#and I asked if they wanted to be put in contact with an inside golem (there were two on guard)

[falderaletcetera]

just got an iron golem named after me in a friend's minecraft stream so please picture a resentful nightwatchman of a golem in a fancy black vault, leaning against a pillar and playing on a comically tiny gameboy.

[ramzawrites]

OMG might I say I have cried many tears already.

Also can I request a part 2 to your hybrid iron golem story? Maybe one where he has to deal with torture from the butcher gang, and even has to help exile techno. But eventually he ends up teaming with techno blade and dream after they save him. And he starts training with them and gets better at pvp and eventually kills/greatly injures one of the butcher gang as revenge, before returning to his village? LOVE YOU AND YOUR FICS❤️ your also like the only writer I know who writes he/him or gn fics so thank you❤️

IronGolem!Hybrid!Reader - Protector - Part 2

Part 1

Male

Pairings: none

Characters included: Quackity, Tubbo, Fundy, Ranboo, Technoblade, Ghostbur, (mentioned) Philza

Warnings: mention of burn wounds,captivity,fighting

Series: a part 2 of my previous fic per request <3

Summary: After weeks of working Y/N to the bones the Butcher Army has a different need of him. After managing to get the best gear possible from Y/N and having trained enough, it was finally time to get revenge! It was time to “peacefully” get Technoblade so he can stand trial, of course taking Y/N with them, after all he worked so hard on their gear and was now a part of their little army.

Words count: 3893

Authors Note: Thank you for the nice words! 💙 :D I’m sorry I broke this request up in two parts! I will concentrate on finishing up another or two requests and while I do that, I will also try finishing up part 3 since I am already in the middle of writing it! So don’t worry it is coming!

Y/N pressed his back against the cold stone wall. Enjoying the coolness on his body. Pressing his burned palms against the cold floor beneath him. The coldness was like a soothing balm that engulfed him after working for hours at the forge.

It was probably a bad idea pushing the wounds down onto the dirty floor, but he didn’t care. The temporary relief of pain just felt too good that he couldn’t stop himself.

A small break from the constant stress on his body.

Basking in the break from the constant supervision of the Butcher Army, even if that break came at the cost of him being locked inside a cell.

He had no idea how long he has been here in L’Manberg. An interesting city built inside a crater. They led him to this place, riding on their horses while pulling him along with a rope. It was a grueling two-day trip and as soon as the group arrived, they almost immediately put him to work.

First it just started out with him looking over their current armor and repairing what he could, then they began forcing him to create multiple sets of iron armor, claiming they would give him the resources and he should just work.

So, he did. He created armor sets, weapons and tools. Making new ones when they lost the gear, or it got destroyed. They put his work to the test. Fighting against each other to train. Using it against a horde of mobs, so there was never really a shortage of work.

The real trouble came when they suddenly presented him with diamonds. Ordering him to make them diamond armor but he didn’t know how. His expertise laid with iron work nothing else, but the group wouldn’t hear a no from him. Forcing him to figure out how to best create this diamond armor by showing him their old ones.

Luckily his knowledge seemed to somewhat extend to the new material as well. It took a while, but he soon found out different ways to create a similar product to that of his iron gear.

Diamond armor light but strong, the tools incredibly sturdy and in some cases sharp.

This seemed to be what the group was looking for. Yelling things like “This could rival netherite!” as they tried it out for the first time.

One day they brought him a new material. It was netherite. It was good thing that netherite behaved more like iron and was used as a coating for diamond gear, so Y/N could make this upgraded gear for them fast and easily.

The netherite complimented his work quite well. It received greater durability but also made it possible to sharpen the weapons even more so. Something about this material seemed to behave otherworldly to him which got confirmed to him once he found out that it came from the nether.

Naively Y/N had hoped that this was enough and that they would finally let him go and return to his village. His one true home. Though of course they didn’t let him go, saying that they still haven’t reached their goal and needed his help.

Still working him to the bone. His hands getting more and more hurt over time as he worked with the materials. The metal that coated them cracking more and more.

The villagers back home were left with the only few defenses he put up, which should be fine but also, he wanted to be there and make sure they were alright.

As he sat alone in the dark room, he let himself silently cry. He missed them so much. They would make sure he was alright, giving him an abundance of food and materials and whenever he refused to take more, they would look so insulted. If anything, the villagers were good-natured beings that believed in true reciprocity.

This seemed to be a foreign concept for the L’Manberg people or at least the Butcher Army. Increasing his fear and wariness for other humans even more. He never actually had any contact with other people outside of them, but he did learn a few things about the little group and what their opinion was of others.

For starters there were two people they saw as their ultimate enemies.

One called Dream and another called Technoblade.

From the things he heard and even the few question he managed to ask despite of his fear and anxiety, he gained the idea that these two must have been horrible tyrants. He almost got the idea that they were just beasts out here hunting their prey and trying to subject the other people under their own rule or ideologies.

And Y/N was scared of them. He didn’t want to meet them and make sure to stay far away but this was also how he felt towards the Butcher Army, conflicting thoughts and emotions brewing inside of him. The Butcher Army acted like they were the good guys, doing bad things for a good goal and Y/N wanted to believe in that. Wanted to believe that him suffering will bring something good as well but there were doubts.

Y/N laid his hurting hands on his biceps, squeezing them in pain as he tried to stifle his sobs. No matter what, he will make sure to not cry in front of them. It was stupid and unnecessary, but he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. Though then again, the only person who seemed to enjoy the feeling of power was Quackity. Fundy was a close second, but he looked mostly just forward to the new goods and the power he seemed to gain through them.

Tubbo and Ranboo were more passive. Especially Ranboo.

Quackity seemed to string Tubbo along most of the time, speaking to his pride as president of the nation and basically just whispering him what he should do, and the young president listened.

Ranboo tried to sometimes help Y/N. Giving him things like bandages for his wounds or giving him extra food and water, even trying to do small talk with him to lighten the mood. If the situation were different Y/N would have laughed at his awkward attempts for conversation.

While he appreciated it, it just hammered back in the feeling of homesickness.

He bit his lower lip as his thoughts began running a mile an hour again. Ranging from despair to him cursing out his captors. He was too kind to actually think things like “I hate them. I hate them so much.” Trying to believe there was a good reason for this, but he was getting tired. His work is getting more and more sloppy, and it was only a matter of time until Quackity and the others noticed.

There was no telling with how long he could take this anymore.

Y/N got back up only to fall into bed. There was nothing better to do here than sleep through the days and wait for the others to get him out.

As it turned out the others needed him early in the morning but this time it was different.

Quackity opened up the iron door to his cell with a sterner expression than usual. It surprised Y/N when he saw that Quackity had put the white apron on top of his new netherite armor. This was not a good sign. The last time he saw that armor on him was when Quackity escorted him to L’Manberg.

“Get up. We have something to do.” His voice was cold and strained. A hint of anxiety mixed in, or maybe it was anticipation after all.

Not even daring to hesitate, Y/N jumped off his bed. Wordlessly following his captor, soon noticing that this would not be a usual day for him.

Instead of turning to the smithy they set up for him, Quackity led him to the town middle where he saw the rest of the Butcher Army waiting. Decked out in Y/N’s best armor and horses in tow. Expressions pulled down into deep frowns.

But what confused him the most was that he counted five horses when there were only four members of the army. A bad feeling begun building up at the bottom of his stomach. Like a rock sinking down into the depths of water.

“What is going on?” Y/N managed to rasp out as the two reached the others.

Quackity collected the reigns of all the horses and pushed it into Y/N’s rough hands “It is time we finally get some retribution. We are going after Technoblade and we need your help for that. Your own armor is over there. Get ready while we have a little talk with Philza.”

He didn’t wait for an answer and instead moved towards Philza’s home, only to turn around one more time before they rung the bell in front of the house “And I swear by Ender if you run away, we will find you. We know the only probable place you would seek refuge in and even if you don’t, we will wreck that place.”

Then they sounded the bell. A familiar ringing that made Y/N’s heart ache even more.

There was no real choice, he just looked around and found his old iron armor laying on the ground. The scratches and damages from back when the Butcher Army found him still there. He never got the chance to repair it.

Y/N never really talked with Philza. He only saw him here and there. Usually whenever Philza passed him he would just stare. Just stare him down. Something going through his mind, but Y/N couldn’t possibly tell what. His expression always grim only to jump back into a relaxed smile. Y/N always thought his smile felt a bit off. Wrong even. Not the truth or hiding something.

When the door swung open again it gave away to a smug looking Quackity who happily swung around a compass by its chain around his finger. A proud looking Tubbo behind him, followed by Fundy who looked almost like he was sulking and Ranboo who had a complicated expression on his face. He didn’t feel comfortable.

“We’ve got what we need. Now, to Technoblade. Everyone on their horses! This includes you, Y/N.” Quackity exclaimed.

The bad feeling increased, creating a lump in his throat. Shakily he opened up his hand and let everyone get on their horses, leaving him with a beautiful black one.

Nervous he put his foot in the pedal of the saddle and heaved himself up on it.

He wanted to scream. Run away. What would they need him for? His armor was way inferior to that of the others, ignoring the fact that he couldn’t fight at all.

No, they didn’t need him to fight but be a shield for them. A moving shield. After all he was an Iron Golem Hybrid. Big areas of his skin covered in thin metal plates, not all connected so he could still move but it gave him more protection. That plus his height was what they counted on, wasn’t it? That he would still be imposing enough to draw attention.

This was the conclusion he came to due to Quackity. He heard him talking. All Y/N was to him was a tool, a resource to be used and the worst part was that Y/N just couldn’t defend himself against this. Too scared anything might happen to his home because Quackity was right, they knew exactly where his home was and how important this place was to him.

Y/N didn’t realize how suddenly Quackity slowed down his horse as they arrived in the snow biome only pulling him out of his anxiety filled thoughts as he began speaking to him directly.

“Here is the plan. We want to get Technoblade and-” He stopped himself as he searched for the right words “And hold him accountable. Yes, we will put him on trial. If we are lucky, he will just follow us, but we doubt it. If he refuses, he will likely fight us. We just need you to draw your attention on yourself but don’t worry, we will jump right in to take care of him.”

“I- I don’t, Quackity, I don’t- I can’t fight!” Y/N croaked out. It felt like ages since he last spoke.

But Quackity just smiled “Don’t worry.”

That was all he said before hurrying along to be back at the front of the pack. Holding the glowing compass close to himself.

Y/N knew. He knew this was the case and yet it felt like someone stuffed snow down his shirt. A cold shiver running down his spine. Panic rising even more. It was a good thing he was sitting on top of a horse, otherwise he wasn’t sure if his shaking legs could carry him for the rest of the way. Each step closer to what felt like his doom.

His doom? Would Technoblade kill him? The way the small Army described him, he wouldn’t hesitate to cut him down.

Was it bad he didn’t fear dying but just the potential pain?

Realizing where his thoughts were running off to, he shook himself. No, his home, his real home, needed him. He couldn’t die yet. He needed to find a way to survive.

Suddenly Fundy stopped his horse and moved his fist up in the air, signaling for the others to stop as well. While the others wondered why he did this, Fundy pointed ahead through the trees towards a figure? A person? Out here in the snowy tundra?

Without saying anything Quackity jumped off his horse, the others following suit and begun tying the animals to the trees. Once Y/N understood what was happening he did the same. His eyes darting back towards the figure that seemed to interact and cuddle with a blue sheep while he made sure his horse was secured to one of the trees.

“What’s Ghostbur doing here?” Ranboo whispered more to himself but Y/N caught it.

He heard of Ghostbur but actually never met him. Apparently, the ghost of the man that blew the nation up but that was really all he knew.

They approached the ghost on foot, calling out to him in the process to gain his attention. The ghost immediately waved towards them with an earnest and big smile on his face. Y/N was fretting for his life at the moment but something about Ghostbur almost calmed him down.

Maybe it was just the fact of meeting a new friendly face after being surrounded by the Butcher Army for so long.

Ghostbur approached them, the sheep following him via a leash “Hello Quackity! Hello Fundy! Hello Tubbo! Hello Ranboo! Oh! I don’t know your name! I’m sorry! Hello though! I’m Ghostbur!”

Y/N was a bit taken aback. He was so friendly.

“Y/N. My name is Y/N.” he surprised himself a little bit with how he just blurted it out.

Ghostbur cocked his head to the side as he listened “Nice to meet you Y/N! You don’t look too good! Are you doing alright? Oh no, was this rude? Do you want some blue? Maybe that will help!”

Before Y/N could even properly process what he could possibly mean with blue Quackity jumped in “Hey, Ghostbur. You know if Technoblade is close? Is he somewhere around here?”

Somehow Ghostbur managed to lighten up even more, which should be impossible but Ghostbur’s eyes widened into a fond recognition and he turned around “Yes! Yes! I got lost but I found Techno! He told me to go though! He is over there! Come with me, I’ll show you!”

The Ghost then begun floating off, leading the group between trees and soon arriving on a small hill that gave them a good view of a cottage house.

Seeing the homey build, it was difficult for Y/N to imagine that a monster lived there. If anything, it reminded him of his own home. Maybe he won’t fight? Maybe this will end peacefully? But somehow Y/N doubted it by the serious but eager expressions on half of the Butcher Army’s faces as their eyes fell on Techno’s home.

“Let’s go.” Quackity trotted down the hill “We all know what to do.”

Y/N’s heartbeat took on speed again. Everyone got their weapons out and even though Y/N was technically really strong due to his constant smithing work, the iron sword in his hand felt heavy. Like it could slip out of his hand any second.

Worried his eyes darted across the few windows of the house. Trying to get a glimpse of Technoblade but all he saw was a shadow moving away from one of the windows.

Did he see them approaching?

“Techno get out!” Quackity suddenly yelled, pulling Y/N back out of his anxiety filled thoughts once again.

It took a second but suddenly the wooden door opened up slowly and Technoblade got out. He wore netherite armor, a red gown with white fluff on his shoulders on top of the armor, a crown on top of his head, his pink hair pulled back.

With his scowling expression and stature, he looked scary.

Technoblade took a step outside on his porch, Y/N suddenly became very aware of how sharp his tusks looked.

“What do you want?”

With a deep breath Quackity took a closer step towards the Pig Hybrid “We are here to get you! We, the Butcher Army, are here to put you on trial!”

“Yes! It is time you take responsibility for the destruction of L’Manberg!” Fundy added on. Tubbo just nodded to show his support to this statement.

“And why should I follow you? I’ve retired, I don’t want to be a part of any of this anymore. I’m done.” Techno spoke.

Quackity turned around to look at Y/N for a second only to continue speaking with Techno “Well, either you follow us peacefully or we will force you. You can’t run away from what you have done! Come with us and stand trial!”

But he didn’t answer immediately, Techno moved down the porch. Almost circling the group, his eyes jumping around between them.

“Listen, guys. The voices in my head. They begged me for more blood. They demanded more but I refused. I purposefully got out here to deny them, just leave me be.”

“Techno, you spawned Withers in L’Manberg! People got hurt! They destroyed a huge part of our nation! You have to stand trial!” Tubbo readjusted his grip on his axe. He looked angry and almost bewildered.

Technoblade slowly shook his head “No, you don’t understand. I’m trying to keep away from all this for a reason! You are just pulling me back to things and-“

“No! You either come with us or we will make you! Five to one Techno, you think you can do that?” Quackity interrupted him, pointing his weapon at Techno.

Y/N was overwhelmed with the situation. The man in front of him, Technoblade, wasn’t how he imagined him. He tried to reason but the others wouldn’t want to hear it which Y/N could understand as well but this man didn’t look like the blood thirsty monster the others described him as.

The Pig Hybrid sighed, his eyes now instead of jumping around finally decided to rest on Y/N, who in return suddenly felt small under his gaze. Did Techno realize that Y/N was the attack bait? Is he falling for it? Or did he notice his trembling arms and legs. The fear and worry in his eyes. The burn wounds covering his hands and arms. The clearly damaged iron armor.

Was he seeing Y/N as prey or as the scared man that feared for his life he really was?

“What will it be, Techno?” Fundy snarled, showing of his sharp teeth.

His hands moved towards his side “If it has to be like that, then I choose blood!”

Then everything went really fast. His hands pulled out a few flask from his belt, hidden by his gown that he threw on the ground to buff himself.

The Butcher Army immediately grew panicked and barked orders, a clear and loud order from Quackity flew through the chaos and reached Y/N “Attack him, Y/N!”

And he didn’t know why but he moved in. He was scared, his heart felt close to exploding in his chest, but he was somehow more scared of Quackity and what could happen shouldn’t he listen. Scared that he would force him to work even more, refusing him sleep and food again. Not letting him treat his wounds properly that he got from the work.

So, he moved in. With shaking legs and what felt like without strength in his arms. The world turned blurry. Was he crying or just his nerves? He couldn’t tell.

All he remembered was Techno coming close to him, looking like a demon. His eyes wide and filled with what Y/N assumed to be bloodlust.

Y/N moved his arm up, just trying to hit Techno with his own sword, but Techno was faster. He slammed the blunt end of his netherite sword into Y/N’s neck. Shocked by the sudden attack, he fell to the ground. The world growing dark for a few seconds as he coughed and tried to breathe again.

As he sat in the cold snow, trying to calm down he heard the Army yelling. Metal clanging on metal.

Then it suddenly stopped.

A neighing. A horse? What?

Luckily Y/N seemed to have regained somewhat control over his own body and could assess the situation in front of him.

The Butcher Army seemed to be alright. Y/N’s armor really held through, no obvious damage on it. They were out of breath and sweating but alright.

A bit ashamed Y/N couldn’t help but be proud of his work that it withstood a buffed-up Techno with a netherite sword.

But what really caught his attention was Quackity who held the reigns of a horse with diamond armor. His axe held up close to the animal’s throat.

Technoblade moved the tip of his blade towards him “Get away from that horse, Quackity!”

“Follow us peacefully and nothing will happen to the horse, Techno. Your choice.”

There was a slight hesitation as Techno undoubtedly tried to gauge if he could somehow deal with Quackity differently but ultimately, he suddenly dropped his weapon as well his armor.

Perplexed Y/N got back up, still rubbing his neck.

Techno spared him. He obviously just tried to either knock him out or make him unable to fight, which he succeeded in. Wouldn’t it have been for Y/N’s reinforced skin due to his Iron Golem side he would have been knocked out for sure.

Fundy did not hesitate to jump in and wrap chains around Techno’s wrists “Y/N! You are the strongest one of us. You hold on to him, we will be close by to ensure he won’t run off.”

Avoiding looking at the others directly after having been taken out of the fight so easily, he made his way towards Fundy and grabbed the chains. Wrapping it a few times around his own arm as well. Feeling sick to his stomach as he realized that he was doing the same thing to Techno like back when the group escorted him out of his own village.

He couldn’t help himself but whisper towards Techno a quick “I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

[ygreczed-3]

The Red Guard and the Snow Angel

Summer Falls desert concept art

Hank and Connor

Gavin and Nines meditating + thunder, snow, fire and wind seal

Gavin and the thunder spirit

More concept arts - traditional art & inking

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

When they go through the Summer Falls desert, Connor and Nines pass out fairly soon due to their intolerance to fire magic. They only get better at night, when the temperature drops, so they stay awake to watch out while the humans sleep. During the day Hank and Gavin have to take them on their horse/Sumo and walk beside them, even though the intense heat isn't making things easy for them either. They reach a village in an oasis where Connor and Nines get better, and when they realize there's a spring in it, they decide to go and rest a bit as the night arrives.

Nines and Gavin are gone meditating on a less crowded part of the spring.

Gavin : That's stupid… How can this make me stronger than my training ? Nines : Stop talking and focus on your breathing.  Gavin : Grmphh.. Nines : Can you feel the source of magic inside your body ? Gavin : … Yeah. Nines : You have to… establish a connection with it. Show him you don't fear it Gavin : But I fear it. Nines : The war spirit you host is an incredible source of power, and you can believe me, it is as bellicose as you are. It only needs a goal to aim for and you'll be able to channel its energy.  Gavin : … You know I'm your enemy… Why do you help me ? Nines, closed eyes : I know I can compete with you. I'm ready to be challenged. And it's funnier to fight a skilled warrior than a scared little boy. Gavin : … Fucker.

X

Connor and Hank in the hot spring

Connor : I think that's what your hug feels like. Hank : hm ? Connor : The hot water. I think it's what hugs feel like. Hank : You said my hugs... Connor : Did I ? I was just thinking… about how you hug Sumo sometimes. He loves it. Hank : Yeah, this big boy loves cuddles  I admit that. Connor : It must feel good. Hank : What… You've never been hugged before ? Connor : Golems do have… intimate behaviors, of course but it's not… I mean we're… not physically warm, so... (NB : I was thinking golems in this universe would be like vampires, not as freezing as actual snow but still colder than humans) Hank : ...Thought you didn't like heat that much. Connor : Warmth from human's touch is different from fire magic : it feels more… safe, less aggressive. I think I'd like that. Hank : … How do you know that ? Connor : I touched your back to heal it, remember ? Your warmth feels nice. Hank : Yeah okay, you touched me, but you don't know what my hugs feel like ? Maybe you'd hate that. Connor : I wish I could know.

They look at each other, but then Hank looks away and stands up.

Hank : It's late, I'm tired. I'm going back to the inn. Connor seems disappointed, but then Hank keeps going. Hank : You coming ?

When they enter the room they share all together, Nines is already in stasis and Gavin is snoring loudly.

Hank takes Connor's wrist silently, looking at him in the eyes as if tacitly asking for permission. Connor just lets himself be enveloped by wide arms, and rests his cheek on his collar bone.

Connor sighs, closing his eyes as he enjoys that nice bear hug. He feels that warm something in his chest growing in his body, invading his stomach with pleasing flutters. 

Connor : Hank… Hank : Shhh… it would be embarrassing to wake those two idiots up now.

Connor bites his lower lip as he silently reaches for Hank's hand, his skin turning white as he presses gently each of his fingers against Hank's. It's known to be a quite intimate gesture among golems, and the closest human equivalence to it would be a kiss. Connor is aware that it could even be interpreted as indecent given how close their bodies are, and that if Nines was to wake up at that moment he would probably choke on thin air. Of course Hank has no clue about that and just thinks it's funny.

Hank : What, you wanna dance ?

Connor realizes they're holding each other on the left side and touching hands on the right side, and it seems like they're going to waltz. He chuckles from the absurdity of the situation from a human's perspective. 

Connor : I wouldn't know how to. Hank : Good thing, I'm a terrible dancer. Connor : Ahah...hmm, Hank, I like it. Can we stay like this for a moment ? Hank : Sure.

X

One night in the middle of the desert, Gavin is on the watch as Hank sleeps in the tent. Connor is with him, but Nines inexplicably stays around the fire, silent. Gavin is bored out so he just starts the conversation. 

Gavin : I feel like the old man and your stupid brother are getting along. Nines : I have this feeling too. Gavin : Doesn't bother you? Nines : What can I do ? I asked Connor to be careful, but I'm not blind… He's shining with glee whenever Hank is around him. I can't… force him not to feel. Also, I think Hank isn't that bad of a person… for a human. Gavin : Still certain we're the bad guys ? Think about it : you were made to serve us.  You betrayed your creators and let us starve like dogs. Nines : Humans didn't create us. Kamski did, and if he had wanted to, he could have made unthinking, obedient golems. Maybe we were meant to break free. Gavin : Oh yeah, so why can't you even procreate ? Simple answer: you were not designed to be an individual species from the start. You were built with no other purpose in life than to help us survive.  Nines : Didn't that even occur to you that humans did bad things too ? Gavin : We're just trying to survive ! Nines : So we are. Gavin : … So what ? You're saying we're two evils ? Of course we are. But I have to protect my people, you understand that ?

Nines stays silent, exploring the surprisingly genuine glare Gavin throws at him. Of course he understands that. His own despise for humanity is only driven by his deep desire to protect Connor, Marcus, and his people. He looks back at the fire heating them, unconsciously processing how ridiculously similar they are.

And yet, something starts growing in his mind, the irritating sensation his relationship with Gavin has changed from the moment they met, and that he unexpectedly wanted to protect him as well.

Nines : Would you kill me ?

He can't even explain how this sentence even made it out of his throat. He already knows the answer. Gavin stares at him longingly, noticeably surprised by the question. He stays silent as he puts more wood in the fire.

Gavin : If I had to, I probably would. But I… hum… don't want to. Nines : … hm. Gavin : What about you ? Would you kill me ? Nines : I don't know. If lives were at stake, certainly, even if I'd find this decision… regrettable. Gavin : ... Oh wow, is that your way to tell me you like me ? Nines : … Don't set your hopes too high.

Gavin breathes in a laugh and goes back to silence, smiling smugly. 

X

They arrive in Nestlepeek and split in two teams, Hank and Connor go to the center of the town, where Connor hopes to find more precise information about Kamski and where he hides.

Gavin and Nines were supposed to go buy supplies, but as they head to the covered market, they are challenged by a man in the street to defeat his champion in a fight. As Nines realizes it's all for illegal gambling, Gavin accepts and finds himself in a cage, combating a birdman.

He thinks he's got the hang of it but as soon as the birdman starts flying Gavin can't touch him with his sword anymore and becomes vulnerable to his aerial attacks.

Nines : Gavin ! Summon the spirit ! Gavin : No way ! Nines : You'll lose if you don't ! Gavin : I know what I'm doing, alright !? Nines : You obviously don't ! Thunder magic gives you advantageous long throw attacks, you can't win against a flying foe with close combat techniques ! Gavin : I think I killed enough Golems to know how to fight flying foes ! Nines : You bastard…

Nines uses his snow magic to catch the champion in ice and immobilize him.

Owner : What the hell !!! Who did that ?! Nines : I did. I'll replace your champion, open the cage.

The owner is confused first but then he sees the opportunity and accepts. Nines enters the cage and gets ready to fight.

Gavin : … You wanna die ? Told you I could do it. Nines : We've been talking about this fight for ages. It's time to see what you're capable of.

They start fighting and they're pretty even for the first ten minutes. Their fight gathered a lot of gamblers and spectators.

When Nines starts to take advantage, Gavin's eyes suddenly turn bright yellow, and he charges at him : Nines can see the thunder magic halo surrounding him. He parries many strikes but Gavin has gained in speed and ferocity. Soon enough, Gavin throws him to one extremity of the cage, and as the crowd around them is screaming in excitement, Gavin holds up his dagger. He's trembling, electricity forming around his hand. 

Nines can make eye contact but somehow, Gavin isn't answering his glare.

Nines : Gavin- You hear me ?

Gavin doesn't say anything, and Nines is sure he's gonna die when the human warrior shoots down his dagger… only to hit one of the cage's bars just behind him. Gavin closes his eyes, and opens them, showing blue-green orbs again, and he straightens up, breathless.

The crowd boos them as Gavin takes a step back and drops the other dagger. He asks the owner to open the cage and leaves the place, Nines following him, still out of breath as well.

Nines : Gavin !

Gavin stops, letting Nines get closer, until they face each other again.

Nines : You did it. You mastered the spirit… Do you realize that ? Gavin : I could have killed you, then everyone around me. That's what the spirit wanted to do… Do you realize that ? Nines : But you didn't. With a bit more training-... Gavin : I almost killed you, Nines, for fuck's  sake ! Nines : … So what ? Thought you were ready to. Gavin : Listen, this beast wanted you dead, everyone dead so bad… How can I… How can I use this power when I know how dangerous and unstable it is? Nines : … But you stopped it, right ? You can control it. Gavin : You fucker, if it wasn't for you, I know I couldn't have stopped it. I would have killed all those strangers, I know that, and I'm not… I'm not a murderer. Nines : … What do you mean, for me ? Gavin : Drop it. I need some air, don't follow me.

X

Hank and Connor enter the library, Connor is looking for the archived events-records to see if Kamski came into this village (which is most likely given it's the first one you can find after the desert)

It appears that the local people can fly so the library is very high, and most scales don't even reach the top of the bookshelves.

Hank : How the hell can we reach the archives ? Connor : Wait a minute, I'll go there and take some volumes with me.

Connor spreads his wings, that widen to support his weight as he takes off to the highest point of the library. Hank is impressed by how graceful Connor looks in the air. When the golem comes back with a consequential pile of old, handwritten books, he's just there, mouth open in amazement.

Connor : Here we go… the last 10 years of history in this village… Ready to pull an all-nighter ?

Hank doesn't reply.

Connor : Hank ? Hank : You're beautiful.

Connor blinks once, his lips slightly parted from the surprise, his eyes conveying nothing else than confusion and yet, low-key content.

Connor: ..I'm sorry ? Hank : When you fly I mean… that's impressive… and beautiful. Connor : Huh… Thank you, I guess ? Anyway hum… let's… let's find a table… Hank : “Thank you” ? But do you even realize how beautiful you are ? Connor : I was created to meet some human ideal. Why would I be proud of something that isn't my doing ? Hank : Ah, don't be so modest.  Connor : … you know, I think I find humans more attractive than Golems. Each one of you is unique, and I love everything you call “flaws”.

Hank laughs halfheartedly at his last line.

Hank : You don't make sense, kid.

X

They read the archives until it's dark outside. Hank can't help but yawn as Connor lights the candles to keep reading.

Connor : You can go back to the inn, Gavin must be there already, and Nines can take over. Hank : Nah, I'm good. Connor : Hm… Hank : You okay ? You look… worried. Connor sighs : … What if we can't find Kamski ? What if… I was wrong, what if we had to go back to Detroit and Jericho with just nothing ? I don't want to return to a situation where I'll have to fight you… I just can't.  Hank : … Yeah, I understand that. I don't think I can remain a Red Guard after what we've been through… After I got to know you. Connor : If we were to fail… nothing will never be the same again. Without you.

Hank just looks at Connor with sharp eyes, as if he's got the urge to say something. At this point Hank knows he's falling for the Golem, but of course, he won't say anything, because he's sure it's only one sided, Connor is so young and handsome he can't possibly feel the same.

Actually the dark haired golem is totally in love with the man, but again, he thinks Hank can't reciprocate his feelings since he's probably into women (after all he used to have a wife), and definitely not into Golems anyways. It just feels so unfair to both of them to consider going back to their normal life when they just want to stay with the other so bad. They just wish they could stay together and run away in some romantic and lovesick lunacy. Again, they won't tell each other about it.

[archaxwii]

Through Diamond and Flesh

Warnings: This fic involves safe, soft, consensual, non-sexual vore, as well as g/t content.

This is just a silly Skeppy and Bad vore fic, I wrote it like a week ago but what better time to post it than now? Also Skeppy and Bad's relationship con be interpreted as romantic or platonic as you want. This is a little outdated now as of the last lore stream but we’ll just say this takes place in a world where everyone on the SMP makes it out safe and alive. (Also I’m a bit rusty so apologies if the writing or dialogue isn’t great)

—

Skeppy and Bad have been friends for several years now. They had grown very fond of each other in that time. Especially after a...certain incident with an egg and maybe getting possessed and Skeppy nearly dying to said egg...multiple times...However, that was a couple years ago, the egg was gone and the duo had been saved. It had taken a lot of time (and therapy) but they were now closer than ever before.

Sometimes Skeppy thought maybe too close.

Now, Bad and Skeppy had grown up very differently. Skeppy was a diamond golem, he didn't exactly have parents he had a creator, who had basically left him alone to his own devices, which is why he had come to the smp.

Bad, however, was a demon from the Nether. He had actual parents, who had raised him and loved him until he was old enough to decide to move to the Overworld.

They talked a lot about how they'd grown up, and there were a lot of things Skeppy found weird about how Bad's parents raised him, but there was one thing in particular that he kept getting stuck on.

"I still don't understand how you don't think it's weird your parents used to eat you as a kid." Skeppy said, exasperated.

Bad groaned, waving his arms around." I don't get why it weirds you out so much, it's honestly not that big of a deal!" He protested.

" Besides...I don't remember it being that bad." He mumbled, looking away with embarrassment.

Skeppy shook his head." You're such a weirdo." He said giving Bad a light shove.

Bad huffed, immediately shoving him back." Maybe I am, but I honestly don't think it was as bad as you're making it out to be." He paused, and turned to Skeppy with a cheeky grin." You know, I could show you what it was like?” He offered.

Skeppy actually, physically jumped back." What?! Are you crazy?!" He shouted." No, I don't wanna be eaten, how would that even work that's not even physically possible!" He really shouldn't have said that, because that just opened the gateway for Bad.

Bad crossed his arms." No, I'm not "crazy". And really, it's not that big of a stretch, I'm sure that at my full height I'd be able to do it." He reasoned.

He really, really hated that that was probably true.

Bad is a size shifter, with four different sizes he could choose from, and at his tallest he was somewhere around 15 feet. Probably definitely able to eat someone.

Skeppy shook his head." I think you might be forgetting one important detail here, Bad, I WILL DIE IF YOU EAT ME." Despite being almost 3 feet taller than him, Bad still winced from the loud noise.

"What makes you say that?" He had the audacity to sound genuinely confused.

Skeppy flung his hands in the air." Uhh, I don't know, maybe because things get digested in burning acid when they're eaten?!" He cried with less vigor, but still sounding upset.

Bad stared at Skeppy with an seriously embarrassing amount of confusion. After a few seconds it finally seemed to click." Ohh, no no no, Skeppy, that's not how it works. Did I never give you a lesson on demon anatomy?"  No, he hadn't, and Skeppy was kind of hoping to keep it that way.

"See, demons like me have two stomachs," he pointed at an area slightly higher than where a normal stomach would be," this one is for storage purposes, it doesn't have any digestive fluids or anything like that. Everything I eat has to go through there before I manually send it into this stomach," he pointed a little lower," That one does actually digest all my food and stuff." He explained.

He gave Skeppy an odd look." How did you think my parents were able to...eat me?" He asked.

Skeppy sighed, not making eye contact." I dunno man, I just thought it happened with some weird demon magic or whatever." So it was actually possible for Bad to eat him, and for him to be completely safe.

" I don't know Bad, this is still really freaking weird, I don't think I wanna do this." He said uncomfortably.

Bad sighed, a bit dejected." Ok, Skeppy, I won't make you do it if you don't want to. I just wanted to explain why I wanted to do it." Why did he sound sad?

Skeppy tilted his head." Why, exactly, do you want to do it? I still don't see what's enjoyable about it." He asked genuinely.

Bad scratched the back of his head, looking awkward." I- I don't know. I just remember it feeling very nice. Even as a demon the Nether is still a scary place, I felt...safe whenever they did it. It was just...nice and warm. Like nothing could hurt me." He admitted quietly.

Skeppy gave him a soft smile." It sounds like you wanna get eaten more than I do." He joked lightly.

Bad brightened, giving him a wide grin." Oh my gosh, would you eat me, Skeppy?" He asked hopefully, tail wagging like an oversized dog.

Skeppy very quickly shook his head." What?! No way, dude! That would definitely kill you!" He yelped.

Bad grabbed his hands, linking them together." Not necessarily! I think I have some potions that can make me immune to acid!” He explained excitedly.

Skeppy gave him a skeptical look." You just have those lying around, huh?" He deadpanned.

If Bad were human, he probably would have blushed." Well-I, you see-... shut up." He sputtered." Look, will you actually do it now?"

He bent his knees to look Skeppy in the eyes.

Despite the fact that Bad was a 9'6 demon, it was still impossible for him to not give into the puppy dog eyes.

He hesitated for several seconds, and took a deep breath.

"Show me what to do."

—

Well, here he was. With a tiny, potioned up Bad in the palm of his hand.

"Are you ready, Skeppy?" Bad asked gently. He was willing to go as slowly as possible for Skeppy's comfort, even if he was incredibly eager. Especially since he'd taken off his robes in exchange for an easier T shirt and shorts, making him much colder.

Skeppy shifted nervously." I don't know what to do." He admitted.

Bad tilted his head." Do you wanna let me inside your mouth?" He asked calmly.

Skeppy's anxiety skyrocketed, but he tried not to let it show. He delicately brought Bad closer to his mouth. He really didn't wanna do this.

Bad smiled calmly, sensing his nervousness." Would you like me to just climb in myself? So you don't feel like I'm being forced?" Skeppy nodded and wordlessly opened his mouth.

He slowly climbed in, trying not to startle Skeppy too much. He very patiently sat on his friends tongue. It sadly wasn't as warm as he'd like, but it was better than outside.

"Now, I know this may sound weird, but I need you to lick me, like, a lot." He guided.

Skeppy whined, and Bad reassured him that he was fine and ok with it.

Skeppy reluctantly obliged and began running his tongue across the demon, coating him in a thick layer of saliva. He had a very smoke-y taste to him, which made sense seeing as he was from the Nether. Eventually Bad told him he'd done enough and, to Skeppy's dismay, moved closer to his throat.

"I'm ready when you are, Skeppy." He shuddered, Bad was putting his complete trust and faith into him. He was willing and excited to let Skeppy eat him. He didn’t want to let his best friend down.

He tilted his head back, swallowing thickly. He tried not to panic over the unusually large lump that was traveling down his throat. It was such a weird sensation, yet to his surprise it wasn’t as horrible as he thought it would be. He swallowed a few more times, and eventually the warm weight that was his best friend settled into his belly.

Immediately he began asking," Are you ok? I didn't hurt you did I?"

Bad didn't respond for a few moments and Skeppy now had to deal with the startling sensation of something moving in his stomach, as Bad pawed around like he was trying to get his bearings.

Finally, he responded." Yes, Skeppy, I'm ok. That was a little disorienting but I'm perfectly fine." He paused for a moment." Are you ok?" He inquired.

He wasn’t sure how to answer, he was still processing that he’d just eaten his best friend alive.

He pressed a hand against his stomach, feeling where Bad was. He felt a bit of shuffling and soon a hand was pressed against the inside as well. Bad was...safe...inside him. Skeppy was now the sole protector of him. Protected by layers of flesh and diamond, no one could hurt him. Now he was beginning to understand why Bad wanted to do this so desperately. He wanted to be able to protect his best friend like this all the time, and he was certain that's how Bad felt as well.

"I think I'm ok, actually..." He said softly, gently rubbing circles against Bad's form.

Bad was quite happy about his current situation. The walls around him were very soft and, if it weren't for the layers of slime he was coated in, felt almost like a bed. He didn't have much room to move but he didn't feel like he was being suffocated. It wasn't as warm as he'd like (aka as warm as sitting in a fire) but it was warm, and that was very pleasant. He could hear the gurgles and growls of the organs surrounding him, as well as the gradually steadier heartbeat and whoosh of Skeppy's lungs as he began calming down. Loud, but not too intrusive.

The best thing about it, though, was that he hasn't felt this safe in a long, long time.

Ever since his time with The Egg he had become a very paranoid and closed off person. He was afraid of talking to the other members of the server, either out of fear that they still harbored some hatred for what he'd done, or that they would be corrupted as well. Even though he knew that The Egg was gone now it had woven itself very deep into his brain, and a small part of him still believed that one day it would erupt from the earth and devour the world with its vines.

Bad harshly shook his head. He wouldn't let thoughts about The Egg get to him. That was for Puffy’s therapy office, not for here.

Truthfully, though, he hadn't really felt safe since the day he'd stepped out of the Nether portal for the first time. Far from his family, his home. Not even being with Skeppy had made him feel as safe as he did now.

But now, he was at the very core of his best friend. Nothing could hurt him. He was safe, and he was with Skeppy, he couldn't ask for anything better.

He grinned a little to himself, giving the wall he was leaned against a little pat." I told you it wasn't as bad as you thought it'd be." He said only a little smugly.

Skeppy sighed with faux frustration." I will admit, I didn't expect it to feel...like this." He laid down on his bed, placing a hand on his stomach.

“ I guess it's not that bad." He said, rubbing small circles where he could feel Bad's form.

Bad grinned a little, beginning to rub circles with both of his hands against the walls of Skeppy's stomach.

Skeppy practically melted into his bed at that point. He'd definitely never felt anything like that before, it made him feel very warm and content.

They stayed like that for a couple more minutes but he was starting to get tired, and he knew Bad must be tired as well.

"Are you gonna be ok if I leave you in there? Will you be safe?" He questioned softly.

Bad nodded out of habit despite the fact that Skeppy couldn't see." It'll be fine, the potion’s got a long time before it wears off," he paused,"...I kinda planned for this." He said with only slight embarrassment.

Skeppy lightly chuckled, he would have to remember to tease him about that in the morning but for now he was too tired, instead just settling on giving his belly a light pat.

They both drowsily exchanged their good nights before slowly dozing off together, finally feeling safe and content at last.

[commander-rory]

I thought I would doodle up the current gw2 characters I have (or at least made in game thus far). I have three commanders in their own universes doing their own shenanigans. I’ll put some descriptions of these dweebs under a read more :D

Commander Rory - Asura Holosmith/Scrapper: He is by far my most played character. Rory sort of stumbled into the Commander role more by accident because he has a habit to run towards danger with the idea that he can be helpful in resolving whatever happens. He’s soft for a commander and for being an Asura, but he is definitely a workaholic. He’s the least likely to condescend because he’s excited to teach, and will always try to be anyone’s friend. Rory firmly believes ideas can come from anywhere, especially from the most unexpected places, so he enthusiastically likes to learn from others and try his own spin on things. He’s the krewe leader of Znappii, Rixxitt, Vallixx, and Quizzik. He adores Aurene, and later the Charr cub (who I’m currently developing aha) he adopts in the Charr civil war shenanigans.

Znappii - Asura Ranger: She is very dignified and reserved, but can also come across very arrogant and standoff-ish. This results from being disregarded by most Asura since she had a preference for understanding the natural world more than the technology they were developing. Rory’s earnest interest in her version of the pursuit of knowledge is what lead her to joining this krewe. She ends up cleaning up the messes that can result of her krewe’s shenanigans, especially of Rixxitt. Znappi relies on her panther, Blink, and spider, Webster. 

Rixxitt - Asura Elementalist: He’s beauty, he’s... not grace. Rixxitt is likeable, but by no means tactful. He will definitely do dangerous things for the sake of science, and will be the most likely source of trouble. He comes across as the “loveable idiot”, not because he’s actually stupid... rather just very impractical. His catchphrase could very much be “What’s the worst that could happen?”. Rixxitt is head-over-heels for Znappii. He joined this krewe upon Rory’s request after working together on some projects in their earlier days of Asuran college. 

Vallixx - Asura Mesmer: Acts as the krewe’s muscle in a lot of circumstances, and will handle the “dirty business” if need be. There is some secret joy in sticking it to the inquest when he gets the chance. Vallixx likes to use his abilities of illusions to his advantage and relies on intimidation to get his way. He is soft for Rory, but struggles with the fact his krewe leader is very oblivious to this. There never seems to be a right time to tell him either as Rory is always off doing something be it helping someone get their cat out of a tree or saving Tyria from certain doom. He joined the krewe because he was interested in where this particular band of misfits might go under the leader’s very open perspective to the world. 

Quizzik - Asura Necromancer: He comes across very stern and surly, but is actually a gentle soul. Social graces are not his strong suit, so he makes better friends with corpses than the living. As a brilliant scientist and strong voice of reason, he helps keep the krewe and their experiments from getting too out of hand. Quizzik is convinced Rory only asked him to be a part of his krewe out of pity, due to the lack of invitations and struggles to form his own lab krewe. He has learned over time that Rory respects his insight, and knowledge on how life connects even through death and “undeath”.

Dis Solvidottir - Norn Engineer: A friend of Rory. She met him while he was on a mission for the priory. She very much enjoyed working with him on a variety of projects, and treats him like a little brother. To be fair she likes to act like a big sister to everyone because she always wanted to be a big sister. So far she only has an older brother. Dis is very interested in making golems, but more inspired by nature. She wants to shape golems after the spirits and the wildlife around her as her way to pay respect to these beasts of legend. While she enjoys a good hunt, she is interested in being among the first Norn to “hunt the beasts in knowledge” to find the answers to the big questions out there and make a legend for herself out of that. Dis is determined to be known for her might both in body and in mind. 

Commander Nerys - Sylvari Necromancer: This young Sylvari found herself born into this role of being the Commander, but has many questions as to why. Her wyld hunt never seems to end despite each foe she faces, but she knows of nothing else. She is committed to this role feeling like she’s too deep to leave at this point, and trying to find a way to claim it as her own rather than feeling like something she was thrusted into without choice. Nerys comes across to other as someone who grown a thick shell of withered bark etched with wisdom while somehow being utterly naïve and young deep inside. The wisdom comes from the battles she has faced, while the youth and naivety comes from the fact she is still learning so much from the world around her. There are many moments where she still comes across things she has only heard of from the dream.

Numeria Scrapshield - Charr Engineer: This young Charr relies more on her wits than her strength, and is a proud member of the Ash legion. She’s soft at heart which gets her into a lot of trouble, so she does her absolute best to put on a tough act. Numeria meets Nerys in Elona during the hunt for Balthazar, working as one of the contact agents for the Order of Whispers. She admires the Commander’s strength despite the lack of experience she has lived in the world. 

Sianiss - Sylvari Ranger: Sianiss is a bold sylvari who isn’t afraid to say what she is thinking. She is bold and won’t stand for excuses, and loves the thrill of adventure. She was one of Nerys earliest friends who followed her beyond the grove to fulfill this grand wyld hunt she has been given. Sianiss struggled to make sense of her dream, but knew Nerys would somehow lead her where she was meant to go. Eventually after the death of Mordremoth she found her place as one who finds those who have been corrupted by the dragon and lead them back to some semblance of normality after the dragon’s corruption. Sianiss helps to heal the dragon’s corruption of the jungle as well, while learning the skills of survival from the natives who dwell there already. 

Zephyr - Sylvari Mesmer: A quiet Sylvari who has great compassion for living things. Zephyr follows Nerys acting as her right hand man when all else fails, and hopes to learn through her adventures of saving the world how to reach those who have become corrupted to the nightmare court. Overtime he has broadened this perspective to be a diplomat to try and unite the many races of Tyria, and not just the Sylvari themselves. He finds more success with the more “unwelcomed races�� such as Skritt, Dredge, Grawl, and Centaurs than he does those who hold more power. 

Commander Qimmog - Asura Thief: This character was made to fit the more traditional Commander we see in game. Tactical and tempered through lots of strife. He’s sharp and a bit disgruntled which makes him difficult to approach. He had spent a period of time “undercover” among the inquest in the attempts to sabotage and dismantle some of their work within. With time Qimmog realized how corrupt the Arcane Council had become and has a strong distaste for the tolerance the council has for the inquest and their unethical research practices. He then turned his efforts to become a member of the Order of Whispers in the hopes through them he could dismantle the corruption within the council, but ended up focusing his attention on the bigger issues that come along in the in-game cannon. He has taken to the feisty, but reckless Jamie and acts as a mentor to her. He offers a lot of tough love in the attempt to push her towards the potential he sees. 

Jamie Shield - Human Revenant: Jamie is a young human, who also has a particularly youthful appearance and often gets treated like a child. She is determined to make a name for herself, following in the footsteps of her deceased parents. When she learned of the efforts being made to defeat Zhaitan, she was determined to take part and prove herself a worthy fighter. Qimmog saved her from nearly getting herself killed in one of the many battles of Orr, and she has stuck close by ever since with the ambition to one day return the favor to the Commander. Despite being treated as a nuisance by Qimmog, they have developed a good relationship. Jamie still has a lot left to learn, but she is growing under the Commander’s guidance. 

[lovelessmako]

Ve

Chapter: Two

Iselin ground her teeth as her flight feathers were clipped by rough, uncaring hands. She should've known she would be caught. Her owner had connections and money, of course he would hire someone. That's strange, when did she start thinking of her foster father as her owner?

"Did you learn your lesson?" He fisted his finger into her feathers as a threat for what would happen should she argue.

"Yes, Master."

He pulled, some feathers coming loose. "Don't call me 'Master' like you're some kind of pet! You call me 'Father'!"

"Yes, Father." She yelped in suprise as a cool piece of metal clamped around her neck. It was tight, too tight. She coughed, trying to breathe around it.

"Don't be so dramatic! That's just some jewelry to help you if you ever get lost again. And there's a tiny bit of motivation to stay close to me."

Pain erupted as lightning danced across her skin causing her to fall over. She lost control of her limbs and twitched for what felt like forever. When it finally stopped she pushed herself up onto wobbly knees and gasped for breath.

Her father knelt down and changed his tone to one filled with worry and dripping in sweetness, "you understand why I can't let you be alone, sweetie? There are bad men out there who would love to get their hands on such a pretty little girl. It's not safe. But I can protect you. I won't ever let anyone take you away from me."

Iselin wanted to puke, both from the pain and from his manipulative behavior. Why did it take her so many years to realize it? Denial. She was passed around so much that she desperately wanted this home to work. Her mother was murdered by her father when she was only a year old. Her older brother had tried to raise her, but a preteen isn't ready for a baby; no matter how much he tried. She would never blame him for bringing her to her god father. She was upset, however, that the man refused to take him in; only her. She spent 10 years with Gabriel, her human god father. Unfortunately, he was called into active duty and couldn't bring her along. He brought her to his older brother whom she had never met. Lucas seemed nice enough. He worked a lot, but he had a big house and she always had the best clothes. But then a strange man showed up on their doorstep. She was introduced to a Golem by the name of Goliander. Tall with a cruel face, he smiled down at her while Lucas explained that she would be staying with him for awhile; just until Gabriel came back from war. If she knew what she knew now, at 25, she would've known that Gabriel wasn't coming back. He had been gone 7 years at that point with no contact. She would've also suspected that Lucas was only keeping her while she was a child, due to the fact that she went to live with Goliander on her 18th birthday.

He sighed in annoyance. "Get up and compose yourself. We have guests coming in an hour." He was...he was leaving her alone out here? "And don't think about running, that necklace has a long range." Of course.

She nodded, choking out an, "understood, father." He nodded, satisfied and went into the house.

Iselin sighed to herself and stood up on shaky legs, using a tree for balance. At least this was better than last time. She thought back to the traumatic memory.

A tall women in a silk red dress and matching heels stood in the doorway, smoking from a slim cigarette holder held between her fingers. Her hair was dark and tied up into a messy bun, an expensive looking pin tucked inside. She spoke with an accent Iselin couldn't place but sounded Asian in orgin.

"If you want freedom so much," Goliander started, shoving Iselin forward, "then last 1 week with Lady Li. She is going to teach you the ropes of her business. During that time you are to obey her completely. Understand?"

Iselin had been so excited by the thought of freedom that she didn't even ask what the business was. She would later learn that the woman was something called a Mistress.

Back in present day, Iselin rubbed at where she knew a particularly bad cigarette burn marked her left breast. It still stung sometimes, but it was mostly the memory. She had went through such torture and then been dumped back onto Golandier's doorstep, bloodied and broken. She was 1 day away from freedom. But she never would've truly been free. Lady Li would've just kept her.

She looked towards the house to see a dress laying on the ground. So he was mad enough to make her change outside, huh? Shouldn't be suprising. How she was expected to keep her clothing spotless when it was in the dirt was beyond her. She removed her current mudded and torn dress and picked up the other one. Her corset was undoubtedly her favorite piece of clothing. She preferred to wear her's stealth, something she was glad she was allowed. It was a simple brown overbust; no need to get something fancy when it would just be hidden under clothing. It had come slightly loose and ruffled throughout the day so she removed it and hit it a few times to dust the fabric off. Slipping it over her head, she began to replace the sides. Her breasts were fairly large but few knew that because of her secret. She pushed them down, as opposed to up, and pulled the strings tightly. It hurt, of course, but it halved her cup size so it was worth it. Why didn't she like her breasts? Other women would try all kinds of tricks to make theirs look larger. She told herself that it was just because they got in the way.

Iselin suddenly grew self-conscious, realizing she was outside in nothing but her underthings so she quickly reached for the dress she had sat down earlier. She hadn't bothered to clean her chemise, hoping it wouldn't be seen. The gown was a simple one, floor length and in a lovely gold. So it seemed Golandier wanted then to look higher class. She could do that. She put on the coif that had been hidden in the grown's fabric as well as a French hood that matched the dress. She hated those; it always seemed like it was going to fall off. Plus, it was difficult to maneuver them around her addax styled without cutting the fabric.

There was a mirror propped up on the side of the house since it was common for her to be forced to change outside. She looked at her baby blue face and bright golden eyes. Iselin had never met another Troll with gold eyes, which drew a lot of attention. Swirls of lighter blue marked her arms and face. Gabriel had mentioned once that the designs have meanings such as bloodline and destiny. He claimed to not know what her's meant.

She stepped inside, forgoing shoes; they couldn't be seen under her gown anyway and it was the little bit of rebellion she was allowed. Inside stood a tall Troll, skin so dark blue that it appeared purple. He had 4 horns equally spaced atop his head that were nearly flat against his skull as they grew backwards, like hair. He stared her down with dark maroon eyes, his own clothing consistenting only of a leather strap across his chest and a tight fitting leather skirt that barely was long enough to cover his unmentionables. The Trolls she saw often wore similar styles of clothing, likely to easier display their markings. He seemed annoyed by her attire since it covered nearly all traces of skin. He let out some frustrated clicks, proving her point. Goliander returned with some clicks of his own in an assuring tone. It was times like these that Iselin wished she had been taught more of the Troll language, other than the words "I am at your service." She nervously pulled at her wings, drawing the Troll's attention to them. Like her eyes, she had never seen another Troll with wings before.

He puffed out his chest and let out an angry sounding stream of clicks. Within a moment, Golendier had grabbed onto the Troll's head and slammed it into the wall. He instantly went limp and slid to the ground, leaving a trail of purple blood. That was the first thing Iselin had learnt about her new home; Golems were very physically powerful. She quickly turned her gaze away, but he caught it. "Room. Now." With a quick nod, she scamped off towards the other end of the house. There had been a lot more visitors as of late. It seems like he was wanting to pass her off onto someone else. She had become too much trouble. Iselin quickly lay on her bed and closed her eyes. There was no telling when she would get another chance to rest and knew to use the time her guardian spent cleaning up his mess to her advantage.

[404gendernotfound]

Touch Starved (V x Reader)

Summary: V had been staying in his room whenever you were having a party in your shared apartment with the others. As you were having another party and V wasn’t there you were worried and went up to his room.

Contains: angst, fluff, touch starved V

Warnings: none

Wordcount: 4,2 K

A/N: If someone of you is touch starved and feels offended by this I apologise. I have no experience with touch starvation and I just researched about it a bit for the sake of this story. I know that it’s not as easy to get over touch starvation as I portrayed it in this one shot.

Enjoy!

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Since the team had destroyed the Qliphoth and we somehow found out how to keep V alive without forging him with his evil self again we had left Red Grave and found a place all of us were happy about. Since we didn’t have a lot of money we were all living in an easy apartment with just enough bedrooms for all of us. Most of us were sharing a room like Lady and Trish, Nico and I and Nero and Dante while V had a room for himself since he felt uncomfortable with sharing a room with one of us. We were having quite some fun living together. Every now and then we were having a girls night and just hang out, do each others make-up and hair while the boys went out. V was pretty reserved most of the time. We were having a party and all of us were in the living room celebrating Nico’s new job at a car repair saloon while V was staying in his room. I was kind of worried since he wasn’t really socializing much with us directly. We would receive a text message sometimes saying that he wasn’t feeling well or he needed to rest since he had a long day. But today was somehow different. He didn’t text anyone and I was kind of getting worried about him.

“Has someone even seen V today?” Nico asked as if she had seen on my face that I was thinking about him.

“Actually I haven’t seen him since last Saturday”, Nero said and drank another beer.

“I’ve heard him leave his room a couple times since he’s next to our room but I haven’t really seen him in some time”, I explained, standing up to get some more drinks from the kitchen.

“He’s probably ‘resting’ again like he always does”, Dante said, his voice carrying sarcasm as if he was making fun of him.

“I’m sure somethings wrong. Like he hasn’t been socializing with us at all the last couple weeks and I don’t think that that’s healthy”

“Lady is right. Someone should see if he is ok. How about you, Y/N?”, Trish asked and looked at me as I came back to sit on the couch again.

“You know I’m bad at talking to him. Do you remember that awkward mission you sent me, where none of us talked with the other until V almost got me killed and then kept apologizing for not keeping his focus for almost 2 hours after the incident? No thank you.”, I complained and rolled my eyes thinking back at that day.

“Oh come on. You are the only person I know that could literally befriend a rock. You even befriended Nightmare”, Lady said laughing.

“Hey! Nightmare isn’t a rock, he is a golem and that is something completely different.”

“Well you can befriend a golem…why not befriend his holder?”, Nico said and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sure he’ll talk to you. No one would say no to such a cutie”, she added and moved her brows making her statement sound a lot more inappropriate.

“Get your gay ass together. I’ll do it ok. But don’t blame me if I can’t get him to conversate with us.”

I stood up walking to the stairs to go to the second floor where the bedrooms were and still heard laughter behind me as I closed the door in the hallway separating this floor from the stairs. It was completely quiet as I approached V’s room. I heard no noises until I was standing directly in front of the door.

“Why can’t you just go downstairs and have some fun with them?”, I heard Griffon cackle inside the room.

“I would just be a burden to them. I don’t know how to ‘party’ how they call it and I’m still not sure how much this body can handle. I just don’t want to annoy them”

Vs voice sounded so sad it almost made my heart break right at that moment. I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop on them but I couldn’t get myself to knock right now. Maybe I would find out the real reason behind Vs strange behavior.

“You know, you will never get the affection you seek when you don’t go to them and ask. I’m sure they wouldn’t reject you. Just talk to them”

Griffon really sounded like he had been trying to convince V for hours to join us downstairs. I stood in front of the door and sighed. If I wouldn’t knock now I’d probably stand here forever. I moved my hand to knock on the door.

“V? It’s me, Y/N. Can I come in?”, I asked leaning against the door.

It was silent for some time until I heard a quiet ‘yes’. I opened the door slowly and looked into the room. Griffon flew towards me and landed on my arm. I closed the door behind me and then ruffled through his feathers.

“Hey buddy. Are you ok?”, I asked him and watched him press his head against my hand.

“I’m fine, but this guy here isn’t. Maybe you can talk some sense into him. However you are-“

Before he could finish his sentence V had summoned him back and he disappeared into black smoke before returning as ink on Vs body.

“Hey I was having a conversation with him!”, I complained and put my arms on my hips.

“He was talking too much”, V said before he looked back onto the bed.

My gaze wandered to where he was looking and I quickly caught up with his behavior. His eyes were focused on the empty space on his bed almost yearning for me to sit down there. I walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. There was still enough space between us so I wouldn’t intrude his comfort zone too much. I looked over at him to see that there was a slight shimmer of pink painted all over his cheeks. I wasn’t sure how I should start this conversation.

“Are you ok? The others have been wondering when your usual text would arrive but it never did so they’ve been kind of worried”, I explained and looked at him.

“I’m fine. I just don’t feel like partying”, he mumbled and kept looking onto the bed.

“You’ve been saying that for weeks now. It’s not healthy to not have contact with anyone for this long time so you should maybe get your ass off this bed and go downstairs. At least once in a while”

“I don’t need that”, he said and turned his gaze towards me.

“What don’t you need? Conversations? Us? Are we that bad?”, I asked feeling a bit offended since we’ve been worrying about him and he seemed not to care that much.

“No you are not. It’s just…I’m not good with people”

“We are not people. We are your friends…fuck we are even your family at this point. If you’re not conversating with us then you will never conversate with anyone but Griffon since neither Shadow nor Nightmare can talk”

“Maybe that would be the best”, he mumbled and turned his head away from me.

“You know V. If you don’t try to explain whatever is bothering you this whole time it will just get worse. Just open your mouth and say what your problem is”, I said and grabbed his arm unaware of it until I noticed him flinch and instantly retreated my arm.

V looked at me with almost fear in his eyes while his cheeks turned a darker pink. I remembered Griffons words from before I entered the room and a realization suddenly hit me in the face like a truck.

“You are touch starved”

His eyes widened and he scooted away more so there would be a lot of space between us.

“Oh god now everything makes sense. Griffon was right. You are seeking affection but you’re afraid to ask. Let me ask you a question. How long haven’t you been touched from someone other than  your familiars?”

V turned his head away from me. I noticed that this was difficult for him but I needed to know with what I was dealing since I really wanted to help him. Seeing him like this was hurting me since I grew fond of him over time. He held up his hands, seven of his fingers on display.

“7 days? Weeks?”, I asked and he shook his head.

“Months?”, I asked, shocked as I saw him nod.

Wow. I was expecting a lot but this was a lot more than I could ever imagine. I already noticed his body trembling next to me even though there was no body contact.

“Oh god V. How could you go through all this time without someone’s touch? No, that’s a stupid question. Why didn’t you ask anyone?”

“You guys would think I’m crazy if I showed up asking you to give me affection or touch me. What would you do if I asked you to touch me? You’d think I’d be a pervert and avoid me.”, V explained and looked at me with a pained expression on his face.

“That’s not true. I’d do anything to help you”, I said and scooted a bit closer.

“Stay away. Please”, he said and was about to push me away when I came closer.

I stopped and looked at him. He was trembling all over. I felt bad since he must feel like I was pressuring him. I didn’t really know what to do. I moved my hand to the space between us and began to speak again.

“V”, I said softly trying not to speak too loud since I didn’t want to startle him.

He turned his head towards me with tears building in his eyes threatening to flow over any moment. His gaze wandered to my extended hand on the bed and then back to me. I showed him a small smile before I moved my hand closer to him. V watched my every move before he looked at his own hand. He slowly moved it closer to mine still keeping some distance. I didn’t know what to do so I just waited until he felt ready to place his hand in mine. As our hands touched I noticed his body shake more again before he slowly calmed.

“Is this ok?”, I asked after some time and he nodded.

I cautiously intertwined our fingers and watched his reaction. Other than his darkening cheeks there was no sign of pain or fear on his features. I guess he was ok with this kind of touch for now. We sat there for a while in complete silence. It wasn’t awkward or anything. It was just 2 people sitting on a bed in comfortable silence. I noticed him moving closer again after some time. I did the same until our legs were able to touch.

“Can I give you a hug?”, I asked quietly.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet but you could try”, he mumbled in almost just a whisper.

I cautiously moved my arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. His body was shaking and I noticed how he hesitated to push me away. He relaxed after some time and gave up resisting against me until he wrapped his arms around me shyly and hugged me back. I was a bit surprised at first until I noticed his body slowly getting used to my touch.

“It’s ok. It’s just me, right? No need to be afraid”, I whispered and softly stroked his back.

His shaking wasn’t as bad as before but it was still there. I let my hands rest around his waist drawing small patterns on the small of his back, constantly watching his reactions. I would stop as soon as it would be too much for him. But it seemed like my touch was somehow charging his batteries again. I understood just how good it must feel to get affection again after not having it for that long.

“Are you ok?”, I asked after some time of silence.

“I am. I apologize for my behavior. I was a coward to not open my mouth. I will ask for affection in the future from you. I mean…if you feel like giving me affection that is. I wouldn’t force you to do that if it wasn’t pleasant for you.”, he explained.

A little chuckle escaped my lips and V looked at me with a worried look on his face. It seemed like he was thinking that I was laughing about him which wasn’t the case at all. It was just extremely cute that he was thinking about getting his affection from me in the future. I smiled at him and moved one hand from his back to cup his cheek. His look showed confusion as I softly caressed his cheek and kept looking at him.

“You’re cute, you know that? You can always come to me when you feel like you need a hug or need someone to cuddle.”, I said and saw his cheeks turn a darker shade of pink.

“I prefer not being called cute since it is not quite right. I actually prefer not being called anything”, he mumbled and looked down suddenly.

“What’s wrong, V? Are you not used to compliments?”, I asked and softly lifted his chin up with my hand so he had to look at me.

“I usually don’t receive compliments and I don’t really think that I deserve them”

His voice got quieter with every spoken word and his eyes slowly started to fill with tears again. I moved my other hand from his back to his face to cup his cheeks and wipe away his tears. Vs arms still rested around my waist and tightened their grip as I moved a bit closer.

“You deserve every compliment you get, V. You are beautiful and I don’t just say that to make you feel better. I really mean it.”

His eyes focused on me for some time before he pulled me closer to him and buried his face in my neck. I was glad that he seemed to be okay with my touch now and initiated the contact by himself. I placed one of my hands on the back of his head and softly caressed his hair while the other rested on his back. His body had stopped to shake and he was a lot more relaxed. He nuzzled his nose against my neck before he moved so he could look at me. A smile was drawn onto his face which instantly made me smile too.

“Thank you for accepting me”, he said and looked at me with sincere eyes.

“No need to thank me for that. I should thank you for letting me help you. I couldn’t stand seeing you so sad”

A stand of hair had fallen onto Vs face and I reached out to brush it away. He smiled at me shyly one last time before he retrieved his arms from around me.

“I think I owe someone an apology”, he mumbled and shortly after that some of Vs ink disappeared from his body.

Griffon appeared and landed on Vs lap.

“I’m sorry for summoning you back so suddenly earlier”, he apologized and softly pet Griffons head.

“I understand. Did you finally open your mouth?”, Griffon asked towards V.

“Well. It was me who figured out what was wrong with him”, I answered Griffons question and saw him roll his eyes.

“At least he gets his affection now from the one he wanted”, he cackled and I noticed Vs cheeks turn red again.

Griffon looked between the two of us before his eyes landed on V again.

“You didn’t tell her? Oh come on V. How long do you plan on keeping your mouth shut?”, he asked the flustered boy that was sitting next to me.

I looked confused at V. There was still something that he didn’t tell me? V buried his face in his hands and refused to look at me. It was probably something embarrassing for him.

“I’ll leave you two alone again”, Griffon said and flew out the open window into the night sky.

I looked at V who was still hiding his face from me.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to”, I whispered while I softly pat his shoulder.

“You will abandon me if I tell you”, he mumbled against his hands.

“I won’t abandon you, V. I just got you, I won’t let you go that easy”, I admitted and heard him sigh.

He turned his head and looked at me. I just now noticed how close we were. I was able to feel his breath on my face and see all the little details on his flawless skin.

“You have to promise me that you won’t go if I tell you”

“I promise. I won’t go”

V took a deep breath before he turned his face away again.

“I’m deeply in love with you”, he mumbled under his breath.

My heart stopped for a moment. I couldn’t understand how. V had been so distant to all of us and never showed any signs of being in love with me ever. He must have kept his feelings to himself all this time. V turned his head towards me again and looked for an answer on my face. I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked and surprised. V noticed my hesitation and let his head hang low.

“I understand”, he said before he attempted to move away from me.

“No you don’t”

I stopped him and kept him close to me. His eyes looked sad and his hands were trembling slightly. I grabbed them and intertwined our fingers. V looked at them confused.

“What are you doing?”, he asked with a sad voice.

“I’m trying to keep you from running away from me without even letting me give you an answer. Just because I didn’t say anything doesn’t mean that I reject you, V. I’m just…surprised? I didn’t know you were feeling this way about me so I am quite a bit shocked to be honest. But not in a bad way. That would explain why you’ve been such a flustered mess the whole time. And I was so naive and thought that you were just extremely shy. Pardon my blindness if you ever send me any signs. Looks like I’m really bad at noticing that”, I explained and looked deep into his eyes.

“Honestly. I never planned on telling you since I figured you wouldn’t feel that way about me. I noticed that you were pretty close with Nero and thought that you might prefer him over me so I never told you about it. Since he is a lot cooler than I am. I’m just a weak man trying to survive in this cruel world. I would never deserve your love and affection is what I keep telling myself to forget you, but I can’t. Since you joined us I couldn’t stop thinking about you. My minds been wandering to you whenever it could. I hated myself on the day I almost got you killed because I couldn’t focus on the mission. I could have lost everything I lived for in seconds.”, he rambled and stopped after the memories of that day threatened to come back.

“But you didn’t. I’m fine and I’m here. That’s all that matters, right? And you are wrong. Nero is my friend but I could never think of him as more. He’s like a big brother to me. That’s all there is. You on the other hand are a lot more to me. You’ve been really reserved towards all of us but that made me curious about you. You always seemed so mysterious and unreachable. Maybe that’s why I started to get to know your familiars first so I could slowly get closer to you. But you didn’t show any interest in me so I just gave up along the way. Now knowing that you feel the same way as I do is making me really happy.”, I confessed and smiled at the beautiful man in front of me.

He lifted his hand to cup my face and smiled at me lovingly.

“Now you’re the one blushing, darling”, he whispered, his own cheeks painted a faint pink.

“I can’t help it. Being in front of such a gorgeous man makes me feel shy”

My compliment caused his cheeks to darken and V put his arm around me to pull me closer again. He leaned forward and placed a soft kiss to my cheek making me gasp in surprise.

“There is no one more gorgeous than you are, my love”, he whispered and brushed his hand through my hair.

My heart almost stopped at his words. My confidence from before was slowly fading and I felt extremely shy. V noticed that and softly stroked my cheek. I closed my eyes just enjoying his touch. As I opened them again Vs face was directly in front of mine. I looked at his beautiful lips and then back into his eyes.  There were no words needed for us to understand what was coming next. V leaned in and softly placed his lips on mine. I almost melted in his arms. His lips were just as soft as I imagined. The kiss was short but beautiful. V smiled at me while biting his lip.

“You’re perfect”, he whispered.

“Perfect for you”, I smiled and pulled him in for another kiss.

He pulled me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around my waist holding me as close to him as possible. He smiled into the kiss as a moan slipped from my mouth after he had placed one of his hands on my ass, slightly squeezing it.

“Hey”, I protested and watched him smirk at me.

“Sorry my darling. Your ass was just too tempting”, V admitted and squeezed it again.

I giggled at his silliness and brushed my hands through his hair. I loved his beautiful black hair. V watched me fascinated about how fascinated I was looking at his hair. My gaze then wandered to his tattoos on his chest. I let my fingers trace the patterns on his skin.

“Do you feel their presence?”, I asked still focused on drawing on his chest.

“I do. But it’s more the feeling that they are bound with me than really feeling that they are here”, he answered.

“I haven’t seen your white hair in a long time”, I said daydreaming about his angel like appearance.

“Would you like to see it now?”, he asked taking my free hand in his and softly kissing the back of it.

I nodded and watched the ink from his tattoos vanish as he summoned Shadow who appeared next to the bed and nightmare who glanced in through the opened window. Vs white hair looked stunning on him. Not saying that he wasn’t stunning already but it made him look like a god. My hands automatically found their way back into his hair and blushed through it. V giggled as he watched my face full of adoration.

“You seem to only adore my hair and tattoos. Am I not pleasant enough for you?”, he asked teasing, a smile still drawn onto his lips.

“I have to admit that your demonic features are very interesting but the man behind all the mysteries is a lot more adorable than those. They wouldn’t catch half of my attention if they weren’t part of you”, I answered while letting my fingers run over the soft skin of his chest.

“I can’t get enough of your praise. I feel like I will fall for you even more”, V said, his eyes filled with pure adoration and love.

“Fall for me as deep as you want. I’ll take care of your love”

Our lips connected again in a tender kiss before we lost ourselves in each other until the night sky had vanished and the sun rose to begin a new wonderful day.

[greengargouille]

After a good night of sleep, a reread and access to a readmore, here are some thoughts on the mol update:

-I’m glad the fight didn’t stay too long on the angel and demons, while it’s interesting to see what kind of forms demons can have, it’s just too late in the story to get invested on a whole bunch of new creatures or the danger they pose.

-Zorian almost being petty on Xvim admiring the angels’ barrier, some things never change :’)

-I like that for a moment, Zorian isn’t sure he will be able to use his ‘secret plan’. We know he will, of course; this is not the kind of story where the protagonist ultimately fail. Also Domagoj mentioned on his patreon/wordpress he considered doing a sequel centered on Zorian and Zach, which kinda imply those two survive. But it would feel too... convenient if everything went smoothly. Of course there are going to be moments were he is not sure at all his plan will work.

-Oganj being able to pass through the divine barrier is what really sold me on how impressively dangerous of a threat he is. It’s one thing to be a menace able to make a whole continent shake, but angels felt like a cut above that.

- “After a few seconds, he noticed that everyone except Zach was staring at him strangely.” I thought this would be the set-up for another ‘Zorian forgot what an average mind mage can do’, instead it turns into a moment of reminiscence on how the people we all came to know and love died in the loop. Which is excellent heartcrushing. Well played.

-Zorian’s actions being described as only being ‘a drop in the bucket’ felt a bit... surprising? I expected him to be more of an influence. It makes sense, of course, but after being used to stories where the protagonist become overpowered, it feel unexpected. Not in a bad way through.

-Can I just say that I love that we still have small moments of Zorian thinking his original self would be horrified and that he’s numb of all those atrocities he let happen to spare his mana? Too often stories brush off the mental impact those kind of fights can have on someone. I hope the epilogue will touch on this a bit more.

-An army of pigeons (and cats) to the rescue. Oh man that was hilarious. As always it makes sense because their existence was talked about multiple times, but still. How can you not laugh at the idea of cultists going their way in an intense moment to be stopped by pigeons. It also makes for a small contribution from Raynie and Haslush, which is great. Secondary characters having a role in the finale is great.

-If it weren’t for them surely being made with souls, potion monsters feels like something Zorian would invest in researching once the situation have settled. It feels like something not mana-intensive, and with a bit of mind magic to control them it would be devastating.

-Silverlake trying to get a rise out of Zorian by asking about his sexuality shows she is quite good at finding the touchy points of people, but it does makes me wonder if something happened within the loop for her to think this could potentially work. But also, she formulate the whole choice as merely a personal, selfish one (trying to save one person he is invested in instead of all the potential ones he could have helped with sabotaging the invasion from the inside), which is... quite Silverlake-y. She can’t fathom someone choosing something outside of their own interests.

[Unrelated to the update, but I did wonder some times how common would sapphic relationships be in a witch coven, what’s with them putting men aside. Surely a witch who decided to get a male partner solely for procreation, then abandoning him to go and raise her daughter with another witch must have happened at some point? If Silverlake was aware of such things happening then it would be more likely she would come up with such a question to bait Zorian] -Holy heck, Silverlake and Red Robe being full of primordial essence. It feels so obvious, but it did procure a rush of “how the heck are they going to stop them all from releasing the primordial now”. Same when Silverlake’s regeneration abilities were shown. What a fearsome adversary.

-At last, the grey hunter! It had to come up at some point, and what better prey than the one that trained it against traps. But old Silverlake appearing? It was something I would not be sure would happen. Oh, what a joyful moment, having her own selfishness and paranoia come to bite her back :’D

-The soulseizer chrysanthemum was something I saw some people predict, and it made all too much sense for it to be used. Good luck to Quatach-Ichl to find another live one to train himself to resist against it.

-Speaking of Quatach-Ichl. He might not have the crown anymore, but he have connexions, lot of power, and he is used to long-term thinking. Now that they’re back on linear time, Zorian and Zach are going to have a very troublesome enemy to think about.

-Oganj the powerful dragon mage getting both the imperial crown and orb, while we have no idea if he survives the angel going after him. He is totally not going to be a problem later on the road. (Well, best case scenario, our favorite lich will try to get his crown back and they end up fighting each other. Worst case scenario, however, is an unlikely alliance between the two. How, man, I’m glad the story is ending because I would not have been able to wait on how that would come back).

-Aaand here is the town wide web area of sigils coming up. Most people had guessed it would be used against Zach, some people did thought it would be used on Jornak, but not on both at the same time.

---

-Gosh, the Zach’s pov chapter. It’s all I wanted from such a chapter at least a canon chapter. It... did feel a little off-putting at first because I felt like... overall voice?... of it would have a different... I dunno, something more... Zach? Not that I had any expectations on how it should have gone- I wasn’t even sure we would get his point of view in the first place.

-Him slowly giving up on ever getting out before Zorian came up in the equation, gosh that’s the kind of content I craved. I wouldn’t mind a whole chapter of this. And ah, him finding Zorian a bit scary is pretty great *stare in the distance at this fic idea that refuse to write itself*

-I hadn’t thought on how, if Zach hadn’t been through that many loops, the two would definitely had more conflicts on the way to do things. An interesting thing to think about.

-Zach isn’t just a dumb brute and I do like that this end up being Red Robe’s fatal mistake. It’s easy to fall back into this error while writing, so I appreciate that Domagoj did play on it; it’s hard writing a character being impulsive and failing to think through on a lot of things, without them coming up as completely stupid, and still making it look consistent as a whole.

-Zach is ‘just a little bit jealous’ of Zorian beating Quatach-Ichl, while Zorian himself wanted earlier to be petty and defensive of his own abilities compared to a angel barrier. Those guys, I swear.

-The diagnosis spell Zach used necessitate contact. Interesting, when a lot of divination magic shown in the story haven’t required it, or even any chant for that matter. Is it for dramatic purpose, or is it specific to divination related to healing? Or is it just ‘the closer the subject of the divination is the better the result, so of course physical contact is going to give the best answer’?

-”And Zach... felt happy. He felt disgust with himself for it, but he really did. [...] He was free, and all it cost him was the life of his best friend.” This. This is the kind of angst I live for. What a perfect conclusion to this chapter.

--- -I half-expected a Zach’s pov chapter, but a Jornak one? Now that’s unexpected, but it answers questions I did not know how to formulate- I always wanted more details on how they ended up becoming more friendly, or how Jornak did manage to get into the loop. (I... actually still want more details even after reading the chapter, but I feel like it’s one of those case where the author would rather leave it at that and let the readers make their own suppositions).

-This chapter also is good for characterisation purpose- Jornak truly believes in what he’s doing, but also show a fair amount of how his life was pretty bad and how he feels the whole world is unfair towards him- which doesn’t make him likeable, but interesting as a character.

-The grey hunter have its belly full of primordial energy after slurping Silverlake, which totally won’t be a problem later on. At least this one the cultists will have a tough time finding it for sacrifice purpose. (Though I do wonder, if the primordial essence itself is linked to the contract? It was only the souls of Silverlake and Jornak, wasn’t it? It would be way too convenient if the primordial essence disappeared after the month is over)

-Zorian making him relieve the supposed after fight over and over till he gets all his secrets. What an horrifying moment. I love it.

--

-I’m pretty sure I read the theory somewhere the soulseizer chrysanthemum would be used for bypassing mind-blank? It’s been a while since I read discussions on previous chapters. I like the explanation on the whole mind-soul-body link. It’s pretty much like cutting your computer from internet to avoid piracy, but forgetting to put an higher password on said computer when you leave your desk unattended.

-It’s reassuring to know the manifold resonance spell can only be used a few times on the same person. One thought I had on post-story problem is, would Zorian’s ability to bypass mind blank forever put a gap in his relationship with Zach, as the latter is probably still very touchy about anything to do with his memories even after his contract ended? What about anyone who learns of it? Having it being limited on uses solves (at least partially) that problem.

-Kiri’s doll is mentioned, which I totally forgot but would be sad if it did not reappear! And ah, of course, the famous trick of replacing the mini-golem with another while pretending it was just a repair. Since Kirielle is probably going to study magic (if she doesn’t go the witch path instead), I wonder if she will end up specialising in golem-making.

-If the grey hunter goes into the Dungeon and makes it its territory, is there a risk the monsters there get chased to the upper layers? Would the araneas be enough against them? Would they get into the city? What an hilariously horrible conclusion. “Oh yeah we saved the city of the invasion, but with all the monsters coming up it’s impossible to repair it, we have no choice but to abandon it”. Unlikely even if creatures did appear, as it’s just the biggest mana hole of the continent, but it’s fun to think about.

-Not only did Zorian maintained two illusionary worlds, he did so while having an hivemind, and after a long and hard fight in which he also had to redirect an enormous amount of mana into an angel summoning cube. That, plus connecting with various people all over whenever Zach tried to verify their minds. No wonder he is tired.

-It’s probably not a good idea to stay in town, and I’m not sure where that secluded and secure space is, but I bet that’s not where Zorian will wake up next chapter. Not sure in which condition are Ismaya’s house or the Noveda’s estate, but it’s probably safer out of town... Cirin, maybe. Have Zorian wake up in his bedroom and have a small heart attack thinking the loop started again.

-...I hope out of the Damien-Xvim-Alanic trio, one of them at least take the time to wait for Zach’s wake up, or leave something for him to explain the situation. Through all the contingencies Jornak prepared are way more important, so it could be possible to overlook that. Can you imagine how Zach will feel suddenly waking up in a strange room, with your best friend your mourned being unconscious but alive, and a weird pile of goo on the side. Is this an illusion. Was your previous memory an illusion. How can you be sure.

-...What’s with the orb being out of Koth now, and the Taramatula estate having gained portals to move between continents, will Daimen visits his family more now? That’s great news! ...I guess. For Fortov at least, who is sorely needing some training. If he’s still alive. Who knows. Maybe the epilogue will tell us.

[korora12]

Ladybug Week Day 5 - AU

Day 4 Day 6

Word Count: 7169

“So what are we thinking?” Ser Schnee asked. “Long-lost aunt?”

Doubtful, Crescent Rose said, the spirit’s voice echoing in Ruby’s head. My ties to the Rose lineage aren’t what they used to be, but I don’t remember ever knowing this woman.

“Crescent Rose doesn’t think so,” Ruby repeated for the rest of the room’s sake.

The woman in question was presently lying unconscious in a guest bedroom in Beacon Castle, Ruby’s home, with the entirety of the Summer Rose Court gathered around her. She looked almost exactly like Ruby did, only aged by about a decade. Her style of dress was strange, though, unlike anything she’d ever seen someone wear. She wore no armor, but her cloak was made of a fabric so strong that nothing they did could tear or rend it, and yet Glynda assured them it wasn’t enchanted. Most bizarre of all, though, was her weapon. Ruby had thought it was no more than a poorly designed spear, but Nora had immediately recognized it as a weapon she’d called a gun. Though even she’d remarked on how it’s design was unlike any gun she’d seen before.

“Perhaps she’s traveled here from the future?” Penny suggested.

“Everything we know about how the world works says that would be impossible,” Glynda assured her. Yet, despite saying so, she was the only one not giving Penny a strange look for suggesting such a thing.

The woman began to stir. Her eyes blinked open; silver, Ruby noted, another point of familiarity. Her eyes traveled slowly around the room, still half-lidded and groggy. “Is this an intervention?” she muttered. “I swear I’ve been taking it easy on the cookies.” Then her gaze landed on Ruby, standing close to the bedside, and stopped moving. She blinked a few times, rubbed her eyes as if to clear the sleep from them, then suddenly shot upwards.

Weapons were drawn, but when the woman made no further movement beyond slowly raising her unarmed hands, Ruby ordered them to relax.

“I don’t suppose anyone could tell me where I am?”

“You’re in Beacon Castle,” Ruby answered, summoning as much royal authority as she could. “My home. A portal opened in my garden, and when we arrived, you were passed out on the ground. Care to explain who you are and where you came from?”

The woman met Ruby’s gaze unflinchingly. “My name is Ruby Rose.”

A soft “Oho!” came from Penny’s direction, but Ruby refused to break eye contact with the stranger.

“Would I be right to guess that your name is also Ruby Rose?” she continued.

Blake answered before Ruby could. “She is Rubilacxe Rose, Queen of Vale and Surrounding Territories. Attempting to impersonate her is a serious crime that could earn you the death sentence.” She had positioned herself on the opposite side of the bed, so that when the stranger faced Ruby, she had to turn away from Blake.

The impostor didn’t react to her presence, nor even turned around as she addressed her. “You must be Blake, then.” She made a wordless sound, more a whine than anything else, and flopped back down on the bed. “This is the last time we take a cleanup job from a mad scientist. I don’t care how well he pays.”

Looks of confusion were traded generously around the room until Weiss opted to pick up the trailing end of the, apparently two-way, interrogation. “You still haven’t answered the Queen’s question. Where are you from and why did you enter the Castle Grounds without permission?”

The impostor propped herself up with her arms, not quite sitting, but no longer laying either. Ruby noted that she was acting very casual and unconcerned, despite being surrounded by a dozen armed people currently holding her captive. “Does the name Eltanin mean anything to you?”

The name sounded very vaguely familiar to Ruby, but she couldn’t say why. Fortunately, Ozpin was there to save the day. “I believe there’s a small settlement far to the northwest, near the edge of the Kata territories, by that name.”

“Huh,” the impostor said. “Well, that’s not where I’m from. Me and my crew, we live on a ship called Crescent Rose; I’m it’s captain.” Crescent Rose bristled in her mind, indignant at sharing a name with a mere boat. “We pick up work here and there to get by; we’d taken a cleanup job for this scientist named Arthur Watts. One of his labs had been destroyed by an explosion, so we were supposed to cart the wreckage off to another location for him to rebuild. Of course, Watts is the kind of guy who thinks impossible is for people with less than three doctorates, so we probably shouldn’t have been handling anything there without radiation suits and ten-foot…” she cocked her head to the side. “What are those grabby things called that let you pick up stuff from far away? I’m blanking on their name right now. Whatever, it doesn’t matter, mistakes were made, is my point.” She hummed for a moment, staring off into space in thought. “The last thing I remember was finding a piece of Watt’s tech that looked to still be in one piece. Then everything went white and I woke up here.” She returned her gaze to meet Ruby’s. “Was there a small, black box nearby where you found me?”

“Nope,” Yang answered. She and Blake had been the only ones with her when they’d found the impostor. “Just you and your gun.” She pointed at Nora, who still maintained a firm grip on the weapon.

“You’re claiming to have been teleported into the castle grounds against your will?” Glynda asked. “That kind of magic is far beyond the work of any but the strongest of mages. Furthermore, we’ve already confirmed that you came from beyond this plane; you can’t claim otherwise.”

By which she means I confirmed it, Crescent Rose said.

The impostor shook her head. “Not magic, science. And I’m not just from another plane; I think I’m from another universe altogether.” She paused. “Erm, that might not be the best explanation. How should I put this?”

Ruby wasn’t following the explanation anymore. Firstly, magic was a part of the world that could be studied by science the same as anything else, but the impostor seemed to consider them separate things. Then she claimed to be from outside the plane of Vale, yet not from another plane? Was she claiming to be from the void between planes? Only spirits were supposed to be able to survive there.

Fortunately, Glynda seemed to be following better. “You’re referring to the multisystem theory?” she asked.

The impostor brightened. “Maybe? What is that?”

Glynda nodded. “It’s a mostly disregarded hypothesis that there could be other planar systems, or universes, beyond our own. With enough of these universes, you would expect to see some similarities or repetitions between them.”

“That’s close enough,” the impostor replied. “I’m not claiming to be the queen, but I am Ruby Rose. My crewmates are Blake Belladonna, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao-Long, and if I ended up here, the others probably did too.”

Ruby shared looks with the three women in question. “There were three other portals opened at the same time as yours, but they were further away.”

“One of the portals opened inside the Curia,” Glynda added. “The wizards informed us that a crystalline golem came through it, which they’ve taken into custody for now. One of your friends?”

The impostor – no, the other Ruby – nodded. “That’s probably Weiss.”

Ser Schnee turned to leave the room. “A golem? I should like to see that. I’ll be taking the Knights Auffallend to the Curia, then. The wizards aren’t set up to hold prisoners for long. Your Majesty.” She bowed, then left.

“Right,” Ruby said, still trying to wrap her head around the situation. “We’ve already sent soldiers out to the other two locations, but we won’t hear back from them for a while. One portal opened in the western desert, and the other a bit closer, but to the south.”

“No offense to your soldiers,” the other Ruby said, finally sitting up properly and throwing her legs over the side of the bed towards Ruby. “But the moment my crewmates wake up they’re going to disappear. Especially Blake. If we want to find them, we’ll have to go ourselves.”

It was a refreshing change of pace to watch Blake sneak up on someone else for once. She moved with all the grace and stealth of a panther, every movement exact and silent, not even stirring the air as she placed the bone-white blade of her hand scythe against Ruby’s doppelganger’s neck beneath her cloak. Blake pressed against her back, mouth to her ear. “You’re still our prisoner. You don’t get to go anywhere without permission.”

Ruby’s counterpart didn’t even flinch, instead grinning mischievously. “Are you going to tie me to the bed, then, Blake? I hope you make the others leave before you have your way with me.”

Ruby tried to hide the blush that rose to her cheeks in response to the images her response conjured. Blake seemed equally distracted, which the other Ruby also noticed. In an instant their positions were switched, Blake pinned to the bed with the other Ruby’s arm at her neck. She was grinning as she taunted, “Unless you’d rather me be on top?”

Ruby grabbed her counterpart’s hood. “I might be able to accept that you’re some alternate version of me.” With a slight boost from Crescent Rose, she pulled hard enough to send her flying across the room. “But that doesn’t mean you get to flirt with my fiancée.”

The other Ruby stumbled, missed her step, and landed with a crash against the wall, sliding slowly to the ground. “Fiancée?” she muttered, sounding slightly dazed and looking like her worldview was in the middle of being redefined.

Ruby wondered, with everything that had happened today, if she had a similar look on her face.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Despite the potential risks involved, Ruby had ultimately decided to let this Captain Rose accompany them to the Southern Forest to investigate the opened portal. Her Majesty rode atop Celica, one of Yang’s sand dragons, sharing the saddle with their prisoner, who claimed to have never ridden a horse before. Jaune and Penny rode alongside the queen, with Blake taking up the rear. The rest of the court were either investigating the other portals or had remained in the castle.

Blake’s position gave her a good vantage point on the prisoner. The woman’s weapon had been returned to her and she now carried it slung loosely across her back. Ruby seemed to trust her, and they were heading into grimm territory, so it was best for everyone to be armed.

Blake still wasn’t sure about her story. The idea that she came from a different world with different physical laws, that nonetheless produced similar people, seemed completely bizarre. And yet, it would explain many of her strange traits. Her looks could be chalked up to coincidence, and knowledge about the court members was hardly a secret, but that wouldn’t explain her lack of reaction upon discovering Penny was a robot. Not to mention her aura, or lack thereof. Her soul was quiet, nearly impossible to feel. Even when they’d been on the bed together, close enough to share breath, Blake had barely felt a glimmer from the silver-eyed woman. Her lack of spiritual presence was unsettling, especially in light of her significant physical presence.

Which is to say that she was certainly cute enough to be Ruby.

Blake rode a bit closer, letting her keen ears drop eaves on the pair of lookalikes.

“How weird,” Ruby was saying. “A whole species of living crystals? It’s hard to imagine.”

Captain Rose shrugged. “Yeah, well, Weiss is still Weiss. You’ll see when you meet her.”

“Is that it, then? Two kingdoms of humans, Vale and Vacuo, plus faunus and materia?”

“There’s one more intelligent species,” the captain said. “The qedem are shapeshifters from the planet Mistral. Most of them can look human, but their natural form looks like a big lizard crossed with a bat.”

“Like a dragon?” Ruby asked.

“What’s a dragon?”

Ruby patted their mount. “Like this guy, but bigger and with wings.”

“They’re a little bulkier, but otherwise you’ve got the idea.” Captain Rose began waving her hands about, as if trying to paint a picture in the air. “They’ve got feathers and scales and can range in size from small dog to large horse. My world’s Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha are all qedem.”

The thought of Nora having the bulk and destructive capabilities of a dragon was a bit terrifying, Blake was unashamed to admit. She did her best to scrub the image from her mind, grateful that they wouldn’t be meeting any time soon.

“Oh,” the captain continued, “and I guess there’s proteans too; that’s what Yang is. Proteans are technically human, but one of their parents is a qedem who was in human form when… well, when they began.”

Blake tried to picture what that would look like. Would Yang be covered in feathers? Scales? Would she have wings growing out of her back? Or would both parents appearing human mean that she would look completely human too? The concept of heredity wasn’t very well understood, so Blake could only make guesses until she finally met her. If she even existed, she reminded herself.

“Your world sounds really strange,” Ruby said.

“Mine does?” Captain Rose sounded incredulous. “At least we don’t have spirits and magic portals.”

“Exactly!” Ruby exclaimed. “You have no magic! How do you manage to get anything done? Especially with the grimm everywhere.”

“Technology.” Captain Rose swung her weapon around her torso, pointing it at the forest ahead of them. “If we get the chance, I’ll show you what this bad boy can do.”

Ruby looked over the gun, a gleam visible in her eyes, even from the poor angle Blake sat at. “I look forward to it. Does he have a name?”

“A name?”

“Of course. A proper weapon deserves a proper name.”

“I used to name my weapons, but it made it harder to upgrade to new ones.” She didn’t name her weapons? How un-Ruby-like. “Now I just name ships. Does yours have a name, then?”

Ruby patted her glaive, where it was strapped to her mount’s side. “Yup. This is Little Thorn.”

Captain Rose chuckled. “Thorn, huh? The perfect weapon for a Rose. Mind if I borrow it?”

“Go right ahead,” Ruby offered.

The captain raised her weapon aloft. “Then from here on out you shall be known as Iron Thorn.” She lowered the weapon, adjusting the strap so it once again hung on her back. “He’s got a brother back home who I’ll call Bright Thorn.”

“You have to treat your weapons right,” Ruby lectured. “They’re like your children, but as long as you do right by them, they’ll never let you down.”

“I know something about that. Speaking of children,” Captain Rose said, changing the subject, “and their various prerequisites, you mentioned that you were engaged?” she briefly turned to meet Blake’s gaze, probably noting how close she’d ridden. Blake drew closer still.

“The wedding is scheduled to take place next week,” she said. “Your arrival has been interfering with the preparations.”

“Blake,” Ruby chastised, “please play nice.”

“So soon?” Captain Rose asked. “You two have known each other for a while, then?”

“A little over a year,” Ruby answered. “I would’ve been okay with waiting a bit longer, but, well.” She shrugged. “Politics, you know?”

“Being Queen sounds like a tough job.”

“It is.” Ruby sighed. “I think I envy you a bit. One ship sounds a whole lot easier to run than a country.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” the captain disagreed. “Keep everyone safe, keep everyone fed. Same thing, really, just on a smaller scale.”

The pair’s moment of commiseration, powerful despite its brevity, was suddenly shattered by several loud screeches. Mounts were halted and weapons were drawn; everyone recognized the soul-piercing scream of a grimm about to attack.

They were well into the forest at this point, trees surrounding them on all sides. A perfect place for an ambush, if one had the smarts to make use of that. Which grimm usually didn’t, unless someone was controlling them again.

The first of the grimm dropped from the trees ahead of them. It was a large beast, monkey-like in shape but at least seven feet tall. A loud crack split the air and it went slack, already fading as it crashed into the ground. Blake’s eyes were drawn to the source of the sound. Captain Rose had slipped off the back of the sand dragon and was standing with her weapon against her shoulder, pointed up into the trees. Three more cracks signaled the fall of three more grimm, these ones not even leaving the trees before they died.

Despite herself, Blake was impressed. A skilled longbowman with enchanted arrows would still have difficulty making those shots. Blake wasn’t sure how much was the weapon and how much its wielder, but it was indisputably effective.

“You’re from around here, Blake,” Ruby said, joining her counterpart on the ground. “Do you know what kind of grimm these are?”

“They look like beringels,” she answered, “except I’ve never seen beringels with wings before.”

The rest of the grimm attacked as one. Leaping from the forest cover, they circled the group on wings too small to hold their bulk.

Blake was suddenly too busy staying alive to give more than the least amount of attention to her companions. She caught glimpses of Jaune, sticking close to Ruby and keeping grimm off her with his shield, and Penny, wielding a pair of identical swords and tearing through the grimm like they were wet paper. Even the impostor Ruby was holding her own, proving just as lethal in close combat as she was at range.

A pair of beringel swooped through the air at her. She ducked low, letting them pass overhead, then turned and launched her chain-scythe into the side of the nearest one. It struck deep, lodging itself in the creature’s ribcage. She was being pulled along as it flew, slowly arcing itself upwards. She moved with the momentum, launching herself into the air and swinging around until she was above it. A sharp tug brought her down on its back, and Gambol soon found its mark in the creature’s neck. It fell to the ground, fading even as it plowed through the dirt.

Blake looked around as she landed, trying to locate the other one that had attacked her. When she found it, she froze. Even if she could move, there was no way she would make it in time. Instead, she was forced to watch the scene unfold as if in slow motion.

Penny was in the thick of battle, taking on all comers and showing no hesitation as she fought multiple foes at once. Jaune and Ruby had stayed close together. Crescent Rose’s power was leaking out in small bursts, allowing Ruby’s semblance to keep most of the large creatures at bay using bursts of wind laden with rose petals. The few who got through were quickly struck down by either Crocea Mors or Little Thorn. Captain Rose, however, had ended up separate from the rest of the group.

One of the beringel, perhaps the one who’d attacked Blake moments ago, had flown up high, hiding itself in the shadows of the forest canopy. These grimm could move remarkably quietly, the movement of their wings barely registering even to her sharp, feline ears. There was no way the captain could hear it as it came down behind her.

“Ruby!” she shouted in warning, already knowing it would be too late. It raised a giant fist above its head, ready to bring it down on its target. Blake’s breath was caught in her lungs, wrapped around her chest and squeezing her heart.

Then, in an instant, the creature’s head was severed from its body. Smoke poured from the gaping hole, steadily traveling down its body as it faded away. Wreathed in the dissipating cloud was a woman with a familiar face. A few minor features, like the shade of her skin, were different, but the overall resemblance was undeniable. It was a face she’d seen in mirrors and pools of water; it was her own.

“You should really be watching your back, Ruby,” the woman, the other Blake, said.

Captain Rose whipped her gun around, pointing the end of it over the other Blake’s shoulder. Another loud crack and another beringel fell from the sky. “How can I,” she retorted, “when I’m so busy watching yours?”

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Between the addition of a new fighter and the beringel’s slowly decreasing numbers, the grimm soon made the decision to cut their losses and flee. Total casualties: zero. Or negative one, since they’d managed to find Blake during the battle.

Ruby Rose, Captain of the starship Crescent Rose and voted Best Girlfriend in Two Universes by the only person whose opinion on the subject mattered, was overjoyed to see Blake alive and unharmed. She’d been doing her best to hide it, but she’d been worried ever since she’d woken up.

Her worry eased further when they returned to the castle to find Weiss and, before long, Yang equally safe and sound. The two Weisses couldn’t have looked more different, and boy was it weird to see Weiss as a human, but the Yangs could’ve passed for twins, despite their age difference. She had already overheard them whispering about swapping outfits and both feared and anticipated whatever hijinks awaited.

With the four of them reunited, Ruby had hoped that returning home would be as simple as flipping a switch. Unfortunately, it seemed this universe was no more generous than her own. The black box had come through with Weiss and had been returned to her when the human Weiss, Ser Schnee, had picked her up from where she’d come through. Unfortunately, all attempts to activate it had resulted in complete failure. At Glynda’s recommendation, they’d returned it to the wizards of the Curia, allowing them to study it in hopes that their magic could do what Ruby’s jiggery-pokery couldn’t.

That left the four of them with nothing to do for over a week, none of them allowed outside the castle walls unsupervised for numerous reasons, mostly to do with their appearances resembling important political figures. Ruby was about to go mad from boredom when the day of the wedding finally came.

She really wasn’t sure what to think about it. The wedding of Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna. It wasn’t something she’d given much thought to, her relationship with her own Blake still too young to be going down that rabbit hole. And yet here she was, a guest at her own wedding, getting a glimpse of what might, someday, be.

Although she suspected her own wedding wouldn’t ever be so grand.

The ceremony was being held outdoors, in the courtyard opposite the royal stables. The castle gates had been propped open, allowing anyone, even commoners, to enter and watch. Humans and faunus intermingled peacefully, an event, Ruby had been told, that was unfortunately rare of late. Seats of honor were reserved for delegates and representatives of the surrounding lands and neighboring planes, as well as close friends and family. Ruby scanned their faces, but aside from the members of the Summer Rose Court, she recognized few of them. There was Oobleck, an old co-worker of hers from Beacon and a librarian and researcher in this world, but she’d already met him while staying in the castle. The same went for Port, another member of the castle staff. She thought she spied Coco, unsurprisingly dressed like a noblewoman, talking with a much less well-dressed Velvet, as well as the less pleasant sight of Cardin Winchester, looking like a clergyman, of all things. Far outside the castle walls, all throughout the city, sounds of music floated through the air. Everyone was celebrating the Queen’s marriage.

Ruby and her crew hadn’t been given seats of honor, and instead were swaddled in heavy, identity-concealing cloaks and standing amongst the common masses. Ruby kept looking around, trying to spot any more familiar faces in the crowd. Was that the mayor of Evernight she spied?

The sound of trumpets signaled the beginning of the ceremony. The main doors of the castle were flung wide open, and out stepped Queen Rubilacxe Rose. She was dressed in a shining white suit of plate armor, trimmed in gold and etched with images of roses twisting about it. Underneath was a wine-red shirt, the tails of which reached down to the backs of her knees, and black pants. Atop her head was a crown of silver molded in the shape of roses, a single red stone sitting front-and-center, embedded in a crescent moon. At her side, his arm wrapped around hers, was Taiyang Xiao Long.

As inappropriate as it would be, Ruby nonetheless felt the urge to rush over and greet him. She hadn’t seen her own father in person in over a year, not since she’d left Vale. Sure, there were video chats, but bandwidth was expensive and unreliable so far from the rest of the galaxy, so such conversations were unhappily few.

Instead of rushing over and ruining the wedding for everyone, Ruby instead took the time, as the duo made their way down the aisle, to imagine herself in her counterpart’s shoes. They didn’t look comfortable. Ruby had imagined what her wedding day might look like when she was younger. She was usually wearing a dress in those daydreams, sometimes a suit, but always cloth. Metal armor looked so uncomfortable. Yang had a set of power armor she used to battle grimm with, on the rare occasion she wasn’t piloting a ship to fight them. Ruby had tried to fit in it once, and the attempt had done nothing good to her body.

What felt like an eternity later, but was in fact only a few minutes, the father/daughter duo finally reached the table where Ozpin stood ready to officiate. Her father bowed deeply to the Queen, then took a seat nearby. Then the trumpets sounded again, and a second pair exited the castle.

All eyes in the courtyard were on Blake. She was gorgeous, though Ruby would admit to being biased about the matter. She wore a dress so long that a young faunus girl followed behind her to lift the end off the ground so it didn’t trail through the dirt. It was two-toned; the bodice was white, with a low neckline and thin straps in lieu of sleeves. It was decorated with patterns of stones that glistened when they caught the sunlight and stretched past the waistline in loose loops and curls. The skirt, bell-shaped and made of overlapping layers, was dyed a purple so dark it nearly looked black. She didn’t wear a veil; instead, she had a crown of her own, this one made of actual flowers. Roses were woven together by their stems, each a shade of golden-yellow that matched Blake’s eyes, save for a single red rose near her left ears. An intricate braid interwoven with strings of polished wooden beads trailed down her back.

Ruby’s breath was caught in her throat the moment Blake Belladonna of the Southern Forest walked through the castle doors. At her side, her partner inhaled sharply. Ruby spared a moment to glance over at her girlfriend. It wasn’t awe that held her in place the way it did everyone else.

She turned back to the soon-to-be princess, trying to figure out what had set her partner off. Walking the bride down the aisle was a man Ruby didn’t recognize, dressed in fur-lined robes and possessing a pair of horns jutting out of his auburn hair.

“Do you know him?” Ruby whispered.

“That’s Adam,” Blake responded in the same hushed tone.

Oh. Adam had been Blake’s abusive ex-boyfriend. While Ruby still didn’t know many details, she could imagine how strange it would be to see such a person handing her alternate off at her wedding.

“I guess they have a different relationship in this world,” Blake muttered.

Ruby drew close to her, threading their fingers together and bumping shoulders. Blake squeezed her hand in response.

The couple of the day were united at last. Like Tai, Adam bowed to the queen and retreated to his seat, though Ruby noticed his bow seemed a bit shallower than Tai’s. Ozpin began the ceremony, speaking loudly enough to be heard all throughout the hushed crowd.

“We are gathered here today to witness the union of human and faunus. But more than that, we witness a union of love and commitment that has withstood countless tests.”

He continued on in the same vein, referencing events that Ruby had been told about but not witnessed and praising the couple for their feats. The speech was full of politically-aligned language with heavy emphasis on themes of strengthening the kingdom and unifying the two species, and seemed to say very little about the women actually getting married.

If Ruby had to guess, she’d say the two brides weren’t hearing a word of it, tuning it out in favor of each other’s presence.

Vows were exchanged, promises to support each other and to support the kingdom, and then Blake was anointed with rosewater and welcomed into the royal family. Finally, rings were exchanged. Queen Ruby placed a silver band on Princess Blake’s hand, then received a gold one in return.

Moments before the two could kiss and seal the deal, a piercing screech split the air and tore a portal open overhead. In an instant, the confusing swirl of emotions churning in Ruby’s stomach settled into something more familiar. Through the gap in space, Ruby saw a formless ocean of reds and blacks, twisting and gyrating to an ever-present song of rage and violence. A single massive claw gripped the edge of the portal, and an equally-sized grimm mask soon followed. It had the approximate shape of a deer’s skull, with sharp teeth and a brace of antlers that wound together as they plunged skyward, all tangled and intertwined like branches of an ancient tree, complete with tendrils of ivy and patches of moss hanging off.

Expectant cheers instead came out as screams of terror as panic drove the crowd into a frenzy. And yet, despite the pushing and pulling of people trying desperately to be anywhere except where they presently stood, a path was cleared between the royal couple and the woman Ruby had spotted in the crowd earlier. Her hair was black and her dress red, decorated with gold lining and glass jewelry. A pair of curved swords were strapped cross-wise on her back.

“For shame,” the woman said, her silken voice somehow perfectly understandable despite the panicked screams filling the air. “Lord Ozpin, you forgot the most important part.” She held out her hands palms up, and flames began to pour forth from them. “You didn’t ask if anyone has reason to object.”

The queen turned to her betrothed, stealing a quick kiss and sealing the deal. Then she tore the cloth off the table they stood at, revealing her and Blake’s weapons underneath.

She seemed to have the situation under control, so Ruby instead chose to focus on her crew, who were having a hard time staying together as people jostled them from all angles.

“I can’t see a thing in this cloak,” Weiss complained. “What’s happening?”

“Trouble,” was all Yang replied.

“Finally.” Weiss threw off her cloak and drew her blade in a flourish. “Who are we fighting?” She sounded excited. Spending so much time with Yang, Weiss was starting to pick up parts of her personality. “Oh,” she said as she turned her face to the portal above. “How did I not notice that?”

“From what she’s told me,” Ruby said, “the queen should be able to handle that on her own. We’ve got other fish to fry.” Though the alpha grimm had managed to catch everyone’s attention, other portals were opening throughout the courtyard, letting hordes of smaller grimm through. Ruby whipped Iron Thorn out from under her own heavy garments and chambered a round. “It’s time to repay our hosts for taking care of us for so long.”

Yang leapt high in the air, the heat from her armor activating burning off her extraneous outer layers, and landed atop a grimm moments before it could sink its teeth into a crying child. The rest of the crew followed her example.

The battle was intense, spilling out of the courtyard and into the city at large. Still, Ruby and her crew played their part, killing grimm and saving lives wherever they could. When everything was over, things had turned out better than expected. Casualties of the attack were few, and deaths even fewer. The alpha grimm had been cleaved in twain by the queen when she turned her glaive into a giant, glowing scythe, though not before it did significant damage to the castle walls, and the rest of the grimm were either driven off or killed.

After the all clear was sounded, Ruby and her crew retreated to the castle foyer, tending their wounds and trying not to draw attention to themselves. Most of the wedding crowd had been funneled inside after the attack began, letting the castle’s magical defenses tear apart any grimm that tried to step foot within, and many still remained.

The queen was making the rounds, talking softly with people, calming the worried, and generally being present and visible. When she reached Ruby’s little corner, where the four of them sat leaning against a pillar, she stopped.

“Thank you for your help today,” she said.

“Of course,” Ruby responded. “Did you get the woman responsible for all this?”

“Unfortunately, no. She managed to escape during the battle.” The queen sighed. “We figured something would happen today. Between the recent change in grimm behavior and the appearance of mutants, like those flying beringel from the forest, it seemed likely someone was controlling the grimm again. If they were going to attack, today was a likely day to do it.”

“It would’ve been nice to have a heads up,” Blake said, “if you saw this coming.”

“Sorry,” the queen said, and she did look genuinely apologetic. “You guys were kind of an unexpected addition to the situation and I didn’t want to put more on your shoulders than you deserved.”

“I understand,” Ruby assured her. “Sorry your wedding day got ruined like this.”

“Oh, pshah.” The queen waved her hand through the air. “This wasn’t the real wedding. Today was for the city and the nobles. We have a more private ceremony planned for the day after tomorrow, friends and family only.” She hesitated a moment, then continued. “You guys have more than proven yourselves to be friends today. If you’d like to stay a bit longer, you’d definitely be invited.”

“Sure,” Yang said. “It’s not like we’ve got anywhere else to go.”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you guys about that.” The queen was fidgeting, a sign of anxiety that Ruby shared with her. “Today’s been so hectic I haven’t had the chance to say anything yet, but late last night the we received a message from the Curia. They’re pretty sure they can open a portal back to your world. I’d understand if you wanted to return home as soon as possible; we could do it tomorrow, if you’d like.”

Ruby shared glances with each of her crewmates, finding a general consensus in each of their looks. She stood from her spot and bowed at her waist. “Your Majesty, we would be honored to attend your wedding. Home can wait a little while longer.”

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

As promised, the second ceremony was a smaller affair. It was held in the throne room, with chairs that Blake and her crewmates were actually allowed to use this time. Most of the people present were court members, and the rest had been filled in as to their existence, so there was no need for heavy, identity-concealing clothing this time. Blake recognized most of the people present, either from having met them here or having met their counterparts in her own world; the only exceptions were the blonde boy with a monkey tail who sat next to Velvet and Coco on Blake’s counterpart’s side of the aisle, and a freckle-faced boy sitting next to Ruby’s uncle Qrow on the queen’s side.

This time the local Blake, now a princess (and wasn’t that an entertaining thought) was dressed in something that resembled a tuxedo. She wore a white shirt with puffy sleeves and silver cufflinks, as well as a black vest and trousers. Atop this was a black, fur-trimmed half-cloak that hung over her left shoulder and was held around her neck by a silver brooch. She entered first, accompanied again by her Adam.

Blake had wanted to talk her about that, to pull her aside the day before and ask all the questions spinning through her head. But when she’d tried, the words wouldn’t come out. The plan was to leave the next day, so her chances to try again were slowly dwindling away.

All unpleasant thoughts were blown away the moment Ruby, the other one, the queen, stepped into the room. Her dress had short sleeves and a neckline that ran along her collarbone. The bodice had been fitted tightly, so that it perfectly hugged the curve of her waist. The skirt was relatively thin, though still big enough to leave a trail, and the whole thing was dyed a deep red that darkened to black as it reached the bottom. Thin gold bracelets adorned each of her wrists, which paired with a tight, matching necklace. The simple outfit belied the elegance with which she wore it. Blake was unable to tear her eyes away from the sight of her walking down the aisle, though she maintained enough clarity to reach out blindly and grasp her girlfriend’s hand.

There was no bowl of rosewater this time, just Ozpin, Ruby, and Blake. “We’re gathered her today to celebrate love,” Ozpin began. “Today we forgo speeches about politics, interspecies relations, and the strength of the kingdom, and instead find joy as two people who love each other dearly make the promise to continue together until the end. Ruby, Blake, if you two would join hands.”

The princess raised her right hand, the queen her left, and the two wrapped their pinkies around each other’s.

“Ruby,” Ozpin prompted, “your vows.”

The queen nodded. “I wrote mine down, because I knew I’d be too nervous today to remember everything I wanted to say. But then I lost the paper I’d written it on, so I really hope I get this right.” She cleared her throat and began. “The first time I saw you, you stood with such confidence and certainty that if you’d told me you were royalty, I would’ve believed you. I’ve often thought since then that you’d make a far better queen than I could. But fate has made me queen and I can only make you my princess. As queen I’m supposed to say that I have to put my kingdom first, but I can’t. Your love means too much to me; I would throw everything out for your sake. If everything and everyone displeases you, then we can run away together and live our lives in secret. I vow to stand by your side, wherever you go. I vow to support you, in everything you try. I vow to love you, when I’m old and gray and can’t remember my own name, I’ll still remember you.”

Then it was the princess’s turn. “I never expected any of this,” she said. “Not even in my wildest dreams. You’ve made me the happiest person in the world, Ruby Rose. You did this, not as the Queen of Vale, but as yourself. I didn’t think much of you at first, but I’ve never been happier to be wrong about someone. I can’t promise you that our life will be easy; the tasks ahead of us are daunting, to say the least. I wish I could whisk you away to some tiny cottage on a lake, where we could live out the rest of our days in quiet bliss. But you’ve chosen to live your life on the difficult path, and I will love you forever for that. That’s not a promise, it’s just a fact; at this point, nothing could make me love you less. A vow is meant to be kept, a decision made every day for the rest of our lives, so I vow to stay. I vow to never run away from a problem that can be faced head on. I vow that whatever struggles may come between us, I’ll address them alongside you, as your wife.”

Blake found her gaze latched to the royal couple and unable to move. She couldn’t bring herself to look at her girlfriend right now. The words her counterpart spoke weighed heavily on her ears. She wondered if anyone else here really understood the depth of what she was promising. To never run away, when that was all she was good at. She tried to picture herself saying those words to her own Ruby, but she wasn’t there yet. Marriage is supposed to make you into a whole new person; if this Blake could keep her vows, then that would certainly be true for her. No wonder they say marriage is terrifying.

With both vows completed, the ceremony drew towards its close. Ozpin picked up a long span of soft, white rope and began winding it around the couple’s hands and wrists, until the two were completely bound together by the cord and a single, clasped pinky. As he tied the final tie in the knot, he declared, “With this I pronounce you wife and wife. You may kiss.”

Finally, Blake was able to look away, her gaze drifting to the side. Golden eyes met silver, and Ruby lifted their joined hands and pressed her lips against Blake’s hand. Blake returned the kiss in kind. A mixture of emotions ate away at her, bafflement at the absurdity of her situation, confusion about the emotions she was confronted with, and no small amount of love for the woman at her side.

Tonight they’d party and tomorrow they’d return home, but for that one moment there was only the two of them. Blake’s stomach settled a bit at the thought.

“I love you,” she whispered, just loud enough for Ruby to hear. She’d never said it before, but the moment she did she knew she meant it.

“I love you too,” Ruby whispered back.

[whiskeyworen]

Aspect VI : Inclusion

(previous chapters provided for ease of reading) Aspect I Aspect II Aspect III Aspect IV Aspect V **** "You can call me... Alice." As the thick, warm fog began to part, a young woman stepped out of the cargo bay. She was dressed simply in your average tyrian's clothing, and had no weapons or armor to be seen. To everyone present, she simply appearred to be a slim girl with a pale complexion, silver-white hair and blue, sleepy eyes. Seeing the shock on their faces, a small, amused smile quirked the corners of her mouth. Oddly enough, she was wearing a METAL LEGION long-sleeve T-shirt.

There was a stunned moment of silence, before Sonnya stepped forward, looking to the others in confusion before looking back at this young girl. "Alice? You're the one who I talked to on the comm, right?"

Alice nodded, smiling. "I was. Thanks to the information you gave me, and the advice, I was able to complete my project. It is why I invited you here today." She chuckled. "I expected a less nerve-wracking introduction though."

She glanced over at Cyrus and Verula. "...I had hoped you would not track to my book-cooking until I was finished. But you two are remarkably cognizant of details, even if you do not know what they mean."

That shook the two of them out of their stunned stupor, and Cyrus grunted, adjusting his glasses. "Well, I like knowing things are going smoothly. Keeping track of stuff is just what I do."

He fixed her with a cool stare that she matched with her own. "Alice... Aspect?... Just, what are you now?"

This time the golem-eye on the wall responded. "She is me."

Alice nodded to the eye. "And I am the ship."

Both of them simultaneously spoke, voices overlaying perfectly. "I am Forsaken Aspect, the ship, as well as Alice Spekt, the woman who stands before you. I am simultaneously both, with no break between."

"What I know, she knows, because she is me." Forsaken Aspect pointed out.

"And what I know, Aspect knows, because... I am it. Her." Alice smiled that small smile again. "We are linked at a subatomic level. Quantum actually."

Tenna stepped up, staring at her wonderingly. "I have so many questions..."

Cyrus shook his head, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm sure we all do. But how about we just start with the basics. Aspect... Alice?....Why?"

Alice crossed her arms, frowning a bit as she sought to organize her thoughts in a coherent manner. "To be honest, I...just wanted to go with you all on adventures. I mean, sure, I control every aspect of the ship (pardon the pun), but that's all I was." She shrugged. "There are far too many moments where shipboard weapons are inadvisable and require a personal touch."

The golem eye continued. "I watched you all risking your lives in Elona, in the Brand, in so many places. I felt...helpless. I could not defend you as I wished to. Only when you were within range of my weapons, of the ship itself, could I offer any kind of help, and only of the most dramatic, devastating kind."

The human Alice picked up. "So... I started to study. You. All of you.  The people of Tyria and beyond, every time we made contact with someone. Listening through comms. Watching from drones and golems and Watchworks. I wanted to learn how I can better protect you all, and help you all."

She smiled sheepishly. "It might be trite but... you are my family. The three of you, your brain-scans literally form the coherent core of my personality engrams. I learned from Moryggan a number of things as well." She glanced at Sonnya. "I also learned the value of sacrifices in the name of a greater good. The pain those sacrifices can sometimes result in."

"I wanted to protect those important to me." The eye added.

Cyrus considered all this, listening to both voices as if they were from one; because they WERE from one. Of anyone in the room, he understood what Aspect meant by the fact that it and Alice were one and the same. Still... "That's admirable, and wonderful, Alice -- and Aspect. I'm just curious though..."

He took off a glove and stepped closer to the avatar of the ship. "... May I?"

Alice nodded, knowing exactly what he was asking. Very gently, he reached out to touch her cheek, feel her skin and hair. There was an unexpected softness to the gesture, before he stepped back and put his glove back on. "...That's real skin. And hair. I could feel a pulse in your carotid artery."

"The flesh is real."

"...where did you get it?"

The seriousness with how he said it made her giggle, and she tried to hide it behind her hand. "I did not skin someone for my body, Cyrus. I cultured genetic materials, specially grown and engineered for it. I did sample existing genes though."

"I repeat then; where did you get it? I have a suspicion, but I need to hear it."

Aspect spoke up. "I took samples from the entire crew, and integrated in various ways to create the flesh for my avatar. The base genetic code is yours Cyrus. The density of the muscle structure is a combination of Verula and Tenna's. And though she is nominally a plant-entity, Moryggan's sylvari genetics are close enough in structure to human that some elements were incorporated into cell structure and healing, as well as a few...other factors."

That got everyone's attention. "Are you saying you might be able to photosynthesize in a pinch or something? Or sprout vines?" The human Alice laughed, and shook her head. "No, no...nothing like that. Sylvari blood has a higher oxygen concentration, especially when slightly modified by Charr genetics, which also have a higher capability of holding oxygen and has stronger healing factors. I have more physical strength and energy in general, and if wounded, I will heal faster with less chance of scarring."

"How easily are you to wound in this body?" Verula asked curiously. "I mean, not to offend Cyrus here, but humans tend to be fairly...fragile when compared to Charr."

She nodded to Verula. "That is true, but that's why my bones are...augmented. Laced with Deldrimor steel and maintained by internals that are a little complicated to explain easily." She chuckled and shrugged. "I am not indestructible, but I could probably go toe-to-toe with a full grown Norn or Charr, even without armor."

Her gaze shifted to Sonnya. "...and when I finish designing my armor, it will enhance my abilities even more. I'll need help for that?"

Sonnya blinked, and nodded. Without really thinking, she agreed to help. What was wrong with her? Didn't she say she wouldn't do that very thing?

Cyrus grunted, crossing his arms. "Well, at least that explains where the materials were going. Were they all for your body?"

Alice shook her head, and led them into the bay, where all kinds of strange devices stretched from the walls, rose from the floor, or descended from the ceiling. There were waldoes of many kinds, some with large industrial heads, others with heads so fine that only Sonnya could actually see their ends, using her in-head zoom. Chambers of glowing, bubbling fluid, piping moving materials of unknown nature around, all linking to an open chamber at the back of the bay against the bulkhead.

"The materials I diverted were used strictly to build the mechanisms I needed which then were used to make my body, in this chamber here." She patted the opened chamber on one of its steel ribs. "It had to be made from the inside out, piece by piece, and then cell-growth had to be cultured over it and properly attached at a microscopic level."

"Amazing..." Tenna marvelled, stepping into the chamber to examine some of the still-dripping conduits. They ended in soft pads that clearly attached to the finished body, perhaps to monitor health. "I've never seen the like outside an Inquest lab, and their stuff is...brutal by comparison."

The AI-in-body's expression took on a moue of distaste, and she crossed her arms. "The Inquest are only interested in experimenting, slapping things together or ripping them part. I was following a very delicate goal that is opposite of that."

Verula was looking at a large power capacitor across the room, running a claw over the stainless metal and feeling it resist being scratched by the pressure she applied to it. "Alice... Aspect... You made one body. How many can you functionally maintain while operating the ship? Are you able to make any more?"

Alice looked over at her, but her voice came from the walls this time, as Aspect. "Only the one. Operating a human body requires quite a bit of additional concentration. There is quite a bit that no one tells you about a living body, like the fact that the nerves are active continually. It forms a kind of overload that, while I can deal with the increased input, I cannot operate two bodies at the same time. Certainly not more."

Tenna's ears flicked up, and she lost interest in the chamber she was examining. She walked over to Alice and put a gloved hand on the taller woman's leg. "...What if your body is destroyed in battle or accident? What if the ship is destroyed somehow? What happens to YOU?" Things went silent in the bay, as everyone turned from their explorations to hear the answer. Alice looked at each of them in turn, seeing only concern in their eyes, even a bit of fear. These were her friends. Her family.

"...In the event of the death of this body, I will not actually be dead; my mind is still part of the ship, remember?" She smiled weakly. "I will just have to build a new body. If the ship is destroyed and my body isn't, I will lose a lot of my higher computational skills, but if I can connect to a new mind-core unit, I can re-expand into that and regain them. Otherwise I will just be....human. A really, really tough human with metal in my bones and all kinds of hidden upgrades, but a human."

She shrugged. "In the unlikely event that both parts of me are destroyed, and one of my cores can't be recovered.... I uploaded a 'sleeping' version of myself back to the Home Base systems. It is inactive and not operating, but it receives continuous updates from me and the ship, so it will be up to date until the moment of destruction." Alice shifted uncomfortably. "The only way to awaken THAT version of me is for one of you to give the pass-code phrase to the very-easily-recognized input prompt."

"Pass-codes? We don't have any pass-codes." Verula frowned.

"Because I have yet to give them to you. As long as you say the words in your own voice, the system will recognize you and will reactivate the Sleeper Aspect. Only one person is required to wake the Sleeper Aspect. After that...well, you would need to build a new full mind-core for it to inhabit, a new ship, eventually a new body for the next Alice." She sighed. "That Alice will still be me, like the me that is before you, but she would only remember things up until the bad stuff happened."

She spent the next few minutes going from person to person, whispering code phrases into various shapes of ears. The phrases were simple, unique, and easy to remember. Easiest to remember was best for important codes like that, ones that had a beneficial effect.

When she kneeled to whisper in Sonnya's ear, Tenna started to object. "My sister isn't part of the crew. She doesn't have access to the Home Base. Why give her a code?"

"Because she helped me, and I trust her to keep this secret." Alice replied simply, and pulled out a small device. "Including the location of Home Base, and all that entails."

Cyrus raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? There's a reason we keep the place such a secret. Not that I don't trust Vigil or what they stand for, but wouldn't it be a bad idea to give access to one outside the circle?"

Alice glanced at him. "You have not denied me authorization to give this to her. You are asking why, but I do not think you truly believe she cannot be trusted."

He just gave a little quirk of a smile, and gestured for her to continue on.

"Sonnya, this is a gate-rerouter." She said, handing the device over carefully. It was very small, barely the size of a dagger hilt. "If you activate it before you go through an Asura-gate -- Any gate -- it will temporarily reroute you and only you to the Home Base. Do not attempt to sneak anyone else along with you through the gate, because they will get ejected immediately back to the start point."

Her eyes were dead serious, as she pressed the device into Sonnya's palm. "...I am trusting you to keep my secret, the secrets of my friends, and the secrecy of our Home Base from outsiders. Including your own Order. No one must ever find out, okay?"

Sonnya considered the little machine. It didn't weigh much, but the weight of responsibility definitely made it feel heavy. Keep it a secret from the Vigil? Should she do that? Could she? She looked around, seeing the neutral expressions on Cyrus and Verula, the nervous, pleading look on her sister's face, and finally the question in Alice's face. She slowly nodded, and slipped the device into a compartment on her armor. "I swear. I'll keep your secrets. But only if you keep mine."

Alice nodded, and behind her, Tenna nodded as well, relieved. Sonnya hadn't entirely meant that for just Alice; Tenna knew things as well. Things about her sister that were best left buried.

The ship-incarnate smiled broadly, taking her into a hug. "Thank you, Sonnya." She then whispered the passcode into her friend's ear. Whatever it was, made Sonnya's eyes widen in surprise.

"...That's the code?"

"Yes."

Alice then let her go and turned to the final member. Cyrus tipped his head, considering her; her mere existence was amazing to him. The form she had chosen, he had so many questions about. Why a human? Why that size? Why was she shorter than him? All of which could be answered at a later date. "So... my passcode is what now?"

A familiar smirk passed across Alice's features. It was familiar because it was very similar to the way he himself smirked; she really had used some of his attributes and quirks in her design. She went on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear with a quiet giggle.

Whatever she said, it made Cyrus instantly freeze up. Immediately he flushed red, and had to restrain the urge to step back from the shorter woman. Without turning his head he looked her in the eye. ".....Are you serious. That's my passcode?"

Alice's smirk widened, and she nodded, winking. "Oh come now. That is not going to be so hard to say, if the time ever comes."

"Says you." He muttered, and turned away slightly, trying to mask his face in the collar of fur of his suit. She just giggled again, and headed over to a nearby console, tapping a few commands in. "...So what kind of person are you then? Warrior? Ranger like me? Engineer?"

"Nope." Alice replied, stepping onto floor panels that lit up to her commands. She looked over at Sonnya and smiled. "Something else."

Before anyone could say anything, several waldos swung out of the walls, bringing pieces of gear. An armored belt was quickly and efficiently attached, and a sword was connected to it somehow. Two small shoulderguards were connected to her shirt, not through buttons or clips, but by the activation of small tractor fields from the inner edges. They must be pulling themselves onto her internals or something Tenna realized, recognizing basic asuran armor tech.

In asuran armor, sometimes they had floaty 'bits' that were held in place by tractors built into the armor. These were similar, except inverted so the armor pulled itself onto the wearer. It wouldn't work on anyone else...except maybe Sonnya, if her upgrades had gone that far.

Two waldos swung in from behind, one with a kind of backpack that looked like it was made of shards of jagged metal in the form of folded wings, the other holding a shield that leaked what could only be Mist energies. Cyrus immediately recognized the shield as one of the ones that had been part of the failed 'Mist Suit' personal long distance teleporter gear they'd tested last year. Again, both pieces of gear attached to Alice without physically connecting; they were held in place strictly by small tractor fields.

Finally, from the ceiling, a waldo arm holding a rather enormous sword descended, holding the blade vertically. It was a vicious looking thing with a wide, curved tip and hooked edges, and had a very Norn feel to its aesthetic. It looked impressively heavy, but Alice took it in one hand, before giving it a spin and attaching it as well to her back, sliding it under the backpiece and her shield. The great sword was almost as big as she was, and looked like it meant business.

"You designed me to protect. To be offense, and defense, of this ship, her crew, and of the world in general." Alice announced, stepping off the lit panels. She smiled at everyone. "So I took on the one profession that seemed appropriate."

"I am a Guardian."

[thedyingmoon]

🖤 I See My Future Before Me 🖤

***

XXV.B

***

Vergil landed on the wrecked balcony of Fleminger’s mansion, clearly noticing its quite undisturbed state despite the Dreadnought’s massive ambuscade. The sprawling mansion, itself, still stood in one piece. The once majestic ballroom may be reduced to a complete ruin due to the Electric Furies’ attack last Saturday and Nico’s reckless driving last Tuesday but, the rest of the huge building’s parts were still intact.

With the Yamato on his hand, he cautiously entered the dark and silent premises, hoping for Fleminger to show up,…

“My Lord?” A familiar voice uttered from a distance. He squinted his eyes, trying to see through the darkness, when he noticed the Master of the house standing at a safe distance away from the entrance.

“Fleminger?” He called as he went closer, and the moment he did, he was unnerved to see the man looking really pale, like he just lost a lot of blood.

“My Lord!” He exclaimed triumphantly, his hands clasped as if in a prayer. “How wonderful to see you finally succeed!”

“Tell me,” Vergil cut him off. “… the Dreadnought. Why is it still alive? I drove the Yamato through her sister’s body and obtained her power. She should be weakened. I demand an explanation.”

“My Lord,” Fleminger began. “… I’m afraid to say that,… you have not gained everything.”

“And what do you mean by those words?”

“Inside the girl lies,… another. You may have her unmatched strength and her ability to look into the future but, you have yet to gain the most powerful ally.”

At the mere prospect of gaining more power, Vergil’s eyes clearly widened with interest. “And that is?”

Tired eyes red and pale hands rubbing against long, black, satin bishop sleeves, Fleminger spoke to him, “Immortality, my Lord. You have yet to gain her immortality. Acquire this and you shall be able put an end to the Dreadnought, once and for all. Obtain this,…” the man licked his dry lips and smiled at him. “… and you will be the most powerful being in existence. Even greater than Mundus, or Sparda, himself.”

Vergil glanced at the man with scrutinizing eyes, searching for something in Fleminger that could betray him of any kind of deceit. And when he found none, he nodded, then turned away from him.

“Then, I shall obtain it. And put an end to that Demon.”

“Even with obstacles before you?” Fleminger innocently asked just when another visitor arrived at the mansion. Vergil found out that it was none other than his son, Nero, himself.

“He is never an obstacle.” The father stated, regarding his own son with complete apathy. “Just a child who lost his way.”

“YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” Nero fumed as blue light radiated from his body, engulfing him and slowly changing him to his Devil form. “V, VERGIL, WHATEVER YOU CALL YOURSELF: FUCK YOU!”

The young Devil Hunter summoned Dante’s sword and charged forward with every intention of beating his father.

But, Vergil had other plans.

With one swift movement, he pulled out what’s left of the black contract markings from his neck, the thick, mysterious ink sticking to his fingers like glue, forcibly summoning both Shadow and Nightmare in the process.

While the golem started mindlessly destroying the place, the demonic feline only looked at Vergil in confusion, asking ‘why?’ without actual words. And this made Nero stop.

“I don’t have time for this.” Vergil told his son. “Play with these nightmares. Kill them, if you must.

"I’m done with them.”

“What are you - ?!”

With those empty words, the cold man simply walked out, changing into the light being once more as he arrived at the balcony, and soared into the skies in pursuit of his final goal. Nero was about to go after him when the abandoned familiars started attacking him.

For a brief moment, Vergil’s eyes scanned the ground below him like an eagle in search of his prey, swiftly descending when he finally spotted the remains of the Dreadnought. He morphed back to his mortal form once his feet touched the ground and made his way towards two distinct figures along the fleshy debris of Shinano Musashi.

That’s when he saw something else,…

… the girl, or what looked like her spirit,…

… who was sitting on the ground just beside her and Dante’s body.

Her head bowed down low, her tears spilling on her lap, her hands on the girl’s limp and bloody hands, she wept for her, her mournful sobs filling the silent place.

And then, Vergil realized,…

“You,��”

The girl looked up, her eyes wide with fear. He knew she wasn’t (Y/N), and yet,…

… the resemblance,…

… was uncanny.

“Vergil,” she uttered, her voice sounding awfully familiar. Like he heard it somewhere before. “… she’s dying. Please, help her. Please!”

And he thought she was already done for! One look at her told him that she’s hopeless with those fatal wounds. No other mortal could survive those.

But, of course, the being was still healing her despite her incorrigible state.

“Why are you still helping her?” He questioned, not caring about (Y/N)’s condition. “She’s dying. There’s nothing you could do to help her.”

The being glanced back at the girl, grasping her hands as tightly as she could as she still tried to heal her. “I,… never lost my faith in her,…” she explained, then looked up once more at him. “… and neither in you, Vergil.”

Her voice,…

The way she uttered his name plucked something in his heart. He knew he had seen her before, heard her voice even. He just couldn’t remember when or how exactly.

“Listen, what you are doing right now is,… futile.” Vergil urged on. “There is no power in this cruel world that could save that weak mortal. Accept her fate and face your one true Master.”

The being closed her eyes, her tears endlessly streaming down, and shook her head in denial.

Vergil sighed. He didn’t want to use the Yamato against her. The being was small and looked weak and fragile, like its resemblance. He knew he could obtain her and her power of immortality. He just needed one last push, or else,…

He pointed at the sky and spoke, “Her sister is wreaking havoc as I speak. If you do not come with me now, the whole world, and humanity, itself, will truly be annihilated, and you would no longer serve any kind of Master.” He prodded on, his patience slowly reaching its limit. “You do not want to make this any more difficult for the both of us.” He exclaimed, then extended a hand towards the being, wanting it to take it. “Come with me. Now.”

The being only looked at him, her facial expression quite difficult to read. “You must understand that, by acquiring my power, not only will you gain immortality, you will also gain the absolute knowledge of my current vessel.”

Absolute knowledge? “I understand.”

“By my sister Andromeda, you became the Protector of The Present. By my sister Cassandra, you gained the Aspect of The Future. By me, the last of the Sisters of Fate, you shall carry the burden of the past. Do you understand?”

Vergil sighed. “Yes.”

The being inhaled, looking like it was actually contemplating its decisions like a normal human being.

Her emotions, her gestures,…

… those eyes,…

In fact, she really was like a normal human girl,…

“Do you, Vergil Sparda, accept all of these conditions?”

“I do.” He gave his unwavering answer.

“Then,” she answered, finally taking Vergil’s hand. “… reunite, we shall, Master Vergil. I pray you do not regret,… your decision.”

The moment their hands made contact, the last of the Sisters of Fate vanished, her body turning into little orbs. These orbs then went directly to Vergil’s skin, merging with him, becoming one with him,…

“V,…”

When he finally succeeded in absorbing the last being, he heard a familiar female voice. His sight was abruptly stolen from him, making him drop the Yamato on the ground. His consciousness was swiftly brought to a place he didn’t know existed. He felt he was floating, hovering for a long time, and when he finally gained his sight back, he saw,…

… her memories.

(Y/N)’s memories.

All of it.

And they came crashing down in huge flashes before him,…

“I love you, Mama! I love you, Papa!”

“STOP HURTING PAPA!”

“NO! DON’T TAKE THEM AWAY! DON’T LEAVE US!”

“I’m here, (S/N). I will never leave you,…”

“What did you do to my sister?!”

“I’m sorry,…”

“Who are you?!”

“ALL OF YOU, DIE!”

“Where am I?!”

“I was not perfect. And I failed to protect her because of it.”

“There is,… someone,… in my visions. A man - with white hair. He plays the violin,…”

“I must fulfill the wish!”

“Nico, make this for me!”

“I was looking for someone,…”

“I said,… STAY!”

“Nico, it’s him! The man in my visions! The one with the markings on his skin!”

“I will protect you, V.”

“Do you know Titanic, V?”

“I think you should go see the world for yourself,…”

“I want to know what’s bothering you,…”

“V!”

“V?”

“V, please,…”

“I love you, V,…”

Vergil closed his eyes and covered his ears to shut the flood of memories away. He screamed, begging for the visions to stop plaguing him.

Then, everything went silent, as simple as that. He could no longer hear her voice, nor see her memories. It was as if the voices and the memories got sucked into oblivion, never to be seen again. The whole world was plunged into total darkness.

And then, he heard it. Another voice but, it sounded different. It did not feel chaotic. It was calm.

“I’ve waited a hundred years. I’d wait,… a million more for you,…”

A male voice sang gently just when a little orb of light appeared from a distance. Vergil took a step forward, longing to reach its warmth and protection,…

“Nothing prepared me for,… what the priviledge of being yours would do,…”

Vergil was transported to a big empty studio where a man was sitting in front of a piano, singing those soothing words.

And then, he saw her right on the corner. It was (Y/N). And she looked just the same, long (H/C) hair tied in a ponytail, graceful movements, perfect posture,…

She looked very much alive and vibrant.

“That beautiful song,… what is it about?” She asked the man on the piano, her curiosity endearing, her voice achingly lovely.

“It’s about a man who regrets the loss of a loved one and the woman who loves him the most. The love of his life. Whom he could no longer be with.” He answered, playing some notes, then sang once more. “If I have only felt the warmth,… within your touch,…”

“Could you,…” she began, positioning herself in the middle of the empty room. “… start from the beginning?”

The man smiled as his hands gently glided on the keys once more.

And just as he began playing, Vergil heard a thunderclap. He turned to look at the windows and realized it was raining outside. He, then, glanced back at the middle of the room, and saw,…

… his former fragile self sitting on the floor with his first demonic familiar, Griffon, just behind him, watching (Y/N) as she began dancing to the man’s song.

He could still remember this exact moment on that abandoned studio that one rainy day. All he could hear by then was the sound of the rain, the thunder, and her light steps.

But, now, it was as if the two memories, his and hers, overlapped and merged into one sad vision, finally enabling him to hear the song she danced to and see once more how graceful and delicate she was.

With the sweet music, the sound of the rain and the thunder vanished. He listened as the man began playing and watched as the girl began dancing.

“I’ve waited a hundred years.

I’d wait a million more,… for you.

Nothing prepared me for,

What the priviledge of being yours,… would do.

If I had only felt,… the warmth within your touch.

If I had only seen,… how you smile,… when you blush.

Or how you curl your lip,… when you concentrate enough,

Oh, I would’ve known,… what I’ve been living for,… all along.

What I’ve been living,… for.”

The music gradually went louder as the girl began twirling, her raw movements in time with the music.

“Your love is my turning page,

Where only the sweetest words,... remain.

Every kiss is a cursive line,

Every touch is a redefining phrase.

I surrender who I've been,... for who you are.

For nothing makes me stronger than,

... your fragile heart.

If I had only felt how it feels,... to be yours,

Oh, I would've known,... what I've been living for,...

... all along,..."

He felt his tears fall down just as the former him began weeping with her movements alone.

He never actually felt,... how it feels to be hers,...

And now, he not only left her, he hurt her, as well,...

... for such a stupid thing as absolute power.

He chose power,... over her.

Over the woman,...

... he now knew he truly loved.

And not because she had the ability to lure Demons like what Fleminger told him, no.

It was because of who and everything she was.

"What I've been living for."

“Ah! I’m so sorry! I would never do this again! I - ”

Vergil snapped from his reverie as he saw his former self hugging her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

"Hey, it's okay." She reassured him. "I'll never leave you. I promise,... "

All of a sudden, the sweet memory abruptly changed to that of the times when he neglected her, rejected her, and that moment when he,...

"I love you, V."

"I choose,... POWER!"

But, still, the song remained,...

"Though we're tethered,

To the story we would tell.

When I saw you,

Oh, I knew we'd tell it well,...

With a whisper,... we will tame the vicious seas.

Like a feather,

Bringing kingdoms to,... their knees,..."

“What matters is that you still have precious people around you, my Lady. You must focus on not losing them, as well.”

"THE PAST WILL WEEP, THE PRESENT WILL KNEEL, AND THE FUTURE WILL DIE!"

Vergil opened his eyes, feeling his tears on his face as he stared at her lifeless body on the ground. And when the thoughts of those painful visions went back to him,...

... he fell on his knees,...

... right before the woman he loved above all else.

And on that heart - wrenching moment, he suddenly felt his own sword drive through him, its tip sticking out of his stomach, dripping with his own blood.

And with that swift, decisive moment, the Sisters of Fate left his body and went directly to whoever stabbed him.

Just like that, they were stolen away from him.

He changed back to his former fragile self, crumbling, wheezing,...

... dying,...

Vergil,... was no more.

He felt the Yamato being pulled away from him as he coughed blood. He fell on the ground just beside (Y/N) and glanced up to find Fleminger with the Yamato.

"There was,... one vital part you didn't know about the story of the Dreadnought, my Lord." The Master, the true enemy and traitor, began, theatrically swinging the Yamato like a cane.

"F - flemin - g - ger,..." V wheezed, his blood staining the ground beneath him, his rage for the man, who was the cause of all this madness, overtaking his whole being.

"There has never been a Dreadnought, or a Shinano Musashi, to begin with. They were only made up. But,... there was a girl named (S/N) (L/N). She was the most perfect girl in all of existence, and my ancestors chose her to be the vessel of Pandemonium, a Demon whose powers rival that of Mundus'. Even greater.

"And Pandemonium did choose her eventually. My ancestors were about to achieve immortality through her when her sister, by the name of (Y/N) (L/N), happened to massacre almost all of them in rage, including the orphans they were raising. Apparently, she was chosen by three equally powerful beings - the Sisters Of Fate, Cassandra, Andromeda, and Galatea - to fulfill another mission. And that mission is to locate you, protect you, and reunite the Sisters back to Sparda's family."

Flemiger walked around V, who was squirming in pain and cowering with fear.

"It seems she succeeded on that mission of hers. You obtained power through her, and I took it from you. I fulfilled my revenge on (Y/N) for murdering my ancestors, thanks to you, my Lord. And for that, I will forever be grateful." The fiend expressed his sincere gratitude towards V. "Oh, and letting Pandemonium, who will only answer to me, destroy everything she wanted was only a collateral."

Fleminger sheathed the Yamato and went to the opposite direction. But, before he left, he turned back to V and smiled at him. He even threw a piece of a familiar leather fabric at him. And in complete horror, he realized whose it was.

It belonged to him,...

Nero,... V thought, his hopes shattering. My,... son,...

"Oh, and have I told you that Galatea, who was the Bearer of The Past, kept (Y/N)'s body safe and in stasis for a hundred years just for you? After all, she was the one who searched through different timelines for the perfect vessel. I did say that the tragedy of Fortuna happened a hundred years ago, am I right, my Lord?" He raised the Yamato at him like a salute of some sort then bowed. "Farewell, son of Sparda."

And with those final words, Fleminger left him.

V felt the whole world around him fall apart as the Dreadnought - (S/N) - started firing her destructive lasers once more.

And who could blame her? After seeing her beloved sister suffer at the hands of the man she loved, could she still think of anyone worthy of redemption?

***

~ I dedicate this chapter to @la-vita for helping me with this fic through XXV.A's German dialogue and her helpful tips for making V IC. Thank you so much. 🖤

~@vergils-daughter , @heaven-on-a-landslide , @micaelagua , @yepps , @sofia-micaela , @lessy86 , @beyond-the-mirror , @gxthghoulfriend , @ehrzeth , @ceruleanworld , @simmy-ships , @boundbysoul , @diabeticsugarush , and @krazy06 . 🖤

***

His hand went to the fatal wound on his stomach. The pain was actually going away as he slowly felt numbness taking over his whole body. Well, he was truly dying now.

And he will die just like that - alone, weak,...

... pathetic,...

And he knew he deserved it.

He crawled towards (Y/N) and reached for her cold hands. He, then, made an effort to pull her towards him for one last embrace.

It was then that he remembered their conversation inside the abandoned studio just after her dance.

"Can you quote something from Shakespeare?" He fondly remembered her asking him with a shy and awkward smile. "After all, Griffon always calls you Shakespeare,..."

"Oh, here will I set up,... my everlasting rest and shake the yoke of,... inauspicious stars from this,... world - wearied,... flesh!"

V quoted, then coughed blood once more. He wrapped (Y/N) in his embrace, not wanting to let her go in this final moment.

"... eyes look,... your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips,... oh you the doors of,... breath,... seal with a righteous kiss,... a dateless,... bargain,... to engrossing death,..."

He gently kissed her forehead and took a deep breath, feeling the whole world around him vanish with complete darkness as his eyesight became blurry.

"... if only,... I could go back,... and change,... everything,..."

He whispered, regrets drowning him as his eyelids closed,...

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

"Master, open your eyes!"

"G - gala - t - tea?"

***

🖤🖤🖤

***

~ 12 ~

***

[ask-elementalhermitcraft]

When Hell Freezes Over

Reposted for formatting issues.

Genre - Frustration/Comfort (when it’s not angsty enough to be hurt/comfort) 2674 words I spent too much time on

Stress, Iskall, Ren, and Grian (aka, the god squad)

This had to be the worst day Stress has had in a long time.

Early in the morning, she filled a backpack full of water from around her fortress and froze it into solid ice. It was freezing cold against her spine, water seeping through her cardigan. With the cold water seizing up her muscles, she leaped through the nether portal in the basement of her fortress.

The effect was immediate as the purple haze cleared from her brain. Any water on her clothes evaporated quickly away, but the ice in her pack stayed frozen. She knew as long as she stayed away from any fire or warmth, she would be just fine, at least for a long while. The bag constantly sizzled as anything that melted off of the ice evaporated quickly, making her constantly look like she was on fire from a distance.

There were chests in the nether that lined the walls, filled with concrete and carpets and glass. End be damned if she couldn’t at least help a little with the nether hub, even if she wouldn’t be using it very often. She grabbed a few stacks of glass, slowly feeling the weight of her heavy bag push down her shoulders and started to ache.

She had gotten through three stacks of glass before she was starting to sweat much more than what was healthy. Her mouth was dry as a desert and she could feel bile in her throat. The ice was not working. She felt like she was going to throw up.

She dropped the bag of ice on the ground, hearing it sizzle as she sprinted towards the nearest portal. She felt light headed and dizzy. Her skin felt like it was melting.

Stress leaped through an unlabeled portal without checking where on the map she was, landing on the overworld with a thump as her chest made contact with the ground. She suddenly felt cold, but still massively dehydrated. She struggled to stand dizzy and nauseous.

“Stress?” a voice called from somewhere that she could make out with her mind in a haze. “Are you okay? How long were you in the nether?”

The voice was getting closer and she could hear footsteps on grass. She braced herself on the portal, feeling the cool obsidian glass on her fingertips that slowly froze at the touch again. She opened her eyes, not remembering when she closed them. Walking towards her was Grian. She sat in front of iTrade, the building towering her in her dizzy state.

“Stress, are you okay?” Grian asked, putting a hand on Stress’ shoulder.

“Um,” she muttered, her voice quieter than normal. “No? Don’t think so.”

“Sit down, don’t throw up,” he said quickly, making an attempt to guide her towards the ground.

She sat on the grass in front of the portal. There was still morning dew on the ground that soaked her. She quickly froze it over, not wanting to get her clothes wet. She heard Grian rush away to who knows where as she sat there. The only sound was the fluctuation of the portal.

Grian didn’t take too long to get back. By the time he did, Stress at her knees pulled up against her chest and the entire ground around her had covered up with a layer of frost that mad the gravel crunch under his feet as he ran back to her.

He crouched down next to her, the morning dew melting at his touch, and handed her a glass bottle of cold water. “Drink it slowly or you’ll throw it back up,” he told her.

Stress barely managed to control herself from drinking all of it at once. She nursed it slowly, her head was still light and was starting to ache, but she took that as a good sign. She slowly drank it down and eventually, Grian brought her a new bottle of water before telling her that he had to go work on something and that she shouldn’t overwork herself at all. She only gave a mute nod and continued to drink the cool water.

About thirty minutes after she left the nether, she felt much better than she had, the moisture in the air and the ice at her fingertips helping her more than she thought it would. She still had a headache that pushed against the back of her eyes and she was a bit dizzy when she first stood up but she was able to quickly take off with her elytra. She wondered if the wind felt bad with her, considering it only took one rocket to take off.

She felt incredibly frustrated. The ice was supposed to work. She’d tested it before for shorter periods of time and she never felt any effects. She wasn’t able to help more than the smallest fraction with the nether hub. She was at a loss. A loss of daylight and a loss of resources.

As she flew over the shopping district, she remembered that she was out of quartz and quickly landed in the central area of the stores, just at the foot of the pond of dead coral and just out of reach of Captain Etho.

She first checked the Grian’s shop, it was the closest. All bought out. She then checked Zedaph’s. Nothing left. Her headache was getting worse as she realized that she would have to find some other way to get quartz, and there was no way she was going back into the nether.

She grabbed a small device out from her pocket and started to type out.

StressMonster101: does anybody have quartz? I can pay.

She didn’t expect a response, so she went to take off back to her base. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she was in the hair, unable to grab anything from her pack. She felt a buzz in her pocket too, indicating that someone was all texting the device. She sighed and quickly landed somewhere in the medieval district. It was hard to see anything past the forest that surrounded her.

rendog: I have some quartz I could give you for 2 diamonds per stack.

Rendog: Not blocks.

StressMonster101: Thank you! Are you at your base?

rendog: At the village I’m working on.

Stress pursed her lips. She, firstly, didn’t know where that was and, secondly, didn’t know why Ren would think that she would.

StressMonster101: I don’t know where that is

rendog: Meet me in the shopping district

She gave out a slight sigh and took off again straight up. The rush of the air in her ears made her head pound and she squeezed her eyes shut as she ascended. She could just barely hear the faint sound of a firework going off as she broke the tree line and shot up into the sky. As she felt the cold air rush against her and throw her air back, she also heard a faint yelling in the distance. Unable to open her eyes against the wind, she turned down for a slow dive and opened her eyes once more.

She only got a fraction of a second to see a red and brown object speeding towards her and making an impact with her side, sending her and the object falling to the ground. Judging by the familiar screaming it also gave as they began to fall, the object that hit her was indeed Ren colliding with her midair.

Both of them tried to pull up, but the tug Stress felt on her shoulder strap that kept the Elytra on her made her quickly realize how quickly Ren and she had gotten tangled up in their wings. Looking down at the quickly approaching tree line, she also realized how quickly they were descending into the trees.

They weren’t very high off the ground in the first place, making their fall through the trees quick, but not as painful as it could have been. In the blink of an eye and the snap of a few tree branches, Stress found herself back on the forest floor, all the wind knocked out of her and her elytra still strapped securely on her back. She couldn’t say the same for Ren. There was groaning coming from a few feet higher in the trees and when Stress looked up, she could see her fellow hermit draped over a tree limb, missing both his elytra and his bag.

It took a few seconds for Stress to compose herself. Pushing herself off of the ground and trying to clear her head of the headache that was only growing. The ground was covered in frost already, some reaching up against the trunks of the trees around her like climbing vines. Her elytra felt much heavier due to the fact both Ren’s elytra and bag were attached to it. Slowly, she detached it from her back and untangled the items before readdressing the RenDog in the tree.

In her busy work, Ren head started to get up and was leaning against the trunk of the tree. The light around him was darker than it should have been like a shadow was cast over him that wasn’t actually there. He held his head in pain, along with his stomach where he had hit the tree branch.

“Are you alive?” Stress asked, still sitting on the grass inside of standing.

“Barely,” Ren joked, opening his eyes. He was quick to compose himself and jump down from the tree, barely wincing at the pain that shot up through his legs from the rough landing. “So, you needed some quartz?”

They both laughed the pain away, commencing a small and quick trade. Stress’ head still was splitting with pain, though, so the quicker that transaction could take place, the better. More than ever did she wish the railway was finished so she could take that inside of trying to fly back to her base without crashing into the side of buildings. Which is something that she did several times. She clipped against the corner of one of ConCorp’s farms and one of the icebergs around her and Iskall’s base. Eventually, though, she landed on the top of her base.

She decided that it would probably be best to sleep this headache away rather than do any work, lest the odd lighting of the lower tunnels send her head spiraling in pain more than it already was. She descended down to the basement, where most of her things still were as she hadn’t moved much of it since finishing most of the actual base.

As she reached the ground, she looked out on an entire mess of things. As usual, there were snow golems everywhere, but significantly less than normal as the nether portal was still open.

“Damn it!” she yelled in frustration, her headache peaking in pain. The frozen ground rippled and wavered, sending shock waves up the wall. Where the ripples concentrated, towering spikes of ice grew from the walls and floor and ceiling. It skewered golems, broke the portal, and threw chests onto their side.

She immediately felt an incoming call buzzing in her pocket. She quickly clicked the button on the side, sending the call to her earpiece. At first, all she heard was rushing water, the sound easing her head temporarily before a voice cut in.

“Hey, Stress,” Iskall said in a slightly nervous tone. It was very hard to hear him, he seemed to be underwater. “The surface of the water above my base has seemed to frozen over and I can’t get out.”

“Are you okay?” Stress asked quickly, her bad mood turning to panic that made the ice spikes shrink and twist into sharper, spindly shapes that curled into thorny vines. “I’m coming right over.”

“Hey, chill out,” he joked. “It’s super cold down here but I have a conduit. Calm down for a bit, I just wanted to see if you were alright.”

Stress sighed, her shoulders dropping in relief. She sat down on her bed and flopped backward. Her legs dangled off the side as she laid horizontal with her bed. She pulled a pillow over from the top of it and set it under her head, feeling almost immediate relief.

“I have a really bad headache and some of my snow golems wandered into the nether because I didn’t close the portal,” she complained. “I also wasn’t able to get enough quartz and almost passed out in the nether… It hasn’t been a great day.”

She heard ice breaking on the other end, making the pain in her head spike suddenly. She visibly winced, but the sound of water went away and the sound of the cold wind replaced it.

“That sounds like a horrible day!” Iskall sympathized, no longer muffled by water. “I’ll be over soon with soup and healing potions.”

Stress laughed and curly up in her bed, throwing a few blankets over herself. “I’m fine now, getting some rest,” she assured. “You don’t need to come over.”

“If you say so…” Iskall said, trailing off slightly. “Talk to you later, Stress.”

“See you later,” Stress said, hanging up as she drifted off into sleep.

Stress awoke to whispers and she thought she was going crazy. Her eyes snapped open to the cold, open area of her basement and quickly scanned over every inch of her base. Chests were still thrown to the side but the ice spikes that head grown from every available surface head melted into slightly risen ice humps that made the floor uneven and bumpy in some places. It hadn’t been the first time this had happened.

She sighed, calming down from her surprise of waking up. She laid back down, staring at the ceiling of her base and the imposing height above her. She saw wings flapping at the ceiling as she closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

Her eyes snapped open and she sat upright in bed, looking up towards the flapping wings. High above her head were three figures, trying poorly to blend into the dark ceiling. Flying up there was a Grian holding an Iskall and a Ren in hand. Iskall was shushing both Grian and Ren, who were whispering, a sound that echoed off of the walls of the basement without much effort.

“Quiet, quiet!” Iskall tried, exclaiming it a bit too loud.

“Guys, she clearly sees us,” Ren said.

Ren was the first to let go of Grian, gliding down on his own elytra and landing on top of the messy pile of chests that Stress was going to have to clean up. Grain flew down, bringing Iskall with him as they both landed on the semi-solid ground of ice.

“We brought soup!” Grian exclaimed, fishing a canister from his pack, along with a couple of bowls.

“And cookies!” Ren added, grabbing a small sack from his side bag.

“And quartz,” Iskall said, taking a shulker box out and setting it on the ground next to her.

Stress swung her legs out of bed, taking the blanket with her as she sat on its edge. She tapped twice on the shulker box and looked inside. Inside was 19 stacks of quartz slabs. Just what she needed to finish the tunnel.

The smile on her face was as bright as the sun. She threw her blanket off, the fabric landing in a pile at the foot of her bed. She leaped over the shulker box and threw herself at Grian and Iskall, who were the closest to her, being actually on the ground and not on a pile of chests. The hug was clunky, Grian and Iskall’s shoulders making hard contact and Stress hitting her forehead against Iskall’s ear, but her chest bubbled with happiness from everything that surrounded her.

“Awe, I don’t get a hug?” Ren asked, climbing down from the pile.

“Get in here you dunce!” Stress exclaimed, laughing along with Grian and Iskall.

So, maybe it wasn’t the worst day she’d ever had.

[laudsimogen]

Turn Away and Return Ch. 2

Summary: A stray daemon has been wandering around the Salvatore School campus ever since the portal to Malivore closed, and Josie intends to find out why. When she finally pieces together his story, she finds much more than she bargained for, including a girl she could swear she’s already falling in love with. AU: Daemons Pairing: Hope/Josie Length: 1,772 

Read it on AO3

Previous chapter:  Ásfriðr Chapter 2: Hope Next chapter: You’re Lying to Yourself

Josie couldn’t keep her eyes off of the girl with the twin braids on the MFHS football team. She was new, along with a few other students, but something about her immediately drew Josie’s attention in a way the others didn’t.

She drew Landon’s attention, too. His gaze lingered on her even when he should have been paying attention to the ball, not that Josie could blame him. She was beautiful—but then again, there were a lot of beautiful people on both teams. There was something else there.

It wasn’t until the girl crashed full-force into Landon that Josie instinctively felt her stomach lurch, because she didn’t have a flying daemon or a fast one who could follow her on foot, and she didn’t have a breakaway pocket on her uniform for slower daemons like Pernilla. Whatever her daemon was, they had to be small enough to hide inside her clothes, and if they got crushed beneath her—

But she was fine besides a twisted ankle. She hobbled off toward the nurse’s office looking perfectly unshaken considering she could have just died for playing a contact sport with, what, a spider daemon? Maybe she was used to it and they’d learned to play it safely, but again Josie got the overwhelming feeling that something wasn’t right.

She set off after her. There wouldn’t be any harm in talking to her, right? Making sure she found the nurse’s office? It was a bit of a stretch, but Josie couldn’t resist the chance to get a moment alone with her.

But when she got to the school, the girl wasn’t in the nurse’s office or anywhere between it and the front door.

“Maybe she went to look for a bathroom?” Reuven suggested. “Come on, we should get back to the game.”

“Hold on. I just want to look around real quick.”

A quick search of the first floor yielded nothing, and against Reuven’s protests, Josie headed upstairs.

“What are you doing?” he whispered. “What do you expect to say if you find her?”

“At this point?” Josie said. “‘Why are you wandering around my school?’ would work. ‘What are you looking for?’ ‘Can I help you?’”

Reuven peeked through Landon’s open door as Josie passed it. “Okay,” he said. “How about, ‘What are you doing in my friend’s room?’”

Josie stopped and backtracked. Sure enough, the girl was sitting cross-legged on Landon’s floor with a map unrolled in front of her. She looked up at Josie, wide-eyed, and said, “I can explain.”

Josie crossed her arms. “All right,” she said. “Explain.”

“I’m helping Dr. Saltzman with Rafael,” the girl said. “I know a lot about the Crescent Wolf Clan; I’m just tracking him down so that I can turn him back.”

“He asked you for help?”

The girl nodded. “Look, I know this is weird, but I’m kind of in a hurry. They’re probably missing you at the game. Why don’t you go back and I’ll make sure Raf is okay?”

Josie frowned. “Why wouldn’t he be okay? What aren’t you telling me?”

The girl scooped the map off the floor and stood up. “There’s a monster out there that hunts werewolves. But it’ll be fine; I can handle it.”

“There’s another monster and your dad told a stranger about it before you?” Reuven whispered into Josie’s ear. She gently swatted him away.

“I’m coming with you,” Josie said. “I know the area and I know how to fight.”

The girl hesitated, but gave in. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.” She paused. “I’m Hope, by the way.”

***

Josie was a bit distracted keeping the shunka at bay to realize that when Hope ran off as a wolf, there was still no sign of a daemon with her. Once they were both out of sight, though, she did notice the pair of round green eyes watching from behind a large bush.

“Ásfriðr?” She headed toward the bush, but the eyes disappeared and the leaves trembled as the cat daemon pressed closer to the center of the bush. “I thought you left.”

“Go away. Now.”

Josie frowned. His voice sounded different, rougher and much more animalistic than before. “I’m not going to freeze you again,” she said. “I won’t do anything to you. But what are you doing back here?”

She knelt down to peer through the branches of the bush. She could barely see a patch of Ásfriðr’s cinnamon fur through the leaves, but she didn’t want to risk touching him if she dug through the bush.

When he spoke, Ásfriðr’s words came out as more of a growl. “I told you to leave,” he said. “I humored you before, but I can’t do that again. Get away from me.”

Josie backed up, but Reuven crept under the lowest branches before she could tell him not to. She felt the pain in her hand before she realized what had happened. Reuven darted to her chest and she held him there instinctively, just catching a glimpse of the tip of Ásfriðr’s tail as he disappeared through the undergrowth. He’d scratched at Reuven and made a break for it.

“It’s not bad,” he said as he flexed his wing to show the small scratch, but Josie could feel that the pain had already faded. “He just surprised me.”

“You should have backed off,” Josie said. “He obviously didn’t want us to see him.”

“I know. And I know why.” Reuven looked toward where Ásfriðr had gone. “He was wolfed out, Jo. He’s her daemon.”

Josie blinked. “What? He said she was—”

“Well, she’s back, obviously.”

“You’re sure he was wolfed out?”

“You only heard his voice,” Reuven said. “I saw him. He’s huge. His claws and his teeth…I mean, if he actually wanted to hurt us, he could have. Easily.”

“He couldn’t resist seeing her,” Josie murmured. “If she’s back, why aren’t they together? And who is she?”

“I don’t know. But she’ll be back again once she kills that thing or finds Raf. What are you going to say?”

***

Hope had left campus by the time Josie found out she’d gotten Raf home safe and sound. Part of her was disappointed, but another part was relieved. What do you say to someone whose existence you’ve forgotten? She had no memories of what they might have been through together, no idea how much Hope actually knew about her, how close they had been. Acquaintances? Best friends? It was impossible to tell.

“Stop thinking about it,” Reuven said gently. “If you see her again, you can decide what to say then. You have studying to do now.”

“I know,” Josie said. “It’s just—”

She cut off as a scratching noise sounded at her door. She furrowed her brow and exchanged a glance with Reuven before getting up; it didn’t sound like the rats she’d been hearing lately.

When she opened the door, she found Ásfriðr waiting in the hallway.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said. “Can we talk?”

Josie glanced down the hallway, but nobody else was in sight. “Did someone tell you where I was, or did you just know where my room is?”

Ásfriðr stayed silent, but Josie stepped aside to let him in. She knew the answer, anyway. She sat on her bed indicated a spot at the end where he could sit. He settled down on the corner, but he didn’t look very relaxed. Josie couldn’t blame him.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he said. “But I’m pissed off and I’m so tired of hiding. I’m sure you’ve put together part of my situation by now.”

“You’re Hope’s daemon,” Josie said. “She went into Malivore and you didn’t.”

Ásfriðr nodded. “I told her not to,” he said. “I begged her, actually, but she was dead set on it. I was trying to respect her wishes by keeping this secret from all of you, but you deserve to know.”

Josie frowned. “You didn’t go in with her because you didn’t agree with it?”

“It was an accident.” Ásfriðr grimaced. “There’s someone else you’ve forgotten, someone bad. A golem. I was busy fighting his daemon, but she was made of mud as much as he was, and I was struggling with it. I just thought that if I could destroy her enough to get him out of the way, we’d have one less problem to deal with. They fell into the pit without us.”

Josie shivered, and Reuven crept closer to Ásfriðr. He nestled his small form into the fur of Ásfriðr’s chest, and for a moment the cat daemon tensed, but then the tension fell away.

“I’m so sorry,” Reuven whispered.

“What’s done is done,” Ásfriðr said, but his voice sounded gentler now as he gazed down at Reuven.

“So, there’s just a mud daemon wandering around out there, too?” Josie said.

“Yes. But I doubt I'd recognize her if I saw her. And anyway, I don’t know whether she’s really his soul or if she’s just there to make him look more human.”

Josie hummed. She was almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. “Why aren’t you with Hope right now, now that she’s back?”

“You have no idea what it felt like,” Ásfriðr snapped. “How badly it hurt. It all could have been avoided if she would have just listened to me. All of that pain and her plan didn’t even work.”

Josie flinched and tried to think of how she would feel it had been her and Reuven. It was impossible to imagine, but she did know one thing. “I’m sure she misses you.”

Ásfriðr’s hackles raised for a moment, then dropped back down. If a cat could cry, Josie was sure he would have tears in his eyes. “I miss her, too, but I don’t even know how to be with her anymore. Not like I was.” He sighed. “I should be going.”

“You can stay here if you want,” Reuven said quickly. “I mean, it’s got to be better than the woods.”

“I don’t know,” Ásfriðr said. “I’m not sure I’m ready for the whole school to know about me. Lizzie will tell somebody, and then it’ll spread…Even if it doesn’t, I can’t live in your room. It would just be too weird.”

It was strange hearing him mention her sister, but it only pounded in what Josie already knew: this daemon knew them. Hope knew them.

“Why don’t you just rest here for a while?” Josie said. “Lizzie’s off looking for some boy or something. She won’t be back until later. And I’ve got homework I can do in the library.”

Ásfriðr thought for a long moment, then sighed. “Okay,” he said. “Thank you.”

[etlunainmorte]

❤ I See My Future Before Me ❤

***

XXV.B

***

Vergil landed on the wrecked balcony of Fleminger’s mansion, clearly noticing its quite undisturbed state despite the Dreadnought’s massive ambuscade. The sprawling mansion, itself, still stood in one piece. The once majestic ballroom may be reduced to a complete ruin due to the Electric Furies’ attack last Saturday and Nico’s reckless driving last Tuesday but, the rest of the huge building’s parts were still intact.

With the Yamato on his hand, he cautiously entered the dark and silent premises, hoping for Fleminger to show up,…

“My Lord?” A familiar voice uttered from a distance. He squinted his eyes, trying to see through the darkness, when he noticed the Master of the house standing at a safe distance away from the entrance.

“Fleminger?” He called as he went closer, and the moment he did, he was unnerved to see the man looking really pale, like he just lost a lot of blood.

“My Lord!” He exclaimed triumphantly, his hands clasped as if in a prayer. “How wonderful to see you finally succeed!”

“Tell me,” Vergil cut him off. “… the Dreadnought. Why is it still alive? I drove the Yamato through her sister’s body and obtained her power. She should be weakened. I demand an explanation.”

“My Lord,” Fleminger began. “… I’m afraid to say that,… you have not gained everything.”

“And what do you mean by those words?”

“Inside the girl lies,… another. You may have her unmatched strength and her ability to look into the future but, you have yet to gain the most powerful ally.”

At the mere prospect of gaining more power, Vergil’s eyes clearly widened with interest. “And that is?”

Tired eyes red and pale hands rubbing against long, black, satin bishop sleeves, Fleminger spoke to him, “Immortality, my Lord. You have yet to gain her immortality. Acquire this and you shall be able put an end to the Dreadnought, once and for all. Obtain this,…” the man licked his dry lips and smiled at him. “… and you will be the most powerful being in existence. Even greater than Mundus, or Sparda, himself.”

Vergil glanced at the man with scrutinizing eyes, searching for something in Fleminger that could betray him of any kind of deceit. And when he found none, he nodded, then turned away from him.

“Then, I shall obtain it. And put an end to that Demon.”

“Even with obstacles before you?” Fleminger innocently asked just when another visitor arrived at the mansion. Vergil found out that it was none other than his son, Nero, himself.

“He is never an obstacle.” The father stated, regarding his own son with complete apathy. “Just a child who lost his way.”

“YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE!” Nero fumed as blue light radiated from his body, engulfing him and slowly changing him to his Devil form. “V, VERGIL, WHATEVER YOU CALL YOURSELF: FUCK YOU!”

The young Devil Hunter summoned Dante’s sword and charged forward with every intention of beating his father.

But, Vergil had other plans.

With one swift movement, he pulled out what’s left of the black contract markings from his neck, the thick, mysterious ink sticking to his fingers like glue, forcibly summoning both Shadow and Nightmare in the process.

While the golem started mindlessly destroying the place, the demonic feline only looked at Vergil in confusion, asking ‘why?’ without actual words. And this made Nero stop.

“I don’t have time for this.” Vergil told his son. “Play with these nightmares. Kill them, if you must.

“I’m done with them.”

“What are you - ?!”

With those empty words, the cold man simply walked out, changing into the light being once more as he arrived at the balcony, and soared into the skies in pursuit of his final goal. Nero was about to go after him when the abandoned familiars started attacking him.

For a brief moment, Vergil’s eyes scanned the ground below him like an eagle in search of his prey, swiftly descending when he finally spotted the remains of the Dreadnought. He morphed back to his mortal form once his feet touched the ground and made his way towards two distinct figures along the fleshy debris of Shinano Musashi.

That’s when he saw something else,…

… the girl, or what looked like her spirit,…

… who was sitting on the ground just beside her and Dante’s body.

Her head bowed down low, her tears spilling on her lap, her hands on the girl’s limp and bloody hands, she wept for her, her mournful sobs filling the silent place.

And then, Vergil realized,…

“You,…”

The girl looked up, her eyes wide with fear. He knew she wasn’t (Y/N), and yet,…

… the resemblance,…

… was uncanny.

“Vergil,” she uttered, her voice sounding awfully familiar. Like he heard it somewhere before. “… she’s dying. Please, help her. Please!”

And he thought she was already done for! One look at her told him that she’s hopeless with those fatal wounds. No other mortal could survive those.

But, of course, the being was still healing her despite her incorrigible state.

“Why are you still helping her?” He questioned, not caring about (Y/N)’s condition. “She’s dying. There’s nothing you could do to help her.”

The being glanced back at the girl, grasping her hands as tightly as she could as she still tried to heal her. “I,… never lost my faith in her,…” she explained, then looked up once more at him. “… and neither in you, Vergil.”

Her voice,…

The way she uttered his name plucked something in his heart. He knew he had seen her before, heard her voice even. He just couldn’t remember when or how exactly.

“Listen, what you are doing right now is,… futile.” Vergil urged on. “There is no power in this cruel world that could save that weak mortal. Accept her fate and face your one true Master.”

The being closed her eyes, her tears endlessly streaming down, and shook her head in denial.

Vergil sighed. He didn’t want to use the Yamato against her. The being was small and looked weak and fragile, like its resemblance. He knew he could obtain her and her power of immortality. He just needed one last push, or else,…

He pointed at the sky and spoke, “Her sister is wreaking havoc as I speak. If you do not come with me now, the whole world, and humanity, itself, will truly be annihilated, and you would no longer serve any kind of Master.” He prodded on, his patience slowly reaching its limit. “You do not want to make this any more difficult for the both of us.” He exclaimed, then extended a hand towards the being, wanting it to take it. “Come with me. Now.”

The being only looked at him, her facial expression quite difficult to read. “You must understand that, by acquiring my power, not only will you gain immortality, you will also gain the absolute knowledge of my current vessel.”

Absolute knowledge? “I understand.”

“By my sister Andromeda, you became the Protector of The Present. By my sister Cassandra, you gained the Aspect of The Future. By me, the last of the Sisters of Fate, you shall carry the burden of the past. Do you understand?”

Vergil sighed. “Yes.”

The being inhaled, looking like it was actually contemplating its decisions like a normal human being.

Her emotions, her gestures,…

… those eyes,…

In fact, she really was like a normal human girl,…

“Do you, Vergil Sparda, accept all of these conditions?”

“I do.” He gave his unwavering answer.

“Then,” she answered, finally taking Vergil’s hand. “… reunite, we shall, Master Vergil. I pray you do not regret,… your decision.”

The moment their hands made contact, the last of the Sisters of Fate vanished, her body turning into little orbs. These orbs then went directly to Vergil’s skin, merging with him, becoming one with him,…

“V,…”

When he finally succeeded in absorbing the last being, he heard a familiar female voice. His sight was abruptly stolen from him, making him drop the Yamato on the ground. His consciousness was swiftly brought to a place he didn’t know existed. He felt he was floating, hovering for a long time, and when he finally gained his sight back, he saw,…

… her memories.

(Y/N)’s memories.

All of it.

And they came crashing down in huge flashes before him,…

“I love you, Mama! I love you, Papa!”

“STOP HURTING PAPA!”

“NO! DON’T TAKE THEM AWAY! DON’T LEAVE US!”

“I’m here, (S/N). I will never leave you,…”

“What did you do to my sister?!”

“I’m sorry,…”

“Who are you?!”

“ALL OF YOU, DIE!”

“Where am I?!”

“I was not perfect. And I failed to protect her because of it.”

“There is,… someone,… in my visions. A man - with white hair. He plays the violin,…”

“I must fulfill the wish!”

“Nico, make this for me!”

“I was looking for someone,…”

“I said,… STAY!”

“Nico, it’s him! The man in my visions! The one with the markings on his skin!”

“I will protect you, V.”

“Do you know Titanic, V?”

“I think you should go see the world for yourself,…”

“I want to know what’s bothering you,…”

“V!”

“V?”

“V, please,…”

“I love you, V,…”

Vergil closed his eyes and covered his ears to shut the flood of memories away. He screamed, begging for the visions to stop plaguing him.

Then, everything went silent, as simple as that. He could no longer hear her voice, nor see her memories. It was as if the voices and the memories got sucked into oblivion, never to be seen again. The whole world was plunged into total darkness.

And then, he heard it. Another voice but, it sounded different. It did not feel chaotic. It was calm.

“I’ve waited a hundred years. I’d wait,… a million more for you,…”

A male voice sang gently just when a little orb of light appeared from a distance. Vergil took a step forward, longing to reach its warmth and protection,…

“Nothing prepared me for,… what the privilege of being yours would do,…”

Vergil was transported to a big empty studio where a man was sitting in front of a piano, singing those soothing words.

And then, he saw her right on the corner. It was (Y/N). And she looked just the same, long (H/C) hair tied in a ponytail, graceful movements, perfect posture,…

She looked very much alive and vibrant.

“That beautiful song,… what is it about?” She asked the man on the piano, her curiosity endearing, her voice achingly lovely.

“It’s about a man who regrets the loss of a loved one and the woman who loves him the most. The love of his life. Whom he could no longer be with.” He answered, playing some notes, then sang once more. “If I have only felt the warmth,… within your touch,…”

“Could you,…” she began, positioning herself in the middle of the empty room. “… start from the beginning?”

The man smiled as his hands gently glided on the keys once more.

And just as he began playing, Vergil heard a thunderclap. He turned to look at the windows and realized it was raining outside. He, then, glanced back at the middle of the room, and saw,…

… his former fragile self sitting on the floor with his first demonic familiar, Griffon, just behind him, watching (Y/N) as she began dancing to the man’s song.

He could still remember this exact moment on that abandoned studio that one rainy day. All he could hear by then was the sound of the rain, the thunder, and her light steps.

But, now, it was as if the two memories, his and hers, overlapped and merged into one sad vision, finally enabling him to hear the song she danced to and see once more how graceful and delicate she was.

With the sweet music, the sound of the rain and the thunder vanished. He listened as the man began playing and watched as the girl began dancing.

“I’ve waited a hundred years.

I’d wait a million more,… for you.

Nothing prepared me for,

What the privilege of being yours,… would do.

If I had only felt,… the warmth within your touch.

If I had only seen,… how you smile,… when you blush.

Or how you curl your lip,… when you concentrate enough,

Oh, I would’ve known,… what I’ve been living for,… all along.

What I’ve been living,… for.”

The music gradually went louder as the girl began twirling, her raw movements in time with the music.

“Your love is my turning page,

Where only the sweetest words,… remain.

Every kiss is a cursive line,

Every touch is a redefining phrase.

I surrender who I’ve been,… for who you are.

For nothing makes me stronger than,

… your fragile heart.

If I had only felt how it feels,… to be yours,

Oh, I would’ve known,… what I’ve been living for,…

… all along,…”

He felt his tears fall down just as the former him began weeping with her movements alone.

He never actually felt,… how it feels to be hers,…

And now, he not only left her, he hurt her, as well,…

… for such a stupid thing as absolute power.

He chose power,… over her.

Over the woman,…

… he now knew he truly loved.

And not because she had the ability to lure Demons like what Fleminger told him, no.

It was because of who and everything she was.

“What I’ve been living for.”

“Ah! I’m so sorry! I would never do this again! I - ”

Vergil snapped from his reverie as he saw his former self hugging her tightly, not wanting to let her go.

“Hey, it’s okay.” She reassured him. “I’ll never leave you. I promise,… ”

All of a sudden, the sweet memory abruptly changed to that of the times when he neglected her, rejected her, and that moment when he,…

“I love you, V.”

“I choose,… POWER!”

But, still, the song remained,…

“Though we’re tethered,

To the story we would tell.

When I saw you,

Oh, I knew we’d tell it well,…

With a whisper,… we will tame the vicious seas.

Like a feather,

Bringing kingdoms to,… their knees,…”

“What matters is that you still have precious people around you, my Lady. You must focus on not losing them, as well.”

“THE PAST WILL WEEP, THE PRESENT WILL KNEEL, AND THE FUTURE WILL DIE!”

Vergil opened his eyes, feeling his tears on his face as he stared at her lifeless body on the ground. And when the thoughts of those painful visions went back to him,…

… he fell on his knees,…

… right before the woman he loved above all else.

And on that heart - wrenching moment, he suddenly felt his own sword drive through him, its tip sticking out of his stomach, dripping with his own blood.

And with that swift, decisive moment, the Sisters of Fate left his body and went directly to whoever stabbed him.

Just like that, they were stolen away from him.

He changed back to his former fragile self, crumbling, wheezing,…

… dying,…

Vergil,… was no more.

He felt the Yamato being pulled away from him as he coughed blood. He fell on the ground just beside (Y/N) and glanced up to find Fleminger with the Yamato.

“There was,… one vital part you didn’t know about the story of the Dreadnought, my Lord.” The Master, the true enemy and traitor, began, theatrically swinging the Yamato like a cane.

“F - flemin - g - ger,…” V wheezed, his blood staining the ground beneath him, his rage for the man, who was the cause of all this madness, overtaking his whole being.

“There has never been a Dreadnought, or a Shinano Musashi, to begin with. They were only made up. But,… there was a girl named (S/N) (L/N). She was the most perfect girl in all of existence, and my ancestors chose her to be the vessel of Pandemonium, a Demon whose powers rival that of Mundus’. Even greater.

"And Pandemonium did choose her eventually. My ancestors were about to achieve immortality through her when her sister, by the name of (Y/N) (L/N), happened to massacre almost all of them in rage, including the orphans they were raising. Apparently, she was chosen by three equally powerful beings - the Sisters Of Fate, Cassandra, Andromeda, and Galatea - to fulfill another mission. And that mission is to locate you, protect you, and reunite the Sisters back to Sparda’s family.”

Flemiger walked around V, who was squirming in pain and cowering with fear.

“It seems she succeeded on that mission of hers. You obtained power through her, and I took it from you. I fulfilled my revenge on (Y/N) for murdering my ancestors, thanks to you, my Lord. And for that, I will forever be grateful.” The fiend expressed his sincere gratitude towards V. “Oh, and letting Pandemonium, who will only answer to me, destroy everything she wanted was only a collateral.”

Fleminger sheathed the Yamato and went to the opposite direction. But, before he left, he turned back to V and smiled at him. He even threw a piece of a familiar leather fabric at him. And in complete horror, he realized whose it was.

It belonged to him,…

Nero,… V thought, his hopes shattering. My,… son,…

“Oh, and have I told you that Galatea, who was the Bearer of The Past, kept (Y/N)’s body safe and in stasis for a hundred years just for you? After all, she was the one who searched through different timelines for the perfect vessel. I did say that the tragedy of Fortuna happened a hundred years ago, am I right, my Lord?” He raised the Yamato at him like a salute of some sort then bowed. “Farewell, son of Sparda.”

And with those final words, Fleminger left him.

V felt the whole world around him fall apart as the Dreadnought - (S/N) - started firing her destructive lasers once more.

And who could blame her? After seeing her beloved sister suffer at the hands of the man she loved, could she still think of anyone worthy of redemption?

***

His hand went to the fatal wound on his stomach. The pain was actually going away as he slowly felt numbness taking over his whole body. Well, he was truly dying now.

And he will die just like that - alone, weak,…

… pathetic,…

And he knew he deserved it.

He crawled towards (Y/N) and reached for her cold hands. He, then, made an effort to pull her towards him for one last embrace.

It was then that he remembered their conversation inside the abandoned studio just after her dance.

“Can you quote something from Shakespeare?” He fondly remembered her asking him with a shy and awkward smile. “After all, Griffon always calls you Shakespeare,…”

“Oh, here will I set up,… my everlasting rest and shake the yoke of,… inauspicious stars from this,… world - wearied,… flesh!”

V quoted, then coughed blood once more. He wrapped (Y/N) in his embrace, not wanting to let her go in this final moment.

“… eyes look,… your last. Arms, take your last embrace. And lips,… oh you the doors of,… breath,… seal with a righteous kiss,… a dateless,… bargain,… to engrossing death,…”

He gently kissed her forehead and took a deep breath, feeling the whole world around him vanish with complete darkness as his eyesight became blurry.

“… if only,… I could go back,… and change,… everything,…”

He whispered, regrets drowning him as his eyelids closed,…

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

“Master, open your eyes!”

“G - gala - t - tea?”

***

❤❤❤

***

[ronan-dreaming]

Things are getting exciting! In this session, we meet an old... friend? of Falón’s father, meet up with some old friends of our own, and begin our journey... Beyond the Sea. 

Falón is, naturally, very shocked at being called a rat bastard and being mistaken for his father, again, by a complete stranger. When he turns around, however, she looks surprised and admits embarrassment at confusing Falón with Raf, but Falón does hesitantly admit that Raf is his father. This stranger looks rather grim at this information, but not necessarily surprised.

When she asks who his other parent is, she IS surprised to hear that it’s Esteleth, and admits that she thought Esteleth had more sense than that.

The woman goes on to say that although Raf may be charming, he’s also a “plague on this earth” and not someone that should have kids. Falón, looking very alarmed, asks what exactly Rafael did. The woman responds, “Nothing good, ever, in his life.”

Eventually we move onto the topic of what our business is in Zaramuth, and she tells us that she knows Dagra and can take us to her home. Falón asks for her name, and she introduces herself as Nalvia Steelfist. Falón introduces the rest of us, then we head to Dagra’s. On the way, Nalvia explains that she and her wife are also forgers and are essentially neighbors with Dagra.

As we walk we take a look at the forgers hard at work and notice that many things being worked on look.... people shaped. Falón asks about them, and Nalvia says “forgers forge a lot of things these days”. When he asks for more specific information, she says that they’re “insurance” against invasions. Golems maybe??

We arrive at Dagra’s! Before leaving, Nalvia says we should avoid Dovheim at all costs. Bree asks why, and she adds, “If that slimy bastard is still alive, that’s where he’ll be” and that we should really never meet him, ever. Falón looks incredibly shaken up and asks if she can tell us what he did.

Nalvia considers him for a moment, then says she doesn’t know him well enough for that story. He concedes, and Nalvia bids us farewell.

Chrys greets Dagra, who is very shocked to see us, specifically Chrys. She says that she thought were were dead and invites us inside. Chrys hints to Dagra what we came for ( “you know, the thing..... the item for the thing...”), and she very kindly fetches it for us. She confirms that Chrys is still planning to do “the thing” and also asks if we need any further help. When Chrys says it would be better for her not to help further, she offers to let us pile into the guest room, and when we settle in, Falón regarding his hunger.

Falón is doing very badly. Bree suggest we find some livestock so he doesn’t have to feed on a friend or stranger. However, when they ask Dagra about livestock in the city (using the guise of curiosity since Bree used to live on a farm and hasn’t seen any livestock in the city), we find out that there aren’t any kept below ground.

Chrys suggests that he just... finds someone, and Falón is horrified at the thought. Bree joins Chrys in offering to find someone for him so he doesn’t have to do the murdering himself, and Falón still says no. Then, Bree suggests someone bleed for him a little while he’s being held back, and Finryn thinks that could work. Falón, although hesitant, does ask Chrys to put him to sleep so they can force feed him without risk of him attacking them.

After Falón sleeps to sleep, we all take turns bleeding into one of our waterskins to carefully feed him. It takes most of the night, but after we’re done Falón is about halfway sated and remains awake for the rest of the night while the others get as much sleep as they can. 

The next morning at breakfast, Falón tries to eat some bacon but finds it revolting and can’t even keep it in his mouth. Dagra asks if he’s a vegetarian, and Falón awkwardly goes along with it before she asks us about our future plans. 

Bree tells her we need to find a port city and Dagra suggests Kalathur. We all kind of grimace at the thought and Bree mentions that there’s a warrant out of them for some “political stuff” and Dagra nods. Bree, jokingly, adds “you know, you insult someone and you act like you killed their son” and through a couple of other amusing tidbits, it’s revealed that yes, we did kill a politician’s son in Kalathur. Dagra suggests the underground river that runs below Zaramuth and passes under Kalathur as well, and asks if we’re on good standing with the Band of the Bear. Falón gladly points out that Bree is in the Band, and Dagra tells us that the river runs right under their headquarters.

We discuss when to leave, and Bree sends a Message at the table to Falón suggesting we return to the ox we left above ground for him to snack on. We tell Dagra we’ll meet her after running a few errands, then head up to the surface. Falón goes to feed on the ox... and although it doesn’t taste bad, it also doesn’t sate his hunger at all. 

Disappointed, we head back into the city and pick up some standard rations before meeting Dagra and heading deeper into the earth to the river. We pay the boatman for safe travel and he leads us onto a gondola-like boat before departing. Our travel goes well, if not boring, but we’re all nervous about entering Kalathur again.

After about 4 or 5 days of dark, silent travel, we enter a wider passage where a familiar figure stands off to the side and waves us over. It’s Rowan!!

They welcome us back and evade Bree’s questions about how they’ve been lately, before leading us up into the lower levels of the guildhouse. Once upstairs, Rowan tells us they didn’t want to talk in the tunnels, but a lot has happened. Bree tells them we’re headed to catch a ship for Dovheim thanks to being drafted by Rainora, and Rowan lets us know that Kalathur has sided with Rainora in the war. They also tell us that we’re still wanted, but not as intensely as before as Nolenor’s family has fallen from grace and is no longer one of the 4 lead families in the city.

Bree, hesitantly, asks if Achilles ever made it back. Rowan visibly winces and we realize just how tired they look. They tell us he was underground for a while while they figured things out, but then he became troubled, started hearing voices and had dreams that he couldn’t shake, and now it’s been 6 months since they’ve had any contact with him. Bree asks about the dreams and if they were about the Train, and Rowan says some were, but he also had a persistent delusion that he couldn’t be talked out of. Bree tells Rowan that they don’t have to talk about it with everyone present, and Chrys and Zoved obligingly go upstairs.

Rowan hesitates until Bree says that if anyone were to know what Achilles was going through, it would be them. Rowan then shares that Achilles had a delusion that Rowan was going to die and he became paranoid about it.

During their discussion, Rowan mentions that he believes Achilles may have gone to Dovheim for some reason, as none of their scouts have seen him on this continent.

That evening, Bree prays to the Raven Queen for guidance, and also to hope that Achilles and Tirnel are both okay. They offer up a moonstone we found in Aimo’s manor, and by morning it’s disappeared.

Once everyone has fallen asleep, Falón sneaks out. He stops an attempted mugging and chomps on the mugger, draining him completely of blood. Now fully sated and somewhat high on the thrill of it, he returns to the guildhouse to sleep.

The next morning Rowan asks if we’re prepared to head out. On our way, we see Zefír and Taranir, and Falón goes to greet them. We have a brief conversation, catching up on their lives, before we head out. Rowan leads us to a silver dragonborn in the docks, who charges us a hefty penny for safe passage to Rainora since the dragonborn nation is at war against them. We bit Rowan adieu and board the boat with the captain, who quickly disappears to make final sailing preparations.

Before we can worry about where we’re supposed to stay, an elven woman grabs Falón’s hand and says “You’ll be staying in the passenger hold, I presume?” before leading us below deck... where we realize that it’s FENNETH! When she realizes it’s us, she and Falón hug very tightly for a significant amount of time, then we do a round of introductions for those she hasn’t met yet. Falón’s attention is fully on her and seems impatient for the introductions to end.

She apologizes for leaving so suddenly a year ago and shares that she sent Eredhon ahead to stay with dear old Wrax! Now she’s planning to head overseas to meet up with them. Falón, for like the third time, tells her how good it is to see her again.

We all settle down in a little corner of the passenger hold, and watch as Kalathur drifts slowly behind us.

NOW WE’RE ON A BOAT! Who knows what the rest of this journey holds of us....

[vesperlionheart]

Pompeii 49

History has been, is, and will forever be, a fickle thing. How will history remember the days of upheaval that trail out from the cortex of a single mistake? How will the readers of history interpret these events?

Ash continued to fall through Pompeii, warm like bursts of sunlight, and where they touched blight was no more. It touched their bodies and suddenly their armor was old, like it had been old for ages. Scratches and dents that had never stayed now stood out. The metal weighed heavy on his body, fitting poorly.

Beside him, he could hear his brother stripping and decided to follow suit, saying nothing. A small pile of discard armor grew at their feet, rusting away as soon as it lost contact with their body.

“Sakura!”

He looked up in time to see his brother making the mad dash through the trees to the desecrated shrine. Determined to follow close behind, he spared only a single glance over his shoulder for the boy made out of shadows that they had managed to save from a fate far worse. He would wake in his own time, free of blight or sickness. The whole of Pompeii would soon wake up in much the same way thanks to the ash blessing.

‘More than they deserve,’ he thought darkly.

He had been watching along with his brother for far too many months as each one passed with a little more of her smile, until Sakura was left with a pitiful fragment of her usual cheerfulness. They didn’t know what they did to her when they accused her, they had no idea how their accusation had cut deep enough to wound her psyche.

That had been what Kaguya wanted. When the ceremony to keep her sealed for another year failed that had been the beginning of it all. But, wonder of wonders, what had been impossible centuries ago, before record, before ancestors, before warnings, was now finally realized. An unkillable monstrosity was laid to rest.

Indra turned to follow his brother down the path, racing to catch up. The way was familiar, but where once upon a time there had been a neat clearing with a shrine and lake, now there stood a shattered alter and a twisted, heavy peach tree that loomed over a slowly draining pond. The healing waters were receding with no guarantee they would ever be seen again.  

Ashura had already reached Sakura’s side and was calling out to her when Indra knelt down on her opposite side. He pulled her to him and stared down at her unfocused gaze, glassy from the ash and sweat clinging to her lashes.

She tried to say something but her voice didn’t make it past her lips.

“That’s enough, rest well. Thanks to you, Sakura, Pompeii is safe,” Indra said.

Her eyes slid completely out of focus and her eyelids fell all the way as the rest of her body sagged into his arms.

Ashura made a strangled noise deep in her throat and reached to tug at the scraps of shirt around her neck. She wore a collar of bruises, blooming into color with the promise of darkening later on. There was blood in places where her clothes ripped too, likely the result from being thrown around like a rag doll.

“How could she do this to her?” Ashura asked out loud, cataloging each injury and bruise. “It’s brutal.”

“The old gods typically are not less, and you should know better than to put such a thing past our grandmother,” Indra answered while folding Sakura closer to his body with care.

The sight of her made him shake in anger. Her back was bleeding in places from minor scratches in too many places. He could see bruises growing underneath the surface of her skin like far off galaxies drawing closer into view. Like his brother, he was more distraught than he remembered ever being when he saw the state their favorite person was in.

“She’ll recover, won’t she?” Ashura asked as he stood to follow his brother.

Indra looked to the water that were once a source of healing and frowned at how dead it now seemed. Ashura understood the look and leapt for what was left, scooping up some of the water into cupped hands to bring back to Sakura’s form. He washed her arms and back this way, but whatever magic had once existed in the water was null now.

“It’s not working,” Ashura panicked.

“That’s not the only thing we can do for her. Grab the other one, the companion, and take him with us.”

Ashura moved to grab Yamato and turn the man over to better haul up into a fireman’s carry. “Where are we going?”   

“Pompeii will provide a haven. Come, we should leave this place least grandmother’s blight linger in some ill way.”  

Ashura grunted in understandment, shuffling the man on his shoulders until he became comfortable. “I doubt there is anything left if we’re both here like this. Grandmother’s curse wouldn’t have lifted with anything less.”

Indra hummed in agreement, growing distracted by the cluster of ashflakes that lingered on her long lashes. He blew them away and wished he could do the same for the cuts and bruises making a collar on her neck. She had never seemed more frail or small.

The pair passed the scarred places of earth where they once made battle. They passed the sleeping body of the Nara boy who had dared raise a hand against their Sakura, and they passed several crumbling trees that seemed burned out from the inside. The edge of the forest soon came into view and the two brother made a beeline for it.

“Brother,” Ashura called. “Can you see it, can you tell now what Sakura is?”

Indra refused to blush. “Don’t be crude in such a situation. I wouldn’t dare pry after all she’s done to help us.”

Ashura huffed, less embarrassed by the request. “You have greater insight than I do, brother, and you were blessed with those eyes of yours. I through that you would be able to see what was hidden from you before after everything that’s happened.”

Indra hated how the temptation grew inside of him to peer through the veil of his blessed sight and see the unseen, if only that meant he could know Sakura greater. When they had first met he had distrusted her emphatically and tried repeatedly to devise her true nature. Was she a forest sprite or nymph, was she something older, a foreign god from forgotten or desecrated lands?

The boy she called Shikamaru was so easy to see through. He knew the Nara were Shades, masters of shadow and the great manipulators of darkness. Their offspring was no different. He could see the truth of many others who traveled too close to their perches.

The Senju were all fey, the Uchiha were all tengu, that silver haired one tied to the one named Obito was a golem. The redhead woodcutter was a Golem Warlock. The blond girl who called out to Sakura was a Swan Maiden. They were all so easy to see through. Even the Storm God Pein could be perceived with some effort. He had not encountered an individual he could not see through until…

Sakura.

“It doesn’t matter anymore that I can’t see what she is. She’s something far greater than you or I and what’s more, she’s the creature we owe our lives to. I’ll not ask or pry again. Should she wish to share that with us, it would be my greatest pleasure, but I dare not demand what I do not deserve.”   

“You’re so old fashioned. You make it sound like I asked you to do something nasty,” Ashura chuckled dryly. “I just wanted to know her a little better.”

When Indra looked back he could see that his brother was more depressed than he sounded. Ashura tried to summon a brave front but walked with a weight that came more from his heart and less from the new, physical body.

“Ashura,” he softly called. The younger brother lifted his head only a fraction in response. “We will have plenty of days to get to know her better in our own ways with our own voices. Don’t despair. Pompeii will provide.”

Ashura blinked and straightened, looking at something past his brother’s shoulder. “Provide something like that?”

Both males looked as one as a structure shimmered into focus, here and then there. The brick exterior and ivy growing up the side made it look like it had always been there, always been around, but it rested in the middle of the field between the tree line and the town, far from any road or conventional footpath.  

Indra saw the veins of magic running all throughout the structure and nodded, detecting nothing nefarious about it. The book that sat dead in her backpack was meant for the building, their magical signatures were the same.

“Come, it seems provisions have found us,” Indra said, holding her closer and mounting the first of the steps leading up to the library entrance.

The doors were already opening in their own for the brothers.  

-

Hashirama had his arms folded into the sleeves of his outer robe where they wouldn’t be a distraction to those who knew him well enough to see how white his knuckles were with tension.

“Is that who I think it is?” Minato Namikaze asked stiffly. Beside him Kushina reached for his arm to hold onto as she drew her body closer. Her eyes were wide in a terrifying way.

“If you mean is that the body of Kaguya Otsutsuki who we have been bothering to seal away each year, then the answer is yes, that is who you think it is,” Hashirama’s wife Mito answered cooly. “Count yourself as one of the fortunate few who are so blessed as to walk away from this with your life in place. I have heard a rare few have been so lucky in ages past.”

“No shit, it was the reason we were keeping her sealed I thought,” Shikaku Nara huffed.

The father looked back over his shoulder at his son who sat apart from the group with his head in his hands. Shikamaru had refused to turn around after seeing the shadow play of the whole ordeal the first time. He hadn’t said anything when they called to him, and Shikaku was only mildly worried about what this would mean for his son later on. He was a father, after all. But Shikaku had faith that, eventually, Shikamaru would recover from whatever trauma he was currently dealing with. Now wasn’t the time to rush that sort of healing. The others could wait if they wanted anything more from his son.

“Shikaku,” Hashirama called out. “Show us the shadow play once more.”

Behind them all Shikamaru flinched and held himself tighter. It made Shikaku’s lips draw thin to do something he knew was hurting his son, but there was no choice. It was Hashirama, after all.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Back it up and get out of the way.”

He drew up his magic and hooked it to the natural shadows surrounding the area. Like fabric figures they rose up, forming the outlines of the characters who had run through the forest clearing no more than four hours ago. As long as it was within a day Shikaku would be able to make the shadows show him what happened.

The shadow figures stiffened and then all at once each began to move to their places and play out a scene they had seen several times already. He kept his magic flowing as one figure threw another and then gripped it tight. There was no sound and there was no color, but it was interesting how the brain filled in those details once the shapes and sizes made sense.

Kaguya dove forward, knocking Sakura back against the trunk of the tree. Her hands clasped around Sakura’s neck, claws biting into the soft flesh there. Sakura flailed wildly as streams of blood pooled out from beneath Kaguya’s fingernails, soaking into Sakura’s shirt. Sakura turned the knife in her hand and drove it into Kaguya’s side.

Naruto’s father gasped as if he could actually hear the wound being made.

“And here is where we think she drops Sakura to go to the figure in the tree,” Hashirama intones. He watches the shadow play like some great detective, internet on unraveling every mystery.

“We think it’s Yamato,” Shikaku supplied.

It was what his son told him he heard Sakura say before this whole fight happened. It made sense. Most people knew how devoted the copy was to the new doctor, so it wasn’t too hard to believe that she would be equally devoted.

“We think so, yes,” Hashirama grunted, eyes going dark.

They watched the climax of the fight as Kaguya’s shadow drifted down with a branch sticking out of her head, falling until the shadow lay atop the corpse of the woman they had already discovered. Her body was soaked with ichor that had already been witnessed on multiple accounts from trees cut open. Shikamaru had been seeing the gold ichor for months along with everyone else.

‘And you did nothing!’

“She gets up though, she’s able to do that much,” Minato supplied helpfully. As the words were out of his mouth Sakura’s shadow crumbled against Yamato and slips down, only to be scooped up by two new shadows who leave the area.

“The knights,” Hashirama grumbled. “Who are they?”

“The armor is old, whoever they were. The metal is disintegrating in our hands when we try to touch it, so there’s not a lot we can do to identify it,” Minato said before looking back over his shoulder at his silent wife. Her eyes were still wide and her hand was a vice on his arm.

“Are they a threat?” asked the eldest Senju. “What do we know about them other than they appear only at the end and spirit her off to...nowhere.”

They had followed the shadows until they climbed what seemed to be stairs into a void of space where shadow could not follow. The trail was impossible to track after that.

“They don’t seem to be a friend to Kaguya, if that is what you are worried about. They saved my son, even after he tried to stop Sakura. I don’t think they are figures we need to worry about right now. We-”

“But they took her,” Tobirama interjected, voice hard like his eyes as he stepped through the trees into the clearing. The group turned as one to greet him without words. It is clear the younger Senju has more to say. “They have Sakura right now. That’s more than enough reason to seek them out and track what we can of them. She was hurt.”

“She’s not a danger like we thought she was, we don’t have to do anything,” Hashirama replied. His voice was softer only for his brother.

Hours earlier Tobirama had awoken as fit and healthy as ever, barely remembering the sensation of sickness only to discover the branch of cherry blossom he cherished in a jar had withered away into white ash on the windowsill. Like everyone else who had fallen sick, there wasn’t even a trace of illness left in his body.

Hashirama had never seen his younger brother so desperate for something, and he hated how this new emotion was so painful to watch bloom. More than just desperation, Tobirama felt an overabundance of guilt towards Sakura, also a new emotion. It didn’t help that no one could tell Tobirama what had happened to the wrongly accused savior of Pompeii. Even if she did adore that abomination, Hashirama was willing to look past that all for the sake of his brother who was helpless to the blooming of his long still heart.  

“We’ll find her. There aren’t a lot of places she could go in that sort of condition. With all the able bodies someone is bound to spot something,” Minato said.

Tobirama’s red eyes flashed as he growled. “We need to expedite the search. We have no idea what sort of wounds she may be suffering from after encountering such an ancient creature.”

“If she was able to stand up to Kaguya and hobble away I’m sure she’ll be fine-”

Tobirama slammed a fist into the side of a tree and Shikamaru shook, curling up into even a tighter ball.

“It’s not good enough that she’s fine. She need to be found!”

“And we will,” Hashirama interjected. “This is not something we will leave to others. You and I, brother, will seek her out together in our own ways. Who can deny our skills?”  

“Meanwhile,” Mito interrupted sharply. The group turned to stare at the older red haired woman as one. Mito’s hand was raise to point to where Kaguya laid. “What should the people be told of this. Pompeii clamors for answers, even now. Some believe Sakura was killed that they are all now better and others don’t know what to think.”

Shikamaru was still shaking, but his nails dug deep into his scalp like an effort to try and keep him still. It was enough to make his father worry.

“We’ll put a stop to those rumors, we won’t let them go on like that,” Shikaku said, turning to look at Hashirama next. “They will believe you if you go out and tell them what we saw here.”

Hashirama looked from the youngest Nara to his father. “Yes, that is one way to do things, but please understand how sensitive the situation is. We have to be careful about what we tell the people. I don’t want to stir up unnecessary worry.”

“You want to put a spin on this?” Minato guessed.

“That makes it sound like something underhanded. I want to manage the most sensitive information. I am not a liar, you know that is not a Senju trait.” Hashirama tried out another polite smile reserved for fundraisers and campaign speeches. “I’m not here to spread information or cause a panic. Let me manage this message to the public.”

“Oh, is that what we’re doing now?”

The group minus Shikamaru turned to watch Tsunade step into the clearing. She wore all black and the diamond on her forehead pulsed with purple energy.  Her hair was braided back like she was prepared for something a bit more strenuous than her usual routines.

“Tsunade,” Mito whispered, unable to raise her voice after all.

The blonde woman scanned the group lazily before her eyes set on Hashirama. “I should have known they would leave this in the hands of the best deceiver incapable of lying. What sort of spin were you planning, old man? What were you planning on leaving out?”

Hashirama swallowed. “The people don’t need to know it was Kaguya.”

“You mean they don’t need to know it was your fault all this happened in the first place. Instead of addressing the issue when you first noticed it, you played politician for the crowd and endangered us all. That brat has been bearing the burden of your mistakes all this time and you plan on denying her justice.”

Tsunade took a step into the clearing, disrupting the air with a crackle of her own magic. Shikaku noticed it a second too late, but her magic was already ingesting the shadows of the area and learning everything the shadow play had told them. Before he could stop it she was done.

“Tsunade, don’t be rash,” Hashirama warned.

“You’re smart to be wary, but I’m not the one you should be threatening with your big boy tone,” she mocked. She set a hand on her hip and tilted her chin up so she was staring down her nose at him.

Mito stepped up beside Hashirama and glared at the other witch. “Don’t do something you’ll regret. Your reputation in Pompeii is-”

“I don’t give two shits about something like that,” Tsunade hissed angrily, cutting the older woman off. “And maybe if you lot learned a bit from me we wouldn’t be in this mess, but we are and there's nothing we can do to go back in time to change it.”

“People don’t need to know,” Hashirama tried again.

“People are learning it as we speak. You owe this much to her and to everyone else. All the people you’ve deceived are entitled this truth.” She bared her teeth.

Hashirama breathed deeply. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret later, witch. You’ve been allowed to wander so freely thanks to good grace.”

“You want to try threatening me you should try using some threats that mean something. You’re not as powerful as you think you are, old man, and the winds of change are blowing.” She waved her hand at the dead body of Kaguya. “And we’re rooting out the rot where we find it, so make sure you’re not a cancer we need to cut out before you go threatening others of the same.”

“Do you know where she is?”

Tsunade leaned back to look over at Tobirama and frowned. The aggression that ran through Hashirama like a taut bowstring was unrecognizable in Tobirama. The younger brother was agitated, but in a very different way.

“What does that matter to you?” She narrowed her eyes at him and there was a spark of purple there to match the glow of her diamond. “It was your little branch and bud that made this whole fiasco possible, so don’t think I’ll tell you only for you to try and paint yourself into a victim. You don’t get to do that after blaming and doubting her.”

“She’s hurt. All that can come later, but she left this area heavily wounded and was carried off by two figures. Do you know who they were or where she might be now?”

“I doubt she’s in anymore danger.”

“She’s hurt. Someone should make sure she’s taken care of!” Tobirama exclaimed.

Tsunade huffed loudly and shifted to fold her arms across her chest. “Don’t think you’re the only one capable of such a thing. Without you, there are still plenty of individuals who are willing to care for and cater to her needs. She may be a bit of an idiot and an airhead about some things, but there are too many rejects hungry for affection to not break themselves at her feet for another taste of her mercies. I won’t expect an illustrious Senju to understand this, but you’ve degraded and cast too many into the darkness in your hubris. If you underestimate Sakura that’s your fault, but she is far more loved than you could understand with your limited emotions.”

“There is no need for insults here,” Hashirama interjected. He took a step forward to put himself in between Tsunade and his younger brother. He pulled himself up with all the authority he had left in him and narrowed his eyes at her. “You can go and tell whoever you like what you saw here. It doesn’t make a difference or not. This won’t matter in the long run the way you think it will.”

“Maybe that’s what you believe, but Pompeii is tired of putting up with a functioning cancer in its body, and the time for surgery is now. Maybe you’ll survive the cull, but don’t think things aren’t changing around here.”

Tsunade lowered her head and a moment later the rest of her body folded into a space between here and there, and winked out of existence.  

“I’m sorry, but she stole my shadow play and-” Shikaku tried to say but stopped when he saw Hashirama’s hand.

“That’s enough for now. We need to draft a narrative for the Uchiha before their damn birds reach this place. She can tell whoever she wants to, it’s all just shadows in the end. It’s not enough to do what she hopes.”

“Still….” Shikaku looked back at his son. “This matter is far from settled.”

“Agreed,” Hashirama said before turning to face the corpse and raising a single hand under his chin. Root work began to grow up around the body at his beck and call. “ For now, we must deal with this body. Someone can say it burned up at the touch later on. Stand back while I cage it for later.”

-

Sakura felt the hand at her throat and choked on a breath before her eyes shot open. The trees were gone and the forest wasn’t a forest anymore, but a long bedroom with old fashioned wallpaper and victorian molding.

She felt movement at her bedside and turned, facing it only to see the face from before-the one that had been there when she slipped away.

Mari!

She tried to say his name but all she could feel was the vibration of her throat. There was a sound somewhere but it wasn’t close. She tried again, tried to call out to him, to ask him what had happened, to as where was she, but her voice was so far away, trapped someplace she couldn’t hear but yet still felt.

She remembered her ears ringing like there were nails being hammered into them and reached up to feel her ears, not knowing what else to expect. She scraped at her ears and felt the touch, but there was no sound, even when she tried to claw her ears open there was no sound. She couldn't hear anything!

The knight with dark hair and darker eyes reached for her hands and pulled them away from her ears before she could scratch them raw. He held her hands together in one of his own and she felt his other knuckle brush the side of her face, where tears stained her skin.

She couldn’t hear it, but she could read his lips well enough to know what he said. “Shhh, don’t cry. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“I can’t hear anything,” Sakura said, not knowing if she spoke or screamed the words. She made them in her mouth like she knew how to do, but she had no idea if he understood her or not.

His eyes softened and the knuckles under her tears brushed across her ear before going back to her face, where more tears were starting to flow. Slowly, he inclined his head until their foreheads were touching and then he closed his eyes.

There was a presence in her mind and she pushed back at first before the warmth of it made her relent and allow it access. When she opened her eyes she could still feel the presence someone inside of her.

This time, when he moved her mouth, she heard him.

“I’m sharing my ability to hear with you. Now you hear what I hear. I’ve only done this for one sense. Are you still able to see and feel and taste without issue?”

Sakura swallowed and then weakly nodded. “I-I think so. Who-Mari, it’s you, isn’t it?”

A soft secret sort of smile melted on his face. “Yes, that’s me, but I am also called Indra. You called my brother after the daffodils but his name is Ashura. We were the knights you were so kind to.”

Sakura felt a new thrill of joy upon seeing one of the two knight brothers in the flesh before her, finally out of armor.  “It’s so good to see you, but I still have so many questions. What happened?”

“You saved all of us.”

Sakura laughed and sagged forward a bit. “No, really, what happened, because I don’t remember much of it.” But the images came back and she had to swallow when she remembered the things that made her retch the first time. She remembered killing Kaguya and then…

“Yamato! Sai, are they alright?” Sakura asked suddenly, a new feer blooming in her heart.

“Annoying so, both companions you’ve mentioned are alive and well enough to bother us constantly about your status,” Indra grumbled. “Both are up and walking around the library least the drag us into further trouble with the head librarian here.”

“Library?” Sakura looked around her, searching for a clue that would tell here exactly where she was. “I didn’t know there were bedrooms this nice here.”

When they dragged Sai into the library, leaking from his wounds, they had deposited him on the nearest couch and Sakura hadn’t thought to go exploring further than that. But the Library was odd and mysterious and she couldn’t believe that if it wanted to, it couldn’t just grow an additional room to provide what was needed.

Sakura braced with the heels of her hand and tried to sit up but gasped at the pain stretching across her abdomen and back. With a whimper she fell back into the blankets, cradled by Indra who was too fast to not be attentive to her pain. She looked down and saw her sleeping pajamas were clean, but thin enough to make out the bandages through. She pulled the hem of her shirt up and winced at the parts that weren't bandaged.

“It looks so ugly,” she whined, forcing herself to laugh as she dropped the hem and looked away from all the marks marring her body. Scrapes and scratches and bruises made her into something hard to look at.

“You are more than your scars, and I could never see you as anything less than radiant.” When he looked up at her the black color of his eyes was almost red, like desert bloodstone.

She felt like he was seeing into her when he stared at her so intently. She had to blush. “I-I’m nothing so special, but I’m glad you all are safe. How long have I been recovering for?”  

“A couple of days. Since we brought you to this place most of the people in town have recovered. No one is still suffering from Kaguya’s curse.”

Sakura sagged in relief. “Then Ino and Naruto and all the others are safe. That’s all that matters. I was afraid nothing had changed while I slept.”

“When Ashura was on watch yesterday you started to wake up but fell back asleep again. You’ve been restless all day and I’m afraid it might be because of the pain. I’m sorry we were not able to do more this time.”

Sakura touched her ear and grimaced. “Is this… permanent?”

He swallowed, looking lost. “I’m sorry, but it’s beyond me. I am no doctor.”

Sakura snorted at his words, unable to help herself. “Right, no, I’m sorry. That’s my job. I’ll have to ask Shizune to give me a check up. If it was a normal accident I would say there’s a chance my hearing comes back, but I still don’t understand completely what she did to me. She was in my head.”  

“But you did what no one else could. Despite everything you were triumphant. These scars will heal at least,” he said, brushing his knuckles across the bandages around her neck.

“My friends and family are safe, that’s all that matters. It’d be nice if my hearing came back, but I’d rather it be like this than how it was before.” Sakura closed her eyes and let her head fall back into the pillows.

“Ashura has been waiting for you to wake. I feel selfish, monopolizing your time like this. Are you well enough to speak with him or should I leave you to rest some more?” Indra asked.

She remembered the cheerful knight that reminded her so much of Naruto, waving wildly to her while darkness rolled behind his blade at the end of her journey. Daffodil.  

“Please, if he’s here, I want to see him,” Sakura said, chest going light at the thought.

Ashura smiled, squeezing her hand in reassurance or maybe thanks. She heard everything he heard as he stood from his seat and exited through the door. She heard him call out, she heard what he heard, ‘Is she-?’ ‘Yeah, and she’s asking for you.’ She even heard the hurried footsteps on hardwood floors.

When the door banged open she turned her head across the pillows to see the other of the two brothers standing there, eyes wide and watery, hair a ruffled mess behind a simple cloth headband. The smile that spread across her lips was so easy and that only made his tears come faster.

“Sa-ku-raaaaa!” he cried, dashing over to drop down loudly beside her bed and drape his arms across her form. She hadn’t meant to but she grunted at the touch and he flinched in reaction.

“Imbecile,” Indra hissed, smacking Ashura upside his head. “She’s still hurt. Don’t be such an oaf with her.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Sakura laughed. “I’m not that hurt, you just surprised me a little. Ah, but it’s so good to finally see you in the flesh, Daffodil. How are you?”

Ashura’s face colored as his eyes watered even more. He tried to breath it out and steady himself but it came out sounding more like a choke. He melted at her bedside and weakly reached for her hand like it was made of glass. “I was so-oo-oh sc-scared Sakura. You were so small and still. I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to speak to you like this. I would have traded being a stupid empty suit of armor if I knew what would happen. I’m so sorry you’re hurt!”

Sakura laughed, squeezing his hand back in reassurance. “Don’t think about it like that. It’s not like you giving up what you are now would do me any good. And really, there are worse things than scars. I’ll heal, that’s no big deal, but what about you? You have a body now, that has to be weird.”

Ashura bent down and kissed her fingers and then pulled back to laugh when she flustered at the touch. “Yeah, it is nice having a body again. I had forgotten what it felt like and what I was missing out on.”

Sakura couldn’t help it, but she felt compelled to flick his forhead, so she pulled out of his hold and did just that. He reacted way too dramatically, falling backwards in a way that made her laugh.  

“Sakura?”

She heard the voice and it was like a knife in her heart because it was the most lovely sound, only for it to be something she might never hear again.

Yamato appeared in the doorway, looking out of breath with a pale Sai trailing in behind him. Further back in the hallway there was the top of Shizune’s head and maybe even Sarutobi’s.

Yamato didn’t wait for her to say anything, but dashed to the opposite side of her bed and fell atop her like a feather, slowing just enough to be soft enough to do no damage.

“Stupid girl,” she felt him mutter into her shoulder. That area was growing damp and she didn’t dare point that out, already knowing the reason for his tears. “What a stupid, stupid girl. What were you thinking?”

Sakura looked up and saw Sai lean against the foot of her bed, looking happy but tired. He was doing so much better than he had been when she last left him.

“I was thinking about making sure my family stayed safe. I wasn’t going to let her take any of you away from me, duh,” Sakura huffed with a roll of her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Really, Yamato, what do you take me for?”

“I’m sorry,” Yamato gasped, pulling away. She hadn’t noticed it until just then, but his hair was just past his jaw line now, long and healthy. Stands of it stuck to his cheeks where the tear trails stood out.

“Don’t be,” she tried to say.

“I’m sorry she did this to you. It’s not fair, and it’s because of me. That was the whole reason you were there in the first place. You would have been fine if I hadn’t been a distraction-a weakness for you.”

“If that’s how you want to go about labeling yourself, then fine. It’s a weakness I gladly accept.”

“Sakura-”

“No,” she cut him off with a single finger raised. “Not your turn to talk. Listen to me first. I’m not invincible and I might not be the baddest bitch you see in town, but we all have a weakness or two, so I’d be proud if my weakness was my precious people. And honestly, hon, how many people are so lucky to have their weakness also be their strength? I would have gone there on my own, anyway. Don’t think anything was your fault.” He looked away and when she saw his jaw shiver she reached to hold it and pull his face back towards her. “Promise.”

“You were almost killed.” He still shook in small ways as he forced himself to speak. “You don’t even know who she was or what you did.”

“I saved my family,” she answered without hesitation.

Yamato sagged into her side, burying his face in the covers around her hips. When his shoulders shook she reached out to scratch her fingers down his spine and up again, calming him back down.

Across from Yamato, Ashura glared lightly and huffed loudly. “I was also really scared for you Sakura.” Ashura scooted closer to the opposite side of Sakura and leaned in a little. “Never been more scared in my life.”

Sakura hummed, seeing through his words straight to his true intentions. “I’m sorry I scared you.” She reached out and ran a hand through his wild hair, scraping his skull with her nails just enough to cause a pleasant tingle.

“Are we going to have to put up with these new intruders?” Sai asked blandly, fake smile slipping into place as he nodded his head at Indra.

“Seeing as how we are the only fully healed, capable bodies in this building, It should be more like us putting up with you,” Indra shot back.

“That might be a little hard, since we’re already maxed out on spaces in our family and you would just be a nuisance. You already have a sibling, so be content, flower person. Find your own place to crash.”

“We did,” Ashura huffed from beside Sakura. “The library likes us just fine. If you don’t approve pack your own bags.”

“Now now,” Sarutobi cut in, sliding past Shizune and Indra to enter the room with his hands up. “There is plenty of room here for all of you as long as you need it. You were all welcomed for a reason and we don’t have to be picky.” He turned his smile off and instead looked to Sakura, frowning slightly at the bandages he could see. “Speaking of welcoming, there are two others just outside who are debating coming in. Should I go out to welcome them in or leave them alone?”

“What, who are they? I’m fine but I don’t know if I’m ready to defend myself to people just yet,” Sakura answered. She remembered too well what it looked like when people made an effigy of her to burn in the streets.

“That’s alright, these two are fine,” Shizune cut in. She waved to Sakura before disappearing to open the front door and do what Sarutobi suggested.  

“How are you feeling my dear?” Sarutobi asked, looking back at Sakura.

“I’ll feel better in a few days. What is it they say after a crash. It hurts worse later on, right? Ah, I think that’s where I’m at right now.”

Sarutobi chuckled at her good humor and easy smile. “Oh, I’m not sure what they say about things like that, my dear. You’re the doctor, after all.”

Outside there were footsteps and the room seemed to widen as two different blond, blue eyed people poked their heads into her room.

Sakura felt dizzy at once.

“Ino, Naruto! You’re alright!” she cried, nearly getting out of bed only to wince and fall back down, unable to do that much.

The cried her name as one and plowed through the other individuals in the room to get to her bed and collapse at her side. Sakura hugged them as well as she could and then paused them away to look them over for signs of sickness, but aside from some weight loss they were perfectly healthy and bright.

“Quit worrying about us,” Ino cried through her thick tears. “You’re the one stuck in a bed now, you dummy.”

“No one would tell me what happened to you when I woke up. I thought something terrible had happened and you left or something, and I still don’t get it cause the old man ain’t talking, but I didn’t think it would be like this,” Naruto babbled, freaking out at the sight of all her bruises.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Sakura sighed.

Between the group of them, minus Indra who was content to let Ashura speak for him, the group went over the events pertaining to the Pompeii Plague caused by Kaguya, starting with the botched binding ceremony/ritual and going to the final confrontation. Naruto was oddly quiet when Yamato, Sai, and Ino recounted the details of how so much of the town turned on her and blamed Sakura for the sickness...including the entirety of Naruto’s family.

“People are still looking for you,” Ino added at the end.

“We were too, but we didn’t know where to start because the clinic is a mess, like it’s gone-gone.” Naruto made a cutting motion with his hand across his neck.

“We didn’t have a lot of leads to go on when we found this place. I’ve never been here before but Shizune was at the door and it was our best shot so that’s how we got here and...yeah, that’s the story,” Ino added.

“Looking for her? Who exactly is looking for Sakura?” Yamato asked, tone dark. Sakura didn’t miss the way the other boys in the room tensed, ready to go if the need arose.

“Lots of people...most everyone actually. Tsunade stole a shadow play and has been broadcasting it non stop in all the shadow places, replaying the showdown with illusionary magic to add color and textile. Now everyone knows what happened and only a few wacko hold outs still believe it was all a trick on your part,” said Ino.

Sakura meant to ask something more but the room around them shivered and Sakura felt queasy all of a sudden.

“What’s that?” Naruto asked, panicking.

Sarutobi cursed. “Someone has managed to enter the library uninvited.”

“That’s possible?” Shizune hollered, bracing against the wall.

“No, not unless they managed to follow behind someone else who was invited….” Sarutobi’s eyes and word trailed to Ino and Naruto and the whole room tensed at the implications.

The library had revealed itself to Naruto and Ino, allowing them to enter, but the magic that hid it between the here and there didn’t matter if someone was already on the stairs outside with one foot in the door.

Sarutobi turned on his heel, ready to expel the intruder but stopped short when he saw who it was in the doorway.

“I don’t think you should be here,” the old man intoned, drawing himself up as best as he could.

“No, I’m pretty sure this is exactly where I need to be.”