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EPILOGUE
Caroline flipped the slightly dusty light switch, slowly turning on the spot to take in the painfully familiar room. There was her bed, still in the same red sheets she had last seen it, and there was her walk-in closet, filled with trendy fashion that was now so unfashionable it was close to becoming retro once again. The walls were decorated with posters of musicians and half-forgotten teen crushes.
Ian had left her room exactly as it was, preserving it like a loving, if slightly creepy, shrine to her memory.
Kara.
Caroline had taken to thinking of Ian as her little sister with relative ease, and referred to her as such even in her head. But thinking of Ian as Kara was proving substantially harder. Ian was the name she had cherished, Ian was the name she had clung to in her darkest hours and Ian was the name etched deep in her heart. Changing those many associations to Kara was a challenge. Caroline slipped into calling her Ian more often than not.
If it bothered Kara, she did not show it, never visibly reacting to Caroline’s mistakes. Still, Caroline had obsessively researched what Ian must have gone through, and fretted that the misgendered name hurt far more than she let on.
She would make the mental switch in time, but Caroline was contemplating asking Stephen to help the process along.
Of course, Kara would likely soon be facing the challenge of trying to call Caroline by a different name herself. She was already getting ready to lay the groundwork for a new identity, although Caroline had not yet settled on what her new name should be.
The Order strongly encouraged breaking all ties with one’s old identity. For all that he had shaped her life, she didn’t know what Assault’s real name was. Radiance, in turn, had never shared her civilian name with any of the other assassins either, and the only people within the Order who had met her before she had chosen to become Radiance were dead at her hands. But she did not delude herself into thinking that there wasn’t someone at the top keeping track of who she had once been.
Revealing Caroline Reynolds’ miraculous survival was out of the question.
In fact, just associating with Ia – Kara was very risky, and not just to her own safety. When she had brought that up, Kara had gone very quiet. Then she had said that some things were worth dying for, and that she would protect Caroline to her last breath.
Caroline realized she might be biased, but it was an undisputable fact that she had the sweetest baby sister in the whole fucking world.
Though perhaps also not the brightest.
Kara wanted to make the new ID a blood relative of some sort – half-sister by way of their father’s many liaisons kept getting brought up – so she could eventually lay a partial claim to the Reynolds fortune. Caroline kept shooting that idea down, but Kara was like a dog with a bone, no matter how often she insisted that she was quite financially secure.
Secure enough to fund Stephen’s remaining education sans scholarship, in fact. She rather liked putting the money she had acquired by less savory means to good use.
Caroline smiled at the thought of him.
Stephen sighed softly, curling up to rest his head on her lap. She gently ran her fingers through his hair while he shuddered, wordlessly comforting him. Sometimes he would get these restless moods, filled with a longing he couldn’t put into words. In response, Caroline would smile seductively and task him with making her scream his name in pleasure.
He was quite skilled at following orders.
But the surge of happiness at being commanded was always tinged with faint shame.
“Stephen,” she murmured.
“Yes, Caroline?” He never called her Mistress. He hated that word. But somehow he managed to infuse her name with all the gravitas of a revered title.
“There’s nothing wrong with devotion.”
He grew still and did not say anything at all.
But she heard him over their link.
“I’d like that,” she whispered, and leaned down to draw him in for a deep kiss.
There was no doubt in Caroline’s mind that they would spend the rest of their lives together. Nor in his. Still, in order to not freak out their little circle of friends with how fast their relationship had progressed, they kept the wedding plans to themselves. For now.
She made her way to the cupboard, gazing at her old eclectic selection of books. Then she spotted what she’d been looking for, bending down and retrieving a thick binder.
The old springs in her bed creaked a little when she bounced to lie atop of it. The sound was almost overshadowed by the steady staccato of heavy raindrops against the window.
Caroline perused the photo album with her lips curved in a bittersweet smile. She glossed over the pictures of friends she hadn’t thought about in years, and could not afford to meet again. Not that she really wanted to; she doubted she had much of anything in common with them anymore. Instead, her gaze lingered on pictures of Ian. Kara. Happier times with their parents.
She traced the outline of an old, grainy picture of her riding on her father’s shoulder.
After many years, Caroline was finally in the position to build herself a future. But she had wanted to take a moment to appreciate her past.
She turned the page – and froze.
There was a black envelope in place of a picture.
Radiance
The name was written in an elaborately swirling script using shiny silver ink.
Radiance closed her eyes, taking three deep breaths.
When she opened her eyes, the envelope was still there.
She calmly peeled away the strips of transparent duct tape holding it in place, and then gingerly opened it. Her fingertips closed around the letter inside, tugging it out with great care.
Then she unfolded the heavy paper, gazing at the handful of words written in the same beautiful flowing handwriting.
All good things must come to an end.
Check your laptop.
xoxo
Riora, demi-goddess extraordinaire, oracle without equal, connoisseur of fine wines and tiny marshmallows
Radiance set down the letter. Then she raised her head, gaze focusing on the old laptop that stood, preserved just like everything else, atop her desk. After a moment of staring at it, she slid off the bed and flipped it open. She pressed the start button, only to be reminded that she had to plug it in, and then pressed it again.
Never had booting up taken this long. She impatiently paced the room.
Finally, the telltale musical sequence played out and she sat down at the desk.
The desktop background was an infinity symbol. Radiance’s knuckles turned white before she forced herself to relax. She scanned the files, and her gaze fell on a video file simply titled Marshmallows.
It was dated more than five years ago.
After a moment’s hesitation, she clicked on it.
The screen went black, then filled with static, flickering until it revealed the image of a white-haired woman looking directly at the camera. Radiance hissed in a sharp breath.
Her client.
The woman smiled her vacant smile, yet her gaze was sharp and predatory in a way Caroline had never seen it, her pale eyes sparkling with glee.
“Radiance,” she purred. “You retire and I don’t even get a goodbye? You wound me, assassin. But I am willing to overlook your lack of manners. For old time’s sake. Remember that time you killed someone for me? And that other time? Ah, those were the days. Are the days.”
She laughed and her eyes glazed over as she looked at nothing in particular. Radiance’s eyes were wide as she double-checked the timestamp.
How…
“Everknowing, dear.” And suddenly Riora was looking directly at her, not at the camera. Radiance swallowed heavily. “And yes, I know exactly where you are. I know exactly where you will be tomorrow. And the day after that.” Her smile widened. “Did you really think I only track my employees with a tattoo?”
Lightning struck outside, and the light bulb flickered as thunder boomed. Riora clapped her hand in time with it, laughing in delight.
“Sorry for the melodrama, but it was too good to pass up.”
“You…” Caroline whispered.
“Me.” She leaned back in her chair. “I used to try to do it alone, but really, it works so much better with an organization at my feet. Assassins are ever so useful. The right person out of the way here, a politician dead before they can pass a certain law there. Potential strangled in its crib, a loved one taken away to create a hero, and when you kill all the right people, you can even leave one of the most powerful creatures to ever live alone and desperate for companionship.”
Her smile turned sly.
“That is how you steer history, dearest Radiance.”
The silence was filled with the howling wind and the sound of rain. Then Riora pouted.
“Now don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who cruelly abandoned me, not the other way around. Are you mad at me for my deception? That I’m not just a prolific client? But it’s only the nature of the beast. As your sister will be quick to tell you, villains lie.” Her gaze softened. “There is one lie in particular that has served me well over the years. It keeps my operatives in line. Would you like to hear it? I think you’ll even like it.”
She fell silent, looking expectant.
After a moment, Radiance nodded.
“What you hear now you will not tell another soul. Well, with the exception of the ones closest to you, I suppose that can’t be helped. You are lucky that I play favorites. Anyway, where was I…” She trailed off, looking dazed.
“…the lie.”
“Oh yes! The lie.” Riora leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “Nobody ever leaves my Order.”
Caroline’s lips parted and the mad woman on the screen smiled happily.
“I reward good service, Radiance. You may leave, and I won’t give chase, provided you do not make your past public knowledge. My lie is, after all, still useful, and if you break the illusion, well…”
Lightning struck again, and suddenly a cold hand was at her throat, lips pressing against Radiance’s ear as she whispered, “Then I break you.”
Electricity sizzled and Radiance whirled around.
She was alone.
Behind her, she heard the recording’s slightly distorted voice.
“Goodbye, dear Caroline. You have served your purpose.”
Author's Note: Thank you all for reading my little tale. I hope you enjoyed the story of Stephen and Caroline as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, please leave a little review; each and every comment I get makes me happier than you know :)
A special thanks to Ian Samson and Canon-Thought for their lovely fanart!
Of Heroes And Villains:
The Ties That Bind By Minikisa An assassin. A fallen hero. An unlikely meeting. The road to redemption is long and hard and filled with explosives. |
 |
Caroline flipped the slightly dusty light switch, slowly turning on the spot to take in the painfully familiar room. There was her bed, still in the same red sheets she had last seen it, and there was her walk-in closet, filled with trendy fashion that was now so unfashionable it was close to becoming retro once again. The walls were decorated with posters of musicians and half-forgotten teen crushes.
Ian had left her room exactly as it was, preserving it like a loving, if slightly creepy, shrine to her memory.
Kara.
Caroline had taken to thinking of Ian as her little sister with relative ease, and referred to her as such even in her head. But thinking of Ian as Kara was proving substantially harder. Ian was the name she had cherished, Ian was the name she had clung to in her darkest hours and Ian was the name etched deep in her heart. Changing those many associations to Kara was a challenge. Caroline slipped into calling her Ian more often than not.
If it bothered Kara, she did not show it, never visibly reacting to Caroline’s mistakes. Still, Caroline had obsessively researched what Ian must have gone through, and fretted that the misgendered name hurt far more than she let on.
She would make the mental switch in time, but Caroline was contemplating asking Stephen to help the process along.
Of course, Kara would likely soon be facing the challenge of trying to call Caroline by a different name herself. She was already getting ready to lay the groundwork for a new identity, although Caroline had not yet settled on what her new name should be.
The Order strongly encouraged breaking all ties with one’s old identity. For all that he had shaped her life, she didn’t know what Assault’s real name was. Radiance, in turn, had never shared her civilian name with any of the other assassins either, and the only people within the Order who had met her before she had chosen to become Radiance were dead at her hands. But she did not delude herself into thinking that there wasn’t someone at the top keeping track of who she had once been.
Revealing Caroline Reynolds’ miraculous survival was out of the question.
In fact, just associating with Ia – Kara was very risky, and not just to her own safety. When she had brought that up, Kara had gone very quiet. Then she had said that some things were worth dying for, and that she would protect Caroline to her last breath.
Caroline realized she might be biased, but it was an undisputable fact that she had the sweetest baby sister in the whole fucking world.
Though perhaps also not the brightest.
Kara wanted to make the new ID a blood relative of some sort – half-sister by way of their father’s many liaisons kept getting brought up – so she could eventually lay a partial claim to the Reynolds fortune. Caroline kept shooting that idea down, but Kara was like a dog with a bone, no matter how often she insisted that she was quite financially secure.
Secure enough to fund Stephen’s remaining education sans scholarship, in fact. She rather liked putting the money she had acquired by less savory means to good use.
Caroline smiled at the thought of him.
Stephen sighed softly, curling up to rest his head on her lap. She gently ran her fingers through his hair while he shuddered, wordlessly comforting him. Sometimes he would get these restless moods, filled with a longing he couldn’t put into words. In response, Caroline would smile seductively and task him with making her scream his name in pleasure.
He was quite skilled at following orders.
But the surge of happiness at being commanded was always tinged with faint shame.
“Stephen,” she murmured.
“Yes, Caroline?” He never called her Mistress. He hated that word. But somehow he managed to infuse her name with all the gravitas of a revered title.
“There’s nothing wrong with devotion.”
He grew still and did not say anything at all.
But she heard him over their link.
“I’d like that,” she whispered, and leaned down to draw him in for a deep kiss.
There was no doubt in Caroline’s mind that they would spend the rest of their lives together. Nor in his. Still, in order to not freak out their little circle of friends with how fast their relationship had progressed, they kept the wedding plans to themselves. For now.
She made her way to the cupboard, gazing at her old eclectic selection of books. Then she spotted what she’d been looking for, bending down and retrieving a thick binder.
The old springs in her bed creaked a little when she bounced to lie atop of it. The sound was almost overshadowed by the steady staccato of heavy raindrops against the window.
Caroline perused the photo album with her lips curved in a bittersweet smile. She glossed over the pictures of friends she hadn’t thought about in years, and could not afford to meet again. Not that she really wanted to; she doubted she had much of anything in common with them anymore. Instead, her gaze lingered on pictures of Ian. Kara. Happier times with their parents.
She traced the outline of an old, grainy picture of her riding on her father’s shoulder.
After many years, Caroline was finally in the position to build herself a future. But she had wanted to take a moment to appreciate her past.
She turned the page – and froze.
There was a black envelope in place of a picture.
The name was written in an elaborately swirling script using shiny silver ink.
Radiance closed her eyes, taking three deep breaths.
When she opened her eyes, the envelope was still there.
She calmly peeled away the strips of transparent duct tape holding it in place, and then gingerly opened it. Her fingertips closed around the letter inside, tugging it out with great care.
Then she unfolded the heavy paper, gazing at the handful of words written in the same beautiful flowing handwriting.
Check your laptop.
xoxo
Riora, demi-goddess extraordinaire, oracle without equal, connoisseur of fine wines and tiny marshmallows
Never had booting up taken this long. She impatiently paced the room.
Finally, the telltale musical sequence played out and she sat down at the desk.
The desktop background was an infinity symbol. Radiance’s knuckles turned white before she forced herself to relax. She scanned the files, and her gaze fell on a video file simply titled Marshmallows.
It was dated more than five years ago.
After a moment’s hesitation, she clicked on it.
The screen went black, then filled with static, flickering until it revealed the image of a white-haired woman looking directly at the camera. Radiance hissed in a sharp breath.
Her client.
The woman smiled her vacant smile, yet her gaze was sharp and predatory in a way Caroline had never seen it, her pale eyes sparkling with glee.
“Radiance,” she purred. “You retire and I don’t even get a goodbye? You wound me, assassin. But I am willing to overlook your lack of manners. For old time’s sake. Remember that time you killed someone for me? And that other time? Ah, those were the days. Are the days.”
She laughed and her eyes glazed over as she looked at nothing in particular. Radiance’s eyes were wide as she double-checked the timestamp.
How…
“Everknowing, dear.” And suddenly Riora was looking directly at her, not at the camera. Radiance swallowed heavily. “And yes, I know exactly where you are. I know exactly where you will be tomorrow. And the day after that.” Her smile widened. “Did you really think I only track my employees with a tattoo?”
Lightning struck outside, and the light bulb flickered as thunder boomed. Riora clapped her hand in time with it, laughing in delight.
“Sorry for the melodrama, but it was too good to pass up.”
“You…” Caroline whispered.
“Me.” She leaned back in her chair. “I used to try to do it alone, but really, it works so much better with an organization at my feet. Assassins are ever so useful. The right person out of the way here, a politician dead before they can pass a certain law there. Potential strangled in its crib, a loved one taken away to create a hero, and when you kill all the right people, you can even leave one of the most powerful creatures to ever live alone and desperate for companionship.”
Her smile turned sly.
“That is how you steer history, dearest Radiance.”
The silence was filled with the howling wind and the sound of rain. Then Riora pouted.
“Now don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who cruelly abandoned me, not the other way around. Are you mad at me for my deception? That I’m not just a prolific client? But it’s only the nature of the beast. As your sister will be quick to tell you, villains lie.” Her gaze softened. “There is one lie in particular that has served me well over the years. It keeps my operatives in line. Would you like to hear it? I think you’ll even like it.”
She fell silent, looking expectant.
After a moment, Radiance nodded.
“What you hear now you will not tell another soul. Well, with the exception of the ones closest to you, I suppose that can’t be helped. You are lucky that I play favorites. Anyway, where was I…” She trailed off, looking dazed.
“…the lie.”
“Oh yes! The lie.” Riora leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “Nobody ever leaves my Order.”
Caroline’s lips parted and the mad woman on the screen smiled happily.
“I reward good service, Radiance. You may leave, and I won’t give chase, provided you do not make your past public knowledge. My lie is, after all, still useful, and if you break the illusion, well…”
Lightning struck again, and suddenly a cold hand was at her throat, lips pressing against Radiance’s ear as she whispered, “Then I break you.”
Electricity sizzled and Radiance whirled around.
She was alone.
Behind her, she heard the recording’s slightly distorted voice.
“Goodbye, dear Caroline. You have served your purpose.”
Author's Note: Thank you all for reading my little tale. I hope you enjoyed the story of Stephen and Caroline as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, please leave a little review; each and every comment I get makes me happier than you know :)
A special thanks to Ian Samson and Canon-Thought for their lovely fanart!
Comments
Love!
I love the big bad. I hope to see more of her in the future.
Or now.
Maybe yesterday...
*strokes white cat*
Oh, you'll see more of her.
A lot more.
*laughs maniacally*
Following up on this one, wow
Following up on this one, wow, eight years later, there's one thing that "The Bad Guy (tm)" can't predict - or stop easily.
Caroline can meet up with Constance at one of the various get-togethers. Frozen time, Constance gets full information on the Order - and Riora _can't know_. Precognition has a massive flaw, well, several, but the biggest is this: It's not knowing the future. It's seeing the most likely events to occur, and gets fuzzier the further out you look. You can capture glimpses of far future, but they'll be simple snapshots of events likely to happen no matter what - like eddies in the water swirling around certain fish, rather than pushing them. Anything from _outside_ the direct local time stream (our dimension), can throw off predictions, like a rock dropped into a stream. Constance is a constant rock. The only reason she hasn't completely annihilated Riora's abilities is that she doesn't use them on a grand scale.
In other words, a precognitive, to make maximum use of their abilities, has to be unknown, and do everything possible to keep outside influences to a minimum. This means time manipulators, psionicists, (stealing from E. E. "Doc" Smith there), interdimensional travelers, and magic users such as summoners.
Want to mess up this precognitive on the cheap? Summon LOTS of 'cheap' beings from other planes, and ask them to just randomly mess with everything. Just one 'I can't find my car keys!', making someone 20 minutes later, will _completely_ throw off the precog vision for that area for the day. "You're calling us to do what comes naturally, and you're not asking for any real payment? FUN TIMES!"
Riora is doing what's worked for her in the past - pushing infallibility. It's not. Just that the illusion has done the job she's needed so far.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Wonderful story!
I loved it! :) Write more!
~And so it goes...
I shall!
And thank you <3
Nice
Nice story. Excellent story. I still say you should publish.
Thanks and kudos.
- Terry
*blushes*
Thank you for that vote of confidence, it means a lot :)
I'm actually in the process of polishing oHaV up a little, mayyyybe make it ready for publication.
What do you number
What do you number a being that makes Cinder Snow a 10 look warm and fuzzy.
While she is a big mastermind
Riora is not near as powerful as Cinder Snow :3 But her reach extends far and wide...
(Fun fact: She doesn't actually have a number because she does not make public villain appearances)
She's weaker than almost any
She's weaker than almost any other villain out there, at least, if she becomes known.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Hmm...
Looks like Oracle has let Caroline know that she can assume her rightful identity as long as she does not reveil she worked for the Order. With her and Kara's money and contacts, they should be able to come up with a viable cover story for why she disappeared for so long and finally returned. Hell, just her ability to teleport does that since both siblings believe that they actually enter a different dimension when they teleport.
Welllll
The siblings keep their mutant abilities secret from the public, so they won't be able to use that as an excuse. But yes, they'll definitely come up with a good cover story. There's always the tried and true ~amnesia~, ie, Caroline having sustained head trauma during her kidnapping and only recently having recovered her memory of who she is.
Great story.
I loved it start to finish as two broken souls healed each other and fell in love. Good stuff! I'll look forward to more of your work.
Maggie
Thank you :)
I rather enjoyed writing their romance. Striking a good balance between them healing each other without making them codependant was hard, but I hope I succeeded.
Simply spectacular.
This is as polished as it gets on this site. Hell... as polished as it gets just about anywhere. My thoughts on your ability to bring these characters to life: Do it again! Do it again! Do it again! Do it again!!!!
Squee
You flatter me! <3 And I endeavor to do it again... and again *grins*
This story was what I call
This story was what I call awesome.I really loved the plot and characters,well Tex was a little too much of a hillbilly but what can you do they're part of society too;-).I hope to see more of this wonderful universe soon.
Aw
Tex is not that much of a hillbilly aside from the accent. And the fashion sense *laughs*
Seriously though, thank you ^_^ Glad you enjoyed it, and yes, there is definitely more to come.
Oh, wow...
I think I just fell in love with Riora. Glad to hear that Caroline's out and clear, though. She (and the others) deserve it.
She does
And I think she'll be very happy with her new life :)
Glad you like Riora! Ah, I do love me a good mastermind.
What a way to end this!
Excellent. Simply excellent.
But...(You know there had to be a but) LOL!
I have a question. Just whom does "and when you kill all the right people, you can even leave one of the most powerful creatures to ever live alone and desperate for companionship.” refer to?
Perhaps Event Horizon? Someone we haven't met yet? (GRINS) Or are you just shamelessly teasing us to get us ready for the next installment?
Anyway, thank you for this great story.
Cicero2K
"Otium cum dignitate'
I recommend...
...rereading a certain midquel :3 The hints as to what Riora's goal was are sprinkled all over the story. Consider that recruiting Caroline created Shade and then Shade did...what? ;) I do so enjoy shamelessly teasing!
Thank You...
...for giving this to us!
Finding a new chapter of your stories posted is always a high point of my day.
Please tell us more!
:)
No, thank you...
...for reading, and for those lovely compliments :)
I hope you enjoy what I have in store!
Riora
How do you categorize a meta who is a centuries old assassin who can summon and ride the lightning? That by it self puts her in very rare company, but wait there's more. She can also see the future in such a way that she direct it, and she is the founder and employer of an society of super-powered assassins. Her other powers haven't come up yet, but she has got to have some kind of kickass health thing going on to live so long and remain at her peak.
Maybe she's not Apocalypse from Marvel comics, but anyways, he's a sledgehammer. Riora is tempered stiletto that slips into your back pass all your protections and skill. When dealing with her it like that line from Star Trek. "We've got them just where they want us!" Only you don't know it until it's too late and she's whispering in your ear like she did to Caroline.
Have I said how much I'm a fan of this series? :) If someone not of BC was to ask me my favorite superheroes, they would be so very confused when I answer! :)
Hugs
Grover
You flatter me!
And I love it <3 Thank you, grover!
Riora is indeed a powerhouse, and quite hard to beat, but I will say that what you've seen is what you get - there are no hidden powers up her sleeve, her arsenal consists of lightning, foresight and agelessness (not immortality; she can definitely be killed).
Plus the Order. And a certain new BFF... :3
This entire thing has been
This entire thing has been amazing. Rather like to see what happens with Event Horizon. This entire series has been captivating right from the beginning.
Aw, thank you =D
As for Event Horizon... well, her time to shine is coming ;)
Riora
On the one hand, she's one scary psychic, but on the other hand, she does like tiny marshmallows ...
The allure of tiny marshmallows
cannot be denied.
Riora/Oracle
Riora created heroes with her well-targeted executions. Her assassination targets are almost always of villains and the criminal underworld. I'm not so sure that she's a standard villain - maybe she's more like Amethyst / Event Horizon, using horrible means to accomplish decent goals.
Not quite
Radiance's assassination targets were villains and of the criminal underworld. That's the clientele she preferred, refusing all others when she could, so that's the assignments Riora gave her. Had Radiance been forced into contracts targeting innocents, she'd not only have been worse at it while having to wrestle her consciousness, she'd have deserted, and died. Riora's all about maximizing efficiency of her operatives. You can bet that Executioner, Malice or Pestilence have all killed innocent people at the behest of The Order (and, by extension, Riora).
even the big fight
it looked like maybe she was thing the ranks of some of her nut jobs.
great story, thanks
:3
~I'll never teeeell. Well, I will. Soon (TM).
Riora's motives and goals are her own, and I'm not sharing. For now. I just wanted to clear up the misconception that The Order only goes after criminals.
Thanks for the ride :)
Minikisa this has been one of the "Ooh! New chapter up!" tales I have followed, and I am glad to see the more-to-follow notes above.
I know not every character can live completely happy ever after, and Caroline's rosy future has been given a touch of black spot. I hoped and worried at Stephen's struggle and was felt a surge of joy as he was
RePsychled.
I've already got my coat, see you later ;)
Teri Ann
"Reach for the sun."
Speechless
I can't tell if this was the worst or the best pun I've ever heard.
The big bad at teh end was
The big bad at teh end was just lovely. Excellently done. And the ending was fun as well. A great fic.
Heather
We are the change that will save the world.
Thank you!
I'm really glad you enjoyed my little tale :3
wonderful!
Can't wait to see what you do next.
Thanks as always for sharing, and may your muse pester you forever. (Because i'm greedy and want to keep reading your stories.)
*grins*
Yes, I hope for the same. I rather enjoy writing about these characters!
Riora is scary
Riora has the scariest power of them all. She can see how her own actions affect the future.
No wonder she calls herself a god, she might very well be, even if she was only a mortal person.
Thank you for writing this captivating story,
Beyogi
For a precognitive, their own
For a precognitive, their own actions are the only ones that are easy to predict. Outside influences slowly degrade visions going forward. In this case, she's been working hard to force predictability by pushing the actions she wants.
Predicting your own actions, however, can lead to massive overconfidence or even mental freezing by pushing herself into a corner.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Amazing
Reading your stories is usually the highlight of my day, it's just so good! I care about all of the characters as if they were my own friends, and that is a very rare author that can make that happen. I can never wait for the next chapter to come out and they always leave a smile on my face :)
Thank you thank you thank you for all your work on these treasures!
-Tas
Amazing
Reading your stories is usually the highlight of my day, it's just so good! I care about all of the characters as if they were my own friends, and that is a very rare author that can make that happen. I can never wait for the next chapter to come out and they always leave a smile on my face :)
Thank you thank you thank you for all your work on these treasures!
-Tas
I very much enjoyed reading this story!
I hope that you'll continue writing more stories in this wonderful universe you've created for us. I'd love to read some stories that explore and develop some of the other interesting characters you've created. I for one would like to hear more about Platypus Man. Is that a real bill he has or is it just some kind of accessory that's part of his uniform?
I look forward to reading your next story, whether it's a continuation of this story-verse or if its something new in a completely different setting.
Hugs,
Tamara Jeanne
Mastermind
The ability to see the future, plus other things, and a lot of age and experience to back it up. That makes for an incredibly dangerous enemy, provided she is an enemy. Personally I slot her as a neutral party, not evil per se, but certainly not 'good'.
I really really enjoyed this story, and I want to say well done, it was awesome :)
-Tas
Wonderful story, loved it
I'm a sucker for Hallmark stories and this one exceeded that mundane stuff. The title "The Ties that Bind" is very well thought out and is indeed a major plot device. Many kudos are due this story. I'll be thinking and reviewing it in my head for some time.
>>> Kay