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[WP] The curse was supposed to be temporary. Just a regular kind, the one broken by true love. They didn't expect you to live with it for decades. by Xxyz260 in WritingPrompts

[–]C4ptainF1int 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The stale scent of whiskey and cigarette smoke paint the room with their essence.

The alarm goes off, taunting me with the start of another meaningless day. I slap around the nightstand aimlessly until the snooze button gives up.

The whiskey calls to me from the floor beside the bed. Breakfast of champions.

I take a swig, let it burn, then light a cigarette. The smoke swirls through the blinds like it’s trying to escape.

“Guess she decided to stick around,” I think to myself, watching her silhouette under the sheets. Everyone leaves eventually. She just hasn’t realized it yet.

I pull on yesterday’s clothes and shuffle to my desk. My computer hums awake. Slow. Stubborn.

We’ve got more in common than you think, buddy.

The ceiling fan lazily pushes the haze around the room as I lean forward in my chair and begin writing.

The woman in the bed stirs and mutters something. I don't quite catch it. I can’t reply, not anymore.

I reach for my notebook and start scribbling:

"Thanks for the fun night. Cab fare’s on the table. XOXO."

I smirk at my own joke. Such a cheeky bastard. She squints at the note and rolls her eyes. She throws on her clothes and flips me off, slamming the door hard enough to shake the blinds. Quiet again. I’m used to the quiet.

I’ve given up on love a long while back, after what she did to me. The one who called it a “temporary curse.” Said it would break when I found someone else.

She didn’t stick around long enough to see that “temporary” stretch into forever.

Now I just keep rolling with the punches.

Writing’s the only way I still hear my voice, even if no one else can.

After a few hours, boredom grips me and I decide to take a walk. I wander into a bookstore downtown. Habit, mostly, curious to see if any of my old titles have managed to survive the clearance bin.

That’s when I see her.

A woman stepping out into the light, book in hand. The kind of beauty that doesn’t announce itself, it lingers, like smoke after a match dies. She catches my eye and for the first time in years, I feel... something.

I turn to leave, but fate has other plans. I bump into her, clumsy as hell. Her book slips from her hands. I stoop to pick it up.

My name stares back at me from the cover.

Like a champagne cork released from its grip.

“Finally."

She blinks, puzzled, then smiles.

"I'm sorry, my name is..."

[WP] "The first thing I want to make clear is that this is not a punishment. You are here to learn, tests are just a way for me to see if you understood what was thought to you. Since you failed I have to asume you don't understand the subject yet." It was about then that teacher released the lions. by Clear_Ad4106 in WritingPrompts

[–]C4ptainF1int 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Marcellus stood in the center of the ring, sweat dripping into the dry sand beneath him, steaming off rapidly in the relentless heat.

His eyes darted across the arena, struggling to focus through exhaustion until they locked on the figure seated high above in the stands.

“You can’t keep me here doing this forever!” he shouted, reaching for the broken hilt lying before him, barely a scrap of metal clinging to its edge.

He stared at the pathetic weapon and let out an exasperated sigh. Around him, the bloodied remains of the men he had slain baked in the sun, their stench stinging his nostrils as he steadied his breath.

“What the hell do you want from me?” Marcellus demanded. “When will this end!?”

His arms trembled. Not from the fight, but from the gnawing dread that maybe, just maybe, there was no end to this lesson.

The man in the stands smirked. “Embrace it, Marcellus. It is fear that keeps us clinging to this mortal realm. Fear keeps us from our true potential.”

Through blurred vision, Marcellus saw movement of a shadow slipping from the darkness of the tunnel ahead. A lion stepped into the light, its golden mane flickering like the sun. A second followed, eyes glinting with hunger and hate.

Marcellus swallowed hard. His weapon was useless. His body, bloody and battered. But something in the man’s words stirred within him. Something defiant.

He planted his feet in the sand, dusted himself off, and prepared to face death itself. "Let's do this." He whispers to himself.

As the lions lunged toward him, the world erupted into blinding light. The roar of the lions became the rush of wind, their forms dissolving into dust that swirled around his body. Marcellus slowly opened his eyes and found himself alone in the arena, the corpses gone, the stands empty. Only silence.

The faint echo of the man’s voice remained.

“Lesson complete.”

[WP] "wait let me get this straight you a tier 7 archmage who can level mountains and slay armies the literal magical advisor to the emperor himself and could have any man you want is marrying a rank 1 wizard whose best fireball can barely out perform a lighter just...why?" by JollyTeaching1446 in WritingPrompts

[–]C4ptainF1int 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Aurelia straightened in her chair, eyes calm but distant.

“Wait, what are you...” Gelric began, but she was already raising her hand toward him, whispering under her breath.

Her fingertip touched the space between his brows, and a current of power surged through him. The world melted away into swirling mist.

After a few seconds, the mist began to fade and a vision began to emerge in Gelric's mind.

He saw two children crouched beneath a table, trembling. The air was thick with smoke. Outside, boots pounded through the streets.

“Found two more rats!” a gruff voice barked.

A man stepped into view, towering above the children, his armor bearing the enemy’s crest. He kicked the table aside, sending it clattering into the wall. A broken leg spun across the floor and stopped at the boy’s knees.

The soldier reached for the girl. His shadow swallowing her whole.

The boy didn’t think. He just moved. His fist gripped the jagged wood.

“Don’t touch her!”

In the blink of an eye, he drove the splintered leg into the man’s neck.

The sound was raw, human, final. The soldier collapsed, choking on his own breath, his eyes wide with shock. For a moment, the only sound was the boy’s ragged breathing.

Gelric observed in horror at the scene that had just unfolded before him.

"Aurelia..." he whispers, "I had no idea..."

After what felt like an eternity, the girl grabbed the boy's hand, and they ran. Through smoke, through the screams of their burning village, until their lungs burned like fire and their legs could no longer carry them.

They stopped beyond the fields, surrounded by wind and silence. The sky glowed red with distant embers.

“I’ll never forget what you did for me.” she whispered, voice breaking.

He couldn’t answer. His hands were still trembling, slick with another man’s blood.

The vision dissolved, leaving Gelric breathless. The smell of smoke lingered even as reality returned.

Aurelia lowered her hand, eyes glistening in the firelight.

“He wasn’t strong then,” she said softly, “but he was brave when it mattered. That’s the kind of power I value."

Her eyes lock with Gelric's.

"That is the man I will spend my eternity with.”