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ask-de-writer · 2 years ago

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WIND MEETS THE ROM : Part 18 of 27 :

MLP Fan Fiction

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WIND MEETS THE ROM

Part 18 of 27

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

Cover art by @wind-the-mama-cat

54212 words

Writing begun 06/01/18

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story? Read from Part 1, here!

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As he got his portions and came down to the tea, Wind smiled at him. To her surprise, he smiled back. “I have heard good things of you, Lady Wind Whisper. Thank you for the tea.”

Over their quiet dinner, Hanar told Wind, “We will be up later than usual with the evening dancing. Tia and Midnight must leave for Canterlot and the service of the rest of the kingdom tomorrow.”

Just after dinner, Tia, Midnight and Marchhare retired to Marchhare's caravan to work through the Kingdom's business that really would not wait for the next day. It was not long before they emerged from the caravan, all the cases sealed and ready for delivery back to Canterlot.

Whitly took the cases and spread his wings, flying back to Canterlot. Midnight took her place in the center of the dancing green, the Skydancers gathered just behind her.

Wind saw Rom gathering at the usual place for musicians and realized with a jolt what she had been hearing during the fair but not all playing in one place. Five different kinds of Rom Lyre, three different flutes, and four different types of the Rom's simple seeming but complex to play drum sets.

They swung into an ethereal and rich version of Wind's Wings. Luna had no coaching for this dance. Her elegant hoof and wing work flowed seamlessly with the brilliant flourishes of her sash work. The Sky Dancers, staying on the ground behind her followed her lead in an amazing display. Wind began to truly appreciate how important her contribution of sways and slides were to the Rom. The Sky Dancers, following Midnight's lead, were even incorporating them into their wing work as she made the sways and slides with her whole body, including her wonderfully big and active wings.

She noticed that even Tia, while playing her beautiful big Moro Lyre, was moving her head and horn in gentle sways.

The whole dance session lasted for nearly the entire night. Wind, watching carefully, caught a few cracks in Marchhare's facade of not being able to dance any but couples dances. Getting carried away by the music, several times, he did very well for a bit before catching himself and suddenly becoming four left hooves again. She chuckled to herself when she saw it.

Hanar saw Wind notice and winked at her.

Finally, they all broke for a nap before full dawn overtook them.

Breakfast was the usual madhouse of horses vying for their favorite treats. All of Midnight's Munchies leftovers were on the board along with the usual fare! Wind was serving the Rom black tea and Hanar was in the serving line with her, as usual.

A pegasus landed outside of the camp and requested, “Permission to enter the camp, Your Grace, Marchhare?”

Marchhare looked up in surprise. “Baron Whitly! Of course, come in and join us for breakfast! What has brought you back from Canterlot?”

He joined the line while replying, “I did know that Their Highnesses will be returning to Canterlot today. Inquiry among the others in the messaging pool told me that they will not leave until the Rom have been packed up and the Rom are ready to leave.”

He sighed, “To make up some for my gaffe yesterday eve, I have returned to see if I may be of some assistance in your chores.

“I admit that, as a baron, I always let my towns manage their fairs and your comings and goings. It was only yesterday that I realized that there is far more to a fair than simply entertainment and trade. I wish to amend that by being such help as I may.”

A smiling Tia reached under the table to a hidden tray and gave him a nice twist with a tan colored topping.

Midnight stared at it in near shock! “Tia! You gave him one of your private stash of butterscotch goodies!”

Tia nodded gently. “When we have a baron this good, some sacrifices must be made.”

Wind listened with amusement and whispered to Hanar, “I heard that getting between Tia and her butterscotch topped goodies was listed as suicide by trampling!”

A giggling Hanar snorted, “Pretty close! Whitly has certainly made a good impression on Tia and Midnight.”

The meal done, the Rom set about tearing down their booths and stowing away the parts. To everyone's surprise, Whitly carefully followed directions and was actually a considerable help in getting everything properly cleaned and stored.

When all was done, Tia and Midnight went into Marchhare's caravan. Princesses Celestia and Luna emerged. They bade Baron Whitly to fly in formation with them on their return to Canterlot.

Wind took her place in the hitch beside Hanar and Pulled as the cadence was called. The serene trance of Road Songs, Pulling and the simple enjoyment of being beside Hanar overtook her. She was actually surprised when the whole caravan pulled into a Wayside to stop for lunch.

She found the others examining the Wayside wood ricks where the free firewood was supposed to be. She saw several stout ribbon like ties hanging from a holder made for them but there was no fire wood in the frame made to hold it. There were recent tracks of a loaded wagon and two ponies leading from rick out to the road.

Wind shook her head and asked Hanar, “Do ponies steal the firewood very often? It does not look like the wayside ran out, not with those tracks.”

Hanar giggled, “The old 'you need firewood, we got some cheap' ploy. I haven't seen that for several years.”

Wind pointed to the ties hanging from the side of the wood rick. “What are those?”

Rose was sort of chuckling as she answered, “Those are called benefice ties. When the wood cutters leave the wood, it is bundled in those ties. The Royal Road Police count them and seal them. That is how the wood cutters get paid. Whoever took this wood took it ties and all.”

Wind looked around and wanted to know, “Why isn't anyhorse upset by this? How will we cook our lunch?”

It was Hoof Dancer who snorted, “For one thing, the thieves will be along directly to sell us some firewood that they “just happen to have to spare,” and for the other, my dear dead donkey of a husband has already gone to fetch the RRP from both the Haymarket North and Haymarket South Road section stations.”

Wind looked around and, as she was watching, she saw old Marchhare sort of fade into view. One moment he was not there, the next he was standing quietly beside Hoof Dancer. And grinning.

Wind now understood enough to know that the grin was not a good sign for somepony.

True to the prediction, to the creak and grumble of poorly made wheels, a dray wagon loaded with bundled firewood pulled into the wayside. As the drovers, an off yellow pony and an orange one, sort of sneered, “See you gots you a problem. This here wayside done run outen wood. Tell you what. Give us a big ol lunch and 20 gold bits and we can spare you the wood to cook it up. No coin and no lunch, you gets no wood. Got that?”

Black Lotus pointed up with her horn, just before her magic grabbed both of the miscreants and lifted them off the ground. The pegasus, in the blue uniform of the Royal Road Police, saw that the situation on the ground was under control and spiraled in to a landing.

The drum of galloping ponies could be heard coming from the road. Two RRP ponies entered the south entrance and two more came in from the north. Seeing that the ponies that they were after were going nowhere, they slowed and homed in on the wagon.

They had out their note pads and were already sorting out the load of stolen firewood. One of the five came over to Black Lotus and respectfully asked her to continue holding the crooked ponies but let them down to where the RRP could properly manacle them. She did and they did. After that, she let go of them entirely.

One, with Sargent's stripes, politely asked Marchhare, “Your Grace, we have done assessing the stolen wood and verifying by the tie seals that it came from here. Would your band do us the favor of restacking it into the rick?”

For an answer, they all went to the wagon and even the small foals lifted out a bundle or two and took them to the rick and neatly stacked them. Wind, seeing what they were doing, joined them, sinking her claws into a bundle and carrying it to the growing stack in the rick.

Once the wood was all stacked properly and accounted for, Hoof Dancer used her magic to take two bundles and open the benefice ties. She neatly hung them with the others already hanging there and brought over the firewood.

Lunch was soon cooking over the coals.

Black Lotus took the liberty of speaking to the RRP officers quietly before they removed the prisoners and their wagon. Doing a quiet little happy dance, she told the rest of the band, “I have invited the RRP who just helped us to come join us for lunch as soon as they have finished dealing with the thieves.”

Wind wandered over to the boxed spring that supplied the wayside with water. She began to pick a string bag full of bank sorrel and cresses. Hanar was soon by her side, helping.

“Thank you, Wind. These will make a lovely fresh salad.”

Wind smiled as her hand busily gathered the small bounty. “I am trying to leave some to regrow the patch, like you have showed me. I am puzzled by something though. With as many freight wagons and ponies who use the waysides, why are there any of these plants left?”

Hanar grinned a little sideways as she replied, “Laziness. Comes of being in a hurry. That sounds like a contradiction but it is not. They come in and drop their hitch and get some water and rush back to their camp to boil the oats that they brought for rations. They don't look for anything fresh outside of the grazing meadow. Plus, when they see us picking any, they are too proud to 'eat that Rom stuff. Those horses will eat anything!' That attitude cuts them off from some lovely eating and saves us some excellent salads.”

Wind chuckled at the reasoning but asked, “I managed to sort out what plant makes that delicious Rom black tea. Why haven't ponies stumbled onto it?”

Hanar happily informed her, “They have. Many times. It has to be treated and dried just right. If you don't, it makes all equines sick to their tummies.”

The sheer elegance of the notion nearly stunned Wind! She chortled, “Somehorse among the Rom is a true sadist! If I had not seen how many of the ponies treat us, I would wonder if they deserved it.”

Hanar nodded agreement, adding, “There are a few who treat us well and we do return the favor. We still don't let them know our secrets. They could tell without meaning to.”

Soon they were done. Returing to camp, they busied themselves with preparing and properly dressing the salad.

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#WIND MEETS THE ROM #Part 18 of 27 #MLP Fan Fiction #Written by De Writer

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emilythedog661 · 2 years ago

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My MLP AU

This is my take on my version on the finale of MLP G4 and G5

Firstly, Twilight has the the design of luna and cadence instead of being a celestia clone, she also has some of her rainbow form in her design mixed with a night sky look in her mane and tail, her friends are also still around and also have their rainbow design mixed into them, twilight has made it so her friends live as long as she does as she doesn't like the thought of letting them go so she did a spell that puts their souls into her so they have become the guardians of equestria.

spike has a design change and he looks like more of a dragon then a buff lizard thing, he is still twilight's friendship councillor and is always by twilight's side, he also got together with ember and had some little dragons together

with the mane 5, fluttershy still runs her animal resort with discord, still caring for animals and helping animals outside of ponyville, fluttershy also has a daughter called rosanna pink aka rose pink for short and she is a accident baby with her and pinkie pie after a student at twilight's school with special needs went a bit haywire (i might do a fanfic about this, also discord secretly ships pinkie and fluttershy so hard 😆) rose pink is a ballet slipper pink earth pony with a blush pink mane and tail, the mane and tail is long like fluttershy's but curly like pinkie's, she has the same eye colour as sunset shimmers and her eye shape is like a pinkie's mom's, lastly, her cutie mark is a pink paw print with a blue lollipop on the big pad, she'll grow up to make candy for animals.

pinkie pie is the party planner of equestria and with the help of her husband, cheese sandwich and their son, lil'cheese pie and pinkie's daughter, pink blush they spread party all over, lil'cheese pie looks the same as he does in the finale but his hair is light brown instead of pink, he also has a good bond with his half sister rose pink and he grows up to be a pie baker with his cutie mark being a pie.

rarity still runs her clothes boutique and she now has a shop all over equestria for each and every creature, she so successful that she's become a clothing celebrity like sapphire shores and photo finish, she's one out of the 2 mane 6 with no kids with the other one being twilight.

rainbow dash is now the captian of the wonder bolts and she like rarity has become a celebrity, she got a full fan base thanks to scootaloo and she has adopted scootaloo as her sister, she also has a relationship with applejack being married and have magic made son together called zap apple, zap apple is a navy blue pegasus pony with a short rainbow mane and tail like his mom's hair, he has dark blue eyes and his cutie mark is a zap apple with a lightning bolt coming off it, he loves his moms and he wants to be a wonderbolt like his rainbow mom but also loves helping on the farm with his apple mom.

lastly, applejack and she has taken over the farm after granny smith died, her brother big mac is the leader of the farm with his wife, sugar belle and 2 kids, big sugar and apple blossom, she with her son, zap apple help big mac on the farm as well as rainbow dash when she's not at the wonderbolt academy and they are making big money selling apples, carrots, pears and other fruits and vegetables, sugar belle also help pinkie pie, pound cake and pumpkin cake at the sugar cube corner.

the cutie mark crusaders help run the school and also run the cutie mark camp to help get fillies their cutie marks and it where big sugar, apple blossom, rose pink, lil'cheese pie and zap apple got their cutie marks, when they aren't helping at the school or doing the camp, applebloom helps on the farm with her siblings, nephew and niece, sweetie belle helps her sister out at the ponyville boutique and scoot also helps rainboe dash at the wonderbolt academy with pegasi that have flight issues like her.

at the crystal empire and flurry is the new ruler of the crystal empire while shining armour and cadence step down but not fully retire from their royal position, the couple have been renamed to the princess's mother and father and they do what they do before flurry became princess but with flurry have the big role while they step back a little.

at the friendship school and starlight and sunburst run the school together with trixie's help, the pair have a 2 kids together, a son called moonlight shine and a daughter called twinkle star, they are at cheerille's school and they haven't got their cutie marks yet but at the cutie mark camp trying to find their purpose, trixie meanwhile hasn't found a partner yet but has somehow became starlight and sunburst's 'daughter' as she seems to be acting like an older sister to their kids but a child to them which the pair find odd but let it slide.

luster dawn went off to do her own things after twilight helped her to see what friendship was about so she isn't twilight's student anymore but twilight doe have a new student that she's interested in, her name is rose gold which is a rose gold coloured pony with purple eyes, a short mane and tail in a goldenrod yellow and her cutie mark is the symbol of friendship but it looks like a rose.

the reason twilight is interested in rose gold is because she had a prediction dream about her with a magic alicorn power stopping another alicorn called nova, nova is a night sky purple alicorn but with bat wings with a brick pink and lollipop purple mane and tail, dark blue eyes and her cutie mark was a flame with bat wings on the sides, she was the evil older sister to luna and celestia that was locked away for millions of years after she became a threat to the ponies and to her sisters, she drained all the magic from her sisters the from the ponies, mind controlled the ponies to do her bidding to find more magic and it wasn't till starswirl came along, gave all the ponies their magic back and then drained nova of all her magic before banishing her far far away in a different dimension.

it seems though that nova has managed to find her way back to equestria after a long time and twilight need to train rose gold to make friends and unlock her alicorn magic to stop nova from taking over equestria again after a long time, nova also brings with her a sidekick named nibbler which is grubber from the mlp movie but he a lot different and a lot more aggressive

anyway, i hope you like my AU and i might do a fanfic on it at some point if i feel like it and if i have the time unless someone else can do it for me which i thank you in advance but yeah, you can also add some things in the comments to add to the au if you want 😁

#mlp #my little pony #mlp au #mlp text post #mlp g4 #mlp g5 #alternate universe #my little pony friendship is magic #my little pony gen 4

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delicatemystic · 2 years ago

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Barbie Fun Fact

Symbology of the constellations in island princess

In the sky of the island it is possible to see the constellations of Cassiopeia, Andromeda, Cepheus and Giraffe, Beyond the Perseus constellation in the ocean sky.

In case you haven't noticed, 4 of these constellations are part of a Greek myth, The Myth of Andromeda. Each constellation represents a character. Andromeda is the princess, Rosella. Chepheus is the father, Sagi. Cassiopeia is the mother, Azul. And Perseus the love of the princess, Antonio.

The classifications are what most mark the characters, but not the acts of the myth itself, after all Cepheus and Cassiopeia delivered their daughter to death, what it represents is only the family position. In addition, each constellation has an astrological meaning that matches the personality of our characters.

Rosella - Andromeda: Dedicated and good at warming and captivating people's hearts, she does everything for her love, even abandoning herself.

Sagi - Cepheus: Good leader, great sense of justice, unyielding about what he think is right.It stands out for its curiosity.

Azul - Cassiopeia: Great artistic sense, intuitive, confident and sensual. You can end up relying too much on your intuition and end up missing the logic.

Antonio - Perseus: Courageous and likes to face challenges, at first he seems not to be satisfied with his current situation. Euphoric about his hobbies.

Making symbology to the story of the myth, Andromeda is rescued by Perseus who comes in his Pegasus, in this case, Antonio comes in his boat and rescues Ro from the island. Andromeda would be killed by Poseidon's sea monster, beings bound to water, and Ro nearly drowned twice.

But, what about Tikka? The giraffe has nothing to do with Greek myth, but it has to do with biblical history. How will this make sense? Keep reading.

Tikka- Giraffe: You like things your way, don't like to try hard, She is very restless, and likes to tell and listen to songs that are captivating or captivating.

The constellation of the giraffe comes a biblical episode in which Rebekah rode a "camel" on her way to the city of Canaan to get married. Of course, Tikka wasn't a big fan of Ro and Antonio's relationship. But in the scene where Ro is getting ready for the dance, Tikka shines a bouquet of roses on Ro, emphasizing the wedding. Not to mention that the scene of Ro entering the ball with the bouquet and that dress, was like an affront, like "I'm going to marry him" while it was Luciana's wedding ball with Antonio.

Heart / Reblog

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everyhowlmarksthedead · 4 years ago

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Myth of the stars.

DARYL DIXON. ┃ THE WALKING DEAD.

❝ words: about 1.4k

❝ summary: Before an expedition, he needs a story to think about while he's gone.

❝ a / n: As always, feedback is appreciated!

Gif credits to the author.

MASTERLIST. ⎢ MULTIFANDOM TAG LIST.

Your mind is blank. Your eyes are on a starry night over your head. It's been a while since you have stopped hearing the loud noise around you of different voices talking, laughing, singing (...), you weren't in the mood to join the farewell party before some of Alexandria's members leave the next morning for a new expedition. Watching Daryl go not knowing if he is going to come back, nor when he is going to do it, is by far the worst feeling you have had in a long, long time. You could accompany the squad, but who would take care of the children in case of an invasion?

You're so lost in your own thoughts that you don't notice the heavy paws over the ground straight to your position, till a wet nose touches your hand to call your attention. Dog is there, waving his tail happily as he breathes by his mouth, half tongue out. Tilting your head stopping your walk, you find Daryl coming closer too. No expression on his face. Some worry maybe.

“You okay, uh?”

“Yeah”. You try to erase that feeling from him by showing him a soft smirk curving your lips.

“Haven't seen you at the party”.

You could give him one hundred excuses, but you aren't a big fan of lies. You don't even know how to lie without being caught. Shrugging your shoulders, you continue with your walk when the man is at your side. You keep your hands inside the pockets of your jacket to warm them up and shelter them from the cold, looking at Daryl sideways before putting your eyes again over the dark sky full of stars.

“I just wanted to enjoy these views. I think… it's the only thing I like from this situation”. You whisper after a brief pause in silence. “Do you know the myth of Artemis and Asteria?”

“No”. The word escapes his rough lips in a soft murmur, turning at you for a second.

But you can feel his curiosity. Daryl loves to hear your stories, to hear your voice. It helps him to sleep some nights when you two share the same bed. He usually asks you about Greek, Norse, or Roman legends, since you used to read about them a lot when your life wasn't dependent on the virus.

You can't help but bite a side of your bottom lip, licking it before starting to relate what you learned in your past days.

“In Athens, mortals never cared about the environment. The pollution was horrible, and they weren't used to turning off the lights when they weren't using them. So, Asteria —who was the goddess of star and constellation— was afraid of the stars falling apart. She was aware that, if mortals didn't start to worry about pollution, the stars would hit the Earth. She told the Greeks about it, but they didn't hear her”.

“And what happened?” As always, he sounds curious with his gaze on Dog carrying now a stick between his teeth.

“Artemis —the goddess of nature, animals, and the moon— tried to help her. They both went to talk again with the Greeks, but they were a very stubborn populace. Even if they asked to take care of the stars by taking care of the environment, the Greeks continued ignoring their advice”.

You are really enjoying that moment with Daryl, one of the main things you miss the most when he's gone. Usually, he has to play the brave man, hiding his fears and his worries, but now he is just a man having a good time with life's little pleasures. Not caring about the walkers, nor the dead trying to haunt you continually.

“Artemis and Asteria got tired of trying to make them understand the risk, so they went to consult Zeus. He told them that he had a solution. A solution the Greeks wouldn't like, but there was nothing else to do. The god and goddesses waited till the next day when the cosmos started to fall apart creating a loud noise, terrorizing the populace”.

“They had been looking for it”. Daryl adds then, pointing at the porch of the house you are staying at to sit on the stairs.

“Yeah, they did”. You can't help but giggle, taking a seat close to him, but one step above. “Zeus, Artemis, and Asteria flew Pegasus to Earth. While Asteria gave another speech to the mortals, Zeus protected them from the stars falling down and crashing on the ground. Finally, the god and goddesses convinced them to make a change. And with this change, the stars stopped falling and Asteria, with Artemis help, placed the fallen stars back to the sky”.

By the gesture on his face, you know Daryl has enjoyed it as always. He has become an addict to your stories, your voice, and how easy you relate them. Resting your back against the white wooden railings, you direct your eyes to above your head.

“The moral of the story tells people to take care of the precious world we're living in and the good things it has, the good things it's surrounded by, even if right now isn't the most appropriate place to be in”.

“You're the best thing about this place”.

Making eye contact, you can see in his orbs he wasn't expecting these words to escape from his thoughts, but he doesn't feel any shame either after saying them out loud. Daryl raises a hand to grab your wrist gently and get your hand out of the pocket. His long fingers getting laced to yours provokes you some soft shivers, briefly moving closer to you till his knees are touching yours.

You can't help but rest your forehead on his shoulder, closing your eyelids as your arms land around his neck. For a moment, you feel the imperious necessity of crying. Your lips start to tremble when Daryl embraces you tightly putting you down a step to hold you against his body. He's not a man of expressing his sentiments through words, but gestures. Since he met you a year ago, finding you trying to hide from a herd of walkers, he hasn't been capable of getting away from you. It isn't easier for Daryl either to abandon Alexandria for the first time leaving you there, not knowing when he will return.

“We should… go inside”. You mumble although you don't want him to pull himself away from you —under any circumstances.

But people don't know about you. They think you are only good friends, not that you were meant to be for each other. The hunter nods his head standing up and helping you to while whistling to Dog to follow you inside.

As soon as you close the door behind your back, Daryl lifts you unexpectedly into his arms to bring you to the sofa. He falls on top of your body, settling himself between your legs as his lips go straight to yours. You can taste the nicotine and the alcohol in his saliva when his tongue makes its own way into your mouth, caressing yours with so much care. After unzipping your jacket, his calloused and rough hands paw your sides, almost dragging his palms over your warm skin trying to memorize every single inch of it —as if it wasn't a well-known territory for him. Daryl loves how smooth your skin is, it drives him crazy.

“I'll come back sooner or later”. He speaks under your breath, softly gasping when you tangle your fingers in brown locks of hair to push him somewhat closer. “I always come back… You know it”.

“I'm gonna miss you… I won't sleep on the nights thinking about you, wishing you're still alive”.

As your lips quiver again, Daryl doesn't hesitate to peck them with so much tenderness; slowly, delighting himself in every touch whilst you caress his hair.

“I haven't said it before, but I love you”. His murmurs race your heart, nailing your crystal eyes on the most sincere ones you haven't seen in your life. “I'll come back for you, I promise”.

Moving your left hand to his cheek, you tilt your head up to trap his lips again among yours. A loving kiss that pretends to transmit to him every single sentiment you feel for him, the fact that your heart only beats for his. You couldn't rather be in another place, nor another situation. Sometimes you thank the cosmos and the destiny for putting Daryl in your life.

#the walking dead #the walking dead imagine #daryl fanfiction #daryl dixon x reader #daryl x reader #daryl x y/n #daryl dixon #daryl dixon imagine

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feminaexlux · 4 years ago

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All That Matters (Pt 2: They’re Multiplyin’ and I’m Losing Control)

Part 2 of All That Matters. Part 1 here

Find this on AO3 here!

⁂

Ladybug convinced a newly transformed Dragon Noir to use Water form and launch himself into the sky. He'd be able to get a look at what was happening from a bird's eye view and find Queen Wasp and the other Miraculous holders. Dragon Noir was hovering above Paris in a large water bubble at the peak of his arc when he contacted her. "Hey 'Bug, she's at the Trocadero, and… you're right," Dragon Noir sighed. "She's got the other heroes all brainwashed and suited up. Except Ka--uh, the fencer girl is just… standing there."

"Is she okay? M-Master Fu isn't with them, is he?" Ladybug asked nervously.

"I think she's fine, just… non-responsive. I don't see him. Am I supposed to see him?" Dragon Noir asked, concerned.

"No! No." Ladybug breathed out a sigh of relief. "Just… just that Queen Wasp doesn't have access to all of the Miraculous then," Ladybug said. Okay. Master Fu was still safe, to a degree. Even though he wasn't really the Guardian anymore.

"Master Fu" was, in fact, not even a real person anymore.

There had been one too many close calls with Master Fu being nearly discovered by Mayura and Hawkmoth, and with Marinette being as hyper-competent as she was, Fu made the decision to retire earlier in the late summer. After all, the Order had been restored and he was no longer the last of his kind. Marinette had proven herself worthy of Guardianship time and time again. He was just too old, too weak, too slow to react and adapt.

Fu had handed over the Miracle Box to Ladybug at the end of summer. His penultimate act as Guardian was to tell her who King Monkey was after handing out the Monkey Miraculous to Kim. Ladybug became the new Guardian of the Miraculous in secret, and the person that was "Master Fu, Guardian of the Miraculous" was no more after he lost all of his memories.

There was one final "gift" that Master Fu had left Ladybug before his memories were erased. Fu had given her his blessing to use him as a decoy. Better to have Hawkmoth track down and find a dead end in a broken old man than wreak more havoc with more Miraculous under his command.

The knowledge of whoever Chat Noir was underneath the mask got lost along with Fu's memories. But that was fine to Ladybug. Chat Noir was simply her partner, and that was enough.

Though losing Master Fu as her mentor and confidante had been such a huge blow to Marinette. She had spent a week crying in secret until Luka had surprised her one day, visiting her in her room. "Thought I'd join you here if that's alright," Luka had said, and Marinette let him stay with her. He'd just smiled and held out his hands to her. He hadn't even asked what was wrong. He was just present, letting her cry in his arms until she couldn't anymore. "If there's anything I can do to help, let me know."

It had been a good long time until she was able to speak again. "You're already helping me," Marinette had said quietly, pressing herself into the hug. "This is all that I need."

Ladybug shook her head to get back to the present. She stuck her head out of the water and took a quick scan of her surroundings, making sure she wasn't spotted by anything. She got out of the river, drying out the Lucky Charm scarf as best she could. "Tikki, Mullo, Unify!" This was another Big Secret Marinette kept to herself: that she'd been keeping Mullo's Miraculous on her. It had changed a bit recently, now representing itself as a necklace with a pendant shaped like a guitar pick that she hid under her shirt. Marinette was paranoid enough that she couldn't let anyone see her wear the necklace. Multimouse had detransformed in front of Chat Noir, after all.

Sometimes she transformed into Multimouse without any akumas to deal with - breaking her own rule of not using the Miraculous for personal reasons - to be as small as she felt sometimes and hide away from the world. She and Tikki had a lot of heart to heart conversations tucked into a hatbox in one corner of her room.

This time, she was using it to just be stealthy. She used Multitude to split into several smaller versions of herself, fanning across a large area and running down different streets and alleyways toward the Trocadero.

"She's calling herself Miracle Queen," Dragon Noir mused. "The… the others are surrounding her to defend her. I'd say we're in quite a pickle, my Lady."

Multibug didn't stop running. "How do you feel about trying to draw the honor guard away?" one of her asked.

Dragon Noir snorted. "On it. Easy as pie." Over the comms Ladybug heard her partner shout "Hey there demons, it's me, ya boi Chat Noir! I'm standing right here. You brain-dead zombies want my miraculous? Come and get it!"

…

Okay…

One of the Multibugs pulled out her yoyo and took a look at the screen. Dragon Noir's spot on her map kept jumping around, pulling the group of the other heroes away as they all chased after him. Pegasus was using Voyage to keep trying to intercept but Dragon Noir bounced off in a different direction as fast as lightning. She had to give props to Chat, he sure knew how to play that cat-and-mouse game well.

But Dragon Noir wouldn't be able to keep this up forever if Viperion was working against them. She needed to take down Viperion and this Miracle Queen, and she needed to do that as soon as possible. She kept moving forward, scurrying across as fast as she could to get to cover or hide behind or underneath things, trying to close in and surround Miracle Queen from as many angles as she could get at the Trocadero.

One of her got close, so close. Miracle Queen was standing in front of a line of golden statues, and a Multibug was hiding behind one of the statue plinths when she got grabbed from behind. "Aahhh!" she squeaked out loud.

"Not ssso fassst, little moussse," Viperion said as he turned her toward his face, stressing his s's in what was probably a mockery of Sass. "You'll never get the drop on me, can't you see?" He turned toward Miracle Queen and bowed to her with Multibug firm in his grip. "I've found a pest, My Queen."

Multibug held back another squeak. "Lu--Viperion! Viperion, don't do this, don't listen to her! Don't let her control you!" She had been so sure that Dragon Noir had led them all away, how did Viperion surprise her?! She realized he must have used Second Chance and timed it so he knew just when to turn back and stop her. The other heroes must have coordinated to trick Dragon Noir!

Miracle Queen turned her head lazily, examining her nails with a sour look after giving a quick glance at Viperion presenting her the Multibug in his left hand. "Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous. A rat? That's the best you could do, Ladybug?" Miracle Queen leaned in and looked closer at Multibug. "Hmm. Although you do have your Miraculous, but they're so tiny. I don't know how much more useless you could possibly be, but…" A wasp manifested above the Queen's hand, hovering and ready to strike.

There was a lightning fast zzzip and a yoyo snatched up the wasp from right in front of Miracle Queen before she realized what happened. Miracle Queen cried out, looking up only to have a pair of Multibugs drop down from above and wrap the scarf tight around her face, blocking her vision entirely. "What the-- Aaaah!" Miracle Queen screamed as she stumbled backward.

Viperion started reaching for his bracelet but the Multibug in his hand reached out as fast as she could and held back the serpent's head to prevent the reset. The two Multibugs that dropped merged together, and another larger Multibug emerged from the shadows. The 2 larger Multibugs lassoed Viperion's left and right wrists with their jump ropes and pulled away from each other, forcing Viperion's arms apart. They coordinated and pulled their ropes backward, unbalancing Viperion and dragging him off his feet to slam his back up against a statue plinth, knocking the breath out of him. This allowed the Multibug in his hand to wriggle free and pull off his bracelet as he struggled against his bindings.

Miracle Queen pulled off the scarf and threw it on the ground just as a detransformed Luka fell to his knees, the jump ropes untying smoothly from his wrists as the Multibugs pulled away and sprinted off in different directions. "DISGUSTING! Ugh!" She stomped toward Luka and grabbed the collar of his shirt and forced him to look up at her. "You're so useless!"

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

Miracle Queen looked to her side, where a fully sized Multibug was glaring at her. "What, this piece of trash?" Miracle Queen mocked, picking a struggling Luka up by the throat until he was hanging a few inches off the ground. "He belongs with the rest of the filthy garbage!" She threw him at Multibug.

"Luka! No!" Multibug rushed in to catch him and they collided, sending them both tumbling to the ground. She sat up with Luka cradled in her arms, he was still dazed from the impact and mind control but it seemed like he was slowly recovering. Her face was set in rage when she looked up at Miracle Queen. "How could you?!"

Instead of responding Miracle Queen summoned a new swarm of wasps. Miracle Queen commanded her wasps to "Get her!" just as Multibug's earrings beeped, starting the countdown to her powers running out.

Multibug growled, trying to decide between letting Luka down to deal with the threat or getting them both out of there as fast as possible. She made her decision, throwing out her yoyo and hooking it onto a railing, pulling her and Luka away from the Trocadero as fast as she could manage trying to outpace the wasps. But even after a few swings the wasps were still pursuing and inching in closer, much too close for comfort. Multibug wasn't sure where she could go that would be safe so she gritted her teeth and dove both her and Luka into the Seine.

⁂

Luka's head was swimming in black and white static. It felt like he was floating in a sea of quicksand, getting swallowed up and drowning in grainy noise. He couldn't have any thoughts of his own last longer than a second, they'd all been drowned out by this stupid buzzing. He must have gone crazy.

"--bzzzkrrzzzzkstshshhbzzzshzzzLuka!bzzzsrrkzstzz--" Wait, that was… that sounded like-- "--rrrbkzzzzshshkstbzzzssskchssshbrLuka!rssshkzzzbzkrrrrbzzz--" Marinette! For one split second he saw her. She'd been panicked, looking up at him with worry. He hated that he made her feel this way.

He felt his legs being forced to move. Something was tugging at his hand, something warm, something small, but the sensation of it kept slipping away unless he fought hard to concentrate on it. Then it let go, letting him fully sink back into the static. He could sense that he'd been walking for some time, and then he stopped. There was this… grating noise on top of the static that must have been someone's voice tell him something… something about… the Miraculous?

Hissing sounds started overlying the buzzing in the background. He felt something tightly coil at his wrist, and when he could stop and focus against the pressure wave of sound that pressed into him from all sides, he noticed that a lot of that hissing came from… that coil? It was shapeless, the definition of its boundaries lost in the black and white grainy spots that covered his vision.

He felt that thing that was hissing bite into his wrist, and man, ouch, what the heck was that-- He started seeing distinct outlines and colors, forms and shapes, could hear silence beyond the buzzing… He could faintly see Sass? That little guy was sinking his fangs into Luka's wrist… He almost got back in control of his senses with the pain from Sass' bite when it felt like his head got yanked back by an invisible hand and it slammed his head forward into the static, sending him back into confusion.

Wait, could he… he couldn't tell if he was breathing, but he could still feel his heartbeat. He needed to focus on that, maybe try to feel the pattern, feel the pulse, meditate on that constant rhythm like a metronome. Could he break free from the static with that?

Sass bit him again. Luka was hoping it was the kwami trying to help more than hurt Luka. He trusted Sass, didn't he? Yeah. Yeah, why did he question that? There was a blinding flash that forced Luka to blink and he forgot about both his meditation and Sass trying to get his attention. What might have been an eternity or a few seconds later, there was another flash, but Luka tried to keep his eyes open. He could swear he saw Sass more clearly in that flash, but what did that mean?

There was another flash. Followed by two more. He'd grabbed something in his left hand. Mouse, he suddenly thought. "--zzzzzzbzzzzhssssssssshshshchtchssszzzzViperion!brrsssszzzzzrrzzz--" Viperion? Was that who he was? Were the blinding flashes his use of Second Chance? Wait… who was calling him? He had the faintest impression of red, or pink maybe, or blue-- Marinette's eyes were staring back up in fear, in pleading -- why couldn't he help her? He wanted to make her happy but he'd just been so--

"You're so useless!"

Yeah. He knew that.

The static noise abruptly stopped and he was looking up at yellow and black, the masked face of Miracle Queen. Her magenta eyes were narrowed and mocking and full of derision. She lifted him by the throat and he was struggling against her, but then he got flung aside. Marinette's voice cut through the lingering thick fog in his mind. "Luka! No!" He landed on something softer than the concrete ground. "How could you?!" Marinette yelled at Miracle Queen, sounding the most angry he'd ever heard her.

Wait, this wasn't Marinette… was it? Luka had tried to get a better look at the girl who was holding him up but then she sent them both soaring through the sky, pulled along by her… magic yoyo. Ladybug? She didn't look like Ladybug… or no he saw some red and black along with the pink and gray of the rest of her suit.

His face was right next to hers. He heard the beeping of her earrings get faster. He also heard Chat Noir's voice coming through Ladybug(?)'s earrings. "Sorry 'Bug, I'm out -- I gotta recharge!"

"Me too!" Ladybug replied, yelling over the wind. "Sorry Luka, we're going in," she said more quietly, pulling him in closer and cradling his head against her chest. Then they both plunged into the Seine.

⁂

To be continued...

Oh boy what a pickle >_>

#fxl fic #lukanette #lukanette endgame #endgame lukanette #ladybug #chat noir #dragon noir #multibug #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #miracle queen #viperion #akumatized(?)!viperion #lbscexchange2021

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philliamwrites · 4 years ago

Text

the fault in our stars

Fandom: Fire Emblem Three Houses

Characters: Claude & OC

Tags: #multiple dimensions, #dimension travelling, #platonic love, #mentions of major character’s death

Words: 4.5k

Summary: Claude receives a letter that states someone is out there able to help him fulfill his goal of unifying Fodlan and Almyra. Signed, “The Witch.” Of course he doesn’t trust this, but curiosity killed the cat, and so he sets out to find her and see what kind of help she can offer. It turns out, this witch carries more secrets than anyone Claude knows can carry and he, gentleman that he is, gladly lands her a hand.

Notes: A commission for @iam-miscellaneous

the fault in our stars

A twig snapped somewhere behind him and Claude whirled, an arrow nocked and ready, but it was just a little squirrel staring at him with big, round eyes. He raised an eyebrow, and it scurried off into the forest and disappeared.

Claude relaxed. The forest was quiet again since most of its residents had fallen into a deep slumber from which they shouldn’t wake up until Lone Moon. But Claude had read about dangerous creatures that didn’t fear the harsh Syopyr Taiga of the Galatea region, and stalked through the snow to hunt their prey. He’d much prefer not ending up inside the stomach of a moonbear or red wolf, thank you very much.

He should have brought Ákos with him. His wyvern was big and he would surely draw attention—literally the wyvern in a porcelain shop, but Claude would be save from any beast trying to have him as a snack. Also, Ákos was warm. Warm and with his white skin perfectly blending in between the snow covered pine trees that stood vigil like the statues of the four Saints in the monastery. But it would be hard for Ákos to move freely, so Claude relished in the comfort to know he was but a whistle away and would barrel down and crash through the woods to save him.

Were it not for the letter, Claude wouldn’t even be here in the first place.

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the letter before him, its existence ever-present inside the pocket of his trousers as if it emitted heat, burning against his thigh.

I can aid you in your goal, wrote the mysterious person calling herself The Witch.

What goal specifically? Overthrowing Edgard? Unifying Fódlan and his mother land? Striking down the borders of discrimination and bigotry so people would finally stop slaughtering each other over the colour of their skin or what god they choose to worship? So many questions, and Claude hated any of them remaining unanswered. But for that, he had to find the witch’s cottage first and he’d been wandering through these woods for hours.

The Everglow stone certainly did keep his fingers from freezing in this relentless cold, but he knew he’d reach his limit soon and would have to return to base. He knew this time, Lorenz and Hilda would not allow him to leave so easily.

They’d been wary of it the moment the unknown owl had landed on Ákos’ head, carrying a letter addressed to “the Prince of a far away land.” Claude’s blood had run cold.

“Prince of a far away land?” Hilda had squinted at the paper spread out in front of them on the war table they kept outside under an open tent. “Who is that supposed to be?”

“And the things she offers, this ‘Witch,’” Lorenz had agreed sceptically, and thus luckily not noticed the quick glance Hilda stole Claude’s way. He’d always known Hilda knew more than she let people on, and Claude had given her one of his rare, tired smiles. She’d made a very serious, very un-Hilda like face, and turned back to the letter.

“I think I should check it out,” Claude had said, and their reaction was understandable, if a little too dramatic for his taste.

“If you die chasing this witch, could you die knowing you leave the Alliance in someone else’s hands?" Lorenz had said. That was very unusual for him. It had taken them five years to get there, and Claude wouldn’t just throw away that trust.

“What if she turns you into a frog?” Hilda had asked. That was very usual for her, and Claude was thankful for her effort to ease the mood after all the losses they’d suffered in the Battle at Gronder Field.

“Then you guys better start looking for a princess right about now,” he’d replied, his tone breezy when inside he’d been a storm. The only princess he knew had charged into the role of Emperor and would surely make frog leg soup out of him, and the only prince he’d known laid skewered without even a proper burial on a vast field that drank itself sick from all the blood spilt on it.

Things did not look good for the Alliance. As Claude had filed every advantage and disadvantage seeking out this mysterious person in alphabetical order, he looked at the owl that had delivered the message. Its black eyes were fixed on him expectantly, as though he should be well aware of what it sought as reward, but Claude didn’t know of course, and a second later, its sharp beak split open the skin at the back of his hand, drawing blood. It ruffled its feathers and took off to the sky, hooting in offence.

“Let’s hope you’ll start off better with this witch than her familiar,” Lorenz had commented, leaving Claude to tend to his wound. He’d hissed a curse, pressed his mouth against the wound and levelled a disbelieving look at his animal companion. Usually Àkos was no friend of man or animal. He barely tolerated Claude’s closest companions to saddle or care for him, but he’d allowed an unfamiliar owl to use his head as a seat, and peck at his friend and master.

Claude still pondered about that even after a week’s worth of travelling through the Alliance territory to reach the north of Faerghus. He didn’t like being short of options, but with the hand dealt to him by Fate, he could really use an ace up his sleeve.

The witch could have been more specific about her location though.

Come to the Okhotsk Forest and you will find me.

Well, that was a lie. He’d been out here for hours now, and still there is no sign of her, or her hut, or anyone living out here for that matter.

Claude would be mad furious if this turned out to be one of Hilda’s jokes. Though he doubted even she would go this far, especially during a time like this. War changed people. She wasn’t the giddy girl anymore, batting her eyelashes to let other people do her work. And yet he remembered this one time when his grandfather Oswald had celebrated the Leicester Alliance Founding Day and Hilda had written him a secret note to meet him, pretending to be his first crush. He’d been waiting in the cold until servants found him with a fever the next morning. But instead of getting angry, Claude was really impressed by Hilda’s lie and persuasion, and decided to have her as a friend rather than an enemy.

Claude shivered. Pegasus Moon was drawing its end. He could smell it in the crisp air—the time of new beginnings dawned. An opportunity for new plans, new schemes, and he wouldn’t be Claude von Riegan if he would pass up on them. That was, if he found his hopefully new ally. And just in that moment, he turned his head and caught sight of something dark in the corner of his eyes.

A hut.

Out of nowhere, a little hut stood in the middle of the clearing, looking as if it had been there since the beginning of dawn. It blinked into existence where seconds ago the forest ground stood empty. Claude blinked, thinking out of desperation he’d imagined it. But no matter which way he turned his head, what angle he leaned into, the hut didn’t magically disappear like the Fata Morgana he’d encountered during their trip around the Sreng Desert, where instead of finding one of the lost Saint’s weapons, they had stumbled upon an ancient, sentient beast.

Claude shook at the memory, feeling his mouth go dry just thinking about the scorching heat. Even days after their return to Derdriu, he’d found sand in places it wasn’t supposed to be.

Luckily, the forest was the complete opposite. It was eerily quiet. No birds heralded the spring, no foxes scurried through the underbrush in search for smaller prey. Among the blinding white of the freshly fallen snow that clung to everything, the black stoned hut with its small, red chimney looked like a picture out of a fairy book. Claude grimly remembered stories Dimitri had told him in front of the fireplace in one of the monastery’s big common rooms about a witch living in the deepest forests of Faerghus called baba yaga. Her house stood on chicken feet and she snatched away little children who went astray or lost their way through the forest.

But this was real. Claude had finally found her.

Approaching the hut carefully, his fingers danced across the hilt of the short sword attached to the belt around his hip. He wasn’t a fan, but since early days, Nader had taught him the way of the sword.

“You won’t always have the luck to find a bow,” he’d said after knocking little Claude to the ground for the fifth time in a single sparring session. Claude had endured without complaining, but he’d also made up his mind that day that the sharpest weapon on him would always be his mind.

Claude braced himself. Having finally reached what he’d been venturing to for the last weeks was wind in his sails, propelling him forward and lifting his hope. He knocked against the wood with his knuckles, once, twice. A third time.

Nothing.

Off to a good start.

“Hello?” he called through the door. His fingers itched to the letter as he wondered if he was supposed to say a secret code word. But he’d read the letter over a dozen times, analysed everything from the way she dotted her i's and crossed her t’s to how she constructed every sentence.

No secret password. No secret behavioural code. Nothing.

Claude decided to go for the doorknob. But when his hand hovered inches away from it, it turned by itself and the door creaked open. Claude shuddered. Inside, everything was dark. Heavy vermilion curtains didn’t allow any sunlight to stray inside. A minty scent lied in the air, not unpleasant, as if someone had recently taken a hot bath and thus steam still lingered in the air. He cautiously entered the hut, eyes straining to see any kind of movement. Everything was still.

Fabric rustled—no, not fabric. In one corner stood a perch, and on it sat the owl, regarding Claude with its black eyes. They stared each other down for a moment, in which Claude wondered if it had been the witch all along, playing with him. But the owl just regarded him sleepily, then turned around and chose to ignore his presence.

Claude allowed himself to relax a little. From outside, the hut looked small, barely the size of his bedroom at the monastery. But inside was enough space to hold multiple work stations and contain additional rooms to the east and west. One wall was completely lined with bookcases tall enough to reach the roof, neatly stacked with leather-bound books. When he looked closely, he could see gold letters shining off their spines. In front of if stood a large table that was buried under dozen maps, showing star constellations he’d never seen before. To his other side crinkled the fire place. A black kettle hung above it, and he could hear water boiling.

Claude approached the shelves standing beside the fireplace, filled with all kinds of different objects in containers and glass bottles. Glowing flowers, insects with rainbow coloured wings, sharp claws and large teeth swimming in murky liquid. He realised only then that he’d been expecting dead animals lying around with their abdomens wide open and jars filled with organs. But this place looked cosy. Like someone actually lived here instead of using it as a crazy laboratory.

“I see this place is to your liking?” sounded a voice from his right. Claude jerked back from the jar he was observing. He hadn’t even heard a door opening behind him.

She’d just appeared like a dream. Claude’s first thought was, She is very small, and for a moment he feared to meet with a child because he’d turned down the wrong path and missed his designated location completely. But then she opened the curtains with a flick of her wrist. Claude, blinded by the sudden light, flinched. He’d seen sorcerers and the like at the academy, had seen Marianne and Lysithea work their spells and yet he knew this girl in front of him was unlike any spellcaster he’d ever met.

Not girl, he realised as she stepped into the light, and he found her gaze linger on him. Those were no eyes of a young girl. For a brief second, Byleth’s face flashed in front of his eyes. Claude missed her. He did not look forward to face her once they’d reach the Imperial capital. If she didn’t come to him first.

“It is certainly … unique,” Claude said, moving back to the centre of the room with his back to the door. He didn’t like to be cornered, and though he guessed his chances weren’t bad facing an opponent a whole head smaller than him, he didn’t want to challenge Lady Luck. She didn’t appear to be very fond of him lately anyway.

“Shall we talk business then?” he quickly followed on, watching her move to the fire place. Taking the kettle, she poured steaming water in two prepared cups. He immediately recognised the smell, Almyran Pine Needles, his favourite tea. If there really was a spy among them, he’d have to find them quickly. Or she really was a witch and had insight in many things which meant he needed her on his side before Edelgard found her.

The Witch gestured to two heavy armchairs sitting in front of the fire and after a moment of hesitation, Claude crossed the room and sank in the cushions. Only then did he realise how exhausted he was from wading through knee-high snow. He took the cup from the witch’s small hands, but didn’t drink yet even though his body couldn’t wait to warm up quickly after the freezing temperatures outside. Besides, sometimes it was more about the company of a warm beverage. And he wanted to make sure she drank first to see if it was poisoned.

The witch took her first sip without hesitation, then looked at him daringly as if she knew exactly what he was waiting for. Claude didn’t trust her. But if she really would aid him, then he wouldn’t pass on that offer.

Bottoms up then. Tasting the nostalgic flavour, Claude immediately relaxed. There was the right amount of sweetness too, meaning she’d put in the right amount of sugar.

“Who are you?” Claude asked finally, the question burning on the tip of his month since he left Derdriu. The Witch took another sip. Her gaze roamed over his features, calculating yet at the same time somewhat caressing.

“A friend,” she answered, “who only wishes to see you win the war.”

Claude took that in for a second, allowing the tea to warm him from the inside. “I think I’d remember if I had someone peculiar like a witch as friend. And what exactly makes you think I need help?” he asked. “As far as I know, the Alliance is holding up pretty well.”

He had to test how much she knew. If there really was a spy, they had to find and eliminate them quickly.

The Witch placed her porcelain cup aside, and leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees, she looked like a mother about to scold her child.

“The Alliance is a powder keg about to explode,” she said calmly, yet with a voice that didn’t appreciate Claude trying to deceive her. “You can’t find a way to convince Lord Gloucester to join your forces and usually a nation divided does not win wars. Especially not against an opponent like the Emperor.”

Claude leaned back in his armchair, dragging his tongue over his lower lip, his mouth suddenly dry. Straight to the point, just how he liked it. “It doesn’t stop with getting old Gloucester to unite with House Riegan,” he said. “We need food, weapons. A new base of operation somewhere more central to send out our forces. Unfortunately, I doubt The Enlightened One will let us stay anywhere close to the Garreg Mach monastery.”

Something flashed in the Witch’s eyes when he mentioned Byleth. She pursed her lips, reminding him of Judith whenever she received a particularly unpleasant information.

“I see,” she said after a moment. “Your old teacher leads the Black Eagle Strike Force. That does make things more difficult.”

Claude leaned back in his armchair and stretched his legs, crossing them at the ankles. Interesting how she knew about the Alliance’s status but not that his old professor was on the enemies’ side. “Difficult how?”

“Let me deal with that once the time comes,” the Witch said. Claude wasn’t happy. He knew trust was a little too much, too quick given they knew each other for about five minutes. But she could give him a little more to work with here.

“Pardon me, but so far you haven’t really convinced me to accept your help, little witch.” He had to test the waters, see how far he could go in before the current dragged him under. The witch didn’t even blink at this nickname.

She mirrored his movement and locked her fingers in her lap. “Let’s just say my knowledge about certain things would aid you greatly in winning this war.”

“What things, pray tell.”

“Your plan to fend off the Imperial forces stationed in Daphnel. You won’t be able to occupy it for a long time before the Imperial army takes it back. You wonder if those knights and soldiers are better off stationed in Goneril to guard your supply shipments coming from Almyra, but you can’t say if your people would prefer to see an assertive ruler adamant on fighting the Empire or a generous ruler who cares more about protecting and nourishing his people.”

Once she finished, only the crackling fire made conversation with the burning wood. Claude didn’t avert his eyes from her piercing gaze, and she didn’t shy away when he cocked his head to the side, a grin slowly spreading on his face.

“So you do know a few things about me,” he said, and now he was the one mirroring her movement, leaning in closely. “But if you know about what keeps me awake at night, what do you know about my enemies?”

“Enough to end this war,” the Witch said, her eyes blazing with resolve, “if you listen to me.”

Claude raised his hand and pressed his palm to his heart. “I promise, should there be method in this madness, I will lend you my ear and listen what you have to say, little witch.”

She exhaled softly. Relieved, and Claude wondered how much of that conviction she’d shown was act. But he couldn’t begin to doubt this early, for the doubt would eat away at him and just this time, he wanted to believe whoever was their benevolent maker, he’d finally nudged Claude on the right path. He’d been without hope for so long, he’d forgotten how it tasted.

Claude stood, antsy to get back to his city and scheme away and finally, finally turn this war around. “How long do you need before you can join me in Derdriu?” he asked, moving towards the door when he noticed a strange apparatus next to it, showing a circle painted in different colours and a little arrow pointing at the part that was coloured a dark purple. When he turned, the Witch had followed right behind him, and Claude took a step back in surprise, his back gently pressing against the door.

She was smaller than him, yes, but her presence filled the whole room.

“I will finish a few things here, and then I will meet you there,” she said. She stretched her hand and rested in on the doorknob. Claude stepped away, allowing her to open the door, and was surprised when he saw Àkos waiting for him at the door step, liking snowflakes off his snout. When Claude raised his hand to pat him, he sneezed in his face.

Claude pulled a grimace. “Good to see you too, my friend.”

The witch followed him outside, and for the first time since their meeting, a smile had strayed on her face. She offered Àkos her hand, and before Claude could tell her to be careful of Àkos’ sharp teeth, he sniffed her fingers and gave a little confused huff before leaning in and allowing the witch to caress his smooth, leathery skin.

Now that was unusual, and maybe just a tiny bit, Claude felt betrayed. He swung on Árkos’ saddle, immediately relaxing at the familiar feeling of his wyvern’s steady, warm body. Before he took off to the skies, Claude turned to the witch and said, “You have to tell me who spies for you inside the Alliance. I might hire them as my new spy-master.” But she didn't give him a name, she didn't even smile thinking it was a joke. Her gaze was fixed to the woods stretching before them, her jaw set, and Claude knew that look. It would stare back at him in a mirror whenever he tried really hard not to cry.

“Your name,” he demanded. “I still don’t know your name.”

The Witch straightened her shoulders and raised her chin. “I will tell you once we win the war. Once we win, I will tell you everything.”

* * *

Claude tried to wipe the exhaustion away with his sleeve, but closing his eyes for even a second ran the risk of him dozing off. There was still so much to prepare for their defence of Derdriu. He had to block off the city, occupy the naval port and lead the reinforcements to each city gate leading to the heart of the capital. There was no moment to rest.

Fresh air. He needed cold, fresh air to clear his mind and wake him up.

Outside, knights and soldiers on night duty greeted him. They had nothing unusual to report, everything was calm. No movement from the enemy so far. Somehow, that didn’t reassure Claude at all, though he couldn’t say if he’d rather want the opposite.

His feet carried him to the outskirts of their camp, and there it was—standing out from all the other tents was The Witch's tent, its leather roof mirroring the constellations of the starry sky. Judging from the light inside, she was still awake, probably pondering about the upcoming battle just as he was. Claude crossed the clearing and opened the front flaps only enough for his voice to come through.

“It’s Claude. May I enter?” he asked. Something rustled. As if paper was quickly wiped away. A moment later, her voice called back to him, “Please come in.”

He ducked and entered her tent. Again, it was much larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside, yet just like her cottage, it was still simple. Instead of expensive, luxurious furniture, she decided to fill every nook and cranny with her magical apparatus’ and ingredients.

The Witch stood in front of a cherry wood table, wearing a simple, dark gown. From the way she tried to appear taller and held her hands behind her back, Claude knew immediately she was hiding something. He thought back to the sound of paper being quickly gathered and tried his shot.

“Writing to your lover?” he teased, settling in an armchair without waiting for an invitation.

The Witch blew back a black lock that stubbornly clung to her forehead. She crossed the room, and within a blink, the papers in her hands vanished. Claude gave an impressed whistle.

“He is more than that,” she said without any hesitation. “But are we lovers? No.”

“And how does one become become friends with a witch?” he asked, his curiosity piqued. She sat in the empty seat beside him, not bothering in the slightest about her posture. Claude liked seeing her relax around him. For the past few days, she’d been all over the camp, tending to the wounded or helping magic battalions with their spells.

He was surprised how easy it was to work with her. She effortlessly followed his train of thought and anticipated questions or knew exactly were to probe whenever he wasn’t certain about something and hoped no one else would notice. But she always noticed, as if she inherently knew his faults and weaknesses and therefore watched his back. If he didn’t know better, he’d assume this wasn’t their first time working together.

“I call everyone friend who offers me toffees,” the Witch said now, taking off her boots. Even though she’d been outside the whole day, there was no speck of mud on them, whereas Claude’s boots wore a mud crust he wasn’t proud of.

“Toffee.” Claude playfully stroked his chin. “I think I can supply some.”

“I would be so ever grateful.” She gave one of her rare smiles, growing slowly like the moon slipping slowly beneath the waves of a lake. Whenever Claude was capable of making her smile, pride bloomed in his chest.

He didn't know what it was about the Witch that made all the tight and careful knots inside his chest uncurl. Maybe that was what people meant when they said someone made them feel undone.

“How do you feel about our stand here?” he asked. “Do you think we’re prepared for Edelgard arrival?”

Immediately, she tensed, and Claude regretted bringing it up. They talked about tactics so much every day, they should be spared of it inside their tents, the only place of comfort and peace, but it seemed Claude had forgotten how to do small talk.

But the Witch just shifted her weight a little. “I don’t like lying to you, but the truth isn’t pretty.”

“I still want to hear it.” He needed to know their chances of winning. The truth might not be pretty, but more than that, he didn’t want to be lied to. He couldn’t say why, but especially from her, he didn’t want to hear a lie.

They held each other’s gazes, and Claude was impressed again by how black her eyes were. Darker than a starless night, he couldn’t see where the pupil ended and the iris began. Yet there was kindness in her eyes. Kindness and experience that told stories older than she appeared to be. But with no time to dwell on his theory, he tucked it away in a safe corner where he’d access it later. When this was all over and he’d have enough time to listen to her story.

After a moment, the Witch spoke, “I wish your success wasn’t depending on anybody else. I have prepared you to all my capabilities, but...”

“But we can’t say for sure what Edgard will do.” Of course they couldn’t. No one of them could read thoughts or look into the future. Claude was usually all for unpredictable variables to keep his mind reeling and working, but even facing Edelgard gave him more headaches then he asked for.

“No matter the outcome, I can promise that your city and its people will be save,” the Witch said. They’d been working together for a couple weeks now, but Claude had learnt early on that she kept her promises and it was nice to lean on someone for a change.

“That’s all that matters to me,” he confessed. “I don’t care what happens to me. But I cannot let down my people. The Alliance. Its future. It’s all that matters.” Because how else would he begin his peace-mongering without his Leicester Alliance unifying with his Kingdom of Almyra.

A dark shadow settled on the Witch’s face. Her eyes roamed over his face, taking in his features as if she wanted to commemorate them. Claude had to fight the urge to fidget, to flee from her keen gaze.

“The nation will learn how to move on when you are no more,” she said quietly. “But what about those you leave behind. Do you not care about your friends and comrades?”

“I care about what becomes of them after the Emperor captures my city and they are no more masters of their own fate.” Claude didn’t want to think about such a future. It would make him turn mad if he did.

“I know you think everyone has the might to forge their own paths. That fate is not absolute. But there are some fates you cannot change. You can only bow to them. Believe me. I’ve seen it many times. Too many times.” The Witch immediately clamped her mouth shut and turned her head away as if that would undo the words she just spoke. Claude hesitated. He wasn’t equipped to handle her surprising honesty. Honesty meant being vulnerable, and he’d never seen her like this. Sometimes it was easier to handle battalions and war generals than raw emotions, and Claude was thankful for the distraction fluttering it.

The Witch’s owl, that had been sitting on its trusty perch, flew through the tent and settled on the Witch’s shoulder, nuzzling it’s soft head against her cheek. The Witch smiled and scratched its chin. In return, the owl hooted and then proceeded to give Claude an accusatory glare as if he’d been the very reason for its mistress’ distress.

“Your little friend doesn’t like me at all,” Claude observed a second time since making acquaintance with with her feathery companion. “It’s like I offended him in some way.”

“She,” the Witch said mildly, “is fond of you. In her own way.”

Claude doubted that. “An unusual way to show her fondness of people. Pecking at them. Must your secret friend also endure this bullying or is he spared of it?”

“She treats everyone equally,” the Witch answered, and now he could see amusement crinkle in her eyes like the flying sparks of a fire. “My friend is no exception.”

“And is he a wizard like you? Or like us common folk?”

“He is,” the Witch began tentatively, “a just, young boy who heard the sound of flowing water in a world of sand and thus began to believe in hope. And this belief is a strong weapon, but the strongest weapon on him is his sharp wit and gilded mind.”

“Sounds like you hold him in high esteem.”

“I would burn cities and dethrone kings just to see his greatest wish fulfilled,” the Witch said, her gaze burning holes in Claude’s eyes. Something hot whipped through him, something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Jealousy. Hot-white jealousy burnt inside him to have a friend this dedicated to him. Maybe that was what books spoke of when they told stories about soulmates, and right now, his soul longed for a relationship like that. To be understood and accepted without having to give anything in return.

He took a deep breath, and banished those thoughts where they didn’t hurt. “Your friend sounds like someone I could become friends with.”

“Yes,” she said, turning her eyes away from his. “You two are quite similar.”

Claude wanted to know what it would take to meet him. To sit alone with him and have a chance at hearing all the Witch’s secrets, unravel them one by one and learn more about her. But she did tell him she’d explain everything after he won the war, and Claude held onto that promise like a drowning man.

After he wished her good night and left her tent, Claude remembered Nader had told him a story once. Claude, barely seven years old, had strayed into the desert bordering a small port city in Almyra where his mother loved to take him on vacation. After hours upon hours in the scorching heat, when he’d already made peace with the thought that the wide sea of sand would be his burial, he’d stumbled upon a small oasis. To this day, he remembered the sound of rushing water from the small waterfall and diving into the cool depths until he finally was found by Almyran soldiers looking for him. He’d never told this story anyone. Now he stopped, turned around and nearly ran back to the Witch’s tent only to be stopped when horns blared through the night’s quiet, waking up the whole city.

The Emperor had arrived.

* * *

Smoke rose to the grey sky that looked as if at any moment, the clouds would open to lament and cry. When she descend the cobblestone streets, her head a melody of pain and anguish, no one stopped her. No one could stop her because no one could see her as she hurried through tight alleys and corners, her spell making her invisible to the untrained eye.

The port stood abandoned. Now that it was occupied, there was no reason to guard it, and the Imperial troops had moved on to the centre of Derdriu where the important buildings stood. The embassy with its golden roofs, the Leicester mansion with its hundreds rooms and the famous Round Table.

But she didn’t care about silent stone monuments that would live to see another thousand years. She only cared for the one person who could have held it all together.

The Witch found Claude von Riegan lying on his stomach, his face drained in his own blood. The gaping wound in his chest still bled, a horrible hole left by none other than the nasty bone shards of Aymr. His eyes were still open but unfocused, staring ahead at the darkening sky.

Her stomach churned. No matter how often she saw him like this, it never got easier. The Witch sunk to her knees, and gently cradling Claude’s body into her arms, she whispered, “Forgive me, old friend. I was unable to save you yet again.”

There was no answer. As always, silence was her only companion, and grief her only caretaker. She teleported herself and Claude’s body outside the capital city where she looked for a secluded space outside the city, and using her own hands, she dug a grave deep into the earth. He deserved to be buried in his home land, the place he loved more than anything, but there was no time. There was never enough time.

She finished when the sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sky in hues of red and pink. One moment, she stood in front of the mound, and one single blink later, she walked through the front door of her cottage. Exhaustion bled her dry when the door closed behind her, and with a slow twist of her wrist, she turned the doorknob. A click sounded next to her, and for a second, everything turned black.

When light returned, everything was the same, and yet everything had changed.

On her way to the bathroom, she put water to boil in a black kettle hanging above the fireplace, and laid out a nice porcelain set of cups and Almyran Pine Needle tea for her guest.

The bath was already ready for her. She shed her dirty, ragged robes, and lowered herself in the hot water, feeling it immediately sooth her hurting limbs. As always, it took some time to clean the blood and dirt under her fingernails from digging Claude’s grave. She scrubbed herself raw until nothing was left of the previous world, and stepped outside the bath like a new born child. When she dried herself, she heard three sharp knocks at the door, and a voice calling out. Willing her new, clean robes to come and dress unto her with a flick of her wrist, the Witch took a last, long look at herself in the mirror.

Thirty tries. None of them had succeeded, and she was becoming so very tired of it all. With every try to save her friend, she’s learnt new things about the worlds and dimensions, and yet none had been enough in the end. She knew that chances to succeed were higher whenever Byeth was leading the Alliance. In some rare cases, in little pocket dimensions that would immediately dissipate when she tried to set foot in, the remaining Kingdom forces had joined the Alliance and victory would lay at the tip of her fingers. So close, and still unreachable.

But she would never cease her fight against the world that wanted to see her dear friend suffer and fail. Even if that meant bending rules, and changing to something that wasn’t human. She would make death bow to her, and once he was her servant, she would put her dear friend free of his curse of never-accomplishing happiness.

The witch squared her shoulders, and swallowed these thoughts and her still-fresh grief deep down where they didn’t hurt anymore. When the door quietly swung open, and she saw Claude von Riegan inspecting her shelf of ingredients, she said, “I see this place is to your liking?”

#philliamwrites #ao3 #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #claude von riegan #fe3h claude #fe3h claude von riegan #fire emblem three houses claude #fire emblem three houses claude von riegan #fe3h original character #platonic friendship #dimension travelling #sort of au

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hotpotrandomfics · 4 years ago

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Reincarnated Love: Beginnings and Fateful Meetings

Summary: Ciel is boy who lives an average life with his father but on the day of his birthday things started to change. What comes next will forever destroy the old life he has a rebirth was to come soon. Old souls will meet for the first time and new bonds will begin to grow into existence.

Word Count: 6,175

What is it to love; what is it to desire? No one can truly say for those feelings are two separate roads one's heart is torn to follow and it is a path that is never easy to navigate. Two such individuals follow that path unbeknownst to themselves as this unforeseen bond transcends time and the will of the Gods. This tale is of a boy who bends fate to his will and a goddess who will let to embrace the one she has yearned for over six millennia. Who says love doesn't go beyond time? Only fools...

Our story begins on March 7th, 2009, it was the birthday of Ciel Ambrose Silverstein and for most kids his age they would be happy to be another year older, but he didn't see much joy as he never really had friends to spend it with, only his dad. It wasn't as though he didn't care for his dad Ciel loved his dad as he was the closes thing to a best friend he has. The two lived in a single-story house within walking distance of his father's cafe, Crossroads Cafe, a simple hole-in-the-wall place that Ciel has many fond memories of.

Ciel climbed out of bed like any morning, heading to the bathroom adjacent to his closet door. He washed his face and brushed his teeth as his dad was big on personal hygiene. After doing that, Ciel went to his closet and grabbed his favorite jeans, '09 Nike Pegasus sneakers, the Linkin Park shirt his dad bought at last night's concert (dad was the best), and his pullover hoodie. Once dressed and hair brushed, Ciel made his way to the kitchen and made himself a bowl of Frosted Flakes.

"Good morning troublemaker," said a deep British voice, a blonde man with sky blue eyes and scruff on his face gave the boy a loving pat on his head. "Sleep okay after that mayhem?"

"Yeah! That was so awesome, thanks, Dad!" Ciel said with a mouth full of cereal.

"Manners young man," said his father with a grin as he filled his favorite mug (number one dad) as he looked at his son. "I keep my promises to you don't I?"

Nodding, Ciel finished the cereal in his mouth before elaborating. "You always do Dad and I appreciate it. Even if your jokes are corny."

"Hey, my jokes are amazing and you love them," his father tried defending himself.

"Only because you look like a dork." Ciel laughed as his dad glared at him sternly before joining in the laugh. The two discussed the highlights of the concert from the guitar solos and the moments where fans got "too happy" and did stuff a twelve-year-old shouldn't witness.

The family of two left their home for a morning walk, it was a mandatory activity in the household something Alex did with his father. Alex liked to share moments like that with his son to show him the joys of nature and talk to him about the world. Explaining many things and here the views of the world from his son's perspective. Ciel from how Alex saw him was intelligent, not academically, but his views of the natural balance of society and nature were something a philosopher would find intriguing. There is a joy to find in society's progress but one must not forget where man and woman came from. Alex would question his son to try and understand the meaning of his surroundings and why did events take place.

For Ciel, answering his father's questions was no simple feat but rather a mountain range he must climb as he navigates for an answer. His father wouldn't simply give him the answers as that would defeat the purpose of hearing Ciel's thoughts. Often than not, Alex would ask if he believed in destiny and fate though the answer Ciel gave him was more so a question to his. "Are fate and destiny not the same thing, or are the two entwined?" He would ask his father who would contemplate the question himself as the two discussed such matters that surprised many eavesdroppers.

"Are you still having those nightmares and daydreams?" Alex asked as the two made their second lap around the block.

"Yeah," Ciel rubbed the back of his neck, "I still see those things. Spirits? Is it normal dad?"

"I can't say for certain," Alex said as he looked to his son who's expression became downcasted. "However, I think there is a reason why you can see those spirits. Can you guess why?"

"Fate?" the boy questioned.

"Possibly," Alex smiled as he tossed his son's hair. "But I like to believe there is a reason for everything, mi hijo."

"Dad!" Ciel whined as he brushed his dad's hand away before giving a small smile to the elder Silverstein. "Can we head back?"

"After just two blocks? Laaazy, but fine since it's your birthday." Alex placed a hand on Ciel's shoulder as the two walked back to their home.

As the two made it to their area of the neighborhood, Ciel notices the door was slightly ajar. Ciel stopped short of the door, looking around his porch nervously of his surroundings. "Dad, somethings off. You locked the door before we left."

"Stay behind me," Alex said as he pushed the door in slowly. Stepping in, they heard a noise coming from the direction of the kitchen. Alex stepped cautiously through the dimly lit hall with Ciel behind him. Granted, it wasn't the smartest idea to have his son follow him into a possibly dangerous situation but the man rather his child be close to him so he may defend him. As the duo passed the threshold into the kitchen to find the culprit who was a woman.

She stood at five-foot-nine with olive-colored skin that was as flawless as marble. Her hair was a deep black that had a hint of violet as the sun from the kitchen window reflected on her flowing locks. Though her eyes were something to behold, a strong emerald green that had an ever-slight glow to it. The woman wore a burgundy gown and a light assortment of golden jewelry. The woman glanced at the two men before smiling as she raised a cup of tea to her lips.

"Here I come out of my way in my busy schedule and much to my surprise you two aren't who. Really?" the woman said as she placed the cup on the counter.

"Hecate," Alex muttered, "I..."

"It's been too long, Alex. Well, long from the mortal life but it still does not mean I haven't missed your company."

The two adults stared intensely at each other before a loud cough broke the silence.

"Dad, who is she? How does she know you? And why DID SHE BREAK INTO OUR HOUSE?" Ciel asked in worried confusion.

"Relax son," Alex placed a hand on Ciel in the usual comforting manner he did when his son wasn't sure of something. "This is Hecate, she's an old friend. She was around when you were born actually."

"She knows me? She's not some crazy ex?" Ciel inquired causing the woman to laugh.

"My, he has a similar wit to you but I see it's at a younger age. Yes, boy, I've known of you for a long time." The woman gave a small smile that was almost... motherly. "Alex, as much as I would want to be here for more personal reasons I have some news to give you."

"Ciel, go to your room. Hecate and I need to talk." Alex ordered. "Don't worry, we'll go to that Chinese place you like after she and I talk."

"But dad-," Ciel tried to be apprehensive only for his father to give him a stern look.

"Now, Ciel." Nodding, Ciel walked to his room and closed his door, throwing himself on his bed.

"So much for a good birthday," Ciel thought as he buried his face into his pillow.

In the kitchen...

"You haven't told him?" Hecate asked as Alex paced in the kitchen.

"How can I? The boy has plenty to worry about and his mother coming back for a few minutes isn't going to fix that!" Alex growled. "Ciel is happy, he's safe and he doesn't need to deal with that nonsense!"

"Alex, please. The fate of the world is at stake and Chronos forces are on the rise!" Hecate argued back. "Ciel's best chance of survival is going to Camp Halfblood. It's not only your safety that I have in mind, I have his in mind as well."

"He's my son! I can't just let him go off knowing I might lose him!" Alex said as he leaned into the counter, looking out the window. "Please, don't make me do this Hecate."

"He won't be alone, I can assure you." Hecate walked over to him and placed a hand on Alex's. "There are events in place that even I am having difficulty seeing but at the center of it is Ciel. If our son is to survive he must go and train. He must become what he is destined to be."

"I wish it were not the case," Alex looked into Hecate's eyes as the man was on the verge of tears. "Will you guide him? Protect him?"

"You know I cannot do so directly," Hecate retorted before sighing. "Alex, there is something else. I've decided to side with Chronos."

"What?" Alex asked completely flabbergasted. "Are you out of your damned mind?!"

"Watch your tone with me," Hecate warned as her eyes flashed with power but Alex didn't back down.

"Now I am definitely not sending Ciel to that camp! You honestly think me so idiotic to send my flesh and blood up there and expect you to protect him? When you just told me you've sworn to help the god you helped stop in the past?" Alex pulled his hand away from hers as he fumed with anger. "How can you expect me to trust you with that bomb?!"

"Alex, I am tired of being seen as a minor goddess. Never receiving the respect I deserve. Time and again I am left with the "short end" as you claim it. I want to be worshipped and acknowledge as I deserve to be." Hecate said as she turned her back to him.

The goddess and the man stood in a silence that was a heavy indicator this visit was to be concluded.

"Is the acknowledgment of your children not enough?" Alex questioned as he glanced at the setting sun. "Or the men who have fathered them not enough? Heh, I guess not."

"Alex," Hecate thought begrudgingly as she glanced over her shoulders before disappearing into the shadows. Knowing fully she may have destroyed a bridge between Alex and her. The memories of their brief time together were something she deeply cherished and some of the best times she had in millennia. But her hopes for new world order will allow her to receive what she deserves.

"Dammit," Alex gripped the counter as his eyes redden from the tears he was holding in as the frustration that was bottled in began to leak. "Fate, you're truly cruel than any power in existence that has ever been and that has ever been."

After composing himself, Alex looked at the picture of him and Ciel from when he was five years. The two went to the Florida Keys and stayed in a BnB while having the time of their lives. It was on that trip that Ciel started seeing strange things. He told his father he saw a giant snake in the ocean. If Alex remembered anything from his history classes back in the United Kingdom much of the mythological stories did explain gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters. Alex was a young father, with no experience with kids whatsoever but when it came to his boy it all made sense for him, even if the talks of monsters seem ludicrous.

With no help from anyone he thought he did a decent job with him but Hecate coming to them and warning him of war. How was he supposed to explain this to his son? How could he make that trip up the east coast? But as much as he didn't wish to admit she was right. A choice must be made even if it hurts them both. A father has to prepare their children for the threats of the world. Even if that threat is their kin.

For the next few months, Alex had spent most of his time mulling over the pros and cons. During this time Ciel questioned why his dad seemed to be in a sour mood and would brush off the question which only caused the boy to worry in silence. It was on Wednesday, the last day of school when Ciel was on the school bus back home he noticed something stranger than usuals. The ghost of the town kept pointing in the direction of his home which only creeped him out even further. On the driveway of their home, Alex stood in front of his car as his son disembarked from the bus and greeted him.

"Hey dad, you're home early," Ciel said as he walked to his dad. "Slow day at the cafe?"

"I closed early. Son, there is something we need to talk about." Alex said causing Ciel to quirk a brow.

"Something wrong?"

"Not at the moment but the way things are looking we need to leave," Alex said as he goes into the driver seat of his car with his son the following suit and entering the passenger side.

"Dad, what's going on?"

"I'm taking you somewhere I never thought I'd have to take you," Alex responded as he pulled out of his driveway and beginning the long drive to the hopeful haven for his son.

The drive up to this place was filled with much silence and no talking between the father-son duo, whenever Ciel tried to start a conversation the words wouldn't leave his throat, instead, he just watched the change of scenery as they drove up the east coast. They'd only stop for the occasional rest stop and food before continuing the drive further and further from home.

It was two in the morning when they had reached their destination, Alex took a turn into a strawberry farm called "Delphi Strawberry Service," and followed the dirt road it was on to the nearby forest. As they drew closer lights of a fire could be seen through the canopy of the forest. Once the dirt road had finished, Alex stopped and parked the car outside of the marble gate that was in Ancient Greek but for some reason, Ciel could read it.

"Camp Half-Blood?" Ciel asked his father who stepped out of the car and made his way to the trunk where he pulled out a duffle bag for Ciel. Packed with clothes, the necessities, and his son's favorite book that Alex read to him, the Aeneid.

"Son, you'll be safe here," Alex said as he stepped to the passenger to let Ciel out of the car.

"Dad? What do you mean I'll be safe here?!" Ciel looked up to the older Silverstein who seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Mi hijo, you're special and I don't mean in the "dad thinks you're his special boy." No, you are destined for something great but the trials you face in the future going to be hard. You'll be okay, you're my strong warrior." Alex smiled as he kneeled kissing his son's forehead.

"Daaad, that's embarrassing!" Ciel slightly pouted from embarrassment. Alex could only chuckle as he took Ciel by the shoulder and guided him to the gate, waiting for them was something Ciel could not expect.

"Ah! What the heck is that?!" Ciel said as he clung to his dad. The pair looked to a man with long brown hair whose upper body was in a button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up but what freaked Ciel out was the man's lower half was that of a horse.

"Ciel, don't be rude!" Alex chided. "Apologies, my son hasn't had much exposure to your world and even I find it unbelievable."

"It is of no worry," said an older voice. "Tell me, child, what is your name?"

"C-Ciel. Ciel Ambrose Silverstein, Mister?"

"It is a fine name. I am called Chiron. I am somewhat of a mentor for boys and girls like you."

"Like me?" Ciel titled his head to the left in confusion as he gazed at the centaur.

"Demigods, heroes, and great warriors," Chiron said with a gentle smile before glancing at Alex. "I shall give you a moment." Chiron walked a short distance to be out of earshot and let the two say their goodbyes.

"I will come and get you at the end of the summer, okay?" Alex said as knelt down to be at his son's eye level. "I know I can't give you all the answers but-"

"So you're abandoning me?!" Ciel shouted at his father who looked shocked at such an accusation.

"No! Heavens no," Alex gripped his son's shoulders, "but I can't protect you son and I couldn't bear the thought of you dying or being hurt. I need you to be safe and I know you will be here, so please, trust me and what I say. Have I ever lied to you?"

Ciel thought for a moment about his father's words before answering. "No, sir."

"I love you, Ciel." Alex pulled his son into a hug while Ciel returned the same affection.

After a few moments, the two separated and Ciel grabbed his bag and walked to the gates. Waving "goodbye" to his father and disappearing into the darkness of the night.

"Hecate, you better protect my son." Alex wiped the tears from his eyes before entering his car and driving back the way he came. Leaving his son to the Fates and the gods.

The next day Ciel was guided by one of the older campers through Camp Half-Blood. It didn't take long to learn the location for where everything was but Ciel was still cautious of everything around him. From the sounds of the forge to the pranking of the Hermes kids and the sight of the lava wall, he was convinced he'd probably die here. Though during breakfast he met two campers briefly, Justin and Lucille Peters, a brother and sister pair who have two different godly parents from how they explained it. Justin was a son of Apollo and Lucille was a daughter of Hephestus, it was odd how they'd have different godly parents but then again Ciel didn't know his. From what he could gather it seemed most of the kids here were of the twelve major Olympian gods while you had a mixed population of demigods born from minor gods or demigods whose parents haven't claimed them. Some demigods weren't claimed for years or if ever at all and it was a sad fact.

Ciel counted himself lucky that he at least had his dad and hoped he was right about coming here. Though it did beg the question, who was his godly parent, and would he be claimed tonight or never at all? Questions for later but for the time being Ciel would just take in his surroundings until he was comfortable to walk on his own. The Hermes kid let him know if he had any questions to not be shy and ask any of the older campers to which he nodded.

Ciel would wander through the camp until he felt a hand on his back, instantly, he jumped in a slight panic.

"Oops, sorry I didn't mean to spook you," said the boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a prosthetic leg. "I just wanted to introduce myself, my name is Justin Peters. What's yours?"

"Um, I'm Ciel Ambrose Silverstein. Wait aren't you the kid from earlier?" Ciel asked.

"Yep! Thought you would like some company you know since your new and all. Don't worry, me and my sister were in the same boat about a year ago. We're lucky we have each other but it's hard the first few days." Justin said with a smile.

"I suppose. Sorry, I'm not really with people."

"Oh don't worry about it! We can work on that together if you'd like." Justin responded to which Ciel couldn't help but smile. "So wanna do something fun?"

"Uh, sure?" Ciel responded.

"Great!" Justin said as he took hold of Ciel's arm, pulling him to the archery field. The two boys had shown up in the archery field meeting with the instructor, another child of Apollo, to who Justin introduced Ciel while explaining him being a new camper and was going to show him a little archery. Justin's older sibling advises him to take it slow with instructions to Ciel. Following the instructions of the older child and grabbing a pair of bows and two quivers of arrows. Justin began instructing Ciel on the principles of archery while going into depth about the anatomy of a bow and arrow. Ciel took to the instructions like a fish to the water as Justin helped Ciel get the posture down and load an arrow to fire.

For some reason, this felt natural to Ciel from the grip of the bow in his left hand and the fletching of the arrow in his right. Taking a steady breath to get his breathing in rhythm before brought the arrow up, lining his shot then fire...

"By the gods!" Justin said in surprise as he saw the direction of Ciel's arrow whizzing through the air hitting a bull's eye. "Ciel! That was amazing! And you said you never shot a bow and arrow ever?"

"N-no," Ciel responded shyly, "but it just felt natural, ya know?"

"We might have another son of Apollo on our hands," Justin said giving his new friend a love tap to the shoulder before laughing. Ciel could only shake his head and laugh.

"Hey! Justin! I made a new thing!" a girl shouted as she ran to the two boys almost going through the line of fire on the archery range. She was brunette covered in soot and grease but wore a warm smile and a pair of goggles on her head.

"Lucy! Careful! Remember there are people shooting arrows here!" Justin chided his sister.

"Oops, sorry it's just I'm a little excited because I wanna show you something." Lucille, a girl no older than nine showed the two boys a small bronze bull. At first, it seemed like a little figure until it started moving and mooing.

"Wow, that's cool!" Ciel said as he looked at the girl's creation. "You made that?"

"Yep! Wait, you're the new boy! I'm Lucille but my friends and family call me Lucy," the girl said as she offered her right hand, though covered in oil and grease, Ciel shook it kindly as to not seem rude.

"I'm Ciel, it's nice to meet you, Lucille."

"Call me Lucy, if you're a friend of my brother then you're a friend of mine." The girl gave a kind smile to Ciel to which he returned in kind.

"Lucy, you want to see something cool?" Justin asked as he turned to Ciel.

"Sure!" Lucille responded excitedly.

With an encouraging nod from Justin, Ciel loaded another arrow into his bow and fired, landing a bull's eye again. What could be acquainted with sheer luck was something in the making. To Ciel, each arrow fired was liberating like it was something only he could do and do in confidence.

His display was drawing a small crowd from all the other campers on the field who huddled behind the twelve-year-old who had no prior experience with archery. The crow was captivated by the display and lost it when Ciel finished off by sending the last arrow straight through one of his previously fired arrows. The crowd behind the ever ignorant Ciel clapped and caused him to yelp in surprise getting a chuckle from the crowd of campers. After a few words of praise and hopeful wishes from the children of Apollo, Ciel left the archery range with a very bubbly Lucille and Justin dragging him around the camp for a second tour. Granted he seen the majority of the camp but to be in the company of kids closer to his age was comforting.

For the rest of the day, Ciel spent it with the Peters siblings having fun but he still was a little sad. When the siblings weren't looking Ciel would wipe tears that threaten to escape. The trio would split off during dinner at the pavilion where Ciel had some time to think to himself. He had a plate of pizza and garlic bread and was enjoying the greasy carb meal. When he was done he tossed half a piece of garlic bread into the flames that other campers were doing to sacrifice to the gods. Hopefully, his parent liked garlic bread otherwise that would be a crime of the most unforgivable kind.

Once dinner was finished, Ciel made his way to the bonfire getting a seat away from the crowd of campers flocking in. Instead of sitting on a long, he sat on the dirt finding it was more than enough and so he could lean his back against the long as he gazed at the stars. He took his attention away from the sky when Chiron called for the attention of the campers to which they all listened.

"Good evening, heroes." Chiron's voice was soft but loud enough to be heard. "Tonight we have someone new and he is someone I suggest we take notice of since he had an impressive display at the archery field. Come on here," Chiron motioned for Ciel to go and stand next to him, Ciel did so nervously as he walked over to stand to the centaur. "Introduce yourself, don't be shy."

"Um, hi! I'm Ciel and I'm from Florida," he rubbed the back of his neck in the nervous tick he had.

"Tell us more!" Justin shouted from where he was sitting with Lucille who mimicked her brother's shout.

"Uh, I don't really got anything interesting-" Ciel was cut off as a circle of flames surrounded him causing Chiron to move out of the way from the strong flames. The campfire behind rose fifteen feet into the air and changing between blue and violet shades from the flames and a pair of violet torches hovered over Ciel's head. He was scared of the fire but it didn't hurt him. Whether out of stupidity or curiosity, Ciel reaches to the flames with his left hand and the flames died down until the campfire turned back to normal.

"What the hell just happened?!" Ciel shouted then covered his mouth, that wasn't a good impression. "Sorry..."

"Language aside," Chiron started as he looked to the boy, "you've been claimed child by a powerful goddess, the Titaness, Hecate. Congratulations."

A few weeks later...

Ciel was at the archery fields as it became his favorite pastime here at camp. Justin, his new best friend, would come out with him and have shooting competitions. It was the perfect motivator to want to get better because Justin was a son of the god of archery so he had some amazing skill but Ciel was always able to make them break even in their little contest. It would get Justin to pout but he didn't pout for long as the two would always break into a laughing fit. Justin was a good friend to Ciel when he hadn't had one for such a long time and was good at getting him out of his shell for pretty much everything. Even Lucille would watch their contest and act as a judge for fun, though she would get squirrelly and would just start tinkering with whatever little project she brought with her.

Granted, after being claimed and being one of the few children of Hecate, his siblings did teach him what their mother represented and provide him with what comfort they could. Though it seems that children of Hecate are introverted beyond belief which wasn't bad. The thing enjoyed with his demigod siblings was learning magic but he hasn't shown any ability in that area yet. For now, though he'll play to what he's a natural at that being archery and surprisingly tracking.

Ciel had been trying to mimic some of the older archers by doing certain movements such as quickdraws, shooting multiple arrows, shooting from different stances. All of which were becoming easier each day he practice. While doing one of his unique shots he heard footsteps coming his way, landing the bull's eye he heard clapping behind him.

Turning he was met by the sight of a gorgeous girl that was around his age. She had auburn hair, yellow eyes that had a hint of silver, and pale white skin. She wore combat boots, winter camo pants, and a white parka. Equipment-wise, she was carrying a silver bow with a matching quiver, and a combat knife on her hip.

"You shoot well for someone so young," the girl said.

"We are around the same age as far as I can tell," Ciel responded as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Do you not know who I am?" the girl asked as her brow quirked up.

"Should I? I have only been here for a few weeks. Sorry." Ciel said rubbing his neck nervously.

"I see, well, my name is Artemis."

"Like the goddess?" Ciel questioned.

"The very same," Artemis responded, "but your assessment is a little off because I am that goddess." Ciel's face went as pale as what was possible for a man of his skin tone could. Kneeling in a panic Ciel when ahead and face-planted.

"Ow!" Ciel whined as Artemis let out a light chuckle. "Sorry," he said as stood back up, "I hope I didn't offend you Lady Artemis."

"You did no such thing, but you did however amused me with your attempt at trying to be respectful. I will let it slide," Artemis said as she regained her composure. "You're quite skilled with that bow of yours. Are you a child of my brother, Ares, or Athena?" the goddess inquired to which Ciel shook his head "no."

"I'm a son of Hecate," the nervous boy said, "allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Ciel Ambrose Silverstein and it's an honor to meet you Lady Artemis. I've only known about this world for only a few weeks but I'm trying to learn. So I do apologize in advance if I don't know something or do something wrong."

"You're quite mature for only what, eleven?" Artemis questioned.

"Twelve, actually."

"Your father a hunter?"

"No."

"Then how can you handle a bow so well? I imagine you have no experience from how you just explained yourself."

"Oh, you be right there but it's just strange, it just feels natural to have a bow in my hand," Ciel said as he glanced at his bow with a small smile. "It's weird but it's a familiar feeling, I probably am not making any sense am I?"

"You are," Artemis said as she looked at the young boy before an idea came to mind. "Say, Ciel was it? Care to have a friendly competition?"

"A competition?" Ciel asked as he glanced at the goddess.

"Nothing too insane, just an archery competition between the two of us." Artemis looked at the boy with a challenging look in her eyes.

"I'm not sure if I am worthy or skilled enough to compete against you," Ciel hesitated though Artemis shot him a stern glare. "But I'd be happy to face you Lady Artemis."

"Excellent," Artemis smirked as she took a stance next to the child of Hecate. "First to twenty-five bull's eye?" Ciel nodded in agreement as his nervous deemer hardens into that of someone serious.

The two went on Artemis signal as they began their competition, the two let their arrows fly one by one. As the competition was underway, a gathering of campers and some of the Hunters of Artemis watched the display of skill between the goddess and the demigod. The two were three for three, Artemis clearly the more skilled but Ciel's natural ability was making the match slightly more even. Artemis glanced over to see that Ciel wasn't gonna submit easily so she decided to get a bit more showie by shooting at a faster rate. Ciel noticed this and began speeding his rate of fire to which caused Artemis to grin slightly.

"Not bad kid, but I'm better," Artemis thought as she kept hitting the target repeatedly, her arrows slicing clean through her arrows.

It seemed Artemis was about to win one step closer to victory only to be shocked with how Ciel kept a steady pace as her. Each breath was released with each arrow with such accuracy that Artemis had to admit she was impressed. No mortal has shown this level of skill for so long in her existence, only two men ever showed this level of skill but they were long gone. Men she hadn't thought of for a few centuries as she had gotten over their deaths ages ago.

The goddess and the demigod were on their last arrow, this last shot would determine the victor and Artemis wasn't going to lose this. With such quickness, she shot her arrow and landing perfectly on her target. Turning to her adversary with a grin, believing she won Ciel had surprised her by landing a perfect bull's eye that shattered the last arrow he shot causing a-

"No way! A tie?!" one random demigod shouted.

Ciel dropped to his knees panting as a blanket of sweat cascaded his face. He looked to his target surprised he even kept up at all. His arms were aching and he was exhausted trying not to fall behind. It was one thing to compete against Justin but against the Goddess of the Hunt? Nope, not an easy task and not one he'd forget for the longest time.

"Well, you seem pretty capable. Well done, but don't let this get to your head." Artemis warned.

"Why would I do that? This was fun Lady Artemis," Ciel panted as he looked to the goddess who gave him a narrow eye glare before giving him a small smirk, shaking her head.

"You're an odd one, I expect you to do better the next time and give me a real competition next time."

"There's gonna be the next time?" Ciel gulped.

"Of course," Artemis said sternly, "I am a goddess and I am not one to let someone get the better of me. Especially, to a man."

"I um hope to give you a good competition then?" Ciel said as Artemis walked off with her Hunters in toe. After Artemis left the archery field, Ciel was stormed by Justin and Lucille who began questioning why he was competing against Artemis. How was able to tie and was a secret descendant of Apollo from previous generations. He tried to answer but Justin and Lucille shaking him like a maraca was not helping with him trying to explain himself to them.

While Artemis had walked away with her Hunters, her sister Thalia decides to try and ask the goddess who simply brushed off the questioning. Thalia did make a light joke of Artemis seeing a cute boy but that only caused the goddess to shoot her the nastiest death glare anyone has seen for a while. It was quite humorous for the Hunters to see their lieutenant get nervous as they knew Artemis wasn't someone that would break her vow. As the Hunters talked amongst themselves in response to their astonishment at the young demigod skill their mistress was plagued by a quiet thought in her head.

"He seems so much like those two. Huh, haven't thought of those two for some time. Maybe he might be good for the hunt in a few years? Mmm, no. Last men that join the hunt died..." Artemis sighed as she glanced back over her shoulder to the direction of where Ciel was. "Best not to dwell on it and tempt the Fates."

This summer would define Ciel's life forever. From being claimed by his mother who chose not to show up until Ciel's life was endangered, to make two friends, and now having a goddess as a rival? Fate truly was cruel but certain events have been set in motion and Ciel was at the center of it all. This was a new beginning for Ciel, he was important whether he realized it or not as his path has become intertwined with others. Hopefully, he can make the right choice or he may meet an untimely fate...

#riordanverse fanfic #pjo fanfic #riordanverse #pjo #pjo au #riordanverse oc #ciel ambrose silverstein #son of hecate #justin peters #lucille peters #clara osto #artemis #hecate #chiron #alex silverstein #ciel x artemis

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frozenartscapes · 5 years ago

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Monsters Don’t Save People - FE3H Fic

The battle was supposed to be easy. Everything had been planned out, all entry points chosen, squadrons laid out in the best formations.

They hadn’t expected them to have so many Crest Stones.

They weren’t supposed to. Thales must have diverted supplies...

But now there were monsters. So many monsters.

Everywhere one turned, there was a Beast ready to sink its teeth or claws into flesh. Winged devils tore through the skies - Thales evolved them, it seems. There was blood and carnage every which way and it soon became impossible to tell where anyone was or if they were even still alive.

Edelgard spotted Ingrid attempting to provide suppressing fire from above, only to have her pegasus be brought down by a well-aimed lance. She fell a ways away from the Emperor, into a horde of monsters.

Casualties were supposed to be normal. She’s watched so many die by this point. She’s killed so many, both directly and indirectly. She had hardened her heart to this ages ago, she thought but...

Ever since defeating Rhea, something’s changed.

She heard Bernadetta scream from somewhere in the distance. Lindhardt was busy healing Ferdinand, who had taken a clawed swipe to the chest. It was a miracle there was anything left of him to heal. Caspar was providing cover, but she watched as he was swatted out of the way by a rampaging Beast as if he were a mosquito.

Byleth was nowhere to be seen.

Her friends. Her family. She couldn’t lose them. Not now. Not like this. Not to these...these monsters. She had been angry in battle before, but something was different this time. Fury couldn’t begin to describe it. Purple flames from her unwanted Crest danced around her clenched fists.

She spotted a monster charging her in the corner of her eye. She turned to face it, holding her ground as it bore down on her. Her grip on Aymr tightened, and she lowered into an attack stance in preparation. When the Beast was practically on top of her she dove to the side, then swung with all her might - activating her Crest of Seiros for an added boost - striking the creature’s neck and hewing its head clean off.

She’d lost count of how many Beasts she had taken down on that day alone. Far too many. And as she rose from her stance, she felt the effects of all that fighting on her sore body. She was exhausted, and if it weren’t for her Crests she’d have collapsed already.

She pressed on, hoping to advance far enough to find some of the leaders of their enemy’s forces. She hoped they hadn’t turned themselves, yet.

Suddenly, a nearby house exploded as a Demonic Beast was sent flying through it. Stone and wooden beams shot out in all directions, and most of the walls collapsed and the roof caved in. The loss of the house revealed a relieving sight: Byleth.

Edelgard smiled, feeling her heart flutter knowing that her Love was alright.

But then another monster appeared through the dust, slamming into Byleth like a runaway carriage. “No!” Edelgard shouted, spurring herself forward to her teacher’s aid.

The Beast that had been thrown through the house pushed itself up, shaking away the rubble, and stood between her and Byleth. It lunged, and she only had time to hoist her shield up. It slammed against her, forcing her against one of the few remaining walls, massive claws scraping against her shield as it tried to maul her to death.

She had been forced into a corner. From where she was, she could just spot Byleth struggling against her own monster. Edelgard might be able to blast this one away from her but she wouldn’t be able to reach Byleth in time. Or she’d be too weak to do anything. She ran through her options in her head and none of them would work how she wanted.

Except one.

Her uncle hadn’t cared one bit about her ever since he brought her back from the Kingdom and threw her into a hole in the ground to die with her siblings. He showed some concern about her after the experiments proved successful, but it was never about her so much as what she had become. He had, however, offered her one piece of advice, one little shred of something she had no choice but to hope was care, and it was this: under only the direst of circumstances should she activate both of her Crests at once. He warned her to think of it no differently than holding a powerful Crest Stone in her bare hand, and to only do so if she was certain there was no other path to victory.

She couldn’t see any other path. So she called on both the Crest of Seiros and the Crest of Flames. The initial surge of power shot out in a shockwave from her body, blasting the Beast away from her.

Then came the pain.

Pain unlike anything she’d ever felt before tore through her body. It was as if she had been set on fire from the inside out, like her skin was melting off and every bone crushed at the same time. She let out an agonized scream as she fell to her knees, and then...

Nothing.

---

Byleth used her sword to push the monstrous creature back, but barely. It had her pinned, it’s giant maw filled with teeth mashing furiously. She called for a fireball but it did very little to the Beast’s thick hide.

Suddenly, it was gone. The creature was ripped off of her by...something. Whatever that something was, it was big, that was for sure. And powerful.

Byleth lay on the cold ground for a moment, struggling to figure out what the hell just happened. The sound of a tussle caused her to sit up, and she spotted whatever her saviour was and the Beast that almost killed her fighting it out like a pair of rabid dogs.

But then the Beast lost, badly, to one swipe of the newcomer’s long, sword-like claws. The head of the Beast landed next to Byleth, causing her to flinch, but she could not look away from this new creature in front of her.

She’d never seen a Demonic Beast that looked quite like that. This one was more humanoid in form, but barely. Spikes shot out from its shoulders and ran down the length of its back. Skeletal wings arched behind it. Long, spindly arms ended in deadly talons. Its skin reminded her of the charred remains of a body - black and coarse, exposing burnt muscle and bone.

But the face was by far the most terrifying thing about this creature. Because it was a face she knew.

“No.”

---

Lysithea was never one for monsters. They were like ghosts, but unlike ghosts, monsters could actually hurt you. There was no question about that.

Ashe didn’t like monsters, either. For much the same reason.

And yet here they were, stuck in the middle of a narrow street surrounded by monsters.

“I hadn’t planned on dying like this,” Lysithea grumbled as she blasted another creature away from them, “Ripped to shreds was probably the last way I thought I’d go.”

“Don’t think like that just yet,” Ashe told her as he took aim with his bow, “We’re not going down here.”

“Everyone says that right before they go down.”

“Still: gotta keep optimistic.”

A particularly large Beast rounded a corner onto their street. “I don’t think we can take that one by ourselves,” Lysithea commented, already taking a step back.

Ashe reached into his quiver, only to find about four arrows left. He gulped. “Yep, I think you’re right,” he agreed, following her lead.

They only got a few steps in before, on the other end of the street, they spotted a pair of menacing red eyes glowing through the dust and haze of battle. The silhouette revealed a monster neither of them had ever seen before, and the low rumble of a growl echoed through the street, sending chills down their spines.

The first large Beast roared behind them, and then surged forward in a charge. The second did the same, careening down the cobbled stones at tremendous speed.

The pair realized very quickly that they were stuck in the middle with nowhere else to go.

Lysithea aimed her magic at one, and Ashe targetted the other with his bow. But before either of them could fire, the second Beast launched itself into the air, leaping over them and tackling the first Beast away.

Ashe’s bow fell to his side as his mouth dropped open in shock. “What just...happened?”

“Who cares?” Lysithea scolded as she grabbed his hand and pulled, “Let’s get the heck out of here!”

---

“Bernie! Are you alright?”

Bernadetta struggled to push herself up from underneath the rubble pile on top of her. She remembered being on the roof of a house, taking aim at a group of mages, when suddenly the house was blown apart and collapsed.

Soft arms lifted her up gently. Healing magic began to spread through her body. She opened her eyes to see Dorothea’s wonderful smile. Petra was nearby, crouched into a defensive stance waiting to attack anything that got too close. Hubert was also around, keeping mages away from them with powerful magic of his own.

“We saw you fall. We were so worried, Bern!” Dorothea cried as she continued to administer healing spells, “No one’s allowed to die now, not after all we’ve been through.”

“Oh...s...sorry, then,” Bernadetta stammered sheepishly, “That was m...my bad!”

Dorothea sighed. She said not another word but instead pulled her friend into a tight hug, her actions speaking more comfortingly than words ever could.

“We have more enemies coming,” Petra warned urgently, breaking them up with reluctance, “Mages and soldiers, it seems.”

Hubert fell back to them, and raised his hands in preparation for more spells. The enemy surrounded them quickly, all readying their own attacks.

Suddenly, there was a loud whoosh overhead, and purple fire rained down from the sky. Giant fireballs exploded around the enemy, sending them scattering for cover. And then, with the enemy vanquished, it was calm.

“Wow, Hubert! When’d you learn how to do that?” Bernadetta asked in amazement.

“I...I didn’t do that...” Hubert said slowly, gazing down at his hand in confusion.

Suddenly, something clicked. A memory of a one-off conversation he had with Edelgard...

“Oh no.”

---

Linhardt never liked the sight of blood and even after all this time he still wasn’t a fan. But Ferdinand still needed healing, so he swallowed the bile threatening to rise in his throat and kept going. At least the gashes across Ferdinand’s chest were closing up.

“How you holding up, Lin?” Caspar shouted from his position nearby, throwing a punch at a charging soldier.

“Could be better!” Linhardt shouted back.

“How’s Ferdinand? Hubert’s gonna kill you if-”

“He’ll live, that’s all that matters!”

A piercing roar broke up their banter, and suddenly this creature was looming over them, perched on the remains of a house they were using for cover. Through the haze, it was hard to tell just what it was, but its glowing red eyes were clear, like fire in the dark of night. But it wasn’t focused on them - it narrowed its eyes at the band of soldiers who had been advancing on them.

Linhardt blinked and suddenly the enemy threat wasn’t there anymore. Not a single soldier, leaving Caspar standing there befuddled and his fists still raised for a fight.

The creature was gone.

---

This had to be a dream. Another nightmare.

Long, skeletal hands adorned with razor-sharp claws slashed through victims left and right. Her hands...

Skin like leather and scales, like a lizard’s or dragon’s combined with charred muscle with the skin peeled off. Nothing could penetrate it. Her skin...

A long tail like a whip, batting enemies away before they could get near. Her...tail?

She towered over everyone, as if she were riding on a pegasus or wyvern. But her feet were still on the ground. Or were they? She felt like she was floating, flying... There was something on her back, something that had sprouted out of her, tearing through skin. Wings?

Nothing felt real. Her voice wasn’t her own. Her actions were barbaric. Even her teeth were different - sharp, pointy, deadly.

A Demonic Beast roared at her and she roared right back.

But, somehow, through the mist she did realize one thing: her friends were safe. They had been in danger. But she killed the things about to hurt them. Demonic Beasts. Agarthans. Mages. Soldiers. She faced them all with brutal efficiency.

That was...good? Was it not?

But somewhere in her mind something was whispering that she had lost her humanity.

---

Ingrid groaned as she came-to. Suddenly, her memory returned and she shot up, only to be met with a pounding headache.

“Easy, now, try to keep still.” Mercedes’ gentle voice met her ears, but she was still frantic and full of too much adrenaline.

“Where is she?” she demanded, looking all around, “Is she-”

“She’ll be fine.” Marianne’s voice came from nearby, and Ingrid turned to see the soft mage carefully tending to her pegasus. “Her wing is broken, but she’ll recover,” Marianne told her, “You were both very lucky.”

Ingrid sighed heavily, finally relaxing a little and allowing Mercedes to continue to work on her. “Did we win?” she asked, exhaustion making her words heavy and breathless.

“The battle is almost over. There aren’t nearly as many monsters as there were earlier,” Mercedes informed her, “Sadly, there have been many casualties. Although the chaos made it difficult to see just how many.”

Ingrid cursed under her breath. She spotted Annette nearby, holding her axe up and ready in case anything should charge at them. At least some of her friends were safe...

A roar split the relative stillness of the courtyard they were in. A Beast rounded the corner, and its beady red eyes locked onto them in an instant. Marianne shot to her feet and rushed to join Annette’s side. Ingrid tried to get up but was gently held down by Mercedes. “You’re in no condition to fight,” she scolded in that soft, caring way she always had.

The Beast closed in, and was moments away from engaging in a battle when something slammed into it. Another Beast...did they start to turn on each other when they ran out of things to attack? But this Beast was different. It looked different, fought different, sounded different. It crouched down between the other Beast and the four women, growling furiously as if it was...protecting them?

Mercedes gasped in alarm, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. “Edelgard?” she uttered.

Ingrid frowned and looked again. Her heart stopped with her own shock. It was Edelgard - that hair and those golden horns were unmistakable. Her face, though distorted by blackened scales and fangs, was clear. Had they forced a Crest stone on her? Was it some kind of curse? Why did she still seem...conscious?

The Beast charged her, managing to sink its teeth into her shoulder and throwing her away. Edelgard recovered and struck with her claws - horrific, boney things - that sunk into the Beast’s flesh. Purple fire danced down her arm and engulfed the Beast in her clutches. It roared in agony as she released it, but it was silenced quickly and dissolved into black ash at her feet.

The creature that was Edelgard then took a step back. She seemed to be breathing heavily, and black blood flowed from several wounds on her back. She staggered back another step before collapsing to her knees.

But it was over, Ingrid realized, as she tore her eyes off her deformed Emperor and looked around the battlefield. There were no more monsters, no more enemies.

Somehow, they had won. And she was pretty sure she knew why.

---

“El...El! It’s me, El!”

The battle was over. The enemy defeated. Her friends safe.

The nightmare was not.

She still felt trapped in a body that was not her own. The outside world was hazy, distorted, too strange to be real. The smell of blood and death hung heavily in the air and it spoke to some feral part of her. More. She wanted more.

They would pay. They would all pay. They wanted a monster? Well now they’ve got-

“El. Easy. It’s me. I know you’re still in there.”

Somewhere in the fog came a voice she knew. A voice she loved. It was calm and reassuring and forgiving. She looked around frantically, trying to shake away the nightmare. Wake up! She’s trying to get you to wake up!

“Down here, El!”

She glanced down, discovering that she now was quite taller than the woman she loved. Even now, collapsed to her...knees?... she still had a good four feet over Byleth. Part of her almost laughed. If her body hadn’t been horrifically mutated, she might have.

The dream was starting to shift, starting to give. Reality was beginning to come back to her.

She lowered herself even more, leaning down so her eyes could meet Byleth’s. Byleth was alive. Her heart - she still had one, thank the goddess - fluttered in her hollow chest. Byleth reached for her cheek, ignoring the scales and leathery skin and teeth that could rip through flesh like a sword. Her touch was gentle, the way it always was.

So warm. So soft. So loving.

Red glowing eyes turned back to lilac.

“There you are,” Byleth said quietly, a small, relieved smile on her face.

Edelgard felt a similar shift as the one from earlier, but rather than fire that consumed her, this time it was ice. Like she had just been thrown into the frigid northern ocean. She struggled to breathe, tried to claw her way back up from the dark depths to the light of the surface. Her entire body shuddered, her muscles contracted, her bones broke again.

But the changes faded. She shrunk back to her old size. The wings and claws and tail all disintegrated. The scales and rough hide peeled off her skin like ash in the wind. She was left a mess - hair knotted, dress torn, armour mangled.

But human.

Byleth still held her cheek. She had lowered herself down to her knees, never letting go.

“B...Byleth,” Edelgard stammered. As she escaped from the dream, she realized what had happened. That...that thing she became... All those people and creatures that fell victim to her... The rage and the malice and the gore...

A monster. She had become a monster.

But it wasn’t like a curse or a Crest stone. That thing - it lives in her. It came from her, not an external force. They might have forced that second Crest on her, but it wasn’t like she could just avoid touching a glowing rock to hope to never transform again. What if she doesn’t have a choice in battle again? What if it comes easier now? What if...what if she gets stuck like that?

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, El.” She hadn’t realized she was crying until she felt Byleth thumb something away from her cheek. The more reality came crashing into her, the harder it was to breathe. No matter how much she gasped, air refused to fill her lungs and her heart felt like it was about to explode out of her chest. Tears streamed from her eyes and she clung to Byleth’s cloak with an iron grasp.

Byleth stayed gentle, patient, loving. She just continued to hold her beloved, keeping her grounded, whispering soft comforts until the Emperor’s breathing began to slow. She gently used her magic to heal some of the worst of Edelgard’s wounds.

“Are they...are they safe?” Edelgard stammered, almost whispered, so deathly afraid that she might have... “My Eagles. My friends. My...”

“Shhh, El, it’s ok. Everyone’s ok,” Byleth assured her softly, running a hand through tangled white hair, “A little worse for wear, but we’re all safe. Thanks to you.”

“But...” El choked on her words, her throat suddenly feeling very dry and torn. She coughed, and Byleth held her closer.

“From what I hear, most of them were saved by a magnificent creature, like something from a fairy tale.”

Edelgard scoffed. “You mean a monster?” she spat.

“No. Monsters don’t save people.”

“But I...” Edelgard swallowed hard, tasting blood and bile in her mouth.

“El... People are alive right now because of what you did. I’m alive because of you. I can’t say that I ever want you to do that again, but...” Byleth’s wonderful smile lit up her face, and the last of the darkness plaguing Edelgard’s mind was chased away. “You were the furthest thing from a monster, El.”

Edelgard sniffled as she pressed herself closer to Byleth, leaning her head on her Light’s chest so she could listen to that wonderful heartbeat. “I just... I’ve lost too much of my family, Byleth...” she breathed, glancing up to meet Byleth’s soft gaze, “I...I couldn’t...”

Byleth merely held her close. “You kept us all safe,” she murmured into silver hair, “You’re not going to lose anyone today.”

It was amazing - almost frightening, given what they did to her - how she had never known just how much she wished someone would say those words to her until they were said. How many nights had it been when she would lay awake or be ripped from her slumber by a nightmare fed by her guilt, by her haunted thoughts of her family, lying broken and bleeding before her? All that time she wished she could have saved even just one of them.

Would they be proud of her now?

Byleth seemed to be, anyway.

Feeling more than she had in ages, Edelgard latched onto Byleth and held her tight, tears once more flowing down her cheeks. And the love of her life merely held her close, giving her everything she ever wanted.

“Edie!”

Suddenly, a new pair of arms were wrapped around her, too, surprisingly tight and desperate. Edelgard heard Byleth huff in surprise, and surmised she had likely been caught up in the bone-crushing hug as well.

“Don’t you ever do that again!” Dorothea scolded, “We were all so worried for you! You could have gotten yourself killed doing that!”

“I’ll say! I nearly blasted your head off!” Lysithea reprimanded, settling down beside them, “Next time you decide to turn into a monster to win a fight, tell us, for goddess’ sake!”

“How exactly did you do that, anyway?” Lindhardt asked, sounding the most enthusiastic he’d ever been in some time, “And would you consent to a few tests for me to find out more?”

“I’m curious too, just because it looked awesome!” Caspar pipped up, “Do ya think I could maybe...”

“Vultures, the lot of you!” Hubert grumbled, “You should all follow my example by giving her Majesty a chance to recover first before questioning her, frankly insane, decision.”

Edelgard shot her loyal friend a small smile. He might be mad, but it was because he cared.

They all cared.

A relieved laugh bubbled up from her throat, and she allowed herself this moment to relish the love she felt around her.

A wicked man once told her that love had no place in an Emperor’s heart. To be a truly powerful leader, emotions had no place within them. Never care for anyone, as they could be lost at any moment and there was no room for such weaknesses as mourning their loss. One must be cold, indifferent, willing to sacrifice anything or anyone.

She had believed him, once upon a time. He had been very effective in his teachings.

Thankfully, she had since found a far better teacher.

---

A few weeks had passed, and things had returned to normal. Edelgard no longer felt any residual pain from the transformation, and they had made significant strides against Those Who Slither in the Dark.

It was Caspar who approached her one day.

“So... You wouldn’t consider doing that again, would you? That Hegemon form of yours was awesome!”

She gulped, her throat suddenly feeling rather dry. “I’d...rather not, if I can avoid it,” she said carefully. Here it comes: the insisting that such a weapon should be at the forefront of every battle, that she was being selfish for keeping it to herself when so many suffer, that things would end quicker if she just-

“That’s ok! I understand,” Caspar replied, smiling comfortingly at her in earnest. There was no ulterior motive, no shadow in his expression, no disappointment to his voice.

If it hadn’t been confirmed to her already, it was at that moment: she was far better off with her friends than she ever was with those who only wanted to use her.

#fe three houses #fanfic #edelgard #byleth #black eagles #post-game #hegemon edelgard

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anzu-kaiba · 4 years ago

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The Seven Labors of Mokuba Kaiba - Easter Egg Explainer Pt. 6/7

I peppered The Seven Labors of Mokuba Kaiba, my recent 15-chapter, 60,450+ word Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic (written for YGOME and NaNoWriMo) with all kinds of references. Some of them are just for fun, while others can help you get a sneak peek into future chapters or elements of the world.

READ THE FIC HERE

If it hasn’t been clear from the start of this series, brevity is not my strong suit, and many of these “Easter Eggs” are more like explainers for why I mentioned something a certain way in the fic, or my headcanons and the like. With that in mind...

See how many you spotted in Chapters 11-12!

I really struggled with coming up with chapter titles for this one, but I knew that something relating to the actual “labors” would have to factor in. However, I didn’t want to include the libretto as one of the labors, despite it being the thing that kicks off the story, because then it wouldn’t be SEVEN labors, and Seven Labors just sounds a lot better than Eight, right? So that’s why some of the chapter titles might seem “off” for what he actually does in that chapter, or why I use some odd verbs to differentiate one task from another. I mean, “finagle,” really?

Joe Fox : Tweaking? A project that needs "tweaking"?

Kathleen Kelly : Yes.

Joe Fox : T-w-e-a-k-i-n-g.

Kathleen Kelly : -i-n-g. That's what he said.

—From one of my favorite movies of all time, You’ve Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

I did consider having one or more things go wrong with Mokuba’s quest, but I wasn’t sure what SHOULD go wrong but still get ultimately resolved and reveal something about him/another character. I figured people insisting on favors rather than money, or being ambiguous, were struggle enough.

I mentioned it in exposition, but if it wasn’t clear: Anzu has not spoken to Yuugi in at least five years, What she’s “lost” is that long friendship she had with him, without the chance to really explain why she went ahead with Millennium and why she felt like she needed to, as opposed to just (selfishly) wanting to further her career.

This is the dress that inspired Anzu’s Laurence Olivier Awards gown; it’s actually an Oscar de la Renta gown, but in the Schmoozeverse, it’s Jacques Mode. ^_~ Imagine instead of the pattern, it’s hieroglyphs instead. This is Tina Fey from the 2014 Tony Awards.

I tried to model the description of Atem on the cover of Anzu’s “homemade” libretto with the one used for the Hamilton musical, with Hamilton pointing up to the sky, forming the top point of a star. You know, this one:

For Atem, I put him in a pose that I thought was more appropriate to Duel Monsters, one of those “comeback card” poses anyone who followed him would recognize. Imagine something like this, but he’s standing instead of jumping:

(Art by Sabina)

The actual Hamilton libretto obviously inspired how I described this one. While I’m a fan of many Broadway musicals, I can’t call myself a proper theatre kid or anything like that; I don’t know how common it is for Broadway shows to release a libretto. I’ve certainly never seen other musical librettos for sale at TARGET, of all places, which is where I got my copy of the Hamilton one. I imagine it was only possible to put together in the first place because Lin-Manuel Miranda and other cast and crew members made sure to document their time putting together the mixtape-turned-musical, and they saved all of those notes, photos, text messages, and so on. I imagine Anzu would do the same for her “first big production.”

A recurring theme in many of my fanfics is the trauma characters like Anzu, Mokuba, Mai, and Jounouchi endured at the hands of other characters, whether it’s temporary villains like Malik and Bakura, or arc-long villains like Pegasus, Dartz, or Noa. Sometimes I imagine Anzu being more forgiving, while other times I imagine her doing her best to not even think about it. In the Schmoozeverse, she’s very reluctant to consider Malik as anything less than the person who kidnapped and brainwashed her, even after she (and the rest of the gang) met him and his family again for the Ceremonial Duel. But Mokuba helps facilitate Malik’s opportunity to finally apologize to her personally, and that makes a huge difference to Anzu.

Anzu and Mokuba’s lines about “familiar faces, far off places” is a reference to the song Mad World by Tears for Fears (though you may have heard any number of cover versions, including one by Adam Lambert). I’m sure there are lots of other songs/iconic lines that rhyme “faces” and “places,” but for some reason, the melancholy of this song seemed to work for the moment.

youtube

I find it interesting that Mokuba never actually went to the Memory World with Seto, and I think it would be an interesting story that explores a Mokuba that DID make that trip somehow, whether or not Mokuba has an “Ancient Egyptian” counterpart. As for how he knows what Priest Seto looks like? (How he knows what Seto would look like with a tan) I imagine Seto or Anzu went into lengthy descriptions at some point, and for the sake of Millennium, they definitely made a Solid Vision version of him.

In my original version of the story, I just had Anzu’s ex (Eric) cheat on her without any reason, but if I wanted her to be reluctant to get in contact with him again (but still willing to try, at the end of the day), I had to make him sympathetic somehow. Before I knew it, he had this backstory involving him discovering his true self, and Anzu became something of an accidental victim in that journey. Even if you go to major metropolitan cities where you expect people are more accepting of varying sexual orientations and identities (like New York City), people might still be in the closet and reluctant to come out for any number of reasons. I look forward to the day when that’s not a problem anymore and everyone can be their authentic selves all the time.

Since the above was meant to be my “hat tip” to one of the other requests for the YGOME gift fic (Prideshipping), I did consider trying to work a “fake dating” scenario into the cheating somehow, but ultimately that didn’t work out. I could imagine Eric “fake dating” Anzu so people wouldn’t know he’s gay, but then Anzu would HAVE to know he’s gay, and then there’d be no struggle for her in putting together the libretto.

Mokuba offering Anzu a job is the impetus for the events of Love and the Art of Schmoozing, the first fic I envisioned for this “universe,” but which is actually a sequel (of sorts) to The Seven Labors of Mokuba Kaiba. Stay tuned for it!

I had a really hard time coming up with what Anzu would write as an inscription in the book, knowing it was for Pegasus, someone else (besides Malik) that she would see as having traumatized her. While he didn’t inflict any pain on her personally, I still see her as disliking him intensely, especially for what he did to Sugoroku, Mokuba, and Seto. She’s empathetic and understands Pegasus was doing it (mostly) out of a broken heart, but is frustrated that he had to hurt people to get what he wanted. She never gives up, as Mokuba observes, and that’s because she’s capable of seeing the alternatives that people like Pegasus can’t.

“Unimaginable” is the Millennium counterpart of “It’s Quiet Uptown” from Hamilton. Many of the lines would be the same, except altered for Yu-Gi-Oh! It’s either for when Atem lost Yuugi during the Doma arc or for Yuugi after the Ceremonial Duel. Considering where it falls in the song list in Hamilton (and how much of the musical is left after that song), it might make more sense in the Schmoozeverse if it’s for Atem losing Yuugi during the Doma arc because of his own narrow-minded focus, even if he had “good intentions.”

This story takes place 14 years after the events of Duelist Kingdom, but considering Mokuba’s childhood, I don’t see him “getting over” some of his traumas so easily, even if he did start going to therapy in junior high. Everyone in this story needs to learn how to move on: what that means, what it looks like, and how to take that difficult first step. Sometimes trauma is loss, while other times, it takes a different shape. Many characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! have experienced both.

I explain FB100875 in-story, but to reiterate: it’s Pegasus’ birthday combined with the initials of his all-time favorite comic, “Funny Bunny.” It’s his Chirper (Twitter) account handle.

The surprises Pegasus includes in the boxes are the Blue-Eyes Spirit Dragon for Seto and the Azure Eyes Silver Dragon for Mokuba. I chose the latter for Mokuba because he still runs a Dragon-type deck in Duel Links, even if he doesn’t use the Blue-Eyes.

I have to thank my husband for helping me to come up with the name Duel Standby for a duelist blog. Anzu (or rarely another character) says it at the end of every “next episode” preview, and it kind of sounds like a format similar to newspaper names, e.g., Place/Topic Courier/Chronicle/Herald/Examiner/Times/Journal etc. etc. Since it’s a blog, I figure the place doesn’t matter as much as the topic.

I wanted to include a sort of denouement that would make sense, given that Mokuba served as the POV character for the whole story. So I opted to do blog posts and emails that he’s reading.

RHFirePrincess is a nod to none other than Rebecca Hopkins, who used Fire Princess to great effect during the Kaiba Corporation Grand Prix.

Rumors & Secrets is a random nod to a gacha-style game I’ve been playing lately: Mr. Love Queen’s Choice. It’s kind of like an otome mobile game, but it’s got quite a lot of intrigue, which is why I imagine they have special stories that fall under this name.

D.D. Bidder isn’t a real card, of course, but it’s a reference to the Different Dimension archetype in the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game.

I always wondered why Pegasus seemed so involved with the Duel Academia in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX despite his supposed retirement from Industrial Illusions and having no explicit ties to the Academias. So I wrote a reason in!

I alluded a bit to Seto going to some sort of mountain retreat for his vacation, but in reality, I didn’t actually think too much about it. So in-story, I had Mokuba and Seto banter about it, with neither really revealing anything. I might explore just what Seto did in another story in the Schmoozeverse in the future. If Seto HAD let Mokuba speak right now, the events of Love and the Art of Schmoozing would be very different!

I spent far too long looking into men’s formalwear, including “smoking jackets,” which is what Mokuba’s jacket is based on. I didn’t want it to be a regular suit jacket; he wants to stand out from his brother, which means not just having a differently colored tuxedo jacket or suit jacket.

What do you think Jounouchi and Mai talked about on their way back to Jounouchi’s place in Domino? Would you be interested in a side story about that?

The only suits we’ve ever seen Seto wear canonically are white suits with a blue shirt and tie, and a blue suit with a white shirt and turquoise tie (when he was a kid). He strikes me as something of a traditionalist with his formal/everyday wear, compared to what he wears at Duelist Kingdom or his Battle City jacket throughout the remainder of the series. Thank goodness we never saw Seto wearing a maroon suit like Gozaburo wore!

“I’m too sexy for my shirt” is a reference to the song by Right Said Fred.

I didn’t plan on the tense scene between Mokuba and Seto about the Kaiba family name, but I couldn’t just have Mokuba refer to Mai by her given name without Seto noticing and calling him out on it. The only person who refers to Seto as “Seto-sama” is Isono. Everyone else just calls him “Kaiba” or “Kaiba-kun,” even after learning his backstory. But then again, Seto rarely opens up to people, so the name thing ended up being a pivotal character growth opportunity in this story. It also influences later events in Love and the Art of Schmoozing.

At the time when this story takes place, the age of majority (when Mokuba could have legally changed his name if he wanted to) in Japan is still 20.

In 2015, the Japanese Diet enacted a bill to lower the voting age to 18.

In 2018, they added revisions to encompass other things, like getting credit cards and loans, applying for 10-year passports, and marrying without parental consent, but those changes don’t take effect until 2022.

Additionally, the age for smoking, drinking, and gambling remains at 20 due to “health concerns.”

As viewers, we’re supposed to trust that what we see in episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! is what happened. But the show is obviously focused primarily on Yuugi and his friends, and even when we dip into someone else’s point-of-view or get facts about someone else, that doesn’t mean it’s not distorted somehow, either by time, opinion, or any number of other things. So I’m of the opinion that Seto believing his relatives took their inheritance and just dropped Seto and Mokuba at an orphanage is not quite the whole story. Orphanages in Japan aren’t great, and there’s not a high adoption rate. I imagine that it’s not easy to access a child’s inheritance soon after their parents’ death, and it’s certainly not simple to just dump a child off at an orphanage with no issue. So in the Schmoozeverse, there’s more to that story, and Mokuba got motivated enough to look into it, while Seto has never wavered from his belief of what occurred, even if it happened when he was much younger and very impressionable.

Mokuba saying that Seto never even asked about his friends is a way of saying that Seto never really asks Mokuba about private/personal matters. Mokuba felt that there was never a chance to discuss their estranged family, because they never even talked about lighter subjects (like friends). Without an opening, how do you bring something like that up? This conversation wasn’t one Mokuba planned to have, and didn’t go the way Mokuba hoped, but it needed to happen.

If Atem’s lesson to everyone was to “move on,” then Seto’s lesson is to “choose your own path.” You can have a past life but not be dictated by it; you can win or lose a game, but you choose what to do about it afterward. Mokuba’s lesson to Seto is that it’s one thing to choose your path, but you only have so much time to choose, and you also get to decide whether you walk down that path of life WITH others or WITHOUT them.

#azurite #7lmk #ygome #ygome20 #nanowrimo #mokuba kaiba #yu-gi-oh #fanfiction #ao3 #archive of our own #schmoozeverse

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starberrywrites-ships · 4 years ago

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Sealing the Deal

Hubert x Constance

Constance wanted a little help with the uncertainty that is her future, and who better to ask than the one magic-user she believes might be better than herself.

Read on AO3: HERE

It was a beautiful day. Just enough wind to keep one cool while enjoying a hot beverage. Edelgard and Hubert spent this time having tea, as a little break from their intense planning. It was a very uneventful day, perfect for relaxing. Or so they thought.

“Your highness!! Hubert!!” Constance cheered from afar, skipping over to their table. Her large umbrella high in the sky, preventing the sun from shining on her. It wasn’t uncommon to see her around holding it. While under the overcast, she folded up her umbrella and set it by her side. “Hello!”

“Hello, Constance. Is there something you need?” Edelgard asked, wondering how she is so energetic all the time.

“Yes, there is! But not by you. I was wondering if I could speak with Hubert for a moment!”

This came as a surprise for both Hubert and Edelgard. Why would Constance need to speak with Hubert and him only? Hubert hoped Edelgard would say they’re busy and he needs to accompany her.

“Sure. I don’t see why not.”

Damn it.

“But Lady Edelgard-” Hubert began before being interrupted.

“I’ll be fine Hubert. We can meet up later. Constance, nice seeing you today. Enjoy your time.” Edelgard said, leaving her seat and the area completely.

Constance made herself comfortable, sitting down across from Hubert and noticing the teapot still had water in it. She smiled, grabbing the pot and began to heat it up from her hands using magic. This captured Hubert’s attention. Resulting in him making a judgemental face. Though, it’s hard to notice the difference from his regular expression.

“You use your magic for everyday life. Why bother? Is it not draining?” He asked, taking into consideration he himself only uses his magic for important things. Like training, protecting Lady Edelgard, missions, things like that.

“Why would I limit the window of opportunities to use my magic to simply only when I am in danger! You get no proper practice from that! I see it as a perfect way to make life more enjoyable while benefiting from it.” She said with a closed eye smile. “And besides! A great sorcerer such as I needs to live up to their title in order to restore House Nuvelle!”

There it is. Constance’s classic ‘Restore House Nuvelle’ line. It’s almost as annoying as Ferdinand repeating his name over and over again. At least to Hubert.

“Will you get to the point already? You asked to speak with me and yet here you are speaking at me.” Hubert said, wanting this to be over.

Constance poured herself a cup, took a sip, and placed it gently on the table. A large smile on her face as she opened her fan and began to laugh. “I want us to be work partners!”

“Absolutely not.” Hubert said immediately. He didn’t need to think about it. Working with anyone other than Edelgard is a big no, and Constance? Also a big no.

“Allow me to explain myself first will you?!” She said, beginning to fan herself. “You’re a big deal in the empire. Although I’m sure you already knew that! All I’m asking is that the two of us work together! I could use your help in restoring House Nuvelle! And I’ll repay you in any way!” She said in a more serious tone. “I need someone who can match my magical abilities! Or perhaps someone better even.”

“No. I serve Lady Edelgard and that is that. Go find someone else to beg.” Hubert said, taking this as an exit ticket. Lifting from his seat and walking away.

Constance watched as he disappeared, a frown on her face as she let out a defeated sigh. “What am I going to do now . . .”

- -

It’s been a few weeks since their last encounter. Constance had been locking herself up in Abyss, hoping some new invention spirals into her mind. There was no luck. She was frustrated by her lack of creativity and failures in spell casting. She came to the conclusion she simply needed a new environment for the time being. Grabbing her umbrella, she made her way towards the surface to see a very special someone.

“Luna!” Constance cheered, finally in view of her pegasus. Rushing over to the stable she began petting the animal, to which Luna purred and nudged into Constance’s palm. Constance proceeded to give Luna a hug, still holding her umbrella in a secure grip. “You’re lucky I care for you so much . . . Otherwise I wouldn’t bother coming to the surface,” Constance said, her tone growing soft.

Constance placed her forehead on Luna’s while letting out a sigh. “Oh, Luna. Why did it have to be this way. . .” her voice cracked, full of despair. The pegasus took note of her change in attitude, budding her head to lift Constance’s chin and make her laugh.

Constance smiled tiredly, going back to petting Luna. “While I hate to admit it, I feel if I am unable to accomplish this, I’m a disappointment.”

She was so caught up in her conversation with the animal, Constance didn’t notice the presence growing closer with each step.

Hubert let out a low chuckle, almost mockingly as he stood a good distance away from the Wolf, arms crossed over his body. “You’re never hard to find. Look for the large umbrella and you’ve found your very own Constance.”

Constance lifted her head to see who was speaking, locking eyes with Hubert. She quickly looked away, letting out a huff full of attitude. “Were you looking for me? Well, I have nothing to say to you.” She was clearly still upset over the last conversation they had.

“Perhaps you don’t. But I do.” He said, taking a few steps closer, stopping right at the brim of where her umbrella ended. Close enough to speak to her properly, but far enough to ensure he doesn’t accidentally hit what’s preventing her from going into a depressive episode. “I find your attitude to restoring your house rather endearing, I’m simply curious as to why you’re so caught up in being the best sorcerer and getting your noble title back.”

“Don’t you see it?” Constance said, turning her body to face Hubert completely. “I’m not working up my magic simply to be the best”, She drops her head to the ground. “It’s what I need to do for my family.”

“Your deceased family,” Hubert commented. “Both parents and a brother, correct? How is that of any importance to you? They’re gone after all.” He wasn’t asking to be rude. He’s just a little stupid sometimes.

“Simply cause!” Constance raised her voice, realizing just how tightly she was holding onto the handle, resulting in her hand going completely white. She lets out a sigh, collecting herself. “After the fall of House Nuvelle, I was furious at the world. If this so-called goddess truly cared about her people then why us? Why my family?! And why must I be the one left standing? Others may see it as a defeat, a sign not to carry on. I want to honour my family for all that they did. Being alive gave me a chance to show the world what the Nuvelle name means.”

Hubert tenses up. He wasn’t expecting a full confession, let alone from Constance. Her ‘high and mighty’ act had been completely dropped from this conversation. Leaving her openly vulnerable. Hubert noticed the little things while she was talking, the disappointment in her voice, her anxiously playing with her umbrella, the fact she couldn’t stand still while speaking.

Her drive and motivation for her family. It reminded Hubert of someone dear to him.

Constance shakes her head, letting out a painful laugh. “I’m aware it’s a ridiculous reason. Doing something for the dead. There’s no gain in doing such. But without this drive I have nothing.”

“‘It’s not ridiculous. I’ll lend my aid.”

She locks eyes with Hubert once more. Completely shocked and unsure if she even heard him correctly. “I beg your pardon?!”

Hubert lets out a sigh himself. “Do not make me repeat myself . . . I’ll lend my aid.”

A smile rises to Constance’s face. It was clear that a simple sentence boosted her mood in a positive way. “Hubert!!” She cheered.

“ Only after we reach Lady Edelgards goal. I’m expecting your magic expertise for the empire, payment for my future services.” He said, keeping her under control. But he did slightly enjoy her being as cheerful as she is now, it brought a small smile to his face as well.

“Thank you . . . truly.” Humble Constance. What a sight to see. While it is weird to her that Hubert’s help would mean so much, she knows with him around her dream isn’t so out of reach.

“Don’t fret over it. I’m simply seeing the plus side in having you involved. And besides, you need the best competition to train with.” Hubert said, his smile turning into a smirk as he remembers her praising him.

“Don’t think so highly of yourself.” Her regular over the top dramatic way of speaking returns once more. Bringing the tension between the two to very comfortable. It was surprisingly quiet around them, a beautiful day to have some tea. Or . . .

“Would you care to accompany me in a cup of coffee?” Hubert asked, watching Constance’s eyes widen at the question. He figured it was simply because of how out of character he was acting at the moment.

“How are you aware I like coffee?” She asked, genuinely impressed. The only time she had some to drink was when she got her hands on it and shared it with Hapi. It was absolutely divine, but unfortunately way too expensive for the ex noble to have on a regular.

It was a hard question to answer. It’s not like he could openly say he has spies down in Abyss to keep an eye out. At least, not yet he can. So, he resorted to the next obvious response. “You talk loudly.”

“Excuse you!”

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juicemitio · 5 years ago

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Alright I went to Louisville Galaxycon and saw Travis and Clint twice, for their worldbuilding workshop and their Q&A. Here's some interesting stuff I learned (I didn't include stuff they talked about that's pretty common knowledge or they talked about on the last ttazz)

Graduation

Fitzroy was originally going to be a jock that was weak bc he no longer had a team, Travis told Griffin that that didn't really work for the world so they reframed it as him training to be a hero, was great academically and behaviorally, but had a problem no one had seen before and no one felt like dealing with. It specifically wasn't "barbarian fails bc he can't keep his rage in check," it was that no one was willing to deal with his magic so they shipped him off

Someone asked Travis to explain fitzroy's magic, so from the DM's mouth- he's a barbarian subtype with elemental magic which has a random effect while raging, which we haven't seen yet (path of the wild soul if you want to look it up and see what he can do) and he took a feat which gives him the ability to cast 3 cantrips of his choosing. What I thought was interesting was that Travis described Fitz's magic using the word "elemental" twice, even though that isn't specifically stated in the path of the wild soul entry

Travis knows Argo's secret and is very excited about it

Clint has a pirate fiction book he reads every night before they record to get into the headspace to play Argo, he told us the name but I forgot it

There is one small little concept that made the whole of graduation make sense to Travis and is what the arc will be about, and he only figured it out a few days before recording. Obviously he didn't tell us what it was

Originally it was going to start with everyone starting at age 11 and slowly killing the other kids off, but Justin didn't feel comfortable playing a game surrounded by kids dying

The accounting scene is already one of Travis' all time favorite taz scenes

The pegasus scene informed Travis on exactly how he was going to treat the firbolg

Also Travis referred to Justin's character exclusively as "the firbolg," which means "master firbolg" is solely a thing going on with the npcs in the game which I find hilarious. They just all decided to give him a dope title bc he deserves it, meanwhile no one will call Fitzroy "sir"

To Fitzroy, social threats are an extremely real and serious thing, like the Biggest thing to him (we were talking about what characters found threatening in the workshop, for context)

There's some big concept/idea that comes up in the next episode that travis almost let spill and had to quickly stop himself from saying it

Someone mentioned eating breakfast in their question in the workshop and Travis goofed on it for a second, then said "cereal world" suddenly, and Clint had to pick up the question bc Travis had to take a second to make a note of it in his phone

Travis started brainstorming graduation in March and they recorded the first episode in October, and his main job in that time was working on graduation

Before Buckminster was adapted for graduation he could not fight at all, if he got into a fight he would die, he poured everything into charisma and could talk his way out of any fight (even the big bad of the game he crit 20d his check and the big bad walked away from the fight)

Travis is really into psychology and how if you assign a label to someone they're going to act more like it (ie you tell a kid they're amazing and smart and talented and they become more like that, you tell a kid they're annoying and dumb and a problem they become more like that), and how that was a major contributor to play into hero/villain/sidekick/henchperson dynamics, you get assigned this arbitrary title of good/evil/subservient and you become like that to fit the role, and then the inevitable pushing against that mold

Travis is fully aware of his story being compared to harry potter and he doesn't care bc it's apt (people in a school arbitrarily divided into four groups and one of them is the Bad One), also he knows people describe it as "sky high meets Harry Potter meets my hero academia" and he actually finds that really flattering bc he thinks that sounds cool and like something he'd want to watch

On that note, Travis is a self-identified Slytherin and he's always upheld that the reason Slytherin is depicted in a bad light is bc Rowling decided she didn't like them, and he's always sympathized with the idea of a first year Slytherin working their ass off following the rules and doing their work and getting points, and Dumbledore rewards three idiots for breaking like every rule and pulls the trophy away from you. This was a big inspiration for graduation, of one group getting a bad rep and being portrayed as evil for literally no reason

Amnesty

Clint & Travis's favorite scene they've ever done together was Ned & Aubrey's final scene together

Aubrey and Dani do move in with each other at the end of amnesty

Balance

Travis' main emotion around taz is pride and he's most proud of the scene in stolen century with the spirits in the robots, bc they had to record it a second time bc it got way too dark and ended in a really grim way and about 20 min after they finished they all decided that they weren't happy with it, that it didn't fit the tone, he's really proud they didn't just leave it be and they took the second pass at it to make it right

I'm pretty sure he's talked about wanting to kill Magnus off at the beginning before but he mentioned that it was only at the end of petals to the metal he actually realized he wanted Magnus to live, bc Hurley had to sacrifice herself to save Magnus bc Magnus had been so reckless, that hit Travis really hard. Travis realized that Magnus' recklessness was getting people hurt and so Magnus did too, so Magnus become a bit more cautious and took up rogue training to try not to get anyone killed again

Dust

Dust wasn't designed to be anything more than a one off and the workload was completely unsustainable, the document of notes for dust was about 100 pages and only about 10% of it got used

The reason Travis loved it so much was bc it was a mystery and he found it really fun

Commitment

Clint would love to revisit commitment, but probably not in podcast form bc he didn't find himself really being in the moment as much bc of all the different things he had to keep track of, he'd like to see a comic adaptation/continuation if possible

It was based of a comic he wrote that never got published bc the company producing it failed (he still cashed his paycheck) so he reused it bc he still liked it a lot, it was about how America was founded as a monarchy instead of a democracy and what that changed in the usa's (united sovereignty of america's) history, and how people now were fighting to establish a democracy. Also there were cowboys and spaceships and other cool stuff he put in there bc he liked it

General adventure zone

The reason why they're are able to do romantic relationships w/o being weirded out by it (they joke about it but they don't actually care) is bc it's never done in an explicit or sexual way and since it's the decision the characters would make to pursue the relationship then that's the decision they make. He reframed it as it wouldn't be weird if a family were writing a script together and there was a romance and one person wrote lines for one character and the other wrote lines for the other. He did mention that two siblings playing characters in a relationship as actors on screen wouldn't be cool though

They sometimes get comments that some of the stuff they do is "fanservice," but they feel that they owe their success to their fans and they owe some to them

They are both aware of and proud that Justin is the best at character creation, Clint specifically really was talking about how Justin's strong suit is definitely character creation and characterization

General mcelroy stuff

They walked pretty close to me when they entered the stage room for the q&a and like… they're short, like shorter than you think

Travis referred to his unborn child as "baby dod" (I'm not 100% certain but I'm pretty sure) which I looked up and is a nickname for George, and given with their older kid being named Barbera and nicknamed BeBe and Travis talking before about how he and his wife like classic names with cool nicknames it makes sense

Travis had an earing in his right ear, I didn't get to see his left ear and I couldn't tell if it was an actual piercing or a fake, it looked really good though. Also his tinted glasses look a lot cooler irl than they do in pictures

Clint told the teenage mutant Ninja turtle story with the signatures that griffin told on mbmbam, but Clint remembered it as happening at King's Island, not Disney. This story was prompted by the question of the biggest lie he ever told his kids, and he only came clean about this a few months ago

Travis told a story about how he finished a videogame when he was younger and was so excited that he picked up a plastic knife, yelled "throwing knife!" threw it directly at Griffin who dodged it and it hit and shattered a window

#taz #taz graduation #taz amnesty #taz balance #taz commitment #taz dust #travis mceloy #clint mcelroy #mbmbam #mcelroys #also i left out the actual worldbuilding tips bc the workshop is something you pay for and it wouldnt be fair if they wanted to do it again

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