#perspective switch

word count: 700

warnings: mentions and descriptions of drowning

genre: angst

— — — — — — —

You trudged across the forest in Sumeru next to Cyno. Vast leaves canopied you from the burning sun as small droplets fell from the edges of plants. You could hear the sound of deep flowing water nearby, splashing against the rocks. Huge milky white flowers rose from the forest floor, opening up like umbrellas whilst small emerald green mushrooms swayed back and fourth in the wind. 

The wind whispered slowly in your ears, branches and leaves rustled nearby as butterflies fluttered past. 

Knobby roots from the tall trees made the ground uneven, twigs snagged at your legs leaving you with small scratches and scrapes. You made  your way across the hanging moss and dense air. Using a stick you uncovered some brambles revealing a small river with stepping stones. 

You carefully made your way across, jumping onto the smooth surface of the slippery stones, sparing a glance towards Cyno to check if he was there. You quickly leaped onto the next one as your foot gave way and you  fell into the water. Darkness surrounded you 

— — — — — 

Cyno walked behind you, thinking about you. He couldn’t help but think of the way you smiled every time you turned back to check if he was still behind you. 

the forest floor was so woven with ancient tree roots and thick bushes.  He looked up, seeing a squirrel scuttle around the trees quickly vanishing into the forest .  the greenery covered the blue sky although few specks of light from the sun managed to sliver down towards the forest, barely illuminating his path. 

Small fluorescent plants dotted around the surrounding, giving off a light blue glow. Balls of moss floated around the forest, whilst huge mushrooms bigger than the two of you cowered over Cyno. 

He watched you slash into the roots and vines of the trees, trying to make your way through the tangled path. Cyno saw you exclaim as the path finally cleared revealing a small river with a couple stepping stones. You turned around towards him, waving as you turned back. He watched you jump onto the first rock, then the second. You slipped as you fell into the water with a huge splash.

— — — — — — 

Cyno rushed towards you, not caring about the leaves and twigs digging into his legs and arms, the trees branches made him trip. He kept running. 

He made it towards the river. Cyno took a deep breath as he jumped in.

— — — — — 

 You failed to reach the surface, your head bobbed up and down. You were unable to scream, water filled your mouth, your lungs. Panic enveloped your body, you felt your body sink deeper as you tried to slash and move your arms, trying to get to the top. You tried to reach the top, your body felt tired, you were tired you couldn’t keep going. You couldn’t reach the top, you couldn’t breathe.

— — — — — —

Algae and plants slapped across Cyno’s face, Mosquitos and bugs smeared on his ears. He couldn’t see anything in front of him. The murky water impeded his sight. 

Cyno kept on swimming , frantically, quickly. Trying to get to you, reach to you. He spotted a few bubbles in the water and followed it. Diving deep down, as he looked for you. 

He turned around and saw you, slowly sinking deeper into the river. Cyno grabbed you,carefully putting your body behind his back as he swam back to the surface. Your body felt heavy, he couldn’t see a thing. He swam trying to get back to land. 

He pulled you slowly up and out of the water, water sputtered out of your mouth. Your eyes were closed, your body looked cold

Cyno turned you round, quickly laying you down carefully wrapping his cape around yours. He pulled his head towards your chest.

Your heart wasn’t beating. 

ask and you shall be given!!

under the cut you will find perspective flip of the sexy part of the lake scene in chapter three, featuring obi-wan girlbossing a bit too close to the sun. (later, i will post it as a bonus on ao3 too!)

wc: 1070 words

i hope you'll like it and, should any of you want more, my inbox is open hehehe

The two stared at one another for a time as Murad’s words dispersed through the air. Jellal’s mind swirled as it tried to wrap around what the giant before him said.

Did I hear him right? Save… save our lives?

“Wh…what… what do you mean save our lives? Who? All of you? And save them from what?” asked the teen, feeling his chest tightening with panic and worry. Murad blinked slowly and rolled his shoulders, readjusting his folded arms.

“Please spare me having to explain. Honestly, you’re not going to remember so why spend the time?” sighed Murad. Jellal’s heart skipped a beat. He naturally leaned away from Murad, chest tingling with apprehension.

“Wh… what do you mean I won’t remember?” the teen barely managed to sputter out the words without stuttering before Murad leaned forward. The giant’s arm extended, hand outstretched and fingers slightly splayed.

“Relax, it is a simple spell and will cause you no harm. You will simply wake among strangers and friends in a town you recently relocated to. Just breathe and don’t fight it. It will make you sleep better,” instructed Murad. Murad’s extended hand began to glow with a faint ember glow sparking from his palm and lacing around his fingers.

Jellal felt his breath seize, mind blanking in terror. He wanted to shout for the giant to stop. He didn’t want to lose his memory. He didn’t want to lose his family. He just wanted to be home with his sister and his mother and father. His limbs began to shake. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

The young blue-eyed boy watched as Murad flicked his fingers and a brilliant swirl of ember overtook him. Instinctually, he slammed his eyes shut, every nerve and fiber in his body tensing and flinching away, and he averted his gaze.

Something made a solid impact with his chest. It was warm and felt soft like the brush of feathers against his skin. Suddenly, the sensation felt constricting, wrapping around his arms and torso and legs seized him. He wanted to cry out. He tried to shout, to beg for the giant to stop and take him home. His voice refused to obey. His heart was pounding out of his chest. Everything hurt. Everything wanted to thrash and be free. Just as warm tears slid down his cheeks, the sensations subsided.

The tension around his body dissipated. The warmth left him. The constriction faded. His face was wet and finally his breath returned; however, some things remained.

His consciousness.

He was awake.

Unmistakably awake.

Most importantly – he remembered.

The blue-eyed boy opened his eyes one at a time, afraid but also daring himself to take a peek. He was still on the pillow. He was still in the odd room with books and shelves and fire. He was still on the table. He was still in front of Murad, who wore the most curious expression. His eyebrows had partially knitted together, head turned slightly to the side. His narrowed features seemed to further purse in an examining manner.

A new terror struck the boy as the realization sunk into his head – whatever Murad did wasn’t working. His shoulders began shaking involuntarily as he stared up in panic at the other. The auburn-haired giant, on the other hand, seemed more calm than before as his features relaxed. He leaned forward, looming over Jellal, and for a fraction of a moment there was the smallest trace of a tugged grin on his face. His dark brown eyes swirled as a dangerous fascination swirled in them.

“Well,” he said softly. “Seems as though you truly are an interesting one.” Murad once again tilted his head to the opposite side while maintaining eye-contact with the frightened blue-eyed boy. Murad hummed curiously and, placing his hands gently on the edge of the table, stood while maintaining contact with the table and Jellal’s eyes.

Jellal, at this point, went from holding his breath and all of the tension being pinned back by all the will power he had left to having a hard time breathing. His shallow breath was coming in short, bursting gasps. His vision began darkening as his mind darted from thought to thought like a skipping stone on a pond.

What is going on? What is happening? Why didn’t it work? What is he going to do to me? What is so interesting? I’m not interesting. I’m just me. Please! Just let… me… go…

A sudden rush of uncomfortably warm air forced its way into his lungs and churned his stomach. The same nauseating vapor surrounded him like a dense fog. Jellal gasped and coughed, suddenly – surprisingly – finding it easier to breathe. He looked up in time to see Murad placing what looked like the end of a pipe into his mouth and inhaling deeply. The strange device of swirling fumes was connected to the pipe in the giant’s hands. After his deep inhalation, Murad pulled the pipe like device from his mouth and exhaled slowly and steadily.

The fog rolled from his mouth as he directed all of the air currents toward Jellal. Despite the panic he was feeling, the teen remembered his sister’s guidance and began to take slow, deep breaths, taking in the smoke surrounding him. It was a bitter and sickening fume; however, whatever it was made his breathing a little less shallow and was making his chest hurt a little less with each breath. Murad, seemingly pleased with the results, placed the end of the pipe into some kind of latch on the side of the device and nodded approvingly.

“You have the right idea. Breathe deeply, preferably in through your nose and out through your mouth. Tell me, do you always get excited so easily when confronted with the unknown? Or is this simply an inherited trait? In either case, any conflict in your life will undoubtedly send you spiraling into inaction. Hardly advantageous,” stated Murad as he stepped away from the table where Jellal still lay and retreated to one of the bookshelves where he began pulling tomes from their place and sifting through various pages.

Jellal, in the meantime, dared to let his body relax from its immensely tense state for the first time since encountering the giant. While this happened, he began to wonder what had suddenly changed Murad’s mind and what this “spell” he referred to was. He said I would wake up among strangers and friends, but I’m still here. How? Why? What’s going on? I need answers. I need to know what’s going on.

Jellal readjusted himself on the pillow so he could pull his knees to his chest. Somehow, making himself ball up and feel smaller gave him some sense of security. Murad returned after a few minutes with several items on a tray which included a rag big enough to cover three beds Jellal’s size, a bowl of slightly steaming liquid, and several small vials nearly as tall as Jellal with flowers and floating substances in them. Methodically, Murad removed the corks from the vials. Then, he took a step back.

“Please clean yourself while I find you something suitable to wear. Apologies, it’s been a while since I’ve utilized the spell and its components. Regardless, you will need to clean yourself prior to changing,” stated Murad as he once again brushed a few auburn strands of hair from his face using his pinky finger. He began to whisk himself away when Jellal summoned the courage to speak again.

“Hey, wait!” he called, forcing himself to stand shakily on the uneven surface of the pillow to confront his captor. The teen nearly lost his balance, but managed to catch Murad’s swirling dark brown eyes before the giant turned completely away from him. Making eye contact with him made Jellal’s hair stand on end, the all too recent memory of being engulfed by the massive digits of Murad’s hand so easily replaying again and again in his mind. Still, the blue-eyed boy tentatively concluded that Murad’s initial intention was not to hurt him and the possibility of that changing in a moment seemed slim; at least, he hoped so.

Once again, Murad’s eyes swirled again with a dangerous curiosity as he stared at the much smaller sentient being who was now demanding his attention. Jellal swallowed dryly and forced the words from his mind into his constricting throat.

“What did you try to do to me? Why the sudden change of mind? You said I was going to sleep, but here I am awake. What did you mean when you said you’re trying to save our lives? Save them from what? And what weren’t you going to explain to me? What is this place? What is going on?” Everything spilled out of Jellal all at once. Every question flowed over the restraints in his mind just as tears of frustration pricked his eyes. Fists clutched and heart pounding, Jellal searched Murad’s fire glinted eyes for some kind of explanation.

Murad’s expression held just as much curiosity and fascination for the teen as the other held in frustration. He never expected to be lectured to by someone who hardly stood the height of his smallest finger. The boy did have a point, however, and so Murad sighed and resigned himself to sit once again in the chair. He now had the challenge of condensing a significant amount of information without prompting further questions from the emotional boy.

“Well,” Murad sighed while unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up lazily. “You certainly do not waist time with that bombardment of questions. If you could, hold further questions until the end. Both of us will lose track otherwise.”

“Now, where to start. Most likely where you began before that outburst – why are we bringing you from your homes. The oversimplistic answer is because we, meaning my superiors and colleagues, believe there is a war coming which will ravage the land and quite possibly tear asunder a great number of cities along with it. We, in accordance with our studies, are not permitted to take sides in these various conflicts and instead dedicate ourselves to commemorate and record the events as they transpire. There are times, however, where our superiors feel it is necessary to take matters into our own hands and ensure the preservation of a species – ergo, removing a select portion of a population to ensure its survival. Are you understanding me so far?”

Murad spoke with neutrality. Murad spoke with a direct, logical thinking that was completely and utterly detached. It was cool, collected, unabashedly honest. If he felt sorry for what was occurring or what he had done, it did not show.

Jellal, on the other hand, felt the worst swirling knot twisting his stomach and forcing a numbing ringing in his ears. His blue-eyes blurred, darkening around the edges of his vision. His heart sunk. He didn’t remember falling to his knees, but that’s where he was. A weight, an undefinable and yet oppressive weight, thrust itself down on his shoulders as though sandbags had imbedded themselves into his bones.

“So… you…” Jellal spoke absentmindedly, unaware of exactly what words were forming. “You’re taking us… to breed? Like livestock?”

“Hardly,” stated Murad. “You are free to live as you deem satisfactory. If you desire a mate, you may select one. The same could easily be said of your profession and level of interaction with the populous. You’re also exaggerating the situation. We merely aim to preserve the various cultures and societies, even if it is marginally fragmented.” Jellal stared at the giant in disbelief.

“How can you say all of this so calmly?” Jellal asked breathily. “You’re talking about my people dying and whoever you took being the last few remaining and…” A thought hit Jellal like an icy wind. “I… my sister… my family… everyone…”

“What about them?” asked Murad calmly.

There was an untouchable pang as Jellal felt his chest as his eyes slowly raised to meet Murad’s gaze. “You should’ve taken my sister. She… she would know what to do. She deserves to survive. She could survive if she were in this position. Oh Spirits, what have I done!”  

“You haven’t done anything wrong given the circumstances.”

“Why not save everyone? Can’t you do that?” countered Jellal.

Murad once again rolled his swirling dark brown eyes and readjusted in the chair. “My dear boy, were you not listening? Firstly, refrain from additional questions until the others are addressed. Second, we are unsure if such an event will even occur. Do we uproot entire cities, cultures, civilizations and disrupt the flow of your advancement on the chance something may occur? Or do we induce widespread panic and fear? Believe me, we have contingencies set in place to protect your kind should worst come to worst but my superiors elected to be proactive this time.”

“Wait… wait… this time?” Murad stared curiously at Jellal who, once again, interrupted to ask a question.

“This is not the first time it has been done. There have been no less than a dozen ties that come to mind where similar actions have been taken. Have you not wondered why we possess cities and established structures rather than nomadic, migratory tribes and fundamental tools and structures for survival?” stated the auburn-haired giant. “Of course, this is the first time in my lifetime, but it has happened before. Generally speaking, our turmoil and disputes are handled civilly or in a designated area. There are times, however, where war is inevitable and there is an undeniable chance of collateral damage.”

Jellal couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This had happened before? There was a war coming? And they were going to stand idly by, only acting after bloodshed? Saving only a few on the chance nothing could be done? The teen’s mind swirled and a sick, acidic taste boiled in his stomach and burned at his throat. His eyes burned as though they were dry, yet warm tears streaked down his face. This was too much.

Jellal wasn’t sure how long he sat, shoulders slumped, while the rest of his body shivered and threatened to collapse. Eyes dazed finally focused on a set of hands placed nearby, tapping rhythmically as though to attain his attention. Numb, the blue-eyed boy grasped onto the rhythmic sounds of the taps and let his eyes focus on Murad’s enormous fingers.

“Evidently, that was too much information for you to process. At least you’re not wheezing. Feeling any better?” asked Murad plainly. He reached off to the side and retrieved another spoon which he dipped into a glass and with extreme care brought it in front of Jellal. Based on the color, Jellal assumed it was water and didn’t bother questioning his captor, instead leaning forward and sipping the refreshingly cool liquid. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he had become throughout the whole ordeal.

The liquid brought a calm serene over Jellal; something he didn’t anticipate. For a moment, there was a flare of worry he had taken in something that wasn’t water. It instantly dissipated when Murad took a sip from the same cup he drew the spoon from.

Jellal, in his stupor, came to the realization that he could do nothing about his current circumstances. Murad had taken him and, most likely, wasn’t going to bring him back to his home. There was a war waged by giants which was inevitable – at least from what Murad had stated. Finally, he was completely and utterly alone with more questions than his mind knew what to do with. The teen’s wandering mind wanted nothing more than to curl up and return to that stupor, but some deep, curious part of him tugged back to his bombardment of questions.

“You… said you weren’t going to tell me,” muttered Jellal. Murad shook his head in response while taking another drink of water. With a satisfied sigh, Murad resumed.

“No. Personally, I thought it was going to be a waist of time, but things didn’t go according to plan with you,” stated Murad, setting down the glass and now looking mildly perturbed but fascinated at the same time. He folded his arms indignantly and leaned back in the chair.

“If… well… could you tell me why? I mean, what was the plan? Other than taking me to wherever you were going to take me?” asked Jellal numbly. There was little else that could surprise him at this point. He dared the fates and took a chance in pressing further into Murad’s plans.

“Well, initially, my intention was to alter your memory in such a way that you would believe you were simply out in the forest and elected to rest for a time. There were other elements I intended to add, but that fell through rather quickly. Frustrating, if you ask me, but informative,” sighed Murad, eyes catching the blue-eyes of the boy.

“Frustrating? Wait, is that what that feeling was? Like being grappled by vines?” Jellal asked, now putting together a few of the pieces. Murad’s eyebrows raised and he gave a curt nod.

“That is one description of the spell’s effects. And yes, frustrating. I didn’t anticipate the spell not taking effect, but that’s to be expected given your abilities.” Jellal felt his heart beginning to quicken in pace again.

“My what?” asked the boy.

“My dear boy,” said Murad in an exasperated tone. The giant leaned forward, unfolding his arms, until he was dangerously close in Jellal’s personal opinion. “You’re a Theurgist – a wielder of the arcane, magic. This is the reason the spell had no effect on you. Did you not know?”

Continue | Coming Soon

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Okay, so imma bout to discuss the difference between two different lenses and how looking through each one changes your perception of the kh series. Please read through both lenses

Sokai lens: Likely, no matter what you ship, if you're looking through this lens, you've accepted that Sokai will be endgame.

If you are a Sokai shipper in general, you're happy knowing this. It was from the beginning and you think you know you're gonna get the payoff. However, likely, you believe Nomura to be a crappy writer. You hate how Kairi is handled and at times think Sokai could've been handled better. The thought that Sokai will be endgame is a reassurance, but you wish Nomura wasn't a crappy romance writer. In your eyes, though, why is Nomura having Sora focus on Riku so much? Why isn't the Sokai relationship handled better than Soriku? You don't understand because Sokai is supposed to be endgame, right? Though, you also take Sokai scenes at face value, so every little scene you shout "Sokai canon". You also desperately hope Kairi gets to save Sora in remind

If you are a Soriku shipper, you likely also think Nomura is a terrible crappy writer and you have a lot of angst. You probably hate that Sokai is gonna be endgame with the way that it's developed and believe Soriku would've been the better romance choice based on how much better developed that relationship is. Soriku feels like queerbaiting to you. You probably also take Sokai scenes at face value, so while the Sokai shippers yell "sokai canon", you cry because Soriku has no chance. You want Riku to go after Sora in remind, but you probably decide it should be Riku and Kairi so it shows less bias on your part and/or so you don't have to deal with more ship discourse

Soriku lens (since most people looking through this lens are Soriku shippers, this is going to have that perspective): Of course you know Nomura doesn't always make good writing choices, but Nomura is your lord and savior, and he still writes so many things amazingly. You wholeheartedly believe Soriku could be endgame and you have the evidence to back it up. You believe Soriku to be an amazingly written slow burn romance. You don't take Sokai scenes at face value. Some may still feel forced, but from looking into it and probably reading up on the posts of blowingoffsteam2 and others, character reactions make so much sense. Instead of the kh2 reunion feeling weird cause of Sora's reaction towards Kairi, you realize that his reaction is for a reason. You realize that the Sokai romance isn't developed because it isn't meant to be. You accept that Kairi is in love with Sora, but in Sora's case, he's set on the path of fixing his relationship with Kairi, rebuilding it. The paopu scene isn't a romantic love confession or canonizing moment for Sokai, it's a necessary scene, giving Sora the moment to reestablish his relationship with Kairi as a friendship after his bond with her had weakened (as with pooh). You feel like Nomura is deliberate in showing that Kairi is Sora's friend and has no intention of developing the relationship as a romance. However, this does not mean that you don't believe Kairi's character deserved better. You hope in the future that as Sora rebuilds this friendship, Kairi gets real character development. However, you want Riku to save Sora in remind because it fits his character and stuff, but you do not wish for Kairi to go. In your eyes, Kairi going after Sora would not give real character development and have her revolve around Sora even more than before. You realize that she doesn't have the experience to go on the saving Sora quest and would be better off spending time and making friends with the other keyblade weilders or going on her own journey separate from Sora. Also, to you, Soriku seems planned from the beginning, and so many things point to Riku's love for Sora being a major driving force. Soriku has a really good chance of being endgame and dang you have so much hope. You're tired of the dudebros/gals, but you may have so much hope that you'll just take em on anyways because you're so confident in Soriku endgame actually. You're not some yaoi fangirl. You have legit, real reasons to believe in Soriku throughout the series.