Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Violette was really intrigued when he first saw his doppelgänger Maya, and even more intrigued when he realized Maya was a normal human, unaware of the supernatural world.

(Well, maybe saying Maya was normal was a stretch. And maybe saying he was human was also a stretch, but just because Violette struggled to track down information about Maya didn’t mean he wasn’t human. It just meant he didn’t have a social life.)

Violette didn’t interact with Maya directly until about two months later, at a bookstore. Maya liked books, especially mystery novels, and all kinds of puzzles and riddles.

When they ran into each other, Maya was shocked.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Violette," he introduced himself. "And you’re Maya, right?"

"How do you know my name?"

"…I overheard it earlier. You come here a lot and the staff know you," Violette said, hoping that made sense and wasn’t creepy. "I don’t think we’re long-lost twins or anything."

"Oh," Maya sighed, mildly disappointed. He started looking at the books on a shelf, and Violette followed him. "Then why are you following me?"

"Never seen someone who looks exactly like me before," Violette said. "Wait," he changed the part of his hair, pushing it to the left. "There."

Maya giggled, realizing they were now identical. He parted his hair to the right.

"Now we’re each other! If I was you, Violette, how would I act?"

Hiroki wasn’t sure what to do when he first saw Violette and Maya in the same space. Violette noticed, but Maya didn’t, remaining focused on his own life. That was good. If they never interacted, Maya wouldn’t learn anything he wasn’t supposed to, and Hiroki’s job would remain simple.

When Violette walked up to Maya in the bookstore and started socializing, Hiroki wasn’t sure what to do. The doppelgängers laughed as they changed their hairstyles, unintentionally confusing Hiroki for a moment. They looked identical, they even had the same jacket! Hiroki let them socialize, but when Violette started showing Maya some nonfiction books, he had to intervene.

"You’ve really never read this series?" Violette asked. "But it’s so fun! Like, it’s for kids but it has really good worldbuilding for the fantasy creatures and how the different species interact with each other…"

The series was historical nonfiction about supernatural creatures, especially vampires and werewolves. The books could be read as standalone short stories, which was useful to Maya who was trying to get Violette interested in a story where a vampire criticized human-made depictions of vampires and whether they had any basis in fact. To Maya, who didn’t know vampires were real, it sounded like a funny fictional book, but Violette knew it was a very genuine nonfiction book made by a vampire who was tired of stereotypes that had been perpetuated for centuries.

"You should read it! Just once. If you end up not liking it you can give it to me," Violette said.

"…I don’t want to," Maya said in a flat, almost monotone, voice. "I’m not interested in fantasy. I like more realistic mysteries that I can solve myself."

"…are you okay? Your voice sounds weird."

"I’m fine."

Hiroki sighed. He hated having to directly control Maya, but Violette was more aware of the supernatural world and would’ve definitely noticed if Hiroki tried to control him. Maya was still in control of his body and voice, but was repeating the exact thoughts that Hiroki inserted into his brain for that moment. Now that Maya had politely declined the book, Hiroki didn’t need to interfere.

"Oh. Uh, well it was nice meeting you! I’ll see you again sometime, hopefully?" Violette asked.

"Yeah," Maya said, going back to the mystery section of the store.

Hiroki sighed. He hoped they wouldn’t see each other again. Otherwise his job would become a lot harder.

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N'ascar watched as Rosiko dipped a rose in a dangerous liquid. The scent itself wasn’t poisonous, but he was not allowed to touch the flowers. (Or he could, Rosiko always said, but she would not take responsibility for causing his death.)

The roses were quite shiny when they were freshly coated in poison, and N'ascar loved looking at them. The thorns were not covered in poison, as those were dangerous enough on their own, and Rosiko didn’t want to do more work if she didn’t have to.

Rosiko placed the rose on a small stand to dry, and placed a clear box over it so N'ascar wouldn’t touch it. The boy was somehow entranced by watching the poison soak into the rose, though Rosiko found it as interesting as watching paint dry. She left him there, going to disinfect her supplies and dispose of the gloves she had used. When she came back, he was still watching, and most of the rose was dry.

"Would you like some tea?" Rosiko asked.

"…only if you promise not to poison me," N'ascar said.

"Why would I do that?"

"…you’re supposed to say 'I promise.'"

"You’re so silly, N'ascar," Rosiko said, pouring him some tea. "It’s here if you want any."

N'ascar didn’t respond, too busy watching the rose dry. Rosiko poured herself some tea from a different pot, put the teapot away, and sat down to drink it.

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Loki Diamond was a vampire who was usually able to stick to synthetic blood and not feed off of humans. But sometimes he couldn’t resist…

Human blood was richer than synthetic blood, and much tastier in Loki Diamond’s opinion. He never drank enough to kill the human, but he wished he could. This time he drank enough blood to make the human pass out, but that was it.

Pestilence sighed when he realized Loki Diamond had bitten another human. The demon had to be very careful when cleaning up, not wanting to hurt the human further. He simply bandaged their neck at the spots where they had been bitten and left a box of fruit. Perhaps it was an odd thing to wake up to, but the food was good for them. Pestilence also gave the human a blanket when he could, especially if it was cold out, and left the human lying on the ground.

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Soria Ace was very good at his job. He had a naturally calming aura and he was able to help people who were in shock after being attacked by supernatural creatures.

Today, a vampire had attacked a human in the wild. The human would survive, but he lost a lot of blood and Soria Ace wanted to make sure he was okay. Another human seemed able to take care of him, but the victim was still in shock. There was a box of fruit next to him, which was odd, but was an occurrence Soria Ace had seen before. The victim also had a blanket that had apparently appeared out of nowhere, as it didn’t belong to the humans.

"How are you feeling?" Soria Ace asked, sitting next to the human. His neck was bandaged before Soria Ace arrived, but he was still low on energy. "What’s your name?"

"I’m okay I think. Just tired. I’m Janus…" the young human leaned over and Soria Ace quickly grabbed him. He made sure Janus was comfortable before letting go of him. Janus looked at Soria Ace.

"Who are you?"

"My name’s Soria Ace, though you can just call me Soria. I like helping people!" He said. He always left out any information about supernatural creatures or the dangerous events that had happened unless the person asked what happened, especially when they were a human who was unaware of supernatural conflict. "Were you two traveling together? Or camping?" Soria Ace asked.

"Nope," the other man, who seemed to be less affected by the incident, said. He had a small cut on his arm, but had insisted on bandaging it himself.

"Are you leaving?" Janus asked.

"Yeah."

"I just wanted to thank you for protecting me…" Janus said. "I don’t know where I’d be without you…"

"You would’ve been fine anyway. If it wasn’t me, Soria would’ve found and helped you," he shrugged.

"Still-" Janus focused on the stranger who saved him. "What’s your name?"

"…Ichijô," he said. "Now I’ll be on my way. Soria will take care of you."

Janus got up and wanted to chase Ichijô, but Soria Ace grabbed Janus' hand to stop him, pulling him into a hug.

"It’s okay. Let’s have some food, you should have something to eat after you lost all that blood."

Janus grabbed his arm and Soria Ace realized he would probably be staying with Janus for a while. That was fine. He sat down with Janus, letting him eat the fruits that had been given to him. After Janus had a good snack, Soria Ace called his team and asked if he should bring Janus out of the forest.

"He’s not too injured, someone else helped take care of the bite marks, but he doesn’t want me to leave. I don’t think he’s encountered a vampire before," Hayate whispered.

"Who are you talking to?" Janus asked as Soria Ace’s boss decided it would be best to at least make sure Janus got out of the forest safely.

"My boss. Want to go with me to a cafe? My treat. It’s not that far, and they have a lot of cool plants, the atmosphere is really nice…"

Janus would go anywhere with Soria Ace, regardless of the atmosphere. So when he suggested going to a cafe, of course he said yes.

The cafe was a bit further than Janus would’ve liked, but it wasn’t busy and he quickly took a seat.

"Hey Green Day! What kind of teas do you have?"

Janus didn’t pay attention, falling asleep at the table.

"Hey, stay awake," Soria Ace said. "You should have something good to drink."

"The flowers smell nice…"

"They do. Stay awake and look at them, okay? And let’s have some tea."

Janus nodded, staying awake to have some tea. He had been shocked when he was attacked, but he was feeling better already. He didn’t want Soria Ace to leave, so he took his time drinking his tea.

He hated to admit it since Soria would probably leave after he did, but he was feeling better already.

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Ricao was having a tough day. Players was running late to deliver his synthetic blood, and it was daytime so the vampire couldn’t go out and get it himself. He stayed in his room with the door closed. His brother was currently at home and would probably be until the evening, and Ricao didn’t want to bother him.

For some reason, there was a knock on his bedroom door, and Ricao answered it after a minute. When he saw a glass of tomato juice, he sighed.

"Argenté. You know that tomato juice doesn’t do anything when I crave blood."

"But it’s the easiest thing to buy that could help!" Argenté replied, standing down the hall. "Besides human meat-"

"Human meat would be better," Ricao said. "Because it actually helps."

"But humans get hurt to make it…"

Ricao sighed. The brothers had this argument often, and he was not in the mood right now. He took the glass of tomato juice and poured it down the sink.

"Stop wasting money on this."

"Sorry, I just wanted to help…"

Ricao rolled his eyes. He knew his brother was trying to help, and tomato juice did help some vampires temporarily feel better, but it did nothing for him.

"Unless you can magically teleport Players here, you can’t help."

"I’ll call him-"

"That’s not the same thing, you dumb dog."

Argenté went for a walk after that, unable to insult anyone, even if he hated them. Ricao waited near the door for Players to arrive, and he showed up about ten minutes later.

"Sorry I’m late, I had a meeting with my boss-"

"Whatever," Ricao said, popping open a vial of synthetic blood and drinking it. He immediately started feeling better, and much more energized. He gave Players a cheque and handed it to him, and their interaction was over.

He would have to apologize to Argenté when he saw him again, probably in the late night or early morning. Until then, he got himself another drink.

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Sky Bleu was a great mage, and he made sure to use his powers wisely. One day while he was using his magic for gardening, the magic materialized as a young man.

"How are you, Samada?" Sky Bleu asked.

"It’s Samada the Genius to you. Only beings of equal or higher power can drop my title."

"Samada, the Powerful Genius Embodiment of Magic," Sky Bleu said, rolling his eyes. "How are you on this fine day? Please help me with my flowers."

"I’m doing well," Samada said, reviving some of the plants in the garden. "Better than your garden, it seems."

"Hey! I’m doing my best! Though I guess it’s good you’re doing better than that…" Sky Bleu mumbled. "You’re the embodiment of all magic, right?"

"Yes. As long as humans believe in magic, I exist, and therefore magic exists."

"When someone uses magic for…" Sky Bleu paused. "For something you don’t want to do, what happens? Do you have to do it?"

"I’m an embodiment of all magic, so yes, I suppose I do have to. I also do good things like helping you with your flowers."

"Is it tiring?"

"Yes, your garden is tiring because you keep letting your flowers die."

"It’s not on purpose!" Sky Bleu insisted. "But like, is dark magic more tiring?"

"Depends on how powerful the user is," Samada said. After a moment, he frowned. "I have to go."

"Where are you going-" Sky Bleu asked, but Samada disappeared, his magic needing to be elsewhere.

Sky Bleu sighed and continued working in his garden by himself.

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Samada the Genius could manifest wherever there was magic being used. But whenever there was a sudden surge of magic, he found himself being transported away and into another situation, often the middle of a battlefield. Today, it seemed he had arrived before the battle could truly begin, but there was a large amount of dark energy in the air, and Samada could feel the dark magic course through him. He looked at the people and realized most of them weren’t the type to use magic. Which meant the energy was coming from one or two in particular. Samada approached the group cautiously.

"I am the embodiment of magic. I mean you no harm. However, if you can use magic, I could potentially be used for harmful intentions," he explained.

"We don’t have harmful intentions-" a man wearing green said.

"Speak for yourself," a buff man wearing red said. "Though I prefer to attack directly rather than use magic. I wonder what would happen if I were to attack you…"

Samada didn’t have to worry about that because someone ran in front of him. Another person attacked the others with a crossbow. Samada ran to safety, protected by a man with purple hair and green eyes.

"Sorry for involving you," he said once they got to safety. "I’m not particularly good at magic, but it is very powerful…" he paused before correcting himself. "You’re very powerful. And being a leader in this…" he looked at the battle that was going on nearby. It was two on one, and would be three on one with his involvement. "Just gets me worked up. I’m abstaining from this battle. Get yourself to safety."

Samada stared at the human and the large amount of dark energy he sensed from him. He found a nearby flower, quickly casting an enchantment on it and handing it to the human.

"You too. See you again," Samada said, physically leaving but lingering to make sure the man was okay.

Master Jin sniffed the flower and immediately started feeling better. He smiled. Maybe he could keep his emotions contained after all.

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Green Day was always working. During the day he operated a herb shop and in the evening and night he served drinks, with a brief period of time in the early morning for him to rest. It was a lot of work, but Green Day enjoyed it. He wasn’t close with all his customers, but he liked listening to their conversations when he got the chance. Tonight, a group of people who seemed to be friends (or at least close acquaintances) had come to the bar after work. They came often enough that Green Day made their usual drinks with ease, handing them out shortly after the men sat down.

"Thank you," a man with green hair said. He sighed before taking a big sip of his drink. "I did a lot of research today, I need to relax."

"All you did today was read," his friend said.

"Yes, my job consists of researching and experimenting. Today it was research, which I just said. I’ve also told you about this before, Haoki."

"Still. I do much more intense physical labour than you, Darik, and I manage to not get tired by it."

"Reading is mentally exhausting," Prince Darik said. "Not like you would know that."

"You!!" Haoki lunged at him, but Green Day got in the way.

"No fighting in the bar," he said. He was fine with arguments as long as they didn’t get too loud, but he didn’t tolerate physical fights.

"Sorry Sir," their friend Tetsukama spoke up. "Haoki had a tough day at work too, he just doesn’t want to admit it. Right?"

Haoki didn’t reply, instead pouting as he crossed his arms. "Has your research progressed, Prince Darik?"

"It has, though I’m hesitant to start experiments on…" he paused. "Let’s not think about that for now. How have you been, Tetsukama?"

"I’m doing well," he replied. "My apprentice has been working very hard, and we’re working on new technology…"

Green Day stopped listening to their conversation to focus on new customers who entered, but he was glad that trio seemed to be doing well.

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Dark Black helped either side of the conflict between humans and supernatural for the right price. Usually, humans didn’t seek his help, which meant he usually helped the supernatural creatures. Which meant he knew a lot about their leader.

Kakerman was the leader of the conflict, wanting to rule over the world. He didn’t necessarily want to kill all the humans, but he wasn’t hesitant to destroy them if it caused chaos. Which of course it did. Humans didn’t react well to humans dying. Some supernatural creatures were also hesitant, as humans didn’t have any power to defend themselves without making weapons.

Whenever Dark Black was solicited to hurt a human, he took the money and tried not to think too hard about it. Supernatural creatures hurt humans all the time, and even killed them in the conflict, so he was basically doing the same thing as them.

He wondered if the conflict between humans and the supernatural would ever end. And what he would do when it ended.

He went to the bar after finishing work, hoping a drink would make him feel better.

As he walked in, Dark Black remembered this bar was run by a human. A human who was aware of the conflict, but still.

Dark Black wondered what he would do if he ever had to…

He took a big sip of his drink, trying not to think about that.

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Two years was not a long time when you thought about it, Soren realized. He had been training Manta for seven months now, when the teenager’s parents finally agreed he could start training and that if the war between humans and the supernatural was still ongoing when Manta was old enough to enrol, then he could fight on their side. That was still about three and a half years away, but before that was Manta’s 16th birthday. Soren had to train him as much as possible before that day.

Manta thought he was an ordinary human. And at this moment, he pretty much was. But one of his parents was a shapeshifter, and that meant Manta was one too, this human appearance was simply his default form. When he turned 16, his shapeshifter powers would manifest, and all hell would break loose.

Soren just hoped that when it happened, Manta would think clearly enough to consider him a friend.

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Juan was able to do magic, but he was reluctant to. When his mother died, he realized just how dangerous magic was and since he wasn’t very good at it he was reluctant to learn.

He still joined the army, which had the potential to be even more dangerous, but he was educated on the weapons he was making. And since he wasn’t directly in battle, he felt much safer. He used a lot of technology rather than magic, not bothering to learn and hone his skills.

He already had something he was good at, so he didn’t need magic.