then, Cat's Eye leaped to the ground while dressed in a skin-tight catsuit with a hood with tiny cat ears attached to it.

"Oh, did someone call for me?" Cat's Eye asked while reaching into the pockets of her suit and grabbing some chocolates to eat. "I was just hunting for some candy, no big."

"Hey, speaking of candy, we got tons of it to share with everyone!" Amethyst exclaimed as she dumped out a giant pile of candy from a bag she kept in her gem, tucked away beneath her red and blue spiderweb-patterned suit. "And in addition, who wants to start telling spooky stories?!"

"Ooh, me, me!" various Gems began cheering as they asked to share their own stories for the night.

"Okay, one at a time, everyone." The fortune teller-dressed Garnet laughed warmly. "Now then, who wants to go first?"

"Hey, I got a story I'm sure no one has ever heard before!" Amethyst proclaimed. "Anyone want to know how I first joined the Crystal Gems?"

"We all know that, Amethyst." Bismuth replied, dressed in a flashy red and yellow costume with an X belt and red boots. "Rose found you in a Kindergarten one day and took you in, easy as that."

"You're right, Bismuth, but I'm not sure if we know the whole story." Lapis, wearing a blue top, brown skirt, black leggings, and brown fur-lined boots with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, pointed out as they gathered around the pile of candy.

"Yes, please tell us!" Peridot agreed as she sat down in her ratty tan-colored robes and pointy eyes hanging off her hair.

Extraterrestrials

Many years ago, long after the Rebellion had ended and Homeworld abandoned Earth, the Crystal Gems were left to defend Earth's inhabitants with their former brethren now forced off the planet. However, there was still the problem of their fellow rebels being converted into mutated beasts by the Diamonds' last strike upon the Crystal Gems. Since then, they dedicated themselves to containing the corrupted Gems and hoping they could find a way to save their friends from their fate.

One day, Rose Quartz ventured into a Kindergarten in search of any corrupted Gems to subdue. With the Rebellion over, the canyon was deathly quiet, almost like a graveyard or something. "Okay, Rose, just gotta get in, find some corrupted Gems, and get out." She said to herself. "Easy as that, right?"

Unfortunately for Rose, her mission wouldn't be so easy. Something let out a feral snarl that made Rose flinch in surprise before she dashed towards a hole in the canyon's walls to hide in. Just then, a corrupted Gem with a strange skeletal, biomechanical body, a blade-tipped tail, and an elongated head stalked through the Kindergarten in search of someone to make its prey. The Gem was bronze-colored and had a diaspore embedded in its forehead, indicating to Rose who the monster once was.

"Wait, is that Diaspore?" Rose gasped quietly upon recognizing the corrupted Gem outside. "Oh, that poor thing. She must be so scared and confused." Before Rose could go out and confront her former subordinate, she felt something tugging on the bottom of her dress, and she looked down to discover a little purple Gem trying to keep her from leaving. "Oh, hello, little Amethyst. Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to save you!" Amethyst whispered. "That thing has been going around snatching up Gems that came out late like me and eating them! And I think I might be next, so don't give me away!"

"Came out late?" Rose asked. "Did you not emerge on time like all the other Amethysts made here?"

"Yeah, I think there might've been a war I missed out on, or something." Amethyst replied. "Ever since I came out, I've just been hanging out here by myself, playing with all the rocks I can find until that thing showed up."

"You poor thing!" Rose cried as she scooped Amethyst up in her fair-skinned arms and hugged her tightly. "You must've been so lonely all this time! Don't you worry, I have some friends who will welcome you when I bring you home."

"You really mean it?" Amethyst asked innocently.

"I most certainly do." Rose giggled as she tapped Amethyst's little nose before flinging the tiny purple Gem on her back. "Come on, let's get out of here before Diaspore finds us."

"Is that what it's called?" Amethyst asked as Rose began checking for the Gem she once knew as Diaspore to leave. "I've just been calling it the alien."

"That's a funny name." Rose chuckled at the nickname as Diaspore slowly crept away, giving the two Gems enough time to leave the hole and begin returning to the Warp Pad. "This is called a Warp Pad, Amethyst. Gems can use it to get anywhere in an instant."

"You mean anywhere, anywhere?" Amethyst asked as she admired the Warp Pad before her. "Even to the further corners of the universe?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot someday." Rose said when she looked up to discover the Gem monster looming over them. "Uh, Amethyst!"

"What, something on my face?" Amethyst asked before she looked up to discover Diaspore as well. "Aw farts, it got us." Diaspore then let out a feral roar as it snatched up Amethyst and prepared to rip out her gem with its claws. Rose wouldn't stand for an innocent Gem having her life end so soon, so she retaliated by tossing her shield at Diaspore, knocking it out, and making it drop Amethyst into her arms.

"This site isn't safe; we need to run!" Rose yelled as she ran off with Amethyst in her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Only mildly traumatized, if that's what you're asking." Amethyst replied casually, even though she was nearly Diaspore's dinner. "Where are we gonna go now?"

"Any place far away from that thing!" Rose yelled in fright as the corrupted Gem formerly known as Diaspore got back up and charged at her and Amethyst. "By the way, I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Rose Quartz."

"Nice to meet you." Amethyst greeted Rose. "Anyways, keep running!" And run they did. Rose and Amethyst seemed to have covered the entire Kindergarten to try and escape from Diaspore, but unfortunately, the corrupted Gem seemed to follow them no matter what they did. All the while, the two were followed by this mysterious figure with stringy hair and a blue kimono that seemed to do nothing to stop either party.

"That thing is relentless." Rose panted as she and Amethyst found one last safe place to hide from Diaspore. "I don't think we can keep running for long. It seems we have no other choice but to fight it."

"I thought you'd never ask!" Amethyst said while raising her fists, eager to fight Diaspore before Rose put them down.

"No, Amethyst, it's too dangerous for you to go out there." Rose objected in a stern yet motherly fashion. "You already told me how it's hungry for defective Gems, and I'm not ready to let someone die so disgracefully!"

"But I can still help! Just let me out, and I'll give 'em what for!" Amethyst responded desperately, but Rose didn't answer before she marched out to face Diaspore. "Wait!"

"Diaspore, I know you're in there!" Rose called out to her former soldier. "It's me, Rose Quartz! I'm sorry that I couldn't save you, but I didn't have enough time to gather everyone up! If you'd please stand down and let me talk, I'm sure we can make amends."

"Roooose." Diaspore snarled hatefully at Rose. "ROOOOSE!" Filled with anger at being left behind by her fearless leader, Diaspore pounced on her and let out a feral shriek, revealing a pharyngeal jaw inside her mouth to threaten her with.

"Rose, look out!" Amethyst cried from afar as Diaspore prepared to tear Rose's gem from her belly and turn it into its snack. Though Rose ordered Amethyst to stay put out of concern for her safety, Amethyst refused to watch while this beast killed the Gem who had treated her like a daughter. Reaching for her own gem, Amethyst suddenly pulled out a whip and gazed in awe at her weapon before rushing into battle. "Hey!"

"Hm?" Diaspore muttered as she confusedly looked at Amethyst. Rose gasped in alarm as she discovered Amethyst deliberately disobeying her commands to save someone she barely knew.

"Get away from her, you bitch!" Amethyst screamed angrily as she tried to throw her whip at Diaspore's neck and strangle her with it.

"Amethyst, what are you doing?" Rose asked as she took the opportunity to escape from Diaspore's grasp by rolling away from her.

"Saving you, that's what!" Amethyst replied as she wrapped her whip even tighter around Diaspore's neck. "You did the same to me!" With a final shriek, Diaspore poofed in a cloud of smoke from being strangled by Amethyst, leaving only her gem to be collected by Rose. "You're welcome."

"Oh, Amethyst, I can't thank you enough for saving me from her." Rose sighed in relief before sending Diaspore's gem away. "I think Garnet and Pearl would love having you around. You still want me to take you away from here?"

"Sure, I'd like that." Amethyst blushed at the offer before Rose took her tiny, purple hand and walked her back to the Warp Pad. And the rest, as they would say, was history.

"And that was the story of how I met Rose!" Amethyst concluded her tale. "I felt like telling this story to show everyone that despite all the messed up and shady stuff she did, Rose still cared for others."

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" a bronze-colored Gem wearing glasses and dressed in a white lab coat with a light blue undershirt and brown pants asked as she walked over to join everyone gathered around the candy pile, much to everyone's surprise.

"Oh, hey Diaspore, I was just talking about how I first met Rose." Amethyst said. "No hard feelings about being choked out?"

"Water under the bridge!" Diaspore chuckled before she looked around at the Gems staring at her in surprise. "What?"

"Were you always there and we just never noticed you until now?" Laz asked. She was wearing a blue coat with white fur lining, a darker colored shawl, and a matching Cossack hat to top it off, making her contrast Zuli's costume of a soft purple tank top with a blue swirl on her chest, a khaki skirt and hiking boots, and purple legwarmers over the boots.

"Why did you choose now to show up?" Zuli added just as quizzically.

"Well, I found the story to be quite adorable." Pyrope stated.

"Am I the only one not impressed with that story?" Black Rutile complained with a lollipop in her mouth. "It just sounds like you ripped off a movie or something. And what about that girl with the long hair?"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Emerald added, just as confused. She wore a blue bodysuit with yellow and white body armor over her torso.

"Strange, I don't think I remember that part." Amethyst pondered as she felt a sudden chill up her spine, followed by the figure from her story looming behind her. When Amethyst turned around, however, the figure had vanished. "Uh, why don't we have someone else share a story?"

"I'll go!" Pearl exclaimed. "Now, to set the scene, if I had to describe my tale in one word, it would be 'groovy'."

Pearl of Darkness

"I'm being serious here; you need these refrigerators!" Jasper yelled at a departing customer of S-Hop as they were leaving. "Ugh, another one lost." She groaned. "Pearl!"

"Yes, Miss Jasper?" S-Hop salesclerk Pearl Williams asked her superior before she was tossed the keys to the store.

"You're locking up tonight, Pearl." Jasper said while putting on a jacket and preparing to leave. "And one more thing, don't go near the books section. I hear it might be haunted. Some stock we got recently might be the cause of that."

"Oh, I'm sure it's all just superstitious nonsense, Jasper." Pearl laughed smugly. "In fact, I'll go check on my way out to prove you wrong!"

"Well, don't come crying to me if you suddenly disappear or become surrounded by monsters." Jasper responded. "Have a good night!"

Pearl Williams lived a simple life as a blue-collar employee of S-Hop devoted to doing her job perfectly. She did everything her bosses told her to the letter and always carried an air of stoic professionalism as well. However, it was this night when she decided to inspect the store's books section that would change everything.

"Hmph, haunted book, I'll show them." Pearl arrogantly scoffed to herself as she marched over to check out the mysterious stock haunting the store. But if she would have to contend with supernatural forces, Pearl armed herself with a twelve-gauge double-barreled shotgun from the weapons department. As she slowly inspected each of the books, Pearl thought she had seen a ghost of some kind with long, stringy hair lurking about. But it suddenly disappeared before she could get any answers about who the spirit was. "Oh, you're just seeing things, Pearl."

Finally, Pearl walked over to the horror section of the books and found exactly what was causing these rumors. Looking through each of the horror novels, she discovered one of them that stood out as one she recognized a little too much.

"No, the Necronomicon?!" she gasped as she began getting flashbacks. She remembered how the mysterious book of the dead once hijacked a trip she took with some friends to the mountains as a teenager, and how she had to chop off her hand with a chainsaw to keep herself from getting possessed by the demons the book unleashed. "I thought I destroyed this thing ages ago! How did it wind up here?"

"Why don't you read it and find out?" a strange voice whispered beckoningly to Pearl before the Necronomicon opened by itself and found an incantation for its holder to read.

"Uh, Tar-tra Kanda-Estra, Hudsucker Proxy – Kanda?" Pearl read the incantation confusedly. After a few seconds of dead silence convinced Pearl that this might be a trick, a rift suddenly opened in front of her and began sucking her in. "Okay, I was wrong; this place is haunted!" Pearl cried as she tried to save herself. "Someone save me!" Unfortunately for Pearl, no one could help her escape from wherever, or rather whenever, she would be flung to by the Necronomicon, which was sucked in with her.

Moments later, Pearl woke up to a blue sky and a bright sun above her, relieving her that she wasn't sent to the bowels of hell by her curiosity. But what really baffled her were the men on horseback surrounding her. "Um, hello there, sirs. Could you tell me where I am? The last thing I remember was reading from that scary book and landing here."

"Where are you, lass?" one of the men said as a priest confiscated Pearl's weapons. "Welcome to the 14th century! And you might be the hero prophesized to save us from the forces of darkness!"

"Hero? I think you got it all wrong. I'm just an average blue-collar working girl trapped in the past." Pearl said as she was carried away by the horse riders and got an explanation of what she had just heard.

"You see, milady, legend has it that an everyday hero shall fall from the heavens and use the most unorthodox weapons to fight back against the beasts known as the Skeletites and save our land from the evil armies of darkness." The lead horseman explained to Pearl as they got closer to a large castle in the distance. "Perhaps in exchange for your services, our lord Ashton shall lend his assistance in bringing you back to your realm."

"Oh, I would find that most divine, sir!" Pearl exclaimed in delight while she was let off the horse and shown to the castle, where a king with shaggy black hair and a missing hand not unlike Pearl's own awaited her. "Hello there, sir, my name is Pearl," Pearl introduced herself with a curtsy. "And I have been brought here from afar to help your kingdom stop the Skeletite threat."

"About time too!" Lord Ashton exclaimed in relief. "We were in the middle of a war with Henry the Crimson when these creatures suddenly appeared and killed almost everyone! Coincidentally, they appeared around the same time you might've shown up."

"Speaking of which, I was brought here by a book called the Necronomicon, and I think it came with me, but now I can't seem to find it." Pearl explained, causing the king to contemplate her statement for a bit.

"Well, if you need to find this Necronomicon, I suggest you go look for the graveyard in the haunted forest." Lord Ashton revealed. "Once you find the book, speak the phrase Klaatu Barada Nikto to open a way back to your time. Got it? Good." He snapped his fingers, allowing Pearl to regain her chainsaw and shotgun. "In the meantime, we should be expecting some Skeletites coming to raid our castle by sundown, so best be armed. And also, we already had someone prepare you something to replace your hand with."

A blacksmith entered the scene with a mechanical prosthetic hand for Pearl to equip, and she was pleased to have two working hands again. "Groovy."

For the remainder of Pearl's stay in the 14th century, she spent her days fighting off the malicious Skeletites and researching ways to find a way home to the 21st century. Eventually, she would learn where the graveyard where the Necronomicon, and thus her ticket out of Lord Ashton's kingdom, was located. It was in the far reaches of the land where no soul dared to tread, but Pearl took that as a challenge and set out for the graveyard.

As Pearl trudged through the graveyard, she once again felt like something was watching her. Perhaps the same stringy-haired girl that haunted her back in S-Hop. Once again, however, the girl disappeared once Pearl turned around.

"I swear, Pearl, you must be seeing things again." Pearl murmured to herself as she continued her quest. "Guess that's what happens when you're stuck in the past for what feels like ages now." Just then, she heard something rustling in the woods surrounding her. "Who's there? Come on out!" she yelled while raising her sawed-off shotgun. "This is my boomstick, and I know how to use it!"

As if accepting Pearl's challenge, a large Skeletite emerged from the trees and let out a nasty roar. True to their name, the Skeletites were large, skeletal-like creatures resembling the fossils of prehistoric animals, and the one Pearl faced wouldn't look out of place in a pack of woolly mammoths. The Skeletite would soon be joined by its brethren, one resembling a ground sloth and the other looking like a saber-toothed tiger, all of them ready to attack Pearl.

"I don't care what you throw at me, I'm getting that book!" Pearl yelled as she cut off the mammoth Skeletite's tusk with her chainsaw before running for shelter, even with the Skeletites continuing to pursue her. Thankfully, Pearl was able to hide away in an abandoned windmill, where she hoped the monsters would forget about her and move on.

"Oh, as if things can't get any more hectic!" Pearl sighed in exhaustion as she leaned against a mirror in the windmill. However, the mirror wasn't propped up against the wall and fell to the ground before breaking into pieces. Pearl yelped in pain as she fell on her back on the glass shards. "Ouch, ouchie, ow! That stings!" Pearl got up, and the pieces began sliding off her, while she picked up a larger piece to contemplate. "I wonder what will happen next?"

As Pearl walked away, she got her answer in the form of numerous smaller Pearls climbing out of the mirror pieces and gathering around her with devilish giggles. "Hey, big lady, over here!" one of the Mini Pearls yelled with a wicked grin. "Think fast!"

"Who said that?" Pearl asked when she looked down at all the Mini Pearls climbing up her body while continuing their mischievous laughter. "Okay, I think I've officially gone insane!"

"How's this for insane?" a Mini Pearl asked before she and her buddies picked up a large sledgehammer to slam Pearl in the knees with, causing her to fall over while yelling in pain. "TIMBER!"

"AAAAAAH!" Pearl screamed in both pain and terror as she nearly landed headfirst into the fireplace behind her. As the Mini Pearls began laughing at her expense and high-fiving each other, Pearl got back up and cracked her neck before frowning angrily at them. "Okay, you little miscreants, you want a fight? You got one!"

"What are you gonna do, stomp all over us?" one of the Mini Pearls dared with an evil grin, only to quickly eat her words before Pearl tried doing precisely that. As the Mini Pearl tried running for her life, the bigger Pearl started singing.

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down!" Pearl tauntingly sang while pursuing the Mini Pearl. However, the Mini Pearl thought quickly on her feet and, just as she was about to get crushed by Pearl's boot, grabbed a nearby nail to replace herself with. "London Bridge is falling d-OW!"

"My fair lady, ha!" four Mini Pearls finished the nursery rhyme in a mocking tone. Pearl began wincing in pain as she tried to slowly remove the nail without hurting herself, but that was easier said than done with her obnoxious smaller duplicates running amok and causing more chaos.

"I think I've just about had enough of you brats." Pearl growled as she got up and tried reaching for her boomstick. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't there. "Oh dear, you didn't!" she cried. "Let me guess, you're right behind me, ready to shoot me with my gun, huh?"

"Actually, no." another Mini Pearl answered, to Pearl's relief. "We're right below you." Pearl then looked down and discovered that the Mini Pearls had taken control of her gun. And it was aimed straight at her privates. "Surprise!"

"Classy." Pearl grimaced in disgust before she dodged the first shot and immediately ran out of the windmill, her escape complicated by the limp gained from removing the nail from her foot. The Mini Pearls stampeded out of the windmill in hot pursuit, plotting to continue their reign of mischief, while Pearl refused to give up on the Necronomicon, even when the Skeletites soon joined the Mini Pearls.

"Come on, just a little closer!" Pearl muttered as she kept fighting off Skeletites and Mini Pearls with her chainsaw, limping ever so closer to the graveyard where the book of the dead was sure to be found. But to her surprise, there was not one, not two, but three Necronomicons awaiting her in the graveyard. "Three of them?! Are you kidding me?!"

As the Skeletites and the Mini Pearls reached the graveyard, the forces of Lord Ashton arrived in the nick of time to hold them off. In addition, the armies of Henry the Crimson were there as well, having sided with Lord Ashton to stop the Skeletite menace.

"We'll handle everything from here; just read the book!" Lord Ashton urged Pearl.

"But which one?!" Henry the Crimson added hurriedly. "There's three of them!"

"I'm trying my best, okay?" Pearl exclaimed while two of the Necronomicons suddenly came to life. One flew around and tried to suck her in, while the other wanted to bite her. However, the third did nothing, implying to Pearl that it was the real book she was looking for. "Bingo!" Once she finally picked up the book, Pearl began to recite the incantation she needed to get back home. "Okay, hope I get this right. Klaatu Barada N-"

Suddenly, Pearl heard a gunshot ring out and swiftly dodged it, interrupting the chant as she saw the Mini Pearls gather before her. "Not so fast, Big Pearl." One of the Mini Pearls snickered. "We still got one last trick up our sleeves!" The Pearls then all gathered together and stood on top of each other to match Pearl's exact height, and then they suddenly merged together to form a replica of her. Only instead, this one was shamelessly evil. "Hey there, Good Pearl, my name's Evil Pearl!"

"So you're basically me, but evil?" Pearl pointed out the obvious.

"Bingo, you little goody two shoes!" Evil Pearl grinned. "Little goody two shoes, little goody two shoes!" Before Evil Pearl could go any longer, the regular Pearl took back her boomstick and fired at her counterpart's face, and snatched the Necronomicon before she began fleeing. "After her!" she commanded the Skeletites fighting Lord Ashton and Henry the Crimson's men.

The monsters gave chase, but Pearl was a far quicker thinker than the beasts realized. With the Necronomicon tucked underneath her arm, Pearl fired her boomstick at the Skeletites and tore them all down with her chainsaw. "Anyone else wants a piece of me?!"

"Just who do you think you are?!" Evil Pearl snarled. "I will swallow your soul!"

"Pearl Williams, housewares." Pearl responded coolly. "Come and get some." With a final charge, the two Pearls swung their chainsaws at each other in their epic clash. While Pearl came out with quite a few scars, eventually, she emerged victorious over her doppelganger and had her buried by the windmill, while the Skeletites were destroyed once and for all. With Evil Pearl slain, now she could finally return home.

"Good work, miss." Lord Ashton thanked Pearl for her heroics. "For your show of heroism in the face of total peril, we hereby award you with this potion made using ingredients in the Necronomicon." The priest who confiscated Pearl's weapons earlier presented Pearl with an elixir to drink. "In just a few sips, you shall fall into a deep slumber and reawaken in your own time!"

"But what about the incantation?" Pearl asked, wondering if her quest was all for nothing as she took the bottle. "Eh, I'll think of it later. Now, bottoms up!" A few chugs of the elixir later, Pearl was out cold for quite possibly the next couple of centuries, though whether she'd wake up home at last is unknown.

"The end." Pearl proclaimed. "Hail to the queen, baby!"

"So then, what happened?" Morganite, who tied her hair up into a chonmage and wore a white robe for her costume, asked. "Did she wake up back in her own time or even longer than that?"

"News flash, I don't care." Eyeball rolled her eyes. She was dressed in a lime green hoodie and a blue hard hat with an M on it. "But still, where did that strange girl come from?"

"What strange girl?" Navy, wearing a red pinstripe suit and a balaclava over her head with a cigarette in her mouth, asked curiously.

"I think it might be the same one from Amethyst's story." Squaridot analyzed, unaware that the same ghost was hovering over her. She was wearing a pair of flight goggles, a baggy white shirt, and tight black shorts while carrying around a stuffed corgi.

"Well, if we're done plagiarizing, then I have my own story to tell!" Black Rutile proudly declared, only to be interrupted by Garnet.

"I don't think we should worry too much." Garnet tried calming everyone down as Pearl looked around for the ghost. "Now, let's move on to my story. It's a standard horror set-up, a bunch of rowdy teenagers fighting for their lives against a seemingly unstoppable monster. But there's a twist." She started flickering a flashlight below her face. "THE MONSTER IS ME!"

Nightmare on Diamond Pond

It was a warm summer's night at Camp Diamond Pond. A group of rowdy teenagers were camping there for the evening and decided to pass the time by telling each other scary stories by the campfire.

"I got one." Sour Cream said. "It's about this freaky witch lady who was trapped in a mirror as a way of escaping the Salem witch trials. One day, a boy finds the mirror in a pawn shop and accidentally sets the witch free because he thinks she needs a friend. But the witch was using him to escape and seek vengeance on Salem for persecuting her kind, so she stole all the water from the nearby lake and flooded the town!"

"Boo, not scary at all!" Jenny complained. "Anyone else got something scarier?"

"I got one, and it's based on real life." Buck Dewey proclaimed. "This is the story of the Elm Street Smasher. Legend has it that a psycho child killer haunts our dreams and plots to kill us all. It all started when someone didn't leave the door closed at an asylum, and thus the bloodthirsty Garnie Jason was born." He told his frightening tale. "She smashed in the faces of twenty kids in their nightmares before she was found out by the parents, who gave Garnie her just desserts. But even so, her spirit lives on after she struck a deal with some dream demons to become unstoppable. And who knows? Maybe she could be haunting us the moment we close our eyes."

"Wow, that was certainly better than anything I could come up with." Sour Cream declared as Buck finished his story. "Well, I'm turning in for the night. See you guys in the morning."

"Ooh, maybe we should stay up! What if Garnie comes for us?" Kiki jokingly suggested with a laugh, causing the other cool kids to laugh as well. "But in all seriousness, I'm a little worried about her."

"Ah, don't worry, it's just a story." Jenny assured her sister. "It's not like Garnie is real, right?" As the teens went to their tents for the night, a distinct silhouette of a woman with a square head and brass knuckles on her hand lurked about, ready to find someone to kill.

"Yeah, just a story." Garnie Jason smirked evilly as a stringy-haired girl appeared beside her. "Hey, do you mind? I'm going to kill some teenagers here." The girl nodded and abruptly disappeared, leaving Garnet to fade into smoke and enter one of the tents. What happened next would soon turn disastrous.

A few minutes later, Buck and Sour Cream heard Jenny scream from her and Kiki's tent, and they rushed to see what was up. To their horror, Kiki was lying dead on the ground with her face caved in and strange handprints on her neck, almost like someone had strangled her.

"Oh my gosh, Garnie might be real!" Sour Cream exclaimed. "Jenny, did anyone pop into your tent earlier?"

"No, I just heard Kiki choking to death!" Jenny replied. "We gotta call someone; call 911!"

"On it!" Buck said and tried to call for help on his phone. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to pick up. "Seems like we have a bad signal here. Or maybe…."

"Ah ah ah, you didn't say the magic word." Garnie Jason's voice taunted Buck as he realized what he was in for. "The number you have dialed cannot be reached. Please hang up and try again."

"She's onto us; we gotta run!" Buck remarked in terror as he tried to run for his life towards the camp's docks, but Garnie was in pursuit of him via rowboat. When she finally caught up with Buck, Garnie had an oar at the ready.

"Permission to come aboard?" Garnie smirked before she bludgeoned Buck to death with just one swing, sending him flying into the lake and leaving him to drown. "Hm, need to think of better puns."

Jenny and Sour Cream rushed down to the docks, where they found Garnie having already killed Buck, and thus they were the only ones left standing against this psychotic serial killer.

"Friends of yours?" Garnie asked the two surviving teens as she hopped out of the boat. "Apologies, they were trespassing on one of my favorite places to kill people. No hard feelings, right?"

"Oh, all the hard feelings, alright!" Sour Cream yelled defiantly and tried to fight Garnie with a fishing rod, while Jenny protested him not to be so reckless. "This one is for my friends!"

"I guess fishing season must be in." Garnie said coldly as she grabbed the fishing line with one hand and sent it flying back to Sour Cream, tying it around his neck and leaving him to hang on a lamppost, and then she turned to face Jenny. "Final girl, huh? How lucky you must be." She then began to slowly march towards Jenny, who immediately began making a run for it. What happened next was left unknown, but they both had vanished from the camp by the following day.

"The end." Garnet menacingly concluded, to the horror of the other Gems. "So, what did we all think?"

"Okay, I'll admit, that was pretty scary." Black Rutile confessed. "The way she ruthlessly murdered all those kids, ooh, it sends tingles down my spine! And what about that freaky ghost in there too?"

"I don't remember a ghost!" Garnet exclaimed as the ghost became clearer and frightened the Gems. However, there seemed to be something on her solar plexus that indicated there was more to her than meets the eye. "I can't believe it; the ghost was real!"

"I shoulda known there was something fishy about her appearing in all our stories!" Pearl added while drawing her sword. "Come and face us!" However, the ghost didn't seem to move, nor did it even acknowledge them as the sword Pearl threw phased right through her. "Hm, that's odd."

"What even is she?" Yellow Pearl muttered nervously while Blue Pearl and Volleyball hid behind her. Yellow Pearl was wearing a pink dress with a big red hairbow, while Blue was wearing a blue dress, and Volleyball was dressed in green.

"Maybe it's friendly." Blue Pearl tried reaching out to the girl, but the girl grabbed her wrist tightly, giving Blue Pearl a scare before Volleyball saved her.

"Is that all it's doing?" Volleyball wondered.

"It's just standing there! Menacingly!" Amethyst yelled. "What do we do?!"

"Well, if it's not going to do anything, then allow me to present my tale." Black Rutile proclaimed. "It is a totally original story that does not steal from any already existing movie. And I call it-"

The Black-xorcist

On a stormy night in Beach City, a tall, dark-skinned priest stood outside a house beneath a lamppost. He had been called in by a worried mother and traveled all the way from Dover to investigate her cry for help. After slowly walking towards the front door and starting to knock, the mother answered by opening the door. "Hello there, my name is Father Black. May I come in?

"Oh, thank you for coming on such short notice!" Vidalia sighed in relief. "It's about my little boy, Onion. He's been acting strangely lately since I bought that statue from the thrift shop."

"Now, hang on a second!" Amethyst cried out, interrupting the story and making Vidalia & Father Black look up at the sky. "You're choosing Onion? Wouldn't it make more sense if it were Steven since you hate him so much?"

"I may hate Steven, but Onion absolutely terrifies me!" Black Rutile answered. "I'm not even sure if he's human or not! Now let me finish." The story then resumed as usual.

"Children, am I right?" Father Black dryly remarked as Vidalia led him inside her house and up the stairs. "And you said it was the fault of a statue?"

"I'm not sure yet," Vidalia answered. "But if you want to know, just see for yourself." She opened the door to Onion's room. To her and the priest's surprise, he wasn't there. However, Father Black was completely undeterred as he stepped into the room. "Good luck, father."

"Hello, Onion?" Father Black called out for the strange boy. "My name is Father Black. Your mother summoned me here because she is greatly concerned for you."

"My mother?" a voice rang out across the room as Onion levitated into view, his mouth full of grimy fangs, a long, green tongue slithering out of his mouth, and bloodshot red eyes staring straight into his soul. "Well, yo mama really enjoyed my company, if you catch my drift!"

"You leave my dear mother out of this." Black stoically replied. "Now then, could you please tell me your name and how you came into possession of this little boy's body?"

"Oh, playin' the name game now, are we?" Onion cackled. "But since I'm such a nice guy, you can call me Zapupu. You may remember me for causing the following natural disasters, like the San Francisco earthquakes, the Yellow River Flood, Hurricane Katrina, or whatever gender reveal parties have nearly caused a societal collapse!"

"You fiend." Father Black cursed Zapupu. "How long have you been causing such death and destruction?"

"What do you mean death and destruction?!" Zapupu exclaimed angrily. "I was making dinner; it's what I've been doing since the dawn of time! Heck, you should've seen what I did to Pompeii!"

"Your chaos shall not go on for any longer!" Father Black declared as he picked up a statue of Zapupu that was resting next to a painting of the ghost girl. "Was this how you were able to possess him?!"

"Of course, after some schmuck bought that at the thrift shop!" Zapupu chuckled, making Vidalia hide away in shame. "So go ahead Blacky-Boy, hit me with your best shot!"

"With pleasure." Father Black smirked as he threw the statue at Onion, sending him crashing into the wall and breaking the statue.

"No, wait, I didn't mean it like that!" Zapupu cried out in surrender. "I'm a psychotic demon and proud of it, but this is a child I'm possessing here! You're a man of the cloth!" To save himself, Zapupu generated a pair of glasses to put on. "You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would you?" Father Black took the glasses off Onion's face and smacked him with them. "You hit a guy with glasses. Well played, big guy."

"May the power of Christ compel you!" Father Black boomed as he prepared to lay the hurt on Zapupu.

"And Father Black started beating the boy within an inch of his life to expel the demon!" Black Rutile ended her story in a surprisingly violent fashion, horrifying all her listeners and even the ghost girl as she went into excruciating detail on how badly Father Black beat Onion.

"Geez, man, calm down!" White Topaz yelled. "We get that you find Onion creepy, but do you seriously want to kill him?!"

"I don't know." Black Rutile answered. "I'm not even sure if he can be killed, to be honest."

"Well, that sure was gruesome." Pearl declared awkwardly. "Well, anyone else has a story to tell?"

"I got one." The ghost girl declared in a high-pitched voice. "My name is Dumortierite, though some of you may just know me as the Lighthouse Monster."

"Wait, I think Steven told us about you." Amethyst realized. "I kinda thought you were another Topaz. Plus, where were you this whole time?"

"That's the thing; I was an archivist." Dumortierite revealed as she presented her gem on her solar plexus. "I'm supposed to be in charge of gathering data, which is how I was able to enter all your wonderful stories." She then demonstrated her telekinetic and flight abilities by grabbing herself some candy to eat from the pile. "I was trapped in that lighthouse after being corrupted, where I was embittered by all the hatred and toxicity humans showed each other, even close friends."

"Yeah, that's bound to happen." Black Rutile proclaimed. "Now, go away so I won't have to listen to your generic sob story, Dummy."

"I said it was my turn!" Dumortierite yelled angrily, causing her eyes to turn red with fury and blood-red veins to appear on her body, but she immediately calmed down and continued. "When I was freed of my curse, I would be given a different curse—the curse of rejection. I felt alone and scared in this new world, so I hid myself away and tried going from town to town for a place to belong. But unfortunately, they all turned me away."

"Oh dear, poor thing." Pearl said as she gave Dumortierite a warm hug. "I can assure you; humans aren't all like that. They're just afraid of what they don't understand."

"Yeah, they're scared of what they can't control and all that!" Black Rutile commented sarcastically as she walked away. "Go ahead, Dummy, move in all you like, just don't get into any of my business."

"You're welcome to attend Dumortierite. Just keep an eye out on Black Rutile there." Garnet assured Dumortierite. "She's planning something big, and while we know she plans on accessing other dimensions, we have no idea what she'll do afterward."

Meanwhile, Black Rutile had returned home and pulled off her iron mask to reach for Rasputina's spellbook in her gem. "Now, let's see where I can find this Seer." She muttered as she continued to check its pages.

Later that night, everyone was standing around in a field presenting their costumes to each other, and Teal saw fit to comment on one of them. "Hey, Serpy, I really like your Inspector Spacetime get-up!" Teal complimented Serpentine's costume. "Which one are you supposed to be again? I always keep getting them mixed up."

"I'm the one who hates pears, FYI." Serpentine answered before turning to Desert Glass. "A cheerleader? How quaint."

"Not just any cheerleader, a zombie-killed sexy cheerleader!" Desert Glass proudly proclaimed. "What gave it away, the head?"

"What kind of cheerleader carries around a decapitated head?" Yellow Pearl asked. "Luckily, my costume is far less violent."

"And what are you supposed to be, Garnet?" Peridot asked about the fusion's costume. "Some kind of flying carpet racer?"

"Far from it." Garnet answered. "I'm actually a fortune teller with the power to generate fire, but I didn't have enough time to get a flame chicken."

"Well, I can see you all have wonderful costumes, everyone." Pearl declared. "Now then, anyone up for more candy?"

"Did you need to ask?" Amethyst replied with a smile.

This is probably the most ambitious chapter of any story I've written yet. Having to write four stories in one chapter certainly took longer than I thought, but I hope it was all worth it! Happy Halloween everyone, and stay tuned next week for the Christmas special to close out the season!

4 notes · View notes