Temple_GD_

6.2

I checked the palm of my right hand as I followed Handsome Guy.

Forty-four minutes to go until… dunno.

Was it a timer for this transformation running out, the same way Pino had a limit? Or was it counting down until I could use my powers? If something unfortunate happened t...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.8

Bending down, I chose a box from the pile by my feet—easy-to-cook cheesy lasagna—and slotted it into the remaining space on the shelf level with my eye. I was rearranging our pantry along with all the new stuff I bought. The box fitted so perfectly at the end of the row like a Tetris block th...

6.1

The scientific method was the process of finding out stuff through experiments. Tonight, I, Erind Hartwell, was going to be a scientist, experimenting with what the Domino mask could do—cue sci-fi-ish intro music. Make sure there’d be atoms and planets, maybe a lion and a dolphin too...

ADGIT - Ch. 7

“Not exactly this very place,” Aileen corrected herself, sheepishly grinning. “We’re in the inner ward of the Hold. From all historical accounts—” she neglected her history lessons and had no right to utter those words “—the Blighted Multitude never made it past the inner...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.7

“Deen is a weirdo, Deen is a weirdo,” I sang as I chose a carton of milk from the many brands on the shelf. It was for Mom; she mixed milk with her coffee. As for me, I drank tea, sometimes adding honey as a sweetener. After chucking the milk box into my grocery cart, I ticked it off the list...

5.56.6 - Epilogue VI

“It’s in the same envelope as your note,” I said. “Just asking if you put this here or maybe the—”

“I didn’t have an envelope,” Imani replied, brows pressed together as she examined the flyer. “I gave my folded note to the woman at your condo’s front desk. She probably...

5.56.5 - Epilogue V

Earlier this morning, the lobby receptionist at the condo handed me an envelope as we were about to leave for the police station. Inside were two pieces of paper—the first was a flyer for a cruise ship, and the second was a note from Imani. She wrote that she wanted to talk face-to-face about s...

ADGIT - Ch. 6

“There’s so many of them!” Clement exclaimed. Hiero put an assuring hand on the Khayo gardener’s shoulder. Clement looked up at Hiero, eyes struck with fear, tried as he could keep composed. “Wha-what are they?”

“Werswach Reyuseh, the people of the east calls them,”...

5.56.4 - Epilogue IV

I subtly eyed the police officers in the room. Four. None of them looked my way. Three more were in the adjacent room, and two should be by the lobby. How many were in the rest of the building? How many were outside?

The answer: not enough.

I could kill all of them. They couldn’t do...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.6

“Sit here,” I said, pulling out one of the chairs by the dining table. Deen had a quizzical look, her hands on her hips. Before she could ask, I explained, “You’re too tall, duh. Even if I stand on tiptoes, I can’t reach your ear. What do you expect me to do? Stand on this chair? You si...

5.56.3 - Epilogue III

Eudora (Euphonia)

Euphonia touched her face. Her cheeks had risen, and her lips had curved up. She didn’t realize she was smiling while reviewing old videos and pictures in her files. Perhaps she did miss the good ol’ days when she was human.

Or not so good.

ADGIT - Ch. 5

Hiero gazed east as the horns sustained their call. Through Molding, he enlarged his eyes into that of the owl king, this time allowing his skull’s sockets to deform and widen to fit them better. He had returned to the walls before the cannons began firing.

The Blighted Multitude in the d...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.5

I frowned as Deen stood on my left and held my hand—more like hugged it. She laced her fingers with mine and sandwiched my arm between her two giant marshmallow bumpers. The warmth of another human—Deen’s no longer human, but still—triggered a bolt of disgust to shoot up my spine...

5.56.2 - Epilogue II

Vanessa Minnows

Vanessa Minnows was the last to go through the door on the floor. She wavered momentarily, thinking of asking Euphonia how to pay for helping them. But Euphonia was busy directing her monstrous creations; more emerged from the flames and dug out of the groun...

ADGIT - Ch. 4

“An expelled Gardener,” Hiero clarified, glancing at the throne hall doors to see if they were shut tight. He then strode down the hallway, beckoning Alluverius to follow. “I swear Rebecca has an uncanny sense to detect any mention of Mitho’s name. Don’t let her hear you referring to hi...

5.56.1 - Epilogue I

Imani Nanda (Tove)

Imani Nanda checked her phone again, anxious to get a message from anyone. Jubilee, who went by Jubjub during missions, had sternly reminded her to turn off her phone because the police would be tracking signals. But Imani couldn’t help herself...

5.55

“Auntie Dora?” I might’ve heard that name before but couldn’t place it.

I began summoning my Blanchette mask, ready for a challenge. Our enemy—I assumed she was one—knew that we, mainly me, trashed the Tea Party boss and his minions, but still came here. Either she was pretty st...

ADGIT - Ch. 3

Hiero had been called many names since he set out, a fledgling self-taught Flesh Molder. Early monikers related to the scar across his left eye. Thought by many to be the remnant of a sword slash suffered in battle, the scar fueled a reputation of a cold-blooded warrior—a doubly wrong belief th...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.4

Amber Deen Leska

“What are you doing?” Amber Deen asked Erind despite knowing what was going to happen.

Not exactly this—Deen was super shocked that Erind went through with her threat. But Gabe did warn her to move her leg. She thought it’d be a twisty pinch, ...

5.54

“Argh!” Boojum stumbled forward but didn’t drop. Deen looked surprised he wasn’t knocked down. Boojum twisted back at her. “What the fu—?”

I grabbed his right wrist.

Deen caught his other hand and pulled his arm out. “Take back what you said about Erind!” She punched...

ADGIT - Ch. 2

Can we return to the tents outside? Hiero grumbled in his mind as he squinted his eyes. The rainbow shimmers gave him a headache, and his blurry left sight wasn’t helping. Could the braids be straining his scalp?

Hiero had fixed his messy hair in the style of Mesbeth Core monks�...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.3

Can we do something else? I thought, going through another photo album. We had passed the high school era and were now unearthing fossil records of the college era.

I didn’t want to continue doing this shit. But what other stuff could we do? Watch movies on TV?

Just sitting...

5.53

“How dare you kill my trusted subordinate!” Rabbit Ears growled, standing in the bloodied pit he had cleaved. “I picked him and his brother off the streets and raised them to be fine young men of flesh and steel!”

Why was this fucker blaming me?

He couldn’t be totally positi...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.2

“This was in Ireland,” I said, pointing to a picture of Mom and me. “Mom used to work there. I think I was in the second year of high school here, not sure.”

“I must say,” Deen said from above me, “your looks barely changed. You’re an absolute baby face.”

“People s...

Vanessa Fanart (Made by Eri)

Another great fanart made by Eri. Just going to post this here for those who don't visit our Discord. This is post-barbecue Vanessa with the metal bands on her right arm to hold back the mouth familiars. She has a more confident and badass attitude (or so she likes to pretend) and is quite unhing...

5.52

When I fought Auron, I ignored Myra’s lesson to keep my distance against an Adumbrae. I was confident I could pulverize that pompous weakling without breaking a sweat. Finlay and another Adumbrae even joined the fight, but all they could manage was flee with a dying Auron. My super strength far...

5.51

Bullets ripped through squishy normal humans.

Boojum rushed to shield them with his body. Shots thudded on his back. He grabbed the nearest person on the floor—a lady in a torn business suit and slacks—and used his powers to heal himself. It must’ve tormented him to absorb her, even i...

Erind/Deen - 5.21.1

(Author’s Notes: This next set of chapters is after Erind’s first meeting with Imani, chapter 5.21 in the main story. In the original, Deen was asleep, so Erind went out to buy food and met Imani. When Erind returned to her condo, Deen was still sleeping. Things will play out differently in t...

5.50

I grabbed the tentacles coming at me and sliced them with the rock. Full caveman with primitive tools! More chopped tentacles followed. This rock was sharper than expected. Probably more accurate to say everything was fucking sharp with enough super strength.

My limbless opponent screeched ...

Erind/Deen - 5.19.6

The kiss barely lasted a second before Deen let go of my face and pulled away—just a cowardly peck on my lips. If I had my eyes shut, I would’ve thought a passing wind brushed me. After all that teasing, Deen didn’t have the guts to escalate things.

She was going to lose the war if th...