Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Riley was running across the rooftops in the city of San Francisco, clutching her bleeding right arm as she tried to gain as much ground as she can. "You can't run hunter!" A raspy yet haunting voice came from behind her, the source of the voice was a tall ,pale, and skinny man quickly chasing after her. "Oh come on Camilla didn't even send her best to finish me off when she couldn't do it herself? I'm offended." The man kept trying to attack Riley as she kept dodging out of the way before she jumped down into an alley the man closely following behind.

"Fool now your trapped, for such a notorious hunter you are quite stupid!" He Snarled as he kept forward trying to bite me as I quickly stabbed him in the neck with my knife. The man shrieked in agony as he went dealing back in pain. "Funny thing apparently cleaning your weapons in holy water leaves residual effects if you do it enough times. That mixed with the garlic oil I use, I basically have you face to face with the cold hard metal form of pesticide for you vampiric bastards.

She then grabbed him by the neck and whirled him around before slamming his head face first into a dumpster. She slammed his face over and over again into the dumpster leaving it bloody. " you know they junk food is terrible for your diet, guess they were right." She then felt a sharp pain in her side as she looked down she saw that the vampire had turned his hand 360° and stabbed her right in the side.

"You blood sucking bastard." She felt her self cough up some blood, the rain mixing in with her blood as she staggered backwards for a few moments. "if you think this is enough to kill me, then your deader then you already are!" She ran up tackling the vampire into the dumpster before grabbing the knife and dragging its blade through the vampires neck and up until it fully carved through his head.

"Fun fact about your kind, destroying the heart or brain, while not killing you unless under various circumstances, will slow your regeneration down by a fucking ton." The head of the vampire slowly began to heal. "But if I destroy both before the other regenerates, then your truly dead. Having said that, GET STAKED!" Riley raised the knife over her head and plunged it into the vampire's heart.

The unholy beast let out a horrific screech as its body went limp. Riley stood back up and walk backwards until she was pressed against the wall as she slowly slid to the floor clutching her side. "Bastard got me good." She looked back at the body as she was slowly losing consciousness spitting up a bit more blood. "Well thankfully for me the sun will come by soon and finish off your corpse before your friends or the cops can find it.......shit I'll give ya one thing though, you got me good, but that's my fault for not keeping up my guard." 

As her vision slowly became blurry and her eyes began to shut, she saw a figure in front of the alley who suddenly came running in, and before she passed out she heard one thing. "Riley?!"

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When Val woke up this morning she knew something was going to go wrong, she didn't know why but she did. It started out normal enough she woke up, made some coffee, and continued work on her book. If some one had told her a few years ago that she would be an author she would have called them crazy, she had lived and breathed hockey. She even made it to the big leagues gaining a loyal fan base and becoming decently famous, but that wouldn't last because of an injury she received to her leg, she had to get surgery and unfortunately that came at the cost of continuing her hockey career. So she turned her attention to another passion of hers writing.

Her first few books were good, but nothing ground breaking like Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. She had a good feeling about her current project however the story just clicked into place better then her other books had. It was about the relationship of two girls who dated in high school trying to figure out their relationship and what it truly meant now that they were in college. She took partial inspiration from her own experiences specifically experiences with a certain blonde girl.

Riley and Val had a great relationship while they were dating. To Val Riley was sweet, cute and incredibly adorkable not to mention she was probably the nicest person Val had ever met they planned to go into professional hockey together and be the best power couple on the ice. That changed however after Riley's parents died. It seemed like an average car accident on the surface and authorities told them it was, but the way their bodies were mangled just didn't feel natural or at all normal. Val remembered how Riley was the first few weeks after that.

She was staying with Val and her family but she would barely eat, and she refused to leave the house for days at a time. Val was there for her of course letting her cry it out into her shoulder every night until she fell asleep. Val tried to get her into therapy but Riley refused to go even going as far as to pay off the therapist to say she attended. (Val made damn sure that bitch never treated someone she cared about ever again.) Eventually though she seemed to cheer up and slowly return to her old self.

Val would notice Riley going out late at night and not coming back for hours, and coming back with injuries you don't just get on accident. This continues her all the way until near the end of their first year in college where Val was about to confront Riley about it all, but before she could Riley burst into their dorm with bags under her eyes covered in blood and throwing a trash sack onto the coffee table. Before Val could ask what the fuck was going on Riley explained that she figured out what killed her parents, and after a whole rant about how she found what looked to be a Temu necronomicon and had been investigating the supernatural she opened the body and showed off the freshly killed vampire to prove to Val she wasn't crazy.

Val eventually came around and believed her, but this would only mark the beginning of the end for them. Riley became obsessed with hunting down the supernatural, she started skipping school work ,missed team practice and would even disappear for days on end. Val and her fought slot due to this, Val argued that Riley was pushing away and that this would eventually get her killed. While Riley argued that she was doing something for the greater good of she could safe just a few lives by hunting these monsters down. They would have this argument over and over again slowly breaking their relationship. It all came to a head when Val had enough and in a fit of rage at Riley's stubbornness to not stop messing the supernatural she left her.

She came to her senses a few hours later after cooling off, but when she came back Riley was just gone. She would be declared as dead a year later, the cops barely giving a damn while barely putting any effort into the search. That was the last time Val had heard or seen Riley in the last 8 years. So you can imagine her surprise when on the way back to her car after a grocery run she saw a very familiar blonde with a red streak in her hair bleeding out in an alley.

Val had picked up Riley and put her into the back of her car as best she could before hauling ass back to her place. She knew the hospital probably wouldn't treat someone who was legally dead and thanks to her picking up first aid during college Val was prepared to help Riley the best she could. She could focus on the fact that it was her Riley at another point in time.

That was a hour ago and now Riley was dead asleep on her couch heavily bandaged and covered in almost every blanket Val had. Now Val was fucking terrified as the girl she let get away, the biggest regret in her life, was possibly dying on her couch. "Please......be ok." All she could do now was wait and hope for the best.

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When Riley woke up her head was absolutely killing her, she looked around her surroundings finding herself on a couch currently wrapped in 3 blankets and an extremely soft pillow under her head. She noticed the band aging where she got shanked by the vampire. It an incredibly well done job, not doctor level but still pretty good. The house she found herself in felt some what familiar. Before she could contemplate or investigate this matter further she heard the sound of a door opening right behind the couch, she went on high alert trying to look for a weapon until she landed on the pillow to which she threw as hard as she could.

The person entering was promptly hit in the face with said pillow. "Fuck! Why does that hurt its a pillow!" Riley instantly recognized the voice of her ex girlfriend Valentina Ortiz.

"Val?!" Riley looked at her with shocked eyes, she was the last person besides her parents that she thought she would meet again. "Hello to you too sleeping beauty." Val sarcastically responded before her tone instantly changed to that of concern. "Are you ok, I found you in pretty rough shape." 

"Oh yeah no I'm perfectly fine, just got stabbed a bit nothing major." Val raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms before they both started laughing. "If there's one thing I didn't miss about you its your sarcasm Minnesota." Val walked around to the other side of the couch and sat in a chair facing Riley. "Oh you know you love it!" Riley said playfully.

"Yeah maybe I do." Val glanced over Riley's appearance taking in every aspect she could....for science of course. Riley had definitely bulked up since they last saw each other, unlike Dani, Riley had a more hour glass like bulk. Her arms  looked like they could bench press the couch she was laying on without breaking a sweat. While her thighs looked like she could shatter her neck by squeezing to hard, not break, but shatter.

Her body was covered in a wide variety of scars. Bite marks, claw marks, stabbing, burns, bullet wounds amongst a wide variety of others. Another thing she noticed when she had been bandaging her was the seemingly tattooed symbols running along her back, specifically on her spine. She recognized some of them such as Nordic runes, Egyptian hieroglyphics, Greek letters, amongst others. Then there were her abs which looked like you could shred beef on. Val tried her best not to stare thankfully not drawing the attention of her Ex.

"So how did you know I was alive?"

The answer to that was simple. "1. I'm not a fucking idiot. 2. I know you well enough to figure it out."

"Yeah that would do it." The two talked door a while catching up, Riley obviously trying to avoid the topic of hunting as much as she could to try in the comfort zone she remembered Val having about the whole thing. They spent the next few hours like this until Riley noticed something rapidly approaching the window. "VAL GET DOWN!" Riley even though very vitally injured, tackled Val to the ground as something crashed through the window.

"MY WALL!" Riley quickly picked herself up getting ready to fight. "I don't think that should be the main thing to worry about here Val." Riley sized up her opponent standing in front of her. It was definitely another vampire, and from the looks of it probably a bit stronger then the one she fought earlier but not by much. Normally she would wipe the floor with the abomination but due to her being fucking exhausted, as well as the massive stab wound in her at the moment, she was probably going to have a much more difficult time with this guy, but her priority was to keep Val safe.

"Alright you Nosferato looking bastard lets take this out side." Riley tackled the vampire outside making sure to get a decent way from the house before throwing the blood sucked to the ground. "Honestly I thought Carmilla was going to send her best after what I did, I'm honestly just disappointed and a bit offended that she sent such small fry." The vampire snarled before leaping back a safe distance and baring its fangs.

"Alright all or nothing." Riley raised her fists ready to fight. Her eyes began to glow a brilliant blue as the symbols along her back began to glow. Val simply looked on in awe at what she was seeing. "All right leech for breath, LETS DANCE!" Riley gained an almost sadistic smile on her face as she charged the vampire in almost blinding speed. She rammed her palm into the monster's gut before speaking. "Gale." Bright glowing blue Nordic runes glowed along her arm as a violent burst of wind sprung forth sending the vampire flying.

The runes disappeared as the vampire slammed back into the ground, Riley dashed over before jumping into the air and slamming her foot down into the beast's chest causing it to shriek and cough up blood. "What coughing up lunch? Don't worry it'll be over soon!" She grabbed the vampire by the neck and put it into a head lock as the runes appeared again on both her arms. "Thunder!" A large burst of electricity shot out from her body enveloping both her and the vampire, causing the blood sucked to shriek in agony its skin frying from the intense voltage.

After the electricity died down the vampire looked nothing more then a fried husk that was barely breathing. Riley dropped it to the ground and raised her foot hush above its head before slamming it down completely crushing its skull. She then stumbled over back to Val. "are you ok." Val could only nod. "Good" then Riley passed out yet again.

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Riley woke up with a headache that felt like she got hit with a sledge hammer.......again. She found a set of clothes specifically some red shorts and a iron maiden t-shirt set out for her, she changed into them and walked down stairs. Val was cooking what seemed to be bacon. She had a pair of half rimmed glasses on, her hair was tied back into a messy bun while she wore a pair of dark grey sweat pants and a oversized t-shirt of sailor moon. Riley honestly couldn't explain why but Val always looked like an absolute goddess in the mornings, not that she didn't always, Riley just found her morning look extra attractive.

"I see you kept that shirt I gave you." Val whipped her head around and looked directly at Riley. "Oh your awake! Let me get you something to drink!" Val was hurriedly trying to put the pan of Bacon down but Riley stopped her. "I'm fine Val I'm not thirsty." Riley sat down at the breakfast table. Things stayed like that for a little while Val giving Riley a look that showed she had a million questions on her mind. 

"Alright I know that look you have some questions." Val was about to answer when Riley cut her off. "I can't answer all your questions I have enough energy to answer one so just say them and I'll tell you if I can answer them at the moment or not, does that sound good to you?" Val simply nodded her head. "Ok begin."

"Where have you been all this time?"

"No."

"Why are you being hunted down by vampires?"

"Long story."

"Who is this Carmilla lady that you mentioned to the vamp?"

"Longer story."

"Why did you fake your death?" 

"No."

"Vampire hierarchies?"

"If I explained those in full detail we would be here until next sunday."

"What were those weird powers you used against the Vampire?"

"N- wait no actually I can explain that relatively shortly." Val nodded her head forwards me signalling for me to continue. "Ok where to begin........I should probably start with Mana and Ki."

"I've definitely heard those words before, mostly from anime and fantasy but go on."

"True, but their a bit different then how they work in media, but I'll keep it simple. Mana and Ki come from the soul, specifically soul energy what separates them is not only how their used but how their manifested. Ki is made by combining soul energy and mixing it with the physical energy of your body, while Mana is soul energy mixed with mental energy as well as the energy around you, or to put it in la men's terms Ki is physically channeled soul energy while Mana is mental."

"Its spot more complicated then that but I'm trying to keep things simple. Now to explain the abilities I used in the fight with the vampire I need to focus on Mana. Mana essentially equals magic, different types of magic use mana in many different ways. The type I prefer and most often use is Glyph magic."

"I saw Norse runes on your arm I remembered them from that one semester I took on mythology. Were those Glyphs?"

"Technically yes. But its a bit more nuanced then that, with a lot more complications, but to keep it simple Glyphs are basically magic symbols activated with words of power. Norse runes are just a really good example of that, however their are a fucking shit ton of different types of Glyphs basically one for almost every culture or mythology each with slightly varying effects and abilities."

"Other examples I could use are, Egyptian hieroglyphics, the Greek/Roman alphabet, different types of kanji, amongst other symbols and writings. Each symbol is like its own word, which in turn has a power word to activate it. Normally you would have to say the word in its native language for it to work but advanced users such as myself can say it in our native tongues. You can add more words/symbols to make more complicated spells and effects but it does take a significantly more amount of Mana and focus. Advanced users can slightly alter the Glyph to make it stronger, weaker, behave differently, change directions, etc. Overall making the casting more efficient but that has limits"

"You can even engrave Glyphs on different things to make the activated effects be permanent functions of what ever their engraved on to. Most of the time people do this to items or to make incantation circles amongst a plethora of other things. In very rare cases however people will engrave Glyphs on to their bodies usually in the form of tattoos. Note however the power required to attempt something like this is extremely large, and even then the survival rate is under 5%." 

"These types of Glyph sentences are usually very specific as to not cause unwanted side effects. I however didn't know that at the time I got mine, and so mine are a bit different. The way I set the Glyphs on my back up, I get what is basically the magical opinion of an adrenaline shot. My physical capabilities increase drastically, my Mana and Ki reserves are temporarily given a boost while also boosting their power, however while I'm using it I do go temporarily insane for as long as its active. I try to reserve it too life or death situations."

"Again its much more complicated then that but its the simplest way to explain it." Val seemed to contemplate this. "I think I get it."

"Good, another thing, Glyphs may be powerful but they are extremely difficult to master or even use their are barely any users of Glyphs at all and even fewer still who could reach my level. But yeah that's the basic synopsis on Glyphs." And like that they would finish breakfast.