#aaralyn

[chaoticbynature-archived]

Feral Strength

letsescapefromreality asked “I need to be stronger.” (From Aaralyn)”

The wolf nodded, his forehead glistening with sweat. "Is that why you came to this gym?" he asked, "do you want to see what an Alpha can do when he lets loose?"

[sassyshoulderangel319]

Notes: Platonic/familial Moxiety is one of my favorite Sanders Sides relationships. (Side note: I did NOT mean for this to get this long! XD) @puns-and-patton @eurusholmesakabestsisterever @eequalsmcscared

Part 1

Aaralyn stared at the stairs when the five of them arrived at the roommates’ apartment building. “Uh... what are these?” she asked.

“... Stairs,” Logan said.

Patton beamed. “They’re, like, little mini floors that you climb to get up to the big main floors,” he explained.

Aaralyn blinked. “... Right. How am I supposed to climb them?”

“Like this,” Logan said, brushing past her and walking up the stairs. Roman chased after him, running up two-at-a-time while Aaralyn stared.

“Roman is making the act of climbing stairs needlessly complicated,” Aaralyn stated.

“Yup,” Virgil said. “Ignore him. Just take them one at a time.”

Patton took the first two steps up and offered his hand to Aaralyn. “Here. I’ll hang on to you. That okay?”

She reached up and took his hand, hesitantly putting her foot on the first stair. “Sure,” she said.

“See, most people learn to climb stairs in some form or another when they’re children. So don’t be intimidated by the fact that we’re doing this without any effort.”

“But it requires a lot of effort to climb more than three-to-five flights,” Virgil muttered.

Aaralyn carefully took the stairs, clinging to Patton’s hand and setting each foot on the step above the other very deliberately. By the time she, Patton, and Virgil reached the top, Logan and Roman had unlocked the boys’ apartment door and gone inside.

“This is our apartment,” Patton said. “We’ll teach you how to use all the stuff in it and you’ll be human-passing in no time.” He beamed.

“Is an apartment like... a grotto?”

Patton and Virgil shared a glance. “Well...” Patton trailed off. “What does grotto mean to you?”

“A living space with a place to sleep and work.”

“Yeah close enough. We also keep our food here. In this thing!” Patton patted the fridge. “This is called a refrigerator. Or a fridge. It keeps all the food that needs to be stored at lower temperatures cold.”

“That was an uncharacteristically Logan-like answer, Pat,” Virgil said.

Aaralyn carefully approached Virgil. “I apologize if this question seems ridiculous. But... you’re not a merman who had to leave his pod too, are you?” she asked, sitting on the sofa next to him. She sat like she still had her tail on land with her knees and legs pressed together.

Virgil scrunched his eyebrows. “It’s not a ridiculous question, given your life experience. But no, I’m not. Why do you ask?”

She scratched her jaw. “You... you have purple hair. I’ve never seen a human with purple hair. Only merfolk. I didn’t know humans could even grow purple hair.”

Virgil grinned and brushed his violet bangs out of his face. “Nah, kid. I dye it.”

“Dye?”

“I put a certain kind of ink into my hair and use chemical reactions to bind it to my natural color and change it.”

“Oh.” She looked down at his laptop. “What... what is that?”

“This? It’s my laptop,” Virgil answered. Her expression was still blank and confused. “It’s a computer that I can take around with me.” Still nothing. “Okay, um... hey Pat! Come explain what a computer is!”

Patton appeared under the archway that led back to the boys’ rooms. “Okay. So. A computer is a machine that humans have made to streamline work.” He plopped down on the loveseat and crossed his legs. “You can use the keyboard to type instead of write and it’s way faster---when you’ve practiced and you’re typing the ‘right’ way. And we have this thing called the internet that we can use to send things to each other.”

“Like... like a phone call?”

“Similar concept, but using different kinds of signals. See, light has a spectrum, and a lot of that spectrum is invisible.”

“I know how light works,” Aaralyn said.

“Oh good. That’ll make this easier. So the longest lightwaves we can’t see are radio waves and we use those to listen to music.”

“You use light to listen to music?”

“Yeah. We send signals with light that translate as sound. And computers work much the same way. Sending signals that get translated into whatever’s on screen.”

“That sounds complicated,” Aaralyn said.

“It can be,” Virgil agreed. “But you don’t have to know all the specifics. Here. Let me show you something on YouTube. You’ll start to get the hang of it pretty quickly.”

“Uh... okay,” Aaralyn muttered.

“So... you’re aware of the fact that we have a mermaid girl sleeping on our sofa, right?” Virgil said to Patton.

“Yes of course. She’s sweet, don’t you think?” Patton said.

“If by ‘sweet’ you mean ‘scared spitless’ then sure,” Virgil agreed, putting one hand behind his head. They were both lying on Patton’s bed, facing opposite directions. Patton had the biggest bed of the four roommates because he a) wanted enough room for all of his stuffed animals, and b) wanted to be able to share with his roommates whenever they had a sleepover in each other’s rooms. 

Patton was the eldest of the roommates (though some people were surprised by that) by a few months and saw Logan, Roman, and Virgil as either his sons or his brothers. Virgil was a month younger than Patton. Logan was two months younger than Virgil, and Roman was three months younger than Logan---making him six months younger than Patton. Patton liked taking care of them.

“Virge, she saved my life,” Patton said. “Don’t let your anxiety dissuade you from making friends.”

“With the mermaid,” Virgil deadpanned.

“Yeah!”

“Pat, I dunno if you’ve noticed, but anxiety is kinda my thing.”

“That it may be, but Aaralyn poses no threat to us,” Patton said.

“Did it ever occur to you that you’re altogether too trusting?”

“Duh. But it’s better to believe the best in people.”

“Sure if you want to break your heart every other week,” Virgil muttered sarcasically.

“Virgil Ethan O’Mara,” Patton admonished tiredly. “I don’t get my heart broken every other week. And Aaralyn isn’t going to break any of our hearts.”

Virgil sat in silence for a moment, just thinking while Patton painted Virgil’s toenails alternating violet and black. “Well she won’t romantically, that’s for sure. But what if you get attached to her and she leaves back for the ocean? You’ll cry for three days,” he said.

“Hm,” Patton grunted, concentrating more on his paint job than his thoughts. “You’re probably right.”

“Mmhmm,” Virgil agreed.

“But,” Patton argued, “it’s better than never letting anyone get close to you.”

“I don’t do that,” Virgil protested.

“You do a little,” Patton said.

“I let you, Roman, and Logan get close,” Virgil said.

“Yeah after the four of us shared a dorm suite in college,” Patton pointed out. “And we barely saw you. You stayed at the library till midnight almost every night and I swear you never even came in through the doorway.”

“What other way would I get into the dorm?”

“The window.”

“I’m not Spider-Man, Patton. And you were rooming with Roman across the bathroom from me and Logan’s room so how would you know if I came in through the door or not?”

“I just never heard it open!”

“That’s because Logan was either asleep or busy so I would open it quietly to be considerate.”

“Fair,” Patton relented. There was a moment of silence. “But you can’t deny that it’s kinda cool that we have a mermaid sleeping on the couch.”

“S’pose,” Virgil said.

“There! Done!” Patton announced. Virgil looked down at his toes.

“Good job,” Virgil said.

“Thanks!” Patton beamed.

Virgil looked around, realizing that Patton was using his phone to play their music quietly. “Hey, where’s your laptop?” he asked.

“Oh I put a movie on to help Aaralyn sleep and teach her more about how they work and set it on the coffee table,” Patton said.

“You’re excited to have someone new to take care of, aren’t you?” Virgil said flatly. Patton kicked his feet up on Virgil’s abdomen.

“I can neither confirm nor deny any allegations without approval of the voice of reason in this house,” Patton said.

“Hey Logan! Tell Patton he has your approval!” Virgil called.

“Patton, you have my approval,” Logan said from his room next-door, sounding distracted.

Patton gave Virgil a look. “Of course I like taking care of people, Virgil,” Patton said. “Doesn’t matter if they’re new or not. But I owe her for saving my life and if that means teaching a mermaid how to be human, then I’m going to do that.” Virgil reached for Patton’s box of nail polish and found his sky blue and gold.

“Okay.” He uncapped the sky blue and pinched one of Patton’s toes to bend it just enough to paint. Patton flinched out of the way with a squeak. “Hold still, you goof,” Virgil said as Patton’s toes squirmed out of the way of Virgil trying to paint them.

“It tickles!” Patton protested.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Pat. It’s not that bad.”

Patton squeed and giggled. “Stopstopstop! It tickles!”

“Hold still!” Virgil pressed, trying to trap Patton’s ankles under his forearm.

Knock-knock! Knuckles echoed off the door.

“Come in!” Patton cried, yanking his feet off Virgil’s lap.

A head of long hair poked through the door. “Is... everything okay? I heard loud noises.”

“Aaralyn! Yeah. Everything’s fine. Virgil was just trying to paint my toenails but it tickled too much so I was laughing.”

“Oh. Okay. Sorry to bother you. ‘Night.” She moved to leave.

“Hang on!” Patton protested. The door stopped closing behind her. “Do you want to paint your toenails? Or your fingernails? You’re always welcome to join us.”

“Thanks but I... I should really go back to sleep. See you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning!” Patton said. The door shut the rest of the way.

“You gonna hold still now?” Virgil asked.

Patton took a deep breath. “I’ll try,” he said with a grin.

“Shopping spree!” Roman shrieked the next morning. Aaralyn awoke with a jolt, her hair a slightly tangled mess around her head. It was so long and thick that some of it got spared from being too messy, but there was so much hair that most of it was snarled.

“What?” Aaralyn mumbled tiredly. “What’s going...”

“You and me, little lady, are going on a shopping spree!”

“What’s that?”

“We’re going to go out and get you a bunch of human clothes since Aphrodite-knows you don’t have any,” Roman explains dramatically. Virgil looks up from his bowl of cereal with a rather dead expression.

“But not before breakfast, Roman,” Patton admonished.

“Uh... okay?” Aaralyn said.

Patton approached her. “You hungry, kiddo? Virge and I were trying to be quiet so you could keep sleeping---”

“Until someone---” Virgil cast a frustrated glance at Roman, who was the pinnacle of chipper-morning-person-already-ready-for-the-day as he hummed loudly and made himself breakfast. “---decided to be noisy.” 

Roman just shrugged. “When you gotta, sing, Chemically-Imbalanced Romance, you gotta sing!”

“Roman, what have we said about name-calling?” Patton scolded.

Roman rolled his eyes but didn’t apologize immediately. Just continued with his own cereal before glancing at Virgil. “Sorry,” he said. Virgil grunted but didn’t verbally say anything.

“So,” Patton said to Aaralyn as she sat up properly, “you hungry? Wanna try some toast?”

“Some what?”

“It’s just bread but crispy,” Virgil said.

“Bread?”

“Just trust us, it’s delicious. Little butter, little Crofters, and it’s heaven,” Roman said, dramatically flinging his spoon up like he was holding aloft a weapon. It flung an arc of milk drops across the table---one landing on the back of Virgil’s hand. He wiped it off on a paper towel without even changing his expression and put another spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

“What’s a Crofters?” Aaralyn asked.

From the archway that led back to the boy’s bedrooms, a loud gasp was heard. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT CROFTERS IS?!” Logan shouted.

“... No,” Aaralyn said. “Bear in mind I grew up in the ocean.”

Logan appeared in the archway. “That’s fair,” he said. “Crofters is a delicious jelly.”

Aaralyn pursed her lips. “I never liked jellies much. May I forego the Crofters for now?”

Logan opened his mouth to protest, but Patton cut him off. “Of course, kiddo. Just means more for Logan later. Right Logan?” Patton pushed his glasses up his nose and looked over at Logan. Who thought for a moment.

“That’s true,” he said.

The four roommates got ready at slightly different paces. Roman was almost completely finished, Virgil was still in his pajamas, Patton was dressed but his hair was a mess, and Logan’s tie was skewed and too loose for his job. He said he’d fix it later. Aaralyn just watched them, learning their dynamics.

Roman found an old dress in his costumes trunk that Aaralyn could wear shopping---it was a princessy dress from a musical Roman had been in several years ago but it would do. Roman wasn’t even sure why he had it but he didn’t care to think too much about it.

Patton and Virgil insisted on joining Roman in taking Aaralyn on a shopping spree. But for very different reasons.

Patton thought it would be fun, and Virgil wanted to keep Roman from choosing overly glitzy clothes that weren’t practical.

Logan went to work, leaving the four of them to head to the nearest mall. Logan hadn’t wanted to join anyway.

At the mall, Roman went hog-wild, dragging Aaralyn into stores, looking around, and pestering her about what she liked. Virgil tried to get him to chill but Roman was having none of it. Aaralyn didn’t seem to mind. She smiled and answered quietly, occasionally admitting she had no idea. “We don’t really have a lot of options underwater. Human clothes tend to drag so I’ve never considered styles much,” she said when Roman asked which neckline she preferred---crew or V.

Virgil was the only one allowed to go into the bra store with her because he was being quiet. So Patton and Roman went to go find other ideas for her.

“I don’t imagine men wear these,” Aaralyn remarked as they browsed.

Virgil shrugged. “Some might. I don’t,” he said.

“Hmm.”

A saleswoman approached them and quickly redirected their efforts, fitting Aaralyn for a size and steering her around to find several different kinds to try on. Virgil awkwardly trailed behind, saying nothing and letting the woman guide the girl who clearly had no idea what she was doing.

After spending a good forty-five minutes trying on various styles in a fitting room---with lots of confused comments Virgil could hear---she found one she liked. They got it and quickly left the shop.

Roman and Patton were waiting for them on a bench outside. Roman immediately took control of the rest of the trip, talking excitedly about some of the things he found that he wanted her to try on. Patton laughed and kept Virgil company while they trailed behind a rather wide-eyed Aaralyn and a chatty Roman.

Aaralyn was fairly certain they worked their way through the entire mall by the time Roman decided Aaralyn had a suitable wardrobe “for now.”

“Finally,” Virgil muttered. “Now we can go home.”

“Wait. You’re not coming in with me?” Aaralyn asked.

“Decidedly not,” Virgil said.

“How come? The ocean isn’t dangerous if you’re with a mermaid. Even a podless one,” Aaralyn said.

“I don’t trust the ocean,” Virgil said. “Among... other reasons.”

Aaralyn scrunched her eyebrows, but didn’t press it. “Alright. Enjoy your music. I’ll be back in a half-hour.”

“How are you going to tell the time if you’re underwater?” Virgil asked.

Aaralyn turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised above the other. “By the position of the sun, duh. I’m not going that deep,” she retorted before stripping off the sundress Roman bought for her (“I just saw it and thought it was beautiful!”) and sprinting into the waves. After a moment the fluke of her tail flicked out of the water, smacked the surface, and disappeared under.

Virgil flopped onto his lounge chair, put his headphones over his ears, and pulled out a book. A mystery novel that Logan had lent him and he’d been meaning to read for a while.

He’d been reading for fifteen minutes by the time Patton pulled up and ran down to the little secluded beach near Sirens’ Shoal. “Where’s Aaralyn?” Patton asked.

“Swimming,” Virgil said.

“I thought you were going to keep an eye on her,” Patton said.

“I am.”

“So why aren’t you with her?”

“I don’t trust the ocean.”

“She’s a mermaid, Virge. She wouldn’t let anything happen to you!”

“Mm,” Virgil grunted. “No thanks.”

“You don’t want to see the ocean the way she does?”

“Not really.”

“Why not?” Patton asked.

Virgil snapped the novel closed. “Because I can’t swim, Pat!” he snapped. 

Patton took a step back, bare foot squishing through the sand, and nodded. “Sorry,” he said, lowering himself onto the sand and beginning to make a sandcastle. Virgil watched out of the corner of his eyes for a moment. Finally he sighed, set his book off to the side, and joined Patton on the sand, helping him build.

Out in the sea, Aaralyn was searching the ocean floor for broken coral and empty shells. It was soothing to her to be down there. To be home. Even if it was devastating that she’d never go home to her pod ever again.

“Hey Aaralyn!” a familiar voice called through the water. She turned. It was an old friend.

“Hi Jewel,” she said.

“Where have you been?” Jewel asked. “No one’s seen you for two days!”

Aaralyn sighed, a long stream of bubbles shooting out of her mouth and wiggling toward the surface. “I got caught in a fishing net. Hauled into a boat. I got legs. I can’t go home.”

“How’d you get out?” Jewel demanded.

“I lied to the fishermen. There were three of them on deck. They didn’t see me until my tail disappeared and asked how a girl got caught in a net. I told them I was out for a swim and it snagged me as it was getting pulled up. They cut me out of the net and I jumped back in. I dove so deep they wouldn’t see my tail and swam for shore immediately. Jewel, I was so ashamed. I... I can’t go home.” Aaralyn sunk onto the sandy floor and buried her face in her hands.

Jewel floated across from her. “You could just... not tell anybody. Come home. Say you were following a giant jelly again.” Jewel paused. “You do... want to come home, right?”

Aaralyn’s tail squirmed. She rubbed the gills on her right side. “I guess,” she mumbled. “But... I...”

“But what?” Jewel pressed, sounding frustrated.

“But I found...” She sighed. “There’s these humans. I told them what happened. They... they took me in.”

“Aara, listen to me. Humans can never be your family!”

“But... but... you haven’t met them! They’re nice to me. They care about me.”

“They’re humans Aaralyn! Humans around these parts only care about themselves. Wake up and smell the kelp! Once the novelty of finding a mermaid on the beach wears off they’ll abandon you!”

“Not these ones.”

“You don’t know that!”

“No, but... for now they’re teaching me how to be human. And if I can’t go home, then the human world will have to become my home. I can’t survive in the ocean without a pod, Jewel.”

“So come home with me. Just don’t tell anyone that you got dragged onto a fishing boat. The legs stigma is so old-fashioned and overrated. It wasn’t your fault so it doesn’t count. It’s not like you went on land to run away with a human man.”

“Someone in the pod would find out eventually,” Aaralyn said. “And then what? My punishment would be even worse. I’d rather bow out now. Gracefully. Accept our cultural custom and leave.”

Jewel turned angry. “You were SO CLOSE, Aaralyn! You were going to be the next leader! You could have been the queen of several pods! How can you just throw it all away?!”

Aaralyn shrugged. “I messed up. I’m owning my mistake.”

“Without you, that deceitful eel is going to take your place. You know he was the next one Melody was considering.”

Aaralyn sighed. “How about I explain to Melody what happened and advise her to appoint someone else? She listens to me.”

Jewel clenched her jaw. “Fine,” she grumbled. “But I think you should just come back with me.”

“And I think that’s a terrible idea. I’d get thrown out even worse later. C’mon. Let’s go talk to Melody and then I’m going back to the land.”

“Aaralyn’s been gone for a while,” Patton observed.

“She’s a mermaid,” Virgil pointed out. “She doesn’t have to come up for air.”

“Yeah but didn’t you say she told you she’d be back in a half-hour?”

“Yeah.”

“Well... it’s been over an hour,” Patton said, looking at his watch.

“What?!” Virgil demanded. He swore under his breath. “What do we do?!”

[ask-indigoskies]

So here is “Aaralyn” my Siren/Merpony that was inspired by the egg I won from @ask-whisper-song ‘s follower contest they had a while back. Her wings appear whenever she sings. 

[scalproie]

This is for my friends, dont worry about it

So this was to be the end of House Beinnuin, her last living member gagged and tied to an altar, about to be sacrificied by the vampire she has been hunting for months, before realizing far too late she's actually been lured in.

Mother and Father would have me carry so many pails of water for this, Aaralyn thought as she kept on struggling in her chains, telling herself that she would fight to the very end.

"Oh hush, my dear, they won't be able to hear my voice in the back rows." The vampire patted condescendingly the top of her head before continuing his preaching, Aaralyn stayed still enough to glare daggers at him.

She turned her head to look at the sea of dark robes with the occasional horned masks around the altar. She should've guessed, she should've guessed something was wrong as soon as the few people she talked to earlier shot her strange looks after she told them she was not here for their "festival", she warned them of the presence of a great evil.

At the very least she could see that more than a few people in the crowd had the decency to share a look of guilt and concern while looking at her, though it wouldn't quell the fury she felt at the betrayal of fellow humans choosing to follow an cursed creature of the night, but it was still something.

"Well, brothers and sisters!" The vampire clasped his hands together, catching back Aaralyn's attention. "Let us begin!"

The amphitheater fell silent, and the vampire grabbed the ceremonial knife before jovially making his way toward her, Aaralyn struggled one last time, a look of defiance on her face as she looked at the blade. Even as he hovered the knife above her, she refused to close her eyes.

"My apologies, Count," the voice of an older woman, muffled by her mask, cut through the silence, causing all eyes to turn towards her, including Aaralyn's and the vampire's, who slammed the knife down on the altar next to Aaralyn in an exasperated fashion. The cultist continued, "but despite your presentation, I still fail to see how the passing of this monster hunter's single soul, no matter how innocent she may be, would be enough to bring The Unpent One to us."

"Surely you haven't summoned us all here to witness your completion of a personal vendetta?" Another masked cultist chimed in.

"Oh not in the least, I assure you..." The vampire growled.

"Though, I do have to agree," He continued, appearing to think in an exaggerated and almost mocking way, "a single soul might not be enough."

The vampire snapped his fingers, and a loud wooden noise boomed in the back of the amphitheater.

"The doors shut down!"

"They're locked!"

"Count, wh-"

The vampire had trown the knife in the throat of the previous cultist, and opened with his claws the jugular of the one next to her at an almost imperceivable speed.

Terrified screams, sounds of flesh and smells of copper filled the air, Aaralyn could do nothing but look in horror at the violent slaughter happening, the vampire killing people left and right with a violent glee, a cat let loose in a room filled with helpless mice.

She shut her eyes as the carnage kept going for an interminable moment, tears swelling up despite herself. At some point, blood was spilled on her.

The hundred of screams kept thinning out until at last, silence remained, save for the wet steps of the vampire, making his way back to the altar through immense puddles of blood.

Aaralyn barely opened her tear-filled eyes to look at this drenched monster, who had retrieved the knife and bore a frustrated expression.

"Such a waste of good blood," He said as he passed a blood-drenched hand through his hair, Aaralyn had felt this much hate toward a vampire only once in her life, and in that moment, she wished for his death more than anything. "This had better be worth it."

The vampire started reciting words in a tongue Aaralyn did not know, before drawing the blade above her once more. This time, Aaralyn looked at it with regret and despair.

She and her father had dug a grave for her mother.

She later dug a grave for her father.

Who will dig a grave for her?

"The veil is thin, The gate is opened, O Unpent One, be released once more."

The knife fell.

Aaralyn felt light, lighter than she has ever felt in her life, she felt glowing too, and in what consciousness she still possessed, she wondered if she had just got here, or if she's been here forever, falling (or rising?) from colorful light to the abyss behind her.

She had failed her family, she had failed her mission, she had failed herself. What a failure. What a disgrace.

She leaned her head back, ready for the abyss to claim her.

But then she felt it.

Who are you? her soul asked as she looked behind her shoulder.

A hand- no, three- appeared out of the darkness, like the jaw of a predator. Massive didn't even begin to describe them, their sheer size was almost incomprehensible to Aaralyn. Looking ahead, she could see the long fingers, much like pillars, blocking the faraway light, slowly closing in on her.

What are you? She asked again, filled with dread.

LUCKY

The hands closed.

MUCH LIKE YOU

Aaralyn gasped, light filling her eyes and copper filling her nose again. She had no memory of what happened after the knife cut her throat open. Instinctively she tried to sit up, and yanked the chains holding her down. She gave another try, and this time she snapped the chains from the marble holding them. She rolled off the altar, adrenaline keeping her on her feet.

"WHAT?" The vampire shouted as he turned to see her, before lunging and swiping his claws at her.

Except the speed he had when killing the cultists was totally absent, Aaralyn would have more trouble dodging a bumbling drunk man during a bar fight.

The vampire and the monster hunter stared at each other, both stunned at Aaralyn's resurrection and newfound vitality.

Why has he slowed down? Aaralyn wondered, her immediate thoughts too focused on survival to piece together what happened.

He has not. A voice echoed. I've just brought you up to his level.

"Who is that!?"

Aaralyn's scream broke the tension between the two enemies, and the vampire lunged at her again, screaming himself. Aaralyn snapped his attention back at him, but the voice spoke up again.

Better make use of those chains you are dragging.

Aaralyn dodged once more and grabbed one end of the loose chain on her wrist. In a swift movement, she was behind the vampire and had him locked in a stranglehold, of which he was trying to break out off with surprising weakness. Aaralyn tugged on the chain to tighten the grip on the vampire's neck.

Mmmh. Need more power, eh? Hang on.

"You..." The vampire weakly gasped, "You're in there, aren't you? You're helping her! I FREED you! You are here because of ME! You're supposed to help ME! Ungrateful scum, I SHOULD BE-"

All yours.

Aaralyn felt a surge of energy coursing through her, from the corner of her eyes, she could see the bodies, the blood, and she saw red. She yanked the chain toward her with such facility, it was almost as if cutting through butter.

It was only a few seconds after hearing a rolling sound on the floor that she realized it was the vampire's head, his now headless body dropping down soon after.

The amphitheater was now completely silent.

The power left Aaralyn, and out of breath, she dropped to her knees in the puddles of blood. A strange and cold sensation then passed through her, like ghosts.

Disappointing. He was weaker than I imagined.

"You're a demon."

A dark chuckle answered her.

"Are you... the one they worshipped? The unbound one?"

Unpent One. And no, the voice lied. Something that massive could not cross the realms so easily.

(In the demon realm, the real body of the demonic voice, the Archdemon Sēvræth, The Unpent One, lying in the inky lake of his wings, placed one set of legs over the other, causing a landslide on one of the mountains. Minor demons screamed and scattered as some were crushed beneath falling boulders. The Archdemon didn't seem to notice.)

I'm just an opportunist.

"What do you want?"

Opportunities. Of which I believe you may help me with.

"I kill your kind for a living."

You kill mindless pests and vermins small and weak enough to accidentally fall into holes between our two realms. You have never seen a real demon.

"Then why would I help one?"

... Because your soul belong to me now.

Aaralyn felt her stomach drop, her throat went dried and her ears started to ring. But despite all that, her eyes were still hardened.

I had wished I would not have to come to threats, but alas... The demon sighed, yes, the ritual has bound I to you, and you to I... and I could eat you at any time I desire.

"Do it now then."

Aaralyn looked at the hundreds of bodies around her, killed by a vampire, but bought together by a demon, led to their death by it, for it.

Demons are dangerous, evil things, she was taught. Manipulative beings who know only hunger, and view human life as livestock. Monsters.

She looked at the bodies of the cultists with pity, unbeknown to her, the demon was doing the same.

"Devour my soul right now, I'd rather die than become a pawn for evil."

Silence.

Then a laugh.

Oh, you don't mean that, Aaralyn Beinnuin, the demon purred, Don't you have a vampire to kill?

Aaralyn's eyes opened wide, and she clenched her teeth.

"Shut up."

Yes, I know about that. As I said, your soul is mine, and you were so full of regrets when I found you...

"Shut. up."

But I can help you with that.

"... I don't-"

Your healed wounds, your speed, your strength. I did that. I could lend you my power. You could avenge your family's legacy, Aaralyn, you could kill him.

Priam Malley.

Aaralyn closed and eyes and exaled. She hated him more than anything in the world, the bane of her family, the recipient of an inherited grudge that was still as strong as when her ancestor escaped the massacre. A massacre too similar to the one that took place tonight. The one that almost saw the end of House Beinnuin, before she has even so much as found him.

She has once said to her father that she would sell her soul if it meant his death.

Aaralyn opened her eyes, fists shaking.

"What do you want?"

The demon stayed silent a moment.

Souls.

"I won't let you kill anyone, and I won't kill anyone for you."

I am not expecting you to.

"Then how-"

You are a monster hunter. I will help you kill what I will eat.

She paused.

It seemed fair. No human blood on her hands and the power to accomplish her mission. It seemed fair and she hated it. She was making a deal with a demon and she knew deep down she couldn't trust him, she couldn't trust something that sounded too good to be true. But she was already doomed, wasn't she? He was keeping her soul hostage like a predator playing with his food. What choice did she have? Does she even have a choice?

Aaralyn laughed. You were doomed the moment you were born a Beinnuin.

"To what end?"

What.

"To what end are you here?"

...

(In the demon realm, the Archdemon lay still.)

To be free.

The ampitheater was silent.

"Fine."

I have two additional rules.

Aaralyn let out an annoyed huff: she had just consented to a deal with a demon and he didn't seem to treat it as meaningfully as she was.

My mark is on your back. The demon looked once more at the bodies and almost blurted out the following: Don't look at it, ever. Don't let anyone look at it for that matter, they could die. It's cursed.

The monster hunter raised an eyebrow.

And finally, my power does not come for free, I will need to eat a bit of your soul each time.

Ah, there was a catch, of course there was a catch.

"And what happens if you eat all of my soul?"

Well, let us hope you've killed that vampire of yours before then.

"Wonderful. I need a shower."

Aaralyn stood up on shaky legs, her body healed but the adrenaline gone, she was still covered in blood.

Slowly, she went up the stairs in direction of the wooden doors, without the vampire's powers, they were able to be opened once more.

Aaralyn pause at the threshold.

"Ah."

Mmmh?

"What do I call you?"

The demon stayed silent a moment. He's had names, given to him by humans, that he grew fond of for lack of any of his own. His first cult called him Sēvvræc'cyþandeonis, "the cut wanderer who reveals devils", his second cult called him Sēvræth, his lastest cult calls him The Unpent One.

Sev will do.

"Mmmh. Do all demons have names?"

Only the ones that matter.

"So was pride the reason you went to hell?" Aaralyn said with a sardonic tone as she left the amphitheater.

Oh, it's cute that you think this is how it works.

[fantasies-n-fairytales]

Aaralyn Rose

Name: Aaralyn Rose

Face Claim: Chloe Bennet

Species: Human

Age: 21-25

History:

Aaralyn Rose was born in California, the only child of two loving parents. While her father worked long hours, he always managed to find time to spend with her mother and herself. From a young age family camping trips became somewhat of a tradition in the Rose household. Aaralyn took after her parents and their love for nature.

Their camping trips were often filled with hikes, stories around the campfire and of course s’mores. It was on her 10th birthday that her parents decided to surprise her with a surprise trip. It started out much the same; hiking, climbing trees, time slipped by so quickly, that it had grown dark much faster then they’d anticipated.

Her parents left her to gather some wood for the fire, with instructions to stay in the tent until they returned. It was hours later that the young girl began to grow anxious when they hadn’t returned. The hours turned into days, before Aaralyn was discovered in the middle of the woods in search of her family. Who unbeknownst to her had been discovered hours before, killed by what they claimed was an ‘animal attack’.

With no other family, the girl was thrown into the foster care system. Passed along from one family to another, each more cruel than the next. It was a year later that Aaralyn decided that she would be better off on her own. She took off late one night and never looked back. She quickly learned on how to live on the streets and to avoid getting placed back into the system at any costs.

Even as a child Aaralyn never bought that her parents death had been a result of an animal, the attack wounds were strange and she’d overheard the doctors saying as much when they thought she wasn’t listening. She later learned that they’d been as a result of a werewolf attack on the night of a full moon.

As an adult, Aaralyn tries to keep her distance from people. She doesn’t see a point in getting close to anyone and it takes a lot for her even think of trusting another human. She has a hatred for the supernatural, although she’s not knowingly encountered any since discovering the truth behind her parents death.

She tends to use sarcasm as a method to keep others at a distance, but if someone happens to be lucky enough to earn her trust then she is someone who would take a bullet for you.

V. Marvel -  Basically instead of supernatural creatures being responsible for her parents death they were killed during a bank robbery. She still went through the whole foster system fiasco and as an adult lives on the streets. Participates in petty theft...

[thechaoticcform-archive]

“I know you’re here. Show yourself!”

@fantasies-n-fairytales​

The dragon cackled and the noise bounced off the walls of the cave, echoing to a booming crescendo. "Oh?" he said salaciously, "and what is a mere mortal doing in search of the Chaos God? What would a being like you ever do to a deity like me?"

[chaoticbynature-archived]

"I hope you don't think I'll submit to you just because you're an Alpha"

@fantasies-and-fairy-tales​

Ethan chuckled, eyes gleaming amber. "On the contrary, Aaralyn," he smirked. "I love a challenge. I don't expect you to be submissive. That's no fun. I mean, I doubt you want to be the demure Omega. Hell, I would even hate that." He stepped toward her. "That's not you!"

[chaoticbynature-archived]

“Do not call me weak!”

@fantasies-and-fairy-tales​​

"You are weak because you are mortal," sneered the dragon, his eyes sparkling gold. "You reek of humanity, my dear Aara, and I will prove I am a beast to be reckoned with. I am a force of nature!"