#I had to change her name to be after a constellation though

[casiavium]

your name sounds like a harry potter spell

blocked and reported. this is bullying

[thebestofoneshots]

Gilded Constellations | (wolfstar x reader)

Series Masterlist | Previous episode

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader Word Count: 8.2 K Warnings: none Prompt: The Marauders x Vixen parank is finally about to happen.. How will the students react to a school flooded with frogs? This IS a Wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it. Proofread by lovely @aremuslupinsimp

Chapter 62: Born to be Wild

Wednesday 12th, 1977 - 08:20 AM

“So? You think she’s too hurt?” you asked as you leaned over the Slytherin table. 

“You said she crashed on the floor and rolled a couple of times, yeah?” Solacis asked. He was the one person you knew had a lot of knowledge of owls, so you had gone to him as soon as he appeared at the door. 

“Yeah, she was trying to crash onto me, but I got out of the way.” 

“And she bit you?” 

“But that’s been taken care of,” you said reassuringly. “I’m worried about her, though. She was stunned. I don’t think James used much strength but–” 

“But she’s way smaller than a human,” Solacis nodded. Nieve was still asleep, but she stirred as Solacis extended her wing to check on her. His delicate pale hands were softly touching her feathers when Nox and Regulus arrived at the table. 

“Hey, Vix,” Nox said. He’d heard Prongs calling you that one day and it had stuck. 

Reggie said your name quietly with a nod and sat down beside you. You hadn’t had a proper talk since that day, and something told him that then wouldn’t be a good moment to do it either. “How are you?” 

“Good,” you replied with a genuine smile, he could tell. “You?” 

He smiled, although it seemed like it was hard for him to do it, “Yeah, that too.” 

Nox and Solacis were talking about the owl while you looked at him with a bit of a frown. He cleared his throat and handed you a piece of bread. You knew he was trying to divert the attention from it, he probably couldn’t talk about it there. “I’ll see you later about that homework, yeah?” 

“What homework?” Nox asked, clearly worried he’d forgotten his own.

“Reggie’s gonna help me with something,” you excused and then turned to Solacis. “Is she okay?” 

“She’ll be all right,” he reassured you. “Mix some Boswelia and Chamomile with her food, and keep an eye on her. She’ll be like new in a few days. I think she just took a bad hit, but she won’t be able to fly for a while. So if you need to take a message somewhere I suggest you use your other owl.” 

“Right, will do,” you said with a smile. “Thanks, Sol, I owe you one.” 

“You can pay back by not being so savage next time we play quidditch.” 

“Oh, no, you’d have to pick something else,” you added with a smirk and a wink. 

“Indeed, you have to practise more, Solacis, not get your opponents to go easier on you,” Dorcas said as she sat right in front of them. “Nice to see you, Luv.” 

“Same,” you smiled as you stood. “I better get to my table before I’m called a house traitor.” 

“I think you should just change your robes to green and join us.” 

“I could make room for you in my chambers,” Dorcas offered with a smirk. 

“And have to share a common room with Snivellus? No, thank you!” you joked. Dorcas cackled while the others laughed, even if a little more discreetly. Severus, who wasn’t that far off, threw you an angry look, which you noticed out of the corner of your eye. Even Barty was concealing a smile as Evan told Severus something related to their homework. You smiled and picked Nieve from their table carefully. “Thanks again,” you told Solacis with a smile and walked back to your table with the owl in your hands. 

“How did it go?” Remus asked.

“Great, I know what plants I should feed her… Mind coming with me to the herbology classroom later?” 

“Sure,” he retorted with a smile. “Perhaps after the thing.” 

“What thing?” Asked Marlene as she leaned towards you. 

“Oh, just a thing,” you retorted, making it sound as casual as possible. “Nothing to worry about.” 

“Don’t tell me you’ve gotten yourself involved in another Marauder’s prank? Last time we lost James and Sirius in the game, and we’re playing Slytherin again, we’ll need James! Regulus has been practising since you beat him to the snitch.” 

“I’d never do such a thing,” you said as you looked at Remus, complicity dancing in both gazes. “Quidditch comes first, pranks come later,” you added resolutely.  

“Aye!” James said as he took a bite from his toast. Lily, who was sitting beside him, rolled her eyes and handed him a napkin since he’d gotten crumbs all over his face. 

Breakfast came and went without much more eventualities. Peter didn’t wake up in time but you saved some food for him and handed it over when he caught up with you on your way to charms after you went back to your room to leave Nieve in a small heap of pillows. 

“Thanks, Vixen,” he said as he took out the sandwich from its napkin. “And it’s roast beef with brown sauce!” He said after he gave it a bite. “Brilliant!” 

“No problem,” you said with a simple shrug. 

By the time you arrived at your classroom, the five of you were beaming with the excitement of the imminent prank. Peter had gobbled the last half of his sandwich just before walking inside the classroom. 

“That can’t be good for your health mate,” James said with a frown as he pointed at Peter.

The latter cleared his throat before retorting “Shut up, Prongs!”

“Just looking out for you,” James said as he raised his hands in surrender. “I think you’re going back to nervous eating. You know your mum told me that–” 

“James!” he complained now, motioning to the fact that there were plenty of people around. James didn’t know why it was such an issue for Peter to talk about it but didn’t press further. Peter, on the other hand, hated the idea of talking about his food issues in front of people, especially in front of Sirius and Remus who seemed to be so fit without putting any effort into it –according to him.  Sirius literally did quidditch every morning with you and James. And while Remus didn’t do anything special, he did do a freaking intense amount of exercise whenever he was a wolf, not to mention he often took walks around the school when he wanted to be alone. 

“Sorry, sorry,” James retorted. “We’ll talk about it later.” 

Peter tried not to roll his eyes as he rushed inside the classroom. 

Professor Flitwick was already inside the classroom, standing at his little podium like he often would during classes, you smiled and nodded his way as you walked inside along with the boys. As you were walking to sit next to Remus (as you usually did on Charms), Lily pulled you from her spot near the front and had you sit beside her. 

“You’re not going anywhere,” she told you as you fell onto the chair. Remus threw you a questioning look and you shrugged in response. When Sirius realised Remus wouldn’t be sitting with you, he went straight to take your normal spot and sent you a daring sort of gaze, as if to show off the fact that he was sitting next to Rem instead of you. 

“Are you even listening to me?” Lily asked as she shook you by the shoulder.

“Yes, sorry,” you replied as you turned to her, “you said we had to hand in an essay today but you totally forgot about it.” 

“And you forgot it too, you dumbass, I’ve checked your notes,” she said as she pointed at the pile of papers you had now left on the table, including a few scrolls and a notebook, the essay was nowhere in sight. 

“I didn’t forget,” you said with a smile. 

“Well it’s not here either,” she said as she moved your papers around again. 

“No, I just didn’t do it.” 

“You what?” she asked in shock. You had been in study club since the start, and you had always handed in your homework on time. In fact, she thought you were as dedicated as her, if perhaps a little more relaxed. 

You smirked. “You really shouldn’t worry so much. For one, I’m sure Flitwick would forgive and forget if one of his favourite students forgot to bring their homework. Two, I have the feeling everyone’s gonna forget about the homework in a few minutes.” 

“Oh no, the toads,” she whispered, the grip on her wand tightened. “You know, I blame you for forgetting it, I spent all of last night looking up spells in case of an emergency.” 

“Oh, that’s so not on me,” you retorted with a smile. 

“Welcome, welcome,” Flitwick said, voice slightly louder than it had been previously. “I hope you all had an excellent Christmas break…” 

You tried not to think too much of your Christmas break, although there had definitely been some a few –although very few– things that you would have considered excellent from the tumultuous time the past few weeks had been for you. 

“… today we’re going to be looking at complex charms combinations. Does anybody know what charm combining consists of?” 

Lily and Remus raised their hands. You would have raised yours as well but decided to let either of them answer instead. 

“Miss Evans,” Flitwick said as he pointed at her with his wand. 

“Combining spells consists of taking the main properties of two or more spells and weaving them together to create a new spell that either does both things or something slightly different.” 

“And what’s a good example?” 

Lily frowned and licked her lips as she thought of an answer, and then she smiled. “Lumus Solem,” she said. “It combined the brightness of Lumus with the heat and rays of the sun. If done without care it can be extremely dangerous due to radiation.” 

Flitwick smiled, seemingly satisfied at her answer. “Precisely–” he started but got interrupted by a boy who raised her hand and spoke before being indicated. 

“Can Lumus really be dangerous?” he asked. 

“Certain variations of the spell definitely can. A potent enough Lumos could blind you either temporarily or permanently. Lumos Solem, has been used as a torture device in the past as well. Long exposure has been known not only to cause severe dehydration but even grade 3 sunburns–” 

Flitwick was interrupted yet again, this time by a girl’s shriek You turned to the source of the scream with the most surprised face you could pull off. 

“What’s with this fuss?” he asked in a rather stern tone. Flitwick didn’t get angry very often, but he’d gotten interrupted twice already and he really didn’t appreciate being interrupted.

“Toads, Professor,” replied the same boy from before. 

“Excuse me?” 

“There are many of them,” added another girl who was moving her feet out of the way. The students in the back had were already getting on their seats. 

“Please sit down,” the small professor said as he shook his head in exasperation. From his position, he couldn’t quite see the tsunami of toads that was about to reach him. Besides, he quite liked toads, after all, he was planning to reopen the Frog Choir that had been lost after 1959 when Professor Marcus Bonnknott passed away. 

Filius had only heard them play a few times during his first and second years in Hogwarts, and he was very upset when the choir died along with Marcus, who he thought was fascinating. It was in fact, because of said professor that he had gotten himself into music after graduating and before being offered the Charms Teacher position by Dombuldore in the early 70s. 

But neither of the students seemed to listen, which obviously exasperated him and forced him to walk down from his podium only to see a small toad jumping his way. He leaned down and picked it up carefully. “Is this little guy the one causing you to leave your seats so hastily?” 

“No, Professor,” said Imgoen as she shook her head. “It’s the amount of them.” 

By then both you and Lily had gotten over your seats and were currently sitting on the table. What could only be described as a herd of toads was approaching the front of the room. The stone floor of the classroom turned green and brown as the toads jumped around, trying to find some space within the now swampy water running from the end of the classroom. 

Lily threw you a look and you just shrugged as you straightened up and looked at the mess you’d created along with the boys. 

“Oh Dear, quite a catastrophe, I see,” said Flitwick as he took his wand out and waved it in the air. With a swish and a flick, about a hundred toads were lifted from the ground and started floating above everyone.

“Ugh… that’s gross,” said a Hufflepuff boy as he nudged one of the toads further from his face using his wand. 

“Please refrain from touching the animals,” Flitwick said as he threw the boy a stern look. 

Another girl had picked a salt shaker from her bag and was diligently throwing it around her. 

“What do you think you’re doing, Miss Griffith?” 

“Salt will make them squirm, I’m keeping them away from me,” she said urgently as she continued, even if none of the frogs seemed to mind. 

“That’s with slugs, you dumbass,” retorted Tom with a cackle. He’d been sitting next to her because after Lily pulled you to sit beside her, the normal sit arrangement had been skewed and his place –next to Beth– had been taken by Marlene. 

“Shut up,” the girl said as she continued throwing salt. 

Peter was laughing as he stared until a toad got on his feet and he shook it off with a short scream as he also got on top of the table.

James, Sirius and Remus were definitely enjoying the absolute chaos as they all stood at their desks, they didn’t even bother to sit on them and looked riddicolously tall in comparison to Flitwick which just made the whole scene all the more amusing.

“Please, calm down,” Flitwick said, as he managed to lift a few more toads into the air. All of them with their small legs extended and looking as confused as you’d imagine a flying toad would. And then another swamp bomb fell to the floor, the water level increased and tons of toads started appearing. “Goodness,” he said as another bomb fell from the other side of the classroom. 

Lily had her wand up in the air as she stared at the toads with a “ready to attack” sort of gaze and you suppressed a smile as some other students were already using protection spells around themselves and keeping them up as the toads walked past the feet of the chairs and table. 

“All right, perhaps we should exit the classroom instead,” he said as he tried to lift some of the toads that had just appeared along with the others. “Please form a careful line and–” 

It was useless, the moment he said they could leave, most students bolted towards the exit like runaway horses, pushing each other while trying to keep themselves as far away as possible from the toads, which was pretty much impossible, since they were all over the floor, not to mention everyone’s pants and socks were now pretty wet with murky water. 

Lily sighed and took out her wand. “Bufonem repelleare,” she said and waved her wand around her shoes, as she placed her feet on the murky water, the toads seemed to form a circle around her, as if avoiding her entirely. 

Beth gasped as she pointed at her, “Lily, come and save me!” She said as she pointed at her feet, which got some other students staring quite impressed at her. 

“Masterful use of spell combination, Miss Evans,” said Flitwick as he pointed at her and continued to move the toads as far away from the students as it was possible for him to do. 

“You’re coming?” Lily asked as she offered you her hand.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got an escape my plan for myself prepared,” you told her with a wink, and as she walked towards Beth you finally got on the table. Your seat was rather close to the windows, and the door was on the other side, which meant you had quite a walk to make before exiting the toadtrap you had created; but you weren’t looking forward to getting your feet wet, let alone your socks, which Lily had taken in as a necessary evil. 

You stood on the chair and then on your table, and from there, you jumped to the table in front of it, the students there were already outside of the classroom, and then you jumped towards the table next to it. The boys, upon seeing what you did, were now imitating you. And they were much faster since they had longer legs. 

By the time you got to the third row of seats, Remus was standing on the desk right in front of yours and Sirius was right next to it. You raised your eyebrows at the boy in front of you and he smiled, placing one hand behind his back and extending the other towards you, “Allow me, my lady,” he said in the noblest of tones. 

You chuckled under your breath as you diverted your gaze to hide the smile you just couldn’t keep away from your lips at this point. He really had read an excessive amount of romance books. 

“Kind Sir,” you said as you took his hand, not because you needed his hand to cross to the other side, but because you wanted to hold his hand. It was a simple gesture and helped you stand right next to him. 

“Oh Moony, you’ll make me jealous,” Sirius teased. “How come she’s getting preferential treatment?” 

It was the smirk on Sirius’ lips that told the both of you that he was just teasing. “It’s all right Puppy, I’ll help you to the other side.” You extended your hand towards him and he used it to jump onto the same table in which the two of you were standing. Now the three of you were stupidly close to each other, not that either of you cared. 

There was a short exchange of glances between the three before Moony jumped to the next table and you followed shortly afterwards. But by the time you extended your hand for Sirius, you felt the table tremble underneath you, even if it was just for a second. You looked around, the feet to try and spot if there was something that was causing it, perhaps a toad that got stuck or something of the sort, but there seemed to be nothing happening down there. Sirius took your hand and jumped towards the two of you, but the second he landed next to you one of the legs gave out, and the three of you plummeted to the floor.

While the toads managed to escape being crushed by any of you three, you did not get away without being completely soaked in the swampy water.  

You groaned, the water hadn’t done much to cushion the fall, and you and Sirius had been the ones to cushion most of it for Remus. 

“Should have come with me,” Lily said as she shook her head and walked towards the door. While you were sore, you still had enough energy to lean your head towards her and pull out your tongue. She shook her head, clearly amused. “Suit yourself.” 

You huffed and then let yourself rest back in the water. What does it matter at this point, it’s already soaked, you thought. A toad jumped closer to you and Sirius scared it away before it reached your fave.

“Sorry,” Remus muttered as he tried to get up since he’d fallen on top of both of you but his hand slipped and he ended up falling over the two again. 

Sirius groaned and you let out a low “uff!”

“Sorry again,” Remus said hurriedly, trying not to think too much of how nice it felt to be that close to you, given the conditions around.  Those being the fact that half of your heads were submerged in murky water and that the frogs now seemed to want to approach you.

“It’s all right, try slower this time,” you told him, offering your hand for some stability, when he finally got up from the floor he realised that most students –and the teacher– had already found a way out of the mess. Once he was up, he helped the both of you stand. 

“They left us?” Sirius asked with a gasp. “We fell, and they left us!” 

“Vixen stuck her tongue out at Lily,” Remus pointed out. “She would have probably waited.” 

“Never mind Evans, It’s Prongs that offends me,” he added with a huff that made you chuckle. 

What neither of you knew was that he had made that table fall and that he had left the three of you at your own luck in retaliation for the bomb that he had left in his pocket and that you had knowingly not warned him about.  But he also thought the three of you could benefit from some time alone, so he was both, taking his revenge, and playing cupid. 

You leaned your arm up towards you, smelled the sleeve of your sweater, and made a slightly disgusted face. “We stink now,” you said as you pulled it as far away from your face as possible. “How about you throw some relashio my way?” 

Remus extended his wand towards you but Sirius was quicker and stopped him, “I’ve got a way better idea than that.” 

“Sirius we’re not swimming on the black lake, I know you’ve wanted to do that all year, but it’s literally snowing out there, it’s a terrible idea.”

“Not that!” Sirius said as he shoved Remus. “It’s a great idea, I promise,” he added with his signature smirk and stepped forward, taking the lead. “Follow me, pretty things.” 

“Did he just–” Remus said as he pointed at Sirius and turned to you.

“Yup,” you said with a nod. “You better get used to it,” you added before nodding your head to the side, inviting him to follow behind Sirius who was already near the door. At least the toads were kind enough to jump out of the way as you walked towards it. 

The hall wasn’t much better either, some classrooms were still figuring their way out and their doors were crammed with people trying to leave, the stone was coated in a rather thin layer of water that only got more and more filled by the minute and everyone was trying to find somewhere safe. 

“What is going on?” Someone shouted, tone laced with desperation as he had to turn to the side when he spotted another tramp of toads coming from the hallway he intended to take. 

While in the world, “all roads lead to Rome” in Hogwarts, “all roads lead to the Great Hall” and you were counting on that to get most students in there, all for the sake of ending the prank with a cherry on top. But some students were already using their brooms and the windows to get out of the buildings and that would ruin the plan. 

“Your idea’ll have to wait,” you told Sirius as you stepped forward. Thankfully just the right person was in sight. “Alex!” You said. “Alex Wood!” 

The Hufflepuff head boy, who was riding his broom flew towards you, “Yeah?” 

“They said we should go to the Great Hall,” you said. “That’s where all the students are going.” 

It was luck, and perhaps your good student reputation, that made Alex nod almost instantly. “I’ll spread the word, thanks!” he added and took off, shouting to everyone on his way to walk towards the Great Hall.

You smiled as you saw him leave towards one side of the hall and you turned to the other, “We have to go to the Great Hall!” you shouted towards everyone and none in particular, “spread the word!” 

The three of you continued walking towards the new direction and kept telling people they had to go, and since people recognized Remus as a Prefect, it was much easier to get them to follow the direction. By the time you reached the Great Hall, there were already other prefects helping everyone walk inside in a much more ordered manner than when they had left their classrooms. Students were walking towards their seats at the table, and the older students were using Lily’s spell to keep the frogs away from the door as everyone tried to walk inside. 

You smiled, looking quite satisfied at the result of your little ruse, and also got in line, but this time Sirius pulled you out of the way. “Follow me, I know a better spot to enjoy the show,” he said with a smile. Remus probably already knew of said spot since he walked next to Sirius as if he too knew the way.

You followed the two of them down a set of stairs –spotting the kitchen entrance– and then a little further inside, where there was a rather large statue of a dragon who moved as if he were breathing. Sirius got up on the small pedestal where the dragon lay and Remus was behind him shortly after, yet again extending his hand for you to follow. You took his hand at once and he pulled you up with ease, not letting go of it even as you were fully there and giving you a reassuring squeeze as Sirius got even closer to the dragon. He crouched and walked inside the crevice left between the tail of the dragon and his head. 

This time around you followed right after him and Remus was close behind. The statue wasn’t really designed to be walked behind, or at least it hadn’t been placed to be walked around, and therefore the spot behind it was slightly darker and a bit colder than the rest of the castle, as if the heating spells didn’t quite reach that spot. 

Then Sirius walked towards a torch holder and pulled on it, a small passage opened underneath the spot where the dragon lay. You smiled and walked down the set of stairs alongside both boys. It was a small room, perhaps something like a broom closet, or a secret hideout for a treasure, but there was nothing inside other than a window that looked remarkably similar to the ones in the great hall but much smaller. 

Sirius approached the window and fumbled with the latch for a few seconds before he managed to flip it open. The bitter cold flew in alongside a few snowflakes and Sirius climbed outside. Remus followed, sitting by the seal, his feet propped to the outside. But just before he jumped he turned to look at you.

You were looking at him from your spot, seeming somewhat hesitant of stepping out. He was about to speak, but Sirius beat him to it, pushing his head under Remus’ arm and leaning it near his ribs with a teasing grin. “You’re not scared, are you, Starshine?” 

“Of course not!” you retorted. “ Just waiting for you boys to open up some space.” Sirius laughed while Remus jumped outside, you got on the seal seconds after. 

Sirius smirked as he turned to Remus, who was wiping some snow from the back of his pants and shaking his head in disapproval, although he was still smiling. Once the three of you were outside, with the bitter cold making your wet clothes all the more uncomfortable, you figured out exactly where you’d be enjoying the spectacle from. 

“You have to be kidding,” you said as you spotted the large windows of the great hall over a few feet of rock.  “Is that where you were on the first day of the year?” you asked as you pointed towards some of the windows.

Sirius nodded in return, “Pretty cool, yeah?” 

“You’re all deranged!” you retorted with an amused smile and walked through the snow and towards one of the windows. The end of the cliff wasn’t so stiff that it would be easy to fall, but if anyone did fall, then it would be nasty.

“Not more than you, Luv,” retorted Remus who was behind you in seconds. 

Sirius had a small, rather proud smirk on his lips as he watched the two of you speed towards the window. “Watch your step, it can be slippery,” he warned. 

“Who's the scared one now?” you asked as you turned to him with a teasing smirk, your hair flowing behind you while some bits of snow from the side of the rocks fell over it.

Once you reached the spot under the window you looked up. It was rather tall. At least a few feet above your head. Sure Sirius and Remus could reach the top by extending their hands, but your fingers barely reached the edge. Narutally, you started jumping to try and get your hands on the seal. Remus caught up with you a few seconds later. “Thought you were a fox, not a rabbit.” 

You huffed, narrowing his eyes at him and turning back to the rocks. There was snow covering them, and you didn’t have your gloves around. Didn’t matter though, you tried to get a hold of one of the rocky edges to climb your way up, but they were stupidly slippery and you ended up slipping towards Sirius who caught you with ease and looked down on your pouty face with a wide smile. 

“Are you done trying to do it by yourself?” he asked. You gave him a mouth twist in return. “Nous sommes une équipe, Starshine, don’t be afraid to ask for help.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead and pushed you to stand straight again. 

You grumbled something intelligible as Sirius climbed his way up using a rather specific rock that they had charmed and that was slightly worn out as support, and once he was up he extended his hand while Remus linked both of his and extended them for you to use as a step on the way up. You hesitated, turning your gaze to the side before placing your foot between Rem’s hands, who pushed upwards and allowed you to reach Sirius’. 

Once your elbows were on the bitter-cold stone of the seal, you managed to push yourself up the rest of the way. Rem used the same rock Sirius had to climb  and in between you and Sirius pulled him the rest of the way up. Not that he needed the help, he would have done fine without it, but neither you nor Sirius would waste a chance to hold him close.

“Shouldn’t we use a disillusionment charm?” you asked as you leaned over the windows to see what was inside. “Shit it’s cold,” you added as you shivered. You’d taken your cloak off at the little room under the dragon but your pants and thick sweater were still pretty wet.

“Nah, they can’t see us,” Sirius said as Remus stood closer to you. He was the least wet of the three, coincidentally, his body heat was always warmer due to his furry little problem. “There are special charms on the windows so that the weather outside matches the one in the enchanted ceiling,” he waved through the window, “we’re virtually invisible.” 

“Neat,” you said as you leaned your head on the window again, most students were now taking their seats. Professor McGonagall was helping some of the students accommodate their tables. Spellman was making sure all the Ravenclaws were all right alongside Flitwick who had been a Ravenclaw when he was a student, and Seraphina was making the Hufflepuffs do the same while forcing them into a neat line and counting through them. 

“Where’s Dumbledore?” you asked with a frown. 

“He is overseeing some plans with the order,” Sirius said. “Moody visited the Potters when we were about to leave for Kingscross. He said there was some urgent ‘Order’ business they had to oversee.” 

“Order? Do you mean The Order of the Phoenix?” 

“The what?” 

“Ugh… never mind I’ll tell you about it later,” you said as you shrugged it off and pointed towards the Great Hall. Slughorn had walked towards the podium and seemed about ready to say something. “I think it’s about to happen,” you said. 

Remus looked at you with a frown, still wondering what that was about before he too turned to look at the window. Slughorn seemed to be calming the students down, by giving some sort of speech. And then a screech so loud, that even the three of you heard, broke through his words. 

“Oh, it is happening,” Sirius said, as he too stepped a little closer. Both boys were now practically glued to you and the window, which was at least helping the cold subdue, even if you still felt like the bottom of your clothes, where gravity had accumulated the water, was slowly freezing as well. Not to mention your back felt a little more cold than it should have. But then again, what was a little cold? You’d had much, much worse. 

The girl jumped backwards as she screamed and fell on the floor as a bunch of toads started appearing from under her table. You saw Lily’s mane look around and fixate her gaze on James, she was clearly expecting the classroom and the rest of the hallway mess to be the end of it.

You chuckled as the toads from her table avoided her and jumped in all sorts of directions and towards the rest of the people. The funniest part was, that the toads were also shunning the entrance because they had used the toad-repelling charm all over it, so the more swamp bombs that exploded, the more frogs without anywhere else to go appeared.

McGonagall pressed her wand to her throat before speaking, loud, clear and in that same tone she used in class that was equally unwinding and terrifying. “Prefects, have your houses form a neat line and walk towards the courtyard. I believe it’s the only spot in the entire school not infested by toads at the present moment.” 

You chuckled, and it wasn’t only after your laughter subdued that you noticed that were not only shivering because of the laughs, but also because of the cold. You sneezed.

“Bless you,” Said Remus almost automatically, and then pressed his hands to your face. “You’re freezing! Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I said it was cold!” you argued with a shrug and then crossed your arms over yourself. 

“But you said it as a casual comment, not as ‘I’m freezing, let’s use a warming spell’ kind of way,” Sirius retorted.

You hummed in response. “Next time, I’ll make sure to sound extra dramatic when complaining about the cold,” you said sarcastically.

“Yeah, you better,” Sirius said as he jumped down from the little window bannister and nodded for you to do the same. 

It was slightly awkward as you got down, but Sirius was there as you landed and he gave you a thumbs up as you wiped some of the snow that had gotten stuck in front of your trousers. Remus was down shortly after and the three of you walked inside the little room. 

Sirius closed the window as soon as you were inside while Remus started with a simple warming spell. He leaned close to you, his wand slowly spreading heat on your back, causing the already-frozen bits of clothes to melt. 

“Wait, it’s too hot,” you said, taking your sweater off almost in a second. You had a simple turtle neck shirt underneath, and while it wasn’t freezing anymore, it was still pretty wet. 

“I mean you can continue taking your clothes off here, or we can go to that place I’ve been telling you about,” Sirius said with a smirk and both of you turned to him with a frown. 

“Where exactly do you want us to go?” Remus asked.

“You’ll see when I take you,” he retorted as he tilted his head. “I think by now most students will be in the courtyard, what do you say?” 

Remus swallowed, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” 

“All my ideas are great,” he retorted, “Right, Starshine?”

“Some have certainly been,” you retorted. “Besides at this point, anything that gets me off this stinkyness is good.” 

Sirius’ smile widened and he gave you a wink before climbing up the stairs and both you and Remus followed closely behind him. 

It had been a few minutes of you scurrying around the castle while trying to avoid being seen by any lost student, and the toads that were now all over the halls, jumping around freely. 

Remus, who finally recognized the way you were taking gasped, “Sirius are we going to the–”

“Yes, don’t spoil it.” 

Sirius had purposefully taken a tricky way there so neither of you realized where it was you were heading but Remus had figured it out anyway. You had a vague idea of where that might be but you weren’t sure, and you had never been there either, so even if it was where you thought it would be it was still a surprise. 

You looked over a corner you were about to cross and instantly pulled back, grabbing onto Sirius’ shirt to stop him from stepping any further. You placed your hand over your lips and nodded. He looked at you with a frown, and you pointed at the corner. 

Sr. Pendragon’s ghost was there, up in his horse and patrolling like the hallway was his own, even when his horse seemed to be much more entertained by the toads. He was comically jumping around while trying to avoid them (it didn’t seem to matter that being a ghost, he couldn’t touch them).

Sirius nodded as soon as he spotted him and took out his wand, but Moony beat the both of you by sending a spell towards one of the portraits on the other side of the hallway. The old man in the portrait started shouting silly complaints and screaming something about the toads attacking him. 

“To the rescue!” Said Sir. Pendragon as he pulled on his horse’s reins to force him to move. Said horse was not cooperating, and it was while he was distracted by them that you cast a disillusionment charm over the three of you and continued to follow Sirius through the halls. 

Skipping through the toads was much harder with the disillusionment charm because they wouldn’t immediately jump out of the way as they spotted you, but it wasn’t impossible. They seemed to have a sort of sixth sense to not be squashed, even if it took a little longer for it to kick off than sight. 

It was when you spotted the large frog in the corner of Ricchie’s “make-out room” that you figured out where Sirius was taking you as well. “How are you planning to get in?” You whispered as you pointed towards the door.

“Easy, we have our own Perfect, he knows the passwords,” Sirius said with a smirk. 

Remus tried not to roll his eyes as the three of you approached the doors, he cleared his throat before leaning into one of the corners of the door. “Whispering Woods,” he said, low so nobody beside you would hear, and the doors split open right in front of the three of you.

You didn’t waste time before walking inside, since you didn’t want to risk anyone noticing the three of you were sneaking into the “only prefects” bathroom, even with the disillusionment charm. You were still looking at the hall as you rushed to the door to shut right ahead of you. Some magic doors were faster if you gave them a little push, which was always a good trick when you were sneaking around. 

Once you made sure they were shut you sighed and turned around, only to gasp in shock. It’s not that you hadn’t heard about the Prefect’s Bathroom being grand and elegant, but you were expecting spacious shower stands and perhaps even a nice toilet, not a bathtub the size of a pool.

“I know, right?” Sirius said with a smile and started walking towards the tub, flicking his wand to dissolve the disillusionment charm and opening the faucet in the side. Colourful water started streaming out of the centre, filling the pool with bubbly water. A stained glass mermaid was combing her hair just behind the tub, and she had a sort of mischievous smile going on as she spotted Sirius. 

“I’m going to start thinking you have a water kink or something,” you joked as you followed him, your eyes getting lost on the mermaid before turning back to him. She didn’t look exactly like the mermaids at Lupin’s Cottage, which made you think she probably was from a different species. 

Her nose was slightly longer, and she was looking at the three of you in a sweet, and yet sort of like ‘I’d want to eat you’ glance. 

“Don’t worry about her, she can’t even talk,” Remus when he noticed your staring. 

“Yeah?” you asked with a frown. “Why?” 

“Mermaid portraits can be very temperamental, that’s why wizards rarely use the special brushes that make them talk,” Sirius explained as he threw a wink her way. You’d swear she blushed after that.

“Did you ever read ‘Siren’?” Remus asked, and you shook your head in response. “It’s about an artist that really wanted to paint a mermaid,” he explained. “And he did it, exceptionally well, so well that the portrait even had some of those enchanting abilities mermaids have. He talked to her every single day, she convinced him to put her in the bathroom since she would feel closer to home, and he would see her every single time he bathed.” 

“Yeah?” Sirius asked with a smile as he continued to play with the faucets. Now there was a small fish statue blowing soap bubbles all over the place. “Sounds awkward…” 

“It was,” Remus confirmed. “But she was clever and knew how to make him feel at ease. More time passed and they grew used to each other, until that wasn’t enough for her either, she ended up convincing him to drown in his tub so he could be with her.” 

“Damn,” you said as you looked back up at the mermaid. She was still giving you that same curious look. “I can definitely see it happening, though…” 

“A man falling for the portrait of a beautiful mermaid?” Sirius asked, clearly amused.

“A portrait being more powerful than they originally thought,” you said, not keeping your eyes away from the stained glass window. “Enchanted items can be as delightful as deceitful. There are plenty of stories of wizards who’ve gone mad over a portrait.” 

“I think the water is ready,” Sirius said as he dipped his hand in the marbled pool.

“Yeah?” You asked as you leaned closer to it, leaning over and also digging your hand in the water. 

“Mhm,” he nodded and then turned to Remus with a sort of mischievous look in his eyes. The way they shone told Remus enough about his plan for him to know what a terrific idea it was. “Pourquoi ne l’essaies-tu pas, Étoile?” 

You didn’t even have enough time to turn around and ask what he was going on about when he picked you up from the floor and threw you into the water, the splashing from your fall was enough to leave the two of them wet and filled with bubbles. 

By the time you resurfaced –not that it was very deep– both boys were shaking with laughter, their voices echoing through the bathroom in such a compelling way that you couldn’t even stay mad at them for it. That didn’t mean you wouldn’t retaliate. You looked at them both with a sort of saddened pout that had Remus lose his laughter as fast as he’d found it.

“I think I sprained my hand as I fell,” you said as you took your hand out of the water, “It’s swelling and all…” 

“What? That fast?” Remus said as he approached you. 

Sirius seemed concerned at first, at least until he saw the faintest shadow of a smirk as Remus approached the edge of the tub. You threw him a look, simple, almost too fast, but he instantly knew what he had to do. 

“Perhaps it’s because it’s the hand I sprained at the Leaky Cauldron…” you added and extended it towards him. He was now so close, half of his body was over the water. He had your hand in his, yours was limp and his were careful, feather-like touches to make sure he wouldn’t hurt you further. He moved it to one side and then to the other, carefully. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“Slightly,” you retorted. It wasn’t a lie, your hand was still kind of sore. Perhaps it had been a worse hit than you thought originally.

Remus shrugged, “It doesn’t look all that swollen to me, Little Witch, but it could get worse. Perhaps we should call it and go to Pomfrey instead–” 

“You don’t see it?” You asked nonchalantly and threw a look at Sirius. Remus was about to respond, “Maybe if you look closer,” you added before pulling your other hand out of the water and gripping onto his arms as firmly as you could, pulling him towards you. 

Alone, you wouldn’t have done shit to move him unless he had been genuinely distracted, but with Sirius’ help, who threw him off balance with a light kick on the back of his knee and a push, it was as easy as it had been for Sirius to lift you up and throw you into the pool. When Remus resurfaced from the water he was so shocked that he’d been manhandled that he ended up being more confused than anything. 

“How the– you didn’t even hurt your hand, did you?” 

“It’s still sore, but no,” you said with a shrug and a smile. You then stepped a little closer, you’d never seen Remus’ hair wet, at least not fully wet, only fluffed out of the shower, it was way longer than you assumed, it reached almost all the way to his nose. You swam closer to him in an instant and pushed it off his face. It’s something perhaps you would have done even back when you were just friends –you had always been that close to him– but it was because you weren’t just friends anymore that he felt his heart hammer on his chest as you approached. He could kiss you if he wanted to, would you want it to? 

And then you gave him a look. He knew that look so well. You placed both hands on his neck after you stopped playing with his hair and then you raised your eyebrows. He gave you the basic “Are you sure?” Remus Lupin look. You just raised your eyebrows again in return. 

“Hey, Pups,” you said casually, “do you mind passing me my wand? I think I dropped it when you threw me into the water…” That last bit was slightly accusatory, to add up to that guilt and have him lose some of the weariness. 

Sirius picked your wand from the floor and squinted his eyes at you as if deciding just how close he could get without getting pulled into the water by his favourite little fae, although you looked more like a tempting siren than a sprite in that particular moment. 

“What?” You asked with a simple smile. 

“You’re not going to pull me into the water, are you?” 

“Of course not, I just need my wand,” you said with a smile, gently squeezing Remus’ wrist from under the water. 

“What for?” 

“Girl stuff,” you retorted. 

“You can’t just say girl stuff whenever you want to avoid my questions.” 

“But what if it really is girl stuff?” Remus intervened as he eyed Sirius. 

“I won’t throw you into the water, swear,” you added, hands held up in surrender. “Just hand me my wand, you can stay out and watch while Remus and I make out or whatever.” 

“What?!” Sirius asked confused, amused, and a little too keen on the idea, which was ridiculous. But damn, didn’t the both of you look stunning when you were kissing each other? 

“What?” you said as you approached. “Come on, hand it over,” you said as you opened your mouth for him to place your wand in between your lips. Sirius was hesitant as he approached you, but eventually, he was close enough. And when he did, Remus, who had been casually leaning his back on the side stood up and pulled him into the water as you moved out of the way.

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[thicctails]

△Early Morning Comfort△

Get Better Children won the poll (I'm not surprised, y'all love those tragic triangles, huh?) so here's a little piece about one of the times Scalene and Euclid had to take care of Dipper and Mabel!

The babies were crying again.

Scalene watched the doorway even as she glided across the walls of the nursery, listening for the sound of footsteps. They almost never came, especially not lately, but she had to be sure before she decided to pull herself into the 3D plane. It was something she'd like to avoid, if she could.

Unfortunately, the hallway remained silent, and little Mabel and Mason continued to wail, their pudgy faces scrunched up in discontent. Scalene looked over at her husband and found that he was looking right back at her. They shared a knowing look, and Scalene took a deep breath.

The transition from the second dimension to the third was anything but fun. The red triangle couldn't help but wince as she felt her flesh and exoskeleton rush to adapt to the sudden change, muscles and bones knitting together to keep her organs from spilling out onto the floor. Her injuries screamed and flickered rapidly, small droplets of blood welling up around the edges. Then, without any fanfare, it was over, and the pain was replaced by a sense of vertigo that almost sent her toppling over.

After a few moments of breathing and readjusting to the feeling of being three dimensional, Scalene floated towards the twins, peering down into the crib. Euclid was already trying to soothe Mabel, so she focused her attention on Mason, her little Dipper. Using her one remaining hand, she gently ran her fingers through his wispy hair, shushing him softly. She was beginning to wonder if this would be another night where their more human forms were needed, but the little boy began to settle when he cracked a sleepy eye open and saw the loving face of his caregiver.

His twin wasn't far behind, content to simply gnaw on Euclid's hat, which she had somehow managed to grab. Her husband merely crinkled his eyes in affectionate amusement, happy to have appeased the infant.

"They're so easy to settle." Scalene mused aloud as she gently traced the constellation birthmark beneath her thumb. She looked towards the door again, a glowing pulse of angry crimson flashing across her form for a moment, "I don't know why they even bothered to have offspring if they didn't want to care for them. They were blessed with twins, yet you would think them childless."

"I'm not sure they meant to reproduce, my darling. They seem to be rather young compared to the other parental humans we've seen." Euclid replied, gently tucking a soft blanket around Mabel, who wrapped a wrinkly fist around his hand. Euclid's eyes sparkled, and he let out a quiet hum, "Still, that's no excuse to neglect these two little stars. I wish they would find someone more suited to care for them."

"As do I." Scalene sighed, "They deserve much more than what they've got, more than we can give them."

A comfortable silence settled over the nursery, broken occasionally by the twins' babbling. As the clock ticked quietly in the corner, Mabel and Mason settled back down to sleep, leaving the two Euclideans as the only awake beings in the house.

"Do you think Bill would have liked them?"

Scalene startled slightly at the question and turned towards Euclid, who was gently petting Mabel's head as he eased his hat free from her grasp, unused to hearing her husband bring up their son. It was a painful topic for both of them, and it was rare for his name to be spoken aloud.

Scalene pondered the question, thinking about how her little stargazer had been in his youth, and how he'd been before... The accident. He'd been bright, curious, creative and more than a little mischievous. He'd been different, special, though not many had seen it that way. All he'd wanted was to show them the stars.

She looked down at Mason's birthmark and remembered the awe she'd felt when she realized that the boy had been marked by the stars.

"Yeah," she managed to rasp out, "I think he would have."

[lazyleafeon]

i put a lot more time into my piece for the serenity zine than I usually do, so ive been wanting to make a write up with more details about what i was intending + stuff thats easy to miss (full piece without the character names can be seen here)

[ID: a drawing centered on a young kim dokja writing in a notebook, surrounded by paper cut outs of ways of survival characters. there are names next to the cut outs to clarify which characters are which. End ID]

1: text on the characters

the text on all of the characters are all quotes from orv. for characters from specific rounds, the text is specifically linked to those rounds (ex: 1863 uriel has text from when kdj is thinking about how gabriel isn't aware of her own betrayal of eden). Where i could, i tried to find text that paralled kdj somehow (sp with changing the 999th worldline, and 41 sys with her resentment towards yjh paralleling kdj's towards lsk for leaving him behind.).

for characters that aren't from specific worldlines (or where i couldn't find text i wanted to use that related to their worldlines) , the text either centers something i feel is central to orv (ex jhy talking about the final wall is used in both of her cut outs), kdjs perception of the character or thoughts of them from wos (ex lsh and his line about not really knowing her), or something about the character that parallels kdj (bihyungs cut outs are both about his ending of sacrificing himself, yma is about yjh leaving in the epilogue and her belief he won't come back (which works doubly as yjh leaving as kdj often did, and yma being left behind by her guardian)).

there is also sunfish yjh. who only says "the sunfish" because of the constraints of being a tiny piece of paper. The full quote is "Maybe I had been lucky until now. I might be the 'sunfish' rather than yoo joonghyuk" from chapter 38.

i don't think everything like, perfectly follows these categories, but that was the intent for the most part. One intentional exception is that the yjh near the bottom of the drawing has the text: "I want to read this story for a little bit longer"

if you want to read all the text, I have it up on a doc here. (you can also ask me about thoughts behind specific quotes if you want to know why i chose them)

2: amount of characters + visual details

there are 2 versions of each character for the most part, with 4 exceptions: kdj (3), yjh (6, counting the sunfish but not the kkoma), and na bori and knw only having 1.

the reason there's only one na bori is because her fate is, for the most part, set before her story can be changed by yjh. there is only 1 of her in all of the characters memories, outside of the 1865 worldline (though given we see knw after kdj kills him, its not out of the question there isn't a worldline where she reappears.)

for kim namwoon, its part because of kdj's hatred for him as someone he sees himself in, and part because kdj in orv like. replaces knw pretty directly by killing him and trying to become yjh's companion. so in kdjs notes and doodles based on wos, knw is here only as an outergod king, where kdj is unaware of him.

the outer god kings all have at least one element that sets them apart from the other cut outs: sp has his crumpled paper cloak, knw's cut out is in the shape of dragons near the edges, uriel is on fire, lhs is partially tin foil, and ljh has a water stain and some of her paper is peeling off into water. this represents them being unbound from the worldlines, but since they're still bound to the story they're still made of paper.

anna croft (near uriel) is intentionally a little more 3D than the other characters, since she has memories from past worldlines. she's supposed to seem like shes going against the tide.

1863 uriel is also a bit of an exception, though not intentionally, since her halo looks better as a separate piece of paper, and i wanted her to have flames too... it fits because shes a constellation and seeing the story from a somewhat outside perspective but is still a part of it, but it wasn't intentional.

near the edges of the piece towards the right, some characters outlines start to become faded, and the paper cut out outlines become more irregular. the outer god kings are exempt because they've managed to keep their sense of self to an extent outside of the worldline.

some of kdjs books are from his library in orv.

the text for all characters is slightly cut off (i tried to make it so most of the quotes are missing some texts so you can't actually read them in full). this is both because they're cut out of a larger page, and because kdj can't actually learn everything about the characters once he meets them by reading them because you can't read people like that. so some of the text is out of view because the characters are viewed as characters to kdj and not "real" yet, so kdj doesn't see their full stories.

some concept art + one of the earliest digital sketches i have. all of my works in progress have a billion notes left on them so i know not to forget something when i get back to them:

[drawing of yjh made of paper, and an earlier sketch of the overall piece]

i sort of wish i kept the paper style of this yjh, but it wasn't meant to be....

3. final thoughts........

this really is the most... orv piece i've ever done (?), in a lot of ways. there is nothing that makes you feel more like kdj like searching up orv quotes from memory and then scrolling through the epub on your phone to find what you want. i even ended up explaining it to my mom and having to show her what a sunfish was.

there are things i would change about it if i did it now (i would probably erase the outline from adult kdjs cut out and emphasize his shadow falling on it instead), and things i didn't get to do that would've made it more like what i envisioned (ideally i would've reread all of orv to find quotes. and i didn't do that).

It's personal to me in ways that are kind of silly. I used to doodle a lot of paper cut out creatures in high school, which helped a lot with getting the sort of paper movement down here. and of course the handwriting is just my own, so i had to actually rewrite the quotes i found. it's probably the most ambitious piece i've drawn yet composition wise, and i don't think ive spent so long on a single illustration besides art studies for school. It feels like a love letter to everything orv means to me.

if you've read this far, thank you :)! i don't normally go into this much depth about my thought process, but there's a lot here i don't expect people to pick up that i wanted to get into

[spikeyeels]

I had a revaluation last night, so i drew it. Headcanon explanation at the bottom. (P.s. this is the first and last time I'm drawing Cygnus. He's got too many damn gears to draw for my liking.)

Okay, so last night I was thinking about stuff and a thought came to mind, "What was the first discovered black hole?" And it turns out to be the Cygnus X-1, in the Cygnus constellation (which I assume Cygnus is named after). Though not a supermassive black hole, it's a solar-mass black hole.

Which means that it and it's companion star HDE 226868 create a binary system (which means they orbit each other). And I thought that describes what Cygnus and Leda do in "In Your Eyes" they circle around each other. And since X-1 is a black hole, it's slowly sucking in its star over time.

This gave me the idea that Cygnus helped Leda become The Night Swan because he needs Leda to help him make all of the Danceverse crumble. Sucking all the danceverse into a singularity, and once that's done he'll take her with it.

That's why, in Beggin, he wants her to come back and love him. Cause even though he absorbs her in little ways in the way that she's changing Eternyx and the danceverses every day, she's out of reach for him to suck her back in.

This also works in the idea that Leda, like the myth she's named for, is getting seduced by a swan into doing something she shouldn't. (Cygnus being the swan constellation)

[journeysfable]

Making this it's own post cause I think I already made an ask about Gem's lore in Martyn's inbox and don't want to bother him about it anymore

Anyway I think Gem is more powerful than the watchers

hear me out

(this is both me presenting an idea for the Eyes and Ears lore and also me begging people to pay more attention to Gem's lore pls am lonely over in the loving Gem's lore corner) (And this also accidentally turned in A Character Gem character study of sorts I think. Oops)

During the Empire's crossover, Scar, in at least Joel's pov, said "did anyone else think this was a new life series?" cc!Scar had no reason to ask such a question meaning he was in character and his character, who just came from the Hermitcraft world and was now in the Empires world, wondered if he was in a life series game, which puts all three servers in the same universe imo. For at least Scar.

In the crossover Gem revealed her HC and Esmp characters were one and the same and that her character is a being that can casually move between worlds by sleeping, an ability no one else had. And because she can just hop between worlds and slip into whatever role fits best for that world and she doesn't realize that not everyone is just playing like she is.

A person is merely a costume to c!Gem.

And again, this is 100% canon

From "I have a SECRET?! Empires x Hermitcraft" "I have a secret. You see, when you join a Minecraft world you can be anyone that you want to be. Sometimes I'm a princess, but sometimes I change. And then I'm an elf. And in some worlds, I'm just me. And you see, where I'm from. That's kind of normal."

And then the following line has something interesting in it.

"One day I was just walking casually in the Empires world, playing DnD as I always do as a princess with my friends."

The Empires world is a game of DnD to c!Gem. That's haha silly meta but if you've watched the other esmp povs you know not everyone's character is role playing.

Like yea the content creators are role playing but Sausage's character is not roleplayong. But Gem's character is.

For example: In Empire's Shubbble plays Shelby the witch. Geminitay plays Geminitay the world hopping larper. Shelby the witch isn't larping, though.

But Geminitay The World Hopping Larper is seemingly not aware of this.

Further evidence that c!Gem is so powerful and used to playing a character she doesn't realize that Real People exist comes in "Exanding my Medieval Kingdom! Empires x Hermitcraft"

After patiently explaining to Sausage that she can move between worlds and that she's role playinng, Gem is greatly confused by the fact that Sausage (who through the whole season has been hopping across time and space by accident) can't control his abilities.

And at first it's seemed like Gem was aware that Sauasage wasn't roleplaying as she explained her world hopping and role playing to him. But then his freak out causes Gem to make this comment that I can't tell if it came from cc!Gem poking fun at cc!Sausage or c!Gem realizing that c!Sausage isn't roleplaying "He's not role playing is he? That's genuine. He's actually crazy"

There are a lot of implications that come with the fact that Gem doesn't even realize that the other Empires members aren't roleplaying. What else does she not realize because she can move between the worlds and be whovever she wants on a whim?

In "Empires 2: Building my BEST Medieval Minecraft Village!" Gem says she's a celestial being.

What does that mean? Well, the word celestial means related to the sky or heaven and is synonomous with heavenly, planetary, stellar, and godlike.

It may allude to the fact her name is Geminitay, a constellation(stellar). But it also sort of implies she's a fucking god or at least similar to one.

So what does all this have to do with Eyes and Ears lore?

I think c!Gem is so powerful it makes her dangerously naive. Not to herself but to others. Because she's possibly so powerful she potentially doesn't realize that danger exists.

And perhaps she's so powerful that the watchers can't feed on her emotions. Or at least not all of them.

Or maybe they're too scared to. Afraid of what she could to do them if they angered her in any way.

[dollfaced-erin]

do you mean like requested scenarios in dragon's cradle? i do have one in mind though

cuz i was thinking what if dan jia (yes we going for the past setting) who likes to make use of her tail at it's fullest like poking someone, waving, comforting someone but instead of a back rub using hands, she uses her tail, it's like a third arm without fingers lmao

like imagine seeing the high cloud quintet finally coming home after a long arduous battle with the denizens of abundance and she just ran to dan feng for a hug after seeing him safe and sound but with the addition of her tail also wrapping around him so it's an extra tight hug i think it's just so cute 🥺

though if you do have other plans or dislike this idea you can just ignore this no pressure

sure !! i can do this one !! i dont mind if you want to use the past setting, i can always change dan jia's name to (y/n) because its a scenario, not part of the original plot. plus, it makes it more comfortable for readers !!

This honestly is very interesting for me to read ! Thank you for the suggestion anon !!

So lets get on with it !!

Taglist ! : -

@rebeccawinters , @nayukiyukihira , @pix-stuff , @fluffy-koalala , @swivy123 , @starxao , @kaoyamamegami , @kimura-uzuri , @rsvye , @seikouryuu , @just-here-reading

Reminder ! This is set in the past setting ! But instead of using Dan Jia, I would be using (Y/n) as an easier way for you to immerse yourselves ! I would also be renaming Blade to Yingxing ! But if you want me to change that, i can do that too !

Like Dan Feng, (Y/n) does have her tail which she keeps hidden. but from time to time, she does let it out for funsies ! It was a pretty blue color, like the color of her horns on her head and the fur is the same (h/c) color ! But she prefers to keep it hidden because its hard for her to sit down, and walk without realizing the presence of the darn extra limb. It even drapes to the floor !

Poor (Y/n)'s always so worried when the High Cloud Quintet go out to fight against the Denizens of Abundance. And as she is a healer, she is required to stay back and help with the numerous Cloud Knights that had retreated to seek medical attention from her.

Her worries usually intensifies whenever Jing Yuan comes back from battle, looking horribly injured and scratched up, bleeding here and there. Even for a general, he can still fall in battle, and that worries her alot ! She would push him to lay down on the stretchers she had prepared on the ground as she goes get some ointment.

But when she returns, he lays there perfectly fine, his hands behind his head and that playful and lazy ass smirk on his face. Jing Yuan would tell her the wounds were fake, even getting up and stretching to show her. (Y/n) would grip at her qi pao, trying to contain her anger, with a kind smile on her face when she was seething inside. Though she can hide her emotions from her face, her tail would pop out and give him a good smack in the side to show her annoyance.

Of course, Jing Yuan would merely laugh and apologize to her.

In a similar situation, Dan Feng would return to the battle unscathed. He didn't want to worry his sister unlike that jerk Jing Yuan who loved teasing (Y/n). After a long and arduous battle against the Denizens of Abundance, there was nothing more relaxing then just spending the night, staring at the moon.

Dan Feng would bring (Y/n) along, holding her hand tenderly as he lead her up the grassy hills, finding the perfect spot to admire the moon in silence while the others were wasting themselves away with alcohol. He loved that (Y/n) shared the same interest of watching the moon in silence, as they pointed out constellations of the stars.

They would then begin to talk while sitting up, to remove the sleepiness. It wasn't always that they had time like this, since Dan Feng is a High Elder and is always on the battlefield, while (Y/n) is in the backlines, healing the casualties of war. And as he told her he missed these peaceful and tranquil moments between siblings, he couldn't help but tear up.

(Y/n) would of course be saddened too. This was all stressful for the two of them. Since birth they have been burdened with heavy responsibilities, there was little to no time they had to spend on themselves. It was understandable why Dan Feng would breakdown from time to time.

Her little hands would hold his larger and calloused own, while her tail would gently wipe away Dan Feng's tears and rub at his back, earning a soft giggle from the latter.

During days when he wasn't at war, Yingxing would stay by the fire of the furnace he had installed is his home. He was indeed adept at creating weapons of war, sacrificing day and night as he shaped the weapons tirelessly. He never complained, but rather found his passion in creating such arts.

But whenever he wanted to take it easy, Yingxing would resort to making little things he adored. And that was beautiful little glass art or making accessories out of crystals. He always found them to be beautiful whenever they would shine like rainbows when hit with light from certain angles.

Once, he had invited (Y/n) out to hangout, Yingxing brought a little surprise with him. As she walked out of her home, he held her hand tenderly as he brought her to a beautiful lake, beneath the moonlight. And he surprised her with a bouquet of glass flowers that shone beautifully beneath the soft gaze of the moon, shining in different color.

(Y/n) eyes would immediately widen as she took the bouquet carefully in her hands, as if they were as fragile as glass (which they were, by the way), and set them aside tenderly. Then she would wrap her arms around the short-lived mortal tightly in her arms.

Yingxing would laugh as he looked down at the smaller dragon woman in his arms, wrapping his arms around her form. His aging grey hair began to cascade to the front of his face, obstructing his vision a little.

But Yingxing would closed his eyes and held the dragon lady close in his arms, chuckling, loving the warmth she exuded. The addition to the tail that slithered around his form wrapping him tighter to his beloved.

Outside of war and training, even Jingliu had a life of her own. She was a much more laxed individual. Some would even say she was too relaxed. She would stroll the streets, going on shopping sprees every so often, go cafe hunting, and trying out food. Of course, she would drag along the little princess of the Vidyadhara clan with her.

Jingliu loved bringing her to walk around the Exalting Sanctum. especially when there was a hot sale for dresses and shoes. Every time there was a new opening, or a new sale, Jingliu would be the first out of the five of them to pay a visit with beaming eyes and a large dreamy smile on her lips. She was the trendiest out of all of them, like, even her battle dresses are so elegant !

During the weekends, vendors would open up little stalls around the plaza and leading all around the area, lighting them up with friendly paper lanterns. Children would run around happily and couples would walk around, filling the night market with chatter and laughter, bringing warmth all around. And Jingliu loved bringing (Y/n) around every time they could, just for a little relaxation.

She was relieved that the uptight Imbibator Lunae would allow his little sister to go out for fun with her friend every once in a while, with the same old condition. Never let (Y/n) out of sight. And Jingliu was tired of hearing the same thing over and over again even though she was sure (Y/n) was able to take care of herself pretty well.

With their hands full of purchases from the market, ranging from snacks and delicacies to clothing and accessories, they had no hands free told hold hands in case they got separated. Every so often Jingliu would look next to her, just to make sure (Y/n) was there beside her.

But with the tail wrapped firmly around the sword master's waist, Jingliu had nothing to worry about. She was just looking to admire the soft smile and the gleam of happiness in (Y/n)'s eyes.

Starskiff watching...how she loved to roam the galaxy once more. This was a constant thought of the Foxian with purple hair that laid on the lap of her friend. Baiheng would bring (Y/n) starskiff watching every now and then to unwind, finding the latter's presence to be quite soothing.

Was this the effect of all healers ? To be this warm and nurturing ? Baiheng didn't know. But she did like the feeling of (Y/n)'s hands running through her fluffy purple hair.

Once in a while, Baiheng would even sneak (Y/n) out to bring her starskiff flying. She knew that the grumpy older brother would never let (Y/n) out to play in the sky because as he said, 'It was too dangerous for her ! What if she gets hurt?' she would mimic. And (Y/n) would laugh along, and follow her to the jetty.

All Foxians were a little daring to their short lives compared to Vidyadharas, and Baiheng was no exception !

But one time they snuck out successfully, both of them were already seated in the airship, excited for their little fly in the sky. Baiheng would show her a toothy grin, revealing her sharp canines, excited to bring (Y/n) on a wild ride. They soon landed perfectly after showcasing a number of tricks, yelling in excitement and thrill.

That was, until someone knocked on Baiheng's side of the starskiff, only to be met with the furious eyes of teal.

The two were seated on the wooden floor with Dan Feng lecturing them to no end. Despite their heads bowed in shame, they were actually trying to hide the happy smiles on their faces. No one could remove them of those gleeful smiles as they experienced the endeavors in the blue sky.

The wagging of Baiheng's fluffy purple tail and the constant slithering of (Y/n)'s own did nothing to cover up for them. Dan Feng just sighed in return, finding it futile to reason with the two girls in front of him.

End note : THIS WAS REALLY FUN TO WRITE ! i honestly dont mind if you guys want a past setting, present setting without the fights, modern day AU, or separate scenarios ! just specify them, and I'll try my best to fulfil your requests !

[thebelugawhalefriend]

Many Loving Kisses - Yan!Royal Harem x Reader

PART TWO

CW: Yandere themes, Fem reader, Homophobia, Polyamory, FxF and MxF, Slight mentions of religion

Note: This is based on a dream I had a while back that actually opened up the idea of polyamory being healthy to me. While the dream involved an emperor from Japan and his harem, I'm very worried about writing for a culture I'm not completely learned up on. So! I've written it to fit a Medieval setting ^^

"The King has requested your daughter's hand in marriage." A messenger read from his scroll upon a white stallion, your parents looking on in shock. "His Majesty? But... Why our daughter?" Your mother starts, but her partner puts her hand on your mother's shoulder. "Do you dare ask why our gracious King would bestow upon you a dowry for your daughter? After he pardoned the unholy sanctity of your union?" It's then your other mother, "Auntie", steps in with venom in her tone. "Now you listen here, you brute... My wife didn't dare insult the king! She simply asked why he would want to take our only child away from us. Disgracing our union is unnecessary!"

To this, the messenger seethes. Withdrawing from his horse, the towering brute of a man steps closer to your mothers. "He did request that anyone unwilling to hand over the bride to be shall be taken to be executed. Would you prefer I end your lives? I'll be more than happy to-"

"Stop!" You immediately waved your arms up, trying to get in the middle of the dispute, "I'll go- please! Just don't hurt my mom and auntie...!" It was now their turn to look upon you with shock. "Baby..." Your mother lifts her hands to hold your face. "You don't have to do this. We'll do anything to keep you safe-" "Mama, it's not worth sacrificing your lives over something like a marriage. I love you both too much to see someone take your lives..."

Sundown's pink hues darken the skies as you wave your final goodbyes to your moms. To ensure you wouldn't change your mind, some of the men who had tagged along with the messenger tied you tight and carried you upon horseback. While your parents were paid a great sum for your hand, you couldn't help but worry about what the king's wife would think. How would this work? Would she be okay with the king having you as a second wife? Of course, his first wife will still be Queen... But what will you be?

Nightfall approaches as soon as the men who carried you in tow arrive at the gates. The king, in all his glory, looks upon the arriving carrivan with great disdain. The messenger leads on with pride in his chest and eyes. "My King, we've brought your bride to be as you requested!" "And you tied her like an animal to a slaughter?!" The king's sharp tone immediately deflated the messenger's ego. "I- uhm- It wasn't I who requested she be bound like that! Men, what have you done to our lady? At least treat the maiden with class!" The crew hastily undoes your ties as the messenger puffs out his chest yet again. Though, the king seems unimpressed.

"I've had quite enough trouble with the likes of you, Stephen. You treat your job as if I bestowed upon you a knight's status... One more misuse of your power and I'll have you imprisoned for the rest of your days." His golden eyes now fall upon you, gaze softening upon seeing your figure. "As for her, let her come and follow me. She's to be acquainted with my wife before any plans are set in motion."

Now, it's hard to not fall for a king so handsome. Stunning muscular features, a chiseled face as if a sculptor carved him from marble, and long curls of red hair pulled onto a loose ponytail. Freckles mark his face and skin like stars and constellations, with multitudes of scars connecting them. You start to wonder if God personally painted him to look like a galaxy... "I do apologize for how my men have treated you. It's difficult to find men as honorable as my own knights, dearest (Y/N)."

"You... Know my name, Your Highness...?"

"Why wouldn't I? You've been all my wife has been talking about for the past few weeks! It took me the longest time to come around to the idea but... One look of who she spoke of and I couldn't agree faster."

"King Fl-"

"Please, you may call me Rose." His smile is so warm, it brought your face to a rosy red. The tenderness of his words... That spark in his eye... It's hard to believe that this would be yours to even have, not to mention have his wife willing to share!

Once you both happen upon an ornate willow door, Rose gives it a gentle knock. "Darling?" A soft voice calls from inside the room. "Is that you?" "Yes, my dearest wife! I have brought someone you'd most adore to meet..." "Oh! But Rose, I'm just about indecent! Visitors can't gaze upon me right now..." The red haired man rolls his eyes with a bright smile, "Oh, alright, I suppose (Y/N) can wait a few moments longer."

With that, the door creeps open. "Please, let her come in!" You swallow a large lump in your throat, trotting in carefully. The inside of the room is spacious and rather decorated- even for a queen. Paintings of fables and animals decorate the walls, each framed with delicately carved wood. Walls themselves were murals of flowers and leaves, furniture threatening to overflow with delicate knick knacks and jewelry. What catches your eyes is the large pink bed with sheer canopies of white hanging over. On the sheets sit a tall and curvy woman. Eyes a striking purple and hair as black as a raven's plumage. What stands out most about her are her larger than life scars along her collarbone. While Rose's own were small, hers looked like she had fought a wild beast... The only thing that covers her is a purple nightgown, only going so far as to cover most of her thighs.

"You must be (Y/N)." She stands from the bed, brushing off her legs and looking at you with a bright smile. The mere sight of her vulnerability brings a deep blush back to your cheeks. "M-My Lady... I'm honored to... Uhm... Meet you!" You try to curtsey, but the queen merely laughs at your attempt and approaches your feeble form. "Please, there is no need for formality, little one! From now on, you can call me Azalea. But, any amount of nicknames will do." With that, she reaches her hands to your face and cups them along your jawline. "Look at you... You're so beautiful... So joyous and kind... I knew from the moment I saw you, I would love to have you marry my husband and I!"

It wasn't too long ago you met the queen. Only about a month, if you had to make a guess. She had been making her rounds along town in disguise despite her husband's protests. That's when she happened upon your family's stall. Adorned with colors and beads, it immediately was obvious that you were all selling jewelry. "Greetings!" You beamed from the stall, the queen's attention caught on you. "Would you... Actually, hold on a moment." The curious monarch watched on as you picked through one of the racks of necklaces. From them, you picked a particular piece- An orange and red beaded necklace with a ruby as the showpiece. "You look like someone who could use a little more red-"

"Oh no, I can't- I'm sorry, I don't have any..." While the Queen fretted this potential trick, you put your hands onto her own. "I didn't say you had to pay for the piece. I... Actually made that one myself. I would be honored to have someone as beautiful as you wear it." She was quick to catch onto your "flirting", to which she laughed and looked into you. "If I didn't have a husband, I would snatch you right up! If only men were so flattering as you are." You gave her a little look of confusion, "I didn't mean to try and take you as my own- Oh, but I would if you wanted me to-! Just uh! Uhm..." That assumption brought a great fluster to your face. "I genuinely mean it, miss. I have a great feeling about you! I don't often get them but... Mom says when you get that feeling, you just have to... Put it into action. Does that make sense?" The tall woman laughed again, "Absolutely not, but I appreciate the gift you've given me. Perhaps fortune will be as giving as you are..."

At the time, you didn't even realize just what her status was. It wasn't until this very moment of her hold on your face that you finally could recognize her.

"You were that lady I met last month, weren't you?" Azalea beams with amusement, her familiar laugh ringing in your ears, "It took you long enough to figure that out! Ah, but don't you worry about it, just proves my disguise is effective." As she keeps you in conversation, her body urges you to join her on the bed. By that, it's merely a hand pulling you to the mattress and a gentle push urging you to sit. With you next to Azalea, Rose peeks right in with curiosity.

"How are my wonderful girls?" He steps right in, Azalea sticking her tongue out and pulling you in for a protective hug. "This one shall be my own wife! You can't have her, Rose!" Her tone is playful, but for a moment, you could have sworn you saw that primal desire of possessiveness. "Oh, you wound me, darling! I paid her dowry, only for her to be snatched away?" He comes in closer, leaning into his wife with that exact same look. "I don't think so... Come here!"

The redhead pulls you and Azalea in for a tight embrace. Between his muscular chest and Azalea's soft breasts, you're sure you will suffocate under this pile of affection. Though, it isn't long until he pulls away to let you breathe. "Goodness, my apologies (Y/N)! I should be more careful with my two favorite flowers..."

Their gentleness and affection all reminds you of your moms. How they would shower you with affection and each other with love. It brings a certain ache to your heart, but... You'll see them again, right?

"King- Sorry, Rose?" "Yes, my flower?" "What will become of my moms?" Your freckled lover pauses for a moment, "Your mothers? What of them? They've been compensated for your dowry." "When will I see them again?" This time, Azalea comes in to answer. Her limbs wrap around you and pull you into her lap by the waist. "Oh, my dear, we can't have you wandering about in public! You'll be a spectacle out there! Besides, you'll already have a lady who will care for you every day..."

"But... What of my friends?"

"What of them? They'll get to watch you marry us! Besides, you'll have a man who will be your company from dawn until dusk." While Azalea holds you, Rose brings a hand to your chin and strokes it lovingly. That facade of care was quickly starting to feel like a trap you've fallen into.

"That's... Lovely and all! I really do appreciate that I'll be spending my days with you both. I just worry that... Well, you both have many duties as king and queen. Surely I could be allowed outside...?" Both of the lovers freeze. It's as if you admitted to murder! The tension of the room grows thick like butter, with Rose's gaze turning from soft to absolutely enraged. Yet, his tone is still calmed. Too calm.

"My darling little flower..." His grip on your face tightens, "The outside is far too dangerous for you to venture into. You're to stay here with us and be our company. Do you understand me?" Your eyes widen and you nod feverishly, Rose letting out a sigh and pulling back. Azalea turns you slightly so you could look into her honeyed look using those familiar amethyst eyes. "Don't let it scare you so easily, loveliest... We love you! We won't hurt you if we don't have to. We'll keep you safe here... No matter how hard it'll be!"

[salda4]

A Starry night

I approached Her.

One hundred and twelfth bloom, I had a hard time remembering how to pronounce Her ancient and alien name, fortunetly for me She let's me call Her Daisy. A being of such age just sitting at a table in a cafee.

'Is something wrong little one?' She asked, as if Her presence here wasn't so out of place for me.

'Nothing Miss Daisy' I responded, hoping i kept a straight face.

She showed me to take a seat next to Her on a Affini-sized couch. I still had no idea what She would want from a girl like me, just a boring, normal, mortal person.

I still took the seat nonetheless, talking with Her was always interesting and I couldn't miss out talking to someone so fascinating.

'How was your week?' I started with a safe question.

'Nothing special, at least nothing more special than you here petal. So let's talk about the most interesting thing that has happened this week and what is on said "thing's" mind. I see something is bothering you and has been so for our last few meetings.'

I just sat there frozen with her 6 mesmerising eyes piercing through me. I had no idea how to bring up how insignificant I felt next to Her.

I did not want to mention how hard it was to adjust to the idea of no more capitalism, how it all felt so foreign and I wanted to cry. It was not bad by any mean, I just had a hard time adjusting and it was all my fault and i shouldn't concern Her with such banalities.

I jumped as I felt a vine poking at my arm and then going inside of it.

'Pardon me, I seem to have asked a hard question causing you some unnecessary anxiety. I hope you do not mind some class-E and very mild class-D to help you talk.

I was scared of what was about to come out of my mouth, I did give Her permission to administer me xenodrugs just in case but I never expected class-D.

'Just you are so old, not like it is bad or anything but my mind just thinks it is weird you even notice a dumb girl like me also ever since the Affini arrived everything has been changing and it is so much. Suddenly it is okay to wear a collar in public and even though I always wanted that I just can't get myself to do it because I am still scared people will look weird at me. Please make it stop, please.'

I stopped as soon as i felt her administer something to neutralise class-D in me. I stared at my hands just wanting to cry and expecting her to do, I don't know, something. Something bad must happen, it always does when I open up, parents hated me for that, some friends did too, now Her.

Instead I felt a warm embrace.

'It is okay little one, you are absolutely not dumb and I am deeply sorry for making you speak what you think like that. I however belive it was necessery for you to say it out loud and I am glad I could hear it, that way I may help you. In the meantime would you like to order something warm to drink while you recover?'

I just silently nodded.

After some time i have noticed what a beautiful night it was. I hang on to the one familiar thing I could see, the stars. I always liked watching them I could always count on them, recognising constellations above made me feel calmer. I finally got a nice lukewarm tea, just the way I liked it. Another thing to ground me and calm me down.

'Do you remember the first time you saw the stars?' I asked after what felt like an eternity.

'Of course I do.' She responded with that gentle voice of Hers.

'How different was it from the one here?'

'Unimaginably so.'

'You must miss it' I knew I would.

'To be true with you my dear, I don't. If that sky stayed with me for all my blooms I would not have taken florets, I would have not helped so many cuties like you. I am aware change is scary, especially for your species,from my observations, however it is also natural. The world around you will change, sophonts you meet will change, the sky will change, you will change but it is for the better. Standing in place doesn't get anyone anything. Even if some things don't seem to ever fully change, sometimes you will meet old friends and it will be as if not a day has passed. You will find a few thing that will stay somewhat the same, the way you like tea, what your favaurite genre of books is, ones your heart belongs to.

Although a lot will be diffrent and you must remember that. Some sophonts need help with accepting that truth of the ever changing universe, others realise it on their own. Once you realise you can change and leave things behind you can be fully yourself. You can be free from what everyone thought you should be, break out of that rigid idea.

For instance, becoming a floret is about accepting that change, you put all the terrible things behind yourself and can begin being your best self . Tonight you are an independent, but who knows about tomorrow?

I may have a new pet to talk about the stars with.

We will see, won't we petal?'

I for once looked happily towards the future, knowing that tomorrow I I would be Hers forever.

[fierymiasma]

✰ Homecoming ✰ // Sebastian x f!MC

Summary: She visits Sebastian in Azkaban ten years after sending him there. The years haven't been kind to him.

He decides to return the favor and pay her a visit in Feldcroft in her lonely cottage. He's not letting her out of his sight ever again.

Part 2

Tags: Dark!Sebastian, Azkaban!Sebastian, angst, Making out, Jealous!Sebastian, Obsession, Possessiveness, Sebastian living his villain era.

|| Masterlist || AO3 ||

A/N: Thinking of making this a series.  Let me know what you think! 

"You don't have to do this."  Natty softly reminded her, eyes brimming with concern.

The savior of Hogwarts clenched her jaw, refusing to look at Natty.  The salt from waves crashing on the island that held Azkaban stung her eyes.  Ten years had passed since she had condemned Sebastian Sallow to Azkaban.  Not a day had gone by that she did not question her choices.

Had that one singular moment changed the course of her future?  Life after Hogwarts hadn't been too kind to her, though she suspected, she was a lot more fortunate than Sebastian.  Ominis and Anne were always there for her, whenever they had free time apart from each other, that is.  Maybe, Sebastian would find some comfort that his oldest friend was taking care of his twin sister.

She craned her neck up gazing at the imposing prison on front of her.

…Or maybe he'd be betrayed that Ominis had moved on from the other boy so quickly.

"Are you sure you're up for this?"  Natty asked again, interrupting her thoughts.  The auror worried at her bottom lip.  "My friend, we don't have to do this today.  Let's come back another time."

They both knew that was impossible.  Natty, the newly appointed head auror of her division had pulled so many strings to arrange this meeting.  And the hero of Hogwarts herself, had flexed her name to wave away any scrutiny.

Nervously, her hand drifting to her left shoulder, right on top of her most recent burn wound.  Nestled underneath protective wrapping was a reminder of her most recent bout of carelessness and string of poor decision making.  How many times had she staggered back to Feldcroft, bleeding on Anne's freshly polished doorsteps?  She knew Anne, Ominis, and all her friends hated the long spiral of self-loathing she had embarked on.  How she disappeared for days, even weeks at a time with little to no warning, only to come back wounded, pockets brimming with more gold and treasures.

Visiting Sebastian wouldn't be the first dumb decision she made this week.

"I have to do this, Natty."  She didn't know why.  "Let's go."

Passing through the heavy gated doors of the prison, she clutched her cape tighter, trying to protect herself from the bone-chilling cold around her.  She had been here once before, in her school days.  She looked around.  It was very much the same. She could see the puffs of cold air coming from her lips, no doubt thanks to the floating dementors above her.   Haunting, ghostly vestiges of men and women with dead eyes in living bodies.  Muttering anxious voices and abrupt screams echoed the long hallway to Sebastian's cell.  Decaying teeth in the emancipated skulls of prisoners waiting to die.

She was scared to see what had become of Sebastian, the troubled boy from her youth.

Walking deeper into the dark bowels of the prison, Natty stopped, shuffling nervously.  "You go on ahead.  I'll wait here."  It was too painful to see a once close childhood friend in the state he was in.

The hero of Hogwarts cringed.  This was all her fault.

Creeping up quietly to jail cell, she noticed how the fading moonlight illuminated the person imprisoned there.  A man's back was turned away from the door.  Shirtless, she could see the constellation of freckles.  Deep scars had long since healed in ragged patterns on his back.  There were long linear wounds freshly oozing.  Dark red, slowly clotting blood stained the beautiful freckles.  She shuddered to think how he could have gotten those.  His prison number was tattooed on his left deltoid.

The burn wound on her back tingled in sympathy. 

Sebastian. 

She must have whispered that out loud.  The boy-no-, the man, in front of her turned around.  She took a startled step back.

She expected hollowed wasting cheekbones like so many of the prisoners here.  What she hadn't expected was for Sebastian to have filled in so impressively.  All the adorable baby fat that had clung to his cheeks was now gone.  Well-defined toned muscles clung to his bones.  His shoulders were broader now.  He had a beard, which only framed his devastatingly handsome face.

And his eyes….fiercely beautiful, trained on her every movement like a predator lying in the shadows, waiting for his time to strike.  She couldn't help but shiver at the sight.  Sebastian blinked, his eyes roaming over her body, assessing her as much as she was him.

She inhaled sharply.  Underneath his scars, Sebastian had filled impressively. 

There was a pregnant pause as the two once friends looked at each other and how the decade of time had treated the other.

"I must finally be going mad, the most gorgeous girl in all of Hogwarts is standing right of front of me."  He cooed. 

She expected anger and resentment.  She hadn't expected this. 

She swallowed.  Well, looks like Azkaban didn't make him lose his charm.  "Hello, Sallow, I'm surprised you still remember me."

His voice was raspy.  "How could I forget?  The beautiful witch that put me behind these very bars."

He finally stood up, and she took another step back.  He was so much taller now.  The top of her head only came up to his shoulder now.  He got closer, hands gripping tightly on the bars of his cell.  "You look even more beautiful than the day I lost you."  His eyes roamed over her new curves greedily.  "Azkaban hasn't been kind to me.  But, someone must be looking out for me to bring you back to me."

The hero of Hogwarts coughed politely.  He was being far too forward.  "Sallow, I bring you news of Anne and Ominis, if you wish to hear it.  You deserve to know at least that."

Sebastian tilted his head and put on a mocking smile. "Oh, and where are they now?  I have not seen them since I walked through the doors of this prison."

She crossed her arms.  "They had good reason, Sallow."

His brows knitted together.  "Since when did you ever call me Sallow?  It's Sebastian to you, darling."

Her face burned.  Thank Merlin that the only guards here were witless dementors. 

"If you even care, both Anne and Ominis are well.  Anne is still in as much of good health as she can be, and Ominis is taking care of her."

He ignored her words.  "What about you?  How have you been?"  He asked.

She blinked.  The burn on her left scapula tightened in discomfort.  "I've been…well, I have a cottage in Feldcroft.  It was a good a place as any to settle down."

Sebastian pressed his face against the bars of his cell.  His manic, small pupils made him look a bit deranged.  "All by yourself?  No doting husband taking care of your every need?"

She said nothing, lest she reveal too much of her personal life.

Her silence was enough of an answer.  "Unmarried?"  The reflection of the torchlights flickered in his eyes.  "It is rare in this day and age to see a woman in her twenties unwed.  Why, some would wonder if you're waiting for someone."

She flushed.  He'd gone too far.  It seemed like a decade of Azkaban made him forget basic manners.  "That's none of your business, Sallow."  She barked.  She begun to turn away.

Wait," his hands clawed through the bars desperately grabbing after her.  "Please before you go, I just have one request."

Against every smart decision, she turned around. 

Sebastian grinned fiercely, his teeth clicking against the bars.  His sharp tongue dipped out licking his bottom lip.  "A kiss."

She was scandalized.  "Sebastian!  A kiss?  Here?"

His darkened eyes had not left hers.  He looked devilishly handsome.   "Not like the dementors could see."

This was a foolish mistake.  She shouldn't even be entertaining this madness.  And yet, she couldn't stop herself from stepping forward, getting closer to Sebastian's cell.  Her eyes fluttered towards his wide smile.  Sebastian had truly gone mad.  Angling her face between the bars, she leaned in.

Instantly, she was overwhelmed.  While she was expecting a chaste first kiss, Sebastian ravaged her.  His lips were heated, pressing bruisingly firm against hers.  The sharp tease of Sebastian's canine against her lips was dizzying.  Sebastian snuck his hands out of his cage, fingers clutching her hip.  Her skirt snagged the stone floor as he pulled her as hard as he could against the metal that were separating them.  This hypnotic kiss left her spellbound as Sebastian drank her red lips greedily.

She felt drunk when they parted.  Sebastian's tongue darted out, licking his bottom lip, chasing the last of her essence.  His dangerous eyes stared at her longingly.

As she left the depths of Azkaban with Natty, she couldn't stop thinking of those eyes that followed her as she left Sebastian.

It was their first kiss together, maybe their last. 

•.¸¸.•´¨* •.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`

The sky was a dark grey when Ominis delivered the news.  She had been tending to her garden, trying her best to trim back rebellious  venomous tentaculas.

His face was ashen, stricken with grief, when Ominis approached her.  He held the latest Daily Prophet in his hand.  And somehow without him saying anything, she knew what news he brought.

Sebastian Sallow, Murderer of Solomon Sallow, Found Dead in His Cell

She looked at the tall blonde man before her.  Although he was a grown man, he looked quite like the scared child in the Undercroft asking her what to do about Solomon's death.  His usually stoic face was grief striken, tears threatening to spill over onto his cheeks. 

Sebastian Sallow…..dead.

She looked at Ominis, the bearer of bad news.  The ground swam before her vision.  Her knees felt too weak to support her.

"A-are you alright?"  He asked, tentatively.  A stupid question really, given the news.

She preceded to vomit on her poor garlic shoots.

•.¸¸.•´¨* •.¸¸.•*´¨•.¸¸.•´¨`

It was two weeks since the death of Sebastian Sallow, a poor unfortunate boy who got mixed up in dark magic.  Ominis had taken care of the affairs, writing a polite, tersely short obituary.  Anne, took the unfortunately very familiar task of identifying and laying the body to rest.

And the hero of Hogwarts had done nothing.  Nothing but wallow in her bed.  Her limbs numb and body cold.  She was fortunate that Anne was capable of such strength as the poor sister ironically took care of her as she laid in bed her grief unable to move her. 

It was frankly pathetic for the strongest witch of their generation to be taken care of someone like Anne, especially given that it was Anne's own brother who had passed. 

"Please, you cannot lay in bed all day."  Anne sat beside her bed, begging the grieving girl.

She said nothing.  She hadn't spoken much since Ominis had told her the news.

Anne sighed before gathering her skirt.  She gingerly got up and moved towards the front door of the cottage.

The hero of Hogwarts stared listlessly at her friend's trailing form.

It was unfortunate that the wizarding world viewed ancient magic and dueling prowess as a greater strength over Anne's strong will. 

"I'm sorry."  she whispered lamely, knowing how inadequate her words were.

Anne turned around, staring at her.  The dark circles under the twin's eyes made her appear much older than she was.  She nodded slightly before closing the front door of the cottage behind her.

The minutes, or perhaps hours, passed languidly as the hero of Hogwarts laid in her bed.  By now all her magical plants have for sure wilted.  She was sure that the food remaining in her pantry had long rotten.  But she paid no heed to these.

Sebastian…

…what had she done?

"Hello, darling."

Emerging from the shadows on her cottage, like a dark creature, was Sebastian Sallow himself. 

For the first time in two weeks, she shot out of bed, hands habitually fumbling for her wand.

He looked nothing like how he did back in Azkaban.  Beard completely gone, hair trimmed, wearing robes that flattered his appearance, and smelling of unfamiliar cologne.  She couldn't help but wonder if he had done to escape Azkaban.

She shivered, thinking about the dead body they found in Sebastian's cell. 

"What's the matter?  Lost for words?"

Her mouth was agape.  What was he was doing here?  How did he get in without her noticing? She had half a mind to yell.  Ominis and Anne were so close that they would come to aid in in a minute's notice.

"Don't think about screaming for help."  Sebastian said, pacing the room.  I have already muffliatoed the whole cottage."

Her voice was sore from disuse.  "You shouldn't be here."

He looked around at the various of extraordinary knick knacks and forbidden trinkets that she had collected on her adventures.  His long robes swept around him.  "You have made yourself a nice little home."  His eyes flickered towards the single sized bed she slept on.  "Looks rather lonely doesn't it."

She was afraid.  She knew of a Sebastian Sallow, the big-hearted charismatic boy from 5th year.  This version of Sebastian, the man before her, was something else entirely.

He was a beast free of his cage.  Without the bars of Azkaban in between them, what was Sebastian capable of? 

He tapped a wand, something Sebastian wasn't supposed to have, loudly against his thigh.   He wasn't supposed to have one.  They had snapped his beautiful green handled wand in two the second he stepped foot in Azkaban.

Her eyes tracked Sebastian's pacing form closely.  "Are you going to kill me?"  She asked, her voice finally catching up to her.

Sebastian scowled,  "That's the first thing that's on your mind?"

She swallowed.  The wand in Sebastian's hand was very familiar.  "Why else would you be here then?  Other than to get revenge for what I did to you."

Sebastian laughed.  It was not the loving, charming one from school, but hallow and terrifying.  "Don't play dumb, darling.  You're far too clever for that."  He crowded her, nose practically touching hers.  The back of her knees hit the edge of her bed.  "You know why I'm here."

She inhaled deeply.  "I haven't had the foggiest idea what you mean."  She said, turning her head away from him.  He was so close to her, the tip of his nose brushed against her turned cheek.  "Please get out of my house.  I swear won't call for help.  I won't tell a soul you were here."

"You wound me.  After all you did to me, and you pretend to be a stranger."

"I have no idea what you mean."  She insisted through gritted teeth.

A very familiar wand pressed into her chin lifting her face up to look into his dark eyes.  "So you just let any crazy loon in Azkaban steal your precious wand from your pocket as you kiss them?  You just happen to have a bottle of Polyjuice potion in your left pocket, a potion you never carried back when we were in school together?"

She squeezed her eyes tightly, trying to drown on Sebastian's words.

She felt a hot breath of air against her ears.  "You let any man in Azkaban get close enough to you to kiss you?"

She collapsed onto her bed, head dizzy.  She blinked back tears.  To be held hostage by her own wand.  A part of her wondered if by tomorrow morning aurors would find her dead in her own house, killed by her own wand.

Sebastian wouldn't do that…would he? 

"Sebastian, I don't like what you're implying.  It's a crime to break anyone out of Azkaban.  Please," she sobbed.  "why are you here?"

Sebastian softened, his expression almost close to something she would recognize in her youth.  "You're full of surprises.  There I was, about to lose all hope and finally wither away like the rest of them when a miracle stumbles upon my cell."

She drew her knees to her chest.

" I'm here simply because I wanted to thank the prettiest girl I know for breaking a dangerous criminal like me out of Azkaban."

Bile swirled in her stomach.  She didn't know why she did it.  She didn't know what compelled her to spend a whole month brewing Polyjuice potion before seeing Sebastian.  She didn't know why she kept her wand in a conspicuous easy to grab location.   Sh-She hadn't…meant to do it.  It wasn't a conscious decision on her part.  There was no thorough thought-out plan in motion.

The ruse was up.  She sighed blinking away the tears.  "I knew you weren't dead.  The second that the Daily Prophet announced it, I knew you had escaped, and I was responsible for it."  She shook her head, trying to chase the tears away.  "Why I don't know is why are you here in Feldcroft in my house.  You could be anyway in the world right now.  Why here?  For payback?  For revenge?  To torture me?"

Sebastian's sly smile faltered a bit.  Did she really think so little of him?  In all of his years of Azkaban, all the torture, the madness…Did she not know, the only thing keeping him sane was his love of her?  How she was the shining beacon, a version of his own inner Patronus, in the darkness that not even the dementors could take away.  Perhaps they could drain him of their shared good memories, perhaps they could remove the happiness he felt upon thinking of her.  But what the dementors couldn't shake his pure love for her.  The thought of vengeance or any malice towards her hadn't even crossed his mind before she mentioned it. 

"Why wouldn't I come home to you?  This is where I belong, next to you."  Carefully, he wiped the tears away from her eyes.  His heavily scarred hands slowly found hers.  His coarse thumb rubbed circles in her smooth skin.  Gingerly, he uncurled her fingers, before gently returning her own wand back into her hand.  "If you have any misgivings, if you're afraid of me, you can petrify me and return me right back to Azkaban.  My life is once again, in your hands."

She held her own wand numbly in her hand.  Her mind blank, heart pounding in her throat.  Sebastian was so good at convincing Ominis and her to follow his lead while they were in school.  Was this all a mind game?  

She shifted back in her bed until her back met the cool wall of her cottage.  Sebastian stalked forward.  Gently, he gripped her by the chin forcing her to look up. 

As an adult, well-versed in ancient magic, she was seldom afraid, both in her personal life or on the dueling grounds.  She wasn't supposed to be afraid of Sebastian.  She knew what he was capable of.  In a fight, she was confident that she would come out on top.

So why did her heart beat so fast when he was so close to her?

"Scared?"  Sebastian drawled, sensing her unease.  "Nervous even?  No protective prison bars separating you and me."  His breath was hot against her lips as he leaned forward. 

"S-Sebastian."  She whispered.

He pulled back a bit, calculating gaze assessing her expression.  "I might be a criminal, but I'm not a monster."  His brown eyes looked lighter.  "Say that you don't want this.  Say you're disgusted by me and this will all go away."

"Sebastian.  Please."

He surged forward, his mouth meeting hers.  She felt again the familiar wave of helplessness and the surging tide of warmth on her lips.  If she thought their brief kiss in Azkaban was addictive, this was ten times more so.  His insistent mouth was parting her trembling lips, drawing out sweet sensations that she had never felt before.   

She knew, knew that kissing Sebastian Sallow, was a terrible idea.  But the protesting voices of her head were lost to the drum of her hot pulse and the tingle of her ready lips.

They broke apart, gasping for air.  His arms curved protectively around her, nestling his nose into the crook of her neck.  He smiled into her hair.  He was home.  

He would do anything in his power to make sure that he would stay.

Part 2

[letmesleep8]

even if I die screaming // elliexreader

CHAPTER 1: Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Chapter 2 | A03 gets it first

content warnings/tags: mature; angst; troubled characters; friends to lovers

notes: it's my first time ever posting fanfiction and English is not my first language, please be nice or I will cry.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

"Were you making fun of me with some esoteric joke?"

I am sitting on the floor, my face burning along with my soul and the back of my throat. I take another sip of the third-rate alcohol to calm me down on my hands and the instant  headache brings another wave of fury within me. I scream and throw the bottle at a wall, as if it was the one to blame for my current situation. I get up and rub my hands over my face as I walk to the window, looking over to the river. I feel the cold winter air going through my lungs as I look into my past and wonder how I managed to be this stupid.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

May 11, 2034 Spring

Dear diary,

The weather is finally starting to get warmer. I think I heard some birds shrimping this morning. Mama found me some new vinyls on her last patrol, most of them were either scratched or only contained some sort of classical music, but there's one I really like. It's golden and it has a picture of a couple on the cover. I think it says "rumors", it's kinda dirty still. I had never seen a vinyl that sparkled. My favorite song is the one that says "don't stop  thinking about tomorrow, it will be better than before". I bet that guy didn't ever see a future like this coming.

Dina asked if I wanted to come to the river tomorrow with the other kids. Don't know if mama would let me though. Gonna make dinner real good so she does.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────••─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

"Wait up! Jesse, you run too fast, it's not fun."  I rushed as much as I could to try to catch him.  "You don't know how to play!"

Jesse laughed as he got closer to the shore, I managed to catch him a bit after, still panting. Right after me came the village dog all of the kids fought to keep last week. "You're lucky Barkie is such a loyal pup, right?" He knelt beside the big German Shepherd, scratching her chin. "Otherwise even she would be able to outrun you!"

"Her new name's Stevie!", I rolled my eyes. "And it suits her much better. Right, Stevie? Yes, it does!", I baby talked and kissed her head as the boy rolled his eyes.

As we discussed Stevie's recent name change we heard Dina's voice a few feet from us, calling us over. She was sitting by the river with Cat as some of the other boys played in the water. I got closer, bringing the dog with me.

"Oh hi, Stevie!", Dina said excitedly. The puppy nodded her tail happily. 

Jesse quickly remarked how unhappy he was with the sudden name change, leading to a childish argument between the three of us while Cat just kept drawing trees on her little notebook as usual, only speaking when directly asked to, she said she thought Barkie was a better name. I was ready to tell her how bad her taste was when I heard some noise behind me. I was quick to look, thinking it could be an infected somehow, but it was Maria. She looked at us with a slightly angry face, knowing we shouldn't be sneaking out. In normal circumstances I'd be terrified by the thought of getting scolded by Maria but, right now, something else had caught my attention. 

The blonde woman had a girl next to her, she seemed to  be close to my age. As Maria said something about how we shouldn't be going out of town and how we were old enough to be responsible my eyes traced the girl's figure. Her freckled face, her green eyes, the bandages on her right arm. I couldn't tell if  I was overthinking things or if the spots between her shoulder and her wound really formed the Orion constellation.

Completely oblivious to the scolding, I interrupted her. "Who are you?", I said to the girl, trying to sound more threatening than curious. 

"I am Ellie. Williams", she looks at me, suspicious.

"Hey, quick!'' Jesse quickly interrupts us. "Do you think Stevie is a good name for this  dog?"

I glared at him, this wasn't the time or moment to ask such question to a stranger. And also she had nothing to do with our dog after all!

"What? Like Stevie Nicks?", she replied, clearly puzzled. I quickly soften my gaze and unintentionally smiled. Maybe she's fine.

[dandelion-wings]

For the angst/gore prompts, could we please have “06: Not Realizing They’re Injured” from the first list with Kujou Sara? Especially something to do with those poor wings I sincerely doubt she was ever taught how to properly take care of.

Thank you for the ask! <3 I have to apologize for this one too, anon, because it's another one that ended up not very whumpy--more a mix of hurt/comfort and angst (and a dose of 'how much can I villain Takayuki?'), because your particular prompt sideswiped a fic idea(s)(really more a constellation of fic premises and themes) that I've been turning over for a while and just kind of. stuck to that until it was irretrievably gummed together. I hope it is still sufficiently wing-focused to earn your forgiveness!

---

ETA: now on AO3.

---

Kujou Takayuki has never once told Sara that she isn't permitted to fly.

She remembers his frown when she was a child, the one time she had leapt into the air to gain an advantage in training. Even though it had given her tactical superiority, he had penalized her for it when evaluating those training exercises. At the time, she had thought it about honor, about the unfairness of exceeding her peers not by outdoing them through the same efforts, but by using an advantage they did not.

When she was older, rising through the ranks in the field, she had once in extremis made an attempt to scout from the air. That time she had seen the frowns on other officers' faces before she had even landed, and understood that honor didn't figure into this at all. It was about being different, being *other*, about the fear some of her soldiers couldn't hide when reminded that she was a youkai, about the contempt some of her superiors showed when they thought she could not see or hear. About her adoption by humanity and what was required of her to uphold the Kujou name.

By the time she becomes a general herself, she doesn't need to be told to stay on the ground.

Flight might have been an advantage for her on the battlefield, but it had never been a necessity. No other tengu has served in the Almighty Shogun's military for almost five hundred years. *Certainly* none served in Watatsumi's. Perhaps she might have gained an edge by taking to the air, but she did not lose significantly by refraining.

After the war, after the Sakuko Decree is lifted, after Takayuki is removed as head of the Kujou Clan and the Tenryou Commission alike, that changes. Gliders have existed for hundreds of years, but have never before been a popular import, nor often even a permitted one; they are different and foreign, and the Almighty Shogun was so long resistant to things that were different and foreign that the Tri-Commission feared to march in lockstep. So has it been with many imports that the Kanjou Commission is only now slowly coming to authorize.

Gliders are particularly popular, due to the mountainous nature of many of Inazuma's most populated islands, where they no doubt would have been popular long before if not for the Tri-Commission's care, but the traveler had made their use seem particularly alluring and permissible. Unfortunately, it isn't only law-abiding citizens who can obtain them now that the sea around Inazuma is clear. The Doushin are struggling to keep up with bandits and smugglers who can just glide away from arrest.

Kamaji, after the third report of such in a row, orders a shipment of gliders from the Knights of Mondstadt to be distributed to the Doushin. When he tells Sara, he smiles, and nods to her wings, and adds, "Though you're fortunate enough not to need them."

Which is all but an order. Even if Takayuki *had* told Sara she wasn't permitted to fly, this would be the new head of the Kujou Clan countermanding that instruction. That the thought of spreading long-disused wings leaves her uneasy doesn't affect her duty.

---

The next such encounter occurs before the shipment of gliders has even arrived. This is a particularly troublesome group of bandits, who have escaped the Doushin twice before; when another report of their activities comes in, Sara leads her forces after them herself. They find the bandits' camp on the edge of a cliff, and when they're startled while celebrating their ill-gotten gains, it seems inevitable that the less drunken and more sharp-witted of them attempt to glide to an escape.

"You, securely bind our existing captives. You, take your troops down that way, and you, that way," Sara orders, pointing out the fastest safe routes down the cliff. "They seem to be aiming for that cliffside, so they may have a secret tunnel or hatch. I'll attempt to cut them off before I get there."

She turns away as the Doushin rush to follow her commands, and spreads her wings at the edge of the cliff. This isn't the first time she's done this, of course--flight is powered by muscles, and any muscle must be exercised. As soon as Kamaji had given his instructions, she'd begun practicing each day, finding a private place in the caverns beneath Inazuma City and attempting first short glides, then short flights, then longer ones. None have been in so open a place as this mountainside with the canyon at its foot, wind whistling through, but she trusts in her training. She could have flown this easily as a child.

Her wings catch the air as she leaps off the edge, and then she's swooping down, flapping to gain speed and get past the gliding bandits, diving towards the cliff to which they're trying to flee. From now she can indeed see a too-deep shadow at the base, where bushes grow. Despite the seriousness of the situation, there's a lightness in being aloft in the open air, a *joy* in flight, that only now that she feels it again does Sara recall, dimly, from her boisterous early childhood. She smiles to herself, all the unease she'd felt when anticipating this change falling away.

The bandits are behind her now, and the cliff close ahead. She flares her wings again to catch herself in the air and adjust, so that she can turn the dive into a plunging attack before she hits the cliff-

A gust of wind hits her broadside as she spreads her wings wide. The force of it wrenches her right wing with a pull that flares into lancing pain, and then the wing collapses in on itself at the wrong angle.

Sara finds herself spiraling as she flaps only the left, desperately trying to slow herself down, to change her bearing. Shifting her grip on her bow, she closes that wing before she reaches the cliff, the other not drooping and dragging limp, and manages to plummet the last few meters and land on both feet. Her right ankle twinges at the awkward landing.

She still manages to turn and straighten and aim before the bandits actually reach her. The uncooperative wing is still alight with pain, but she grits her teeth and lets Electro crackle around her. The bandits hesitate and spread wide to flank her, putting themselves right into the arms of her Doushin.

Lowering her bow, Sara takes a step forward and collapses to one knee as the fractured bone in her ankle snaps under her weight.

---

To add to the humiliation of being carried home by her subordinates, one of her officers goes out of their way to report her injury directly and immediately to Kamaji.

He arrives in the infirmary before the medic has even finished wrapping her ankle. Sara can't even rise to acknowledge his presence properly, only straighten her back, stiffening against the urge to wince when that grinds her injured wing against the back of the chair.

"The operation was a success," she tells him, keeping her voice level even as the medic pulls the bandage tight. "We've captured the entire gang. Their leader is undergoing interrogation now."

"I'm glad to hear it," Kamaji says. "Are you all right? The Doushin told me your wing... it doesn't look good."

Sara looks straight ahead, poised to give her report as best she can. "I trained inadequately for the conditions in the field, and overestimated my ability to handle them. I will have to temporarily remove myself from field operations. That will make the Tenryou Commission's situation more difficult if any complicated matters come up, and I apologize. However, I am still fit to coordinate the Doushin's administrative affairs and handle concerns within the city."

"You can delegate the physical work to your subordinates until you recover. This is a good opportunity to season some of our new officers. If anything serious arises, I *am* the Provisional Clan Head, and willing to take personal responsibility."

Which is in theory his duty--but Sara is accustomed to being Takayuki's right hand, the reason he didn't *have* to handle what he assigned her to personally, even if she had once or twice failed him in that role. She doesn't let herself think, sitting here directly in front of him, that Kamaji also lacks the experience to handle very serious Doushin affairs on his own, but certain conversations with Masahito do impinge vaguely upon her dismay. What matters is not his capability, but her responsibility to manage this department of the Commission, and that he currently considers her unable to do so.

"It will be useful for determining which officers are ready for more advanced duties," Sara agrees. It isn't her place to argue, especially with the results of her own failures. The medic has moved to her wing, prodding at it cautiously, and Sara grits her teeth against a stab of pain.

Kamaji smiles at her. Then he looks at the medic at work, and his smile fades. "How bad is it?"

"I'm not sure, Lord Kujou," the man says. "I've never treated a tengu's wing before. I think I can splint it, but I don't know how well it will heal."

"I don't see how it would be any different from my ankle," Sara says. "I have broken bones before. So long as it's properly aligned and held straight, I've always healed well."

---

The ankle heals faster. Sara is on her feet again within three weeks, though the medics are firm about limiting how much she walks about, and free of their restrictions in six. Her wing, though, lags behind.

It hurts at every slight bump against the back of a chair or a too-close wall, hurts jagged and sharp the first time she grasps a would-be escapee from an unwary Doushin by the arm and he turns and strikes her, and burns bitter and aching if she sits or stands for too long without finding something on which to prop the unwieldy limb up. The medics attempt a frame of bamboo that leaves it stuck awkwardly out; Sara has to discard that after a day of turning sideways to pass through doorways and feeling a fool in front of her men. At no point do they feel it's knit enough to abandon the splint and exercise it again.

A few days after that she's summoned to the Almighty Shogun's presence regarding some aspects of the palace's security. She can feel the Shogun's eyes on her splinted wing, impossible to fold completely against her back, for much of the discussion. Fortunately, the Shogun doesn't force her to recount her mistakes and explain her condition.

Instead, the next day Kamaji summons her to his office and opens with, "I received a message from Her Excellency yesterday regarding your wing." The mortification is so immediate that Sara almost doesn't hear him continue, "Once I explained everything, she arranged for help from Guuji Yae."

That explains the shrine maiden standing in the corner--not one of the bright-eyed young women or sweetly maternal figures who serve the public, but a grey-haired old woman with a lined face and keen eyes. She steps forward before Sara is able to suggest any place private for this examination and begins examining Sara's wing.

"They call this a splint," the woman mutters, and begins to undo it, her gnarled hands steady and sure.

As this was the Shogun's will, Sara simply extends her wing as far as she can when instructed and stands impassive as the woman pokes and prods at it, much more confident than the medics but no more gentle. Kamaji watches with unaccountable anxiety. His expression makes Sara have to breathe deep to quell some of her own. She has no idea what results the Shogun may wish from this examination, nor what instructions she may have given Kamaji regarding Sara's disposition if it does not go well.

Grasping the outer edges of Sara's wing, the woman flexes the joint to its fullest extension, pushing it so far past the point of comfort that Sara can't hold back a gasp as strained and swollen muscles complain. Then she folds it in to the same extent, almost as tightly as Sara has ever pinned them to her back. It can't quite make the full pivot in either direction.

"It never healed properly the last time," the woman says, waspishly. "Breaking it again has only made it worse. Did he have someone with a Vision heal it? I told him it should heal on its own."

"Heal what?" Sara asks, and at the same time Kamaji draws a breath in and says, "He did have a military medic with a healing Vision treat her. He said he didn't have time to wait for her to lie in bed."

The question's context falls into place. Sara knows she had needed tending, and healing, after her fall as a child, even with the Almighty Shogun's blessing to keep her alive. The haze of pain she'd been in afterwards had seemed to wrack every part of her, inspecific, but yes, she well could have broken a wing, plummeting from the air like that. Furthermore, she does recall the healer who tended her after she was brought to the Kujou stronghold, a man whose Vision's power had seemed another blessing on top of the one the Shogun had already given her.

"Not if they weren't used to hollow bones. They over-thickened it and impinged on the joint. And the way it's mending--have you been skimping on your grit?"

"My... grit?" Sara dislikes being so on the back foot in this conversation.

"Powder, sand, whatever you call it. Your mineral supplement. Don't tell me he listened to Mirei and you've been drinking *milk* all this time. I don't want to think about what that could do to your digestion."

"I don't have a mineral supplement."

The woman's grimace of disgust falls away a little too quickly to have been anything but performative, especially given the look that follows. Sara has seen medics giving dire news before. "That does explain why this isn't healing. And shattered into so many fragments, at that. Tengu are just like ravens in this respect. If they don't get enough grit in their diet, their bones go brittle. *Especially* the wings."

"Ah." Sara feels the air go out of her, and makes herself draw it back in. "What is the supplement composed of? I'll begin adding it to my diet immediately."

"Ground eggshells, or fish bones, or snail shells. But that's not going to fix this. It's started setting wrong, and it was already so fragmented that breaking it and resetting it would be a fool's errand. You needed to have been eating your grit the whole time to hope that this could be mended now, especially with that earlier break."

"Are you saying that it won't heal?" Kamaji asks, sounding agonized. Sara wonders again what instructions the Shogun may have given him.

"Not properly. Not such that she'll be much of a flier ever after."

Sara holds herself very still against the wave of despair. She is a competent warrior and an able servant of the shogun without her wings; she's served in that way her entire adult life. There should be no import to being told that she must continue to do so. Even if the issues with the joint preclude a tengu's proper flight, perhaps she can glide, or a glider can be adapted to her, so she can continue to assist the Doushin as Kamaji wishes. Even if the Almighty Shogun desires her wings mended... surely Sara's service has been sufficiently loyal that the Shogun will not reject her for this alone. Even if that disastrous flight had begun full of joy, the satisfaction in carrying out her duties should eclipse this strange sense of loss at something she had for years voluntarily put aside.

The woman seems to sense something in her stillness, though Sara knows she's kept her feelings off her face. "Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened well before this, the number of battles you've been in."

"I've never flown in battle," Sara corrects her, voice flat. "This was the first time I've attempted to fly in the field."

"Why," the woman asks, looking at her in disbelief, "would a *tengu warrior* stay grounded?"

Sara holds her tongue, because she knows the answer. She knows it, and yet to say it would be to disparage Takayuki--to suggest that he had forbidden her to fly, when he never had, when he had never said a word on the subject one way or the other. He had only frowned.

He had only impatiently had her healed in a way this woman, familiar with ravens' wings and apparently with tengu's, had advised against. He had only disregarded the same woman's instructions on her diet, knowing that it would be to her detriment should she attempt to take to the air. He had only put her in a position that destined her, when she did try to take wing, to inevitably fall back to the ground.

"We'll find a solution to this," Kamaji says, determined in that way Sara has always admired, as if she, too, would be cause to challenge the Almighty Shogun if he had to. The words barely register as what Sara had always thought her understanding of the situation shifts once again.

Takayuki has never had to tell Sara she isn't permitted to fly. He's built that limitation into her very bones.

[nomoreusername]

Two Secret Saviors

Pairing:Newt x female reader

Summary:After you unknowingly give Newt a reason to stay, he ends up saving you just a few months later.

She saved me.

She saved me, and she doesn't even know it.

She was up early the day I planned to take my life. She had run with me through the Maze, where we talked basically all day.

I had asked for a sign the night before. I asked for a sign on whether or not to go through with it, and she just that. The fact that she was up at the same time as me told me everything that I needed to know.

It took a very short time for me to fall and an extremely long time to do something about it.

Still, I somehow did. I asked her to come out one night and look at the stars. So, right there on the watchtower, we had our first date.

Now we go there every Friday. It's always something to look forward to.

"Do you think we'll get to learn the constellations one day?"She sighed.

"Yeah. When we get out of here we can learn as many as we want,"I promised.

"Yeah. I just wish that we knew their names now,"She shrugged.

"We can make our own?"I suggested.

"I don't think we can just change science,"She tried to reason.

"Why? If we're stuck here in our own world there's nothing stopping us from,"I pointed out.

"Okay. Then you name the first one,"She urged.

"I will,"I agreed, sitting up to find one that felt right. Focusing only on the sky, I carefully observed them until I found a small cluster hidden amongst them almost covered by the wall. "Freedom,"I stated simply.

"Freedom? Why freedom?"She asked, sitting up as well and slightly leaning her head against me.

"Because they're the closest things here that have it. Just for now,"I explained.

"Freedom,"She quietly recited. "I like that."

"Now you look for one."

"I don't have to. I already found mine,"She whispered, keeping her gaze on me.

"I love you too,"I promised, kissing her temple and wrapping my arms around her. Not saying anything, she just hugged me back, giving me another small moment that made staying actually worth it.

♡ - - - ♡

Waking up early used to freak me out. It used to trick my mind into thinking I was going to attempt again.

Now though, it's not so bad. I'll just have a quick breakfast, grab my Runner's bag, and get ready to go in the Maze with my partner. Today, I got to be with Y/N which was always nice. We would get everything done that we could, report every last detail, and get ready to either eat or collapse from exhaustion. Both options are pretty good.

Stopping for lunch, I leaned against the wall as I finished my sandwich. Doing the same, we stayed there in complete and total calm silence as we put the sandwich bags back in our Runners pack and stretched for a moment to actually get back on track.

"Are you ready to go?"She asked after twisting her back.

"Yep,"I agreed, quickly stretching my other leg before jogging next to her. Because despite the job title a lot of it is just memorizing details. The actual running comes from when the Maze changes (an often occurrence), the walls are almost ready to close (an occasional occurrence), or there's a Griever out in the day (which we don't talk about).

As the only sound to be heard was our footsteps against the ground, everything suddenly just went too quiet. Every background noise just seemed to vanish. No birds, no crickets, no anything. Just silence.

"Something's off,"I whispered, putting my hand out to stop her from continuing. As she just gave me a strange look I told her to just stay while I peaked around the corner to find out just why everything was so off.

I also quickly found out why.

Because we were standing less than two feet away from a Griever. While it has its back turned, the second a Beetle Blade ratted us out it was over.

As I slowly crept backwards I noticed the red, glowing light on the walls. Focusing its attention on me, the second it got a clear view the Griever turned around.

Not bothering to think and fueling myself on straight adrenaline and the strange human want to live, I turned around and ran for it, grabbing Y/N's hand to take her with me. Starting to run beside me, she didn't even question it as she looked straight forward, turning a corner with me. Because she already knew what it meant. She wasn't dumb.

But surviving this isn't a question of being a dumb. It's how fast you can go and how fast your mind can think.

Hearing its screech fill the air as it got close and closer, when we were out of sight around a turn for barely a moment I shoved her against the wall with me. Covered by the vines, we stayed there, completely pressed against it, even as it rolled past us. Keeping my hand in hers, we just stood there, knowing that it's never really over with these things.

Even when the sun started going down, we only left to get to the Glade when the Runners watch told us we had half an hour left. Taking a breath, we just stepped out, staying close as the coast was officially clear. Not speaking the entire time, we just made it to the Glade. Still not greeting anyone like usual, I just went with her to her hut and laid down next to her on her hammock.

"You're a quick thinker, you know? Really quick,"She whispered.

"I was just trying to keep us alive,"I shrugged.

"I know that you don't like how others are faster than you are, and it's true. There are some people who are just barely able to be speedier, but they don't have the most important thing. They don't have a mind like yours. Nobody ever could, not even me,"She told me.

"I was just keeping us safe,"I reasoned. Sighing, she put her head on my chest. Laying my hand on her back, I rubbed her shoulder as I closed my eyes.

"You don't take credit for what you do. I don't know why. You have so many incredible traits, do so many wonderful things. You deserve to know that. You deserve to be told that."

"Loving you reminds me that someone thinks of me like that every day. You just have the best soul, and I don't know how I'd make it without you,"I kind of admitted.

"You'd make it just fine,"She yawned, her breathing falling into a pattern as the day's events just drained us of energy.

She'll never know that she saved me. Nobody will.

Nobody will ever know just what these two lovers always do for each other.

Nobody will ever know about the two secret saviors.

[jojo-ker06]

The people have spoken and they want:

✨️ORION LORE✨️

(WARNING: Might be longer than the Wishmas lore)

Normal Form Human Form

Introduction and Family:

Orion is an 17 year old prince from the star kingdom Estrellania.

Despite his parents ruleing over the kingdom of the deceased star-king Galaxius, they are not related to him. When King Galaxius was defeated in war with Rosas, the kingdom went to them since they had been friends and Galaxius had no wife or children.

Orions parents are King Aster and Queen Luminara.

(Family picture from when Orion was 7)

They once had a happy family life until the queen left them. She told her family that she would go down to earth to "settle things" there and promised the then seven year old Orion that she would return soon. But she never did and this caused his father to become very over-protective of Orion. King Aster stopped believing that his wife would ever return, but Orion didn't. He just knew that she couldn't be gone forever. Even though he wants to go to earth to search for his mother (and to maybe explore the earth after finding her), his father won't let him leave his home because he's too worried that he'll loose his only son and another person he loves. So call it luck for Orion (or bad luck for his dad) when Asha's wish knocks the star prince out of the sky.

Powers and other things:

All stars share the same abilities: Flight, the power to take on a human form and the form of a round little star, talking to animals and making things fly with stardust. But Stars who come from royalty have a bonus power: healing wounds with their tears.

What's also special about the stars is that they're born with a special power. It can be: controlling light or making animals actually talk, to name a few options. But royal stars are born with two special powers. Those can be common ones (from which I've mentioned two), but it could also be rare ones like: viewing things trough mirrors made by stars, shape-shifting into other people, to change constellations, and other things.

Stars don't unlock their full power potential until they are 18. So while they're not 18 yet, they can't use their powers too long because it exhausts them too much. Orion will turn 18 later in the story, but I'm sure THAT'S totally not plot relevant or anything😅.

Orions two special powers are:

-being able to change sizes while in round star form.

- Something else I won't reveal yet because it's super plot relevant (and I still want you to be interested in my rewrite and not get bored lol)

A little fun fact about his plushie-form: While he's in it, he can't really communicate with humans. The thing that humans hear when he's talking while in that form is little squeaks (like a squeaky-toy lol)

It is also this form that Morado (the pet cat of the royals) loves to hunt. Morado really loves shiny objects and that's what Plushie-form Orion basically is to him. There will be little chase scenes between the two, where Morado wants to grab the little plush and Orion has to escape. Too bad his dust makes things fly lol.

Emotions and reactions:

When feeling different emotions, Orions light changes according to his feelings.

When in his normal mood, his light is and warm bright, but still not eye-hurtingly bright.

When extremly happy, he shines VERY, VERY bright. You would probably need sunglasses if you meet him like this lol.

When sad, his light dims down.

But if you somehow managed to get him super angry, and I mean, smoke-coming-out-of-his-ears-angry, then his hair turns into fire and he becomes filled with cartoonish rage.

Orion actually rarely gets angry in any way. Not just because he's a peaceful and optimistic person but also because he himself thinks that he'd be useless without his happy mood. He made himself believe that he can only be usefull if he's always helping others and is constantly happy, because wishing stars are always supposed to be helping those in need and don't require help themselfs. He puts himself under pressure and is always talking himself down for the tiniest flaws he made or makes. Instead of talking about it, he puts a smile on and continues to offer his help to others but never wants help for himself because he made himself think that that makes him weak. He knows that it isn't true, but still, it scares him.

He also dosen't cry infront of others and does it when he's completly alone. I plan to add a scene where Asha, not being able to sleep, accidently finds Orion crying. Before that point it was always Orion who comforted her and listened to her, but now Orion is the one talking and Asha is the one listening.

And that's it for the lore about Orion! I hope you enjoyed it, didn't get too bored while reading and liked the little sketches I made✨️. Have a great day/afternoon/evening/night! 👋

(Tagging Time: @starss-artss @spectator-zee @rascalentertainments @your-ne1ghbor @dangerousflowerpanda )

[ivanttakethis]

End of Round 30 - Tov’s Log

Cirrus (57) vs. Tov (43) -> Cirrus Win

————————————————————

Hope is not enough.

Love is not enough either.

Not even something as sacred as faith is enough to survive.

To be reborn.

Tov never wanted to win Alien Stage.

She just wanted to live for her loved ones.

Maybe that was why she was here now, at the end of Round 30, staring up at a 14 point loss.

57 - 43

She didn’t want the right thing.

Thinking she could love or hope or pray her way into winning was foolish.

And she would pay the ultimate price for it.

Tov didn’t believe in the Great Anakt, even as a child. She always hoped that when she died, she’d somehow be returned to the stars, rather than to the heavens that supposedly lay beyond them.

I suppose I’ll know soon enough…

She tried to clear her mind. To settle into something more peaceful.

But it was hard with so many things crowding her thoughts, vying for the last of her conscious attention.

Nyx’s smile.

Dian’s teasing.

Tallis’s eyes.

Solei’s light.

Aurien’s steadiness.

Wren’s laugh.

Cassio’s last words to her.

“No matter what happens tonight, I’m proud of you, Tov.”

It was hard not to think of everyone she loved.

Everyone she would leave behind.

She couldn’t change anything now though.

Her fate had been decided.

All she could do was embrace the end and wait for the silence.

Tov steadied herself, took a deep breath, and looked up at the stars.

She wanted them to be the last thing she saw. Before whatever came next.

Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes.

Her heart wedged itself in her throat.

Is this how you felt, Himei?

When you were up on stage and saw the final scores and knew you were about to die?

What were you thinking about as you took your last breath?

What did you see when you looked up at the sky?

Did the stars show you something?

Tov hoped that wherever she was going, she would still be able see them.

If she could, then maybe everything would be okay.

Her eyes landed on a constellation.

The slightly misshapen star.

The one Himei named after her.

Please…

She prayed.

Let this be a swift and painless death.

I don’t want to suffer anymore.

This is my last request.

It all came to an end so quickly.

The bright and blinding death of a star.

A loud crack like a lighting strike.

A searing pain carved its way up her right side.

Tov’s world tilted on its axis.

And then.

Nothing.

“Tov?” A familiar voice called through the fog.

Something nudged at her side.

“Tov? Hey, wake up.”

It — a hand, she thought distantly — nudged her again, harder and more persistent this time.

Tov grunted at the unwanted contact, already missing the deep sleep she’d been abruptly awoken from.

Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.

I’m… back in Anakt Garden?

Tov blinked away the bleariness clouding her vision and looked up.

A canopy of broad, green leaves stretched out above her, branches swaying gently in the wind.

Sunlight danced across the grass in pinpricks, like stars in the night sky.

Eden. She thought.

I’m under Eden Tree.

The realization felt comforting, in a way.

Eden was safe. Nostalgic.

An encapsulation of her childhood.

But how did I get here?

“There you are.” The same familiar voice teased, much closer now than before.

“You’ve been out for a while. Did you sleep well?” Himei asked.

Tov opened her mouth to respond, before clamping it shut with an audible click.

Wait—

Her heart skipped a beat. Maybe two.

She definitely wasn’t breathing anymore.

Slowly, she lifted her head from where it had been resting on a shoulder and her gaze met a pair of dark brown eyes and long lashes that she’d only ever see again in her dreams.

“Himei?”

Himei smiled at her, “Of course. Who else would it be?”

A deep ache took root in the soft tissue between Tov’s ribs.

Her voice trembled in its wake, “H-How… how are you…” How are you here? How are you alive? How is this happening? “…feeling?” She settled on.

Himei tilted her head slightly to the side — a question all on its own — and a few short curls of her hair fell in her face.

Brief memories of Round 24 flashed before Tov’s eyes.

Her new haircut.

Her struggle to survive against Cirrus.

Her desperate smile right before it was all over.

Himei is dead.

But if I’m here with her, that means I’m dead too.

Right?

The mere thought was paralyzing.

She died on live broadcast, in front of thousands if not millions, including the people she loved.

They would suffer in the aftermath of her death just as she had suffered for the ones lost before her.

She was just another trauma to them now.

“I’m fine.” Himei said, oblivious to Tov’s unfolding spiral.

Tov’s eyes snapped back to hers, stunned to silence.

Himei’s gaze held no deceit, only the kindness Tov knew better than the back of her hand and missed more than anything.

Something in her core cracked.

Fine.

Himei was feeling fine.

Himei was feeling fine.

And Tov…

Tov wanted to scream.

Tov wanted to scream and cry and laugh until she made herself sick.

She wanted to rip at all of her seams.

She wanted tear something apart with her teeth.

But she didn’t do any of that.

In the face of her best friend, her first love, happy and alive and safe—

Tov crumbled.

Her resolve broke into a watery mess.

She was tired.

So, so tired.

She just wanted to be held.

She just wanted to rest.

Tov closed her eyes again and leaned against Himei’s shoulder.

Her throat constricted as she pressed closer to her warmth.

The ache in her chest worsened.

“I missed you.” She said, holding back tears that threatened to choke her.

Himei hummed at the admission, warm like the Sun. “I know,” Her hand gently smoothed down Tov’s braids and she sank into the feeling. “I missed you too.”

“But it’s time to wake up now.”

————————————————————

It’s not fucking over yet!!! TRUST!!!

Tov may not have won the season, but I’ve had some ideas for her beyond Season 39 for a while now.

Her loss just forced me to get my ass in gear and make those plans a reality!

I also need a Tovallis reunion, so Tov can’t go anywhere yet 😁

Everything will become a bit more clear in the next log. Stay tuned!!

Himei and Tallis belong to @lookatmysillies.

Nyx and Dian belong to @rockwgooglyeyes.

Solei belongs to @solei-eclipse.

Aurien belongs to @aurienneirua.

Cirrus belongs to @cirrusoftheclouds.

Tagging: @billwasnot @sotogalmo @junebluues @4listr @geospiral @starry-skiez @tsukacchako @pwippy @waterydream @daiki1k @season39

[ezralovrr]

STOP ATTACKING ME! - A short Helluva Boss OC Drabble

Yeah I’m not gonna lie.. I don’t really like Stolas, I’m sorry. His whiny attitude about how Blitzo doesn’t love him is honestly really annoying. So here’s my frustrations being put into a small story!

(Also this basically serves as an origin story to Raya’s rivalry with Stolas.)

Stolas likers, I’m sorry in advance. This one isn’t for you.

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.

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The Goetia palace was lavishing as ever this evening; the crystal chandeliers sparkled in the evening light, the constellations painted on the ceiling seemed to glow, and the polished marble floor reflected the silhouettes of the avian royalty of Hell.

While Stella flounced about on the ballroom floor and squawked to her peacock acquaintances about her stupid husband, the owl prince Stolas stood 10 feet away from her, meekly sipping on some rich wine. “Witch.” He hissed under his breath. He was dressed in his bathrobes, as he couldn’t bother to get into his more formal attire. It’s not like anyone would care, anyways. Pity, pity, pity…

Andrealphus gave his brother-in-law a snide glare as he strode over to his cackling sister, who was loudly singing about what foolish things her husband had said this week. She did like to torment him, so this was nothing new to the owl prince.

Stolas huffed and ruffled his feathers, a look of sadness creeping up on his beak. If only his “star-crossed” lower-class lover Blitzo could whisk him away from the “Still Not Divorced” party, leaving his teenage daughter Octavia to sit awkwardly with her mother…

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard someone yelling mildly as they struggled to climb over the balcony rail. Stolas’s ruby eyes lit up, and he dashed over to the balcony he was standing next to, grabbing the arm to pull his lover up to the pala-

It was a human.

“Oh.” Stolas sighed. Regardless, he helped her up and into the palace, as he didn’t wish to be rude. “My apologies. I thought you were someone else.” He briskly turned to an imp waiter, trying to offer the woman something to drink or nibble on. She refused politely, though by the look on her face, she wanted to discuss something with the prince.

“It’s alright. I actually wanted to ask you about something regarding your.. affair.” The words “affair” seemed to haunt Stolas. Affair was far from what could be described about his loving, totally sincere relationship with Blitzo. “…Right then. Please, pray tell, what do you wish to query me?” Stolas adjusted his bathrobe to appear decent.

“Why do you still chase after that imp?” She shot him a subtle yet icy cold glare. Stolas felt his heart quake. “…What- What is your name..?” He asked the human. She gasped lightly and adjusted her corn-colored hair. “Raya. Why do you wish to know?” She tilted her head up at the prince. “I- …With all due respect, miss Raya… I genuinely feel a strong, warm connection to that little imp.” Stolas stared off into space as a sick warmth spread to his beak.

Raya clenched her teeth, clearly annoyed he was trying to change the subject. As he started to ramble on and on, she felt slightly agitated and wanted to square the conversation back. “No- no, you’re not listening to me, your highness.” She spoke out, causing the owl to hoot slightly and shut his beak in mild shock.

“…Like I said, you’re chasing after someone who isn’t interested in you. You deliberately harass the poor man, exploiting him for your pleasure and to keep his business afloat, and even prioritizing him over your daughter not once, but twice. You flaunted your first affair to your wife. And I get that she’s awful, but it doesn’t give you an excuse to do so. You spend all your time wailing and waiting for your imp prince to rescue you from the wicked witch, but you’re just living a fantasy. A sick fantasy in which you leave your daughter alone as feared. And no amount of coddling could change that, which is why you need to take the first step and accept that Blitz. Doesn’t. Love you.” Raya went on a long-winded rant, essentially calling out the Goetia prince for his attitude and actions.

Stolas was horrified, his legs were shaking like a great earthquake, his heart heavily beating as sweat trickled down his beak. It was true, but he didn’t want to accept it. He hated confrontation, he hated owning up to his mistakes and recognizing his flaws. And then, right before she could deliver the verdict…

“STOP! STOP IT, PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU! PLEASE, STOP IT!” Like a child, the owl prince screeched and stumbled back, crocodile tears streaming down his face as he made a scene. “No- wait- I- I didn’t mean to. Your royal highness, I apologize. Please, just breathe and think rationally for a second…!” Raya lightly raised her hand to soothe the prince.

“WITCH! SHE’S RAISING HER HAND AGAINST ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE TAKE HER AWAY!” Stolas cried out, dark blue feathers slightly falling from his body.

The orchestra paused as the royal avians turned to the scene. Andrealphus raised an eyebrow, mildly confused at the behavior of his brother-in-law. Stella, however, had a wicked, almost proud grin on her face. Two hellhounds grabbed Raya by the forearms while she was distracted from attempting to ease the prince.

“Ma’am, it’s nothing personal. We’d like for you to leave the premises at once.” One of them barked at her. “No, wait-! I’m not done! Octavia! Princess! Please just know that my door’s open if you wish to have a safe space!!” Raya called to the Goetia princess as she was dragged out of the ballroom. Octavia, while mildly confused, as put at ease as she went to go comfort her tantrum-throwing father.

Raya was tossed outside of the Goetia palace, and she hit the pavement upon impact. “Respectfully, you are disallowed from entering this palace again.” The other hellhound affirmed her as they shut the doors. “Damn it all…” Raya sighed and picked herself up. She shivered slightly, mildly irritated that her confrontational approach didn’t work out in the end.

Just before she was about to leave, the door opened and closed quickly. Raya turned around, finding a prideful Stella exiting the palace. “Well done. Really, darling, well done!” She slowly applauded the human. “What?” Raya mouthed to no one in particular.

“You really took the words out of my mouth. Although I’m still mildly disgusted that the imp-sucking excuse of my husband is being coddled right now back upstairs… you really said some things I wanted to hear for a long time.” Stella smiled lightly, offering a hand for the human to shake. Raya stared down at her hand, then pulled her lavender cardigan sleeve a bit over her palm before accepting the handshake.

“I’m… honored, I guess.” She awkwardly brushed a piece of hair out of her eyes. “Well, I must head back to the Still Not Divorced soirée. Just keep in mind though… I admire your bravery.” Stella curtsied lightly before taking her leave and re-entering the palace.

Raya stood there, flabbergasted. Although her mission was unsuccessful, she at least felt satisfied voicing her thoughts on the prince.

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And that’s the end! I’m gonna be honest, I’m not really keeping up with the show anymore, so I tried to write the characters to the best of my ability.