Patricia Wilson
Stories
10
Chapters
3,347
Words
163.4 K
Comments
0
Reading
13 h, 37 m
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“I can feel you trying, you know? You sort of shiver. One part of you overruling another part.” Etenesh smiled up at Truth. “It's kind of sweet. And kind of sad. But mostly sweet.” “It’s not rational. I know that. I’m not even sure where the people allergy is coming from. For most of my life, I have dreamed of someone wanting to be with me. Now that there is someone willing to touch me, I can’t stand to let people close.” Truth forced himself to smile. “It might be as simple as that,…-
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The ducks eventually decided they had had enough seeds and paddled off. The elegant wake behind them was as fine as ever a duck did make. The sunlight reflecting off the tiny ripples seemed to contain some blessed harmonies, silver flashes dancing in time with the world. The little group just sat there a while longer, each letting their thoughts drift across the pond. Finding that calm moment within the chaos of their lives. Stillness is a powerful thing. It lets you really see yourself and the world.…
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Truth discovered a new sort of agony that morning. It turns out that being stuck in a five-seater carriage with an old monster you don’t trust and two people you blew up at is excruciating. And they were stuck in traffic. If he was riding his trusty iron horse, he could split the lanes and be there already. Or they could spend the modest sum necessary to hire a flying carpet. Or, given that Merkovah was Level Seven and clearly a person of some importance in Siphios, he could probably simply summon a…
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Truth had the image of the Sprite pacing around and waving. He could see the little blue-haired monster throwing its hands up in frustration. Truth chuckled bitterly. He wasn’t even seeing the storeroom at this point, lost in his memories. Truth laughed as he pulled himself up out of the corner. Truth started walking the halls again. More slowly now. Really looking at the carvings. Feeling the texture of the walls. Appreciating just how real it all felt. It was literally more real than he was. If…
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“Tommy, what the Hell?” Jember yelled. “Hero, hero, hero, hero!” Truth giggled, his eyes wide and unblinking. “Such a goddamn hero. A hero of the North, which I guess is true as I was born well north of here. Or south, depending on what you call “born.” His fingers shattered the bit of the armrest that remained in his hand. “They aren’t wrong about home always being with me, either. Every day I ask myself, “What would Dad do?” then I do the opposite. Or I think about how Mom treats…
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The projection opened with exterior shots of Old Mek’elle. People gathered to leave flowers and signs, hugging fiercely and sobbing freely, watched over by a heavy police presence. The enormous triskelion of Old Mek’elle itself hovered over the stadium and was soundly ignored. “Shocking scenes this afternoon at Old Mek’elle. First, a double sacrifice on the pitch, then horrific terrorism off it.” There was a cut to the studio. An elegant woman was brightly made up, her hair styled long and…
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The feathered serpent slithered through the air toward Truth, leading the dozens of demons that came through the portal with it. Truth really, really wanted to run. But they were moving faster than he could, so there really was only one choice- fight. He raised the angelic blade and braced himself. The Police around the stadium finally got their act together and rushed in. Heavily armored mages pressed forward, enchanted riot shields between them and the fire. Their summoned angels soared over and came to…
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The stadium echoed back and forth, the roaring sea of a song washing away the rage. It would come back. It always came back. But for now, the sea of grief brought everyone together. For now, in the brilliant afternoon light, they were all fans of a beautiful game. For now, they came together to mourn two heroes. The six surviving players came together. Jerseys were stripped off and turned into a litter to carry Gionne’s body off the field. Two players joined hands to make a seat for Raffe. There was a…
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“So this is a little different than what you have seen before. That was lower-league stuff- basically zone invasion where players try to move the ball through the other team’s zone to reach a scoring location. This is a little different- still zone invasion, but you see how there are sloped walls on either side of the pitch? With the markers on them? You hit the other team’s marker. You get a point. First to twenty-one wins.” The markers were quite narrow, Truth noticed. Since you were only…
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Truth and Etenesh went their separate ways back to their rooms to prepare for the day. Etenesh apparently had some very important reading to do for her coursework, and Truth expected to be on standing-around duty once again. They were both derailed by Jember, popping up with new instructions. “One of my fellow cultists-” “There absolutely has to be a better way of saying that,” Truth interjected. “What, “Cultist?” Etenesh asked. “That’s what they are.” “Mystery cult, remember?”…
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