Collab: B.W. and Kate Ulrich. Part 6

Submitted into Contest #63 in response to: Set your story in a coffee shop that’s just introduced a new line of autumnal drinks.... view prompt

168 comments

Adventure Fantasy

This is Part 6 to a series I write with B.W. (also known as Blair Witch!)Find them in my followers/following lists to read their stories!

“Pumpkin spice?” Harmony asked. She sat across from Arren at a small table in the corner of a coffee shop. 

His fingers fumbled with his warm cup. “Yeah. Um, what did you get?” 

“S’mores hot chocolate.” She lifted her steaming mug to her lips and sipped. Arren did the same, though the pumpkin wasn’t as good as he remembered. Maybe they changed the recipe. Or he was just nervous. 

Harmony discreetly took his hand. A blush reddened on her cheeks. Her smile was infectious, and Arren found himself relaxing a little. 

“Did you used to come here a lot?” she asked, nodding at the restaurant. 

“It was my favorite place. I used to come here with my mom when I was little.” He inhaled the airy aroma of coffee beans and cinnamon. “I missed it.”

She nodded. She fingered her shoulders, where her wings were hidden under a puffy blue jacket. “Normal seems so dull until it goes away, huh?”

“At least we get this time now. We’ll never be normal again, but we can pretend, at least.” He squeezed her hand and looked into her kaleidoscope eyes. 

Harmony shook her head. “Arren, you don’t get it, do you?” Her voice cracked, and a fat tear rolled down her cheek.

“What’s wrong?”

“We could have had this.” Her chair screeched as she pushed it back. “But we can’t.” Her eyes glittered with sadness. “We’ll never have this again.”

“What are you talking about?” The floor began to tremble under his feet. “Harmony!”

But she was gone. Arren stood up, wobbly, trying to hold onto something to keep him balanced. But the world was shaking and furniture was sliding, and Arren was alone. “Harmony!” he screamed. “Where are you?”

Then he opened his eyes. 

What was that? A nightmare? A premonition? 

“Hey, Arren.”

A black-haired boy looked down at him. His face was set in a grimace. He wore robes like an ancient Greek, and his skin… it was scarily pale. 

“Zio?”

“Yep.” He grasped Arren’s arm and helped him sit up. Arren glanced around and saw they were in the middle of a forest. 

“Is this-”

“The camp forest, yeah.”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

Zio ran his hand through his dark hair. 

“What happened to the blue streaks in your hair?”

“Color doesn’t last long here.” He rubbed at his nearly stark-white chin.

“Is this the Underworld?”

Zio sighed. “Yeah. What happened?”

“I don’t really remember. It’s a blur, actually.”

“Are you okay?”

“I think so. It’s weird. It doesn’t seem real.” 

“And Lia? Is she okay? What about Harmony?” 

Arren thought about Harmony and Lia, Aella and Meg and Blake. Were they really going to be all right?

“They’re strong. They’ve got it.”

“If you say so,” said Zio. He helped Arren stand up and hugged him. “I missed you, man.”

“Me too.”

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to Hades and Persephone. They’re actually pretty nice.”


Meg sniffled. He hated crying, but what else do you do when you’re alone in a barn and everyone hates you?

He’d only wanted to help his dad. Hercules could be very persuasive, and really, were the gods doing that great a job anyway? Just look at the Earth! Meg only wanted to make it better and help his dad… take over the world. He groaned and hit himself on the forehead with the heel of his hand. What had he been thinking?

The barn door creaked open. Setting sunlight peeked through the opening, silhouetting a figure in the doorway. 

“Who’s there?” he croaked.

“It’s me.” 

Meg’s heart stopped. He wiped his eyes and sniffled. “Oh… hi, Harmony.”

She walked toward him, the floorboards creaking under her feet. The horses swished their tails as she passed the stables. A rip on one of her wings had been stitched with ugly black thread, and she was still wearing her armor. 

“What are you going to do?” Harmony asked, climbing up the ladder to the hayloft where Meg was. She sat down beside him. Her eyes, normally a rainbow of color, looked almost gray in the dim light. She didn’t look upset, which worried him. She looked… numb.

“What would I do?” he said. “I messed up. If I try to fix things, no one would trust me.”

“You have to try anyway,” she said flatly. “Otherwise, the campers will keep you trapped in here forever. They’re all pretty upset.”

“Is Blake okay?”

“Nobody’s okay, especially Blake. He’s confused about what you did and worried about Aella. But he’s not wounded at least.” Harmony bit her lip, as if debating whether or not to tell him something else. “Lia had a meltdown.”

“Lia? Really?”

“She’s dealt with a lot. She’s never had a normal life, then she made it here, where it was supposed to be safe. Then I died. Then Zio took my place in the Underworld. And now Arren is gone.”

Meg didn’t know who Zio was, but thought it better not to ask. 

“Anyway. The rest of the parents left. They all went to Mount Olympus to discuss the attack with the Council themselves. Atalanta is furious about Aella.” 

“Harmony. If I could do it again-” Meg’s voice hitched. His eyes burned. “I just, he promised not to kill anyone, and-”

“Shut up, please.” Harmony looked away from him. When she spoke, her voice was soft, gentle. “I don’t hate you for what you’ve done, Meg.”

“Really?” He wiped at his eyes.

“Yeah. I don’t think I have it in me to hate someone.”

Hope. “I don’t expect you to forgive me.”

“But you want me to, don’t you? I can tell.” 

“Anything.” Meg was surprised at his own eagerness, but knew it was the truth. He’d never forgive himself, but if Harmony could, maybe…

“A quest. You, me, Blake and Lia.”

“A- a quest? Where are we going?” 

“To rescue Aella.”

“Really? You’d do that? Wait, but, how do we know where to go?”

“I was hoping you’d know.”

Meg was silent as he thought. Then, “He still wants me to join him, so he won’t make it too difficult for me to find him. He’s probably still in his cave.”

“But if he’s not hiding, then he must be prepared for an attack.”

“So we won’t attack. Not at first. We can do this, Harmony.”

“I know.” She stood and climbed down the ladder, her boots clicking on the wood. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We’re leaving in the morning.”

“Harmony?” Meg called after her.

She paused just outside the exit.

“I’m really sorry.”

Harmony pulled the door shut behind her, the slam echoing throughout the barn.

October 16, 2020 00:18

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168 comments

B. W.
23:24 Nov 22, 2020

heyyy

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Kate Ulrich
12:49 Nov 23, 2020

Hey, what's up?

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B. W.
18:57 Nov 23, 2020

im just really bored

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Kate Ulrich
19:25 Nov 23, 2020

:( Out of curiosity, what's your favorite book?

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B. W.
19:45 Nov 23, 2020

hm i don't know, i have a lot, what about you?

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Kate Ulrich
19:54 Nov 23, 2020

Some of my favorites are the Unwind series and anything by Rick Riordan, but I have a lot too.

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B. W.
05:13 Nov 15, 2020

heyyy

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Kate Ulrich
19:59 Nov 15, 2020

Hi

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B. W.
21:25 Nov 15, 2020

how are ya?

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Kate Ulrich
22:41 Nov 15, 2020

Pretty good :) how bout you?

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B. W.
22:43 Nov 15, 2020

half and half

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Kate Ulrich
02:20 Nov 16, 2020

How's your writing going? Have you decided if you'll do one of the prompts this week?

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B. W.
05:02 Nov 11, 2020

I got a new story out ^^ could ya check out "Sweet revenge" and leave feedback?

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Kate Ulrich
16:41 Nov 11, 2020

OK!

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B. W.
05:26 Nov 07, 2020

hey, what do ya think about the new prompts?

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Kate Ulrich
20:05 Nov 07, 2020

They look pretty cool. I don't think I'll have time to write a story this week, but I'm looking forward to reading them :) what do you think of them?

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B. W.
20:14 Nov 07, 2020

I'm actually going to try and write a story with the alien market thing ^^

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Kate Ulrich
23:52 Nov 07, 2020

That sounds interesting. When do you think it'll be out?

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B. W.
23:59 Nov 07, 2020

well, i could use a little bit of help but it might be out soon

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Kate Ulrich
16:25 Nov 08, 2020

What are you having trouble with?

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B. W.
21:52 Nov 04, 2020

heya katie, you there?

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Kate Ulrich
14:43 Nov 05, 2020

What's up?

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B. W.
15:56 Nov 05, 2020

I just want someone to talk to

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Kate Ulrich
17:23 Nov 05, 2020

Okay. How are you?

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B. W.
17:25 Nov 05, 2020

I guess im good, how about you?

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Kate Ulrich
19:16 Nov 05, 2020

Busy but good. How're your novels going?

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B. W.
07:34 Nov 03, 2020

Katie ^^ i made a new story

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Kate Ulrich
14:44 Nov 03, 2020

Cool! I'll check it out!

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B. W.
17:39 Nov 03, 2020

thanks ^^ remember to leave feedback

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B. W.
19:29 Nov 02, 2020

heya, you there?

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B. W.
03:26 Nov 01, 2020

heyyy

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Kate Ulrich
18:01 Nov 01, 2020

Hey how's your novel going?

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B. W.
18:04 Nov 01, 2020

I finished the first novella and im already working on another one ^^

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Kate Ulrich
18:10 Nov 01, 2020

Awesome :) do you mind telling me what it's about?

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B. W.
18:12 Nov 01, 2020

which?

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Kate Ulrich
18:27 Nov 01, 2020

Both I guess

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B. W.
21:32 Oct 29, 2020

Katie, i think i got some good news now ^^ i just now finished with one of my novels :)

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Kate Ulrich
23:16 Oct 29, 2020

That's awesome!!! :DDD Which one?

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B. W.
23:28 Oct 29, 2020

thanks ^^ well its kind of the one that I've been doing for fun, so I ain't sure if I'll ever publish it or not. But I might :) also, how is it going with the crossover part?

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Kate Ulrich
23:29 Oct 29, 2020

It should be out today or tomorrow. Which one were you doing just for fun?

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B. W.
23:36 Oct 29, 2020

nice ^^ well i kinda did the novel being based off one of my favorite horror games/game in general, though you probably won't know it. Though it does have about 21 chapters and I think its decent ^^

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Kate Ulrich
23:43 Oct 29, 2020

Cool. How long did it take to write it?

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B. W.
22:49 Oct 26, 2020

I made another story Katie ^^ could you please check out "He isn't real...or is he?" and then leave some feedback?

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Kate Ulrich
00:42 Oct 27, 2020

I will! I have a few questions for the crossover though. Can you maybe change it so Arren stays with Harmony? It just seemed a litte unlikely that he would leave her after finally getting to see her again, plus I was hoping to write a little more about them.

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B. W.
01:00 Oct 27, 2020

alright thanks ^^ sure i dont see why not, he can decide to come back with them and its only Zio leaving to the camp, though he would be there to see Lia. also, do ya maybe know what NaNoWriMo is?

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Kate Ulrich
01:08 Oct 27, 2020

Thanks. Are you going to edit your story or should I just add that part to mine? And what's NaNoWriMo?

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B. W.
01:10 Oct 27, 2020

You could just add it in your story- something like "They were about to reach the cave when they hear a voice call out to them "Hey, wait for me!" It seems like Arren changed his mind. It seems like they'd also have more people, good." I dunno exactly, but I guess its a writing thing and I joined it, I don't know exactly everything but some others like Aerin are gonna use it as well.

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Kate Ulrich
01:35 Oct 27, 2020

Awesome. I looked at it a little more, and I might do it? I'm not sure if I have the time or ability to do it, but I'd like to try. I've just been praying I make the right decision about it.

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B. W.
02:31 Oct 25, 2020

Hey Katie, how would you describe me?

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Kate Ulrich
16:10 Oct 25, 2020

Fun, interesting, thoughtful, creative.

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B. W.
16:11 Oct 25, 2020

awww, you think so? ^^

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Kate Ulrich
16:19 Oct 25, 2020

Yes! :) Why do you ask?

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B. W.
16:20 Oct 25, 2020

I was kinda curious ^^

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Kate Ulrich
16:38 Oct 25, 2020

How would you describe me?

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B. W.
20:24 Oct 24, 2020

I made a new story not that long ago katie ^^ could you check out "A strange night" and leave some feedback?

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B. W.
01:56 Oct 20, 2020

i think i might have writers block

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Kate Ulrich
12:00 Oct 20, 2020

Oof. What are you tryin to write?

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B. W.
15:21 Oct 20, 2020

The part to the crossover and possibly some other stuff

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Kate Ulrich
17:23 Oct 20, 2020

Do you just need some ideas or are you just having trouble writing it down?

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B. W.
17:27 Oct 20, 2020

Ideas

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B. W.
17:27 Oct 20, 2020

Ideas

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Kate Ulrich
18:06 Oct 20, 2020

Okay. What ideas do you already have? Where in the plot are you stuck?

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B. W.
00:31 Oct 16, 2020

Okay, i really enjoyed this story and i think it was was worth the wait ^^ what was exactly happening in the weird Arren and Harmony thing though? I'm not entirely sure if that was supposed to be some sort of dream or something else like he suggested. You did good with showing the numb stuff with harmony, probably better than me because i was just going to have her be emotionless and not care that much. I'm still going to go ahead and give this story a 10/10 :) I have ideas for the next and possibly last two parts of the crossover though i t...

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Kate Ulrich
01:36 Oct 16, 2020

Thanks! I was thinking about how Harmony and Arren would never really get to be together like a normal couple, and when I saw that prompt I thought it could show how that was sad and how much Arren really wants to be with her. What idea do you have?

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B. W.
01:40 Oct 16, 2020

Well the idea for my part would be either a small moment with Hercules and Aella or another moment with Zio and Arren though i have no idea what could happen in any of them but then it would be the next day where Harmony while still being numb brings Meg to go fight his father but they'd need others to fight him and save Aella so they tried to find Lia but they either can't find her or she declines it but they'd find Blake who would agree to help and MAYBE they'd find a Hydra or some other monster that decides to help them and then they'd go...

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Kate Ulrich
21:54 Oct 16, 2020

All that sounds great. You have good ideas. :)

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B. W.
22:02 Oct 16, 2020

What do you think of this weeks prompts? Do you see any that could maybe be for the next part?

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Kate Ulrich
21:26 Oct 17, 2020

Maybe you could do something with the romance, where one person saves the other from a fire? Maybe Zio and Arren could get special permission from Hades and Persephone to go help their friends and then come back.

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