#*loud witch cackling in the distance*

[revvethasmythh]

hmmm ashton drunkenly telling pate that they care a lot about laudna and they need to keep her safe hmmmmm THREATENING TO MURDER DELILAH IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HER HMMMMMM

[bvidzsoo]

Summer Lovin'

ᘓBoyfriend!Wooyoungᘓ

TW: nothing

Word count: 2.6k

A/N: Another drabble while I'm on vacay because I'm literally dying if I don't write something and this is the best I can do while here (bruh imma eat up my long oneshots once I get home). This drabble...hurt me because I'm too single for this shit. Okay, bye, enjoy!

               You really needed this. This vacation. It finally felt like all of your hard work had been paid off as you swum around in the sea’s crystal-clear salty water, submerging underneath the warm waves as your hot body finally cooled off. The sun was rather harsh today, beaming down on the beach, scaring off people underneath their sun-umbrellas, unless they wished to look like a hot dog by the end of the day. This vacation has been long awaited by you and your friends, having thoroughly planned for it for months and months. Firstly, you had to decide on which country to visit, and to your luck your boyfriend was adamant on visiting Greece, secretly having your back as you really wanted to go there. Secondly, you had to find a house for five people in a village by the sea and thirdly, the most difficult one, was to preserve your money for the trip. You knew yourself; you’d spend almost all of your money on souvenirs like there was no tomorrow, having zero self-control when it came to gifts for your family, and of course, yourself. You just couldn’t help it, there was a certain charm to them, one which you wouldn’t find at home. As you emerged from underneath the water, having almost ran out of air, you heard your boyfriend’s loud laughter in the distance, probably fooling around with his best friends. It were the two of you, your own best friend, and his two other close friends. At first, you planned on taking your time and resting as much as you could, to sleep off the long road trip, however, your boyfriend found himself quite energetic the second day after your arrival and decided he wanted to go sightseeing. You weren’t too happy about it at the beginning, having been one of the drivers, but you couldn’t help it when he started whining and acting cute, trying to convince you to join him and Yunho. San and your best friend decided on staying back at the beach house, promising to cook something delicious for the five of you by the time you returned. You really wanted to sleep all day, but at last, you gave in to Wooyoung, giggling loudly as he suddenly jumped on top of you, peppering your face with kisses, making you whine as he got his saliva all over your face, on purpose. You chuckled at the memory as you turned around and floated on your back, unmoving, the salty water keeping you on the surface, floating around peacefully. Your peace didn’t last for long, however, as suddenly you heard loud and violent splashing around you, before suddenly you felt strong hands gripping your middle, pulling you underneath. You were lucky enough to take in a deep breath of air, knowing very well it was your mischievous boyfriend trying to piss you off, as the two of you quickly came to the surface, brushing your long, black hair out of your face. Wooyoung was already cackling like an evil witch, squinting his eyes as the salt pinched them, making you grin at him in amusement. Serves him right for not leaving you alone.

“You just couldn’t leave me alone, could you?” You teased, making Wooyoung raise his eyebrows as he swum towards you, only his eyes out of the water as he acted as if he were a shark. It made you laugh, even more, when he tried pinching your skin under water, acting as if he were about to eat you. You slapped his hands away and started splashing water at him, making him turn around quickly, shielding his eyes as he barely got the salty water out of them a few seconds ago.

“Stop!” He shrieked, making you splash water at him even more, laughing as he started running away aimlessly, almost crashing into a kid. You apologized to the little guy while laughing, running after Wooyoung, terrorizing him. It’s not like he didn’t terrorize you, it was usually him disturbing your peace of mind, but that wasn’t so surprising. He could be quite hyper and a dumbass at times, never failing to either make you laugh until your tummy hurt so much you could barely speak or either he pissed you off so hard that you didn’t speak to him for half an hour. You could keep your anger for longer, but Wooyoung would start peppering your face with kisses until you gave in with a roll of your eyes, pushing his head away and telling him that, ‘fine, you weren’t mad anymore’, making Wooyoung giggle to himself as he carried on with his previous activity.

“Seriously, stop that Y/N!” Wooyoung was screaming now, trying to fight back and splash you too, but failing as you were right behind him, basically water bombing him. You heard the laughter of your friends from the shore too, and when you looked back, Yunho was filming the two of you, your best friend, Arin, getting up from her spot as she took off her shorts.

“You disturbed my peace, now you pay!” You shouted at your boyfriend as you didn’t relent on your attack, his whining turning into fake crying, not affecting you at all as you were used to his shenanigans.

“Christ,” You heard your best friend’s voice behind you as she swum towards the two of you, “People would think a whale was dying by the sounds Wooyoung is making.”

You started cackling at the words of your best friend, your attention diverted from your boyfriend, finally letting him catch a breath as you playfully splashed some water at Arin. She gave you quite the convincing glare asking you to stop and you smiled sheepishly as Wooyoung finally shut up, coughing here and there, making you roll your eyes at his dramatic theatrics.

“Who convinced me of coming on vacation with two literal children definitely does not love me—”

“Hey!” You scoffed, successfully splashing Arin fully in the face, “You should thank me you’re here, you brat, stop complaining.”

“Thank God Yunho and San are here, or else I would literally go nuts after spending two weeks with just the two of you.” Wooyoung tsked as he joined you, giving your best friend a side eye, making Arin stick her tongue out at him before she submerged and swum away not too far, enjoying herself in the water.

“We’re not even that bad…” Wooyoung muttered to himself as you looked at him with a smile, finding his wet hair framing his face quite attractive. He let it grow out recently, at your request, and you couldn’t stop looking at him right now, taken by his beauty. You wondered, sometimes, how he got blessed with such good genes, his jawline sharper than your knives and his eyes brighter than your future. Cheesy, you knew.

“I know I’m pretty, beautiful, I’ll make sure to take a selfie for you once we get out—”

“Don’t you dare.” You gave him a pointed look, your gallery being already full of his selfies. He’d randomly steal your phone and spam your gallery with silly selfies, sometimes even setting them as your background, making you lose your mind when you’d notice. He was a menace to society, and your own personal clown. As you sighed at your boyfriend, he narrowed his eyes at you and before you could react, jumped towards you, squeezing your bodies together. You huffed at the sudden impact and allowed his arms to circle around your shoulders, your own holding his torso. Of course, you knew what was coming, the first kiss he pressed against your skin was on your left cheek, then on your jaw, the corner of your mouth, your nose, your brows, finally your forehead and just as you were about to sigh, his lips captured yours, warm and familiar. He tasted like salt from the water and as your lips meshed together, you couldn’t help but smile, oh so happy to be here with him, and your friends, of course. Wooyoung couldn’t help it but smile as well as you pulled away, cupping his cheek for a second before you pressed a soft kiss against the mole underneath his eye, making his cheeks flush red. No matter how many times you’d kiss his mole, he’d still blush, finding it endearing and so soft, loving. You loved that mole a lot, it complimented his handsome face well.

“Look at you blush.” You teased against his lips, grinning from ear to ear, making Wooyoung scoff as he lightly pinched your skin.

“I’m not blushing!” He quickly defended himself, “It’s the sun, beautiful, it’s reddening my cheeks.”

You hummed playfully, pressing a kiss against his lips, “Mhm, sure, love, whatever keeps your masculinity safe—”

“Hey!” Wooyoung narrowed his eyes at you, lightly pushing you back. You chuckled and the two of you kissed again as you heard people approaching, definitely being your friends. You ruffled Wooyoung’s black hair as you pulled away and lowered yourself back into the water, watching Yunho and San as they raced towards the two of you, making Wooyoung laugh as he waved his hand at them. The two got to you at the same time, making San pout as he wanted to win, making you chuckle as you waved Arin over too, noticing the small ball Yunho was holding.

“We had to interrupt before you two lovebirds got too carried away.” Yunho said playfully, making you roll your eyes at him as Arin came to a stop between Yunho and San, grinning at Wooyoung as he tried splashing her. It didn’t last for long as Arin instantly reacted and kicked him underneath the water, making Wooyoung groan and hold onto you, his legs around your waist, pulling you slightly underneath, making you groan too. San chuckled and took the ball from Yunho, throwing it at Arin, interrupting the glaring match her and Wooyoung seemed to have started.

“Guys, let’s play!” San said with excitement, waving his arms in the air, motioning for Arin to throw it back at him. Wooyoung swiftly kissed your cheek before he finally released you and took his spot between you and Arin, being an asshole as he tried taking the ball from your best friend before she could throw it. Arin exclaimed in irritation and told him to stop, throwing the ball at Yunho, who caught it with ease and then aimed the ball at you, making you nod as you waited for him to throw it over.

            After playing for at least half an hour, you and Arin decided to get out of the water and dry up a bit before re-applying your SPF lotion, trying not to look like a crab by tonight, if possible. The boys decided to go dive for a bit before they would join you on the beach, so Arin and you set up your towels and laid them out on the sand, resting on them. You would lay on your back for fifteen minutes before you’d lay on your bellies for another fifteen minutes, drying but also tanning, careful not to get a heatstroke in the process as you placed your white hats over your heads. Arin and you giggled as you playfully teased each other, telling stories you had to catch up on yet, her giggling about San’s cute attempts at trying to spend more time with her lately. He was a sweet guy and since he was Wooyoung’s best friend you spent a lot of time together, genuinely liking his character and his attentive care for others. There were few people like San nowadays, and if your best friend was into him, you would only encourage it.

Your head rested against your forearms as you could feel the blazing hot sun against your skin, turning it red slowly, signaling that it was time you retreated into the shadows, where it was safe and a cool can of beer was waiting for you. Arin was giggling about something as she was reading on her phone and as you were about to ask her to tell you too about it, loud manly voices started approaching the two of you, San and Wooyoung arguing about something childish as Yunho kept laughing harder and harder, interrupting your tranquility.

“Why are you two arguing again?” Arin asked exasperated, sighing as she put her phone away.

“San says what we saw was a crab, and Wooyoung says that what we saw was a seahorse—”

“Wooyoung knows what a seahorse looks like?” Arin’s comment made you laugh hard as you pressed your forehead against your arm, your whole-body rocking with how hard you were laughing. Wooyoung didn’t appreciate the comment nor your reaction as he glared at the back of your head, however, you remained completely oblivious to it as you continued laying on your stomach, fifteen minutes having not been up yet.

“I do!” Your boyfriend fired back at Arin, crossing his arms in front of his chest like a little boy, “And those were seahorses, not crabs—”

“Woo, they were red!” San sounded tired as he interrupted his friend, making Yunho shake his head as he sat down on his towel, letting the sun dry his skin up as well.

“I think what we saw were just big rocks, guys, they weren’t even red so I don’t understand why you’re arguing still.” Yunho’s determined voice made the other two finally shut up and you giggled amused, lightly kicking the sand off your feet. However, since Wooyoung was around again, your peace wouldn’t last for any longer. You felt a few cold droplets of water on your back before a heavy body was pressing against yours, cold and wet, making you cry out. Wooyoung lay on top of you, nuzzling his head in the crock of your neck, making you whine as your body was overheated by the sun and his cold skin pressing against yours made you shiver. It felt actually nice, but you didn’t appreciate your own boyfriend crushing you.

“You’re heavy!” You whined, shaking your bottom, trying to get him off, but it made Wooyoung soften his body more, keeping you pinned down.

“Am not.” He muttered and lightly bit your shoulder, making you hiss at him as you tried nudging him with your elbow.

“Get off.” You muttered but Wooyoung just chuckled and whispered ‘no’, sighing into your nape.

“You’re warm and comfy, I’m not getting off, besides, I’m also drying.” Came his lame excuse.

“Yeah, you’re drying while crushing me, Wooyoung, despite your beliefs you’re not made of feather, love.” Wooyoung just rolled his eyes and you felt him shifting, his body finally lifting off of you. Your lungs weren’t getting crushed anymore, you could finally breathe normally. You mouthed a ‘thank you’ as you sat up, dusting off the sand from your legs as you could see Wooyoung fiddling with your bag, reaching for your phone. He gave you a quick glance as he unlocked it, catching your glare, but acted as if he saw nothing as he took up his signature pose, puckering his lips at the camera, almost giggling when he heard your loud groan. Yunho chuckled amusedly as he intruded in on the pictures, posing with Wooyoung, making you shake your head as you had expected more from him.

“Are you hungry?” San asked the group, rubbing his tummy lightly. Arin and you nodded as Yunho held up a thumb, Wooyoung too busy taking selfies with your phone.

“Let’s go eat!” Your boyfriend exclaimed, finally putting your phone away, grinning as he quickly stood, pulling Yunho’s arm to get him to stand as well. As you and Wooyoung made eye contact, he sent you a flying kiss, winking at you cheekily, making you chuckle. Seriously, he could be such a man-child sometimes.

Masterlist (divider)

[kaihuntrr]

part twenty-one: blood moone.

The hunters face off a witch.

The forest was illuminated under the light of the moon. Dark, stormy clouds opened to reveal the red moon above, a hellish bloody light illuminating the forest and purging the darkness. Grian squinted, his eyes adjusting to the new environment as a chill went up his spine. He could see the tops of trees stretch to the sky, but the ground underneath him was hazy at best.

But the one thing Grian noticed, above all else, was the lack of lantern lights.

Cleo nudged Grian’s side, crouching low to attempt hiding in the mist. He crouched beside them. Pearl was out to get them, why else would she be there? There was another person with her, too. They must’ve noticed all the commotion in the woods.

“RUN!”

Grian toppled over and fell to the ground as someone crashed into him and Cleo.

Cleo’s eyes widened as they and Grian scrambled to their feet, mirrored by two Kites who’d tripped over them. “Bek? Eret?” they looked at the two. “Where are the others–”

“FOUND YOU!” Pearl cackled in the distance, her voice booming like thunder. Far off screams of hunters echoed in the air as the crackling sounds of splintering wood filled the woods. Trees made their impact on the ground, shaking the earth.

Eret attempted to catch their breath, their chest heaving in exhaustion. “We don’t know where the others are,” they shook their head rapidly. “We just know that we need to get out of here.”

“Try getting the rest of the Kites grouped up,” Grian looked at Bek. “It’ll be less of a mess if we all stick together.”

Bek nodded, giving Grian a weary smile. “Good luck.” Together the two of them dashed into the mist, disappearing into the haze as their footsteps faded from earshot.

Grian could hear blades clanging against each other, punctuated with flashes of gunshots piercing through the mist. Grian grabbed his gun as he followed the sounds of gunshots and screams into the mist.

———

“Get back here, witch!” Joel shouted as he fired a bullet into the mist. Lizzie trailed close behind, holding two daggers as she looked around. Both of them could see fairly well, they just needed to get through this damned mist. “I’ll shoot you dead!”

Lizzie turned her head at the sound of crackling, “LOOK OUT!” she hurriedly pushed Joel out of the way as another giant tree crashed on the ground. The surrounding foliage cracked and ripped under the weight of the tree as it tore leaves and branches from its neighbors. A loud thud seemed to shake the forest as the tree collided with the dry dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust.

A misty figure with glowing pink eyes stood on top of the tree for a fraction of a second, then dashed away the moment they made eye contact with Lizzie.

“Joel! Lizzie!” Grian called out, the couple looked at each other and followed the sound to see Grian charging out of the mist, with Cleo just a few steps behind him. “Are you alright?”

“A couple of surface wounds, but we’ll manage,” Joel forced a grin. Grian looked down to see a couple of cuts along Joel’s clothes and his breathing stopped for a moment. There was no blood, but that didn’t mean Joel would stay like that forever. “Pearl is in here somewhere!”

“I certainly am!” Pearl laughed from above. Grian looked up to see Pearl hanging from one of the trees, her sickle planted on its bark. She grinned, her piercing blue-green eyes radiating in wicked delight. “Hello, you!”

Pearl leapt out of the tree. She landed in the center of their group and planted her boot into Grian’s chest. Grian felt the breath leave his lungs as he was flung backwards, sending him far from the others and into a darker part of the woods.

Grian tumbled through the underbrush, hearing the others shout in alarm. He felt burns and scratches appear all across his body as he skidded on the dirt. He finally stopped when his back crashed against a tree, stunning him for a moment as Pearl stalked towards him, her grin twisted into something more sinister, her teeth like fangs.

“I can smell that hunter’s blood on you,” Pearl grabbed Grian by the throat and dragged him to his feet before she slammed him against the tree bark. “You got in that cave, didn’t you?”

Grian struggled, attempting to get himself out of the choking grip as he flailed his limbs. He had to get out of this- get away from her. He wouldn’t answer. He wasn’t going to say anything to give her the satisfaction.

It seemed the silence got to her.

“Not responding, huh?” Pearl’s expression soured, a low hiss in her voice. “Well, what if I just make you talk?”

Pearl slammed Grian against the tree bark and pushed him up the trunk, lifting his feet off the ground with ease. She tilted her head and giggled, cooing at Grian’s attempts to squirm away despite the raging battle around them. Wait– weren’t they all fighting Pearl? Who were they still fighting?

Pearl’s grip around Grian’s neck tightened, tearing his mind away from its train of thought.

Best to focus on what’s in front of you.

Grian gripped Pearl’s arm, attempting to force it off his throat, managing to scream through the crushing grip, “What did you do to Martyn?!”

“Oh? Is that his name?” Pearl cooed mockingly. She hummed, looking away with wide eyes to feign innocence before the facace dropped and she was glaring daggers at the hunter again. “Let’s just say I dealt with him.”

Grian’s thoughts began to spiral.

She couldn’t mean what she’s implying, right? He gulped, only making Pearl’s grip feel tighter on him as he choked for air.

The world was hazy, hazier than it was before. His vision began to blur, his breaths coming short and weak as he continued to struggle in Pearl’s hold. Pearl watched on with malicious delight, enjoying his suffering until her gaze suddenly broke away to look at something off to her right.

A bullet fired.

Pearl ducked backwards, her grip on Grian going lax as she moved away from the bullet’s path. Grian moved his head up, attempting to get a look at the person who shot her through the spots dancing in his eyes. His heart skipped a beat in relief.

Cleo!

Pearl turned around. “Your little birds came to fight me after all!” she looked from Cleo to Grian, her tone casual and… seemingly unbothered, somehow. “What a surprise. And here I thought they might have just flown away….”

Cleo gripped their gun tight, a still and stoic stance as they leveled it at Pearl’s head. “Let go of Grian, now.”

Pearl hummed, and Grian could see the gears turning in her head. A moment passed in agonizing silence. Despite all the chaos around them, this moment was silent. Eerily calm.

“Alright,” Pearl finally spoke. She shrugged, a menacing look in her eye. Cleo had their aim directly on Pearl’s head, but she didn’t so much as flinch. She dropped Grian, letting him collapse on the ground as he gasped for suddenly available air. But she wasn’t done with him yet. Pearl leaned down to pick Grian up by the collar of his shirt as she grinned at Cleo. “You can have him!”

In a show of inhuman brute strength, Pearl threw Grian directly at Cleo.

Grian slammed against Cleo, their gun flying away upon impact. The two hunters hit the ground with a thud. Cleo let out a groan and Grian struggled to catch his breath. His heart was beating a mile a minute as he took in as much air as he could, trying to calm himself down.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Cleo got on their feet first and quickly pulled Grian to his. Grian put his hands on his head, trying to get it to stop spinning. Cleo pulled out their second pistol and glanced over at the one she’d dropped. It wasn’t too far, she could just run over and reach it, right?

They glanced up to see Pearl observing them. She didn’t move to attack them or retreat, only watched and waited with an eager gaze. She didn’t look tired or fatigued, and who knew how long she’d been fighting the others for?

Cleo couldn’t let Pearl get to Grian. Not a chance.

“Grian, get out of here! Find the others, I can handle this,” Cleo looked at their captain with wide eyes and motioned behind them. “Now!”

“Cleo–”

“GO!”

Cleo looked directly at Pearl and drew their second gun. Grian took a deep breath and ran as fast as he could, disappearing into the darkness beneath the trees. Cleo watched as Pearl stared after Grian with a contemplative look on her face. But she wasn’t going after him. Instead, Pearl locked eyes with Cleo and smirked.

How very odd for someone supposedly out of her mind….

“How noble of you, sacrificing yourself for your precious captain, it’s adorable!” Pearl prowled forward, a small bounce in her step as she giggled, her brown hair bouncing over her shoulders. She pulled her twin sickles from their sheaths and spun them around in a ring of wicked iron. “His life matters so much more than yours, doesn’t it?”

Cleo kept their gaze on Pearl as they stepped sideways and slowly approached their fallen gun. “He’s more than my captain, he’s my friend,” they hissed, lowering their body to feel around for their gun. They couldn’t afford spending one second looking away from the witch. She could do anything in just a split second. The air between them was tense. “I’ll do whatever it takes to defend them.”

Pearl’s walk was slow, as if preparing to pounce. Cleo’s fingers found the wooden grip of their gun and closed around it immediately. She raised it to point at Pearl too, rising to her feet and beginning to circle around Pearl underneath the glow of the blood moon.

“That dedication is delicious,” Pearl’s grin was sickeningly sweet, taunting Cleo to strike. “It’s such a shame that it’s going to go to waste.”

“What do you mean?” Cleo narrowed her eyes, paying special attention to how Pearl’s gait seemed purposefully askew. They gripped their pistols tighter, the warring sounds of bullets and metal clashing against each other deeper in the woods seemed to fade into the mist as they circled closer and closer to the witch.

Pearl looked away, holding back a laugh. “One of your birds flew too close to the water,” the bright iris snapping towards Cleo as her voice became a low growl, “He drowned because of it.”

Cleo snapped.

“You better tell me what happened to Martyn right now!”

“Or what? You’ll put a harpoon in me…?”

Cleo took a shot at Pearl’s shoulder, seething as Pearl artfully twisted just far enough to let the bullet sail past her with apparent ease. Cleo grit their teeth. If only her guns were faster-....

“And here I thought we’d have a normal, civilized conversation,” Pearl shook her head and sighed. She cracked her neck and readied her stance, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “I thought it might be fun toying with you hunters -you lot seemed so much spunkier than the others that ended up here- but turns out you’re all bores. I don’t want to waste any more of my precious time. So come on, hunter, come meet your death!”

Pearl charged, raising her sickles as she slashed the air in front of Cleo. Cleo stepped back just in time, stepping to the side. She put the end of her gun against Pearl’s sickle and shot, blowing it clear out of Pearl’s hand. Pearl’s eyes went wide in surprise as she snatched her hand back, cradling it against her chest like it stung.

“Interesting…,” Pearl’s voice rolling in a mix between a purr and a growl that sent a shiver up Cleo’s spine. Pearl flipped her remaining sickle around in her hand and grinned. “Oh good, I was worried that this wouldn’t be fun!”

“This is your idea of fun?”

Pearl swung the sickle in front of Cleo, as if taunting the hunter as she took a step closer. She was getting close. Too close for comfort. Cleo took a cautious step back, raising her shoulders as she aimed for Pearl’s other sickle.

If Pearl was disarmed, she wouldn’t be as much of a threat as she was now.

Pearl cocked her head as she circled around Cleo, taking slow and precise steps as her eyes narrowed in an almost predatory way. Cleo took in deep breaths. It’s just one person to worry about. All the chaos around her was muted, the only thing they could focus on was the witch who looked hungry for a fight.

Pearl laughed. “Of course! How else can I play with you hunters?” she shrugged. She tapped the sickle to her chin in thought, feigning innocence before glaring at Cleo with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You’re all so… similar!”

Pearl ran towards Cleo and raised her sickle high, assuming to cut Cleo down straight in the middle. Cleo fired at Pearl, attempting to get that weapon out of her hands, and internally cursed as Pearl swiftly dodged the bullet with a smug look on her face. Cleo fired again only to be met with her pistol clicking back in return.

Cleo held the gun close to their face as they opened the cartridge to check for bullets.

Shoot.

They were all out of bullets. They needed to reload. They needed time to–!

Using the hunter’s momentary daze, Pearl knocked Cleo’s other gun right out of their hand, the weapon skidding pathetically across the underbrush of the forest.

Stay calm, Cleo. Breathe. Breathe-

“All of you get so defenseless and weak when your toys don’t work anymore!”

Pearl pounced on Cleo, tackling her to the ground with a wicked laugh as she raised her blade high, glinting with the blood red moon above. A great shadow was cast upon her as Cleo stared into those blazing blue-green eyes of Pearl’s as she stared down at them.

“Not so tough now, hunter!” She giggled, pressing her weight on Cleo’s body as she struggled for air. Pearl used both of her hands to grip the singular sickle, as if flaunting her victory with that cocky, stupid attitude of hers. Pearl thought hunters didn’t have their own strength- that they only relied on their weapons. While that may be true for some, Cleo had strength of her own to show off.

It seemed like Pearl was about to have a rude awakening.

“Say goodnight, pathetic bug–!”

Cleo gripped Pearl’s waist and rolled over, slamming the witch into the ground.

Cleo scrambled up Pearl’s torso, grabbing the wrist holding her sickle and wrenching it down to pin it under her knee. They shoved the barrel of their gun against Pearl’s throat, pushing her chin upwards and pinning her head against the ground. “I don’t think so.”

Pearl looked shocked for a moment. Then she started giggling, the sound growing louder and louder. Then she threw her head back and cackled, her torso rippling under Cleo so much that it nearly threw her off balance.

“Oh, cut the act,” Cleo scoffed, “it’s nowhere near as menacing as you think it is.”

Pearl stopped laughing. Her gaze turned into a glare.

Cleo huffed, tilting her head. “Oh, so I was right. Honestly- exactly what does the ‘mad witch’ act get you?”

Pearl rolled her eyes a bit and gave a shrug with her free shoulder. “Panic and mayhem. Plus, it’s fun to scare stupid little hunters like you.”

“Not so stupid if I can see through your act so easily, am I?”

“No…,” Pearl murmured, something flickering behind her eyes, “I suppose you’re not….”

Suddenly, her free hand lurched up and slammed into Cleo’s ribs so hard they thought they felt them instantly bruise. But Cleo had been expecting something like that, so they managed to keep their balance on top of Pearl. She shoved the barrel of her gun a little harder against Pearl’s throat, gritting her teeth.

“No. You’re going to tell me what you did with Martyn!”

Pearl rolled her eyes, her voice rasping a bit from the pressure of the gun on her throat, “Oh please. You want to know the truth, little hunter?”

“That’d be a nice change of pace….”

Pearl’s eyebrows bounced up. She seemed to consider her answer for a moment, tipping her head to the side. “He is… relatively unharmed. For now. I haven't decided what to do with him yet. You little birdies cause so much trouble, but it just might cause more trouble for me to get rid of you here and now, what with-... the company that’s over.”

Pearl shook her head, looking rather uninterested. Cleo wasn’t sure what to make of that, what that meant. Was Pearl not trying to actually kill them?

“Give us Martyn and we’ll go home. We won’t bother you or seek revenge,” Cleo bargained, slowly drawing the barrel of their gun away from Pearl’s throat.

Pearl’s face twisted into something just barely concealing anger. “See- that’s the problem….” Something heavy slammed into Cleo’s head and shoulders from behind, knocking her clear off Pearl. Cleo rolled across the ground, scraping their arm against some rock hidden under the grass. When she stopped rolling, she pushed herself up on her elbow, struggling to her feet as quickly as she could.

Cleo caught sight of something slither underneath the edge of Pearl’s cloak, disappearing completely, but they thought they had caught a brief flash of something shiny and red.

Pearl pushed herself into a crouch, her eyes blazing with anger. “You going back there is the problem!”

“How is us going home a problem?!”

Pearl opened her mouth like she was going to shout, then drew back, her eyes narrowing. “...What else is there….”

“Wh- ‘What else is there?’ What does that mean?!”

“You don’t need to know-.”

“I kind of do?!”

“Well I’m not telling you.”

“So much for a ‘civilized conversation’,” Cleo snarked, pushing herself into the same crouch that Pearl was in.

Cleo caught sight of the glint of metal and spotted their lost gun laying in the shadow of the leaves of some fern about half a dozen paces behind Pearl. If they remembered right, it had two shots left in it. If they could just get to it….

Pearl’s eyes flickered past Cleo, landing on something not too far behind her. Cleo felt her heart leap as she realized what it was: Pearl’s other sickle.

The two of them seemed to recognize the plan in each other’s eyes. In tandem they both pushed themselves to their feet and raced past each other, neither taking the easy shot at each other’s back.

Cleo scooped her gun off the ground, ripping a few bits of leaves off the fern in her haste as she whirled around.

Pearl had already snatched her sickle from the ground and was charging back towards Cleo, low to the ground with both sickles flashing a reddish-silver in the moonlight. Then, both of them sprung forward.

The two danced around each other in bullets and blades, out-cunning and outmaneuvering the other as they found their murderous, synchronized rhythm. The world around them was hazy and red, but all their opponent could see was the other’s fierce stare and the fiery passion to win. Pearl spun and slashed, Cleo dodged and shot. The forest was their stage, and they were the dancers.

But this dance had to end.

Cleo fired a panicked shot, hearing a quiet sound in the echo of the recoil like something hitting something wet and squishy. Then Pearl slammed Cleo back against a tree, one of her sickles pressed against Cleo’s neck while Cleo’s pistol was cocked underneath the witch’s chin.

Pearl felt the metallic tip of the gun against her skin. She pressed against it instead of struggling, for some reason. “Clever,” her smile… lacked the malicious glare Cleo was used to. Pearl took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh air. Then she tilted her head. “What do you intend on doing now?”

“I’ll shoot you,” Cleo glared into Pearl’s unnaturally calm gaze. “Then we’ll search for Martyn and get out of here.”

Pearl chuckled as she leaned into Cleo, her warm breath wafted over the hunter’s face. Cleo felt their face heat up. “I’d like to see you try, little bird,” her grin widened as she whispered, sharp teeth- too sharp to be human, glinting in the blood red light. “But you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

In an instant, Pearl shoved Cleo sideways as she jerked herself away. Cleo fired wildly as she fell, but the gun had swung upwards, firing uselessly into the air instead of at the witch. Cleo pushed herself up and looked around, eyes frantic as they searched for Pearl. Nothing. The witch had disappeared with the mist.

Where did she go?

Cleo strained their ears, trying to find the nearest source of shouts. Pearl could be anywhere, and they had to be ready. If she was chasing after Grian, Cleo had to get there first. They started running in the direction they motioned Grian to go, hoping to run into him soon.

———

Grian had put a good distance between himself and Pearl. The pain from his neck felt more bearable and his steps had become more sluggish as the adrenaline and panic had begun to fade. His head buzzed. His mind was silent, the only thing he could focus on was his own heartbeat and labored breaths as he ran through the forest.

He should’ve fought back, should’ve done something. He had to step up. He was a captain, a captain of the Canaries.

Grian froze the moment he heard the sound of something large crack. The sound seemed to echo through the trees, coming from every direction at once…! He turned– a tree was falling!

Grian threw himself forward, narrowly avoiding the large trunk as it crashed on the ground. His legs burned as he struggled to catch his breath. All this running was messing with him. He took in big breaths, breathing with his mouth to catch as much air as he could to fill his tired lungs.

It could just be due to his injuries, but Grian felt like something was watching him.

“Grian!” A voice called to his left.

Grian turned to see Scar waving at him. He was about to sigh in relief, but his eyes widened as he saw the state of Mumbo and Bdubs, laying on the ground beside Scar.

Scar was crouched down beside the other two, drawing away from them slightly as Grian sprinted over. Grian dropped into a crouch, his hands hovering over them. Mumbo and Bdubs had their eyes shut, but Grian saw the slow rise and fall of their chests. They were fine… mostly. They were just knocked unconscious. A dark thought rolled in Grian’s mind as he placed a hand on both of their necks to check their heartbeat.

Why didn’t Pearl kill them?

“Help me get them out of here,” Grian said, turning to Scar to see the man already lifting Mumbo up from the ground. “What happened?” Grian asked as he started to shift Bdubs into a better position.

“Pearl tried to kill us, but she didn’t…,” Scar shook his head and slung Mumbo’s arm over his shoulder as he gripped the noble’s side. “She had weird pink eyes, man!”

Grian blinked. “Pearl doesn’t have pink eyes…,” he shook his head, taking a breath as he hoisted Bdubs to his feet and wrapped one of his arms around him. “You’re imagining things.”

“What? No! She had pink eyes,” Scar looked at Grian with an intense, sure look in his eyes as they walked together in the uneasy cold. “I’d remember the color, since they were glowing and were the only things I could see of her in the mist!”

That can’t be right.

Grian could see the blue-green eyes of the witch in his mind’s eye, cool colors to contrast her red-hot personality. He’s never heard anyone with pink eyes, and there weren’t any on Pearl. Someone had attacked Scar, Mumbo, and Bdubs, but it hadn’t been Pearl….

“...She has an ally,” Grian whispered, his eyes wide, as the chaos surrounding them continued. The person from the cave-! No wonder everyone was still fighting. No wonder there was still chaos. If Pearl had an ally… or more than one, who knew how to keep themselves hidden even as they fought with the hunters...!

Grian tried to get his legs moving faster as Bdubs’ dead weight fought against the movements. “We need to get these two to safety, quickly!”

“How do you know she has an ally?” Scar quickened his pace to match with Grian’s, putting Bdubs’ other arm around him as they walked. Grian wasn’t sure where he was going, but he felt reassured with Scar by his side. “It’s just her running around and taking us out! Isn’t it?”

Grian looked straight ahead, navigating the fight to a quiet area. He wasn’t even sure if any of the Kites were okay, he hadn't heard anything from them. He hoped they were alright…. “Everyone was still fighting when Pearl cornered Cleo and I,” he shot a glance at Scar. “And unless the Kites suddenly decided to kill each other… there’s someone on her side.” He didn’t mention the voices he and Cleo had heard in the cave. The memory sent a fearful chill down his spine and he didn’t want to worry Scar.

Scar’s eyes slowly widened as gears turned in his head. With a small nod, the two walked in silence, hoping not to grab any attention as they brought Mumbo and Bdubs to safety.

“Grian…?” Bdubs’ small whisper of a voice caused Grian to freeze up.

“Bdubs,” Grian looked at his friend as his eyes slowly opened. Bdubs’ stare wandered ahead. “How are you feeling?”

Bdubs’ eyes squinted as he furrowed his eyebrows. “Someone…” he rasped, his eyes closing in exhaustion, “...in front…!”

In front…?

Grian’s blood ran cold as he looked in front of them.

Pearl stood on top of a fallen tree, her hands gripping the sickles tight as she flashed a manic grin at the hunters.

“There you are!” Pearl hopped off of the tree, laughing to herself. Grian glanced at Scar then back at Pearl as she raised a sickle and pointed it at him. “I thought I wouldn’t find you again. We’re not done.”

Pearl made a slashing motion at Scar and suddenly he was wrenched off his feet. Scar let out a surprised yelp as he was yanked backwards into an unnaturally thick cloud of mist, dropping Mumbo and dragging Bdubs off Grian’s shoulders. The two of them landed on the ground with weak mismatched groans.

“Scar!” Grian cried, somewhat relieved to hear Scar squabbling indignantly with whatever had grabbed him. It hadn’t hurt him then….

Pearl began to walk forwards, her gaze set on Grian as she readied her sickles to strike him down. Grian quickly drew his gun and fired several shots at the witch. With almost inhuman speed, she dodged each bullet as her smile only grew wider.

“Aw, how cute!” Pearl laughed, sticking her tongue out as she strutted towards him. “You should know by now, your little shooters won’t do anything to me!”

As Pearl spun her sickles menacingly, Grian turned his head to call towards where Scar had disappeared to. “Scar! Are you okay?!”

“I’ll be fine!” Scar shouted from the distance. He didn’t sound like he was struggling- maybe that mist person left him alone, but why? Grian shook his head. He was still alive. “I can’t move! One of my legs was unhooked and tossed somewhere, but we’re all good!”

Grian gulped. He had no backup. A few more rounds wouldn’t hurt though. He hasn’t bled out yet, and he still had bullets loaded in his gun. He can outlast her a little longer now.

This time, he wouldn’t run away.

“Oh good, and here I thought I’d have to kill him, looks like I don’t have to,” Pearl looked at Grian with a dumbfounded expression. She shook her head and shrugged, her lips curling into her usual, sinister smile. “So you’re all mine now.”

Grian steeled himself. Focus. Maybe if he could stall her out, help would arrive sooner. Pearl wanted him for some reason, and he was right here. So that meant she wasn’t going after anybody else. The first thing he needed to know was his friend’s fate– Pearl was with them last, and he didn’t like that they hadn’t shown up first. He aimed his gun at her. “What happened to Cleo?”

Pearl was silent. She narrowed her eyes in thought, a chill breeze passing by as leaves rustled and parted to shine moonlight on the witch’s face. Eventually, she spoke. “I’d be more concerned with my fate than hers, little bird.”

What did that mean?

Before Grian could react, Pearl leapt forward and crashed into him, knocking them into the dirt. “Besides, we haven’t finished talking yet, have we?”

Grian sputtered, trying to fire his gun only to find it jammed. Damn it. Pearl stuck one of her sickles into the dirt so that it was wedged over top of Grian, the curve of the blade narrowly avoiding his neck. His breathing quickened as Pearl sat on his chest. “Wh- what is there to talk about?!”

Pearl placed her free hand on Grian’s chin, lifting his face up so that the two of them locked eyes. “Your crewmate, Martyn,” she hissed. Her expression soured as she dropped her smile and glared. “I don’t like the way Chromia’s getting soft around you humans… especially him.” Pearl spat. Grian felt his ears ring as Pearl continued to speak. She growled as the earth trembled around him. “You better be thankful I can’t do much other than toss you around. Keep your birds in their little cages, I don’t want to hear any of them sing.”

Chromia? Grian’s mind struggled to process the words. With the blade so close to his throat, he was struggling to think about anything but the sharp iron edge looming over his skin, threatening to spill blood. Who’s Chromia?

“Unless…,” Pearl leaned away, staring down at him. She tapped the other sickle against her chin in thought. She looked up at the blood moon for a moment, then turned her gaze back to Grian, a sickening grin forming over her face. “What’s one less toy for him to worry about?”

“GRIAN!” His heart skipped a beat as he heard Scar call for him. Scar…!

Grian felt his nearly heart burst out of his chest as Pearl raised her other sickle in the air, the blood moon shining off of the metal. Grian squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the worst. For metal to pierce his skin, for the cold of the iron blade to cleave his warm flesh.

But Grian didn’t feel anything like that.

He felt a slice glance over his eyebrow as he felt Pearl’s weight leave him, the witch letting out a surprised yelp.

Grian’s eyes snapped open and he saw nothing but the canopy of leaves above him. Grian wrenched the sickle sway from his neck, scrambling into a crouch and casting his eyes around to look for Pearl.

He found her, pinned to a tree by a figure in a hastily donned cloak. The cloaked figure held Pearl by the collar of her shirt, the witch’s eyes wide and her face a little pale.

“C-,” Pearl started, seemingly at a loss for words as her mouth opened and shut wordlessly. She pressed her lips together, forcing her expression into a scowl.

Grian caught his breath as the cloaked figure turned to look at him. A pair of glowing eyes pierced out of the shadows of the deep hood. They weren’t the pink eyes Scar saw. They were of a heterochromic orange and blue.

They seemed… oddly familiar….

The head assumedly tilted as the eyes narrowed at the sight of Grian. The two were locked in a staring match until the cloaked figure abruptly turned away, shoving Pearl against the tree as they released her. Then the cloaked figure turned and ran off into the forest, leaving nothing but the shadowy air in their wake.

Pearl looked after them with a look of… hurt. For once, her arrogance and confidence had disappeared as she sighed and straightened herself up. “I have to go,” she growled at Grian, even as she stared towards where the figure had disappeared. Her anger subsided as she looked at Grian, plastering that smile of overconfidence across her face once more. “But it was fun playing with you. I hope I didn’t break you too much.”

She giggled maniacally, putting a hand over her mouth as she stepped backwards into the trees, mist cloaking her body until nothing was visible except for her shining blue-green eyes. Then she disappeared into the darkness of the woods, the unnaturally bright red light of the moon fading as she left. The mist started clearing too.

It… it was over. It was over, right?

Grian took some time to breathe, looking down at where Mumbo and Bdubs lay unconscious just a few feet from where he’d nearly died. His shoulders slumped as he struggled with focusing on his breaths and calming down his poor heart. How did they manage to lose to two– three people? Grian was a hunter– the Canaries and Kites were hunters. They hunted monsters for a living! How did they get outclassed by civilians? How–

“Grian!” Joel’s voice suddenly called out as he approached his brother. He helped Grian up, hugging him tightly. “You’re alright!”

Grian stared into empty space, gaze unfocused as Joel let go. He barely noticed Joel, caught up in thinking about the cloaked figure’s eyes, those piercing, curious eyes.

Joel shook him slightly, breaking him out of his daze. Grian shook his head and blinked. “Yeah… I think I am,” he forced a smile onto his face as he turned to Joel and Lizzie, “How- how is everyone doing?”

Grian saw Joel open his mouth and start to answer him, but he couldn’t really focus on that. He couldn’t focus on anything going on around him anymore. His mind spun and his ears rang, yet he found himself staring back out into the middle distance. Pearl had been so intent on killing him then and there, but that person was able to stop her.

That person with a peculiar set of eyes.

[logically-asexual]

Ladybird

summary:

Cat Noir faces Dream Fairy, an villain that puts sleeping children into a spell so they won’t wake up. Ladybug can’t help him so he has to find someone he trusts to take her place in this battle. If you follow me you can guess who it will be.

Could happen during season 4.

notes:

leave a comment if you want!! just no season 5 spoilers please, i’ve only seen the first half ^-^

Read on AO3

word count: 3,613

Cat Noir smiled as he felt the fresh night air of Paris against his face. It was late and everyone else was asleep, his suit blended into the sky, and no one would tell him what to do. He knew he shouldn’t use his powers for personal reasons, but he hadn’t been able to get any sleep, only tossing and turning in bed for hours. Besides, he had agreed with Ladybug that they would patrol the city once per day, and nobody specified it had to be during daylight hours.

He was about to break his record of leaping over four buildings in one jump when a flashing light in the distance caught his attention, followed by the sound of loud cackling. His expression dropped. So there would be work to do, after all.

He used the repeating flashes to track the villain and follow after them. Once he was close enough, he heard her yell “None of you little brats will be able to interrupt my sleep ever again!” as she shot bright rays of light into every window along the street.

He was able to tackle the person (an exhausted mother, maybe?) while she was distracted, crashing both of them into the sidewalk.

The villain, dressed in an extravagant costume that reminded him of Maleficient, recovered from the hit quickly. “Cat Noir!” she scowled, “You know what time it is? Children like you shouldn’t be roaming the streets! But don’t worry, Dream Fairy will fix that soon.”

She pointed her staff at him, which had a green glowing orb at the end. He managed to move out of the way before the magic shot got him. The akuma was surely in that staff, but he needed to wait for Ladybug to destroy it so she could capture and de-evilize it before it flew away. Deciding to stall her as he waited for his partner, he jumped away and ran through the city, the witch close behind him.

He landed on a windowsill and tried to call Ladybug, but she wouldn’t pick up. While he was distracted, it was the villain’s turn to crash into him and send them both falling into the house. He found himself in the middle of his own foyer.

“I smell a little brat lives here!” Dream Fairy turned towards his, well, Adrien’s bedroom door at the top of the stairs. “But he’s not asleep like he should…”

Cat Noir tried to get a hold of her staff, but she was too quick. On the corner of his vision he saw Nathalie struggling with the crutches to run out of her room.

He shielded himself from the rays of light with his own staff, and said “Don’t worry ma’am! I’ve got everything under control!”

Ironically, at that same moment the villain slipped away and made a run for Adrien’s bedroom, only to be faced with Nathalie now blocking the way and swiftly evading every attack, even with her limited mobility.

Cat Noir distracted the woman again and attempted to lead her out of the house. The battle continued, until Tikki was suddenly next to his face holding Ladybug’s earrings. He kept sparring with the villain as he spoke to her.

“Tikki? What’s going on? Where’s Ladybug?”

“We have a problem! My owner is asleep and I couldn’t wake her up! She seems to be under some spell. I tried to find someone else to use her powers today but all our other allies were the same!”

“We need Ladybug to capture the akuma,” he said between strikes, “there’s no way I’m making it without her!”

Wearing the earrings himself wasn’t even an option, he had no experience wearing two miraculous at once, let alone the most powerful ones! He leaped away right before being hit with a magical ray, which gave way for the villain to run back towards the stairs.

Nathalie, still guarding the bedroom door, didn’t waste any time punching Dream Fairy right on the nose, knocking her out. Cat Noir looked at her in awe. He had an idea.

He grabbed Nathalie’s hand and pulled her into her bedroom, with Tikki following after him.

“Nathalie, right? I need your help.”

“Wait—“ she tried to get back out, but Cat Noir stopped her, saying that he had already made sure Adrien would be safe. He was touched by her worry and her eagerness to protect him, but he had no time to waste.

“Nathalie Sancoeur, here’s the miraculous of the ladybug, which grants the power of creation. You will use it for the greater good.” He held eye contact with her and noticed that her stare grew panicked while he spoke. “Once the—“

“Me? No, you don’t want me, I can’t even walk properly!”

“Don’t worry! The suit enhances all physical abilities! And I saw you fighting just now, you’re awesome already! I need someone strong, intelligent, and trustworthy, and—“

“No,” she interrupted, “you don’t want to trust me.”

Nathalie couldn’t believe she was this situation. She knew Gabriel would want her to take this opportunity and finally get what they were both after this whole time. The jewels he so desperately wanted were right in front of her, being handed to her on a silver platter, and she, of all people, would be the one giving them to him. Everything in her knew that she should take advantage of this, even if she had to defeat Gabriel’s akumatized villain first, but there was a voice in the back of her head that forced her to hesitate, only made louder by the kind look on the superhero’s wide green eyes.

“You’re Gabriel Agreste’s executive assistant, right? If he relies on you for his work then you must deserve this honor. You are the most trustworthy person I kno— I mean— here!”

Cat Noir smiled at her, and something in his eyes reminded him of when Adrien was little, begging for her not to tell his mom that he had stolen a cookie from the kitchen, not afraid, but hopeful, because he knew she would cave in eventually. She always did, as she did now.

She would end up disappointing the boy either way, sooner or later. Might as well get something out of it.

She took the pair of earrings, switched them with her own, and attentively listened when Cat Noir explained the basic information about her powers, all of which Nathalie was already aware of, but he didn’t know that. Soon, they were ready.

“Tikki, spots on!”

Her glasses and crutches were gone, leaving only a magic suit and mask behind. Her suit wasn’t very different from the girl’s apart from the fact that the colors on Nathalie’s were inverted. Her hair didn’t change a lot either, with her bun now higher up and two red strands of hair hanging loose next to either side of her face.

“A pleasure to meet you…” Cat Noir waited.

“Ladybird,” she completed. The word felt foreign on her mouth, but it was all that came to mind.

Cat Noir opened the door for her and led the way to the villain, who was now standing from the place on the floor where they had left her.

It took a few minutes to get the hang of her weapon. She was skilled when it came to self defense, but her aim had never been great. She found that her power and her enhanced vision improved it somewhat, once she got familiar with the shape and mass of the object she was throwing. She was able to use it to block the rays from hitting Cat Noir and to distract Dream Fairy, who had forgotten about Adrien and was now giving them her full attention.

Cat Noir insisted on being the one at the front, leading the battle while she supported him any way she could. They knew they had to get to the staff, but Dream Fairy was too agile and avoided them with ease.

Growing frustrated, Cat Noir suggested for her to summon the lucky charm. She followed his instruction and stepped away to call the power. In her hands now was a… a DVD copy of Solitude, with Emilie on the cover. Was this some kind of joke?

The black cat struggled defending himself while she stared at the movie. She remembered that Gabriel had his own copy in the safe behind his wife’s portrait, which gave her an idea. She called for the villain’s attention offering her the miraculous and ran into Gabriel’s office.

Dream Fairy ran after her, trying to hit her with her staff but missing every attempt. Nathalie walked backwards into the room until she was in position right next to the painting.

“Cat Noir, your cataclysm!” As she spoke, the villain attempted to take her apparent distraction as a chance to strike, but was met with a perfectly-timed hit in the face with the frame of the painting. She stumbled backwards before Nathalie slid the DVD case across the floor so the woman slipped on it. “Now!”

In the fall, Dream Fairy let go of her staff, which Cat Noir was able to get mid-air and destroy. As always, the dark butterfly flew out of the object. Nathalie went through the famous following motions, de-evelizing the creature. Then, she picked up the movie and threw it upwards and said, “Miraculous Ladybird!”

Swarms of ladybugs flew all around them, fixing the broken window, the dented frame of the portrait, and the staff, now turned into a flashlight. The disoriented woman who used to be Dream Fairy tried to stand up, but soon lost balance and dropped back to the floor, sleeping peacefully at last.

Ladybird felt relief for the poor woman, who must have been awake for one-too-many nights in a row. Her attention then was brought back to Cat Noir, who was holding up a closed fist at her, offering the victory gesture the heroes always did. She looked down at his hand, the ring on his finger was blinking.

Through his shared vision with the akuma, Gabriel knew that Cat Noir and someone had just defeated his villain in his office before losing contact with them, so he would probably wait a while to come out, to avoid being discovered. Nathalie was on her own. It was now or never.

“Sorry,” she muttered. In a blink, with a flick of her wrist the yo-yo flew around Cat Noir and immobilized him. All tied up, he lost balance and fell over with a soft thud. His alarmed eyes shifted from side to side, but he didn’t get enough time to figure out how to escape before she took the ring from him.

Ladybird took the ring from his hand and wore it in her own, ignoring the green light of his transformation on the edges of her vision. Still looking down at the miraculous, she took a deep breath. She would be clear with the wish, making sure the life that would be taken in exchange wouldn’t be anyone else’s but her own.

“Tikki, Plagg, unif—“

“Nathalie, no!” the boy interrupted.

She finally looked up gasped, stumbling a few steps back. The world froze for a moment, the air in the room suddenly cold enough to make her body tremble as she saw who was laying on the floor in front of her.

“Adrien,” she barely whispered.

“Wh— Why are you doing this?” He appeared to be on the verge of tears, a state she would probably share soon, not yet believing this was real.

“That's… that’s impossible.” Her head turned between him, Emily’s portrait, and the ring on her finger. Not enough air was getting into her lungs, maybe she had hit her head and she was currently the one on the floor and this was all her imagination, product of a concussion. Maybe she had dreamed this entire night and the sound of her alarm clock would wake her up at any moment.

A part of her brain registered a shift in the air behind her. Then, two hands yanking away her earrings fully brought her back to reality. Every last drop of strength left her body along with the magical suit, causing her knees to buckle and she came crashing down. It was as if the exhaustion and pain she had avoided during the fight had accumulated and now she had to take it all back.

Nathalie couldn’t make out the fuming words of the girl who must have been the actual owner of the ladybug miraculous. She could see she was wearing a gray and white costume and sunglasses as she put on her earrings. She argued with the ladybug kwami, and Adrien chimed in a few times. It surprised her to see him standing up, before her mind caught up with the fact that her powers were gone, and so was the yo-yo and the string that had been restraining him.

Nathalie tried to discern more details of the situation but her vision was fogging up and she felt like everything was crumbling around her. She was about to lose consciousness when a bright light forced her back. Ladybug left through the portal she had just opened carrying the de-akumatized person as Adrien ran to Nathalie’s side.

He helped her sit up and explained what he had discussed with the superheroine. She couldn’t understand much of what he said at the beginning, but slowly she was able to take in less shallow breaths and comprehend more of his speech. She gathered some general ideas. He had said that he didn’t tell Ladybug everything that had happened to protect his identity, and that he had asked her to leave them alone and let Adrien and Cat Noir manage things.

Then, she realized he was asking her a question. She blinked at him for a couple seconds before registering the words. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered. She tried to give him proof of her statement and managed to stand up, but she couldn’t bring herself to take a step forward. The shaking of her legs convinced her that she would fall if she tried. “You should get back to bed.”

“Wait.” He moved to stand in front of her, as if he would be the only thing blocking her from leaving the room. “Please tell me, why did you do that?”

She bit her lip. She was in no condition, physical or mental, to have this conversation. What could she say that would reveal just enough to satisfy his curiosity, and not too much to raise any more questions?

A part of the truth should be good enough. “I wanted to make a wish.”

“You know about the wish?”

She swallowed. “Uh, yes. I’ve seen the news, I’ve heard about it.”

The sadness in Adrien’s eyes pierced into her own. This shouldn’t be happening. She should be the one protecting him. Still, his voice was full of kindness. “I know it sounds like an easy solution to any problem, but it’s more complicated than that. The balance of the universe has to be maintained, which means every wish comes with a price. If you wanted to cure your illness someone else would have to fall ill in your place, and that’s… well… it’s not fair.”

Nathalie knew about the price of the wish. He was right. Things were more complicated than they appeared, but she couldn’t explain the real reason why to Adrien. It was neither the moment nor the place. It wasn’t even a job for her to do, it was his father’s. “That’s… not what I wanted,” she muttered. It bothered her that he could think she would do something so selfish.

“It’s okay, I didn’t know that at the beginning either. Now you know you see, it’s better this way.”

As offensive as it was, she would have to let him believe that he guessed the wish she intended to make correctly, and hopefully he would forgive her and not interrogate further.

Adrien smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back, until he extended his hand to her and she remembered today’s discovery.

The ring was in its disguised form, all silver, just like Adrien had worn it the entire time. As she took it off and held it between her index and thumb, it turned back to black and the green paw appeared in the center. She should have known it, and yet not even now could she fully believe it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said, “I do think you’re the most trustworthy person in the world, but we had to keep our identities a secret from everyone. You’re… not going to tell father, are you?”

Memories came to her of all those moments when both Mayura and Hawkmoth had faced the heroes. Focused on their goals and thinking of the superheroes as nothing but obstacles to them, it was easy to attack with no restraint or care for the children behind the masks. Now everything was different. It had been Adrien, all this time. The girl behind the red spotted mask might be infuriating, but she was someone’s daughter, too. Why had it taken all this for her to actually acknowledge it? Was ruining these children’s lives really worth it?

All her experiences up until this point were altered under this new perspective. She wondered if Gabriel would feel the same if he knew. Would he stop if he did? “I… don’t think I can lie to your father.” She had to tell him. What if Hawkmoth chose to fight in person again? What was Nathalie supposed to do then? She closed her fist around the ring. “I also don’t think I could stand to keep watching you get hurt.”

Adrien went on a long speech defending himself, arguing that the suit made him nearly invulnerable, that he and Ladybug always had each other’s backs and always came up with a solution, that he was never more worried about the akumatized villains injuring him than he was about Hawkmoth harming his victims as they were used for his nefarious purposes.

If only he knew, Nathalie thought. If only he knew why his father was doing this. But, as usual, it wasn’t her place to speak, so she just frowned at him, not yet persuaded.

“Please,” he was now begging, “if my father finds out he will never let me out of the house again! I don’t want to be a prisoner for the rest of my life! It’ll be even worse than before I went to school.” He grabbed her from both arms, almost pouting. “I know what I’m doing, just trust me. You don’t have to lie to him, you just have to keep doing everything the same way you did up until today. Please!”

As he dragged on the last word and looked up at her with the same puppy eyes that had convinced her to take the magical earrings earlier, she felt once again cornered. No truth was more universal than the fact that when an Agreste wanted something from her, they would get it. She simply sighed and handed over the ring back to him.

He immediately squeezed the air out of her in a hug, which she returned to the best of her ability. She had promised Emilie that she would protect Adrien, but she never expected that to be such a difficult task. However, that didn’t mean that she would simply give up.

After a minute the boy pulled away. She had been leaning some of her weight on him, so he noticed her effort to stay upright after losing his support. He called for his transformation with a wide smile. Looking into those green eyes now, she couldn’t believe she ever thought they belonged to anyone else but Emilie’s son. He held an arm around her, and carried her back to her bedroom.

Cat Noir thanked her and hugged her one last time before leaving to find Ladybug and explain his version of what had happened earlier. Luckily, all the girl knew was that her kwami had left with the earrings to find a temporal holder and she figured out she would find them at the Agreste Mansion once she followed the villain’s signs of destruction on the streets. She probably assumed Cat Noir had hidden once Nathalie had taken his ring and the secret of his identity was safe.

Nathalie watched from her window as the boy jumped from one rooftop to another, disappearing into the night. Before bed she would delete the footage from the cameras in the house, then she would sleep, and then… that was to be determined.

She would have to think carefully about what she would do about Gabriel now. Adrien didn’t know the scope of the burden he had put on her. She didn’t know how the man would react if he found that his son was Cat Noir, but she was sure that if Gabriel ever found out that she had known Cat Noir’s identity and hadn’t told him, he would be furious. If she was honest, sometimes Nathalie was just as scared of him as Adrien was.

Unfortunately, she had no choice now. The matter was delicate so her actions should be the same. She would have to thread carefully until she could find a solution that hopefully didn’t end with Gabriel losing his mind, Adrien getting hurt, and her being fired. For now, she’d have to act natural, while she pretended her world hadn’t been shattered around her and completely differently rebuilt in a single night.

[electric-ecclectic]

@galactia said:

"You think I still care?" The laugh that splits the air also seems to crack from him, like fractals of weakness through ice, breathy, frigid. Kaeya, or what she was still calling Kaeya, dug in a heel, surging forward, teeth bared, "Boo, hoo, Kaeya doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't know you, he isn't the same-" The black on his skin, like veins of poisoned frost, was ever clearer now - crawling into his face and chest and up his arms. Clawed hands, blackened by the same, swiped viciously and seized her arms, shaking her, "All alone? With me?" He stared down at her, close enough to touch, to feel the cold that radiated from him like frostbite, to see the blackness that had stained his golden eye. Kaeya cackled, entire body shaking, the sound catching on something else in his throat - something else that spilled out like a sob. His eyes overflowed with tears, and at once he was weeping; weeping as he redoubled and gnashed his teeth and shoved her away from him. It hurt; it hurt so bad, it hurt- Cryo gathered in his fists, creeping up his arms in gauntlets. His head snapped to look at her, tossing long, dark blue hair away from a tear-dampened face and wild, glowing eyes- "Run."

And run she did, heels hitting the floor with a loud echo as she quickly put some distance between them. Rationally, this man was not the same as the man who loved her. He was not the Cavalry Captain of Mondstadt, and he was not the man who so cordially would laugh along with the old ladies in the city square, and he was no longer attached to the same things that Kaeya was. The way the frost burned her lungs was a painful reminder of just that. But when Signe charged a spell, when she readied to defend herself, she couldn't bring herself to do so, only daring to avoid Kaeya's attacks.

"I don't want to hurt you!" she yelled, only just barely avoiding the icicles that seemed to suddenly break out of the ground below. Never before had the rational witch become so ragged, with emotions so visibly on her sleeve; and rarely did her honeyed eyes turn cold with the raw fear that accompanied Kaeya's words. Run. Certainly, the fact that she was in danger was undeniable, and she'd have to fight back eventually-- but when she brought up her spellbook to strike, her hands shook, and the spell would fizzle almost immediately.

The more she avoided his attacks, the more difficult it would become, and how could it not? They'd fought together, and he knew her movements nearly by heart, and that much was becoming clearer by how narrowly she was able to avoid him. She met his eyes, shaky breaths becoming more ragged and desperate, as she finally managed to charge a spell, the air thrumming with electro as a bolt of lightning seemed to appear from thin air. But the spell was messy, unpredictable as her focus seemed to wane, unlike the usually practiced witch.

"Kaeya, please--"

[ccss10987]

Happily Ever After

Chapter 3: Thera

Links: Chapters 1, 2, 4, 5, Also on A03

Previous - Next

Roman pulled out the map and laid it out On Remus’s back. “So I think if I’m reading this right-” 

“You weren’t reading it correctly the first time.” Virgil smirked at him. Remus let out a loud snort at this.

Roman took a long look at the map, the compass on it, and then the sun. “Yes, I’m reading this right, thank you very much. We should be at Thera before nightfall. Just follow the path.” Roman put the map back in his bag. 

“He started off this journey with the map upside down and let us go the wrong way for at least an hour before admitting defeat.” Virgil said. 

Remus cackled, holding his stomach with one hand while he kept the other on the reins of the horse.

“And you continued to let him hold the map?” Dee asked him, trying to stifle his laughter as he focused more on talking.

“I was supposed to.” Virgil mumbled. 

Remus cackled louder. “Both of you are idiots.” he got out in between laughs.

Roman scoffed. “You didn’t have to tell them that.” he said to Virgil. 

“Oh no. He definitely had to tell us that. Tell us more of that juicy stuff!” Remus said. He couldn’t be more interested in learning about more embarrassing moments Roman had throughout the journey.

“Absolutely not!” Roman yelled. “And don’t say it like that.”

“You mean juicy stuff?” Remus asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Motherfucker,” Virgil let his head fall back as he sighed in annoyance. “Is that Patton?” he pointed to someone down the trail

“Oh my stars. I think it is.” Roman said, squinting and leaning forward to see the man walking alone in the distance.

“Who’s Patton?” Dee asked Virgil. 

“Some guy who broke the script. We met last night in a tavern. Then we ran into him later unexpectedly and we’re running into him now. Let’s speed up and not make eye contact.” he answered, looking down and away from Patton.

“Hey! Patton! Wanna ride!? Where ya going!?” Remus yelled. Patton jumped at the sudden loud noise and turned around to face the group, eyes widening at the sight of Roman and Virgil’s familiar faces.

“Remus!” Roman lightly hit Remus on the shoulder. 

“Oh, uhh, I think I’m good.” Patton told him. “But, um, thank you for the offer.” 

“Nonsense. Walk with us. We should give these horses a rest anyway.” Dee said. Remus dismounted his horse. Dee took out and unfolded his cane, and walked over to Patton. 

Virgil groaned. “Why do you hate me?” he asked, dismounting his horse then going over to help Roman. Roman held onto Virgil’s shoulders and struggled getting his footing.

“I’m going to Thera.” Patton told them. 

“What a coincidence. We’re all going to the same place!” Remus exclaimed. “Wait, are you really? I meant that I’m going to uhh…” Patton trailed off. 

Virgil took some deep breaths. “Let’s start walking. We can’t accidentally run into you again if we walk together.” he said after a while. 

“And you’re okay with me walking with you?” Patton asked, looking at Virgil hesitantly. 

Dee gave Virgil a cold look before looking back to Patton with a gentle smile on his face. “Of course he is. Why would he be bothered walking with someone who’s probably in a different story than he is? You aren’t messing with his happily ever after.” he said like his words were laced with venom

“What story are you in anyway?” Remus asked. 

“Oh, uhh, I’m the witch in Hansel and Gretal.” Patton kicked at the dirt path he stood on and avoided the stares he thought he was getting. He got them all the time after all. If people even believed it was true.

Dee gasped. “A script-breaker who became nice? Unheard of. Isn’t that right, Roman?” Remus laughed alongside him. 

“We’re also script-breakers, so don’t you worry, Patton. Those two are the ones who have their heads in their asses.” Remus said as he put his arms around Patton’s shoulders and brought him close.

“That’s some, uhh colorful language.” Patton gently took Remus’s wrist and moved it off of his shoulders. “But it’s always nice to meet other script-breakers. Not being alone is great. The friend I’m visiting in Thera is also a script-breaker. He’s the one that taught me it was possible, you know?” 

Dee nodded. “Remus did the same for me and we’ve been friends ever since.” 

Remus hugged Dee tightly. “That’s right. Best decision I’ve ever made.” he mumbled into Dee’s hair.

“Smartest one too. What would you do without me?” Dee smiled up at him.

Virgil sighed. “That’s… Dee and Remus. I’m Virgil. That’s Roman. Everyone, this is Patton. Now, let’s start walking, because your display of affection is starting to sicken me.” 

Patton squealed. “You didn’t tell me your name before. It’s such a nice name too!” 

Virgil looked away from him. “Whatever.” he mumbled. “Let’s just get going.

“You can call me by my real name, Patton. It’s Janus.” the blonde told him. Patton smiled widely. No one outside of his best friend had trusted him. Not immediately anyway. It always took a while to befriend the refugees he saved, and he never really stayed in Thera long enough to get to know them any more than an acquaintance. He was getting along just fine with these four. It may have taken Virgil a while to warm up to him, but he just got four new friends. He’s never been happier.

Patton was pulled out of his happy thoughts and feelings when Roman started laughing uncontrollably and slapped his knee. “Janice!? What are you, an old librarian?” 

Janus looked at him with a neutral stare. Anger fueled his thoughts but he kept a calm appearance. The only thing really showing how mad he felt was his fists clenching and unclenching. “I can’t believe people say Remus is the evil twin.” His voice was cold and clear cut.

Roman went quiet. “What is that supposed to mean? It’s not my fault you have such a stupid name.”

Janus scoffed. “J-a-n-u-s like the Roman god of transitions. I swear you are the dumbest prince I’ve ever met, and I have met some really stupid princes.” He stormed ahead of the group, leaving Roman in the back. 

Roman scoffed and fired a complaint at Janus, throwing his arms in the air. “Oh come on! How was I supposed to know that?”

“Alright, let’s not fight.” Patton said, putting himself between the two, stopping the group from moving forward. 

“Aww, why not?” Remus smiled, pulling out a morning star from his bag.

“Where did you get that from!?” Patton yelled, starting to panic. He hated fighting.

Remus shrugged. “You are an absolute barbarian!” Roman shouted at Remus, pushing Virgil behind him who rolled his eyes in response to Roman’s attempt at trying to protect him. He knew Remus well enough to know that he could absolutely take Roman down in a single hit.

“Excuse you, prissy royalty, but I’m technically still a prince!” Remus raised his morning start, threateningly.

“Stop fighting and yelling!” Patton yelled, throwing his arms out to create more distance between the two groups that had formed during this argument.

“You’re yelling!” Virgil fired back, crossing his arms.

“Because I hate yelling and fighting!”

“So why are you doing it!?”

“I don’t know!”

The group went silent as Patton took a few deep breaths. “Everyone, take a deep breath,” Patton demanded with crossed arms. The group followed, all inhaling and exhaling. “Okay. Roman, apologize.” Patton pointed at him then at Janus.

“Why do I have to apologize?” Roman whined. “Janus is the one that lied to me.”

“Because I said so. You shouldn’t laugh at someone’s name, whether you understand it or not. Now apologize.” Patton crossed his arms and gave him  what could only be described as a dad look.

“Dad’s angry. You should apologize.” Virgil smirked.

“I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.” the so-called dad clarified. 

“Fine. Janus-” 

“Dee,” Janus interrupted, looking back at him with a sharp look. “ If you don’t like my name, don’t use it. I introduced myself as ‘Dee’ for a reason. That reason being, I don’t trust people who blindly follow scripts. I’ve found that script-followers are the most judgemental. Obviously I was doing the right thing not trusting you. You’re obviously a judgemental prick.”

“Let him apologize at least, Janus.” Patton told him gently. “Go ahead, Roman.” 

Roman looked at the ground for a quick moment before facing him. “Dee. I’m really sorry for making fun of your name. I know it was wrong and I won’t do it again.”

Janus turned back around. “I don’t forgive you. Let’s keep walking. I want my payout.”

“What was the point of apologizing if he wasn’t going to forgive me?” Roman scoffed. Janus rolled his eyes. “I don’t have to forgive you.”

“I know that, yeah. But-

“Let’s just drop it and move on.” Patton said. He put his arms down, but kept walking in the middle of the group to avoid further argument like a dad keeping siblings from fighting.

The group walked for a few minutes. Janus and Remus in the front, Patton following behind them, and Roman and Virgil in the back of the group.

“What did you mean when you said evil twin, Jan-um Dee?”

“We don’t have time to unpack all of that.” Remus laughed. 

“Let’s drop it.” Patton said.

“If you think I have a twin, you’re wrong. I grew up an only child.” 

Remus let out a sigh poorly disguised as a laugh. Roman couldn’t see his face, so he had a hard time judging how Remus reacted toward the question. Mad maybe? 

“I can’t believe you, Roman. You’ve already pissed the both of us off. Just keep digging that hole.” Janus took Remus’s hand and squeezed gently. Remus smiled at him and squeezed his hand back. 

“I’m just asking a simple question. I don’t even get why you’re so mad at me for not getting your name spelled correctly. Now you’re mad at me for what? Being an only child?”

“You aren’t an only child.” Janus snapped. “That’s just what you were told, because your twin didn’t follow society’s new made up rules well enough to be remembered as a royal family member. You are related to Remus who didn’t want to follow the path you’re on. Virgil ended up replacing him on this journey after leaving us. Narrators have done nothing but hurt us and you two do nothing about it.” He took a quick look at Virgil. 

Virgil was fidgeting with his cloak and looking at the ground. “At least Virgil knows the consequences of his actions, even if he still can’t get his head out of his ass.”

Roman was silent, but he still followed behind the group. He had a brother. A twin brother. Someone that was kicked out when he was only a young child. This news had been hidden from him for years. What else had been hidden from him? 

His mind went back to the history books. There were hundreds of them in the castle library all published during a large range of years. How long had people had narrators exactly? Clearly some sort of propaganda was involved in this mystery, so he couldn’t find out from books. He had to ask someone else. A script-breaker. It would give him the other side of the story. He didn’t want to ask Janus or Remus though, or even ask while they’re around. They were already angry with him.

“Prince Roman will do no such thing. There’s no research to be done. Following the script is the law, not a social rule. Laws are meant to be followed.” Roman’s narrator declared. Roman inwardly sighed. It’s been a while since he heard that voice. 

“Prince Roman and Knight Virgil were almost at their destination.” Roman thought this statement was redundant, considering he could see the town of Thera ahead of them. “He was filled with pride, knowing he would be the one to save the kingdom from the absolute horrors that lurk there.”

Roman looked at what he could see of the town. It wasn’t that busy with people, but there were a few still out and about. Was it the late hour? The kingdom seemed nicer than his. Why wouldn’t people want to live here? There seemed to be enough living areas to house more people than he saw.

It was getting late and they would need an Inn to stay the night in. There didn’t seem to be any danger. The people seemed happy. Too happy? They seemed happier than the people in his kingdom. Why, though?

“I think I know a place we can stay in tonight. I’ll have to ask Logan though.”

“Is Logan your friend that you’ve been talking about?” Janus asked. Patton nodded and smiled. “You all will love him, he’s the best. Follow me.”

Patton led the group through the kingdom. They heard bits and pieces of conversation. 

“My narrator went away yesterday.”

“He’s just so quiet now, I’m glad it’s almost over.”

“My first born is thankfully still with us.”

“I can’t believe I was so scared before.”

“Are those script-breaking refugees?”

The last bit of conversation was said to one person to another. They were looking at Roman’s party. They thought the party was here to seek refuge from people who hate script-breakers. Did that happen a lot? Is everyone here a script-breaking refugee? That would explain why the town was so small.

“Where exactly are you taking us, Patton?” Virgil asked. He was always nervous about meeting strangers.

“To my friend’s place. He’s a dragon tamer!” Patton.

“I get to see a dragon!?” Roman exclaimed. He waved his hands by his side and snapped his fingers three times. “And I don’t have to slay it!?” He squealed and gently shoved Patton forward. “Faster. What are we waiting for? A molasses flood?”

“As if that would ever happen.” Patton giggled. “I’m glad you’re excited though. Most people are afraid of dragons. Even I was scared at first, but then I realized that they’re just misunderstood shadowlings.”

“They are giant creatures of fire and destruction!” Remus exclaimed. He tapped his fingers to the palms of his hands, almost like clenching his fists excitedly.

“Oh great. Both of the chaos twins love dragons. Going to a place with tons of dragons will surely end well and not in flames.” Janus commented.

Roman felt a small pang in his heart at being called a twin, but it was shadowed by the excitement he felt of meeting dragons in person.

“At least most of the dragons are tame?” Patton offered.

“Ah, most of the dragons. That helps a lot.” Janus said.

“Less talking. More dragons.” Roman said, snapping his fingers excitedly so more.

“Wow, you really are twins!” Patton smiled. 

Roman felt that pang in his chest again. “Uhh duh,” Remus cackled. “Was our identical appearance not enough for you?”

Roman shoved the feelings down and scoffed. “I look way better than you do. And cleaner.” he retorted.

“That’s what happens when you have to travel from place to place. Dirt! Oooh scary. Gonna fuck up your purely white suit with my hands dirty from work.” Remus reached out his hands towards Roman who backed away, swatting Remus’s hands away with a look of disgust on his face.

“Okay, let’s not fight again. We’re almost there. Almost to the dragons! Come on!” Patton said to them quickly. He was not prepared emotionally for another big fight.

A man walked over to the group. He was tall, very skinny, and had black locs pulled back. He was wearing a very unfashionable gray jumpsuit complete with gloves and boots, and rectangular glasses. He was holding a giant bag of something. Roman didn’t know what it was exactly, but it looked heavy and he looked like he was buckling from the weight. He was about to offer to carry it for him, but the man spoke first. 

“Patton, I do not believe these refugees are children. You can speak to them like adults.”

Patton squealed and ran to his best friend and engulfed him in a hug. “This is my best friend, Logan! Logan, this is Roman, Virgil, Janus and Remus. They aren’t refugees. Roman is the one who got your ‘utmost important’ letter. He was traveling with Virgil, and then he met Remus and Janus later. We all traveled together most of the way back. I wasn’t able to find any refugees this time.” Patton adjusted Logan’s glasses as he noticed they were slipping off of his nose. “Oh sorry.” He let go of Logan and took the bag from him with ease. “Dragon feed, huh? They are very excited to see dragons.”

Logan took all this information in and slowly nodded.

“Roman didn’t trust Patton or his friend, but he decided to keep them both close for now. It’ll pay off later.” Roman’s narrator told him. His narrator used to dictate his whole life, but since this journey, he noticed it was becoming more sparse. When Roman first met Patton, the narrator told him to avoid Patton. Now his narrator had changed his mind, which seemed really worrisome. Roman decided to push these thoughts away. He had some questions for his narrator, but those would wait until he got some time alone with him.

“Oh, please. I’m not the suspicious one here. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that you’ve already reached the title of script-breaker.”

Roman went still for just a moment before Logan’s voice brought him out of his stupor.

“I’m fortunate that someone got that letter. I didn’t think the narrators would allow it. It begs the question of why the narrators allowed it. You might have noticed by now that this town is all script-breakers, including myself. The king and queen of Thera are also script-breakers, so they made this kingdom a sort of safe-haven if you will. It’s not very full of people yet, but Patton has been bringing more and more here frequently.”

“I know that script-breakers are like a smaller group compared to the script-followers, but why is it still so empty?” Janus asked. 

“Good question. Through my own research, I’ve noticed that most script-followers only follow their script in fear. While people are around script-followers they feel social pressure to follow their script. This causes some problems trying to bring people here. They might not trust Patton, or don’t want to ruin someone’s ‘destiny’ by leaving or they might be around script-followers at the time of the offer extended to bring them to Thera. You look confused, Roman. Do you have any questions?”

“I stopped listening after the first few words.” Roman admitted. “You talk, just so much.”

Logan let out an irritated sigh. “The kingdom is full of script-breakers and therefore they feel safer. Narrators don’t like script-breakers, so it’s astounding that they forced you to be here.” he summed up. “Did you listen this time?” Logan asked, irritation cut through his usual calming voice.

“Yeah. Got it.” Roman nodded quickly. He was a little afraid of making Logan more annoyed with him.

“So… if you didn’t think that someone would come, why did you ask him for help? The place seems fine-” Virgil started.

“Yes! It seems fine. That’s the problem. I think the narrators are planning something. They have left this kingdom alone for too long. I didn’t want to waste any time, so I called for an outside force as soon as possible. I explained all this in the letter. Didn’t you read it?” Logan asked.

“There was a “plot mandatory” ink blot on the letter.” Janus explained. “These two are script-followers. Roman is a prince. The dragon slaying kind.”

Roman gasped in offense. “I’ll have you know, Dee,” he pointed at him. Janus gave him a blank stare. “I have never slayed a dragon before. I never even met one.” 

Logan frowned, looking between the two of them. “In any case, you two will have to stay in my library while I discuss the plan with Janus and Remus. Patton will even be with you. I won’t be taking any chances.”

“Why would you send a letter to someone who follows their script if you didn’t want me to know what’s going on!?” Roman demanded, stomping his foot like a child.

“It’s more complicated than that. You’ll know what is safe for the narrators to know. It was all explained in the letter, honestly.”

“I didn’t see most of the letter.” Roman whined.

“I won’t tolerate this whining childlike behavior. The narrators cannot know what’s going on. You will know what I want them to know. You have the privilege that most script-followers need to live to fulfill their destiny. Most princes need to survive a threat, save a princess, and get married. You need to be alive to fulfill that destiny. I don’t believe the narrator would do anything to kill you. I plan on using that as an advantage.”

“Wait a damn minute. You are going to put Roman through a life threatening situation because you “hypothesize” that his narrator will want him alive!?” Virgil yelled.

“Yeah Logan. That seems a bit… harsh.” Patton looked to the side.

“We should get going. I want to get this plan in action as soon as possible.” Logan told the group. He started walking away.

“Logan! We are not done discussing this.” Patton yelled after him while he ran to catch up.

“I don’t know what the fuck he thinks he’s doing, but I’m not letting him do this. Let’s go back.”

“Prince Roman could not back out now. He still had to fight the threat looming over Thera.” his narrator told him. 

Roman took a deep breath. “Let’s hear Logan out, Virgil. From what we know about Patton, he wouldn’t let Logan get me killed. What’s the worst- 

“Don’t say it!” Virgil cut him off.

“Do it, dearest brother of mine.” Remus taunted. “Test your fate!” 

“Come on, you stinky rat bastard. I walk slowly enough as it is with my cane, and I don’t want to fall too far behind.” Janus took his hand and followed after Patton and Logan.

“Logan looks smart. He has glasses. I think he knows what he’s doing. It’s going to be okay, scare-amore.” Roman reached for Virgil’s hand, but stuffed it into his pocket at the last second. He hoped Virgil didn’t notice what he was about to do. Roman knew it would never work out.

“I… I trust you, Roman. Not for the reason that Logan has glasses and therefore must be smart, but I do trust you.” Virgil wrapped his arms around himself for comfort. “I just really hope you’re right to trust Logan.” Virgil looked at him, and Roman smiled at him. Virgil looked away quickly. “Let’s catch up to the others.” he muttered, walking towards the rest of the party.

Roman walked beside Virgil. For a moment, it felt like it was just the two of them traveling on this journey again. 

The group eventually caught up with each other. Logan was arguing with Patton. Janus and Remus were a couple feet away from them, giving the arguing couple some space. Virgil and Roman caught the last few bits of Logan and Patton’s disagreement as they walked up to the two thieves.

“I assure you I would never do an experiment that puts someone in danger.” Logan told Patton calmly.

“Roman is a person! He’s not an experiment, Logan.”

“You can collect more data if you need that to feel more confident about Roman’s well being. I’ve already read a few stories about script-followers being resuscitated, sometimes by strangers, because they need to be alive for their stories to continue.” Logan adjusted his glasses. “You can find more data like that in the library with Roman and Virgil.”

Patton frowned. He knew he wasn’t going to win or convince Logan otherwise. “Roman, are you feeling okay about this?” he asked, noticing the group was together again. He felt a bit self-conscious knowing that his new friends saw him fight with his best friend. 

“Yes.” Roman nodded. He pushed his emotions and doubts aside and put on a brave face for his audience of friends… and Janus, Remus, and Logan.

Virgil and Patton both frowned at this. Neither of them were okay with someone braving into battle with that, especially since Virgil and Roman had gotten really close to each other. With Patton, it was just in his nature to care.

“Roman…” Janus started. Roman braced himself for a string of insults or a ‘you’ll get what’s coming to you’. They had not been getting along since that argument. Janus was really smart though and he had given Roman a lot to think about, mostly about his own beliefs like script-breaking and the news about Remus being his brother. Roman would really like to be closer to him. He just needed to learn first. Maybe Thera would be perfect for that. Afterall, most people here were script-breakers.

“You really are an idiot.” Janus finished and walked off hand-in-hand with Remus. Roman blinked a few times as he watched them leave, following Logan. That was not the response he was expecting from Janus. Did Janus also not want him to go through with this plan and risk his life? Didn’t Janus hate him?

“Okay, let’s go. I guess. I trust Logan, I really do, but you know you don’t have to do this right? The narrators probably won’t get to this town for years. It’s relatively small with very little reach.” Patton fiddled with his glasses, as he spoke.

“I want to help.” Roman said.. His voice was clear and strong. He was determined to do one good thing in his life towards script-breakers. He hadn’t exactly been kind to them in the past after all. 

“If that’s what you want…” Virgil trailed off. 

Roman put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s gonna be alright, Virgil. I’ll be careful in any way I can.”

“You’ve never been careful before, and you know it. You’re always reckless…”

“I’m sure Logan will prepare for every possible solution.” Patton smiled at them.

Previous - Next

[fruitanddarkness]

She knew she liked Kanae from the start but it only grew upon learning just how humorous the slayer was. Blame her sharp and inhuman hearing that led to the witch overhearing the suffering of Douma eating human food. The loud and abrupt cackling now from a distant room belonged to Mortem herself, all too excited to hear the details of what transpired in full later from Kanae herself.

Thank goodness there was at least one person within these walls who could appreciate her presence here. Although Kanae did not know just who it was who cackled from a distance.. she could feel the familiar warmth of camaraderie stoking warmth in her heart.

⋆┈┈｡ﾟ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ❁ུ۪ ❃ུ۪ ❀ུ۪ ﾟ｡┈┈⋆

"I suppose I didn't earn the title of Hashira for nothing~"

Even Kanae couldn't believe she was able to spoon-feed a demon something they considered utterly revolting, oh well, one little victory in the bag when a war was waged should be celebrated, right?

[bee-whistler]

Strange… sometimes when my daughter is in call with friends, I’ll hear her loud, witch-like cackle in the distance. But I could swear I just heard her go into the shower… and then I still heard the cackle in the distance…

[eabwriting2023]

First chapter of my current working novel - Bluebottles feast on rotting death

1. EBONY

Ebony felt the poison dripping inside of her. Many hands wrapped around her wind pipe making it harder for her to breathe. The touch of flesh pressed up against her created a whirlwind in her mind. The chloroform was hypnotic and cruel but Ebony did not flinch. She couldn’t and wouldn’t.Every single muscle focused on the face her wheelchair was pushed to the side at angle.

One last deep breath in, she was gone.

“She is at one with god now.” A distance voice drummed inside her skull.

“I prefer to send a prayer to Satan.” Seemed to be words she uttered before death.

Could you call what she now was a ghost? A spirit? A phantom? Whatever it was, it really wasn’t that exciting.

Bright, fluorescent lights swinging from above. Her large ice cold blue eyeballs squinted, her mind racing at a thousand miles per hour. The sights and sounds around Ebony filled her brain with dread.

Mindless voices chattering incessantly drumming into her soul made her want to spew.

Ebony scanned the room by staying appositely rigid wrapped in her itchy sheets like a mummy, only her pupils were racing left to right.

Pansy Grindstone. Her high pitched screams piercing Ebony’s ear drums like nails on a chalk board. She rolled her eyes.

That’s it, my peace is ruined.”

She couldn’t put off her impending doom any longer.

Ebony lifted her head from bristly pillow filled with hay where her long, flowing sleek black hair swooshed from side to side when she twisted her body out of the bed sheets, sitting herself down on her wheelchair that sat at the side of her while she slept glaring at Pansy who stood voicing her loud opinions five beds away from her own.

Rows and rows of metal beds going on for eternity. The mattresses weren’t comfortable and the the wire frame stuck into her back like being stabbed repeatedly.

It was bad enough that luxuries were striped away from her both in life and death but having no peace and quiet away from the constant static that filled her inner void had quiet literally killed her soul off.

“Move.” Ebony murmured in a monotone voice.

Women were crowding around the entrance to the bathrooms. A grimy, dismal place where dreams came to die. The grey pipes and off white tiles with pipes that forever flooded was a reminder that even in a place as private as a bathroom you were still stuck in the underworld.

The chattering females ignored her request. Their high pitched voices felt like thousands of nails being dragged on blackboards. Close up Images of silva when they spoke etched into her brain like a nightmare.

Ebony did what she must. There was never any room for negotiations. Like the wind pushing itself forward into a closed window, she shoved through the wall of cackling witches running over a few toes with her large metal wheels.

“Um… excuse me?” One of them snapped. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“You were in my way.”

The one woman, hard faced with a wrinkled forehead, her brown hair tangled reached out to grab her until the friends pulled her back whispering.

“It’s not worth it, not with that freak anyway.”

The feeling of the water against her naked skin filled her head with endorphins. This was the closest Ebony could be away from the sights and smells outside the shower curtain.

Water droplets falling from the pipes and splashing right onto her face, her thick black hair soaked. It may not have been hot which was ironic seeing as this was the underworld, but either way to relished this moment everyday.

“What you doin?” The flimsy cotton curtain was yanked back.

“Charity!” Ebony, naked and in full view of the other women snatched the curtain back.

Charity took the cotton curtain by force practically ripping it from its metal hook.

“I’m not looking! Promise!��� She smirked, her hands over her face like a child, her hazel eyes peering from her fingers.

Other woman started crowding around the open shower pointing and laughing. This was Ebony’s worst nightmare. Her only moment of peace disturbed.

Grabbing a crusty old towel and the nightdress lying on the drenched shower tiles covered in green mould and human hair follicles, Ebony haphazardly placed the towel and her white nightdress covering her breasts and front bum, wheeling out the cubicle she could feel her blood at boiling point, her face red like a tomato.

Crashing into Charity accidentally, all she was focused on was her end goal locked in her sights. Her bed, where she was relatively safe her routine undisturbed.

Ebony could feel the heat and sweat radiating off her, eyes could only see directly in front of her.

She breathed a sigh of relief, touching the scratchy bed sheets, her white shirt and shorts lying in front of her, the uniform every criminal spirit was assigned.

“I told you I wouldn’t …or did I?” Charity was now making herself at home on Ebony’s sheets lounging like a lady in a manor.

Ebony, now dressed for the day panicked slightly than she did, Charity Valentine was one of the most annoying and utterly obvious people she had met during her life and death. The worst thing was, due to her child like innocence she was one of the good ones much to the dislike of Ebony.

Ebony stood above the woman trying to shift her off her bed, a headache already creeping up. She tried to switch her brain off tuning out Charity’s constant chatter.

Charity reached over to Ebony’s bed side where she had collected plants and creatures that crossed over when she died. Her fingers stretched around a glass dome of moss and sand covered in thick, cotton webbing that covered the reflections of the glass.

“Who is this again?” Charity tapped loudly with her long crusty nails that had turned yellow from years of neglect.

“Something disturbing that’s what.” The drawling voice of Pansy echoed inside Ebony’s mind like a drum banging on her chest.

“Actually…” Ebony who was facing her back to them both turned around slowly, her eyes darted locking her target reaching for something tucked into Pansy’s hands screwed up tightly. “Black widows are incredible creatures, especially the females, they hear vibrations from their prey getting stuck into their trap and-“

Ebony grabbed an old battered book pulling it away from her grasp and tucking it underneath old metal draws that wobbled when touched which held a rusty lamp upon it.

Pansy stared carefully where Ebony was placing the battered book while Ebony deliberately ignored her by taking the jar from Charity’s grasp, placing it upon the wobbly table and opening a musty jar of flies first hatched she had left by her side and reached her hand in retrieving one and gently placing it inside her spiders habitat.

“Ewww.. how can anyone possibly do that..”

“Easy… you’ll soon learn that everything is prey one day…” Ebony said simply her eyes fixated dropping flies into her web of prey.

With that Pansy had disappeared leaving Ebony to feed her pet.

Fascinated, Charity jumped up and stared into the jar, her eyeball magnifying.

Out from the damp moss and sand a powerful and beautiful female black widow with her obsidian body and red symbol across her back darted out into the atmosphere, tying her new victim with her silk web around like a cotton mummy.

“It’s disgusting and I don’t get it but I respect it.” Charity hummed to herself.

Ebony simply shrugged and placed her fly jar into an ancient chest with mahogany stained wood and rusty metal locks at the foot of her bed. When Pansy was completely out of view, she darted her eyes back to battered bruised book she put into the draw of the side table and placed it carefully into the chest closing the lid, it’s hinges flinging forward and shutting with a thud.

“You’re so clever.” Charity said watching her in detail.

Ebony raised an eyebrow. “Yeah.”

she placed her black widow spider on the shelf above her bed backed full of beetles and carnivorous looking flowers dangling over her bed.

“Take care Cyanide.” She whispered, her voice so small only she was the one that could hear.

Ebony left the hall of on going beds while Cyanide lightly stepped upon her silky web vibrations hitting every strand causing the flies stuck inside to bounce like a circus trampoline.

“You’re coming for breakfast first, right?” Charity said following her like a lap dog.

Ebony shook her head, a firm no.

“Well, look I was slightly hungry.. but it doesn’t matter, I’ll find a nibble some place, after all I am used to it…” She continued to talk.

“What do you have first?” Charity came nestling in.

Ebony wheeled through the dingy hallways her head focused in front of her. Other women and men now joining the crowd of spirit inmates felt as though their bodies were closing in at one time, she could smell every individual scent on them as she squeezed past every sound of their clumpy boots they all must wear clonking on the hard concrete floor.

The entire corridor felt like an underground bunker with very little light. A few candle torches lit up the space and the windows that were available were high above even the tallest of spirit with a view onto the darkness and lava red of the underworld outside the walls of the building all inmates were stuck inside.

“Well, first I’m laundry duty… then I’m inside the mailing room, and then..”

“Library.” Ebony said. Her eyes focused in front of her.

“What?”

“The way I’m heading…”

It was as though Charity had to think a while as if her cogs were turning slower than the average person. She began laughing, unprompted by nothing in particular.

“You’re right! I’m going to wrong way! The mangles are that way!” Charity pointed in the opposite direction to where they were walking. “Catch you soon, okay!”

Ebony was left bewildered shaking her head. She let out one big sigh and pushed on not to create a backlog of congestion. How intensely she would replay this moment over and over in her brain otherwise.

[asmo-ds]

What if MC stole a shopping cart and all the brothers decided to race in it down a hill behind old man Lucifer's back as a oneshot 🤷🏼‍♀️

Shopping Cart Speedway

PLEASE READ

Warnings: none

Description: When Lucifer is out on business for a day Mammon comes home with a shopping cart he found down the street, chaos ensues as all the brothers find how who the fastest rider is.

His heavy footsteps echoed through the entrance hall as he yelled his goodbyes and repeated his expectations for how everyone should behave while he is gone.

“Yea yea, don’t worry Lucifer, I’ll keep the little ones in line!” Mammon boasts, earning a smack over the head from Leviathan.

“’Little Ones’ please keep him in line,” Lucifer rolls his eyes, giving one last wave before stepping through the heavy front door, slamming it shut behind him. 

After a few minutes of silence, everyone goes their respective ways, ready to just do their own thing while the boss is away.

“Oi, MC! Wanna go to the pawn shop with me? I got some new stuff to sell!” Mammon turned to MC, who was looking down at their D.D.D.

“Yea sure why not?” They shrugged, putting the device in their pocket and following Mammon out the door.

Mammon rambled on about some of the witches and recent tasks they had given him. He told MC about how much he hated the witches and MC tuned him out, simply nodding along tiredly.

Suddenly it grew quiet and MC looked up at Mammon. He stared off into the distance before glancing down at them with a mischievous look.

“Oi, human, look o’er there,” He points in front of them. A few yards away a rusty old shopping cart sat, looking as though it hadn’t been touched in decades. Mammon wandered over to it and brushed some dirt and overgrown weeds off of it. He pulled it out onto the sidewalk, creaking with every turn of the wheel and he smiled at MC.

“Want a lift?” He asks with a goofy grin and MC can’t help but snort at his childish excitement.

“Alright driver,” MC lifts their arms up to ask Mammon for assistance with climbing into their ride, “take me to the thrift shop!” 

Mammon helps them crawl into the cart and they curl their knees up to their chest and tightly grip the sides of the cart. “Okay! Here we go!” Mammon shouts and begins to run down the hill, MC squealing and him cackling like a maniac

--------

Mammon struggles to push the cart up the hill with MC and all the new items they had bought inside of it.

“Oi, ya gained weight, human?” Mammon snorts and MC scoffs.

“No, but your pockets lost some weight, I mean look at all this! You spent more than ya made!”

“I bought it ta make ya happy, damn  human,” Mammon mutters and MC lets out a small chuckle.

“MAMMON DID YOU TAKE MY NEW FIGURINE?!” a familiar mop of purple hair shouts as it storms out of the house of lamentation, disheveled and clearly upset with the demon pushing your cart right now.

“H-hey I didn’t take nothing,” Mammon shouts back earning a snarl from Levi. 

“You better get it back or else i- Why is MC in a shopping cart?” Levi looks down at the human, who laughs up at him and tells him they simply found it.

“I’m trying to read a book can you all please shut up! I can hear you all from all the way up in the library,” Satan grumbles as he stomps down the front steps, Asmodeus following after him and clinging to the blonde dramatically.

“Yes! You all are too loud! I am trying to enjoy my new skin care kit, but all this yelling is just gonna cause even more wrinkles,” Asmo whines.

“Ay! Get the twins out here I have an idea!” Mammon smirks, ignoring the fact that everyone was mad at him.

As soon as the twins arrived, Mammon threw all the contents of the cart into the entrance hall to grab later (except MC, they came with him,) and he lead them all to the top of the steepest hill in their neighborhood.

“What in the Devildom are we doing here?” Belphie complains, wanting nothing more than to take a nap.

“Are you gonna let us push you down and send you into a coma?” Satan asks Mammon grumpily.

“Check this out, bet ya guys can’t do this!” Mammon taunts, jumping into the cart as it began to roll down the hill.

Everyone watched, intrigued by the dangerous stunt, as he sped up, his hollering echoing through the neighborhood.

Mammon focused on trying to steer the cart, and yanked it to the side, skidding into a sick landing.

He went into his demon form and flew the cart back up.

“Who wants to go next?” Mammon smiles triumphantly, “bet none of ya can control it as well as I can!”

“Can too! Just watch!” Levi pushes Mammon out of the way, pushing the cart and jumping in at a fast speeding. Levi shifted his weight throughout the way down to do some spins and avoid rocks that were in his  way. He jumped up and landed in such a way that the cart was able to stop right at the bottom of the hill.

As he arrived back to the top of the hill he smirked and said, “this was what years of Devil Kart taught me.”

“I want to try!” Beel squeezes into the shopping cart and asks for a push. He stays silent the whole way down, simply smiling as he remained in control of the cart. He simply threw all his body weight to knock the cart over when he was ready to stop.

“Oooo! Me next me next!” Asmodeus squealed making grabby hands like a toddler as Beel got closer.

Asmodeus hopped in and asked for a push, spreading his wings in case he needed to make an emergency escape. He squealed loudly the whole way down, the sound bouncing off of trees and back at the group. Instead of stopping the cart with himself in it, he flew up, kick the cart onto its side as he did so and landed gracefully next to it.

“Satan! Satan, You should go next,” Asmo pushed the cart into Satan, who grumbled out a few complaints before he got into the cart.

He yelled a bit on the way down, narrowly avoiding rocks on the road and trying to plan how he would stop this death trap. He ended up knocking the cart onto its side and falling out of it.

“Alright, I will admit that was fun,” Satan smiled as he wheeled the cart back up to the top of the hill. 

“MC, will you come with me for my turn?” Belphie aske softly, smiling at the human who agreed to join.

“Oi! MC can’t go! They’re fragile and I dont wanna get in trouble if they get hurt!” Mammon scolded as Belphie placed MC in the cart, crawling in behind them.

“They’re safe with me, I won’t let them get hurt, promise,” Belphie smiles as Beel begins to give the two of them a gentle push that slowly sped up until they were going full speed down the hill.

Screaming the both of them enjoyed the adrenaline rush, before a familiar raven hair male, looking down at his D.D.D came up the road. Now their screams were pure terror as they yelled at him to watch out.

He looked up a second too late and was hit by the cart, breaking it and sending MC and Belphie flying.

Realizing how fragile MC was compared to him, Belphie immediately reached out and pulled their back against his chest, hitting the ground with his own to soften their fall.

“What in the Devildom is going on here?!” Lucifer’s voice boomed, causing everyone there to begin shaking.

“L-L-Lucifer! Big Bro! I thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow at the earliest, haha” Mammon nervously laughs, before becoming quiet and lowering his head in shame.

MC crawls over to the cart, pushing it right side up and walking it to the top of the hill, Belphie and Lucifer following. Everyone turned to head back into the house for their scolding but MC turned the cart to face the hill once more, stepping back to open the path into the mechanism.

“Lucifer, you try now!”

“No, MC. I won’t do something so immature.” He shook his head turning out once more  before he heard MC behind him making chicken sounds, taunting him and teasing him as if he were afraid.

Suddenly it felt as though he were surrounded by chickens are everyone joined in in an attempt to get him to join.

“FINE! Fine. Just once ride. Then I’m done.” Lucifer growled in annoyance as he crawled into the cart, and felt MC push it towards the end of the hill.

[caparrucia]

You wrote the Sun is out the Day is New? Dude! That series is my pick me up. I read that fic when life was getting me down- which happened often enough through the plague. It not only got me into Cornyx, but inspired me to write more myself. Thank you for writing! You are amazing and need to be told so more. Peace and luck to you!

(And because I'm a fluff lover, any cute Luche/Tredd/Areana hcs? XD no pressure, you are amazing anyway)

I did! My old tumblr (the one with the matching branding, I'm notavodkashot everywhere else) got nuked and out of spite I slunk away to Twitter. But welp, back again!

I'm very happy to hear you found solace in the story and that it had value for you! That's awesome! I will forever witch cackle when people get into CorNyx because YES, GOOD, IT'S A GOOD SHIP, SHIP MY SHIIIIP, I croon, rattling my cage bars. Also, you writing more is always fantastic, more fic! More writing! That's fantastic, thank you for sharing!

There's a point, somewhere around year 4 of the ten years of darkness (spoilers, the ten years of darkness do happen in the SiO continuity), where Luche, Tredd and Aranea start having tandem conversations. That is, they don't finish their sentences, when they're talking, instead just getting as far along as needed for the idea to be conveyed, at which point they'll trail off and someone else will pick it up and keep going. They do this. Constantly. It's very often the same conversation all day long, just broken here and there by having to interact with other people, who are very tired and not very enthused about the prospect of interrupting them.

All of which is mildly funny to spectate, form a distance, but nothing quite compares to the horror of three very loud, very angry idiots tag-teaming a dressing down because you did something dumb.

The Crownsguard turned Kingsglaive very much does not do the same dumb thing twice, y'know?

[wistfulrat]

a 4-part rec list of my fave drarry fics - the thrillers, dramas, soft bois, and wankbanks getting me through 2020′s shitstorm

[the soft boi list is here and truly i’m not surprised this rec is going to be the longest bc if there’s one thing a bitch is going to do, it’s yearn.

as always! if you love a fic, follow the authors, leave kudos & comments, send them nice msgs bc free art is still labor xoxo]

part 3: soft bois

mood: for when I need respite, a balm to the all-consuming shittiness of life

includes: fluff, comfort, low-stakes, slow-burn fics. a wistful look, a rainy morning, an unexpected grace, a stupidly disarming joke. i could live inside these fics. the smallness of human lives removed from the site of that which hurts & irreparably changes. the story-equivalent of a deep breath after a long day. pregnant silences & pensive mundanity & shy smiles. banter with bite but without the cruelty. the color lavender. weirdly whimsical. soft fics are not necessarily conflict-averse (no drarry fic rly can be, considering the context) but, they offer the reader a generous distance from the initial harm. they’re the quiet cleaning up after a storm. sometimes healing is an exacting surgical knife and other times it’s a slow scabbing. you read these fics to be reassured that the way forward is not always ruthless. and honestly?? they deserve a semblance of peace godDAMmit.

The Way Down by @letteredlettered - 65k - T “and I thought that if someone talked to you as though you were a human being you might—maybe you could act like one” --the way i think about this line daily. the characterization of draco in this fic is one my favorites bc he’s earnest and neurotic and tired of harry’s shit. which is to say, he cares so so much. and harry doesn’t know what to do with that bc he’s got a monster in his chest and lives as a recluse. but they both humanize each other in ways no one else can. “you’re just a person” has to be some kind of drarry ethics of belonging and it makes me CRY. -

Little Deaths and How to Avoid Them by @greaseonmymouth and dustmouth - 96k - T “Maybe it’s not about deserving it? Maybe you just get to have it anyway. . .I’m allowing myself to want something and to let myself have it and to fight for it.” --harry runs a daycare and also works at a library. draco spends a lot of time in said library. they bond over sci-fi books and therapy anecdotes and quiet philosophical conversations held over cafeteria soup. and harry’s struggling to understand his asexuality. draco’s learning how to live with anxiety and depression. they both want to be deserving of love. incredible fic with beautiful art by dustmouth. - 

Open for Repairs by @drarrytrash - 35k - T “A few leaves rustle in the gutter and the muggle world pays no mind to them, to two lost boys holding on for dear life.” --all of their fics feel exactly like this. like you’ve been allowed to look at something private, tender, unexpected. draco, known abba fan, is a repairman in the muggle world & harry can’t stop breaking thrifted things in order to see him? say less, i'm thERE. also “I think I have a crush on you” goddddd  - other faves by them: Counting Down By Ten - 2k - T: draco’s stepped outside of the party for a smoke. harry follows him bc of course he does. i could read this 100 times and not get tired of it. - Clouds That Veil the Midnight Moon - 36k - E: FUCKING HILARIOUS I CACKLED THROUGH THE WHOLE THING. draco’s wolfy problem and harry helping him and harry being flustered by how much he likes draco and draco’s hot heroic moment. shutup it’s perfect. “He almost asks if Draco ever gets tired of being a miserable complaining shit all the time, but he knows that he, personally, never ever gets tired of being a miserable complaining shit.” and “It’s the traumas,” Harry says gravely” --lines that live rent free in my head -

Harry Potter and the Future He Doesn't Really Want, Thanks by seefin - 70k - E “That was the only logical thing to do here, wasn’t it? It was the next step, it was the end of hurting each other and the beginning of the exact opposite.” --harry lives with luna and neville and also he dreams about the future sometimes? and he keeps running into draco. draco thinks this is sus as hell, until he doesn’t. feat. taxi rides, museums, cinemas, rooftop conversations beneath a lunar eclipse, mid-sex innocuous banter, draco and harry discussing nicki minaj. this fic charmed my ass off. seefin writes the most effortlessly hilarious dialogues. i smiled at my phone like an idiot at least 7 times. -  other faves by them: Wild - 93k - E: “he liked feeling needed, for the things that he was needed for back at the house in Ireland. For cooking and gardening and driving. Easy things.” --this shit makes me cry it’s so good. harry lives in Ireland with these three brilliant, hilarious, wandless witches and draco’s a potions student who's come to study under one of the housemates and the boys have so much shit to work through but their love becomes so tender and honest. draco yells at harry a lot and harry lets him and they both keep each other grounded in something real and fuCK.  - Divination for Dickheads - 7k - G: “I’m terrible at having crushes. I’ve never played anything cool a day in my life.” -- oh harry, we knOW. a bus ride, a fortune teller, an aquarium birthday party. god i love this fic. -

Modern Love by @tackytigerfic​ - 61k - E “But we’ve worked so hard at this, haven’t we? Yeah, I know it’s a horror to have to talk about it, but fuck it. We’re friends now, but it took so long to get here. Have you ever had to work so hard at something before?" --the steady blossoming of their friendship in this fic is so goddamn beautiful i want to yell. it’s draco and harry learning to trust each other and the whole thing unfolds so slowly, in this whimsical mix of london streets, wizarding politics, church halls feat. a Hot vicar, and a magical antique shop owner who’s married to literal poseidon?? goD the environment of this fic. immaculate. [also there’s a tender shower scene that makes me cry every single fucking time so if you read this fic pls dm me so we can be embarrassing about it together tbh] -

Nice Things by aideomai - 22k - M “He kept waiting for the weird shock of touch to not knock him clean out of his head, leave him quiet and warm and happy.” --8th year. harry forms an unlikely friendship with draco that begins with smoking weed on a windowsill. harry is touch-starved and draco touches him like he touches all his close friends - like it’s easy. the quiet affection in this fic, the way harry burrows himself into touch bc he’s been without it for his entire life. reading this is like being held. -

Running On Air by @tinyhistory​ - 74k - T “do you remember when we were eleven?” --alexa play coldplay’s the scientist it’s sad girl hours and we’re about to fucking yearn. you’ve seen this fic rec on every drarry list under the sun and i'm here to be redundant. the hype is so goddamn real. this story is a lyrical masterpiece held together by lines that act as refrains that will rattle around your brain until you die, probably. draco’s been missing for 3yrs. harry goes to find him. it’s their odyssey of homecoming. -

Title of Their Sex Tape by @cibeewastaken - 12k - T “But Draco, Draco was everything but boring. Draco made sitting in the rain watching an empty house fun.” --auror partners pining and draco being eccentric and harry being very earnestly gay about draco’s eccentricities!! god this fic is so genuinely fun skskd feat. undercover missions, murderous faeries, a book heist, a stunning navy dress, harry’s eyelashes. -

How We Throw Our Shadows Down by @thistle-verse - 14k - T “Draco is about to say something else— to thank Potter for what he’d done, however poorly— but Harry is smiling at him again, and it’s so soft and perfect that Draco holds in any inadequate words, lest he spoil it.” --draco collects tea cozies and of course harry has the one he wants. the sad and tender gays are at it again feat. conversations in the rain at a train station, melancholy Blaise, muggle photos, wizarding e-bay, the Dursleys.  -

Helix by Saras_Girl - 92k - E “Draco sighs in his sleep and Harry clings on to consciousness, needing to hold on, to give this tiny, insignificant moment the attention it deserves” --I think maybe you can describe every soft Saras_Girl story as giving tiny, insignificant moments the attention they deserve. like, this is an 8th year fic about snails and it’s full of whimsy, grief, compassion, and easy humor. an absolute must-read author in this genre if you want languorous, episodic fics full of distinct OCs and affectionate creatures. - other faves by them: Light up the Night Sky - 98k - M “Draco, sometimes you make my head feel like soup” --the one where harry is a fireworks artist and has a pet chameleon named ken. draco is on the wizarding arts council. they both pine like hell. - Headlights in the Snow - 71k - M “they stare at each other in silence, Harry’s heart beating so loud in his chest that he thinks the biddies must be able to hear it over the sound of their card game.” --the one where draco drives the knight bus and carts around the biddy club, a group of rambunctious old ladies who knit and drink tea and gossip. harry can’t help but fall in love with the everything about this. -

Follow the Water by @xanthippe74 - 38k - T “Harry’s heavy thoughts lift at the sight, like dark clouds blown away from the sun by the wind. The tent doesn’t feel so cramped and stifling now. It feels cozy. And safe. It’s the same feeling that Harry gets when he’s at the Burrow for Sunday roasts, when a group of people who care for each other deeply are crammed into too-small a space.” --harry wanders to the lovegood house on a sunday afternoon. he’s baffled to see that luna’s taken pansy, greg, and draco under her wing. what follows is a summer of forest walks, scavenger hunts, gardening, water fights, odd cakes, faerie rings, and picnics. so many picnics. i love the pace of this fic, the innocent return to childhood things, the way luna brings out the best in all her friends. reluctantly soft slytherins are just *chefs kiss*!! -

Going Postal (A 125pg comic) by dustmouth - T what. a. beautiful. ass. comic. the wizarding fashion, the textures, the character design!! harry travels a lot for his job as a resourcer. draco works in the regulations dept. they pine like a bunch of lovesick idiots via field report notes. god i love dustmouth’s art. -

All the Earnest Young Men by @tepre​ - 29k - E “Draco is twenty-seven layers of personality wrapped up in drama and humour, and a wit so sharp it still stings when he doesn’t see it coming. But there is something below that, too. Something that makes Harry ache just looking at him.” --the way i would lay down my little life for tepre’s characterization of draco, whom invented the word earnest. he’s a magical art theory expert and portraits are disappearing all over London and harry’s the auror assigned to this case. and well. they’re both so very avoidant about how gay they are for each other and it’s like!! shutup and kiss!! which they do in fact, shutup and kiss.  -

Trenches by sara_holmes - 3k - M “Somewhere in the distant part of his mind that hasn't frozen solid, he thinks that maybe he and Draco are about to become more than auror partners, smoking buddies, wine-mates and co-inhabitants of a snow filled trench somewhere in western Scotland.” --the plot line here is literally “it’s cold and i need a fucking cigarette” but let me tell you how I never tire of the shared loaded-silences of two emotionally repressed gays. -

The Years Before Love by lomonaaeren - 13k - M “That’s one of the meanings of peace, he thinks, as Hermione hugs him...That he can do things slowly, softly, without worrying that they won’t be there tomorrow.” --andromeda taking harry under her wing and harry finding solace in teddy. narcissa and draco showing up and the tentative relationships that slowly develop in the quiet calm of andromeda’s house. found families and kisses in the snow and special xmas gifts ugh what’s not to love -

The Moon Looks Lovely Tonight by Omi_Ohmy - 35k - M “I want this to be a house where people are welcome, where they don’t have to be any one way or another” --in which harry collects lost things--owls, best friends, inept bakers, potions experimenters--and turns the mausoleum that is grimmauld place into a home. feat. your fave drarry tropes like shared-beds and reluctant waltzing partners. -

[part 1: thrillers | part 2: dramas | part 3: soft bois | part 4: wankbanks]

[starsfic]

Focus on the Math

A short Halsteve Ko-Fi drabble I did for @strange1around as backgound for my new fic The Ice Cream Boy and the Hawk.

AO3

Maybe Hal should’ve stayed to try and help figure out what was up with the relationship of his teammates. Jess would certainly think so. But also Steve is confusedly smiling at him like a Golden Retriever and Hal does not have enough time in the day.

“So, Steve,” He leaned forward on the bench they sit on now. Shame there’s no snacks, like there were back at Sweet Justice. He pointed at…something on the page. “Mind explaining that part to me again?”

Steve smiles at him before turning his gaze back to the math he’s supposed to be tutoring him on. “No problem, Hal. Now-” There was a loud BOOM and what sounded like a witch’s cackle in the distance. The blonde looked up with a frown. “Uh…should we go help whatever-”

Jess could chew him out later for not being a supportive teammate or whatever. Hal grinned and wrapped an arm around Steve’s shoulders, smiling as that pretty smile reappeared. “Just focus on the math, buddy.”

He didn’t have enough time in the day.

[amerrierworld]

in dreams (pt 1)

The Hobbit fanfiction

note: just for fun, this tid-bit takes on the classic ‘reader falls into middle-earth’ trope during the hobbit. you’re in rivendell, with the Company, and then the most beautiful elf in the whole fucking world appears. wohoo!

Summary: You meet the Lady of Lothlorien for what you think is the first time, but she’s already very acquainted with who you are.

Characters: Galadriel x fem!reader, the Company, Gandalf

Word Count: 1,123

You dangled your feet into the cool water of the fountain as a rugged group of dwarves around you stripped with no care in the world. A few kept some clothing on, but others, like the younger, brassier ones, didn’t really worry about anyone, especially you, seeing them in their birthday suits. 

You’d been their traveling companion since the beginning of this quest, and you quickly grew fond of them, despite their loud and medieval behaviour at times.

“Lass, quit yer staring!” Dwalin shouted at you. You snorted with amusement, because you hadn’t been staring anywhere inappropriate, but rather watching the low sun in the distance.

“Aye, what’s on our ol’ lass’ mind, then?” Gloin asked. “The Elven wine get to yer head?”

“By Durin, if you could even call that shite wine,” Dwalin responded. “Give me ale over fruity elf drinks any day!”

You chuckled, “they’re really not that bad, I really don’t see why you all have such a problem with Elves.”

“Oh, that tale goes back centuries, dear,” Balin said, squeezing droplets of water from his snow white beard. He was doing the same as you, rolling up his trousers to stick his feet in the water while lounging on the stone edge. “Now’s not the time, unless you want a few heads to start rollin’ around on the floors here.”

You continued, “I mean, sure, Elrond can be a bit prickly with you lot, but that’s because you’re all feasting on his food and drink like pigs.”

“He’s not as bad as the other one,” Fili shouted. 

“That one’s just a prick and nothin’ else,” Kili cackled in response, clapping his brother on the back and proceeding to wrestle him under the water. You were sprayed with a haze of water as they thrashed about.

“Who?”

“Thranduil,” Balin sighed, nodding to Thorin. The Dwarf King-in-exile snarled in response to the name, crossing his arms over his chest from where he was leaning against the edge of the fountain.

“Oh, well, yes, he’s a real asshole, obviously,” you said, earning a few chuckles. “So, Elrond’s a bit uptight, Thranduil can go die in a hole, but, what about Lothlorien? The other Elven realm,” you picked at your thumbnail, “what do you know of that leader?”

“Strange, I’ve heard,” Gloin piped up. “A real elf witch if ye ask me. Ye do so much as make eye contact with her, and yer under her spell for the rest of time!”

“You don’t say. I’d like to see that happen,” you grinned.

A glimpse of white light caught your eye. In the distance, crossing one of Rivendell’s bridges was a tall blonde being dressed in impeccable white. You could barely catch a glimpse of her face, but instantly you knew who she was.

Blushing, you wondered if she had heard everything that the Company was speaking of. 

“Anyways, why are you so interested in the Elf leaders? Getting tired of us Dwarves? We’ve got plenty of kingdoms to talk about, you know,” Kili threw his hands in the air and splashed you, as if you’d betrayed them in the most devastating way.

“Don’t be absurd!”

“I don’t believe her, boys. Come on!”

Fili and Kili lunged forward and before you knew it, your arms were being tugged and you fell face first in the water with a startled shriek. When you came up, soaked, your first instinct was to whip around and see if she was still standing on that bridge. 

She was. You turned beet red, because now she was staring at your strange party, frolicking in the water after you no doubt attracted attention due to your undignified scream.

“I’m gonna kill you,” you growled at the two brothers, eyes twinkling. You splashed more water at them, and they spluttered indignantly before moving to chase you again. 

-

Standing on the bridge, Galadriel stared at your strange party for a little while, before moving out of sight slowly, like wading through molasses. Her mind was racing. Your appearance in Rivendell had, quite honestly, startled the Lady of Light. She hadn’t expected you to be real. 

Your face and voice had only appeared in deep sleeps of hers, haunting her steps with your laugh, and yet you were never close enough for her to truly see or encounter you. 

Celeborn had been concerned for his wife, when she’d wake, restless, pondering. She’d barely spoken of you to him, but it didn’t take a genius, especially being her husband, to figure out what she was dreaming of.

“It is not uncommon to bond with more than one in a lifetime, my love,” Celebron had muttered during one dark and late night.

“Celeborn, this is not a bond like that of those married,” she’d retorted haughtily. “Whoever this is, isn’t real. She cannot be. I do not even know her.”

It went on for months, years. The sight of you here had frightened her to the point where she avoided greeting the Company altogether, no matter the importance of their quest, because how could you be here? Real, breathing and seemingly thriving. She had believed you didn’t even exist. 

And now here you were. A human from some faraway place, dazed by the sheer beauty of Rivendell’s magic, surrounded by burly and loud companions.

Galadriel wrung her hands. She made her way to stand on one of the balconies overlooking Rivendell’s forestry. Trying to tune out the shrieks and laughter of you and the Dwarves in the distance and keeping her own stoic, noble appearance.

“Something on your mind, my lady?” Gandalf had approached her and stood next to her on the ledge as the sun slowly set behind the trees. He leaned against his staff as a cool breeze wafted over them, ruffling his beard and her golden locks.

“Your human companion, Mithrandir,” Galadriel began quietly. “Who is she?”

“Oh, Y/N? Why, she’s quite a lovely companion, actually. I’m still not entirely sure how she came about our quest, and this place, but here we are. I do believe she was meant to be on this journey with us, but for what reason I do not know.”

The Lady remained silent. She felt young, and small, and unsure, as if she weren’t thousands of years old. You had unearthed an old and surprising feeling that not even her husband, her best friend of many centuries, had brought up in years. 

Butterflies. 

She cleared her throat, heat rising in her cheeks, yet she remained vigilant.

“My lady?”

“Will you bring her to me? I would like to get acquainted with her myself. Her circumstances seem odd and I wish to discuss them, learn more of her,” she drawled, eyes kept on the horizon. 

“Of course, Lady Galadriel.”

“No others, please, my friend. I do not wish to be judged by some lowly Dwarves who think I am a witch. And do not tell her it is me she is seeing. I do  not want to frighten her.”

“It takes a lot to frighten her, my lady, trust me,” Gandalf chuckled. “But I will do as you say. Hopefully you can make more sense of the girl than I can. I may be wise, but I am old and confused with the things she tells me.”

Galadriel’s face pulled into a smile and she breathed a little deeper. 

“Thank you, Mithrandir.”

-

A/N: hi, yes, welcome to me: procrastinator extraordinaire. I will post my scheduled fics soon! This was just to get myself back into the game because real life is hell, wouldn't you say? Bear with me, friends. Also, vote, if you’re American :3 I’m not, but I still think it’s important. Stay tuned for pt 2, lovelies <3

[zeldas-cigarrette]

Blue velvet. (1)

⎯ zelda spellman x reader

⎯ word count : 1,2k

⎯ warnings: grieve

⎯ ❥ author’s note : I tried something. I’m not sure how this is gonna turn out but I’m planning more parts and I hope some of you like it:) xx

Part two

❀ ❃ ❀ ❃ ❀ ❃ ❀ ❃ ❀ ❃ ❀ ❃ ❀ ❃

✿ ✼ ✿ ✼ ✿ ✼ ✿ ✼ ✿ ✼ ✿ ✼ ✿ ✼

You have been friends with Zelda for as long as you can remember, you loved her a lot but you never knew how to communicate it and when Hilda called you the other day and told you what happened to Sabrina, you hurried to their mortuary as quick as possible. The journey from Europe to Greendale took you only two days, but it felt like years. You wanted to comfort Zelda as soon as possible. You knew how much she loved Sabrina and how devastated and empty she must feel.

When you reached the Spellman property your heartfelt heavy as if it would slip into your pocket any second. You took a deep breath before you knocked on the front door. Hearing the birds chirp and seeing how bright the sun shone felt cynical despite the fact in how much pain the household of the Spellman’s must be. Seconds later the front door opened and Hilda, the usually quirky and happy Brit, stood in the door frame. „Hilda...,” your breath hitched when you looked in her eyes. They were filled with sadness and hopelessness, you never saw her in that state and with that, you couldn’t imagine in which state Zelda must be. You wrapped your arms around the smaller blonde woman and tried to soothe her with your words, but it only made her tear up. She pulled you into the house and before you could react she took you jacket and put it on the hook.

„How are you Hilda?” you ask keeping your voice down. You could imagine her response, you could understand. „I- I mean it’s been two weeks since-“ her soft voice stopped while she tried to suppress tears slipping out of her eyes. „I get it, she was your niece and you have every right to grieve. Sabrina was such a smart and good-hearted girl, I miss her too,” you whispered and took her hand in yours. The blonde nodded and you followed her in the kitchen. It was neatly cleaned, it looked as nothing happened, while the family’s life was so cruelly destroyed everything seemed to go its normal way. „Zelda is upstairs in her room, she barely leaves it,” Hilda explained while filling the kettle with water.

„I’ll go upstairs and see how she’s doing,” you declared and turned towards the door. „Be careful, she hardly wants anyone in her room except Mambo and me sometimes,” she proclaimed. You wondered who Mambo was but you didn’t want to ask, fearing it was the wrong moment. You noted in the information before heading up to the red-headed witch’s room. You took a deep breath before knocking on her bedroom door, you wanted to be sensitive but you were afraid of failing.

There was no answer for your knock so you decided to just go inside, trying to survive. You knew exactly how furious Zelda can get, but you hoped when she sees you she’ll relax. Stepping through the wooden door frame you came to see a curled up Zelda hiding underneath a blanket. „Zelds...” your voice was soft scared she’d twitch away. Just a slight whimper let you know she was awake. Slowly and very carefully you walked over to her bed, sat next to her and placed your hand on her back. Only the unsteady breathing of hers could be heard. You’ve never seen her like this since the death of her parents, Zelda had built back her walls, earned back her tough facade.

Her face was covered with her red locks they were spread on the pillow. „Y/n, what are you doing here?” the witch slightly raised her head and eyes you. „I came to see how you were doing.” Your hands comfortingly travelled up and down her back, trying to soothe her. The older women hugged your waist burying her face in your lap. „I am so sorry Zelda, I know how hard it is for you, you loved her so much,” your fingers untangled her hair. There was no word spoken, neither did she move, the woman fell asleep on your lap. Her soft snores confirming that she had a peaceful rest. Not even the loud thuds that came from downstairs could wake her. You didn’t need Zelda to talk, she will if she’s ready.

˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ

You carefully placed Zelda’s head on her pillow again before you headed towards the kitchen, where Hilda and her nephew Ambrose sat. „She’s asleep,” you sighed and plopped yourself on one of the chairs. „How did you do tha-“

„I don’t know Hilda, she fell asleep on me,” you cut her off before placing a hand above hers. „She’s restless and she’s grieving. But it won’t work if there’s nobody to talk to, I will try to be there for her,” you reassured her.

You knew exactly how hard it could be to grieve over the loss of someone you love. Two centuries ago your dad died, it took you decades to get over it but it felt like a thousand years. He was that happy-go-lucky guy that everyone just loved, his appearance made clear that he was a softie. Your dad always sat in front of his house, reading the comic section in the newspaper, cackling over the sketched scenes.

Quickly, you shook off the unwanted memory staring in the empty mug in front of you, only seeing little rest of the tea in it. Only a slight crescent of the sun was visible on the clouded sky. A loud thud on the door made you jump. „That Must be Mambo,” the blonde witch remarked and scurried into the hallway. „Who is Mambo?” your question was addressed to Ambrose. „Aunt Zee wouldn’t tell us, but they’re kind of a thing,” the boy replied and scratched his back with his magic wand. An unpleasant sting in your chest made you flinch for a second but you managed to gather your emotions again. „Are you currently at least okay?” you asked him when you saw his pained expression on his face.

„Well, it’s alright I guess. Deep down I’m still hoping that this here is all long and cruel nightmare from which I might wake up any second,” The warlock explained. You nodded knowingly of how hard it must be to grieve over your Cousin, the one with whom you’ve spent years of your life living together. Though the girl caused trouble, he had to solve it and in the end, both of them were able to peacefully sleep in their beds again.

When the beautiful woman who was known as ,Mambo Marie’ entered the kitchen you couldn’t avert your gaze. It was like a star just lit the room. No wonder why Zelda loves her so much. „Hi, I’m Y/n” you reached out your hand.

The woman with the perfect brown skin gladly took it before she introduced herself. „My name is Mambo Marie.” Marie’s voice was like a rain shower on a summer day. The presence of the witch released the tensed atmosphere and for a moment it felt as everything has got back to normal.

˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊˚ˑ༄ؘ

Sounds of frogs were audible when you laid in your bed at the mortuary. All of your thoughts belonged to Zelda and you knew why you two only had contact over the phone. You loved her too much, you got jealous whenever she told you about a new significant other and when you saw that stunning witch earlier it only endorsed your distance.

Slowly but surely your eyelids got heavier and you fell into a sound sleep.

[baticorngirl]

Title: In Mother’s Arms

Fandom: Batman

Characters: Damian Wayne, Talia Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Ra’s Al Ghul (Hallucinated), Tim Drake,

Relationships: Talia al Ghul & Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth & Damian Wayne, Batfamily Members & Damian Wayne, (Minor) Talia al Ghul/ Bruce Wayne, Titus & Damian Wayne, Damian Wayne & Original Dog Character

Summary: Damian Wayne had went through so much effort to finally go on patrol by himself. But once he achieves this, it almost immediately backfires. With Scarecrow standing in front of him in victory, and all his fears coming to life, how will he get out of this mess? Who could manage to save the scared little boy now?

A/N: So... a while back, I was looking for Damian Wayne Fear Toxin fics, but unfortunately, none of them had any Good Parent Talia. So yeah, this is my self-indulgent fic to make up for it. And fittingly enough, it's also Mother's Day!

Fair Warning that there's panic attacks and hallucinations in this fic, so if you're sensitive to that stuff, please don't read it.

Also, I'd like to thank @mac-attack5 for helping me flesh out the details of the plot.

Click HERE to read it on Ao3

Click HERE to read it on FF.Net

___________________________________________________

Damian felt a drop of sweat roll down his face. He tugged his cloak around himself, the night suddenly feeling so much colder. The boy's breath was stuttery and shaky. His heartbeat loudly thumped in his ears. Dropping on to his knees, the poor child watched as his vision became blurry with tears.

He wasn't sure why he felt the undying need to never listen to his family when they told him these things were too dangerous. All he knew was that he certainly wouldn't be out here, fearful and cold, if it weren't for it.

Just earlier that day, he had been so very happy. Rain had been pouring outside, and clouds had swarmed the sky, but the gloom had not ruined Damian's mood. In his arms, lay a soft, playful, little puppy with golden fur named Warrior. Damian had adopted the puppy fairly recently, and he had already fallen in love with him. Everyday since his adoption, Damian always found something new about the puppy that was just absolutely amazing in his eyes. That specific day, it had been his speed.

"I timed him, Grayson. He could run 25 miles per hour!" Damian had informed his elder brother, with a proud smile on his face. Dick reached down and ruffled his hair, smiling back. Nighwing turned his attention towards the puppy that sat next to Damian.

"Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" He sat down near the puppy and petted it. The dog woofed and jumped closer to Dick. Damian joined the two of them on the ground, getting out treats for the puppy.

"He is!" Damian tossed the treats next to the puppy. "And no matter what happens, he always will be." He wrapped his arm around the dog, pouting stubbornly to prove that nothing would take him away from his new pet.

Even that pout, though, had been a happy, loving, one. And in addition, his joy seemed to only continue. Damian had felt incredibly confident that afternoon. He carried himself with his head up even higher than usually, and he had a stern, strong look on his face. So just like any other time the boy felt incredibly confident, he would argue with his father over everything.

"I am undoubtedly strong enough to go on my own." Damian insisted, looking up at Bruce adamantly. His arms were tightly crossed over his chest. "You are just being paranoid, Father."

"You're ten years old. If you want, you can partner up with Dick, but you're too young to be without a partner." Bruce responded, his mouth resting in an apathetic frown. He glared down at the boy to make it clear that debating wasn't going to change his mind. "Come on, Damian. Are you coming, or not?"

Damian picked up his mask and adjusted it on his face, "I'm ready, but I refuse to go if you're going to treat me like an infant." He pivoted around to face a wall. Bruce sighed, putting a hand on Damian's shoulder.

"Fine, Damian, fine… Stay home, then." He began to turn around, walking over to the batmobile. He jumped, springing himself into the driver's seat. Turning back towards Damian for one more moment, Bruce sighed again. "Just... be good for Alfred while your siblings and I are gone."

Whoosh! The batmobile and the other batkid's motorcycles began to speed off, leaving Damian and Alfred alone together. They turned to look at each other for a moment, but looked away again just as quickly.

"Very well then, Master Damian. I'll go upstairs, and you may join me if you please." Alfred spun around and began to march into the elevator. Damian watched silently, not daring to move until Alfred was completely gone.

The minute Alfred had fully exited, he raced towards the exit. He jumped on to his motorcycle, and immediately turned it on. It sputtered out a loud, attention-grabbing vroom, but fortunately, Damian was able to turn up the speed before Alfred came back down.

Whoosh! Alfred came down just quick enough to see a blur zooming out. "Master Damian…?" He called, a worried tone in his voice. He ran over to the batcomputer, quickly turning on the communicator. "Master Bruce, it seems Master Damian has… left."

"Left?" Bruce repeated. The communicator went silent as he processed this information. For the third time that night, he sighed. As thoughts spun in his head, Bruce quickly made a realization. "Damian, do you have your communicator with you?"

Meanwhile, Damian had just jumped off his bike. His boots aimlessly kicked the pebbles in front of him. Suddenly, though, Damian felt a buzz near his waist. His eyes widened abruptly. Sound… or more, his father's voice... was crackling out of it. Panic ran through his head, but he picked up the communicator anyway.

"Damian? Hello? If you respond, I might allow you to continue." Bruce persisted with fishing for Damian's response. Tempted by the thought of being permitted to continue, Damian slowly pressed to unmute himself.

He pulled the communicator up to his mouth. "Father…?" He muttered into it. On a rooftop somewhere else in the city, Bruce snapped back to attention. "I have responded. May I now proceed?" Damian continued.

For the fourth time that day, Bruce sighed. "Fine... but tell the rest of us if you need anything." Him and Damian both muted themselves. Damian smirked, making a small cheering gesture with his arms. Pulling out his grappling hook, he latched it on to a nearby roof. His eyes widened as he stared down at the sparkling lights of the city in awe.

But not everything could go his way. Nearby, Damian heard a soft cackle. It was soft like a whisper, yet clear and coherent. Turning around, he felt his boots clacking underneath him as he ran towards the sound, sword in hand. The maniacal laugh happened again, followed by talking, which unfortunately was too far away to be audible.

"Freeze, criminal peasants!" Damian burst into the door to the building he'd heard the suspicious sounds from, kicking it down with as much force as a 10-year-old could manage. Inside, a criminal and his henchmen were working together to rob the building. The criminal had an eerie mask over his face that looked almost like a light green sack, except with holes for his eyes and mouth. Ropes held the odd fabrics to the villain's face, crossing over his mouth as if they were teeth. On top of his head lay an old, stitch-covered hat, similar to one a witch might wear. Scarecrow, Damian thought.

He ran over to the criminal, swinging his sword nearby. But just as Damian was about to hit Scarecrow, gas swarmed the air. The boy clenched at his throat and nose, instinctively dropping his sword as he did so. The muscles in his limbs tightened, the gas seeping into his body. Damian reached for his gas mask, only to have a wave of nausea stop him before it was too late.

Damian unmuted his communicator "I may… need… just a little bit… of backup." The world flickered in front of his eyes, forcing him to drop his communicator out of confusion. In the distance, he saw the dark, shadowy, figure of a man coming towards him.

"Good luck with that..." He heard Scarecrow whisper, the last bits of reality starting to fade out. In front of him, the only thing he could seem to see (or at least focus on) was the man. As the figure came closer, Damian could see he was wearing an iconic green cape with golden trimmings. Once his face began to show itself, it became obvious who it was. His hair stuck up a bit, the top of it being black, and the side being more of a white or light grey color. Thin beard hair creeped out from the sides of his chin.

"Grandfather?" Damian mumbled. The man nodded, an aggressive frown on his face. Damian reached for his sword again. "What are you doing here? What are you planning?" Ra's seemed content with the idea of just standing there silently, but after a moment, he finally opened his mouth to answer.

"I'm not planning anything, my grandson… my traitorous grandson." Ra's responded, his voice varying in volume as he spoke. Some words were spoken eerily softly, while others boomed into Damian's ears, sounding as startling as hearing a toilet flush in an otherwise silent night. "Plans are for the future. My past, even just my immediate past, holds much more value event-wise."

"What do…. What do you mean?" The boy stuttered, slowly pulling his sword a little higher in front of himself. The sword's smooth yet pointy blade perfectly covered Ra's, hiding him from Damian's vision. But just as he felt a small ting of relief from the illusion of security it gave him, it seemed to become translucent. Damian's eyebrow rose, puzzled at why he could still see Ra's despite the sword seemingly blocking his vision.

Ra's took a step closer. The sudden movement made Damian look up from the sword in surprise. He stared up at Ra's, glaring in anger. Ra's simply smiled menacingly and began to explain. "I have hundreds of assassins, Damian… You know that. It's about time I used my abundance of them to do something productive. So with the family of detectives split into groups out for patrol, I could easily assign a few assassins to deal with each. You don't think I, The Head of the Demon, would've missed such an extraordinary opportunity, do you?"

Damian stumbled backwards fearfully. He looked down at the ground, attempting to deny what he knew Ra's was saying. "You k-" He swallowed back tears. "They're d-"

"Yes, Damian," Ra's made a small motion to Ubu, who ran back to get something. Ubu came back with other assassins, all carrying corpses… corpses of Damian's family. "See for yourself."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the still-unmuted communicator, Bruce was yelling out questions. "Damian? I thought I heard the scarecrow in the background. Is everything alright? Did he intoxicate you? Damian! I can't hear you. Can you hear me?" He kicked a crook's head to the ground before quickly looking at Damian's location. It was way across the city from him. Quickly, Bruce jumped into the batmobile and began his long drive over.

"He got gassed, didn't he?" Tim questioned over the communicators.

"That's what I'm worried about… and from what we could hear, it seems likely." Bruce confirmed, looking down only for a moment before focusing back on driving. He pressed his foot firmly on the pedals, but no matter how fast he went, he knew it would take far too long to get to Damian.

Back on the other side of Gotham, Damian stared at the dead bodies in front of him. Every single one looked pale, not a single bit of life on their faces. He wanted to be with someone, hear a loved one's voice, but every single one of his loved one's in front of him. It was obvious he would never hear their voices again.

Just to be sure, he began to count under his breath, "Father, Grayson…" Everyone in the batfamily was certainly there. But it wasn't just them. "Goliath? Warrior… Mother?" He gritted his teeth even harder. That monster had really gone out of his way to kill every single person Damian cared a smidge about.

Damian turned back towards Ra's, about to make him pay for this, but his eyes glanced back towards his family just won more time. Suddenly, his teeth felt too weak to grit. Everything he loved about every single member of his family seemed to flash through his mind, making him dizzy. They were gone.

Cold sweat rolled down Damian's forehead. His legs felt like sticks as he stumbled on to the ground. The boy attempted to breath, but he stuttered and coughed instead. His head leaned down as he curled up in his cloak, tears streaming down his face. The only noise coming out was soft, miserable, sobs.

"I've taught you better than to be this weak." Ra's stated, frowning at the ball-shaped boy that was in front of him. "Didn't you know this was going to happen? What else did you expect after such a betrayal as your own? I couldn't just allow you to get away with it. Making your life miserable was just what you deserved."

Damian covered his ears, thinking back to the impossibly translucent sword. "This is all just an illusion…" He mumbled. "Just an illusion… Just an illusion…" He attempted to console himself, but felt his breath become even more shaky every time he spoke.

Slowly, though, he got up the courage to uncurl a little. Still moving at a slow speed, he began to turn his head back towards Ra's and the corpse.

"Noooo!" At the sight of his family's dead bodies, he immediately curled back up. Ra's sighed, turning away from Damian in disappointment.

Not far away, Talia had been jumping from rooftop to rooftop, looking for Wayne Manor. After getting a break from her assassins duties, she had immediately decided she wanted to visit Gotham to see her son. Damian's screams startled her, making her immediately head in his direction.

"Damian?" She asked, a worried tone in her voice. After only a moment, she burst into the building. Inside, her eyes darted right towards Scarecrow, who was smiling wickedly at a terrified Damian. She ran over to Scarecrow, throwing him on to the ground with all her might. "STAY. AWAY. FROM. MY. SON!" She shoved her foot up against his face, squishing him on to the floor.

With his head still crammed downwards, she took out her sword and put it up to his neck. "Forget what I just said… I don't think I should even let you have the choice." She carefully moved it even closer to his neck than before, hearing muffled yelps from him in response.

"Pleeeease… don't… hurt… me." Scarecrow managed to gasp out from the awkward position. Now even closer to the neck, she began to put it through. But just as she was doing this, she turned towards Damian. He was still curled up near a corner, sobbing. Knowing Scarecrow was already too scared to harm Damian any more, she ran over to her child.

"Grand… father… I'm sorry." Damian mumbled in between sobs. "I'm.. sorry." His head was curled downwards, not daring to even look up to see whoever had come over to him. Even from a couple feet away, Talia could hear his shaky breath. Even his loud heartbeat was slightly audible. Her mouth partially dropped, her heart breaking at the poor, small, child in front of her.

"Damian…" Slowly, as if to not startle him, she wrapped her arms around him. She carefully weaved them through his cape until they were all the way around. Feeling the warmth of her, Damian leaned closer to her. He hiccuped as he did, tears still rolling down his face.

She gently nudged him to lean on her shoulder, "It's going to be okay… no one can hurt you." Talia moved her hand on to his cheek, gently turning his head to face her. A soft, solemn, smile was now on her face. "I won't let them." Damian looked up to her, still visibly miserable, but at least happy for her comfort.

As soon as she let go, he wilted back down onto her shoulder, cuddling into her arms. She squeezed him tight, the soft smile fading to just a look of concern. Talia bent an elbow to massage and ruffle his hair relaxingly.

"But- but I'm not the one he's going to hurt." Damian whispered fearfully. He attempted to get out from her hugs, not wanting to be seen as weak. "Grandfather's going to hurt Father… and you. And everyone. There's nothing you can do."

"I'm… I'm really sorry, Damian." She whispered back, looking down at him sorrowfully. "Your grandfather is in the past, though. Or at least your time with him. Now that he's away from him, I'll make sure he stays away from you… and the rest of your family. But if it's me you're worried about, just know that he wouldn't dare actually kill me.. And I'd like to believe he wouldn't kill you, either." She turned around slightly and kissed Damian on the forehead.

Damian hiccuped again. Tears rolled down his face even faster than before. Still shaking, he buried his face into her shoulder. Talia rubbed his back, slowly trying to calm the boy down. After a few moments, he began to calm down and sob a little less.

Sighing, Talia wrapped her arms back around Damian firmly. She scooped him up off the ground like you might hold a toddler. His head continued to lean on her shoulder, but now, his body was farther in front of her than before, with her arms carrying it.

Talia continued to rub his back as well as she could, while carrying him outside the building. She pushed his cape around him tighter as a breeze trickled through. Beginning to close his eyes, Damia felt his consciousness drift away. His mother carefully dropped him down onto the ground again once they were outside.

Damian shook himself back to consciousness, "Mother, I'm too old to be carried." He complained, but there was a hint of exhaustion in his voice. It was obvious that after the emotionally-draining hallucinations he just experienced, he wasn't really going to get into a full-on argument.

Talia ignored his complaints, "Are you still seeing the hallucinations?" She asked him worriedly. Damian then realized that his eyes were still partly squinting, so he opened them farther. In front of him, he could still see a blurry vision of Ra's.. and some of the corpses, too. And faintly, he was still sure he could hear his grandfather whisper something menacing.

"A little.. But I… I can handle them." He shook his head again to try to get them to get away. Unfortunately, they only seemed to grow more vivid. Damian's heartbeat thumped, and he momentarily forgot to breath as Ra's started taunting him again.

"Now it's only a matter of time before you make new allies... certainly not ones my army can't defeat, though." Ra's stated matter-of-factorily. Damian made a small yelp, making Talia instinctively wrap her arms back around him.

"I don't think you can…" Talia mumbled, "I'll call up a-" Just as she was about to speak, a car zoomed by. It was mostly black, but with small yellow tints in some places. From inside, a dark figure popped out. She moved herself in front of Damian, but immediately smiled when she was the person's face. "Beloved!"

"Talia?" Bruce's eyes widened at the sight of her.

"You don't happen to have the fear toxin antidote on you, do you?" She asked, getting straight to the point. Talia scouched her son closer to Batman so he could see him better. "Damian got gassed, and he's not doing very well." She laid Damian onto her lap.

"Considering Scarecrow's such a common villain, I always do." Bruce slid down to a kneeling stance. Talia shifted Damian and herself to face Bruce, positioning Damian's arm higher so it was easy to inject into. He pulled out the antidote as quick as he could, and pushed it straight into Damian's arm.

Talia and Bruce both held each of Damian's hands, leading the sleepy boy over to the batmobile. She strapped him in just before Bruce began to drive off. As they rode, Damian's head gently bounced with the car's movements, rocking him to sleep.

When Damian woke up, he was back at the manor, curled up in bed. His mother, father, and siblings (plus Alfred) were all huddled around his bed. He yawned, suddenly turning to see the dogs beside him. Titus and Warrior both reached in to nuzzle Damian. Warrior, being the younger one, playfully bounced on to Damian's lap, meanwhile Titus simply stood at his side, and gave him a soft lick on the cheek.

"You're awake," Everyone responded, not at all in unison. Some said it fast and excitedly, while others said it slow and disappointedly. Either way, Damian was sure that every single person there said it, even if it was in their own odd way. He watched as Alfred set down some cookies and milk in front of him as a comforting treat.

Overwhelmed by the sound, Damian pulled the blankets up over his face. But as the dogs continued to lick at their owner, the blanket didn't stay up for long. Damian sighed, wrapping his arms around the dogs to nudge them under the covers with him. They quickly went under, making Damian hold back smiling from all the warmth it gave him.

"Let's just let him rest…" Talia suggested, standing up. She quickly motioned for the rest to leave the room. They slowly began to do what they were told. Bruce stayed to ruffle Damian's hair, but followed the rest immediately after.

Looking to his side, Damian sighed. Even as they left, he could still hear their rustling. As annoying as they were, they weren't going anywhere any time soon. Yes, his humongous family would stay by his side for a long while… and there was nothing even Ra's could do about it.