#Part Sixteen

[calissarowan]

Stella: It’s time: the final showdown.

Duman: Why do we have to have it so early?

Stella: Because it’s almost the end of the season and also I have a manicure scheduled for later.

Duman: Fair enough. Now, when entering a final showdown, walk slowly so your enemy can anticipate their doom, and also to pad out the episode.

Stella: Got it. Okay, I practised my evil monologue for this…Well, if it isn’t the Winx!

Stella: I said, if it isn’t the Winx!

Stella: Can they hear me from the other side of the battlefield?

Bloom: The heck is she saying?

Stella: Oh for- TECHNICAL ISSUES! GIVE ME A MINUTE!

Flora: OKAY, STELLA! YOU’RE DOING GREAT!

[thedecayingapplefiles]

Part Sixteen

Fluttershy and Sweetiebelle ran down to where Rainbow Dash was. The pegasus had been fiddling with a radio that had been in her cell. She kicked it a bit, the device finally sparking to life. The three ponies gathered around it, listening to what it had to say.

"Several reports of 'infected' ponies have been issued all over Equestria. Princess Celestia has been reported dead... I'm afraid we have no choice but to succumb. Let them in. Let them in. Let them in. Let them in."

The voice became distorted, a loud cackle bursting through the speaker of the radio.

Rainbow Dash scowled. "I spent like... a week trying to get this stupid thing to work, and THIS is what we get in return? Seriously?" She growled in frustration.

The sound of wood splintering was heard from upstairs, sending the two pegasus ponies and the unicorn filly into silence.

"They got in. They got Twilight-" Fluttershy whimpered, her voice cracking.

[rhapsodyred-writes]

The sounds drifting from Sykes' music room weren't out of the ordinary. It was the usual piano playing - some old piece that Roxy wouldn't know the name of, but that didn't mean she didn't recognize it. It was one of Sykes's favourite pieces, she knew at least that much.

She opened the door slowly with Jamie on her tail, and they both made as little noise as possible entering the music room.

"You know," Sykes said from behind his piano, his teal gaze unnervingly fixed on the intruders into his music room as his fingers continued to dance effortlessly over the keys. "I don't need to hear you to know you're here."

"Man you're that good huh? You can just play without looking at your hands?" Jamie piped up, peeking around Roxy.

"Of course I can," Sykes responded with something of a smug grin. "I've played this song so many times I know it by heart." But just as he said that, his pinky finger hit the wrong key, and he chuckled good-naturedly as he stopped playing.

"That's not like you," Roxy pointed out in a softly teasing tone. "Have you been taking hubris lessons from Salem or something?"

"You might not be far off the mark, actually," Sykes said, standing from behind his piano. "He just left from here."

"What do you mean he was just here?!"

"Do you know where he went?"

"Calm down, please." As amused as Sykes seemed to have both Roxy and Jamie react that way, his expression soon turned serious, and he removed the half-moon glasses he was wearing to place them on the piano. "Yes, he was just here, but he stayed only long enough to compliment my playing. And no, I don't know where he went."

"Did you at least see which way he went down the hall?" Jamie asked.

Sykes chuckled again. "Come on. You've known Salem long enough to know that he only uses doors for dramatic effect."

"So he portaled out," Roxy groaned, running a hand down her face.

"Which means you're back to no leads, huh?" Jamie asked, shrugging in a casual way that made Roxy glad he was moving out of her reach. He moved all the way to the seldom-used armchairs in the far corner from most of Sykes's instruments and made himself comfortable.

"So, does that mean you're out?" She asked, watching as he swung his legs up and over the armrest and pulled out his phone.

"Yup, I think I've helped enough."

"You..." It was an effort to keep her voice calm. "You barely helped at all."

Jamie nodded. "Then I should quit while I'm ahead."

Roxy breathed out a long, tired sigh and turned back to Sykes.

"Did you happen to see a jewelled sword with Salem when he was here?"

"Afraid not. He stood right on the other side of the piano, so I only saw the top...one third or so of him."

"Alright," She sighed, resisting the urge to drag a hand down her face. "I'll wander around a bit more and maybe I'll just stumble upon him."

Sykes and Jamie both waved her out of the music room.

--

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[ch4rryc0smos]

REVERIE | 16

LEAVING ME DAFT AND DIM.

synopsis ┊kenji sato returns to japan, leaving behind everything he's ever known. and fate plays a cruel joke on him, when hazel vellichor walks back into his life, albeit not by choice. she makes a trip to japan, for a charity event, for another speech, and somehow; media wrangles her in for more drama. what they don't know is that she's ultrawoman, and kenji's ultraman, and there's more than to the eye here. they're well intertwined and every time they tug away, the knot gets tighter. everything leads them to each other, and now japan is in their hands, and they have to unravel every secret they refused to acknowledge prior to this. and they have to accept every role bestowed upon them, whether they like it or not. somehow, all of this leads to is them learning that there was always more to their friendship, and that they were truly two puzzle pieces, fit right next to each other.

genre ┊ childhood-friends-to-strangers-to-lovers, slight angst, tooth rotting & chaotic fluff, co-parenting (?)

pairing ┊ken sato x fem-self insert/oc, ken sato x public figure!self insert, ken sato x childhood-friend!self insert

warnings ┊ mild cursing, mentions of drinking, trauma, heavy topics (?), events in ultraman: rising take place alongside this story.

word count ┊1.5k

author's note ┊these idiots, someone come get them (lock them in a room together please <3) ami friendship is so beloved to me, thanks. i love chiho and her!! :) happy reading!

prev | next

Hazel barely manages to change, wash her face. She’s much slower, without him around to at least cheer her on. She looks out of the window, and the moon is glistening. She thinks she’ll head to bed early, ignore all the pings from her phone. She puts it into do not disturb. But then it starts ringing. And only one person can call her when she’s on do not disturb.

She picks up. “Hey, Maple.” 

Fuck herself for sounding like she has a severe cold.

“Arden—Are you okay?” Maple’s tone shifts almost instantly, when she notices how hoarse her best friend’s voice sounds. 

Hazel’s not surprised, she cried the whole way through her one hour shower. It’s like she’s gone through a whole fucking breakup, but to Ken she was just a situationship. She can’t bear to think of him, actually. 

“Yeah, I’m good,” she lies through her teeth. 

“What the fuck did he do?” Maple’s words sound like they’re dripping venom, and Hazel should honestly be happy about it, but she’s more scared than she is anything else. 

“Nothing.” She doesn’t know why she’s defending him anymore.

“Hazel.”

She just breaks when her best friend says her name. She spills her guts. Drops onto her bed and cries some more as she tries to explain the situation to her best friend. Maple is seething by the time she stops, although Hazel’s sniffles are rather loud anyway. 

“I’m going to slaughter him, I swear to—” Maple starts.

“Please, don’t.” 

The way Hazel says it has Maple staring at her phone, mouth agape. Hazel laughs at herself, for the fact that she still doesn’t want any harm coming to him. 

She ends the call soon, and even with her shaky hands and burning, puffy eyes, she checks her schedule. And it seems that fate is on her side, she’s got speeches. But she’s also got one of his games. 

She won’t attend, simple as that. She places her phone on the side table, closes her eyes, and lets her breathing even out as sleep rolls over her. 

She wakes up the next morning, and she isn’t happy to realise that sleep isn’t as refreshing as it used to be. It’s like the old days again. She can’t care less though. She hoists herself out of bed, tries to give herself a pep talk as she gets ready, using ice to try and decrease the redness in her face. It works, not too much, sadly. But it'll do, for now. She thinks.

Her day’s been going great until she makes the mistake of not turning on do not disturb. The next time she tries to check the time, the first thing that catches her eyes instead is a text message from Ken. Her stomach churns. She ignores it. 

When she gets back home, she’s so grateful that no one really bothered to talk to her. She’s about to pull off her suit, but then her phone rings. She’s too scared to check, but she does anyway. 

It’s just Ami.

She picks up.

“Hey, wanna visit?” Ami asks. 

Hazel laughs sadly. Ami says those exact words whenever she thinks Hazel might be feeling lower. Hazel’s not sure what makes the journalist think that she’s sad, unless she’s seen any recordings of her speech.

“I—” Hazel starts, a bit hesitant to agree. 

“Chiho wants to see you,” Ami says.

Her bargaining chip. Hazel sighs. She can’t say no when she hears the excited mutters of ‘yes!’ in the background. No doubt by the toddler in question. 

That night when Hazel’s getting ready, she’s less than delighted to note that barely any of her good clothes are left. She has one shirt, one part of high waisted pants, and nothing else, not even a coat. She pulls it on anyway, and takes her purse. She calls Ami, lets her know that she’ll be due in a bit. 

It feels so weird to her to be driving her own car. The interior feels foreign to her. And she hates herself so much for it. She grips onto the steering wheel. She wants to close her eyes, lower her head into her hands and start crying again, but she fights against it. She’s going to go meet Chiho, and it’ll be fine. 

When she pulls up at Ami’s building, she notices Chiho waiting downstairs, with her grandmother at her side. As soon as Hazel steps out, she barely manages to close her door, by the time she turns back around, Chiho jumps onto her, clinging to her legs.

“Hi, bub,” she whispers, with a shaky voice. She pulls the toddler up, holding her at her hip. 

Her grandmother chuckles, and she leads Hazel into the building, into the apartment. 

Chiho’s already talking, telling Hazel all about her day, and the British woman is listening, all ears. 

When they walk into the apartment, Ami greets her with a smile, but the look in her eyes is worried. Like she knows something is wrong. Hazel smiles at her. It doesn’t convince the journalist though. She asks Chiho’s gran to take her away, and she does. Then she sits Hazel down at the couch, holding her hands.

“What happened? If you thought I wouldn’t notice the look in your eyes today at that venue—” Ami starts. Hazel taps the back of her hand. She stops.

“I would be mistaken.” It seems I’ve been mistaken about a lot of things recently, actually. She smiles at Ami.

Ami listens to her as she tries to explain the situation. She’s not feeling particularly level-headed, just yet. But she tries her hardest to sound reasonable. She stops to take a breath, and her eyes flutter close. But then someone jumps on her, and judging from the way small hands grab her face, she knows exactly who it is. She smiles, big, opening her eyes. She pulls Chiho closer. Her mum’s shaking her head, but she’s smiling.

“I’ll go make us dinner, alright?” Ami says, standing up.

Hazel and Chiho nod, together. Chiho jumps down onto the couch beside Hazel.

“Auntie, look! I’ve made so many drawings when you were gone,” she says, she looks so excited, Hazel can’t help but lean forward, nod and listen as the girl shows her all of the drawings. 

There’s so many of Ultrawoman, it makes her heart swell with warmth. But that flame is extinguished the moment she notices one particular piece, where Ultraman and her are standing together. 

It seems that’s the one Chiho likes best. She keeps on talking about it. Hazel laughs, nodding along. She doesn’t have the heart to actually speak. Even though she truly loves Chiho, when Ami walks in with their dinner, she can’t be more relieved. 

She almost clutches her chest. How dramatic. She wasn’t like this before. 

She takes the steaming bowl. Ami gently coaxes Chiho away from the table, clearing it to place her own bowl. She sits down beside Hazel and turns on the T.V. The first thing that plays makes Hazel want to close her eyes.

It’s a news anchor talking about Ken’s next game, and it’s displaying a shot of him from one of his last games before he got hurt. He looks so charming, but Hazel tears her eyes away from the screen. Ami is quick to change the channel.

“You know,” she says, the T.V now background noise as Hazel and her get comfortable on the couch. She seems hesitant, but she continues anyway. “I think you might’ve been his whole world.”

Hazel’s questioning whether she’s actually with Ami or if this is some impostor. She never says stuff like this, but when their eyes meet, she knows it is Ami. She sighs, looking away, at the floor. At some of the drawings littered on the carpets.

“If I was anywhere near that, it shouldn’t have been so hard,” Hazel whispers, hands shaking. She’s scared she’ll drop the bowl, so she places it on the table. It clatters a bit with the force, and she flinches.

When she looks back at Ami, she’s not eating, she places her bowl as well, and her undivided attention is on Hazel.

“He’s scared, Hazel,” Ami says.

Hazel nods.

“He’s terrible with emotions.”

“I know,” is all Hazel can muster the energy to say. But I literally bared myself for him. Fuck, we knew each other. “Did you know we were childhood friends?” she says, laughing sadly as she leans back. She turns her head to look at Ami. Her whole face drops.

“I didn’t know,” the journalist admits, shaking her head.

“I actually didn’t even remember, he told me. And it hit me like a truck.” Hazel shrugs.

“How’re your… injuries?” Ami asks. Maybe she’s getting uncomfortable with Hazel’s apathetic behaviour. 

Hazel smiles at her, “they’re healing, or healed. I’m not sure. I’ve not checked since they took the dressing off.”

“You should.” Ami’s frowning at her.

Hazel just grins. “I will.”

ch4rryc0smos © 2024 … do not repost, alter, translate, or steal my work.

[tv-moments]

Your Honor

Season 2, “Part Sixteen”

Director: Peter Sollett

DoP: Anette Haellmigk

[ghost-bxrd]

Prompt:

It’s not that Jason forgot, per se.

But between smuggling a toddler out of the League of Assassins, trekking halfway across the world, and finding a suitable hiding place that’s also child friendly… well, it kind of slipped his mind that he’s supposed to be… dead.

Something that comes back to bite him in the ass when he takes Dami out for some ice cream and just so happens to run into non other than Brucie-fucking-Wayne

[theicarusconstellation]

when i say “sad boy/girl hours” i mean i’m thinking about alia atreides at sixteen fucking years old saying,

“i wish i could burn this thing out of me…but i’m sister to an emperor who is worshipped as a god. people fear me. i never wanted to be feared. i don’t want to be part of history; i just want to be loved. and love.”

[ronanlynchbf]

[feketeribizli]

marci thinking dating another ginger is incest is so funny. he was fine with the british until he realised they could be ginger too he'll khs when he sees prince harry (ginger balding and incest). he's so true hating british people over a situationship tho i love u ginger british womans influence 💜

kendall and her impact 🩷

[egophiliac]

HELLOOOO HAVE YOU SEEN LILIA'S DORM CARD YETTTT

personally, what made me most gleeful about the update news is that the part 2 description implies that they forgot to invite Malleus to Lilia's farewell party. god yes rub that salt into the wound, Monday can't come soon enough

[rita-redacted]

I haven’t seen anyone talk about this exchange which is probably my favorite of this episode

[eddiezpaghetti]

It has come to my attention that SOME OF YOU who read my last Byler post remain UNCONVINCED. So I'm gonna tack onto it this:

I'm older than fucking God and air, and I've been out and proud since 2007. Yes, I know what homophobia is, and yes, I know what queerbaiting is. I know about Supernatural and Teen Wolf and Sherlock and blahdyblahdyblah. No new ground is being covered here. I thought I made that clear in the original post, but, clearly, I did not.

I am aware of queerbaiting and homophobia, and I'm still wholeheartedly certain in Byler being canon anyway.

Okay, so there are three types of relationship I want to discuss when it comes to queerbaiting. They're all, like, "queer relationships that could have happened, but didn't".

First off, queer-coding. This isn't really a thing so much anymore, but it still crops up every once in a while. I'd argue it probably happens most with male-male relationships in family shows these days. First example that comes to mind is Mr. Smiley and Mr. Frowny from Steven Universe. You can't make a relationship canon because some shitty overhead bastard overhead said no, so you get as close as you can without compromising the show. Can't make someone gay? Well, now their comedy routine is a blatant allegory for a romantic relationship. Boom-shaka-laka. This is something I don't see being a problem with regards to Stranger Things, but I want it to be there as contrast, a demonstration of one of many things queerbaiting is not. However, one could argue that, thus far, Will Byers is, canonically, queer-coded. It's pretty fucking heavily implied in the show, and the creators have confirmed it, and you're gonna be able to see it if you're not FUCKING BLIND, but word of god is not technically canon which means that interviews don't technically make something canon, blahdyblahdyblahdyblah, technicalities, Robin has been explicitly stated in the text to be queer while Will has, thus far, not, outside of good ol' Show-Don't-Tell. Of course, anyone with two brain cells to rub together can tell that that's going to change by the end of Season 5, but, hey, for what it's worth, I'm throwing this out there.

Alrighty, Thingamajingama Number Two: "Oops, I accidentally made the greatest love story known to man." AKA, a genuine, honest-to-goodness mistake. Unfortunately, we do live in a heteronormative society. Sometimes people who don't think about being gay much write a friendship that's incredibly compelling and don't even consider the possibility that it could have been read as romantic. Something something Top Gun something. This is, again, not queerbaiting. This is Steddie, this is Ronance, this is Elmax, this is your favorite flavor of non-canon ship this week, this is not Byler. The creators know DAMN well what they're doing. They've talked about it. We know this. Nothing new here.

Which brings us to the topic of discussion here. Actual queerbaiting. This usually starts out as an "accidental greatest love story", and then reacts to fan response. And when I say "reacts", I mean like a goddamn chemical reaction. Like bleach and ammonia, bitch. It's noxious and it's gonna kick your fucking ass without mercy. This is when a creator is like, "Hey, let's get our queer audience invested, but we're not actually going to give them what they want because our straight audience isn't here for that/we personally think it's gross/we don't give enough of a shit to want to research a goddamn thing to write a real gay character," blah blah blah whatever excuse they want to come up with this time.

And when you think "queerbaiting", I want you to think "bullying". Because that's what it is. It's lucrative bullying, like beating us up and taking our lunch money, but it's bullying all the same. And it's a real goddamn thing, even if people misuse the word a lot, often when they mean one of the two above, sometimes when they mean "bury your gays", which is another homophobic thing entirely that I'm not going to get into here. Queerbaiting is the thing we're focused on, and it's real, and it's bullying. And here's the reason I want you to think of it as bullying:

They

Think

It's

Funny.

They are actively making fun of us.

That's why Dean had the "Cas, get out of my ass," line in Supernatural. It's why the "Do you like boys?" line happened in Teen Wolf. It's why "Lie with me, Watson," happened in the RDJ Sherlock Holmes movies. Because "It's just a joke, mate." "It was just a prank, bro." "You didn't really think it would happen, did you?" "You should see your face."

So here's probably the biggest reason I don't think it's specifically queerbaiting in this specific instance of Will Byers and Mike Wheeler.

Stranger Things has never, not once, made a gay joke. Ever.

Every single time queerness comes up, it's dead serious.

Lonnie calls Will a fag, and the show is not at all reluctant to show what a goddamn horrible person he is. And when Hopper latches onto that, it's not as "Hahah, is he gay, though?" It's because he's trying to determine a potential motive for Will's disappearance, and even if someone had interpreted it as a joke, Joyce immediately has a line that functions as snapping her fingers in front of the audience's face and yelling "FOCUS" when she says "He's MISSING." Basically outright saying "This isn't funny!"

Troy calls him a fairy, along with targeting Lucas and Dustin for their skin color and disability respectively, and Mike gets damn near murderous. Troy is portrayed as a goddamn monster and the show portrays it as justice when El makes him piss his pants and later breaks his arm.

Steve calls Jonathan "queer" as a slur and gets the shit beat out of him for it.

Billy's father is revealed to be homophobic and abusive in the same breath.

Mike says "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" and we're shown how devastated Will is and Mike immediately follows him to beg for forgiveness.

There is a joke in Robin's coming-out scene, but it's not at Robin's expense. It's at Steve's. Specifically for being heteronormative.

Jonathan has multiple scenes where he's trying so hard to tell Will that he's always going to love him as he is, whether he's gay or not, without pressuring him to come out before he's ready.

Even when there's a little bit of ribbing at Robin's expense, it's always because she's an awkward nerd who's nervous around pretty girls, just the same as Lucas and Dustin are teased when they both first develop crushes on Max, and even then, even then, it always comes as a package deal where they make fun of Steve's girl problems at the same time.

Stranger Things is an emphatically pro-gay show. It may not be the core point of the show the way it is in, say, Our Flag Means Death, but there is nothing less than respect for its queer characters. Its queer characters are always taken completely seriously. No one is making fun of us. They never have. That's why I have serious doubts that this is queerbaiting. It would come completely out of left field for the bullying to start in Stranger Things' final season.

So it's not at all likely to be queerbaiting because queerness is taken completely seriously. The creators have talked about Will's queerness, at least, so it's not an accident. And queer-coding would be silly to expect from this show when it's already on its final season. Like, what is Netflix gonna do? Cancel it? Not to mention all the explicit queerness that's in there already. And no one's gonna "What about the children?" a show that's had sex scenes in it since the first season.

There's no fakeout here. It's gonna happen. Breathe.

[good--merits-accumulated]

really really want to write something w/ Todd or Neil being a doctor

[rainbowsandwhumperflies]

The Winged Servant - 12

content warnings: discussions surrounding medically induced amnesia, royal/servant whump, angel whumpee, discussions surrounding corporal punishment (torturing onyx lol), let me know if I missed anything!

prev chapter | masterlist

The guard took me down three staircases and through too many hallways to remember before opening a metal door. “They’ll be waiting for you right in here. There aren’t guards in there, but those two are plenty capable and I will be waiting out here regardless, so no funny business.” I didn’t miss the click of the lock sliding into place as the door closed.

There was a table in the middle of the room. It had a white tablecloth on it, but it looked like it was metal and sterile under that.

Kieran was waiting at the table. Kieran and… someone else. The someone else would clearly rather I didn’t know. They were wearing a mask, blue and gray and big enough to cover every inch of their face. They had loose enough clothes to hide the curves of their body and their hair was pulled back into a bun that hid the texture and length of it—even the color outside of how dark it was.

“Hi, Onyx,” Kieran said softly. “How’s your arm?”

“Good, sir,” I whispered, bowing my head slightly. “Thank you for the concern. And, um, the medical help.”

“Of course. How about you come sit down, yeah? My friend here is going to stay anonymous, but you can call them Blue. We just wanted to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay?”

He was speaking so gently. As if I wouldn’t understand him if he was blunt with me. I wondered if I should tell him that I knew how to be a good servant, or if that was too irrelevant to the conversation. “Of course, sir.”

“What’s your full name?” Blue asked. They did not sound upset with me, but it was a far cry from Kieran’s soft tone.

“Onyx, Mx.”

“And… your last name?”

I glanced away, focusing my eyes on the tablecloth, tracing the gold embroidery with my eyes. “My apologies, Mx, but you would have to ask the royal family for that kind of information. I don’t know it anymore.”

“No? Why not?”

“I gave it to them, Mx, when I was seventeen. I don’t remember anything from before being a servant. It’s better this way. I'm more productive.”

Kieran and Blue stared at each other for a long moment before looking back at me. “They erased your memory?” Kieran asked slowly.

“Yes, but- but I agreed, sir. I offered to let them do it, because I wanted to become the best servant I could.”

“Okay, but your offer was before they actually did the procedure, right? So the only reason you know that you offered is because they told you.”

“Yes, sir,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful to them for telling me, since they don't usually tell me about before. As is their right, of course.”

“Jesus Christ,” Kieran whispered. “You’ve been with them this whole time, haven’t you? What did you do when they were overthrown?”

“... What?”

“When they were overthrown. Since they’re no longer royal. Did they just take you with them when they left the castle?”

This was similar to what Dr. Charlotte had said—she hasn’t ruled a country for the better part of the last decade—but it couldn’t be true. “The Rao family has ruled Sathenn for sixteen generations, sir. And I don’t- I don’t think I’d ever seen the castle before last night.”

“So you didn't work for them as an employee, or at least not after the memory thing.” Blue tilted their head. “How do you know that the Raos didn’t just grab you off the street and wipe your memory?”

I frowned. “His Highness Prince Ryan told me that I volunteered.”

“And you took his word for it. Right.” They wrote something down on their clipboard. “Did you try to leave?”

“Of course not, not on purpose,” I breathed, staring at them in shock. “I’m- I know how to be a good servant, I can be, I swear.”

“And you didn’t ever want to, or you were just too scared to? Do you understand the difference in the question I am asking?”

“I don’t… think I understand, Mx. I don’t leave because that’s what’s required of me as a servant, and I can be a good servant. It’s not about what I want or how scared I am, I just don't leave.”

“... Right.” I could not see their expression, but I didn’t think they looked convinced. “And what would happen if you did try to leave? Would you… get in trouble in some way?”

“Of course, Mx. But I know my place, I swear I do, I wouldn’t run.”

“Okay. But if you did.”

“I wouldn’t, Mx,” I insisted. “I swear. I can be good, I wouldn’t run.”

They paused for a moment, but nodded eventually. “Okay. Sure. You wouldn’t run. But do you get in trouble for other things, then? Other, smaller mistakes, maybe? Can you describe… I don’t know. Can you describe the most recent incident?”

The most recent one was… last night, despite the fact that last night felt much further away than it was. “Each morning, I bring breakfast to Her Majesty,” I explained. “Yesterday, I was late, Mx. I was punished for that.”

“What kind of punishment?”

“I usually wear a shock collar, Mx, and His Highness Prince Ryan shocked me three times. One for each minute I was late. A fair punishment.”

Blue had been scribbling on their paper, but froze as I spoke. “So you- when you say punishment, you mean corporal punishment.”

“Of course, Mx. Punishment is required for me to become the best servant I can be. How else am I supposed to learn to be better? I make much fewer mistakes than when I was new.”

Kieran was frowning at the wall, and I flinched when he turned his gaze toward me. “Tell Blue what you told me about your wing.”

“My wing wasn’t broken as a punishment, sir,” I explained again, not understanding the relevance. I hadn’t understood the relevance of any of these questions, but it didn’t matter, because the prince had said to do what I was told. “It was only to keep me from flying. But it’s- it’s okay, now, it barely hurts, it’s been years. His Highness Prince Cardan broke it before I gave the royal family my memories, so I don’t remember it happening.”

“That’s convenient,” Blue muttered. “Fine. Okay. Last couple questions, because I can’t stomach this for much longer. What do you know about what you were doing in the castle last night?”

I hesitated. “One of the guards said that we were breaking in.”

“Mhm. Were you aware of that before you came here?”

“... The royal family can’t break in anywhere, Mx. They’re entitled to any building they like.”

“Allow me to rephrase, Onyx. Were you or were you not aware, last night, that you came here as part of a group on a mission to kill people?”

“That’s not-” I hesitated. “They weren’t here for that. They were here for… for Kieran, they said. Anyone that they hurt was someone in the way of their rule—it’s not that they wanted to hurt people.”

“Didn’t they? I’ve seen the camera footage. You were an accessory to murder before you even got into the door. That didn’t make you hesitate at all? It didn’t surprise you enough to ask any of the Raos what you were doing here?”

Right. The guard with the purple hair. Outside, guarding the castle. Guarding Kieran. Dead, after someone had killed her, someone that had arrived in a car with me.

“No, Mx,” I said. “I didn’t- I didn’t ask. I’m not supposed to ask questions. It would be a waste of time. I’m just supposed to do what I’m told.”

Blue took a slow, measured breath. “Okay. I have good news and bad news for you, Onyx. The good news is that I think putting you on trial wouldn’t get us very far because you somehow managed not to realize that the Raos were killing people. Even after watching them kill people. The bad news is that you are ridiculously loyal to people that have been lying to you for longer than you remember existing. These people are dangerous to everything this country stands for. That makes you dangerous by proxy, regardless of your intentions or information, and we can’t exactly let you free either.”

You are ridiculously loyal to people that have been lying to you.

These people are dangerous.

“That doesn’t- it doesn’t matter if they lie,” I managed. “It doesn’t matter if they’re dangerous. It’s not the same for them, Mx. They tell me what they want me to know so that I can be the best servant possible. Sometimes that doesn’t include the full picture.”

“Why do you need to be such a good servant?” Blue asked. “Why does their comfort matter so much more than yours? They might have the best servant in the world, Onyx, but what is the point of serving them so much if they give you nothing in return?”

This was something I had asked too, once. It was years ago, when I was new and I had phrased it differently, but I remembered it. Why is my happiness less important than yours, Your Highness?

Prince Cardan had laughed and asked me how happy I thought he was. And he’d said that happiness- “Happiness serves no purpose, Mx. It doesn’t protect me or keep me safe or provide me with food. The royal family does that for me, if I do my best to be a good servant.”

“They’re not going to be the royal family ever again, you know. They’re-”

“When was the last time you ate something, Onyx?” Kieran interrupted.

Blue glared at him.

“... Last night, sir,” I answered quietly. “At dinner.”

“I think that the conversation Blue is trying to have with you would be better managed over a meal. How about we get you some breakfast?”

Blue was still glaring, and Kieran didn’t look happy. …But someone had asked me a question, and I was supposed to answer it. “Yes. sir.”

“Okay. Blue—paperwork. Try to start questioning Lucia if you have any extra time. Onyx—how do you feel about crepes?”

~

taglist (btw i appreciate you so so much): @kaleidoscope-of-thoughts @toyybox @rainydaywhump @risk606

[ceaseless-watchers-special-girl]

hot take someone should slap nureyev. actually just whack him over the head. probably rita.

also someone shoudl blast loser, baby from hazbin hotel into his ears i think it would put some things into perspective for him

[dweathsythe]