#grieverled

[lcstkey]

✦ !

@grieverled Send a ✦ for a fact about the Mun. Send a ▲ for a fact about the muse!

I kind of know how to throw my voice! I accidentally unlocked the ability during a game of Marco Polo while swimming at a lake and got so much hate for it. xD

I don't know if I could do it again now though. It's been years. ^^'

[lcstkey]

▲ for Sel!

@grieverled Send a ✦ for a fact about the Mun. Send a ▲ for a fact about the muse!

Sel fact: Selena [and those born on her Star] have night vision. Their eyes have tapetum lucidum which help their eyes in near dark conditions, which is extremely helpful given their world is perpetually night. This also means that the pupils of their eyes reflect or glow when someone shines a light at them.

Do that with Sel and hers would shine white.

[pulchralilium]

“look at me." @grieverled for my muse’s reaction to yours grabbing mine by the chin and forcing mine to look at them during a tense / highly emotional moment. 

Chaos had swallowed Radiant Garden whole. Buildings lay shattered beneath clouds of stone and dust, streets once filled with life reduced to fields of broken masonry. Fires raged unchecked, their heat forcing survivors into narrower and narrower paths, while the cries of the frightened echoed through the city like prayers cast toward an uncaring sky. It was nothing short of devastation in their home.

Her palms pressed against the brick wall, fingertips dragging across the rough stone as she followed it as quickly as her feet would allow. The smoke was heavy, thick in a way Aerith had never experienced before, burning her lungs with every frantic breath.

Lost.

That was the only word that came to mind. She was so, so, lost.

Aerith stumbled through the masses as they all ran with nowhere to go, bodies colliding in desperate attempts to escape streets that seemed to vanish beneath falling rubble and crumbling concrete. Every instinct screamed at her to stop, to help, to reach for every outstretched hand she passed but the destruction came faster than she could fix.

Another explosion split the air.

The ground lurched violently beneath her feet. She barely caught herself before something seized her around the waist. "Wha—" She was pulled sharply sideways, her shoulder striking solid brick as another body followed, caging her into the narrow shelter of an alcove just as a deafening crack sounded overhead.

The building adjacent from them collapsed.

Stone exploded outward, shards of concrete and glass pelting the mouth of the alcove as a wave of dust swallowed everything beyond it. When the dust settled enough for her vision to clear, Aerith found herself staring at the familiar black leather stretched across broad shoulders.

Leon. He had planted himself squarely between her and the street, one arm braced against the wall above her head while the other remained around her waist, shielding her from whatever else might fall.

"Leon!?"

Her pulse kicked painfully against her ribs. "There are people—" Aerith instinctively tried to slip beneath his arm. His grip caught her wrist before she made it a single step. "I have to help them!" Another tremor rolled beneath their feet. She twisted again, trying to move past him. His hand tightened around her.

"No." The word was so sharp that she froze. She looked up just as his free hand came to her face, fingers settling beneath her chin. There was nothing rough about the touch, but it was firm enough that she couldn't look away as he gently tilted her head toward him.

"Look at me, Aerith."

His voice was tight, hanging almost into frantic. His eyes swept across her face, down her shoulders, her arms, searching so quickly she realized he wasn't trying to stop her anymore. Her gaze snapped to his, her lip trembling as the reality of the situation started to fall on her. She would of been in the direct path of that building if it hadn't been for him. His gaze was assessing, carefully examining each scratch and bruise that Aerith hadn't noticed before.

"You're here" she whispered after a moment, still caught off guard by the look in his eyes. "I'm... I'm alright...I think" She wasn't sure, and truthfully Aerith was nervous to admit that she hurt, especially at her hip. Her body relaxed in his touch, unaware of the tension she'd been holding until this moment. "I was scared" She admitted, her face falling back into his chest. "And I was lost, again"

[pulchralilium]

[ steady ] sender grabs receiver's arm to steady them before they fall over 👉👈 @grieverled

Perhaps she’d been a little overzealous in her discovery, although they'd been searching for somewhere to take cover from the storm for the better part of an hour. Her footing slipped before she had the chance to catch herself. The rain making the ground wet and thick with mud. Leon’s hand closed around her arm, as she stumbled backwards, grateful that he had been paying attention. Aerith peered back, a sheepish expression and an apology on her lips.

For a moment, she forgot entirely what she was supposed to say.

Her gaze dropped to where his fingers still rested against her skin before lifting back to his face, a small, almost teasing smile touching her lips. “Careful,” she murmured. “Someone might think you were worried about me.” Aerith straightened, regretting it entirely. He'd been warm, a striking contrast to the rain that was still falling. "But I am worried about you, come on. It's freezing" Her fingers wrapped around his free hand, beginning to tug them towards cover.

[myristicisms]

Guns and swords, knives or daggers, whatever odd weapon the human mind can concoct, those were things that brought a comfort to someone that grew up with a fascination on weaponry; some sort of honor to her late grandmother known for her talent as a gunsmith. Nell Goldstein may not be related to her by blood but Nicoletta Goldstein wouldn't let that stop her from following in the legend's shadow.

The old signage of Rock's Guns & Ammo a familiar and soothing light in the back of her mind while she worked with a soft hum, sparks often flew, marring at tawny fingertips because heaven forbid a gunsmith have the wisdom to wear the proper safety equipment. Her lungs burn in a familiar way, tobacco flavor staining her tongue the moment she stops working, break time.

( Smells like shit he says, )

The thought is amusing, she'll have to taunt her friend about his distaste for cigarette smoke later seeing as he's run off to who knows where doing whatever the hell it is he does other than complain and follow his gal around like a lost puppy. Lips pull forth ichor from the filter, honeyed eyes closing thoughtfully for a moment. Clean up, dismantle a couple pistols and tinker with 'em — footsteps interrupt her thoughts, somebody walking past probably but Nico knows better than to just assume. It's a man, taller than her of course, though it ain't like that's a hard feat in most cases but the real kicker —

“ Woah! S'that a sword and a gun mixed together? Hold on a second there stranger, lemme get a look! ” Her attention fixates on whatever the odd contraption he hangs onto is, some sort of weird gun weapon that get the cogs spinning around in her mind and makes her bum rush the poor man that looks bemused at best, horrifically confused at worst from her hooting and hollering at the weapon. “ Real beaut she is, ain't never seen something like that before! ”

Lil crossover starter for @grieverled | Squall from Nico hehe

[sunny-explosions]

“𝙏𝙊 𝘽𝙀 𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙀𝘿” 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝙈𝙋𝙏𝙎. | @grieverled

“ this isn’t goodbye. this is… until we meet again. “

"Of course we're gonna meet again," she said confidently, fists planted on her hips. Ever the bubbly burst of optimism, Selphie would have bet all her gil that even a mission of this caliber wouldn't be enough to take Squall down, important though it was. "I'll hold your spot on the Garden Festival Committee for as long as it takes 'til you come back."

It was mostly a joke, considering she hadn't actually followed through on pestering him to take part in any of the festival planning yet. The main point of her comment was to get one of the signature Squall responses to her antics: a roll of his eyes, a sigh through his nose, or even one of his facepalms that he dished out to the more extreme ideas Selphie came up with.

Even so, she was genuinely concerned for him, and she snapped back to a tone that sounded a bit more serious. "At least let us know you're safe when you get there, okay? If we don't hear from you after a few days, I might have to go hunt you down myself!"

She wasn't going to lose another one of her friends ever again if she could help it.

[defiant-ex-soldiers]

[SACRIFICE]: the sender cups the receiver's face tenderly to distract them, right before shoving them out of the way (to safety) and facing an attack alone in order to buy the receiver enough time to escape. ( for cloud teehee :3ccc )

(Okay so it ended up not being exactly what the description says, but both of us know that Cloud would not leave Leon's side for an instant, even if offered an escape, so I had to come up with something else.)

Cloud had let his guard down, he had relaxed his grip on the buster sword upon being told that Sora had defeated the man responsible for all that had happened these last several years.

It was quiet for a while, Cloud was allowed to just... be. It felt odd to him, being a SOLDIER and all, but he got used to it.

Then he fell in love with Leon. It was slow, It was measured. They'd kept each other at arms length before and were slowly inching closer. Once they got comfortable enough to share their scars, that's when Cloud had decided to take the leap.

Leon had proven himself to be the best boyfriend he could ever ask for. The two of them had a silent understanding of each other. Leon was also someone that could keep up, and even surpass him, with him in regards to strength, which was uncommon considering he was SOLDIER. Cloud never regretted being in a relationship with Leon, but there was always a nagging feeling in the back of his mind.

Now he had something to lose.

For the past several days now, the Restoration Committee had been getting reports of darkness stirring around the castle where the hoards of heartless had appeared earlier, It made Cloud nervous. During the night, he'd spend some time awake in bed, thinking about the chaos that surrounded him on the night that he had to evacuate Radiant Garden, and hoping that chaos doesn't happen again.

Especially not now that he could lose Leon.

The two of them had investigated the reports of the darkness, but they couldn't find anything down there. Cloud was always nervous in that area because it's where Sephiroth was spotted often, but he didn't see any signs of the man at all when they passed through.

It wasn't like Sephiroth to be this quiet. He always showed himself at least once when he spotted Cloud down in the gorge, usually to spike the man's nerves. Normally not seeing Sephiroth would come with a sense of relief, but Cloud couldn't help the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

One morning Cloud awoke to chaos. It took him a moment to register screams and sounds of panic from outside his window, but once he did, he jumped up from the bed and got dressed as fast as he could.

He grabbed his sword and peeked out of his bedroom window just in time to see several Radiant Garden townspeople run past, pursued by black shapes.

"No..."

He backed away from the window, finding it hard to breathe. Images flashed in his head. A wave of shadow heartless overtaking his home, His friends fleeing their shared home in a panic, Vincent being caught in the rubble of a falling building.

Cloud evened out his breathing, telling himself it wasn't happening again. These were just some heartless that had wandered into town.

Then his thoughts went to Leon, no doubt he was thinking the same thing. Cloud wanted to find him, and to help the people of the town.

Taking a deep breathe, Cloud steeled his resolve. He grabbed his sword from off his back and sprinted out the door.

Once he got outside, he spotted dark shapes moving along the ground. Heartless. The town's claymore defense system was helping, but it was not enough.

Cloud tried as best as he could to get rid of what heartless he could see, dispatching them with ease. Luckily there weren't nearly as many as there were that night. The sheer number of them was still overwhelming though.

"Cloud!" He heard a familiar voice as he approached Merlin's house, but it wasn't the voice of the man was looking for. He stopped and watched as Aerith came running up to him.

"Good! You're safe." She shouted as she approached him. He could tell she was shaken up by this attack too.

"Yeah, have you seen Leon?" Cloud asked, trying not to let the panic show through his voice.

Aerith nodded, motioning her head toward the entrance to the Marketplace.

Cloud responded with a nod and a quick "Thanks." before heading off in that direction.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!" Aerith followed, but Cloud stopped and looked back at her.

"No. People out here need your healing. Leon and I can take care of ourselves."

"Cloud, you don't understand... Sephiroth's there, he's behind this attack. Somehow he found out how to control the Heartless"

"No..." Cloud looked from Aerith to the entrance, "Please Aerith, I don't want you there. Promise me you'll stay away from him." He didn't wait for an answer before sprinting through the archway.

He wanted to make sure Sephiroth didn't take anyone else away from him.

He sprinted up the ramp and then climbed the stairs as quick as he could. When he got to the top of them, the first thing he saw was Leon standing by the railing, looking over at a figure perched on a pipe sticking out of the roof of the accessory shop, one wing on full display.

Sure enough, it was Sephiroth. The mere sight of him sent Cloud's heart racing, especially seeing Leon so close.

Between the two of them was a sea of shadow heartless, coming up to the bottom of the railing that Leon was in front of. They covered the stairs, but made no move to attack yet, as if waiting for a signal. It still wasn't enough Heartless for a world ending catastrophe, but it was a lot.

Cloud didn't know what happened to the shopkeepers and the other people that wandered the Marketplace plaza. He didn't know if they were heartless now too, or they somehow managed to get away.

Right now Cloud was focused on Sephiroth.

"I should have known you'd be behind this." He said, mostly to himself. He doubted Sephiroth could hear him.

Leon looked over at him. Cloud didn't see a look of relief that another fighter had come to help. Instead he saw a look of fear, and he knew exactly why. For the same reason his own heart was beating fast.

The two of them locked eyes, but before either of them could say anything, they heard a distant baritone voice and their gazes snapped to Sephiroth as he shouted down at them.

"Just who I wanted to see. The two of you will make fine heartless."

A single snap of his fingers is what it took for the hoard of heartless to start moving. Single shadows jumped out and lunged at Cloud and Leon.

Both had their swords at the ready and sliced into the heartless as they came. It was easy enough at first, but then more and more attacked at the same time. Cloud and Leon had been pushed back. They had to go on the defensive just to guard against the sheer numbers, even still, they were taking hits.

Then, just as quick as they had multiplied, the numbers dwindled. Cloud and Leon were allowed a chance to breathe, but they kept their guard up. They watched as the shadows in the middle clambered on top of each other. It didn't take long before Cloud identified what was happening.

"They're making a demon tower," Then more forms rose up from around the middle, "Multiple, it looks like."

Leon took a few steps back, "Where's Sora when you need him..." He mumbled, "Compared to what we've fought before, this should be a piece of cake."

"Even the weakest enemies can become strong in large numbers. Don't underestimate them." Cloud responded. Thinking back to when the world had been overrun, he recalled that was mostly shadow heartless as well, but enough to cause a whole flood.

The first of the towers shot toward the pair and Leon grabbed Cloud, moving him out of the way and pinning him against the building that they were next to.

Cloud's eyes scanned the horizon to see if that tower would come back or if the others would attack, but he was distracted for a moment by Leon placing a hand against his cheek and placing a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Wha-" A finger to Cloud's lips stopped him from talking. He had no idea

"I love you... I can't lose you." Leon said with a smile. A stone of fear settled itself in Cloud's stomach, he couldn't help but feel like Leon was trying to say his last words. Before he could reply back, he felt Leon pull him. He felt cold engulf him as he was shoved into some sort of freezer and soon he was submerged in complete darkness as the door closed. He heard Leon's voice just before it was closed all the way.

"I'm sorry."

There was a clicking noise when the door was fully shut. He'd been locked in.

Cloud wasted no time in getting to his feet and pounding on the door, calling Leon's name.

"Leon!"

He tried to look for a handle to open the door, there wasn't one. He banged on the door until his hands were covered in bruises underneath the gloves, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He was supposed to protect Leon, not the other way around.

He had no idea how long he was in there. The cold threatened to sap all the warmth from his bones. He knew Leon wanted to protect him by locking him in here, but at this rate, hypothermia might get him.

There he sat for several hours, worrying and mulling over his own thoughts. He rubbed at his exposed arm and face every once in a while to warm them up.

Slowly, he was starting to get used to the darkness and he quickly realized this was scrooge's ice cream freezer. There was a door in the back where most of the ice cream was probably being kept, but Cloud didn't doubt it was even colder back there. Opening that door would no doubt quicken the slow process of his body freezing.

Every once in a while he'd go back to banging at the door, to calling for help or calling Leon's name.

It was Aerith that finally found him. By the time she pulled him out of the freezer, his movements were sluggish and he couldn't feel his fingers and toes.

Despite Cloud's protests, the first place Aerith took him was Merlin's house to get warmed up. He was sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and given a warm blanket. Minutes later, a warm drink was shoved into his hands.

"What happened to Leon?" He was afraid to ask, but he did so anyway.

Aerith sat on the floor next to him, staring into the fire, "I don't know. I haven't seen him since the fight broke out. Cid, Yuffie, and Tifa are out looking, but so far they haven't found anything.

Cloud wasn't one to sit by while someone he cares about was missing. Even if he wasn't fully warmed up, he placed his drink aside and got up from the floor, intent on heading toward the door.

Aerith got up too, intending to stop him.

Both of them froze when the door opened and in came Cid and Tifa holding the battered and bloody form of Leon between them.

Aerith gasped, going to his side as quick as she could, healing the worst of his wounds.

Cloud watched as he was put in Merlin's bed for the time being.

"You idiot." Cloud said as he approached Leon, but there was no punch to his words, "We could have beat them together."

Leon's eyes opened and, despite his condition, he gave Cloud a small smile, "Didn't want to lose you."

Cloud could feel his eyes filling up with tears, "I don't want to lose you either..."

Aerith interrupted, "I don't know what happened, but Cloud was suffering from hypothermia when I found him... I don't think locking him in a freezer was the best idea."

"Only thing I could think of in the moment... sorry..." Leon apologized, "I thought I could thin out their numbers by having one of the demon towers chase me. I ran all the way to the castle, but I couldn't shake them... I made my stand at the postern. They hit me hard, but in the end I avoided becoming a heartless... Seems Sephiroth has withdrawn his hearless hoard for the time being... maybe this was just a test..."

"Maybe..." Cloud thought about it for a moment, then put on a serious look, "Don't ever do that again. We fight our battles together, okay?"

"I can't promise you that, Cloud. I'm always going to want to protect you."

He couldn't argue with that, he felt the same way.

Cloud stayed and watched Aerith heal Leon's wounds, and once he was left there to try and get some sleep, Cloud laid in the bed next to Leon, covering them both with a blanket.

"Sephiroth will be back, you know..." Cloud couldn't help but voice his worries, "he'll bring an even larger army of heartless with him."

Leon nodded, "This time it was a surprise, next time we'll be ready for him. We'll call for aid from the other Keyblade wielders."

"Sounds like a good idea to me...." Cloud replied with a yawn at the end of his sentence. He felt Leon's hand on his cheek again and a soft smile graced his features, a smile that was only reserved for Leon.

"I love you. I love you more than I've loved anybody else."

"I feel the same way. If I had lost you today, I would have torn me apart, even more than any of the other losses I have suffered..."

"Well, you didn't lose me." Leon slung his arm over Cloud and pulled him close, "I can't pretend to know what will happen in the future, especially now, but one thing that will never change is how much I love you... how important you are to me."

"I feel the same way." Cloud replied.

"Good, now lets get some rest."

And with that, the two fell asleep, tangled in each other's arms.

[lcstkey]

@grieverled | dreams make good stories, but everything important happens while we’re awake. Dune [2021] Prompts

"I suppose..." The keybearer answers idly, sipping her warm coffee, "It has been said that dreams are rooted in memory. Not that I could ever recall any of mine anyway. "

"Were you ever able to recall any of yours?" She asks, faintly smiling at her feeble attempt at a joke moments earlier.

Her eyes glance over toward the city square. The flowers bloom in radiant colors but she couldn't be sure if it was this way all year. It felt peaceful and much needed in uncertain times. Maybe this was why the city was named Radiant Garden.