The balcony of the common building was nice and quiet. A gentle breeze washed over the distant trees and across her face as she sat behind the railing, looking out over the grass and the other buildings that made up the training grounds. She could have eaten downstairs, with the others, and frankly she wasn’t even supposed to be up here. The only entrance to the balcony was the one through th...
2024-07-26 19:13:37 +0000 UTC View PostLillian rushed through the camp, past the dojo, past the common building. She wasn’t even sure where she was going, it was like something in her just wanted to go somewhere. It didn’t make sense, but it didn’t have to make sense. She let the feeling carry her away as her mind reeled and spun, her thoughts a jumbled mess trying to splice back together only to come unwound and the ...
2024-07-26 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostThe wind whipped past his head. It buffeted against his body, the ear-breaking sound held at bay by the head gear. His eyes opened wide, the clouds were getting closer, he could see them just ahead. His body accelerated, faster, faster, he could go just a little faster. Just to the edge of ‘launch’. Just before ‘stage one’. The air started to compress in front of his face, a ripple form...
2024-07-25 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe room was cold, so cold. The floor was hard, grainy, and stung her feet with the faint slick ice that clung to its surface. Gray stone stretched up to the ceiling, looming, unbending, it felt like it was staring. A gentle shift in the foundation of the building sent a rattle through the chains hanging from the ceiling of the windless room. The cold bit and chewed at skin, it clawed at bone, ...
2024-07-25 16:01:05 +0000 UTC View PostMight not be around for the usual release time so I'm doing this early just in case.
2024-07-25 11:53:53 +0000 UTC View PostLillian stood over Snow, a momentary silence passing between the two of them. She stepped forward and knelt down, sitting across from her. Snow reached up and wiped her eyes, sniffing and looking away with a reddened face. Lillian tilted her head and tried to catch her gaze, “Hey,” She murmured, “Snow, what’s wrong?” She asked. Snow reached up and pulled her hood down a little more, p...
2024-07-24 18:21:39 +0000 UTC View PostA few months before the incident in The Hague, Charon leaned back on his couch in the private box overlooking his club. He slipped a cigar into his mouth and lit it with a black flame from his fingertip, he took a drag and exhaled, his graying skin vanishing behind the cloud for a moment as he leaned forward. He ran his fingers along the small pile of blue coins sitting on the table in front of...
2024-07-24 12:00:10 +0000 UTC View PostAs the aspirants filed in and out of Sonya’s room to give her their best wishes, Lillian made her way into the hallway. She was beyond relieved that Sonya was okay. Better than okay from the looks of it. She’d noticed the atmosphere in the room when she’d come in after miss Black Lotus had been in there. It was far more relaxed. Whatever had happened, at least some of the air was clear. S...
2024-07-23 12:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe television hissed to life and a dark haired man with comb-over hair appeared on the screen, to his right, scenes from outside the Pandora Committee building during the attack play out, masked Darksiders running through a hole in the protective outer wall and into the gardens. It cuts to recovery crews working and then a group of civilians tirelessly cleaning off the statue of Firestorm that...
2024-07-22 12:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostSome small tweaks have been made to the following chapters to hold the story more closely to its established tone and underlying themes. Sonya is present at the committee in an advisoral role and has the capacity to submit proposals, but may not personally vote herself. She does have the capacity to voice her opinion and urge others to vote along her lines if necessary.
Chapter 105 - Adju...
2024-07-20 01:36:15 +0000 UTC View PostChunhua darted out of the way, rolling to the side as Ishtar let out another merry laugh and whipped the person-turned weapon at her. Was it a whip or a staff? It seemed to behave like both at times. One moment she would be twirling it to block blows from Chunhua’s sword and the next she would be lashing out to strike with it at a distance. She slid back a few feet across the ground of the lo...
2024-07-19 18:32:22 +0000 UTC View PostPatreon misbehaving again, gonna try to resend the notification!
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The cataclysm of light and heat that ripped through the ceiling of the top floor of the hotel released enough force to crack and shatter all of the screens in the room. The lights went out, flames immediately caught on the beds that had been shunted over to the walls. The darksiders that weren’t immediatel...
2024-07-19 16:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostAlright, the tier descriptions have finally been cleaned up and I'm pleased to say I've hit my buffer goal for the Patreon. I also added another tier after getting chased about on the discord. It's wild in there, y'all, lemme tell ya.
Anywho, I hope that clears things up. With this I can finally begin releasing chapters at a more steady and normal schedule.
Monday, Tuesday,...
2024-07-19 06:20:39 +0000 UTC View PostChunhua stared at the television as the scene progressed. The words on the bottom simply said ‘Attack on Grand Pandora Committee: Liberty and Darksider connection?’. Sonya said something to the Chairman and he hurried down from the podium, barking at the other representatives. She watched Sonya turn and shout at one of the other businessmen who sat on the committee as honorary representativ...
2024-07-18 22:01:05 +0000 UTC View PostLiberty threaded her fingers together in front of her chest as she stared down at the Pandora Committee from the screen above them. Her luminous blue eyes twinkled with barely contained malice as she sneered at them in disgust. Sonya looked up into those eyes of hers and couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated. The woman had graduated straight to how she was as a fully realized Herald year...
2024-07-18 17:50:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe vote was unanimous and so obviously predetermined that Sonya nearly burst into laughter, she controlled herself, though. Enjoying the moment of hitting the top of everyone’s lists with a single vote. She leaned back into her seat, shifting her shoulders a bit to get more comfortable and crossed her legs. From her spot off to the left and facing the podium where the Chairman stood, she sav...
2024-07-18 05:40:52 +0000 UTC View PostSonya woke the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had in a long time. Her eyes fluttered open and she took a deep breath of the smell of freshly made coffee, rolling over onto her side and seeing… no one. She tilted her head and sat up, racking her brain as she tried to remember who she’d slept with the previous night. Then it came back to her and she let out a sharp laugh, floppi...
2024-07-17 21:47:46 +0000 UTC View PostBeyol was troubled.
The streets of Moscow were beautiful, as always, it was a sunny day despite the chill that came with the first touches of winter. He didn’t mind it, his shadows were colder. The coat that the mistress had insisted he wear helped, of course. The slacks too, and the designer shirt, and the new shoes. He was a bit confused about why she was so insistent he wear somethin...
2024-07-17 17:20:59 +0000 UTC View PostThe Dojo only had a few people in it today, with the classes becoming more and more varied, aspirants were starting to prioritize different classes. Alex himself had gone to the rescue field just the previous day. It was harrowing but rewarding in its own way. It was too bad they couldn’t have live subjects to rescue but he understood the logic. Those creepy forge-tech dummy mannequin-things ...
2024-07-17 16:13:15 +0000 UTC View PostAccidentally released Lillian 1 to villains a little too early. Y'all should have gotten Sonya 1. Fixed.
2024-07-17 16:11:19 +0000 UTC View PostThe pair stood in front of the door, the others sitting behind them and watching. There were a few screens on the walls for the audience to watch the pair’s progress. Next to the door, the beefy dude with dog tags, Axel, stood with his arms crossed. He was one of the new hero instructors that had arrived over the past few days. He reached up and adjusted his sunglasses with a grin. “You two...
2024-07-17 14:21:50 +0000 UTC View PostBroker's Note: Got a little behind on side stories so y'all are getting extras for a few days. Enjoy~
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Sonya leaned back in her chair and stared into space, pulling her knees up to her chest and tangling her fingers together. It had been a month since Vegas, a month since one really bad day. Her jaw shifted a bit in her mouth as the thoughts came back and she pushed them away w...
2024-07-16 20:35:30 +0000 UTC View PostShe looked the same. Everything about her was the same. He knew, though, he knew she was a different person. Martin scowled at the monster that stood across from him. Those pink eyes of hers glowed a bit brighter, her posture seemed relaxed but he could practically feel her body coil like a serpent ready to strike. The pressure came next, the weight of Ishtar’s gaze pushing down on him as lum...
2024-07-16 16:52:04 +0000 UTC View Post