#leaf writes

Leon was optimistic but he knew that could be chalked up to the adrenaline still rushing through his veins.

As another light blew out, he sat by Grace. The ground was hard and dusty, a real testament to the age of this place.

“I’m right here with you,” he told her, and held out his hand to rest in hers. She initially jumped from the contact, but grabbed onto his hand quickly after. “You’re not alone.”

“I-I know,” she stuttered and drew her knees up to her chest. Her hand remained in his and she gave it a light squeeze. “Thank you, Leon.”

Their eyes met as another light went out across the broken facility. Grace looked exhausted— Her hair was tangled with dried sweat and her face was flushed from fighting.

He offered her a smile before the last light blew, leaving them both in almost complete darkness. When Leon’s eyes adjusted, he saw could see stars above them through the broken cracks of what used to be rock and ceiling.

“At least it’s a nice night,” he said, and let go of Grace’s hand to settle on his back. He tried to make out Grace’s form in the dark, but couldn’t see beyond her figure.

That was enough to know she was still with him.

“Y-yeah, too bad we aren’t s-somewhere nicer… Um… Leon?”

“Yeah?” he asked, a little curious.

“C-Can you not smell me right now? I-I’m sorry- That’s so weird, but I- I think something’s wrong.”

The only thing Leon had been able to smell the past hour was the dried blood in his nose from the virus attacks he’d been having. But earlier in the night, he’d gotten a few whiffs of Grace; her designation had become obvious.

“Are you due for a heat?” he asked, sitting up on his elbows. “I can move if you want me to. I can’t smell you right now, but that likely won’t be the case for long.”

Caleb rubbed at a blooming bruise on his ribs as he scanned through the logbook in his lap. It was rather dense, and only legible through continuius castings of comprehend languages which made his vision swim with arcane energy. He was sitting hunched over himself in an armchair within the tower, leafing through the tome with his feet tucked under a blanket. Tea, brought by Mitzi nearly two hours ago sat cold and untouched on the coffee table between him and Essek.

Essek sits on an opposite arm chair, mirroring Caleb's posture as he reads the final pages of his own tome plucked from the Praesidis Ward during their expedition of the day. His left hand fiddles with the oblong pearls of his focus as he reads, and his right hand is positioned under his chin, with his thumb resting over his lips and against his nose.

Silence, spare the sound of pages turning and the occasional sniff or accented breath, stretches between them until the Aeorian text before him begins to swim into incomprehensibility once again. Caleb dips his fingers into his component pouch to recast the spell, wiping the residual soot and salt onto his pant leg.

Gently, Essek closes the book in his hand, setting it back on the table between them. His fingers dance over the remaining tomes, each one thick with dust and slightly damp with now-melted frost, finally choosing one of the thicker books. With a wave of his manicured fingers, arcane energy weaves itself around his head.

As he opens the book, a plume of dust rises from the pages, illuminated by the amber lights hanging around the tower's sitting room. Essek sniffs, waving his left hand through the somatics for prestidigitation as if it were second nature. The dust dissipates from the air and most of the page currently open, but the rest of the tome remains obscured in the slightly soggy dust. His hand returns to its position over his mouth.

Over the next few minutes, Caleb finds himself watching, enraptured, as Essek — unaware of his audience — sniffles and swipes at his nose while he reads. The sound grows increasingly wet as time goes on, an irritated tear slipping from his lashline and smudging his masterfully applied eyeliner. (Caleb had teased him a bit about it that very morning — only Essek would bother applying makeup while exploring the ruins of Aeor.)

Essek's breath hitches lightly, his eyes squeeze shut and his hands shift to clamp over his nose entirely. Essek twists away from the book, silencing two — no, three — sneezes into his hands. The sigh that follows is just barely audible, but evidently congested.

Heat coils in Caleb's gut as he watches Essek sniffle and wipe at his teary eyes. Caleb shifts slightly so his book is a bit further up against his thighs.

Vulnerability has always been, well, hot to Caleb. Whether it was himself being spread wide before Eadwulf and Astrid for them to have their way, or it was one of them beneath him, begging for release, that level of trust had always turned his intestines to putty.

Of course, this was nothing like the sex he had back then. Essek was fully clothed and several feet away, obliviously reading. To compare feels foolish, but somehow both situations invite the same sharp feelings of arousal in him.

After several more minutes of quiet reading, Essek's breath hitches again, a little more pronounced this time, as though it had taken him by surprise. He wrenches away from the book once more, his nose flushed purple between his fingers as he pinches off another pair of sneezes into near silence. He sniffles sharply and blinks, finally sparing a glance towards Caleb.

Oh, he had been caught staring.

"Gesundheit." Caleb feels a bit of heat rise in his cheeks as he speaks.

Essek sniffles again, pressing a knuckle against his septum.

"Apologies," A pointed canine peeks out from behind Essek's glossed lips before he ducks back towards his book to continue reading, his cheeks a darker shade of lavender.

The way his accent curled around the word sends another flare of heat to Caleb's groin.

It is difficult to focus on the logbook in his lap when each ever-increasingly stuffy intake of breath from the man across from him sends another wave of arousal through his lower half. Essek, for his part, has managed not to sneeze for the last several minutes now — though if the way his right hand continues to fiddle with his irritated nose is any indication, that is not likely to remain the case for much longer.

Caleb shifts, relieving some of the ever increasing pressure between his legs as Essek's breath hitches once more. He glances up just in time to see Essek's left hand stutter and fail to cast another prestidigitation, then both hands snap to pitch over his nose and—!

"hH'NGt-nGT'chh! hHieh—!" Essek blinks, eyes unfocused and rimmed with tears. He sniffles, then his breath continues to hitch desperately. "hH'EhTschhiuhh!"

Gods.

Caleb's cock twitched in time with each sound. He would need to revisit this moment once they left Aeor to unravel why exactly this elicits such a reaction from him. Essek was not even looking in his direction and he was already half hard. If he wasn't so distracted, he would probably feel rather embarrassed.

"Gesundheit." The word felt heavy on Caleb's tongue. It takes concerted effort to sound causal, as though this was not doing anything to him.

Essek's violet eyes snap up to Caleb's, tears clinging to his lower lashline. He scans Caleb's face, lingering slightly on Caleb's quirked lips before darting back towards his book. One hand comes to swipe at his nose while the other removes another cantrip's-worth of dust from the page.

"Thank you, my apologies." His response is punctuated by a noticeably wetter sniffle, and his knuckle presses against his septum.

A beat passes. Essek attempts to refocus on the book in his lap.

Caleb furrows his brows. "Are you…?"

What a masterfiul way to broach the subject, Widogast.

"Ah," He looks up at Caleb once again, knuckle still pressed against his twitching nose. "I am fine, it is j-juhh-! just a bit—hhiih-! hHhiihD'nGTchh!" He curses in his mother tongue under his breath. "Apologies, dhhusty."

Caleb bites back another blessing, not trusting his voice. His heart beats through his chest, sending dangerous waves of heat towards his cock. He swallows against his dry throat as Essek sniffles and runs a hand through his hair.

"You are allergic to dust, then?"

It was a bit silly; a wizard being allergic to dust. Their kind were avid bookworms by nature. What proper intellectual would not jump at the opportunity to unravel an ancient tome of magic that has not been touched in centuries? In that sense, dust was an occupational hazard for a wizard. Caleb himself had not been affected by it since he was young, and he hadn't met many people in his time adventuring that had much difficulty with it either — although, adventurers tended to be more hearty than the average folk, and given Essek's delicate upbringing, perhaps it was not so surprising he was a touch sensitive.

Essek shrugs, sniffling once again. "A bit, I s-suhHpposeh-!" Another throaty expletive. "hH-! hEhDT'scch! Gods, my apologies."

"Gesundheit." Caleb cannot look away, not even if he wanted to — and, to be clear, he does not want to — he is completely mesmerised by the image of allergic drow seated before him. "Perhaps I can bother the cats to clean these before we take to deciphering them?"

Mitzi enters not a moment later, busying herself with gathering the number of books strewn about the coffee table.

"Perhaps that is for the best." He chuckles, sniffling as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind his ear. As Mitzi grabs the final book, he smiles warmly at her, "Thank you, Ile'Mitzi."

"Was there anything of interest in your tomes?" Caleb asked, shifting a bit in his seat. His stomach swooped towards his toes as Essek's violet eyes locked onto his own, narrowed just slightly by the same warm expression he had aimed at the spectral cat.

"Ah, yhhes," Essek pressed a hand against his nose as his breath hitched, eyelids fluttering on their own accord, breaking the short-held charged gaze. "I think thhis one was from a hHih-! a hH- s-sorry, I- hHihD'Nxgt-NT'schh'iuh!"

"Gesund—" Caleb is cut off by Essek raising a finger. His breath is still hitching, face pinched in an expression of irritated desperation that was doing absolutely nothing to Caleb's groin right now. One manicured hand remained pressed against his nose which has now taken on a rather pretty purple flush.

"hhHehH'NgTcshH-! nD'TSchH'iuh!" Essek sniffles thickly. A tear falls as he blinks several times. His gaze falls onto Caleb after a moment, wide-eyed. The blush on his cheeks deepens and his hand stays firmly in place over his nose. "I am, um, I am going to—" He gestures upwards with his free hand, towards the bedchambers.

"Of course, ja." Caleb hopes he doesn't sound too breathless. "Go ahead, call the cats if you need anything."

"Thank you." Essek gives him a genuine smile before ducking and practically darting out of the study.

Evil!Allumos AU 🩸✨🐉

I've made a few posts about this AU outlining the origins, but tbh they're a little outdated to my current perception of the storyline.

To be as succinct as humanly possible: the AU follows the 'what if' idea of "what if Allumos was a villain who believed in Dragon Slayer supremecy?"

The changes begin during s4, when Allumos first possesses Patrick|Pádraig; instead of working together with him and Michael|Melanthios, however, Allumos decided to take full control of the body, effectively erasing Pádraig from existence. Upon doing so, he catches Melanthios off guard — who's incredibly drained of Magic from the transfer — and snaps his neck. Now, no one will ever even know of how Allumos came to be, nor any potential weaknesses it'd have from their stay in the Lacrima. From there, the general ending of s4 stays the same, as Allumos still needs to track down the missing Celestial Spirit to regain full power, which takes a lot of time. In this process, Eden is killed. Unsure whether or not Devin|Zoilos will be killed here too, still deciding that. Also, unlike in my rewrite, Viper gets his eyes clawed out by Bren in this AU; Allumos finds a mortally injured Viper and, with his Magic back to full capacity, decides to "heal" him. For a price. A very, very hefty price.

They go off together for a year, that stays the same, Viper still needs to heal his other wounds and Allumos needs to train its new body. After that, entering the s5 timeline, things get.... Gorey.

They arrive in Atlantide a little later in this AU. It starts with Colin, seeing Viper back, with their eyes miraculously healed, at the hands of this strange... Thing. Colin was confused but when Viper explained who Allumos was, and that he was on their side, Colin was happy to follow along. With Melanthios already killed, Allumos is somewhat unsurprised that the Grimshade Guildhall fell to ruin, however he would still like to track down every last Grimshade member and kill them for allowing it to happen. Colin, thankfully, is spared from Allumos's fury, for now. Allumos made their plans clear, he wants to bring the Dragon Slayers together! How sweet. How truly sweet.

Next it's Bryan|Bryttanos. Viper and Colin told Allumos about the Fire Dragon Slayer who lives among The Protectors. And Allumos just simply had to meet him. Unfortunately that Cat got a little in the way. So Allumos did what any citizen would, when the cat turned its back, he cut off its head. Simply and easy, nice and clean — Allumos is sure he didn't feel a thing! From there Allumos got to meet Bryttanos, the splattered blood on it definitely ruined the mood, but upon a little convincing, Bryttanos was happy to walk with Allumos.

It was beginning to become clear... Allumos had more plans than he let on, but when Colin and Bryttanos asked Viper, it seemed as if it was unable to speak, always covering his eyes.

Then came Divinus Magia, Bryttanos had mentioned and Earth Dragons Slayer resided there, though Allumos smelled another. Word had begun to spread about the attack on the Protectors, 'Four dead, two live to tell the tale', Allumos called the reporters "dramatic". So when Allumos, Viper, Colin and Bryttanos arrive at Divinus's beach, a fight occurs. A deadly, bloody fight — two die. Divinus loses, and their Dragon Slayers, though quite resistant, join them.

Mario fought well, but his collar bone and right arm were shattered from it, Blake being in a similar broken state. But Allumos was so kind to heal them! So very kind....

Seek|Selena mistakenly came across the group, and was immediately brought along with them. Davis, hearing the rumours of a Ghoul 'collecting' Dragon Slayers, hid for as long as possible, but one can only hide their smell for so long...

Okay so I could go on, and in another post I might, but from there on out it gets,,, like it's just torture lmao so I'll leave it there haha, don't want this entire post to be about it!

Dragon!Dragon Slayers AU 🐉💎👑

I've talked a lot more about this AU admittedly, mainly in old artposts, but here's a general updated plot!

Background: 4000 years ago, the world was ruled by a tyrannical Dragon King, Allumos. It was a cruel King, and there was no room for Dragons to step out of line, unless they wanted to die. Thus, a resistance arose, led by the Dragons Aerthus, Mitch, Davis and Zata; aided by the few Human warriors who could possess Magic: Michael, Ritchie, Brandon, Bren, Lo'Pho, Bri, Silver and Reaper. After years of fighting, many lives were lost, but they achieved their goal; the King could not be killed, his Magic forbade it, so they shattered him into parts that would be hidden away, protected, never allowed to join again. His Soul was sealed away into a Lacrima, Their Body drowned, Its Magic scattered across the Sky. The only part that was ever "guarded" — to avoid suspicion — was the King's soul, as it had been proven that even trapped with such strong Magic, it still had influence over the Mortal World. Michael was set to watch over the Lacrima containing its Soul, enchanted to never age again, to be bound to the Temple built to house the Lacrima.

Most of the Mages were lost to the War, but many of the Dragons survived, even if it was just for a little longer. Enough time had passed for Aerthus to have her son, Mario, and teach him of the War, what must never be repeated. Mitch, now Viper, and Davis went into hiding, and supposedly Zata had a child, but he was never seen again. Michael, continued to watch over Mario when Aerthus passed suddenly, and further aided in developing the new hierarchical structure the New Dragons would follow, being the only living being to still remember the time of the Dragon King, and able to tell the tale. Eventually the system of 'Lords' was set up, a powerful Dragon leading a key part of Nature: Earth, Ocean, Spirit and Sky. Mario led Earth, Ocean's leaders were fickle and ever changing, though a Dragon by the name of Pelagia is in rule during the main plot of the AU, Mori led Spirit, and Blake led Sky. However, due to Mario's proximity to Aerthus, the unofficial Leader of the resistance, Mario was dubbed the Dragon King. He rejects this title, fearful that he will fall prey to greed and power.

In the span of these 4000 years, the Dragon King's Lacrima that Michael watches over has grown in power, somehow. Assistance was needed by the Dragon Lords to help reseal the mysterious cracks that would form, despite no one being there to crack it. Michael was hesitant to ask for assistance however, as most of the Dragon Lords had... Opposing ideas for what to do with it: Mario wished to just leave it be, he'd get jittery whenever they even entered the King's Temple; Pelagia and Mori were of the same opinion, to simply destroy the Lacrima, hopefully ridding of the King's Soul entirely in the process; only Blake actually read Michael's letters and offered to help the way he wanted it to be done. The issue with this was... Every time she helped seal the cracks, a little more of them slipped away, something happened whenever it sealed those cracks that Michael couldn't see. And he didn't know how to fix it, so eventually he stopped sending letters for his help unless it was absolutely necessary. This meant, unfortunately, that Michael would have to perform minor versions of the resealing spell himself, except as a Human, he couldn't create as much Magic as a Dragon, even being the powerful Mage he was. This overuse of Magic eventually began to affect his health and his mind, but unable to simply die or go fully crazy due to the binding spell, Michael held on.

Until one day, Allumos stood there before him, in spirit form, and Michael knew that it was the end, and he could only hope the Dragon Lords would not repeat their mistakes.

Gosh I LOVE this AU so much lmao, like I know I made it but I have SO MANY BRAIN WORMS ABOUT IT!!!!!! Genuinely might make some more text posts about it when I get the chance because MMMM delicious world building and such.

FTO: Derecho AU/Rewrite: 🏛️🪽🌌

My rewrite 🥹🥹 I love this it's my baby... This is kinda just me yapping about stuff I'm changing because,, well,, I know I definitely have a focus in my posts but generally speaking my rewrite will try and shine a light on every character within s4 and s5 (mainly s5)

To get the BIG changes out of the way:

World Building

There are Twelve Regions in this world, which is known as Earthland, all of which are 'owned' or looked after by a Patron Celestial Spirit, specifically those of the Zodiac. Each Region has city-states, counties, what have you, but they are all under the one Zodiac Spirit. Atlantide is a city-state within Leo, and is considered the Magical Capital of the world, besides Pisces.

The year of s4 taking place is 1001, and s5 takes place in 1003. I've mentioned it in this timeline post [link], but after the Dragon War, the calendar was set to zero to mark the New Era.

My pantheon will revolve around the Celestial Spirit system; God's are essentially Celestial Spirits, all of which are ruled by the Celestial Spirit King. Yes, that means Ankhseram, Galrin and Kasathar are all essentially Celestial Spirits, just having a specific domain. Celestial Spirits = Gods, Gods = Celestial Spirits. The only difference is that Gods do not have a Constellation to be tied to, whereas Celestial Spirits do.

I will be adding a lot more festivals and events within my rewrite, however that's still a work in progress unfortunately lol

Atlantide is specifically based on Athenian culture c. The Golden Age (~400 B.C.E.) but broadly the Leo Region is based on Greek culture in general, I may include another city-state inspired by Sparta, who knows!

While Atlantidian culture is based on Ancient Athens, it is quite far past it developmentally, that being said modern technology doesn't exist, they are about in the printing press era, not any further. Magic existing makes it quite hard to really say how far along they are, because in some ways they are relatively "modern" and in others they are not.

Other Languages Exist lol, occasionally I will have a character (likely just Allumos) speak (Ancient) Greek, which is referred to as Old Leo's Tongue; Others will speak their Regional language too, e.g. Blake speaks the in-world equivalent of Japanese, a county variant of Cancer's Tongue. I've made a post about some characters and their languages before [link].

The architecture of the guild halls will be different! It doesn't really make sense to me that the City of Atlantide follows Greek architecture however the guild halls .. don't, so now they will!

I couldn't really put this in any other section but,, I've been working on new guild marks for ALL of the guilds, they're too complicated ok 😭 I need to draw this shit I'm gonna make it easier on myself.

On that ^ note, Guild leaders always wear their guild mark on their shoulder, typically their left, and second-in-commands will typically wear it on their right shoulder. Guild members always wear it on their hands. Members are free to wear their digil on other parts of their body/clothing as well if they wish to do so.

There is a new guild in my rewrite! It's called Sodalitas Hermetis, it's a messenger guild! I'll post more about them when I get the chance to, but I've already posted about its guild master, The Courier, a couple times before! :3

The Grand Magic Games will be a lot more Olympics-ish, as opposed to just a one-on-one fight. There will be several events that test endurance, strength, agility, compassion (!), etc; the fights are the last, but main event!

The Grand Magic Council is one of three branches of law in Atlantide, the other two being The Grand Judicial Council and The Grand Elective Council. Each watch over different parts of Atlantide; the GMC moderates specifically Mages and Magic usage, the GJC carries out punishment and enforces the law, and the GEC creates the laws, acts and schemes, while also updating old ones. They work both independently and with each other.

A law was put in place after one too many irresponsible guild masters, but you have to be at least S Class and the age of 25 to be qualifiable as a guild leader.

Celestial Magic is the Parent Magic, it birthed every Magic Type and Form we see in the series. The Magic Types are:

Sun

Sky

Moon

Nature

Spirit

Arc of Embodiment

Chance

Requip

Each of these have further Forms, which are essentially subgroups of that Type:

Light Fire Combustion Storm Air Lightning Electricity Mist Plant Poison Earth Metal Ice Rain Life Death Shadow Mind Time Dice (aka luck) Dance Song AoE: Illusions AoE: Weapons AoE: Imagination AoE: Takeover Word R: The Archer R: The Sniper

As a few examples (this list is Non-Exhaustive!). Magic Forms can be derived from either one singular Type that was honed in on, or it can be a combination (e.g. Electricity is Sun and Sky).

Plot / Timeline

The s4 plots mostly stay the same (for now), but for s5 there are several changes

I'm generally unsure about the canon timeline, however in my rewrite s5 takes place over the course of a year.

The introductions/arrivals of characters happen at about Spring/Summer.

The GMG always takes place in early Autumn, unless there is a major event preventing it from happening. It takes place over a week.

Future Ritchie happens two days after the GMG, and the attack lasts a total of five days. In this, a good portion of Main Atlantide is destroyed.

It's a month in-between Future Ritchie happening and the trip to Salode; Salode no longer takes three months away from Divinus Magia, what was three days there is still three days in Earthland. Allumos making a sort of deal with the Celestial Spirit King is the reason they made it back.

The Dragon War happens with Every Dragon Slayer. This was a big frustration of mine about the series, it was played up and most of the DS didn't even get to go. So yeah, two days after the trip to Salode, ALL of the Dragon Slayers head to Draconis (might change that name lol) to fight in the war. This took three weeks.

Two months after the Dragon War, it is now Spring, and also S Class Trial time! We all know what happens here:)

Now, a week after the S Class Trials Abraham does still attack Atlantide in my rewrite, but it doesn't go as planned; Allumos is not sealed away (AGAIN.) and Abraham doesn't take it over. Unfortunately Abraham timed it a Little wrong. This plot point is a WIP because I still need to watch the Abraham POV to understand him better.

From here on out, it's no man's land! Fairy Tail Nexus does Not apply to my rewrite due to the many changes I've made, once I've posted more about the main plot points, I might delve into what happens in the future too:3

Character Changes

This section is mainly minor character (arc focused) changes I've made that largely do not affect the main plot.

Grimshade

I've kinda mentioned/alluded to this in both this post and a previous one [link], but Allumos is the cause of Viper losing his eyes in my rewrite; this, of course, means they are very normal about each other and definitely like each other thumbs up.

I've mentioned in my Grimshade mini profiles [link], but Bren and Lily return to Grimshade to work alongside them.

Allumos and Marshie do not get together.

There is a new (OC) member, their name is Itzel Alair (they/he), I've yet to add him to the mini profiles since they're still a WIP, but yay! OC time! His Magic is Arc of Embodiment: Illusions!

I've made quite a few name changes for Grimshade: Michael - Melanthios, Marshie - Menodora, Patrick - Pádraig, Seek - Selena (she/her!!). I have my own reasons for these changes but it was mainly just for fun!

Allumos is 1025/26 in my rewrite, instead of 400, because 400 years is really just not that long of a time lmao.

Jericho still flirts with everyone, but he never gets in any relationships.

Menodora discovers the whole ⅓ Devil thing a bit earlier on in my rewrite.

Allumos gets its own body after Salode, however.... It's essentially a doll [link]. Also he is now technically fully owned by the Celestial Spirit King. Fun.

Davis joins Grimshade a little earlier in my rewrite, like, Just after the GMG takes place.

Allumos is so incredibly mentally ill in my rewrite,,, like just being clear that will be a big theme for them, recovering from his immense C-PTSD. I've mentioned it here [link], but the series itself does a disservice to complex mental health disorders that I intend to fix.

A lot of Viper's plot points and arc is still the same, just further emphasis on how he was forced to become what they did due to circumstances.

Selena doesn't die you can pry her from my cold dead hands.

On that ^ note, s5 Selena and s4 Seek are actually brother and sister. Seek is the brother Selena lost at the beginning of s5, interpret that how you will:3.

Divinus Magia

I've made Brandon and Ritchie a bit older (33). I changed a lot of the cast's ages actually, feel free to take a look at the mini profiles if you're curious.

Brandon is transfem!! She begins her transition after getting back from Devil's Tongue.

^ She always kind of knew but unfortunately,,, she was seriously suppressing it lol, it was only after she encountered her Earthland Counterpart that she actually came to terms with it, however she couldn't really do much considering. Jonathan.

When David and Luca(s) got back from the Devil Book, they did not meet Blake.

It was two days after Tapio was killed that Ritchie returned and apologised, he missed Tapio's impromptu funeral however.

Several of the Divinus Members had temporary lightning scarring because of that battle.

Blake was in Devil's Tongue for a little over three weeks, almost a month. Torture central is all I'll say. Because of this Blake and Plant|Echeveria actually met each other there! So afterwards they kind of knew and stuck by each other.

Blake unintentionally saved Kit while in DT, which led to Kit bringing Blake along back to Divinus Magia.

Inmo did NOT sell their boat aren't we all so fucking happy.

I want Lara and Fuarn to play a little more of an impactful role within the plots pertaining to Divinus (especially through Divinus Deliveries). I like them a lot.

Luca's arc with Abraham will be tweaked a little, however it's still a WIP.

After the S Class Trials, Ritchie isn't dead! However uh,,, he's not exactly alive either...

The fact that Inmo and Mori being brothers rarely comes up is CRIMINAL, I will be going into this a little more!

Mario, my dear, will get more narrative importance I promy.

Devin|Zoilos (still debating that name change AHH) the fandom did you so dirty. That is a grown adult and will be treated as such. Also making Zoilos genderfluid I think it suits them.

The Protectors

Straight off the bat, Tiffy and Selene are being moved to The Protectors, there's too many Divinus Members gosh dammit! The situation in which they were found is still pretty much the same.

Nixilis being a literal Devil and no one realising is incredibly funny to me, so that will be emphasised a little for comedic effect lol

Brick!!!!! Will be explored a little more!! In my rewrite he's got a whole thing going on with discovering he's. A fucking púca possessing a gargoyle so yeah fun times.

Mania is a little more fucked up, surviving a war all their life and just coming to this new world that supposedly never had one (it did but it doesn't know that) kinda. Kinda made it go a little mad. She's still Mania just a little more.... Distant

Jakey|Ephemeris..... Oh boy! I still need to watch his POV to get a good grasp on everything, but I will be nerfing Phemi a lot within the series. Unrestricted Time Magic doesn't go over too well with the Celestial Spirits...

Lo'Pho will also get nerfed a little, primarily through nerfing Ankhseram, because when that guy was being built up as a character it was when lore wasn't a big thing in the creators' minds so they were just kinda fucking around, making Lo'Pho SUPER OP. Canonically Lo'Pho has Ligh, Life and Death God Slayer Magic, this will be brought down to just Life and Death — with a LOT of drawbacks.

I want to give Kay a bit more of a personality — don't get me wrong she's BRILLIANT within the series but it does kinda feel like she's just there to help the men, make cookies and thirst after guys at times which is. Eh.

Eliore my lovely, will also get more plot relevance, cannot believe he didn't have stronger ties with Jericho and Allumos, despite being literally raised by Leo.

Iris likely won't get a ton more plot relevant, however she will get a little more focus, cause I like her a lot hehe.

Bryan|Bryttanos's damn mental health will be considered LMAO s5 did you so dirty ohml..

Just in general I will try to give The Protectors a bit more narrative importance, they had A LOT of their own stuff going on however a lot of it wasn't really "main plot" stuff which I think is kinda sucky!! So yeah I wanna even out the focus.

Also Bryttanos is officially loaded within my rewrite, and a big reason as to why The Protectors can give out so many loans lmao.

I've mentioned her in this post [link] but I've also added an OC for the Protectors too! His name is Anthy, feel free to read about her:3.

La Carnival

Once again, something I've mentioned, but Jazz being like. Actually clinically insane will be something I actually delve into in my rewrite. I'm big into Taking Mental Health Seriously and unfortunately with all the IRL stuff happening to do with Jazz's CC, the series never got to fully explore his psyche, if it even would've.

Flurry,,,,, is also not doing too mentally well, via codependency, so that'll also be looked into.

Flurry is also a changeling within my rewrite, and she uses her Dice Magic to cope with not being able to control that part of herself, which is why she shapeshifts depending on the dice role.

Cecil became Bryan in canon I'm not even lying lmao. Cecil will, in fact, keep his name after he becomes a Spirit because what the fuck.

The fact that Flurry basically bribed a lot of the members to be there just so La Carnival could be taken seriously in the GMG,,,, yeah that's pretty fucking interesting.

Yamitzu!! Who are you!!!! I want this man to have a full proper backstory PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

I always thought Basil was pretty cool, having poison-plant Magic, I think it'd be fun if Viper somehow ended up kinda being xer mentor lol

Juno is so interesting to me I seriously need to watch more of Flurry's POV to understand more about her, but she's an elf with AoE: Weapons Magic and I think that's awesome.

Phil,,,,, they did you so. Fucking. Dirty. Oh. My. God. One of the few Black characters and he's called an orange (by Flurry during her 1 dice role). Gross gross gross I refuse to allow that to happen in my rewrite.

La Carnival also gets an OC, their name is Citlali, a huge WIP, but they have Water Magic and are super cooolll.

Okay,,, so that was,,, a lot . And it's not even everything my lord ohmygod. IVE LITERALLY ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE OF EVERYTHING I HAVE PLANNED. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Ahem ahem,,,, I hope you enjoyed my yapping Anon, and that I sufficiently entertained you throughout (even if some of the world building bits may be a bit boring LOL). Overall I think this took me about,,, 3 hours to fully write out? I kinda took my time ngl lol. This is probably the longest lore-dump I've made so far jeez...

6 months of work, 6 months of Link hauling his ass up and down the abandoned roads of Hyrule. Yet here she is in front of him, smiling at him.

Yet all the Hero can do is sob. He holds it back, begging to Hylia to keep his dignity. He’s a knight to the Royal Guard, Zelda’s Knight, he’s the Hero of Hylia, they don’t cry. Boys don’t cry.

But no matter how much he silently begs he’s unable to keep it in any longer. He expected Zelda to scowl, to reject him. He lifts his hand to hide, the warm and soft touch of Zelda’s hand takes his cheek first, she wipes his tears.

“I realize now how much you are burdened” Zelda says pulling him close “I’m so sorry”

“Shut up” Link leans into her “you have it worse, I don’t know why I’m crying” he says his voice stained.

Zelda runs her hand through his messy hair, this sense of Deja Vu, it fills her “I…” she pulls him closer “I used you” she kisses above his ear “I’m sorry Link, I’m so sorry”

That somehow only makes things worse, he collapses, crying, in this moment he feels like a child, “I’m tired Zelda” he sobs into the base of her neck.

She can’t help but to cry as well, “it’s over” she kisses his shoulder “it’s over” she whispers, “I’m here, I’m not going anywhere, I’m home, and I’m staying”

Link finally returns her hold, a hand in her hair, holding her head close, the other around her shoulder. “You fucking better” he whines “I don’t know if I have the strength to do this again”

“I won’t leave, I promise I won’t go”

They lay there in the grass for Hylia knows how long, Link grows calm, but there’s still a couple tears falling here and there. It feels like he’s been holding back for over a myriad, like his tears aren’t his own. Zelda keeps him close, she can’t help but feel guilty for pushing him to this point, for the longest time she’s seen him as someone who could bear it all, despite watching him fall. Some how watching him break down this, it hurts more.

“I’m sorry-“

“Zelda no, stop feeling bad” he sits up “you did nothing wrong, you’ve gone far more then I have”

“Link…” she props herself up on her elbows “you had to witness, knowing you my dragonification must’ve broken you”

Him tensing up only further proving her point, “Purah did have to talk me out of giving up”

“Give up? What do you mean give up-“

“Your everything Zelda, without you-“ the mist in his eyes turn into tears as his throat tenses. She’s quick to pull him close, surprised when he pushes away “why aren’t you disappointed!?”

“What-?” She looks at him hurt

“Why are you so quick to comfort me? Why aren’t you angry? Why do you care so much?”

“Because I love you, Link! Who would do that!? Who told you you can’t cry!?” Zelda sat up fully, she looked angry, but not at him.

“I was choose by the Goddess, I’m supposed to do this, saving you is job, why does this hurt so much!?” He cries “why can’t I stop!?”

She wraps her arms around him, not letting him go anywhere “it’s my turn” she whispers to him “it’s my turn to take care of you”

“It’s okay to cry, no one is forcing you to fine, you’re not a machine” Zelda rocks him “I love you” her words are soft, her voice soothing.

“I love you too” he leans further into her.

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A/N:

A personal vendetta against the fleet, a sabotaged navigational system, an overall messed up patrol flight through the darkness of Deepspace that should have ended more than a day prior.

It all leaves the colonel beyond tired when he finally sets his boot on the busy runway. A sharp gust of wind nearly whips his cap off, which is quickly adjusted in practiced ease. It’s a welcome sensation after days spent in the stagnant recycled air inside the ship. It takes his mind elsewhere for a split second before it returns to the situation at hand.

Hiccups like the recent one have gotten more frequent since the takeover of the Tuum Section.

None of it has been serious or professional enough to become truly worrisome. But the recurrence of similar incidents is wearing his patience thin, steadily gnawing away on his already strained nerves. Worst of all, it costs him precious time.

Time reserved for the one and only person preserving his ceaselessly assaulted sanity.

The colonel leaves Liam to deal with the aftermath, said man all too readily obliging the order despite having shared the taxing experience on ship. The Toring Chip, securely embedded behind the colonel’s right ear, effectively does its job, staving off the onslaught of guilt before it even gets the chance to manifest itself.

After all, there’s no one waiting for his obedient adjutant to come home that night.

Or at all.

'Who cares?' Whispers the chip in a quiet sequence of zeros and ones and preaches logic over emotion in an efficient release of calmative chemicals into the surrounding tissue. No friends, no compassion within the fleet’s hierarchy. Only subordinates and orders.

The chip does not affect, however, that tiny part of grey matter, closely guarded and hidden away behind a barrier of carefully crafted defense mechanisms, with but one desire:

Go home. See her. Finally.

The thought alone is enough to leave behind the 'colonel' for now.

Caleb strips himself of his restrictive uniform in a matter of seconds as soon as he’s boarded his personal aircraft, slipping a comfortable sweater over his remaining undershirt instead.

She loathes the mere sight of the intimidating uniform. He knows by the disdain evident in her gaze whenever it comes across her, whether he wears it or it’s just hanging on the coat rack by the front door. While she’s come to accept things the way they are now, at least he direly hopes she does, she does make no pretense of her despise for it. It leaves an acidic taste in his mouth, knowing that she knows. About the things he does. What he’s involved in. What doesn’t wash off when he showers, no matter how long he remains under the steady spray of water. No matter how hard he scrubs his skin sore.

Nonetheless, she comes to see him every other weekend. Voluntarily.

It soothes his conscience somewhat. That she still seeks him out on her own will. Despite everything, despite his own, now abandoned, aim to keep his distance to guard her safety, he can’t deny that he enjoys her presence. More than anything.

The more the irritation grows that some pesky nuisance dared keeping him away from her for longer than necessary. She had told him she’d arrive Saturday morning. The morning after his scheduled return. Now it’s well past midnight, a day later than planned, and he’s mourning the precious hours lost.

He checks his messages before he departs. A quick glance. To prepare himself.

There’re merely two notifications.

‘I’m at the station’, reads the first one, ‘Where are you?’

The second one, short and crisp: ‘I’m at your place now. Please be safe.’

He'd take any kind of annoyance or accusation over the quiet worry and resignation that echoes in her pick of words.

He can deal with her irritation; with the silent treatment she turns to in her anger that he's endured time and again throughout shared teenage years. What he cannot deal with is her disappointment. Her sad expression when he's yet again failed to keep a promise, no matter how tiny and unimportant it seems in the big picture.

A part of him hopes that she’s long gone to bed when he arrives. That her disappointment morphs into the preferred anger throughout her dreams. That she wakes up staring him down with annoyance in her pretty eyes as soon as she finds him in the kitchen prepping her favorites for breakfast. He can make it up to her then. Pamper her until she forgives him for standing her up.

That thought in mind, he takes to the sky.

The way home - now that he finally allows himself to call it that ever since she’s taken it upon herself to make it one - encompasses merely a few quiet minutes of rumbling thoughts and engine before his aircraft descends through the barriers surrounding his property. The landing is smooth, as it always is, despite the unease brewing steadily in Caleb's chest. The well-known tightness sits at war with a surge of pleasant anticipation to see her as he unlocks the door and steps across the threshold.

The house is as quiet as its owner as he disposes of his leather coat at the door. Quiet enough to make him wonder if she stayed at all.

A treacherous whisper in the back of his mind tells him she would be better off leaving and never coming back. Safe from the danger that lurks in the shadows around his presence. Safe from him and what he has become - Or has always been? He's not even certain of that himself anymore. Blame it on a lack of confidence or the murky spaces left behind by yet another set of (probably) unremarkable memories dissolved into nothing but muddled fog.

But he's too dreadfully egoistic for that. Too dependent on her sweet smiles and fond gazes as his fuel to power onwards.

Too addicted.

It’s despicable in many ways. But guilt and shame have long since faded into the background of his mind. If she comes to him willingly, he tells himself, he may as well allow her and keep her close to shield her from the creeping peril all around.

His silent steps on sock-clad feet carry him through the foyer while he tries not to expect anything, still.

The faint light from the kitchen isle illuminates the living room ahead. He spots half a meal abandoned at the table, cooking utensils already cleaned and neatly arranged to dry in his absence.

A hint that she’s stuck around. He barely shifts his gaze when he spots her barely a few feet away on the couch.

She's haphazardly bundled in a throw blanket, knees tucked to her tummy and hands comfortably curled beneath her chin.

It occurs to him that she must have tried to keep her eyes open until his arrival, regardless of the exhausting mission she had just accomplished herself before setting out to visit Skyhaven. The realization tugs at his heart in an unpleasant way, stirring the captious chip awake again unbidden. He ignores it in defiance and grinds his teeth through the threatening buzz that rattles his mind. Persistent little thing.

Once it quiets down, he redirects his focus to the sleeping girl.

She appears much smaller, curled up like this, much more vulnerable than she truly is these days.

She no longer is the little girl clinging to his sleeve at the faint and distant rumble of thunder. He's well aware that she's grown into a formidable fighter herself. Brave and strong, laughing into the face of danger willingly as she snoops around places that she should definitely not.

His little pip has grown resilient through all the years spent together, blossomed into something bolder and more beautiful than he could have ever imagined.

But that doesn't quell his ever-present desire to protect her. To hide her away from anyone or anything that might dare cause her harm. He's promised her that. So many times, in silence or aloud, whenever her bright mind had been wiped clear, he's lost count. It’s the one vow he will never break, for as long as his stubborn heart keeps beating alongside hers.

He'll keep her safe and sound.

Gentle as he possibly can, he leans down to scoop her into his arms, carry her to bed, lest she wake with a crick in her neck come morning.

Only then does he take notice of the familiar piece of fabric spilling through the gaps between her fingers. Her nose is buried into it, muffling each deep and steady breath she takes.

It’s a worn shirt he'd left on the side of his bed in a hurry. None of the ones he'd brought from Linkon as he left for the DAA. He'd found her snatching those often enough, fresh from the clothesline, claiming them for herself to lounge in. He's used to that, as much as he can be, seeing her in his clothes.

But this one.

This one is recently bought. A necessity now that he gets (and wants) to spend more time out of uniform.

He’d understand she’d grab one of those old, well-acquainted shirts to wallow in memories… but this?

You killed my Caleb.

The echo of her hissed words still stings. It accompanies him, ricochets off the inside of his skull relentlessly. He'd begrudgingly made peace with the fact that she very much rejects who he is now. That she desperately hopes to somehow rediscover the boy that she's known her whole life. But this.

This tiny, unimposing gesture.

He freezes before his fingers touch her sleeping form, emotion welling up, swirling into a dangerous maelstrom of hope and sorrow alike.

A murmur of her name slips past his lips, and she stirs to the familiar sound, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as her sleepy eyes blink open.

Her drowsy gaze finds his in the twilit room and her smile stretches.

"Lebby," she mutters, evidently still half-asleep.

He hasn't heard that one in a while - the age-old nickname kickstarts his brain back into functioning.

"'m here," he affirms, hushed as his unsteady voice allows him to speak, as not to fully rouse her from sleep.

She hums, sounding utterly content, and winds her arms around his neck as he proceeds to pick her up.

Nuzzling her face into his shoulder, she breathes him in, and his mind teeters dangerously on the edge of the cold abyss again.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Resist.

Relax.

This is what it’s all for. He refuses to give in to the persistent chip, denies it access to this one beautiful gain of his whole twisted situation.

Damn the chip. Damn Ever. Damn fucking everyone that dares messing up what he feels for her. He sears the moment into his memory, sealing it securely behind unbreakable barriers.

Her warmth, her scent, her weight in his embrace. This belongs to him and her alone.

"I'll always come back to you," he murmurs and presses a tender kiss to the side of her head. "For as long as I breathe."

The emotional strain only adds to his present exhaustion, the hammering pain within his head as agonizing as ever, and the brief walk to her room grows slow and sluggish. It so happens that, after he’s carefully lowered her onto the mattress, he doesn’t resist her pull when she refuses to let go of his neck.

“Clingy,” he mutters, but doesn’t mean it, as he gives in and lets her topple him over and straight beside her onto the welcoming bed beneath.

It’s far from comfortable; Limbs tangled, her elbow digging into his ribs, his cheek smushed into the cool case of her pillow. Still, he revels in the onslaught of sensation, savors the dull ache that spreads along his awkwardly arched spine. Silence reigns beyond the occasional creak of bones and bed until her voice breaks once more.

She adjusts herself, curls her arms around his bicep instead.

“You’re late, dummy…”

Her soft voice is muffled against his shoulder, barely clear enough for him to grasp.

“But I’m happy you’re home…”

Yeah, thinks Caleb, I am, and wraps his hand around her smaller one.