#aka thick enough to be a single

[kisakis-boyfriend]

Author's Note: Bingus anon, if you ever see this by some stroke of fate, thank you for the 2 delicious requests you sent me. I will never forget you 🫡🩵 I also haven't played fortnite in YEARS, so forgive me if my knowledge is outdated 😅

Pairings: Idia x male reader

Warnings: Dom male!reader, sub adult!Idia, blowjob, handjob, semi-public sex(?), teasing

“Wuh-huh?!” Idia stuttered, flailing as he felt a sharp tug on his pants. “Stop that, I'm in a party right now!”

Your boyfriend huffed, unmuting his mic to promptly ask "where we dropping, boys?". While you couldn't see the monitor, you were sure Idia was playing with some others from the dorm—AKA people that he would surely have to speak to again, at some point.

Being the little shit that you were, you decided to have some fun with the blue haired beauty…

Sneaky fingers tip-toe up Idia's thighs, moving dangerously close to his inner thighs and dick. He squeezes his legs shut instinctually, shooting a glare down towards you (which you ignore). You're too focused on prying his legs open again, which causes Idia to squeak in surprise, and he has to lie to his teammates that it was just because he thought he saw a bug on his desk…

Maintaining composure becomes harder as the fiery haired gamer progresses in his match — with players dying left and right, the stakes rise as only the skillful are left to pick each other off; meanwhile, Idia's menace of a boyfriend is rubbing his cock over his sweatpants, giving him a massive hard-on that strains against the fabric.

You untie his sweatpants and pull them down, allowing his cock to bob freely. It's already wet as precum smears on the head, and you smear it even more, beginning to stroke Idia's dick while he bites the inside of his cheek, desperate to keep those embarrassing noises inside.

“You can try to ignore me, baby, but I'm gonna suck your soul out through this pretty cock~” you whisper against his shaft, twisting your wrist as you lazily jack him off. The motion causes his thighs to tremble—Idia'a voice trembling along with them, barely audible to his teammates.

Muting his mic isn't an option, as every time he tries you glare at him with a gaze icy enough to make any man's blood freeze. No, no, you enjoy the risk. You enjoy the risk of Idia getting caught, since there's no way anyone would know who's touching him under his desk. Your identity is perfectly safe, it's only your partner who would be exposed.

“St-ooop… I can't, y/n–!”

“Shh, they'll hear you, dummy.” Idia's eyes roll back when you take so much of his dick into your mouth with ease, careful not to gag too loud and alert his friends. You'll start off slow, sucking on the tip while you massage his balls, keeping your other hand on his thigh so he can't close his legs. As you work his cock deeper inside, Idia almost drops his controller, whining as he recovers and lands another kill. It is impressive that he's still winning even as his tongue lolls out; his vision blurring slightly the longer this game goes on.

When it's finally down to the top 3 players—Idia included—you really give it your all. Every muscle in Idia's body tenses; clenching his hands, toes, jaw, and rocking his hips pathetically. All while your tongue swirls around his cute red cock. At this point, he's even begun to pant straight into the mic, somewhat muffled by the cheers of his teammates.

In a split second, it's over — a single gunshot rings out from the headset, and thick globs of cum fill your mouth as Idia presses your head down with the controller still in his hands. It's over — and he won!

Loud cheering emits from his headset, allowing you to pop off of his dick unheard. You part your lips, showing your boyfriend the mess he made, before swallowing it all. Idia whines again, nudging your shoulder away playfully.

[jazzyoranges]

Recognizeable

Wednesday Addams x fem!shapeshifter!reader

Summary: based on this ask!

Words: 1.4k

A/n: this kinda doesn’t have a plot 😭 whoopsies

Warnings: blood, wounds, i swear it’s not angsty R just takes a small tumble lol

“Did it hurt?”

“What, when I fell from heaven?” You crack a smile at your very hilarious joke, but Wednesday does her version of a huff and an eye-roll

“Apologies, I should have elaborated better.” You wince a little in pain as Wednesday disinfects the open wound on your knee and the smaller cuts around your body

The Addams girl was taking Thing and her pet bird, aka you, for a walk outside Nevermore in the forest that surrounded the academy as she watched you loop around in circles. She’d assume you were training for some competition if she didn’t know your personality enough, but Wednesday ultimately came to the conclusion you just had the bird equivalent of zoomies

You squawked at other birds as you passed them by in their trees, and Wednesday made a mental note to ask you if you could actually talk and understand them. Her hypothesis was that you couldn’t and you were just making animal noises for your own amusement

Either her hypothesis was true and you had no idea what you said, or you knowingly called a bird a slur. The previous was probably true due to the horrified expression on your face as a murder of crows you were “talking” to started chasing you down. You must’ve squawked something real bad for all of them to come after you.

You miss the smirk Wednesday has on her face.

The crows must’ve overwhelmed you pretty bad, because next thing she knew you were hitting every single branch of a tree in human form. Was that intentional? She’d have to ask you about it later. After she made sure you weren’t dead, of course

Wednesday arrived just in time for you to almost slam straight into her head, but a simple side step caused you to eat shit instead. There was a very noticeable and loud thump when your head hit a tree root. Wednesday would’ve been more concerned if you didn’t immediately curl into the fetal position, mumbling about how you’d take a nap right then and there

Either shapeshifters were gods, or you just had a really fucking thick skull. Wednesday internally smiled at the thought.

The Addams girl was well aware of the smelling salts in her backpack for times like these, but she looked at Thing for what he wanted to do to get you up. You could wait… probably.

After some inspection, Thing decided it was best to call Enid to carry you back to their dorm. The wound on your knee would only make you limp and cause more pain.

Wednesday made sure to keep you alive, though. She poked you with a stick here and there and gave you reassurance, which she saw you smile at.

You were prone to accidents. Both of the Addams knew you were fine. Truly, it was just another Tuesday. Wake up, go to class, take girlfriend and Thing on a walk, you break a bone, it was all a part of the schedule

It wasn’t even a shapeshifter thing either, you just refused to die. Which the Addams was ultimately grateful for, but your ability to visit death like a close friend had Wednesday just a little jealous

A groan of pain from the back of your throat brings the shorter girl back to the present

“Why did you turn human in the middle of the sky?”

“Whenever I shift I have to really concentrate on it the entire time, so I guess those crows just really fucked me up and messed with my focus” You sigh

“Is it hard? To keep concentration, I mean.” Wednesday starts to wrap the bigger wound on your knee with a bandage wrap

“I’ve been doing it forever, so it’s kinda easy. Not when you’re getting jumped by crows, though…”

“Could you not just shift a pair of wings for yourself?”

“I was already focusing on having the thick skull of a ram.” You knock on your head for effect. “How do you think I haven’t died yet?”

Oh so it was a shapeshifter thing. She was right about your thick skull, though

“Perhaps you should tell Enid that,” Wednesday gets up from her kneeling position in front of you. “She almost fainted carrying you on the way here and I have reason to believe it isn’t because you’re heavy.”

“Maybe I should get her something as compensation…” You mumble to yourself as Wednesday helps you out of the bathroom, using her as a crutch so you can flop onto her bed

The Addams girl sits beside you, your face buried in her sheets. Both of you fall into a comfortable silence as Wednesday continues to stare at you, her mind coming up with endless questions about your abilities.

If concentration was a constant concern, was Wednesday not giving you not enough credit? To focus on multiple tasks at once, surely it was hard for someone as air-headed as you. But then again, you have been doing this for your entire life. Did your concentration come as easy as breathing? Was it so natural you barely noticed it?

And surely the process hurt, right? Your molecules were repositioning themselves to fit the look of an entirely different being. What was there a difference between you and Weems?

What were your limitations? Wednesday would like to test them. Maybe if she’d ask kindly enough you’d-

“Ask your questions, Wens” You mumble into her soft bedsheets, your voice snapping Wednesday out of her thoughts

“Pardon?”

“We’re girlfriends. You can read my mind as much as I can read yours”

“And your logical explanation for that, is..?”

“Girlfriend magic.” You hold up your hands while shaking them, and Wednesday immediately recognizes the jazz hands you had quite an addiction to

“Another day, it’s best you rest.”

This makes you turn your head to look at Wednesday, a smile threatening to take over your face

“I don’t understand why people don’t believe me when I say you’re the romantic one” You gush

“Unless you want me to bombard you with questions until morning rises, I’d suggest you stay quiet.”

“Yes ma’am” You pull down Wednesday on her bed, shoving your face into the shorter girls collar.

From that day forward Wednesday asks you one question a day about your abilities, and you make sure to answer them as best as you can. It was something Wednesday appreciated about you.

Answers would span from 15 minutes to almost 2 hours long. There were some days you had to pull out the whiteboard that was collecting dust in the bee shed, writing and drawing out key information

At first it was casual, it really was. But a month later it was almost like class with how the Addams had a book and a half filled with information about you. A class Wednesday could actually get behind.

She’s learned every shapeshifter is different. Some turn into people, some turn into animals, and others can turn into both. So the book and a half was really just information about you, which Wednesday wasn’t exactly opposed to

Meditation seemed to be a pretty big thing to you. Whenever Wednesday was writing, you’d be meditating. At first the Addams questioned if you were compatible being in a room with her loud typewriter, but you insisted the noise was necessary for you to tune out

Another thing Wednesday learned is that you couldn’t exceed four limbs. Which, you made sure to voice your opinion on. The dreams of being a four-legged and two-winged western dragon was impossible, so unfortunately you’d have to make your peace with being a wyvern instead

Small snores came from you curled around Wednesday under a tree as a tiger. She could only focus on how you always somehow resembled your human face

Turning to a new page of her journal, the Addams girl starts to sketch the face of your tiger next to the one of your lion. No matter what form you’d take, Wednesday would be able to recognize it.

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #38

Harbringer

Imagine dis…

I’ve always wondered why despite Gotham being old as time only has a single nursery rhyme. We all know that nursery rhymes have a connection to real-life events no matter how gruesome the truth behind each upbeat tone. Yet in DC particularly in Gotham, there was only one nursery rhyme that kept being mentioned, and that one is the only thing that turned out to be true aka the Talons.

Why aren't there more legends? Or myths in the human world? DC is a breeding ground of legends and myths turning out to be true…

…

A thick fog covers the streets of Gotham, draping every street, alley, and rooftop with only shadows and the occasional shrieks of stray animals to be heard. The Talons may have their nursery rhyme that supposedly strikes fear in the hearts of Gothamites but also serves as a silent warning that hides behind such an innocent rhyme of a child.

However, despite the Talon’s rhyme being sparsely hummed, it is an even more ancient and more forgotten rhyme that only the older and elderly still remember the bits and pieces of such rhyme.

"Beware the headless rider at night,

In shadows deep, he brings his blight.

Green mist flows where his head should lie,

One look, and then you die."

The elderly used to think that it was Gotham’s version of a Dullahan that came from an ancient Celtic god that spread its influence in Gotham.  Nevertheless, it was repeated in hush whispers as if no one wanted to speak loudly, to avoid said gaze. As it was not a man nor any creature they had seen, if you have the gaze of it then you only have mere moments to pray to whatever god you believe in for salvation before its scythe drops down on you like a guillotine.

…

One foggy night, a Joker card slid slowly on the sidewalk outside an abandoned Gotham warehouse, and a loud, piercing laugh from within disturbed the eerie calm. The Joker cherished his next plot, his next punchline to the bats, until the sound of hooves broke through his cackles.

And through through the thick fog, he appeared.

The single nursery rhyme that the elderly remember only bits and pieces of its lyrics, whose reputation was as old as Gotham itself. Mounted on a black stallion with eyes that burned like molten embers, he was a nightmare made of darkness. In one hand, he held a scythe, the blade a slender, vicious arc of gleaming green metal. His other arm clutched his head—a pale and dead face with black hair and a pair of blue eyes that smoldered with icy, unwavering malice, linked to his neck by a moving strand of green smoke.

The Joker, perhaps the only man insane enough not to flee in the face of this nightmare, grinned even wider.

He cackled and laughed like the madman he is and exclaimed if he was one of the bat's new brood, or maybe a meta that had a grudge against him, and so on. Ignoring the shiver that crept behind his mind, and the slight twitch in his ever-confident smile that he usually uses to bare his teeth in bold defiance.

A shadow swept over the cracked glass, and he noticed it. That cold, lifeless head in the rider's grasp, stared at him with eyes that beheld every twisted corner of his psyche. The green mist filled the room, wrapping around Joker's ankles and pressing against his chest, chilly as the nothingness.

His scythe rose in a slow, methodical arc, cutting through the mist as if it were silk. Joker's grin vanished as an icy weight fell to his bones. His heart stopped, a chilly, unnatural stillness seizing him as if the air around him had frozen. The green mist tightened, coiling around his neck, filling his lungs and pulling the last wisps of air from his lips.

He swung his scythe and sliced through the darkness in a smooth, flowing stroke. And at that final, fleeting second, Joker saw his reflection in the rider's eyes, twisted and broken, captured in a flash of green.

Then quiet.

When the fog slowly disappeared, the Joker lay sprawled on the ground, his lifeless eyes staring at the darkness, as his infamous smile that used to be a symbol of fear in Gotham now has that uncertainly or some call it fear, forever etched on his face.

He rode away, going back into Gotham's shadowy streets. Somewhere ahead, his next prey waited, blissfully oblivious to the approaching judgment.

Following his departure, the nursery rhyme floated back into the night, scaring the elders who were blissfully sleeping, and woke up in alert as if they were back within their parent’s embrace after being scared of the old rhymes that their parents had just whispered to them in the dead of night.

…

Danny used to be a protector on both sides of his ghostly and humanity side. As years pass by, he the same faces of both the GIW and his parents committing the same atrocities, escaping justice time and again. Each innocent ghostly life and even the ghostly animals and blobs became a haunting reminder of the limits of mercy.

When the Observants summoned him, they gave him two options: remain powerless as innocent souls were lost or take on a new purpose—one that only someone with a heart as broken as his own could bear. They dubbed him the Harbringer, the one who would see that the irredeemable face the consequences of their brutality, that day he became both the judge and executioner of both realms. Though his duty didn’t stop between the two realms, He traveled in between dimensions using the countless doors in the Infinite Realms as a way to fulfill his duties.

He reluctantly accepted, and with it came the curse: he would no longer feel warmth or joy from those he once loved. His sole companion would be the ghostly steed that delivers him to his next destination and the faint echoes of a nursery rhyme that accompanied him in each timeline and in between worlds.

Now, he hovered over countless worlds, as a headless specter burdened by a task no one else could bear—a duty that he carried alone, all in the hope that one day, he could finally regain the peace he had long lost.

…

PS: If someone out there wants to continue or make a fic about this you are free to do so, don’t forget to tag me though.

PPS: I will be a bit busy so let me just post this early.

[your-nanas-house]

Be quick

(Credits to the owner @corodedcofin)

◇ Pairing: Perv Stepbrother!Neil Lewis X stepsister!Reader

◇ Warnings: smut, pervy Neil, hanjob, dub-con but not really, indifference, age gap (both off age), shitty writing, curses

◇ Summary: Neil receiving a handjob on the sofa while his stepsister looks at her phone.

◇ Note: Sorry for the mistakes and the English. Been working on this things since weeks now... it's shit and I'm sorry. 🤷🏼‍♀️🙇🏼‍♀️

A small snort left Neil's lips, he was getting bored for the first time while watching one of the movies he usually liked to watch.

It had been a while since he broke up with Violet and he missed a bit... that thrill mixed with adrenaline. He certainly wasn't the Neil he once was, not even in the way he wished— especially when he thought at his step sister.

The young woman had been such a little tease lately.

The possibilities that she was it while Neil was in the relationship were pretty high but he was always too busy to actually notice and let his body react to it.... every day. Because it kept happening every single day since his eyes took her in, waking up his cock at the mere view of bit of skin.

He blamed it mostly on the lack of sex in his life and the urge of fisting his lenght to make time and stress go away.

Y/n, his mother's new boyfriend's daughter... aka his step-sister, was being a bother even though she was just sitting right besides him, her eyes locked on the phone rather than the TV.

His baby blue eyes couldn't stop wandering around her body, taking peeks at her cleavage and her short shorts she was wearing at home— and he was doing it again. Luckily they were all alone that day, no-one was around, so.... he could finally get what he craved so much.

The only issue that was stopping him from doing anything was the poor plan he had in mind... how could he start it all? he wondered silently.

A short mental battle and Neil shifted slightly closer, his face turned still towards the TV to pretend that he was watching the movie playing on it, as he spread slightly his thigh to brush it against Y/n's bare a couple of time to see if he received any reaction from her.

Receiving none he continued with the plan, taking her hand and placed it down on his lap casually, sending finally the message that he was trying to give her without murmuring it explicitly— he was so aroused, nearly thrilled... thrilled enough to twitch at the mere warmth of her hand.

Y/n not really, she was still cursing mentally for that drunk bet she had with him and her lost which causing her to fall in that absurd situation.

'That fucking perv' she thought while starting finally to move her hand, feeling his hard cock, pressing against his pajamas pants, with her little finger.

Her hand limited to only rub his thigh for the moment as she waited for him to lower his pants and free his lenght— her eyes never leaving the screen of her phone.

Neil glanced at her, his breath peaking up as he bit his bottom lip in anticipation too earger to actually move... just wanting her soft groomed hand to wrap around his thick long cock and lead the way to heaven.

She didn't even needed to glance in his direction to see what to do since her stepbrother's hand moved her own to wrap it around his leaking cock, allowing that way her eyes to stay glued to the screen.

His cock was hard, his skin soft and plesant to touch while his tip was of an angry red... as it let some pre-cum drip on her fingers as soon as she moved his foreskin.

"Oh fuck" Neil curses, biting harder his bottom lip as he watched her move her hand lazily, his hips jerking desperately up to meet her movements. The young girl had been able to give it just a couple of slow pumps before the older man wrapped his own big hand around her smaller one... so to guide her better and not allow her to tease him further.

His fingers intertwined with hers, his thumb caressed the back of her hand before he moved it off his cock, so that he could lean closer and spit on it as a lubricant to ease the handjob.

"Neil! You're fucking disgusting" Y/n cursed at his action, making a face at the odd feeling of his spit on the inside of her hand. He really was so gross sometimes.

"Fuck, say my name again" he breathed out overwhelmed by the situation, his hand guiding hers back around his lenght "Remember, squee—" he started, cursing softly as she interrupted him with her movements.

"Yes, yes... I know how you like it, now shut up" Y/n murmured, scrolling her phone while working his cock... her hand squeezing it teasingly while his rough action kept pleasuring him, her hand hitting his bases before moving fast back up to the tip... up and down, up.. and down.

His balls where already reacting, getting pulled up by the muscles as his breath got heavier, pathetic whines leaving his mouth.

"Don't stop, don't stop, fuck, Y/n!" Neil nearly cried, arching his back while fucking her hand faster, working on his balls with his own hand to reach faster his peak.

"Fucking hell, how much longer do you need?" Y/n's voice exclaimed making him shiver and whine while her other hand, which was previously holding her phone, slapped his hands away so that she could jerk him off faster and better... already without patience.

"Fucking pathetic" the younger woman murmured, cursing when his warm seed got shot... not only dirtying her hands but her face and top as well due to the bend over position she had been in.

"Neil!—"

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Meig's Comprehensive Guide to Reptiles, aka: the vast majority of land vertebrates

Welcome! This is another long post by me, one of tumblr's most annoying resident paleontologists. But I promise: it'll be fun, it'll be engaging, and you'll be glad you read it.

What the Everloving Fuck is a Reptile?

Well, back in the day, you probably learned reptiles were land animals, with backbones, that were covered in scales, were cold-blooded, and laid eggs with hard shells.

But, you see, we classified organisms based on traits back when we didn't know about evolution. Or prehistoric life. And turns out, there are a lot of things in the past that do not fit in the categories we made based on living things today. A lot of things.

Soooooooo... now we classify based on evolutionary relationships! Aka, family trees.

So what is a reptile?

A reptile is any animal more closely related to living crocodilians (Crocs, Gators, etc.) than to rodents.

Aka, back around ~330 million years ago, animals that laid land-adapted eggs split into two groups: Proto-Mammals (that would eventually become mammals), and Reptiles.

So, a reptile is, anything closer to the group of "classical reptiles" than to mammals. Simple enough. And it is the entirety of an evolutionary unit - a single clade, consisting of a common ancestor and *all* of that ancestor's descendants.

Turns out, this includes birds, but I'll get to that.

The First Reptile Group to Branch Off: Parareptiles

So now we go through our groups of reptiles based on their evolutionary/familial relationships, and the first group to branch off from other reptiles were the Parareptiles.

(Note: Their evolutionary history is in flux and it's possible they're actually further down on the reptile tree, or not even a natural group. for now, we're going to go with them as the earliest branching group and assume they're a single thing, even though that is probably going to be very wrong in the next few years).

These were weird mfers, living from around 310 million years ago until 200 million years ago. They had robust bodies that were low to the ground, with legs *usually* sprawled out on either side. They also had very robust and broad skulls. Many of them look superficially like lizards, in that they're quadrupedal animals with limbs splayed out to the sides, but they were *nothing* like lizards. While early members of the group had long tails, over time, the bodies of parareptiles became more stout with shorter tails. They also had swollen, thick vertebrae, and stout upper limb bones. They were CHONKY.

The earliest members to branch off were the Mesosaurs, a small group of aquatic reptiles! They were long and slender, and quite small compared to later aquatic reptile groups. The next group to branch off were Millerettids, which were small insectivores with superficially lizard-like apperances. Most Parareptiles were Procolophonomorphs, and included everything from the bipedal Eudibamus to the huge Pareiasaurs that were major megafaunal herbivores during most of the Permian period.

All Parareptiles, as far as we can tell, are extinct today. Unless their evolutionary relationships change. Yay science!

All the rest of reptiles are in Eureptilia, which have smaller bones in the lower back of the skull that no longer connect to the roof of the skull. So, skulls like living reptiles!

Captorhinids

The next group to branch off are the Captorhinids, a group of interesting little reptiles with shorter tails, sprawling limbs, and weirdly boxy heads. Living from 300 to 252 million years ago, they started out as small carnivores, and eventually evolved to be large herbivores!

Protorothyridids

Next to branch off are the Protorothyridids, which lived only in the latest Carboniferous. They were small, superficially lizard-like animals, but their limbs were a lot more slender and long than lizards, as were their bodies and heads. In fact, they seemed to have been adapted for climbing trees, making them among the earliest known animals to do so!

All remaining reptiles are Diapsids, characterized by having two holes (postorbital fenestrae) behind the eye socket. This is where all living reptiles are.

Araeoscelidans

Our first group of Diapsids are the Araeoscelidans, which - again - were SUPERFICIALLY lizard like. I cannot stress enough that nothing so far has been an actual lizard. In fact, they had more slender limbs, longer tails, and less specialized heads than lizards. That said, they probably lived similarly to them, though some members may have been adapted for climbing, and others for swimming.

Unfortunately, we're now at the part of the tree where evolutionary relationships are a mess. Parareptiles may actually go here, or only some of them. Lots of different groups diverged here very quickly. It's a messssss. I will go through each group, but just know all we know is that these groups fall outside the next big chunk - Sauria - but within Diapsids.

Younginidae

Younginids are reptiles from right around the End-Permian extinction, basically only living in the latest Permian and earliest Triassic. They were as big as living monitors, and they had less kinetic (mobile) skulls than living reptiles. They would have been superficially lizard-like - again - but very different, and they had ridiculously long tails and toes, making them powerful movers.

Tangasaurids

Tangasaurids were a weird group of end-Permian to earliest Triassic animals, with some adapted for aquatic life in freshwater and lake environments, and other living life on land like other reptiles. As such, Tangasaurids represent another experiment in secondarily-aquatic life among reptiles. The land dwellers had long toes for efficient land movement, while the aquatic ones had those amazing water adapted traits that we associate more with living species. In fact, some of their tails were flattened, like sea snakes today!

Longisquama

For the sake of my sanity, I'm trying to group things up in as few groups as possible without ignoring anything. But this is a weirdo, and it doesn't have any family members, so I have to talk about it alone. You know that reptile you may have seen in books with the hockey-stick like things coming off of its back? That's Longisquama. The problem is, we don't know much about it. It had a small, slender head, and a typical reptile body, with limbs splayed out to the sides. Those fins on the back were *not* like feathers, but something else entirely - maybe just elongated scales. Or maybe it died on top of a plant (unlikely). Many bad scientists point to this animal and say its the ancestor of birds, but that's been thoroughly debunked at this point. It lived in the Middle Triassic, around 235 million years go.

Thalattosaurs

Thalattosaurs were Triassic reptiles - so living between 252 and 200 million y ears ago - that were semiaquatic! They had long, narrow skulls adapted for grabbing fish, and slender bodies for moving through the water. Their tails were long and paddle-like. Some of them had long necks, while others had shorter necks. Some even had a hook-like end of the snout for trapping slippery fish prey! They ate many different things, with a few species adapted for crunchy marine food, others for slippery, and so on.

Ichthyosauromorphs

Some of the most famous extinct reptiles go in this group - the group of reptiles that essentially evolved to be dolphins before dolphins were even a thing - a classic case of convergent evolution. These marine reptiles were extremely successful, living from the beginning of the Triassic - 252 million years ago, possibly even older - until the middle of the Cretaceous, 90 million years ago. We have early forms that show only partial adaptations to marine life, but they very quickly became fully aquatic, even giving birth to live young under water. Some of the largest marine animals ever fall into this group, including Shonisaurus and Shastasaurus. The earliest members showcase the evolution from typical reptile-shape to the weird reptile-dolphins they would become. Proper Ichthyosaurs had big eyes, round bodies, long narrow heads, and four flippers - one for each limb. Their tails were also long and ended in a fin like living sharks and whales. Some even had a dorsal fin! This group is *huge*, so I recommend digging into their wikipedia pages to learn more! Note that these are their own, huge, distinct group of reptiles - completely separate from lizards *or* dinosaurs!

Claudiosaurus

Claudiosaurus is another unique, who knows where it goes reptile, and it showcases another shift into aquatic life for reptiles during the end-Permian mass extinction. It was 60 centimeters long, and had flippers on its feet. It probably couldn't move very much on land, so it would have lived most of its life in the water. Its tail, torso, and neck were all very long, while its head was on the smaller side. Its limbs were also quite long compared to its body size. So this was a weird animal - and we're not sure where it falls in the story of marine reptiles yet. More research on this critter is needed!

Choristoderes

Choristoderes were semiaquatic, unplaceable reptiles that varied a lot in size over their time and managed to live through to the Miocene - so they existed from sometime in the Triassic to as recently as 11.6 million years ago! Some were as small as 30 centimeters, while others grew up to 5 meters. They were convergently similar to living crocodilians, with bodies built for semiquatic life and long narrow skulls for grabbing fish. In fact, their heads are kind of weird looking - like a heart at the base with a long projection coming off of it, if you look at it from the top. They had very simple teeth, and thin overlapping scales that were probably very soft in life. They also had webbed feet! They were exclusively fresh water animals, and may have had eggs that hatched immediately after being laid. It's wild we missed them being extant by like... a blink of an eye geologically.

Weigeltisaurids

Reptiles have evolved gliding membranes from their ribs multiple times, and this is the first one we're talking about in this article. They lived at the end of the Permian, between 259 and 252 million years ago - only going extinct in the mass extinction, though a possible Triassic fossil is known. They were not close to lizards or dinos, but had a lot of convergently similar traits to lizards. The lower ribs, aka modified gastralia, are pulled out to the side in pairs of long hollow rods, which would have supported a gliding membrane that was controlled by the abdominal muscles. They were big, which made them less efficient gliders than living gliding lizards. Their heads were very triangular, and they had extremely long tails.

Sauropterygia

Okay, so this group is going in "miscellaneous reptiles" because currently their evolutionary origin is in flux. We used to think they were close to the lizard and snake group, which we'll get to at the end of this post (long way to go). Then we thought they were close to turtles, and we didn't know where turtles went, so they were kind of in limbo. Then we figured out turtles were closer to crocodilians and birds than to lizards and snakes, so we dragged Sauropterygians there with them. And now studies are indicating that Sauropterygians and Ichthyosauromorphs are closely related, along with a bunch of other marine reptiles. And sometimes that group comes outside of crown-reptiles (Sauria, in a sec), and sometimes that group comes into the close to crocs and birds group like turtles. I don't know. I don't know where they go. They're going here.

Anyways, Sauropterygians includes a lot of weird marine reptiles. Helveticosaurs may be in this group - they had wide torsos, short limbs and tails, and a small square head, and were early marine reptiles during the middle Triassic. Saurospharigds may also go here - this group were superficially like turtles, but they were actually convergently similar, not related to living turtles closely at all (unless all Sauropterygians are?). They had elongated flat vertebrae on their backs, with matching chest ribs, to form a rib basket. Placodonts are the first definite group of Sauropterygians, which were *also* weirdly turtle-convergent. Some members of this group had huge scutes on their bodies, for part or all of their torsos, to protect them - different anatomically from turtle shells, but similar looking from a distance. They had teeth built for crushing shellfish, and had long tails to aid with swimming. Many members just looked like typical marine reptiles, however, and did not have those shells that later members had. Nothosaurs were Sauropterygians with long necks and tails and limbs that still had toes and were capable of going on land, but were more similar to the famous Plesiosaurs than the Placodonts were. Their feet were webbed, they ate primarily fish and squid. Pachypleurosaurs were similar, but had longer necks and limbs that were unable to go on land. The next group, Pistosaurs, had full flippers on their limbs, and long necks with triangular heads. This includes all Plesiosaurs, aka "Loch Ness Monsters", as well as things like Liopleurodon - many forms had very long necks, while many others had short necks, all across this group. Sauropterygians lived for the whole of the Mesozoic, showing up in the Early Triassic and lasting until the very end of the Cretaceous, and lived worldwide.

Drepanosaurs

In the Triassic, a group of mystery reptiles - possibly in this group of not closely related to anything today weirdos, possibly closer to crocs and birds - that truly showcase the weirdness of the Triassic Period. Living between 230 and 201 million years ago, Drepanosaurs had very long bodies, with flexible limbs and hands adapted for grasping branches, including opposable toes on the foot and giant claws on the hands. Their heads were very small and triangular. They had a hump on their upper backs to allow for strong muscle attachments, giving them the ability to rapidly catch insects in midair. The tails of some species ended in a freaking extra claw. In short, they were generic reptiles - or almost-archosaurs - trying their damnedest to be monkeys. And they got terrifyingly close. Some had heads that were so convergently bird like that they confused bird researchers for years, but it was convergence - in fact, the beaks of Drepanosaurs are completely different anatomically.

SAURIA

If we defined reptiles above as everything closer to living reptiles than to living mammals - ie, the most inclusive group that has crocodiles but does not have mammals - this is the *least* inclusive group that still includes every living reptile. So like, Sauropsida - where we started - is like a huge clan, with only some surviving members, but the most recent grandparent those ancestors shared was not the start of the clan, it was later on in the clan's history. I hope that made sense. Anyways, this is the group we call Crown-Reptiles.

And it, by that definition, has to include birds. Because birds and crocodilians are more closely related to each other than either are to lizards and snakes. Saurians first appeared at the end of the Permian, and diversified like crazy during the Triassic when all the niches opened up after the Great Dying. We can thank the End-Permian extinction for the sheer diversity of reptiles we have in the fossil record *and* today! Because while all those lovely friends from before were great - including the ones that persist to the Jurassic - most reptiles? Are in Sauria. There are so. Many. Reptiles. In fact, today, over 20,000 species of animals are reptiles! Mammals are only 5,513 species, and living amphibians are at 7,302. Among tetrapods, Reptiles are King! Saurians come in two groups: Archelosaurs, and Lepidosauromorphs.

ARCHELOSAURIA

The first division of Saurians is Archelosauria, the group that consists of Turtles, Crocodilians, and Birds, and *all* of their extinct relatives. For a while the position of turtles was uncertain - were they the only surviving Parareptiles? Were they cousins of Lizards? But genetic data has revealed that they go with what we call "Archosaurs" - Ruling Reptiles - the group of crocodilians and birds. How their fossil relatives are or are not a part of that story is where the mess remains. Archelosaurs come in two main flavors: Pantestudines, and Archosauromorphs.

Pantestudines

All living turtles, and everything closer to them than to any other living thing, go in this group. Turtles are truly bizarre animals, because their shells are unique among animals and not repeated by any other group. During development, ribs grow sidewise into a ridge along the back, entering the skin and supporting the carapace, which is made of dermal plates that form a hard shell, that is then covered in scutes made of keratin. The lower ribs, or gastralia, along with the collar bones, extend to form the Plastron, or lower shell. The lower shell flattens out and extends on the sides to connect with the carapace. Scutes also cover this side of the shell. It's just *weird*. Turtles are just *weird*. They originally evolved from aquatic ancestors, such as Odontochelys; though some forms became secondarily terrestrial again, with many lines of the group going back and forth - making this a rare example of a secondarily aquatic tetrapod returning to the land! Turtles laugh in the face of biome preferences.

Many extinct turtles took on interesting forms, with some having large feet, others having extensive ornamentation - horns and bumps and nodules - on their heads. Some, like Meiolania, grew to extreme sizes. As the turtle group evolved, many returned to the sea, and became the largest ocean-dwelling turtles of all time - animals like the somewhat well known Archelon. Living turtles come in two main groups: side-necked turtles and hidden-necked turtles. They differ exactly how you'd expect - side neck turtles will retract their heads via the side of the body, curling it around the circumference, while hidden-necked turtles curl their neck into the body, pulling the head directly back into the shell. Most turtles - and all tortoises - fall into the hidden-necked group, including sea turtles! Turtles vary in size, limb length, head shape, and tail length, and live on every continent in the world today. In general, turtles are omnivorous, though many species show preferences for plants or meat.

ARCHOSAUROMORPHA

We now dive into the rest of this side of the reptile family tree, everything closer to crocodilians and birds than they are to turtles - the Archosauromorphs. During the Triassic, this group took on many different and weird forms, making the entire group one of the most diverse groups of reptiles in terms of species count and differences in shape. All of these animals have a few things in common in their skeleton, though modern archosaur features took a while to evolve. Animals such as Sharovipteryx, the long-tailed reptile that used its legs for gliding membranes, the end-Permian survivor Protorosaurus, the *ridiculously* long-necked Tanystropheus, and aquatic Dinocephalosaurus were all early branching members of this group. But as we get closer to Archosaurs proper, we see more and more weirdness.

Allokotosaurs

Allokotosaurs were weird large herbivores, with sprawling limbs and long tails, as well as short necks and boxy heads. They lived throughout the Triassic and were just bizarre. Some species even had horny beaks in the front of their jaws to help clip off plant material. One species, Teraterpeton, had a long, downward-pointing mouth. Other species had long, thin necks to reach higher vegetation. And, to just round out the craziness that is this group, Shringasaurus falls in here - a weird reptile with a sprawling body, shorter tail, long neck, small head, and horns on its head. Just for funsies. These herbivorous behemoths were some of the most unique animals of the Triassic Period.

Rhynchosaurs

During the Triassic, there was a group of small, quadrupedal Archosauromorphs that really showcase the fun of convergent evolution. See, these little animals? Were Archosauromorphs doing their best to be rodents, long before rodents would ever appear. These little herbivores had short tails, stout bodies, short limbs, and front teeth that grew long for gnawing on plants - much like living rodents. Some got as long as two meters, and these were a fixture of much of the Triassic, before going extinct during the end-Triassic extinction.

Proterosuchids

Proterosuchids were a group of Archosauriformes - so still Archosauromorphs, but now getting closer to proper Archosaurs - that were a group of predators that really capitalized on the whole End Permian Mass Extinction thing. Found only in the latest Permian and earliest Triassic, these were medium sized reptiles with long tails and stout bodies. Their heads were long and narrow, with a hooked upper jaw interlocking with the lower jaw. They looked superficially like crocodilians, but lacked the scutes that are found in said group.

Erythrosuchids

The next group to branch off, the Triassic Erythrosuchids were the apex predators of the Early and Middle Triassic, before Pseudosuchians really took over later on. They were extremely large, reaching between 2.5 and 5 meters long, with huge heads and robust bodies. When I say huge heads, I *mean* huge heads - they were robust and deep, and the upper jaw has a distinct dip that goes down lower than the lower jaw, giving their heads a very characteristic shape. They also are some of the first animals to have the Archosaur Hip Shape, so they only had a semi-sprawling posture - their limbs were more nimble!

Euparkeria

Many people have heard of Euparkeria. They even think it's a dinosaur ancestor. Well, it's not, not really. Euparkeria goes around here in the Archosaur tree, closer to living Archosaurs than the Erythrosuchids but not as close as the next group. In truth, Euparkeria is very similar to what we'd expect the common ancestor of both crocodilians and dinosaurs to be like, with fairly upright limbs - though recent studies indicate it was only quadrupedal, not capable of bipedalism. It had a long, rectangular skull, similar to early members of proper Archosauria, and osteoderms (scutes) on its back. This little guy from the Early Triassic gives us a hint as to how Archosaurs came about, with the specialized ankles we'd see in the Archosaur group first showing up in Euparkeria.

Proterochampsia

The closest group to living Archosaurs, Proterochampsians were weirdly crocodilian like, to the point of often being found to be in the crocodile line of Archosaurs! These were Triassic reptiles shaped very much like living crocodilians, with long wide bodies and tails, and very long triangular skulls. They had sprawling limbs, and scutes along their backs and bodies. The heavy osteoderms are well documented in a fully aquatic member, Vancleavea. In fact, on that side of the group, the animals had less of a crocodilian like head and more of small, tempered heads, possibly due to different lifestyles.

Phytosaurs

Okay, these guys are either actually in the crocodilian line or just outside of Archosauria, it's a huge question. They were also weirdly crocodile like reptiles that lived during the Triassic, but were distinct from the Proterochampsians. Some had long snouts with conical teeth to eat fish, but others had shorter snouts with differently shaped teeth for eating land animals. They had distinctly serrated teeth, unlike living crocodilians, and didn't have erect or even semi erect gaits like living Archosaurs. Though many specialized for life in the water, this was a very diverse group that was doing a lot of the crocodilian-type jobs of later periods, but weren't crocodilians. They didn't have the secondary palate bone that allows crocodilians to breathe when their mouths are full of water! Weirdly, they were way more heavily armored than crocodilians, with heavy bony scutes and dense abdominal ribs (gastralia) for protection. Finally, they had their nostrils near their eyes, rather than at the end of the snout - allowing for them to breathe while submerged without that secondary bony palate.

ARCHOSAURIA

This is the group of the most recent common ancestor of living crocodilians and birds, and all of that ancestor's descendants. So while everything from Archosauromorpha to this have been closer to Archosaurs to anything else, these are the proper Ruling Reptiles as we currently define them. Archosaurs have teeth set in deep sockets, extra openings in the skull, and a pronounced ridge on their femur. They also only have claws on their first three fingers of the hand - the fourth and fifth, if they have them, lack claws. Archosaurs immediately branched into two groups: Crocodilians and their relatives, versus Birds and their relatives. We will start with the Crocodilians.

Pseudosuchia

A lot of early crocodilian relatives were superficially similar to living members, so they were originally given the name "fake crocodiles" or Pseudosuchia. Then, it turns out, that group was just the ancestors of crocodilians - which underwent many different shifts and turns in their evolution - so that means real crocs are... fake crocs. Remember friends, the names we give these things? Are extremely arbitrary. Do not take them for indicators of what these things are like. Early members had very broad, bulky skulls and even somewhat upright gaits, allowing for active predatory lifestyles. Everything from here until Avemetatarsalia are all Psuedosuchians.

Aetosauriformes

In the Late Triassic, there weren't any armored dinosaurs, but there were Aetosaurs! These animals had extreme armor all over their bodies, with overlapping scutes on their back and often spikes or other armor on their limbs and back. They also had small, triangular heads, built for feasting on a variety of plants! These were extremely common animals, often having weirdly pig-like snouts if you squint, and mostly sprawling limbs. Found worldwide, their armor would have allowed them to be protected from the many varieties of large predator reptile around them, though they still ultimately went extinct during the end-Triassic extinction.

Poposauroids

A group that used to include other animals, this weird hodgepodge of a variety of Triassic Pseudosuchians including sail-backed animals, toothless creatures with beaks, and animals weirdly similar to dinosaurs to the point of being confused with them in the past. All of these crazies had upright limbs, and in the Shuvosaurids, this lead to animals evolving into essentially scaly lithe bipeds, what we used to think dinosaurs looked like! In fact, Effigia and Shuvosaurus both had long necks, beaks in the front of their small mouths, and completely upright postures, making them just straight up look like scaly versions of their dinosaur neighbors like Coelophysis. Alas, the Poposauroids, like many groups, went extinct in the end-Triassic extinction.

Rauisuchians

The top predators of the late Triassic, these were very large terrestrial pseudosuchians, with large boxy heads and upright limbs. This allowed them to move quickly and attack prey efficiently, making them extremely well adapted hypercarnivores. In a lot of ways, Postosuchus and its relatives in this group were convergent with later theropod predatory dinosaurs - even having huge boxy heads like Tyrannosaurs would. This means that what dinosaurs one day perfected, crocodile relatives tried out first! Alas, like most apex predators, they were not immune to mass extinctions, going extinct during the end-Triassic.

Crocodylomorpha

Now, at this point, the line that would lead to living crocodilians - Crocodylomorpha - actually look less like living crocs than the Rauisuchians and Phytosaurs did at the same time! These little reptiles were quadrupedal, thin, and built for running fast - they were lithe creatures built to avoid all of those big scary animals around them. But these were the only Pseudosuchians to survive the end-Triassic! And the first group to branch off here?

Thalattosuchians

During the Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous, a common feature in the oceans were marine crocs - the Thalattosuchians! Still fairly distantly related to modern crocodilians, these reptiles convergently evolved many of the same adaptations for ocean dwelling as the Sauropterygians we met earlier. Some members, like Metriorhynchus, even evolved flippers and a tail fin! They had elongate bodies and very long, thin skulls for catching fish and other animals. They also gave live birth - possibly the only Archosaurs to ever do so!

Many more croc relatives would evolve into a variety of active terrestrial predatory niches, so we're going to jump down to the next major group:

Ziphosuchians

Ziphosuchians were a group of croc relatives that actually lived from the Jurassic until the Miocene, as recently as 11 million years ago. These animals were ridiculously diverse in both diet and lifestyle, with a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Some, like Kaprosuchus, straddled the line between aquatic and terrestrial predation; others, like Sebecus, were completely terrestrial and huge predators during the Cenozoic; others had weirdly diverse teeth and thus potentially unique diets; and still others just straight up evolved to eat plants or to be omnivores, even shortening and squishing their skulls to be dubbed by modern researchers as "Pug Crocs". This huge diversity of form and ecology makes Ziphosuchians an intriguing extinct group, one that will benefit from increased research in the future. Some were even built for running around, and others had duck like snouts! This was a very diverse group I recommend learning more about.

Neosuchia

The rest of Pseudosuchia - Neosuchia - are all living crocs and their closest relatives, closer than those Ziphosuchians. Many were very similar to living crocodilians, even filling similar niches, though evolving to do so independently. Some had huge, long jaws, potentially to hold onto a throat pouch for catching large prey during the Cretaceous. Some were slender, marine reptiles, evolving to be aquatic again! The Dyrosaurids were a group of global marine, long-jawed crocs that survived the end-Cretaceous extinction and were some of the only predators in the post-extinction seas other than sharks. They had teeth in deep pits, distinct from other croc relatives. While they never developed flippers like Thalattosuchians, they did adapt their limbs for more efficient marine locomotion.

Crocodylians

Living Crocodylians, a group of Neosuchians, only first appeared at the end of the Cretaceous, and were not the only surviving Pseudosuchians until relatively recently - many other forms, like the Ziphosuchians and Dyrosaurids, lasted until late in the Neogene, within the last 20 million years. Crocodylians have semi-sprawling limbs, lots of scutes all of their bodies, and even hearts like birds, pointing to their close relationship. They are semiaquatic animals, spending time both on land and in the water, and have their nostrils on the ends of their jaws. They have a sturdy second palate that allows them to hold water in their jaws and breathe at the same time! They also have some of the most powerful bite forces of any animal ever. Some extinct forms even did more terrestrial predation. Living species come in two groups - the Alligatorids, which have both caiman and alligators; and Longirostres, which have proper crocodiles and gharials. While most of them look very similar, Gharials have very long narrow snouts, while crocs caimans and alligators all have broader snouts.

That concludes the Pseudosuchia. Now we go back to the base of Archosauria, and look at the other half of their family - the bird line archosaurs!

Avemetatarsalia

All animals closer to birds than to crocodilians fall into this group. But that doesn't mean they were all shaped like living birds, just like so many Pseudosuchians looked very different from living crocodilians! They were originally characterized by having bird like ankles, though now the earliest members of the group lack them. At some point early on, members of this group evolved both warm-blooded metabolism and feathers, and we're not sure where. The earliest members of the group, Aphanosaurs, were semi sprawling long-bodied reptiles, fairly nondescript in appearance. That said, long was just their thing - their vertebrae are weirdly stretched out!

Pterosaurs

Also commonly called "pterodactyls" even though that's... wrong; this is the classical group known as Flying Reptiles, and the next group to branch from the Avemetatarsalia tree! Evolving from thin, lithe, agile floofins - things like Scleromochlus and Lagerpetids - these animals extended their fourth finger extremely long, attaching a membrane of skin and muscle to that dramatically lengthened finger and down to the ankles. Early forms had long tails, with later forms shortening the tails to smaller nubbins. These were the FIRST vertebrates to evolve powered flight. Early forms were fairly generic, but over time they diversified extensively - having diamond tail ends, interlocking long thin teeth in their jaws for catching fish; others grew bristle like teeth for filter feeding small invertebrates; some grew huge bodies, with crests and display structures on their heads like Pteranodon. The Azhdarchids, huge forms that had long necks and giant heads, were some of the most successful members of this group, becoming apex predators in many ecosystems - and no wonder, given they were the largest flying animals ever and stood as tall as giraffes. In general, pterosaurs walked on four limbs, folding up their wings at their sides in order to do so. They first appeared in the Triassic, and, alas, went extinct during the end-Cretaceous extinction. This group is so diverse and fascinating that I could go on forever, so I will leave it here - but feel free to dive into their extensive wikipedia pages!

DINOSAURS

We now move on to Dinosaurs and their closest relatives, the rest of the Avemetatarsalians. We define Dinosauria as the group composed of the two branches of the family - Ornithischians and Saurischians - usually phrased as the Most Recent Common Ancestor of Megalosaurus (a Saurischian) and Iguanodon (an Ornithischian) and all of that ancestor's descendants. Everything from here until the end of our trip through Archosaurs is a dinosaur - including every. single. bird. However, *nothing* outside of these paragraphs are dinosaurs! Dinosaurs are a single group of extremely successful reptiles, unique from all these other reptile groups - and all these other reptile groups are unique from dinosaurs. The main feature dinosaurs have in common? A completely open hip socket, allowing for limbs to be placed directly underneath the body, making dinosaurs very different in locomotion and posture than living nonavian reptiles, and very similar to their living members the birds. Early relatives showcase this evolution from semi-sprawling archosaurs to fully upright dinosaurs. Dinosaurs first appeared in the middle Triassic, though they weren't common until the Late. All the early forms were pretty much the same - small, bipedal animals, with long necks and tails, and fluffy bodies.

Ornithischians

The first main group of dinosaurs are the Ornithischians, which are united in having a small beak in the front of the jaws, called a predentary. It is possible that Silesaurids, once thought to be early Dinosaur relatives - quadrupedal lanky herbivores from the Triassic - fall in this group. All Ornithischians were primarily herbivores. Most of them were small, bipedal herbivores, but four main groups showed up over time: Stegosaurs, Ankylosaurs, Marginocephalians, and Ornithopods. Among the miscellaneous dinosaurs outside of those four groups, however, were interesting weirdos - the toothy and small Heterodontosaurs; the burrowing and armored Thescelosaurs; and, of course, the fluffy Kulindadromeus.

Stegosaurs

Stegosaurs were huge, quadrupedal herbivores with plates and spikes on their backs, necks, and tails. The plates were primarily for display and communication, while the spikes were for both display and self defense. They had very small heads, too, giving them a weird appearance. Alas, Stegosaurs lived mainly in the Jurassic, going extinct in the early Cretaceous... probably. Jury's still out based on some fragmentary fossils and tracks.

Ankylosaurs

Ankylosaurs, cousins of Stegosaurs, lived through to the end of the Cretaceous. They were heavily armored dinosaurs, with non-overlapping osteoderm scutes all over their backs and necks and heads. Many had spikes on the sides of their bodies, while other forms grew strengthened tails with clubs at the end for fighting each other. Still others grew weird sharp tail ends, formed from scutes creating a flat surface at the end of a stubby tail. They were not just like turtles, with the scutes evolving from scales rather than a shell evolving from the ribs. In fact, often times the scutes formed distinct rows along the body, not even really touching. There were tons of these dinosaurs throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, only going extinct in the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Marginocephalians

Marginocephalians included both Pachycephalosaurs - the dome-headed dinosaurs - and Ceratopsians, the horned and frilled dinosaurs. Pachycephalosaurs were bipedal animals, with huge domed heads and extremely strengthened tails - allowing them to butt heads and fight each other much like rams today. Ceratopsians had frills on the back of their heads - though in early forms it was very small, like Psittacosaurus - that evolved into large crests for display. Many grew horns on the side of these crests, while others grew huge horns on their faces in a variety of patterns. These horns were great for defense, but primarily served for communication and display, because some - like the curved downward horn of Einiosaurus - weren't really built for defense. Pachycephalosaurs were rare, but Ceratopsians were some of the most common dinosaurs around the world, with both groups only going extinct in the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Ornithopods

Finally, Ornithopods! Ornithopods were cousins of Marginocephalians, much as Ankylosaurs and Stegosaurs were more closely related to each other earlier. Some forms from the southern hemisphere (known as Elasmarians) were weirdly diverse, with lots of different forms from stocky and armored to small and lithe. Rhabdodonts had ridiculously complex teeth for efficient foraging, with some forms being more quadrupedal and others more bipedal. Some of the Ornithopods, Dryosaurids, evolved into extremely fast reptiles, adapted for running quickly away from predators with elongate, lean bodies. The second dinosaur ever described, Iguanodon, is from the Ornithopod group, with huge spike claws on their thumbs. Others, like Ouranosaurus, grew huge sails on their backs. While in the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous these animals were well adapted for feeding on dry hard plants, as the world grew more wet in the Late Cretaceous, they adapted to be able to chew on soft mushy plants. This huge group of Ornithopods - the Hadrosaurs- were extremely social animals, living in large herds with complex nesting sites. Some forms even grew huge crests on their heads, connected to their nostrils and lungs - allowing them to blow air through the crests, creating different sounds like brass instruments! What's really weird is that to chew that soft plant material, they grew thousands and thousands of teeth, which formed a single serrated surface for chewing. They also had weirdly long heads, superficially similar to horses; and hooves on their front feet! These diverse dinosaurs also only went extinct due to the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Saurischians

The other branch of the dinosaur family tree were the Saurischians - animals with hollow bones and lungs much like living birds, and it is from this group that birds would evolve. They come in two main flavors: Sauropodomorphs, and Theropods.

Sauropodomorphs

This is where all of the "long-necked" dinosaurs go, as well as their early relatives. In the Triassic, most of these animals were "prosauropods" - an artificial group of dinosaurs that were very successful, and from which proper Sauropods would evolve. Originally small bipedal omnivores, over time Sauropodomorphs grew longer necks, quadrupedal stances, and bulky bodies. The earliest Sauropods appeared in the Triassic, with four pillar like legs and huge torsos. Over time, a variety of different Sauropod groups would evolve. The Mamenchisaurs of Asia had the longest necks of any animal ever - reaching enormous sizes. The stocky Turiasaurs of Europe, North America, and Africa had short stocky necks and sturdy bodies. Diplodocoids included classic dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus and Diplodocus, but also weird squished forms like Brachytrachelopan, sailed ones like Rebbachisaurus, super grazers like Nigersaurus, and the weird spine-neck having Bajadasaurus. However, most sauropods fall into the group Macronaria. These were bulky dinosaurs, but evolved into some of the tallest animals ever in Brachiosaurus and Sauroposeidon. And, from this group evolved the Titanosaurs: The Largest Land Animals Ever. These were the dominant sauropods for the Cretaceous period, and were found on every continent around the world. Some grew to enormous sizes, while others were smaller; some grew armor on their backs, while others weirdly curled their tails into a spiral. Some had humps on their backs, others lost all their toe claws for maximum front limb pillar supportive action. While all other Sauropod groups had gone extinct by this point, Titanosaurs were extremely diverse and common right until the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Theropods

All remaining dinosaurs fall into this group, the Theropods. These were all bipedal animals, and where feathers were regularly retained (other dinosaur groups usually lost their feathers as they grew bigger). Early members, like Coelophysis, had long thin necks and small heads, and were efficient fast predators in the Triassic - though not the dominant ones by any means (that went to the Pseudosuchians). Over time they grew bulkier and more powerful, with display crests on their heads like in Dilophosaurus (note: it did not have a neck frill, it did not spit poison).

Ceratosaurs

The first big grouping of Theropods to diverge were the Ceratosaurs, which were bulky predators with huge skulls and progressively smaller arms. Many had horns on their heads and armor on their bodies. Some forms remained small and thin, like Masiakasaurus, and even evolved herbivory, like Limusaurus. Others, the Abelisaurs, evolved very long thick bodies - sosig/sausage bodies - and teeny tiny arms for display purposes. They primarily caught and ate other animals with their huge, sturdy, square shaped jaws.

Megalosaurs & Allosauroids

On the line leading to birds, many different types of large predators evolved. Megalosaurs - of which the first named dinosaur, Megalosaurus, is a member - were lean predators with long arms and long heads, found across Europe and North America. One group, the Spinosaurids, evolved to be huge heron like predators, living at or near the water and scooping up fish and other animals - even creating pouches in their mouths to do so. Some evolved huge sails on their backs, presumably for display. Efficient, flexible jawed hypercarnivores - the Allosauroids - appeared in the Jurassic and were some of the largest predatory dinosaurs to ever live, lasting until the mid Cretaceous.

Coelurosaurs

Coelurosaurs contains all the rest of the Theropods, and these were very birdlike animals with more complex feathers and brains more similar to birds. Here we had Megaraptors, huge predators with giant hand claws. They were also very unique in another way. Outside of mammals, terapods are not able to turn their wrists inward, ie, form "bunny hands", rendering the "T. rex" pose that many people do to mimic dinosaurs extremely inaccurate, and all the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park et al have very broken wrists. However, Megaraptors? Could turn their wrists inward. So, I guess everyone was just mimicking Australovenator this whole time, or something.

Tyrannosaurs

Tyrannosaurs were a huge group of Coelurosaurs with a variety of different members - some were small fast bipeds covered in floof with display crests on their heads; while others were bulky predators evolving bigger and bigger heads. The bulkiest known land predator, Tyrannosaurus, was one of the last members of this group. Tyrannosaurs evolved shorter and shorter arms in order to grow stronger, bigger heads - and were some of the most highly adapted carnivores in history. They lived throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and only went extinct thanks to the end-Cretaceous extinction.

Maniraptoriformes

Many different types of small, bipedal floofins evolved in Coelurosaurs - things like Compsognathus, Sinosauropteryx, and Ornitholestes. These animals progressively evolved more feathers on their arms, until finally in Maniraptoriformes we see the appearance of bird-like wings. The "Ostrich Mimics" - even though they came first - Ornithomimosaurs were dinosaurs that essentially looked like modern ostriches but with long, bony tails. These fluffy dinosaurs had simple wings on their arms for display. Some members grew huge and weird - Deinocheirus, the Demon Duck, was a huge herbivore with giant arms and a hump on its back. Evolution is amazing like that. The Alvarezsaurs remained small, and their front limbs shortened until they had a single claw on each wing - allowing them to dig up bugs and other animals from hard to reach places. Therzinosaurs grew to be upright in posture, with huge hand claws and pot bellies, allowing them to digest huge quantities of plants.

Oviraptorosaurs

The Chickenparrots - Oviraptorosaurs - were herbivorous dinosaurs with near-modern wings. They had shortened tails, and long necks, and squat bodies. They lived throughout the Cretaceous and were extremely common. Some members had huge crests on their heads; most of the later members had huge, parrot-like beaks as well. Honestly, Oviraptorosaurs were very weird and charismatic dinosaurs, and mainly ate an omnivorous to herbivorous diet.

Scansoriopterygids

At this point, one of the weirdest dinosaur groups - the Scansoriopterygids - diverged. They didn't live for very long, only found in the Jurassic of China; but they evolved membraneous wings between their fingers, making them - essentially - actual (small) wyverns.

Dromaeosaurs

Dromaeosaurs - "raptor" dinosaurs - are where we see the first signs of flight in dinosaurs, with Microraptor having wings on its arms and legs allowing for a clumsy version of flight. Most members couldn't fly, but they came in a lot of weird shapes and sizes - with some even being semi aquatic and shaped like geese! They had sickle claws on their feet, which were good for stabbing strategically at certain places in their prey, leading to the prey bleeding out. They would hold their prey steady by rapidly flapping their wings, which they could also do to move quickly up steep surfaces. These predators ranged in size from very small to bear sized, though Velociraptor - the most famous one - was only the size of a coyote. All of them - ALL of them - were feathered like living birds.

Troodontids and early Avialae

Their cousins, the Troodontids - which may or may not be closer to birds, we don't know - were also very bird like, but more slender in proportion and with smaller sickle claws. Interestingly, they had some of the largest brains for their bodies among Mesozoic ("nonavian") dinosaurs. Other forms similar to them - may or may not be in a group with them - called Anchisaurids, still retained the leg wings of Microraptor and co. Many of these animals have been preserved with complex, fluffy feathers, similar to living birds. Still similar yet, Archaeopteryx didn't have four wings, but did have fluffy legs and sickle claws on its feet similar to Troodontids and Anchisaurids. One dinosaur, Jeholornis, evolved to eat seeds; while another, Sapeornis, was one of the first dinosaurs to try out a lifestyle similar to living birds of prey.

Enantiornithines

At this point, dinosaurs lost their bony tails and grew shortened, fused tails - the tails of modern birds. They tried out lots of different forms with this - dinosaurs with ribbon tail feathers like Confuciusornis, and then the Opposite Birds, or Enantiornithines. See, living birds have a concave joint location on the coracoid (shoulder bone) and a convex joint on the scapula to link to it; in Enantiornithines, the concave joint is the scapula, and the convex is the coracoid. Enantiornithines were extremely common, with countless forms across the Cretaceous period - some were waders, others were like birds of prey, some even adapted to look like toucans with teeth. Still, all of them went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

Euornithes

The line to true birds, with the correct wing articulation, wasn't quite as diverse, but had many members. Many of these animals were adapted for water based life, while others evolved to be large flightless animals. Others were simple tree dwelling birds, living alongside the similar looking Enantiornithines. The closer you get to living birds, the more teeth were lost - and the modern bird beak began to evolve. Still, teeth are found in the closest relatives to modern birds, Ichthyornis and the Hesperornithes. Hesperornithes were a group of Cretaceous dinosaurs that evolved for aquatic life, spending all their time in the water hunting fish - kind of looking like a toothy penguin or loon.

NEORNITHES

All remaining dinosaurs fall into Neornithes, the least inclusive group that still has all living birds, a derived clade of the Theropods. These were the only dinosaurs to survive the end-Cretaceous extinction. You can literally divide dinosaurs based on that extinction - everyting above this, from the Mesozoic; everything below this, from the Cenozoic. Today, half of all reptiles - over 10,000 species, possibly up to 20,000 - are birds. There is no way for me to go over all birds without losing my mind, so I'm going to summarize them as simply as I can. But these dinosaurs are, as you can see, firmly nested in the dinosaur family tree - there is no way to separate them out. What follows is the world's most efficient description of bird diversity ever.

Palaeognaths

The first major division is between Palaeognaths and Neognaths. Palaeognaths include ratites like Ostriches, Cassowaries, and Emu, but also the flighted Tinamou. It seems that this group evolved flightlessness multiple times, and did not all stem from a flighted ancestor - an extinct group, the Lithornithids, were fully flighted, tree dwelling dinosaurs of the Paleocene and Eocene (right after the end-Cretaceous extinction). Neognaths contains all other birds.

Galloanserans

Neognaths contains Fowl - chickens, ducks, and relatives - and all other birds. The fowl group, Galloanserae, has some of the only Neornithines we have fossils of from the Cretaceous. These animals come in a wide variety of forms - including the extinct, large, flightless Gastornis and Mihirungs. Ducks, Geese, Swans, Screamers, and Magpie-Geese all fall into the Waterfowl side of Galloanserae; while Chickens, Pheasants, Megapodes, Partridges, Grouse, Curassow, Guineafowl, Quail, Guans, and Chachalacas are on the Landfowl side.

One group of birds, the extinct pseudotoothed Pelagornithids, resist classification - it's unclear where they go, but they might actually be closely related to the fowl. These were some of the largest flying birds ever, and had eldritch horror mouths. Birds can't reevolve teeth - they lost the genes for enamel - so instead, some make their tongues sharp, while Pelagornithids just decided to eff up their jaws.

Neoaves

Now, the rest of birds are in Neoaves, which seems to have arisen at the very end of the Cretaceous and diversified extremely rapidly at the start of the Paleocene. This means their evolutionary relationships are a MESS and we don't really know what goes where between here and Telluraves. Different groups of these miscellaneous Neoavians include Mirandornithes (flamingos, grebes, and the extinct giant swimming flamingos), Columbimorphs (pigeons, mesites, and sandgrouse), Otidimorphs (bustards, cuckoos, and maybe turacos), Strisores (hummingbirds, swifts, potoo, frogmouth, nightbirds - the flying specialist clade), Gruiformes (cranes and rails), Charadriiformes (waders, gulls, and auks), Eurypygimorphs (Sunbittern, Kagu, and Tropicbirds), and Aequornithes (water birds). Aequornithes is an extremely diverse group, including loons, penguins, albatross, petrels, storks, boobies, cormorants, herons, ibises, shoebill, hamerkop, and pelicans - as well as an extinct group, the Plotopterids, which were boobies doing their best penguin impression! There's also the Hoatzin, which is a mysterious bird among these mysteriously related birds, that doesn't really go with anything - but man, does it smell.

Telluraves

The rest of birds fall into Telluraves, known as the tree dwelling birds, which evolved from a predatory common ancestor. These include the Accipitrimorphs, which fall into Cathartiformes - Western Hemisphere Vultures, including the Teratorns that went extinct recently - and Accipitriformes, which includes all hawks, eagles, buzzards, Eastern Hemisphere vultures, the Secretarybird, kites, and other diurnal birds of prey that aren't falcons or seriemas. Owls, aka nocturnal birds of prey, form another group in this clade, with many weird extinct forms - including the stilt-owls. Coraciimorphs are a major group of Telluraves, which includes mouse birds, cuckoo roller, trogons, quetzals, hornbills, kingfishers, hoopoe, and woodpeckers - this extremely diverse group of tree dwellers is found worldwide and includes so many weird animals (have y'all seen how the tongue works in woodpeckers? Yeah).

Australaves

Australaves is the last remaining clade, still within Telluraves, and its a group of birds that arose in Australasia. The first group to diverge were the Seriemas and their relatives, which includes all the Terror Birds - one of the most successful predator bird lineages ever, with tons of species that carried on the theropod legacy excellently in South America and then North America, only going extinct due to the ice age. Next to diverge are the falcons and caracacaras, which are very different and separated from the other diurnal birds of prey we discussed above - and also, very cute. Next up? Parrots! Finally! Parrots includes everything from the Kakapo to the Macaw, and had a lot of huge varieties over their evolution.

Passeriformes

Sister to Parrots, our last bird group, within Australaves, and including HALF of all bird species, are the Passerines - Perching Birds. Literally, there are more species of Passerines - just one group of birds - than there are of all mammals. I'm going to list them now as simply as I can, but just know, there are so many of these, and they are very diverse and very colorful and very weird and they include the second smartest animal on earth after people, the members of the genus Corvus. So, Perching Birds include New Zealand Wrens, Asities, Broadbills, Sapayoa, Pittas, Crescentchests, Gnateaters and Gnatpittas, Antbirds, Antpittas, Tapaculos, Antthrushes, Ovenbirds, Woodcreepers, Manakins, Cotingas (including the Cock of the Rock), Tityras, Tyrant Flycatchers, Scrub-Birds, Lyrebirds, Australian treecreepers, Bowerbirds, Fairywrens, Emu-wrens, Grasswrens, Bristlebirds, Pardalotes, Scrubwrens, Thornbills, Gerygones, Honeyeaters, Pseudo-babblers, Logrunners, Jewel-Babblers, Quail-Thrushes, Cuckooshrikes, Trillers, Whiteheads, Sittellas, Whipbirds, Wattled Ploughbill, Shirketits, Australo-Papuan Bellbirds, Painted Berrypeckers, Vireos, Whistlers, Oriols, Figbirds, Boatbills, Woodswallows, Butcherbirds, Currawongs, Australian Magpie, Berryhunters, Shrikes, Boubous, Tchagras, Bristleheads, Ioras, Wattle-eyes, Batises, Vangas, Fantails, Drongos, Flycatchers, Ifrits, Birds of Paradise, Choughs, Apostlebirds, Melampittas, Jayshrikes, Crows, Ravens, Jays, Satinbirds, Berrypeckers, New Zealand Wattlebirds, Longbills, Stitchbirds, Australian Robins, Rail Babblers, Rockfowl, Rock jumpers, Hyliotas, Fairy Flycatchers, Tits, chickadees, Titmice, Reedlings, Larks, Nicators, Warblers, Crombecs, Cisticolas, Reed Warblers, Grassbirds, Donacobius, Malagasy Warblers, Wren-Babblers, Swallows, Martins, Bulbuls, Babblers, Parrotbills, White-eyes, Laughinthrushes, Fulvettas, Leaf-warblers, Hylias, Bushtits, Scrub Warblers, Bush Warblers, Yellow FLycatchers, Palmchats, Waxwings, Silky Flycatchers, Hylocitrea, Hypocolius, Hawaiian Honeyeaters, Elachura, Dippers, Chats, Thrushes, Oxpeckers, Starlings, Rhabdorns, Mockingbirds, Thrashers, Goldcrests, Kinglets, Wallcreeper, Nuthatches, Treecreepers, Gnatcatchers, Wrens, Sugarbirds, Dapple-Throat, Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Leafbirds, Fairy-Bluebirds, Olive Warbler, Przewalski's Finch, Weavers, Indigobirds, Whydahs, Waxbills, Munias, Accentors, Sparrows, Snowfinches, Wagtails, Pipits, Finches, Euphonias, Thrush-Tanagers, Longspurs, Buntings, Cardinals, Mitrospingid Tanagers, regular Tanagers, Yellow Breasted Chat, Grackles, Blackbirds, Orioles, Wrentthrush, a bunch of weird warblers, spindalises, and Hispaniolan Tanagers.

Why the fuck are passerines so diverse, you ask? Apparently their genetic makeup leads to speciation at the drop of a hat. It's wild.

And that, my friends, is all dinosaurs. Everything from the Dinosaur header to now.

Let's go back to the base of Sauria! Take it back now y'all!

LEPIDOSAUROMORPHA

Finally, the other half of the Saurian tree! Lepidosauromorphs, unlike Archosaurs, kept a fully sprawling gait, but had a sliding joint in the shoulder blade chest area to allow for longer strides while moving, and pleurodont teeth - teeth fused to the inner surface of the jaw bone. They also retain the Parietal Eye - a small "third eye" on the top of the head found in earlier reptiles and amphibians - which is not found in Archosaurs or Turtles. Thus, these are extremely unique reptiles - though they superficially look similar to many of the reptile groups we've covered, they have adaptations for more efficient feeding and locomotion. In addition, many Lepidosaurs - including Tuatara and many forms of lizard - have tail autonomy, meaning, they can shed their tail and regrow it in order to elude predators, a feature not found in Archosaurs. This group is the group of Lizards, Snakes, and Tuatara, and all of their extinct relatives - things closer to them than to the Archosaur side of the tree.

Kuehneosaurids

Unlike Archosaurs, Lepidosaurs don't have a lot of varied and diverse extinct relatives - while Archosauromorpha is filled to the brim with weirdos, Lepidosauromorphs only have a few isolated forms showing the evolution to Lepidosaurs, and possibly the Kuehneosaurids. Kuehneosaurids were another experiment in reptilian gliding via rib extinctions, living entirely in the Triassic and completley separate from the Weigeltisaurids from earlier. They were insectivores, with pin like teeth, and very small heads. Some members were capable of gliding, while others were only really good at leaping from branch to branch.

Crown Lepidosaurs are made up of two groups: Rhynchocephalians (Tuatara) and Squamates (lizards and snakes).

Rhynchocephalia

Today, there is only one: the Tuatara. In the past, they were everywhere, extremely common reptiles found around the world, especially in the Triassic and Jurassic. Compeletely separate from lizards, these reptiles had fused skull bones into a bar across the top of each side of the head, and unique teeth for digesting a wide variety of food. While the only living member looks superficially like lizards, extinct species took many forms - including one that had very small legs and a very elongate body for simming through the water (Pleurosaurus). Sapheosaurids had huge broad tooth plates, allowing them to eat hard shelled organisms. Today, the living Tuatara doesn't replace its teeth during its life, leading to a changing diet from childhoood to adulthood, switching from hard prey to softer prey as they age. Today, they are only found in Aotearoa.

Squamates

All remaining reptiles - including just as many species as birds - are the Squamates, otherwise known as lizards and snakes. Squamates aren't just generic reptiles, but highly specialized animals with very unique adaptations. They have horny scales all over their body that have to be shed via moulting, and are very differently formed than the scales found in Archelosaurs. They have movable bones in the quadrate, allowing the upper jaw to move independently. In addition, viviparity - giving birth to live young rather than eggs - evolved multiple times in Squamates, across a variety of members. And they varied extensively in size, with extremely small members less than an inch long, to huge marine members that are long extinct.

The first group to diverge are the Dibamids, or Blind Skinks, which are small insectivorous lizards that burrow into the soil. They also lack limbs, but will not be the last lizards to lose their limbs.

Gekkotans

Next up are the Gekkos - small, mainly carnivorous lizards found everywhere but Antarctica. They have a variety of clicking and chirping sounds, unique among lizards, and have loud mating calls. They are usually nocturnal, and many have specialized toe pads, allowing them to grab and climb on smooth and vertical surfaces. There are over a thousand species of Gekkos alone.

Scincomorphs

Next are the Skinks and their close relatives, the Scincomorphs. This has a lot of different forms, including many extinct ones. These lizards have cone shaped heads with very large and symmetrical scales, forming kind of a shield over their bodies. These scales are smooth and glossy. They have dermal armor, as well, and long tapering tails. There are over a thousand species, and many are found in the desertws of Australia and temperate areas of North America. Girdled Lizards, Spinytail Lizards, and Night Lizards all fall into this group along with Skinks.

Lacertoidea

Up next are the Lacertoids, a big group of diverse lizards united by having tile-like scales on their bodies, which form characteristic rings in Amphisbaenians. Members include the Amphisbaenians - aka worm lizards, yet another lizard group that lost their legs - as well as the Wall Lizards (Lacertids), Largescale Lizards (Alopoglossids), Spectacled Lizards (Gymnophthalmids), Whiptails, Racerunners, and Tegus (Teiids). This group also has over a thousand species with a variety of ecologies - and some members even are capable of parthenogenesis! Most Lacertoids are small or medium sized, though Tegus get quite big. They are slender lizards, with long tails, and a wide vareity of colors.

Toxicofera

All remaining squamates - literally all - fall into a single group, the Toxicoferans. As the name suggests, these reptiles have in common the presence of venemous members - species that produce venom and are able to deliver it to prey via biting. In fact, venom seems to have only evolved the once in reptiles: in th ancestor of this group, Toxicofera (see why a venomous Dilophosaurus, a dinosaur very far removed from this group, was ridiculous?). Containing half to sixty percent of all Squamates, Toxicoferans are to Squamates as Passerines are to Birds. There's just SO many of them. We used to not know about this group, because they don't have morphological similarities other than the venom - but thanks to genetic studies, we have been able to recover it with genomic phylogenetics. Evolution sure is fun! They first appeared in the Late Triassic, meaning all these other lizard groups diverged rapidly during that period. Toxicoferans have two main groups: Iguanians with Anguimorphs, and Snakes.

Anguimorphs

Anguimorphs include a lot of different varied lizards, such as beaded lizards, Gila Monster, Knob-Scaled Lizards, Galliwasps, American Legless Lizards, Glass Lizards, Alligator Lizards, Crocodile Lizards, and Monitor Lizards. As such, it includes the largest living lizard species, the Komodo Dragon! These reptiles can have limbs or be limbless, can have long tails or short tails, can give birth to live young, feed on insects, be hypercarnivores, be semiaquatic, or even have well developed limbs for climbing. There were also many extinct forms of this group, which were venomous and often very dangerous predators in their Mesozoic environments.

Polyglyphanodontians

A completely extinct group of lizards, these reptiles were relatives of Iguanians and were the dominant type of lizard across North America and Asia during the Cretaceous and earliest Paleogene. Many had large, blunt teeth for crushing food; others were specialized herbivores with iguana like teeth; and yet others had blade like teeth for shearing plants. Most went extinct at the end-Cretaceous, with only one form surviving into the Cenozoic and going extinct in the Eocene.

Iguanians

Iguanians, the remainder of the non-snake lizards, includes two thousand species of Iguanas, Chameleons, Anoles, Phrynosomatids, Agamids, and more - such as Collared Lizards, Leopard Lizards, Helmet Lizards, Curly-Tailed Lizards, Spiny Lizards, Swift Lizards, and Tree Lizards. Most are arboreal, but many are terrestrial. They have non-prehensile tongues, which are extremely unique and modified in Chameleons. Most are found in the Western Hemisphere, though many are found on islands around the world.

Mosasaurs

A group of large marine lizards, closely related to snakes (which we will visit next), these huge predators were a fixture of the Late Cretaceous seas, before going extinct during the end-Cretaceous extinction. These reptiles over time turned their legs into flippers, and developed fins on their tails, completely adapting for aquatic life. They had bodies similar to living monitor lizards, but elongated and streamlined for swimming. They would swim through the water with strong tail propulsions, similar to sharks and ichthyosaurs. They probably would rapidly pounce on prey, swimming extremely fast to catch them by surprise. Many were adapted for eating on shelly hard prey, while others were more adapted for feeding on fish and other vertebrates (such as other marine reptiles). They had double hinged jaws and flexible skulls allowing them to swallow huge prey whole. They gave birth to live young, and had a lot of similar adaptations for marine life to living cetaceans - kind of making them the lizard version of whales, especially given they were warm blooded. They had diamond shaped scales over their body, similar to their living relatives, the snakes.

Ophidians

Snakes and their relatives, Ophidians, are our last group of Squamates. Firmly nested in the group, more closely related to some lizards (Iguanians and Anguimorphs) than to others, this makes snakes - by every definition - a kind of lizard. This bothers a lot of people, but there's no way around it: Snakes are highly adapted lizards. They had many extinct relatives, where all living snakes are in the group Serpentes. Early relatives, such as Lapparentophiids and Simoliophiids, show the evolution of snakes from their lizard ancestors. Some indicators show that snakes may have originally been marine - which explains the whole "Mosasaurs are closest to snakes" thing, at least somewhat. Some early fossils even showcase the reduction of the limbs, which would be lost entirely in proper snakes. However, most researchers think snakes certainly started out as burrowers, with an early relative Najash in the Cretaceous being a terrestrial burrowing animal and the even earlier Tetrapodophis also showing adpatations for burrowing life. Snakes first arose in the Cretaceous, and exploded in diversity during the Cenozoic. The puzzle of snake and mosasaur evolution is one that many scientists are actively working to solve - did snakes start as burrowers, or swimmers?

Madtsoiids

One group of snakes, the Madtsoiids, evolved in the Late Cretaceous and persisted up until the Pleistocene - so very recently - in Australia. Including some of the longest snakes known, they were either just outside the group of living snakes or the first group of them to split out (or maybe they aren't a natural group, but this post is already too long so I'll leave that there). They didn't have the highly mobile jaws of living snakes, so they couldn't swallow large prey, but they did have strong trunks to allow them to squeeze their prey like living boids. If this is a natural group, they only went extinct probably due to the climate change of the Pleistocene, or maybe due to human activity.

Scolecophidians

The nexzt group to diverge are blind and thread snakes, which definitely bolsters the burrowing idea, as many of these snakes have extremely reduced eyes and spend their lives burrowing in the ground. These snakes only use one lung and one oviduct, presumably to make themselves more streamlined and efficient for burrowing life. They do sometimes come up after rain, which is usually the only time you can see them - they do this to escape flooding in their burrows. These are small snakes, found across the world.

Amerophidians

Amerophidians, which is a very small group of unique snakes, includes the American Pipe Snake, Dwarf Boas, and Thunder Snakes. Most members of this group aren't venemous. They have very striking color patterns and are found in South and Central America. Some species are arboreal, while others mainly spend their time burrowing underground. The American Pipe Snake especially eats a very wide variety of other animals, including Caecilians, Amphisbaenids, other snakes, fish, and frogs.

Uropeltoids

This next group of snakes includes shield tailed snakes, earth snakes, pipe and cylinder snakes, and dwarf pipe snakes. These snakes are also burrowers, ranging across South and Southeast Asia. They are nonvenemous, and have distinctive patterns on their bodies. These are some of the most enigmatic snakes, with many poorly understood by researchers. They eat a variety of food, including small invertebrates as well as other snakes and vertebrates.

Pythonoids

Pythons and snakes closer to pythons than to Boas or Caenophidians are what we find in this group, though it's unclear how they're related to those two other groups (the three of them together make up most snakes). Pythons are nonvenomous snakes, suffocating their prey to kill it, and are found across Africa Asia and Australia (with invasive forms in Florida thanks to pet release and one species just native to Mexico). They are ambush predators, hiding to strike prey by surprise. Many forms have very iridescent scales, and some species do burrow and spend most of their time underground before coming up to hunt for frogs and small mammals. They reproduce with eggs.

Booids

Boas, anacondas, tree boas, and their relatives fall into this group, which are extremely common snakes in the Americas and also found in other continents around thew orld. They also, interestingly, have vestigial hindlimbs, that are spurs near the vent region. They, like pythons, kill their prey with Constriction, but can eat prey up to the size of tapirs - even swallowing prey whole, taking weeks to fully digest. They don't crush their prey to death, but rather kill them with suffocation. Unlike pythons, most booids give birth to live young.

Caenophidians

This is our last reptile group, and it includes 80% of all living snake species - basically every snake not previously mentioned. As such, this includes file snakes, racer snakes, odd-scaled snakes, snail-eaters, vipers, water snakes, mudsnakes, cobras, coral snakes, sea snakes, mole snakes, sand snakes, shovel-snouts, burrowing asps, stiletto snakes, hognose snakes, ratsnakes, and so many more. Venemous snakes - like vipers and cobras, including rattlesnakes - are in this group, but not all members are venemous. These snakes are found all around the world, and feed on a wide variety of prey items, including other snakes and lizards.

And those are the reptiles. So many weird extinct forms, so many diverse living ones, the age of reptiles did not end with the Mesozoic - instead, it adapted into the wonderful forms we see today.

I hope you enjoyed this, as long as it was, and thanks for reading!

[perotovar]

baby, i'm-a want you — (prologue) "session zero"

gif by me

pairing: javier peña/shane morrissey (just this time. main pairing is still javi/joel) rating: E (18+) mdni word count: 1.6k content: unprotected p in a, one (1) use of the word "daddy" (this is gay porn what do you expect), shane being the biggest goth twink, javier being a good dom, swearing, smoking dividers: @saradika-graphics beta: @qveerthe0ry (ily ♥)

summary: javier peña has been doing this a long time. he's really good at his job. joel miller? not so much. he started doing this to get some extra cash to support his daughters. what happens when they're supposed to do a scene together? aka, the au where most of the ppcu boys are gay porn stars~

series masterlist

Javier Peña was good at his job.

“Fuck, harder–”

Really good.

He got millions of views on his page every month, and made enough to be comfortable as well as spend a little extra if he wanted to. He also got to have sex as frequently as he wanted because of that. He wasn’t bound to a schedule, but he filmed often just because he liked to. 

“J-Javi, I’m gonna come, please.” The cute young thing below him moaned weakly and turned back to Javier, looking up at him with the biggest and wettest eyes. That would probably be the thumbnail of the video.

“Yeah?” He grunted, a smirk plastered on his lips. He lifted a hand and landed a hard slap against the young man’s right cheek, the left one gripped tightly in Javier’s free hand. The young man – Shane – whimpered and trembled below him, arching his back to fuck himself on Javier’s cock. “Mmm, si lo eres,” Javier hummed, rubbing Shane’s tattooed side comfortingly. He landed another loud slap against Shane’s tender flesh and watched the skin ripple with heat in his eyes. (Yes, you are.)

Javier made it a point to take care of whoever he was doing a scene with. Especially if they were pretty green. This was only Shane’s second ever official one, after a scene where he gave Din a blowjob. He leaned over Shane’s clammy skin, pressing chest to back and tangled his fingers into Shane’s sweaty, dyed black locks. “You doin’ okay?” When he asked, the hairs above his lip tickled Shane’s ear a little. His voice was soft enough that the mics or cameras wouldn’t pick up on it. He kept up the pace of his hips, the sound of skin slapping against skin echoing in the mostly-empty “bedroom”. 

Shane bit his lip, eyebrows downturned in pleasure and nodded as subtly as he could. He let out a weak grunt, a single tear falling from one of his eyes. “J-Javi–! There!”

Javier grinned and kissed along Shane's shoulder blades before he gripped the younger man’s hips tightly and started slamming into him, angling directly where Shane needed him most. Shane’s head hung heavily between his arms as he put most of his weight on his elbows. The chains and earrings he wore clanged against each other with every rhythmic beat of Javier’s hips, making him moan and whine louder. 

“C’mon, pretty boy,” Javier grunted, pressing a large hand to Shane’s lower back to keep him steady. “C’mon.”

Pre-cum dripped onto the sheets from Shane’s throbbing cock as it swung between his legs, lightly slapping against his lower tummy. Shane let out one last pathetic whimper before he stilled and came hard, thick ropes hitting the sheets and head thrown back, mouth open in an obscene O. Perhaps a little overdone, but Javier didn’t think the young man was faking anything. He’ll get there.

Shane’s entire body trembled as he looked back at Javier. “I-inside,” he panted. “Please.”

“Yeah? You want me to fill you up, pretty boy?” Javier grinned, hips still moving rhythmically.

Shane’s cock twitched in overstimulation, but he nodded anyway, whining weakly.

Javier knew his own body better than anything in the world, so he knew that it would only take a few more strokes and he’d be finished. “C’mere,” he grunted, gripping onto Shane’s torso to heave him up onto his knees so he could press Shane’s back to his front. Shane wailed as Javier sped up the beat of his hips, now only focused on getting what Max, the director, called “the money shot”. Even if he’d done this a hundred times, it always felt good, and a depraved little part of him loved seeing himself stake a claim over his scene partner.

Javier let out a punched out breath, grunting as his hips stilled, then moved in a slight staccato, pumping Shane’s ass full of his cum. “Fuck,” he groaned, rolling his hips in slow waves until the last drop left his cock. Shane let out a weak sob as a final, pitiful spurt of his own cum landed on the sheets in front of them. Javier hummed and gently laid Shane down on his side away from the mess, and slowly turned him onto his stomach a little.

One of the camera men got closer to zoom in on Javier’s cum trickling out of Shane’s cute little hole, Javier’s big hands spreading his cheeks. “Good boy,” Javier hummed happily, teasingly prodding at the top of Shane’s puffy, used rim. Shane giggled shyly as he looked back at Javier, a blush high on his cheeks. His eyeliner and mascara was completely ruined, faint tracks running down his cheeks.

“Thank you, daddy,” Shane recited shyly, biting his lip.

“And, cut! Very good, boys.” Max’s booming voice cut through the tension like a knife.

Javier’s shoulders deflated a little, a tired smile crossing his features. “You alright, kid?” He asked, voice rough. 

Shane smiled and nodded up at him, that deep blush still present. “Y-yeah. You’re amazing, Javier.”

Javier snorted and held a hand out for him as he stood from the bed. Slowly, Shane crawled off the bed, the cum trickling down the back of his thighs. Javier took him by the hand over to the small rack of robes and handed him one. “Thank you. You weren’t so bad yourself. They’re gonna love that face of yours,” he winked, nudging Shane’s chin with the knuckle on his index finger.

Shane smiled shyly and nodded, eyes downcast. “You’ve got a scene with Joel tomorrow, right?”

Joel. He was an interesting one. Javier had done a scene with him before and it went… really well. It’s one of Javier’s most viewed videos on his page. Javier doesn’t get a chance to bottom very often, and if he does, it’s usually with Pero or Dave. But after Joel… Well, he had to take a couple days off after that one. He didn’t get to talk to Joel much after their scene, but he seemed to��� change once Max called cut. He wasn’t quite so… intense. While filming, Joel seemed to shift into a completely different person; he was all grunts and furrowed brows and some of the filthiest dirty talk Javier had ever heard. It was one of the first times Javier actually felt… submissive. Small, but not in a bad way. Like Joel would take care of him. Javier may play the part of the aloof, dominant top, but he likes being held sometimes too. The idea of getting to do that again was attractive to him, but more than that, he wanted to see if he could get a chance to properly talk to Joel. He seemed almost as new as Shane, but showcased it in a completely different way.

Javier cleared his throat and nodded, tying his own robe around his waist. “I do,” he hummed, turning toward one of the assistants, a young red headed girl whose name he couldn’t place at the moment, and motioned for a cigarette. She nodded and took off toward where he left his things.

Shane sighed dreamily, “I wanna do a scene with him.”

Javier smirked and laughed lowly. “Maybe get some more under your belt and you will. Think he’d like you,” he winked.

“Your cigarettes, Javi,” the assistant – Amy, that was her name – said, tapping the yellow pack against his shoulder.

“Thank you,” he nodded once toward her, hitting the bottom of the pack against his hand a few times before turning it around and doing the same thing there. He pulled one out and lit it after he stuck the butt in his mouth. Lighting up, he sucked in the smoke and exhaled, his mind clearing already.

“I feel like I should be flattered,” Shane giggled, sipping on some water as he sat, one leg draped over the other. “Needing a cigarette after our scene. How very 70s of you.”

Javier rolled his eyes, but smirked, roughing up the kid’s hair playfully. “Yeah, yeah. You were good.”

“Javi, can I talk to you for a sec?”

Javier turned to Max Phillips, the director and owner of the website, and nodded. “Course,” he mumbled, the cigarette hanging from between his lips. “What’s up?”

Max pulled Javier to a secluded room, which made Javier raise a brow. Max waved him off and smiled. “Just wanted to tell you that the last scene you did? With Marcus? Just hit 2 mill last night.”

“Shit, really? People must really like the FBI/DEA storyline,” he hummed, part amused, part sarcastic.

“Yeah, so we’re thinking of doing a second part. Like a followup, where–”

“When?”

“How’s tomorrow?”

Javier frowned. This is the part of his job where he got to pull rank a little. He didn’t normally, but he really wanted to do that scene with Joel. He wasn’t going to miss his chance to pick Joel’s brain a little. 

“What about Monday? I’ve got a scene with Joel tomorrow.”

Max exhaled, like he knew it was coming, and rested his hands on his hips, popping a knee dramatically. “You sure?”

Javier nodded. “‘M sure. I know my job, Max. And I haven’t done a scene with Joel in a while,” He paused. “You can’t argue with the numbers my last one with him pulled.” He knew exactly which buttons to push with Max. His relationship with his boss was fine, but Max could be a real douchebag at times. Javier wasn’t afraid of him or anything, but he also didn’t want to get reprimanded at best, or lose his job at worst.

Max chewed on his bottom lip for a minute. “Fuck,” he sighed. “Alright, fine. Still wanna do the one with Marcus?”

Javier nodded, a triumphant little smile on his face. “Course. He’s got a pretty cock.”

“Very true. Alright, go get yourself cleaned up, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Javier nodded, sucking another drag off his cigarette. His stomach grumbled and he groaned. Maybe he’ll get Chinese tonight.

[inkykeiji]

all wrongs do me right

characters: kawata souya x fem!reader x kawata nahoya

genre: smut with the tiniest sprinkle of angst

notes: i haven’t been able to get the kawata twins out of my head since the first episode of season three so here’s an icky lil piece about souya jerking off to nahoya fucking his girlfriend! as always please heed the warnings and stay safe! | title credit: taste of you by rezz ft. dove cameron

warnings: 18+ minors do not interact, souya is a nasty little virgin, traces of twincest if you can read between the lines, stuffy humping, masturbation, voyeurism aka jerking it to a poor unwitting couple (or are they? muahaha), implied rough sex, slight daddy kink with nahoya

words: 2.5k

Souya feels fucking sick. 

It’s something bitter and thick, something that coats the lining of his stomach and sours the back of his tongue, something that furls into a thick, hard lump and lodges itself in his throat. 

It’s something he can’t fucking help.

Souya has barely spoken more than a handful of words to you—you, always so sweet, so nice, so kind to him; you, always desperately striving to include him in activities and conversations despite his unintentionally sharp edges and inherently callous tone; you, always gracious, never shameless, even in the face of his accidental offense—but he’s stained his stuffies and his sheets to you more times than he can count. 

Tonight will be no different. 

He should feel fucking disgusted in himself, he’s sure—he does feel fucking disgusted in himself, he thinks. But it’s not enough to stop him. 

Nothing ever will be. 

Even though his bedroom is all the way across the expanse of the flat, he can still hear you, every single time. 

He swears if he listens hard enough, he can even hear that precious little gasp, caught somewhere between surprised pleasure and sharp pain, as his twin brother pushes his cock into you for the first time that night. 

If he shuts his eyes tight enough, he can even imagine your back arching off the mattress as Nahoya fills you, each vertebra bending with each inch shoved into you, spine forming a perfect curve, hips inadvertently pushing downward, eager to meet Nahoya’s.

You must look so gorgeous—at least half as gorgeous as you sound, if not even more so. Souya wishes he could see you, just once—he thinks that would be enough to satiate the gnawing and clawing at the bottom of his ribs, maybe. 

Maybe if he had a photo or two, or a short video, he wouldn’t be forced to resort to such deplorable methods every night; maybe he could even jerk off discreetly, stain his bedspread to the thought of you quietly and without any of your help, instead of encroaching on your privacy like this. 

Maybe.

Maybe not.  

Because as much as he wishes it wasn’t, and as much as he tries to trick himself into believing it isn’t, this is a compulsion, an addiction, a creature raging out of his control, growing stronger and stronger with desire, with desperate need, every day. 

Maybe he’s stupid to think it could ever be satisfied with anything less than your cunt. Maybe he’s stupid to think that it could even be satisfied at all, that this voracious, all-consuming craving isn’t eternally greedy, perpetually needy, that it’s hunger isn’t boundless and it’s yearning won’t grow once it gets a single taste of you. 

A loud whine draws him out of his rumination, his cock twitching against his old stuffed shark in response, and he bucks his hips against it twice, smearing a webby streak of precum across the fuzzy material, its fur gone all clumped and crusty from too many nights like these. 

That whine in particular never fails to inspire a full flock of butterflies to flutter in his tummy, a half-stifled whimper of your name heavy on his tongue. 

This is how it always starts; some aimless humping, lazy and languid with no real tempo, briefs already kicked to the foot of his bed in a crumpled little heap, hips squirming and writhing in erratic little motions as he rubs up against his stuffy—just teasing, really, exactly like what Nahoya’s currently doing to you.

It never stays like that for long, though.

Because Souya just can’t fucking wait—too eager, too desperate, too hungry to ever take his time with it at all, to indulge, to savour, to draw it out—and it always materializes into Souya curling a fist around his cock much too early, his other arm wrapped firmly around his stuffed shark as his hips roll and his hand works, the head of his cock grinding against the plushie, a leg thrown haphazardly over it. 

It’s really fucking perverse.

But your moans are already climbing in pitch and frequency, too, meaning Nahoya has already traversed past his tantalizing and is moving on to something a little more satisfying. 

As expected.

By this point, Souya’s such a seasoned pro that he knows the general pattern and rhythm of your whimpers and moans and mewls, the general pace and timing of his brother’s fucking, that he can stroke his cock in the same manner. 

If he focuses hard enough, closes his eyes and hones his concentration, he can almost imagine it’s him fucking you instead. It wouldn’t be all that different, would it? His cock’s half an inch shorter than Nahoya’s, but it’s a little girthier, which Souya thinks probably makes up for it.  

He’s sure it wouldn’t feel all that unusual to you; not when he has Nahoya’s style and pattern of fucking so memorized that he’s sure he could imitate it pretty well, given the chance. How much different could it be, really? They are twins, after all—he bets with a blindfold on, you might not even be able to tell the difference at all.

Maybe. Maybe not. He sure would like to find out, though.  

A stab of guilt sears through his stomach, chased by sick thorns of pleasure sprouting in his gut, the fisting of his cock accelerating. He’s not sure Nahoya would take too kindly to Souya thinking of you in such a manner. He’s not sure he cares. 

Because it all feels so good, head gone cloudy with a thick haze of hedonism, smothering any flickers of remorse, consuming them and adding to the sheer exhilaration of it all.

Pathetic little noises keep leaking through the gaps of his teeth and the seam of his lips no matter how stubbornly he tries to silence them, pulled from his throat with each swift tug of his hand.

He can’t hear much of what Nahoya’s saying to you, his voice too muted to be anything other than an indistinct rumble undertowing your precious little sounds, but whatever it is, you’re eating it up. 

“Please, please, pl-please,” you’re begging in response to whatever his niichan just said, needy and strained, and his cock throbs violently in his palm. 

“Please, please, please,” Souya’s rasping out in tandem, stroking his cock in hard, fast, thorough yanks, in perfect time with the fractured words his brother is fucking out of you. 

It’s really cute, how increasingly sloppy you get the more Nahoya fucks you, twining your words together with threads of saliva, all slurred and messy. Nahoya gets that way when he’s close, too. Souya thinks it’s kind of nice, the way the two of you match like that.

It’s all so insanely hot, and every once in a while Souya gets extra lucky, fortunate enough to capture a smattering of words from his big brother—never anything more than a handful, just tatters of a single sentence—but his stomach swoops every time he hears that assertive amusement dyed with patronization, Nahoya’s voice husky and edges of his letters gone wispy with breathlessness, Souya’s cock pulsing hotly as another rush of blood surges southward. 

“—Wanna be—little fucktoy?”

“I wanna,” you’re gasping out. “I wan’it s’bad!” 

Christ, how can someone be so fucking sweet and so fucking sexy at the same time? It’s an intoxicating combination, one that goes straight to his cock, one that twists a feverish warmth in his gut and pulls his muscles stiff and taut. 

“Yeah, yeah, take it,” Souya mumbles into his stuffed shark, the rocking of his hips speeding up as he hastily fucks his fist, words tapering off into a gravelly whine, almost as if he’s pleading. “Ta-Take m’cock.” 

Nahoya murmurs something else, voice too low for Souya to make out anything other than the notes of sadistic glee steeped in his tone, but you cry out an affirmative in reply, the yelp jostled by Nahoya’s snapping hips. 

“S’good, Daddy, s’good, your cock is so good,” you nearly sob, chanted out like it’s a fucking  prayer, garbled and soaked with spit, fading into an airy little mewl. 

“Fuck, f-fuck,” Souya’s hips stutter, that heat in his belly blazing, curse snarled out through his nostrils in a harsh, stammered breath. “Ha-ah, fuck.”

The expletive breaks on his tongue, jagged and high, and Goddamn it, Goddamn it—

He has to keep it down, for God’s sake—he knows this, knows that, logically, if he can hear you two, then you two can probably hear him, too. 

The thought sends a vile thrill shooting through his gut, palm squeezing the head of his cock, the ball of his thumb rubbing across it in slow, lopsided circles, doing little to stifle his rapidly building orgasm, fervour coiling in his belly. An exceptionally loud grunt—much too loud to be discreet, that’s for sure—pries its way past his lips, rough and ragged and full of razors.  

And God, he’s so gross, he’s so fucking gross, and can you hear him? Huh? Can you hear him? He hopes you can hear him. 

Can you hear him, fucking himself to just the sound of you? Can you hear him, humping away at his old stuffed animals like the dirty little virgin he is, pretending it’s your body, your hip, your thigh? Can you hear him, fragments of your name slicing his tongue, tangling in his drool, never the full thing, shards bitten back and swallowed down to fester in his heart, to feed the animal living inside his ribcage?  

Can Nahoya?

What does Nahoya think? How does Nahoya feel about his baby brother jerking his cock every time his niichan fucks his girlfriend, without fail, like fucking clockwork? Would he be disgusted, or did he get that same sordid gene Souya did—that knack for the naughty, for the nasty, for the downright nauseating? 

They are twins, after all. 

Another spear of guilt pierces his chest, radiating sparks of euphoria through his limbs, wicked little flares that leave his blood fizzing and tummy smoldering, adding to the dull, dense heat collecting in the pit. 

He should feel worse about all of it, he thinks. He should feel worse about the utter disrespect he’s showing to the both of you, but he doesn’t. It’s hard to feel anything at all other than the push and pull, the tug-of war between rhapsody and repulsiveness, one only working to fuel and heighten the other.  

Thick cords of drool are dribbling from the corners of his mouth now, panted out with his hot breath and his whimpered words, rolling along his jaw and dripping, slow and sticky, to puddle in the ridges of his pillowcase. Are you this filthy, too, when Nahoya fucks you? 

You’re getting close now, he can tell, moans catching on Nahoya’s rough, fast thrusts and shattering into choked little gasps.

You’re trying to get his name out, and God, it’s so fucking cute, adorable little Naho-Nahoy-Naho!’s spilling from your throat in a single continuous stream, juddered by his big brother’s plunging hips. 

Would you sound just as pretty trying to get Souya’s name out? 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nahoya’s panting out, voice still tinged with that trademark teasing tone, almost as if he’s egging you on, a question of if that’s all you got infused into his words.

A threat is uttered, something about hurrying and making a mess on Daddy’s cock, and Souya coughs around the spit pooling beneath his tongue, wheezing out strands of saliva smudged and gauzy across his stuffy. 

Because Christ, you’re so obedient, so keen to please, a chain of jagged affirmations pouring past your lips punctuated with the sweetest sounds of effort, your dedication to his big brother so fucking sexy, your dedication to his big brother rivaling his own.

A growl rumbles behind his ribs, and Souya shoves his face in his stuffy, teeth sinking into the cotton flesh in an attempt to muffle the sound. 

His jaw already hurts from being clenched so tightly, a stiff ache that has settled deep within the straining hinges, something he’ll spend half an hour massaging out tomorrow morning.

But right now it doesn’t matter, not when that ball of heat is roiling in his gut, curling tighter and tighter and tighter with each quick pump of his fist, teetering on the edge of an explosion. 

It’s as though he can’t jerk himself fast enough, hips twitching in quick little motions, sloppy and irregular and so, so fucking eager, into his own grasp, fucking his slippery palm.

His breath stutters as he tries to quiet himself, desperate to hear you cum, harsh erratic exhales huffed out against the synthetic fur of his shark humid against his upper lip, leaving behind tiny beads of condensation. 

A whine splinters in his chest, eyes shut tightly as tears crystalize at the corners, his lungs swelling painfully with stagnated breath while his teeth burrow further into the plush of his stuffed animal, a pitiful attempt to starve off his impending orgasm.��

He doesn’t want to cum before you, not again. 

Drops of sweat are streaming from his brow and catching in his lashes, his curls saturated with salt and clinging in cute little swirls to his temples and the nape of his neck.

You’re so close, moans climbing higher and higher, louder and louder, faster and faster, and only a few more moments now, he only needs to hold out for a few more moments and then—

And then you’re crying out Nahoya’s name, breathless and beautiful, and Souya’s spilling his seed all over his knuckles and his sheets and the soft fur of his stuffy, hot and sticky and so, so much, groaning in time with his brother as he fills your cunt with his cum, Nahoya’s slurred out good, good, y’did s’good for me, baby forcing another weak spurt of cream to cascade over Souya’s fingers, cock jolting painfully. 

He doesn’t stop jerking his cock until it’s too much, until each drag of his fist sends heavy tremors of overstimulation rippling through his flesh, until his thrusts are nothing more than pathetic little ruts, every brush of his cockhead against his stuffed animal causing him to suck a hiss through his teeth. 

It starts to creep over him then, that dense film of shame grimy on his skin, that leaden block of guilt acrid in the pit of his stomach, nausea swelling in his chest and up his throat to sit, biting and bitter, on the back of his tongue. 

It’ll fuse to him as he sleeps, seeping into his tissues, through his blood and his bones to root, to rot, at the very core of his soul, infesting and infecting, every bit of his being. 

And when he sees you tomorrow morning, bright and beautiful despite being stained with his brother’s hands, bruises and bite marks peaking out from beneath Nahoya’s baggy t-shirt, it will reignite, that creature re-awoken, starved for any small piece of you it can devour—a soft smile, a sweet giggle, the brush of fingertips as they pass syrup or the knocking of knees beneath the table. 

And Souya’s not sure he’ll ever be able to tame it.

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Wild Hearts

In the idyllic English countryside, far from the hustle and bustle of the big city, two teachers at Willowbrook Hall set out to transform their students’ lives through the world of theatre. But for Mr. Crowley, the challenge of navigating his long hidden feelings and dear friendship with Mr. Fell may prove to be the greatest drama of all.

Length: 145,589 Words

AO3 Rating: Explicit/ Spice Level 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Best for: Mostly Safe in Public, Human AU, Romance, Slow Burn

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by foolishlovers

*Minor Spoilers* Welcome to Willowbrook Hall, or as I like to call it, The Gay and Trans School for Gay and Trans Teens. Come meet professors Mr. Fell and Mr. Crowley, and their colorful cast of teens as they spend the school year getting ready for the performance of a lifetime in the school play. This place has it all: hijinks, dances, costumes, drama, and best of all a cat.

What I really loved about this story was how cinematic it felt. Sure, some scenes intentionally reference a movie (Wild Child, so fun and camp!), but that's not what I mean. The whole thing plays out like a movie or its own TV show. We get big dramatic moments of romance and heartbreak, plus fun ones like a mini makeover, the school dance, and the play. And there is tons of subtle foreshadowing along the way that will make you jump up and down when things come to fruition. It's thrilling and engaging, and waiting for updates when this was a WIP was excruciating because I wanted to know what was going to happen next so badly!

The side characters especially are so much fun! I loved the kids and their side plots. Even though we don’t follow their story directly, we see enough to get hooked. Adam and Warlock are standouts, but they aren't the only ones I enjoyed! Honestly, I'd read a standalone from the kids perspective! The teachers are excellent too. I have a soft spot for Newt, who pops in now and then, always a sweetheart. Crowley could be in the depths of heartbreak and still manage a smile for Newt. All the teachers (plus Nina) don't feel like they're just there. I was interested in them, and you really get a sense of how much of a family they all are. It's a real skill to make side characters as interesting as the main duo.

Of course, the main attraction is Crowley and Aziraphale. They’ll make you fall in love with them all over again. They’re the perfect domestic couple well before they admit anything. So many lovely details about them, from note passing and bets, to their shared bond with Beethoven the cat (aka the best character ever). You'll experience everything with them: the highs of gender discovery and euphoria, and the lows of miscommunication and misunderstandings. What drama is complete without that? Yes, they’re a bit thick headed, and yes, a single conversation could have fixed everything. But where's the fun in that? I'm here for the drama! The pang of heartbreak and yearning makes the reunion so much sweeter! They are wonderfully characterized, and yet still have an air and life of their own. Unique to this story, but true to their characters.

You’ll be mostly safe reading this in public. There are a handful of explicit scenes but you should have enough notice to get away from prying eyes. The sex here is delicious and heart pounding! Plus the way that Crowley's gender fluidity plays into those scenes was very beautiful. There are so many reasons to love this story. It's engaging, cinematic, dramatic, funny, and romantic. This was an incredible achievement and I hope you have just as much fun and I did!

Read it here, fic by foolishlovers

[softspaceboibrian]

Fell in Love with the Fire Long Ago || Jamie Tartt

Chapters: 1 - more to come

Pairing: Jamie Tartt x Y/N - Social Media Manager for AFC Richmond || I used she/her pronouns, but there is no actual physical description, so the pronouns can be switched with whatever anyone wants or prefers!

Summary: When Y/N received that email, she couldn't believe it. He was coming back.

Warnings: maybe some swear words. hints and mentions of sexual acts (still SFW). S1 Jamie Tartt aka a dick. a little angsty. Sam being is lovable self.

Characters: Jamie Tartt, Sam Obisanya, Isaac McAdoo, Colin Hughes, Dani Rojas, Ted Lasso, Rebecca Welton. Some others may appear as mentions.

Wc: 3800 (this works as a pilot or a prologue, to set up the story)

A/N: this story is based on this idea I had and that a few people seemed to like. hopefully you enjoy this first chapter/prologue. and if you want to read more, feel free to leave a comment. If enough people like it, I was thinking to do a taglist, so that people can stay updated. anyways, thanks for reading <;3

When you first heard the news, you couldn’t believe it. You couldn’t believe that they could do such a thing. Not to the team, not to you. That was the reason you were stomping up the stair, the clinking of your heels echoing against the walls, as you reached Rebecca’s office.

You didn’t knock, you didn’t wait for them to welcome you in. They knew you were coming. Especially after the email they had sent out. The email had been sent only to the “necessary” people that needed to be involved, and you, being the social media manager for the club, received it. It was probably a way for them to warn you to start preparing the content for the announcement. But you obviously didn’t take it well. They knew about your history, they knew how things had gone down. They had to be expecting you.

“How could you?” Your loud, clear voice, full of anger and disappointment filled the room.

“Good morning, Y/N!” Ted’s cheerful greeting made you want to scream. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” The sarcasm was obvious.

“How could you? After what he did to the team? After what he said about you?” Your tone was loud, so much so that you were sure people from downstairs could clearly hear every single one of your words. “How could you?” You choked on your last words, and as you finally met Rebecca’s gaze, you could feel the familiar sting of the tears that threatened to fall, spill, pour.

The woman sighed, getting up from her chair to make her way around the big desk. “Listen, love, he’s a great player. When Ted told me about their talk, I knew we had to get him back.” She explained, walking over to her. “We cannot let our feelings get in the way of the team’s success.”

You shook your head, taking a step back. “I never thought you would become this cynical.”

“I’m not cynical, just rational.”

“It’s all the same thing. He’s a prick. And pricks don’t change.” You were furious. “And it’s not just my feelings, but the team’s feelings. But you obviously don’t remember how he used to treat everyone.” You lingered on that last word, looking briefly at each of them, before turning around and making your way out of the office and down the stairs. “No one understands.” You whisper, your fists so tight you started to feel that burning sensation of your nails leaving marks on your palms.

Keeping your head low, trying to hide the tears streaming down your face, you made your way to the changing room. You knew you couldn’t say anything to any of the boys yet, but still, you needed some comfort. You needed Sam.

You quickly reached the locker room and knocked, waiting for them to give you a sign to let you know you could come in. And, as soon as you opened the door, you ran straight to Sam, immediately burying your face in his chest.

“Hey, Y/N/N. What is going on?” His thick Nigerian accent immediately bringing comfort to you. “Did something happen?” He asked as he tried to pull away slightly, trying to understand what was happening.

“Just… hug me… please.” You pled, the voice muffled by his jersey. And he did. He wrapped his arms around you, softly placing a kiss on top of your head, before laying his chin in the same spot. You’re immediately comforted by the warmth of your best friend’s embrace. However, you didn’t fail to notice how the familiar chatter of the changing room had started to slowly simmer down until it ultimately came to a halt. A sense of pain and anxiety washed over you at once, and your head started again to fill with the same questions you had asked Rebecca and Ted. Why? Why him? Why now? How could they?

But soon, your stream of thoughts was interrupted by Isaac’s voice. “Who do we have to kill?” You didn’t need to raise your head from Sam’s chest to know that the feeling was shared by most if not all the team’s players.

“No one. Yet.” You mumbled, sniffling. “It’s complicated.” You added as you finally pulled away from Sam, yet still remaining extremely close to him, as if his presence was the only thing keeping you sane and calm at that moment.

“When the moment comes, just call, okay?” You gave a quick nod to the team captain, accompanied by a shy smile. To any casual passer-by, the comment may have seemed sarcastic, the usual banter between friends that care about each other. But the team knew that that was not sarcastic at all and that Isaac would indeed, without a shadow of a doubt, kill someone for you.

You couldn’t exactly remember when, but somewhere down the line, the team had become your chosen family. However, you could clearly remember how that process had started.

You had started working for AFC Richmond around the same time that Ted and Coach Beard did. You didn’t care much for football or sports in general, but you had just recently graduated from university and had found this work through Keeley. You and her had met at your cousin’s going away party a few years before, when he had decided to move to Greece to become an archaeologist. You had immediately bonded over who can even remember what, and remained close friends ever since. So, when she heard that the position had just opened up, she immediately sent your CV to Rebecca, without warning you first. You found out about the job only when you received a call from a certain Mr Higgins, who told you that they had read your curriculum and found it really interesting. And so, you ended up moving to Richmond-upon-Thames and started working for the club.

It didn’t take you long to get to know the team and become friends with them. Obviously, you had your prejudices against footballers, who you thought were self-centred egomaniacs – and you weren’t completely wrong about that – but, to your surprise, most of them turned out to be great people. You quickly became very close with Sam; Roy tolerated you; Isaac and Colin were always kind to you. Even Jamie Tartt, the prick of the team, would usually drop his dickhead persona when he was with you. And that was how you two ended up together. For the first month or so, you would notice his constant flirting, but you never really gave it too much thought. You had read about him in the tabloids, and you knew how he was famous for having a different girl every week. You weren’t that oblivious, you knew he was fit. But, every time he would flirt with you, you would play along for a while, before brushing it off and going back to your business. I’m just his latest challenge, he will move on sooner or later, you thought. Until, roughly a month and a half after you had started working there: he started waiting for you outside the clubhouse, asking you if you needed a ride home. Which then turned into him asking you to grab a coffee with him one day before practice. Then it was dinners. Movie nights at his place. Stolen glances in the hallways of the clubhouse. Sneaking in the boot room to secretly make out. And sooner than you could realise, you were sleeping over at his place most of the time.

You asked him to keep things private for a while. It wasn’t that you were ashamed of him. You just needed to be sure about him. So, you kept sneaking around. Avoiding each other as much as possible, too worried that the team might just figure it out. Let me show you off, Jamie would whisper into your ear, in-between wet kisses, as he stood behind you in the kitchen in the morning, wrapping his arms around your waists. Let me take you out to a restaurant, on a proper date, he insisted. But you kept declining his offers. Not yet, baby, you would reply, as you slowly melted under his touch, I need a little more time, you said as you turned around in his arms. And the conversation would die there, with Jamie immediately picking you up and placing you on top of the kitchen counter, his lips trailing their way down your neck, your collarbone, your chest, down, down, until your vision turned hazy and you had to grip onto the marble countertop with all the strength you had in your body, too afraid you might fall off of it, as his lips met finally met your core.

You were able to keep your relationship private longer than you had expected. It was after almost 4 weeks that Nate eventually walked in on you two in the boot room. You weren’t doing anything too private, you were merely making out. But Nate being Nate, froze on his feet as he saw you two holding onto each other, too stunned to move. I was… I needed to… sorry… I didn’t…. As usual, he was too embarrassed to form a complete sentence, so he simply left the room. You two looked at each other and knew that it was only a matter of time before your secret would be out. And you were right. The secret didn’t last the entire day, and when it was time to go home after practice, you were met by a horde of football players, asking you when it had started, how long had that been going on, if you two were official, and so on.

Somehow, but still not completely unexpectedly, the news reached the press in less than a day. The next morning, as you lied in bed with Jamie’s head on your chest, you were woken up by the constant buzzing of your phone. Check this article from The Sun, said a message from your high school friend, with a link attached to it. Is it true? Asked your mother. Congratulations! read the message from your aunt from whom you hadn’t heard in ages. And the messages kept coming. Yes, it was true. You were now in a relationship. Yes, your boyfriend was a famous footballer. Yes, you knew about his fame. Still, you didn’t care. Because, when Jamie was with you, he wasn’t Jamie Tartt, star striker for AFC Richmond, but just Jamie. And you loved just Jamie. He was sweet, he was passionate, he was kind, he always made sure you were feeling well, he brought you flowers once a week, he left some coffee for you in the pot in the mornings, he always made sure you were sexually satisfied – something he was really proud of.

Sadly, you hadn’t realised that, with going public, also came the hate from his fans, who thought that you would be too distracting for their beloved favourite player, and from the girls, the actresses, the top models, the reality tv stars, who had hoped to one day end up with him and whose dream you had shattered overnight. You pulled through it, and that was also thanks to Jamie, who never missed the chance to remind you how much he loved you and cared for you.

However, two months after going public, things started to change. You couldn’t understand why if it was something that you had done or said, but he started to become distant, cold. He would invite you less and less over to his place, and when he did, it was mainly to have sex, to ‘release the tension from practice’. And whenever the team lost, the sex would be rough. He was always on his phone, texting, dming, emailing. A part of you knew it was girls he was talking to, but you couldn’t bring yourself to confront him about it, so you just said nothing and held on. He soon stopped asking you how you were, telling you how much he loved you. You tried asking him what was going on, but he would always deny everything, saying that you were imagining things, that you were just paranoid, and that everything was fine. Fine. Oh, how you came to hate that word. You asked him how he was. Fine. You asked him if he wanted to spend the night together. Fine. You asked him if he wanted to drive to the clubhouse together. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. You hated fine. In Jamie’s language, fine meant if you really have to, or I would rather you left me alone, or I don’t really care. You hated it. And you hated what your relationship had become. But still, something stopped you from leaving him, maybe the hope that soon things would go back to normal, that soon he would go back to being just Jamie.

But that never happened.

And things only got worse when Ted decided to take him out during a match. You knew that Ted was doing it to teach him a lesson, and he was right to want to do so. But as you watched your boyfriend leave the pitch, you knew things would only get worse. So, you stopped constantly looking for him. You stopped texting him every day. You only met when he asked you.

It was in that period that you grew closer to Sam. You could distinctly remember the day he walked into your office to ask you for a few suggestions on how to make his Instagram page more appealing. Instead walked in on you sitting on the floor, with your back against the wall and your hands in your hair. You didn’t even have the strength to pretend things were okay, so you simply looked up, black lines scarring your cheeks, and met his eyes. “Sorry, Sam, it’s… not a great moment.” You struggled to get the words out.

But Sam didn’t say anything. Instead, he closed the door behind him, made his way across the room and took a seat on the floor next to you. “Is it Jamie?” He asked with his thick Nigerian accent that you would grow to love and even find familiar. You nodded silently. “Do you want to talk about it?” You shook your head. “Do we just sit in silence?” A nod. A beat. Then your head slowly fell to the side, until it found its resting place on his shoulder.

You don’t exactly know how long you stayed there, on the floor, in silence. It could have been a few minutes or entire hours. In either case, Sam stayed there, and didn’t leave your side. He never once took out his phone to check his messages, even though you could feel it buzzing in his pocket. He only changed position once, to move his arm and wrap it around your shoulders. That was the first time you had spent that much time in silence with someone without feeling the need to fill it with superficial chatter.

From that day forward, you and Sam were inseparable. There was something about him that simply brought you comfort, a comfort that not even Jamie had been able to give you. Whenever you weren’t sleeping over at Jamie’s, he would come to pick you up and drive you to work. He would drive you home in the evenings, making sure you were all the way inside your house, before sprinting off the road to go home himself. You would start having lunch together, usually joined by some of the other guys – in all of this, most of the time Jamie was nowhere to be found. And whenever your boyfriend acted like a dick with you in front of everyone, he would speak up. Are you his boyfriend now, Sammy? Jamie would mock him, using your nickname for him. I don’t think so. She’s me girl, so I’ll talk to her how I want, a’ight? He would puff out his chest, trying to look bigger and intimidating.

That evening, after practice was over, Jamie sprinted off to who knows where or to who knows who, leaving you there, alone. And, as per usual, Sam would come to the rescue, offering you a lift home.

“Why are you still with him?” Sam asked you as he stopped in front of your house. “You deserve better, not an asshole like him.”

You shook your head. “He’s not like that when it’s just the two of us.” You would always find a way to make excuses for him.

“I don’t care how he is when he’s alone with you, Y/N! If he really loves you, he should treat you well in public as well!” You had never really heard Sam raising his voice before, and it would have been a lie if you had said that you were not intimidated. But, despite everything, you could feel the care and preoccupation in his voice. “You deserve someone that truly cares for you, and that isn’t afraid to show it!” You knew he was right. Yet, you couldn’t bring yourself to say something, to break up with him.

But you never had to.

It was maybe a week after your discussion with Sam when you showed up unannounced at his place. It was cold outside, and you were only wearing a thick jumper. You stood there, in front of his door for at least three whole minutes, before finally knocking on his door. You knocked instead of ringing the bell so that if he was already asleep, you wouldn’t wake him. But he had heard it, and less than 10 seconds later, he was opening the door.

“Y/N, what are you-” He didn’t even finish his question. He took one look at you and knew exactly what had happened. He took your hand gently in his, and immediately pulled you inside, guiding you to the living room. “Wait here a moment.” He said, making you seat on the couch, before running off in search of a blanket. “Okay, wrap yourself in this while I put the kettle on.” He opened the blanket and put it around your shoulders.

“Stay here, please.” You whispered, grabbing him by the wrist before he could move away again.

“But you’re shivering.”

“Just… please.”

As soon as he met your eyes once again, he felt his heart drop to his stomach. He had seen you in distress before, he had comforted you multiple times after your fights with Jamie. But this time he didn’t even need for you to tell him what had happened, he already knew. He took a seat next to you, fixing the blanket so that it was properly covering your entire body, before pulling you to his chest.

“He said that I was too much work.” The words left your mouth watery. “That I asked too much of him. And that, since he was going back to Man City, it was better to call it quits.” You whispered. You could feel Sam’s body tense, the air blowing through his nose. You knew he wanted to say a lot of things. He wanted to tell you that he was a dickhead, that he never realised what he had in front of him, that he had just lost the best woman he could ever find, that he was a moron, a jerk, an idiot, a fool. But he didn’t. He remained silent. And he did the best he could to comfort you. He stroke your hair and your back, he rocked you and hummed to you, until you fell asleep.

After that night, it didn’t take long for the rest of the team to find out what had happened, and how it had happened. Every single one of the boys sent you a text, saying, each in their own way, that they were sorry, that Jamie was a dick, and that they were there for you if you needed them. And you were glad to know so many people cared for you, people that up until a few months ago didn’t even know you and that you would have never expected in your life to end up being friends with. They all stopped and hugged you when they met you in the corridor for the first time after it had happened. But some of them surprised you.

You hadn’t been able to sleep for the last few nights, which was made obvious to everyone by the way you dragged your feet against the floor whenever you walked around the clubhouse, your legs too heavy for your exhausted body to properly move. You had also stopped taking care of yourself. Yes, you showered and brushed your teeth because you hated not being presentable for work. But you had stopped brushing your hair every morning and every night, like your grandmother had thought you when you were little. And you had stopped wearing make-up. Not that you would normally put on a full face every day, but you stopped using mascara because it made your eyes burn whenever you cried, and the light concealer you used under your eyes to make yourself look fresher, more awake. And now your puffy red eyes and dark circles were there, on display, for everyone to see, a reminder of how you were feeling.

That morning you had opted for a very comfortable pair of sweatpants and a warm AFC Richmond hoodie. Using supportiveness as a way to hide your depression. Smart, you thought. Sad. You were sitting in your office, alone, working on the new social media campaign, when suddenly you heard someone knock on your door. “Come in.” You said flatly. As the door opened, you looked up from your laptop, only to see Sam walk in, followed by Isaac, Colin and Dani. “How can I help you, boys?” You forced a smile on your face.

“Want to watch a movie with us tonight?” Asked Isaac, taking the lead. You looked at the quartet in front of you, unsure of what to say. “We can watch whatever sad movie you prefer, and Dani can bring some Mezcal.”

“Boys, I-” You started, but you were instantly cut off.

“Uh-uh!” The Welsh stepped forward. “We don’t want to hear any I’d rather be alone or I don’t want to be a bother bullshit, okay? We want to do this.”

“Yes, we only asked to be nice, but if you say no, we will just kidnap you and force you to do it.” Said Sam, a soft, warm smile on his face, as he leaned over your desk.

“Por favor, Y/N” Dani pled, showing you his big, brown puppy eyes.

“Fine!” You gave in. “On one condition: we order Chinese.”

They all look at each other, before bursting out laughing.

A/N: if you read all the way through, thank you ! feel free to leave a feedback/comment. i would love to know what you think about it and if you would be interested in reading more of this story. let me know if you would like to be put in a taglist for this fic! love you <3

[llamagoddessofficial]

AHHHH I love Aka’s and yours HMF Sans he’s a BIG BOY omgg. I was wondering if we could see the latest drabble you wrote about him from his perspective? I’d love to see what he was thinking when that guy touched MC.

Aka always has such banger ideas. She's very sweet to let me write for this au so much skdjfsf

---

how dare you.

... When Sans was angry, usually, tunnel vision set in.

He would feel like he wasn't in control of his own body. He'd be numb, but in a good way, disconnected from the world. Sometimes he heard the screams of the people he attacked, sometimes everything was just a faint ringing sound. Time slipped away from him in those moments... it merged into one deep, deep lake that swallowed him whole. Though he was somewhat there, seeing everything from under the water's rippling surface, his ability to think was switched off. He didn't care about the damage he caused, and he liked that. He liked the silence.

... He would 'wake up' later with foggy memory, blood on his claws, blood in his mouth. And he wouldn't be himself again for hours.

...

... This was not like one of those times.

His eyelight burned, so constricted he felt the magic inside it writhing and spitting. There was fire in his bones. He was standing, seething, the guy in front of him at the table was clutching his nose, blood seeping out from between his fingers. Sans knew the taste of fear all too well, and the room was suddenly thick with the scent- fear was seeping off of you, too, and normally that would diffuse him.

But it didn't. All he could feel in that moment was dark, murderous rage.

... Words boiled inside him. Words that would never leave his mouth. she's so good. so sweet. her presence in this room is the only thing stopping me from cutting all of you from throat to navel. and you treat her like meat.

(He had really felt like he was doing well. Sitting there, good and quiet, your proximity made him feel more sane. He had felt like he was getting a grip on his patience.

... Then the fucker touched you. And said patience snapped, like a thin elastic under the summer sun.)

Feeling the human's nose crunch against the table had been satisfying, definitely. Especially since he was fully in his own body. But that wasn't enough, the rage wasn't dissipating. Sans wasn't satiated. You were already afraid of him, weren't you? What was one more thing to fear, on top of that?

i'll fucking kill you.

He grabbed the guy by the collar, turning and dragging him across the room. He threw him up against the counter, he grabbed a bottle and brought it down over his head so hard it shattered, everything he could do to him was flashing through his mind. Break a chair over him. Slam his head against the bar until it cracks like an egg. Hold him down and kick his legs the wrong way. Cut off his hands, cut off the hand that touched her. Eat the hand. For once, Sans was perfectly, absolutely aware of what he was doing. He felt every spark of magic in his system, and all of it wanted to kill that fucking rat. All of it was telling him to destroy.

she shouldn't have to see it.

...

He paused.

... For a split second, the thought was clear as a bell. His desire to look at your face pierced through his horrible burning anger, like a single star in the night sky.

... He looked over his shoulder at you. Tiny, soft, pressed into a corner. You flinched.

Another thought, clear and quick. Blue against the hot black and red.

don't let her see death. she doesn't need to see it.

...

He turned back to the human, pinned against the bar counter, battered and bleeding. Stars, Sans wanted to kill him so badly. A strained breath escaped him- he wanted to kill him more than he'd wanted to kill anyone ever before, he could envision the life leaving the man's eyes and the vision scratched an itch in his Soul.

...

But those thoughts were right. He gritted his teeth... he couldn't let you see something so gruesome.

The fire inside him began to die. He threw the idiot out the door, into the street, before he could change his mind. The walk back to his seat felt like a thousand miles.

...

... Sans sank into his seat. By that point, the fire was completely gone. He could feel your eyes on him.

...

... Suddenly, he almost... wanted to cry. A horrible bitter taste in his throat.

look at what you showed her.

a perfect display of what an ugly, violent thug you are.

well done. hope you're proud of yourself.

i'd say 'she'll never love you now'... but it's not like there was a chance of that before.

The bitter taste worsened. The repercussions started to weigh on him- he hated that he'd subjected you to that. He hated that he had no control over himself. He hated the look you were giving him, so he kept his eyelight trained on the table.

...

... He needed a cigarette.

[cant-shake-it]

How to Make a Printing Screen from Home

I wanted to share a quick cute little tutorial for how I made my own screen for making patches (and other things that don't require exact measurements). Cute lil how-to under the cut >:)

Disclaimer: I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing at any given moment. There could be a better tutorial out there for you. I'm just guessing for a lot of the things I do and this is no exception. With that out of the way:

THE SUPPLIES YOU DEFINITELY ABSOLUTELY NEED:

a small/medium canvas (depending on what you have and how big your design will be)

paintbrushes

a tight-woven sheer fabric (preferably not stretchy and STRONG)

a fine-tip pen

water-resistant gloss of some kind (mod podge works, but make sure it's a waterproof kind if you want to make more than one print)

paint that won't come off in the wash (acrylic/spray paint work)

good strong tape

a good sturdy card-like thingy

an easy/cool design for your print :)

THE SUPPLIES THAT ARE RECCOMENDED BUT NOT NECESSARY (aka things I like to use):

a good canvas fabric/thick cotton for printing on

fabric paint (will stay on the fabric best duh)

a 1/2in, 1/3in, and fine tip paintbrush for details (depending on your design)

some company for fun :)

Alright, so first you'll want to figure out the design you want to print out and get a good sketch over it. I'm a detail freak so I like sketching out my design then going over it in a black pen. The ideal is hard contrast and clear and discernable lines/fill-in spots, like pictured below:

(Note how I emphasized which spots were to have thicker lines, which parts of the stripes were to be printed, etc. I tried to think a lot about which portions I wanted to show up on the finished design and how they would look on the fabric as a whole.)

So you've got your design. Great! Next step is a fun one: Grab a canvas you are willing to part with (this one was a painting I made when I was 16. I hate it), and rip all the fabric off of that fucker!! If you pull off some staples in the process, don't worry. Just make sure you can retain the shape of the frame, since that's the part you'll need to keep. You don't need to take off every single bit of the fabric, but as previously stated, I'm a freak, so I did. You'll come out with something like this:

For the next steps you'll need a good pair of scissors as well as your pen and your sheer fabric. You're going to want to set the frame on your fabric and cut about an inch and a half around it so there's extra to wrap around the frame and tape down. You can draw a guideline for where to cut if you want, but once again, I'm a freak:

Now lay the front of the canvas frame (the part without staples on it) face down on the fabric and grab your tape! Now we're going to tape down each end of the frame so the sheer lays taut on the frame. I like to put one or two strips of tape on the ends parallel to each other and pull them tight, then do the same with the other side, then continue adding tape until the whole outside of the frame is covered. See below:

(Note: your goal in this step is to stretch the sheer as tight as it can comfortably go so there are no wrinkles or depressions in the fabric.)

So now you have you're frame. Fuck yes!!! Go ahead and grab the design you came up with as well as your pen (you can use a pencil too, but the pen shows up much better through the fabric so I definitely prefer it), and put the frame front side down onto the sketch.

If you're worried about keeping the frame steady, feel free to tape the frame down and go ahead and trace over the design with your pen. Make sure to fill in all the dark parts enough that you can differentiate them from the light parts.

Once you have your sketch copied to the frame, now you can grab your gloss!!! Hurry!!! You're almost done!!!!

With this step I like to start big and go into the details once all the larger portions of the sheer are covered. Pretty much you're going to paint over every part that isn't the black of the pen with your waterproof gloss. This ensures that once you start printing, the only parts that are going to bleed through the fabric will be the black parts that weren't painted over with gloss/varnish/mod podge/whatever you used as long as it's waterproof!!! Take all the time you need, it's not a race. Once you're done and the gloss has dried, your screen is going to look something like this when put up to a light:

Now that this step is over with, congratulations - you have just made a mesh screen!!! Keep reading to learn how to use it lol

So for the patches that I make I just went with black and white paint, and black and white fabric to keep it traditional, but you can use any colors of paint and fabric you want, truly! The world is your oyster! I do not care! That being said, we're keeping it simple today.

Grab your screen, a piece of fabric that can cover the design and leave at least an inch of space around it, and a surface you won't mid getting paint on on accident. You'll also want to grab that card-like thingy for this as well. It can really be anything that can provide a sturdy, even pressure across the screen consistently. Go ahead and pick up that fabric paint too, I guess. We'll probably need that.

At this point, this is what your workspace might look like:

Next up you are going to center your design onto your piece of fabric-

-and grab your fabric paint. put a thin little stripe over the top (start slow and add more - as you can see I added a little too much and kinda fucked up my design) then grab your card thingy. Make sure you have even pressure on it and swipe it down at a medium speed so you're dragging the paint down the screen:

Once you've got everything covered I like to go over it a few more times for even coverage. Then you pull it up from the screen (which you might want to rinse off so no paint sticks to it!!!), wait for that bitch to dry, and you're done!! Congratulations, you have your very own fun silly patch! Go sew it on something! Or not! I do really do not care!!!!!!

[davnittbraes]

Affirmations - Part One

Part of the I’m Here universe.

Pairing: Marcus Pike x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit (not this part but the next one 😉)

Word Count: 2750

Warnings etc: anxiety, lots of negative self-talk, a lil bit of dissociation, LOVE YOURSELVES BABES, Marcus being a danger to my ovaries, brief reference to previous sexytimes

Reader-insert physical descriptors: none here but in Part Two hair long enough to comb fingers through

Notes: takes place a week after I’m Here but you don’t necessarily have to read it before this. Marcus and reader are in a newish relationship, their last time being intimate they pushed some boundaries, and reader confirmed she’s got a thing for letting her partner take control. Wink wink nudge nudge. Aka this relationship is heading in the BDSM direction.

I wrote this for @shirks-all-responsibilities, who rants about I’m Here Marcus so much I thought it damn well time he show her some love in return. I mean I also very much wrote it for me, too, like what is fanfic if not absolute self-indulgence 😂

Oh my god, it’s so late. 

You pull into Marcus’ driveway, immediately cutting the engine, paranoid that the sound is too loud in the thick quiet of night covering the suburb. 

It’s too late, really.

But he had said he wanted to see you, no matter how late you finished work. That a week was too long without seeing your beautiful smile.

So incredibly sweet - and so very Marcus. 

Your gaze flicks to the illuminated clock on the car dash. 

Still…

Okay, well, he had replied to your text not long ago, when you told him you were leaving work, reassuring you that he still wanted you to come over, stay for the weekend. 

That had been the plan all week, you’d been looking forward to two whole days with him - the man who had rewritten your definition of romance. 

No, not just romance - relationships in general. What it means to be with somebody. 

To trust someone else implicitly. 

To put your soul in their hands and know they’ll treat it like the greatest treasure. 

And how that trust could lead to not only a depth of intimacy you’d never known possible, but also incredible, mind-blowing sex. 

Last weekend, he’d shown you that. Took control, pulled you out of your own head, stripped away every worry and concern and anxiety and made you come so hard you’d fallen apart in his arms after. 

Then, true to Marcus form, he didn’t push it. Didn’t force you to talk about it, just took care of you with his usual sweet gentleness.

But once the pleasure haze had faded and your thoughts came back together, anxiety had immediately started to gnaw at your throat. 

What exactly had happened? How had he made you give up control like that, become so immersed in the desire to feel good and make him feel good that everything else fell away?

That was so unlike you, always present, always aware.

Though, it had felt incredible - it had been good for you.

A release that went deeper than an orgasm. 

It wasn’t that you didn’t like it. Just that… it was…

Well, you never could stop analyzing every single thing that was brought to your attention. It’s not surprising that this was making you go around in circles trying to figure it out. 

Your heavy sigh breaks the silence.

Some instinct tells you Marcus knows. 

There had been moments, during that night, when you’d seen it in his warm brown gaze. 

An understanding. A knowledge of what you were thinking, feeling, that surpassed even your own. 

You need to talk to him. 

So you’d been looking forward to this all week, to seeing him again. Struggling to fight back the anxiety that keeps trying to pull you into a spiral about that night, reminding yourself constantly that it’s okay, you can talk to Marcus about it, he’s safe. 

You can trust him. 

But all that was before you knew that your Friday was going to blow up in your face. 

Before problem after problem was dumped on you and despite your every effort you couldn’t fix them all before they inevitably got worse. 

And now you’re sitting here, long after you were supposed to be at his place. 

The anxiety is gone, now, you’d caved to it hours ago, unable to keep it at bay. It had been replaced by something you can’t identify buzzing with an uncomfortable weight in the pit of your stomach. 

You peer at his house through the windshield, chewing your thumbnail thoughtfully, teeth biting into the quick with a tiny jab of pain that distracts you enough to think through the situation. 

The porch light is on, and so is the living room light, glowing through the curtains in the big picture window. 

Okay, so he’s still up. 

And his texts throughout the night were his usual, sweet and caring and light -

But what if you were misreading them?

What if he’s actually upset with you for being so late?

What if he’s playing it off like it’s fine but he’s actually pissed, frustrated that you strung him along all day, that you prioritized work over him, that you had the audacity to show up at this hour and expect him to drop everything to entertain you. 

Your stomach turns, rolls, slow and sickly, emotion hot in the back of your throat. 

I should just go home, there’s no point in bothering him at this -

A sudden burst of light startles you out of your spiral. 

Your phone, in the cupholder, screen bright with a new text notification. 

Marcus

Can’t wait to see you, beautiful 

Tension bleeds from your shoulders, stomach righting itself with a little flip of anticipation. 

Trust. 

You trust Marcus. He’s never given you any reason to do otherwise. 

And if he says he wants you to come over, despite it being so late, then he means it. 

But -

No, this is too much, you can’t just sit here and think anymore -

The need to move shoves you into action, and you throw open the door and get out of the car, grabbing your bag from the backseat. 

You’re only three steps to the front door when it swings open, light bathing the walkway. 

Marcus meets you before you even reach the door, dimpled smile glowing in the dim light. “Hey. Heard the car pull in.”

Your own smile is an inherent reaction, heartbeat skipping just a bit as he leans in to press a soft kiss to your lips, one hand slipping around your waist to smooth over the small of your back. 

The exhaustion in your muscles leaches out, body swaying toward his, and he pulls back enough to look at you, concern in his warm brown gaze. “Let’s get you inside, okay?”

He’s already taking your bag, long fingers slipping through yours, hand on your back gently guiding you to the door and that unknown weight in the pit of your stomach shifts, edges sharp, bringing tears to your eyes. 

What is it? Why does it hurt so much?

It’s a little unsettling, not knowing what you’re feeling, especially when it’s something so strong.

What’s wrong with you that you can’t even identify this emotion that feels like it’s boring a hole straight through you?

You’re moving automatically, only vaguely aware of the door shutting behind you, the pleasant smile pasted on your face. Going through the motions, taking off your shoes, jacket, straightening your clothes.

Suddenly, large hands cup your face and a jolt runs through you, so startling it pushes a gasp from your lungs.

Brown eyes fill your vision, blurred by the threat of tears. 

Soft words seep through the buzzing in your head - when had that started?

“Are you okay?” 

Shit -

You haven’t said anything, haven’t spoken to him since you pulled in. Frustration skips along your pulse. Get it together. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.” The practiced phrase comes out as usual, light and dismissive.

Marcus steps closer, thumbs tracing your cheekbones. “Look at me.”

Oh -

It’s just a hint, a whisper of the command his voice can carry - that command that guided you to heights of pleasure you’d never experienced before him. It’s enough to snap through the buzz in your head. 

Your vision clears and finally you can really see him. Really look at him. 

He’s watching you, intent, frown forming between his brows. There’s only a pause, his expression unreadable - is he angry - no stop it shut up - then he’s sliding an arm around your shoulders and turning you toward the living room. 

“Come on, come sit down.”

Relief washes cool down your back. 

Yes, good, let him guide you. 

A quiet reassurance coats your thoughts, muffling the noise. 

Trust him. 

He sits you down on the plush sofa, tucked into the corner, and settles in closely next to you. His hands never leave you, drifting down your arms to clasp yours gently, hold them in your lap. Your joined hands rest on your thighs, a counterweight to the one in your stomach. 

Grounding. Centring. 

Marcus. 

He squeezes lightly, draws your gaze to his. “Are you comfortable talking to me right now?”

Embarrassment flushes hot on your skin - it’s so unnerving, how he can see everything about you - but you force yourself not to look away, to keep your gaze on his. Trust. “A lot happened today. Just. A lot.”

Fuck, that’s not very helpful, he asked you a question and you give him this vague -

“That’s okay.”

The buzz flickers, the soft tone of his words scattering. 

“What?” You can hear the confusion in your own voice. 

A dozen emotions flash across his expression, but the warmth in his eyes doesn’t change, persistent. “It’s okay that today was a lot. You can talk about it, all of it or parts of it, if you want. Or if you’d rather not, that’s fine, too.”

You glance away, unable to look at him, his ceaseless compassion too much to handle right now. 

He lifts your clasped hands to his lips, brushes a kiss over your knuckles, that intent gaze still locked on yours. “I can reheat supper, if you’re hungry. Draw you a bath if you want to unwind. Take you to bed and hold you if you’re too tired for any of that. And during, after or in-between any of that, I’ll listen to whatever you want to tell me about today.”

The weight in your stomach shifts again, presses up against your ribcage and it hurts to breathe but you manage to nod in acknowledgment.

His gaze tracks the shakiness of the movement, crease between his brows deepening, voice firm. “And if you don’t want to talk tonight, that’s fine. But it’s not healthy to keep things bottled up. Whatever happened, it seems like it’s really affecting you. So you will have to talk about it at some point, either with me or someone else. When you’re ready.”

You nod again - try to, but the movement is too awkward, it feels strange. As if it’s not you making it, it’s not your body, not your hands in his and not your lungs straining for air and not -

Suddenly you can’t see, everything is blurry, everything is gone nothing is real why -

Strong arms pull you against a broad chest and you crumple, limbs folding into yourself, weight in your stomach dragging you down down down -

Desperate, you grasp at the warmth that breaks your fall, hands clutching at fabric over solid strength, thoughts latching onto murmured words against your hair. 

Your subconscious instinctively threading into the profound presence that surrounds you, holding fast. 

It’s a lifeline. A linchpin that centres your focus, pulls you back into awareness. 

Marcus is tucking you firmer into the crook of his arm, shifting your legs across his lap until you’re fully seated there. One large hand cups your head, holds your temple to his lips, while the other passes gentle strokes to your arm, your back, your thigh. 

He’s talking, soft and muffled words but clear enough, a steady stream that brushes over your skin. 

“Breathe for me, baby, it’s okay, you’re okay, let it out. I’m here.”

I’m here. 

Marcus is always here. For you. 

Trust. 

The weight in your stomach bursts and everything pours out of you in tear-soaked words. 

“I’m so sorry I’m so late, I’m sorry I disappointed you and I didn’t want to ever do that because you’re so amazing Marcus and it’s not fair for me to treat you like this - “ your voice hiccups and you have to push through it - “I should have cancelled tonight, I knew I was going to be late, but I was selfish and still wanted to see you and I made you wait around for me and that was wrong and I’m so so sorry -“

“Stop.” 

His voice is quiet but firm, enough to silence the mess of thoughts pouring from your lips. 

You wait, heart pounding, lungs tight, muscles tensed and ready for his judgement. 

No, not judgement - this is Marcus, he cares about you, he’s here for you. 

But it’s all still there, the buzzing in your head and the weight pulling you down and it’s too much, too confusing and conflicting and you can’t handle everything. 

A whimper squeezes past your throat before you can stop it. Your eyes are closed so tight against it all that you see stars. 

He gently eases you away, his arm supporting your back where it bands across your shoulders. “Open your eyes, baby. Please.”

Trust. 

It takes everything you have to do so, blinking as his face comes into focus.

The concern that worried his brow is gone. Those warm, brown eyes are steady, but more serious than you’ve ever seen them. 

He takes a deep breath, chest shifting where you’re pressed to him. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but you were hurting yourself and I couldn’t let that continue.”

“H-hurting myself?” Your voice catches on the well of confusion squeezing your throat. 

A barely-there nod as his thumb swipes through the tear tracks on your cheek. “Listening to those negative thoughts. Letting them speak for you.”

You stare at him. Mind blank. Buzzing thoughts silent. 

He cups your cheek, his broad palm soothing on your too-hot skin. “You have your own voice. No one, not even yourself, can take that away. It will always be there.”

There’s no epiphany or flash of understanding. Just a gentle swell, rising and pulling you in, the understanding of his words. They just seep into the fibre of your being and you know. 

You know they’re true. 

You understand what he’s saying. Those buzzing thoughts, sharp and intrusive, weaselling their way to the forefront until you couldn’t hear anything else. 

That heavy weight in the pit of your stomach. A blend of guilt and shame and frustration. 

At yourself. 

For being weak, for being unable to stop the anxious turmoil from bleeding into this part of your life, your relationship with Marcus, the part that you wanted so badly to be clean of it. 

Then there’s disappointment at your inability to control it. 

No. Not just disappointment. 

Anger. 

Because despite trying, so hard, telling yourself that Marcus was good and right and you can trust him - it did nothing. 

Those negative thoughts still won out and tainted your perception. 

Then there’s despair. Cold and creeping into your bones.

You’re failing yourself.

So many times, you’ve been silent when you wanted to speak, or to shout or laugh or scream or sing. 

You’d let others keep you quiet for so long, that even when they were no longer in your life, the habit apparently remained. 

A habit you thought you’d already broken after countless therapy sessions, only for it to overtake and control you once again. 

Well. At least now you know it’s not right, not fair to you. 

Now you know you deserve to be happy.

It had taken a long time, but you’d come to acknowledge and accept that as a fact. 

But that didn’t stop you from trying to self-sabotage, apparently. 

No, stop. That’s the negative voice again.

Telling you you’re not enough.

That you’ll always fail.

Trust trust trust

Those words beat steadily within your own pulse. 

Closing your eyes - not to shut things out, this time, but to let yourself look inward - you lean into the weight of his palm, breathe deep, and trust. 

“I think that…” Your words are soft, cracked with hesitation as they come to you slowly. “I know that I do, have my own voice. I know those thoughts will only hurt me, and I have the ability to ignore them. But sometimes it…” 

You look at Marcus then, some part of you needing to see him. “Sometimes it’s hard to remember that, to hear the difference between the good thoughts and the bad ones. Especially on days when everything else is so loud.”

He’s watching you, expression so soft it pricks tears in the corners of your eyes. There’s no pity, or uncertainty, or doubt, in his face. Just an overwhelming tender emotion, a comprehension that can only come from hearing that same buzzing noise blurring the good and bad. 

One of your hands untangles from where your fingers are curled into his shirt, rises to rest over his on your cheek. 

Of course he understands. A toxic marriage, a broken engagement, so many other wounds that cut deep and left scars. 

Marcus has fought to break habits, too. 

He leans in, kisses you softly, your lips then your forehead. “Will you…” he pulls back to look at you, tongue dipping against his lower lip. “Will you let me help you? With the noise?”

Your heart beats steadily. 

You know what he means.

The memory of sinking deep into that haze of pleasure, letting go of your ceaseless thoughts. Allowing him to take control of the noise and silence it.

Giving yourself over to him, wholly and completely.

Trust trust trust

There’s no hesitation in your thoughts, in your voice.

“Yes.”

*****

Next: Part Two

Previous: I’m Here

[hinataoc]

It's finally time to share my fic for @shatteredestiny-zine aka Dark Road Zine! I had quite the time figuring out what to write about for this zine. There's so much to explore! It's a part of the fandom I don't think is focused on enough, so this was the perfect opportunity to dive into it.

The entire team was just lovely and there are so many incredible fics and artworks throughout the zine that explore each of the characters. I personally chose to explore none other than Luxu. He's an intriguing one and I've always wondered how his possession powers worked. So that's what I decided to focus on!

Each writer also had an artist or two creating illustrations for their pieces! One of the artists for my story was the lovely @amyhayanora <3 Which I have the permission to share alongside the story! She found the soul of the piece and laid it bare. The combined Stations of Awakening and the desaturation on Bragi's half, it captured the atmosphere perfectly.

-----

Cycle of Existence (1911 words) by CurryFury13 Summary: Luxu stands amongst the gravestones of his fallen 'friends'. It's not the first time he's been in this position, nor will it be the last. The cycle of his existence continues… There's just one last loose end to tie up before he moves on.

----

Lightning pulsed through the thick clouds, flashing with strikes of whites and blues against the heavy gray. Rumbling thunder followed, roaring with unrestrained fury. It reverberated between the rows of tombstones, echoing and carrying across the cemetery like a wail. Luxu stood on a worn path, silent and listening. He wore a thick black coat. It was long, encapsulating, and concealed his identity beneath a hood that shrouded even his eyes from the world around him. Sharp rain bounced off the leather of his coat, spattering to the cobbled ground below.

He remained perfectly still while the whistling wind billowed the bottom of his coat. His gaze went from one gravestone to the next, reading the freshly etched names—Hermod, Urd, Vor… Bragi. He paused at the final name and for the first time since arriving he let out a noise—a single, breathless scoff that was lost in the wailing of the storm. 

With a single motion, he pushed back his hood. Rain darkened his auburn hair, sticking it to his cheeks. He leaned his head up towards the clouds, welcoming the storm and closing his eyes. Another life, there and gone again. 

“There…” he said softly. “One last time.”     

“So that’s it then?” A voice asked from inside his mind, fleeting as if a stray thought. 

Luxu’s brow raised at the voice, though he wasn’t surprised. With a flick of his wrist wisps of darkness sprouted from the ground. Blues and purples surrounded him, concealing the storm. Then everything went quiet. Luxu took in the silence, letting out a breath before opening his eyes. Stained glass spread out beneath his feet, brilliantly glowing from an ethereal light beneath it. Soft, yet vibrant hues splashed over Luxu’s coat, creating a shimmering kaleidoscope across the leather. He paid no mind to the light display, however. It was a familiar sight—too familiar sometimes. 

He recalled the Master of Masters referring to it as a Station of Awakening—a physical representation of a heart. Or two, in Luxu’s case. Deep fissures webbed down the center of the intricate stained glass, each half depicting a different heart. One belonged to Luxu, the other to whichever hapless host Luxu decided to prey upon that century. At least, that was how his first host, Brain, had put it.

“Guess it’s about time you move on to the next victim, huh?” The same voice from before asked.  

Luxu looked towards the other station. Its colors were fading. White cracks leaked over the faces depicted across it. Bragi sat in the center of it. He was kneeling, disheveled, his skin pasty white compared to the warmth it had in the outside world… when Luxu wore his face. 

Bragi’s tired eyes didn’t even feign Luxu a glance. He stared at the glass, his thin fingertip tracing the veiny white cracks beneath him.  

In return Luxu crossed his arms and scoffed in a playful way he often recalled the Master of Masters doing to him. “Now you don’t have to go saying it like that. Last I checked, I did you a favor.”

A pained laugh shook Bragi’s shoulders. “Fair enough… Still, you didn’t answer my question.”

The sharp edge of Luxu’s smirk dipped and he looked at Bragi, studying him. Seeing him now reminded him of when he’d first chosen Bragi as his carrier, host, whatever anyone wanted to call it. A sick boy — lost, forgotten, nearly on his deathbed. No one would have noticed him dying. Luxu liked to tell himself he gave him another chance at life. Brought him along for an adventure he never would have had the chance to go on otherwise. But it all ended the same way it always did. Back where they started. 

Luxu turned away. He gazed out at the stirring cosmos beyond their Stations. “Gotta move on at some point.”  

Silence was all he got in reply. 

The silence stretched. Their breaths filled the quiet, Luxu’s long and even, Bragi’s labored and hoarse. Luxu’s grip tightened along his arms. The wait never got easier —w aiting for life to fade. He should have been using the time to find another host, but he didn’t move. It ate at him, nagging at the back of his mind as he watched the floating colors against the black emptiness around them. He needed to go, move on, but hearing Bragi’s slowing breaths… leaving didn’t seem right just yet. 

He peeked over his shoulder and Bragi’s eyes averted to his fading Station. Luxu watched him for a moment, seeing the furrowed brows as Bragi’s finger repeatedly scratched the glass beneath him.  

Luxu looked back to the cosmos. “You gonna say it or are you planning on stewing?”

Glass cracked, sounding like twinkling chimes as thin fissures webbed from where Bragi rested. Bragi swallowed thickly. “Why didn’t you do anything…?”

“Why didn’t I —what exactly?” Luxu asked, feeling Bragi’s glare against his back. 

“You knew what Baldr was doing,” Bragi clarified, his voice trembling. “Why didn’t you save…?” His voice trailed off and he sucked in a breath. “I thought they were our friends.”

As if…

The thought immediately crossed Luxu’s mind and he winced. Over the years, losing friends didn’t carry the sting it used to. He looked up, even though the same cosmos awaited him in what should have been the sky. 

“Figured by now you’d know the drill,” Luxu said finally. “Can’t draw too much attention, can’t interfere. I’m just here to watch.”

Silence stretched after his words fell to fading echoes. An entire minute passed before Bragi spoke again, “I guess I thought they’d be the exception.”

A scoff escaped Luxu before he could catch it. “You make one exception and suddenly everyone begs to be the next.”

“Speaking from experience?” Bragi asked. 

Luxu chuckled and turned around. The cracks in Bragi’s Station were already thicker and spreading. He walked towards the center fissure, where their Stations met together; it was wider than before. Luxu traced his foot along it, watching loose shards fall away into the abyss below.

“It’s been quite the ride, hasn’t it?” Luxu asked. 

Bragi watched Luxu for a moment, then looked away. 

Blowing out a breath, Luxu straightened out his coat. “Well, I suppose the hunt begins.”

-----------------------------------

Even at night, the flowers in Radiant Garden were vibrant with color. Luxu walked amongst them, his attention on the towering castle in the garden’s center, rather than admiring the beauty around him. He stopped at the bottom of a stairwell that led right up to the main gates, but he didn’t move any further. 

“This is the place,” Luxu whispered. 

“ Are you sure?” Bragi’s voice asked weakly inside his mind. 

Luxu smirked. “Word has it there’s a crazy old scientist in there studying hearts. And he’s got a whole lot of apprentices in there helping.” He turned around and disappeared into the garden, finding a shrouded corner to settle into. “So yeah, I’m sure.”

Bragi didn’t reply right away. A warm breeze whistled through the trees, swaying the flowers and twirling the occasional petal in the air. Luxu leaned back against a tree trunk, crossing his arms and watching the castle. “Now we wait and find the right person for the job.”

“ You seem excited about this…” Bragi muttered. 

Luxu shrugged. “Maybe I am.”

“You’re about to ruin someone’s life,” Bragi started to say before breaking into a cough. 

“Did I ruin yours?” Luxu asked. 

He half expected the silence he got in response. Looking around from his hiding spot, he scanned over the garden and the castle grounds. Two burly men stood guard at the gates, lances firmly in their hands. A giggling couple waltzed along the outskirts of the garden, hands held and the rest of the world invisible to them. 

Then Luxu saw him. 

A man sat alone on a bench, hands linked between his knees as he stared up at the castle. He kept to himself so much that upon first glance, Luxu hadn’t noticed him. Luxu smirked, a familiar fire igniting in his chest. With a flick of his wrist, darkness wisped around him and his black coat transformed into Bragi’s clothes. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of the familiar blue hoodie and came out from the darkness. 

“Mind if I join you?” he asked as he approached the bench. 

The man startled, his brown eyes darting over to Luxu. He ran his fingers through his black hair and cleared his throat, scooting over.

“Thanks.” Luxu smiled and sat beside him. 

He gazed up at the castle and leaned back in his seat. The man watched him for a moment before looking back to the castle as well. 

“Pretty incredible, isn’t it?” Luxu asked. 

The man nodded but didn’t reply. 

Luxu continued, “You ever thought about seeing what’s inside?”

The man looked at Luxu from the corner of his eyes, then back to the castle. His brows knitted together before he answered, “I hope to soon.”

“What do you think is in there?” Luxu slightly turned towards him. 

Straightening, the man said. “The sort of things you couldn’t comprehend.”

Luxu chuckled. “Is that right?” He turned to face forward and leaned far back in his seat. “Well, maybe I’ll just have to get in there and find out for myself.”

“Maybe you will,” the man replied. 

“Luxu… ” Bragi said weakly. 

Luxu blew out a breath and abruptly got up. “Nice talking with you.”

The man watched him leave with an arched brow and small wave of his fingers. Luxu waved back with more of a salute, then turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness. Once out of sight, wisps of darkness surrounded him and he reappeared in his Station. 

To his surprise, he found Bragi standing. The color from Bragi’s Station was nearly grayed out completely. Entire sections of the glass were missing, leaving Bragi a single shard to stand on. Luxu met him in the center, both of them standing on their respective Stations. Bragi swayed side to side, and gradually lifted his sullen eyes to Luxu. 

“This is it… isn’t it?” Bragi asked with a hoarse whisper, unable to hold Luxu’s gaze. 

“Seems like it,” Luxu replied, studying him. “You ready?”

Bragi’s brows knitted together and he looked around. Luxu’s Station was brighter than before, pulsing with power and anticipation of the next heart. And there was Bragi’s… shattered and gray, about to be lifeless. Bragi let out a shaking breath. 

“Yeah… it’s time,” he said softly. His eyes flickered towards Luxu, then away again. “This is the last chance I’ll get to say it… Thank you…”

“Thank you?” Luxu repeated. 

“For giving me a second chance.” Bragi’s entire body shivered, more shards of glass falling away beneath him. “The years with the others, my friends, I…” His voice trailed off and he abruptly looked directly at Luxu with a determined glint in his eyes. “Don’t forget.”

“About you?” Lucu asked. 

“About all of us,” Bragi corrected him, standing firm and tall for the last time. “Xehanort, Eraqus, Hermod, Urd, Vor, even Baldur. I don’t care how long you keep this up and cheat death. Don’t forget about us.”

Luxu stared back at him, rendered speechless for a moment. A faint warmth washed over his Station, a warmth he’d forgotten. Swallowing, Luxu placed his hand on Bragi’s shoulder. The corners of Bragi’s mouth curved into a subtle smile and Luxu chuckled. “As if I ever could.”

[lettersfromaphrodite]

«flames to dust.»

― pairing : Chris x fem! reader ― content warnings : soulmates au, angst with a happy ending, magic au, medieval settings, implied smut, pay attention to Seungmin and Hyunjin's dynamics, locations and sceneries are inspired from Black Desert Online as always, a few LOTR quotes here and there because of reasons,⚠️mention of violence, mention of death, character death(s) the main pairing is safe, mentions of blood, mention of the skinning tattoo technique, mention of violence, choking (sadly, not in the kinky way!!!)⚠️ ― word count : 43k ― notes : she's back. she's longer. she's a one shot // special thank you to my girlies @stressedfranya and @helav98, this fic wouldn't have existed if not for your support and our continuous brainstorming // Lea's character is inspired from my lovely and beloved @minbiny, aka my wonderful soulmate.

― notes : take a look at the deities! Karanda - Goddess of Air // Garmoth - God of Fire // Vell - God of Water // Offin - Goddess of Earth // Kzarka - God of Rot and Corruption // credits for the deities amazing gifsets and pics: @unikornu

― summary :

The only certainty you had, was that you were running out of time. As fate repeated itself and the pressure of being responsible for the fate of countless people had been placed on your shoulders, would you allow yourself to love and to be loved in return?

PREQUEL 🔮 : «do you believe in fate?»

PROLOGUE

The “Cursed Castle” stood tall at the world’s end: made of lava stone and golden amber, its menacing appearance was enough to make people fear everything about who lived in it and within its increasing territories. Moreover, dark and thick clouds were constantly hovering above the Castle’s territories – almost shielding it from the light of the Sun, therefore making it impossible for even the faintest ray of sunlight to reach over those numerous layers of darkness.

The fallen King had once been a good, adventurous and magnanimous man; as a child of Fire, he had the pleasure to meet both Garmoth – the God of Fire, and his soulmate – a child of Air. Actually, some even said that the King had lived a life full of love, showering both his wife and their daughter with affection, until that love that once filled his everyday routine had been abruptly taken away from him without any notice.

From the moment his wife had passed away because of a strange and incurable illness, the King had gradually withered from the path filled with joy and love he had always walked on, just to venture himself in a mysterious and darker path. Slowly, a mysterious menacing power took hold of both his heart and soul, mutating his elemental powers and therefore, changing the appearance of his once bright red eye – now reduced to a black, void and emotionless orb. Within the years, the sadness of losing his soulmate had turned into an obsession, and with the only goal to tear apart the four Gods one by one, the King started to gather children of Nature under his dominion, succeeding in tainting their conscience and changing the nature of their powers as well. With the help of his seven long-time friends – eventually called the “Seven Generals of the Underworld”, the King had managed to keep the world in check and constantly on the verge of war, becoming a different but bigger threat than the Serendia Shrine ever was.

To the Gods, it was impossible to understand how a single man had managed to generate to create such a dark power completely by himself; no matter how deep their sorrow was, humans were not supposed to generate a brand new kind of magic, let alone corrupt people – almost hypnotizing them, to join their army. At some point, the Gods suspected for their nemesis – the God of Corruption, to have arisen once again, even if the possibilities were highly improbable. Before the world as it was known took shape, an otherworldly battle had taken place – modelling the sea, mountains and the sky into a different shape than the one people were used to see; many Gods fell trying to defeat Kzarka, and only four of them managed to survive, sealing him away with extreme fatigue. Therefore, the four Gods started to suspect that the fallen King had managed to found something he was not supposed to, something related to the battle against the God of Corruption, something that could dangerously increase his natural power while feeding on his desire of revenge.

As for you, the fallen King was probably the man you loved the most. Even if you were constantly trying to ignore the fact that the more time went by, the more he lost his self and his memories to darkness, the faint hope of managing to save both him and your cherished uncles kept burning in your heart, a faint hope that would have soon flared up.

As dejecting as it was, however, you spent years silently watching your father losing his memories the more his power increased, to the point that sometimes he couldn’t recognize you – his own daughter, as well. «I know your face…» he would mumble, lost in thoughts, as his narrowed eyes scrutinised your features; he’d mumble your name few seconds later, a kind and fond smile suddenly growing on his lips and an identical one growing on yours, accompanied by the faint trace of tears forming in your eyes and sorrow enveloping your heart in a tight hold. Although you were a child of Fire, everyone had told you that your resemblance with your mother was uncanny and therefore, sometimes, you wondered if your father had forgotten about your mother as well.

The heels of your leather boot clicked against the marble floor in a rhythmic way, as you were making your way towards a familiar figure standing against the railway of one of the Castle’s wide balconies; you  politely greeted him, and he gently tilted his head towards you in a hint of a bow.

«Uncle Seonghwa,» you gently spoke, breaking the temporary and comfortable silence, «could you tell me something about mom and dad, please?» you asked him, as the memories of your parents slowly seemed to be held hostage by a threatening fog, almost preventing you from remembering what you wanted to.

«They loved each other a lot,» Seonghwa answered with a sad smile, «your mother had always been an excellent fighter, she would be proud of you.» he added, and you nodded briefly, a small smile adorning your lips. After that, Seonghwa told you about the adventures he lived with your parents, and you closed your eyes while listening to his words, trying to imagine everything as best as you could.  

Unbeknownst to the two of you, someone else was leaning against the doorframe, hiding from your sight; his head was slightly tilted, and his gaze was unfocused, as if he was suddenly remembering everything his long-time friend was telling you.

Someone, no one but the fallen King – Kim Hongjoong.

CHAPTER I

«Wake up, sleepy head,» you acknowledged Wooyoung’s gentle voice with a groan as you shifted in bed, covering your head with the blanket, reluctant to wake up.

«Five more minutes... What time is it?» you mumbled tiredly with your eyes tightly closed, as you felt the bed dip under Wooyoung’s weight.

«It’s hard to tell,» Wooyoung replied, gently removing the blanket from your head as he glanced out of the window; it was almost impossible to keep track of time due to the fact that a thick layer of clouds was constantly preventing anyone from glancing at the sun, «according to Yeosang’s watch, it should be seven in the morning.»

«What in the world do we need to do at seven in the morning?!» you questioned him, rubbing your eyes in the vain attempt to wake up faster.  Something in the smile erupting on Wooyoung’s lips was definitely tense, but you were still too asleep to notice that something was different; Wooyoung simply answered that the two of you needed to go shopping, because according to him, you absolutely needed new clothes. 

«It’s like talking with your mom all over again,» he replied with a brief giggle as you tried to convince him that the clothes you already owned were more than enough, «hurry up, or I’ll call Jongho.» he eventually said, and as if he spoke some magic words, you immediately sat up in bed, ready to wash up and get dressed, despite your prior complains; being woken up by Jongho meant the whole mattress being flipped – with you still on it, towards the ground as soon as you said you didn’t want to wake up. Of course, Jongho would still be careful and help you up, but for you it had become an unconditional reflex: as soon as you heard either his name or his voice first thing in the morning, any trace of sleep seemed to vanish from your soul in the blink of an eye.

«Hongjoong wants you to have this,» Wooyoung added, placing a velvet box on your bedside table, before walking out of your bedroom.

Both being incredibly curious and both hoping that you father had returned to his old self, you reached out as soon as the wooden door closed behind Wooyoung’s shoulders, and getting a little more comfortable on the bed, you hesitantly opened the small box. A silver earring laid alone on top of a small cushion made of black silk, it was nothing too precious, but it still managed to make your heart swell; a small feather carved in silver hung from a small circle, and you immediately realized that it was the feather attached to the necklace that your mother used to wear everyday, as if it was her second skin. 

Although you were incredibly happy about the present, a doubt immediately formed in your heart: since your mother had passed away, Hongjoong had always worn her necklace, so, why was he suddenly gifting it to you? A whirlwind of questions started to form in your head as you washed up and got ready for your date with Wooyoung, and as you headed out of your room, the earring was safely dangling from your left ear.

-

The citadel extended around the Castle for a few miles, and it had nothing to envy to other cities, not even to the Capital. The marketplace was vast, and – although the dubious morality the people living within the kingdom’s territories had, they were always cheerful and lively. Hongjoong had managed to corrupt an almost unquantifiable number of children of Nature, but even so, not everyone following his lead was corrupted, nor could use elemental magic: those who were organizing the market – or the ones taking care of the commercial matters, were almost always their uncorrupted partners.

It was not uncommon for a husband which couldn’t use elemental magic to follow his wife just because he was worried for her, and vice versa; eventually, those people accepted their fate, and tried to understand the purpose behind Hongjoong’s wicked plans, tying to convince themselves that it was for their own good as well.

Hongjoong’s kingdom stood in a strategic position: dangerous and steep mountains stretched around the citadel to the east, south and west, while a part of dense woodland extended to the north; mighty rivers naturally moulded through the mountains and passed through part of the undisturbed woods. Therefore, not only was the kingdom almost completely impregnable, but it didn’t need any kind of external trade: Hongjoong’s kingdom was completely self-sufficient, and in continuous expansion. Over the years, even clothings had changed significantly: dark colours were the only thing people wore, and leather details or harnesses were used in the most various combinations, whether for aesthetic purposes or strategic ones – it wasn’t rare for daggers to be attached to someone’s thigh. This different and singular fashion became extremely characteristic, to the point that anyone could easily notice when inhabitants of the cursed kingdom ventured into foreign lands.

For the whole morning, Wooyoung seemed a man on a mission: not only he managed to buy a huge quantitative of clothes, but he managed to buy clothes which definitely did not seem to belong to the general aesthetic everyone used to wear. As the two of you were carefully making space in your wardrobe for the things you bought, it didn’t go unnoticed how Wooyoung almost seemed to wanting to hide them into the left corner of the wooden structure; whether you had any doubts about his behaviour, you decided to keep quiet.

Honestly, recently you had noticed a slight change in Seonghwa’s, Wooyoung’s and San’s behaviour; they’d glance worriedly ad each other every now and then, or entertain what seemed a dramatic argument just to immediately change their behaviour as soon as you approached them, clearly tying not to worry you. Although you tried to question them few times, you decided to eventually drop the subject, since it was clear that no one was going to tell you anything about what they were worried about. 

«I can’t believe I still look so good,» Wooyoung spoke all of a sudden, catching his reflection of the mirror next to the two of you; instinctively, you scoffed while hiding an amused smile.  Time passed extremely slowly, and life expectancy was extremely long, especially for children of Nature. It wasn’t rare to meet people few centuries old; unless one’s life ended by illness or battles, people aged extremely slowly. However, you had to admit that what was happening to Hongjoong and the others was definitely not normal: twenty four years had passed since the day you were born, and nothing had changed in their appearance. Eventually, you convinced yourself that it was yet another consequence of the darkness corrupting their hearts; but still, you silently questioned why it didn’t have any effect on you. 

«Stop being so surprised,» you joked, «I bet San makes sure to tell you at least twice a day.» as you sat on your bed once again, you saw a confident smile appearing on Wooyoung’s lips, who was still looking at himself in the mirror. 

«At any chance he gets, actually.» he clarified, talking about his beloved husband, and you shook your head; you had to admit, it was refreshing to see them being so in love despite everything happening around you, and once again, you couldn’t help but wonder whether they would one day forget about each other, just like what was happening to your father.

A sudden knock on the door caught your attention, and the door slightly opened only for Mingi to partially lean into the room; there had been a day where Mingi cherished for you and showered you with affection just like how Wooyoung, San and Seonghwa were still doing, but sadly, those days were long gone. Mingi had been one of the first ones to be completely corrupted by Hongjoong’s power, and therefore, his behaviour towards you was strictly formal, going from teaching you how to fight without tripping on your feet, to talking to you only if needed.

«Hongjoong summoned us for a meeting.» he simply said, before quickly closing the door, as if he had never been there in the first place.  Still, your heart started to race; you didn’t know what to expect, especially because anytime your father wanted to have a meeting, it was never because he wanted to deliver good news.

Usually, Hongjoong called a meeting just to set up an efficient organization for an upcoming war, which you desperately wanted to prevent, but you didn’t have nor the power, nor the authority to oppose his ideas. 

-

«Yeosang has incredibly good news.» Hongjoong spoke with a satisfied grin, as the nine of you were standing in front of him, who was comfortably sitting on his throne.

Compared to the extravagant and precious furnishings of the Castle, the throne room was large, and almost completely bare of furniture; above three steps was Hongjoong’s throne, made of black obsidian, and four tall, wide marble columns stood around the room. Sometimes, you had the sensation that the room almost seemed too humble to be the silent witness of such atrocious plans and confessions. However, within the throne room was the real treasure of the cursed kingdom, a treasure of immeasurable value; two precious stones of mysterious nature – probably otherworldly, were set against the wall above Hongjoong’s throne. Red as rubies, they shone with a mysterious and frightening light, a light which seemed to become increasingly brighter as Hongjoong’s power steadily grew.

«According to my researches, some people managed to summon the Gods, without being summoned by them and of course, without dying.» Yeosang spoke, and you listened to him, fearing for the worst; you were aware about the fact that beside your parents, Seonghwa and Jongho had met their godly parent as well, but, listening to Yeosang’s words, between summoning a God out of your own will and meeting one because they decided to give you a second chance at life, there was a huge and extremely dangerous difference. 

Hongjoong’s plan could be easily guessed: summon the Gods one by one, challenge them and defeat them, whatever it took. The possibility of losing not only your parents but the others as well was starting to make you feel like you were suffocating.

«However, there seem to be no traces of the summoning rituals,» Yeosang added, and you felt like breathing again, «so I’m trying to track those people down: some of them must be still alive.» 

«Isn’t it dangerous?» you quietly asked, before feeling both Seonghwa’s and San’s elbows nudging against yours, in a rushed silent warning to not speak any further. Hongjoong tilted his head towards you in a polite yet tense smile, and your gaze naturally locked on the floor. 

«Princess, my beloved daughter,» he addressed you with a tense voice, «I think you should be happy, for we are one step closer to get our seeked revenge.» he added, and you were completely aware about the fact that you were testing your luck, but you couldn’t follow the silent hint of keeping your mouth shut; after all, children of Fire were known for acting on their instinct, for better or for worse. 

«You want to summon a God just to defeat them, but what if you end up being defeated?» “what if I lose you as well?” you mentally added, but your torn emotions reached blind ears; a thin layer of black smoke seemed to generate from the crimson stones behind him, before materializing around Hongjoong’s right hand, and you realized that he interpreted your words as a tentative of opposing his authority.

However, before Hongjoong’s rational part could even realize the fact that darkness had completely clouded his soul and he was about to attack you with his magic, a thick layer of black and moving sand materialized in front of you, momentarily startling you.

«Hongjoong, calm down.» Jongho quietly spoke, his right hand barely lifted in the air to keep his spell alive, and Hongjoong’s unforgiving eyes locked with his friend’s neutral gaze. 

«Go.» Seonghwa told you barely above a whisper, and you took the chance to excuse yourself and head out of the throne room.  

Accompanied by the darkness of the night, Seonghwa and Wooyoung bursted completely unannounced into your room; the faint lights of the candles in your room immediately underlined the tense frown on their delicate features as Wooyoung carried an empty leather bag along with him, immediately heading towards your closet.

«Come on, Princess, it’s time to pack.» Seonghwa urged, as his friend was carefully placing few change of clothes in the bag he had placed on a nearby chair, doing his best in trying to act calm and composed although everything in his body screamed that he was in a hurry. 

«What? What happened?»  you asked them, dumbfounded, as you immediately walked behind the fancy separé few steps from your bed, in order to dress as fast as you could.

Neither Seonghwa nor Wooyoung answered your question, and you grew increasingly worried: were you in danger? Did a war break out without notice? Were there some intruders in the castle? You fastened a dagger against your thigh, before walking towards Wooyoung, which was done packing. 

«Hongjoong won’t get any better, little one,» Wooyoung explained, running a hand through his black hair out of frustration, «and neither will we.» you couldn’t do anything but look at him with your eyes as wide as the moon, and he gently squeezed your shoulder with an apologetic smile. 

«You do realize that he attacked you because of those stones, right?» Wooyoung questioned, and you nodded without hesitation; of course you had noticed that they were the source of his corruption, after all, he hasn’t been the same since he had found the first one when -

«San is waiting for you, he’ll lead you through the forest.» Seonghwa added, interrupting your thoughts; they both hugged you as tightly as they could, gently kissing your hairline before letting you go. Your emotions were a confused whirlwind of feelings, and you couldn’t pinpoint which one was prevailing; what were you going to do? Why were they sending you away? Would you see them again?

Seonghwa walked back into your bedroom few moments after you were gone, just to find Wooyoung sitting on your bed, his hands on his lap and his gaze locked on them as if they were the most interesting sight in the world.

«I think she has all the rights to know the truth.» Seonghwa mumbled, and Wooyoung simply hummed. «She will,» Wooyoung eventually answered, although his voice was uncertain, «we will find a way to tell her, I promise.» Seonghwa sighed, his footstep leading him to sit next to his long-time friend, «Do you think Changbin will help her?» «Technically, he owes us his life,» Wooyoung immediately answered, hinting to what happened many years earlier at the Serendia Shrine, «but we’re his enemies, now, so…» he drifted off, his words dying on the tip of his tongue, before turning his head towards Seonghwa and completely changing the topic, «How’s it going for you?»

Seonghwa answered with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, while lifting his left hand in mid air and generating a small sphere of water, gesture which made Wooyoung immediately sigh in deject; Seonghwa’s eyes – once turning a bright shade of blue anytime he used magic, were now a threatening shade of black, and the water generating in his hand was as dark as the deepest point of the sea. Seonghwa was about to lose himself to darkness, Wooyoung realized, and without you constantly being around them, it would have probably happened for both him and San as well, sooner than they had originally planned.

San has been guiding you through the forest, paying meticulous attention not to leave any kind of trace behind the two of you; he knew that him, Wooyoung and Seonghwa couldn’t hide the fact that you had escaped for long, but he was determined to buy you as more time as he could. Sometimes, he had to admit that the fact he had been working as an assassin for years definitely came in hand: thanks to his lead, the both of you moved as silent shadows, favored by the natural hiding place provided by the trees.

«This is as far as I can go,» San gently spoke as he spotted your horse behind an oak tree – of course, sent there as a farewell present from Jongho, «Go to Heidel, look for Changbin.» 

«Why are you sending me away, did I do something wrong?» you asked, tears suddenly forming in your eyes and panic tightly gripping your heart as you realized that you were about to leave for real; San’s eyes softened, and he immediately reached out to wrap his arms around you in a comforting hug. 

«Of course you didn’t, you could never.» he honestly answered, and you felt your throat burn with the desire to stop yourself from trying not to cry. 

«What do I do now?» you questioned, with a shaky voice, «I’ve always been with you.» you added, gripping on his cape.

«Keeping yourself out of trouble could be an excellent start, Princess.» even though you could hear a smile in San’s voice, you understood he was reluctant to let you go by the firm hold he still had on you. Truth be told, deep in your heart, you already knew the reason why they were doing this, but you didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that you were about to lose to darkness the people you loved the most. 

Eventually, you reluctantly detached yourself from San’s comforting embrace, and he helped you fix your small luggage on your horse, before helping you up on the saddle as well.

«Will I see you again?» sniffling quietly, you questioned him almost timidly, looking at him as you were tightly holding the reigns with shaky hands.

San gave you a small smile, before placing his right hand on his heart, and faintly reach out towards you, in a gesture Hongjoong and the others were used to do whether someone among them were to leave for a journey. 

“My heart will be with you, wherever you go.” it meant. 

«You will,» San gave you a reassuring smile and you nodded briefly, urging your horse to move forward; he narrowed his eyes, and refused to move until he couldn’t see your shape completely engrossed by the darkness of the night, «will you?» he whispered his question in the void of the night, before making his way back towards the Castle.

The sensation of sunlight on your skin was something you haven’t been feeling in years, and the fact that you couldn’t share this experience with the people you loved was extremely dejecting.

Traveling on your own not only was exhausting, but it was definitely not a pleasant experience; first of all, you had no one to talk to – beside your horse but sadly she couldn’t answer to your rambling, and most importantly, you had to constantly force yourself not to fall asleep anytime you stopped for the night. It definitely wasn’t rare for you to tie the reigns of your horse to a tree and then climb on one of its largest branches just to take a quick nap, and anytime you woke up you were a little more stressed than you were before falling asleep. Accordingly to the map that Wooyoung sneaked in your bag when he was packing your luggage – along to a huge quantity of gold, Heidel was still very far away from were you were; the city was at least two weeks of constant travel from the Cursed Kingdom, and you were determined to reach Changbin’s house as soon as you could, but you couldn’t mistreat your horse.

One week had passed, and you wondered if Hongjoong found out that you had ran away, and how he consequentially reacted; chewing on a small ratio of bread, you scoffed at the naivety of your own thoughts. “He probably forgot about me,” you thought instinctively, your fingertips blindly reaching for your earring while gently moving and twisting the silver feather attached to the small loop; “I wonder if there’s a way to destroy those stones.” you sighed, your thoughts running wild as you were enjoying your lunch while sitting next to a small river.

The fact that you were tired led you to naturally commit a huge mistake; being lost in your thoughts with your shoulders facing the woods meant that you definitely didn’t realize someone sneaking up on you, until a short blade was pressed against your throat.

«I wonder what someone from the cursed kingdom is doing around here.» a boy spat with a harsh tone; judging by his voice, he seemed to be around your age, and a thick accent was accentuating any word he spoke.

Carefully balancing what was remaining of your small loaf of bread between your teeth, you immediately reached out to wrap your hand around the stranger’s bare forearm: your eyes became bright red as you used your powers, burning his skin so that he was forced to either move away or give up his hold on the dagger. However, the stranger proven out to be a little more reckless than you originally planned, because he did let you go, but with a quick movement of his other hand, he had vigorously pushed against your shoulder, consequentially making your back unceremoniously hit the soft grass.

«Were you raised by barbarians?!» you instinctively spat, annoyed with the fact that in the process, the loaf of bread you were eating was now on the floor, «I was eating, you idiot.»

Slightly surprised with the fact that you seemed to be more angry with him interrupting your lunch rather than him threatening to kill you, the stranger momentarily loosened his grip on you, and you took advantage of that faint second in order to quickly counterattack. Long years spent being trained by Hongjoong and the others meant that you were a skilled fighter, even thought no one of them had ever let you go to war. With a quick movement, you managed to roll the two over, so that now you were sitting on his abdomen and tightly holding his wrist, preventing him from using his dagger again.

Something in the stranger’s appearance, however, made you momentarily froze in your place. There was nothing particularly outstanding in his clothes, beside the fact that he seemed to wear a cloak made of fur – which was neatly attached to the fabric on his left shoulder; the boy was undoubtedly handsome, his hair was short and black, and his features were as nice as if they had been sculpted in marble.

However, as if a spell had been casted on you, you couldn’t drift your gaze from his: not only he had huge scar on his left eye – reaching from mid forehead to the middle of his cheek, but his eyes were mismatched. Instinctively, you swallowed nervously: not only his eyes were the obvious proof that the boy had died and been sent back by his godly parent, but, judging by the bright blue color of his left eye, he was a child of Water.

«I can’t believe my fucking luck.» you muttered to yourself, before tightening your grip on the stranger’s wrists before abruptly letting them go; as quickly as you could, you dashed towards your horse, hastily climbing on the saddle.  

As for the stranger, you had used once again an old trick that Hongjoong had taught you when you were still young: a thick rope made of fire burned bright around his wrists, and as soon as you saw him effortlessly neutralize your spell summoning water, you realized you had to flee.  Fighting with a son of Water meant that you were in obvious disadvantage, especially if fighting near a source of water, but it didn’t mean you could outsmart him, after all, you took alchemy lessons from Yeosang, whose talent was well known and envied in the most important cities; before leaving, you casted a spell on the helm of his dagger, before throwing it towards him, making it purposely land between the two of you. 

As you noticed that his blue eye seemed to shine brighter, you realized that he was silently summoning a spell, and therefore you took advantage of the now enchanted dagger; you threw a small sphere made of fire towards it, and as the ground began to burn, you realized that the steel had completely melted. From there, you could control the direction of the fire as you pleased, and a line of flames was burning in front of the stranger, separating the two of you and allowing you to escape.

-

It was a windy evening when you arrived in Heidel, and although someone glanced at you in a suspicious manner, no one actually had tried to stop you to know your whereabouts; you were walking through the city while gently tugging on the reigns, as your horse followed obediently behind you.   Changbin’s and Lea’s house was in the west side of the city, and since you’ve spent a lot of time with them when you were younger, you recognized it immediately; the more steps you took towards it, the more anxious you felt.  What if they didn’t want to see you?  “There’s only a way to find out.” you took a big breath, before knocking once, twice, three times on the wooden front door.

«I don’t know, I wasn’t expecting anymore people!» you heard Changbin’s muffled voice getting closer, before the door opened just to reveal a very confused Changbin; as if he was struck by lightning, a smile erupted on his lips as recognition danced on his features and mumbled your name, and you nodded with a shy smile.  Changbin invited you in, but before closing the front door behind the two of you, he carefully glanced around the streets, just to be sure that no one had followed you.

«Lix, could you get her horse to my stable?» Changbin gently asked to a boy which had walked out of the kitchen as the two of you were approaching, but you didn’t pay much attention to him, since you were too focused on trying to recognize the voice coming from the room Changbin was leading you to.

«I swear, Lea,» the male voice spoke with a thick accent, «she fled, just like that!» you instinctively furrowed your eyebrows, because the voice definitely sounded familiar, and you hoped for your instinct to be proven wrong.  As you stepped into Changbin’s cozy kitchen, Lea immediately let go of the fabric rag she was using to clean the wooden counter of the kitchen, just to come and greet you with a warm hug, but your eyes widened as soon as your gaze met the boy comfortably sitting on a wooden chair, with his arm placed on the table. «Hello, fireball,» the boy spoke with a smug smile, the light of the fireplace dancing in his bright blue eye, «what a coincidence, I was talking about you, just now.»

«I can’t believe my fucking luck.» you muttered to yourself, letting go of the leather handles of your bag, letting it falling on the floor, as you returned Lea’s warm embrace.

CHAPTER II

«I have never done such things!» you hastily denied, covering your mouth with the back of your hand, ignoring every single rule of etiquette which imposed you not to speak with your mouth full of food; your gaze briefly met Chris’ – the child of Water you had recently met, and it didn’t take a particular wild guess to acknowledge the fact he was listening to everything Lea was saying just to have many more things to tease you with. Lea, however, was looking at you with a beaming and fond smile, recognizing the fact that you did remember, and proceeded with talking about every interesting anecdotes about your childhood she could remember.

«One time, Changbin let her hit him with one of the fake swords they used, and actually pretended to be hurt and well, she started crying! Ah, she was so cute back then.» «Am I not anymore?» you immediately questioned arching your bow, and Lea immediately shook her head. «Of course you are, you look exactly like your mother – speaking of which, have you already been to Velia?»   Although Lea’s question was harmless, for some reason, it was enough for the appetite you had felt to completely vanish; you shook your head, simply answering that you were going to, within the following days.

«Velia? The port city?» Chris curiously questioned, and you wordlessly nodded; acknowledging your silence, Changbin briefly explained that Velia is where you used to live as a child, before eventually, your mother died and Hongjoong and the others left, taking you with them.

«Well, I didn’t know this part of the story.» Chris mumbled to himself, and the boy sitting next to him – Felix, sighed heavily. «There would be an infinite things you’d know if you weren’t so quick on jumping to conclusion.» Felix spoke, and Chris simply shrugged, agreeing with him.

From what you learnt in the two weeks you had spent at Changbin’s and Lea’s house, both Chris and Felix came from Ilya Island, which was few days away from Velia. Apparently, they had come both to visit Changbin – an old time friend, and both to assure the Capital that the Island would have helped in case the Cursed Kingdom decided to declare war. Moreover, if you weren’t surprised about Felix being the Prince of Ilya Island – not only everything in his behaviour seemed to scream “royalty” but also the golden and thin tiara he  always wore actually resembled some sort of crown, you were definitely surprised to learn that Chris was not only the head of their Kingdom’s whole army, but also Felix’s most trusted counsellor. How did a boy so annoying and reckless manage to get such an important title, was a mystery to you.

«Oi, fireball, I was meaning to ask-» «Don’t call me that,» you immediately cut Chris’ sentence, definitely not liking how his full and plump lips framed a perfect smile. «Okay, sweetheart,» he corrected himself, pronouncing the new nickname almost in a rivalry tone, «how did you control two elements at once?»

It took you few seconds to remember what he was actually talking about, but in the moment you did, your face seemed to brighten up with pride; you placed the small chalice you were drinking from back on the table, before lifting your right hand in mid-air, slightly moving it around.

«I actually can’t, I am a child of Fire,» you clarified, «Yeosang came up with this. There are few alchemy symbols embroided inside it, which allow us to use alchemy however and whenever we want, without the processing part.» you explained, as the others’ gaze was fixed on the fingerless glove hugging your hand as if it was a second skin. Although the fabric looked like leather, the consistency was far from it; unlike leather, the fabric was more elastic, flexible and waterproof, and – most importantly, it did not hinder any movement of your hand. «What symbols?» Felix asked with fake nonchalance, and you instinctively scoffed. “As if I would tell you,” you thought. «As if I knew,» you answered instead, «Yeosang came up with them.» «He created them?» Chris questioned; everyone was aware about Yeosang’s brilliance when it came to alchemy, but said stories always came from people which had been defeated by one of his inventions, reason why hearing what he was capable of from one of his friends and not one of his foes was actually even more fascinating. «He also managed to hid them, so that if we ever get defeated, no one would find out.» you added, lying about not knowing which symbols he had used.

Ever since Yeosang had successfully refined the new weapon, he had insisted for you and the others to carefully learn which symbols he had meticulously created. «So you won’t come running to me if you need a new one.» Yeosang had simply explained back then, although he was pretty clear that the fingerless gloves he had created were a very precious gift meant only for the nine of you.

«That doesn’t surprise me.» Changbin chimed in, before he eventually start rambling random praises about how Yeosang, Yunho and Mingi managed to help him building his house basically almost using alchemy alone, and it was a shame that they ended up becoming a public enemy. However, that was where you stopped listening.

Although you had spent two weeks showered with actual affection and not feeling like an outcast that had run away from the Cursed Kingdom, you started to miss home; what started as an almost imperceptible sensation, like a gentle movement of a butterfly’s wings, suddenly evolved into a pang in your heart. Were you allowed to spend your days like this? After all, you had witnessed first-hand the people you loved losing themselves to darkness; how long that vain and fragile lie would last, you wondered, realizing that you have been hiding yourself behind a small lie shaped into a thin curtain separating you from what you knew you were supposed to do? When the moon was shining high and lonely in the sky, you had the sensation of your thoughts gradually being cleared; you wanted – you needed, to find a way to help Hongjoong and the others, but how?

For sure, you couldn’t ask Changbin’s help and risking to put him in such an unquantifiable danger; it was as if it was you, and the whole world standing mysteriously against you – who was, moreover, running out of time.

The following morning, you barely finished breakfast before announcing you were going to visit your mother’s tombstone.

«Don’t talk to strangers,» Lea spoke, closing your cape a little tighter around your frame «your clothes still stand out so much…» she faintly mumbled, and you smiled sadly at her; even though you knew that keeping the clothes you and Wooyoung bought in the Cursed Kingdom were still too characteristic and unique, you didn’t want to give up on your identity, yet.   «I will be home before dinner.» you answered, before climbing on your horse and urging her to move on the path to Velia, which luckily, wasn’t too far from Heidel; as you shielded your eyes from the rising sun, you smiled to yourself, remembering Chris’ utterly offended expression seeing you waving goodbye to everyone except him.

Unbeknownst to you, Felix and Chris were the only one who remained on the porch, watching as your retreating figure seemed to vanish into the sun; Lea and Changbin had quickly went back to their busy daily routine.

«Please, don’t,» Felix sighed, almost as if he could hear the train of thoughts of his long-time friend, «we’re supposed to go to the Capital and sign some boring alliance documents today.» Chris nodded wordlessly, but Felix realized he was definitely not listening to a word he had said. «Let’s keep an eye on her first.» Chris spoke few seconds later, before storming back inside the house and lively calling for Lea, asking if she had some tasks for them at Velia. «Take a deep breath, Lix,» the Prince said to himself, «and try not to whoop his ass with some nettle branches.»

Everything seemed so incredibly wrong and disconnected at the Harpies’ Ridge, Karanda noticed. Although the harpies had been restlessly working in order to rebuild everything Hongjoong had destroyed years earlier, it was as if her Kingdom was just not the same. Harpies were now almost reluctant and afraid to be reborn into a human form, since they didn’t want to risk being corrupted and absorbed into the Cursed Kingdom, joining Hongjoong’s army just like any other pawn. This had been the main reason why, during the last ten years, only two children of Air were born into the human world, harpies that had willingly reincarnated themselves in the vain hope to be helpful to Karanda in some sort of way. Even so, Karanda still decided to delete their memories from their past life, wanting them to enjoy the brevity and fleeting emotions of their human existence.

Karanda suddenly shrieked, and the sky seemed to tremble adjusting to her restless soul; few seconds later, answering to her call, a harpy graciously landed in front of her throne, immediately kneeling in a sign of utter respect towards her Queen.

«We have been fighting together for a long time, my friend,» she spoke, as a gracious smile erupted on her otherworldly features, «however, I’m afraid I have to ask you for a favour that only you can do.» furrowing her delicate brows, the harpy dared to look at her Queen, asking her to explain herself.

«As you know, everything that happens within the Cursed Kingdom’s territories is beyond my sight; however, I can see Hongjoong’s daughter now, meaning that she isn’t roaming the cursed lands, anymore. My foresight is not absolute, but I can see that she will soon start walking towards her fate, and I need you to keep an eye on her.» «You want me to… spy on her?» the harpy questioned with a doubtful shriek, and Karanda briefly nodded. «I want you to earn her trust, find any sort of useful information you can find, and protect her – as much as you can.» Karanda added; as the harpy was about to question her what was supposed to be difficult in this task, the Goddess spoke again, letting the question dying in her throat, «I want you to descend into the human world as a boy.»  

Karanda saw the harpy’s shoulders fell, before she eventually sat on the ground in deject; «Why can’t I do it while being a girl? Don’t we hate men? Am I supposed to hate myself all the time, Karanda?» the harpy rambled with the intimacy that only a friend could muster.

Karanda patiently listened to her, smiling at some of her weird questions, and the harpy momentarily smiled; although she had been serving Karanda since centuries – purposely choosing to never reincarnate into her human form, she had never seen the Queen look so tense over something related to the human world, that’s why even a small smile made her feel slightly better.

«Do I have to pee like a boy as well?» she whispered yet another question, her eyes as wide as the moon as her clawed fingers hovered above her lips, and Karanda nodded. «You will only keep your memories.» the Queen spoke, avoiding her question. «I will only keep my memories…» the harpy echoed, before falling silent for few minutes; «Fine, but I’ll better be handsome.»

Karanda thanked her, before she effortlessly tore a feather from her forearm, blowing a small whiff of air into the palm of her hand; the feather seemed to dance in the wind as it surpassed the Queen’s clawed fingers, and as soon as it touched the harpy’s forehead, a white and almost blinding light enveloped her completely. It lasted as a quick blink of an eye, and standing in front of Karanda, now was a young boy with perfect features. He was tall, he had long and slim legs and his arms looked strong; his hair was as black as coal and it reached his shoulders, and his eyes were both as black as a starless night.

«Hyunjin,» Karanda spoke, «this will be your name for your human life.» «Am I handsome?» Hyunjin spoke immediately, instinctively touching his face, pleased to feel that his nose seemed to be just the perfect size. «You are.» Karanda answered, amused. «Better than Garmoth?» Hyunjin suddenly teased, enjoying how the Queen suddenly seemed to be taken back by the sudden question, «Ah, I guess not.» Hyunjin added with a pout, not giving Karanda enough time to answer him, for he said goodbye and started walking away. After all, he was a man on a mission, now; he had to find Hongjoong’s daughter and do who knows what, right?  

«Hyunjin, one more thing,» Karanda spoke, and the boy stopped, tilting his head to the side, signalling he was listening, «don’t meddle yourself with human affairs too much, for you are not one of them.» with a court nod, Hyunjin started walking again, waving goodbye without turning back.

In complete truth, you suspected you would have never made it home before dinner, since the Sun signalled it was way past mid-day and you still had to made it to Velia; as much as you hated to break a promise, you had to admit that you wouldn’t have been late if only you weren’t being followed. What was only a brief suspicion probably dictated by paranoia had met a sad confirmation few hours after you decided to carefully hide your horse – taking your weapons with you and leave the small bag attached to her side empty, before climbing on a nearby oak tree. Safely hidden by its branches, you safened the two daggers you used to fight to the harnesses on your thighs, and waited.

Now, you knew you probably looked dumb for spending hours crouched on a branch, but San had always taught you to follow your survival instinct, and you had always believed that there was a reason if that was the first thing he – a former assassin, had decided to teach you. However, the more time passed, the more you deduced you really were a fool, and no one was following you; you were about to climb down from your hiding place, when a voice made you freeze in your place.

«Have you ever thought about it? The King’s daughter is basically all alone, now.» immediately, you glanced below the branch you were standing on, faintly noticing two people stopping right underneath it. «Poor thing, I guess she must be scared now.» the other man retorted, and a relieved smile erupted on your lips, since you could recognize those uniforms anywhere and everywhere; but what were soldiers from the Cursed Kingdom doing in the outskirt of a small port town?

Completely aware about the fact that no one was allowed to roam outside of the Kingdom’s territories without Hongjoong’s order, you decided not to trust the initial instinct, which had suggested you to ask them for any kind of help. For all you knew, they could be the ones following you. Not really wanting them to see you since they had stopped under the tree in order to shield themselves from the Sun, you climbed a little higher, carefully analysing the situation: there were only two of them, and from what you could see, they didn’t seem to be heavily armed. If you were lucky enough, you could use surprise effect to kill one of them, and then directly fight the other.

Tightly gripping the helm of your dagger in your left hand, you adjusted your position on the branch, ready to jump and land on one of the soldier’s shoulders, when you felt yourself being snatched back; as a hand on your mouth prevented you from screaming, your shoulders landed against someone’s firm chest, and soft fur gently tickled your left cheek.

«It’s okay, it’s me and Lix.» Chris’ voice mumbled against your ear, and you nodded, silently implying that you weren’t going to scream, and that he could let go; however, he only moved the hand from your mouth in order to place it on your waist.

As you were about to move it away, Chris quickly manoeuvred the two of you so that he was crouching down with his back against the oak tree, and you were safely nestled in his hold. “Safely”, you thought, “what in the world am I even thinking?” As you quickly fastened your dagger against your thigh once again, you noticed a large amount of branches suddenly silently grow out of nowhere, further hiding your presence whether the soldiers decided to look up; instinctively, you glanced at Felix, which simply gave you a small and gentle smile. Felix stood on the branch right next to yours, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his left shoulder leaning against the tree; for the whole time the branches were growing, his eyes had turned a bright shade of green, meaning that he was a child of Earth. For some reason, it didn’t surprise you.

«We found her horse! She must not be far from here!» someone said, and suddenly, your attention was once again completely focused on the soldiers beneath you; judging by the voices, there were at least five more of them. Chris and Felix shared a brief and worried glance behind your shoulders, but your attention didn’t waver from what was happening right below you. «There’s an excellent bounty on her head, now that Hongjoong has banished the Princess.» you heard one of them add, and instinctively you started to tremble.

Not only Hongjoong had made it clear that he had forgotten about you, he also made it clear that he didn’t want you back – at least not alive; you were considered just as any other traitor. Instinctively, you covered your mouth with the back of your hand, praying to yourself not to start to cry now, since it would have been highly unfortunate; feeling your distress, Chris’ arms held your waist a little gentler, placing his chin on your left shoulder.

«We’ll make it home.» he whispered, and you had to take a deep breath in order not to let out a broken sob.

“Home”, Chris said; too bad, you didn’t have one, not anymore.

-

«Need a ride?» Chris questioned you, comfortably sitting on the saddle of his horse, Felix silently riding next to him. Even though the soldiers had left few minutes later unknowingly announcing you that you were banished, the three of you had waited few more hours before eventually, climbing down the oak tree and walking to where Felix had carefully hid his and Chris’ horses with a simple spell. Dinner time was long gone, for the moon was now shining in the sky, and you wondered how Changbin and Lea must have been worrying for the three of you. «No, I’m fine.» you answered, walking as fast as you could just to keep up with the horse’s slow pace.

Although you heard Chris scoffing as a silent answer, you didn’t expect him to act up; it only took few seconds to him to lean down, quickly placing his hands under your armpits and hoist you up on the saddle of his horse, making you sitting sideways in front of him. «Really, Chris?» you questioned, immediately trying to climb back down but noticing that his arms didn’t waver the slightest. «We’ll be home sooner like this.» Felix chimed in, and you silently wondered why you didn’t find his accent annoying – which was your main though anytime Chris was opening his mouth. «Why couldn’t I ride with you?» you questioned him, and Felix shrugged, simply answering that Chris and his horse were closer to you than he was.

Of course, Changbin and Lea were worried; they were waiting right outside the front door, hoping that nothing had happened; they immediately guided the three of you to the kitchen, giving you at least something to eat, despite it was already late at night. Changbin studied your features with alarmed eyes as soon as you referred them that you were banished from your Kingdom, and the more you spoke, the more you realized that staying there meant putting everyone else in danger.

«We received this, this afternoon,» Changbin spoke once you had finished speaking; he placed a paper envelope on the table, and you immediately glanced at the familiar sealing wax stamp, «it was both cute and creepy, you know? A crow bursted into my office through the window, leaving the envelope on my desk, and flying away without sparing me a glance.» he added, and you immediately reached out, effortlessly breaking the wax and opening the letter.

“The Gobbling’s Tavern, Wednesday, at midnight. Ask for an umbrella. W.”

Although you would have been able to recognize that handwriting among a thousand, it was the request you should have made that remove all the trace of doubts; Wooyoung had the habit of combining his and San’s name together, saying that the result meant “umbrella”. Therefore, you were certain about the fact that he sent you the letter but, why did he suddenly want to see you?

«It’s tomorrow.» you spoke, deadpanned. «I hope you’re not thinking of going, young lady.» Lea spoke sternly, crossing her arms in front of her chest; even though you explained her that the letter was sent from Wooyoung, her opinion didn’t waver, but neither did yours.

Apparently, Changbin had managed to persuade his wife with the promise that he would have gone with you and of course, Chris and Felix weren’t going to stay home and wait. «Are you sure this is the best thing to do?» Lea questioned Changbin the following afternoon, and he gently kissed her forehead, before climbing on his horse. «We’re four children of Nature, Lea. I’m sure we’ll manage.» he had said, before heading towards Velia followed by you, Chris and Felix; since Changbin didn’t have another horse, you were riding behind Felix, carefully gripping on his slim waist and trying not to fall.

Just as planned, you arrived to Velia just in time; however, as soon as you saw the low cobbled city’s walls, you tensed up. «Relax,» Felix gently spoke, noticing how the grip around his waist had slightly tightened, «if things get bad, we’ll sacrifice Chris and run away.» you sighed a breathless laugh, appreciating how the boy was trying to console you although no one knew what exactly was waiting for you. «What? C’mon mate, why me?» Chris questioned, looking utterly offended. «I wonder what’s gonna happen if you die twice,» Felix murmured, ignoring his friend’s question, «you’d probably get some common sense from Vell.» he added, referring to the God of Water.   «I’m gonna kick you down your horse, Lix.» Chris’ threatened; however, his voice was filled with fondness towards the other boy. It was something you had easily noticed during the time you spent together: Chris and Felix teased each other on a daily basis, but if you were to question the nature of their bond, they’d simply answer that they were like siblings. «If you kick her down as well, you will be meeting Vell sooner than expected.» Changbin added, and for few seconds, the anxiety you were feeling seemed to alleviate just a little.

Next to the port and with an excellent view of the open sea, the Gobbler’s Tavern definitely had a bad reputation; frequented by all kinds of sailors, mercenaries and prostitutes, you spent your short journey wondering why Wooyoung had chosen that place. The first thing you noticed was the predominantly dark environment, some lanterns hanging on the wall dimly lit people’s faces, making them partially unrecognizable thanks to that play of lights. The second thing you noticed was a boy; as he sat on the counter, his features were clearly recognizable, a stark difference from the rest of those in the room. He held a small lyre balanced on one thigh, and as he played it, his voice sang a sweet melody in an unknown language.

Chris’ elbow roughly nudged against yours, and that was your clue to know that probably, you were staring a bit too much; your gaze briefly met his, and he nodded towards a waiter, who was cleaning one of the tables near the counter. “What if it’s a trap?” you suddenly thought as your heart was hammering in your chest in an uneven pace; however, you slowly approached him, knowing that the others were right behind you, even if you didn’t turn around to verify it. «I… I need an umbrella.» you quietly spoke as soon as the man straightened up and asked whether he could help you. Although you felt ridiculous to actually voice that bizarre request, the waiter’s expression immediately changed; he studied your features, as if he was trying to compare you to some description, before his eyes quickly darted behind your shoulders. «Are those men with you?» was his only question; in the moment you nodded, he made a small motion with his head, silently signalling you to follow him. He quickly led you through the back doors, towards one of the room that could eventually be rented for the night; the man stopped in front of a wooden door, knocking once, waiting few seconds and then knocking three times a little quicker. In the moment you heard the door being unlocked, the waiter nodded a silent goodbye at your group, and silently made his way towards the front of the Tavern.

If you had to be honest, what you expected to see inside the room were both Wooyoung and San waiting for you, and probably give you few advices on what to do next. What you did not expect to see was Wooyoung leaning against the wall with a restless expression, his gaze lost in the fireplace burning in front of him. «Wooyoung?» you asked, somehow afraid to interrupt his thoughts; however, as soon as Wooyoung’s eyes met yours, a gentle smile bloomed on his features, and you quickly step forward towards him – ignoring Changbin’s advice to pay attention, in order to throw yourself into Wooyoung’s arms. Wooyoung held you close, as if to verify that you were still alive, that nothing had happened to you, and you hugged him just as tight. «I’m really happy you came.» Wooyoung told you, thanking Changbin for taking care of you and greeting both Chris and Felix.

It took at least half an hour for Changbin, Felix and Chris to partially let their guard down enough to take a seat in the small and cosy room, and it was all thanks to how Wooyoung was behaving towards you.

Although everyone had heard the most various tales about the Seven Generals from the Underworld, in that moment, Wooyoung did not fit any of those descriptions. Instead of a ruthless and cruel man which never hesitated to take a life under his King’s command, stood a boy which was gently smiling at you, analysing your features and questioning how could you have scratched your cheek like that, before questioning Changbin “how can she already be hurt when she has been away for barely three weeks”; the child of Water, eventually, realized that the Wooyoung standing in front of him was just the same he had met years ago and therefore, he decided to trust him. As for Chris and Felix, they were both incredibly wary and both incredibly curious about Wooyoung’s presence; although people from Ilya Island had fought many wars, no one of them had ever engaged a single battle with the Cursed Kingdom and therefore, once again, the opportunity to know the enemy is not something they were willing to pass up.

Over the years, you learned to recognize the most various changes in your uncles behaviour, and you realized that Wooyoung was definitely not doing fine; there were dark circles around his eyes, and – despite his beauty remained untouched, he definitely seemed to have lost weight. It didn’t take a particular wild guess for you to understand that something must have happened to San, and you decided to stop ignoring the elephant in the room; as much as you were enjoying your unexpected rendez-vous, you knew that there was a reason for that meeting.

«How is San?» you quietly asked, and Wooyoung’s smile disappeared in less than a second; he tightly closed his eyes, before taking a deep breath. «He… forgot,» Wooyoung spoke, and your shoulders slouched in deject, «there’s only me left, now.» he added, and you reached out, tightly holding his hand in your trembling ones. The fact that San and Wooyoung had been in love every single day was well engraved in your memories, and you couldn’t bring yourself to even imagine how Wooyoung could feel, to look at your own husband and knowing that he didn’t remember who you are. Of course, you had felt somehow the same thing since Hongjoong started to forget about you, but as similar as the situation seemed, it couldn’t be any more different. «Why did you want to meet her?» Changbin questioned, «Don’t you know that Hongjoong had banished her? There’s a bounty on her head, Wooyoung.» «Hongjoong can no longer recognize a friend from a foe,» Wooyoung immediately retorted, meeting Changbin’s sharp glare with an equal strong gaze, «not even his own kin.» he added, and as he glanced at you, his tone momentarily softened.

Unbeknownst to your small group, another secret yet important meeting was taking place within the tavern’s bedrooms.

A woman with otherworldly features slowly made her way through the corridors, and even though there were no windows and the doors were tightly closed, her clothes seemed to move thanks to a gentle breeze; her hair was as white as snow, neatly braided into a complicated hairstyle, while her skin was as white as porcelain. Her steps carried her towards a room not much distant than the one you and Wooyoung were in, and her left securely hovered above the handle before stepping inside.

«We’re the rulers of the sky,» she said, closing the wooden door behind her shoulders with another flick of her hand, her voice greeting a man which was patiently waiting for her, «and yet, you ask me to meet you in a tavern?»

The man chuckled, slightly turning around, «You can’t say you didn’t miss it, Karanda.»

«For sure, I did not, Garmoth.» she immediately retorted; her dislike towards human was well known to the dragon, which on the other hand, seemed  to be  fascinated by them since humans started to roam around the world.

Garmoth simply chuckled at her words, and Karanda sighed briefly, noticing that once again, nothing had changed on his distant lover’s features; he was tall, and his honey coloured skin empathized the bright red colour of his eyes. His hair was slightly longer, she noticed, untameable dark red strands of hair now reached past his collarbones, and for a moment, she wondered if he liked to braid his hair as he used to, long time ago.

«We’re here because your son couldn’t keep calm.» she spoke, walking towards the balcony and standing next to him, keeping a reasonable distance. «We’re here because your daughter couldn’t stay alive; moreover, you could simply have told Hongjoong the truth.» Garmoth shrugged, and Karanda immediately scoffed, annoyed.

«It’s impossible to be reasonable with a son of Fire.» she immediately spat, hiding her feelings behind a wall of resentment.

«You never had any problems before.» Garmoth turned around, his back pressed against the railing; he tilted his head towards Karanda, but as expected, she dodged the topic, instead voicing her doubt about the God of Corruption being woken up.

«We sealed him away long time ago,» Garmoth shook his head, «but I do believe Hongjoong had found some crumbles of Kzarka’s aura.»

Even though the words Wooyoung were speaking were being pronounced nowhere near the balcony, the words you shared were carried by a gentle breeze towards the room Karanda and Garmoth were patiently staying in, so that they could hear everything as if they were right beside you.

Wooyoung had never stopped talking since he had admitted he wanted to meet you because he owed you an explanation; according to his words, him, San and Seonghwa were firmly convinced that there was something you needed to know, something which maybe, would have made you hate your father a little less.

«I don’t hate him – » you tried to say, but Wooyoung simply shook his head, ignoring you. Apparently, Hongjoong was aware that there was something wrong with your mother’s illness, and it all started since some people from your hometown had found a strange glowing stone, and decided to entrust it to your parents – having both of them met a God once.

«Hongjoong knew he was slowly changing, he often told us how that stone seemed to cloud his senses,» Wooyoung spoke, his gaze meeting both yours and your friends’, «he… was afraid to hurt people, and to hurt you. We all freely decided to follow him, although he kept saying that we needed to go back and take care of you – I know you probably won’t like me saying this, but Hongjoong to us has always been a brother, and a reliable leader. Our love for him had influenced every single one of our choices, including the one to be corrupted in your place.»

«What do you mean?» you mumbled with a trembling voice, even though you weren’t sure your voice could actually be audible to anyone in the room in the first place; you felt like you have been suddenly showered with frozen water in the middle of a snowstorm.

«I mean,» Wooyoung took a breath, caressing your fingers in a vain attempt to console you, «that it wasn’t supposed to end like this; we were supposed to leave Velia, and to find a solution together, but – Hongjoong found another stone in the Castle’s ruins, and… you know the rest.»

Of course, you knew; the moment Hongjoong found the second stone was the day his once bright red eye had turned as black as a starless night.

«What I’m trying to say, is that Hongjoong tried to protect you, in a very messy way, but me and the others promised to tell you, sooner or later.» Wooyoung chuckled without humour, before adding that originally, San was supposed to come with him that night.

«What can we do to help?» Chris spoke, interrupting what seemed a fraction of eternity made of tense silence, and you suddenly remembered that you weren’t alone with Wooyoung, but your friends had decided to come with you as well.

To be honest, you were incredibly curious about his sudden change of heart, since you knew that the only task Chris and Felix had, was to confirm to the Capital that in case of war, they would have fought against Hongjoong without hesitation; you thought that Chris’ question was actually something he didn’t mean, but Felix’s expression confirmed that he wasn’t going to deny his friend’s proposal.

«Yeosang found out that someone managed to summon Garmoth,» Wooyoung explained, «I want you to summon him before Hongjoong does, and do whatever he says.»

«That’s unreasonable!» you spoke a little louder than you meant to, with a trembling voice, «You know what Hongjoong’s goal is; what if he tells me to kill all of you?»

«Then you will do as he says.» Wooyoung gently answered, brushing a strand of hair behind your left ear, shortly caressing the feather earring you always wore.

«I can’t – I don’t – »

«Sunshine,» Wooyoung interrupted your sentence, and you realized that few tears had gathered on the corner of his eyes as well, «we haven’t been alive for a while.»

«She will try to find you,» Karanda commented, «will you help her?» even though her eyes already saw part of their encounter thanks to her innate gift of foresight, she still questioned him.

«Hongjoong’s plans affect the four of us; Vell and Offin had made it clear that they don’t want to meddle with the human world…» even though Garmoth’s resentment towards the other two divinities was probably as deep as the ocean itself, he couldn’t ignore what was happening.

Even though he lost the count of how many years had passed since the Battle of the Dawn of Times – where Kzarka had been sealed away, he couldn’t deny that the possibility of Hongjoong’s power being fuelled by the God of Corruption’s latent aura was something too dangerous to ignore. «I will help her.» Garmoth finally confirmed.

«So,» Karanda sighed, «we’re the only ones remaining.» «We are the only ones remaining.» he echoed her words.

Eventually, few hours after your meeting with Wooyoung had finished, Karanda let Garmoth undress her, and for a night they pretended they were back in the days - millenniums ago, where the most different kind of gods and goddesses crowded the world and they could freely enjoy the beaming joy and tumultuous passions of their love; for a night, they pretended they weren’t two of the last divinities carefully keeping the world into balance.

Whether that night the wind seemed to blow a little gentler, whether that morning the sun seemed to burn even brighter as it rose in the sky, that was for the two of them to know. When the morning came, they kissed each other goodbye; Karanda vanished in a whiff of wind, and Garmoth gently blowed on the remaining traces of a lonely candle, vanishing in the same moment the candle’s flame had died.

Contrary to your expectations, your mother’s tombstone was well cared for, and there were fresh flowers at its feet; although you wondered whether Lea and Changbin were the only ones taking care of it or someone from the village was silently helping them as well, you didn’t bring yourself to voice your question. As the sun was slowly rising in the sky and the village was awakening, you sat in the small cemetery with your gaze unfocused, trying to process everything that Wooyoung had told you few hours earlier as silent tears were streaming on your face.

«Please, mom, what do I have to do?» you murmured, your question engulfed by a sudden gentle breeze, «If you were in my place, you would have known.» you hugged your knees to your chest, pressing your forehead against them, and allowed yourself to cry.

Absorbed in your thoughts, you hadn’t noticed the sound of grinding gravel under someone’s approaching footsteps, before you felt something being gently draped around your shoulders.

«It gets cold in the morning.» Chris spoke, unsure about how to approach you; judging by the proximity of his voice, he was crouching next to you.

«Children of Fire don’t get cold.» you croaked, slightly lifting your head, «but thanks.» you faintly added, aware that him – along with Changbin and Felix had been patiently waiting for you at the cemetery’s gates.

«Let’s go back, shall we?» although Chris’ question was gentle, you understood the sense of urgency he was somehow trying to hide. You nodded at him, realizing that since there was a bounty on your head, you couldn’t spend your time having a breakdown out in the open for everyone to see; after all, you didn’t even notice Chris approaching you, and that made you an extremely easy target. Chris stood up, offering you his hand, and you took it, sealing a secret and still unknown deal that would have intertwined your destinies for good.

Unbeknownst to you, Hyunjin comfortably sat on a branch of one of the cedar trees near the cemetery; his position was relaxed, his right leg was bent on the wood while the left one was dangling from it, as he studied you and your companions, with an unreadable expression.

«Looks like we’re gonna meet sooner than I expected.» he murmured to himself, as you and Chris were quickly walking towards the others.

CHAPTER III

After securing on your shoulders the backpack Wooyoung and Seonghwa gifted you and taking deep breath, you opened the window and swoon your leg over the railing of the small balcony attached to your room. Escaping from the first floor definitely was not a difficult task, but sneaking out in the middle of the night was all about being as silent as the snow falling on the ground.

“Careful, now, I’m almost done…” you calmly encouraged yourself as you successfully landed on the soft grass; after all, by now, you were quite the expert of running away in the middle of the night.

Although you didn’t have a precise destination in mind, you still felt as if leaving Changbin and the others behind was the best solution you could have came up with. After the meeting with Wooyoung, you felt like you had completely changed; not only you barely walked out of your room – consequentially making Changbin, Lea and your new friends incredibly worry about you, but you started to drastically overthink things as well, which definitely was a habit you never had. Even if you were glad about the fact that no one tried to forcefully snap you out of your self isolation, let’s just say that if only you could have seen a glimpse of the future, you would have appreciated a little bit more Chris’ insistence on trying to make a conversation every time he brought you something to eat.

Sighing in deject because – for obvious reasons, you couldn’t borrow one of the horses from the stable, you let your feet and your instinct hastily walk you towards an indefinite destination as you tightly gripped on your backpack, knowing that as soon as morning came, your friends would have started looking for you.

The sun started to rise in the sky once you were walking through Heidel’s unfamiliar outskirts. It was not excessively difficult to orient yourself – after all, it was a simple beaten road lined with maple trees; but when you realized that the sun was about to be high in the sky and you didn’t have quick and secure places to hide yourself in case of need, you realized that probably, you should have planned your escape a little better.

«I can’t believe our luck.» an unfamiliar voice made you abruptly stop, making your head snap to your left; when you noticed a small group of men definitely coming from the Cursed Kingdom, you realized that definitely, you should have planned your escape a little better.

Even if you were clearly outnumbered you immediately excluded the option of running away, since there was no way you could outrun five horses; the only option you had was to fight against them, and so, you took a deep breath and tightly gripped on the daggers you had secured on your thighs.

“We’re from the same Kingdom,but I highly doubt Hongjoong and the others personally taught them how to fight”, you encouraged yourself once again, feeling a little more secure about your fighting skills.

«Come on Princess, the bounty is higher if we return with a corpse.» one of them spat, making the others laugh and instinctively making your skin crawl; taking advance of the surprise effect, you launched forward, successively stabbing the man closer to you in his abdomen.

However, when the men realized that you were definitely not willing to go back home without fighting for your life, they immediately started to counter attack, and for the first time since you left the Cursed Kingdom, you wished you weren’t fighting alone. The sun was high in the sky, and there wasn’t a single cloud on sight; you were tired, and there was definitely blood trickling down your arm from a bad looking cut on your right shoulder. Although you managed to put a safe distance between you and the men – now three of them, you were forced to admit that you were in worrying disadvantage; your daggers were both scattered on the floor too far from where you stood, and your opponents were way too skilled for you to face without a weapon.

Ignoring the pain you felt as you tried to lift your right arm, you lifted your shaking hand in mid air, ready to use magic, even if – since you were surrounded by trees, it wasn’t the wisest choice.

However, what you definitely did not expect to happen, was for someone to appear out of thin air, placing their left hand right above your right one, making your head snap towards the new arrived.

«The bard?!», you questioned – louder than you meant to, as you recognized the tall boy standing next to you as the boy who was playing the lyre in the tavern where you met Wooyoung few days ago.

Instinctively, you tried to yank your hand out his firm hold in the vain attempt to put some distance between the two of you, but he didn’t let you.

«Hyunjin,» he gently answered, offering his name as if you had all the time in the world and weren’t in the middle of a fight, «when you feel me close my hand, cast the most powerful spell you know.»

The fact that Hyunjin didn’t wait for an answer and immediately started to slowly close his hand in a fist, made you quickly snap out of your thoughts and realize that you needed to hurry; your eyes were glowing bright red, and you made sure to follow Hyunjin’s instruction to cast the strongest spell that Hongjoong taught you, but what you saw made your concentration drastically waver.

There was no way in the world that you couldn’t recognize the spell that has just been casted, since you have heard about it since you were a little girl, eagerly asking your uncles to tell you about that time your mother defeated basically the whole Cult of Serendia’s Disciples by herself.

Hyunjin’s long fingers easily intertwined with yours, and the bounty hunters simultaneously fell lifeless on the ground while gripping their throat.

«Internal carbonization, huh? It’s been a while.» you heard Hyunjin mutter – mostly to himself, and you turned towards him, a whirlwind of questions in your head that he probably never would have answered.

Hyunjin had just used one of the forbidden spells, so why he didn’t look fatigued? You knew that it took a lot of energy, so how could a simple human -

«Who are you?» you asked, removing your hand from Hyunjin’s hold and bringing it towards your chest; your heart picked up pace, and you honestly hoped you didn’t have to fight him as well, because you highly doubted you could have won.

Hyunjin simply shrugged, before offering you a wide and dazzling smile, «Let’s just say that I’m not a foe.» he stated, and your eyebrows furrowed in doubt.

However, every possibility to prolong your conversation with him vanished as soon as you heard your name being called.

«Finally, Prince Charming made it to the rescue,» he mumbled again, placing a hand on his hip while glancing towards his left, but before you could question his words, his fingertips gently hovered above the cut on your shoulder, and you felt the sting caused from your wound immediately vanish, «I didn’t completely heal it, but at least, it won’t get infected; make sure to take care of it.»

«Wait-» you called out as he walked past you.

«Until next time!» he waved his hand in mid air with a cheerful voice, before vanishing in a gust of wind, making you wonder if you had imagined your encounter in the first place.

Everything about Chris riding a horse was solemn; from his posture to his incredibly angry expression.

«What the hell happened to you?» Chris quickly dismounted from his horse, his cape made of fur obediently following his movements as he close the distance between the two of you with hasty steps.

He slowly took in your appearance, and immediately reached out to inspect the wound on your shoulder; obviously, you couldn’t notice the relief erupting on his features as soon as he noticed that you already seemed to have taken care of it, because as soon as he approached, you instinctively lowered your gaze.  Chris glanced around the two of you, noticing the corpses of your attackers, and silently cursed himself for being too late to help you.

«Everyone is worried sick, come on, let’s head back.» he added, but as soon as he wrapped his hand around your wrist, you forcefully yanked it from his hold.

«No.» you simply answered, heading to collect your daggers from the floor, cleaning the blades with part of the fabric of your opponent’s cape before sheathing them against your thighs.

«No?!» he echoed, incredulous, following you as if he was a determined not to let you run away again.

«No.» you repeated, spinning on your heels just to find Chris standing closer than you imagined, «I won’t go back – I can’t.»

Chris simply raised one of his eyebrows, placing his hands on his hips as if he was silently urging you to go on and explain yourself; only then, you allowed yourself to take in the appearance of the boy standing in front of you.

There were undeniable dark circles under his eyes, and you deduced that he must have come back recently from his trip to the Capital, only for the awareness that Chris and Felix came back from the Capital at least four days ago to sink in; there was a wild thought running through your brain, a small doubt saying that Chris was genuinely worried for you, but you blatantly decided to ignore it.

«If I stay, you’ll be in danger. Changbin, Lea – I can’t possibly do this to them.» you explained, and he wordlessly looked around the two of you, running a hand through his dark hair out of frustration.

«And you can do this to yourself?» he questioned, making your remark melt on your throat; you answered with a brief nod, and Chris sighed in exasperation.

«Listen-»

«There’s a bounty on my head, Chris, not on yours. I can’t spend my days taking advantage of Changbin’s hospitality and then expect to protect them as soon as bounty hunters show up. I want them to live a peaceful and quiet life, as far away from trouble as possible.» you had to admit that talking about what you have silently been thinking about for weeks was like getting rid of an enormous weight on your soul, but you definitely didn’t expect for Chris to reach out and gently envelope you into a hug; you closed your eyes, timidly placing your hands on his hips, and let him place his chin on top of your head.

«I believe you’re missing few essential points,» he gently spoke, «when you showed up at Changbin’s, did you ask for help or you simply appeared out of nowhere?» you tensed up, his words neatly contrasting the gentle movements of his hand threading through your hair, «but most importantly, when you decided to see Wooyoung, did you ask me and Lix to come, or did we simply tag along?»  

«What I’m trying to say,» it was as if Chris could feel your eyebrows furrow in doubt, because he explained himself further, «I honestly doubt that you faced every problem on your own back home, right? So… don’t be afraid to ask for help, because there are people who genuinely want to help you. Aren’t we friends?»

«We are not,» you clarified on the verge of tears, «I want to strangle you every time you open your stupid mouth.» you admitted, and Chris huffed a laugh in response, slightly tightening his arms around you.

«You sure do have suggestive fantasies, Princess.» he mumbled with a shrug, making you snort in reflex.

Eventually, Chris let go of your frame, wiping few tears from your cheek using his thumb; by now, you were used to his snarky and competitive comments and therefore, his gentle and sincere gaze took you off guard.

«Do you want to come home, so that we can figure something out?» Chris questioned, and you instinctively nodded; whether you did it because you could still hear his fast heartbeat from when he hugged you, or whether you did it because you felt strangely safe in that moment, you decided not to think too much about it.

It was hard to explain the utter relief erupting on Changbin’s and Lea’s faces as soon as you and Chris rode back home. Felix, on the other hand, simply sat on the porch with a satisfied smile and his eyes bright green; as soon as you noticed the leaves slowly floating above the palms of his joined hands disappear, you understood that he must have used magic in order to locate you.

Exactly two days after you tried to escape, you decided to tell the others why you choose to run away in the first place; you settled for being as honest as possible, only hiding about what happened in the woods and therefore, about Hyunjin’s mysterious appearance. Everyone patiently listened to you, while trying to come up with an efficient solution.

Even though she cared for you just as if you were her daughter, Lea – and half of the servants, didn’t know how to fight and therefore, since the probability of bounty hunters finding out your hiding location was high, the most clever solution was for you to constantly be on the run.

«If I remember correctly, Wooyoung said that someone in Duvencrune managed to summon Garmoth.» Changbin spoke, claiming everyone’s attention.

«Did he? But… Isn’t that almost impossible?» Lea voiced her doubt; although she didn’t have any magical power, it was safe to say that everyone knew that the most known way to meet a God was to die.

“I wonder why Seonghwa and Jongho managed to meet them”, you thought, aware that your doubts would remain unanswered forever.

«I don’t want to doubt his intentions, but we might be lured into a trap.» Felix added, smiling apologetically at you, making you nod your head in a silent answer; you didn’t want to doubt Wooyoung either, since after all he took a huge risk while coming to see you, but…

«The only way to find out, is to check it out ourselves.» Chris spoke, as if he could hear your train of thoughts and decided to finish it for you.

«You really enjoy risking your life, don’t you?» Felix sighed, but didn’t try to oppose his friend’s decision, which simply answered with a confident shrug, followed by a «scared, your Highness?»

«Please, no! I don’t want to disturb you further than this.» you spoke, but Lea promptly lifted her hand in mid air, silencing you.

«Nonsense, your mother was my best friend, and this is the least I can do.» Lea dismissively said, before pointing her index finger towards her husband, «You’ll go with them.»

«Me?» Changbin questioned, pointing to himself.

«Who else? Do I look like a child of Nature?»

That’s how, on a Sunday morning, you, Chris, Felix and Changbin started to pack your belongings, headed towards the rocky city of Duvencrune, expertly carved in the side of a mountain and silently watching over Garmoth’s nest since generation.

The road was clear ahead of your quartet, but even so, Felix seemed restless; you saw him mumble something to Chris, which briefly nodded at him before directing his horse behind yours and Changbin’s; you watched Chris with furrowed brows, waiting for an explanation, but he simply winked at you in a confident way, before locking his gaze on his long time friend.

Felix, on the other hand, was busy examinating some leaves peacefully floating on the palm of his hand; it was the same spell he used to locate you when you ran away, you deduced, but who was he trying to locate this time?

It couldn’t possibly be someone from the Cursed Kingdom, you thought; they generally moved either in couples or in small groups, so there was not a high possibility for them to be already tailing you – moreover you were sure that Felix would have noticed them.

All of a sudden, the leaves seemed to start floating more aggressively, almost moving in a fast spiral, only for Felix to tighten his fist with a quick move, making the spell disappear at once.

«I wonder how long you’re planning to follow us.» Felix spoke, and few seconds later, a familiar boy jumped from one of the maple branches above your head, just to effortlessly step on Felix’s horses, sitting right behind him, with his back against his.

«I tend to forget children of Earth can chit-chat with trees.» Hyunjin teased; even if Changbin and Chris instinctively started riding closer to you, the fact that no one tried to attack him was probably because Felix was silently stating that Hyunjin was not a threat.

“It’s quite strange,” you thought; Hyunjin was acting as if him and Felix were long time friends, and on the other hand, everything about Felix’s posture seems to be at ease with Hyunjin’s presence.

“Either Felix is really strong or they know each other,” you simply stated, deciding to let the others decide what to do; after all, Hyunjin saved your life.

If Felix didn’t seem to mind about the bard’s presence, Changbin and Chris definitely had a different opinion on the matter; they both rode close to you, and you noticed how both of them seemed to be ready to start fighting at any moment.

«Where are we going?» Hyunjin asked few moments later with a big content sigh, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

«We?» Chris echoed with a scoff, but eventually refrained from speaking sarcastic remarks as he saw Felix shaking his head towards him.

«I’m a bard,» Hyunjin stated, as if he was putting an effort into answering him, «I sing about new adventures, and not to mention your Princess owes me one.»

At once, three pair of eyes were on you; Hyunjin chuckled, obviously amused about the fact that apparently, you had decided to keep your encounter a secret.

«When the hunters attacked me, he helped me fight them, he’s a child of Air.» you simply explained, avoiding to mention the forbidden spell part.

«And he casually happened to walk by?» Changbin questioned, and you simply shrugged; although everything regarding Hyunjin’s presence was suspicious, it was undeniable that you wouldn’t be alive if he didn’t intervene and therefore, your group agreed to keep him around.

That night, when you stopped in order to get few hours of sleep, Felix quickly mumbled something to Chris, whose eyes were locked on Hyunjin’s figure, eagerly talking to you and Changbin next to a small fireplace.

«You still haven’t told me where our adventure will take us.» the bard questioned later, interrupting Chris’ attempt to start a conversation with you.

«Duvencrune,» Changbin answered, «we’re looking for someone.»

«Oh, interesting.» Hyunjin hummed, before resuming his previous action of playing his small lyre.

«It’s gonna take less time if we avoid passing through the villages,» Changbin explained, «if we head west from here, the vegetation won’t be too rich, and the weather will increasingly be dryer; it will take less, but we will be an easy target.»

Even so, with you having lived within the Cursed Kingdom’s territories for the majority of your life, Felix and Chris not knowing anything about where you were and Hyunjin simply nodding at Changbin’s proposal, the only thing you could do was to trust him.

«Sulien, that’s the woman you’re looking for.» Hyunjin spoke out of the blue, as his eyes seemed to glow in a menacing dark shade of greyish colour – definitely different from your mother’s.

«How do you know?» you immediately questioned him; however, Hyunjin never gave you a proper answer.

«Doesn’t the wind know everything, Princess?» were the only words he spoke for the whole day.

The trip to Duvencrune lasted eight days, definitely less than you originally had expected.

Hyunjin kept close to you half of the time, and the other half was spent riding Felix’s horse while sitting in random positions; although Hyunjin was doing his best, you didn’t miss to notice how he would sometimes look at your friends with disgusted faces, just to give you a dazzling smile as soon as he noticed that your eyes were on him.

Changbin meticulously checked his compass and the position of the Sun, leaving to Felix the task to check your surroundings while using magic. Chris was in charge of setting and undoing the small camps every time you decided to stop in order to take few hours of rest, without forgetting to beat the ground and scatter some leaves above your temporary camps, so that it wouldn’t have been too easy to follow you.

The hunt was a coordinated act among you, Felix and Chris; to be honest, the Prince and his long time friend could have done everything by themselves but still, you were desperate to learn something useful.

So, that’s how you went from placing your hand flat on the ground next to Felix’s, curiously glancing at this bright green eyes staring unfocused at the ground in front of him, trying to locate a possible prey; needless to say, being a daughter of Fire, you couldn’t feel anything.

Therefore, after recognizing Chris’ talent in archery anytime Felix lured a prey close to where he was, your main goal was to learn how to hunt; of course you knew the basics of archery, but even so, shooting to a still target was definitely different to shoot to a moving one.

«Your stance still says that you’re not expecting for the prey to flee, fireball, and that’s gonna make you starve.» Chris spoke, and your grip on the bow loosened, bringing it closer to your hips.

«I really don’t get the whole “follow the line” thing.» you admitted, referring to one of his previous suggestion, expecting another sarcastic remark. Instead, Chris thoughtfully nodded at you, glancing around the opening where you were resting; he snapped his fingers, and not that far from you, few small floating balls made of water started to move in different directions.

Chris walked right behind you, and if he decided to hold the bow with a tight grip right above your hand, he did the opposite thing for the arrow; this time, your fingers ghosted above his, and you felt as if after all, you never learned how to properly shoot.

It would have been nice for you to be able to concentrate, however, with Chris’ arms firmly caging you and his gentle voice explaining everything about how to properly hunt made it impossible for you to register more than few words he said. Once again, you decided not to think too much about it, saying that it was probably because beside Wooyoung and Seonghwa, you haven’t been held definitely in a while.

«The secret is to predict the opponent’s movement, and aim just a little ahead of them,» Chris spoke dangerously close to your ear, as he was focused on not to miss on his shot; you did your best to keep your breathing synchronized to his, and in the moment the two of you were exhaling, Chris’ fingers loosened around the arrow, and few seconds later, the small ball of water crashed on the ground under the form of a faint and localized rain pour.

«That’s it, you want to try again?» he questioned, and whether you immediately nodded because you really needed more practice or you instinctively felt the need to keep him close to you, you decided not to think too much about it.

«Uh, are they a thing?» Hyunjin questioned, his eyes following both you and Chris with interest and a hint of amusement.

«Not yet.» Felix retorted immediately without feeling the need to check what the two of you were doing, laying with his eyes closed as he quietly rested under the sunlight.

«I say they’d look cute together.» Changbin nodded, with a wide smile on his face.

-

As obvious as it sounded, your only task was to keep the fire alive anytime you stopped in order to rest: bright enough to keep them warm and properly cook your food but not bright enough to be spotted by eventual enemies.

However, thanks to Yeosang’s enchanted glove, the task was as easy as kid’s play. The ability to use alchemy whenever you wanted meant that you definitely didn’t need wood in order to create a fireplace; Felix easily provided you few strand of dried bushes, which would have burned around the handle of your enchanted sword, effectively creating a fireplace but not leaving traces of warm and burnt wood behind you.

Keeping the fire alive meant that you could sleep for most of the morning, but you had to stay awake for most of the night, willingly keeping watch and gladly accepting whether someone decided to stay awake with you. Of course, you definitely didn’t miss to notice the fact that Chris’ company was almost a constant throughout your sleepless nights.

Although the two of you sat at a reasonable distance at first, sharing stories about your past and your hometowns, said distance eventually ended up disappearing, and eventually, you and Chris sat next to each other, your knees brushing anytime one of you decided to adjust their position.

«I’m telling you, that night Felix was three sheet to the wind,» Chris whispered animatedly, glancing fondly at his friend who was asleep.

«He was three sheet what?» you echoed; you weren’t sure whether it was your mutual exhaustion or the fact that Chris had so many unusual figures of speech but you found yourself giggling, and the boy curiously glanced at you.

«It means being drunk,» he explained, scratching his nape, «you probably don’t use it here.» when you shook your head, he nodded once, and if only you weren’t so tired and it wasn’t the middle of the night, you would have noticed a faint blush colouring his cheeks.

«You stopped, why?» you gently nudged his elbow, «I want to know more.»

«About?» Chris asked, immediately trying to recall some other fun fact to tell you.

«You.» you immediately retorted without thinking, only to realize it as soon as Chris’ head snapped towards you, the fireplace’s colours dancing in his blue left eye, «I mean, more about your life.»

“That’s even worse, great job”, you thought, blaming the fact that you were tired for the fact that you were embarrassing yourself like that.

«Oh, sink me.» you heard Chris mumble, and immediately you were thrown in another fit of giggles, which definitely didn’t went unnoticed by the boy.

«You seriously need to stop making fun of me, fireball.» Chris said while hiding a smile.

He quickly snaked his arm around your neck, just to effortlessly pull you against his chest; the boy started scratching your head while using his knuckles – not actually hurting you, making you laugh even more while trying to reach out to escape from his grasp.

«Who’s gonna fucking tell them?» Hyunjin mouthed to Felix, which was laying on the ground facing the bard.

«Not me, for sure.» he mouthed back, quickly glancing at Changbin, wondering how could he sleep through all this shameless flirting attempts.

-

Riding a horse for the most part of the day right under the sun, with an increasingly arid climate and surrounded by uncultivated land was definitely tougher that you thought. Even though everyone kept asking you how you were feeling, whether you wanted to take a break, you didn’t want to furthermore slow your group.

«We’ll be at the feet of the mountain by noon,» Changbin explained, «from there, the road will constantly be uphill but – if I remember correctly, there are some trees along the way.»

«How do you know so much? We’re pretty far from Heidel, did you travel a lot?» you questioned, and Changbin nodded, keeping his gaze ahead of himself.

«I used to travel a lot when I was younger, but I married Lea and I eventually stopped. She doesn’t like it much.» he briefly explained, and you nodded at him with a smile.

Changbin’s adoration for his wife was the trait that reminded him about Hongjoong the most; when you were a child and still lived in Velia, it was an extremely known fact that Hongjoong was absolutely whipped for your mother.

With a silent sigh, you realized that Changbin stopped travelling because he didn’t want to force Lea to do something she didn’t like, and you found yourself wondering if you would ever meet a partner like that.

“Why am I even going there?” you immediately interrupted your fantasies with a short intake of breath, mostly because you were scared about where your brain would have wandered next.

Evening was about to set on the fourth day of your trip, and everything was going unexpectedly smoothly, maybe, a little bit too much. Although you refused to voice your thought because you believed being blinded by paranoia, you felt like being watched; the fact that you kept sneaking glances around yourselves definitely didn’t go unnoticed by Hyunjin, who, even thought was aware about the fact that you were about to be attacked, couldn’t do anything to prevent it.

«Don’t meddle yourself with human affairs too much, for you are not one of them.» Karanda had told him, and he was determined to follow the orders he had received; even so, he found himself hoping that Felix could manage to locate and identify your attackers just in time.

However, Felix noticed them a little too late; an arrow emitted from the luxuriant leaves of one of the nearby trees, painfully sinking in your right thigh. Needless to say, your horse went wild as soon as he heard the hiss of the arrow right next to his ear, and immediately stood on his hind legs, effortlessly throwing you off the saddle; Hyunjin, however, quickly prevented you from unceremoniously fall to the gravel ground and hit your head by making you float for few seconds, gradually accompanying you to a sitting position.

With a pained groan, your hand flew on your thigh, and you felt the colour drain from your face as you took notice of the feathers adorning the end of the arrow.

“It’s from the Cursed Kingdom,” you noticed, “it’s poisoned for sure”. If both Chris and Changbin were immediately at your side, Felix was effortlessly casting a spell – now helped by Hyunjin, in order to capture your attackers.

Changbin quickly climbed down from his horse – quickly nodding at Chris and telling him to help the others, and you watched with trembling hands as your friend easily snapped the arrow in two.

«I think it’s – Changbin, it may be poisoned.» you warned him, and Changbin glanced to his left, just in time to see your attackers being dragged on the ground while being tightly wrapped up in ropes.

Gradually, you started to feel your head spin and your world started to fade to black, and the only words you could register after Chris’ anxiously calling for your name, was one of your attackers – the oldest among the two, confidently say: «Ever heard of poison? Guess what? Give it an hour.»

«If she doesn’t wake up within a minute, consider yourselves food for the wolves.» you heard Chris spat with a rough and unfriendly tone, definitely not what you were used to; with a weak groan, you opened your eyes, immediately noticing that the wound on your leg didn’t hurt as much as it did earlier.

«Take it easy,» Changbin’s arms were quick to sustain your attempt to sit up, and you willingly let him place himself behind you, so that you could easily stay in a sitting position. «how are you feeling?»

«Sleepy and tired, what happened to the poison?» you mumbled back; if you learned something from Changbin’s teaching, was that the position of the sun signalled that it was afternoon, meaning that at least twelve hours had passed since the ambush.

«Well, Prince Charming tortured the bounty hunters until he found the antidote.» Hyunjin chimed in, nodding towards two boys who were still tied up; they were about your age, you noticed, both with raven black hair and a stoic face.

«Did you hurt them that badly?» you croaked, questioning Chris and Felix, which respectively shook their head and shrugged.

«They’re harmless; Seungmin and Jeongin, bounty hunters from the Cursed Kingdom.» Chris explained, and only then, you noticed that his hand didn’t waver for a second from gently holding your wrist, his index finger right above your pulse point.

It took you few hours to effectively regain your strength, and although your friends admonished your attempt to excuse yourself from being poisoned like a fool while constantly saying that it wasn’t your fault, you still felt guilty.

The group unanimously agreed to keep both Seungmin and Jeongin with you, so that you could keep an eye on them.

«After all, they willingly gave us the antidote.» Felix said.

«Did you see how scary Chris was? Of course they willingly gave it up.» Changbin immediately retorted, and even thought Seungmin and Jeongin were tied up most of the times, you and the others still gave them water and something to eat every time you stopped to camp.

However, after two days both Seungmin and Jeongin completely gave up their decision to capture you in order to bring you back to Hongjoong; whether it happened because Chris had pinned Seungmin to the ground with his dagger pressed against his throat, threatening to tear both of them apart if they ever tried to hurt you again, that’s something that – in Chris’ opinion, you didn’t need to know.

-

Duvencrune’s citizens were extremely welcoming towards foreigners, always asking everyone who stopped by about their hometowns.

Situated at the feet of the mountain, Garmoth’s nest resembled the threatening claws of a dragon; four huge and curved spikes made of rock erupted from the ground – so high they seemed to graze at the sky, and eventually, people from Duvencrune decided to build four altars at the base of every claw.

Although no one had ever seen the dragon roaming in the huge nest, citizens still held rituals in order to pray for the God’s benevolence.

«I wonder if we’ll manage to see the altar! Apparently, outsiders can’t personally get too close to it.» Felix excitedly spoke as your group was roaming the city trying to gather informations.

«I wonder why you’re trying to get informations about that cursed thing.» Seungmin said, just for his sentence to end with a pained groan.

It was obvious that you couldn’t walk around the city with Seungmin and Jeongin being tied up without catching attention, and therefore, Hyunjin provided to create an elemental and invisible rope made out of thin air; no one would have been able to see anything, but Seungmin and Jeongin would have felt an incredible pressure on their chest anytime they misbehaved.

«Cursed?» the child of Air nonchalantly echoed.

«Our King said that - » Jeongin started, however, his words were cut short.

«If that’s something Hongjoong said, then I’m not interested in those foul lies.» Hyunjin finished, and the bounty hunters didn’t utter a word for the rest of the day.

«Are you sure you’re okay?» Chris gently questioned you, noticing the fact that you were limping; you weakly nodded at him, but didn’t refuse his offer to link your arm with his.

Although you wanted to rest, although your leg begged you to take it easy, you didn’t want to waste any more time, and eventually ended up spending your day roaming through the city.

Few days later, not only your leg was almost completely healed thanks to some local weird looking herb, but you could effectively walk for hours without limping.

«What’s the plan for today?» Chris asked with a yawn as you were having breakfast in one of the inns of the city.

«At this point, we should directly ask around about Sulien,» you answered, referring to the fact that you didn’t manage to learn anything useful during the time you already spent in the city.

«I could go to the town’s market,» Felix eagerly said, and judging by the excitement in his eyes, you knew that gathering informations wasn’t his main goal; nevertheless, you nodded at him with a smile.

«Seungmin and Jeongin will come with us,» Hyunjin added, gesturing to himself and Felix, and you nodded, as your eyes stopped on the two bounty hunters occasionally joke to themselves every now and then while listening to you; although you didn’t know what exactly happened when you passed out, you still decided not to inquire on the reason why they were silently following your group without trying to escape once.

Changbin – who had been focused on sheepishly eating his breakfast, suddenly groaned in pain, as if he had been kicked right under the table by a smiling Felix, «Yeah, uh, I – I think I’ll check the town’s market as well.» he simply said, leaving you and Chris to investigate on your own.

Although the city of Duvencrune was on top of a mountain and therefore constantly under the sun, the constant and gentle breeze made the days not too hot; you had to admit, it would have been considered romantic, even, the fact that you and Chris found a way to chat and laugh together while keeping close to each other, and the fact that you were sometimes exchanged for a couple definitely didn’t help your attempts to stop your imagination from roaming free.

For your sake, you decided to ignore the fact that Chris had stopped denying the fact, even though the small spark of hope about Chris liking you as well seemed to be already ignited in your soul.

«Okay, matey, the next person around our age we see it’s gonna be our target.» Chris sighed, probably as tired as you were about hearing that apparently, no one knew about Sulien’s whereabouts; you nodded at him, glad about the fact that apparently, luck was on your side, since as soon as you turned into an alley, a boy around your age walked right out of it, almost bumping into the two of you in the process.

Even thought both you and Chris apologized, the boy didn’t say anything, and simply nodded once in recognition without uttering a single word.

«Excuse me,» you added, taking advantage of the fact that he was still standing there, «we’re looking for Sulien, do you -» however, before you could finish your sentence, the boy’s eyes widened, and he quickly walked away from both you and Chris.

«Well, at least that wasn’t a “I don’t know her”.» Chris commented, and you could only nod in exasperation, mumbling a weak «oh, sink me,» which immediately made Chris laugh.

The two of you decided to spend the next few hours strolling around the city, your mission to ask about Sulien to people long forgotten, and hoping that your friends managed to have more luck than you did.

As the two of you were walking in front a residential area, however, Chris stopped you by a firm but gentle hold on your elbow, silently signalling you to look towards your left as soon as you locked your eyes with his.

In the middle of the alleyway, you noticed the boy you ran into few hours earlier now talking with another boy who must have been the same age as him, before eventually; they noticed you as well.

«Do we run away?» you quickly whispered to Chris, as you noticed that they were now walking towards you, easily closing the distance that separated you.

«Of course not, fireball.» he confidently whispered back, just in time for the two boys to stop in front of you.

«My brother told me an interesting story,» one of them started, «why would you look for Sulien?» he inquired, standing almost protectively in front of the boy you met few hours earlier; however, before you could answer, the latter mumbled something at the other’s ear, and his expression immediately softened.

«You’re right, Jisung.» he gently spoke, before addressing you in his usual harsh way. «Come with us.»

Chris followed them without the hint of hesitation, and instinctively, you reached out to hold his hand; whether you did it to silently tell him to be more careful, whether you did it because you needed a little bit of comfort in front of that strange and unpredictable situation, definitely wasn’t important, since Chris wordlessly and immediately intertwined his fingers with yours, while keeping his proud gaze up ahead.

Jisung and his brother – which eventually introduced as Minho, led you through a series of empty alleyways, just to stop to arrive at what appeared to be an abandoned shed; there weren’t proper doors or windows, just few parts of a rotten wall which seemed to magically sustain a rooftop.

Chris was standing right next to you, your silent anxiety mirrored by his tense posture.

«No one will overhear our conversation, now.» Minho spoke as he blankly stared at you, as if he was waiting for you to answer to his previous question.

«Someone told us Sulien managed to meet Garmoth.» you explained with a weak voice, cautiously glancing around as if you expected to fall in another ambush.

«And that “someone” is Kim Hongjoong?» he spat back, making your knees feel weak.

The fact that Minho knew about Hongjoong could only mean one thing: you were late.

«That’s not something you need to know.» Chris quickly spoke in your defence, but Minho sneered, taking a confident step in front of his brother.

«I believe you are forgetting that we are the one with the informations you need.» he smirked triumphally, pointing to himself and Jisung with his index finger.

Tightening your hold around Chris’ hand, you realized that at that point, there wasn’t much you could do; the fact that Minho and Jisung seemed to know about Hongjoong’s plan meant that the only thing you could do was to be as honest as you could.

«I am Hongjoong’s daughter,» you admitted, ignoring Chris’ grip tightening on your hand, «however, the informations don’t come directly from him; you can verify yourself that there’s a – that Hongjoong is looking for me, but we don’t… exactly work together.» you quickly glanced to your right, satisfied with Chris’ quick nod of approval at your explanation.

Once again, you saw Jisung leaning towards Minho, mumbling something to his hear; Minho seemed to be lost in thoughts for few seconds, before he eventually nodded.

«We can help you,» Minho spoke, crossing his arms in front of his chest «but at one condition: take us with you.»

CHAPTER IV

«Don’t get me wrong, but - did we really need to pick up more strays?» as you and your friends sat in Minho and Jisung’s small kitchen, Seungmin questioned the decision to bring both of them along with you.

«Aren’t you one as well, Seungmin?» you immediately retorted, effortlessly making the assassin stop talking.

Minho and Jisung both welcomed you and the others in their house, calmly explaining to you that Sulien – the woman you were desperately looking for during the past days, had passed away many years before your arrival.

«I hope this is the part where you tell us that you still have her notes or whatever she used to summon Garmoth.» Chris’ tone hid a hint of exasperation as his mismatched eyes were locked on Minho, who simply answered with a brief nod.

«We will help you, but we need a proof that you’ll take us with you.» Minho repeated himself, and you furrowed your brows.

«Why would you want to leave that badly? This place seems pretty safe.» Hyunjin absently questioned, not really paying attention to the answer, since he didn’t get one in the first place.

«It’s… personal.» Minho said, and you understood that both him and Jisung weren’t going to trust neither you nor the others that easily – not that you could blame them.

«Here, take this.» with a quick movement, you unclasped one of your daggers from the leather harness around your left thigh; the sheath was embroided with the same golden pattern of the hilt.

«Wait,» Changbin jolted on his chair, but you easily stopped him while briefly shaking your head.

«It was my mother’s,» you explained, pushing the dagger towards Minho and Jisung by making it slide on the table, «that’s the only thing I can use to prove our good intentions.»

Once again, Jisung reached out to mumble something against Minho’s ear, who listened patiently; the latter briefly nodded at him, before reaching out to grab your dagger.

«Wait, I got distracted, who cooked dinner?» Changbin questioned, quickly preventing you from eating a mouthful of delicious looking stew by gently holding your wrist. «It was me!» Jeongin innocently replied, and Changbin’s eyebrows furrowed; as if the young assassin understood what the child of Water was implying, he quickly rummaged through the pockets of his jacket, proudly placing a small sealed bottle on the table.

«It’s not poisoned! See? The bottle is sealed!» Jeongin spoke with a big smile, and Seungmin hid his face in his hands with a groan; although the two assassins had made it clear that they suddenly didn’t want to kill you anymore, Changbin was still extremely wary of them, often hanging around with the assassins just to keep an eye on them.

«Should I test it for poison?» Seungmin innocently questioned, and Changbin snorted in disbelief.

«No, it’s too risky - you might not die. I’ll do it.» still faintly holding your wrist with one hand, Changbin hesitantly tasted the stew, just to confirm that – indeed, it was not poisoned.

Both Minho and Jisung were looking at each of you – each of your reactions to what just happened, with curious and incredulous faces; however, since by now, it was completely normal to you, you didn’t pay too much attention to it.

«If you’ll come with us, you’ll find out that nothing goes according to plan with this group.» Hyunjin addressed them with his usual tone laced with amusement.

«Because you’re there, right Hyunjin?» Felix immediately questioned, and the bard silently answered with a playful wink.

With a heavy sigh, you did your best to focus on the happiness you felt about eating a traditional recipe from the Cursed Kingdom, not thinking about how stressful the trip ahead of you was going to be.

The plan was rather simple: you would have taken advantage of the monthly local festival in order to sneak into Garmoth’s nest.

«People will be focused on lightning up lanterns, and if everything goes according to plan, no one will pay attention to us.» Minho explained; of course, in order to reach the altars in the first place, you definitely couldn’t use the main route.

The downhill towards Garmoth’s nest was a wide path which started from the city; it was full of twists and turns, not to mention that the natural location of the town made said path very easy to watch over – making people driven by their own curiosity easily refrain in fear of a possible sanction.

«There’s a passage,» Minho explained, as he unfolded on the wooden table a rough sketch of what seemed to be a map of Duvencrune, «it’s wide enough for us to walk without obstacles and impediments, and most importantly, no one uses it anymore.»

«Aren’t there any guards?» Jeongin curiously questioned him, and both Minho and Jisung shook their heads.

«Duvencrune’s citizens are deeply devoted, and consider everything regarding Garmoth as holy; no one would sneak in.» as Minho spoke, your eyes were focused on him, trying to guess why would both him and Jisung help a group of perfect strangers.

«What if we get caught?» Felix asked, and Minho simply gave him a mischievous smile.

-

«Despite the fact that for centuries the city had been devoted to the God of Fire, this city was designed by thieves - there’s always an escape route.»

The following days were divided into strolling around the city and spending your time safely nestled in Minho’s house, carefully plotting on what you had to do.

«Travellers are taught that there are a total of four altars at Garmoth’s nest, which is in fact, a lie,» Minho explained one windy evening, immediately claiming your attention as he placed on the coffee table a small box filled with strange looking bright red flowers; «there’s another altar – the one actually used for rituals, which you can’t see from up here.»

«And the flowers?» Felix questioned, and Hyunjin nonchalantly stood up from his chair and reached out to grab one of the flowers, just to walk towards the opposite way of the room, right in front of the open window.

«They are called fire silk flowers,» Minho explained once again, «these flowers and these notes are everything Sulien has left us.»

Out the corner of your eye, you could see Hyunjin scoff while hiding a smug smile, but you did not pay too much attention to it.

«Sulien… Fire silk flowers, huh?» the bard quietly mumbled to himself, as he peeled off a bright red petal from the flower in his hands, «I say you haven’t lost your touch with your beloved illusions, Dragon.» Hyunjin pretended to run a hand through his hair, but instead, he tossed the petal out of the window, entrusting the wind to make it fly all the way to Karanda.

As a moonless night was draped over the sky, your group had once again returned at the inn. Lying on the soft mattress of your room, you admitted to yourself that the company that had come to be created was as bizarre as much as it was pleasant.

Changbin was by now basically part of your family, and you often seeked for his words of advice; you found comforting how he had the habit to keep an eye on you, even if just to silently ask you if you were okay. It was clear that his deep and great esteem for Hongjoong was the main reason for his resentment; however, whenever the matter was mentioned, Changbin always did his best to speak only of the positive events that came to his memory.

Felix and Chris were definitely fun to be around; although sometimes you couldn’t understand what they were exactly talking about due the uniqueness of Iliya’s dialect, they provided to lighten up the mood quite often.

Felix’s personality was as gentle and soothing as moonlight, and you could easily figure out that he must have been a respected and beloved Prince; although he has only been nice and friendly to you, sometimes, you could notice him looking at the horizon with an extremely lone gaze, and – you reluctantly had to admit, it made you feel lonely as well.

Chris was not only the stark opposite of his friend, but his behaviour kept confusing you to no end; his teasing remarks alternated with gentle and soft gazes and sometimes, you suspected for his rivalry tone to be just a facade.

Not to mention, you realized that you didn’t feel attracted to Chris just because he was extremely handsome, but for his whole personality as well; it wasn’t difficult to realize that sometimes, the others purposely let the two of you spend some time alone, and you didn’t fail to notice how you started to look forward to those moments.

The realization that eventually, both Chris and Felix would have returned to Iliya Island while you didn’t even know if you would manage to survive striked in, making you realize that feelings that you started developing for the boy who was taking a hold of your heart as slowly and as steadily as a high tide at noon were probably fleeting and meaningless.

Hyunjin was, essentially, an enigma. He made it clear more than once that he loathed men with every inch of his soul, statement which always made you giggle because: «aren’t you one as well?»

Sometimes, you had the feeling that Hyunjin was not completely human; he would sing about lost tales and lost battles that seemed to have happened centuries ago, and still, from the way he talked about those events, it seemed like he had been a direct witness. Moreover, there was the part where Hyunjin used one of the forbidden spell without being affected by it.

Seungmin and Jeongin were probably the biggest surprise: they went from trying to forcefully drag you back to the Cursed Kingdom to run errands under Changbin’s order. More than once, they stated that they wanted to help you due to a change of heart.

«We are not children of Nature, but our parents are.» Seungmin explained, «as you know, only children of Nature are corrupted by Hongjoong’s power, we just blindly follow the ideals of our loved ones.»

Minho and Jisung were group’s new entry, and you wondered if you would have managed to get along. Minho was a child of Fire, just like you, and he seemed really determined.

Jisung wasn’t a child of Nature; you wondered if the fact that he only seemed to talk with Minho was selective mutism or he was just really shy, but you found yourself hoping that one day, he would trust you and the others enough to let you hear his voice.

“Why am I looking so forward to the future?” you questioned yourself with a silent scoff as you tossed and turned in bed yet another time. To say that the future was uncertain was a euphemism, and even thought you tried not to let anyone else notice, you were terrified of it.

As you were busy tossing and turning in bed, Hyunjin was quietly strolling through the inn’s dim lit hallways, busy caressing with his fingertips the texture of the fire silk petal that the wind carried back to him not too long ago.  

“Let their fate do its course,” the message Karanda sent him was simple; however, the lack of further explanations didn’t seem to please him.

«What did you see, Karanda, and why don’t you want to tell me?» Hyunjin breathed softly, his words - barely above a whisper, unable to reach his long time friend.

Too lost in thought, Hyunjin didn’t notice that the door on his left was suddenly opening before he found himself being roughly yanked inside a room and his back harshly pressed against the sturdy wall.

Felix was looking at him, and angry scowl painted on his graceful features, and Hyunjin furrowed his eyes in doubt, since he had never seen such emotions portrayed on his face; quickly glancing around the room, he noticed that Felix was indeed alone.

«You know, if you wanted a midnight tryst with me you could have asked.» Hyunjin hissed, a hint of irritation hidden in his usual tone, as he quickly brushed away the firm grip the Prince still had on his shoulders.

Felix scoffed, «You sound a little too confident, for someone who has been found out.» he spoke, happy about the fact that for a second, Hyunjin’s composed and stoic face didn’t seem to be able to hide his surprise. «The trees I can chit-chat with just told me an interesting story, wanna hear it?» Felix went on, his usual patient and gentle behaviour suddenly nowhere to be seen as his eyes were a bright shade of green – as he was probably still trying to communicate with nature.

«What do you know?» it was clear to Hyunjin that at this point, he couldn’t deny to be sent by Karanda herself, he just hoped for Felix not to be the kind of person that kisses and tell.

«Everything.» Felix immediately answered while crossing his arms in front of his chest, making the bard hiss a frustrated sigh. «But actually… I think I have something to talk you about.»

The Prince sat on his bed, tilting his head towards his left and silently inviting Hyunjin to sit next to him; needless to say, the bard complied, curiosity having the best of him. Apparently, Felix had received a curious order from Offin herself.

«Did she talk to you?» Hyunjin’s eyebrows lifted in surprise; for all he knew, the Goddess of Earth had refused to meet her children since Jongho’s mind had been corrupted, could she have changed her mind all of a sudden?

However, Felix shook his head, «The trees carried her words; apparently, I should “help the disguised harpy”.» he added, his tone suddenly sounding gentler, as his eyes returned to their original warm colour.

«That would be me.» Hyunjin softly mumbled.

«I know, I’ve heard so many things in so little time, I thought I was about to go insane,» Felix whined, placing his elbows on his knees in order to hide his face in his hands; «the thing is, the Goddess of Earth gave the both of us an order.»

Although you were certain that sooner or later, everyone managed to fall asleep, you still felt awake as ever; you stretched your limbs with a soft sigh, before eventually sitting up with a groan, all the chances to get a good night sleep forgotten as you walked towards the wall hanger just to wear – over your nightdress, the linen robe that the innkeeper had provided you with.

As you quietly walked through the small corridor attached to the rooms, the faint light coming from the cosy living room situated downstairs was the only signal that someone else was awake; hesitantly leaning in, you noticed that Chris was sitting in front of the fireplace, silently carving something in a small piece of wood while seeming lost in thoughts.

Secretly smiling to yourself, you walked down the stairs, wondering why the boy seemed not to have noticed you, yet. Approaching from his left side, you stopped right behind one of the wooden chairs.

«Can’t sleep?» you gently questioned, making your presence known and therefore, making Chris jolt his head towards you; could he have been so lost in thoughts that he actually didn’t notice you?

Chris briefly shook his head, «How about you?» he questioned back immediately, «the moon isn’t out tonight, but I guess it’s still pretty late.»

«Changbin snores, he… woke me up.» you lied, making Chris scoff with an amused smile; although it was easy to figure out that you were lying, the boy still respected your silence.

«He doesn’t snore loud enough to be heard next door, but keep your secrets, fireball.» he joked.

The only sound beside your soft breaths was Chris’s carving knife skilfully moving over the small birch fragment, and curiously enough, it seemed to work as a strange lullaby for you; although Chris didn’t try to make conversation, he openly moved his chair so that he could face you directly.

«Where did you learn?» you curiously asked him, trying to avoid the sudden temptation to go back to sleep.

«It’s just an old habit,» he said, «Felix is actually better than me, you know, he’s naturally predisposed to it.» he admitted with a brief chuckle; you decided to move from where you were, just to sit on the chair right next to his, so that you could take a closer look to what he was doing Once again, he adjusted his position in order to satisfy your curiosity.

«I was thinking about the future, that’s why I couldn’t sleep.» you quietly admitted after few more minutes of comfortable silence, ignoring the fact that sharing your thoughts with the boy seemed to be incredibly easy, and Chris gave you an encouraging nod, which made you keep talking, «and I’m terrified, because I don’t know what will happen – what if the whole ritual turns out to be a failure?»

«There’s a possibility,» Chris stopped his motions altogether, placing the carving knife on the coffee table; «but we’ll be there as well, we’ll figure something out.» he gently spoke. With soft sigh, you nodded at him, biting the inside of your cheek as you felt your eyes swell up with tears; at the same moment, Chris’ eyes widened, a faint trace of panic flashing into his eyes.

«Oh, sink me – don’t cry, fireball, that really places me in a bad position.» he nervously rubbed his neck as he tried to joke, and you instinctively laughed breathlessly.

«Why would that put you in a bad position?» you inquired, missing how the hint of a blush was starting to colour his cheeks.

«I really don’t know how to console you when you cry.» he admitted while shyly scratching his nape, and you forcefully held back a smile, remembering the day when he offered you his cloak as you cried your eyes out on your mother’s grave.

«When it happens, you can simply do this.» taking advantage of a little outburst of courage, you adjusted your position on the chair; you gradually leaned towards Chris, until your forehead touched his shoulder. The fact that you immediately felt him tense up made you smile to yourself, now more aware than ever that his teasing behaviour was definitely only a facade.

Although the position you were in was uncomfortable, you felt relieved as soon as Chris started to relax; you felt gentle and hesitant scratches against your nape, and you started to relax as well.

At some point of the night, both you and Chris decided to sit on the carpet, your knees touching, as you asked him to tell you more of the adventures he and Felix had.

«I’ve been really curious about something,» you used your index finger to quickly tap twice under your left eye, «does it hurt?» you shyly questioned him, and Chris simply shook his head.

«Not really, you can touch it if you want to.» he offered, and you shyly nodded at him; your hand hesitantly inched closer to his face, with the intention to brush your fingertips against his scar as gently as you could.

As your hand gradually got closer to his face, Chris patiently sat without moving, as if he was waiting for you to realize something; only when your fingertips were almost touching his soft eyelashes and still, Chris didn’t blink nor react, you realized.

«It doesn’t see anything, not anymore.» Chris spoke, his tone unreadable; you leaned towards him, unable to focus on anything else beside the boy in front of you.

In that moment, some little things you haven’t really been paying attention to seemed to be so obvious. Felix would generally stand at Chris’ left side; if at the beginning you thought it was just a habit, you realized that it was because Chris was entrusting his sight to Felix, which seemed to naturally act accordingly.

«Of course, I can do the little trick that children of Water do,» Chris tilted his head, giving you a smug smile, «but after few minutes, it gets quite uncomfortable, you know - your eyes keep seeing different things.» he admitted, and you adverted your gaze, realizing that it was probably the reason why Chris lost so easily to you the first time you met.

«When did it happen? Why didn’t Vell heal you?» you questioned, incredulous; by your family’s tales, you were convinced that the Gods were kind and understanding. The fact that Chris has mismatched eyes was the clear proof that he had died already, so why didn’t he get his sight back?

«Uh, two months before meeting you, I think?» Chris vaguely explained with his eyebrows furrowed, as if he couldn’t exactly pinpoint the day he lost part of his sight, «Vell doesn’t really like humans, especially since… Well, the whole Hongjoong issue,» he explained further, «he simply told me one of his sons has strayed to the wrong path, and I had to – get rid of him.»

Despite the whirlwind of thoughts running through your brain, a faint «Oh.» was everything you found yourself able to say.

«I’m sorry-»

«It’s okay,» you said, trying your best to come up with a convincing smile, «that means, what I have to do it’s pretty intuitive, isn’t it?»

«There has to be another way, sweetheart, I’m sure we’ll find it.» Chris didn’t directly answer your question, settling for tightly hold your hand.

Around the middle of the morning, Hyunjin knocked twice at your door.

«Come on, Princess, it’s time to go.» he called out; however, as he still didn’t hear any sign of an answer from you, he simply rolled his eyes in annoyance.

He simply brushed his fingertips in front of the keyhole, only for a loud and sharp “click” to be heard; the bard walked into your room, sighing with his hands on his hips at the sight of you being still asleep.

«It’s almost lunchtime, did you sneak out to attend a ball overnight?» he teased, giggling at the groan you answered with. «Wake up, sleepy head,» Hyunjin whispered while sitting on the edge of the mattress and gently shaking your shoulder; on the other hand, you simply groaned again, turning towards the other side.

«Five more minutes, Seonghwa.» you mumbled back out of habitude, unconsciously trying to swat away Hyunjin’s hand.

As you moved, you unconsciously brushed few strands of hair from your face, making it now fall back on the soft pillow; Hyunjin shortly widened his eyes in surprise, and his fingertips moved a strand of hair behind your ear.

«Now, this is interesting.» he smirked while holding between his fingertips the silver feather dangling from your earring. Hyunjin smiled at himself, remembering the day where Karanda gave such a prestigious gift to your mother; of course, he had wondered if Hongjoong had kept it with him, but he was surprised not to have noticed that the feather has been with you for all this time.

«Troublesome child of Fire,» he whispered, his eyes briefly flashing a dark shade of grey, «although the wind can’t guide you, it can guide me to you.»

«We’ll shortly split the group in two,» Minho announced as soon as you and the others arrived in front of his door, «Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin will secure the horses right out of the nest; once we’re done we’ll need to run away really quickly, but if we all leave now towards the same direction, we’re just claim more unwanted attention.»  

«I’ll go with them as well,» Felix announced out of the blue, «I can easily hide our presence or hide our traces – I mean they can do that as well, but it would take them much more time.» Minho and Jisung shortly glanced at each other, before nodding at the Prince’s offer.

As soon as the others started following Jisung, Minho headed the opposite way, followed by you, Chris and Hyunjin; the young boy expertly walked you through the crowd who was constantly facing the opposite direction, busy gazing at the numerous lanterns lightning up the sky.

Once again, you were grateful about the fact that somewhere during your stroll, Chris’ hand tightly enveloped yours and didn’t let go.

«Uh, wanna hold mine?» Seungmin whispered to Hyunjin, holding his hand out as a joke, eventually gotten used to yours and Chris’ behaviour.

«Please, hold my hand so I can’t make them forcefully kiss.» Hyunjin hissed back, and the assassin let out a breathless laugh, as he placed both his hands against his nape.

Minho definitely wasn’t joking when he said that there was a somewhat secret path leading to Garmoth’s nest which was not used anymore. Turning right after the building containing a small pharmacy, you could see easy access to steep stairs carved into the side of the mountain; said steps, as well as being steep, had been naturally eroded by time, making them even smoother and more dangerous. Needless to say, you could easily figure out why no one was using that path in the first place.

«Say, you’re trying to kills us?» Seungmin questioned Minho, as your small group was forced to proceed in line, both hands gripping the rope attached to the side of the mountain as you descended with crossed steps.

«I wouldn’t dream of it,» Minho replied, «it would be useless, knowing that Hyunjin could easily save you.»

«Speaking of which, couldn’t you give us a lift?» Chris questioned, only for Hyunjin to scoff, clearly offended by the boy’s proposal.

«Did you take me for one of those domesticated gryphons?» he retorted, referring to the fact that some merchants transported their goods from a city to another through the sky.

It was as if you had been descending steps for hours, and still, your path looked never-ending.

«Are the others going to follow the same route?» Chris questioned, and Minho shook his head.

«They’ll take the other path, they will probably arrive before us.»

In the end, Minho’s words turned out to be the truth. Jisung’s group was patiently waiting for you while comfortably sitting in front of the entrance of a narrow tunnel, collectively raising their eyebrows at the fact that as soon as you touched solid ground, you, Seungmin and Chris knelt on it while mumbling random “thank you’s” towards it.

«I really don’t want to experience something like that anymore.» you spoke, both Seungmin and Chris quickly agreeing with you.

«Quit being dramatic, it wasn’t that bad.» Hyunjin simply shrugged, making Felix silently sneer.

The tunnel in which you had to pass was not particularly long; in fact, as soon as you entered, you could already see its end. A few drops of water occasionally fell from the rocky ceiling, echoing in the small puddles located in the uneven mixture of gravel and mud you were walking over.

Although you expected that Garmoth’s nest would look like a lot of things, you definitely did not expect that you wouldn’t have been able to see almost anything due to a dense fog obstructing your sight.

Minho and Jisung – followed by the others, stopped right in front a wide altar which seemed to be made out of marble, before placing the box containing the fire silk flowers on top of it.

«This is the fifth altar; we have to place the flowers, and then light the candles.» Minho explained, before tilting his head towards the sky; «you can’t see anything due to the fog, but Duvencrune is right there.

No one would be able to see this altar, due to its position.» following his gaze and wrapping your head around what you had learned about the city’s geography during the past days, you deduced he was right.

Absently nodding at his words, you did your best to ignore the fact that your heart was racing due to the anxiety you were feeling; with secure steps, you closed the small distance between you and the altar, waving your hand towards the lone candle on top of it in order to set it alight.

«Should we start?» you nervously questioned, reaching out to grab the box of flowers.

«I think it’s not wise for all of us to walk in there,» Hyunjin hurriedly spoke, as he saw how everyone was ready to follow you.

«Yeah, what if Garmoth thinks Hongjoong sent us?» Jeongin quickly added, and as much you hated to think about it, you had to admit to yourself that it was the truth.

«You can’t possibly think to go by yourself.» Chris questioned you with his voice laced with worry, breathing an exasperated sigh as you answered with a court nod.

«Probably we should calm down and think about a better solution?» Felix proposed, and you shook your head.

«But I am calm, really. Don’t I look calm?» you nervously spoke, trying to hide the tremor of your hands while holding the flower box a little tighter, «My decision to walk in there alone is a calm, rational and reasonable decision -»

«I’ll go with her,» Minho stated, interrupting your nervous blabbering and quickly claiming everyone’s attention, «we’re both children of Fire, we’ll be fine.»

As strange as it sounded, the fog seemed to dissipate the more you and Minho ventured towards the center of the nest.

«Is it usually this foggy down here?» you questioned him, scattering few flowers on one of the altar as Minho effortlessly lightened up the candle.

«It’s… not.» he truthfully answered, making you feel as if your throat just tightened out of nervousness.

If Garmoth’s nest looked incredibly vast from above, now that you were walking through it, it never seemed to end; the soil had not been cleared, and there were small areas where with wild grass was growing right next to clearly burnt soil. The four altars were very far from each other, and if from the top of the mountain – the city of Duvencrune, the spikes of rock clearly looked like a dragon’s claw, seen from below it was impossible to deduce it, as no matter how far you could look up, it was impossible to see their end.

Although the others were nervously trying to spot both you and Minho through the thick layer of fog, Hyunjin sat on the marble altar with crossed legs, his chin delicately placed on his palm, as he wore an amused expression.

Of course, his sight was definitely better than the sight of a human’s, reason why he had no trouble keeping an eye on the two of you.

Not to mention, he definitely had no trouble to notice how Garmoth was casually sitting on top a ledge erupting from one of the rocky spikes, watching over you and Minho with a pleased smile.

Hyunjin sighed, tempted to create a barrier wide enough to prevent everyone – beside your group, to notice the dragon that would have soon made his entrance, however, Garmoth seemed to already have thought of it; sharpening his gaze, Hyunjin noticed a faint but constant movement of air, as if it couldn’t move freely, and the bard smiled to himself.

Garmoth really seemed to already have thought about everything.

«That’s the last one.» Minho announced as he lightened up the fifth candle, and at once, the flowers caught fire as well. Instinctively, you took Minho’s hand out of fear, and he held yours just as tightly; although he never doubted Sulien’s words, he was still kind of doubtful about the simplicity that apparently was needed in order to summon a God.

«What now?» you nervously questioned as the two of you hesitantly started to make your way back towards the center of the nest. “Please, don’t say something like ‘we have to do a blood sacrifice’ or some other creepy things”, you mentally added.

«The notes don’t say anything else.» Minho hastily answered, but before he could even think about voicing any other thought, a sudden loud and menacing roar seemed to shake the sky, and the fog dissipated as if it was absorbed into the ground. Garmoth made its regal appearance; he flew over your heads in a predatory way before landing, the impact of his arrival against the ground was enough to make you and Minho jolt back from inertia.

«Lixie,» Hyunjin gently called out, and Chris shortly furrowed his eyebrows, puzzled at the unusual nickname suddenly used for his friend. Although Felix didn’t verbally answer him, he created a barrier out of vines and climbing plants, “shielding them from the Dragon’s sight” – as if earlier Garmoth didn’t eagerly wave at Hyunjin who blatantly ignored him, but leaving enough gaps so that they could still see you and Minho.  

Garmoth was huge, and no matter how far you looked, you couldn’t see the end of his tail; in that moment, Hongjoong’s tales about meeting the Dragon came to your mind, and you silently cursed yourself for saying that he was “definitely exaggerating how big a dragon could be”. The dragon’s scales were faint red and definitely looked impossible to graze; his pointed claws dug deep furrows in the ground as he slowly approached you and Minho, who still kept holding hands as if your life depended of it. Garmoth’s eyes were wary, and his eye colour kept changing, making it seem like you were gazing to a burning fire.

With a loud gulp, Minho let go of your hand, slowly positioning himself behind you, as to use you as a shield if something went wrong; the thing was, you did just the same. Both you and Minho kept walking backwards, hiding one behind the other, as an amused dragon, who was clearly having the time of his life, slowly chased you.

«Why are my children cowering in fear?» Garmoth spoke, and although he didn’t actually voice any of his words, Minho’s shaky fingertips immediately intertwining with yours were a way to let you understand that the both of you were able to hear him through your thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, you quickly glanced at Minho, before looking at Garmoth once again: «We are incredibly honoured and utterly blessed to gaze up-»

«-at your magnificent… magnificence, oh Garmoth… the magnificent.» Minho somewhat finished your sentence, as the Dragon was now slowly pacing around the two of you with slow and menacing step.

Judging by the gentle sway of his tail, Garmoth was definitely having the time of his life by seeing you shaking like leaves in the wind – Hyunjin knew that.

«You flatter me, young flames. However,» Garmoth’s powerful voice roared again within your head, and you instinctively closed your eyes because Hongjoong never said it would have been this unpleasant, «all this unnecessary flattery makes me think you came here to steal something from me.»

«No!» you and Minho simultaneously exclaimed, «No, no, no! We - we wouldn’t!»

«I came here – we came here, to seek for advice, and to warn you! Hongjoong is trying to-» you tried explain the situation, but Garmoth’s sudden annoyed huff of smoke made you froze mid-sentence.  

Could it be that you offended him somehow? “Maybe I shouldn’t have said we came to warn him, he’s a God… He probably knew,” you thought.

However, Garmoth rightfully interpreted your silence as being scared, and even though he loved humans and enjoyed meeting them in his dragon dorm every once a while, he realized that the matter you were to discuss was too important for you to face it while being that scared.

The Dragon lifted his face to the sky, and another powerful roar echoed within the nest; you and Minho instinctively shrieked, your hands melting together at this point – consider your hold on each other, as you instinctively closed your eyes in fear.

Garmoth’s body seemed to vanish in a whirlwind of fire, leaving some scattered dust on the soil, and as you and Minho opened your eyes once again, you were faced with the same fog you had seen right before lightening up the altars.

«So, that was it?» you weakly questioned, «we didn’t accomplish anything?» tears of frustration were gathering at the corner of your eyes, but before Minho could say something to console you, Garmoth’s voice spoke from behind you.

«Don’t be that sad! We have a lot to talk about, and very little time to do it.» at once, both you and Minho snapped your head behind yourself as quickly as you could, surprised at the unfamiliar man now looking at you with a proud and yet amused smile. «It’s still me, I figured you would feel less threatened about my human form!» Garmoth gave the both of you a dazzling smile, before reaching out in order to loop his arms around your neck; you stood at his right side, while Minho on his left. It was probably a secret thought that the both of you shared, but you were glad about the fact that the Dragon’s voice wasn’t echoing through your head anymore.

At that point, you weren’t sure that what was happening was real; a man, who claimed to be Garmoth and who had insanely handsome features, was patiently listening to everything you knew about Hongjoong and his corruption.

Of course, you definitely couldn’t doubt about his words, since his looks clearly gave away the fact that he was not human. Everything from his bright red eyes – which still kept burning as a lively flame, to the warmth spreaded from his honey coloured skin, to the small horns erupting from the sides of his forehead told you that he was – in fact, the God of Fire himself.

«His behaviour definitely must be Kzarka’s fault.» Garmoth, concluded, after few long minutes of silence.

«The God of Corruption?» Minho questioned, «Wasn’t he sealed away?»

«By my heel, he still is!» Garmoth exclaimed, his authoritative and powerful voice roaring even in his human form. «However, me and the Goddess of Air deduced that fragments of his aura are scattered in this world, and sadly Hongjoong found not just one, but two of them.»

«Is it that bad?» Minho curiously questioned him, as you stood there, unable to voice any of your question because you were too afraid of the answer.

«It is.» Garmoth simply nodded, «If a human were to find one fragment of his soul, he would die on the spot; when I brought him back to life, I gave Hongjoong part of my power, making him even stronger than any average children of Nature… That’s probably why he managed to create his Kingdom of puppets. Kzarka must have sealed away his soul, but not his powers.»

«How can I help him? There has to be a way for me to save him! Not only him, but Seonghwa, Wooyoung and -»

«You shouldn’t linger where there is no hope, young flame.» Garmoth interrupted your sentence, his gentle and soothing voice making the words die in your throat.

«What do you mean?» again, tears gathered at the corner of your eyes, and the Dragon easily collected them on the tip of his fingertips as he brushed your cheekbones almost in an affectionate manner.

«Anything Kzarka touches and corrupts is doomed to wither; it pains me to tell you but, all is left about your family is nothing but empty shells.» it was as if someone had just slapped you with a bucket of ice; as Garmoth noticed that both you and Minho seemed to refuse to speak, he went on. «I am sure someone is way better than me at singing old tales,» he chuckled to himself as he glanced towards where Hyunjin and the others were safely hidden, «but, when we faced Kzarka, many years ago, the cost to defeat him had been great – even unimaginable for someone as young and small as the two of you. We spent time, love and dedication to create humanity, just for a single God to corrupt half of it, and even though Kzarka managed to destroy almost every God that roamed this world, the four who survived are - we’re still facing the consequences of his powers after centuries  - no, probably much more than that.»  

«Your task is very simple, however, I am sure it would create further turmoil within your soul.» Garmoth took a confident step in front of the two of you, turning around to face you once again; he faintly outstretched the palm of his hand, and closed it around what seemed to be one of his own scales. Fire started erupting from his hand following a precise shape, and after few seconds, a sword materialized from the burning fire.

Garmoth handed it over to you, «Use this to stab Hongjoong. If you’re lucky, you’ll see him one last time, before he’ll be consumed by his own power – burning from flames to dust, returning to me and therefore facing my judgement.»

As if someone else was moving your body instead of your own will, you emotionlessly reached out to grab at the helm and the sheath of the sword, clutching it against your chest. Chris’ words about his duty being to get rid of Seonghwa rather gave you a hint about what Garmoth would have told you to do, but still, you couldn’t believe it.

Most importantly, would you be able to do it?  

«I am afraid our time is up, young flames.» Garmoth smiled, ruffling Minho’s hair in an affectionate manner, «I saw few humans do it to their young kiddos, it’s not that bad indeed!» he chuckled to himself. «I can’t really tell you anything about your future, but – well, Minho, take care of your sister for me as well; and believe me, you’re going to love your found family.» Garmoth told him, tilting his head towards you as to signal that of course, you had just been appointed as Minho’s relative.

«And you - tell me, how are things with the Prince?» Garmoth questioned, and as if you had been woken up from a strange dream, you furrowed your eyebrows just to stare back at him quizzically, «Your soulmate, of course!» Garmoth added with his signature dazzling smile.

Minho’s wide eyes, matching your incredulity locked with yours.

Felix was your soulmate?

«Thinking about it, I’m sure you’ll be fine. He’s a considerate man – all children of Water are.» he added, and if possible, you were sure that both yours and Minho’s eyes widened even more.

If the Prince was your soulmate, but the Prince was a son of Water, it could only mean that -

«Chris is your soulmate?!» Minho questioned, utterly uncredulous, and you simply stared back at him with your eyes as wide as the moon.

«Yeah, I believe that’s his name for this life.» the Dragon replied with furrowed eyebrows, not understanding why the two of you could be so shocked about the Prince being a son of Water; after all, Karanda had told him that you were indeed travelling together!

Far from where you and Minho stood, however, Hyunjin definitely couldn’t believe his ears; Garmoth really walked in the place revealing things he definitely shouldn’t have revealed.  

«Fool of a Dragon.» he spat under his breath, hiding his face into his hands.

After you and Minho bid farewell to Garmoth, and he disappeared in a sudden flash of burning flames, Minho gently took a hold of your hand, leading the two of you towards the others once again.

Despite the fact that you were wordlessly following Minho as if you were in a trance while holding against your chest the enchanted sword, despite the fact that as soon as your friends spotted you, they ran towards the two of you while asking a lot of questions, the only thing you found yourself able to do was to walk towards Chris.

Wordlessly and without making eye contact, you placed your head in the crook of his neck, and he immediately held you, quietly asking what happened, worried about the fact that you had started crying; Chris locked his eyes with Minho, unable to decipher his gaze.

«We’ll explain everything as soon as we’ll be far enough from here; right now we have to flee.» Although everyone was curious about what could have happened to make you react like that, they knew that Minho was right, and the most difficult part of the plan was about to start.

«Do you want to ride with me?» Chris quietly questioned you as he reluctantly let go of you, and you nodded at him; although you just found out that Chris had been lying about his identity, you suspected there was a valid reason for it.

Moreover, most importantly, you didn’t want to be alone.

Few hours later, a more than reassuring distance was between your group and the city of Duvencrune, and as you were camping right under a blanket of stars, you and Minho explained what Garmoth told you – without mentioning about the part where Chris was your soulmate.

Actually, if you were to be honest, Minho explained to the others what happened during your meeting, because since you left the nest, you barely spoke.

«You don’t seem surprised to hear any of that, could it be that you already knew?» Felix quietly questioned Hyunjin, after he made sure that no one else could hear them; Hyunjin simply nodded, his heart tightening at the sight of you politely refusing to eat yet again.

«Don’t meddle yourself with humans affairs too much, for you are not one of them.» Karanda had clearly told him back then, and he was a fool for ignoring her suggestion so blatantly.

«I should have known better.» he melodramatically sighed loudly, ignoring Felix’s questioning gaze; Hyunjin started walking towards you, his hands confidently placed behind his nape.

«Shoo, away from my princess.» he joked, quickly moving his hands to ironically signalling Changbin to move out the way; he took the bowl the man was previously holding before sitting in front of you.

«You have two options, either you eat this by yourself, or I’ll feed you myself,» he heard Chris  say, and he forcefully hid an amused smile; he had never seen the Prince trying to make you do anything against your will until now.

Let’s just say that, considered the kind of day you just had, and the fact that it was late night and the last time you ate was probably earlier that morning, he kind of approved Chris trying to make you eat something; for sure, no one among them wanted to see you collapse out of exhaustion.

«I second that!» Hyunjin intervened, nodding at Chris’ thankful gaze, «but if I have to feed you, I’ll make the same stupid noises people have to do while feeding a baby.»

Although Hyunjin’s incredibly serious gaze met your emotionless one, you managed to scoff out of incredulity.

«How can you wait for me to finish eating - aren’t you usually the most famished among all of us?» you weakly questioned back.

However, the perspective of Hyunjin mimicking a horse’s noise as he brought the spoon from the bowl to your mouth definitely did not seem appealing, reason why you reached out, hesitantly taking a hold of the bowl full of stew.

«You seemed to like it last time, I thought it could… cheer you up.» Jeongin hesitantly spoke from the other side of the fireplace, and you found yourself smiling at him.

«So, what’s the plan?» Seungmin questioned the following day.

«Although it’s clear where we have to go, I think we should properly prepare ourselves,» Felix reasonably proposed, «there are nine of us – and Jisung and Minho can’t fight, we definitely can’t barge into the Cursed Kingdom expecting to succeed.» At Felix’s words, Seungmin’s and Jeongin’s ears perked up; immediately, their attention was locked on both Minho and Jisung.

Needless to say, if they already swore that their hostility towards you had disappeared, now it was undeniable; their attention completely shifted on teaching both Minho and Jisung how to properly fight, because «What do you mean that at Duvencrune, people are raised to devote themselves to Garmoth? Oh, you mean you were raised to die young?»

That said, Changbin suggested to not move until the following morning; «It’s a shielded place, no one would see us anyway; as long as we start moving at dawn’s light, we’ll be okay.» he said, and once again, being he the most expert when it came to travelling, you followed his lead.

Although you spent the day mostly laying on the grass and doing absolutely nothing, you were glad about the fact that Chris decided to do the same thing.

«Can I stay with you, or do you want to be alone?» he had questioned, crouching down next to you, and you answered that of course, you didn’t want to be alone.

As the others spend the unexpected day off someone training and someone rearranging the provisions, Chris had patiently sat next to you, listening as you mindlessly emptied the contents of your heart.  

Once again, you carefully avoided to mention about the fact that you and him were soulmates and most importantly, you avoided to mention about the fact that – somewhere along your endless talk, your fingers naturally intertwined.

«I know what Garmoth said, I will never have my father and the others back, but… a tiny part of me believes I can.» you said, aware that you probably sounded like an idiot. However, Chris hummed, gently playing with your fingers.

«I don’t think you sound like an idiot,» he shrugged, and for a second you questioned whether you spoke out loud, «they are people you love, it’s only fair for you to want to save them. However… Probably, that’s the best solution, not only for – well, literally the whole known land since we’re constantly on the verge of war, but for them as well?»

Chris noticed that you were glancing at him with a puzzled expression, and so he explained himself; «I am not you, therefore, I will never know the full story like you do, but, when we met Wooyoung, he said that your mother had suffered from an illness after she came in contact with one of the stones. And, if I heard Minho correctly, Garmoth said that their soul is corrupted, or most definitely sealed away. Could it be that maybe, Hongjoong and the others have been suffering for years?»

In the moment your gaze locked with Chris’ mismatched eyes, you definitely felt like an idiot. The fact that they all suffered was undeniable; Hongjoong lost not only his wife – his soulmate, but his own daughter as well.

Wooyoung’s face as he told you that San has lost himself to darkness – therefore forgetting everything about the long years they have been married, was something you definitely could not forget, as well. Each one of your loved ones had lost something that they loved – whether it was a person or just their passion towards their work or hobbies, and still, you felt in the rightful to want to bring them back to you.

Especially, after Wooyoung had explicitly told you that everyone of them had willingly decided to be corrupted in your place, just to give you enough time to grow up and become fully independent. Suddenly, the never-ending training sessions you had to stand for years finally made sense, now that you were looking at your past from another perspective.

“I’m really lucky you’re my soulmate,” you secretly thought, hoping that one day, you would have been able to speak those words as well.

«Princess, can we talk to you?» Minho hesitantly spoke as Jisung was standing next to him, shyly adverting his gaze, as no one really wanted to interrupt the small bubble you and Chris seemed to be trapped in.  

Wanting for the three of you to be alone, Minho and Jisung walked to the other side of the small camp, their backs turned towards the others so that no one could see what they were about to do.

«Me and Jisung came to an agreement,» Minho announced, handing your dagger towards you, «we’re returning it.»

«You’re… leaving? But we’re far from any village, at least let us travel together until-»

«Let me explain, please,» Minho quickly added, his voice much more softer than it was the day you first met him, and you noticed how Jisung had lifted his hands as well, signalling you to let his brother explain, «we didn’t know about who you were and the whole… thing you have to face. We simply saw your group as a free ride to leave Duvencrune, however – on our part, things have changed. We are returning the dagger because – if you allow us, we plan to help you and to stay by your side because we’re willing to, not because we’re bound by a trade.»

«Ah,» you sighed, as once again you felt tears gathering at the corner of your eyes; instinctively, you reached out to hug the both of them, mumbling a soft, «I don’t usually cry that much, you just took me by surprise.»

Minho laughed, but most importantly, as faintly as a whisper carried by the wind, you thought you heard Jisung mumble an almost inaudible: «It’s okay.»

Later that night, Felix was the first to keep watch, silently guarding the camp as you and the others were fast asleep.

«You look a little bit too relaxed, you already forgot about our task?» Hyunjin questioned, as he sat next to Felix.

«Of course I didn’t! We’re going to walk straight into Hongjoong’s trap as if it’s not even there.» Felix answered faking enthusiasm, making the bard roll his eyes at him. «Although I’m trying to have faith in them, I can’t help to be worried.» the son of Earth reluctantly admitted, and the bard agreed with him.

«The thought of something happening to Chris once again is enough to give me collywobbles.» Felix added, his eyes unfocused.

«The what?» Hyunjin questioned, and Felix sighed in an exasperated way.

«I’m scared!!» he whisper-yelled, emphasizing the concept.

“Let their fate do its course”, but what could it mean? Moreover, why did Hyunjin had the feeling that Karanda was hiding something from him?

Felix was silent once again, and he didn’t want to disturb him; for a moment, he wondered why Offin decided to burden a mortal boy with such a request.

“Not like I need assistance,” Hyunjin thought, “unless something else came up.”

Few days had passed since you met Garmoth, and you felt strangely tense; although you didn’t want to mention about your feelings to the others because you didn’t want to burden them with your emotions, you settled for being more wary towards your surroundings.

Felix and Changbin were once again leading the group towards a village – which was at least four more days of uncomfortable travel, and you couldn’t wait to sleep on a real bed once more.

Although the vegetation was thick once again, and consequently the dry and arid climate of Duvencrune was definitely behind you, you were still roaming through the mountains – even if of a lower altitude.

Roaming through the mountains meant that you had to think twice about the direction you were to take because, as Changbin repeated quite often, “damn cliffs are damn everywhere on this damn land”. However, no one expected both Felix to take the wrong path and – most importantly, Yunho to be there.

«Well well, that’s unexpected,» Yunho’s attention was claimed by the sound of the horses’ hooves. He was expecting to see some travellers who got lost, but he was rather surprised to find you of all people among them, «tired of your stupid game of cat and mouse?» he questioned with a smug grin. Yunho’s eyes turned completely black, he snapped his fingers, making a small group of at least ten soldiers seemed to appear out of darkness itself.

“I’m sure that he couldn’t do this last time I saw him, what in the world happened?” you thought, cowering in fear and glad about the fact that Changbin instinctively placed his horse between the two of you in an attempt to shield you.

«Quit it, Yunho.» Changbin spoke; however, as Yunho’s eyes landed on his long-time friend, there was no sign of recognition in them. Yunho furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head, almost about to question to Changbin why he was daring referring to him so confidentially.

«I feel generous today,» Yunho’s authoritative voice spoke, silently dismissing Changbin’s topic, «I’ll let you dismount from your horses before throwing you down this cliff.»

«Leave the horses problem to me.» Felix quickly said, making you dismount from your rides at once; hiding someone’s presence was something common among children of Earth, you’ve seen Jongho creating paths out of nowhere plenty of times to know that Felix was probably about to do the same.

Although you were certain that the horses were going to be fine, you definitely couldn’t say the same about you.

«I want the girl alive, kill everyone else.» Yunho’s authoritative tone ordered as he wore a stoic and blank expression; as if they had just been woken up from a dream, the soldiers – who have been completely unmoving until then, charged towards your direction. It was obvious that you were outnumbered, and it was obvious that you couldn’t win.

Felix was momentarily nowhere to be seen, and therefore, out of instinct you moved towards Chris’ left side, as the boy was busy covering Minho’s back as well.

«What if we flee?» Changbin questioned with a scream, making sure you could hear him above the loud clashes of the swords. In the same moment, next to you, Chris managed to disarm one of Yunho’s soldiers with a quick and swift movement of his sword, just to grab at the enemy’s throat; water circled his neck, and as you saw him falling to the floor painfully coughing even more water, you realized you didn’t want to know what kind of fighting techniques were used at Iliya’s Island.

«It would be useless,» Seungmin, screamed back, «they won’t die unless they’ve fulfilled the order they received!» Exactly as your friend said, Yunho’s soldier sat back on the ground, slowly getting up after recovering his sword, ready to charge at him once again.

«That’s not possible!» Chris’ incredulous voice as he dodged yet another attack caught your attention, but you already knew what he was referring to. There was a black cloud of constantly moving black smoke around said soldier’s throat, and you didn’t have to glance at Yunho to confirm your suspicions. As easily as that, Yunho neutralized Chris’ spell.

The only spells who seemed to work longer than the others were Hyunjin’s; he was effortlessly and continuously neutralizing your enemies for a little longer than anyone else managed to. However, at this rate, it was impossible for anyone to take a break from continuously fighting in order to defend yourself.

It was definitely Yunho’s strategy; make you tired enough so that he could snatch you away without wasting too much of his energy. Hyunjin was the only one continuously attacking, thanks to his ability to move as quick as the wind; the rest of you were collaborating as best as you could, trying to deliver powerful spells only if someone else was parrying the opponent’s attack.

«It’s getting boring in here.» Yunho exclaimed, startling you judging from how close he got in the blink of an eye; he forcefully gripped your shoulder, yanking you towards the direction of the cliff.

«Let’s see if you were worth the wait.» Yunho’s voice spat, and once again, as your eyes locked, there was no sign of recognition in his eyes; as if the girl he had loved like his own daughter was now a complete stranger to him. «Since it’s your fault it took me so long to corrupt these souls, can you believe?» as his voice gradually got louder and – if possibly, angrier, he twirled the hilt of the sword on the back of his hand, only to grab it firmly once again and attack harshly towards the ground.

Although Yunho couldn’t remember, he was the one who - many years ago, had insisted that you constantly worked on having quick reflexes; it’s probably thanks to these lessons that his swords didn’t sink into your thigh.

«All is left about your family is nothing but empty shells,» Garmoth had said, and the words Yunho just spoke were the confirmation you needed.

Although one of the men you loved the most in the world was right in front of you, there was no trace of his kind and understanding soul any longer.

The thought of your family suffering only for you to be safe, for some reason, fuelled you with unexplainable anger; you quickly got on your feet, wielding the sword Garmoth’s created for you and launched forward.

«What’s that toy?» Yunho chuckled, easily parrying every one of your attacks; the fact that he wasn’t using his powers was a clear signal that he was playing with you, «Did the Dragon and his wench thought a human could kill me?» he laughed, kicking you in the stomach with enough force to make you fall on the ground once again. Yunho was towering over you, looking at you as if you were an annoying nuisance – you definitely were in his eyes, and as he approached your retreating form, he expertly twirled his sword in his hand.

«Watch out!» an unfamiliar rough voice shouted, and if only you were in such a situation, you would have been incredibly happy about the fact that Jisung had spoken out loud for the first time – of course, although you’d preferred for it to be a more peaceful moment.

As you dragged yourself back a little more, your left hand met the void; quickly glancing back, you realized with pure horror that not only you were literally at the edge of the cliff, but that Yunho was about to attack you once more and the only way to avoid it was to take the leap.

He drove his sword towards you once again, however, before you realized, a familiar weight crashed against yours, and you noticed too late that Chris’ arm had been stabbed by Yunho’s sword.

«No!» you exclaimed, as Yunho’s wicked laughter filled your ears; you pushed Chris’ back against your chest, and he clutched at the painful fresh wound. There was a faint aura of black smoke erupting from your soulmate’s skin, and you realized with horror that Yunho’s sword must have been either poisoned or enchanted.

«That alchemist is really something.» Yunho nodded to himself approvingly, as to praise Yeosang’s skill because - of course, no one else but him could have come up with something like that.

«Thinking about it, I changed my mind, you’ll die here.» Yunho’s wicked grin was back on his lips, as he closed his right hand in a tight fist; a small cloud of menacing darkness was erupting from it. «Hongjoong sends his regards.» he spat with an ironic tone, before the land under yours and Chris’ feet crumbled.

Before you realized what was happening, you and Chris were falling off the cliff at dangerous speed; although there was a river right underneath it, you sincerely doubted it was deep enough not to hurt the both of you. Moreover, the fall was dangerously high, meaning that you and your soulmate were most definitely doomed.

Suddenly, you felt Chris move his left arm right behind your waist, quickly yanking you against his chest. Ignoring the pain he was feeling, Chris used his powers, both eyes turning blue as the river quickly rose from its bed towards your direction, just to welcome you as a soft and inconsistent mattress, gently accompanying your fall and making you safely land on the river bank.

«I’ll leave the rest to you now.» Chris roughly panted, groaning in pain as he tried to do his best not to lose his senses.

Back on the cliff, Yunho and his soldiers had vanished in a cloud of black smoke in the same moment they saw you and Chris fall off the cliff.

«We have to find a way down, and quickly!» Minho urged, getting as close as the cliff as he could.

«It’s pretty high from here, they could be-»

«Seungmin, finish that sentence and I will personally cut your tongue.» Changbin’s rough and distressed voice spoke, as he tried to focus enough to summon his power just to see things from the river’s perspective.

However, as strange as it was, he could not.

«I can’t see… anything?» he opened his eyes, quizzically looking at Hyunjin and Felix. As the two of them tried to do the same, Changbin’s words were sadly confirmed.

Hyunjin had enchanted your earring so that he could be able to find you anywhere and everywhere, so why couldn’t he?

“Let their fate do its course.” Karanda had said, but was this what she meant?

Most importantly, what had he and Felix done to their friends?

Given the fact that a cloak of stars was draped over the sky, you admitted to yourself that you had completely lost track of time. Despite his attempts not to faint, Chris effectively lost his senses as soon as the two of you touched the wet soil of the riverbank, leaving you the task to both look for a sheltered place and somehow dragging him there.

Unexpectedly, you managed to find a recess, not deep enough to be considered a cave, but large and deep enough to allow you to hide inside undetected. Considering the fact that Chris was in a constant state where he kept fainting and gaining consciousness and you didn’t know whether Yunho was still looking for you, you decided that it was enough of a shelter for the night.

Carefully, you helped Chris sat against the sturdy wall of the recess, immediately creating a small fireplace right next to him; trying to make as little noise as you could, you took off both his fur cloak and yours instantly drying them with your powers, just to cover your soulmate’s shaking form.

However, Chris’ teeth didn’t stop clattering, and your worry only increased; you quickly moved to sit next to him, sneaking under a small fraction of his makeshift blanket so that your bodies were effectively touching, so that you could share your natural body heat with him.

Instinctively, Chris moved, leaning against your warmth barely above a whisper, he faintly mumbled your name, before leaning his against your shoulder; not wanting for him to move, you slowly moved your arm so that you could link yours with his, hugging it close to your chest.

Although he warmed up pretty quickly after you sat next to him, Chris’ pained whimpers were enough for you to not to manage to sleep; during the night, you tried to use healing magic on his wound, just to notice that it didn’t work in the least. The wound looked painful, but not extremely deep; despite the fact that there wasn’t any more black smoke erupting from it, the flash around said wound was concerning shades of a purplish colour.

Rubbing your eyes with distressed movement as if to get rid of your tiredness, you kept trying to heal him, aware that - if Chris was like that, it was completely your fault.

Under the same blanket of stars, your friends had collapsed due to exhaustion, as they had spent what remained of the day trying to find you.

«Guide me to her,» Hyunjin faintly mumbled to the wind, his eyes turning grey; however, never ending seconds passed, only for the bard to realize that Karanda herself was probably preventing him to find you. Hyunjin tightly clenched his fist, and turned his head towards Felix, who was once again keeping watch.

«If they wake up, cover for me.» the bard said, and before his friend could say anything else, he vanished in a gust of wind.

«You are shielding my sight.» Hyunjin advanced with secure steps through the Harpies’ Ridge. It wasn’t clear to him why he was so worked up about the issue; but he dismissed his thoughts with the shallow thought that he was just trying to follow her orders.

«And here I thought you came back because you missed your sisters.» Karanda addressed him, as always quietly sitting on her throne.

Hyunjin would have never thought that the day where he could be so angry towards his Queen would come, and yet, there he was.

«You’re shielding my sight, Karanda. I’ve been by your side for enough years for you to know that I hate when you do it.»

The Goddess, however, shook her head, completely aware about why the harpy was behaving like that, «It’s not my fault this time, but Kzarka’s.» meeting Hyunjin’s silence, she explained further, «I believe part of his corrupted power is dangerously close to her.»

Hyunjin’s heart felt a little less restless; although he was happy Karanda didn’t betray him, he was still worried about his friends. The bard furrowed his eyebrows, could it be that while they were fighting, Yunho managed to hurt one of them? No one saw what happened, since the cursed soldiers were keeping them busy enough to prevent it.

«They are alive, Hyunjin. Their souls haven’t returned to the Gods.» she added, and the bard nodded at her, although he didn’t manage to hide his concern.

At dawn’s first light, you felt a gentle hold around your wrist; snapping your head up, you realized with horror that somewhere along your attempts to heal Chris, you fell asleep. As you sat between his bent legs, your head had naturally fell on the crook of his neck, as apparently, your hands remained on his chest; you didn’t know if you felt more sore due to the uncomfortable position you slept in or if you felt more embarrassed about it.

However, Chris was looking at you, his eyes partially unfocused, before quietly glancing around just to take in your surroundings.

«How do you feel?» you cautiously asked, your heart feeling heavy as you noticed that he was still flinching and whimpering due to the pain he was feeling, but he was doing his best in trying to hide it from you. Chris didn’t trust his voice to verbally answer, and therefore he simply nodded, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.

«I’m sorry,» you admitted as you felt your eyes sting from the tears threatening to fall, «it’s my fault, I’m sorry.» you repeated, lowering your head so that you were staring at your lap.

«Cut the bullshit, it’s not your fault.» Chris’ husky and soft voice broke the silence, and he gently lifted your chin by placing his index finger under it, «I got hurt because I wanted to protect you, and it’s on me, not you.» you shook your head weakly, and he weakly scoffed.

Somewhere between your small talk, his hand slid from your wrist to your hand, intertwining your fingers in a gesture that despite everything, managed to comfort you.

Although he admitted that he wanted to protect you, you still wondered why; the feeling that he could return your feelings with the same intensity was a small yet bright hope in your heart, and you found yourself hesitantly tracing the scar on his face with trembling fingertips and a gentle touch.

Chris’ mismatched eyes were locked on you, and the kindness and affection that they showed were enough for you to realize that you didn’t want to lose him.

It was as if time stopped, just for you to inch closer to each other; as your lips met halfway, you wondered who had been the first one to lean in. Chris’ lips were gently and yet passionate against yours, just like his whole personality. He weakly lifted his left hand just to caress your cheek, moving your head just enough to deepen the kiss and you let him - you would have let him do so much more, but Chris sudden pained his broke the small bubble the both of you had lived in for few second.

Chris leaned his head in the crook of your neck, whimpering and shivering in pain, leaving you sitting between his legs and staring at the rocky wall; your heart was hammering in your chest, and you knew your soulmate could hear it loud and clear.

«Why did you kiss me?» you weakly questioned, unsure about the fact that your voice even came out in the first place.

«I’m sorry, sweetheart,» you heard him fatiguely speak, «I always show up too late when it’s time to save you.» he answered.

As you were about to retort, you noticed that your soulmate leaned his head back once again, his face shortly contorting in pain; taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the fact that you were effectively crying, you decided not to speak, repeating your ministration in trying to heal him.

«They’re here!» you heard Seungmin’s voice shout, and as you snapped your head to your right, you felt as if you have woken up from a nightmare.

It must have been somewhere around the middle of the afternoon; and you were still at Chris’ side, who had now completely lost his senses. Although his heart was beating and he was breathing weakly, he had passed out few hours after you kissed, and still hadn’t woken up.

«Seungmin!» you weakly called out, relief washing over you as one by one, the others ran to where he was standing.

«You’re alive, I was about to have a heart-attack» Changbin mumbled as he hugged you as tight as he could; however, despite the relief about the group being reunited, you still had a big problem to solve.

«What’s wrong with him?» Felix hurriedly ran to Chris’ side, kneeling next to his unconscious form and wiping few strands of black hair away from his forehead.

«Yunho stabbed his shoulder, I – I can’t heal him.» you nervously explained, not noticing how Hyunjin’s head snapped towards you, as he listened to your words with wide and incredulous eyes.

When Karanda hypothesized that part of Kzarka’s corrupted power was dangerously near you, he definitely didn’t consider the eventuality of Chris being hurt.

«Troublesome child of Water,» he faintly mumbled, as he closed the distance between him and your soulmate with quick steps. Hyunjin leaned in, examining Chris’ wound as the boy was still looking peacefully asleep; the bard’s fingertips faintly hovered over the boy’s injury, and his eyebrows furrowed.

Hyunjin clenched his jaw, the memories of many of friends succumbing to darkness due to the same wound immediately resurfacing; he had seen it happen countless times in the past, but still, he had hoped to never witness something like that again.

The God of Corruption’s aura was easily perceptible from Chris’ shoulder, and Hyunjin knew that it was just a matter of time for your soulmate to wake up as another one of Kzarka’s puppets.

The bard didn’t need to make up his mind in order to decide to save him: although Karanda had told him not to meddle with humans, he had realized long ago that he had blatantly disobeyed her order.

Hyunjin faintly smiled, thinking about the paradox of his situation: the harpy who always refused to reincarnate into a human because of her hatred towards the species was now trying so desperately to save the friends she made as she reincarnated into a human boy.

«Stay back, all of you.» Hyunjin spoke, and his sudden and unusual authoritative tone made you immediately comply; Felix stood up as well, walking to your side. «Let’s see if I remember how it’s done.» the bard mumbled to himself, as he placed the palm of his hand above Chris’ wound. Hyunjin’s eyes flashed a dark shade of grey, action which made you furrow your eyebrows; you were taught that healing or basic magic made your eyes turn golden, so why did he use his elemental magic to heal?

«Healing spells don’t work.» you faintly spoke; however, the words died in your throat as soon as Hyunjin began to speak; his words were incomprehensible, almost if he was talking an ancient and forgotten language.

As Hyunjin kept reciting his spell, a faint white glow seemed to be emitted from his body, and everyone noticed as well how his eyes gradually started to change colour: if his elemental magic made his eyes look like the darkest of clouds, now, his orbs were almost white.

Again, Hyunjin kept talking and Chris’s face started to contort in pain; there were few droplets of sweat on the bard’s forehead, and despite his hand was trembling every now and then, he refused to stop.

Suddenly, looking at Hyunjin, you seemed to recall one of Seonghwa’s tales about your mother: it lasted probably a fraction of a second, but at some point, you were sure you could see pure white feathers erupting from Hyunjin’s forearms, and in that moment you realized, the bard must have been blessed by the Goddess of Air herself.

For few seconds, everyone was so speechless about what happened, that no one noticed that Chris’ wound had completely been healed.  

«After all this time, I’m still the best healer around.» Hyunjin vainly announced as he stood up once again, brushing the dust off his knees. However, no one dared to say anything.

«Oh, come on.» he sighed, «you’re not even going to say “thank you?”»

Later that day, it was safe to say that no one on the way to the next village spoke about what happened; in fact, for hours, no one dared to utter a word.

Whether you were tired or you were still astonishingly processing what Hyunjin had done few hours earlier, everyone had their different reason.

-

«Now that I think about it, I forgot my lyre in one of the bags of Felix’s horse,» Hyunjin said, wrapping both his hands around your right one, «Could you get it for me?» you furrowed your eyebrows, glancing at Changbin who simply shrugged.

«Can’t you materialize it?» Jeongin asked curiously, and you glanced at the younger boy, consequentially missing how Hyunjin glared daggers towards him.

«I’m still recovering from healing Chris.» the bard lied, but you nodded at him, not asking for further explanations.

«I’ll see you at the inn, then.» you mumbled nervously, glancing towards Minho, who was effortlessly carrying a still unconscious Chris on his back.

As soon as you were out of sight, Hyunjin’s expression darkened, suddenly looking exhausted.

«I know you are still shocked, but I mean no harm. However, we are gathered here today to fight our common enemy.» he spoke, making Felix scoff while hiding a smile; after all, riding a horse together meant that they had plenty of time to gossip.

«Enemy?» Minho questioned.

«Another one?» Seungmin echoed.

«Damn, you really are that naive…» Changbin joked, but Hyunjin quickly silenced the group while raising his index finger.

«I definitely haven’t been sent here to play the God of Love, but those two are literally making me go crazy.» Hyunjin glanced at Chris – who was about to wake up, and hoped that he wouldn’t hear any part of this conversation.

«He’s saying,» Felix chimed in, «we need a valid excuse for them to solve whatever they have going on.»

«Brainstorming, that’s cool.» Changbin mumbled.

«We could get them drunk-» Seungmin offered, just to be harshly silenced by Hyunjin.

«They’ll forget and we’re gonna have the same problem, next one.»

«We could-»

«Jeongin, you’re a child, you shouldn’t even been listening to this conversation.» Hyunjin interrupted him, pressing his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose.

«We could room together and make them do the same.» Jisung timidly spoke, still not used to speak in front of someone who wasn’t Minho; Hyunjin’s eyes, however, seemed to sparkle with interest.

«He’s right,» Minho chimed in, «let’s pay the inn-keeper more just to make them believe there aren’t more room available.»

Felix and Hyunjin glanced at each other, and as easily as that, they decided that Jisung and Minho would share a room, making it impossible for either you or Chris to want to switch; Seungmin, Jeongin and Changbin would share another one, using the excuse to “keep an eye on them”.

«As for us, she might suggest to switch rooms, but Chris is- well, kinda jealous of Hyunjin, so he would never agree.» Felix explained.

Therefore, that’s basically how, once you arrived at the inn while holding Hyunjin’s lyre, Jisung announced you about your roommate’s condition.

Chris had woken up, and he was now sitting on the bed that the two of you were supposed to sleep on.

However, your soulmate wasn’t alone, because apparently, everyone else had decided to intrude your shared room; some were sitting on the bed, some on the floor, because Changbin had purposely saved one of the chairs for you to sit on.

Not to mention, each of them had brought few plates full of food as well, meaning that it was just like when you were sitting in Minho’s kitchen, but the feelings each one of you held were completely different from then.

«Why don’t we face the elephant in the room?» Seungmin suggested, noticing how everyone was suddenly looking nervous.

«And that should be me?» Hyunjin questioned, chewing on his food.

«Yeah, of course,» Seungmin eagerly nodded, «Chris is okay, the least you could do is to tell us what happened.» Instinctively, you glanced at Chris, who simply gave you a small smile before adverting his gaze.

«Long story short, I am a spy from Karanda.» Hyunjin announced; enjoying how everyone’s eyes widened dramatically wide – except for Felix’s.

Although the bard never expected for the day where the told the truth about his mission to come, he also never expected him to feel relieved after doing it. Little by little, he explained everything: Karanda’s worries, his mission and – of course, the fact that he had to do everything as a human boy.

Eventually, everyone had their fair share of doubts regarding Hyunjin’s identity, but no one ever brought up the topic; however, you had to admit that it was both funny and heart-warming that everyone was perfectly okay with it.

«A Goddess sent someone to watch over the Princess, that’s something I would never have dreamed of.» Changbin chuckled to himself, adding that he couldn’t wait to get back home in order to tell Lea about it.

«You’re technically a woman?» Jeongin was the first one to speak, his eyes wide in disbelief, Hyunjin nodded briefly, and the assassin’s questions seemed to bloom on the tip of his tongue, «That’s cool! Can you effectively transform?»

«Sadly, I can’t go back being an harpy,» Hyunjin sighed, «unless Karanda undoes her spell, I will live my human life looking like this.»

«At least, you’re good looking.» Seungmin unexpectedly commented next to you, and for a second, your hand froze in mid air as you were about to take a sip from your chalice; Minho’s gentle kick against your feet and your accomplice smile, however, misleaded you into thinking that he heard Seungmin’s words as well.

As the child of Fire’s eyes mischievously landed on Chris, you realized what he was about to do, and your heart picked up pace.

«Now that you’re okay, something interesting happened at Garmoth’s nest.» Minho hid a smug smile behind a small chalice, ignoring the fact that you were looking at him as to beg him to shut up.

«Is it about Garmoth?» Jisung excitedly asked him, hoping to hear interesting stories about the Dragon, and Minho nodded at him.

«Apparently, our Princess has a soulmate.» he spoke, and the collective gasp that filled the room made you desire for the ground to swallow you whole.

«Who is it? Did anyone win the bet?» Seungmin questioned, making you rise an eyebrow at him.

«The bet?» you quizzically asked, but no one answered you, to engrossed with Minho’s storytelling.

«Her soulmate is our beloved Prince.» he said, and among shocked faces, only Felix and Chris remained stoic.

«Felix?!» Changbin asked incredulous, making you shake your head at him.

«About that-» Felix started to speak, but was immediately cut off by Minho.

«The Prince, a child of Water,» Minho clarified, «which is really weird, because Lix is a child of Earth.»

Chris’ eyes met yours, and you silently apologetically smiled at him; for a split second, you hoped for him not to be against the idea of being your soulmate, however, you realized that the silence that followed Minho’s words meant that everyone was waiting for an explanation.

«We’re quite used to swap titles when we leave Iliya Island, especially since the assassination,» Chris spoke, nervously scratching his nape, «I guess we got caught up. I’m sorry.»

«The assassination?!» you instinctively questioned, memories of the conversation you had with Chris resurfacing; following what he had told you, he had been assassinated two months before your first meeting, so how could he look so relaxed about everything?

Both Felix and Chris explained that there were some nobles not completely happy about the fact that the crowned Prince was an illegitimate child, and therefore tried to get rid of him. However, things definitely changed as soon as they saw Chris effortlessly resurfacing from the ocean he had been thrown to after being stabbed, looking very much alive and enraged.

«It really feels like one of those games I used to play when I was younger: you either had to tell the truth about something or do what you were told to,» Changbin explained as he drank a sip of wine, «Minho, Jisung? I believe it’s your turn.» Jisung and Minho looked at each other, before shrugging.

«It’s really not that deep,» Minho answered truthfully, «once you are born in Duvencrune, you can’t live. Basically, we didn’t want to die in there. If you are born as a Duvencrune citizen, you can't leave, no matter what.»

Although you didn’t realize when, but at some point of the night, you had to share your part of truth as well; you quickly glanced around the room, taking in your friend’s faces as they laughed and teased each other, and you wondered if – when she met Hongjoong, your mother had felt the same feeling of belonging as you do.

Seungmin had returned Garmoth’s sword to you, saying that he had found it as he was descending part of the cliff while they were looking to you, and that was your clue to explain yourself. Again, you told them about what the Dragon had told you to do, but you eventually explained about how you had lived your life as well.

Hongjoong - along with his wife and his friends, had spent part of his life living in Velia, also known as the town of freedom. There, your father and your mother lived peacefully and madly in love with each other, showering you with love from the day you were born; the three of you lived a happy life, along with his friends – your family.

Everything seemed to be perfect; you were growing up cultivating your talent as a daughter of Fire, Hongjoong had patiently and carefully spent part of his days teaching you how to use your powers without hurting yourself in the process.

You admired your mother dearly, and her tales about the days where she met your father and they fought together were probably your favourite. Somehow, you wanted to be just like her: selfless, brave, caring. To anyone who asked you, your mother was a warrior, and it would have been a blessing to be able to resemble her, even if just a little bit.

However, after a mysterious stone had been found – which now you knew it was filled with Kzarka’s power, your mother fell ill and passed away in few weeks, causing the indescribable despair of Hongjoong.

Everything seemed to be okay at the beginning; the two of you would visit her tombstone just outside of town, until you eventually noticed that your father spent excessively much time in front of it. Slowly, you noticed how he had started to change; it was as if his sanity was slowly slipping away, and your concern for him would only grow stronger.

Unbeknownst to him, you started secretly following him, just to see that he spent most of his days in silently weeping while sitting in front of your mother’s grave.

«We were soulmates, how could it happen?» he would mumble occasionally, and although you had lost your own mother, you realized that you couldn’t ever imagine how could he have felt. Days turned into months, and months turned into years, until your father gently kissed your forehead on a rainy Tuesday morning, whispering a quiet «I love you.» before heading out without coming back home.

Needless to say, you were scared, worried, and you felt inconsolable; not even your beloved uncles managed to calm you down, although they were trying their best not to let you realize that they felt the same distress you felt.

Once again, days turned into months, and your father came back on a windy evening; there was a strange light in his eyes, as his body partially covered with blood, and a brand new cape – made with black feathers, was carefully draped over his shoulders. He affectionately caressed your cheek while apologizing for being away, and you leaned into his familiar and comforting warmth with a small nod, forgiving him.

«I missed you, don’t go away anymore.» you mumbled weakly, trying to ignore the small harpy’s skull carefully placed on his shoulder. «I promise.» he gently smiled at you.

That was the last night you saw your father’s heterochromatic eyes. Years went by, and the fact that his soul was slowly changing was more and more evident; he had abandoned his generous and bright spirit in order to hug a darker and unknown side of him, a side that no one – not even him, had ever known nor seen.

Eventually, your father and his friends decided to move towards the East, taking shield in an abandoned Castle outside the Reign’s territories, both not wanting to leave their friend alone, both wanting to keep an eye on him. Of course, driven by your sense of worry towards the person you loved the most, you followed them.

From there, as soon as Hongjoong found another one of those mysterious stones, things rapidly went downhill; eventually, your father had completely lost his soul to darkness, his only goal becoming the one to tear down the four divinities, which were silently watching over their children.

The King’s once bright red eye was now pitch black, as if it was a bottomless hole void of any kind of emotion; his power also drastically changed as well. Of course, he could still control fire, but if once the flames erupting from his hands were warm, bright, red and comforting, now they were as black as a starless sky, and the once burning flames he could control, now almost seemed as cold as ice.

With extreme discouragement, you noticed that your father started to lose his memories to darkness as well. To you, it was heart wrecking to see your uncles losing themselves to darkness as well, especially because you have never been able to do anything to help them.

Everything that happened recently, from the encounter with Garmoth, the talk you had with Chris and the fight you had with Yunho were enough for you to see things from another perspective: the Dragon was right.

It was crystal clear that Kzarka had consumed the soul of the people you loved, using their bodies as powerful vessels, and you were determined to do whatever it took to bring them peace.

«I know it sounds really weird,» Hyunjin hesitantly spoke after you had finished your story, «but I can testify everything she said.»

There were a countless of Gods and Goddesses during the Dawn of Time, not only four; they spent their days in bliss, shaping every part of the land that you were now walking on. They decided to create humanity out of kindness, just to gift them said land they had carefully created; children of Nature would have been rare, but they would have had elemental powers, unlike other human beings.

However, Kzarka - according to the harpy’s word, was the only God that managed to create himself out of humanity’s bad intentions; made from envy, greed and malevolence, Kzarka quickly convinced whoever was not a child of Nature to follow him, promising them power and everything anyone could have dreamed of.

Needless to say, the battle against Kzarka and the corrupted humans lasted for centuries, and sadly, Kzarka grew stronger as much as humans’ negative feelings increased: the effort to seal him had been unimaginable, and only four divinities were left.

«Many had lost their soulmates, and this is why some of us refused to be reborn in a human form.» Hyunjin confessed; back then, he had a soulmate as well, of course. A wild and tomboyish daughter of Storm, as unpredictable as the weather; he had befriended her back then, finding amusing the fact that she was incredibly shocked – and yet happy, to have a harpy as a friend.

However, back then Hyunjin failed to protect her, and the imagine of the lively and bright eyes of the daughter of Storm being clouded with darkness were sometimes still haunting his sleep.

«Nevertheless, the two of you better not try to ditch us to do stupid things.» Felix spoke, his gaze switching from yours to Hyunjin.

«We won’t, right princess?» the bard confirmed him.

«I know we’ll be facing an impossible task, but I would appreciate for you to come with me.» you truthfully said; the thought of facing Hongjoong alone was absolutely inconsiderable. Moreover, although you had made up your mind, you were still scared.

«It’s not like anyone of us had changed their mind.» Jisung unexpectedly spoke with a friendly smile, and the others agreed with him.

Eventually, you and Chris were left alone in your shared room, and now that your soulmate had excused himself to take a shower, you had the chance to glance around your surroundings, faintly illuminated by candles.  

A wooden bed and a wooden table stood in your shared room - which was big enough for the two of you to walk around without feeling suffocated; there was a small balcony as well, giving you a perfect yet bittersweet view on the city.

Chris was still taking a shower, since he left you go in earlier; «ladies first!» he said with his usual generous smile, and you eagerly took the opportunity to finally shower after days of constant travel.

Although you didn’t have a change of clothes for the night, you were glad about the fact that this was one of those inn that offered warm robes to the costumers, especially because you didn’t want to wear your usual clothes to go to sleep.

Leaning against the doorframe that led the room to the balcony, and gradually lost yourself in your thoughts, as your gaze was lost in the landscape of the sleeping village.

«Oh.» Chris’ surprised voice instinctively made your head turn towards him; he was wearing his robe as well, his hair still wet from the shower, and his clothes neatly folded in his arms. Chris was looking at you with a slightly surprised expression, of course not used to see you like this. «You look-»

«Well, you didn’t expect me to sleep with my everyday clothes.» you immediately cut him off, a mixture between feeling flustered and not wanting to hear that you looked “different”.

«-stunning. You look stunning.» Chris clarified, and if he was annoyed about you cutting him off, he didn’t show it. Immediately, you felt your cheeks heathen in a sudden and unexpected warmth.

«How are you feeling?» you questioned him as he walked over where you were, after placing his folded clothes next to yours. Since Chris wore his robe really loose, you could see not only the scar from Yunho’s swords, but you could glimpse other scars as well; instinctively, your mind wondered about how Chris’ naked body would look.

“I mean, I’m thinking about his scars”, you clarified to yourself, as if preventing your thoughts from straying to dangerous places.

«Definitely good,» he reassured you with a smile, «Hyunjin told me that I was basically about to die and – oh, were you there already when Lix punched me out of worry?» he questioned and you failed to hide your incredulous giggle.

«He was like “I told you not to make me worry like that anymore, you shark bait!” and punched me square in the jaw.» Chris laughed, tapping twice on the right side of his face.

«He did the right thing, you shouldn’t have done that.» you answered, and Chris simply sighed.

The Prince – still leaning against the doorframe, placed his hand around your forearm, gently pulling you towards him; you let yourself be embraced by him, not wanting to resist his ministrations. Although your hands were still crossed in front of your chest, Chris was now loosely hugging your waist, pressing your body against his; you were sure that, if not for your arms preventing it, Chris could easily feel how fast your heartbeat was.

«Why did you kiss me?» you mumbled, unconsciously glancing at his lips.

«Yeah, why did I?» Chris’ teasing behaviour was back, and you had to admit that if it usually got on your nerves, in that moment you managed to find it somehow alluring.

One of Chris’ hands travelled from your waist to your shoulder, and his touch seemed to set your skin alight that for a second, you wondered who the child of Fire really was; your soulmate had his eyes closed, as his lips were millimetres from yours.

«I love you,» he whispered, your faces so close that you could feel his lips gently brush against yours as he spoke; «I am utterly in love with you, soulmates or not.» he confessed, and you found yourself closing the little distance that remained within the two of you.

Unlike your first kiss, your lips were roughly moving against each other, your right hand loosely gripping the other’s hair and your left arm thrown around his neck, making you stand on your tiptoes in the process. Chris was firmly holding you against his chest with his right arm - helping you keeping your balance, while his left hand was sprawled on the side of your neck, occasionally tilting your head to deepen the kiss, as your mouth was occasionally swallowing his whimpers.

Somewhere along bold touches and heartfelt confession, the two of you had messily kissed your path to the bed, your robes easily discarded in the process.

Chris was laying under you on the soft mattress, and you were sitting on his lap; as he intertwined your fingers, he brought both of your hands over his head, making you lean over him due to inertia.

«I’m really new to this,» Chris’ hoarse voice confessed, «don’t go easy on me.» he mumbled, before he claimed your lips again.

His words hit you like a thunder out of the clear blue sky; you had your fair share of fun and intercourses when you were still living in the Cursed Kingdom, but you had never expected Chris to be still a virgin, especially when he was looking like that.

As if he could hear the metal gear spin in your brain, Chris chuckled against your lips. «Iliya Island is mainly populated by men;» he explained, «moreover, my first time being with my soulmate makes me by and large happier than finding a hidden treasure lost in the sea.» you instinctively scoffed at his words, just to hide the fact that your heart seemed to swell as his mismatched eyes were fondly gazing at you.

As your bodies connected, Chris’ left hand was constantly intertwined with your right one, and as your bodies moved together, you realized that no one else than your soulmate could have made you feel such intense pleasure. His caresses and touches were disconnected paths on your skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps everywhere he decided to touch you.

Chris was just like the sea, an addictive balance of unpredictable storms and calm tide pools; Chris was just like the sea, and you loved him.

Although your friends had different and weird habits, you definitely didn’t understand why they were laughing among themselves while throwing what looked like few leather pouches filled with money.

«What are they doing?» you questioned Chris, which was looking at them with an amused smile.

The two of you walked towards their table, happy that they had already ordered enough breakfast for the two of you as well.

«We had a bet few months ago.» he simply said, taking a seat next to Felix.

«A bet?» you asked, mirroring his action and sitting between your soulmate and Seungmin, surprised that they had enough time to think about bets, «what was it about?»

«Us being soulmates.»

Needless to say, you were glad about the fact that you were already sitting and not still walking, because you would have stopped in your tracks; Chris was looking at you with a mischievous smile and still, you noticed how it gradually grew fond as much as you were getting flustered.

«What did you bet on?» you found yourself asking as you felt your cheeks heathen.

However, before he could answer, Minho loudly called his name, before throwing him pouch full of money.

Chris winked at you, wordlessly giving you the answer you were looking for, and you shook your head, hiding your embarrassment behind an exasperated sigh.

CHAPTER V

«We’ll get caught.» you whispered without any intention to stop Chris as his lips hungrily moved against yours, his hands found their way on your hips, caging you against the kitchen table; instinctively, you put your hands on his shoulders, letting him easily hoist you up on the wooden surface. Chris’ breath faltered as you eventually started to bite a path on his neck, making you smile to yourself.

«Oh, for the love of the Gods,» Hyunjin’s exasperated voice made you and Chris slowly separate from each other while hiding an amused laughter. «What is it?» Seungmin shouted from the other room. «You burned the stew?» Changbin echoed. «We have to sanitize the kitchen, again,» the bard shouted back, «I almost miss the days where you acted like shy virgins.» you heard him mumble to himself, making both you and your soulmate erupt with laughter.

After you and your friends decided to stay together and complete the mission Garmoth had gave you, you also decided that instead of staying at an inn and pay for different rooms, the wisest solution was to rent a house for the months you needed to come up with an efficient plan – months during which Seungmin and Jeongin managed to turn Jisung and Minho into skilled fighters.

-

«What are you doing?» Jisung knocked to the open wooden door, catching your attention; you lifted your head from your hands, finally stopping burning holes into the alchemy book in front of you.

«Trying to come up with a solution,» you sighed, «I don’t think we can walk into the Cursed Kingdom with our weapons on sight.» Jisung pouted, lost in thoughts; he had an idea, but he was still hesitant to voice it out to you.

«Hannie, you can’t use magic, right?» you questioned him as soon as he took a seat in front of you, opening one of the books on the desk; he shook his head, saying that he could only do some basic healing spell, but nothing else.

Driven by hope, you lent him the enchanted glove Yeosang had made, just to write with ink the same symbol on the top of your hand; using magic, you created a small fireball, before locking your gaze with you friend’s.

«We could use alchemy to share our powers,» you explained that since you had the same symbol on your skin, he could try to summon it in the same moment you decided to lend your powers to him, however, despite multiple attempts, it didn’t work.

Eventually, during the days, Seungmin and Changbin joined the two of you, trying to come up with useful solutions.

«There is something we could try,» Jisung hesitantly spoke, playing with the hem of his shirt; your eyes – along with your friends’, were now locked on him, who seemed to shrink due to the unexpected attention.

With a deep breath, Jisung took enough courage to reach out for a blank paper and draw an alchemy symbol on it; it was exactly like the one Yeosang had created, however, it had few more lines. Aware about the fact that in alchemy, each symbol and each line position had a meaning, you felt colour drain from your face.

«Well, well.» Seungmin chuckled, incredulous. «Did you come up with it?» you questioned him, but Jisung shook his head. «Minho did,» he explained, «however, in Duvencrune it’s forbidden.» «What does it mean?» Changbin curiously asked. «Sharing one’s power.» Jisung dismissed. «In life and in death,» Seungmin added immediately, «Let’s suppose I could use Hyunjin’s power; I could have some real fun, but if I use too much, he could die.» Changbin whistled at the explanation, commenting it that it was indeed risky.

«There’s a way to make it less – less lethal.» Jisung stuttered, adding yet another line to the drawing he made; only then, he unbuttoned the top of his shirt, just to reveal the same drawing engraved on his skin.

Instinctively, the three of you tensed up in front of him; it was easy to figure out that Minho was the other one to have the same drawing engraved on his skin, even without asking.

«There’s a limit of the magic the other can summon.» Jisung explained. «Did you ever use it?» Seungmin asked, unsure, and Jisung nodded immediately. «Twice.» he clarified; since Jisung didn’t explain further, the three of you silently decided not to peer into his past more than needed.

The following day, Jisung’s proposal had been explained to the others, who surprisingly enough took it as a good news. «I think that’s the wisest solution, since I believe we’ll be forced to give up our weapons.» Chris spoke, and Felix agreed with him. «What if someone of us gets, you know – possessed?» Minho questioned, but Felix simply waved his head as if to dismiss his friend’s question. «In that case, just trust Hyunjin.» he said, without explaining himself. «I don’t think I understood how we plan to get into the Cursed Kingdom in the first place.» Jeongin innocently spoke, and you gently smiled at him. «Jeongin,» you sighed, «aren’t you and Seungmin bounty hunters from the Cursed Kingdom?» «Yes!» he immediately answered, «Oh-» he added after few seconds of silence.

To be honest, everything in the plan you and the others had come up with was risky, but it was the only way to enter the Kingdom through the front door without dying before reaching the front gate.

«The key is, we have to trust each other; always.» Minho explained. On a windy morning, you and the others found yourself skinning thin lines resembling an alchemy symbol on the top of each other’s hand, pouring few droplets of your mixed blood over it.

«Do we have to make one of those embarrassing oaths or something?» Seungmin questioned, and Minho simply rolled his eyes in a silent answer.

From that moment, everyone trained meticulously to master few magic spells without letting the children of Nature among you feel any fatigue. It was actually kind of fun, you had to admit to yourself, since not only you could create your own elemental weapon out of thin air, but you could combine the elements as well. In less than two weeks, you could swear that Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin looked like real children of Nature.

Now that everyone had learnt how to use the technique you and Jisung came up with, there was only one problem; your eyes glanced at the sword that Garmoth gave you, leaning against the wall next to your friends’ weapons.

Of course, you couldn’t carry any weapon with you, so, how could you complete your very dangerous mission? A sigh from your left caught your attention; Hyunjin was intensely looking at you with his hands placed on his waist and somehow, you had the impression he could read your thoughts.

«He didn’t tell you?» of course, Hyunjin didn’t need your answer to know, since he had eavesdropped the whole conversation you and Minho had with the dragon. As you were about to ask for a clarification, Hyunjin walked towards the enchanted sword, before carrying it towards you; he unsheathed just a small part of it, the black obsidian blade emitting a faint glow.

«Give me your hand.» Hyunjin ordered, taking a hold of your index finger as soon as you outstretched your hand towards him; he firmly pressed your fingertip towards the blade, and you didn’t need to see it to realize that there were few droplets of your blood on it. Hyunjin sheathed the sword with a satisfied smile, before placing it in its original place.

«Call for it,» he instructed; furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, you tilted your head to the side, and he instinctively giggled at your expression, «think about wielding it, come on.»

Unsurely, you tried to do it; closing your eyes, you pictured the sword in your hand - however, nothing happened. As you opened your eyes, Hyunjin’s encouraging expression suggested you to try again, and you did.

It took few attempts and more concentration than you expected to, but in the end, you found your clenched fist adjusting to the perception of the hilt of the enchanted sword appearing out of nowhere in the palm of your hand.

«We should practice tonight as well,» Chris offered, glancing at the clear sky. «Absolutely not,» Seungmin scoffed, «a storm is coming up tonight.» «Whatever.» your soulmate answered, thinking about the fact that he was simply making up few excuses.

Even if no one payed attention to Seungmin’s words, Hyunjin’s head snapped towards him; how could the human sense a change in the weather before him? Hyunjin’s gaze lost itself in the glass of water in front of him, distant memories of a wild tomboy predicting storms slightly resurfacing.

«Changbin, I have a question but I don’t want to ruin your dinner.» Felix claimed the older man’s attention, who incredulously furred his eyebrows.

«If you doubt you can ruin it, you most definitely already did,» Changbin sighed, before allowing his friend to go on.

«You have a wife, but she’s not a children of Nature, am I right?» Felix questioned almost shyly, and Changbin’s face made it clear that he understood where Felix’s question was going.

«My relationship with Lea is definitely far from perfect,» Changbin sighed, «we have been together for so long – we fought a lot, we still fight sometimes over trivial things, and we mostly will fight in the future.»

«However,» he added before any of you had a chance to question him, «I don’t want this “soulmate” thing unless it’s with her. I’d rather spend the rest of my days listening to her nagging at me because I forget to do the laundry instead of having a peaceful life with someone made just for me, but someone who is not Lea.» Hyunjin felt shortly struck by those words, and his eyes unconsciously found Seungmin’s gaze, who was already looking at him; Changbin loved someone because he chose to, Hyunjin realized, meaning that Changbin was infinitely less of a coward than he was. Seungmin imperceptibly tilted his head to the side, silently questioning if he was okay, and Hyunjin hesitantly nodded at him in a silent answer.

“Loving someone who is not your soulmate, huh?” Hyunjin spoke; as he chewed on a small bite of food, he promised himself that if your group managed to come back alive from the Cursed Kingdom, he would have given it a try.

-

The trip to the Cursed Kingdom was way much longer and way more silent than you expected, and it wasn’t difficult to realize that everyone must have been incredibly nervous. «I believe in you.», were the last words Chris spoke to you before as planned, Seungmin and Jeongin had tied up everyone right before stepping into the woods right outside the Kingdom, but what no one expected, was to find the city deserted. The Kingdom’s gates had opened by themselves, and the path from the gates to the Castle’s entrance was completely clear. «It’s probably an illusion,» Hyunjin’s nervous voice suggested, «be careful.»

What your group didn’t know was that Hyunjin was right; Kzarka had waited for you to show up, and therefore, as soon as he felt the presence of you and your group walking the woods, he decided to make you reach the Castle as soon as he could, since he couldn’t wait to get rid of you.

«I suppose these are useless, now.» Seungmin spoke, untying your wrists as you were in front of the throne room. Before anyone could answer, the doors opened by themselves, revealing Hongjoong sitting on his throne while the others were standing still at his side. «Finally, the prodigal daughter is back!» Hongjoong announced, sitting up from his throne; you didn’t answer, simply clenching your fists. «Let’s just finish this quickly.» the King spat, and only then, Seonghwa and the others seemed to come to life.

One by one, your friends met their opponent.   Seonghwa stood proud in front of Hyunjin, while Wooyoung arrogantly faced Felix. San had his sword thrown over his shoulders, and he confidently walked in front of Changbin, while Yunho did the same thing with Seungmin. Yeosang quickly walked towards Jisung, and since he was the weaker out of the group, Chris immediately walked at his friend’s side. Jongho and Mingi respectively walked in front of Minho and Jeongin, leaving you to face Hongjoong by yourself. With a deep sigh, you imagined yourself wielding Garmoth’s sword, and it immediately appeared in your hand.

«Trying to face me again with that useless toy?» Hongjoong cooed, before charging at you. The fact that Hongjoong had always been an excellent fighter clearly turned out to be a problem, especially now that Kzarka made him even more powerful. His movements were fast and unpredictable, making it impossible for you to come up with actual moves in order to counter attack him; moreover, everyone pretty much had their hands full and therefore, you definitely couldn’t ask your friends for help. «You shouldn’t get distracted, Princess.» Hongjoong spat in a mocking tone, before moving your crossed swords to his left, only to effortlessly wave his right hand in mid-air, creating flying arrows of fire directed towards you. Instinctively, you closed your eyes, summoning a little of Felix’s power to create a shield right to protect yourself with: thin and flexible branches materialized in front of you, letting the fiery arrows only half pass, consequently preventing them from hurting you - and unfortunately hiding Hongjoong’s amazed gaze from your sight as well.

Through the eyes of your father, Kzarka immediately realized that you and your friends must have come up with some sort of forbidden technique that let you and your friends share your magic, and therefore, his plans immediately changed. If he had spent years waiting for the perfect moment to get rid of you, now he found himself thinking that maybe, you could have been more useful than Hongjoong himself. Since then, your fight with Hongjoong drastically changed. If at the beginning you were desperately trying to block and counter attack charged attacks, now you had to dodge as well; you didn’t know yet, but all Kzarka needed was a little droplet of your blood for his plan to work. A loud noise followed by your friends’ screaming voices caught your attention, and you immediately turned around fearing that something had happened to Chris. However, Hongjoong’s pitch black eyes were locked on you, as the blade of his sword was pressed against your neck.

«How stupid must you be to get distracted?» the stinging sensation right where the blade was pressed made you wince, but in that moment, you didn’t ask yourself why Hongjoong didn’t take advantage of that moment but let you move his sword with yours, preventing it from hurting you even further. Although you had been tightly gripping the helm of Garmoth’s sword, you highly doubted you could fulfil his order; Hongjoong’s attack made it clear for you that it was impossible to counter attack him, unless you could outwit him. However, how could you outwit the God of Corruption? The shouts of your friends fighting restlessly made it quite difficult for you to focus, however, you were the only one who could solve the situation. Rubbing the sleeve of your shirt against the fresh wound against your neck in the vain attempt to get rid of the itching sensation, you summoned once again a bit of Felix’s magic, creating a circular shield made of teak tree – thanks to the younger boy you learnt that it was a very resistant type of wood. Since then, you kept parrying Hongjoong with newfound determination, waiting for the perfect moment to strike; however, Hongjoong’s stamina never wavered, and since you summoned just a little amount of your friend’s magic, your shield was far from indestructible.

With your breath uneven and ragged, you were now kneeling in front of Hongjoong, feeling exhausted; glancing at what remained of your shield – now a thin and short column attached to your arm, you opened both your arms, surrendering. The King raised an eyebrow, only to smile victoriously as you threw Garmoth’s sword away from where you were kneeling, the clinging and metallic sound somehow calling for your friend’s attention. Through the eyes of your father, however, Kzarka had already seen through your actions, and decided to act accordingly.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, Hongjoong’s sword was raised in the air, and as soon as he was about to attack you, you abruptly stood up, hitting him in the stomach while using your shield. The King, however, had already deliberately let his sword fall on the ground, letting himself being stabbed by the enchanted sword you had materialized out of thin air.

When Hongjoong regained his consciousness, he felt as if he had been sleeping for years, and most importantly, he felt like he couldn’t remember anything about the dream he just had. There was a woman in front of him, her eyes filled with tears and her expression incredibly sorrowful, but what caught Hongjoong’s attention was the fact that her features looked incredibly familiar. It took him a second to realize that you were the stark copy of your mother, and therefore, you couldn’t be anyone else but his daughter.

Glancing towards the burning sensation coming from his chest, he noticed that there was a sword planted in his heart, meaning that his plan had failed; glancing around the unfamiliar room, he noticed that even if there were few boys standing far from his long time friends, they were standing still as well, imitating his stance while clutching at their own heart.  

«I know your face,» Hongjoong mumbled, the gentle whisper of your name making your thoughts dissipate in thin air; it was as the time had stopped all around you, and Hongjoong was looking as you as hesitantly as the day he had held you for the first time the day you were born. Quickly, you nodded your head at him, tears ungraciously falling from your eyes when he smiled, his eyes gradually returning to their original colour. «No, I-» you whispered nonsense words, gripping the helm of the sword in order to extract it with shaky hands; however, Hongjoong leaned against you with a shaky breath and placed a hand above yours, blocking your movement.

«Don’t,» he croaked, «you did well, it was my fault.» he slightly leaned back, his gradually unfocused eyes meeting your crying gaze. «Don’t cry, you did the right thing,» Hongjoong fatiguely whispered, his fingers gently wiping the tears falling from your eyes, «I’m proud of you - we all are.» as your gaze bore into his, your realized that you finally had everything you have ever wanted; you freed your father from his curse, but he couldn’t stay with you.

«Don’t leave me again.» you weakly pleaded, gripping at the fabric of his cloak that was draped on his shoulders, unsure that your whisper could reach his ears. «I’m really sorry, I- let’s meet again in another life, okay?» Hongjoong breathed, pronouncing every word with extreme difficulty as he was losing consciousness. Before his weight completely leaned against you, he managed to bring his right hand in front of his own heart, before extending his hand – now soaked with blood, towards yours in a very familiar gesture you had hoped to see again. «You, me and mom, we - let’s do this “family thing” right the next time we- we meet.»

Before you could answer, however, the sword started to glow brighter, forcing you to detach yourself from Hongjoong’s embrace due to the increasing warmth it was emitting. Within few seconds, Hongjoong vanished in a cloud of thin black dust, and the others simultaneously met the same end, their love for Hongjoong and their will to protect you being the last thing keeping them grounded to this life.

Judging by the deafening silence, it was clear that your friends had stopped fighting, however, no one dared to utter a word; whether it was out of empathy for your suffering, whether it was due to incredulity, each one of them had their reason. With a shaky breath, you kneeled on the floor as tears clouded your gaze, deject and sadness filling your senses; Chris had slowly started to make his way towards you, wanting nothing else to console you but however, Hyunjin’s hold on his arm prevented him from walking further.

«Stay away from her.» Hyunjin’s grip on the Prince’s arm tightened in a threating manner, and as the boys briefly exchanged a glance, Hyunjin pointed towards the two red glowing stones embedded on top of the throne, now glowing even brighter than before. «The plan is not to hurt her, but buy ourselves time.» Hyunjin spoke loud enough for only Chris and the others to hear. «Why should we hurt her in the first place?» Chris questioned the harpy with a confused frown. «Why should we buy ourselves time?» Minho echoed, nervously glancing around himself, briefly meeting Jisung’s tense gaze. As always, Hyunjin didn’t bother to answer his friends; he saw it happen countless times in the past, and therefore he already knew that Kzarka was about to possess your body.

If he were to be honest, Hyunjin had understood Kzarka’s plan in the same moment he noticed him cutting your skin after you summoned Felix’s magic; in that moment, Hyunjin used his powers to reach Karanda in order to ask for help.

Before any of your friends could elaborate another question to ask Hyunjin, a familiar cloud of familiar black smoke seemed to appear out of nowhere, shortly surrounding you and completely hiding you from their sight. Instinctively, you gripped your throat since you felt like you couldn’t breathe properly; it was an indescribable feeling of distress, and everything in your body started to hurt and feel unfamiliar. It was as if Kzarka’s powers were being absorbed in your body through the wound he had previously gave you, and although you wanted to frantically grab your head to make Kzarka’s obnoxious voice disappear, you couldn’t move a finger. «I’ll crush the soulmate first.» were the last words you heard Kzarka whisper through your mouth, before your world faded to black.

Chris and the others watched with horror as you stood up and stretched your arms in the air, as if you felt unfamiliar with your own body. «Let me rephrase my previous question,» Minho quickly walked towards Hyunjin, his eyes still focused on your movements, «buy ourselves time for who?» «I know it’s hard to believe me, but there’s a chance for us to defeat him.» Hyunjin hastily whispered, «Kzarka can’t shatter her soul in so little time, as for the rest, just trust me and let the wind lead.» «Are you done?» you bitterly questioned from where you stood; you lifted the palm of your hand, noticing that the flames you could summon were already almost black – much to Hyunjin’s surprise. Although he had witnessed countless times this moment, what Hyunjin didn’t know was that Kzarka had taken advantage of a perfect moment to possess your body; during your last farewell with Hongjoong, your soul was extremely vulnerable, making you the perfect target. «There’s this thing I’m really curious about,» you spoke again, and through your body, Kzarka tried to summon your friends’ powers; sadly, he couldn’t summon all of them at once, and therefore he realized that you must have meticulously thought about this. However, he could still have fun with it. «I’ll start with you, soulmate.» you spat, theatrically pointing the sword Hongjoong had thrown to the ground towards Chris, who was watching you with a wary expression.

The fact that Chris was partially blind was a secret that only you, Chris and Felix were sharing, meaning that now that someone else could deliberately read your thoughts, your soulmate was in danger.

Not wasting any more time in useless chatter, you attacked your friends, who were having quite some troubles to defend themselves, since you were much more powerful than you usually were. Moreover, Kzarka’s attention was deliberately focused on hurting Chris’, with the only purpose to shatter your soul even more and to quicken the process to seal it away for good. Busy fighting you back while protecting the Prince, your friends still did their best to listen to Hyunjin’s words and not to hurt you; sadly, the fact that you were sharing your powers could be very dangerous, especially when someone else was using too much of it.

Through your body, Kzarka alternately used your friends’ power to the point they were exhausted, kneeling on the floor in the vain attempt to catch their breath and trying not to faint. Since the children of Nature were not a problem anymore, Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin clearly didn’t represent a threat. Summoning Chris’ magic, Kzarka used the same cursed spell that your soulmate had used against his soldiers few weeks earlier; there was water around Chris’ neck, and judging by his restless coughing it seemed to get tighter as seconds went by.

However, before Kzarka could actually finish his work, unfamiliar fingertips clouded his view, and your back found itself firmly pressed against someone’s firm chest.

«You should really learn when to give up.» Garmoth’s voice authoritatively spoke from behind you, and even if Kzarka tried to peel himself from the God’s firm hold, your body was too weak compared to his, and therefore, few seconds later, Kzarka’s consciousness faded to black, making yours resurface.  

«You really took your time to get here!» Hyunjin scolded the dragon as he quickly placed his fingertips against Chris’ neck, breathing a sigh of relief in the same moment he heard a weak pulse beat against his skin.

«You already know Kzarka’s power can shield my sight.» Karanda answered him, as she gracefully appeared out of nowhere. Garmoth – who had been erasing the traces of corruption from your soul, gently took his fingertips from your eyes in favour to hold your waist, gently shaking you a bit.

«Wake up, young flame.» he spoke, and you immediately reacted to his gentle words; you opened your eyes with a groan, your eyes quickly glancing around the room only to lock on Chris’ frame. Hyunjin had a hand pressed against your soulmate’s chest, meaning that he was healing him, but what happened? Did you hurt him? As to read your thoughts, Garmoth quickly explained to you what happened, reassuring you about the fact that Chris was still alive.

«What’s going to happen to Hongjoong?» you weakly questioned. «Nothing,» Garmoth sighed, and you could hear him smile through his words, «I’ll scold him for not trying to ask for help, but I promised Karanda to let him meet her daughter right away.» he explained. The Dragon let you go, tapping your back twice to give you the hint that he didn’t have anything to add, and you quickly closed the distance between you and Chris, kneeling next to him with a worried expression.

With a sad smile, Garmoth’s eyes momentary fell on Karanda, who was uninterestedly glancing at your friends; this scene was incredibly familiar to him, and the fact that everyone in your group managed to survive without getting hurt could be called a miracle. Karanda’s gaze locked with his lover, and she gave him a small smile, as to hint that she was thinking about the same thing as well.

Hyunjin was now smiling, amused at the fact that both the God of Fire and the Goddess of Air were standing in the room, and still, your only thought was to make your soulmate was okay.

Like a fairytale, Chris’ eyes opened in the same moment you touched his face; despite Hyunjin had told you repeatedly that he was okay, you couldn’t do anything but anxiously gnaw at your lower lip. «I’m sorry,» you hastily apologized as soon as he made eye contact with you; Chris’ simply answered with a reassuring smile, and you apologized again, your eyes burning with tears. Shaking his head, your soulmate simply lifted his hand in the air, gently placed it on your nape in order to lead your head in the crook of his neck. «It’s okay,» Chris whispered, «I knew it wasn’t you.» at his words, you silently let yourself cry against his chest.

«We’ll be taking these.» Karanda spoke, claiming both yours and your friends’ attention – who were now standing around Chris, after helping him get up again. Two precious looking caskets appeared in Karanda’s and Garmoth’s hands, and thanks to divine magic, the two glowing red stones embedded in Hongjoong’s thrones had been sealed. The two Gods simultaneously flicked the hand that wasn’t holding the casket, and it disappeared in thin air.

As soon as Karanda and Garmoth turned to praise yours and your friends work, you shortly found yourself without words. If both you and Minho had secretly commented about Garmoth looking handsome, you knew that the next topic would have been that he was nothing compared to Karanda. Everything in her appearance looked ethereal, from her white hair perfectly braided in a complicate hairstyle, to her white dress who seemed to be constantly swayed by a gentle breeze. Only then, you remembered Hyunjin’s words, and how he told you that Garmoth loved to spend his time among humans and therefore, that’s why he looked more like one.

«Before we go, there’s something we have to do!» Garmoth’s dazzling smile was back on his lips, as he cleared his voice, «The Cursed Kingdom has fallen, and the King has died.» he announced, his authoritative and booming voice echoing through the empty throne room.

Garmoth walked towards where you stood, before kneeling in front of you, «Long live to the Queen.» «No, I -» you tried to retort, trying to saying that you didn’t feel like you deserved the title, but your friends immediately eagerly imitated Garmoth’s action. Quickly looked around yourself, your friends – and your soulmate, had their head lowered towards the ground, while Karanda stood still, and simply hinting a nod with her head as soon as your gaze met.

«Kzarka’s curse doesn’t exist anymore, meaning that not everyone will remain here,» the Goddess spoke, «there will be much work to do, but I believe you have faced much more threatening dangers.» she hinted a smile, and you heard Hyunjin snort from his kneeling position.

Of course, unlike you, Hyunjin knew that Karanda could see few glimpses of the future, meaning that her words simply meant something along the lines of “your Kingdom will be great! good luck with this, kiddo!”, but he thought that you were lucky because it could have been worse, she could have spoken in riddles. With the last blessing of erasing completely the traces of Kzarka’s corruption, Karanda and Garmoth used divine magic in order to renew both the Castle and the Kingdom in a blink of an eye; now made of white marble instead of black lava stone, it was as if a new era was about to begin.

Of course, as you and your friends were having a private chat with the Gods, within the streets of the Kingdom everyone’s eyes were locked both on the sudden change of the Castle, but also on the strong yet gentle breeze that easily dissipated the thick layer of clouds that had prevented everyone from seeing the Sun from so many years.

After saying your farewells, Karanda and Garmoth headed towards the huge balcony adjacent to the throne room. «Hyunjin, come.» Karanda spoke without looking back, but Hyunjin clenched his fist, his eyes locked on the floor. «Karanda, I…» he tried, his voice barely above a whisper; immediately, your eyes fell on him, since you weren’t used to see Hyunjin like this. Karanda stopped, and briefly turned around; she attentively scrutinised Hyunjin’s face, before her lips erupted into a small, sad smile. «I believe you remember your oath,» she spoke, her body now completely turned towards him, «unlike them, you won’t grow old, is this what you want?» Hyunjin nodded, wordlessly, and Karanda sighed heavily; as if Garmoth was reading her mind, he chuckled briefly, but stopped as soon as the Goddess glanced at him. Karanda then sighed again, before closing the space between her and Hyunjin; she cupped his cheek, and since she was taller than him, she easily kissed his forehead. In the same moment Karanda’s lips brushed against Hyunjin’s skin, you saw it again; for a brief second, pure white feathers seemed to erupt from Hyunjin’s forearms, just as it happened when he used ancient spells to heal Chris. «Enjoy your life as a human, my friend.» Karanda spoke soothingly, and Hyunjin reached out with trembling fingers to hold her hands, which here still gently holding his face, «when the moment comes, I’ll undo the spell.» Although Hyunjin gave her a secure nod, his eyes were filled with tears; since his soulmate died, he never imagined that he would have sincerely wanted to live as a human - back then he even accepted the mission to watch over you without completely wanting to, and yet, there he was. Hyunjin had found friends he genuinely cared about, and the thought to leave them behind made him extremely sad and lonely. Garmoth smiled at Karanda as if she was the most beautiful entity he had ever seen, and immediately threw his arm over her shoulder in a gentle way, «You’re growing soft, my love.» «Shut up.» she weakly mumbled, aware that only her lover could hear the faint tremor in her voice. Karanda and Garmoth glanced at you and your friends one last time, and in the blink of an eye, both of them were gone.

Few days later, the light of the morning sun fell on Chris’ naked chest, as the two of you were cuddling in bed in your bedroom in the Castle; a blanket was draped over your naked bodies, covering your waists. Chris was absently stroking your arms, his eyes lost somewhere on the ceiling; you sighed, recalling the past days events. The Kingdom was a complete mess to begin with: as expected, many people had left as soon as Kzarka’s curse had vanished, and most importantly, the Kingdom’s reputation was terrible in all the known lands. How could you fix everything?

«What’s wrong?» Chris questioned you as if he could hear the gears in your brain spinning restlessly; with another sigh, you sat up, not having the courage to look at him in the eyes as you uttered your next words. «I think you should return to Iliya island.» you hesitantly spoke. «Oh.» was everything Chris said, his tone laced with sadness made it impossible for you to think you could face him; sadly enough, unlike the previous night, you had completely forgotten about the huge mirror standing in front of your bed, Chris’ gaze locked on your eyes through the mirror with a completely different expression compared to your previous nights’ activities. «Don’t get me wrong,» you immediately added, afraid that he could take your words in the worst way, «I love you, and I would definitely love to spend the rest of my life with you, but - I feel like it would be wrong to be happy when the people living here probably are not, and…»   «I think I understand where you’re going,» Chris sat up as well, quickly positioning himself sitting behind you so that he could cage your body and make you feel safe, «this is why, I’m telling you to think about your Kingdom - I probably would have said the same if I were in your place. I’ll wait for you.»

Finally, you met Chris’s gaze through the mirror, and once again, what you found in it were absolute affection and sincerity. «What if you get tired of waiting?» you furrowed your eyebrows, holding his hand a little tighter. «Sweetheart, we’re soulmates,» he gently chuckled, placing a gentle kiss on your shoulder, «I could and I would never turn my back on you, nor I will get tired of waiting. However, your citizens probably will.» you listened to his words, glad about the fact that not only he understood what you meant but he was also trying to give you some useful advice as he had previously done. «Although I really pains me to part from you, I want you to be with me because you feel ready for it; moreover, leading a country is not easy. Nevertheless, I’m sure you’ll make this country so prosperous it will rival the Capital.» «Thank you.» you breathed out. «No need to thank me, sweetheart.» Chris hummed again your skin, placing another kiss on the crook of your neck.

«Hey, Chris?» you called out again, and you felt your soulmate place his chin on your shoulder, tilting his head, «I’m not sure I told you yet, but I really - I love you.» Through the mirror, you could see Chris blush from his cheeks to the tip of his ears. «I can’t believe you confessed before me!» he shyly hid his face behind your nape, before eventually adjusting your positions in bed so that you were now laying down and he was partially hovering above you. «I love you too, my Queen.» he murmured against your lips, before capturing them in a heated kiss.

EPILOGUE

There was a Castle that stood tall at the world’s end: made of white marble and golden amber, its authoritative appearance was enough to make people admire everything about who lived in it and within its increasing territories. The dark and thick layer of clouds that for decades has hovered on top of the Kingdom had dissipated completely, and the citizens’ tales spoke about how the Queen was blessed by the Goddess of Air and the God of Fire to the point that occasionally, clouds only generated above fields just to enable crops and livestock to flourish. Strolling from town to town, Garmoth proudly overheard people talking about his daughter’s work. The Cursed Kingdom had been in ruin for years, and its conservative nature had made it self-sufficient; however, since the Fallen King’s daughter has inherited the throne, it took her four years to make her Kingdom bloom so prosperously to rival the others.

Of course, you didn’t do everything on your own; when Chris and Felix decided to return to Iliya Island, Jeongin and Seungmin decided to go with them, while Hyunjin, Jisung, Minho and Changbin – and therefore Lea, moved in the Castle with you. Although no one among you had the right knowledge about what could be needed to rule a Kingdom, you managed to figure out a way to do it out of spite. «Think about the nobles in the Capital gossiping about us,» Lea giggled as she helped you dress up, «I swear, I’d open a brothel just to have a detailed description of what their incredulity looks like as they say that we’re even richer than they are.» she chanted to herself, and you refrained from the instinct to laugh with her, since she was tying up the laces of your corset. Most importantly, you were definitely too nervous to laugh, since today was a day so important you swore could even outshine the day of your coronation. «What if he doesn’t like me anymore?» you whispered to yourself, however, Lea abruptly stopping her movements meant that she heard you. «Sweetie, we don’t do that here,» she turned you around, before cupping your jaw, «moreover, you’ve exchanged letters for four years, I bet he loves you to the Sun and back.»

Of course, few hours later, you found out that Lea was indeed right – as always. The moment of your reunion, your eyes were locked on Chris so intensely that you almost choked on your water when Minho asked you if you saw Seungmin and Hyunjin peck each other's lips.

-

Standing on the balcony attached to your room, you were leaning against the railing as Chris’ arms were caging your body as his hands were leaning over it; you wrapped your arms around his waist, realizing that you incredibly missed his touch during these years.

If possible, Chris looked even more handsome, his jet black hair was longer, naturally curling itself in soft waves you loved to run your fingers through. «Chris, I-» you hesitantly spoke, losing yourself in the affection that his eyes showed you; you gently lifted your hand, your fingertips brushing against his cheeks ever so lightly. Taking a deep breath, every sign of hesitancy seemed to disappear from your soul, as Chris encouragingly smiled at you, silently telling you that he was listening

That was it, you thought, that was the life you could finally feel worthy to live. «Chris, will you marry me?» you asked, however, Chris’ smile completely fell, making your heart sink. All of a sudden, Chris’ face erupted into an incredulous smile, accompanied by an incredulous chuckle; he easily entangled himself from your arms, just to gently wrap his right arm around your neck, tugging you towards him. «Again? I can’t believe you proposed first, as well!» he gently rubbed at your head, like he had done few times during your travel, «I was trying to build up my courage to propose to you so hard that Felix threatened to throw me overboard!» you found yourself laughing along him, your heart finally at ease.

-

«I’m getting married,» you timidly admitted to your parents’ tombstones, «and I wish you were here with me.». All of a sudden, a gentle breeze disheveled your hair, and a weird sensation of warmth seemed to cover your cheek for a little while; it lasted for few seconds, just for everything to vanish as nothing happened. The trip to Velia was something Chris had predicted, since he knew that your mother’s tombstone was in your home-town, and the fact that you had buried one of Hongjoong’s sword and his favourite armor next to her was something that he found out thanks to the letters you exchanged.

Chris’ steps echoed on the gravel, before he kneeled next to you; it was just like that time, many years ago, when Chris offered you his coat in the clumsy attempt to console you. This time, Chris was looking at you with a serene and happy expression - matching yours; he tilted his head quizzically, and you nodded at him before getting up, brushing the dust from your clothes.

«Let’s go,» you sighed, «I promised Felix he could choose the flowers.» «Oh,» Chris giggled, «good luck with finding your way to the altar.» he joked. «No need,» you immediately retorted with a chanting tone, earning a questioning look from your partner, «we’ll find our way together.» Chris gaze softened, and he reached out to intertwine his fingers with yours as the two of you were walking to the carriage waiting for you. «Of course,» he echoed, «we’ll find our way together.»

all works © lettersfromaphrodite

Do not modify, repost, translate or plagiarize my stories. I only publish my works on tumblr & AO3.

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[love-toxin]

ok hear me out - fruity four but with a ‘good friend’ reader who knows they’re poly (aka we all have a crush on you hngghhg pls let us love u pls)

ok so, maybe someday, readers feeling a little more emotionally vulnerable, and while on the topic of nighttime routines, when it comes to ur turn, ur like “oh yea i get ready in like, complete silence, lol im so in my own head, I’ll go through the motions of braiding my hair so it doesn’t get in my face, filling my hot water bottle up bc im icicle cold, filling my drinking bottle up cus i wake up randomly super thirsty, making sure i do alllll of my skincare and maybe get a little snacky snack” and they’re all like 😍😍 yeah? until you end the little explanation with “a lot of the time, i pretend someone else is just doing all of that for me, yknow, like taking care of me and being all soft and not forgetting a step, like I pretend that my heads just empty and I don’t have to think, but then when it comes to sleep-bed-time, it makes me a little sad when I realise that no one’s actually there to cuddle me to sleep, so I try not to do that anymore! :)”

and they’re all like??? mortified. horrified. their sweet, sweet ‘friend’ (dear god pls like us pls) is all alone??“ur lonely? :(“ but reader so immediately denies it like nope. me? no ofc not im just extra soft and sensitive sometimes so it helps to pretend it’s someone else - pretend silly!!

and then it begins. Eddie hands you a water bottle. Normal, until he insists, quite silently, to be the one holding it while u drink from it, tilting his head down to ask a little “enough?” when he senses ur done

and then there’s that one time when nancys going through ur wardrobe after turning up at the ass crack of dawn and ur still half asleep in ur pjs, “looking” for a sweater she coulda sworn she left here that one time, just for her to slyly build your outfit for the day, all casual like “hey, here u go, and I’m gonna do ur hair this way too, could help u put it on if ur still sleepy? :)”

steve knowing ur indecisive - he use to not wanna make u uncomfy and overstep by being a bit dominant and assuming how you’d want things, but now has no qualms abt take out. the usual back and forth over “what do u wanna eat” “idk steve, u decide” “well idk what I fancy, what do u fancy” “I’ll have whatever Steve i promise” and when u do decide on a place, the whole other back and forth over what to actually order.

So now he just lets you know with a soft smile like “just ordered a chicken korma in, made sure to get u that nice mango chutney and a couple poppadoms, we’re watching greese too in a sec :)” and u feel.. weirdly safe. comforted? u can’t put ur finger on it so u try not to dwell on the feeling.

robin gets so touchy. they all like to be touchy with eachother, and at this point ofc are as touchy as they dare with you, but my god robin kicks it up so many notches. thinks nothing of biting u. which the first time she does it ur all like “ 0-0 huh?” until she explains that she cant sit still and ur literally right there so she’s naturally gonna get all chompy, and ur nice enough to be like “ohhhh alright” cus it’s not like she’s doing anything heinous, it’s just one of her quirks, right? always putting her legs over urs until she can find a way to get urs on her own, leaning into ur side until she can casually figure out how to make u do the same.

oh god. a sleepover. the thing they’ve been building up for. All of this? layered on THICK. you know they’ve been meticulously planning every single step of the night and planning everyone’s roles

(so so so many disagreements cus Eddie and Robin both wanna braid ur hair, but nancys the only one who actually knows how to braid. or Steve and Eddie fighting tooth and nail over who gets to do ur skincare until they decide that Steve can do all the washing and Eddie gets to do the nice soft pat pat pat towel drying)

They try and be smooth abt it but ofc it’s so different to other sleepovers. and u sorta just let them do it. u feel so selfish but it’s like.. the second Steve and Eddie pull u into the bathroom and Eddie picks up ur toothbrush to do ur teeth before ur facewash, u tear up a little. u feel selfish for indulging in their kindness but don’t wanna stop them. u wanna be cuddled by them all to sleep so badly but also not overstep relationship boundaries

WOOOOOF!!!! WROW!!!! IM......MELTING......no,, I'm too soft for this, im......sobs.....

being so vulnerable with them and getting rewarded for it.....it's like laying a present in their laps--they've loved you so much for so long, they've always wondered what they could do to show that, and now you've just dropped the answer right in front of them without even realizing it. them hoping you realize what they're doing when they fulfill all those dreams of yours, when they care for you down to the littlest detail, but in some ways they almost hope you don't, because it's almost better to watch you be so shy around them when they're doing things for you and be moved nearly to tears when they insist on taking away any stress you might be subject to. and then you feel selfish, you worry you're getting in the way of their relationship, and all four of them know they have to make it clear to you that you're one of them. they've just gotten what they wanted--to dote on you and be the ones you rely on completely--and they're not letting that go because of some silly worry you have of taking advantage of them. you could never do that, ever, they can promise you that.

[azsazz]

Bloody Knuckles and the Songs of Death (Part 4)

Azriel x Reader

Summary: Reader is everything that Azriel is not. Opposite feelings but equal death in the end.

AKA: Half a rewrite of chapters 43-47 of ACOWAR where reader is now there as part of the Autumn Court, excited to meet Azriel. The other half are my own ideas.

Warnings: Major themes of death, ACOWAR spoilers, blood, gore, mentions of abuse, smut.

Word Count: 1,621

(Part One) (Part Two) (Part 3)

_________________________________________

Beron shields barely fast enough to block Feyre, but the wake singes Eris’ arm–right through the thick, emerald cloth. And the pale, lovely arm of Amaretto.

The others shout, shooting to their feet, but Feyre isn’t stopping yet. Her point hasn’t been made, and her wild gray eyes are consumed by the inferno she’s wielding at the flame master himself.

She stands, instead sending a wave of water from the reflection pool to encircle Beron and his chair. A bubble without air.

Flame pounds against it, turning water to steam, but she pushes harder.

She looks like she might kill him, and although you’re slightly disappointed it’s not the shadowsinger to take his life, you’re very happy at the sight before you.

Beron’s flame barrier slams into her water one, hard enough that ripples begin to form, steam hissing amongst them.

She bares her teeth and sends a fist of white light punching into that fiery shield–the white light of Day. Spell-breaker. Ward-cleaver.

Beron’s eyes widen as his shields begin to fray. As that water pushes in.

You shift onto the edge of your seat, eager eyes unable to look away. The taste of his panic is sweet on your tongue.

Rhysand stands before her, capturing her face in his soft hands. “You’ve proved your point, my love,” he says to her. “Kill him, and horrible Eris will take his place.”

She doesn’t say anything aloud but he answers her as if she had. 

“As interesting an experiment as that might be,” Rhys croons, “It would only complicate the matters at hand.”

It’s silent for a long few heartbeats. 

And then she lets go of her magic.

Beron’s flames explode like an unfurling flower–and bounce harmlessly off of the shield Rhys had thrown around them.

Not to shield against Beron.

The other High Lords are now on their feet.

“That was how you got through my wards,” Tarquin murmurs.

Beron’s panting so hard he looks like he might spew lava. His heated gaze turns on you in a silent command to kill them all, right here and now, but you’re too busy watching what the others are saying.

Helion rubs his jaw as he sits down once more. “I wondered where it went–that little bit. So small–like a fish missing a single scale. But I still felt whenever something brushed against that empty spot.” A smirk at Rhys. “No wonder you made her High Lady.”

“I made her High Lady,” Rhys says simply, lowering his hands from Feyre’s face but not leaving her side, “Because I love her. Her power was the last thing I considered.”

Helion asks Tamlin, “You knew of her powers?”

Tamlin only watches Feyre and Rhys, his declaration hanging between them. “It was none of your business,” is all Tamlin says to Helion. To everyone.

“The power belongs to us. I think it is,” Beron seethes.

Mor levels a look at Beron that would send lesser males running.

The Lady of Autumn is clutching her arm, angry red splattered along her moon-white skin. No glimmer of pain on that face, though. Feyre says as she reclaims her seat, “I’m sorry.”

Amarettos eyes lift towards her gray ones, round as saucers.

Beron spits, “Don’t talk to her, you human filth.”

Rhys shatters through Beron’s shield, his fire, his defenses.

Shatters through them like a stone hurled into a window, and slams his dark power into Beron so hard he rocks back in his seat. Then that seat disintegrates into black, sparkling dust beneath him.

Leaving Beron to fall on his ass.

You truly do like the Night Court.

Glittering ebony dust drifts away on a phantom wind, staining Beron’s crimson jacket, clinging like clumps of ash to his brown hair.

“Don’t ever,” Rhys says, hands sliding into his pockets, “speak to my mate like that again.”

Beron shoots to his feet, not bothering to brush off the dust, and declares to no one in particular, “This meeting is over. I hope Hybern butchers you all.”

But Nesta rises from her chair. “This meeting is not over.”

Even Beron pauses at her tone. Eris sizes up the space between Nesta Archeron and his father.

She stands tall, a pillar of steel. “You are all there is,” she says to Beron, to all of us. “You are all that there is between Hybern and the end of everything that is good and decent.” She settles her stare on the High Lord of Autumn, unflinching and fierce. “You fought against Hybern in the last war. Why do you refuse to do so now?”

Beron does not deign to answer. But he does not leave. Eris subtly motions his brothers to sit.

Nesta marks his gesture–hesitating. As if realizing she indeed holds their complete attention. That every word matters. “You may hate us. I don’t care if you do. But I do care if you let innocents suffer and die. At least stand for them. Your people. For Hybern will make an example of them. Of all of us.”

“And you know this how?” Beron sneers.

“I went into the Cauldron,” Nesta says flatly. “It showed me his heart. He will bring down the wall, and butcher those on either side of it.”

Truth or lie, you can’t tell. Nesta’s face reveals nothing. And no one dares to contradict her.

She looks to Kallias and Viviane. “I am sorry for the loss of those children. The loss of one is abhorrent.” She shakes her head. “But beneath the wall, I witness children–entire families–starve to death.” She jerks her chin at her sister. “Were it not for my sister…I would be among them.”

“Too long,” she continues. “For too long have humans beneath the wall suffered and died while you in Prythian thrived. Not during that–queen’s reign.” She recoils, as if hating to even speak Amarantha’s name. “But long before. If you fight for anything–fight now, to protect those you forgot. Let them know they’re not forgotten. Just this once.”

Thesean clears his throat. “While a noble statement, the details of the Treaty did not demand we provide for our human neighbors. They were to be left alone. So we obeyed.”

Nesta remains standing. “The past is the past. What I care about is the road ahead. What I care about is making sure no children–Fae or human–are harmed. You have been entrusted with protecting this land.” She scans the faces around her. “How can you not fight for it?”

She looks to Beron and his family as she finishes. Only the Lady and Eris seem to be considering–impressed, even, by the strange, simmering woman before them.

Beron only says, “I shall consider it.” A look at his wife and sons, and they vanish, leaving you and Eris in their wake. 

Eris is the last to winnow, something conflicting dancing over his face, as if this was not the outcome he’d planned for. Expected.

The look he gives you is an order. One that has your stomach twisting with both excitement and nerves. He knows that he himself cannot stay here, not while Beron is beyond himself with anger, so he’s telling you to stay, to talk to the Night Court for him.

You nod, and he disappears.

Kallias asks Feyre quietly, “Did you master the ice?” 

She gives him a shallow nod in return. “All of it.”

Kallias scrubs at his face as Viviane sets a hand on his arm. “Does it make a difference, Kal?”

“I don’t know,” he admits.

But Tarquin says, “You saved us Under the Mountain. Losing a kernel of power seems a worthy payment.”

“It seems she took far more than that,” Helion argues, “If she could be within seconds of drowning Beron despite the wards.” 

Helion’s power, warm and clear, brushes against their shield, trawling through the air between everyone. As if testing for a tether.

Thesean declares, “What’s done is done. Short of killing her,”–Rhys’s power roils through the room at the words–“There is nothing we can do.”

Feyre stands, staring Thesean in the eye. Then Helion. Tarquin. Kallias. Even you, the representative for Autumn, exactly as Nesta had done. “I did not take your power. You gave it to me, along with the gift of my immortal life. I am grateful for both. But they are mine now. And I will do with them what I will.”

Her courtiers have risen behind her, now in rank, Nesta at her left. Rhys steps up to her right, but doesn’t touch her. He lets her stand on her own like Eris is letting you, to stare everyone down.

She says quietly, but not weakly, “I will use these powers–my powers–to smash Hybern to bits. I will burn them, drown them, and freeze them. I will use these powers to heal the injured. To shatter through Hybern’s wards. I have done so already, and I will do so again. And if you think that my possession of a kernel of your magic is your biggest problem, then your priorities are severely out of order.”

The High Lords and their retinues say nothing.

But Viviane nods, chin high, and rises. “I will fight with you.”

Cressida stands a heartbeat later. “As will I.”

Both of them look to the males in their court.

Tarquin and Kallias rise.

Then Helion, smirking at Feyre and Rhys.

And finally Thesean–Thesean and Tamlin, who did not so much a breathe in her direction, had barely moved or spoken these past few moments.

All eyes turn toward you. You cannot speak for the High Lord that you serve, but you can for yourself. For yourself and for Eris, you stand, and nod, pledging your allegiance.

“I will also fight with you.”