tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91251747453121048672024-03-21T09:26:21.727-07:00Writer's BlockI need to stop talking about writing and actually write something.Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-68589455317273840502016-01-09T22:05:00.001-08:002016-01-09T22:05:14.695-08:00Athol - Lost<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>I love Dwayne and I want to tell his story so badly, but he's only a secondary character in Athol. This explains a lot about his motivations and spoils a bit about what he might be up to in the confines of his own story, but I just want to put it out there anyway.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Just remember that I warned you of spoilers!"</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Casey</i></div>
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Dwayne’s fingers had become red and sore from drumming
them so much against the seat in front of him on the bus, but he kept up that
practice all the same. He had to get home. He’d explain everything to his Dad;
how he’d been disobeying his teachers, what he’d learned about the Seelie and
Unseelie Courts, and how Fiona had threatened him. Classes would be out in five
minutes. He continued the drum his fingers against the seat.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The young man darted from the vehicle as soon as the door
was partially open. He sprinted down the block as fast as he could, but stopped
short once his front porch finally came into view. A broom was leaning beside
the front door.</div>
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He ran up to the door, hopelessly calling upon whatever
“one true power” the Seelie recognized to protect his father from the opposing
power that was now lingering in his house.</div>
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The door was unlocked and when he stepped inside he could
clearly make out the sound of his father and Fiona conversing pleasantly in the
living room. He sighed with relief; Fiona hadn’t done anything yet.</div>
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“I’ve never seen a student put so much effort into the
language portion of their studies,” the witch was saying. “He probably speaks
Gaelic better than some of graduates by now.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, he is brilliant,” he heard his father agreeing.
“He practically taught himself to read when he was four-years-old.”</div>
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“I don’t doubt it. He’s an extremely resourceful young
man.”</div>
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Dwayne quietly made his way towards the two voices,
mentally going over the many water spells he’d learned in his studies. The only
problem with that plan of action was that Fiona could easily turn the magic
he’d learned against him. She was his teacher after all.</div>
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“Hey! Look who’s home!” his father announced as the boy
turned the corner into the living room. The man got up from his seat and went
to hug his son. Although Dwayne hugged his father back his eyes were fixed on
the witch sitting across from him on his sofa. She gave a little wave to him
with her fingers, wearing her best parent-teacher-conference-smile.</div>
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“Dad, what’s going on?” Dwayne asked as the man pulled
away from him again.</div>
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“Well, Mistress Fiona and I were just talking about a job
offer for you,” the man said with a proud nod.</div>
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Fiona stood up as she added, “One that’d give you a break
on your tuition. We want you to teach Gaelic to the first year students. It’d
mean more hours at school, but it’d also mean saving your father a lot of
trouble.”</div>
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As she said this, Dwayne’s father went back to sitting
beside Fiona on the sofa. He didn’t like them being so close to each other. It
conjured up the image of her stabbing him through the neck with some hidden
knife. Dwayne felt his blood boiling as it rushed through his veins. Fiona wanted
to keep him a prisoner in that school. The calm air between his father and the
witch was making him sick to his stomach.</div>
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“He’s never been any trouble at all,” Dwayne’s father assured
them both. “I’d give anything and everything for this kid.”</div>
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“I understand,” Fiona nodded as she looked at Dwayne with
such admiration. “What parent wouldn’t give their very life for their
children?” Fiona put her hand on the man’s leg in a gentle and soothing manner.</div>
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A switch flipped in Dwayne’s mind. His father really
would give his life to protect him. If he attacked Fiona right now he wouldn’t
be able to protect his father. He wasn’t strong enough.</div>
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“Of course, you don’t have to take the job if you don’t
want to,” Dwayne heard his father saying, though his mind was still trying to
calculate a way out of this mess.</div>
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“Yes, there’s no pressure,” Fiona agreed. “But I really
do think this would be the best thing for you both.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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The rest of the conversation past in a blur, but Dwayne
could recall saying something like “let me think about it” before the witch
finally left. They were still watching him. He could almost see the mysterious
phantom in the basement of the school lingering over him.</div>
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“Well, you don’t seem very excited,” his father said at
last.</div>
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Dwayne looked up at his father and found that he was
still at a loss for an explanation or any plan of action. He had to say
something. He had to get them both out of danger.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Can we go for a drive, Dad?” was what finally slipped
from his mouth.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“A drive?” the man asked. “To where?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Anywhere really,” Dwayne replied as he went to grab his
father’s car keys off the hook where they always dangled. “I just want some
time to clear my head.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, sure,” his father replied with a shrug. “I’ll go
and grab my wallet.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dwayne shouted some mixture of the phrases “Meet you
outside” and “I’ll start the car” as he went out the front door. There was no
plan here. He knew that leaving town would get them attacked. He just had to
get out from under that gaze. He couldn’t think straight while imagining a
demon lurking over his shoulder. Would his counter spells even work against
their own source? What other source was there?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
As his father stepped outside Dwayne insisted on driving.
He’d go stark raving mad if he had to sit quietly in the passenger seat like he
had on the bus. His father asked him about his learner’s permit, which Dwayne
assured him was in his pocket.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They took off down the road and cringed as his father
reached to turn off the radio. He wanted to talk and Dwayne still didn’t have
anything to say. They made small talk about the weather and about his father’s
work at the garage. He asked if Dwayne really would want to be a teacher. He
did want to be a teacher, but he wouldn’t want to teach other people Fiona’s
lies.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They were getting pretty close to the edge of the city
now. If they kept heading north, they’d be seeing a sign for the next county
soon. Had they really been driving for almost an hour?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Where are you going, Dwayne?” his father asked, sounding
frustrated at last.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m not going anywhere,” he replied simply.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“We need to get back home now,” the man insisted. “We
still have to make dinner and you have school tomorrow whether you take the
teaching job or not.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Just a bit further.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You wouldn’t want to break that perfect attendance
record of yours.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dwayne eased off the gas pedal a bit, his blood going
cold. “What?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That sort of thing speaks volumes about your future with
the academy,” his father replied, but those weren’t his words. His father never
used the word “academy” even though the Sages used it all the time. His father
only ever called it a school because that’s all that he thought it was.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
His father grabbed a hold of the wheel and wrenched it
downwards with such force that Dwayne couldn’t have stopped him even if he had
seen it coming. The car swerved off the smooth road and plunged though the
uneven rocks and bushes that surrounded them. It all happened in one blur of
motion. They narrowly missed hitting the trees that now stood on either side of
them. Dwayne had hit the break, though he didn’t remember doing so. They hadn’t
crashed into anything.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You okay?! Dwayne? Are you alright?!” his father was
shouting from beside him as he put his hand on his son’s shoulder.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dwayne lurched out of his grasp and turned to the man in
astonishment. “What was that?!” he demanded.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Did you see a deer or something?” his father asked,
glancing out the back window back towards the road.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dwayne didn’t answer. Instead he got out of the car and
away from his father. He pulled at his long red hair as he went over every
incantation, every curse, and every potion that could influence another person.
There were too many. His mind was racing and his heart felt like it was rising
up in his throat. There were too many.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The lingering glare of the thing in the basement was there.
Dwayne could almost imagine her shaking her head at him. He could almost hear
her taunt rising up in unison with Fiona, saying “You want to protect him, but
who’s going to protect you from him?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’ll be right back! I promise!” he yelled as he darted further
from the road, from the car, and everything else. He wasn’t heading out of town
anymore, just deeper into the unknown parts of it. Into the lightly wooded
areas that still lingered at the edge of shopping malls and suburban neighborhoods.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He could hear his dad calling for him, but it would take
him a while to follow. The passenger side door was too close to the tree they
had nearly hit.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dwayne found a sort of path in the tall grass and weeds
where someone must have trampled it all underfoot. He followed it until he
finally saw something that he’d never expected to see within the confines of
the city; a sprite.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The creature was glowing with a faint light and it was
perched almost weightlessly on a blade of grass. It looked up at him with a
small tilt of its head, though Dwayne couldn’t make out it’s expression under
the glow of its pale pink skin. Sprites hadn’t been seen in the city for
decades. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
She leap from her perch and flew off through the trees,
her wings only visible now that they were fluttering in the light. Dwayne
chased after the fairy, hardly watching where he was going as he eyes stayed
fixated on the girl. Chasing sprites was dangerous because you never know where
you might end up. At the moment he didn’t care.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He’d only been following it for a few seconds when a
building of white bricks came into view; a small modest building with a little
bell tower on the roof, three stained glass windows, and a very gothic structured
entryway.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He assumed that it had to be some sort of church, but
he’d never seen such a small one before, let alone one that didn’t look like a re-purposed movie theater. He’d lost track of the sprite now. It had vanished as
quickly as it had appeared.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, you’re a bit early for Sunday Mass,” a voice
called from behind him. Dwayne turned to find an old man dressed all in black
walking up to him with a basket of vegetables. “But if you’re looking for a
more modest spread, we’ll have dinner ready shortly.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The old man walked right past Dwayne and into the white
brick building without slowing down once or asking him what he was doing in the
middle of nowhere. Dwayne followed the man into the building.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The old man went about his business as if he didn’t
notice Dwayne. Once they were inside, he unlocked a door that had a staircase
descending into a sort of sub level to the building. It was very narrow and
made of stone. He waved for Dwayne to follow and then disappeared down the
spiraling steps.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The boy glanced around at the grand hall just behind yet
another door with stained glass windows in it. Dwayne swallowed the lump that
was rising up in his throat. He wasn’t sure he should be in a place like this.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Are you coming or should I turn the light off?” the old
man called from below.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Dwayne quickly followed after him, thinking that he might
feel more comfortable downstairs anyway. “Sister Brigid, we have company for
dinner,” the old man announced as Dwayne walked into what looked like a
cafeteria with the kitchen behind a sort of bar. There was a young woman
dressed in a long black robe with a strange veil over her head. She was
chopping some meat on the counter. She looked up at the boy that had entered
with concern in her eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Who is he?” she asked.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That’s a good question,” the old man nodded as he
dropped his basket of vegetables on the bar. “What is your name?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Father! Didn’t you ask that earlier?” the woman
practically squeaked.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“My name’s Dwayne,” the boy offered, trying to puzzle
together how the girl could be a sister to the man she’d just called father.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“There we go!” the old man smiled. “Dwayne! Lovely to
meet you, Dwayne. I’m Father <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Hubley and
this is Sister Brigid.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The next few
minutes were probably the most bizarre experience of Dwayne’s life. Another two
“Sisters” showed up as they got dinner preparations underway. Dwayne helped by
chopping some potatoes. He asked questions about what their different titles
meant learned that Father Hubley was a what they called a Priest and the three
Sisters were called Nuns. They were indeed in a church and was called Saint
Patrick’s. They’d been around for decades now and never locked their doors.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Don’t you worry
about the sages finding you here?” Dwayne asked. “They don’t exactly approve of
religious institutions.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“No sage has
stepped onto these grounds yet,” one of the sisters assured him. “I think the
sprites lead them away.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“But a sprite
lead me right to your door,” Dwayne warned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Well, are you a
sage?” Father Hubley asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dwayne swallowed
another lump in his throat. Technically he wasn’t a sage yet. He had practiced
magic and had worked for years against the sprites and all other Seelie types
of fairies.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sister Brigid
accidently knocked over her glass of water, sending it spilling over the table.
Dwayne reacted by jumping back and calling out for the water to disperse. It
sputtered into a mist and the table was dried instantly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There was a
stunned silence as the others stared at him. Brigid pulled a string of beads
from her pocket and began fidgeting with them frantically. Father Hubley
approached and Dwayne found himself backing away from the man.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Dwayne, come
with me,” the Priest ordered firmly, though there was no sign of anger in his
voice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He followed
Father Hubley back up the stairs, expecting to be shown the door, but the man
opened the door into the main chamber of the building instead.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Will you sit and
pray with me for a moment?” the man asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Pray? To God?”
Dwayne asked, a bit startled by the notion. “I really don’t know him that well.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“No better time
for introductions,” Father nodded. “Come in.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The man lead him
down the row of pews until they were about mid way to the altar and then sat
down and waited for Dwayne to join him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As the boy
finally sat down the man pulled down a kneeler from the seat in front of them
and proceeded to kneel on it like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Dwayne stayed seated awkwardly as he tried to figure out if he should kneel
down as well. What was he bowing to exactly? The altar? Besides a golden casing
sitting behind it, there wasn’t much there that he could see.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Heavenly
Father,” the Priest began suddenly. “We thank you from bringing Dwayne here on
this beautiful Wednesday evening. You are the way the truth and the light,
Lord; the one true God. Please hear the prayers of this young man, which he now
offers to You.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Father Hubley
turned to Dwayne here and then nodded towards the altar and the golden case.
Dwayne dropped to his knees and put his hands together in the same way Father
Hubley had done, but he really didn’t know where to go from there. What was he
supposed to say?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dwayne thought
back to everything he’d learned in the past year. He thought about how all
magic had a source and that source was usually found in nature. The sages
claimed that they had such power over nature because they were strong and
commanding. Then in his extra studies as a water mage he had learned that no
sage, no matter how powerful, could command “holy water” which had been
anointed in some way.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That was because
their power was actually tied to a Wind Demon named Aoifa, who was known for
mercilessly cursing children. Everything they had taught him only dragged him
deeper and deeper into Aoifa’s grasp. He could almost imagine her hovering over
him like the mist he had dispersed at the dinner table. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A demon couldn’t
control what had been anointed, but why? All the books Dwayne read excused it
by saying it was nothing more than a trick of the Seelie fairies. If that was
true, if the Seelie could in fact oppose the Unseelie in such a way, why
couldn’t the Unseelie banish each other the same way?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The answer was
that the Unseelie were a broken race that answered to no one, but the Seelie
were all united as one under “one true power.” Was that power God? Father
Hubley had called him “the one true God” after all. If that was the case, what
was a fifteen-year-old boy even supposed to say to such a deity? He had no
right to ask for help. He’d been opposing this god without even knowing
it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Then it occurred
to him. He knew exactly what to ask or rather what to pray. “Please save my
father from my mistakes,” Dwayne said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Father
Hubley closed the prayer with a sort of hand sign and then
sat back down in the pew. Dwayne sat down as well and waited.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“I can’t tell you
where to go from here, Dwayne,” Father explained. “My advice would be for you
to get as far away from the sages as possible.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“I can’t leave,”
Dwayne said in defeat. “I don’t know why they want me to stay at the school. They’ve
been trying to make me quit since day one and now that I know their secret they
won’t let me go. I never should have confronted Fiona.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Well,
confronting that woman always leads to hardship,” Father Hubley nodded. “But
I’ve known many people to do it all the same.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Who?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Why don’t you
come back on Sunday morning? You might find that you’re not as alone as you
think.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">With that, Father
Hubley got to his feet and after kneeling before the altar he headed back to
the front of the church. Dwayne sat alone in the pew.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">***</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dwayne made his
way back to the side of the road where he had left his father and their truck.
To his surprise, his father was just getting out of the car and heading in his
direction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Where are you
going?” the man was shouting. “You just wrecked the car! This is no time for a
jog through the woods!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“Just wrecked---But
I already went and came back,” the boy replied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“So you jumped
out of the car to run ten feet?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Dwayne hadn’t
thought about it until this moment, but he must have been at Saint Patrick’s
Church for an awfully long time. He’d helped them to make dinner and then sat
down to eat with them. That would have taken an hour at least. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Suddenly a passage
from one of Fiona’s books came to his mind. She had stated that sprites could
open gates through dimensions that people could accidentally step through. Had
he been in the fairy realm? Had he just stepped through it and somehow been
displaced from normal time?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Either way, it
made it seem all the more impossible that he’d ever see the church again.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Story and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 </span></div>
</div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-39659814727769412912016-01-09T21:43:00.001-08:002016-01-09T21:43:09.569-08:00Realm of Rachana <div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>-Casey</i></div>
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<br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1msHnNnjoUnCE55xYqzpSI09rbGHXdSZgmFYWrg73jhcQOMS3NT76jfk9xeGsRiqjWdgDTEKJrfRMC7dQrv7V1wkVTk_YJkvpq8JaHaDbhNYNx0mV5NY30dISdfABKGcQTt3-yjbCl6WC/s1600/Gwen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1msHnNnjoUnCE55xYqzpSI09rbGHXdSZgmFYWrg73jhcQOMS3NT76jfk9xeGsRiqjWdgDTEKJrfRMC7dQrv7V1wkVTk_YJkvpq8JaHaDbhNYNx0mV5NY30dISdfABKGcQTt3-yjbCl6WC/s320/Gwen.png" width="320" /></a></span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Chapter One: The Siege Led by the
Black Knight</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My
fingers dash across the keyboard purely on muscle memory because my eyes and my
focus are both entirely on my computer screen. My character dashes through the
thick forest with Gwen running beside him. The effects in this game are really
quite remarkable. Gwen’s long flowing blond hair and silken green dress billow
behind her very realistically as she pulls ahead of me. She must be wearing the
magic boots.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
river comes into view just ahead of us. That must be where she was leading us.
After all, we are being chased by a fire wizard. Speaking of which, I wonder if
he’s gaining on us. I scroll my point of view around and see that the wizard is
only a few feet away. In fact, he’s throwing another barrage of fire balls at
us. I call out to Gwen through my headset as I dodge the attack. I try to turn
back around to watch where I’m going, but now the camera is spinning and I’ve
lost all sense of direction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
swivel the camera back around and catch sight of the river again. Gwen is
running that way. I dive into the water just behind her with a loud splash and
the muffled sound of running water filling my ears.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My
head pops back up to the surface and I spot Gwen standing on the shore hiding
from the wizard behind a tree. She spots me bobbing in the water and takes time
to roll her eyes at me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Any
bright ideas, sir?” Gwen asks sarcastically.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
was I supposed to know that he was a fire wizard?” I demand. Those kinds of
stats aren’t available to the general public after all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
wizard reaches the river and starts throwing more fireballs at me. I duck
beneath the water again and the fire hits harmlessly above me. I resurface,
wishing that I had become a water wizard so that I could breathe underwater.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Apparently
the wizard didn’t see Gwen over to his left because he walked right past her.
The sleeves of his long red robe are singed as he forms even larger fire balls
above his hands.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
type the action into my keyboard five times before I notice the “Cannot Draw
Sword” warning in the corner of the screen. Why can’t I draw it? What am I
doing wrong?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Do
you really think that water will protect you from a level 38 wizard, dude?” he
taunts through my headset. I have to learn how to change that proximity
setting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Seems
to be working so far, hotshot,” I come back. Weak…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
fire above the wizard’s hands turns blue and completely engulfs his arms.
“Noob!” he shouts. “Watch how fast your health meter goes down when I boil the
river away!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Story and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 and GamerintheZone</span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-13456112733561762112016-01-09T21:32:00.001-08:002016-01-09T21:32:53.217-08:00Athol - Ciar's First Date<div style="text-align: center;">
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</xml><![endif]--><i>"This is just a little idea that grew into a whole backstory sort of thing. I'm not all that happy with the end result here, but I've very little confidence in my ability to write anything at all 'romantic.' I still really like Maeve though."</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Casey</i></div>
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<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDzScqP7Tf2g1imb9hbyXVmVGCkAte8VfRfEyzt4Pizp88qTlS6cr4a0F7RNLOs5_CyY-XtCUCTFRPELM7xrPJIp9XE_PboXp0jWaUbGDGfIKTq2BlAtu6SHkuCYyOCOSG7EB4QC4mnMG/s1600/Clark+Villas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDzScqP7Tf2g1imb9hbyXVmVGCkAte8VfRfEyzt4Pizp88qTlS6cr4a0F7RNLOs5_CyY-XtCUCTFRPELM7xrPJIp9XE_PboXp0jWaUbGDGfIKTq2BlAtu6SHkuCYyOCOSG7EB4QC4mnMG/s320/Clark+Villas.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br />
“Oh, Ciar,” Ms. Clarke sighed. “Button up your shirt!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In answer, Ciar buttoned the buttons his sleeves, but
made no move to fix the buttons that on the front of his shirt. He was of
course wearing a t-shirt underneath it, but his guardian didn’t seem any less
displeased by that fact. She took these open house party things very seriously.
Ms. Clarke shook her head in disappointment before turning around to survey the
crowd of people in the center of the party room. Ciar had already had to fight
through that crowd to find his isolated little table. He had no plans to move. Ms.
Clarke’s face lit up as she finally spotted the person for whom she’d been
looking.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Maeve!” she greeted, causing a young girl in the crowd
to turn towards her. The teenager then proceeded to walk over to Ms. Clarke,
Ciar watching her carefully the whole time. He smelt a setup. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Hello, Miss Clarke,” the girl said politely. “Thank you
so much for inviting us.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“’T’was my pleasure, dear,” she replied. “Do you know
many people here?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“No, not really,” Maeve shrugged. “But I don’t really
know many people outside of school.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Oh aye,” the woman sighed. “Ciar here is in the same
boat. Isn’t that right, Ciar?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The boy looked up at Ms. Clarke in annoyance, but she
continued, “I’ll bet you two probably have a lot in common, eh, Maeve?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I can’t really say,” the girl said nervously as she
glanced at Ciar. “Hi there.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar simply nodded to her in reply. At least this girl
wasn’t knowingly involved in this scheme.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, I’ll just leave you kids to your own devices,” the
woman said as she began to walk away. “I know you don’t want to be talking to a
boring old adult like me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar and Maeve watched Ms. Clarke as she walked away and
then they turned to each other. Maeve let her shoulders slump and muttered,
“Well, that was subtle.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar smirked briefly at her comment before turning his
gaze to look at the ceiling. Subtlety was so not Ms. Clarke’s strong suit. The
woman was always trying to make Ciar hang out with “other kids his own age.” It
was usually really annoying.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maeve stepped over and took a seat, not at Ciar’s table,
but at a neighboring table so they were still beside each other. Her gaze was
fixed on the rest of the party, so Ciar took a moment to really get a good look
at the girl. Her hair was brown and haphazardly tired up in a messy bun. Her
completion was fair and her eyes were light green and devoid of any of the
sparkles that the other girls at the party were wearing. She was dressed in a
very simple purple dress and green sweater so she looked rather casually
dressed for the “semi-formal” event. As if to drive that point home, the girl
tucked her feet under her chair and Ciar could now see that she was wearing
black sneakers rather than heels.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Your parents drag you here, too?” she asked at last, not
bothering to turn her gaze from the party.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Sorta,” Ciar replied, turning away from her again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m missing the season finale of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MPB: Swords</i> for this,” she sighed as she rested her chin in her
palm.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar nodded, though Maeve probably couldn’t see him.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“So, what was your plan for surviving the party?” she
asked, turning part way to look at him again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar sighed long and heavily before answering, “To sit
here.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Probably smart,” she replied. “I thought I could get lost
in the crowd. I should have known that I’d get caught.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That’s Miss Clarke,” Ciar agreed as he noticed the woman
standing across the room pointing not so subtly towards him and Maeve as she
talked with her friends.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“How do you know her?” Maeve asked.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar sunk a couple of inches down his chair. “Legal
guardian…” he muttered.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Whoa,” Maeve replied as she too noticed Ms. Clarke
across the room. “That’s gotta be…interesting.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He could only scoff in reply, which made Maeve smile
briefly.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The two teenagers stayed silent for a few moments after
that. Ciar took up counting the chairs at each table to avoid glancing over to
Maeve. She never glanced back though, so what was the harm?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“There’s a small telly in the office,” she said suddenly.
“We could make a break for it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar turned to Maeve, hoping that there would be some
sort of joking expression on her face, but there was none. She had meant it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Unless you actually enjoy Ms. Clarke’s far off company,”
she joked as the gossiping woman continued to talk about them.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar turned and just caught Ms. Clarke as she turned her
gaze away from him. Was the woman hoping to catch him and Maeve smiling and
laughing like a couple of idiots?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You’re serious?” Ciar
asked. He always gave his guardian a hard time, but he never actually went as
far as to disobey her or break into her office.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In answer, Maeve smiled again and then got up from the
table to head for the nearest door out into the hall. Ciar found himself
getting up from his table and following after her. Ms. Clarke did seem to take
notice, but she didn’t bother to leave her group of friends.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
They darted off into the main lobby and then through the
door into Ms. Clarke’s office. There was in fact a small television sitting on
an end table by the window. It was a portable clunky looking model, but it was
probably good enough for watching <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MPB:
Swords</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maeve turned it on and started flipping through the
channels for the crime drama. Then she pulled up a couple of chairs and sat
down eagerly. Ciar sat down beside her in the other chair and the girl suddenly
giggled mischievously. Ciar was a bit taken aback, but the girl quickly
composed herself. She probably wasn’t as much of a sneak as she had led him to
believe.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The show started and the two of them watched it in silence.
During the commercial breaks Maeve would nod to him excitedly or gasp at the
twist in the plot, but other than that they didn’t really do much more than
watch. Halfway through the episode they heard someone talking out in the lobby.
Maeve turned the television off and quickly rode her swivel chair back into its
place at the desk. Ciar got to his feet and watched as the girl looked around
frantically for a place to hide.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He quickly ducked into one of the niches beside the door,
the one that would be blocked when the door was opened, and waved for Maeve to
follow him. He’d used this hiding place many times before while Ms. Clarke was
working.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maeve ducked into the niche with him just as the door
swung open and Ms. Clarke stepped inside. The two teenagers were as silent as
possible, not even daring to breath. Ciar was holding Maeve by her shoulders to
keep the girl from accidently stepping on his feet. She smelt kind of like
vanilla.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
After a few seconds of glancing around, Ms. Clarke
disappeared back through the door. The two fugitives stepped back out into the
open and Maeve sighed with relief. “You don’t think she’s worried about us do
you?” Maeve asked a bit guiltily.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“There’s only fifteen minutes left,” Ciar shrugged.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maeve gave him a quick smile and then went to turn the
television back on. They went back to watching the show just as they had
before, except now Ciar couldn’t help stealing glances at Maeve when she wasn’t
looking. Her bright green eyes complimented her sudden and brief little smiles
so well. It was also nice that she didn’t constantly smile. It felt more
sincere how it just came and went.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Before he had even realized that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MPB</i> was over the credits were rolling. Maeve turned off the television
and leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh. “I’m glad they didn’t leave
it on a cliffhanger this season,” she approved.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar nodded, though in truth he had kind of spaced out
for the last few minutes of the show. “So, shall we make a reappearance before
your legal guardian decides to send out a search party?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar found that he really wouldn’t mind going back to the
party if Maeve was going to be there. He wouldn’t mind at all. In fact, he
figured that any place might be more tolerable with her around. She didn’t
complain about his attitude or his unbuttoned shirt. The two of them could…</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar stood up from his chair and quickly made his way to
the door. What was he thinking?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Maeve jumped to her feet and followed after him. “I’ll go
first,” he said, not bothering to turn and look at her.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Okay,” the girl conceded.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar then went out into the lobby and closed the door
behind him. Instead of heading back to the party he went straight out the front
door and down the street. It was a long walk from the main building to the
other end of the villas where his house was, but couldn’t exactly ask Ms.
Clarke for a ride. It couldn’t be more than seven minutes away. It just felt
far because he was wearing his stupid dress shoes. Maeve had had more sense
than to wear fancy footwear.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar shook his head, not wanting to think about Maeve
anymore. She’d probably never think of him again anyway. </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-27614971376808487132016-01-09T21:15:00.001-08:002016-01-09T21:15:52.782-08:00Athol - Perditus Meets the Nixie<div style="text-align: center;">
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</xml><![endif]--><i>"My poor blog is so lost and forgotten! I really need to do a better job of updating it, no matter how scrapped-together and embarrassing this stuff might be.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Anyway, here's one of the opening scenes from Athol that I've <a href="http://superherogeek13writersblock.blogspot.com/2015/02/athol-drowning.html">already visited once</a> and have re-visited from a different character's POV. Does it make any difference? Maybe not, but it was helpful in the writing process. <b>Beware of Spoilers ahead!</b>"</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>-Casey</i></div>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
struggled through the forest with Ciar slung over his shoulders. The young man
was still unconscious and even though his head was resting on Perditus’
shoulder the elf could hardly hear the sound of his friend’s breathing. He had
started out so feverish and it was just getting worse and worse. How long had
they been walking already?</span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“</span></i><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;">Glaoim</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;"> <span class="hps">ar</span> <span class="hps">an cumhacht ag an</span> <span class="hps">Chúirt</span> <span class="hps">Seelie</span>. <span class="hps">Sprites</span>,
le do thoil <span class="hps">teacht ar mo</span> <span class="hps">chúnamh</span></span></i><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">,”
</span></i></span><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he
called out, imploring the fairies for help. He’d called out to them several
times already with no success. They were too close to the edge of the woods
where all types of fairies were scarce.</span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At
last they made it to the edge of a stream that Perditus had had to cross when
he first entered Athol. He had climbed knee-deep into the water and then leapt
across before, but that would probably prove more difficult with Ciar over his
shoulder.</span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“</span></i></span><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;">Sprites</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;">, le do thoil <span class="hps">teacht ar mo</span> <span class="hps">chúnamh</span></span></i><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">,”</span></i></span><span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> he called again,
but there was no answer. In fact, things had become eerily quiet and the elf
wasn’t sure why. The sound of the running water, the chirping of birds, and the
subtle noises of the forest were all still there. What had changed?</span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ciar?”
he asked as he turned to look at the boy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">That
had been the reason things were quieter, the faint sound of Ciar’s breathing
had stopped. Perditus Quickly dropped to his knees and eased Ciar off his
shoulders and onto the grass.</span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ciar!”
he called nervously, leaning in closer to listen for even the slightest sound
of life. He grabbed the boy’s wrist to take his pulse, but he couldn’t find it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“</span></i></span><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;">Dúisigh</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">!”
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he commanded,
trying to awaken Ciar from his sleeping spell. He didn’t respond.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
put his hand to Ciar’s neck, trying again to find his pulse. He was panicking
too much, he couldn’t remember if he was even doing this right.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“</span></i><span class="hps"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;">Glaoim</span></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="GA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-ansi-language: GA;"> <span class="hps">ar</span> <span class="hps">an cumhacht ag an</span> <span class="hps">Chúirt</span> <span class="hps">Seelie</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">!”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> he shouted into the woods.
“Please, if any of you can hear me, please help!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
was still a whole day’s walk from his village and Ciar was out of time. He’d
gotten the only good human in all of Athol killed. “Please God, don’t let him
die,” Perditus prayed as he wrapped his arms around Ciar and lifted him into
his embrace.<span class="hps"> “Please Lord, thy will be done. Thy will be done.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
shouldn’t call for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone</i>, as anyone
could answer,” a voice answered, soft but stern.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span class="hps"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
turned towards the voice and found two bright yellow eyes staring at him from
the edge of the stream. The creature lifted herself out of the water and the
elf could now see that she was in fact a Nixie, her long dark hair veiling her
face and her rich blue skin covered in freckles.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Dia leat, Nixie!”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Perditus greeted hastily as he
lifted Ciar in both his arms. “I beg your help! He’s not breathing! He was
poisoned by a witch!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
want me to save a human life at the risk of my own?” she asked sternly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
didn’t remember much about how Nixie magic worked, but he didn’t doubt that it
could leave her vulnerable somehow. And even the Seelie were no friends to the
humans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Please,
I promise that I’ll make it up to you!” he insisted. “I’ll give you anything
you desire!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
have nothing, traveler,” she argued, eyeing Ciar nervously as if he might
suddenly spring to life and attack her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was true; Perditus had nothing but the clothes off his back. What could he
possibly promise her in exchange for Ciar’s life?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
offer my life for his,” he bargained. “I shall be at your service ‘til the end
of my days!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
are a fool,” the Nixie sighed. “I will not rob an elf of his freedom only to
set loose a known traitor.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He
is no threat! I swear!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Nixie turned her back to him and shook her head. “Your people have made that
mistake before,” she reminded him. “If I can help you, I shall, but I will not
endanger my brothers and sisters.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">This
was why Perditus had left his home in secret. No one trusted the humans
anymore, not even human children on the brink of death.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Is
there any way that I might convince you?” Perditus begged as he knelt beside
the girl with Ciar still held limply in his arms. “Just tell me your terms and
I will accept them no matter what!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Nixie looked down at the elf and the boy remorsefully. She was Ciar’s only
chance right now and if Perditus let her go he would never forgive himself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
human’s life is truly in your hands and yours alone?” she asked searchingly.
“No one else can help him?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
nodded, not sure what she meant by the question.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
his life would be yours if he survived,” she nodded. “And thus it will be mine.
You offer me his service and I will save him.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
hesitated, knowing that he had no right to swear on Ciar’s behalf, but what
choice did he have?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
exactly do you mean,” Perditus insisted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“If I
save the human, he will be my servant,” she pledged.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Until
you choose to release him,” Perditus added. The Nixie grimaced, but she nodded
in agreement to his amendment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
then knelt down and lifted Ciar out of Perditus’ arms and then stepped into the
stream. She placed the boy in the water and closed her eyes, likely examining
him through some sort of extrasensory power she had through the water.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
began humming a soft tune and was soon singing a melody that Perditus couldn’t
quite make out. She then let Ciar drop beneath the water where he was
unaffected by the flow of the stream and stayed in place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
sat at the water’s edge and watched his friend anxiously. Nixie’s had very
powerful healing magic, greater than even the most powerful of the elves. He
just prayed that it wasn’t too late.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
sun soon set over the forest and Perditus could hear the sound of the witches’
sentries flying overhead in the forms of crows. He concealed them as best he
could with his glamour spells, but he knew it wouldn’t do them any good if they
came in person to find them. Maybe the witches would assume they were already
much deeper into the woods by now.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
fell asleep midway through the night and awoke to realize just how beat up he
was after the last couple of days. Being tossed around, dragged around,
tackled, and used for target practice really did take a toll once he had time
to stop catch his breath.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Every
decision he had made the last few days had ended badly. Should he have told his
family his plans after all? Would they have stopped him or helped? Could he
have spotted the dragon if he hadn’t been so tired? Would Ciar and his sister
have been better off if they’d never met him?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
tried going over everything that happened with the Nixie, but she seemed to be
in some sort of trance most of the time, though she did shake her head from
time to time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was another day before Ciar finally woke up. The boy burst out of the water in
a panic and Perditus quickly tried to calm him down. “Ciar! It’s alright, you’re
safe,” Perditus assured him, happy to finally be able to say that himself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
climbed out of the water and immediately shoved the elf over. “You want to
drown me now?!” he demanded, brushing his wet hair out of his eye.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
sorry,” Perditus insincerely apologized. “The poison had done its damage. If I
hadn’t gotten you help, you’d be dead now.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
kneeled dripping wet on the ground as Perditus stood up and dusted himself off.
He hadn’t thought much about how he’d explain the situation to Ciar once he
woke up. Until now he’d just been hoping that he’d wake up at all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Help?”
Ciar asked with suspicion in his voice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He
is an ungrateful little human,” the Nixie interrupted, catching Ciar’s
attention. Perditus cringed at the fact of these two finally speaking to each
other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Well,
at least now that I have him, he’ll be no trouble to the rest of the forest,”
she shrugged.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It was probably best to get it over with
quickly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ciar,
this is the water nixie of this stream,” Perditus sighed. “She is the one that saved
you.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Humans
are not easily mended,” she stated, coming to the edge of the water. “But Perditus’
deal was fair.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
turned to Perditus slowly with a look of both realization and distain. Perditus
stepped back as Ciar’s fist clenched at his side. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Nixies
do not offer help without the promise of reward,” Perditus tried to explain,
hearing how insufficient it sounded even to him. “And she would not take my
service as payment.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Service?!”
Ciar snapped, grabbing Perditus by the collar of his jacket. The elf wanted to
add that he had bargained with his own life, that he had tried to get help
elsewhere, and that Ciar was basically dead when this all happened, but he felt
that he had no right. He had done this to Ciar and really would feel better
about the whole thing if Ciar punched him in the face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Now,
now! None of that!” the nixie interrupted again. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“The human will unhand the elf immediately!”</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar’s
eye widened and Perditus felt the boy’s hands flinch as he struggled to disobey
the order. Perditus couldn’t look him in the eye as the Nixie called out again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I gave him an order!”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> she snapped, pulling herself
onto the edge of the stream.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
released Perditus without hesitation this time and then stare down at his hands
in disbelief. He turned to the nixie lying at his feet. “How did you do that?”
he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
is a magic in a nixie’s voice,” she said simply.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
turned to Perditus again and the elf could only sigh helplessly. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Their
commands can control anyone within earshot,” he explained, remembering that
Ciar wasn’t familiar with magic.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
shook his head angrily and then turned to run off through the forest.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Stop!”</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> the nixie called after him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar
stoped at the edge of the tree line a few feet away, his back to both the nixie
and Perditus. The Nixie sighed in annoyance as she turned to Perditus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Such
a stubborn boy!” she complained. “I liked him better when he was asleep.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
mustn’t be so strict with him,” Perditus whispered. “I told you about what
transpired with his sister.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“So
the humans are turning on each other now,” she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.
“Do not expect me to weep for a traitor betrayed.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They’re
not all witches and warlocks, dear nixie,” Perditus reminded her.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
girl looked at him sternly for a moment before replying, “They’re all alike,
Perditus. I know that better than most. I can only pray that the damage this
human will cause is minimal. You never should have brought him here.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Nixie then pushed off the shore and drifted into the center of the stream.
Perditus couldn’t allow her comment to stand. She’d been nothing but
disrespectful towards him from the moment they met.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
was a time when an elf could vouch for a human before the rest of the Court,”
he said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
are the last of your species thanks to that trust,” she shot back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Those
were the actions of his ancestors, not of Ciar himself,” he argued.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Just
as your foolish actions are yours and not anything akin to your Grandfather’s.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
had no comeback for that. He hadn’t realized that the Nixie had actually
guessed his heritage. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He
is a testimony to your people and you should have listened to him,” she
rebuked. She then jumped into the air and dove into the stream and out of
sight.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perditus
watched the water flowing for a moment longer. He’d never won any of the
arguments with his grandfather either. Didn’t anyone understand what he was
trying to do?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
looked up at last to see that Ciar was also staring down at the stream from
where he stood. Perditus walked up to him, once again just feeling relieved
that his friend was alive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
did not enter into this deal lightly, Ciar,” he assured him, though Ciar didn’t
respond. “I shall find a way to free you from this contract.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ciar turned
to him and narrowed his eyes, making the elf flinch. “Promise?” he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Well,
I’m afraid that I can’t swear to an action against what I already swore to the
nixie,” he admitted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Just
what did you swear to her?” the boy asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That
if she saved you, you’d be her servant until she released you,” he recited.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
do we get her to do that?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
still working on that part.”</span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-65635797240955360702015-04-30T21:32:00.000-07:002015-04-30T21:32:42.427-07:00Sci-Fi - Young Scott<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"This little Sci-Fi prompt hardly seems worth a whole blog post, but I really liked how it turned out." -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“Maybe a little,” the small human boy answered with a far off look in his eyes. “Why aren’t there any other humans here?”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Edrev felt his ears twitch with his nerves and hoped that Scott couldn’t read his “tell.” The military base was a training ground for the Tonkit army recruits. The strict alien race didn’t appreciate the weakness of the human race polluting the ideals of the recruits. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“They like to do things their own way, just like the Tonkit, but their ways don’t always work together,” the man said at last. Scott nodded as if that settled everything in his mind.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“So, maybe one day I’ll join the Tonkit army and then I can help them work together.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“Oh, there’s no need for that,” Edrev scoffed. “A nice boy like you doesn’t need to become a soldier.” </span></span><br />
<div class="commentDescriptionContent" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Story and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 </span></span> </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-34373117154815167282015-04-29T21:13:00.001-07:002015-04-30T21:32:42.364-07:00Starlit Knight - Jason<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"The seaqual to Bright Light about the next generation of super heroes. Jason missed out on having cool super power light his siblings." -Casey</i></div>
<br />
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<br />
Jason cried out in protest as a burst of light blinded him. He turned to find that his sister was holding her old heavy camera over a pot of flowers, mentally creating her own lighting with her powers.<br />
“Can’t you just use the flash on the camera?” he grumbled in annoyance.<br />
“I’m trying for unique source lighting,” the girl replied. “Flashing light from behind creates rich silhouettes.”<br />
“I’m trying to do my homework!” the boy complained.<br />
“Go and do it in your room,” Holly said absentmindedly as she set of another spark of light.<br />
“Can’t,” he sighed. “Tom and Chris are messing with the black light.”<br />
Holly finally looked up from her camera with a skeptical frown. “You don’t have a black light in your room,” she argued.<br />
“We do now,” Jason sighed as he closed his school book and went to work out on the front porch. He never really wanted super powers of his own, but he did wonder why he hadn’t received any like his older and younger siblings. What use were “light powers” anyway? They only seemed good for interrupting one’s algebra homework.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Story and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-4919329539386972792015-04-29T21:02:00.002-07:002015-04-30T21:32:42.385-07:00Sci-Fi - The Empath<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Mysterious character introduction time! I've used him in a couple of writing prompts on DA, but this is probably the most spoiler-ific of them all (even though it still tells you nothing! Mwah, ha,ha,haha!)." -Casey</i><br /> </div>
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<br />
<br />
The young man tapped his fist against the clear surface of his containment cell. The sound was muffled by the heavy atmosphere that filled the cylinder, but the boy wasn’t really trying to hear the sound. He was actually trying to feel the vibration high above him in the machinery. His captors didn’t really monitor him, he was nothing more than a failed experiment after all, but he monitored them very closely. He was an empath after all and he’d realized over the years that even computers could be understood if you just listened.<br />
Among the endless chatter of information and their mantra of “Forever, forever, forever,” he could just make out the automated repairs that were made to the cell for the wear and tear he was causing. Repairs were ordered and carried out without any interference from the actual AIs that ran the facility.<br />
He focused his thoughts, accessing the nanites coursing through his blood and added one other order to the chatter. “Open containment cell.”<br />
The order was ignored, as usual. He needed to sound more like them, devoid of emotion and centrally focused on the task at hand. “Open,” he ordered once more. There was a whirring sound and then the cylinder surrounding him began to lift. He could feel the heavy air rushing out almost like running water and suddenly he felt so much lighter, like he might float from gravity’s grasp altogether. He took in a deep breath, which was suddenly much easier and then made a run for the exit. He could already sense all the alarms going off.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Story and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-59111588332589896792015-04-29T20:51:00.003-07:002015-04-30T21:32:42.406-07:00Sci-Fi - Jack<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I've been really busy writing this month, but most of it has been for my story Athol, which means I won't be posting it here on the blog anytime soon.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>So in the meantime, I do have a few writing prompts from Pinterest to share! This is from my still unnamed Sci-Fi story." -Casey</i></div>
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The nurse crept through the dark empty hallway, ducking beneath the windows that peeked into each of the hospital rooms. It didn’t do much good, the patients could still sense her walking by and they shouted and screamed at her presence. They were all so violent, trashing and swearing in their cells. She hated working this section of the hospital, but she was off the clock now and she was going to get answers about the patient at the end of the hall. She could feel his presence on the other side of the door and she was sure he could feel hers, but he didn’t shout. He never shouted. He was the only psycho in the ward that didn’t act like one. Yet he always received the harshest of treatments, the nurse knew this because she had signed off the equipment on the sign out sheets.<br />
She unlocked the door and stepped inside the small bare room. The only piece of furniture in the room was the bed and the patient was strapped down to it at the waist, ankles, and wrists. His eyes were closed, but he took in a long breath as he heard the nurse approach. She stopped a few feet short, suddenly afraid of what the young man might do.<br />
“So, are you now stalling for anticipation’s sake?” the young man asked, still keeping his eyes closed.<br />
“Stalling?” the nurse asked, surprised by how normal the boy sounded. The patient turned to look at her at last with no trace of anything but contempt in his gaze. As hostile as the young man’s gaze was, she still recognized his kind pale green eyes. He’d been in the news so much lately, his smiling face plastered over every news scanner. He was much thinner now and his long hair had been cut short, but she knew with absolute certainty that this was Jk’son Tr’lock.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Story and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-17703639121865252552015-03-03T21:12:00.003-08:002015-03-03T21:12:48.745-08:00The Prince and the Poltergeist - Chapter Three (snippet)<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Well, I was holding off on this post until I could extend it a bit, but that hasn't happened yet. I'll have the finished chapter posted on fanfiction.net soon enough." -Casey</i></div>
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<br />
<b>Chapter Three: The Ghost Revealed</b><br />
<br />
The dancing lessons had done little to nothing to improve Prince
Dexter's skills, but he Danny and Sam met up for the lessons all the
same. Danny "Phantom" already knew all the steps to every dance, but thanks to his friends he was learning
everyday to control his ghost powers. He could now
fly through the air on a whim, which he learned as helped Sam to set up the lights and disco ball. He could turn himself and others intangible on
command, which helped when Dexter lost control of his spin and nearly stumbled into his friends. Invisibility was still a troublesome trick, though he didn't
much need it. He had no desire to hide. In fact, he
hadn't felt so visible in his entire life. The ghost boy spun Lady Manson around the dance floor as Prince Dexter watched in a studious manner.<br />"Gee willikers, I'm never going to be able to do this," the teenager sighed. "And the ball is in less than 24 hours!"<br />"Dex, relax," Danny laughed. "I'm sure you'll get this by---wait... Less than 24 hours?"<br />"Well yeah," Sam nodded. "First thing tomorrow night."<br />
"You are coming to the dance, aren't you, Danny?" Prince Dexter asked.<br />
"Uh, well..." the younger prince hesitated. He'd grown so comfortable with his friends that he'd nearly forgotten about his need to stay hidden. No one was supposed to know that he'd become half ghost, Sam and Dex didn't even know that he was really Prince Fenton.<br />
"I'm going to have an actual ghost at my ball!" Lady Manson shouted in delight. "This party is gonna rock!"<br />
"I don't know, guys," the ghost boy sighed as he kicked uncertainly at the ground. "I don't think Lord Masters would really want me at the party."<br />
"Wait, Lord Masters knows that you're here?" Dexter asked in surprised. "And he hasn't sicked the Fearsome Fentons on you yet?"<br />
"W-well, it's sort of a special case," Danny stammered, realizing that he'd already said too much. "He---that is to say---He normally would, but..."<br />
"Masters is harboring a fugitive? He's cooler than I thought," Sam joked as she nudged Dexter in the shoulder, perhaps a bit harder than was necessary.<br />
"Guys, look, it's supposed to be a secret," the boy insisted.<br />
Sam held her hand out and then waved it with a turn of her head in a nonchalant manner. "Pssh, relax," she assured him. "We haven't told anyone about you, Danny."<br />
"Yeah, trust me, if anyone can keep a secret, it's me," Dexter said as he pointed to himself with his thumb.<br />
"You will come to the ball, won't you?" Lady Manson asked once more, this time handing him an invitation that had "Nurturing Nature Ball" scrawled across it in shimmering dark green ink.<br />
Danny knew better than this. Master Masters hadn't noticed him slipping away every night, but he would be at the party along with all the other guests. There was no way he could lay low amongst a crowd of normal none ghost guests. But what would he do after the party? Lady Sam Manson and Prince Dexter Poyne would be going back to their own lives across the Kingdom after this ball. Was he really going to pass on one last opportunity to hang out with them?<br />
"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" he answered at last.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Danny Phantom (C) Nickelodeon</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Story (C) SuperheroGeek13 </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-81590443821507691572015-02-23T11:59:00.001-08:002015-02-23T11:59:59.423-08:00Athol - Re-visited in Narrative Format<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"One thing I often do to get over writer's block is to revisit scenes I've already finished in a different format. In this case, I moved to a narrative style for the ending of the first volume of Athol just so that I could get a better idea of Ciar's mindset at the time." -Casey</i></div>
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<br />
Once the dragon finally stopped moving, Ciar took in a deep breath. He clasped his right arm, which felt numb after swinging the axe against the dragon’s hard scales. That hadn’t been a problem before, but maybe that was why he hadn’t succeeded in killing it the first time around.<br />
“Come on, Ciar,” came Perry’s voice. “We have to go.”<br />
Perry probably saved his life with that glowing light trick. Ciar nodded, not looking forward to fighting anymore monsters today or ever again. As they made their way through the busy streets, Ciar’s numb arm began to burn with a searing pain. He tried to shake it off, but that only seemed to spread the sensation through the rest of his body. He told himself not to think about it, which in turn made his thoughts return to Sorcha.<br />
“Where are we going?” he asked suddenly, realizing that they were getting farther and farther from the school.<br />
“Back to the woods,” Perry replied as he glanced at the street signs uncertainly. “I can’t…it wouldn’t be safe to return to my village so we’ll have to make do with the wilds.”<br />
Ciar stopped dead in his tracks and pounded his numb fist against the wall of a building. “We have to go back,” he demanded.<br />
Perry turned to him with a pitiless frown. “Didn’t you hear them, Ciar?” the elf asked as Ciar leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. “Your sister betrayed us!”<br />
“We can’t leave her!” he insisted, his head spinning from how upset he was with Perry. He pushed himself off the wall with every intention of walking away and leaving the elf on his own, but he stumbled back against the wall instead. His legs were now numb and burning as well. What was going on?<br />
“Ciar?” Perry asked with concern. “What’s the matter? What’s wrong?”<br />
“Don’t know,” he replied, shaking his head. He ran his hand over his brow to wipe away the sweat that was beading on his warm forehead. As he did so, Perry began to stare at him with dismay.<br />
“That witch’s blade…” he muttered. “Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?”<br />
“Didn’t exactly have time,” Ciar replied. In truth, he had nearly forgotten about the witch threatening him with a knife, but now he could recall it burning in the same way as it sliced through his cheek.<br />
“It must have been coated in some sort of poison,” Perry sighed. He then recited one of his spells as he held his hand out to the cut running along Ciar’s face. When nothing happened, Ciar turned aside in annoyance.<br />
“I don’t think that’s working,” he stated calmly, though he was starting to panic on the inside. What sort of poison was this if Perry couldn’t heal it?<br />
“It did, there’s just no poison left in the wound,” the elf stated.<br />
Ciar’s legs gave way beneath him and he stumbled forward, unable to use his arm to catch himself. He shoved his shoulder against the wall and locked his knees in place as best he could so that he wouldn’t fall to the floor. He realized now that he probably couldn’t walk anymore.<br />
“What does---?” he started to ask, but was silenced when Perry commanded him with his magic words to sleep. Ciar of course didn’t understand the language, but he felt his eyes closing and he couldn’t hold himself up any longer. He fell forward, but Perry must have caught him because he didn’t ever hit the ground.<br />
<br />
<i>“Sorry, Ciar, but you need to stay calm or you’ll spread it further.”</i><br />
<br />
No! Ciar mentally shouted at the elf as he slipped into unconsciousness. His sister was as good as dead if he couldn't reach her. His dreams flooded with the image of Sorcha kneeling down in the empty halls of the school, right where Ciar had left her. She was crying with her face buried in her hands, the indistinct sound of her calling his name mixed in with the sobbing. The girl was so preoccupied with her sorrow that she didn't see Fiona walking up behind her with a long knife clutched in one hand.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Athol and it's Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13</div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-4019628953875938562015-02-18T20:55:00.001-08:002015-02-18T20:55:15.735-08:00The Legend of Zelda: Or is it?<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Prepare to be confused! This is and is not a part of my Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker fainfic. I've had this in the works for a long time now. I won't spoil the surprise for those of you who actually know my characters. Read on!" -Casey</i></div>
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<a href="http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2015/045/b/e/way_forward_by_rueme-d8i11mh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2015/045/b/e/way_forward_by_rueme-d8i11mh.png" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://supermarioshippuden.deviantart.com/art/Way-Forward-514011257">"Way Forward"</a> by <a href="http://rueme.deviantart.com/">Rueme on DeviantArt </a></span></div>
<br />
Vean stumbled ashore and quickly ended up falling to his knees. He'd been at sea for weeks now and had readjust to the ground not swaying under his feet. He stood up and slowly began to regain his balance as he walked up the beach. He remembered now that he really should have tied his boat down, but he didn't really care if it floated away right now. It wasn't like he had to worry about it carrying away his friend Loafer anymore.<br />
There were tall cliffs rising up in every direction and Vean begrudgingly realized that he'd have to scale them if he wanted to get up into the forests to look for water. He decided he'd walk for a while and see if he could find a less steep way up. That ended up taking an hour, but he didn't really mind it. He hadn't gotten much excersize on that little boat and it felt good to stretch his legs again. He'd been sailing the ocean for almost fourteen years now and the appeal had long since worn thin. It took a while to scale the cliff, but the shade of the trees was more than worth the effort. This place was a lot more peaceful than the last place he visited.<br />
Just his luck, right at that thought he felt a chill run up his spine. Something was nearby and it wasn't anything pleasant. <br />
There was a loud crash deeper into the woods and Vean rushed forward with his sword drawn. It could just be a rouge monster, but he didn't want to take the chance that someone might be in danger. He found that the source of the noise had been a fallen tree that had been cut (or possibly clawed) right in half. There was a rapid clawing sound and a blur of something moving high up in the trees. That was all he saw before he was whipped aside and then pinned to the trunk of a tree. The creature had it's claws embedded in both the tree and Vean's left shoulder. Each of the crawls was as long as a sword and long black hairy arm stretched at least seven feet. What sort of monster was this?<br />
Vean swung his sword at the long fingers of the beast and it recoiled with a low hiss. The claws were yanked away and Vean cried out at the pain in his shoulder. The monster's face finally came into view as it charged the boy, a long black mane around a small head with glowing orange eyes. Vean ducked and rolled aside as he gripped his sword tighter in his hand. It still wasn't charged yet.<br />
A spray of water shot through the air, knocking the long spidey creature aside and giving Vean some room to breath again. He placed both his hands on the hilt of his sword and focused his powers. There wasn't time to wonder from where the water came. The blade began to glow with a white light and he sliced it through the air, sending a swirling disc of light at the monster. There was a blinding flash of light on impact and the the monster fell limply to the ground.<br />
Vean turned his blade on the presence he felt behind him. The spray of water had come from something and he wasn't about to drop his guard now. He found another young man like himself leaning against a fallen tree, seemingly unable to retreat from the blade pointed at his face. Water dripped down the other teenager's dark hair as he attempted to pull himself up. "How did you...?" he began to ask, but he didn't get to finished his thought. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.<br />
Vean sheathed his sword and quickly went to help the boy up. His pulse was weak and he looked rather pale, but other than that he didn't seem to be injured. As Vean tried to lift him up his own shoulder screamed out in pain. He was still bleeding from his earlier injury. He decided instead that the woods were as good a camping spot as any.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
***</div>
<br />
The sun had set by the time Vean's mysterious new friend began to stir, making an awful lot of noise on the bed of leaves he was wrapped atop. Vean rubbed his bandaged shoulder as he remembered the stain of getting the unconscious teenager onto that blanket.<br />
The other boy sat up suddenly, grabbing at his forehead as if he'd gotten a bad head-rush from the action.<br />
"Good evening," Vean said with a nod, catching his new friend's attention. "You alright?"<br />
The other boy glanced around rapidly, trying to regain his baring in the dark. "What happened?" he asked as he finally decided to focus on Vean.<br />
"Well," Vean began, trying to summarize what had happened in his own mind. "You picked a fight with a giant spider-squid, somehow drenched it and yourself in water, and then passed out."<br />
It was probably better that he didn't mention the beam of light he had shot from his own sword. If the stranger had somehow missed it, there wasn't any point in drawing attention to it.<br />
"Are you a sorcerer?" the boy asked.<br />
So much for that plan. "Not exactly," Vean replied. "Are you?"<br />
"Of sorts," he replied with a frown. "I'm a water mage. My name is Zared."<br />
"Vean."Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-7404425474338075732015-02-18T18:07:00.000-08:002015-02-18T18:07:15.397-08:00Big Hero 6 - Sunfire AU<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Inspired by a <a href="http://reb-chan.tumblr.com/post/103597113301/are-those-marshmallows-its-uhh-for">fan theory I heard</a> about the movie that makes it fit in a bit better with the Marvel Universe. I didn't realize that "Big Hero 6" was a Marvel movie until weeks before the release and was kinda bummed to when I realized that there was no way they'd be able to allude the the X-Men. (Thanks, Fox! Grrr...) But now I have this fanfic to console me! And <b>*Spoiler Alert*></b> this also means Tadashi isn't dead! Yay!<b><*End Spoilers* </b>I'm sure there'll be more for this story pretty soon, seeing as how the DVD comes out on the 24th." -Casey</i></div>
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The streets had been little more than a blur of neon lights and rain for the last twelve blocks. The city was always chaotic, but it seemed even more so when you were lost. Tadashi couldn’t tell if it was early morning or early evening, but it was definitely dark out and there wasn’t anyone on streets. The teenager wandered in a daze until a line of cherry trees came into view. They were surrounding a small temple with a red columned gate with black tiled eaves that kept the steps dry in the torrential downpour. The young man stumbled underneath the protective cover and went to sit in the corner. As he took a moment to catch his breath a faint steam began to rise from his shoulders. He quickly removed his sweater and threw it aside, but the steam continued to rise up around him. He wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his head and closed his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind. <br />
“This doesn’t make any sense,” he whispered as he clenched his fists before him. He opened his eyes as he unclenched his fists and a small flame bust to life between his fingers. <br />
His muscles tensed as the flame danced before him. <br />
Suddenly he wasn’t on the temple grounds, but at the convention center again. Flames were erupting all around him, heat rising up from below, and smoke choking him from above. <br />
Where was Professor Callaghan? <br />
An explosion suddenly consumed the building. <br />
What was once a blazing nightmare was nothing but fire now. <br />
Fire that swallowed Tadashi whole. <br />
He cried out and dropped the small flame that was dancing above his hand. It died out before it hit the stone floor. He was back in the in the temple again, thunder rumbling outside. He shouldn’t have survived. Professor Callaghan hadn’t made it out, so why had he? How had he? No matter what angle he approached it from, it didn’t make sense. <br />
The young man reached up to adjust his cap only to remember that he had lost it back at the college. He turned his hand before him instead and gasped at what he saw. His entire right arm was as black as soot. He attempted to wipe the strange substance off, but it didn’t come off. He pulled back the sleeve of his shirt to find it on his shoulder and even beginning to creep over his neck. <br />
“Tadashi Hamada,” a voice called from the entrance of the temple. <br />
The boy looked up to see a tall muscular figure standing in the rain, his features completely obscured by the backlight of the city streets, not the mention the lightning. <br />
“What do you want?” the boy demanded, jumping to his feet and turning so that his blackened arm was out of the man’s line of site. <br />
“I don’t wish to harm you,” the man continued. “In fact, I doubt anyone could harm you now that you’ve realized your abilities.” <br />
“How do you know my name? Who are you?” the boy demanded. <br />
The man stepped underneath the eaves and removed the kabuto style helmet he was wearing, revealing his short dark hair, though Tadashi still couldn’t quite make out his other features in the dim light.<br />
“I am called the Silver Samurai,” he replied as he pounded his fist against his chest. “Like you, I am a mutant.” <br />
The man stepped forward and Tadashi stumbled back in an attempt to gain some distance.<br />
“Stay away from me!” Tadashi warned, raising his fists defensively. “Get back!”<br />
Fire erupted from the boy's hands, the flames rising high above his head on either side of him. He recoiled, but the flames did not relent. He felt panic sweeping over him, but he forced himself to remember that he wasn’t in the convention center anymore. There had to be something he could do. Why was the fire stalking him like this?<br />
The Samurai’s loud voice called out over the roar of the blaze. The man’s square jaw and dark eyes were finally visible in the light of the fire and he didn't seem fazed by the spectacle even though the flames were beginning to lick at the ceiling above them.<br />
“The fire acts of its own spirit because you grant it that power,” he explained calmly. “Stop treating it as an outside force.” <br />
Tadashi glanced quickly between the flames and the Silver Samurai as he struggled to stay in the moment, to focus on what was happening right now rather than what had happened before. <br />
“Embrace that the flames are an extension of you yourself,” the man continued. “Then you may calm the fire as you would the beating of your own heart.”<br />
Tadashi swallowed nervously as he felt his heart beating like a jackhammer. He forgot about the fire, both at the convention and here in the temple, and focused on slowing his pulse. He closed his eyes and took a long calming breath of the warm air around him. The heat slowly subsided and when he opened his eyes he found that the flames had relented and were little more than small torches in his hands. He waved his hands at his sides and the fire went out completely. <br />
“How did you know that would work?” Tadashi asked as they both stood in the dark again. The man again approached the teenager, but the boy didn’t retreat this time. The Silver Samurai put his hand on the boy’s left shoulder and nodded in understanding. “I too have had to struggle to master my unnatural abilities,” he admitted. “I met with someone that guided me in control my gifts. It was she that sent me to find you.” <br />
“She?” Tadashi asked, his voice filled with both curiosity and concern. <br />
The Samurai took his hand from the boy’s shoulder and took a step back. “A brilliant scientist that knows more of our abilities than any mutant,” he explained as he put his helmet back on. “She is unparalleled in her work and she wants to meet you.” <br />
“Are you intentionally dodging the question?” Tadashi asked as he considered bolting off into the rain. “Who is this expert?” <br />
“Madam Hydra.”<br />
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Big Hero 6 Movie (C) Marvel Studios and Disney </div>
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Other character (C) Marvel Comics</div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-90414675626467206352015-02-16T21:35:00.002-08:002015-02-16T21:35:36.808-08:00Teen Titans - Duplicate's Skills<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I already posted this in a meme on DeviantArt, but it does count as something I've written recently. I've had a lot of fun figuring out my character Duplicate's powers and this is one of the many drawbacks that he has to deal with." -Casey</i></div>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dark grey clouds hung over Titans Tower, but there still wasn’t a drop of rain to be seen. Down near the base of the tower stood Duplicate, his leather jacket tossed aside on a nearby bench while he stood determinedly on the basketball court. He weighed the rubber ball in his hands for a moment more and then darted across the concert. He dribbled the ball and then threw it for a 2 point shot. <br />The ball bounced off the rim of the basket and then came hurtling back towards the boy. It smacked him in the face before bouncing across the floor in front of him. <br />Duplicate rubbed his forehead as he glared down at the basketball. He’d been at this for nearly an hour and he still hadn’t sunk a single shot. <br />“Kind of a gloomy day for a game,” shouted Cyborg from across the court. The teenager was carrying a basketball under his arm as he approached with a confident smile on his face. The armored Titan darted forward and made a perfect basket from half court. <br />Duplicate watched in admiration and then shook his head warily. “Oh, great,” he joked. “Do you have to be good at everything?” <br />“If you can’t take the competition, get off the court!” Cyborg whooped as he pumped his fist excitedly. <br />“There really isn’t much competition,” Duplicate mused as he tossed his ball over his shoulder. The shot was nothing but net. “Unless you can figure out a way to shut off my powers.” <br />“I don’t mind you copying my mad skills,” Cyborg assured him. “It’ll finally give me an even match!” <br />“Actually, I think we’d better go inside,” Duplicate shrugged. “It could start pouring any moment.” <br />Duplicate walked past his friend and headed back towards the tower. He would have loved to play a little one on one with Cyborg, but every sport and game always he ever played ended the same way. They’d go back and forth between his skills being as great and his opponent’s and then to having no skills of his own at all. He’d come out ahead of the rain in the hopes of practicing on his own, but that hadn’t improved his skills much anyway. <br />Cyborg grabbed Duplicate by the shoulder and then wrapped a piece of cloth around his eyes like a blindfold. “Hey! What are you doing?” the boy asked as he peeked out from underneath it. <br />“There! Can’t see me, can’t copy me,” Cyborg nodded. “Now let’s shoot some hoops!” <br />“Is it even legal to play while blindfolded?” he asked dubiously. <br />“Maybe not, but I can at least teach you the basics,” the Titan replied. “You in?” Duplicate smiled and then made sure the cloth was s<span style="font-family: inherit;">ecure over his eyes. “I’m in,” he nodded.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Teen Titans (C) DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Duplicate (C) SuperheroGeek13 </span></span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-13137596611256206982015-02-16T20:52:00.002-08:002015-02-16T20:52:53.474-08:00Gravity Falls - Blinded AU Fanfic<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I had to make a decision to post everything on this blog no matter how silly or obsessive, didn't I? Well, now you can see what happens when one obsesses over the show "Gravity Falls" and then spends too much time looking into the Alternate Universes the fans come up with.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>That being said, I really have been enjoying this show. How does Disney keep getting a hold of such gems??? I guess I can just credit the madness of creator Alex Hirsch and call him being hired by Disney a fluke. Just like Dan and Swampy with Phineas and Ferb.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And then there's this "Blinded AU" conjured up by Dragonfangz on tumblr. Spoilers ahead if you've not caught up with the series! <a href="http://dragonfangz.tumblr.com/post/104314659654/instead-of-wipping-dippers-memory-of-the">Otherwise, you should totally go and check it out.</a>" -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/d5dbcde6dbd7f275af4369ee30b36ccf/tumblr_ng1sgnhCy21tgkv9io1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/d5dbcde6dbd7f275af4369ee30b36ccf/tumblr_ng1sgnhCy21tgkv9io1_500.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pictures by <a href="http://dragonfangz.tumblr.com/">Dragonfangz</a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Take them back to their
little novelty store,” Ivan ordered as he tucked the memory device back into
the sleeve of his robe.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Back to the Mystery
Shack,” the other members chanted as they untied their dazed prisoners. Ivan
turned his back to them and examined the tube labeled “McGucket’s Memories” in
the palm of his hand. Why had it been so important to these children to learn
this man’s secrets? It was too late to ask them now. All four of them were
babbling like idiots. The youngest girl was saying something about kittens, the
young man mumbled something in Spanish, and the youngest boy was muttering
about a journal.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Ivan turned just in time
to see the last of the society members walking off with the smallest boy thrown
over his shoulder. “Wait a moment,” Ivan demanded as he approached them. Ivan
lifted the boy’s head up so that he could look directly into his unfocused
eyes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What do you know about a
journal?” he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“My mind is clear thanks
to the Society of the Blind Eye,” the boy muttered in reply. Just then, a book
fell from the kid’s vest pocket and landed on Ivan’s foot. The man cried out in
pain and surprise before moving to pick up the item.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">It was just as Mr. Gleeful
had described the other book. A journal bound in red leather with a
six-fingered-hand on the cover. Inside were dozens of illustrations of the
strange creatures that inhabited Gravity Falls. How had this boy come across
something so valuable?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What was your name, boy?”
the man asked as he lifted the boy off his companion’s shoulders and stood him
on the floor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Dipper,” the boy replied
as he blinked and gained a look of focus again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Ivan pulled the memory
device from his sleeve and began to input the name “DIPPER” into it. He aimed
the bulb at the boy’s face and he actually had enough presence of mind to
shrink back from it, but he didn’t run away, still too confused to understand
what was happening.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Something tells me you
could be a valuable asset to our society,” Ivan gloated as he fired the device.
The boy gasped in surprise as the beam of light blinded him. He then fell over
and the other society member had to catch him before he hit the ground.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What did you do that
for?” the hooded man asked as he helped Dipper back to his feet. Ivan quickly zapped
the man with the device as well and he walked away without any further
questions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What’s going on?!” the
boy asked suddenly as he snapped out of his daze. The process was always much
quicker when there weren’t other memories for the brain to rectify. He looked
around at his surrounding in confusion, putting his hand to his forehead and
knocking off his hat. “W-where am I, who are you?!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The boy pointed at Ivan in
what was quickly becoming a panic. He then began to pace in a small circle
while pulling at his hair. “I…I don’t know my name, I don’t know---”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“It’s alright, you’re safe
now,” Ivan assured the boy as he knelt to pick up the cap that Dipper dropped.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Safe, right,” the boy
nodded, taking in a deep calming breath. “Okay, amnesia 101… I don’t remember
the 101!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Dipper bared his teeth in
a grimace as he began to pace the floor again. He came to halt suddenly and
smacked himself across the face. “Get it together!” he ordered himself, much to
Ivan’s amusement. The boy turned to the man kneeling before him and raised an
eyebrow at him. “Alright, well, you seem to be the only one around right now,
so I’ll ask you. What’s going on?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I am Blind Ivan and we
are the Society of the Blind Eye,” the man answered as he stood up again,
raising his arms dramatically. “We help the citizens of Gravity Falls forget
the supernatural strangeness that plagues this town.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Okay, okay, following you
so far,” the boy nodded. “Blind Ivan, Blind Eye. Heh, actually kinda clever
there.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I’ve heard it all before
and I’ve erased it just as many times,” Ivan sighed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Erased?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“We in the society often wipe
our own memories to forget the things that trouble us,” Ivan continued. “Everything
from emotional trauma to annoying puns.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Dipper narrowed his eyes,
glancing apprehensively at the blue and white hat that the man before him was
holding. “Wait, so unless that’s supposed to be the royal ‘we’ you’re using,”
he said hesitantly. “I’m part of this society thing too?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Precisely,” Ivan nodded.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“And you erased my
memory?” he shot back in annoyance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“A simple miscalculation.
Don’t be such a baby,” Ivan scoffed, as he handed Dipper back his journal. “You
see, child, these monsters haunt this town even as we speak. They terrorize the
people until not a soul can rest peacefully! We’ve taken it upon ourselves to
protect Gravity Falls. Thanks to us, people live ignorant and happy.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">As the man spoke, Dipper
flipped through the worn pages of the book with astonishment and apprehension.
He came across a page that had a picture of a man in a hooded robe much like
Ivan’s and stopped to read what wasn’t written in code.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What does it mean?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Can’t be unseen!</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“But you can’t just take
someone’s memories away,” the boy protested. “I can’t even remember my own
name!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“You wanted to do
something about the strange things happening in this town,” Ivan insisted,
handing Dipper his hat again as he took the journal away from him. “Because of
you we saved three more people not moments ago. Your memories are of no
importance.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Dipper turned the cap over
in one hands so that he could clearly see the pine tree embroidered on it. He
frowned as he stared down at it, but he eventually sighed and handed it back to
Ivan. “I guess I could take a look around the place and see if anything comes
back to me,” he shrugged. “This is like our super secret headquarters or
something?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Indeed,” Ivan said with
satisfaction as he began to lead Dipper down the long halls beneath the museum.
As they walked, he told the boy all the known history of their proud society
and all the good that they had done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">As their shadows stretched
across the system of pipes mounted to the walls, a triangular silhouette bobbed
after them. There was nothing there to cast the shadow, but a distorted voice
rang out all the same. “Timber! What a twist on our little game! I can’t wait
to see how this plays out!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">▲▲▲</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Mabel began leafing
through the postcards on the spinning display and soon realized that they were
all from Gravity Falls, Oregon. “This must be the Mystery Shack,” the girl
concluded. “That must have been one wild bus ride, because I don’t remember any
of it! Wah, ha, ha!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">She ran to the front
counter and began rocking back and forth on her heels. “Excuse me!” she called
to the teenage girl who was absentmindedly reading through a magazine. “I’m
looking for my Great Uncle Stan!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Haven’t seen ‘im since
this morning,” the girl replied without looking up from her magazine.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Well, me and my brother
were supposed to meet him---,” she stopped short with a gasp. “Hey! Where is
Dipper?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Mabel ran off to look
around the rest of the shop for her missing brother. She peaked between the
hanging t-shirts with a cheerful “Peek-a-boo” and then looked underneath the
rug while calling “Marko,” but there was no “Polo” in answer.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Kid, if you’re looking
for that pig of yours, he’s chewing on the armchair in the living room,” a
rough male voice said.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Mabel looked up at her
Uncle, who was coming down the stairs, and her eyes lit up with excitement.
“You got me a pig?!” she cried with joy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Don’t be ridiculous,”
Stan sighed. “You’re lucky I let just one of them run loose in the house.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Mabel ran over and wrapped
her arms around her Gruncle’s waist, happy to see him again after so long.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” the man asked, taken aback.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Greeting you with a warm
hug!” she shouted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Well, knock it off,” Stan
ordered.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Mabel pulled away and
smiled at her Uncle in spite of his grumpiness. “So, let’s get this Summer
Vacation rolling!” she declared. “This is our first time away from home and I
want to make the most of it!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Stan raised his eyebrows
and stared down at the girl in confusion. “What is this? You’re not making any
sense, kid.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I don’t know what you
mean,” the girl replied with a laugh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Where’s your brother at?”
the man complained as he began to walk away. “Go and confuse him for a while.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I don’t know where Dipper
is,” she shrugged. “I sure hope he got off the bus with me.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Stan stopped short at this
statement and narrowed his eyes as he turned back to the girl. “Whadda ya mean
by ‘bus?’” he asked with concern.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The bus that Mom and Dad
put us on this morning,” she explained, smiling mischievously as she added, “I
must have eaten a lot of gummy bears and blacked out.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Kid, what day do you
think it is?” he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“The first day of summer,
silly,” she answered, with an off handed wave of her hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Wendy! Have you seen
Dipper?” Stan demanded as he walked up to the counter. The girl turned the page
in her magazine and then shrugged. “Don’t know any dipper,” she replied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Stan ripped the reading
material from the girl’s hands and slammed it down on the counter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What’s the matter with
you people?!” the man shouted. “This joke isn’t funny! Are you all covering for
him or something.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Psshh, this is the worst
first day ever,” Wendy sighed. “I’m going home.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Stan stared blankly at the
wall as the girl headed out the door. Mabel watched him with a look of concern,
really starting to worry about where Dipper had gone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I’m sure that he’s right
outside on the porch, Gruncle Stan,” she assured him halfheartedly. “He’s
probably just struggling with our backpacks.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Her uncle didn’t move, but
he watched her carefully as she walked across the store to the front door.
“Dipper?” she called out. “Dipper! Come out, come out wherever you are!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">There was no answer from
the porch or the surrounding woods. Everything was silent and Mabel frowned as
she called out once more, “Dipper?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Her uncle marched out
after her and locked the door behind him. “Come on, kid,” he instructed. “Let’s
go find your brother.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">▲▲▲</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Once the tour of the
museum was finished, the boy found that they had come back around to the place
where they stored all the lost erased memories. He could hardly believe most of
the crazy things that Blind Ivan had shown him, but there was a whole room of
staggering evidence before him. Not to mention the Journal that Ivan kept
tucked under his arm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Perhaps after you see the
good that we can do here, it’ll erase your doubts,” the man stated.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">He then handed the child a
small red robe that was folded neatly so that the symbol of the eye crossed
over with an “x” was plainly visible. He then walked through the curtains that
lead to the outside without another word.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Hey! Wait!” the boy
called as he darted after him, not daring to venture beyond the drapery.
“You’re not just going to leave me here, are you?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I shall return first
thing in the morning,” the man assured him before he disappeared through the
secret passage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Great,” the boy sighed in
annoyance as he slumped against the wall. “And just where am I supposed to
sleep?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">He slid down the wall
until he was sitting on the hard stone floor and then went through his vest
pockets to find something with which to write. Lo and behold, there was a
notepad and a pen there and he quickly set to writing a list.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Society of the Blind Eye</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><s><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Society’s</span></s></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> Ivan’s Journal?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pine Tree Hat</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">What he did know was
pretty limited, but there was plenty he could do to learn more. Ivan was
reluctant to give away any information, but perhaps the other society members
he’d mentioned would be more likely to talk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Talk to other members</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Get proof of supernatural strangeness</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Examine Memory Gun</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Making a list and
checking it twice, huh?” called out a distorted voice. “Boy, I guess some
things never change!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The boy cried out in
surprise and shank away from the voice that practically rang right in his ear.
He found that the voice had come from the glowing yellow triangle with a huge
fiery blue eye.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What the heck are you?!”
he shouted at the creature, trying to fend it off with his pen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The blue fire of the
triangle’s eye faded and it then used its thin little black arms to tip his top
hat politely.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I guess introduction are
in order,” it said without any visible mouth, though there was a bowtie where
one should have been. “The name’s Bill Cipher! I’m here to haunt the rest of
your miserable existence!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“How did you even get in
here?” he demanded as he jumped to his feet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“You’d be surprised by the
things I can do, Pine Tree, especially in the mindscape,” Bill replied with a
snap of his fingers. The boy gasped as he found himself blinded by a hood
suddenly falling over his eyes. He pulled it up far enough so that he could see
again and found that he was now dressed in the red robe of the Society of the
Blind Eye. The very same robe Ivan had given him before he left.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Bwah! How did you do
that?” he asked in surprise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Ya know, I think that
that hood actually suites you,” Bill mused. “Well then! What’s your name, kid?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“My name--m-my name…well…”
he stuttered, caught off guard by the question. “I haven’t figured that out
yet.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“I’m sure it’ll come to ya!”
Bill assured him. The triangle turned away and the scene change with the
movement, like the iris-out of a movie from one location to another. They were
now in the middle of the woods with the sun shining down from high above the
tall pine trees. The boy walked through the tall grass and mushrooms until he
was finally out in the open. He was outside a rundown shack with
incomprehensible letters across the roof.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“What is this place?” he
asked aloud, though he’d already lost track of Bill Cipher.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A strange, but mirthful
laugh broke the eerie silence. The boy ran off in the direction of the sound
and found the small figure of a girl kneeling beside a wide pit. She had her
back to him, but beside her was a plump little pig that she was petting
lovingly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“All this gravity will try to pull you down,”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> she was singing playfully. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“But not this time! When the sun goes down and the light go out!! Then
it’s time for you to shine!!!”</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The boy drew closer, his
footsteps dead silent as he walked. The girl didn’t seem to notice as she
continued to sing gleefully.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">“Brighter than a shooting star!”</span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> she droned. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“So
shine no matter where you are!”</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">He finally came up and put
his hand on the girl’s shoulder. She spun around to face him, but suddenly she
was a huge sock puppet with googly-eyes and limp little arms and she was
laughing with the same distorted voice of the triangle.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The boy fell backwards in
surprise and screamed as he found himself falling down a bottomless pit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">He woke up screaming with
his arms flailing around widely for something to grab a hold of. His grasp
landed on the hood that had been folded at his side when he had fallen asleep.
He was still beneath the museum where Ivan had left him. He sighed with relief
and then removed his dark blue vest and placed it on the floor. He curled up
while using it as a pillow and draped the robe over himself like a blanket.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Gravity Falls (C) Alex Hirsch </span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-37047925784954242112015-02-16T20:40:00.001-08:002015-02-16T21:00:02.498-08:00Rain on the Adelaide Parade<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Inspired by this adorable picture that I found on tumblr of all places! I just loved Over the Garden Wall, but I've had little desire to write fanfiction for it. I just don't think that I could ever add anything to improve this wonderful story. It is absolutely beautiful." -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://40.media.tumblr.com/2f704ea630aa9523fb3360976074c229/tumblr_nen2p2Po6k1qgg9vko3_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/2f704ea630aa9523fb3360976074c229/tumblr_nen2p2Po6k1qgg9vko3_1280.jpg" height="320" width="299" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Picture by <a href="http://modmad.tumblr.com/post/101958160210/more-of-these-precious-goobers">modmad </a></span></div>
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<br />
Wirt walked on with renewed determination now that he didn’t have to worry about any loose shoelaces. They had stuck around the benefit concert until the animal students had to break for lunch. Gregory had wanted to stick around, but Wirt had insisted that they had to move onward. He didn’t like the look of those dark clouds gathering in the distance.<br /> “Do you think Adelaide would like Potatoes and Molasses?” Greg asked as they walked. “Maybe we can teach her about it when we get there!”<br />“We’re not bothering Adelaide with your silly song,” Wirt stated. “Once we get there, I’m going to handle all the talking.”<br />“Sure,” Beatrice confirmed with a roll of her eyes.<br />“What’s that supposed to mean?” Wirt asked with a small frown.<br />“Oh, nothing,” the little bird sighed.<br />Wirt opened his mouth to argue further, but stopped short when a drop of water splashed down onto his nose. He stopped in tracks and looked up towards the sky. It was actually much darker than it should have been for mid afternoon and now the boy could see that it was because of the dark clouds overhead.<br />“Wirt, why did you---Ahhh!” Beatrice gasped as a few drops of rain splashed over her wings. “Oh! No, no, no! I have flying in the rain!”<br />The blue bird began circling around the boys frantically as the rain really started falling in earnest. The frog that Gregory had been holding in his arms hopped free and began leaping around them as well.<br />“Uh—Quick! Under the trees!” Wirt urged as he ran from the path and ducked into the forest. Greg and Beatrice both chased after him, but they really weren’t much better off with the sparse leaves that autumn had left behind.<br />Wirt crouched down and threw his arms up over his head, but there really wasn’t any avoiding the sudden downpour. “Hurry! To the tent!” Gregory shouted as he nearly tackled his brother to the ground. Wirt put his arms out before him to keep his balance and soon found that Greg was cuddled up beside him underneath his long cape. “Greg! What are you---” he started to protest, but then Beatrice landed at his feet shaking her feathers dry. “Whew! I knew you had to be good for something,” she said as she wiped her brow.<br />Wirt now found himself trapped in his kneeling position with his arms raised up before him as his so called friends tacking shelter under his cape. To add to his discomfort, Grag’s frog hopped onto his shoulder and began croaking happily under the heavy shower.<br />“I hope you realize that this is a very temporary solution,” Wirt said.<br />“Well, you’ll never catch me flying in bad weather!” Beatrice announced.<br />“Wait! Did you hear that?” he asked suddenly. There was the distinct sound of a horse trotting down the road before them and possibly even the rattling sound of a carriage or wagon.<br />Wirt jumped to his feet and ran back to the dirt road, leaving the others out in the rain again. Sure enough there was a horse drawn wagon coming towards them. The young man began waving his arms frantically and shouting for the driver to stop.<br />The man driving saw them and reined in his horse as he approached. “What are you kids doing out here in the woods?” he asked nervously. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous out here?”<br />“We’re looking for Adelaide of the pasture, the good woman of the woods,” Wirt replied. “Can you help us to find her?”<br />“Yes, yes! Just climb in!” the man insisted, looking around apprehensively.<br />“Greg! Come on!” Wirt order as he quickly climbed into the back of the wagon where there was little more than a huge pile of hay and a couple of geese. Greg climbed up after him with his frog in hand and barely made it before the driver set off again. Wirt pulled his brother up and they both ducked into the hay to get out of the rain.<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Over the Garden Wall (C) Patrick McHale </span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-18251932147879267542015-02-16T20:30:00.001-08:002015-02-16T20:54:55.844-08:00Athol - Watched in the Night<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Some pre-Athol stuff about one of the secondary characters named Dwayne. Written under a prompt on Pinterest.com. This kid learned very quickly that there are often consequneces to practicing witchcraft. And I'm also including an older prompt from DevaintArt that fits with this plot line." -Casey</i></div>
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<br />Dwayne tossed and turned before finally turning to look at his clock again. He had to get up in five hours. The teenager sat up in frustration and reached for the cell phone on his nightstand. He flipped it open and selected the recording option. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but he was never going to get to sleep otherwise. He set the phone up to record through the night and then finally laid down to sleep.<br />When Dwayne woke the next morning he found that he was already late. He rushed to get ready for school, dressing in his long white robe and grabbing his magic books. He didn't remember the recording until he was almost out the door. He stopped and took a moment to let the phone run through the recording. It was mostly static so he fast-forwarded through almost the whole thing. Midway through he was ready to give up and hit delete, but that's when he heard it. The faintest hum of a breeze blowing through his room, the soft sound of a fan that he didn't own. He listened as it grew louder and finally a garbled whisper could be heard intertwined with the sound. "Dark warrior..." it called. "Listening to whispers in the dark." Dwayne shut the recording off and deleted it as fast as his frantic fingers would allow. He hadn't been imagining it after all. He really had heard the voice of the sorceress in his dreams.<br /> ***<br /><br />“I see you finally put a stop to your disreputable habit of bringing outside reading to school,” Fiona said with an approving smile.<br />Dwayne looked up from his textbook at his teacher with a polite smile. “Headmistress,” Dwayne began thoughtfully. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”<br />“You mean there’s something that the great Dwayne Flannchadh doesn’t know?” Fiona asked in false surprise. She pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the table and sat down to listen to her student attentively.<br />“Who is the source of your magic?” the boy asked.<br />“Who?” the sage repeated.<br />“The unseelie court was never united under any one banner,” Dwayne explained. “So their power is scattered and autonomous. So who is it that you serve?”<br />“Oh, Dwayne,” Fiona sighed. “I warned you about delving into those old distinctions. They give you such a backwards viewpoint.”<br />Fiona leaned in closer to Dwayne, who was compelled to lean further back in his chair. “I serve no one,” she explained. “That is the entire reason for being a sage, to govern one’s own fate.”<br />“All power has a source,” Dwayne reminded her. “You taught me that.”<br />“Yes, yes,” Fiona sighed. “And my source is greater than any the ‘seelie’ court ever commanded.”<br />“Then explain why she was banished so easily by that power.”<br />Dwayne watched his master carefully, but Fiona’s features were a mask. No hint of any kind of emotional response. Dwayne was grasping at rumors and guesses after all. He had no proof of any she hiding down in the sub levels of the school.<br />“So…” Fiona said at last. “You’ve heard of her… That’s usually a privilege saved for a student’s graduation.”<br />Dwayne swallowed his panic and did his best to appear unaffected by the sage’s words. He had guessed this much after all. He’d just been praying that he was wrong.<br />“Perhaps your studies are just a waste of time then,” she shrugged. “Perhaps you would like to meet her. She’d be thrilled to have you after all the time you’ve invested in getting to know her. And who knows, she might even insist on meeting your family as well.”<br />Dwayne got up from his chair and glared down at Fiona. “You leave him out of this,” he warned.<br />“I didn’t bring him into it,” Fiona admitted. “In fact, it would be a shame to lose his monthly check for your studies.”<br />Fiona took to studying her fingernails as the school speakers sounded with the synthesized tone of a bell. She got up from her seat at last and began to make her way out of the library. “Now, now, Mr. Flannchadh,” she called. “It’s time for class. You wouldn’t want to break that perfect attendance record of yours. That sort of thing speaks volumes about your future with this academy.” <h1 class="commentDescriptionContent" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Athol and Characters (C) SuperheroGeek13 </span></span></h1>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-77633474909209161982015-02-16T20:19:00.000-08:002015-02-16T20:19:00.680-08:00Frozen Prompts<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I've gotten into the habit of writing impromptu stories underneath prompts and pictures on Pinterest.com. I guess that also counts as stuff I'm writing, but it's not usually enough for a blog post (I mean, they do have a word limit on comments). Thus, I shall post a couple of them together!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>These two were inspired by Alternate Universe pictures for the movie Frozen. One's a little addition to the "Do you want to build a snowman?" song and the other is another take on Elsa freezing someone's heart." -Casey</i></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Other Side of the Door</b></span></div>
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“Do
you want to build a snowman?” Elsa whispered as she stood outside her
sister’s door, echoing the girl’s words. Her soft voice was hardly
audible as she sang her sister’s tune in the dark vacant halls of the
palace.
“This time I will not let you fall.
It was such a small mistake. But that was all it would take to lose it
all.”
She stepped forward and reached out to the door with her gloved hand.
“You know we have each other.
I am always here, even though we’re apart.”</div>
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Her
hand had hardly brushed the surface of the wood when she jerked back.
She stepped away from the door and frowned as she turned to walk back
down the hall.
“Do you want to build a snowman?” she muttered as she reached her own
room and disappeared back through the door.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"> How Frozen could have Ended...?</span></b></div>
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Kristoff ran up the staircase of ice as fast as he could while
snowflakes swirled around him. It hadn't been snowing outside the palace
of ice. Something had gone terribly wrong.
He arrived in the frozen rotunda to find that the source of the storm
really was the Queen of Arendelle. She had her hands balled into fists
and was pressing them to her forehead in some sort of fit of anxiety.
Princess Anna was standing in the midst of the snowstorm, calling out to
her sister with no regard for her own safety. "We can face this thing together!" she was saying. "We can
change this winter weather and everything will be alright."
Kristoff felt the change in the wind and he ran towards Anna just as
Queen Elsa cried out, “I can’t!”
For a split second, the air was clear again, not a single snowflake hung
over them. Then there was a sharp icy pain in Kristoff chest. It was a
dagger of ice through his heart. He collapsed to the ground at Anna’s
feet. “Christopher!” she cried in alarm.The young man had to smile faintly as he struggled back to get back to his feet. “It’s ‘Kristoff’…” he muttered in reply.<br />
<br />
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Frozen (C) Disney </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-25304480407780806472015-02-16T20:05:00.002-08:002015-02-16T20:05:30.639-08:00Athol - Drowning<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>"Spoilers! Spoilers! Athol spoilers ahead!</i></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Okay, well, this scene has been reworked a few dozen times now and it'll probably be very different when it makes into the actual book, but it's still spoilery. Proceed with caution! This is your final warning!" -Casey</i></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar awoke to the feeling of something cool blowing over
him. He opened his eyes to find a blurry and rippling vision of the sky hanging
over him. He realized with a jolt of panic that he was underwater and slapped
his hands over his mouth. He sat up out of the water and gasped for air, though
he didn’t feel the need to cough at all.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Ciar! It’s alright, you’re safe,” Perditus assured him.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar turned to find the elf sitting on the side of the
stream where he himself had been lying. He climbed free of the water and shoved
Perditus out of his way as he came ashore.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You want to drown me now?!” he demanded, brushing his
wet hair out of his eye. It was then that he felt the long scar underneath his
right eye. He ran his fingers over it, suddenly remembering the Sage that had
held a knife to him.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m sorry,” Perditus insincerely apologized. “The poison
had done its damage. If I hadn’t gotten you help, you’d be dead now.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar kneeled dripping wet on the ground as Perditus stood
up and dusted himself off.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Help?” Ciar repeated, wondering who or what Perditus
would go to for help.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“He is an ungrateful little human,” chimed a voice, high
pitched and slightly distorted.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar spun around and found a small girl swimming up the
stream, her skin blue and her eyes like those of a fish. She eyed Ciar
dubiously, her mouth twitching at a smirk.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Well, now I have him,” she shrugged. “Now he will have
to work diligently for me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar squinted at the creature, confused. Perditus shifted
uncomfortably behind him, rubbing the back of his neck. “Ciar, this is the
water nixie of this stream,” Perditus sighed. “She is the one that healed you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Humans are not easily mended,” she stated, coming to the
edge of the water. “But the elf’s deal was fair.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar turned to Perditus slowly with a look of both
realization and distain. Perditus stepped back as if he was afraid that Ciar
would strike him. “Nixies do not offer help without the promise of reward,”
Perditus explained. “And she would not take my service as payment.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Service?!” Ciar snapped, grabbing Perditus by the collar
of his jacket.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Now, now!” the nixie interrupted. “The human will unhand
the elf immediately!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar’s eye widened in panic as he felt compelled to
release “the elf” just as he was order. It was a struggle, but he kept his
hands locked right where they were as Perditus looked at him guiltily.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I gave him an order!” she snapped, pulling herself onto
the edge of the stream.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar released Perditus without hesitation this time and
then stare down at his hands in disbelief. He turned to the nixie lying at his
feet, his expression grave. “How did you do that?” he asked.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“There is a magic in a nixie’s voice,” she explained.
“And it’s especially effective towards those who are pledged to our service.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I didn’t pledge anything!” Ciar argued.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“The elf made the deal,” she said with a dismissive wave.
“That was enough since the human was near death and his life was in another’s
hands.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar turned to Perditus again, this time in more of a
pleading manner than in anger. Perditus sighed, remorse in his expression. “I
had no other choice, Ciar,” Perditus said. “I had to bring you into the forest.
The witch meant to kill you with that blade. Even your doctors would have been
useless!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar shook his head and then stomped away from Perditus,
meaning to continue through the trees and get as far from him as possible, but
he held his breath, guessing what would happen.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Stop,” called the nixie from behind him.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar stopped. He hardly even tried to fight the order. He
just stood at the edge of the tree line with his back to the magical creatures.
There was no running away from this problem. Perditus had taken even that from
him.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Such a stubborn boy!” the nixie sighed. “I liked him
better when he was asleep.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You mustn’t be so strict with him,” Perditus whispered
to the girl. “I told you about what transpired with his sister.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“So the humans are turning on each other now,” she
scoffed. “Do not expect me to weep for a traitor betrayed.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“They’re not all witches and warlocks, dear nixie,”
Perditus reminded her.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You should know better than any that they are all alike,
Perditus of the Lost People,” she taunted before diving down into the water and
disappearing.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Perditus watched the stream for a moment longer before
turning back to Ciar, who was also watching the stream. Perditus walked up to
him, tugging at the flaps of his hat uncomfortably.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I did not enter into this deal lightly, Ciar,” he
assured him. “I shall find a way to alleviate you from this contract.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Promise?” Ciar squinted, causing Perditus to flinch.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Uh…well, I’m afraid that I can’t swear to an action
against what I already swore to the nixie,” he explained.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Just what did you swear to her?” the boy demanded.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That your life was in my hands and that if she saved
you, you’d be her servant until she released you,” Perditus recited.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“How do we get her to do that?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m still working on that part.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“The human will come with me!” the nixie called,
appearing far upstream. “There is a log that needs to be removed from the
stream!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar shook with the effort of staying in place for just a
moment longer. “Perry…” he entreated.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Just go along with her for now,” Perditus insisted. “She
won’t let any harm come to her new servant, that I can promise.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar nodded and then allowed himself to step forward.
Perditus grabbed him by the arm and added, “And Ciar, please try to be nice.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Ciar yanked his arm out of the elf’s grasp and then
followed the nixie begrudgingly.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
Characters and Story (C) SuperheroGeek13 </div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-38982907411487997542015-02-16T19:47:00.002-08:002015-02-16T19:47:39.314-08:00Loki Laufeyson - Sif and Laufey<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Wow, this was only written like three months ago and already I feel like cringing while reading it. Not that dislike any of these scenes in particular, but the writing is a bit sloppy. I'll polish it up whenever I finally get around to posting this story properly." -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They
were nearly a mile from the palace grounds now, but there was ice covering the
streets even here. Sif wobbled with the effort of running over it, but Loki
slid as if there wasn’t anything more natural in the world. He spun around to
face Sif, who banged into a wall with the sudden stop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
gates are completely incased in ice!” the prince cried. “How are we supposed to
enter unseen?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sif
steadied herself did her best to cover up her frustration as she replied,
“You’re the one that’s always sneaking out of the palace! Think of something!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
turned back to the great mountain of ice looming before them and watched as the
sun glimmered off it like crystal. He drew his hand in front of his face to
shield his eyes from the sun and then his palm began to glow with a faint
light. He then knelt down and put his hand to the slippery streets. The ice
beneath him dissipated into nothing more than a cool mist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Follow
me!” he commanded as he darted across the streets again with Sif stumbling
after him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
brought them to a waterway at the edge of the palace into which the falls on
either side of the front gate emptied. He placed his hands on the frozen and it
too dissolved into mist. Sif coughed upon breathing in the cold air and decided
to step back and stand watch for any giants.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“So,
you feel like sharing your devious plan?” she asked. “You’re not planning on
melting your way all the way to the front gate, are you?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This
watercourse leads right up to an exhaust vent overlooking the reliquary,” Loki
informed her. “The Jotuns most likely attacked the palace to retrieve the
Casket of Eternal Winters from there.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
that should be the last place we try to enter!” Sif protested.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No,
it’s perfect,” Loki assured her. “It will be the first place they showed up and
thus the last place to find them now.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Another
scream echoed in the distance and Sif held her sword at the ready. “Just be
quick about it, your highness,” she sighed. “My sword has never been tested
against a Jotun.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">***</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
was hardly listening to the stable girl anymore. He was focused entirely on
melting a long narrow tunnel through the ice and up to the vent. He was halfway
through now. Another moment and they’d be able to climb inside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
loud growl sounded from above them. A frost giant was running down the side of
the palace of ice, leaving large cracks in the ice like footprints in the snow.
Loki lost his concentration as the giant bared down on them, a huge dagger of
ice in its hands. Sif spun around with her sword and caught the beast in the
calf, tripping him. The giant fell to one knee, but quickly swiped the girl
aside with a single blow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
watched in horror as she was flung through the air and then smashed through an
ice covered wall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sif!”
he called, but he didn’t have time to wait for an answer. The frost giant
grabbed a hold of him and hoisted him up like a rag doll.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hello,
Prince Loki,” the monster breathed, his red eyes narrowing as a twisted smile
came over his face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
held his hand to the sky and in a flash of green light a small dagger appeared
in it. He thrust the blade into the giant’s wrist, causing it to drop him down
the hole he’d been making.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
had to crouch down to fit, but he ran as fast as he could down the tunnel of
ice. The giant could be seen through the frost above him like a rippling
shadow. The monster’s fist came crashing through the thick ceiling of ice, just
behind Loki. He ran on as the beast crashed through it yet again and again,
each time just a bit closer. Then the creature’s fist smashed through the
tunnel before him, blocking his path.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
was seized by his arm, a cold chill tingling up his arm. He was drawn halfway
out of the tunnel, staring up into the giant’s red eyes, when Sif leap forward
and stabbed her sword through the monster’s neck.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Go,
Loki!” she called as the boy dropped back down under the ice. He hurried down
the tunnel again, having to melt handholds in the walls as the passageway
slopped up towards the palace.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
finally made it through the vent into the grand dome that housed the reliquary.
It was even colder in here than it had been outside, but he hardly took notice
of it as he dropped down onto the pathway that lead to the treasure chamber.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As he
had suspected, there were signs of a struggle. There were three dead guards
lying beside fallen relics and broken stone. The Casket was gone as well, for
it no longer stood atop its pedestal. Loki quickly ascended the stairs that
lead up into the palace.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">His
home was hardly recognizable. There were pillars of frost perturbing from the floor
to the ceiling and shimmering walls where there shouldn’t have been any. Loki
cloaked himself in shadows, making it nearly impossible for anyone to lay their
eyes upon him, and he proceeded up towards the throne room. As he stalked the
halls, he ran across many giants that were roaming the halls. They tore through
walls and smashed apart furniture almost as if they were looking for something.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
soon found himself in the grand hall with his father’s throne just beyond two
great golden doors that had been smashed inwards. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
wall of ice in the doorway was so think that Loki couldn’t see through to the
other side. He waved his hand over it and it began to evaporate into a thick
cloud of mist. A figure appeared through the ice and haze, causing Loki to halt
abruptly in his advancement. The figure stood impossibly tall, pacing the
throne room slowly with loud echoing footsteps. Loki stepped back into the fog,
obscuring his view of the creature and hopefully its view of him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This
does not concern you, Odinson,” echoed the giant’s deep gravelly voice. “I come
to reclaim what is mine.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
dare to attack my father?!” cut in the roaring voice of a young boy. “Release
him or I shall kill you where you stand!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thor…”
Loki whispered under his breath. He scanned the sketchy view of the throne room
through the ice and could just make out the small figure of his brother not ten
feet from the frost giant.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
pressed his hand against the wall of ice again and then withdraws it timidly.
He bit his bottom lip and ran his hands anxiously through his hair.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
so it has come to this,” the giant grumbled. “Odinson for Laufyson.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">With
a loud hissing sound a beam of light shot from the giant’s hands towards Thor.
He must have had mijonir with him, for he rolled aside and then flung something
at the giant, knocking him off balance. Loki pressed his forehead against the
glass, trying desperately to see what was happening through the frost.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Another
beam shot from the Jotun’s hands and then a bolt of lightning lit up the room.
The small boy charged forward, but was then knocked aside by a simple swat of
the frost giant’s hand. Loki felt the wall between them buckle as his brother
was slammed against the other side of it. The giant came to stand over the boy
and to form a long knife of ice in his hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
dug his hands into the wall, cracking it at his finger tips, and then he
punched through it, sending shattering piece of ice towards the frost giant
with his magic. The mighty Jotun was knocked to the ground and the Casket fell
from his hands.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
hardly took time to regard the giant and instead went right to his brother’s
side. Thor was lying on the ground, mijonir at his side, frost matted on his
eyebrows and in his hair.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thor!”
Loki cried, kneeling down to take his brother in his arms and shake him.
“Brother, wake up!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
was still breathing, but Loki could feel the slightest trickle of blood on the
back of the boy’s head.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Loki…”
hissed a voice from the rubble. The giant climbed up out of the ice and took up
the Casket again, smiling with satisfaction. “So it is true that you have grown
strong in your time on Asgard. I suppose it is fortunate that you did not
perish in the ruins of Jutonhiem.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki’s
gaze went beyond the giant to the all-father, standing before his throne,
scepter in hand, but frozen solid. “Father!” Loki called, getting to his feet
and staring up at the Juton between them apprehensively. “This is an act of
war!” Loki announced, his words brave, but his eyes wet with tears. “All Jutons
shall suffer for this unprovoked attack!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It
is war,” the giant agreed. “And I’m afraid that you shall be the first of the
Jutons to suffer, Prince Loki. The truth can be a painful thing.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
giant began to step forward, letting the Casket hang loosely in one hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Stay
back!” Loki commanded, standing his ground as he conjured a short dagger in his
hand. The giant didn’t attack though, he simply lashed out and seized Loki by
his entire forearm, squeezing until he dropped his dagger with a cry of pain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I am
Laufey,” the giant drawled. “King of Jutonhiem and conqueror of many realms.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Loki
stared up at the monster in disgust before the giant shoved Loki’s own hand
into his face. To the boy’s astonishment, his hand had become the same strange
shade of blue as Laufey’s. Not only that, but there were strange markings on
the back of his hand, much like the ones running across the King’s face.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Loki?”
moaned Thor from beside him. Loki glanced back at his brother, who was staring,
not at his hand, but directly into his face as if he hardly recognized him.
Loki put his other hand to his face and he could now feel the same marks across
it and he realized that his other hand was blue as well.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“And you, Loki,”
Laufey continued at last. “You are my son, stolen from me nearly four hundred
years ago; Loki Laufeyson, Prince of Jutonhiem.”</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Characters (C) Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Story (C) SuperheroGeek13 </span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-59104877583232261082015-02-16T19:05:00.001-08:002015-02-16T19:05:24.086-08:00Teen Titans - Phobia in Daydream<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"Oops, it's been months since I updated this poor blog! Time to post a dozen things at once!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>First off, I've written a lot more for that "Daydream" fanfic I have for Teen Titans. I might have to make this a much longer story than I had originally intended. As much fun as Raven's POV is, I really want to include Robin's side of the story as well.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Here's the opening that actually goes before the last post chronologically. Introducing the villain that had a cameo in the series, one appearance in the comic, and now an important role in this fanfic; Phobia!" -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/1/19614/418408-phba1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/1/19614/418408-phba1.jpg" height="320" width="251" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
sun was just starting to set over the city as the Titans battled atop the roof
of a skyscraper, casting the whole scene in a dim twilight. “Remember! None of
this is real!” Robin called as he grappled with one of Slade’s robots. The
android got him into a chokehold and attempted to throw him off the skyscraper.
He responded by kicking off the concrete barrier of the building and knocking
them both into the gravel roof.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Oh,
fear is very real, Titan,” Phobia chuckled from the middle of the rooftop, her
long cape flowing around her. “And the deepest terrors of your mind are mine to
unleash!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
robot had Robin pinned to the ground as it started beeping to warn of an imminent
explosion. The robot was knocked aside by a blast from Cyborg’s sonic cannon,
freeing Robin from its grasp just before it exploded. The blast knocked the boy
right into the robot that his friend had been fighting. It wasn’t another one
of Slade’s robots, but a golden robot of the same design as Cyborg with the
symbol for the Hive Academy on its chest. Real or not, slamming into the robot
had been painful and Robin was disoriented for a moment. The golden robot
brought its fist into the air above Robin’s head, but Cyborg quickly came up
behind it and dragged it backwards.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Leave
‘im alone!” Cyborg grunted as he tried his best to hold his opponent back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Robin
got back to his feet and stabbed a birdarang into the robot. Cyborg released
his grip and he and Robin leaped aside just before the robot exploded.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As
the smoke cleared, Starfire flew right passed Robin with Blackfire hot on her
tail. The sisters flew back up into the sky, firing star bolts at each other in
attempts to knock each other out of the sky. Robin pulled an explosive disc
from his utility belt as he kept his eyes on the girls. Before he could even
arm it, the device was wrenched out of his hand as his arm was pinned against
his back.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
and I both know that I don’t need to be real to finish you,” Slade whispered
into his ear.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Raven!
You need to cut through the illusions!” Robin called out, even though he
couldn’t see the girl.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
telepath was behind Robin on the other side of the roof, her cloak torn with
long claw marks. She was standing in the shadow of a large hairy green beast
with its claws and fangs bared.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Beast
Boy, you have to snap out of it,” she said in a calming manner. “You haven’t
lost control. It’s just a nightmare!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
beast growled angrily in response and then charged at the girl. She put her
hands up, engulfed in her telekinetic energy, and put up a shield to defend
herself. The barrier protected her from the attack, but Raven winced against
the onslaught. When she opened her eyes again, they were glowing red and there
were four of them shining from beneath her hood. Her concentration broke, as
did her shield, and Beast Boy knocked her over the edge of the roof.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Titan tumbled head over heels before catching a hold of a flagpole. She clung
to it desperately, her four glowing red eyes wide with fear. “No! It isn’t
real! It isn’t real!” she told herself as she closed her eyes against their own
red glow.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“As
long as you retain even a fraction of my power, the Earth will never be safe,”
Trigon’s voice echoed in her mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Cut
through the illusions,” Raven said shakily as her grip on the flagpole
weakened. “Phobia can’t scare me.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
unleashed her powers, transforming herself into a large black raven with two
glowing white eyes. The bird flew back up over the rooftop so that she loomed
over Phobia and the rest of the Teen Titans. Starfire was flying up towards the
image in the grips of her evil sister, but as soon as they passed through the
black energy Blackfire disappeared as if destroyed by the raven.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Phobia
watched in horror as the creature wrapped its wings around the building and her
illusions of Slade, Brother Blood, and the Beast began to fade like mist. “No!
Fear is ripe in your heart!” she bellowed. “You do not have the power to
resist!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
birdarang zipped through the shadows and knocked Phobia in the back of the
head. The woman stumbled to her knees in a daze as the Titans surrounded her.
Raven resumed her human form and glided down onto the rooftop to join her
teammates.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Your
courage will not save you, Titans,” Phobia muttered. “Your fears rule you in more
ways than you could ever imagine.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Phobia
disappeared in a swirl of green mist and an explosive device appeared in her
place. The device was counting down from 30 seconds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
think that’s an illusion?!” Beast Boy asked as he quickly backed away from the
device.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Titans!
Scatter!” Robin commanded, causing them all to run off the roof of the
building. The roof shattered into a rain of debris in every direction. Starfire
rushed to grab Robin out of the air and out of the path of the falling stone.
Cyborg blasted the boulders into dust all around him before Beast Boy grabbed
him out of the sky, but it wasn’t enough to save a mother and a daughter on the
sidewalk below. A large section of the roof came barreling down towards them,
its shadow veiling their terrified faces.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
reached out with her telekinesis, wrapping the debris in blackness, but only
slowing it down by a small fraction. She couldn’t stop it. She swiped her hand
across the air and the mother and daughter below were suddenly yanked out from
beneath the rock just before it hit the sidewalk.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
rest of the Titans made their way to the streets and Raven gently dropped the
mother and daughter to safety. The little girl immediately jumped into her
mother’s arms and her mother hugged her close while she kissed her on top of
her head.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Oh,
thank you!” the mother said to the Teen Titans, her eyes settling on Raven.
“Thank you for saving my angel.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Raven nodded in reply
with a small smile for the little girl who timidly waved at her. As the mother
turned and began to walk away, Raven frowned. Robin began ordering his team to
look for any trace of the villain that had escaped, but Raven paid little
attention as she watched the family disappear around the corner.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Teen Titans (C) DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Story (C) SuperheroGeek13 </span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-33436893796636402932014-08-31T20:45:00.000-07:002014-08-31T20:46:04.096-07:00Teen Titans - Daydream<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I absolutely refuse to give up on my Teen Titans stories! Especially the ones with my fan characters. I have other superhero stories that could easily use my characters, but I can't rip them from their universe of origin. They belong with the Teen Titans and I still love that series even after all these years.</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Switching to prose yet again here. I still don't think this works as well as the script format, but I'm not giving up yet!</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Oh, and I just realized that the window thing might actually be inaccurate, but I shall fact check that before this goes to DeviantArt." -Casey</i></div>
<br />
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
squinted against the sunlight that was pouring into her room as she woke up.
She pulled the covers up over her face and sighed in annoyance. How had she
forgotten to close the window like that? She didn’t even have a window in her
room.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
sat up, throwing the blanket aside, and looked around the room in surprise. She
wasn’t in her room back at Titans Tower. She was in an unfamiliar room that was
decorated with rock posters and purple carpeting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Robin?”
she called as she leapt out of bed. That’s when she noticed the long black
nightdress she was wearing. What was going on?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Starfire?”
she called as she made her way to the only door and opened it cautiously. She
walked down the hallway, past pictures of complete strangers, until it opened
to a living room that looked as perfect as a picture from a magazine. There was
a clanking noise from around the corner, but Raven didn’t sense anyone nearby.
She slowly rounded the corner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
woman in the kitchen turned to face her, her long purple hair falling over her
lacy white blouse. She smiled wholesomely, which looked almost unnatural with
her long face and narrow eyes. “Good morning, Raven,” she greeted happily.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Arella?”
the girl said breathlessly, staring in amazement at her mother.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Who
on Earth is Arella?” she asked as she turned back to the eggs she had been
scrambling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You…you
are,” Raven said hesitantly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Last
I checked, my name was Angela,” the woman replied. “But I really prefer ‘Mom’
from my daughter.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’re
alive,” she muttered as she wrapped her arms around the woman, her eyes welling
up with tears.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Raven?
What’s the matter?” she asked as she put aside her cooking to hug the girl
back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
thought you had perished with Azarath,” Raven explained.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
are you talking about?” she insisted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I…I…You
don’t remember?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">You’re
not looking too well, sunshine,” her mother observed as she put her hand to her
forehead. “Maybe you should stay home from school today.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sunshine?”
Raven asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Arella
(or Angela) smiled halfhearted at the teenager and shook her head. “There she
is,” she joked, as if that settled the matter. “Now go get dressed. You’ll miss
the bus if you don’t hurry.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
stood in the kitchen and opened her mouth to say something, but she was at a
loss for words. Angela scooped the scrambled eggs onto a couple of plates and
placed them on the dining table. “Aren’t you hungry?” she asked as she went to
the refrigerator for some orange juice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
last thing Raven wanted to do was sit down to a bizarre breakfast when nothing
was making sense. She backed away towards the living room. “I’m going to go get
dressed,” she excused herself. She rushed back to what she could only assume
was supposed to be her bedroom and shut the door.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
cleared her mind as she strode to the center of the room and assumed her
meditation position. She noticed for the first time that the gemstone on her
forehead was missing, but she didn’t let it bother her. “Azarath, Metrion,
Zinthose,” she began to chant, focusing on locating the other Titans. “Azarath,
Metrion, Zinthose.” There was no sign of her friends or anything else for that
matter. She couldn’t even sense Angela in the other room. Her telepathy wasn’t
working and she wasn’t even levitating. Her powers weren’t working.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
jumped up and started digging through the vanity for her communicator or even
her cloak. She didn’t have any luck and she was beginning to panic. She thought
back to the last sane thing she could remember. They had fought off a few
smalltime crooks, no one capable of causing this kind of delusion. After that
they had gone back to the tower. Robin and Cyborg played video games while
Beast Boy wrestled for one of the controllers. Starfire and their new recruit
had been cooking dinner and realizing their mutual love for snails. The new
recruit…Duplicate. Could he have something to do with this?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Raven,
do you need me to give you a ride to school?” her mother called.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No!”
she called back. “I’ll be fine.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
shook her head with the effort of concentrating on what had happened the day
before, but the last thing she could remember was falling asleep like she
always did. Nothing out of the ordinary came to mind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are
you sure? The bus will be here any minute,” Angela called again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
looked down at the rumpled clothes in the vanity and spotted what looked like a
school uniform. She grabbed it and called back, “I’m almost ready!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
had to get out of the house. She needed to figure out what was going on and her
mother being alive in the kitchen making eggs was a distraction.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
had no idea where she was supposed to go as she walked the crowded halls of the
school. She’d tried to sneak away three times already, but bus drivers and
teachers had deterred her at every turn.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Robin! Cyborg!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> she screamed telepathically. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anybody! Beast Boy!</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
other Titans had to be out of range, but perhaps she was going about this the
wrong way. She hadn’t been able to sense any of the people around her, like her
mother or fellow students, but maybe she could search for another presence. She
opened up her mind and tried to reach out beyond the students around her to
find someone else, anyone else.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Mayday!”
a voice called out suddenly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
looked up just in time to see a giant stack of books before she slammed into
them and the boy that had been carrying them. Books and papers scattered across
the hall, nearly tripping a couple of inattentive teenagers. Raven reached out
as she attempted to retrieve them telekinetically, but that power didn’t seem
to be working either. Instead, the boy she had knocked over took her
outstretched hand and helped her to her feet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sorry
about that,” he apologized. “I don’t move very fast when I’m doing five things
at once.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Its
fine,” Raven replied, noting that the pain meant that she wasn’t dreaming.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The boy
began clearing up the books along with a couple of folders and putting them
away in his locker selectively. Raven felt a twinge of guilt and began to help
gather up the papers by hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Stressing
over the science exam today?” he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Something
like that,” she replied, still distracted by her lack of powers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
handed the papers to the boy and he took with a grateful smile, his load of
books much lighter now. “Well, while I’m here, you need an escort to class?” he
asked. “I can clear the path so you don’t have worry about any other overloaded
bookworms.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
do you know which class I’m looking for?” she asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Well,
we have shared English for the whole semester,” he sighed. “I’m usually in the
back hiding behind my hipster glasses.” With that, he pulled a pair of thick
rimmed black glasses out from his pant pockets and placed them on his face
while moving his eyebrows up and down comically.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Your
glasses don’t have any lenses,” she pointed out in annoyance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yeah,
but glasses are like the only thing that they don’t have a dress code against,”
he complained as he started walking down the hallway. “You coming?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Raven
took a good look at the boy standing before her. His long blond hair stood up
fairly high before it flopped down in his bright colored eyes and he smiled
with his teeth far too much. He was nearly as obnoxious as Beast Boy. However,
sitting quietly in a classroom might give her the space to think things out, at
least until she could sneak away at lunch. Reluctantly she followed after him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“My
name’s Remy, by the way,” he announced as they walked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
Raven,” she replied, holding onto that thought. She was Raven, a real hero, and
no amount of this ridiculous reality was going to convince her that the Teen
Titans didn’t exist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As
they approached the classroom where English class was to be held, the door
exploded outwards and slammed into the lockers on the far wall, barely missing
one of the other students. As smoke poured through the remains of the entryway,
a tall thin figure stepped out of the room and into the hall with a confident
strut. As the smoke began to clear, the figure stopped and spun its cane around
in the air before leaning against it in a showy manner.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Well,
hello, hello, hello, my duckies” the man greeted as he finally became visible
through the smoke. “Care to help me out with a little discipline problem?”</span></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mad Mod,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Raven thought as glared at the man. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I should have known that he was behind this.</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teen Titans (C) Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">REM and Story (C) <a href="http://superherogeek13.deviantart.com/">SuperheroGeek13 </a></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></span></span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-75035135658471994302014-07-30T21:54:00.002-07:002014-07-30T21:57:22.089-07:00Which came first, the character or the plot?<!--[if !mso]>
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</xml><![endif]-->There comes a point in every story that I’ve ever attempted to write where I start to complain about the personalities that I gave my characters. Mostly because my main characters tend to be very introverted, very content with life, and quite unmotivated to get involved in things that aren’t their business, which is not exactly a recipe for high adventure and heroics, is it?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusIa19106aBt2JIZkDrlKuUQArWpDxPCSWiLrWWbNftRgsa_q7uhZpipVn3YKSPrY_UfBSMbe8SAsqO_CCyG6_uAyGnQwunsq9VeHCIFYiO_eDFhgDACtk4zZQwBrwYlmuI3yHEfkAj6b/s1600/Athol+Paperchildren.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusIa19106aBt2JIZkDrlKuUQArWpDxPCSWiLrWWbNftRgsa_q7uhZpipVn3YKSPrY_UfBSMbe8SAsqO_CCyG6_uAyGnQwunsq9VeHCIFYiO_eDFhgDACtk4zZQwBrwYlmuI3yHEfkAj6b/s1600/Athol+Paperchildren.png" height="320" width="191" /></a></div>
Thus begins my rants about how I practically have to drag my characters back to the plot (i.e. the chain of events that they’re going to be a part of whether they like it or not). One has to strike a balance though, because you run the risk of turning your story into a side-scrolling video game where your characters are led straight through the adventure without much say in the matter.<br />
On the other hand, if you let your characters run free in a huge over-world type of place, they might spend the entire adventure fishing, collecting rupees, and betting on dog races while the princess just sits in a dungeon waiting to be rescued. (Please pardon the video game derived examples.)<br />
So how is one to find a balance between these characters and plots? Are there rules about giving each 50% or giving one more than the other? Am I doomed because I came up with my characters before a plot or vice versa? These are all questions in which I get very wrapped up.<br />
<br />
The sad truth; if your characters aren’t doing anything <u>AT ALL</u> for your plot then maybe you shouldn’t have put them in your story in the first place.<br />
Seriously, if you were out to write a story about daring feats and courageous adventures, you should have written a daring and courageous hero. If you didn’t want a reluctantly taken hardship that’ll require a lot growth by its end, you shouldn’t have made up a reluctant hero. <br />
Basically, this is when I need to step back from the characters and the plot and look at the story as a whole. What is it about? Where is it going? Why are you even telling it? <br />
Shouldn't people be able to say that your characters and plot mesh up well? If the story is meant to be funny, there are things that you can set up for that. <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StraightMan">A Funny Man and a Straight Man</a> can lead to great hijinks. Or maybe even a couple of crazy kids with one very sane girl. The plot will only get nutty from there.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/065/4/f/the_legends_of_goofatopia_35_by_superherogeek13-d3b2m09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2011/065/4/f/the_legends_of_goofatopia_35_by_superherogeek13-d3b2m09.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> "Remember: Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. </i><i>Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is through. That is all Plot ever should be. It is human desire let run, running, and reaching a goal. It cannot be mechanical. It can only be dynamic. So, stand aside, forget targets, let the characters, your fingers, body, blood, and heart do."</i> -Ray Bradbury</div>
<br />
How would you categorize this story if you had to do so? Do the different elements of the story match up with you definition? If not, then it might be time to take another look at your setup or maybe your definition. <br />
You want heroics? Make your characters heroic! You want forward momentum? Move events along! And when in doubt, just see where the people and events in your story go when you’re not complaining about where they’re going.<br />
In conclusion; characters and plots go hand in hand. Characters will make choices that move events along and events will move your characters along.<br />
That’s my writing related rant for the day. Thanks for reading! TTYL.Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-40499237395338442382014-06-30T18:46:00.000-07:002014-06-30T18:46:51.420-07:00Teen Titans - Colors<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"The origin story for my OC Kenji, the son of Brushogun. I had hoped to finish this by the end of this month, but I only got about a third of the way through. At least you can see how it all starts out." -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWkitAT6IGlC0P1WaBEn90McWCMLzLPlL_q1kMXgpbCO6ucRlOhLelOS7w1a9O8f97e4TffkryZcHEOp90LEhNdFG36o9FSPZyMiciIWHn6PgRyvI23KWGC4FAKFgt6Yhy2TOkecsjgzF/s1600/Kenji+and+Sensei.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigWkitAT6IGlC0P1WaBEn90McWCMLzLPlL_q1kMXgpbCO6ucRlOhLelOS7w1a9O8f97e4TffkryZcHEOp90LEhNdFG36o9FSPZyMiciIWHn6PgRyvI23KWGC4FAKFgt6Yhy2TOkecsjgzF/s1600/Kenji+and+Sensei.png" height="245" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
sky was grey with the tick cover of rain clouds hanging over Tokyo. The streets
were becoming streams and only people with galoshes and large umbrellas dared
the weather. Just south of a local graveyard there was a humble little
bookstore that was creaking against the heavy winds. A young boy sat in the
back of the shop, lounging on one of the higher bookshelves. Thunder rumbled
loudly overhead and the boy buried his face deeper in his comic book. He didn’t
have a real problem with lightning, but rainy days were sort of his kryptonite.
Being doused with water made him weak for some reason so staying inside today
was mandatory. All part of the charm of having mysterious super powers; they
came with mysterious Achilles' heel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hello?
Is anyone here?” called a voice from the front of the store.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji
flicked his wrist and a bright blue substance shot from his fingers and formed
into a thin bookmark. He placed it in his comic book and then craned his neck
so that he could get a better look at the customer that had just entered. He
was tall and thin, but his other features were obscured by a long trench coat
and a fedora. He tracked water across the floor as he glanced around the shop.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji’s
Sensei was out on an errand so there wasn’t anyone to help the customer. The
boy wasn’t supposed to talk to his Master’s customers or even be seen by them
if he could help it. He’d read enough comics to understand that certain
precautions were necessary when it came to having super powers, but he still
wanted to make sure that the stranger didn’t try to steal anything.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
boy watched from his perch as the customer combed through the history books and
then the myths. He was obviously looking for something specific and at last he
lingered over an old book that had a black and red samurai on the cover.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Welcome
to my shop,” a voice greeted suddenly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
man in the trench coat spun around to find a very short old man standing before
him with an umbrella cradled in his arms. Kenji leaned forward as he tried to
hear the man in the trench coat and his sensei as they began talking in hushed
tones.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I am
looking for a dangerous criminal known only as Brushogun,” the trench coat man explained.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
had thought that the law preferred we didn’t speak of him, Officer Daizo,”
Sensei replied.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
man in the coat turned aside and for a moment Kenji was afraid that he’d been
spotted, but the stranger had only turned to grab the book that was behind him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes,
the first super criminal of Tokyo,” the officer sighed. “He inspires much evil
with just his name.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
ran his hand over the black and red samurai on the cover of the book as he
examined it. “But just as there were once such villains, there were also
heroes. Do you not wish to inspire champions with just your name, Samurai?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Sensei
hardly flicked his umbrella and the book was swatted from the officer’s hands.
The old man caught it before it hit the ground and held it close to his chest. “Though
you may not believe it, Brushogun was no myth,” the old man explained. “He was
a very real man and he paid the price for his crimes.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji
watched as his Sensei walked around the police officer and hopped over to
replace the book on its shelf. “Please take this,” Sensei offered his umbrella
to the man. “The storm outside won’t relent any time soon.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Nor
will I,” he replied. The officer then turned towards the door and began to
leave without the umbrella that had been offered to him. Kenji listened
intently to the stormy winds and thunder outside for a long while before he was
assured that the man had left and he could climb down from his shelf.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sensei,
who was that man?” Kenji asked as he approached.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
back,” the old man replied as he placed the umbrella aside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes,
welcome back, Sensei,” Kenji said, remembering his manners briefly. “What was
all that talk about ‘Brushogun’? I’ve never heard of him before.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He
went into hiding ages ago,” the man dismissed. “You needn’t worry about him.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But that
man called you a Samurai! You can’t tell me that meant nothing!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
old man set to work reorganizing shelves and he handed many books to Kenji as
if the boy had volunteered to help. “Are you like a Rurouni? Oh! Or like a
Ronin without a master?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
read far too many mangas,” the old man stated as he handed Kenji some rather
heavy history books. “I have a shepherd; I am not without a master.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji
strained under the weight off all the books he was holding, wishing he had
super strength, when he caught sight of the book the man in the trench coat had
left behind. It was sitting on one of the back shelves now, right where his Sensei
had left it. The boy shifted the books around in his arms until his right index
finger was free. He twirled it around, sketching the blue outline of a claw in
the air. The image wavered and then moved like the pincers of a crane game
filled with plush toys. Kenji mentally ordered it to zip across the room, the
end of the claw still attached to his finger. It took a huge amount of
concentration for him to animate any sort of object and as luck would have it;
his Sensei started talking to him again. The man had his back to the boy as said
something about honesty and hard work, but Kenji hardly heard as he focused on
using the claw to grab the book.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He
finally got a hold of it and lifted it off the shelf when his Sensei shouted, “Kenji!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji
jumped, dropping the books in his hands as the claw melted away, splashing
across the floor. Kenji turned sheepishly to his master, unable to make eye
contact. The old man walked over and took the book in his arms again with a
heavy sigh.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
wish to know about Brushogun?” the old man asked. “He was an artist…a talented
man who could have done some real good with his talents.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The old
man held the book out so that he could look down at its cover reminiscently. “But
he sold his soul to a monster and became a monster himself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji
took a step back as his Sensei held the book out for him to take. “I only warn
you to read it with caution because these pages are stained by darkness.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Kenji
took the book slowly and flipped it open to an illustration of a circle
surrounded by black, blue, pink, and yellow candles around it. That was what
his Sensei was trying to warn him about; Brushogun had used dark magic. He shut
the book and handed it back to the man.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
sorry, Sensei,” he apologized. “I should trust your judgment.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
old man smiled and took the book back to its place on the back shelf. “You live
up to your name, Kenji,” he complimented. “Now, pick up those books you
dropped.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Yes, Sensei.”</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Teen Titans (C) DC Comics, Warner Brothers, and Cartoon Network</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kenji (C) <a href="http://superherogeek13.deviantart.com/">SuperheroGeek13</a></span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-40820352644309464312014-06-30T14:39:00.003-07:002014-06-30T14:39:55.779-07:00Ahir becomes a Sorcerer<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"This is actually a huge leap forward from <a href="http://superherogeek13writersblock.blogspot.com/2014/05/ahir-and-evren.html">the last bit of Ahir's backstory</a>, almost a decade, and then the next bit is even further into the future. The reason for this is that I'm really just trying to get to the point where he's all grown up and his son Zared's story begins. Thus I only covered what really needed to be covered." -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e9/7c/ab/e97cabc40544926b8ae2c0dd60135f10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e9/7c/ab/e97cabc40544926b8ae2c0dd60135f10.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Do
you realize what you’ve done, Ahir?!” Evren shouted. “You attacked a dryad!
You’ve put the entire town in danger now!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why
should the people live in fear of the spirits when we can wield their power?”
Ahir replied. “I could bring about a harvest that could withstand any drought,
which would feed an entire kingdom!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
have nowhere near that kind of power,” the old man scolded. “And a single
spirit could put a stop any of your conjuring if they had a mind to do so!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ve
used magic for nearly half a century,” the young man reminded him. “And you
control a power that no man thought possible.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Transference
is an ability I learned from the nymphs,” Evren corrected. “Even if I lived
well beyond old age; I would never equal them.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Evren
watched Ahir carefully for any sign that he was getting through to him, but the
boy merely glared. He turned from his young apprentice in disappointment, but
Ahir remained as still as stone.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s
because you don’t fully understand what transference is capable of,” Ahir
postulated. “Giving out one’s strength to rejuvenate another.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As
the old man shook his head despondently Ahir moved towards him, his footsteps
dead silent. “And it never occurred to you that such a link could be used to
seize another’s power?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Evren’s
eyes went wide as he realized just what the boy was saying. He spun around to
face his apprentice and was startled to find the boy only a foot away from him.
Ahir slammed both of his hands against Evren’s chest and immediately the old
man fell to his knees. His master attempted to cry out, but he no longer had
the strength to do so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
fear the spirits, when what you should really fear is their power,” Ahir
gloated as the old man fell dead to the ground. “The power of a full-fledged
sorcerer.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">***</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
woman ran across the sand as quickly as she could, shouting towards the camp
surrounding the oasis. The people began to murmur and the camels pulled
uneasily at their restraints. The woman finally made it within earshot of her
people and ordered them to evacuate the camp.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Many
began to protest for fear of wandering the desert before nightfall, but their
leader only needed to utter one name in order to make them comply; Ahir.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Suddenly
woman and children were being loaded onto carts and supplies of water gathered.
Their leader assured them that she would keep them safe before she ran to her
own tent to gather her own things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
threw back the cloth wrapped around her head as she entered and quickly grabbed
her journals and notes from their hiding places. That’s when she noticed the
tall dark figure standing in the corner of her tent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
clutched her books to her chest and stared up at the man defiantly, swearing at
him in a language she guessed he couldn’t understand. “The Great Sorceress Isha,
I presume?” he asked with a slight tilt of his head. “I’ve heard a great deal
about your talents.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
have heard much of your murders,” she spat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Is
it true that you have mastered the ability to wield fire?” he inquired as he
strode across the tent. “Controlling the element with the skill of a fotia…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ve
come to learn my secrets?” she asked through clenched teeth as Ahir came to
stand almost on her toes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Nothing
would make me happier,” he admitted with a quick smile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Isha
placed her books against the man’s chest as if in surrender, but then the
journals busted into flames in her hands. Ahir jumped back as the front of his
cloak caught fire, but he quickly doused it with his gloved hands. All that
remained of the books were the ashes now covering his palms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fire
is a vicious element,” the woman mocked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Ahir
wiped his gloves of the ash before loosening them at the fingertips. “Oh, trust
me,” he said gravely. “I understand that more than most.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He at
last removed the glove so that his scarred right hand was exposed. Isha was not
surprised to find that he had been marked for death. Surely people like Ahir
justified the spirits’ actions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ve
learned a great deal since my last encounter with the blaze,” he reminisced.
“So many sorcerers wielding such powers. By far, the most important thing I’ve
learned is this…”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Isha
stumbled back as his words echoed distantly in her head, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I need no longer fear trivial flames.</i>”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Then
he grabbed her by the throat with his bare hand and Isha felt not only her
powers slip from her, but her memories as well. She struggled against his grip,
but she quickly felt her limbs go limp and then all went black.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Characters and Story (C) <a href="http://superherogeek13.deviantart.com/">SuperheroGeek13</a> </span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9125174745312104867.post-20705309188609658652014-06-30T14:19:00.000-07:002014-06-30T14:19:08.127-07:00The Prince and the Poltergeist - Chapter Two<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"You ever had those weird dreams where people keep switching roles (like the Green Lantern in Justice League's 'The Once and Future Thing, Part 2') and everyone just sort of doesn't notice? Well, when I first dreamed up this story (literally) Sam and 'Dexter' here kept turning into Princess Zelda and TK from Digimon 02. Not extremely relevant to this chapter, but I thought it worth mentioning in case this story wasn't weird enough as is." -Casey</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/f7/f9/65/f7f9650be3d8d3831a4a6597eaad1cff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/originals/f7/f9/65/f7f9650be3d8d3831a4a6597eaad1cff.jpg" height="193" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chapter Two: Phantom
Footsteps</b></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Danny blew his icy breath against the glass surface of
his prison and it fogged up. He used his fingers to doodle pictures of rockets
and stars as he thought fondly about growing up to be an astronaut. His mother
and father had never really encouraged his dream, but maybe they’d let him
pursue it now that he could no longer take the ghost hunting throne.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
A gentle humming noise began to echo from somewhere
outside the laboratory. Danny turned away from his fading doodles and pressed
his ear against the glass of his cylindrical prison. The sound was coming from
below him in the east wing. Danny knew the castle well enough to guess that it
was coming from the Grand Ballroom.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The castle had been quiet for two whole days, with no
sign of Lord Masters. Danny was starting to go stir crazy alone in the
laboratory and this distant humming was the most interesting distraction he’d
had all day. He focused his powers and pressed his hand hard against the glass,
trying to phase through it. The glass began to glow with a strange blue light
and then he was knocked back by a sudden jolt. He slammed head first into the
opposite side of the cylinder and was knocked to his knees by yet another jolt.
“Stupid anti-ghost glass!” he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The ghost boy pressed his ear to the ground to listen for
the strange humming and realized something he should have figured out earlier;
the floor of the lab was still made of metal. He quickly turned himself
completely intangible and fell through the floor. He plummeted towards the
floor of the entryway, bracing himself with a yelp. Then he stopped, levitating
just inches above the ground in his solid form once again.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Huh, you’d think Lord Masters would have thought of
that,” Danny mused as he looked back up towards the ceiling.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The humming sounded again and now that it was just a door
away, he could clearly hear that it was the sound of music. He quickly flew up
to the main doors to the Grand Ballroom and pressed his ear up against it.
“One, two, three, One two, thre---ow!” he heard someone say over the music.
“Sorry!” another voice apologized.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Danny phased through the double doors cautiously and
found that the Ballroom was decorated with lights and balloons and that the
music was coming from a boom box on the main stage in the corner.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In the middle of the main dance floor stood Lady Sam
Manson, her hair made up into long stands that resembled the legs of a spider
and her dress had an equally beautiful and gothic. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Danny didn’t recognize the girl’s would be dance partner.
He had short blond hair, bright blue eyes, and was wearing a black tux with a
bow tie. “Sorry about that,” the boy told Sam. “Sometimes I feel like I have
two left feet.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Not a problem,” Sam assured him. “But we’re not going
get anywhere if you keep apologizing every misstep.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Sorry,” the boy sighed.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Prince Dexter, I realize that it can be hard moving into
a new kingdom, but you can relax. There’s nothing scary about the Fenton
Kingdom.” As Lady Manson finished assuring the prince, she glanced up towards
the door and saw the translucent form of the ghost boy staring back at her. She
cried out in surprise and Danny fell through the door with a yelp.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He was lying on the tile floor of the ballroom now,
completely visible, with the two royal teens staring down at him. He quickly
jumped to his feet and backed up against the door, too flustered to phase
through it.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I---uh---I can explain!” he stuttered as he glanced
between the two older kids.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You’re a ghost!” Prince Dexter announced as he pointed
down at the boy.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“No, no! You don’t understand!” Danny wanted to explain,
but he knew that his existence had to remain a secret.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The young girl stepped towards him, her eyes wide with
wonder as she reached out her hand. She placed it on the boy’s shoulder
tentatively and Danny flinched from how warm her hand felt against his eerily
cold skin.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">are</i> a
ghost, aren’t you?” she asked in awe.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Kinda…” he admitted, figuring that an explanation about
the difference between ghosts and half-ghost would only cause more trouble.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“That’s…” she began, staring into his glowing green eyes.
“That’s awesome!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Beg pardon?” Danny and Dexter asked in chorus.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Lady Mason turned back to her dance partner with
excitement twinkling in her eyes. “You never see stray ghosts wandering around
this Kingdom!” she explained. “Not with the Fearsome Fentons ruling over the
lands!”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You’re not freaking out?!” Prince Dexter shouted,
clearly freaked out by the matter.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I should probably go,” Danny said as he reached for the
doorknob.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Wait! Please don’t!” the girl implored as she turned
back to the ghost-boy. “I’m Sam Manson and this is Prince Dexter Poyne. What’s
your name?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m Danny Fent-fen-fen---Phantom!” he faltered as he
realized that he couldn’t tell them that he was the prince.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Danny Phantom? A bit on the nose there, Slick,” Dexter
pointed out, causing Sam to elbow him in the ribs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You don’t have to be afraid of us,” the girl assured
Danny. “Why don’t you stay and dance with us? Prince Dexter needs all the
practice he can get.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Prince Dexter frowned at her comment, but Danny hardly
took notice. He’d worried for weeks that people would run in fear at the sight
of him, but these teenagers were acting perfectly accepting of his ghostly
appearance. “You guys aren’t afraid of me?” he asked.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“You think you’re the first ghost we’ve ever seen?”
Dexter asked dubiously.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“And you’re like eight years old,” Lady Manson pointed
out.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’m ten!” Danny corrected, though his voice choked with
laughter. He’d forgotten how much fun it was to hang out with kids his own age.
“I guess I could hang out for a little while.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Great!” the girl hollered as she leapt across the
ballroom to turn up the volume on her boom box. A fast pace beat began to play
and Dexter quickly took to spinning and pointing.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Danny floated over to offer his hand to Lady Manson, able
to do so at eye level while he was floating on air. </div>
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“May I have this dance, Lady Manson?” he asked in a very
princely manner.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Please call me Sam,” she replied. “And yes, you may.”</div>
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She took his hand and then pulled him across the dance
floor while spinning around dizzyingly. She made some joke about Danny being
really light on his feet, but he didn’t really hear her over the pounding
music. They spun and flailed through the whole CD for almost an hour before Sam
insisted that they get back to serious practicing.</div>
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Sam took turns demonstrating the dance steps with Danny,
who knew them all very well, and then practicing them with Prince Dexter. Danny
did his best not to laugh at the Prince’s efforts, but he snickering carried
throughout the room.</div>
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“Everybody’s a critic,” Dexter sighed with a half hearted
smile.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Sorry, Dex,” Danny apologized. “It took me years to
learn those moves.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Really?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Yeah, but I had just finished learning to walk, so I guess
that was kind of a factor.”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Danny laughed at his own joke and then Sam walked over to
turn off the boom box. “Well, boys, this has been great, but I need to get back
to the other preparations for the ball,” she announced. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Same time tomorrow, doll?” Dexter asked with a wink.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Of course, but don’t ever call me that again,” she
warned with a frown.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Sure thing, Sam,” he agreed, before turning to Danny.
“Hey, will you be back here tomorrow, Phantom?”</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“Uh…well,” he hesitated as his friends looked at him expectantly.
Master Masters had always stressed that no one could know his secret. The
half-ghost son of the famous ghost hunting Fentons would ruin the family name
and the kingdom would lose faith in its King. He couldn’t risk that, but Sam
and Dexter wouldn’t tell, would they?</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
“I’ll be here,” he said with a smile.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
He quickly turned intangible and then flew out of the
ballroom through the roof. To his satisfaction, he heard Sam say something
about how awesome that was as he left. He’d have to figure out a couple of new
tricks before he saw them again. Who knew that having ghost powers could
actually be kind of cool?</div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Danny flew back through the floor of the
laboratory and settled back into his glass cylinder prison. Master Vlad Masters
was nowhere to be seen, so what harm could there be in sneaking out a couple
more times?</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Danny Phantom (C) Nickelodeon</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Story (C) <a href="http://superherogeek13.deviantart.com/">SuperheroGeek13</a></span></span></div>
Caseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05489137047073820999noreply@blogger.com0