Dum Spiro Spero
Pactio was such a simple spell. And yet somehow, it always seemed to cause so much trouble: In their friendships, in their love lives, in their battles… Still, while facing down all the might of Asgard's strongest, there are worse things for Nessiah to have to fall back on.

It's a new epic. Ish thing. Whitewash, who's done a lot of short and well-written drabbles for YU and Riviera, is my cowriter/beta on it.

And it's going to be nice and long--we've got a seriously out-of-control plot mostly written out.

The basics:

-DSS takes place after Yggdra Union. Canon has been slightly altered in places (for instance, Roswell and Rosary both lived); you can probably check Precious to see how each of those edits works.
-As such, there are spoilers. Lots and LOTS of spoilers.
-This is also taking from the PSP version a little bit in that Mistel, Pamela, and possibly Bly (as of right now, we don't know if he actually joins the party or stays in Lenessey since he's apparently an NPC). However, we won't get to anything that includes any of them for a while, so Whitewash and I will be safe to discover their story circumstances before writing them.
-You will probably notice that this is the continuity that my oneshot Unworthy is based in. DSS will not include Unworthy; Unworthy is a side story.
-DSS contains a few spells from the Negima! manga; however, it has no further affiliation with Negima! or any of its characters or plot themes. DSS was originally known as the pactio project because it grew from a series of pactio contracts made by the main characters involved in it.
-Nessiah is the central character. Other main characters include Gulcasa, Kylier, Yggdra, Roswell, Rosary, and Milanor--and eventually Nietzsche, Elena, and Mistel--but the story centers around Nessiah.
-The main romance in this story is essentially a love pentagram. The first love triangle will be introduced around chapter 5 or so, and then the second one (the triangles share an angle/...er, person) will be introduced in a later story arc.
-I've drawn out all the pactio cards for the contracts we plan to make, and once each contract has been made and its properties have been revealed, I'll post them here. Hopefully in this thread. You can look at them all on my DevArt account now, but there are spoilers there (for DSS and the game), so be warned...
-This story does include heterosexual AND homosexual pairings. Consider yourself warned.

Anyway, I've been having fun writing this, so please read and review~? I'd hope that the people here who like what I write will be able to enjoy it, too. :D

Feral writing an epic? A epic in the Yggdra Union section? Didn't see those coming... I'll add this to my list of "Things to Read". I'm too busy working on School of Lyrical and Arc-en-Ciel (My 'epic' I guess) right nao. >.>;

Sounds interesting, can't wait to read.

EDIT: about 2/3 through reading it, I just noted that kissing is not the only way to make a Pactio. Though you most likely chose to have them kiss :P

EDIT2: Finished, I like so far.

-Dusty

*laughs* The only two ways I know of forming a pactio are kissing and mixing lifeblood. The latter option is dangerous, and it's only brought up in the manga once... so I consider it to be an antiquated form of the spell at best.

[and of course they had to kiss. :D I = fangirl.]

I'll pretend to know what this pactio thing is. But in hindsight... All those pactio cards I saw while randomly searching DA like a month ago...
...
*Wheels start turning in her brain*

I just meant to comment that was another way, I understand that the pactio kiss is the main point xP
Now Milanor and Nessiah...

*Mixing blood...*
(bwahahahaha)

-Dusty

It's entirely Whitewash's fault that there's been like no progress on this thing. I have up to halfway through chapter 6 completed, but she's still working on betaing chapter 2. DD: Hurry up, cowriter!

So, uh, to tide yourselves over, have a Mistel section of Precious?

Oh--and as soon as I post chapter 2, I'll also put up a link to Gulcasa's pactio card, since it's discussed there. :> The other pactios won't get talked through quite as much, so I'll link the cards when each contract is made.

PLEASE EXCUSE THE DOUBLE-POST; I'M SORRY~

Chapter 2 - First Kiss Magic, part 2

I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! But it's here~!!! :DDD

And here are the values for Gulcasa's pactio card (I'll have the link to it up as soon as I can get access to my DevArt account):

Gulcasa
~Draco Audacius~
XX
Tonus: Prisma
Virtus: Audacia
Directio: Septentrio
Astralitas: Mars
Artifact: Flamma Imperia

This is my Latin resource, for those who are wondering. :3 It's amazing--coming up with all the titles and Artifact names would've killed me without this thing.

Just what are these pacto cards anyway? >_>

You don't read Negima!, do you...? >_>;; You'd probably like it, considering the amount of fan service and implied yuri. But whatever.

Pactio is a contract spell--it's addressed in the story, if you ever decide to read it other than stalking the thread. And it's pactio. With an I.

Read the update, I like it :D
Nessiah lost that much magical energy? well I guess the sleep deprivation didn't help much.



offtopic, but I was wondering how Al and Rakan got their pactio cards, does it mean that Nagi kissed them/they kissed Nagi? (depending on the viewpoint)

-Dusty

I think I saw it once... A friend was reading it and he showed me. But I haven't read it myself.
Hmmm. Implied yuri... This interests me indeed...

And yes I noticed it was pactio after posting. I was just too lazy to edit. |D
AND MAYBE I SHALL READ IT. Sometime. I'm busy with like. 3 or 4 projects. Lots and lots of work... ._.

@Dusty: Judging from some of the comments Akamatsu makes on Al's design sheet, it's implied that his pactio IS with Nagi. *_* It's got me picturing lovely things, and it's driving me rather mad. Still, it's also kind of a plot hole if that's true, because according to the scenario with Tatsumiya and HER partner, once your magister's dead you can't use your Artifact anymore!

Still, Akamatsu makes broad hints that Nagi and Al were an item. Which, if that was true, I would love. :DDD Setsuna and Konoka are win, but Nagi and Al... *droooool*

._.;; I'd like that. Uh.

The pactio spell is basically where DSS came from. I started making the pactio cards before we even decided that we were going to do a major story around them, and the focus has shifted from the silly inter-character relationship-based plot I was initially considering to a really serious story. And I don't think the Love Pentagram will be fully resolved by the end. *_*

Anyway, my secondary beta says that she should have chapter 3 approved by next week, so y'alls look forward to that~

There are other ways to Pactio than kissing.

If you'd read my previous post I already said there wer other ways...
Feral mentioned mixing blood.

-Dusty

So far, in Negima! books 1-16, kissing and mixing blood are the only ways I've seen mentioned. And yes, Rai, you should probably pay attention to earlier posts.

Maybe you should assume that I did read what you said and then you should reread what I said.

There are other ways besides kissing and "mixing blood".

And they shouldn't be terribly hard to puzzle out.

Remember, the premise there is that he's making temporary pactios because he's young...like dating.

Maybe a little, as far as Negima! goes; however, pactio is a lot more important than that. It's meant to become a lifetime commitment, after all.





And it IS my story, so they are going to pactio however I want them to kthx. :>

DOUBLE-POST BECAUSE I AM TOO LAZY FOR EDIT:

Gulcasa's pactio card.

A bit spoilerific? I dunno. There are a few secrets on this card that won't be revealed/explained for a while, anyway.

Anyway, chapter two. REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS





...please? :x

NESSIAH IS HAVING A MENTAL MELTDOWN!
Well, either that or emotional confusion.

or both.

-Dusty

Better Days - chapter three

I had fun writing this part--it's from Gulcasa's perspective, and he's having an interesting day. :> Though he always seems to... how could he not, between three crazy sisters, Nessiah, his dragon, reconstruction, and getting ready for visiting Fantasinia?

:D

Also, I think we're starting to have a bit of a running gag in here...

REVIEWS REVIEWS REVIEWS





...meaning you, Haru D:

/reviewed

-Dusty

Chapter Four - stranger than your

NOW WITH 100% MORE CRAZY SISTERS~

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW~~~~~~~~~~~~

EDIT: Shredded old post. Let's try again properly.

Just read and reviewed latest chapter. Pretty damn good. The scenes with Nessiah alone with Kylier are the best, IMO. You do a good job of showing just how intimate they are (who else would possibly discuss *ahem* 'celebrating' with an angel, fallen or no?) and establishing the boundaries of their relationship. And it was fun seeing Milanor go into total freakout mode when he saw them together, complete with total ignorance that romantically he's got nothing to worry about. And as for the Nessiah X Gulcasa X Yggdra love triangle... Interesting. Though I'm a little concerned about which corner this parallelogram you mentioned is going to hang off...

BTW, is it appropriate to post spoilers for the story itself in here? Oh, and if I had the pick the weakest point of this chapter, it would be Nessiah's vague mention of what 'those people' did, and how he nearly mentioned who he's related to, but both of those could be deliberate, so I'm not complaining.

Spoilers for the story (up to what I've posted) are absolutely fine. Though, if they're too spoilerish, we may need to spoiler-cut them for the sake of not injuring brains.

Chapter 5 - Somewhere to Begin

The Nessiah-Yggdra connection is conjecture on my point, but it's hinted at broadly in the game. There are too many similarities between their characters--from the way they look down to their actual class parameters (6-5-6-3)--that make me pretty sure I'm right.

As for "that person", I don't think we'll ever mention him by name. At least Nessiah won't; depending on what's going on in Asgard he may get brought up. I'm dropping obvious hints to Paltina very deliberately, though.

And yes, I had lots of fun writing the Nessiah and Kylier scenes. If only because she's the only one with the balls to tease him about his sex life or lack thereof, but it's also fun to make them that intimate and yet completely platonic. :>

Even though Kylier clearly lacks balls.
/lame attempt at humor

Yes, that was really very lame. And redundant.

*DOUBLE-POST AGAIN BECAUSE IT WOULD TAKE AS LONG AS GRAHAM GIVING PERMISSION FOR SOMEONE TO POST HERE ON THEIR OWN*

Chapter 6 - Gauntlet

PLUS Cruz's chapter of Precious!

Reviews y/y? I'll be putting up links to the new pactio cards soon, too~

Okay. Chapter 7 is up, now with 100% more Roswell~

We also have links to Kylier and Yggdra's pactio cards up on my profile~

New chapter officially get the thumbs up. Poor Nessiah really needs to straighten out what having friends means...

I am going to review on FF.net. Really. As soon as I recover my password...

BTW, the links in your profile seem broken. Clicking one just gave me a new tab with your profile page again. Dunno why...

FF.Net eats links. :/ When you open the page, delete the FF.Net URL in front and fix the actual URL, and you'll get there.

If that doesn't work, then you can find them here:

Kylier
~Bellatrix Calida~
XVII
Virude
Audacia
Septentrio
Jupiter
Artifact: Speculum Verus

Yggdra
~Regina Idealistica~
XVII
Aurum
Justitia
Centrum
Sol
Artifact: SPOILER :>

We will, of course, have some more new cards to upload soon~

Oh, and anonymous reviews are fine. T_T Just get me reviews~

Read and reviewed. =D

=/ I'm probably the world's worst reviewer, primarily because I never know what to say. So it's quite long, and most of it boils down to about maybe three lines, but you kind of deserve more than three lines so I let it wax longer. >> Basically, "Yay! I like Roswell and Nessiah. I also like your writing. Huzzah! Cheers." >> Except it's been elaborated a little bit, so... yes. =D

Elaboration is good, and you're far from the world's worst reviewer. Long reviews tend to be better reviews, just so you know. :/

Waiting for a few more reviews on this chapter before I start seriously nagging my beta to finish up with Chapter 8... so, to those who've read it: Opinions on Roswell and Nessiah's relationship so far? :>

DOUBLE POST DUE TO UPDATE

Chapter 8 - ways that you touched me

Chapter 9 - balm for broken glass

Reviews are always nice.

ALSO.

The Soul's Riven Gate
Sometimes, we need the most human of connections to survive. It may not be a perfect cure for loneliness or madness, but for now it will suffice. (Roswell/Nessiah)

^I rewrote this completely. Took the old one down, so if you reviewed it before you can do so again.

BUT PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS FIRST. The new version is significantly darker and the sexual content is... well, I'm writing it, what do you think?

This is part of the DSS continuity. Readers of the main story should check out the oneshot after finishing chapter 9. :> And there are links to the new pactio cards on my profile.

I love this fic! A little uncomfortable at some parts, but the BEST[u] anyway! Ahh... the current Bronqia, the festival... I can see it! I eagerly await the next chapter after 'stainglass sky'!

\(^w^)/ {Mwe-hee!