The Mad Frank's Dreams: Post 9 Of Garrotes and Battle Plans

#FanFic #TheApothecaryDiaries
#Wss366 Hinge #MastoPrompt Mend

Mao eyed the garrote in Chue’s hand, then the cell, and finally Chue herself. Mao waited for her companion to explain.

“I’ll strangle the one with a cudgel while you throw the blanket over the other. Hold on to him and don’t let go. Everything #hinges on whether you can keep him busy until I've dealt with the first one. Can you do it?”

Instead of answering, Mao nodded and asked, “How long until they come back, and what if there are more than two?”

“Who knows how the bones will fall, but the moon hasn't turned its face from us yet.”

Mao clicked her tongue at the courtly language but said no more.

With the plan settled, the two waited. Mao held the blanket in her lap while Chue pretended to entertain her with the flags or to #mend the pennants. Each of them listened and watched the door, waiting.

The hours crawled by, and the light that crept through the boarded window dimmed. Mao had slumped, and her face had turned a sick green. Another one of Chue’s candies helped, but Mao’s hands still shook, and her eyes were dull. When Chue felt her forehead, it was hot, and her hair was damp with sweat.

“You should sleep,” Chue said.

Mao shook her head. “If they come, I need to be ready.”

“As you will, but only until there is no light. Then, go to sleep. I'll wake you if I hear anything.”

Mao nodded again. As much as she hated to admit it, sleep was the only reliable remedy for a head injury like hers. She would just have to hope there was no internal bleeding.

#MicroFiction #TootFic #ApothecaryDiaries #NMFic #Serial

Sole Survivor 唯の生存者 2 of 2

#FanFic #AdachiAndShimamura
#Wss366 Soul

[Continued from previous post]

When the cloud dispersed, a girl, whose light blue hair left trails of fairy lights, floated in the air before her. Pale sapphire eyes and a wistful smile appeared under the hood of a genie onesie.

“I am the #Soul of Fate,” the fairy creature announced, performing a midair pirouette.

“Your—your Shimamura’s adopttt-ed sister,” Adachi managed to say, her eyes wide.

“That too,” the girl said, landing.

"Look, a crab!" she exclaimed. For a moment, she lost interest in Adachi and chased the crab. After catching it, she popped it into her mouth. "Crunchy, but not bad." I think I prefer doughnuts, though. Do you have any?"

She sniffed the air while Adachi’s head wobbled in what one would presume was a “no.”

“What—what do you want?” Adachi asked.

“I’ve come to grant you one wish. I’m a genie today.”

She twirled again, showing off her outfit, then resumed, “Choose carefully; the fate of the universe depends on it.”

Adachi’s response was immediate. “Bring Shimamura here.”

The genie cocked her head. “That works. Can I wait until she’s bought doughnuts??”

“No! Now!”

The girl shrugged and said, “It's just as well; she’s worried about you.” With a wave of her hand, Shimamura appeared, her eyes glued to reports on her phone about the Sea Striker’s disappearance. Emotions played across her face: first stunned, then mystified, ecstatic, and finally back to mystified. Her words matched: “What… Where… You’re alive! Where are we!?”

“We're in the Bermuda Triangle on a deserted island,” the fairy, aka genie, said. “The universe is saved.”

“I wished for you to join me here,” Adachi explained.

Shimamura looked around and grimaced. “A deserted island? Ugh! No shower! No internet!” and she threw her phone down. “And no people! Double ugh! Why didn’t you just wish yourself home?”

“This is better.” Adachi’s blush held the rest of her message: “Food, water, shelter, and best of all Shimamura.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #AdachiToShimamura #Cute #Yuri

#Airisu: The Crow and the Witch

Mikaeri Zaka/Look Back Ridge (Sumika POV) Post 24
#Wss366 Ghost #MastoPrompt Drama

The year before I moved to the U.S., I was in the sixth grade and didn’t live far from Mount Tenran. That was when I visited the shrine and saw a #ghost for the first time.

But I’m doing it again, showing not telling, so let’s go back.

“Mom, can I spend the night at sis’s friend’s?” I asked.

My mother looked up from packing kitchen stuff. We were selling most of our belongings, but there were still a lot we were shipping to the US. We didn’t know how long Dad would be assigned to the San Francisco office.

“Are your clothes packed? And when have you wanted to spend time with those girls?” came her tired reply. “There’s so much #drama around them.”

“They’re visiting a shrine, and I want to go one last time.” It wasn’t a lie, nor was it the whole truth. It was a test of courage, and the place we were going had long been abandoned. There was a story that if you found the ruins and offered the kami rice, they would grant you a wish. Not cooked rice, raw grain, and lots of it. If you didn’t offer enough, he would cut off your head.

“You can go if all your stuff is packed, and I mean all of it. And we can visit a major shrine this weekend, where you can get a last look at the mikos. They don’t have them in America.”

“Yay!” I loved mikos. As a sixth grader, I dreamed of being one when I grew up. Shrine maiden uniforms were so cute, and they got to speak to the kami.

“Just a moment,” Mom said, leaving the kitchen. When she returned, she handed me some money. “For an offering and to buy yourself a charm.”

“Can I take some rice?”

“Sure, it’ll be done soon.”

She gave me a funny look when I took some uncooked grain and put it in a bag. Then, before she could ask questions, I ran out of the room, shouting over my shoulder, “I’m going to check that all my stuff is packed!”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #Fantasy #UrbanFantasy #Crow #SlowBurn #Yuri

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 9: Post 91: 1912 Titanic 2 of 2

#Wss366 Lean #TimeTravelAuthors 04/11. Point

[Continued from previous post]

I put down the first letter, picked up the second, and began reading it.

Today, I visited Dr. Faust to clarify some #points about time-travel.

I’m glad I don’t live in the Middle Ages. It was smelly and uncomfortable-looking. I wouldn’t eat anything there.

The doctor appeared only mildly surprised by my visit and proposed a question exchange, which I agreed to.

• Who or what are the ICE-Nine rabbits? He responded, “I don’t know what ICE-Nine is, but the rabbits are God’s guardians of time.” He seemed serious, though I doubted his answer. It’s more likely that they’re demonic agents. For heaven’s sake, according to that newspaper, they tortured and assassinated me.

• Have you ever tried to change history? He answered, “Unsuccessfully. I’ve tried saving my lover, Marguerite, several times, but to no avail. It takes something big to alter history.”

• Legend has it you sold your soul to Satan. What really happened? He laughed. “The devil, God—are they not the same? I have torn my soul loose from the world, but I have not sold it. I have sworn allegiance to the Illuminated Ones, and they have promised me knowledge beyond my wildest dreams. No matter what history says, I am not wrong. You should do the same before God’s wrath falls upon you.”

I stopped again. “I’m Glad we didn’t visit Faust. It sounds like he’s one of the bad guys.”

Emily waved her hand for me to continue.

There was a knock at the door just then, and my host said, “There they are now. You should leave or be prepared to swear an oath to them. God’s emissaries will show you mercy.”

I did the former. No good could come of dealing with the Illuminated Ones.

“That’s it,” I said, putting the letters down. “I guess we’ll never know how or why they murdered me.”

“Not the details, but I think you got into the soup visiting Faust. Let’s not make the same mistake.”

That was one major option out, so I suggested an alternative. “Given what has worked, I bet it’s possible to visit an opponent of the rabbits.”

“And end up meeting one of those prehistoric monsters we saw in the mural. Bad idea.”

“I wonder if saying ‘meet an ally’ would work better?”

“Might. I #lean in favor of that. But before we decide our next move, let’s get dressed and explore the ship.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 9: Post 91: 1912 #Titanic 1 of 2

#Wss366 Lean #TimeTravelAuthors 04/11. Point

Emily nodded in response to my question, so I began reading the first letter.

This was my first trip, so I started conservatively and jumped ahead a week to find the newspaper I needed for Professor Skully. However, time-pressure swept me all the way to April 2026. Things haven’t improved there. According to a student paper, there’s a war in the Middle East. ICE-Nine was running unchecked and was pepper-spraying protesters and killing opposition figures. The newspaper claimed that i9 was behind my murder.

MY MURDER!!!

Why didn’t you guys warn me about that? If I knew more, maybe I could avoid being killed!

I stopped reading to say, “Burned.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Emily said, shrugging. She then rolled onto her back and said, “Continue.”

I went to visit Professor Skully to learn more about my death. However, I found i9 agents in our building, accompanied by the creepiest rabbits I’d ever seen. At least you warned me about them. Rather than risk being caught, I traveled home right away.

“What do you make of that?” I asked Emily.

“You can travel into the future, but it’s unreliable. You can return to your starting #point. And that you’ve stirred up the Illuminati/Knights Templar/Lapin Cabal. Whatever we’re going to do, they want to stop it.”

“Lapin Cabal, I like that.”

“Did you notice anything else?” she asked.

“Nope, that sums it up. Oh, there was the abbreviation for ICE-Nine.”

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri

The Mad Frank's Dreams: Post 8 The Robe of Wonder

#FanFic #TheApothecaryDiaries
#Wss366 Spat

Mao scanned the small room, taking in the boarded window, the heavy door, and the image of the Crucifixion on the wall. Her gaze lingered on the latter for a moment, then she refocused on Chue.

“What do they want?” she asked.

“The Shaoh wish to make trouble, while The Mad Frank dreams he can use you to bring down fire and destruction upon Li.”

Mao lay back down, muttering. Chue couldn’t make out most of what she said, but picked out “wind in his head,” “apocalypse,” and “mushroom princess.” Then, with a sigh, Mao began breathing evenly, asleep.

When she awoke, she looked at Chue and said, “I’m glad you’re here. What are we going to do?” Her voice was uncharacteristically feeble, and Chue reproached herself once again for failing to protect the Prince’s favorite.

“First, eat and drink. You’ll need energy,” she said.

Mao looked at the cold, congealed millet and turned green. She pushed the bowl away but took a swig from the gourd, #spat, and then took another swallow. “Maybe I could eat something salty.” Nodding at the congee she said, “That would just make me sick.”

Reaching into her robes, Chue pulled out a golden crystal. "Honey candy. I was saving it for you." Her eyes fixed hungrily on it, but she handed it to Mao.

Mao put it in her mouth and then, speaking around it, said, “What else do you have?”

"They took most of my things, but they missed this." She pulled out her flags with a flourish, grabbed the far end of the braided silk cord, and snapped it as if wrapping it around something. It was a remarkable feat done with only one hand.

“Miss Chue has been practicing.”

#MicroFiction #TootFic #ApothecaryDiaries #NMFic #Serial

#TimeTravelingGhost EP 9: Post 90: 1912 #Titanic

#Wss366 Fare #MastoPrompt Hesitate #TimeTravelAuthors 04/9. Will your characters admit they're wrong?

“We want to go to an unoccupied first-class cabin on the Titanic on the afternoon of April 14, 1912, unless there’ll be a disaster on board before it reaches New York. If so, take us to the Golden Spike ceremony for the linking of the two sides of the transcontinental railway.”

This wish included several experiments: 1) a very specific location; 2) a conditional; and 3) complex instructions. Theoretically, we should arrive in the American West.

That wasn’t what happened; instead, there was a ripping sensation as red lights flashed before our eyes. I gasped in pain, staggered, and braced myself against a metal wall that had appeared. We found ourselves in a white room with two single beds, a carpet, a sink, a couch, and a writing desk. The steam pipes and painted walls were far less luxurious than I had expected. Still, after the Hindenburg, it seemed spacious. The #fare for this cabin probably cost a lot, though not as much as the wood-paneled suites I had imagined.

I sank onto the couch. “So only part of that worked. That’s too bad,” I said.

Emily shrugged and flopped down on a bed. As expected, she left no impression on the white sheets.

“I need to apologize,” I said. “I wasn’t supposed to risk the rabbits spotting us.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll both feel better knowing you tried.”

I spread the letters from the cache on the couch. That was part of why I’d scared Ms. Dubois, but I was glad Emily gave me credit for having nobler intentions. In hindsight, I could have grabbed the letters and ditched the professor. I #hesitated to give myself nobler intentions.

“There are only two notes here. We’ll never know what was in the one she was carrying,” I said.

Emily shrugged.

“Shall I?” I asked, holding up the first note.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #TimeTravel #HistoricalFantasy #UrbanFantasy #Mythpunk #Serial #Slowburn #Yuri

Stormy Weather (#TimeTravelingGhost Side Story)

#Wss366 #Blues / #BillieHolidaysBirthday #MastoPrompt Citadel #TimeTravelAuthors How seriously do the characters take time travel

I watched my time-traveling friends leave. It was the second time spirits had visited me. First, a visitation by my mother, and now I’d met myself accompanied by a strange, abrasive woman. They were a serious pair. If only they had shared the results of my experiments. There was information they were withholding, as ominous as Erebus’s silent #citadel.

“So, what do you think, Rindy?” I asked the papillon plushie sitting in the guest chair. My visitors had dislodged its green St. Patrick’s Day hat. I straightened it and then gave Patroclus some more rat food. While I was at it, I poured myself a second drink.

“Alexa, play some Billie Holiday. Something soft but not too sad.”

“Carelessly,” came on.

I turned the picture on the desk toward me. Ms. Sarah Lockwell smiled back. I wondered what would happen if I traveled back in time and tried to make things work with her. She was already cheating on me by the time we traveled to Ireland, so probably not much. I would just relive those desperate times again, wallowing in self-loathing while desperately refusing to give up on someone who had tossed me aside. I would have been okay with sharing her, but she didn’t want that. Nor was she brave enough to tell me to get lost, just as I hadn’t had the self-respect to give up.

“All of Me” came on and I sang along. “You took the best, why not take the rest?”

The last of my drink burned as I swallowed it in one gulp, and I poured a third.

“Sigh, guess this is it,” I said. My visitors hadn’t been very informative, but I could read between the lines. “Stormy Weather,” I announced to Rindy and Patroclus.

Alexa switched the music to that track.

I picked up the silly red sunglasses I, the future me, had left behind, opened the middle drawer, and dropped them on top of my copy of the Mad Arab’s book.

1937 HITS ARCHIVE: Carelessly - Teddy Wilson (Billie Holiday, vocal)

#TootFic #MicroFiction #NMFic #BillyHoliday #Jazz