I liked this, it was cute

why this marked nsfw 💀

Love Town.

The mutters in the train car get louder and louder. The darkness is almost overwhelming, considering how long it has persisted.

Someone shouts, “Has anyone checked on the front car or the conductor?”

A second person jiggles the handle on the front door. “Locked!”

The murmuring transitions into full blown panic as people start yelling at each other and pushing to find a way out.

Despite the chaos, I keep myself glued to the seat. My fingers are digging into my palms hard enough to draw blood. I always knew they would come for me, but I never suspected them to go this far.

I awoke to existence violently, my soul ripped from the eternal calm. I did not recognize myself as my bones and cartilage reformed into one, almost magnetic in nature. I was skinless, hairless...featureless outside of the deteriorated armor hanging off my newborn skeletal frame.

Where was I? What is all of this? Somehow my sight formed albeit being eyeless, and I had faint memories of the surroundings I saw in front of me. A dim, wet cave sprawled out in many directions. Signs of battle lay all around me. Blood-stained walls, rusted weapons across the ground, crushed bones and decaying flesh. To my benefit, it did not seem that I could smell the putrid air.

Suddenly, my surroundings shook. Pieces of rock broke and fell to the floor. Instinctively, I grabbed the nearest sword and shield. "Are these mine?" I thought to myself, as I gripped the sword hilt tightly and entered a defensive stance. I must have done this thousands of times.

A glowing orb of light slowly approached through a corridor in the distance, the sound of tens of footsteps followed behind. A passionate rage overtook me as I immediately readied my blade and began marching towards the commotion.

As the shapes of my enemies unfolded before me, I was taken aback into a state of disbelief. It was...me? Multiples of me?! Skeletons of similar armor, weaponry, and stance slowly moved forward. Behind them, a menacing presence.

"My friend, please yield. You are out-numbered."

I saw a white-haired man with a red aura approach, as the other skeletons parted from his path.

"Who are you?" I groaned, difficultly.

"I am Vanta, a necromancer. I am here to expel an ancient evil. It appears as though his dark magic has gotten to you before mine."

Yet again I felt a rush of uncontrollable rage, and began stepping forward as if forced like a puppet. Vanta raised his hand and clenched it tightly, immediately seizing my entire body.

"He who has killed you is now forcing you to fight on his behalf. I give you these options: join me and your fallen brethren, to avenge the evil which took your life in the first place. Or, be crushed here and freed to the ether. Either way, you cannot fully return to life. Both paths are temporary."

The other soldiers did have an odd familiarity to them, and I felt that I once cared about them deeply. Were we warriors, sent to banish whatever lived in this cave? I could not be sure, but in the moment I knew that fighting as many was much better than dying as one.

"I yield."

And again, Vanta clenched his fist. A red aura now surrounded me, and a compulsion to fight banished all other thought.

That's not budget. That is John Constantine, accurate to a T.

How do we interpret this "magic". It's clear that OP wanted it to be your generic magical magic, but what if we were to subvert the expectations by interpreting it differently?

What if it's called the "dimension of magic" because it's used in making "pocket dimensions" (closed off rooms somwhere along the new axis) and other multi-dimensional, near-magical tech?

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I think it would have been better without them tbh

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You might enjoy Shin Megami Tensei or Persona if you like the idea of sparing your enemies in exchange for allegiance/money/items.

If you want ice cream you just need to consult the oracle.

- "YOU" - I see her pupils getting smaller, and her hands trembling. Sigh - I have to tone down my voice... again - "You..." - she seems calmer now. Good - "... do not be afraid" - I almost laugh - where did I see this written? Ah, on their bible. Always after some incomprehensible entity talks with them - "I meant you no harm. And you won't be my bride - just take this credit card, and live as you wish" - she seems... almost... upset?

- "Please, Ominous One... why are you in this form? Why downgrade Your Majesty into this crude, stupid, rotten form of humans?" - I... don't understand. Of all possible scenarios I could predict, this one never crossed my mind.

- "You don't understand!" - I say, and her pupils get smaller again. But somehow she seems... happy?

- "More, please! Oh, sorry for my prepotency, Infinite One... but... can you show me... your True Form?" - Sigh... of all things, I got the crazy one.

- "Your mind can't hold twenty percent of my true form. You seem to be already at your limit, and I am only at one percent of what I am. See if you can handle... ten percent" - Immediately, she falls into the ground, on her knees. Maybe it was too much... but I can see. Her mind is not broken yet. In fact, she seems... almost satisfied? How?

Her face moves up, and she's looking at me - With this form, I made humans cut their own eyes in fear, when I still couldn't understand the effect I made on poor mortals. And this... girl...

- "I can't.... express in words, not in words that You, Worldmaker, deserve, how fortunate I am to see... a fragment of what You are..." - yep, she's crazy - "I always loved things that I could not understand. People hit me... they've thrown... things... on me... called me a witch..." - her eyes don't produce tears. But I can see. I don't see people, I feel them in such a way mortals can't dare to understand. I can see everything that people are - their feelings, thoughts, they past, future, present, and alternate realities, timelines. That's why people loose their minds when they see us - their bodies try to understand past, present, future, in infinite timelines and realities all at the same time and at the same reality.

What I see... is beyond words. In all possible realities without me, she is.... I can't say what happens with her, not in a way you people can understand. Your feeble minds will probably break even if I tell a fraction of a fraction on what happens with her in some of the most mild realities... my body boils with anger, with an anger that I never felt in a long, long time... not only they did send their daughter to any deity willing to accept, knowing full well that this would be a fate million times worse than death, but they also... wanted favors in return?

- "Let's do this, then" - I say - "Let's go on a date, with twenty-five percent of my true form. If you can handle that, we can go up from there!" - She is delighted. And I am about to have some fun on the human world...

"one more thing... "

You seem to understand some of the nuances of the prison system.

>I'm picturing Columbo.

I thought the yeasties in the wine were going to die

"THAT SHOULDN'T WORK!"

"Well it did, you saw for yourself."

"Gnnnnn. I mean you just killed a dragon ... using garden supplies! And what the hell was that incantation?"

"Look. We've been friends despite a lot of ... stuff. Can I trust you to keep a secret?"

"... fine?"

"Remember last April Fools when you sent me to that mundane world for a month?"

"Look. I've already apologised for that. I didn't think it would be that hard to bring you back. I even handed myself over to the College's tender mercies once I realised I wasn't going to get you back by myself."

"Not trying to guilt you man. That month was the best thing that ever happened to my magical career. I worked out how to visit any time I want and I've been spending the entire year learning SCIENCE!"

"Oh that trollop again? The scientific method blah blah blah, and that alg... algae.."

"Algebra."

"Mathematics with letters. You expect me to believe that allows you to kill a dragon?"

"Well that and these books specifically."

"...Thermodynamics for Dummies? History of ... Guns? My Little Chemistry Set? Metallurgy for Beginners? I'm not getting it. And you still didn't tell me the incantation you used."

"Focault's Geometric Binding."

"... That's a First Year Spell, isn't it? What did it do again?"

"Makes a tube of magical force."

"... Nope. Still not getting it."

"I've just invented the Spell of Gun."

Plot twist, Delph and N'gzaaark have a complicated past and they just want some attention while knowing that N'gzaaark would show their good side for a kid.

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This is so great. I'm really picturing a budget Constantine.

How was this flagged nsfw?

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She had seen mages before when she went to sell her embroidery in the city centre. They would put on grand displays of magical wonder. She had seen them appear in a puff of colourful smoke, pull crystals out of thin air and turn them into soft, gentle rain, and bestow good fortune and prosperity on the discerning audience while the masses watched from afar.

The issue is that those mages stayed in the nice parts of town, in the luxurious highrise apartments paid for by their wealthy clients. Displays such as those would cost more than her entire hab-block, took entire squadrons of servants weeks of meticulous preparations and were reserved only for the rich and powerful who could supply the mages with crystallized mana and freshly ground stardust. The less fortunate folks, well, they were on their own.

But there are some issues that can't be fixed with hard work and grit. There are issues that need magic. If a tulpa - a thought form made manifest - starts terrorizing a district, magic is the only answer. The fair and noble mages wouldn't dream of coming down to the dirty parts of town. The only option left was the man who just walked through her front door.

The best word to describe him would be 'dishevelled'. He had a 5 o'clock shadow, a long, crumpled up trenchcoat and threw away his cigarette just seconds before walking in. Proper mages were never seen smoking anything except the finest of cigars, not budget-brand coffin nails. Still, he barged in with the swagger she wasn't entirely sure he could afford.

"Where is she?" he asked quickly, not even bothering with proper etiquette. The woman, her eyes red from fatigue and tears, clutching a handkerchief, pointed towards a nearby room. The man quickly paced in, finding a girl, no more than 10 years, laying in bed, gripped by a terrible fever. He touched her forehead to measure her temperature and opened one of her eyes, inspecting it.

"Is... is she going to live?" the woman asked with a shaky voice. The man turned and gave her a sly grin.

"Dontcha worry love, I got you covered. Now, get us a toothbrush and some baking soda, would ya?"

The woman wasted no time and rushed to gather the required materials. When she came back, she found the man removed his trenchcoat and started rolling up his sleeves.

"Grand," he said and took the toothbrush, dipping it in the baking soda until it was completely covered in the white powder. He forced the girl's mouth opened and ran the toothbrush on her teeth. Despite the terrible taste, the girl was far too weak to protest. The man removed the toothbrush and laid it on the ground, surrounding it by the rest of the soda.

"Now," he said resolutely, "you got any beer? Moonshine? Any alcohol? Stronger the better."

The woman once again rushed to grab the necessary ingredient.

"This... this is a bottle of plum brandy one of our neighbours makes. It's cheap, but will it do?"

The man grabbed it and sniffed the contents, his nose hairs almost burning as he did. Whatever it was, it was strong.

"Aye, that'll do," he said and started downing the entire thing. The woman's heart sank - this man was nothing but a drunk with a flair for theatrics. He downed almost half of the entire bottle before he finally set it aside.

"Nnoow... blimey, whatss... in diss shite? Kno- knockd me... on my arse..." he said, his speech already slurred from the hard alcohol. He started uttering some words in a hushed tone, too quiet for the woman to hear, before pulling a lighter from his pocket and setting the toothbrush on fire. It flared with a blue flame far greater than anyone would expect. He kept holding it and uttering his words until almost all of it burned away, the putrid smell of singed plastic filling the words.

He suddenly yelled out several odd words the woman did not recognize. The toothbrush burst into one last blaze before it went out completely and the fire dissipated.

The man sat back down on the ground, breathing heavily. The woman watched on quietly until her attention was grabbed by her daughter coughing up the baking soda, now turned black, and opened her eyes.

"Mum?" she said slowly; the first time she spoke in over a week. The woman rushed to her bedside and inspected her eyes, her forehead, and her mouth. The fever was gone entirely, her eyes no longer bloodshot, the only thing that seemed to bother her was the gross taste of baking soda in her mouth. The woman hugged her tightly before turning back to the mage, still sat on the ground, clutching his head.

"Th- thank you!" she said. "Are- are you well?"

"Aye, dontcha worry love," he said with a pained expression before taking another, small swig of the brandy. Despite this, his speech was no longer slurred, his movements precise - unlike what he looked like when he downed half the bottle. "This kinda shite sobers you up proper, so if you're not actually drunk, well..."

"Then what?" the woman inquired.

"You'll get an aneurysm," he chuckled.

"Is... the monster gone?" she continued in a shaky voice.

"Naw," he said and stood up, grabbing his trenchcoat. "Just broke the bastard's grip on the lass," he said and gave the girl a quick pat on the head. "The bloody thing is still around, lurking, pissed that I just took away its meal," he said and put a cigarette in his mouth. Noticing the woman's concerned expression, his eyes went to the girl again and he slowly took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it behind his ear.

"Need to talk to the block's elder to get the bugger sorted out. Can you take me to him?"

"Of course, but... can it wait for just a few moments? I- I need to tend to Isabella, make sure she is well."

The man offered a smile. "Sure thing love. I'll be outside. Dying for a smoke anyway."

And with those words, the dishevelled, scruffy mage left, leaving behind only a faint smell of cigarettes and plum brandy.

I assume it's more of a cover story for Mary instead of knowing that she was sold. Could be any memory of her past trauma was hidden from her. Or just the selling to the eldritch being and the subsequent info. Then it's off to live with Auntie Sally and have a nice life.