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Universal Events: Heart Strings plucked by Angel Wings

PROLOGUE: G.O.D

This one's for @travellingtribble, you know who you are. Shoutout to you tho, I've been wanting to write abt this for a long time <3

(Also check out my Inkitt: https://www.inkitt.com/SillyGooseUniversity)

(Update: I'm posting the same book on my Inkitt as well.)

TW UNDER THE CUT!!

TW: Religious trauma, homo/transphobia, gore (not too descriptive), death

I was one step ahead of him, ahead of his entire following, I thought I would be able to keep her out of harm's way so we could have our happily ever after together. I wanted to keep her safe, but she couldn't sit still and wait for me to take down the very thing that displaced us in society. My cries for her to stop were muffled over the sounds of fighting and yelling, and the blinding sun didn't do any good.

My foot bled as I limped across the grass, one hand on my stomach and the other outstretched to grab her shoulder, but she was too fast. She ran inside Heaven Capitol before I could warn her about the growing flames that busted through the windows of the once pristine gold and marble building where everything appeared ok but held the darkest of secrets my beloved was freed from not even a few months ago.

I yelped as my leg was caught on a jagged piece of fence that was crushed during the chaos, the wound on my leg opened more as I tried to free myself, my eyes darting from my bloodied leg to The Capitol that was almost completely consumed in flames. My movements became desperate as I managed to free myself from the fallen fence, but my relief was cut short when I heard a terrifying creak above me. The pit in my stomach swallowed me whole as I looked up with a shaky breath.

Before my very eyes, the terrible statue of G.O.D in the middle of this warzone that towered 25ft above me groaned. I felt the cracking of the rocks beneath me as the ankles of the statue were set loose and everything above it was sent downwards and towards me.

In those moments I didn't bother to count, time stopped my life flashed before my eyes...

The sound of the door slamming, the community I helped build for those who were like me, seeing her face for the first time, the future we were supposed to have together fell apart and two realities came crashing down onto my entire being.

I have a loooooooong car ride ahead of me

I’ll get drawing and maybe some writing done tho 💯💯 but should i add another chapter to Heart Strings Plucked by Angel Wings or 10 Boys, One Crown, One Down (damn why tf are my titles so long😭)

update: how the hell did I SLEEP the entire 4 hour car ride

update2: we’re driving again and I woke up from a nap let’s see if any writing gets done!!💪💪

UPDATE3: nope. none. I slept again.

Universal Events: Heart Strings plucked by Angel Wings

CHAPTER ONE: CITY OF TEMPLES

OKOK LETS SEE IF I CAN GET THIS DONE IN ONE SITTING

PROLOGUE

~

MY INKITT

TW--FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK-- UNDER THE CUT, I WAS A LITTLE UNCLEAR AT THE TIME

TW: Religious trauma, homo/transphobia, gore (not awfully descriptive), death.

ALBERTA'S PERSPECTIVE

The long way around for me was the best way around. It didn't matter if it was raining or if there was an emergency, it was better to walk around Ocean Street. In such a large city like this, there were a million ways to go in every direction away from The Temple. But that was in the back of my mind right now, all that mattered was getting home safe every day.

West Pue City wasn't the greatest place to live when you're looking for acceptance, it's a predominantly conservative city caged by the thousands of temples people walk in and out of every day, the sounds of hymns and prayers rung from their interior, chanting the same verses over and over again. I had no problem with it, not anymore.

I pressed the button at a crosswalk and waited for the light to turn red as cars whizzed by, honking their horns and spitting gas out of their exhaust pipes. I unintentionally craned my neck up to stare at the clouds and the bustling city of Heaven above them, I couldn't help but allow myself to be entranced by the angelic flapping of the missionaries' wings as they flew down gracefully to the temples across the city. Sometimes I catch myself wondering what it would be like to have wings like that, to be able to go anywhere you wanted and make it look so easy and beautiful. This thought made me reach up to fiddle with my horns, feeling my head be jostled by the sudden pull from my hand poking the tips. I always got weird, judgmental stares from The Gojulistic people around me, it wasn't common to see someone who hadn't cut their horns as it was the ultimate way to show your devotion— if you had any— to G.O.D.

I'd read somewhere that humans around 19 thousand years ago didn't have any horns at all. In every single history book I was forced to read in school, I never saw horns on any regular human, and I saw the same horns I had on animals like the mythical creatures— that somehow existed back then, which was wild to me— like these things called "goats" and "cows." I saw old humans as someone of the same species, but so different in the same way.

Before I could go deeper down the rabbit hole of my mind, the shuffling of bodies interrupted me, and my feet began to carry me across the street. I grabbed my arms and rubbed with a groan as the usual routine of the air doing a sudden 180 and dropping a few degrees every night of the Winter without fail, even though it was only 6PM.

I made it back to my apartment in time before the night became too cold and shuffled up the stairs as I reached into my pocket to grab my room key. To my horror, I couldn't feel the cold, jagged metal on my fingertips and I let out a groan. Fixing my jacket and throwing my bag back over my head, I ran back down the stairs and rushed back out onto the sidewalk as I retraced my steps back to the cafe.

Universal Events: 10 Boys, One Crown, One Down

PROLOGUE: DICTATORSHIP

(JEIWHUHFIWE IM SORRY I UPLOADED THIS ONE ON MY INKITT AND FORGOT TO PUT IT HEREEEE)

Chapter 1

TW(FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK): (Violent) Death, intense gore, depression, slight ableism (SOMETIMES)

I watched through a crack in the door as the desperate pleading of fear rung throughout the room. It was muffled from the soundproofing, but I could faintly hear it through a chip in the door. The only thing that was able to drown out the sounds of the voice in pain was the sound of some metal whirring to life and the gleam long, giant needle slowly inching towards something, the something where the voice was coming from. I couldn't see him through the towering guards I'd learned about from my dad, the ones that I'd never seen until now, the ones that made me begin to question my faith in The Kingdom. I wanted to run inside and save him, but I knew everyone in there— except for the victim— would kill me without hesitation to make sure their secret wouldn't get out and their magic would be safe.

I suppressed my own scream as the pleading became blood-curdling screams of agonizing torture that I knew would have death in tow, and he would be gone. My faith shattered as adrenaline kicked in and I inched the door open.

I wouldn't let him down now that I knew the truth about someone I never knew.

Universal Events: 10 Boys, One Crown, One Down

CHAPTER ONE: YOUNGEST 9

Prologue

~

Chapter 2

TW(FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK): (Violent) Death, intense gore, depression, slight ableism (SOMETIMES)Keep reading

NNAMDI'S PERSPECTIVE

For as long as I could remember, I'd never gotten a full night's rest. Just because my room was situated above all of my brothers' rooms didn't mean anything was quiet, ever. There was always some sort of activity happening somewhere in the castle, and all eight of my brothers' rooms weren't an exception, far from it. Even if by some chance all fell silent, I wouldn't be able to get a wink of sleep for fear of something being wrong.

But on this fateful day, The Fifth Youngest of The Loshi-Loshaj sons, Devlin, had decided that 8AM was the perfect time to crank up the amplifier and see if he could wake up everyone above him in the 10-story building with his electric guitar, scraping his pick up and down the ridged strings before ripping it up and down the strings to the melody of the same songs all of us knew by heart by now because of how much he played them. Once Devlin was locked onto a song he liked and knew how to play it on his guitar, the music wouldn't ever stop. Before where the chorus would have been in the song Devlin was playing—a loud grunge song with chords that seemed to change every three seconds and riffs I couldn't imagine playing, even if he claimed they were easy— I could already hear a chorus of 7 voices spitting different demands, even someone— or multiple someones—stomping aggressively on the floor. I gave up resisting and felt around for my phone on my beside table, knocking a few things onto the ground and swearing before I felt the cold, cracked screen of my phone and grabbed it. I dragged my hand to my face and fumbled with the passcode before texting the group-chat. The clicking sound of my keypad barely audible above the yelling, stomping, and the now halted guitar.

Nnamdi: 'Hey can you guys shut up'

Rio: 'Sorry :('

Devlin: 'K'

Dharma: 'Alr'

Chancey: 'yeah DEVLIN'

Devlin: 'SHUT'

Devlin: 'I will send THE chicken ur way i swearrr'

Chancey: 'Which one lol'

Kaede: 'ooooh'

I silenced my phone before a round of offensive banter began in the group-chat and planted my face back into my pillow with a sigh as the noise in the house ceased to its usual morning bustle. At that point, I was too awake to go back to sleep. I rolled over and rubbed my eyes as I tried to adjust to the sudden burst of light from my phone and the window as I stood up and steadied myself. I could tell no one else was able to fall asleep after what just happened, I could hear everyone else below me stirring and beginning their day as well.

I was never sad or angry at my family, I loved them dearly in fact—down to Sir Burnt Toast—so much so I dreaded a sliver of a thought of their deaths crossing my mind, even if it were of old age after a long, fulfilling life. I was content. Content with my family. I wasn't a smiley person, not a frowning person. Just a content guy with a content face and a big family, and I was ok with that.

Another thing I've never had— and never had a problem with— was a full dining table. Someone— if not multiple or everyone— was missing from a seat, and it was too awkward to sit alone with my dad when he was here, so I usually walked back upstairs to my room with my usual plate of the same food fitting my persnickety tastes. I didn't consider myself a loner despite being the obvious odd one out from the rest of the family. I often find myself wondering if everything would be better if I had even a bit of magic, even if it were something useless. I'd read books about people who didn't have magic, but they were scarce and poorly written by authors with magic. I've long since accepted it, but sometimes it did send a pang of sadness through my heart and a lump rising in my throat like fresh dough ready to be cooked.

Before I could finish my thought, a chicken— formally dubbed Sir Burnt Toast by Devlin, Chancey later convinced him to add the 'Sir' part— pranced down the hallway, her claws making the tiniest clicking sound on the marble floor. She clucked as a greeting before stopping at a trimmed bush in a white pot with teal flower details to investigate and peck at the small leaves next to the exit door to one of the many porches on the main building.

"Morning, sir." I nodded to the chicken as she wandered aimlessly around the corridor, her head twitching in every direction as if she were seeing this hallway for the first time, even though she'd walked down this hallway billions of times.

“Good morning, I guess.” Before I could turn around, I was cut off by Devlin slamming his palm on the back of my head, earning a throaty, exaggerated 'ack!' from me and sending me forward a few steps. He bent down with a hearty chuckle— trying to brush off the guilt of the fact that he sometimes forgot how strong he was and how he might've left me with a hand shaped bruise on the back of my neck— and scooped Sir Burnt Toast up and into his arms, her wings flapped for only a second before she settled into his arms as if to say, 'I know this guy, so I guess it's ok', her head still swiveling to look out of the windows and into the paintings arranged in rows on the walls. “Nerd.” Devlin added under a fake cough into his shoulder. I punched his arm in response, causing Burnt Toast to squawk and dig her nails into Devlin’s arms and chest. He winced and let her down, reaching under the sleeve of his black shirt and rubbing the white and blue marks she'd left from her claws.

"Thanks for the gift this morning. Dragging your pick thingy on your strings was the perfect way to start my morning."

"I can do it tomorrow, just for you." We both snickered at this and pushed each other lightheartedly.

I was the closest to Devlin in my family, even though we had little in common and he picked on me relentlessly. But even so, we stuck by each other like best friends— if we weren’t already.

Me and Devlin did have one thing in common: we weren’t appreciated as much as the rest of my family for our abilities—or rather a lack in abilities— by our brothers and father.

Everyone in the Loshi-Loshaj family has magic that comes in any form one way or another, except for me. One could create acid from everywhere on his body, one could create and manipulate electricity and lightning, and one could even spit fire—which was convenient for all of us, he’s an exquisite chef.

Devlin did have magic, but it’s completely useless and can't be used on command. Virtually all he could do was raise his body temperature enough to vaporize water in under a minute or so, which isn't any fun when it's 80 degrees outside and evaporated sweat stinks up the castle and everywhere else he goes. But at least he had the highest MRPB— Magic Rate Per Breath, the amount of magic let out with each breath which also determines how strong someone's magic is— at 92.32, setting him the highest on the domestic totem pole within our family, and giving him the most likely chance to be crowned next.

"It was quite lovely to wake up to... Whatever you were playing."

"They're called Pearl Jam, weirdo. A normie like you wouldn't get it." Devlin scoffs and tilts his chin up satirically.

"Aren't they, like, all dead by now?"

"They have been, unless they're immortal or something and can live for a gazillion years... Or something."

"Didn't they peak in the 1980's?" I said hesitantly, hoping I wouldn't get lectured for getting this bit of trivia wrong.

"Early 1990s." Devlin corrected without looking up, his wrist craned up so his middle finger could pet the back of Sir Burnt Toast's neck— who he'd picked up while I was trying to remember the melody of the song Devlin was playing this morning.

"Right," I said, "How'd you find out about them? It's been like..." I trailed off and pulled my phone out from my shorts pocket and opened my calculator app, punching in a few numbers. "16,975 years." I whistled and fumbled my phone back into my pocket. "How'd you even find out about those guys?" I asked with a raised brow. "I thought humans went extinct way before then."

"On some ancient website I found while scrolling on Krome looking for something to play. It's called, like, Wikipedia or something. Pearl Jam's music was hard to find on YouTube, but I've got, like, all of their songs on my playlist."

"Wikipedia." I parroted to myself and shrugged, shoving my hands in my pockets. "Sounds legit!"

"It's credible, too." Devlin said confidently. "If you were having a heart attack, I'd just ask Wikipedia for help!"

"How do you know that? We have enough money for an ambulance." I laughed at my own comment.

"Because I'm smart, and heavily educated." Devlin boasted. We both knew he was wrong. The Loshi-Loshaj brothers collectively agreed that Obi— The Second Youngest— was the one with the most passion and drive to learn everything he could. We'd often walk in on him— sometimes balanced on a step stool to reach the higher parts of the wall— doing some sort of equation on his whiteboard wall that looked like a foreign language to me. A clutter of science, math, notes about language arts and history here and there littered the wall top to bottom like shiny, colorful wallpaper.

"Says the guy who carries around his pet chicken all the time." I rub Burnt Toast's head with my fingers as the chicken clucks in response as she circles Devlin's feet. "Seriously, what is it with you and Burnt Toast?"

"That's Sir Burnt Toast to you." Devlin bumps my shoulder as the two of us exit the corridor and into the large, towering main castle space that reached high into the sky, with large gaping windows that overlooked the massive grounds of Loshaj Castle; the grass with colorful specks of flowers that Kaede tended to with nimble hands and attentive eyes, the variety of animals that roamed the soft grass Devlin spent the hours with, the huge spiraling tower that was built with Camille and his artistic skills in mind that overlooked every part of the castle— and that could hold the dozens of paintings and drawings he'd spend all night working on— the smooth, paved roads that went all around the castle grounds for Rio— and sometimes the others— to skateboard on, and the biggest library I've ever seen piled high with what could very well be every book in the world on towering bookshelves with sliding ladders attached to them, the kinds you'd see in the movies where the eccentric librarians would zip from one shelf to another without falling, and the open area decorated with everything a professor and mathematician could ever want for Obi.

The castle would never fall short of windows, like the architect had an obsession with stylized frames and panes double my height. But the largest window was a stained-glass window with our family crest on it; a long royal blue snake-like dragon spinning itself into a spiral with outstretched claws and red spikes on its back on a rainbow background of thick vibrant glass that casted a bright filter of blended colors onto the floor. The window ranked above the rest of the windows a few feet above a small yet sharply decorated plateau with a Bifurcated Staircase, that specific structure defined The Loshaj Castle and its pride as its own kingdom, pride was a huge thing in my family. We were held to higher standards than many of the other kingdoms in The Isle of Conagoda because we were the forefront of royalty, practically textbook definition. The royalty of royalties and the crested window of windows,

Everyone— by that I mean me and my brothers— called it something different: Double Pride Window, That One, The Rayquaza Window, Fancy Staircase Window, Giant-Hole-In-The-Wall, and The-Big-Rainbow-One-In-The-Main-Castle. I just called it The Window, and everyone knew what I was talking about.

I squinted and shielded my eyes with my hand as I walked under the radiant rays of the sun prismatically reflecting off of the tile floor and into my eyes until I felt the warmth leave my skin and the offensive lights ease off of my eyes as me and Devlin entered the spacious dining area: The huge kitchen connected to a booth where we'd sometimes sit to do our homework and a huge rectangular table with elegant chairs and an especially large one at the head for my dad. Zikhona was already in the kitchen, hard at work doling out meals for everyone at an almost breakneck pace while Rio sat stretched over the counter, watching with his eyes locked on a pot full of hard-boiled eggs as he waited to tell Zikhona when they were ready. It was small gestures like this that he appreciated, especially when he was as busy as he was now. A lot of pressure was on him to provide for his brothers, especially since he was the oldest of all of us.

Rio noticed us from his peripheral and glanced up for a moment, propping himself up on his elbows.

'Good morning.' He signed briefly with a small smile before turning his attention back to the boiling eggs with the same enthusiasm as before. He used both hands to pull his curly black hair out of his face in an awkward manner before tucking it behind his pointy blue ears.

'Morning.' I signed just before Rio looked back down. "Morning, Zikhona." I yawned and patted his shoulder as I walked by.

"Hey." He replied quickly, his speech stilted by his concentration as Rio alerted him, signing that the eggs were ready. There was the low hum of conversation behind the counter where Obi was reading a book thicker than his own balled fist, Camille was thumbnailing his new painting on some flashcards, Chancey was trying not to melt his fork with his acid magic, and Kaede and Dharma were debating about two of the newer artists that had risen on the charts and were neck-in-neck with each other in terms of popularity. Dharma was strongly defending a rap and pop artist while Kaede was trying to get a word in about pop-rock band. It surprised me— and most likely everyone else— to see every one of my brothers in the room at the same time, different shades of royal blue skin spread around the space.

"What's the occasion?" Dharma interjected with his usual silvery voice when his eyes landed on me and Devlin, his voice projecting through his conversation with Kaede while he was lecturing Dharma about why his defending band's music was revolutionary and was better than that of 'The Queen of Rap.'

"Dunno," Obi piped up, it was hard to hear from where he had his nose buried in his book. "Are we missing a birthday, a holiday? Or..." He trailed off, muttering a "Y'know" under his breath in a taut manner.

"No way!" This set something off in Kaede— as if he weren't already in a bad mood— and cut him off curtly. "Dad isn't even home from Greenleaf City yet, and it takes him forever to tell us who's gonna be crowned. Most of the time, it's a fake-out and he says something like, 'There's a crown for everyone!'" He grew more agitated with every word before resting his chin on the table and crossed his arms in front of him with a low growl. Dharma leaned away from him as Rio rushed over and softly patted his shoulder with caution before drawing his hands back to speak.

'Don't worry. He's just looking after us all! Plus, if you were to become king of Greenleaf, who'd take care of our gardens?' Rio signed, flinging his hands around quickly, growing almost desperate to mend the rift in the conversation with each gesture. Rio's empathy would be the death of him. When Kaede touched on this topic— or got agitated in general— it was best to back off and let him simmer down on his own.

'Whatever, just get out of here.' Kaede signed sharply, making Rio flinch slightly. I could see the harrowing regret forming in his eyes. He brushed it off, scoffing and standing up from his chair, the legs screeching on the floor as he stormed away and towards the hallway. Chancey dropped his half-melted fork on the table and blocked Kaede's path.

"Dude, you can't just walk all over people like that!" He raised his voice slightly, grabbing Kaede's shoulders to try and keep him from walking away

"Whatever." Kaede spat, jerking his elbows around to try and break free from Chancey's grip. Neither of them was willing to let the other go without a fight, even if it were mild and no one got hurt.

"No, you have to apologize for what you said to Rio," He shook Kaede a little. "It's nice!"

"Dude, seriously, let go." There was a pang of hurt in Kaede's voice as he thrashed his arms around even more.

"Are you going to fess up for your behavior?"

"Yeah, now let go!" There was an unusual desperation in his voice and a hiss from Chancey's hands.

"Why are you moving around so much—" Chancey cut himself off. He looked down at his hands and yelped as he tore them away from where his acid magic had been burning through the fabric of Kaede's shirt with a low hiss. A second or so later and it would've started to burn his skin off, but it only left two sizzling holes on his sleeves and pieces of burnt fabric on Chancey's hands. "Oh," he said quietly as the situation sunk in. "Wait—"

"Just shut up!" Kaede snapped and shoved past Chancey, making a beeline for the hallway where me and Devlin entered from. Chancey wanted to call out to him and cram endless apologies into his head, but he knew the damage was done and there wasn't anything they could do to make them stay.

Every time Kaede walked under the rainbow window, the colors would beam down on him, dampening his dark clothes vibrant hues, it'd usually be satirical to see every color of the rainbow turning black cargo pants, band tees, and layered studded belts into a statement piece— if Kaede's sense of fashion wasn't already one.

He rounded the corner, and a few seconds later, he stepped back out to cough up one last insult. "And I bet you all could find someone better at..." He shook his hands around as he tried to find the words he needed to insult—either himself— or the rest of his kin, "Watering and pruning stuff! I don't know!" I could hear the slightest shake in his voice with a rasp over it, feigning arrogance. None of us dared to comment on it.

There was a deafening silence in the room for a long while, not even the usually chatty Dharma had anything to say, he just drummed his fingers on his arm and sighed. Camille managed to ignore the entire exchange and stayed focused on his art thumbnails, but the angrier the exchange got, and the longer silence lasted, the more cryptic and sadder the thumbnails got. After he noticed this, he piled the flashcards together and shoved them in the pocket of his jacket.

"I'm going to see the view from The West Tower." He murmured in his usual, monotone voice before he himself stood up and headed for the French doors next to the kitchen that branched off to one of the many walkways that lead around the castle grounds, making a beeline for the tower where he would usually paint.

"I think The Queen herself just dropped a new song, I can't let the listening experience be delayed or something!" Dharma feigned an innocent contentment with a smile that never reached his eyes as he excused himself and slowly walked towards the hallway Kaede exited from, the rainbow-stained glass complimented his colorful outfits and ultramarine skin.

"I need to tidy the library." Obi walked out the back door and to the large building the furthest away from the castle.

"I need to let the dough rise." Zikhona sputtered and put everything in the fridge. There was no dough in sight.

Rio sped away up an L-shaped staircase to the third floor where his room was without a word or a gesture.

"I need to wash my hands." Chancey rubbed his hands together and headed for the bathroom.

"I need to, uh... Go check on the chicken— horses. The Chicken-Horses..." Devlin stuttered with an inconsistent distance between each word, still in shock at the exchange. Chancey had never actually hurt someone with his magic, even though it was destructive. He had little to no control over it, and we all knew that he'd never intentionally hurt someone with it. He practically ran away.

This left me all alone.

Sometimes it felt impossible to even think that all of us were so closely related and packed into what always felt like a castle that was too small for all of us, and how different we actually were. Sometimes it felt impossible to try and keep everyone together.

I'd never get the crown if dad said that he'd choose "The son of power and righteousness" instead of an equal opportunity for everyone.

Because at the end of the day, we're all at each other's throats.

Universal Events: 10 Boys, One Crown, One Down

CHAPTER TWO: ONE ANOTHER

Chapter One

TW(FOR THE ENTIRE BOOK): (Violent) Death, intense gore, depression, slight ableism (SOMETIMES)Keep reading

NNAMDI'S PERSPECTIVE

I knew this could end badly. Confronting someone as hotheaded as Kaede may result in making him angrier, but this didn't mean he was a lost cause. He's an unpredictable person that takes a little bit longer to understand than others, that's all.

I leisurely strolled down the brick road leading to the garden, the white metal arch adorned with flowers of all varieties and thick, thorny vines dipping down a little too low for my tastes— even if I did have to jump to touch them— woven around the frame. Around them, there were rows upon rows of colorful bushes, peaceful and unmoving. The entire gravel space was decorated with a variety of plants, from sensitive flowers to the ginormous oak tree that stretched out in the middle of the garden that housed all kinds of wildlife. I kept my eyes peeled for the odd one out, in all black hunched over a raised garden bed and nodding his head to the beat of his favorite band.

After pacing around the maze of blood red poppies, trying to navigate the maze of flora as they flowers taunted me with their peacefulness, after coming out the way I came in twice followed by quiet cursing, I would up on the other side of a secondary arch surrounded by hydrangeas. This part of the garden seemed a little better, the hyacinth plants were much shorter and more spread out— and certainly less abusive on the eyes with their soft color. For a moment, it was like I was outside and in the real world like a normal kid.

From where I stood on the gravel, I could hear the faintest sound of guttural grunge music coming from a few flowerbeds away from me. I locked onto where the music was coming from and began to carefully weave through the crowds of flowers that occasionally brushed against my knuckles and sent the contact rippling through each other. After a handful of steps, I saw Kaede kneeling over a garden bed of lilies, mumbling the lyrics to himself. I cautiously reached down to tap his shoulder.

"You're really bad at being quiet." He pulled his earbuds out and turned his head, taking off his gardening gloves to pause his music. "What do you want?" This question caught me off guard. I've never seen him act like this. Sure, he could be curt and rude sometimes, but he's never outwardly been this mean to anyone.

"Is something going on?" I asked, nervously rocking on my heels.

"I'm fine." Kaede quipped, standing up and wiping his hands on his already dirt-stained pants. He'd been moving lilies to the barely damp dirt in a raised garden bed. After he was finished, he weaved over to the yellow hyacinths in a stone lined garden-bed and began to pick out small weeds at the stems of the flowers.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

I sighed and sat down across from him, my back against a tall lattice wall, adorned with small clips that would soon help keep plants' stems in afloat. The sun filtered through the diamond holes in the fence, blurring together on the gravel into one gold cover of light blanketing the ground. I looked up to see Kaede pruning a bush of wilting roses he was trying to revive.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked hesitantly upon seeing his steadfast attitude towards his garden. "Why do you want to be the king of Greenleaf so bad? Before you heard about it, you said that you'd stay in The Dome and The Kingdom as long as you could."

Kaede leaned back and propped himself onto his hands, brushing gravel off of his now rough pebble imprinted hands. "I don't really know. I think it does have something to do with The Dome, and everything." He sat back up. "Not that I don't like it here; I'd just like a change of scenery!" He pointed up to the sky, and the giant glass dome that sheltered the Pudiaguay Castle, it was made the temperature ever so slightly hotter, but the fans on the roof of The Dome helped with that. "And Greenleaf is revolutionizing the way the world sees and manages gardening! They're building vertical gardens almost as tall as the castle with everything the city needs, crossbreeding medicinal plants, they help people!" He grew louder with each word, but not angrier. "And so, do I. If dad finally decides that I can be crowned to any kingdom or city, then I can exchange what I know with the scientists and botanists of Greenleaf City!"

"That makes sense, I guess you can do a lot with stuff like that." I looked up at the sky— rather, The Dome. It was almost twice as tall as the castle and thicker than my outstretched arms. Dad—King Abaddon Loshi—said it was to keep me and my brothers safe from thieves, attackers, or any bitter person jealous of the horrendously rich royals. "I guess the change of scenery makes sense, we only go outside of The Dome to go to school, and even then, we're told to come right back."

"I think it's a little sketchy."

"It's to keep us safe! There can be some weird people around here."

"The only weird people are the rich, rich kids at our rich kid school." The two of us scoffed lightheartedly at that.

"They have high expectations." I added. There was a comfortable silence between me and Kaede. I can still remember the first time I went outside The Dome: It was when I was five. My dad told me to stay at his side, Rio was with us too, but he was too distracted by the sights of the kingdom to pay attention to what was going on; watching the huge, lavish buildings you'd see in a story book and the fancy clothes everyone wore, so I had to keep an iron grip—as strong a grip as a 5-year-old could have— on his wrist to keep him from wandering away. We made a few stops along the smooth concrete road to talk to some regulars he knew, mostly high-class purple skinned Iswian acquaintances, but there were some green folks here and there. At one point at the end of our walk, our dad sat me and Rio down on a bench while he went to talk to three men dressed in the same fancy clothing we'd seen a couple feet away from us, but they wore cloaks over them. They were whispering to each other in a language I couldn't understand, but they kept on snatching glances at Rio and I— who were trying to comprehend and deal with what we now know is a slight breeze— to make sure we didn't wander away, eyes landing on us for less than a few seconds. It was strange, and we only went home after a couple minutes.

I was snapped back to the present when I heard the crunching of gravel as Kaede walked towards the arch leading out of the garden. Confused, I stood up and peeked around the corner of the lattice wall. "Where are you going?" I asked, speedwalking and brushing bits of gravel off of the back of my T-Shirt and shorts, even hopping on one leg for a couple seconds to pull a pebble out of my shoe.

"To go talk to Rio." I snapped my head back up and let out an involuntary noise of confusion, earning a heavy sigh from Kaede.

"To..." I trailed off, a subtle question.

"... Apologize, for what I said earlier." He finished. It wasn't like him to apologize to anyone, even if he really wanted to. It was hard for him to face someone after such an outburst, but hearing him say that brought a smile to my face.

"I think he'd like that."

"You should go check on everyone else. Tell them I'm sorry."

"I might do it later, or maybe never." Kaede turned around at this, it was his turn to be confused with a brow furrowed and dark brown eyes just wide enough to capture the sun. "Did you hit your head on the fence or something?"

"It might do you some good to go tell them yourself." I patted him on the back, earning a few sharp scoffs from him. "I know you can." I encouraged. Kaede sighed and kicked a rock off of the path.

"Alright," He caved. "Can you at least see how they're doing n' stuff? I'll talk to them later." He ran his hands through his black coiled hair. After a couple seconds of silence, the two of us went our separate ways; Kaede to the main castle and me to Obi's Library.

I arrived at the adorned double doors leading into the main corridor of The Library and pulled them open, earning a blast of air conditioning to the face. I peeked through the roof high shelves with the Vario ladders to see if I could find a trace of my brother. I thought I'd have to turn The Library upside down to find Obi, searching through the massive rectangular shaped building with hidden spaces around every corner.

But to my surprise, I found both Obi and Dharma in the main space; Obi high up on a Vario Ladder sifting through a range of colorful books while Dharma looked up at him, nervously telling him to be careful while calling out a small list of book titles for Obi to retrieve. Shortly after I walked in, Obi grabbed another book and tucked it into a messenger bag strapped to his side— which was very obviously Dharma's, based on the way it was sharply decorated with more colorful pins and patches than you could ever imagine. Obi wouldn't be able to keep such a maximalist item without going insane, he preferred to have a "Less is More" mindset that never led with its heart.

"... Ok, next I need The 1924 Edition of Thread and Needle: Professional Designing for Experts!" Dharma called up to Obi, who looked annoyed at his persistent yelling.

"I can hear you just fine! You don't need to yell! Also, if you're an expert on the whole fashion business, then why do you need a book on it? I thought you knew all about this." Obi asked, climbing cautiously higher up on the ladder to grab the book Dharma had requested. After pushing the ladder, a little bit to the left, he grabbed a well-thumbed black book with white splotches of torn paper on the cover and pulled it out slowly so he wouldn't lose his balance. I knew this would be a bad time to make myself known; Obi was pathetically easy to scare, and I knew he'd fall if I broke his concentration.

After a few more suspenseful moments, Obi slid back down the ladder with a practiced deftness I knew he'd rehearsed thousands of times— I didn't want to think about the many times he'd hurt himself trying to do that— and handed Dharma his bag, looking relieved to both be back down on the ground and to have Dharma's bag away from him, brushing the small amounts of chipped paint from an old pin on Dharma's bag off of the side of his shirt.

“I honestly can’t understand why you’d want to ruin such a nice bag with all that stuff.” Obi sighed.

“Thank you!” Dharma sang. “This is why you’re my favorite brother. And I’d assume you of all people would know you can never learn too much about anything.”

I felt awkward spectating their conversation, and even more so since Dharma and Obi weren't the best duo considering their differences in personality and interests. I slowly and silently weaved around the bookshelves until they were in view; Even though Dharma stood only a foot or so taller than Obi, he dwarfed him with his unusually height. But the thing that stood out the most was the contrast in their fashion style; Obi dressed like he was all ready to attend an interview, with neatly ironed polo shirts and dress pants. But it always seemed like he didn't know what to do with his hair, so it was usually either leaving it down in a cloud of long, black curly hair or up in a ponytail that he insisted on doing himself, and never with the help of Dharma.

Dharma on the other hand was a fashionable maximalist who could style anything he got his hands on— including his school uniform— and would pass away before he could allow his looks to fall into a minimalistic category, always sporting runway ready outfits that were never too over the top— excluding the times when he did need to dress up fancy, he was the talk of all the school dances and the guy to go to if you needed fashion advice. It was strange to see them together, they could easily pass as friends instead of brothers.

"I guess you can't learn too much." I said awkwardly, scooting closer to the two. Obi still flinched in surprise, fumbling for a book Dharma wanted and almost dropped it.

"Nnamdi!" Obi snapped with a crack as Dharma let out a quick laugh. "Stop sneaking up on me all the time!"

"But I didn't?"

"He really didn't, you're just a scaredy cat!" Dharma put the books in his bag before adjusting it behind him as he stepped towards me. "Did you, like, need something?"

"Yeah, I wanted to bring a message," I spoke, not knowing what to expect from them. "From Kaede." There was a silence that came down on the room for a couple seconds. Obi's eyes darted about and let out a shallow sigh while Dharma quirked a brow in curiosity.

"About?"

"He says he's sorry, to everyone."

"Did he really?" Obi asked, almost incredulous, busying himself by putting some books he was reading earlier back on the shelf. No one would've expected a sincere apology from him, even if they knew he didn't really know how to apologize.

"Really, he even went to talk to Rio."

"Good for him! Nice to know he's finally coming out of his shell, a very angry one." Dharma commented, realizing how harsh that sounded but deciding to leave it be.

"So, yeah. Kaede is sorry, he might stop by later to tell you in person."

After a few more words of exchange and banter—that mostly involved teasing Obi about how easy he is to scare— I bid my goodbyes and exited the large building, abandoning the cool air of The Library and into the warm glow of the sun again. After adjusting to the jarring change in temperature, I began the walk to Camille's Tower.

the public has spoken.

Also how tf do you close polls a week is too long and a day is too short I’m clickin the close button and the close button isn’t doin the close button clickin thing

I think it’s the potential neurodivergence

happy pride month btw

"The Fundamentals of Finding things" a book of poems

🩷COMING SOON🩷

My book, The Fundamentals of Finding Things, will be available soon! With over 50 poems, you'll want to get your hands on it!

For now, please message me on instagram (@Bellasartweird) with your email address so we can let you know when it's available.

Stay tuned, and follow my tumblr blog, The Pink Poet, to read some excerpts!

Hey guys, I’m starting an original project called To Kill A Sun, a book I’ve started writing. I’ll leave the synopsis down below, and if you enjoy, you can find it under the username AnOdeToMarch on Wattpad! Chapter one is already out! Thank you, and all is much appreciated!

Weakened by the divine stark power that runs through his veins, seventeen-year-old Prince Lauraus Yuan-Sana spends his days away in the dilapidated halls of his Citadel. As the rightful heir to throne of Helios with a sickly demeanor, Laura remained diverted from the path of the crown, his High Court steering the reigns of his nation in place of the King and Queen. A Shadow Government, parading the breaths their beloved rulers no longer took since the day of their Prince's eclipsed-strung birth. He possessed the cursed abilities of mass ruination. Should his mortal form perish, his death would ignite a raging inferno and consume the horizon.

Yet amidst the burdens of his sun-soaked fate, Lauraus had found comfort and companionship in his childhood friend and personal Knight, Demure Tagum. Tall and muscular and sweet like toffee, Demure has loyally guarded the Prince since the ripe age of ten. Though only three years Demure's junior, Laura has come to rely on the introspective Knight's gentle strength and reliable counsel.

However, as threats to Lauraus's divine birthright emerge, he must learn to become hardened by the raging flames of the world or risk losing all that he holds dear to him in disastrous cataclysm. With Demure by his side, Laura will embark on a trial by fire and ardent, divine devotion to reclaim his throne in the unlikely, and discover if his love for his noble protector can overcome the curses of godhood that threaten to destroy them all.

Working on the second chapter now! Wish me luck!

Second chapter is out now on AO3 under DearSylvester and Wattpad under AnOdeToMarch! Comments, kudos, likes, reads and hits are GREATLY appreciated!! Thank you all!

MY GAY PENGUIN BOOK IS PUBLISHED

I wrote a book about lesbian penguins and their chick. I’ve put so so much work into this book and it is finally here!!!!!! The book is called Momma Mommy Pepe and if anyone one this little gay app would consider buying it and leaving a review, that would be appreciated!!!! If you don’t have the opportunity at the moment, a simple reblog would be fab

Book Recommendations <3

So this book is an historical romance and mystery novel with a strong female main character, and if you want more book boyfriends and girlfriends to add to your collection then you need to read it and share who your newest obsession is.

There are bushrangers, a murder mystery, a slow burn love story, and heaps of suspense.

It's called Among The Grey Gums and it's by an Australian author that is probably one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet (my favourite non-biological family member).

Unfortunately the book hasn't sold enough copies yet and she now has to look for a new publisher, if you are interested in the genre and want to support a small author I urge you to buy a copy of her works. Among The Grey Gums is her second book and it has gotten me into the Historical fiction genre.

PS. There's no spicy scenes :)

PSPS. Here's where to get the audiobook (there's a huge sale at the moment): https://amzn.asia/d/3deqWvE

Edit: I forgot to mention - there's an adult puppy