Never His: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

The Veil
Beta Belt
2015

Arzen felt a numb stab of pain as she opened her eyes, moaning quietly as it resonated from her chest to her arm to her legs. It felt like the kind of pain a day after dancing, a day after swimming or participating in strenuous activity – except for the looming asthma attack she’d have.

The sight that greeted her bewildered her. Managing to sit up, she saw mirrors all around her, her own figure greeting her. Arzen knotted her brows, pushing the hair out of her eyes.

She was wearing the same thing that she had worn on the bus, on the way north. Her green sweater hid away the soft white graphic shirt underneath. Her Oxfords remained clean, and so did the dark jeans. She looked perfectly okay – a little pale, a little shaken.

She remembered falling asleep after the first rest station, curling and facing away from the rest of them who were laughing and chatting. The coffee she had chugged hours before had begun to chip away. Before she woke up, she was in the bus on the way to their retreat. Now, she was in an unknown room full of mirrors.

She tried not to feel afraid. It had already happened before, twice. The first, she was in the Peace Garden and ended up in the middle of Technika’s Crossroads. The second, she was in her room, and then pulled away into nothing –

“Mathias?” she whispered. He had to be there. He was always there. “…Mathias?” No one replied. Stifling a small whimper, she tried calling his name yet again, but no reply came. Lifting her head, she looked into the mirror.

Her coffee-brown eyes widened as she saw the male in his Technikan suit, the lines and such glowing a very bright powder blue. Elated, she said his name again – Mathias – and looked behind her eagerly…yet he wasn’t there.

Irritation seeping into her, Arzen rubbed her eyes and stared at the mirror. He was there – still there – still smiling. The ice-blue eyes found hers and she stared at him, upset and angry, and he began to walk forward. His mouth opened and he said a name she strained to hear.

“Painful, isn’t it?” 

Apotheosis: For the Arzens of the Main Belts

"I  want to achieve the highest form of perfection."
Alpha || Beta || Gamma || Delta

We Must Do Better: Female OCs

"My own definition of feminist is - feminist : a man or a woman who says, 'Yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it, we must do better.'”

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Sick Days: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

Mathias had leaned his head on her shoulder on the way home.

Arzen flushed suddenly. In front, her mother glanced at them from the mirror and frowned at the sight of Mathias.

“Touch his forehead.” And she did.

It was burning.

“He’s too warm.”

She wanted to avoid awkward sentences like “he’s too hot” because God forbid.

“Have him rest when he gets home. You can just bring up his homework tomorrow.” Arzen nodded, taking her hand away but not quite moving his head away from her shoulder.

It didn’t feel right to do that.

When they had reached home and parked the car, she nudged him softly. “Mathias? We’re here.”

He awoke with a small groan and she felt her face redden for the nth time.

“Come on, we have to get out.”

“A few minutes,” he muttered. Arzen had no choice but to move away, prompting him to wake up. 

She carried his belongings back inside the house.

The Arzens of the Universe V2.0

"We are similar in rather unorthodox ways."

Happy Encounters: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

Beta Belt
July 2014
High School Staircase

“You need to talk to Elaine,” Cianna Alrada rolled her eyes as she continued walking, “She’s been sleeping in English. And while we were having Algeb, she was writing in her notebook.”

“She was also taking down notes,” Beatrice Mora mused. “But hell. That shit was creepy.” Arzen was confused as they went up the stairs, Gabrielle Angeles following and Mathias Angelo close by her side. “I’ll tell you later.”

Mathias broke in, “Anyway. Vens, you have to give the personal data sheet to Ms. Rocha.”

“Right, right. Hold on,” she sped off to the classroom and the others already walked to the other staircase, which led them to the second years’ level. Gabrielle snickered.

“If Ms. Rocha’s absent again, Venura’s going to throw a fit.” Cianna shook her head and Arzen soon caught up to them, blue folder in her hands. “What if she’s absent?”

“Then I’ll get delayed,” the girl grumbled as she took the stairs. Mathias stayed quiet as the rest of them followed, Cianna and Gabrielle talking about other matters while Beatrice listened. “I – we have to get this done by next week. I’ll get killed if I get delayed again,” she mumbled, and the ginger nodded sympathetically.

“Hey. We’ll get it done,” he promised. Arzen sent him a small smile and nodded, pausing once they reached the floor of the Sophomores.

Once they had arrived, Beatrice choked.

And began to laugh loudly.

Cianna gave Arzen an impish grin. Gabrielle nudged her side.

Mathias could only stare as Arzen’s face reddened to the extremes.

Switched: A Shoujo Parallels Headcanon Short

                                                                               

                                     

*~The Beta Belt~*

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“You keep swearing, Venura.” Mathias grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest. “I know there’s nothing wrong with it, but we might have to put a quota per week.” This made the short-haired girl stare back, her eyes wide with confusion and maybe a little bit of irritation.

“Mathias, you know I don’t swear as much anymore.”

“I had no idea it was April First,” the ginger mumbled. Speaking louder, he went on, “What’s wrong with me, anyway? I don’t feel weird at all.”

He usually appeared to her in the afternoons, and it stayed that way. They formed a schedule together – Mathias would work at Technika then come to her during the afternoons, then go back during the evenings. This would give Arzen time to do what she needed – school and whatnot – eventually finishing up by the time he would arrive.

But he…he had been there since she woke up.

“Did you and Eri get into a fight?”

“Eri’s perfectly fine.”

What a lie, she thought, but persisted.

“You’re not going according to schedule,” she hesitated, “…did something happen there?”

“Nothing happened, I promise. Calm down, Venura.” He cracked a smile.

Arzen couldn’t return it. He just felt so…

So un Mathias-like.

Disintegration: A Shoujo Parallels Headcanon Short

“How do you feel?”

She didn’t know how to answer that.

Mathias looked up from her phone (yes – her phone) and let his eyes wander, from her eyes to her arms and finally back to her face. He cleared his throat.

“Wrong question, I assume.” He paused, “…how was today?”

She shrugged.

He persisted. He’d been getting a lot of shrugs lately.

“Did you finish your homework?”

“I did.” She gestured towards her planner, “I have free time left. It feels…weird.” Mathias let himself smile slightly and walked to her, setting the black phone down on the wooden study table and shortly looking at the screen of her laptop. Various themes appeared on the screen. “I’m…looking for themes. For the blog. I want to change it up for the two-year mark,” she told him. “I…I have extra time left. Three hours to do what I can, and then I’ll sleep.”

He listened. “Quizzes?”

She let herself smile this time, “Better than I expected.”

“That’s good. See?” he ruffled her hair, “You can do it. I told you so, Arzen. I know how you did during Trigonometry–” she grimaced, “–and that’s okay. That’s your starting point. That’s better than you initially expected, right?” the smaller girl nodded and he pulled a chair, sitting next to her.

“Even in Fil.”

“Even there. Now…” he took her phone, “You have to reply.”

Again came the silence.

Mathias took advantage of her silence.

Soleil et les Etoile

"My lost sun and stars."

Achievement (Un)locked: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

“I don’t get it.”

“You don't get a lot of things.”

The ginger glared at the other, and exhaled in exasperation. “Vens likes that British guy.”

Daniel furrowed his brows together, “And what about that British guy?”

“Ever since she started watching that Rooster Teeth channel last year, she’s been obsessed.” Mathias gave a small huff of irritation, and Daniel nodded to hide the smirk on his face. “I don’t get how a twenty-six Brit gets her attention. He’s a gamer–”

So are you, Daniel thought.

“–A Slow Motion specialist–”

Said the Maths whiz.

“–and some kind of idiot,” the Frenchman finished.

“Calling the kettle black,” Daniel muttered (to himself), and then cleared his throat. “So what if she does? Let her like the guy. It’s not as if she’s going to the States just to meet him.”

“She wants to work at the company.”

Daniel blinked.

“No offense to Vens, but I think dream’s a little off.”

“So do I. Don’t tell her I say that.” Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but Mathias cut him off. “She got Rivers obsessed, too. She likes the other guy.”

The other stared long and hard at Mathias, Mathias looking back with a puzzled expression before putting the dots together.

“You don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?!”

“For fuck’s sake,” the ginger grumbled, taking out his phone and immediately doing a search. “If Arzen likes that British prick – Gavino or something – then Elaine likes him.”

Initiation: A RWBY x TSP Crossover

“Elaine – we found it!” Arzen ran to the temple excitedly, Elaine following from behind. The green-eyed girl stopped at the sight of the different relics erected on the stone stands, eyes scanning the ones colored gold and the ones that were silver.

“This is it?” the other asked dubiously, hanging back and holding onto her whip in case something or someone would come. “Get a relic. We have to make it back soon.”

“I know, I know,” the girl murmured, looking at all the relics available for them to take. Around half were taken, the other half waiting for a pair of Hunters-in-training to get it and run back. “I’ll get this one,” she chirped, grabbing hold of a golden Bishop, tucking it into her pocket after. “Alright, let’s go back–!”

“INCOMING!”

Arzen and Elaine stared at the source of the yell before scrambling to the sides, Elaine’s eyes widening at the sight of an Ursa roaring and tromping into the area. Riding on the Ursa, unbelievably, was a blonde man who dug his iron sword into the Ursa’s neck.

“Mathias!” he snapped, “Get over here before more come!” blood splattered all over the ground, the blonde sliding off the back of the decapitated Ursa and running to the relics, not noticing Elaine or Arzen staring in shock.

“Who–”

“I hate to break it to you, but there’s more of them there,” another man growled. This time, he was a redhead who held tightly to a deck of cards in his hands. “Just take one, Daniel!”

“Did you two wake the Grimm?” Arzen demanded. Mathias blinked and turned to her, Elaine facepalming as her partner walked to Mathias with her hands on her hips.

“It wasn’t me,” Mathias defended, “It was Daniel!”

“The blonde?”

“Oh, fuck off Mathias. You two,” Daniel turned his bronze eyes on Arzen and Elaine, “We have to leave before they arrive. The other teams can handle themselves, we just need to go before something bad happens.”

This Is Not Goodbye: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

“So,” Arzen struggled. “One month.”

“One month,” Mathias agreed. Both of them were sitting in the Venura’s living room, both of them playing on the game console. Mathias had paused the game to talk to her on much more serious matters. “Just to France. I have to visit the family,” he told her, and she nodded, hiding her expression. “Don’t miss me too much.”

“Don’t be so conceited,” she snapped back, but it lacked the venom. Her eyes softened when she looked at him once more. “I’ll miss you.”

This time, he looked away to hide his red cheeks. “I’ll miss you too. But it’s just one month, after all.”

“Thirty-one days.”

“I’ll get you something,” he promised. “Food or merchandise. But France isn’t that great. Paris is just a bunch of people doing things and shops closing early.”

But that isn’t what I want, Arzen thought. “Let’s just continue playing,” she told him, picking up her controller. Mathias merely nodded and did the same, unpausing the game and proceeding to play. He got through the levels easier than usual, but she did hers with less heart.

She wondered if he noticed at all.

“Red vs. Blue season twelve’s out,” he started, but stopped upon seeing the look on her face. “Vens?”

And at that, it changed quickly.

“I haven’t seen it yet. How was it?”

“It was great, a nice start to the season. I won’t spoil, but…”

Somehow, Mathias knew that her heart wasn’t into it.

"As Human as You Are."

Inspiration: thewintersoldier @ tumblr

Welcome to Pixel City: A TSP/Minecraft Crossover

“Are we all here?” Mathias asked, readjusting his headphones and mic. Arzen grinned from beside him, her own shiny green headphones in place. “Vens is right next to me. How about you guys?”

“I’m here,” Daniel replied smoothly. He glanced at the screen, “I see a Queen Elsa skin. Is that Arzen?”

“Right here!”

“Alright, so it is. Prat, which one are you?”

“Goddamn Link, Watchman.”

“You had to install a ton of things just for that skin,” Arzen noted. Mathias chuckled. “You should have seen him. He was cursing and let out a big cheer when the game let him turn into Link.”

“Legend of Zelda, right?”

“Yeah. Hold on, where’s Elaine and Liam?”

“Liam’s getting online. I think Elaine’s internet connection sucks at the moment,” Daniel grumbled, checking his phone. The three of them were all connected through Skype, video chatting as a group while playing Minecraft. Mathias had been able to set up the layout so that he could see the faces of the others while keeping the Minecraft screen at large. “There he is.”

A Blue Knight appeared, running next to the Watchman. Almost immediately, Liam’s face popped up on the screen as well.

“Yo there!” he greeted, fiddling with his mic. They noted the completely silver headphones and the little-Liam figure stopped moving. “Who else are we waiting for?”

“Elaine,” Arzen replied. “She’ll be here soon.”

As soon as she said that, Elaine’s character (a Queen) appeared. “I’m here,” Elaine’s voice came, her face appearing on the screen. “Will we start?”

“Let’s go ahead,” Liam agreed.

“Alright. Let’s begin.”

 ~ >w< ~

Ailurophile: A Shoujo Parallels OTP Short

A familiar knock resounded on the glass window.

“Arzen? Arzen, are you here?”

The man peeked inside and blinked, seeing an empty bed with wrinkled sheets and strewn pillows. Perhaps she had just gone to the bathroom to wash up for sleep. Shaking his head lightly, Mathias opened the window and slid in, tsking at how she always forgot to lock the damned thing.

The bathroom door was closed. He sat on the corner of the bed, stretching out and setting his pistol down on the soft mattress, taking the time to lay back himself. It had been rough in Technika – morning until afternoon had his usual shift, and his evening was cleared – Eri was busy working in Barrier, so he decided to pay his favorite Mortal Monika Arzen another visit.

“The hell?” he muttered, rolling around. There was something under the covers –

Something undeniably soft.

And squishy.

And there was something long extending to the end.

Bewildered, Mathias hesitantly stretched out his hand to the long, slim shape which made an obvious form from under the sheets. Unwillingly, he grabbed it.

At that came the most unhuman screech from under her oversized TARDIS blanket. Mathias jerked for his pistol and stumbled back, nearly falling as he jolted away from the bed. He had already lifted the silver weapon, raising it slightly and using his other hand to harshly yank the blanket off, expecting a rogue Setomion that had made its way into her room for some reason –

“Mee-uf-oww!”

Reduced to Nothing: A Headcanon Short

Mathias was never one to comfort people. Whenever he would stumble across someone in tears, he’d usually awkwardly back away to give them space or stay and offer a listening ear, depending on how close he was with the person. Either way, he wasn’t the type of hug it out and gently ask them what was wrong. The tears would come anyway. Even after, he would say that he would keep the small encounter a secret, just so that they wouldn’t talk about it after. To him, that was okay.

When he found Arzen crying for the first time, he backed away in a flustered kind of panic. He wasn’t sure if she heard or noticed him there, and upon peeking back inside, it turned out that she actually didn’t. That sent conflicting feelings up his spine.

She was the kind of upset where she took fistfuls of her hair and gave an angry tug. The kind of upset where she had to muffle her sobs because someone else could hear and potentially barge in. No one ever did. Mathias took the moment to consider if she was thankful for the privacy or even more tired of the never-ending pain.

It had been roughly three years since they had come across each other, two since he first came upon her crying. He recalled seeing her with her uniform and her shoulder-length, sort of boyish hair that she sprung back in Freshman year. After that, he noticed that she was growing it out. A few commented on it, but no one ever talked about it.

He noticed and felt that same pang in his chest. Her hair, which hung straightly and nicely down her back, which she bunned or tied or balled in her fists, was one of her more striking assets. He wasn’t so sure why.

She was just laying on her bed now, eyes red and swollen from crying, lips dry and her face an odd kind of pale that never really colored her features. She was fairer than the norm, sure, but never pale. Paleness reminded him of sickness and of inching towards death, of impending cold that shot icicles up one’s veins.

He was just sitting on the tree branch that sort of inched towards her bedroom, but kept back because he didn’t know if he should even come in, knock, or whatever. Mathias came closer, stopping at the glass window and took a breath.

After seconds of insane courage, he knocked.

Flying High: A Shoujo Parallels AU Short

“That’s not fair. I got my picture of OTP number one,” Elaine Rivers’ finger pointed at Maxine Ride and Liam Edevane, “I need OTP number two.”

At that, the rest of the group turned to Arzen Venura and Mathias Angelo. The ginger just gave them all a stare and took Elaine’s camera, making the smaller girl protest.

“Okay,” he said slowly, “Blondie and Rivers, move closer so I can take a picture of both of you.”

“Hell no, Ginger.” Elaine swiped back her camera, “I meant you and Venura. Now move.”

“E-Elaine–” the rest of the group began laughing as Arzen tried to ‘escape’, “I don’t think–”

Cianna gave a smirk and lifted her own SLR. “Rivers is right, Venura. Get closer to the ginger before any of us does it for you. And by that, I mean push you two together.” Liam began chortling in the background, Maxine just rolling her eyes – and grinning.

“Yeah, before the crowds get in the way,” Gabrielle gestured behind them, where crowds of students were getting hugs and whatnot from the teachers. “Get your asses together! The bus might leave the majority of us bus riders, freaking basic private riders.”

“I won’t–”

Mathias grabbed her from the waist and pulled her closer, making them laugh even harder, some of them (Liam and Daniel) catcalling from the side. “Just hold still for five seconds,” he muttered to her, turning to smile (or smirk) at the cameras. Arzen could only make what seemed to be a pained or embarrassed smile, and once they flashed, he let her go and she smacked him with her thick notebook.

“That was uncalled for!”

“It got them off our backs–”

While the two ‘argued’, Elaine took out the film and squinted at it as the image developed. “How’s your shot, Alrada?”

“Very nice,” she commented, the rest of them peeking at the screen. “I’ll be posting these later. If I’m not that lazy,” and Gabrielle rolled her eyes.

“Knowing her, she’ll do it maybe tomorrow or next week.”

“Hell yeah.”

Incalescent: A Fanmix for Arzen Venura

for the girl who burned

Noctuary (Part II)

The sight of her face glowing made him smile.

Both of them had released the lantern, and it flew into the sky. From behind them, Matia exchanged looks with Maxine, who gave her a slight smirk as well as a nod. Liam was still grinning from the events of earlier, and Daniel was quietly talking into his phone in a corner, Beatrice constantly throwing the Englishman odd looks.

“At least that lantern worked,” Arzen said sheepishly. Mathias nodded, both of them watching the lantern fly into the sky. Away, he could hear Isabel and Francine fighting over who would release it, while Cianna was chasing Janica around with a lit candle, Janica screeching with laughter. “So…how many actually flew?”

“If we include Liam and Maxine’s failed attempt, I’d say a good five,” he replied.

She glanced at the remaining lanterns. “There’s a whole lot left…”

“We can give them as souvenirs,” the ginger offered. This made Arzen roll her eyes and laugh, while he watched with a slight grin on his face. “Try this at home. Or just stick them on the walls and not risk the chance of being arrested.”

“We’ll keep them and try them again when it isn’t so windy,” she mused. Mathias was about to reply when Matia sped to Arzen, starting to tell the tale of how Gabrielle’s hair almost burned and turned into ashes. While she was busy, Liam took the opportunity to steer the redhead aside.

“So when are you going to pop the question, ice boy?”

“Later,” Mathias muttered. “Jesus Christ, Liam.”

“I’m sort of wishing my attempt wasn’t such a fail,” the blonde admitted. “But I’m glad Ride said yes. We’re both secured for dates now, at least.”

“But wasn’t Arzen…”

“Going to ask someone else?”

He nodded with a stony expression.

“Yeah, about that…” he whispered something into Mathias’ ear, the ginger’s eyes widening with each word Liam told him. “Nadine told Roza, who told Matia who I overheard telling Arzen a while ago. She got turned off with what happened with Nadine.”

“Can’t believe the bastard did that,” he muttered.

“Neither can I. But now that she doesn’t like him as much,” a crafty grin climbed up Liam’s face, “You can go pull it off and ask her while proving you won’t be a bastard.”

“I am not a bastard-”

Liam snorted. “Yeah, right. What a freaking lie.”