Croatoan [continuation from Part III]
anonymous
April 17 2009, 01:10:57 UTC
Since there are fifteen posts left on Part III, and I don't want to collapse commenting any more than I have, I've decided to finish the fill for this over here. I hope that's all right with you, mods.
Re: Croatoan [59]
anonymous
April 20 2009, 22:09:30 UTC
“Someone told me that I’d be okay,” Arthur says, giving Kiku a small smile. “That’s what I’m going to trust.” Arthur turns his face back to the forest, face thoughtful and solemn. “Perhaps that’s the hardest part of all this,” Arthur murmurs. “Having faith when it’s already been shaken.”
Arthur turns and walks into the castle, leaving Kiku to sit on the stairs and watch the forest. Ariel helps keep his head clear, and the sun moves across the sky in a slow, crawling path, dropping away the hours until dinnertime.
VII.
Arthur hears the door open and close with a gentle click, but he doesn’t look up from his cup of tea - not even when the sound of footsteps grows louder in the hall and enters his room
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [60]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 02:18:04 UTC
He hears Ariel make a worried noise, but Ariel flits back a little ways and gives Kiku his space.
Kiku squeezes his eyes, opens them again, and loads his bow. They might be close. It wouldn’t do to be unprepared -
The tendril that streaks towards him almost catches Kiku off guard. Almost.
His reflexes save him, though; his fingers twitch, and his arrow flies into the trees. Something dark and disgusting drops out and lands on the ground with a splat. It oozes darkness onto the ground.
“That was one of the ones we first saw,” Kiku murmurs.
But the tendrils I saw yesterday were much, much bigger than that. So maybe this is merely a part of something larger….
“Ariel, get out of here.” Kiku turns to the sprite, who blinks at him, confused.
“What?”
Something dark flickers behind Ariel; Kiku barely manages to pull Ariel to safety as something snakes out of the trees, snapping and flailing as it misses its target.
“This place is dangerous, Ariel. Fly somewhere safe. Go!” Kiku lets Ariel go, pushing the fairy towards the
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [61]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 03:56:15 UTC
No. Not again.
Kiku plants his feet and straightens his back.
I made a promise.
Something curls around his legs and his ankles. Kiku straightens his back, pulls the bowstring taut, and aims.
I have one shot.
The sludge creeps up his waist, moves to wrap around his wrists.
Kiku lets go.
The arrow hits the creature straight in the eye. Kiku expects something like a scream, or a screech. Instead, the creature goes out with something more like a sigh, pulling in on itself and schlucking out of existence, along with the putrid material wrapped around him.
As the last bit of darkness disappears into the air, Kiku looks to the ground and finds a maiden stirring, blinking her eyes open.
She sees him and smiles, sitting up, her brown hair shining in a poignant ray of sunshine. “Thank you, good sir! Thank you for saving me from the -”
Kiku’s eyes widen. He sees. He finally can see“- and I’ll take you to my village, where the bards shall sing your prai
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [63]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 16:51:38 UTC
___
The sun blazes low in the sky by the time they reach the lake.
Arthur is the first to reach it; he steps off the path and onto a small stone altar in front of the water. A worn stone path leads to the middle of the lake, where Arthur sees a pedestal of sorts peeking out of the water.
Arthur frowns. Something about this seems familiar.
But before he can think too hard on it, he hears a voice, deep and strong.
“You’re here.”
Arthur whirls around to see Yue standing behind him. He’s not quite sure when the other got there - he’s either a very quiet flyer, or there’s some magic behind it that Arthur doesn’t understand. Kiku and Ariel stop just in front of the altar, looking up at Arthur with worried expressions.
“Yes,” he says, stepping forward. “I am.”
“Then I won’t waste any time.”
Arthur can’t move a muscle as Yue walks over to him, stopping just a few steps short of him. Arthur watches, as Yue lifts his blade; he shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.
I’ll be all right,He thinks of Alfred as the blade whistles
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [64]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 18:17:30 UTC
Arthur turns back to the others and grins. “Kiku! I have a weapon now!” He takes a step forward. “Now all we need to do is find Al -”
Several things happen at once.
Kiku screams and claws at his blue eye. Arthur watches as strands of magic unfurl from Kiku’s other palm and form letters in the air (Cyrillic? Russian? Arthur can’t tell) and begin to swirl around him.
“Kiku!”
But before Arthur can move another step, light flares up beneath him; he finds himself looking down into that familiar magic circle.
And Arthur knows who it belongs to now, but it’s too late to do anything.
It’s as if the ground itself is quicksand; tendrils of power burst out of it, wrap around him and pull him under.
“Kiku!” he shouts one last time.
The last thing Arthur sees before he’s pulled down into the darkness is Eriol’s smile, content and easy.
Then something sucks him under and away from Avalon.
VIII.
Arthur sighs and stares across the land. He won’t deny that America is beautiful, with the way its lands ebb and flow; the way its
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [65]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 19:31:27 UTC
Kiku runs down the path, away from the temple, intending to go into the woods and search for Arthur. He passes the pond on the way there; something about him seems strange, catches his eye and makes him look at his reflection.
Two brown eyes stare back up at him.
“My eye…” he murmurs.
“You don’t need this anymore.”
Kiku’s head whips up and he sees someone standing across the pond.
Kiku stares. The man stares back, holding a little marble of magic in his hand.
“You’re…the Magician,” Kiku murmurs. He feels as though he should know this boy’s name, but…it escapes him. He can’t think of it, even though he knows it’s thereThe Magician merely smiles. “It’s good to meet you at last
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [65]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 19:47:06 UTC
Yep. The story's entering it's climax, and then after that I have one more chapter and the epilogue.
I might get it done today or tomorrow. I'm not making any promises (because this thing is almost 140 pages in Word now oh God), but please keep checking.
Re: Croatoan [66]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 20:22:08 UTC
“You could join us, you know,” Sycorax purrs, and Arthur feels Ariel whip and swirl around him, agitated. “Someone of your power and strength could become even more so with my aid. And you’d be with Caliban again - right by his side.” Her lips curl up, arrogant and self-assured. “Do you like the sound of that?”
Arthur thinks for about a second.
Then he lifts his sword and brandishes it at her. “I like the sound,” he says, “of you shutting the fuck up.”
She looks startled that someone would defy her; this quickly changes to a sultry grin, though. “You’re going to have some trouble with that, I think,” she says.
“We’ll see,” Arthur counters.
He takes Excalibur in both hands and charges, his blood singing with the courage of kings of old, of myths of knights and round tables.
Something dark swoops into his vision, and Arthur lifts Excalibur just in time. The two swords sing together as they clash, and Arthur finds himself staring into Alfred’s blood-red eyes.
“I will not let you touch her,” he says, baring his teeth in a
( ... )
Re: Croatoan [67]
anonymous
April 21 2009, 21:15:22 UTC
He thinks he might be exaggerating just a little; Alfred’s short of breath, too, and he seems to be wearing down.
The problem is, Alfred’s had at least a year (and maybe more, in this world) of practice and the strength to lift a wild buffalo. All Arthur has is the knowledge of his own mythos and the courage of a dead king.
“Al…Alfred,” he pants. “Stop this. Please.” He looks directly into those red eyes.
Nothing. Not even a flicker as Alfred yells and charges. Arthur swears and brings his own sword up, blocking the attack.
“Alfred, it’s me! Goddammit, wake up!”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Sycorax chuckles as Arthur stumbles back against Alfred’s strength. “He’s perfect now. He has strength and power in this world. You have nothing that he could possibly want.”
Sycorax makes a mistake right there, because Arthur’s first thought is that she’s wrong. He does have something Alfred wants; he has something they both want, and he was so stupid not to see it before.
Talking won’t wake him up. Words are meaningless to him
( ... )
The original prompt and previous parts are here: http://hetalia-kink.livejournal.com/4567.html?thread=6574551#t6574551.
A-and so that this post isn't entirely a waste, I did a quick sketch of the concept art I had for Alfred as Caliban.
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Arthur turns and walks into the castle, leaving Kiku to sit on the stairs and watch the forest. Ariel helps keep his head clear, and the sun moves across the sky in a slow, crawling path, dropping away the hours until dinnertime.
VII.
Arthur hears the door open and close with a gentle click, but he doesn’t look up from his cup of tea - not even when the sound of footsteps grows louder in the hall and enters his room ( ... )
Reply
Kiku squeezes his eyes, opens them again, and loads his bow. They might be close. It wouldn’t do to be unprepared -
The tendril that streaks towards him almost catches Kiku off guard. Almost.
His reflexes save him, though; his fingers twitch, and his arrow flies into the trees. Something dark and disgusting drops out and lands on the ground with a splat. It oozes darkness onto the ground.
“That was one of the ones we first saw,” Kiku murmurs.
But the tendrils I saw yesterday were much, much bigger than that. So maybe this is merely a part of something larger….
“Ariel, get out of here.” Kiku turns to the sprite, who blinks at him, confused.
“What?”
Something dark flickers behind Ariel; Kiku barely manages to pull Ariel to safety as something snakes out of the trees, snapping and flailing as it misses its target.
“This place is dangerous, Ariel. Fly somewhere safe. Go!” Kiku lets Ariel go, pushing the fairy towards the ( ... )
Reply
Kiku plants his feet and straightens his back.
I made a promise.
Something curls around his legs and his ankles. Kiku straightens his back, pulls the bowstring taut, and aims.
I have one shot.
The sludge creeps up his waist, moves to wrap around his wrists.
Kiku lets go.
The arrow hits the creature straight in the eye. Kiku expects something like a scream, or a screech. Instead, the creature goes out with something more like a sigh, pulling in on itself and schlucking out of existence, along with the putrid material wrapped around him.
As the last bit of darkness disappears into the air, Kiku looks to the ground and finds a maiden stirring, blinking her eyes open.
She sees him and smiles, sitting up, her brown hair shining in a poignant ray of sunshine. “Thank you, good sir! Thank you for saving me from the -”
Kiku’s eyes widen. He sees. He finally can see“- and I’ll take you to my village, where the bards shall sing your prai ( ... )
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please do continue anon! this story is lovely~
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The sun blazes low in the sky by the time they reach the lake.
Arthur is the first to reach it; he steps off the path and onto a small stone altar in front of the water. A worn stone path leads to the middle of the lake, where Arthur sees a pedestal of sorts peeking out of the water.
Arthur frowns. Something about this seems familiar.
But before he can think too hard on it, he hears a voice, deep and strong.
“You’re here.”
Arthur whirls around to see Yue standing behind him. He’s not quite sure when the other got there - he’s either a very quiet flyer, or there’s some magic behind it that Arthur doesn’t understand. Kiku and Ariel stop just in front of the altar, looking up at Arthur with worried expressions.
“Yes,” he says, stepping forward. “I am.”
“Then I won’t waste any time.”
Arthur can’t move a muscle as Yue walks over to him, stopping just a few steps short of him. Arthur watches, as Yue lifts his blade; he shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.
I’ll be all right,He thinks of Alfred as the blade whistles ( ... )
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Several things happen at once.
Kiku screams and claws at his blue eye. Arthur watches as strands of magic unfurl from Kiku’s other palm and form letters in the air (Cyrillic? Russian? Arthur can’t tell) and begin to swirl around him.
“Kiku!”
But before Arthur can move another step, light flares up beneath him; he finds himself looking down into that familiar magic circle.
And Arthur knows who it belongs to now, but it’s too late to do anything.
It’s as if the ground itself is quicksand; tendrils of power burst out of it, wrap around him and pull him under.
“Kiku!” he shouts one last time.
The last thing Arthur sees before he’s pulled down into the darkness is Eriol’s smile, content and easy.
Then something sucks him under and away from Avalon.
VIII.
Arthur sighs and stares across the land. He won’t deny that America is beautiful, with the way its lands ebb and flow; the way its ( ... )
Reply
Two brown eyes stare back up at him.
“My eye…” he murmurs.
“You don’t need this anymore.”
Kiku’s head whips up and he sees someone standing across the pond.
Kiku stares. The man stares back, holding a little marble of magic in his hand.
“You’re…the Magician,” Kiku murmurs. He feels as though he should know this boy’s name, but…it escapes him. He can’t think of it, even though he knows it’s thereThe Magician merely smiles. “It’s good to meet you at last ( ... )
Reply
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I might get it done today or tomorrow. I'm not making any promises (because this thing is almost 140 pages in Word now oh God), but please keep checking.
Reply
Arthur thinks for about a second.
Then he lifts his sword and brandishes it at her. “I like the sound,” he says, “of you shutting the fuck up.”
She looks startled that someone would defy her; this quickly changes to a sultry grin, though. “You’re going to have some trouble with that, I think,” she says.
“We’ll see,” Arthur counters.
He takes Excalibur in both hands and charges, his blood singing with the courage of kings of old, of myths of knights and round tables.
Something dark swoops into his vision, and Arthur lifts Excalibur just in time. The two swords sing together as they clash, and Arthur finds himself staring into Alfred’s blood-red eyes.
“I will not let you touch her,” he says, baring his teeth in a ( ... )
Reply
The problem is, Alfred’s had at least a year (and maybe more, in this world) of practice and the strength to lift a wild buffalo. All Arthur has is the knowledge of his own mythos and the courage of a dead king.
“Al…Alfred,” he pants. “Stop this. Please.” He looks directly into those red eyes.
Nothing. Not even a flicker as Alfred yells and charges. Arthur swears and brings his own sword up, blocking the attack.
“Alfred, it’s me! Goddammit, wake up!”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Sycorax chuckles as Arthur stumbles back against Alfred’s strength. “He’s perfect now. He has strength and power in this world. You have nothing that he could possibly want.”
Sycorax makes a mistake right there, because Arthur’s first thought is that she’s wrong. He does have something Alfred wants; he has something they both want, and he was so stupid not to see it before.
Talking won’t wake him up. Words are meaningless to him ( ... )
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Does he turn into Britannia Angel?
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He might have, but you might also be forgetting something.
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