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

Back in her painfully small town for her 10-year high school reunion, Lenore Davis must reckon with being stuck around her first heartbreak, Morgan Whitaker. *** Ten years after her high school graduation, commitment-avoidant Lennie Davis has only come back to Perkins at her best friend's insistence. There's not much she misses about high school - aside from maybe her old metabolism. So, a high school reunion? Full of people she couldn't wait to get away from? People she intentionally avoided for a decade? Not her idea of a fun getaway. Also not her idea of a fun getaway? Continuously running into her first girlfriend, first love, and worst heartbreak, Morgan Whitaker. Things ended poorly between the pair of them (to put it lightly), and time certainly hasn't healed their wounds. Still, as their paths continue to cross, Lennie can't help but wonder: are these sparks she feels with Morgan? Or is she clinging onto faded memories of the only good relationship she's ever had? *** Contains 18+ content. Viewer discretion advised. Cover image sourced from FreePik.

Rael has no choice: to find a cure for a mysterious illness, he must seek out the hermit in the Shadow Forest. His pack is doomed. But the Omega knows that the dreaded Shadow Forest Pack lives there, and they have a deadly feud with the Blood Moon Pack. But he is not alone. A mysterious stranger follows him and helps him when needed. When he arrives at the hermit's hut, Rael realises that she is a special witch - and that the disease is much more than anyone could have imagined. - - - Prompt 85. A sickness descends upon your pack, and you're the only one immune. As the Alpha succumbs to the illness, it's up to you to find a cure before it's too late.

Shortlisted on ONC 2025!! Archaea wakes up in a Library with no memories of her past. She does what is natural to her people and shouts out her lungs drawing the attention of the Librarian. From them, she learns the truth of her past or rather, how she supposedly does not have any. Well, if she was not supposed to have one, how did she remember the name of her advisor and knight? Sensing something amiss, she coaxes the Librarian to help her discover her backstory but will this path lead to a happy ending? Or are some stories better left untold?

🏅Shortlist 2025 🏅 Detective Michael Wulfe has solved every case that has come across his desk--with a little supernatural help. However, a recent string of unconnected murders leaves him stumped and the people of Keirwood Heights nervous. On top of everything, the police chief is getting dangerously close to Michael's own secret that could end both his career and his life if he doesn't close the case soon. ONC Prompt 87: A skilled detective has solved almost every case that has come across their desk. But one case seems to elude them, with no apparent connections between the murders. That is, until something changes everything. Rated T for violence, but there's no swearing or smut.

(ONC 2025 Shortlisted) It's been more than twenty years since Dwayne last saw his childhood imaginary friend. But in a sudden hail of bullets, explosions, and car chases, Mr. Foo Foo comes roaring back into his life in a major way with trouble hot on his tail. Dwayne's boring and mundane life is about to get upended in a serious way, and the bonds of friendship will be put to the test like never before in this wild and action-packed adventure. This story is based on prompt number 105: Your childhood imaginary friend, who disappeared years ago, suddenly returns - only this time, they're real.

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.

Liam Reynolds' best friend Greg passes away, and he misses him dearly. Or he would if Greg left, but unfortunately, Greg has unfinished business and decides to become Liam's ghostly roommate. Greg believes their incomplete bucket list is the reason he can't move on. Thus, he leads Liam and Liam's neighbor, Valerie, on a journey of self-discovery, fun, and possibly love as Liam sets out to do all the things they wanted to do in life. **** This is my entry for the 2025 Open Novella Contest. I am using prompt #8.

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.

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.

Three months in deep space. Three months of routine. Three months of silence. Theta-9 was never meant to be exciting. A small station, a simple assignment, a crew used to the quiet. But lately, the quiet feels different. The station doesn't seem as small as it should. The halls feel longer. The shadows stretch just a little too far. And outside the viewport, the stars look dimmer than before. It's nothing, of course. Just the isolation. Just the long hours. Just the mind playing tricks. ...Right? ONC 2025 Entry

🏆 Round 1&2 Winner - OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 🏆 In a world where every citizen's lifespan is predetermined at birth, Liora receives an unprecedented message - she has been granted 20 days of freedom before her scheduled expiration. Confused and terrified, she escapes the surveillance state that has controlled her every move, determined to uncover the truth behind her unexpected reprieve. As she navigates a world she's only known through censored screens, she meets rebels who claim the system is rigged, a scientist who might hold the key to extending life, and a government agent determined to bring her back. Each day reveals more secrets-about herself, her past, and the society that dictates who lives and dies. With time running out, Liora must decide: will she fight for a future beyond her 20 days, or accept the fate she was assigned? ----- Written for the Open Novella Contest 2025 Prompt 110 - 20 days of freedom ----- Cover by @devarsh_yagnik (the prologues at the end because of the prologue ban 😭) ----- Copyright © 2025 by Sani Cybele All rights reserved.

Tristram Wald likes to spend his days daydreaming about all of the magical things that he wishes would transpire in his lowly, humble and mundane existence. As an orphan, he was taken in by his Uncle Giacomo and forced to endure hardship and cruelty, and is eventually put to work in his Uncle's celebrated shoemakers shop. But now Tristram Wald is eighteen years and he has big ideas of his own Tristram wants his own success and fortune. A chance encounter with the beautiful Princess Oriana Aureum cements the idea of escape from his humble beginnings in Tristram's mind. Desperate for riches, so that he will be eligible to marry the princess, Tristram allows himself to be coerced by a mysterious Goblin named Grimalkin who claims he can weave straw into gold. But Tristram will soon find out that putting his trust in a renowned trickster can have sinister consequences. The Gold Weaver of Goblin Wood is a dark fairy-tale, horror.

#ONC2025 #Round2AmbassadorsPick For as long as she can remember, Ivy Reece Tauria has worn an unbreakable ring on her finger. A childhood relic, a forgotten gift...until the day it opens. It happens after she stumbles upon a door made entirely of briars and thorns, hidden deep in the forest where no door should exist. The moment she steps through, something awakens inside her something ancient, something powerful. And then the world shifts. In a land on the brink of chaos, an ancient evil resurfaces. The Dark Sorcerer, Malagar, long thought vanquished, has unleashed an army of metal warriors to conquer the world. With the realm in peril, retired heroes of the past are forced out of hiding to fight once more. A stray cat isn't just a cat. A unicorn's horn is more than a relic. And a forgotten oath is about to be tested. But the biggest mystery? The tiny creature that emerges from her ring, claiming to have been waiting for her all along. Ivy is about to learn that some secrets are meant to stay buried because once they're uncovered, there's no turning back. Main Prompt: #1 Sub Prompts: #2, #7, #12, #13, #39, #75

💫ONC 2025 Short list & Honorable Mention 💫 In a world where magic is both a gift and a curse, Hex, a bad-tempered sorcerer, constantly battles with his mischievous pixie servant, Pickles. When Pickles defies Hex one too many times, the sorcerer transforms him into a carpet beetle, setting off a chain of events that leads to a thrilling adventure. Meanwhile, in a distant fairy forest, the greedy goblin Giggleton is on a desperate quest to find the last Gem Maker, a fairy named Rose, who can produce precious gems with her hiccups. Trapped and alone, Rose's only hope for freedom lies in the hands of Hex, who has his own plans for the Gem Maker. As Hex, Giggleton, and a host of magical creatures cross paths, alliances are formed, and betrayals are revealed. In a tale filled with dark magic and unexpected heroes, "A Wicked Magic" weaves a spellbinding story of power, greed, and the quest for freedom. Will Hex's wicked magic be enough to save Rose and defeat the forces that seek to control her? Or will the sorcerer's dark desires lead to his downfall? 50. A supervillain has a midlife crisis and decides to become a superhero. But redemption might be harder than they imagined.

I, Mordecai 'Kaya' Cresley, am having a bad day from hell. First, my car broke down on the way to work, not a rare occurrence, but extra annoying because of the flash rain caused by pranking high schoolers. My boss is in a mood and a mean customer decided to sit in my section. But that all pales in comparison to the explosion that happens in the middle of town as armed terrorists launch an attack on us. The terrorists are fanatics who have been against the people of my town since an incident gave most people powers ten years ago. This time they are pulling in the big guns, and as one of the few people without powers, the potential of me surviving the ordeal is slim to none. And to no one's surprise, I die. The surprising part though, is I wake up and it's the same day all over again. I don't know why I am the one going through this, but you're coming along with me. And even if I have to live through this day a thousand times, and I don't even know if I'm going to keep waking up, take my hand and come with me, One last time. Cover art: gailstoryteller Cover design: gailstoryteller

Fevered Temptation is a story about two people, Zara and Luca, who are drawn to each other by an undeniable physical and emotional connection. As their intense attraction grows, they navigate the dangers of losing themselves in desire, only to discover that passion can lead to healing and self-discovery.

THE DISSONANCE OF FORMS - That every alchemical change creates a resonance between what has been and what is to be. And in that space between, anything is possible. Vael has spent her life fighting for a place among the elite alchemists of the Society. Branded a thief and a criminal, it was a losing battle-until she stumbles upon a rare magical ingredient and brews a potion unlike anything the world had seen. But then the side effects start. Strange symptoms are spreading across the city. Someone is selling dangerous counterfeits of her potion. And if the Society of Magic traces it back to her, Vael can kiss her dreams-and possibly her freedom-goodbye. To fix things, Vael is stuck working with the one person more explosive than the potions she brews: a disgraced, trigger-happy sorcerer with a penchant for chaos. Their mission? Find the shady merchant behind the counterfeits before the Society finds them. But magic is unpredictable, and Vael needs to learn to master it if she's got any chance of fixing this mess. And as the web tightens around her, Vael realizes something far more dangerous is unfolding-something that could shatter the very fabric of magic itself.