《The Little Black Umbrella》Chapter 4.1 All washed out, the hens cluck, complaining of wet feathers and almost drowning Pt 1
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The police officers had started their job of questioning the neighbors. Gossip mongers all of them, drawn to the scene like flies to rotten fruit. Whisper whisper… gossip gossip… They were all gathered like a murder of crows picking on choice bits of roadkill.
Everyone had something to say.
The premier Gossip King, who seemed to know everything, even when and how many times a cat stepped past his house and sneezed, was in high spirits. He could not wait to share his "knowledge" with the rest of the fluttering, tittering flock of hens who had gathered to watch the last bits of the drama unfold.
"Did you hear about the neighbor at house number 4?" Gossip Aunty Number One whispered in hushed tones.
"Yes yes. I heard all about it from my sister's daughter's husband who was the medic on scene." The Gossip King said in a similarly hushed whisper.
"What is the world coming to? What is this neighbourhood coming to? It's better not to have this kind in our neighbourhood." Gossip Uncle Number Two fanned himself furiously with his hand fan, as if the wind generated could waft off the entire scene in front of their eyes, like an unpleasant smell.
"Yes, yes. I agree." Agreed Gossip Aunty Number One.
The Gossip King beckoned the gossips to come closer so he could bare all. "Did you hear? First the husband, then the daughter. Seems like she murdered them all."
"My, oh my! Are you sure?" Gossip Aunty Number Two gasped.
The Gossip King nodded and continued his story.
"So my daughter's best friend's uncle who works at the coroner's office said that apparently the father and daughter went the same way. Overdose of sleeping medication. She was being investigated but nothing to tie her to the deaths."
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"My god!" Gossip Uncle Number Two rumbled.
"My goodness! All these happening under our noses and to think we didn't know!" Gossip Aunty Number One nearly shrieked but quickly calmed herself as heads from the gathering crowd started to turn towards her semi shriek.
"This type. What if she kills more people? Why should they wait to find out? It's better that they quickly lock her in prison forever!" Gossip Uncle Number One fanned himself even more frantically.
"Nothing has been proven yet! But she is also rather pitiful." The Gossip King rearranged his expression to look sad, and acted as if the story was a personal tragedy he was involved in.
Gossip Uncle Number One was not convinced.
"How can a murderess. Okay, okay. Possible murderess. Be pitiful?!"
"I heard from my cousin's wife's sister who used to be a part time waitress with her back when she started waitressing. It was because her frou-frou family kicked her out and didn't want her any more because they had a newborn son to carry on the family legacy. She needed money. So the ex-rich girl had to lower her pride to serve other people for a living!" The Gossip King paused for dramatic effect.
"Oh my!" Gossip Uncle Number Two's mouth dropped open.
"Yes, yes. And my cousin's wife's sister also said she worked 3 jobs to keep herself fed and to pay rent for the room she shared with 3 other girls, all while studying."
The expression on Gossip Aunty Number Two's face softened in pity.
"Oh my poor soul. Such a thing still exists? But she is really so hard working! If I were poor, I won't even know what to do with myself!"
Internally, the Gossip King rolled his eyes. These spoiled, rich homemakers. He felt superior, since unlike them, he came from more humble roots. However, much as he looked down upon them, he wanted to continue the story and was unwilling to lose his currently captivated audience.
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"Wait! And listen to this! My cousin's wife's sister said that it took her years to be stable. She is also a little… not right. She keeps having what everyone calls "episodes". And then she met her husband at one of the offices they worked at. He was some big shot that was taken by both her really hard working attitude and beauty. He fell for her, not right-ness, episodes and all, and she later fell in love with him too. They got married after."
"That's so romantic!!" Sighed Gossip Aunty Number Two.
"No. She is unlucky and cursed! So! I happened to hear this from my aunt's best friend's brother's cousin, who I got to know and who knows her too." The Gossip King continued.
Gossip Uncle Number Two muttered "It seems like you have quite the very wide network."
"No, no, it's a small world! Do you want to hear the rest or do you not want me to finish the story?" Gossip King waved his hands dismissively in response and turned his bright eyes to the gathered people.
It was there and then Gossip Uncle Number 2 made up his mind to never ever offend the Gossip King. Who knows what ancestor's name, date of birth and death date this Gossip King could pull up if the mood struck him. Worse still. What information he already possibly possessed. Gossip Uncle Number Two tuned out the rest of the gossip and started to wander off. His mind had started to turn to what he could bribe the Gossip King with to ensure future silence.
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Her New World
Remy Dalton was on her way home from college when an unfortunate accident results in peculiar circumstances. How is it that she is suddenly transported from where she was to a whole new location - perhaps even a whole new world?*****Hey guys - this is my first fiction. Tell me what you think! My goal is only to improve! And to write you an awesome story, of course.UPDATED: Oh! And my writing schedule includes weekly updates on Saturdays. With the possibility of a bonus chapter on Tuesday evenings. Thanks for reading! And stay tuned for more to come. ;)
8 132Chosen Chaos
30 years have passed since first contact. Earth has now been accepted into the galactic community, is expanding its territory to other planets, and has begun to adopt the myriad advanced technologies found throughout the Milky Way Galaxy. But as the least advanced race in the galaxy, the Earthians are struggling to carve a niche for themselves, made all the more difficult by the fact that they are the only race in the entire galaxy incapable of developing supernatural powers. Until recently. Few know how or why, but small groups of Earthians have begun to display superhuman abilities — and the militaries of the galaxy have begun to display interest in them. Combined with the rise of an evil thought to have been vanquished two decades ago, these superpowered Earthians are forced to choose between the value of their own lives… and the value of the entire galaxy. Part 1: Chosen Few — A mundane visit to the local science museum starts off a series of worrying events for Austin Travis and his friends. They would like nothing more than to continue living their lives as they have, but the universe seems to have other plans… Part 2: Chosen Elite — CSF-1 and the Eximius Vir return to normal military operation and discover a clue to finding powerful ancient technology. However, they aren’t the only ones to discover this clue, and soon find themselves in a race against time to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands… Part 3: Chosen Hidden — As the summer comes to an end, Pierce Bradley and his friend prepare for their last few days studying abroad on an alien planet. Pierce would like nothing more than to return home and flaunt his new experiences in front of his friends and classmates, but the universe seems to have other plans… Chosen and its three parts begin the Key Saga, a new novel series that takes place 20 years after Rise — which tells the tale of the aforementioned evil. Reading Rise is not a prerequisite for reading Chosen, but it will help to understand the setting and the various conflicts within. Character art on cover by @quassihollic on twitter.
8 428Deified
They say the universe began when The Seven awoke. They, seven humans from Earth have been transported from their homes to a completely new world, a blank canvas of a universe for them to fill with their newfound omnipotence. But they soon find they are not free to do as they wished. A being claiming to be the god of their world told them they must build a fantasy world for their entertainment. Thus, these new gods must cooperate (mostly), plan and construct a new world, becoming the cosmogonic myth of their own creation. "Fantasy Landscape - slolsss" by Douglas Tofoli is marked with CC PDM 1.0
8 148Grim Beginnings
For most, ghosts and monsters were fantasy. For Tessa Byrne-Reyes, they were a constant in her daily life as a reaper. The legendary gods and creatures of mythology were, to her, historical figures. From a young age, she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders, possessing what she saw as a curse but what her family considered a gift. It was her birthright, to use her abilities to guide the deceased to the afterlife of an eternity in peace or in torment. Her classmates viewed her as "the fainting girl" who would pass out in the middle of a lesson with inexplicable injuries. She experienced each death in the town of Belmont Falls, from the mundane to the gruesome. A gunshot wound in the gut, broken ribs, her heart ceasing to beat for several minutes. No one understood what caused these incidents but over the years, she gained a reputation for being abnormal. While Tessa is the freak of Belmont Falls, Fin Belmont, the charming rebel and son of the richest man in town, is her polar opposite. Knowing each other for years but never saying more than a dozen words between them, one night changes everything, thrusting them into each other's unfamiliar and daunting worlds. Together, with the help of her best friend/his ex-girlfriend Elena, they begin to unravel secrets about their town and their pasts, learning that some secrets are better left buried and grudges can be held for centuries.
8 173Unique Fusion Magic Hex
World Essence. The mysterious energy coursing throughout the entire land of Vor'ten, and very possibly the entire world. This energy has allowed humanity to flourish, building great empires and vast kingdoms, conquering nature itself with just a sweep of their hand. Humans were the strongest existence, and with the help of channeling this World Essence, many were able to turn into Magic Knights, gaining magical abilities to combat the various fierce beasts throughout the lands.Alas... those glory days of old were long gone. Humanity has now been pushed to the brink of destruction, and now the remaining members of the human race are encased within giant domes known as 'Alkkras', made with the last remaining bits of the World Essence. It was said that those giant domes were the last gifts left by the remnants of the ancient human race, as a means to protect the future generation from the attacks of the many wild beasts roaming outside. Five Spiritualist Invokers, all combined together, used the last bit of the World Essence and sacrificed their lives to lay a gigantic, 1028-seal formation magic array to form these barriers, forever saving humanity, but also trapping humanity within these barriers.However, the humans were never completely helpless. No matter how little World Essence was left, the humans still had some remaining. Realizing the incoming crisis, the humans found a way to seal World Essence inside a special type of crystal. Soon, these crystals began to become implanted into weapons, turning them into World Essence Weapons, and they began to display properties of their own. Extreme heat. Bone chilling cold. Absurd sharpness. These normal weapons, after being imbued with the energy of the World Essence Crystals, began to form natural affinities to elements. Fire. Water. Earth. Wind. Darkness. Light. Using these weapons, one could become a Chevalier that wielded the power of the elements.However, if one wanted to reach a higher level of enlightenment and understanding, one could become an Invoker. Via the study of magic array formations, one could directly use the power of the World Essence to cast devastating magics upon the enemy. These people were Invokers, highly valued for their combat potential by the Army. These weapons and magical arrays were used in the great fight between the humans and the beasts long ago. They had long since been put away in storage, almost long forgotten...However, after ten-thousand years of suppression, the human race is beginning its counterattack against the Beasts... Synth was an Invoker in the Magecroft Academy. However, his talent was terrible, being only at the Spark Stage. This led to him being looked down upon and bullied. He was unable to cast any Calamity-rank or even Destruction rank spells, and was only able to cast Coalescing rank spells at the age of 17, a record low in the academy for cultivating these rare Invokers. Even though he put in more effort than anyone else, he was still unable to advance his Channeling Energy. But due to his constant research and study, Synth ended up creating a power that would go against the heavens - he had found how to Fuse spells together. After trying it out once, merging the magical array for the Small Fireball and the Mortal Judgement skills, he was able to create a mid-rank Destruction tier spell, Holy Judgement Flame. However, after this, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to fuse more spells together or even cast them, and noticed a weird, pentagram shaped formation on his left arm. He would later call this mark the Fusion Magic Hex, a curse that prevented the wielder from casting magic that wasn't their own...This meant that with the exception of Synth's newly created skill, , he was going to have to create unique magic arrays if he ever wanted to step on the path of becoming an Invoker! This power that destroyed the laws of the Invoking System, and his unyielding persistence in testing and creating new spells, would later gain Synth the nickname the Unique Fusion Hex, and lead him to become one of the strongest beings in the entire World!
8 76So try and love me while you can [Zacky Vengeance]
8 136