❛THEY WOULD TELL YOU OF A KING WHO STOLE ME HELPLESS FROM MY SUNSHINE GARDEN.❜ They won't tell you about the woman who came to him sublime, lily eyes and lily lips. A king does not ask permission from his prize, but she, oh she, she knelt, kissing my flower crown fingertips, and laid a kingdom at my feet. A Hades and Persephone retelling. ❛AND WHEN I PLACED MY DREAD HEART IN HIS PALM; HE CALLED IT A KEY AND ME A QUEEN.❜ rubyruins | all rights reserved ©

The height of the throne calls for those with spine and the distance of its sound will find the ears of those who surface their heads from the blood of both enemies and allies alike. In the first breath of peace, disorder keeps its grip firm on its throat. The Akiyama shogunate has brought a new rule, and with it, a future with gods of metal and fire. Many began to surrender their worship to the divine with a wartime worth of spite bitterly spoken of in insult than in of melody or in rhyme. Though the ignorant proceed in bliss, the clans are suspicious and Takeyoshi is a product of their suspicion. As a shinobi, he knows that the remnants of war still echo through its corpse and its voice only grows stronger. Hired to amplify tensions, he spies on the affluent Tachibana clan only to realize the truth might be beckoning him to a place he no longer understood.

impossible heists, lawless youths, and centuries-old paintings that hold immeasurable power. ✧ cover art by Louise Delfin

EVERYBODY DIES IN THE NAME OF LOVE © 2016 opheliacs [99 - ss]

LOVE WAS NEVER MEANT FOR MONSTERS © 2017 opheliacs [43 - poe]