Submerged kingdoms, haunted temples, booby-trapped caves. Lara Croft has seen it all in her quest for ancient artefacts, which she sells to the highest bidder. But nothing prepares Lara for her latest, greatest discovery: a golden apple capable of bringing its bearer anything they desire. The only problem? The golden apple has also transported Diana, the beautiful warrior queen of the Amazons, straight from Ancient Greece's Olympian Realm and into Lara's world. Lara is determined to use the golden apple to get her gorgeous--and literally divine--guest safely home, but the apple is ripe with discord, tempting Lara with the chance to bury her demons and bring back all that she has lost. Darker forces in Lara's world also desire the golden apple: she and Diana are hunted by a corrupt tech company bent on using the apple as a weapon for world domination, and Lara's discovery awakens a vengeful supernatural entity determined to control the apple's power. Unable to fight her growing feelings for her demi-goddess companion, Lara finds herself torn between getting Diana home and wishing that she could stay forever. As a net closes around her, Lara must risk losing everything to realise that love is the greatest treasure of all. ~~°~~°~~° Welcome to my ONC entry! I'm not sure if I can stick to the deadlines for long, but I'll try! I used the following two prompts: 71. After discovering a precious but dangerous artefact you become an instant celebrity. But things begin to happen that make you wish you had never discovered it. 75. You inherit a family heirloom passed down for longer than anyone can remember. You discover its secret. This secret will twist your life and change it forever. ---- Cover art adapted from artwork by the amazing Stjepan Sejic. If you like sapphic comics, check out his series "Sunstone" and the incredible comic artwork as Nebezial on Deviantart and ArtStation, @stjepansejic on Twitter, and #nebezial on Insta and Tumblr

{ ᴏɴᴄ ʜᴏɴᴏʀᴀʙʟᴇ ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴ & ᴀᴍʙᴀꜱꜱᴀᴅᴏʀꜱ' ᴘɪᴄᴋ } Tate has been the bartender at The Imp's Bottle for years. The dive bar attracts a trickling array of unusual patrons, but due to his social anxiety, Tate avoids conversation and interaction. ...Until a random encounter with a beautiful girl causes Tate to open up in a way he never imagined possible. Unbeknownst to Tate, the girl's kindness plants a seed, inspiring him to abandon his wallflower nature. The changes are subtle at first, but rather than hyperfocus on his beloved retro music and impulsive need to clean, Tate begins to converse and interact with the bar's patrons. He becomes more outspoken, engaged, and confident. And his positive changes inspire changes in those around him. However, not everyone is thrilled with Tate's newfound confidence. Ali, the bar's prickly lone waitress, has a bone to pick with Tate. And she plans to come out on top of their little workplace rivalry, no matter the cost to her coworker. || A story about how the tiniest pebble can create the biggest ripples, this is my entry for ONC 2023. ||

|𝟏𝐱 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐃/𝐎𝐍𝐂 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐀𝐌𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐒| When the apocalypse arrives 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐄 is ready to accept death after living a cursed life. But fate has other plans for him. Whisked away by a mysterious taxi driver with a silver tongue, Kane finds himself caught up in the world of faes, vampires, werewolves and even dragons! What was supposed to be a quest to get answers regarding his family's elusive past transforms into a journey to make him into a warrior capable of saving his dying world. Enter 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐒𝐓. Blessed by the gods and a Lady of the Lake, her tongue is as sharp as the blade she wields. She has no love for Earth and could care less about its demise. But she too has a troubled past that she wants to rectify. If there's any hope at getting what she wants, she needs to whip Kane into shape as efficiently as possible. Kane is cursed. Tempest is blessed. Together they have the power to silence the banshee's world ending scream before it causes Earth's annihilation. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: 𝐎𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐲 & 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝟎𝟐/𝟎𝟑/𝟐𝟑 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 𝐍/𝐀 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟏𝟔+ 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐭 & 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫: @𝐗𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡

| 𝟏𝟐𝐱 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 | An ex-gamer enters a virtual reality ruled by a rebel AI in order to rescue her younger sister and shut down the death game. * * * Eight years ago, Mori Fukutomi held the rank of number two player in the tactical hero shooter game SniperX. But fate and her parents had other plans and Mori now works as an accountant with her dreams of being a pro gamer long since buried. Games like SniperX are old relics in the face of virtual reality tech and their latest gem, Facing Fear--a simulation designed to analyze the psyche of its players and adapt itself accordingly, creating a safe terrain for players to take risks and discover themselves. Until FEAR, the AI governing the virtual world of Valor, decides the thing humanity fears most is death. Despite the rising death toll and Facing Fear closing its doors, when Mori discovers her sister Shiori is trapped in the game, she does the unthinkable. She goes in after her. But she'll soon discover they're not the only ones desperate to make it out alive and there are worse things in Valor than the monsters. There's more to FEAR than fear itself. ✧ 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 ✧ 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 ✧ 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 ✧ ─────────────────────────────────── Completed: 4-23-2023 Word Count: 35,000 - 40,000

ONC 2023 Shortlist Astrid, the Princess of Eurovea, a country existing several centuries in the future, had led a happy and sheltered life in the castle ruled by Regent Arcturus, her uncle. Only on reaching the age of ascension when, according to an ancient tradition, all future queens must face a trial, she realised that there were great gaps in her knowledge of the world around her, her uncle, and even the people she thought she knew well. In a world where love doesn't exist, a young girl who understands old novels better than her reality is sent on a dangerous quest to save her country from creatures who, just like love, were not supposed to be true... Mystery, romance, adventure, and magic combine in this tale, in which a young princess who had grown up surrounded by an impenetrable web of lies, has to find her true identity, and free her kingdom from suffering. A young-adult, dystopian, paranormal fantasy-romance. The wonderful cover created by @WakeWriteWrath

[ONC 2023 SECOND PLACE WINNER | AMBASSADORS PICK 2023] An unwilling but gifted geneticist must find a way to safeguard humanity against the deadly pathogen she's forced to design or die trying. *** The planet's population is pushing past 11 billion and counting. With resources spread thin, widespread famine, and health systems crippled everywhere, the governments of the world are running out of ideas. Then a scientist proposes a controversial solution and the classified Project Rescue is born. But when the lead scientist on the project and his entire team mysteriously die, his young microbiology prodigy is brought into the secret government agency to take over where he left off. Ezra Mayur always hoped that her brilliance in pathogen studies would land her a secure job one day. This seems like a dream come true. Full food rations and safety for her struggling family, and a job in the field she is the most interested in. But the project is not quite what Ezra expected and her moral compass is tested when she has to choose between protecting her family or the world. *** PROMPTS that will make an appearance: 12. An evil sorcerer offers you an immense amount of power--but it comes with a price. (Modified: an evil corp offers you an opportunity of a lifetime, but it comes with a price.) 5. Flip the coin and make a life choice with it. Two choices, one coin, and no turning back. Do you dare? FEATURED ON: @ScienceFiction 'Viruses & Zombies' list (Sept 2024) @dystopianapocalypse 'Pandemic&Outbreak' list. (May '23) @fright 'AAPI: Celebration' list. (April '23) [NOTE: Trigger warning may apply. Violence and gore. This work is solely the property of Eva Acharya writing as E. A. Martin, and thus, no translation, copying, or distribution in part or whole of this story is permitted.]

🏳️‍🌈ONC2023 Shortlister [A queer retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in modern day California.] Tate Parker and Alex Benitez are sworn enemies, but it's not a battle line they've drawn. As the sons of warring co-workers, the pair are destined to be at odds by association. With this comes inherited rumors and social stigmas that each is desperate to break. But when the opportunity arises, their newfound kinship threatens one's redemption by putting them in a situation where the rumor about them might become true. And for the other, he must choose which to sacrifice in the court of public opinion, his father or friend? Both come at the risk of driving their families to the brink of war. PS - Nobody has to die at the end. Yay. Cover made on Canva.

SHORTLISTED. Paul Finn wakes to discover that not only is he feeling horribly sick but, more worryingly, the naked stranger in his bed isn't moving. If only he could remember what happened... My story for the ONC 2023, a thriller scifi adventure, with a touch of romance. (SciFi /Adventure / LGBT)

When a grandmother is declared the Chosen One, she abandons her rocking chair to challenge the Dark Lord who plots to destroy the world. -- Formerly a single mother, now a devoted grandma, Granny Thayer has never left her hometown before, let alone slayed a demon. But she'd better learn fast; she's just been selected as the Chosen One, the only hero who can defeat the nefarious Dark Lord of Devnia and avert a zombie apocalypse. Accompanied by a devastatingly handsome prince, a failed bard, and a werewolf with a dangerous secret, Granny Thayer embarks on a quest full of intrigue and love triangles to save her grandson. This is a collaboration for ONC 2022/2023, written by SophieKestrel and Spelunkadunk. Prompt: "It's always what/who you least expected that blows your mind away."

Tristan is a Quiz Bowl star. Vyrsa is from the stars. But is their interstellar romance written in the stars? *** Following a successful heist on a rival planet, Princess Vyrsa just needs to step through the Portal of Wishes to be brought straight back to her home planet Isola. But when Vyrsa steps through the portal, she finds herself on Earth, a primitive planet in a forgotten corner of the universe, with no means to return home. After having spent the night studying for an upcoming Astronomy test, galaxies, planets, and asteroids are on Tristan Conway's mind as he drifts into dreams. So he's unfazed when a strange glittering woman suddenly appears in his dorm room, convinced she's nothing but a figment of his imagination. When he finds her in his kitchen the next morning, eating his textbooks and befriending his cat, he's not so sure anymore. With no fancy alien tech at her disposal, Vyrsa will need Tristan's help to return to her faraway home planet. Ecstatic to be part of a plot reminiscent of the space movies he loves, Tristan throws himself wholeheartedly into the mission. After studies of possible fuel sources turn into Netflix binging beside her endearing host, Vyrsa's resolve to leave weakens. Maybe she'll just stay with Tristan a little bit longer... Surely nothing bad could come from it? Unless the owners of the artifact she stole figure out where she went and decides to obliterate the whole planet where she's hiding just to punish her, of course. *** This is an ONC Novella using prompt #18: You step through a magical portal thinking it's the way back home, but what you find isn't what you expected. This story is completed.