#a few weeks later the academy is attacked by demons commanding monster

[jtavington]

Silver Flower AU

This has been my project for the last few weeks. Byleth makes one last attempt to reach Edelgard and fate intervenes. Trigger: respiratory distress

Red light gleamed a few feet ahead and two pairs of footsteps sounded. Byleth tensed. Edelgard carried a ball of magical flame in one hand and gripped Dorothea firmly with the other. Dorothea's lips were pursed, but she looked neither frightened nor injured. Edelgard had dispensed with her crown and regalia, wearing a tunic of deep purple. Her unbound hair made her look as if she were playing truant from the Academy instead of reigning for five years now. Her cheeks were gaunter than they'd been half a year ago, and creases furrowed around her eyes and between her brows. Byleth's gaze fixed on the black band Edelgard wore on her right arm. Byleth took a half step forward. Who do you mourn for? she wanted to ask. She didn't. Tonight of all nights, it was a ridiculous question.

Edelgard scowled. “Stay where you are, Professor.”

“You came.” Weight slid from Byleth's shoulders.

“And you two took so many foolish risks to bring me here. I felt obligated to come.” She released Dorothea and motioned her towards Byleth. “And I was curious what you could have to say to me. Our last meeting made your feelings toward me quite clear. As does the army encircling my palace.”

“I wanted to tell you...” Her mouth went dry, The Crest of Flames made people listen when she talked, but it couldn't give her the right words. There was only the pain in her chest that she'd carried since the Holy Tomb. “I'm sorry. You were the dearest of all my students, and I failed you. When you talked about changing the world, I never asked you what you meant or if there was anything I could do. Well, I'm asking now.”

Edelgard was silent for a long moment. Then she laughed, a low mirthless sound, like a death rattle. “I used to dream of hearing those words. And now it's far too late.”

“No, it isn't. We've made mistakes. Me most of all. No one likes children disowned or treated like brood mares because of Crests. Give us Rhea and tell your troops to stand down, and we can fix things.”

“You want me to yield before you speak of compromise.” Edelgard's eyes were hard. “The Church of Seiros knows only how to spout honeyed words while doing whatever they please. The only way to change Fodlan is to unite it and purge it of false gods.”

Byleth pinched her nose and closed her eyes in a silent prayer. She would have gladly slept another hundred years if it meant she could save what remained of the Black Eagles. She needed the gift of eloquence as she had never needed it before. "What about Adrestia? Those were the people your father made you swear to protect. You don't need to conquer the whole country to keep them safe."

"Don't bring Father into this." There was a warning, dangerous edge in her voice. "I swore new oaths, to the people of Duscur and Sreng. One was genocided, the other annexed, because Fodlan as it is now cannot abide those who deviate from the Crest system. If I let things in Faerghus and the Alliance continue as they are, a thousand generations yet to be born will rise up to accuse me of shirking my duty. The Church will undo my reforms the moment I'm gone."

"No, they won't." Byleth took a deep breath and tried to hide the tremor in her voice. Edelgard's voice, her unshakable will, could rouse someone to mount a barricade in her defense anytime she pleased. It was their shared gift as bearers of the Crest of Flames, but Edelgard had the advantage of having set on her path long ago while Byleth...doubted. A church that banned autopsies and telescopes might undo political reforms just to keep things the way they had always been. Unless the Goddess herself told them otherwise.

"No, they won't," she repeated with more conviction. "I'm their Enlightened One, Sothis come again. I'll make them change." She took a step forward, and this time Edelgard didn't stop her. "Take me hostage as a guarantor of reform if you need to. I'll take Rhea's place in the dungeons."

There was a flicker of something in Edelgard's eyes. Hope. "Why? You have only to strike me down tomorrow and your war be over. Do you care for the Archbishop so much that you don't want to risk what I might do?"

"No." Dorothea's voice cracked and her eyes were bright with tears. "Don't you get it, Edie? You're the one we don't want to risk. We love you. All of us."

Edelgard staggered back as if Byleth had struck her with the Sword of the Creator. “Don't,” she whispered. "You're lying. I'm the heretic who wants to tear down everything precious to you. You were destined to abandon me. It took me three years to heal my heart and you broke it again. Now you speak of love?" She made a noise in the back of her throat that started as a laugh and ended as a sob.

"We do." Byleth dared another step forward. "We're the Black Eagles. Family. I love you and if I have to spend the rest of my life as your prisoner or at the negotiating table to prove it, then so be it." She held out her hand.

Edelgard looked down at her hand. Byleth held her breath. Please believe me. I already killed Hubert and that's enough for one lifetime. You trusted me so much five years ago. Just once more is all I ask.

A roar ripped through the countryside loud enough to shake the ground. What little color Edelgard possessed drained from her face. Byleth's hand went to her sword. Electricity crackled along Dorothea's fingers, and Edelgard drew her dagger. They all knew that sound: a Demonic Beast, close and drawing closer.

"I'm guessing that's not one of yours," Byleth muttered.

"My allies are careless about where they perform their experiments. Or the subjects." Edelgard gritted her teeth. "You wanted us to be allies? You're about to get your chance."

The beast lumbered into view. It was a big one, far larger than the ones Edelgard had commanded at Garreg Mach or Gronder. Poison dripped from it's gaping maw, dripping on the grass and turning it brown before her eyes. They had killed creatures like this before, but always with the help of a battalion or a Relic. Now they had neither.

Edelgard struck first. The magical light became roaring flame and she lobbed the ball straight at the monsters head. The hilltop glowed with purple light as magical flame met magical defenses. The Beast flinched and roared but did not retreat. Dorothea let fly lightning. Again, the beast merely roared. They had to try something before either claws or poison were the end of them. Byleth summoned the power of her Crest and leapt into the air. She drove her blade into the snout, where magic had already struck. Black blood oozed from the wound.

Byleth didn't get a chance to enjoy her victory. She felt the ground and slipped on a loose stone. She threw her hands out to regain her balance, but it was too late. She fell to her knees, and the wounded Beast roared once more. Hot breath rushed over her. So too did the corpselike stench of the poison. Byleth forced herself to look up. If she was going to die because of a stupid rock, she could at least look death in the face. Hubert must be laughing, wherever he was.

"Professor!” Edelgard and Dorothea screamed almost in unison. Strong hands slammed into her side rolling her out of the way as the Beast spewed forth its venom. Drops splattered on her cloak, leaving holes as if it had been singed. She twisted and her breath caught in her throat. Edelgard had pushed her out of the way. Her reward was a thick covering of the purple liquid. She screamed.

Byleth clenched her fist and the scene froze. She forced herself to exhale in and out. What had Edelgard been thinking? What had she been thinking, trying such a flashy attack? Only a true goddess could have moved fast enough to push them both out of the way in time. The poison of a Demonic Beast was a terrible thing. It was, first and foremost, a paralytic agent. Muscles refused to work even weeks or months later and deformed the face as one side was able to move and the other was forever frozen. Worst of all was what it did to the lungs. The victim would asphyxiate within minutes without a physician. Even the strongest and healthiest were nothing before it. And Edelgard was covered in the stuff.

She drew her finger in a slow circle. Time remained still. She's tried again. Nothing.

Byleth couldn't move, couldn't think, either to reverse time or free it. This was Fate? That Edelgard die because Byleth had tripped? Something wild and rebellious kindled within her. No, she wouldn't let this destiny stand, not when destiny had led her only to a river of blood. No doubt the pious would say that Edelgard deserved such a horrible death. She was unrepentant, no matter how hard Byleth had prayed a few moments ago. Maybe this was nothing more than the perverse answer to her wish that she not have to face any more of her students. Well, a Goddess who answered prayers that way could go to the flames.

Time began again and Byleth forced herself to her feet. She summoned a pulsing white light of holy power. "Dorothea, now!" Electricity and the power of the Goddess combined in a riot of color that left the beast thrashing before it fell to the ground like a stone. Byleth rushed to Edelgard's side. She hoped that she wasn't too late.

Edelgard lay sprawled face-up. Her eyes bulged, her face froze in terror, and her limbs splayed at awkward angles as the venom worked its way through the body. "Not like this," Byleth whispered. She transformed the holy power into the warm glow of healing magic. If she couldn't get Edelgard breathing again, nothing else mattered. She focused on Edelgard's chest as healing power left her. She couldn't purge the poison, but she could force Edelgard's lungs to work despite it. The magic pulsed and breath was inhaled and exhaled in time with the perverse metronome. Edelgard's eyes widened. Fear. Pain. "Shh. I know it hurts. But you need to live. Understand? I won't let those rats and their filthy experiments have the last word.”

[irkallanprince]

Jason the Hunter

Fandom: Power Rangers (2017 movie) Rating: T/PG-13 Warnings: Awkward flirting. Implied violence. Vampires. Also dead bodies but... eh.  Relationships: Jason Scott/Billy Cranston 

Jason is a monster hunter investigating the strange deaths of criminals. When he finds the person responsible he doesn't quite have the heart to punish them.

Basically I’m trash and that crappy practice doodle about a vampire hunter au I did a few weeks ago inspired this. Maybe it’s a new series? Not sure yet. Also sorry for clogging up the PR and Cranscott tags but like... Cranscott needs more love.

(read on ao3)

Three bodies. All drained of blood. Strewn about Angel Grove Park like abandoned child’s toys. Not dead very long from the feel of it. Jason crouched at the foot of the body nearest to him and stared at the neck wound when he noticed markings peeking up over the collar of the man’s shirt. He reached down and lowered it a bit to see a swastika staring back up at him.

“Nazis… I take back every time I said poor bastard.” He said with an audible cringe in his voice. He looked up at his partner from the corner of his eye who was taking pictures with her Institute-issued phone to log for the attack database. They’d go straight back to Alpha in the command center so they could study them later.

“Yeah. These ones are no big loss but sooner or later an actual innocent person is gonna wind up on the wrong side of the fangs. Just remember we’re trying to do something good here.” She said, slipping the phone back into her pocket and slinging her crossbow over her shoulder.

Jason stood, shoving his hands in his pocket. He’d been hunting for most of his life now. He grew up in a family of hunters, but they were killed by a wild pack of Wendigo a few years back. That was when the Institute took him in. Trained him at the Academy. He was no longer a vigilante monster hunter, rather an official licensed one. They’d paired him with Kimberly Hart, who was a master of archery and stealth and kicked his ass far too many times to count. She was a better technical fighter than him, all skill and perfection in one lithe frame. Jason? Well he was just a brawler. The kind of guy who learned what he could by watching his daddy get into bar fights when he was a wee thing. It got the job done.

Still, it never got any easier staring at corpses. Even the gross nazi kind.

“Been tracking these murders for weeks now and I gotta say, Kimmie… I kind of feel like we should let it alone. Like… all the bodies we’ve picked up have been legit bad dudes? These white supremacist guys? That sex offender about a week ago? A couple of dirty cops? It feels almost like these guys are… kinda alright?” Jason said as he surveyed the scene. It was the work of vampires, that much was clear. But it seemed the vampires in question were targeting genuinely awful people. No real loss, and if anything these human ’victims’ were doing more harm to people than they were. Still, Kim was always the more stalwart of the two.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. Besides, we let this slide, there’s a lot of other things we might have to consider overlooking. Job’s easier when we don’t have to think about it.” She said, picking up her equipment.

“I’m heading back to Command. You coming?” She asked, blowing a dark curl from her face. Jason gave a shrug and looked around the area.

“I think I want to do one more sweep before I go. Just see if we missed anything.”

Kimberly raised an eyebrow and offered a shrug.

“Keep your comms on. Don’t do anything stupid. So like… just most of the things you would do.” It came off biting, but the hint of a smile on her face showed she was just ribbing him. He gave a sarcastic smile and dismissed her on her way before heading into the treeline of the park himself.

He used his sword to hack at the shrubbery in his path, making his way through the wooded area as he looked around for tracks or blood splatter or anything that could lead them to their guys. So far nothing was coming up but trash, discarded condom wrappers, and crushed empty beer cans from the rowdy teens that used these woods to party on the regular.

“Uneventful as fuck.” He clicked his tongue to himself as he kicked one of the empty cans into the bush nearest to him. To his surprise the bush shook and an exasperated ’OUCH!’ rang out from it. He watched as a dark figure fell back in the clumsiest manner, rolling back into the dead leaves before looking up with wide, glowing yellow eyes and a nervous laugh. Jason pursed his lips and cocked his head to the side.

“A vampire hiding in the woods not far from the scene of a murder. Committed by vampires. Must be my lucky day.” He said with a quirk on his lip, dragging his sword in the dirt as he slowly approached him.

“I gotta tell ya, I’ve been hunting creatures for about five years now. Dusted a bunch of guys like you before. This’ll probably be short. Got any last words?” He asked, raising his sword to the dark skinned vamp’s chin. The vampire gulped and kept his hands up in the air.

“Please I got separated from my group I… I don’t mean you any harm.”

“But you killed those guys, right?” He asked bluntly, tipping the vampire’s chin with his blade. He shivered a bit and winced, but he was having a hard time coming up with a response.

“...we have to feed. We only go after people that are bad.” The vampire responded, still hoping that if he were compliant, he would live through this. Jason gulped a moment as he gazed into his eyes, and he found them to be honest and true. Yeah, Kim was right. It wasn’t right, but at the same time it was justice.

“We? How many of you are there?”

“I uh… it’s me and my brother and sister. N-not real brother and sister just… we were all made by the same person. She… isn’t really around anymore.” The vampire explained. Three young, scared, homeless vampires? Made sense.

“You know I’ve been tasked with hunting you down and killing you right?” He said, studying the boy as he cowered in fear. But honestly, in Jason’s heart he couldn’t bring himself to finish it. These vampires had morals. He… liked that. Respected it even. So he instead removed his blade from the boy’s throat and sheathed it on his back.

“I’m Jason. What’s your name?” He said, looking him over once more. Now that he was free of danger, the vampire boy adjusted his knit cap and cleared his throat.

“Billy. B-Billy Cranston. I’m… new here. Everywhere really. I… we were taken by this woman a few months ago. Said she wanted children of her own. My sister calls her La Llorona but really she goes by Empress Rita. She… turned us. Then abandoned us here. I… don’t know why I’m telling you all this. Maybe just so you don’t kill me?”

Jason’s stony expression changed to a gentle smile and he removed his hand from his pocket and extended it. Billy studied it for a moment before taking it and shaking his hand.

“I’m a hunter. Work for an organization called the Institute of Guidance. We’re like… a secret police for monsters if you will. And you have been raising quite a stink in Angel Grove. You’re sloppy. But you swear you only go after criminals?” He asked, crossing his arms as he went on.

“You ever thought about like… I dunno… robbing a blood bank or something?”

Billy shoved his hands into his blue hoodie pockets and kicked at the dirt on the ground.

“It’s not the same. It’s… It’s like eating stale bread. It can make us sick if we drink blood like that too long. I don’t know if you know what it feels like to have a vampire tummy ache but it’s… not great.” He said, chewing his bottom lip nervously.

“I mean… okay what about like… Consensual feeding? I know vampire groupies are a thing. We call ‘em blood dolls back at the Academy.”

Billy just chuckled and shook his head. “It’s hard enough to find someone that don’t run screaming when they see our glowing yellow eyes, man. Plus I’m still relatively new at all this. I don’t know all this undead slang.”

Jason shrugged a bit.

“I don’t. I mean… I guess ya want a meal you could always call me. So long as you don’t like… kill me of course.”

The idea of feeding on Jason entered his mind and honestly? It brought heat to his cheeks. Heat he wasn’t sure he was capable of being a cold dead thing, but heat nonetheless. He shuddered a bit, licking his lips as he honed his eyes on Jason’s neck, how beautiful and pink it was. It almost…

“...U-uh but then what would my siblings eat?” He asked, hands discreetly pulling his hoodie down lower to cover the tenting in his pants. Jason just gave a shrug and ran a hand through his golden locks.

“Look, tell you what. Give me a few days and don’t murder anyone else and I will see what I can do about getting you a fresh blood supply, okay? Here.” He said, pulling out his wallet and tugging out a business card with his number on it. They might be a secret society of demon hunters, but they were also professionals. Of COURSE they had business cards.

“Call me when you need something. Preferably before someone dies. I know this is new for you but you don’t have to be alone in it, okay?” He said. Their fingers brushed momentarily as the card was handed off, and Billy once more felt the heat well in his cheeks.

“I-I...y-y-yeah okay.” Billy nodded. Jason gave him a brilliant smile and shoved his hands back in his pockets once more.

“I’m glad I ran into you, Billy. Now that we know what the problem is, we can try to fix it.” He said reassuringly. Then he gave him a little salute.

“I gotta go. Stay good, Blue.” He said, nodding to the color of his hoodie before turning and disappearing for the park again. Billy smiled a bit, then gazed down at the card.

“Jason Lee Scott…” He said under his breath. He then pressed the card to his non-beating heart and watched the boy walk into the night with his incredible night vision. It was ridiculous because when he died he never thought he would feel this way again, but this vampire was getting a crush. And on the one person he definitely probably shouldn’t. Someone who killed his kind for a living.

Dammit, Billy.