He’s not a hero, by a long means.
And currently, he’s trying to figure out how many cookies he can stuff into his mouth without closing it.
I finger the cookie in my hand, and giggle a little as I nibble at it.
It’s so strange, how my entire world shifted because I bumped into him a few weeks ago.
next!
chair
this is really heartbreaking! I love the way you describe things.
“What on earth are you doing?” Darius said, catching his breath.
He’d overslept. Rushing to class he thought he might be just early enough to apoligize to the teacher before she left, but instead the teacher was gone, all the chairs were piled up nearly to the ceiling, and his classmates were gathered around them.
“We’re building a chair tower.” Sana said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
“You’re not usually late.” Kylis observed in a way that was almost a question.
With all the nightmares Darius had been having, it was hard to get enough sleep. And besides, he had already completed the test and gained a cursed weapon. He’d already succeeded in the task that all these lessons were preparing them for.
Darius shrugged, looking at the artlessly arranged chair tower.
“I think it’s missing something.” Sana said.
Darius opened his mouth, then closed it, not sure what to say.
Kylis gasped and pointed his fingers.
“Paper chains!” he said knowingly.
Darius blinked.
“Yessss.” Sana said, digging in the arts and crafts drawer for materials.
The arts and crafts part of these lessons, which were about knowing yourself, were the part Darius had understood the least.
He’d had to make a collage for lessons, and he’d ended up making one about all the sights in town he liked, such as the antiques shop, candy shop, the grand gates, the massive bridge over the lake, and an abandoned house that had the fading remanants of a unique paint job.
He’d felt a bit out of place when most of the other students brought collages of their insecurities or the demands of society, but he’d gotten a passing grade.
He vaguely understood the purpose the collage, but the chair tower was beyond him.
Well, anyway. He needed to find the other teachers and give them an excuse for not being here tommorrow. And then he needed to find a way to get to Trace Mountain in under a day.
“Darius, I’m going to give you the privelage of deciding our color scheme.” Kylis said, elbowing him.
The dubious privelage.
“Orange, green and purple.” Darius joked, naming what he thought was a hideous combination of colors.
“Unique, I like it!” Kylis said, getting out the construction paper.
“Wait, that’s not what I-” Darius started.
“Hm?” Kylis glanced at him.
“Never mind.” he said. “I’ll be back after I’ve hunted down professor Sosen to apoligize to her.”
Kylis nodded.
“Aww, you should contribute! You chose the colors after all.” Sana said.
“Sorry.” he said as he backed away from the milling mob of students.
“So formal!” he heard her say as he shut the door behind him.
He breathed a sigh of relief. When there wasn’t a clear goal, he couldn’t relate to people sometimes.
“Yeah, you don’t really need to attend lessons now that you’ve got your sword. Congradulations by the way.” Proffessor Sosen said.
“Thank you. On that note, I have some business to attend tommorrow as well.” Darius told her.
“That’s fine.” Sosen said, waving as she walked past him.
He headed back to the classroom, since he’d said he’d be there.
“What do you think?” Kylis said.
Although not that much time had passed, the chair tower was wreathed in an long length of paper chain. It was incredible what the students could accomplish together when they were determined- if only they could direct that toward something useful.
“Hm, the color scheme looks better than I thought it would.” Darius said, looking at the strange… thing… in front of him.
“How did you think it’d look?” Kylis asked.
Terrible.
“Uh, I didn’t really think about that.” Darius said.
Next:
Music
“Yessss.” Sana said,
“Darius, I’m going to give you the privelage of deciding our color scheme.”
The dubious privelage.
“Orange, green and purple.”
:0 yesss
“Wait, that’s not what I-”
XD too late
if only they could direct that toward something useful.
fake offended noises
are you saying their amazing work of art isn’t, Darius?
“Uh, I didn’t really think about that.” Darius said.
XD
Nidhii waves her legs in the air as she lies stomach-down on their couch, working on her homework.
It’s not difficult work, and she likes the way it gives her something to do.
She flies through the math problems with ease, turning page after page in their textbook, and starts the next week’s work as well.
She never knew math could be fun!
The tutors back home never let her pause between lessons, usually once she’d mastered something, they’d give her something much harder to solve. But the problems in this book were more of an idle game, and she finds herself humming to music that slowly fills her head, starting to daydream.
The city is an… interesting experience.
At first it was overwhelming, and she didn’t think she’d ever get used to living here.
The tall buildings, the constant sounds, and everything is so much… dirtier here, for lack of a better word. Every face here is a new, unfamiliar one, and they’re all so different. They live differently than her, they act differently than her, none of them know her, nor seem to care to learn more. They don’t judge her, and they don’t expect anything in return, as long as she stays out of their way.
That bit–
That bit, she enjoys.
And the Mai here… The Mai here are interesting, too.
next!
clay
envious
I wonder what living in the country would be like. I can’t imagine it being worse than a city on a pure vibe level
Darius absentmindedly dug a hand into the clay of the dried up riverbed he was standing in. He had left school and walked the rest of the way out of town so that nobody would see him…
Do what, exactly?
Crystal hadn’t seemed to expect him to have any trouble getting to Trace Mountain. Was there some power he was supposed to have to travel quickly?
He suddenly remembered Crystal floating into the air. Maybe that wasn’t just a dream thing, maybe the magical girls could actually fly. Perhaps they could fly quickly.
Only one way to find out.
Grimacing, he transformed.
As usual, the gem on his chest somehow phased through his shirt as it split into many pieces that hung weightlessly in the air, and somehow between one moment and the next he turned into a teenage girl in an unbearably girly dress.
He imagined rising into the air and to his surprise, it happened with no further effort from him. His powers didn’t seem eager to drop him either, despite the lapse in his focus due to surprise.
He still didn’t trust this form. He felt angrier somehow, eviler, while he was in it.
His hands were clean, he realized as he shot up into the air, feeling as though he were dreaming. He’d dragged them through the clay a moment ago, but the perfectly smooth, delicate hands of this form were clean.
He looked down and sharply gasped.
The ground suddenly seemed a long, long way away. If the magic decided to drop him now he was definitely dead.
He was weightless, as though this form was unbound by gravity.
He tried moving to the side and again it was as easy as breathing. Speeding up took no effort either, the wind flowing around him like refreshing cold water.
He would really be enjoying himself right now if some part of his brain wasn’t constantly working on a murder plan with this form whenever he was in it.
Seriously, it was tempting. The only one who knew he could turn into this girl was Kylis, and he could-
No.
“I would never, never do something like that. Don’t put such contemptable thoughts into my head.” he said, aware he was talking to his own dark side but not willing to acknowledge that it was, on some level, a part of him.
With his knowledge of maps and incredible speed, it was easy enough to get to trace mountain.
It was only when he realized that the peak was snowy did he realize that the sky must be incredibly cold.
He couldn’t feel it.
Despite his distaste for this form and the emotional apathy, even sadistic thoughts, rising in his mind, he felt happiness filling him. While he didn’t want to acknowledge it, flying was incredible.
There were several bright spots on the peak of the mountain, growing to unreal vividness as he got close.
Purple, pink and blue- Crystal. They all looked about the same. Slender girls with elaborate girly outfits and gems floating around them.
Darius landed on the snow and began sinking deep into it, only to realize that the girls were standing on top of the snow. The purple one snickered as he repositioned himself to float on top of it with the appearance of standing on it.
“We’re glad you could make it, Amber.” Crystal said, smiling at him.
“First of all my name’s not Amber and I’m not a girl.” Darius corrected her, despising everything about the group.
Crystal held up a hand to stop him.
“Our identities are secret here. We go by the name of our gems. This is Quartz,” she pointed to the pink one, who looked scornfully at Darius, “And this is Amethyst.” she pointed a the purple one, who smiled at him.
Darius didn’t like her smile.
A magical girl with red gems floating around her landed next to them, looking curiously at Darius.
“Sorry I’m late.” she said.
“Figures you’d be late with that lackluster attitude of yours.” Quartz said.
“As if you’re any better, miss ‘let’s murder everything.’” red gems said.
“This is Diamond.” Crystal said, her smile becoming strained but staying on her face like a burr. “Diamond, this is Amber.”
Diamond didn’t greet him.
He got the impression Quartz had been judging him the entire time. It was something about the way she looked at him with faint disgust, as though she were too high class to laugh.
“I’m not here to stay. I want to know where this power comes from.” he said, addressing Crystal since he was pretty sure none of the others would give him the time of day.
“As I said, I don’t know.” she said. “But perhaps if we stay together we’ll find out.”
Darius looked at the others, wondering if any of them had any information.
Quartz’s nose was wrinkled and she looked at him as if he was a muddy commoner and she were some posh noble. Diamond had a permanant unfriendly scowl. Amethyst was smiling.
“I believe it’s the power of some god or gods, personally.” Amethyst said. “And either it attaches itself to people randomly, or it set out to find the whiniest group of spoiled manchildren possible.”
“Speak for yourself, you uncultured little girl.” Quartz glared.
“Did your gem just attach itself to you one day?” Darius asked, hungry for information.
Amethyst nodded.
“Yup. I was confused at first, but once I realized just how much power this little critter contains I just blessed my luck and went on my merry way.” Amethyst laughed as if she’d said something funny.
“Me too. It was just there one afternoon. I felt it the moment it attached itself, but nothing after that.” Crystal said.
Darius frowned. His gem had been attached to his shadow before the shadow had merged with him and he’d inherited it. He didn’t trust the magical girls one bit, but if they were telling the truth… could that be related to his dark thoughts while in this form?
“Is there anything in common between all of you?” Darius asked the last question on his mind.
“No. From the information we’ve volunteered about ourselves, we’re from a wide range of backgrounds and ages. Well, we’re all human.” Crystal said.
Amethyst laughed as if she’d said something funny.
Darius was beginning to hate that laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he challenged.
“She’s funny. You’re all funny.” Amethyst said in a relaxed, condescending, amused voice.
Darius felt his skin crawl.
“That’s all I wanted to know. If I have any more questions, where will I find you?” he asked Crystal.
“Just seek me out in your dreams.” she said.
Darius opened his mouth to object, but with Amethyst ready to laugh, Quartz ready to look at him with even more polite scorn, and Diamond still glaring, he thought better of it. He’d figure it out if he wanted to see them again- though he didn’t think he would.
With that he jumped off the mountain, letting gravity take hold again for a moment just to remind himself it still existed.
Then he rose above the clouds and soared toward the school again.
Next:
Fix
XD
:0
oh right you live in a city!
How IS it like? I’ve lived in suburban neighborhoods or apartments all my life lol, so I wouldn’t know about either countryside or the city all that much
:0
XD
Darius landed on the snow and began sinking deep into it, only to realize that the girls were standing on top of the snow.
:0
OHHHH AMETHYST IS THE
I re-read when I remembered which one was who lol. I thought Diamond was the demon until Amethyst laughed XD
Nidhii couldn’t take it anymore.
So she went next door to the corner store, and walked back out with replacement lightbulbs. The city is quiet today, and her steps ring on the metal stairs up to her apartment door. She pauses, setting down the plastic bags in her hands with a quiet rustling, and clicks the key into their lock, and turns, pushing the door open.
The house is a darkened, moldy mess like always, though she’s been working at it.
Raju lounges on the back of a sofa, tail waving lazily through the air, and she swats at it on her way in.
The emerald cat gives a quiet hiss, but no other indication he’s registered her presence.
She tugs she shoes off and climbs onto the kitchen counter, getting on her tiptoes to reach the lights, realizing she’d need a screwdriver.
She picks up one of the bags she’d dropped on the counter, and pulls one out, rips it out of its packaging, and gets to work on removing the light fixture above. It’s difficult, straining at the edge of a kitchen counter to keep her balance and working at the same time, as she squints in the darkness and feels around to figure out where the screws are above her head.
But she manages it.
Auntie walks in at some point, glances at her, and goes back into her room without a change in expression.
Nidhii sighs a little, and finally pries the plastic cover of the rectangular light fixture off, and reaches for the replacement bulbs she’d purchased on the way here.
Must she fix everything around here?
next!
rise
no, I live in a suburban area. But I’ve been to the city, washington dc or something. And I’ve heard about new york and it sounds NIGHTMARISH. And I’ve been to the country as well… all that open space. It seems like a dream.
the area I live in now and the area I lived in before both have have houses way too close together and not much space where you’re not right in front of someone’s house… this place is worse. I don’t take walks because I feel walled in when I do.
XD
oh god I HATE mold I feel sorry for her XD
I like the name
Caroline felt herself rise through layers of cloud higher and higher as even the cloud layer retreated far below her. She struggled for control, but she was falling in reverse, powerless against the pull.
She felt the gem in her chest split and surround her, turning her into Crystal.
The sky turned black as she effortlessly exited the atmosphere and fell through space, speeding through miles faster than she could blink, until she could see nothing.
Then suddenly she was orbiting around a giant asteroid that shone in rainbows of shining color like a gem.
Somehow she knew the asteroid was invisible. She could feel the tug of its mindless power, seeking, blindly questing out for anything with the sentience it lacked.
This piece- Blue Crystal- was an important part of the asteroid. The asteroid felt the faint spark of an awareness in that crystal.
But it was asleep.
Caroline snapped awake, extremely disoriented because she expected to find herself floating in the middle of space.
Was that just a dream?
“Such… such a strange dream.” she said as she got dressed for work, the ordinary air of her apartment seeming unfamiliar and foreign.
She was spending too much time as Crystal. And having too many strange dreams.
“Well, what can you do. When you have the power to save the world, you have to use it.” she said.
Next:
Boo
it is :0
That’s the first time I’ve been in any american city that smells like worse parts of india, but everything was so BIG and COLORFUL and crowded and chaotic and SO MANY PEOPLE, idk, it was such a strange experience
yea…
it’s a version of this tamil word for king 
I think I heard it in a tv show once, and it just came up when I was trying to name the cat
Faya hates wandering into the lesser districts.
They’re crowded and dingy, all cracked pavements with piles of trash growing around every dark corner. The air is choking, and a thick, sweet smell of something rotting hangs there, and it’s always so unpleasantly damp and warm, the atmosphere seeming to press down on her head until a headache thrums between her brows.
Nevertheless, she walks down the sidewalk, her heels clicking, the faint sunlight glinting on her dark hair and silver jewelry, a cup of coffee clutched firmly in hand, as if all of that would provide her with the armor she needed to put up with whatever was going to happen today.
A slow sigh escapes her lips as she sees the clean white of the testing building down the street, past the rows and rows of buildings put up like cardboard faces, all leaning against each other and sagging under the weight of simply existing…
Alright.
Almost there.
She passes too close to an open doorway, almost tripping over the foot of a woman lounging there, as if it were the most comfortable place.
Faya casts the woman a glare, which the woman doesn’t bother to return, just hisses something under her breath and grins a little, turning away.
Faya raises a brow, and wouldn’t have thought more of it, until she sees the people sitting around in the darkened doorway behind the woman, watching, as the whites of their eyes show in the dark.
That brings Faya to a halt, if only because she hadn’t expected the sight.
They notice her attention, and too late, Faya doesn’t register the shift in their emotions.
“Get outta here,” one snaps, right before something hits Faya’s shirt.
She stumbles back, mouth agape as she wonders what the heck those people thought they were doing, and a chorus of boo’s start up among the people there.
The woman sitting up front spits at her, and Faya watches the glob of saliva hit the sidewalk, almost in slow motion, as it splashes against the tip of her boot and slides down.
She stands there, frozen, not because she hasn’t experienced this before, but because in any other circumstance, she would’ve called up her flame and wrecked havoc on these people for even looking at her the wrong way.
But what? Now she should be… letting this go?
Is that what she’s expected to do?
Now the woman is jeering at her, and all Faya wants to do is slam her knuckles into the side of her jaw.
But she clenches and unclenches her free hand, turns the tips of her boots back to face the white building in the distance, and keeps walking.
next!
sea
I feel like I heard a story about someone fainting or having a panic attack or something when entering a big city for the first time. It certainly sounds overwhelming.
ohhhh
I think these setup paragraphs are my favorite part of your writing. You’re really good at setting moods.
ohh, so it is faya from the spark roleplay!
The sea heaved restlessly as Torian, his mom, his little sisters, and his older brother tried to relax on a shore that seemed way too close to stormy.
It was their first vacation since the divorce. Things felt different without Dad around, but not having to hear him and Mom argue was definitely nice.
Since Torian’s twin sisters had gotten their first phones, they were always chatting with their friends. His mom was near the point of banning phones from family vacations, but Torian knew they would just sulk the whole time if she did that.
Underneath the hurrying grey clouds on the dim beach was one other family. They were far enough away that Torian could just faintly hear the kids screaming about how bad the weather was.
Torian was glad the weather was too bad to get in the water- even if he wore a shirt into the water the gem attached to his chest would be visible when the shirt got wet.
He wished he could get rid of the gem, but as many times as he’d tried to channel the power into giving it to someone else or at least detach itself from him, it hadn’t worked.
“Prina, Len, put down the phone.” Mom said firmly. “We’re having family time here.”
“I’m here, I didn’t complain about being dragged to the beach, why deprive me of my only source of entertainment?” Prina griped.
“We’re your entertainment today.” Brian said, poking Prina’s head. “And you too, Len.”
“Fine,” Prina said, stuffing her phone into her pocket before it could be confiscated, since that was clearly where this was heading.
Len followed suit, grumbling, then plopped onto the sand.
“I’m so bored.” she said.
“Look at the beautiful sea. When I was your age I could sit in front of it for hours, never getting bored once. Kids these days really have no attention spans. It’s those phones.” Mom reminisced.
Torian stared at the sea, annoyed at the irritated energy swirling around. Why drag everyone on a family trip when they didn’t want to be there? If they’d left Prina and Len at home, maybe hired a babysitter, this whole trip would have been way more fun.
Nobody was talking about anything interesting because all their attention was focused on making sure those two were paying attention.
“What’s wrong with them being on their phones?” he mumbled, watching the heaving sea.
“They’re not really here if they’re doing that. This is a chance to look at something like this, and…”
Mom trailed off.
Yeah, a stormy sea under a blanket of grey clouds wasn’t the most exciting sight, Torian though wryly.
Then he saw what she was looking at.
The sea spun in a massive whirlpool, then split as a huge form rose from it, shedding waterfalls of water to reveal a scaled blue head with monstrous red eyes.
Spikes and horns cascaded unevenly off the back of its skull, giving it the appearance of some kind of crazy murder knife.
“Whoa Jimlings, do you see that?” Torian heard one of the kids from the other family say.
Time seemed frozen as the massive creature emerged from the water, towering above them like a small skyscraper.
Then it fixed its eyes on the humans and opened its mouth, revealing rows and rows of jagged carnivorous teeth.
Its neck shot forward like a lightening bolt, a split tongue reaching for the humans like a dog on its way to lick up a treat.
Torian’s body reacted before his mind had a chance to catch up.
He was Jade, and he felt her arms straining to keep up a massive invisible shield against the creature. Even with her incredible power, the monster’s strength was a match for her own.
She could feel the power in the shield wavering as the monster began banging its head against it, trying to break it.
“Run!” she told everyone.
“Torian?” Brian said.
“Woah Jimlings, that boy turned into a girl! And now she’s fighting that big thing!” the kid from the other family said.
“Are you… recording me?” Jade said, unable to believe anyone could be so stupid. “You idiot, run! And you guys! I’ll catch up, get out of here!” she said.
Finally they seemed to get it. Jade could feel them retreating behind her.
Her barrier was about to crack. She considered warping away, but then this creature would be free to rise from the sea and follow her family.
“Need some help, little boy?” a spiteful voice asked. “I saw the livestream, and it looks like I’ve gotten here just in time.”
Pink missiles speared down from the sky and slashed at the creature, but they only scraped its tough scales.
Rose Quartz tched and flew higher as the monster snapped at her.
Jade breathed a sigh of relief, her barrier dissappearing, and teleported into the sky next to Quartz.
“I owe you one. Where is everyone else?” she asked.
“I suppose they don’t watch MonsterTV, which picked up that child Jim’s livestream,” Quartz said. “You can send out a call for Crystal while I distract this monster.” she said, then immediately dived closer to the leviathon, capturing its attention.
Jade sent out the call for Crystal. It was as though the gem in her chest knew Crystal’s name and could connect with her from anywhere in the world. There was a pulsing feeling from the gem, a moment of connection that told Jade it had made contact.
Then she summoned up the largest spear she could and sent it hurtling toward the serpent with all the force she could muster, using her whole body to channel the energy, as though she were throwing a real spear.
The spear struck a small gash in the serpent’s scales. For a moment Jade was filled with a cold fear as she didn’t see any blood or sign that it’d gotten through the scales. Then she noticed a tiny trickle of black blood seeping from the wound.
Quartz, who Jade had avoided hitting by a wide margin, immediately pounced on the opportunity, diving close to the creature with a slash of energy through the same wound. This time the attack was rewarded with a spray of blood.
Jade watched tensely as Quartz dived out of the way of the creature’s angry jaws, then teleported into the sky above it.
The creature bunched itself up, then leapt at Quartz, who teleported out of the way again.
Jade moved farther into the sky.
“What is this?” said Crystal, suddenly beside them.
“It’s some kind of monster that tried to eat everyone on the beach.” Jade said, feeling a snarl twist her face.
She realized she was angry. That thing had tried to eat her family, and she had the power to get revenge on it.
Recklessly, she teleported to the bleeding wound in its thrashing side and thrust all of her power into it, barely keeping herself from sending the jade pieces floating around her in as well.
The creature’s wound exploded, coating Jade in black blood even as she teleported away.
She spat out the monster’s blood as she watched it topple, hitting the sea with a massive, earth shaking wave.
Quartz stopped the wave from spreading with a dismissive hand motion that meant the creation of a massive clear barrier around it.
“We could have lured that thing out to sea. You didn’t have to kill it.” Crystal said tensely, sounding almost tearful.
“That thing tried to eat my family.” Jade said.
Not to mention revealed her identity for the whole public. Though it could have been even worse- she might have died if Quartz hadn’t seen that idiot Jim’s livestream.
“It’s a carnivore. It’s natural that it’d try to do that- you could have redirected its focus into the sea. We don’t even know how many of those things are left in the world, and you just killed one,” Crystal said.
Jade just looked at her, wondering how she could say something like that.
“That was a monster that just tried to eat a ton of people. I don’t care-”
“It would have eaten more people. Are you saying you’d like that, Crystal darling?” Quartz asked sweetly.
“I could have lured it back to the deep sea. Next time leave the animals to me.” Crystal insisted.
Jade teleported back to her family’s house, disgusted.
Nobody was there.
Jade took a moment to float the leviathon blood on her into the sink drain, then teleported to a few places she thought her family might be.
Finally she tried the beach and found them.
The leviathon was gone, she noticed as she transformed back into Torian.
“Are you okay? Why didn’t you tell us?” Mom said, rushing up and hugging him.
“I’m okay, Mom.” Torian said, hugging her back.
The relief that they were all okay outweighed his trepidation about the lecture to come.
“You could have been killed! You’re not going to transform again or do any magical shenanigans. Where did you even get that power? You didn’t make a deal with a demon or something, right?” she asked rapidly.
“No demonic deals. I don’t know where it came from. I was never in any danger from using the power, though I decided to stop a while ago. Jade, as she’s called, is nearly invincible.” Torian explained.
“Don’t lie to me!” Mom hit him lightly on the shoulder. “That monster nearly… you’re not doing anything like that again.” she said.
“I already wasn’t going to. Geez…” Torian muttered.
Next:
Over
:0
thanks!!
: D yeah!
oooh nice names
XD I’ve heard that before
XD ME, but with a book probably
XD you mean the one that’s heaving restlessly with the promise of storm?
ohhh
:0
10/10 family vacation
EXPOOOOSED
:0
:0
Jimling’s livestream XD
that’s such a cute nickname for Jim by the way
:0
the responsible answer
I was just like ‘YEAH! TAKE THAT HUGE SCARY MONSTER DOWN’ but very, very valid point.
XD
a responsible parent’s reaction to their children fighting humongous monsters rising from the sea
*characters from the Bartimaeus trilogy
Bartimaeus still visits him sometimes.
He rips open a portal just to sit at Nat’s window, watching the boy bumble through his everyday life.
Once, he finds the boy dancing.
He sits at the sill, leaning against the wall as Nat pushes the furniture out of the way, turning up his music and swinging his hips to the beat, singing way off-key.
Another day, Nat sighs, dropping his pen on his desk as he leans back in his chair. Bartimaeus watches as tears roll down his cheeks, watches as his fists clench in frustration.
Bartimaeus floats in, settling on the bed, swinging his legs idly as he listens to Nat’s quiet mutters.
Another day, he finds Nat sitting in that odd way of his that he does, knees pulled to his chest as he sits on the chair, wrapped in blankets and watching TV. Bartimaeus leans over his shoulder to chuckle at a scene.
Nathanial does not.
Bartimaeus glances at him, figuring Nat had been in a good mood. Nat’s eyes are glazed as he stares at a fixed point over the TV. Apparently not.
Once or twice, he thinks Nat knows he’s here.
It’s impossible, he knows.
But he plays with the thought anyway, when Nat’s wandering eyes pause on his own, when Nat suddenly looks over his shoulder or at the window, as if he can sense a foreign presence.
Nat is so weird.
Well, no, not particularly.
Maybe what’s weird is Bartimaeus.
Bartimaeus just can’t stop watching, and he figures it’s only a passing curiosity.
He’s spent centuries watching humans, and here was just one more. Another ordinary, fleeting human life. Another character in a story that stretches far past this little one’s limited understanding, whose everything seemed to be within the confines of his own little twisted world.
And yet.
Sometimes, Nat pauses, the edges of his lips curling slightly upwards.
Other times, Nat turns to the light just right, sweeping his raven hair back from his forehead, his blue eyes glowing, and Bartimaeus just won’t stop staring.
The jumpy, scowling Nat who tenses at the sight of people, becomes a completely different person when alone.
He doesn’t care.
Bartimaeus really doesn’t care.
And yet.
Bartimaeus sighs, the air rattling through his essence and escaping the lithe form of Ptolemy’s lips.
He hates the pressure of this world on his essence.
Nathanial is grooming himself in front of his mirror, probably for that Jane Farrar. Or maybe it’s Kitty this time. Who knows. Bartimaeus really doesn’t care.
Nathanial walks out the door, and Bartimaeus sinks down against the window’s edge, one foot dangling out the open window as he stares at the wood of the window frame, his eyes tracing the swirls in the polished wood.
next!
dust
ahh I love your commentary XD
it’s what he calls his followers- like how youtubers have nicknames for their fans XD
ooh, fanfiction!
XD
I love the kind of calm contemplative tone
Darius knelt in front of the grave of his mother, who had died when Darius was young. Darius’ father had never told him how, only that she was too weak to bear another child.
“Someday I will return to dust as well. I wonder, what kind of legacy will I leave behind at that time?” Darius said, examining the dark sword in his hand and possibilities it offered.
“Master Darius, your room is ready for you.” a maid said, bowing.
Without a word, he followed her, even though he knew the way.
This was the manor he’d grown up in. He’d barely gotten a chance to say goodbye to Kylis before he was called back here. And once he’d arrived he was told his father was busy and would see Darius when he had time.
The manor was the claustrophobic place Darius remembered, wood paneled walls lining narrow hallways, the smell of dust even where the maids had cleaned thoroughly.
He entered his childhood room and closed the heavy, dark wood door behind him, then leaned against it with a breath that came out slightly shaky.
He’d barely seen his room at this time of day even when he’d lived here. He had been expected to train until it was nearly dark, every single day. All for the purpose of getting this weapon he held.
He carefully put the sword down at the edge of the room, careful not to let the point touch the polished wood. He knew it would cut through the floor like it wasn’t there.
Darius could tell from the air in the room that the windows had been open until right before he’d walked in here. He could see that the sheets were newly changed, free from the quickly accumulating dust of an old house.
There had been no maids in the school dorms. The relatively new buildings had barely needed any maintainence and the students were required to clean up their living spaces themselves.
Darius sighed, taking off his jacket and sitting on the bed as he tossed it across the room to land over the chair.
The bed was soft and deep, endlessly absorbent like the sleep he’d sunk into after a long day of sword practice, riding, command, history, or any of what seemed like a thousand other subjects.
Darius’ nightmares were dark and terrifying, but in those days he was usually too tired to dream.
Darius lay on the bed and tried to sink into that familiar sleep, but his mind was writhing. He had to find a way out of this life his father had planned for him.
He couldn’t keep going down this narrow path, he couldn’t let himself be controlled like a puppet from one of those shows he’d seen once when he was a child. Not for the rest of his life.
There was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” he barked.
It was a maid.
“Your father wishes to see you.” she said.
He noticed something in her hand- a phone. Technology was discouraged in this household, as Darius’ father said having it around would distract him from his studies. He’d been taught enough about it to use it, but he’d never had a phone or a computer.
The maid noticed him noticing the phone and discreetly tucked it in her pocket as she backed away. Then she paused and reconsidered him.
“I feel I should tell you about some viral news, so you don’t appear ignorant before anyone, young Master. There’s been quite a stir- a young boy transformed into some kind of goddess and killed a leviathon.”
Without another word, she bowed again and backed out of the room, shutting the door.
Darius pulled his jacket back on and headed to see his father, not sure what to make of the vague, absurd sounding news. If it was real, the goddess was just another powerful being- he hoped he’d never have to face it in battle. Destroying a leviathon was a feat of legend.
Darius wanted to get a phone at some point- not to use it much, just to be up to date on what was going on in the world.
After passing through the twists and turns of the mansion that would get any stranger instantly lost, Darius pushed open the large door of his father’s study.
It was the same as ever, a spacious carpeted room lined with tall bookshelves. The antique desk at the center, with a plush armchair.
His father’s blonde and grey head, tilted down as he considered some papers on the desk in front of him.
“Ah, Darius.” his father said, looking up to pin his son with sharp grey eyes that stood out from a face faintly lined with harsh creases.
“Our country is fighting the traitorous Prillouians. You must defend our country on the battlefield. I’ve prepared a helicopter for you. You will be leaving at dawn tomorrow. You are dismissed.”
Darius stood there, wanting to be stunned but only too familiar with his father’s ways.
No word on why they were fighting this war. No word on why it was Darius’ job to fight in a war.
And what kind of magic or technology did his enemy have? Was Darius just going to die out there?
“Darius?” his father said, raising an eyebrow at him, still standing there.
“Sir.” Darius said, and left the room.
He headed straight back to his room.
He picked up the sword, embracing the hatred in it, and transformed into Amber.
As he stepped onto the windowsill, he sensed someone in the open door behind him. He turned to see one of the maids.
“That sword… Darius?” she guessed.
It was just a wild guess. But Darius decided to confirm it- he didn’t intend to return here anyway.
“Tell my father I’m not going to be his puppet. Not now, and not ever again.” he said, wincing at the sound of his voice.
Even as being in this form hurt him, he didn’t feel like holding back anymore. Life was pain. Why not choose a pain that might free him from the path he’d walked all this time?
He’d never been happy before.
Darius felt the anger inside him take the form of a tight smile.
It was time to try something different with life.
He jumped out the window, the bright green of the grounds surging toward him before he shot up into the sky, the rapid rising feeling convincing him that he’d made the right choice in leaving his entire life behind.
“I’ll never see Kylis or anyone from school again, but then, on that path, was I really going to survive long enough to? I’ve never see Father again. I’ll never visit Mother’s grave again. But what’s the worth in rolling in the dust of the past when there’s…”
Darius realized that his path through the sky, upward and forward, had carried him above the clouds. He could see flashes of the bright countryside, faded with distance, through patches of cloud.
He relaxed, relying on his power to keep him in the sky.
“I wonder what the limits of this power are?” he wondered, the miserable feeling of the strange body he was in contrasting with the euphoria of being in the sky.
He told the power to make him invisible. He told the power to hold his sword for him, even though it had seemed as light as a feather as soon as he’d transformed.
He put a hand in front of his face, but he really was invisible, and the Cursed Weapon as well.
He closed his eyes, laughing, and recklessly let himself sink into sleep.
Next:
What
XD
:0 ohh
: D
“I saw you.”
There’s a boy, standing at my elbow looking straight into my eyes like he’d just said something profound. I put down the carton of milk I’d been carrying on the shopping counter, as the clerk behind the desk glances between the boy and me, then continues to scan my items in.
“Excuse me?” I say, pulling out a few vegetables off my cart and putting them on the counter, not meaning to be rude, but I really did have to get home before Raju made a mess of things.
“You were talking. To the birds.” He says, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see him shuffling, as his voice peters off uncertainly.
“Yes.” I say, when I’m done putting all my items on the counter. I turn to the boy, folding my arms defensively over my stomach. “I might’ve done that some time this week.”
He seems taken aback, then the determination returns in his expression as he continues. “You talked to the cursed ones.”
Is that what he calls them?
“Yes. May I ask if I can help you?”
“What?” Confusion, again.
I purse my lips. “Well, if that’s all you wanted to confirm–”
I pull out my wallet, pay for the groceries.
“Wait–”
He grabs my arm just as I’m about to turn away, and everything in me tenses, until he lets go.
“I-- I just.”
“Yes?” I ask, as patiently as I can when I turn to him.
“…See you at school?”
I flash him a tight smile. “Yes. Let’s do that.”
I walk out, shrugging off the strangest feeling.
People in the city are so weird.
Next!
Fry
Darius woke up to a heat that should have fried him. In this form it only singed him. Even his clothing was only blackened.
The pain pulled him out of the nightmare he’d been having and he realized he was the center of a raging storm.
It took him a moment to realize that the storm had no calm spot at the center. He was the center of the storm, and it was strongest around him.
He wondered if the storm had hurt anyone. What did it matter if it had?
He flew away, leaving the storm raging behind him, and found himself over the mansion again. It didn’t seem right to leave it here, with his awful father living peacefully in it.
‘What about the maids?’ Something in him thought to ask.
“They chose to work for him.”
In the sea of grey clouds at the edge of the storm he’d made, with a sea of distance between him and the mansion, Darius raised his Cursed Weapon and brought it down with a bolt of energy that came out as pure lightening.
With a deafening crack, the mansion burst into flames.
Darius teleported away without looking back.
Perhaps he could start living some kind of life as Amber. She could destroy something.
Darius opened his eyes to find utter blackness overlaid with a slight rainbow glow. He looked behind him to see some kind of bright, massive object shining in a rainbow of colors.
Not understanding what he was seeing and slightly freaked out, he teleported again.
He found himself on a green field, empty of everything but a single tree.
He imagined burning the field just for the sake of it, but what would be the meaning of venting his anger in that way?
He lay down under the tree, promising to himself that when he woke up, if he still felt so unsatisfied and angry, he’d find out if his father was still alive and kill him if he was.
Next:
Gold
:0 nice detail!
<3
yea, I was thinking Darius could relate
:0
right???
:0
:00
:0
DUDE YOU JUST BURNED DOWN A MANSION
:0
valid
I’m not sure what I was expecting, when that idiot walked off, promising to return safely.
Soft waiting-room music plays in the background as I bounce my foot in the quiet hallway, casting periodic glances at the large clock that ticks away on the opposite wall. I’m not sure if it’s accurate, or even if it reflects real-time. Maybe the creatures thought it would be funny to watch me struggle to keep my composure under the current circumstances.
But the long needle moves, oh-so-slowly, around the clock.
I’m not sure how much time really passes.
But if he’s not back soon, I’m going to pull out my sword and walk in there myself. It might be going a little overboard, but whenever Lux is involved, it’s better to go in weapons swinging.
I hear the clicking of heels first, and glance up as a tall girl walks back out down the hallway.
I stand up, my fingers reaching for my sword as she approaches.
I know she’s not human from the gold that glitters on her lips, and shines through in the waves of her long, midnight hair. She takes long strides, with a rigid poise I find faintly familiar. Her dress wraps tightly around her in muted gold, and a silky shawl drapes from her shoulders and trails on the ground as she walks.
I find myself admiring her fashion, even when I know this isn’t the time.
Well, whatever this creature is, it has taste.
“…Lux?” I say, finally, my hand resting on the hilt when she’s just a few paces away.
“I know,” he sighs, walking right past me, his voice tired.
I start to grin, and follow after him. “Lux?”
He mutters darkly.
next!
silence
I was just thinking ‘she sounds fashionable’ XD
okay now I’m really curious about this scene XD
Torian woke up in a silence that seemed out of place for his house. He tried to get up, but his hands and feet were restrained.
He gasped and snapped into awareness.
There was a ceiling with rafters and lights. Torian turned his head, noticing that his neck also had a collar around it, though looser.
On either side of him he could just make out stacks of boxes.
It looked like a warehouse.
Torian was sure he’d fallen asleep in his own bedroom. Freaked out and slightly panicked, he tried to transform into Jade.
An wave of cold discomfort filled him, coming from the restraints around his limbs and neck.
Someone had captured him because he was Jade. What did they want from him, were they planning to experiment on him or something?
Torian struggled, but the restraints around his limbs felt like room temperature rock.
“You’re awake! That’s so nice.” a high, screechy voice said.
A face popped into his field of view.
It was a girl with long green hair and bright red eyes. Her mouth was open in a grin that revealed sharp teeth, and horns jutted out of her head.
Torian felt a shock of fear run through him. He’d always found the demons the Gem Squad fought particularly unsettling. It had been an unpleasant surprise to learn that creatures like that had lived among humans all along, he’d just been unaware.
“What do you want from me?” he said, trying to look as though he wasn’t shaking in his boots.
“Your power, of course!” she said, smiling.
Torian felt something sharp on the side of his face. It was one of the demon’s claws, he realized.
“Unless you don’t want to, of course.” she said threateningly.
“I’ve tried to give it to people. I don’t know how.” Torian said.
He honestly would have given it to the demon if he could. He didn’t want to be tortured, and the Gem Squad could deal with an evil magical girl.
“Start by telling me everything you know about this power.” The demon said.
Torian went through the story.
“This gem randomly appeared on my chest one day when I was walking to school. I realized I could transform into Jade, and soon afterward I saw Crystal in a dream.”
Torian was aware that he could be putting her in danger by revealing the connection between her and the rest of the Gem Squad, but he didn’t care. The other magical girls would deal with it- Quartz would definitely fight a demon.
“A gem appeared on your chest?” the demon asked, poking his chest and looking surprised to feel the gem.
She pulled his shirt up and examined the bright green gem embedded in his skin.
She scratched at it with her claws, but they slid smoothly off. Then she stuck them into the skin beside it, trying to dig it out. Torian screamed in pain.
“I lost you around that last corner for a while there. What have you been up to?” a slightly raspy, androdynous voice said from a few paces away.
“Who are you?” the demon girl asked, pulling her bloody claws up in a defensive posture.
“Just a random passerby who was watching Torian. I knew someone would try to kidnap him now that his identity is out.”
“Why would you try to defend him? You’re not some kind of do-gooder weirdo, are you?” the demon girl asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.
“He’s amusing. I’m curious about what he’ll do next with his power.” the other voice said, as if Torian were some kind of interesting specimen.
“So much that you’ll fight me? You’re just some random demon. What makes you think you’re stronger than me?” the voice asked.
The androdynous voice tched.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. Oh well. Actually, I’m not just a random demon.”
There was a flash of purple light,
“Actually, I’m Amethyst,” Amethyst’s voice said.
The demon girl gasped, and with a flash of purple light a spray of blood drenched Torian. He wanted to wipe it off his mouth, but his hands were bound.
Amethyst began undoing his restraints. As soon as one of his hands was free he tried to wipe the blood off his mouth, but it stuck.
When only the ring around his other hand was left, Amethyst paused.
“You won’t tell anyone that I’m a demon, won’t you? As a favor to this demon who saved you just now.” she said.
Torian nodded quickly, just wanting to get out of there.
Amethyst undid the last shackle and Torian immediately transformed into Jade, floating the blood off of himself.
He wanted to go home, but he wasn’t even safe there. How long would it be before someone decided to take his family hostage to get at him?
He had to convince them to let him warp them away to start a new life somewhere.
Without another thought of Amethyst, he teleported back home.
Next:
Future
XD I am too
XD I love how he depends on this fact even though they don’t get along at all
aww you DO care, amethyst <3
XD I like pretending creatures who would actually kill you are nicer than they are
I stare at the television, suffocated by the silence in the air as he scrolls through his phone beside me, our shoulders brushing.
‘How was your day?,’ I want to ask.
‘Hm,’ he’d reply. ‘Alright.’
‘Alright?’ I’d repeat, my smile thinning, about to scream, about to cry, about to pull his phone out of his hands and throw it across the room.
And he wouldn’t reply, the reflection of his phone screen a glowing rectangle on his glasses.
I would sit there silently, trying to pull myself together, asking myself why I’m being this way.
I would want to turn him around, to grab the sides of his face and make him look into my eyes so I could see his expression. I’d want to smile, and I’d want to make him smile back at me, make him tell me everything was fine.
But I wouldn’t.
Because if I could see his face, I’d see the light long since faded from his eyes, and the last thing holding us together would unravel away.
And finally, because I wouldn’t be able to speak past the lump in my throat or the pain behind my eyes, I’d stand up, utter a ‘Goodnight,’ and walk back to our room.
He would sigh to himself-- a long, tired, sigh. I would hear it as I open our bedroom door, as I ease it shut behind me.
And that would be our conversation for the day.
“Honey?”
I snap out of it, blink at the TV.
I look at him.
He smiles, his expression worn.
“How was your day?”
…I wanted to try some genre I’ve never written in. Um. Interesting? XD
next!
salt
SAME- I mean if you set up the right scenarios they care XD
I like it! I kind of have to consider it twice to get a sense for what’s going on, but in a good way.
“Idiot. You added too much salt.” Penny, Leilah’s older sister reprimanded her, making a face at the pancakes.
“I think they’re fine. Look, I can eat them.” Leilah said, stuffing a pancake in her mouth.
“That’s because yours are swimming in an ocean of maple syrup. I don’t have a little girl’s sugar obsessed tastebuds.” Penny said disdainfully.
“Whatever. Are you gonna get me the candy you promised me for making you lunch?” Leilah said.
“Well, seeing as your pancakes suck and you’re using up way too much maple syrup, I don’t see why I should.”
Leilah gritted her teeth and glared at her older sister.
“I’m never doing anything for you again.” she said.
Penny ignored her, putting on her coat even though she was supposed to be with Leilah for another few hours.
Once the door shut behind her, Leilah was left in the silence of being home alone. It was such a familiar silence. She hated it.
She could turn into Red Diamond and go teleport somewhere cool. It was an amazing escape.
Leilah was scared by what happened to Torian, though. She’d heard about the whole thing on the news. He’d been outed as Jade protecting his family, and right after that he and his family had dissappeared.
Leilah didn’t want to imagine what Mom and Penny would do to her if they found out she’d been gallivanting around as Diamond.
But if she was caught in a situation like Torian had been in, of course she’d have to save them.
Trying to shut out the images of being hit and yelled at, Leilah stuffed her sister’s portion of the pancakes in her mouth, without maple syrup.
They still tasted fine to her.
After she finished eating and put the leftovers away for later, cleaned everything up, and tried unsucessfully to take a nap, Leilah looked at the clock.
There was still an hour and a half left. She was bored out of her mind.
Leilah reminded herself of what would happen if mom or Penny happened to come home early and discovered she wasn’t there.
“Hah. They never come home early.” she said, transforming and teleporting away.
Leilah practiced something they’d tried in the last Gem Squad meeting, trying to teleport herself to a sense of distress.
It was an old man desperately running his fingers through the grass.
“What’s wrong?” Leilah asked.
“I lost my wallet! I just withdrew money to pay for Minnie’s vet visit! I can’t afford to lose this.” he said, not seeming to really notice Leilah.
“I… don’t know how to help you with that.” she said, teleporting again.
This time it was a rabbit in the jaws of a fox. The rabbit was dead in the next instant.
“Um, humans only?” Leilah told her powers, irritated.
The next teleportation brought her to an empty field with a single tree, peaceful and quiet but laden with a sense of dread from heavy clouds in the sky above.
It took a moment for Leilah to notice the person leaned against the tree.
It was Amber.
She was asleep, but there were tears on her face. In her hand was some kind of big black sword.
Leilah was never sure what to do when people cried. She usually just left them alone.
Amber’s breathing changed slightly and she opened her eyes, as if sensing Leilah’s presence.
“Uh, are you okay?” Leilah asked, trying to think about what a superhero would say in this situation.
“What are you doing here?” Amber asked, getting to her feet.
“I just came here. I mean, what about you?” Leilah said nervously, trying unsucessfully to get herself in the headspace of a superhero.
“I have nowhere left to go. All that’s left for me is to destroy.” Amber said cryptically, examining her sword.
“Um, I’m sure that’s not true,” Leilah tried, but it sounded fake.
Whatever, she could just be herself.
“I mean what the heck are you talking about?” she tried again, liking that better.
“I mean,” Amber pointed the sword at Leilah, “I feel like killing you right now.”
“What? I never did anything to you.” Leilah took a step back.
“This isn’t about revenge anymore.” Amber insisted, taking a step forward.
Diamond should fight her, shouldn’t she? But she was scared.
Without the other magical girls at her back, Leilah just felt like Leilah.
“Crystal!” she called, putting up a red shield just as Amber teleported up to her and swung the sword, sparks flying as it scraped her shield.
“Why are you doing this?” Diamond asked, trying to wrap her magic around Amber’s limbs like shackles.
Amber broke through them like they were nothing, the strength of her malice stronger than Leilah’s uncertain decision to fight her.
Amber just screamed wordlessly, her sword piercing Diamond’s shield and almost slicing her in half as she dived to the side.
Diamond teleported back home.
Panting, she fell to her knees on the living room floor. She couldn’t fight that. She simply wasn’t strong enough.
She had no resolve. Not like that. Not even like the rest of the Gem Squad had.
Diamond transformed back, her breath coming quickly as she walked unsteadily to the kitchen. She leaned against the counter, her vision blurring.
“What happened! Leilah, talk to me!”
Some amount of time had passed. She was lying on the floor and Mom was holding something to her side.
Leilah’s shirt, soaked with blood, was pulled up.
So that last attack hadn’t missed.
Leilah focused on the red gem in her chest, pulling its power toward the wound. She couldn’t figure out how to heal herself completely, but she closed it enough that it shouldn’t bleed any more even if she moved a lot.
Leilah tried to figure out how to get it to give her more blood, but somehow it seemed hard to figure out how to do things with her powers right now.
“I’m okay now.” Leilah said, weakly trying to push Mom away.
It didn’t work.
Mom opened her mouth and Leilah braced herself.
Next:
Cute
right??
<3
<3
:0
congrats Amber, I was starting to like Leilah ;-;
aaa but this scene was cool!
Crisp autumn air, the sounds of a waking city.
He swings his legs overlooking the dizzying height below him, where water crashes against the city’s metal gates.
He just wanted to catch a break from the rest of the crew, and somehow found himself climbing the arching bridge all the way to the gates.
Over the wall, he can see what the city hides from, the miscellaneous, neon creatures swimming through the dark depths of the sea. Some of them notice his presence, apparently, as colorful tendrils of the mess of creatures below him start to creep up the wall.
He pulls his legs back, though there’s not any real danger.
He only lingers a little while more after that, and chooses to stand up, turning away.
Someone stands a few paces behind him, who he hadn’t noticed.
He stumbles back, almost losing his balance before straightening himself.
“What-” He’s cursing out, before he hears the mysterious humanoid shape chuckle.
He pauses, reconsidering. No, he doesn’t know if that thing is human. Not on this side of the bridge. Better not indulge with conversation.
But there’s no way down the gate except behind the shadowy creature in front of him.
He inches closer, wishing he’d brought anything at all to defend himself with.
The creature moves, and he freezes.
“Good morning.” A pleasant, clear voice.
He blinks.
The creature doesn’t move again.
He tenses and sprints suddenly, right past the creature and over to where he can reach the metal railings he’d used to climb up here in the first place.
He throws himself over the wall and bangs against the side of the railings, grabbing on and quickly descending.
As he goes, all he hears is a faint chuckle, and the creature muttering, “Cute.”
He doesn’t look back up.
Next!
drop
she’s not dead yet XD
this is like poetry- words like dizzying and crashed for some reason put a really strong picture of the scene in my mind.
this is really interesting!
XD
Crystal dropped to the ground in a field of grass blown by the intense winds of a raging storm. Diamond’s presence, which she was sure had called her here, was gone.
It had taken Crystal a while to figure out that the signal calling her wasn’t in her world at all- this was another dimension entirely.
“DIE!”
Crystal barely managed to get her shield up in time to block a heavy sword swing that would have cleaved her in half.
The magical girl behind the sword was Amber, her face twisted in rage.
“What happened to you, Amber?” Crystal said, gathering her shield firmly to block Amber’s repeated blows.
Amber just screamed at her, battering at her shield in a blind fury.
Crystal wondered for a moment what had happened to Diamond, but she focused her attention on the situation at hand.
Crystal closed her eyes for a moment, gathering her will firmly, then opened them and placed a command in Amber’s brain.
“Sleep.”
Amber went out like a light, and the storm began losing power. Crystal hadn’t even realized it had come from her.
Crystal bound Amber’s hands together with shining blue shackles of magic energy.
She picked up the sword he’d been using.
“I see. You want to consume me, but you’re already focused on someone else.” Crystal said, somehow feeling that this was a creature that took the form of a world.
She’d never seen a creature like this- but in her days as a magical girl she’d seen a lot of new beings. It didn’t phase her anymore.
“Are you to blame for Amber’s…” she wondered, trailing off.
Was Amber possessed? Just angry? She’d always seemed irritable when Crystal had seen her in the past, but that wasn’t the same as murderous rage.
Crystal planted the sword in the dirt at the base of the tree, picked up Amber, and teleported to the bottom of a rocky canyon somewhere on their own world.
“Wake up,” Crystal said, focusing her magic on Amber’s brain.
Amber opened her eyes, blank at first, then with gathering aggression swimming to the surface.
“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. Can you tell me what happened?” Crystal said softly, like she was talking to a scared animal.
“I’m not worried about you hurting me. You should be worried about yourself, Crystal.” Amber said, glaring at her.
“I’m glad you remember me.” Crystal said diplomatically.
So he hadn’t lost his memory. Why did he want to hurt Crystal, then?
“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” Crystal tried.
“I feel so angry.” Amber said, putting her hands to her face, seeming surprised to feel that they were bound together.
The gems floating around Amber returned to her chest and she turned into a blonde haired boy in an upper class outfit.
Darius immediately felt more like himself. Not just in that returning to his body felt like greeting an old friend, but in that he had regained some part of his reason.
Darius sighed. Still…
“I’ve left behind my entire life. Everything I had, friends, family, home. I don’t know how to start anew, or if I even deserve to,” he said, remembering what he’d done to the mansion.
“I can help you.” Crystal said gently.
“I could hurt you. This gem isn’t bonded to me, it’s bonded to my shadow, a negative piece of me that the Cursed Weapon detached. And the Cursed Weapon…” he glanced around, realizing he didn’t have it anymore.
“It’s gone.” Crystal supplied.
Perhaps that was best.
Crystal patiently waited for Darius to gather his thoughts.
“Is there any way to get rid of this?” he asked, gesturing to his chest where the gem was half merged with his skin.
At some point, the shackles had dissolved.
“I don’t know yet, but we can work on it. And in the meantime, how about we find you a job, a place to stay, help you meet some friends?” Crystal offered, extending a hand toward Darius, palm up.
“You don’t know what I’ve done, or what I’m capable of.” Darius warned her, although the offer was tempting.
“Wouldn’t you rather leave it behind you? I believe in you.” Crystal said, smiling at him.
There was absolutely no reason for her to trust him, which somehow made Darius want to prove he was worth that unfounded trust.
He took her hand, and she teleported him into a small, neat living room.
Crystal’s gems returned to her and she turned into a blonde haired woman around early middle age.
“My name is Caroline. What would you like to be called?” she asked.
Darius understood that she was offering him a chance to assume a new identity, along with a name, but he liked his own. He was used to responding to it, too.
“Darius.” he said.
“We’ll have lunch, then see about registering you as a visitor from another dimension. They don’t check too closely to make sure you’re that and not an illegal immigrant. Just make up a few facts about the world you come from and what sort of magic spell made you end up here.” Caroline said, gesturing for him to follow her into the kitchen as she started preparing lunch.
Darius nodded, but something else was on his mind.
“Do you know if Diamond is okay?”
Caroline shook her head.
“I’ll see if I can get in touch with her. Psychic communication is tricky and works best in dreams.” she said.
Darius nodded, dropping the topic as he offered to help her prepare lunch.
(finally, the first generally feel-good chapter)
Next:
Scary
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: D
This is Lux’s world but I never get around to describing the creatures since I always become so interested in Lux himself XD
tbh I think this was heavily inspired from the time Amethyst showed up to get Torian, though I didn’t go in planning for that
:0
crystal is so nice XD
yea, probably
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hold up ppl know there are other dimensions and you need a form of identification for that?
wooah :0
when Torian’s identity got revealed, I was really excited, but idk where this was going
But this is cool!
Everyone’s learning a little bit more from each other, and Torian did the smart thing and disappeared with his family
Nidhii wakes up to find herself walking in a daze.
The woods are alive around her, the presence of Mai that always seems so much stronger when night falls. She’s not sure how far she is from home, but her body presses on through the trees, bare feet slipping on rocks slick from recent rain and crunching through dead leaves and fallen twigs.
She doesn’t resist.
She knows it’s pointless.
She just hopes she doesn’t get irrecoverably hurt–or worse, killed.
Her feet lead her on and on through the trees, and she closes her eyes, giving into her drowsiness.
Frigid water engulfs her body, pushes its way into her mouth and through her nose, choking out all her air.
Blind struggling gets her nowhere, and the view is unrelentingly dark when she opens her eyes.
Something is wrapping around her, something even her numbing skin can sense is dangerous as chills that have nothing to do with the temperature of the water electrify her body, pushing her to struggle all the harder.
She’s certain she’s going to die, and she doesn’t want to.
Thoughts float back to her, of Raju’s wide orange eyes and the rap of Amma’s ruler against her palm, of fidgeting under the table as the scent of warm soup mists in her face. Of Neil, and Arrossa, and Auntie and Abba.
She’s going to die.
She always knew the Mai would go too far one day.
She struggles still, as darkness descends on her consciousness.
An emerald shine–
and she opens her eyes, relief flooding her.
The water glows green, illuminating everything for a brief moment, and the creature’s grip on her loosens.
She looks down, sees the large, large tentacle unravel from her body, and she starts floating upwards.
Determined, she pushes her legs and flaps her arms, moving her numbing body to her will as she fights for the surface.
When she inhales air, she starts hacking, and after a short struggle, her body brushes against the shallows, and she pulls herself out.
As she lays gasping in the chilly mud, the glow of the low moon illuminating the quiet woods, she sees them.
Raju sits at the edge of the water, licking his fur down, and a taller figure couches on the earth next to him. Auntie’s silvery hair frames the angles of her face as she watches her, eyes impassive.
Nidhii lets her head fall back, continuing to greedily take in air.
By the time she sits up again, he’s sitting beside her, pressing his warm fur to her side, and Nidhii grabs for him, but the cat steps out of the way.
‘I’m not something you cuddle,’ His voice sounds petulant, probably still upset about last time.
Nidhii wraps her arms around her shaking shoulders, trying to fight away the chill. “C-cold.”
‘I did my job saving your life,’ he sniffs.
She lets out an irrational laugh, and pushes at the ground to get back on her feet.
next!
follow
ohhh XD
whenever people say they were inspired by something I wrote, I don’t quite see the resemblance, but I’m really happy they feel that way XD I think it’s more of a feeling than an actual decently sized story element
Oh actually I see it- it’s a person who gets kidnapped and then someone else rescues them! sort of similar, yeah.
I figure so, since this world seems to have other dimensions from the place with the tree not being in the same world- and it just, with all the magic and random stuff, seems like the kind of world that would XD
so my mind jumped to the next kind of trope- what do you do with interdimensional travelers in a modern city, where everyone needs and ID and you want to know where everyone came from.
Oh, I just read this again and it’s clearer now XD yes I guess there are enough interdimensional travelers that the public knows and there’s a government system for them.
yeah he kind of ran off 
I’m not sure what I can do with that- for him the ideal end goal just seems like it’d be living a peaceful life with his family.
yeah, probably the smart thing XD
oh, actually I have a vague idea for what could happen next with him.
sleepwalking?
I feel like I’m missing one crucial detail in understanding what’s going on, but this seems really cool- I love the description of her almost drowning and the other characters.
“Tell me!” Mom screamed, raising her hand to slap Leilah, but faltering at the last second and barely hitting her.
“I really forgot! I don’t know!” Leilah lied, raising her hands to shield her face anyway.
“Don’t lie to me! I didn’t raise you to lie, young lady!” Mom settled for yelling at her.
Somewhere in the lecture Penny had entered and through interspersed question gotten a grasp on what was going on.
“Let me talk to her, Mom.” Penny said, pulling at Mom’s jacket.
She didn’t move, continuing to yell at Leilah.
“It will only take a moment. Mom.” Penny said.
“Don’t lecture me, young lady! She somehow got a deep gash in her side and was !@#$% bleeding out and she’s not even telling her own family what happened to her! She needs to tell us what !@#$% monster did this to her right now and she’s clamming up as if she doesn’t trust her own mother! I’m going to beat the truth out of this little liar until she-”
“Mom. You aren’t going to do any such thing. She’s hurt.” Penny insisted.
Leilah’s estimation of her sister rose as she clutched at the bandage on her side, trying to make the power in her body heal it in a way that was less painful.
Right now she was far more scared of her mother than she was of Amber. In fact she’d almost rather be fighting Amber.
A mesmerizing thought bubbled up in Leilah’s mind.
What if she could just… transform and teleport away? Nobody was looking for her. She didn’t need food as Diamond. She didn’t want to be yelled at, and she didn’t want to be hit.
As Leilah tried to gather up her courage, she became aware that Penny had successfully convinced Mom to leave the room and was crouched by Leilah’s side.
“She cares about you. That’s why she’s so angry. You nearly died from blood loss, Leilah. That really scared us. Step into our shoes- what if that happens again? What can we do to help if you if we don’t even know what happened?” Penny said, her voice softer than Leilah had known it could go.
“It was my fault.” Leilah said, looking aside.
Penny waited, but Leilah didn’t say anything else. She wasn’t sure how to start, what to tell them, how they’d react.
Penny grabbed Leilah’s shoulders and shook her, stopping when Leilah winced in pain.
Maybe she should play up the pain she was feeling to soften her family’s anger. But then maybe she should just leave? Would that be okay? They’d wonder where she’d gone and worry about her.
“You’re being selfish! Think about how we feel!” Penny yelled, and left the room.
Once Penny had left and Leilah knew there was nobody around to reprimand her for crying, she did.
“I should have told them. Why didn’t I tell them?” Leilah said to herself.
It was a stupid thing, anyway. Thinking she could be a hero, staying to fight someone clearly more powerful than herself. She wasn’t going to do anything like that ever again. Diamond wasn’t some escape- what Leilah did in that form was real, with real consequences.
And someone like Leilah could never be a hero.
It’d never happen again. She’d stay away from danger, and eventually her family would forget all about this. But that didn’t mean Leilah would stop being Diamond. It was the only way she had to get away from things.
Leilah became aware that her hand was clenched around her gem, and of a faint pulsing in her head. She let herself fade into a half dream.
“Diamond!” Crystal noticed her, rushing up to her and taking her hand as firmly as she could.
It was all a metaphor. The field around them, the visual representation of Crystal’s mind connecting to Leilah’s.
Leilah was in the form of Diamond here, since it was her gem that was connecting to Crystal’s.
“Are you okay? Amber wants to apoligize for what happened. Can you teleport to this location in five minutes?”
The area around them faded into a canyon, somehow making a mark in Leilah’s mind of exactly where it was.
“Okay.” Leilah agreed.
She was used to the Gem Squad members meeting in places where normal humans couldn’t survive for long, such as snowy mountains, volcanos, or high in the sky, but she supposed there wouldn’t be anyone in this rocky canyon either.
Leilah faded into wakefulness, listened to the faint sound of Mom and Penny yelling at each other, and slipped out the back door.
She glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, then turned into Red Diamond and teleported to the meeting place.
“I’ll take you there, you don’t have to transform.” Caroline quickly reassured Darius as he washed his hands.
He nodded and his lunch swam uneasily in his stomach. Well, that was partially because it was way spicier than anything he was used to.
But it was also nerves. He could do all those terrible things, but when it came to facing the people he hurt he was a coward.
Don’t be, he yelled at himself internally as Caroline transformed.
He took the hand she offered and immediately they were in another location.
Darius stumbled, disoriented. Somehow it was completely different from teleporting himself.
Crystal helped him to his feet and smiled encouragingly at him like a mother. Not that Darius knew what that was supposed to be like.
They waited there for a moment, then Diamond appeared next to them.
She looked uncertainly at them as Crystal stepped back, looking encouragingly at Darius.
“I’m sorry.” Darius said, bowing as if it were a formal event.
“Ummm…” Diamond said.
“He’s Amber.” Crystal supplied.
Darius burned with embarrassment. How hadn’t he remembered to mention that?
“Oh!” Diamond said, taking a big step away from him.
“I’m really sorry.” Darius repeated, unable to look at her.
Crystal somehow managed to not show any expression despite the awkwardness hanging thickly in the air.
“But like, why did you attack me?” Diamond asked, her voice high.
“I was under the influence of dark magic. But it wasn’t entirely the magic’s fault. I let it come to that.” Darius said.
“Oh. Um, okay. Just like, it’s not an addiction right?” Diamond asked.
Darius blinked.
“No, dark magic isn’t…” he paused.
He didn’t know for sure that it wasn’t. There was something intoxicating about the idea of destroying things, even as he shuddered at it.
“Well actually, I don’t know. But I don’t plan to put myself in a situation to find out ever again.” he said, making a promise to her, to Caroline, but mostly to himself.
Leilah nodded. She lifted her hand as if to shake his hand, but stopped because that felt weird, like making a deal of some sort.
On an impulse, she called her gems back to her. If this guy was her in his true form, she felt like she should follow his example and show hers.
Crystal and the man looked at her with stunned expressions.
“My name is Leilah.” she said.
“I’m Darius.” Darius said, staring numbly at the little girl.
All the things that could go wrong with a child running around with superpowers flashed through Crystal’s mind. No, forget that, she couldn’t even think of all the things that could go wrong for the child.
“You shouldn’t tell people your name or your real identity. You shouldn’t go out as Diamond at all. Do your parents know about this?” gushed out of her mouth in a concerned stream.
“No.” Leilah transformed again and floated up.
Crystal should have been able to tell her age from the way she spoke. She’d just assumed all of the Gem Squad were adults. Stupid, stupid.
Leilah was gone in an instant, before Crystal could even think about capturing her and forcing her to go home. Or was that the best option? What was Leilah’s home life like that she’d willingly come here?
“I feel really bad for attacking her now.” Darius admitted.
Leilah made herself invisible, then warped into the kitchen.
She’d expected Penny and Mom to be searching for her and she could appear behind them and pretend to have been there all along, but no, they were still arguing in the living room.
Leilah thought about Crystal. It was clear that given the chance she’d drag Leilah home and make her fess up to her parents.
Leilah had made the mistake of trusting people at school too much when she was younger, and she’d learned from the experience.
Did that mean she couldn’t go to the Gem Squad meetings now?
Well, she’d never been helpful to them from the start. Maybe now she could try visiting the deep sea, or space, or… why hadn’t she thought of doing all this before? She could literally do anything!
A sobering thought occurred to her.
What if Crystal could track Leilah through her gem? She hoped not.
She didn’t want the fun to end.
Next:
Drum