#*gore

I need to shove this book in everyone's face. It was on my to read list for almost a year before my friend told me to actually read jt.

tw. graphic descriptions of gore, blood, and death, implied insanity.

Ekko

Time was always at his fingertips, but that never made the things he’d seen hurt any less. He should’ve been used to it, he reasoned – used to seeing the blood and guts of his friends splayed across the floor, used to the terror and adrenaline pumping through his veins with such fervor he thought they’d burst, used to the screams and cries of his most beloved friends – of his sweetest darling.

It didn’t take a genius to realize he’d never get used to it. That was the problem with rewinding time – at some point, you get so reckless that trouble is always around the corner. There’s always something new, always something that pops up whenever he’d rewind. Sometimes it’s a trap that wasn’t there before, other times, it’s an entirely different enemy – the universe’s way of ensuring harmony. 

Time came with consequences and paradoxes. He didn’t want you involved too, but fate doesn’t work that way. Not when you fuck with it on the daily.

He knew it was coming. He knew you’d get so irreparably hurt one day that it’d break him. He could rewind time all he wants, but he’d never got that image out of his head: blood pooling around your body, your screams that had echoed throughout the city only to die on your lips when blood coagulated in your throat, the fear in your eyes knowing that death was on its way.

Ekko had never felt so scared in his life.

He watched you die in his arms. He shouldn’t have – he should have rewound eons ago, but his limbs felt like lead. Seeing you so vulnerable, seeing you wait for death to claim you as he helplessly held you… it made him realize how fleeting life was.

He rewound, desperation in his step and death in his sights. You’d die one day anyway, he realized. Death was inevitable, just like time never stopped. You’d die and Ekko couldn’t do anything to stop it – except rewind time. Rewind for eternity, rewind until he’s grown sick of seeing the same thing over and over, until he’s grown sick of living.

But that wouldn’t be for centuries.

The “Defective” Courser: X4-44. A bit of his story under the cut.

tw. mentions of gore and death.

Normally, he would take advantage of this lost human and seduce her to steal their life-force – likely killing her afterward and leaving her remains scattered across the forest floors.

However, I’ll answer this assuming Eu-jin has already met, and fallen for, his darling prior to her getting lost. She needs to gain his trust before he would ever lift a finger to help a human. 

Now, Eu-jin would drive himself crazy once he’s learned that his beloved is lost, likely vulnerable and confused as to why he left her to fend for herself. It wasn’t his intention at all! He looked away for a few moments, and somehow, he lost her just like that. He’ll grow restless, scouring every inch of the city and its surroundings in pursuit of his darling. His sense of smell is diluted while in the city, so finding her is no easy task as is.

When he finally finds her, he’s so relieved, all dark thoughts leaving his mind. He didn’t want to give up on searching for her, but he’s been through the same heartache before – losing his original owner, his beloved, only to find her corpse, long forgotten and rotting. Words cannot describe how happy he is to see his darling has not met the same fate. Eu-jin would immediately sweep his darling up and take her home, ushering sweet nothings and promises to take care of her – to never let her be alone, or out of his sight, again.