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theblackphoenixwritings · 4 months ago

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-𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢 𝘉𝘰𝘺-

-Modern AU – Marius/Daniel

(This story is not faithful to the canon of the unfolding of events in Anne Rice's chronicles. It stems from my personal curiosity to create a different time-line for Marius/Daniel. In fact Marius and Daniel, they will meet much later in the canon than what is told in this mini fiction. So what is narrated here does not happen in the canon of the books.)

-𝘗𝘭𝘰𝘵:In a chaotic New York City, a young reporter, seeks a deeper truth. An encounter have turned his life upside down: that with a vampire.Now, held in a putrid basement, without food or water, his life hanging by a thread, he will be offered a new way to seek the truth,he desperately needs to find, after discovering the existence of creatures that can live forever. However, his rebellious nature, will lead him away from the rules set by the organization that gave him freedom. His quest will lead him to something far more ancient and mysterious, than, what little he has been shown of the world of the creatures of the night. The mystery and beauty of a soul that has walked our world for millennia.

𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘐

-𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦-

The boy stared at the huge building, soft lights and frescoes in light, fresh colors could be glimpsed from the huge windows. The stone staircase leading up to the building was adorned with green painte with blue and yellow flowers, on either side elegant star magnolia trees accompanied the air with their sweet and fragrant scent. The iron street lamps had just lit up behind him on the street, the rhythmic noise of passing cars and the buzz of passersby's voices kept him out there. With a sigh and pushing his glasses up on his nose, the boy with a sigh, recoiled. He had no other choice, and he could not lie to himself, that, it was his actions that had brought him there. Actions, which at the moment seemed to him to be dictated by a kind of madness, but inside, the boy, knew that the search for truth crossed a very close line and sometimes merged with what in so-called normalcy was considered healthy. As he walked up the steps with his head down, staring at his dirty red all-stars, the boy wondered if he could somehow get out of that situation, then hugging himself in his blue bomber jacket, he realized that what might await him outside that supposed job offer, was much more gruesome and dark.

And the boy had seen well and with eyes filled with awe and fear that darkness: the first time, he had not feared it but listened to it; the second time, it had been more than terror, it had been like being afraid of beauty, and a human being cannot live with such fear. The boy shook his head, trying to drive away that image, the stench of that underground, and the condition his body was in at the moment when, who knows how, someone had rescued him from that black hole. And the boy at first had been covered with shame and anger at the same time; he had found what he was looking for, a truth he had seen but not known to the fullest. He wanted the knowledge and every other ancient thing about that creature he had glimpsed, then he had realized his idiocy and stopped fighting the human hands that were dragging him away from there.

Then the boy had been naive, of course, nothing is given for nothing. When he had found himself in the heat, in an immense car with dark seats, with a glass of bouboun to warm himself and a soft blanket on him, he had realized that his situation had not improved as much as one might think. And indeed, after a couple of days, the bill had been presented to him in the form of a short, well-dressed man, who knocked on his door and removed his hat, handing him a wrapper with his name written in elegant handwriting on pristine white. Obviously good Samaritans belong to another era. The letter would have looked like an invitation, but the boy knew better than that. It was more of a summons, and probably his only ticket out, from the situation he had created for himself, seeking a creature that lived on human blood. Truth has strange shapes and simple words, for those strange and sinuous shapes, pleasant and endearing, can drag you far away from listening to her words, so that she, the truth, is always lost in the end.

The boy, he realized, had not considered, however, that each of those creatures was different and unique, just like human beings, and that each of them possessed its own truth and its own story to tell. But there had to be those among them, who had walked in the truth of the world and seen it change, some of them who had perhaps even seen it almost come into being, some of them who knew the truth and wanted to share it, as well as their own personal story, that of the world they had seen with their own eyes, the history, humanity, and what they had been in the inexorable passage of time. The boy pushed the brass handle of the large glass door of the building's entrance with one hand.It looked like an ancient and luxurious library. It was just a cover really, but They didn't care, no one imagined it, and that wonderful place was seen as a center of knowledge, a place of study and culture. The door closed behind the boy, without a sound, it was pleasant to be invested by the warmth and scents of that place. At the entrance, a large dark wooden counter was worked with bas-reliefs that seemed to recall hunting scenes from the Middle Ages. The lights were dimmed and a low buzz could be heard coming from the coffee shop to the left of the entrance. The smell of ground coffee made the boy wish he could have a cup, dark hot with plenty of sugar, but he had no time for that.

One of the two gentlemen behind the counter was coming toward him, and the boy felt trapped. He wondered what difference there could be between a putrid, foul-smelling basement to a prison with golden bars, in the end, however, he admitted that perhaps he could trade his freedom more reasonably here than in the place from which he had been rescued. He had heard of that organization, but it was protected and held in high esteem, no one daring to discuss it openly or give information about it. As he followed the man at the front desk, the boy wondered what would have happened if he had investigated this organization first, and what he might have discovered. In fact, the man in the car, the man who had rescued him, had addressed him only to warn him: "Do not look for anything from these creatures. They can only be studied and observed from afar.Any contact is extremely dangerous. You have had contact with as many as two of them, and you are still alive. The second time could have been the last. You have no idea what kind of creature has attracted your attention. But your stupidity maybe is as much as your courage and can be admirable, and perhaps we can make you one of us. Remember that you only have one life, boy, take the chance you are given." And he was dumped at the front door of his apartment. With no conversation other than that, the blanket over his shoulders and his bare feet on the cold, wet asphalt. The boy had watched the sleek, dark car drive away silently and slowly, until even the glint of headlights disappeared into the night. He looked at the dark window of his apartment and wondered if he really was safe, if really the night did not conceal cold, cruel hands ready to seize his flesh. A chill ran through him, and watchful and quick he entered the doorway, his bare feet leaving wet footprints behind him.Then the letter had arrived.

The boy sensed that there was little he could do to avoid it, and perhaps, he did not want to avoid that enconter. If there was a way to get to the truth and to know it, the boy would accept anything. And if that involved learning to recognize the creatures of the night, and being able to select who among them could somehow really be a guide for him in their world, then he would work for this mysterious and unorthodox secret society. He would learn their tricks and study their archives, found information and discovered how they moved and what they knew about these creatures of the night.

After that… well, he would look for a way to get rid of them. He had no intention of becoming a dummy in the hands of this organization, let alone giving up his identity or his job as a reporter. It was clear in the boy's mind, however, how these people knew things he did not even imagine, and could offer him an outside view of the facts he already knew. Something in him told him that they knew the vampire Louis well, and also Lestat, and probably many others. More ancient? More powerful? Did they also know Armand, who professed to be the oldest among the creatures of the night to Louis? Too many questions, and no words to fill the void of answers he longed to possess. At the moment he did not trust these people, he wondered if they really were human beings, and how they had discovered that these creatures existed in their world.

It was that strange moment of the day where everything seemed to flow slower, where everything seemed to stop and hold its breath in the face of the coming of the impending night. That moment that embraces the end of the day, where, however, still reigns that golden, dying light of the sun, slowly turning toward the stars and then fading into the blue that descends with the end of the day. The boy's footsteps resounded almost hollowly on the thick carpets, sumptuous and refined. Around him was a life of books. Bookcases were side by side, endless words enclosed in brightly colored worked covers. Spiral staircases rose almost to the ceiling, where still more bookshelves were placed along the walls. There were white marble fireplaces, with carved dogs that seemed with cold, accusing eyes to watch those who dared to pass by. Ashes and embers, in some, while others offered the vision of vigorous and passionate flames. Between bookshelves were dark wooden tables, with chairs of the same color, with the same strange coats of arms carved on them. Each table had at least six seats, two occupied by modern PCs turned on standby. There were also marble busts of people who reminded the boy of no famous thinker or philosopher or artist, he could think of.

Suddenly his innate curiosity came forward, who knows who they were? And why had they been represented with such care? Perhaps they were now departed members of that organization? The boy pushed with two fingers, the large round glasses on his nose, closer to his eyes, and shook a lock of ash-blond hair from his face. How did I get myself into this situation? He thought dejectedly, and somehow, though, the memory of the smell of his own excrement and sweat in that dreary basement made him consider, again, that maybe for once it hadn't gone so badly. Not that the boy had many options now, he was there and he had a debt, which he knew those people would find a way to make him repay. When he noticed the end of the room, ahead of him, and the man sitting in an armchair with large wooden and green velvet arms, the boy paused, trying to consider how he would handle that situation.

There also appeared to be a silver tray, near the man seat, with what looked like chocolates or small pastries to the boy. The man was sitting in front of what looked like a huge fireplace, so much so that the boy wondered if these people were not the keepers of some gateway to hell, and that fireplace was one. Above the fireplace was a huge portrait of a woman, set in a gilded baroque frame.The woman did not look beautiful, but interesting, somehow intense and charged with a strange light that shone through the painted eyes, as if her soul really was encased in that painting. The boy took courage and approached, the peeling brown leather shoulder bag was a weight that helped him remain calm and focus on what now awaited him. To his surprise, the man placed the glass on the table and with a measured gesture pointed to the chair next to him, to the boy, who was still not close enough by his calculations for the man to have heard him. This alerted him, but he had no intention of being intimidated; he consumed the space that separated him from the armchair with a firm step and without showing uncertainty.The man was seated with his back turned, but his elegant hand, on which a golden ring shone, held a glass goblet in which a dark red liquid, swirled delicately, following the rhythm of the man's hand moving the glass. Next to the man was another chair, of the same elegant green velvet, a table in the middle, with a bottle and goblets on it.

The moment he sank into the large velvet chair, however, the boy felt almost small and tried to sit upright so as not to show it. It was at that moment that he laid eyes on what would shortly become his interlocutor. He was a man in his fifties, with black, magnetic eyes, dark hair streaked with white and cut short. He had amber skin, a strong-willed jaw and an aquiline nose. His smile seemed open and serene. The dress he wore must have been Italian-cut and tailored. The boy remembered seeing such perfection only when he had been sent to accompany a photographer to a fashion show, by some famous designer. He did not care much for such things, although he appreciated a well-dressed man, he was more of a jeans and big sweaters, cover-ups and comfortable jackets kind of guy. Somehow he managed to wait for the other man to speak first, not something usual for him, but after all, what did the guy have to say? Nothing. What I know, they know, too, and what I don't know, they surely know, and even for a long time, considering his options, silence seemed to him a pleasure he was doing to himself.

The man crossed his hands in his lap: "It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’ve heard so much about you these days. Ah, I apologize for my manners, my name is Lucian, and I’m here to assess the situation, in which you are, Mr. Molloy." To assess the situation I am in… The boy almost laughed, but, he held back, aware that he could not fight his nature for long, and even that absurd situation in which he was. "Please have a drink. You know? You’re an excellent trouble." Lucien continued, taking a glass and pouring a liquid of the same colour as the one he had on his lass." I think it’s fair, that you try to feel comfortable, nobody here is your enemy." The boy took the glass and swallowed all of it, in one fell swoop. Lucien appeared, astonished by the gesture, but quickly recovered, nodding with a smile.

"I find no reason to blame you, what you have been confronted with is certainly not something for weak minds, or for ordinary people." continued Lucien, the boy stared at him in puzzlement. " Do you often confront vampires? Is that why you seized my tapes, and my notes, and forced me to come here?"

Well, there are a thousand reasons why life sucks, but having the story on your hands that can change your life, and the knowledge that there are immortal creatures, makes you reconsider a lot of your view of the world and your place in it. "I was told you was straightforward, but I'm glad you are, so I can be, too," Lucien affirmed, leaning back in his chair. "Well, then in the meantime, can you tell me why you took my story away and why you want me here?" the boy said in a clipped voice.

"I thought you would prefer to know who or rather what we are and why we know," Lucien replied. "It doesn't take much to figure out that you are some kind of coven that deals with things that nobody knows. Are you part of the government? Secret service? Or are you just so good that you do what you do by yourselves? Pyramid structure and a big boss running everything?" the boy wanted to know. " I can tell you that we are independent and silent, hidden and extremely prepared. We have been tracking and studying these creatures for centuries. Contact with them, we are forbidden, but they have happened over the time, we are scholars, we gather information, we learn from them, we watch them live, we know them by name. We know a lot about some and nothing or little about others. The older they are, the more dangerous, the more powerful, the faster, the wiser." the boy stared at Lucien, it seemed to him that his brain could not process even those simple notions.

" Are you telling me that there are multiple of these creatures in our world? More than the ones Louis knows about?" this kind of naiveté drew a smile from Lucien. "Your vampire, he knows nothing of what really concerns their kind. He has had no way of knowing even though he has tried with stubbornness and dedication. It is a pity, where all this has led him. If he had chosen another destination, one that was not Paris, who knows, maybe he would have found a child of the millennials, and many things would be different now." The boy scratched his head, something inside him was shrieking, but at that moment he could not pay attention to it. "Children of the millennials….?" "That's what we call them. The oldest, but there are even older ones." replied Lucien. " Louis was convinced that Armand, he was the oldest…" the boy looked up at the laughter, of Lucien's perfect white teeth: "Armand, is ancient yes, but even his immortality is but a breath compared to that of his creator, or others of them." continued Lucien. " You had put yourself in a bad situation, and I hope you are aware of it now boy, Armand is not … let's say 'simple,' and I don't think you could have made a worse choice."

"I didn't want to meet Armand…" the boy continued. "I know, you wanted to find Lestat….But it is much better that you find neither, you can take my word for it." and Lucien seemed extremely convinced of that statement. " You said that you observe?…Do you really think that blood drinkers are not aware of that? I can't believe that none of you have ever come in contact with them." And the boy was extremely convinced; in his mind it was much more likely the hypothesis that it was the vampires who chose not to interact with these people. "What exactly do you do? Photographs? Filming? Do you gather information? And for what purpose?" now, the boy's head had no place for any concept other than a question. "We document." replied Lucien decisively. "We observe and learn, gather knowledge so that it may be handed down and preserved."

The boy, cosidered the answer, and realized, that in a world where no one does anything for nothing, what he had before him, if true, was rare and somehow admirable. If these people really, did everything, for the sake of knowledge, study, the great search for a why of human existence. To the boy it seemed too good and too easy all of a sudden. What was he getting himself into? Was he really willing to give up what had been his life up to there for all that? The boy only knew that after meeting Louis de Point du Lac, and his immortal nature, his life would never be the same again, in any way, not even if he himself wished for it. This coven had somehow saved him from a potentially deadly situation. They seemed to possess definite knowledge and contacts, power and goals. He could have said no, of course, and continued his research on his own, but it would not have been as easy or as safe.

"Let's say I accept the silent proposal you are trying to make to me, what happens next?" asked the boy, who for his part somehow already imagined the answer. " Let's say, hypothetically," Lucien began with a smile, " That we want you with us, then, you would be admitted to the first level, probably, after a period of training, you would have a green light to operate in the field. Of course, knowing the rules, and trying to abide by them." Lucien lingered on those last words. " What if I don't abide by them? If something happens that forces me not to abide by them? Do you take me out of the way?" the boy threw it out there a little in jest, a little in fear. Lucien opened his eyes wide and burst into laughter:

"No, but your actions will be evaluated by other, more senior and knowledgeable members, and if they are considered excessive, there will be consequences, paperwork, taking away part of your salary, things like that…" and Lucie seemed terribly vague, and somewhat misleading, to the boy, who stared at his hands resting on his knees. "I've already had contact with them." "And that's why we took an interest in you, you spent a whole night with one of them, and no less, after your, shall we say, abrupt goodbye, you thought it best to go looking for another, ending up meeting yet another. You certainly are lucky." "…If you call this luck…" and for the first time the boy looked puzzled.

"Believe me, or luck, or something you emanate, blood drinkers can turn out to be extremely cruel and dangerous, or kind and polite. But they are still murderers, and they are something unnatural that has now belonged to our world for millennia." The boy, he was still unable to make peace with that statement, a creature that had lived for millennia…. It was something too mind-blowing and inconceivable even for him, who had opened his eyes, to their existence. " If I accept, what happens?" asked the boy. "What happens is that you becomes a member of the Talamasca family, what happens is that your life as you has known it until now will end, to begin a new one, turned to the search for something.Each of us gives it a different name, God, destiny, universal knowledge, need for knowledge, a meaning, search for answers and so on. You can give it any name you wants, but what awaits you will not be at all what you imagines."

#The Talamasca boy #The Talamasca boy chapter I #Fanfictio #vc #Marius de Romanus #Daniel Mollloy #Marius/Daniel #AU fanfiction

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beeexx · 1 year ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Bodies (TV 2023) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Alfred Hillinghead/Henry Ashe Characters: Alfred Hillinghead, Henry Ashe Additional Tags: Missing Scene, Sexual Content, Emotionally repressive victorian men, Victorian era, not sure how to tag it Summary:

“Please.” Alfred sounds absolutely wrecked as he says it and Henry exhales, absolutely taken by it, unable to deny him anything like this, feels himself yielding to the request immediately, without second thought.

A few moments/missing scenes between Alfred and Henry

#bodies #bodies netflix #netflix bodies #alfred x henry #henry ashe #alfred hillinghead #fic #fanfictio

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thisliminalspacedaydreams · 1 year ago

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hellooo!!! @sequinhaze has informed me that you might have some aot fic recs!!!!! so i’m creeping in your ask box

HELLO YES. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk let's fucking go! (please keep in mind I've only read like 15 fics so far I'm still fairly new and there has to be MUCHO MAS that are just as good running around (if you find some, please tell me)). I've mostly been reading Eruri but like some ships have been catching my eyes recently and @soliloquy-dawn might be able to recommend different types!

Pledge - College frat era, myoelectric arm - (completely changed my life I don't even know why but when I tell you I lost my mind, I LOST my mind. There was something about it that deeply called to my brain). Annihilation - Apocalyptic boning, zombies, it's a RIDE Apocrypha - Apocalyptic boning, Erwin's perspective Also I wrote one : Your maker (totally self-plugging)

These are the ones I read that I also enjoyed, though I was a little more chill about it, but check them out in case! The Companion Two Slow Dancers find me on the way, find me anyway For a Loop

These are the ones I haven't read but that my gc has been loosing their minds over:

CODA Kraków Cardamom - the concept for this one INTRIGUES ME The Means Small Mercies Four Years Later Pack counterpart He Chose Titans all your demons and desires and dark sides Corps-à-Corps Spellbound

#aot #snk #fanfictio #fanfic rec #Eruri

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sissytobitch10seconds · 15 days ago

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Better Me Than All of Us

Fandom: The Umbrella Academy Summary: Viktor manages to get through to Ben and take the Durango from him. He does the same thing to Jennifer, but then he has the two elements resting entirely inside of his body. The Cleanse doesn't feel like he thought it was based off what his not-brother and acquaintance were going through. Warnings: Temporary character death, heavy angst, POV character death Word Count: 11,404 Ship(s): Viktor Hargreeves-centric

Archive link!

A/N: Let me preface this by saying that I liked s3 and if you came here expecting this to be one of those fics that just shits on it and then moves on, you're going to be sorely disappointed. This is simply a different path that the show could have gone that I would have enjoyed, not a shitting on the original plot. If you're still interested after that then I welcome you to come along this journey with me! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3

It was exceedingly rare that all eight of them were present in the same room at the same time, but not completely out of the question.

They had spread out around the eastern most part of North America after they had arrived in the new universe, as a way to protect themselves. Luther had continued to live in The City and nearby Oblivion Memorial Park so that he could visit the spot where he had lost his wife, having long since given up on being able to find her. Diego and Lila had moved a little further south to the suburbs to that they could raise their family and live with Lila’s parents and brother. Allison had moved to the next biggest city, New York, so that she could try out for some small parts in shoots and perform on Broadway. Klaus had moved in with Allison after recovering from his next lapse back into drug addiction and a near-death experience when he actually knew what it was like to be mortal. Five lived in The City as well, so that he could work for the branch of the CIA that worked there. Viktor was the one that had gone the furthest, moving all the way up to Nova Scotia and opening his bar so that he could reinvent himself without his siblings always reminding him of the world-ending mistake that he had made in partners.

Then they had all come back together for a birthday part, five years after they had ended up in an unfamiliar land where none of them knew the rules or how they were meant to behave. It had been scary and confusing at first, but they had adjusted and were able to be amicable around each other. Then Viktor had been kidnapped and things had spiraled widely out of control after that.

None of them had really believe Sy when he said that his daughter had been brainwashed, so they were on alert when quite literally everyone in that little town pulled a gun on them. On the way back to their home base, Lila and Diego’s house in The City, they had decided that they were going to ask Reginald some questions. They had to figure out the universe on their own and now things were getting weirder by the second, including the Marigold reappearing and giving them their powers back in a very strange and indirect way.

When they had arrived at his house, they were met by something that none of them had really been expecting. A woman with gray hair, kind eyes, and an angelic appearance due to her clothing greeted them with the sound of a violin wafting through the room. She set it down when she noticed the eight of them and then said, “You must be a handful of the children that were created by my Marigold. It’s wonderful to meet you all, please come and join me.”

They all looked at each other and then back to the woman like they weren’t quite sure that they believed her. They had met Jennifer already, and they knew that Reginald had been hiding the poor girl away in the town without an explanation as to why. As Klaus had said, The Truman Show was supposed to be a mind-fuck movie and not something to emulate. Viktor was the one that walked over first, his eyes immediately drawn to the violin that was sitting out on the table. “I think that this was the one that I played back in my universe and timeline. Was it always yours?”

The woman smiled wider and nodded, “I gave it to Reginald when I died and asked him to make sure that it got into the hands of someone that would love it just as much as I had. I believe that was you, from what he’s told me.”

“He remembers the past timeline? I thought that this was the Reginald that raised the Sparrows, not the Umbrellas,” Luther said. He walked over behind his brother and then sat down on one of the white couches. Contrasting to the way that the Academy had looked in both timelines that they had encountered it, the home that Abigail and Reginald had made for themselves was bright white and silver, gold accented in a few places but mostly the two most divine colors one could pick. Viktor was relieved that neither group of kids had grown up here, they would have ruined the aesthetic of the place in an instant.

“He remembers some things, the way that we all do when another version of ourselves within the split timeline dies,” Abigail replied. She sat down on the couch opposite them as she motioned for the rest of the Marigold-holders to follow Luther and Viktor’s example.

“What are you talking about?” Five asked. In the normal timeline, before they’d had their powers removed and then roofied back into them, he would have jumped to the couch and flopped back down as obnoxiously as possible. Despite Five’s attempts to try and distance himself as far away from Viktor as he could, the smaller of the two men was still able to read him like a book.

“I was the one that synthesized the Marigold. I would have assumed that you would have been told this, Reggie said that you were the ones that powered the machine that reset the universe and allowed me to come back to life,” the woman said as she looked over them all.

They all turned towards Allison. Back during their third apocalypse, she had made a deal with their ‘father’ that got her what she wanted brought back into the new universe. If any one of them was going to know what this new person was talking about, then it was her. She put her hands up defensively and shook her head to reject the implication that they were putting on her. “I have absolutely no idea what she’s talking about,” Allison said with a small shake of her head.

“Reginald didn’t tell you anything?” the woman asked. They all shook their heads and she let out a long huff. “I suppose that I’ll have to do it for him, then. My name is Abigail Hargreeves, I’m Reginald’s Queen. We come from a different planet that he had to evacuate because of an accident that happened due to my experiments. The culture there is very different than what you have on earth, but I suppose that you’ve picked up on that by now. Our civilization was advanced enough that we were experimenting with the synthesis of new materials, such as the Marigold. However, when I created and began testing on my prototype, I noticed that it created something called Durango,” Abigail explained.

Viktor could already feel his brain becoming clogged with more than enough information for one lifetime. During his entire childhood, he had never really questioned why his siblings, and then later himself, had their abilities. He supposed that if he had grown up with exposure to the outside world then it would have been something that came to him much easier, but it hadn’t been so he was completely in the dark about it all. He had learned a decent amount thanks to Harlan, though it seemed that it was going to be an entirely different story from the woman that had made their powers in the first place.

“Did you know that Marigold could do this to living beings when implanted inside of them?” Five asked, leaning forward from where he was standing behind the couch.

“I knew that there was a chance that certain beings could have unexpected side effects when it was gifted to them, but the power trait is unique to human beings. You all have such an interesting way of thinking and creating things around you, the world is entirely different through your eyes than it would be through mine,” Abigail explained. “Anyways, I sadly was not able to survive the after effects of taking the Marigold myself and I passed away. My culture has the women sedating the men through a pheromone that we put off after we are married, so my husband was adamant that he was going to bring me back because I did not have time to tell him not to. I’m afraid that was why he released the Marigold in the first place.”

She shifted on her chair as she continued to explain, ignoring the shocked and overwhelmed looks that everyone else was giving her. “The Marigold was sentient enough that it could look for a proper host, the way that bacteria allows certain beetles on this planet to digest coffee beans in exchange for feasting off the caffeine that otherwise would have killed the insect, the Marigold allows you to interact with the world. It chose you as its hosts and I believe that it gave you this power because the Marigold feasts off of the timeline where it exists, changing the world and consuming pieces of it. Each of you has a unique ability that allows you to alter the universe around you, which was also why the Marigold could be used to fuel the machine that reset this universe and timeline. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Yeah, actually, I do,” Diego said as he began to stand up so that he could address the woman more forcefully. Lila placed her hand on his shoulder from where she was standing beside Five and forced him back down in his chair. There were a lot of things about their marriage that made Viktor viscerally uncomfortable, but he had to admit that Lila was fairly good at making sure that their brother didn’t do anything stupid that might get himself killed.

“What is your question, dear son?” Abigail asked.

That was something that shook Viktor enough that he could barely hear Diego’s question. It made sense that Reginald and Abigail would be considered to be their parents now, since she had created the Marigold that had made their mothers grow them and deliver them in the span of a few seconds and Reginald had released it. They had grown up knowing the woman that had carried them and a robotic nanny as their mothers, though, so it felt like a betrayal to both to think anything else.

“What was with that town entirely staffed by people that your husband told to shoot us?” Diego asked. “I don’t appreciate being lead on a wild goose chase concerning our fucking creation or place in the world or something so that you can distract us from the matter that we actually came to talk to him about.”

Luther nodded in agreement, “It is really hard to get everyone together and make them actually stay together these days. I have another question after Diego’s finished, though.”

“It might be best if I answer yours first,” Abigail said. Her elegant hands had fallen down into her lap and she was now wringing them. The idea that a woman powerful enough to create a new element in the universe could be nervous about something made Viktor feel very, very afraid. He felt that white hot sun in his chest chirp to life and had to take a deep breath so that he could contain it before the massive chandelier in the entrance hall a few feet from them came crashing down around them.

“I met and married another one of the forty three children that was born due to the Marigold. I know that we all had to take it to get our powers back and we exited from an elevator instead of just being here, but is there a chance that she exists in this universe too?” Luther asked.

There was a groan from the more mission-oriented members of the family. Ben said something incredibly cruel and indecent in Korean while Diego began to scrub his face with both of his hands. “Guys, shut up,” Viktor almost shouted over their arguments. They may have all moved on from their loves and feelings, but Viktor and Luther had both been the ones that were damaged the most by Reginald and got away from him last. He knew the pain that his brother was feeling and he didn’t like them all acting like Luther was annoying for trying to keep hope for his future happiness alive.

Abigail gave them all a bemused smile as she nodded. “Not all of the Marigold has been collected back into the jar that I assume you have, I gave it to Sy for a reason after all. I believe that the other thirty six children that were created from the original release of my element are still somewhere in the world, with their powers laying dormant.”

Viktor turned to the side to see what Luther’s reaction was. Before he had gone up to Nova Scotia so that he could have better health care and a more accepting community than what The City could give him, he had helped Luther look for Sloane. Neither of them had known where she was adopted from before she had ended up in the Sparrow Academy, so it had ended up being a rather futile attempt in the end. Luther’s face was now being pulled into a small, shy smile as he thought about the idea of his wife being somewhere in the world, waiting for him. Viktor wished that he could still have that kind of hope for Sissy, but given his track records with his last couple partners, it wouldn’t have lasted anyway.

“That does bring me to the question that was asked before, however. When I created the Marigold, somewhere else in the universe another element was created. I have been calling it Durango, though I do not know if that is the proper name because there’s very little that I know about it. These two elements mirror each other, one allows the universe to be changed and warped while the other destroys everything that it touches. From what I’ve been able to learn from my husband about what happened during my absence, the Durango created a host much like it created all of you,” she explained.

“What does this have to do with that town?” Diego asked. The reason that he had done so well in the police academy before he began to defy the upper ranking members due to their politics was because he was exceedingly mission driven. It had been a long time since Viktor had seen him act like this and it was almost kind of nostalgic, in a very weird sense of the word.

“I was getting to that, young one,” Abigail replied kindly.

“Yeah, she was getting to that, idiot,” Lila snapped.

Viktor winced. He really did not like what they had turned into, they needed to sort out the relationship they had developed with each other. Couples staying together for their kids had never ended well, it was one of the reasons that he had so many regulars come to his bar.

Abigail continued, “Durango is entirely passive unless it comes in contact with Marigold. It doesn’t want to destroy the universe, it wants to destroy Marigold. Unfortunately, since Marigold has the ability to change the universe and the timelines those two things end up being the same in the end. My husband, in all the timelines I’ve been able to see into, took care of the carrier of the Durango either by killing her or locking her away in the type of town that you stumbled into.”

“Wait a second,” Klaus said, holding both of his bare hands up towards them. It was strange to see him without all of the person protection equipment that he now festooned himself with and sans all of his tattoos. “You said that you send Sy with the Marigold to us, which means that you also sent us to that town. What do you want with us?”

“Jesus Christ, I am so sick of this,” Five muttered into his hands. Five had come to visit Viktor for a little while in the five years that they had been in the new universe and they had finally had a moment to talk about the time that they had spent apart from each other. It had left with Viktor feeling deeply sympathetic for Five, who had been manipulated and coerced into doing all number of things to try and get back to his family or stop the apocalypse. Viktor would be just as tired as he was if he had been through all of that, so he understood the other Umbrella’s reluctance to be in another mess.

“I apologize for the confusion with that, I know that I’m new to this and don’t really know how it works,” Abigail said. “I want you to have the Marigold destroy the Durango. I was going to have you collect Jennifer and then bring her back to me so that I can try and extract the unstable element from her and then the Marigold from you. I was hoping that if it did not have a proper host, then it would simply eat itself and cease existing.”

“Why would you want that?” Lila asked. “And I have a couple of questions about the powers and how they work. Like why I have laser eyes now.”

“I don’t know much about the way that the element reacts when it has created a human host, I wasn’t given the time and resources that I needed for the types of experiments that would have clued me into that,” Abigail explained. “I know that the Marigold will cause a timeline collapse, however. It’s not meant to be played around with and whatever created the universes does not appreciate my arrogance. It was why I died in the first place.”

“Yeah, the little girl on the bicycle really doesn’t like our kind,” Klaus nodded as if they were all supposed to know what that meant.

“Girl on the… we don’t have time for this,” Allison said. She had her arms crossed over her chest so she was able to bring up one of her hands to her face and rub at her eyes. “So you sent us to New Grumptown in the hopes that we would come in contact with the Durango so that the reaction would happen? Wouldn’t that kill us or something?”

“That’s a good point,” Five said. “You mentioned what the elements did when they interacted with each other, but not what they did when they were inside of a host. I don’t particularly feel like dying today.”

“Truthfully, I don’t know what will happen when it’s taken from you. I know that the Durango and the Marigold only really interact with each other when they’re active, which the Marigold is inside of a host or during certain experiments and the Durango is when it comes into contact with active Marigold. However, once the Durango is active it begins to consume all the Marigold that it can find even if it is not active. The only thing that can stop it is extracting all of the Marigold from the Durango so that it becomes inactive again, which was what I did when I discovered the interaction. Unfortunately, I was too late to save my ow world,” Abigail explained.

“Why did you start the reaction again here if that was something that almost destroyed your planet?” Allison shouted.

Viktor was certain that the rest of them were feeling her anger and just better at hiding it for the moment. It was something that they had gone through before and now they all had lives that they liked pretty well. The universal reset had been the best outcome for all of them when it came to finding a world at the end of an apocalypse, so they didn’t really want to figure out what the higher beings had in store for them next time. With the parents in the group, they also didn’t want to lose their children simply because they weren’t able to pass Marigold on to any of them.

His head snapped in the other direction as he heard footsteps on the tiled floor. He could see a dark figure walking towards the grand, white entrance of the house. At first he thought that it was just a member of the staff before he realized that they actually hadn’t seen any human hired help since they had arrived and Reginald already had experience creating automatons. He got up from the couch and began to stalk towards the door while pulling on the ends of his jacket so that they were back in place.

“Where do you think that you’re going?” Viktor shouted after Ben, craning his neck so that he could see where his sort-of brother was heading.

“This is all stupid and I’m leaving to go find Jennifer!” Ben called back in reply.

None of the siblings liked that very much. Lila and Five complained in almost the exact same cadence and volume. Diego told him that he was being a coward and to come back. Klaus was shouting several different nicknames that the aforementioned man didn’t seem to like very much. Allison was just groaning loudly. None of the reactions were that out of character for them, but absolutely none of them were helpful whatsoever.

Viktor was the one that sprang off the couch and then chased after Ben. The taller Marigold holder broke out in a run, which made Viktor stop in his tracks. He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and then focused on the sound of the ticking clock up the stairs and to the left. He used the sound to channel into orange and white hot energy, which reached out in long tendrils and grabbed hold of Ben. They pulled him back and away from the doorway until he was finally standing with the other siblings.

“I think I saw something on your arm, did you touch Jennifer?” Luther asked as he looked down at Ben’s arm.

None of them had noticed anything strange about the man until they were looking down at it as well. If it had been their Ben, then there was a chance that they would have picked up on the strange obsessive behavior when it came to Jennifer. Unfortunately, he was the Sparrow version of their brother and none of them knew him well enough to identify when something was well and truly wrong.

“It’s nothing! And of course I touched her, what’s so wrong about that?” Ben asked as he snapped his hand back and away from Allison.

“Weren’t you listening, you utter buffoon?” Five asked. “Abigail said that when the Durango, which is inside of Jennifer, and the Marigold, which is inside all of us thanks to you spiking you sake and Klaus almost dying, interact then they start to create a reaction. If you touched her then the reaction is going to start,” Five snapped. He was seething with anger, like he so often had been before when they were dealing with the end of the world.

“Show me the rash on your arm,” Abigail commanded. Viktor didn’t know if it was her ethereal presence or the fact that she was a special type of matriarchal alien, but he felt compelled to listen to her no matter what she was asking for.

“Absolutely fucking not, you weirdo,” Ben snarled as he once again tried to get away. Luther wrapped his arms around Ben to prevent him from moving more than he absolutely had to, pressing his stomach to Ben’s back so that the Horror couldn’t get out either. Viktor was momentarily worried that it was going to cause Luther to become infected as well, but there was no reason for them to believe that was how the Durango spread yet.

He stepped forward and reached towards Ben’s sleeve so that he could see if there was a rash or not. If they were going to be stupid about the substance that may or may not destroy them and the world, then he was going to have to do it too. He was sick of his siblings being the one to start something and then dragging him along like he was dead weight.

His fingers had just barely brushed the material of Ben’s shirt before he felt like two hands had wrapped around his neck and squeezed. All of the air was stolen from his lungs so quickly that it left him lightheaded. His vision danced with black spots as he stumbled backwards and tried to steady himself on the nothingness behind him. When he came back into his mind, when the static had receded enough that he was able to make out some of the voices around him, he realized that he hadn’t even touched anything.

He was hyperventilating as he supported himself on Diego and Klaus, blinking his eyes seriously. “Either that’s some sort of weird timeline shit or you have the Dorando. I have never in my life felt something like that before and I have been subconsciously picking up on Marigold my entire life,” he rasped out. He wondered if he had been screaming, his voice was sore and his uvula was painful when he tried to swallow.

“Yeah, I don’t ever want you to do that again regardless,” Ben said with that closed-mouth, tight-lipped smile. It made Viktor want to sock him across the face like he almost had when they were in the remnants of that universe’s version of the Academy. The only reason that he didn’t was because he felt about as strong as a limp noodle and he didn’t really care to repeat that experience again.

“Hold still, would you?” Allison asked, her tone totally exasperated. She pulled up Ben’s sleeve and then turned his arm around so that she could see his palm and where the Sparrow/Umbrella tattoo would have been had those not been erased during the reset. In place of the dark black markings was a bubbling, boil-like irritation of the skin that pulsed and glowed red with the beat of the man’s heart.

“Oh, that’s not good,” Diego commented as he peaked over his sister’s shoulder at what they had found.

While staring at it, Viktor could feel the rhythm of the substance the way that he could with everything and everyone else in the universe. The Marigold had adapted itself to the way that the person holding it felt, either singing like Allison’s or screaming like Diego’s. Instead, the sound was the loudest static that had ever appeared in his mind. It was like every single particle that made up the substance was vibrating at a different frequency, but they were running together in a way that made them indistinguishable from each other the way that the Kugelblitz had been. It was loud and overwhelming, but he couldn’t look away from it if he tried.

Allison dropped the sleeve of Ben’s coat back down over the rash and then took a panicked step back. Luther refused to let go of him, because he was certain that the other was going to bolt the moment that his hold loosened even a little bit. Viktor blinked as he was tossed from his mind and back to the world of the living that he was supposed to be inhabiting.

“I think that’s definitely being caused by the Durango, a reaction from when you touched Jennifer. I believe that some of the substance was transferred from her body into yours as it searched for active Marigold,” Abigail explained. “I don’t know what will happen when it continues to move up to where the Marigold is inside of you.”

“It’s in his chest,” Viktor said. “It’s going to continue to move up through his body until it basically gets to his heart, like a poison. I’m guessing that it will destroy the vessel of his body as well,” he said. The rash was his best evidence for it, but the way that he had felt when Harlan had almost dragged some of his Marigold from his body reminded him that they were very intricately locked into their being. It was painful and if it was done incorrectly or by an unconscious substance, then it could very well be their end.

“How do I get this fucking shit out of me, then? I want to go see Jennifer!” Ben shouted as he struggled once again in Lucifer’s strong arms.

“You’re not going anywhere until we figure out how to get that out of you and then maybe out of her,” Lila said. Her fingers danced on the edge of his cuff as she attempted to pull up the fabric so that she could see the rash again, but he managed to get away from Luther just enough to sock her across the face.

“Hey, man! What the fuck?” Diego shouted as he advanced on Ben.

“Stop, he’s not himself right now, and fighting wouldn’t do anything anyway,” Allison said as she stepped between the two of them with her arms outstretched. She had taken the place that Viktor had always occupied when they were children. He hadn’t had powers, or rather he hadn’t known, back then so he had always been the one to stand between them. They wouldn’t attack him because it wasn’t a fair fight and it usually ended with Grace or Reginald telling him to back off and grounding him.

Viktor turned to Abigail just as Five asked, “Do you think that you would be able to contain it like the Marigold if we were able to extract it from Ben and Jennifer?”

She brought one of her long fingers up to her face and tapped her chin as she looked rather pensive. “I’m not sure. I didn’t get the chance to do nearly as much studying done on the Durango as I did the Marigold. I suppose that it would be worth a try. But how would you propose that we get it out of them? The substances have a mind of their own, but it’s not intelligent enough that we could ask if to leave the hosts that it’s fighting inside of.”

“I can do it,” Viktor said quickly. He didn’t even glance back at his siblings because he didn’t want to see them rolling their eyes or underestimating him again. He was the most powerful out of them all, he had caused the end of the world three times and had very active parts in at least two of those, he could remove some particles from his family to save their lives. It wasn’t like he had much going for him in Canada, what with his shit luck and run down bar.

“You can?” Abigail asked.

He nodded. “I have the ability to translate sound into energy, but I can also manipulate that energy when I focus. It allows me to sense and feel the Marigold and Durango in others, which was why I had such a strong reaction when I almost touched Ben. I’ve removed Marigold particles from someone before, I think that I could do it again if I was given the chance.”

She thought about it for a moment before the alien nodded her consent. “I do have a testing facility in this house, so if you would bring Ben with me then we can get started on this.”

Abigail set her violin and bow down in the case instead of next to her on the couch before she rose and began to move through the white and cream halls of the grand mansion. The siblings all looked at each other before Luther picked Ben up and began to follow after her, Viktor walking silently by his side. Allison was the only one that had known how much it took out of Viktor to remove the particles from Harlan and that had been his own Marigold, not even particles that had belonged and created another person.

“Wait, what about Jennifer and the rest of us?” Lila asked.

“Reggie?” Abigail called through the hall, towards a grand spiral staircase that was the only dark color in the room.

It took about two seconds before a the sound of footsteps rang through the high ceilinged hall that they were standing in. Reginald’s brow was furrowed and his book was clutched tightly in his hand as he looked over them all. “You eight just will not leave me alone, will you? I’ve already told you that I am not the man you knew in the other timeline, I am just a very good duplicate of him that made similar choices in wards to adopt for my plans. I can’t believe that you would go so far as to kill the people in my town and then come to harass my wife!”

“Reg, that’s enough,” Abigail said and the man immediately snapped his mouth shut. “I sent them to collect Jennifer as part of a poorly thought-through plan, But now they’re here and they’re going to help me rid the universe once and for all of this horrid science experiment. I need you to send your men out to find Jennifer and bring her back here, Viktor is going to remove the substances from all of these fine individuals and Jennifer needs to be included.”

“Who?” Reginald asked as he looked from the eight beings standing next to his wife and then back to the aforementioned woman.

“The girl that was born inside of the squid, the one that you set up the town to protect so that no inactive or active Marigold would ever touch her,” Abigail explained patiently. Viktor wondered if what she had mentioned about the females of their type soothing and controlling them men had gone a little further than she had first implied. It was kind of fun to watch the man that had terrorized them for years be simplified and subdued in such a strong way.

“Right, of course. I will see you in due time, my love!” Reginald chirped.

“I’m coming with you,” Five snapped.

“I need you here so that I can take your Marigold, Five,” Viktor said. The two of them had grown so far apart since they were children, huddling under the same quilt while reading books that Five had snuck into their home. Viktor knew that part of that was his fault since he had run all the way to Canada so that he could set up a life for himself, but it still hurt to recognize the distance between them.

“You can do it once I get back. My power isn’t quite the same, but I think that I should be able to bring Jennifer back faster than a car,” Five replied.

“You shouldn’t touch her, dear,” Abigail shook her head. “Please, I know that my husband has treated you all poorly in the past but when he’s fulfilling a wish of mine he’ll do exactly what I’ve asked of him. You can trust this, I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“We don’t know that you wouldn’t, we’re trusting you on blind faith,” Allison huffed. She crossed her arms over her chest against as her mouth twisted to show her discomfort, it had been her one singular tell her entire life.

“You could Rumor me if it would make you feel better, my dear,” Abigail replied as she gave her another small smile.

Ben thrashed in Luther’s arms again while the two women were staring at each other, which broke the conversation. “Can we get him restrained or in a jail or something, please?” the largest of the siblings asked.

“Right, right, of course,” Abigail replied. She continued down the hall once she had bid her husband goodbye. They stopped at an ornate shelf full of all kinds of artifacts from every country, and likely a couple of different planets. She reached forward and tugged on one of the vases, which was glued to the shelf beneath it. When she let it fall back down, the entire shelf turned sideways to reveal that it had been attached to the wall as well. Through the opening that had just been made was a dark room that she motioned for Luther to enter through.

While stepping around the bookshelf and into the narrow hallway, Ben thrashed again. His legs kicked out like he was an unruly toddler and hit one of the objects towards the bottom of the shelf, knocking it over so that it shattered on the ground. Luther winced as he turned back to Abigail, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright, dear. After all, the Japanese humans have this wonderful method of putting things back together that gives them more meaning. And it will give Reginald a puzzle to do after this whole mess is over,” Abigail replied. She followed after him once he had gotten all the way through the door and then Viktor and the rest of the siblings followed after her.

They walked down the dimly lit hallway until it opened into a much larger space that was pitch black. Abigail clapped her hands together twice and made a clicking noise with her mouth that cemented that she absolutely was an alien similar to their insects on earth. The lights around the room, embedded in the edges of the ceiling so that the walls were entirely illuminated in soft white, flickered to life at her command. Around the edges of the room was a number of workbenches, each of them with a different project. The center of the room had a bed with several large mechanical clamps on it.

Viktor remembered seeing one of them in the Academy. He knew back then that it had been so that if one of them got hurt they could be restrained and Grace could work on them without fear that they would damage her, allegedly. This one, though, he didn’t know what Abigail and Reginald had been using it for. There weren’t any blood stains on the top of the metal or near the base, so they were either really good at cleaning it or they hadn’t had the chance to use it on someone until the Umbrellas and Ben had arrived.

Luther grunted as he shifted Ben around in his arms to get him down onto the bed. He leaned heavily over his brother, who was halfway supine and still thrashing about. “Do you think I could get a little help here?”

“Shit, sorry, Luther,” Viktor said as he stepped forward to help his brother.

Before his foot had even hit the ground the rest of his siblings launched forward with a chorus of ‘no’s and ‘wait’s. He put his hands up in a surrender as he stepped away from Ben and towards one of the workbenches. He could hear them all arguing with each other about who had to take which limb and what they were going to do when all of their hands were busy. He was focusing on the desk that he had just approached.

The same silver-gray metal as the rest of the room shone up at him, but the contents on top were unique. On the edge of the desk was a tape measure, glued to the bottom so that it could be used every time someone cut something. There was a holder with a myriad of pens, pencils, scissors, and everything else someone would typically need on a desk. In the center was the item that had first caught his eye, the one that made Viktor feel a bit like he was drowning again. There was the red, leather bound book that Reginald had made all the notes in when they were children in the Academy.

With a tentative hand, he reached out and flipped the pages open. He glanced over the black words scrawled in his adoptive father’s handwriting but was unable to process any of it. He kept looking for his name or number designation, anything to show that this version of Reginald also knew what had been done to him. He knew that this wasn’t the man that had adopted and abused him, but part of him couldn’t let go of the idea of screaming at Reginald and making him hurt just as bad as Viktor had been.

“Viktor? Are you ready?” Abigail asked.

He snapped his head over to her and let the book fall shut again. “Yeah, I can get started,” he nodded as he walked over to the desk again. “Should I start with Ben or with someone else? I don’t want them to get Durango from me if something goes wrong.”

“I don’t know how it will interact once it has left the first host that it found, but we have him contained so that he cannot return to Jennifer. If you can go quickly, please start with the others,” Abigail said as she gestured one of her elegant hands out to where the others were crowded around a terrarium containing plants they had never seen before.

“Okay, who wants to go first?” Viktor asked loudly as he clapped his hands together to get their attention.

Klaus raised his hand. “I didn’t want this stupid power back anyway and I want you to remove it before it destroys my life like it did every time before,” he said. He shot a look to Allison which made her role her eyes.

Viktor hoped that after the powers were removed that it would become a non-issue for them and they could go back to being just as close as they were before. She had only been trying to save his life and had been pressured into doing it by the rest of them, it wasn’t her fault and she needed the support of her brother. Viktor had tried to be that for her, but it had ended up working against him because the two of them simply had too much damage to see past to the good that their relationship could have been.

Viktor nodded his head and then held his hand out to Klaus so that he could come over. Luther and Diego grabbed two chairs, setting them down on either side of their other brothers. The siblings that weren’t involved in the initial experiment went to stand on the other side of the table that Ben was strapped into. Despite the tense moment filling the room, Viktor couldn’t help but think that it was a good thing that the Horror had changed to come out of his back, based on the way that he was thrashing against his restraints. Abigail gave Viktor a smile of encouragement before she moved to stand with the other Marigold holders.

Viktor sat down on the chair that had been placed behind him and then reached out for Klaus’ hands again. “I think that you need to use your powers at least once so that I can feel the way that the Marigold resonates outside of just you. I don’t want to hurt you or take out your soul or something,” he sai after a moment of tense words.

Klaus’ eyes flicked over to where Ben was laying on the table and Viktor immediately knew what he was thinking. It must have been hard to go from having a constant companion hovering over his shoulder for nearly a decade and a half to it being silent all the time. Perhaps that was why he had moved in with the sibling that was most likely to come down and chat with him in the same way that Ben had when they were kids.

He looked back to Viktor and gave him a strained smile. “You can do this,” Viktor whispered, trying to be encouraging. Klaus nodded his head and then bowed it so that he was staring down at the floor. He rose in his chair so that he was hovering a couple of inches above the surface.

Viktor leaned back in his own seat and let out a breath as he focused on the sounds around him. The air conditioning vent rattled as it pumped in new oxygen. The breathing of his siblings and Abigail mixed together with their heartbeats and every other sound that their bodies made. Finally, he heard the steady, constant thrum of his own Marigold in his heart. He focused on Klaus and heard the sound of his own soul, what made him, before he signaled out the back and forth pitter patter of the Marigold inside of his chest.

He focused on it as he translated the sound of the Marigold into energy and then began to draw that into his own epicenter. His hands burned while the particles transferred themselves through Klaus’ hands and into his own body. He could feel the way that they were sliding through is veins and settling amongst their brethren in his chest.

When the ordeal was over, he felt as though he had run a marathon again. His body was shaking slightly, like he had just been shocked with a thousand volts. He steadied himself back on the chair and asked, “Can you do the power thing again?”

Klaus nodded and then placed his hands down on his knees. He closed his eyes and hummed as he tried to summon the Marigold back to life so that he could hover. His eyes opened as he stared at Viktor, which was all the confirmation that he needed to know that it had worked. “I could kiss you!” he squealed in excitement.

“Please don’t, I feel like I’m going to be sick,” Viktor shook his head. “Who wants to go next?” he asked as he looked towards the others.

Allison stepped forward just a little bit but then pursed her lips. Klaus grabbed her hand and gave it a soft squeeze, “Ray and Claire will be able to be protected the same way that they were before, you don’t need your power to keep them with you anymore. They love you and will stay because of that.”

“Thank you, Klaus,” Allison whispered. She hugged her brother briefly before she sat down in the chair he had occupied before. Viktor reached his hands out and met hers, like he had so many times before when they were chatting in the sixties.

He let out a low breath as he focused on the same things that he had with Klaus. Her power was drawn straight from her voicebox and mouth, floating through the air before they zapped into him. His mouth went dry instead of damp with saliva and his throat ached with an itch that he was entirely unable to describe. The shaking got a little worse and he felt his skin become clammy with the fever that was developing just below his skin.

Diego was next, his Marigold slipping through the tips of his fingers and his lungs into Viktor’s. It was nice to not have to pant for air anymore, he was already so exhausted from the fight to bring in air that didn’t want to stay with him. He was already getting so tired and every time he thought about the others that he had yet to do, he felt his body shrivel up on itself more than it already had.

Luther made him feel like he was stretched to his max capacity. His body felt like nothing could ever happen to it, no cut would ever bleed and no bruise would ever form. At the same time, it was like he could feel the atoms that made up his human form rattling against each other as they tried to escape the flesh prison that they were contained inside. Luther’s body had shrunken back down to what it had been before he had taken the Marigold and before his accident, which he looked rather happy about.

Lila was a strange one to do. He didn’t feel any different after he took her power into his body but he did feel an itching in the back of his head. The fever had gotten far worse as the buzzing of her Marigold began to interact with the rest that he was currently acting as a vessel for. It was like it was duplicating the sound of every single individual power that was resting inside of him at once which made him want to spew his guts all over the ground.

Five was the last of the siblings not infected with Durango to come and have his power taken away. Before he took Viktor’s hands he said, “You’re not looking too hot.”

“What are you talking about? I am way too hot,” he tried to joke. The smile on his face felt stretched too far. He felt like he was staring into a mirror and the little girl that he had once been was looking back at him, but amplified up to a thousand. There were literally people that were not him rattling around inside of his chest.

“Viktor, are you sure that you should be doing this?” Five asked. He placed his hand down on Viktor’s knee and that tipped him over the edge.

He turned to the side and vomited, spewing out everything that he had ever eaten in his life. His throat ached as the Rumor tried to push itself out of his mouth and his lungs burned despite his lack of need for breath. His body was shaking with the magnitude of power that was inside of him and the lack of an outlet that it had. He needed to get it out, it had to solidify into something else or it was going to kill him.

“I should have remembered. Oh shit, Vik, I’m so sorry,” Allison said.

“What?” Abigail asked, encouraging her to speak on whatever topic she had kept from them about the very dangerous thing that they were doing.

“Viktor has done this once before. He transferred some of his Marigold into a little boy that he cared for to bring him back to life. It was an accident and it had ruined him, so he took it back so that he could live the rest of his life normally,” Allison explained.

“All ten minutes of it,” Viktor griped. He felt bad for doing so when he saw the guilty look that clawed at Allison’s face, but the feeling was immediately taken from him when his body was once more overwhelmed with the feeling of the Marigold rattling around inside of him.

“What happened, Allison?” Luther asked urgently.

“It almost killed him. I had to put a stop to it once or twice because I thought that it would,” she explained. “This isn’t something that we should have rushed him into, we should have taken it slowly or found another way or something!”

The room went very quiet other than the dripping of vomit into the center of the floor where the drain was. Viktor let out a staggering, shaky breath to try and center his body. “It didn’t kill me then, it might not kill me now,” he explained.

“But it might,” Five said. “Remember, you’re not taking the Marigold out of us and then putting it somewhere else exclusively. You’re also handling Durango while your body is still holding active Marigold.”

“What do you care? What do any of you care?” Viktor asked. He felt the particles come to life in his chest. Wind picked up in the room, swirling around him in circles so that it had partially formed a shield. “None of you have ever cared about me when it doesn’t benefit you. Luther picked me as his best man not because he wanted me as a brother but because Klaus was already officiating and he had issues with Five and Diego. Allison tried to be my friend until I stopped being able to give her what she wanted and then she killed my son. Five was my friend until he moved away and realized how much I sucked and that I had stopped being a way to get back at Dad. Diego fucking abandoned me and humiliated me on stage because he was just humoring his stupid little sister by starting a punk band with her. Lila and Klaus and Sparrow Ben couldn’t give a shit about me if I was the last person on earth with them! So just let me fucking do this so that I can make up for all the lives I’ve ended by blowing up the moon and the FBI building and trying to save the life of a little boy that I owned.”

When he stopped talking, he felt a bit better in his soul and spirit than he had before. It was nice to have those words out in the open, to finally bare the dirty laundry that he was running out of places to hide. Physically, he still felt just as awful as he had before.

The room was entirely silent as he let his power die down so that there was nothing but the clinking of the vents above them. He reached out and took Five’s hands into his, yanking his power out of his entire body and then shoving it into his own. It took everything he had for it to not activate immediately since Five had been on the edge of jumping away before he did it.

“Viktor. I want you to know that I did care about you, I just didn’t know how,” Five whispered. “I’m sorry that you didn’t feel like you were my best friend anymore.”

“Best friends don’t abandon each other in brand new universes for six years,” Viktor replied hoarsely. He stood from his chair and then wavered dramatically. Luther and Diego surged forward so that they could steady him as they brought him over to Abigail.

She removed another one of the containers that they had removed the Marigold from originally and then said, “I want you to remove all six of the powers that you’ve removed so far into this and then work on Ben, so that the reaction doesn’t get bigger.”

Viktor nodded. It sounded logical to him, but when he began to move around the Marigold that he was playing host to, he let out a scream that shattered every piece of glass inside of the room other than what she was holding. “I can’t! I can’t,” he shook his head. It had ripped at the very fiber of who he was, like he was trying to bite off his own finger as hard as he could.

“I didn’t anticipate this,” Abigail hummed.

“It’s okay, Vik, it’s gonna be okay,” Luther said as he sat his brother down on another one of the chairs. “You’ve done so well, just close your eyes and rest for a second.

Viktor shook his head, “I can’t rest, it all hurts too much. Bring me to Ben, I want this over with.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? He’s the one that has Durango and Jennifer isn’t back yet,” Lila said as she stepped around Allison so that she was facing him again.

“I can do this. You should go back to your kids. You and Diego have so much shit that you need to talk about. Your relationship with him is worse worse than ours was,” Viktor slurred. It was hard to keep the words inside of him when he felt like this, they all came tumbling from his mouth without him even thinking about it.

Lila shut her mouth and her lips pressed together tightly. She stepped back so that she was standing beside her husband and the two of them began to have a quiet conversation with one another. It was nice to have something to distract them with, so that Viktor could focus on the more important things that he was dealing with in that current moment.

He turned his head towards Luther and then gave a nod. He rose from his feet and walked over to the brother that wasn’t. It was so hard to remember that the Sparrow didn’t know them the way that their Ben had, that he shared none of the same memories and barely loved them at all. Viktor reached down and pressed his hand into Ben’s stomach. He knew where the Horror had been on the other version of him so he knew where he had to draw the Marigold from.

His legs began to shake something fierce as he worked his overtired body further than it was meant to go. He would have crumbled down to the floor if Luther hadn’t been holding him. He felt blood pooling in his mouth and dripping from his nose again. His fingers tingled and his vision went splotchy, but the red and gold particles of both substances removed themselves from Ben and then mixed in with Viktor.

He collapsed down into one of the seats while the others worked to remove Ben from his restraints. He asked, “What the fuck just happened to me and where am I?”

“You touched Jennifer and then went all coo coo bananas for her, Benny,” Klaus explained. “Apparently your attachment to her had to do with the Durango inside of her moving into you, so now that it’s gone she’s gone!”

“You’re so fucking weird,” Ben snarled. He picked himself up off the table and then walked over to one of the desks so that he could play with the shards of broken glass to look nonchalant.

Viktor didn’t know how long they had to wait before the door down the long hallway opened and Reginald entered with someone else following behind him. She had a round face with pretty brown eyes, long black hair that was slightly curly towards the end, and a flannel wrapped around her waist. She spotted Viktor and then immediately rushed towards him, kissing him furiously.

He hadn’t been anticipating that, but it did make sense given the obsession that Ben had developed when he was containing the Durango. “Viktor, if you don’t take it from her and hold both substances in one vessel then you two are going to turn into a monster. I’ve seen it happen before,” Reginald said loudly. “You can do this, my boy. Save the world.”

Viktor broke the kiss with some amount of effort. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to do this, he felt like he was breaking in two already. He panted as he launched himself forward so that Jennifer was pinned down on the metal table that Ben had been on before. He sat back before he placed his hands around her neck and then began to draw her power from there.

The Durango had an entirely different feeling than the Marigold had. He was putting something other and different inside of him, something that very much did not belong. He could hear the tinkling of Ben’s Marigold somewhere inside of her, but he drew that into the mess that resided in his chest as well. He could feel the two substances warring inside of him and his body got even warmer and sicker than it had been before.

A memory flashed to the front of Viktor’s mind once he had grasped all of the Durango and Marigold inside of Jennifer and yanked. It played in his mind as he removed himself from on top of her and then stumbled back into the waiting arms of his childhood best friend. Harlan had mentioned something about not being able to control the power that Viktor had given him because he wasn’t like them. They had been born from the Marigold and the Durango was the antithesis of them. He had taken in a bunch of powers that were no longer meant for him to have and the exact thing that was trying to kill him.

He felt the cool of the floor touch his hair and back behind him. His fingers twitched as he continued to call the rest of the Marigold that was out in the world. The only thing that he was able to get out of his mouth was the location and name of each person that he took the Marigold from. He saw some of their memories from when they had used their powers in other universes flash through his mind. Each time he got another piece of the entirety of the Marigold, it felt like he was being electrocuted and shot at the same time. He felt his entire body seize up with the force of the power that it was pushing into something that couldn’t handle it, before he collapsed back down onto the heated ground.

Eventually, it stopped. Everything had pooled inside of his chest. He knew that his skin was glowing with the force of the Marigold and Durango as it fought against itself inside of him. His skin was so hot that he could smell the hair on his arms burning and his clothing felt like it was stripping back his flesh with every movement that he made.

Viktor let a scream finally tear past his throat as his chest was lifted into the air by the force of the reaction that was coming from him. Red and Golden light poured from him and made the bright, aggressive popping that fireworks did when they were set off in the wrong way. The substances that had caused all the mess that they were involved in was eating itself alive inside of him and pouring out into the space around him.

The pain that he was in was absolutely indescribable. It radiated through every single part of his body from the skin downwards until it had sunken down into his bones. He was writhing with the force of it but the movement only made it worse. He could barely move his fingers or his hands in general, everything was falling apart. His lungs were struggling to bring in air and that was making him dizzy and sick, the power that he had gotten from Diego working against him to try and shut down his body. He screamed with every single pulse of blood throughout his body because it felt like lava was filling his veins instead of blood. He could feel his back burning with The Horror as the portal opened and closed on the poor creature over and over again, preventing it from coming out like it wanted to. His mouth filled with blood and he just barely managed to spit it out before it choked him, each time it poured out of him. His eyes burned with the effort it took to keep them open and he was sure that his nose was also soaking his front with crimson.

His mind was buzzing with thousands of memories from thousands of versions of himself and his family. He carried them all, all their pain and hurt and power and sorrow.

He felt the last of the reaction go and then there was only his heart.

It thumped steadily and slowly in his chest, the sound filling his ears.

It was soothing, reassuring.

Then it stopped.

---

The tinkling of the bell above the door was what alerted them to the last few members of their party joining them. Luther and Sloane were seated next to each other, with their hands tangled together under the table like they were school children hiding their love from the teacher instead of adults that had been married for years. Diego and Lila were at the end of the table, though they weren’t married anymore since they had decided they would work better separately. Five sat alone at the other end of the table as he toyed with the coffee in his mug, refusing to drink it but still not letting it be cleaned up by the waitress that kept hovering nearby. Allison and Klaus were arguing quietly with each other about what they were going to do about Claire’s grades.

Jennifer was the last to join them, giving a quick kiss to Ben before they split apart so that they could sit across from each other at the table. Across the restaurant, Claire whooped to embarrass them further. She was sitting with the trio of kids that had come from Lila and Diego’s fleeting marriage to babysit them while her mother and uncle talked about boring adult stuff.

“Sorry about being late,” Jennifer said as she sat down.

“We know how it is being newlyweds,” Allison said, soothing them and teasing them at the same time.

“Shut it,” Ben snarled back at her.

“Ben,” Jennifer warned. He rolled his eyes but relaxed back into his seat and gave up on the chase.

“So, we all know why we’re here,” Diego said so that they could start the proper conversation. “Has anyone heard anything from Viktor?”

“No,” they all chorused across the table. Klaus shifted and said, “I haven’t been able to find out anything from Reginald, but Abigail said that they hadn’t heard anything about him since before the timelines all merged together.”

“It might be time for us to stop looking,” Lila said.

“You can stop looking, but I’m not going to,” Five snarled back at her. His eyes held that wild feral attitude that all the Umbrellas recognized from when he had first come back from the apocalypse, which was a bit worrying to see.

“Five, it’s been two years and none of us have heard anything from him. We have proper lives here with people that we love. No paradoxes, no powers, no Marigold at all. We should just be happy that we have this and try to enjoy it,” Allison argued.

“Viktor was right. None of you ever cared about him. He died for you so that you could have these lives and you can’t even keep looking for him,” Five slammed his coffee cup down onto the table and then rose from his chair. He shoved his hands down into the pockets of his chinos as he turned and left the dinner entirely, not carrying who was going to have to pick up his bill.

This was the way that their yearly meet ups had gone since they had woken up in the full timeline. They were all pieces of what the timelines had been before, a complete version of themselves that were more than the abuse that had been given to them when they were in their versions of the Academy. They had their memories from the main timelines that they had grown up in since they had been so close to Viktor and it was likely something that he was thinking about when he died. At least, that was the theory that they had since none of them could figure out why else they would have two lives rattling around in their heads.

Five walked further and further into The City until he found the park that was where the Academy used to be. He sat down on the bench and ran a hand through his hair, trying to soothe himself. He had meant what he said, he was going to continue to look for Viktor until there was actual physical proof that he wasn’t somewhere out in the world, waiting for them to find him. He had sacrificed everything to make sure that they had a chance at happiness and the least that they could do was make sure that they returned the favor.

He scowled when he heard a dog barking behind him, being led by someone also inhabiting the park. He really wanted to be alone right now, he was still mourning what he should have done to his best friend. The guilt over not being there for him when he was giving the chance and letting Viktor die a horrible, gruesome death while thinking that was eating him alive. He opened his mouth to say something scathing to the person sitting next to him before he looked down and saw Mr. Pennycrumb.

His eyes flicked up and he was met with shaggy brown hair hanging into intense brown eyes, a pale face pulled into a wide smile, and a short frame. “Viktor?”

“Hey Five. Is this seat taken?”

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misschris1412 · 4 months ago

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jameethelamee · 2 months ago

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I hate that I need an invitation for ao3 I WANT TO MAKE MY SILLY HEAD FAN FICTION A REAL THING 😭😭😭

it's gonna be like a trilogy and it's gonna be called the space chronicles. The first book is gonna be called the sun queen. The second book the moon majesty. Then the third one the star king

My favorite is lowkey the moon majesty because they're my only queer character

Anyways tell me if yall want like a plot (it will be very loose)

#a03 fanfic #a03 writer #fanfictio #Trilogy

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seredelgi · 3 months ago

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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Spike/Buffy Summers, Spike & Buffy Summers Characters: Buffy Summers, Spike (BtVS), Rupert Giles, Willow Rosenberg, Xander Harris, Dawn Summers Additional Tags: Blood, Blood Drinking, Vampire Bites, Vampires, Buffy turns into a vampire, Buffy's sired to Spike, Tvd elements, Vampire Turning, Angst Summary:

" Why doesn’t she just hate him? She always did. She doesn’t recall warm feelings of any kind spreading anywhere in her body when he looked at her before.

And yet, there she is, struggling to form words, trembling when cold can’t scratch her, thrilling when any other emotion seems long dead.

She simply stares into his eyes, fond of the dark shade they unravel into the shadow. And she asks herself…

What is this?"

OR/ A re-telling of the episodes of Buffy's death and resurrection, in which she gets turned into a vampire by Spike's blood, and she has to adjust to her new unlife, along with arising new feelings for her sire.

#just 'cause I don't think I had posted this yet #spuffy #spike x buffy #buffy #btvs #masterlist #ff #fanfic #fanfictio #enhypen imagines #buffy summers

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rosalie-starfall · 1 year ago

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Chapters: 9/? Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Picard Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Beverly Crusher/Jean-Luc Picard Characters: Jean-Luc Picard, Beverly Crusher, Jack Crusher (Star Trek: Picard) Additional Tags: p/c, so sweet it might give you a tooth ache, I have a lot of feelings, no beta I live on the edge, Set Up, Picard/Crusher Family Unit, Family, soft angst, Spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Fluff and Smut, Smut, s, Eventual Smut, Canon Het Relationship, Het and Slash Summary:

Chapter 9: Heaven is a Place on Bajor with You

The Gratitude Festival marks the first Major Starfleet event since Federation day and Everyone is ready to celebrate.

#Picard/Crusher #P/C #Picard x Crusher #Star Trek: The Next Generation #Star Trek: Picard #if you asked me to #chapter 9 #Heaven is a place on Bajor with you #fanfictio #fanfic #fic #otp #ogotp #forever otp

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lisra-writes · 1 year ago

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Chapters: 4/10 Fandom: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra) Characters: Adora (She-Ra), Catra (She-Ra), Glimmer (She-Ra), Spinnerella (She-Ra), Netossa (She-Ra), Bow (She-Ra), Bow's Fathers (She-Ra), Light Hope (She-Ra) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Manga & Anime, Affectionate Insults, Getting Together, Canon Lesbian Character, POV Catra (She-Ra), POV Adora (She-Ra), Fluff, Light Angst, Idiots in Love, Slice of Life, Jock Adora (She-Ra), Adora Has Issues (She-Ra), Soft Catra (She-Ra), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Catgirl Catra (She-Ra), Falling In Love, Autistic Adora (She-Ra), Non-Graphic Violence, catra has a loving mom, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting Series: Part 1 of Discord Prompts Summary:

Catra is the new catgirl in school. Making friends is difficult if you have heterochromia, are shy and have sharp claws. On her way to school she meets a girl in kendo gear practising by herself. What do you think happens next?

The High School Anime Au that *some* have asked for.

#she ra and the princesses of power #catradora #adora x catra #spop #fanfictio #high school anime AU

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slasher-lovers-blog · 2 years ago

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Chapters: 2/20 Fandom: Overwatch (Video Game) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Junkrat | Jamison Fawkes/Roadhog | Mako Rutledge, Junkrat | Jamison Fawkes & Roadhog | Mako Rutledge, Roadhog | Mako Rutledge/Original Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character Characters: Roadhog | Mako Rutledge, Junkrat | Jamison Fawkes, Original Overwatch Character(s) Additional Tags: My First Fanfic, Overwatch Family Series: Part 1 of A life or a lie Summary:

Teresa Rutledge-Fawkes got adopted by the most dangerous criminals as a baby. She grows up to live a good life untill she wants to know her real parents. And that's were dark secrets unfold and her old life shatters. Can junkrat and roadhog still protect her against the dangers that lurk in the shadows?

#ao3 #fanfictio #overwatch roadhog #overwatch junkrat #roadhog x junkrat #roadrat #my fanfiction #overwatch oc

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saetgvia · 1 year ago

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siblings

Binny added BertieBott'sBeans into the chat Binny added MayTheForceBeWithYou into the chat Binny added BookLover into the chat

Binny Welcomeeee

BertieBott'sBeans what is this

Binny we can plot against our siblings

MayTheForceBeWithYou NO! LET'S TALK ABOUT STAR WERAS!!

BookLover may your spelling- what is weras

MayTheForceBeWithYou weras, wars wtv same difference

BookLover it is not-

BertieBott'sBeans stfu i love squashy, im not plotting against her

Binny not even a teensy weensy little prank?

BertieBott'sBeans alright, maybe a tiny one

BookLover oh lord- hold up

BookLover added Hazelnut into the chat

Hazelnut what is this-

Binny ROSE!

BookLover i had to do something T-T

Binny this was not the way to do it-

MayTheForceBeWithYou exactly.. don't think hazel will like this chat

BertieBott'sBeans ya think??!!??!?!

Hazelnut lemme add daisy-

Binny NO

Hazelnut added Dazed to the chat

BertieBott'sBeans dazed-

BertieBott'sBeans changed Dazed to Squashy

Squashy BERTIE

BertieBott'sBeans yes darling sister?

Squashy stfu 🤬

Binny dazel, haizy: exit this chat

Hazelnut dazel- haisy- also incorrect use of a colon

Squashy added Gossipgirl27 to the chat

Gossipgirl27 huh

Binny try using more advanced vocabulary kitty

Gossipgirl27 changed Binny to Trashcan Trashcan changed Gossipgirl27 to stupid

Trashcan seriously

stupid bin? binny?

Trashcan i cannot with you rn

Trashcan removed stupid, Squashy and Hazelnut from the chat

Trashcan ah sweet peace.

#fandom #fanfic #fanfictio #fanfiction #murder most unladylike #binny mmu #bertie wells #may wong #rose wong

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skampi835 · 1 year ago

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Crucio - 03 - Blind (Ophelia)

Welcome to a Mini-Series of a dysfunctional Family...

Starring: Ominis (8 years), Boadicea (little sister - 4 years), Ophelia (mother)

Summary: While Ominis is meddling with his thoughts, his sister approach him, to go to the garden. Ominis is hesitating. (3,5k Words)

Part 01 - Useless Part 02 - Normal

Faintly, the chirping of birds and the soft creaking of hinges on the curtain rod reached his ears. A pleasant, warm breeze of the late summer day wafted through the wide-open window, causing the light silk curtains in his bedroom to billow. The gentle draft caressed his face and carried the various scents from the garden below into the room.

However, Ominis focused intently on the very faint sound produced by his pencil as he glided it over the parchment. With his fingertips, he swiftly explored the rough surface to determine his position on the textured sheet before continuing to write carefully.

Over the past few years, his wonderful favorite aunt, Noctua, had diligently taught him the art of writing, not without the occasional amused snort. It was a skill that he could perform much more easily and proficiently with her borrowed wand, but one he did not want to forget for anything in the world when she was not around.

That's why he trained his muscle memory, even though writing without a wand posed a completely different challenge. Ominis was fairly certain that the lines he wrote on the parchment in front of him were neither particularly legible nor straight, not to mention the fact that he had probably written over his own words multiple times. He didn't need great eyesight for that certainty.

Many things had changed this summer. His loving aunt Noctua had successfully completed her training as a curse breaker. Ominis was happy for her, but also melancholic about the professional obligations that came with it. During Aunt Noctua's last visit three weeks ago, she bid Ominis farewell for an extended period as she had to travel to Germany for further training.

It was also the first autumn that Ominis experienced when the estate seemed unusually quiet and still, as his older brother, Wylan, had now started his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Ominis truly enjoyed this circumstance.

With a sigh, Ominis reluctantly turned the pencil between his fingers. In contrast to his outspoken brother, whose favorite pastime was tormenting and constantly pestering him, he sorely missed his aunt and the time they spent together. Their regular weekend visits, during which Aunt Noctua constantly taught Ominis something new and guided him through learning to read letters and numbers, and then to write, had temporarily ceased.

Whenever Aunt Noctua visited him, she willingly gave him her precious time and undivided attention. Patiently, she developed a strategy to introduce the world of books to him, a blind boy. She taught him writing by transforming teaspoons into letters, allowing Ominis to feel and internalize the cryptic shapes. His mother had been more than furious when she found out, even though his aunt had left the silverware - as far as he could tell - untouched.

Es war a very selfish thought, and Ominis felt a bit ashamed of it as he absentmindedly continued to turn the pencil between his fingers. What Ominis missed most about his aunt was the attention she gave him.

He missed her stories, her teachings, and her way of describing things and the world so that he didn't feel excluded because of his inability to see, but rather like a part of her.

Amidst the soft creaking of hinges and the lively chirping of birds, another sound joined his contemplation, pulling Ominis out of his wistful thoughts and sparking a vague interest within him.

Dull thumps reached his ears, the faint sound of clumsy footsteps on the carpeted wooden floor in the hallway outside his bedroom. Light as a feather, they drew closer and came to a halt just before the open door.

Attentively, Ominis turned his head to the side, positioning his ear better to listen towards the entrance. Yet, no further steps followed, nor did he hear any other sound indicating the arrival of the visitor.

With a questioning frown, he searched for the source of light, likely coming from the window. »Boadicea?« Ominis ventured a cautious guess as to who might be standing outside his door.

In a soft, silky voice, his younger sister replied, »Yes, it's me, Ominis. How did you know it was me?«

»I guessed. Your footsteps are always very quiet,« Ominis replied, turning on his chair.

Ominis tried to locate her position with his eyes, even though it was quite silly to even attempt it. He relied on the sound of her voice, but also on the meagre remainder of his visual perception, which only allowed him to discern whether it was bright or dark around him.

To claim that he could only see ›black‹ would be a lie. Ominis could perceive whether it was bright or dark and even orient himself based on larger sources of light. However, beyond that, he saw nothing.

To see ›nothing‹ did not mean seeing ›black‹, for Ominis would first have to understand what black actually meant, and the spectrum of colours was something he would never comprehend.

Ominis smiled faintly and banished the last gloomy thoughts from his mind as he searched for the brightness within his room, which he believed to be the open door. After all, his four-year-old little sister was not to blame for his melancholic and longing feelings. »Do you need something?« he asked in a friendly tone.

»I-I'm bored,« his younger sister stammered softly, causing Ominis to furrow his brow in surprise. Usually, Boadicea was completely engrossed by their mother's attention when she wasn't confined to bed, and unfortunately, due to her fragile health, this happened very often. Her mother taught Boadicea the etiquette of nobility, as well as letters and numbers.

With him, her attention was only enough for the former. It would probably have been different if he were not blind.

»Is Mother not in the estate?« Ominis asked.

»Sh-she's sleeping,« came the shy, delicate reply. Boadicea had always spoken softly, at least as far as Ominis could remember. He had never heard her raise her voice or feign excitement like Wylan. Even when she cried, plagued by fever or chills, his little sister did so quietly and calmly.

Boadicea had never hurt him with sharp words or physical roughness either.

»Oh? Hmm...« Ominis said thoughtfully, tilting his head smoothly from one shoulder to the other. »We could play Wizard's Chess if you'd like,« he suggested.

Wizard's Chess was the only game allowed in the estate. Ominis vividly remembered how Mother had angrily caused his set of goblin stones, which Aunt Noctua had brought him during one of her visits, to explode. He also remembered the screeching and scolding tirade claiming that the game made one stupid.

For a very long time, Ominis received no response from his younger sister, only the distant chirping of birds through the open window somewhere behind him, accompanied by the soft creaking of hinges on the curtain rod.

»Boa, I can't hear it, when you move your head,« he gently reminded his little sister, who then replied embarrassedly, »Sorry, Ominis... N-no, well...« She fell silent, gathering her words.

Ominis had heard Mother scold her many times before because of her stuttering. He tilted his head vaguely and waited patiently, not wanting to give Boadicea the same unpleasant feeling that his mother seemed to have a talent for creating. Instead, Ominis wanted to be as patient as his aunt Noctua had always been with him. Just as patient as his aunt had been with him, he wanted to be with his younger sister.

Boadicea seemed to find her courage and stammered softly, »I-I do want to play with you, Ominis. B-but I wanted to ask if you would maybe go to the garden with me.«

Ominis raised his eyebrows in surprise at this hesitant request. He heard her footsteps on the wooden floor of his room, and even though he mentally prepared himself, Ominis couldn't entirely prevent himself from flinching when Boadicea placed her small, delicate hands on his forearm. »I've never been in our garden because I always get sick so quickly. I don't just want to look at the flowers from the balcony; I want to touch them. Will you come with me?«

Uncertain, he curved his lips into an awkward smile. »You also get sick quickly, Boa,« Ominis tried to calm her enthusiasm. »Mother will surely be angry if you go to the garden without her knowledge.«

»But if you come with me, nothing will happen to me,« Boadicea sighed hopelessly. »I just want to know how the flowers feel, to know how they smell.«

It was a childlike curiosity that Ominis could empathize with all too well, even though his own curiosity was limited to the interior of the estate. Within the large building, he had learned the landmarks to navigate, even though Wylan often moved objects in his annoying presence just to irritate Ominis.

Perhaps, Ominis thought wearily, he would be just as curious about the world outside the estate if he could see more than just light and dark.

Ominis reached for his little sister's delicate hand and followed her fragile arm up to her neck. She squinted her eyes and wrinkled her small button nose as he gently traced his fingers from her cheek to her forehead, feeling her skin.

Boadicea didn't seem to have a fever, nor were her cheeks flushed. She appeared to be in good health, which, unfortunately, hadn't been the case for much of her short life.

With a defeated sigh, Ominis said, »Alright,« muttering under his breath, a corner of his mouth lifting. Speaking with more conviction than he felt, he continued, »Please put on a jacket, Boa, then we'll go.«

Boadicea let out a quiet and joyful squeal as she darted out of his room. Her feather-light steps thudded softly on the carpet until he could no longer hear them. Ominis smiled faintly, placing the pencil he had been writing with on the parchment, and rose from the wooden chair, making his way through his bedroom door and into the hallway, moving considerably slower. He cautiously extended his arm and felt for the dark wood of the door frame against the brighter, blurry, muted background. He had bumped his knees, feet, toes, and even his shoulder on it far too many times.

Skilfully, Ominis maneuvered past the door frame and continued feeling his way. His fingers lightly brushed against a low-hanging picture frame before he stepped aside, avoiding a side table that stood against the wall.

On his way to the marble steps leading to the salon, he again heard the light footsteps of his little sister. She boldly reached for his hand, and Ominis despised himself for flinching once again at Boadicea's otherwise gentle touch.

With her by his side, it was a little easier for Ominis to find the grand staircase, as his little sister took small steps beside him.

However, descending the twenty-three marble steps was nothing compared to crossing the threshold through the entrance door. Ominis couldn't remember the last time he had stepped through that door alone. Boadicea opened it by stretching up as far as she could, reaching for the doorknob and pushing it down.

Ominis felt oddly helpless as his little sister pulled him over the threshold, and he had to squint his eyes due to the sudden influx of light. He tightened his grip on her delicate hand. »Not so fast, Boa,« he requested, his mouth gone dry.

Boadicea paused. She was probably looking at him with a mix of confusion and astonishment. Ominis knew very well that concern and perhaps even fear were written across his face. He was not even two steps away from the door, and already, he felt disoriented. Ironically, the heightened brightness around him blinded him, while the chirping of birds resonated louder in his ears, mingling with the continuous buzz of bees. Leaves rustled steadily, and Ominis couldn't determine if they were above or beside him.

Ominis longed so much to be able to see something.

Clearly, Ominis felt the determined pressure of his sister's little hand. »I'll take care of you, Ominis,« she said softly and quietly. »You take care of me so I don't get sick, and I'll take care of you so you don't stumble.«

»Pfft...« Ominis couldn't help but laugh softly as he blinked excessively with his squinted eyes, even sporting a slight grin. His little sister's naivety was infectious. She was so wonderfully refreshing. »I'm the big brother here, Boa.«

»And I am your eyes,« Boadicea whispered softly, and Ominis gently squeezed her hand, feeling both hesitant and grateful. He chuckled softly. »Alright then. There should be a step around here somewhere.«

Boadicea seemed to be searching, as Ominis felt her pulling on his hand without taking a step.

»Yes, right ahead. There are...« Boadicea interrupted herself. Ominis could somehow imagine her folding her fingers one by one with her free hand before finally revealing, »There are three steps.«

»Very good. Lead me to them,« Ominis said gently, following the movements of his little sister.

Fearlessly, she walked about half an arm's length ahead of Ominis and hopped down the first step. »It starts here, Ominis.«

The boy followed her movements, attentively noting her pulling on his hand as she became even smaller, gliding down the first step.

Together, the two children overcame the three steps in front of the estate, and Ominis heard the crunching gravel under his shoes. »To the right is the garden, Boa,« he explained to his little sister, but she confidently went to the left. Ominis chuckled, »The other right, Boa.«

»O-okay...« Disappointed or embarrassed, she tiptoed just ahead of Ominis again, this time in the right direction.

The crunching gravel under their feet ceased and turned muffled. The steps felt bouncy, soft as they walked over the grass. Ominis held the little hand tightly in his to not lose Boadicea. It was still unusually bright, but slowly darker spots began to dance before his vision. However, they had nothing to do with any shape or obstacle that could obstruct his path, unfortunately.

»That's a beautiful flower,« marvelled Boadicea, squatting down without letting go of his hand. Pulled by Boadicea, Ominis also leaned down beside her. »Do you know what it’s called?«

»I know a few flowers,« explained Ominis, tilting his head slightly. Aunt Noctua once gave him a book to read about different plants, herbs, and flowers. She explained to Ominis that each flower had its own symbolism, and apparently, she deemed this knowledge important enough to teach him. To express subtle feelings of liking or disliking someone, without being too obvious, as Aunt Noctua put it.

The thought made Ominis smile softly. »What does it look like?«

»Hmm...« Boadicea searched for words for a while. »The leaves look like sharp teeth. The flower is all white and soft— oh!«

Ominis raised an eyebrow at his little sister's startled exclamation. »I-I broke it,« she said in distress and continued, »They fall down like white fluff.«

Curiously, Ominis furrowed his brow and squinted his eyes a little. But of course, he could discern nothing except for a blurred brightness, as his back slowly warmed. »Do they look like... hmm...« Ominis pondered, »Down? Like very soft feathers?«

»Yes,« said Boadicea, and Ominis smiled gently. He found it endearing that his little sister could be delighted by such an ordinary flower. »I think it's a dandelion.«

»A dandelion?«

»Yes. When it blooms, the flowers are thin and firm. When it withers, they transform into fibrous, soft fluff« Ominis patiently explained, and Boadicea seemed to hang on his every word. The unfamiliar, warming sensation seeped into his muscles as Ominis squeezed his sister's little hand.

»Try blowing on it, Boa,« he suggested.

He listened as his little sister took a deep breath and exhaled, the air audibly blowing through her lips. She squealed in delight, and even that joyful sound was pleasant to his ears. It rang like a clear bell, softly chiming her happiness. »They're flying, Ominis! How beautiful.«

Ominis smiled softly. He wondered if Aunt Noctua had also felt such warmth in her heart when he expressed joy over her books. It tasted like warm milk with honey on a cold day, sweet and soft. An unfamiliar feeling of connection washed over Ominis whenever he played with Boadicea or simply witnessed her childlike joy.

Just as he bathed in the warmth and rejoiced in having stepped out of his comfort zone to fulfil Boadicea's wish, he heard energetic footsteps rushing over the gravel path. »What are you two doing out here?« Mother shouted angrily, her voice trembling. And a chilling wave of cold water swept over the warmth.

»M-Mother...« Boadicea murmured anxiously, pressing Ominis' hand tighter. His heart grew heavy as their hands suddenly parted, as Mother suddenly lifted his little sister up, probably into her arms. »Are you hurt? How do you feel, Boadicea? Did you sneeze?«

»N-No, Mother...« his overwhelmed little sister whispered, and Ominis uncertainly straightened himself on his feet.

»How could you be so careless as to take Boadicea outside, Ominis?« his mother's voice sharply and shrilly rang in his ears. It accused and descended upon him. »You know very well how quickly she catches a cold!«

»Boadicea really wanted to see the flowers, Mother. And I was looking after her,« Ominis tried to calm her, hoping to look up at her, but his surroundings were too bright for him to make out her exact position.

Instead of understanding, he received a salty slap across the face. Ominis's head jerked to the side before he had a chance to flinch, although the reflex still followed. A burning pain spread across his cheek, and the force reverberated in his skull for a few seconds.

»How could you be so reckless?« she screamed at him hysterically, her voice hissing, »You know we have a pond in the garden! What if she had fallen in? Or you? You're blind, Ominis! You can't even take care of yourself!«

A mean sting of disappointment pierced his chest alongside his hot cheek. Ominis felt small and deeply hurt as tears welled up in his eyes, and he had to swallow hard. He pressed his hand against his still throbbing cheek and lowered his head in guilt.

Guilty because his mother was right.

»I-I really wanted to go to the garden, Mother,« Boadicea sniffled softly, her eyes seemingly filled with tears after being startled by the slap. Ominis regretted having frightened her.

»My dear, you can't understand that yet,« his mother cooed, sounding caring yet icy. »Let's go back inside quickly. It's cold.«

Ominis heard the rustling of garments as she turned away from him. He half expected her to simply forget about him, but then she bellowed sharply, »Nookey!«

A loud thud followed, causing Ominis to flinch slightly. »Yes, Mistress?« squeaked the high-pitched voice of the house-elf.

»Make sure Ominis finds his way back into the house,« she snarled coldly at the servant and strutted away over the lawn with large strides, still holding Boadicea in her arms, without saying another word.

Bitterly, Ominis pressed his lips together as he listened to the fading footsteps and the quiet whimpering of his frightened little sister. A mix of anger and sadness surged within him. Anger at himself for having given in to Boadicea, for wanting to offer her a beautiful experience and show her something of the world outside the estate. Sadness because he had failed so miserably in doing so.

Instead, the childlike joy and curiosity were smothered by harsh reality.

A distant memory flooded his thoughts of Father and Aunt Noctua vehemently arguing over a book she had brought for Ominis. The Tales of Beedle the Bard was deemed improper reading for him, as according to his father, Beedle was a good-for-nothing, Muggle-loving imbecile.

Nevertheless, Aunt Noctua had let him read the book and defiantly told Ominis that she didn't care if Father disliked her. She attributed it to their significant age difference.

Ominis wished he could summon a similar strength as Aunt Noctua. But he did care that his mother didn't listen to him, and he didn't feel indifferent to her loveless treatment. It would all be different if he weren't blind, and Ominis felt an intense revulsion, a disgust toward himself because of it. He was worth more than a hundred wizards because he was a Gaunt, as Marvolo had said years ago, yet he couldn't appreciate that worth in his own life.

»Young Mr. Gaunt, please come,« the house-elf squeaked, snapping Ominis out of his thoughts. He rubbed his dried eyes andswallowed the lump in his throat. Nookey wouldn't dare touch him, as he would have to punish himself for it, and Ominis already felt ashamed enough that he wouldn't ask him to do it.

»I'm coming,« he murmured sheepishly, stretching his arms slightly ahead of him as he cautiously and slowly took one step after another.

It took what felt like an eternity for Ominis to leave the soft grass behind and finally feel the crunching gravel beneath his shoes. The second eternity passed as he found the beginning of the stairs. By the time he reached the threshold and entered the estate with his head lowered, darkness had already enveloped his surroundings.

#ominis #gaunt #ominis gaunt #ominis hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy #fanfictio #loveley family #ophelia gaunt #boadicea gaunt #hurt without comfort

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