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mrs-hyperfixed-writes · 3 years

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Are You Single? - Part 1

Was originally gonna release it all at once but it was taking way too long and what I had so far was already kinda long. This sort of sets the scene.

Written for: @becomeunsolved

After getting lost in the woods and ending up in a mysterious isolated village, you get captured by Heisenberg and develop a crush, stopping at nothing to get to him.

You imagined that going through the village had been the closest to hell on earth you would ever get. It had been an honest mistake ending up here. Just a simple case of following the wrong fork in the trail. And then night had fallen, the light filtering through the canopy of leaves becoming scarcer and scarcer as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, abandoning you in a dark forest devoid of noise, the only company being the sound of the snow crunching underneath your hiking boots and the weight of your backpack. You had kept a level head, trying to backtrack but being unable to find the original path you had been set on, and at this point you were sure that you had accidentally brought yourself deeper into the forest. You had decided that the next time you wanted to get away from your shitty job, your shitty flat, and the shitty people you surrounded yourself with you were going to go to Disneyland or something, not go on a soul searching hiking trip in Romania in the middle of winter.

Things began to make noises in the woods, but you refused to stop. Refused to acknowledge them. You wouldn’t be able to see through the dense darkness between the trees with your measly flashlight anyway. And if you stopped, then whatever was prowling the forest might know you were aware of it and take the opportunity to jump at you. So you kept going, hoping that whatever was breaking twigs and making those quiet panting noises didn’t decide that you looked too delicious to ignore any longer. You weren’t afraid of them, not really. It was something else that spurred you on.

Then you had found the village, the enormous castle that overlooked it taking your breath away. For a moment, relief had flooded your system.

It didn’t last long.

***

You fell to your knees in front of the gate to Castle Dimitrescu, exhaustion cutting through to your very bones. In your left hand you held a woodcutter’s axe in a deathgrip. It had been the only thing you had to defend yourself with up until that old man had given you a handgun before he had been dragged away. His blood had spilled from the hole he had created, landing in your hair and drying into a crust. Luckily for you, you had found an old shotgun discarded on a kitchen table in your attempts to escape the horde that had threatened to overwhelm you. It sat in your backpack, the end of it sticking out. You thanked god for deep pockets on hiking trousers. Convenient ammo pouches.

Your jacket was long gone, the monsters that had prowled the village ripping it to shreds in their efforts to get to you. The rest of your clothes were saturated with black blood, your hoodie had become uncomfortably heavy with it, forcing you to take it off and shove it at the bottom of your backpack - which itself was sporting a broken strap. You cleared your throat, spitting a wad of your own blood onto the floor.

A monster had dragged you down below the house, had thrown you out through the wall. You had dropped your axe but had managed to maintain a grip on your gun, and when it had charged at you, you had unloaded four badly aimed shots into its chest and scrambled for your weapon. And when it had charged again you had swung, pouring all your frustration and rage into that swing. You had been through hell already, and for what? Was this punishment for getting lost? Was this punishment for trying to get some peace away from your shitty life? Was this a punishment for those desires that you had buried, that need to be violent and terrifying that you had repressed? You’d spent your entire life shoving that shit down and trying to be a good person. You valued human life, but sometimes you couldn’t help but think some people would look better if they were missing some teeth. Maybe an eye for good measure.

You had turned its head into a pulpy mess even when it had been long dead. Then you had told it to get fucked. And when another one had emerged from the hole you had left in the house, you had bared your teeth at it in a sort of feral smile and waited for it to come. It had circled around you, feeling you out. It looked like it was unused to the resistance. It was unused to a lack of fear.

You had prepared to swing your axe, and addressed it directly, “Dance with me then.”

It had lunged.

And then there had been Luiza’s house. That hadn’t gone very well, the screams of all the people inside still bouncing around your head as Elena’s father had changed. You had understood at that moment that the monsters roaming around had once been people. It had made your skin crawl, and had forced you to fight with even more ferocity when the knowledge that if they got too close to you then they could turn you into one of those horrible beasts with just a scratch. Your jacket had acted as an extra layer of protection, but now it was gone.

You took a deep breath from your position on your knees, hand tightening around the axe. Part of you was horrified with yourself. Horrified that you had given into that need for violence that you had shoved down for most of your life, that you could laugh and smile and indulge in the cruelty of cackling and cursing at the carnage you could wreak on something, even if the victim was a flesh eating werewolf. The rest of you just wanted to survive, knowing that that feral glee that you were trying to keep shoved deep down was probably keeping you alive.

You had no idea what was waiting for you in this castle, but everyone in the village was dead, you had witnessed the last surviving members go up in flames. You couldn’t go back into the forest either, not with all the monsters prowling about. And even if there weren’t any, you might just die of exposure anyway.

So you took a deep breath, reaching for the lever that would bring the gate up.

A steel rod shot in front of your face, embedding itself in the wall to your right. You curled your hand into a tight fist as you stared at that rod. Apparently there really was no rest for the wicked.

“Well, well, well. I didn’t think anyone was left.” A man’s voice.

“Oh for- just give me a break already,” you muttered under your breath.

You turned to look at him, part of you worried that he would be some sort of horrible monster, ready to claw at your skin and chew on your bones as he spoke to you in that accent that you couldn’t quite place. But as you set your eyes on him, your breath caught in your throat.

“Oh. Fuck me,” you whispered under your breath,not caring if he heard or not.

Apparently Red Dead Redemption had completely fucked you up, since now your type was middle aged cowboys that looked like they smelled of cigars and oil. Bits of scrap metal floated all around him. Six hours ago if someone had told you that a man dressed as a cowboy holding a giant hammer had a form of telekinesis that could apparently only affect metal you would have laughed at them and asked them if you could have some of whatever they were drinking. But you had seen plenty of strange things already, and the rod embedded in the wall behind you was giving you a warning that whatever the nature of his powers were, they were nothing to scoff at. They were dangerous. He was dangerous. The thought made something coil in your gut. But not in fear.

You wanted to smack yourself. Now was not the time for an infatuation.

But looking at him, you just couldn’t seem to help yourself. He was tall, and carried himself with a confidence that must have taken a lifetime to master. He carried a giant metal hammer on his shoulder that you knew weighed at least a ton. And the way he carried it so effortlessly made the coiled heat in your stomach spread out across your body.

Why couldn’t you have just been attracted to normal men? Why couldn’t you have been attracted to traits that wouldn’t have put you in an early grave?

You took your backpack off and shoved it blade down next to your shotgun, zipping the bag shut as far as it would go. If it came to a fight, there was no way a weapon with a metal blade would help you. You almost laughed aloud. If it came to a fight between the two of you, only god himself intervening would help you.

“Who the fuck are you?” You weren’t subtle in the way your eyes roved up and down his body.

He raised an eyebrow.

“Oh. You’re not local? Even better.”

He grinned, and flicked his hand.

The rod that he had thrown came out of the wall and wrapped itself around your neck. Your hands instinctively came up, trying to pry it off. He laughed at your attempts, and another flick of his hand had you being dragged down to the floor neck first before he sent the rest of the scrap metal that had been floating idly to cocoon you.

“Mother Miranda’s gonna love you.”

He laughed, and you cursed at yourself for finding that laugh so attractive as he towered over you. As that last sheet covered your face, you let yourself go, slipping into a deep sleep.

***

Your back hurt. Your wrists hurt. Your head hurt. Everything hurt. But the silver lining on the situation was that you weren’t trapped in a metal cocoon any longer. Instead you were lying on a stone floor, wrists handcuffed together. A discreet tug while you pretended to still be asleep revealed that they were attached to a short chain that was connected to a loop on the floor. Regardless of how strong you were, in your current condition there was no way you could even make an attempt to get yourself free. Even if there weren’t people in the room.

You could hear their voices in the background, and it was a struggle to sort your thoughts so that you could tune into their voices. It had to be about you, and you needed to know what they planned to do with you.

There was no fear, it would only make you panic. Instead there was just determination, a need to survive even if there wasn’t much in your life worth it. Spite maybe? You weren’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of dying alone in a village full of corpses.

“The mortal is of no real use to anyone else. And my daughters do so love. . . entertaining foreigners.”

Red flag. Hearing that in any other scenario would have been a pleasant thing, but given the context of the situation and everything you had been through so far, you were sure that whatever the woman meant by that could not be a good thing. And if those daughters were still alive when the rest of the village had been subjected to either vicious deaths or being slowly and painfully turned into a creature that you were very sure could be considered werewolves.

“Furthermore, I can assure you if you entrust the mortal to House Dimitrescu, my daughters and I shall deliver to you the finest cups of their slaughtered blood.”

Yup, entertaining those daughters was definitely not a good thing.

You pried your eyes open, almost wishing you hadn’t when you saw the creepiest doll in the world standing in front of you. She was about three feet tall and wearing a wedding dress that was admittedly well-crafted. You almost twisted to kick it out of reflex, especially as it started moving like it was alive. A hunchback came in from the side to crowd your personal space, and you gagged against the strong smell of fish. You had smelled actual dead fish that were not as fishy. What did this man do all day?

The doll roughly pushed him out of the way, complaining in a high pitched voice, “Out of the way ugly! I wanna see- oh!”

“You mean-” The man who had captured you started, being interrupted by the doll’s excited dancing and announcement that you had woken as well as the hunchback’s general groaning.

To your left you spied your backpack, just out of reach. “Y-you mean,” he tried again. “Both of you shut the fuck up!”

Well that did it. The doll went to sit in the lap of what could only be her puppeteer, a woman in funeral garb, the only skin exposed being her pale hands. The hunchback shambled off to the side, standing behind the pew where the only human passing man in the entire village sat.

“You mean you’ll screw around with them in private, and where’s the fun in that?”

You looked around, taking note of the woman who had been speaking. Dimitrescu. You could practically feel your nosebleed coming on. She was the tallest woman you had ever seen, and the most beautiful too. Her skin was so pale, her lips a deep red. She looked like a vampire, but given what you had seen so far and her talk of delivering your blood to the other woman in cups was making you think that maybe she didn’t just look like one.

Her name was ringing bells in your head. Dimitrescu. Where had you heard that before?

“Give them to me,“ the man started again, “and I’ll put on a show everyone can enjoy.”

Why me? This was definitely punishment for something.

“So gauche-”

“Hey I know you!” you interjected, addressing the tall woman and interrupting her as the realisation hit you.

They all stopped, turning to face you properly for the first time. Dimitrescu looked you up and down, seemingly regarding you as something beneath her. You quickly came to the conclusion that maybe interrupting her was a mistake, but you didn’t care. There was still no fear, even in the face of a giantess.

“Dimitrescu. That’s the name on that super rare wine in the really pretty bottle. They don’t distribute it anymore.”

She continued to look down at you, which admittedly was easy for her to do given height. “And how would the likes of you have tasted the Sanguinis Virginis?”

“Some rich guy I met at a bar gave it to me in exchange for. . . It doesn’t matter. But. . . it stands for Maiden’s Blood right?” You froze, the dots practically connecting themselves. “Oh my god. I think I’m gonna be sick.”

You leaned over to the side, ready to vomit. You knew there was something wrong with that wine. Your mood was not helped by the shrieking laughter that the doll was emitting at your expense. The man, to his credit, had the decency to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the prospect of blood filled wine. You had drank someones blood. Who had she been? Had they tortured her? Had she died in agony? You didn’t know. You didn’t really want to know.

You looked back up towards the altar. The woman standing at it had looked as familiar as Dimitrescu’s name had sounded. You had seen her portrait in many of the homes. And thinking back, it had definitely been her that had killed that villager when Luiza’s house had burned down. Your heart tugged painfully at the thought of Elena, at how you had come so close to saving her before the floor had collapsed under her and she had told you to escape this village and run.

This woman was Mother Miranda, and somehow she was the cause of all of this. Still no fear, but hatred bubbled up in your heart.

“I’ve heard all of your arguments. Some of you were less persuasive than others, but. . .” She looked at the man, who had now put his hammer on the ground, leaning forward as he waited for her answer, “Heisenberg, the mortal’s fate is in your hands.”

He tipped his hat towards her, grinning.

Dimitrescu got to her feet.

“Mother Miranda I must protest! Heisenberg is but a child, and his devotion to you is questionable.” She started walking towards you. “Give the mortal to me, and I will ensure that they are ready.”

Heisenberg angrily got to his feet, stalking towards her. You had to hand it to him, even with his telekinesis, he must have been fearless to confront Dimitrescu when he was half her size.

He held out his hand as he approached her, summoning the hammer to him. You were beginning to think that something was wrong with you, given that the action had your gut coiling again.

“Shut your damn hole and don’t be a sore loser! Go find your food somewhere else.”

“Quiet now child-”

“Well if it were up to me-” you started.

“It isn’t!” Both of them shouted down at you in unison, though Dimitrescu put significantly more venom into it.

“Well please spare me the family drama when I get enough of that at home.”

Heisenberg actually laughed at that, some of the tension leaving him. Dimitrescu however, looked incensed.

“How dare you! Do you have any idea-”

“If you’re going to ask me if I know who you are, we already established that I did. I just don’t care. And I’m not afraid of a single one of you!”

Heisenberg let out a full belly laugh at that. At which part of the statement he found to be hilarious, you weren’t sure. At least someone had found you funny, and you never wanted that laugh of his to stop. You could listen to it all day.

“SILENCE!” Mother Miranda shouted over them, intervening before someone - probably you - got hurt. “My decision is final, there will be no argument. Remember from whence you came!”

“A megabitch apparently,” you muttered under your breath.

One look at Heisenberg told you that he definitely heard that too. And as he smiled at the statement, you knew in your bones that Dimitrescu was right. His loyalty to Mother Miranda wasn’t just questionable, he hated her. You could feel it. Why though, was anyone’s guess. Though to be fair, she didn’t exactly scream motherly love.

Briefly, you wondered why someone with his abilities didn’t just finish her off and get it over with. But her words, reminding them to remember where they came from. . . she must have been very powerful if she could scold a nine foot tall vampire queen and a cowboy with the powers of Magneto into submission.

Dimitrescu moved back, but Heisenberg moved forward to take up all your attention. Those horrible monsters swarmed in as he did so, clinging to the walls, the scaffolding and leaning over the balconies, snarling and howling as he did so.

“Lycans and Gentleman, we thank you for waiting.”

I fucking knew they were werewolves.

“And now let the games begin!” He leaned down towards you, coming in at eye level. “Lets see what you’re really made of.”

You just smiled at him, deciding to let that beast under your skin that was making heat coil in your gut out to play. “I don’t suppose you’re single.”

His grin dropped off his face, and something like genuine surprise flitted across it. But instead of answering he raised his hammer above his head.

“Oh shit-”

He swung it down, cracking the loop that was keeping you chained to the floor. Lycans were beginning to crowd in. And Heisenberg, he was beginning to countdown from ten. You looked to your left again, spotting the hole in the floor just beyond your bag. You darted towards it, picking up your bag as you did so and turning to the lords one last time. You brought your hands to your face and kissed your palm, blowing it towards Heisenberg. He stuttered in his countdown, just enough to be barely noticeable. You wondered if it was in confusion or if it was because maybe, just maybe, you had flustered him ever so slightly. You vowed that you would make it out alive and find out.

Then you stuck up your two middle fingers, and jumped down the hole.

#resident evil #resident evil 8 #resident evil village #karl heisenberg #re8 heisenberg #heisenberg x you #heisenberg x reader #Reader has a dark streak #Reader is kind of scary #Reader has a crush

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screpdoodle · 3 years

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Duality - Chapter Seven (The Aftermath of an Almost Victory)

Tick tick tick…

The dulled colors of the world swirled together as Kaos forced his eyes open, squinting to try to make out the blurred shapes against the blinding sky. He lifted his head off of the ground, rubbing his temples as the blood roared in his ears. A deafening, rhythmic beat pounding through his skull. Kaos pushed a fallen beam off of his chest, coughing as dry, dusty air flooded his lungs, scratching at his throat like thousands of tiny claws. His vision lagged as he looked around, slowly processing what he saw. Walls toppled revealing their inner workings. Bits of steel plating and banisters were laying haphazardly around, the ceiling now open to the cloudy sky above. He… he had done it?? Frantically, Kaos felt himself over, making sure he was still in one piece, before he let out a sigh of relief. By the Ancients’ mercy, he was alive.

“Kaos? Kaos!!”

In a flash, Kaos was scooped up off of the ground, his feet dangling as a battered Dyskord squeezed him tightly. Kaos coughed, almost immediately trying to push away from his brother’s grasp.

“Hey, hey! You’re gonna crack my ribs again, idiot!” Kaos cried, trying to sound as angry as he could despite the grin curling across his face.

Dyskord set his brother down, a strained laugh escaping him. He looked even more disheveled than usual, open cuts littered his olive skin, bruises already starting to bud; but then again, Kaos probably didn’t look much better himself. Taking a moment to catch his breath, Kaos surveyed the damage he had caused, his eyes seeming to glow like the embers that floated through the air. The silence in the air, the still of the grounds, it was all so… beautiful.

“We did it.” He spoke softly at first, waving his hands in small, back and forth motions. “I… I did it! YES! YES!!” Kaos didn’t care who in the Skylands heard him. This was his moment. This was his time.

The euphoria felt like bubbles in his stomach fizzing up into his brain, bursting into sparkles of pride. This must've been what Mother felt like at Mey’s sheepball practices or when Dyskord graduated: pure, unadulterated glee. He couldn't help but cackle, throwing his hands into the sky in triumph. Dyskord, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be as enthralled, his wry smile starting to fall. Kaos followed his gaze to the edge of the island, where the students had gathered (as they did during every emergency evacuation), huddled together. Kaos could almost see the looks of terror on their faces, students and staff members alike quaking in fear at his absolute, ingenious might. He was practically bouncing up and down at the thought, but instead he paused, squinting to try to make out a shape along the horizon. A shape that looked like it was barreling towards them. Kaos’ heart sank as he watched the figure lumbering over the wreckage, rage practically radiating off of them. Mr. Webster.

“I- I think I hear Mother calling.” Kaos tugged on Dyskord’s sleeve, not daring to take his eyes off the behemoth. “We-We’d better go…”

“Y-Yeah. Heh.” Dyskord turned his head to the side and called out, “B-Be right there, Mother!”

“Oh, don’t worry. Your mother will be hearing about this.”

A large hand grabbed a hold of Kaos’ arm, a squeak escaping his open mouth. His limb looked like a toothpick compared to Mr. Webster’s tight grasp. Kaos gulped, his eyes trailing up from the hand, Kaos immediately began batting at Mr. Webster’s hand, kicking and squealing like a frightened pig as the principal lifted him up off of the ground. Kaos tried to worm his way to freedom, albeit to no avail. He had come too far. Too far to lose now. It wasn’t fair.

“So, Kaos...” Mr. Webster snarled, “Anything to say for yourself?”

“SCREW YOU!” Kaos squealed.

With his free hand, he threw a wild punch at his teacher. Kaos’ fist rebounded off the side of his gaunt face, causing nothing more than irritation and a throbbing pain through his frail hand. Kaos recoiled, whimpering as he tried to shake out the pain, Mr. Webster’s only reaction was a mere eye twitch. Without another word, he began walking back through the wreckage, carrying the flailing Kaos at arm’s length away from him. Dyskord held back, wondering how easy it would be to leave Kaos behind and feign innocence over the whole situation, before finally grunting to himself and running after his brother. If living with his brother was Hell already, he really didn’t want to know what it would be like if he got on Kaos’ bad side.

“Care to explain yourself?”

Kaos sat on what used to be a chair; the back had crumbled into scrapwood and the legs were nowhere to be found. The principal sat across from him on the other side of what used to be his desk, which was now simply a lump of blackened char. Dyskord stood in the only remaining corner of the principal’s office. Kaos had to admit, he preferred the more ‘open’ look the room had now. Not that he had much time to admire it. His gaze was locked in a staring contest with the Principal’s one, bloodshot, eye. Yes, eye. The principal was a Cyclops. Ever since his first day of school, Kaos had found it a bit odd. Cyclopes were known for terrorizing villages with axes, giant snowballs and Slobbering Mutticuses; not running a school. Though, to be fair, both were bent on conquest. The principal folded his massive, blubbery hands in his lap, mucus green skin prickled with beads of sweat. His general demeanor was held in contrast with the suit he always wore, the buttons of his top threatening to pop as they kept his rotund body compressed. Mr. Webster stood at attention next to the door, which was somehow still standing, despite most of the wall having crumbled down around it. He didn’t dare take his beady, black eyes off of the brothers.

“Well, I thought the school needed a bit of redecorating.” Kaos snickered, trying to maintain his nonexistent cool. “More open architecture is all the rage these days.”

“Enough jokes. This is a serious matter, Kaos. You put people’s lives at risk.”

“...would you believe me if I said it was an accident?”

“Of course it wasn’t an accident! I told you, Odius, this child is nothing but a troublemaker. He should have been expelled when he set that one kid on fire!”

“That wasn’t my fault! Besides, genasi are fire proof. It’s not like the ‘damage’ was permanent.”

“You little bugger, only fire genasi are immune to fire!” Mr. Webster hissed, “They were a life genasi!”

“...oops?”

Behind him, Kaos heard Dyskord slam his face into his hands, groaning. Kaos shot him a quick glare, then looked back to the principal with a forced smile. The principal clearly wasn’t impressed with the scene, a frown on his slack jawed face. Mr. Webster, in contrast, looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel, the right side of his face twitching.

“Boys, do we need to consult an… outside force on this matter?” The principal said coolly.

“No! No no, there’s no need.” Kaos waved his hands, jumping to his feet. “I’m sure we can sort this out!”

“Y-Yeah!” Dyskord chimed in, his tone dripping with panic. “We really don’t need to concern her. She’s a very busy woman-”

“DON’T YOU DARE BRING HER INTO THIS!!”

“ENOUGH!” Webster snapped, slamming his fist against the door. Only for it to fall off its hinges and hit the ground with a thud, sending up a plume of dust. Mr. Webster pointed to what remained of the secretary’s office. “Boys, out, NOW.”

Kaos muttered something under his breath as he turned on his heels, storming out of the room. As he passed Dyskord, he grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket, dragging him along. As Kaos plopped himself down on the cluttered floor, he stared out at the wreckage, now littered with students trying to find some semblance of their material goods. Kaos clutched his own backpack to his chest as he began chewing on his nails. His mind wandered until he felt the sting of his teeth against his fingertip, the dry taste of his nail mingling with the dirt that was tucked beneath it. Before he could move onto the next finger, Dyskord swatted at his hand lightly to grab his brother’s attention, then shook his head. Kaos huffed, curling up around his backpack. He could hear the principal talking, not to Webster, but someone else; saying things like, “Yes, yes,” “Sorry for the inconvenience,” and “Thank you ma’am.”

Kaos buried his head into his knees, trying to think of some way, any way, he could possibly get out of this in one piece. His brain felt like a jumbled mess of wires all tangled around him, the cold embrace of dread forcing its way down his throat. Typical. Even when he finally succeeded at something,something always had to mess it up; and Ancients knew the calamity that he just lived through would be nothing compared to the calamity that he was about to live through. Kaos didn’t know how much time had passed as he got lost in his thoughts, but he looked up at the sound of heels tapping against the floor, quickly approaching. He felt his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. Shooting a quick glance at Dyskord, the two brothers heard the principal speak up once again.

“Ah, Mrs. Horvitz. Pleasure to have you here.”

“You’re in deep trouble now, mister!”

The castle doors were thrown open as Mother stormed inside, dragging Kaos by the ear. Her angular face was contorted in a familiar scowl, lips pursed and gaze steely enough to make even the strongest of dreadwalkers cower in fear. Kaos yelped as she swung him forward, falling to his knees with a thud. Dyskord peered around the corner, making sure to keep his distance, letting Kaos take the brunt of their mother’s fury for the time being.

“What were you thinking!?” Mother cried, coming to an abrupt stop in the middle of the foyer, pulling Kaos to his fee, her slender fingers clasped around his arm. “Blowing up your school!? Honestly, Kaos! I would have thought you would have learned your lesson after last time you pulled a stunt like this!”

Kaos stared up at his mother, practically petrified. She let go of his arm, resting her gloved hands on her hips. Even when she wasn’t positively irate, she had an air of anger about her that couldn't be shaken. Perhaps it was her angular features, or the constant frown she wore no matter the occasion.

“What was it last time?” Dyskord asked, bracing himself.

“I tried to flood the gymnasium,” Kaos said nonchalantly before turning his head to face his mother once more, “But, Mother! This time was different! I-”

“Actually succeeded.”

Kaos nodded enthusiastically, grinning.

“That’s not a good thing, Kaos!”

Kaos smile quickly fell. Mother sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She bore a look that mirrored one you’d give a partially dead roach. She finally let go of her son’s arm with a sigh, turning away.

“You know what. You’re filthy. Head upstairs and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll deal with this later when the entire family can talk it over…””

“Wait, the entire family? Is Father coming back?” Dyskord had already been halfway up the stairs, attempting to make his escape, but this news made him stop and look back.

“Yes, Dyskord. Your father will be joining us for dinner...” her voice dropped to a mutter, “...if he’s not late again... So I expect you both to be cleaned and presentable!”

Dyskord gave a thumbs up, then dashed the rest of the way up the stairs, leaving Kaos to fend for himself. Kaos turned, taking a step towards the stairs, only to be stopped by his mother’s hand on his shoulder.

“I expect you’ll behave yourself tonight.” His mother said, a bitter edge to her voice.

Kaos brushed her hand away, sighing. “Yes, Mother…”

Not waiting for her to say another word, Kaos dashed up the stairs, nearly on all fours, and into the washroom at the end of the hall, slamming the door behind him.

Kaos let the hot water run over his body, his head tilted to the sky as the water plastered his hair to his head. His mother had been right, he was completely filthy. Dust and dirt covered virtually every inch of his body. The cuts and bruises he had received from the explosion needed to be cleaned too; dirt, grime and dried blood nestled within them. Kaos picked shards of shrapnel from his skin, taking extra care around his birthmarks, before taking the pieces he had collected and coaxing them into a small, glass bottle he had grabbed; a trophy of sorts, to remind him of his near victory.

Kaos ran his fingers through his hair, catching them on the countless tangles as he attempted to clean the coating of grime and oil it had gathered. The soap Kaos was using ran down his scalp and into his eyes, immediately beginning to burn. Kaos scrunched his eyes closed and frantically began shaking the soap off of his hands, the suds pooling at his feet. This soon became frantically trying to wipe the soap from his eyes, tears trickling down his cheeks as the burning reduced to a dull stinging. He cursed under his breath, kicking the wall of the shower in frustration. Kaos just seemed to have the worst luck today.

Kaos couldn’t help but wonder what he did to deserve this, what sin he had committed that cursed him with such horrid luck. At least that Ancients-forsaken place was finally gone, but that was only one problem solved out of the many more he had to face. Kaos sighed quietly as he turned off the water, letting the cold soak back into the bathroom from beneath the closed door. With the absence of the rushing water, Kaos could now hear Dyskord getting his lecture from all the way downstairs. Mother’s shouts were unmistakable; the usual ‘how dare you enable him’ and ‘you’re better than this’ sort of verbal chastisements that seemed to be commonplace. Dyskord was getting let off easy, as always. A quick slap to the side of his head, then sent to bed without dessert. Not another word on the matter. It was nothing compared to what Kaos normally went through. Even the slightest step out of line and Mother would have his head. At least it was nicer than Father’s usual punishments…

Kaos shook his head, beads of water flying everywhere. He knew he should dry his hair off in the towel, but he didn’t feel like it. This was much more fun. Once his hair was only slightly damp, Kaos grabbed his bathrobe off of its hook and slipped it on. It was a few sizes too big for him, but he liked it nonetheless. He tied his scarf around his waist to hold the robe in place, then slowly opened the door to the hallway, just as Mother was finishing up her lecture. He paused, grabbing onto the railing and standing on his tip toes as he tried to hear even a sliver of the discussion, but he was too late. Sighing, he pulled the bathrobe tighter around himself, then headed for his room, trailing dripping wet footsteps on the carpet. He could hear his mother’s heels on the hardwood downstairs, heading to the kitchen, the sunset filtering through the clouded windows signalling it was time to start cooking dinner. And for him to get dressed in something ‘presentable’, as Mother put it. With a huff, Kaos pushed the door to his room open, then froze.

“What are you doing?!”

Meyhem looked up from where she was sprawled on his bed, an old leather-bound notebook held open in her outstretched hands. At the sight of Kaos, she dropped in her face, then sat up with a grin, her hair falling in front of her wild, blue eyes.

“Mother’s ma~ad,” She giggled, pulling at the drawstrings of her oil-stained hoodie.

“That doesn’t answer my question, idiot!”

Kaos ran forward, making sure to keep his robe closed with one arm as he attempted to climb the ladder to his bed. Meyhem just laughed, grabbing the book before jumping over her brother and landing on the ground. Kaos screamed, losing his balance and toppling down on top of her, more to his detriment than hers. Meyhem simply scurried out from underneath him and made a beeline for the door. Kaos pushed himself up on his forearms, blowing his bangs out of his eyes just in time for Meyhem to chuck the book back at him, the edge of the spine colliding right between his eyes.

“Oops!” Meyhem giggled, poking her head back into the room, “Sorry, little brother!”

“I’m not little!” Kaos cried, rubbing the point of impact to try and nurse the oncoming headache. “I’m older than you!!”

Kaos forced himself to his feet as Meyhem ran back to her room, her giggles lingering in the air. Kaos grumbled under his breath, then slammed his door shut, resting his head against its surface. He just couldn’t catch a break, could he. Once he was sure she wouldn't be returning for a surprise attack, Kaos plopped himself down under his loft, looking over the book to make sure no damage had become it. More than it already had, of course. Kaos ran his fingers over the leather cover, feeling the marks he had etched into his surface to mark it as his own before flipping it open. A few pages had been torn out, and some of the loose ones were missing, but that would be an easy enough fix. Meyhem was conniving, but she wasn’t the best at hiding things. Throwing a quick glance to his window to check the time, Kaos pulled out a quill he had stashed off to the side and flipped to a blank page. It had been a while, but without another outlet, it was the best he could do.

Kaos’ hand jerked to the side as his door slammed open, the ink from his quill creating a long, splotchy line across his page. Kaos growled, then slammed his book closed. He craned his neck to see who had the audacity to disturb him before dinner was even ready. Sure enough, Meyhem stood in his doorway; now dressed in the closest thing she had to something ‘fancy’, a pair of silken pajamas.

“What is it now, Mey.” Kaos huffed, hoping with all his might that Meyhem wouldn’t answer and he could go back to venting his emotions.

“It’s time for dinner!” Meyhem giggled, then tossed a wad of crumpled-up paper at his head. It rebounded off of his skull, rolling across the ground. He looked down at it, recognizing the parchment his journal was made of, then looked back up at Mey.

“It’s not. Go away.”

“Yeah it is!” Meyhem climbed under the loft, plopping down beside him on the pile of laundry. “Mother said so.”

“Then why don’t I smell it?”

“‘Cause your nose is dumb.”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

Kaos couldn’t help but crack a smile, reaching up and ruffling Meyhem’s choppy, black hair. She scrunched down, beaming wide enough to show the gap where her front teeth should have been. She was a pain, that was for certain, but she was a pain Kaos was willing to put up with.

“How was school~?” Meyhem asked, a cheeky grin on her face.

“Har har. Shut up.” Kaos rolled his eyes as he climbed out from under his bed, making his way to the ladder.

“Mother told me you got in an accident! Is that true? Did you die??”

“Mey, don’t you have chores you need to do?” Kaos looked back with a wry grin as he put his journal back in its place, beneath his pillow. Luckily, Meyhem hadn’t messed up too much of his bed layout, so he didn’t need to spend hours getting everything back into place.

Meyhem paused, tapping her chin. “I can’t do my chores right now, it’s dinner!”

“Then maybe you should go help Mother by setting the table, hm? After all, we want everything to look good for Father when he-”

“Father’s coming back tonight?? Why didn’t you tell me!”

“I didn’t know until-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Meyhem had already ran out of the room, leaving Kaos alone once again. He sighed, hopping off of his ladder from the final step. It was at that point Kaos finally smelled it. The ‘succulent’ aroma of charred meat and blanched vegetables - the Horvitz family specialty. Kaos’ nose twitched, his stomach doing a summersault at the thought of tolerating such slop. What he wouldn't give for some decent food.

Throwing one last glance to the hall, Kaos began to get dressed in the ‘fanciest’ clothes he could find; black slacks and a wrinkled, collared shirt that was two sizes too big. That was the most effort he was willing to put in for his dad. As he stepped out into the hall, Kaos wrapped his scarf around his shoulders like a shawl, then paused as the sound of heavy-handed knocking cut through the quiet of the castle. His heart sank.

“Dyskord, be a dear and fetch the door. I do believe he’s here.”

<- previous chapter | next chapter ->

#skylanders #bring back the skylands #skylanders academy #writing #fan fiction #duality #second leaf

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justlookatthosesausages · 4 years

Note

May I suggest Anna and Kristoff telling their story to their kids, mirroring the time Agnaar and Iduna did that to young Anna and Elsa, and the kids being amazed at the story and ask about their auntie Elsa which eventually leads to a snow sisters reunion?

(THE FEELS AHFHFJFFJGHG!! this is so good I’m gonna go for a big drabble I think hahaha - and of course I get inspiration from your Kristanna children OCs)

=======

“And you jumped off a cliff??” Asked Hugo, eyes wide.

Kristoff giggled as he tucked his eldest son in his bed. “Yes I did. Well, actually, it’s your mother who jumped first. I had no choice but to follow her. Just like in life…” He added with a wink.

Anna, who was standing on the threshold with a sleepy Andrew in her arms, shook her head with an eye roll.

Hugo had a mischievous smile. “So you did crazy stuff too, mama, uh? Did you get a scar like me?”

“No, I didn’t” Replied Anna, still in her guilt after his incident on his first ice harvesting trip when they encountered wolves. “Also, I was 18 when it happened. Try not to risk your life again until then, uhm?”

He giggled in his sheets, and Kristoff ruffled his hair with a laugh.

“Jumping off cliffs is epic”, commented the blond boy.

His parents smiled, and Anna gave a sign to her husband as she left the room. “Come on, we have to put Andrew to bed.”

“I’m not tired!” Exclaimed her youngest boy in her arms. His voice was so drowsy that it got comical.

Anna smiled and nudged his nose with hers. “Yes you are.”

He mumbled something, putting his head back on her shoulder.

“Mama, could you tell us another story before sleep?” Asked Hugo.

Andrew’s face jumped up, now totally awake and excited. Anna had to restrain herself from grunting. She knew how impossible it was to put Andrew to sleep after a second bed time story. “Another one??”

“Yessss, pleeeaaase!” Begged the two princes with big eyes.

Kristoff tapped the sheets of Hugo’s bed. “Okay, mama sits back down. But a short one, alright? What do you want this one to be about? Andrew, you get to choose.”

The redhead boy had a thinking pout as he sat on the bed next to his mom. “Can you tell us a story about Auntie? We haven’t seen her in a while.”

The cute, warming, familial atmosphere in the room suddenly vanished. Kristoff stopped smiling, and cleared his throat as he lifted his eyes to his wife.

“I already told you last week, sweetheart.” Said Anna, her voice suddenly weak. “She’s busy up North.”

“Because of the war?” Remembered Hugo.

Kristoff gave a sad look to Anna.

“Yes, because of the war.” Said Anna. She forced herself to smile and have a strong voice. “She needs to protect the land from the destruction that humans could bring when they fight each other.”

“Why do they fight each other?” Frowned Andrew, who never understood hate and vowed to always have a peaceful behavior.

“It’s adult stuff, buddy. It’s too complicated. You’ll get it later.” Summarized Kristoff. Now was not the time to get political.

“Is it dangerous for her?” Asked Hugo.

Right in Anna’s heart. She gulped audibly, and Kristoff put a soft hand on hers. The Queen turned to him and gave a reassuring nod. “It’s okay. I can talk about it.” She whispered.

“Yes, it’s very dangerous.” Stated Anna to her sons. “She has to get in the way of both sides, and not take any, and make sure that Nature doesn’t get attacked on the… Battlefield.”

She had paused before saying the last word, and Kristoff looked at her with a supportive gaze.

“Do you believe in her?” Said Andrew, and the question was turned to both his parents.

“Of course”, immediately said Kristoff with some pride. “She’s amazing.”

“She’s the person I admire the most. She’s brave. She’s powerful. And she’ll always succeed.” Smiled Anna.

The two princess nodded in silence. Even from their young age, they perceived the emotion of the adults in the air.

“When will she come back again?”

“How long have you not seen her?”

They asked at the same time, and Anna clenched the sheets with her fist to not cry right then. She passed a hand in her untied hair and tugged it behind her ear.

“It’s… Wars can be long, you know, and… Uhm… It’s been more than a year since I last saw her. Since we all saw her.” She added, bringing the ‘us’ feeling of her family to give her courage. “But I get news from the battlefront from time to time from the informants, and there are rumors that the war is getting to its end.”

The two boys gave hurrahs and cheers, glad it ended on a positive note.

“Alright, you two devils, it’s time for bed now.” Smiled Anna, remaining happy, for the little faces of her children filled her heart with love again.

She was about to take Andrew in her arms once more, but Hugo tugged her sleeve. “Can you close the window before leaving?”

Anna frowned and looked up, and saw that indeed, the window was half open.

“I didn’t even notice it was opened. Kris, did you–”

“No, I didn’t do anything.” Frowned the man. “You know I don’t want Hugo to catch a cold.”

It was true, and Anna squinted her eyes as she stood up from the bed and walked to the window. The air of the outside was cold, and she hurried a bit to take the handle and close it. When suddenly, something in the air caught her attention. This type of cold felt familiar.

The redhead passed her head by the window and looked down the castle at the field below. Something seemed to shimmer in the distance, walking slowly along the grounds and to the walls of the castle, just under Anna. Something white, sparkly, and her long untied clear blonde hair was floating in the evening wind, and her smile was visible even from here…

Anna let out a great gasp, and clasped her hand on her mouth. Even if her expression was a proof of big emotion and happiness, Kristoff ran to the window to see what she saw. And his jaw dropped as well, melting in a smile.

With a swirl of snow and wind, the smiling figure below rose up to them, floating in the air right in front of the window, and the gust of wind pushed the windows apart so she could enter.

Elsa had planned to land next to Anna, but she barely passed the window sill that suddenly Anna grabbed her in the air and pulled her in her arms for an intense hug.

The Snow Queen yelped in surprise, and almost fell on her younger sister as the wind behind her closed the window neatly. In a gasp, Anna tightened her arms around her, her nose buried in her neck, and Elsa smiled and gave her the intensity of the hug right back. She finally put her feet on the carpet of the bedroom, and smiled at the familiar sensation both under her ice sandals and the warm feeling of being in Anna’s arms.

They stood there a while, being in each other’s presence without saying a word. Kristoff noticed that Anna was practically clamping herself to her sister, and he chuckled as he stepped closer.

“Hey, let her breathe, maybe…”

Anna let go of the hug and apologized, and indeed Elsa had to retrieve some oxygen as she stepped out of her arms.

“How are you?” Asked Kristoff, delighted to see her again as well.

“I’m really well, thank you”, smiled Elsa with a giggling voice, and she already filled the room with happiness as she did so. “It’s just been the tightest embrace you’ve ever given me”, she added to Anna as she massaged her ribs. “I haven’t felt this constricted since I got crushed by giants. I missed your amazing hugs.”

Elsa still had her hand in Anna’s, and she passed her thumb along her fingers. The latter giggled with a big smile, then it briskly dropped.

“Wait, what? Crushed by giants??”

The Snow Queen waved her other hand for a dissuasive effect. “They didn’t do it on purpose. I’ll tell you later. It’s a long story.”

Anna interpreted from her answer that she wasn’t going to stay for long, and all glee disappeared from her heart. Elsa seemed to read in her like an open book, because as soon as Anna looked down in disappointment, the blonde put her hands on her shoulders.

“I plan to stay for a long time in the castle. We’ll have plenty of days to catch up now that war is over. I’ve heard that you planned big changes to expand Arendelle? I can’t wait for you to tell me all about it.”

Anna’s eyes danced all around Elsa’s face as she listened to her and had so many emotions at each word she said. There was so many informations to process, and was speechless as she didn’t know what to reply; her mouth dropped open.

The elder melted in a smile at her reaction, and came closer to kiss her forehead. Then she saw the children behind her.

All that time, the two princes had been staring at them three, and were too shy and overwhelmed by the situation to even say a word. Elsa stepped to them, her untied hair floating around like a mane.

“Hugo! Andrew! Gods, you grew up so much!” She exclaimed, a big smile stretching her face.

She clearly was emotional, and the boys giggled in return. Kristoff stepped closer.

“Now they’re…”

“9 and 5 years old, yes” Smiled Elsa.

Kristoff missed a heartbeat, and Anna seemed shocked as well. She knew? He thought that for all that time, and all the events she had to face and take care of, she could possibly have forgotten her nephews’ birth dates. But judging from her confident look at she stared at the boys, she knew exactly.

The mountaineer turned his head to his wife, and noticed that Anna had tears in her eyes, overwhelmed by both the surprise to see that she knew, and the happiness to have the presence of her caring sister again. Elsa said she missed her hugs, and Anna too, but also the aura of her elder and the way her faced beamed with love.

“Do the magic! Do the magic!”

The Queen was snapped out of her daydream by Andrew’s voice. Childish and therefore high-pitched, it reminded her of her own childhood memory when she asked Elsa this exact request. That was the trigger; when she blinked, Anna’s tears finally went down her cheeks, and she let out a slight squeal.

Elsa’s sense of hearing was sharpened since her Fifth Spirit transformation and her experiences in the wild, so she turned around with a worried expression as Andrew and Hugo were jumping on the bed under her shower of snowflakes.

“Are you okay?”

The redhead rubbed her tears, and let out a giggle that sounded like a gasp of relief.

“Yeah, I just… I’m so happy that you’re here, Elsa.”

The elder smiled tenderly in return. “I am too.”

#somecallmejohn #asks #this is super cute i love writing auntie elsa #kristanna #kristanna children #aunt elsa #frozen #frozen fanfictions #frozen drabbles #frozen prompts #frozen 2 drabbles #frozen 2 prompts #post frozen 2 #frozen 2 #snow sisters #frohana

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atlas-tries · 4 years

Text

Shatter Me Chapter 4: Patton Quest

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Summary: The worst has come to pass. What will the main three (and Janus) do without Patton?

Notes: Well! Maybe things will be looking up for the sides! Maybe! This is quite the lengthy chapter, so I hope you all enjoy! (And yes, I realize this is coming a little earlier today than normal, but alas, what is life without at least one chapter of whimsy?)

Virgil didn’t dare move from where he stood, once cradling Patton’s head. Now, there was barely a sign that he’d ever been there, only weeping shards left in his wake. It was starting to soak into Virgil’s pants and hoodie sleeves, but he didn’t notice. All he could see was the sinister blue covering the table and flowing onto the floor. His heart exploded in his ears, nearly deafening in the silence that gripped them.

It was kind of funny, really. Virgil had such a penchant for being wrong when he got into one of his moods. So why was it that the one time he wanted so desperately to be wrong, he wasn’t? One of his worst fears had come true and he’d been powerless to stop it. The universe could be so cruel.

“P-Patton… wh-why did it have to be Patton, of all sides?” Roman softly sobbed. He still held on to the splintered fragments of Patton’s hand.

Logan wiped at his eyes with his shirtsleeve and readjusted his glasses. Blue fingerprints lingered on the frames. “There was nothing else we could’ve done.”

Virgil swallowed thickly. “Wh-why was he so afraid to talk to us about this?” he asked.

Roman puffed up. “He wasn’t! How dare you even suggest that we were the ones to put him into this situation!” he cried, tears mixing with the puddles of bright blue. Logan put a firm hand on his shoulder and for once in his life, Roman backed off.

“Alright, Sir Jumps-a-lot,” Virgil started, but was caught off guard by a little golden orb floating through the window. “Is … is that a thought?” Two more rose from where Patton had been sitting. They drifted closer to the center of the table where Patton’s shards still rested. Once over him, they simply hovered, absorbing the blue essence beneath them. “What are they doing?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen this happen before,” Roman replied, transfixed on the sight of the thoughts.

All at once, they became restless, boiling rapidly beneath the surface and madly flitting around the room like three loose Golden Snitches. “Hit the decks!” Roman cried, taking cover beneath the table. Virgil followed.

One just missed Logan before he dropped beneath the table. They grew and quickened, slamming into the walls with deafening shrieks. The castle shook with every blow. “Oh God oh God oh God,” Virgil mumbled under his breath, like praying would send these abominations away.

A huge crash sent rocky shrapnel flying in every direction. Virgil felt the impact of several smaller pebbles against his body. Then it was quiet. Virgil finally uncovered his head after a few seconds and looked around. Giant bus sized holes gaped fervently on three walls, like the castle itself was crying out. Pieces of elegant stonework laid broken on the ground amid the tattered ruins of some of Roman’s finest tapestries. Dust lingered in the air.

“Are you all unharmed?” came Logan’s voice.

Virgil nodded, still in awe of the destruction that lay around them.

Roman looked devastated. “I’m fine, but look what those boorish orbs did to my precious palace! What were those things?” He walked over to one of the holes and put his hand on the edge of it. Almost as soon as his hand hit, he jerked it back with a hiss.

“They were thoughts,” Logan started, walking over to Roman with a small first aid kit in hand, “that appeared to have absorbed Patton’s essence.”

“… And?” Virgil asked.

Logan rubbed some burn ointment onto Roman’s hand and began to bandage it. “Those thoughts appear to have his power. If they were troublesome before, then that must mean—”

“They intend to wreak havoc here, too,” Roman interrupted.

Logan cleared his throat. “Yes. But I wonder … Could they bring him back?”

Virgil’s and Roman’s eyes went wide. “You really think those things out there are the key to reviving Patton? They’re monsters! Patton isn’t a monster!” Virgil bit.

“That wasn’t what I was implying. Those thoughts acted rashly when exposed to his essence because Patton was in a state of turmoil before he … Didn’t you notice that when you touched it, you began to feel things you didn’t normally feel?” said Logan.

“Well yeah, but aren’t people supposed to be sad when they lose someone they l … care about?” Virgil asked.

“Nice save,” said Roman.

“In people, yes, but we are not people. We are facets of a whole personality, hence we cannot take many intricacies from another side without some sort of medium, which brings me back to the point. If Patton’s stray thoughts have enough of his essence within them, then perhaps they are enough to resurrect him,” Logan explained.

“What other choice do we have?” asked Roman. “We can’t just let those rogue ruminations run rampant through the realm.”

“Then it’s settled. We must go after these manifestations with due haste,” Logan said. “Perhaps it would be better to each take on one of these creatures. If my calculations are correct, we don’t have long to get them back before they become inert. Although it would make my job easier if we didn’t have to worry about trivial emotions getting in the way … But I certainly don’t want to pick up the slack from Patton’s absence.”

“How can you even say that? Are you sure you’re not a dark side in disguise?” Virgil said, running his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh. “Not the time, Virgil. Okay. How do you know we’re on a time limit? And how are we supposed to fight these thoughts?”

“Simple mathematics. It took nine minutes and thirty-seven seconds for the essence on my hands to stop affecting me in a way that hindered me. As for how to go about defeating them, I suspect Roman may be able to help,” said Logan.

“Oh sure, you didn’t want to help me earlier but now I have to help you. Pah!” Roman said, throwing his hands in the air. Instantly, both Logan and Virgil were donning jester’s costumes with squeaky swords at their sides while Roman was decked out in full chainmail armor.

Virgil gave an indignant look to Roman, who was snickering at his handiwork. “You can’t seriously expect us to go up against those with these,” he spat, motioning to his novelty weapon.

“Virgil is right. We wouldn’t be able to fight effectively with this,” Logan said. “We will also need a way to transport the creatures back, but I may have a solution for that.” He conjured up three small glass jars.

“Ugh, fine,” Roman groaned. He waved his hand and the two were changed into more fitting clothes: a rogue outfit and dagger for Virgil and for Logan, wizard’s robes and a magic staff. “Better?”

Virgil, who had been covertly admiring his garb, put one hand behind his head and said, “It’s alright I guess.”

“This is adequate. Now, we have exactly three hours, fifty-eight minutes, and twenty seconds to bring these thoughts back before his essence leaves them,” Logan said, waving his hand and conjuring a countdown timer for all of them.

“Then what are we waiting for?” asked Virgil.

Roman nodded. “Let’s get this pony rolling!”

“I’m sorry, there are ponies involved? That would be a much faster method of travel than walking,” Logan pointed out.

Roman almost countered that, but took a moment to think. “You’re right,” he said, conjuring some horses. “Now let’s go!”

With that, the sides mounted their horses with varying degrees of difficulty and set off in three separate directions.

---

Roman was usually so happy to be riding in the Imagination. Nothing beat the feeling of the wind through his hair, or the steady bouncing of the horse’s gait, or the rhythmic pounding of hooves on the ground.

But this time, he could find no joy atop his trusty mount. Not with his thoughts racing faster.

Instead, he kept his body poised like a jockey and let the horse do the work. She always knew where he needed to go. Thankfully, the path was a little easier to see since one of the loose Eldritch abominations carved its way through the lush evergreen forests. He still couldn’t believe any of this was real. Not even an hour ago, they had all been sitting around the Round Table, poised to discuss video ideas. Now, they were all on a life-or-continued-death quest to stop Patton’s thoughts from destroying everything in enough time to revive him. Even he thought that plotline was a bit contrived. Nevertheless, here he rode, off to accomplish the task at hand like the hero Patton believed him to be.

A flash of blue whizzed by in Roman’s periphery. He pulled the reins hard and wheeled his horse around. Another subtle movement shuffled in the undergrowth to his right. He dismounted as quietly as he could and drew his sword. The leaves rustled again. He slowly stalked toward them, ready to pounce. Suddenly, a blue toad jumped out from the foliage and onto Roman’s chest briefly before saying, “Tag, you’re it!” and hopping quickly away.

Roman blinked. “Well that’s new,” he mumbled to himself. He sheathed his sword and looked at the toad, still hopping away. It slowed, turned around, and stared for a moment before hopping back toward Roman.

“Aren’t you gonna chase me?” it asked from a distance. That voice sounded so familiar …

“I’m sorry, fair frog, but I can’t play with you. I’m on an urgent quest to find a rampaging beast. You haven’t happened to see one around here, have you?” said Roman.

The toad brought one little arm up to its chin in thought. “Hmm, I don’t think I’ve seen one around here …” Its eyes shone. “Oh, a quest! Can I come with you? It sounds so much more fun than playing tag with myself! Please please pleeeeeeeease!” it said, bouncing in place.

Roman, understandably, was a little put-off by this toad. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. You’re much too small to fight, and this may be the most difficult quest I will ever go on.” He made his way back to his horse. The toad followed.

“Please? I promise I won’t get in the way!” said the toad, clinging to Roman’s boot with tears in its eyes.

Roman sighed. “Fine, but you stay in the saddlebag,” he huffed.

The toad binkied happily in little circles. “Yay! We’re going on a quest! We’re going on a quest! I don’t know what we’ll do but hey, we’ll make up all the rest!” it sang. It leapt into Roman’s arms. “Onward to adventure!” It pointed an arm out in front of them.

“Yeah,” Roman said, stuffing the toad in his saddlebag with much protest. He pulled the countdown timer out of the bag on his belt. 03:01:42. Had he already been gone for this long? He stuffed it back in and hoisted himself onto the saddle.

Or rather, he would have if there weren’t a troublesome toad sitting there already. “Woooaah, is this what it’s like to be a horseback rider? How do I make it go?” it gleamed. It tried to whip the reins but could barely lift them without toppling over.

“Hold on a minute. You don’t make it go anywhere,” Roman said, lifting the toad off the saddle and putting it back in the saddlebag. “I do.” He tried to mount once more to find the toad sitting on top of the horse’s head. “What the …! How do you keep doing that?” He grabbed the frog again and put him back in the saddlebag, making sure to fasten it this time.

Yet again, the toad appeared before him, this time sitting on the horse’s neck. “Doing what?” it innocently asked. And yet again, Roman turned to stuff the toad back in, only to find three others already in there.

“What in the name of accumulating amphibians is going on here?!” Roman shouted. “Why are there four of you?!”

“Huh? Oh, there aren’t four of me!” As if to illustrate his point, hundreds of blue toads emerged from hiding all around them. “It would get pretty boring if I was playing tag with only four of me!” One of them hopped on top of Roman’s head.

“Alright, enough! Only one of you can come with me,” Roman said.

The toads just smiled. “Well why didn’t you say so?” All of them but the one on his head disappeared into mist, and the one that remained almost glowed. “Onward to adventure!” the toad cried again. Roman just put his head in his hands with a small groan.

The two were off and at a full gallop through the razed forest. About five seconds down the road, the toad said, “You wanna play I Spy? I do! I’ll go first! I spy with my little eye, something … red!”

“I really can’t play this right now, we need to be on the lookout for a rampaging monster,” Roman replied.

“Aww come on, this is an easy one, I know you can get it!”

“Not now.”

The toad huffed. “Well you’re no fun. What kind of adventure is this anyway?”

“Not the fun kind,” Roman said. “We’re running out of time.”

“Pssshhh, no we’re not. There’s always time for fun!” the toad exclaimed.

Roman grunted. “What part of urgent quest did you not understand? We only have so long to bring him back! Now please, make yourself useful and help me look for a rampaging beast.”

“Bring who back?” the toad asked. Roman stayed silent for a long while. “Didja hear me?”

“A very close friend of mine,” Roman finally replied.

“Oh,” said the toad. “So your friend is the monster?”

“No! Yes? I don’t know. It’s hard to explain,” Roman said, getting more agitated with each passing second.

The toad stayed silent for a good moment. “What’s your friend’s name? Maybe I heard of ‘em,” said the toad.

“Patton,” came Roman’s solemn reply.

“Hey, that kinda sounds like my name!” squealed the toad.

“Oh?” said Roman. The edge of the path quickly approached. “Wait, this is where the destruction ends, he should be right here!” He tugged on the reins and dismounted quickly. The toad hopped to the ground.

“Hey, I think I remember something about this place,” it said.

Roman turned and squatted in front of the toad. “Tell me.”

The toad hopped in place. “This is where I first started playing tag with myself! There were so many more of me then … Maybe some of them are still hiding! Will you help me look?” he asked.

Roman huffed. “I have to find whatever cantankerous creature came this far, so I don’t have time to be playing around!”

The toad recoiled. “Wh-why are you yelling at me?” he whined, huge tears welling up in his eyes. His color dimmed a bit.

Roman put a hand against his cheek, tugging at his bottom eyelid. Why did this have to be happening to him now of all times? “Look, I’m sorry, little, uh … what did you say your name was again?”

The toad sniffled and wiped at his cheek. “L-Lilypadton,” he replied.

“Okay, I’m sorry, Lilypadton, but I just don’t have the time to—” Roman paused. “Wait a moment. Lilypadton. Lily-padton. Lily-Patton.” His eyes lit up. “By the horn of a unicorn! I’m surprised I didn’t think of this before!” He picked the blubbering toad up. “You’re the one I’ve been looking for!”

“I-I am?” Lilypadton asked.

Roman nodded, his own eyes shimmering a little. “Indeed. I didn’t expect a rampaging thought could turn into such a … tiny creature as yourself. From the way you cut down all of these trees, I thought you’d have been a bit bigger. But uh, no matter! You’re going to help me bring my friend back!” He hugged Lilypadton tight to his armor.

“Mister, you’re choking me!” Lilypadton croaked.

Roman immediately loosened his grip. “Sorry, I got a little carried away for a moment there. Let’s get you back to my castle with haste!” He put Lilypadton on his shoulder and climbed back on his horse, and instantly the horse went into a full gallop. The poor Pat-toad hung on to Roman’s pauldron for dear life.

Around ten minutes down the road, once Lilypadton had settled on the saddle horn, he suddenly spoke. “Did … did I do all of this?”

Roman looked down at him. “Yes, but I don’t think you meant to,” he said, bringing his gaze back up to the road.

“I think I remember something else,” Lilypadton softly said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. We were in here somewhere. I … was taller. Like you! I saw you, too. You were so brave fighting that big scary lion snake goat thingy! But then you got hurt, and it was all because of me wanting to save that poor bunny, and I didn’t ever want you to get hurt but you did and if I hadn’t been so trusting and just done what you said in the first place, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt and it wouldn’t have been my fault.” Lilypadton dimmed a little more. “B-but then you said, ‘I can’t believe you fell for that obvious trap, Patton. Didn’t you notice the footprints on the ground near it or the horrible stench coming from just behind the trees? It really surprises me, the way you can be so naive sometimes.’ And then, I felt my chest hurting real bad.”

Roman looked again at the little toad, wide-eyed and near frozen. He still had the little scar on his arm from the chimera’s attack, barely worth mentioning against the numerous others he had accumulated from other, more dangerous creatures. What startled him was hearing Patton’s perspective of this.

Lilypadton flopped against Roman’s breastplate. “I-I’m so sorry,” he whimpered.

Roman banished his chainmail and put a hand on Lilypadton’s back, pressing him gently into his chest. “You were holding onto that this whole time. And all because I made a stupid, offhand comment,” he said, hooking the reins around the saddle horn and holding his face in his newly freed hand. Fresh tears streaked over his gauntlets. Hadn’t there been enough crying for one day?

He continued. “Padre, please believe me when I tell you that I, in no way, hold that day against you. I shouldn’t have said what I said, because that’s not what I think of you at all. That day, I was so impressed that you wanted to help that slovenly little lapin, despite me telling you that you didn’t have to. And then you showed me how brave you were, still helping that creature while that chimera roared at you. I still remember you telling it, ‘Now you just wait your turn, mister, I’ll pet you in a minute!’ It was one of the greatest adventures I’d ever had with you.” He stroked the little toad. Lilypadton croaked softly against his chest. “Had I known that my careless comment was something that led to you being in this state, I would have washed my own mouth out with soap. I should be the one apologizing to you, Patton.”

Lilypadton smiled, eyes still brimming with tears. “Thank you, Roman,” he said, burrowing closer like a small child being held. Roman just smiled and rubbed Lilypadton’s little back, content to have not only found this toad in the first place, but a piece of Patton that he never knew before. Roman’s palace loomed in the distance. It wouldn’t be long before the two reached the remains of Patton prime.

Roman felt Lilypadton slowly transform in his hand, now nothing but a bright blue thought.

---

Logan, though not as well versed in the equine arts as Roman, found himself to be a natural when behind the reins of a beautiful, sure-footed Paso Fino. What wasn’t natural, however, was trying to do that while wearing a star-spangled bathrobe. Eventually, he’d had to stop his horse, conjure a hair tie, and bunch the loose fabric between his legs like a bike-riding lady in the 1890’s. “How asinine,” he mumbled to himself as he followed the river south.

If his calculations were correct, then he had approximately three hours and twenty-two minutes to find this troublesome thought and bring it back. In the distance, he could see storm clouds brewing over one particular location three klicks ahead of him. So, about another half hour before he would be there. Great.

Part of Logan felt heavy. The other half felt like nothing at all. All he knew was that the essence crusting on his hands had something to do with how he was experiencing these feelings. Much to his chagrin, Logan did, in fact, have feelings. Just never to the extremes that Patton did. And before, standing over Patton’s bleeding form and covered in essence, those emotions were nearly enough to knock him off of his feet. He had frozen. The one minute he needed to be the dependable one, he had frozen. He had no idea what to do to save him, and he’d shattered right in front of them. And now, he could only hope that his working theory was correct.

Logan gripped the reins tighter, whipping them with a sharp, “Hyah!” The horse promptly obeyed and quickened its pace. He was getting close to the epicenter of the clouds. A small streak of blue quickly differentiated itself from the surrounding landscape. Could that be …

Within seconds, Logan had arrived as close to the entity as he felt comfortable and hid among the tall grasses. It had a vaguely humanoid shape with two large, white eyes, blurring through the breeze as if it were immaterial. He heard its singsong voice gently wafting over, sweet and soft against the stark, grassy landscape. Birds and other small animals gathered around it in Disney Princess fashion. Its voice rose and with it, the wind did, too. Dried leaves and loose grass circled around them.

“An elemental …” Logan whispered. The wind died. The elemental whipped its head around to look directly at Logan. His heart hammered in his chest.

“WHO’S THERE?” it boomed. Logan nestled deeper into the grasses. “HMM, PEACH, PEAR—”

“Pineapple,” Logan inadvertently replied. He slapped a hand over his mouth. Suddenly, the wind was beneath him, hoisting him swiftly over to where the elemental hovered. Logan fumbled with the strap keeping his magic staff secured but couldn’t free it before he came to sit in front of this creature.

“I THOUght I heard someone over there. Oh, I’m sorry if I scared you, kiddo, I’m not going to hurt you! Here, let me help you up,” it said. It extended what Logan thought to be an arm toward him. Logan gingerly put his hand out, expecting to pass right through, but the elemental felt solid beneath his touch. “Do you have a name I can call you?”

“Um … Logan,” he responded.

“Logan … what a nice name. I think I used to know someone with that name. Maybe one of my kiddos?”

Logan tapped his chin. “You don’t sound like any elemental I’ve ever encountered before.”

“Elemental? Oh, no, not me. I’m just Sympathos,” Sympathos said.

All of the sudden, it hit Logan. “No wonder you sound so familiar. I believe I know who you are. Please come with me.”

“What’s that, on your hands …?” Sympathos asked warily. The wind picked up a little bit.

“It’s essence. Your essence, Patton,” Logan stated matter-of-factly. “Please, time is against us. We must return to Roman’s castle before it’s too late.”

Sympathos backed away. “M-my essence? And who’s Patton? I think I’d better stay here.” A particularly cold gust of wind whipped by them.

“You’re Patton. Or, a part of him, rather; one that’s doomed to fade in less than three hours unless you rejoin with your other pieces. Wouldn’t it be better to become whole again?”

Sympathos shrunk. “No, no, I … I don’t think I want to go with you,” he said. “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not him. I … I can’t be him!” The wind picked up a bit more.

Logan had to hold onto his hat to keep it from sailing away. “Please calm down,” he said, slowly striding toward Sympathos with his hands up. Sympathos only backed away further. “You’re being irrational.”

The wind died once more, leaving only a deathly quiet over them. Sympathos brought his hands to his face. “No. I’m. NOT!” he shouted, rising up in a tornado’s winds and growing just as big. Hail began falling thunderously around Logan. He shielded himself as best he could with his arm, attempting to once again release his staff from its prison on his back. He finally got it and quickly cast a shielding spell around himself. Sympathos continued. “WHY IS IT IRRATIONAL TO NOT WANT TO GO WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS A PART OF ME SMEARED ALL OVER THEIR HANDS? WHY CAN I NOT BE AFRAID OF SOMEONE WHO HURT ME?”

Logan could only look up at the angry funnel cloud version of his friend. “Hurt you?” he yelled through the noise. “This essence on my hands was from trying to save you! Do you not remember?”

The winds roared. “THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT. THAT’S NOt what I meant,” Sympathos said, dying down into little more than a breeze. The hail turned into tiny raindrops, slowly getting bigger as he wept.

Logan dismissed most of the shielding spell, leaving only a portion above his head. He slowly walked over toward where Sympathos was crumpled on the ground. Every raindrop sent little bits of him rippling across his surface as if he, too, were made of water. “Then, would you tell me what has you so disconcerted?” Logan gently asked. He sat down beside the entity, expanding the shield to cover Sympathos from the cloudburst.

Sympathos said nothing for a while, but Logan was more than keen to wait. He still had enough time to get him back, and he didn’t want to have to hurt the thought any more than he somehow already had. Finally, Sympathos spoke, “I’m not Patton. I know I’m not. But, I have his memories. His thoughts. His pain. I saw you in almost all of the memories. Especially the ones where you would tell me, ‘Your feelings are clouding your judgement,’ or something like that. Then I would feel this … this awful pain in my core.” He looked up at Logan. “How can I still have the pain that he had but have no way to know how to deal with it? How can I trust you when all I have are these aching memories?” The rain worsened as Sympathos sobbed.

Logan didn’t quite know what to do. Had he hurt Patton without ever knowing it? Or had he been too blinded by his own emotions to notice? He thought back to a few months ago, when Patton had first revealed his injuries. They were so profound then, like they had been less than an hour ago at the Round Table. Wait, right after he told Patton to let the past go, those injuries worsened. How many other times had his input splintered across Patton’s chest? He had to make this right. He put one gentle hand on Sympathos’s back.

“I … don’t think it would be reasonable, not after having experienced such pain by my own hand,” Logan carefully said. “I never intended to harm you, but whether I meant it or not is inconsequential to the truth of it. I still hurt you. And for that, I am truly, deeply sorry. I just wish I’d have known about your condition sooner so I could have made amends sooner. Maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess if only I’d noticed sooner …” He felt a tear of his own threatening to leak out.

Sympathos looked up at him. Bittersweet laughter emanated from him, piercing through the rain in matching melancholy. “How could you have known what I never said?” He sat up as much as a spectral entity could and leaned against Logan. “I forgive you. Maybe it’s time I started trusting you all more.”

Logan smiled a bit and the tears silently rolled. “I’d like that,” he said softly. Logan wasn’t used to dealing with emotions; that much went without saying. But maybe it was time to try, if for nothing— or no one— else but Patton.

After another moment, the weight against his side faded and only a floating blue orb remained. Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, he retrieved the jar from where it hung on his belt and gently guided the thought in. Here, at least, he would be safe until it was time to reunite with the other pieces.

As Logan remounted his horse, he noticed the rain had stopped and in its wake, a tiny rainbow appeared.

---

Virgil swore to himself that after today, he would never, EVER, get back on a horse.

It was too hard to get on the stupid thing for one. For another, there were no visible controls. He had no idea how this beast even knew what to do, and what it did was try to take off with Virgil hanging off its side. Probably Roman’s idea of a joke. Again. Now, the ride was hurting his butt. He failed to see how his day could get any worse— a hard-earned feat from a side such as himself.

Now here he was, holding onto this animal for dear life as it clattered up the mountain paths, thinking of all the ways this would fail, all the ways he could plummet to his own death, and they’d have to come up with some horribly saccharine double funeral for him and Patton, or maybe they would just completely forget about him or disown him because he failed—

Without warning, the horse reared, sending Virgil flying into some nearby brush. The horse ran off, evident only by the disappearing sound of hoofbeats. For a while, Virgil just laid there, staring up at the canopy above him. Stupid horse. I didn’t want to ride you anyway, he wanted to say. “Today really isn’t my day,” is what came out. He slowly started getting up, hands hurting from where he pushed into the ragged undergrowth. At least everything matched now.

He looked at the path ahead. A huge earthen wall blocked most of the path. “What the— when did that get there?” Virgil said. He eyed it warily. It seemed stable enough … Maybe he could climb over to the other side? He touched it with his dagger. The blade pierced through easily, yet the wall still held. Still, there was no way he was going to scale this monstrosity, not without at least twenty different safety lines and a helmet. And anyway, it wasn’t like he couldn’t just walk around it. So he did.

And immediately regretted it.

A gargantuan, blue-furred bear loped on the other side, coming to stand on its hind legs. That thing had to be at least twelve feet tall! A small, “eek!” escaped Virgil’s lips as he moved to hide back behind the wall. Maybe the bear hadn’t seen him. All at once, the wall crumbled into dust, leaving Virgil facing away from a fearsome predator. He slowly turned his head to see the bear looking straight at him. With wide eyes, he slowly turned back and bolted back down the mountain.

Virgil checked behind him. Of course the bear was galloping after him. “Crap crap crap crap!” he wheezed, willing his legs to go faster. The bear was gaining on him. Think, Virgil, think! What would Roman do? I can’t believe I just asked myself that. Uh, trees! Bears can’t climb trees, right?

Virgil leapt onto the nearest tree and scrambled up the trunk as best he could. Which is to say, not very well. Still, it was enough to confuse the bear, which bought him a little extra time to climb. The bear stood on its hind legs and started climbing after him. “Oh, come on!” Virgil cried, inching out onto a sturdy looking branch.

The bear, barely needing to get off the ground to reach Virgil, grabbed his hood in its mouth and tugged. Virgil clung tighter to the branch. The bear kept tugging and Virgil could hear wood splintering. “Oh God oh God oh God this is it. This is how I go.” The branch broke with a sharp crack, leaving him dangling from the bear’s mouth. He released the branch and felt around his belt for his dagger. Anxious fingers slipped over the scabbard. Eventually, he freed it and started swinging wildly until the blade found purchase.

He opened his eyes and surveyed his damage. The dagger caught on the bear’s thick pelt as if it were a stick. The bear whined a little but was otherwise unharmed. It nudged the blade away from where it struck, stood on two legs, and released Virgil’s hood.

Virgil fully expected to hit the hard ground. He had seen it coming. But he didn’t even make it down past the bear’s legs. The bear was … holding him. Like a baby. And nuzzling him with a big, wet nose, making contented vocalizations. Was it … loving on him?

No fall. No get hurt.

Virgil’s eyes widened. “Y-you’re telepathic?”

The bear licked his cheek gently and looked into his eyes. I talk you only way I know. I keep you safe. The bear started walking back up the mountain, still carrying Virgil in his arms.

“What are you?” Virgil asked.

Pattington, came the bear’s reply.

“Where are you taking me?” asked Virgil.

Burrow. I keep you safe. I love like own cub.

All too soon, the two were in a clearing off the side of the path. At least, it used to be a clearing. There had to be hundreds of birdhouses in the trees and little bunny burrows dotting the cliffs. Deer, squirrels, and rabbits scampered freely in the clearing without worrying that the bear— Pattington— would hurt them. He lowered Virgil gently to the ground.

You play other cubs. I get dinner, said Pattington with one last nuzzle against Virgil. He sank back onto four paws and roamed toward the edge of the clearing.

Virgil was so struck by this odd behavior that he almost let him go. “Wait!” he called, running after him. Pattington looked back. “Um, I can’t stay. I’m kind of looking for something. Or uh, someone. It’s a little hard to tell.”

The bear stopped. Cub stay. Cub safe here. He put a gentle paw against Virgil’s chest and disappeared into the forest.

Virgil stood there for a moment. Was this bear trying to adopt him? He did not have time for this, not with a giant raging orb to be found! Frantically, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the timer Logan gave him. 3:10:48. There was still the greater part of three hours, but that meant nothing. If Virgil let himself go along with what this bear wanted, then Patton would never be able to come back. Now seemed like as good a time as any to get the heck away from here.

Virgil clambered through the small bit of forest between him and the path. He started walking up through where the orb had clearly razed. It didn’t take long to find its destination. A giant indentation in the mountain gave its secrets away. That much, at least, Virgil expected. What he didn’t expect was to find a slightly smaller bear shaped depression nested in the larger one. On the ground beneath them lay huge paw prints that faded as they got closer to the burrow.

Wait. That bear. He had blue fur. And was very snuggly. And very overprotective. And had a pun-filled name.

“Patton?”

As if summoned by hearing his true name, Pattington appeared behind Virgil. Cub, why wander from burrow?

Virgil could hardly believe it. Patton was here the whole time! “Pat … I was looking for you,” Virgil said, happy tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Why cub cry? Pattington not go far, Pattington said, approaching Virgil. Virgil closed the gap between them and clung to Patton’s neck, sobbing into his soft fur.

“I was so scared … I thought I’d never find you after y-you died in my arms … But now I can bring you back!” Virgil cried.

Me no go. You stay. Let me love you forever. The bear sat back and hugged Virgil to his chest.

Virgil pushed back a little, just enough to look into Pattington’s eyes. “But all of that can happen when you’re you again! There’s no reason why it can’t! Please, you have to come with me!”

Virgil not like my affection in Patton-form. Pattington different, Pattington keened mournfully.

Very few things caught Virgil off guard, but boy, if this didn’t completely knock him to the ground. “What are you talking about?” asked Virgil a little frantically.

Pattington put his forehead against Virgil’s. Frenzied images flashed before his eyes.

He saw himself through Patton’s eyes. They both were in their old clothes. They had just finished watching a movie or something and sat talking in Virgil’s room. It was getting close to the end of their visit. Patton went in for a hug and Virgil backed off. “Woah, what are you doing?” past Virgil asked.

“Oh, I um, I thought that since we’ve been getting so close …” Patton’s voice trailing off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!”

“No no, it’s fine, just uh … warn me first,” past Virgil replied. He opened his arms a little, and Patton took that opening. And goodness, Virgil could feel his satisfaction.

The images shifted into a later instance. Patton was having a rough day. Despite it, he still made time to go to Virgil’s room for their weekly get-together. Roman and Logan had apparently been arguing or snooping or something; that part Virgil couldn’t tell. The two munched on warm cookies and milk while some Disney movie played on Virgil’s TV. Patton leaned against Virgil as the movie played. Virgil just sat there. All of the sudden, Virgil began shuddering against Patton. He looked to Virgil, who appeared to be hyperventilating.

Patton sat back up. “Virgil?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

Virgil looked at him and started calming down. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he shakily replied. “Kinda glad to be able to move again. This might be too much stimulation for one night.”

“Oh,” he softly said. And goodness, Virgil could feel the pain in Patton’s chest.

Virgil was snapped back to the mountainous forest, those memories still searing in his skull. Pattington softly whined in front of him. Pattington too much. Too much for Virgil to bear.

So that’s what it was. “Pat, I … you’ve got it all wrong,” Virgil started. “Sure, you can be very … touchy. Sometimes a little too much for me to understand. But you have to understand that I don’t think you’re too much. A Patton hug is one of the best things to have right after a panic attack or when I’m down! Those casual little touches help to ground me. It just startled me when you went for it right away that first time. And that panic attack that you saw … I wasn’t overstimulated because of you.

“We were watching Cinderella that night. It got me thinking that maybe we had missed our chance to fix things with our ex, and we would never find love again. If anything, your presence there helped me get my thoughts back under control.” Virgil held Pattington’s paw in his hands. “So please … Please come back with me. I … I want Patton back. I need Patton back.”

Pattington’s eyes shone with fresh tears. With one last nuzzle, Pattington said, Thank you. I love you, Virgil, and morphed back into a tiny blue sphere. Virgil got the jar from his belt, very gently enclosing the thought within it.

“I love you too, Dad.”

Taglist: @celeste-tyrrell @taxicabinmemphis @angeldiaries @somehow-i-got-an-account @kawaiikat54 @rainy-days-and-the-fae

#atlas writes #patton angst #sanders sides angst #patton sanders #shatter me #um #okay so patton doesn't actually like #formally appear in this chapter #but uh yeah #finally we start to see the other sides reactions to their parts in this #hehehehe #shatter me story

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atomic-taco-muffin · 3 years

Text

The Lost Princess Chapter 125

Warnings: You already know

Rating: SFW

Urd sat on the root of the tree near Xehanort as Eraqus paced impatiently.

"They should be here by now," Eraqus sighed.

"What? YOU'RE late all the time," Urd said. Eraqus turned to her with a smirk.

"Fashionably late!" he said.

"Says you!"

"Hey, there's an art to my--"

"Shh. We're being watched," Xehanort said.

"It's about time they showed up!" Eraqus said. He turned around, before reeling back and falling over.

"Agh!" he screamed.

"What is it?" Xehanort asked.

"What's wrong?" Urd asked. The two ran over to him and he pointed toward a high branch of a tree where they saw a floating pair of eyes. A crescent-shaped toothy grin appeared below them and the eyes fell into place as a pink and purple cat appeared.

"'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves..." the cat sang. The three approached the tree which was adorned with signs pointing in all sorts of absurd directions.

"Where did--?" Urd asked.

"Who are you?" Xehanort asked.

"A cheshire cat, if you please. Or if you don't," the cat said.

"A cat? Man, you scared me!" Eraqus said.

"Hmm...there's no point waiting around for your friends to arrive." Xehanort crossed his arms.

"How did you know we're waiting for our friends?" he asked.

"Mmm...I'll never tell," he said, its coy grin remained ever so wide.

"Can you help us? Do you know where they are?" Eraqus asked.

"Why, they're under lock... And, of course, key, too."

"What!? Where?" Xehanort asked.

"Exactly?" the cat asked. Its body vanished, leaving only its smile. "What or where?"

The smile faded and Eraqus ran up to the tree.

"Hey, wait!" he said.

"So what's the plan?" Urd asked.

"Well, we don't have much to go off of," Xehanort said.

"But we have to do something! Start looking for--Agh!" Eraqus said. The cat's head reappeared, smile first, on the tree behind Urd and Xehanort, causing Eraqus to reel back again.

"Or just wait. The answer will be here rather soon," it said. Its head retreated, the eyes jumping away before the smile vanished.

"Is he really gone this time...?" Eraqus asked as he looked around.

"What did he mean anyway?" Urd asked.

"Beats me," Xehanort said. A scuffling of feet from the path to their right caught their attention. "Ah, that might be our answer."

Three life-size playing card soldiers walked toward them, the Ace, Deuce, and Trey of Spades.

"What now?" Urd asked.

"More intruders?! It's not good to cause a ruckus in Her Majesty's kingdom, you know," the Ace said.

"We're just looking for our friends," Eraqus said. The three brandished their spade-tipped spears at them.

"Not that that would matter," the Trey said.

"We'd best seize them," the Deuce said. Eraqus put his hands out

"Hey, listen to me!" he said.

"Hurry!" someone said. The three stood at attention as the Ace of Hearts strolled in.

"The trial's about to begin!" the Ace said.

"But we spotted some suspicious--" the Trey said.

"No time for that!" The Ace tapped his heart-tipped spear against the ground. "If you're late, you'll lose your heads!"

Terrified, the Spades fell in line behind the Ace of Hearts, and the Card Soldiers marched away, leaving the three students.

"So...that's it?" Eraqus asked.

"I guess we're off the hook," Urd said.

"For now. But I'm not so sure about the others," Xehanort said.

"What do you mean?"

"'More intruders,' he said..."

"That's it!" Eraqus said.

"...which means he must've run into people who looked like us before."

"The cat said our friends were under lock and key, and those soldiers were talking about a trial. That's gotta be where they are."

"Wait, a trial? For what?” Urd asked. Xehanort shook his head.

“I don't know. Seems like this world has its own weird set of rules,” he said.

“At least now we know where to go.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Eraqus asked. Urd and Xehanort nodded. At the Queen's Castle, a White Rabbit wearing a millstone collar rushed to the top of a podium. He played a short fanfare on a trumpet.

“Your Majesty, loyal subjects, the...uh, the trial has begun!” the rabbit said. The Queen of Hearts smiled calmly from atop the bench as Hermod, Vor, and Bragi stood at the defendant's bar with worried looks on their faces.

“And here I thought I would find Spirits,” Bragi said.

“Ugh, enough with the Spirits already!” Hermod said.

“The prisoners at the bar are charged with trespassing...and willfully disturbing Her Majesty's peace,” the Rabbit said.

“Wait, I'll own up to trespassing, but that's it,” Bragi said.

“Oh?” the Queen smiled.

“If anything, we were fighting the monsters to try and KEEP the peace. And also to see some Spirits. They’re so pretty.” The Queen pointed her heart-shaped fan at him.

“So you confess to a far more serious crime!” she said.

“Uh... You mean fighting monsters? But that's the only way--”

“All ways here are MY ways! Everything you see obeys MY rules and follows MY ways!”

“Everything? Like the people, this place, and even...the monsters?”

“Of course!” the Queen yelled. The White Rabbit fell off the podium at her outburst garnering a giggle from Vor.

“But that's crazy!” Bragi said. The rabbit reappeared as Xehanort, Eraqus and Urd watched the trial from afar.

“I've seen enough,” Eraqus said as he summoned his Keyblade.

“Wait. What exactly are you going to do?” Xehanort asked.

“Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna save them!”

“By attacking these people? Remember we have to respect this world's order.” Eraqus reluctantly dispelled his Keyblade.

“But what else can we do?” Urd asked.

“Well, we shouldn't waste any more time standing around here,” Xehanort said. Eraqus grinned. “What are you smiling about? Let's go.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eraqus said.

“It's time for your sentence...and that sentence is...guilty!” the Queen said.

“Objection!” Eraqus said. The three ran into the courtroom to the displeasure of the Queen.

“Guys!” Bragi said.

“That verdict is unfair and you know it!” Xehanort said.

“Who are you!?” the Queen shouted. Vor laughed as the rabbit fell off the podium again. “And how dare you challenge me!? They're guilty because I say so!”

“They should be judged by a jury of their peers, and not by one single person. What right do you have to decide their fate?” Xehanort said.

“BECAUSE I AM THE QUEEN! AND...I AM ALWAYS IN CHARGE!”

“You decide everything for everyone?” The Queen nodded proudly as the White Rabbit ascended the podium for a third time, out of breath.

“Come on, there has to be a better way. What did they do that was so bad, huh? Can't you show some mercy? Or are you just a bully who rules with fear?” Eraqus said. The Queen gritted her teeth with seething rage.

“Fear!?” the Queen shouted and the Rabbit fell again. “Nonsense! My subjects adore me. DON'T YOU, SUBJECTS!?”

The Card Soldiers leaned back slightly out of "adoration". The rabbit peeked back out as the Queen's subjects trembled.

“See?! All power here is my power! Now, enough of this insolence! OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!” the Queen smiled.

“They're going to lose their heads!” the Aces said. The Aces joined the rest of the Card Soldiers in song.

“They're going to lose their heads!” the Card Soldiers sang. They marched in place before assembling into a sequentially stacked house of cards.

“What now? Got a plan?” Eraqus asked.

“That WAS the plan. We'll just have to wing it now,” Xehanort said.

“Great! That's what I do best!”

“What--?” Xehanort noticed an aura of darkness behind the Queen. It dissipated as she pointed her fan forward.

“Seize them!” she said. The Cards marched toward them before they were struck down by a dark slash as a looming purple Heartless carrying a lantern and a giant scythe appeared.

“Whoa!” Urd said.

“Can I use my Keyblade now?” Eraqus asked as he summoned it.

“You don't have to ask,” Xehanort said as he followed suit. The remaining students did the same as the White Rabbit made for the exit.

“Th-the prisoners have been found guilty. So, the, uh, the trial is over!” he said as he escaped followed by with the Queen.

“Order! I said ORDER! You will all pay for this!” she shouted. She left as the house of card soldiers reassembled, but quickly toppled over with one strike from the Ferry Reaper's scythe.

“They don't stand a chance...” Bragi said. The cards got back to their feet, staring up at the Heartless in fear. Bragi nodded to Hermod and Vor who reciprocated, dashing between the cards and the Heartless.

“Bragi!” Eraqus said. The three began attacking the Ferry Reaper before the Heartless swung its scythe in a circular motion, knocking them and the cards right out of the courtroom. “Bragi!”

The Heartless whirled around and roared at them.

“This won't be easy,” Xehanort said.

“Ready when you are,” Eraqus said. Urd nodded. After defeating the Ferry Reaper, the six reconvened in the forest.

“I'm glad you're okay,” Eraqus said.

“Whatever. It wasn't too bad,” Bragi smirked.

“I just...never thought we'd have to deal with something like that,” Hermod said.

“I guess. I mean, it was tough, but we weren't in any real danger,” Eraqus said. He placed his arms behind his head while Hermod protested.

“I'm not talking about the Heartless,” Hermod said. Xehanort opened his eyes from his position against the tree.

“You're not? But aren't they the enemy?” Bragi asked.

“Yeah, that's what we learned in class,” Vor said.

“Hermod's right. It's not that simple,” Urd said.

“What are you guys talking about?” Eraqus asked as he dropped his arms.

“A threat stronger than any Heartless: the darkness in people's hearts. That's what drives the Queen of Hearts to rule with fear. But...if that's the way of this world, then maybe it's not our place to say if it's right or wrong,” Hermod said.

“We can't just go around challenging what we think is ‘bad,’” Urd said.

“So that's why you didn't put up a fight,” Eraqus said, despondently.

“We didn't have a choice,” Vor said.

“Hey, guys... Do you think the upper classmen were caught in a similar situation? If they were, and they realized their hands were tied, maybe they got captured too...or worse.”

“What do you think? Xehanort?” Bragi asked. Xehanort opened his eyes and stopped leaning against the tree.

“Sorry--what were you talking about?” he asked.

“The missing wielders. We assumed the Heartless were responsible, but instead, it might be someone touched by darkness...” Eraqus said. Xehanort and Eraqus's minds flashed to the dark aura emanating from the Queen of Hearts.

“Darkness can hide anywhere. Even inside someone,” they said.

“Huh?” Xehanort blinked.

“How did you--?” Eraqus asked.

“Me? I...”

“Darkness can hide anywhere...” Hermod said.

“Right. Look at the queen. She believes people respect her power, even though it's obvious they live in fear. That's the kind of delusion that might force our hand down the line.”

“Even so, I still believe in the light in people's hearts,” Eraqus said.

“Me too.” Eraqus smiled and the rest nodded.

“For now, let's keep searching for the upper classmen,” Urd said.

“Yeah. We should focus on our mission,” Vor said.

“Hope we don't get sidetracked again,” Bragi smirked.

“You're gonna jinx it...” Hermod said.

“Hey! The only time I’ll be sidetracked is when I see a Spirit.” Eraqus walked over to Xehanort as the rest of them continued to chat.

“Hey. You okay?” Eraqus asked.

“I'm fine,” Xehanort said as he thought back to Eraqus arguing with the Queen.

“You’re thinking of Celina, aren’t you?”

“A little bit. I wonder...could darkness burrow so deep into someone's heart that they don't even know it's there?”

“That's a scary thought.”

“Could you turn your Keyblade on a being that has no idea what they've become?”

“I...don't know.”

“One day we might have to decide.” Noticing the two of them together, Vor jumped down from the tree root where she was sitting.

“What are you two whispering about?” she asked.

“Oh, just whether or not we should stick around here,” Eraqus said.

“There's a chance the others were put on trial just like us. I think we should try to find out more before we leave,” Hermod said.

“Even though we might run into trouble again?” Bragi asked.

“Hey, why don't we split up? A few of us can stay behind while the rest go on to the next world,” Urd said. Eraqus peered at Xehanort who nodded.

“We’ll stay,” Eraqus said.

“Just the two of you?” Vor asked.

“Yeah. Better to keep a low profile,” Xehanort said. Vor lifted a hand to her face in thought.

“Uh... Something wrong?” Eraqus asked.

“You tell me...and maybe I'll keep you company till you do,” Vor said. Bragi smirked and Hermod crossed his arms.

“Well? What do you say?” Eraqus asked Xehanort. They accepted Vor to come along with them.

“Yay! I promise you won't regret it!” she said. Eraqus put his hands on his hips.

“We'll see about that...” he said. She smiled brightly and he sighed.

“See you guys later. Be safe,” Xehanort said.

~~~~

Your mother screamed in pain as electricity shot through her body, her arms held up in a T position and her fingers scrunching up in pain. The electricity turned off and she panted, her body feeling numb.

“Now I’m gonna ask you again. What was that spell for?” the Master of Masters asked.

“I’ll never tell you,” your mother said.

“Fine. Oi, Storm Bringer!”

“Y-yes, master,” a Storm Bringer said.

“Bring the boy.”

“Y-yes, master.” The Storm Bringer ran to grab Sora and brought him over to the Master.

“Who are you?” Sora asked.

“Just your worst nightmare. Now tell me, did Haru ever speak to you?” the Master said.

“My name is not Haru!” your mother said.

“I’ve never seen her before. Am I supposed to know her?” Sora said.

“No. But your ‘precious little girlfriend’ does,” the Master said.

“You mean (Y/N)?!”

“Bingo! You see, this witch here is her mother and I’m her grandfather.”

“Why are you doing this?!”

“Because. Spirits need to die. It’s etched!”

“No. It isn’t,” your mother said.

“Shut the fuck up.” The Master kicked your mother in the face and Sora summoned his Keyblade.

“I may not know who you are lady, but I believe you,” he said. The Master summoned his Keyblade and walked towards Sora.

“So be it then...” he said.

“Run!” your mother yelled. Sora dispelled his Keyblade and ran out of the room.

“Dammit! This isn’t over!” the Master said. He turned the electricity on again and left to go hunt down Sora.

#kingdom hearts #kingdomhearts #kingdom hearts 4 #kh 4 #kingdom hearts dark road #kingdom hearts dr #kh dark road #kh dr #kingdom hearts imagine #kingdom hearts imagines #kingdom hearts x reader #kingdomhearts x reader #kingdomhearts imagines

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crystalgirl259 · 4 years

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The Flame and the Dragon Ch 7

Chapter 7: The Master

"What the hell were you thinking!" A voice rang in Nya's head as she felt herself slowly regaining consciousness. She tried to shake the weariness from her mind and focus on the different voices echoing around her.

"Well, we weren't leaving them to freeze to death out in the rain all night." A soft voice argued.

"Yeah, and it's hard to ignore two people who suddenly dropped on your doorstep." A third voice with a laid back, casual tone to it added. The first voice shrieked in frustration.

"I don't care! I understand you guys wanted to help the poor things, really I do, but think about home! What do you think he's gonna do when he comes downstairs, finds us taking care of two strangers who are currently sitting on his favorite couch, after having trespassed! He isn't going to consider you're good deed!"

"Then don't tell him, Zane." A fourth, female voice entered, heavy with a hissing sound.

"Don't encourage them, Tox!" The first voice, Zane, scolded the woman, Tox.

"Come on Zane, we can't just leave them out in the storm? I mean we could just..." The soft voice argued timidly, pausing as if to ponder his options. "Just let them stay here the night and let them leave before he wakes up? The Master will never know."

"Jay..." Zane addressed the boy to who the diffident voice belonged too. "Look me in the eye and tell me you actually believe that will work?"

"Oh for FSM's sake, Zane." The unidentified voice howled, followed a stomping foot. "What do you suggest we do?" He challenged. Silence soon followed, allowing Nya time to recover and force her eyes to open. Haziness filled her vision as lights suddenly filled them but she blinked them away and sat up. Relieved to find Lloyd next to her. He was fast asleep, breathing normally, and wrapped in a warm blanket, and his clothes, hair, and skin bone dry.

She couldn't help but smile at how cute he looked sleeping.

She looked down at herself, not only to find she was no longer on the cobblestone path but a soft leather couch, covered by a thick fur blanket. The rainwater has been stripped to the last drop from her clothes, hair, and skin, much to her shock, though she refused to complain. Nya shook away the last waves of sleep and turned to thank their caretakers. But when she turned to the source of the voices she found not people, but four creatures standing in a circle.

One was a troll, one was a white yeti, and one was a green naga.

The last was a creature she didn't recognize. Its body was composed of lightning and with the form of a white and blue fox. Lloyd stirred awake, cutely rubbing his eyes, and shook his head adjusting to the light. The blue fox gently strolled over to Lloyd. It started climbing up the couch like a cat and perched itself on the headrest before cutely holding out a small paw for the boy to shake.

"Hi there, I'm Jay." It smiled and Lloyd's reaction was that of a wound-up spring. The small boy screamed and jumped and fell backward all in one motion, his hand missing the couch and fell into nothing causing him to crash to the floor in a heap. His eyes bulged out of his skull when the furry creature looked over the edge of the couch.

"You okay?" Jay asked.

"A talking fox?" Lloyd muttered from the floor, his voice speaking automatically, shaking. Nya was clearly frozen from shock.

"I'm not a talking fox! I'm a raijū!" Jay stomped his foot, rising to his feet insulted. He growled when he heard the troll and naga snickering, threatening to burst into laughter. Lloyd repositioned himself onto his knees just in time to meet toxic green eyes. The green naga smiled brightly.

"Hey! Name's Tox, what's yours? And before you ask, I'm a naga."

"I'm... Lloyd." He replied, momentarily forgetting to breathe, but answered nonetheless, before turning his he'd to his sister. She was frozen on the couch, with Jay floating around her head on a ball of electricity, waving his blue paws in front of her face.

"Hello? Is she mute?"

"She's in shock, you idiot!" The troll howled. "I'm Ronin, by the way."

"So who are you?" Lloyd smiled at the quiet yeti.

"I am Zane, a yeti with the power to control the element of ice," Zane explained, holding out a clawed hand to Lloyd. Lloyd shook the yeti's claw.

"I'm Lloyd and that's my big sister Nya." She smiled at his elder sibling. Though shock was evident all over her face, Nya held up a hand and waved.

"Oh for the love of FSM." Ronin smacked his forehead before a brilliant glow surrounded his body. A second later, the troll vanished and the light expanded until a tall human man stood in its place. He had wavy brown hair, dark brown eyes with the beginning of a beard on his face. He wore a dark cyan jumper with light brown pants and a large red hat. His arms crossed over his chest as he turned to the siblings.

"Is this better?" He asked but Nya fell out of her seat, still in shock.

"Perhaps this will help?" Zane suggested and a flash of turquoise and in place of the slender, white yeti stood a tall, strongly-built boy, around Ronin's height. He had platinum blonde, almost snowy white, hair that stood up straight in something like a crew cut and bright icy blue eyes. He wore white pants and shoes with a long-sleeved, cyan blue shirt under a navy blue knitted vest. The newly turned man offered a hand to the youngest Smith who was still on the floor.

Lloyd took it without thinking unable to take his eyes off the white-haired man standing before him.

Lloyd's eyes darted to Zane, then Jay, then Ronin and Tox. Tox and Jay looked at the other and smiled, before answering his unasked question. Jay landed on the floor, bathed in a navy blue light, before the blue fox he once was transformed into his true form. He was a young man with reddish-brown curly hair with brown eyebrows and light freckles. He usually wore a blue jacket with a white stripe over a white t-shirt and blue pants with an orange wooly scarf.

Despite his mature features his large, dark blue eyes and mischievous smile radiated innocence and youth.

They all looked to the naga. Tox smiled and a light green flash was the only warning anyone had before in the green naga's place stood a small, petite, almost delicate girl who was around Nya's age. She had long green hair tied back into a ponytail similar to Nya's with sickly, pale, yellowish skin and bright green eyes. Around her neck was a black, studded choker. She was wearing a ripped green tank top that was cut short to reveal her stomach and black, torn-up jeans.

Even though all of them were in human form they still had a few tell-tale signs that they weren't fully human.

Tox still had snake eyes and Ronin's ears were pointed and he had fangs poking out of his mouth. Zane still had a cold air around him and every time he exhaled the siblings could see his breath. Jay's limbs occasionally twitched with electricity.

"I'm sorry if I sound rude, but you three know they can't stay here! It's bad enough you even brought them inside!" Zane suddenly glared, dragged them back to the issue at hand.

"We didn't mean to intrude," Nya explained, "I just needed to find Lloyd shelter from the storm, we'll leave in the morning."

"Hell no!" Jay cut him off. "You're not intruding at all! Zane is just worried about the Master that's all, but he's asleep, just let us warn him quickly that you're here, and then—"

Suddenly an earth-shattering roar echoed through the castle shaking everyone within it to their knees. A tremor ran through Nya's body and Lloyd threw himself in his sister's arms, shaking in fear. The master was awake, and he was furious with the four creatures. A sharp gust of wind roared through the castle, silencing all the candles and shrouding everything in darkness. Despite the fear wracking their bodies the four creatures moved to hide their guests as best they could.

It was a vain attempt to hold their master's anger.

All four of them shook in fear. They knew full well the Master would never harm them, but just his presence alone was intimidating.

"Nya, I'm scared." Lloyd trembled as he tried to hide in his sister's coat.

"Shh, it'll be alright, I've got you." Nya soothed in a vain attempt to calm him down. But she screamed when suddenly a loud gust of wind like the beat of giant wings followed by the loud thump of someone landing behind him before the siblings or the creature could react, and then suddenly she came face to face with two blazing green eyes with black slits, not human, almost like a dragon's. Kai stories flashed in Nya's mind like old photographs.

Stunned mystification caused her eyes to bulge.

"That's not possible," She muttered as her mind began spinning and her body felt faint, but she stood her ground. She couldn't show fear with Lloyd in her arms. The master glared at her, those impossibly green eyes bore into her terrified ocean eyes like piercing arrows. Then he chuckled, a low callous laugh.

"Is that all you can do?" He spoke in a dark, humorous hiss. His green eyes aligned with the fire of hurt and rage that seemed so much older and deeper than his youth. "Stare at me, like I'm some kind of monster."

"It's our fault, not theirs! We're the ones who brought them here!" Jay, who had always been outspoken, tried in vain to defend them but the master's loud growl soon silenced him. Even Zane, who was one of the few who could speak to the master freely, shivered at his temper.

"We mean no harm," Nya replied. "My brother and I just needed shelter from the storm." She explained. The eyes left her and the moment they did, Nya felt as if some enchantment upon her had broken, until she realized the master has not even noticed Lloyd until that point. Before she could speak another world, Lloyd's screamed pierced the night, followed by Nya's when she felt Lloyd ripped from her arms. Something cold and metallic, wrap around her arm, prying them apart harshly.

"Please don't hurt my brother!" She screamed, without thinking. The master's eyes bulged in both horror and confusion before bitterness and humor once again filled them. Harsh laughter spilled from the master's lips shaking everyone to the core.

"Of course that would be your first assumption, too bad; I was going to be lenient, but since it seems you don't know how to hold your tongue, I suppose you'll need a harsher lesson." The master spoke arrogantly, in a tone that froze Nya's core, she couldn't see Lloyd in the darkness but could hear his tears and trembling. Each one ripped another piece of her apart.

"Zane, put them to bed, now." He ordered, glaring at Ronin, Jay, and Tox. Zane reluctantly nodded and obeyed. Eyes wide, the trio moved to flee, but Zane caught them before they could escape. In a flash of light, the boys and Tox human forms vanished and the three creatures fell to the floor. Again they attempted to make a dash for the nearest door, but the Zane caught them in ice before they could escape. They struggled if only to help their new friends.

The master simply snorted at their efforts.

"That's all they'll ever see me as." He muttered in a harsh voice, ceased all of their strugglings. The tone he said it in made it impossible to tell if he was speaking to the siblings or the other four creatures. "They'll only see me as a... a monster" He hissed in a voice of rage and bitterness, before scolding harshly at the trio's loud protests.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" He commanded before flying away dragging his thrashing and screaming prisoners with him, towards the tower. Guilt and remorse poisoned the four creatures. Even Jay could no longer struggle as Zane brought them upstairs to the room they shared for as long as they could remember. The guilt and harshness of their master's tone hurt more than the extremely light punishment ever could. Even worse were Lloyd's screams of terror echoing through the castle until the loud clang of the tower door slamming shut replaced it.

A gloom once again settled over the castle as their master retreated brokenly to his only sanctuary.

A silent shiver of hope was tearing thread by thread that they would ever be free. Or the master's true love would ever come to free their prince from the undeserving and unspeakable fate that was sure to come the following spring...

#The Flame and the Dragon #ninjago #ninjago zane #ninjago cole #ninjago kai #ninjago lloyd #ninjago nya #ninjago jay #parody #beauty and the beast #lavashipping

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voltrontranscript · 4 years

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VLD S8E3: The Prisoner’s Dilemma

Season 8 Episode 3: The Prisoner’s Dilemma

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: The Voltron Coalition takes over a Galra base on the planet Ryker, where they meet up with a familiar face: Warlord Lahn. They offer him a place in the Voltron Coalition, and are interrupted by a distress signal from a droid on a missing ship. When they go on the search and rescue operation, the heroes get more than they bargained for.

[Google Doc]

Lahn: What’s happening?

Galra Officer: Six hostile ships have entered the system, sir.

Lahn: Prepare armaments and power the satellites. How did they make it past initial detection?

Keith: This is the Voltron Coalition. Lay down your arms and--

Lahn: Open fire!

Lance: Well, that didn’t take long!

Hunk: Fighters launching! Six o’clock low!

Keith: Remember, shoot them down if needed, but try to avoid collateral damage on the ground.

[Cut to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Shiro: Shield status.

Iverson: Holding steady at ninety-five percent, but the ground cannons have us targeted.

Shiro: Let’s give the Lions some backup. Adjust our heading down to one point zero five.

Coran: Adjusting course.

Shiro: Lock onto the ground cannons.

Iverson: We have weapons lock.

Shiro: Fire!

Iverson: Prepare for launch. Once you’re locked in, you’ve got three seconds. Anticipate, but don’t jump the gun.

Pilots: Copy.

Griffin: Alright, team, we’ve got to clear a path for the rebel ships. Let’s move!

Keith: Paladins! Let’s take out their reinforcements.

[Cut to the command center of the base.]

Lahn: Damage report!

Galra Officer: We’ve suffered little to no casualties, sir, but half the fleet has been rendered inoperable.

[Cut to N-7 outside the base.]

N-7: Pulse emitters set. Detonation in three, two, one.

[Cut back to the command center.]

Galra Officer: All power is down across the base. Only the emergency power generators remain active.

Lahn: What about the satellites?

Galra Officer: They should still be operational.

Lahn: Good.

[Cut to the IGF-Atlas.]

Shiro: Does anyone have eyes on where these lasers are coming from?

Pidge: I’m not seeing anything on my scanners. Trying to locate point of origin now.

Allura: I’m on it. I’ve got visual on two cloaked cannon satellites.

Hunk: How did we miss those?

Pidge: It looks like we wormholed right past them.

Keith: Paladins, on me! Form Voltron!

Shiro: Great job making quick work of the satellites, Paladins. We’ve successfully gained control of the base.

[Scene change to the command center of the base.]

James: This one says he’s the leader.

Hunk: Whoa! Oh! Holy Kaltenecker, what are you doing here? It’s me, Hunk. Remember? Paladin of the Yellow Lion? We worked together.

Lahn: I remember.

Keith: Wait, you know this guy?

Hunk: Yeah, from the Omega Shield. Oh, that’s right, you were, uh, you were on a space road trip with your mom. Keith, this is our friend Lieutenant Lahn.

Lahn: It’s Warlord Lahn now, and you and I are not friends.

Hunk: Oh. Okay, uh… I guess I just thought we bonded by working together as a team to fix the Omega Shield and save your planet, you know? A Galra-occupied planet, no less. We saved it. It’s cool. No big deal.

Lahn: Sendak only attacked the Omega Shield after we pledged loyalty to Voltron. Then you disappeared and left us vulnerable to more attacks. I vowed to never let that happen again.

Allura: It was not our intention to be gone for so long. But we’re here now.

Lahn: To claim victory over us?

Allura: No!

Shiro: We didn’t come here to argue. Warlord Lahn, we’re asking you to join the Voltron Coalition to help provide stability to the universe.

Lahn: What’s the alternative?

Shiro: If you want peace, if you want to end this war, there can be no alternative.

Lahn: You’ve attained victory, and I accept defeat.

Keith: It doesn’t have to be victory or death. I know it’s the Galra way, but--

Lahn: And what do you know of the Galra?

Keith: My mother is Galra. She’s a member of the Blade of Marmora. So am I.

Lahn: The mutinous Blades have all but perished. Are they so diminished in numbers that they’re forced to enlist a half-breed and his mommy?

Pidge: Guys, I’m getting an incoming communication.

Shiro: Patch it through.

Distorted Male Voice: Yordam bering exus. Yordam bering exus. Yordam bering exus.

Lahn: It’s an emergency protocol built into the sentries when they’re under distress. Has your Voltron Coalition attacked them, as well?

Keith: No, we didn’t.

Shiro: Pidge, see if you can reopen the hailing frequency.

Pidge: I’m trying, but no response. I’m locating the transmission’s origin, but the EMPs we set off have done a number on the communications systems. Huh? E got a comm signature. Do you recognize this ship?

Lahn: Yes, it’s Klytax V-Three. It’s one of the fifteen ships I sent on an assignment six phoebs ago. They all disappeared. We assumed them dead.

Keith: It looks like they’re not dead after all. We need to get out there. Shiro, how long before the Atlas is ready to launch again?

Shiro: Hours. We still need to process all the Galra and prepare the planet to continue operating on its own. This is our mission. We need to see this through.

Keith: Then Voltron will go.

Lahn: Voltron is going to save the Galra? My fleet would never believe Voltron was there to help. They’d fight you until their last breath.

Keith: That’s why you’re coming with us.

[Scene change to open space en route to the location of Klytax V-Three.]

Keith: What was this fleet’s mission when they left?

Lahn: They were out gathering munitions.

Allura: Weapons? Were you buying or stealing them?

Lahn: The Galra Empire is at war with itself. We have to do what we can to survive. But if you must know, they were salvaging weapons from an abandoned Galra base.

Pidge: I have visual.

Keith: Everyone, stay alert.

Lance: What happened here?

Hunk: Uh, Warlord Lahn, didn’t you say there were fifteen cruisers? Where are the rest of them?

Pidge: I’m not detecting any signs of life or biorhythms on the closest two ships, but there are some signals coming from the ship at the end.

Lahn: That’s Klytax V-Three, where the call came from.

Keith: Hailing Galra Cruiser Klytax V-Three. This is Keith, Paladin of the Black Lion of Voltron. Do you copy?

Lahn: This is Warlord Lahn, your commander. Do you copy?

Distorted Male Voice: Yordam bering exus. Yordam bering exus.

Keith: Whoever’s in there, we need to find them and get them out.

Pidge: If I can access the ship’s security network, we should be able to find out what happened here.

Keith: Paladins, Lahn and I are gonna head in first to make sure the entry point is safe. You guys jetpack in behind us.

Paladins: Copy.

[Scene change to inside the ship, where Keith, Kosmo, and Lahn teleport in.]

Keith: We’re all clear. Lahn, open the airlock doors.

[Cut to the Paladins as they enter the airlock, then group up with Lahn and Keith.]

Keith: Pidge, are you picking up any signals?

Pidge: There are multiple biorhythms, but they’re intermittent, almost random. It doesn’t make any sense.

Keith: Okay, we’ll need to split up to find any survivors. Hunk and Lance, clear the aft of the ship. I’ll take the bow and work my way toward you. Pidge and Allura, take Lahn to go through the security logs. Find out what happened here.

Lahn: I don’t like taking orders on my own ship.

Keith: Duly noted.

[Scene change to Keith searching the ship in the dark.]

Keith: Nobody’s here.

[Transition to Lahn attempting to access the bridge’s computer.]

Lahn: It’s useless! The ship is in lockdown and the systems can’t be rebooted. We’ll need to contact my base for the security keys.

Pidge: Okay. Or we could just do this.

Allura: What’s wrong with it?

Pidge: I’m not sure. It appears to be corrupted. Let me see if I can clean this up.

Lahn: Everything I’ve spent years fighting for, taken away in an instant.

Allura: I, too, have lost everything. My planet, my family. But when the Paladins arrived at the Castle of Lions--

Lahn: You’ve never had to earn power. It’s always been given to you! You’re looking for something you once had: security, peace, happiness. Those things have never been part of a Galra soldier’s life. You and I are not the same.

Allura: You want something to call your own. Believe it or not, I understand that, but there are other ways to get it than through force. That’s what the coalition is offering.

[Scene change to Hunk and Lance floating through the escape pod bay.]

Hunk: The escape pods are still here.

Lance: Yeah, but the Galra aren’t. Everyone is gone, but no one escaped in one of these things.

Hunk: Ugh, that’s creepy. Oh, it’s a massacre! We gotta get out of here!

Lance: Ah! It’s all over me!

Hunk: Me, too! Lance, get it off me! Oh--oh, wait. Wait a minute. It’s food goo!

Lance: It’s not coming off!

Hunk: Oh, it’s rotten food goo! Gross!

[Cut to Keith, who finds a large hole blasted through several walls.]

Keith: What could have done this?

[Cut back to Allura, Pidge, and Lahn on the bridge.]

Pidge: I think I’ve got something. The soldier is here, but after the flash, he’s gone. But now the shadow is on the other side of the screen.

Allura: Perhaps it’s from another soldier.

Pidge: I don’t think so. That’s less than a tenth of a second. Hold on, it looks like the trajectory of the lighting angles combined with the proximity to the soldier are distorting the shadow’s shape.

Lahn: What is that thing?

[Cut back to Hunk and Lance as they float further up the ship, where they stumble across Ranveig’s Creature siphoning the quintessence from the Balmera crystal.]

Pidge: Guys, be on the lookout for a giant, deadly monster.

Allura: We believe it’s what attacked the crew. Avoid at all costs.

Pidge: Lance, Hunk, do you copy?

[Cut back to Pidge as Lance and Hunk shriek into the comms.]

Pidge: Guys, are you okay? Lance? Hunk?

Hunk: We’re okay.

[Cut to the Creature zipping through the halls and stopping at a computer.]

Pidge: Keith, we just contacted Lance and Hunk. They saw something. Be advised--

[Cut to Lance and Hunk returning to the bridge of the ship.]

Pidge: Keith? Keith, can you hear me?

Allura: Are you two okay?

Lance: Yeah, we’re fine, but we need to get out of here, now!

Pidge: Why? What happened?

Hunk: It was… monster. Ah. Blue flash. Almost died. I got rotten food goo.

Lance: Wait, where’s Keith?

[Scene change to Keith in a dimly lit hallway of the ship.]

Keith: Hello?

Sentry: What are you? What are you?

Keith: My name is Keith, leader of Voltron, Paladin of the Black Lion. Wait. “Yordam bering exus.” Is that you?

Sentry: Where are the rest of the Galra?

Keith: They’re still on planet Ryker. Why?

Sentry: Planet Ryker.

[Cut to the rest of the group on the bridge.]

Pidge: Keith and I were in communication right before we got disconnected. It must have been that thing. You said you saw the creature, right?

Lance: Oh, yeah! Face-to-horrifying-face!

Lahn: We just watched that thing take out one of my men in an instant. How did you two manage to escape unscathed?

Hunk: What’s happening now?

Pidge: The ship’s moving, and it’s headed towards Lahn’s base!

Hunk: Oh, Keith! Good, you’re here! There’s a monster on the ship!

Keith: The base you sent this fleet to plunder, was it Warlord Ranveig’s?

Lahn: Yes, it was.

Keith: Unbelievable.

Allura: Keith, what’s going on?

Keith: The creature on this ship is a superweapon designed to destroy the Galra, and only Galra.

Lahn: Warlord Ranveig would never create such a thing.

Keith: Ranveig found the creature in the Quantum Abyss and experimented on it with Lotor’s quintessence. He trained it to take out his Galran enemies, but he could never control it. The beast couldn’t differentiate between adversaries and allies.

Lance: Wait, how do you know so much about this super-moster-weapon-thingy?

Keith: Because Krolia and I let it loose so we could escape Ranveig’s base. This is all my fault. I’m sorry.

Lahn: It’s what you’ve wanted from the beginning. Something to get rid of the Galra for you.

Lance: I don’t know what it’s gonna take to get it through your thick skull, but we’re not your enemy.

Keith: Pidge, can you initiate the self-destruct protocol? We need to destroy this ship and the monster along with it. And we need to do it immediately.

Pidge: Okay, I’m on it. Once I initiate, we’ll have two doboshes to exit the ship.

Lance: Two hours? Isn’t that too long?

Others: Minutes!

Lance: What? That’s not enough time!

Pidge: Let’s move!

Sentry: All Galra must perish.

Lance: Oh, come on! Pidge, how much time before the ship explodes?

Pidge: Sixty ticks.

Hunk: We gotta get them out of there.

Pidge: This should do it. That thing overrode my protocol!

Lance: We can take it down with our bayards.

Allura: Keith!

Lance: We’re coming for you!

Hunk: Stand away from the door!

Lahn: Victory or death!

Keith: Do you trust me yet? Paladins, clear the hallway. We’re coming through! Let’s go!

Pidge: Ten ticks!

Allura: The cargo bay where we entered is the nearest exit point.

Pidge: Five ticks! We’ll never make it!

[Scene change to Planet Ryker as Warlord Lahn speaks to a crowd.]

Lahn: The Galra Empire may be decimated, but its warriors are still needed to maintain stability. Twice the Paladins of Voltron have risked their lives for me, and yet I questioned their intent. I was wrong. I pledge loyalty to a united front with the Voltron Coalition and I encourage you all to do the same.

[Scene change to the bridge of the IGF-Atlas.]

Pidge: I downloaded some intel from that cruiser. There might be another one of Honerva’s beasts out there.

Lance: Another one?

Allura: This is just what I feared. Shiro, we need to adjust our mission’s objective and track down where these things are coming from.

Shiro: How certain are you that it’s a robeast?

Pidge: I’m not positive, but according to the message logs, some Galra have spotted a giant robotic mech that fits the description. The logs even refer to a similar weapon.

Allura: There may be another Altean piloting it. We must investigate.

Shiro: Thousands of innocent souls are waiting to be liberated from what remains of the Galra Empire. We can’t just change course.

Keith: Maybe you don’t have to.

Shiro: Keith, what are you saying?

Keith: We’ll split up. The Atlas will continue working with the Galra while Voltron searches for Honerva and her beasts.

Shiro: You’ll be out there on your own, without backup.

Keith: We’ll be okay. Voltron is stronger now more than ever.

[Scene change to a crowd of Alteans standing at the steps of Oriande, where Honerva activates a teludav and opens a large pink wormhole, where an Altean mech flies from Oriande out into space.]

End.

#voltron #vld #transcript #allura #lahn #lance #pidge #hunk #keith #shiro

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elisajdb · 4 years

Text

Son Family Week 2020: GoChi Day

Dreams and Fantasies @sonfamilyweek

Prompt: Winter

A Winter Stroll

ChiChi always found snow beautiful on Mount Paouz. It was such a rare event. Goku grew up here and never saw snow but a few times over the years, snow fell. Today, Goku and ChiChi dropped Gohan off at Gyumao’s castle for the weekend. Piccolo was staying away, too. With training put off for a couple of days, there was no need to be in Goku and ChiChi’s home and having an idea what Goku and ChiChi will be doing, Piccolo retreated to the forest for the weekend.

As they neared Mount Paouz, ChiChi request they land and walk the rest of the way. Nimbus dropped them a mile from their home. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his blue jacket, Goku walked alongside ChiChi. He wore a knowing smile on his face. So, they were starting this again. Well, he never had any problems with it. ChiChi never did either. Most times, it was her instigating it.

Well, Goku decided as he stopped walking, might as well get started.

ChiChi’s eyes were on the white world around her. She was in awe of the snow-covered tree branches and the footprints of the forest animals recorded in the snow. Even seeing her breath form in the chilled air left her in awe. The silence of the forests was calming.

“I love these strolls through Mount Paouz but it’s even more beautiful when it snows. Don’t you think so, Goku?”

Silence.

ChiChi looked to her left and didn’t see Goku beside her. The lack of crunchy steps in the snow told her Goku wasn’t moving. She turned to see why her husband didn’t answer her.

Goku was only a couple feet behind her. He was on one knee rolling snow together to make a snowball.

Here we go again! I actually just wanted to walk in the snow!

“I know what you’re thinking. I’m warning you! If you throw a snowball at me, I’m throwing five at you!!”

ChiChi turned and walked off. Sometimes her husband was too much. She makes one suggestion and he thinks of only one thing. Yes, they did it before but do they have to do this every time it snows? Why couldn’t they walk home in the snow without it leading to anything?

Behind her, Goku rose with a perfectly round snowball. He could see his wife grumpily retreating from him. Ooo, she was mad. Perhaps this time ChiChi actually meant it. She didn’t want to do it this time. He should let the snowball fall on the ground and walk home with her.

Goku grinned wickedly.

Yeah, right!

He threw the snowball and it perfectly hit the center of ChiChi’s back.

ChiChi halted. For several seconds, ChiChi stood rooted to the ground like a tree. Goku wondered if he did go too far. Maybe ChiChi actually did want to just walk home. Oh, boy. If he really made ChiChi mad and she didn’t want to do this.…… Slowly, ChiChi turned her head back at Goku. The anger on her face; the fire in her eyes.

Oh, it was on!

ChiChi dropped to her knees and hurriedly put together snowballs and threw them. ChiChi was an expert in snowballs. She knew how to make them and throw them hard enough to impact him. True to her word, ChiChi threw five at his face and chest.

Forming another snowball at ChiChi, he threw another at ChiChi’s face.

Oh, if looks could kill!

Goku turned to run away and escape the aerial assault but five snowballs hit his back! One hit the back of his head and the cold snow slid down his neck into the back of his jacket. Goku shuddered at the cold, wet ball sliding down and melting against his warm skin.

She was gonna pay for that one!

ChiChi ran to escape Goku’s next assault. She dived behind a tree just in time as Goku’s snowball hit the tree’s trunk. Ha! He missed!

“Nyah! You missed me!” ChiChi stuck her tongue at him. Her victory was short-lived as a snowball smashed against her face.

How dare he?!

ChiChi hurriedly created five snowballs. She was spitting mad!! The first snowball hit Goku so hard he was knocked into the snow. ChiChi followed that up with four more snowballs that pummeled Goku.

She was getting fierce and showing no mercy. When Goku sat up, he saw ChiChi putting piles of snow together. She was making a fort. She was determined to win this one! If that’s how she wanted to play it, Goku decided it was time to stop being easy with her, too.

While ChiChi built her fort and arsenal of snowballs, Goku worked on building his one arsenal. He put together piles of snow. It got so big, he started rolling it and pull more snow together. Goku cackled wickedly. This was it. This was the big one. She will give up after this.

“I’m gonna get you good this time, ChiChi!”

Meanwhile, ChiChi’s snow fort was completed and ChiChi hurriedly put together as many snowballs as possible. Goku’s silence left her worried he was preparing something BIG for her. ChiChi knew her attack had to be just as powerful against him!

She lost the last time. She won’t lose this time! ChiChi refused to allow it. “You will not beat me at this!”

Oh, yes he will.

Goku’s completed snowball was over four feet wide and high. He carefully lifted it over his head so it remained intact. Victory was his! No way ChiChi will want to fight after he dump this one on her. Balancing the snowball on one hand, Goku felt ChiChi’s Ki, disappeared and appeared behind her.

“Oh!” ChiChi whipped her body around at Goku’s arrival. Her eyes went up and over Goku’s head at the giant snowball. ChiChi grabbed her biggest snowballs. They were tennis balls size and no way a match for the one Goku held. She couldn’t beat him with these!

I can’t believe it. He did it again!!! She was angry. Angry at Goku for creating this giant snowball; angry at herself for not having any preparation for Goku’s sneaky teleportation trick and angry her snowballs won’t have any effect on him! Her face was flushed with anger at her dilemma. He wore that same sneaky smirk on his face when he knew he won. It was the same one he wore when he’s feeling playful with her or when he’s above her during times of intimate moments.

Oh, Kami. It’s happening again.

Goku saw it on her face. ChiChi knew she lost and he won. The anger on her face at her defeat was amusing. Her face was flushed a cute shade of pink; her eyes full of anger. Oh, she didn’t want to give up. She wanted to fight until the bitter end. ChiChi’s will to not give up, her desire to keep fighting affected him as always.

He could smell the scent coming from her legs; see the obvious hard tips straining from her dress as her breasts rose and fall mightily. How big and hard they must be to poke through the fabric. Goku’s eyes went to her face. If he could only concentrate on her eyes, not her body. Focus on her eyes and not her body he told himself.

But that was a mistake, too.

Staring in each other’s eyes, both knew what they other wanted; what the other needed; what they both needed.

Splat went Goku and ChiChi’s snowballs onto the ground; arms locked around each other as Goku and ChiChi jumped into each other’s arms and kissed.

****

The fire was large and extremely hot. It was needed to knock out the heavy chill in the air around them. Among the jackets and clothes used to create makeshift bedsheets, Goku and ChiChi snuggled close. ChiChi had the fire and Goku’s warm body to keep her naked body heated in the cold winter air. Goku was slightly affected by the weather but not as much as ChiChi. Him having Saiyan blood was a blessing at times like this.

While Goku looked relaxed with his hands behind his head, ChiChi was slightly frazzled. If Goku could choose the correct word to describe ChiChi, he would say ChiChi’s embarrassed.

“Every year we do this. We go for a walk in the snow; we get in a snowball fight, we kiss and start tearing our clothes off like horny teenagers.” Her face flushed again as she thought of how she begged Goku to hurry up and get inside her; how she begged him to move faster in her; how she praised his size and his thrusting in her. She was like a possessed succubus with her moans and screams. “It’s a strange, sick addiction with us. What’s wrong with us? Why can’t we stop, Goku?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Goku didn’t have an answer for it either. The first time happened in the first year of their marriage. An innocent stroll in the snow turned into a playful snowball fight. Luckily, they were in front of their home so Goku rushed them inside. The second incident happened at night. They brought Gohan to her father’s kingdom to enjoy the snow there. One night, Goku was insistent they go outside and have a snowball fight like they did before. ChiChi was reluctant but as always couldn’t say no. A snowball fight turned into a chase in Gohan’s snow fort where Goku and ChiChi engage in such illicit activity she refused to allow Gohan to play in it the next day. At the time, ChiChi and Goku didn’t know the affects of the full moon on Goku.

It soon became an unspoken tradition between them. When it snows, they have to go on walks. ChiChi would want to have a snowball fight and it always led to this.

Feeling the mood again, Goku rolled on top of ChiChi. Above her, her leered. Oh, boy. That look again. Her fingers gripped his back. She felt his muscles flex, his hair float above her as it changed to blonde,. She gripped his tough skin as the muscles under her fingers became more defined. “I’m ready to go again.” He sniffed. “I can tell you are, too.”

He more always aware of her in this state than she. “We’re almost home. Let’s have the next round there.”

Goku was already aligning himself in position. His hand touched her sensitive clit. ChiChi’s hips jerked in response as Goku pinched and stroked her. “One more here. I’m ready. You are, too.” His teeth nibbled the skin on her neck. “If you’re getting cold, you know my body will keep you warm.”

ChiChi could feel the awakenings of her inner succubus coming alive. Something about Goku arouse did something to her. It was as if he cast a spell on her. It turned her into a different person. Her body was acting on its own as she opened and aligned herself to his stiff form. With a hand and rise of her hips, ChiChi guided him in.

“Ah, yes!” She wonderfully moaned at the union. She exhaled as her body adjusted at the thickness. As a Super Saiyan, his body expanded in this area, too. “Mmm, I love when you’re inside me.”

“So, one more,” Goku whispered in her ear.

“Maybe one,” her head rolled back at Goku moving in and out of her. With Goku’s heated body above her, and her back against their warm jackets, ChiChi wasn’t sure if they should move. Like this, she wasn’t cold but extremely hot and getting more lubricated and adjusting to Goku’s size with each thrust. Maybe they should stay like this a little more. “Or two….” Her words broke off as she gripped Goku tighter. His slams were intense! Her screams got louder, echoing in the quiet forest the faster and harder Goku moved in her. There was no shame between them as they alerted all creatures in the forests in what they were doing.

The creatures were numb to the sounds. It didn’t bother them except for one; one that heard the activity but remained quiet to not alert detection; one that waited until it was over for this individual thought one romp will allow Goku and ChiChi get this out of their system and continue home. When it was clear this would not happen, the green individual snapped, furious and disgusted as his eyes and ears came upon this display again. He roared so loud Goku and ChiChi’s lovemaking came to a complete halt.

“DAMMIT!! COULDN’T YOU TWO WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN AT HOME? I LEFT YOUR HOME TO GET AWAY FROM THIS!!!”

#Sonfamilyweek #Goku #Son Goku #ChiChi #Dreams and Fantasies #day one prompt #Dragon Ball Z #fanfiction #GoChi

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captain-of-the-roses · 4 years

Text

Weird things Me and Dad said while talking about RWBY:

Dad: Here's my theory.

Me: Take two.

Dad: Ruby. Silver eyes. Summer realizes this and goes to Ozpin. Ozpin tells Summer about Jinn.

Me: So Summer and Raven join forces?

Dad: Not unlikely. Raven would want something in return tho.

Me: Raven is like "Ya ok but what do I get out of this" and Summer goes "You'll get answers." And Raven says "Sounds sus but ok."

Dad: Ya. So they go to Mistral, open the vault, ask Jinn about why Silver eyes are being hunted, and get their answer.

Me: Raven just nopes out of there like "I ain't ever going back" while Summer goes "Welp. Time to get myself killed."

Dad: Ya, probably. Raven leaves and Summer tries to Kamahamaha Salem with her silver eyes but dies trying.

Dad: Winter is going to kill Ironwood. Sword right through the throat.

Dad: Teah brought something up earlier-

Me: Was it the taco thing?

Mom: Taco thing?

Dad: It was not the taco thing.

Me: Oscar uses the staff and says "Spooky Spooky give us back the husband" to bring back Ozma. "Please help we have your wife and we don't know what to do with her we are sorry."

Dad: If anyone hurts a hair on Penny's head I will kill everyone and them myself.

Dad: Kill off Qrow. And Robynn. Just for the shock value.

Me: Do it infront of the kids, cause they see him as a father figure.

Dad: Yes. Do it at the end. Right after Salem is purged of her Grimm self by the silver eyes-

Me: -if the group is smart enough to figure that out-

Dad: -and have it happen unexpectedly.

Me: Do it right at the end of the volume. Have everyone's shocked faces and then cut off the season. Have Raven and Tai and Zwei portal in to and watch Qrow die. The Happy Huntresses are there for Robynn.

Mom: No! Dont kill off Qrow.

Me: Or wait for Qrow to die. Do it after Vacuo when he's adopted CFVY and the Beacon students there.

Dad: No, because, as much as I love Qrow, he's had his arc now its death time. Just have the fandom cannibalize itself.

Dad: Ozpin is hiding much more then we know. He knows too much.

Me: Is that part of the reason why he lied about the no more lies amd halftruths things? Because he knew Yang and everyone else was keeping lies and telling half truths?

Dad: Yes!

Me: Listen, Robynn has fingerless gloves. Who else has fingerless gloves? Coco and Yang. What do Yang and Coco have in common? Theyre both lesbians. Therefore, Robynn is Lesbian.

Mom: I still headcanon they are both bi.

Me: Robynn litteraly runs an army of women, Mom.

Dad: Alright, I'm not gonna interfere with your shipper logic.

Dad: I headcanon Hot Chocolate was invented during the Great War and the King of Vale tried it and was all like "This is good. I'm gonna drink it for the rest of my life." And when he was put into Ozpin Ozpin was "I have the sudden urge for Hot Chocolate."

Me: Poor Oscar.

Me: I still like your theory that Oscar has a mimicry semblance.

Dad: If they don't unlock Oscar's semblance as the ability to act as someone else and no one says "Give this man an award" I will riot.

Dad: Oz is going to have his ideal happy ending, right? What does he want most in the world? Death.

Me: Ooh, fun.

Me: I never understood why heroes do the motivational speech. Like, if someone went up to me and said "Hey wanna fight an evil organization and stop the end of the world for the good of humanity" I would be like "No thanks." But if someone came up to me and said "Wanna go fight a guy?" I would immediatly say yes.

Dad: See, that's the same thing. You just worded it differently. You got to appeal to your audience. In any case, Ruby isnt going to be able to unite humanity against Salem. Salem, however, could do something so bad that humanity turns agaisnt her without leadership. Because when someone gives a motivational speech there is always that one person that goes "BuT wHaT iF-" or when the fight begins someone says "wElL aCtUaLlY-" like no shut up.

Dad: Salem is going to be taken care of this season, and Cinder will go in Volume 9. The bad guy if Volume 10, in Vale, with be the Brothers.

Me: Figures.

Me: The staff of creation just summons a bunch of ghosts in suits discussing how to take down Salem.

Dad: a staff meeting, ha!

Me: Like Summer and Pyrrha are there in suits-

Dad: And all of the Oz incarnations. Just like "you got them in your head to?" "Yep." "Same."

Me: Do you think after they free Salem of her Grimm self she'll join the gang?

Dad: No-

Me: That's sad.

Me: *trying to explain the Oz timeline and where the Infinite Man fits in*

Dad: *nodding in obvious confusion*

Dad: Did Ozma 2.0 and Salem have a son?

Me: Diggs and Salem had four daughters. One for each season. Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall. Color coordinated and everything.

Dad: They arent going to have a happily ever after. What's going to happen is the brothers are going to view humanity as a disaster. With 3 out of 4 of the nations being in ruin, they won't see humanity as being united even if everyone worked together to defeat the final boss. So they are going to let Oz and Salem die and then send RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, ect. back to before Salem went batshit crazy-

Me: The first time or Atlas?

Dad: The first time. So they are going to stop Salem from jumping into craziness. Get it, because she jumped into the pools-

Me: I get it.

Dad: It wont be a HAPPY happy ending but there is no saving Remnant. It was a punishment anyways and Salem already won.

Me: Why cant they just put Atlas on top of the Pools of Grimm?

Dad: Because then Salem will have a giant flying castle.

Me: She already has a castle. And she has a flying whale Grimm. Just put the castle on top of the whale and BOOM! Flying castle.

Dad: I still think Jaune's sword is the Sword of Destruction. Nothing in this show happens without purpose.

Me: No, everything has a purpose, just some things get forgotten and/or ignored.

Me: The group is going to be those parents that when their kid says they don't want to do homework go "When I was your age-"

Dad: Like "When I was your age I stopped an evil monster!"

Me: "I killed my Collage Professor's evil ex wife!" Nora is going to be telling her and Ren's kids the battle of Atlas. "We were alone facimg against an army of Grimm!"

Dad: Its going to play out as Nora telling the group the Beowulf story with Ren correcting her. "We were hopelessly outnumbered." "We weren't." "Surrounded by an army of Beowulfs." "There were two."

Me: "The middle of the night!" "It was the afternoon."

Dad: Ren just resigns himself to spending his life correcting Nora's story telling.

Me: She's telling her kids stories-

Dad: And Ren is just in the kitchen making tea.

Me: Nora goes "Our teacher's wife invaded mantle with thousands of Grimm! The Jellyfish were invading Mantle!" "They were floating in the sky." "We were farther apart then ever-"

Dad: "We were a block away."

Me: "The General.... Was Ironwooding." The rest of the group comes over with their kids. Nora is screaming about the story and Ruby and Yang join in. Ren and Weiss correcting them.

Dad: Blake is in the corner drinking tea.

Me: She looks up and goes "This is great tea." Meanwhile Ren is still busy correcting Nora.

Dad: "But they didnt know we had a secret weapon... A 20 foot laser eyed robot!" "She was 4' 8""

Me: Oscar comes over one day and says "Remember that one time I was shot off Atlas by James and fell and broke my aura falling down to Mantle." And everyone is like no??? Cause with the way things are going, he's not going to tell them.

Dad: Qrow is just upstairs banging his cane on the ground like "Keep it down I'm trying to sleep!"

Me: I love how we assume Qrow lives with them.

Dad: Of course he does. Where else would he stay?

Me: Tai.

Dad: Qrow is that old nuisance who lives with them.

Me: He's an old bird half the time just chilling on everyone's shoulders. How would the rest of the group be paired up? The only canon ship we got is Renora.

Dad: What Salem did with bringing back Ozma was essentially the 'Go to ask Dad. Dad gave you an answer you did not like. Go to Mom. Mom says yes. Parents start fighting and punish the kid."

Me: If Salem had gone to the younger brother, or in this case, mom, she wouldve gotten what she wanted and there would be a war on the Brother's hands cause the older couldn't punish Salem and could only argue against the younger.

#weird things my family has said #we are coming up with theories for Volume 8 of RWBY #it got out of hand

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thebleuroseproject · 4 years

Text

Jailbreak

Throughout history, there have been tales of demigods and spirits, overshadowed by the greater Gods with complete mastery of the elements and emotions. But they’ve all faded to whispers, sustained only by a few, who know they are truly nothing compared to the millions of people that flocked to their names with their offerings in ancient times: Incense, prayers, cattle, children.

Some of these beings still live – doing their duties while they still can.

Jared sat in the corner of his cell, shivering from the cold night that filled the room from the singular bare slit of a window. How many days had it been? How long would it be until he was taken to be sold? Did his sister get away before the soldiers came to their house? It would be a waste to kill her but they only needed him for the debt, presumably.

The boy sighed in defeat; he guessed he would have to wait to know. If his sister had been captured, he would see her at the auction, eventually. This was an infuriating thought and he had reluctantly concluded there was nothing he could do at this current time, but only after the first two nights had been spent shouting for someone to let him out and punching the stone walls. It had left his hands bleeding and his spirit cracked, and he’d been thinking of ways to escape ever since. Unfortunately, escape seemed nigh impossible with the poor excuse for a window and the heavy iron door keeping him trapped. All he had was a bed equipped with a straw mattress and a thin blanket, the clothes on his back and a growing resignation to being a slave for some aristocrat that the Duke owed money to.

He got up and started to pace up and down the cell, thinking for a possible solution as he had done many times before. But his thoughts kept circling, and his pace became more irritated with each impossible solution until eventually he threw himself down onto the straw mattress in frustration, attempting to quiet his mind. He almost succeeded until something landed on his nose, making him snort in surprise and then sneeze himself off the bed. What on EARTH was that? Jared’s eyes snapped open, glaring at the floor to see what had offended him and his nose.

A petal.

A purple...crocus...petal?

His cell was two storeys up and it wasn’t a windy night. So where did this petal come from? Jared got up and stepped to the window to look around for purple crocuses, even purple flowers of any kind, but there were none.... until several flew in his face in a windy flurry, causing him to fall back and start sneezing violently, crawling to the blanket to cover his nose that felt like it may fly off his face. He watched as the petals streamed through the window, swirling in one mass to form...a human figure. With a flash and a pop, a small person appeared from the petals, grinning with huge green goggles on its face.

“Gotcha self into a bit of a pickle ‘ere mate haven’t ya?” It spoke in a curious accent, snapping their goggles back over their head to reveal large light green eyes.

Jared stared at them in shock, blanket over his nose and mouth, just in case more petals decided to fly into his face abruptly. What was this creature? They seemed human, but they had pointed ears, lilac hair and an outfit that was very exotic, nothing that he had ever seen anyone wear before, not even the occasional glimpses of nobles that travelled through his village. Was it a boy….or a girl? How should he even address it?

The creature raised an eyebrow at him

“Didn’t ya mam ever tell ya it’s rude ta’ stare? My name’s Blythe, and before you ask me if I’m a boy or a girl coz believe me I get it so much like you wouldn’t think when I’m savin’ people’s asses the subject of my genitals would come up but oh boy wouldn’t ya be surprised…” Blythe paused to breathe before continuing “Bit of a tangent there , but anyway, I’m a spirit of the spring that shapeshifts sooo at this point it doesn’t even matter. You can call me a they...or an it I guess, but that IS rude.”

Blythe snapped out of their monologue to address him

“Anyway, I know your name is Jared, right? Your sister prayed for your safety and there’s not many gods or spirits out there strong enough to answer let ALONE having freedom fall in their range of duties. So, I stepped up to the plate.”

Jared slowly dropped the blanket off his face and blinked slowly at Blythe.

“That’s all well and good...uh…Blythe…but I can’t turn into petals to get around and that door is locked.”

The spirit grinned at him, tutting and wagging their finger

“Someone hasn’t bein paying attention, didn’t I mention, SHAPESHIFTIN?”

On that note, Blythe raised an arm, which turned into a huge reptilian foot. With some clear effort, they punched the wall and smashed through it to leave a giant hole, using their small body to shield Jared from any debris. Jared squeaked in surprise at the noise, flinching back.

“Holy crap!”

With a grunt, the paw shifted back into Blythe’s normal hand. They turned on one heel to face him, looking worriedly at the door and speaking quickly.

“Look in all honesty Jared, I’mma need you to co-operate smoothly. This next bit is gonna be scary and shocking and frankly incredible. But I barely have enough believers to sustain it for long. So, no wriggling or screaming, ok?”

Jared gave them a inquisitive look, and nodded.

Blythe breathed in, composing themselves...before jumping out the giant hole they had made in the wall. Jared jumped up in surprise.

“Hey! Where ya going!”

His last words were drowned out by a roar that forced him to jump back from the window in fear, his survival instincts telling him to get far away from his current location. But there was no such luck for his primal brain as a dragon’s head appeared at the hole, followed by a purple, feathered dragon claw that grabbed him quickly from the room and took off into the night, placing him on its back. Jared gripped the dragon's neck feathers for dear life as the wind bit the tips of his ears, perhaps he should have grabbed the blanket on the way out.

“Where are we going?” He shouted into the ear of the creature, but it shook its head and pointed to the distance where a large cluster of faint lights shone, sprawling along the edges of a bay and far outward to touch the fringes of the forest surrounding it.

Efrane City? Is that where my family are?”

It nodded, and focused on flying from then on. Jared looked back to the castle from whence they had come. Torches were being lit in the windows and small figures ran about on the ramparts. There were no dragons in this area, so most castles didn’t have the equipment - but it was clear this dragon didn’t want to take any chances.

They landed in a small clearing a fair distance away from the city, the dragon was rather small but still flew low to the treeline to try and avoid detection from the city guard. It landed with a bit an “oof” noise, before plucking Jared hurriedly off its back and collapsing to the ground, shrinking into the small figure of Blythe once again.

Jared ran over, trying to help them up -

“Are you ok?”

Blythe coughed and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “That was exhausting. A small dragon for sure but still exhaustin’!”

With that, the spirit jumped up and dusted itself off, offering a hand to Jared.

“May I escort you, good sir?”

Jared shook his head

“Can we just walk? It was freezing up there.”

Blythe shrugged

“Fine, but it’s a bit of a trek, and it’s a tad cold so you’re gonna need this!” Blythe took off their scarf, wrapping it carefully around the boy’s neck.

Jared reached up to touch the soft material, it was striped with sky blue and grass green - it was extremely warm.

“Thank you.” he mumbled through the scarf as Blythe trotted away down a small dirt path, clearly worn down by people passing through over the years. They walked in silence for a while, Blythe seemingly oblivious to the curious glances Jared was shooting at them.

“Are other kids gonna get kidnapped?” Jared finally broke the silence, causing the spirit to glance with an amused smile at him.

“Nah, I got a friend with the dragons down south. I’ll get them to aggravate the Duke if he does it again. Your friends will be safe.” Blythe waved their hand nochantly, like they did stuff like this all the time.

“Thank you.” Jared said, surprised and looked down at the dirt path shyly, unsure of how to ask their next question - before finally deciding to wing it.

“Just what ARE you!” he blurted causing Blythe to stop and think about how to answer. There were times when they didn’t even know just WHAT they were.

“Good question. I guess you could call me a demigod - not a very powerful one though. “

“Does that mean you have powers, more than shapeshifting?”

“Oh yeah! That’s my best one though, as well as aeromancy.” With that word, Blythe hovered into the air, reclining casually while they floated down the path “but as a child of a minor wind god, that was a given. I can also make flowers bloom. But that’s about it.”

“So... you help people to freedom? If they pray to you?”

“Yeah, usually. As I said before, there are others like me but we all depend on belief to live. We can’t sustain a form or use our powers without it. I’ve been doing a lot of field work so I’m pretty strong right now but give it a few hundred years, they’ll forget us - they always do.”

They walked in silence for a while, until the dirt path became cobbled, and the city gate came into view. It was then Blythe landed on their feet, and started to walk alongside Jared, who noticed that they hung their head a little as they walked, as if saddened by the thought of being forgotten. Jared looked at them in pity, imagining what it would be like if everyone he loved forgot him. He couldn’t even imagine the pain Blythe must be going through, watching all the people they helped and loved die, and he imagined they had been through it many times. He placed a hand on their shoulder.

“I won’t forget you, if that means anything.”

Blythe smiled slightly, their mask of childlike innocence breaking and revealing a being wise beyond their years, for just a second. Jared saw this flicker and gently squeezed their shoulder, causing them to snap back to reality.

“I know ya won’t. Thank you.”

Jared nodded and continued forward, and they soon both arrived at the gate to Efrane City. He didn’t know much about this city, other than the fact it was a large port town filled with many cultures - although the majority was human and elven. Wait, where was Blythe? They had run up to one of the guards and was now talking with them, pointing back to Jared and then laughing. He jogged up to them.

“What’s going on?” he asked worriedly, looking up at the nearest guard who seemed amused at Blythe’s curious appearance.

“Oh, don’t worry Jared, I’m just asking them to let us in.” Blythe bowed to the guard and walked through the gate, grabbing Jared’s arm and dragging him through with them. The city was huge, with tall, weathered buildings. The streets were empty at this late hour, but well-lit to guide anyone who decided to traverse them. Blythe had let go of his arm and was now strolling alongside him casually.

“Your family are staying at the ‘Lonely Steed Inn’ , I know the owner quite well and she offered to give them part time work while they look for a place to settle.”

“Really? Thank you!” Jared exclaimed, looking at Blythe in surprise. “How far are we?”

“Now, ya’ see, the best thing about the Lonely Steed, is that it’s not too far from the entrance.”

Sure enough, the demigod pointed to a small two storey building with light softly emanating from the first-floor windows. There didn’t seem to be many patrons at this hour - but you could still see shadows in the windows.

Blythe spun Jared around by the scarf, and started carefully unwrapping it from his neck.

“Now, here is where I will leave you. Go up to the counter and ask for Tasha - she’s the short, dark skinned grumpy one - ask which room your family are in and then get your own close by. You can see your family in the morning and sort out your work too. Lay low. You know how to summon me.”

Jared nodded and with that Blythe looped the scarf around their own neck, ruffled Jared’s hair and started walking back to the gate cheerfully, giving Jared a wave as they left. Jared watched them go, and then entered the inn to start his new life.

From then on, he and his descendants always kept purple crocuses, with a stick of incense burning nearby - to remember the being that saved them.

#blythe #shorts

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buns-with-a-book · 5 years

Text

Meeting Dante

It’s wahoo pizza man time. This Dante is post DMC3 but preDMC1, so he’s still that wild child we all know and love.

Towards the end, a waulking song is mentioned. To put it simply, it’s a Scottish Gaelic work song, primarily in the cleaning of wool. They’re simple songs meant to keep up the pace of tedious work.

Fandom: Devil May Cry Characters: Dante, OC Tags: @nimnox @furyeclipse @synchronmurmurs

Summary: At eighteen, she was an unhappy bride. At nineteen, she’s a happier mercenary. Her life is just about to get crazy.

“Heh, happy birthday to me.” Cassandra hummed, kneeling down in the shadows of the balmy summer forest. Ever since she had left the walls of Eternis Brillia, she had relished the freedom she had. Of course, she still had to eat and drink and rest, which was why she took on the life of the mercenary and devil hunter. She couldn’t just lounge around in some nice apartment in Rothes or Edinburgh on the money she stole from Draco, a bully that she had been forced to marry. It would make her an easy target for anyone who was searching for her.

And so, she had bounced from city to city, following mercenary job and demonic extermination task as she went. Sometimes the money was good, other times it wasn’t, but she always had enough to find a room to stay for a few days. Whether it was a bed and breakfast or a hotel chain, she didn’t stay long in the towns of the Scottish highlands.

What surprised her most was not the close shaves with those who came from Eternis Brillia (although they did spook her) nor how well Astra cleaved into demons, but the blooming powers of her Crests, the pure magical power from the saint-like Maidens. No longer constrained by training rooms, the power fully showed itself in the field of combat. She remembered the first time the Crest of Saint Deirdre made itself known against a rather infuriating Pyrobat. What was just a gesture of anger became a blast of concentrated sunlight, making the flying demon scream and fall to the earth. It was rather pitiful blasts in Eternis Brillia, she had not expected such power when separated from her home. Perhaps it was the new environment that made it react in such a way? Or the fact that there were actual demons she was fighting instead of the clay disks she had been forced to fire at for exercises? She wasn’t so sure.

Of course, she had more than just mere offensive firepower. Healing was also at her fingertips, a gift from the Crest of Saint Julia. It made recovering from defeating demons easier. In the quiet of whatever room she managed to get, with a small meal before her, she would use the healing crest to close the wounds that the target demon left upon her. It was hardly a pleasant process, watching and feeling the wound close and heal, but it had to be done. A wound left to fester and infect would only slow her down.

This was her lifestyle, strolling through villages and towns across the highlands, looking for jobs and a place to rest, taking care of said jobs, and then leaving again. Hardly glamorous, sometimes jarring, and the homesickness she could do without, but it was her life. That was a feeling nothing in the world could buy.

Her mind returned to the ruins in front of her. Despite tonight being her nineteenth birthday, six months since she left the city, she never dared to look back. It would only hurt her. So she focused on the target she was supposed to be on the lookout for: Sin Scissors. They had been harassing some woodsmen, even taking lives, and needed to be dealt with before more were lost. The ruins, bathed in the light of the moon, before her were supposedly of some castle that collapsed from a fire. Local rumor dictated that a rich woman lived in the ruins, once a lovely mansion, before it was set ablaze by an unknown force. Some claimed accident, others proposed occult dealings gone awry, but the blaze still took the woman’s life and left the mansion into a barely recognizable husk. And after that, demons began to pop up. Some were easily dealt with when they came too close to the local village but others had to be dealt with from skilled demon hunters from afar.

Footsteps caught her attention, causing her to gasp softly. She remained still, watching as a man with white hair, a red two-tailed coat and...a lack of a shirt stride silently into the husk of the mansion. Cassandra made a face at that. Was he another mercenary? She never heard of him or anyone that was described with his appearance. He certainly looked a little older, twenty-two if she had to put a number on it. She slowly crept forward, keeping low to the ground. Pressing her body against the remains of the wall of the ruin, she kept low to the ground as she crept into the charred husk of a building.

Cassandra frowned at the ruins around her. Charred walls stood with great gaps in the wood, some from shattered windows, others from looters trying to smash into the building for treasure. Pilfered drawers hung open, their contents either stolen or thrown onto the floor. Chairs were tossed around, half-burned or in pieces. An eerie quiet reigned in the ruins, with the sound of footsteps and breathing all that broke the quiet. Cassandra trailed the other man, keeping her breathing even. Despite the fact that this place was home to a demon (along with the fact that it was dangerous!), this mercenary seemed unafraid of being here. She wondered who was really in danger; her, the mercenary, or this demon they were hunting.

“So, you wanna come out now?” The mercenary asked, talking to nobody. Cassandra wondered if he was talking to the demon or to her. She kept herself hidden, waiting for something, anything, to tell her who the mercenary was talking to. “Come on, I’m not gonna bite! I swear!” He laughed. She frowned. How was she going to know that?!

A sinister laugh caught her attention, it was right next to her ear. She quickly ducked, barely missing a pair of giant golden scissors. They snapped above her hair, Cassandra letting out a gasp, before she rolled away from the demon. The mercenary grinned and charged forward, jumping over her to slice at the Sin Scissors with a massive double-edged blade. Cassandra scrambled to her feet, letting out a huff.

“Oh hell no, I don’t think so!” She hissed. The Sin Scissor swung away from the mercenary, only to scream as Astra sliced into its back. It dove into the ground, disappearing to lick its wounds. Cassandra stared at the mercenary, breathing heavily.

“Heh...there you are.” He hoisted his sword over his shoulder.

“The hell are you?” She asked. He tsked.

“Hey, language little lady.”

“Don’t patronize me.” She snarled, standing up. “I’ve had enough of that for a lifetime.” He held up a hand.

“Woooah, ok.” He took a step back. “Sorry.” A quiet fell between the two before he held out a hand. “The name’s Dante.” She stared at his hand before taking it to give it a shake.

“Cassandra. Never heard of you, never seen you around here before.” She looked at him. “And why are you without a shirt?” He looked down.

“Because I can.” He grinned. “And because I look good.”

“That’s the quickest way to get impaled by the Sin Scissors.” She took back her hand, ignoring his second comment. “I guess we’re working together then, you’re after the bounty too, right?” He nodded. She let out a sigh. “Alright, the more people who can take out this demon the better.”

“I mean, I guess.” Dante shrugged. “I work alone usually.”

“Well, not tonight.” Cassandra shot back. “I’m not leaving you to fight the Sin Scissors alone.”

“There’s more than just Sin Scissors here.” Dante corrected. Cassandra made a face. “There’s a bigger devil here. In the basement.”

“The hell you on about?” She huffed. “There’s only the Sin Scissors here, unless you know something I don-” Their arguing was interrupted by a near-deafeningly loud wail, one that shook the foundations of the very ruins they stood upon. Cassandra covered her ears, wincing from the sound. The scream ripped through the air before dying off.

“That would be the devil.” Dante said, a smug grin on his face. Cassandra glared at him.

“Oh can it. That’s a banshee.” Cassandra stepped away from Dante, only for the wood to crack underneath her feet. She leapt back with a yell, scrambling into Dante. After recovering from the scare, she looked up to the mercenary.

“On a completely unrelated note, is wearing a strap across your chest city-folk fashion?” Cassandra asked. “Because I really hope it’s just city-folk fashion.” Dante’s laugh made her roll her eyes. Helping herself up, she leaned over the edge of the hole. “Huh, a basement. I guess you were right.”

“Told ya.”

“Can it, Dante. We have a demon to kill.” Another scream ripped through the air, causing Cassandra to once again cover her ears. “ALRIGHT ALRIGHT FOR THE SAKE OF THE EARTHMOTHER WE’LL KILL YOU STOP SCREAMING!” She yelled back. She heard laughing behind her and snapped back, glaring at Dante. “I said can it!” She stood up before jumping through the hole.

“Hey, don’t just jump in there!” She heard Dante yell above her. She rolled to the side, watching as Dante landed next to her effortlessly. “Do you always jump into strange holes?” He hissed. Cassandra wordlessly took his head and made him face forward. Before them was a ghastly figure, body floating before them as if suspended in water. The edges of her hair were made of fire, as if the last moments of the figure were of burning alive. Her body was in a nightgown, charred at the edges. Floating aside her was the Sin Scissors they had been searching for, letting out soft ghostly chuckling.

“That’s our demon.” She said, standing up to get into position. She was about to make a comment but, as she looked over to Dante, she realized he somehow managed to summon what looked like a giant electric guitar. She stared at it before shaking her head. She’d ask later but now was the time to fight against the banshee.

“Let’s get this party started!”

“If it’s a show you want, then a show you shall have!” Cassandra summoned an orb of light, firing it at the weakened Sin Scissors. The demon screamed as sunlight burned it’s ethereal-like body, assaulted by (what looked like) electric bats. She would have to ask later, right now Dante looked like he was having the time of his life on the strange weapon (it had to be a weapon of some kind, why else was it doing what it was doing with an appearance like that?). While Dante was staying back, Cassandra closed the gap between her and the Sin Scissors, using Astra to quickly end the demon’s life. The Sin Scissors let out a rattling cry, it’s golden scissors clattering to the ground. Cassandra landed next to the scissors, quickly dodging a swipe from the banshee. She clamored away, putting distance between her and the banshee.

“That guitar thing of yours better have some real firepower, Dante!” Cassandra called. “Unless you plan to sit back and let me have all the glory!” Dante let out a dry laugh before she saw him make his way forward, the electric bats and soundwaves from the guitar assailing the banshee. Cassandra added onto that firepower with her own, firing orb after orb of sunlight into the banshee. The banshee let out a scream, an attempt to fight back, but the riffs and energy of the electric guitar overpowered the screaming. Cassandra was thankful for that, the electric guitar (dare she say it) was far more entertaining than a screaming demon.

“Wanna finish this with a bang?” Dante called over the riffs of the guitar.

“Let’s go!” Cassandra replied. Dante grinned and leapt into the air. Cassandra jumped up with him. She slashed into the banshee. From the corner of her eye, she saw the electric guitar transform into a scythe and slice into the demon. The banshee let out a final scream before collapsing. The two landed side by side, Dante pulling out a pair of semi-automatic pistols and firing at the corpse to ensure it was dead. Cassandra stared at the giant pair of golden scissors left behind, walking over to pick it up. Ignoring the pricks of pain from demon metal in her hands, she hoisted it over her shoulder.

“Now to head back to town, get the cash, and-”

“Deal with this thing.” She rolled her shoulders to emphasize the giant golden scissors on her shoulder. “This thing is worth more in scrap gold than being a weird weapon.” She swore she saw Dante’s eyes glimmer with interest. “Provided we can get it out of here.”

“I got it.” Dante said. Cassandra raised an eyebrow, watching the electric guitar disappear into a burst of electricity. She handed the scissors to Dante, who tossed them up with enough force to embed themselves into the ceiling of the room above them. She looked to Dante before he hoisted her up over his shoulder.

“HEY!” She yelped.

“I got cha, don’t worry!” He replied. He jumped into the air and then again with some strange magic, grabbing the edge of the gaping hole. Hoisting himself up, he laid her down onto the floor. She scrambled to a standing position. As Dante stood, the scissors fell from the roof to the floor, cutting the strap of his coat and sending him backward down into the hole. Cassandra gasped and scrambled over the edge, unable to catch him.

“Dante, are you ok?!” Cassandra yelled into the hole.

“MOTHERFUCKER!” She let out a snort at the reply she got. “I LIKED THIS COAT!”

“City folk and their fashion…” She sighed, moving back to give him the space he needed to get back up. He got out of the hole, scowling at the golden scissors laying on the floor. His gaze moved to the broken strap, his eyes changing to a forlorn look. Cassandra felt a little bad about the comment.

“Gonna need a new coat...dammit.”

“Look, if it’s that important to you, I can sew the strap back together.” She got up and walked over to the strap. “It’s a clean tear, that’s easy to fix.” She looked up, noticing the wide grin on his face. “What.”

“You know it’s rude to stare at a dude’s tits.” She made a face at his comment.

“I’m...sorry?” She had to restrain to add a ‘the hell you’re talking about?’ to her words. He blinked in surprise.

“What? You don’t know?”

“I’ve been in an isolated city that’s at least a few decades behind current trends, forgive me if I’m a little naive.” She looked back to the strap. “I think I’ve seen the thread in town…” She murmured. “Of course, the other option is just to have the strap removed entirely and made into something else but that means you have to wear a shirt.”

---

And that was how Cassandra had Dante in her room. The room of the bed and breakfast she was making her abode in was a small cozy room, sparsely decorated with wildflower vases on the bedside table. The garish golden scissors were leaning against the wall, the only place they’d rest until someone was found to sell off the massive golden scissors. Cassandra’s bag was laid out on the wool blankets of her bed, with Dante taking a seat in a chair that normally went into the small desk that was pressed against the wall. Above the desk was a window that overlooked the forest they were just in. His bare chest was pressed against the back of the chair, watching as she did her work sewing the strap back together. Cassandra murmured a waulking song as she worked, seemingly keeping Dante silent. With a few final stitches, Cassandra snipped the thread and put away the needle and thread in a small plastic case. She slid off the bed, holding the coat up to inspect the strap.

“Hey Dante, put this on.” She said, handing the coat to him. He got up from the chair.

“Should I be concerned about a needle left in there?” He joked. Cassandra rolled her eyes.

“Of course not. I’d never leave a needle in there.” She frowned. Dante shrugged and put on the coat. Once it was on, Cassandra inspected the stitching. “Give me a flex.”

“Oooh.” He said cheekily. Cassandra snorted. Her dismissal of his cheek earned her the flex she wanted.

“There we go. It’s not gonna rip apart anytime soon.”

“Thank you.” Dante grinned and sat back down in the chair. Cassandra cracked her knuckles. “So, what are you going to do?”

“Me? Uh, same old same old. Go up and down the Spes river, visit the towns and villages to seek jobs, and do them. I’ve never gone far from the Spes.” Cassandra looked out the window. “I really should out to leave the highlands but…” Her gaze moved upward. “I don’t really know where to go. There’s so many places I could go but all the options paralyze me. I can’t choose...so...”

“So you stay with what’s familiar.” Dante finished her train of thought.

“I do. What I should do is leave the highlands to somewhere, anywhere else but here. There’s people who don’t like that I’m out here, slaying demons.”

“Like what? Shitty ex-lovers?” Dante asked. Cassandra let out a short laugh, glancing down to her right hand.

“Something akin to that.” She mused.

“Heh, do I know all about that.” Dante leaned against the wall. A quiet fell between them for a few minutes. “So, how about coming with me to Red Grave City?”

“Red Grave City? To what, skewer me?” Cassandra asked skeptically. Dante laughed.

“Leave the skewering to me. I can handle it. But seriously.” Cassandra looked to him, seeing a seriousness she didn’t expect from the mercenary she had come (in their brief time together) to see as a carefree devil hunter. “I have a shop in the city, all about demon hunting. There’s always room for another hunter.” Cassandra nodded, thinking over his offer. Red Grave City must be beyond the highlands she was used too, which meant safety from Eternis Brillia.

“Happy birthday to me, I guess.” Cassandra hummed with a smile. “Sure, why not.”

“Wait, how old are you?”

“Nineteen today, why?” She looked at him. He just smiled.

“Well, happy birthday.” She wondered if there was something else to that that she didn’t quite know yet. But she decided not to worry about it. There were more pressing matters, such as how to get to Red Grave City, taking care of those gaudy golden demon scissors, and how in the Earthmother city folk fashion worked.

Although, taking one more look at Dante, she wondered if she would ever figure that last part out.

#devil may cry #devil may cry oc #devil may cry dante #dmc dante

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ficswithrimi · 5 years

Text

Mine (Chapter 11)

Title: Mine

Pairing: Noctis Lucis Caelum x Reader

Genre: Angst, Romance

Trigger Warning: Mentions of blood, violence, depression, suicide attempt, and minor sexual content

Synopsis: Daughter of a Niflheim soldier, you were sent out to Tenebrae to spy on the Nox Fleuret family and their involvement with the Lucis Caelum family. However, after learning the truth about Niflheim, you betray them. Your journey of revenge begins after learning of the death of your adoptive sister, Lunafreya, and your childhood friend Noctis Lucis Caelum.

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

A/N: Wow, this highkey took several months and I sincerely APOLOGIZE! I was stuck on so many scenes and I hated everything and I sTILL HATE EVERYTHING! But I can get the story back rolling along after this chapter so I’m relieved for that! Uh... so I’m thinking chapter 13 or 14? Yall might need some tissues cuz that’s gonna be Altissia, probably, hohoho. Anyways, try to enjoy! ALSO! The next chapter may take longer to come out because I’m moving to South Korea next month and uh, I’ma be busy! But I’ll hopefully find time to write! Enjoy~

_________

Lunafreya’s POV

It was gorgeous – Altissia was. The bright blue ocean surrounded the city with vast waterfalls around almost every corner. When the oracle entered the city a couple of days ago, it felt as if she was transcending into a new world. It looked so peaceful here. More so than her home of Tenebrae or anywhere else she’s visited. Immediately, she had been greeted by waterfalls and castle-like structures. Inside the city, citizens and visitors from other countries roamed the streets carefree – both day and night. The fear of nightly daemon attacks didn’t exist here, and it felt like a haven to the blonde woman. Gondolas were around every corner as it was the way of travel in the city surrounded by water. Lunafreya stared in awe as couples and families excitedly rode the wooden boats to their destinations. It was truly a dream-like city. If she were to die soon, she’d want it to happen here. Tenebrae and Lucis brought her pain and she wanted to die someplace where she wasn’t reminded of her mother being murdered before her very eyes or the reminder of seeing King Regis fall dead to the floor while she escaped. Though Altissia was under Imperial rule, it still retained its own government and by that, to Lunafreya, it didn’t feel as if she was constantly being watched. In fact, she was immediately taken into the care of Altissia’s current representative, Camelia Claustra. Though the Empire was close by, she felt slightly at ease.

Lunafreya was still reportedly dead to the world so exploring the city was something she couldn’t do. She did, however, visit the church where she was to wed Noctis. Her blue eyes had widened in amazement at the place. The inside was completely white with a giant window at the end that displayed three overflowing waterfalls. The stained glass that made up for the other windows was decorated with pictures of the history of Altissia, even down to where it was part of Solheim and under the rule of the Gods. The church was the oldest building in the city. Besides the white interior, gold hues filled out the rest of the venue. The cushioned seats were a golden color, as well as, gold specks sparkled on the white marble floors. A gold grand piano stood near the priest’s podium and Lunafreya imagined hearing “Here Comes the Bride” being played on it as she walked towards the love of her life. What amazed Lunafreya the most about the altar, however, was the giant portraits of her and Noctis that hung down from the ceilings. Noctis’s portrait, which showcased him in his formal prince attire – something Lunafreya had never witnessed in person – hung on the side where Lunafreya would have stood while her portrait hung on Noctis’s side. It had brought tears to the oracle’s eyes as her heart wept in both happiness and sadness. Happiness because the city and others did so much to prepare for the royal wedding between two old friends. Happiness because it confirmed that she was supposed to marry the man she’s been in love with for the past couple of years. She was so close to being reunited with Noctis. She was so close to being with him – even if just for a little while. And that’s where her sadness came in.

Again, the Empire found a way to separate her from the ones she loved. Lunafreya knew that Noctis’s true calling was upon them, but she had hoped to live blissfully with him for a bit – before the summoning of the Gods took the final toll on her. Her, Y/N, and Noctis… reunited. Though her sister despised the man for unknown reasons, she knows Y/N would’ve eventually lived happily with Noctis and her. Besides, Lunafreya knew Y/N didn’t actually despise Noctis. It was just a façade the younger woman put on for reasons to Lunafreya unknown.

“How is the oracle feeling today?” The voice of Gentiana caused Lunafreya’s ears to perk up. The blonde woman, who had been gazing out at the city from her room in Claustra’s presidential-like house, pushed herself off the window and faced the divine messenger.

“The same as yesterday. I’m weak and I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to summon the Leviathan.”

Gentiana’s expression was emotionless as she took in Lunafreya’s words. Though her expression didn’t say how she felt, Lunafreya knew she was worried deep down.

“The Chosen one and thy sister shall arrive soon. Then the summoning shall take place…”

“How… soon? Will I have a chance to see them before the summoning? If not Noctis… can I at least see Y/N? She’s been so worried about me and I want to properly-“ Lunafreya suddenly stopped speaking as a lump formed in her throat. Tears formed in her eyes as she thought about the words she was going to say. “Properly… say goodbye…”

Gentiana bowed her head as she crossed her hands in front of her. Lunafreya stared silently at the woman as a tear escaped her eye. “Within a week’s time shall they be here. From Umbra’s report, there are still things to be done in Lucis…”

“Will I see Y/N when they arrive? Will I be able to hug my sister for one last time?” Lunafreya swallowed hard to push back the lump. Instead of giving her an answer, Gentiana bowed to the oracle to dismiss herself. Lunafreya’s eyes widened in shock as the messenger vanished in front of her. Unable to control her tears any longer, Lunafreya let out a loud wail as she dropped to her knees.

“Noctis… Y/N… I’m so sorry…”

~!~

Your POV (Eight years ago)

“When the light fades from this world, I’ll no longer be by your side,” Lunafreya smiled sadly at the sky above her as a 13-year-old you rolled your eyes at your sister’s words for the umpteenth time. There she goes, spewing nonsense about whatever it was – the end of the world? – that she read from that fairytale book she’s obsessed with. You both were out in the field of sylleblossoms, lazily watching the clouds float by. It was the first time you had spent time with your sister since she was sworn in as the new oracle. Immediately after the coronation, she had to travel to begin healing people from the scourge and reassuring people about the world. With her gone, that left you alone with Imperial soldiers who didn’t give you the time of day. You were lucky if they fed you. When Lunafreya started her travels, the ones you considered family went with her – Umbra, Pryna, and Gentiana. Ravus, of course, was now affiliated with the Empire. He stopped visiting as often after Lunafreya became the oracle. You had asked to be allowed to travel with your sister, however, the Empire didn’t trust you outside of the manor in fear you were plotting something against them. They weren’t wrong. If it wasn’t for Lunafreya, everything would’ve been up in flames by now.

“Is this what they teach you when you travel? That when the sun sets or whatever, you’re gonna just… poof, disappear?” You propped yourself up on your elbow to look at her. The 16-year-old let out a heavy sigh as she closed her eyes, a frown now present on her face.

“It is predestined by the Gods…”

“Well tell the Gods that as long as I’m here, you’re not going anywhere! I vow to protect you with my entire being!” Lunafreya’s eyes widened in sudden shock as you quickly jumped up and grinned smugly towards the sky. “We’ll always be together, no matter what the dumb Gods say.”

“Y/N, you can’t call them du-“

“And,” You looked down at the blonde teenager as she stared up at you, her blue eyes glistening with tears. “I’ll make sure to always put your happiness before mine. Besides, if it wasn’t for you… I wouldn’t be alive right now. I owe you everything, Lunafreya.”

Lunafreya let out a small chuckle as a tear rolled down her cheek. Hopping up, she immediately engulfed you in a hug. “Being my sister is enough.”

Closing your eyes, you returned her embrace. However, you immediately opened them as your eyes landed on the Imperial soldiers that stood guard from a far distance. You vowed to get Lunafreya out of here, whether you escaped with her or not. It was your fault that she was in this mess, so you would be the one to get her out. Lunafreya’s happiness was all you wanted for her and you wanted to be the one to give it to her.

~!~

Gladiolus’s POV

Usually Gladiolus and Ignis were the first ones to awaken among the four men – Noctis being last, of course. The muscular man would go off to a clear field not too far from the camp or motel while Ignis would be on a search for breakfast. Since Y/N joined the group, sometimes she would assist Ignis with the cooking – though the woman obviously had no idea as to what she was doing. Gladiolus would tease her about how it was because she came from royalty. That usually resulted in Y/N shooting daggers in his directions.

This morning was a little different, however. Ignis was uncharacteristically still asleep. Gladiolus assumed he was trying to gather as much sleep as possible to prepare for the long drive to Cape Caem. He didn’t understand why the 22-year-old didn’t just ask Noctis to assist in driving. The prince had held a license since he was 16, after all. Carefully making his way to the front of the room, Gladiolus glanced over at Prompto and Noctis who were dead to the world. He frowned slightly as his eyes focused in on Noctis. The prince was almost hopeless. Sure, he was strong, and his scrawny muscles got him by most days when fighting imperials and daemons, but his mentality was what Gladiolus feared the most. Was the prince aware of what was happening? Did he realize he ruled over Lucis now? More importantly, was Gladiolus fitted to protect the nonchalant prince? There were days the royal guard felt he could never live up to his father’s name or the past royal guards of the Lucis Caelum family. Hell, he felt even worse he couldn’t protect Jared or be there for Iris in her time of need. Was he fitted to guard someone so important to the world?

Shaking these thoughts from his head, he quietly slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. The motel they were staying in had a barren field behind it. Gladiolus had peeped out the place when they first arrived and instantly thought it was perfect for training. As he walked down the hall, his eyes glanced towards the door where Iris and Y/N slept. He thought about asking Y/N to train with him but knowing Iris, she would beg to come train as well. Gladiolus didn’t want his only remaining family member anywhere near danger. He was so relieved when they arrived at Lestallum and saw Iris wasn’t hurt.

The sun was just starting to rise, burning the remaining lurking daemons with its rays. Gladiolus was kind of glad that sun took out the pests as he didn’t feel like risking his life during training to fight them today. Usually he didn’t mind, but his mind just wasn’t there. As he climbed over the fence that separated the small outpost from the field, he squinted his eyes as he saw a flash of blue go off in the distance followed by the screams of a saberclaw. That was weird, he thought as he slowly trudged towards where the light came from. He was pretty sure he left everyone still asleep at the motel.

As he got closer, he noticed a female figure take shape before him. Soon, he was able to make out her appearance; her neck-length hair was pulled into a low ponytail as she adorned a simple white tank top and black leggings. Gladiolus already knew who it was but the armlet that adorned her right arm to symbolize her affiliation with Tenebrae gave it away the most.

“I thought princesses slept in to get their beauty sleep?” Gladiolus smirked as he approached her.

“Shit!” The woman jumped in fear as she whipped around to come face to face with the older man. “What the hell, Gladio, you scared me.”

“My bad, princess,” Gladiolus let out a hearty laugh only to stop as he examined Y/N’s face. The hair that escaped from her ponytail clung to her face from the beads of sweat present. Grabbing the edge of her tank, she wiped it off, flashing her bare stomach briefly. Gladiolus cleared his throat as he shifted his eyes elsewhere. “So, what brings you out here at the ass crack of dawn?”

“What’s it look like? I’m training,” She shrugged as she turned her attention back towards another saberclaw.

“Training involves more than just throwing daggers at some saberclaws,” Gladiolus chuckled. “How about I help you out-“

“I believe I’ve told you this before but I’m well trained thanks to my brother,” Y/N threw a glance over her shoulder at Gladiolus.

“The same brother who easily blocked your attack and pushed you down when we ran into him?” Gladiolus smirked as he saw the woman tense up briefly. “Or have you acquired a new brother since then?”

Lowering her daggers, Y/N turned around slowly while rolling her eyes at the older man. “Okay, Gladiolus, let’s train.”

Gladiolus’s already present smirk widened at her words. “My pleasure, princess.”

~!~

Your POV

“Put away your daggers. It’s not all about weapons,” Gladiolus said as he began to remove the black tank he wore. Your eyes widened as he revealed his muscular physique, taking notice of the tattoo that extended from one arm to another. On the left of his chest, the image of a squawking bird’s head connected to the rest of the tattoo. You gulped nervously before quickly shifting your eyes away from the man, face turning red in the process.

“What? Never seen a body quite as sexy as mine, before?” Gladiolus obnoxiously asked, causing you to snap your head back at him in annoyance. Avoiding looking at his body, you forced yourself to look him into his eyes.

“Are we gonna train or what?” You frowned at him. He let out a chuckle as he got into a battle stance, fists blocking his face.

“Of course. Try aiming for my face,” He said as he watch you get into your own stance. He nodded at you to go as you took off running towards him, preparing to aim for his stomach – abs – that would cause him to move his hands down there, leaving his face open. However, as you began to execute your punch, his arms immediately grabbed onto yours and twisted them around.

“Ow, what the hell?!” Your grimaced as he held tightly onto you.

“Too easy. Your eyes glanced at my stomach and I knew you would aim there first. The eyes will always be a dead giveaway to where the opponent will attack first,” He explained as he let go of your arms. Shaking the pain out of them, you regained your stance and frowned at him. “Try again.”

You and Gladiolus spent the next 30 minutes or so training – mostly you attempting to attack and Gladiolus immediately blocking it. It frustrated you at how easy it was for the prince’s shield to block your attacks that once worked on Ravus. After training with him for years, you were positive you could handle any attack given. Hell, it wasn’t even that long ago you took on a train of Imperials. What had happened since then? Had you somehow weakened? You couldn’t even fight off Ravus that time you guys met up with him just as Gladiolus had said. How were you going to get your revenge on the Empire and protect Lunafreya like this? Your mind wandered as you tried to land another surprise attack on Gladiolus by swinging your leg in the air to push him backwards with your foot. However, Gladiolus caught your foot before it made contact and pulled you towards him by it. Losing your balance immediately, you fell into the man’s sweaty chest just as he released your foot. His hands rested on your waist as he steadied you up.

“What’s on your mind?” Gladiolus asked as he looked down at you. “You’re not focused on this.”

“H-huh?” You blinked at him before shrugging his hands off you. “I’m not thinking about anything besides how to successfully kick your ass.”

“Well that’s not gonna happen if you’re not focused,” Gladiolus shrugged as he backed away from you and plopped himself on the ground. “What’s on your mind? I know I’m not Prompto but hopefully you can talk to me as well. We’re all friends here.”

You bit your bottom lip nervously as you stared at the man. He was nonchalantly looking towards the sky. He wasn’t going to pressure you into telling him what was wrong, but you knew if you didn’t, his feelings would be slightly hurt. You wanted to tell him, of course, but you couldn’t tell him everything. You could mention your worry about Lunafreya or how you just wanted to hurry up and be reunited with her. You could tell him about how her happiness meant the world to you and you wanted to see her smile brightly again as she once did when she was 12 – before the Empire attacked. You wanted to tell him how there was one person that you knew could make her happy like that again but… that person happened to be the same person who made you happy. Though you didn’t show it often, there was no denying he made your heart flutter and wish that it was you he loved and not your sister. That it was you who was meant to stand by his side. How Iris’s words from the previous night had been ringing in your ears since last night and that’s why you had been out training since the first rays of the sun had risen.

“You’re telling me you don’t feel anything when you’re with him?”

Of course, you felt something when you were with him. You always did. And that scared you. That’s why you pushed him and your feelings away. You couldn’t hurt Lunafreya again and knowing that you were… in love with him would kill her.

“I… I’m in love with him…” You finally said as you lowered your eyes away from Gladiolus and to the ground. “But… I can’t… have him…”

“Why not?” Gladiolus immediately said. “Cindy isn’t interested in Prompto, I can guarantee you that. You have a chance. Though, I’d have to say, never thought he’d be your type.”

You let out a low chuckle. You couldn’t tell if Gladiolus was being serious or not. “My life would be so much easier if my feelings were for Prompto…”

Silence fell between you two and the only thing that could be heard was the low howl of the wind and the feet of saberclaws running in the distance. Gladiolus stood up from the ground and made his way over to you. Placing a hand on your shoulder, you looked up at him with tears forming in your eyes.

“The prince, no, king makes the final call, right? About who he wants to be with? Don’t doubt yourself so much, kid. Noctis cares for you a lot more than you may think. As for your relationship with your sister… how do you expect to make Lady Lunafreya happy when you’re not happy yourself? She won’t be happy if you’re not. You’ve risked your life for your sister’s happiness. To me, that’s the most selfless act. Be selfish for once, Y/N,” Gladiolus squeezed your shoulder as a tear fell from your eye and onto his arm. He didn’t understand. He didn’t know the full story like Prompto did. You couldn’t have Noctis because of Lunafreya and because of your affiliation with Niflheim. He wouldn’t accept you. Your feelings for him would never be reciprocated, no matter how much Noctis cared for you. He was your brother-in-law. That was all.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?” The voice of Iris could be heard from the near distance. Gladiolus and you turned your heads towards the sound of her voice. Everyone was apparently awake and ready to hit the road as Ignis was signaling for you two to come over there. Prompto was on his phone while Iris was shouting at Gladiolus to put a shirt on and stop flirting with you. Your eyes landed on Noctis who’s arms were crossed. He seemed to be glaring at the scene in front of him, but he was too far away for you to see well.

Removing yourself from Gladiolus’s grip, you pushed away your previous emotions and waved back at Iris. “We’re coming!” Turning back to Gladiolus, you frowned slightly at him, “Thanks for this talk… but… I just… can’t hurt her like that.”

“Hmph,” was all Gladiolus said as he reached for his shirt to place over his head. He watched as you ran towards the group. As you neared Noctis, you must’ve said something to the prince because his body posture suddenly became stiff and his gloved hand went immediately to his face as if to hide something. You smiled gently at him before throwing an arm around Prompto’s neck, distracting him from his phone, and walking towards the Regalia. Noctis turned briefly to watch the scene before glancing back at Gladiolus who smirked at the prince. He didn’t seem to acknowledge it, however, as he began to follow the others to the car.

“He definitely loves her…”

~!~

“Are we there yet?” Prompto whined as the Regalia sped down the roads of Cleigne. You guys had been traveling for about two hours now with Cape Caem still nowhere in sight. Ignis said that everyone would know they were near when they began to see the vast ocean, however, no oceans had appeared as of yet.

“Prompto, if you ask that one more damn time,” Noctis grumbled under his breath.

The seating arrangement for the Regalia was more favorable for you today than it was yesterday. Gladiolus decided to sit in front with Ignis leaving Prompto to the back. Because Prompto was small in figure, everyone was able to fit in the backseat without having to sit on anyone’s lap. You were especially grateful for that. After last night with Iris and this morning with Gladiolus, you didn’t want to be too close to Noctis. Prompto picked up on this as he requested you sit closest to him in the back instead of Iris. Of course, Iris didn’t have a problem with this. Noctis threw you and Prompto glances every now and then whenever he would show you something on his phone or you’d use his bony shoulder as a pillow.

“We probably won’t make it again today…” Ignis said as he eyed the four of you in the back.

“Seriously? Why’d your dad pick such a faraway hideout, Noct?” Prompto complained.

“I don’t know, let me ask him,” Noctis frowned at the blond.

“Yikes, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Prompto let out a nervous chuckle. Noctis ignored his comment and repositioned himself the best he could in the cramped backseat to sleep comfortably.

“You can sleep on me, Noctis!” Iris suddenly said as she sat up straight and patted her shoulder. Hearing this caused you to lift your head from Prompto’s shoulder and glance at the girl. Your eyes shifted to the front where Gladiolus sat, waiting for him to intervene at any given moment. However, the older man was fast asleep.

“Uh,” Noctis said uncomfortably as he also glanced to Gladiolus for help. Noticing he was asleep as well, he turned and his cerulean eyes met with your hazel ones. Your eyes widened slightly before you pretended to be still half-asleep and dropped your head to Iris’s shoulder that faced you.

“Ugh, Y/N! What are you doing?” Iris frowned as she tried to shrug you off her. However, you just pretended to be asleep and didn’t budge. You had to give it to the young girl, even though she seemed aware of the situation between Noctis, you and Lunafreya, she was still persistent on making him fall for her.

“Mh, you’re more comfortable than Prompto…” You mumbled quietly.

“Hey! Well sleep on her for the rest of the trip then!” Prompto frowned as he scooted closer to the door to create space between you two.

Iris turned her head in disbelief to Noctis who was smirking down at you. However, you didn’t notice as you pretended to be asleep. “Sorry, Iris. Looks like my sis-in-law got to you first. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Sis-in-law my ass,” You heard Iris mumble under her breath. In response, you shoved your knee into the teenager’s leg, causing her to jump slightly.

The car was silent for awhile as mostly everyone had fallen asleep. The only ones who lay awake were Noctis – surprisingly – Iris, and Ignis, of course. Even you had tricked your brain into falling asleep after all the pretending. However, you could still hear everything that was going on.

“So Noct,” Iris spoke up. Noctis, who was on his phone playing King’s Knight, arched his brow to acknowledge her. “What does she look like? Lady Lunafreya, that is.”

“H-huh?” Noctis stuttered from Iris’s sudden question. The teen only blinked her brown eyes at him as she waited for a response. “Uh… well, I haven’t seen her since I was 8. She had medium-ish blonde hair with bangs? And icy blue eyes? She was taller than me and uh, she was thin?”

“So, you don’t know what she looks like now?”

“No idea… but I’ll know it’s her when I see her. Besides, I’m sure Y/N will point her out to me,” Noctis chuckled slightly as his eyes landed on you.

“What did Y/N look like when she was younger?”

“Y-Y/N?”

“Yeah! Was she always beautiful? You can say if she was or not. She’s like dead asleep,” Iris laughed. She knew you weren’t fully asleep because after asking her question about Lunafreya, you pushed your knee into her leg again.

“Uh,” Noctis glanced at you again to make sure you were asleep. “She was… always beautiful. Her hair was longer when she was younger. It went to the middle of her back but because she was a princess, she kept it in some fancy bun with braids around it. She was much shorter than Luna and probably an inch shorter than me. She’s been short her whole life,” Noctis laughed as he said this. “She didn’t talk to me a lot when I was in Tenebrae but when she did, I remember it making me really happy, even if she was sort of rude.”

“… Why are you not marrying Y-“

“Wake up, everyone! We’ve come near the ocean!” Ignis suddenly said, cutting off Iris. Everyone who was asleep groggily woke up, but their eyes widened when they saw the view of the ocean.

“Whoa! This is beautiful!” Prompto exclaimed as he quickly focused his camera on the ocean before him. The sun was setting, and the orange hue reflected off the calm waters. “Y/N, do you see this?”

You just nodded as you focused on the blue waters. They reminded you of Noctis’s own breathtaking blue eyes. Your cheeks colored themselves in a pink tint as the thought crossed your mind. However, you weren’t just blushing from your thoughts. You were also blushing from what Noctis had said to Iris about you.

“We’re gonna camp near the beach tonight. Is everyone okay with that? The sun is setting and I don’t want to put Ms. Iris in danger,” Ignis said as he pulled the Regalia to the side of a bridge.

“Fine with me. I need to stretch, anyway,” Gladiolus said as he immediately hopped out the car. “The tent isn’t gonna fit all of us, so I volunteer to sleep outside so Iris can get the tent.”

“It’s fine, Gladdy. I can sleep outside,” Iris offered as she exited the backseat of the car.

“No, it’s dangerous. It may be a haven, but I don’t trust it 100 percent.”

“I’ll sleep outside,” Noctis shrugged. “The tent is a cramped when it’s all of in there, anyway.”

“Well, I’m not going to argue with you. I’m gonna go ahead and set up camp,” Gladiolus said as he removed the items he needed from the trunk of the car and made his ways to the stairs attached to the bridge.

“I’m so excited! My first camping trip with you guys!” Iris grinned at you and Noctis.

“It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be,” You mumbled as you pushed past her and began to follow the others who had already started walking. Shrugging, Iris ran to catch up with you as Noctis strolled lazily behind.

~!~

Aranea’s POV

“Were you able to recruit her?” The smooth voice of Ardyn filled the woman’s ears. She rolled her eyes as she leaned against one of the rails overlooking the city of Altissia. Pushing herself off it, she casually strolled past Ardyn and several of the imperial soldiers behind him.

“Is she here now?” Aranea sarcastically asked as she pretended to look around the area for Y/N. “Because I don’t see her anywhere.”

“We don’t pay you to fail missions-“

“Ha!” Aranea let out a loud, breathy laugh. “Pay me? You guys barely pay me. I go out of my way for the Empire only to barely afford to feed myself half the time. I don’t do this for the money, buddy. I do this to serve my country.”

�� “Buddy is no way to refer to your chancellor,” Caligo suddenly spoke up. At the sound of his voice, Aranea whipped her head to the short, pudgy man and gave him an incredulous look.

“I don’t think you have the right to speak to me since you’ve been demoted. Y/N almost ended you and you barely escaped,” Aranea hissed. “If I were her, I would’ve finished you off whether the prince intervened or not.”

“You bit-“

“Alright, alright, settle down. You both failed your missions, however, you both have the opportunity to regain yourselves-“

“I’m really not up for kicking their asses again, “Aranea groaned. “She’s not going to join us, anyway. She’s too much in love with her prince to betray him now. Anyone with eyes can tell she loves him. They came into the arena holding hands.”

“She really is a traitor. How could she love a Lucian – more specifically – the prin-“

“Shut up, Caligo,” Ardyn said sharply, causing the man to stiffen. A smirk played on Ardyn’s face as Aranea’s information registered in his mind. “So… both of the Nox Fleuret sisters are in love with the prince, huh? This could… actually work.”

“What are you planning, Ardyn?” Aranea arched a brow as the red-haired man began to pace back and forth.

“Do you happen to know which sister the prince has feelings for?” Ardyn asked, ignoring Aranea’s question.

“The one he was supposed to marry, I suppose, but he and Y/N have chemistry… why?”

“It’d be a shame if… one of them just… died in an attack or something…”

“Why do you want to kill the sisters? What have they done to you? I agreed to recruit Y/N and fuck around with the prince’s head a for a bit, not kill anyone,” Aranea immediately said.

“This could work in my favor…” Ardyn smirked to himself as a new set of plans began to roam his mind. Noticing Aranea and Caligo were still staring at him in a confused way, he replaced his smirk with a grin and snapped his fingers. “New plan! Aranea, you and I will be headed back to Lucis to assist the prince with the next royal arm he has to receive.”

“I said I’m not-“

“We’re not fighting them. We’re assisting them. Redeem yourself with the prince and his entourage.”

“And what about me?” Caligo spoke up. Ardyn turned his head over his shoulder and threw a smirk at him.

“You stay here and train. I have a feeling… a world-changing even will be going down soon. You need to prepare yourself, Caligo. And as for you…” Ardyn looked towards a soldier who stood upright, shotgun pressed tightly into their chest. “Step forward.”

“Sir!” The soldier immediately responded as he took a step forward. Aranea arched her brow again as the soldier’s voice rang through her ears. She’s heard that voice before. It was stern and emotionless. It’s been a while since she’s heard it since she’d moved up in the ranks, so she couldn’t quite put her finger on who the voice belonged to.

“Are you ready to meet your daughter again?” Ardyn smirked at the soldier. Aranea’s eyes immediately widened at Ardyn’s words. This soldier was…

“Maybe you’d be able to convince Y/N that she should be assisting us. You are her father after all. Do whatever you deem as necessary,” Ardyn’s eyes darkened as the man nodded his head in confirmation and returned to his spot beside the other Imperials.

“What… is he planning?” Aranea quietly asked herself as she stared in shock at the man known as Y/N’s dad. Whatever Ardyn had up his sleeve, she knew it meant danger for the prince, the oracle, and Y/N. She had to find a way to let them know or even stop it before it was too late.

“Okay, so when do we leave for Lucis?” Aranea asked.

Ardyn just threw another smirk at her. “Tonight. We must prepare the temple, after all!”

~!~

Your POV

You lay awake in the tent, staring into the darkness that surrounded you as the others slept. The flames from the still burning fire pranced its shadows on the tent’s walls from the outside. Dinner was hours ago as it was about 2 in the morning. Noctis was sleeping outside so you guessed he kept awakening to add more wood to keep the fire alive. Though it was the middle summer, the beach that you guys camped on was a bit chilly without the sun’s warmth around. Even inside the tent, you were shivering from the cold. Prompto and Iris slept the closest to you while Gladiolus and Ignis occupied the other corner of the tent. You worried about Noctis who was outside alone. Though he claimed he wanted to sleep outside, you couldn’t help but think he felt a bit lonely. As far as you know, ever since the boys started traveling together, no one was left to sleep alone. You decided that you should check up on him. Besides, if he was awake, which you doubted, you wanted to ask him about what he meant by his words from the previous night – that he could never hate. It’s been nagging you in the back of your mind since he said it, but you didn’t want to make the situation awkward between you both with the others noticing. Maybe it didn’t mean anything. Maybe he just really cared for you as Gladiolus said. Maybe…

You quietly got up from your spot, careful not to wake up the others, and made your way out of the tent. To your surprise, Noctis was sitting in his chair, a blanket draped over his shoulders, staring at the fire before him. Quietly, you walked towards the prince. He must’ve heard the crunching sand underneath your feet as he whipped his head in your direction. A blush creeped up your face from being caught as you shyly waved at him before continuing to walk towards him.

“Are you okay?” Noctis asked as you neared him. You just nodded your head as you plopped down in the chair beside him. A small shiver coursed through your body as the heat from the fire and the coolness from the night air collided with one another. “Do you want to use my blanket?”

“I’m fine, thanks…” You said as you avoided his eyes that were staring at you. “So, uh, why aren’t you asleep?”

“I could ask you the same,” He smirked at you. It only lasted a second, however, as it fell. “Just… thinking about everything that’s happened lately… and how close we are to seeing-“

“Lunafreya?” You cut him off, already knowing that was the name he was about to say. He just nodded at you while your heart sunk slowly in your chest. “I’m… looking forward to seeing her, too. I just want to hold her in my arms and apologize for ever leaving her…”

Noctis’s eyes widened at your words. “Oh yeah, why did you come to Insomnia? Was it to see me?”

Noctis playfully smirked at you as he awaited your answer but was only surprised when you nodded your head in agreement. “It was my birthday… and I just wanted to see Lunafreya happy again, like she always was whenever you sent her those messages in the notebook. She would read your messages repeatedly just to feel connected to you somehow. At night, she’d sometimes cry… I didn’t know why until I overheard her talking to Gentiana about her life being unfair… how she wished she wasn’t an oracle and how she could just love and be with you. But those… assholes… the Gods, they took that all away from her. So, to reunite you guys, I went to Insomnia to find a way to tell you all this in hopes you would’ve come back with me. Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t have worked. Tenebrae is filled with Imperials ready to attack your family… I was really stupid…”

“You’re not stupid for wanting your sister to be happy…” Noctis said softly. “I want Luna to be happy as well.”

“She’ll be happy once you two are together. Maybe you can finally plan this wedding that’s been delayed which feels like for centuries,” You let out a forced laugh at your words. Noctis didn’t laugh, however, as he slightly frowned at you.

“I think… Luna will be happier once she sees you and knows with her own eyes that you’re safe. She really loves and cherishes you, you know?” Noctis said. “I promised not to tell you this but, when we were kids, she was really sad when you wouldn’t play with us…”

“Luna why are you sad?” An 8-year-old Noctis watched worriedly as the 12-year-old girl shed tears on the drawing before her. She was fine just a few seconds ago so Noctis didn’t understand why the girl was suddenly crying. The girl often looked distant whenever Noctis and her would play together, but she’d quickly cover it up with a smile.

“I-“ She sniffed, “I miss my sister. Why won’t she play with us as well? Did I do something? I ask her, and she tells me no and goes to play with our brother. Why doesn’t she like me anymore?”

Noctis’s eyes lowered as he listened to Luna’s words. He knew that it wasn’t Luna that Y/N didn’t want to play with – it was him. The boy didn’t understand why Y/N didn’t like him. However, that shouldn’t stop her from playing with her sister. The day he met the Nox Fleuret sisters, he knew that Y/N really looked up and loved Luna. He felt bad for getting in the way of that relationship.

Sighing, Noctis rolled his wheelchair over to Luna and placed a comforting hand on top of hers. “I’m sorry… Y/N doesn’t like me... so maybe she doesn’t want to play with you because of me. I can go hang with my dad if that’ll make her play with you…”

Luna let out a chuckle as she placed her other hand over Noctis’s and blinked her tears away. “There’s no need for that. I’ll be okay. I’m sure she likes you, so don’t worry, okay? Also, Noctis…”

“Hm?” The boy widened his eyes at the older girl.

“Promise not to tell Y/N I cried over her, okay? I know she isn’t doing this on purpose and it’ll probably break her to know that she upset me.”

Noctis immediately grinned at the girl. “It’s a promise!”

“She cried… because of me?” You blinked at the prince before you.

“Don’t tell her I told you – hey, Y/N, what’s wrong?” Noctis looked at you as tears ran down your face. You stared off distantly at the ocean and the moonlight that reflected off it. You’ve hurt Lunafreya before to the point that she cried? How many other times have you hurt your sister? How many times have you betrayed her? Even with being careful of every move you make and going out of your way to bring happiness to your sister, you still hurt her. You bit down on your bottom lip hard enough to break its skin and taste blood as your thoughts continued to run wild.

“Hey,” Noctis’s voice broke you from your thoughts as he was now crouched down in front of you, both of his hands caressing your own. More tears fell down your face as you looked at him. Without a second thought, his thumb came to your face and brushed away your tears. The mere touch caused another shiver to run through you. “We were kids… it’s not that big of deal, right? You know you love Luna. Luna knows you love her and would never purposefully hurt her and-“

You stared at Noctis as he tried to calm you. He was always trying to calm you and trying to get you to open up to him – even as kids. The night at the hotel in Lestallum where you got him to admit to you his true emotions about his father. Originally, he wanted you to open up to him, but you managed to flip the script. Then the other times he’s come to comfort you or even save your life. The time where he stopped you from killing Ravus and even the other night from that Imperial commander. Noctis was always there reassuring you and making sure you were okay. And… each time, you fell deeper for him. Deeper in love with the man that was meant for your sister. In love with the man that would hurt Lunafreya for life if she found out you held the same feelings for the man she confessed to you she loved so many years ago.

“Are you listening to me, Y/N?” Noctis looked into your hazel eyes, causing your heart to stop as you locked your eyes with his. Love. That’s what you saw in his worried eyes as they searched your watery ones. Love. It was what Iris, Prompto, Gladiolus, and even Ignis had been hinting at all along. Noctis loved you. At this realization, your eyes filled with tears as you abruptly stood up and attempted to walk away from the campsite. However, Noctis was faster and grabbed onto your hand and pulled you into him. Your eyes widened as he held onto you for a while. “Do you know how to dance?”

“H-huh?” You hiccupped, taken aback by his sudden question. Here you were crying about your situation and he wanted to dance?

“Princesses know how to dance, right?” He asked as he pulled himself away from you slightly. You watched as Noctis grabbed your hand and placed it on his shoulder while he took the other in his own hand. He then gently placed his free hand on your waist and looked back at you with gently smile. Meanwhile you blinked confusedly at him. “As a prince, I kinda had no choice but to learn. I hate it, but I’ve been told it helps people temporarily forget their problems.”

“I-I,” Your face was red, you knew it. Hopefully, he would think it was from your crying. “I know… the basics.”

“Okay, I’ll lead,” Noctis said as he began to sway you around. You hadn’t danced ballroom style in so long. Your eyes kept glancing towards your feet to make sure you didn’t step on his as he twirled you around the fireplace. “Try not to look at your feet so much…”

You nodded as you looked up at him. He grinned at you as he spun you around, causing a small laugh to escape from you. This was a side you haven’t seen of Noctis before. Did Lunafreya know about this charming side to the prince? Did he ever tell Lunafreya that he wanted to dance with her in front of a fireplace that overlooked the ocean? That he wanted to spin her around until she got dizzy and tripped over her own feet with him catching her each time? How he’d stare lovingly at her as the moonlight reflected in her glassy blue eyes that had a few moments ago been crying? Did Lunafreya know this side of Noctis? You wanted to think she didn’t… that he was only this way with you. The shy, distant prince that people came to know disappeared into a gentle, caring one when he was comfortable with those around him.

“Why… can’t you hate me…?” You muttered as you two continued to dance around the fire. However, at your words, Noctis halted his movement and looked down at you, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Why can’t you hate me?” You asked a bit louder this time, so he could hear. “Even if I did something horrible… or was a part of something horrible. If I were the cause for all the trouble in your and Lunafreya’s life…wouldn’t you hate me?”

“Does Lunafreya know about this horrible thing?” You nodded as Noctis chuckled. “Then if she doesn’t hate you… then why would I? I literally cannot hate you, Y/N. I will never hate you.”

At his words, you broke your hand away from his and wrapped your arms around his waist, taking him by surprise, as you buried your face in his chest. He smelled similar to how he did the day you met him again in Hammerhead. His musky cologne applied from earlier today mixed in with the smell of nature. “Why…”

“Huh?” He said as he still stood frozen.

“Why can’t you be mine?”

Your eyes widened at your words as you realized what you had just said. Immediately, you tried to pull yourself away from the prince, but was prevented from doing so when he wrapped his arms around you. Your heart was pounding so loudly you could practically hear them in your ears. Maybe he didn’t hear you? Maybe he was just returning your hug? Maybe he-

“Y/N, can I kiss you?”

You pulled yourself away from him at those words and stared up at him. His face was red as he avoided your eye contact. “I-I’m sorry. Forget I asked. I’m-“

~!~

Noctis’s POV

Why did he ask her that? She was clearly upset about hurting her sister. Her sister that was clearly in love with him. And here he was asking could he kiss her. But, he couldn’t help it. Her questioning why he couldn’t be hers? He didn’t want anything but to be hers. And to hear the woman he was in love with indirectly tell him she felt the same, how else was he supposed to react? Maybe not asking her to kiss him, however. Noctis wanted to crawl into a hole. When did he even become this bold? He was trying to cheer up the crying woman, not make her uncomfortable. She stared at him for a while as he tried to stumble out an apology.

“I’m sorry-“

“I’m sorry…” Y/N said which gave Noctis his answer. He blushed in embarrassment as he slowly dropped his arms from the woman. He knew he messed up. Ugh, how was he going to come back from this now. “Lunafreya, please forgive me…”

Noctis looked down at the former princess in confusion as she looked up at Noctis and nodded her head at him. “You can kiss me…”

Noctis let out a shaky breath as a small smile became present on his lips. Carefully, he cupped Y/N’s face and brought his face down to hers. His eyes flicked up to her already closed ones. He chuckled as he saw her awaiting his kiss. Gently, he placed his lips onto hers. At first, she didn’t react to it however, he was reassured she didn’t regret her decision when her arms snaked around his neck to bring him closer to her. He obliged as he moved his hands from her face and to her waist, deepening the kiss in the process. Was he really kissing Y/N? The woman he had been in love with for so long? It was like a dream come true.

And just like dreams, the moment abruptly as she pulled away and looked at him in horror.

“I-I’m sorry…” She said as she gazed at him for a moment for disappearing back into the tent. Noctis stood there in shock as his lips still tingled from her soft ones being on his. He glanced towards the tent where she disappeared to and let a small smile dance upon his lips.

“I’ve always been yours… Y/N…”

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mst3kproject · 5 years

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1110: Wizards of the Lost Kingdom

I only saw this episode once, while I was on my two-day binge back when season eleven first debuted – and by then I was kind of running out of binge-watching oomph, because I don’t think I paid much attention to it. If I had, I wouldn’t have been so blindsided by shit like the mermaid and her rainbow bridge or the flying lion-centaur whatchamafuckit. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is depressingly cheap and desperately amateurish, but it's also unbelievably fucking weird.

There’s a great evil abroad in the land or something. The Castle(TM) is Attacked and the resident Bearded Wizard(TM) gives his son the Callow Youth(TM) a Magical Ring(TM) to keep safe – but of course the stupid kid drops it on the way out. After gathering a few allies, slaying a few monsters, and dabbling in casual necromancy, the boy sneaks back into the castle to retrieve the ring and do wizardly battle with the bad guy. The day is saved, the princess is rescued, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The music attempts to convince us that this is epic and exciting, rather than corny and embarrassing.

I have rarely felt as bad for a group of actors as I did watching Wizards of the Lost Kingdom. I kept wanting to hide behind the couch so I wouldn’t have to look at the expressions on their faces as they humiliate themselves by being in this movie. Even Crabby the Crab Hat doesn’t want to be here. The whole thing looks like a third grade class put on a play starring everybody’s parents. The only person who gets out with any shred of dignity is whatever poor bastard was hiding under the Gulfax suit… oh, no, wait, no he didn’t, because according to IMDB the same actor also played Dad the Wizard.

Let’s look at our characters. There’s our hero Simon, who is about thirteen and seems to be familiar with the concept of a quest but would probably much rather be reading a book somewhere. His buddy is Gulfax, a dude who paid way too much for his alpaca fursuit. Kor the Conquerer is supposed to be a troubled alcoholic mercenary, but he really does look like Gordon Ramsay except not as badass. The wicked queen dresses like she’s trying to look sexy for the Swamp Thing. Princess Aura acts like your nine-year-old sister parading around in one of those Disney Princess gowns. The bad guy is less impressive than his own fashion accessories and can disintegrate people except when it would be inconvenient for the plot. Simon can disintegrate people, too, but saves it for non-humans despite the fact that they’re shown to be sentient.

Then there’s what all these people actually do. Despite a much more kid-friendly tone, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is a lot like Ator: the Fighting Eagle. Both movies present us with characters who are supposedly on a heroic quest, but all we see is them wandering around the woods while random things happen. When I tried to describe this film to a co-worker, I realized I could talk about the various incidents in whatever order I liked, because none of them really contribute to the plot or even connect to each other.

Take, for example, the bit where Kor is captured by the cyclops who wants him to marry his sister (the cyclops’ sister, that is. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom isn’t that much like Ator). It comes and it goes, and that’s it. Kor had earlier said he didn’t know who this mysterious bucket-helmeted figure was, and Simon pouts a bit because that was a lie. It really, really doesn’t feel like the major betrayal the script wants us to think it was. It comes across as the cyclops’ sister being an embarrassing ex-girlfriend Kor just didn’t want to talk about, and he and Simon argue for thirty seconds and then hug and make up, completely negating whatever small emotional impact the whole thing might have had.

Or how about the part where Simon straight-up raises the dead? In most fantasy settings that would be considered a turn down a dark path, with far-reaching consequences for both the plot and the character development. In Wizards of the Lost Kingdom the corpses get up and basically tell Simon to get fucked because they want to rest, and then crawl back into their graves. This is a world where black magic exists and can claim your soul, but apparently necromancy isn’t in that category. All that happens is Kor tells Simon to respect the dead more.

What about the bit where Simon realizes the bad guy and his Crab Hat are spying on them through a magical birdbath? The kid casts a spell that makes the water explode in the evil dude’s face so he can’t see them anymore, but this has no plot consequences because a scene or two later the bad guy has simply re-filled the birdbath and is watching them again. Why did we even need to see that? Why did we need the bit with the little gnome dude who enables Kor’s alcoholism? The drinking is never a plot point because this is a kids’ movie (unless marrying the cyclops’ sister was something Kor promised to do while drunk), and the gnome promises to re-join them for the climax but when he does he just watches.

How about the part where Kor tries to save a drowning topless blonde woman in the weirdly orange river (this is the only place where I can definitely identify a shot MST3K cut, since we got one very brief look at her tits)? She vanishes only to reappear on a rock with one of those mermaid tail blankets over her legs, telling them she was testing their manhood to see if they were worthy of her help! They were, so she creates a rainbow for them and tells them to follow their hearts across the river!

Uh. Okay. So I can see how Kor was worthy, since he jumped in and all, but Simon stood on the shore yelling at him to stop because it’s too dangerous. Shouldn’t his unmanly ass get left behind?

Unquestionably, however, the weirdest thing in the movie is the fucked-up trippy vision Simon has while bug-woman plies him with drink and flower petals. This scene fascinates me. So there’s a bunch of Satanists sacrificing women on a spray-foam altar, while a voice tries to tempt Simon to the dark side. In response, he summons up the ‘forces of good’ to deal with the situation, and they appear in the form of this stop-motion… chimera… thing. Imagine a lion centaur, only both the horse part and the human part are lions, so it’s like a six-legged, two-torsoed leonine centipede abomination, but instead of arms on the upper set of shoulders it has weird veiny bat wings. It hovers there snarling while the Satanists complete their sacrifice, which summons a giant floating semi-transparent head in some scaly makeup. The head makes faces and breathes green fire, until the lion thing glares cartoon lightning at it and it explodes.

What the actual unmotivated fuck. What even was that? I want to say it’s demonstrating that Simon is pure of heart and can’t be tempted to evil but like ten minutes later he’s raising the fucking dead. What the hell is with the lion monster? Is it a metaphor for something? Is it saying that the forces of good can be just as terrifying as those of evil, like how if you read descriptions of angels they actually look like beasts from your nightmares? Was it actually supposed to be pretty and the model-makers just weren’t up to the task? What am I looking at?

Did anybody actually realize how weird this all was? One does get the impression that the writers were just scribbling down whatever bullshit came into their heads without regard for continuity or anything. Can we have a mermaid in our movie? Sure, why the hell not. Zombies? Awesome, everybody loves zombies, throw ‘em in there. A garden gnome? A goat-man playing the pan flute? A jilted cyclops with a spiral perm? Absolutely, the more, the merrier! Concepts!

And yet for all that, the single worst failure of writing in Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is the anticlimax of the ending. Through the whole movie everybody’s been looking for the Ring of Magic, which makes the wearer all-powerful. One of the wicked queen’s dwarves (played by actual little people who should all have been paid double for being in the same movie where the queen says we’re running out of dwarves) finds it, but Simon snatches it back a moment later and goes out and saves the day. Of course he does – he’s all-powerful. It’s a foregone conclusion. The only tension comes from wondering how many of those kids who were freed from prison are gonna get swords in the gut while Simon worries about making pretty special effects in his wizard’s duel.

One last bit of illogical crap. After the battle, Kor wanders off to go back to his ‘itinerant boozehound’ gig, and tells Simon to be a good king. Uh… Simon’s not gonna be king. The rightful heir is Princess Aura, who’s literally right there. Simon can marry her and be royal consort if she still likes him once they’ve both been through puberty. Is there a law in this kingdom that if you save the day you get to be in charge? That does seem to be where the last guy got his throne… and yet I have a faint suspicion that the writers just assumed Simon would rule instead of Aura because he’s got a penis and she doesn’t.

All that may have given the impression that I hate this movie but I really don’t. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom just isn’t worth the effort. Instead I just pity this movie and everybody in it. Every last one of them did a terrible job, and yet they still all deserved better. On every possible level, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is truly less than the sum of its parts.

#mst3k #reviews #wizards of the lost kingdom #tw: incest #80s #just fuckin weird #everybody do the zombie stomp

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naruwitch · 5 years

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Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron Chapter 17: Crystal Venom

"I loved the smell of the mountain juniberries in the early morning breeze," Allura sighed as she looked up at her father's image. She was sitting in a field of juniberries from Altea. She still hadn't fully processed that her home was gone forever.

"As did I, Allura," Alfor answered with a smile. The Space Mice were sitting on a floating tray next to the Princess, stirring some tea to drink.

"Remember the summer berry festival?" Allura asked, "People would come from all over Altea for the harvest."

Alfor laughed a little at the memory, "I remember how the berry juice stained your favorite dress. You were so upset."

Allura laughed as well, "It took forever for Mother to calm me," the Princess then looked down, tears filling her eyes, "I miss Altea so much. I miss you, Father. I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"I know Allura," King Alfor sighed, "but, as leaders, we have to do what's right for our people, even if it means great sacrifice."

"I know, Father," Allura said, though the frown didn't leave her face, "that's what you always say."

The hologram door at the back of the room opened, and Coran walked in. "Princess, there you are, what are you doing up and about? You should be resting."

"Oh, Coran, can't I stay?" Allura begged.

"The Balmera Rejuvenation Ceremony took a lot out of you," the advisor argued as he knelt next to her to help her up, "Come along, to your room."

"Get your rest, darling. I will be here for you when you're well," Alfor assured her as the Princess reluctantly got up to leave.

"I love you, Father. I'll see you soon," Allura allowed Coran to lead her out of the room. However, her expression was downcast as Altea faded into a dark metal room once again.

o~o

Rai was down in Zerith's lair, typing away on his laptop. Rover was hovering over his shoulder. For the past several hours, Rai had been studying the Galra Crystal that they had not gotten rid of yet. It's structure, he observed, was very similar to a Balmera Crystal, except something about the energy in it seemed off.

He squinted at another algorithm as the speakers in the bay came on.

"Rai, please come down to the detainment room," Coran said over them.

With a slightly irritated sigh, Rai stood up and walked out, Rover obediently trailing behind him.

Neither of them noticed the Galra Crystal suddenly pulsing very brightly.

o~o

When Rai and Rover arrived, Coran was just finishing putting a device on top of Sendak's holding pod. There were two more across and below it as well. The other Paladins and C.C., who had now fully recovered from the Balmera incident, were there as well.

"Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up," Coran said as he pulled up a screen by a smaller container next to Sendak's. "But, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to interrogate prisoners."

"Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for," Lelouch stated, looking confidently at their sleeping prisoner, "but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we may gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations."

"Yeah, and then we can just be like, 'Knock-knock.' 'Who's there?' 'The avenging fury of Voltron, son!'" Rivalz laughed from behind him.

"Fascinating. So, how exactly does this work?" Rai couldn't help but ask as he hovered over Coran's shoulder, looking at the screen.

"As the memories are extracted, they're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro-storage strands," Coran explained.

"You know what? When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain stored in a giant ship, too," Milly declared with a smirk.

"You sure a ship this size would have enough storage space for what's in your head, Milly?" Kallen asked with curious sarcasm.

"...No, you're right," Milly paused before smirking, "I'll need at least five ships to store it!"

"Oh! Good one, Prez!" Shirley laughed.

Suzaku laughed a little too while Lelouch just sighed in exasperation.

"So, this is how you incorporated King Alfor's memories into the Castle of Lions?" C.C. asked.

"Precisely," Coran confirmed, before frowning, "but it's never been attempted before, on an unwilling participant."

He pressed a few more buttons on the control board, and the memory machine immediately activated, a port opening at the top. Nothing seemed to happen, though.

"Uh, is this what's supposed to be happening?" Shirley asked, a little confused, along with most of the others. Even Coran looked a little bemused.

"Let's just give it some time. As Coran said, he's an unwilling participant. He'll likely resist for a while before we get any significant results," Lelouch reasoned.

o~o

No one knew how much time passed as they waited for Sendak to give in. But it felt like hours. Shirley was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, Milly was tapping her foot, and Rivalz had resorted to just twiddling his thumbs. Rai, Suzaku, and Kallen looked like they were getting impatient too.

Finally, after several resorted to sitting on the floor and Coran checking the device for the thousandth time, Suzaku spoke up, "Well, I can't wait around any more. If you need me, I'll be at the training deck."

"Me too," Kallen sighed as she and Suzaku exited the room.

o~o

More time passed, Lelouch had not left his position in front of Sendak's holding pod. At the same time, Rivalz leaned forward, looking at Lelouch's face, trying to make sure that the Black Paladin hadn't turned to stone somehow with how intensely he was staring.

Rai finally sighed, "Okay, if anyone needs me, I'll be in the lab. Maybe I can pull some information from Sendak's Galra Crystal."

Rover followed after him as usual, and after looking back and forth between the exit and the others, Shirley followed him.

o~o

After another half hour, C.C. was leaning against the wall, while Rivalz was pedaling with his legs in the air.

Milly's stomach suddenly growled, "Well, guess that means its time to eat… come to think of it, we haven't even had breakfast yet..." She exited the room as well. At the mention of breakfast, though, C.C. followed after her as well. Even though she didn't necessarily need to, she still ate whenever she could.

"Well, I'm afraid I can't wait here any longer, either," Coran said as he stretched his arms, "I have a million duties to attend to. Between that Galra Crystal infecting our system, and then fighting off those ships and performing the Balmeran Rejuvenation Ceremony, the old Castle of Lions has taken quite a beating. Every system needs to be recharged and repaired."

"I'll stay," Lelouch said, "Somewhere in Sendak's mind is the information about Zarkon that we need."

"Okay, well, while you guys do that," Rivalz said, flipping to his feet, "I think I'm gonna get my chill on. Maybe kick back with a lemonade or space juice. Something."

As Rivalz tried to leave though, Coran stopped him, "Oh, hold on there, space juice. You're going to come and help me."

Rivalz stopped short and looked at Coran, shocked, "What? Why? Why me?"

"Because you're the last one here and because your activity isn't very essential," Coran reasoned as he left the room swiftly.

"Wait, did I say 'chill with a good lemonade'? I meant I gotta do homework," Rivalz tried desperately to correct himself.

"No, too late."

"Fine…" Rivalz groaned in defeat before looking back at Lelouch, "Let us know if anything happens… Lelouch?"

Lelouch blinked before finally acknowledging Rivalz just as he was leaving the room, "Y-You got it."

o~o

Milly punched the buttons on the food goo machine, a bowl already in her hand. "Maybe today, we try a little crème goo-lée."

The machine opened, and two hoses appeared in front of her. She grabbed the first one and pressed down on the handle to dispense the food goo. Strangely though, nothing came out. Milly blinked and scowled. She tapped the nozzle and shook it a few times, thinking something was stuck. When still nothing happened, she held the hose up to her face to see if she could see the blockage. She was so focused on the nozzle that she didn't notice the sudden static at the base of the machine.

After shaking it a few more times and holding up again, she shrieked as a blast of food fired right in her face, hitting her eye. She dropped her plate and held her face as she attempted to blink the goo out. She cried out again as another blast of goo hit her in the rear, forcing her to take cover behind the counter.

C.C. was just about to enter the kitchen herself when a glob of goo nearly missed hitting her. With a bewildered blink, she looked into the kitchen's entrance, only to see the goo machine going haywire, shooting globs of goo all over the place, much to her shock.

"What is going on here?" she asked, quite shocked.

Milly poked her head up from behind the counter, "The goo has me pinned down!" she exclaimed with a grunt as another glob hit her in the face.

C.C.'s eyes widened and rushed over to the counter as well, expertly maneuvering around the globs of goo flying through the air. She crouched down next to Milly and ripped open one of the drawers next to her. Inside was a row of neatly stacked plates. She snatched two of them and handed one to Milly.

"We're going to have to flank the goo to shut it down," C.C. said, holding the plate.

"Okay, got it!" Milly said, before bowing her head, "C.C., it's been an honor serving with you!"

C.C. playfully rolled her eyes before the two girls braced themselves to jump into action.

"And… GO!" C.C. shouted. The two women leaped out from behind the counter, plates acting as shields in front of them. Milly raised it in front of her face as two globs almost hit her face.

As Milly charged it head-on, C.C. swooped in on the side and leaped onto the berserk goo dispenser. She grit her teeth as she held the nozzle down with the plate, goo still flying out of it in the process. Milly then ran up to the machine itself, took hold of the nozzle's hose, and tied it tightly into a knot. This stopped any further goo from getting out of the nose, but Milly gasped in fright as the tube started to expand from the pressure of the food building up behind it. Both girls quickly scrambled away from it as more food goo began to drip from the inside of the machine. To their relief, though, it didn't explode outward and eventually slowed to a stop.

After they both sighed in relief, C.C. said, "Malfunction?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Milly laughed uneasily, "Guess the kitchen system needs to be rebooted, too."

The two made eye contact, both quite shocked about what just transpired.

"...I say we leave this Coran," Milly proclaimed.

Before C.C. could reply, the lights in the kitchen suddenly shut off, leaving complete darkness.

"...Yes, definitely leave for Coran," C.C. agreed.

o~o

Rivalz pouted as he scrubbed the inside of the pod that he had previously been inhabiting when he was recovering about a week ago.

"Ugh... Since when did 'you sleep in it, you clean it' become a Voltron rule? Also, how is it these pods have the ability to heal a human from near death, but don't have the ability to clean themselves?"

"Oh, self-cleaning pods," Coran laughed as he glanced back at Rivalz before moving onto the next pod, "Now, that's a good one! You know, this kind of reminds me of my time as a young cadet. I had just enlisted in the Altean space squad, aeronautics sub-tech nano-weaponry unit, and I was sent off to boot camp. Our sergeant had us cleaning cryo-pods day and night. I got so good at it, I earned my first set of stripes!"

As Rivalz only half-listened to Coran and moved on to the more inner part of the pod, he didn't notice that the pod had somehow closed behind him.

He turned around after hearing the hissing noise of a closing pod and yelled out in alarm before turning and banging on the front, trying to either break it down or alert Coran to what was happening.

"Oh—Coran! Hey! Hey! H-Hey!"

"—Oh, those were the days," Coran continued, utterly oblivious to Rivalz's plight as the pod flashed, freezing Rivalz inside and lowering back to the floor. "Anyway, you keep up the good work, and maybe someday you'll earn some cleaning stripes, too."

Coran turned around with a grin, only to blink in confusion and look around. "Rivalz? Rivalz! Ah, Paladins..." he sighed in defeat. The Blue Paladin must have slipped out while he was distracted. Oh well. He'd catch him and punish him for that later.

o~o

Suzaku grunted as he blocked the attack from the gladiator with perfect fluidity and ducked under another swing from above. Kallen stood off to the side, waiting for her turn. She and Suzaku had been switching out on who fought the gladiator. Suzaku was currently on his third round, and Kallen would begin hers once he ended.

Which it did moments after, as, with a sidespin, Suzaku's katana sank straight through the gladiator, which dissolved in blue light and pixels.

"You're up," Suzaku said to Kallen, swiping the sweat from his face.

Kallen grunted as she traded places with the Purple Paladin. Activating her cestus, she stood in the center of the room. "Restart training level three!"

At Kallen's command, a gladiator once again descended to the floor on the opposite end. With a blink of its blue eye, it charged the Red Paladin. With a shout of challenge, she met the gladiator's sword with her claw, and the two exchanged blows several times, the gladiator gradually pushing Kallen back.

It seemed like Kallen had it all under control until one of the strikes hit so hard, Kallen went flying to the other end. She landed hard on her shoulder and spun to a stop close to Suzaku's position.

"Kallen!" he exclaimed, running over. "End training sequence!" That gladiator fight had been far too hard to just be level three. Something must have glitched in the system. The Red Paladin grunted as she got back to her feet. Despite the sharp fall, she didn't appear hurt. Her eyes widened though as the gladiator didn't disappear, but started charging towards the two, its eye glowing red instead of blue now.

"End training sequence! End training sequence, now!" was her only warning to Suzaku as the gladiator continued to charge. The Purple Paladin managed to raise his katana in time to block the attack, but it resulted in his Bayard flying out of his hands and clambering to the other side of the room.

Too shocked to see what happened, the gladiator kicked Suzaku hard in the gut, falling into Kallen in the process, and the two rolled painfully across the floor. However, Kallen managed to keep hold of her Bayard.

Suzaku looked to where his Bayard had landed, not too far away. Making eye contact with Kallen, the Red Paladin leaped to her feet and charged the gladiator head-on. With a battle cry, she clashed her claw against the gladiator again as Suzaku slid past them to scoop up his own weapon.

Upon seeing that Suzaku was armed once more, Kallen sidestepped around the gladiator and managed to trip it before both she and Suzaku sprinted for the exit. Once they were out in the hallway, the training room door locked, the two panted profusely, hoping that that was the end of it.

They didn't have time to determine what had caused the robot to go crazy, as the sword of the very robot suddenly pierced straight through the door. With gasps of surprise and slight panic, the two Paladins backed away, horrified to see the gladiator breaking down the door to get to them.

o~o

"I know you're in there, Sendak," Lelouch growled at the pod, containing the Galra commander, "My Geass might not have an effect on you, but I know you have all the answers. Give them to me." Lelouch had been down in the holding area for the past hour, and he was starting to lose his patience. What exactly did Sendak have to gain from being silent now? He had nowhere to go.

Lelouch felt frustration build up in him more than ever before as he banged his fist against the glass, "You're a broken soldier! You can't hold out forever!"

A hiss to his right cut Lelouch off. Looking to the source, he grinned in triumph as a tiny tendril of purple energy dripped into the port next to them. The mind machine was finally working, they were collecting Sendak's memories.

"Well, well, so you can hear me," the prince could only smirk maliciously.

o~o

Back in the cryopod room, Coran had just finished scrubbing the last pod just as the final one rose up. This one, however, had a surprise inside.

Coran leaped back in alarm as a frozen, terrified looking Rivalz greeted him from inside. Coran immediately pressed a button to open the pod, and the nearly frozen Rivalz robotically walked out, his skin a light shade of blue.

"Ah, ah... This pod just shut on me and locked me in, while you were rambling on about boot camp!" Rivalz muttered as he held his arms close and rubbed them up and down, trying to reactivate body heat inside of himself. All the while, he was giving Coran a big stink eye of contempt.

"You sure you didn't just trip and fall in?" Coran asked. Upon seeing the offending look that Rivalz shot him, he held his hands up in a placated gesture, "No judgment. It happens. Besides, why would the pod automatically lock and start the cryogenic freezing process?"

"To kill me!" Rivalz exclaimed as he sat down on the steps leading to the pod and swiped his jacket from the floor that he had taken off beforehand. Rivalz shivered as he pulled it on over himself.

"Now, don't get your boots in a bunch," Coran still defended, folding his arms, but eyeing the pods suspiciously, "My guess is they're malfunctioning."

"...Okay, I'm gonna float this out there. I think this Castle is haunted," Rivalz said, with a suspicious, stubborn frown.

"The ship might seem like a fantastical, magical creature to you," Coran said, twiddling his mustache, "but it's really just a big embodiment of advanced, supernatural technology that cannot be explained by science alone." Throughout this entire explanation, one of Rivalz's eyebrows raised up slowly in skepticism.

Coran blinked as he went over the words again in his head and blinked, "...Well, that does make it seem a bit haunted, doesn't it?" Despite the conjecture, Coran quickly regained his composure. "Ah, but it's not. Trust me, nothing out of the ordinary is happening here."

As Coran left, Rivalz glanced distrustingly at the pod that trapped him. He then jumped slightly as he heard faint rumbling noises coming from outside the room. With a whimper, he hugged his legs close to his chest, "I'm okay. I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay..."

He leaped to his feet with a shriek of fear as the pod behind him hissed and began slowly descending back into the floor. Not wanting to be in the room a second longer, he turned and ran.

o~o

Allura was slumbering peacefully in her room. Despite her protests earlier, she really was tired and didn't realize how much until she had climbed back into bed. She had fallen asleep almost instantly. Her four mice friends were nestled in the pillow next to her bed as well.

"Allura… Allura?" a voice echoed in the room softly.

Platt awoke first, squeaking in fright and jumping behind his siblings as King Alfor's A.I. appeared in front of them. Allura awoke next, blinking in confusion before her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Allura, dear daughter..." the A.I. smiled down at her.

"Father, what are you doing here?"

o~o

Rivalz was walking cautiously down the hall, still hugging himself due to the mildly traumatizing incident with the pod. A flicker in the distance suddenly caught his eye. The hall lights were shutting off one by one. He whimpered as the ones by him shut off and then the ones behind him, shrouding him in complete darkness. Then, one light was still flickering near the end, the figure of a man stood at the end of the hall before vanishing.

"Coran, is that you?" he called out as the figure disappeared, "Okay, stop messing with me, guys. This isn't funny!" Rivalz was really starting to freak out now.

"Help! Help!" a voice that sounded a lot like Coran's echoed from the end of the hallway.

"Hello? Coran?" Rivalz called as he ran towards the voice. It led him down another hallway that led to a line of airlocks.

"Help! Somebody!" Rivalz noticed that one of the airlock buttons was flashing red, and that's where Coran's voice was coming from, "I'm trapped in the airlock."

Rivalz's eyes widened in fear and ran towards the airlock, "I'm coming!" He opened the outer airlock door and ran inside. He stopped dead in his tracks, though, when he saw that the airlock was empty. The door behind him then slammed closed.

Rivalz laughed nervously, "Okay, ha-ha. Good joke. You guys got me. Nice."

He abruptly stopped laughing when the alarm behind him started buzzing.

"Airlock opening in thirty ticks."

"Okay, joke's over! You got me!" Rivalz said desperately, looking around to see who could possibly be pulling his prank on him that was being taken way too far.

"...twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven..."

"Guys?" Rivalz asked nervously before it finally registered to him that this was not. A. Prank! He ran up to the outer doors and started banging hard on it, "Guys! Eugh! Help!"

o~o

"What was the first rank you held in Zarkon's army?" Lelouch questioned the purple memories as Sendak continued to sleep in the storage pod, "Where did you find the Red Lion? What is Zarkon's greatest weakness?"

"What makes you think you can possibly defeat him?"

The sound of Sendak's voice, echoing through the room startled Lelouch with a jump. He whipped his head back to Sendak but saw that the commander still continued to slumber.

Lelouch blinked. What was that? Was he going nuts?

He swallowed slightly before turning back to the memories, "If you were to attack Zarkon, where would you strike?"

There were a few more seconds of silence before Sendak's voice filled the hall once again, causing Lelouch to jump back again.

"Why strike at all when you can join him?"

Lelouch looked once more at the Galran, so still in his holding pod. No one else was in the room with him. It was just him and Sendak.

For a moment, Lelouch thought Sendak's eye opened. But once Lelouch blinked, it was closed again.

What was going on?

o~o

"I bet if we can modulate the dynamics of this crystal, we'll be able to reverse engineer a lot of Galra tech. Don't you think, Shirley?" Rai asked Shirley in Zerith's hanger. He was typing away on his laptop as Shirley stood off to the side. The Orange Paladin didn't seem to be paying much attention, though. She was facing the hanger entrance. "Shirley, are you paying attention?"

"Huh?" she jumped at Rai's voice, "Oh, sorry, Rai."

"Are you okay?" Rai asked her.

"Yeah, I-I just-I just have a weird feeling all of a sudden," Shirley admitted, rubbing her arm.

"Is this about the lights flickering earlier?" he asked kindly as he walked over to the Galra crystal. As the two made their way to Rai's lab, the Castle lights had flickered on and off several times. The first time it happened, the lights shut off so suddenly that Shirley had screamed and refused to let go of Rai's arm until they got to Zerith, shivering the entire way. Only then had she peeled her hands away from the Green Paladin.

"Yeah, a little," she admitted.

Rai laughed lightly but gave her a reassuring smile, adjusting some of the sensors on the crystal, "Relax. I'm sure the Castle's just glitchy. It's ten thousand years old. There's bound to be a few problems here and there."

"Yeah, it does seem like the ship is not currently trying to kill us," Shirley said with an uneasy smile.

Satisfied that Shirley was calm again and all the sensors were in place on the crystal, Rai called over his shoulder. "Okay, so, all the sensors are on the crystal. Hit the switch, will you?"

"O-Okay," Shirley said as she walked to Rai's computer. He had shown her earlier which button to press and was about to when the laptop and the rest of the equipment started floating in midair. Immediately after, Shirley's feet also left the ground. She was floating in midair!

"Shirley, did you accidentally hit the anti-gravity switch?" Rai asked in bewilderment as he was also floating in midair, along with Galra crystal.

"Um, no! I didn't hit anything! Is there an anti-gravity switch?" she exclaimed in alarm.

Rover started beeping hurriedly as if panicking himself. The bot tried flying towards the doors, but he went too fast and slammed into the wall instead, causing him to short out.

Rai gasped upon seeing his friend get knocked out. He'd fix him as soon as he got back on the ground. Rai then looked back at the Galra crystal. He spotted one of the sensors attached to it. If he could reach it, he may be able to guide himself back to the ground. He strained out to reach the tube but saw that he had floated too far away from it, much to his own frustration.

"No!" he shouted, "I'm too far away!"

"Okay!" Shirley shouted, "Hang on, Rai. I'm going to swim toward you!" Shirley started trying to perform the breaststroke in the air, but because there was no moving air around them, she barely moved and was simply stuck air-swimming in place. When she saw that the breaststroke wasn't working, she tried front crawl and even butterfly paddle. Finally, she went limp from exhaustion, "That's it. I'm all out of moves."

o~o

"Help! Help! Help!" Rivalz screamed as he continued to bang on the airlock door, his panic rising more and more with each strike.

"...twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven..."

While Rivalz continued to scream for help, Kallen and Suzaku came sprinting down the hall, the rogue gladiator still pursuing them relentlessly.

Suzaku grunted as the gladiator's sword clashed with his while Kallen stepped back and away. That's when she spotted Rivalz in the airlock.

"Kallen!" Rivalz shouted frantically.

"...six, five..."

"What are you doing in there?" Kallen asked, shocked.

"Kallen! Watch out!" the gladiator had kicked Suzaku away and had taken a swing at Kallen. She managed to dodge away in time, so she wasn't hurt.

"I need help!" Rivalz shouted, "Because if you don't get me out of here right now, I'm going to be sucked out into space!"

"Doors opening."

"I'm getting sucked out into space!" Rivalz screamed as the second and then third airlock doors opened. The wind rushed past Rivalz as the pressure from outside began to drag him backward. Fortunately, Rivalz was able to clutch the inside of a wall outcropping. He held on for dear life as Kallen and Suzaku continued to fend off the gladiator inside.

Finally, Suzaku was able to lock his and the gladiator's swords, neither of them could move. Kallen ran to the airlock door and made eye contact with Suzaku as her hand hovered over the button. With a nod, Suzake used what remained of his strength to shove the gladiator in the door's direction. Once the robot was pushed against the door wall, Kallen slammed her hand on the button, opening the outer airlock doors. The two immediately dove to the sides to avoid getting caught up in the vacuum as the gladiator spiraled out into the universe outside.

Suzaku then leaned over the side and extended his hand towards a still screaming Rivalz, "Suzaku! Come on!" he gasped as he latched onto his hand over the Purple Paladin's, who managed to pull him to safety. Once Rivalz was back inside, Kallen slammed her hand on the button once again, shutting the airlock doors behind them.

Only after the danger was passed did they all take a moment to catch their breaths, sliding down the wall of the hallway.

"Rivalz, what were you doing out there?" Kallen exclaimed.

"Who was that guy?" Rivalz asked almost at the same time.

"Oh, no one! He was just trying to kill us!" Suzaku answered, just as aggravated.

"Well, is he the Castle? Because that's who's trying to kill me!" Rivalz shot back.

The three blinked at one another before they realized how dangerous the situation indeed was, before the three of them bolted down the hall, yelling in fear.

o~o

Allura blew the petals off of the juniberry from the field she and her father were sitting in. The fragrance was still fresh, as if the simulation around them was real.

"Altean flowers are the most beautiful," Alfor sighed as the petals flew passed his face.

"It is sad that I will only see them in my dreams," Allura said sadly, "But when I wake, my memories are like these spores, scattered in the wind."

"Altea is not merely a dream, Allura. It still exists. The Altean flower, you can see it. You can touch it," Alfor said, picking up another flower and handing it to his daughter, "I can take you there. I can take you home."

"You can?" Allura asked, quite surprised. Was it really possible that Altea was still there? That her people weren't truly gone?

"Would you like to go home?" Alfor asked, kindly.

"Yes. I want to go back to Altea, Father," she answered immediately.

"Then come with me, and I will show you the way," Alfor stood up with his daughter, and the two of them left her room, which had been where the flower scene had taken place. The mice squeaked in alarm as they watched them both go. Something weird, and wrong was happening.

o~o

"Wait. Wait, wait. I have an idea. Grab on!" Rai shouted in the lab. He and Shirley were still floating in zero gravity and hadn't been able to do anything to remedy the situation. But Rai now had an idea as he extended his hand towards Shirley.

The two of them strained and groaned before they finally did make contact with each other, locking their hands together. This action caused them to twirl in the air, now Rai's back was facing the hanger door instead of Shirley.

"Yeah! We did it! Now, what?" Shirley asked, confused over what Rai was planning.

"Now, kick me as hard as you can!" Rai instructed.

"What? No! We're friends!" Shirley protested, looking at Rai like he was nuts.

"No, no. Kick me so I can fly across the room and get to the control panel," Rai explained, pointing to the door so Shirley could see.

Upon seeing it, Shirley nodded with a nervous smile. Rai spun around so that Shirley's foot was planted on his butt. Then, with as much force as she could muster, Shirley pushed off of Rai, sending him flying to the other end of the room just like he said he would.

Rai grinned as he approached the control panel. He was almost there. However, moments later, he realized he miscalculated the kick's trajectory. He wasn't flying low enough!

"Oh... oh, oh! No, no, no!" he exclaimed as he collided with the hanger door and then the floor. He was now floating away from the panel and back to where Shirley was.

Fortunately for both of them, the hanger doors opened anyway to reveal Suzaku, Kallen, Rivalz, Milly, C.C., and Coran on the other side. This allowed the gravity function to kick back in, and Rai, Shirley, and everything else in the room landed back on the ground with a thud.

"How can you guys be taking a nap while this castle is trying to kill us?" Rivalz exclaimed in disbelief as the group walked in behind them.

"Taking a nap? We've been floating around in Zero-G! You know how scary that is?" Shirley asked frantically as Rai ran over to Rover, scooping the bot into his arms.

"That's not scary! That's fun! I was almost ejected into space!" Rivalz ranted angrily.

"Yeah, well, C.C. and I got attacked by killer food!" Milly countered.

"Oh yeah?" Kallen exclaimed, "Well, Suzaku and I had a robot, trying to kill us!"

"I don't care what you say, Coran," Rivalz said, turning to the advisor with an angry glare, "this castle has gone apples and bananas!"

Coran groaned. He had an idea of what was happening now. He looked mournfully at the Galra crystal now lying haphazardly on the floor, "Perhaps the infection from Sendak's Galra crystal is worse than we thought."

"Then why don't we just get rid of it?" C.C. asked as if the answer should be obvious.

"I wish it were that simple," Coran said, "but it's too late. When Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system."

"Sendak…" Suzaku muttered, before his eyes widened, "Wait! Where's Lelouch?!"

o~o

"We're connected, you and me. Both a part of the Galra Empire," Sendak's voice rang through the room.

Lelouch glared venomously at the commander, "No, I'm nothing like you!" he spat.

"You're a survivor. A leader. Just look at what's in your eye."

Lelouch's hand instinctively went up to his left eye, covering it. He grit his teeth, "That doesn't mean anything!"

"It's the strongest part of you. Embrace it," Sendak continued to taunt, "The others don't know what you know. They haven't seen what you've seen. You'll never beat Zarkon. He's already defeated you."

"That's not true!" Lelouch shouted back, viciously.

"It's just like with your father, a fellow emperor! One who sacrifices everything to obtain victory."

"What?" Lelouch gasped, stepping back, eyes widening.

"You're using everything now. Even your fellow Paladins. They're nothing but pawns to you. Face it. You claim you're nothing like him, but he's already broken and reformed you in his own image."

"...Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Lelouch screamed, covering his ears and bending down as if in agony.

"Do you really think a monster like you could be a Voltron Paladin?"

"I said, shut up!" Lelouch shrieked, his Geass instinctively activating, lightning crackling in his hands as he swung out and punched the pod door, causing it to crack significantly. Lelouch took several deep breaths before looking up at Sendak slowly, tears gathering in his eyes.

Lelouch suddenly yelled out as Sendak's face smiled maliciously at him. Without thinking, Lelouch slammed his hand on the ejection button, and the pod containing the Galran commander shot out into space.

Tears spilled over Lelouch's eyelids as he slid down the wall of the containment unit, still panting heavily, cold sweat dripping down his form.

o~o

"I remember how you used to dance around this very ballroom," Alfor reminisced as he led Allura into the hall, "I can still hear you giggling."

"Oh... Those were happy memories," Allura said sadly.

"We can create new memories, Allura," the King reassured her as he extended his hand to her.

The Princess smiled as she 'clutched' her father's hand. To everyone but her, though, the room shifted into the main bridge, her hands landing on the teludav controls. The crystal above illuminated with light. Allura smiled as her father appeared beside her.

They were going home to Altea, at long last.

o~o

"Lelouch?" Suzaku called as he and the others made their way back to the holding cells. The Purple Paladin's eyes widened as he spotted the Black Paladin, still curled on the floor, clutching his head and shaking.

"Lulu!" Milly exclaimed as they ran over, "Are you okay?"

"What happened?" C.C. asked urgently, kneeling next to him.

"Where's Sendak?" Kallen asked as C.C. helped him to his feet. He still continued to tremble, though. Kallen's eyes widened. She'd never seen Lelouch like this, so torn apart and scared. It was a whole new world for her.

"I... I had to get him out of here," Lelouch stuttered (He stuttered!), "I was hearing his voice. He... He can't be trusted on this ship."

"It is the ship!" Rivalz said quickly, "I got stuck in a cryopod, then, in an airlock. Kallen and Suzaku got attacked by a robot, C.C. and Milly got attacked by food, and Shirley and Rai were stuck in zero gravity for who knows how long! It's been a weird morning."

Any further discussion of this was interrupted by an alarm blaring through the room. Looking behind them, a red screen appeared on the upper wall, signaling a wormhole jump.

"What? How is that possible?" Coran exclaimed. Only Allura was capable of making wormhole jumps, and as far as he knew, she was still in bed resting.

Or… was.

"What is it?" Kallen demanded.

"The ship is starting a wormhole jump!" Coran exclaimed, quite frightened.

o~o

The group immediately ran towards the bridge. Upon entering, they were shocked to see Allura standing on the teludav, and the vacuum of space zooming past them from the jump.

"Allura, what's going on?" Lelouch exclaimed.

"We're going to Altea. We're going home," Allura said happily, looking back at them, "My father is taking us."

Seeing how dangerous the situation is, everyone ran forward, intending to stop her.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Alfor shouted angrily as his face appeared on the screen before them, and a barrier rose up around Allura.

"Uh…" Shirley gasped.

"Allura! Wake up!" Suzaku exclaimed, "None of this is real!"

"Why is she even doing this?" Milly asked Coran.

"The crystal must have corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!" Coran deduced.

Utterly oblivious to their plight, Allura continued to pilot the ship forward, Alfor's A.I. appearing beside her.

Finally, the ship stopped, but it wasn't in front of Altea. In a flash of light, the Castle stopped in front of a massive darkened star.

"We're headed straight for a star, and it's about to explode!" Rai yelled.

"Father, I can see Altea," Allura exclaimed happily, bringing slowly closer.

"Allura! Allura, wake up! What you're seeing isn't real," Coran exclaimed as he ran up to the barrier wall. Allura remained oblivious and giggled at whatever invisible creature was in front of her.

"Hey, Lelouch," Rivalz said, turning to the Black Paladin, "use your Geass on her!"

"My Geass?" Lelouch asked, sounding shocked.

"Yeah! Just command her to stop! Or wake up! Or whatever! It should work, right?"

"...No, it won't," Lelouch shook his head, "I already used it on her once already."

"What? When was that?!" Kallen asked.

"It was back on Arus, during the party. She was talking to me and hinted that she and I had something in common. I got suspicious and used Geass on her to tell me what she meant. That's how I found out that she knew who I was, or who I used to be anyway. And besides, even if I could use Geass, I doubt the A.I. will give me a clear shot to do so!"

"The juniberries, the most exquisite flower of all," Allura murmured blissfully.

"This is bad! This is bad! This is really, really, really bad!" Shirley screamed on the verge of a panic attack. Rivalz looked like he was about to join her as well.

C.C. then walked calmly up to the barrier. "Coran, back away, now," she ordered.

"What? But-"

"Is this real?" Allura asked, looking around in wonder.

"Of course, it is real, Daughter. That flower you're touching is real," the A.I. said with a smile.

"Just trust me," she said, placing her palms face down on the wall, "dying here isn't an option. It won't be direct contact, but it's worth a try."

C.C.'s forehead started to glow bright red, her Geass symbol illuminating the area.

As Allura brought what she thought was a juniberry to her nose to smell it, she suddenly gasped. The world around her suddenly morphed into what looked like a wormhole, and she was the sole occupant of it. She was flung around violently before everything faded out into black and white. Her eyes widened as she saw two planets aligning, people that had similar markings to C.C. lined up in long rows. Finally, the wormhole seemed to end in a flash of light, and she saw...

"You!" she gasped as the hulking figure turned around to face her, it's glowing eyes narrowing. The corpse of her father slid off his sword with a sickening thud.

"No! Father! Altea! No!" she yelled, clutching her head.

"C.C., what are you doing?" Lelouch asked alarm but also curiosity swimming within him.

"I'm just feeding her some shock images," she explained, "I can't tell what she's seeing, but it should be enough to snap her out of whatever trance she's in."

"I think you did enough!" Suzaku exclaimed, running up and placing a hand on her shoulder to pull her away.

"Suzaku, wait!" Lelouch placed his hand over Suzaku's to stop him.

C.C. gasped, turning back in horror, "No! Not now!" she gasped again, her mark lighting up still.

Lelouch and Suzaku's eyes were wide as images flashed through their minds as well. It was a little more familiar to Lelouch as it was the same vortex that originally had granted him Geass. He wasn't sure if Suzaku saw the same thing, but he saw something.

Just like before, the vortex eventually ended, but this time, Lelouch saw a crowd of people, throwing stones at what looked like an old church, and on the side of the building… was the symbol of Geass!

"Wha-what is this?" Lelouch gasped, "It's different."

The scene shifted into a figure in a long cloak that was kneeling. The character turned, and Lelouch realized that it was a nun, a nun with the same symbol that C.C. had on her own forehead. The scene shifted again, they were back in Japan, an old shrine.

The Kururugi shrine!

"This-" Suzaku muttered.

The scene shifted again, it was C.C. in a pool, unclothed, holding her abdomen and sobbing.

"No… stay out of my mind!" she shouted just as more images flashed before them. The final image was of another figure. Neither Lelouch nor Suzaku could make out anything too distinct from him, but they could tell whoever it was was male, had long, flowing hair that nearly reached his lower back, pointed ears, and… purple skin? The figure turned their head towards them. They couldn't see his face, but Geass was also flashing in his eyes.

"Is that…" Suzaku started.

"...an Altean?" Lelouch whispered to finish.

"Stop it!" C.C. choked out, closing her eyes as tears trailed down them, "Why now? You're… unveiling me."

Alfor and Melenor's faces flashed before her eyes once more before Allura screamed, "No! That's enough!" She screamed one final time before stumbling out of the barrier and falling on her butt.

"Allura!" Coran exclaimed, racing over to her. The other Paladins had stood there in shock over the chain of events that happened. They didn't want to end up like Lelouch and Suzaku by touching C.C., but even if they didn't see what exactly that was, it was still scary to watch.

C.C. also stumbled back with a gasp, Suzaku and Lelouch catching her instinctively. The two boys blinked and shook their heads. Numerous more questions were cluttering their minds. Unfortunately, the time for interrogation was not now.

Allura had also come to her senses as Coran helped her up. She blinked in confusion before she turned around, and finally, she saw the dying star.

"That's not Altea!"

"When that star goes supernova, it will destroy the entire system," Rai cried out, "Allura, you must reset the course and get us out of here!"

Allura attempted to get through the barrier, but it wouldn't budge. Alfor's A.I. then appeared, hands over the teludav pillars.

"Father, please, I beg you to turn this ship around. If we don't do it soon, we will all perish!" Allura exclaimed desperately.

"I know. That is my intention," Alfor said calmly.

"What?!" Allura asked, shocked, "Why?!"

"Don't you see, dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated," the A.I. said, turning to face them, his image flickering in and out as if someone else was trying to patch through somehow. "He's been ruling for ten thousand years."

"But we must continue to fight!"

"Fight for what? It is all over for Altea. You don't have to live a lifetime of war. You can be with me and the rest of your people."

"Father, please!" Allura begged, "The Paladins and I can still stop Zarkon! Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen."

Alfor's image suddenly shifted. He looked grave, and they could see fear lingering in his eyes as he addressed his daughter, "Allura, my A.I. has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source-" his image flickered again back to the aloof Alfor as he continued to tempt Allura again. "-We can stroll across the Blossom Canyon every morning, just like we used to. Remember how much you loved that?"

"I remember..." Allura said as tears flooded her eyes, knowing what her next course of action must be, "I'll see you soon, Father," she then turned to face Coran and the Paladins. "I've got to get into the A.I. chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually."

"But that means losing King Alfor forever!" Coran exclaimed. The other Paladins looked at Allura sadly. They knew how much Allura loved her father. He seemed like a good man. He didn't deserve this.

"Are you sure there's no other way?" Lelouch asked, despite the situation. Deep down, he didn't want Alfor to leave either. For some reason, the feeling he had in his gut reminded him of when it finally sank in for him, as a nine-year-old boy, that his mother was gone forever. Now it felt like he was losing her all over again in the form of the Altean sovereign.

"No, there is not!" Allura said, shaking her head, "Paladins, get to your Lions! I need you to slow the Castle's descent into the star."

As Allura ran for the door, Coran started running towards the main control panel, "I can try to override the system to open the hangars."

At that statement, the Paladins rushed to their elevators and raced to their Lions.

o~o

Outside, the Lions all exited their bays. They didn't engage an enemy outside, however, they turned toward the Castle and latched onto it with their front claws. With all the firepower they had, they attempted to push the Castle away from the star. It slowed down, but the Castle still fought to get closer and closer.

o~o

Allura rushed into the A.I. chamber, the small ball of light, morphing into her father before her.

"Don't do this!/You must!" Alfor said, glitching in and out of his pure form and the one the virus had overtaken. "All my memories, all my knowledge will be lost forever!/Do it, Allura. If you are to live, we must say goodbye."

Allura bowed her head, looking away from her father, "I'm sorry about this, Father." She pressed a button on the A.I.'s control board and a large red sign in Altean that asked if she really wanted to erase the A.I. before her. Upon pressing the 'yes' button, Alfor's form vanished, and the capsule containing his memories rose to the surface.

Allura stretched forth her hand to end it all, only to stop short with a gasp. The container emitted small balls of light from within it, and the room went dark around her.

When Allura opened her eyes again, the balls of light became images. No, not images. They were memories. King Alfor's memories. He was hugging a young Allura in the field of juniberries, her giggling in his arms. Another memory showed her a few years old, in a blue dress being twirled around by Alfor, both of them smiling and happy. Another, when she turned around, saw her another year older, placing a mauve flower behind Alfor's ear, her hair tied back in braids. Another had her on Alfor's shoulders, laughing gleefully. More memories continued to swirl around her, tempting her to stop.

"This is not real," Allura said with finality. "This is all in the past." As Allura ran back to the controls, more memories of her childhood flashed before her eyes, attempting to stop her. She stumbled but was not deterred from her course.

She stopped short with a gasp, though, as an image of her as an infant, being cradled in her father's arms appeared before her. She stepped backward, tears streaming down her face and clutching her chest, her heart throbbing with sorrow.

"You don't have to fight, Allura. You don't have to make this sacrifice," Alfor said as he appeared from one of the memories. He approached his daughter but stopped just within arm's length.

Upon hearing her father's words, though, Allura rushed forward and enveloped her father in a hug. The late king gasped at his daughter's action.

"Goodbye, Father," she whispered as the A.I. began to crack.

Alfor's face softened, before smiling sadly, "Goodbye, Allura."

In a flash of light, the capsule shattered, the room returning to what it once was memories and capsule pieces scattered everywhere. Allura watched sadly as the lights faded away like stars in the sky.

o~o

Back in the Castle's bridge, Coran and C.C. watched as Alfor's A.I. flickered and then vanished from existence along with the barrier to the teludav.

"She did it," Coran muttered sadly, before steeling himself and facing the star in front of them. Now that Alfor's A.I. wasn't corrupting the system, alarms began to blare all around them as the Castle sensed the impending danger as it still trickled at a snail's pace towards the star.

o~o

Outside, the Paladins and their Lions still continued to struggle to push the Castle back. They were all relieved when Allura's face finally appeared on the screen in front of them in their Lions.

"Paladins, get to your hangars. We're getting out of here." She ordered.

Nodding, everyone swiftly returned to the hangers just as Allura opened a wormhole to get as far from the star as they possibly could. At full power, the Castle charged away from the star and plunged into the wormhole just in time. Moments later, the star shrunk and then exploded outward, dust and fire raining everywhere, engulfing its surroundings.

o~o

After escaping the wormhole, the crew found themselves surrounding a distraught Allura on the bridge. They all felt so sorry that Allura lost her father once again. Most of them couldn't imagine what she was going through.

"I'm so sorry about your father, Princess," Shirley said sadly.

"...We all are," Lelouch murmured, glaring at the ground.

Allura looked up at Lelouch's face, another wave of sadness filling her. She remembered that Lelouch had sought counsel from her father when he was deciding whether to leave the team or not. He likely saw Alfor as another parent, one that he deserved. From what little she'd heard from the Brittanian Emperor, he wasn't fit to be anyone's father, especially Lelouch's.

Allura smiled kindly at Lelouch, putting a hand on his knee for comfort. She then stood up and faced the others, "Thank you. But that was not my father. The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be here with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron."

o~o

The door flew off its hinges as Britannian military men stormed through the clubhouse.

"Prince Lelouch! Princess Nunnally!" Jeremiah yelled as he entered through the door with Villetta Nu behind him, "Please, answer me if you are here!"

Doors were slammed open, and windows opened and closed relentlessly, as the soldiers attempted to find some clue of life in the house. Much to their shock, most of the house seemed deserted. The beds were bare, no food lay in the fridge or pantry. It looked like no one had lived here for years.

"No sign of them, sir," one of the privates reported back.

Jeremiah grimaced. The moment he and Villetta had seen the news report, they knew that if they could locate the Prince and the Princess, it could be their chance to reclaim their honor and positions that were lost to them by Zero.

Jeremiah turned to Villetta, "Are you absolutely sure this is the right place?"

"Positive! I checked the school records, their address was already included in it." She pulled out her phone to look up the student file she saw on a 'Lelouch Lamperouge' the boy that they were positive was the long lost prince.

Upon pulling up the student body roll, though, Villetta froze. She refreshed the screen. And did again. And again. And again.

"They're not there!"

"What?!" Jeremiah gasped, looking over her shoulder. She was right. On the roll where the name 'Lamperouge' should be, was vacant, it just went on to the next student on the list: 'Lewis.'

"How is this possible?" Jeremiah demanded.

"Perhaps I can answer that," another female voice said from behind. Turning, the two Purebloods were greeted by none other than the Knight of Nine herself, Nonette Enneagram. She had arrived in Area 11 just over a week ago without warning. Viceroy Cornelia didn't complain, though she was quite annoyed with the unannounced arrival, the more soldiers to deal with the Elevens, the better. The Knight, for the most part, only took part in battle when asked, and had spent a majority of time researching the same academy that Jeremiah and Villetta had been scooping out.

"Lady Enneagram!" Jeremiah gasped, and bowed respectively, "I-I apologize, I didn't realize you were coming."

"Well, I'm here now," the Knight waved away the apology before stepping into the center of the room. "And as for the answer, I wouldn't be surprised if our little Lulu had this planned from the beginning."

"Planned? What do you mean?" Villetta asked.

"Think about it. The Ashfords have backed his mother, Marianne vi Brittania, since she became a Knight of the Round, even long before that. I wouldn't be surprised if they assisted in contingency plans in case we came too close to finding him and Nunna," despite the explanation, a layer of sadness did paint her tone.

"W-Why on Earth would he want to hide from us?" Jeremiah asked, shocked, "We're loyal to the royal family! If he thinks we aren't competent enough to protect them-"

"On the contrary," Nonette interrupted, "I do believe that he knows that, which is why he is hiding from us. Need I remind you why he and his sister were sent to Area 11 in the first place?"

Villetta grimaced as Jeremiah outwardly gasped, before lowering his head in shame. It was a low blow, but still possibly a fact.

"...Prince Lelouch…" he could only mutter.

o~o

"How long are we staying here, Sayoko?" Nunnally asked.

"Just a little while," the ninja maid assured her charge, "once we find a more secure shelter, we'll head there."

"...Do you think my brother is okay?" Nunnally asked, trembling in her tone.

The maid's eyes widened before she slowly knelt by Nunnally's chair, "I'm sure he is. He loves you, milady. No matter where he is, I'm sure he's doing everything in his power to get back to you. I just know it."

"...Okay," Nunnally nodded, accepting the answer.

Sayoko nodded before standing back up and slipping outside the safe house. She looked out over the vast ocean that surrounded the island of Japan. She instinctively rubbed her apron pocket. She still wasn't sure why, but one of the specific instructions Lelouch had given her, should his identity or Nunnally's be discovered, was to bring this item. She wasn't sure why her master seemed so attached to it, but she didn't question the order.

But despite the heavy wrappings around it, she could tell it was a knife.

#Fanfiction #AU #Code Geass #Voltron #lelouch lamperouge #c.c.#kallen kozuki #suzaku kururugi #rai (lost colors)#shirley fenette #rivalz cardemonde #milly ashford #princess allura #coran #nunnally lamperouge #sayoko

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