Monarch Of Darkness, Arsene Chapter 7
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Staring silently out at the countryside, I gazed at father with a questioning look, "Where is Mother? Did she not come on this trip."
Shaking his head, Father smiled bitterly, "She is coming. She just had to resign from the governor's position. She should be arriving by tomorrow,"
Nodding absentmindedly, I stared out slowly, getting lost in the view. Hours began to pass as we were brought an elegant-looking meal for lunch. It was, in my opinion, poorly made, lacking in every possible manner aside from aesthetics.
Father seeing my plight, laughed, "Sorry, Sène, I know this was your first meal, but don't worry, they don't always taste like that."
Seeing him try to comfort me made me laugh a bit. There were many roles I could not play as I was far too young, but seeing my father trying so hard, I gave him a bright smile, "It's fine; I'm sure we will have outstanding food in our new home."
Suddenly a loud announcement entered my ears, "Attention, we will be arriving in Pendragon in fifteen minutes."
Smiling, Father carried me back to the room; he grabbed a few documents before the train gradually stopped. Sitting on fathers sturdy shoulders, I gazed out at the majestic train station filled with thousands of people coming and going.
Father did not take more than a few steps before three middle-aged butlers appeared, giving a deep bow, "Greeting Duke Val, your transportation to the Snow estate has been taken care of. Would you please follow us?"
Father did not seem very surprised as he followed behind the three men with me on his back. Staring at the luxurious carriage with five large beautiful black horses with three bulky horns sporting from its head caused me to gasp.
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I could feel a profound pulse of power flowing from their bodies as they released steam of white carbon dioxide from their nostrils. Father lifted me down before entering the carriage. Yet, for some reason, my father was a little quiet, causing me to further analyze the three men before me.
One was driving the carriage, and the other two were sitting across from me. They did not smell of blood like Marquess Dra, but rather of nothing...shit.
Listening to my heart beating like a drum, as I tried to remain quiet, but one of the butlers smiled coldly, "who would have thought a small child would discover us. Val, he really is something. Are you sure he is not an old demon?"
Pausing, my eyes grew wide as father burst into laughter, "I did not think he would discover you all either. His perception is exquisite, Eroma, what brings you to me."
Staring in shock, I suddenly saw a bright light flash as the middle age butler turned into a young man with long ashen-colored hair like fathers. His eyes were sharp and deep like the abyss, with a long shallow scar just below his eye reaching down to his chin.
Eroma gave a childlike grin before jumping in between Father and me, "Come on, Val, stop being so uptight it's only us here. Those guys are just dolls. Come on, tell your little bro about outside the walls of the capital. "
Father snorted before chopping Eroma upside the head, "Why the hell did father send you to pick us up." he exclaimed in a somewhat annoyed tone.
"Father was feeling annoyed today, so he sent me here to annoy you. It would seem it's working." Eroma shouted in a loud, happy tone.
Pushing me closer into him, he sized me up, "So you are the new addition to our fam, hmmm, it's going to me be and you...fucking bitches all day...at least when you get older."
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Father had a deep vein bulging from his neck as he grabbed Eroma by the collar tossing him far into the sky.
My eyes bulged as I could hear hysterical laughter coming from Eroma flying body. Father seemed even more annoyed before sitting back into the carriage huffing.
"That kid is going to make me kill him one day, jack ass," Father murmured,
Staring at me for a moment, Val slowly began to explain, "that was your uncle Eroma Snow, and he is my younger brother. He is only about a hundred years old, so he is a little immature."
"How did he know I found out about him,"
Eying me with a little pride in his eyes, Father's rugged hand slapped my back, "You did a great job; it was actually because of your heart rate; most cultivators can hear someone's heartbeat. It takes some skill and deep control to control your heart rate to an inaudible frequency."
"But how did you notice him? His technique was flawless; I only saw him because I have a deeper cultivation than him."
Tilting my head, I looked at father in confusion, "It was his smell; he didn't have one. Father has a subtle yet deep fragrance, Dra had a rich scent on the surface, and a foul scent that was hidden away, and mama smells like some of the flowers in the garden."
Rubbing his beard, Father grinned before coldly warning me, "Arsène, never speak to Marquess Dra alone. That man is quite terrifying, even with his title. He holds so much power that even the king has a close watch on all his movements."
Understanding what father was saying, I thought back to the oversize man who didn't look like he could fight with a frown. Suddenly the carriage stopped as one of the dolls, as Eroma called them, stepped out, "We have arrived, My lord and Young master." it declared without a hint of emotion.
Stepping down from the carriage, I gazed upon the armed guards standing near the Snow Estate entrance. Their bodies were all covered in golden armor as they held profound looking halberd in hand.
Taking me by the arm, Father led me through the threshold and into the estate. No one seemed to stop us as we entered. On our way through the estate, Father would usually stop and introduced me to some of my family's various members. Ranging from aunts and uncles to cousins and bastards.
No one paid much attention to me as I was only one year of age, not to mention the second born. A child that would not be inheriting any of my father's or mother's possessions.
Nevertheless, we spent hours touring the estate before Father stopped before a massive door. He gave a slight knock before walking in with me in hand.
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Elder Cultivator
Anton is a great-grandfather. He is living quite a happy life, despite his advanced age and declining health… until a group of cultivator bandits moves into the area. The nearby guardians of the area, the Order of Ninety-Nine Stars, are unable to track them down as they continue to ravage nearby towns. During one desperate winter Anton is out on a hunt when his family- his entire village- is killed or taken as slaves by the bandits. He lacks the strength to fight them, and he wasn’t even present for their arrival to die with his loved ones. At the pit of his despair, he wonders if he ever had any chance to change things. What could he even do? He cannot even pull his best bow, and his eyesight is failing. If he had been a cultivator… perhaps there might have been a chance, but he was decades- perhaps even most of his life- too late. Notes on cultivation levels: There are five general stages of cultivation, though the fifth is extremely rare. Each cultivation style might have their own name for the stages. 1. Body Tempering 2. Spirit Building/ occasionally System Creation (Ninety-Nine Stars) 3. Constellation Formation (Ninety-Nine Stars) 4. Life Transformation/Galaxy Construction (Ninety-Nine Stars) 5. Ascension Cover picture courtesy of gej302.
8 1245Cornucopia of Hope
The graduating class of Hope's Peak Academy has been kidnapped sometime after their graduation ceremony. They wake up in a beautiful, plush mansion with no idea where they could be other than the name Our Mansion of Plenty. The physical barriers of steel plates and locked doors might not be enough to cage them, if it weren't for the malicious mechanical fairy calling itself The Fey and ruling their new lives with an iron--albeit tiny--fist. While being kidnapped is bad enough, the fact that this fairy brat is telling them to kill each other is definitely worse. Apparently, murdering one of your fellow victims is the only way to get out of this luxurious mansion. But nobody would do that...right? Cornucopia of Hope is a non-canon killing game completely alienated from the the canon universe of the Danganronpa games. The things borrowed from the games are as followed: Hope's Peak Academy, and the structure of 16ish hyper-skilled teenagers trapped in an enclosed space and being subjected to a motive, a murder, an investigation, a trial, and an execution of the presumed killer. There are no spoilers, tie ins, or previous knowledge required of the series to read this story!
8 169The Aligned Path
Within the world of Aebros a higher being sees creation inevitably move toward some form of destruction, and from this greater sight a grand plan begins to unfold. Manipulating the natural cycle the being provided Aebros' residents a chance to not only wield but also fight against destiny, and the remaining forces of duality. This is a project that is subject to changes, which I will keep you updated on. Cover picture is not mine.
8 158Revolution
The ignorant live their lives content, with their position, with their influence, with their life. For some, this makes sense those with money, power, land, and the gift of magic but for those in mud for those without money, power, land for those who the gift of magic is hidden from unable to feel its embrace, why are they content? fear, maybe. trust, no for some maybe but not all. Belief in the church? almost but no not truly. No, it's simple really your farther was content, wasn't he? he was happy so you should be too; shouldn't you? and if you're happy why would you want anything more why would you need anything more. Disgusting. The only way to make the sheep kill the shepherd is to show them reality. No one is happy but they can be. The world isn’t at peace, but it can be. All they must do is follow me.
8 183The Humanity Initiative (discontinued)
Virtual gaming has been around for ages. Many live their entire lives online, not caring about what’s left of the real world. The few who do, fear nuclear annihilation. The risk of an unfortunate chain reaction is too large to ignore, but as of now, prevention is impossible. Humanity, in its biological form, would never survive as it is. That’s why the UN has its full focus on “The Humanity Initiative”. The field of genetics shows promising results, but are years from ready. If bombs were to fly tomorrow, something must survive. Recent VR technology has a potential candidate for that something.Farah Al Farzha never plays online, she loathes the very idea of it. She is in love with reality, and competitive fencing is her way to prove it. But when she reluctantly went online, she couldn’t exit, or at least a copy of her consciousness couldn’t.Human, but juridically speaking no more, Farah struggles in a game that would’ve been illegal. To her only consolation, the game is modeled after reality, a place foreign to the gaming brats around her. But what demands do the UN put on potential ‘human’ survivor candidates, and how will natural selection be replaced, when reality is no more? _______________________________________________________________________
8 244Pup Star: The New Pup Star
It's another season for Pup Star in Australia and a fluffy Australian Shepherd pup is ready to sing. She really wants to impress Tiny. Just a simple season of Pup Star. What could go wrong?EVERYTHINGLet's just say...Bark is back
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