#I missed having a felis king too

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1035: Taking the Challenge Head On (Fire Emblem Three Houses)

10:45 a.m. at the Blue Lion's Dining Halls......

Ashe: You want me to take part in the.....(Raises an Eyebrow in Confusion) "No Nut November Challenge"?

Sylvain: (Smiles Brightly) Yep! It's one of the few challenges to test your endurance, patience, vulnerability, and worth of being a true man.

Ashe: Ah I see. (Frowns a Bit in Uncertainty) But....do you really think I have what it takes to complete the challenge?

Sylvain: (Happily Nodded) Definitely. You're practically one of the most devoted and hard working guys I've ever known, besides yours truly of course.

Ashe: (Smiles Brightly) Why, thank you Sylvain. I know I don't say this as much, but I really wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for yours and everyone else's support and guidelines.

Sylvain: And we couldn't be anymore prouder of you, bud. (Wraps his Arm Around Ashe's Shoulder) Now listen, the challenge itself is gonna be a long road ahead and you'll might have a 80% chance of going crazy along the way, but I'm sure you'll have no problems making it through as long as you keep your urges in check and have a clear, neutral mindset. Just like our friendly neighborhood giant, Dedue-

?????: I failed.

Sylvain eyes starts to widens as he slowly turns his head towards to Deude sitting next to Ashe, drinking a cup of tea in a casual like Manner.

Sylvain: .............I'm sorry, you what?

Dedue: The challenge. I've already failed it-

Sylvain: Yeah, you already told me the first time. What I wanna know is how in the hell were you failed so easily? You're a Dedue Molinaro! The right hand man of King Dimitri himself! I figured if anyone in our unit would have a chance of completing the challenge, it would be you, what happened?

Dedue: (Shrugs) The temptations had gotten the better of me last night. (Starts Blushing a Little) I suppose that's.... the price I have to pay for being in love.....

Mercedes: (Happily Makes Her Way to the Boys' Table) Why, hello there, boys!~ I hope we're all having a wonderful morning today. (Uses her Two Fingers to Rub Under Dedue's Chin With a Bit of a Flirtatious Smirk on her Face) Especially you, my sweet gentle giant~

Dedue: (Chuckles Lightly By the Chin Rubs) I'm having a fine enough morning for the most part. As well as a nice and memorable last night, many thanks to you, of course, m'lady. (Gently Brings her Hand Down Before Kissing the Top of It)

Mercedes: (Giggles Softly and a Bit Ticklishly by the Kiss) Oho you!~ There's no need to thank me for that. (Lovingly Hugs her Lover) If anything, I should be thanking you for keeping me company all night~

Dedue: No thanks is needed. I'll always be there for you.

Mercedes: As will I, my dear~

The couple begins to romantically rub on each other's noses while the boys watches.

Ashe: Awwww~ (Suddenly Felt a Hand Covering his Eyes Before Turning to the Culprit) Sylvain!

Sylvain: This is part of the challenge, Ashe. Don't let it blind you.

Mercedes: (Giggles Some More) Alright. I believe it's time for me to get started on breakfast before I embarrass the boys some more. (Kiss Dedue on the Lips Before Placing her Forehead onto His) Try not to miss me too much, you hear?~

Dedue: I'm sure I'll manage to pull through for the time being. Try not to get yourself hurt while you're in the kitchen cooking, okay?

Mercedes: I'll be extra cautious. Promise. (Gives One Last Kiss on the Forehead Before Walking Away to the Kitchen and Waving Goodbye at the Trio) Wish me luck!~

Dedue: (Wave Back at his Lady) Well do. ('Sigh') One of these days, I will marry that woman.

Sylvain: Well, ain't that sweet. Still doesn't change the fact that you disappoint me. (Went Back to Grinning) But no worries though. Cause the next person I have to set an example is none other than my main man, Feli-

Felix: (Takes his Seat on the Trio's Table) I failed the challenge.

Sylvain: (Immediately Gives his Childhood Friend a Deadpinned Look) Seriously?

Felix: Yes, seriously. Last night, in her tent, Annette wanted to try and take the next skip I'm our relationship. So we....(Starts Blushing a Little) did it. And it was nice.

Felix turns to see Annette making her way to the kitchen door in the distance. As she opens it, she sees her boyfriend staring at her before shyly waving at him with a smile on her face and walk inside.

Felix: (Slowly Waves at the Closing Door Before Sighing) Anyways....(Turns Back to Sylvain) Mind telling me why you're bringing up that dumb challenge for in the middle of the morning?

Dedue: He wants Ashe to take part of it for the first time.

Felix: (Groans While Pinching his Nose) ('Ugh') Are you kidding me? Ashe is way too soft and naive to be taking that challenge, let alone know what it really is! (Turns to Ashe) No offense.

Ashe: (Smiles Sheepishly) None taken, I guess......

Sylvain: Hey, I just figured Ashe is now in an age where he could test his might as a man. But now that you and Mr. Gentle Giant over there failed the challenge already, I might as well ask Dimitri to come over here and set an example.

Dedue: About that......

Sylvain: (Starta Pinching his Nose in Annoyance) Oh my fucking-You mean to tell me Dimitri failed too? Really!?

Felix: I always figured the boar would have a better chance at completing it out of all of us here.

Dedue: (Takes a Bit of a Deep Breath Before Explaining) Okay, this is completely speculation and haven't heard anyone of this from, but.....the other morning, when I walked down the halls, writing down the daily routine for the day, I saw the professor sneaking a tray of breakfast into the majesty's chambers, whole only wearing a robe that resembles that of the majesty's.

Sylvain: A robe.....(Eyes Suddenly Begins to Widened at the Realization) Wait. Was the color of his robe blue and silky?

Dedue: (Simply Nodded) It was, yes.

Sylvain: Ahaa....See? I knew it would look familiar every time I see Dimitri wear it. (Starts Smirking Teasingly) So the king and teach are already getting busy these pass few nights, huh?~

Felix: (Shrugs) Can't say I'm surprised. Those two has gotten a lot more closer since the day they got see each other again for however long.

Ashe: (Smiles Brightly) Well, I'm happy for the both of them. They've been through a lot these past few years. So I think it's nice to see their bond gradually grow into something more each time passes. (Eyes Suddenly Widens at the Realization) Oh! That reminds me.....(Turns to the Gang) There's something I've been meaning to ask you guys.

Sylvain: What's up?

Ashe: What exactly is a....."Snu-Snu"?

Felix: (Immediately Gets Up From his Seat) And that's my cue to leave.

Ashe: (Watch Felix Casually Walks Away) Oh.... o-okay.....(Waves Goodbye to Felix) See you later, Felix!

Dedue: Uh...Ashe? What..... (Raises an Eyebrow in Uncertainty and Confusion) exactly made you want to know what that word is?.

Ashe: Well, you see, yesterday after we returned home from one of our....(Starts Blushing a Little) many date night sessions, Petra asked if we could ever try doing this "Snu-Snu" session this evening but I'm afraid I have no clue what it is.

Sylvain: (Starts Shaking his Head) Oh sweet, sweet, naive, Little Ashe. Let me tell you a little thing about those two simple syllabl-

?????: MESSAGE F0R SIR SYLVAIN JOSE GAUTIER!

Sylvain: (Immediately Gets Startled) Oh God! (Turns to see the Local Gatekeeper Presenting Him a Envelope) Uhhh....(Receives the Envelope) thanks....

As The Gatekeeper salutes to him before marching off, Sylvain opens the envelope and reads the letter from inside. The longer he reads it however, the more he begins to blush and let out abnormal, goofy like laugh, causing Ashe and Dedue to stare at him weirdly.

Dedue: Uhh....Sylvain? (Raises an Eyebrow) What exactly did that letter sent to you say?

Sylvain: (Immediately Comes Back to Reality) Oh! (Turns Back to the Fup as He Quickly Hides the Letter Behind his Back) N-Nothing! Just some boring.... request letter for a side mission or whatever. (Chuckles Awkwardly) Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have to head out to see Ingrid at my bed- I mean chambers- I MEAN TRAINING GROUNDS! (Claps his Hand Together) YES! Training grounds! So uh.....

Without any second thought or reason, Sylvain hurriedly runs away towards the door leaving his two fellow Blue Lions behind in the Table.

Ashe: He....seems to be in a hurry.

Dedue: ('Sigh') That he has....We'll just head to the library to find out what this....."Snu-Snu" really is after we finish our breakfast.

Ashe: (Nodded in Agreement) Okay.

The hours has passed since Ashe and Dedue has discovered and learned more about the meaning of the word "Snu-Snu", so the up and coming knight has decided to man up and test this new discovered with his beloved princess of Brigid later that evening. Needless to say, as wild and unexpected as the experience was....He still had a very good time at the end

Blue Lions: FAILED AS A UNIT!

@keyenuta

@ma-lemons

@cyber-wildcat

@caleb13frede

@albion-93

[felikatze]

Feli's Binding Blade Blind Faux Ironman is COMPLETE

and by "faux" i mean there were cases i didn't deliberatley reset but instead ragequit and i also just restarted chapters when roy beefed it because i'm a pussy

anyway.

SURVIVAL RANK E BABEYYYYYYYYYY

out of all of the dead. i have one burning question

how the fuck did lalum survive chapter 21

she got surrounded by wyverns but they just didnt attack her. was it bcuz their hit rate was 0? but enemies love attacking lugh when they have a hitrate of 0. good for her ig, you go girl, live!!

LET US THANK THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND:

ALLEN!!! With maxed out attack, incredible defense, high speed and skill, as well acess to the full weapon triangle and amazing HP, Allen is the unit with the most battles, the most kills, and the singlehanded savior of this shitshow of a challenge run.

Without him, I'd be dead many times over. He had higher stats than Perceval when I recruited him in ch15, and this trend kept up because Perceval's level ups were garbage.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

LUGH!! The best mage of this run. He maxed his speed INCREDIBLY fast, and became basically unhittable to everything. Place him on a forest tile, and the hit rate is zero. His high speed, 1-2 weapon range, and high magic also meant he blasted everything into oblivion on counterattack. In chapter 21, he held off half the wyvern reinforcements all by himself cuz none of them could touch him. Get Aircalibur'd, idiot.

ZEISS!! My only decent flyer because Shanna is the only pegasus i recruited! Instead of promo'ing instantly as I did Melady (much to my regret cuz she was not useful except for ferrying), I threw Allen at Narcian's runesword till it broke, and got him to lv16 before promoting. Though not as busted as the former two, he still held his own. With a Shield of Delphi stolen off Narcian, he had really damn good defense. Though there were many occasions he only survived because a 60% attack missed. You are one lucky bastard.

PERCEVAL!!! After the death of Noah and Jerrot, Perceval's recruitment was a light on the horizon. Finally I had another good paladin, even if it took Noah's sacrifice to figure out you recruit him with Lalum. Though he wasn't as good as Allen, he still held his own in every situation, and even landed the killing blow on Zephiel with Mallet. Thank you king.

SUE!!!! Rounding out the unbeatable death squad, Sue was the sole living archer for a GOOD chunk of the game. When Wolt died and later Shin, she was the one to snipe foes, to slay wyverns in a heartbeat, and land some sick crits with a Killer Bow. Not a solo destroyer like her companions, she was nonetheless an invaluable asset.

it was this squad of five that carried my ass through every map, with support from various healers (mainly Saul and Celica, later joined by Raigh, Niime and Lugh himself). Whittling down bosses, holding off hordes of enemies, somehow preventing Lalum from dying five times over, and finally taking the throne; I thank ye, my scrimblos.

now it is time. to honor the fallen.

unlike lalum, these two did not survive same turn wyvern reinforcements <3

just like him. but he was dead weight anyway so

i dont even remember how these two beefed it. i DO remember recruiting perceval in ch15 and then noah died and going eh. i have perceval now its fine. OH YEAH CH18 WAS THE SACAE MAP RIGHT? lot got skewered by archers

classic case of "i put too much faith in her def stat" with echidna. fir got crit to death in retribution for killing rutger back in ch9

honestly if you give me a lv1 shaman in a fog of war map with wyverns how was she supposed to live

Shin tragically died escorting Astore to some treasure as i camped the boss because of sudden reinforcements <3 Astore survived because i seized in time <3 jerrot died of old age ig

fog of war casualties <3 again rutger got crit by fir and lilina was killed by Suddenly Pirates

alas tumblr mobile's image cap.

Deke: died tragically to a crit in ch8. first loss i was truly upset by. deke my man.

Wolt: died to archers in ch7. i think. i had Sue so whatever

Elen: beefed it in ch12 but she was obsolete when Lugh promoted anyway

Wade: killed in ch3. First death of the run. I was very whatever about it.

FINAL DEATH COUNT: 16

This is without units who died of non-recruitment, such as Gonzales, Klein, and many others.

SURVIVAL RANK: E

conclusion: god i had a ton of fun with this game, even when it threw some garbage at me. The many same turn reinforcements, the fog of war maps, the sheer size of every single chapter, and Horse Emblem. The atrocious hitrates on everything and everyone, enemy and ally alike.

I definetly played too conservatively in the beginning. Yeah, i treated units like they were more expendable, but i did NOT use all my good items, which is a huge mistake in retrospect. What really taught me this was that one Sacae map with two Bolting mages camping in the walls, who sniped Roy. I came back, equipped with my own Bolting and a Silence staff, readily prepared. Revenge was glorious.

I obviously didn't get the true ending, with how many plot important characters died. My only legendary weapon, besides the ones Yoder yeets at you (thank you for the Mallet, Zephiel would've taken five years otherwise), was Durandal. I got none of the other ones, either cuz I missed turn counts or had dead required units. I'll for sure go back and try again, this time while looking shit up.

I very notably played this entirely blind. I didn't know shit. That's how me recruiting Perceval is a fucking miracle, cuz his goons surrounded Lalum, and I thought, goddamn, let's try it. Twas sheer coincidence.

This was my first brush truly experiencing the permadeath mechanic. Yeah, i played SoV on classic, but with Mila's Timewheel? Nobody ever died. It was really fun to just revel in my mistakes. I reset more often toward the endgame (ch22 took me a couple attempts), but it was still a great experience to just. Take the loss and move on. To think, what now? But, well, Lugh and Allen were unkillable anyway.

Well, no, actually, they very much were. Even though they were my juggernauts, it's not to the degree of later FE games. Lugh sweeping is definetly not comparable to say, Dimitri in FE3H, or Morgan in Awakening. No matter how good they were, I still had to pay attention to keep them alive. It was a fun tightrope to walk.

All in all, great game! I'm really glad I gave it a try! I didn't talk story much, cuz, yknow, it's pretty basic, but I did like it. Zephiel's backstory and the mystery surrounding the dragons were done well enough.

TL;DR: Roy is our boy.

[ro-botany]

Hi, anon! I also am someone who has written a fair amount of meta about Grima and you can also pick a bone with me if you want. By the phrasing of your ask you seem unwilling to have your mind changed, but let's touch on a few points here anyway because I'm bored.

For one thing, you seem to have missed crucial themes about agency that have been present in Grima's character since his debut! In both Awakening, and the further backstory granted him by Shadows of Valentia, one constant in Grima's life is that other people have decided he is evil, and treated him as such before he even acts. In fact, being literally forced into acting how one of his followers believes he should act is a major plot point of Awakening! The lvl40 dialogue of Grima: Fell Reincarnation in Heroes just pushes that theme further; of feeling used and forced into a particular role by humanity.

And for another, you seem to have fallen for the Grimleal's propaganda about Plegia, and assumed everyone in the country is an evil mook! You're also implying that the horrific crusade that Chrom's father led against Plegia was justified! There is too much to unpack there! You've lost the plot so much that you've condemned an entire country over one guy you got mad at!

If you want to discourse Grima or Plegia then I'm assigning you required reading, because you clearly have not read the textbook. Please review:

Grima's dialogue in the Future Past DLC, especially the bad ending.

The premonition cutscene that opens Awakening, with the knowledge that this is one of Grima's memories from the bad timeline ("Those vivid dreams you have—those are my memories. We share those memories because we share the same heart…Grima's heart." - Chapter 23 "Invisible Ties" from Awakening) and not an event from the timeline that the game follows.

Forneus' journals from SoV, while holding the fact that he is talking about a literal baby firmly in your head.

Awakening Chapter 5 "The Exalt and the King" opening, particularly as pertains to the previous exalt's crusade.

Awakening Chapter 6 "Foreseer" opening, particularly as pertains to Chrom's thoughts on the previous exalt's crusade.

Awakening Chapter 8 "The Grimleal" village conversations.

Awakening Chapter 10 "Renewal" pre-battle and battle dialogue between Mustafa and his soldiers.

Awakening Paralogue 20 "A Hard Miracle" opening dialogue, particular with the unnamed village elder.

I expect a short summary of all assigned readings, a paragraph analyzing what the first 3 readings imply about Grima's motivations, and a paragraph analyzing the average Plegian citizen's view of the Grimleal and the monarchy in general based on the other 5 readings. Due date is Friday and all assignments may be submitted in my or Feli's inbox. Dismissed.

Speaking of Grima in Heroes, I am the only one that one of their alts claim in their level 40 quotes that he's evil because his worshippers don't love him enough?

I mean an entire country worships Grima to the point of routinely sacrificing themselves and victims, they've continued to do this for a thousand years despite repeatedly being persecuted for the rest of the world explicitly for worshipping Grima?

It doesn't add up, I feel?

The Future Past DLC also depicts Grima mainly as a sadist.

If you are going to argue Grima lore I will once again direct you to professor of Grima studies @felikatze

Otherwise the best I can do is shrug and point out heroes fucks up characterization all the time, best not to spend too much energy on it

[koiffee-lioden]

🍋 Meliae 🍋  The Prince

G2 Clean Primal (Felis) | Triumph base | 11 Marks | 8 BO | 443 Starting Stats | Banana eyes + Sepia Royal Mane So...here I am, kinging yet another King hdfgskjhg I found myself getting tired of black base breeding, so I retired Tiamat in favour of a cub I had born a couple days ago. He’s kind of a step in front of the actual ideal goal, which was to have him as he is now but with a Nudar base. So I applied Triumph because it’s the same genetics as Nudar, and hope to eventually get as close as I can get to a Nudar clone of him.  Been missing Golden base breeding since I retired Aurae, so I’m excited to see what cubs he throws out! Fairly proud of how the CSS based off of him turned out < 3 He has no lore so far, just a happy-go-lucky guy of royal blood living with his pride in a beautiful flower field.  https://www.lioden.com/lion.php?mid=151841

[e-does-stuff]

Part 4!

Parts: 1 2 3 4

Part 4 of Miraculous Hero Names!

LADYBUG:

Vittoria Rosa - another name Lila might pick if she had the LB miraculous. It means Red Victory in Italian. Manna Cielo - literally translated it’s ‘Manna from Heaven’, but it also means godsend. Because Lila really thinks she’s God’s gift to humanity huh. It could kinda work for any miraculous tho

La Fortuna - this is good fortune in Italian.

Prospérité - another name that means good fortune, I think it could fit Aurore?

CAT:

Felis - Felis is the genus for house cat. I think it’s kinda cool, but I feel like something’s missing.

Meowgical Girl - listen this one’s mostly a joke but I know someone in this show would pick a name like this-

Lyncus - Lyncus was a king in Greek Mythology that got turned into a Lynx lol

Lyncus Noir - I dunno it kinda sounds cooler and more hero-y than just Lyncus. I feel like Alix or someone would pick it.

BEE:

Abeille Dorée - it means gilded bee! I thought maybe Chloé or Aurore would pick it.

Mellifera - Mellifera means honey in Latin, and it comes from the genus of the Asian Honey Bee

Oleander - Super poisonous flowers, honey made from oleander flowers was thought to be poisonous. It’d be a cool name for a villain bee holder.

Toxine Juane - yellow toxin 

Essaim Ensoleillé - this means Sunny Swarm, I think it’s cute both ways tho. Rose would probably pick it.

Swarm

Haoto - buzz/wing sound, Kagami

TURTLE:

Terrapin - a terrapin is a freshwater turtle, but it sounds cool lol. Idk maybe Juleka would pick it??

Ẩn Núp - this is Shelter in Vietnamese. It sounds cool, I think Kim would pick it.

Mai Rùa - this is Turtle Shell in Vietnamese.

Rùa Xhan - this is just Green Turtle in viatnamese. It could be good for Kim?

FOX:

Astuce Amber - it means Amber Trick. I think Nathanael, Luka or Mirelle might pick it? I’m not sure lol

BUTTERFLY:

Regina Viola - Regina Viola just Purple Queen in Italian. It’s another of those names I think Lila would pick for her ego. (And it’s better than just having her be Hawkmoth in the future)

PEACOCK:

Chute de Plumes/Plumes Chute - Feather Fall is kinda cute tho. I think Chute de Plumes sounds more refined though. It’s cool either way, I think.

Ailes De La Morte - it means Wings of Death. It’s a little bit longer but like- it just sounds so cool as a villain name. Like tell me you wouldn’t be intimidated by someone called Wings of Death-

DOG:

Chien Bronzé - lol ok- so the translation is just ‘Tan Dog’ but it sounds cooler in French ok shhhh leave me alone lol shhh

RAT:

Pack Rat - I don’t know who this would fit, but it’s cool lol. I feel like it could be a hero or a villain name too. Like it’s not overly villainous, but it’s not super heroic or cutesy either

Topo Rosa - Topo is just mouse in Italian, and Rosa is pink. It’s not super villainous, but. Yeah lol.

Malizia Rosa - This one’s sounds a little more villainous, it means Pink Mischief.  I dunno lol

DRAGON:

Wyvern - I don’t really know who this would fit, I feel like it could be anyone lol

Spitfire - I feel like this would fit Alix really well or maybe Sabrina?? Idk why on Sabrina- it just-?? Lol. I feel like it could also fit Chloé maybe.

Garnet Wyvern - this just Wyvern but with a little extra. I feel like naming scheme wise, it fits Alya.

TIGER:

Lǎohǔ/老虎 - this is Tiger in Chinese. I think this could be a good name for Sabine? If she got a miraculous

Tiáowén/ 条纹 -this is just stripes in Chinese, I think it’s fit Marinette

Force Violette - Violet Strength, it’s cool and kinda cute, I feel like Alya or Mylene might pick it?

RABBIT:

Lán tù/蓝 - Lán tù is blue bunny in Chinese.

ROOSTER:

Poulette - Poulette is chick

Petit Poulette - a very teeny tiny chick lol. It’s cutsey, maybe Rose or Mylene would pick it.

HORSE:

Mare Brun - brown mare, I think Sabrina would pick a name like that. It’s kinda simple, but I think it fits her

Mareon - Mare + Marron (brown), lol I think it’s a funny pun

SNAKE:

Azure Serpent - I'm not sure who’d pick a name like this. Maybe Juleka, Alya or Marinette.

Terrore Cielo - it’s ‘Sky Terror’ in Italian. I figured Lila should have a couple names that were intimidating.

GOAT:

Shānyáng/山羊 - goat, Sabine or Marinette?

Alpiniste - Alpiniste is mountain climber in French. I’m not sure who it would fit. Maybe Alya or Alix? It could also fit Felix.

MONKEY:

Gold Simian

Mandrill Brun - Mandrill’s are the strongest monkey species, so the name could fit Ivan. Maybe Kim. Brun is just brown

Macaque - You could add gold or brown to any of these lol, this one and the next three are just species of monkeys.

Howler - It sounds kinda cool. I don’t know who it would fit, though.

Tamarin

Marmoset 

Callithrix - Probably Alix, because her Bunnix naming scheme is just animal+ix lol

Geleda - They’re sometimes called ‘bleeding heart’ monkeys, so it could be Rose, maybe? Like heart symbols and stuff lol?

PIG:

Calydonian - the Calydonian Boar was a monster in Greek Mythology. I’m not really sure who’d pick it.

OX:

Démolir - Bulldoze, I’m not sure who this would be for. Maybe Kim or Nathanael?

Terramisu - Terra + Tiramisu, I think this could fit Marinette. I’m not sure lol I’m bad at mixing names. It’s kinda cute tho

Terracotta

Taurucotta - This is Taurus + Terracotta lol- I dunno I thought it was funny

FUSIONS:

Dragon/Turtle - Tarasque

Snake/Rooster - Cockatrice

Dragon/Ox/Tiger/Horse - any combination of these could be called Qillin

Lion/Snake/Goat - Chimera, honestly any group of three or more miraculous could be called Chimera

Dragon/Horse - Longma

Bull/Snake - Ophiotarus 

Cat/Dragon/Snake - Tatzlewurm 

Monkey/Tiger/Snake - Nue

Rat/Rabbit/Ox/Rooster/Dragon/Horse/Pig/Dog /Snake - Kotobuki

I wrote a couple of these before all the powers were revealed so- go easy on me lol.

I have a document with a whole bunch of names, and I think I only picked the ones that I came up with, but let me know if I accidentally put one someone else came up with/is using already!

Feel free to use them, just credit me! :) Don't feel obligated to use the character I suggested though!

[koolkat9]

So...Alice Au Fic Idea

Because I’m obsessed and after that drawing and listening to “Servant of Evil” on repeat I needed to write out a plot idea. 

First off, I tried to make Arthur evil, I really tried, but it didn’t work. Like its clear he isn’t a good guy, but like he doesn’t know he’s evil or relishes in that fact. Second off, Halfway through I’m like,  wait there are other characters I can use, so if I write it I’ll probably write more interactions at least between Feli, Kiku and Ludwig. Lastly, I don’t know if I’ll ever write this because I do two things in it I don’t usually write so who the heck knows. Anyway, without further adieu here is a plot outline. 

- Open with them as children

- Arthur is tending to the garden one day and feels someone is watching-> behind one of the rose bushes he spots Ludwig and he asks Ludwig if he could help him-> Ludwig agrees

- Through this the two become friends, but unfortunately it doesn’t last long as Arthur gets less free time as he begins his schooling and training to be the next ruler

- They are properly reunited again when Arthur becomes crowned and Ludwig is assigned as his personal guard-> both are ecstatic by the arrangement as they missed each other

- Not long after feelings began festering and the two have a secret relationship

- Though Arthur tends to be somewhat of a tyrant when he becomes king, taking things too far when it comes to keeping law and order, the two are quite happy

- Then comes word of an outsider in their land-> Arthur having a negative experience with outsiders, demands she be brought to him-> Ludwig is somewhat confused since there is no proof this individual is dangerous, but Arthur brushes him off and tries to distract him (somewhat works)

- One day, while in town on an errand for Arthur, he comes across a young girl (liechtenstein/Erika), the outsider-> he goes in to capture her and fulfill his duty, but stops as she sees her buy some food for a beggar-> for the rest of the day he follows her only to see Arthur’s fears are misplaced-> At one point she catches him, but surprisingly she isn’t mad at him-> “A-Are you going to capture me?” she asked timidly. Despite this question, she made no move to run. He knew he should though. That’s what Arthur wanted. But at the same time, she didn’t appear to have a dangerous bone in her body and Arthur...well...he was stubborn and had trouble admitting he was wrong. Who knows what he would do to her. “No,” Ludwig answered.-> As an apology for spying on her, he offers to treat her to lunch

- He returns to the palace that evening, wanting to forget today ever happened-> Arthur is suspicious as to what took him so long, but Ludwig doesn’t fall for Arthur’s attempts to get him to talk-> Giving up Arthur requests he joins him in his chambers

- Things continue to go well. Ludwig spends his time, trying to keep Arthur distracted from the search for the outsider and just over all happy and he more or less is doing it successfully

- Unfortunately, Ludwig meets Erika again after she wanders onto the castle grounds and guards begin to pursue her-> she runs into Ludwig who helps her escape-> this second meeting sends him into spiral of conflicting feelings and values: Loyalty to and love of Arthur and his morals and belief that Erika is innocent and shouldn’t be going through this

- Arthur is concerned with how trouble Ludwig is, but becomes too consumed with finding this girl running amuck in his kingdom and poking into things he worries will spell danger for them-> His obsession and rage comes to head when Erika accidentally destroys some roses and finally gets caught and Arthur finds out Ludwig has been ignoring his orders-> Arthur is furious, but he can’t bring himself to do anything more than kick Ludwig out 

- Ludwig, now out in the kingdom realizes the unrest and after running into his old friend Feliciano he hears that many are planning on overthrowing Arthur and saving Erika-> Ludwig knows he has to warn Arthur, but Feli advises against it since Arthur isn’t the best guy-> “I know that...but he really believes he’s doing good. Someone has to put him on the right path and I know only I can get away with it.”

- He ends up sneaking in with the help of his friend Kiku who’s part of the royal court

- Arthur at first doesn’t want to see him, but Ludwig tells him that it's important and it's a matter of life and death-> Arthur asks all his guards to leave for five minutes-> Arthur tells him what he’s heard and witnessed and begs Arthur to run away with him-> Arthur refuses at first, but Ludwig finally says how he’s realized how different and downright scary Arthur has become after taken the throne, how he’s tried to ignore it and act like everything’s fine-> he asks once more for Arthur to come with him, that they could be as they once were, have the life Arthur occasionally dreamed of without responsibility and Arthur finally agrees and suggests they meet at nightfall

- They meet, Arthur has gathered some essentials-> Ludwig asks what’s going to happen to Erika and Arthur states that she’ll probably be broken out by the rebels and although he doesn’t seem to happy about that, Ludwig ensures that Erika is overall a good person and it will turn out alright

- As they are about to leave a guardsmen (or at least someone dressed as one) comes running towards Arthur, spear drawn-> Ludwig jumps in the way, taking the blow for him-> He crumples floor and Arthur follows in complete shock, the assassin quickly forgotten-> “No...nonono,” Arthur whispered desperately, collecting Ludwig in his arms, “No, love, Ludwig don’t you....don’t close your eyes. S-Stay with me. LUDWIG!”-> Erika, recently free comes upon the scene and is devastated to find the kind guard that helped her bleeding out-> Arthur begs her to help Ludwig, to heal him regardless of what happens to him

- Erika agrees and demands the rebels do not touch Arthur at least until this issue is solved

Now I’ve got two endings for this. In case I do write this, I’ll put it under the cut:

Ending 1: 

- Unfortunately, Ludwig subcomes to his injuries and passes away, but before that he asks Arthur to keep on living, to do what he can to make up for his mistakes and that he hopes to see him again be it in the afterlife or rebirth

- Erika offers to put Arthur on house arrest in the little cottage he planned on running away to and Arthur agrees, but before leaving he says that if Erika needs it she can reach out to him any time and that he is sorry for all the pain he’s caused

- Fast forward centuries later, we are in a more modern time following a man strikingly similar to Arthur-> said man happens to bump into someone strikingly similar to Ludwig-> The Arthur looking man goes to curse out the other, but when their eyes meet something clicks and they feel like they recognize each other-> Instead the Arthur like man apologizes as does the Ludwig look alike, offering to buy him a coffee (In case you hadn’t caught on the two were reborn and now can have a more normal and happy life together)

Ending 2:

- They manage to save Ludwig

- Erika realizing how much they love each other and as repayment for Ludwig’s kindness agrees to let them go under the condition they primarily stay at the cottage they planned on going to (almost like a house arrest)-> the two take the opportunity

- Fast forward a year or so later, Ludwig and Arthur had made a happy and peaceful life for themselves-> Erika, who decides to stay in Wonderland becomes a fine ruler and even checks in and gets advice from Ludwig and Arthur-> They have adopted some dogs upon Ludwig’s request, Arthur has grown his own rose bushes, red like he’s always wanted, giving one to Ludwig everyday-> just very fluffy, very domestic

And there. Now that this is all written out maybe I’ll actually write it for my 100 follower milestone?

[emoryinaboat]

Any headcanons for your otp?

Miss Ma’am I do not have an otp I ship too many things but I am going to use this opportunity to broadcast one of my favourite ships that is severely underrated and that is Itapol (or as I like to say, FeliFeli) 

- They've been best friends for years and years, they're really close.

- Feliciano was really vague about this person he was head over heels for, and he kept asking Feliks for relationship advice for the longest time trying to drop hints. Feliks took this as Feliciano having a crush on someone else and accepted that he was being friendzoned to the highest degree. Feliks felt like an idiot when Feliciano finally outright told him. 

- Two energetic idiots, no impulse control or braincells between the two of them. Feliciano could wake up at like 4 in the morning and go on this long rant about something dumb that he dreamt they'd do and Feliks would just go "Fuck yea sounds awesome let's get ready and go do that-"

- Soul gazing across the kitchen counter with lovesick smiles, both of them just admiring how pretty the other is. All the time.

- Feliks has been seeing Gilbert flirting with Feliciano for literal years, every time he has gotten closer and closer to clocking him over the head with a chair.

- They share most of their wardrobe because both of them are really fashionable and the same size. They can't share pants though unless Feli cuffs them because Feliks is like 3/4 legs.

- Kings of self-care and knowing when the other is sad. Their water bills are fucked because these idiots have a huge-ass bathtub and they take advantage of this by laying in the bath until the water gets cold. They've fallen asleep like this.

- Feliciano is a hopeless romantic who gives Feliks flowers every time he visits. Feliks has the exact same reaction every time, which is squealing and jumping up into a hug (carefully, so he doesn't hurt the gorgeous flowers-)

- Feliciano calls Feliks 'bella' because Feliks prefers feminine compliments and Feliciano will smack anyone who tries to correct him with a spatula.

- Have been in the honeymoon phase for the past decade, them and others have just accepted this is how their relationship is-

- "Hey Feli, could you please get some flour on your way back?" "Yea sure thing Feli" "Okay Feli, I love you~" "WILL YOU TWO PLEASE JUST USE YOUR NAMES-"

- They're both clingy and touch-starved. If they are in the same room they absolutely have to be together and touching at all times or else anyone else in the room will be subjected to them giving eachother sad longing glances the entire time.

- Feliciano braids flowers and leaves into Feliks' hair and Feliks looks like a forest faerie when he's done. They're both giggling messes the whole time.

- They dance in Feliciano's living room to old records and with wine flowing. It starts out loud and wild and full of laughter, usually with Feliciano picking Feliks up and spinning him around while they're both giggling, then it slowly lessens until they're just holding eachother and swaying and smiling until their cheeks hurt because they love eachother so much.

- Feliks and Lovino get along great as well and they sometimes get together to bitch about other nations and Lovino tells Feliks about all the dumb shit Feliciano did as a kid.

- catboy x catboy energy.

Do you guys want more of this I have more I literally love this ship so much, also you can send other ships in. 

[merakilyy]

Rinse and Repeat

Pairing: Dimileth and Sylvelix (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)  Tags: Post-game, married fluff, angst with a happy ending, pregnancy, miscarriage, overprotective Dimitri Summary: The first time Byleth conceives a child, she miscarries. Then it happens again. And again. And again. And again. Despite these challenges, Dimitri remains the world’s most supportive husband who only wants the best for his beloved. 

Pregnancy, for Byleth, was unexpectedly difficult and her lack of a child increasingly began to weigh on her.

Byleth and Dimitri were completely blindsided by her first pregnancy, only finding out about the child after Byleth had fainted in the gardens while on a walk with a visiting Flayn. Dimitri had been completely beside himself when he’d heard the news, storming out of a meeting with some of the Dukes from the former Leicester Alliance. (Luckily, Dedue was able to smooth over the remainder of the meeting using the very detailed notes Dimitri had left behind in his haste.) He made a beeline for the infirmary, breaking three doors and a bannister in the process, only to find Byleth awake and well. She was sitting up in bed, laughing at a story Mercedes had been telling her, when Dimitri barged into the room.

“Oh Dimitri! We were wondering when you’d show up!” Mercedes greeted cheerfully.

Dimitri paid Mercedes no mind as he went directly to Byleth’s bed and knelt at her side. His face was lined with deep concern. “My beloved, are you well? I was just informed of your fainting spell in the gardens. Have you eaten today? Did you drink enough water? Was the sun too much for you?”

Byleth beamed, unworried about Dimitri’s numerous concerns. Showing her emotions was still not something that came naturally to her, but it was easy to share her feelings with Dimitri. “No, nothing of the sort, darling. We are fine,” Byleth said, taking Dimitri’s hands into hers. “Just a dizzy spell.”

“We?” Dimitri repeated, confused.

Mercedes clapped her hands together. “Yes! Congratulations on expecting your first child!”

“A child?” Dimitri repeated again, a smile slowly spreading across his lips. “Our child?”

“Yes, darling, I am with child.” Byleth squeezed Dimitri’s hands. 

Dimitri raised Byleth’s hands to his lips, laying a soft kiss on the back of each hand. “You are with our child! Our heir! The product of our love! How far along are you?”

“Three moons. It would seem that the stomach flu I had last moon was not a stomach flu after all.” Byleth released one of Dimitri’s hands so that she could bury her fingers in his hair and pull him in closer.

Mercedes quietly stepped out of the room then, knowing Byleth and Dimitri needed some time to relish in their joy. Mercedes would just return later to give them instructions on how to proceed and with more information of what to expect from pregnancy. In the meantime, she closed the broken door as best she could to give Byleth and Dimitri their privacy.

~~~

A moon later, Byleth was back in the infirmary. 

Instead of tears of joy, Dimitri cried tears of sorrow as he watched Byleth curl up on the infirmary bed. Her arms wrapped around her midsection where her dead child was slowly and painfully expelling itself from her body. He could do nothing but watch and hold Byleth as she endured painful cramp after cramp for two days. He could do nothing but watch as Mercedes periodically removed cloth stained with blood clots and fetal tissue from Byleth, grimacing as he was watching Mercedes literally taking away the remnants of their baby.

Throughout her miscarriage, Byleth shed nearly no tears until the very end as a particularly painful cramp caused her to cry out and she only openly grieved her lost child for a day. 

That day, Dimitri would bury the bloody remains of their child in the garden as Byleth watched from her chair. She had lost too much blood during the miscarriage and wasn’t quite strong enough to help Dimitri yet. Later, she and Dedue did plant new flowers around the little stone that read “Baby Blaiddyd”.

~~~

As they soon discovered, becoming pregnant was not an issue. Within the next year, Byleth had conceived four more times. With each subsequent pregnancy, she had grown increasingly desperate and increasingly cautious about her actions so as to avoid the pain of her first pregnancy. But at the end of the year, after her meticulous planning and careful contemplation over her each and every action, she still had no child to show for it.

The second miscarriage had happened very early on, just three weeks into her pregnancy. Neither Byleth nor Dimitri cried over this child as they hadn’t known about this child’s presence until it was gone. Yet, Dimitri could see how the loss of another child weighed on Byleth as she spoke, ate, and trained less afterwards. But again, he could do little but hold her and love her as he promised they would try again.

The second child had no remains, but Dimitri still placed another small stone in their garden a short distance from the first. This stone read “Baby Blaiddyd #2”. Dedue and Byleth planted yet more flowers.

~~~

The third pregnancy wasn’t a miscarriage, exactly, but Mercedes was forced to remove the child to preserve Byleth’s life as it was an ectopic pregnancy. At first, Byleth and Dimitri were cautiously optimistic and saw Byleth’s lack of morning sickness as a good omen. But, in the third moon of the pregnancy, Mercedes called for both Byleth and Dimitri. Byleth didn’t shed any tears as Mercedes explained how there was no choice but to terminate the pregnancy, but there was no hiding the wateriness of Byleth’s gaze as she stared blankly at the wall behind Mercedes. Dimitri had insisted on staying in the room for the entire procedure so that Byleth would not be alone. Byleth said nothing, but her numbing grip on Dimitri’s hands told him how grateful she was for his presence.

Once again, there were no remains so Dimitri set up another small stone for “Baby Blaiddyd #3”.

Byleth didn’t help Dedue plant the flowers for this child, but she did select the seeds for Dedue to use.

~~~

The fourth pregnancy was the worst. It began with extreme morning sickness. In the early moons, Byleth lost so much weight that her already lean physique was beginning to appear emaciated. Even as her child expanded her abdomen, Byleth was losing weight alarmingly quickly. Without knowing otherwise, it would not appear as if Byleth was with child at all and this persisted well into the fifth moon. Byleth was unable to leave her room much, lacking both the energy and willpower to do so, nevermind attend to her duties as Archbishop or Queen. Fortunately, having already heard of her earlier pregnancy struggles, Seteth took on most of the Archbishop’s duties from Garreg Mach so as to lessen the burden on Byleth.

Dimitri took on as many of Byleth’s queenly duties as he could, and Ingrid filled in as a proxy for Byleth wherever and whenever her presence was required. Meanwhile, Byleth spent the majority of her fourth pregnancy on bed rest. 

The timing of the fourth pregnancy coincided with Sylvain and Felix’s visit to Fhirdiad. Officially, they were in Fhirdiad to discuss more advanced education for commoner children but Sylvain, Felix, and Dimitri all knew they were really just here to see Byleth. 

“How many rules do you think we’re breaking, entering the private bedchamber of the Holy Queen of Faerghus and the Archbishop of Seiros?” Sylvain joked, though a tightness in his eyes gave away his true concern for Byleth. 

“Well the Boar King has already broken tradition by technically marrying a commoner and keeping a shared bedchamber with his queen,” Felix smirked at Dimitri. Like Sylvain, Felix’s quips were only a cover for his genuine concern.

“I wish I could share my bedchamber,” Sylvain mused. “I didn’t think Dimitri had it in him! Too bad my lover lives all the way in Fraldarius, though. Must be great to wake up to your lover every morning.” Sylvain wriggled his eyebrows suggestively at Felix. 

“Ugh. You crass beast,” Felix responded by smacking the back of Sylvain’s head just hard enough to make his point. “If you thought with your big head instead of your little head for once you would know exactly why I can’t just move to Gautier.”

“Hey! You didn’t think it was that little last night!”

Albeit strained, Dimitri still smiled as he watched his childhood friends, former classmates, and invaluable wartime allies squabble beside him. “I see your relationship is as strong as ever,” Dimitri quipped dryly.

“Shut up,” Felix muttered, though his words were muffled by Sylvain’s shoulder. 

Sylvain had pulled Felix into a tight embrace, further mussing up his hair. “Don’t mind Feli-Feli,” Sylvain cooed as he half dragged Felix down the hall, “He just missed his morning sugar. You know, me,” Sylvain clarified, as though he had not been obvious enough. Dimitri laughed as Sylvain emphasized his point with a wink.

Felix swore as Sylvain placed a very loud and very wet kiss on his forehead, though Felix made no move to wipe his face afterwards.

For Dimitri, Sylvain and Felix’s banter was a welcome distraction from the seriousness of Byleth’s predicament. As soon as Dimitri opened the door to his bedchamber, Sylvain and Felix both froze at how weak Byleth appeared. Her skin was pallid and, other than her protruding midsection, she was little more than skin and bones. 

“Hello, Beloved,” Dimitri said with a gentle smile, having gone immediately to sit at the foot of their shared bed. He gathered Byleth’s feet in his lap and began to massage them. “Sylvain and Felix are here.”

“How lovely,” Byleth smiled weakly. She pushed herself up from the bed as best she could so she could greet Sylvain and Felix. Dimitri reached over to support her back as she sat up. “Hello Sylvain, Felix, “Byleth greet softly. “It is good to see you both. I apologize for the circumstances. This really isn’t a very proper setting for a Queen of Faerghus to be entertaining guests now, is it?” She chuckled self-deprecatingly. 

“No,” Felix recovered first and spoke quickly before Sylvain could stuff his foot in his mouth. “But anything that would drive those old nobles who refuse to accept common sense is usually the right thing to do.”

Byleth laughed in response and Dimitri brightened up at finally seeing his wife so happy.

Upon reaching the sixth moon of her fourth pregnancy, Dimitri and Byleth finally began discussing names.

“If we have a boy, I think it would be nice to name him after Rodrigue,” Dimitri said pensively. He was reclined in bed, back against the headboard, while Byleth rested between his legs. Her back pressed up against Dimitri’s chest and he gently massaged her shoulders, loosening her muscles to help her relax. “I did not ever truly thank him for all he did for me,” Dimitri continued, “For acting as a surrogate father, for his loyalty, and I took advantage of his dedication until he died for me. There is much I am indebted to him for, and it is a debt I will never be able to repay. He helped pull me away from the ghosts of my past and I wish to honour him.”

Byleth agreed, “That is a lovely thing to do. But I would like to honour Dedue as well. Is Rodrigue Molinaro an agreeable name to you, Dimitri?”

“Rodrigue Molinaro Blaiddyd,” Dimitri murmured appreciatively. His hands stopped massaging Byleth’s shoulders, instead running down her arms until they intertwined with her hands. He reached around, resting both his and Byleth’s hands on her bump. “Rodrigue Molinaro Blaiddyd,” Dimitri said again, “I love it. It will be an excellent name for a son. But what of a daughter?”

“Hmm,” Byleth hummed. She tilted her head back so that it was resting against Dimitri’s shoulder. “I have no preferences. Though I would like to honour Mercedes for all she’s done for us, especially in recent moons.”

“I quite like the name Leanna. My father once told me old fairy tales of Faerghus when I was young and I quite liked the character Leanna. She was the sneaky counterpart in the adventures of Loog. Would Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd be agreeable to you, my beloved?” With their hands still connected, Dimitri gently stroked Byleth’s belly. He grinned when he felt the baby kick in response to his ministrations.

Byleth shifted her body and turned slightly so that Dimitri could see the smile on her face. “Very much so, my King.” She tilted her head up and laid a kiss against Dimitri’s jawline. “Very much so.”

But, just mere days after Felix and Sylvain’s visit, mere days after they had chosen a name for their child, Byleth went into premature labour. 

Having wanted to account for any possible event, Mercedes had sent for Manuela and even Rhea herself as soon as Byleth’s pregnancy had been confirmed. Yet, even with all their preparation and Byleth’s care, there was nothing to be done for the child.

Once again, Dimitri was adamant that he remain at Byleth’s side. He held her hand all throughout the thirteen hours of labour. He raised a glass of water to her lips periodically, wiped her face and her tears with a damp cloth, held Byleth’s nightgown out of the way when Mercedes or Manuela or Rhea so requested, and he murmured reassuring words but there was nothing he could do as he watched his wife give birth to a dead daughter after thirteen hours of pain and suffering.

Byleth was bedridden for another two weeks after the delivery as she had hemorrhaged during labour and Mercedes wanted to be overly cautious. As such, she wasn’t able to join Dimitri when he buried their stillborn daughter and set up the little stone engraved with “Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd”. 

Nor did she accompany Dedue in planting flowers for her dead daughter. This time, too deep in her own grief, Byleth did not even select the flowers and she could not bring herself to visit her dead daughter’s grave.

She remained in bed, trapped in the very room where she had lost her daughter. Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd was not Byleth’s first failed pregnancy, but Leanna Mercedes Blaiddyd was the first of her dead children whom Byleth shed tears for. Dimitri shared Byleth’s grief but there was nothing he could do.

(And Byleth knew better than to use the divine pulse when it wouldn’t erase the hurt she was feeling from losing her daughter, and when she knew that her daughter could just die again and she did not have the strength to feel her child die inside her a second time.)

~~~

The fifth pregnancy was comparatively uneventful. Byleth conceived her fifth child out of a growing desperation to carry a child to term despite Mercedes’ and Dimitri’s concerns over Byleth’s declining health. Yet, Byleth still conceived. Not entirely unsurprisingly, Byleth then miscarried the baby two moons later. 

Still melancholic from the stillborn Leanna several moons earlier, Byleth was fairly numb to her most recent miscarriage. However, her succession of failed pregnancies was beginning to give rise to malicious rumours.

Byleth first learned of such rumours when she overheard the conversation between a maid and a serving boy around the corner.

“Really,” the serving boy said snottily, “his majesty should get himself a new wife by now. It’s not like he’d be throwing the Queen to the wolves. She’s the Archbishop of Seiros, for the Goddess’ sake. She doesn’t need to also be the queen. Shouldn’t she be at Garreg Mach anyway? Especially since she’s useless at providing heirs.”

“I hate that his majesty needs to suffer with such a useless wife. What good at noblewomen other than having children? It’s not like they know how to work,” the maid said.

A second maid piped up then. “But Her Grace isn’t a noble. She was a mercenary. I don’t think she should get to be the Queen and Archbishop. The Goddess deserves an Archbishop who is truly devoted to her.”

“At the very least,” the first servant boy spoke again, “his majesty should take a mistress who can actually provide an heir.”

Stung, Byleth didn’t hear what was said afterwards. She headed straight for Dimitri’s office, accidentally alerting the maids and servant boy to her presence. Though the look on their faces at having been caught gossiping by the Queen of Faerghus and Archbishop of Seiros herself was priceless, Byleth did not get the opportunity to enjoy it. 

Before Dimitri’s office door, Byleth took a deep breath. Steadying her nerves, she knocked.

“Come in!” called Dimitri’s voice through the heavy oak door. 

Seeing Byleth enter the room, Dimitri immediately brightened. He stood from his desk, abandoning his mining reports, to greet Byleth. 

His face fell immediately after seeing Byleth’s expression, his joy replaced by concern. “My beloved, what is wrong? Are you unwell?”

“Dimitri,” Byleth’s voice broke as she stumbled in Dimitri’s arms. Despite her emotional turmoil, the weight of Dimitri’s thick fur cloak wrapping around her was as calming as ever. 

With her face buried in Dimitri’s cloak, Byleth couldn’t see Dedue. But, she heard Dedue say “I will take my leave, your majesty. I shall be in the garden.”

Although she didn’t hear Dimitri’s response, Byleth let out a sob at the mention of the garden. She had yet to visit her last two children and couldn’t bring herself to face her failure. 

Once the door had closed behind Dedue, Dimitri gently guided Byleth towards the couch. The fire had been lit by Dedue earlier so the sparks crackled in the background as Byleth fought to regain control over herself. Dimitri said nothing. He simply held her in his arms and gave her a reassuring smile as he waited for Byleth to speak first.

“I…” Byleth spoke so softly that it was almost a whisper. “I love you, Dimitri.”

“And I love you too, Byleth,” Dimitri responded without hesitation. Byleth didn’t immediately continue, but Dimitri patiently waited for her to continue.

“I love you,” Byleth said again, voice stronger now, “but I know I am not the best queen for you.”

Dimitri’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Why would you say that, my love?”

“I…” Byleth dropped her gaze as her eyes began to fill with tears. “I failed to give you an heir. But you need an heir. And I would understand if you wanted an annulment or if you wished to take a mistress so you could have an heir.”

“Byleth, what brought this on?” Dimitri knew Byleth’s question and current vulnerability was not due to a lack of love on her part, but was a consequence of her string of consecutive miscarriages in such close succession. Despite her best attempts to appear otherwise, Dimitri knew that the loss of each subsequent child was taking its toll on Byleth both physically and emotionally. But, Dimitri also knew that Byleth would not consider such extreme measures, even in such a vulnerable state, without someone else having said something. 

Byleth sniffed, burrowing herself even deeper in Dimitri’s cloak. “I overheard some of the servants and maids speaking. They think I am a failure as a queen. Nearly three years of marriage but still no heir.”

“Byleth…” Dimitri reached over to tilt Byleth’s face so she was looking at him. “I don’t care about an heir.” He could see the mixture of uncertainty and disbelief spelled out on Byleth’s face so he continued, “Byleth, you are my love, my beloved queen, and I need you to listen carefully, alright? For you, I speak nothing but my honest truth. Will you listen to me? Believe me?”

“But…” Byleth’s protest drifted off when she saw the look Dimitri was giving her. Instead, she nodded. 

“My love, you know that I would do almost anything for Faerghus -- for my people.” Dimitri paused to gently cup Byleth’s face in both his bare hands. “But there is no question that you will always come first. Byleth, there would be no Kingdom of Faerghus without you by my side. My Queen, I have lost so much already. My father, stepmother, Glenn, Rodrigue, and even Dedue for those few long years. You saved me from myself then, saved me from my ghosts, and I am forever in your debt for that. But Byleth, “Dimitri’s eyes began to water, “I do not believe I would be able to ever recover from losing you. Without you, I fear I would lose myself to my ghosts permanently. I would lose myself to someplace so far that I would truly be beyond saving.

“I would love to have a house full of children. Children with my hair and your eyes, children with my nose and your strength, all running around the palace causing trouble for their tutors and maids and wreaking havoc upon the training grounds. But I would never, could never, choose them over you. I want no child, unless it is yours, and I would not protest if you wanted to give up on having children. My beloved, it is hard enough for me to watch you suffer with each child and I cannot imagine how much more difficult it must be for you to feel each child dying inside you.

“In the end, no matter how much I wish for children of my own, I wish to have you by my side for as long as I can. It is selfish of me, but I will choose you first. Byleth, I do not know what I would do if you were to pass while giving birth to my child but I know that I will never stop blaming myself for causing your death. Watching you destroy your health for me, for the hope of a child, I cannot bear to watch it for much longer.” Dimitri paused, tears leaking from his eyes. With her own tear tracks mirrored on her face, Byleth reached out and wiped Dimitri’s tears from his cheeks. 

Dimitri took a deep breath before continuing. “I want a child but I need you, Byleth. Please, I will give you all the children I possibly can if that is what you so desire. But please stop pushing yourself for me. We are young and healthy, and this is peacetime. Please, my love, I will beg of you to recover your health fully first. Please, do not join the ranks of the ghosts of those whom I failed. I love you, with or without a child, and I want nothing more than to see you happy and healthy once more.

“You are not a failure as queen.” Dimitri said, wiping Byleth’s tears from her cheeks. “You are a wonderful queen and your job is not solely to provide an heir. You have done much in rebuilding Fodlan and renegotiating treaties. None of the peace and wealth Fodlan enjoys today would be here without you. You have reinspired faith in the Church, you are a wonderful teacher and exemplary leader, and the best wife and life partner I could have asked for. You are a wonderful Queen and Archbishop for the people of Fodlan and those who cannot recognize that are fools.”

~~~

Byleth didn’t conceive again for another year. By no means was her sixth pregnancy easy, but it was nothing compared to the nightmare that was her fourth. She suffering morning sickness and fainting spells her first trimester which gave way to odd food cravings in her second trimester, all of which finally gave way to swollen feet and a chronic ache in her neck and back for the last months of her pregnancy. 

But, Byleth carried this child to term and all of Fodlan was shivering with anticipation for the latest news from the Royal Palace.

~~~

“To the good people of Faerghus and of all Fodlan,” Dedue and Ingrid stood on the palace balcony that was used for important announcements. “On behalf of his majesty, King Dimitri, and her grace, Queen and Archbishop Byleth, I would like to announce this joyous occasion of the birth of the Crown Prince, his highness Prince Rodrigue Molinaro Blaiddyd, first in line to the throne of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus.” 

Ingrid continued, “The Goddess has blessed us for both mother and son are alive and in good health. We welcome all to join the Lady Mercedes von Martritz in the Royal Garden this evening in prayer for the continued good health of mother and son, as well as his majesty King Dimitri.”

~~~

Later, when baby Rodrigue finally settled for a nap, Byleth looked at Dimitri who was sprawled out next to her. Despite her clear exhaustion, Byleth was still relishing in the glow that only a new mother has. Dried tear tracks still stained her cheeks. They were remnants of tears of both pain and joy.

“Hey,” Byleth said softly so as to catch the attention of Dimitri without waking her newborn son, “we did pretty good, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Dimitri smiled, cradling baby Rodrigue’s tiny foot between his fingers. He pushed himself up to support his weight on his elbows and kissed baby Rodrigue’s nose before leaning up to place a chaste kiss on Byleth’s lips. 

“You did perfect.”

[worldcakecakecake]

Feliciano and the King of Hearts

Chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts from the moment of birth, we follow Feliciano’s story as he grows into royal life, learns to rule, go against age old customs, and his relationship with his husband to be, the King of Hearts.

Chapter 1 I  Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6I Chapter 7 I Chapter 8 IChapter 9I Chapter 10I Chapter 11I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 I Chapter 15 I Chapter 16 I Chapter 17 I Chapter 18 I Chapter 19I Chapter 20 I Chapter 21 I Chapter 22 I Chapter 23 I Chapter 24 I Chapter 25 I Chapter 26 I Chapter 27 I Chapter 28I Chapter 29 I Chapter 30 I Chapter 31 I Chapter 32 I Chapter 33 I Chapter 34 I Chapter 35 I Chapter 36 I Chapter 37I chapter 38 I Chapter 39 I Chapter 40 I Chapter 41 I Chapter 42 I Chapter 43 I Chapter 44 I Chapter 45 I Chapter 46I Chapter 47 I Chapter 48 I Chapter 49 I Chapter 50 I Chapter 51 I Chapter 52 I Chapter 53 I Chapter 54 I Chapter 55 I Chapter 56 I Chapter 57 I Chapter 58 I Chapter 59 I Chapter 60I Chapter 61 I Chapter 62 I Chapter 63 I Chapter 64  I Chapter 65 I Chapter 66 I Chapter 67 I Chapter 68  I Chapter 69 I Chapter 70 I Chapter 71 I Chapter 72

                                                    Chapter 73

“I am incredibly uncertain about this,” Arthur said, yet joining the others in their decreed way.

 The castle seemed more active than it had ever been during this entire war, a rush passing by them or following behind.

 “It’s only obvious I should go,” Feliciano lead this huddle of many worried, trembling or even ready to begin the process. “I was the one who missed the alignment, I’m the one whose prophesied to finish all this and I have the magic necessary that can help me more than any of you in the interludes.”

 “Feliciano, you only but just recently left the birthing room. I don’t think you are yet mentally stable for this,” Kandake tried to walk at his pace, wanting that he would look at her, not just forward, to the room decided would bring their faith.

 “You are bearing!” Louis joined, of the many at the front wanting to keep his speed.

 “All the Queens should be here to take action,” Aldrich said.

 “I am fine,” he tried to make it sound stable, yet it was forced, there was anger, clearly part of the denial. “I am sure the children will be fine.” He gave the jewels a short caress, the only moment he had gotten his eyes elsewhere. “All the Queens will take action. I am only doing my part.” He began to take off the red cape and the jacket he had been wearing, meaning to throw it to the floor carelessly, instead, his mother caught it, part of her refusal, holding and offering for if he still changed his minds in the mere minutes left.

 “Amore, there are so many who could go in your name.”

 “I don’t need anyone to go for me. If I can do it, I will.”

 “But if we loose you, we loose the biggest piece we have in this war,” Herakles said.

 Feliciano took a deep breath, swallowing once again the weight and terror of all this, “I won’t fail.”

 “And if you do…what then?” Vincenzo posed the dreaded question, the one to turn Feliciano’s step into hesitance.

 It was small. Another breath and he continued as he had.

 “Then all hope is gone. Nothing else will be left.”

 Many servants and maids stood beside the room that was decided. They trembled in their eyes, it spread to their clothes, a panic that worsened at the groups’ coming.

 “But I won’t let you down. I know what this means, and I can’t let myself betray the kingdoms.” He raised his hand, with a queenly decree to open.

 Elizabeta held it before it was uttered. “Once you pass those doors, we will understand then that there’s nothing we can do to change your mind. We will start and you will be brought into the Interludes. One last time…are you sure you want to do this?”

 All, even the servants and maids, stared hoping still for other words that could spare him from this, that anybody else still had the chance to offer themselves. With the elongated silence, they wanted to believe it was to happen, coming ever closer for the acceptance.

 Feliciano released himself from Elizabeta’s grasp and used the hand to push open the door, making his way inside. The rest looked between themselves hoping for any new words that could help to get him out of there before it truly began, but now they had nothing. It was as Elizabeta had said, by this point, there was nothing they could do to change his mind. All they could do now was to fulfill their part, heading behind him to begin.

 The room they chose was the one that held the recreational pool. The specific servants who worked there could well count the times it had been used. Feliciano and Ludwig themselves had only been there two times…one of those being in their heated Roseann spring frenzy. All Feliciano could see were the spots they had made love, where they told sweet words, smiled and touched in what they had thought a forever. To Feliciano it was a new shot of pain, biting his lips, peeling himself harshly away from those scenes of memory, a new shade of tears to add to his eyes. No…he couldn’t show this now…especially now.

 “This place is actually gorgeous,” Lovino had to admit.

 And indeed it was a majesty.

 The room was dark, in the solid of the rock that had formed it. The only light was but those of specific jewels. There were three large ones that emitted a pinkish light, at three high points, right above the formations that cascaded new water into the pool below. The rest of these jewels were in the waters, showcasing the depths…perfect enough for one to lay in its infinite…no safe reach to the surface. Some shivered at its emptiness for now.

 Planted fauna, along with small statues decorated it heavenly, a beauty that made many wonder why they didn’t use it more often…and why did it have to come to them using it for a purposed drowning. Distracted they were to not notice how Feliciano already sat at an edge, rolling his pants and taking off his boots, to the side uncaring…he wouldn’t need them dead. He could have swung himself that instant, but he was held by a hand on his shoulder, looking up to meet with his cousin. Herakles turned his head, asking for patience.

 “All right, so, we need someone to stay always at the door, controlling who comes in and even defending if it comes to it,” Lovino loudly told.

 “I will offer myself then,” Louis said, already taking a seating, brandishing a polished and beautiful spear…out of its case for the first time in decades.

 “Us Queens will take the ever watch on Feliciano, as well as necessary mourning,” Arthur said, Elizabeta and Lili joining on his side, creating a sort of shield on Feliciano, to stand strong from that moment.

 “Yet, we are in need of more watchers and mourners for if we are needed elsewhere,” Elizabeta reminded.

 “Then the rest of us will stay here, to act quick if that is to be the case,” Kiku said.

 “Messengers are rallied, and we are prepared to work here,” Aldrich said, in his place along with the rest. He was determined to be a part of this, to be close. All the tables, plans, books, even charms and talismans were there with them, a good space apart from the pool so neither could be disturbed, each in their own mission.

 As they all made their final chats and placings, Lovino headed over to his brother, kneeling beside him, worried glances exchanged…but loving, yet dreading, both beginning to take a synchronized row of breaths.

 “Lovino, I’m already here. You can’t change my mind any-”

 “I know…I…just want to tell you to be safe…I don’t want anything to happen to you…”

 Feliciano smiled, yet a dry hand coming to take one of Lovino’s, the grasp tight and assuring.

 Lovino sighed, “you know what you have to do.”

 “Ever since I decided. I’ve read the chapters like twenty times. I know enough, I know what I need.” He gazed to the water, like a new door before him. “I’ll…do my best…and then I’ll be back before you guys know it,” he confided with such a large smile, the one of their youth, his and now Lovino knew ever shinning.

 “Any idea on where the power will be though?”

 “I’ll look, I’ll do whatever it takes, I know I’ll find it.”

 “Fine and…Feli…” and there was the chest, the musical one, placed right beside him on the ground.

 “I wish I could take it,” Feliciano admitted.

 “I’ll play the melody…perhaps you’ll be able to hear it…perhaps it can help.” He wanted to hope…he wanted to do more.

 “It might… I’ll try to hear it.”

 Lovino smiled…lowering down for an embrace, Feliciano knowing his last physical warmth before he left. It was then Vicenzo and Renata who came down, sharing in it as well.

 “What about…what about the children?” Vincenzo pointed to the jewels.

 “I’ve said it enough times, papa. They’ll be fine.”

 “The body will be well kept, and while Feliciano is surviving in the Interludes with a hold spell, the children will be able to grow as per usual from the magic here,” Renata deemed.

 “I hope so…” Feliciano let his hands caress them, not knowing if they will be in the interludes as his light and belief.

 “We still don’t truly know though,” Louis had to remind.

 “I don’t think someone has ever purposely gone to the interludes while bearing,” Lili added.

 “Well…I’ll come back and be the first one to write about it, I guess,” Feliciano breathed, his feet now entering the water, the cold giving a strong shiver that almost froze his entire body that instant.

 “The time is upon us…who will create and hold the suspension spell,” Vincenzo alarmed.

 “I-” Herakles was to offer, but he was interrupted by the crashing entrance of a messenger. It had been so sudden that Louis had bared her spear at him. The messenger was too frantic to care about the weapon pointed at him.

 “Destro! He has entered Austria!” He shouted, just the alarm that brought them all to hesitance once again. They shared panicked glances, their worry heightened, and a new dread of planning was to come…just as Feliciano was set to leave.

 Herakles looked to Feliciano, and he nodded, the Queen giving the command for what had been a planned leave.

 “And where is Khaos?” Lovino asked.

 “The defenses of the Amazon are crumbling…they expect soon entrance into Spades as well.” The messenger was still breathing heavily, every word more a weight on him.

 Many fretted, halted in confusion on what to do.

 “I’ll head to Greece immediately and begin our protection at the border,” Herakles stood proud, making his way, but not before coming to Kiku, a tight caring hold of his arms before they embraced and kissed.

 “We continue as we have. We create new tactics, new attacks, send orders,” Aldrich tried to calm.

 “There are casters in Italy of old age that wrote to me that they will act on such a case. I’ll message them this instant, perhaps they can join you, Herakles,” Vincenzo stood.

 “There are also casters of equal state and strengths in Japan as well. I’ll tell them to join along,” Kiku said…anything to help his intended.

 “See if there is anybody still in Germany that can go and fight,” Renata joined. She feared how they were in their last resort…sending seniors to war.

 “Arthur, I recommend you start sending reinforcements to the Oralee. It is an easy door for Diamonds that Khaos can misuse,” Elizabeta suggested, and the Spadian Queen began his orders.

 “Amore,” Renata kneeled back to her son’s sitting, who was now held, wanting to also fulfill duties in this fighting, but nothing came from his mouth, the water surrounding his feet reminded of what he was meant to do instead. “I’ll hold the suspension spell.” There were no disagreements and so it was decided. Feliciano held her hands tightly in gratitude.

 Orders and plans began to get shouted, the room now a mess. Lili began organizing a map, putting accord new plans, paths, and locations. “Opa, look,” she pointed and so all noticed the route Destro was taking, new terrors reigning.

 “He’s trying to get to Hearts,” Louis said aloud.

 “More specifically…he wants to come to Berlin,” Lili noticed.

 Some teared, some paced trying to rid of their shake.

 “His plans have long been obvious. What difference does it make that it’s more sure?” Vincenzo said.

 “It shows that there’s a specific purpose,” Lili glances to Feliciano and all knew for certain the main important plot for Destro.

 “He’s heading right to us,” Aldrich said.

 “Then we defend the castle. We make evacuation plans. We can’t let that freak get to Feliciano, especially while he’s in the Interludes,” Lovino appointed.

 “Our time has been shortened though,” Aldrich reminds.

 “Well, fratellino, you better hurry the fuck up then,” Lovino turned to him.  

 “I’ll try my best.”

 “We have to start now!” Kiku deemed it.

 “Hurry, we don’t have any more time to lose,” Herakles said, his last words before he was out of the room, to battle like many.

 “Feliciano, it’s time for you to start getting in,” Aldrich said.

 And so Feliciano nodded, taking his last deep breath before he followed the command of the last king and began a slow submersion into the water.

 No one else could work, no one else could go on with their mission, Feliciano felt all their eyes on him. If it wasn’t for the chill of the pool, for the coming dread of death, it would have bothered him, but it didn’t matter, not now when he was especially close. He could depend on the steps, taking them one by one, submerging only slightly each time. When the water was by his torso, he extended his leg and found no more rock to hold, it was then the vastness he had to take. He turned one last time to all, now so far.

 “Please…be safe,” the last words he heard were those of his father, taking his wife’s side as comfort for what he was seeing, pain like the ones scarred on his body.

 Feliciano nodded, hoping they could see all the love in his bright open eyes, before he faced the water, breathe and he jumped forward without any more delays.

 He was now completely submerged, falling and letting the water take care of his descend however it wanted. He didn’t fight, he didn’t reach, he was not meant to escape from this. Relax…he let it all take him in. Don’t be fearful…sleep.

 There was the constriction, of the water filling his lungs. It would have been painful if he had begun to fight it, but he was going in ease, continuing his fall, now reaching a mid where he could float in an infinite. Slowly did the darkness took him, easing everything until all movements ceased, and he couldn’t control anymore how even his arms and legs fell. He was gone with an accepting seal of his eyes.

 They all watched the rumbling, the bubbles, all to the very last one that surfaced.

 “Renata, now,” Kandake commanded, seeing the opportune moment.

 Renata breathed in, rubbing her hands together, her breath releasing in a pinkish glow in the palm of her hands. Like a blown kiss, it floated and coated the pool, a beautiful pink mist to arise and drape before it fell and reached for the body it was to work on. It took it like a large blanket, draping him all until only a glow on his silhouette was left. Renata’s palm was in the same glow.

 “The hold depends on you. Make sure to always keep it,” Kiku said.

 “With my life if it comes to it,” she held it dear to herself, as if it was her little son.

 Feliciano shone like another jewel of the ones below the pool, but it was still disconcerting…how he was dead… even if  he was meant to come back and was holding to some sort of life  line with Renata’s spell. Their entire future laid on him like this. They were fearful of all the wrong that could occur, of this castle crumbling under Destro’s wrath, of Feliciano never returning from this, of a future enslaved or killed by this menace.

 Arthur hated how defeated they looked…when they haven’t finished anything and Feliciano was just floating uselessly in the pool. “We don’t accomplish anything just standing around here. Feliciano won’t be coming back anytime soon. Come, let’s get to work.” He turned and continued his orders to get the Oralee mobilized, as well as see if there was anymore that could be done to defend the Spadian border that was soon to be breached. And one by one they followed the Spadian Queen’s suggestion, heading to their place. The only who remained in their stare were Vincenzo, Renata, Kandake and Pookie. They didn’t dare leave. They wanted to keep ever watch, as if they could help defend him even if he was in another world…as if they could still reach him.

  Eternal…always in these waters, floating, vast, in a surrounding of nothing. It extended like this, his body in answer to its void. No response, no way to-…wait. It was then that Feliciano realized he was aware, that he knew his body or…soul and spirit, were present in these new waters. He could move his arms apart, paddle his legs, if even slight moves, slow. He tested his eyes, welcoming, adjusting them to what they could see and meet.

 Vast darkness, more so than what he knew the pool had been. The pink jewels were gone, instead, he saw a far blue light, like a moon shinning far off, into a surface. He could see ripples, small, like small stones falling upon it. There was something out there, new and…he could turn his body, energy was coming to him again, he had impulse and he used it to swim upward, now far, a grand effort that for Feliciano was like swimming the length of a full ocean. As he did, he realized that he hadn’t used his breaths…and that he didn’t need them. They didn’t exist here anymore. The closer he got to the top, the more there was this invisible pull, rushing him forward until finally he was released. No splash, no disturbance in this surface. He landed as if he was on solid ground, easy and balanced…even with an infinite depth of water below him. His steps caused only but a small ripple that easily disappeared, and once it was gone, Feliciano came to the realization that he was just as alone, in yet another blanket of darkness above him. No sun, no moon, no stars…no jewels even from the Aces to decorate such dread. That blue light he saw was somehow emanated from the very line that divided the water and this…place.

 Could he…move, walk? He could raise his hands, legs, turn his head. He tested a foot forward. Solid, another gentile ripple. Yes, this was ground he could trust for now to venture.

 As he completely settled straight, he noticed that the jewels of bearing weren’t present…only a haze red that looked more like a simple bruise. Yet, they were in their form and place, still a reminder that they were there. Actually, now that he saw, he had his normal arms, legs, stomach, head. He rummaged his fingers through his hair, still with its curls, feeling the same texture and skin. Even his clothes were the very ones he had taken his dive with. The only difference was all his bruises, cuts and scars were gone, with a small red glow surrounding him, as another light to guide. The realization made him smile, even extend himself upward ready to jump and shout in celebration.

 This had worked! He was in the Interludes! This was surely the first realm.

 He gazed about him, still the same infinite darkness, nothing of the descriptions he had read.

 Where was he to go? What direction could he take? Who could he even speak to?

 He was ready to dash for whatever he could find, to turn and shout if he had to. A sudden blast of white, lightning and shock as he stumbled upon it. Feliciano startled and screamed back at the sudden appearance of a body, floating and resting right before him, all is if he was in the depths of water the person was not actually in. He was from the White Kingdom, deep dark skin, his silvers, pearls and rich white silks from his soldier uniform, swaying along with him in quite a majesty. The body would disappear into a haze, but then he would shimmer again in this sudden crackling of light. Every time it extended below him, a single zigzagged line reaching down, disappearing into vastness.  That glow made him notice another body, deep below in the waters, flying and extending with not a wetness noticeable. This one a woman from Diamonds…the Israeli province he knew, she had the symbols along with her yellows. She also wore her soldier uniform, the same flashes of sparks, only in yellow…deep in rest as the other figure.

 Feliciano waved, tried to do any kind of big movement that could get them to wake up…yet they remained as they were. He dared to reach his hand to touch, but the shocks instantly got him, painful and burning. Feliciano couldn’t believe he could feel such a physical attack…when he was supposed to be dead. He moved back, he felt another shock and burn, another sudden body. It pained to know it was a Heartian, red, from Greece…surely of those sent to aid the fight at the front with Destro.

 As the blazing continued, extending, Feliciano could spot another Whitean, a Spadian, Clubian…several more, making the space glow in quite a beautiful array of colors. They were now everywhere…but not a single one standing as he did, pointing or providing a way. He spun, he fretted, anxious breathing that he didn’t think would follow him here.

 Okay, think, steady your breathing as if you were still alive…what did the book say? What did we talk about with everybody else? He brought his hands to massage his head as he ordered everything in his mind.

 “The deceased enters. The first realm is a mirror lake,” he remembered Elizabeta’s word, clear now once he stared to the endless bottom of this water. It wasn’t mirror-like…he didn’t spot his own reflection…only the other bodies.

 “All resided magic must be released.” Those sparks…how it had no specification…it was just to…release.

 That very moment, the body of a near Heartian boomed loudly, the glow coating Feliciano all in red. The body continued its rest…into haze, then more small sparks, but yet he didn’t awake.

 Feliciano now couldn’t control his breathing as he realized that all these bodies…so many…so many… wearing soldier uniforms…were the dead of the war currently being fought. So many looked so young…so many with badges and seals that showed their hard efforts…a life dedicated…finished in this. Feliciano shivered, tears brimming, close to kneeling him in the loss and misery.

 “This takes a period of four days in our time. A week in the time of the realm.”

 Enough, enough, enough, he repeated to himself in deep anguish, understanding that there was a mission that needed to be fulfilled…and it had a time limit. Even if he managed a passing to the Interludes with the chance of survival, for those once past lives that hauntingly floated around him…there was nothing he could do. He wallowed in the pain and blame…wondering if part could have been avoided if he would have acted earlier, if there was something before everything that could have been key to an easy victory…not to this reach where he had to visit the afterlife.

 Breathe…he had a week in this realm to find whatever answer he could. Even if nothing seemed present that instant…he had to explore, venture and hope that he could find a clue…or even someone.

 He stood, just as a Spadian body flew along him, as he gazed upward and noticed a larger array than before, all from Diamonds. Feliciano swallowed, not wanting to know what it meant.

 Okay, he had to go on. One foot forward, the next following, a pace as if he was strolling through the castle. He tried to keep that singular line, only his gaze turning to the bodies he saw, careful of the lights that shot down.

 Into the depths he went, yet still the only red light that walked singularly in that eternal extend.

[robogirldick]

*nails this list to the wall like martin luther king*

(its 2:31 am and i know this is my own beef if you can stand double ear i have nothing against u especially mutuals i love yall, also please take this lightly its like half a joke)

THE LIST OF NOT VALID ANIMAL GIRLS (due to double ear)

1. cat planet cuties : my first forre into catgirls, it sucks

2. im sad to say, blake rwby: my goodness i love her so much but the double ear makes me want to scream my whole head off BECAUSE i love her so much

3. that vutber dog girl: she is so fucking cute and i wanna love her with all my heart but the double ear makes me puke in my own mouth

4. that one girl from the gif that gets scritches, i know nothing about her

AND NOW TO BALANCE OUT THAT NEGATIVITY IM GUNNA POST ALL THE AMAZING GIRLS I CAN THINK OF, UNBURDENED BY DOUBLE EAR

1.entire cast of ‘dog days’

2. the girls from nekopara (not that i wanna play the game myself cuz its strait)

3. pink tokyo mew mew girl

4. CATRA, OH MY GOD CATRA SHE BRINGS A WHOLE NEW BALL TO THE GAME 

5. kipo when shes like halfway in, shut up it counts she only ever has one pair at a time

6. every fucking miqo’te

7 miss fortune skullgirls

8, ahri league of legends 

9.kit ballard from blade kitten (fun side scroller play it)

10.catra again, question me and taste my blade

11.MAD MEW MEW, MY GIRL MADDY HAS TO BE ON HERE

12.captain amelia from treasure planet

13. i cant express how mad i am that i cant put blake on this list

14. the somewhat cat-like girls from centaur no nayami

15. horse girl racing anime i dont wanna look up the name

16.HOLO SPICE AND WOLF!

17.lunalight panther dancer/ ghostrick nekomusume/ felis, lightsworn archer (all yugioh girls)

18.michiru bna (shut up furries count in my book, we’re all just bitches with tails)

19.ferris from re:0 (im pretty sure, its a little hard to tell with her hair)

20.bastet from SMITE

21.catrine demew and catty noir from monster high

22.elh solatorobo (im sorry i love her too much not to mention her)

23.i can barely even follow my own rules ive added at least 2 full on furries now

24. im fucking unhinged yall

ok ive been working on this for an hour its 3:30am i hope i got my fucking point across, no more doulble ear ruining good designs

[wychive]

tagged by : @neo-shitty​ (toffee! ilysm hehe)

tagging: @noya-sannnn , @vitriosan , @hwanami , @luthenia and anyone else who wants to participate

slight warning : mentions of food

this is kind of long so it can help you relax if you want to do this!

[ one ] tell me the first song that made you stan your current fave group and why did your faves attract you so much?

wave // ateez

when jane showed me and fely (she already stanned ateez) the mv i was like :00 this song is really good and it goes with my type of music; pumped up and really fun. i decided that i wanted to stan them because of this introduction video that they did during pirate king where san broke the toy hammer trying to smack yunho’s ass SHHSSIJS,, i found them really funny and comforting! they made me so happy and that’s why they attracted me so much. + their amazing music ofc 

forever // exo

alright so i originally just casually listened to exo from wolf era up till 2017 when the kokobop teasers came out. they looked really pretty and so i watched them up till kkb was released. it’s what baekhyun’s voice in the forever teaser that captured me into stanning them. everything about the exo’s attracted me, their vocals, their dancing and ofc their visuals. bonus: their time on the ‘360 show(??)’! im not sure of the actual name for the programme but it was where yixing kept pronouncing jurassic park wrong pls that was so cute and funny how could you NOT stan them!

[ two ] answer the ten questions given by the previous person and write 10 of your own for the next person!

what’s your favorite season and why?

we only have two types of seasons here but if this includes western seasons, i would pick spring! flowers give me a sense of calmness whenever they start to bloom so being in a season where it’s just different coloured plants all around you? sign me up pls

are you a cat person or a dog person?

im a cat person! i currently have two cats as pets

what’s your current favorite song and why can’t you stop listening to it?

it would probably be fever by ateez! this is because it gives off freedom vibes and i’ve been stressed lately so the song is a little oasis for me

if you had the ability to do either of the following, would you rather change something in the past or see into the future?

i would choose to see into the future so that i could change what i do now, whether its related to me being lazy or me being selfish,, i would like to keep the past the way it is even if i had some scarring moments. it’s nice to look back on those and see how far you’ve come as a person.

what’s your favorite movie?

my favorite movie would either be spirited away or paper towns,, i actually don’t have a favorite movie because all of them have affected my life in different ways so yea :D

what did miss rona ruin for you this 2020?

probably the food fair this year,, my group of best friends were supposed to go there to celebrate jane and another friend’s birthday. the food fair happens yearly so it wasn’t anything big to anyone else, but to us it was something special. there are a lot more things but this was one of the major things she ruined :/

what’s your favorite album? (you can name one for each genre you like or you can just name one, it’s up to you.)

toffee why my top three would be day6’s sunrise, bts’ you never walk alone and lauv’s ~how i’m feeling~

if you could talk to your past self (person who lived your past life), what would you tell them?

“hey, dude, i hope you’re doing okay. stop being so selfish all the time alright? and stop comparing yourself to others, it wouldn’t do you any justice. make sure to spread A LOT of positivity even if no one acknowledges it. its okay to cry sometimes too. is my soulmate doing okay? i hope they are. i’ll make sure to find them in this timeline, and the next. whatever it takes. learn to love yourself.”

do you have a go-to person? who is it?

uh i dont have a go-to person,, i can’t vent or rant without feeling like burdening the other person or spreading negativity to them. instead i just kind of rant to myself on discord.

if you could tell your younger self something, what would you say?

“hey, kiddo. don’t fall in love too much nor fool around. it’ll affect you badly. appreciate the things your parents do for you, okay? don’t take anything for granted. ignore the people who call you names, they don’t matter here in the future. just be you.”

how do you spend your free time?

who or what is your biggest inspiration?

if you were a character in a horror movie, which stereotype do you closely resemble? and why?

your top 3 fanfiction tropes! (can be nsfw)

do you believe in soulmates and why?

painting or sketching and why?

what is on the top of your to-do list right now?

list down the top 3 things that make you happy.

who are you simping for right now?

what is your first core memory?

[ three ]  bold the statements that apply to you, italicize your aspirations.

AIR ༉⋆͙̈

i have small hands / i love the night sky / i watch animals and birds when i pass them by / i drink herbal tea / i wake to see the dawn / the smell of dust is comforting / i’m valued for being wise / i prefer books to music / i meditate / i find joy in learning new truths from the world around me

FIRE ༉⋆

i don’t have straight hair / i like to wear ripped jeans and overalls / i play an organized sport / i love dogs / i am not afraid of adventure / i love to talk to strangers / i always try new foods / i enjoy road trips / summer is my favorite season / my radio is always playing

WATER ༉⋆͙̈

i wear bracelets on my wrists / i love the bustle of the city / i have more than one set of piercings / i read poetry / i love the sound of a thunderstorm / i want to travel the world / i sleep past midday most days / i love simply lit dinners and fluorescent signs / i rewatch kids shows out of nostalgia / i see emotions in colors not words

EARTH ༉⋆͙̈

i wear glasses or contacts / i enjoy doing the laundry / i am a vegetarian or vegan / i have an excellent sense of time / my humor is very cheerful / i am a valued advisor to my friends / i believe in true love / i love this chill of mountain air / i’m always listening to music / i am highly trusted by the people in my life

AETHER ༉⋆͙̈

i go without makeup in my daily life / i make my own artwork / i keep on track of my tasks and time / i always know true north / i see beauty in everything / i can always smell flowers / i smile at everyone i pass by / i always fear history repeating itself / i have recovered from a mental disorder / i can love unconditionally

[ four ] the ultimate tag: answer whichever ones you want to because there are a lot.

personal 

name: [REDACTED], alachi nickname: teja, kai birthday: april 11 zodiac: aries nationality: malaysian languages: english, malay,  learning korean gender: female sexuality: biromantic height: 160 cm / 5"2’ or 5"3’

blog stuff

inspiration for muse: music, other people’s work meaning behind my url: fever (current fav song) + core (aesthetic??) blog established: around 2018 but i started becoming active in late 2019/early 2020 followers: 146  ( i love you all )

favorites

favorite animal/s: anything connected to the cat species  favorite book/s: the authentics (abdi nazemian), satellite (nick lake) favorite color/s: lighter shades/mid-tones of cool colours, a dash of yellow

random

average hours of sleep: 6 cats or dogs: cats coffee, tea or hot chocolate: tea current time: 11:34 pm dream trip: south korea, japan, europe dream job: song producer, lyric writer hobbies: listening to music, browsing the internet hogwarts house: ravenclaw last movie watched: harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban last song listened to:  no. of blankets you sleep with: 1 random fact(s): my favourite subjects are biology and english!

[ five ] 10 songs i can’t stop listening to:

eternally - txt

fever - ateez

blue - keshi

lights out - exo

00:00  - bts

strawberries and cigarettes - troye sivan

maze in the mirror - txt

i loved you - day6

 illusion - ateez

 stolen moments - the vamps

[blaszczu2500-blog]

Honest Talk (Nebula X Male Reader)

Word Count: 2 462 Pairing: Nebula X Male Reader Plot - A week after joining the Guardians of the Galaxy, you and Mantis have a game of War, which you let her lose. The reward she chooses is you to let her check how you feel, because otherwise you wouldn't let her, which only leads to her telling everyone that you have feelings for Nebula. 

"... And my last card is... Queen." You said, putting your last card on the floor, as you played War with Mantis who sat before you. A huge pile of cards was in her right hand.

"I have this guy next." Mantis said, as she put her next card on the floor. It was King Diamond, and it meant that she won this game.

"You call him "King", Mantis." You reminded her.

"King." Mantis repeated after you, as you grinned. Sometimes, you found it adorable by how innocent can she be at the moments.

"And that means that you won." You said to Mantis, who smiled widely at the news, before you extended your hand towards her, "Congrats."

Mantis slowly extended her hand, and shook yours.

It's been only a week since you became a part of these Guardians of the Galaxy, after you helped them destroy Ego. But you weren't the only person who joined them after that. Gamora's sister, Nebula joined as well.

Speaking of Nebula, you actually knew her and travel with her, before you met these Guardians. You've met each other, a few days after The Battle of Xandar when she came into the town where you used to live in, looking for a new arm, but unfortunely for her she only found a thing that even you wouldn't call an arm.

Once she got it, she wanted to leave the planet as fast she could, but you had somehow conviced her stay, by asking her if she's hungry.

in your house, you gave her food, which also resulted in her making comments that she'd prefer to be homeless than having to live in your house, and you couldn't help but agree witth. Your was one of the worst places you could live in that town, but it was for free and you'd have a roof over your head. That was the only reason you stayed in that place for that long, when the others would leave it after a week.

The day after you let her stay in your home, you asked her if you could come with her, and she was really suprised that you asked her about that.

Even though, she seemed a bit hesitant about that idea, Nebula let you come with her, and first two weeks of traveling with her were nothing usual, both of you barely talked, but after you played a card you started to talk with each other more, and sometimes it amazed you, by how you can start bonding with people who wouldn't speak a word to you over a game of cards. After letting her win the game (her reaction made your whole day), you two started actually becoming closer.

She started teaching you how to use sword, because you used your blaster for most of the time, since you had found yourself away from the Earth. It another form of bonding you two had, and as the time passed she started to tell you her history, which included her, of course, her adopted sister Gamora, and her adopted father Thanos. You have heard of him before, you didn't know any details of him, before she told you them, and words couldn't describe how much you started to despise that being, and how much you felt sorry for her, especially after she told that you were the only person that showed her kindness, which was the only reason why she let you come with her

Things only got more interesting when you both were caught by the Sovereign, and taken to a prison on Xandar, by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Fortunely for both you, the ship never made it to Xandar because you were attacked by the Sovereign, who attacked you because that talking raccoon who didn't like to be called raccoon stole some of their batteries, and it was punishable by death on this planet.

And since then, everything seemed to go downhill, which lead to you finding yourself on the planet of the celestial being called Ego, and you couldn't even count the time you could die on that planet, because they were too many of them.

Eventually, you had managed to destroy Ego, which costed the life of Yondu Udonta

At first she didn't want to stay with them, even though her sister offered her to stay, but after you talked with her, and even though you did your best to hid the fact that you wanted to stay with them, managed to convice her to give it a chance, and it worked out well, so far.

Since then, you had talked with every Guardian, mostly with Peter Quill, who like you was from the Earth. You two mostly talked about the things you missed the most from your home planet, which ended up with you two planning to return to your planet, to see how much it has changed since the last you were there.

Was this journey dangerous? Of course it was.

But would you trade it for something else? Not in million years.

"Y/N" The sound of Mantis' word took you away from your thoughts.

You skook your head, before you responded, "Yes, Mantis?"

"What about my reward?" Mantis asked you, as you reminded yourself that the winner of the game you had with the bug-eyed girl would give the winner whichever reward he, or she wanted.

"Oh, right... What kind of reward do you want?" You asked her.

"Can I check your emotions?" She answered your question, "I checked emotions of almost everyone on this ship, except you and Rocket. Everytime when I try to do it to Rocket, he jumps up at me and almost bits me, as for you, you just said no."

"...Sure. Go ahead. It's your reward." You replied, after a second of hesitation. You've been told about her ability by Peter, but you declined any attempts of her trying to see what you felt, because you were... nervous? You had no answer to that.

Mantis gave you a small smile in appreciaton, as she looked down at your hand and began to lower her hand towards it. As she touched you could feel the interested glances of Drax, Gamora, Peter, and Nebula. Rocket and Groot were in the other at the moment.

Mantis' antennas began to glow, before she looked up at you, a wide grin spreading on her face.

"You feel love." She said after a moment of silence, as you had admit to yourself. You started to get nervous, once she said it.

"Yes. I feel love towards everyone in the galaxy." You quickly said, trying to sound as believable as you could.

"No. Romantic. Sexual love, just like Quill feels for Gamora." Mantis added.

"No. You must be wrong." You said, trying to hide that you were nervous from everyone.

"No. I'm not." Mantis said with a small shook of her head, as he pointed at Nebula who stood right behind both of you, as she was leaning against the wall, "It's for her!"

"No." You shot up, as you removed Mantis' hand from yours, "That is not..."

You didn't had a chance to finish as you were cut off by Drax's laughter, "HAHAHAH! She just told everyone your deepest darkest secret!"

"Drax! Shut up!" You shouted, feeling angry and embarassed at the same moment.

"You must be so embarrassed!" Drax added, as Mantis stood up, and made her way towards him, before putting her hand on his stomach. Her grin grew wider than it already was, as she pointed her hand towards you and began laughing as well, much to your irritation.

"Can someone just kill me and end my misery..." You thought to yourself

Their laughter was cut off by Nebula's groan, as she turned to leave. What all of you didn't know that it wasn't because she was angry or disgusted, she just wanted to hide the fact that she was blushing from everyone.

It didn't too long before you went to your room as well, telling them that you wanted to finish the book you were reading.

You have never felt so embarassed in your life and you wanted to be alone for the rest of the day...

What you didn't notice was that Gamora left soon after, and headed towards Nebula's room.

-----

Over an hour has passed since Mantis told everyone that you had feelings for Nebula, and the embarrasment and anger hadn't washed off during that time, and Drax's and Mantis' laughter weren't making this situation any easiere for you. Words couldn't describe how much you wanted to kill these two at the moment said when you fely towards Nebula, despise how you found it hilarious when Drax was struggling with metaphors how adorable Mantis could be by how innocent she was.

At this moment, you laid on your bed as you threw the small red ball against the wall in front of you, and the impact was making her come back to you. It was one of not many things you had with yourself from the Earth. and when Nebula's

But you seemed to be cursed, because throwing this ball was the only thing you did for over an hour and it didn't work.

Then, there was a knock on the doors, followed by the sound of someone opening them.

"Whoever it is, leave me alone. I'm not in the mood to talk." You said, not caring who it is, before a familiar voice sounded in your ears, and it made you drop the ball on the floor.

"Y/N. We need to talk." You looked up from your bed and saw Nebula, standing in the doorway. As she came into your view you could feel your heartbeat getting faster with each second.

"About what?" You quickly asked, pretending to not know the answer, as you sat up on your bed.

''About what Mantis said." She replied, as you came over to your bed, "I can come later if you want.''

"No." You said with a shook of your head. You wanted to get over with this conversation which was going to happen sooner or later, "Let's talk about it."

Nebula gave you a quick nod of her head in response, before she sat down on the bed, right next to you, as you started to prepare yourself for whatever was going to happen in the next few minutes.

"As I said before, Y/N, is it true? What Mantis about..." She cut herself in the middle of the sentence as she could feel her face getting hot. She couldn't remember the last time when she was that nervous.

"You told me to not to lie to you, no matter how truth would hurt you and I promised to do so." You pointed out, before you let out a deep breath, preparing yourself for you were about to say, "It's true. I do have feeling for you. I don't from where they came from, but I developed them as I spent more time with you. Regular things like playing cards with you, or you teaching me how to fight became a big deal for me, and I actually could get really nervous during them."

Nebula nodded her head in understanding, before a very awkward silence between you both filled the room. Neither of you knew what to say to another, but thankfully Nebula broke it by asking.

"Y/N. I've been wondering for a while now. When everyone, even my sister were treating me like I was some kind of monster, you were nice to me, even when I got both of us caught by the Sovereign and almost got both of us killed when I flied into my sister on Ego, despise you telling me not to. I want to know why. Why were you so kind to me." She wanted to know.

"It's because I didn't saw you as a monster. I only saw as a person that who had a tough life and people done things to her that she didn't deserve." You answered.

"Thank you." Nebula said. It was the first time you heard her say those words ever since you met her.

You said nothing, just smiled at her.

"And there's something I must tell you." She stated, "You're not the only person in this room that feels something towards someone."

Your eyes shot open, as you could feel your face getting red, "W...What?"

"Y/N. I think I feel something towards you. As much as I found you annoying when we first met a few days Ronan's fall, the more time we spent with each other on the ship that I stole from the Ravagers, the more I started to like you. You made feel how it is when not all people think of you as a monster, you made feel how it is to win, even though it was only a card game and I think that I'm want to try." She said, as she shyly said put her hand on yours, "I like you too. I like you a lot."

"I want to try too. I'll be more than happy to see if it'll work." You smiled at her. A small spread all across her blue face, before she began to lean forward. You began to lean forward as well, and your lips finally met and the metallic taste began to fill your senses. The kiss was a little awkward since you and Nebula didn't kiss many folk, but you both really enjoyed the first kiss you had with each other.

However, the moment was interrupted when Nebula heard two familiar voices from behind of the doors.

"The kissed! I can hear it!"

"Mantis! Be quiet!"

"What is it?" You asked her, after she pulled you away from her.

"Did you heard that?" She replied with question, before a sound of walking down the hallway away from your room sounded in your ears.

"Were they listening to us?" You stated the obvious.

"It appears so." Nebula agreed, as you stood up from your bed.

"I didn't killed Drax or Mantis earlier, but now I'm going to do this." You stated, as Nebula quickly joined your side, before the both of you left your room and went towards the direction where the other Guardians went, almost hand in hand.

As you were walking in their direction, you didn't saw Gamora, standing in the corner as she watched you walk pas her. A huge smile was on her face, as she was happy to see her sister happy.

Then, she quickly followed you two to stop you both from doing what you were planning to do to the rest of the crew for eavesdropping the conversation you had.

[a7xlizardqueen]

TITLE: Aura Malfoy

CHAPTER: 2/?

PAIRING: No pairing yet. Eventually OFC/Remus Lupin, OFC/Sirius Black, OFC/Seamus Finnigan, OFC/Harry Potter

RATING: NC-17/MA – seriously, do not read this if you are under 18!

SUMMARY: I don’t like writing summaries. I’m not good at it. This is a canon-following story. I use both the books and the movies. Will be mostly set in the Golden Trio era, with memories and flashbacks from the Marauders era.

NOTES/WARNINGS: It starts out pretty tame. Follows to the plot of the books for the most part. There will eventually be violence, torture, mentions of PTSD, mentions of sexual assault, there will be smut, death, as I go along I will add more warnings. Again, please do not read if you are under 18, or are easily triggered.

-X-X-X-

Aura squeezed through the crowd in to Flourish and Blotts, Felis trailing behind her. Unfortunately that day the bookshop was playing host to someone that Aura had known when she'd been at Hogwarts, someone that she hadn't been fond of.

The extremely blond, and infuriating, man stood at the back of the shop, flashing his award-winning smile. Aura attempted to ignore it all as she headed for the shelves in order to gather the rest of the books on the list that weren’t Lockhart's. Apparently the new Defense teacher had a crush.

"It can't be Harry Potter?" Lockhart shouted suddenly.

Aura spun around just in time to see a small, thin boy covered in soot pushed up and grabbed by Lockhart, his eyes wide with surprise. Aura couldn't help but notice that his eyes, even through his circular glasses were exactly like his mother's. Everything else about him was so like his father Aura almost felt as if she were looking at James again.

Lockhart posed and smiled as Harry continued to stand there, looking none too pleased with having a camera in his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen,” he called out again, waving the building into silence. “What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I’ve been sitting on for some time! When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography, which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge," he paused to grin and give the crowd a chance to clap, "He had no idea that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, Magical Me. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy!”

Aura had to shake her head, wondering whether she had heard correctly. Gilderoy Lockhart was going to be the DADA teacher at Hogwarts? What the hell was Albus playing at? He bloody well knew that Lockhart’s books were all a fiction, he’d been a very poor student when he’d been at Hogwarts, and was likely to be an even poorer teacher.

Gilderoy handed Harry a stack of shiny new books, which he took begrudgingly before he was shoved back in to the crowd. Aura lost sight of him for a moment before he reappeared at the front of the store, next to a little girl with red hair and a cauldron. She nudged Felis forward, slowly making their way through the crowds who were now lining up to have their books signed by Lockhart.

When Aura looked up again she caught sight of a man who haunted her nightmares, her brother Lucius. He stood in front of Harry, a blond boy with a surly look n his face at his hip. That must be his son Draco. The two of them were staring down their straight noses at Harry, now flanked by a group of other children. Aura stood still, her heart pounding in her chest.

"You must be Miss Granger. Draco's told me all about you, and your parents. Muggles, aren't they?"

Lucius sounded exactly the same; still as insolent and boastful as always. Another man approached the group. This one was rather meager-looking compared to Lucius' long combed hair and clean, crisp robes.

"Children, it's mad in here. Let's go outside," he said, no doubt hoping to stop the situation.

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley."

"Lucius," Arthur Weasley said stiffly, yet politely.

"Busy time at the Ministry. All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime," he said as he grabbed an old tattered book from the red haired girl's cauldron, "Obviously not. Dear me. What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it."

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Lucius."

"Clearly. The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought your family could sink no lower."

Aura took a deep, calming breath before approaching the group, "I see some things never change, big brother."

Lucius spun around quickly to find his younger sister watching him. He flinched at the sight of her face.

"Still can't look at your handiwork, can you?" she smirked.

"Aura!" Lucius exclaimed, his demeanor falling for a moment.

"Thank you for letting me know that our father died."

"You were impossible to find."

"You knew how to get a hold of me. Why don’t you go ruin someone else’s day?"

Lucius snarled and turned back towards the Weasley's, "Here girl, it's the best your father can give you."

Without another glance Lucius turned and stalked out of the shop, his young son Draco fast behind him.

"Well, Aura Malfoy," Arthur Weasley greeted, "We all thought you were dead."

"Yes, well, for a time, so did I."

"'Scuse me," young Harry said politely, yet disbelievingly, "But are you Lucius Malfoy's sister?"

"Yes Harry, unfortunately I am."

"How do you know my name?"

"My dear boy, everyone knows your name."

-X-X-X-

Later that evening Aura and Felis were sitting down to a supper of yorkshire pudding and chips in their little country cottage. After the bookshop Aura had rushed Felis through the rest of the list and taken her straight home. It had been a very long time since she'd been out in public and the stress was clear on her face. Of course Felis hadn't noticed this and was still extremely excited about her first trip away from the cottage.

"Mummy, who was that boy in the bookshop?" she asked as she took a bite of a chip.

"Which one?" Aura sighed impatiently.

"The dirty one with the glasses."

"That was Harry Potter, dear."

"Who is he?"

"He is The Boy Who Lived. Long ago there was a very bad wizard who wanted to kill Harry. His mother died in order to save him."

"That's sad. Did you know her?"

Aura thought back to that day on the train when she'd met the little girl with large green eyes and bright red hair, "Yes I did."

"So he doesn't have a mother?" Felis said, looking down at her plate.

"Nor a father."

"That's very sad. He could probably use a friend."

Aura smiled weakly and patted her daughter's head, "Yes dear, I'm sure he could."

"And that tall scary man is your brother?"

"Unfortunately yes. And that was his son Draco. Don't listen to a word he says, if he’s anything like his father he won’t be a nice boy."

"Did your brother give you that scar?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Aura sighed and looked at her daughter who had gravy running down her chin, still so innocent and curious, "You're far too young to hear that story."

"Yes mum," Felis looked down at her plate, disappointed.

"One day, I promise."

Aura stood from the table, picked up the empty plates and took them over to the sink. Felis' small voice called over from the table.

"Mum, why won't you tell me about my father?"

She braced herself against the counter, her stomach churning. Taking a deep breath, she turned around, "You don't want to know your father."

She turned back around and began to rinse the gravy from the plates. This was something she could have done magically but at the moment Aura needed the distraction.

"Was he a bad man?"

Tears slipped from Aura's eyes as she clutched the ring in her pocket that she'd taken from Gringott's earlier that day. After Felis had found it Aura found that she couldn't leave it behind. There had been a time when this ring had signified the happiest time in her life.

"Yes, he was."

-X-X-X-

The day had finally come. Felis ran excitedly through the train station as Aura pushed the trolley. As Aura caught up to her daughter, she found Felis standing between platforms nine and ten looking very confused.

"Well, where is it?" Felis demanded.

"Come here," Aura smiled, "and follow right behind me."

Aura stood right in front of the column between platforms nine and ten. Felis grabbed onto the back of her robe as she walked straight and went right through the bricks as if they hadn't been there just before. One moment they had been standing in the modern King's Cross Station, and the next they were staring at a classic steam engine in bright shiny red surrounded by witches and wizards both young and old.

Aura helped Felis struggle with her trunk and cage before she knelt down and began tidying her hair and clothes. Felis scowled as her mother attempted to pat down her unruly waves.

"Won't your hair ever stay in place?" Aura sighed, "Now, have a good time on the train and make lots of friends. I'll see you when you get there. And remember, don't listen to your cousin."

"Yes mum," Felis rolled her eyes impatiently.

"All right, get going then."

With a final wave and a smile Felis jumped excitedly onto the train and began to weave her way through the many other students. Aura stood watching her for a few moments before turning to leave, only to be faced with the smug smile of her brother Lucius.

"Do you even know who her father is?" he said in his pompous voice that sounded so much like their father's.

"Good morning Lucius," Aura said politely.

"Not that it really matters who's she is. Neither one is better than the other. The Dark Lord, or the man who betrayed you for the Dark Lord."

-X-X-X-

Felis smiled weakly and apologized profusely as she bumped and weaved her way through the crowd of students on the train. She'd been peaking into compartments for close to a minute and hadn't yet found one that wasn't full. Finally she caught sight of a familiar red head. It was the little girl from the bookshop.

She was sitting in a compartment with the brown haired girl she'd seen in the bookshop as well, who amazingly enough had curlier and messier hair than Felis herself. They were also sitting with a very shy looking boy who's teeth stuck out of his face, he was holding a toad. Felis poked her head in and cleared her throat.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Of course!" said the brown-haired girl politely as she stood to help Felis lift her trunk into the baggage compartment.

"I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger; and this is Ginny Weasley, and Neville Longbottom."

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Felis Malfoy."

"So you're Draco's cousin then?" Ginny asked, curiously.

"Yes, but my mother said not to talk to him. Besides, he doesn't look like a very nice boy."

"No, he isn't." Hermione said, "I wonder where Ron and Harry are."

"They were right behind mum and dad and me. Maybe they found a different compartment?" Ginny shrugged.

"Your mother's Aura Malfoy?" Hermione asked and Felis nodded, "I swear I've read that name somewhere before, but I can't remember."

"I know who she is," Neville said quietly, "My gran told me all about her."

Felis glanced at the boy curiously, wondering how he could know about her mother when she herself barely knew anything about her. Her head began to pound as Neville continued to talk.

"She was accused of being a Death Eater. They found her hidden away in You-Know-Who's main base of operations. She claimed she was a prisoner, but no one believed her because she was in fairly good health. Well, except for the scar on her face."

"That can't be right," Felis objected, "My mother would never have been a Death Eater. She said that You-Know-Who was a very bad man who killed her friend. She said that her brother gave her that scar."

"Then why wouldn't she tell anyone about what happened? Why wouldn't she tell anyone about why she was there? Why wouldn't she tell anyone who the father of her mysterious child was?"

-X-X-X-

Felis had remained quiet for the rest of the train ride. Hermione and Ginny had tried to talk to her but she couldn't think about anything other than what Neville had told her. Could her mother have really been a Death Eater? Her whole family had been. But the mother she knew would never hurt a fly. She'd never seen her mother use her wand for anything other than cooking and cleaning and various other mundane spells. And if what Neville said was true, who was her father?

Felis' thoughts never strayed until the train had stopped at Hogsmeade Station and they began to depart the train. Hermione and Neville went off together as they were not First Years. It was already dark out so Ginny and Felis had to follow a lantern light held by an extremely large man.

"Ron told me about him!" Ginny whispered, "That's Hagrid. Apparently he had a pet dragon last year!"

Mention of a dragon, added to the mystical allure of their location, made Felis completely forget about the train. They followed Hagrid through a dark pathway that led down to a large lake. Her and Ginny climbed into a boat with a very blonde girl. As the boats began to magically drift away from the docks they rounded a corner and Felis finally saw the Hogwarts castle for the first time. In the dark, the castle almost looked scary except for that the windows glowed a wonderfully warm and comforting orange colour.

The boats continued to glide across the lake and Felis could have sworn she saw a large tentacle break the surface of the water. After a few minutes the boats came to a stop at another dock and the First Years all climbed out and began to follow Hagrid up a set of stairs until they were led into a small room.

"Wait jus' here. Professor McGonagall 'll be by shortly," Hagrid said in his pleasantly gruff voice.

Not more than a minute later a tall, severe-looking witch came gliding in to the room. She held her back very straight, and wore a tall black pointed hat, and green tartan robes. She looked down her nose, through a pair of square spectacles, at the group of First Years.

"You will follow me in to the Great Hall. Straight line please."

Felis could only presume that this was Professor McGonagall, as the woman had not introduced herself. She spoke in a tone that immediately had the First Years scrambling into a line and they hurried after her. There were many gasps as the group entered the hall. There were four long tables, each full of students in their house colours. At the end of the hall was another table, running perpendicular to the four, raised on a dais. There Felis could see Dumbledore sitting in a large, handsome chair.

Felis stared all around her. This place was the most stunning thing she'd ever seen in her life. The room was so large, it could probably have fit her little cottage home inside it a hundred times or more. The ceiling reflected the starry night sky outside as thousands of candles hung in the air above their heads. They came to an abrupt stop in front of the table at which Dumbledore sat. Professor McGonagall turned around with a piece of parchment in her hand.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Colin Creevey."

Felis barely listened as names were called out. She was still staring all around her and at the sorting hat who seemed to have a mouth somehow. She wondered if it needed to eat. She continued to ignore the sorting until she caught the eye of her mother sitting at the head table, staring at her with an expression of terrible fear.

-X-X-X-

Aura sat at the head table next to Madame Poppy Pomfrey. She'd arrived around mid-day in Hogsmeade before making the long walk up to the castle. Dumbledore had greeted her in the Entrance Hall and went with her up to the Hospital Wing to introduce her to Madame Pomfrey whom she'd never met before.

Now she sat waiting for Felis and the rest of the First Years to come through the doors into the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony. As much as she tried to smile and socialise with Poppy and the professors she couldn't help but feel dread weighing on her heart. She wasn't sure she wanted to be here when Felis was sorted.

Her thoughts were halted abruptly as the doors opened with a creak and the reassuring face of Minerva McGonagall appeared, followed by a group of intimidated looking children. Of course Aura wasn't at all surprised to see that Felis didn't look intimidated. She'd never been fearful in her life.

As Minerva began to call out names the pounding in Aura's head grew louder and louder. She prayed that they would call Felis by the name she'd given to Dumbledore.

"Felis Malfoy," Minerva called.

Felis stepped up to the stool without hesitation and threw the hat onto her head with such enthusiasm that she earned a few chuckles. Aura stared at the hat, willing it to speak, as the pounding in her head grew louder and louder. She found herself gripping her wedding ring, which she had hung on a chain around her neck, so hard that it began to hurt the back of her neck.

"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat called out after what seemed like an hour, and the entire Gryffindor table burst out in cheers and awed whispers.

Aura's breath left her all in one moment. She sat through the rest of the Sorting in a state of numbness. She was pleased that Felis had been sorted in to Gryffindor, like herself, but on the other hand that had been the same house that her husband had been sorted into. At this point she wasn't sure if Gryffindor was any better of an omen than Slytherin would have been. Aura was shaken out of her thoughts at the sound of Dumbledore's speech.

"I would also like to introduce some new staff members," Dumbledore called out, "Aura Malfoy will be joining Madame Pomfrey as a nurse in the Hospital Wing." He paused for the students to applaud, "And our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is none other than Gilderoy Lockhart."

Aura held back a groan as she stood along with Lockhart. She tilted her head as the students clapped, however Lockhart did a fanciful bow, smiling stupidly. Soon after this the food appeared and Aura forgot for a short time all her fears. She'd forgotten how good the food was at Hogwarts and ate more heartily than she'd done in years. She also noticed that Felis seemed to be getting along quite well with a couple girls at the Gryffindor table which helped to waylay her fears a bit.

[lioden-sim]

RMA Markings, Liomemo and Huge Bug Fix Streak!

Liomemo!

Do you like the old-school "Match 2" game? If so you might enjoy our small and chill minigame called Liomemo! We find it a very nice time filler between hunts and something to practice your memory with ;D It is located in Games section in Explore. The game is pretty simple - Turn over pairs of matching cards. For the best score, use as few moves as possible, while not taking too much time. There are 10 levels of increasing difficulty. Your performance is based on time and amount of mistakes! After completing all levels you can submit your total score. There are leaderboards for daily and all-time scores. You can submit your score as many times per day as you wish if you want to beat your own score - there's no rewards right now, we didn't intend for them to be there for such a small chill game, but maybe you guys will have some nice suggestions for future?

RMA exclusive markings!

(RMA = Random Marking Applicator)

Just like we promised, and based on user votes in a poll, this is a first batch of RMA-exclusive markings! It means precisely: - Every time you use RMA you have small chance to get a marking that comes ONLY from Random Marking Applicators. - The chance is much bigger than the rare markings from RMA, but still pretty rare. - Markings can pass onto cubs. Markings are: - Nimravus: Gold, Henna, Onyx, Red, White - Quagga: Clay, Copal, Ginger, Henna, Onyx - Zebra: Clay, Copal, Ginger, Henna, Onyx, Red

To keep things fresh in a year, there will be more markings added in future, such as Okapi and many more!

Nimravus marking is inspired by extinct cat ancestors that are often depicted with bizarre rosettes. Figured it's a nice excuse to introduce a bi-colour spots! Note: Due to us having to launch news post early, the few Poses are still being updated with art for the markings. Please don't report them as missing or bugs until Sunday morning. Obviously as previously stated, Mutations are being updated separately.

Bug Fixes & Tweaks

Fixed - Lions that run away will no longer have their bases reset to Golden Solid genetics - and all currently borked lions had their genetics fixed. Fixed - Hippos not counting for quests. Fixed - Broken link in beetle death notifications. Fixed - Gender-specific Adult Mutations were wiped during a sex change - but the Falcon scry mutation info stayed. Fixed - Males showing up in Overview when looking for lionesses in heat. Fixed - Being able to nest same lioness multiple times. Fixed - Protective personality displaying energy error when trying to Preserve a lion at 0% energy. Fixed - Ochre Saltlicks not passing manes properly to entire litter. Fixed - Rocky Hills encounter awarding SB despite the SB cap. Fixed - GMO chicken not boosting mood and hunger via dropdown feeding. Fixed - Nurturing personality displaying wrong amount of max cubs on description. Fixed - Mozambique Mountains missing from WAS prize list. Fixed - Lab Frogged males trying to show male-only decors while being females. Fixed - Loner personality kings making pride members lose 10% mood instead of 5%. Fixed - May Personality Changer should be applicable to any male now. Fixed - Clan admins can now pay monthly renewal fees.

NEW - Added a new button - Suggestion Link - import lion to wardrobe from the page. This works ONLY for your own lions.

Art files Stuff from Xylax

Firstly, you should be able to see Cloudburst markings in wardrobe for all not mutated lions. Secondly, I am moving out, my lease is ending soon - and this means my days are very clogged. I do my best to catch up with files daily although slowly, but for now at least I can announce here that Tailless mutation is fully up to date. This also is a reason why Felis is not out yet - I do really want to launch it soon. If it doesn't happen on June 23rd, July 7th will be my other window. This is also why I didn't touch male poses yet - I'd rather start when I no longer have my head stuck in paperwork and packing. And to be honest, I would like to re-launch the polls for poses and add few new designs - hope you guys won't mind!

Remember that June event will end on June 30th at 11:59 pm and all your currency will be stored on your account until next year. Shad added new tags (I THINK?) but forgot to tell me where, so I will edit this later.. xD Testers, thank you VERY much for all your help this week

Raffle Lioness

Congrats King) Angavu (#29399)! You have won the last raffle lady! New lady with the Wilge River BG is up for impressing in Special Lioness area in Explore or in NEWS section under News Post List! ;D

Polls and Dev Notes

Looks like you guys (with SMASHING confidence) chose craftable marking/base applicators. Sure, gems work like that already but that'd be something entirely different and I need some brainstorming first :D thanks for letting us know your thoughts! So, new poll LINK - Small idea for stud fertility requirements - simple yes or no!

[beet-rootesoupevodkabanya]

Post-apocalypse military AU.

Well, dear Feli, next part of our AU is here. One day... One day I promise to gather it all in a decent work. And post on AO3 finally. 😜✨ Actually the day passed as crazy as it began. At first - Yakov with his "love marks", then message from border controllers that blond woman is trying to cross it. Of course it was Miss Nikiforova who lost her way and somehow was managed to walk rather long distance by foot. It caused another stupid mess of calling here and there to make someone to take her to the city finally. Then - walking with Makkachin. And then Snow King simply called his Private Guard to watch the sunset from the wall. Like why not as long as weather is still fine. Walking on the wide path of the wall top and watching Victor cuddling Makka time to time, Yuuri couldn't get rid of the feeling his General is just trying to delay the moment he'll stay alone with his thoughts. Despite of all joyful mood he radiated. But still... When he thought Yuuri didn't see him, his smile faded away uncontrollably. [No, Private Katsuki, U shouldn't. U shouldn't invade into personal emotional space... Fuck it.] Maybe it looked insane and stupid. Or childish. But right in the middle of lazy talk about nothing Yuuri clumsily hugged his commander from behind: - Can I... Please... Stay with U for sleepover. I don't want U to be alone. [How. Pathetic.] But cold fingers covered his hands softly. Burring face into Victor's back Yuuri more felt then saw his slow nod. General stayed still caught off guard by embrace. Didn't move with closed eyes and didn't smile anymore. Only when Makkachin whined tugging Victor's sleeve they both noticed the sunset is already over. - Sorry... - muttered Yuuri, not really knowing what for. Of course he violated all possible subordination and rules during this day. But... He was used to be a disappointment already. (At least as he personally thought...) - Well... As long as we can't move the chair to continue watching the sunset, let's go back. - Snow King snorted again forcing out some joy. Yuuri smiled glancing at dark sky: - U really resemble me of him... - U think so? - commander raised a brow - Well... I don't mind. I always wanted my personal planet. If U'd be a fox, would U go with me? - Fox?.. - Yuuri's voice obviously darkened with sadness - Not a Rose but a Fox. Abandoned friend, not a love of your life... General Nikiforov stopped and turned to him, grabbing both boy's hands, weirdly serious despite of childish theme: - Friends can't abandon each other. Friends could have to go occasionally but they will always return. And honestly the Rose... The one U grew up from the little one and still endure all awful personality. It's called "child", U know. Yuuri raised his head realizing what was just said. Realizing. Realizing... Rea... [WHAT HAVE I JUST ASKED????!!!!] He stormed downstairs with burning face. "Love of your life".... How could it happen at all???!!!! Makkachin barked somewhere behind. Of course on the living floor General caught up with him. - Wait, Yuuri! [He could just order... And I'd have no choice but to stop. But he never uses it in daily life. U're weird General Snow King...] Cold hand grabbed Kaiyo's elbow: - U promised to sleep with me tonight! Boy from Safe Zone frosted on sport chocking with gasps. Not just red but already almost purple. Ice splinters looked puzzled. With soft innocent question. Then some suspect appeared into blue frosted depth... He instinctively pressed hands to the mouth but of course too late... Beautiful face flashed crimson red. Great General Nikiforov gasped helplessly staring into black abyss of Yuuri's eyes. And they both burst into laughter. Of course this left no possible way not to stay for sleep-over. Although it was too early to sleep... Of course it wasn't the first time Yuuri spent the night in General's room. He woke up here recovering from battle damage, being comforted after breakdown or even if he fell asleep in the living room being exhausted after trainings. General brought him here and he always felt revived in the morning. This man could seem airhead and even spoilt sometimes but actually had an amazing ability to comfort and give a new strength. Yuuri sigh. Unlike his commander he was able only to cause more troubles. At least he personally was sure in this. - Yuuri... - Victor's voice was soft - if U have any question - ask. I'll answer everything. They set on the window ledge. General's arm laid on Kaiyo's shoulder. It was dark already and they didn't turn the light on but even in gloomy room it was obvious how icy-blue depth darkened despite of radiant smile. He didn't want to talk. But still some part of him did. To Yuuri. Of course most of all boy from Safe Zone wanted to ask about Victor's past but wasn't sure it won't cause any pain. But still... How to talk about it? He frowned thoughtfully: - Honestly... I want to ask a lot. But the most important... - he raised his eyes on commander. - What can comfort U? What do U need to feel better? [Again just great, Private Katsuki. He can just laugh at your face answering:"Not U!" And he'll be absolutely right after all...] Quiet sound of General's breathing stopped for a moment. In short, almost invisible move he bended to Yuuri, softly kissed his forehead and turned away. With lips tightly shut and closed eyes. He didn't say a word for so long Makkachin already got bored and pecked them both with his wet nose whining. Victor opened eyes and caressed dog's ears. With usual tenderness but his moves and unblinking eyes looking through Makkachin were a kind of mechanical. - U want to know what was with that women. And why Yakov let her in. - His voice sounded weird. Just too normal. Even joyful. Beautiful talking doll from fairytales... - U don't have to...- Kaiyo tried to stop him but General's fingers desperately squeezed his shoulder. - Well... Listen... *************************** Factory on the end of the city had still released gray smoke. It exploded two days ago. But honestly they had no people, or time, or even energy to care of technical objects. And of human's corpses. Weird epidemic took away countless people. Like Black Death hundreds years ago. Problem was similar: Unknown virus. But this time it attacked not flesh but mind. Central neurological system stopped working properly. In a second victim lost all senses and ended up being locked in colorless, soundless prison of own body. Keeping traces of brain activity body still moved for some time. Blindly. Aimlessly. Most of eroded died simply because their uncontrollable moves caused calamitous accidents. Others who were under care of rare healthy ones mostly died from exhaustion. Because they were unable to eat or drink. Or satisfy other life needs. Of course there were hospitals... But lack of non-infected persons made it impossible- to care of all victims. And noone knew why virus didn't touch that rare ones. They had no choice but to leave corpses where they were just ruining buildings to bury them. The priority was - to save some of victims - that lucky (or not) persons who were infected but their bodies still worked. After toughest period health returned to them. But their memories were changed. At first it looked like a form of cryptomnesia. But then it became clear it's something else. ************************ Base of survivors was adapted in hurry to be a kind of hospital. The toughest thing was to guess if victim will survive or not. Or rather to say - if it's logical to spend limited resources on this or that one or not... Especially in a situation when part of non-infected citizens had chosen the way of prowlers. And risk of attack was always high. Their base shared it's list of survivors to other shelters every evening. To count survivors is easier then dead ones now... Every evening silver-haired teen rushes to the connection post to get survivor list. And pensively returns to the wall. Every list stubbornly includes that name. "Miss Nikiforova. Alive. Healthy." Black sky. Cold and distant with countless stars. Silver-haired boy stays on the wall staring into autumn dark world. Darkness is calming. It never causes pain, never hurts eyes. It's easy to hide from everyone. But there's no need to hide tears. The best protector. Best partner-in-crime. Best silent teammate. It's always here, wordlessly. Embraces unavoidably from everywhere but never suffocates. Does the love feels like black abyss?... Boy snorts at own thoughts. One of countless things that shouldn't be voiced out ever. Other teens would try to bully of course. Adults would laugh at. Most of them are dead now. Except Yakov, Lilichka and Her... If to express Her in one phrase it'd be "spinning head". Because of her childish inability to care of herself, because of how easy she lost her mind about new man or new dress, because of lots of men who were after her beauty (but ended up running away from "inadequate bitch" really soon), and because of that feeling of blurry spinning world when air tastes like iron. After skipped slap on the face. - Vitya, get down from there! - old officer shivers from cold wind. Of course his troublesome pupil heard him even before he called. Just ignored as usual. What a kid?!... - C'mon, get down, it's almost time for evening meal. [No, Yakov, don't. I know everything U're gonna say by heart. U're just... Not on time...] - Ok. U can go. I'll join U soon. - silver-haired boy doesn't turn to his teacher. But his voice sounds normal, just a bit ringing. Officer Feltsman sigh: - C'mon, Vitya... I know U check up information about your mother everyday. I know U care an... Something like giggle or snort (or just a sob...) interrupts him: - Who said I care?... Reasons are different. Thin shadow jumps at the fencing of the wall. A bit further from Yakov. Almost disappearing in cold darkness. Only silver hair radiates a kind of misty light. - Vitya, stop this!!! I know U're not as bad boy as U try to pretend! U love your mother. And she loves U. [Yakov... U really are NOT ON TIME.] Silver shadow spins around laughing. Darkness and long, splashing under the wind, hair hide fast gesture of wiping cheeks. Teeth bite through white skin of hand. It's so painful - even distracting. From that burning feeling into chest and head. - U know nothing. - Victor laughs again. [Laugh can cover sobs. Tears from laughter are natural.] - I don't even want to know anything!! - Yakov is almost angry. Why does this kid enjoys playing drama so much?! Silver shadow jumps further again. ["Eyes are the mirror of the soul"?.. Maybe. But usually people see nothing but the reflection of own ideas in that mirrors. Mirrors. Countless icy mirrors are breaking somewhere inside. Breaking and restoring again. Splinters are sharp. Silver-haired teen falls on his knees crying. Sobbing. Screaming. Splinters are everywhere. He breaks mirroring walls with bare hand, stabs the floor with biggest splinters. He screams, shouts. Coughs, choking with sobs. Tears are mixing with blood. Hair. Clothes. Boots. Floor. It all is covered with broken glass and crimson carpet.] Boy clicks the lighter turning to old officer. Breakdown is safely hidden inside. Behind icy mirrors. Of course Yakov jumps on the spot: - What??!!! Stop it right now!!!! U're too young to smoke. Gray cloud covers Victor's face giving a second to force out normal expression. He joyfully giggles again: - Too young to smoke but adult enough to kill people and drag corpses here and there?... Yakov sniffs for some seconds. Not knowing what to say. And finally mutters with apologizing intonation: - Gimme one... Silver-haired boy nods, steps closer and lays a cigarette and a lighter on the fencing. Old teacher stretches a hand and boy jumps back. In one nervous move. - What? - mumbles Yakov - Don't U think U're overplaying it, drama queen? Boy laughs again. Friendly. Joyfully. But stays where he is. - Youngsters... I won't ever understand U... - he doesn't sounds mad. More like confused. [U really won't, commander Feltsman.] [Breakdowns are tiring. Glassy maze is ruined. But mirroring walls are only tougher now. Silver-haired teen lays on the floor right on splinters. Some of them are stuck in white skin. Long wounds on palms are open to the bones. He reaches face to move away soaked in blood lock. But splinter stuck in palm cuts eye and cheek. He closes eyes. Better not to move. Never move anymore.] - Hey! Don't U dare to fall asleep staying there!!!!!! - Yakov's scream makes silver-haired boy jump where he is and drop a cigarette. - Please, Vitya!! - now old teacher is really begging for mercy - Lets go down. If something bothers U, tell me. U can think I understand nothing because I don't have kids. But at least I had parents long time ago. I know what parental love really means. [What if teacher's belief in parental love is the only unshaken thing he has now?... To ruin it just because of Her?.. No way. It's just... Stupid. Right?..] Victor jumps from the fencing near old officer: - Ok, ok, lets go to have a supper. He smiles brightly and reassuringly. And almost hears splinters cracked under boots... ******************** - It all is boring and kinda stupid, U know... - Snow King tried to force out a smile but it turned into a wry grin. - No, it's not! - Yuuri jumped from the window ledge. He didn't even try to wipe tears away. General shivers from sudden loss of warm body that leaned to his side all this time: - I'm sorry, Yuuri, I made U upset... - No! It's not like... - desperate boy's voice cracked. He impulsively seized Victor on his arms despite of perplexed gasp, brought to the bed and hugged him tight, making to lean to his chest instead of a pillow. Just like his General did lulling damaged Yuuri in a van after their first task together. - Tell me. Please. Tell me everything. - boy's fingers softly went through silver locks. - Even if I won't understand something, I still care... I'm always by your side... Victor said nothing. But leaned tighter, stroking Kaiyo's arms. With nervous, tense moves. - Ok, if U wanna some details, ok. - his voice sounded calm, even carefree. But his fingers were icy-cold. And pressed boy's skin too tight. Almost painful. If someone would ask Yuuri his name right now he'd definitely be unable to answer. The whole world compressed to the one person, one moment, one desperate need to cure his pain. He didn't even notice leaning with a cheek to silver hair left them wet from tears. Victor turned around with his usual reassuring smile and softly wiped wet traces away: - C'mon, Yuuri... I'm not saint or something to cry this much. Boy dragged him back into a tight hug stroking cheeks as if searching for invisible tears: - U're not saint. U're my own God. My only God. Gods don't have to be saint. Snow King snorted with a puzzled expression: - Yuuri, малыш/ baby, idolizing someo.. - It's not idolizing!!!! - boy cut him off tightening the embrace again and burring his face into silver hair. He would be happy to explain. But words drifted away leaving only meaningless gasps. But somehow General got it without words. Rested his head on Yuuri's shoulder and began to talk again. Again with that unsuitably indifferent, joyful voice. ****************** It's a deep night but the room isn't dark enough. White nights. Fucking troublesome thing that attracts an endless herd of different visitors to the city. And it'd be ok but She goes out every evening. All glamorous, in clouds of perfume she flies away in her high-heels. Searching for her Prince Charming or at least billionaire. Silver-haired boy of five years old puts a stuffed bear under the blanket covering it all and steps to the wardrobe. When She flies out like this it's better to be prepared and listen. If the lock clicks before the morning then it's time to hide. She is always angry. And it's better not to get under her hand. Boy sits on the floor near the old wardrobe. To get there fast if needed. (Once he already was late to hide. It's still painful to talk. Although... There's noone to talk to anyway... Isn't it good?..) This old furniture is full of her [out of trend?] clothes, including fur coats. It all is in mess. She won't open it, at first because she thinks there's no place to hide, at second - she simply doesn't want to put all that stuff back after searching. Click-clack. Keys over the door. She almost blindly searching for keyway. Sobbing loudly. Drunk again... Boy silently disappears in a dark hole of the wardrobe. Buries under clothes. And habitually leans to the gap between door and wall. To see what she'll do next. Although it's heard pretty well. Slamming the door behind she falls on her knees right there. She cries. - Why?... Why???!! Where are U, Vitya?! Why didn't U meet me??!! Aren't I your mother??!! According to loud noise she almost falls trying to get up. And breaks into son's bedroom. 3a.m.? Who cares... She throws shoes at the small form under the blanket: - U ruined my life! He'd loved me if I didn't have U!!! Sobbing she desperately locks her fingers where must be the neck under cover: - U're no better then your father! U didn't even meet me when I needed U! U'd better die before being born!!! Silver-haired boy doesn't even breath in his hide-out. She won't look here, right?... He knows every her word by heart. It's not the first case. It had happened countless times already... She sobs again. And finally realizes there's no living person under the blanket. How fast, Your Majesty... Bear is desperately kicked to the wall: - Where did U find this shit, U little scum??!!! (Just great. This thing was a gift to her from one of her short-time boyfriends...) - U ran away???!!! U left me, traitor!!!! Go die!! Don't ever return!!! Noone needs U anyway!!! Noone would ever love U!!!! I hate U!!! Die already!!! With tempest of sobs she falls on the bed. After some time her gasps turn into quiet snorts. She's asleep. Boy relaxes a bit moving away from gap. In a morning she'll feel too sick to be seriously mad. It means he can sleep now too. Of course here. In this safe darkness. Adults like to tell scary things about dark places. About monsters under the bed or in wardrobes. Maybe here is a monster too?... He stares in the further corner. If someone is here is he scared by all of that? Boy softly pets a place near soundlessly whispering to the darkness: - Don't be afraid. Lets sleep. She won't find us. ******************* - As U see, it's kinda shameful... - Victor shrugged his shoulders indifferently - Maybe someone else could find a way to deal with her... Maybe it's really my fault... Yuuri gasped from shock. After all he'd just heard this statement sounded beyond any belief. Before he was able to say something, cold fingers stroke his tear-stained face. - God! Yuuri! It's not good at all. Now I'm seriously made U upset. - he cupped boy's cheeks forcing out a puppet smile. - Now let's have a tea and talk about something better. General ruffled Kaiyo's hair, got up from the bed and stepped to the kettle on the small table near the door. [Mirroring splinters. Everywhere. Stuck in hands, face, stabbed into throat, not letting any word out. Glassy dust grits under boots. Although in the corner of his soul Snow King realizes he's bare feet now. But feelings from mirroring maze behind frosted sky are uncontrollable. It was stupid to let Kaiyo touch this glassy mess. Boy had just damaged himself. He is crying now because of it all...] - Hey, Yuuri, would U prefer green or bla... Boy from Safe Zone stormed from the bed. [Is he going to run away? Is he this scared? Of course he is...] Warm body bumped into Victor's back with a desperate, almost suffocating hug. - No! It's not your fault! Don't U ever say it again!!! Please! Please... - Yuuri chocked with sobs. - It's not a shame. Please... U don't have to pretend U're ok. Even if everyone thinks U must be... Please... Victoru... Kaiyo didn't even notice he has called his commander not only by first name but by it's Japanese pronounce. Just like he used to whisper secretly to his photos long (or not so long?...) time ago. - Please... I'm here for U, I'm yours... Please, order me, shout at me, beat me... Do anything... But, please... Don't pretend U're ok and it all doesn't matter... Please!!! [Splinters... Sharp mirroring splinters. Everywhere. And glassy dust. No, Yuuri, don't. U'll hurt yourself...] Snow King turned to his Private Guard. Although it was not so easy to do in that tight grip. - Please... It's a lie - that noone loves U. She knows nothing!!!! General Nikiforov inhaled to say at least something calming to subordinate but coughed chocking with words, buried face into Yuuri's shoulder and bursted into tears. What exactly Yuuri whispered to his crying Snow King even he himself couldn't say for sure later. Every sweet word he kept for years, since the day he first time saw picture of youngest High Officer from Military Elite. Broken ice shaking into black ocean waves. Deadly for any living creature. Black abyss leaned to frosted splinters lulling painlessly. When tight grip on Yuuri's ribs became weaker he softly pulled his General back to the bed. Hugged him, pressing his head to the chest and kissed his temple. More and more tears still dropped from tightly shut lashes. But breath of his commander was more steady now. Only when it became calm and slow showing that Victor dozed off tired from breakdown, Yuuri noticed Makkachin was politely laying on the armchair, entrusting his human to the newbie. Boy from Safe Zone exhaled nervously. Unlike Makkachin he wasn't so sure he really was able to cure General's wounds. Especially if to take in count it all sounded like a nightmare. But he'll do everything to fulfill this task. Yuuri leaned to silver hair with lips: - Aishiteru desu, Снежный Король... Honestly he was sure commander doesn't hear him. And of course can't understand. But for a second relaxed hold on his waist became tighter. Yuuri's face burned... No. He didn't wake up. Boy from safe zone hugged him tighter and kissed his forehead again. This time Kaiyo woke up even before the sunrise. It was the first time he opened eyes before his commander. Too early... It's possible to sleep more... He leaned in tighter covering them both with a blanket. Moved silver locks away from beautiful despite of being swollen from tears face. Kissed temple again and whispered. Almost breathed out inaudibly: - U still didn't answer me... What can comfort U? Cold hand traced boy's back and stopped into dark locks. Warm breath touched his neck with half-asleep husky whisper: - U can...

[worldcakecakecake]

Feliciano and the King of Hearts

Chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts from the moment of birth, we follow Feliciano’s story as he grows into royal life, learns to rule, go against age old customs, and his relationship with his husband to be, the King of Hearts.

Chapter 1 I  Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6I Chapter 7 I Chapter 8 I Chapter 9I Chapter 10 I Chapter 11I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 I Chapter 15 I Chapter 16 I Chapter 17 I Chapter 18 I Chapter 19 I Chapter 20 I Chapter 21 I Chapter 22 I Chapter 23 I Chapter 24 I Chapter 25 I Chapter 26 I Chapter 27 I Chapter 28 I Chapter 29 I Chapter 30 I Chapter 31 I Chapter 32 I Chapter 33 I Chapter 34 I Chapter 35 I Chapter 36 I Chapter 37 I chapter 38 I Chapter 39 I Chapter 40 I Chapter 41 I Chapter 42          

                                                   Chapter 43

I’ll journey and see beyond the lines of our kingdom…

 The voice sang, with a smile, a so familiar smile.

 No sun, no rain to go against my strength…

 It continued with images of a known hero.

 But I don’t need you to go so far…

 The same marks seemed to palpitate in his mind.

 And would you want me always by your side…

 A shot, Feliciano didn’t know from what, but he could feel the boom strongly.

 I only want your arms around me…

 There was an embrace.

 I will keep it all in my heart…

 Those stars.

 If you accept to be mine, my King…

 Curls, familiar curls.

 All will join in your defend…

 huh?

 So the heavens will bless in your rest our perfect peace…

 Too sudden, too many images that he couldn’t even see properly in the blur, in the quickening, joining, blowing into his awake.

 Feliciano’s eyes widened, he took a deep gasp and suddenly he was sitting, meeting with many eyes, all as startled as he.

 “Feliciano!” Ludwig called…he was right beside him, with his hands tightly on his arms, relief and worry mixed in his eyes as he stared down to him, trying to calm him from this sudden awakening.

 “Whe-where am I?” Feliciano quickly wondered, not recognizing this room at all.

 “You’re in the Spadian castle, in your room of stay,” Arthur told, who was standing with a group at the end of the bed.

 Feliciano gazed around the blue room, encrusted with golden and silver designs like growing fauna in the walls, matching along with the rich furniture and items that decorated to its splendor. He rested on the largeness of a matching bed to the setting, with a canopy and carved symbols of the Spades kingdom.

 “Feliciano…do you remember anything that just happened?” A new strange man asked. It took a while for Feliciano to recognize him as the Jack of Spades, obvious in his wear, matching along with the descriptions of a youthful face, long black hair styled in a tail, slanted dark eyes that held so much curiosity and concern.

 “About…about the wall right?” He imagined and they all nodded.

 “Yes it’s…coming back now, I…did it right? Raised the entire wall like that?” He remembered the intensity that ran through his blood, the ultimate reach of power, how it all came so easy, only to crash down suddenly in a paining moment to his head…he suddenly remembered.

 “Oh my Aces! I-I’m so, so, so sorry for destroying the wall like that! I didn’t mean to! It just suddenly happened! I-I’ll do what I can to help fix it, stay for more weeks here if I have to!” He quickly extended his arms to take a grasp of Alfred’s hands, who had been near the bed for Feliciano to quickly show his desperation.

 “Feli, Feli, relax, the wall is doing fine! What you did only harmed it slightly. We have the funds and people to fix it no problem, besides, it’s better than having Khaos’s men destroy it completely,” Alfred assured with a gentle smile.

 “Did they all leave? We’re they all captured?” He still wondered.

 “There’s none of them left, you stopped them all, they’re either dead or in prison,” Mei told.

 “Re-really?…I-I killed them?” The thought didn’t weight easily on his head.

 “Feliciano, they’re Khaos, they were going to destroy the entire city and kill everybody in it, you don’t need to feel any kind of pity,” Lien said.

 “They deserved it,” Lei added.

 “It’s just…it’s just…” he gripped on the sheets, a lot of questions still lingering in his head.

 He got rid of those men…just like that, in a matter of swings, of throws, of great release. Then he wondered what all of that was? Was that really something he could actually do normally? A hidden part of his power that he just decided to release for the first time in that attack? It suddenly made him feel fearful of the kind of mysteries he held that he still didn’t know, of what kind of intensities he could create, of where it came from, of why he had it…then there were those sudden images in his dream…the song.

 “Feliciano, relax, you’ve done something incredible for this city,” Arthur interrupted, hoping to help with his easing.

 “Crowds are constantly formed at the front of the castle with all kinds of gifts, we’ve even brought some up here,” Alfred pointed to the pile of flowers, cards and boxes, all so neat, so kind, Feliciano was overwhelmed.

 “Alfred, Arthur and I will show our own gratitude by presenting all of you that helped with the invasion with special badges and honors. A great presentation will be done after we make our own Validity Spheres,” the Spadian Jack announced.

 “Oh, thank you so much, Ludwig, I and the rest will feel so honored,” he excited.

 “We are glad, and now that we know you have finally woken up, I must take my leave, I have to continue with other urgent business,” the jack bowed and made his way, followed by his brothers, sister and cousins, who all gave one last wave before they departed through the door.

 “How long was I asleep?” Feliciano wondered.

 “Just a day, you didn’t miss much,” Alfred let him know.

 “Our best healers dealt with your injuries while you were resting. They’ll later come to continue, you still need a couple of more days before you’re all settled. Instead of the earlier decided three days, we thought it was best you stayed in the castle for six, so you could leave well on your journey to the Club kingdom,” Arthur told.

 Feliciano gazed down to the bandages he had wrapped on him, mostly on the expanse of his shoulder and that area of his back where he had been affected by the explosion. He could finally move his arm although with some small waves of pain that wouldn’t let him turn it completely without straining more. He still felt tired, with great hunger and weakness, one that didn’t let him truly stand from his rest on the bed. Yes, he still needed more days of healing.

 “Thank you, thank you so much,” Feliciano wished them dearly, gratitude that Alfred and Arthur though was too big after the way Feliciano dealt with saving their city. They should be the ones drowning him in all kinds of thanks.

 “Only the best we can offer,” Arthur bowed.

 “We’ll leave to give you both some time to rest and talk,” Alfred decided.

 “If anything, don’t be afraid to send any of the servants to fetch us,” Arthur wished lastly before he took Alfred’s offered arm, wrapping himself sweetly around him before they headed out together.

 It was nice to see them happy like this, proud of their love and union unlike the state they had been when they visited Berlin almost a year ago. When he turned his gaze towards Ludwig, he wished the same chance would be granted to them. Feliciano brought his hands to hold his dearly, so relieved, so great to have him by his side, he could almost lean and kiss him.

 “Are you all right now?” Feliciano asked him. He remembered how he had been dealing with Khaos’s men himself, how they hurt him, cut him, even brought him to the ground about ready to crash his ribs.

 Ludwig smiled, raising the sleeve of the jacket he wore to show his own bandages with special sealed marks which helped with more healing.

 “I’m fine, my own wounds were manageable, it only took a couple of hours for the healers to deal with, unlike you, I should be the one asking you this question,” they both chuckled, their hands now united unto a mend, comforting and helpful.

 “I’m going to be fine, I’m sure,” Feliciano assured with a smile, so warm, so beautiful, it spread its own joy to Ludwig, who grinned himself, both suddenly nervous for words when all their world at the moment was sharing that glow in their eyes. That lean once again…that chance for a new kind of meet, and after everything, yes, oh yes, Feliciano wanted it, oh he was there, so close, their breaths one. He wasn’t surprised anymore about how Ludwig would turn away, erase as always, pretend like that approach didn’t happen. By now Feliciano would just roll his eyes and simply settle, leaning back into his bed, prepared for the sudden change of air and topic that was to take place.

 “Feliciano…” Ludwig began, “you were singing just now in your sleep.”

 “I was?” He thought it was just something that he heard in his head, not something that he actually mumbled out.

 “You were singing Romulus’s song, Accept to be mine, parts of it actually, and then you…sang these two lines I’ve never heard of before…”

 Did he really…?

 “What were they?” He wanted to be sure.

 “You sang… All will join in your defend, and, so the heavens will bless in your rest our perfect peace…”

 Feliciano had been questioning those parts himself as he dreamed it.

 “Did you make that up?” Ludwig wondered.

 “No…they just… appeared in my dream…kind of…out of nowhere. It was weird, I started seeing and feeling things too,” he recalled.

 “What…exactly?” Ludwig leaned more curiously, expecting to hear, a tighter hold in their hands, begging even, it was sudden to Feliciano but he had no problem with telling.

 “I really didn’t see anything to detail, everything was too blurry, but I heard…a woman singing, I saw this smile that kind of reminded me of mamma and hair just like hers too, I thought it was her for a moment but… it was still…different, and then I saw like…slashing swords, this…man…but it was too quick to really remember. I felt…agitation, I could hear explosions, I saw this…starry sky…a particular formation and then I felt like someone…hugging me, it…felt so real, so…unlikely for it to be a dream…” and he silenced as his mind really tried to fetch more about this, but nothing more was brought, he will have to deal with what he saw that moment.

 Ludwig tried to piece together in his mind, but he did not come up with a bigger clue either, he just nodded.

 Their moment was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door, a familiar little winged lion flying headfirst, cradling quickly in Feliciano’s lap excitedly.

 “Pookie!” Feliciano cried, quickly taking him to grab, cuddle and embrace, the little lion nuzzling back and somehow trying to share the same wrap by raising his paws against Feliciano.

 A group of white and blue robed figures entered as well. By their items Feliciano could tell they were the healers, who bowed to him, but not moving any closer yet.

 “I have to go, better leave them with the healing, I’ll come back once they finish,”

 “Okay.” They both nodded and had to painfully let go, Feliciano giving him one last smile before he was out the door.

 As Ludwig walked on down the halls, deciding to get something for lunch, the same new phrases repeated on his head. All will join in your defend…so the heavens will bless in your rest our perfect peace…he kept connecting it to…could it make sense? But no, there was still-

 “Hey!” He recognized Alfred’s calling, approaching him from a small room where he was sharing a snack with Arthur.

 “Got some time to talk?” He wished.

 “I believe so, Arthur won’t mind?”

 “He has to prepare a meeting with the builders about fixing the wall, he was about to kick me out anyways,” he laughed, moving them along the hall, through impressive arches, paintings, columns and even craftily paned windows helping to relax their troubling minds. They reached a private area left deserted just for them, with no one to interfere in whatever conversation they brought up, solitude with not even the hurry of servants.

 “So, Feliciano is really all right?” Alfred still worried.

 “He has some troubles with his wound, but other than that he’s completely fine.” He decided not to tell him about the dream and the new phrases to the song he sang.

 “I’m glad, would hate to see something happen to him, he’s a total sweetheart that didn’t deserve to go through this, but well…chosen by the gods as the Queen of Hearts, it’s not exactly a safe position, but what can we do?” Alfred shrugged.

 “Indeed.”

 Afterwards Ludwig silenced, his thoughts still puzzling, but Alfred didn’t know or understand and it was making the silence unsettling.

 “So um…things have changed with you and Feli,” he had wanted to point out for a while, just the topic to have Ludwig’s head rising in attention.

 “The last time we went to Berlin things seemed tense between you two, Arthur and I barely saw you together unless it was for royal business and you both seemed rather reluctant to actually be close. It was nothing like the two friends you were back when I used to visit Hearts as a kid. It was odd and worrying, and then hearing that he denied your marriage proposal…ouch.” He didn’t know if that was still something awkward to mention so he was a little hesitant to continue, but Ludwig didn’t say anything back.

 “Which reminds me, sorry we couldn’t go to the engagement party,” he apologized.

 “Don’t fret, you and Arthur were marrying and getting crowned in a couple of days, having you visit Hearts to then see a failed proposal would have just made you both more stressed. I sometimes wished I didn’t have so many guests that day, it only made the occurrence more embarrassing.” He still wanted to hide his face in shame every time he remembered it.

 “But hey, like I said, things have changed, I mean, look at how protective you guys got with each other, Feli so much that he even raised and entire damn wall. You’re holding hands and he’s even smiling at you now, I’m sure by the time you two return to Berlin you’ll be asking again and I’m certain he’ll accept this time, and then Arthur, Yao and I have to start preparing bags for the ceremony,” Alfred was already planning and ecstatic, but it didn’t seem to spread to Ludwig, if anything it made him more somber.

 “I…don’t know, to tell you the truth Alfred…I don’t even know if I’ll be returning to Berlin…”

 Alfred stopped his moving steps all completely, turning to him, confused and incredulous, thinking he was exaggerating and only doubting when they had proven themselves more than capable during this entire journey. The reports of how it had been going were wild.

 There was only the Club Kingdom left, how worst could things get?

 “You’re starting to say bullshit, Ludwig. Really, don’t think like that, you’ll both be doing fine, there’s nothing to worry about. Now come on, my cooks make this cucumber sandwich that’s to die for, you must simply have a taste,” Alfred hurried them in the direction towards the lunch area, hoping it would be enough to distract Ludwig from these sudden dark thoughts.

 It didn’t work…his mind was now plagued and a countdown seemed clearer with haunt.

  Two more days of healing and Feliciano could finally stand from the bed, his movements good and his wounds slowly vanishing. He could wear that beautiful opened blue tailcoat with the silver buttons, a comfortable shirt below, comfortable pants along with his usual boots. When he had come down from the room, meeting with Arthur, the other couldn’t help but whistle, looking up and down in heavy intrigue.

 “You’re looking handsome today,” he complimented, taking a sip from his tea as he worked on some contraption that he was asked to help fix.

 “Thanks, thought I should look appropriate handing this in,” he showed a letter.

 “Where are you going with that?”

 “To the Luna Rani academy, I made a promise to a Viking boy that saved us back in Hearts to hand in his recommendation so he can study here,”

 “A Viking boy?”

 “Mhm, but he was not a lot like the rest, he really wanted to gain a more professional education with magic, he always wanted to go here, so after saving us, I thought this was the best I could do,” Feliciano hoped, holding dearly to the letter, jumping on his heals with excitement to go out into the city, Pookie on his shoulders as a guide and protector, just as ready and eager.

 “Well then, I wish this boy luck, I’m sure he will be accepted if your story and what he handed to you is enough, I would be glad to have someone of his talent in the city.” Feliciano glided with more spirit, turning and about just ready to go…until he remembered…he didn’t know where the school was.

 “Tell Lei to accompany you, he occasionally takes some courses there so he knows all the routes from the castle,” Arthur answered sensing his question.

 “Oh, perfect, where is he?”

 “Surely by the front of the castle, there’s a patch of land they sometimes go to train. As you’re making your way you’ll easily spot him.”

 Feliciano nodded to him in thanks and quickly headed off down the halls to the exit. Of course, he would take his time with admiring the art and majesty of the interior architecture of this castle, tall, beautiful, in the expected blues and silvers, majesties that continued on through different halls that tempted him to escape. No, he had to do this, Emil was counting on him.

 He found the doors of grandeur, leading himself out into the welcome of a city that he could finally admire without the worry of an invasion. Oh the Aces it was beautiful, in define structures, artistry, with a good mend of nature that had Feliciano’s breath taken as he took the first steps into the meet of this sun. He gazed upwards, the castle towering, as high and in a form that was indeed similar to Berlin’s, only that it didn’t count on the rest of a hill but its own structure of strength, with bridges to new towers and wings, in shine of blue and silver for the sun to lay its ray and shine it the more. He began to move backwards, lost in all its details, its design, its color, that he didn’t notice that he was reaching a group of stairs.

 “Feli, I suggest you look out!” Lien had warned just in time for Feliciano to turn and spot that he was only centimeters from falling down.

 “Ah, thanks,” he called out towards her.

 She gave him a salute and continued with the training she was doing with the rest of the group he knew, as well as some other members he did not recognize, but he did recognize Lei.

 “Oh, Lei! I need your help!” He called, rushing to him and interrupting whatever exercise he was trying to do. He explained the situation and Lei had no problem with halting his training for the day to take Feliciano across the city until they reached the academy. Using trains or simply walking, Lei made sure that they took a long route just to give Feliciano a chance to see more of the city.

 Oh the buildings were wonderful, the nature added made one forget that it was divided from the forest with a wall, people making use of the day to do their chores, their activities, runs  or leisure time in the blue and green grass, with picnics and games that Feliciano was tempted to join as he passed. It was also Feliciano’s chance to see all these machines that he was constantly told about when hearing about spades, like the automobiles, the elevators, fans, streetlights and steamboats upon the rivers. Unlike what Alfred and Arthur had told him, he did see the mix of magic, of wizard apprentices studying their books, of parents using it to help them better deal with their children, bakeries adding their touches and even the cleaning of the streets and walkways. He didn’t know if it was just that Alfred and Arthur had settled the differences of the kingdom and really tried to make a change or it was just how things had always been no matter the kind of restrictions and differences that might come.

 They finally came before the building, a large structure standing quite imperially, towering pillars holding the massiveness of its marble, of its crystal dome, a square in front that matched its own grandness. Students already used the space for practice, for leisure, to run across as they made their ways, to either inside the building to reach their classes on time or just out to whatever parts of the city they needed to reach. Feliciano felt rather intimidated by it all, holding the letter much tighter, rather ignorant to all the stares he was given, all recognizing and widening their eyes in wonder. It had happened all throughout the city but Feliciano was too distracted to notice, not to mention he was with Lei, who would glare at anybody who dared come close. Feliciano was under enough stressed, he didn’t need people barging in, even if Feliciano wouldn’t mind. He loved meeting new people and any new chance was a great one, but he did need to focus on this.

 They finally entered the building, its interior matching in magnificence. Corridors, balconies, heights, even different kinds of items were exhibited in countless amounts that made every corner a site to watch, something new to see and an array of activity that seemed endless. All kinds of students passed them by, from elves to even fairies, or humans just dealing with their dragons.

 How amazing, how shinning, how could Lei just move about without faltering the slightest in wonder.

 “Feliciano!” The very person called, pointing over to a roundabout desk they were nearing, basically where they should ask to know where Feliciano was supposed to hand in these things and who he was supposed to talk to. They spoke, filled in the necessary information and the girl behind the desk went off to inform the headmaster, advising that they stayed there while she announced the visit. Lei went off to sit on near chair while Feliciano continued with his gazing, landing on models of different kinds of creatures, explaining their anatomy and power, tapestry projects, magical orbs floating as a sort of decoration, enchanted plants and finally, right above the attending desk, something so large Feliciano was surprised he hadn’t noticed before. Handing from the height of the crystal dome, there was a transparent case only holding…part of a slab. It wasn’t half, it wasn’t a big part, no, there was only but just one corner of the entire case filled with only one single piece. It was pretty exaggerated to keep something so large to only fill in one corner. What kind of image was even in there? He extended his vision to take a better look, to see on it the image of a man, only part of it actually, not really offering anything else to give him more clue at what was this man’s purpose. It certainly didn’t seem Spadian, in fact it didn’t have any familiar symbols. Whatever there was, it was ruined, covered, scratched and broken. Really there was no evidence, no story, no light.

 “Mr. Ulan will gladly see you, follow me this way please,” she returned, interrupting whatever questioning Feliciano was doing with this slab. He nodded and followed right behind her, deeper into the building, into the main stairs that lead the rising into the rest of the floors. Lei decided to stay behind, giving Feliciano a wave of luck, settling back into the chair ready for a small nap.

 Feliciano followed the secretary until they reached a good height, and instead of taking the singular hall forward, she took out a pen, let it drop, and a blue portal was opened.

 “Right this way, he’s already waiting for you,” she ushered.

 She was used to this hesitation, to this testing as Feliciano dipped a hand trying to figure it out, rolling her eyes and having no other choice than to just push him inside. Suddenly he stumbled onto a shelve and book covered room, only but part of the office in glass windows showing to a greenhouse of all kinds of blue and purple fauna, right where the desk lay, where the figure of who he assumed was the headmaster sat.

 “An honor to have the arising Queen of Hearts here,” he extended and welcomed, having a chair fly and push Feliciano onward until he was right in front, sitting in that very chair startled, Pookie as confused and trying to realize what was going on. It was surprise he had managed to keep his hold on Feliciano’s shoulder this entire time.

 “An even bigger honor after you did to save our city, I give you gratitude for everyone here in the academy, you have no idea how much we appreciate it.” He was honest and truly thankful.

 “I wouldn’t let such a beautiful and important city fall, and in the process I…learned about this power and used it to stop everything. I’m so glad it worked, but I still feel bad about all the damages I did to the wall,” Feliciano slumped with fault.

 “Sacrifices, besides, it’s still standing as we all wanted, I’m sure the crown will give it the necessary attention to have it fixed quickly, nobody is truly mourning it. But enough of this, one of my secretaries said you have some things to give and tell me,” he was eager, leaning to be given and told.

 “Ah yes of course!” He took out the envelope with everything, pushing it across the desk for Mr. Ulan to reach and grab, examining before he began to tear to look at all the contents.

 “Back when Ludwig and I were starting our journey in Hearts, some Khaos’s men ambushed our train and captured us even as we escaped. A group of…joker Vikings-” he had to admit “-saved us and offered their flight boat to take us to the shores of the Arabic provinces in the Diamond Kingdom. In the crew there was a young boy named Emil, he saw us getting captured, found our location and helped our escape from our binds and the cave they had us in. If it wasn’t for his big role in the mission and his abilities, I’m afraid right now we would be in the clutches of Khaos himself. During our stay in their ship, I learned Emil was really well adept in magic, full of wonderful tricks and knowledge that need to be in a place as amazing as this, sadly his role as a joker has impended that, but as gratitude I promised to give him a reinstitution into the Hearts registry once I return to Berlin, as well as to bring these letters and papers of application to the Academy once I reach Washington. So please, I beg you, accept this boy for what he did and what he can do, as well as a kind of gratitude for what I did to save your city, please help to give him the future he wants and I know he can achieve.”

 He truly hoped it had been enough, that Mr. Ulan could see the wanting enough in his eyes and how he couldn’t stop raising his hands together in a continuous prayer hoping for that acceptance. The man didn’t really show an exact expression to show his answer, just giving his attention to the papers, reading, giving a nod, a slight widening to his eyes but always staying stoic in his judging. He would question occasionally and Feliciano stayed there to give him all the necessary answers, a chat of dealings that went on for the hour. By the time they were done, Mr. Ulan opening up a new portal and joining the arising Queen in his outing, Feliciano still didn’t have a sure answer and he was eager, Mr. Ulan could easily tell.

 “As for my decision, I’ll tell Mr. Bondevik first, he wrote an address I could send a message to, I’m sure he will let you know afterwards,” he smiled.

 “But I won’t get any of these messages until I return to Berlin,” Feliciano disappointed.

 “A little suspense then, gives you more anticipation for when you return.”

 Feliciano sighed but had to accept, he would just have to wait then, but at least he did his part of the promise and that was enough for now. As he met with the large lobby of the academy, his eyes instantly set once again on the empty case, the one with the single piece, longing gazes in silence that Mr. Ulan couldn’t miss.

 “Is something the matter, your highness?” He questioned.

 Feliciano quickly pointed, “what is that?”

 It took a while for Mr. Ulan to find the specific object and when he did he sighed sadly, but there was no problem with telling. “You do know that the Spade kingdom holds what was once the White kingdom?”

 “Yes, it’s land to the northwest,” he remembered from his teachings.

 “Indeed. After the war of the blackened decades, everything was left to ruin, nothing was recognizable and our ancestors could find nothing to keep, simply deciding to reconstruct and create new area for living and farming. That little slab piece was one of the only things we found surviving. We believe it once belonged to a very important mural in the kingdom, located right at the gates at what was once the castle of the capital. We have some writings that say people would travel great lengths just to see it, saying that the story was the most important in all the kingdoms, but the writings that specify in that tale are lost. Here in the academy we have concocted different theories, some think it might tell the story of Pisa, some say maybe Khaos, maybe one of the Aces, maybe all of them, maybe about the very creation of our world, but we can never know since the rest of the mural has not been found,” he drowned into a fault, into a miss, into the stress of a failed mission.

 “Why keep such a big case for something so tiny though?”

 “We keep hoping that we might one day find it and connect it together. There’s always excavations being done in that territory so we keep hoping, besides, it reminds us of the still mysteries of our world and how sometimes we only have tiny parts to something that is much larger than what we understand. We can never cease our search because someday we might have a complete picture.”

 It was a good way to look at it, a good reminder to students who are always looking for new ways to use their magic, to use new spells, new inventions and new skills to fill in their own empty cases.

 Feliciano wished Mr. Ulan goodbye as well as luck and belief in their search before he left the academy and back into the fray of the city with Lei.