Onc2025 Stories

When a cursed bangle binds Sea Drifter Ninnette to a dangerous demon, she only has three days to break the curse before it claims her life. °:•.🪸.•:° Ninnette is a Sea Drifter with the power to command water, dredging shipwrecks, and salvaging lost treasure. When she braves a sunken ship no one else dares to dive, she finds a strange clockwork bangle that binds her to an ancient curse and to the infuriating Kazi, a demon who leaves destruction wherever he goes. The moment the bangle is activated, they are hunted by a secret order led by a relentless Priestess who believes the armlet is a key to something far greater than treasure. But the true danger isn't the order. It isn't the demon Kazi. It's the curse. When Ninnette puts on the bangle, a countdown begins. If she doesn't break the curse in three days, she will die like every wearer before her. °:•.🪸.•:° She commands the sea. He is a demon who has lived for centuries. They are both bound by a curse. Only three days to survive. °:•.🪸.•:° Set in a Maritime Steampunk world, and inspired by Filipino cultures, from Spanish influence to the seafaring Sama-Bajau. This story weaves dangerous magic, high stakes, and heart-aching romance. °:•.🪸.•:° ONC 2025 Honorable Mention Round 1 Winner Round 2 Ambassador Pick Round 3 Ambassador Pick °:•.🪸.•:° Romantasy High Fantasy Fantasy Adventure SciFi Steampunk Fantasci Young Adult

*Borusara AU* Boruto is the next in line to the Uzumaki Empire but with his new mission to get a wife in 60 minutes seems impossible, until he bumps into his high school enemy, Sarada Uchiha - now a famous celebrity. Famous actress meets Mafia Don...?

After six years in a progressive French boarding school, eighteen-year-old Lady Alice returns to her family's estate in Surrey, dreading the fate that awaits her-- debutante balls, an arranged marriage, and a life she does not want. She would have preferred to stay in France, teaching and writing love tales rather than living one dictated by others. Once cast aside by her own father and a stepmother, Alice finds their sudden desire for reconciliation hollow. Only her childhood best friend, Michael, Marquess Lovelace, seems like a true comfort. But as she settles back into her former home, something strange begins to happen. A black rabbit, eerily familiar, appears in the shadows-- just like the one that belonged to Edmond, her long-forgotten imaginary friend. And then she meets Count D'Arcy, the enigmatic and elusive neighbour whose presence unsettles her. His eyes, his voice, his very being remind her of Edmond. Could it be him? Or is her mind playing tricks on her? As the social season unfolds, Alice finds herself tangled in a web of mystery, romance, and the supernatural. The past and present blur, forcing her to question what is real, what is illusion, and whether love can exist beyond the bounds of reason. In the haunting halls of her childhood home and under the watchful gaze of Count D'Arcy, Alice must uncover the truth before she loses herself to the unknown. ~~~ My entry for the ONC 2025 based on the prompt 105: Your childhood imaginary friend, who disappeared years ago, suddenly returns - only this time, they're real.

Ayumi Mikuro has always been captivated by mysteries, and the strange black stray cat that roams her neighbourhood is her latest obsession. When she begins to suspect that the cat is more than it seems, her curiosity leads her into a hidden world of shapeshifters, dark secrets, and ancient artifacts. As she uncovers the truth about the mysterious feline and its connection to a secretive group of supernatural hunters, Ayumi finds herself entangled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. With the fate of both the cat and her own life hanging in the balance, Ayumi must decide how far she's willing to go to protect the one creature she's grown to care for - a creature who holds the key to an unimaginable power. ONC prompt: 7. You've always suspected that the stray cat in your area is more than it seems. Now you're determined to catch it shape-shifting and prove it's a shapeshifter. But the closer you get, the more questions arise.

She was once a character in a deleted story, now lost and memoryless in the Library Limbo. If she wants to get her memories back, she's going to have to work on her backstory - by helping to fix some stories that have gone wrong. Now, she's forced to team up with an overly-peppy cheerleader and a guy who insists he used to be a detective. As they delve into romance, mystery, and fairy tale stories, she realizes that things might not be as simple as they seemed. All she can do is hope the next plot twist isn't her own.

In the realm of Vellara, books are not just stories-they are living worlds, inked into existence by the hands of ancient scribes. For centuries, the Grand Archive has safeguarded these enchanted tomes, ensuring that no one disturbs the delicate balance between fiction and reality. Kael Dain is a young scribe apprentice burdened with an ability he was never meant to have-the power to "unwrite," to alter the words of any book and reshape the worlds within. It is a talent so rare and dangerous that the Grandmasters have forbidden its use. But when the legendary Codex Eternis, a book capable of rewriting existence itself, is stolen by the rogue scribe Orion Vale, Kael is the only one who can track it down before reality begins to unravel. To retrieve the Codex, Kael must step beyond the library's safety and into the very stories that have shaped his world. Journeying through magical realms-each with its own treacherous laws-he faces living myths, ink-born creatures, and a power far greater than his own. At his side is Riven Calder, a mercenary with secrets inked into his very skin and a past he refuses to reveal. Bound by an oath he won't explain, Riven becomes both Kael's protector and his greatest mystery. As Orion's rewrites twist reality into something unrecognizable, Kael begins to question his own role in the story. Why does the Codex seem to call to him? What truth has been erased from its pages? And as his bond with Riven deepens, Kael faces the most dangerous rewrite of all-one that could alter fate itself. With the world crumbling around him and the line between reality and fiction blurring, Kael must make an impossible choice: restore the book and preserve the story written by those before him or take up the pen and rewrite his own destiny.

Princess Ishtar Jirisan stumbles upon an invasion plot and is captured by Erra Asherah, a ruthless yet infuriatingly charming warlord. To survive, she manipulates his strategy, ensuring his victory while secretly playing her own game to escape. When fate reunites them at a diplomatic celebration, a greater enemy threatens them and they must fight side by side, their rivalry turning into something far more dangerous: a love neither can afford. Will they conquer the battlefield and their feelings, or will war tear them apart first? Cover Credits: @alfaesha

Agness Brillantes isn't your typical cheerleader- the one who quietly fades into the background after a breakup. After ending her relationship with Blake Sullivan, the star athlete, she decides to rewrite her story. She doesn't want to be the cliché ex. No more clichés. Agness takes control and becomes a self-made matchmaker, helping others navigate love while trying to avoid it for herself. When her older sister Eliza struggles with confessing her feelings for a co-worker, Agness steps in, ready to make sparks fly. But she's not the only one with a crush in her family. Her younger sister, Riley, has her own secret crush on a classmate, who she can't stop talking about and Agness can't help but try to play matchmaker for her too. Just when Agness thinks she has everything figured out, David Cross; a charming, mysterious guy; enters the scene, making everything more complicated than she ever imagined. As he becomes more involved in her matchmaking adventures, Agness starts to question whether love is really something she can control.

Dorian expected a fortune. Instead, he inherited a library-one that holds more than just books. When a stolen book vanishes, portals to dangerous worlds start ripping open, unleashing beings from unknown realms. With reality unraveling and creatures slipping through the cracks, Dorian must track down the book before the chaos becomes permanent. But some secrets were meant to stay buried-and someone will do anything to keep them that way. Will he retrieve the book in time, or will his inheritance doom them all?

For better or worse, in sickness or health, until death do us part. After his sudden death, Liam finds himself tethered in limbo, unable to move on because of unfinished business . Left with only fragmented memories of his life, Liam must put together the pieces before he turns into a wandering spirit no longer able to move on. As he struggles to save his soul, Liam can only silently watch the wife he left behind gather herself to continue without him. Violet had always believed in her relationship, even when going on a two year rough patch. But her most recent argument with Liam was the last straw. After not speaking to each other for three days, he left for a business trip and she had a decision to make. He walked out of that door without a goodbye, and she let him. Their relationship ended in silence. Novella entry for Open Novella Contest 2025 Based on prompt number 61: The silence in the room is deafening, as though it has a life of its own. It's time to rewrite the fairytale, but this time, the ending will be yours, and it won't be happy.

When college student Celine Marlowe finds a piece of a shattered unicorn horn in the forest, she doesn't expect it to contain ancient magic connecting her to its owner Soren, the exiled prince of the Velkeros. With Soren's magic trapped inside her and the remaining pieces of his horn still scattered around the world, Celine is pulled into a centuries-old conflict between a corrupt scientific empire called the Argent Accord, and the once mythical beings they exploit. The Accord wants Velkeros blood for immortality, Soren wants to reclaim what they stole from him, and Celine just wants to make it out alive. Magic was never supposed to end up in Celine's hands, but the more she learns, the more she realizes that her and Soren's connection might be the key to saving everything. This story is my entry in the 2025 Open Novella Contest! Follow @OpenNovellaContest to be notified about the next one! The prompt I chose: #12. While hiking through a forest, you stumble upon a unicorn's horn.

Note: this is book #9 of the Venomous Agenda series Olivia, a blonde-haired freshman cheerleader at Venomous Agendas High, might seem to be a stereotypical cheerleader at first glance, thanks to her boyfriend being a football player. However, after cheering at a basketball game, she realizes that she's tired to remain on the sidelines while, at the same time, she appears unwilling to give up on the team while its inaugural season is underway. By choosing to fill in on the quiz bowl team, she also chooses to defy the stereotypes associated with cheerleading. Only time will tell whether quiz bowl is a good fit for her. Note: This story is written using prompts 25 and 131 of the 2025 Open Novella Contest 2025 ONC Round 1 qualifier 2025 ONC Round 2 qualifier 2025 January-February 8-Chapter Challenge Winner 2025 ONC Long List

You and I are different. So different, so let's play a game. A game of colours. Sounds interesting, right? No? Okay. Well, the rules are simple: we have two colours - red and black. You'll paint me red because you love me and I will paint you black because I want you gone. Easy enough. Now, shall we begin? ✦⋆✧⋆✦ Maxine had only one freaking job to do. Act coy and innocent, retrieve information and destroy their opponent. But the future had other plans. Stupid plans that had something called love.

Tired of listening to her best friend and sister wax poetic about each other, Samiyah Greene schemes to get them together. But what happens when scheming to help her sister interferes with her own unexpected love life?

🏆 SHORTLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 Two teenagers embark on a cross-country music tour to outrun the threat of war and curtailed creative freedom. ⋯⋯⋯ As Ash finishes identifying his parents' remains from a full-blast attack, he should have stopped writing silly songs. With rebels controlling the country bit by bit comes the diminishing right to express themselves, so when a boy with a lopsided grin and penchant to chase trouble convinces Ash to perform his music, he only has one answer―no. But Jet has a way of getting what he wants, and there is no way Ash can let a golden boy run off on his own. With only a beat-up neon-pink car, a patched guitar, an obnoxious red pen, and a battered polaroid, Jet and Ash embark on a cross-country tour to make a name for themselves, outrunning authorities, and maybe even Fate itself. What can go wrong...right? From the award-winning author of 𝘋𝘪𝘦 𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘈𝘳𝘭𝘰 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯, comes a story of young love, the fight for freedom, and the eternal struggle for meaning set in a world of oppression and violence. There are many ways to the end, and it is up to us to choose which path to take. ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• © 2025 (First Edition) [25,000 - 30,000 words] [All graphics are made by @sardonictabby] ˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°•˜"°•.˜"°• 🏆 LONGLIST - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 🏆 ROUND 2 AMBASSADOR PICK - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 🏆 ROUND 2 QUALIFIER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 🏆 ROUND 1 QUALIFIER - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025

THE LAST SIGNATURE The ink that doesn't fade. Eli never believed his brother's death was an accident. He just never had proof. Until Nora found the yearbook. Hidden inside a wall. Filled with names written in ink that doesn't age. Names that belong to students who all graduated normally, lived quietly - and died exactly three hundred and sixty-five days later. No headlines. No investigations. Just a pattern so clean it could only be deliberate. Now there are five of them who know. One name already inside that shouldn't be. Eleven weeks until the rest of them walk across that stage. And something ancient, patient, and nameless has been collecting signatures for a very long time. It isn't finished yet.

65. ONC 2025. In the beginning, there was everything. All already written. It was documented in the Libra. When one of the Four falls into a trap, cursed with every written curse, it sets the course for millennia. Eve, a recluse, is unknowingly bound to the Original Curse. When an evil force sends her spiraling, she embarks on a perilous quest through history's hidden secrets to unravel the truth-and uncover a dark connection to a man she's never met, but has always known. As the pieces of the past converge, what-or who-will emerge? Can the Curse be broken? More importantly, will Eve dare to break it, and unleash the creature behind the evil?

In the crowded, jazz filled streets of 1925 Chicago, Margaret Malone is a flapper with dreams of becoming a journalist. One day, when a tea shop seems to appear out of thin air, Margaret cannot help but investigate and is pulled further into the mysterious magic of Madame Lila's special brews- and the secrets lurking within the floral patterned teapots.

Mrs. Z, the eternal Mother of the Zodiac. 12 Zodiac children run away through time... Chaos ensues. What happens..? *All Zodiacs represented are based on their characteristics, research, and the people in my life. All other information in Author's Note and Aesthetics Chapters.* (ONC LONGLIST 2025 🎉) (ONC SHORTLIST 2025 🥳) *CURRENTLY BEING EDITED OFF APP, FINAL EDITIONS WILL HOPEFULLY BE MADE AVAILABLE BY NOVEMBER 2025*

Prompt 75. You've worn a mysterious ring since childhood, but one day it opens to reveal a tiny creature telling you it's been trapped inside all along and more secrets are on the way. Greta Shrub is about to turn fourteen years of age, but growing up in the home of her heartless Aunt, Mrs Vivora Grogan has not been easy. Enduring loneliness and cruelty, at the hands of her Aunt and her three spoilt cousins, Greta Shrub's stark and unfortunate childhood only acts to strengthen her resolve and her natural independence of spirit. These qualities of character prove especially essential when an unexpected and previously unknown visitor arrives at her door. But what does her sinister Uncle Ulric know about Greta's past and future? And what is his interest in the mysterious Garnet Ring that Greta has worn about her neck since childhood? And what is the Garnet Ring's relationship to the magical but mystifying occurrences that have become a feature of Greta's lonely life? Do these curious incidents have any connection to a high-school named Snapdragon's Academy, that Greta has heard whispers about? Could this society be the key to her escape from her ruthless relations who wish to use Greta's new supernatural powers in their unscrupulous schemes?