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SF's "Write Your Butt Off!" Writing Competition XIV


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The relationship doesn't have to be romantic, right - they can become friends or comrades?

tbh I actually wanted to put "non-romantic" as part of the prompt but I figured that having more restrictions can restrict creativity.

Basically, yeah, the relationship can be of any nature, not necessarily romantic.

Edited by Formina Sage
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I should really be part of this. So any type of story that works with the prompt is fine right?

Yup, as long as you follow this rule:

4) No smut! Try to keep entries rated PG-13 maximum.

Any story that follows the current prompt will be fine!
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This was kindly edited for grammar/spelling by Proto, as well as two other Eientei members, Alzack13 and Vex.

Title: Recreation of Blazing Hell

Fandom: Touhou Project

Characters: Fujiwara no Mokou, Kaguya Houraisan, Eirin Yagokoro, Utsuho Reiuji is mentioned (though not by name) but never appears.

[spoiler=Background stuff for those who don't know much about Touhou] This story is set after a "bad end" of Touhou 11, aka Touhou Chireiden ~ Subterranean Animism. In the game, the incident involved evil spirits, sent by Rin Kaenbyou, coming out of a geyser created by Utsuho Reiuji. Utsuho made the geysers after being told by the sky goddess Kanako Yasaka that she could eat a god, Yatagarasu, which gave her power over nuclear fusion. Kanako told her this in a bid to gain faith by bringing electricity to Gensokyo. Utsuho, however, had other plans. She decided to try and use her power to take over Gensokyo. Rin sent the spirits above ground as a warning, leading to Yukari Yakumo/Suika Ibuki/Aya Shameimaru/Alice Margatroid/Patchouli Knowledge/Nitori Kawashiro noticing and sending Reimu Hakurei/Marisa Kirisame to fix the spirits before they find out about Utsuho. In the bad ending this follows, Reimu lost to Utsuho, who started her takeover afterward, killing everyone but the Hourai immortals: Mokou, Kaguya, and Eirin, who couldn't die, and setting sights on the Outside World....

[spoiler=Actual Story]Fire.

So much fire.

Everywhere.

EVERYWHERE!

The failure of the shrine maiden has its benefits, I think. No more will people call me a monster, now that there appears to be a new fire-wielding creature burning things. Far more than I ever burned them, at any rate.

On the flip side… I’m left with even less to do than before. Maybe I’ll just take it out on Kaguya. Even if she’s far from responsible for this.

I look up at the sky, where the new sun was forming, raining the lava of hell down on Gensokyo. I sigh and shake my head. Oh well, she’s too far gone for me to stop her. And fighting fire with fire won’t do much, contrary to the saying.

I kick an ember nonchalantly, a remnant of my old house. Not much point in staying here. Or anywhere.

This had all started when the evil spirits started coming out of that geyser. Yukari Yakumo had sent the boundary maiden Reimu Hakurei to deal with them, unknowingly sending her to her doom, caused by the UV radiation from the hell raven (or something like that, as Yukari understands it far better than I do). Now, the raven has come to the surface with the intention of creating a new “Blazing Hell” on earth.

Apparently, Gensokyo would be merely the beginning, as the raven was going to destroy the Outside World next.

“Doing anything, Mokou?”

I turn to face the speaker. Her features are all too familiar to me: long, silky black hair I had always envied, grey eyes that sparkled like moonlight, smooth skin that seemed to have no faults, the pinnacle of immaculation can be defined as the figure before me.

Yes, I am looking at the “hate of my life”. Kaguya Houraisan, a Lunarian who is at least 1340 years old (she’s older than me, a 1340-year-old human), is looking at me, her face serious yet hauntingly pretty.

“What do you want?” I growl. “I’ll fight you any day of the week, no matter the circumstances, if that’s what you want.”

“It is not.” She stares at me, grey eyes beginning to dull. “I’ve come to ask for your help.”

I scoff. “Why would you think I’d help you?”

“Because, in case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a second sun forming.” She speaks plainly, not in her usual annoying, teasing manner.

“And why is that my problem?”

“Do you not wish to protect the humans who remain?”

“The ones who called me a monster? The ones who forced me out of society?” I retort. “Good riddance, them.”

“Would she have wanted that response?”

I glare at the former lunar princess. How dare she bring that girl up! How dare--

“Well?”

I look away from Kaguya, at the remains of the shack. As much as it pains me to say it, she is correct. That girl loved humans dearly, doing everything in her power to protect them in spite of being a half-beast.

“...She wouldn’t…”

“So will you help me defeat the raven for the sake of the remaining humans?”

“...Yes.”

“Thank you for understanding, Mokou.” Kaguya managed a soft smile.

“I’m only doing it because it’s what she would have wanted.”

“I know.”

“So wipe that smirk off your face.”

She doesn’t listen, simply grabbing my hand and pulling me off in what feels like a random direction.

☢☢☢

I eventually realize we are on our way to what used to be the Hakurei Shrine. Eirin Yagokoro, silver-haired creator of the accursed Hourai Elixir and Kaguya’s subordinate, is calmly waiting for us.

“Ah, Miss Fujiwara.” She says.

“Miss Yagokoro.” I nod in acknowledgement.

“Both of you, come here. I believe I may have found a way to quiet the girl.”

“Girl? All I see is an annoying Hell Raven killing off the planet. You make her sound human.”

“Do not forget, Miss Fujiwara, you yourself have acted similarly. Now… as I was saying. I have been led to believe, due to her power, that that bird swallowed a god known as Yatagarasu.”

“And what can we do about that, Eirin?” Kaguya asks.

“Patience, princess.” Eirin replies. “Anyway, to stop her, we must save Yatagarasu.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?”

“It’s simple,” the silver-tressed woman says. “We rally for faith in Yatagarasu. That should be enough to resurrect him as a being separate from the raven.”

“...So we’re missionaries.” I sigh.

“In a way.”

“Come on, Mokou.” Kaguya grabs my arm, pulling me away from Eirin. “We’ll take the east half of the Outside World. Eirin can handle the west on her own.”

I raise an eyebrow. Why am I not the one on my own?

Kaguya pulls and pulls. I’m left with no choice but to go with her, as I had agreed to aid the humans, after all.

☢☢☢

Most of the humans couldn’t understand Kaguya and me. We spread our messages through images, gradually accumulating the faith needed to revive Yatagarasu while learning new tongues.

“Mokou, go to the northern square of this city.” Kaguya says. In spite of our rivalry, Kaguya has not failed to treat me with respect. “I’ll speak to the peasants in the south end.”

That’s unusual. Normally, I’m left with the peasants, while Kaguya preaches to the despairing nobility.

I sigh as I turn my back on Kaguya, heading for the north end. I watch as three children in the streets sing about their impending doom. Cheerful subject. Noticing Kaguya is gone, I approach them.

“Do you really think there is no way to save yourselves?”

They look at me, confused by my Japanese. Crap, that’s right. We aren’t in Japan, but China. Travelling throughout the nation with Kaguya helped me learn to grasp basic Chinese, just enough to communicate.

“Do you want... to save yourselves?” I ask, in Chinese this time.

The children look at me, understanding my message. They nod, indicating I should continue.

“If… you want to help, we need you to give… thoughts.” I say. My Chinese isn’t great, but I continue. “If you believe… Yatagarasu, god of sun… can exist… the raven will… stop.”

They stare at me. Silence pervades the four of us.

“Tell… people.”

I leave without another word.

☢☢☢

We failed. Our message didn’t reach enough people in time.

Kaguya is standing by my side, head hung, tears streaming down her face.

It doesn’t surprise me. We had gone through a lot while trying to gain faith for Yatagarasu.

“Kaguya…” I mumble.

“Mokou… how… how could Eirin’s plan fail?”

I remain silent, choosing to stare at the wilted plant life and barren stretches that now covered the Earth.

“It was inevitable…” is all I manage to say. This “hate of my life”, she’s sobbing into my shoulder, her eyes dull without their moonlit sparkle.

“But we worked so hard… We rallied the faith of the entire nation of China! Of India! And Eirin must have gotten so much faith from the west…”

“It wasn’t enough…” I say. She moves closer to me, startling me as she begins to hug me.

“Mokou, please don’t leave, no matter what…”

I remain silent. Only one word manages to escape me: “Alright.”

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A challenger appears! Haaaaahhhhh... Man this is nerve-destroying. The first time I've entered a writing contest of any sort! Ah well, here it goes. I whipped this up especially for this prompt! Written, Directed, Edited, and Submitted by yours truly Because nobody wanted to help him... Well actually some friends helped me name the characters.... Either way! It's my submission!

Title: Ruined by Parental Advisory (I promise it's not that bad)

Setting: Original! :D These characters are written into existence by me!

Characters: An 18 year old high school graduate named Stephan Coine, a 19 year old girl preparing for her sophomore year of college named Lici Tensho, 40 year old father of Stephan named Avalon Coine, and the 40 year old mother of Lici that goes by the name of Zelmira Tensho!

Word Count: 2940

“Honey, I’m home!” I laughed as I knocked on my neighbor’s door. My dad nudged my shoulder and shushed me, but I couldn’t stop grinning, I mean the literal girl next door was finally home! I’d missed her far too much.

“Oh, Stephan, you’re here! You’re here!” The voice of an angel descended unto my ears, I couldn’t help but answer back.

“Here I am! I’m so very sorry to have been late.” The door opened and into my arms came the short, energetic, and ever so cute girl next door. I ruffled her hair and kissed her forehead, laughing.

“So Lici, where’s your mother? Are you home alone?” My father was always the stick in the mud, his monotone voice sounding as though it wanted to kill the vibe that we had goin’ on!

“Avalon, You don’t sound very worried,” Towering over both me and Lici, Ms. Tensho stared coldly at my father with a mischievous smile that far surpassed my own, “Or is it that you just rather not deal with me?”

“Well pardon me, Zelmira.” My father adjusted his glasses and smiled, though he looked more annoyed than amused. He cleared his throat before continuing on, “it’s very nice to see you. How was little Lici’s first year of college?”

“Oh, well-”

“Honey, please. Mister Coina was talking to me.” Ms. Tensho was both frightening and gentle, but that only made her more terrifying in my eyes. She and my father stared at each other for the longest eight seconds I’d ever counted before she continued, “It went well, I assume that Stephen”

“Stephan,” my father quickly snapped at her.

“Stephan. I assume that Stephan’s ready to join her in the big leagues?”

“He is, and he’ll do ‘fine’ as well.” My dad and Ms. Tensho stared down at us before looking back at each other.

“Well, I assume you’ll be coming in while the kids catch up? Perhaps we can talk about what we ourselves have done as well. I haven’t been standing around doing nothing for a year… Do try to make sure that it isn’t a one way conversation.” Ms. Tensho laughed before stepping aside. A pale hand brushed her dark hair out of her face and continued to stare into my dad’s soulless black eyes with her own. My dad laughed and stepped past me and Lici, sarcastically playing along with her little act of hospitality.

“Are we going to have tea, Zelmira? You know how partial I am to a hot drink.”

“You know how I am about tea. I much rather have a nice hot cup of coffee. Stephen,” the minute my name was said, my attention was on Lici’s mother, even if she did get it wrong. Lici held my hand tightly as Ms. Tensho smiled at me and her before looking at my father, then back at me. “It’s a marvel what a year can do to you. You’re starting to look more like your father, but do be careful about how you treat a woman.” She practically yelled the last three words before walking back inside and slamming the door.

“Stephan!” Lici’s high pitched voice cut through my train of thoughts right before her lips cut through my worry. She pulled away quickly and smiled, then hugged me. “I’ve missed you so much!” I shook my head and smiled again, the princess shouldn’t be the one doing all of the worrying!

“Oh, Lici, it’s been faaar too long!” I cried out, trying to feign a British accent.

“Stop.”

“Okay.” I lifted her up and spun her around, her laughter joining my own until we heard the screaming of our parents.

“I can’t believe you’d take her and just move to somewhere that far that for a year! Do you know how long I had a sulking teenage boy roaming around the house?”

“Yeah, a year is a year! Besides, if that’s the case maybe you should grow up!”

“Oh hah hah hah, you’re so funny! I guess it comes with being selfish!”

“Should we go, Lici?”

“Get me out of here, Stephan,” and on that note, I set her down and we ran down the block, slowing down once their yelling was drowned out by the sound of traffic. We kept on walking. Our destination? None other than the Starbucks where we spent most of high school!

As we walked, Lici began to point out things that she noticed had changed, such as a tree being cut down, or a new stop sign being put up. It amazed me how she’d noticed these things, but then again, my attention was not on them, but always on her. She’d changed too. She stopped dying her hair, it’d gone from the beautiful golden to the deep jet black that her mother had. She’d grown an inch, though she needed it, she was hardly 5 feet in the first place. Her braces were gone, her retainer was cute… I kept looking at my neighbor, her mother’s words about a year changing people ringing through my head.

“Stephan!” My savior tugged on my arm and pulled me back. I stumbled and fell on my butt, shook my head, and looked around before I noticed that I’d nearly been taken out by a car speeding past me and down the road. Before I could ask what kind of idiot would drive so recklessly, three more cars, these ones with sirens blazing, drove by in pursuit. “You haven’t changed a bit, you idiot! Sheesh,” I looked up at Lici with my witty smile, and she smiled right back, holding out a hand, “You haven’t changed a bit… But I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Yeah… I was scared, but you haven’t changed a bit either, Lici.”

“It’d take much more than a year for me to change, even if my style does.”

“You noticed me looking at your hair?”

“I noticed you looking everywhere.”

“So how was England?”

“Don’t change the subject.” She nodded towards the crosswalk, pointing at the light before strolling along. I followed after her. When she reached the other side and looked back at me, “Seriously, do I look that different?”

“It’s so hard for me to not appreciate your beauty after so long without it! Don’t you feel the same?” I jumped onto the sidewalk, Super Mario style, before looking down at her.

“Your beauty isn’t what drew me to notice you,” she coyly said, punching my shoulder, “It’s how close you were to my house. You being tall, tan, and handsome is just icing on the cake.”

“I’m not that tall, look at your mother.”

“Look at me! You’re tall compared to me. For my mom, well… Nobody’s really that tall.” We shared a laugh and then walked into the Starbucks, getting in line. She held my hand again, moving it back and forth, humming as we waited in line. When she looked up at me, I stood tall and smiled down at her to look cool, but all I got was laughter.

“So, how was England?”

“So you really want to know? I thought you were trying to change the subject.”

“I’m genuinely concerned about you! For you to be a continent away is so scary, I could hardly stand it!”

“Well, it was fun, but it wasn’t that great. There were less knights than I expected, chivalry truly is dead, huh?”

“What about me, Lici?”

“Chivalry is different from Chauvinism, Stephan. Though whatever it is, you make it look really appealing. 16 years of memories, yet for some reason… You hovering over me never got old.”

“That’s cause I love you, my lady. Love makes it tolerable.”

“There are a lot of men and women who’d slap their stalkers in the face for saying something like that.”

“Context is everything when it comes to love, princess.”

“Is that what you really think, Stephan?” Lici laughed and shook her head.

“You never know, hate and love are a thin line, right?” We shared another laugh, stepping forward as the cashier cleared his throat rather audibly. It’d been too long since I could laugh this hard, I mean tears were rolling down my cheeks. I tried to catch my breath, but every time my babbling became anywhere near coherent enough to be understood, Lici’s snorting would send us both into another laughing fit.

“Aladdin! Are you and Snow White going to order or not?” This cashier was just as spicy as I liked my soup, and I don’t drink soup at all.

“Well, my good man,” I put an elbow on the counter and looked the cashier in the eyes, my devilish smile and gentle eyes causing him to back up, “I’d like one blueberry muffin please.”

So we got a muffin. It had taken us 25 minutes to get the muffin, but I’ll be honest, only like… 5 minutes were spent actually walking. We sat down at a table and smiled, unwrapping our sweet yet savory dessert and biting into it from opposite sides of the table.

“Hey Stephan…”

“I know Lici… I know…” Neither of us had been to a starbucks in about a year. Without each other, we had no reason to go. Neither of us like coffee, and her mom makes the best hot chocolate in the world, her baking is garbage though. Apparently, Starbucks had taken a lesson from her while they were gone though, because so was this muffin. Without a word, we left the rest of the muffin on the table and began walking back home.

“Peh, Pheh!” My dignified date spat whatever was left of the muffin onto the sidewalk as we walked. “Hey, you think if we kissed, you could get the taste out of my mouth?”

“Nah,” I smiled and looked up at the sky. I didn’t want to see the look on her face when I slammed her idea with my teasing remark, “I took a bite too, I’d just put the same taste in your mouth.”

“You’re right! That muffin tasted good though!”

“Okay, Lici, okay.”

The rest of the conversation as we walked back wasn’t that interesting, I mean it was to us, but it’s cause it was filled with inside jokes and precious memories. The interesting part comes when we reached her house. She pulled me inside and closed the door, her lips finally finding their way to mine, but only for a brief second. It was her turn to tease me, or so we thought. As she dragged me across the hall, her mother’s voice found its way to our ears, but it sounded… Tender.

“So when do you think we should have the wedding?”

“Oh, I don’t know, honey,” that was my dad’s voice. That was my dad’s voice. My dad called her mom honey. We took a detour to her mom’s room and peeked in the door. It was too much, I just couldn’t handle it. Even now, I hated what I saw. I hated what I saw with my very being. Lici stormed away to her room and slammed the door. Our parents looked up and saw me, but before they could say anything, I ran off to Lici’s room too, locking the door behind me.

“What does this mean?” I leaned against the door and sank, along with my heart, to the floor.

“Don’t be so dramatic, you know what it means! It means it’s over.”

“Lici…”

“You can’t expect me to date my brother, can you? Can you expect our friends, our neighbors… Do you really think anyone but you, me, and our parents would be okay with it?” She punched her pillow and then threw it at her dresser. I frowned and looked at her, she wasn’t wrong.

“You’re right. I mean, not everyone, but a lot of people will find it weird.” It was beyond people just finding it weird though, a lot of people would judge us, and it’s not just the quantity, but the quality. As complicated a situation as it were, simplified, it’d be incest. That’s it.

“I can’t believe her! She’s so selfish! They fought all the time! Every single day!”

“And you’d jump into my arms, letting me ruffle your hair… Nodding off in my lap while we watched a movie, to them all they saw was this! They never saw us behind closed doors, they couldn’t have known! I bet even now, they’re thinking that we’re mad that they’re forgetting about the memory of your dad and my mom.”

“They ran off,” she cried out, “I don’t care about their memory! I care about you! I care about what they put the two of us through with their stupid fighting!”

“Context is everything though, I mean… They could have just been arguing with each other playfully.”

“But they dragged us into it! I never wanted to learn to play the violin. Think hard… They’d always drop hints about us needing to do this or do that! They’d always say that the other one was doing something too!”

“I… but my dad always told me never to marry someone on a lower level or something! Maybe it was that?”

“Then I guess they thought about us too before they decided to get together. I’m glad that our parents are perfect and always only have our best interests in heart!”

“I,” I couldn’t come back with anything. She was right. I bit my lip, trembling in rage. My dad was selfish. Everything he’d ever done… Could it have been a part of their game? “I… I never wanted to learn to play piano.”

“See? You see? I’m right! I never wanted to learn to dance!

“I didn’t want to sing either…” I stood up, slowly walking towards her. “I never wanted to learn to sing!”

“Public speaking? Law? Hated them! But that’s my major now!”

“My dad’s making me go into biochemical engineering!”

“My mom’s making me study a continent away, solely to say that I’m studying in England!”

“My dad’s making me go too! I thought it was for me, but… I guess it was for him!” I reached out and took Lici’s hands into my own, brooding next to her. I took her anger and fed it with my own sadness. I couldn’t stand anymore, I could hardly feel my legs, I could hardly feel anything.I was bawling, I was crying more than I’d ever cried in my life. I cried more than when I found out mom wasn’t coming home, more than when I found out Lici was moving away. For me, this was the worst kind of pain. When someone’s gone, they’re gone. That’s it. Lici was here with me though. We were together, she was practically in my arms in her bed! So close, but so far away, I… I digress. While we were crying, she pressed her forehead against mine.

“Stephan, I really hate them…”

“I hate them too… But I still love you.”

“I love you too…” She looked up at me and slid her hands out of mine, wiping her tears before pulling me into a hug, “I love you so so so much.” Her desperate expression, her gentle frown, her quivering lips, I almost couldn’t stop, but I had to. Not just for her, but… In her eyes, I saw her mom’s. Not that way, I mean… When they saw me in the doorway, they looked sad too, but they sounded happy before. Was it really my place to be mad at their happiness? Yeah, but… Not because they were with each other. I couldn’t

“I… Even if I can’t be your knight, I can be your Prince,” with a face glimmering with streaming tears and a pearly white loving smile, I ruffled her hair, “life’s not fair, but hey, look on the bright side. We can torment them together, right? ‘No matter how old you get, you’re your parents’ children’ or something like that. Right?”

“You are such an idiot.” She pushed me away and got out of bed, opening the door.

“Lici! Wait!” Idiot, yeah I was one. When I ran after her, I hardly expected to get hit in the face with a stream of shaving cream. “Ewww, why do you even have this?” I screamed in protest, wiping it off my face.

“You think men are the only ones who need to shave?” Lici tossed the can in the air and let it twirl once before swiping her right hand from right to left, catching it aggressively.

“I grew up without a woman in the house, shut up!”

“I’m telling mom you told me to shut up!” She pouted then grinned, winking at me before running towards her mom’s room. I laughed and then realized that my dad would totally chew me out if we walked in on them. Freaking out, I ran after her.

“Lici, wait!”

That was seven years ago. Things haven’t changed too much. Lici’s still single, I’m still single, our parents are happy though, and they’re letting us do what we want, perhaps because we’ve got a little brother for them to dote on. I don’t hate them anymore, though I don’t know about Lici. She may be my big sister, but she’s not always the brightest when it comes to love, though considering how happy she looks now, perhaps she figured it out too. If you truly love someone, you gotta let them go, oh and also that you can get into much crazier adventures with a friend than you can with a date, but I think that those adventures are a story for another time.

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Title: Ace of Hearts

Fandom: Hetalia mixed with Nyotalia Human AU

Characters: Nyo!Lithuania/Elena Laurinaitis, Nyo!Belarus/Nikolai Arlovskaya, Poland/Felix Łukasiewicz, Prussia/Gilbert Beilschmidt, Spain/Antonio Fernández Carriedo, France/Francis Bonnefoy, mentions of Nyo!Russia/Anya Braginsky, Ukraine/Yekaterina "Katyusha" Braginsky, And America/Alfred "Al" F Jones

Pairings: Nyo!Lithuania x Nyo!Belarus, mentions of Nyo!Russia x America

Words: 1275 including the PoV switches

[spoiler=Possible? Trigger warning for those who care]

Abusive Relationship? and bullying Nothing in the actual story just mentions

Note this is pre-edited, for grammer and such, so don't expect it to have good grammer. Like I have crap grammer. But I don't know if the guy editing it for me can finish in time. Nor I don't know if I'll have time to upload it so I'll upload it now and if I have time I'll edit the paste with the grammer edits in.

[spoiler=Ace of Hearts]

If someone said that Nikolai Arlovskaya the Belarus exchange student in Hetalia university...and Elena Laurinaitis the Lithuania exchange student. Were currently in a relationship or at least dating...You would be immediately be asked if you are on drugs or were drunk, perhaps even be asked if you have any medical ailment that can cause hallucinations. Which is exactly what Antonio Fernández Carriedo and Francis Bonnefoy was asking Gilbert Beilschmidt.

-Gilbert Beilshmidt Saturday 10:00PM-

"Are you absolutely sure you weren't drunk mon ami?" Francis says again for about the seventeenth time. Yes I have been counting, the awesome me needs to keep track of everything after all.

"Yes, for the love of the awesome me Francis! I was not drunk! I know you're brain is filled with nothing but porn but this is the seventeenth time!" Antonio sighed at that statement and before I could open my mouth spoke.

"We believe you Gilbert but you have to admit this is the most impossible thing since Al dating Anya. I mean does the whole family besides Katyusha show their love through fighting and tormenting?" I snort considering that everyone else in the family is insane I wouldn't be surprised if she was too. She even said she mostly raised them for god's sake!

"Riiight, I wouldn't be surprised if she was insane too. She raised them I mean they turned out how they did so something must have happened!" Antonio again sighed when they spoke up at around the same time.

"So when did this happen again from the start?/How in the romance did this happen?" Now it was time for me to sigh and repeat the tale.

"So I was GOING to drink at the bar we are in now, note I didn't end up drinking. When I saw Elena drinking her heart out, with the sister obsessed bastard sitting next to her..."

-Elena Laurinaitis 10:30PM Friday-

I sighed downing another glass of...whatever vodka they have here. Why did Feliks have to leave me here...? I know he means well and all but he's so self centered sometimes...

Hearing the door slam shut I see Nikolai walking in his perfect cold platinum blonde hair crowning his perfect cold face holding those dark violet eyes, something in them sending shocks down my spine. Those dark violet eyes...as soon as they meet mine I can see the hate in them, pure absolute hatred for being weak and unworthy of being Anya's friend... For some reason I can't stop laughing now... "Hahahahaha!"

Nikolai scowls at me although sits next to me in the space Felix was occupying a while ago. Ordering some vodka he speaks to me. Wow speaks to me.

"What's so funny Worm?" He scowls again..I really like that scowl...I am so pathetic.

"I-I don't know...it's just that I'm Anya's friend a-and she can have you..." He's about to speak but I cut him off. "I don't understand it all! She doesn't want you, she doesn't want you like I do! I accept all of your punishment your torment just to stay by you!" He seems a shocked by my words at first but then it quickly flares in anger.

"Don't you dare speak about my sister like that." His voice and glare is cold as ice and any other day when I was not drinking it would have frozen me in an instant. "And what do you mean by 'accept'?" I can tell he's dangerously close to pulling out his 'favorite' knife only used for tormenting me...Am I not so privileged? I am about to do something so stupid because this whole family shows their love through violence somehow...well except Katyusha, it's making total sense yet none at all. Liquid Courage indeed.

"I mean I could always have done this." I say as I punch him as hard as I can in the shoulder as to make sure I'm not hitting anywhere...vital, it knocks him on the ground however. Never have I ever retaliated against his abuse. NEVER and now I am...This is so stupid so so stupid. But I have no choice but to run with it. "I love you, you stupid Belorussian who does nothing but torments me and obsesses over the one girl who will never love you like I do! I'm not weak like you think. I just don't want to hurt y-you...!" I'm about to storm out of the bar leaving everyone stunned, including Gilbert Beilschmidt who has exactly one completely full glass on the table goes to my school and just saw my display of idiocy.

"Where do you think your going?" Nikolai's voice echos in my ear and I can feel his breath close to my ear...Sigh I am a masochist for enjoying that his voice is so cold. I close my eyes trying to stop my heart from racing.

"I figured I might as well leave before I get thrown out." He lets out a small 'Hmph' at my response. I feel him put something thin and card shaped in the pocket of my jeans. He turns me around to...a warm sensation fills me as he presses his cold lips to mine for only a moment. He breaks apart and walks off with the faint hints of a smirk on his lips.

"You should get drunk more, if that's how you act. I always wanted to see the girl who beat Gilbert in high school. The one Anya talked about animatedly." I watch him till he turns the corner taking him away from my sight. I finally remember the thing he put in my pocket, I take it out not knowing what to expect. It's an actual playing card the Ace of hearts, on it is written 'Sunday, 8:30 in front of school I'll pick you up wear something nice.' ...Wow, I don't believe it. I feel giddy with excitement. I quickly pull out my phone and text Feliks.

'Feliks. Wake up. I have a date on Sunday with Nikolai I need something nice to wear.' A minute later I get a text from him.

'Ugh like 'lena. Last time you had a "date" with him he like broke your wrist. How is this time any different? I mean I totally like can like go shopping with you. But that Sister obsessed bastard again?' I sigh I understand why Feliks hates Nikolai so much but...Actually I don't understand why I love him so much more.

'I know but this time I really think it's different this time!...I know it's unexpected but I really think it's different.'

'Okay I'll like trust your judgment 'lena but if he hurts you again I swear I'm gonna like break both his arms. Like anyway shopping tomorrow? ' I sigh in relief I didn't want to fight with him...especially not while I'm actually drunk.

'Yeah tomorrow's good. Later Feliks. PS: Don't leave me in a bar alone again please.'

I put my phone away and walk back to my dorm. Feeling happy again. I have a date with Nikolai. A very unexpected date.

-Gilbert Beilschmidt Saturday 10:20 PM-

After Gilbert finished telling his tale once again. Francis looked like he's given up and Antonio looks the same.

"So punching people gets you dates...Yup they're just a bit scrambled in the head."

Antonio sighed and orders up another round of drinks.

"Oh mon ami thank you. I need some wine after that story. How did you know what Elena was texting anyway?"

Gilbert laughed his annoying laugh that seemed almost snake like.

"Kesesese, She reads out loud her text when she's drunk."

Everyone except Gilbert seemed to facepalm at that.

Edited by Winter
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My story ended up being longer than I expected, whoops. But at least it's done.

Title: Ensemble Gaiden

Fandom: Original setting

Characters: The Ensemble (Holly, Robin, Kenji, Jonie, Yumei, and Melody), unnamed bad guy #1, unnamed evil lady #1

Word Count: 4068

Warning(s): The f-word is used once

“Not that I’m complaining,” Jonie mumbled, “but I just don’t understand how those two could go from hating each other one day to being best friends the next!”

“Don’t be silly, they would’ve gotten over their silly grudges eventually!” Holly crossed her arms and nodded knowingly. “I, for one, do not find this surprising at all.”

“I don’t care that they’re getting along now,” Melody said. “But I want to know why! It’s weird!”

Yumei rolled her eyes at that statement and opted to shove a piece of toast into her mouth instead of responding. She soon found her gaze drifting towards the center of the others’ conversation, though: their teammates Robin and Kenji. The pair was seated on the living room couch, talking excitedly about … something. Robin would occasionally look down and curse at the handheld game system in his hands, while Kenji would laugh and turn to his sketchbook to work on his drawing.

She had never given it much thought before, but Yumei could understand why Jonie and Melody were so fascinated by the complete turnaround in Robin and Kenji’s interactions. Yumei herself had been too busy celebrating the realization that there would be no more awkward moments when hanging out with just the two of them to care about the “why”, but now that it had been brought up she couldn’t stop wondering about it.

Robin was a blunt and opinionated person; on his bad days he could be overly emotional or volatile. Kenji’s first meaningful interaction with Robin had been on one of those bad days, so he hadn’t had the best first impression of him – or even the second, as their next encounter had ended worse than the previous one. They’d coexisted by mutually ignoring one another … but then they’d both been selected to be part of the Ensemble and that was no longer an option.

Their first few missions could not be described as anything other than awkward. None of them knew how to use or control their newly obtained abilities, or how to work together as a team. And although Kenji and Robin had never had another argument, they refused to speak to one another – leading to many uncomfortable situations for anyone partnered with them.

And then, Holly had accidentally warped them – and just those two – to some uncharted location out of range so that their team couldn’t retrieve them. Yumei, Jonie, and Melody had thought that they’d kill each other, while Holly seemed to be unconcerned about the situation. So when Robin and Kenji had returned as close friends, everyone but Holly had been stunned. But none of them had known why.

“How is it that none of us had ever asked them how they became friends?” Yumei finally asked.

“I don’t need to know why, I’m just happy that they’re getting along,” Holly replied.

“More important things to worry about?” Jonie shrugged. “It never crossed my mind to ask.”

Melody groaned and threw her hands in the air. “This is so stupid!” She got up from her chair and marched across the room to where Kenji and Robin were. “Hey!”

“Hi,” Robin said. His attention was focused entirely on his game and he didn’t so much as look up.

“Need something?” Kenji asked, putting his sketchpad aside and facing Melody.

“Yeah, we want to know when you guys stopped hating each other,” she said, motioning to herself and the rest of the team who were still seated at the table.

Kenji made a face, his expression somewhere between a glare and bewilderment. “Robin and I never hated each other.”

“Well, you two didn’t like one another either,” Yumei cut in, joining the trio and sitting on the couch next to Kenji. “So, you going to fill us in on the details?”

Robin swore at the game over screen as it flashed mockingly on his handheld system. He switched it off, disgusted, then turned to the others. “If you really want to know, then I’ll tell you. But it’s a bit of a long story.”

“Gather around in a circle, children, it’s story time!” Holly said, shoving Jonie over to the couch and flopping down between Robin and Kenji.

“I’m older than you,” Jonie muttered, disgruntled.

Holly made a dismissive gesture and threw her arms around Robin and Kenji. “Take it away, you two!”

“Sure …” Kenji slowly removed her arm from his shoulders. “So. Remember when Holly warp Robin and me out of the Crossroads?”

-

“What … what is this place?” Robin glanced around their surroundings, his nervousness growing as he realized that none of it was familiar. “Where is everyone else? Where the actual fuck did Holly send us to?”

“Calm down,” Kenji said, a hint of annoyance present in his voice. It wasn’t the type of situation he wanted to be in either – stranded in parts unknown with someone he wasn’t on good terms with – which was exactly why he needed to think clearly. “We just warp to where the others are. No problem.”

“Yeah … sure, right,” Robin mumbled, his vocabulary suffering the most in his panicked state. He began fiddling with his Ensemble wristwatch and searched for his teammates’ location. The unsettling feeling returned when his attempts returned no results. “Um, I’m not getting anything here.”

“No signal,” Kenji replied, frowning down at his own wristwatch. “Connection here is bad.”

“Well. Now what are we supposed to do?” It was hard enough for Robin to simply hold a conversation with Kenji without the added stress of their situation. It wasn’t even that he disliked him, but Robin was almost certain that Kenji did – especially after he’d revealed nothing but his worst qualifies in their first two actual conversations. Robin didn’t know how to interact with people who probably hated him.

“I think we need to leave this place. We can walk.” Kenji had his back to Robin, trying to suppress his own feelings of awkwardness. Contrary to what Robin believed Kenji didn’t actively dislike him, but since their only interactions had been far from positive he had no idea how to even talk to Robin.

“You there! Excuse me!”

Kenji and Robin jumped, startled by the voice that had seemed to come out of nowhere. They immediately drew their weapons and pointed them in the direction that the voice had come from. The young woman standing in front of the pair looked to be surprisingly composed despite the magic handgun and halberd pointed at her face.

“Now, now. There’s no need for such dangerous toys,” she chided, shaking her head as if she were disciplining a child. “More importantly for you, I believe I can help you out in your little … predicament.”

“Your face is a predicament,” Robin retorted, his grip on the halberd steady. “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“It’s not about what I want.” The woman giggled in a manner that was supposed to be disarming, but the gleam in her eyes was far more telling. “Are you two … having some trouble leaving the area?”

“… Where you get that idea?” Kenji tried to keep his expression neutral, knowing that it was a lost cause when he felt his eye twitch. A brief glance over at Robin showed that the other had been far less successful at hiding his surprise.

“Oh, so you mean to tell me you don’t know?” She let out an overly dramatic gasp, and then went on, “This place you are in was cut off from the rest of the world not too long ago. A really bad man used the power from a magical crystal to engulf everything into a void. He will only expand his influence and spread his control to the rest of this world if he isn’t stopped!”

“If what you say is true – and I’m not saying that I believe you,” Robin interrupted, “why haven’t you done anything to stop him? I mean, clearly you know about his plan and that him taking over the world is a bad thing.”

“He has point,” Kenji agreed. “You just wait for first people to come here by accident?”

“What? You would have delicate little me handle something as dangerous as this? All by myself?” The woman pouted. “No, no! A job like this is for strong men like you two! And since neither of you can leave until you take care of that bad man, I don’t think you have much of a choice. Ta-ta, now!” And with a cheeky wave, she disappeared.

Robin and Kenji merely stared at the spot where the woman had been standing, disbelief evident in their expressions. The silence lasted for about a minute, until Kenji turned to Robin and said, “You believe any of this tull?”

“I’m not sure what that means, but I’m pretty sure we’re being played.” Robin sounded extremely irritated, like he usually did in one of his moods. “Who did she think she was fooling, her demeanor was fake. So, so fake.”

“She is right about one thing, we cannot leave.” Kenji sighed and holstered his gun. “We do not have choice here.”

“Guess so …” Robin dismissed his halberd into particles of light, and rocked back on his heels. “I … suppose we should … probably look for this bad guy now?”

-

A tenuous cooperation forged in fire – that was what Robin had expected his interaction with Kenji to be like. But the moment he had started up conversation everything seemed to fall into place. It felt so natural, just talking to him about any topic that came to mind, no matter how trivial or non sequitur it was, and Kenji appeared to feel the same.

“ – then she actually landed on Jonie while trying to do that thing Yumei always does –”

“And then she blame him for being in way, right?”

“Yeah! She’s all, ‘Jonie, you shouldn’t be standing there like that! People could fall on you!’ He was so mad.”

“So that why he in bad mood that day? I never see Jonie so mad to look slight annoyed before.”

The pair shared a laugh before switching over to a discussion about a videogame series they both enjoyed. Both Kenji and Robin knew that getting distracted was detrimental to their mission, and that they were probably chattering a bit too loud. But it felt so great to be able to just talk after all the time they’d spent avoiding one another, feeling as if they were constantly treading on thin ice, that neither could say that they cared too much.

“Callum asked me the other day if anything we did as the Ensemble was even necessary, so I told him that everything we do is necessary –”

“Oh!” Kenji brought up his arm just then as if to stop Robin in midsentence, accidentally smacking him in the arm. “Der borte, I see something.”

The strange figure in the distance took notice of them at almost the same moment – his expression quickly going from shock to rage. “You –! How did you color-coded morons penetrate my void? Bah, no matter! I’ll just kill you both now!”

Drawing a long knife from under the folds of his clothing, the man charged at Robin and Kenji at an almost inhuman speed. Robin summoned his halberd and barely deflected the knife’s trajectory – the blade came centimeters to the side of his head and sliced through some loose hairs. Kenji jumped back and drew his handgun, firing two rounds of ice-infused bullets at the man.

“… It missed?” The disbelief in Robin’s voice was all too audible. “Just how fast is this guy?”

Kenji merely frowned in response as he continued blasting his target with the magical bullets – despite the massive destruction they caused to the immediate vicinity, none of the rounds were close to hitting the man. Robin was right about one thing, though – he was fast … much faster than any human being had a right to be. Something was not right, but Kenji didn’t know what.

“Maybe this will slow him down! Ensemble Tremor!” Robin slammed his halberd down, creating shockwaves that rocked the area in a local earthquake. Kenji was unaffected, as Ensemble members could not affect one another with their powers; however, neither did it seem to impact their enemy’s advance at all. “W-what? Why didn’t it do anything –”

“Robin! Watch out!” Kenji shouted.

He needn’t had to call out a warning; Robin had also noticed the man close the distance between them in the blink of an eye. He wouldn’t have time to swing his halberd, light as it was the weapon was also long and unwieldy. Robin dropped it as if the handle were on fire, and with his other hand reached for his transformation amulet. A blade made of pale yellow energy flared into existence, turning the amulet into a dagger, and Robin stabbed the man with it.

At first, nothing seemed to have happened. The man was frozen in place, his face twisted in a grotesque and terrifying look – his arm raised over his head with the knife poised to strike downward. And then, he appeared to dissolve into black shadows – dark cloudlike wisps melting to the ground and then evaporating like steam. In a matter of seconds, the man was gone … as if he had never existed. Robin and Kenji were paralyzed, shocked by what they had just seen.

“I … I-I … killed someone –”

“No,” Kenji said, as he holstered his gun and drew his own transformation amulet – also forming a blade of colored energy to turn it into a dagger. “Remember – powers cannot kill people. Not allowed. Was not human.”

“Yeah … yeah, you’re right.” And with that reminder, Robin calmed down considerably. “But what was that thing? I mean … it couldn’t have been the ‘bad man’ we’re looking for. Right?”

“Maybe still related. He has power to create void to stop us leaving. Maybe he has power to make enemies?”

“If by that you mean he’s created clones of himself to patrol the area, I suppose I could see that.” Robin glared down at the spot where the shadowy being had been before it had dissolved. “Either way, we need to stop this guy and get back to the others. Who knows how well they’re holding up without us.”

-

The silence between them had lasted no more than a minute. They both knew that they should’ve been more guarded after the earlier surprise attack, but a single exchange of words had been enough to get them started again. Kenji was surprised at how easy it was talking with Robin. It was almost as if their previous interactions had never happened at all.

He wasn’t one for holding grudges, especially against people who were willing to learn from their mistakes – if anything, Robin was at least that. But Kenji hadn’t seen a point in really trying to approach him either, especially considering how emotional he could be. And yet, all it had taken was an accidental displacement and one good conversation, and suddenly it felt as if they had always been friends. It was rather weird, but Kenji certainly wasn’t complaining.

Nor was he complaining about the lack of resistance they had encountered so far, but it left him with an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind. Did their enemy know that he and Robin were seeking him out, and were they about to walk into a carefully planned trap?

“Huh … would you look at that,” Robin muttered. He was pointing at a safe house in the distance – something that would’ve been unremarkable had it not been for the amount of concentrated dark energy that emanated from it. “Something’s definitely going on.”

“Might be him.” Kenji pulled his gun from the holster and loaded fire-infused bullets into the cartridge. “So, how we do this?”

“I don’t know, can’t we just break down the door or something?” Robin asked, reforming his halberd into his hands. And then, without waiting for an answer, he smashed the door of the safe house with one mighty swing.

“Well. That is one way of doing it,” Kenji said. He used his handgun to scrape away the splinters at the edges, widening the hole in the door enough so that he could step inside. Robin followed him with his weapon at the ready.

“… I’m impressed. You multicolored do-gooders were actually able to find me. Too bad for you that you broke down my door. I will make you pay for that.”

Standing at the back of the safe house, cloaked in shadows and the darkness, was a tall burly figure. A glowing orb illuminated the palm of his hand, its muted purple light too dull to reveal any of the man’s features but its power unmistakable. Suddenly, an army of shadowlike beings – similar to the one they had already fought – materialized from the walls and the floor, surrounding the Ensemble duo.

“Whoa! Where did they come from?” Robin yelled.

“No problem. We can handle it!” Kenji had his handgun pointed at the shadow army, as if daring them to make a move. Since he and Robin were standing back-to-back, an attack from the rear was not of concern. He waited, silently urging his enemy to come at them.

“Oh, you’re going to fight me? How cute.” The man laughed, a low menacing sound. “I was only going to demand reparation for my door, but I won’t refuse you your demises if that is what you wish!” And with a dramatic sweep of his arm, he bellowed, “Go forth, my minions! Teach these brats a lesson and annihilate them!”

Their order given, the shadowy figures immediately converged on the two at an inhuman speed – but this time, Robin and Kenji were prepared; armed with the knowledge they’d gained from their previous battle. They both jumped into the air – much higher than any ordinary person had the right to, their natural abilities enhanced by the powers they had been granted.

“We are the Ensemble!” Kenji shouted, firing a magic bullet at the enemies below him. “We do not lose to people like you!”

The flame-infused round exploded in the center of the shadow army and blasted through the wooden floor of the safe house, incinerating most of the dark figures but also sending wood shards flying everywhere. Kenji quickly produced his sketchpad and pen, scribbling up a hastily drawn shield to protect himself and Robin from the shrapnel.

“That was close …” Robin shifted the halberd to his left hand, and with the other hand took out his amulet. Willing the blade to reappear, he hurled the amulet-turned-dagger at the few shadow beings that remained; they disintegrated into black mist the moment the blade made contact. As the pair landed safely on the ground, Robin retrieved his amulet and observed the damage to the safe house. “Jeez, even if we can’t hurt ourselves or each other with our powers, this is some collateral damage.”

“I be more careful next time,” Kenji said. “Vente …” He narrowed his eyes just then, as if realizing something. “That man … where he go? Not anywhere here!”

“Don’t tell me … he got away!” Robin groaned. “We have to stop him! Let’s go!”

-

It had been a long and difficult battle, but they’d managed to come out victorious at the end. Robin and Kenji were breathing hard and doubled over in exhaustion, standing over their unconscious foe. The man had been a loudmouthed and overdramatic braggart, but his fighting prowess had been no joke – the crystal had made him more dangerous than he already was. Kenji had it in his hand, its glow purer and brighter due to his Ensemble power.

“We actually won, just the two of us by ourselves!” Robin exclaimed. “I mean, it usually takes our entire team to get anything done, how did we even win?”

“Maybe he not as great as he think,” Kenji suggested, laughing. “We did good. Smart to throw him off with shockwave, Robin.”

“Hey, you’re the one who knocked him out with a brick wall! And the dinosaur, oh man!” Robin snickered into his hand. “You know, we make a pretty good team, don’t you think so?”

Kenji nodded. “We think similar, have good teamwork. Get along better when we are not screaming at each other!”

“Aww, what a touching moment of friendship.”

Robin and Kenji turned in the direction that the voice had come from, and were neither very surprised nor pleased to see the woman from earlier. All traces of her flirtatious and playful behavior were gone. Now, she made no effort to hide the dark aura that emanated from her.

“I’m impressed you children actually managed to survive. I figured you’d put up a fight, but you were supposed to die. And while that fool was weakened, I would’ve taken back my crystal. Now you’ve forced me to show my true colors.” She scoffed. “But no matter. You’re both weak. I’ll just kill you myself!”

“Expected.” Kenji sighed and shook his head. “You really think Robin and I not see this coming? Are you retarded?”

“Yeah, uh, you’re not very good at hiding how fake you are. You should probably work on that,” Robin chimed in, grinning when the woman’s face turned red with anger.

“Oh, you think this is funny?” she snarled. “Well, laugh all you want! Your Ensemble is but a sham! You Earth children know nothing of magic; you can’t protect anything! And once I take care of you two, the rest of your team will go down just as easily.”

“Then enough talk, bring it on!” Robin retorted, holding up his halberd. “We’ll show you that us ‘Earth children’ are more competent than you think.”

“We are going to move you out of way now, sorry not sorry,” Kenji said, taking out his sketchpad.

“If you insist.” The woman’s eyes flashed as dark energy began to swirl around her in a magical tornado. “Say goodbye to this world!”

-

“You’re stopping there?” Melody shrieked, slamming her hands down on the able. “You can’t do that! What happened next?”

“Kenji and I kicked her butt, smashed the crystal to bits, and when the barrier went down we warped over and saved you guys?” Robin shrugged. “I mean, what else is there to tell you guys?”

“And here I thought you two would be lost without my guidance!” Holly grinned. “I’m so proud of you both!”

“Wait … wait.” Jonie paused for a moment, as if trying to find the words that he wanted to say. “You two ran into some madman who wanted to take over the Crossroads, little by little, and then some lady with a dark crystal who wanted to kill us? And you guys didn’t think this was important enough to tell us about?

“More important things come up. Besides, they not a problem anymore,” Kenji replied.

“But there could be other people like them. You know … people who see us as the threat we’re supposed to be, or obtain power and try to use it for their own selfish desires?”

“This surprises you?” Yumei turned to Jonie with a look. “I thought it was obvious that we’d have to deal with those kinds of loons.”

Holly stood up on the couch and laughed. “They’re no match for the amazing Ensemble Red! Oh, and the rest of you too, I suppose. I curse everyone who stands against us!”

“… Right.” Robin cleared his throat loudly. “Anyway, that’s how Kenji and I ended up being friends. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It’s not as interesting as I thought it would be,” Melody complained. “I could’ve been doing something more productive in that time!”

Yumei was still skeptical. “I don’t know. You expect me to believe that you and Kenji disliked each other for so long, only for things to be magically resolved in one afternoon? Are you guys leaving things out?”

“Holding grudges is hard!” Kenji said. “Not worth it. Is better that Robin and I getting along now.”

“Well, I’m really glad to hear that!” Holly leaped off the couch and landed on the floor with a loud thud. “Now that we’re done with story time, how about we get ice cream to celebrate? I’m driving!”

Edited by Sunwoo
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never midn this post i thought the deadline was today

Edited by Quote
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Title: Peace in a Bottle


Fandom: Fire Emblem Awakening


Characters: Chrom and three original characters (Oren, Kayleigh, and Laibach), with others (like Grima) mentioned


Word Count: 1987



Oren, advisor to the Emperor of Plegia found the idea that the fate of the kingdom rested on the Emperor’s clothing slightly terrifying, but mostly empowering. After all, with a regal black velvet cloak, dark grey leggings, a lengthy tunic as orange as a tangerine (a touch she had personally conceived), platinum gauntlets, greaves, and a matching chest plate, how could they go wrong?



“Grima’s dick!” Emperor Leibach shouted. “Is all this armor really necessary? It weighs more than my mother.”



Oren sighed. Leibach was a tall man, but not a strong one. Before his dramatic career shift, the Emperor was being fostered as a mage, and they preferred to focus on strengthening the mind rather than the arms, legs, or abdomen.



“Your Excellence,” she said, “The Exalt Chrom is a warrior through and through. If you want him to heed any of your words, you must show you are ready and willing to go to battle, on the field or in the council chamber.”



“Warrior? Chrom is an Grimadamned lunatic.”



Oren closed her eyes and nodded. “That may be, Your Excellence. But if we want this alliance to work, I recommend you address him as ruler rather than a madman.”



Leibach chuckled. “Why concern myself with how he finds my demeanor, or my codpiece? These “negotiations” are a farce; just a way for him and the rest of Ylisse to save face. Chon'sin has them spread-cheek over a barrel, and it’s up to the great and terrible Plegia to get them off - so to speak.”



In a way, he was right. You couldn’t exactly call Chon'sin and Ylisse allies, but there hadn’t been any real animosity between the two nations for years. So it must have shocked everyone but the Chon'sin Empress herself when her fleet landed on Ylissen shores and captured a city on the same day. While the Ylissens may not have expected an attack from the empire across the sea, they reasonably expected support from their northern allies in Ferox. And yet, the Ferox - who were said to cut off their own umbilical chords with battle-axes - refused to do battle with the Chon'sinns, or even lend their (now former) allies aid. For the first time in recorded history, Ferox declared its neutrality. With Ferox no longer an option, the only other potential ally on the continent was Plegia. Still, Ylisse looked painfully desperate turning to a country it had waged a bloody war with only five years ago.



Oren knew all this. Yet, she imagined, there was no possible way Ylisse needed them more than they needed it. After the campaign Ylisse’s Exalt Chrom had personally waged against Plegia, her country had been left devastated structurally, economically, and most of all, spiritually. It was one thing to learn your national religion, which you and your family line - reaching further back than you could conceive - had held in your hearts since birth, was based on half-truths, manipulation, and deceit. It was another thing to realize the leaders of your faith and your kings were lunatics, drunk on power, and determined to subjugate the entire world. But, it was another thing entirely to see your god, the Great Beast Grima, rise from the earth, lay waste to the land, then be killed by a ragtag group of warriors from various nations and walks of life.


Oren had seen this. She had also seen Chrom, the handsome dark-haired ruler of the nation she’d grown up hating, leader of the militia that killed her god, ride into her desolate town where the houses were rubble and the people scrounged for food on the streets, with the entire Ylissen army at his back and declare this a new era of peace between their lands. One skinny, apprentice mage had stood up on a rock, looked down at the Exalt of Ylisse, and suggested he return home to fornicate with his own mother. Oren smiled, Ylisse’s relations with Plegia ended, and the ascension of Leibach, First of Emperor of Plegia began.



“The Exalt may indeed be desperate, Your Excellence,” Oren said. “But keep in mind, if Ylisse falls, it likely won’t be long before we find the Chon'sinn army marching across our borders.”



“Hmm,” the Emperor grunted in agreement. “Odds are they’ll make a stop in Ferox first. Grimadamned barbarians. They’re kind enough to host us, but not enough to fight. Doesn’t make a lick of sense. And while we’re at it neither does this palace, or whatever it is. Are those actual skeletons grafted into the wall?”



Oren had to agree. Ferox’s “Palace of Death” was a rather morbid place to discuss an alliance.



****



Kayleigh, advisor to the Exalt of Ylisse thought the princess had chosen a fine outfit for Chrom. A white tunic with a yellow sash, and a dark lavender blue cape to match his hair made the Exalt look like the god of peace himself.



“I still don’t get why I couldn’t where any armor,” Chrom said, tugging at the tunic’s collar.



Kayleigh groaned. “Exalt, for the last time-“



“Hey, enough with this “Exalt” stuff. Just “Chrom,” okay?”



“Fine. Chrom, for the last time, this a conference for peace between nations. You can not go in there looking ready for a battle, especially considering our history with Plegia.”



Chrom nodded, and bowed his head. He stayed quiet as they walked the halls of Palace Regna. Despite his brash and affable demeanor, Kayleigh believed the Exalt was carrying a generous amount of pain inside. Here he was, in the home of those he’d once called allies and friends - who had seemingly abandoned him in his time of need - about to attempt an alliance with those he’d once considered his greatest enemies. Chrom was not the type of man who let things go. It was not that Chrom blamed Plegia’s self-proclaimed Emperor personally for his sister, the former Exalt’s death - that had been the work of Leibach’s mad predecessors. Unfair as it might be, Chrom had spent a long time directing his hatred at an entire nation.



But it was this nation, who had worshiped and summoned a great beast posing as a god, the Ylissens needed. The two Khans of Ferox, for reasons known only to them, refused to so much as meet with Chrom. Instead they sent a messenger to proclaim announcing their refusal to fight Chon'sin. Even when the Kahns gave their permission to use Ferox as neutral ground for negotiations between Plegia and Ylisse, they did so through ambassadors - who apologized endlessly for their leaders’ absence, but offered no explanation.



Ylisse needed Plegia because they were the only nation on the continent left. They needed them because, if it came to fighting on Plegia, the harsh desert climate would be so unfamiliar to the Chon'sinns. They needed them because Plegia produced a startling number of magic users, and anyone who control the wind, summon fire, call down lightning, or turn darkness itself into a weapon was essential in combat. And they needed them because frankly, the Chon'sinn army was a force Ylisse simply couldn’t handle. Chon'sin was a small country, but it’s population was nearly that of Ylisse, Ferox, and Plegia combined. The woman who sat upon the Chon'sinn throne was said to be crazier than even the rulers of Plegia, and her soldiers had already demonstrated how willing they were to kill and die for her when they took the Farfort in less than a day. Scouts had reported they were preparing to head west.



“Couldn’t I have worn just my greaves?” Exalt Chrom asked.



“No!” Kayleigh shouted, resisting with all her might the desire to hit herself, or the Exalt, in the head.



****



The Emperor of Plegia and the Exalt of Ylisse greeted each other in front of palace’s meeting room. Chrom looked at Leibach’s armor with envy, and Leibach looked at Chrom’s tunic with confusion. Two massive Ferox guards saw them in, and made sure they knew the rules - only two people at a time; no weapons, no bodyguards, no advisors; food and drink are permitted. When Leibach asked for a bottle of flower wine, and Chrom asked for a flagon of any kind of ale, the guards said try the kitchen, and left. Dejected and grumbling about hospitality, the two rulers closed the meeting room doors, leaving Oren and Kayleigh alone, together.



*five minutes later*



The advisors glanced at each other, and glanced away.



“Did you…?” Kayleigh asked.



“Huh?” Oren said.



“What?”



“Nothing.”



“Nevermind.”



*ten minutes later*



Oren found herself wishing she’d brought a book. Kayleigh found herself tracing lines in the floor tiles.



*twenty minutes later*



“Hey,” Oren said.



“Yeah?” Kayleigh asked.



“This is some interesting architecture. Don’t you think?”



“Yeah,” Kayleigh said.



“Do you think they use…”



“Real bones? Probably, it’s Ferox after all.”



Oren chuckled; so did Kayleigh.



*twenty-two minutes later*



A loud THUD came from the meeting room. Oren jumped. Kayleigh jerked her head back. They listened. They couldn’t hear anything more.



Kayleigh looked at Oren. Oren looked at Kayleigh. They both looked at the meeting room doors.



“I’m just going to…” Kayleigh said, and pressed her ear against a door. Oren did the same.



They heard, faintly from in the room, Leibach’s voice. “…is it true your sister seduced her own bodyguard?”



“Don’t you dare talk about my sister!” Chrom shouted.



Another THUD.



Kayleigh and Oren turned to each other. They both needed to go in, but neither would break the rules.



They heard from inside the room, “…balls, I could use a drink.”



Kayleigh and Oren looked at each other. They didn’t need to speak. They both took off running down the long halls of the palace. They ran until they found the kitchen. They ran past a shouting cook, found a cavernous pantry, and gathered up every bottle and horn they could carry. They ran back to the meeting room, dropping and breaking several bottles on their way.



When they pushed open doors, Leibach had one arm raised and his palm open, Chrom was reaching out with his hands near the other man’s throat. Wordlessly, Kayleigh and Oren arranged the bottles and horns nicely on the stone table in the center of the room, and walked out.



“Hey, what?” Someone said.



They closed the doors and pressed their ears against them.



*one bottle of flower wine later*



They heard, from inside the room, Chrom saying, “If we make our way across, we can take them at the river.”



Leibach replied, “But what if they come down the mountain?”



“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”



“Another glass?”



“It’s empty, let’s open a new one.”




“Or, how about…”



*three horns of walnut ale later*



“Seee, is no big deal," Leibach said. "Casting fireballs isssss…basic.”



“Wow, yeah," Chrom said. "Yeah, my sisters a pretty good, a pretty good with magic too.”



“I’m not thaaaaat good.”



“No but listen. Listen. My sister is really good with magic.”



“The one tha died?”



“No, no, my little sister. I, she’s, I, she’s all I got left, and I love her so much…”



“Hey, don’ cry man. Is okay.”



“Her husbans a real prick,” Chrom said.



*two shots of barrel-aged volcano whiskey later*



Kayleigh and Oren were nearly crushed as the doors swung open. The Emperor of Plegia and the Exalt of Ylisse spilled out of the room. Leibach’s arm was around Chrom’s shoulder. Leibach’s velvet coat smelled like vomit. Chrom was wearing Leibach’s platinum chest plate.



“We’re gonna get the Chon’sin,” Chrom said. “We’re gonna get em. Then we’re gonna get bear pies.”



“I never had bear pies afore,” the Emperor said as he leaned on the Exalt.



“Oh, they’re so good, they’re jus…so good.”



Kayleigh and Oren looked at each other, then ran after the rulers of their respective nations as they stumbled down the hallway.



“Grima-in-hell, this place is real ugly,” Chrom said.



“I know, right?”


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. . .and this was supposed to end 45 minutes ago. OOPSIES!

As I'm technically past the deadline, I'll post my entry after I get the voting up (in other words, it's for exhibition only).

Title: A Double-Edged Curse

Universe: Same one as Cycle III, happens about two hours after said story, too.

Words: ~1890

Other notes: I really need to expand on this universe more!

Carnation felt a smile form on her lips, as she faced the foe before her. The creature's hair was a writhing mass of olive, each strand a living snake. Its face was obscured by a black mask - not unheard of, since a medusa who accidentally petrified herself while getting a drink of water was considered a laughingstock among her race. The creature's wiry frame hypnotically rippled as she approached her opponent.

"Only a fool would stare at me so," the medusa hissed, her arms crossed below the off-white cloth that bound her chest.

"I like facing things head-on," Carnation replied coolly, her Flower badge in hand. Though it was only a piece of metal, it reminded her of the others on her team. She'd insisted that they leave her behind so that she could deal with this creature. She'd also promised that she'd return, safe and sound.

"Very well, mortal, I shall inform my masters of your last words!" With inhuman speed, the medusa ripped her mask off. Angry red eyes met Carnation's unflinching gaze. Slowly, the creature's eyes reverted to hazel.

"Huh. I didn't know your eyes were naturally hazel," Carnation stated calmly.

"Y-you survived that?! But it seems that you're unable to move from that spot," the medusa spat out.

"Oh, I'll be fine. Can't say the same for you, though," Carnation retorted. Much to the Flower's surprise, the creature threw back her head and laughed.

"Ah, an earth mage! And a female one at that! If you kill me, then the curse is lifted - or so the story goes. But what if I run? You can't maintain your magic forever!"

It was Carnation's turn to laugh at the medusa's words. "I'm surrounded by the earth. I'm in no danger of running out of power." Once again, the creature laughed.

"Oh, child, shall I tell you a story? Of my own past? Your feet are still stuck to the ground, and it'll take a while before your magic can reverse that."

Carnation sighed. "Very well, then. I might as well be entertained."

"Once, there was a little girl who liked to explore the woods around her house. Her parents were scared of monsters, but the girl knew that they wouldn't harm her. After all, she had the forest's protection, and as long as she stood amongst the plants, nothing could harm her."

"The forest's protection?" Carnation mused. She wiggled the toe she'd just freed, and worked on the next one.

"Yes. The forest loved the girl, and the girl loved the forest. But one day, a medusa took up residence in the woods. The girl, in her hubris, charged into the forest alone, to face the creature. Like all others of its kind, it tried to turn the girl into stone. But the girl's bond with the forest allowed her to stave off the curse."

"Stave off?" Carnation wiggled her second toe. Unfortunately, it was on the opposite foot.

"Upon seeing the girl, who stood unharmed, the medusa slithered away. The girl, happy to have driven the monster from the forest, walked home. As she left the forest, the curse redoubled its efforts. Instead of returning triumphant, the little girl returned as a monster."

"But how? She should've been safe!" Five toes were free.

"The curse of a medusa isn't only a petrification spell. For if the one it's laid upon is a girl, and she nullifies the petrification, the curse will take her humanity instead. This is how the medusa multiply. When it happens, the human temporarily loses her sanity. When the girl finally regained her senses, she saw that her entire village had been turned to stone. She cursed her existence, and wandered among the forest. The forest, in turn, was silent - it no longer recognized the girl that it had once protected."

"You've got to be lying!" Carnation yelled.

"Oh, but the girl's story doesn't end there. One day, she heard a faint voice - one that pleaded for help. She followed the voice, only to be stopped by a couple of humans. One of then shone to her newfound eyes - to her, he was everything she could hope for. So when he told her about the child who was trapped beneath a tree, she listened. When he asked for her help in rescuing him, she agreed without a second thought." Carnation had halted her progress when she'd freed seven of her toes.

"That sounds utterly cheesy," Carnation replied flatly.

"Cheesy or not, the girl who was once loved by the forest because a horrible creature surrounded by stone. Yet she kept some semblance of her humanity, which in turn weakened her abilities. Instead of being a creature of darkness, bent on creating a world for monsters, she became something in-between. She kept her reason, but was unable to utilize the power of the medusa at its full potential."

Carnation's brow furrowed at the medusa's words. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I won't let you kill me - I'll slither away, to a place where you can't reach me. You can either succumb to the curse, and become a living statue, or you can continue to hold it off, and become just like me. Once, I was a girl who believed in doing the right thing. I haven't let go of that part of me, yet."

"But if I let the curse go, slowly, then it won't turn me into either," Carnation mused. "Which means that my friends can find me and defeat you in my place!"

"That is assuming that they survive the ordeals that lie ahead. I'm only the first hurdle. Four more await, and all of this is before they face my master. The castle is still a great distance away, and if my master chose to, he could come down and finish you while you were half-petrified. Surely you've thought of that?"

As much as she hated to admit it, Carnation couldn't think of a logical counter to the medusa's logic. "So I'm supposed to stand here, and LET this thing have its way with me?"

The medusa shook her head. "If you reject the petrification, you'll end up fighting your friends, in a fit of blind rage. Had someone told me about that when I was human, I would've raised an army to fight that creature, and avoided this mess." The medusa put her hands on where her hips should've been. "Imagine the guilt you'd feel, as you saw your friends preserved as statues. Perhaps you'd sabotage your own power, and exist as something between the two worlds. Or perhaps your grief would allow the curse to take on its full form. Your lovely black hair would make for terrifying snakes," the medusa continued, chuckling at the last bit.

"I'm not sure if I'd like to be stuck here for the rest of eternity with you," Carnation said bitterly. The petrification had made its way to her knees.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry so much about that. Like you, my master's an earth mage. Once the curse finishes the petrification, it'll dissipate. Then, he can turn you back into a human - provided that you won't kill him as soon as you're free."

A sigh escaped Carnation's lips. "So if I promise to behave myself once I'm not a statue, he'll free me?"

"I won't speak on his behalf, but I can put in a good word for you. You're the only one that stopped to listen to my story. It's nice to have someone else to talk to, even if it's a somewhat forced conversation," the medusa said wistfully.

"I'm not sure how I feel about placing my faith in my enemy," Carnation started, gently pushing her pigtails behind her shoulders, "but Mayflower would've been furious with me if I'd struck you down without hearing you out. She's far too kind for her own good."

"Ah, Mayflower. Sounds like a Flower name. So that pesky organization of yours is here to interfere with my master. I guess it can't be helped. Under Flower law, they shouldn't exist. Yet all they want is to free their friend, and live in peace. Is that so bad?"

Carnation's reply caught in her throat. Mayflower had sworn that she'd bring peace to everyone when she took up her Oath as a Flower. Yet if the medusa spoke the truth, then they were fighting directly against Mayflower's Oath - and a Flower who disobeyed her Oath would be unable to tap into her power! "Someone's got to warn her!" Carnation blurted. The petrification had reached her hips.

"Oh, your higher-ups knew about the four in the castle, and what they want. Now, what could your little Mayflower have done to anger them?"

"You have GOT to be kidding," Carnation replied hotly. "There's no way they'd intentionally send her to her death!"

"Oh, would they? You've just learned that all that looks like a monster isn't a monster, and that your supposed enemies aren't bent on destroying society as you know it. Surely it's not out of the realm of logic for a few weeds to have taken root within the Flowers, hmmm?" Carnation shook her head, her face flushing as the petrification slowly worked its way towards her chest.

"Huh. I suppose I should introduce myself. While I was a girl, I was known as Anise. Unlike the rest of my race, I decided to keep my human name. It was a reminder that I'd never become a mindless creature of destruction. So what's your name?"

"It's Carnation," the black-haired Flower replied. Despite the fact that the petrification was nearly to her neck, Carnation was able to speak with ease.

"You aren't a bad person, Carnation. I suppose that I've learned something new, as well. You Flowers are humans, first and foremost."

"My Oath is to protect my friends," Carnation said slowly. The petrification reached her jawline. "Which means that I will find whoever did this to Mayflower. She's the one that believed in me, even when I couldn't believe in myself." Anise nodded at Carnation's final words.

"Your message will reach my master," Anise promised. As the petrification fully took hold of Carnation, Anise let a smile form on her lips.

"Even if I couldn't finish my story, you trusted me. Now, it is my turn to trust you." She slithered through a crevasse, merrily humming for the first time since she'd lost her humanity. "Oh, I have so much more to tell you, but it will have to wait until my master can set you free!"

Edited by eclipse
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“Now it’s Ensemble time!”

Evil forces are attacking the city and terrorizing the people! Is there no one who can save the day? Enter: the mighty super-powered guardians of all that is good!

For this week’s prompt, write about a day in the life of a superhero team consisting of 3-6 members as they interact and defend the city from their evil nemesis. There must be at least one fight scene in the story.

The team and the characters on it may be from a preexisting team and franchise, completely original, or an original team composed of characters from a preexisting franchise or multiple franchises. If you need a more specific example, contact me via PM.

Cycle VI will end on July 5 at 11:59:59 PM PST. My location observes DST, so be sure you’re certain of the end time!

Kwame120

AnonymousSpeed

eclipse

Loki Laufeyson

Formina Sage

Jotaro Kujo

jankmaster98

Dual Dragons

Edited by Sunwoo
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I think what constitutes as a "superhero" is powers, setting, and race.

Gandalf may not be a traditional "superhero" because it is expected of wizards to have his powers or similar powers in a fantasy setting.

All of the Green Lanterns of diverse races may be considered superheroes because the Green Lantern powers are beyond each respective races' capabilities.

Despite that he is a Kryptonian (thus it is expected for all of his race to have his powers), Superman is a superhero by the context set that he is on Earth and he is among humans.

Batman has no "powers" so, by strictest terms, he's not a superhero. Besides the feats he may do that are "superhuman," he doesn't breach beyond what you could imagine for humans and the Gotham setting.

I would be interested in getting into this contest if I can somehow puts words and ideas onto paper.

- Does the main villain have to show up in the story? I do have one but if it's just "a day in the lives of superheroes," they may not show up (it's more of a surprise considering what they are). I could try to adjust if they must show up.

- Do the superpowers have to be always beneficial to the superhero? For two members of my four-man team, I was planning to give them abilities that would sound good on paper but are hindrances in practice--basically because they can't "turn off" their power.

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