Because I'm planning on fully rewriting Concealed Darkness again, to make it fit into my universe, I decided to make a new powerpoint! Doesn't talk much about plot, but I want to introduce the main characters of this story! Again. Here's how Concealed Darkness has been changed to fit my universe, and here's a picrew for the main characters! Tagging: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, @drabbleitout, @grailfish, and @incandescent-creativity (if you're still interested in getting tagged in powerpoints!)!
[Image Description: A title page reading: Concealed Darkness Revamped!
AKA: my first story idea that is my baby and had to be changed to fit in my stories' universe! End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Overview
This will still probably be a trilogy, or at least have a sequel
There are now Celestials in this story
And the empire is already in control at the beginning of the story this time
Still Hikari with light magic that affect other people and Tenebrus with dark magic that affects themselves
The Hikari have been able to stay free of the empire, and everyone looks up to them as heroes
The Tenebrus have been used as puppet soldiers for the empire; I’m thinking the light magic, even diluted light magic can control people, but it takes way too much strength, so the empire has to find the best of the best humans who have magic because they have Hikari ancestors
So the hatred towards Tenebrus isn’t as much a thing; I do think a lot of people try to hide Tenebrus to protect them; there is wariness because most any Tenebrus anyone sees is a soldier of the empire
Cassian, Tamra, and Luneth are friends and don’t want anything to change, which of course means that everything is gonna change, with empire soldiers ransacking Vivality to take Tamra because she’s powerful. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Characters
There are still a lot of them
And I adore them even more
There are now dragons in this story (Celestials)
Not many, but there could be more in the future. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Cassian
My sunshine boy, my very gullible boy who only wants to help people
His parents were murdered a while ago, like any good protagonist’s parents (joking)
He blames the empire and works to learn how to fight in order to destroy them
He has lofty goals
Cinnamon roll who thinks he should be able to protect all his friends
Meets Aston, who decides to use his desire to protect his friends against him
Too innocent for this world, too pure
He’ll be crying a lot. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Tamra
She is a human with diluted light magic, which means she can only use the properties of the magic that allow her to affect others
Which means she can strengthen her friends and take away someone else’s magic
She doesn’t think she’s very powerful, but the empire thinks otherwise
Practical and calm, she only shows her other emotions around her friends
She feels like she needs to be useful to earn friendship, something she believes because she thinks she might not have been good enough for her mother, and that was why she left
So, she’s very useful to her friends, and they try to reassure her that that’s not why they want to be friends with her
She loves reading and hanging out with her friends
Not super talkative, mostly observes, and she’s learned to read people well. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Luneth
Guess who goes by they/them pronouns now!
This guy!
My child, I love them so much, so they have the worst backstory
Actually a Tenebrus, but they’ve kept that a secret so the empire won’t find out about them
They moved to Vivality five years ago, and Cassian and Tamra almost immediately decided they were friends
They’re quiet, and they have nightmares a lot; Tamra helps them talk through it by getting them to draw things and talk about the nightmares as if they’re a story
They don’t talk about their past a lot
Fiercely protective of their friends, and they help Tamra dissuade Cassian from doing anything reckless
Honestly just wants to live with their friends in peace and never have to worry about anything again
They also have lofty goals
I wish I could talk more about them, but that would go into spoilers, even though that hasn’t stopped me before
One more thing: they know Cress from their past, and they totally have a crush on him
Which that ship is toxic, so we’ll see where it goes!
More powerful than they even know. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Nidia
Third biggest asshole in this story, tied with Cress
Lol, this isn’t a spoiler anymore
Nidia is the leader of the empire!
And she has been for longer than a normal human could hope to live
She’s very happy being in control of so many people and making them fear her
She monitors for any powerful kids so she can use them
Smug little shit
She’s gonna manipulate Tamra, but Tamra will manipulate her right back! End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Aston
The biggest asshole of this story
He’s a Hikari who’s been alive for a thousand years
And thinks he knows everything
And knows better than everyone else
He forces his will on others around him, and he is especially focusing on Cassian
Might or might not have done some really bad stuff a while before the start of the story
Blames everything on Celestials. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Xander
The second biggest asshole in this story
He is the leader of an anti-empire group called Imperium
Super strong for a human, and he seems to know more than he should
He focuses on Luneth and claims that Imperium is the only safe place for them
And proceeds to hurt Luneth and Cress
And Cress still believes him
I love to hate Aston, but I just despise Xander
Luneth and Cress should be allowed to punch him. End Description]
[Image Description: A page titled: Cress
Disappeared from Luneth’s life six years ago
And he shows back up and thinks that everything will be the same
Luckily for him, Luneth is in Imperium, and Xander is way worse, so Luneth does want things to go back to how they were with him
But there will be talks later, no worries
His main goal is to protect Luneth, and his brilliant plan is to have Luneth become Xander’s weapon because they’ll be the safest there
He is not the brightest
Super sarcastic and certainly manipulative, but he does care about Luneth
Just might not understand that it’s bad to try and force the person he loves into an abusive situation that he can’t really save them from
Totally dead inside and uses finger guns liberally
I love him, but he is my trash can son
I’m thinking he calls Luneth Stardust, and Luneth calls him Dagger (the story behind Dagger is that Luneth has always had some bad self esteem issues, and Cress would call himself Luneth’s dagger at his side, trying to say that Luneth is the mastermind behind all the shenanigans they got into as kids); Stardust is just a play on words because Luneth’s name sounds like it would be connected to the moon
Content warning for kissing, death, and blood. Hello! I have written a short scene with Luneth and Cress from before the story to help establish their relationship! This is choppy, still getting back into the hang of writing, but I really enjoy it! The title might not make sense, but it does more when you know that Luneth's nickname is Stardust, and Cress's is Luna. Yes, that is a change already from this powerpoint. Tagging: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, @drabbleitout, and @grailfish!
Luneth's perspective
I was exhausted after celebrating my birthday, but I still snuck out of my house and found Cress waiting in the tunnel that led out to the real world. He grinned over at me and stood up from where he had been leaning against the wall. “Took you long enough. Are you ready to go fuck with some empire goons as a birthday celebration?”
I grinned, even as my cheeks heated up just at the sight of him. “I’m ready if you are, Luna.”
He smirked and nudged my shoulder before exploding with his darkness and sprinting off. I did the same, reveling in the power coursing through my veins as I followed him. Everything was even clearer at night with my darkness activated. The heady smell of the forest around us, the night calls of animals who were hunting just like us. It was all so wild and free, and I was a part of it! Not cowering in Sombra, praying to long-forgotten Celestials that the empire didn’t find us. I could do something, at least with Cress by my side.
He held up a hand, and I stopped and turned invisible, silently creeping through the undergrowth until Sibylline was in sight. The only indication that he had moved back to be next to me was his breath hot on my neck. “We sneak inside, find the diluted light users, and see who we can free,” he breathed.
I nodded, almost forgetting that he couldn’t see me in my distraction. “Yes, I’ll follow your lead.”
He patted my shoulder and crept forward, making sure that I could see where he went by moving undergrowth or the grass. I followed with wide eyes. No matter how many times he told me that I was the genius, that I had the strong darkness, he was really the one who made the plans. He knew Sibylline by heart.
We climbed the wall, and once we had gotten over, we both turned visible, sneaking through the alleys until we found the barracks for the empire soldiers.
Cress walked around the building, darkness seeping off his skin, and I stared at him. Damn, he was gorgeous. Why had he chosen me to help him with his plots?
He looked over at me, and I jumped. “I hear a Light Bearer over this way.” He thumbed behind him, and I nodded before I could fully process.
But this was my turn. I tapped more into my darkness and heard what Cress had. I moved in a blur, climbing up a building and leaping between the roofs, feeling as if I could fly. The night was so bright with my enhanced senses, and the chill of the wind just made me more awake. There was nothing that could stop me!
I found the person and shot my darkness at them, ensnaring them and covering their mouth before they could scream. I put on my hood and facemask and landed silently, rolling to my feet and stalking toward them, Cress taking a bit to catch up.
Their eyes turned to terror as they stared at us. Cress took them by the collar and slammed them against the wall. "Who do you control?"
I placed darkness on their throat so they couldn’t use their voice more than a whisper. If someone wanted to be technical about it, I destroyed most of their larynx so they couldn’t scream. Only then did I take away the darkness from their mouth.
And of course, they tried to scream, but it just came out as a whisper. They looked between us with their mouth hanging open before they finally deigned to whisper. “We will control you soon enough.”
Cress laughed. “You’ll just as soon control the moon and stars. Answer my fucking question.” The anger bled into his voice. His younger brother, Corbin, had been taken, and Cress was especially hoping to find him.
“I don’t know their fucking names! Why should I care about the names of my puppets?”
The motherfucker. I formed my darkness into a knife, and Cress sighed and nodded. I slit their throat and left them to collapse to the ground in a pool of their own blood. Cress knelt down to write our signature: With love, L & S, as I scanned for the next Light Bearer.
But before I could get very far, light blinded us as people shouted. Shit. I grabbed Cress’s hand and ran, dashing for a hidden spot I had noticed in one of our many incursions into Sibylline. With our darkness, we were too fast for the soldiers to catch up, but even so, when we were safely hidden, we were both panting and laughing breathlessly. They were finally catching on to us, so it would get harder and harder to come in and get rid of the empire’s puppet masters, but it didn’t matter. We had escaped this time.
I stared at Cress, and fuck, being so close, he was so beautiful, and his eyes were so full of adrenaline, and I did the stupidest thing. I grabbed him by the collar and kissed him full on the lips, and he melted against me, kissing me roughly back. We stayed there for a while, tangled up in a biting, painful kiss, but I didn’t care. His lips were soft, and I swallowed his whimpers, and his hand slipped under my hoodie…
The bell rang, and we both froze. That was a call to action for the soldiers stationed there. I strained to listen, finding a commander giving orders.
“The Tenebrus stronghold has been found. We march for Sombra at once!”
“Fuck.” Cress muttered the word just as I did. How had they found it? I scrambled out of our hiding spot, plotting out our escape based on where the city was the quietest, and when Cress was out of the nook too, I grabbed his hand and ran with him, almost flying again in my desperation to get back before they did. The Light Bearers could force the Tenebrus to go faster while also making them use their magic to give them a double boost compared to our single boosts, but we could. We had to.
The vines that had covered the tunnel were burned, and still I ran. To find the fucking army ransacking Sombra. I screamed and let go of Cress’s hand, heading for the nearest Light Bearer. The darkness knives appeared in my hands, and I cut her down without thinking.
I ran through the city, looking for anyone. Someone had to be okay! But everywhere I looked, familiar eyes stared back at me, cold and lifeless. They were all either dead or captured. And most of the Light Bearers weren’t out where I could find them!
“Luneth…”
I whirled around, panting, covered in the Light Bearer’s blood and some of my own. Selviam was there. My friend. Her eyes were unfocused. She…she was being controlled.
She took a stiff step forward, tilting her head too far to be comfortable. “Luneth, why did you leave tonight? I saw you…and followed…just for the empire soldiers to take me.” She held up an arm, and her skin was mangled and burned. “They tortured me and got me to tell them where Sombra was.” Tears streaked down her cheeks. “Why did you leave? Why couldn’t you have stayed?”
She took another step forward, and I scrambled back. I…I…It was my fault! Cress had always said to be careful when I snuck out. I…I was the reason Sombra had been found. It was all me. And I couldn’t fix it! The Light Bearers were nowhere to be found! I couldn’t…I couldn’t…
I ran, tears streaking down my cheeks. I had always ruined everything. I had distracted my parents enough for them to have been killed six years ago. I had been a burden on Cress’s family, hating everyone after my parents died. And now this. The ultimate sin. I had condemned everyone to death or control just because I wanted to play hero. I wasn’t a hero. I could never be one.
“Cress!” But my scream just died to the flames just like everything else. No one else was around. Just the dead and the shambling soldiers leaving to go be controlled for the rest of their lives. I couldn’t…I couldn’t save them.
I tripped and fell, not moving or even trying to heal the scrapes. I just screamed sobs into the night.
Cress's perspective
I snuck the few survivors I found away before the whole city went up in flames. Luneth had left me, and I couldn’t find them, and the survivors…they were more important. It had to have been my fault. I wasn’t careful enough in my excitement to see Luneth again. But I couldn’t think about that right now. I had to get them to safety and go back for Luneth. They had to still be there.
There was someone waiting at the mouth of the hidden passage, but when I squinted, I groaned, holding the few survivors closer. “What the fuck do you want, Xander?”
He took a step forward, and I bristled. What the fuck was he gonna promise now? I didn’t have the time to listen to his nonsense. I had to go find Luneth.
“I’m offering a sanctuary.” And he looked so damn smug about it.
Lily and Shaye perked up, though. Damnit, of course he would come to “help” when we were at our most vulnerable. But Lily and Shaye were children. And Marcus wouldn’t be able to help me protect them. “What’s the catch?”
“Nothing. You’re free to stay there as long as you’d like. It’s at Imperium’s headquarters. We’re fighting the empire, so I guarantee it’s safe there.”
I sighed through my nose. “Great, whatever. Could you shut up and protect them for now then? I need to go find Luneth.”
“They’ve been captured, turned into a puppet like so many of the others.”
I froze and stared at him. “I don’t believe you.”
“You didn’t see them while you were searching for survivors, did you? Where else would they be than in the empire’s hands?”
My stomach lurched, and I looked back down the passage, towards what was left of Sombra. “I don’t…”
“You don’t have time, boy. Do you want to be found and captured too? Come with me now.”
I looked down at Lily and Shaye, who were clinging to me tighter. I…
He snarled. “Aston will hear about your friend soon enough since they’re captured. I’m the only hope they have.”
Luneth’s parents…Luneth’s mom had been dismembered, tortured. I had to save them, had to protect them. And I couldn’t leave the others.
I steeled myself and looked up at him, feeling as if I was signing myself away to become a puppet of my own. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”
How My Oldest Stories Fit Into My Shared Universe!
Content warning for death and blood. Hello! And welcome to another post which will probably be very long! Here, here, and here are posts about the universe and how my stories fit in! Tagging: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, and @drabbleitout! There will be spoilers for Concealed Darkness and We Stand United, We Fall Together in this post.
Ok! So, with me figuring out the shared universe, I realized that I needed to figure out how Concealed Darkness and WSUWFT fit in. And I think I’ve figured it out. So, Concealed Darkness and WSUWFT take place on the same world, but they’re separated continents. The different continents used to be a lot more connected than they were, but about a thousand years ago, a huge war broke out. The Celestials had been watching over the world and mingling with the people, and there were people who hated the Celestials and wanted them to not meddle in affairs, while there were others who thought that the Celestials should rule. And they got into a war about it.
Now, there are still Hikari and Tenebrus in this world, and the Hikari are still immortal. But a young Hikari who had just gotten the spell of eternity placed on him went to war believing that the Celestials should leave them alone. His wife followed, and she was killed, and he was blinded by grief. He blamed Celestials for everything, so his belief that they should leave the people of this world alone turned into the belief that all the Celestials should be killed, that they only brought pain and grief. So, he set out on a quest with his friends and actually succeeded in killing a Celestial and using their blood to create a weapon. Because Celestials’ blood is almost pure magic, this weapon is magical, and it especially has effects on other Celestials. He succeeded in bringing the other nine Celestials down to the world and depowering every Celestial with the weapon. That he deemed Shizen (for now). He made it his mission to kill every Celestial.
Shizen could also do a lot of other different magic. He sent all the people who wanted the Celestials to rule to another continent and separated them with magic. Some of the Celestials followed them, and I’ll explain more about that later. He then made everyone forget, and he split up the rest of the continent into four separate regions. Because he makes a failsafe. If something happens to Shizen, he can still gather four people, one from each region and take them to the center of the continent to touch a rock that will suck their lifeforce from them to paralyze all the remaining Celestials for a specific amount of time.
He took the magic from every other person in the other regions, but he kept the original magic in the western region where he lives. For nostalgia’s sake. However, he took away the magic from the plants and land in the other regions as well, so the magic had no other place to go, so the people of the other regions still got magic. But in the center of the continent, the Hikari’s wife is preserved perfectly, and there’s a kind of shrine to her. And the rock that’s a failsafe is there too. And a lot of the death flowers (that I don’t remember the name of at the moment) because a huge battle was fought here. There are magical barriers for people to not leave their regions, so most people don’t even know there are other regions on this continent.
There are seven Celestials left still. The Hikari isn’t being very effective in killing them, even when they don’t have any powers. Lol. An “empire” started up in the western region but was destroyed 100 years ago. And a group called Imperium has started to fight against the Hikari. Guess what? Both of those groups are led by Celestials (they still retain their immortal lives even without powers)! And the main characters of Concealed Darkness have changed some too.
This will be major spoilers for the first book in the Concealed Darkness story. Cassian now has the light and dark magic that Luneth had before this. Complete with the wings. But this time, the Hikari actually made him to be like this. As a champion to go and kill Celestials and people who have Celestial blood. Totally because the Hikari loves getting other people to do his dirty work. Tamra now has a Celestial ancestor and a Hikari mom. So, she can use the lightning Celestials can harness and nothing else because the Celestial genes are all diluted. And she can also use her potent magic where she can affect the mind of other people (like for example, she can make them fall unconscious with a thought). And she’ll be more important than before, with the empire focusing on using her because they don’t want to use Cassian or Luneth because they’ve already been claimed basically. Luneth (who I’m contemplating being nonbinary, so I’ll use they/them pronouns right now) now has a Tenebrus for a father and a Celestial for a mother. So, they have their full Tenebrus powers (because Celestial blood doesn’t change that), but they also have Celestial powers like Eclipse does. So, they can change into a dragon and can use light and lightning and can see what other people are going to do when they have their magic activated. They’re being claimed by Imperium to fight against Aston.
With the shift in who’s going to be targeting with main protagonist, that shifts how this story will go. But I’m excited to see where it goes!
WSUWFT isn’t getting changed nearly as much. There are some Celestials in this story too, and the emperor probably also is a Celestial drunk on power from the people who begged him to rule them. And these people were also stripped of magic when the Hikari forced them away, so the emperor gave them his blood so they would all get random magic. So, that’s why everyone on this continent has magic! Other than that, I think the story will basically play out the same. Thank you so much for reading my ramble!
This is when Cress is around 15 years old! Tagging: @yourocsbackstory, @ratracechronicler, and @merigreenleaf! Major spoilers in here for the Concealed Darkness trilogy, but I did keep out an even bigger spoiler.
I was lying in my room in Imperium, just thinking. Xander did follow through on his offer, and now I knew the true reason that Imperium was started. Xander had started it to correct the wrongs of the continent. He hadn’t told many of the other members because he didn’t care the kinds of people he recruited, as long as they would do what he told them to.
If it meant that I could right the wrongs done to everyone on this continent, I would do whatever he said as well. He was the leader, so I had no right to question his choices. As I thought that, my hands unconsciously went to the scars on my arms.
There wasn’t even a knock on my door; Xander just opened the door and walked up to me. I stood up as he crossed his arms with a smirk. “Remember your old city, Sombra? I have information that a child there, named Luneth, has powers far beyond a regular Tenebrus. We’ll need him in our quest for [redacted].” He laughed a little when I flinched. “So, you know this boy? Perfect. He is too comfortable there. He will never manifest his special powers unless he is desperate. I am sending you to make him leave.” He paused, and his smirk was still on his lips. “Perhaps have his parents killed?”
My stomach churned, but I nodded. “I’ll do that.” I couldn’t imagine doing it. Luneth and his parents were like a second family to me. But...if it would mean I could achieve my goals. There had to be another way, though. I just had to think.
Xander smiled. “You’ve grown so much, Cress. I’m proud of you.” I just looked away from him with a grimace.
He left, and I sat back down and closed my eyes. There had to be a way to not kill them, but make it seem like I had. It took me a little bit, but I finally figured it out. Erebos. I needed to talk to him.
I opened my door, and he was standing there. I jumped, but it made sense. That was how he was.
He bowed with a smirk. “Master Cress needs me, right?” Of course, every word was dripping in sarcasm.
“Yes, I do. Xander has required me to—”
He waved me off. “I already know. And I already know what you want, but I’d still like to hear you ask me.”
I bit my tongue before I could say something snarky, but he laughed since he already knew what I was going to say. I bowed my head. “I need your powers to lay an illusion on all of the people of Sombra. Make them think that Luneth’s parents’ magic goes out of control at night. Then make them think that Luneth’s parents hurt someone one night. I will advocate for their deaths, and then you can make the illusion that they were killed once the citizens agree.”
Erebos nodded. “A wonderful plan. I will help you with it. It’s just the kind of clever deception I was hoping you would come up with.”
I forced a smile, and Erebos left. I knew I should be feeling grateful that I could come up with a plan, but I just felt nauseous from the guilt.
This idea is inspired by and formatted like @ratracechronicler‘s post here! This is such a fun idea! I’ll be writing these as if all my characters like each other.
Scene: Before the story even starts.
Luneth checks out his script and frowns. “Why is my character so angsty?!”
Scene: Luneth just revealed he was a Tenebrus.
Luneth looks at Cassian and Tamra with wary eyes, but before they can continue the scene, all three of them burst out laughing.
Luneth says in between laughs: “I just can’t imagine being worried that either of you would hate me! It’s so ridiculous!”
Scene: The mayor of Vivality goes into Tamra’s house and asks Cassian, Tamra, and Luneth to investigate the people who attacked Vivality. Meanwhile, a mob is standing outside the house, wanting Luneth to go away.
The mayor, looking at Luneth: “As for you, see this as an...opportunity.”
Luneth, crossing his arms: “I do what I want!”
Cassian, laughing: “Heck yeah! Stick it to the man!”
Scene: Cassian, Tamra, and Luneth find Nidia being threatened by the same people that attacked Vivality.
Luneth: “They’re talking about capturing a woman who fled into this forest.”
Nidia: “Oh, yes! Come save the poor, defenseless woman! This surely is not a trap! Pay no attention to the fact that the soldiers are still not attacking me while you’re discussing strategy!”
The soldiers start laughing, and one of them says: “Okay, can I just stab her now?”
Scene: Cassian is trying to escape from the empire with a broken arm, and Xander is the one guarding him.
Xander: “Fine. Fight me and win, and I’ll let you leave.”
Cassian, battered and bruised and in no condition to fight: “...Okay. I’ll fight you.”
Xander grabs Cassian’s “broken” arm, and Cassian screams and crumples to the floor too soon.
Cassian: “The horror! The humanity! You’re just too awesome for me to beat. And handsome. And...and...I guess manly? I mean, seriously, how buff are you? Your muscles are as big as my head! How was I even supposed to fight you?”
Xander doubles over laughing, and Cassian laughs too.
Scene: A Hikari just killed a lot of the people at an empire stronghold to help Tamra escape.
Tamra: “W...what do you want?”
The Hikari turns around with a smoldering look, and Tamra looks at the dead empire soldiers behind him, hoping they’re still alive.
One of the “dead” soldiers: “We’re totally not dead!” The other soldiers start laughing.
Scene: Cassian just got reminded of his parents’ deaths, and is vowing to himself to not let anyone else die.
Tamra: “What’s wrong, Cassian?”
Cassian, with a distressed expression: “Luneth’s angstiness is rubbing off on me!”
Scene: Luneth decides to have his wings cut off.
Cassian, running toward Luneth and Cress just before Cress cuts the wings off: “No, Luneth! You can’t become even more angsty! I have to be the most angsty!”
Luneth, totally serious: “It’s too late, Cassian. I have already surpassed you in angstiness. You can never catch up now.”
Cassian, falling to his knees as Cress already bent over laughing: “NOOOOO! I must be the angstiest!”
Scene: Aston getting angry at Cassian for “letting” Luneth leave.
Cassian: “Because you couldn’t keep us safe, he felt the need to leave to protect us.”
Aston, spluttering: “You’re blaming me, boy? The one who...who... Oh, what’s the line? It’s so needlessly complicated.”
*Take 2*
Aston, spluttering even more: “You’re blaming me, boy? The one who gave you your magic? The one who graciously so gave magic to... Crap. One more time?”
*Take 5*
Aston, spluttering the most: “You’re just a child, and I have a superiority complex, so I’m blaming you for something that was completely out of your control! So there!” He then proceeds to hit Cassian repeatedly with a fancy prop sword.
Scene: Not really a scene, just something throughout the second half of the book.
Whenever Cress lies (which is a lot), he keeps laughing, and they have to do multiple takes to just get past one lie.
Scene: The awesome part where Cassian roasts Luneth about running away.
Cassian: “When will you realize that that’s not a good enough excuse anymore?” He starts laughing. “I’m sorry! You’re just so angsty, and I can finally call you out on it!”
*Take 2*
Cassian: “You’ve found friends, and you don’t...” He starts laughing again.
*Take 10*
Cassian: “You would rather be alone the rest of your life than... Wait, you know what? I have a better speech. We’re your friends, Luneth, and you just have to deal with it! I’ll fight you if you try to say otherwise.”
This happens during Concealed Darkness! Tagging: @yourocsbackstory, @ratracechronicler, and @merigreenleaf!
I sat on top of the outer wall of Sibylline, watching the empire soldiers watch the people coming into the city. The city leaders had already surrendered to the empire, but I was safe enough. The empire soldiers weren’t concerned about a lone man sitting on the walls of the city.
It had been five years since I had seen Luneth. And it had been seven years since I had pretended to have his parents killed. Afterwards, he had understandably left the city that had condemned his parents. Xander decided that I should follow him to watch him. And to keep him from getting comfortable. So, everywhere he went, I would hide in the shadows, wait for the perfect moment to give him a scenario where he would have to show his darkness magic in front of someone, who would then tell the whole city and chase him off. For two years, I made sure he could never stay in a city for long, even convincing any friends he actually made to turn on him, at least until Convivium.
After two years of that, Xander decided I was ineffective. So, he took me off Luneth’s case and waited way too long to make a decision on who to send next. The empire gaining more strength distracted him. Because of that, Luneth was able to stay comfortably in Vivality for five years. But who was I to question Xander’s decisions?
I leaned back and kept watching the empire soldiers at the gate of Sibylline. I didn’t know how to feel about what I had done to Luneth. It was necessary, but…if I was being honest, I hated how much I had to hurt him. But…but I had to achieve my goals. I had to stop the one who was controlling this continent.
I stood up when I saw a shock of dark blue hair. I’d know that anywhere. Speak of the devil. Luneth was coming to Sibylline. Of course, when the soldiers recognized his little group, they started rounding up anyone who was near the entrance, including them. I stretched and cracked my knuckles. Well, it was time. I was going to pretend to try and help and get captured instead so I could stay near Luneth, despite what Xander said.
This happens when Cress is about 12 (I know that’s super young, but Cress is just cool like that). There are a couple spoilers for Concealed Darkness. Tagging: @yourocsbackstory, @ratracechronicler, and @merigreenleaf!
I glanced back at Sombra one last time. I had left without warning, just a note for my parents to find in the morning. I had always been told stories about the unidentified person who snuck into Sombra about 40 years ago and stole my family’s ancestor’s diary. I was going to figure out who that was, no matter what.
During my journey, I was able to get into Sibylline and check the records there. There were some records of some long dead empire, but no diary, so no one turned it in to the magicians here. I did hear whispers of a secret organization being formed, though. It was named Imperium. Since I was just a child, adults didn’t see me as a threat and talked as if I couldn’t hear them.
I finally found where their headquarters was, and I snuck in. One of the benefits of having magic that could make me invisible. I didn’t bother anyone; I just searched until I found a room that held records. And my ancestor’s diary.
But right as I snatched it, someone clapped. I tensed and whipped around to see a hulking man with long, teal hair leaning against the wall behind me. I glared at him and held the diary close.
He stood up so that he was towering even more over me. He bowed his head. “My name is Xander. I am the leader of Imperium. And who are you?”
I kept glaring. “The intruder.”
He laughed. “I meant your name.”
“I’m the descendent of the writer of the diary you stole.”
He nodded, his eyes brightening. “Ah. I was wondering if anyone would come for this. Do you know why I stole it?”
“I don’t care. I’m taking it back.”
“Then why didn’t you leave yet? You could have turned invisible and ran out of here.” Yeah right. He was half-blocking the door, and I didn’t trust that he didn’t have a trick up his sleeves. I just stayed silent, and he laughed. “There is a secret about this continent that no one knew until I read this diary.” He pointed at it where I still held it tightly in my hands. “It seems no one in your family has appreciation for the past because there’s evidence that no one touched it in a while. But there’s a secret that will change your whole perspective of this continent hidden within those pages. It took me a while to figure it out through all of the vague writing. I doubt you’ll be able to figure it out. I’ll give you a choice. You can run away with that diary and never figure out the secret. Or you can stay with Imperium, and I’ll teach you everything. I won’t even hurt you for sneaking in.”
I bounced on my feet and looked down at the diary. I had always felt like something was wrong. And he was offering answers. I stood up straight and smirked. That didn’t mean he could control what I did with those answers. “Fine. I’ll take you up on your offer.”
Cress isn’t very talkative about himself, so this one will be short. Tagging: @yourocsbackstory, @ratracechronicler, and @merigreenleaf! If you don’t want to be tagged in stuff like this, please let me know! Also, here is another post that also helps introduce him!
“My name is Cress, and that’s all you need to know about me. Hmm? Why are you still curious? I’m a Tenebrus, so you should be scared of me. Everyone else is. What? Now you want to know what my magic is like?” He chuckles and holds up a hand as darkness dances along his fingertips. “Would you like a demonstration? No? And now you’re asking about my past?” He frowns and his eyes darken. “Now, you really have a death wish. I don’t tell anyone, especially a stranger, something so personal. Get out of my sight before I lose my patience.”
