23 November: Daily Excerpt

[jupitersings.livejournal.com]

Feel free to share an excerpt from your novel here, though we ask that you keep it to PG-13, and if there are any triggers please list them in the title of your comment for people to see.

Please try to keep it under 1500 words for the sake of LJ not liking very long comments.

<b>Username:</b> <b>Any background information:</b> <b>Excerpt:</b>

Comments

[agdhani.livejournal.com]

Username:agdhani
Any background information: Simon has done something very bad...without knowing it.
Excerpt:

“What have you done to me?”

The words were a cold, harsh hiss that startled him just as much as the sudden presence of someone else in his room a familiar presence that he recognized from years of knowing in the dawning moments before waking. That was when Simon knew, before he turned to face the intruder, that his knowledge of this presence was much more recent. Seeing anger in those brown eyes, anger directed at him, did little to diminish his certainty then that all of his suppositions were correct.

“Leliel.”

The black-haired angel opened his mouth to speak, to question how the tentative mortal knew his name, but then he snapped it shut with another flash of anger in his eyes. He had watched over this one for so long that he could admit to himself that he should have expected Simon to figure out the truth all along.
“What have you done?” he demanded again, taking a step forward.

Simon had never felt afraid in the company of angels before, but Leliel’s fury demanded a healthy level of respect. Angels, at least some of them, had the power to destroy, or so said innumerable legends and accounts written in a myriad of languages. Though Simon had no good answer for him, if the angel was making an accusation, then Simon had done something, something wrong enough to draw down the wrath of an angel…and perhaps God himself.

“I don’t…” he stammered, his heart hammering in his chest, causing his words to be barely audible.

“Your hand.”

Leliel pointed and as if on command Simon’s fist unclenched to expose the medallion within it. Brown eyes now flashed a deep violet flecked with orange and he reached to snatch the object away. His thin fingers had not yet touched the metal when he yelped and jerked back, staring at the metal disk as though he had been burned by it. “How could you…do this…to me…?”

“Leliel…”

But as abruptly as he had appeared, he was gone again, but in that parting look Simon saw less of anger then he did hurt and fear. But fear of what, Simon wondered. What was this medallion that an angel should shrink from it so? What could a mere mortal possibly have done that could hurt of frighten an angel?

And burning just as deeply in his heart was the question of what he could possibly do to make things right again.

[tehexile]

Username: tehexile
Any background information: MC = still dead.
Excerpt:

“Listen, kid, I'm real sorry about this, but I've got two hundred customers waiting for me back on the bank and there's only so long I can drag out rowing a boat before I'm just plain stopping, and I get yelled at for that,” he said, pausing to move the black rook to capture Scribe's white pawn, “No matter how tight the game's getting.”

“Its okay,” Scribe said dully, “Sorry.”

“Its okay. You're a good chess partner, by the way. Well practiced for your age, and you don't whine at me every five minutes to give you your soul back.”

“Thanks.”

“You should stop worrying so much. You're pretty innocent, as they come. Trust me, the Boss has seen worse. She won't be interested in a late library book or some boring lecture you fell asleep in.”

“You don't understand,” he said, “I'm in big trouble with them. Not because of sins or anything. Because I... kind of got too involved. I ended up throwing a spanner in their works. I didn't mean to. I was just doing what I thought was right.”

“If its nothing to do with the weight of your soul, they can't judge your for it. That's the law,” said the ferryman, “And they're sticklers for the law. The Infernal Bureau is huge. You'll be judged by someone who isn't involved in the other case. I can't say what'll happen to your soul with regards to your other case, I'm not a lawyer, but I do know it'll be completely unrelated to your death.”

“I... there's something I wanted to do. When I was alive. It was kind of urgent.”

“Isn't it always?” he sighed, “Trust me, you don't want to go down the whole 'restless spirit' route. You'll end up Undead. Being Undead isn't fun. Check, by the way.”

Scribe frowned and surveyed the board, running through the possible moves and their likely consequences in his mind, “I think this case is a little different to normal.”

“More spanners?” guessed Charon.

“Well, more works, but I had really hoped there wouldn't be spanners involved.”

“If you like, I can try and get you in the good queue. I know people who know people.”

“I... don't know if I should.”

“Don't worry about me. I'm not going to lose my job any day this aeon. Nobody else in the Office wants to get the hem of their robes wet.”

“I meant, I don't know if I should be running away,” he said, “I think I shouldn't ever have been just trying to ignore the fact that all this was going on. I thought that it was all too high level for me, that the world where bureaucrats with more power than Gods had arguments that lasted hundreds of years couldn't have anything to do with a Library apprentice, and that all the decisions would be made way over my head, and that they wouldn't listen to me anyway. I thought that... I guess I didn't think I was going to die. You don't, when you're a child.”

He laughed at that, “You have no idea!”

“But I am involved in it all, aren't I? I can't just get out of it if I pretend its not there. I have these abilities, and I know what's going on, and I can fix the world. So I should. Fix the world, I mean. And if I want to be seen as an equal to them, I need to go and face them head on!”

“So, you're staying with us for the rest of the journey after all?That's nice,” he said, “Checkmate.”

[kittyb78.livejournal.com]

Username: KittyB78
Title: Unexpected Occurrences
Background Information: First showing of the MC's powers.
Warnings: Bit gory, graphic description.

Kanda’s eyes clouded with pearls of moisture. A sharp pain seized her chest. Her body jerked as screams echoed from one of the main rooms. Her fuzzy triangular ears pressed flat against her head and her stomach roiled. She bit back the bile that threatened to rise in her throat. Evil energy assailed her mind like a slow moving poison.

Blood soaked ground, strewn with mangled bodies invaded her mind. Terrified screams rent the air. She tried to breathe through the thick stench of malice. Her mind screamed in terror as the charred remains of the once glorious city and castle filled her mind’s eye. Her breath grew shallow and she tried to force the unwanted vision away.