《Rise of the Dragon General: Formative Years》Vol. I: Chapter 34 - Enlightenment
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ARTHUR
THREE WEEKS LATER
Arthur sits before his daughter in the living room of their home. Fukashi is out. Arthur made sure he’d be out of the house for this conversation. Nora went with him for a special training session. They’d both leapt at the idea when Arthur had suggested it.
They don’t suspect a thing. At least, he hopes they don’t.
A week ago, the younger sister of Councillor General Ouida Arsenault randomly collapsed at school. Allegedly, she’s still in a coma. Her body and brain are functioning normally, according to Ouida, whom Arthur had visited to express sympathy. Ouida had been grateful to see him. Arthur had been greatly interested in the details of her sister’s condition. In the end, she thanked him for caring.
He had not cared, not truly, about the life of her sibling.
Arthur isn’t unaware of the relationship Sylvie shared with Nora. He keeps a close eye on his children, and he has done the math. Over the past few years, he’s done the math many times and come to an unsurprising conclusion.
His viciously curious daughter is keeping a secret from him, or at least she thinks she is. And now she’s caught.
If she were a normal child, part of a normal family, she would bow her head and look contrite, but that’s not who she is. She rebelliously holds his gaze, unashamed of what she’s obviously done.
“When was the first time?” he asks her in an even tone. He won’t scold her. He’s not angry, after all.
She lifts her chin higher. “Shortly after we moved here. I tried it on Nora.”
So young still, yet so well spoken and clever to boot.
Cores, he’s proud of her.
“Any backlash?” he asks.
“No, sir.”
Ah, so it’s sir now. She must really think she’s in trouble.
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“How many times since?”
She shrugs. “I don’t keep count.”
“Was Sylvie the worst of it?”
She takes a while to answer, finally nodding.
“Was this the intended outcome?”
Another nod.
“Why?”
Her little nose crinkles. It’s adorable. “She hurt Nora, and she said bad things about our family.”
This riles something in Arthur. He understands her anger. He feels it too, swelling within his chest. This easy rage is part of what they are, and as often as he’s urged her to control it, he also understands why she occasionally chooses fury over logic.
They are firecores. They protect their own. It is an inherent urge.
“You damaged her core,” Arthur says. “You shattered her essence. Even if Sylvie wakes up, she will be lucky to remember her own name, much less her sister’s or Nora’s.”
He knows it well. He’s been practicing too after all.
“I’m not sorry,” Cel snaps, though her voice wavers.
“Don’t be,” he tells her, making her eyes widen with shock. “But keep this a secret from Nora and Fukashi.”
“Nora knows that I can…” She waves a hand. “You know. But she hasn’t guessed about Sylvie.”
“She’s blinded by grief, Little General. I love Nora, but she’s a very emotional person. We are driven by different factors.” He taps his fingers against the soft arm of his chair. “From now on, you and I shall incorporate more of this ability into our lessons, but we must be subtle about it. Fukashi is adamant you shouldn’t know how to do this.”
“Well it’s too late,” she says, crossing her arms. “I’m not good at controlling my fire, but controlling people is easy.”
Arthur thinks of their poolside lessons warily. She’s improved over the years, but progress is slow. He’s spent more time teaching her to withhold her temper than her fire, though the two aren’t unrelated. Fury kindles fire; fire kindles fury. The most Cel can do without losing her temper and going full wildfire is draw flames to one hand...and not for long.
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“You’ll need this one day...to lead the Nightburners. Though Cel, this is our dearest secret. More than anything else, no one can know that we can get into their heads.”
Into their cores, technically. But she understands his meaning. It’s their fire-laden voices that allow them control, alongside the intent in their commands, but the effect is essentially corical, not mental, even if it acts that way.
“Yes, Daddy,” she says seriously.
“We have some time now. May as well use it.” He gets up from his chair and crosses the room to tug her to her feet. He squeezes her fingers gently as they head out to the poolside, appreciative of the heat emanating off her skin. There is such fire in her, rippling through her limbs. It tugs at his own core, like recognizing like. The sensation reminds him of the childhood years he spent with his mother and makes him ache for her absence.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Cel says softly, smiling in that way she only ever does for him.
He smiles back. “You never have to thank me, my dear Celosia.”
*
END OF FORMATIVE YEARS
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Violet and the Cat
Violet is a lonely young girl living in a small village, surrounded by the uncertain darkness of an endless forest. All her life she has been taught that only evil things come from beyond her village, for the woods are filled with demons...and they are growing hungrier and more powerful all the time. Yet, when she encounters an only slightly devious talking cat, Violet must abandon all she thinks she knows about the world in order to set out on a grand, dangerous journey and try to save her village as best she possibly can.
8 151Happy Ending
[You are mine and mine alone], a visual novel that was really popular and on top of the most played game this year, but out of nowhere, it vanished, alongside its memories from everyone's mind, except for a single player that found a glitch where one of the antagonists became a heroine. Now that character, programmed to kill, has found him in real life and weird things are going to happen to his everyday life, without a screen in his front to protect him. It doesn't matter if he wants or not; the game has already started. [][][][][] I wanna a shout out for my friend for this amazing cover he did! Here is a link for a page he posts the drawings he does for fun. For more explanations about it, read the author note in chapter 55. https://www.facebook.com/phillip.dreemurr.3?fb_dtsg_ag=Adye0R2CVuv09JqhVdg48VOWxPSZH6N1Co3SaVOmpri4Zw%3AAdw69zV67MTEEVSkloEFgy6loIZc6unrXRDFRzC5Di4N8Q
8 127Vermin Lore
*'The System's' POV* Egocentric humans, are the parasites of the plane "Eden" which they, with much audacity, refer to as Earth. They have done too much damage and destruction to Gaia, the embodiment of nature, the deital guardian mother. To name a few, overpopulation, creators of nuclear machinations, material wastage, environmental demolition, cruelty and obliteration of other species(even to themselves!) Unmatched and unchallenged by predators of equal standing, they festered and corrupted much of everything. Little do they know that Eden is dying. And so is the Otherworld. A world of myths and legends. It is therefore, through my righteous powers, let both worlds be fused to save both! As I decree, And so shall it be done! Now that I think about it, since pests such as yourselves are treating the world as your playground, why not make a game out of this? Ahahahaha!~ So! Amuse me humans. Tell me the tale of your quest for survival! Unlock the powers i've scattered all throughout the new world. Show me...the Lore of Vermins!
8 198Wake Up Dead
"Close your eyes, so that the next time you see the sun, you WAKE UP DEAD." 'The Suiciders' is a group of murderers specialized to murder various famous figures and set the crime scene in the form of suicide. It closes all the windows for the police to point it out as a murder. As a result, most of the such cases remain unresolved. But, their existence is not a mere folklore anymore. Kartik Khandelwal, a twenty-five year old promising detective at Delhi Police HQ, finds out about the group and starts leading 'The Suiciders Defence Squad' to put an end to the murders and save the day. But, the organization is now on a rogue to complete their sinister decade-long plan. Entangled by fate, read how a group of former college-men have to twist their ways of lives and ideologies upside-down just for the sake of their friends, families, and the country. ********** Web-novel series written by Zei Zackary, All Rights Reserved. Cover photo taken from Unsplash. >Follow me on Instagram and join my Discord server too by this link.
8 100T'Aimer. 《Taekook》
'Dₑᵥᵢₗₛ & ᵥᵢₗₗᵢₐₙₛ.'ₒₙₑ ₜₕᵢₙg ₜₕₐₜ'ₛ ₘₒₛₜ ₚᵣₒₘᵢₙₑₙₜ ᵢₙ ₜₕₑₘ ₐₙd wₕᵢcₕ ₘₐₖₑₛ ₜₕₑₘ dᵢffₑᵣₑₙₜ fᵣₒₘ ₜₕₑ ₕₑᵣₒₑₛ ₐₙd ₜₕₑ ₐₙgₑₗₛ ᵢₛ ₜₕₐₜ₋ ₐₙ ₐₙgₑₗ ₒᵣ ₐ ₕₑᵣₒ wₒᵤₗd ₚᵣₒₜₑcₜ ₜₕₑᵢᵣ ₗₒᵥₑ...bᵤₜ,ₐ dₑᵥᵢₗ ₒᵣ ₐ ᵥᵢₗₗₐᵢₙ wₒᵤₗd ₖᵢₗₗ fₒᵣ ₜₕₑᵢᵣ ₗₒᵥₑ!'ᵀᵒᵘᶜʰ ʰⁱᵐ, ᵃⁿᵈ ᴵ'ˡˡ ᵈᵉˢᵗʳᵒʸ ʸᵒᵘ, ᵗⁱˡˡ ⁿᵒt ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵃˢʰᵉˢ ᵃʳᵉ ˡᵉᶠᵗ.''ᴹʸ ᴮᵘⁿⁿʸ...''ᵂᵒᵛᵉ ᶜʰᵘ ᵗʷᵒᵒ!''ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ˢᵃᶠᵉ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵘˢ...''ˢᵗᵃʸ ʷⁱᵗʰ ᵐᵉ, ᴴʸᵘⁿᵍ...'ᴀ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴏᴠᴇꜱ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ, ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴀ ᴄᴜᴛᴇ ʙᴏʏ, ɴᴀᴍᴇᴅ ᴊᴜɴɢᴋᴏᴏᴋ, ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ꜰᴀᴄᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀʀꜱʜ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴛɪᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ, ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ɢᴇᴛꜱ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴏꜱᴇ ᴡʜᴏ'ᴠᴇ ʜᴜʀᴛ ʜɪᴍ, ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ʀᴇᴀʟɪᴢᴇꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴏɴꜱᴛᴇʀꜱ ᴛʀᴜʟʏ ᴍᴇᴀɴ, ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ꜰɪɴᴅꜱ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ ʜɪᴍ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ʜᴇ ɪꜱ, ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ꜰɪɴᴅꜱ ᴀ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ ꜰᴏʀ ʜɪᴍꜱᴇʟꜰ, ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴏᴡ ʜᴇ ɢᴇᴛꜱ ᴀᴄᴄᴇᴘᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴏꜰ 'ɴᴏʀᴍᴀʟ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴꜱ'. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ꜰᴏʀ ʏᴏᴜʀꜱᴇʟꜰ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ, ʏᴏᴜ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ᴇɴᴅ ᴜᴘ ᴄʀʏɪɴɢ, ᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ꜰᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴀɴɢʀʏ, ʙᴜᴛ ɪᴛ'ʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴀʟʀɪɢʜᴛ...or will it?
8 82The Powerful Sith Lord in Renmant ( RWBY X Star Wars X Male OP SithLord Reader)
Swearing in her but I will censored it but some evil things that Y/n will unleashed. Some pictures could be mess up.Somewhere in the galaxy far far away a unlimited powerful SithLord named Y/n have escape from the sith down fall. He ran far away while Y/n found a planet he could live in. Over some times he met a girl named salem who was immortal so he then use her and bring an army. Later on Y/n was still alive as he then has plans to invade Renmant and kill Ozpin even his students until he found one that was interested for him.
8 153