Based on the post by @i-bring-crack I rotated it too much in my head and now it's cooked into an actual plot post. Anyway read Mydei's crash landing and him meeting the five dumbasses of the Kremnoan Detachment. Additional notes are at the bottom of the post.
Also after cross posting it I found out this is 3000 words long I did not expect that.
Content warnings: Death and resurrection, Swearing
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Destructive Path Energy Detected. Employing Countermeasures
Firewall Breached: Isolating Operating Systems
Operating Systems Compromise
Y̴̭̕ ̸̨͔̌̍O̶̺̿ ̴̢̫̆Ú̶͇̺ ̸̻̠̋͂ ̴̻̜́͠A̴̱͐͠ ̶̡̞͗̓R̷̮̳̀́ ̴̦̱͑E̶͍̊ ̴̛̺ ̴̧̹̎N̴̢̯̊ ̵͈͘͝Ò̵̥ ̵̰̥̏̉T̸̪̳́ ̷̭̤̾̌ ̴͎̅̋W̶̢̐͊ ̴̗̺́Ȅ̶͖̅ ̴̰͓͋͋L̷̢͕̇̕ ̵͙̇C̵̢̬̈́ ̴̟̌͘O̵̺͒ ̴̫̲̚M̴͇̔͠ ̸̣̚Ẻ̶̬͕ ̶̗̃ ̶̘͍͌̔H̴̯͓̓͊ ̸͉̏ͅE̴̢̐ ̶̢̥̽Ȑ̷̭̇ ̵͚͎͛̾Ȅ̴̬̉ ̴͖͊ ̶͚͘K̵̟̈ ̶͈͝Ḭ̴͚̏̔ ̶͉͉͗͗Ǹ̷̞͠ ̵̭̬͒Ṡ̵͙̭͋ ̴̩̎L̶̡̂̿ ̵͎̑̄A̵̱̟͠ ̶̯̮́̃Ÿ̴̤̉ ̴͎̂̕E̵̱͑ ̵̻̌̒R̴̬̾̌
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Mydei gasped awake, icy water flooding his lungs and setting him on another 3 minute timer before his next death. He'd been trapped in the flooded ruins of his ship for too long. He could feel blooms scratching his veins and choaking his arteries. Blossoms clogged his lungs and throat where they lay choaked by water. He lost count of his deaths long ago, but his claws had finally pierced the outer shell. Dragging himself free, he wrestled with the water around him. An eternal abyss stretched around him on all sides. He could barely make out the shape of the ship behind him, still sinking into the void.
He called on his Mark. Beneath him, a flurry of foes, but above, the enemies petered out. That was where up was. He didn't have much time to swim before his body gave out on him, or he encountered a creature investigating the wreck. No doubt many of the foes he detected would be interested in a lone human drowing in the deep. He began to drag himself towards the surface, even as his lungs burned and blooms clawed their way out of his mouth. His vision grew blurry and... shit no don't lose focus now!
He could feel his blooms shiver and crystalise in his veins. Let Yaoshi's curse be merciful and give him enough strength to swim for air next time.
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Never Again
Mydei wrung water out of his hair and coughed up another dafodill. A couple shards of blood accompanied the bloom and he grimaced. Just because he couldn't die for good, didn't mean that it wasn't a miserable experience. The obsidian beach he found himself on was completely adandoned, and the forest that bordered it would have probably been covered in creepy fog in a dramatic movie.
Looking out over the icy waters he had barely managed to clamber out of, Mydei groaned. This was no at all how he thought his landing on the strange planet would go. Amphoreous, the planet that didn't quite exist. His Hunt for the Garden of Recollection had led him here, where the last Memokeeper he had interrogated had spoke of orders surrounding the planet. It seemed not even they knew it's complete nature.
Slinking through the shadows of the woodland, Mydei considered his plan. Without his flare and ship, the situation has taken a turn for the worse. He can't guarantee Amphoreous will have technology developed enough to facilitate space travel. There were no other planets in the system, and if the Memokeeper was right, Mydei was the first and only being to ever enter Amphoreous. In fact, there was a high chance he would have to deal with a language barrier. He shuddered at the memories. Those first few months where he didn't know what was going on... he could only hope these people spoke a language he knew, however unlikely that was.
"Do you think Krateros will be upset if we brought back a Noontide Lion?"
"Is water wet?"
"I mean-"
"Don't even start."
Voices whispered up through the silence, and Mydei slipped behind a tree, his Mark buzzing under his skin. Some form of vocal sapient life was nearby. At least two, though from the footsteps likely more. They spoke a registered language, but whether they understood Synesthesia common or was another thing entirely.
Sneaking closer, Mydei confirmed a visual. Five humans - why is it always humans? - who looked around his age, dressed in light airy cloth in various shades of white and blue, alongside bronze armoring. Vastly different to Mydeimos' sleek gunmetal bodysuit, padded and armored as much as he could afford, and embossed with runes that repaired the material for him when it was inevitably damaged. The same runes that had been burned into his skin.
That was the worst part of dying, it always brought him back to times he didn't want to remember. It was never the memories he wanted to recall that came back.
He followed the five men through the forest. They moved like soldiers, yet spoke like brothers. Comrades in arms, in ways that Mydei couldn't say he was familiar with. The last time he crossed paths with a fellow Galaxy Ranger was... huh. He couldn't remember. he knew he met someone after leaving his mentor's side.... He growled, loud enough that the man at the back of the group jumped, and Mydei quickly ducked behind his tree. It seems like that Memokeeper got back at him after all.
"Hey guys. Did anyone else hear that?" the man he startled whisper-shouted. He could hear rustling from the brush underfoot as one of the men shifted.
"If you heard something we should be on guard. It could be anything from a stray Titankin to the Black Tide." one of the other voices reasoned, and Mydei could hear them all shift their grips on their weapons. That wouldn't be good for him.
He would have to fall further back in his tailing. Once they were clear of the forest and nearer to civilisation, he would be able to leave them be and continue on his own. He needed to find a good landmark to hide his combat suit as well. He didn't know how the people of Amphoreous would react to a stranger from the stars in their lands. It was better to go incognito than risk being hunted. It would interfere with his mission.
Find what the Garden of Recollection was looking for and either take it for himself, or destroy it before they could get to it.
They walked for another half hour or so. The men continued their idle chatter, though pausing every once in a while to listen out for threats. Cute, but Mydeimos had training to stop himself from making noise while walking no matter the terrain, and his boots were made especially for the act.
"Hey guys I'm taking a piss break. Can we take five?" one of them interrupted, inching off to wander into the forest. Mydei silently huffed to himself.
"Stay close, you don't know what's in there," warned the reasonable one. He was cautious, and the most likely to be the group leader.
"Yeah don't get caught with your pants down!" crowed the thinner blonde. He immediately fell onto the ground, stretching out leisurely. The least physically able of the five then. Especially since the one who had obvious medical supplies - and dark blue hair, curious - hanging from their pack immediately went to checking on him, and scolding him when it seemed everything was fine.
"I'll have snacks ready for when you return," hummed the quiet one, who took out a string instrument from their pack and began tuning it. A musician then. He would be popular for moral in that larger army they spoke of. "The Detachment".
Mydei shifted down into the underbrush, crouching low and under a couple ferns so he could stay hidden, should any of the men look towards him. It shouldn't take the energetic one much time to return to the group. He wandered far enough to be out of sight and he couldn't be heard over the chatter of the group, but considering his earlier comment on hearing Mydei's growl, he should be cautious enough to stay close to the camp. And since he left camp on the opposite side from where Mydei was watching, there was no risk of them crossing paths-
The icy tip of a spear rested lightly on his jugular vein with just enough pressure to warn against moving. "Well, you're not a titankin," remarked the energetic one from behind him, where he stood pointing his spear directly at Mydei's throat. Mydei however, was furious. He had just come back from death Lan knows how many times. However this sly bastard got behind him was irrelevant right now. This conniving mongrel thought he could pin him down, threaten his life.
The last time someone tried such a farce, their blood and guts coated his claws. This time would be no different.
He was The Solitary Lion, Mydeimos the Undying, from the planet that does not exist. He will never go down without a fight.
He whipped around with a snarl, all sense of hiding torn away like his claws tore through the man's hand. Flinching, the man hissed and backed off, cradling his injured hand and more importantly dropping the weapon. Mydei did not give him a chance to recover.
Launching himself to his feet, Mydei charged the man, claws poised to pierce his throat. The man... slide away from him? Mydei twisted around as the man outpaced him, and retreated back towards his comrades, who had quickly taken up their won weapons. Spears and shields. Troublesome, but it would take much more than primitive weaponry to take him down.
Mydei immediately lunged for the weakest of the five. He would let the wound fester on the fast one's hand before dealing with him. Grasping his target's spear in hand, he yanked it out of his opponents grip and tossed it away before clawing for his throat. Once again, his opponent was fast enough to stop his attack, instead bringing up his shield to deflect the blow. Mydei's claws were sharper than simple bronze, and sunk deep into the metal. It gave him just enough purchase to attempt to rip it straight from his opponent's ha-
Not there!
Mydei twisted again, bringing his free gauntlet up to block and deflect the spear aiming for his back. The musician quickly backstepped before Mydei could repeat the same maneouver twice. All of them were trained well, Mydei noted with a displeased hiss.
It didn't matter. He was better.
Mydei ducked from the medic's slash and ripped the shield from the weaker person's arm before he could leverage the openings his friends were trying to create for him. The leather straps snapped but it didn't matter, his suit could magnetise. The shield snapped onto his right forearm, which he then brought up to bash against the quick one's strike. It seems he wasn't as out of the fight as Mydei had hoped. Dammit.
Shoving the weak one away, Mydei quickly escaped his perilous postion over the fallen one's body, giving him a quick stomp on the chest for good measure. That should keep him down. Unfortunately, his friends made sure he didn't have the chance to slit the fallen one's throat, as they leveraged the additional reach their spears gave them to force him away from multiple angles.
Mydei circled around the clearing, and his enemies followed his position with practiced ease, their formation never wavering. Mydei smirked as he saw the one he knocked down was struggling to move, let alone get up from the ground. Good, one less threat to deal with.
This time, Mydei lunged for the musician. Inevitable his friends moved to block his advance, but that wasn't his goal. Instead of attacking, Mydei shoved off the defense and pivoted, instead striking the quick one from his elbow all the way to his shoulder, taking off part of the ear with his pass. Golden - ? - blood poured from the wounds and his friends immediately panicked.
Brilliant.
Mydei siezed his newly created opening, lashing out at the musician with a kick as his spun to attack the medic, who was now out of position. The leader attempted to defend for his friend, but Mydei simply batted away the spear with his stolen shield and raked his claws over the medic's chest. The man managed to backstep away from most of the damage, but crimson still poured out and stained his white robes.
"Hephaestion!" the cry came from the leader. A name or a command, he couldn't be sure, but they coudn't stop him no matter what it was. Pursuing the medic's retreat, Mydei raised his claws to continue his assault-
BAM!
Two bodies slammed into him, knocking him square off his feet and onto his stomach, right in front of the musician. The tackle prevented him from twisting around, and before he could buck the additional weight off him he felt pressure on his spine. Sharp, pointed pressure.
He froze, and the two soldiers that had tackled him got up and off his back. He couldn't move. They ripped the shield from his arm. He couldn't move. A sandle planted itself by his hips, the other over his shoulder by his neck. He couldn't move.
"You stopped trying to attack me when Peucesta aimed for your back, right here." the pressure increased and Mydei's breath hitched, his pulse jackrabbiting in his ear. "This is a weak spot, isn't it?" the man on his back asked, and Mydei bit back a whine. Anywhere but there. He tried to shift, roll, anything to get this man away from his weakpoint, and this time the spear pierced skin. This time he couldn't hold back the sharp yelp that escaped, and he immediately froze before the man decided to put the spear deeper in. "Knew it," his enemy huffed.
"He doesn't look Aidonian, or Okheman for that matter." the leader muttered, moving to stand in front of Mydei to peer down at his face. Mydei bared is teeth in a snarl back, but didn't shift another muscle in case the one on his back got any ideas.
"That armor doesn't even look real." one of the men muttered.
"Those claws don't feel Mountain Dweller made, but they're definitely sharp enough for it," the quick one remarked, before hissing in pain. Careful admonishments accompanied the noise, and Mydei huffed. Were they already treating their wounds? Sure, he wasn't in a position to stop them, but it was deeply insulting.
"Who sent you?" the man on his back hissed. There was a rattle to his voice. This was the man he had first knocked down, the physically weakest of the five. Humiliating
"No one." Mydei huffed, claws flexing before the spear in his back shifted and forced him to still again. There had to be a way to get this man off his back without risking his weak point.
"I don't believe you." the man hissed and Mydei held back the urge to growl again.
"I have no reason to lie." he snapped back. These five didn't seem too important. He rested his chin back on the ground and hissed out "I didn't exactly plan to crash land on this planet the way I did."
"What did you say?" the leader startled, before stepping closer and crouching down, clear interest shining in his eyes.
Mydei growled again. "I said I am not from this planet, Amphoreous, or whatever you call it. I am from beyond the stars." If the truth would let him keep his life, then so be it.
"Nice try-" the man on his back snickered before he was cut off
"I believe him."
"Wha- Ptolemy!" the man on his back cried out to his companion. Another name, this one much easier to place than the last two.
Ptolemy gestured down to Mydei, "Look at his armor, have we seen or heard about anything like it in all of Amphoreous?" he asked, a clearly rhetorical question.
"Then how does he speak Kremnoan?" the man on his back seemed like the kind who didn't understand rhetorical questions.
"I don't. It's called a Synesthesia beacon. It is an implant that automatically translated languages. Your language must already be registered within the beacon. It seems my beacon has been translating my words into your common tongue." Mydei huffed. It was strange that this 'Kremnoan' language was already registered, but languages could have similar meaning and sounds. He supposed it was just a matter of time until two languages were alike.
"Why were you following us?" the quick one asked as he walking into Mydei's line of sight. the man's arm and hand have already been bandaged, that was quick. Their medic wasn't to be underestimated.
"I needed a way out of this forest and towards civilisation. You five were just the first locals I've seen." Mydei explained and tapped a claw on the ground. No reaction.
"I'm honoured," the quick one drawled. He was elbowed by Ptolemy.
"Then why did you attack us?" the leader asked next. Mydei gave the man his sharpest of glares. What a stupid question to ask.
"Because one of you decided to threaten my life with a spear at my neck and I have dealt with enough death in that bullshit ocean. Contrary to popular belief, dying is a miserable experience." he huffed and shifted in place, curling his claws under his body. Unlike before, the man on his back didn't threaten him with the spear. Progress.
The men around him winced.
"Alright that's fair. Sorry about that," the man on his back chuckled and- did he just?
Mydei froze, before shifting his weight to his left side. The spear didn't follow him. He rolled over fully, and no sharp points pierced his spine and dragged him into Yaoshi's embrace. He sat up, and no one tried to stop him. The man that had been on his back was now standing off to the side with a hand on his ribs and his spear held lax at his side. Why did they just- he was trying to kill them before.
"You're letting me go?" he asked before he could think the better of it. The weakened man gave Mydei a lopsided grin as the medic walked over to help brace his ribs. Ptolemy shook his head but did nothing to stop his friends. The quick one chuckled
The quick one chuckled, "I mean we started it. Besides six eyes are better than five for finding a way out."
Mydei gave that sentence a once over. Did they- we're they just wandering aimlessly?
"You... you don't know the way out of the forest?" he double checked. All he recieved was five identical looks of sheepish embarrassment.
Mydei groaned. Nothing on this stupid planet was working out in his favour. "Mongrels the lot of you," he hissed. These men were going to be the death of him in more ways than one.
Mydei reads as a virus because he's a galaxy ranger. Irontomb does not like him because they killed Zuno, another Lord Ravager
Mydei has his Galaxy Ranger bullet but no gun
Mydei coughs up Dafodills because they mean death and rebirth
Mydei was abducted from his planet before it was destroyed by the antimatter legion by the Denzins of Abundance, where he was later experimented on and blessed by Yaoshi. When he died a lot flowers bloom in his body. He was later rescued by a Galaxy Ranger, who became his mentor
Some Cremators from the Garden of Recollection destroyed the memories of his planet, which is why Mydei hates the garden and why he is called "Mydeimos from the planet that does not exist". He can't remember his homeland but he knows the memories are missing.
Mydei runs into Argenti quite literally everywhere. This isn't relevant for this oneshot but I just wanted to mention it. Talon will never leave Gabe alone.
The galaxy ranger Mydei had met before was Rappa. He's met Boothill as well but Rappa was the most recent one.
The memokeeper he interrogated deleted the memories from him as payback.
Mydei was present for Penacony but left soon after. It was at Penacony that he interrogated that memokeeper, but then headed straight for Amphoreous.
Irontomb crashed Mydei's ship to restrict his resources.
Leonnius is a Chrysos Heir because I thought it'd be cool. He's the only one out of the five
Yes they were wandering without knowing how to get out of the forest
They were communicating in sign after Leonnius heard Mydei. They planned for Leonnius to check out what was stalking them. It was also why they were chatting loudly in camp, to hide the sounds of Leonnius sneaking up on Mydei.
Mydei's weakpoint is still a guaranteed kill, but as an outsider he can't really die in Amphoreous. The Simulation is just mimicking it.
Khaslana is aware that Mydei is on Amphoreous, as is the Black Tide.
Mydei hasn't unlocked HKS but Mongrel is close enough
Mydei's Synesthesia beacon is only translating what he's hearing, the people of Amphoreous just have an auto one for other languages.
Summary - You are having a normal day with the demon brothers when suddenly they all started saying “meow” instead of words.
NOTE - This was written by my 11yr old. I did not edit it outside of creating paragraphs.
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You got up one morning and got dressed, it was the weekend so you got to stay at the House of Lamentation today. You were excited, Beel was on cooking duty today and although it always took him forever to cook cause he kept eating all the food before he could get it to us, and then had to try again, whenever Beel managed to finish it always tasted the best. Maybe that was cause he likes food so much so he wants it to taste extra good? That’s what you thought anyway.
You were done getting dressed and ran to the dining room, ready to wait for Beels cooking, only to find it already prepared. You looked at Beel putting the plates down, none of the others had arrived yet,
“Wow Beel, you cooked those really fast, like way faster than usual” you said, as you sat down.
“Well I thought it was rude to make you all wait for me to cook so I decided to get up early and do it before anyone got here” he replied. And you two sat down to wait for the others.
You started to wish he hadn’t cooked earlier than usual, because now you still had to wait for the other demon brothers to arrive, but the food was right in front of you. And it smelled delicious. Finally though, the other boys started coming in, all reacting the same as you did, surprised at how fast Beel had cooked it. Finally you all started eating, but when the others finished, something strange started happening.
Mammon and Levi reacted first, very strangely too. They fell onto the floor and soon after the others did too. Mammon wondered what had happened, did Beel give them food poisoning? If so why were you not affected. But then a few moments later, he found himself standing on all fours. He felt like he could hear everything, and when he breathed in he could smell better than usual. He looked down at his hands to find no hands at all. He started panicking and then when he looked at his brothers he saw what had happened. They had all become cats!
Levi looked around “o.m.g.” he meowed, “we’re cats!” He screamed with excitement, far more excited than anyone else as his brothers weren’t excited at all. Levi was probably the only excited one because he was an otaku, and this was basically an otaku’s dream, to turn into a cat for some magical reason. The first thing he did was go over to you, he looked up and meowed and purred, hoping he would maybe get pets. He knew it was dumb but this was basically his only chance to ask for pets because doing it as a human would be too awkward. But when he started rubbing on your legs, Mammon jumped in and hissed at him.
You looked around in shock. The demon brothers had become cats! And even worse, because of this you couldn’t understand what they said. This was gonna be a problem. The Levi and Mammon cats stood at your feet, bickering, but they were so cute. You went down and decided to give them some pets, even though they were the demon brothers and shouldn’t be cats you couldn’t help it. They both stopped and started purring and you laughed.
The Satan cat seemed to be interrogating Beel, maybe he though Beel did this somehow with something he put in the food? You wondered and wished you could understand them. But for now there was nothing you could do except enjoy this secretly.
“Beel, did you put anything in the pancakes besides what you normally put?” Satan asked.
Beel looked thoughtful and then started talking “Well I found a thing of syrup in one of the kitchen cupboards it had a little cat face on it, so maybe that did this?” He asked.
Satan sighed, “I bought that to put into Lucifer’s food, it only works on demons but when a demon eats it they turn into a cat!” Satan meowed, only to feel something breathing on his neck.
He turned around with a slight sense of fear to find his fears were true, Lucifer had just heard that.
“So, Satan. You bought this to turn me into a cat as a trick, and then Beel used it as syrup for our pancakes instead and now we’re ALL cats?” He growled, and Satan gulped nervously.
“Hehe, I’m gonna go now...” Satan said, and then rushed off only to have Lucifer chase him around “COME BACK HERE I NEED TO LECTURE YOOOUUU” he yowled. And somehow, over the yowling, Belphie was simply curled up, napping.
After everyone calmed down Lucifer interrogated Satan, asking if there was a cure and he said there was, but only one. The cure for this was to have a human boop the demon-cat on the nose, which was easier said than done, as you didn’t seem to understand what they said.
Mammon tried to figure out how thy could figure this out and then he had an idea “hey wait! Satan didn’t ya’ read about this spell in one of your books?” He asked, “maybe you could lure the human to the book and show them that page and they could read it and realize the cure!” He meowed happily!
“That’s... actually not a bad idea Mammon” Levi purred “if this works then maybe we’ll stop calling you stupid... maybe” he said.
The demon cats ran to Satan’s room to find the book. Only to find the pages shredded to pieces, and the Belphie cat sleeping on the pile of shredded paper, using it as a pillow. The cats looked at each other then at Satan.
“Umm... Satan this spell doesn’t happen to wear off after a while does it?” Beel asked.
“Yes it does” Satan said, “but only after 2 weeks” everyone growled, this was gonna be a looooong week.
happy holidays !! for my secret songbird i got the wonderful, amazing @dwarnian !! i love hanging out with you on the hadestown discord. you are always infinitely sweet and you always comment on my writing which makes my heart soar. to quote oli, “nothing but respect for my grandpa piss.” love you lots you wonderful human and enjoy a lil modern fluff thing of the kiddos (feat. an oc i hope you don’t mind adhjfhdbfjka)
-Kiz
—⛸—
gods he was so warm. how in hell was that even possible? it was practically thirty degrees out there. yet, here was her poet, warm as the sunlight of spring.
she pressed her face to his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his. the life of the city park was evident in all that was around them. a bike sped by them, undoubtedly almost running over a poor squirrel; a child laughed in the arms of her mother; and her orpheus was smiling at his visible breath in the cold. eurydice reveled in the presence of her lover and the modern magic of the place she called home. how did she ever manage to get so lucky?
“oh my gods, look, love!” orpheus said in a childlike tone, and pointed towards something.
she turned her head to spot a few lamp posts, decked with garlands and red bows for the holidays, all surrounding an ice rink with a few dozen people skating on it. some were unsteady on their feet, slipping and falling to the ground, but most were gliding carefully, chatting while they skated.
“i didn’t know they were setting up earlier this year.” the young man grabbed her hand and started pulling her toward the rink. “c’mon we have to go.”
the girl was left baffled for a moment. orpheus had almost tripped over his own feet trying to say hello to her, could he really skate without collapsing? and if he could, she couldn’t. after years of moving from place to place, when would she have found the time— or money— to learn to skate? gods, trying that would be so embarrassing. eurydice watched a small child of about three with a helmet stumble and fall to the ice. great, she had the skating capacity of a three year old. that was a wonderful boost to her confidence.
she stumbled out an excuse, “honey, there’s no way we can afford that right now. skates are like ten dollars, and it’s eight bucks for every hour.”
please, please, please get me out of this.
orpheus turned around and smiled. how could she ever say no to him when he was like that? “i have a solution for that love.”
his grin widened, and he squeezed her hand tighter. then, he ran towards the counter dragging his girlfriend along with him. a small giggle escaped eurydice’s lips. she couldn’t possibly believe what she was about to do for him.
when the reached the counter, a girl roughly eurydice’s age with dyed white hair and a bored expression on her face went on with a speech she had probably been saying all morning, “welcome to boreas’s ice rink, the best place for skating in all the city. do you need skates?”
“well it’s nice to see you too, khione,” the singer said.
seemingly snapped out of her uninterested daze at the sound of her name, the white-haired girl, khione, eurydice assumed, stared at orpheus for a second and let out a small laugh. “look who’s back for his yearly trip?” she laid her gaze on eurydice. “and you’ve brought yourself a girl. about damn time, music man.”
his face reddened, and he scratched the back of his neck. a bubbling of envy found its way into eurydice’s gut. she knew that she didn’t have to feel threatened by what was probably an old friend of orpheus, but that didn’t stop eurydice from reacting her tiptoes and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.
“man, a mighty good one too. mind introducing me, lover boy?”
he let out a nervous laugh and gestured towards his lover. “khione, this is eurydice, my girlfriend. eurydice, this is khione, a childhood friend of mine.”
they reached out to shake each other’s hands and exchanged small greetings.
“hermes used to take him here once a week when we opened for the winter. where is the old geezer anyway?”
“he insisted on keeping the bar open today while we went out.”
“pfft, sounds like him.”
“HEY CAN YOU TWO HURRY UP WE’RE WAITIN’ OVER HERE!”
khione simply rolled her eyes and yelled out at someone else to take over for a bit. she then gestured for the two to come around the little booth and follow her. “dad is teaching a class right now until noon, but i’m sure he will be thrilled to see you when he’s finished.” she handed asked them both for their sizes and handed them the according skates. “you two are on the house. family-friend discount for this idiot.”
“thank you so much, khione. it was awesome to see you again. we should really catch up some other time!” orpheus said, his gleaming white smile an apparent contrast against his frozen red face.
more jealousy at their friendliness infected eurydice. that was her poet, damnit. but she quickly distracted herself by examining the skates in her hand. they were a bright white with a shining silver blade on the bottom. the grayish laces crept up it until they came together in a neat, tidy knot. c’mon she could do this. it’s just walking on ice. it couldn’t be too hard...right?
“speaking of lunch, eurydice,” the sound of her name threw her out of her daze. khione continued to address her, “you are so pretty. i don’t even know how this bumbling idiot-” orpheus’s eyes met the floor “-managed to score someone like you. anyway, this is all to say...do you possibly have a friend of yours you could set me up with...like...a girl friend?”
oh. well, that made things a lot easier.
“oh, uh, yeah! probably. i can give you her number after we finish up. you are absolutely gorgeous also. if it weren’t for my favorite bumbling idiot-” orpheus eyes grew even wider as he continued his staring contest with the floor. “-i would probably end up sweeping you off your feet.”
orpheus piped up, “she-she could definitely do that. she’s done that to me before.”
eurydice let out a small laugh and continued talking, “we will definitely take you up on that lunch thing.”
the white-haired girl smiled at both of them, said a quick goodbye and went back to the ticket booth.
orpheus gripped her hand and started running towards the little seating area where people were putting on their skates. despite the existential dread, seeing her lover so excited for something he used to do in his youth put a smile on eurydice’s face.
“come on ‘rydice. we gotta get on the ice before it’s too crowded.”
they shoved on their skates and wobbled their way to the entrance of the rink. the young girl made sure to never let go of her lover’s hand the entire way there. she wasn’t even on the ice, and she already hated this.
without a trace of thought, orpheus jumped on the ice, letting go of eurydice’s hand in the process, and seemed to glide around like he was flying. for a man who could barely walk without tripping, he was really good at skating. orpheus spun around to look at eurydice, who had the first half of her foot on the ice and her hand gripping the railing so hard, it was turning white. she couldn’t possibly believe she did this with minimal objection.
“isn’t it just a perfect day to skate? the sun- oh, uh, i-i probably should’ve asked if you knew how to skate first, huh?” the young man said with a hand scratching the back of his neck.
“you think?” she retorted, sarcasm blazing. she attempted to put her whole foot on the ice before quickly retracting it again.
nope nope nope nope nope nope nope
“here-” he outstretched his hands “-you can hold onto me until you get the hang of it.”
the young girl ignored his hands and went straight to his upper arms and held on like her life depended on it. which, in fairness, it felt like it did.
after a generous amount of coaxing from orpheus, eurydice managed to put both of her feet on the ice. she stood there, unmoving. orpheus started to skate backwards and, in turn, dragged eurydice along with him. this seemed simple, if he could do it, so could she. it was just walking on ice. she lifted her right foot and started to place it down again. however, the front of the blade got wedged into the ice, and she stumbled, her grip of orpheus getting tighter as she attempted to steady herself again.
orpheus simply smiled apologetically and continued to skate backwards as she kept her feet firmly planted on the floor.
show-off.
they continued like that for another ten minutes or so, eurydice occasionally trying to lift her foot and stumbling again, until the young man’s face seemed to light up. the girl knew that look. she had seen it multiple times whenever he was scribbling songs into his notebook: he had some sort of ingenious idea.
“so, poet, you going to tell me why you got that look on your face or am i gonna have to give you a penny for your thoughts?”
“you know how we dance in the living room sometimes when i sing?” he asked, continuing to round the corner backwards.
“of course.”
“it’s just like that. i’m gonna sing and you just move your feet to the beat.”
she let out a soundless laugh. leave it to her lover to figure out a problem with music and a loving smile. “okay.”
a melody the young girl knew very well escaped orpheus’s lips. his voice was like honey: sweet, smooth, and leaving you wanting more. it ebbed and flowed and overcame her. despite the bitter temperature, eurydice felt a warmth move through her body. the feeling alone was intoxicating, but being there, with orpheus, she felt spring in the ice. la la la la la la la.
picked up her feet and placed them down again to the rhythm of his song in dance-like movements. one foot in front of the other gliding across the floor. what magic her lover could create. it all seemed easy with orpheus. so natural. like all she had been doing throughout her life was this. la la la la la la la.
they continued like this for a while, her grip becoming lax and their movements like children dancing under the glittering of the sun. he continued to sing. slowly, orpheus turned around to face forward, and eurydice’s hand moved from his forearm to a careful grasp of his hand. la la la la la la la.
“see, that wasn’t too hard was it.”
the sudden switch from singing to speaking caught her off-guard, and she quickly felt herself stumbling and reaching for orpheus. this time, however, he was not in front of her, but beside her. the young man, seemingly refusing to let go of their intertwined hands, faltered as well. and together, they fell towards the floor, orpheus the first to make contact with the ice. eurydice followed soon after, although, she had her lover to break some of the fall. carefully pushing herself onto her hands, she examined his tomato of a face. she had him pinned.
“i don’t know, might need a bit more practice,” she said, the breath from her voice visible in the cold.
eurydice reached down and met his mouth with a fiery kiss. his singing wasn’t the only thing about orpheus’s lips that was sickeningly sweet.
I FINALLY RID OF MY LAPTOP OF MALWARE SO I WAS ABLE TO ACTUALLY GET THIS UP TODAY!
Word Count: 1461
Warnings: 1920s slang and words that better suit then but can be seen as offensive now
Character Mentions/Appearances: Penn Whiskey, Philip Whiskey, The Whiskey Twins, brief mentions of Nicky Delano and Connor O’Sullivan, and our main character….won’t be said until he says his name. ;)
Her heart is made of sugar but she won’t ever admit it, his eyes the iron forged into bars but they’re still a hot spot in the back of his irises. Words that made them were forged with their hands and feet, bringing the ground to its knees.
Whiskey.
An alcoholic beverage which brought smiles onto poor old drunkards in a stool and was also prescribed by doctors who numbed the pain, it had several meanings to the eyes of fools and lawmakers but in the speakeasies, whiskey only had two meanings.
A drink, or the twins.
And the twins had established their brand.
Penn and Phillip Whiskey, they held the button to the production of whiskey, alcohol and transportation raids, they held the fate of bottles in their hands and had the mafia wrapped around their middle finger.
They didn’t condone violence and they wouldn’t dare hurt a soul, unlike the mafias who slaughtered to gain their attention only to be dismissed with sudden shards on their feet.
They didn’t want to be like them.
Not like us.
I was a second boss under the Irish mafia, and as fantastic as that sounded, I only had stumbled on the position on accident, it was out of pity in honesty on how the job landed on my lap.
I’m one-eyed Irish who immigrated from Scotland to ‘murica out of a whim, lost my eye due to a stab-happy thug who decided it was best to prey on the weak and to slash my eye like the civil men in brawls, and after all of that, it was a blur of taking train rides and walking streets like the no good savages the white men in ‘murica had viewed us, immigrants, till, well it led me to the Irish mafia.
Our boss had asked for ideas at the time on how we could make ourselves efficient on alcohol, and of course, I had mentioned these whiskeys.
His face had turned sour when he thought of the twins who worked with other mafias as well.
‘Ye’ ‘ve heard of ‘em on the great vine, no good mixers.’
But he considered the offer and I was sent to the speakeasy no one dared to throw a punch in, otherwise, the alcohol would never reach their lips.
The atmosphere was dim lit in contrast to the boarded up walls that hid the negro singing at the stage.
The patrons threw shards through their gaze is thrown at me as I entered the establishment, though their gaze never lasted as the crowd turned back towards the singer at the stage. At the bar the bartender served the drunkards to their heart’s content, throwing their cash at the palms which held faucet to the fountain of youth, and the bartender didn’t even have to lift an eyelash to get those men at their beck and call.
The boots that littered the dark rowan floors came up almost silent as the mouse in the corner and at the bar, I asked in the corner with a whisper with such ferocity.
“Where can I fin’ those twins of ‘reen”
The bartender stood still and looked at me with blank eyes, alike those eyes dead fish have, and he then placed down the cups he had at hand and lifted the entrance to the other side of the bar, a stray finger of his gesturing me to come over to the other side. I was in for a fated meeting or so I thought.
Behind the counter there were stairs that led above the ground, No one had yet to come down or return from what was above from the moment I came into the homely speakeasy, as I looked towards the man who served beer he only ushered me up with a quick gesture with his head at the corner of my eye. In a slow minute, I had risen up the stairs using the walls to guide me up, when I had seen them.
Their backs towards me and their muttering quiet to the point of whispers, as if the two had been discussing secrets which they only kept to themselves. Although I couldn’t see their faces and only the chestnut hairs they had, I could tell the two apart from each other.
The brother Phil was the slightly taller one out of the two, the back of his shirt clean and so was his undercut, and adding on the broad shoulders he held to hold his respect. The sister Penn was the shorter one of the two, her hair neatly bundled up into a bun behind her head, the appearance of a tomboy clear from the suspenders she had and the jacket which was over her shoulder. These two were the power duo which controlled alcohol and where it goes, and they held the trigger to any gang war they could do, they were alike gods but these gods were too sinful to be true. With a quick knock on the railing of the stairs I had snapped them out of their ritual-like speech, Their heads turned towards me as if I had ruined their face, but the quick impression they held changed to a tame expression, Their eyes from alert to surprise as they saw me, a figure of up to no real threat.
“How long have you been there?” The brother spoke accusingly immediately showing off his ferocity through his words which oozed with hostility.
“A short while, I mean no ‘arm” The brother backed up from his demeanor as I assumed he recognized the accent.
“Scotty?” The sister had spoken up with a question with no more words needed as I rolled my eye trying to think of other ways of how not to snap back with a sarcastic remark until I chose a few words.
“100% Irish, ain’t a Scotty even if I wanted too.” And by a few words I meant nine words, and with nine words the sister had already given me her wide eyes before embarrassingly looking away and saying ‘oh’, before mumbling a brief apology, a great introduction in my book along with the time someone assumed I was British.
“What is it that you need anyway, you can see we’re busy Irish.” The brother wanted to bring attention off of his embarrassed sister, chivalry in its most naked form however his eyes which screamed, “Get out” wasn’t enough to scare me.
“My boss sent me ‘ere. I came to make some business for yourselves.”
The slightly hushed curse from the sister made it obvious that they weren’t prepared to hear from me.
“Connor- didn’t expect to hear from him soon.”
“We just got Delano on our tails too.” The Italian mafia gang ran by Nicky Delano, he is a mythic dick, though for a dick he can run a mafia well, however-
“Delano? I’m sure whatever he’s paid yourself can’t match to how much we blokes are offering.”
The Irish aren’t going to take shit from the Italians. And I was going to set the example except when the twins revealed what was true to their surprise.
“It’s not the idea of-uh…who gets dibs or whatever- it’s the…”
The sister again looked to her brother for the words she was looking for.
“Quantity?”
“Yeah! Quantity- And! The quality!” The sure look on her face got the spotlight on me as if I understood exactly what she was talking about in a blur.
“You get what I mean right?” If it wasn’t enough, not even the wrinkles on my face which clearly spelled ‘hell no’ was able to crack through Penn’s disillusion, however, in the face of idiocy, I attempted to spit out what I interpreted.
“Uh, you’re meaning to say that there’s a check of how many mafias you can supply?”
“Absolutely.”
A complete and utter silence suddenly came over the quaint office of the twins, it was as if someone had died and no one wanted to move some kind of muscle or cheek, the stiff stances from the fraternal twins only made me worry when they gave a look showing how expectant they were of my next move, But the look from the brother gave at my hands behind my back made me think of actually dragging out my revolver and throwing it out the window.
What option did I get from these twins? Either risk competition for some bootlegs with the other mafias and risk wars all around, or look for other bootleggers to do the job.
There was only one thing I could possibly do.
So that’s the first chapter of Hustle, but that’s not the last of Hustle either. Next up we’re gonna see our Irish’s decision and what else is coming from the Hustle and Bustle of Chicago.