#my wrtiting

[hunterofthemist]

Spite

I rush around the street and into an alley, hoping to avoid detection. Checking over my shoulder for anyone following.

"Found you!" The wall of the building next to us explodes and sends me into the empty street. Im winded and I can't get up. "Took us some time but we found you. Gave us quite the slip"

I try to get up, but my arms give out. " aww, poor little thing cant stand." The thing in front of me speaks with a grin.

"Fuck you," I growl. I try once more to stand, Im able to move my leg underneath myself and begin to stand.

An array of lasers come from a small device held by another one of the Dex. "uh sir? You're going to want to see this." In response, the one In charge leans back and looks at the display of the device. "What the fuck?" He questions.

"How are you even standing?" The leader asks in annoyance. I smile and start walking towards them. They point their weapons at me, but I stumble and fall onto my hands and knees.

Upon witnessing me the Dex start roaring in laughter. "Oh, I thought we were going to have a problem." The leader bellows.

I grab the pipe beneath me. I stare at the ground and see drops of water hitting the ground, it's raining.

I stand up again, pipe in hand. The rain goes from small drops every now and then to light drizzling.

In response to me, they start chuckling to themselves. "A pipe? What do you think you stand to gain by fighting us. You are going to die if you fight, just accept it."

I wait there for a moment. A crack of thunder hits somewhere nearby and with it the rain starts pouring, obscuring my vision down to a minimum. "Then I'm taking you fucks with me!" I shout as I sprint towards them.

The pipe collides with the first one's skull with a sickening crunch. I hear the sound of blaster fire and feel the pain of plasma burning through me. I turn my attention to the one who shot me. I start walking towards him, unable to fully run after being shot. He starts shooting rapidly at me in fear. "Just die already!" he screams in fear.

I block a good portion of the incoming shots with the pipe, the rest burning through me. I get close and punch him across the face, knocking him to the ground. My pipe was reduced to a simple blade from the plasma hitting it.

I Attempt to stab the thing in the chest but they grab my wrists to stop the blade. I push harder and after some time the blade punctures his chest, killing him.

I grab the gun he was holding and start firing back to the one who has been firing at me and missing all of his shots because of the heavy rain and fires eight shots at him, the last one hitting its target and killing him.

I sit there a moment regaining my stability when I the sound of the pained groaning front the first one. "Why did you fight back, you're only one man," He says as I walk in front of him.

" I could give you a lengthy diatribe about the spirit of humanity but Im certain I'd die of boredom. That and the several gaping holes in me, so I'll give you a better reason. Because I felt like it." I say with a pained grin.

"Go to he-" He doesn't finish his sentence as I shoot him dead with a single shot. "What was that? You didn't finish." I laugh, which soon turns into a fit of coughing. I fall over and turn to over to my back.

Eventually, my breaths become shallower and shallower, until simply they arent there anymore. I stare into the sky, pelting my face with rain, and smile one last time.

[sourdough-morbread]

No pressure but could we get some excerpts/thoughts about master, king, star 😔🤲

OMG HI HELLO! yes OF COURSE you can have all the excerpts! thank you so much for letting me giving me a reason to anon i love you im going to cry. im. hyperfntilating seriously this ask made me so happy! i was having a very hectic week.

I don't really know how to organise this so I apologise in advance that this is going to be a bit all over the place. I think I should start with some stuff about the upcoming chapter because it has been a stupid amount of time since chapter 2. This is the header on my draft on ao3:

Chapter 3: Whose Loss Is It Anyway? (The Bet I) Summary:

Among the mages of Daeho, lost friendships are plentiful, and they all suck at talking to each other.

There's a lot that's going to happen. There's going to be some Seo Yul and more of Heo Yun-ok. And there isn't a lot of time I can breeze through like chapter 2 with the ten day time skip. I'm also setting up some stuff with Heo Yun-ok and how energy works for building out detail in what's going on with Jin Bu-yeon and Cho Yeong later. All of that has to go into the chapter somehow without making it a disjointed slog to read. Its going to be a long one. I'm guessing over 10k. Could be 12k. I don't know. It feels like it's too long but I also have no idea what to cut out.

But anyway! Here's some of what's coming:

"Your Highness," he greets after coming just close enough for the jade to stop nudging at his heart and puts it away. "Jang Uk," says the prince, and does the same with a severe look to his face, just like the one he had in Cheonbugwan. Then he spots the sword in Jang Uk's hand, "Why do you have that with you?" "You called me here at the dead of morning," he states the obvious, "I didn't know what I was going to be walking into." "Were you concerned I was in danger?" he asks, disbelief replacing his severity and scoffs a laugh, "Did you come here to defend me?" He looks so pleased with himself. Like a peacock admiring his own tail feathers. How obnoxious. "I just came prepared." The Crown Prince continues his evaluation, trailing his eyes up and down Jang Uk. Without the jade interfering with his emotions, he is quickly growing very upset about the flippant manner with which he is being made into entertainment. "You look so conspicuous," the prince says with a scoff of laughter. … He can't believe he let himself be concerned over the Crown Prince, of all people!

Go Won and his problems with socialising make me giggle so much. He just HAS to comment on Jang Uk's dishevelled clothes. Just like he HAS to say Mu-deok definitely will lose the race or fail the exam. He has no idea what encouragement is, just like Mu-deok, because they were both traumatised by the same person.

Honestly, the similarities between Mu-deok and Go Won are just… I am unwell about them. They both compensate for feeling affection and compassion by being mean or immediately criticising whatever is going on. And anything real has to have a hurtful side to it to them. If its not mean, it feels like its a lie. Because the only positive feedback they got was cruel and reinforced that they were disposable.

For Go Won it looks like him randomly insulting people when he's trying to make friends and feeling like he has to defend his position as the Crown Prince constantly. For Mu-deok it's her insanely blunt feedback and interpreting affection as a danger to herself. Her own well being is not even a factor in her decisions. Both of which makes them so easy to manipulate and use.

At the point Master, Star, King picks up the story, Mu-deok has moved away from this somewhat, but Go Won still has a long way to go. He will get there, but it's not going to be easy.

Speaking of Go Won and Mu-deok, here's a bit of them talking coming up in chapter 3:

"Have…" she scoots closer, with a dramatic glance at the door, then puts one knee on the floor and leans over the other towards him, "Have you noticed anything else strange like that, Your Highness?" she asks in a half whisper. It's just the right mix of nervous and fascinated, as if there is no ulterior motive to this at all. Just a silly question from a silly maid to serve her own morbid curiosity. He raises a knowing eyebrow at her, "Worried for your Young Master, are you?" Her eyes grow wide and she nods, "Oh, yes, I am, Your Highness! I knew would understand," she said and sighs in seeming relief, "That's why I am asking you. If anything amiss was going on, you would be sure to pick up on it." "Of course I would have," he says, his tone even and guarded, "I'm the Crown Prince." Her focus locks on him, eyes razor sharp. He can imagine them glint like a sword in the sunlight moving into position, but she masks it with her signature kowtowing, "So you did notice something weird!"

He's trying to out-conversation Mu-deok as if that can ever happen. This part is subject to change becasue there is somethig off about this scene in particular, but the dialogue will probably stay the same.

I have other parts from chapter 3, but they are subject to major editing, or huge plot spoilers. The general flow of this I've had worked out since posting the previous chapter but it takes a while for me to be happy with it. That's why it takes me so long to post anything. Also right now I have a lot of IRL stuff to keep up with, that has slowed me way down. But things are starting to settle and I'm speeding up, so fingers crossed.

I don't know what else to say really. This is already way too long of a post lkfjlsdf. If you want more or anything else specific please tell me.

But I have a bit from farther down the line, when Go Won is firmly on their side and all of their feelings start getting very confusing. I've been dying to post this ever since I wrote it like months ago. So I will finish this off with that.

Go Won notices Jang Uk staring at him again, with an expression he can only describe as wonder. A slight upturn to his eyebrows, cheeks flushed from how much they have had to drink and a pout. He keeps eye contact with Jang Uk for just a little too long before looking away. It's enough to make him feel disoriented. Mu-deok is across them, trying to shake out the last little bits of alcohol from the bottle into her mouth. He feels too uneasy to draw her attention. She doesn't like this new habit of Jang Uk's. Him watching Go Won. "What is it?" "You know what you remind me of?" He stays silent. From across the table, Mu-deok sets down the bottle, frowning. "What?" "A tiger." Only after the answer sinks in does Go Won realise he had been half expecting an insult. Why was he expecting an insult from Jang Uk? That's so stupid. "A tiger?"

According to my outline this is coming up in chapter 9 (Three Seasons Worth of Welcome). I know I post very slow but this fic has a fairly detailed outline, beyond to Jang Uk and Cho Yeong getting married. And it should get easier to write the further I get, because right now I'm setting up plot threads and figuring out their pay offs in like 7 or 8 chapters later. When I get to them I will have a lot less to figure out. I will finish this fic if it's the last thing I do.

Anyway, thank you so much for giving me a reason to ramble about this on tumblr! I hope you see this and and enjoy it!

[feelingsick]

“Stop holding it down, sweetheart.” with Bel and Romi?

It didn’t matter how much Bel tried to assure Romi that he was welcome in the apartment, or that the younger dancer had lived with Bel and his boyfriend for almost a year now – Romi still didn’t feel comfortable being in the apartment alone. Even if he didn’t say so, Bel could tell how awkward he acted at the prospect. He knew it would take time for Romi to get used to things, to come to finally see himself less as an imposing guest and more as family. In the meantime, Bel could at least try to minimize Romi’s stress as much as possible.

“I’ve got some shopping to do,” Bel announced, glancing down at where Romi was looking over one of his textbooks. “Feel like coming along? You’ve been studying for a while now. Might be time for a break.”

Normally Romi would jump at the offer, but he’d been quiet all afternoon. It was no wonder – the poor kid had been working hard all week.

Bel smiled encouragingly as Romi closed his book and set it aside. “I just need to pick up a few things. We’ll be back in no time.”

—

Romi was at least a little more talkative as they got off the bus and continued their way downtown. He told Bel about what he was studying, and listened as Bel outlined a new dance routine he’d been working up.

Slowly, though, Bel began to notice Romi becoming quieter and quieter as they shopped. Before long, he’d stopped talking altogether, only responding with a nod or a shrug when Bel tried engaging him.

“Are you alright?” Bel asked finally, eyeing Romi over his shoulder as he sorted through a rack of clothes. “If you’re bored, we can–”

“No,” Romi answered quickly, shaking his head. “I’m not bored, really. Just…” He blushed, making a face. “My stomach hurts a little, that’s all.”

Bel frowned, dropping the top he’d been looking at. “Do you want to leave?” he asked.

“No, I’m fine, I promise.”

Bel looked him up and down. Romi was clearly uncomfortable, but he looked alright. The flush from his cheeks could have been embarrassment as easily as a fever. But if he was really, truly sick, Bel also knew that he’d never admit it at the cost of ruining their day out.

“I’m done here anyway,” Bel said casually, picking up his shopping basket. He’d found a couple tops he liked, which was good enough for today. He gave Romi an encouraging smile as they moved to the front of the shop, noticing the stiff way the younger boy walked as he tried to discreetly cradle his stomach. The sooner Bel got him home, the better.

The cashier smiled at them as Bel handed her the clothes he’d picked out.

“Did you find everything you were looking for?” she asked cheerfully.

“Absolutely,” Bel answered, returning her smile. She began to ring up his purchases, but when she looked up again, her smile fell.

“Um..” she began, looking upset. Bel frowned before realizing that she wasn’t looking at him, but rather past him. He turned, following her gaze.

Romi stood behind him, a hand pressed tellingly to his lips. As Bel watched, Romi’s body jerked, his cheeks ballooning out before he valiantly swallowed it back down.

“Oh, gosh…” Bel took Romi by the shoulders, turning quickly back to the cashier.

“Bathroom’s back there,” she said before he even had a chance to speak. He thanked her, quickly steering Romi in that direction.

“You should have said something,” he chastised gently. “I wouldn’t have made you come out with me if I’d known you were sick.”

They burst into the thankfully empty restroom, and Romi let Bel guide him into one of the stalls. For a moment, they just stood there, Romi breathing deeply in an attempt to keep his composure.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice shaky. “I don’t know what happened.” He swallowed. “I feel a little better now.”

“Are you sure?” Bel asked.

Romi nodded slowly before suddenly dropping to his knees over the toilet with an empty belch. Bel couldn’t help but chuckle as he crouched down beside him.

“That’s what I thought,” he said gently, placing a hand on Romi’s back. “Just take your time, we’re not in a hurry.”

Romi said nothing. Bel rubbed a hand across his trembling shoulders, waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, he felt Romi’s body tense as he gagged once....twice…before swallowing it back down again.

“Romi,” Bel chastised gently. “Stop holding it down, sweetheart. It needs to come up.” He reached around and pushed Romi’s sweat-dampened bangs off his forehead. “Trust me, you’ll feel better once it’s out of you.”

Romi made a soft whimpering sound. For a moment, Bel worried that they’d be there all day as he continued to fight it. But suddenly Romi’s stomach gave a deep gurgle, and he was once again leaning over the toilet. With a heave, he let loose a torrent of his half-digested breakfast into the bowl.

“That’s it,” Bel praised. He rubbed a hand up Romi’s spine, trying to help his body through the motions. Sure enough, Romi let out a soft burp before vomiting up another thick stream.

He heaved a few more times, each time bringing up less and less, before he finally stopped. He fell back, panting hard. His shirt was soaked through with sweat, and he was shaking like a leaf.

Bel reached up wordlessly and flushed the mess away before tearing off a wad of toilet paper and handing it to Romi. “How do you feel now?” he asked, giving Romi’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Better,” Romi gasped softly, cleaning his face with the tissue.

“Told you,” Bel laughed. He ran an affectionate hand through Romi’s damp curls. “Give yourself a minute to breathe and make sure you’re done. Then we’ll get you home.”

[twinflame413]

The ground was covered in a soft, dense layer of tall grass, which was flattened by hundreds of people who had stepped a foot inside of the hut long before. Joey cautiously observed the ground floor, making sure no one was there, and began to rise the winding mud stairs. His gaze caught someone's cloaked figure, imposingly settled in a large chair.

"God, what a strange soul," Joey thought, but then he remembered why he was there.

"It's the passionary". The man was dozing off peacefully in his comfortable seat, his long legs stretched out and arms crossed on his chest. It would be an understatement to say that this man had a salient appearance. His skin was painted in the color of clear skies, and his hair, draping over the collar of the inconspicuous caftan, reminded Joey of the sun.

Joey wasn't sure on how he was gonna strike a conversation with such an important individual, and could not utter a single word - he only patted the arm of the chair in hopes that the passionary wasn't hibernating.

The man's eyes slammed open, and glanced right at the intruder - Joey's ears stiffened underneath his headband. Before he knew it, he was now staring intently at the third, golden eye that was sat down the middle of the passionary's forehead. The eye was bloodshot and irritated, it's pupil fluttering in it's socket like a wounded animal. Joey felt the fur on his back rising, then seized to move, clutched by fear, still reaching over to the chair handle. The passionary also hasn't moved a muscle since waking up, but he did shut his third eye, sensing that he was scaring his new guest. He then proceeded to speak in the strangest manner, suckling on his every word, as if human speech was burdensome to him. His voice was soft and wary, which pulled Joey into the fetters of doubt.

[cloudycera]

The Street Rat Empire

( I like this name better)

Beta Chapter 1.

Billy hated summer, Most kids loved it and it was easier not to freeze to death during this time but for billy it was one of the more dangerous times of the year. With kids no longer in school more of them would be taking up summer jobs which it harder for him to get one and it always seemed like CPS worked harder now.

The raven was zoning out in The Tower, contemplating his life outside of The Captain and what he was going to do for dinner or if he was going to eat tonight to help out the younger kids in his apartment, he could swipe something from the Cafeteria when no ones looking but to be honest someone was always looking.

"Cap.....Cap?!"

Captain Marvel almost jumped out of this chair as he turned to The Flash who was looking him with a questioning smile.

"Yeah? Sorry I was....thinking" he said awkwardly chuckling.

"Obviously you've been staring out the window for the past 30 minutes, Hal was ready to bet you were a decoy or something" Barry said leaning against railings next to him.

"So what's eating you?"

Captain wasn't exactly sure how he was going to tell his teammates he was going hungry to feed other people so he shrugged and placed his forehead on the glass.

"Nothing much just....worried about some kids in Fawcett" He chose the half truth, it helped to only tell half the truth most times, this way they could understand his worry.

"Kids?" Barry asked.

"Yeah as Shiny as Fawcett is it's homeless population still makes up thirty percent a lot of them are just kids, it sucks that even with all the strength In the world I can't help every last one them but still gotta do something" Billy's sad smile shook Flash a bit, he was used to the happy go lucky optimism Captain marvel carried around with him but even as he knew how creepily happy Fawcett city seemed to be he just accepted that it would have a hero like The Captain who always brightened up the mood.

"Is that why you always sneak out like 20 boxes of pizza on fridays?" He asked.

The raven blushed but didn't look at Barry out of fear that he would look like an idiot,

"You noticed that....great" he whispered but Flash still heard it.

"Everyone did Capn, everyone" Barry pat Billy on the back and smiled. "You're a good man Marvel, I'd say it would easier to just call Child protective services but if you could you already would"

"Those kids trust me Barry, I'd never do that to them I know how sucky that life can be Foster isn't exactly kind to most....ah" It was too late once he realized he'd actually given out personal information about himself, Billy turned away from The Flash and was so close to just flying out the window.

"You were a Foster child, Captain?" A new voice to the conversation, Dinah The Black Canary walked up to them with a blank face but slightly sympathetic look in her eyes.

"Can we forget I just said that?, oops look at the time gotta go see you guys later!!" In seconds the raven was gone, guess the speed of Hermes came in handy sometimes.

"What was that?" Dinah asked Barry looking at the door he ran out of.

"I don't know, he was zoning out so I asked what's wrong and he talked about the homeless kids in Fawcett, I think he's just a little conflicted.... you should talk to him tomorrow"

"I don't want to make him uncomfortable but I'll try" Canary said.

*********

In a rundown apartment in the forgotten neighbourhood, Billy laid on his makeshift excuse of a bed. It was an old mattress that he sometimes let the other kids stay on if they wanted to hideout somewhere, he had a sleeping bag as the bed cover to make it less gross to sleep on.

He knew he could always just live in the tower and no one would ask questions but he couldn't bring himself to do it, not when the League didn't know his identity and he felt responsible for the homeless kids here too.

Billy had long since given up on trusting adults, yeah he absolutely trusted the League with Captain Marvel's back but nat with Billy Batson. Billy batson was a scrawny 12 year old with nothing to his name, living in a dangerous neighbourhood and eating out of a trash can on most days and the League was full of kind good people but that kindness proved to be pain in the raven's ass the older he got.

There was a knock on his door and upon opening it was a little girl named Alli who lived with her mom the floor below him, Alli's mom was an addict who refused to hand her daughter over to social services and was on the run but Billy felt sorry for them so he let them stay in the building.

"Their back again, the Lions are making trouble outside again." The girl said, Billy looked annoyed but smiled either way and patted Alli's head thanking her for the information and sending her off to her mom.

"One day...just one day...can't I just relax and over think"

He said before getting to the roof and saying his words of power to ultimately talk the Gang into leaving and maybe throwing some of them into each other.

(I HAVEN'T WRITTEN IN A LONG TIME SO PLEASE TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS)

[parttimeghost]

c a m p n a n o w r i m o w r a p u p ; don't pay the ferryman

so, my goal for nanowrimo last month was 10,000 words. and yeah, i managed to achieve that, by writing literally everything except my camp wip. oops. so here's a quick summary and excerpt from what i did manage to write for 'don't pay the ferryman'.

s u m m a r y

don't pay the ferryman was my camp nano wip for july. it's a 'the good place' inspired story that follows thea, a ferryman in the Afterlife. the Afterlife is an amalgamation of various afterlife concepts, the way it presents itself to the deceased is catered to the individual. in the case of cerys, thea's new fare, Afterlife presents itself in the form of a long taxi drive home.

thea has been working the Afterlife for as long as she can remember. she had been human, once. she had died and entered the Afterlife, armed only with the silver coins in her hand. it was there she had met her guide and made a fatal mistake. she handed him the coins. she paid him before the journey was done. in doing so, thea swapped places with him, becoming one of the ferryman.

now, presented with the opportunity, thea must make a choice. does she trick cerys into paying her, thereby securing her freedom? does she condemn the girl to a seemingly endless torment?

t r a n s c r i p t

So, to reiterate. Philosophy is derived from the ancient Greek word meaning love of knowledge. The study of Philosophy seeks to make meaning of a seemingly random existence whilst attempting to find the answers to questions there are no real answers to. The Trolley Problem could be avoided with adequate occupational health and safety standards and Phillipa Foot would have made for the world’s worst taxi driver. Or maybe the best, depending on your point of view.

[noblest-roman-of-them-all]

I was tagged by @four-rabbit for a writing challenge with the prompt "How many have you got?" My brain has been glued to a new AU idea I had where Remus shows up on Roman's door step with an 18-month-old Virgil in tow, fresh from an abusive relationship, so that's what y'all get.

TW: mentions of abuse, scars, and very vaguely implied non-con. Hurt/comfort, Angst with a fluffy-adjacent ending.

Roman's eye caught a dark miscoloration under Remus's shirt, and stepped in his way. "Whoa, hey, what is that?" He asked pushing the neckline away to get a better look. The shape of an octopus became apparent when he saw the whole thing in full.

"It's a...sharpie tattoo," Remus answered.

"Oh! I thought you had a bruise or something!" The relief in Roman's voice turned to confusion. "Wait, you drew that on yourself?"

"Naw, I had Virgil do it for me. He's got great fine motor skills for not even being two yet. Huh, buddy?" He glanced up to the top balanced on his shoulders and clinging to his fingers. "Hey, if you want some work done we could schedule you in."

"Ha-ha. It's pretty good for doing in yourself."

"Thanks. I'd get it more permanently done, but, y'know, havin'a kid's kinda expensive."

Roman shook his head. "I thought you hated needles?"

"Turns out I hate scars even more," Remus answered with a forced casual tone. He lifted Virgil from his shoulders and set him on his hip as he opened the door to the fridge.

"How many have you got?" Roman asked, watching carefully as Remus plucked a cup from the fridge and handed it to Virgil. "Kids? Just one and yes, I'm sure about that. Sara and I were very monogamous."

"That's not what I meant, Rem."

Remus let out a low sigh. "Not as many as you're thinking. She wasn't that bad-"

"You said she ruptured your eardrum!"

"She didn't mean to! She just-"

"Just what? Was trying to slap you like normal person? Remus,-"

"I know!" He snapped, making Virgil jump in his arms. He rested a hand to the back of Virgil’s head, murmuring an apology and kissing his forehead before glancing up at Roman again. "I know," he said again, quietly. Calmly. "I know it was bad. But it's not like she was beating with anything. She was just hitting me. So, no, there's not a whole lot of scars. I mean, there's a few because sometimes she threw coffee mugs or something. She bashed my head into the counter once. She did bad stuff to me, but I got lucky and not a lot of it left a scar. Not on my body at least."

Roman let out a sigh and shook his head. "I'm sorry-"

"I get it. You're my brother. I woulda asked you the same thing if it was the other way around. I appreciate the worry at least."

"Still, Remus, I-"

"Ro. Don't worry about it. I-" He stopped and glanced down at Virgil, who's face scrunched up as he grunted. "Really? Right now? You're gonna do this right in the middle of mine and Uncle Ro's heart to heart? That's bad timing, kid."

"What's he- Holy crap!" Roman began fanning his face. "Is that him?" He demanded at the sudden stench that filled the kitchen.

"I told you not to give him asparagus," Remus answered, flatly. Virgil’s face soured as a cry built up in his tiny chest and he burst into tears. Remus snickered sympathetically and kissed his head. "I'd say just wait till you're potty trained, but that doesn't make asparagus poops any better. I'll getcha all cleaned up, sweetheart, don't worry. And next time Uncle Roman gives you something that comes with a warning label he'll clean you up."

"Sorry!" Roman called as Remus carried his wailing child away.

"You will be!" Remus hollered back.

[deepcoraldragon]

Lost in thoughts (Sanders Sides)

Summary: Obviously, Virgil knew Prince Roman and Duke Remus. Everyone in the village knew their righteous, albeit eccentric rulers. In the solitude of his treehouse, Virgil had often imagined himself becoming an important person and meeting them, maybe even working with them.

As he fled from royal guards through the forest, accused of having practiced forbidden magic, this dream had never seemed so unattainable.

(Bad things happen bingo: isolation + chained to a wall)

TW: wrongful imprisonment, anxiety attack, dungeon, kinda torture but not on purpose. It does have a happy ending, though!

AO3 | Wattpad | writing masterpost

Chapter one: In the dark, in the meadow

Obviously, Virgil knew Prince Roman and Duke Remus. Everyone in the village knew them.

Although eccentric, they ruled their kingdom justly and protected its inhabitants against any peril. Their public appearances could be somewhat rare, for they had Important Things to deal with. What those things were, Virgil didn't know.

Of course, he didn’t. He was a simple orphan, the lords of their entire land were not going to confide their worries to him. He wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, for fear of being ridiculed, but he had often imagined, as he lied in his treehouse, admiring the foliage, becoming an important person, a knight perhaps, or a royal mage. Even a librarian seemed alright. And that he could be around them.

In that moment, as he fled from the Royal Guards through the forest, that dream had never seemed so unlikely.

“Be careful!” shouted a voice to his left. “We don't know what other magic he may have!”

“Turn east!” added a second.

Virgil slipped under some thickets, hoping their density would slow down his pursuers at least a little, and took to running again, ignoring his burning throat, his pants that came so fast he wasn't sure if he was even sucking air in anymore, his aching legs. Panic had long since reduced his mind to mush, and as he fled through the woods, no thought came to disturb the terror that pulsed within him.

The tips of his bare feet hit a root, and he came flying towards the ground. The landing barely hurt, though the adrenaline probably shields him from any pain. He got up as quickly as possible, but he had already lost a little more of his lead over his pursuers.

How could he have gotten himself into such a mess?

He knew that Shadow magic was forbidden. Only dark mages practiced it, after all. Virgil had always known he had a bit of magic in him, the most notable being the minor divination he could practice, which showed him potential dangers for any given situation. But the Shadows hadn't always seemed magical to him.

At first, they were just a little more comfortable than the surrounding air, warm in winter and cool in summer. Looking back, he probably wouldn't have survived the long winters spent alone in the poorly insulated treehouse he called home, without them. And over time, they had become more tangible, softer and inviting.

Virgil had started to worry the first time they had followed him.

continue reading on AO3 or Wattpad !