#Bear Meets Eagle On Fire

[compellingselling]

World’s Best Holiday Ads, Part 4

“Holiday Magic” has its place. But so does Holiday Silliness.

This delightful spot from Australia was perhaps inspired by the 1955 Chuck Jones cartoon, One Froggy Evening. 

The escalation is handled well. Bonus points for NOT showing the montage of social posts. 

Agency: Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, +61, Sydney. Director: Steve Rodgers.

[ddejavvu]

hi mei, i was curious if you could write about reader hiding like their childhood stuffed animal or comfort item like a baby blanket from maybe hotch or peter parker the first time they come over cuz they r embarrassed

this is not age regression shit, just to justify LOL

this works with any peter (hopefully) - the first time my bf came into my room i hurled my decrepit old childhood teddy bear into a corner and when he left i grabbed him like i'm so sorry man i couldn't let him know about you and me.

It's a testament to Peter's natural curiosity that you've been sprawled out over your bed for twenty minutes and he hasn't taken the bait and kissed you yet. Instead he's walking around your room inspecting every nook and cranny, peering into picture frames and opening drawers to paw through their contents.

"Peter!" You laugh, watching him duck beneath your desk, "The only things under there are cords; what are you doing?"

"I'm just looking around!" He insists, "My aunt always tells me you can find a lot out about a person by the space they keep."

"Oh? What are you finding out about me?"

"You have terrible cable management," His nose wrinkles as he ducks out from beneath your desk, "But that's better than what May says about me. She says my room tells her that I'm a pig person with no standards for cleanliness."

"Ouch," You snicker, "May doesn't hold back, does she?"

"Never," Peter grins, and does a final lap around your room before finally succumbing to the call of your mattress. He flattens himself out beside you and sighs, "Your room is boring."

"Hey!" You jab him in the ribs, "What do you mean?"

"I mean it's so clean!" He groans, rubbing his side, "There's no- there's no personality here, there's no trash on the desk, there's no clothes on the ground, there's no comfort blanket on the bed."

"I don't have a comfort blanket," Your cheeks rouge, and Peter zeroes in on it with an eagle's eye.

"Yes you do," He accuses, leaning up on one hand to tower over you, "Where is it? Show me!"

"It's not a blanket!" You insist, but you've implicated yourself, "It's- it's a teddy bear, okay? And I put him away because he's... fragile."

"Mhm. Fragile." Peter nods, "I'll be careful. Show me."

"He's kind of hard to get to."

"Show me."

"He's- uh, he's falling apart, too, not pretty to look at."

"Show me."

"He needs to be washed."

"Show me."

"No!"

"Come on!" Peter groans, "I'm not gonna make fun of you! I've got a stuffed animal too."

Your glare is perhaps made less effective by the way that your cheeks are on fire. Peter isn't deterred in the slightest, and the second you grumble, 'He's under the bed,' Peter's swinging himself over the side and jamming a hand beneath it.

"Got him," Peter laughs, peering at the plushie that he's dragged from beneath the bed, "This is your special one?"

"Mhm," You nod, watching warily as Peter surveys him, "Like I said, he's- he's kind of worn out and he needs to be washed, and-"

"He's great." Peter smiles, tucking the bear to his chest as he gazes fondly up at you, disarming the nerves bundled tightly in your chest, "You can meet mine the next time you come to my place."

[millie-multifics]

Proverbial Dark Clouds • Part 2

Major John Egan x Reader

A woman finally snuck her way into the heart of eligible bachelor Major John Egan, he is all too soon reminded of why he fended off love for so long.

Warnings: Gory descriptions of injuries, angst, plane crash, cheesy behaviour.

Word Count: ~1.6k

Masterlist Part 1 Part 3

x x x

Pain and heat was all you could feel. The plane had nose dived into the dirt, its impact sending chunks of metal and glass through the air in a fireball explosion. The seat you had braced your body against was torn to shreds and regretfully the planes two pilots had perished in the destruction.

But you were thrown from the wreckage upon impact, soaring through the sky like a damn eagle, body harshly landing in the dirt with debris falling down around you. Your head hurt, blood pouring from your hair as your brain beat against your fractured skull. Lacerations, broken bones, bruises and burns adorned your body like a twisted form of art. You were sure you would be screaming if you could, the pain throughout your body being too much to bear but it was stuck in your throat, only a few tears escaping as you willed yourself to move even just a finger.

You were alive, unsure of how long that would remain with the injuries you had sustained in the middle of enemy territory.

Curt was dead, and Dickie.

Before events had taken a turn for the worst for your crew, you had seen other planes exploding in the sky, some falling from the air trailing fire and smoke.

You hoped the rest made it to their destination, you hoped Gale and your John weren’t suffering your same fate.

Picturing his face brought you a semblance of peace. Your pain fading as your skin tingled, feeling the rough finger tips of your Johns hands running over your skin to soothe your aches and worries. For a moment you cursed the forces that had brought you together only recently, an unlikely pair but very likely all together; the quiet girl who had learned all of her lessons the hard way falls in love with the rambunctious, handsome Major who refuses to settle down. Any thought of settling down with John would just be a fairytale now, one that only the stars would know. Your heart aches and for a moment you are unsure if it’s caused by your injuries or the thought of him receiving the news of this tragedy, losing his friends and his love in one foul swoop would undoubtedly break that good mans heart.

Your flight to England had been more eventful than it was meant to be, the plane carrying you and a few other nurses had to make an unexpected stop in Greenland after engine troubles

The pub you had found yourself in was mostly empty, a few soldiers sat at the bar and the ladies you were travelling with were sitting on one of the sofas while you sat at a table in the corner. It wasn’t that you hated social interaction, listening to the ladies chat excitedly about traveling to England and all the handsome soldiers they could potentially meet was all they ever talked about and you had already received your harsh dose of the realities of war. Going to England only meant you were one step closer to brutality and destruction.

You glanced as the door opened, expecting the pilot of your plane but finding a small flock of soldiers- judging by their lamb skin coats they were pilots of some kind.

As the last one entered, he shut the door behind him, softly nudging the sticky bottom hinge with his heavy boot before he turned to take in the cozy pub. As his eyes scanned the room they stopped on yours, holding eye contact with his deep grey ones for as long as you let him before you glanced down toward the knife etching on the worn wood of the table top. Slowly, you lifted your head to observe the man as he approached the bartender. The small smile he wore, teasing, nearly considered a smirk seemed so natural on him. Upon removing his hat to reveal his dark hair, a few strands fell down his forehead with a curl. There was no denying that he was pretty, and you were sure he was a charmer which meant you would stay as far away from the man as possible until your pilot returned with news that the plane was fixed and ready to complete the rest of the journey.

“May I offer you another drink?” The new voice had startled you. You had been sitting in the corner for so long in your own little reverie, tracing the markings on the table that you hadn’t noticed the man approach. It was the handsome man from before, standing in front of you with two large glasses of beer and a reassuring smile.

“I’ll have to pass on the drink,” You mentally cursed yourself for this, he was handsome and you would like to talk to the man but nothing good would come from it. “I’m expecting to be back in the air any moment.”

“I’ll assume that it was your plane on the field with half an engine in pieces? I hate to break it to you sweetheart but you are going to be stuck here for quite a while longer.”

Sweetheart. You had always disliked pet names, many of them sounding sleazy coming from intoxicated soldiers but there was something about the Major that didn’t make your skin crawl when the endearing term left his lips. You had taken note of the rank and medals pinned on his jacket as he stood in front of you.

“Of course you don’t have to accept the beer but please allow me to keep a beautiful woman such as yourself a little bit of company.”

The Major had sat for hours at your table, finishing both beers himself and bringing you a tonic when he snuck off to the bar for another drink. He had been sharing stories of his time in training, seeming to cause some sort of trouble every step of the way and when your sweet laughter was thwarted by the appearance of the pilot reporting the plane would very soon be ready to go, John felt the overwhelming need to see your bright smile one last time.

“Stay for one more song?” He had asked, his eyes shining from the pub lights and his intoxication. “You haven’t heard me sing yet.”

“You can sing?” You questioned sceptically, backing up in your chair as the man quite suddenly climbed onto the small table top. You heard him request a song from one of the other men, avoiding the unappreciative stare of the bar owner while he waited for the song to play.

“We’ll meet again,

Don’t know where,

Don’t know when,

But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”

His rendition of the Vera Lynn song was very much more loud and boisterous, using his volume and enthusiasm to drown out her voice from the jukebox. You grinned up at him as he jumped off the table, reaching toward the Narwhal Tusk displayed on the wall. The soldiers sung along with him as he used the tusk as a microphone, tossing it from one hand to the other when the bar owner tried to reclaim it. You watched from your seat as he hopped up onto one of the sofas, skipping along the cushions before he leaped onto the next to evade his pursuer.

“So will you please say Hello, To the folks that I know. Tell them I wont be long, They’ll be happy to know, That you saw me go, I was singing this song.”

The soldiers lifted the Major above their heads until his boots landed on the nicely polished bar top. Many of the men had drank their weight in liquor in the past few hours and were enjoying the performance just as much as the Major was performing it.

“We’ll meet again, Don’t know where, Don’t know when, But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”

John finished his performance with the Narwal tusk held to the top of his head as if he were a unicorn to mock the bars owner who had yet to catch him in the small, crowded space. He smiled at you, so big, bright and proud, making it was impossible to hold back your laughter at the downright silly behaviour the handsome man had displayed for you.

“Alright you’ve had your fun. Give me that!” The bartender pulled the tusk from Johns grip, sending him a stern look as he warned him to remove himself from the pub before he filed a formal complaint against the officer. John followed the angry bar owners orders, sending you a wink while he grabbed his hat and flight jacket from the hook beside the door as left the pub.

You found him waiting outside, leaning against the wall, hoping he would catch you on your way out.

“That was quite the performance, Major.” You complimented.

He grinned, flicking up the brim of his hat to better inspect your features, now that you were outside in better lighting. Still undeniably beautiful. “It wasn’t too much?”

“I mean it was a little over the top. Was breaking that poor mans prized Narwhal tusk necessary?”

“Narwhal Tusk? I thought that was a unicorn horn.” He joked, extending his arm for you to take. “Why don’t I walk you back to your plane?”

“I think I’d like that Major Egan.”

“It’s my pleasure, sweetheart.”

“How many of us made it?”

“Eleven out of twenty one?

“What about Clayton? Any chutes?”

Gale sighed, thinking about all the men they had lost. “I didn’t see any.”

“Yeah.” John paused, feeling his heart pounded in his chest, afraid to ask his next question. “And Curt?”

“I don’t know.”

[pherelesytsia]

Dragon's Den,

Pairing: Thomas Shelby x female/Reader

Summary: Thomas meets his daughter's boyfriend.

Warning: Crimson, Guns, Insults, Fight

Word Count: 1.8k

Thomas Shelby Masterlist

Night was falling, and the fog, a thickening veil escaping the depths of the forest painted rolling fields and meadows of withering flowers. The richly decorated table holding overflowing bowls, polished glasses, flasks containing the finest wine the cellar had to offer, and the strong whiskey stood close to each other but the rum the man with the ruthless façade enjoyed the most stood far from the head of the table.

The young woman chuckled. Eyes flickered in amusement, glowed like the firmament after midnight. Y/N, dressed in an auburn-coloured evening dress, brought the glass to her lips, took a generous sip, but the taste, sweeter than honey, couldn't fool her senses. She couldn't suppress the grin any longer, grinned and chuckled, and the tones escaping her lips soured his fragile mood. Her husband, the man feared by the strongest of warriors and the wickedest of politicians, was incensed and close to declare war on mankind. The man dressed in a suit circled the hall, an eagle, a hawk circling the fields for a prey, a rabbit searching for a hole in the ground.

The blazing fire rising in the fireplace kissed his hardening features and Y/N was sure, after years of marriage, that she had not seen her husband in this condition. Crossing her legs, Y/N leaned back and offered her husband an encouraging smile, but Thomas was oblivious, focused on the empty road leading to the mansion. The clock was ticking, wandering not still, and Thomas counted the seconds.

            "You promised me there would be no bloodshed, Thomas." Y/N spoke in a calm tone.

She pointed to the gun on the table.

            "Promises are meant to be broken." Thomas snarled.

            "Are you sure you don't want to take back this statement, my love?" Y/N joked, hoped the answer words would amuse him, but she was wrong.

Perplexed, Thomas halted abruptly, arms swung forward as his feet rooted deep into the ground. Brows touched and lips parted, but before the first word, the first syllable could escape, Y/N lifted her hand. The diamond bedded in gold sparkled in the glow of the chandelier and burning candles and the other no less beautiful, a simple silver band, without a gem nor precious stone, bought at times not much money filled the vault. She pointed to the ring, the one not bearing a sparkling stone.

            "This is something else, darling. Don't pull us in. I loved you sincerely and my love never lessened. We married out of love and I don't regret a day of our marriage. This is something else.” Thomas interjected.

Thomas turned, strolled towards his wife seated on the sofa.

            "Thomas, we knew it would come to this one day.", "How can you stay so calm?" he questions, his calm façade broke.

            "Didn't you see the signs? The way she waited for the postman to arrive, when the phone rang, she ran downstairs as if hunted by a wolf. She stole my makeup and broke my favourite red lipstick. She asked me if we could visit the seamstress, needed a new dress and skirts." Y/N questioned.

Thomas fell silent and his features paled, thought of the early mornings when his daughter, his flesh and blood, asked him if the postman had delivered a letter for her. Groaning, he stopped in front of his wife, was blind to the signs.

            "When we fell in love, we were younger than Rose. We married young. When I fell in love with you, I was always grinning, laughing and joyful. I wrote you letters and suddenly our daughter was interested if she got a letter. And last week she wanted to borrow one of my evening dresses because she was going to a party with her friends. She snuck into our bedroom and stole my red lipstick, our daughter who never wanted to wear red." Y/N continued with her observations.

The scales fell from Thomas' eyes. He gasped, cursed the man who had dared to fool his daughters' senses, couldn't believe how blind, how foolish he was in believing his daughter would stay his little princess for the rest of her life. His shaking fingers divided his hair.

            "Thomas, dearest, I understand you. After all, it's my daughter too and at her age it's normal to fall in love and our daughter fell in love in a boy.", "Yes, a boy, couldn't she go back to playing in her room with dolls and being a princess. For all I care she can invite me to a tea party, I'll gladly tea the invisible tea and pretend it tastes good.” Thomas spoke.

His voice quavered, balled his hands into fists. The veins of fury on his forehead threatened to burst. Shaking his head, he stopped in front of the raging flames, and he, the feared man, turned into a devilish creature of the depths of the mountain, a sharp-tongued figure with horns and glittering eyes.

Y/N leaned forward, placed her hand on her knee, and stared at the ticking wall clock.

            "I don't like it." Thomas sneered.

            "I'd be lying if I said I was happy with her choice of partner, but we can't forbid Rose to see him. If you're going to forbid her to ever see him again in her life, then she's going to secretly meet him. That's what lovers do. I don't think I need to remind you of how my parents reacted when you asked my father for my hand in marriage." Y/N interjected.

In a steady rhythm his fingers tapped against the fireplace, leaned closer to the warm stone and he tried to compose, but he couldn't stop the grin from shaping on his features melting like ice. Thomas remembered it all, the mornings when he stood in front of his wife´s parents house in a patched suit, asking her father for his daughter's hand in marriage, how he had looked at him like a puny bug, condescending and able to trample him like a beetle, and not even the Shelby's charm found good ground. At that time, many years ago, Thomas thought he would never take Y/N as his wife, but the ring remembered him of the morning when she sneaked out of the house to marry him.

            "Should I remember you of the nights when I jumped out of the windows to meet you?" Y/N chuckled.

Memories flooded back, returned in waves.

            "Thank you, you have calmed me a lot.", "Like father, like daughter." Y/N joked.

She chuckled and arose, wandered on and turned towards her husband.

            "Thomas, I understand you. I feel the same way, but I know as well as you do that our daughter will never leave her lover because we want to. He and Rose will arrive in less than ten minutes. We will welcome them with open arms and mind. If you have a reasonable argument that he is a bad influence on our daughter except that he is dating her and a man, then we can talk to her about that matter." she breathed and calmed her husband.

Slowly, he approached his wife.

            "You are too good for this world.", "You can't compare us to them. I wasn't in a good position. Your father thought I wanted to marry you for the money. Our daughter was born into a wealthy family and besides my wife, whom I love, she is one of my biggest weaknesses. Her boyfriend might not be interested in her, but I will not allow any rat to take advantage of my daughter." Thomas hissed.

Eyes widened, looked in the same direction, and the couple noticed the automobile slowing to a halt. Thomas tensed, stood tall, soothed his suit and buttoned the buttons.

            "Please, promise me you won't put a bullet through his head. Not yet, not in front of the kids.", "Charlie's not here. He's staying at a friend's house. There wouldn't be a witness." Thomas joked.

His arms wrapped around her body, lowered his hands on her back and breathed a featherlike kiss on her forehead. And he closed his eyes, sucked in the scent of vanilla and roses and cupped her left cheek.

            "Good evening, Thomas. I need to talk to you. I was at the factory and a shipment arrived broken. I spoke to the delivery man, but he wants to talk to you. Call him." Arthur greeted and strolled towards his brother.

Thomas rolled his eyes, leaned back, and breathed a soft apology. He looked up at his brother, about to send him away, to tell him to take care of the problem himself, but Thomas knew he was the one who had to take care of it. He nodded in the direction of his brother marching towards the staircase.

            "Go Thomas." Y/N breathed.

            "I'll take care of it later." Thomas answered.

Her hands rested on his chest, right on his pitch-black tie, and wandered down to his suit pocket, tilting his head.

            "I´ll greet them. And while you're up there, you can take your gun upstairs. Don't get the wrong idea." Y/N chuckled.

Thomas grinned, burst out in laughter, couldn't believe how well his wife knew him.

            "I'll hurry." he promised.

Thomas walked away, hurried, took a step back, promised he would be back as soon as possible, that he would not leave her alone for long in the stranger's company. He brushed the lone strand away behind her ear. Y/N placed her hands on his chest again, felt his fast-beating heart under her touch and pushed him away, told him to leave and Thomas hesitantly moved away. Y/N turned her back on her husband running up the stairs. Y/N missed his closeness, wanted to follow him, wrap her arms around his torso and find herself in the land of dreams.

Folding her hands in front of her body in a prayerful gesture, she listened to the silence, heard her husband's laughter as he closed the door behind him into the office. Tensing Y/N forced a smile, tried to ignore the fears his words had initiated. A knock accompanied by soft words followed by chanting keys echoed throughout the mansion. The howling wind invading the house seeped through her hair, standing praying in the glow of candles and the chandelier.

[thelordofgifs]

In light of recent interesting discourse about Beren and Lúthien's Silmaril theft, and the Fëanorions' priorities in the lead-up to Nirnaeth and after, I started wondering how things might have changed if B&L had managed to steal two Silmarils rather than one. Would pulling the Union together be harder with only one jewel left to draw focus in Angband?

Then as soon as I thought about it some more, I realised the most inevitable path diverged earlier than that.

Then I started writing a fic, got 400 words in, and realised I wanted to actually figure out what happened first. So here's a half (or potentially a smaller fraction) of a sort of bullet point fic/plan/thing, which may or may not get properly written up later. First I need to work out where to go from here.

Angrist was forged by the greatest of the Dwarf-smiths in the master-workshops of Nogrod. It cuts two Silmarils from Morgoth's iron crown before the blade snaps, and Morgoth stirs in his enchanted sleep.

Beren passes one Silmaril to Lúthien, and they run for it.

Carcharoth still meets them, snarling, at the gate. Beren still holds out a Silmaril to ward him off. His hand still gets bitten off.

But when the Eagles come for them, and Lúthien clambers sobbing onto Thorondor's back, she clasps a Silmaril in her hand.

The Eagles bear them towards Doriath, and the Treelight undiminished shines out over Dorthonion and Gondolin.

In chilly Himring, Maglor is shaken awake from nightmares of fire and smoke by his eldest brother, who drags him out of bed and towards the window. "Look! Is that not a Silmaril that shines now in the North?"

Maglor recognises it, of course. Moreover, he recognises the size and shape of Eagles in flight, even at a distance. Recognises, too, that as often as not they bear doom itself upon their great feathered backs.

(His father's jewel stinging his Oath awake, his brother's emaciated bleeding body wrapped in Fingon's cloak - they all mean failure.)

"Thingol's daughter and the mortal must have succeeded," he says. "What can we do?"

Maedhros and Maglor, you see, are Not Happy with the news out of Nargothrond.

That Celegorm wanted to force an elf-maid to wed against her will, after what they heard befell Aredhel—

That Curufin could turn against his favourite cousin, and betray him to his death—

"I am afraid," says Maedhros, "of what it will make us do. What it will make us become."

"We could ignore it," says Maglor, whose first response is always inaction. "Let it go to Doriath—" But it is hard even to finish the sentence, with the Oath choking his words.

And there is a bigger problem: Celegorm and Curufin, who are sleeping now (it is only Maedhros who can be relied upon to pace the fortress by night), will not do so forever. They have already attacked Thingol's daughter once - will they do so again, before she can pass into the safety of her mother's Girdle?

"We have to get to Doriath before they do," says Maedhros, and wonders when his little brothers became the threat to be outpaced.

"And then what?" asks Maglor, who never shies from difficult questions.

Maedhros gives him one of his quick strange smiles. "This is how it works, you know," he says. "Huan has turned from Tyelko. Tyelpë has repudiated Curvo. It turns you into the worst version of yourself, and then it strips away the best thing you have left."

Maedhros has ridden out to claim a Silmaril before, and lost all of himself in the process.

Maglor, too, has been offered all he ever wanted - his dearest brother, returned to him - and turned away for the sake of the Oath he renewed at his father's deathbed.

They are both afraid of what they could become.

They ride out from Himring anyway, swiftly and secretly, before the dawn.

Meanwhile, Thorondor sets Beren and Lúthien down on Doriath's southern border.

Huan comes to join them, and with the power of the Silmaril, Beren is healed sooner than he might have been, otherwise.

The Quest is fulfilled. Beren has no reason to stay away from Thingol's house.

Instead of wandering in the wilds, the lovers return to Menegroth, present a Silmaril, and promptly get married.

Thingol is very surprised (and overjoyed) to see them; the last news he had of Lúthien was that she had vanished from Nargothrond.

In fact, he's just sent out a couple of messengers, led by Mablung Heavy-hand, with a scathing letter to Maedhros Fëanorion demanding his aid in finding the princess.

North of the Girdle: "Hey, isn't that Maedhros Fëanorion?"

"Sure is," says Mablung, who was at the Mereth Aderthad.

"Hail, Mablung of Doriath!" calls Maedhros, who never forgets a face. "What news from King Thingol?"

Well, there isn't news as such. Just... fury.

Maedhros considers the merits of keeping his cards close to his chest versus the dire diplomatic situation he's currently in, and opts to share what they saw from Himring, and what it bodes for Beren's success.

He decides not to share that Lúthien was definitely with Beren, which he knows because his brothers attacked her.

Maglor is not sure how stopping to chat with an Iathren marchwarden is going to get them closer to a Silmaril, but he isn't in the habit of arguing with Maedhros.

Anyway, before the conversation can wrap up, a marauding werewolf appears.

Right. Carcharoth.

The Iathrim make the sensible call and scramble up some trees. Maglor follows a beat later.

Noldor don't climb trees very often. It isn't one of the skills Maedhros has had cause to practice one-handed.

Not that it matters, because he's frozen where he stands, eyes wide and bright and thoughtful.

This is unusual. Maedhros would not be the most renowned warrior of the Noldor if he were constantly dissociating in the midst of battle.

He saves the dissociation for after the battle, thank you.

The wolf is almost upon him.

Well, thinks Maglor, about time I did some saving for a change.

Maglor is not Lúthien. Does he need to be? He knows enough about madness, and enough about torment. He knows how to sing the suffering to sleep.

He drops down from his perch to begin a lullaby.

Carcharoth slows down when he sings, and comes to a momentary halt, and Maglor takes the time to hiss, "Nelyo, run—"

"They burned him," Maedhros breathes, still with that bright faraway look in his eyes that means he is half-lost in memory. "His hands were black and ruined. No evil thing may touch them."

The wolf lunges.

[I want to kill Maglor off here but I'm a coward. so.]

Carcharoth savages Maglor's leg and he collapses.

That brings Maedhros back to himself.

Mablung and his party aren't heavily armed. They were only meant to be messengers, after all. They get a few shots in at the wolf, who runs off, still maddened.

Maglor isn't moving isn't talking and there's so much blood—

(to be continued)

[lanymme]

hi this is rose (wavers huswife) Can I put in a request for Kiara yuri violence with Nero who is feeling her own encroaching Beasthood crawl up her back. can be chaldea or CCC setting but I am curious to see kiara taunting Nero into becoming a beast and getting gay with it too

What a fantastic request. Fate/Extra CCC is a game about showing the most embarrassing parts of yourself to others, and I always felt like dear Saber didn’t get her chance to shine in that light. And wow, I had fun with this. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to write some of my favorite characters!

This takes place during the CCC True End, so, spoiler warning for that!

CWs: gore, consent

--

Saber’s heels clack and splash through the shallow wine-colored water, blood roaring in her ears, fire burning in her veins, as she charges toward that howling mass of disquieted spirits and the manifestation of depravity at its center.

A swirling mass of magic rises above that horned head as the incantation end, and with peals of indecent, unrestrained laughter, hundreds of streaming trails of souls peel off it fly toward her. She dodges and weaves and turns as they spatter the ground, sword cutting sheets in the water as it trails behind her, eyes fixed on the prize: the newborn goddess she will bring crashing down to honor her dear Praetor’s beautiful path through life, that lead her from knock-kneed fawn to eagle-hearted worthy, who would stand alone against certain ruin, head held high without even a knife at her hip.

But her Saber is here now, and even as she takes a few bolts in the shoulder, she reaches her foe and brings up her sword, clashing against that outstretched palm. Kiara, that enigmatic but approachable holy woman who always gave her Praetor advice, who heard her worries and made their struggle possible, smiles down at her, bemused, loving. Saber pulls her sword—tries to pull it back, but that palm has curled forward, and the grip of those fingers are irresistible. Desperately, she pulls on her blade to removed it.

Kiara leans forward, so close that Saber can smell her, incense and flowers and something unnamed.

“Ah, Saber,” she lilts, voice sweet and slow. ”I thought you had unlocked your Origin and donned that mythological Mystic Code to play with me, and yet your sword has no strength behind it. Have you decided to accept my love, after all? Please, if you are ashamed, don’t worry—shame, humiliation, disgrace: to the enlightened, these are perfumes of life.”

She grits her teeth, uninterested in responding, fighting for control. The Rose of Olympia is better than this—her dauntless partner deserves better.

Kiara laughs, and her Praetor cries out to her, and shame brands her like bitter inelegant wine.

For a moment, she remembers. Tacitus, blind to the glory of her art, ignorantly wounding her pride; Seneca, dismissing her brilliance. That gaping, yawning emptiness opens up in her heart.

She never wants to let that person down, never wants to see her disappointed in her Servant, to be unable to protect her.

Digging deep, she jerks her blade out of Kiara’s grasp, and delivers a quick duelist’s strike to her wrist, tasting blood. Turning, she spins to strike again, but her blow is deflected, unseen, and Kiara’s open palm takes her in the chest, an overwhelming flood of sensation shattering her concentration, bringing her down to a knee. Weakly, she raises her sword to defend herself, but just as Kiara bears down on her, throwing her full bodyweight into both hands, her Praetor rescues her, healing her just at the brink.

The blow is crushing, agony beyond reason seeping into her, but she survives. She survives, and she leaps back, disengaging: battered and bent, she remains on the stage.

Hakuno’s hand touches her arm, and she meets her concerned gaze, smiling proudly to reassure this precious woman whose life depends on the mettle of her sword.

But inside, her heart is shaken. She can’t disappoint her, can’t let her down—can’t fail to measure up. Anything but that.

“Good grief, Kiara. Even now, you’re playing with your food? I suppose the last dregs of your self-restraint truly rotted away in that chrysalis.”

“If you would like to fight her yourself, by all means, allow me to support you as your Master.”

“As if I could stop you from showing your ass, you gutter-side slut! Go on, embarrass yourself. I’ll just watch from here.”

She takes her Praetor’s hand in hers as she steps away, letting it drop when only their fingertips can reach.

“Keep your eyes on me!” she declares, an edge of insecurity in her voice, like it’s a plea, not a declaration to reach the ears of the gods. “I will show you how I shine!”

She turns before she can see the flash of worry in Hakuno’s eyes.

For a moment, she remembers that awful moment, repeated again and again—the eyes of the people falling, turning away, as she begins to sing.

Kiara giggles, staring at her, eyes burning. Delicately, a hand comes up to her cheek, one finger to her lips—an indecent perversion of that considerate, sisterly gesture she often showed in her rapport with Hakuno. “Oh, Saber,” she intones, voice ringing and sticky-sweet. “You’ve shown me something so interesting to inaugurate my ascension. Please, let me reward you—let me bestow favor upon you, who pleases me.”

“Foolishness! I am my Praetor’s instrument, to be wielded by her hands! The only thing I require from you is a triumph for the stage!”

Striking a ready stance, she calls up her power, the power of Rome, of a people ripening and flowering, whose aspirations and dreams she carries on her shoulders. “Fountain of Flames!”

Something stirs inside her.

Aestus Estus ignites, and she rockets forward to rejoin the fight.

“Let the arc of my blade signal the curtains to fall! Rosa—”

Kiara pulls her hand back, and a hundred magical threads entangle her, jerking her to a halt. “Ahaha! Please, don’t be so hasty!”

Saber jerks and struggles, a mere fly caught in a web. Despair runs through her heart. She can’t bear to turn around and see the face of her Praetor, who has faced adversity time and time again to bring her here, entrusting her fate to this sword now frozen in the air.

Kiara smiles at her, pityingly. “You speak of triumphs, and yet, to my recollection, you never had one yourself, did you, Heroic Spirit of the Sword?”

Saber glares at her, sword raised uselessly above her head. Kiara begins to step closer, howling spirits and death’s head encroaching alongside her.

“When I saw your impressive Mythological Mystic Code, I was so surprised to learn that one with such few achievements in the eyes of humanity would have such sealed inner mysteries to unlock!” She claps her hands together, smiling sweetly, the very picture of an innocent young lady, curved crescent ox horns titling with the motion. “I thought the Moon Cell must be unexpectedly generous, to put such thoughts toward you.”

She stands before Saber, who struggles desperately, mortally, in her bonds. But she’s too weak to free herself, to weak to respond to her Praetor’s cries, to weak to stand on the stage to which she had devoted her life.

Those beautiful, baleful eyes glint wildly, conspiratorial with dark enlightenment. “But as we have… fought,” she offers, and it stings like a knife between the ribs, “I have come to understand: the Moon Cell, the eye of god, sees things as I do.”

Kiara’s scent envelops her, running like lightning through her body. One hand strokes down her sword arm, and her face passes close enough that Saber can feel her warmth, feel the tickle of her breath agains there ear, wine and blood and smoke, and a shiver passes down to the base of her spine. “Suffering and bliss. Favor and disgrace. Pride and shame… they are each one and the same. So please, comfort yourself: your name is exalted above all others, immortalized, celebrated, in the eyes of all the world.”
 Something, something is rising inside her. Her knees are wobbling, her chest burns. Her head hurts, ah, it hurts, as bad as that day, when flames reached the heavens.

Kiara looks conspiratorially over her Saber’s shoulder, at her Master, and then back to Saber, eyes twinkling, conspiratorial.

She leans in, so close, to whisper breathlessly in Saber’s ear.

“Nero Claudius. Whore of Babylon.”

Lightning strikes through her—a fire, dark and sweet, in her gut—singing, calling, hollow craving, devouring her shame, blissful, forbidden.

At the edge of her vision, tiny flames lick at her corners of her eyes—fledgling embers, things to be nurtured, on blood and wine, on the engorged hearts of humanity.

She squirms and struggles in her bonds, panting and jerking, trying desperately to look over her shoulder, while Kiara coos to her, and smiles, and presses a kiss just behind her ear.

“Please… no.” she cries, voice melting. “Not, not in front of her.”

“Mmmm… if you want to break free. Then all you have to do is stop holding back. Right? Do it for her sake.”

It’s true. It’s true. Ah, she’s been so foolish. Disgraceful. But even in her disgrace, there’s something, something she can do, to respond to that hand that reached out to her, that accepted her, that chased her back until she could stand beside her, that rescued her when she was injured, that returned for her: Hakuno, who sacrificed her body to free her from that eternal sleep.

“…”

I’m sorry.

She can’t bear to look, can’t bear to see the expression on that face. But all of a sudden, she snaps her bonds, and strikes her blade deep into that shoulder. Blood, rich and red and plentiful, gushes from the wound, even though this is the Moon Cell, and such things are normally impossible.

Kiara laughs, full and throaty, and with a backswing of her hand, a wall of force swats Saber away, desires and foibles and vanities sizzling and burrowing through into her.

But now, it is devoured, into that hollow, hungry emptiness burning inside her.

All too soon, she sees that wound close, fading away to nothing. It’s not enough. Not nearly enough. To… to find victory, for her Master.

Her stomach growls.

She refocuses her attention on Kiara, and all of a sudden, she is dazzled. How could she not see it before? Decadence, vanity, satiety and want—a cradle of sin, a body offered up, mother-sacrifice to all of humanity: the ripest, burgeoning fruit of the intersection between wilderness and civilization, the she-wolf that suckles the world at her breast.

Breathtaking.

“… You really are the most graceless, despicable manifestation of a woman,” Andersen says, disgust permeating his voice. “Come on then, Kiara. If you’re done wallowing in your own filth, let’s get this over with.”

“As you say. Come, Saber. Shall we dance?”

“…I smell the scene of rot in you, woman. The time has come to pluck you from the vine with my own hands. As you have set the table, so I shall sit down to feast.”

Kiara claps her hands together, delighted. “Oh my, how lovely! I’m so glad to see you have accepted my invitation and received my teachings honestly with your heart. After all, the first step on the path to enlightenment is to renounce one’s heavenly desires, is it not?”

“… Saber?”

She shuts out that frightened voice. It hurts, it hurts, but… win, win—she just needs to win. To cut this woman down, so she can…

So she can?

So she can devour her heart, bite by bite. So she can reclaim the throne that belongs to her, the cracked egg in the branches of the blooming Sakura tree, shining down the light of civilization on them as they stand in the blood of humanity, so that she can gather it in that grail, her crystal glass, and watch as it pours over onto the earth below, as the fire spreads at her feet.

Her head hurts. Blood seeps down through her hair, and she catches some of it on her tongue as it passes beside her nose, into her mouth. Rich, salt, iron. The fruit of conquest, of germinating empire.

“Saber!”

She charges forward again, and as she sees those rapid mudras begin once more, she rends her sword through the waters at their feet, and a foul scarlet wave rushes ahead of her, floating lotus blossoms bobbing up, turning over like helpless ships in an angry sea.

She laughs, imperious, hollow, anguished, as she charges forward, bursting through the swell.

Kiara raises a hand to stop her, the wave parting around her, but Saber bursts through it at her side, flanking her, and puts her whole weight into spinning, stabbing forth with all her strength—shattering that barrier, taking her foe in the side, drawing out a cry somewhere between scream of pain and heat laugh, her burning blade hissing and crackling as it rends through spiritronized flesh. She groans in satisfaction at the first taste of this extravagant gift.

“What a delicacy you will make. The appetites of a dozen burgeoning cities, fallen and decadent, condensed down into the body of one woman.” She looks into those gold eyes, wells to the hollow where all the desires of humanity collect to steep and mature. She twists her blade in the wound, and Kiara’s body jerks. “I shall be sure to clean my plate.”

Kiara steps closer, approaching like a lover through a doorway, sword sliding deeper into her body, and strikes Saber in her sternum. Flashes of muddied, amalgamated desires tear through her thoughts even as the blow fractures bone: the unfulfilled promise of decadence, starvation after feasting, an unending cycle. Sharp pain, the dull and intoxicating burn of want, mingle together like a dizzying, fragrant wine. She shudders, overcome, and then seizes that wrist and bites into it deep, like ripe fruit, like meat, raw and bloody, tendons and bone, the deeply marinated craving of a myriad living souls swirling down to the hollow in her gut as Kiara moans in agony.

(Somewhere far away, someone calls her name. The echo of mortal shame tugs at her, and she pushes it away).

But Kiara offers her arm up to Saber’s face, does not so much as flinch to pull away. “There you are,” she soothes, voice hot. “See?” Her other hand comes up to stroke the back of Saber’s neck, softly, encouraging, even as she licks at her bones, lips and tongue and teeth, inside her. “I—ahh—always knew our tastes would be aligned, if you could only let your hair down. Would you please me, down on Earth? Live in depravity, voluptuary, chasing your own ends?” She tucks a hair behind Saber’s ear, the wet sound of consumption smacking like a deep kiss. “Accept my love, and your place in paradise: an endless banquet where the ten thousand-colored decadence of humanity blankets the land, want and excess and prosperity swelling and withering on the vine.”

She salivates, and gnaws, and dreams. City after city, conquest and shattered spears, empires at their apex with gravity just taking hold—hers to savor and take in forever. The unquiet spirits that roil behind Kiara reach out to her, dozens of beseeching hands grasping toward her. All the while, the fantasy smoulders in her gut, tempting, yearning.

But she has to kill this woman here. To devour her.

She releases that arm, and wrenches her sword free, and Kiara gasps, eyes fluttering and rolling, legs going weak, as Saber pulls back into a high guard, preparing to shear those generous arms off by the shoulder.

But in that moment, those binding threads cast by Kiara’s quick hands steal her momentum, long enough for her target to dance back out of her range.

“A pity,” Kiara laments. “But you have been wonderful. I can at least content myself to thoroughly enjoy you at your fullest, in the end.”

All the hairs on her body stand up.

Andersen is saying something. She doesn’t hear it. She can hear her heart pounding in her ears. Kiara clasps her hands together—her wrist is already better, like new.

Spiritrons gather with foreboding density, and she can feel the laws of the space they occupy run thin.

Saber races toward her, all agility, animal quickness.

But too slow. She won’t reach in time

“The hour of salvation has arrived. Those who are still alive—nghh!”

A familiar ring of energy collapses around her, disrupting the flow of spiritrons, and Saber instinctually takes advantage of the moment, landing a clean strike across her chest, mangling one of those perfect breasts—but a moment later, all evidence of the strike is gone.

They clash again, sword inches from outstretched palm.

“Your Master is persistent. Unshakable, unlike her Servant.”

A pang runs through her.

Again and again, the two of them exchange blows. Clashing, feinting, riposting. She takes a hit to her ribs, and then her shoulder A cut across Kiara’s thighs, across her stomach—rich, satisfying, but so fleeting: unlike her, her opponent doesn’t flag in the slightest, and is back to full condition in a second.She can feel her grip on victory slipping, desperation setting in.

A blow to her head makes her vision swim, and she steps back, covering the distance with her blade as she disengages. She begins to warily circle Kiara, who stands still, watching her.

Those sharp, accepting eyes pick details from her face, from her body, and Kiara smiles at her, patient, kind.

“You understand, don’t you? Yes, we truly are compatible. Your seeking fang, your hungry flames…” she sighs, a hand coming up to her impassioned lips, eyes dewy. “Ah, it’s like a dream. You truly are giving it your best. But, dear Saber, did you forget? I have an Authority over craving. All The World’s Desire is pointed at me, and living things take succor from my flesh. But in that fleeting satisfaction, want is never satisfied: and so that craving returns again to me.”

A cold sweat breaks out on Saber’s body.

Kiara smiles, sweet, radiant as the golden clouds that surround their battlefield, while that formless mass of spirits that lies behind her struggles and clutches and cling to her, a hundred grasping hands, and that giant smoldering death’s head lurks, watches, from above. “I see you understand. If you would like to indulge yourself in this body, by all means, continue. But if your object is victory… triumph…”

Desperation. Humiliation.

“I think you may find that more difficult to come by.”

Crush. She has to crush her, like a ripe tomato between her teeth.

The ground trembles. A peal of distant thunder rumbles through the throne room, and tiny ripples form in the water.

For some reason, a pang of sorrow runs through her. But she knows this is the only thing left.

She lifts her head—

And startles, as two hands slap the side of her face.

“You stupid Emperor! You were the one who said you would always answer if I called for you! Listen to me when I try to get your attention!”

Oh. There are tears in her eyes.

Her Master is standing there before her, in the middle of the field of battle, her back to the enemy. Of course she is.

Of course she is.

She takes hold of her waist with one hand, pulling Hakuno behind herself, and the other comes up to parry Kiara’s killing strike.

“Aha, I see you—“

“Silence! My Praetor is speaking!”

Her riposte strikes Kiara in the kneecap, smashing the intricate bone there, dropping her too her knees with a scream.

Leaping backward, Master in tow, she creates a wide berth of distance between them.

Midair, she makes eye contact with her foe. Kiara glares at her from the floor, water lapping up over her hands, horns bent low. Her eye twitches.

They land, and Saber sets her Master down. But she won’t meet her gaze.

“Look at me.”

“I need to—“

“Saber, look at me. I mean it. Please.”

She can hardly bear to do it. She has thrown away all her pride, tarnished and bloodied the gold that she wears, shown a side of herself that even the lowest would sneer at. She has nothing left to offer her Master of that bounty she brought from the Throne: neither reassurance, a steadfast back to chase, nor the strength to stand as her champion, as she promised so long ago, in that place of death at the bottom of the Lunar Sea, far away on the Near Side of the Moon.

But she does still have faith. She has the faith they’ve built in each other.

And so she looks again into those eyes.

“There you are,” Hakuno Kishinami says. “Thank goodness.” She smiles.

Her lip wobbles a little bit. But she does not cry.

That kind hand, with only one command seal remaining, touches her face. “It’s okay, Saber.”

She knows that nothing is okay. But still… still, it’s comforting, to hear those words from that voice.

“I don’t think any less of you, you know. I just… learned more about the person you choose to be. Surrounded by darkness, but still shining on that stage… That’s my Saber. The person I admire, who taught me how to live as a human being. To lead a beautiful life.”

She does sob, this time.

It’s undignified, unworthy of her, but perhaps… perhaps in front of her Empress is the proper place for an Emperor to show that side of herself.

Behind her, she hears splashing, as Kiara stands.

“Even so,” she starts, voice wavering, as Hakuno wipes a warm tear track from her cheek, “even so, I… I’m not strong enough.”

“Nothing we’ve done has ever been certain,” Hakuno says. “We’ve always been the underdog. All we’ve ever promised each other was our best.”

Truly nothing, nothing can soothe her the way this woman can.

Kiara’s fist is clenched, but her eyes are misty and lost

“… I don’t understand. Surely my sermon was without fault. How could this be the outcome? It makes no sense.”

Her Servant laughs at her openly.

“Seriously, Kiara! You were so embarrassed about reading fairy tales, and yet you still couldn’t see this coming! As a reader, you should reflect on yourself a little!”

Hakuno takes both of her hands

“I need to keep this last Command Seal for when we win. But… but if I can ask anything of you, as your Master… I want to see you perform. I want to see you shine brighter than you’ve ever shone. And whatever comes after, I’ll be satisfied. Can you do that for me?”

She brings herself to her full height, chest puffed out, smiling through the tears.

Really. She never needed anyone else’s love, anyone else’s regard. So what has she to fear?

“Umu! You need not even ask! But hearing those words, I must raise my sights beyond the heavens! My Master, my Praetor. Your loyalty is just! Allow me to show you the art of a genius that reaches the very gods!”

She turns to face their opponents once again, emboldened, blood singing, blinking the last tears from her eyes. A pristine rose in bloom manifests in her fingers, and she closes her eyes as she takes in its familiar fragrance

Kiara begins a series of mudras, but her Master, whos heart beats as one with Saber’s own, preempts the attack with the codecast she inherited from Leo, setting the stage as she has so many times before.

Heart full, pride and love and wonder ringing throughout her body, she tosses a single rose into the air and as she charges forth, she declares:

“Behold my genius! Listen to the thunderous applause! The glory of the Empire is here!”

With a flash, a single magnificent stroke in one impossible stride as she passes over that glorious inlaid golden floor, she cleaves past Kiara’s defenses just as that flower comes to rest on marble.

“Throw open the doors like a flower in bloom…”

Once again she stands on that stage where all the beauty of the world’s beauty gathers, where storms of rose petals fall like snow: stands proud before a beloved audience who truly appreciates her art, stands in the light of the sun where she can shine unparalleled like she has so often in her dearest dreams.

“… to my Golden Theater!”

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Silmarillion Daily - Of Fëanor, and the Dwarves

Two major developments today in Silm Daily!

First, Fëanor reaches the peak of his skills. I put this paragraph here (year 1250 of the Years of Trees) as it’s when History of Middle-earth dates his developement of the Tengwar (and also mentions his work on other gems, including the palantíri).

Fëanor is at this point around 70, which is still young for an elf (probably the Elven equivalent of mid-20s?).

Fëanor was tall, and fair of face, and masterful, his eyes piercingly bright and his hair raven-dark; in the pursuit of all his purposes eager and steadfast. Few ever changed his courses by counsel, none by force. He became of all the Noldor, then or after, the most subtle in mind and the most skilled in hand. In his youth, bettering the work of Rúmil, he devised those letters which bear his name, and which the Eldar used ever after; and he it was who, first of the Noldor, discovered how gems greater and brighter than those of the Earth might be made with skill. The first gems that Fëanor made were white and colourless, but being set under starlight they would blaze with blue and silver fires brighter than Helluin; and other crystals he made also, wherein things far away could be seen small but clear, as with the eyes of the eagles of Manwë. Seldom were the hands and mind of Fëanor at rest.

And, pretty much at the same time, we get the first meeting between the Sindar and the Dwarves, which actually goes very well! As an interesting note, by this time Khazad-dum is already well-established and flourishing; it could easily have been the oldest realm in Middle-earth.

It came to pass during the second age of the captivity of Melkor that Dwarves came over the Blue Mountains of Ered Luin into Beleriand. Themselves they named Khazâd, but the Sindar called them Naugrim, the Stunted People, and Gonnhirrim, Masters of Stone. Far to the east were the most ancient dwellings of the Naugrim, but they had delved for themselves great halls and mansions, after the manner of their kind, in the eastern side of Ered Luin; and those cities were named in their own tongue Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar. To the north of the great height of Mount Dolmed was Gabilgathol, which the Elves interpreted in their tongue Belegost, that is Mickleburg; and southward was delved Tumunzahar, by the Elves named Nogrod, the Hollowbold. Greatest of all the mansions of the Dwarves was Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf, Hadhodrond in the Elvish tongue, that was afterward in the days of its darkness called Moria; but it was far off in the Mountains of Mist beyond the wide leagues of Eriador, and to the Eldar came but as a name and a rumour from the words of the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains.

From Nogrod and Belegost the Naugrim came forth into Beleriand; and the Elves were filled with amazement, for they had believed themselves to be the only living things in Middle-earth that spoke with words or wrought with hands, and that all others were but birds and beasts. But they could understand no word of the tongue of the Naugrim, which to their ears was cumbrous and unlovely; and few ever of the Eldar have achieved the mastery of it. But the Dwarves were swift to learn and indeed were more willing to learn the Elven-tongue than to teach their own to those of alien race. Few of the Eldar went ever to Nogrod or Belegost, save Eöl of Nan Elmoth and Maeglin his son; but the Dwarves trafficked into Beleriand, and they made a great road that passed under the shoulders of Mount Dolmed and followed the course of the River Ascar, crossing Gelion at Sarn Athrad, the Ford of Stones, where battle after befell. Ever cool was the friendship between the Naugrim and the Eldar, though much profit they had one of the other; but at that time those griefs that lay between them had not yet come to pass, and King Thingol welcomed them. But the Naugrim gave their friendship more readily to the Noldor in after days than to any others of Elves and Men, because of their love and reverence for Aulë; and the gems of the Noldor they praised above all other wealth. In the darkness of Arda already the Dwarves wrought great works, for even from the first days of their Fathers they had marvellous skill with metals and with stone; but in that ancient time iron and copper they loved to work, rather than silver or gold.

Given the mentions of both language and craft in both passages here, the occurence of both these events at around the same time makes me wonder about what could have happened if all the Elves had remained in Middle-earth. Fëanor and the dwarves might have really hit it off, and who knows what inventions they’d have come up with.

[priscilla9993]

Chess Allusions: Pawn Parallels

Rogers: “So you can use [her info] as leverage against [Belfrey]?”

Weaver: “Well that’s how this game works, Detective.”

Talking in the park, Weaver and Rogers both want the information that Tilly knows, the kind that causes Victoria to feel threatened, enough to blackmail Weaver with Tilly’s imprisonment and some CCTV footage of his misdeeds. Although both detectives covet finding and questioning Tilly for what she knows, their motives differ. 

Weaver has a “means to an end” approach, valuing Tilly only when she can be useful in his schemes. His selfish nature sides with his freedom and power over her wellbeing, and he’s okay with that. Tilly might be his informant with the ‘best eyes and ears in Hyperion Heights’, but at the end of the day, she’s replaceable, someone worth losing if it means he gains a stepping stone in the long game against taking down Victoria Belfrey.

Rogers: “Is that all this girl is to you and Belfrey? A pawn? Then why don’t we split up, since one of us actually wants to help her?”

But to Rogers, who doesn’t even know Tilly at this point, he sees Victoria and Weaver’s game as something where people win at the expense of somebody else and goes into full papa bear mode. Rogers wants to help Weaver as a partner and wage justice against Victoria, but not at the cost of using Tilly. He sees Tilly as a vulnerable person caught in the crossfire of a game they didn’t even know they were playing, rather than a soldier in a chess match, and wants to talk to her on equal terms. 

His opinion of Tilly being a bit off kilter but innocent at heart only strengthens when Weaver, in the hospital, unexpectedly pardons her of assumed criminal charges, telling Rogers an obvious lie about a masked robber being the one who shot the gun. Upon meeting Tilly outside of the hospital room, Rogers sees a confused, distraught, and guilt ridden young woman playing a game of chess alone. He tells her the facts with a kind opinion, “Look, you weren’t in your right frame of mind. He doesn’t blame you.” They build up an acquaintance and the budding start of a camaraderie over chess.

However, this all changes when the monster that is Gothel/the fire nation arrives Eloise Gardener gets into the playing field. Victoria and Drizella play cat and mouse, Weaver uses Tilly in a game of lies, and Rogers tries to make sense of things, inadvertently rescuing Gothel, the big bad spider.

Rogers to Weaver: You lied! And you made Tilly lie. Why did you do that?!

Weaver: Because you don't know what's going on around here... But I did it for one reason: to protect you from your bloody self.

(gratuitous physical violence scene bc I love the dynamic)

What Rumple could mean by ‘bloody self’ could be that Rogers lets his temper cloud his judgment first before he goes seeking revenge on/fighting for justice for those who deserve it most. I think that's where Rumple sees the most Killian come out from the supposed "Eagle Scout" detective, stubborn and determined to stick to his guns until he gets to his desired conclusion, which in this case is finding Eloise Gardener (Gothel). 

Rogers defends Tilly, despite only meeting her a few times, going so far as to bodyslam Weaver as he confronts him. However, he loses his respect for her after finding Eloise, where no explanation could outweigh the cost.

Rogers: What do you want?

Tilly: To say I’m sorry about the page. Weaver said it was for the best and I can’t always figure that out for myself.

Rogers: Take a look at what he was covering up. Now tell me, was that for the best? You know what? I understand. I’m just disappointed. You weren’t the person I thought you were.

Rogers is a man of many things, holding grudges being one of them and being rational in the other. The blonde informant had gone so far as to even lie to him about Eloise, dead of all things. As much as he wanted to forgive Tilly, he didn’t know if he could.

At the end of the day, in Rogers’s mind, Eloise needed help, rescue, and emergency aid, something that only happened because of his deep obsession with finding a missing girl from a cold case. And Tilly deterred him from saving a life, unintentional or not.

Roni: “Henry told me about how Weaver used that girl, Tilly.”

Rogers: “Well, it seems to me like she wanted to be a pawn.”

Rogers feels his trust was betrayed and remains disappointed in Tilly. He saw Weaver being a shady bastard from a mile away, but he didn’t expect her to be complicit in Weaver’s dirty schemes. He wanted to believe Tilly was the kind of person who questioned whatever she was told and made her own path on decisions like he did, not so easily roped into following plans, especially ones of slimy bastards like Weaver. If Rogers saw Tilly as an innocent victim of society before, moved around like a pawn, he feels wronged in his judgment and probably thinks she was content to be a sheep to Weaver’s mysterious whims. 

Who was he to believe she could be more than a pawn when she chose to be one?

Luckily, Roni was there to whack the obviously menacing poisoned cake from his hands and knock some sense into him.

Regina as Roni: “You know, people only let themselves be used when they don’t have any other option. How about you give her one?”

Tilly, even if a marmalade sandwich was needed as incentive, had been willingly helpful to his case. The only moment she hadn’t been was when she was under Weaver’s thumb, someone she had known and trusted like a father figure, unlike him who was a stranger in her eyes. People came and went from the older detective’s team, knowledge of informants and detective partners leaving frequently unless they had a special skill set or blackmail hanging over them. If anything, she wasn’t fully to blame.

What Tilly and Rogers can't see until it's too late, being cursed and all, is that they are good natured people afraid of getting hurt, wanting to help others, but unfortunately victims of manipulation, of those with ulterior agendas that use them as playing pieces, making them no better than pawns. 

Roni was right. People like Tilly wouldn’t let themselves be used like pawns if they didn’t have any other option. She had been brave enough to show up to the crime scene to apologize to him in person after what she did, not caring about being forgiven, and he hadn’t even given what she had said a second thought. Knowing Weaver, Rogers would have concluded that the old bastard probably didn’t even give her the entire picture and used her good intentions in an ill manner befitting the man’s deceitful ways, leading her to think it was for the best. 

This leads to Rogers making a step in the right direction. It doesn’t take more than Roni’s small nudge of advice to get him to internally forgive Tilly and go in search of her, eventually offering a chess set to help pass the time with a weekly game and a friend who’d listen if she’d accept. From then on, Rogers and Tilly both grow and begin to trust again, trying to protect the other from getting harmed as the consequence of another’s scheme.

[emptyblog7]

Dreamlight Adventures: Story 1 Part 1

Hello all!! @uva124 @signed-sapphire and @chillwildwave in particular! I figured I'd ping you three since you three explicitly said it was okay, and if the others in your group were wanting to be pinged as well, I figured you could maybe do so if you choose to reblog this (these will be broken up into parts so bear with me.

DREAMLIGHT ADVENTURES: GUILT TRIP

Dreamlight Valley Story Idea

It was a beautiful afternoon in Dreamlight Valley. Many villagers were out and about doing various errands or meeting with each other. Scrooge’s store was abuzz with business, and Remy’s restaurant was preparing for the lunch rush that was sure to come. However, one person was missed by many of the villagers…

Like many of the villagers, she was human, except for the large, eagle wings that were furled on her shoulder blades. However, unlike them, she was no princess or toy or mouse; she was—as she had come to find out—the ruler of Dreamlight Valley itself, bearing and wielding Dreamlight magic! Her name was Pheonix, though her snow-white hair and eagle wings countered her name-sake. Right now, she was at her bedroom desk, figuring out a schematic she’d been working on for a while now.

Suddenly, a knock sounded at her door. Startled at first, Phoenix arose and went to the door to see who was there. When she opened it, she exclaimed, “Fairy Godmother! What brings you here?”

Fairy Godmother chuckled lightly and waved her wand around before revealing, “Well, child, Merlin asked me to come get you. He said something about you two being overdue for a chat about something serious.”

Phoenix cringed inwardly. She knew what this was about, and she had been avoiding Merlin because of it. She groaned, “Can it wait, Fairy Godmother?”

The elderly fairy was surprised at Phoenix’ answer and replied, “Well, I suppose it can’t, Phoenix. Merlin looked quite serious about the meeting.”

Phoenix sighed, “I guess I needed to bite the bullet at some point.” She then locked up and began heading in the direction of Merlin’s house, addressing the fairy, “Merlin was smart to send you, Fairy Godmother. I really can’t say ‘no’ to you.”

The fairy followed beside Phoenix and answered, “Well…I suppose, but this is very puzzling! It isn’t like you to avoid Merlin.”

They descended down the meadow until Merlin’s house came into view. As they come upon his door, Phoenix replied, “It’s…complicated.”

Fairy Godmother hummed before stating, “Well, whatever the matter is between you two, I hope you can sort it out. Merlin is your trusted advisor, and you have been of great concern for Merlin; I would hate to see something come between you two.” With that, she left.

Phoenix exhaled as she watched the fairy leave. “How ‘trusted’ is Merlin really, after what I recently learned?” After a bit of silence, Phoenix knocked and, upon hearing a ‘come in’, she entered Merlin’s study.

As Phoenix entered, she could see that a place by the fire had been prepared for two, with a carafe of tea and two cups on a middle table. Phoenix supposed that that was where she’d have her “chat” with Merlin.

Right then, Merlin looked up from his experiments and exclaimed, “Ah wonderful! Good to see that Fairy Godmother succeeded in her mission.” He straightened and turned around, “Now, come, come. Let’s sit by the fire for a moment.”

Phoenix obliged, and Merlin had the carafe float from one cup to the other, pouring hot, mint tea into each. When the carafe was finished, Merlin took up his cup and began, “It’s been quite a while since we’ve talked, Phoenix.”

Phoenix blew the steam from her cup before answering simply, “It has.”

Merlin continued, “Over the course of this time of absence, I couldn’t help but wonder if our lack of conversation has been…how shall we say it…intentional or accidental. I figured it would be prudent for me to arrange this time and see for myself.”

Phoenix looked at Merlin’s searching eyes; she knew this technique well enough to know that Merlin knew more than he was saying. After taking a sip of her tea, she set it down, and stated, “Word gets around, you know. Surely, you’ve already heard theories.”

Merlin pointed out, “Gossip is not my line of interest, Phoenix. Whether I’ve heard the other villagers talking is no matter. While I may have a hypothesis, I wish to hear it from you.”

Phoenix sighed and laid back on her chair, considering her next words. She then faced Merlin squarely and revealed evenly, “You never mentioned that the Forgetting was of my own doing, Merlin.”

Merlin wasn’t ready for that accusation, “I…beg your pardon?”

Phoenix elaborated, “I was in the Sunlit Plateau when I first discovered who this ‘Forgotten’, as you’ve called her, was, and when I was doing some errands for Scar, Gothel, and Ursula, each of them told me a bit of unsettling truth about the Forgetting that showed one thing.”

Merlin realized what Phoenix was talking about, and he groaned, “Oh dear…”

Phoenix continued, rather agitatedly, “And when I was doing a recent errand for a different villager, grabbing something from your library, I stumbled upon some old notes that were strung across a desk that detailed the Forgetting, the Forgotten, and the causes.” She then accused, “All this time…you knew about this!”

Merlin rubbed his forehead. “Oh Phoenix. I was going to tell you eventually, but—”

Phoenix cried, “’Tell me eventually’?! Merlin! You lied to me! You told me that you did not know how the Forgetting happened, but your notes told a different story!” Raising her voice, she exclaimed, “All this time, you’ve only told me that I’m the one to save this Valley from the Forgetting, but you failed to mention that I am also its cause!” She pointed out the door and cried, “There are friends of mine still without their memories, all because I left this Valley and left a hideous version of myself behind, but was it you who broke the truth to me gently? No! Instead, I had the villains telling me exactly what happened, sprinkling guilt all over it!!”

Silence fell over the two of them after Phoenix finished her rant, and she could tell that Merlin was thinking deeply about what he’d just heard.

Phoenix couldn’t take the silence. She arose and went to one of the windows with a sigh. She added a bit more quietly with tears forming on her eyes, “Now, every time my friends come up to me with a need for a memory, I blame myself.”

Merlin looked to her sympathetically and arose as well. Seeing her wings droop, he placed his wrinkled hand on her shoulder and began, “Phoenix…*sigh* there’s very little I can say to counter what you’ve accused me of. I withheld what happened in the Forgetting in order to protect you…though I suppose it didn’t protect you from the memories of those who remained as well.” Phoenix sighed, and Merlin continued, “Phoenix, this isn’t your fault—”

Phoenix scoffed, “Don’t give me that, Merlin. We both know that isn’t true.”

Merlin countered, “No, I mean what I said, Phoenix. The magic here in this world can do strange things, things even I don’t understand fully, but whether this Forgotten character came from you or not, I still stand by my belief that it wasn’t your fault.”

Ill-convinced, Phoenix answered, “There’s only so much you can do with a belief that isn’t true, Merlin.” Without turning around, she added, “Just look at the evidence.”

Silence once again fell between them, and Phoenix could tell by Merlin’s loosened grip on her shoulder that he was defeated. Then, Merlin urged, “Phoenix, look at me.” Slowly, Phoenix turned to Merlin as he stated, “Whether or not this Forgetting was your fault or this Forgotten fellow is a part of you, we may disagree. However, I think there’s something we can agree on. I have done a disservice to you in withholding the truth from you.” He sighed, “Even now, I remember how the giver of that necklace you bear would speak into this situation, but alas, I can still not remember who he is or what he’d say.”

Phoenix fingered her locket as she thought about what Merlin had said. Merlin had told her about this person who had given her the locket before the Forgetting and before she left, but his identity was still a mystery to them both. Changing the subject, Phoenix asked softly, “Do you think he’d ever show himself here in the Valley, like some of the other villagers? Ever since we learned about him and this locket, it’s like a part of me is grasping for a long-forgotten memory, and yet it’s still out of reach.”

Merlin rubbed his beard in thought before answering, “I…am not certain. My blasted memories aren’t what they’re used to, but from what I can remember at the moment is that he was no ordinary villager like myself or the others, so his appearance may come in an entirely new way.”

Phoenix cringed inwardly at the mention of “memories”, but she pushed it aside as she thought to herself, “Whoever this person is, I hope I can find out who he is soon.” After some silence, Phoenix proceeded to leave, but not before saying to Merlin, “Well, I’ve got some chores around the Valley that need to be done before the day ends. Debris has been showing up in all the biomes, so I have my work cut out for me.”

Merlin acknowledged. Before she left, however, Merlin urged, “Don’t forget that the villagers here are willing to help in any way you need, Phoenix. A ruler can still rely on their subjects in whatever ails them. And…I am truly sorry for withholding the truth from you.”

Phoenix nodded in acknowledgement and left Merlin’s house without a word.

THE NEXT DAY…

Phoenix delivered one final blow to the brittle rock before it crumbled before her pick-ax, spilling various minerals before her. She gathered the ones she saw, and Elsa rummaged through the fallen rock to find anything hidden. They’d been at this for a few hours now, because Phoenix had seen how low on both minerals and money she was, so with Elsa’s help, she’d been regaining her lost inventory.

Pretty soon, Elsa found several emeralds clustered together behind the black rock. With a smile, she gathered them and showed them to Phoenix. “Look at this, Phoenix!!”

Phoenix was amazed. She cried, “Wow! That’s a lot of emeralds, Elsa!” As Elsa helped put them into Phoenix’ sack, Phoenix stated tiredly, “That should probably do it for today. Thanks a bunch for your help, Elsa.”

Elsa chuckled lightly as they straightened and began a walk up to the Frosted Heights. “Any time, Phoenix! I do enjoy spending time with you, and you look rather better than the last time I saw you.”

That surprised Phoenix. “What do you mean?”

Elsa rubbed the back of her neck as she revealed, “I was seeing what Goofy had at his stall when I saw you leave Merlin’s house yesterday. You looked so sad and pained that I was worried about how you were doing or what had happened. I asked Merlin, and he suggested I’d wait a bit before checking on you.”

Phoenix groaned at the memory. She sighed, “We had a bit of a…disagreement of sorts.” Phoenix bowed her head in shame before revealing, “He purposefully failed to say that the Forgotten was from me, and that I was the reason the Forgetting even happened here in Dreamlight Valley.”

Elsa groaned in sympathy, “Oh Phoenix!”

They stopped and sat on a bench near a river, and Phoenix lamented, “If only I hadn’t left in the first place, maybe none of this would’ve happened and you would all still have your memories!”

Elsa tried to comfort Phoenix, “Don’t blame yourself, Phoenix! None of us hold it against you that you left—”

Phoenix mumbled, “Except for certain villains I know.”

Undeterred, Elsa continued, “You are doing so much for this village, and all of us know that all you want is the best for this Valley. From a person who understands what this means, don’t hold onto this blame, alright?”

Phoenix sighed, more or less conceding, “I’ll try…I guess.” Satisfied, Elsa smiled.

Suddenly, a strange SWOOSH noise sounded from behind them. They turned around and saw an unfamiliar gold and blue anomaly levitating just a touch above the ground. It seemed to hum with a life of its own as small flashes exploded from out of the sphere.

Curious and alert, Phoenix set her sack down and walked slowly towards the anomaly. Something about it seemed to draw the Dreamlight magic within her closer to it, and in turn, she drew closer to the anomaly. Elsa stood and came close behind her as she whispered in amazement, “What is that?!”

As Phoenix continued to move closer to the anomaly, she answered, “I���don’t know, but it’s drawing my magic closer.”

Having a realization, Elsa tried to restrain Phoenix with a hand on her shoulder. “What if it’s the Here and There?”

Phoenix slipped from Elsa’s grasp and answered, “No, this isn’t the Here and There.” She reached her hand out to touch the swirls as she added, “It…seems like it’s an entirely new anomaly.” Soon, her hand was inside the anomaly, causing a strange sensation to come over Phoenix.

Suddenly, the anomaly began to quickly suck Phoenix through, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground with a shout. The anomaly expanded around Phoenix’ body and began to pull her through a portal that had materialized. She struggled against the swirls but couldn’t get free! With a grunt, she cried, “Elsa! Help!”

With a gasp of fright at what was happening, Elsa tried to freeze the anomaly off of Phoenix, but the swirls deflected each blast. Elsa then tried to grab Phoenix’ hand, but the anomaly pushed her away. Unsure of what to do next, she cried, “I can’t get a hold on you, Phoenix! The anomaly is deflecting my magic!”

Phoenix couldn’t believe that this was happening. She looked around, trying to formulate a plan before she was entirely through the portal (by now, she was halfway in). “No way to touch me; no way to get me out of this. There’s only one thing I can do.” She then turned back to Elsa and urged, “Go! Get Merlin and tell him what’s going on. There’s no way I can escape this portal, but Merlin might know a way to get me back.” Then with a sigh, she added, “If…not, Merlin and Mickey are in charge until a solution can be found.”

Elsa’s eyes grew wide at that declaration. “But…I can’t just leave you here!”

Phoenix made one last attempt to break free from the anomaly, but the swirls didn’t budge, and only her shoulders onward were not consumed by the portal. She exhaled in exhaustion and answered, “You’re going to have to, Elsa. Just get to Merlin! He may know what to do!”

Though clearly torn, Elsa nodded and ran out of the Frosted Heights in search of Merlin. Phoenix watched as long as she could before the swirls obstructed her vision and the portal swallowed her up completely. The anomaly then disappeared with a flash, as if it hadn’t been there…

MEANWHILE…

Elsa had finally found Merlin in the Sunlit Plateau, overlooking the Plaza. She cried out his name, and he turned to her. When she stopped to catch her breath, Merlin asked urgently, “Dear Elsa! What has happened?!”

When her breathing was normal, Elsa revealed, “It’s Phoenix! We were taking a walk around Frosted Heights when this…magical anomaly showed up. It drew Phoenix and her magic in until it caught her and began to swallow her up into a portal!! I tried to get her out, but the magical anomaly wouldn’t even let me touch her!”

Merlin cried in overwhelming surprise, “Good heavens!!”

Elsa continued, “She told me to go and get you, hoping that if she was sucked into whatever that was, you’d have a solution to get her back from…wherever she ends up! Until then, she told me that she passes the authority over to you and Mickey.”

Merlin stroked his beard in thought over this grave news. “And…you’re sure it wasn’t the Here and There?”

Elsa nodded, “Phoenix was quite certain it wasn’t that. She believed it was something new entirely.”

Merlin continued to think about what he’d just been told for a few minutes. After a period of silence, Merlin urged Elsa to follow him as he said, “Tell me everything you know about this anomaly.

LATER…

The blue and gold anomaly materialized in an unfamiliar forest, scattering nearby wildlife in all directions. It shot out Phoenix, who tumbled out and landed on her stomach onto the grass. Groaning from the ordeal, she slowly stood up just as the anomaly disappeared. She caught the last glimpses of the anomaly before it disappeared and sighed, “Well, I’m not getting back to the Valley that way, am I?” She looked around at her new surroundings and walked aimlessly around, trying to get her bearings. “Where…am I?” As she walked, she scanned her surroundings. The forest appeared simple enough, but she knew it certainly wasn’t her forest.

Eventually, the forest gave way to a clearing of sorts; the surprising thing about it, though, was that there was a large, ethereal dome covering a large pit, as if it were keeping something contained. Curious, Phoenix walked slowly up to it and went to place her hand to it. “What could this be?” Her hand soon met the dome, causing a golden glow to emanate from where her hand was.

SSSKIIIISSH!!!!

The sound was deafening, and it caused Phoenix to stagger backwards in fright as she watched the dome shatter like glass, opening the pit to the open air. When the noise stopped, an unsteady silence filled the air as Phoenix moved cautiously towards the pit to see what was inside.

RRROOAAARRR!!!! SWOOOSH!!!

It all happened so suddenly and so forcefully that Phoenix was sent flying across the clearing, crashing up against a tree trunk. She looked up just in time to see what had escaped the pit, and her eyes grew wide with terror. “A…dragon?!!”

The dragon hovered above the tree line roaring with triumph at having been freed. Its color was a marbled black-blue, having eyes that were a striking green color. Though strong as it looked, Phoenix could sense that it was still weak from being imprisoned in the pit. Phoenix sat where she was, frozen with fear. “I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have touched that dome…”

Suddenly, the dragon caught sight of Phoenix, and their eyes locked on to each other. Before Phoenix could run, the dragon swooped down and landed in front of her, inspecting her with his bright green eyes. Then, to Phoenix’ surprise, the dragon made a low chuckle and spoke, “Well, well, well! It looks like I have you to thank for freeing me from this prison. Who would’ve thought that a person without Starlight magic could break a barrier only Starlight magic could erect or tear down!”

Phoenix looked at her hands in disbelief. “My Dreamlight magic must’ve done something to the dome.” She then turned back to the dragon and, mustering as much courage as she could, she demanded, “Who are you?!”

The dragon appeared surprised. He suddenly wrapped his long tail around Phoenix and lifted her up to his snout. Phoenix tried to extricate herself from his grip, but it was no use, and she grunted from the tight grip she was in. The dragon was silent again as he searched her with his piercing eyes. He mused, “All of Rosas would know who I am! How is it that you don’t?”

Phoenix replied cryptically, “I’m…not exactly from around here.”

The dragon seemed satisfied…until his spine scales began to glow with an eerie green light. The dragon took one look at his scales before smirking evilly at what it meant. He placed Phoenix down on the ground and encircled her surroundings with his tail before roaring, “Whether you are from Rosas or not, it doesn’t appear to matter now. You appear to have something I need.” He then got right in her face and revealed, “Magic.”

Phoenix was confused and concerned. “What are you talking about?”

The dragon didn’t explain. Instead, his eyes flashed brightly as he opened his mouth towards her. A strange, sucking sensation came over Phoenix, as if a vacuum was sucking something out of her. Then, she saw blue, purple, and white sparkles begin to leave her body…taking her strength with them. With a groan, she fell onto her knees as the suction continued. When she watched where the sparkles were going, a revelation dawned on her. “He’s stealing my magic!!!”

The dragon continued his suction of her Dreamlight magic, and Phoenix grunted at the pain and exhaustion that was overtaking her. She tried to fly out of his suction, but her wings were too weak to flap. She tried grabbing her royal pick ax to try and at least interrupt the dragon’s suction, but her tools wouldn’t materialize. As more of her magic was drained, the dragon’s own scales began to glow brighter the stronger it got, and Phoenix cried out softly the weaker she became.

SHWOOSH!!! TZZZZ!!!

A golden blast suddenly knocked Phoenix violently out of the dragon’s vacuum and towards the other side of the clearing. Seeing that his prize was taken, the dragon turned sharply towards his intruder, and anger filled his eyes as he growled, “You!”

Meanwhile, Phoenix had tumbled to a stop on her side at the edge of the clearing, completely spent from the dragon’s suction. She struggled to prop herself onto a nearby log until someone caught her by the arm and calmed, “Easy does it, winged-stranger-I’ve-never-met. Let me help you; we gotta get you out of here.”

Phoenix surrendered to whoever was having her lean her weight on her and leading her deeper into the forest, away from the skirmish that was taking place. When they were deep enough into the forest to avoid being caught, the stranger gently placed Phoenix up against a boulder and checked for any injuries. That’s when Phoenix was able to get a better look at her rescuer, though her vision was blurry from the magic loss. A woman with purple, royal attire and brown braided hair parted to one side sat beside Phoenix, feeling her head, arms, and legs for any injuries. Phoenix tried to sit back up, but her strength and her rescuer prevented her, urging, “Stay still! From how pale you look, my husband may need to see to your magical loss.”

As if on cue, a blast of gold light seeped through the trees, followed by a defeated roar fading into the distance. After a period of silence, a man also with royal attire, golden hair, and a unique shield came into the forest. Upon seeing both his wife and Phoenix safe, he breathed a sigh of relief and came to his wife’s side. “How is she, Asha?”

Asha turned to Phoenix, who appeared to be going in and out of consciousness, and shook her head, “Magnifico did a number on her, Aster. I fear…”

Without a moment to lose, Aster urged, “Let’s get her back to the palace, now!”

A FEW HOURS LATER…

Phoenix woke up with a groan from being unconscious for a few hours. She sat up slowly and rubbed her head, remembering only Aster saying that she needed to be taken to the castle. She looked around and saw that she was in a guest bedroom with a balcony that looked over part of a city. It was a clear day outside, showing that it was about noon, and the distant sounds of the townspeople below confirmed her suspicions.

Slowly, she arose from her bed and walked out of her room. She wandered down a hallway, trying to look for some cue on what to do or even find the people who rescued her. “Maybe they’d have answers.” As she walked, she could feel a strange sense in her that reminded her of Dreamlight magic, but it was different in some way. “That’s strange.”

After climbing some stairs, she came into a room that resembled a large study. At the moment, no one seemed to be here. Phoenix wandered around the room, amazed at all the strange devices and books that were there. She chuckled to herself, “Merlin and Belle would have a field day with this many books and knowledge.”

Suddenly, a voice called, “Ah, you are well!” Phoenix whipped around to see the one called Aster standing at the doorway with a relieved smile. He added, “When I felt how little magic you had left in you, Asha and I feared the worst. I’m grateful to see that the procedure worked.”

Phoenix was surprised and confused. “Umm…’procedure’? What happened?” She looked around, “Where am I?” Remembering the dragon, she cried, “What was that thing?”

Aster calmed, “Easy, miss. All your questions will be answered soon. For now, why don’t you follow me into the dining hall. You’re just in time for lunch to be served.”

Though reluctant, Phoenix followed Aster down the stairs and into the dining hall, where Asha and one other were seated. When Asha saw Phoenix awake, she exhaled with relief, “Yes! It worked!”

As Phoenix sat on the opposite side of Asha, she asked, “Um…what worked?”

Aster answered as the food was being brought out, “When we brought you back to this castle, we could sense that without your inherent magic, you would fade from us, so upon seeing that your ‘Dreamlight’ magic was similar to my Starlight magic from a book I have, I infused you with my Starlight magic, hoping that it’s similarity would bring you back. It looks like it did the trick.”

Phoenix’ eyes grew wide, “That explains this funny feeling!”

Aster added, “The infusion is a quick fix, I’m afraid. Wherever you came from, it is different from Rosas, which means that your powers may still be hindered in some way, and you lose strength a lot easier here.”

Phoenix tapped her fork on her plate. “Where I come from, Dreamlight magic is literally everywhere. But since it’s not here…”

Aster revealed, “You will need to be given a substitute regularly for as long as you are here in Rosas.”

Asha then asked, “How did you end up here anyways?”

Phoenix thought for a moment before answering, trying to collect her memories from being unconscious. “I…was with a friend in a place called Dreamlight Valley when a strange magical anomaly appeared and seemed to draw me in. When I was in range, it caught me in its swirls and began sucking me into the portal and landed me here. My friend tried to get me out, but the anomaly fought back and wouldn’t let her even touch me before I disappeared.”

A young boy, who was wearing a strangely familiar blue tunic piped up, “I wonder if it’s one of those magical time anomalies I’ve read about in your books, your highness.”

Aster quirked a brow in his direction, “You’ve been skipping ahead again, haven’t you, Merlin?”

Phoenix nearly choked on her drink when she heard that name, coughing a few times before she got her breathing under control. Concerned, Asha cried, “Are you okay?”

Phoenix wiped the water from her face with her napkin as she croaked, “I’m…okay. Just…well, let’s just say that my Valley has a wizard named Merlin, though he is much older than your Merlin.” Asha looked satisfied, but Phoenix mused, “I don’t believe this! A younger Merlin?! Did I really go back in time?”

After a few minutes of eating, Phoenix realized she hadn’t introduced herself. Turning to the others, she said, “I’m Phoenix, by the way.”

Aster and Asha smiled kindly before Asha answered, “Glad to finally know your name! I’m Asha, and my husband is Aster. You know Merlin, Aster’s apprentice, of course.”

Phoenix nodded in acknowledgement and asked, “So…what was that dragon?”

Asha and Aster looked at each other gravely before Aster turned to Phoenix and explained, “Actually, that dragon used to be an evil sorcerer and king, named King Magnifico.”

Asha continued, “Years ago, he and Queen Amaya ruled Rosas with a seemingly benevolent hand.” She sighed, “However, during the time when I was going to be an apprentice to the king, I soon found out how they ruled deceptively and, with the help of a…certain star I know…we and my friends were able to expose and defeat the king and queen.”

Aster added, “Amaya was lost during the battle, and presumably, so was Magnifico, until he came in the form of that dragon to take his revenge on us, who now rule ‘his kingdom’, as he so often likes to boast. We…had him contained in that pit with a dome I constructed out of my Starlight magic…until just recently.”

Merlin spoke up, “But your highness, didn’t you say that the dome couldn’t have been broken unless someone bore Starlight magic to do it?”

Phoenix suddenly felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She mused, “My Dreamlight magic must’ve done something to the dome!”

Aster answered, “It is quite a mystery, Merlin. I’m not sure how the dome was broken, but at this point, it doesn’t matter now. We’re going to have to be extra vigilant, should Magnifico choose to come back to Rosas and harass us.”

Phoenix groaned inwardly at what she had caused. “First the Forgetting and now this?! UGH!!” Not wanting to alarm the monarchs, however, she changed the subject, “What is Starlight magic, anyway? Why would it be similar to Dreamlight magic?”

After some thought, Aster explained, “I’m not entirely sure what makes the two magics similar, but Starlight magic is a star-based magic.”

Phoenix wasn’t understanding, “So, if it’s star-based, why do you have it?”

Asha revealed, “Because Aster used to be a star, Phoenix. He was the star I mentioned earlier that helped us defeat Magnifico and Amaya.”

Phoenix couldn’t believe her ears. “Wait. What?!”

Aster was amused at her surprise and explained, “Asha wished on a star for her people’s sake, when she first found out about the king and queen’s deception, and I was sent down to help her.” He looked at Asha fondly as he continued, “By the end of it, I found myself not wanting to go back to the rest of the stars, because I had grown to love Asha greatly, so I chose to be transformed into a human so that I could stay and marry Asha.”

Phoenix was amazed. “Wow! That’s so beautiful!!”

Aster nodded and concluded, “I lost my powers because of that, which was a minor loss to me, but one night after quite some time had passed, the One who leads stars and terrestrials alike visited me and commended me for what I had chosen. He then gave me back my Starlight magic, while still keeping me human as a reward, charging me to use it to keep my new kingdom and family safe.”

At the mention of a ruler of stars and terrestrials alike, Phoenix’ heart jumped and her locket began to hum softly. She fingered her locket in amazement and asked, “Who is this ‘king’? I assume he is a king…?”

Aster nodded, “You’d be correct, Phoenix. He is known as the High King, and He rules from a mysterious place called The High Realm. We stars were given the mandate to help those of other realms wherever we could for good.”

A sudden memory flashed across Phoenix’ mind at the mention of the High King. It was brief, but it showed a man (more defined now) giving her younger self a locket, telling her that it would keep Him close even if she ever forgot Him. As the memory faded in her mind, Phoenix exhaled in wonder and amazement. Though she was still unclear about this High King and what her own memory held, she couldn’t help but suspect, “Is this High King related to my locket?”

Once they were all finished with their meal, Asha invited, “Phoenix, if you are well enough, I would love to lead you around this city.” She then chuckled, “It’s not everyday that someone from a whole different realm comes to visit us.”

Phoenix thought that was a great idea so she agreed and began to follow Asha towards the entrance of the castle. As they left, Aster declared, “Enjoy yourselves, ladies. I’ll see about defenses for Rosas as a preventive measure against Magnifico.” He then turned to Phoenix and added, “And research a bit more on that anomaly that brought you here. Perhaps there’s a way to reopen it and allow you to get back to your valley.”

Asha chuckled, “Hopefully not before the party tonight.” Turning to Phoenix, she invited, “We’re having a ball tonight; perhaps you’d like to join us?”

Phoenix thought for a moment. “Well, as long as I’m here, I guess I could get comfortable.” With that, she agreed.

Asha smiled with excitement. “Then I know the best place to start! Come on!”

Phoenix couldn’t help but laugh as she followed Asha, and Aster called, “See you soon, you two!”

Merlin volunteered, “I’ll get the books, your highness!” With that, he ran off to the study. Aster chuckled at his enthusiasm as Asha and Phoenix left, leaving Aster alone by the door.

Suddenly, a light unlike anything in the sky shone from behind Aster, allowing an older man with golden, regal attire and strange wings to step forth. Without turning around, Aster smiled reverently and said, “I figured You might come around this time, Your Highness.”

MEANWHILE…

Back at Dreamlight Valley, Merlin was scouring his books for any information on the anomaly Elsa had described. Several of his books floated around the room, as he tediously picked out one by one in search of answers, without much luck. He mumbled under his breath, “Remarkable. Almost nothing about the anomaly Elsa described. Hmm…I wonder…”

Right then, a knock sounded on Merlin’s door. At his permission, Mickey came in to check on Merlin. Concerned, he asked, “Any luck, Merlin?”

Merlin turned to Mickey and groaned, “I’m afraid I haven’t found anything that describes what happened Mickey. Whatever Phoenix fell into, I haven’t the foggiest idea on how to bring her back.”

Mickey sighed, “Gosh, that doesn’t sound good. I hope she’s okay.”

Merlin nodded in agreement, “As do I, Mickey.” Suddenly, Merlin’s head began to throb, and his magic began to pulse with a strange, blue glow before letting the floating books fall to the ground. With a groan, Merlin fell into a nearby chair and massaged his temples.

Alarmed, Mickey rushed to his side. “Merlin! What’s wrong?!”

Merlin stuttered, “I…I’m not sure. It’s like…my memories are getting rearranged.” He sighed gustily, “The…throbbing’s stopped, but the sensation! Memories from a long time ago seem to be rearranging and changing…I—”

Mickey patted Merlin’s arm sympathetically, “Well, why don’t you rest here for now. We may need to find another way to learn Phoenix’ location.”

Merlin agreed. “Until then, we must keep the peace here in the Valley. Who knows how long it will be until Phoenix can return to us once again.”

BACK AT ROSAS…

Phoenix followed Asha around the town, listening as she talked about the best parts of Rosas. Many of the townspeople greeted her warmly and others seemed to stare at Phoenix and her…oddities. Phoenix felt self-conscious, realizing that her wings were what caught the people’s attention. As they turned a corner towards a clothing’s store, Phoenix stated, “I realize I might seem rather odd to the people of Rosas.”

Asha turned to her and, seeing what she meant, assured, “Don’t worry! That won’t last long. It took a while for my friends and I to get used to having a star as a friend. Besides, you’re from a different realm; it makes sense that you have something that is different from us.”

Phoenix didn’t think of it like that. “I guess you’re right. Though, where I come from, almost every villager is different. We have talking lions, a mouse that can cook, princesses and villains, and…well a lot of other things!”

Asha’s eyes grew wide at that bit of information. “Wow!! That is pretty different!” As they got to the store’s entrance, Asha declared, “Here we are! I’m sure Sarina has a dress that’ll be perfect for you.”

Phoenix thanked her, and Sarina came to the counter. Upon seeing Asha, she cried, “Your majesty! I’m so glad to see you in my shop! What can I do for you today?”

Asha smiled kindly as she revealed, “Could we get a dress for my friend here? She’s new to Rosas and is a guest at our castle and will be attending the ball tonight.”

Sarina squealed with excitement. “Wonderful!” She got her measuring lines out and came to Phoenix to take her measurements. As she did, she mused, “I’ll need to alter a bit of it to fit the wings, but that shouldn’t be too much.” She then addressed Phoenix, “Do you have a preferred style or color?”

Phoenix thought for a moment before answering, “Well…I do enjoy various blues, whites, and yellows…as for the style…I’m not terribly sure.”

Once Sarina was finished, she stroked her chin in thought before revealing, “You know, I have an unfinished dress in the back that has the right colors. What better time for me to get back to it than for this event!”

Asha then asked, “Will it be done in time?” Then remembering something she remarked, “What am I saying? Of course it will! You’re the best dress maker in Rosas, Sarina!”

Sarina chuckled, “Well, I try.” She then revealed, “If you want, I can have it dropped off at the castle.”

Asha agreed as she placed several gold coins down at Sarina’s desk, “Sounds good! Thank you.”

Sarina smirked before giving the coins back to Asha. “Consider this project a gift for the newcomer.” Turning to Phoenix, she declared, “Welcome to Rosas, miss…”

Phoenix answered, “I’m Phoenix, miss, and thank you. I really do feel welcomed here.”

Sarina waved her off, “Just call me Sarina, Phoenix. Everyone does.”

Phoenix acknowledged, and the two of them left the store and began a trek towards the docks. Asha stated, “The sounds of the docks are kinda nice to hear from time to time. Plus, I need to check on the shipments.”

Phoenix smiled as she followed Asha down the steps and onto the docks, where several ships were anchored. Some had brought in a fresh catch, while others brought a variety of goods from other lands. As they checked the shipments, Phoenix was amazed at all the things Rosas brought in. “Scrooge McDuck would be head over webbed feet over Rosas’ economy!”

Suddenly, a distant roar was heard towards the furthest edge of the forest. Phoenix heard it and gasped in recognition. “That must be Magnifico!!”

Asha noticed Phoenix’ alarmed countenance and asked, “What’s wrong, Phoenix?”

Phoenix stuttered, “I…I just heard the dragon across the island. He must be coming back.” Her fists clenched at the memory of her blunder. “I can’t let him get anywhere near the city!!” Then, without a word, Phoenix spread her wings and shot up into the air, heading straight for the roar.

Asha tried to stop her. “Phoenix!!! Wait!!” But she was too far to hear. Formulating a plan, Asha rushed back up the steps and back to the castle to grab her wand…

IN THE FOREST…

Aster and his men were lined up at the border of the forest in preparation for Magnifico’s attack. Aster was at the front of the line with his shield ready and a plan up his sleeve. He declared to his men, “Hold this line steady until the barrier is complete! We cannot have Magnifico enter the city!”

The men acknowledged just as the dragon met them. He chuckled evilly, “You really think this will stop me?! Your little friend’s magic has empowered me!” He then roared, “I’m stronger than you think, star boy!!”

Aster smirked, “That’s the thing about our magics, Magnifico. Starlight and Dreamlight magic may be similar,” he then pulled out his sword and infused his magic into the blade before answering, “But Starlight magic outdoes Dreamlight magic any day.”

Furious, Magnifico tried to suck the magic from Aster with a roar, but Aster blocked it with his shield, leaving Magnifico with nothing but air to suck in. Surprised, Magnifico quenched his vacuum, and Aster smirked, “Nice try.”

“MAGNIFICO!!”

Momentarily distracted, Magnifico looked up just in time to see Phoenix zoom towards him and fire a magical blast at his scaley head. Not ready for the attack, the blast exploded against Magnifico’s horns and sent him staggering backwards a little, giving Phoenix enough time to hover in between him and Aster’s battalion.

Upon seeing Phoenix taking Magnifico on herself, he cried, “NO, PHOENIX!!! GET OUT OF THERE!!!”

Magnifico rumbled deeply in his throat. “’Phoenix’. That is your name, isn’t it? The very one who opened up my prison now defending her new friends from her rookie blunder.”

Phoenix grunted in annoyance. He was toying with her. She declared, “I will set that right!!”

Magnifico scoffed, “I’d like to see you try.” His eyes flashed green as he stated, “You know, when a phoenix dies, a new one takes its place from the ashes. Shall we test that theory?” Without waiting for an answer, he fired his vacuum towards her. Seeing the attack coming, Phoenix swooped away from it and fired another magical blast at Magnifico, and a regular fight ensued.

Aster and his men watched this with worry and amazement. Aster groaned in exasperation. “She won’t hold forever!!” He then drove his enchanted sword into the ground, causing a golden barrier to form around Rosas. He then straightened and waited. It would be a few minutes before the barrier was fully finished, but when it was, Aster had a plan to stop Phoenix’ attack and prevent Magnifico from coming into Rosas.

Right then, Asha came out of the woods and met with Aster. Aster turned around and saw her concerned face. He guessed, “It’s Phoenix, isn’t it?”

Asha nodded, “She just…flew off when she heard Magnifico roar. She can’t take him down on her own, can she?”

Aster shook his head. “Not in her current state. I have a plan though; we just need to wait until this barrier is fully formed.”

Meanwhile, Phoenix dodged another vacuum before firing a steady beam at the dragon’s wings. Magnifico roared in anger and swiped her away with his tail. She grunted as the impact sent her crashing down to earth with a thud. She struggled to stand, but her strength was weak once more, like when she first encountered dragon Magnifico. Confused, she wondered, “What…is happening?”

She then heard Magnifico land behind her and rumble in triumph. “Well, well, well! You put up quite a fight, little phoenix! However, my keen insight tells me that you are…how shall we say it…weakened by your attacks.” With a gleam in his eye, he concluded, “Now, it’s my turn.”

Magnifco fired his vacuum at Phoenix once more, and this time, there was no escaping its hold. Phoenix’ muscles tensed as her magic began to leave her once more, draining her of strength and, eventually, breath. She groaned loudly at the pain she was beginning to feel, and worried that she had made a grave mistake.

Suddenly, a golden lasso caught around Phoenix’ arms, wings, and waist and pulled her forcefully away from the vacuum and towards the now fully finished barrier that encompassed Rosas. Seeing his prize get away, Magnifico took flight and pursued Phoenix with a roar. With tired eyes, Phoenix looked ahead of her to see that the end of the lasso led to Aster’s hand and Asha’s wand, who were now reeling her in. Phoenix turned around to see Magnifico steadily gaining on her with hungry eyes, intent on regaining her and her magic.

It was only a moment, but soon, Phoenix phased through the barrier and landed in front of Aster, Asha, and their soldiers, with Magnifico crashing into the barrier, completely barred from access into Rosas. Seeing he was denied, he roared angrily and huffed, “I will be back.” He then flew away from Rosas to fight another day.

Aster muttered under his breath in answer. “We will be ready.” When he heard Phoenix begin to cough from lack of breath, he and Asha turned their attention to her, dismissing the soldiers. Asha gasped as she saw how pale and weak Phoenix had become.

When the soldiers were gone, Asha helped Phoenix stand and laid her up against a nearby tree. Aster then formed a ball of Starlight magic the size of a soccer ball and sent it into Phoenix’ body. Her body pulsed with a golden light a few times before subsiding, and Phoenix’ strength visibly returned to her. Phoenix blinked a few times before groaning from the ordeal and sat up on her own. She massaged her right shoulder before saying, “Thanks, you two.”

Aster and Asha breathed a sigh of relief when she recovered, but soon a flabbergasted Aster asked, “What were you thinking, Phoenix?!”

Asha agreed, “Magnifico would’ve roasted you alive if not suck the very life out of you if he had the chance!”

Phoenix rubbed the back of her head. “What will they say if they find out.” Formulating an answer, she said, “I…suppose it may be instinctual. Where I come from, I defend my villagers from harm, it’s…what I do as a ruler of Dreamlight Valley.”

Asha and Aster’s eyes grew wide at that new information. After some thought, Aster remarked, “That explains how you are able to possess and wield Dreamlight magic.” Putting that aside, he added, “However, this is not Dreamlight Valley. For as long as you are here, do not interfere with our battles against Magnifico; you are too vulnerable and an easy target for him in his desire for vengeance.”

Phoenix colored at the rebuke but acknowledged with a nod. Asha then helped Phoenix up, and they made their way back to the castle.

LATER THAT NIGHT…

Phoenix was nearly ready for the ball. The night sky was clear, and Phoenix could already hear people coming as she tried to tame her wavy, white hair. She was wearing her new dress from Sarina, which was a beautiful deep-blue with gold swirls along the waist, edges, and collar of the dress. It boasted a one-sleeve style, which Phoenix appreciated.

Once she was satisfied with her hair, Phoenix arose and caused a line of misty versions of her accessories to materialize before her. She swiped through them in indecision until she came to her Dreamlight crown. Her breath caught as she remembered how she’d found it. The crown was golden and weaved in and out until the two ends met at the center, with the sun flanked by two crescent moons. It testified to her rulership of the Valley and epitomized the responsibility she held for every villager within the Valley. She exhaled in guilt, “How could I deserve that crown after how I left them to fend for themselves against the Forgetting?”

Suddenly, a knock sounded on her door before revealing Asha, who was wearing an elegant gown that suspiciously looked like it had a touch of magic to it. She stepped inside and asked, “Almost ready?”

Phoenix nodded, “Nearly.” She gestured to her accessories suspended in air as she added, “I’m…just trying think of what accessories to have for this dress.”

Asha came over and looked through them. She soon saw the crown and asked in amazement, “Is that the crown you wear in Dreamlight Valley?”

Phoenix answered, “Yeah. I don’t always wear it though.”

Asha chuckled, “Well, I don’t always wear my crown, and I’m still the queen of Rosas.” Then, having an idea, she urged, “Why don’t you wear that one with your dress? I’d say it fits.”

Phoenix was reluctant, but she conceded and pulled the solid form of the crown out of the mist and placed it on her head, allowing the rest of the accessories to disappear. Asha smiled in approval. “Perfect!” She then began pulling Phoenix’ arms to lead her out of her room. “Now come on! Everyone’s starting to arrive!”

Phoenix surrendered to Asha’s leading and followed her out of her room and towards the outside courtyard. As they walked outside, Phoenix gasped at the beautiful decorations that transformed the courtyard into an outdoor ballroom. There were stringed lanterns around the edges of the courtyard, and a main food table that served the guests. There were many people who had arrived wearing gowns and suits of all sorts, all of whom seemed to glow at the joy of the festivities. Phoenix furled her wings as tightly as she could, so as not to bump into anyone as she walked.

Soon, Asha and Phoenix heard their names being called and when they turned around, they saw Aster jogging towards them. Asha giggled a bit as he met them and said, “Running a little late?”

Aster waved it off. “Not at all! Just had to finish a few things before I could come down.” He then looked to Phoenix and saw her crown. He guessed, “That must be your Dreamlight crown.”

Phoenix nodded, “Yes, it is. Asha helped me choose what to wear with this dress. I’ll have to thank Sarina when I get a chance.”

Aster agreed but soon became thoughtful. “Hmm…I see the sun and the moon on your crown, but there seems to be something missing…”

Realizing what he meant, Asha laughed outright, “Feeling a little left out?”

Aster replied with a smirk and humor, “I’m a human, Asha. Of course I’m not left out! However, since you mention it…” Aster then waved his hand towards Phoenix’ head, sending a bit of Starlight magic towards her crown. Phoenix felt the impact but wasn’t sure what had happened. She blinked as she went to inspect her crown. “What…just happened?”

Aster explained with a smile, just as Phoenix saw a guilded star at the center of the sun, “If you’re going to have the celestial lights on your crown, you might as well have all of them represented. Besides, I think it makes the crown look more…full, so to speak.”

Phoenix was amazed and touched at the addition and thanked Aster as she placed her crown back on her head.

“Your highness and my friend, are you making strange friends again?” Asha, Aster, and Phoenix turned to see a shorter woman with short black hair and spectacles coming up towards them with a sly smile. She was wearing a beautiful red dress but was limping along on a crutch. Phoenix supposed that her reference to ‘strange friends’ meant her.

Asha took this time to introduce Phoenix to her friend. “Phoenix, this is Dahlia, one of Rosas’ best cooks and my best friend.”

Phoenix smiled and addressed Dahlia, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dahlia.”

Dahlia answered with a chuckle, “And it’s a surprise to meet you, Phoenix!” Turning to Asha, she teased, “How’d you summon this one?”

Asha groaned while Aster laughed at the implied reference. Asha explained, “Actually, she kinda…dropped in on us. She’s from an entirely different realm known as Dreamlight Valley. Not only that, but she’s also its ruler!”

Dahlia couldn’t believe her ears and turned to Phoenix for confirmation. Phoenix shrugged, “Asha’s right. Every bit of that is true.”

Dahlia was amazed, but after some thought, she took Phoenix’ hand and said, “Well, I’m glad you found your way here, Phoenix, but you know…” Dahlia made a mischievous grin as she said, “Since you’ve met me, the first of Asha’s friends, you are going to have to meet the rest of them.” She then began to lead Phoenix by the hand to some tables on the left side of the courtyard. “Come on! I’ll introduce you!”

Phoenix could tell that Dahlia wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer and turned to Asha for direction. She simply chuckled under her breath and nodded in approval. Sighing in resignation, she let Dahlia lead her on.

They soon came to a table with six other people. When they saw Dahlia coming, they greeted her excitedly.

“There you are, Dahlia!”

“Some party, huh?”

“Who’s you’re new friend?”

Dahlia called a calm to the questions and declared, “Everyone, meet Queen Asha and King Aster’s guest, Queen Phoenix!” The others gasped, as Dahlia addressed Phoenix, “Phoenix, these are Gabo, Simon, Bazeema, Hal, Safi, and Dario.”

Phoenix greeted them sheepishly, “Hi guys…and please, you can just call me Phoenix. Everyone does.”

Gabo inspected Phoenix with a cynical air. “What are you the queen of? The birds?”

Hal punched his shoulder. “Oh be nice, Gabo!”

Gabo threw his hands up in innocence, “Hey! A stranger with wings and a crown who suddenly appears in Rosas, is that not suspicious to any of you?!”

Phoenix shifted at the comment, but Safi placed an awkward hand on Gabo’s shoulder, “Oh lighten up, Gabo! She looks fine to me.” Suddenly, Safi’s breath caught, and he placed his finger under his nose as he tried to fight off a large sneeze.

Gabo groaned, “Oh no.”

Dario cried, “He’s gonna blow!”

Jumping into action, Phoenix’ right hand glowed with Dreamlight magic, and she blew it towards Safi’s nose. In an instant, Safi’s sneeze was quenched, and he began to breathe easily. He turned to Phoenix, “Thanks! I really want to try and not sneeze during this party.”

Phoenix answered, “Let’s just hope that holds. My magic is a little…complicated right now.” Then she noticed the others staring at her with disbelief. Looking from one person to the other, she asked, “What?”

Simon pointed out, “You have magic.”

Bazeema stated quietly, “Wow, another person with magic!”

Gabo snickered, “Why are we assuming that’s a good thing?”

Dahlia groaned and grasped Phoenix’ shoulders kindly, “Don’t listen to Gabo, he’s like this with everyone.”

Feeling a bit better, Phoenix thanked Dahlia just as some folk music was starting. Safi’s eyes brightened, “Oh great! The music is starting!” He then urged the others, “Come on! Let’s get to dancing!”

The others agreed wholeheartedly (Gabo, though, was more reluctant) and went to the center of the courtyard. Dahlia, however, stopped when she noticed that Phoenix was staying behind. She turned to see Phoenix looking worriedly towards the barrier that now gave the night sky a slight tint. She called her and asked, “Aren’t you coming?”

Phoenix snapped back to attention and answered nervously, “Well…I…you see, back where I come from, I’ve been so busy restoring bits of my kingdom and helping my villagers…I haven’t actually learned how to dance.” Gesturing to the dance floor, she added, “I wouldn’t know where to begin with any of the native dances here!”

Dahlia thought for a moment before having an idea. She called over Safi and asked, “Do you mind being Phoenix’ partner for the dance? She’s a bit newer to this.”

Safi nodded excitedly and made an awkward bow towards Phoenix, saying in an exaggerated accent, “Might I have this dance, your highness?”

Phoenix colored at that title (she wasn’t used to that) but accepted his outstretched hand. She answered politely, “Of course, Safi, and please, call me Phoenix.”

Safi agreed and pulled her into the courtyard’s center, leading her in an awkward and clanky version of the dance around them. As Safi spun her around, Phoenix thought she’d feel embarrassed, but given her own dancing skills, being paired with a less-skilled dancer like her made her feel less awkward. However, throughout the dance, she found herself glancing at the border that covered Rosas; she couldn’t help but wonder to herself, “That barrier became necessary because of me, Magnifico is loose because of me, but what am I supposed to do?”

At the end of the dance, Dahlia and company went back to their table, and they invited Phoenix to eat with them. Phoenix nervously agreed, but as she listened in on their various conversations, she became more comfortable with them.

Suddenly, Safi turned to her and asked, “So, Phoenix! What exactly are you the queen of?”

Phoenix was taken off guard by that question. “What?”

Safi elaborated, “Well, despite being a tad grumpy, Gabo had a good question.”

Dahlia couldn’t help but answer for Phoenix. “Asha mentioned that she was the queen of a place called Dreamlight Valley.”

Gabo huffed suspiciously, “Where is that?”

Phoenix answered, “It’s actually not in this realm, Gabo. It’s an entirely different realm!”

Gabo didn’t seem convinced, “A likely story.”

Phoenix was surprised. “He’s challenging my integrity.” Her eyes then sparked with an idea. “Maybe it won’t be enough to tell them…but I think I can show them…” Then, with a sparkle in her eye, she arose and addressed the others, “Perhaps you might believe me if I showed you what Dreamlight Valley looks like. Using my magic, I can recreate the Valley using a memory from one of my days there.”

Dahlia’s eyes widened. “But we believe you, Phoenix. It’s just that Gabo here is being…well, Gabo!”

Phoenix answered with a bit of boldness, “It’s alright, Dahlia.” Turning to the others, she urged, “Come on! Let’s go somewhere where we have enough room for this to work.” She then led them to the docks.

As they went, Simon suggested, “Shouldn’t Asha and Aster see this too? You are their guest after all.”

Phoenix thought for a moment as they descended the steps leading to the docks before saying, “They might be busy with checking on the other guests of the ball. Don’t worry, though, I’ll find time to show them the Valley another day.”

Simon took this as satisfactory, and as Phoenix began to prepare her magic, Dahlia asked worriedly, “Are you sure you want to do this? You mentioned that your magic is a little ‘complicated’ right now.”

Phoenix formed a large, magical ball that showed the mixture between Dreamlight magic and Starlight magic before answering, “Well, it isn’t that type of complication, Dahlia, so I should be fine.” Then, with a flourish, Phoenix separated the one ball into two in both hands and spun around, sending an intense, magical wave in all directions.

WHOOSH!!!

Dahlia and her friends shielded themselves from the waves in surprise until it all became silent, and their vision cleared. They were now in a magical dome where, all around them, the magical sparkles morphed into buildings, trees, landscapes, and villagers of all shapes and sizes! Dahlia and the others gasped as the ground beneath them morphed from the simple concrete of the docks to brick paving, and the sky above them changed from night to day!

Phoenix exhaled in relief. “Phew! That worked!” She then turned to the others and chuckled at their stunned gazes. As they began moving around, she warned, “Don’t move too far from where you are. Remember, these are just shadows of what my Village looks like; you’re not actually in my Village.”

Whether they listened or not, Phoenix wasn’t sure, but she was soon bombarded with questions:

“Is that your castle?”

“Are these lions? They’re some of your Villagers?!”

“How are you doing this?!”

Phoenix called a calm to these questions. “One at a time, guys! Yes, my villagers take on all shapes and sizes, because each one comes from a different realm. However, they came here and made it their home, whether they are talking lions or regular humans.”

Hal guessed excitedly, “And you rule here?”

Phoenix rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I do. It’s a lot of work, but all of that work has made this place their home…and mine.” She then proceeded to move the entire illusion around to showcase the different sides of the Village, “This village is about as diverse as its villagers. Over there, we have Dazzle Beach, over there is what we call the Forest of Valor…”

Dahlia and her friends baulked at all the different angles and people of Phoenix’ Valley. By the end of the tour, Dahlia came over to her and stated gustily, “This…this is incredible!!”

Phoenix couldn’t help but chuckle at that statement, but suddenly, her breath caught and she groaned from a pain in her head and chest that overtook her. Her illusion flickered a few times before it vanished completely, taking Dahlia and her friends by surprise. They turned around just in time to see Phoenix collapse onto her hands and knees in exhaustion, and they rushed to her in concern.

Dahlia was the first to catch Phoenix, and she braced her shoulders up as Phoenix sat up. “Phoenix!” she cried worriedly, “Are you okay?!”

Phoenix grunted as she rubbed her head and breathed slowly before answering, “I…I think so.”

Not convinced, Dahlia turned to Simon. “Go get Asha and Aster!”

Simon nodded and jogged up the dock steps. Dahlia turned back to Phoenix and saw that she was trying to form another magical ball, but it flickered and fizzed chaotically. Phoenix soon gave up with a sigh, and Dahlia urged, “Phoenix. What happened?!”

Phoenix turned to Dahlia. “Remember when I mentioned that my magic is a bit complicated right now?” Dahlia nodded, and Phoenix gestured to her hands. “This is what I meant. My use of Dreamlight magic is rather…limited.”

Before Dahlia could ask what she meant, Simon came back with Asha and Aster. When they saw Phoenix’ current state, they gasped and rushed to her side. Asha helped her up as she asked worriedly, “Phoenix! What happened?!”

Aster’s eyes flashed before he placed his hand, which was covered in a golden aura, on her shoulder. It was a moment, but Aster soon realized, “You’re drained of your magic, Phoenix, but how?”

Phoenix revealed sheepishly, “I was…showing Dahlia and the others what my Valley looked like, using my magic,” she then exhaled, “But I suppose that might’ve been too much.”

Asha and Aster groaned before Aster got to work creating a magical ball for her to absorb. As he did, Dahlia turned to Asha and asked for the umpteeth time, “What is going on, Asha?!”

Asha asked, “You remember the draconic Magnifico that this barrier is protecting us from?” Dahlia nodded, and Asha revealed, “When Phoenix first came here, she was attacked by him, and he drained her magic, leaving her magical abilities—and her life—severely depleted.” As she watched Phoenix receive the magical ball from Aster, she concluded, “The only way we could revive her was by Aster giving her a magical infusion. It did the trick, but she’s now dependent on it as she lives here.”

Dahlia and her friends gasped. “I’m so sorry,” Dahlia cried, “I had no idea, or else I would’ve stopped her!”

Asha placed a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Dahlia. You couldn’t have known.”

Dahlia smiled in thanks, and Phoenix straightened from Asha’s support as the magical infusion worked through her system. She looked to Asha and Aster. “Thanks, you two.”

The two of them nodded in acknowledgement, and Aster charged, “Please, no more elaborate displays of your magic, Phoenix. I am giving you enough magic for a day; you need to conserve that so that it can last the entire day.”

Phoenix acknowledged, and the group returned to the ball. Even as each person returned their focus on the festivities, the reminder of her dependency on Starlight magic only reminded her of her blunder, and she couldn’t help but look back at the barrier in contemplation. “If I hadn’t freed Magnifico, none of this would’ve been necessary.”

AT THE END OF THE BALL…

As the moon peaked in the midnight sky, the people of Rosas began to go back to their homes while others began to clean up. Some took down the lanterns while others cleared away tables and empty platters. Asha’s friends were among those who were helping out, and Asha and Aster came to check on them. As Dahlia stacked platters, Asha came over to speak with her, “Thank you so much for taking Phoenix under your wing tonight, Dahlia.”

Dahlia chuckled, “She’s the only one who has wings, Asha, but I’m glad to have helped out.” She then turned serious and looked towards the entrance to the docks, where Phoenix now stood, looking up into the sky with a searching gaze. Asha followed her gaze as Dahlia revealed, “Phoenix did seem to have fun tonight, minus the magical incident, but I caught her looking up at the sky multiple times.”

Asha turned to Dahlia concerned, “Why would that be? Do you know?”

Dahlia shook her head, “I’m not sure, your highness.” Asha furrowed her brow in thought before making her way silently towards Phoenix.

Phoenix didn’t notice her at first and nearly jumped when she noticed she had company. Seeing it was only Asha, she greeted, “Oh. Hey, Asha.”

Asha smiled sympathetically. “Hey, Phoenix. Dahlia told me you had fun tonight in your first Rosas ball. You know, minus the magical loss.”

Phoenix made a slight chuckle, “Dahlia did certainly have a way in making me feel welcome.”

Silence soon fell between them as Asha thought of what to say next. As she followed Phoenix’ gaze, she asked, “Are you…looking for something?”

Phoenix turned to her in surprise before realizing what she was getting at. She sighed as she answered, “Just…watching…I guess.”

Taking a guess, Asha urged, “You know you don’t have to, right? This barrier will do the trick until we can find a permanent solution to this Magnifico problem.”

Phoenix groaned as she admitted, “I just wish that there was something I could do to fix this.”

Asha was confused at her choice of words. “Why are you taking this situation so hard, Phoenix? You sound like you’re blaming yourself for Magnifico’s escape…when you only just got here! This isn’t your fault, and it isn’t yours to ‘fix’, Phoenix.”

Phoenix shook her head, “Pardon me, Asha, but you’re partly wrong about that.” Asha looked at her with concern, and Phoenix exhaled deeply before revealing, “When I was first dropped off here, I wandered around the forest to figure out where I was until I came to a strange barrier of sorts. Curious, I placed my hand upon it, and then…something strange and magical in nature took place between my Dreamlight magic and that magical barrier, causing it to shatter.” Phoenix clenched her fists and added painfully, “I broke the barrier that led to Magnifico’s prison and he got away because of me!! None of this would be happening had I just left that barrier alone, but now you guys have been affected by my blunder, and the worst part…is that I can’t do much if anything about it!!” Phoenix’ eyes became glassy as she finished her confession, and she fought herself to not start crying.

Asha gasped at the revelation and pulled Phoenix into a tight embrace. Phoenix accepted as Asha comforted, “Oh Phoenix, You couldn’t have known about all that. You shouldn’t blame yourself for this.”

Phoenix argued, “But I’m the one who—”

The two of them separated, and Asha countered, “You couldn’t have known about any of what had taken place here in Rosas; you’re from a whole different realm from ours! We don’t hold it against you at all.”

Phoenix sighed in resignation before asking, “Is there really nothing I can do to help?”

Asha smiled sympathetically and answered, “I’m sorry, but there isn’t. However, you do help us by staying out of this fight; we don’t want our new friend to be lost to a dragon like Magnifico! I know this is far different from what you’re used to in your Dreamlight Valley, but as long as you are here, you’re going to have to abide by a different set of rules until you’re able to get back home, alright?”

After some thought, Phoenix nodded in agreement and took leave of Asha. Asha watched as Phoenix made her way back to the castle, passing Aster without a word. Upon seeing Phoenix downcast, he made his way to Asha and asked concerned, “Is everything alright, my dear?”

Asha hummed. “If you’re talking about Phoenix, then that might be a complicated answer.” She then revealed, “I think I now know what drove Phoenix to intervene against Magnifico today. She blames herself for accidentally releasing him from his prison when her magic and your magical barrier met.”

Aster was surprised, “What?!”

Asha nodded, “It happened when she first got here and she placed her hand on the barrier; according to her, it shattered from the contact. I told her that it wasn’t her fault and that she couldn’t have known what was what when she came from an entirely different realm, but…”

Aster finished, “She still feels guilty and blames herself.” Asha nodded, and Aster rubbed his chin in thought. After a period of silence, he mused, “Something must’ve happened in her realm to make Phoenix feel this way. We’ve only just begun to be friends with her, while she’s been a ruler and friend to her people in her realm for who knows how long. The fact that she’d blame herself this hard when she’s only been here a couple of days tells me that there’s something else going on.”

Asha guessed, “You think something similar happened in her realm?”

“And that she blames herself for hurting those she is the closest to?” Aster finished, “Most likely. For now, we can only help her while she’s here, however, her attitude might tempt her to do something reckless.”

Asha asked, “What can we do?”

Aster answered, "What we’ve been doing: Taking care of the stranger in our midst. However, I may need to add an extra measure for her, when she comes to be refilled with her magical substitute. Normally, I’ve supplied her with enough magic to fuel all her abilities for a set amount of time, however, I may need to cut back on that for her sake and only give her enough to allow her to comfortably live and use some basic abilities she has.”

Asha wondered, “Do you think it’ll work?”

Aster sighed, “It’s the best we have for now. I spoke with the High King earlier today, and He mentioned that her presence here is not accidental, but that there is a specific purpose for it. I can only guess what that is.”

Asha leaned close to Aster, who welcomed her, as she concluded, “Well, we’ll tackle this like we’ve done before, Aster.”

Aster smiled and squeezed her shoulder affectionately, “You’re right, Asha. Together.”

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT…

Phoenix tossed and turned in her bed, trying to drift to sleep to no avail. Phoenix was annoyed but not surprised by this predicament. It often happened in Dreamlight Valley, where she’d have trouble getting to sleep due to something that had happened in the day. When that happened, she’d usually walk down to Dazzle Beach, where the movement and sound of the waves seemed to calm her down enough to sleep. Phoenix recalled when she first started doing that; she had helped Fairy Godmother relax from her duties, and she in turn suggested that Phoenix should find time to rest. The fairy had suggested that she’d take time to sit and rest at the Beach, saying that the sound of the waves and the overall peace of the area helped her relax on many occasions.

Finally, Phoenix sat up from her bed, out of any other ideas on how to get herself to sleep. She arose and looked out her window towards the docks in thought. “I know it isn’t the same beach, but maybe going to a secluded place in the docks would work just as well. I’m sure Asha and Aster wouldn’t mind if I stepped out for a bit.” So, with her mind made up, Phoenix opened her window and took off from the balcony, soaring towards the west side of the docks.

As she flew, the silence of the night was already helping Phoenix relax. The sky was clear, and the stars above twinkled playfully. The town below was just as quiet and still as the night itself.

Suddenly, as Phoenix was coming over the wall to the docks, her eyes caught onto something strange happening. She quietly descended just beyond the wall and into the docks before discreetly hiding behind some cargo, so as not to draw attention to herself from whoever was coming. She then peeked around and gasped quietly at what she was seeing. “Magnifico?!”

The draconic form of Magnifico was hovering above one of the ports of the dock before he began to transform right before Phoenix’ eyes! Her eyes grew wide as she watched his dragon form morph into that of a human who bore the marks of a defeated royal figure. His decorated, white outfit and cape was worn and slightly dingy, and his gray hair and beard took on a bit of a disheveled appearance. However, his black, metal staff was pristine, and its head gave off an eerie green glow that made the rest of him take on a slight green hue. He stood smugly on the edge of the port, contemplating the border before him. Phoenix was astonished, “So THIS is the evil king’s real form!”

Then, to Phoenix’ horror, Magnifico walked confidently towards…and through…the barrier Aster had made that day. Once through, he smirked haughtily before making long strides across the dock and towards the entrance of the city. As he passed her spot by, she could just barely make out an evil chuckle. “Not so impenetrable after all!”

Phoenix clenched her fists at what Magnifico’s apparent plan was. “He’s going to attack Aster and Asha!!” Making up her mind, she arose from her hiding spot and silently soared over his head towards the gate.

Soon, Magnifico reached the steps leading to the city. He stopped for a moment and shrugged. “I suppose I’ll let myself in.” He then began the ascent into the city.

SCHWITZZZZ!! SKIZZZ!!!

A gold and blue barrier suddenly materialized at the city’s entrance, sending Magnifico staggering backwards in surprise and anger. “What is this?!”

“That’s far enough, Magnifico.”

Recognizing the voice, Magnifico turned around to see Phoenix hovering just behind him and her hand outstretched, showing that she was the source of the barrier. Magnifico chuckled, “Well, well, well! The little phoenix is back for more!” He gestured to her as he asked, “So what, are you…Rosas’ new protector or something?”

 Phoenix gave him an even stare before demanding, “How did you get beyond the barrier?”

Magnifico twirled his staff around before revealing, “There is a small flaw with Aster’s precious barrier. He erected it to prevent a dragon from entering the kingdom. Luckily, I’ve retained my human form, so the barrier can’t stop me from taking what’s rightfully mine.”

Phoenix landed and produced a magical blast in her hand before challenging, “You’ll have to go through me first.”

Magnifico’s eyes turned green, and the head of his staff glowed with the same color intensely. “With pleasure.” He then shot a green bolt towards Phoenix.

Phoenix tumbled out of the way before firing her own magical bolt towards Magnifico, hers being blue and gold in color. Magnifico blocked it with his staff and rushed towards her with a magical tendril forming in his hand. Phoenix ran to meet him, forming an ethereal sword in her hand, and aimed for the mid-point in his staff. “If I can sever the staff in some way, it might break some of his power.” When she was close enough, she swung with all her might at Magnifico’s staff.

Magnifico, seeing this plan, switched hands and swiped Phoenix’s face with the point of his staff. Phoenix groaned in pain and staggered to the side, placing her hand on the place she’d been cut. Magnifico turned to her and taunted, “Nuh-uh, Phoenix. You can’t break this staff.”

Phoenix growled in annoyance and tried to form another attack. Magnifico, however, was faster, and he caught her in his tendrils and threw her into a pile of cargo on the right side of the gate. The crates tumbled all around her, and Phoenix struggled to get back up.

Magnifico then lassoed Phoenix once again in his tendrils and brought her to him. Phoenix groaned at the draining force his tendrils had on her. He declared smugly, “You are just a glutton for punishment, aren’t you, foreigner?” Phoenix avoided his piercing stare, but his tendrils tightened as a result, and Phoenix grunted at the added pressure, forcing her to face Magnifico squarely. After a painful silence, Magnifico mocked, “What’s this I sense? Do I detect a sense of shame on your face?” He cackled, “Blaming yourself for all this trouble that now haunts your precious friends. Well, you should’ve thought of that before you touched other people’s things!” With a glance at Phoenix’ barrier, he added, “Don’t worry though, I’ll let you have a front row seat to Aster and Asha’s defeat. All of Rosas will be mine once more!!”

“Unlikely, Magnifico.”

Before Magnifico could respond, a white blast hit the tendrils holding Phoenix and brought her to where Asha stood, several paces to the left of Magnifico. Unphased, he turned to Asha as she helped support Phoenix and greeted, “Asha! Once again, we meet. Looks like I’ll have to deal with you like I dealt with your precious friend!”

“Wrong, Magnifico.”

Magnifico turned to Phoenix’s barrier and saw Aster phase through it and confront Magnifico. Aster formed his own staff with his golden light before declaring, “You’ll be dealing with me next!” Aster then rushed down the steps to engage Magnifico.

Magnifico stopped him short by casually producing a large portal that led to a place that was all too familiar to Phoenix. Her face paled as she watched Magnifico point his staff at the portal and say, “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.”

Phoenix’ eyes lit up in bewilderment at the presence of a portal to her realm. “What?!”

Aster stopped his advance in utter surprise as Magnifico made a low chuckle. His eyes sparked evilly as he demanded, “Bring down this barrier, surrender to me, and your friend’s precious realm will go unharmed.” He turned to the portal and twirled the point of his staff dangerously close to the opening as he added, “Your new friend is such an interesting little ruler of this place, and her depiction of it to her friends was probably the most fascinating thing of all!” He turned to Phoenix, who looked at him in horror as he revealed, “Oh yes, I did see you perform that impressive spell to show Asha’s friends your home, little phoenix. You not only impressed them, you impressed me so much…I might just have to take a visit there and…make my presence there known, if you will.”

Phoenix’ blood was boiling at Magnifico’s claim. Phoenix tried to move away from Asha’s hold, but she held firm. Regardless, Phoenix hissed, “Stay away from Dreamlight Valley!”

Magnifico paid her no mind and turned back to Aster and mocked, “Such a difficult choice, your highness! Protect ‘your’ kingdom and risk Phoenix’s realm, or surrender to me and spare her home.” Magnifico turned his back to Aster and began playing with the portal’s opening with the head of his staff, causing a green aura to cover and distort the other side. Phoenix’ horror turned into fury at this action, as Magnifico added, “Time is ticking.”

“I SAID…

STAY. AWAY. FROM. DREAMLIGHT VALLEY!!!”

Magnifico was momentarily distracted by the bold command, but it was enough time for Phoenix to burst out of Asha’s hold and body slam him away from the portal with such force that it sent him flying across the dock and landing him up against one of the ships. Magnifico grunted from the impact, and the portal to Dreamlight Valley returned to normal before disappearing completely.

As Magnifico struggled to stand up, Phoenix rushed Magnifico with a surprising burst of magic. With a loud battle cry, she lassoed him in a blue and gold light, swung him around before flinging him as far away from the docks as she possibly could. Within a second of him being released, Phoenix summoned her royal pick-ax, charged it with so much Dreamlight/Starlight magic that it and she began to glow, and swung it down onto the docks. The impact sounded like thunder, and that edge of the docks crumbled from the impact, sending several waves of magic towards Magnifico in mid-air. When those waves met him, he was forcibly transformed back into his dragon self.

Draconic Magnifico roared in surprise as he flew in place, realizing what had just happened. He tried to return to his human form, but a gold and blue aura pulsed from his body, preventing the transformation. Magnifico growled in anger; he had lost the ability to transform! He then tried to open the portal to Dreamlight Valley again, but that was prevented by the same aura as well. Magnifico had lost the power to open portals as well!! He looked down on the docks and saw Phoenix leaning on her pick-ax and staring at him with fury in her eyes. He rumbled before roaring loudly, infuriated at this sudden turn of events, and with nothing else he could do, he flew away in the night.

As he disappeared in the night sky, silence soon fell in the docks. Phoenix released her pick-ax and collapsed onto her knees in exhaustion and fright, causing her pick-ax to disappear as a result. Her fright turned into sobs, and her shoulders heaved from her tears. Asha and Aster rushed to her sides in response. Asha pulled Phoenix into a tender embrace as she calmed, “It’s alright, Phoenix.”

Phoenix clenched her fists as she wept for what might’ve happened, “Magnifico was about to hurt my Village! He was going to attack my villagers!! My friends!!” Phoenix placed her head in her hands, “I couldn’t let them suffer again!! Not when I can stop it this time!!”

Asha and Aster looked at each other in concern before Asha turned back to Phoenix, and Aster began to form a magical ball in his hand. Asha rubbed Phoenix’ shoulders in comfort, “But your villagers are safe now, Phoenix, and by the looks of things, Magnifico won’t try that stunt again.”

That bit of comfort did some good for Phoenix, but not entirely. Phoenix wiped her tears away as she began to calm down a bit. She sighed, “If I hadn’t broken his dome, none of this would be happening anyways!!”

Suddenly, Phoenix felt a burst of magic fill her being. Surprised, she turned to Aster, who explained simply, “That last spell you sent to Magnifico was an impressive use of your magic, Phoenix, but it was probably one of the biggest things that drained you.”

Phoenix turned away in embarrassment at having need of his magic three times in one day. She answered in a small voice, “I’m sorry.”

Aster’s eyes grew wide at her answer before softening. He placed his hand on her shoulder encouragingly as he stated, “It’s not your fault, Phoenix. You were only protecting your people; that’s something neither of us can fault you for.” He then looked towards the horizon as he concluded, “Though, something tells me that you may be more of a threat to him in his mind after this skirmish.”

Asha added, “But we’ll take it from here. Right, Aster?”

Aster agreed, “That’s right.” Turning to Phoenix he asked, “Will you promise us to let us handle Magnifico instead, Phoenix? With you seeming to be a bigger threat to Magnifico than before, he’ll have his eye set on your destruction, and while this battle was rather out of the ordinary, you are in no position to fight and win.”

Phoenix thought for a moment. “I suppose there’s nothing else I can do, right?” With that, she nodded her consent.

Right then, her breath caught as her face stung from the wound she received from Magnifico, and she placed her hand over her right eye, groaning from the pain.

Concerned, Asha and Aster helped Phoenix stand up, and Asha inspected the wound. A large cut ran down her top and bottom eyelids, and her eye reddened from the infection. Asha grimaced. “Oh dear. Did Magnifico…”

 Phoenix revealed, “I tried to break his staff, but he switched hands and swiped the pointed edge of his staff against my eye in defense.”

Aster rubbed his chin in thought, “Knowing Magnifico, there might have been some poison on that tip.”

“Perhaps I can be of assistance.”

The three of them turned around just in time to see a bright, ethereal form of a woman in a long dress appear nearby. Her form was made of a white light that reminded Phoenix of the stars on a clear night, and her voice seemed to have a slight echo whenever she spoke. She seemed older than Asha by about a decade.

Aster recognized her immediately. “Lady Elwyn! What brings you here?”

Lady Elwyn smiled fondly before revealing, “I’ve been observing the effects of a certain magical anomaly that had happened here recently, and upon an unprecedented merging of two magics together, I was most interested.” Looking directly at Phoenix, she added, “Though I suppose the strange and unusual things have become quite normal for you, including your new friend.” She then concluded, “When this battle with Magnifico occurred, I watched intently for the most opportune time to intervene, and it appears that that is now.”

Asha led Phoenix over to Lady Elwyn and answered, “Maybe you know how to treat whatever Magnifico did to Phoenix’ eye?”

Lady Elwyn took charge of Phoenix with a smile as Asha released her. Phoenix reluctantly agreed, sending a concerned look Asha’s way, who answered with an encouraging nod. Lady Elwyn glanced at Phoenix briefly before promising, “I will have young Phoenix back before the dawn, my friends.”

Asha and Aster nodded in acknowledgement, and Lady Elwyn flew up and towards the forest with Phoenix engulfed in her aura.

LATER…

“Drink this, child,” a mug filled with a strange liquid materialized in Lady Elwyn’s hand, and she handed it to Phoenix to drink. “This is a medicinal drink used for stars who grow dim in the sky. For you, however, it shall give color back to your pale face.”

Phoenix cautiously accepted the drink and sipped on it. The liquid glowed in the mug and was warm to the tongue. The flavor reminded her of tea, but it had a decidedly different secondary flavor that Phoenix couldn’t quite place. Once she was finished, Lady Elwyn ran an ethereal finger down Phoenix’ cut, causing only a small scar to take its place and the infection to leave her eye. Once that was finished, Lady Elwyn stated, “Much better. True to Aster’s instincts, that staff does contain poison that can prove fatal to its victim, given the right amount.” Gesturing to Phoenix’ eye, she revealed, “For you, however, it would render you blind in that eye.”

Phoenix rubbed the area she had been cut and was relieved to only find a small scar. She turned to Lady Elwyn. “Thank you, miss.” She then ventured, “If I might ask, who—what are you?”

Lady Elwyn chuckled a bit before answering, “Why, I am a star, Phoenix. I am one of the brighter stars you see at night, and I lead the other stars in fulfilling the command of our High King to help in any realm that needs it.”

Phoenix remembered Aster telling her about that when she first arrived. Phoenix shook her head in amazement, “I never thought stars looked like that.”

The star nodded in understanding. “It is a rare sight to behold. I remember when Asha first met Aster in her time of need.” Lady Elwyn laughed outright, “What surprise shone from her face!!”

Phoenix remarked, “I bet seeing Aster become human for Asha was even stranger.”

Lady Elwyn confirmed, “Yes, it was, Phoenix, but I look back on his decision proudly, for his decisions reminded us stars how to effectively fulfill the High King’s command His way, not ours.” She then looked up at the sky and saw that the night sky was beginning to brighten. She arose and urged Phoenix, “Come, Phoenix. I said I’d have you back by dawn, and I am a star of my word.”

Phoenix obeyed, and they began walking through the forest back towards the castle. Phoenix was a little confused that they were walking and not flying back, since the latter was how they got to the forest in the first place. “Why aren’t we just flying back? We’d get to the castle a lot quicker.”

She got her answer when Lady Elwyn asked, “Tell me, Phoenix, how have you been enjoying your time in this realm?”

Phoenix thought for a moment before answering, “I’ve enjoyed it thus far…Lady Elwyn.” She then sighed, “Of course, the fact that I unwittingly let my new friends’ enemy loose puts a damper on things.”

As they cleared a knoll, Lady Elwyn hummed, “I heard about that. But that wasn’t your desire in the first place, my friend. Your friends don’t seem to hold it against you, so you mustn’t either.”

Phoenix inwardly groaned; she’d heard this before. Trying to change the subject, she started, “Aster mentioned that because Asha wished on a star, Aster came down to help her.”

“That is correct.”

“But if the High King was the one to give the mandate to the stars, why did she need to wish on one?” Phoenix asked.

Lady Elwyn smiled at the question, and Phoenix caught her glowing a bit. She turned to her and answered, “Because at the time, Asha didn’t know who the High King was until she and Aster had been rulers of Rosas for about a year or so. After the High King visited Aster and gave some of his powers back, Aster relayed what happened to Asha, which led to him revealing everything he knew about the High King. Asha was soon persuaded and was presented to the King by Aster as a friend of the High King. They have been ruling under His guidance ever since.

Phoenix was amazed at the story. “Wow! This High King really is amazing!!” She then fingered her locket as she added, “It makes me want to remember as much as I can about His actions in my own realm…and His involvement in my life before…” her voice trailed off as she remembered the Forgetting.

Lady Elwyn looked at Phoenix sympathetically and said, “You will reach your goals soon, Phoenix. A person who desires the truth will always find it.”

They soon made it out of the forest and into an area of the town that led directly to the castle. Lady Elwyn led Phoenix as far as the castle doors before saying, “I must go now, Phoenix. The dawn will soon be here, and I have brought you here before then as promised.” Phoenix thanked her and went to leave, but before she did, Lady Elwyn stopped her and counseled, “Phoenix, it is no secret to me that you blame yourself for the crisis your friends face against Magnifico, nor is it a secret to me that there is something else that brings your heart down. However, as you seek the truth about the High King, perhaps what you find will help you live free from this blame you bear.” Phoenix colored a bit at the advice, as it addressed something unsaid, and Lady Elwyn concluded, “And if you find yourself looking up for truth, look further than those who seek the stars. Look further up…and further in.”

Phoenix was surprised at that last bit of advice, but she nodded her thanks. Then, Lady Elwyn burst with a white light and shot up back into the sky to her normal place. Phoenix covered her eyes from the brightness, but when it dissipated, she looked up just in time to see Lady Elwyn’s star form twinkle intensely, as if winking at her. When the light was fully faded, Phoenix entered the castle and went up to her balcony. She stared at the city and then at the sky, thinking about what Lady Elwyn had said. The night sky had brightened a little, but it was still dark enough to appear like night, and the stars were still visible. Phoenix sighed as she dropped her gaze and clenched her locket, remembering Lady Elwyn’s last bit of advice: “And if you find yourself looking up for truth, look further than those who seek the stars. Look further up…and further in.”

She then groaned, “How can I look further up and further in?!” She looked up once again and—taking a chance—she held her locket tighter and spoke softly, “If you can hear me, High King, please help me see the truth!!”

Silence.

Phoenix waited for a few minutes more, unsure of what she was looking for.

Suddenly, the moment she blinked her vision took on an otherworldly light. Phoenix gasped in fright and staggered a bit before she caught sight of something in the sky. The stars all dimmed as a bright hole formed in the night sky. It grew bigger and bigger until Phoenix could just make out the form of someone sitting on an impressive throne. The sight of it all frightened Phoenix, and she almost ran away until…

“Phoenix.”

Phoenix’ body immediately relaxed when her name was called. The Voice was filled with familiarity and love, and Phoenix’ locket began to hum and vibrate uncontrollably at the presence of the light.

Phoenix managed to stutter, “H…High King?!”

Phoenix could just barely make out a smile from the High King’s face (the rest of Him was hard to see from the light), and He stretched out His hand and pointed at her, letting a steady stream of light shoot out from His finger and fly towards her. The light hit Phoenix’ locket, and she gasped at the sensation she felt. It was like…a connection was being shown between Him and her. She stood there dumbfounded as the light made her locket glow and emanate the purest, most gracious aura she’d ever felt.

Wait…gracious?

Before Phoenix could say anything, the High King spoke a few words that overwhelmed her with a kindness she could just barely recognize. “Rest, my child.”

All at once, the vision ended. Phoenix’ sight returned to her, and she soon found herself alone on the balcony once again. Questions filled her mind, but the last thing the High King had said to her had a strange, but beautiful, power over her, reminding her of how tired she was because of the day’s events. Submitting to the power of the High King’s words, she went to her bed and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

[pact-warlock]

Raiders, Session 4

We finally get to Nowhere!

Recap of last session via @martiniiiiiimakes

Saga started the session examining the (now unpowered) wicker rat found in the tower, and tried to reanimate it as a familiar, without success.

It is possibly also connected to the wicker people or trollcats, which are magic constructs that exist in this world. With no success reanimating the rat, she uses the pieces to create a trollcat.

Lowell physically cannot resist chasing it. It is both a cat, and made of sticks. If it moves too fast her brain turns off. Despite this she insists 'this is normal human behavior'. Saga poofs them for a bit, and Lowell apologies in the morning.

It takes several more days to get to Nowhere. Unfortunately, the first person we met was a tiefling woman (Eagle) who was BURNING fingernails, because she saw visions of a woman with a ship of undead people made out of fingernails.

Understandably, Lowell, Nonia, and Fionn all clip our nails and throws them into the fire. (Lowell bites hers, Saga keeps theirs) Eagle was very persuasive. She gave us a copper for our efforts.

Now that we are in a real town, we can try and find passage! We just... don't have that much money. Lowell is incredibly willing to see if she could get the earnings via gambling, but the party talked her down, hoping to challenge a captain in a local festival.

We also found out that the Whar clan was the one to attack us, specifically the Yarl's brother, Gully. Lowell is VERY invested in the symbol on the flag, and was able to find out that it's a beast unique to their clan, and her dreams.

Our party all has Fate Runes:

Saga has a birthmark behind the ear

Nonia has a faded tattoo on her inner elbow

Lowell has a large scar covering her right shoulder

Fionn's is a tattoo on his forearm

We meet a wickerman who gives us new runes:

Lowell receives the Mennaz rune in reverse.

Mentions a hard past and a turbulent present, and he asks for the feather she received last session. He mentions the feather is for the Volv at the well of wisdom.

Nonia receives the Othala rune reversed.

Mentions a King passing a coin to a Varang, drawn swords, and the blood of her family. She is destined to find the man given the coin.

Saga receives Algeese rune upright.

Sees a terrible place, an old tower rising and returning from nothing. Twice they will walk those halls

Fionn receives Kanazz rune upright. (saga was born with this one!)

One day he will return to his homeland after righting a great wrong, and will lead them. His enemy is crafty but not wise, and has left a trail. A man in the far north protected by the hide of a great bear, a dead rich man, and a terrible forest.

The runes offer wisdom, and they grant power. We all started with one (Lowell's is called Fate's Bite, and it's a scar over her right shoulder) This one is our rune of challenge!

We are also told to protect the little girl with our lives.

With this finished, we were free to explore.

We did a lot of gossiping, shopping, and picking up rumors. We've been offered nicer accommodation if we calm down an instigator amongst the refugees, our captain has sworn revenge on the Whar captain who ambushed us, and we learned that the Whar have these new beasts called "Wolves".

We ended the session waking up in the morning! Lowell refused to get the tattoo of the new rune when the others did, but after a quick conversation, she was all good.

[kosmic-autokrat]

goldcleaver (bonecleaver)

Makalaure, second prince and son of Feanor, is born loud. He will be the second of seven and the last. When he wails, Nerdanel curses, but she still loves him, and Feanaro loves him, and Maitimo loves him, and they are all a family. His craft comes naturally to him.

He grows up and meets a golden-haired girl, and she is just as bright and spirited as he, and they are wed in spring. Feanaro shakes his head fondly, and if he is wary of her he does not speak of it, for his love for his sons eclipses all his reservations of her. She soon proves herself a faithful lover, if not one overly devoted. 

She does not go with them to Beleriand, and does not swear the Oath.

Aqualonde is red and gleaming in the sunset’s light. The crimson in the waves is broken up by the choppy white and the limbs in the water. If he looks close enough as he sails, he can see faces he knew pale in the deep.

He goes to the side of his stolen ship and is sick.

Maitimo- Maedhros is taken, and Maglor, whose voice is still as strong, if not quite as set in peace- if not quite as golden so much as red, is the regent. He wears a silver circlet, one hastily made for him by Curvo in the absence of both the one lost to the flames-that-were-their-father, who burned too hot in the end, and the one his brother wore when he went willingly to a trap to save them all. Though the craftsmanship is beautiful and fair, as ever was the work of his brother, the weight burdens him, light as it is.

It should not be his, it should belong to Maitimo, and now he is leaving him there in the fortress of the enemy, his brother, and he wants to go to Angband right now and sing away his brother, but Maedhros told him to keep things in order while he is gone, and if three kings, even if one is in name only, go missing-die-disappear under thralldom in this period of time, there will be unrest and despair. And Makalaure has already died once at Aqualonde.

The Valiant comes, bearing his only older brother on the Eagle’s body, and he is thin, and wan, and nothing of the brother he remembers. Maitimo was strong, and great, and loving even when he is currently ruining his focus with the nonsense songs he sings to cheer him up from his tutor-work. Maedhros is stronger, and brusque, and though he is still kind and loving to him, who could not save him, he thinks it might be better if he was not. Because while Maedhros eventually learns to fight with his remaining hand and is still so much taller than the rest of them, the scars will not heal. Maitimo is still there on Thangorodrim, maybe, hanging unscarred.

He starts to write of the fall of the Noldor.

He promises himself this will be his last abandonment of his only older brother.

He is stationed at the Gap. He is protecting Beleriand, there, and they are pursuing the Silmarils, and they have truly taken these Sindarin names. But then fire comes, and it is burning, and his men are set alight in the conflagration, and his spirit is subsumed by the same flame but in a different manner than theirs. They must obtain them, to the bitter end, and-

Doriath. They have not obtained the jewel, but they have lost the middle three of the seven, and the set is gone. A bloody hole torn out the middle of a unified front. Even if Tyelko-Mori-Curvo-Celegorm-Caranthir-Curufin are all gone, gone, dead, his younger siblings dead, there are still the Silmarilli, and Ambarussa-

Sirion is gone, but these twin boys are not. They are twins. Twins. He failed his youngest brothers, and the twins before that when he did not go to look for them, too preoccupied with Carnistir, his brother, choking on his own blood and surely dying. He sang him a lullaby then, as he did in years long gone by, and watched as the Light left his eyes as he died. 

He will do a good deed for once, he thinks desperately. These boys will be his salvation yet. It is the least he can do, and the Silmaril is safe from Moringotto, so he can at least take solace in that. It is safe from them also, and so safe from all evil. She was right to go and not share in their doom.

Love grows between him and the boys, both the bitter and the sweet. Sometimes, Maedhros in some half-remembered daze will try to help, but calls them by the wrong name almost always in those times. Elured, Elurin, Ambarussa, and when he stands he is still taller than him and Maglor will still follow. 

He gives them to Gil-Galad for a better life than he can give them.

They argue one last time before the end.

It is madness to continue, and madness to stop. They will not do any more harm if they stop. Please, Maedhros.

But he will not abandon his brother any more. They take the jewels. He burns, and then he does not, but Maedhros burns to his doom.

The singer wanders the shores, a ghost.

He is not burning, not anymore. No, he wicked away long ago. The waves carry his voice to the sea and no further.

[a-world-of-whimsy-5]

Pairing: Manwë x Eönwë

Themes: Angst

Warnings: Mentions of wars / Death / PTSD / Trauma 

Wordcount: 2.2k words

Summary:  Eönwë, plagued with dreams of the War of Wrath, goes to  Manwë for comfort. Their meeting does not go according to the way he thought it would. 

Image source: Pinterest 

Rules and tag form can be found here.

The dream started as it always did. On a battlefield.

The air was thick with the acrid stench of smoke and gore. Swords clashed, the bitter song of steel mixing with the sounds of the wounded and dying, the calls of great birds, and the cries of fell beasts. Eagles and drakes fell from the skies, their wings burned and torn. A beast mightier and more terrifying than anything else in existence finally took to the clouds, its roar threatening to tear the very earth beneath it asunder. Its wings brought forth a great tempest, its shadow shrouding everything in darkness. 

Eönwë took in the ruinous devastation all around him, horrified by what he witnessed. Mighty trees had been reduced to charred stumps. The earth was wet and slick from the blood of the fallen. Something grabbed his arm, something bloodied and scarred beyond recognition, pleading for comfort and succour. Eönwë had none to give as the great beast above swooped down on them all, jets of white-hot fire pouring out of its terrifying maw. Fear clutched at his heart and sheer agony whipped at him like fresh coils when a river of flame washed over him. Eönwë tried to escape, unfurl his wings and fly away. In the end he could not, for his doom was already upon him. He fell to his knees, a silent scream trapped in his throat. The world darkened mercifully fast.

The Maia's fana had been shaking violently when he abruptly sat up, that silent scream still trapped in his throat. His dream had felt so real, so raw, that he looked around to make certain he was safe in Ilmarin and not in some watery grave of the now-sunken Beleriand.

Everything on that distant battlefield was gone. A soft featherbed and a pale tiled floor had taken its place. Outside the wide windows, the wind howled around Taniquetil like a living thing.

Just a dream, he told himself. It was just an ugly dream, one that hounded him like a hungry beast. Eönwë buried his face in his hands and sighed. 

True slumber had evaded him yet again. Blending living night and deep dream the way the Eldar did failed. He could not close his eyes or give in to rest as memories of past battles tormented him. Unable to sleep, Eönwë crawled out of bed, his fana worn by the lack of respite. He walked over to one of the windows and looked out.

It was a beautiful night, and the stars were out in all their glory. A great bank of clouds had already formed further down, their tops bathed in the light of Ithil. Once, such a magnificent sight would have been enough to make him forget all his cares. Now they did nothing to ease his troubled fëa.

Eönwë turned towards the bed. His side looked like it had been the scene of a small war, but the other side remained untouched. His shoulders slumped. His king was away again, leaving him to fight the horrors that plagued his dreams all alone. Eönwë tried to talk to him about his struggles, but Manwë was too consumed by his own duties to listen, always dismissing him with a curt wave of the hand. 

The herald rubbed the hot tears that had already started to sting his eyes with the back of his hand. Gut-wrenching loneliness coursed through him when he gazed upon the bed. That feeling had been a mere trifle in the beginning, one he easily ignored. Now it had grown so strong that he could no longer bear it.

I will talk to him, he decided, and make him see. If not, if he refuses...

Eönwë did not want to think of what could happen if Manwë refused to hear him. Still, it had to be done, at least for his own sake. He needed Manwë to really hear him and not shut him out again. If not, hard choices would have to be made. Eönwë held onto the hope that it would not come to that.

The long, vaulted halls beyond the chambers he shared with the king were lit with blue lamps that had gold filigree work. Eönwë walked across these halls silently, his feet bare against the cool marble floors, the tips of his wings barely a hair's breadth above the ground. There was no one around now—no supplicants appealing to the king for aid, no Ainu seeking the king out for his counsel. Many of the king's warriors had retired to the barracks. This was the perfect time to do what he intended to do.

He searched through many of the rooms and halls of Ilmarin before finding the king in his council room, surrounded by more of those blue lamps and stacks of scrolls. A sumptuous meal lay before him and a piece of parchment lay in his hand. Another report, no doubt, of Melkor's most trusted general. The Maia who was once known as Mairon had resurfaced after the fall of his lord, and many were already falling prey to the lies spilling off his tongue. The king closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on one thing and one thing only.

Where did they go wrong?

Manwë would often ponder this question at length and always found himself failing to come up with an answer. Or perhaps there was one, and he did not have the courage to face it. He looked at the parchment again. He tried to go over it once more but something else had caught his attention, telling him he was not alone. Manwë glanced towards the doorway and found that something was actually someone. His herald Eönwë was without, waiting for an invitation to come in. 

"Little dove," he said, his gaze cutting back to the parchment before him. "Why are you here?"

The Maia entered, bowed deeply, and came closer. “I came to talk to you, sire,” Eönwë said hesitantly.

“Sit,” The king commanded, gesturing to a chair in front of him. “But make it quick. I have matters of great import to tend to.”

A wave of resentment came out of nowhere, one that was wholly new to him. Matters of great import, he thought. Am I not important?

Once, all he had to do was say he was troubled and the king would set aside much of everything else for his sake. Only the most pressing matters were seen to. And now? Now the king barely acknowledged him even in the best of times. His duties had consumed him completely, making him take much of everything else for granted, especially his companion. It left Eönwë feeling more than a little bitter.

“Tis the dreams sire,” He breathed, “They are getting worse now and I am not sure of how to —”

“That again,” The king muttered under his breath. His brother’s disgrace and the War of Wrath weighed heavily on his shoulders, made him wroth. “Little dove, for nigh on half a moon you had been coming to me about these dreams. Truth be told, I grow weary of listening to them.”

His eyes started to sting again. Eönwë pressed on, a shred of hope still in his heart. If the king would only look up and see. If he could just see. “But it is more than that," he insisted. "These dreams are growing stronger and stronger. I cannot close my eyes; I cannot rest or sleep. I feel like my mind is slipping."

Look at me, he wanted to scream. Please look at me.

Manwë did not look up. He chose not to. He picked up a quill this time and dipped it in a small jar of ink. He wrote something on the parchment. "And what do you expect me to do about it?" he said curtly, his gaze firmly fixed to the task at hand. "Hold your hand while you sleep?"

"I just want you to listen," Eönwë ground out, his patience wearing thin. "Just once. Can you do that at least?"

“I have duties, herald.” Manwë put the quill down, anger rising within him. “Duties that demand my fullest attention. I neither have the time nor the patience for anything else.”

So this was how it was going to be. The king was not going to help him. Eönwë was starting to think the king did not even care. He struggled ignore the sharp pangs that threatened to cripple him.

"I will go to Lord Irmo then," he said, focusing his attention on the floor. He did not want Manwë to see his tears, certain he would not care about them either. "Or Lady Estë. They will be able to help me."

Manwë had gone back to writing. "Lord Irmo and Lady Estë are already burdened with the care of the Eldar who survived the War of Wrath. As is the Lady Nienna. You must wait."

"But this cannot wait!" Eönwë blazed, his patience finally exhausted, his fana trembling not only from sadness but also from anger. He slammed his hands against the table so hard the force sent parchment rolling onto the floor. "Not anymore! Why will you not listen and take me seriously?"

“Because I am the king!” Manwë roared and rose to his feet, his countenance dark with rage. “I cannot be expected to abandon my duties and be attached to you all the time!”

“I am not asking you to abandon your duties!” Eönwë rose, sorrow threatening to overwhelm him. What did he have to do to make the king listen to him? “I am just asking you to listen! Please! Why will you not listen?”

"Because I have more pressing burdens thrust upon me!" Manwë’s eyes filled with venom and fury burned through him. His frustration and deep-seated anger over the war and the very real harm his brother caused blinded him to good sense, making him lash out at the first available target. "I cannot be expected to deal with the pitiful complaints of a weak and pathetic Maia all the time! Eru help me," he went on, the words stumbling out of his mouth before he even had a chance to think. "But I wish I had never formed an attachment with you in the first place. All you do is trouble me and I have had enough of it."

By the time he had heard his own words and the sharp gasp that followed it was already too late. Heartache of the acutest kind clung to the air like a sickly perfume. The king could feel it, he did not need to read the thoughts of the other to know it. Shame and self-loathing slowly replaced anger and Manwë could not bring himself to look his herald in the eye. Eönwë had been nothing but accommodating to his will and pleasure, taking the good and the bad that came with being the Elder King’s consort in his stride. What he said was cruel and uncalled for and could never be taken back.

He still had to try.

"Little dove," he looked down at his trembling hands, more than a little afraid. "I did not truly mean—"

"Pray forgive me, sire." Eönwë cut him off, no longer wanting to hear another word. Manwë made it plain that he did not wish to be burdened by him, so he would burden him no more. "For troubling you the way I have. I... I give you my word that you will not have to burden yourself with me again."

Manwë went to him, to try and tell him that this was all a terrible mistake. He wanted to say that he did not mean a word of what he said. He wanted to show Eönwë that he was going to listen this time, that nothing was going to get in the way again. Eönwë no longer cared. He kept backing away from him, his heart already closing itself off to his king.

"Come to bed with me," the king implored, silently praying that he had not gone and ruined everything by his lack of care. "Come with me. We can talk about the dreams that have been troubling you."

"No need to trouble yourself with the pitiful complaints of a weak and pathetic Maia, sire," Eönwë retorted, throwing Manwë’s words back at him. "I will find some other way to manage."

"I can help you." His fear had grown stronger. He was losing him. He was actually losing him. Manwë tried to take his hand, his eyes filled with silent pleading. "Please. Let me help you."

Eönwë—already one foot out the door—physically recoiled from his touch. "I... I will remove myself to the barracks, sire," his voice was already cracking under the strain. He needed to get away before he fell apart completely. "On the morrow someone else will come and collect my belongings."

Manwë stood where he was, unsure of what to say. What could he say that could undo the harm he had already caused?

“Little dove,” he pleaded in the end, ready to go down to his knees if necessary. “I am sorry. I am so sorry.”

"I will bid you a good night, sire," Eönwë managed before turning sharply on his heel and fleeing down the hall, a blur of blue and green feathers trailing behind him.

Manwë rushed out himself, only to watch Eönwë disappear down a corridor.

He should have gone after Eönwë, showed him that he was not a burden. The King found himself lacking the courage to do so. Eönwë was always the brave one, the one who would be the first to strike and take the lead. Manwë would hesitate, listening and always taking careful measure of every situation before rushing in.

If only he had the done the same now. If only he had actually listened, Eönwë would be with him instead of fleeing from him. Manwë slowly returned to his private chambers, unable to eat, not wanting to spend another moment on those wretched pieces of parchment or on his duties. The walk back to his now cold rooms proved to be a long and lonely one.

tags: @cilil @asianbutnotjapanese​ @fanfictionfordays​ @floraroselaughter​ 

[talesofsonicasura]

Of Bug Cults and Living Stone

Prologue: Agent meets Legend

Mind controlling parasites and trying to rescue the President's daughter can be a huge stressful pain in the ass. Leon thought a taxidermy bear wouldn't make things harder. Too bad no one said anything about the owner being a troll. Literally.

Can be read gender neutral or preferred gender. Also can be read romantic or platonic. Enjoy.

Myths were a funny thing. Tales of creatures unlike anything that roamed the Earth. Fire breathing dragons, shipwrecking krakens and the constant between every continent whether it be a horror story, cheesy movies or children's nursery rhymes: Trolls.

Beings from Norse Mythology described to be made from living stone with various sometimes frightening sizes to boot. Creatures that could be a slow witted hideous monster or so human in appearance and mind it was mystifying. Although trolls rarely helping mankind isn't exactly a secret.

Now if you were one Leon Scott Kennedy, it was just a painful reminder about those creepy dolls often marketed towards children. He couldn't count how many times he had one of the ugly nude buggers look back at him in stores or the rare nurse's office. Now why would this be on the blonde's mind?

Imagine being an government agent sent to Spain since someone decided 'Why not snatch a very important thing from the United States' president?' That 'someone' was actually the leader of a bioterrorism aligned cult who uses parasitic bugs to control the populace and make them abominations. Finally with the nasty cherry on top this shit sundae is you might have said parasite inside your body.

Overall, a pretty shitty day so far as Leon rather be in bed fast asleep than relive a foreign version of Raccoon City. Man already had to kill a mutant amphibious creature as if someone drag him into a bootleg Moby Dick. The captain being a 5'11 well built false blonde agent while the whale was a man eating parasite infested salamander.

At the moment, Leon decided an inventory check would be the next best move. He'll need everything completely functional if the agent was going to make out of this shit show alive with 'Baby Eagle'. And waterlogged guns isn't gonna help unless they were a makeshift bat.

Now before he reached the village, Leon did remember one of the cab drivers mentioning a cave near the lake. An infamous place that only the bold dare to visit yet any Los Illuminados member seem to avoid like the plague. Perfect for a much needed break and inventory check.

The cavern's outside was surprisingly decent looking almost if someone once live there. Root vegetables planted in a small messy garden, mossy rocks stack on top each other by the entrance and an old clearly stolen dirty clothes pile. It was enough caution to have Leon draw his handgun.

He took a step forward unaware of the thin tripwire before his feet or the chain reaction to come. The string snapped as a soft hiss from fast pulling ropes hum around the man. Leon only had a second to notice the large creature lunging out of the cavern and instinctively fires his weapon. *BAM*

It was a direct shot as something brown hit the ground with a loud thud before it haphazardly roll at his right foot. "A bear head???" Leon looked at the taxidermy head and to the still body that now stood ferociously before the cave's entrance.

There were thin yet sturdy strings connected to each limb almost like a puppet. It was clear no one left it behind as it was too well kept and show barely any sign of wear. Yet that begged the question, who built the bear puppet?

A deep piercing growl tore through the silence as Leon's blue eyes met angry glowing slitted ones in the darkness.

The sound of a gun shot and its spicy companion scent awoken you from your slumber. Predatory eyes were quick to notice the head puppet string that now laid slack while its fellow siblings hung tight from their vessel's weight. Your irritation quickly rose as you caught the other two still present scents.

One was those accursed Las Plagas and their no doubt human vessel. A deep heavy growl tore from your throat as you rose from your comfy nest. Large curled stone hands rake the dirt alongside taloned feet, long bulky tail scrape the cavern walls, magnificent horns low enough to not hit the ceiling, thick moss like fur that coats a powerful frame, jagged sharp fangs paired with equally fierce tusks, long deer ears for sharp hearing, bear like snout and eyes capable of piercing the darkness.

A sight known to make even the bravest men piss themselves in fright much to your constant amusement. Trolls weren't a species who plays nice with humans. Especially for you as a certain group that believe they're gods earned your fury.

Now it's quite easy to recognize puppets of those vermin worshippers. You witness their ritualistic plagues infest the locals and later bloody your fangs to free their forsaken souls. What stood here was neither of those parties.

A mortal man whose blue eyes already knew horrors familiar yet unknown, dark grey shirt, black fingerless gloves, black combat boots alongside dark grey combat pants held snuggly tight against a body type built for speed, browning blonde hair which reek of dye and the only casual thing he wore was a snug brown jacket.

The warrior look back at your hidden frame with shock yet held no fear. It wasn't difficult to smell the slowly budding larvae inside his little body. "A human not consumed by Las Plagas? Quite a rare but pleasant sight for old eyes to behold."

The deep rumble of your voice made the mortal raise his gun at you. An amusing sight worth the small hearty chuckle. "What the hell are you? One of Saddler's pets?" That earned the man a harsh growl as irritation nearly boil into fury.

"I would never serve such a pathetic fleshbag! His kind destroyed the beautiful harmony of this land with those horrid vermin! Not even my dwelling escape those thieving destructive hands! As for what I am, I'm a troll who calls this broken land home."

The man slowly lower his gun but kept a finger steady on the trigger. "A troll? The ones that turn to stone in sunlight and often live under bridges? *You nod* Of course this fucking mission had to get weirder. It sounds like Saddler and his goons did something to piss you off." A disgruntled huff was enough to confirm his suspicion.

"We've been at war for quite some time. You see their "god's" power is completely useless against me. I can sap the parasite of its strength, like the larva nestled in your chest. Can even kill their entire hive if I lay my claws on the Plagas Queen. That very fear drives their numerous failed attempts to slay me. Bastards then stole something I consider invaluably precious."

A look of hope immediately cross the man's face upon hearing your words. "Then we have a mutual enemy. Saddler took something important from my country and done the same to you." It didn't take a genius to know what he's insinuating.

"You wish for my assistance? AHAHAHA! I never met such an amusing human in a very very long time. You don't know the dangers of making a pact with a troll, huh? My weakness to sunlight will be nullified in exchange for my power. I can crush your skull and rend your flesh like moss."

That didn't seem to intimidate the mysterious man one bit, in fact it made him even more determined. "Raccoon City already tore apart any sense of self preservation. Plus I'm dead either way if I can't get back Baby Eagle. Getting killed by a troll would be a spectacular way to kick the bucket though."

You couldn't help the bout of earth shaking laughter at the small human's words. "Quite a suicidal bastard, aren't ya? I like bold foolish mortals willing to dance with death." You tossed something metallic at the brave man. He caught it and saw the item was a small metal goblet.

"Pour a bit of your blood inside and prepare a title for me. It's required to form a familiar pact between us. The blood links my magic to you and the title being a way to summon me. I shall suppress the parasite's too so Los Illuminados can't interfere with the pact. Please tell this old troll the name of their contractor as I grant mine."

The stranger look at the goblet in his hands, then you with an amused grin on his face as your name grace his ears. He holstered the gun in favor of a small combat knife and made a decent slice on his left palm. Blood delicately pouring into the gauntlet then placing it before you in the shadows.

"My name is Leon Scott Kennedy. Saddler's cult has remain top dog for too long, haven't they? It's only fair that the bastards should take the role of prey. You want a title? I hope 'Hunter' is good enough for a mighty troll." Leon barely saw the large fang filled smile on your muzzle.

"Well then, Leon Scott Kennedy. If it's a hunter you want..." Sharp claws delicately grab the goblet of blood. "...then I'll happily serve the role!" And you drank the crimson liquid with vigor. A look of pain split across his face as he felt a burning sensation on his back. Leon would've think it been a trick if Saddler's whispers hadn't fell into silence.

You knew it was the familiar sigil since a troll's pact forms on the back. The pain quickly subsided as Leon's eyes return to the beast before him. He couldn't help but stare in awe when you lumber out into the sunlight.

The man had to look up to maintain eye contact as the size difference became very obvious. You were twice maybe even thrice larger than him and looked equally powerful. A massive smile took over Leon's face as he evilly rub his hands together.

"Oh hell yeah! I think it's about time to even the playing field. Hope you're ready for a bit of a hike as we have a Baby Eagle and precious belonging to recover. I'm pretty sure that ravine is a good place to start." You let out snort as you had a better solution.

"Got something with Baby Eagle's scent on it? A troll's sense of smell is better than any hound you humans train. I can easily track the lost chick down even when the scent goes stale." Leon grinned as he pull out a human invention: a cellphone.

"Take a good whiff." You sniffed at the object, catching a gentle citrus scent with a bit of cinnamon and mint to it. Clearly Baby Eagle was a young human female since they had a more fruity smell than men. "Got it. Follow me Sir Leon and I'll lead you to her."

The man was a bit surprised but quickly brush it off. He isn't going to look a gift horse, well gift troll, in the mouth. Leon needs all the help he can get if he wants to take on a cult.

Something the both of you knew quite well.

And that's it! This is a bit more dialogue than usual but some setup is needed here. Yes, I know trolls are primarily Norse or Scandinavian in origin but there are reasons why Reader is in Spain. Now for their precious treasure, you guys have to figure it out for yourselves.

Only hint I'm giving is that it's magic in nature. Leon's the type who would a make a deal with the devil especially since Raccoon City messed up him real bad. Any help is appreciated but it doesn't mean he fully trusts Reader. They don't trust him either hence the threat.

Quite normal as trolls rarely help humans whether in mythology or multiple stories. Next chapter will delve into the ravine and maybe the boss fight with El Gigante. I'll be drawing the familiar sigil later, maybe even the Troll Reader's visage.

Until next time folks, continue to thrive in the wake of Raccoon City.

[thetombedspirit]

SPOILERS FOR GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK - The Daughter of Loki and Angrboda

So, with Angrboda, Fenrir and Jormangandr's appearances in Ragnarök, naturally I'm thinking about the third child: Hel, Queen of the Underworld.

Now, after the quest in Helheim, you can find out that "Hel" is more of a title for the ruler of Helheim then the actual name of a character. As is stands right now, the eagle, Hræsvelgr, is the current and longest holder of that title. And after the main game, you find out that in order to secure her alliance, she requests a replacement so that she can retire. And since the OG Hel is Loki and Angrboda's daughter, then that could only mean one thing...

And that just gives me a ton of ideas. Here’s my take:

Atreus and Angrboda’s daughter, which in here, I headcanon her name to be Ursa, as a nod to Kratos being referenced as the bear to Atreus’ wolf and to Atreus’ first shift, which initially started Atreus on the journey that leads him to meeting Angrboda. And she is just the sweetest girl you’d ever meet: she’ll disappear for a day, freaking her family out, only to find her riding Jormangandr or playing with the wolves and bears of Midgard. She even makes friends with a begrudging war-horse with eight legs after just finding him sulking around the forest and just begs her dad to keep him 😉.

She can summon Hel-Walkers, ghosts and other dead creatures with ease. As a child, whenever she was sick, a pack of Hel-Walkers will just show up and stand guard around the house, not once attempting to take up arms, even as Kratos and Atreus attack, thinking they were there to hurt them. It’s only after Freya points out they’re not even defending themselves do they pause and realise they are here to protect Ursa in her moment of weakness, really driving in her role in the future.

She’s an absolute sweetheart, treating the Hel-Walkers as people in need and finding great interest in listening to the stories of spirits and trying to help them in any way she can, just like her dad would. She’s always growing in her powers of soul magic, even reaching feats that the most powerful of Giants haven’t reached. More on that in another post. Oh, and any curse word she picks up, she repeats with absolute joy and vigour towards her enemies and bullies, absolutely shocking her family. Mimir will ask where she learned such words, and she’ll just say "a friend".

When she gets really scared or angry though, she has her own kind of Spartan Rage: Her skin becomes a pale blue and appears translucent, revealing her skeleton, with looks like it’s glowing with blue fire, like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. This pays homage to what her OG Norse myth says she’s meant to look: half alive, half dead. Her screams become icy winds, making it so cold as to make even Kratos shiver, flails about like those Hel-Broods, leaping on her focus of rage and just scratching their eyes and face like a rabid animal. She’s lightning quick and as agile as a cat, able to dodge and manoeuvre around the most powerful of attacks. She’s very self-conscious about how it makes her look. Afraid that she’s a monster. Her family will be very quick to remind her that her form is not her nature, that she decides who she is.

I’m gonna dig more into this, but I hope you enjoy my personal headcanon. Thank you!

[mousegard]

the latest chapter of my fe3h/symphogear crossover is here, and this chapter has it all! hubert's gender gets transed! miku gets interested in a new extracurricular activity! bernadetta and the rest of the munsters try to be good neighbors! and a surprising new fire emblem character nobody was expecting shows up!

Episode 7: Crossbows in the Firelight

If Kanade had been a mother hen, and Hibiki a tiny baby chick, then Heidrun was… To call her a raven felt appropriate, but that shadow, that intensity, that sheer looming presence—she put the ‘black’ and the ‘eagle’ in ‘Black Eagle.’ She cut a figure that served as a reminder that in every bird slept the genetic memory of a vicious velociraptor. Once the teachers and students had settled in for this week’s training day (today would be shortened; it was just past noon now, as they’d had to gather supplies for overnight and procure some emergency wardrobe options for Heidrun before departing), Tsubasa decided to approach her. When she had first met Hibiki, the sight of her—small, weak, clumsy, and oafish—literally standing in Kanade’s shoes had filled her with an incredible rage, and it had split them apart for months. She would not make the same mistake with Heidrun—with the woman who had been marked as though by Kanade herself from beyond the grave as her new successor. Don’t fuck this up, Tsubasa thought to herself as she approached Heidrun. She would make a good impression on this new Gungnir wielder, at least, to make up for the terrible first impression she’d made on Hibiki. She repeated that thought in her head like a mantra, with every step further clearing her mind of all else but that singular desire to not fuck this up. Soon enough, she was standing in front of her. Heidrun looked down at her, brow furrowed over pale green eyes. Tsubasa looked up to meet her gaze, steeled herself, and reminded her once more not to fuck this up. Heidrun was tall. She was probably merely half a dozen centimeters away from being able to stand toe-to-toe with Commander Kazanari and look him in the eye without tilting her neck. She towered. She loomed. Even when Kanade had been taller than her (she’d hit her growth spurt first), she had never loomed. “Yes?” she hissed. This was it. The official first real impression she would make on Section Two’s newest Symphogear adapter—and, inexplicably, bafflingly, perplexingly, Gungnir’s newest wielder. She would greet her politely; extend a welcome to her both a student of the Black Eagles and a fellow comrade-in-arms; inform her that while the legacy of Gungnir was both a great honor and a heavy burden, she would strive to help her bear that burden no matter what it took; and… Tsubasa steeled herself, looked Heidrun square in the eyes, and spoke as sternly as she could muster: “Don’t fuck this up.” To say the glare Heidrun responded with was withering did it a disservice. It wouldn’t make a flower wither. It would make all two thousand square meters of the wisteria at Ashikaga Flower Park shrivel up and crumble to dust. “I-I mean—” Tsubasa took several steps back and offered a deep and contrite bow, all the better to hide her face and the shame that burned her cheeks. “I’m so very sorry, s—ma’am. I was… talking to myself just then.” She cleared her throat and stood back up, ramrod-straight, and took a deep breath. She would greet her politely; extend a warm welcome to her both as a student and as a new fellow comrade-in-arms; inform her that Gungnir’s legacy was both an honor and a burden she would help her shoulder; and… “Let’s you and me fight,” she blurted out instead.

[cryptidclaw]

Please listen to me rant about kits real quick-

Ok so we all know how some cats have 3 litters and even rarely 4. But why don’t they have more?

Hear me out-

There is VERY few queens who have a lot of kits, and even then not a lot make it to warriorhood or even take on a mate. Snowbird and Ferncloud are two prime examples of that. As only I think 3 out of 7 of Ferncloud’s kits have themselves their own kits, and Snowbird I think only has 2, not to mention Snowbird has the most kits in the series. And she was born in the last book of TPB. So why don’t queens have more?

We see Squirrelflight wishing she had kits in her own book. We see Sandstorm admitting she wanted more kits but didn’t want to pressure Firestar with another litter. And so on. Many cats in real life that can have kits(cause their not fixed) have a LOT of litters and kits. So it doesn’t make sense to me that so many loving couples only have 1 litter. I will do some examples-

BrambleSquirrel(when they still had respect and love for eachother)

FireSand

GrayMillie

RowanTawny

Goldenflower in general(loved having kits jo matter the father but she just didn’t have any after Bramble and Tawny which was super confusing. Like I feel like she never loved Patchpelt but she still had kits with him just to have kits, then was with Tigerclaw for a bit after Swiftpaw became an apprentice)

Graypool (like Goldenflower)

BlackMisty- I don’t approve of this ship because Blackclaw betrayed her but still. Misty loved all her kits and I feel like she would have wanted more but she didn’t.

Now I’m done with the examples lol let’s move on.

So saying this, I feel like there should be 1. More litters. And 2. More kits in the litters.

Idc of over-population. Like I swear to GOD if that’s the reason that the Erin’s don’t do like 10 kits in a god damn litter, get out of here.

ITS CALLED KILLING OFF KITS.

We see SO MANY kits die between series and off screen. Only recently have kits been not dying to just being a stillborn, being sickly, or even just dying to getting sick, or even a badger or fox getting them. EVEN A OWL could see a kit wondering alone in a dark camp to get maybe some water and get taken. THERE IS SO MANY POSSIBILITIES that even though they may have a LOT of kits, they will die. And not all of them will have kits.

Many will die as apprentice in a battle. Or get sick like Sweetpaw(we don’t have enough deaths in the books anymore btw and that’s what I hate.

Or even just die from battle wounds getting untreated because they hide them. We see apprentices and young warriors being stubborn about being treated cause their very prideful around that age and very dumb, but the truth is they could use over night just by 1 affection. And it DOESN’T happen.

We see this all in young warriors too. Yes some may be healthier then all their clan mates at this age. But they can still die. Not to mention border fights, falling branches, fires, floods, Mudslides, foxes, bears, deers(people deers will kill cats. My cat died after a deer got scared and trampled her. Her name was Saturn and she was a very young cat and wasn’t much a threat but the deer still thought of her of it. Just putting that out there)

Not to mention, Badgers, owls, eagles, hawks, falcons, drowning and so much more!

Apprentices are PRONE to trouble as we see so much in every series. It’s just that’s how the young learn. They be curious and are never cautious. Which should get a lot killed. But it doesn’t. And it’s stupid-

I’m so sorry I got off track.

But yes. I so believe Sandstorm could have had 12 kits.

That Leafpool could have had 5+

That EVERY queen unless their not that fertile can have as many kits as they want. Damn, all the kits in a huge litter could die from a huge outbreak of Greencough! We see it right before we meet Firepaw, as right before there was a huge outbreak and all those cats we saw in BlueStar’s Prophecy are 85% dead because of it.

Featherkit and Cricketkit? Got killed in that outbreak.

So did Stormtail, all the elders they weren’t dead before, Windflight, Stonepelt, AdderFang, Thrushpelt, Robinwing, Fuzzypelt, Featherwhisker, Swiftbreeze, Leopardfoot, Rosetail and Poppydawn.

That’s a lot. Now some may have not died from that. But they died between BlueStar’s Prophecy and when Firepaw joined. Which actually wasn’t much of time skip. Maybe 3 years? And for all those cats, that’s a lot! So yes. Big outbreak of Greencough that seems like a tick to the modern books now, should so happen.

Kill off a lot of characters

DESTROYE 65% of all cats from the clans!

God damn I would be so HAPPY.

Shit idk why the Erin’s aren’t doing that.

Anyways. I’m getting to worked up writing this. If I don’t stop I might tell you everything that should happen that doesn’t lol.

Thanks for letting me ramble-

honestly? I'm kinda okay with the cats not having too many litters. This is fantasy so I don't really mind that in this society the litters are small and cats don't have too many.

I feel like having to kill off tons of kittens and apprentices would just be a lot of work and would also be slightly horrifying lmao. We have to remember that despite how dark a lot of things are in these books, they are for children, so I would understand why they wouldn't want to commit mass baby murder lol (i know they have killed lots of children, but not on the level that they would have to if these cats had a normal amount of babies).

I also I like that there aren't too many litters because then we are able to actually get attached to, learn the personalities of, and care about all the kits born in the clans. It makes the deaths of the few that do die more impactful, and it makes us care about whether or not the others survive! Plus when kits die, their deaths can deeply effect their parents and family, and tons of kits dying would probably make that less impactful!

If anything, I would probably want to split up canon litters to be smaller and born at different times, so that cats who seem like they would want more kits, could have another litter! like Tawny would have had two kits in one litter and one in another!

anywayyys thats just my opinion! I can definitely see your pov as well!