“I’m so sorry for the trouble…”

“What…”

“The massacre of your cattle is my daughters' doing. But as their father, I, too, had my part in the responsibility for not looking after them. We are all held accountable for the losses we have caused you.”

I'm thoroughly confused by the vampire's manners, and the way he spoke to me was unexpectedly polite. Wasn't he supposed to attack me? I never thought that nocturnal beasts are also capable of civil interactions without the need to draw blood first. Or was this a trap?

He then turns towards his children, “Girls, what have I taught you when you are out on a hunt?”, he asked them in a lowered but stern voice.

The eternal young girls bowed their heads in shame. Finally, the eldest spoke, “We must not all target the herds of a single farmer and attack all at once.”

“We are sorry for… killing your cows”, the middle peeped, daring not to look up from the ground, her bangs covering half her eyes.

“We were too hungry”, the youngest weakly protested, but as soon as she met her father's gaze, she zipped her mouth.

After hearing what his daughters had to say, the vampire turned back at me, “They killed ten dairy cows and four newborn calves from your farm. Each livestock is worth 80 to 100 coins.” Just as I was wondering how he could know the exact number of dead cows without siding a glance, the vampire raised a hand and summoned a heaving leather bag tinkling with pieces of metal inside.

He steps forwards to set the bag on the ground at a safe distance from me as if to not cause any fright.

“I hope this money covers all of the losses your farm had to endure from my daughters' mistake”, he told me, “I will make sure this incident will not happen again. My girls have learned their lesson, and I hope we can settle this once and for all. Thank you, and good night.” With a blink, they all vanished. I look up to see four bats spread their wings and fly away into the veil of the night.

I then tilted down and walked over to the leather bag the vampire put ahead of me moments ago, carefully untying and opening it. I knew there were indeed coins in it, but it still shocked me that the vampiric man was true to his words.

What a strange night.

finally someone get the references

yeah, this prompt is basically the very cliche trope "I love you so much that drinking the magical soup won't get rid my memory of you" in Chinese folklore and literature. I wanted to post it here to see how people from other countries would interpreted it

The Curtain of The Sun

Dilemma on the table: Should you trust the evidence or your loved one?

A terrible crime is committed. Someone had stolen the golden curtain on Lady Sun’s palanquin.

Rumors spread among the Heavenly Court and investigation is held. After going back and forth, all traces and fingers pointed at Lady Moon, Lady Sun’s sister. The younger goddess is devastated, protesting her innocence, but the Heavenly Court hears none of her pleas.

Oh Lady Sun, the bright and righteous goddess, the all-seeing. Would you choose the firm accusation or your dearest sister? And how would you seek the truth to save her from a wrathful punishment?

There is one single truth behind the curtain, if you dare to lift it.

The Secret of the Silver Fox

“I’ll become a human if you want! I can do anything! I can be your slave, your playmate, or your handmaiden like I used to. Just let me be with you again. Please.”

When love transcends through time, place, and mythology. A bittersweet romance inspired by the tale of Tamamizu, a fox who fell in love with a woman.

Akari grew up in the countryside of Japan, where wild foxes are often seen prowling freely. One day, she followed them into the woods, ventured deeper than ever before, and made it to the other side. There, she saw a silver fox sitting patiently under a maple tree, as if waiting for her for thousands of years.

“Hey, you’re Cade Lear, right?”, Natalie happily asked, “The new guy? Oh, is it alright if I call you that? Or you prefer another…?”

“Oh, it’s fine. I usually go with ‘they / them’, but you can also use ‘he’ or ’she’, I wouldn’t mind”, Cade casually explains, “Same with ‘mister’ or ‘miss’, either of them is fine.”

“Ah, I see.”

“And yes. That’s me, Cade Lear”, Cade lends out a hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you… um…”

“Natalie Carol, Nata for short”, Natalie took her hand, giving a small but welcoming shake, “Welcome to the PCID, Cade. We’re glad to have you here.”

After they let go, Natalie picks up the glass kettle, pouring out some hot coffee, “Would you like some coffee? I guarantee you the drinks here are nothing like those crappy, cheap ones you saw at other offices.”

“I’d love to. Thank you.”

Cade takes a warm cup Natalie handed to her, filled with black coffee, fresh and steaming. They blew on the hot drink, took a quick sip. Wow, they are absolutely astonished by the incredible taste of bitter mixed with sweet. Natalie was right, this stuff is ambrosia.

“Hm, this is good. Did you made this?”

“No, it was Kallen, our boss man”, Natalie puts back the kettle, “He rocks this stuff.”

Cade’s eyes landed on the small logo sticker on the object, the logo of their department, “Um, mind I ask?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why is ‘PCID’ named… like that?”, Cade points at the logo, “It’s called ‘Paranormal Counsel and Investigation Department’, right?”

Natalie leans back at the counter, hands resting on both sides, “Yes. And Kallen is the one coming up with the name.”

“Huh…”

“And yeah, it actually sounds better if we use ‘Supernatural’ instead of ‘Paranormal’, seeing what our department expertise in. But when you write out the acronym, it will spell ‘SCID’. We don’t want our department to share its name with a disease now, do we?”

Cade laughs, “No, I guess. The name was not very cash money.”

“See, you get it now.”

thank you for pointing out! I got them fixed already

“Are there any spirits with me in this room right now?”

The wooden planchette shook slightly underneath Cade’s fingers, slowly moved across the alphabet carved on the Ouija board, pointing at three letters which spelled “YES”.

“Okay, good… It’s nearing the end of the month, and you know what that means.”

The planchette sit still.

“You need to hand over your share. You’re dead, but that doesn’t mean you can be a freeloader.”

The planchette on the Ouija board spells out again, a clearly panic “FUCK”.

Cade gave out an audible sigh, “No, the landlord do not accept any payment other than cash. Raiden may be into shady sex, but he isn't,” they stopped for a second, giggled a bit, “Heh, shady sex.”

Another message is given to Cade, “GIVE THREE DAYS.”

“Three days? You said the same thing three days ago”, Cade frowned in dismay, “Did you forget again?”

“NO CASH NOW.”

“No cash? The heck are you doing now?”

“SHHH.”

Cade rolled their eyes, “Well, wish I could ‘shhh’ my landlord as well when he’s pestering at the door, but I’m in no position to do that.”

“WILL PAY.”

“… Alright, but you gotta bring me the real money.”

“REAL MONEY?”

“Yes. Real human’s cash, as in the Euro bills, not the paper money you guys use down there.”

“RIGHT.”

Cade rubbed their eyes with the fabric on their shoulder, both hands not letting go of the planchette, “I will be waiting, but hurry up. I’m afraid if we're late again the old man is gonna kick us out for real.”

“WILL PAY”, the Ouija board repeated to assure them, “WILL PAY.”

“I will take your words, for now.”

Long ago, the Jade Emperor, ruler of the heavenly realm, commissioned his finest smiths to make him a sword.

But to craft this incredible object is no easy task. The Jade Emperor is a perfectionist and only expected the best of results. So the smiths had to scout the far, far away land, fetching the most exotic and resistant materials.

They must fly higher than the clouds, capturing the gleaming sunlight of the primordial Sun Lord into a crystal flask.

They scattered among the four directions, retrieving the finest mineral from each local Mountain spirits.

They travel deep into the soil, seeking the scorching heat of the center heart of Mother Earth, where they will forge the weapon.

And after nine days and nights of working endlessly, it is here, the legendary weapon!

Do not judge by its simple design, young man, for this is not just any ordinary sword.

Perfected by the heaven’s smiths by the request of the Emperor himself, this is a powerful blade with a swift that can plunge a massive land into a roaring sea of his divine flames, vanish all forests and boil all rivers.

Hence, the name “Jade Emperor's Fiery Flood”. And only the greatest of all heroes, and wield it with absolute skill.

Long, wrinkled fingers reach out, gliding on the shiny metallic blade that perfectly reflects the shopkeeper’s hand, “But people nowadays call it ‘JEFF’. The name is not nearly as matching or extraordinary, but it’s probably for concise and convenient.”

The warrior had been sitting on a chair, listening intensely, clearly drawn by her story. His eyes widen with glittering sparks in it, and his grip on the sword only tightens after the story has ended.

“Ma’am, I would like to purchase this sword, please.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t expect you would…”, the shopkeeper seemed genuinely surprised, “It’s a magical artifact after all, I don’t think it’s appropriate to sell it away.”

Clash–

A heavy leather bag was placed on the table, right in front of the old lady, giving out crystal sounds. Without dropping a beat, she unties the rope around the bag’s mouth and opens it, only to be blinded by the amount of shiny gemstones stored inside.

The warrior insisted eagerly, “500 pieces of rare diamonds, I hope that’s enough.”

The old shopkeeper closed the bag once again, looking up her grin only grew wider, “I think this is just right. The sword is yours.”

As the warrior exited the shop and was soon far from sight, the shopkeeper sat back on her rocking chair, deviously counting the diamond pieces, “Young people are so easy to trick. With that worthless sword, I got this amount of rewards, a fantastic bargain.”

.

.

.

Far from the weapon shop, the warrior soon meets up with the rest of his adventure gang at the edge of the woods.

“Did you get it?”

“Yeah, I got it. Can’t believe she actually fell for the fake cash. And it was quick, too.”

“She’s old anyway, of course she has terrible eyesight.”

“Alright, we got a lot of fake swords to report to the guards. The ‘Hellreaver’, the ‘Spiteblade the Drinker of Souls’, the ‘Dragonstooth’, and now the ‘JEFF’.”

“Pfff– JEFF.”

“That old hag just JEFFpardized herself, am I right?”

very well done!

kinda reminds me of "The Good Place" for some reason

The story had been on hiatus for almost three months now. The author announced on the news board they will take a break for an unspecified time, and that was their last post ever since then.

No more activity. No more notification. All for three straight months. It’s like they’ve vanished into thin air.

“Author, are you there?”

“. . .”

“I know you’re listening… Are you scared?”

“. . .”

“You should be, I’m coming for you.”

“. . .”

They sighed. The same texts from the same person, all over again, for the past weeks or so.

“If you don’t post the next chapter tomorrow, I will hunt you down.”

“. . .”

“Do you hear me?”

“. . .”

“It’s unfair of you to keep us waiting all this long!”

“And you think it’s not unfair to force me to write even when I'm burnt out?”

Finally, a response from the author. They snapped like a wooden stick now bearing its sharp ends.

“Everyone loved your story and this is how you repay them? Keeping all of us waiting while you’re being lazy out there?”

The author chuckled bitterly. So their depression, burned out and lack of energy to barely functioning in their daily lives is now watered down to simply “being lazy”?

“I don’t think you’re in a position to diagnose my condition.”

“If you can text me now, you should be able to write the next chapter!”

“No, it’s far more interesting seeing you threatening me.”

“I’m doing this so you will get back to your work!”

“Do you have anything else better to do than messaging me?”

A long pause breaks out after the author sends the text. Then…

“You can’t leave us hanging like this, you’re abusing our admiration for you. You should be responsible with your work. If you can’t keep up with it, maybe you shouldn’t write in the first place.”

“And maybe you shouldn’t have read my work in the first place. This is my work, I wrote it because I want to share my story, not for pleasing you or anyone else. My energy is running out because I’ve been giving too much, and I need time to replenish. I don’t have to make an excuse to take a break when I need to, and I don’t need you to follow me when all you’ll ever do is complain about me having time for myself. If you ever texted me again to threaten me like this, I will report you. Fuck off and get a life.”

After sending, the author blocks the account. They probably just lost a fan. But that’s alright, one less toxic fan is one less annoyance in their life.

The author placed down the phone and ruffled their hair into a mess, looking at the scattered drafts on their desk. They never regret publishing their story, but sometimes, things can be quite overwhelming and won’t be so easy to handle as it seems.

Admiration is a double-edge knife, after all.

“Hey, kid. So, uh, I know this will be disheartening, but all of the kids before you had already taken all powers. I’m really sorry. But, the good news is, we still managed to save one power left just for you. Is it alright?”

It would be a lie if I said I’m not disappointed, but what else can I do?

“It’s alright”, I looked down to my feet, “I’ve already expected it.” I’ve known beforehand that I will be the last to choose my power. It’s a disadvantage for those who were born in December, we weren’t left with many choices. All the early kids had hogged up most of the cool powers. I guess that's just unfortunate for me.

The guide lady looked at me with pity, but seeing my calm expression, she didn't know what more to say. She walks over to the sealed container, pressing the code buttons one by one. The lid slowly opens, letting out a wisp of smoke, and from a distance I can see her taking out a crystal glowing with purple, no larger than a pea.

“So, what is my power?”, I question out loud.

“It will be postcognition.”

“Huh?”, I shot up my eyebrows, “Postcognition? As in, the ability to see one’s past?”

“Yes. You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s not that”, I waved my hands, “I mean, I think it’s a really beneficial power, how come no one wanted it?”

The lady shrugged, “How can I know? Most children prefer the power of flight, super speed or even precognition. They weren’t all that into history”, she then eyed me from head to toes, “Hmm... You seemed interested, I assume?”

“Yeah. I actually planned to major in history and classics in university, so this power can be quite handy.”

“Well lucky you. Now come here and take your gift.”

When I headed over, she placed the crystal in my hand, along with a glass of water and instructed, “Swallow it whole with water, imagine it’s candy. Do not keep it in your mouth, it won’t dissolve.”

“This ritual has a really high choking hazard”, I joked, before putting it in my mouth and chucking down the entire glass of water.

I closed my eyes as I felt the warmth rising up in my stomach, taking in the expanding heat as I absorbed the power.

A minute went by, then a second, then I opened my eyes again.

“Well?”, the lady smiled, “How are you feeling right now?”

I smiled back at her, “I know what you did last summer.”

A warrior who would be revived to full health every time they died.

A god who can kill a human with a single strike of their weapon.

They met at the peak of the tallest mountain on Earth.