#also I want to apologize for the spelling mistakes that at times made these incoherent

[assim-eu-sou]

Bia 2:59-60

2:59

- Manuel would be dumb if he were to think there could ever be anything aside from friendship going on between Bia and Alex

- I can see both of their grief in that hug… :(

- AW NOT A FLASHBACK WAAAAH I’M EMO

- That’s it I’m forgiving Alex, it’s better that way.

- Aww….

- Tsk tsk Ana… Victor has a point

- Fiore mio… sigh… Guillermo redeemed

- Zeta finally brings himself to his reckoning

- Voy crew, we’re missing the descant. But nice embellishments :)

- But perfect for me to sing along to actually :)

- AQUI ME ENCONTRARÁS IS A BIA SONG????? I love that song so fricken much

- Bruuuuuuh he is jealous. Manuel babey… come on.

- When Alex is the logical one of the two…. you know it’s trouble

- Woaaahhhh Victor has an opportunity to pursue the basketball thing

- Antonio definitely does want Victor out of his hair. But It is a good opportunity.

- Oooooooh I know this Bia outfit :)

- Me and my lack of self control

- Awww an international food party

- I love how everyone is from different places through, it’s cool

- Dang Manuel is slamming that piano again

- Dang…. Manuel is losing his brother again… pobre….

- Bros I’m getting sad…. The finality of it all is setting in

- WE DESERVE BIA 3 AND BEU IN THE RESIDENCIA KUNST :’(

- Awwwww I love Bia and Chiara’s energy so much ahhhhhh they really just make me smile I’m gonna miss them :’(

- MANUEL WITHOUT THE CAP!

- Carmín Spy

- Oooooh I think Carmín is gonna like that

- Alex is like. oh. oop. Did not mean for that to be heard.

- Aw her little nervous habits :’)

- Hahaha Paula is pleased

- Moving sucks for real

- Hahahaahahah Celeste will not forgive Alex so quickly

- uh.

- uh.

- Siempre fuiste vos…. Oh gosh…

- hey. Hey what’s happening. hello.

- There’s only 1 thing Ana needs to do right now and it’s talk to Bia. Sorry…

- Everyone when Chiara says she’s with Guillermo:

- CHICO DEL PIANO PLEASEEE IF I STILL HAD EMOTIONS LEFT I’D BE WEEPING

- IT’S LIKE THE BEGINNING AHHHHHHHH

- ohhh….. my babies…. oh….

- AL FIN.

2:60

- NOT THE MONTAGE I AM ON MY LAST STRAW FOR REAL THIS TIME

- This is too much truly I. I. Help.

- My heart is aching fam. I have so much to say about this truly.

- BAHAHA Bia’s face when she got the phone call. She’s gonna slap Pixie in her mind.

- OK ANYWAY, Back to what I was saying. Bia has been waiting forever for that hug… all of this pain they’ve gone through but they went through it apart and finally he is holding her and things aren’t perfect but they’re better than they’ve been in a while… that hug ugh it breaks me. Fam I am insane.

- Oh…. She misses being called Helena… ughhhh my heart

- ohhhh. That look of Ana’s. oh….

- Chiara won them over for Guillermo fast lol

- I’m so emo my gosh…. NOT THE FLASHBACKS TO THE FIRST EP

- Fam. My heart cannot take this. It cannot.

- Oh…. tender….

- I’m in pain. I’m more sad about this ending then when I graduated high school and that is completely serious.

- The lights turning off…. I’ve had enough….

- Ahhhhh Helena Gritarle al Mundo my absolute beloved

- Oh the growl. I’m <3

- It’s really such a good song…

- Oh… I haven’t heard Manuel’s voice like that in forever… I missed it

- Delfi.

- That’s not a lot to take all the way to Spain…. I am not a light packer tho

- Above all, Paula is a mother that would do anything for her children, for better or for worse

- [(Brokenly) I’m not sad]

- This is why we keep the subs on lol

- I can’t believe he’s gonna leave without giving Manuel a proper goodbye

- I can see a lot of emotions going through Alex’s eyes… it’s all so complicated

- PARTY TIME!

- I wanna goooooo

- Please have brigadeiros

- Oh I predicted it HA

- Ok anyway.

- Whew this fortune is INTENSE

- PLEASEE they think it was Manuel lol

- Oh…. That message from Ana…. Oh gosh…

- Aw Alex came :)

- Pixie and Jandino snuck right out of there

- Look at Proud Manuel in the audience

- I’m so happy to see them close again

- What a magical little place

- She’s so giggly omg…..

- Cuando Pasó piano in the background

- oh…. tender…. Don’t touch me

- ESAS MIRADAS….. I CAN’T STAND THIS

- Awwww Alex made his own suit BASED ON CARMÍN’S IDEAS

- Finally a happy ending for Carmín….

- DJ Thiago in the house!

- oh….. binuel…. I’m gonna miss you so much….

- Marcos and Mara came???

- Whew…. Victor waiting at the bridge

- Nice lil reality check in the middle of the party

- OMG LEAVE THIAGO ALONE.

- Cute of them to have that suspenseful little scene and then not renew the show. :/

- hUH

- Girl if someone embraced me like that rn I would freaking disintegrate

- Ngl folks I don’t really understand what is going on here

- Anyway Thiago is stressed

- “Pase lo que pase…. Te quiero…” uh. Hello????

- uh. Helena recording?????

- Bia may have extreme face blindness but she DOES recognize Helena’s voice

- Bia is woozy as HECK

- DJ Manuel!

- Hey Bia….. where are you going?

- MY VPN IS ABOUT TO RUN OUT I HATE IT HERE

- Ugh Gabi sounds angelic…. <3

- Ah. So this is what all the dizziness was leading to.

- BIA!!!!!

- Can you believe my VPN cut off rn. Unbelievable.

- OK. so I made another post analyzing the ending and this liveblog is already so long so. find it here.

[shintorikhazumi]

(Dianakko Week) There’s no way she- (3): “There’s no way she tamed that.”

@dianakko-week​

A/N: Okay! So I’m really sorry if day 2 confused y’all ;-;. I just couldn’t reveal as much info to be clear as I thought ;-; I dunno if this chapter will do any good of explaining, but here’s to hoping  that it does! T-T Also apologies if the whole story goes south or off the rails since I’m really running on fumes this week and am at peak exhaustion capacity woo! So these chapters/days might just be getting weird and incoherent idk. Sorry. This is kind of like... going back and forth between days 2-4 in terms of theme, I think. But well. uh... Idk anymore.

Enjoy?

~Shintori Khazumi

Day 3: Familiars/Animals

“There’s no way she tamed that.”

“I’m just glad you’ve all settled in just fine.”

“Honestly? Same.” Barbara sighed, looking into the orb that showed Lotte and Sucy’s faces. “I guess it’s just that we’ve been here for a few months- two? Three? It’s a good start.”

“How’s her majesty holding up?” Sucy asked teasingly, but with concern clear in her visible eye.

Barbara bit her lip, not really sure of the answer herself. “She never showed me or Han, but I know that she’s cried to Akko-with Akko” Barbara shook her head fondly, recalling their sweet dork. “-when we all went to bed. It went on for a few weeks. Right now, she’s... she’s holding up. She’s tough, we all know.”

“Yes. You all are.” Lotte said with a smile that quickly melted away into a deep frown. “I can’t believe they burned down the mansion.”

“I can’t believe they were able to get through Diana’s cloaking spell.” Sucy commented. “Something isn’t right, but no one can pinpoint just what it is yet.” She said, swirling an ominous-looking fluid in one of her flasks.

Barbara nodded. “Well, anyway, I’ll get back to you later. I’m on dinner duty and the sun has been sending me warnings.” She chuckled, noticing the changing hues of the horizon. “Talk to you again sometime?”

“We’ll update you on the situation.” Lotte assured, waving to her friend before the connection cut and the orb turned blank.

Barbara sighed, standing up from the table to return the orb on their shelf in the living room of the cozy stone cottage they had settled in, deep in a forest of some unknown country far away from home.

It was a new world with so many unknowns. Maybe too many. Including why Diana and Akko had been targeted this way. Diana had told them that she’d been stripped of her position on the magic council, and had been ‘warned’ that she would someday suffer the consequences of not complying with the other members. So far, that was all they knew. They just found that Diana had a hunch that they needed to leave soon. They were so glad they did.

Barbara began prepping in the kitchen, getting all her ingredients from the fridge that she’d need for the dish she wanted to cook. Suddenly, a chorus of yells from her two teammates caught her attention, telling her that they were close to home, along with their other friend whose name was pronounced loud on their lips-

“AKKO?!”

//

“What?” Akko shrugged, clearly not getting why this was such a big deal. Florence was one of her sweetest familiars!

“No, no, no. Not ‘what?’, Akko... how... why? Who? Where did you even-” Hannah stammered. “There’s no way she tamed that. Right, Diana?” She turned to their team leader, still staring up at the very real, and very large griffin.

“Akko... how did you even... you say this is your familiar??? A gryphon of this size? We all know that contracting familiars are difficult, but you just-”

She and Hannah watched as Akko continued to play with the somehow puppy-like griffin, Akko rubbing it’s belly as it rolled on the grass in front of their home.

“Diana.” Akko deadpanned. “You literally kept a Kelpie at home.” She saw Diana open her mouth about to deny the statement, and cut her off. “Don’t lie. I saw you feeding it by the lake the other day.”

“Well...”

“I watched you train it the other day.”

“I-”

“I’ve also seen it playing in the fountain in the yard back at home-” As that word slipped, Akko realized her mistake, seeing Hannah giving her a disproving look as Diana’s face looked momentarily downcast, before masking it with a smile.

“Diana-” Akko tried to reach out, but her girlfriend had taken a careful step back, leaving a pang in Akko’s heart. “I’m sor-”

“I’ve been caught red-handed, I suppose.” Diana laughed mirthlessly, a hand rubbing up and down her opposite arm as she looked off into the distance. “Oh look at that! The sun is setting. We should go inside.” She quickly changed the topic, being the first one to turn around and head for their house, not waiting for her companions to follow.

Hannah groaned, smacking the back of Akko’s head. “Nice going, Akko.”

“Hey!”

“Make sure to hide that familiar somewhere and wash your hands before dinner! Barbara’s going to have your head the next time you touch her table with those filthy hands.” She warned before disappearing into the cottage after Diana.

“I already know that. You don’t have to tell me.” Akko scoffed, crossing her arms before getting nuzzled by her Griffin, a cute confused look on his face. She smiled, petting it’s side before doing what Hannah had told her to do. “Come on, Florence. Let’s get you back in with the others?”

Reaching into her shirt, Akko pulled out a locket, casting a spell on it that made it larger, revealing a briefcase that looked like any other. However, as she turned the dials of it’s lock code, multiple sounds spring forth from it as the case shook.

Florence nuzzled against her back, whining about her actions. Akko got the message. “Sorry, buddy. I know it’s been a while since I let you out free, but I don’t have anywhere better to keep you all yet. Hang on just a bit more? For me?” She rubbed the Griffin’s head before holding the briefcase closer to him and Florence disappeared into the container. “Thank you.” She patted the lid.

After closing it securely, she spun the numbers to form a different code that brought about silence before shrinking it back into the size that she kept around her neck.

“I hope they waited for me for dinner.”

//

“Are you alright?”

Diana looked up from her seat on the small porch, gaze warming as she was met by the sight of her old friend with two mugs in hand, steaming and warm. She simply nodded, patting the seat next to her.

Hannah nodded, settling down next to Diana and handing her her drink. Before Diana could even greet and thank her, a thick blanket was draped across her shoulders from her other side. Barbara promptly took seat on that free space, leaning her weight against Diana and closing her eyes.

“Girls...”

“You can trust us with your pain as much as you do with Akko, you know?” Hannah murmured, Barbara nodding against Diana’s side.

“...I know.” Biting her lip, Diana tried her best to form the appropriate words. Seconds slipped by and she continued failing at being open to her best friends. “I’m sorry. It’s still a little difficult.” She felt the pair sigh on each side of her, and felt a little bad.

“We suppose that one is on us for constantly placing you up on a pedestal. Both then and now.” Barbara chuckled, the statement supposedly lighthearted despite all three knowing it was the heavy truth. “Just know that when you’re ready, we will always be willing to listen, yes?” She turned her body around, enough to embrace Diana, Hannah mirroring the action as they both squeezed her tight.

Diana squeaked as they planted a kiss on each side of her face before laughing at how bashful she was being.

“Well, that’s all from us. We’ll be heading in now.”

Diana had wanted a few more minutes of time with them, but as she followed them with her eyes, she saw someone else waiting by the door.

“Fix this.” She heard Hannah whisper to the dejected-looking Akko, loud enough for all of them to hear. Barbara giggled as she entered the house first, and Diana found her own chuckles slipping out as Akko grumbled her way towards Diana until she stood face to face with her.

“...”

“...”

“Hi.”

“Hello, dear.”

Diana felt her heart ache in a bittersweet way as she saw tears form in Akko’s eyes, and the girl kneeled in front of her, relocating Diana’s mug of hot chocolate somewhere safe on the wooden porch before taking both of her hands in hers and kissing each knuckle.

“I love you...” She whispered, holding Diana’s hands to her forehead as Akko bowed her head to hide her face from her. “And I’m sorry...”

“Darling...” Diana sighed with a smile. “Come here.”

Diana watched Akko briefly hesitate before gingerly snaking her arms round about Diana, snuggling into her fully.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. You didn’t mean to hurt me or anything.”

“But I did.” Akko sniffled, remembering that Diana had entrusted her sorrows and fears to her for nights and nights since they lost their old home, and how carelessly Akko had mentioned it while Diana was still touchy about the subject. “So I’m still sorry.”

Diana turned her head slightly to the side, enough to place a tender kiss on Akko’s cheek, “Then, Thank you. Thank you for apologizing, Love.”

“Mmm.”

They stayed that a way a few moments before Akko pulled away, a big grin plastered over her face.

“I have something to show you. Just to make it up to you.” She’d said, turning to the sky with lips pursed to release a unique whistling sound that Diana was not so familiar with.

She decided to face where Akko had been directing her attention, squinting at the night sky dotted with stars she knew all too well. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, so what was Akko trying to do-

There was a flash of gold and of a passionate color. It wasn’t lightning, Diana knew; neither was it the twinkling of the stars overhead.  So what exactly...

Then it came closer, perching on Akko’s arm that she had left outstretched.

Diana’s mouth gaped, a surprise much similar to what she had experienced earlier today, returning.

“Akko, this is a...”

Akko scratched the back of her head sheepishly, smiling adorably awkward as she attempted to ‘introduce’ them. “Alfred, this is Diana. Diana, this is Alfred.”

Diana nodded at the creature that stared at her with it’s bright beady eyes. Literally bright, it was in its entirety.

“He’s a baby phoenix.”

Diana nodded solemnly, still in awe. Of both the creature and Akko who was currently petting it with a magically protected hand.

Diana knew that Akko always had a strange affinity for communicating with animals. Even back in her years as ‘Luna Nova’s Dunce’- or so many had labeled her as (Diana was forever mad at that fact)- Akko had already shown her uncanny ability to empathize with non-human beings. She so easily befriended fae, was able to get along with both of Chariot’s own familiars: Alcor and Arcas of all creatures. There was also the fact that she had learned fish language in her own unconventional way and had become increasingly fluent in it and other magical creature languages over the next few years.

Now that she really about it, she realized that she usually saw Akko tending to the magical animals used by the security sector of the council, or doing work related to that. She had at first seen it as them pushing all the mucky work onto her like cleaning stables for pegasi, or feeding the more exotic research birds.

Seeing Akko right now, she felt like it should explain a whole lot more than she thought she knew about her. It made Diana feel slightly ashamed and insecure that she had yet to uncover this fact about her own lover that she had been with for so long now.

Diana shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. This wasn’t the time to doubt their relationship with one another.

In this new light she was now viewing Akko in, Diana now suspected one of the reasons why the council desperately tried to keep Akko from quitting back then despite not making much use of her at her actual supposed job. They had probably realized all too quickly, and for reasons Diana doubted were good.

But did Akko know this? Was she aware?

Diana fiddled with her hands. Maybe she should ask.

“Akko?” She tugged on the girl’s shirt sleeve.

“Hmm?”  

Diana took a breath. “I know... that one of the reasons you left your old duties behind was because you didn’t really love the job at the council... and all that.” She watched Akko nod slowly, hands stilling from caressing Alfred.

“Go on?”

“But I can’t help but think now that there’s another reason... you know, something more?” Diana looked at her dearest friend and lover with hopeful eyes, wondering if she’d tell her something she didn’t know. Something that wasn’t in the written letters Akko’s various familiars had brought to her during the moments they were apart, something that she couldn’t have observed despite having worked in generally the same establishment because they had been firmly kept apart.

Why did it suddenly feel like Diana... didn’t know a lot about Akko?

She felt a pang in her heart, only supplemented by the silence that Akko had met her with.

“Sorry.” She quickly said. “Maybe it wasn’t right of me to ask.” She was about to get up when Akko stopped her, a hand holding onto Diana’s, silently bidding her to stay.

Diana sat back down and Akko rested her head on her shoulder, rubbing patterns on Diana’s hand with her thumb as she began to speak.

“Diana, did you know? That magical creatures have so much more magical energy stored in their bodies than any other living things? So much so that a magical sparrow could probably power Luna Nova for almost a week, maybe.” Akko chuckled and Diana smiled at the lovely sound.

Nodding, she responded. “Well, I knew something of that nature, yes. Did Pisces teach you that? Chariot?” She asked, squeezing Akko’s hand gently in hers.

“Partially... but...” Akko sighed. “I also found it out myself.”

Diana nodded, not wanting to interrupt anything.

“You know me so well Diana, so I’m sure that you’ve noticed by now that I have...” Akko paused, in thought of how she should word it. “Quite a few? Familiars?”

Diana snorted, bringing their joined hands up to her lips and kissing the back of Akko’s hand. “A lot, dear. A whole lot.”

Akko giggled alongside her before calming and adopting a more serious look. Diana lent her ears once more, preparing herself for what was to come.

“It started when they discovered I could easily befriend them. The magical beasts and creatures.” Akko frowned, surely remembering things she did not want to. “They sent me out to catch, acquire, and well tame magical beasts. Pfft-Like I could do that.”

Diana was about to argue that Akko could- as could clearly be observed, but was beaten to the punch.

“It was much easier than I believed it should be.” She admitted. “At first, I had no clue what they needed it for. I assumed more research on animals, extending our knowledge, and all that good stuff, you know?” Akko huffed, lifting her other hand up to guide her little phoenix into flight so that it would return to where it came from.

Diana guessed it was because Akko didn’t want it understanding what she was about to reveal next.

“Of course, I had felt bad about intruding into their habitats and taking one of their kind, but I had hoped that after whatever observations the council and researchers had, I could just return them to their families and homes.”

Diana felt Akko’s grip tightening around her hand, breathing shallowing.

“Then one day, I saw these beautiful, beautiful creatures in one of the outer courtyards...” Akko squeezed her eyes shut, painfully recalling the memory of what she saw that day.  “They killed them, Diana. Killed them in order to power some device that I have no clue about. I saw it in passing when I accompanied the secretary around before I was shut out.” Akko confessed.

Diana leaned her head on Akko’s, mind flying to places she had tried forgetting about because of the pain they caused her as she tried to make sense of what Akko knew, and what she had also found out.

“That’s when I decided to quit and go to the places I believed more beasts resided in...  especially the more endangered and possibly more powerful ones from what I had looked into, and what Chariot and Pisces had told me. I thought that maybe I could keep them safe that way. I’m sure the council had someone replace me in my... ‘work’.”

Akko allowed herself to fall over and lay herself on Diana’s lap, turning around to bury her face in the woman’s stomach.

Diana felt arms wrap around her waist, and she brought her hands atop Akko’s head to comb through silky chocolate strands. She felt the tension in Akko’s body release, before hearing another quiet, “I’m sorry”.

Diana would have asked what for, but they both already knew that.

“I just couldn’t tell you at that time. Not when you were also trying your best to establish your position in that very same council. I thought it would put you at risk of losing your job... or worse.”

Diana could just hear her choke up on that word, having now been acquainted with the ‘worse’ bit.

“So I decided to distance myself for a bit. I’m sorry, Diana. I’m sorry.” Akko murmured against her stomach. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Diana could feel a wet patch growing on her stomach. She continued to gently run her fingers through Akko’s hair in hopes of soothing her lover and reassuring her that it was all alright. That she understood. That she was grateful that Akko did it to protect her.

“I just wish I had told you back then, now that all of this happened. It’s still very much my fault, isn’t it?” Akko sniffled, turning away to wipe her nose on her sleeve. “Aaagghh, I really am sorry. To you, to Hannah and Barbara, and to everyone else.” Akko tried to slow her breathing in order to stop crying as she looked straight up at the night sky. “This is all my fault.”

Her view of the starry sky was obstructed, but replaced with the blues of a summery morning, even though it was the dead of night.

She was entranced, just like she’d always been since a long time ago.

Akko felt her eyelids flutter shut as Diana leaned down, closer, closer, and closer...

Thwack-

“Ouch!”

Akko’s eyes shot open as she was met with a stern Diana.

“Don’t just take all the blame like that and treat this whole thing as your decision solely. We all came here on our own accord. Hannah, Barbara, and I. Actually, didn’t we drag you hear in the first place?” Diana scolded a thoroughly shocked Akko.

“Y-yes.”

Diana’s expression relaxed as she chuckled, finally giving Akko the kiss she’d been expecting. “That’s why, my love, please. Continue to trust us.”

Diana could swear she could read a million I love you’s written all over Akko’s face. The sweetheart.

“Besides. I have things I need to discuss with you all as well. And I think- no. I know that it is connected with what you’ve just told me tonight.”

Diana nudged Akko up, guiding them both back on their feet.

“But for now, can we finally get some shut-eye?” She looked at Akko with a pleading face that the latter dared not say no to.

“Definitely.”

Diana squealed as she was hoisted up into strong arms and carried into the house, across their small living room and into their shared bedroom, careful not to make as much noise when they passed by their friends’.

As Akko lay Diana down on the soft sheets, she peppered kisses about her face, the pair giggling and whispering until they were all out of mirth.

Tomorrow was another day, and it might just be another frightful one.

But well, they had each other and it didn’t matter as much anymore.

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

Snuggled beneath the covers, to the soft cooing of the breezes of the forest, they began to drift to slumber-

“Oh, that’s right, Love.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you mind showing me your other animals?”

“Not at all, dear.”

“Great.”

“Any reason why?”

“I just want to see Hannah’s shocked face again if we ever find something like a manticore or minotaur with you, haha.”

“...”

“I’m jesting, Love- Akko... why are you wearing that expression? Akko... no way... No. Really?!”

“...You see...”

“There’s no way you tamed that!”

A/N: If you’ve seen fantastic beasts- I just loved the suitcase concept. Also I dunno, I thought of the whistling thing and wondered if it was an actual summoning technique and found a transcendental- was it- whistling. Welp. It’s almost 2am and I’m doing this while also doing my lab reports skgmdsoigndfngsdr okay. Time to di-p. Time to dip into work. Ciao!

~Shintori Khazumi

[the-sympathetic-villain]

You Belong With Me - Chapter 35

AO3 | First | Previous | Next | Masterpost  

Description:   Much to his surprise, after being released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Logan has been appointed as a the prince’s new advisor.  

Word Count: 9201

Chapter Warnings contain major spoilers so they’re at the end of the post, but  please scroll down to check them if you need to! <3  

---

    “What do you mean you lost him?”

    “I didn't lose him, princey! He took off!”

    “You were supposed to be watching him!”

    “I was asleep!” Virgil growled, pacing back and forth in front of the disconsolate prince. “In case you forgotten, I've been with him for two days straight, princey. Do you really think I would have been any use to him if I hadn't slept in that time?”

    Roman's expression immediately softened as Virgil snapped at him. “Of course not.”

    “Not to mention, I wasted precious time tracking you down coming to find you." Virgil growled, stopping in place. "Time that I could have been looking for him, might I add. So, a little bit of gratitude would go a long way for you right now.”

    Guilt fluttered in Roman's chest at the pain in Virgil's voice. “I know, Virge. I'm sorry. I have no doubt you did everything you could to keep him safe.”

    “I don't get it, princey." Virgil continued, his voice starting to tremble. “How could he just take off on me like that?”

    "I think I may know why." Roman whispered quietly, glancing up at Virgil with a pointed look in his eyes. "It would seem that our guest in the dungeons also took his leave this morning."

    “Roman, you can't seriously think that Logan would—” Virgil growled before Roman cut him off.

    “There is plenty of reasons for Logan to seek out more answers, Virgil," Roman muttered, running his hand through his hair. "You and I bother know that both of them going missing in one night is not a coincidence."

    “You’re saying he betrayed us.” Virgil crossed his arms, glaring at Roman with an accusing look in his eyes.

    “He left his chambers willingly, Virge. The guards told you as much,” Roman sighed as Virgil’s expression soured. “but that being said, I'm not making any accusations, Virgil. Regardless of Logan’s feelings towards me, I don't believe he would go behind your back.”

    “Well, clearly you're wrong, because he seems to have done just that.” Virgil spat, shoving his fists in his cloak. “Shit, what was he thinking, princey? He's gonna get hurt.”

    “He wants answers." Roman stated quietly, staring at the ground. “The answers he didn’t get from me.”

    “Fine, I get why he want to talk to him again, but why go alone?” Virgil hissed, his voice becoming frantic as he paced the room. "It doesn't make sense. He could have said something. I would have taken him."

    “You would have taken him go to see this other fae in the middle of night?” Roman raised an eyebrow at him skeptically.

    “If the alternative was him going alone, then yes, I would have." Virgil muttered angrily.

    “Virgil. I know this is hard, but none of this is your fault. It's mine and I'm going to get this sorted out.” Roman dropped his gaze to the ground before stepping toward the door. “I should put out an alert immediately. If he's still close, we might catch him.”

    “Wait, Roman.” Virgil held up his hand to block Roman’s way. “Isn’t your family still facing backlash over the alert that was called out on you? Should you really do that?”

    “Logan’s safety is more important than anything those bastards have to say in court.” Roman muttered, trying to dodge around Virgil. “I can lose everything for all I care, but I can’t let him get hurt."

    Virgil caught Roman's shoulder, forcing him back. “You said it yourself, he’s the one that snuck out, princey. What if he's not looking to be found?”

    A lump caught in Roman’s throat and he pause he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks. We have to find him.”

    Virgil stopped abruptly, hearing something off in his tone. He turned to Roman, trying to catch his eye as his gaze dropped away to avoid Roman. “Wait—why? What do you know?”

    “I made another mistake, Virgil.” Roman’s voice trembled as he looked up and Virgil could see his eyes glisten as he struggled to contain his emotions.

    Virgil stepped forward, hesitantly reaching a comforting hand to Roman’s shoulder. “Shit, princey. What'd you do?”

    “I didn’t tell him everything. I wanted to, but I couldn't. I just—” Roman glanced at Virgil’s hand on his shoulder guiltily, feeling unworthy of the simple comfort. “Virge, if that fae told him what I didn’t, it may have shattered any trust Logan had left in me.”

    Virgil’s grip tightened on Roman’s shoulder as he stared at his friend. “What didn’t you tell him, princey?”

    “The fae that died in our charge—the one we enslaved for our own ends—she was his ancestor.” Roman sighed. “His mother, if I'm not mistaken.”

    “Roman,—Why? Why wouldn't you tell him that?” Virgil muttered in disbelief, staring at him horrified. He took a breath as he realized that Roman couldn't even bring himself to meet his gaze.  “Come on, princey. Talk to me. I've never known you to lie, so why start now?”

    “It was too much, Virge I couldn't do that to him.” Roman whispered quietly, keeping his eye trained shamefully on the ground. “He'd just learned of the destruction of an entire generation of the Fair Folk.” Roman paused taking a breath. “He was broken. How could I turn around and tell him his only family was dead and—and that it all happened because of him.”

    “It may be hard, but he has a right to know, Roman.” Virgil crossed his arm, staring sternly at Roman as he moved to lean on the wall next to him. "You have to know that."

    “I do, Virgil. I never intended to keep this from him forever.” Roman pleaded quietly as he looked up at Virgil’s unchanging expression. “You have to believe me. I only wanted to give him a moment to process one world-shattering realization before I threw another at him."

    Virgil was quiet for a spell as he anxiously tapping his fingers on his arm. After a long moment, he turned to face the window, lost in thought and Roman's mind began to race.

    Roman swallowed painfully as his friend avoided his gaze. “You do believe me. Right, Virge?”

    “What?” Virgil turned up to him in a daze, taken aback by the question as he glancing over his shoulder.

    “I wouldn’t hurt him on purpose. I wouldn't—” Roman's voice trembled and he suddenly looked faint. “—I swear I didn't know he'd go off on his own, Virgil. I thought I'd have more time—that I'd have another chance to talk to him—”

    “Princey!” Virgil lunged forward, placing a hand on Roman’s chest to stop him from collapsing. Roman hung limply in his arms as Virgil attempted to steady them both.

    “I'm sorry, Virgil. I’m so sorry.” Roman muttered, barely coherent. "I did this to him. This is all my fault. He's going to get hurt—"

    “Roman, stop. Just stop.” Virgil stared down at the crumbling prince in his arms, suddenly glad they were in Roman's private room as the prince melted into him, mumbling incoherent apologies. “Gods, what are you even apologizing for?"

    "I've always been so careful not to hurt anyone. I never asked for this power—” Roman whispered breathlessly. “I never—I just—”

    "Shit.Take a breath, princey.” Virgil’s arms curled around the prince as he lowered them both to the ground, allowing Roman  to curl into his chest. “You’re having a panic attack. Breathe with me."

    “I don't deserve that.” Roman choked on his own words as he buried his head into Virgil’s chest.

    “You don't deserve what?” Virgil whispered quietly. His heart ached with empathy for his friend as he clung tightly to Roman’s shoulders. “To breathe?”

    Roman’s silence hung heavy in the air between them and Virgil felt like he could hear his heart crackling as he realized how far his friend had fallen.

    “Oh, Ro. How badly did I fail you to make you think one mistake would undo the years of friendship we've built together?” Virgil calmly ran his fingers through Roman’s hair.

    “It's note a mistake. Undeniably, I hurt him. I shouldn't be forgiven for my carelessness.”

    “You’re right, princey. It wasn't even mistake.”  Virgil cut him off quickly. “You made the choice to protect Logan and it went sour. You did the best you could and that's any of us can ask of you."

    “I hurt him, Virgil." Roman whispered quietly. The melancholy in his voice broke Virgil’s heart, but he could feel Roman's breathing start to steady. “Every time I open my mouth, I hurt him again. I can't stand the way that feels. If he d—” Roman swallowed painfully as he started to push away. “—Whatever it doesn't even matter. My problems can wait. We need to find him now.”

    “Roman, stop. Let me focus on you for one second.” Virgil pleaded, tightening his grip on the prince’s shoulders. Roman paused, still restless but clearly reluctant to leave the comfort of Virgil’s arms. “Princey, I trust you more than I trust myself. You could damn well tell me the sky was purple right now and I would roll with whatever you told me. There's not a shadow of doubt in my mind that you would never lead me astray, so trust me. Come hell or high water, I'm with you until my last breath, Roman.”

    Virgil smiled as Roman let out a sharp breath and his muscles seemed to relax slightly. He gently rubbed Roman’s shoulder, hoping to ground him.

    “Seriously, I know I need to say this shit more often, but I worship you, princey.” Virgil smiled earnestly as Roman paused in confusion. “You're my hero, and if I manage to become half as kind and generous as you in my life, I’ll consider it well lived.”

    “What?” Roman sat up slowly and looked up at Virgil with confusion in his eyes.

    “Gods, I really messed up. How do you not know this, princey?” A timid smile twitched on Virgil’s lips as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "I know I've never really admitted it, but I know I would have ended up dead if that guard had been smart enough to take me straight to prison instead of to you.”

    “That was nothing." Roman waved him off, guiltily trying to pull himself away from the comfort he didn't deserve.

    “What are you talking about?” Virgil’s eyes widened as he pulled Roman back, latching onto him tightly. “It was everything! You changed my life forever.”

    Roman bit his lip, looking almost guilty as Virgil praised him. “It was simply the right thing to do. Nothing more”

    “The right thing to do would have to let me go, princey. You could have just sent a stupid kid home with a slap on the wrist. You didn't have to do what you did.” Virgil muttered, stupefied at Roman’s denial of praise for the gifts he'd given him. He pulled the prince closer, his voice full of affection as he whispered soft reassurances to the prince. “Seriously, what teenager looks at another kid and just takes responsibility for them without a second though?”

    “I did what needed to be done.” Roman whispered, his voice trembling. “You deserved a home and I don't need credit for giving you a chance at a decent life.”

    “Do you know how many full-grown adults looked at me and didn’t come to the same conclusion?” Virgil whispered, running a hand through his hair. He smiled as Roman relaxed slightly, rocking him softly as he continued to whisper to the prince. "Much like all the adults who looked the other way when they found out what was happening to Patton.”

    “Virgil—" Roman tensed as another wave of guilt rushed over him.

    “You can't deny there were adults in his life who knew about his father abusing him for years.” Virgil cut him off. “Every one of them turned a blind eye, but not you. You knew him for less than an hour before you risked everything for that poor kid. Your title, your career, your family. You could have lost everything. Roman, shit. it takes an extremely kind soul to be willing to make that sacrifice.”

    Roman was quiet as Virgil continued, seemingly unable to process what Virgil was saying.

    “Hell, Roman. Your own brother attempted to murder you and the first thing you did was make sure the guy he framed was set free. You gave him a job and a life he could only have dreamed of. You saved him.” Virgil sighed, leaning back against the wall as he rested his elbows on his knees. “Come on, princey. When the world was ready to give up on us, you stepped up and gave us back the life that had been ripped from us. Do you really think we'd turn on you for a simple mistake?”

    Roman sighed. His shoulders slumped as he leaned back into the wall. “It's not just a simple mistake, Virgil. My failure to act affected countless people. Lives and families that were torn apart because of my ignorance.”

    Virgil grunted his disbelief. “Well then, would you put that blame on me?”

    “What?” Roman blinked in confusion before tipping his head up to face Virgil.

    “I have fae contacts—” Virgil paused as his eyes flashed with guilt. “—friends in the underground of the city. They're forced to live in the underground because they’re visibly fae. That wasn't fair for them, but I didn't think twice about the fact. I just accepted it, because that's the way it's always beem. So, I ask you again. Would you put that blame on me?”

    “That's not your fault.” Roman stared at him with concern in his eyes. “You couldn’t change anything for them.”

    “Bullshit. I work for you, princey. If I'd brought this up, you would have at least heard me out and I would have risked nothing to do so. It never even crossed my mind to advocate for my friend, princey. That's wrong. I know it is, but I'm only now realizing it.” Virgil turned to him, tugging on the ends of his hair restlessly. “I mean, even Patton has known about the fae for years, so let’s be honest with ourselves. We're all a little guilty of not doing more.”

    “Perhaps.” Roman whispered breathlessly, biting his lip.

    “You don't have to bear this burden alone, Roman. We all played a part in how the fae have been treated, so it's only right that we fix it together.” Virgil put a hand on his shoulder, looking at him earnestly. “Whatever it takes, we're in it together.”

    “Thank you, Virgil.”

    Roman's gentle whisper brought a smile to Virgil's face and he gently squeezed the prince's shoulder. "Anytime, princey."

    “You know I'd fall apart without you, don't you?” Roman whispered with a quiet chuckle.

    “Come on, princey.” Virgil smirked, casually tipping his head away to hide the slight redness in his cheeks. “You had a panic attack. Don’t be so dramatic.”

    “That's like telling me not to breathe. It's all I know.” Roman leaned upright, quickly wrapping an arm around Virgil and mussing his hair down into his eyes. He chuckled as Virgil playfully shoved him away. “But seriously, I can't overstate how much you do for me, Virgil. I'd be completely lost without you. ”

    “Clearly, if you’re falling apart after only three days.” Virgil straightened his hair, expression softening as Roman’s face fell slightly . Virgil paused, sensing Roman's discomfort, so he leaned closer as his friend’s gaze dipped to the ground. “You are good now though, right?”

    “I’m fine. I just—" Roman sighed, not looking up. "Logan had to learn of his mother’s death through that snake, Virgil. I could have spared him that, so why didn’t I just tell him?”

    “You were trying to be kind, Roman.” Virgil whispered sadly. “No one can fault you for your intentions.”

    “My intentions are irrelevant.” Roman stated dryly, starting to stand up. “What I did ended up as far from kind as I could possibly imagine, but it doesn’t matter, we need to go—"

    “Logan adores you, Roman." Virgil put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in place. “I know that hasn’t changed. He'll come around in the end, princey.”

    Roman paused for a moment, staring forward absently. “I appreciate the thought, but what Logan thinks of me is the little consequence if we don't find him fast.”

    “What?”

    “Listen, I appreciate your reassurances, but we need to leave my problems for another time. Whether or not Logan is a willing participant or not in that snake's game, we need to find them now.” Roman muttered under his breath as he cast a look back at Virgil. “If I'm not mistaken, they’re going to try to break the curse, Virgil, and we have to stop them.”

    Virgil blinked at Roman in confusion as his movements became frantic. He tried to put a hand on Roman’s shoulder. His fingertips narrowly grazed the prince’s back as he shot to his feet. “Wait—but isn’t that a good thing, princey?”

     "No," Roman shook his head as he turned to offer Virgil a hand up. “There’s a reason this hasn't been done and it's not just that Logan is an integral part of the ritual.”

     “What?” Virgil muttered, confused as Roman pulled him to his feet. He tried to take a step back, startling slightly as Roman didn’t let go of his hand.

    “The ritual will kill him, Virgil—”

    “What?” Virgil bristled, immediately tensing at Roman’s words.

    “—and I guarantee that snake hasn't told him that part. So, whether or not Logan is with him by choice—”

    “We need to find him.”

    “Immediately.” Roman stared into space, suddenly focused as he tried to formulate a plan. “I should send out an alert—”

    “Wait, princey. Won't that drive them further underground?” Virgil pressed. “That fae's a shape-shifter. If we spook him, any trail they’re leaving now could vanish without a trace.”

    “I don’t think we have a choice.” Roman sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “As of now, I couldn’t begin to guess where they’re going. I think our only shot would be to cast a wide net and hope they get swept up in our initial search.”

    "No way. This is Logan, princey. We have to do better than a shot in the dark.” Virgil stepped forward, leaning closer to the prince. “Narrow it down. Tell me what you know about this ritual.”

    "See, what I know of the spell is exactly the problem." Roman tipped his eyes up to Virgil as he continued. “The spell is of Unseelie creation so its power waxes and wanes with the moon, and unfortunately for us, that means the spell will be most easily broken on the night of the Dark Moon.”

    Virgil paused, staring at him helplessly. “That’s only a few days away, princey.”

    “And the journey itself is nearly two days, Virge.” Roman muttered, swallowing down the lump in his throat as he considered their chances. “The Elder Fae—Logan's mother—never revealed where she cast the spell. Despite our hold on Logan, the place is sacred to the fae and she refused to compromise its location even on a threat to Logan's life. All we knew was the time between when she left and when the spell’s effects were felt was roughly two days.”

    “That's not a lot of room for error.” Virgil dropped his gaze, lost in thought.

    “That's our dilemma, Virgil.” Roman hesitated as a touch of guilt entered his voice. “Time is of the essence. We need to make a choice quickly, because every minute we waste edges us that much closer to losing him.”

    “Don't you do that to yourself, Roman. Your time spent coming down from a panic attack wasn’t wasted. I'll fight you on that every—” Virgil’s voice trailed off suddenly as he stared into open space, entranced by his own thought. “Wait—Would another fae know where this place is?”

    Roman blinked, raising an eyebrow. “Only a high-ranking fae, but even if we located one, the Elder Fae herself wasn’t willing to divulge that information and we threatened her with her child's life. I highly doubt any of the others will simply bend to our demands because we asked nicely. There would be a serious price to pay.”

    “Well, we’re about to find out that price.”

    “What?”

    “Nothing, I need you to get weapons and meet me at the castle entrance in ten minutes. I'm going to grab Patton—”

    Roman stared at him incredulously.  “Wait—why?”

    “No questions.” Virgil muttered, slipping around him as he darted to the door, calling over his shoulder. “Just do what I ask, princey.”

    “But where are we going?” Roman called after him.

    “Into the city.” Virgil called as he disappeared through the doorway, leaving Roman standing in shock as the door closed behind him.

---

    “Keep your head down, princey.”

     Virgil's hiss filled Roman's ears as his head was shoved down to face the ground. Roman nodded, reluctantly dipping his head as he followed the sight of Virgil’s ankles through the crowd of people. Any other day, Roman might have protested the rough treatment but he could feel the anxiety radiating off of his friend as he led them through the busy city streets. He couldn't exactly blame Virgil. Roman was at least as on edge as his shadowy friend as the crowd shifted around him.

    He let out a soft breath as the gentle touch of a hand on his back pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. Patton pressed against his side and Roman sucked in an appreciative breath, grateful for his friend’s grounding presence as his shoulder collided with yet another person making their way down the crowded street.

    “I'm sorry.” Virgil’s hand reached out behind him in a comforting gesture as he ducked around yet another corner. “We just—We can’t afford any delays right now. Alright?"

    “Don't worry about me, Virgil. I can handle it.” Roman whispered back, biting his lip as Virgil faced forward once more. He knew all too well that he and his friends couldn't afford for him to be recognized on the streets. The attention he would draw would make it nearly impossible to get wherever Virgil was taking them. Virgil was right. He needed to keep his head down and his mouth shut. It was as simple as that, and yet, despite his agreeableness, he was acutely aware of the hypocrisy of his own statements. His skin tingled, threatening him with over-stimulation as the loud sounds and unfamiliar smells of the city streets.

    “We're almost there. I promise.”

    A small smile twitched at the corner of his lips at his friends’ intuitive sense of his discomfort. At the very least, he knew he has their support as they turned street after street through the city. So, he took a breath leaned into Patton, allowing him to guide him through the crowd. As much as he hated to admit it, his previous trips to the city had been accompanied by a large company of guards and the citizens had kept a distance from his person. The space had given him room to breath, but now, people nearly walked through him, carelessly knocking him aside as they navigated the unruly crowd. The experience was overwhelming to say the least, especially considering he was still feeling raw from his earlier panic attack.

    Roman cringed, trying to steel his nerves as yet another person struck his shoulder. People’s loud voices blasted directly his ears as the residents strained to communicate with their own traveling companions and despite his best efforts, Roman felt his body rebelling against being here. Guilt fluttered in Roman’s chest as Patton’s arm tightened around him, clearly sensing his unwarranted tension. He knew he needed to do better.

    For Logan.

    His shame at his own weakness suddenly amplified at the memory of why they were here in the first place. This was his mistake to fix. Regardless of his friend’s willingness to help, it was his actions that had brought them here in the first place. He sucked in a breath. He knew this was his responsibility. He would fix it, and yet he found himself leaning deeper into Patton’s grip, his senses still raw and strained from his earlier panic attack.

    “You’re doing so good, Ro.”

    Patton’s gentle whisper enveloped him, gently grounding him as they turned a corner into a dark alleyway and the noise stopped. The statement might have felt disingenuous if he'd had time to process it, but his attention was quickly drawn to Virgil as he stopped abruptly in front of them. He blinked, lifting his head slightly as Virgil turned to face them.

    “Are you doing okay, princey?” Virgil tipped his head down to catch his eye under the good.

    “I'll survive.” Roman muttered weakly.

    “Listen," Virgil stepped forward, whispering in his ear. "I need to know you’re okay before we go in here.”

    “I'm fine.”

    “You just had a panic attack.”

    “My nerves are shot, but my brain's not, Virge.” Roman growled irritably. “I can deal—”

    “I don't have time to edge around your pride.” Virgil cut him off stiffly, softening as Roman flinched at his sharp tone. Gently, he grabbed Roman’s collar as he eyed the prince under his hood. “Nobody’s judging you for what you’re feeling, Roman, least of all me. I know you’re not any weaker for the intensity of your emotions, but I need to know where you stand. Be honest with me, can you handle this?”

    Roman’s gaze dropped briefly to the ground as he took a breath. “Just tell me what I need to do, Virgil.”

    “Princey, if you’re not up to this, I need to know.” Virgil chided softly, continuing to press him as his grip tightened on his collar.

    “Virge—" Patton protested weakly.

    “It's okay, Pat. Virgil’s right to question my current state,” Roman muttered, waving him off as he looked up at Virgil earnestly. “but of it helps find Logan, I’ll find way to settle my nerves. I can handle it."

    “Good enough,” Virgil’s grip slackened as he stared sympathetically at Roman. “because if I'm going to need you to keep this guy's interest long enough for me to convince him to hear us out.”

    Roman’s eyes narrowed on him seriously, glancing down the alleyway behind his friend. “Where are we, Virgil?"

   “I don’t have time to explain everything.” Virgil held up a finger as Roman looked to protest, glancing over to Patton's confused expression as they both stared at him. “Down the alleyway is the lair of one of the most powerful fae in the country.”

    Roman blinked at him, glancing warily over his shoulder. “And you think this villain will be willing to disclose the location to which Logan is traveling?”

    “He's not a villain.” Virgil protested stubbornly, pacing the space in front of them.

    “Forgive me or being skeptical. You literally used the word ‘lair’, Virgil." Roman whispered snarkily, casting a glance nervously over his shoulder. “So, if he's not a villain, then who is this guy?”

    “He runs the city’s underground, princey.” Virgil finally paused, turning to Roman’s shocked expression with a sigh. “Every shadow in this city answers to him, and he's high-ranking among the fae too. If anyone has the answers we're looking for, it's him.”

    Roman was silent, staring blankly at him.

    “I know it's not ideal, but—”

    “Do you trust him, Virgil?”

    Virgil looked up at him suddenly, catching the seriousness of the prince's gaze. “With my life.”

    “That's good enough for me.” Roman whispered, gesturing down the alleyway. “Take the lead.”

    Virgil nodded, turning to Patton. “You still coming in, Pat?”

    “Logan’s family.” Patton mumbled, glancing nervously down the narrow alleyway. “I'm not going anywhere, kiddo.”

    “Okay, then.” Virgil turned back to Roman. “Roman, I'm going to need you to trust me enough to let me handle this.”

    Roman looked up at him confused. “Of course.”

    “No, this is different than anything I’ve asked of you before.” Virgil stated firmly,, pointing to the sword sheathed at Roman's waist. “No matter what you see or what he does, you leave your sword in its sheath. If he gets angry, you just let me handle it. Don't intervene. Promise?”

     “I promise.” Roman nodded without a moment’s hesitation.

     “Good.” Virgil smiled nervously, appreciative that the prince didn't fight his command. He turned  his head up, wrapping a hand around Patton. "Then, let's go."

---

    Roman couldn’t help but tip his head as they entered the seedy underground bar, feeling the air shift as they crossed threshold to the magical establishment. Immediately, he felt different. His heart slowed as he stared out across the room and his vision seemed to blur as bright colors flooded his sight, changing rapidly as they moved around him. Squinting through the bright lights in the darkness, he could just make out the massive, metal mirrors hanging from the walls around them, further causing his head to spin with the movement. He turned his head, watching as the reflections of the glowing blue and green bottles hanging on the wall danced along the dark bar's reflective surface. The graceful movement was almost hypnotizing and Roman swayed. He struck something warm with his shoulder and suddenly bodies of unfamiliar creatures swarmed around him as his vision darkened.

   “Get lost!”

    Virgil’s voice echoed in his ears as an arm wrapped around his shoulder. Roman felt himself be guided forward. His head started to swim as he leaned into Virgil.

    “Relax, princey. I've got you.”

    He felt himself being dragged to the side, nearly retching as he was dropped into chair, his friends’ voices echoing distantly around him.

    “Stay with him, Pat. I’ll be back in a moment.”

    “Sure thing, kiddo.”

    “Don't eat or drink anything.”

    “I know. I won't.”

    “And keep a close eye on him, Pat. I don't like how pale he's looking.”

    “I've got him, kiddo. Go do what you have to. We'll be okay.”

    Roman’s vision blurred and his stomach twisted as he stared into the ground. He leaned his shoulder into the chair behind him, nearly tipping his hood off the back of his head.

     “Ro, keep your hood up. You—”

---

     Roman jumped as a loud crack filled his ears, jolting him upright as he glanced around him frantically to find the source of the noise. His manic movements stopped as he looked up to see Virgil closing the door in front of him. He was able to calm himself slightly a the sight of his friend, but he remained alert noting for the first time that his surroundings had changed. The strange, dizzying bar had vanished and he clumsily glanced around to find himself alone in an empty room with his friends. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words would not come as he stared, trying desperately to reconcile the sudden transition. He looked up, vision swimming as Virgil suddenly turned around, rushing forward as he seemed to notice Roman's awareness had returned.

   "Hey." Virgil's hands cupped his face, steadying him as he stayed. "You back with us?"

   “Where am I, Virgil?” Roman muttered wearily, his head spinning from the abrupt transition.

   “We haven't gone far. This is a back room in the same joint." Virgil leaned close to his face, examining his eyes with concern. “Turns out the bar was a little bit much for you to handle.”

    Roman quickly turned his head away, changing the subject as his stomach twisted with guilt at the apprehension in Virgil's eyes. “Where's Patton?”

    “I'm right here, kiddo.” Patton's voice came from behind him and he felt his chest warm as Patton appeared at his side, wrapping his arm around his waist as he cuddles into his shoulder. “Don't worry. I’m used to handling the ebb and flow with my own, so the magic didn't quite affect me the same as you."

    "And I'm more than used to it at this point." Virgil took a step back, still looking at him with a worried expression. "I'm sorry, princey. I should have known that was going to happen."

     "I'm fine, Virge. No need to worry." Roman smiled tiredly as he leaned into Patton's hug, taking in the room as Patton continued to squeeze him. The room itself was unimpressive. It appeared to be a small study, though worn from disuse. Roman would have guessed it'd been decades since is served its original purpose. Still, eerily many of the faded artifacts remained from that distant time, a soft memory of normalcy in the now liminal space. Magic seemed to emanate from walls themselves, almost dulling his senses as its calming influence seeped into his body. He glanced up to the boarded up windows and letting his gaze drift to where soft, luminous blue light cascaded down the bookshelves from small jars, drifting through the room like mist in the air. He continued to scan the room until a movement in his periphery caught his eye. He stopped abruptly, spinning his head as a shadow began to manifest behind Virgil.

    “Virg—” Roman shot to his feet, nearly lunging at his friend as a hand manifested around his throat. A soft gasp passed Virgil's lips and Roman watched helplessly as a tall, dark-haired man stepped out of the shadows, looming over Virgil’s shoulder with a crooked smile.

    “You’ve got my attention, babes.” The man whispered threateningly in Virgil’s ear. “You better hope you can keep it. I was having a good time when you interrupted me.”

    Patton spun his head up with a squeak as he squeezed Roman tighter. Roman barely glanced down, hardly even daring to blink as he tried to keep his disjointed attention focused on the man threatening his friend.

    “Re—” Virgil’s face scrunched as the hand tightened around his throat.

    “Ah, ah.” The man chimed cheerily in Virgil’s ear, flashing a devilish glance at Roman as he leaned into Virgil's ear. “I ain’t interested in the current company having even a small part of my true name. Try again.”

    “Sleep,” Virgil whispered hoarsely, his eyes twisting to catch a glimpse of the man hovering over his shoulder. "I need your help."

     “You always do, kid.” Roman watched uncomfortably as the man's fingernails dug into his friends’ shoulder, causing Virgil to flinch. “Don't you think I do enough for you?”

    “Of course you do.” Virgil pleaded quietly as the man slipped behind him,

    “And yet—”

    Roman flinched,  jumping to his feet as metal glinted in the stranger's hand. Dazed, he stumbled, pushing Patton behind him as the stranger pointed a dagger in their direction. He reached behind him, feeling Patton's shaking as he pressed into Roman's back.

    “—you bring my ultimate enemy into my home.” The man's threatening hiss grew deeper as he turned the dagger back to Virgil’s throat, his crooked smile widening as Roman's mouth dropped open helplessly. He turned his gaze down, grabbing a handful of Virgil's hair as he pressed the blade against his throat. “Ain’t got much to show for your loyalty. Do you now?”

    “I needed your attention, Sleep.” Virgil whispered, making only the barest movements as the blade pressed to his throat.

    “I really don't take kindly to being manipulated, kid.” Sleep growled in his throat, curling his head threateningly over Virgil's shoulder.

    Roman instinctively raised a hand to the sheath on his waist, staring intently at the blade on Virgil’s throat. Remembering his promise a moment too late, he tensed as the stranger's gaze locked on his hand as it grazed the metal of the handle of his own blade. He pulled his gaze from the stranger as he looked to Virgil. A small shake of Virgil's head was all the indication he needed to slowly pull his hand away from the weapon at his hip, making a display of the motion as the man continued to stare at him. Realization spread across the man's face as his leer bounced between Roman and Virgil and a grin spread wide across his face, sending a shiver down Roman's spine.

    “You've got him well-trained, Virgil,” The stranger scoffed, leaning closer to Virgil's ear with a satisfied smirk. “but I wonder what he'll think when I press a little further. Don't you?”

    Virgil closed his eyes as the blade moved up his throat. Roman watched tensely, barely blinking as he pushed Patton behind him.

    “Well, kid. Start spilling your guts so I can decide if your even worth my time,” Sleep hissed, snarling in Virgil's ear. “Trust me, I haven’t had nearly enough of my good brew to be nearly as patient as you need me to be.”

    “He's doing it for me.”

    “Princey, don't.” Virgil whispered, opening his eyes with a pleading in his eye. “Just leave it—”

    Roman blinked for a moment, staring deep into Virgil’s dark brown eyes as he cast wary glances at the stranger. "Please, I'm the one who needs something. If you're going to hurt anyone—"

    “Wrong answer.” The man's gaze grew distant as he twisted his wrist, dragging his dagger across Virgil's throat

    Time seemed to slow as he locked onto Virgil’s gaze, praying to whatever god may be listening that this was the right choice. Patton screeched in his ear, but Roman reached an arm around him, holding him back even as every inch of his body screamed at him to lunge forward to save his friend. He forced his muscles to remain stiffly in place as he kept his gaze trained on Virgil. Dread dropped in his stomach as the dagger passed decisively over Virgil's throat and he clenched his eyes shut, unable to face his choice.

    “You’re a miserable bastard."

    “Can't blame a bitch for playing it safe, babes.”

    "Bullshit. You didn't need to push it that far."

    Roman nearly collapsed with relief as Virgil's voice sounded in front of him and his gaze shot up. He stared in shock as Virgil angrily pushed the stranger away from him, apparently uninjured.

    “You’re okay.” Roman breathed, feeling his knees go weak underneath him as Virgil turned toward them.

    “Damn, Roman. Of course, I'm fine.” Virgil looked up, rushing toward him and Patton. “I'm sorry.”

    “What was that?” Roman rasped as Virgil struck his chest and his arms curled around him and Patton apologetically.

    “Don't blame Virgil for the theatrics. He played along for my benefit.” The strange fae took a step back submissively, smiling as Roman’s arm curled around Virgil protectively. “I can't be too careful in my position. Gotta make sure I know whose are a little too eager to pull the trigger on me.”

    "So, if I had—”

    "If you'd even lunged at me, I would have been in the next city before you even blink." Sleep stated dryly, flashing a glance at Virgil. "I had to know you wouldn't go rogue on Virgil, if you thought he was in danger, but kid's got some heavy influence on you if you sat through that without making a move."

    "I'm sorry, Roman. I—”

    “But the dagger—” Roman's voice trembling softly as Virgil whispered apologetically into his ear, clinging him as if his life depended on it."

    “Not even real, babes.” The man cooed as he tipped his hand, allowing the dagger to drop from his hand. Roman stared in shock as the blade disappeared into a dark mist as it hit the ground. “Virgil was never in any danger. I'm too fond of him to just dump him like that.”

    “Virgil—” Patton’s soft tremble drew all of their attention as he nearly dropped to his knees in shock of what he’d just witnessed.

    Virgil cast an apologetic glance at Roman as he shifted his focus to Patton. He wrapped his arms tightly around Patton as he started to shake. “Pat, I'm so sorry. None of it was real.”

    Tears flowed down Patton's face as he clung to Virgil. “I thought you were—”

    “I'm not, Pat.” Virgil whispered reassuringly, hands wrapped around Patton's neck as he dropped to the ground with him. “I'm right here.”

     “Perhaps,” The strange fae's voice pulled Roman’s attention from where he was staring vacantly at his friends. Roman tensed as the man moved silently across the room, stopping in front of a dark, worn sofa sitting in the corner. “I can ease your friend’s mind a bit.”

    Roman tensed as the man extended a hand out to Patton, growling defensively. "He doesn't need you to dull his senses."

    "Who said anything about bringing anything down?" Remy smirked at him. "I only do uppers, babe. I'm much more into the stimulation side of things."

    Roman sneered at the stranger's smile in distrust.

    The man seemed to ease. His teasing smile disappeared and he looked at Roman with what seemed to be genuine concern. "Kid's well off to know someone's out there looking out for him the way you are, but all I'm offering is a bit of understanding. No more tricks or games on my words as one of the Fair Folk."

    Patton lifted his head, still clinging to Virgil like he might disappear at any moment. He whimpered as Virgil pulled away, looking over his shoulder at the man.

     “It’s okay, Pat.” Virgil whispered, peeling away from Patton iron-tight grip. “I'm not going anywhere. Just go see him. Okay?”

   Roman’s eyes danced suspiciously over the stranger’s calming smile as he patiently waited for Virgil to convince Patton to let him go. He watched in shock as Virgil gently guided Patton out of his arms towards the stranger. Patton glanced back at his friends, still shaking timidly as he crossed the room. Roman tensed as he reluctantly neared the man, slowing his pace as he reluctantly looked at the stranger’s hand.

    “It's okay, babes. I won't bite.” Roman winced as the man smirked, not breaking eye contact with Patton. “Not unless you ask, babes.”

     Roman watched cautiously as Patton reached his hand out, jolting in shock as the stranger’s eyes glowed a bright pink as their hands connected. He nearly lunged forward as Patton squeaked loudly, but Virgil’s arm shot out in front of him, barring him from rushing to his friend. Roman glanced down furiously at Virgil, ready to protest as Patton's cheerful yell pulled him out of his thoughts.

    “Remy!”

    Roman's head shot up and he frantically watched his friend shoot forward. He stared entranced as Patton threw his arms around the man, glancing over at Virgil desperately, but Virgil didn't even seem concerned. In fact, a gentle smile stretched across Virgil’s face, giving Roman pause as he looked back at Patton.

    “So much for the secret identity, I guess.” Remy chuckled quietly as he wrapped his arms around Patton, but he didn't miss the way his eyes darted up to Roman suspiciously.

     “Sorry. I got excited.” Patton mumbled, embarrassed. He started to pull back but Remy only held him tighter.

    “Never apologize for that, kid. At least you can be sure now that I wasn't going to hurt him.” His gaze drifted away from Roman and back to Patton with a teasing smirk. “I'm a little offended you forgot me though. Bitch, I work hard to make sure this face isn't forgettable.”

     Remy dropped onto the worn sofa, pulling Patton down with him. Roman stared bewildered as Patton curled into his chest, nearly sitting on the man’s lap as he flushed red.

     “Sorry—I just—” Patton stumbled over his words. “That night was—a lot. I don't remember much, honestly.”

    “Don’t stress yourself out, kid. You get a pass this time since I was able to jolt your memory.” Remy chuckled and his eye glowed a soft pink as Patton became increasingly flustered. “I know that night must feel like a lifetime ago for you. You’re a whole new person it seems. Name's Patton now, huh?”

    Patton chewed his lip nervously as he looked up at Remy. He shifted, glancing down at the ground and he nodded.

    Remy hooked a finger underneath Patton’s chin, tipping his head up again. “It suits you, babe. You look real good.”

    A bright redness flooded over Patton's face and Roman stared in confusion as he didn’t hesitate to bury his face into the strange man's chest. Virgil dropped his hand from blocking Roman and Roman's eyes darted between his friend’s relaxed expressions, unable to even process the scene playing out before him.

    “I don’t know what you think you have to worry about.” Remy cooed into Patton’s ear. “If Virgil’s not telling you that every day, he’s doing you dirty. As gorgeous as you are, you deserve that and more.”

    “Rem—” Virgil growled and Roman could see redness dust his cheeks.

   “I'm only speaking the truth, girl. You better step up your game if you want to keep him.” Remy smirked at Virgil’s glare as Patton leaned tiredly into his shoulder. He flashed wide, innocent eyes up at Virgil he ran a hand gently through Patton's hair.  “Oh, come on. Did I say something you didn't like, Virge?”

    “Don’t play innocent, Rem.” Virgil growled, crossing his arms as he leaned into the wall behind him. “It's not a good look on you.”

     “That’s fine.” Remy winked up at him. “The beautiful man hanging off my shoulder makes up for any of my own flaws, babes.”

    A wave of exhaustion rushed over Roman as he sensed that the danger had passed. His shoulders slumped as his adrenaline levels started to crash, swaying on his feet. “Can someone please explain to me what's going on?”

    “Remy helped me get Patton out of the castle when we first rescued him, Roman.” Virgil put a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. "He's the only reason we got Patton out."

    “Why would you do that?” Roman asked, unable to catch his tongue before he recognized his unfortunate choice of phrasing. He glanced up to see Remy biting him at Roman seriously. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to offend—”

    “He's kind of a nervous thing for a prince. Isn’t he?” Remy smirked at Virgil before looking up at Roman. “Ain't that deep sweetheart. I got a soft spot for kids. Can't stand seeing them in a tough spot like that.”

    "Roman," Virgil nodded to Remy with a smile. “He works with Emile to keep kids off the street, princey.”

    “With Emile?” Roman’s head started to swim, overwhelmed by the thought of the kind man in the woods consorting with this powerful fae who apparently held dominion over the entire underbelly of the dark city. " It doesn't make sen—"

    Virgil nodded patiently, allowing Roman to lean into him. " I know it's a lot, princey."

    “You told your prince about Emile?” Remy asked seriously. “Didn’t know you a death wish, Virge. Man might be a saint, but even he has his boundaries.”

    “Emile’s aware he knows, Rem.” Virgil smiled, flipping his hair out of his face. "Not that you're actually concerned."

    "Not at all, girl. But if that man ever loses his shit, you better bet I'm going to have a front row seat." Remy grinned, leaning comfortably into Patton. “Your head is still attached to your shoulders though, so I guess I didn't miss much.”

     “I barely made it out with my life, but no surprise, princey had Emile wrapped around his finger by the end of night.” Virgil chuckled. “Not that Emile will ever admit it.”

    “I'm shocked, like for reals girl.” Remy eyed him with a curious glimmer in his eyes. “I mean I know the guy’s about a dangerous an angry kitten but man hates the royal family as much as the Fair Folk do. How'd you convince him to even let you get that close?”

   Roman winced, guiltily dropping his gaze at the comment.

   “Well, don't get a shy on me now. I'm actually looking for real answers here."

   Tipping his head up, Roman was surprised to see Remy’s wide grin as he stared over at him. The man’s dark hair hung low over his eyes as he stroked Patton’s hair and his aura was still filled with mystery, but Roman was shocked to see his expression was surprisingly soft as he watched Roman.

   “Listen, I'm not big into shaming people, especially for something that happened long before they were born.” Remy smiled at him. “If Virgil and Emile aren't evidence enough, I don't mind humans so long they don't mind me.”

   “Earlier, when you threatened Virgil, you called me your enemy.” Roman slowly lifted his head.  "The Fair Folk may be many things, but liars they are not. I don't expect any less that hostility, given the legacy I carry, but I'd prefer we be honest with each other."

   “You brought a dangerous weapon into my home Metal notwithstanding, I don’t appreciate the thought of being slashed to ribbons, babe.” Remy pointed seriously to the sheath around his waist. “In that moment, I truly didn't know yet if you were friend or foe."

   Roman flushed at the realization of Remy’s perspective. “I'm sorry. I didn’t think—”

   “We're cool. Don't you fret that pretty little head of yours." Remy smirked at him. “You more than proved you’re capable of self-restraint, and if Virgil’s willing to vouch for you, I know you’re decent.”

   Roman stared at him incredulously. “Just like that?”

   “Kid's got impossible standards,” Remy’s smile widened as he shot a glance at Virgil. The man's eyes glimmered a bright pink as he turned a sharp-toothed grin up to Roman. Power radiated off the man as he leered up at Roman playfully, sending a shudder down his spine. “I mean, don't let my pretty smile distract you. You walked into the home of the biggest crime bosses in the city, my dear prince. Not to mention, I’m a powerful fae who you clearly believed would have no love for you and your family. And yet, you stepped into my lair without a second though. All on Virgil's word, I assume?”

    Roman gave a quick nod, glancing at Virgil leaning against the wall, flushed proudly as he stared at Roman. “That’s true.”

    “Exactly. Kid's words is good.” Remy smirked, flashing a playful glance up at Virgil. “For anything but relationship advice anyway. That bit he's pretty shit at.”

    “Hey—” Virgil stepped forward in protest. "Don't you dare make this about—"

    “Bitch, please.” Remy quipped, leaning into Patton as if to make a point. “Trust me. The day you own up to your own bullshit excuses, I'll roll over dead."

    “Whatever.” Virgil growled, glancing cautiously down at Patton’s wide-eyed look as he looked between them in confusion.

    Remy smiled and leaned back, content to get under Virgil’s skin. “Now, are you going to tell me why you ruined the perfectly good night of debauchery I had ahead of me or did you just interrupt my fun?”

    “I need a favor, Rem.” Virgil muttered, eyes darkening as he remembered why they were there.

    “Yes. Thank you, Virgil.” Remy replied wryly, looking between Virgil and Roman. “I've gathered that much. What exactly do you need?”

    “Our friend is missing and we need to find him as soon as possible.” Virgil started cautiously, his voice breaking unevenly. "Rem, he's in trouble."

   Remy sat up, suddenly interested. "Tell me more."

   “He disappeared with a less-than-pleasant fae we'd had in custody—” Roman winced as Remy's eyes narrowed in on him, holding his hands up apologetically. “—who kidnapped me and who hurt Patton and Virgil. We had every reason to get him under control.”

   Remy raised an eyebrow at Virgil, baring his teeth as Virgil nodded a confirmation. “What was their name?”

   “Do you think you know him?” Virgil looked at him in shock.

   “Not sure.” Remy sat up, his expression darkening as Patton pulled back with a sadness in his eyes. “He doesn’t belong to the Unseelie court or I'd know about the transgression, but he's got to rank high among the Seelies if they haven’t torn out his throat for pulling that kind of stunt.”

   “He called himself Dee.” Roman offered. “At least, that’s what L—”

   “Deceit.” Remy spat irritably. “What is that bastard up to now?”

   Virgil stared at him curiously. “You do know him then?”

   “Snake-faced shifter that has a big old stick right up his a—" Remy paused, his eyes flashing briefly with guilt as he seemed to think better of his words. The anger seemed to deflate out of him as he stared at the ground, lost in thought. They were quiet and when Remy finally lifted his head, his voice was docile and full of emotion. “Listen, Deceit's not actually that bad of a guy. We've all lost a lot in the last century and some of us learned to cope. Others simply didn't.”

   “He has our friend, Rem.” Virgil rubbed his arm, growing tense once more. “We think they’re going to try to break the curse and we need to know where he's headed.”

   “The curse? The big one binding us all?" Remy blinked, mouth agape as he stared back at them, almost losing interest as he leaned back into the sofa. “I hate to disappoint, but that can’t happen. You might as well wait for Deceit to crawl back with his tail between his legs. I can't tell you where he's going, but he's not dangerous and the curse is going to stay intact. He's missing a key part of the ritual.”

    “The Elder Fae's child.” Roman muttered, dropping his gaze. Guilt fluttered in his chest as he looked up at him.

    “You mean Tara's child.” Remy growled, standing up and taking a step towards Roman. "Show some respect. She had a name."

    "Tara," Roman repeated the name, swallowing the lump in his throat that formed as images of Logan flashed through his mind. He dropped his gaze, barely able to contain his own emotions. "Unfortunately, that other fae—Deciet—has everything he needs to break the curse."

    Roman barely flinched as a guttural growl escaped Remy and the man grabbed his collar, pushing him back roughly into the wall. “You best not be telling me what I think you are, human.”

    “Remy—” Virgil’s voice sounded behind them and Roman could see his friend start to rush to them. "Stop! Let him go."

    Roman held up a hand for Virgil to stop, allowing himself handled with little resistance as he started to plead with the powerful fae. “LIsten to me. I want the curse to end, too. It's not—”

   “I don’t give a damn about the curse,” Remy hissed, eyes radiating bright pink light as his voice vibrated dangerously in air around them. “Are you telling me that Deceit took Logan?”

    Roman hesitated for a moment, staring in shock as he watched intense emotions flittering chaotically in Remy's eyes. He stared at the fae in disbelief as his cool facade shattered before his eyes and realization washed over Roman “You know Logan?”

---

Chapter Warnings: Anxiety, Self-Doubt, Panic Attack, Memory Gaps, Choking, Knives, Fake Attempt at Killing a Major Character (No Actual Death), Over-Stimulation, Swearing (Let me know if I missed anything!)

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@somehow-i-got-an-account @justanotherhumanstuff @im-an-anxious-wreck

You Belong With Me Taglist:

@cas-is-a-hunter @insert-cool-blogname @ironwoman359 @i-know-im-smart @croftersphoenix @optimistic-violinist @croftersjam15 @actitus-hypoleucos @unbefuckinglieveable @justthatamount @eeveeeclair246 @taxicabinmemphis @theoddkidnextdoor @bluerosesbleedred @bowties--cool @lookingforaplacetosleep @xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx @007ardra @im-actually-ok @grayson-22 @lunatatic @hope340 @itawalrus @dwbh888

[horcruxmanor]

“not too long ago...”

Clementine Orleans finds herself at Hogwarts, in 1977. How exactly? She doesn't know.

part 1

"You're coming with me, stupid half-blood." A man in black spat at the girl.

Clementine Orleans flinched and with a shaky hand, she wiped the spit off her face. She bravely looked at him and shook her head. The death eater looked at her in disgust.

"Why you shakin' your head? You think you have the right to defy me? Think you're better than me, eh?" He then grabbed her with his tattooed arm and dropped her to the floor roughly.

"You should die- she should die, shouldn't she, Dolohov? I think we've had enough of her," The death eater grinned, showing off his yellow teeth.

Clementine shook her head repeatedly, stuffing her hands in her pockets out of instinct to find her wand. A stupid mistake as they had taken it from her long ago. However, there was something there. She felt a cold chain. She thought fast and wrapped it around her neck. She spun it mindlessly, just as she heard the words,

"What are you doing? Is that a time turner?Avada Kadavr-"

And into the darkness she went.

-

Clementine landed on the grass with a bump, and hit her head on a rock, knocking her unconscious.

"Is that a body?" Someone asked their friends.

Moments later, the group of friends stood in front of Clementine.

"Merlin!" Sirius Black exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"That's a lot of blood, mate. Should we take her to the hospital wing? St Mungos maybe?" James Potter bounced his foot.

"How the fuck would we take her to St Mungos??" Sirius questioned.

"Calm down, guys. Let's just take her to the hospital wing and hopefully she'll survive." Remus Lupin attempted to calm them.

"Hopefully??" Sirius repeated, "Bloody hell."

Using the levitation spell, Remus carefully led her to the infirmary, Sirius and James tagging along behind.

"Madame Pomfrey, she- this girl-" Sirius hollered out, only to be shushed by the matron.

"Hush now, boy! She will be fine, place her on the bed, Remus, dear. Thank you." Madame Pomfrey replied, moving to look at Clementine.

"What happened?" She asked in shock, looking back to the boys.

Remus shrugged, "We don't know. We found her like this. I think she hit her head on a rock near the lake." he responded.

Madame Pomfrey muttered incoherently to herself as she moved around the room, grabbing potions and ointments off of shelves. Before she began to work on Clementine, she looked back to the boys.

"You may leave now, boys." She said curtly.

"Can't we stay?" Sirius pleaded.

Clementine had intrigued him. He looked at her dark brown, nearly black hair, with the tips dyed red. He thought it was a questionable hair choice. Definitely made her stand out.

James had been studying her too, and he tried to think of how she appeared at Hogwarts, the way she did.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're missing your classes right now. Leave now and I won't inform the headmaster."

Remus scratched the back of his neck before firmly putting a hand on Sirius' shoulder. He could barely keep his eyes off the girl, too.

It seemed all three of the boys had been stuck and captured by this mysterious girl.

Peter Pettigrew walked into the hospital wing, looking for his friends. He looked at his three best friends and wondered why they looked at the girl so weirdly. He cleared his throat, causing James to snap back to normal.

"Guys, Lily will be leaving her charms class soon! Come on!" James exclaimed.

His words seemed to bring Sirius and Remus back to earth, as they instantly looked at him and began to walk away with him.

They walked into the castle in silence, and only began talking once they got closer to Lily.

"Lily-Pad! Wait up!" James yelled, running towards the red head.

"He's obsessed with her." Sirius stated.

"You're only picking that up now?" Remus questioned.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "oh yes, after six years of him yearning after Lily, I'm only just noticing it now. I'm just stating a fucking fact, moony."

Remus scoffed and shoved Sirius lightly.

"Hey guys." Peter said, walking up from behind them.

Remus looked over at him curiously. Wasn't he just with them?

"Hey Peter." Sirius greeted, as if not realizing.

"What're you all up to?" He asked. The three looked to James, who was grinning at Lily. Lily, however, was frowning at him.

"She'll come around." Sirius said, though not entirely believing it himself.

"Yeah." Remus agreed sarcastically, sending Peter another suspicious glance.

-

The next day, Sirius, Remus, and James all rushed to the hospital wing to see the girl they had rescued. Peter was busy, for some reason unknown to the other three boys.

"Is she up, Poppy?" Sirius asked as soon as they had walked in.

"Yes, Mr Black. But, she needs to rest so please do not be so..." Madame Pomfrey trailed off.

"Enthusiastic?" James guessed.

"Annoying?" Remus asked.

"Charming?" Sirius grinned.

"Loud." She said, "Speak gently with her."

They nodded and headed to where Clementine's bed was.

Clementine looked to them and gave them a curious look. They looked familiar. As she examined them, she tried to remember where she's seen them before. Her memory was hazy.

Madame Pomfrey had told her that because she had hit her head, she had a lot of memory loss. Now that she thought of it, Clementine couldn't remember anything before waking up in the hospital wing.

"Well you're a sight." Sirius said breathily.

Clementine gave him a flat look, narrowing her hazel eyes slightly. Remus whacked his arm while James smirked.

Sirius winced, "alright, alright! Sorry. What I meant to say was; you're pretty, I consider myself handsome. Want to go out for some butterbeer after you're let out?"

James and Remus gave Sirius a look, as if to say "really, mate? Already?"

Clementine looked amused at first, but she shook her head slowly.

She smirked before saying, "No, thank you."

Sirius pursed his lips and nodded, "okay, okay."

Remus, noticing the awkward change in atmosphere, jumped to introduce himself.

"I'm Remus." He said with a small smile, "that's Sirius. He's a bit of a ladies man, I apologize for him."

Clementine turned her gaze to Remus, "I'm Clementine." She responded, smiling.

"And I'm James!" James exclaimed, "I'm here too.. yeah."

Clementine looked to him, "Hey," she said, chuckling at his awkwardness.

James grinned, scratching the back of his neck.

"So, why exactly are you here? How did you get to Hogwarts in such a state?" Remus asked.

Hogwarts. That had sparked Clementine's memory. She used to go to school at Hogwarts. She gasped slightly as she got flashback.

A crowd full of children stood with her. They were all eagerly awaiting for their name to be called.

"Clementine Orleans!"

Clementine felt her heart beat loudly in her chest as she walked up. She could sense all the eyes on her.

"Well well.. who do we have here? Smart enough to be in Ravenclaw but you definitely do not belong there... you're witty.. charming, too... however.. Slytherin does not seem to suit you. Hufflepuff is out of the question completely. This leaves you to....

GRYFFINDOR!"

Loud cheers were heard from the Gryffindor table. Clementine grinned and hopped off the seat to join a boy with circle shaped glasses and a girl with big, frizzy hair. The three were later joined by a boy with ginger hair, who seemed to have many brothers there at the table with him. The four became acquainted immediately.

"Clementine, was it?" The girl with the big hair asked.

Clementine nodded.

"I'm Her-"

"Helloooooo?" Sirius waved his hand in front of her face, snapping her out of the memory.

"Oh, sorry. What was the question?" Clementine asked.

"How did you end up here?" Remus asked, looking at her slightly concerned.

"I'm not sure. I'm suffering from memory loss. Madame Pomfrey said need to speak to the headmaster as soon as I could." Clementine said urgently, as if realizing something for the first time, "She said his name was Dumbledore? Right?"

"Uh.. yes, but-"

"Brilliant! Could you please get him?" She continued.

"Yeah, we can get him." Remus accepted, pulling his mates along with him.

"She seems odd but..." He said as they walked at a fast pace towards Dumbledore's office

"She's nice." James and Sirius said in unison.

The two exchanged a look and quickly looked back in front of them, continuing their walk.

-

"Clementine Orleans," Dumbledore started, "you, my dear- were sent from the future."

"The future?" Sirius mouthed to James, who shrugged.

"Guys, I really don't think we should be eavesdropping-" Remus tried to say only to be shushed quietly by the other two.

"What? Sent from the future? I highly doubt that, sir."

"Nonsense, Miss Orleans. We found a time turner in your pockets. Clementine Orleans didn't exist here until yesterday."

"You found a what?" Clementine questioned.

She still knew her magic. But she didn't have her wand. She knew she was a witch. She knew a lot of things, what she was taught at Hogwarts and what she studied alone. She knew her way around Hogwarts, too. She just didn't know why she was there, how she got there, and who exactly she was.

She knew that she was Clementine Orleans. She went to Hogwarts. She knew she was a Gryffindor. She knew her age.

But... did she have friends? Did she have a family? The children she saw in her memory, were they her friends? She didn't know and her head was beginning to hurt just trying to think about it.

"A time turner, Miss Orleans. We're doing everything we can at the moment to try and get your memory back. However, it could take time. You must tell me anything and everything you remember." Dumbledore said firmly.

Clementine paused before saying, "I know I went to Hogwarts. I'm a.. half-blood. I am a Gryffindor. I'm 16. I know my magic- what I was taught at Hogwarts and by myself. I know some wandless magic, and I know I'm a half blood. I also don't have my wand with me. I don't know anything else."

Dumbledore nodded, smiling kindly.

"Very well. Thank you, miss Orleans. You can purchase a wand at Hogsmeade during the next trip. The other professors and I can lend you some money. While we try to mend your time turner and attempt to help you gain your memory back, you'll be a student here. A sixth year, as you were in your time. I'll have Professor Mcgonagall bring your robes in the evening." Dumbledore continued, "the veritaserum should wear off soon. For now, you must rest, Miss Orleans."

And with that, he left the hospital wing.

A/N: this has been previously posted on Wattpad!

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

TS: Farak (Difference) [1/3]

An air of melancholy seeped into the air of the Raizada mansion. In a few minutes their pillar of joy, Anjali, had crumbled into a sobbing mess. Her marriage, belief, love and trust had been tested.

And joy’s namesake, Khushi, wandered in the halls in the lonely night - hoping to find solace.

The revelation had gone terribly wrong. Anjali’s fragile mind and body had been unable to cope with the truths she had been gaslighted against. Khushi had learnt, in the worst way possible, that intentions had no place nor merit against consequences.

Khushi leaned against the door to Nani’s bedroom, her legs heavy and head throbbing from the recent events. 

Forced Marriage. Mistrust. Kidnapping. Love. Rescue. Revelation. Aftermath.

Things should have been better.  

Except Shyam’s sudden expulsion had only led to a poisonous, permanent scar that damaged and questioned all relationships.

A nervous shiver ran up her spine. Did the rest of the family believe Shyam’s version of events? Or worse, believe she could have avoided the pain caused to Anjali if she had only told the truth?

But would anyone have believed her then? Could Payal and Akash’s engagement have been salvaged from it?

A loud bang snapped Khushi out of her thoughts. A furious Akash left his room.

How does one ever know one’s making the right decision?

Her heart hurt. With a gentle push she entered Nani’s room, hoping for her guidance and strength. Nani was the first and only one to call her blameless and reach out to her post the revelation. The only one to believe in her intentions.

And it had been so long since she’d slept on someone’s lap and cried her heart out.  

---

Devyani hummed the last of an old lullaby, patting an exhausted Anjali to sleep. Had she been a bit younger, anger and shock would have ruled her. But after the death of her daughter, Devyani could only feel horror and recollection of the past.

The past that made her too agreeable to the first man who could win her dear Anjali’s heart, or heap unassuming, traditional prospective brides on her grandson.

The past she had accused her grandson of not moving on from.

Hypocrite.

On seeing the shadow of the angel faced bride of her Chotey, Devyani allowed a single, unkind thought to possess her.

She didn’t deserve to be near Anjali.

And before Devyani could reign her mind, her hand stopped Khushi from entering the room, and her heart.

---

Khushi headed towards the steps, her feet numb and head swimming with Nani’s quick apology and request.

Stay away from Anjali.

Please.

The more she sees you, the more she’ll remember.

The words stung like the slap her mother gave her on the wedding day. She deserved it, but it hurt nonetheless. Arnav sat on the steps, his own brow furrowed in deep thought. Nani’s words had pricked him, but he knew better. He knew, and believed, that Khushi was not at fault.

Her feet gave way and she sat by Arnav, quaking in fear and uncertainty.

And he banished her fears with a tired smile and an offer of his shoulder.

She didn’t remember when she reached their bed, but the fleeting kiss on her forehead and the warmth of his hand in hers gave her the hope that she wasn’t alone.

And she could lighten her burden of guilt.

As long as he was there.

---

Time and normalcy would heal all wounds. While everyone catered to Anjali, Khushi catered to the family.

Nani received her daily medication for arthritis. Akash and Payal’s breakfast was sent to their room. The laundry delivery was looked after, so were all the other household chores.

The family could focus on Anjali, and help her heal - just as it should be. Payal shot her a concerned look on her way to Anjali’s room as Khushi lost her footing for a moment, her head dizzy.

Khushi gave Payal a reassuring smile. If her mental fatigue left her like this, one could only wonder how Anjali survived the night.

If anything, Arnav’s sweet smile and a breakfast sent by her Jiji gave Khushi the strength to trudge through the day.

She sat on a kitchen stool, weary, when she remembered it was a Tuesday. Her and Nani’s time to go to the temple.

---

“Sorry Khushi bhabi, Nani ji already left,” Hari Prakash informed Khushi.

“Kya, why didn’t you tell me? When did Nani-”

“What else do you expect Phati Sari?” Manorama sneered, ushering Hari Prakash away.

“I don’t understand Mami ji,” Khushi looked at her, balking at the hatred in Manorama’s eyes.

“Spelling karke de kya? Sasuma isn’t a fool to take the reason for Anjali’s devastation to the temple when she’s trying to pray for Anjali bitiya,” Manorama seethed. The gall of the girl to think she’d go on a sunny walk with Sasumaa to the temple when everyone had barely slept a wink!

“Nahi Mamiji! I didn’t mean any of this-” Khushi reached for her hand but Manorama stepped back, nearly shoving Khushi aside.

“Shut up! You Gupta sisters did this on purpose. You both trapped our sons and ruined Anjali’s life!” Manorama cried.

“No Mami ji, why would Jiji and I do it? We just wanted to save Di from suffering,” Khushi choked, her own reasonings hollow to her ears.

Manorama, despite her anger, couldn’t argue with that one statement. Khushi and Payal, truly, had nothing to gain from Anjali’s pain.

“And that man was truly a devil, he…” Khushi shivered as memories of Shyam’s harassment assaulted her.

“Then why did you stick around him?” Manorama snapped.

“To find Arnav ji! You know that, don’t you?” Khushi pleaded. Manorama had to know the truth. She certainly didn’t believe Khushi willingly spent time with her assaulter. Did she?

“Mami-”

Manorama huffed and walked away, leaving Khushi to her questions.

---

Khushi had only meant to help Anjali. And the unborn child. Nani was in the temple, Mami wouldn’t speak to her and Payal was troubled.

It was only a morsel of food and a few words of empathy.

To the woman who had made Khushi a Raizada. To the only person who took every effort, despite the family’s shared anger, to restore Khushi’s honor by granting her the rituals of a new bride.

Her best friend, her new sister.

Di.  

It never registered with Khushi that Anjali would leave to abort her child. Nani’s disappointment and Mami’s scolding terrified her.

Payal was strung, pulled in two opposite directions when Arnav rushed in with an unconscious Anjali, and Khushi slumped on the sofa, white as a ghost.

With so many hurt, who could she help? Who should she help?

---

“You are the biggest mistake of my life Khushi Kumari Gupta,” Khushi hitched at the use of her maiden name, and his claim.

“I wish I never met you,” Arnav snarled, leaving her alone by the poolside.

Breaking her heart and taking her only hope away.

Khushi had no more tears left to cry.

---

“What happened, where are you going?” Akash asked, several hours later.

“Woh, I was thinking I should check up on Khushi. Especially since what’s been happening since this morning-”

“-and do you even know who has been suffering since this morning?” Payal bristled at his tone. Akash stared at his wife in wonder, was his mother right? Did neither of the sisters get the magnitude of their actions!?

Payal couldn’t collect her wits. How could she make him understand that Khushi had been suffering as well? She’d seen it in her little sister’s scars and terrified eyes.

She didn’t even get a chance to ask how she and Arnav had survived the kidnapping.

“You want to check on Khushi?” Akash scoffed, “Do you have any idea about Di’s state?”

“Akash I didn’t mean that. Di means just as much,” but there is no one for Khushi.

“Payal, you aren’t just Khushi’s sister. You are the daughter in law of this house. And your duties as a bahu outweighs those of a sister.” Payal stood rooted to her spot, unable to defend, unable to believe everything her husband of six months said.

“Or perhaps you don’t feel thinking or caring for Di is a part of your responsibility.” Akash stormed out of the room without a second glance.

---

After half an hour Payal mustered enough strength to go to Khushi’s room, despite Akash’s hostility. What she found was not her sister.

Pale and and delirious, Khushi shoved her clothes into her duffle bag, careless about the ripped gota and pom poms. Her hands and feet were unsteady, unable to hold on to all the clothes her thin arms carried.

“Khushi?” Khushi stopped at the gentle touch of her sister.

“Jiji, I have to leave. I… I am the cause of Di’s pain. I should have never listened to Amma, I should’ve told him the truth when time came. I… what was I thinking?!”

Payal engulfed Khushi into a hug, shushing her cries. In few, incoherent words Khushi told the truth.

The will, Arnav’s kidnapping, Mami and NK’s aid, NK discovering the whole truth, Shyam’s attempt on both of their lives, their eventual rescue.

“Khushi, you and Arnav ji haven’t visited a doctor yet?” Payal exclaimed, checking Khushi’s scars.

“Nothing happened to us Jiji, I don’t need a doctor. Par Di, I didn’t know she’ll end-”

“Khushi, no, you and Arnav ji will head to a hospital-”

“-Bhai,” Akash stepped in the room, with no effort to hide his disappointment, “Payal, of course, you’re here. Di got up. I don’t know where’s her medication is and she needed food-”

“Hum abhi-”

“No it’s ok, talk to your sister, I’ll figure everything out.” Akash stepped out, leaving Payal torn. Which sister should she attend to?

Payal didn’t have to decide. Khushi ushered her out, after a promise to head to the doctor. In her heart Payal knew that Khushi hadn’t told her one thing.

Arnav’s reaction to Anjali’s abortion attempt.

---

Khushi could barely stand on her two feet, her world turning before her every second. At one moment Arnav claimed that he didn’t mean anything he had said before, in another he reduced their marriage to the contract he forcibly bound her to.

What did he not mean? If every word of what he said is not what he meant, then was his current threat of their contract marriage also not true? Or the whisper of an “I Love you” over the phone?

Arnav turned around, unable to meet Khushi’s eyes. He could no longer lie to her.

And she would not stop at his plea.

He’d make up for every injury up, every pain. He just needed time. And if it was necessary to hurt her to get her to stay back, he would do so. If he needed to confirm that their marriage, and everything in between, was nothing more than a contract… he would do so.

He could not afford to lose her.

“If I leave… drag me to court? Police? Jail?”

“I’d do what I promised,” Arnav swallowed, unable to hold his shame in his lie, “Separate Akash and Payal.” Stealing his resolve, he said, “By now you know-”

Thump.

He turned and lost his footing. Dread stole his voice and clutched his heart in a vice grip.

A silent scream left his mouth.

Khushi lay on the floor, motionless.

---

Read Part 2

---

A/N: Second part will be up soon. A big thank you to @ridzmystique​ for checking on this story and pushing me to complete Farak. Thank you for reading/liking.

[eightinyz]

2. Painful Revenge ↦ Choi San Mafia!au

Pairing: Choi San x Reader (female)

Genre: angst, mafia!au (non celeb)

Warnings: some swearing, violence, mention of disease, death.

Words: 3k

Summary: You’re a young law student who are happily dating the handsome San. Everything seemed to go perfectly well, until his 20th birthday.

A/N: Please let me know your thoughts, my inbox is always open. And again, if there are any incoherences or spelling mistakes, please let me know, I’m not a native english speaker :)

I 1 I 

“I’m heading out, mom. Jiseon wanted to see me for lunch.” You were at the entry, swiftly tying your shoes. A little hum coming from the living room was your only answer. Due to her health issue –and probably because of yesterday’s conversation with your dad-, your mother sometimes was victim of disabling symptoms, forcing her to stay at home.

Friends in university were very few, especially in law school. You had some you met in your first year there, but Jiseon was someone you knew long before. In fact, she’s Jongho’s –one of San’s friends- cousin. She’s two years older than you, and, more important, an alumni from high school. Although, it was at Jongho’s birthday party last year that you had properly met and got to know her. Her cheerful and bubbly personality matched well with yours, now being one of your closest friend. She’s also a law student which makes her an even closer and more helpful person.

You arrived a little before noon at the restaurant, Jiseon was already there, waiting at a table. “Hey, sorry for making wait.”, you apologized, sitting in front of her.

“Oh don’t worry! I only came here a couple of minutes ago.”, she smiled warmly. “I’m starving though, let’s order.” A waiter came not long after, writing down your orders.

“How did your finals went?”, you asked after the waiter excused himself to the kitchen. Jiseon was at an important stage in your studies; she needed to pass those exams to get to the next step, things will start to be more hectic. “It will be more fun, without a doubt.”, you always joked about it with her.

“It was alright, I guess.”, she paused, “I hope.”, she laughed. “Oh, and sorry again, I couldn’t come to San’s birthday party. I really wanted to but-”

“We already talked about it Jiseon, it’s ok. Your studies first, always.”, you assured cutting her. “And, it was probably better like that, looking at the way the night went.”, you whispered the last part of your sentence, speaking to yourself but Jiseon heard it.

“Why, what happened?”, she curiously asked, frowning. As said, Jiseon’s and your personality matched well, maybe too well. She was just as curious as you, probably even more. She won’t let you go out of the restaurant without learning every little detail of the night.

“I don’t even know, too many things happened.”, you were about to continue when the waiter came back with your plates. “This one’s for me, yes, thank you.”, you smiled friendly to him and starting to eat. “20th birthdays are important, but it was just too weird. All of his friends were there, San had disappeared for a big part of the night, and the excuse he gave me was ‘I was at the bathroom.’”, you started to enumerate. “Seonghwa was there too.”

Jiseon only let out an “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“It’s alright if it was just that.”, she said with a weird expression.

“Oh but you didn’t hear the best yet. Get ready!”, you faked an enthusiasm. “I woke up the next day with a stupid headache –without a drop of alcohol, may I add-, ‘till there, nothing crazy, right? But I might have eavesdropped.”, Jiseon gave you a not so shocked ‘really?’ look. “It just happened, ok? Wasn’t my fault.”, you argued. “But that’s not our priority. So I heard stuff, weird stuff. They were talking about drugging someone, etc. And the kitchen was full of San’s closest friends.”

Jiseon’s face dropped after your explanation, her curious eyes turning into a darker gaze. “Drug, you say?”

“Yeah, I truly don’t get it.”, you continued hesitantly. “And last night, San passed by. And he didn’t look well. He promised to explain everything, so I have to wait. I trust him.”

Jiseon stopped eating, she looked lost in her thoughts. Stiff. Not long after, she looked at her watch and exclaimed, “I’m so sorry, I just remembered I have a meeting.” She was already packing her belongings, not letting you interfere. “I’m really sorry, Y/N. I’ll call you later, yeah?”

“Oh, it’s ok, don’t worry.”, you were taken aback. “See you later then.”, you waved back, suddenly feeling lonely in the restaurant.

What the hell was going on.

Your life was taking a strange turn and you didn’t have control of it. The list of the ambiguous situations you got in since San’s 20th birthday was getting longer and longer. A part of you wanted to believe that all these things were pure coincidence. But the other, the law student part, strongly associate everything together. Well, maybe not everything. You still weren’t sure of the situation with your parents.

Your only course in the afternoon passed off slowly, although it wasn’t a big deal as you spend the whole hour thinking about the events that occurred the past days. Your private law teacher was giving you his last wishes before the summer break when you received a phone call from Jiseon. Pushing through the students, you picked up the call in a calm corner of the campus. “Hey?”

No response.

“Hello?”, you called again, “Jiseon?”

Still no answer.

You were about to hang up when some muffled voices reached to you. Increasing the volume of the call, you tried to focus on the voices. Jiseon might have called you accidently. “Jiseon, hey.”, you tried again.

“She was about to hear everything, and you know what San wanted.”, a male’s voice could be heard, weirdly sounding like Hongjoong.

“But you drugged her. Y/N doesn’t deserve that. And you know what I think about everything.”  Hearing your name in their conversation, you froze. “She has the right to know.”

“And you think she will still stay with him? Let alone that. Do you really think she won’t go to the police? She’s a fucking law student!” His voice was a little louder now, like he got closer to Jiseon. The phone might be in her pocket or her bag.

“She won’t, she can’t. You don’t know everything, Hongjoong. She’ll have to stay.” What were they hiding? Why did it look like those two were closer than you thought?

“Hongjoong, they find the asshole of the other day. Yeosang and Yunho are bringing him here.”, another male announced; he has to be too far from the scene because you couldn’t figure out who it was. 

Yunho and Yeosang?

What the hell was going on? 

“Ok, take him to the cellar.”, Hongjoong ordered. “So, you were talking about some stupid plan.”

You were waiting for Jiseon’s reply when the call suddenly got cut. Still in a rattled state, you let your body lean aginst the wall; you started to feel dizzy. Seconds later you received a message from Jiseon: “Sorry, I accidently called you apparently, haha. Was trying to take some stuff out of my bag. My meeting is over, let me make it up for our unfinished lunch. What about meeting at the small café close to San’s house in about an hour? :)” 

What was she trying to do? Did she really think you didn’t hear anything?

After a quick call to your mom –asking her how she was doing, and that you’ll be home a little late than usual-, you decided to head to the coffee shop, it was a little far from the campus and it would take around thirty to forty minutes by bus. San’s house was in the periphery, so the new café that opened a few years ago was great for the people that lived around. Jiseon might be close to the place to propose a meeting there. You would usually go to that café after spending the day at San’s.

The last stop before the café was several minutes away from it so you had to finish the remaining distance by foot. As you were walking, you curiously glance at San’s house. You still had some time before meeting Jiseon, so you decided to see if your boyfriend was home, last night’s conversation replaying in your head. 

You truly needed to tame that curious side of yours. 

Many cars were in front of his house but not his, making you question your next moves. You didn’t want to be face to face with unknown persons; you didn’t have the strength and mind to deal with that right now. You decided to head back to the café when you heard something odd coming from inside. It was muffled but you still managed to hear it. 

What the hell was going on?  

When watching horror movies, you always were the one complaining about the characters following weird sounds, fully knowing something bad was at the end of the line. Yet, you still slowly entered the house, careful not to make any noise. 

“You really thought you’ll get away with it, heh?”, you heard Hongjoong’s muffled voice from the cellar. “You can’t escape us.”, he laughed mischievously. “San, come here.”

Hearing your boyfriend’s name made your legs automatically follow their voices. Someone’s whines, as well as some mumblings could be heard from outside.

“We needed someone for this young man’s opening ceremony, and you were sent to us.”, another man exclaimed, you recognized as Seonghwa.

You were in front of the cellar, listening to the conversation inside. You could be caught at any time, but you were in a daze. You felt like the answers of your many questions were behind that door. Such a cliché scene.

The whines inside changed into painful screams after you heard several hits ; you needed to enter. Taking a deep breath, you pushed the door open, now face to face with a scene you hoped you never had to be. It took you a moment to grasp the situation. Hongjoong was on you right; seated crossed legged on a chair, with Seonghwa next to him, arms crossed on his chest. Yeosang and Yunho were on your left, both leaning back on the wall behind them. Jiseon was also there, behind Hongjoong. And there he was. San. He was in the middle of the room, a blood covered club in his hand. “So, it was that.”, you thought, horrified. Your arrival made everyone pause their movements, all eyes on you. Time stopped for a few seconds, no one knew how to react. San, wide-eyed, could only murmur your name, sorrowfully. Jiseon was the first person to move.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?”, she scurried towards you, trying to hold onto your arm. You quickly dodged her, stepping back. “It’s not what it looks like.”, her voice tone didn’t felt credible. You felt nauseous.

You stuttered a little, your eyes quickly going from one person to another. Lastly, you made eye contact with San, the club falling at his feet; his eyes still showing horror. Pushing Jiseon, who was in front of the door, you ran as fast as you could to the front door, San shouting your name behind you.

“Y/N!”, San caught you, running much faster than you. “Look at me!”, his hands forcefully got a hold of your face; you were getting hysteric.

“Is that what you were hiding? What are you doing? What the fuck are you?”, your questions were coming out of your mouth, without a second thought, punching his chest after each question.

“It’s not what you think. I promise you, it’s not.”, he calmly tried to reason you. “Please, calm down.”, his hands caressing your cheeks.

“Don’t you dare touch with those hands.”, you pushed him, making him lose his balance. “Don’t. Who are you?”, you whimpered your last sentence, tears streaming down your face.

San tried to touch you again, but you moved backwards, looking at him with fear. “Don’t touch me.” You gave him one last look, before pushing him again and run out of the house. You almost fell down the stairs under his porch, but you kept speeding up. San frantically called out your name, but soon, it was just a faint sound behind you. 

You kept running down the street, thankfully, it was not too crowded. After some time, you felt dizzy again and stopped close to the bus stop. You crouched down there and cried with your head between your hands. You had different scenarios in your head about the events that occurred the past few days, but this was too much.

“Are you alright, darling?”, an elderly woman bend down next to you, a comforting hand on your shoulder.

You shook multiple times before lifting your eyes, locking yours with the woman’s. “Yes,” you managed to let out, “it’s alright.” She helped you stand up, and wiped down dust out of your knees. “Just some couple things. It’s going to be alright.”, you choked.

The sweet lady gave you an apologetic smile. “If it’s boy related, don’t put yourself in that state. I don’t want to put fuel in the gas and be the cliché old lady in movies, so as long as it’s not about cheating,”, she paused, trying to figure out if it was, in fact, related to that situation, “maybe he has an explanation to whatever happened.”, she gently squeezed your arm.

You sniffed and bitterly wiped your tears. “I don’t think so, but, thank you.”, you tried to smile to her, and she returned it, hers more genuine.  

The bus came not long after. The ride home was agonizingly long, which, in a way, was also helpful. You had to put yourself back together before arriving home. Your parents couldn’t see you like that, especially your mother. With the loan, and the discovery of the truth last night, they didn’t need to know about what happened to you today. Taking out a compact mirror out of your bag, you finally took a glance at your miserable state. Your cheeks were covered with mascara smudges, your nose red, still runny; your eyes didn’t look any different. You harshly cleaned your face, still sniffing loudly. You were already repeating in your head the explanation you were going to tell to your parents. Although, you doubted the credibility of any excuse, especially with your miserable look. Parents always knew.

It was close to 5pm when you finally made it home. You slowly entered, remembering your mother’s message from earlier, telling you she would probably take a nap. Tiptoeing to the living room, you found her in a foetal position sleeping on the couch. You slowly checked on her –she often suffers from high fever, hopefully, she seemed alright. You still had some time before having to face them.

You promised yourself not to cry when your parents were still awake and around but it was probably the warmth of your shower that broke you down. Tears tickled your cheeks yet again, quickly changing into painful sobs. The scene that occurred earlier playing over and over in your head. Everyone knew. Even Jiseon. You couldn’t wrap your head around it. Were they some sort of gang? Thinking about it, Seonghwa, Hongjoong, Yunho and Yeosang were the only one there from San’s group of friend; they were all over 20. So that was why everyone was excited about San’s birthday. Like Seonghwa said in that cellar, it was his welcome party. He was finally part of it. 

Your father wasn’t at home yet when it was dinner time. And your mother was still under the effect of her meds to focus on your condition. The evening ran quietly, your occasional small talks echoing in the kitchen from time to time.

Your father still wasn’t at home when you went to sleep. It wasn’t that odd, but most of the time, he would let your mother know about his late night outings. With all the things going on lately, he probably needed that “only boys night”, like he always says. He loved to go for a drink or two with his closest friends and let everything he’s been holding in out.

After helping your mother get to her bed, you went to your room; the silence shattering your fake barrier, yet again. It was too much to bear. What were you supposed to do? Make a complaint? It was San after all, how could you? What would you say? But, the scene of him holding that blood covered club was forever inked in your brain. It wasn’t San, it couldn’t be. It was not your San. No one could change so drastically in a day. Unless, he always was like that and your San was not the real one.

Your thoughts got cut with a message notification. When you arrived home earlier, you threw you bag, with your phone in it, in a corner of your room, not paying any attention to it. Glancing at the device, they were hundreds of unread messages; not only from San but also from the other ones. You didn’t want to suffer more than you already did so you only locked your phone back, and went to sleep.

A loud bang roughly woke you up in the middle of the night. Confused, you quickly got up, heading to your front door. The light in your parents’ room lit up, and your mother came out of it seconds later. She looked as disoriented as you in her hastily worn dressing gown. You exchanged a confused look before your mother went to look from the peephole. Her face dropped. A small “No.” slipped out of her lips, like a whisper.

“Who is it?”, you curiously ask.

You mother didn’t answer. She gave you a long stare, took a deep breath then opened the door.

Who would have thought that your life was going to horribly change that night? Who would have believed if you told them that behind that door was the police? Who would have believed if you told them that these men came in the middle of the night to give you the worst statement someone could give? Something that was going to break you apart. Forever. Your father’s death.

I 3 I

[seijuurouxryuu]

red sweater and biceps

Title: red sweater and biceps Author: Shiro (TeitoxAkashi [AO3]/ seijuurouxryuu [tumblr]) Rating: T Pairing: Fon/ Reborn Event: @khrrarepairweek Prompts: Mutual Pining | Social Media AU  Tags/Warnings: No Archive Warning

Day 5: Rain Day

It all started with a post on the College Confession site.

(Or, Reborn and Fon being dumb gays)

AO3

Key:

espresso/ espresso or die: Reborn soft: Luce Later Alligator: Verde (CREDITS TO BLUE-SENPAI [OnceABlueMoon] FOR THE NAME) War God: Hibari Kyouya give me your bank PIN: I-Pin Lal my qUEEN: Colonello bitch what: Lal Mirch No Money No Talk: Mammon PLEASE LET ME GO: Sawada Tsunayoshi

It all started with a post on the College Confession site.

#35867

To the red sweater guy with awesome biceps in class S344, you’ve taken my breath away the moment you walk through the door. Have a nice day.

p/s: Please let me touch your biceps.

L1: Oh wow OP calm your thirst.

L2: OP youre valid.

L3: IS THIS WHO I THINK IT IS?!

L4: red sweater guy omg @Fon yoU HAvE aN AdmIRer!

L5: omg it is fon omg omgo mgom

L6: TO THINK THAT I’VE LIVED UNTIL THIS DAY TO SEE FON GETTING HIT ON SO OPENLY

L7: Finally it’s not another confession-to-Reborn post

.

.

Lnth: OP’s words are never truer.

And from that moment onwards, wherever Fon goes, people would stare at him and whispers, giggling as he walked pass them. It was fine at first but it had soon gotten very annoying, because while Fon was fine with crowds or stares, he was of a Hibari and all Hibari Hates. Crowds. And Noises.

Fon rubbed his temple, lips pursing. It was a rare moment for him to expose his feelings in public, but he was far too irritated. He folded his sleeves of his button down—not red thank you very much—up as he made himself comfortable on the plastic chair. Or, as comfortable as plastic chairs can get because it definitely wasn’t.

If he could, he would like to find the culprit to the prank—yes, it could only be a prank—and have a good talk with them. And probably a punch. In fact, he would probably punch Luce for showing him the post if it weren’t for the fact that Luce is Very Scary when provoked. He would rather stay ignorant to all that, thank you very much.

To be honest, it wasn’t as though he didn’t want to find the culprit. He tried by asking Mammon, but they simply ignored him even when he offered the Materialstm, saying that they still wanted to live and something else that was incoherent to Fon. He tried by approaching his older cousin Alaude who definitely knew who but was ignored and sent away as well, only with a contemplating look. What did that even mean?

Anyways, long story short, Fon tried for the whole two weeks, but ultimately failed to find out who it was. He sighed as he spun his ballpoint pen, waiting for the lecturer to come in. It was S344 again, and this time he had come early to scrutinize all his classmates—not all whom he knew well—to see if he can figure out who it was, since that was the only clue given.

Sitting at the highest level in the lecture hall—he can effort not listening to the teacher so it doesn’t matter—he scanned through the class and stared at all the students that had arrived early, mentally cancelling whoever that didn’t seem like the one.

‘Not here yet, I guess.’

Soon, the class started to fill up and Fon simply just gave up. One, there were too many students and all of them are still buzzing around who god-knows-what reason. Two, this one guy with cute, curly sideburn and abyss-like eyes arrived.

A small smile and a statement in the smooth, pleasing voice shook Fon down to the core. “I supposed that you’re trying to find who posted that post.”

Holy shit.

“I-I’m sorry, what?”

The chuckle he gave Fon definitely made his legs weak and Fon was so thankful that he was sitting instead of standing. “Do you mind if I sit here?”

“I—no, no. Definitely not. Go ahead.” Shit, Fon was turning stupid from how hot the other was.

“Thanks.” And he slid in, sitting beside Fon. “So how’s the progress? Found any suspect?”

Fon didn’t answer for a moment as he blinked a few times to digest the question. (‘Stupid, you aren’t supposed to be this dumb. Granted, he is too hot…’) Then he frowned a little. “You know me?”

A snort. “Of course. You’re currently the hottest topic at the moment. One would have to live 15 feet underground to not know who you are.”

Fon looked like he wanted to groan out loud but stopped himself because it would rather rude of him and that earned a look of sympathy. “Don’t worry. Things will quiet down after a while.”

“How sure are you?” Fon tilted his head. “Trust me.”

Fon raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t ask further. If the other doesn’t want to talk, then he would rather not talk. Plus, the lecturer had arrived. The two of them turned back to the class—or, well, they tried to. Fon was very distracted with his seat companion’s presence and the dying urge to turn around and stare at the beautiful pair of eyes. It was the first time he had noticed so much of a person and wanted to know so much more.

Also, he would die to keep talking with him just to hear his voice.

A click and Fon paled slightly.

Oh god, did he just get himself a crush?

.

.

soft

Forget the confession. Forget finding the culprit.

Um, Fon, bby? Are you alright?

Fdskajfldsk

No.

Oh dear, what happened?

I saw the Devil

And I want to punch them

In the face

With my mouth

Softly

Oh?

OH

OHHHH

Luce please kill me I don’t need this

Oh babe, come over. We’ll have a Talk

.

.

Mission: PROTECT FON AT ALL COST

soft

@everyone please come over to our usual spot to give moral support to our beloved bby fon

Later Alligator

Is Killer 3.5 needed?

War God

@Later Alligator yes

Later Alligator

My invention is not for you Hibari back off

War God

You can’t stop me

give me your bank PIN

Hibari-san no

Also @soft who do I need to kill for master?

soft

No fighting. Anyone who brings weapons will be barred from entering the base.

War God

Bold of you to assume that I need my tonfa at all.

soft

I’ll tell Tsuna that you are the one who burnt his manga

War God

I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.

soft

screenshot.jpg

War God

I know where you live.

soft

and so do I. ANYWAYS! There’s no need to kill anyone! Just come and you’ll know!

.

.

The first time Reborn saw Fon was in S344. That day, he was sitting alone on the highest level because he liked looking down at everyone from higher ground. (Plus, it wasn’t as though he needed to listen to lectures; he was just attending because he had nothing better to do.) He was scrolling through the Confession site, snorting at idiotic posts, when Fon walked into class with a perfectly fitted red sweater that hugged his frame—especially his biceps—so beautifully. He was carrying a laptop bag and a few files, smiling at something on his phone as he climbed up the stairs.

Reborn was awestruck, eyes wide as he stared at the angel that gotten closer and closer. His heart had unknowingly started thumping louder as he took in the most perfect man he had ever saw like a lost, thirsty traveller who had not drank in days. Reborn had almost stopped breathing when Fon looked up to find an empty row.

Their eyes met.

And Fon smiled.

Shit.

He was so dead.

(He had spent the whole period staring at Fon’s back, especially his exposed neck and arm, thanking god that he was sitting directly in front of him. It wasn’t until Fon left the room that he realized that he was actually drooling.)

.

.

Leon is the best @espresso . 57s

Have you ever seen someone so beautiful that you just want to die?

.

.

Lal my qUEEN

OmG GuYs haVE yoU seEn Reborn’s tweet?!

bitch what

No???

Did he delete it?

Lal my qUEEN

@espresso or die WHY DID YOU DELETE IT GET OVER HERE fdhsaklfjdsAFJDSL

bitch what

What did he do again?

@espresso or die What did you do again?

Stop depriving us

I know you’re on rn

espresso or die

lies

Lal my qUEEN

KORA REBORN! STOP DISAPPEARING!

REBORN!

OI!

@espresso or die DUDE EXPLAIN

Fjflkds that’s IT!

@No Money No Talk RECEIPT! I’LL GIVE YOU FIFTY (50) AND A STRAWBERRY MILK!

No Money No Talk

Hundred and two, no less.

Lal my qUEEN

ALRIGHT

No Money No Talk

thirst.jpg

espresso or die

You’re dead to me, Viper.

No Money No Talk

It’s Mammon.

And you’re welcome.

PLEASE LET ME GO

fkldsajflkds omg

Are you okay Reborn? Are you sick? What temperature are you?

Do we need to call an ambulance? Or do we need to call for a priest?

espresso or die

Dead. You’re all dead to me.

Especially you, @Lal my qUEEN

I’m coming for you first.

Lal my qUEEN

Fldksjfl;dsarlwea

PLEASE LET ME GO

RIP

espresso or die

You’re next

PLEASE LET ME GO

WHY ME?!

A/N= As you can see, its not fully complete. I didn't finish it because I couldn't make the plunny move + no motivation/inspiration. I might pick it up again when I do have the motivation to.

At least this is longer and written just for this event unlike the previous one...

[I apologize for any grammar, spelling, etc. etc. mistake]

[polar-stars]

No offense, but why do ya like Marui? It's the author's fault, not his, but he doesn't have a defined personality, or something that distinguish him from other anime generic side-characters. Same with Shoji, Daigo, Ryoko... Can't say the same with Shun and Yuki bc I actually like them. They at least have a bit of essence??? Sorry if I sounded mean, it wasn't my intention, I just have curiosity. And sorry if I made spelling mistakes as well, English isn't my first language. :')

Hello Anon!

First off, I gotta apologize for this extremely late answer. There are two reasons why I am only now answering.

A. I was in Italy, in a hotel on some mountain with barely any internet. 

B. Your question is a tough one to answer for me, simply because I have ton of troubles to explain why I like something for some reason. Putting into words why I hate something is not much of a problem, but liking something? It often just sounds like incoherent stuttering with a lot of me repeating myself. But I’ll try my very best. 

To get to your  two points: “he doesn’t have a defined personality, or something that distinguish him from other anime generic side-characters.”

About the anime generic side-characters thing: In this case I really am no one to judge. I mentioned it here and there already but I am actually not much of a manga-reader and not at all an anime-watcher. 

I used to “watch” animes back when I was younger but here’s the catch: I only ever started them but never finished one of them. In some cases I read the manga instead of watching through the anime (e.g. Sailor Moon, Ranma ½, Mermaid Melody), in other I just googled the ending and there are also a good bunch of cases where I don’t know the ending. 

It’s not that I didn’t liked what I watched or something, that was almost never the case. It’s just a basic problem that I have that I absolutely hate to watch through series. There’s also tons of Western Shows from which I saw one episode and never returned again. It may sound stupid to a lot of you, especially in such times in which Netflix exists…but it really is that way. I find it absolutely tedious to watch through hundreds of episodes for a conclusion. 

Now, Shokugeki is for some reason an exception. I can’t truly pinpoint what it is about Shokugeki that actually kept me sticking but, here we are. 

However with all that background story out of the way, what I basically want to say is, that I really can’t judge the character on how similar he may be to other characters from other animes. 

What I can say is that back when I had my “Let’s start a few animes, watch a few episodes and hop on the next one”-Phase, the animes I personally watched mostly had glasses-characters that were either this

or this

Ouran Highschool Host Club is one of the animes that I never finished by the way. Even though it was funny….I just stopped at some point

Also I am hoping I am not saying anything wrong here. 

So from my (inexperienced) viewpoint Marui is not that generic. //shrug

While he does have a lot, a lot of comedic scenes (there are three running gags dedicated to him), he’s not completely designed to be a full-on comedic relief character. 

This is one of the reasons why I hate don’t like the English Dub by the way, because in that they actually gave him a voice that suits a solely comedic relief character best. It’s extremely high-pitched and whiney. 

In the original however it’s not much like that. I mean, his voice does get a little high-pitched and especially whiney here and there but only when he is being whiny (or when he fangirls). 

But when he talks normally it’s not that high-pitched or something. 

I can see that some people may not see it, but he’s not purely used for gags. He had a big moment during the AE Premlins that portrayed him as quite competent skill wise. From all the students that did not make it into he Main Tournament, the only one who is on the same level as him is Shun Ibusaki if we judge by the scores. 

Also if we look at his bystander role during cooking battles, his main task there is to explain ingredients and techniques to the readership that may has no clue about that instead of being used for jokes.

He in general can get quite serious. But on the other side, the fact that he does has his comedic elements it doesn’t make him that mysterious, serious, smart character. 

If you’re asking me for a define personality: 

He’s highly intelligent and truly excels and devotes himself to what he’s good in. 

However he is also very aware of what he lacks and that is actually a little refreshment in this cast and makes him a lot more humble than some of his other male classmates. It’s more pronounced by the fact that he’s one of the very few male characters who actually use “boku” instead of “ore”. 

He can still be rather immature and also has problems to stand up for himself or gain respect for himself. What he lacks in terms of dominance over his room, he makes up with complaining so that his dormmembers at least get the hint that he is not approving of what they’re doing. 

He’s the kind off person that quickly goes off from people’s radar and that is easily underestimated I think. 

He’s quite helpful I think, but can be a bit of a coward here and there but get’s his guts together when it matters the most. 

I am by the way the last person you should ask to write a BIO.

So yah….Why do I like him? 

Reason 1. 

I like the basic concept of him. A chef that cooks by research and knowledge. 

Reason 2. 

I like that it’s shown that he actually works hard and is not just a naturally gifted genius. Again, I find it very impressive that he figured out his weaknesses and actually works on balancing them out to achieve his dreams. 

Reason 3. 

He’s funny to me. 

Reason 4. 

But he can also be pretty cool, if you ask me. 

Reason 5. 

I can highly relate to him on so many levels. Like the moment in the anime where I started to truly like him was that one:

Everything about this picture is basically me to be honest. 

Reason 6. 

Seeing how unappreciated and unpopular he is by most, it only let’s my own love grow to be honest. 

Reason 7.

My OTP strengthens my love for him even more.

Reason 8. 

Yo….He’s actually kind off handsome….I think a lot of you will probably not get me on this but y’see the male characters are in general quite good-looking considering Saeki’s gorgeous art style. But also….I have a type you know? 

…..

………Glasses. 

THIS IS A MESS

All of this is a mess, I am so sorry for my scrambled words

But as I said, I find it extremely hard to put into words why I love something. 

I probably did not change your mind Anon but I just hope that you got gists of what makes me liking this character ;w;

//sighs

Thanks for listening though ✨

I miss him so much

Where tf is his Timeskip Reveal Tsukuda I am still waiting., 

[ikonxmx]

You Made Me Feel So... (Kihyun)

Previous Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ...

Author’s Note: Hi, it’s been awhile right? I think it’s about time I finish the beauty, don’t you agree? Enjoy... 

“Honestly I thought you knew... I was just waiting for you.”

The part plays over and over in his head. How could he have known? As far as Kihyun was concerned you were only being a friend to him. One of his best friends in fact. But as he sits and dissects your lyrics he’s met with inner turmoil. 

‘How the hell was I suppose to know?’

It stumps him... more than anything he's ever had to figure out. You were nice to everyone. Always smiling, always laughing, enjoying life and the company of the people around you. It made people want to be in your presence, thrive for your attention and acknowledgment. Though you give positive reviews even if you hate something. It's just the kind of person you are. Always overly considerate of people's feelings and opinions, so often that you'd ignore your own in the name of sparing someone else's.

"What you thinking about man?" Hoseok asks from the bedroom doorway. He'd done his hair and changed his clothes upon returning to the dorm, a smile plastered across his face.

“Y/N’s song...” Kihyun admits without thinking. His eyes go wide as he realizes his mistake and he quickly sits up. “Who do think it’s about?” He asks as he scratches the back of his neck. A friend taking interest in your love life isn’t that big of a deal and he can easily play it off as curiosity.

“You,” Hoseok says, still smiling. “It’s very obvious.”

"What?" Kihyun awkwardly laughs.

"I was there the first time she sang the song. She'd been doing shit the entire showcase and then you two left and she freestyled a verse about a guy she liked dating a girl that sounded a lot like HaNa. Wasn't hard to figure out." He shrugged.

"But..." Kihyun sighed. He hadn't even seen Hoseok at the showcase. "Then before that... did you know she liked me?"

"I had an idea," Hoseok admitted, finally wiping the smile from his face. "I tried to ask her out awhile back and she turned me down because she already liked someone. Wouldn't tell me who." He smiles again, "I told her to let me know if it doesn't work out."

Kihyun rolled his eyes... sounds like something Hoseok would do. For the first time since the older boy walked into the room, Kihyun looked t his appearance. "Why are you all dressed up?"

"Dinner with Y/N." He smiles.

"Why didn't anyone tell me we were taking her to dinner?"

"Because we're not," Hoseok chuckles, "I am. Just the two of us... Can I borrow some cologne?"

Kihyun's stomach drops. He can't describe the gut-churning feeling he has. The thought of you and Hoseok alone... together. It pisses him off much more than it should. After all, you're both his friends. You're both amazing people that deserve happiness, and if you could find it in one another, that would be amazing. So why is he upset by the idea of you two dating?

Hoseok doesn't wait for an answer and instead quickly sprays on some of the cologne you'd gotten Kihyun for his birthday.

"So glad it didn't work out. " Hoseok teases before beginning to take his leave. "Be back later... Don't wait up!" He yells as he makes his exit from the dorm.

It’s 10:34pm and Kihyun is significantly drunk. He's not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Drunk Kihyun is honest, but he's also extremely impulsive. Drunk Kihyun can admit that the feeling in his gut earlier from the idea of Hoseok taking you on a date come from jealousy. Drunk Kihyun can admit that he's a coward and has always liked you, but was always too afraid to admit his feelings out of fear. Fear of losing one of the greatest friendships he's ever had, made his mind think the affection he felt toward you was strictly platonic. Damned fear. Damned mind. 

Drunk Kihyun can call the girl he's been dating and tell her things aren't going to work out because he's madly in love with the girl who he'd stupidly and unknowingly friend zoned.

Drunk Kihyun can send a text to his bandmate, cursing him every way he knows how, and then spam him with incoherent one worded messages when he leaves him on read.

Drunk Kihyun can cry as he listens to your lyrics once again before pulling up your contact info and typing out the best apology his inebriated mind can muster up. One filled with rambling, and spelling errors, and everything he should've said to you at the bar, the night of your showcase.

He can also hit send and bang his head against the dining room table as he finally passes out.

Drunk Kihyun is brave

It’s been an entire year since I updated this fic and my writing style has changed so much. I tend to stay away from using ‘Y/N’ now and I write. much longer chapters. This is kept short though because there’s nothing really left to do except concluding the story. Thank you so much for being patient. Love you guuuuuuyyyyyyysssssss

- AJ

[tornrose24]

CU Corpse Bride AU part 4

I know it took too long. It’s a tricky AU to come up with, if I must be honest. Plus I’ve been working a lot on the OTHER au.

And apparently the boys were a little closer to their book counterparts in this au.

George and Harold hurry to get out of the land of the dead, but one of their fears comes true while they’re gone. Edith discovers that there is a way to look into the world of the living and view those who are still alive with a special looking glass. She commands it to show her Krupp and anxiously waits to see if he is alright.

To her confusion, she sees him leaving the town in a carriage with a hard to read expression and a suitcase in hand.

“Where’s he going?!” Edith panics before screaming at him to let him know where she is, but he cannot hear her and the image fades. She can only use the looking glass again when it is night time, but she cannot wait for that long. She has no clue what is going on in the land above or where Krupp is heading. She has no idea that he is trying to find a way to save her.

In the land of the living, Krupp is so lost in thought that he almost falls over his seat when the carriage stops without warning.

“Hey what’s the big idea?!” Krupp snaps at the driver–not knowing that the man fell over in his seat and lost consciousness upon seeing the true face of a cloaked figure who somehow was able to sneak up on him. “HEY! I have somewhere I need to go!” He gets angry and is about to give the man a piece of his mind when another cloaked figure throws the door open and snatches his suitcase away.

“HEY!” Krupp gets even more angry at this small figure who dared to delay him (and steal from him!) and chases after the pest as he leads him back towards the town and into the woods, though he soon sees that the thief has an accomplice who is also covered in a cloak.

It’s not until they get into the woods that the two finally stop to face Krupp, who is beyond angry at them for slowing him down. “I don’t know who you are, but I have somewhere I need to go, so if you don’t give me my bag back, then so help me–!”

Both figures throw their hoods back and Krupp stops mid-threat when he sees a couple of all too familiar faces–the faces of George and Harold, his former and now very much dead students.

They innocently watch and wait as he gaps at them and can only stare in shock for a few moments before sputtering out incoherent words. Then he collapses and passes out from the shock.

“Well he took that surprisingly well.” Harold comments.

Still, they don’t have time for this, and after throwing water in his face (of course), they wake him up and wait for him to quit freaking out and finally recover before he remembers what is happening. “What–HOW?!” He freaks out again in wide eyed shock at the two. “Why are you here?! Why aren’t you–what–?!”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re dead!” George finally cuts to the chase. “We didn’t miraculously survive, we actually died that day!” And so the boys are forced to admit the truth to Krupp.

Once upon a time, Krupp was especially cruel to the two boys who loved to draw, write, and play jokes on others for their own amusement, with Krupp being their favorite target. Yet one day it got to a point where they planned to play a prank on the whole classroom as well as Krupp. The plan was to cover them all in a bunch of jam, glue, and other sticky stuff, along with flour, feathers, and other random things. They would have a few loud sounds go off, then light up a scarecrow outside the school to scare a few of them.

They managed to get everything prepped, but on the day of the prank, they didn’t realize how many flammable items were in the supply shed. The moment they tested out a match, it sparked and caught one of the items on fire. There was an explosion that badly hurt  the both of them and knocked a beam down in front of the door to prevent their escape. There was too much smoke developing and because no one could hear them cry out for help–or realized where they were–

The boys grow silent.

Krupp just stares at them. He’s not surprised that one of their pranks was more than just the result of their undoing, but for once he can’t bring himself to gloat at the boys for one of their failures like he used to.

“So that aside,” George finally gets to the point. “We... kind of had a hand in you losing Edith again.”

And this goes as well as you’d expect. Krupp is more than furious at their involvement since it makes complete sense to him and he only gets angrier when they admit that they were keeping him away from the entrance to the land of the dead.

“Look, we’re sorry, ok?!” Harold begs. “We want to try to fix this because we know she’s not happy and he’s not going to be happy either. We know she wants you and I think he’s starting to get it. Just let us help you to make up for everything we did!”

“And if we get to our parents, we can tell them it was our fault that we died and they can forgive you!” George added. “For crying out loud, just listen to us this one time!”

Realizing that they are running low on time, the boys tell Krupp that if Edith marries him instead of CU, he’ll probably leave her alone, but Krupp is reluctant to do this after all that has happened. He doesn’t know if Edith could ever want to get married with him at this point. The boys want to tell Krupp about the ‘game’ with his existence on the line–that he’ll throw his life away if he let’s CU marry Edith–but they opt not to.

“Then let us try to talk some sense into him!” Harold tries to tell Krupp. “Otherwise we can try to get you into the land of the dead–without any jokes this time!”

“Besides, even if Edith were to marry him, it needs to be up here.” George added. “She’s still alive, so the laws of the living have to be obeyed, regardless of living, dead, religion, and a bunch of other things we barely care about.”

Unfortunately, while the boys succeed in getting Krupp to the entrance, the gatekeeper is NOT happy about living people being taken in before their time is up and refuses entry to Krupp, which leads to major arguing and unfortunately for the boys, the sun eventually sets yet again and CU takes over. The gatekeeper decides to teach the boys a lesson for their interferences and jokes and denies them entry for a whole twenty four hours. What’s worse is that the boys lose their chance to get CU’s attention and talk to him since he immediately rushes into the land of the dead without noticing them.

Trapped in the land of the living, George and Harold ponder what to do. They decide to try to visit their families to see them again and confess what really happened to them so that they won’t blame Krupp, in case their plan works. Then they will try to hurry back to the entrance in case something happens.

Yet things are about to get a lot harder for the boys. Edith tries once again to seek out Krupp with the looking glass, but it doesn’t show him–it doesn’t show anything. Confused, she asks the keeper of the looking glass why this is happening.

“Well, I don’t know what to say.” The undead woman admits. “This only happens if the person is not in the land of the living or the land of the dead. Either he’s gone up–or down–” she grimaces as she looks at the ground “–or somehow his soul ceased to exist. And unfortunately, that can happen.”

“So is he gone?!” Edith asks and pleads.

“I really don’t know.” The woman admits. “I’d just pray that he went up instead of the either two options.” Edith feels herself give into despair–she has no idea what is going on anymore, she’s trapped, and she doesn’t know why Krupp left town.

What if he was leaving the town as well as her because of his reputation? Because he didn’t want to face the supernatural again? Or because he couldn’t find her and gave up? Or what if something had happened and he would try to find her without knowing that both worlds were separated?

She would rather not let herself be a burden to him if that were the case. She wouldn’t want to condemn him to a life of endlessly searching for her.

Besides, she didn’t have much in the land of the living besides her family. She had been placed in an arranged marriage and she never had much hope of finding someone on her own.

Upon encountering CU, she tells him that she agrees to marry him, on the condition that a headstone baring her name is placed in the cemetery and that her family and friends made aware of her death. At this point she’s made aware of the rules–that she would need to die in order for a marriage with CU to be binding.

CU is conflicted about telling her that she does NOT need to die in this case, and a part of him can see that Edith is unhappy, but then he is too excited to really think things over and promises to have the ceremony taken up above by midnight.

Meanwhile, the boys are able to reunite with their families and it is both a wonderful and sad time spent with them, with lots of hugging and apologizing involved. They return back to the entrance to the land of the dead, but to their horror they see that Edith is being taken away by a ghostly carriage to a nearby church. When they ask the gatekeeper, he tells them that she’s agreed to the marriage–which will happen at midnight that night–and that means no more living people in the land of the dead.

The boys panic before tricking the gatekeeper into leaving his post and they hurry back into the land of the dead. They try to find CU to convince him to really think the matter over, but they can’t find him, which leaves them with one other option.

They can only think of repeating the same spell the person-in-charge used before to try to fix whatever went wrong this time. They need to bring back Krupp and even if it means having him appear before CU again, they don’t have a choice anymore. They know they have to atone for their mistakes before its too late.

The boys eventually succeed in getting the spell (which was an adventure in itself), but time is running low again and they have to hurry as fast as they can. They have to get to the church on time!

I’ve been having writer’s block with this more than once and doesn’t help with giving myself time to think it out. And trying to get the right motivation for Edith to agree to marrying CU was not easy (or fun for MANY reasons. Because I think realistically this girl would have waited one more day, but for the sake of drama I had to do THIS)... see why it was hard to write this? But I promise that I will make the last part as good as I can. :) It’ll come eventually....

[memoriesofthecity]

I love your blog! Could you do headcanons for Akechi, Aigis, Naoto, and Ann reacting to their S/O getting charmed by the enemy? It could be S/O fighting them, having lewd thoughts, or both.

aww thank you!!

Goro:

Goro would be fairly calm after the enemy charmed you, and wouldn’t start freaking out. He would try and find anything to cure you, and only after realizing their was nothing he would begin to panic slightly.

Once you came over to him, red in the face from the spell and muttering incoherently, he started to back away slowly and began trying to talk you out of it. The rest of the party continued to fight in the background, but you didn’t even spare them a glance. Your eyes were stuck on him, unmoving, and obviously not listening to a word he was saying.

You backed him up against the nearest wall, one leg in between his and the other balancing yourself. Breath hot against his ear, you whispered how you had saw him ‘looking at Panther’, and that he wasn’t allowed to look at anyone but you anymore. He stiffened up, and although he knew it wasn’t actually you talking, he nodded his head.

As you were distracting him, you quickly drew your weapon up and jumped away from him, before swinging your weapon with full intention to make him blind. Thankfully, he had realized what you had planned to do and ducked, letting your weapon get lodged into the wall. You pulled it out of the wall and raised your weapon again, but before you got the chance the Phantom Thieves killed the last Shadow keeping you under control.

You returned to your normal self, and dropped your weapon the instant you saw the fear in Goro’s eyes. It changed to relief after he realized he wouldn’t have to fight you, or do something to you, to make you stop. He brought you into his arms and hugged you, saying how he was glad you were okay.

Although you apologized profusely for almost hurting him, and he admitted to being a little scared while you were under the Shadow’s spell,  he told you that he wouldn’t dare to look at anyone but you ever again. You blushed and he chuckled at how red it made you, but you didn’t tell him how you liked him saying that.

Ann:

Ann would instantly panic if you got charmed by the enemy, and would be scared of you turning on the group. You were one of the strongest members, after all. She would try to cure you, but after realizing she couldn’t, she would try to fight the Shadow that charmed you.

She didn’t want you to be a slave to anyone, especially not the enemy. She would do anything she could, trying to burn the enemy to a crisp and whip it into shape, but you weren’t having that. As she was sending a round of bullets toward the enemy, you took your weapon and knocked her to the ground, making her drop her own.

She knew you weren’t yourself, but she still hesitated to fight back when you pointed your weapon at her. You ignored the shouts of fear in the background from the other Phantom Thieves, and told her how her outfit was too revealing for you to stay focused. She got mad and red in the face at that, and even more after you leaned down to whisper in her ear that you were going to ‘help with that’.

You saw her nod at something behind you, but you didn’t focus on it for more than a second before raising your body back up. You stood there for a second with your weapon limp at your side, before lifting it quickly to try and lodge it into Ann’s chest. Before you could, she kicked you and rolled out from where you had knocked her down, and grabbed her whip that Akira had kicked back to her. She knew it wasn’t you, and that was the only thing allowing her to fight back.

She struck you with her whip, hard enough to knock you back but not enough to leave a mark. After you fell to the ground in pain, she summoned Carmen and casted one final burst of flames to finish the final enemy off. You thankfully returned to normal, but Ann was still wary of if it was truly you. She grabbed her machine gun and pointed it at you just in case. Realizing you were back, and seeing your fear, she threw it away again and fell down to wrap you in a hug.

Ann apologized for hurting you but told you how scared she was of losing you, and promised to never let it happen again. You apologized too, and you both made up. After that experience, you both always had items on hand to cure ailments. You couldn’t have asked for a better girlfriend than Ann.

Naoto:

Naoto would also be calm, first figuring out if anything could cure you, and then would result to talking you out of it. If things came to it, though, she wouldn’t hesitate to force you out of it.

She tried reasoning with you first, staying calm even as she dodged your swings at her. She told you that you weren’t thinking right, that the Shadow was your enemy, and not her. You didn’t listen, of course. You continued to slash at the air, until you gave up and threw it into the wall behind Naoto. She took in a deep breath and pulled out her gun, pointing it at you and refusing to show any reaction to what you had done.

You backed her into the wall where your weapon was. She kept her gun at the ready and told you that she would shoot if it came to it, not voicing how much she didn’t want to hurt you and how she was counting on the rest of the Investigation Team. You ignored the threat and came closer, telling her how you wished she would wear more ‘revealing’ clothes more, and how you wished you could have seen her at the Yasogami beauty pageant in her swimsuit. Blushing, as you complimenting and mentioning those things to her were her weakness, her gun wavered a little but didn’t drop from position.

You saw that as the time to grab your weapon, and ripped it out of the wall. You planned to swing it down at her, but before you could blink she had already shot into the air behind you in order to scare you. As you were distracted, she fired a few shots into the last Shadow left, killing it and lifting the spell on you. She kept her gun at the ready as she approached you, but after realizing you were back to normal she dropped it and fell down to you.

Naoto made sure you were okay first and foremost, checking nearby where she had shot to make sure it didn’t hit you. After making sure nothing got you, she apologized for threatening you but told you she would have done anything to get you back to normal. You hushed her, and apologized profusely for even having it come to that point. She told you that it was okay, and the Investigation Team let you both sit there for a bit to calm down and be by each other. You didn’t tell the team, but Naoto eventually did show you her swimsuit later on.

Aigis:

Aigis wouldn’t want you to stay charmed for long, but she would stay calm and composed at first. She would see if she had anything to cure you, then the team, and then make sure Minato had absolutely nothing to help before taking matters into her own hands.

She would ready her guns and first try to talk to you. She didn’t want to use drastic measures on you, her S/O, so it was her only safe choice. She would talk to you and tell you to think reasonably while simultaneously shooting the enemy when she found openings. Realizing it wasn’t working, and that she would have to trust the rest of S.E.E.S. to kill the enemy, she turned her weapons towards you. Although she didn’t want to, she would shoot if she had to.

You continued to try and attack her even while she shot warning rounds into the air. She was determined to distract you until the enemy was dead, but all of her composure left when you looked her dead in the eye and told her that you’d ‘like you better if you were a real girl’. You knew those words hurt her, and she knew you would never say such a thing. After saying that you made a fatal mistake, she activated her Orgia Mode.

Now fully a killing machine, the same as you, she fired relentlessly at you as you fought her right back. Both of you were under the control of something else, not in the right state of mind, and unable to hold back. Even when you were at the last of your consciousness and she was about to overheat, you both were relentless. As you landed a final blow on Aigis, Yukari shot a final arrow into the final enemy Shadow, knocking you out of the charm and Aigis into her cool down period.

Not realizing at first that Aigis had went into Orgia Mode and thinking you had almost killed her, you fell to the floor in fear and grabbed her unmoving body, tears starting to fall. You began sobbing and apologizing, saying how sorry you were for letting that happen, before Fuuka said through her Persona that Aigis was okay and explained everything. You felt a little better, but you were still crying and couldn’t forgive yourself.

You all went back to the beginning of Tartarus to wait for Aigis to cool down. After she did, the first thing she saw was you holding her with tears still in your eyes. Her own tears built up, and you both hugged each other in happiness that you were okay. The rest of the group decided that was enough exploring for the night, and you went back to the dorm hand in hand. You both admitted that you were still terrified of what had happened, and after talking out your feelings for a bit you went to sleep cuddling. After that day, Aigis made sure to always protect you from any ailment, and you both always had items on hand to cure each other. You couldn’t have asked for anyone better by your side, even if she was dangerous and a robot. That didn’t matter to you. What mattered was that she was real, and not being human couldn’t stop that fact.