This contest is now closed

Hello, hello and welcome to “What's your story”, a multi-round writing contest where you're going to be crafting your own short story one round at a time with prompts from me based on information you provide.

For this contest all stories must fit into the urban fantasy genre.

What is urban fantasy? Urban fantasy stories are ones that are set mostly/entirely in a modern setting. These stories have magic/magical creatures or other mythic/fantastic elements but include contemporary characters, places and language. A few examples of urban fantasy are “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman, “Sandman Slim” by Richard Kadrey,  “Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale” by Holly Black and “Brown Girl in the Ring” by Nalo Hopkinson.

Please don't be discouraged if none of the titles are familiar to you or if you don't normally read the genre, I read a lot of the contest entries and trust me from what I've read you're all capable of writing something amazing.

An IMPORTANT note about story length. Please read BEFORE you do anything else

At minimum please provide 3 complete sentences per round that are relevant to the task being presented. At maximum please feel free to write as much as you want but note that you don't need to write the same amount for each round. I know life happens, inspiration bubbles and then fizzles, or you just feel blocked but still want to play along it's 1,000,000% okay to not write a novella every round.

For those of you who are interested in what the contest will entail in more detail please check out the round previews that I've provided. These basic guidelines will not change and will let you know if you're interested before you enter. Please note these don't give the full details of each round, so you can read them and still be surprised.

Round Previews

Round 1: Getting into character
In this round you'll be introducing the main character of the story.  This should  not be the introduction to your story. I repeat: This should  not be the introduction to your story.

Round 2: You've got the WRITE stuff
When this round opens I will provide you with a custom story prompt, a purpose/quest for your main character and a list of three secondary characters. For this round you must open the story with the prompt I provide you with and incorporate at least one of the secondary characters. I will also provide you with a sentence that should end this entry to ensure that going into round 3 all of the participants have a choice to make.

Round 3: Plot Twist
When this round opens you will find out what plot twist awaits you. You will need to write how your character deals with it.

Round 4: To be continued?
In this round you'll need to decide whether your story is at an end (e.g. did your main character complete their purpose?) or if you'll need a sequel.

Every round will last 72 hours.

An important note about judging: Story writing contests are notoriously difficult to judge and this one is likely to be extra difficult because all of the participants will be writing different things. Based on that there will be special participation banners for each contestant.

For Round one please provide the following information about your main character. The basic look and traits of this character should be kept throughout the contest.

Please don't include any background on your characters other than what is being asked. This is just an introduction of your main character. Story writing will begin in round 2 after you receive your story prompts

1. Character name

2. Character age

3. Character occupation (note that you can list “none” or “student” instead of a job if you want)

4. What's your character's personality like? (This should be a mix of traits that are both good and bad)

5. What does your character want? (The answer to this can be something simple like “a new car” or something more complex like “to rule the new republic”)

6. What is one secret your character is hiding?

7. Image of your Fashionista or your boyfriend if you want a male main character (note that your main character does  not have to be human).

Complete entries are mandatory as they help move the story forward. If your entry is incomplete you will not be able to move forward.

Round one is going live at 5:30pm EST on Sunday it will be open until 5:30pm EST on Wednesday. Until we get Fashionista Standard Time (I hope we get Fashionista Standard Time), note that I'm basing this timing on being on the East Coast in the United States and we're currently in Spring Daylight Savings Time, as far as I can tell you're located somewhere in the UK you're 5 hours ahead of me. I hope that's not too confusing.

Last edited by Dare (09/04/2017 at 03:16)

Evie Ewing played by Zaina Gohou

1. Character name
Evie Ewing or pen name EE

2. Character age
28

3. Character occupation
Journalist for a daily paper

4. What's your character's personality like?
hard working, caring, elegant, honest, ambitious, easily jealous, tardy, restless.

5. What does your character want?
To find the greatest story because she hates writing the horoscope, next door news, how to get a boyfriend or dump one, best date places but never the intro.

6. What is one secret your character is hiding?
She was born as a male.

7. Image of your Fashionista


an day in the life of EE
(Nevermind will be added in Round 2)

Last edited by NinaJones (27/03/2017 at 02:08)

Name: Hazel Latro
Age: 21
Occupation: Works at 6 Flags
Personality: Hard Headed, Determined, Persuasive, Decisive, Over bearing, Close Minded
What she wants: Her Own Amusment Park
Secret: She's a Cyborg ( Sometimes you can see the wires glow on her face.)

Image of Nista:

Last edited by HeatherForever (30/03/2017 at 00:59)

Name: Mari Kaminaga
Age: 17
Occupation: High school student/Ikebana artist-in-training (Japanese flower arrangement)
Personality: Intelligent, observant, shy, clumsy, sharp-tongued, "ojou" (spoiled princess)
Desire: Being from a family with supernatural/historical/flower-arranging roots, all Mari really wants is a proper social life
Secret: Is actually a half-angel with the ability to read minds
Image:

Last edited by Yukibana-Haruna (27/03/2017 at 05:36)

Before I enter this I have to state that my favorite book somehow belong to this genre so I am more than happy that you made this. Now to the point
Name: Schala Payne

Age: 25

Occupation: Unemployed painter

Personality: Creative, honest, hard to open up to people, faithful, passionate, confrontational, arrogant, impulsive, harsh, stubborn and extremist

Wish: To find out a reason why was she granted with second chance and who gave it to her

Secret: Once she slipped into clinical death after crashing her expensive motorcycle someone gave her a second chance with modern medicine by tampering with her nervous system by inducting stardust particles

Outfit:
Link to external image

Name: Gia Edwards

Age: 24

Occupation: math teacher at high school

Personality: resourceful, liar, thorough, friendly, patient, tries to avoid confrontations as much as she can, good listener, always busy with something

Wants: A three days of complete isolation from the world, so no one bothers her.

Secret: She used to be a hacker.

Outfit:
Link to external image

Welcome to Round 2 of “What's your story”, a multi-round writing contest where you're going to be crafting your own short story one round at a time with prompts from me based on information you provide.

As a reminder for this contest all stories must fit into the urban fantasy genre. Please reread the description of the genre in the first post if you need a reminder about the basic parameters.

An IMPORTANT note about story length. Please read BEFORE you do anything else

At minimum please provide 3 complete sentences per round that are relevant to the task being presented. At maximum please feel free to write as much as you want but note that you don't need to write the same amount for each round. I know life happens, inspiration bubbles and then fizzles, or you just feel blocked but still want to play along it's 1,000,000% okay to not write a novella every round.

Round 2: You've got the WRITE stuff

***Please read your story prompts before you start writing. Your entry for this round must start with the prompt provided; it's okay if you reword it to fit your writing style and chosen POV.***

***I have not provided a purpose/quest for each of your main characters. You will need to do this and it should have to do with what you told me your main character wanted in round 1 or related to their secret. I'm asking you to provide this because it will help you guide the story you write.***

***I have provided three secondary characters for you. You must include at least one of these characters.***

Note: The original guidelines for this round stated I will also provide you with a sentence that should end this entry to ensure that going into round 3 all of the participants have a choice to make. You'll notice that this is altered slightly, but it will still have the same effect.

NinaJones as Evie Ewing

Writing prompt: “You're late again?!” Jasper screams exasperated, “It's the fourth time this week!”

Evie understands why her boss is frustrated, but when he hears why she was late she knows he'll understand.

Secondary characters:

Jasper Meyers: Evie's boss at the paper she works for. He's a father figure to Evie and sometimes that clouds his better judgment.

Fox Hayward: A longtime friend of Evie's who is prone to telling lies to get what he wants he has just informed her that he has the scoop of her career: magic is real.

Lennie Phelps: The owner of a dive bar who slips a little something extra into select cocktails...for a very large price.

How your entry this round should end: Evie should be debating about whether or not she wants to follow Fox's lead about magic. This can be an internal debate or a conversation she has with someone else.

Heather Forever as Hazel Latro

Writing prompt: It could have just been the sunlight but Hazel swore that she just saw that young woman glow. It was only for a second, but the blue lines were unmistakable, and an exact mirror of her own.

Secondary characters:

Mitzy Fellows: A rollercoaster operator who dropped out of MIT and began working in the park right after Hazel did.

Angela Jenkins: The young woman that Hazel sees with the glowing blue lines in her face.

Andrew McCormick: A actor/dancer/model/musician who manages a gas station a few miles from the Six Flags where Hazel works who has a crush on her.

How your entry this round should end: Hazel should be considering whether to follow Angela out of the park to see where she goes.

Yukibana-Haruna as Mari Kaminaga

Writing prompt: Nephilim...Nephilim...must find the nephilim. Mari froze in her tracks as these words, the thoughts of someone else filled her mind. She scanned the crowd of students rushing around her, wondering which of them knew her secret...and what they wanted.

Secondary characters:

Ryu Yamoto: A talented art student who has loose ties to the local Fay community, he always goes out of his way to avoid Mari.

Rioko Takamora: A close friend of Mari's mother who has recently disappeared without a trace.

Li Mai: A new history teacher who has taken a special interest in several of his students.

How your entry this round should end: Mari should overhear the person who is searching for the nephilim again however this time there should only be two possible suspects.

Harle as Schala Payne

Writing prompt: Schala had the dream again, the one where she was on her motorcycle and suddenly falling into nothing, the inky abyss a stark contrast to the blaring lights and cacophony of sounds that had been the actual crash. In the distance there is a single pinprick of light, something she knows she must walk toward.

Secondary characters:

Magda Gaines: A strange old woman who keeps referencing to Schala as “Marlene”.

Emory Gates: Schala's doctor who has been trying to reach her for several weeks with no luck.

Virgina “Ginny” Fredericks: A young woman who shows up at Schala's apartment demanding painting lessons.

How your entry this round should end: Schala should be faced with a real world scenario that matches the end of her dream i.e. in a dark space with only one source of light, she needs to question whether to follow it.

Siri as Gia Edwards

Writing prompt: Let's just get this over with. Gia sighs to herself as she prepares herself for parent's night. There's at least one meeting she's dreading, and of course it's the first one scheduled. She's prepared for a battle that never comes though, instead she receives an intriguing offer.

Secondary characters:

Caroline Murray: The mother of one of Gia's students who asks Gia to hack into the website of a secret society.

Edwin Carmichael: A math prodigy who is the youngest student in Gia's class and hiding the fact that he's part Fay.

Racquel Figaro: A seasoned blackhat hacker who shows up uninvited at the school where Gia works and brings trouble along with her.

How your entry this round should end: Gia will need to decide whether to accept the offer made to her or whether she wants to go with Racquel on a road trip.

IchikoAi as Kokkei Onjun

Writing prompt: “I don't run that kind of place, okay!” Kokkei screams at the man covered in seals who has come in dragging a frail looking boy whose eyes look glazed over. “I'm not putting anything on the kid without his consent.”

The man snarls at Kokkei “You'll regret this.” He tells her before turning to leave.

Secondary characters:

Aki Maramor: A homeless teenage girl who sells knockoff potions in the alley near Kokkei's shop.

Deborah Tanner: A woman who asks Kokkei to put up a missing poster in her store, the image is of the boy Kokkei refused to place a seal on.

Tenji Akamoto: Kokkei's apprentice who has been stealing from her.

How your entry this round should end: Kokkei should catch her apprentice stealing from her, she then needs to debate how to deal with it.

For Round two please provide the following:

1. Character name

2. Image of your main character (please indicate where in the story the image is from)

3. Your overall quest/purpose (what will guide the whole story?)

4. The story Make sure it starts with the writing prompt and ends with the choice I presented for you characters, DON'T I repeat: DON'T say what the choice is. I promise that there's a legit reason for this and it will be revealed in round 3. Please don't provide any character background/day in the life information,UNLESS it's in the story (Thank you Harle for giving me the heads up that a distinction needed to be made ).

Complete entries are mandatory as they help move the story forward. If your entry is incomplete you will not be able to move forward.

Round two is going live at 5:00pm EST on Wednesday it will be open until 5:00pm EST on Saturday. Until we get Fashionista Standard Time (I hope we get Fashionista Standard Time), note that I'm basing this timing on being on the East Coast in the United States and we're currently in Spring Daylight Savings Time, as far as I can tell you're located somewhere in the UK you're 5 hours ahead of me. I hope that's not too confusing.

Last edited by Dare (30/03/2017 at 03:11)

1. Character name
Evie Ewing or pen name EE

2. Image of your main character
TBA

3. Your overall quest/purpose
To find the greatest/ mind blowing story

4. Story//An day in the life of EE or something like that.
“You're late again?!” Jasper screams exasperated, “It's the fourth time this week!”

Evie understands why her boss is frustrated, but when he hears why she was late she knows he'll understand.

It all started two days ago...

TBA

Last edited by NinaJones (29/03/2017 at 22:48)

Gia Edwards

Quest: find out who spilled the beans about her past and bury all those traces back to the nowhere, so nobody would bother her again

Link to external image
Racquel's arrival day

Story:
Let's just get this over with, Gia sighed to herself.
Parents' night was the worst thing that came with the job. Well, apart from those times when principal wanted something from her specifically and this wasn't good at all. But butting heads with overdemanding parents? She really hoped that she wouldn't be having any. Nope, karma's not on her side.
At least some of them are able to negotiate... Yet not the first name on her list, Caroline Murray, mother of Diane Murray, the dumbest and most uninterested and unmotivated person she had ever seen. And mother was worse. It wasn't helping that Murrays were rich... and Caroline Murray herself showed up, without knocking, walking in like she owned the place.
"Good afternoon, Miss Edwards" she says, and Gia already feels her guts tightening.
"Good afternoon" she replied rather flatly, preparing her notes and a report about Diane. "Can we cut to the chase, ma'am? I'm afraid that there will be a line forming real soon."
Caroline Murray said nothing for a while. Instead, she pulled a small note with rather unfamiliar IP address and name that rang a bell... Society of Preservation.
"Ma'am? I'm afraid, I don't understand" Gia tilted her head to the side, her eyes fixed on the woman before her. A woman whose daughter caused more problems than physically possible, whose daughter received very poor marks on each test. A woman who would come to her and undermine her qualifications, methods and authority as a teacher. And now the said woman comes to her with name that is too familiar for her... Irony just loved her.
"Miss Edwards, it has reached my ears that you dabbled in some... activity" the woman said, flipping her hair to the back.
"New color, Mrs Murray?" Gia innocently asked, hoping to turn the conversation into more normal territory.
"Ah, yes, there's that hairdresser in the town, who does wonders with colors." For a minute Gia felt safe... "Not that you can afford him, Miss Edwards."
Gia cringed. Unexpected twist of the converastion brought out the old I'm-richer-than-thou remarks. She didn't need to know that.
"But I could make it change, if only you'd do just a little thing for me."
"I'm afraid that your daughter's grades cannot be raised if she doesn't want it..." Gia tried to steer away from what could be something she escaped from. She worked for Society of Presevation for a certain period of time, obtaining information, before discovered experiments that this society performed. Each and every one of them involved supernatural creatures and those with their blood. And that was too much. Back then, she didn't care who paid her and what the information would be used for. That thing opened her eyes.
"I'm not speaking of my daughter, though you do undermine her progress, Miss Edwards. I ask you to dig out all you can about this society" Murray's tone was harsher than Gia expected.
"I'm afraid that I know nobody that can do it."
"Miss Edwards. Do you take me for a stupid?"
Yes, idiot, Gia thought to herself. In her eyes, only a fool would come to her and ask for such a thing... And then there was another note, with a number. Gia looked at it, seeing a rather huge sum.
"I'm aware that you are skilled in obtaining information through cyberspace, Miss Edwards" woman's tone returned to the lighter one and she had a smile that Gia immediately associated with a predator. "All I need are data you can get from this website. As you can see, I'm willing to pay for your efforts... and discretion."
"..." for a moment, Gia was speechless. This was not happening at all... "I don't think..."
"Take some time to ponder then, but don't make me wait too long, Miss Edwards" Caroline Murray left, leaving the notes.
Gia quickly hid them, before the next parent came in, hoping that nobody heard the conversation.

~*~

"Hey, Edwards, heard that you're on detention watch today."
Gia cursed inside her mind. An hour ago she was caught by a principal, who ordered her to oversee the detention today. Of course, news traveled among the staff, but only P.E. teacher, Chad Frank, had the nerve to speak out loud about it to her. And he was always calling her by her last name.
"Yes, I've heard that you gave it to Carmichael" she sighed. "What did he do?"
It became unusual that one of her top students in classes received frequent detentions, about twice a month. He was that average-looking student who would easily get lost in the crowd... not in Gia's class though. There he was a genius and she had trouble to give him a challenge. Actually, all teachers had trouble.
"The same thing as last month" Chad shrugged, acting seemingly aloof. "No reaction to my orders, overall excitement, strange sentences... and he caused a little accident on the gym. Nobody's been hurt, though."
"So he started to act his age?" there was a hint of joke in her sentence. A joke that had seed of truth. Despite Edwin looking like any normal highschooler would, he was merely around thirteen. Or that was written in his documents.
"If acting his age is going once a month, then yeah, he did."
Her brows furrowed for a second. SHe had noticed that also. A month before the situation was similar, two weeks after that Edwin seemed a bit down and now he was oozing excitement again? That felt odd for some reason. But no, pressing the issue wasn't her business at all.
Her business was what happened after she left the staff room. With that voice...
"Gigi!" too happy voice that brought everyone's attention to the person who shouted it.
A woman. T-shirt, pants, heels. Short hair and sunglasses. And with very familiar voice she knew when she was decoding and clasisifying the voice patterns of one particularly notorious hacker that tended to leave distorted voice messages. The same voice was now calling to her, its owner being here, without any warning... TO be honest, she could be easily mistaken as high school student by looks.
"Racuel, hi" Gia put a smile on her face, but deep inside knew that it was going to be trouble. "You could've called."
She had to play it cool, sneak lies where she could and not give anything away. The problem with Racquel Figaro or rather Garrote was - as far as she remembered - the one to take your weakness out, twist it and turn it against you. And she was certain that she had buried all traces of herself when she decided to quit, so nobody would've found her easily... Apparently somebody dug it all out.
"Oh, I was around and I thought I'd paid you a visit. I could call, but it's such a bother" smile of the devil reminded Gia to play the game correctly.
"Certainly" she smoothly agreed. "What brings you here, then?"
"I'm gathering a crew for a road trip" another smile. "And I immediately thought of you, all this work and no free time, it must be tiring..."
Now that wasn't something she expected. And it wasn't a good thing. There weren't any stories about road trips proposed by a hacker that were circling around, however, knowing Racquel's reputation... Suddenly, a school bell rang.
"I'll think about it" she smiled. "Mail me all the details, class is waiting."
Saved by the bell... sort of.
She had time to ponder about the two occurrences later that day, watching over one of her prize students, Edwin. He was doing college-level exercises without a word, though she saw that he seemed to be excited, tapping his foot, hitting the desk with his fingertip, anything to make her guessing. She had her problems, though.
It wasn't a coincidence, Murray's proposition and Garrote's arrival just a few days later. Knowing the latter, if she wanted, she'd enter her life much earlier, just to bring menace. And Gia had an idea. Society of Preservation was certainly involved in this. THeir domain's IP address wasn't the easiest thing to find, they were protecting their secrets so tightly that even likes of Racquel had problems to get there. So it could be that they remembered their old employee and had to sent a warning...
A ring of her cellphone announced a message. And details of the trip. She quickly looked at the wall calendar, noticing that it would be... Wait, today's a full moon? Oh...
"Eddie" she called out to her student, who rose his head with surprised look of pure innocence.
"Um... Ma'am?" he was almost too cute for her liking.
"Remind me, when did you got detention last time?"
He gave her the date, rewarded with a smile. He responded to that with a smile of his own and returned to the tasks. Gia on the other hand, checked her own calendar...
So, assuming that they know where I am and know of the data leak... They could've employed and sent Racquel to warn me or even make me not accept Murray's offer... First, somebody leaked my identity and that's a priority to bury it back. That would require to return there... And that's what I wanted nothing to do with... Huh, Eddie's detention was also on the day of full moon... Coincidence?
And now she had the third thing. Edwin's behavior. According to the general knowledge, full moon was bringing out the worst. Childbirth, mental disorders, sleep problems... but excitement? She could think of one group that was excited for the full moon. And those were not werewolves...
A bell interrupted her thoughts, sending them back to the problems of her own. Saying goodbye to Edwin, she concluded that she had to make a decision and fast. Both ways could lead her to whoever leaked her identity.
So it's game on... again.

Last edited by Siri (01/04/2017 at 13:23)

Schala Payne
Image
Link to external image

Quest:
Still the same - to find out who gave me a second chance and why (and to find out what's the "thing" about painting)

Story:
It's the same dream over and over again... Surviving the crash, or a death after a crash, I'm not sure... I can only hear sounds of crashing making some divine and tasteful music. Nothing but an abyss starring back at me as I'm starring into it. Are we connected somehow? Am I a part of abyss? In the distance there is a single pinprick of light. It's gravitating my body toward it, it is something I know I must walk forward to...

Covered in sweat, with aching body, gasping for air, I find myself in my room. No sign of weird light, or strange, otherworldly music of cogs, nothing. Few mechanical birds chipping right outside my window finally reassure me that I am awake. My whole life I was trying to escape routine, but this dream that I couldn't even call a nightmare is repeating more than it should, and every time I wake up, the only thing I see is the painting of a galaxy I made after the comma. This is the first painting I'm sure I didn't make, but I know my hands did hold the brush. I can't remember my brush moving in this ways that were unknown to me before the death came, all this light emerging from the cracks in the picture weren't those I've used before, and I can swear that I can barely see the back layer with blurred letters "Wheels turning, the motorcycle’s roar grows steady, which, too, is a form of silence.". My hand wrote this, but someone or something else was controlling it. That stuff never happened after, I made my own paintings, and I remember each one of them - their names, things I felt while making them, everything. My train of thoughts was broken with the loud banging on my apartment door accompanied with high-pitched yelling. Thinking it was some kind of emergency I rushed to open the door without even looking in the mirror. Before I could even ask the young woman what does she need and why is she in such a neurotic state she barged in.
"So, Schala, I heard you were teaching people how to paint, and I need one painting class now. she started looking around to find appropriate place to put her bag down and decided to sit on my unmade bed "And what's wrong with this neighbourhood? That old, creepy looking lady, who is surely not from this century, is searching for some girl desperately."
Upon finishing her sentence she let out a long sigh. Stairs and all this fast talking surely made her tired. Slowly backing away to the window to see about what older lady she was talking about I tried to explain that I actually have no idea who told her I was giving lessons. Before I could open my mouth she already went into the state of fast talking about brushes, oil paints, and how much she likes my work, so I've let her vent. Moving my curtain my eyes met with grayish sclera of an elderly woman. She was from this century, but surely out of this world, and I saw other worlds. Her eyes sparked and confusion left her face. "Marlene..." she almost whispered and made a slight smile "Marlene, come down here, I have so much to tell you..". Okay, so this lady clearly wasn't searching for me so I've closed my window and got a moment to talk to this girl who barged into my apartment
"I don't know who told you that I give painting lessons, but I must disappoint you, umm, what was your name again?"
Vivaciously she jumped off the bed and yelled "Oh, sorry, how rude of me, I'm Virginia, but you could call me Ginny. And nobody told me anything, I saw your work few months ago in a gallery and I want to make the same paintings you make. I like the mixture of old techniques with vivid lights."
"I must say I'm flattered, but I can't simply transfer my talent to you."
"Oh, but you can, see, I'm smart and I have all day to sit here and learn, I cleared my schedule and I'm free!" she smiled widely
"But I have some plans later this day."
"I'm sure your friends won't get mad for ditching them, if it's a problem for you, I can call them and explain you HAVE to teach me how to paint!"
"Oh, but I don't HAVE to do anything." I saw that she got mad at me because of my arrogance and her face changed, and even though she was irritating beyond the point of endurance, I couldn't refuse her so easily. There was something about her, a sparkle in her eyes, that stubbornes and passion that reminded me of myself. I saw that her hands are augmented with tons of mechanic parts, was that a way to get near to artists? I don't know. I calmed her down only when I made a promise that I will find a way to get some free time and teach her some of the tehniques. She left the apartment and once again I was left alone with "my" mysterious painting... The painting pulsated green, sounds coming out of it were mixture of pleasant diamond trumpets and screeching noises of metal dragged all over floor and walls. It was getting in my head making me nauseous. I need to get out of this room, and I need to get out of it now! Putting on casual clothes I stormed out, not even sure I locked my apartment door, and there it was, my old "sanctuary" - V.I.C.E. I swore to myself that I'll never put down my leg there after what happened to me, it was not worth it. I saw familiar faces waiting to get their daily dose, and I understood them. Whole world was playing with neuro stimulators, knock off potions, augmentations and this was the worst place of all. I could see people coming out in such a pain from bad procedure of "improving" themselves, and I was sure I saw my high school sweetheart sitting next to the counter waiting to get fifth dose of "adrenaline rush coctail", and I felt sad. But who am I to judge? That stuff sent me to the point of almost dying. But I didn't need them anymore, I was high on life, and I felt sorry for the people in the shop. A cold feeling on my wrist snapped me out of nearly crying. I looked down and saw bluish hand, full with age spots
"Marlene, I have waited for you so long, where have you been?
"You made a mistake, I am not Marlene, I'm Schala." I politely smiled even though her advent scared me
"Don't lie to me Marlene, I'm not that old, I can still remember you. Come on Marlene, give me a hug" Her veins were glowing red, and my eyes weren't deceiving me. I tripped over on the sidewalk and almost fell trying to avoid the hug she was imposing on me
"I'm, umm, I'm sorry, I really have to go." I somehow managed to say the last word before running away from her, and the only place I can be lost in the crowd was no other place than V.I.C.E. Barging in I scared a lot of people. Not just because of the way I entered, but familiar faces knew that part of my life was over. I ran toward my high school sweetheart
"Dan, you have to help me, this old lady..." I was breathless so I tried to show him with my hand where the lady was, but as soon as I looked to the place we stood together, she was gone
"Scha, have you gone mad from withdrawal?" behind all the pain I could read off of his face I saw him trying to smile.
"Well maybe I did." I winked at him, gave him a little peck on the forehead which he hated back when we were dating and headed out. I need to end this, to stare at the picture untill it stares back to me.
Running through the narrow space through poor addicts I've heard a familiar voice.
"Schala! You went back to your old habits?!"
Turning my head I've met with judgemental eyes of my doctor. Emory helped me with different physical problems after the crash. She briefly told me she was trying to reach me for a few weeks and I genuinely tried to explain I didn't go back to my old habits but I found my mind wondering somewhere else. Strange voices emerged from all corners of the room, they were calling me. I could hear the painting loud and clear. Rushing yo my apartment, without even saying anything to Emory, my mind clogged. All I could see is metal cogs flying around me, and once I've entered my room there it was... All black, deep void, abyss of the unknown. Crashes of metal, and sound of silence followed by calming sounds. In the distance, I could clearly see blinking light, it was like a star, but much more than that. It was calling me. Should I answer the "call" or should I run away from it?

Dare wrote

(Thank you Harle for giving me the heads up that a distinction needed to be made ).

No problem, I was really confused about that one, and thank you for clearing it up for me

Last edited by Harle (01/04/2017 at 06:32)

Hazel Latro

-I feel my face twitch, I realize my wires just glowed.

Quest: To see if Angela Jenkins knows my creator
Story:
                 
"Mitzy, she's to short to get on the Joker!"
"Oh..." Mitzy slowly taps the little girl.
"I'm sorry... but you're gonna have to find another ride, you're too short." The girl starts kicking and screaming. Mitzy stands there embarrassed signaling me to get security. I run around looking for security when I finally find someone.

"On The ride the Joker a little girl is refusing to get off and she is drawing attention to her self. He looks at me but says nothing. But then I suddenly realized I've never seen him before.
"Do you know where the stupid ride is or not, we don't have all day!" He shakes his head no. Can he even talk? I think to myself. He proceeds to follow me to the Joker. Once we get there he takes the girl to find her parents.

"Wow that was interesting, wasn't it Mitzy." I could see the angry people who had to wait in line for so long. 

"It's not my fault, I was sleepy so I didn't pay attention! Mitzy gives me a glare as if she about to strangle me.

"Ok ok I get it, but less talking more working."

"But why aren't you working Hazel?"

"I have my reasons." I had decided to just walk around looking for employees that might need help or guests. I had to say it was the most boring day I've had there. I know that what just happened is like crazy but I've had crazier. I know it would have been way crazier if the ride I worked at wasn't closed. As I am walking around I happen to see Andrew McCormick. Sometimes I have the feeling he's trying to tell me something, but whatever it is I'm probably incapable of feeling it.

"Hey Hazel, Haven't seen you awhile."

"Were you looking for me or something." I can see him blush a bit or his cheeks are just very rosie.

" Nahh... I was just wondering if you were ok after Superman (the ride) came crashing down, I was told you broke your leg."

" Oh yeah... don't remind me please, a lot of people got severely injured."

"So I was wonder if- I stopped listening to him when I happened to see a woman exiting the park, It could have just been the sunlight but I swore that I just saw that young woman glow. It was only for a second, but the blue lines were unmistakable, and an exact mirror of my own. By then it was obvious she was a cyborg too. I feel my face twitch, I realize my wires just glowed. Now I just had to make a tough decision on what to do. I decided to follow  her, she could probably tell me who my creator is.

"So would you be interested?"

"Huh what umm I uhh... Im just gonna see if that lady is a cyb-I mean a fan of 6 flags."

"Well, guess I'll see you at the theater"

"Yeah..yeah,goodbye Andrew."

"Now where did that lady go?"
 
TBC :

Last edited by HeatherForever (01/04/2017 at 01:02)

Name: Mari Kaminaga

Image:
In my dressing room:


Quest:
To talk to those around my community and try to lessen the tension between the mundane and supernatural population...

Story:
    It's scary walking through a big crowd hearing things I don't want to hear. Sometimes the noise is so loud that I can't even distinguish one person from another -and it happens to be that way right now.
    "Kaminaga-san?"
    I turned and found I was staring directly into Ryu Yamoto's eyes. I jumped a little and distanced myself from him; he was one heck of a strange guy and I had no clue why he wanted to talk to me.
    I didn't know his exact age but we had some ties. He hated me and I never bothered trying to talk to him.
    "Excuse me," I muttered and walked into a dressing room. Class was about to start so I should probably get dressed. Get out of my casual clothes and get into a kimono while hoping my wings don't suddenly spring open.
    I walked back into the big open area a few minutes later and scanned the surrounding. The new history teacher who looked ultra stoic stood in front of the blackboard. He seemed to have some thoughts about the nephilim, as far as I could tell. His thoughts were so unorganized that deciphering them required much energy...

    ...Today's class was really stressful. While I was only trying to complete my projects, others seemed to be very restless. Some wouldn't stop talking about the disappearance of Rioko Takamora, a friend my mom trusted -a lot, while others wouldn't stop talking about angels. Were we that terrible? Why is it okay to discriminate against angels?
    "Kaminaga," Ryu Yamoto walked over again. Our talking attracted some attention; he was one of the most popular boys and I was an average girl no one knew a lot about.
    "Yes?" I asked, packing my belongings away.
    "...never mind," Ryu Yamoto replied and walked away.
    He seemed kind of nice just now.
    But would it be safe if I decided that he was innocent while Li Mai and Rioko Takamora, just because they were adults and supposedly more mature, were the ones who did terrible things recently? In fact, I was pretty sure the thoughts Li Mai had in his head right now were associated with a phone call he received earlier from someone trying to catch the nephilim...

Round 2 is closed

Welcome to Round 3 of “What's your story”, a multi-round writing contest where you're going to be crafting your own short story one round at a time with prompts from me based on information you provide.

You guys are AWESOME and I'm thoroughly enjoying your stories.

As a reminder for this contest all stories must fit into the urban fantasy genre. Please reread the description of the genre in the first post if you need a reminder about the basic parameters.

An IMPORTANT note about story length. Please read BEFORE you do anything else

At minimum please provide 3 complete sentences per round that are relevant to the task being presented. At maximum please feel free to write as much as you want but note that you don't need to write the same amount for each round. I know life happens, inspiration bubbles and then fizzles, or you just feel blocked but still want to play along it's 1,000,000% okay to not write a novella every round.

Round 3: Plot Twist

***Please read your plot twists before you start writing. Your entry for this round must start with the plot twist provided, it doesn't have to be the first sentence but it should be in the first paragraph; it's okay if you reword it to fit your writing style and chosen POV.***

Heather Forever as Hazel Latro

You're busy scanning the crowd for the woman who you're almost certain is a cyborg, the twist is        while you're looking for her you're grabbed from behind and a voice that sounds eerily familiar warns you not to scream. You pull away and turn to confront the individual only to find yourself face to face with someone who looks exactly like you...

Yukibana-Haruna as Mari Kaminaga

You're focused on trying to get a read from Li Mai when you hear a commotion from further down the hall, Ryu and another student are involved in a heated argument. the twist is as you get closer you notice Ryu's robes moving oddly, and out of the corner of your eye you glimpse a feather fall to the floor from his robes, but it doesn't look like anything you've seen before...

Harle as Schala Payne

You're drawn to the painting, no it's more than that you're being pulled towards it and start walking the twist is you don't hear the banging on your front door, the banging that's getting more and more insistent until the door crashes knocking you out of your trance like state. When you turn confused by the commotion, you see the strange old woman standing there wild eyed and reaching for you. “Marlene you have to come with me before the portal opens!” she yells...

Siri as Gia Edwards

As you head to your car at the end of the day you have the distinct feeling that you're being followed so you bypass your car and circle back towards the school building the twist is the building isn't there...at all, instead you find an empty lot where it should be and in the middle of it is Edwin sobbing. “She made me do it!” He cries, it's only then that you notice Mrs. Murray standing there as well, pointing what is very clearly a wand at your star pupil...

IchikoAi as Kokkei Onjun

While you contemplate what do about Tenji and your stolen work there's a loud noise from downstairs, a sound which is all the more startling because of your seal work. Cautiously you descend the stairs and find yourself immersed in total darkness and feeling strangely disoriented as an unfamiliar magic washes over you. You try and locate a seal on your body to counteract what's occurring the twist is you accidentally activate the instant kill seal which has the effect of reversing the strange spell as it seeks out the person who activated it. When you survey the scene you see the drugged boy from your shop...only now there are three of him, and all of them are speaking at once...

For Round three please provide the following:

1. Character name

2. Image of your main character (please indicate where in the story the image is from)

3. The story Make sure it starts with the plot twist and it should end with your character getting close to the end of their quest.

Don't wrap things up just yet though, there's still one more round

Complete entries are mandatory as they help move the story forward. If your entry is incomplete you will not be able to move forward.

Round three is going live at 8:00pm EST on Saturday it will be open until 8:00 EST on Tuesday. Until we get Fashionista Standard Time (I hope we get Fashionista Standard Time), note that I'm basing this timing on being on the East Coast in the United States and we're currently in Spring Daylight Savings Time, as far as I can tell you're located somewhere in the UK you're 5 hours ahead of me. I hope that's not too confusing.

Last edited by Dare (02/04/2017 at 01:07)

Gia Edwards
Link to external image
(meeting with SoP's chairman)

Story:
The day wasn't over yet. After finally leaving school, all she wanted was a long hot shower, turned off phone, bucket of ice cream and some animation flicks to go with it. Nobody would bother her and she woul replenish her batteries. But then, nothing was easy after she got that proposition. And she'd rater go to the road trip than do something for the worst nightmare of her existence. As she walked to her car - which was parked a little further from school - she had that bad feeling of being watched. It has been a long time since she felt it, the last was when she ceased the cooperation with Society of Preservation. She was horribly certain that she was watched back then and she couldn't put her mind to find out why. She never bothered though. But now... She decided not to go back to the car, moving through the alleys instead... and then she felt it. A surge of power, coming from the direction she left... Something made her double-back, see what's this all about.
She never expected the school gone.
Gone. Completely. No trace... and Edwin Carmichael in the middle. His silhouette was curled, but only when she came closer, she heard the faint sobbing.
"Eddie" she rushed to his side, trying to get him up. "What happened? Why the school...?"
"She made me do it" he sobbed, sounding almost desperate. He wanted help, that she could feel.
Only then she saw a figure, that was tearing something she barely recognized as Illusion Fabric, thing she was set on finding any information she could get while working for the society. According to the sources, Illusion Fabric made the person invisible to all, but selected few who were present at the time of casting it. And the figure, Caroline Murray, tore it so easily, as if she was doing it many times. Only then Gia noticed a pentacle symbol, glowing on her hand. And a wand. No ordinary woodden one, though. Even though Gia wasn't skilled wandmaker, she had seen files of various types of wands and their properties, necessary knowledge to obtain information of a maker. And judging from the crude details and the color... It was a wand made of iron. And any spell that was cast with an iron wand was particularly deadly for Fay. Which was Edwin.
"..." there were a lot of mean comments going on inside Gia's head. Out of all people this person just had to have iron wand and made little kids cast a spell. "Mrs Murray, is that...?"
"Edwards..." Caroline Murray's scowl bas big, the bigest she had ever seen. "I thought I told you not to cross me. I've even given you the proposition of the century, yet you had the nerve to oppose me?"
Oh, the villain's monologue, Gia thought, subtly moving before Edwin. She didn't want to see the effect of any spell on that kid. Only then she noticed that he was holding something in his hand, some kind of strange plant.
"...you're too smart for your own good, Edwards, even that whelp of a hacker couldn't get you to leave..."
Huh?
"This place will be great for the new establishment of the coven... but you're so resillient to mind control... Maybe I should simply... do this!"
Before Gia could react, she has been hit by unseen force. She felt as if a truck hit her, not a spell and all she saw was a faint, blue barrier and a sight of frightened face...
"Ma'am!" she regained consciousness to the sound of Edwin's voice.
They were still at school terrain and it seemed that she was taken care of...
"Ugh... Where's that truck..." she grumbled. "And where is...?"
"She... She ran... Ma'am, I didn't want to do it, but she was pointing that wand at me and..."
"Stop for a moment... My head..." Gia whined, rubbing her temple. "I think we need to get you to your parents and then figure out how to get the school back..."
She immediately knew that she would be making a call. Confronting the past... horrible thing to do for her, to contact people she didn't want to work with anymore...

~*~

Melech Amadeus hasn't aged a bit. He had the same long hair, the same sharp features, the same small wrinkles you'd see on a man his age. She could easily suspect that he did something to preserve his state.
She regretted coming alone, without Edwin and his parents. But if he'd hear that he's Fay, they would not have even that little bit of life they have. But it had to be done. Her hacking skills dulled over those six years, she was rusty... and strangely compelled not to hack anything.
"Miss Gia Edwards" Melech smiled to her, assessing her silhouette in one look. "You've grown to be a very beautiful woman."
Well, she wasn't that scrawny teenager with twisted sense of morals anymore.
"Mister Amadeus" she smiled back, but her smile was only out of courtesy. He was good businessman and always paid her for the information, but that was about it. "I haven't disturbed you, I hope?"
"Ah, nonsense, I always have time for old friends... Please, have a sit."
She compelled, wondering when they have been friends... if he wasn't using that term to refer the circumstances of her parting ways with the society. On the other hand, she now noticed that he seemed concerned about something.
"I hoped you'd call as soon as the shielding spell broke" he said, taking out a small book, placing it on his desk.
"Shielding spell?" she tilted her head to the side, seemingly not paying attention to the item. "You have casted a spell on me?"
"One of our enchanters, when you were leaving" Melech nodded. "It was part of a parting gift, protecting you from mind control all the time... and had a single-time use as a shield in case of danger, it seems. Now, what brings you here?"
"I need a way to reverse the vanishing spell, casted with the help of this" she pulled out the foil sheet with charred plant.
"It's red thistle..." she saw that he had trouble keeping himself cool. "That's a rare thing, where did you get it?"
"Hand of the caster... Will you help me?"
"... I will. I, too, need help."
Help? She raised her brow, starting suspecting that it wasn't all a coincidence.
"Please, explain..."
"Out domain address has been stolen, so we employed the best hacker we knew, besides you to find the source... It seems that she had a better offer."
"Racquel? You employed Racquel?" her eyes widened. "It seemed that she had, a member of the coven employed her to get rid of me... Since I had that spell of yours, I was immune to whatever they were doing."
"Coven?" his brow raised. "As Magi Coven? The ones that has tattoed pentacle?" she nodded. "In this case... we have two enemies, Racquel and Magi Coven."
"We?"
"I still need your help and you were a target as well, unintentionally..."
"Actually, a mother of one student gave me this" she pulled out a note. "She wanted me to get your information. She seemed to know about my past as a hacker."
"... Yes, it was my fault... You see, this book contains your skills... and some of the memories. When you parted ways with us, I asked you to give the skills for Society to preserve and use... Racquel read some of the pages, but not all."
"That doesn't explain how that woman knows my past..."
"But it's important to bury it back. I know that you wanted a calm life... I'll look for the ways to reverse the spell while you'd read the book... And get your skills returned."
She never expected herself to do something like this. Aparently she was compensated for it. And that small book was calling her to use. She slowly opened the seemingly blank pages, embracing the knowledge she had once again...
She never expected that rush of energy coming to her. She felt... complete and whole all of a sudden... And remembered... She was compensated enough for it and now needed it back. She also felt Racquel's traces on first two pages... But only first two. The rest was intact and Gia had an advantage...
"I'm ready to give her a taste of things to come."
"Wonderful, Miss Edwards. I have prepared a counterspell for you."

Last edited by Siri (04/04/2017 at 18:22)

Name: Mari Kaminaga

Image:

Link to external image

Story:
I was so focused on reading Li Mai's thoughts until I heard Ryu arguing with another student. Curious, I approached my two arguing classmates quietly.

While other people generally eavesdropped with their ears, I read their thoughts. However, I had difficulty deciphering their thoughts as there was too many people around and it was too noisy for me that my head ached.

I tensed up when the other student grabbed Ryu's arm, asking for a fight, but then I saw that Ryu was not nervous at all and was in fact too calm. Then, because his aura was too strange for someone about to be involved in a fight, I carefully observed his surrounding and discovered a sparkling feather that had tumbled from beneath his blazer to the floor.

I thought that the feather resembled that of a seraph, but maybe it was one that he stole from an angel. Maybe he was going to give it to a scientist or turn it in to the government... but that wasn't really Ryu's character, or was it? I hadn't the chance to ever talk to him properly.

But if he was an angel maybe I scored myself a friend. I suddenly felt the urge to approach him and ask if he was an angel... ah well, I'll wait until he's finished with that argument.

Wait what was the argument about again? I completely missed it.

Last edited by Yukibana-Haruna (04/04/2017 at 22:22)

Schala Payne
Image:
Link to external image
When she landed on igneous rocks

Story
Am I unconscious? No, I can't be. I hear it, it's calling me. It's twisting my mind with sounds only gods can make, it's hands are tearing apart my skin making me go deeper into the abyss and I can feel it for real. It's not a dream anymore, there are no images flashing, just big black emptiness. An endless hole vacuuming me inside. Am I to meet my maker or I've wasted my second chance?... It all went silent. I can only hear a loud bang... One more, and another one right behind it.
If I could ever call this a dream, I was awaken from it by a loud crash. It wasn't the motorcycle crash sound as before, and it made me realize something is not right. My apartment door collapsed in front of me and I could see her. The same old lady who got me confused with some Marlene. I knew I could deal with her in a matter of seconds but something in her wild eyes made me go stiff. "Marlene you have to come with me before the portal opens!". I wasn't sure if I should repeat that I'm not Marlene, besides, she was looking for ME, which way she called me was not important at the moment. Even though she was clearly out of her mind at this moment, I felt the need to actually listen to her. I felt the ground shaking and trembling under my feet.
"I guess it can't get worse than this..." I mumbled to my chin and grabbed her hand.
She was travelling through space and time faster than light, I could feel my hand nearly being ripped off from the force of ripping and bending space
"Don't let it go Marlene! she yelled and I paid attention to her face, it was changing as well. Her eyes shifted from blue to green and then back again to that insensitive expression. She smiled, but in the other second she was furious as a beast, and then, it completely changed. I felt like the time stopped, and it probably did. We were in some bend of time. She released my hand and faced me. In the brief moment I saw my mother in front of me, I haven't seen her in ages. Not after she and my father died to unknown circumstances. I started crying, but she was smiling, she was caressing my cheek telling me that everything will be ok. Then I saw my father. A bold man, augment to the point of no recognition. The best doctors worked on him, and have changed all except his face - he wanted that to stay the same. His cold metal hand grabbed my shoulder and in his deep, calming voice, he told me it will all be over soon. Then it started changing faster, in split seconds I could see my ex boyfriend, my best friend, the girl who demanded me to teach her how to paint, my doctor, and then I saw myself. It was like looking in the mirror, but another me didn't imitate me. It just grinned. Is this an evil grin or smile that was supposed to reasure me it's gonna be all right? The woman, returning to her old self vanished and I fell to the ground.
The ground was actually igneous rock, I could still feel the heat burning my soles. I thought I was all alone, but once my eyes adjusted to darkness I saw tons of macabre creatures. Their extremities dangling around as they flied around me. Shrieking sound they emited made me feel utter fear. Were they out to get me?
"Do you know what this is? profound voice whispered from somewhere in the darkness and perfectly round circle opened up before my eyes
"Do you dare to step in?
I started backing behind
"There's nothing around you, you could wander for eternity. It will close in one minute. I repeat, do you dare to step in?
Behind the circle I could see the stars, old ancient nubian gods, and thousands of constellations, but it was somewhat sinister
The waves from that thing are waking a thousand sleeping senses in us; senses which we inherit from aeons of evolution from the state of detached electrons to the state of organic humanity. I have seen truth, and I intend to shew it to you. Do you wonder how it will seem?"
Knees weak I decided to step into it, it was closing, and I wondered if I've made the right choice...

Last edited by Harle (05/04/2017 at 01:38)

Round 3 is closed

Welcome to Round 4 of “What's your story”, a multi-round writing contest where you're going to be crafting your own short story one round at a time with prompts from me based on information you provide.

You guys are AWESOME and I'm thoroughly enjoying your stories.

As a reminder for this contest all stories must fit into the urban fantasy genre. Please reread the description of the genre in the first post if you need a reminder about the basic parameters.

An IMPORTANT note about story length. Please read BEFORE you do anything else

At minimum please provide 3 complete sentences per round that are relevant to the task being presented. At maximum please feel free to write as much as you want but note that you don't need to write the same amount for each round. I know life happens, inspiration bubbles and then fizzles, or you just feel blocked but still want to play along it's 1,000,000% okay to not write a novella every round.

Round 4: The End?

This round is pretty simple, time for your stories to come to an end...or not...


For Round four please provide the following:

1. Character name

2. Image of your main character (please indicate where in the story the image is from)

3. The story. Think about how you want things to end, does your main character accomplish her quest or is a new chapter about to start?

4. A title for your story

Complete entries for this round will earn you a super cool banner

Round four is going live at 8:00pm EST on Tuesday it will be open until 8:00 EST on Friday. Until we get Fashionista Standard Time (I hope we get Fashionista Standard Time), note that I'm basing this timing on being on the East Coast in the United States and we're currently in Spring Daylight Savings Time, as far as I can tell you're located somewhere in the UK you're 5 hours ahead of me. I hope that's not too confusing.

Last edited by Dare (05/04/2017 at 01:12)

Schala Payne
Image:
Link to external image

The unnameable
"How can you treat death so lightlty?" whispers behind me woke me up from a trance like state after entering the portal. I was sitting on a ruined seventeenth-century tomb. It was late afternoon of what I would call an autumn day at old burying ground in unknown place. For some time I was lost, I wandered through pile of old tombs and tombstones. This was otherworldly considering "my world" was more than modernized. Twilight had now approached, but I had no wish of wandering anymore, I wanted to get to the end of this macabre environment which seemed like something that can't be achieved. The dusk fell, and I saw lights faintly gleamed in some of the distant mausoleums, but suddenly I couldn't move. Was it due to fear of the unknown or fear of what I knew. Amid the mists of what seemed as a dream I cried to the rhytmical stars - the only thing here that differed from blackness around me.
"How can you treat death so lightly?" I heard the sentence again, just when I forgot about it. I realized it's useless to try to find the source of sound, it was all around me and yet nowhere to be found.
"How can you treat death so lightly?" Now, the voice seemed slightly upset that I'm ignoring it and I decided to answer
It's because it happens. It just happens... It is inevitable, my mother died, my father also, and I did. And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful I got the second chance, but I do not mourn the falling of a leaf or the breaking of a wave. I rarely even sorrow for a shooting stars as it burns itself up in the atmosphere just to please our eyes. Why should I?
The world around me started falling, trembling and tearing down. Among the mists of gray gleamed godlike form of a death. Wearing golden sandals a caduceus-bearing form of a beauty like nothing on earth appeared before me. Before the face of jackal form appeared h spoke:
"Wheels turning, the motorcycle's roar grows steady, which, too, is a form of silence."
I was shocked, it was the same voice painting emitted, the same sentence behind the layers of paint, behind the godlike creature I saw what I would call a "footage" of my crash from a birdlike perspective and then I saw him, the creature that was standing in front of me, carrying my body swift as light from the highway. The other person was left to die.
"He was not worthy as you are, nor he could carry the galaxy in his eyes. he said calmly
"How could you say someone's life was not worthy?!
"I will ask again, how can you, then, treat your death so lightly?" I had no counter-argument to this, it was beyond my beliefs to oppose this "Between you and me, you were the only one who could fulfill what I want. I had another creation of mine, sorry for calling you creation, but you are. More than you are flesh you are me, you are all and you are none. An abomination of a galaxy molded by my hands. In the act of binding mutual passions I created perfect you, but you were on your way to waste it. I had another "one" like you, he chose his own name, yours was chosen by your parents, the other parts of you was chosen by others. For some you are Schala, for some you are Marlene, for some you are Leena, but for me you are one. My previous one will get mad, you must atone for that. He is strong, he is undefeated, he was loyal but he is not faithful to me anymore. You are seventh try, look at those who failed. he gestured his hand in some weird movement and behind him I saw mutated bodies and wandering souls. They weren't unhappy, but they were all dead
"Don't mourn them as dead, it had to happen, you would be here also if you weren't worthy of my time. They are happy here, this is, what you would call "heaven" or "hell", I don't know how to make it closer to you. I simply call this house of death, and there's nothing sad about it, they will find a new body to live in, new life to experience. You may ask how are you different? You got to live your life, to have your soul and your body, I now give you a chance to decide. Are you willing to oppose former one and still have your life, or you want me to kill you painless now, so you could wait for another form to immigrate into? You have one hour to decide as I need to take care for new tenants. he walked slowly but gracefully and I was left speechless.
Wandering souls were indeed happy, they were dancing once "he" left with faces filled with laughter but I couldn't hear it. Either was I deaf or they were mute, and I couldn't grasp what was happening. One transparent hand touched me and said "You know, sometimes when earth's gods are homesick, they visit in the still night the peaks where once they dwelt, and weep softly as they try to play as before. Our master went there more than ever in the moments before your death. He may seem heartless, and he probably is, but you are his only hope to kill his abomination. He even smiled yesterday." the soul disappeared right before my eyes and left me even more baffled. Their master? His abomination? Another one, which seemed like a woman, hugged me and whispered close to my ear "For seven days, no clouds came, moon shone down cold through the mists of this castle, but moon disappeared once you came, you took it, you are it... Suddenly they all dissappeared, I tried to hear something, anything, the sound, the voices, nothing... An hour passed leaving me to my decision. I felt like I was moving upwards, and I was, a pedestal was forming beneath my feet and I was face to face with him again.
"I just realized his voice was more calming than ever "I haven't introduced myself... And I consider you should know my name before you turn me down.

I haven't even decided whether I should accept or not.

Silence. I am abomination of those stronger than me, but your mind can't cope the fact that something is stronger and more ancient than gods. I am the god, but I am not the only one. Humanity abandoned us all when we gave them new age technology and ability to solve natural disasters. They didn't need me anymore or my brothers, sisters and companions. You, mankind, still think we were invented as a fictional "people" who would help you through tough times, and you still are oblivious that we are holding the ropes as you are mere stooge. If you decide to hold to this life, you will meet the others, some are my enemies, some are my allies, and some are indifferent. But if you choose to get killed by my hand, you should know you are being killed by the hand of Anubis. Now please, I don't have much time to waste, what is your decision?"
I have met my maker, there was no other desire of mine I should chase, but as he gave me the purpose his quest became mine
"I want to live..."

Very well.
I felt strong chest pain and I saw light emitting through it like I'm disappearing, sound of lightness was more intense than anything I've heard in my life but I still heard Anubis's voice before me

"We shall meet again, "The one"..."

Last edited by Harle (07/04/2017 at 19:37)

Gia Edwards

Title: The past will always come back

Outfit:
Link to external image
(meeting with coven's officials)

Story:
Game on, sister.
THe only lit part of the whole room was a computer screen. Its lighting gave Gia a little haunting appearance, as she typed commands relentlessly. It was strange to see familiar things back, without that pushing force steering her away.
And - what was unexpected - the skillbook kept her abilities not only intact, but also fresh, as if yesterday she hacked a government server. Familliar rush of adrenaline circled in her blood ash she was searching for any traces that Racquel left.
And she found plenty, mostly around recent times, but also before the thievery. Although, when she confronted the files of employees, it was forming a clear picture. Racquel broke into the server, stole the address, most likely posted it out somewhere where the coven had access and employed herself in the Society. For what reason, Gia had no idea. But it was forming a circle.
Racquel was her rival from six years ago. Gia ensured that no traces of her were found... But Society of Preservation demanded her skills to be preserved... in  form of small book. A book that was tied to her. No wonder that Racquel found her that easily. Even if she was seasoned, she still kept making mistakes. Just like the one where she forgot to put another layer of security. A hole Gia exploited thoroughly, watching for any signs of counterattack, carefully dismantling any security Racquel had, not making herself known. She was in for some nasty surprises, setting a few while still trying to be as anonymous as possible. She didn't want Racquel to be hot on her trail and even confronting her. It was nasty business.
WHen she was done, she removed any traces of her intrusion she could and sent the data to the Society's specialists. She has done her part, now onto the spell reversing...

~*~

"Miss Edwards, are you certain it will work?" Edwin's mother asked her, staring suspiciously at the ingredients and a sheet with exact instructions. "Red thistle is a powerful medium and spels casted with it are known to be irreversable."
"My sources proved otherwise, ma'am and I've seen them work before on irreversable spells" Gia gave Edwin the crystal dust to sprinkle around the terrain.
She lied. She had never seen them working on such spells. Then again, Society had a share of impressive work. She had no reason not to trust in their abilities... although some things they've acquired were obtained by means she couldn't agree with. She hoped that counterspell wasn't one of them.
"I'll trust you" the woman nodded. "What do I need to do?"
"Place the candles in a crescent moon shape... Eddie, are you done?"
"Yes, ma'am" boy quickly rushed to her. "What's next?"
"You'll be doing the incantation, hold this..."
"A prism?" Edwin's mother took interest in the item.
"Prism, crystal dust, candles with extract from magnolia's petals" Gia counted. "And jasmine exctract sprayed on the appearing silhouette. That should do it."
"My mother would never thought of this combination..." the woman said. "For Fay red thistle is..."
"Well, my contacts are not Fay, so they aren't bound by something like this" Gia shrugged. "We're ready. Eddie, bring it."
It felt like an eternity when Edwin, held by his mother, chanted words in Latin, another language that was foreign in Fay's mouth, they used something similar to Gaelic, but right now, all she needed to do, was wait until the school would appear to spray the extract.
And so she did when the school started to appear. Edwin seemed to weaken at this moment, though...
"Mrs Carmichael?" it was a soft whisper from her, an order to take over.
"I... was born without magic" she said flatly. "Only Edwin has it."
It wasn't good, but then again, Edwin's mother moved to hold the boy in case he'd faint. Luckily he didn't and when they were done, the school building appeared safe and sound...
"That should do it" Gia summed up after thorough examination. "We can hit the sack finally" she moved her arms to slightly ease the tension that miraculously gathred in her. "Good thing the weekend is tomorrow, I can rest..."
"Then I'll see that Edwin goes to schol at Monday" Edwin's mother smiled slightly.
"Tuesday. He needs to rest."
That seemed the best course of action and even Gia herself hoped to have a bit of freedom after this occurrence.
However, she never got it. The moment she was alone on the street, she felt being pulled somewhere. To average observer, she just vanished.

~*~

"You've caused us trouble, Miss Edwards."
She was here, in the darkened, round room, filled with candles, desks and a table. She was brought here, most likely by a spell, already wearing these clothes. Something she'd rather not wear if it wasn't more official meeting.
For all her avoidance of confrontations that were deemed unnecessary, she failed miserably. And now she was thrown to the wolves. Again.
The elderly woman before her had a pentacle, tattoed on her hand. She was most likely somewhere where Magi Coven gathered.
"I don't understand" she shook her head.
"I thought it was clear that Society of Preservation had no business here. And not only you've been wearing their spell on you, but also disturbed our agents' work."
"Um... So vaishing of the school was intended?" she played the innocent card, but really was curious why.
THis question apparently caused a stir amongst the gathered. She heard whispers of the other people.
"You're telling us, Miss Edwards, thatsomebody from our coven is responsible for the recent happenings?"
"I just asked a question..."
Before anybody answered, the door opened. In walked Caroline Murray, rather distraught.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid that our hacker is experiencing multiple attacks and she..." she stopped after seeing Gia. "You... What are you doing here? Hacked your way in?"
"I'm no hacker, Mrs Murray, you know that..." Gia passed a lie. She was a hacker, back again, with the skillbook that contained her abilities.
"Liar, Racquel told me..."
"Caroline" voice of the elderly woman cut the air. "Did you have anything to do with school's vanishing?"
For the moment silence fell in the room and Gia felt confused. This wasn't something she was prepared for, let alone see that the animosity shifted from her to the woman... and the hell unleashed.
She had never expected to hear such vocabulary...
"Can I go home then?" she asked after the whole thing subsided.
"... Yes, that would be the best" the elderly woman was distraught. "I'd appreciate that the next time you'd turn to us."
Five minutes later she was close to her home, back in the normal clothes and could finally breathe again. It will take a few days for the school board to get over this incident and she hoped she'd keep her job. Racquel was punished, Murray wouldn't be bothering her again...
Everything seemed to be turning well and she hoped that nothing like this would happen again.
If so, she had phone number to the coven and she'd let them deal with it.

Last edited by Siri (07/04/2017 at 19:56)

Name: Mari Kaminaga

Title: Broken Wings

Image:

Story:
I confronted Ryu.

He asked if I could meet him at a café later in the day.

I said yes.

Earlier, I managed to stop the heated argument between Ryu and the other student. I was shy but it didn't mean that I didn't have the courage to stop them; I was an angel after all, a race that fought against the evil in the past.

Then Ryu thanked me for stopping the fight although I had no idea why; perhaps he was about to be attacked by the other student? But why would Ryu, someone so respected, be offended?

Ryu then told me that it would be nice if I could meet him tonight and that he simply wanted to buy me a meal to thank me in return. I was curious about the real reason because he, like many others, knew I was not someone who could be bought by food.

Hours had passed since then and I was just about to head off into the city in a casual outfit. I considered taking the bus or the subway but... why not stretch my wings? It seemed like my life had finally became more exciting, and now I finally wanted to give it a shot. Whether or not Ryu was an angel, at least I could either become his friend or challenge him and even some sort of evil organization trying to get rid of the nephilim.

Last edited by Yukibana-Haruna (08/04/2017 at 00:22)

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