[deleted]

Here's a tough one: Salem from RWBY.

Please hurry with part two!

Alternates? Oh dear that never works out well most of the time.

But this is also how "Fairy Gold" works also. They never took it back from you. It just ended back where it came from.

Part 1 of 2 - Tomas & St Peter

"It was close since you never accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior, but you lived well and did little intentional harm. You helped your neighbors and were a productive worker helping your community. I can't judge you as a parent, but welcome to Heaven." St Peter said in a surprisingly animated voice.

Tomas was surprised St Peter cared so much. After however many billion souls, he'd probably just hand everybody a card to read. But that was just his idle thoughts, instead he was focused on getting into Heaven. For an atheist, that was an unexpected accomplishment.

"So, is it like the Christians said? Eternal happiness, everything you could want?"

"Yes, it is a place of peace and harmony without suffering."

Tomas clapped his hands in excitement. If he could just eat decent food, watch good shows, visit cool places, and smoke a little weed with his friends while they did it, "This is what I always dreamed of. Life is suffering enough so we might as well make it as good as possible. But since this is the afterlife y'all did it even better."

"It is as Yahweh promised, He rewards those who honor him in deed and act during the course of their lives. Meanwhile, Hell is quite like Earth without His mercy, but worse for those who bring light are shpeherded here."

Tomas nodded, he'd never act on the thought, but the world would be better off if some people had a fortunate accident. "Yep, that's why we never could make things good. Some opportunist always saw an opportunity off the brilliance and good intentions of others."

St. Peter nodded sagely, "And do you have any questions before you go?" With a flick of his wrist, the pearly gates manifested, but did not open.

Tomas almost shook his head, but decided to make sure. It was one of those questions that'd caused him to turn atheist in the first place. "So if heaven is a place of serenity and Hell is that of suffering, and it's likely at least one of my friends will get sent to Hell, how can I be serene knowing my friend is in pain?"

Either they inended to wipe his personality, his memories, or it was not in fact so perfect a place. No other explanation made sense.

"Serenity is being present in the moment. Beyond the gates is a place of such Grace, you couldn't possibly worry about that which is lost."

"Them." Tomas said reflexively. Then got annoyed and anxious, correcting St Peter seemed foolish, but it reminded him of what Megan went thru before she could pass. 'And slavery' he thought after.

"As I recall, them is for a group of people, not Hellspawn." St Peter said sharply before continuing as before, "But I didn't mean to upset you. Actually, if you look at the texts, the Lord doesn't express his opinion either way. You people made it a sin all on your own."

"Well what you said about LGB people didn't help."

St Peter chuckled, "I'm used to having this argument with atheists I send to Hell, but not ones that are approved on merit. But no matter, have you managed to translate the Dead Sea Scrolls properly? No. And that's what the Lord had to say about that."

Tomas noticed that St Peter didn't actually specify God's opinion. 'Maybe it was like trans people?' But he decided not to press the issue. Instead choosing to ask about entertainment, "So, do you just have the movies and games made to now or do you have the ones that'll be made in the future.

"Uhmmm.... noooo." St Peter said slowly but not sarcastically. It was like he found the question itself confusing.

"I mean, can I play some videogame made in 2045 now or do I have to wait 22yrs?"

"I thought I explained this when you asked about your friends."

'Friends?' Tomas thought, he wasn't surprised, but it hurt to hear he'd lose more than one. "Nope, we definitely didn't cover future stuff."

"I mean, why would you need movies and games from the living when you are serene?"

Tomas laughed nervously, this was starting to sound like it'd get boring before eternity. "Then y'all must have some fire."

"Fire and brimstone is Hell's thing." St Peter joked.

"But seriously, what is perfect weed like? If I'm going to be serene without ente-"

"There are no drugs in Heaven. You won't ever have the need or desire for caffeine, cannabis, tobacco, sugar, or any other mortal vice."

Tomas stared. St Peter seemed expectant, as if he would be excited to never do drugs or finally play Half Life 3. Tomas stared so St Peter cleared his throat and continued, "You will be free of that. What do you say. Are you ready to be at peace?"

"So, did you say Hell was basically Earth 2.0 instead of torture and red horned sadists?"

"Naturally, how would he tempt the corruptable if he made it awful? There's suffering and pain, but he finds way to make a poor parody of the Lord's mercy."

"And what is this Lord's mercy you keep saying?"

"It is freedom from pain and the gift of boundless love and joy."

"While my friend's get high, go to cool places, and play games that don't even exist yet? Honestly, I think you got the wrong guy. Send me there."

"Excelle..." his enthusiastic words trailed off and his fingers ready to snap merely twitched. "You mean there?" he asked gesturing to the gates.

Tomas shook his head, "You know which I meant."

"You cannot be serious, nobody chooses to go there. Only the damned go there."

"Damn it all to Hell, You damned well better not send me thru that damned gate. Please send me to where I can at least have fun."

"But why?"

"I don't really believe propaganda. Well... I probably did, but not that obvious shit like Hell is pure evil and Satan tempts for pure evil."

"He does. When the Lord and he worked together, there was perfect serenity. Such total harmony, but then there was the big fight and they left so explosively. It was his greed and avarice, his opportunism as you put it. He is the cause of suffering. Why does God not pay taxes for his mistake? Because he is focused on sorting and reuniting to end the suffering altogher!" St Peter kept talking faster and louder until he was shouting.

"Woah, woah, it's alright. But you can't be so cruel as to condemn me to an eternity I do not want."

"You are but a child before his wisdom. Children do not make decisions as important as these. So come along."

St Peter stood up and walked to the right side of the gate, just before the marble steps. When he turned around, Tomas hadn't moved. And he didn't to, Tomas was going to treat this guy like the peacekeeper he was. "I do not consent."

"Like I said, this is not your decision to make so come here." St Peter commanded in a way that demanded instant obedience.

It reminded him of his second grade teacher, and he hated her too. "I don't mean to pull a Karen, but you might as well check with your supervisor. If you do it, you're basically abducting me, didn't Deuteronomy have something about that."

"Dead Sea Scrolls, I already told you, that doesn't have Deuteronomy." St Peter put his hand hand over his face and groaned. "You realize who my suoervisor is right? You seriously intend to be this trounlesome?"

r/AurumArgenteus

My first thought was reincarnation lol

More

Just send some D-class there

'No, you're not insane.'

The words written in faded pencil sure made me feel insane, as they had been the words I intended to write when I opened this second volume of 'Windmill Construction Through The Ages.' I bent the book across the worn spine to read the rest of this hidden line.

'Hello star child!' it read. 'Hello new me. Hello beautiful, innocent redeemer. I want to tell you so much, so please find my collected notes in the pages of 511.712094'

The number held no significance to me. I thought it might be some sort of code that only I would know the answer to, so that no unsuspecting windmill-construction fanatic could accidentally stumble upon my past self's secrets of the universe.

But no. It's the Dewey Decimal system. And as the first librarian I asked for help pointed this out to me, I felt like a complete idiot in two lifetimes. The librarian showed me exactly where to find 'Children In The Early Anthropocene.' It looked to be some incredibly niche topic on the study of historical geology. The book made a cracking sound as I freed it from the bottom shelf, as if it had become a part of the library from so many decades without moving. I could barely keep the pages from falling out of the old binding for how weak the spine had been worn.

Retreating with the book to a private corner of a study room, I pulled the hardback covers wide apart and found a sort of confession written out one line at a time in the hidden margin between the pages.

'Your name was once Arthur Bishopp. I'm sure it's a pleasure to finally meet yourself. If you're lucky enough to be reading this, you must have found one of my many notes left behind in what books I imagined would interest your young mind. Tectonic Tides of Pangaea vol. IV, I suspect?

'I knew you'd retain my love of the sciences. You must be such a gifted child in your school. I bet all the teachers ask where your brilliance comes from.

'Me, dear child. It comes from me. Think of me as your true father, for you are the product of my devotions to study. Not only have I lived my life to the utmost of karmatic benevolence to ensure a favorable rebirthing, I have crammed my head so full of knowledge that it has become entwined with my soul. You did not need to learn from a teacher that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the right angle sides. You knew it instinctively. The teacher needed only to remind you.

'I imagine you will be able to accomplish great things for human kind with these blessings I have bestowed upon you. Be sure not to take all the credit, but you probably need no reminder. We always have been a very humble person.

'Since you are obviously ingrained already with my same love of knowledge, for proof in having found this book at all, and are primed by my studies to absorb all collective knowledge at their first encounters, I see no need in imparting any key scholarly teachings here. Instead, I will give you the best of all personal advice I've collected after fifty-seven years travelling this earth, as I'm sure it will pertain to you still.

'Don't let others interrupt you.

'Don't suffer fools.

'Don't cast your pearls before swine.

'Don't eat with your mouth full.

The advice carried on and on, one line per a page, for what looked like at least a third of the book. I stopped reading and closed the book.

Everything was beginning to make sense in my life. I was not born a genius, as Arthur Bishopp had expected. I did not scour the library as a child looking for the latest volume in the series about tectonic plates. I sucked dirt.

This man was the reason I had been born into a hard life of squalor, to a mother that could never afford rent and a father who walked out after the birth of my third younger sister.

This man is the reason karma saw fit to give me a body that couldn't run too fast without risking a complete shattering of my lower vertebrae.

This insufferable man, and his god awful list of life advice, gave me colitis.

Even now, in my sixty-eighth year of life, I have zero scholarly interests. I only picked up the book on windmills because I liked the picture on the cover. I can't believe that my same consciousness shared the same mind as such a self-righteous know-it-all. What vanity! Assuming he would pass on such a genius that I could better human kind with my knowledge of tectonic plates.

Despite the proof for my theory of reincarnation, discovering this text has turned me off of the whole concept of leaving behind any words of wisdom for my future self. If Arthur left me anything at all, it must be the vanity for thinking my current self could ever know better than the next iteration of my soul.

I'm not going to make some child live in the past for my sake.

I dunked the historical geology textbook into the library's toilet before slipping it into the trash. Then I prayed that the memory of what I read would not outlive me.

​

**********

I'm somewhat new to the sub, but this is day 16 of my streak. If you want to see more of my submissions like this, they're collected at r/FarFetchedFiction

Thanks.

II:

We both made our exit from the party pretty quick, after that. As we walked back to Danny's car, parked a few blocks down due to the crowd at Marty's, we were silent at first. Then, for whatever reason, whether it was the gummies or the sheer absurdity of it all, we started laughing.

We laughed until we both had to lean on a nearby fence to catch our breaths."Damn." Danny sighed, when he'd finally curbed his manic cackling. "I might as well drop you back at your house, and then drive my car straight into the lake, after that shit."

I chuckled. "It'll be fine. Not everyone who heard it recognized you, and the ones that did will probably be too wasted to remember it, anyway."

"Hope so." he muttered. Then he smirked. "Or, you could just make me disappear."

I laughed. "Yeah..."

Then he grinned. "Hey, have you ever done that, before? Like, sent someone to hammerspace, instead of something?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I mean I...I've only really done it with objects before -- stuff I can hold in my hand."

Danny extended his hand.

"No way." I said, and then added. "And definitely not with your right hand."

Danny rolled his eyes and extended his left, instead. "Come on! It'll be like, for science and shit."

"Danny, I don't even know where hammerspace is!" I said. "What if it's too hot for people to survive there? Or too cold? What if it's like...up in orbit, or on the moon or something?"

Danny paused, then snapped his fingers. "You put shit you need to hide from your folks there, right?"

I nodded, uneasily. "Yeah, so?"

"Ever stash a beer in there?" he pressed, excitedly.

I shrugged. "Once or twice, sure."

"Was it still good when you pulled it back out?"

"Yeah, why?"

Danny grinned, and ticked points off on his fingers. "It didn't freeze, so it's not too cold. It didn't boil, so it's not too hot. And the can didn't explode or get crushed, which means there's atmospheric pressure like on Earth." He extended his hand again. "Beer is mostly water, and I am also mostly water. AP Science -- A-minus, bitch! Let's frickin' go!"I rolled my eyes. "It probably won't even work!"

"Then what are you worried about! Come on -- toss me in, send me back! There's still a good chance my life is over when we go back to school on Monday, dude -- so let me live!" Danny insisted.

With a sigh, I took his hand. He grinned widely. I pulled him forward and stepped in, so he went behind me.

I really thought nothing would happen. And then Danny was gone.

"Shit!" I cried.

I spun in a circle for a moment, as though I might have somehow flung him out of sight.

Then I came to my senses, and as I had done a thousand times before, I reached behind me, thinking of what I'd sent to hammerspace, and I grabbed for it. Somewhere beyond, my hand closed on Danny's wrist, and I pulled as hard as I could.

Danny practically flew out from behind me, staggering to a halt. But it wasn't the same Danny I'd sent through.

He still wore the tattered remnants of his zorro costume, along with a ragged mantle that looked like it was made from from some kind of black animal hide. As he slowly straightened up to look at me, I saw that his face had changed. It was leaner, almost gaunt, and he wore a full shaggy beard that I wouldn't have thought he was capable of growing. His eyes grew wide as they met mine.

I didn't have time to say anything before Danny rushed me, and slammed me back into the fence, pinning me there with implacable strength. He reeked, like he hadn't bathed in months, and his hot breath on my face smelled like rotten meat.

"Danny, I'm sorry!" I cried, struggling helplessly against him. "I didn't know--"

"BACK!" he roared, sounding both angry and panicked at the same time.

"W-what?" I stammered.

"Back!" he hissed, his face so close to mine that our noses were almost touching. "You have to send me back! NOW!"

"I--"

"NOW!" he screamed. Danny seized my hand in his, and then drew his other hand back like he was going to strike. Desperately, I lurched to the side. Danny stepped into my motion, ending up behind me. In my panic, I willed him away from me...and he was gone.

I never saw Danny again, after that night. No one did.

And I never reached into hammerspace again. I gave it up. I'm not sure whether I'd become afraid of it, or if I was punishing myself for what happened. I finished high school. I got into college.

And then, one night, a few months back, as I lay in my dorm room on Halloween night, remembering that other night a lifetime ago, I just...I just had to. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and reached for my old Zippo. My fingers closed on something small -- but it was too soft, the surface too rough.

When I worked up the courage to look at what I held, I saw it. My Zippo. It was dented, and rusty, but it was definitely mine. What I'd felt was wrapped around it -- a roll of thin tan-colored leather or parchment, tied with a leather cord. It was a note.

It was addressed to me.

I like the ending! I don’t know exactly what it means, but I like it. Thank you!

I:

"Hey...where'd you get that?" Danny asked, blinking at me in the light of my Zippo's flickering flame, as I held it against the cigarette he'd handed me.

I was dressed as Superman for Halloween -- which meant that, like the Man of Steel himself, I had no pockets. I'd never told anyone what I could do before, and I don't know why I chose that night at Marty Baker's shitty Halloween party to change that. I could have explained the lighter away. And obviously, I had plenty of good reasons to keep my ability a secret: torches and pitchforks, dissected by the government, et cetera.

Maybe it was the edibles that we'd gotten off Marty's stoner cousin earlier that night. Maybe it was the costume, making me feel like I really was invincible. Or maybe I was just a stupid teenager, like everyone else at the party that night.

"Hammerspace." I said.

"Hammerspace?" Danny asked.

I nodded, flicking my zippo closed, and then paused to take a long drag and exhale. "Yeah. You ever see those old cartoons, where like Bugs Bunny just....he just sorta reaches behind him, and then comes back around holding this big-ass hammer, or some shit?"

Danny paused a moment, as his pleasantly toasted brain processed my question. Then he nodded, slowly.

"Yeah."

I shrugged. "Well, that's where he gets that hammer -- from hammerspace..." I tossed my zippo into the air lightly, caught it, and then moved my hand behind me and released it with a practiced motion. Just like that, it was simply gone. "...and that's where I keep my lighter, so I don't accidentally leave it my pants and have my folks kick my ass for smoking when they find it on laundry day."

Danny looked behind me. He looked on the ground at my feet. He stared at my spandex-wrapped ass for longer than was really comfortable, though the thin, cheap fabric made it clear I didn't have a lighter unless I'd managed to stow it in my prison wallet.

"Dude, stop checking out my butt -- the lighter's in hammerspace, I told you." I said, glancing around nervously at the other costumed attendees scattered around the deck above Marty's back yard.

He finally stopped and look back at me. It was hard to tell what his emotions were, through the haze.

"Holy shit." he said, sounding strangely quiet and sober.

I shrugged again, uncomfortably. I was already realizing what a bad idea it had been to access hammerspace where someone could see, to say nothing of how stupid it was to come right out and tell them about it. Danny was my friend, sure, but not to the extent that I was comfortable putting my life in his hands. I hoped he'd think he was just tripping balls and would drop the subject, or maybe he'd forget what had happened by tomorrow.

"So like...what else do you keep in there?" he asked.

"Nothing." I said, uneasily. "I mean, just like little things. My wallet, tonight. A spare key. And just, I dunno, shit I don't want my parents to find, I guess."

Danny nodded again. "Cool." Then his eyes widened, and he punched me on the shoulder. "Hey!"

"Ow! What the hell, man?" I protested.

"Why the hell was I sweating about carrying those special gummy bears around for hours when you could have just stashed them in hyperspace or whatever?" he demanded.

"Hammerspace! And...I don't know! I mean, look, I don't even really like to talk about this, alright? It's like...it's private, you know? Just drop it." I replied, my mind still too sluggish to formulate a better reply.

He shook his head. "Come on, that's bullshit! You can't just tell me something like this and tell me to drop it. Besides, I tell you my private shit all the time!"

"Pff, no you don't!"

"Yes I do!"

"Like what?" I demanded.

"Like how Marty's cousin sells edibles!" he shot back.

"Dude, that's Marty's private shit -- if anything the fact that you told me that means I shouldn't tell you any private shit about me!" I retorted, jabbing a finger at him.

"Fine! I jack it to cartoons!" he shouted, angrily, lifting his chin and jerking a thumb at his chest.

Danny's face paled, as he recalled where we were. Multiple heads turned in our direction, and I winced, wondering if it would be clear to them that Danny had said that, rather than me.

"So like...we're even now." Danny mumbled, lamely.

This is a beautiful piece of writing. Thank you for sharing it!

"alright, off you go back in there" and once again his friend disappeared. Flabbergasted "Geez, i wonder what that was all about" he asked the two other party-goers before he took a swig of his beer. Equally gobsmacked, they pondered on the display that had passed as they too took small sips of their beer in between the "don't know"s and "he was acting a bit weird wasn't he"s. "Guess he's fine since he wanted back" he shrugged "and he was a bit rude" and the others agreed. "So uh, what else have you guys been up to?"

"Oh nothing much, been mostly busy with work".

"Yeah, the same, the same".

"You uh.. still work for corpocorp, right?"

"Yeah, same old, same old".

the small talk continued for a while until they ran out of topics and after an awkward look or two, the small grouping dispersed and they went to mingle with the other partiers.

This is great! It’s a real twist on where I thought it could go. Thanks for writing!

A Magical Girl turned Shut-in

"Let me go, and I will not destroy you," Morgana stated calmly. Her black hair flowed down her shoulders, rippling across her pure white gown in waves. She was a short young woman, but her eyes made up for that.

Two orbs of pure darkness stared at me with annoyance, though I could tell she was shaking in her ropes. The ropes, normally infused with expensive hyssop ash, were barren and mundane.

And yet they served the purpose perfectly, I thought, snorting. There was no need for hyssop ash when it came to powerless witches. The only purpose the girl before me served was as a battery for what was likely to be the best kingdom-stealing plot in the world.

"As if you could," I smiled, sipping my wine and turning back to spit in her face (not literally, of course. I'm a gentleman! Most of the time). "It took me a few arms and legs to learn of your family secret-" I said, relishing the shock in her eyes, "- but I did."

"And what secret is that?" she muttered, staring up at the ceiling as she awaited my reply.

"You have no powers!" I sang, jumping up and down like a young boy waiting for presents upon the dawn of Yule. "When Merlin's consort and fellow witch gave birth to you, she was so horrified by the magical powers of your ancestors that she placed a curse on you!" I shouted, delighting in every second of it.

I danced and danced, circling her tied-up form as I finally let out all my emotions. Then, as the adrenaline and pride of being the Emperor of Shadows finally began to wear off, I saw it. Her quivering form. The tears trickled down her cheeks.

I'd done it! I'd broken a member of the Imperial Family! Oh, the history books would write poems about me! It was more than I could deal with, I thought. I was proven wrong, however, when she laughed.

I felt my heart sink into my chest. I wanted to disappear, to vanish off the face of the earth forever. I'd always protested learning the invisibility spell as a child, but at that moment I wished I could just vanish forever.

"What are you-"

The ropes glowed for a second. Then the chair exploded, somehow leaving her unharmed and leaving me with a bleeding gash that very narrowly missed my groin. My eyes widened as she continued hurling pieces of furniture at me.

Outside our little bedroom in the tower, the sky began to turn black. Lightning and thunder roared in a demonic chorus. Blood rain fell from the sky and stained the earth around the building a ruddy hue.

"How are you-"

I dodged another piece of furniture, my mind frantically rifling through solutions. There was no hyssop in sight, no witch hazel, or any other quick-bind solutions for this (not that it would even work when it came to witches of this strength). I knew it was a stupid idea! My assistant should never have suggested it! (yes, that assistant that's due to arrive in a few weeks)

I screamed, mentally plotting a list of torments I'd have to give to everybody as soon as I got back home as I evaded the grandfather clock hidden away in the corner of the stone chamber.

All this while, she laughed. Doubling over so hard I feared she was going to pierce her lungs with her ribs, she laughed. I'd had plenty of humiliations in my lifetime. I'd been beaten, spat at, and bruised more times than I could count.

But being laughed at...when I wasn't trying to be funny...when I'd massacred the entire Imperial Family except for their youngest daughter and became King...that was a new low.

Wiping the tears from her cheeks, the Daughter of Night stood and faced me. The furniture stopped moving. The rain vanished as if it had never existed. The only reason I thought it hadn't been an illusion was that I could still smell the blood.

"What was the exact wording of the curse, my dear husband?" she asked. I was in shock. I couldn't speak. She must've realized this because then she very helpfully sent a bolt of lightning crashing into my forehead.

A couple more electrocutions later and I was back to normal. The electrocutions had been so utterly helpful, in fact (note my sarcasm), that I had managed to somehow dredge up every bit of knowledge I had about the curse.

I tried forming a coherent sentence, believe me, I did. I also failed, much to the amusement of my arsonist wife.

"When Merlin wedded his wife and witch-" I started, yelping as a stream of flames nearly set my robes on fire, "-his wife was so horrified by the magical prowess of her children that she-" a high-pitched scream erupted from the tower (most certainly the princess's creation), "-bound their magic!"

I felt my brain beginning to melt. Morgana yawned, nodding at the blood in my eyes for a minute before preparing to leave.

"Wait!" I shouted. "Any child born of Merlin's bloodline will own tremendous power. However, from the moment they first breathe air, they will be incapable of accessing their power. As long as they shall live, this curse shall-" I felt my mind beginning to give way as I realized what'd happened. As long as they shall live.

"You're a ghoul!"

Many soldiers who had been on duty that day reported several ear-splitting shrieks erupting from the castle walls. Among them, the chief being: "I slept with a zombie?!", accompanied by several more screams that remind them of a young child complaining of rats and spiders in their beds.

Please note that this is merely an urban legend (no matter what my hideous-sorry, beautiful and intelligent, and loving young bride will say). Nobody screamed that day. Most certainly not like a little girl.

"What?" she shouted, her magic already working to release me of her brain-rotting curse. "No, you fool! I'm pregnant!"

My brain stopped working for a minute. Okay, maybe two.

"...How does that relate to anything that just happened?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes.

"'From the moment they first breathe air, they will be incapable of accessing their power', my dear wonderfully foolish groom. Their power. The power that belongs to them and them alone."

She smiled, tapping her head as she continued.

"I draw on power belonging not to me, but my child. And with a little help-" she said, pulling out a vial of what looked like blood but probably wasn't, "- I will continue to do it for the rest of my eternal life."

I didn't trust myself to speak.

"Of course, I won't have to use the potion forever. Just long enough for me to gain enough power to reverse the curse by myself, maybe in a month or two, and that should be it. Then-" she rubbed her hand over her stomach, "-my child will be born, and together we shall rule the world."

"And what place do I have in this?" I asked, my voice barely above a whimper. She glanced at me as if I was a mere afterthought in her grand scheme.

"You can be a Halloween decoration, I suppose," she mused. "I couldn't enact my plan without having the rest of my family murdered, of course. There would be suspicion, and I'm not interested in drama like that."

"That's why I sent you the message in your head. I knew you were the only one stupid enough to actually try this out. You played your role perfectly, Aleister. Thank you very much. Now, why don't you go off to bed?" she said.

And here I am today. A statue of stone, incapable of movement unless I am unseen. My children (they're twins, yes) never come to visit. Sometimes she'll sit down to write journals. Normally they're ideas for spells, or new schemes designed to end world hunger.

I have no doubt the world is thriving thanks to her. I can see it in their smiles. Children play on the grounds of the castle, not knowing that once upon a time it would've been suicide to even look at the grass for too long.

Now I must go. I have a meeting with a museum exhibit. Wish me luck my dear journal!

~Signed, The Statue.

heh. down to earth.

Chimps are more hierarchical than bonobos though. Bonobos have more sex with each other and are more capable at things like empathy and altruism

yep.

In the wild, wolves aren't hierarchical, not that much. It's only when you trap them in enclosures that you see this behaviour. The alpha thing was disproven by the person who discovered it.

I think this was inspired by that.

Thank you! :)

exploring my friend's superpower (gone wrong!!) (not clickbait)

Lol that'd be a long series.