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August 31 - September 4, 2025
Bile rolled up the back of my throat as I lowered my head among the rest of my kind, every student in the academy showing - or at the very least feigning - subservience to that ungodly piece of shit as he strolled in like he owned the fucking place.
I threw up too
Lionel threw an arm up to shield himself, but he was too late, the thick white glue splattering him from head to foot, the iridescent glitter sparkling in the lights as he bellowed a furious roar.
Get his ass
‘join the rebellion!’
heavensbee is that you??
“Why are you running?” she demanded, and the group of students stumbled and faltered, unsure what to do in the face of the two servants of the crown. “Who said that?” someone called, and I had to fight a laugh as Kylie’s face turned purple with rage. Even now, many of us still acted like she didn’t exist.
Marguerite’s shock lasted no more than a blink, her face returning to that unbreakable mask as she made a show of ruffling some of the coats beside me then drew back. “All clear,” she said blandly before swinging the door closed on us once more, saving my fucking ass for the second time and risking her own life with that treasonous lie.
Damn ok...
That certainly explained her very sudden and very firm stance on her allegiance to the king and he alone.
Well now i feel sad
“So, Nova is corrupted, Marguerite is on our side and…we just got away with that?”
Seems so
“It cannot be,” I groaned, throwing an arm over my eyes as I hung as limp as a lamprey in his arms. “Poor, sweet, merry Darcy trapped with those crudsome creatures. And her watchful, loyal, fangsome ‘pire too.”
Shes so gone with the wind coded
“Gerry…” Max said sadly, and he let the door swing closed as he moved into the room, placing down his precious pastries and choosing me instead. Oh what a choice to make, for I was not nearly as crumbly nor sweet as a pain au chocolat.
Lmao
“You cannot look at me thus and not expect to dive deep into my lady waters,” I panted. “Avert your eyes or make true on the vows that shine within them like the star you are named after, Max Rigel.” “Is that code for ‘please fuck me’?” He smirked, and gracious, that smile was a mountain which I wished to climb, to bury my flag in its peak and announce it as mine.
I love them
“Ravish me like a knight of the Esterburn army. Seize me like the Castle of Norington and plunge your weapon into my moat,” I gasped.
She kills me
If we ever have kids, I will never let them out of my sight.” A smile lifted my lips at the image of that. “You’d be a seriously protective daddy.” “I’d be the asshole parent, but I’m good with it,” he said, only making my smile grow. “They can hate me so long as they keep breathing.”
Ahhhh
“You’re a curious little mouse today,” he said. “Or maybe a shrew,” I said with a frown. “Darius used to call me that.” “A shrew?” he chuckled. “I weirdly liked it,” I said, trying to smile even though my heart weighed a ton.
“Amantium Caelum – The Lovers’ Sky. It was a gift to a Vega queen of old. She announced to the kingdom that she would marry the Fae who crafted her the most beautiful magical gift.
I lifted my head, reaching instinctively for the egg but Orion shot forward and caught my wrist in a vice-like grip, giving me a stern raised eyebrow. “Blue,” he growled. “Were you just about to touch The Untouchable Egg?” “Of course not. That would be crazy,” I said with a grin, lifting my other hand and reaching for it with that one instead.
“Well, you don’t want to get a boner right here in front of The Untouchable Egg, do you?”
Down boy
Impossibly, I felt a single flame spark in my chest, like a burning feather left behind by my Phoenix when the Shadow Beast had devoured it.
“Nothing good,” he said darkly. “I don’t think you should mess with ancient Phoenix artefa-” I threw the egg on the floor, and it smashed into fifty pieces. “Darcy!”
Lmao
“Not a possession, no. But you are mine. You were mine before we met, and mine the minute we locked eyes. You are mine in this life, and every life we may experience from this point forward. You are mine in every reality you exist, and mine in every reality you don’t. And I am yours in kind, in every way you can imagine. I will gladly be your possession, but I will also be your guardian, your keeper, your protector. And I will do whatever I can to turn you away from danger, because it is impossible for me not to.”
Its pollen held untold power, and when mixed with treckwit powder and elixir of dunebark, it created a potion that could temporarily make a Fae resistant to the Nymphs’ ability to shut us off from our magic.
Woah
This power, it was the answer to everything. It could end the war, it could turn every endeavour to my favour. And in a moment of madness, I cast a sharp metal dagger in my hand and slit my palm open, moving forward and placing it against the star’s surface.
“Then the choice will be this…” That power swirled deeper within me, wrapping around my unborn child, and making me shudder in horror. “Your first born or your first love. Offer me one, and I shall lend you the power to win your war.”
Holy shit
I thought on Santiago’s words to me, his promises to win this war, his declaration that it was his one true cause in life. And I knew before I spoke the words that it had to be him, because he would make this choice if he stood here in my place. “My husband,” I forced the words past my lips and with a crack like thunder ripping the air apart, the deal was made.
The shining surface made me wince and I backed away, my eyes hurting and a ringing growing in my ears. I screamed as it intensified, begging to be spared, unsure if I had angered it somehow. But then the light faded away and I found a rough and unhewn gemstone laying in my palm that hummed with unimaginable power, so beautiful it left me speechless. “Wield this, and you will win your war.”
First, I was Elvia again, flying into battle with burning wings and the Imperial Star buried in the hilt of a stunning sword.
“Our kind are dying out, less and less Phoenixes are born each year,” my mother rasped, the tide of death rushing in on her. “The Imperial Star is a curse, not a gift. It won’t end until…” She died, her final breath rattling out of her chest, and I leaned down to kiss her cheek before turning away and leaving the servants to prepare her for burial.
People were screaming, and terror consumed me as I raced along with the Phoenixes, our flames curling around us in the dark. More screams sounded behind me and I looked back, finding my cousins falling to their knees, the flesh melting from their bones before they crashed to the ground. I didn’t know what was happening, only that no other Orders were dying. A curse, it had to be a curse, but why?
All Phoenixes shall be my adversaries from this day forth, and I shall twist their fates so they fail in all endeavours, their lives will be full of sorrow, and there will be no way out until the promise is kept. Either that, or their Order shall fall, and no more will ever walk this earth.”
WTF
She lifted the potion to her lips with a lament, swallowing it down in deep gulps before the curse consumed her entirely. It did though, her skin liquifying and the whites of her eyes burning bright before they were lost too and she turned to bones, her fire dying with her.
Omg
As far as we could go until we felt safe once more. And as we ran, the last of our people ran with us, falling into line behind me, the last Vega and Phoenix among them. With a weight in my chest, I realised that if that was true, I had just become their queen.
“The Imperial Star cursed them. That’s why all the Phoenixes died. And it’s why Tory and I have failed time and again in this war. That old curse is still in place. We’re fucked, Lance. Unless we can figure out what the broken promise is, we’re never going to be free of the star’s wrath.”
“Didn’t you ever go with Darius to melt down a fallen star for stardust and get a chance to see it sparkle its way out of existence?” I asked. “Meteorites create stardust, not true fallen stars,” he said. “That’s confusing,” I pointed out. “Why isn’t it called meteorite dust then?”
“It’s time to dance, to dice with chance, the scales they rise, and they fall now. Come to me, play with me, here in my lonely ballroom…”
Creepy especially on audio
Orion was reaching for her too and our fingers grazed as we touched her, unable to resist her call.
DOnt touch creepy doll
“Dance with me, play with me,” she sang as the scales tipped once more.
No thanks
“When light is white, it’s time to dance, but when it’s blue, you best not move. For you shall be in peril. If you play, you’ll make my day, and I’ll release you with my prized possession.”
Ew
An ivory white praying mantis appeared, stepping out into the ballroom, the bug no doubt small in reality but down here in this music box, it was a giant monster. Its eyes were punctured as if by a needle, proving it was blind, and I had to wonder which psychotic Fae had concocted this tiny, pocket-sized hell and who they had placed down here to die in it.
Oh...
“This is fucked up,” he whispered.
Correct
“Of all the deaths we’ve faced, I would never have predicted we’d be threatened with a praying mantis in a music box.” “Or a singing matchstick,” I looked up at the girl above as she twirled on top of the scales, coldness dripping through me. “Life really is far more interesting now you’re in it,”
“Is it a Guild Stone?” I asked hopefully. “Feels like one,” he said, running his thumb across it and the Guild Master mark on his arm suddenly flared to life, the beautiful sword shining along his forearm as it responded to finding this new stone. “Opal for Libra.”
Collect the infinity stones!
A snap sounded as the last catch was released, followed by a faint hissing sound, and I tensed as I noticed my brother stepping subtly behind Mildred. Orion and I backed up too.
Seer be seeing
FOE.
Hell yeah
Gabriel blinked, focusing on me once more with horror washing over his features. My stomach dropped and I mouthed, “What is it?” to him in desperation. “Fear the Bonded men!” he blurted to me. “The night the Hydra bellows is coming, and fate has shifted! We must get word to the others, we must tell them that-”
Two Phoenixes, born of fire, rising from the ashes of the past. The wheel of fate is turning, and the Dragon is poised to strike. But blood of the deceiver may change the course of destiny. Beware the man with the painted smile who lingers close to your side. Turn the scorned. Free the enslaved. Fear the Bonded men. Many will fall for one to ascend. Suffer the curse. The hunter will pay the price. Do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Keep the broken promise. Mend the rift. All that hides in the shadows is not dark. Blood will out. Seal your fate. Choose your destiny.
The first line had to refer to me and my sister, the second Lionel. Then the blood of the deceiver…that could be Darius. He was descended from the man who had deceived Lavinia at the battle against Avalon. So that added up. Fucking stars. Then there was the eternal question of the man with the painted smile. I still had no idea on that one, but hoped Tor had figured it out. Many will fall for one to ascend. Well, I guess that was kinda self-explanatory, though who that person was, I didn’t know. It could just mean Lionel keeping his place as king after a bloody war. Though I hoped it meant
...more
“The king’s food was overcooked last week, and he incinerated Bob in the kitchen. I ain’t getting incinerated for nobody.”
Jesus
“It’s hard not to stare when you look this cute,” I said, and he glanced over at me with a dry look. “Cute? Dogs are cute, like your little lap dog, Seth, but I’m-” “Ohmagod,” I gasped, cutting over him. “You just said Seth is cute.”
We fucked until we were made new again and I forgot where I ended and he began.
You had 10 mins
“That’s fucked up,” I whispered, turning the page, and finding a spell detailed there entitled The Shadow Bind. A spell to bind the shadows within the subject to prevent further summoning.
Orion was a hunter, but that couldn’t be me. I was a fallen creature, destroyed by the dark. Hunters didn’t die in the dark, they thrived in it. So, who were they talking to?
Im sad
