#I want to just cease and perish immediately

[fallencelsetial]

If he asked nicely…..would you?

[anamelessfool]

For the hc thing

Secondo is a ginger. I'm a strong believer in this. I think hes gone to lengths that are hilarious and embarrassing to hide the fact hes a ginger because he thinks no one would take him seriously

Do with this what you will

Haha I always thought of him as someone with very limp, straight black hair. When he was young it hung lamely down to just touch his shoulders. Whether he has black hair or reddish hair it started falling out really quickly.

Secondo started to lose his hair around 18 years old. His maternal grandfather was as bald as a billiard ball, so it was only a matter of time. From a young age he was brought up to be a perfect specimen of a sibling of sin, so this revelation that he was disintegrating one hair follicle at a time privately troubled him.

He would solve the problem, of course. He was a magician after all, and with enough willpower anything is possible. He was also naive and sheltered as hell, so he was of course bound for a lot of grief and a new feeling for him: failure.

He started off with visualisations, mantras. Sound Mind, sound body, right? As above, so below, as within, so without. He create elaborate rituals, chants to do each morning to "Restore him to his True Self for the Good of All and the Harm of None." If the philosopher's stone was designed to cure thinning hair he would have gone to the ends of the earth to find it.

But every day the random loose hair across the pillow never ceased.

Fine. He would get witchy with it now with some salves of herbs and oils carefully chosen for their energetic properties. He would sneak around and steal herbs from the Ministry gardens, and was caught several times by an exasperated Primo. (Now BOTH Primo's brothers were sneaking around and being shady. And Nihil pulled him aside once and asked him to tell Secondo that he absolutely stunk now.)

Before then he was never interested in any sort of relationship, and stinking of a magickally balanced but rancid smelling concoctions didn't help matters either. His anxiety about his appearance only drew him deeper into himself and into solving the problem in any way he could. He didn't want anyone's help and he didn't want to ever show his sweat.

If he was ever going to step into his destiny of Papa Emeritus he needed to be a stable, virile force of inpenetrable Will.

There was a good eighteen months of struggles which included creative ways to comb the remaining hair across bald patches. One morning, tired and burned out, he stared dead-eyed into the mirror of the communal washroom at his miserable visage.

A passage floated into his mind, a passage from a book he had been cross-referencing for a recent dissertation:

Matthew 5:30-And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

He watched himself grab a razor and shaving cream. It felt like an out of body experience as he saw the chunks of hair fall into the sink, the smooth skin of the top of his head finally out in the open.

Almost immediately afterward he panicked, but a sense of power grew in him. No longer was the energy of his Will diverted into worrying about the inevitable. He felt changed, burned away and reborn.

In the years after he gained even more success and finally stepped into the powerful virile role he was born to play.

And that's how dark sexy confident charisma monsters are made, ghesties

Thanks for the request, this was fun.

[rathologic]

Isn't it weird that in Nocturnal, the civilization led by the Kin occupies the burnt-out shell of the town? Obviously there are game development reasons to set the ending in the same location that contains all the assets (though, concerns about the player walking are nullified by the use of teleportation between vignettes in this ending), but it creates a ton of weird messages in context of the Kin's traditional relationship to their land + the point that the town itself damaged the Earth - basically expressed by the Kin and child NPCs being placed in Town locations during this ending, while the exiled settlers are the ones who walk off into the Steppe to presumably live a nomadic lifestyle if they don't immediately perish. That being how the Kin are implied to have lived before their community centered on the Town/Abattoir. and considering it a death sentence inasmuch as those settlers cease to exist as personalities in the ending is interesting itself, as the exact "faceless subhuman" that the Kin are described as essentially being, slash as a corollary from how the idea of not living in a town is never considered as an option in either Pathologic game... These both associate the Town with the Polyhedron as a more compelling single entity (where the physical town can also not be removed from the Earth), and reflect resoundingly bad (that is, coherently) on the idea of reciprocal colonial violence that p2 already surrounds the Kin with, re: occupation, expulsion, and the populations "trading places" in a sense. But the first point is thematically nuts, saying that since the Polyhedron is here now they must adapt to how it has changed life in this place and develop a new life in the geographical and (to an extent) social context of their oppression, when 2's big association is of the Kin with the past and tradition, and when the one almost liberatory thing Artemy can do for the Kin during the game is physically move them away from the Town... I think there's just no awareness of what the "past" it wants to associate with the Kin is in the first place?

[historicity-was-already-taken]

An Account from Inside a Death Camp Transport Train

I came across this account of Franciszka Kaszubowa’s experience on board a train from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka in summer 1942 on pages 737-739 of Barbara Engelking and Jacek Leociak’s The Warsaw Ghetto: a Guide to the Perished City. It’s very....affecting, and I feel compelled to share it.

As with previous posts of this nature, please be warned that the below excerpt contains deeply disturbing material. Though I lack the ability to appropriately gauge how disturbing various accounts are (studying genocide breaks you like that), I will say that this account, much like Filip Muller’s account of his time working inside the gas chambers of Auschwitz, immediately carved itself into my....”brain” feels too flippant and meme-esque, and “soul” feels too purple and melodramatic, but yeah, one of those.

And without fruther ado:

I got into the car relatively early; there were not yet many people inside. I stood under the window, and I stayed there the whole time. People kept getting into the car. It became crowded, and then more crowded, and you could no longer move, you could no longer breathe, and they kept on stuffing people in…They packed about 240-250 people into our car, in which normally 60 people could have been fitted.

The doors were closed, the bar was dropped, and that was that. You could no longer get out. I hung onto the windowsill and stood like that with one hand hanging down and one hand on the window. Behind me was a crowd of intertwined people: the old, the young, and children. Just beside me standing by the wall was a man from our labor site with his little four-year-old girl in front of him. So that she should not be suffocated, he leaned his arms on the wall of the car, his hands over the little girl’s head, but the crowd was pressing on him more and more, and his hands began to go numb from exhaustion. His strength left him, despair that he could not protect the child from this mass tore at him, and a moment later he weakened so much that he began to faint and suffocate his child with his own body…

It began to get impossibly hot…I looked at the wall and saw the strange color of the walls, painted with something white or gray. I began to understand that it had been done espe­cially to choke us. So many people breathing, carbon dioxide was released, and this together with the temperature in the car caused the emission of gas, which was to poison us all… People were already choking, suffocating. It got hellishly hot, so that there was no air to breathe…some people were already losing consciousness for a few minutes, and fainting, and so, still standing, the process of dying began...Those dying on their feet could not fall to the floor…so their bodies began to intertwine and they fell in a heap stuck together in this way.

Those who were still alive now had a bit more opportunity to move, and began to get out from under the corpses, treading with their boots on the bodies of people who only a little while before had still been alive. Trampling, clambering mercilessly, for they wanted to save themselves, they wanted to live a little longer. They tore off their clothes and then, naked, died one after another in terrible torments of suffocation…

I was still standing by the window...still not fainting, holding on hard to the window and aware that letting go meant inevitable death. Behind me there was a growing heap of the dead, still shaking with their pre-death throes and the groans as they suffocated…People are still walking on them and often trample on someone who is still alive but unconscious. At this moment human ethics cease to exist; there is no respect for the dead even if they used to be close. Only save your life for a few seconds.

With all this I am standing ever higher, for under my feet the floor is covered with an ever thicker layer of the dead. A moment later I feel that I am collapsing...I am conscious, but I can already feel an approaching wave of choking in my throat and my head…Like the others I began to take off my clothes to give myself a little relief...I was standing now on a high pile of the dead. And beside me lay Karola, with whom I’d worked the whole time...I could not believe that she was no longer alive...I no longer felt anything, no physical pains, my hand was falling…Everything went dark, I began to writhe, to shake, and I lost consciousness...

When I came to and opened my eyes from the faint, actually semi-death, it was completely dark in the car. The train was moving, with a measured rhythm of the wheels on the rails...I was aware that it was night, that we were going toward Treblinka to be burned in the ovens, that I was lying on a pile of corpses, and that if I arrived alive in Treblinka, then perhaps they would burn me alive, along with the dead from this transport.

I began to make a great effort to move. I felt terribly cold...I began in the dark to feel the corpses, looking for a woman so I could take from her some clothing for myself. I found a head covered with a shawl and quickly took it off and covered my own head. From another corpse, this time a male one, I pulled a thick winter coat, which later turned out to be too big for me, but that covered me from top to bottom. I put it on and then decided to jump through that little window...with great difficulty, I got up and stood on the top of the corpses.

The last living man in the car helped me to get up to the level of the window—I pushed out my clumsy body, wrapped up in that thick coat, and threw myself with a superhuman effort onto the other side. I was still holding the windowsill with my hand when I noticed that my coat had caught on wire sticking out of the window. I understood that this would prevent me falling to the ground, and so once again I mobi­lized my reserves of strength, and unhooked the coat with my other hand...I fell to the ground and again lost consciousness.

[art-blogge]

Fate Mink goes to London™ sort of

Something was already on fire. Minako hadn't even finished her breakfast when Mephisto blinked into view, shoving his hat under the running faucet and waiting for the fire to go out.

"Good morning, Master," he announced, tilting his head way, way back. He wanted to see her face when he was speaking. "This isn't my fault for once, I promise!"

Minako, still eating despite the disturbance, merely glanced down at Mephisto's tails. Seeing that they were all waving side-to-side at varying speeds, he was probably being honest this time. Probably, but not definitely. Tails one and three were both slower, indicating he was calm, while tail two looked like it was trying to break some sort of speed record. Was he just nervous about something? Maybe that thing being having been on fire?

After shutting off the water, Mephisto tilted back for a second time. "Whatcha lookin' at back there? You can't have any of it! Legally it's yours, sure," he paused to shrug, "But Hyde already called dibs on my rear. Said somethin' about payback? I'm not quite sure what he's on about, but it could be fun! Maybe more fun than lighting my hat on fire!" He rolled over to facing right-side up, throwing his lower body into the air, still leaning towards Minako and grinning. Seeing as he wasn't getting much of an answer, put his head in his hands and overdramatically pouted. He was being ignored, or even worse, selectively not being responded to! Oh, the horrors!

Entering from the hallway into this was Andersen, irritably grumbling something about lions and pricks as he dragged himself and at least two blankets into a chair. This was his territory now, apparently, and the blankets served as cover and added some needed height.

Understandably curious, Minako stood up slightly to peer over the table at him. She didn't speak up- She WAS still eating!- but tilted her head slightly. This was enough for Andersen to understand her question and answer appropriately.

"Hyde. Who and what did you think? The maniac woke me up announcing he wanted to visit London and to "Be prepared"- That last part was in song format!" Andersen slammed a fist against the table, shaking it a bit. "Is he trying to die?! Singing Disney at me when I'm not even working! Were I an offensive unit, he would cease to exist where he stands!"

"You're not?" Mephisto chimed in, picking his head up out of his hands, "I thought you were, really and truly! At least with that additude of yours!" He began to laugh, earning the reward of Andersen's entire tome to the side of his head, at a high velocity. At a lesser velocity, in response to this grave offense, Mephisto whipped Ticking-kun towards Andersen. Unfortunately for Mephisto, Ticking-kun wasn't interested in fighting, and climbed down to the floor instead.

----

Jekyll did not appear as himself until several hours later, when Minako had decided it was time for lunch. She was not with Andersen or Mephisto this time, meaning she could eat in peace. Andersen had disappeared after announcing his intentions to "Write himself out of this dimension and immediately perish on the sun", and Mephisto had begun chasing after the Hassan of Serenity with a clipboard, two pool floats, and other assorted noodle implements. It was for science, he claimed, and finding him dead on the floor would also be counted as science.

"Hyde lit Mephisto's hat on fire," Minako informed him, not even letting Jekyll speak. He only arched his eyebrows as she added "He's really got it out for the clown. You think he's afraid of clowns and he's acting out?"

Jekyll was never the type to laugh at any theories involving Hyde, and this was no exception. It was, unfortunately, a completely valid theory, and the only way to deconfirm it would be asking Hyde himself. Jekyll did not want to wake Hyde- he had finally gone silent twenty minutes earlier- and thus decided to save his questions for a later time. He then gave Minako a shrug, realizing he had left her question hanging.

"It's not impossible, unfortunately," he finally explained, "Improbable, but not impossible. The chances of him enjoying children's cartoons were improbable as well, and it turned out he does enjoy them." Jekyll shook his head, and then quickly added "And unfortunately for Mr. Andersen, he seems to quite enjoy Disney musical numbers."

There was a groan of exasperation from the nearby cabinets in reply to this. Both Jekyll and Minako paused to stare in that direction, surprised. Andersen had apparently crammed himself into the cabinets to write in peace, and only now had he made himself known. His only additional statement was to stick his hand out from the cabinet and give them both a rude hand gesture. Andersen, as per usual, was not very nice to people, to absolutely no one's shock.

----

It was far later in the day when Andersen finally approached his Master. Unfortunately for him, Minako had just finished a training session with Serenity, and was still on edge when he spoke up. This earned Andersen a blast of wind to the face- Something he took with a surprising amount of tolerance.

"I see I frightened you, Master. How cute, perhaps I really could use you as a model protagonist." Andersen smirked, watching Minako's face go from shock to embarrassment. Shaking his head, he let his smirk drop. "But I am not here for that. I discovered something important that may explain Mr. Edward's behavior."

Minako was confused for a brief moment, unsure who "Edward" was. Only when Andersen added "Mr. Hyde," did she understand what he was getting at.

"Oh, yeah, sure! Sit down!" She pulled out a chair for him, but he opted to instead climb onto the table. Huffing slightly, Minako sat down in the chair before leaning forward in interest. "What'd you figure out, Hans? Does he have a crush on Walt Disney?"

Her joke was entirely ignored, and Andersen flipped his tome open to a bookmark- A red one that had not been there previously. The page, startlingly enough, was stained brown, with some parts darker than others. Andersen was careful not to touch these stains, only making an unhappy face.

"I will keep it short. He and the clown had met previously, according to this," Andersen stated, pointing to a single paragraph. Sure enough, it roughly spoke about Mephisto killing someone- Who was unclear- and Jekyll being unhappy about it. Reading further, Minako was able to gather that this had been during a Singularity- An altered space and time where events ran differently, often ending in disaster.

"Servants involved in such Singularities don't usually recall them, but it seems to differ," Hans now added, recognizing that Minako had read ahead. "For example, I do not recall this "London" event at all, but it is still recorded here in full. Neither Dr. Jekyll or the clown seem to, either, but Hyde may be a different story. I cannot speak for Dr. Paracelsus, as he left as soon as I asked him about it." He now closed his tome, keeping the bookmark inside, before looking up at Minako. She did not need to speak for him to understand.

"I cannot say I know of Hyde's motives yet, I know, that is what you want. I would need to see him up close while the subject is relevant. However, do not forcefully cause this to happen- It is Mr. Hyde. He is not to be trusted, so do not do anything stupid!"

Minako nodded and thought about this, before getting out of her seat and thanking Andersen. He threw his hands in the air in response to an unsaid statement, yelling after her "I tell you not to be stupid and you plan on doing it anyway! Fine! Go get obliterated by a Berserker, see if I care!!"

----

"So it turns out we're not allowed to Rayshift," Minako began, nursing her face with an ice-pack, "Since I'm too new and Hyde is already banned."

She paused momentarily, taking note of her servant's attention spans. Jekyll and Andersen were both paying attention, but Mephisto was entertaining himself with a jar of chemicals and a magnet. Figuring two out of three wasn't bad, she continued speaking.

"Chaldea isn't permitted to fully share Singularity records yet, and asking Hyde directly resulted in him counter-offering shit I don't wanna do." Ignoring Andersen's obvious smirking, she quickly added "I'm not gonna bone a maniac just for a QnA! And no, Mephi, murder isn't an option!"

Mephisto groaned and briefly glanced up to display his disappointment, then went back to making some blobs spike up in his jar. He probably wasn't having a good time with the team meeting, but Minako couldn't really tell unless she checked his backside or asked Andersen.

"So what's the ice for?" Andersen asked, still smirking. Minako knew he wanted to hear that he was right, but she refused to give him that satisfaction- Or an answer. Instead, Andersen had the ice pack thrown at him the moment he looked away. This was easily batted away by him, resulting in both of them being unsatisfied. The only winner in this situation was Mephisto, who was still goofing off.

"Might I suggest the Simulator instead?" Jekyll asked, finally giving his input. "It is relatively accurate, and far safer. Hyde hasn't been banned from it yet, either, so there shouldn't be any problems using it." Having not been interrupted or argued against instantly, Jekyll quickly added "And he isn't listening right now, so he wouldn't know we're doing this…"

----

"--The hell is this?!" Hyde yelled angrily, "I thought we weren't goin' to London! What the fuck?!"

He was clearly thrown off by the situation he was rudely awoken to, having not at all been prepared to be anywhere outside of the house or even awake at all. For once, he had fully intended to sleep the day away. He was clearly very upset, and very bitter.

"I just got woken up and there ain't even a fight?! It's just shitty ol' London! No one's even heeeeerre! This bitch empttyyyyyyyyy! What the fuck is thiiiiiiiiiiiiis?!"

His continued howls of anger and dismay were not ignored- Minako and her servants were paying Hyde their full attention, hoping he would say something of value. Something. Anything. Anything at all. At some point today.

Hyde, of course, did not say anything even slightly valuable, instead opting to pick up the nearest dumpster and throw it at the "Garbage Clown". This was also not given a single explanation, much to Minako and Andersen's collective annoyances. Of course their foolproof plan had gone awry- It was foolproof, not bastardproof.

"This is going well," Mephisto chimed in, jingling miserably across the floor. For his input, he was given a knife directly into his backside. He hadn't thought he could jingle any more miserably than before, but he was now proven wrong. Another hypothesis down.

----

They lost Hyde within minutes. There wasn't even very far he could go, but they lost him despite everything.

"You would think he'd leave a trail of blood or something!" Mephisto commented, floating on ahead of everyone else. It had been decided that Mephisto would make the best leader, since he'd also make for good bait. Mephisto hadn't been remotely happy about that decision, but he also wanted an excuse to fight Hyde, so it worked out in Minako's favor.

Behind him, Minako was carrying Andersen like a child, much to his complete and utter disdain. He had legs! He could keep up! Sure, he was a bit sore today, but he would manage! He was a grown-ass adult! This definitely also had nothing to do with him accidentally crashing into a streetlight pole while he wasn't paying attention!

They heard Hyde long before they saw him, and Mephisto immediately shot ahead to eavesdrop. Minako and Andersen exchanged tired stares, neither wanting to bother with keeping up. Oh well.

----

"What the hell do you MEAN you don't know?! You're full of shit!"

Hyde was bitching into a rotary phone, Mephisto found while peering into an open window. He took a moment to trace the phone cable, only to stop when he saw the other end of it laying on the floor. It wasn't plugged in? Then what was this about?

"What the fuck do you mean "How the heck am I phoning you"?! Jesus! I'm not phoning you! You're in my head! For a guy with a PHD, you're dumb as hell!!"

Behind Mephisto, Minako and Andersen appeared. Minako was seated on Andersen's tome in midair, and Andersen was irritably sitting on her lap. It wasn't very steady, and Minako was firmly holding onto the sides of the tome. Mephisto wanted to laugh at her, really, but they couldn't chance Hyde noticing them. Hyde briefly had gone quiet, listening to what was apparently Jekyll on the "other end".

"No, I ain't gonna just tell 'em! If he don't know about it, that's a personal problem!"

Mephisto looked at Andersen for his judgment. Andersen silently sighed- He'd observed nothing noteworthy up to that moment. The following moment however, he leaned back into Minako and backed the tome away from the window. Mephisto didn't get to question why Andersen's eyes had gotten as large as saucers before a loveseat crashed through the wall and straight into him, sending both the chair and clown far out of Minako and Andersen's sight.

"That's what you get!!" Hyde jeered, victory toss-slamming the phone reciever into the floor. The reciever did not survive the impact despite the floor being carpeted, not that Hyde cared about that. He cared far more about how he was being eavesdropped on, whipping out a knife upon spotting Minako. Minako threw her hands up- No combat! No intent to fight here!- and Andersen sighed. What a mess.

Well, she could…. No. No, Minako absolutely couldn't handle this. Andersen didn't trust Hyde as far as he could spit, and that wasn't far. He'd have to handle this.

"You sure showed him! He's definitely not going to want to kill you now!" Andersen mock-cheered, glaring at Hyde over his glasses, "Maybe he'll do it the same way he killed the other guy."

Minako raised an eyebrow to Andersen as Hyde sputtered a half-thought out insult. The idea of Mephistopheles killing someone wasn't unusual, but someone Hyde knew? Minako was slightly lost. Andersen kn- Right. Right, he had something written down. Andersen gestured for her to lean down and she did.

"Wild guess," Andersen whispered, smirking, "He's very predictable."

There was clearly more to it, but Andersen didn't elaborate. Minako had already learned that she couldnt always rely on him- There was only a chance for him to come through. All his own whims.

"By the way," Andersen added, "You forgot about something, Hyde."

"Eh?"

Tick-Tock Bomb, 400% Buster damage with bonus Curse.

----

They left the Simulator with Mephisto injured and Hyde (or Jekyll) unconscious, so fifty percent worse than how they'd been on entry. It wasn't a good first experience for any of them, which was repeated by the Chaldean doctor that saw them afterwards. Minako wasn't sure about the white-cloaked man being a doctor of any kind but he sure did heal her Servants, so she didn't ask about that.

"Does Chaldea keep Singularity records?" Andersen piped up rather suddenly, earning the "doctor"'s attention.

"We certainly do!" they cheerfully answered, earning a squint from Andersen. The Caster(s?) maintained eye contact for at least five seconds, making Minako worry that combat might break out. It never did.

"Could you fetch whatever records were related to London? I have things written from then but no memory of such an event."

"Sure thing, Mr. Andersen!"

Minako stared. Why hadn't they just asked for Singularity data? She didn't know that was a thing they could just DO. Then again, it wouldn't have been interesting enough for Mephisto. At least he was taking this well.

She hadn't even seen the doctor leave, but here they were, walking back in with a stack of papers. That quickly? How? Chaldea usually took forever to get one paper printed out. Even suggesting mechanical devices worked in here was a curse in of itself. Even her phone failed in here sometimes, and that was top of the line big money.

"AH-HA!" Andersen announced, startling Minako out of that thoughtline. "I found it!"

He was excited, having found validation for the last few hours of this life. His excitement was contagious, with Mephisto immediately jumping off the desk he'd been sitting on and floating around Andersen's shoulders to also read. Jekyll was less enthused, staring at the ground and wiping off his glasses.

"London Singularity. Mephistopheles killed the Victor Frankenstein of that time period. Dr. Jekyll and Chaldean Servants then defeated Mephistopheles! Due to previously stated rules, anyone killed during a Singularity will die upon time being restored to it's proper state."

"What's odd about this is that I didn't exactly get along with that man," Jekyll uttered as if in response, but added nothing else. Minako looked to Mephisto, but he didn't add anything either. He seemed bothered more than anything.

"But I suppose "I" did," Jekyll added after an extended period of silence. "Hyde says he quite liked the guy."

Mephisto grinned, but Minako watched his tails carefully. He wasn't as happy as he was pretending to be.

"That guy was interesting, but I wouldn't trust him with anything! You shouldn't either!"

[cats-and-confusion]

"Daniel, you absolute fucking idiot." I stare at him in what I hope comes across as monumental disappointment rather than fury. I'm not the one who's meant to be angry, after all.

I spin around in my office chair in an attempt to quell my rage. "Firstly, disregarding the revelation that gods exist and assuming I believe you, why would you do that? What could possibly have possessed you to cheat on anyone you're meant to love, let alone a Deity?"

"Well I-"

I cease my spinning and look him dead in the eye. "No. I don't want to hear it. You're going to go back outside, and you're going to confess to her what you did. Go apologize. Right now." I swing my arm forcefully to point at the door, trying to emphasize how serious I am about this. His face scrunches up and his eyebrows draw together in distress.

He attemps to reason with me, the fool. "I can't! She'll kill me, she'll actually kill me! You're just going to rat me out?!" Daniel's grip on the edge of the desk tightens as he leans in, a subconscious attempt to make me indulge him that he probably doesn't even realize he's doing.

I flick his forehead, causing him to reel back. "Oh no, the consequences of your own actions! Whatever shall you do?" I taunt sarcastically, doing what my roommate would call the 'gay hand thing'. "You cheated on someone and came to me for help? As if I had the same shitty morals as you?! Women aren't things to play with for your own pleasure, much less one you're in a relationship with. I thought you were better than this. Get out of my sight." I gesture towards the door again, sick of this conversation.

Daniel's face goes red with what I assume is embarrassment or rage, or both. He bares his teeth like a dog when he talks. "You bitch," he snarls, as though any of this was my fault. "We're supposed to be friends, and you pull this shit with me? Are you serious? I can't believe you're taking her side." He slams his hand on the table, making me flinch. I straighten in my chair as my anxiety spikes. "It's not my faul-"

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut the fuck up. There is no part of this that isn't your fault, and frankly, we're not friends anymore. Please leave." I can't bring myself to look at his eyes anymore. He shouts loudly in anger and slams his hands on the table, making me flinch violently and have to resist the urge to cower.

He looks baffled by my reaction and pauses momentarily. "Ellie-"

"Please take your problems elsewhere," I interrupt immediately, my voice strained. He huffs and stomps out of the room, throwing a degrading term over his shoulder to me as he leaves. I put my head in my hands and try not to burst into tears.

I thought Daniel was okay to be around. I thought he knew better than to be loud and physical and scary. He seemed fine remembering my boundaries before. I don't understand why that had to change as soon as I upset him, as though my safety was a privilege.

I take a few deep breaths to try and calm down. I'm opening Spotify to play my calm-time music when a thought occurs to me.

If he treated his friends like that, how did he treat his girlfriend?

I feel as though ice has been poured down my back. I scramble to find my phone, looking through my contacts. About...three of these people know Daniel? I don't want to talk to him directly so I text his guy friend, Jon, to ask how to contact Daniel's girlfriend.

.

Ellie> Hey do you know daniel's girlfriend?

Jon> yeah why

oooo is there tea☕

Ellie> That's the coffee emoji.

Jon> bro stfu and tell me what went down

Ellie> I need to talk to Daniel's girlfriend. Daniel cheated on her and I wanna be her murder buddy.

Also she might be a literal god. Forgot about that part

Jon> oh shit, aight her number is xxx-xxx-xxx-xxxx

this isn't another cult thing is it

Ellie> Whaaaat nooooo, I would never start a cult around sticky notes ;) thanks

Jon> and stop texting like my damn gramma

Ellie> Perish, wench.

.

I type the number into my phone and debate on whether I should call or text. I take a moment to also consider that contacting her about this might be unnecessary or even dangerous, but I want to reach out anyway in case I can help, if not for my own peace of mind.

I decide to call her. The phone rings exactly once before she picks up and, okay, who does that. I figure that's probably not meant to be my priority and instead start with a tentative, "Hello?"

Immediately I hear sniffles on the other side. "Hello. Who is this?" Her voice is gentler than I thought it would be - quiet, grief-stricken and almost reverent in a way.

I take a minute before responding. "My name is Ellie. I-"

Before I can so much as reach out, she bursts into little giggles. It sounds like wind chimes, like the picture of domesticity, like a family that knows joy and strife and everything in between yet always chooses to hope, to cherish everything they have and even what they don't. It sounds like impurity in the most beautiful way, and I ask myself how anyone could ever choose anything over her. "Ellie," she repeats. "I don't mean to laugh, it's just we have nearly the same name."

I bask in her joy for a moment before I discover words again. "Nearly the same? What's your name?" I ask, and when she answers I feel as though I could dedicate myself to her, give myself to her, and she would offer all of herself in return.

"Eileithyia."

let me know if you want a part two. Thanks for reading!

You stood there, looking at your friend, faceplaming “Let me get this straight, you’re dating a Goddess, an actual ‘divine powers, older than civilization’ Goddess and you ….CHEATED ON HER!?!??” Your friend has a desperate look in their eyes “Can you help me or not?”

[riku-izanami]

Thanksgiving in the grim Dark future

November 15, year XXXX, 

Beacon Academy:

Time: 1130 hrs

Nora: *humming a happy tune while leading a tall figure towards beacon* 

???: *groaning*

Nora: *turning around* Are you feeling okay, aunt Kanna?

Said figure, now revealed to be Kassandra Curze, Primarch of the traitor legion the night lords,  looked down at her niece/surrogate daughter.

Kassandra: It’s the sun; I’m not very fond of it, seeing as how I grew up in the dark recesses of nostramo’s hive cities. Even my current attire isn’t helping well. 

(think of lady D’s outfit but more gothic)

Nora: I see…..So We’ll Just *dramatic pose* BLOW UP THE SUN!

Kassandra: *blinking owlishly before laughing* Nora, sweetie, we cannot destroy the sun. Otherwise, life on this planet and others could cease.

Nora: Well, tell’em to get a lot of light bulbs cause….....hey, what’s that noise?

A faint humming can be heard across the landing pad, and it only grew louder as something approached. Many looked up expecting another bullhead but were surprised to see a massive ship flying over. While the masses watched in awe, Kassandra's eyes widened as she recognized it as an Astartes dropship and the color scheme of a particular legion.

Kassandra: *muttering* The Raven Guard…..

Nora: who?

Kassandra: *not looking away from the dropship* Nora…….. find Elena.

Nora: *confused* what? Why?

Kassandra didn’t get to answer as the Raven Guard dropship began releasing its passengers.

Location: JNPR Dorm;

Time:1150 hrs

Pyrrha: *packing* It was nice of your mother to invite our families and us for Thanksgiving

Jaune: Well, it is the first time I have actual friends over & not some d-bags who wanted to get closer to my sisters. Plus, I think she’s doing this to find me a potential wife.

Ren: Well, no matter the reason, Nora and I will be thrilled to celebrate with you. 

Jaune: speaking of which, wasn’t Nora supposed to bring her aunt Kanna?

On cue, Nora burst through the door, her clothes looked a bit ruffed, and she breathed heavily. 

Pyrrha: oh, Nora! where’s ……

Instead of answering, she immediately rushed to her bed, throwing random things around til she found magnhild. 

Ren: *concerned* Nora, what are…

He never got his answer since she ran back out, leaving her friends puzzled & seriously concerned.

Jaune: what was that about?

Ren: I don’t know. I’ve never seen her like this before. Well, except when some proclaimed waffles were better than pancakes.

Just then, the trio heard screams and what sounded like gunfire. However, it sounded heavier than a regular or huntsman-made firearm.

Ren: Is that?!

Jaune: Bolter fire *turning to Pyrrha* Pyrrha, find my mom. She was with emerald last I remember! Ren, with me, we must try to minimize the damage. 

Pyrrha nodded and rushed off to find Elena, while Jaune & Ren grabbed their weapons, running towards the attack, hoping to prevent any casualties.

Ren: WHat doing think is going on?!

Jaune: No idea, but somehow Nora is involved

Location: Beacon Courtyard

Time: 1215hr

???: IS THIS IT?! IS THIS ALL THE FEARED DARK QUEEN HAD TO OFFER!?

Kassandra, now bloody and beaten from her nephew's attack, hung her head look as she lay helpless on the ground. She came without weapons or her armor, the students fled when the space marines began firing on her, and it seems the staff is unaware of her current situation. 

???: LOOK AT ME, TRAITOR! LOOK UPON YOU, EXECUTIONER!

Kassandra:........

???:.......KAVYAAN

One of the more prominent Space marines, now known as Kayvaan Shrike, chapter master of the raven guard, steps forward. He motions to another then they both grab Kassandra's arms, lifting her so the voice can see her better.

???: LOOK AT ME, Curze!

Kayvaan Shrike: Our primarch speaks to you, traitor! 

Kassandra weakly lifts her head. The voice belongs to none other than Corina Corvax, primarch of the Raven Guard.

Corina: the imperium was made to believe you perished, but here you stand on this world. Tell me, how did you escape your judgment? How many have you slaughtered for your dark gods? 

Kassandra:.......c…c….corina….

Corina: So you finally speak. 

Kassandra: C….Corina…listen to me. I’ve changed. I no longer crave slaughter and have no contact with my legion. I found peace here. I just wish to be 

Before she could finish, Corina punched her gut, causing her to vomit blood onto the ground. Then Kayvaan grabbed her head, forcing her to look at Corina again.

Corina: *disgusted* I have no time for your excuses, sister. Your judgment awaits.

Corina raised her power claw, Ready to strike the finishing blow to her sister.

Corina: *softly* May the Emperor’s peace be with you,

Nora: *flying towards Corina, full of rage, magnhild raised high above her head* GET AWAY FROM HER!

Magnhild connected with the force of a goliath on Corina. She successfully knocked her back a few feet, surprising the Primarch and her Space Marines. 

Raven Guard: How?! No mere mortal can do that to a Primarch!

Kassandra: *looking up*N…Nora?!

Nora: *turning to the RG holding her surrogate mother. Already charging at them, hammer raised* GET……OFF……MY…….MOTHER 

Kayvaan quickly dropped Kassandra’s right arm as he went to counter Nora. Activating his power claws, he was surprised when he couldn’t slice through the hammer but promptly followed up with a knee to her more petite body, knocking the breath from her body, shattering a few of her ribs, and forcing blood to erupt from her mouth.

Kassandra: Nora!!!

Kayvaan: Hmph, as I suspected. *he picked magnhild up, giving it a light inspection, before bending the handle, tossing it away* Nothing but a child. Though your strength is comparable to a Space marine’s, you are untrained and cannot fully use it. That is good, seeing as how you consider this…heretic your mother. For this world to survive, I must purge you. I am genuinely sorry, child.

Kassandra’s eyes widen at the chapter master’s statement. She didn’t want to believe what she had heard, but she knew it was possible.

Kassandra: C….C…..CORINA, YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS!

Corina: *staggering up in thought* “How is this child so strong? Her strength is comparable to a primarchs! If Kassandra is involved….then. This might be the only way*........

Kassandra watched her sister remain silent as the chapter raised his power claw. As time slowed to a crawl, her curse of visions returned. What she saw horrified her.

Nora lay dead at her feet, Elena And Corina battling over the smothering remains of beacon academy. Daemon spawn ran rampant as people screamed in terror. Then she saw herself sitting on a throne of corpses, and a smiling scorpion was draped over her shoulder as a baby’s cry could be heard. The final vision was of remnant burning from imperial bombardments with the dark gods laughing.

Mustering all her remaining strength, she tore herself free from the RG holding. Crawling her way to Nora as fast as she could before Kavyaan could strike. She cradled the heaving Nora against her, begging with all she had left.

Kassandra: LEAVE MY DAUGHTER ALONE, PLEASE! KILL ME IF YOU MUST, JUST SPARE HER, PLEASE…..Please….spare my daughter……

The loyalist stood in shock, especially Corina. The night haunter, protecting a child like a newborn. The idea was unheard of during the great crusade and solidified during the horus heresy. Seeing it now made them question themselves.

Kavyaan: *looking towards Corina* My Lady?

Corina said nothing as she approached her weeping sister. Part of her wants to believe that this is all a farse and that she'll attack once they lower their guard. But seeing her in a vulnerable state and finally seeing her attire,  perhaps she miss judged her. Maybe curze, no Kassandra had truly changed heer was. Was this girl the cause? 

Whatever the reasoning, it still didn’t matter. Kassandra was active in the drop site massacre, the torture of vesta, the slaughter of countless innocents and more. There is no redemption for traitors, only the emperor’s peace.

Corina moved to strike Kassandra down until a sizeable green gauntlet grabbed her shoulder.

???: Enough, Cori

Kassandra lifted her head towards the voice, eyes widening at her savior. Her skinned dark with fiery red eyes, her hair a shade of cyan that seemed to flicker like fire.

 Vesta, primarch of the salamanders and mother of emerald sustari, held Corina back, her gaze directed at her. Behind her stood a small squad of salamanders, standing at the ready in case of conflict with their cousins. 

Corina: Vesta! What are you doing? 

Vesta: She’s changed. She is no longer the night haunter nor a traitor.

Corina: Vesta, listen to reason. After everything she’s done, people tortured, children slaughtered, the drop site massacre! There is no redemption for a traitor like her!

Vesta: I know, Cori. I can’t say I will forgive her for everything she's done. Yet somehow, I think that girl has made her change for the better. 

Vesta made her way to Kassandra, kneeling before the cowering primarch, smiling warmly as she saw Kassandra cradling Nora.

Vesta: I guess she made you strive to be better, too huh

Kassandra nodded in response. Still shaken that Vesta, of all people, came to her rescue before Corina could execute her and Nora. Said woman was now flying towards their position from an unknown force. 

Vesta: *seeing a downed Corina* Corina! 

Seeing their combined squads completely frozen, Vesta looked towards Corina’s attacker, her eyes widening at the sight of Elena staring down the space marines & the primarchs

Elena: Raven Guard, Salamanders, What is the meaning of this attack!?

 Around her were Pyrrha & team Rwby. Their drawn weapons because supposed allies attacked the friend/cousin. Shortly after their arrival, Ren and Jaune charged with the Glynda, Ozpin, Ironwood, and a small flight of soldiers behind them, aiming at the Imperials.

Nora: *wheezing* ook…..em…..ong…. Enough,

Kassandra: Quite now, save your strength.

Ren: *staring past the imperials* Jaune….if she’s injured for life…

Jaune: I know. And I’ll be there beside you,

Ozpin: *glaring* Now….Which of would you be so kind as to explain why your attacked my student and her family?

Not a word was said until Elena spoke once more.

Elena: *staring down the imperials* Well!? Speak!

Vesta: E…Eleni?

Elena: *Staring down Vesta* Vesta? You’re…..alive? Hmph, it doesn’t matter now. What is important is why are Corina & you attacking Kassandra.

Vesta: Corina would be best to explain this. *sweat dropping at the knocked-out Corina* When she wakes,

Elena: *putting away her sword* Very well, tell your sons to escort Kassandra to an apothecary. We, dear sister, have much to talk about.

As all the people involved began to fill out of the courtyard, no one noticed the scorpion watching the entire ordeal from the shadows

???: *snarling* How…dare she…..

The scorpion’s tail curled in anger

???: How DaRe ShE hArM My bEloVEd

  End of PT. 1

---------------------‐-----------------------

First off, it's not color coded like my other posts main because i did this in Google docs and that didn't transfer over so not doing that again.

2nd i do intend to do a pt. 2 later. Might be a bit more light hearted than this so expect that.

[djadins]

aurora glow | thrawn x f!reader — part two

warnings: if you squint there is fluff

rating: T

word count: 2.8k

Thrawn requested your company through the rest of the day in order to have you available for any questions he might have. You trailed behind him as he ordered his men around effortlessly. Some were scrounging in the woods around you, some were working on repairs. Others were guarding the perimeter that had been set up. The plan was to shut the backup power on the ship off at night when work had ceased and only to turn it on when work began again at daybreak.

You warned Thrawn that it got dangerously cold at night in the fall in this part of the country, especially now after the flare.

He did not seemed too concerned at this, as his men would return to their bunks at night unless they were on perimeter patrol. He mentioned that there was a place for you, too, to sleep on the ship and refused when you offered to sleep in the warehouse instead.

“Absolutely not. You may not be one of my men, but you are under my protection now and I will not have you sleeping out here alone.”

You wanted to mention that there in fact would be troops outside and that you may feel slightly more comfortable in semi-familiar territory (as you had been used to sleeping in whatever abandoned buildings or caves you could find) but you decided not to say anything. You had a feeling if you said what you were thinking, he would insist that you sleep in the ship anyways.

The sun was soon setting and your stomach groaned. You only had a breakfast of some foraged berries this morning and although you were used to eating light, it had been at least 12 hours since your last meal. Thrawn turned around to face you, chuckling slightly. The man he had been speaking to looked like you, but was not from Earth. He was in a greenish gray uniform, one of the men who had been working on repairs inside of the ship. “This is Ensign Eli Vanto, my translator and friend.” Thrawn gave Eli your name and he bowed slightly.

When Eli excused himself, you looked up curiously at Thrawn. “Translator?”

He hummed in response. “Yes, in the part of space I am from, we speak a language far removed from the common tongue. Although I was vaguely familiar with Galatic Basic, Eli was from a planet near to mine and we both could speak a different, common language. He then was assigned as my translator.”

You assumed Galatic Basic was like English, because you had been communicating with Thrawn this whole time without Eli.

“Once the ship is repaired and we are back on mission, I will do my best to tell you all about the galaxy. Eli will be able to fill in whatever I cannot.”

You murmured a thanks. “I would like to learn about your planet,” you said softly.

Thrawn seemed surprised at your statement. “I’d be happy to share it with you.”

You both walked in silence the rest of the way to where some men where preparing dinner. There were at least 10 fires going with large cauldron-like pots balanced on top of them. A thick, delicious smelling soup was inside, although you already knew that you would be unfamiliar with the ingredients. Thrawn had ordered all perishables to be used for dinner.

You were impressed by the efficiency of the men. They were clearly used to feeding a ship full of people, but still. Multiple tables had been moved outside of the ship to hold trays, plates, bowls, silverware as well as foods you did not recognize. What you assumed was fruits, vegetables and other side dishes.

Thrawn must have noticed how wide your eyes had become because he gently put a reassuring hand on your shoulder. You hadn’t realized how cold the end of the day was becoming until you felt the heat radiating from him. “Don’t worry if there is something you try and do not like. It took me a while to become familiar with my food preferences.”

You realized based on his last comment and this one that his part of space must really be separate from the Empire that he talked about. You had seen other men in his crew that did not look human-like, and more of what you had imagined aliens might look like, but there was nobody else so far of those you had seen that had looked like him.

At one point, he had gone through the same thing you were going through now.

Thrawn led the way, being the Captain allowed him the first meal. You being an honored guest meant you got to follow behind him. He passed you a tray with an empty bowl, plate and silverware on it. “If I may make a suggestion?”

You nodded in response. He hummed approvingly. “I’ll pick out your food based on my own personal preferences. If you see something you take interest in that I’ve missed, please add it to your tray.”

You nodded again and Thrawn’s lips curled upward. You followed close to him as he loaded both of your trays up with the same exact meal. You saw something that looked like raspberries that you added to you plate. At the end of the lineup, one of the workers filled both of your bowls with the chowder.

You followed Thrawn to a log not far away and were surprised when he sat on the ground, his back against the log. You both ate in silence next to each other, apart from the inquiries he had about the food’s taste. You were surprised at how much you liked everything on your tray, trying a bit of it all.

You became full rather quickly and knew that you should stop eating. This was entirely way more food than you had been used to in years.

“Everything alright?” he asked between bites.

“Very good, thank you. I’m just not.. not used to eating this much. I don’t want to get sick.”

Eli joined the both of you in that moment. He slid down on the other side of you against the log.

You listened as the men talked while eating about the state of the ships repairs so far. It sounded optimistic to you, but you knew that in reality you had absolutely no idea what most of it meant.

One of the soldiers started a fire in front of the three of you after the sun went down. Another man took your, Thrawn’s and Eli’s tray.

You looked across the encampment at your fellow Earthlings. They had been given a small tray filled with food to share amongst themselves, eating with hands bound in front of them.

Thrawn grabbed your attention when he noticed you observing them. “Do you have any suggestions on what we should do with them?”

You shook your head no. The laws of men no longer existed. “What would happen if they did this in the Empire?” you asked.

“They would be.. executed.”

You shivered, even with the heat of the fire and Thrawn’s body heat at your side. Though you weren’t touching each other, it was radiating off of him in a blaze against you.

“What would happen to them if your planet wasn’t in ruin?” came a voice from the other side of you.

Thrawn tsked at Eli’s carelessness even though he himself had admitted to you that your planet was dying just after meeting you. Thrawn noticed when you tensed up.

“They would probably be jailed,” you thought aloud.

The three of you looked over at your fellow humans. “We do have a brig, though I do not want them on the ship,” Thrawn admitted.

“We will watch them, for now. Depending on their behavior, we will let them go when the time comes for us to leave.”

You weren’t sure if he was saying that for you or Eli.

You watched the flames of the fire while Eli and Thrawn resumed talking about the plan for leaving. At one point you shivered and Thrawn immediately stretched his arm out behind you on the log. He was barely brushing against your back, but it was enough to warm you a little more.

Eventually Eli left to get some shut eye, leaving just you and Thrawn. You both sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the night. If it weren’t for the bustling of his men around the various scattered fires or the patrols off in the distance, you might have fallen asleep out here next to him.

“Why don’t I show you to your room?”

You looked up at his eyes, shining and reflecting the fire. You nodded and he stood gracefully in one movement. He held his hand out towards you and easily picked you up on your feet when you gave him yours.

This time you walked just past what you remembered to be Thrawn’s office door. As the backup power was now off, he had to use one of those suction cup thingies to open your door. He waved you inside and you walked into the room in front of him.

The room was lovely and big. “Meant for any visiting dignitaries,” he explained, as if reading your mind. “I’m right next door if you need anything.”

Thrawn explained how to use the lantern and then left you to settle in. You unpacked what little you had in your bag — a few snacks (apples, nuts), a tattered, thin blanket, along with your rotating small pile of clothes. You had recently washed them all in a stream and folded them neatly to place into the dresser. You put your 9mm in between the stack.

Thrawn had noticed it earlier in the day and said that you wouldn’t need it while here, but if it made you feel safe, then you were welcome to keep it on your person.

You slipped out of your boots, putting the knife you carried inside under the fluffy pillow on the bed at the end of the room.

You pulled out your toothbrush and the plastic water bottle that you had filled yesterday and poured a little water on it. You swished the brush around your mouth for about two minutes and then put it on the sink top. You flicked your tongue over your teeth to make sure they felt smooth.

You refrained from looking at yourself in the mirror of the bathroom, instead opting to change into the clothing you usually slept in — a light pair of joggers and a baggy t-shirt.

You settled into the bed — it was surprisingly comfortable. Even with your blanket on top of you, however, the bedding provided little warmth. Now that you weren’t moving, you were starting to get very cold. You quickly slipped out of bed to put two pairs of socks on your bare feet.

It didn’t seem to help you much. Just as you couldn’t take it anymore and were about to put on every piece of clothing you owned, there was a soft knock at the door. Thrawn called out your name. “May I come in?”

You told him to come in and slipped out of bed to meet him at the door. Your teeth were nearly chattering but you closed your jaw tightly.

“I wanted to make sure you were getting settled.. are you alright?!?” Thrawn’s tone went from calmed to what you imagined was worried soon after he walked inside. You hadn’t seen this much emotion on his face since you had met this morning. He walked up to you and you resisted the urge to bury your face into the heat you knew his body would be giving off. “Your temperature has dropped drastically since I left.”

You couldn’t stop your teeth from chattering when you talked. “I.. its.. c.. c.. cold.. in h.. here.” An uncontrollable shiver ripped through your body.

Thrawn immediately enveloped you in his arms. Your tense body loosened in the warmth of his grip. He had changed out of his uniform and was wearing a tight black shirt and black pants similar to yours. You could see that his body was rather defined now that he wasn’t hidden under all that armor.

“This won’t do,” he said under his breath. You shivered again, but no longer because you were cold. You let out a small yelp when he picked you up bridal style. With one hand, he closed the door to your room and opened the door to his, the other supporting your weight.

After closing his door behind him, he carried you through his quarters. Past his desk in the door you had seen earlier, was a short hallway. Connected was a training room, bathroom and bedroom that you could see in your quick pass through.

He sat in his bed against the headboard, with you still in his arms. He positioned you in his lap and then brought his blankets up and around the both of you.

“Apologies, I did not realize. You warned me it would be cold for you tonight and I didn’t know the extent of it.”

You shook your head. “I mean it as a warning for everyone, but.. thank you.”

“I hope this doesn’t bother you, but it was my.. instinctual response.”

You didn’t want to admit how nice it felt to be touched by another person again after so long so instead you told him that it was okay with you.

He had one arm wrapped around you, supporting your back and reached onto his bedside table for a small looking tablet. When you peered at the screen, there was a bunch of letters arranged in words you did not recognize.

“I usually update my daily log at the end of the night. If it aggravates you, please let me know.”

You were surprised at the events that had transpired in the last few minutes. Not that he had been rude to you at all today, quite the opposite, but his attitude and demeanor were entirely different than they had been all day. Although you had seen a little bit more of his softer side when you had been alone with him, he had remained fairly impassive all day. He was commanding when talking to his men (well, except for Eli).

Now here he was, hoping not to disturb you after carrying you into his quarters. Keeping you warm, in his lap, in his bed. It was unexpected to say the least.

“I don’t mind,” you told him.

He began softly speaking in another language and as he did so, writing filled his tablet. You were mesmerized by it even if you had absolutely no idea what he was saying. He would pause every once in a while, or erase a few lines and change something.

His voice startled you out of your stupor. “Feel free to ask me anything, if you have questions.”

You hummed. “What are your people called?”

“Chiss. I’m from a planet called Rentor, in the Unknown Regions.”

You nodded at his pad. “And is this your native tongue?”

“Yes, its called Cheunh.”

You settled against his a little more. “It’s very pretty.”

He turned to face you a little more. “Really? Most other species I’ve encountered think it is harsh to the ears.”

You shook your head. “I don’t think so.”

He paused for a moment. “Are you warm enough?”

You nodded against his chest. After a few moments of silence, he continued his entry. When you heard your name, you looked up at him.

“Just recording everything that happened today,” he explained.

You listened to him for a bit longer, watched the letters appear on the screen, before the drowsiness pulled your eyes closed.

“Thrawn?”

“Mmm?”

You paused as you thought how to phrase your question. “Are you the only one of your kind in the Empire? Chiss, I mean.”

“..Yes.”

You understood it a little better now. You were both alone in your own ways and he recognized that piece of himself in you.

You were curious as to what he was saying every time you heard your name brought up, but were too tired to ask. You weren’t sure if that would be pushing it either, however you had a feeling that he was willing to answer most of your questions.

Your breathing was starting to slow down, you mouth slightly agape. You hadn’t opened your eyes since you initially shut them. You heard a light clank as Thrawn reached over and set his tablet back down on the table beside his bed. He shifted you off his lap and over to the side of the bed that you both weren’t currently occupying. You were hardly aware of what was happening, as sleep overcame you.

[chaoticbard]

Alaara chuckled at the story. Such a nice woman doing such devious things? She had to see it to believe it, even with Gale's given examples. Too, she chuckled at Gale having just shown his proverbial full hand. Morena was, almost undoubtedly, his mother.

The bard sat in silence for a moment, committing the knowledge to memory. The mighty Gale of Waterdeep was mortal after all. He had a last name. It would do him well to use it far more often than he did.

"No perishing for you," Alaara replied. "Then or now. I already like you too much to let that happen. I wasn't sure when we first met, but you quickly proved you're not just another wizard too far up his own arse to see daylight."

She let out a hearty laugh, recalling their first encounter not so very long ago. He'd really poured on the acting skills that day, doing everything in his power to come off as a balance of powerful and useful. Alaara had seen right through nearly all of it immediately. What she'd seen in him underneath all the pomp was someone trying hard to sell himself as useful to others. He wanted desperately to be included so as to be of help. He'd been enthusiastic from the moment she'd agreed to let him tag along too. That enthusiasm hadn't diminished. So too had his optimism stayed in tact despite their grim adventure. How could anyone dislike spending time with a fellow like that? Well- Astarion had found a way, but he was... Himself. He couldn't be seen caring.

"I very much enjoy your company. Losing a good night's sleep talking about home is always worth it. And learning things you're willing to share with me, like all of that magical knowledge somehow crammed into that tiny skull of yours. Speaking of sharing... I think it's only fair that I start sharing my knowledge with you. I'd be happy to teach you how to play an instrument. Or I could share knowledge about my kind? I call bollocks if you tell me you know every instrument in the known realms and double bollocks if you swear you know all there is to know about dragonborn. I'll have no choice but to cease thinking you're real. Not even you can be that big of a walking encyclopedia."

"She's quite adept at alchemy, preferring to dabble in potions of healing and health. However, don’t underestimate her capacity to concoct something nefarious for those who wrong her or her loved ones. There were a few people during my childhood who left our home with horrifying complexions or even a loss of voice. All temporary, of course, but Morena certainly knew how to make a statement."

A smile played on his lips as he recalled one particularly rude fellow who had belittled him for his love of magic and texts rather than swords and sport. He remembered being called foul names until the man's voice abruptly faded, and he was promptly asked to leave by his mother. At the time, Gale thought he had caused it by telling the man to be quiet, but he learned years later that it was his mother who had slipped a potion into the man's drink.

He missed her dearly.

"Oh," he replied, blinking back into the present and trying not to feel bashful at the stream of compliments. Not only were they given willingly, without encouragement, but they were also genuine. He wasn’t accustomed to such niceties from anyone other than his mother or Tara.

"Well, I am deeply grateful. I was sure I would perish in a cold space between realms until I heard of your approach. I meant it when I said I will endeavour to return the favour." He placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. "You owe me nothing, my friend. And if my being here is not obvious, I enjoy your company too."

[gold3nfics]

Anachronism {Chapter One}

Author's Note: So this is my first written work on here, and I am really excited about this story! This chapter was really just to allow you guys to gain insight into what the story is about and who the boys are. I promise you that Y/N will make an appearance in the next chapter :)

Word Count: 3,814

Our story begins with one man, a man who went by the name Haneul.

Haneul was admired and sought out by many for not only his sharp attributes, but also his magical abilities. He came from a long line of sorcerers before him who had served and protected the realm he resided in.

While he was the one to keep everyone safe, many wondered why he refused to assume leadership, or even live in the nicer part of the land. Instead of living in luxury and riches, he chose to live in the forest away from the bustle of the town solely because he preferred the quiet lifestyle compared to one where many would invade his space and distract him.

One early morning, he woke to frantic knocking at the door of his small cottage.

“Hello?” he opened the door to find that it was one of the royal guards.

“Your presence is requested at the castle immediately.” the young guard says with urgency evident in his voice.

“What happened?” Haneul says now concerned,

“The queen, we believe it is time.”

He grabs his medical supplies and jumps into the carriage heading towards the castle. Once they arrive, Haneul is immediately taken to the royal chambers to begin his work.

Upon entering, his eyes immediately caught sight of the queen writhing in pain surrounded by many servants trying to relieve the pain she was feeling. He approaches the queen with a reassuring smile on his face,

“And how is this young beauty doing?”

“She is not at her best right now.” the queen responds with a weak smile. Haneul releases a sigh of amusement then asks her for permission to check her dilation, after she nods he checks and realizes it is time.

“You, my queen, are about to be a mother in a matter of minutes,” he looks to the servants “bring me warm towels and water.” The servants leave and he focuses on the queen, “I am going to need you to push, but not too hard alright?” She nods and begins to push.

After only seven pushes, the baby is out and the sorcerer carefully wraps the child in a blanket, “Would you like to hold your son my queen?” he says without looking away from the child. When there was no answer, he glances up only to see her going in and out of consciousness.

He immediately hands the baby off to one of the servants and examines her only to find that she has lost too much blood. He does everything he could to revive her, yet she has already passed. He bows his head in shame while holding her cold hand and apologizes, part of him hoping her soul is still lingering around to hear.

Now, there was indeed a ritual he could have done to revive her; however, it is forbidden being that it is far too dangerous to bring a soul back from the underworld.

He stands back with his head hung in sadness, “Alert the king at once.” Just as the servants were gathering to cover the queen's body and filtering out, he approached the servant holding the tiny prince, “May I take him? I need to examine him.” the servant nods and leaves the room.

As he seats himself in a chair behind a divider on the other side of the chambers, he gently looks over the child for any issues. Just as he was almost finished, the child stirs in his slumber raising his small hand to rub his eyes. As the child does this, Haneul catches sight of a white circle on the inside of the child’s hand, at first glance, it appeared as if it was glowing.

Haneul furrows his brows, gently tracing his fingers over the mark. “What is this little guy?”

As he moves to look closer, the servant comes back to collect the young prince to give to the king. He slowly gives away the child and he is soon left to himself to think about what that mark meant. He decides to shake the thought out of his head, and just travel home to rest.

As he rides home on the carriage, he mourns the passing of the young queen. He was quite fond of her, just as everyone else in the realm was. She was not only beautiful, but was also very caring. She would always make jokes and tease others just to have them feel entertained.

Her husband is bound to be heartbroken, he thought in his head. It was no secret the king had worshiped the ground she walked on; not that she didn’t deserve it. The number of times Haneul had overheard the young couple whispering childish jokes to each other, and them arguing over tedious matters were more than he could count. It will be hard to find a woman as kind and unique as she was. I hope her son takes after her. Haneul smiled sadly at this thought.

* * *

As the years passed, Haneul noticed that there have been more and more children who were born with the same white mark that the young prince had. There had been seven boys born throughout the past few years, all of which were born with the same mark and had lost their mothers during childbirth.

“Godammit!” Haneul yells in frustration as he slams his fist onto the table. The table was cluttered with scrolls, books, odd writings, and drawings that even Haneul didn’t even remember taking out. The stressed sorcerer moves over to his bed and faceplants directly onto his pillow.

Not only was he tasked with acting as a teacher to the young prince, keeping the people safe, and being one of the main healers; but he also took it upon himself to figure out what was going on with the seven boys who shared the same mark.

He may have been tired, stressed, and confused; but most importantly, he was worried.

Haneul was a man who believed that there was a reason for everything; death, births, happiness, sadness, there were reasons for all of it. Therefore, he knew that there was a great purpose that followed the seven young boys with the peculiar markings.

* * *

“He follows him as if he was a stray and he threw him a bone. I am surprised Namjoon hasn’t grown irritated.” the young woman says with a tired smile.

“Well Namjoon is quite patient, and I feel that he's the one to keep Jungkook out of trouble,” Haneul responds while packing up his things, “and Yuna, do not forget they both need to meet at my home before dawn.”

“The others will be there, right?” Yuna asks with a glimmer of concern in her eyes,

Haneul grabs her hand as a way to comfort her and stares into her eyes, “They will be there Yuna, they have no choice.” he turns his head to look at the two young men joking around and skipping stones across the foggy pond, “For now, just spend time with the two of them. Okay?”

Yuna’s eyes filled with tears, “Okay, thank you Haneul.”

“Of course” Haneul smiles and bows respectively before departing and starting his journey home.

Haneul has aged considerably throughout the last 20 years, his hair had become greyer and his eyes duller; but his mind and heart were still drawn towards helping people, and to the seven boys with the odd mark, and after many years, he found the answer.

A few months before now, Haneul had stumbled across an old poem.

The world is calm and crops are ripe

Yet underneath its surface lays a darkness waiting to strike

When the circles of seven come to light, so will come a long and frozen fight

A being will propose an idea that the seven circles will see as an answer to end the fight

It is up to the seven circles to decide what path they take, and which is for light and dark

The answer lays at the heart of the one who descends from pure light, for their heart and the seven circles must all reunite

After reading the poem he realized the importance of the young men The poem itself acknowledges a traumatic event that will happen in the time that they are alive, yet it had been months since he found the writing and nothing has happened. However, Haneul knew that something was coming and he came to realize what that was.

You see, two nights prior Haneul had a vision. The vision was not clear, yet it showed a figure whose presence exuded sadness and wisdom. All the figure did was deliver a message that was the following,

“In two days, a frozen death will fall upon your realm. Those seven under the protection of the circle will survive; while all the others will temporarily perish. They will be presented with information that involves seeking another being of pure light to end the frozen death. However, there are two paths they could take with this, but only one being the right one. Do not let them fall into trickery, for that will be their downfall and everything will cease to exist if the wrong path is taken.” and with that, the vision was no more.

Waking from his vision, Haneul knew that he must gather the boys and prepare them for what was to come.

* * *

As Haneul waited for the boys to arrive he put together all of his writings, they were not much but they gave small insight on what was to come. Just as he finished up sorting everything, he caught sight of lanterns and heard the sound of multiple footsteps outside his home.

“Jungkook, if you do not stop stepping on the back of my boots I swear I’m gon-” the voice was cut off by a loud laugh, “What are you going to do Jin? Send your one of the so-called guards after him?” a lazy voice replies.

“Oh that’s rich, coming from a farmer.” a cocky-toned voice chimed in.

“What is that supposed to mean Jimin?” a new deep voice says back, “Guys! Stop it, Haneul is probably hearing everything and I am pretty sure the last thing we want is to embarrass ourselves in front of him.”

Haneul had heard everything; and the last voice was right, they were embarrassing themselves. But the older sorcerer had been rather entertained by their interactions. Putting a sly smile on his face, he opened the front door coming face to face with seven men whose faces varied from shock, embarrassment, to dumbfounded.

“You boys have not changed much, have you?” he crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe. Namjoon forms a tight-lipped smile, “I am afraid not sir.”

Haneul gestures for them to come in, “Well, let’s not waste any more time.”

Once the boys were led in and settled into Haneul’s study, they began to ask questions. “So why are we here?” Jin asks while the others looked at Haneul.

Haneul looked at them and sighed before speaking,

“Have you ever wondered why you all have those marks on your hands?” Silence.

“Why all of your mothers passed away during your births?” Silence again.

Haneul notices the confused expressions and continues, “Well I did. I knew that there was a reason for those markings and,” he stands and gets a small book, “I found the reason why.”

Haneul gives the book to Namjoon and takes a seat in front of them.

“I spent years gathering, reading, and learning everything about what is just so special about you boys, and all of the knowledge that I have gained can be found in that journal. You boys are a part of what is known as the circle.” The boys look at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain more.

“There was a tale that spoke of seven men being born with the same markings that you boys have. They all possessed special abilities that varied with each one of them. These men used their powers to protect those of their realm and were the ones to keep balance within their realm. However, as time had passed tensions had risen between the seven and because of it, a big fight had happened. Their fight had destroyed not only their bonds, but also ended many people's lives. No one knew the true reason why the fight had happened, but many did not wish to know. Because many innocent people had died as a result of the fight, the people, who were the ones that the seven had sworn to protect, had seen the seven protectors as dangerous and a threat. So they decided to kill them.”

Jimin perks up and scoffs, “I doubt their attempts would have worked, you said they had powers right?”

“Jimin,” Namjoon said, “be quiet and let him continue.”

“Anyways, one of the seven had been informed about the people’s plan to assassinate them and told the other six. That night they had decided to willingly sacrifice themselves, and their lives, to no longer cause suffering and sadness among their people. Now, it seems that the gods have decided to pass on the tale by blessing you seven with the marks.”

“So, we are now the protectors of our realm?” Seokjin asks in a tone that gives the impression he is not thoroughly convinced.

The older man sighs, “Yes, and I know this sounds odd but-”

Yoongi cuts him off laughing, “Haneul, please. We are not people of importance, except for Jin and Jimin. Most of us have grown up struggling and some despising one another. Now you say that just because we have similar marks, and our mothers are dead, it makes us special?”

“Yoongi hear him out, you-”

“Oh Jungkook please, we are nothing and have been nothing for most of our lives.”

“Yoongi,” Haneul starts, “you do not have to believe me right now. None of you do, but something is about to happen and you need to understand what to do.” He gives Namjoon the poem that he had found, which related to the prophecy of the seven who all sat before him.

“After finding that poem, I had a vision where a figure appeared to me and spoke of a ‘frozen death’ that will fall upon our people.” the boys' faces grow concerned, “To end it and bring back the balance of our realm, you boys are to venture outside our realm, find a certain being, and bring them back here.” the boys erupt with multiple questions in response.

“Wait, how do you travel outside our realm?”

“How do we know it's them?”

“What do we do once we find them?”

“What about our families?”

It seems that after that last question, everyone grew silent. Taehyung’s eyes had begun to grow watery, “What about my dad? Will he be okay?”

Haneul grew somber, “Your families, as well as everyone here, will be okay with whatever happens while you are searching for the being. However, their lives depend on what path you take once you are all back here together. In the book that I gave you, it tells you how to get to and from the realm in which the being lives.”

Haneul gets up and notices that the sun is almost up. “I do not have much time, but there is one last thing.” he turns towards the boys, “My vision also said that you would be approached with an idea and to be awar-” Haneul’s breathing had grown rapid as he fell to the ground while clutching his heart.

“Haneul!” Junkook had yelled before getting up and running towards him along with the rest of the boys. “Can you hear me? Haneul?” Namjoon asks while kneeling beside him, feeling for a pulse.

His breathing starts to slow down and he reaches out to grasp Namjoon’s hand; the boys are shocked to see a layer of frost had begun to form around his hand slowly moving up his arm.

“B-be caref-ful, d-do not allow yourselves t-to be fooled. Trust your h-hearts and e-each other. Rememb-ber,” Haneul moves his gaze towards the book he had given now in the grasp of Jungkook, “everything is i-in that b-book.” and with that, the frost overcomes his body and his breathing stops.

The boys stood in shock as the man, who had been a role model for all of them and helped so many people, become absorbed by ice and had fallen into a death-like sleep.

Namjoon stands up and takes the book that was in Jungkook's hands, and he began to head out of the house. “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Jin exclaims following after him.

“To do what we’re supposed to do. I am going to find a way out of this realm, find who I need to find, and do whatever I need to do to get everyone back.” Namjoon states without stopping.

Yoongi scoffs, “You? In case you don’t remember, Haneul said ALL of us have to work together to resolve this, not just you.” Namjoon stops and turns and furrows his brows, “Weren’t you just going on about how you don’t believe in any of this and how we couldn’t do anything?”

“Yes, but that was before I saw Haneul become a block of ice. I still don’t believe we have powers, that seems rather far-fetched.” Yoongi crosses his arms, “Are you saying that Haneul is a liar?” Jin challenges.

“Not entirely.” Yoongi replies in a cold tone, “I am more confused than anything, I mean how the hell are we supposed to know who this being is once we enter their realm?” Everyone is silent, and Namjoon sighs in defeat, “Does anyone have any idea?” Yoongi asks with frustration evident in his tone.

“I have an idea.”

The boys all turn towards the front of Haneul’s house and see a young woman leaning against the doorway. Jimin steps in front of all of them with a hand on his sword, “Who the hell are you?” the woman raises her hands in defense and smiles calmly,

“My name is Ara, I am a friend of Haneul. It would be best not to harm someone who is here to help you.” The boys grow suspicious and Hoesok speaks up, “Haneul didn’t mention you.”

Ara lowers her hands “He didn’t need to,” she tilts her head glancing at all of the boys, “did you really think that he was the only magical being?”

She snaps her fingers and Jimin’s sword appears in her hands making the boy move forward to retrieve it, “Look, I am not here to harm you, and you having a weapon against me will not solve anything.” She moves her wrist to make an invisible force push Jimin onto the ground. Some of the boys stifle a laugh upon seeing the young guard get huffy and brush off his clothes.

“Your marks.” Ara states, the boys look at her in confusion.

Namjoon looks at her, “What? What do you mean by our marks?”

“Your marks, they will help you find who you are looking for.” Ara leans back and looks at him lazily, “Your marks are similar to magnets, they will lead to one another due to their bonds. As for what you need to do with the being once you get them back here; you must bring you eight and your marks to me to restore the balance.”

Jungkook grows confused, “Why would we do that?”

Taehyung steps forward “Yeah, and what about the story?” Ara furrows her brows, “What story?”

“The one about the seven men who were marked and the protectors of their realm.” Taehyung pauses, “There were seven men in the story and now you're telling us that there are eight?”

Ara stills and sighs while her expression grows serious, “Do you know why your people have frozen into a deep sleep?” The boys shake their heads, “Because there were only supposed to be seven of you, seven protectors. But it appears that an eighth being has been born with the mark as well; however, they are not of this realm meaning that your bonds are not entirely connected. It was a mistake, so you boys and them must come back here and break the bond from them, and then peace and life will be restored.” Ara finishes.

The boys are silent for a moment as if to fully grasp the information they had just been given. “So we travel, find, and bring back the being, then you will break the bond?” Jin asks, “Yes.” Ara responds with a comforting smile.

“And everyone will come back perfectly fine?” Taehyung asks in a hopeful tone. “Yes, everything will go back to how things were before. Except for you now being the protectors of this realm.”

“Wait, what about our powers?” Ara turns her head towards Jungkook, “Aren’t we supposed to have powers?”

Ara grins mischievously, “You will need to figure that out on your own, your guy’s powers will come to you naturally.” She stands, “For now, you boys must travel and find the being.” Ara gives Jimin his sword back and begins to walk away towards the path that leads to their town.

“Where are you going?” Namjoon asks and Ara stops and turns. “Someone has to make sure things here remain okay until you get back.”

“Wait a second!” Hoseok yells out, “Why aren’t you frozen? I thought everyone in this realm would fall into a frozen sleep?” Upon hearing this the boys got curious and all stared at her. Ara’s face grew serious, “Because I am not of this realm.” and with that, she vanished into thin air.

The boys all stand there in silence. Namjoon turns his gaze to the book and opens it trying to find out how to transfer them out of their realm.

“I found it,” the boys look towards him, “the book says that we must join hands and visualize the portal into existence.”

“Yeah right, I’m not holding any of your hands.”

“Oh shut up and take my hand Jimin.” Jin says annoyed while grabbing both Jimin and Taehyung’s hands.

“Alright, everyone close your eyes,” Namjoon states and closes his own, “okay now focus on visualizing the portal.”

“How do you even visualize?”

“It’s like imagining, but more detailed.”

“That's confusing, and it also sounds hard”

“Shut up Jimin!” Everyone says while Jimin sighs dramatically.

After a few moments, the seven men felt their marks stinging slightly and a large gust of wind had blown in front of them. Once they all opened their eyes, they saw a large circle of light in the middle of all of them.

Namjoon steps forwards and looks to the rest of the boys, “Here goes nothing.” and with that, they all walk through the portal.

[wallgirl]

The Little Nereid Part 17

Record of Ragnarok fanfiction

Poseidon x OC

Word count: 1,800

Dynamene, youngest of the 50 Nereids, has lived most of her adolescence as a servant alongside her sisters at Poseidon’s palace. But with her coming-of-age birthday and other developments, what she initially thought was just admiration of her master blossoms into something stronger and more passionate… and painful. Loving someone like Poseidon is not easy period, let alone as your first love. But Dynamene is young and naïve, and all she wants is a chance to be at the sea god’s side.

Categories and warnings: Romance, angst, unrequited love, coming-of-age, earn-your-happy-ending, slow-burn (ish); no sexual content. Graphic violence parts 15 and 16.

Updated regularly; will have about 20 parts total.

Warning for this chapter: references to injury and blood, largely at the end of the chapter. Avoid if squeamish.

—

Am I dead?

It was the first thought to arise as she woke out of a thick haze. Tiny motes of dust drifted before her, but when her eyes tried to focus on them, they seemingly disappeared. Had they been there at all?

She blinked rapidly to clear her vision. Before her was an endless expanse of black, completely impenetrable and all encompassing. She instinctively knew that it went on forever, despite not being able to see anything besides her own pale body. She felt some sort of tepid liquid beneath her feet - was it water? - but couldn't bring herself to look down past her shoulders. She remembered in horrific blurs what had happened to bring her to this place, and feared what she might see there.

But I don't feel any pain. Could it be...? Dynamene looked hesitantly down at herself.  Her white peplos stretched clean and untorn across her intact chest. She pressed her skin hesitantly, but felt no pain. It was as if the wound had never existed.

Now that she had gotten her bearings, she turned about in hopes of spotting something, anything, in the endlessness. Is this purgatory? Dynamene knew that when deities perished, so did their souls. Their consciousness ceased to exist along with their body. I think, therefore I am. I must not be dead. So what's going on? A neutral silence did nothing to sate her curiosity. Is this it?

Seconds ticked by with no change. A feeling of dread sunk in her chest. No, this can't be it. I still had so much I wanted to do.

I was such a fool.

She thought of her family, and her final argument with Ianeira. I'm sorry. I should have listened. She pursed her lips as she fought back tears. If this is the end, I apologize. I didn't mean to hurt you all. I wish I could change it. I wish I could see you again.

Then, suddenly, there was something bright that stood out against the void before her, a long, long ways away. It seemed to call to her in the distance with its brilliant white light. With nothing else to do and no answers to her questions, Dynamene ran toward it. Her feet splashed through the black water, droplets lit by the faint glow emanating from her being.

She stopped, breathless, after what might have been a few seconds or a few hours. The something had taken on the shape of a person, a bit taller than her, and with their back largely turned to her. Dynamene stepped forward cautiously, allowing their features to come into focus.

It was him, standing there before her in the black. His body emitted an eerie white glow, just like hers. She stood in bewilderment for several moments. She could only see the edge of his cheek with the way he was turned, no other part of his face. Dynamene was at a loss. "Why are you here?"

There was no answer. He didn't even move. Was he really there? Was it just a figment of her wounded body's imagination? She curled her fingers uncertainly as she considered reaching out to see if she was merely hallucinating.

Then his face tilted slightly towards her, making it clear he had heard her. Still, he refused to show himself to her entirely, and Dynamene's eyes widened. There was something in the bowed angle of his head...

Are you ashamed?

As if trying to dispel the notion, he finally stepped to face her completely. His colors looked washed out in the white glow, while the faint shadows traced the edges of his face. It seemed he was at last in a place every bit as fittingly ethereal as he was. But he continued to remain silent, and Dynamene's gaze shifted away in frustration.

"You're the one who brought me here. So why have you come now?" She couldn't veil the accusation in her voice. "I tried to tell you. But you didn't stop. You killed me."

Here in this endless vacuum of existence, Poseidon held no power over her. She was already on death's door, that much seemed certain. He couldn't harm her now. Dynamene was free to speak her mind completely. "Why didn't you believe me? Did you call me to your room just to kill me?" There was more bite to her tone now. "Was my love only a burden to you?" Her accusations echoed across the space.

His gaze finally flickered to meet hers. She felt no joy from it, only a strange sensation of tired defeat. Her shoulders slumped. "I suppose I'm going to disappear forever now, aren't I?" She twisted her peplos with guilty hands. "And I... I brought it on myself. I didn't listen to my family. I didn't see... I didn't understand. They'd warned me."

Nothing in his somber expression changed, but the shadows had deepened across his face. He took a single step closer to her, and she looked up at him with a miserable expression. Then he lifted one hand to clasp over hers, stilling her worried fidgeting. "I didn't mean to bring you here, Dynamene."

Her lower lip trembled, and she had to look away as he continued. "I thought you were a fake sent to replace the real you. I thought someone might've abducted you. I couldn't hear your heartbeat; your appearance had changed; I sensed strange magic about you."

So you didn't mean to hurt me, yet... "So your first response was to maim?" Dynamene pulled her hands away. "You would've lost the only chance to find me if your theory had been true."

"I-" Poseidon's words came to a stop mid-breath. It was the first time she'd ever heard him halt in the midst of a sentence. She turned her eyes back to him in confusion. He looked at war with himself; what was it that he'd meant to say? He took a moment to settle on a fitting response as his expression smoothed back out into stoicism. "I allowed my rage to get the better of me."

Her mouth nearly fell open. Poseidon was admitting fault. He had just, before a mere Nereid, confessed that his emotions had got the better of him.

Emotions spurred on by the thought that she might've been harmed.

She looked away as she absorbed this. The little motes of dust had returned, flickering gently in their light. They danced in little waves, fading in and out of sight. Poseidon had gone against the appearance he fought so hard to maintain for her. He cared about her. His heart had thawed at last, just as she'd wanted.

But there was no change within her heart except something bittersweet that ached. Her bleak expression remained as she looked up at him.

"Do you not forgive me?" He asked in a hushed voice. A vulnerability she didn't recognize had crept into his words.

Dynamene pursed her lips, thinking desperately about how to respond. Do I forgive you?

I... I think I do.

I do forgive you, but it doesn't change the way I feel right now.

That terror I experienced, that agonizing pain... You say you didn't mean to inflict it on me.

But how many countless others have you taken in the same way, with no regret? Your own brother, the Titans... People who have wronged you. People who would do you harm. And people who you perceived to have slighted you. Now I finally understand it all.

You did them the same harm, and you didn't feel anything.

"I forgive you," she whispered, but the words were meaningless. This wasn't about forgiveness. Something nameless had changed beneath the current.

He lifted his hand to gently smooth back her unruly bangs. His dark eyes drank in her face, even as she remained largely unaffected by his gesture. The girlish infatuation of before was completely extinguished. Now disappointment prevailed in her eyes.

But regardless, his feelings were unchanged. Now, for the very first time, they were truly alone. He finally admitted his desire for her to himself, even though he still didn't understand it. And as he leaned down closer to her, his eyes closed for the first time as he allowed himself to become immersed in his emotions.

And despite her disillusionment and sorrow, she loved him yet. A man of ice who had thawed only for her. Allowing him to enfold her in his embrace, her lips met his.

Two beings of light, entwined in the dark.

---

Dynamene gasped, a ragged, excruciating sound. Poseidon drew back in shock, staring down at her with sharp eyes. She coughed violently, wracking her thin body with the effort. Poseidon quickly lifted her shoulders to help clear her airway. Lifewater dripped from her lips, tainted red with his own blood. It was then that he understood what had happened. Before, when he had bit his lips in anger...

His blood was reviving her. Poseidon immediately bit his lip again and kissed her once more, pushing his blood into her. He forced several breaths of air into her, desperately willing her to keep breathing, before moving back to monitor the effect.

The flesh around her wounds had stopped disintegrating, though they were not healing. She gave another gasp for air, then fell silent.

He wasn't going to give up. He removed one glove and tore through the skin of his finger with his teeth. The gash began to drip blood, and he held it above her open mouth. As drop by drop ran down her throat, she began to move once more. He squeezed his hand, willing the blood to run faster, to hurry her revival.

After many agonizing seconds, Dynamene's eyelids twitched. Her bleary eyes opened slowly and focused on him. The sound of dripping lifewater stopped.

Poseidon exhaled. He rebandaged her chest, pulled her back into his arms, and stood. She was healing. She would live. Now to get out of this forsaken place and back to the palace. She would need more medical care as soon as possible.

Dynamene's eyes remained open, but she said nothing. Even if she had wanted to, her body wouldn't have been able. Her drowsy gaze didn't leave his face once. Something was ending now, but for however long as they had, she just wanted to drink him in. Poseidon... Her Poseidon. Just hours ago, this would have been a dream come true. Now, where had that exhilarated part of her gone? Had it remained behind in the blackness of that silent space? Had their conversation even taken place, or was it just a feverish dream?

What's changed?

No, I don't need to ask. I know.

Just let me enjoy this while it lasts. While I can still see you so close like this, and be in your arms, without any regrets.

She allowed her sore body to rest limply against his, and despite the speed at which he moved through the water to bring them home, her gaze never wavered.

---

We're going to the end now. I can't believe it. This is my longest fanfiction ever. I've gotten to know Dynamene so well. I don't think she'll leave my mind, even after the fic is finished.

I spent the most time on this chapter because I had a very specific mood for it in mind that required a lot of editing and re-writing. I let it sit for a few days before going back and putting more meat into the gaps. That's how I prefer to write - get the important stuff out first, and garnish with detail later.

There was this song by Kaskade that I thought about a lot with this chapter. It's called Borrowed Theme. Maybe I should've titled this chapter that, but that feels a little childish. The title kind of references a different song, anyway lol

[headcans-oneshots-and-stuff]

Magic Mom (1/5)

Warning: Talking about the death of Dick’s parents, but other that that you should be save  Word count: ~1k Summary: Being Batmans wife was one thing, being a strong magician a whole other thing, now, what happenes if you combine those two and add motherhood? Welcome to the life of the Batfam’s very own Magic Mom...

Requested by the great and amazing @imgayandilikeit: Batfam x Batmom who actually have magic. She met Bruce in he early years being Batman ( I kinda bad when making request like this 🤦‍♀️ , just say she and Bruce have been together from the beginning go through the whole DC event with him)

A/N: Okay, I didn't really know how to go with this so I decided since it's a Batmom fiction, after all, I'll split it into five parts following some of the biggest Batfam moments in fanfiction which are the children so: Dick's arrival, Jason's arrival, Jason's death, Tim's arrival, Damian's arrival (I usually don't like leaving the girls out, but this would have gotten way too much if I also added their arrivals). Hope you get it and that you like it 

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Dick's arrival - You had been married to Bruce ever since you had been old enough to get married, your whole life long only loving him and never doubting this feeling, it also helped to be a child of a magical prophecy that bonded you to him. Of course, Bruce being Bruce wasn't very fond of the idea that some higher power had created you to be meant for him, why it did that is unknown, but maybe it just took pity on him, but no matter how long and far he was away, he couldn't help but always come back to you. When he finally understood that the prophecy didn't make him love you, that it was still his heart that was beating faster when thinking about you, he decided that he'd screw his prejudice against magic and put a ring on it. And in retrospect, having a spouse that was born to master the magic arts could have some advantages. Bruce and you decided that you'd only help out in Gotham if there was a catastrophe and otherwise you were a part of the league and got called for magic emergencies alongside Zatanna and sometimes even Constantine who tried to recruit you for the justice league dark. But other than these exceptions, you were Gotham's lovely starlet, head of the fashion department of Wayne Enterprises Inc. Maybe it was the magic inside you, or it was just your personality, but people seemed to just be drawn to you, be it the people on Bruce's Galas (even though you could do without the attention of the old, rich men who tried to get you to dance with them), the Media or Bruce's 'colleagues'. It also helped that you were such a cheery, happy, loving woman. Your smile could light up Bruce's world. He knew his decision to spend the rest of his life with you was the best he ever made, so, when you asked him if the two of you could go visit the circus that was in the city, he immediately agreed and booked the tickets. He would never forget the look of horror in your eyes as the flying Graysons ceased to fly and left their young son to see them perish. He was able to feel the magic that was swirling around you, could basically feel that you wanted to change the situation using a spell, but he grabbed your hand tightly, trying his best to calm you down knowing that there was no way you could mend this situation. You loved him enough to agree, but you couldn't just do nothing after what you had seen, so you were the one who took the next step into your relationship by asking Dick if he wanted to come home with you. After the adoption was officially through, you spend as much time with Dick as he could take. You made it clear from the beginning that you weren't trying to replace his mother, that you never could, but that you would love him just the same. At first, you and Bruce had decided that you'd get Dick used to his new life, keeping both Bruce's alter ego as well as your talent for the supernatural under lock and key. That went well for a few months, Dick started to settle in and he may even have started to think of you as something similar to a mother, not quite at the point yet where he would ever tell anyone that, but near it. It wasn't until the two of you made a trip to the amusement park that you couldn't keep the act up anymore. Dick had begged you to go on the rollercoaster with him even though you weren't that big of a fan, saying that you had enough rollercoasters in your normal life already, but when he used his puppy eyes, you just couldn't say no. And it was fun, at first, it was fun until the two of you were at the highest point of the coaster and Dick's screams of joy ebbed away as he stared into the space that was leading to the ground. You could basically feel his panic and quickly looked over to him, seeing the terror in his eyes. There was no real thought process about what you did at that moment, and you were sure you would get an ear full about it later, but the only thing you could think of doing was putting your arm around him and mutter the words that would bring the two of you into his room in the blink of an eye. You were gently stroking your hand through his hair and muttered calming words into his ear until he was calmed down enough to realize the situation. Obviously you had a lot to explain after that, but oh boy, did you gain a fan after that. Dick practically begged you to use magic as often as possible after that. Did someone spill something? You can magic it away. The book you want to grab is too far up? Magic. You're too warm or too cold? Magic. The top you're wearing isn't the colour that you would like it to be? MAGIC! When he started his journey as Robin you were trembling on the edge of your seat beside Alfred every time they were away longer than usual and you would lie if you'd say that you didn't use your magic to heal his bigger wounds every time you could. He grew up quickly and the two of you formed a strong mother-son-bond, he even started calling you mom after just one and a half year, which was why it hit you hard when he and Bruce had their 'falling out' and he moved away, leaving you with a heavy heart.

[brokenblueazure]

deepinherwoods​:

This was torture. Torment. Retribution for him having been forced from her side. That had to be it. That was the reason why his tongue buried so deep- so deep she didn’t even believe it was the tongue of a man anymore within her. That was why her body would writhe, her back arch and her lips part to let his name escape with every thrust, every lick like it was a pleading prayer for a god to spare her this overwhelming bliss. There could be no other reason, no other explanation. Yet she knew even if she wanted for him to cease she could not make him nor could she bring herself to. Ever fiber of her being was being lit aflame by this simple act of worship on her body and she wanted nothing less than to burnt to ash by it.

That is why she would grip his hair so tightly, bury his face into her hairy muff. She wanted it, she needed it, needed him. This lips, his tongue, if he stopped now as that great flame burned within her core she very well could die, she just knew it. Without him now, without his touch she would surely perish. That was why her thighs squeezed around his skull and legs locked tight. It was to save her life, put in the hands of the man she trapped within her grip

With every minute her breath would grow ragged and heavier. Her eyes were half lidded and clouded with lust as she watched this beast devour her womanhood, his name still murmured out in a prayer for this beast to consume her, to not stop, to feast upon her sweet folds like only he could. He’d feel her inner walls quiver and squeeze down on his tongue, trying to keep it trapped within much like later she would be doing his exquisite manhood

“I-I can’t.. Ragna… Don’t stop.. So close… I’m so close..! Devour me..! Consume me..!”

If it truly was akin to torture, then he hoped that it was the best she had experienced. A literal hell of pleasure to be precise. Every call of his name, every moan, every last indication of pleasure only made it ‘worse’ in response for her, he wasn’t going to stop unless she herself forced him to do so. He started this fire and intended to let it only die out when she finally reached the climax he yearned to make her reach.

The closer she pulled him in, the more he responded in kind, his lips literally managing to make smacking noises against her’s, and to make it even better? The oral appendage was reaching as far as being mere inches away from her core outright, his face pressed so close to her crotch, his nose basically smushed... And that was when he slowly dragged the tongue back, letting her feel now in reverse the depths of the reach, getting dangerously close to exiting... Then, akin to some lance, thrust right back inside, showing some inhuman dexterity by then throughly twisting and turning it all over her folds with every inch, all before stopping, then repeating the process.

And when words she was close reached his ears? It was time to go all in.

Ragna would kneel properly, raising her legs and her lower half slightly in the process, then fully diving his face fearlessly as much as it could go inside his lover. Those ‘attacks’ from moments ago? They then immediately became far more vicious. Flashing those pearly white sharper near like fangs he had for teeth, back and forth the lance of a tongue went, it even was outright... vibrating slightly? As if it tried to rattle inside her, but it was trapped. The speed he was doing this with, no matter how much she tried to tighten... This proved this was far from human even more. And he was now more than willing to use his monster like features to please his beloved.

So now... He wanted ther to cum. Hard. He wanted to make her scream from the pure ecstasy~ ♡

Continued from X

He need not say a word. She could see the confusion and shock upon his face. The need for answers. He would get them, in time. She owed him that much after their midsummer's night dream had come to an end and he'd left her wood.

"Whats the matter, my love? You've look as though you've seen a ghost."

She would turn and walk towards him, unashamed in her nudity. He'd see now her skin the same pale though blue tattoos covered her from the neck down, her figure much thinner and making her bust all that more pronounced that it would have been on a woman barely 5 feet tall. Right up to him she would go and place her hands upon his abdomen, looking up. That familiar emerald green eye looking up to lock with his gaze.

"Or perhaps, you've feel you've woken from a dream once dreamt so many summers ago."

A sudden breeze would flow and the door behind him would shut and the lock click. Nothing to interrupt them now.

"Won't you embrace me, Ragna the Bloodedge?"

@breakblue-azure

[shini--chan]

OKAY IMAGINE THIS - by some mirracle, s/o get teleported back in time to the pirate era and suddenly just drops from the sky as Antonio and Arthur are battling! Everything comes to a halt because a friggin woman fell from literally nowhere - Arthur is quicker and he captures s/o first, DEMANDING to know where she is from, how did she get here. Poor s/o tries to tell him the truth but it just isn't working. How stupid do you think Arthur is, huh?! He's not buying what you're selling love! (1/?)

Oh blazes, my dear. You’re trying to seduce me into writing a novel for you, correct. Well, not today (sadly) so I’ll be going ahead with my usual mixture of headcanons and snippets. Also, to everybody out there: Requests are still being accepted – I just can’t bring myself to close my ask box.

Also, I wanted to write Arthur’s and Antonio’s lines in an older English, but then I remembered what it was like having to read books from the 19th century for school and decided not to inflict the torture upon you.

Yandere Love Triangle: England vs Spain (Historical Pirate AU!)

As mentioned in the ask, you would be minding your own business, more or less, when you would suddenly be granted two of the wishes many harbour in their hearts: to time travel and have an adventure. Unfortunately for you, that wouldn’t happen with a forewarning and you wouldn’t have any chance to blend in. I wouldn’t say the battle would completely stop – with all the smoke and gunpowder and bangs going on only those close by would have a chance noticing.

Antonio was having a wonderful day. Yes, extremely wonderful. Life on the ship had been very good as of late, supplies running high and spirits even higher. They were reaching their climax now, with Spain showing England the business ends of sword and cutlas and cannon. It was a fitting sort of revenge being able to rob the lilly-livered bastard after he had stolen so much Spanish silver and gold.

The runt in question was baring his teeth and snarling like a cornered dog while their blades were interlocked, when Antonio heard a loud crash from behind England. It was probably just part of the ruckus of a sea battle, yet something – his fantastic intuition most likely – advised him to take a look. Of course, making the other combatant to move just how he wanted proved to be tricky, because Arthur had always been an uncooperative like blight and liked to fight dirty.

Yet he wasn’t a famed duellist for nothing. The sight that caught his attention when he got the opportunity to see it nearly caused him to lose an arm due to inattention. Men of both sides had briefly abandoned the battle to crowd around a failing figure that was desperately trying to free itself from a tangle of nets and torn sails. The onlookers whispered amongst themselves. The chorus of voices only grew louder when a very confused woman.

He found himself remarking: “It seems like you’ve finally started to develop a good taste in bed mates. Say, when did that happen, fishy. I always thought that you’d have luck to get a starved old tramp to warm your bed.”

“Shut up, Anthony!”, came the immediate reply, proving that the island nation wasn’t aware about what he was playing at. “Let’s not get on about you. Or should I tell your precious monarch about what you do in the stables when all the servants are gone?”

Pathetic little weasel. Enraged, Antonio brought the hilt of his sword down on that pale, cruel face and busted a pair of thin lips. “You should guard yourself from spreading lies, English pigdog. Or else the Almighty himself will smite you.”

Naturally, being the cunning demon he was, England used the opening Spain had provided him to barrel into him and send him flying overboard and into the sea.

That action would be quick to turn the tides, especially with so many men coming to aid their captain and help him out of water. This would result in Arthur then discovering you on his ship, probably when his first mate would rush to him and explain that a very strange women in a strange get-up had just suddenly appeared on the ship.

England would go and investigate and discover you surrounded by his crew, each of them having different responses to your presence and hence causing quite a commotion. He too would find you utterly alien – in your attire, in your mannerisms, even in your speech. But Arthur would be ever the pragmatic and reason that there would have to be another explanation to your appearance, one that doesn’t include miracles. But because he wouldn’t have either the time or the head space to deal with you at the moment, he’d have to thrown in the brig with strict orders to leave you alone. That would also be a way for him to torture you and force you to wallow in your worries and terrors.

The brackish water of the brig had long since made your feet wet, cotton soaks completely soaked through and chilling you. The stench it all emitted, and Arthur’s relentless questioning only further enhanced your discomfort.

He was prowling in front of your cage-like cell, like a tiger in the zoo. Only that he didn’t want to break out, rather that he was being continuously tempted to drag you out of your cell and onto the deck to be flogged for your insolence.

“At every turn you say to me that you’re from the future and that you don’t know how you came here”, he rehearsed the main points of your conversation with him. There had been a snarl on his face the whole time throughout the interrogation, his anger only making his voice curl tightly around the vowels and roll the r’s harder until you had to strain to understand him.

Mutely you nodded – you yourself had come to the conclusion that he understood you better when you kept your words simply, underlay them with gestures and expressions and spoke slowly.

In return, England shook his head and spat: “I do not believe you. Going backwards in time is impossible, it only goes forward.”

In any other situation you would have been inclined to agree with him. But you were living proof that there were glaring exceptions to that rule. Having unexpectedly landed in a long-gone era, you had first found yourself desperately grappling with your new reality. You had pinched yourself and read the letters on crates and barrel and closed your eyes and read them again to see if anything had changed – everything to assure yourself that you were dreaming.

You weren’t, nor had you taken any psychedelics, so this was painfully, gruesomely real. A fact that Arthur wasn’t excepting even with evidence right past the tip of his nose.

“Then how do you explain the ripped sails then? How do you explain my strange clothes?”, you questioned him. Then, after a brief pause, you asked: “How do you explain that I know who and what you are?”

You knowing that he was a personification of a budding Empire was a sore spot for him and made him even more suspicious of you. Something that was now backfiring on you.

He waved your words off with evident irritation and countered: “There are more reasonable explanation for all of that. That you’re a spy from a foreign country for example.”

Arthur would never cease with side-eying you and constantly be on the look-out for more logical explanations for your otherness. He would find them as well. Yet there would always be a little voice in the forefront of his mind nagging him that you are telling the truth and that he was wasting the opportunity of the millennia by blowing your words in the wind.

Those doubts would be the main reason he would keep you alive, along with his quest to extract the “truth” from you. However, there would be times when he would be tempted to fetch those thumbscrews from his quarters to see if you’d crack under pressure. Yet he would still restrain himself.

That wouldn’t mean your stay on his ship would be pleasant. You’d constantly be wet and cold, with rats crawling around the brig and your meals being a near inedible gruel that would be set aside for you.

Therefore, it would be an absolute relief when Spain would swoop in to rescue you. It would be an even greater wonder when he would actually listen to you and take into consideration what you would say.

“Tell me if I’ve got this right: In the future, you don’t send letters anymore that take months to reach another country. Instead, you send messages from small machines which the other person can read only after a few seconds, no matter how far away they are”, Antonio summed up what you had just cautiously explained to him.

You had been so shy when he had taken you aboard his vessel, so afraid he would just maltreat you like Arthur had. It had taken its time for him to convey that he was different from that godless brute, that he was civilized and patient. He wouldn’t disregard miracles and let them slip through his fingers. It had taken its own sweet time to coax you into telling the truth, but now you were sitting across him in his quarters, nodding enthusiastically.

“More or less, yes. There is a lot more to that, but that is the start of it”, you affirmed his words. You were relieved that you finally had somebody to talk to in this time were you previously had nobody. The food being served helped you weigh yourself into safety – fresh fruit and other perishable treats, an absolute luxury onboard a ship with a sizable crew. Indeed, you were becoming so comfortable with your host, your lifeline at this point, that you were betraying things about your future that you otherwise wouldn’t have.

And wasn’t yet about detail concretely concerning him, but you would both get there eventually. Spain was sure of that.

Meanwhile you didn’t notice the hungry gleam in his eyes when he purred: “Fascinating, my dear. What else can these things do?”

Being a Catholic, Antonio would be far more inclined to believe you on the time-traveling thing. He would also add two and two together on your strange clothes and their material, not to mention your different attitudes and behaviours and realise that you would be telling the truth. He would treat you kindly as a way of getting you to talk to him, eventually becoming the only person you could trust.

He would guard you jealously and ensure that you would only speak to him – having knowledge of the future would be a right he would reserve for himself alone. It would also cause him to become obsessed with you, keeping you in his quarters or leading you onto the deck at night for short walk. Of course, he would paint the whole isolating thing as he keeping you safe, saying that Arthur was after you.

The argument with Arthur would have far more validity then Antonio would even imagine. The wisdom that you don’t know what you really have until you lose it would be especially true in his case. It would finally dawn upon him that you were telling the truth the whole time and that would lead Arthur to beat himself up over it. A pursuit to recapture you would ensue.

Not to mention that it would make his blood boil to think that Spain would be courting you, persuading you to tell him everything he could ever want to know about the future. Besides  being a threat to his future existence and ongoing success, England would like to have all that knowledge himself and for himself only. Knowledge is power, after all.

Arthur would also miss you for your wit and endurance, fantasizing and dreaming of you to the point of obsession and never quitting his chase for you.

[lvlyhao]

『lifetimes; H.R』

one-shot; huang renjun

A/N: it’s been a hot minute since i posted the teaser but welp it’s finally here :] this has got to be one of my favourite things i’ve ever written so please give it some love!!

𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮𝓼: not a lot of it but fluff (♡), angst (❆), fantasy (✯), author’s favourite (ツ)

𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼: some mentions of death but nothing too explicit

word count: 2.8K

pairing: huang renjun x reader

disclaimer: the characters in the story below do not reflect real people or present real facts. this is purely fictional, and you may not copy, change, translate or repost my work in any way. all rights reserved © cherry-hyejin 2021.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

With chocolate eyes that dazzle golden under the light, he scouts the forest. The canopy is thick above his head and shudders every few seconds when some creature hurriedly passes by. The trees' branches sway in the breeze, and he can almost hear their rumbling under the chirping birds. The ever-so-green grass is dank under his boots, and he can still smell the rain that ended just a couple minutes ago. The Sun, though, seems to have no recollection of that. He is as argent as always, here in the Violet Woods. The place is dazzling, alive, and crisp; far too different from his own home, but also far less foreign. 

Graceful fingers reach for the periwinkle flowers just left from the tallest red oak, kissing their soft petals as he wonders where they are. Renjun is positive he's at the right place, and this is the right time. Noon, by the bush of forget-me-nots. He could only hope they hadn't misremembered this week's chosen spot. Knowing them, it's perfectly possible. Maybe he should head to the muttering roses, where they had met last week, and wait there instead...

Laboured breaths and feathery footsteps sound from behind him a second later, and he doesn't have to turn around to know it's them.

"You're late", he states, fierce gaze still burning in the flowers.

Renjun doesn't expect an apology, not really, but the mellow hand they lay on his shoulder is just as startling. Still kneeling, he twirls to face them at once, and he doesn't miss the dim look of urgency that paints their features.

"Y/N? What happened? Are you okay?"

They don't answer him. Instead, their lips curl into a small smile that Renjun supposes is meant to calm his nerves. It doesn't work very well, or well at all, and he stands up to his full height, holding their hand in his.

Both of their hearts beat loudly, wildly attempting to escape their ribcages. However, neither of them shies away from the proximity. Renjun and Y/N idly stand together for a second, basking in each other's warmth when they speak for the first time today.

"Father knows about you."

If the incoming information is anything short of shocking, he doesn't let it show. His keen, fox-like traits remain the same as he searches their eyes for something else—fear, rage, or any other emotion. Something that would tell him what to do now. 

Nodding slowly, he gently squeezes their fingers, waiting for them to continue. 

The way Renjun looks at them is enough to make Y/N's throat tighten in concern. From the palace, all the way over here, they've been trying to conceal it, but they no longer can. 

It's freezing cold, even against the strings of sunlight that filter through the trees. Its' grip is vicious, instilling into their body a form of despair they had never felt before. It is the dawning realization that their little world is shattering, and there's little they can do to save it.

"...And he calls you a filthy mortal."

Somehow, Renjun finds it in him to snort. Out of all the things he thought they would say, that was certainly not one of them, but it makes him happy. After all those months, they still manage to catch him off-guard. Will they ever stop doing that?

"Aren't you elves so kind?" he laughs, lifting his other hand to gently flick at their pointy ears.

Y/N simply huffs, dodging his fingers and escaping from his hold to pace around the trees.

Watching them in silence, Renjun thinks their race truly is something else. Elegant, breathtaking, stunning, unmatched, perfect. Sharp edges give way to soft curves that make him question the existence of all deities. Should he turn his face in shame? Should he go down on his knees and beg for forgiveness over sins he didn't commit? Should he declare them as his one redemption and worship them until his breath forever ceases?

Sighing dreamily, he thinks he, too, would be an arrogant bastard if he looked anything like an elf.

"Don't put that on us, Renjun. You, humans, have a terrible tendency to destroy and foul the space you occupy" Y/N turns to him. 

Placing their hands on their hips, they know they're falling into the usual routine: bickering about historical events between the two races until one gives up. That's how their rendezvous always begins, and they wouldn't have it any other way, but today something hovers in the air between them.

Doubts.

Renjun can't keep himself from speaking.

"He will banish you some time, Y/N. You know we can't keep this up forever."

He's right, and they know. Had it not been for the strands of sunshine dancing across their frame, they would have shivered. The thought of getting banished from their realm is terrifying. Y/N is still incredibly young for an elf—just over their 75 years—but they've lived enough to know how it goes for elves who get exiled. 

For an elf, banishment isn't being outlawed from your homeland. That is most indisputably sad, and Y/N would cry about it for some time, missing nature's presence from her forests. Although that's not the part of the exile that frightens them: it's the loss of immortality, their lifelines cut too short from straying from their hearths.

Death is no friend of the elves, as everybody knows. The mere idea of perishing from disease or poison is strange to their minds, if not altogether catastrophic. It's not normal, as it is not natural. It's almost reason enough to stop Y/N from making her offer, but the pink haze in their eyes wouldn't allow them to.

"Run away with me then", they mutter, slowly closing the distance between them and the boy once again. Something in Renjun's eyes shifts, and his pink lips part to speak, but not yet. 

"Protect me from the dangers of mortality. We could go south to the Cristalline Planes, Injun", Y/N stops in front of him. "Or, maybe even head west, since I know you've always wanted to see Wistful Shores."

Hope shines bright in their complexion, burning with such richness it nearly turns into despair. What they're doing is not asking—they're pleading, and Renjun nearly collapses to the ground at the honeyed tone in their voice. However, the glow of their fingers, smoothly tracing the shapes of his light robes, grounds him. Their touch is as delicate as the breeze, and it takes all of his self-control not to say "yes" right away.

"And let you give up on eternal life for me? That is possibly the most foolish decision I have ever heard of", he says, stoping their movements to lace his fingers between theirs.  

For a moment, everything around the two of them stills and fades into silence. The woods are quieter than ever before, and even the tree's lullaby comes to a halt. Nothing exists out of their eyes, embedded deep into the others'. 

His might just be Y/N's favourite thing in the whole entire world. The vibrant, sunny brown of his orbs reminds them of the goodness still left in mortals. They shimmer, sparkle and flicker with every bit of emotion Renjun feels, for they are too honest not to. It would be nothing short of a crime if they ever lied about his heart.

Y/N's are what he would describe as literal gateways. To where? Well, that, he will always argue. Some nights, when the stars are out, he could swear the entire universe is right there, before him. On other occasions, when what surrounds them are the glistening streaks of dawn, Renjun sees magic in its purest form. He could spend all of his life staring at them and still feel like there's too much left to explore.

"I don't think this foolish decision is yours to make, then", they decide, lightly squeezing his hands and glancing down to the ground. "I would rather live one more hour with you than one hundred lifetimes on my own."

There is a sharp intake in his breath as if a blade had buried itself deep in his stomach. It pains him just the same, he realizes. Hearing them say that and knowing they speak the truth brings tears to his eyes because he knows this is the point where he has to stop them. Stop them from wondering about the "what if's" and from asking that of him. Gods know if they ask again, he won't have the strength to decline.

"I, on the other hand, would like for you to live a very long, happy, fulfilling life," he remarks, hoping the shaking in his voice is not too evident. "And for that to happen, you can't be that much of an idiot, okay? Don't give that away for some human prince, Y/N."

"And what if that human prince is all I care about? What if he is my entire existence, and my one reason to sleep through the nights is to dream about him? What then, Renjun?" they challenge. 

It's rare to see elves speaking in any way that is not moderate, light, but the fire in their voice is nothing like he's ever seen. It's the same anger that fuels them to pull him closer, resting their palms on his warm cheeks and wiping away the tears he didn't know have fallen. 

"Then you must tell me what does that make me. What is this between us?" Renjun mutters, eyes closing with soft flutters. Guilt claws at his chest for not immediately putting an end to it but savouring the moment, feeling himself fall a bit deeper for the elf as each second ticks by.

"Love", Y/N simply states, sighing when his hands come together to hold the small of their back. "It's love."

"A part of me wishes you had not said that", he leans into their touch. "Had you said 'nothing' and stopped torturing me, my heart would have been broken, but I would have been fine. How can I be, now, when all you've just done makes me cherish you more?" he chuckles bitterly.

He knows what they're about to say, and he can't stand to hear it, so he continues talking, eyes indolently opening to scan their features.

"Things are different for us, Y/N. While you don't have to worry about succeeding the throne, that is my fate. To be a good ruler for my people when my own father dies. I can't leave them behind", Renjun breathes, hating the way their hopeful look melts into denial.

"You have a brother, you know? Leave him to rule. We've both seen what it's like to wear the crown, Injun", they grimace. 

It is true. Being part of the royal family means you grow used to many horrible sights and dark secrets. He can't help but wonder what it will be like to live all of that and not have you to keep him sane.

Shaking his head to dissolve querying thoughts, Renjun attempts to focus on something else that is not them. It's dangerous to be that close, feeling their own ragged breaths fawning over his face. He is just one touch away from all he has ever wanted, but one touch away is still forbidden. In that one touch lies his downfall.

As if hearing his prayers, the wind blows stronger, running through his silken, dark locks and messing up Y/N's. It backfires, though. The urge he has to resist now is to run his hands through their hair, pushing away all of the wild strands that frame their face, and he curses. Nothing could ever make this any less difficult for him.

"If Chenle ever becomes king, I pity the people that will live under his hand." 

He smiles, and Y/N realizes he must be attempting to make a joke. They wish they could laugh, but the conclusion behind his words hangs in the air. He won't change his mind, will he?

A sob leaves their body as suddenly as the tears come. Their vision turns misty, and the cold awareness that hits them is too much to manage. Wordlessly, Y/N falls to their knees, hugging their own body in attempts to calm the heartbreaking cries pouring from their lips. The pleasant spring evening turns cold and unforgiving, and the elf loses their bearings for a second, only to realize Renjun has dropped to the ground in front of them.

Neither of them dares to open their eyes when two bodies become one, and the only thing they know is each other. Fingers grasp at robes, armour and leather, and rough sobs blend together in utter heartbreak. Renjun pulls them so close he's not sure which limbs are his or whose tears he's tasting, but it hardly matters. This is where they end.

How much time they spend lost in each other's embraces is unclear. Neither Y/N nor Renjun knows, and they don't want to. Acknowledging time is dangerous here because it means accepting this moment won't last forever, and that is something they can't—won't do. It won't be so until they let it, right?

Wrong, and they know it. The Sun is going down.

When sobs have turned into whimpers and clutches have turned into caresses, Y/N takes the courage to pull away and look at him.

The prince's eyes are red and puffy, much like theirs, they imagine. His pale cheeks are stained with dry tears, and his pretty lips still tremble from the deep breaths. He doesn't meet their gaze until they call his name.

"Renjun", they call once more, admiring the blue hour lights shifting across his dashing features. "I—" Y/N gasps, and he's suddenly terrified of what they'll say. "I think maybe... maybe we should no longer meet. I can't bear to look at you and know you're not mine to take."

Just like that, his fears were confirmed. In his mind, he knows this is how it was supposed to go all along. This is for the best, he reminds himself, even if right now it feels like having your soul ripped to shreds.

"Don't say it like that, Y/N. I've always been, and I'll always be yours", he flashes a watery smile. "Perhaps just... in another lifetime."

The pain becomes too much to handle, and all they can do is close the space between them again. Their last and first kiss is salty, from the tears they both still shed and bittersweet, from the goodbye it speaks.

How poetic, they think, to say goodbye right by a bush of forget-me-nots. I'll surely never forget him.

"Go now", Y/N whispers as they part, "before I kiss you again and never let you go."

A heartbroken chuckle leaves his lips while he touches his forehead against theirs. 

"Remember me, Y/N", he begs, slowly dragging them to their feet. "Remember me like this, young and well, learning what the flowers you mark our spots with look like. Always see me like this: grateful and completely in love with you."

"How could I not, my prince?"

And in truth, how could they not?

To say Y/N never forgot about Renjun is a misunderstanding. They never forgot about him, and they never stopped thinking about him either. His are every emotion they've felt. Every split of every second in every day of their life was and is dedicated to him. His smile is all they see when they close their eyes, and his laughter sounds right by their side whenever they visit the forget-me-not fields. He lived in all of the things surrounding them, and even in the name of that corner right by the tallest red oak: Prince's Lair.

Likewise, his very soul was bound to Y/N from the day they met to the day he died, still in reverence of how much devotion it is possible to feel for someone. He grew older and eventually found a family, yes, and he even went to war. His eyes held visions he would never wish for anyone to see, but they were still his first thought in the morning and the last one in the night when he allowed himself to weep for their lost future. He got to see the most distant borders of many kingdoms, and he got to meet people in all of them. Yet, no creature on this Earth ever compared to Y/N—his Y/N.

Even at the tender age of 18, Renjun was wise. 

Aeons of praying upon the stars never changed their fortune, but maybe there is something else to their fates.

Y/N never stopped loving Renjun, and Renjun loved them until his days were over, but their paths never crossed again.

Perhaps in another lifetime.

[liquid-luck-00]

The death we never knew 2

Part 2

@maribatmarch-2k21 Day 14: Death

This is the second part, Part 1, while Reverse Robins I wrote today’s prompt simultaneously and I decided to do both off the same idea also here ya go

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How did this happen. They had no idea what the akuma could do so they had to act. Unfortunately, the akuma could reverse the age of whoever they hit. For most people it was that they seemed to cease to exist. Except when he was hit, he turned into a toddler, something about the miraculous stopping it enough that he would not go poof. But that lead Bunnix to push him through the Borrow and into the Wayne Manor living room.

"I don't see why we had to jump into another timeline, Bunnix," he spoke up.

"Because whether or not you like it, Hellcat, you can't fight that size or age." Bunnix answered. "There is too much strain on you by the miraculous."

"Fine," He walked towards who he could recognize as an older version of himself (Heretic flashbacks). "Plagg, claws in." In a flash of green there he stood as a toddler version of himself, Plagg flopped on his head. He fed Plagg ad then he addressed his older self, as he removed his miraculous. "This is the Miraculous of the Black Cat; with it you gain the power of Destruction. You will use it to help Ladybug and the court to defeat the akuma. The cure will return you here afterwards."

"What the bat is going on!" One of the others yelled.

Damian had snuck his ring on Big Damian's hand. "Say Plagg, claws out." Big Damian repeated and in a flash of green appeared to be in a more complex version of Hellcat. "To use your power, say 'cataclysm' and whatever you touch will be destroyed."

"Enough of the tutorial, come on Hellcat senior." Bunnix grabbed older him and pulled him through the portal.

---

Damian was left in a silent living room moments before questions erupted.

"Damian?" Father asked, quieting the rest. Damian walked over and sat next to Bruce.

"Yes?" he answered once seated.

"What happened?"

"First where is Marinette?"

"Who?"

"My sister, your biological daughter."

"What! I have another sister! Yes!" the youngest there after him began to jump up and down and doing flips on the furniture.

"Dick?" Damian breathed, the boy in question froze.

"Did you just call me Dick." A smile spread on his face.

"Yes," he was charged with a hug. "Wait if your Grayson, then your Todd, and Drake. I'm the oldest here?"

"Why is that so surprising Demon spawn." Todd asked.

"Because I'm the youngest in my timeline." He shot up and squirmed out of Grayson's hug. "Drake, can I?"

"Sure." He moved the laptop towards him.

He quickly typed in the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the name she uses in France. Immediately the first result was from TVi.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was revealed to be the Parisian heroine, Ladybug, who perished shortly after the defeat of the Magical Emotional Terrorist, Hawkmoth, or Gabriel Agreste. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng fought for close to five years along side Chat Noir, Adrien Agreste, Honeybee, Viperion, and Ryuko. The Miraculous Court later revealed the reason for the passing of Ladybug. As many Parisians know, Hawkmoth sought out the Miraculous jewels used by Ladybug and Chat Noir. The court revealed that by combining these two the person is able to be granted a wish. Why are we revealing this? Well in order for Hawkmoth to not get the jewels in a final attempt. Lady bag combined them and hand the wish to release all deities bound to all the Miraculous. However, a price had to be paid, the price was Mlle. Dupain-Cheng's life.

The family was silent for a while as they processed, they had a here sibling/daughter they never had the chance of meeting because she died. Damian tentatively broke the silence.

"Drake," he began. "Were you. Were you tortured and brainwashed by the Joker?" Sure, Damian was still blunt, but he had tact when dealing with sensitive topics. Even if this was spoken slowly and questions laced every word.

"I was. Why is it important?"

"Todd?" with uncertainty he asked another question. "Did the Joker kill you?" Damian shut his eyes as the room went quiet for the second time in fifteen minutes.

"No. I haven't been killed." he answered just as slow.

Damian took a shattering breath.

"Damian what is this about?" Father asked, hesitantly placing his hands-on toddler Damian's shoulders.

"Certain events must and always will play out for the timeline to remain stable. Grayson's parents, Todd being a street kid. Tim figuring out your identity." He looked up meeting his father's eyes. "For you it's to be a witness to your child turning against you and for another to be killed."

"You asked Jay as if he was brought back." Grayson supplied with a hint of optimism.

"He was in my timeline, using the Lazarus Pit."

"Why can't we do that with your sister?" He asked even more hopeful.

A humorless chuckle escaped him. "Apart from the fact my mother would have tried. There are two reasons why Qamari wouldn't have been revived if we try now. One the body has decomposed too much by now and her soul has most likely left completely. And two her soul is that of creation itself. Souls directly linked to the miraculous like hers cannot be revived no matter what, since they are reborn, the moment they truly die."

"But it's not fair that she can't be brought back." Grayson hugged him again.

"Sure, you didn't meet her here, but I know my sister. She wouldn't want you to cry for her. Actually." His head shot up and looked for. "Grandfather can you help me in the kitchen?"

"Of course, Damian," Alfred responded in turn. "May I ask what we are to make?"

"Mari's double chocolate chip cookies."

"Very well."

With that the entire Wayne household marched into the kitchen. Watching enthused as Damian specified what was needed, how much, and when to Alfred. Writing down the recipe for him exactly. Damian didn't cook or bake but he watched Mari to it to the point he memorized her recipes. So, each on a different page he wrote a recipe Mari makes for each one of them, even for the him of this world. Folding each and writing their respective names on their recipes.

"So, you all have a piece of her." He set the stack of cards next to the cooling cookies and stepped away from the counter, anticipating what was going to happen next.

---

A swarm of ladybugs covered him and grew into the Damian they all knew before.

"Why did we all move to the kitchen?" he asked almost immediately.

"Little you gave Alfred your sister's cookie recipe." Todd spoke up. "And he left these."

He handed him a stack of cards.

- From our sister to all of you.

He handed out the cards as they ate the cookies. Sure, he saw his sister again, even if she wasn't the one he lost. But he will never forget her, how could he when he can see a bit of her in each of his siblings.

Part 1

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Part 2 tagist @thefangirlwholiterallydies