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mccoyyy · 4 years ago

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moving this to my new blog so I can pin it again lol

@stregoni-benefici you are completely correct but I just wanted to expand on this a little bit - also i’m putting this under a read more cause this got a lot longer than i originally thought it would be

sexism: smeyers treatment of female characters throughout the entire series is extremely problematic. like you don’t even need to read deep into the books to see that. the backstories of all her female characters all involve some form of trauma and are significantly more violent than the male vampires (Rosalie and Esme enduring physical/sexual assault meanwhile Edward dies of the flu and Emmett gets vibe checked by a bear).

she also creates the idea that a woman isn’t complete without children/being a mother. every female vampire in the series is desperate for children yet can’t, its mentioned in pretty much every book and extreme emphasis is placed on how tragic this is. a female character wanting children isn’t wrong or sexist at all but the way its written in twilight makes it seem like its something a woman has to do in order to be happy and smeyer pretty much cements this idea by making Bella suddenly desperate to have Renesmee despite showing no interest in children/audibly voicing her thoughts against having children in eclipse and the start of breaking dawn (i’m pretty sure Bella has a line of dialogue in the books where she says something like she didn’t realise it was something she wanted/needed until it happened bit I’m not sure I try not to read/think about breaking dawn)

there’s also the way she writes female characters, specifically Rosalie. its mentioned throughout the series that Rosalie has extreme mechanical skills and multiple degrees in STEM fields but its barely ever shown, and instead her characterisation focuses on being obsessed with her looks (first couple pages of this, written by smeyer for new moon), and being a ‘stereotypical bitch’. for the first three books most of her character/dialogue is based on being cold and rude to Bella. She is unnecessarily painted as the villain for having different views on Bella (quite literally) giving up her life and future to be with a man (which is a whole other can of worms). the same is done to the character of Leah in eclipse/breaking dawn. Leah is a woman in the Quileute Tribe, she has been severely affected by the Cullen’s presence in the area and is painted as a character that the reader is supposed to dislike simply because she doesn’t like Bella/the Cullen’s despite having extremely valid reasons not to

anti-Native - smeyers treatment of native tribes is horrendous. she has profited fr years off of of native american culture for years and has done so without any acknowledgements. furthermore, she also demonises native american teens (especially in new moon) by calling them wild, violent, dangerous and out of control and then uses these stereotypes to create a contrast between the self control and patience of the Cullen’s and make them seem more like the good guys, and the wolf pack being lesser. She does this again with the treatment of Jacobs character in new moon and especially eclipse.

Jacob starts off in new moon as Bella’s best friend. he helps Bella come out of a severe depression caused when Edward left at the start of the book. however in eclipse his character makes a complete flip and he becomes moody, temperamental, argumentative and disrespectful of Bella’s boundaries. his character becomes unrecognisable and despite smeyers claims of a love triangle, it is obvious what the outcome will be. I have seen countless instances of people on this site claiming they hate Jacob because he is a dick/disrespectful/just as unhealthy as Edward. this was done on purpose by smeyer as she uses Jacob to make Edward seem like the obvious and correct choice for Bella. if you need more proof of this, take the scene where Jacob kisses Bella without her consent and she breaks her hand when punching him, Edward swoops in and almost gets into a fight with Jacob for touching Bella without her consent. this is an obvious attempt to make Jacob seem like the villain and Edward the white saviour

there’s also the treatment of the native characters by the white characters in the books. multiple times in the series, the native characters are called/compared to dogs/brutes and have a distinct unpleasant smell. I don’t think I need to explain how this is racist. the pack also helps the Cullen’s/saves Bella’s lives and never receive any acknowledgement/are treated any better by the Cullen’s/anyone really. the pack are only ever used as a way to make the Cullen’s look better.

there’s also some pretty obvious similarities to colonisation with the Cullen’s entering Quiluete lands which then forces them to start phasing into wolves (and I’m pretty sure none of the pack actually want to start phasing). also, remember Leah? the only female member of the wolf pack? because of the change she effectively can’t have children? that has implications.

and to top it all off, after doing all that, smeyer has never once addressed this or even acknowledged the Quileute Tribe.

pedophilic - I mean even without mentioning breaking dawn its pretty awful. first of all you’ve got the blatant sexualisation of minors throughout the entire series. Edward is 17 throughout the series and smeyer is writing literal paragraphs about his chiselled abs. Jacob is 16/17 when she has him running about forks topless with a 6 pack. this is way more apparent in the movies but its still a huge issue in the books and lead to Taylor Lautner being confronted by adult fans trying to get him to sign their underwear, and being forced into being shirtless for most of the movies which made him extremely uncomfortable (Elizabeth Reaser (Esme) briefly talks about this in the ID10T podcast on spotify). and just as a reminder, Taylor was 16 when the first one was filmed and 17 for the second.

Breaking Dawn is a whole other can of worms. the glaringly obvious issue is Jacob imprinting on a literal newborn baby. now the concept of imprinting itself has racist elements to it, but its heavily implied in the series that imprinting will inevitably lead to a romantic relationship. Jacob imprinting on Renesmee and waiting until she is old enough to enter into a romantic relationship (never mind the fact that shes ‘old enough’ she will still technically be 5) is pretty much grooming. The same happens with Quil and his imprint, Claire (a two year old) where I’m pretty sure there’s a scene in breaking dawn where Jacob and Leah are watching Quil play with Claire and talking about how Quil isn’t going to date anyone because he and Claire are ‘pretty much inevitable’ (i might be wrong though, like I said I try not to read/think about breaking dawn)

smeyer has also written a spin off book (its like 250 odd pages) called the short second life of Bree Tanner (Bree is that newborn vampire killed after the battle in eclipse by the Volturi btw). In this book, Bree is 15 almost 16, and another character Diego is 18 which is definitely pushing the boundaries of ok. (also as a side note, funny how Bree and Jacob are literally the same age and smeyer states multiple times how Bree deserved better and is only a child (who straight up kills people), yet when it comes to Jacob he has to be a responsible adult and is vilified for every mistake he makes)

racist - smeyer refused to let Catherine Hardwicke (director of the first twilight) have a diverse cast because she ‘imagined them a certain way’ (white) and it was a fight to get Edi Gathegi cast as Laurent and had to compromise with smeyer to make Bella’s friend group more diverse. this woman straight up refused to hire more diverse actors and only agreed to when they were side characters/villains.

Also in the official companion book/guide to twilight, smeyer literally writes that vampire venom makes you white

‘the venom leeches all pigmentation from the skin into a more indestructable vampire form…regardless of original ethnicity a vampires skin will be exceptionally pale’ (official illustrated guide pg.69)

this is a whole lot of bullshit cause she is literally whitewashing characters, but when you pair this with the idea that vampires possess inhuman levels of beauty it becomes extremely problematic and implies that being pale/white is more beautiful than darker skin tones.

also, if we go back to Laurent’s character for a second. so Laurent is one of the only characters who isn’t described as white (in the books he is described as having a pale olive skin tone) and in the first book he comes across as pretty reasonable (warning carlisle about James/Victoria, travels up to Denali and tries out the veggie lifestyle) but in new moon, his characterisation pulls a 180° (sensing a theme here) and is suddenly trying to kill Bella as a favour to Victoria and is Evil™ despite in the first book he literally says to Carlisle he didn’t particularly like travelling with James/Victoria and was only really doing it for convenience. where did this undying loyalty come from? yet again, smeyer is completely disregarding established characterisation in POC characters specifically to villainise them.

and finally, we have Jasper. for some reason (that reason being that she is racist) smeyer decides to make Jasper a confederate soldier in his human life. if you don’t have a lot of knowledge on the american civil war, the confederacy were the side of the US that seceded from the union in order to keep their slaves. Jasper was a confederate soldier, and not just any soldier, but a major. Jasper was a major in an army that fought for 4 years to keep the existence of slavery (and don’t even try to say that slavery wasn’t the root cause of the civil war. states rights aye? states rights to do what). now there’s an argument out there made by certain fans that a lot of people joined the confederate army out of pride/were forced into it cause of conscription to try and head canon the racism away but like that doesn’t matter. there was literally no need to make jasper a confederate in the first place. if she was so desperate to have a civil war vampire then she could have made him a member of the union. its been common knowledge that the confederacy was racist for a long time now, smeyer has absolutely no excuses here.

a lot of these issues overlap and I have probably missed heaps of issues (so feel free to add on) but hope this helps explain why smeyer can *ahem* get tae absolute fuck

#smeyer deserves jail #writing this pissed me off so much brb im off to buy a dartboard and a coloured printer #twilight #anti-smeyer #twilight renaissance #twilight resurgance #twilight revival #dont fucking buy midnight sun #edward cullen #jacob black #bella swan #the cullens #wolf pack #jasper whitlock #jasper hale

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heathsbitch · 4 years ago

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Treat You Better ➳ PEAKY BLINDERS

xxix. NEW BEGINNINGS

Grey surrounded the girl. Everything was the same, every colour was the same, every day was the same. Ivy had lost count of the days she'd been stuck in that cell. How many days had it been since she was arrested? Since she'd seen her family? Since she'd seen Finn, or Michael? A couple, a few, weeks, months, years? No, it couldn't be that long even though it felt that way. She could feel her mind slowly spiraling out of control. Her thoughts were no longer straight, she didn't eat much of the food that was rarely provided for her. There was only three things keeping her sane in that tiny cell of hers. The thought of seeing Finn again, explaining everything to him, finally being with him properly. The thought of seeing Michael again, safe and unscathed. But she was unsure of whether her relationship would continue down the same path if she did get with Finn. It was a situation she had ample time to think about, yet she just couldn't come to a conclusion. The final thought that kept spurring Ivy on...

Killing Tommy Shelby. Getting revenge for what he'd done to the girl, to Polly, to Arthur, John, and Michael. She would get payback, one way or another.

But for now, she was stuck in that prison cell. Lying on her back, her crystal eyes staring at the ceiling, a song upon her lips.

"Have you no idea that you're in deep? I've dreamt about you nearly every night this week How many secrets can you keep? 'Cause there's this tune I found That makes me think of you somehow and I play it on repeat Until I fall asleep, spillin' drinks on my settee,"

Once again, Finn and Michael played in her mind as she sung to herself. Tears forming in her eyes.

"Crawlin' back to you Ever thought of callin' when You've had a few? 'Cause I always do Maybe I'm too Busy bein' yours To fall for somebody new..."

But her singing was cut short when a Warden burst into her cell. Ivy immediately shot up, she wasn't expecting anyone. This shouldn't be happening. The man grabbed the girl and dragged her out of her cell. "This shouldn't be happening. What's going on?" She shouted at the man, but there was no reply. She was heaved through plain corridor after plain corridor, kicking and screaming at the Warden, trying to break free. But it was of no use. She was too weak. Ivy was led into a final corridor, another woman being led by Wardens was there. "Polly? Polly!" The girl screamed at the woman but she barely acknowledged her, she was too busy muttering words to herself.

Ivy turned her eyes from the woman to the end of the corridor. Nooses, one for Polly, one for Ivy. "No, no, please." The girl pleaded, but she was still dragged to the noose. Her whole body was shaking, her eyes were wide, her heart beat so hard it felt like it was coming out of her chest. As the rope was tightened around her neck, the girl accepted her fate. No one was coming to save her, no one was going to come swooping in with a last minute pardon. Ivy turned to Polly one last time and she saw that the woman had accepted her fate too, a prayer now upon her lips. The girl thought of all the good things in her life, reuniting with her family, forgiving them and them forgiving her, finding love with them again, finding another family in the Shelbys, finding love with Finn, finding Michael and all those times they had spent wrapped up in each other. Despite the bad times, the lowest of lows, there were high points to the girl's life. She just didn't want it to end so soon.

The priest that stood next to the women finished his prayer and the Warden tightened his hand around the lever that would kill Polly Gray and Ivy Solomons. The girl took in a final deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable drop.

But the drop never came. Ivy snapped open her eyes. A saviour at the end of the corridor, a piece of paper in hand. A pardon.

Buzzing filled the girl's eyes, her knees almost buckled underneath her. She had been saved, someone, something had saved her. Hot tears poured from her eyes as the Wardens removed the noose from around her and Polly's neck. Almost as soon as the rope was taken off of her, Polly fell into the girl, sobs racking her body. Slowly, the pair crumpled to the floor together, tears staining each others prison clothes.

Polly and Ivy were free. Surely Arthur, John, and Michael had got the pardon too?

Everyone returned back to their homes as if nothing happened. They had scars on their hearts, yet they didn't bare them for all the world to see. There were noticeable differences in each of them, but none of them were affected as much as Polly. She sat alone in a quiet room all day, only muttering a few words to herself and never eating.

"Do you think she'll be alright without you here?" Ada asked Ivy as the girl packed her suitcase. It had been a few days since they were released and Ada thought it would be best for the girl to get away for a while instead of festering in the house or doing anything rash straight away. She reluctantly agreed to the trip to America. "Hopefully. Besides, she has Michael so she won't be alone." Ivy pulled various garments out of her wardrobe to throw into her case. "Because we all know how reliable Michael is." Ada sarcastically quipped from the girl's bed. "Hey," The girl lightly scolded her by throwing a shirt in her direction. "She is his mother at the end of the day. He won't let her suffer." A couple of moments of silence passed over the pair before a knock sounded at the door.

"Are you decent?" Michael questioned from the other side of the door. "No, I'm completely naked." Ivy said, not meaning it. Mickey entered the room nonetheless, devious thoughts in his head. His eyes widened at the sight of Ada sat on her bed. "Relax, Mickey. She knows." The man cleared his throat before speaking, "I wanted to say goodbye. If we could have the room..." He gestured to Ada. The woman winked at the girl as she left. "I'll be in the car." She said before leaving Ivy's bedroom and closing the door behind her. As soon as he heard the latch on the door, Michael engulfed Ivy in a hug, his lips pressing against hers. They'd felt closer after their ordeal in prison. But they hadn't slept with each other since their escapade in the kitchen before Charles was taken. "Should've spent last night in my room, could've said goodbye properly." He muttered as he peppered kisses along the girl's neck. "I was planning things with Ada. Don't leave any marks." She warned him and he pulled away, following her request. "I'll miss you." Ivy wrapped her arms around his neck as his slid around her waist, "I'll miss you too. But we can still call as much as possible. We both know we don't sleep much anymore so the time difference shouldn't be a problem."

"But I can't fuck you through the phone, can I, princess?" His eyebrow raised as the words left his thick lips. "No, but we have our own hands and imaginations, we'll still be able to hear each other," She whispered in his ear before trailing her own line of kisses down his neck, sucking a mark onto it. A moan left his lips as he closed his eyes. "I should get going, we don't have a lot of time." Michael nodded and they pulled away. "I'll help." He picked up the girl's bags and she followed him down the stairs and to the car. "Goodbye, Pol," No answer. A quick look was passed between Michael and Ivy, he knew what he had to do. A final kiss was planted onto the girl's lips before she got into the car, a few quiet words passed between the two.

"Can we stop at Finn's house, please. I won't be long, I have something to give him." The girl asked Ada, she smiled and nodded. "Be quick." They pulled up to his house and Ivy climbed out of the car. She pulled a letter out of her pocket and posted it through the door. Ivy and Finn hadn't seen each other since before she was arrested. The girl had stalled it. She knew she'd have to explain things with Mickey to the teen and after everything she'd just been through, she wasn't as ready to talk as she was before. So she decided to write the teen a letter instead. It read...

My dearest Finn,

I hope this letter finds you well and in good health. The decision to write to you rather than call you or visit you was not one I made lightly. I settled on a letter as it would be most beneficial for you and our relationship. It's also good practice for your reading skills!

I am aware that we are not in an ideal situation and things are still raw for us both. I hope in future we will be able to communicate with one another better and our relationship will not suffer because of the influence of certain individuals. I promise I will explain my relations with Michael in due course . That conversation is one to be had in person, not over paper or the phone. Please lend me your patience in this matter.

My reason for writing this is simple, I am going away for a while and I wanted to let you know. I'm going to America with Ada. I will return, that I can assure you. However, I am unsure of when that will happen. Yet again, I beg of your patience. I swear on my love for you that I shall make the wait worth your while.

By the time you receive this letter, I will be gone. But hold fast for me, please. I will continue to write to you regularly. I would really appreciate it and love if you would take the time to write back. But, by no means, should you feel obliged to do so. If you do, don't worry about spelling or anything of that sort. It's the intention that matters.

I miss you dearly. Don't do anything silly while I'm gone, keep practicing, stay strong!

My love always, your doll,

Ivy Solomons x

xxx. EXPLORATION*

MASTERLIST

TAG LIST:

@lemur46

#finn shelby #harry kirton #michael gray #finn cole #smut #fluff #angst #peaky blinders #tommy shelby #alfie solomons #treat you better

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theazkabandreamer · 4 years ago

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A Life Worth Living

It had been three months since Harry had defeated Voldemort and day by day, bit by bit, he was slowly picking up the pieces.

He wanted to return to Grimmauld Place to give himself space from everyone else, but Mr and Mrs Weasley insisted that he stay at the Burrow with them.

Harry didn’t want to be a burden to them, but Mrs Weasley told him that he could never be a burden and that she would worry about Harry if he were off living on his own and that he was part of the family.

Touched, Harry decided to move into The Burrow with the Weasleys which was just as well, because he had begun to have nightmares about the Battle of Hogwarts.

Fred, Remus, Tonks and Colin Creevey wove in and out of his dreams along with his parents, Dumbledore, Sirius and Snape. But they all disappeared in a blinding flash of green light.

Mrs Weasley noticed the toll it had taken on Harry and began giving him Sleeping Draughts at night, but they didn’t help much. However, there was one bright spot in his life that gave him a reason to smile; Ginny.

Harry had resumed his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and they spent the sunny days together walking in fields, skipping stones down the stream, playing Quidditch and talking together.

Ginny was a great improvement on Harry’s mood and everyone noticed. Harry’s good mood was infectious and soon enough, everyone’s spirits had soared. It was a far cry from the miserable atmosphere on the morning of Fred’s funeral.

Harry had found that his nightmares were disappearing after Ginny suggested that he sleep in the living room with her.

____

The Burrow’s living room was a cosy place to cuddle for the night and Harry and Ginny were snuggled up on the sofa together, Ginny’s head resting on Harry’s chest.

Harry was in a state of bliss as he ran his hands through Ginny’s hair, marvelling at the softness of it. The familiar, flowery scent filled his nostrils whilst the ticking of the clock lulled him into a doze. This evening was perfect and after all they had been through, perfection was a rare thing for Harry to experience.

He loved Ginny so much; He loved having her in his life and on some days, the only reason he got out of bed was to see Ginny’s beautiful grin. He longed to tell her how much he loved her.

Yet unbidden, the flash of green light that Ginny had missed by inches came crashing into his mind; He could’ve lost her. He could’ve been lonely and not have Ginny in his life and he felt himself get more agitated as he thought about it.

Ginny seemed to know that something was wrong because she lifted her head and gave him a searching look.

“What’s wrong, Harry?” she asked softly.

“Nothing,” Harry whispered. “I’m fine.”

But that never worked on Ginny as it worked on Ron and Hermione. Ginny narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously.

“Don’t give me that,” she snorted. “You’ve gone all tense. What have you been thinking about?”

Harry knew he could never shut her out as he could do with Ron and Hermione and talking with Ginny always helped him in the past; Perhaps now was the time to open up.

“Your duel with Bellatrix,” Harry said quietly. “You know when she fired the killing curse at you and you missed it by inches? I could’ve lost you.”

Harry’s voice broke on the last word and Ginny’s face softened and she snuggled into Harry.

“But you didn’t,” she said firmly, squeezing him tightly. “I’m here, Harry. I’m alive, I’m well and you’re stuck with me.”

Harry laughed at the last part and hugged her closer to him. Ginny always knew what to say to make him feel better and she could read him like a book.

“I thought I lost you,” Ginny said after a while and Harry looked down to see her looking up at him, her eyes shining intently. “When Voldemort returned from the forest and we saw you dead in Hagrid’s arms, everything ended for me. It was as if I was fighting to get myself killed and I didn’t care anymore. A world without you isn’t a world worth living in.”

“It’s not worth living a life without you in it either,” Harry said, a peculiar feeling rising in him.

Ever since he resumed his relationship with Ginny, he felt as if he were close to a point where he would confess his love for her; Perhaps tonight was the night.

“I don’t think I would’ve survived if I hadn’t been in the D.A,” Ginny said quietly. “And Quidditch practice helped with my reflexes. You’re quite a good teacher when you’re not trying to save the world.”

Ginny grinned and gave Harry another one of her blazing looks and Harry knew that he could no longer keep quiet; He had to confess his love to her now.

“Ginny,” Harry said softly, his heart hammering against his chest like a Bludger. “Do you remember when I gave myself up to Voldemort?”

“I try to forget,” Ginny said quietly. “It was the worst night of my life.”

Harry felt a pang of guilt, but he didn’t want to backtrack now; He was going to say what he needed to say.

“It was the worst night of my life as well,” Harry said. “All those people who died for us. I’ll never forget them and I never forget setting foot into the forest with the expectation that I had to die to stop Voldemort. Before I went into the forest I saw you tending to that injured girl.”

“It was you,” Ginny muttered. “I thought there was someone around. I had a feeling it might be you just like I had a feeling that someone was watching me at night at Hogwarts.”

Ginny gave Harry a wink and Harry felt himself go red as he remembered telling Ginny that he looked at her dot on the Marauder’s Map in one of his vulnerable moments.

“I wanted one last look at you before I left for the forest,” Harry said. “And when I was in the clearing, face to face with him, my last thought was you.”

Ginny’s face softened and her eyes shined as she stared at Harry intently, her gaze enough to help Harry go on.

“I thought about kissing you,” Harry said awkwardly, feeling slightly embarrassed at his choice of words. Ginny didn’t help his embarrassment by grinning slyly.

“Our time together, whether it was at Hogwarts or here at the Burrow has been the happiest moments of my life,” Harry continued feeling a lot braver. “I can be me for once and I don’t have to worry about being The Boy Who Lived or The Chosen One or that new thing that the Prophet’s calling me; The Saviour of the Wizarding World.”

Harry felt that he had rambled enough; Now was the time to say it.

“I love you, Ginny,” Harry said, looking intently into Ginny’s chocolate-brown eyes. “You mean the world to me and you’ve helped me so much since the war ended. I can’t imagine a life without you.”

He had done it; he said the magic words. It felt strangely anti-climactic and Ginny was still staring at him, searching his face and her eyes blazing like they had never blazed before.

Harry’s heart hammered in his chest as he waited for Ginny to say something. The ticking of the clock didn’t do much to calm his nerves; Perhaps he shouldn’t have said it.

But in one fell swoop, Ginny surged forward, kissing Harry with all her might. Relieved, Harry kissed her back with gusto, his insides doing the conga again as Ginny’s hands found Harry’s hair and made it even messier than it was before.

Soon - too soon for Harry’s liking - they parted and Ginny was grinning at Harry. Her eyes still blazing and looking so incredibly beautiful.

“I love you too, you noble git,” Ginny said fiercely, kissing Harry again. “I’ve always loved you. Ever since you saved me from The Chamber of Secrets.”

“That long?” Harry asked, feeling dazed and Ginny grinned at him.

“It’s taken you a while to come around,” Ginny said, nudging Harry playfully in the ribs. “At one point, I thought you’d never notice me but I’m glad you did. You don’t have to be alone, Harry. I’ll always be with you.”

Harry felt a great wave of happiness wash over him and his grin was as big as Ginny’s. For the first time in his life, he felt complete and whole as he grinned at the girl he loved.

The image of Ginny marrying the faceless stranger in a top hat came into Harry’s mind again but this time, Harry saw the faceless stranger to be him.

Harry realised now that Voldemort was gone, he had the opportunity to do anything. His life was now his own and he could be with Ginny. He could marry her and maybe - just maybe – they could have children of their own.

The thought of having children made Harry grin so wide, that he felt as if his face would split in two.

They snuggled back down on the sofa again and once more, Ginny snuggled into Harry’s chest. A feeling of complete happiness washed over Harry as he took his glasses off and closed his eyes contentedly, pleased to have the love of his life alive and well in his arms.

#Hinny #Harry Potter #Ginny Weasley #Post Deathly Hallows #Post Battle of Hogwarts #Love confessions

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tare-chan · 5 years ago

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Iduna, Elsa, Anna, and the 4 spirits

After several days of contemplating the story line of Frozen 2, I think I finally get the whole story. Well… this is still categorize as theory though, but as always, I will share my thoughts here.

I think Iduna and Gale’s roles are very important as the base story for Frozen 2

And I’m amazed how the animators managed to portrayed the spirits as ‘human’ as possible, with their distinctive recognizable traits.

Spoiler… spoiler….

Iduna, as a Northruldan, seems have a very close relationship with Gale, the wind spirits. (Gale seems like the kinder, easy going and friendlier spirits, who also very agile, and loves to play). We can see how they played around in the past sequences. Gale even help Iduna saves a boy, who actually was the “enemy”, and pushed them to safety, out of the forest border (I think the ‘ah-ah-ah’ calling voice is how Iduna ‘talks’ to Gale). I believe, even tough Gale was also trapped inside the forest, being “a” wind, he (I assume the spirits are all a “he” for my convenient writing purposes, btw) able to check on Iduna from time to time. Thus he can sense that Iduna has 2 daughters, one of whom, possessed the special “keys”, to lift the curse, as a gift for the good Iduna has done in the past. Gale didn’t exactly know which of the two daughters has the power tough.

Now the movie itself didn’t show how Iduna and Agnarr met, but from the trailer, we did see that Gale seems also playing with Agnarr. I presume, from that brief interaction, Iduna could tell that Agnarr was different from his Father (more on the curious side, rather than on the fear side, when interact with magic), and Gale agreed with her. Now, for the sake of drama, what if Iduna was the daughter of the Northuldran leader that was killed by Agnarr’s father? This will emphasize Iduna’s good deed even more, IMO. I wished the movie would showed us a little more of Iduna and Agnarr encounter. Anyway, from those tiny tidbits we get from the movie, I could assume that Agnarr didn’t remember who his saviour was. And Iduna choose to keep silent and prefer to build their relationship the ‘slow burn’ way. And of course (for the sake of the story) at the end, Agnarr choose Iduna to be his queen.

That until the first Frozen incident, that make Elsa need to be isolated. As the mother, Iduna have always known that Elsa is special. And obviously it really pained her to see her eldest daughter “suffer” because of her power, instead of embracing it. But even though she’s a Northuldran, it didn’t make her understand what the spirit’s good deed right away. I even think that Iduna actually forgot and never thought of it. Until the night her husband decide to tell a story about an Enchanted Forest, and she was asked to sing an old lullaby, that the “eureka” come to her mind, The brief scene of memories at Athohallan, where Iduna finally want to confess something to Agnarr, which he reply with ‘I’m listening’, make me believe that it was Iduna’s idea for them to travel North, to find Athohallan, in order to understand Elsa’s power and what purpose it held, so that Elsa will not suffer anymore. Because I believe, deep down in her heart, Iduna knows that whatever power Elsa has, is for great and good purpose. And of course, as every mother in this world, she only want the best for the daughter, and if to understand the purpose of Elsa’s power she have to travel North and face danger itself, she will do it. As good husband, of course Agnarr won’t let his wife travel alone, and went with her.

Unfortunately, the Nokk didn’t feels them worthy to step foot at the Athohallan, and drowned them. (I see Nokk as the more powerful, strict, by the book, will perfectly do his job, as the guardian of Athohallan. Thus only they who managed to survive his brutal test are allowed to step foot at Athohallan). But, being the place for spirits, Iduna’s spirit managed to get there in a way. And she finally understand what Elsa’s power is needed. Then her spirit wait, and in one way, start to send ‘voice signal’ to call Elsa to go to Athohallan.

The message was never delivered though, as Athohallan was a mystical place. That is until, Elsa unleashed her power in large scale (the eternal winter, the “Let it go” sequence). Such enormous power can be sensed by the spirits. And Gale might be the one to take action. After all, I presume he can sense Iduna’s call (the very same, very familiar ‘ah-ah-ah’ call). And starting from the end of Frozen 1, in 3 years time, he keep pushing the call towards Arendelle, hoping it was heard by whomever the message was sent for. Somehow, I feel Gale did this behind other spirit’s back (particularly Nokk, whom I see as the “leader” and the most “strict” of them all).

Thus he always checks from time to time, whether someone answered Iduna’s call. Somehow he can senses Iduna’s daughter. And because Anna is portrayed to inherited more of Iduna’s trait, I think Gale assume Anna would be the one who answered the call. There’s a scene where a wind carries a maple leave tickles Anna’s shoulder, when she was walking towards Olaf. And then the wind also whirled around Olaf. I think, it’s Gale sensing the two daughters of Iduna. (With Olaf carrying Elsa’s ‘magic’ sense), And that he is expecting someone to react to the call.

And then, one night, finally Elsa answered the call, and activated the rune crystals (Into The Unknown sequence). This summoning of the runes outside of the enchanted forest, enraged the spirits, and they intent to find whomever responsible for conjuring the runes, outside of the forest, without full knowledge of how to respect/use the power of the runes. On the other hand, Gale sense this as the sign he was waiting for. And being the spirit himself, he actually knows what need to be done to repair the past mistakes (destroying of the dam), and what will be the consequences (destruction of Arendelle). Considering his friendship with Iduna, and that those people lived in Arendelle were her beloved subjects, he took action. Unlike other spirits who immediately retract their powers, Gale pushed all living being outside of Arendelle (we clearly see him pushing Sven out of his stall), towards the higher ground.

Somehow, I think the one Elsa sensed as good (”Whoever calling me was good. My magic can sense it”) was Gale that has been delivering Iduna’s call. Elsa’s magic could sense Gale, because it came from the same source. Much grander, and different kind than Grand Pabbie’s, which make him didn’t managed to decipher the signs, even from Frozen 1, despite his good intention. But Pabbie’s managed to understand how grand the scale is, which leads him to warn Anna.

Then the main cast embark to their journey, and arrive at the forest’s border. The barrier open upon Elsa’s touch, under the spirits’ command. I guess, the spirits’ want to know who dare to conjure the runes, at the same time curious as why the person outside of the forest managed to do so, at the same time they want to test whether the person worthy of such power. Because, they must already know about the ‘bridge’/ the fifth element, that was needed to repair the past.

The first spirit to greet the group is of course, Gale, who’s very excited to finally able to ‘meet’ Iduna’s daughters. He even pushed the group to walk faster, cause he can’t wait any longer to greet them. Upon viewing that there’re actually 5 of them, he’s confused to decide which one of them possess the ‘key’. We can see how curious he is, as he often come and go near the group. Gale is not alone at this time. Bruni is also shown to be very curious at this outsider who step foot in their forest (and of course the Northruldan also sneaking around them). For a moment, these spirits move around Olaf, cause he’s the one ‘radiating’ magical sense for being an animated snowman. (Yes, including Nokk. As stoic as he is, he can’t stop his curiosity to see who are these people. But when he was met face to face with Olaf, he’s so surprised that he neigh and fled XD)

At certain point, Gale became impatient,and decided to swoop them up in a tornado, making this his ‘trial’, to see who actually hold the special ‘key’. I can see that Gale meant no harm when swooping the group up. The branch that nearly hit Anna wasn’t meant to hurt her. And lucky for him, at this time Elsa’s react to protect her sister, and thus confirming that she’s the one Gale’s been searching for. Thus he ‘spat’ the other party, and start the real “trial” to see how strong Elsa is. While at the same time, he’s trying to give as many message as possible to Elsa, which leads to the making of ice statues. Gale redeem Elsa’s worthy immediately of course. She’s Iduna’s daughter after all :) We can see his friendly trait right after the ‘trial’ has finished. He prank Kristoff, Sven, and Olaf, did an extra prank for Anna (whom he see really looks like Iduna), and did tiny prank to Elsa (cause he respect her).

During this time, Bruni was watching from the side. Then the gang encounter the Northruldan, and explain to them. He watched all the scene before him as quiet as possible. But then, Yelena said ‘We only will accept what the nature choose’. This clearly surprised him. (It’s kinda like “when you’re dozing off in class then suddenly the teacher point of you” kind of surprise) Thus his power blow out of control. Bruni panicking. And it cause the flame to grow even larger. I see Bruni as the ‘youngest’ of the spirit, and thus has less control of the flames, even more so when his emotion are not in control. Kinda like Elsa was in frozen 1.

Elsa senses this in away, and even though perhaps she thought this is the trial of the flame (which I think Bruni will said so if asked, so that he doesn’t look like he didn’t have full control of the flame), she accept the challenge, and put down the flames and even run after Bruni until he was trapped and has nowhere to go. But then, Bruni see that Elsa meant no harm, and in certain way, understand his current position (often misunderstood). And even further, Elsa’s the only one who could hold him (and her hand felt nice and cold). He befriend Elsa immediately. And so are the Northruldan.

During the camp, at night, we see how the Earth Giant came to the camp. From the conversation, this event is unusual. That’s because the Giant also sense Elsa’s power, and curious to see what cause the disturbances in the soil of Enchanted Forest. Somehow, I see the Giants as the slower type of spirit (slow in movement, and slow in deduction ability, just like the trait of earth). He’s slow in sensing Elsa’s power entering the forest, and slow in reacting to it, and couldn’t care less when at the end he didn’t managed to find the source, that they went off just like that.

The sisters saw this from different perspective, and decided that to not endangered the Northruldans, they decide to continue their journey right away. Lead by Bruni and Gale. Gale then showed the sister, the wreck of their parent’s ship. And by Elsa’s power, they finally know what happened to their parents, albeit a very horrifying truth that is. This leads Elsa to go and challenged Nokk by herself, and pushed Anna to ‘safety’.

The Nokk trial is, IMO, the most difficult and brutal trial Elsa have to conquer. Afterall, he’s a perfectionist, and very confident in his prowess, that he even ‘look down’ towards Elsa.

Never before we saw a ‘princess’ being drowned, thrown, splashed by giant waves, and dragged around under the sea, like Elsa before. And I love how badass Elsa was portrayed in this scene. (Apparently this scene already thought from the very beginning by the story creator, and what shaped the whole movie story. Amazing!). And when Elsa managed to tame the Nokk, is the moment that Nokk acknowledge her power, and thus pledge his loyalty to serve Elsa in fulfilling her destiny, and keeps her safe. After the trial, Nokk accompanies Elsa and help her reach the Athohallan, bow, and wait for her. (Horse is a very loyal animal after all). When Elsa’s thawed and thrown to the sea, he immediately took action and took Elsa to safety. This picture really shows Nokk loyalty towards Elsa (he deliberately keep Elsa’s face above water, so she wouldn’t get drown. But unfortunatelly this concept art didn’t make it to the movie). And then Nokk gives all his power to take Elsa to Arendelle as fast as he can, so that Elsa could stop the tidal wave. This Nokk development is my favorite :D

Meanwhile, Anna’s encounter with the Giants make her the ‘conqueror’ of the earth element. After standing up from her grief (which is my favorite Anna moment in the whole movie, that make me really proud of her), she took action by ‘manipulating’ the Giants to fulfill her goal. Now the Giant’s reaction is interesting to see. At first noticing Anna, his reaction was like “oh, so this is the one disturbing the peace! Get out! Get out!!”. Thus the Giants chase Anna (and Kristoff and Sven) around, throwing boulders. They even target Anna when she was standing at the dam. But noticed that the moment they understand what Anna make them do, and see that they nearly put Anna’s life in danger, they stop. Being one of the spirit, they must’ve known that the dam need to be destroyed, to restore peace and fixed the past. They really stop mid-throwing. And the look at their faces, it’s like “Oh…. ooohh… so that’s what you’re trying to do…. Oops… didn’t meant to hurt you”. (Like I said, they’re slow ^^;). And by the end of the movie, when Anna reunited with Elsa, we saw the giant standing there with his ‘guilty’ face, bowing towards the sisters, as if saying “Sorry……” (Awww…..)

I love how subtle the connection between Iduna’s past, the sisters bond, Elsa’s power, and the characterization of the nature’s spirits being portrayed in this Frozen 2. Even tough I need more time to contemplate this connections (and certainly the younger kids wouldn’t be able to grasp yet), which make Frozen 2 “harder to chew”, this make me love the movie even more. I think I’ll watch it again in the cinema XD.

anyway, if you managed to come to this end, Thank you for reading my super hella long theory. Sorry for grammar mistakes. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say, and hope to hear more from you and all Frozen fans out there :)

#frozen2 #frozen 2 #elsa #anna #spirits #frozen 2 spoilers #frozen2 spoiler #spoilers #spoiler #theory #analysis #my analysis

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hesesols · 4 years ago

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A Man of His Word

Day 23 of Ichiruki month 2020

Summary:

The transition from boy to man comes with inner peace. It comes with the realization that he doesn't have anything to prove, that a blade should only ever be drawn to maim and kill; and that Rukia will go to the ends of the world to hunt him down and end him herself if he was dumb enough to get himself killed.

"Now get going! I promised my wife I'll be home by the end of the week so get your asses on the move!"

Rating: T (for Ichigo’s potty mouth)

FF/ao3

It is universally acknowledged that Captain Ichigo Kurosaki of the Fifth Division, Hero of Soul Society is a powerhouse. He is the man who made the impossible possible, the feats he accomplished the stuff of legends.

Just ask anyone and they will gladly recount the most romantic story ever to grace the pristine city- retold and re-enacted for the public for as many times as the sun rose over the arches and columns of Seireitei and it still never gets old— the story of him rescuing the Kuchiki Princess from the Blades of Soukyoku or the time he spearheaded a rescue mission with his nakama from the Living World to infiltrate the depths of Hueco Mundo to save one of their own, defying official orders in favour of doing what's right.

The nobles will tell you with a haughty sniff that it's because of his bloodline. The noble Shiba ancestry renders him practically blue-blooded and his esteemed bloodline shines through and through even if one's father is disgraced and the rest of his clan equally uncouth.

The folks from the streets of Rukongai will tell you that he is a true man of the people for he champions causes dear to them. For the better of Soul Society, he led and spurred social reformations- speaking out against archaic customs, bullying and strong-arming indifferent nobles to his cause, championing better living conditions for all by way of schools, orphanages, clinics and roads being built.

Such a man to inspire such loyalty and following among so divided a crowd, to be so brave and bold in leading these reforms!

It's a no brainer then that he would be the ideal person to lead missions, especially dangerous missions into uncharted and unfamiliar territories for weeks or even months on end.

Think again.

Because Ichigo absolutely loathes being on missions.

Anyone who knows the man personally or have had the misfortune to go on such a mission with him will tell you in fact the man loathes doing anything that forces him to spend more than a day away from his wife.

Final year academy students shuffled nervously, sword arms shaking as they gathered behind the orange-haired Captain, one with a scowl so fierce that it seemed to stop Hollows dead in their tracks, paralysed them with fear before the man finished up the job with his twin blades.

Glaring at them, he barked harshly, "Don't just stand there like sitting ducks! Do you want to be eaten?"

They gulped as a collective before remembering their years of lessons and turned to face the horde, their zanpakutos drawn and gleaming.

It was their first foray into the Living World- a week-long field exercise that will count towards their final grade prior to graduation. Their academy instructor has reassured them with a beaming smile that it's all part of the new school curriculum. If nothing else, the experience would make sure that they're well prepared when they come face-to-face with Hollows on their own and made sure they blended in and behaved accordingly during missions, following procedures and obeying the direct chain of command once they're in the Living World.

The instructor even congratulated them on their luck as their accompanying seated officer for this particular mission was the one and only Captain Kurosaki.

Just imagine!

For the duration of this short excursion, they'd have the actual privilege of fighting alongside the legendary man, working under him even!

Well, thought Jun as she narrowly sidestepped a pincer from the disgusting-looking bug Hollow she was up against; it sure started off that way. For the first ten minutes or so every academy student was certainly gawking; stunned by the appearance of the tall, broad-shouldered man. His hair, they whispered, it really is as bright as the Sun; and the twin blades- they gasped; the only other person who's ever had the sheer gifted prowess is that of the Soutaichou!

The excited chatter was loud as expected. These bright-eyed Shinigamis-in-training would be lying if they told you that they didn't dream of being given the opportunity of working under such an esteemed man.

Jun would begrudgingly admit that she was one of those moon-eyed students, taken in for a split second by the legends woven of the Captain. She's one of the orphans- the first few actually who were taken in by the Kurosaki-Kuchiki Orphanage and she looked to him with as much respect and hero worship as one would expect.

That was until the man unceremoniously dropped them straight into the battle grounds. A dozen or so ugly Hollows snarling and growling away, hungry at the prospect of being fed. The infamous Captain then ordered them without a hint of preamble or motivating speech to fend for themselves or risk being Hollow-chow for the day.

The impact was jarring.

Seriously, she bit the insides of her cheek as she parried, what was she thinking? Wasn't there a Living World saying that says to never meet your heroes for they're sure to disappoint you?

Disheartened by reality, she tried her best, kido spells coming to mind as easily as breathing. Adrenaline pumped through her body, blocking and parrying as best as she could with her zanpakuto, trying desperately not to get herself killed.

Then, she slipped up.

In hindsight, it was the inevitable given the amount of thoughts swimming through her head- the fear that came with the self-doubt and she missed the killing blow.

She cursed.

The Hollow had no such qualms and made full use of the missed opening to dive in for the kill. Jun stumbled, upsetting her balance and the Hollow's gaping mouth loomed close to her face, enough for her to feel the putrid stench from its breath. She shut her eyes tight as she awaited the crush from the monster's jaw but the pain never came.

Instead what she heard was the annoyed voice of her acting Captain as he pushed her aside, overwhelming the Hollow's impending attack with sheer brute strength and in one clean slice purified the monster.

She fell flat on her ass on the ground, eyes wide in disbelief as she regarded her saviour. If he hadn't swoop in, she'd have been in a world of pain, possibly even made mincemeat and dinner by the Hollow.

"T-Thank yo-"

"You were distracted. That's your first lesson. Don't let fear cripple you. You can't give into fear during a fight! Now pick up that sword of yours and try again! I won't be there to save you every time."

With those parting words, the man shunpoed away; possibly to help out another classmate of hers, leaving Jun to her thoughts. She drew a shaky breath, getting up on her feet- the blade burning in her hands.

This time, she didn't miss; cleaving the Hollow's mask in two as she pivoted and that she realized, that was her first real encounter with the Captain Kurosaki.

Five days into her training, Jun has learnt enough to not be intimidated by the ferocity of Captain Kurosaki's scowl and know the kindness hidden deep and I mean- way deep behind his gruffness.

She was sincere and humble as she asked him for advice.

The Captain snorted, "Here's one: try not to get killed."

Jun pressed on undeterred and after much badgering, the taciturn man finally relented, addressing the group huddled around the burning fire. It's the closest they ever got to a motivation speech from their acting Captain.

"Alright, listen up 'cause I'm only going to say this once: it's meaningless to just fight. You fight to win! But even that's not enough. I'm not just fighting to win. I fight because I have to win. My advice to you is to find out what's your reason to win and hold true to it."

"Just like that?"

He rolled his eyes, mumbling something that sounded like amateurs under his breath.

"Believe me. It's much harder than it sounds. It takes courage to really dig deep and to know yourself. Finding out is actually half the battle. Once you figure it out, things will fall into place- bit by bit. I can't promise you that it'll be easy. But I can assure you that it can be done."

"What is your reason then?"

Someone in their group was feeling bold only to be mercilessly shot down by a snappish reply.

"That's none of your business!"

The excursion was eye-opening- expectations were met properly and Jun was given a real taste of what her future job role would entail.

By the end of the week, her connection and bond with her zanpakuto was stronger than ever, her confidence of her own abilities skyrocketed and rang in every strike that she parried.

She had also never felt so tired and bruised in her life. Her muscles ached and she needed a hot bath. Her bed, she never thought she'd say this but she missed her tiny quarters in the student dormitories.

Jun turned the corner, cutting through the bushes and passing through the backyard of some of the other barracks, eager to go to the Fourth Division to be cleared for her return back to her dorms.

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, making sure she's safely hidden in the shadows as she watched on. Realization dawned as she realized that she must be passing through the training grounds of the Thirteenth Division.

There was hardly another soul in sight and Jun had much trouble reconciling the fiercely scowling Captain she had served for the better part of a week with that of the smiling man standing less than six feet away.

Captain Rukia Kurosaki-Kuchiki, Captain of the Thirteenth Division, adopted sister of Captain Byakuya Kuchiki is a woman of short stature, demure and polite by all accounts but widely regarded as one of the most dangerous Captains among the ranks of Gotei 13. Powerful in her own rights, her Bankai is the stuff of nightmares, revenge is a dish best served cold as is absolute death striking her opponents down at the absolute zero temperature, her attacks so pretty that it's almost an honour to be cut down by her.

The other important thing to note is that she has the powerful Captain Ichigo Kurosaki at her beck and call. It's no secret that he adores her and will move heaven and earth if she so desires. People like to say that she's a lucky woman- the other half of a power couple, ushering the era of peace with her husband by her side.

In their ignorance, they forgot much of her humble beginnings, making light of her efforts; but Jun remembered. She remembered the kindness of the lady when she visited them in the orphanage. Those hands that pressed treats to her were just as callused as that of an experienced swordsman.

Watching them now, their Captain haori softly billowing in the winds. The woman's smile radiant and gentle; Captain Kurosaki's notorious scowl gone as he pressed the hand of the woman reverently to his cheeks, bending over to kiss her on her crown as the other hand rested tentatively on the barely-there baby bump. Of course, there were rumours that the two Captains were expecting their third. It's a girl this time, if rumours were true- Jun believed they were.

They were comfortable in the silence, soft in their gazes and warm in the arms of each other. Two- no, three children later, and they're still so obviously enamoured by the presence of each other and Jun realized, they were not lucky.

It's not the right word.

They were blessed- blessed to have each other, to have found each other and be able to hold on. That's the truth that they know deep within their souls as they brushed their lips chastely against each other.

She wisely crept away, careful not to make a noise lest the two became aware of her existence and thought that she was spying on them. She flashed back to the conversation by the fire.

It's clear to see what or rather who Captain Kurosaki's reason to fight and win at all costs, is.

FF/ao3

Another venture into the 'my babies are good parents' AU world. Happens before events that take place in The Good Life.

Review, reblog, comment, like or send me an ask to share a headcanon- alternatively reach out to me on the Seireitei Discord. I won’t bite I promise!

#ichiruki #ichirukimonth2020 #ichirukimonth #irmonth2020 #fanfic #mine #Day 23: promises kept #a man of his word #my babies are good parents AU-verse #gruff ichigo but with a heart of gold #all is well #686 who?

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hey-hamlet · 5 years ago

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BNHA AU Ideas: Alleycat

Also on AO3!

TL;DR:

The story of the Erasure villain: Alley Cat and his heroic kittens. Aizawa, a rather nomadic villain, accidentally acquires two teenagers and a four-year-old. It's not the most conventional family, but it'll do.

villain aizawa: hes incredibly brutal and efficient, kind of an antihero type. he shuts down some things the heroes dont see, patrols the sketchy areas, looks out for children

he kinda,,, accidentally adopted some children

shinsou and izuku were runaways from a terrible foster home that tracked down the 'villain' alleycat and basically said

"are we worth anything to anyone?" and aizawa sees these kids hurt by heroics and takes them under his wing

eri is a kid izuku stumbled upon while out with shinsou before they met aizawa, and izuku basically adopted her straight out, came back to shinsou like "hi we have a little sister now" they are like 12, eri is 4

so aizawa accidentally gets 2 teens and a lil kid and he finds out they lowkey wanna be villains like him bc they wanna help and heroes dont help people like them. aizawa's heart breaks bc he doesn't want these kids to have the life he's had, so he promises to train hitoshi and izuku only if they try for the hero course

they agree. a villain begins to train heroes to enter the very thing that hurt them, with hopes of changing it from the inside out

ok also: in this au whatever horrible thing happened to shirakumo,,,, didnt. and he's 1A's homeroom teacher. hes bright, bubbly and cheerful, with the same expulsion rate aizawa has

so, shirakumo's hero name is cloud nine, hizashi's is feedback, not present mic. they both think aizawa is dead, and separately have to deal with the villain 'alleycat' as his territory intersects w ua's zone

aizawa, as alleycat, is a lot gentler to shirakumo and hizashi, more polite when speaking to them, less brutal with his takedowns. hizashi notices, but says nothing

hitoshi and izuku, with their baby sister eri, end up living with aizawa, training to be heroes to improve them fucked up society that taught them they were worthless in the first place

he takes them on parkour routes in the early morning, teaches them how to disarm people with knives, to use an opponents size against them.

izuku hones his ability to analyse, hitoshi learns how to push peoples buttons. there is no such thing as a fair fight for them. they break each others noses, chip a tooth or two, get black eyes. there are no hard feelings, they are together through everything

the 4 of them live pretty rough, only on what aizawa can get as a villain/working day shifts in a dodgy bar. aizawa pretends to be their dad for anything legal, says they had two different mothers. it works, somehow.

Some minor cosmetic changes:

Izuku, Hitoshi and Eri all dye their hair black. It started as them quietly wanting to look like their ‘dad’ for sentimental reasons, but they quickly worked out that it made the lie a lot easier for others to swallow.

They all take the surname Aizawa

Eri’s hair is cut into a messy bob – she loves getting Izuku to give her pigtails with the little sparkly hair ties Shouta stole for her. Izuku’s hair is shorter at the back and longer at the front, obscuring his eyes a bit. Hitoshi’s hair is shoulder length and growing, he ties it back in a low bun.

All three of the kids have scars. Eri’s are like canon but a less extreme because her quirk only just showed up. Izuku and Hitoshi have some from bullies, horrible foster parents and reckless sparing. Izuku has a few more little ones because he developed his not-dad’s love of cats and is unafraid of getting bitten – on top of his lack of self-preservation.

they go to aldera middle school, bakugo is still a little shit. to be honest, izuku hates it the most when bakugo burns his uniform - they cant afford to buy extra. there have been a few weeks hes just had to where shinsou's spare and roll the sleeves up

izuku and shinsou have a bit of a spat the afternoon of the sludge villain. it's nothing either of them remembers in a weeks time, but it means shinsou leaves school first, without izuku

bakugo corners him, notebook, allmight, etc

izuku has to ask

all might says no

izuku crumbles, such a dramatic shift from the calm but nice boy he'd been before. you can see the moment his heart breaks. all might feels terrible, but izuku has jumped down the fire escape before he can say anything.

to be honest, izuku is moments away from a full-fledged breakdown. He shoots shinsou a quick text about the villain, but pauses when he hears explosions. He knows the chances its Katsuki are tiny but he’s never been a lucky guy, so he runs towards them

basically the rest of the episode plays out like canon, izuku goes home and meets with his whole ass family panicking because he sent a vague text about a villain then was totally AWOL for 2 hours

hitoshi hugs him really tight while aizawa mumbles something about a tracking chip.

Izuku tells hitoshi about all might, but just tells aizawa vaguely that hes getting a quirk, no he isn’t in any danger, yes he’ll be safe, no he can’t tell you how.

Izuku and Hitoshi both pass the entrance exam with a mix of hero and villain points.

Izuku still doesn’t his whole bone breaky routine but he also manages to take out a few robots by himself before that. He ends up with the highest score.

Hitoshi takes out a few more robots but spends a fair bit of time pushing people out of the way of robots, yelling at people to be more careful about the others around them, and controlling people to get them out of the way of debris. He gets into the top 10.

Nezu is very very interested in the two ‘brothers’ with very different quirks that both did so well. He resolves to keep and eye on them.

Shirakumo is a riot as a teacher but boy is he stressful to be in a class with. The first insult out of Bakugo’s mouth and hes kicked him out of his class, telling him to try class B or get out of the school. (Blood King takes him. Bakugo is a little less horrible to izuku, at least where others can see)

Izukus having a quiet panic attack because Bakugo is going to kill him, and Hitoshi is caught between respecting the balls on their teacher and being pissed at the guy for putting izuku in a terrible position.

No quirk test, they do actually go see the opening ceremony. Hizashi and Shirakumo chat in sign while the principal’s speech drags on. Hitoshi and Izuku watch on, trying not to laugh when they start signing that they want to go to sleep.

Then they do the quirk test bc shirakumo’s a bastard. They end the day with Bakugo kicked out and Hagekure hanging onto her place by a thread. Izuku and Hitoshi come 4th and 5th respectively, despite not being able to use their quirks in the test. Shirakumo is interested.

Skipping to the interesting bits:

The USJ is just as terrible as canon, with the added fact that some of the thugs totally recognise izuku and hitoshi. Izuku works out how to use one for all at 1% during the attack. Hitoshi ends up with a scar on his eyebrow from a person with a claw quirk, Izuku gets a broken arm. Hitoshi sees all might in his skinny form for the first time and is suitably surprized

The sports festival goes a lot like canon in the first round, the second round features a team-up of just Hitoshi as the horse and Izuku as the rider bc they are so used to working with each other they felt it’d be more trouble to have extra team members. They arent exactly wrong and that round ends with them still in control of the 1’000’000 points band – along with a fair few teams just sitting on the sidelines with no idea how they got there.

Tournament round has izuku fighting Todoroki in the second round like canon, but in this universe, he wins (after helping him because whats izuku without a saviour complex). Hitoshi beats Tokoyami and Sero, but loses to Bakugo. The final round is Izuku vs Bakugo, they tie.

The stain arc is a riot. Izuku is interning w Gran, Hitoshi is with Nighteye who happens to be looking for ‘Alley Cat’. Hitoshi is so done with this.

Izuku finds Iida about to be attacked by stain and swoops in. Stain recognises him instantly

“Oh, you’re one of the cat’s kids, aren’t you? Let me deal with this fake hero and you can show me what your dad's taught you.”

Iida is confused – resolves to ask about it later

“You step away from him.”

“What?”

“I said. Step away from Iida. He’s – We’re going to be heroes. We’re both going to be heroes and I won’t let you hurt him!”

Stain pauses, then smiles.

“Lets see if the apple falls far from the tree, hm?” And he launches himself at Izuku

Izuku can dodge with the best of them, but he can’t get close enough to hit stain while protecting Iida. He manages to escape paralysis, but by the time Todoroki arrives stain has barely taken damage.

Todoroki isn’t the only person that responded to that warning. 1 city over, Hitoshi is franticly begging Nighteye to do something, because his brother is in danger. Nighteye is shocked at the fear in the previously apathetic child’s voice. He alerts heroes in the area, and makes his way over with a nervous Hitoshi in tow. On the other end of the city, where he’d been trying to keep an ear out for his kids, Aizawa gets the text and his heart drops. He begins running over.

Stain is taken out before any more help arrives. Without ropes, Todoroki freezes him solid in a block of ice. Endeavour arrives, as does Nighteye with a panicked Hitoshi. Aizawa arrives soon after, perched on a nearby rooftop, ready to whisk his kids away to safety should they need it.

The nomu swoops down, grabbing Izuku. Stain can’t help – trapped in his block of ice. Aizawa runs after Izuku. The nomu drops Izuku off at Shirgiraki’s feet, who is rather delighted to have the annoying boy from the USJ delivered to him out of the blue. He’s not, however, so happy with the knives he finds flying towards him. Kurogiri redirects them and the portal fades just in time for them to come face to face with the villain ‘Alley Cat”

“Well that was a cheap shot Alley Cat, what crawled up your ass and died?”

Aizawa places himself in front of Izuku, teeth bared. Izuku is clutching the leg of his costume. “Don’t hurt him and you won't lose a hand.” Kurogiri goes to attack, but Shigiraki waves him off, letting Aizawa take back Izuku.

“Sir?”

“Don’t you see? There are villains in the hero course. I smell a side quest, don’t you? We might even get some new party members out of it.

#bnha #bnha au #alleycat au #dadzawa #aizawa shouta #eraserhead #midoriya izuku #shinsou hitoshi #eri #bnha eri #Midoriya #shinsou #izuku #shirakumo oboro #shirakumo #present mic #yamada hizashi

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inupibaldspot · 4 years ago

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Saviour: Chapter 23

The atmosphere was completely different here.

The people who were with Garp were friendly. Everyone was smiley and some even fought back at Garp when he did something weird. Sure they were not that accepting towards Emilia in the beginning but it was only because they thought the child would not be able to take care of herself, increasing the burden on the ship. But spending about 4 years with them made Emilia like them a lot and vice versa.

However, in Akainu's ship the atmosphere here, for the lack of better words, was tense. Everyone seemed to be on the edge and most of the crew members, themselves were quite cold towards each other. After observing for few days, she realized that they were made that way by Akainu. Everyone near him had their back straightened and made sure everything they did was given their 100 percent. They even had training routine in the morning!

And it did not help at all that Emilia was handpicked by the admiral himself. Apparently this was the first time it happened because usually the members are send by a team who does the entrance test and those members were weak or useless, they would be kicked out by Akainu.

Akainu would also train her whenever he was free.

"Why" Emilia would ask.

"Because you would be a powerful weapon if trained properly." Would be his answer.

Other members would always use the word favoritism around Emilia. And because of that jealousy, they would always make sure to give the works which everyone usually avoided such as peeling the ingredients, washing the dishes or cleaning the toilets to her. Not to mention the accidental pushes. Emilia could not believe what she was faced with at first. She was a child. She was a 13 year old child and was being pushed around by full grown adults. Oh the pettiness of these people!

However she did not complain or fight back because alas, her rank was simply a 'sea man', one of the lowest rank in the marine, and the people around her were all higher ranks, at least compared to her. Not to mention that they were her seniors so for now she decided to just suck it up.

Akainu mainly focused on training haki more than anything else. He said that as you keep on progressing further along the Grand Line, many of the powerful people were Devil fruit users.

"If you were to ever find a Devil Fruit would you eat it?" Akainu asked one day as he walked back into the ship. They just saved a village which was being attacked.

Emilia walked fast, besides the Admiral and then stood at the decks as the waves took us to their next mission spot. She brought her hands on her chin as she thought for a bit. "No...I'd rather not." She finally said. If she were to meet up with Ace or Luffy later on, she didn't want to be someone who would be held back due to presence of water.

She lifted her head and her eyes met with her superior. His didn't say anything further and continued looking at her as if to make her justify her answer. "I personally don't have much knowledge on Devil Fruits so if I were to eat it, it would be a gamble." Emilia explained. "On top, not all Devil Fruits are powerful."

"But I would consider it if I have a Devil Fruits which can give me aerial abilities." Emilia added.

"And especially in the ocean , which is surrounded by water flying above water will be useful, if not for those type of devil fruit it'll just make us weak and it is more of a minus-" Emilia stopped. Crap! She forgot that the man next to her was a devil fruits user. Emilia shook her hands in panic. "That's is just my opinion! People, strong as yourself probably don't have to worry about these-"

"No." Akainu cut her off. "I was also going to advise you against eating a devil fruits as well."

"Your progress regarding both your haki and strength is quite fast." The tall admiral complimented, making Emilia mutter a small 'Thank you'. "When you get stronger, I plan to make you my right hand man at least that is if you are able to continuously get stronger. I have no need for a weak right hand man."

When the man spit those words out, the current right hand man who was behind them visibly flinched, making Emilia feel bad about him.

"And when that happens I want a strong individual who won't be affect by the ocean waters" Akainu stepped into the ship and stopped. He then turned around and and then stared at Emilia right at her eye. "I hope you understand what I am saying."

"Do you expect me to be a dog?" Emilia looked back at Akainu in the eye. "Who will do whatever you orders obediently wagging my tail?"

"Yes" Akainu huffed "This is the exact reason why I am training you."

Emilia eyes opened slightly in realization at how Zack and Akainu were complete opposites.

The man in front of her right now was dead set into training her into a human weapon who can be used against pirates.

However she remembered how Zack had a long talk with her once. Zack insisted Emilia to return back home and that she could return when she was older.

"You are a child, Emilia..." Zack eyes lowered, his hands laced together, frown evident on his age. "Children your age are to be playing around, having fun and not stay in the ocean. The ocean is a very dangerous place and we never know when we get attacked or engage in a battle here."

But Emilia refused profusely. The reason she didn't go back even when Garp asked her was because the marine is an organization where your rank can depend on people's opinion of you. She already had Garp and Tsuru by her side making her have the attention of the higher ups. As long as she completed all her missions with huge success, she would undoubtedly climb up in ranks fast which will definitely be useful later on. Now she can also use this man in front of her as long as she gets stronger.

Become your weapon who will shoot at your command. Emilia thought. Don't be delusional!

"Well It won't be happening, Admiral" Emilia stood her ground. Emilia was scared but she still stood her ground. Her heart was hammering against her chest, her hands which was clenched undoubtedly now developed sweat.

She needed to be stand against him. Human for if they continue to remain submissive will soon lose their confidence and be unable to take their own path. They would forever then walk under their peer's command.

Going against the scary Admiral was seriously frightening especially knowing the fact that this man can just chop her head off, and he won't be facing any punishment due to his high rank.

Akainu didn't say anything for a minute and then turned away. "Keep on training for now, cheeky brat."

"Huh?!" Emilia jutted her jaws out and rolled up her sleeve, hands made into a fist "What do you mean Cheeky Brat? Make sure to be careful when you're sleeping old man!"

Emilia shook her head violently at her thoughts. As if I can say that!

"Yes, sir" Emilia obediently nodded, before she smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "But it might take quite a while for me to reach a high position to become Admiral's right hand man."

"You don't have to worry about that." Akainu huffed as he turned away and walked away, towards his office. "I have already been putting words of your contribution when we fight against the pirates in my reports so expect promotions."

"It seemed as we arrived." Akainu walked towards the exit as the ship finally landed. They were currently on pursuit of a pirate crew. They weren't strong or anything but was definitely slippery. They robbed places and then quickly disappeared making it severe.

However one of their crew member, their captain named Cross was particularly a very strong man boasting a bounty of 430,000,000 belli which was the main reason Akainu was leading this mission.

Emilia looked at a small house where the pirates they were after were supposedly hidden.

"How strong is your haki now?" Akainu asked as the other soldiers were waiting for their Admiral to give a green light to attack.

"I like to think I'm fairly strong since Admiral was the one training me." Emilia smiled. Of course both of them knew these were just polished words with no actual meaning.

"Hmm...."Akainu look at her. He then pointed at the house. "Why don't you cut down the house at once?"

Emilia turned her head quickly. "But the pirates might be inside, Admiral."

"Yes, I know. I want you to deal with them in one swoop." Akainu said. "It doesn't matter if they are killed."

Emilia unsheathed her word and held it. She started breathing heavily. This was an immediate order from a higher up. Sure during the past two years she got promoted in a high pace but she was still far away from Akainu.

She took in a deep breath and bend her knees developing her stance. Her haki grew from her hands and covered her sword.

You can't take life for granted... Once you kill someone you are simply a murderer.

Zack's words suddenly flew though her mind and just before she swung her sword her wrist tilted lightly but that was enough to cause a huge deflection.

I don't want to kill anyone!

She watched the haki's force from the sword swing through the roof of the building instead of going through is as she was instructed.

She let out a sigh and straightened her posture. Her body felt cold yet she was sweating.

Akainu who was beside her gave her a disapproving look. "You're still too weak." Such a waste.

The man gave a signal and ordered his men to go capture the pirates who were probably shocked at the sudden attack.

Emilia stood still for a moment and smiled defeated. To think someone else words would have such an influence on me.

The rest of the team rushed in and easily and quite quickly captured the pirates.

"We have been able to capture the crew mates however Cross was nowhere to be found. It is not sure if he was there from the start or not. "All the pirates except their leader was captured.

"But the crewmates said the captain was there with them just minutes ago. He may have escaped upon knowing Admiral was the one after him." Emilia continued.

"Cross is a man with a bounty of 430,000,000 Belli so he is a strong and dangerous man...We can't have him loose for long." Akainu replied as he walked back towards his office.

"Yes however I have issued a-" Emlia was stopped from explaining the documents half way.

"Captain Emilia, I apologize for forcing a sudden decision on you however from next time I want you to be mentally prepared. I want not a single moment of resistance."

"I apologize for my actions earlier." Emilia stopped and bowed deeply in apology. "Because of my actions the captain, Cross might have escaped."

As she straightened herself, she noticed white particles falling from the sky. She lifted her head and then looked at the sky in confusion. "...Feather?"

Emlia reached out her hands and when those feathers landed on her hands it melted leaving a tiny water droplet behind.

Her eyes glimmered in amazement as the sifted turned to look at Akainu "Admiral, Its snow! I've never seen them in such a shape!"

Weathers in Grand line was weird, from fire rain to tornadoes of different shapes and even the ocean suddenly splitting in two but Emilia has never seen anything as beautiful and simple as this. Since everything else would always be something which can kill her.

Emlia walked away and still looked around her in amazement then turned around and smiled at Akainu, one hand putting her hair behind her ears as the wind blew making her hair sway.

A sudden memory flashed by Akainu.

A woman who held out her hand in awe as snow fell on her hand and she then turned to him and smiled. "Aren't they beautiful, Sakazuki?"

Akainu's eyes widened. "Keira..."

He then shook his head and massaged his temple. What was he saying...She isn't-

"Do you know my mother?"

Akainu lifted his head quickly as he stared at Emilia in shock as she also looked back at him with the same expression. "What?"

"You said Keira, right Admiral?" Emlia said as she walked towards him. "That's my mother's name. Did you know her? She was also said to be in the marine years ago..."

"You're...you're her daughter?"

For the first time Emilia has been with Akainu, this was the first time she heard such a broken voice coming from the man.

"Where is she? Is she still fiery and stubborn? To think her child has grown so much and look so much like her..." Akainu raised his hand and placed his hand on Emilia's face. The first time Akainu saw her in the training ground he knew this girl resembled her. Maybe that is why he felt the need to take care of her and keep her by his side...

"Is she happy?" He asked.

Emilia opened her mouth and then closed it. Her fist behind her tightened as her memories flashed into her mind. "She passed away..."

Akainu's eyes widened.

"She passed away trying to protect me and the village." Emilia bit her lips.

Akainu stood still before he laughed. However Emilia could feel the pain laced with laugh. "Why did she even try fighting?..."

"Wasn't she a marine?" Emilia asked in a small voice. "I was told she-"

"Yes...A Marine cook!" Akainu replied making Emilia sweat drop a bit. When she heard her mother was part of the marine she automatically assumed she was a soldier not a cook. This was quite a twist.

"I guess that part of her that believed that her spatula can cause a concussion didn't change hahaha...."

"That idiot...." Emilia looked up to see Akainu's eyes slightly red. "That fucking idiot...." But that boldness and the way she wouldn't ever hesitate in her action is exactly the reason why I turned towards her.

"By the way-" Akainu suddenly turned towards Emilia. "Do you know your father?"

Emilia shook her head. "My mother never brought up anything related to my father and even when I asked she refused to talk about him."

"She always had a sad expression on her when I asked about him so I stopped bringing any talks related to my father." Emilia played with her fingers as she explained. "I guess the memories regarding him hurt her a lot...."

Akainu stood in silence for abit before he started. "Your father...His name is Ainsworth Eliott."

"Ainsworth...I thought the family name was my mother's." Emilia bit her lips in shame. Even though she lived with her mother for nine years, Emlia never really knew anything about her family.

"No..." Akainu shook his head. "Your mother was an orphan who was taken in by one of the marine chef after he lost his daughter."

"And your father was a pirate but then he also became a crewmate I worked with..."

Emilia's eyes widened at the sudden revelation.

Keira was always a cheerful and beautiful woman so many approached her however she never reciprocate their feelings.

Akainu loved Keira deeply. But she never looked at her with the same gaze.

But when a man named Eliott suddenly joined the crew her eyes changed when she looked at him.

They first started talking when Eliott refused to eat the carrot in the curry Keira made making her argue with him holding his spoon with carrots close to his mouth. Eliott with his rather quiet personality closed his jaw shut and head shook refusing to at it no matter what.

Akainu remembered looking at the scene with amusement.

Slowly they would have their food together. Keira would be cheerfully chatting while Eliott would stare at her and nod at her talks at times. When her spoon feel,Keria bend down to grab it, Eliott would quickly place his hand on the corner of the table so Keira would not bump her head on the edge of the table.

Akainu remembered wanting to do the same.

After spending months together, Akainu remembered one day walking out of a celebration to see Keria and Eliott on the deck of their ship one night.

Eliott stared lovingly at Keira as she continued to talk about random stuff but then stopped noticing the man look at her. Both of them held eye contact before Eliott raised his hand and held her chin, leaning in.

As much as Akainu didn't want to admit, back then before Keira closed her eyes and leaned in to kiss Eliott, her eyes had the most beautiful shade of blue with full of love and gentleness which was not directed at him. Akainu then turned away and walked away.

But the couple did not last long.

It was found that Eliott was a former pirate who had escaped from his crew. His crewmates did not leave him alone and tracked him down since he had too much inside information. Eliott was killed.

Akainu remembered the state Keira was in. She was so heartbroken and would cry a lot. Akainu even though he was a man full of ego would sometimes approach her and try to provide even the tiniest bit of comfort.

"Thank you, Sakazuki. You're a nice man."

She said but Akainu knew he was only doing this because it was Keira. If it were anyone else he wouldn't bat an eye.

But one day Keira packed everything and the hand over her resignation letter. Akainu didn't not want her to leave but...

"I'm pregnant..." Keira smiled as she caressed her stomach. "I'm leaving behind this painful past so that I can give this child a happy future."

Akainu had so many things to say but then the only thing which left his mouth was. "Take care..."

"Thank you for everything, Sakazuki." She smiled.

Akainu remembered her once bright blue eye were now dull...

....

(A/N): Re uploaded this

Also I received a message asking if I'm going to discontinue the book and the answer is no.

I'll complete it however the updates maybe slow at times.

Thank you once again and see you guys in the next chapter.

I also drew a now grown up Emlia but I suck at it lol.

#ace #portgas d ace #one piece ace #ace imagine #saviour #sabo #one piece sabo #luffy #one piece #one piece imagines #one piece imagine

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darlingpetao3 · 5 years ago

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Seducing the Gem (Nash Wells x Reader, Chapter 1/9)

Rating: M (Smut in Chapter 6 only)

Summary: When a mysterious package shows up at your front door, you (a famous Romance novelist) are hurtled from your virtually uneventful life and into one of danger and adventure. In a quest to save your captured friend Caitlin from impending harm, you run into a suave adventurer named Nash who helps you along the way. Or is the charming Nash simply after something in your possession...?

A/N: My Romancing the Stone AU is finally here!! Again, check out the film if you haven’t already (it’s one of my favourites). This has been such a fun series for me to write and I really hope you enjoy it! Major MAJOR thanks to @mintchipcupcake for being my beta-reader for this story! (You’re amazing!!) Let me know if any of you would like to be tagged for upcoming chapters. There will be nine installments total and I will do my best to post every Tuesday.

The altered-human stood before me, looming in the shadows of my apartment. His fists glowed with the light of a thousand suns.

“I know who you are,” his voice croaked. A shiver ran down my back. Yes, I was only in my lace nighty, but I was by no means cold.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I feigned innocence. He took calculated steps towards me, and I knew I’d have to act quickly. This guy was not about to try to kill me a second time.

Luckily, ‘acting quickly’ was something I was exceptional at doing.

The brusque altered-human grunted, then lunged at me with a fiery fist. Little did he know that wouldn’t do much.

I saw the punch coming as if it was in slow motion and dodged his attack, watching his hand glide by my head at a turtle’s pace. I let the momentum return to normal before grabbing his wrist and uttering, “You came to the wrong house, pal.”

It was easy to flip him; he made a thump on my hardwood floor and groaned at the impact. I took that opportunity to run circles around him so fast that I could feel the electricity coursing through my veins until it culminated into a bolt of lightning in my hand.

Power up, baby.

I let the bolt fly, dead straight, until it connected with the altered-human’s chest. He shouted, and the impact of the shot hurtled him out my window to the street below.

There was a commotion outside - voices of distressed concern. I knew I’d be in some serious shit, and not just because I threw a man out my window.

I’d be locked up for being an altered-human too.

There was no time to collect any personal items, just my coat, and I knew my powers wouldn’t work again right away. It always took a while for them to store back up. The sirens already blared, announcing the authorities’ arrival. I climbed out the window of my bedroom and shimmied down the fire escape. Only, in my haste, my bare foot slipped and I lost my hold on the wet metal ladder. I screamed for what I thought would be my final act as a living being.

But there was suddenly a big, muscular arm wrapped around my nearly naked self. The wind whipped at my face, blowing my hair every which way. It wasn’t until I was safely set on the ground that I finally saw the face of my swinging saviour. But I’d know that touch anywhere.

My beloved Chase. The one man I trusted. The only real man in this godforsaken city.

“Aw, did you dress down for me?” he said cheekily, looking my scantily clad body up and down.

“Shut it, the cops are here,” I replied, trying to hide my blush, “and they’ll be after you too.”

“Then we better high-tail it.” Chase summoned his grappling hook into the barrel of his gun. “How ‘bout a kiss for the road?”

I pressed up onto the balls of my feet to ghost his lips with mine.

“How about I save us first, then you kiss me later?” I snatch the device from his hand. “Hold on.”

You can’t help but swoon at your desk, fanning your face with your hand. You could write about these two forever! However, you think that this is the perfect cliffhanger ending to your latest fantasy-romance manuscript. It will set up Book Two in the series wonderfully.

“You’ve done it again,” you congratulate yourself on a job well done. It’s been quite the journey in writing this, and of course, you’ve fallen in love with yet another male character you’ve created.

But there’s just something about Chase that makes him your favourite. You think that your readers are really going to like him, fall in love with him as you have.

Deciding you need to celebrate finishing your draft, you make your way to the kitchen in your sweats, hoodie, and fluffy socks. In doing so, you pass the numerous hanging posters of your New York Times bestselling novels and fanart done by fans.

Humming a tune to yourself, you make a beeline for the fridge, and - there it is - the small personal-sized cake you had bought for this moment. You knew you’d finish the book today, and if the happy-cliffhanger-ever-after ending wasn’t something to look forward to, the cake definitely was.

Maybe you’ll bust out the hot chocolate too.

And perhaps some Bailey’s to go with it. And a bubble bath? Oh, tonight was going to be fabulous!

It’s just you living alone in your apartment, along with all the characters you’d created, residing in your head and begging to have their stories told on paper. You didn’t win the Romance Writer of the Year Award for being a slacker. You didn’t have time for anything else. You didn’t have time for anyone else, or so you continuously tell yourself. However, if a handsome and dashing man like Chase were ever to enter your life, who knows?

What would it be like to be swooped in on and saved like that? What would it be like to save him in return? Alas, you think, you will never find out. You live a virtually uneventful life. You don’t have fictitious altered-human powers (though you wished you did), there’s no one chasing you or wanting to kill you. Likewise, there was no significant-other on the horizon, and now you feared that no one would ever compare to the fictional man you’d created for your latest novel.

These novels are your only means of romance and fantastic adventures. You live in your own creations. It’s an escape - An opportunity to live something so impossible.

Curling up on the couch, you sip your spiked hot cocoa and shovel spoonfuls of the delicious cake in your mouth.

“Here’s to you, Chase,” you toast the imaginary hero in your life.

***

You wake up to an incessant vibration. And while that may sound like a fun way to wake up, it’s just your phone.

Ew, someone’s calling me.

You give a quick stretch from your position on the couch where you’d fallen asleep last night before answering the call.

Strange… it’s an Unknown Caller.

Normally, you’d leave it. After all, as you like to say, “If it’s important, they’ll leave a message.” But today, you think, why not? You’re still on cloud nine from finishing your book.

“Hello?” you answer. There’s no reply, but the call still hasn’t dropped. Someone is still there. “Hello?” you try again.

Whoever it is on the other line ends the call, and you’re left incredibly confused. It’s too early in the morning for this-

Oh, shit!

You just remember you have a meeting with your publisher this morning! Shit! You throw your blanket off of you and dash to your bedroom to make yourself at least semi-professional looking. You think you manage to pull it off, too, but you know you won’t look half as gorgeous as Mrs. West-Allen.

As you scoop up your manuscript and take one step out the door, you see a small package that must have been delivered recently. What shocks you most is the name of the sender.

Ronald Raymond.

But that’s impossible. Ronnie, Caitlin’s fiancé, he’s dead…

You shove it back inside your apartment with your foot. That weirdness can wait, you’ve got a book to sell. Ahh!

It’s a brisk nearly-winter day in Central City. The snow hasn’t begun to fall quite yet, but you’re anticipating it. I wonder what it would be like to write about Chase and his adventures in the snow. Imagine being cozied up next to him in an abandoned cabin with a fireplace and a bearskin rug-

Okay, you are so going to write these thoughts down when you get the next chance. It could be fodder for the sequel!

By the time you make it to Jitters, Iris West-Allen is heading to sit down in one of the large comfy leather chairs in the middle of the cafe with two coffees. You sigh in relief that she’d only just arrived too.

“Hey, you!” she greets you. “There’s my favourite author!”

“Iris, hi,” you take the coffee she offers and you both air kiss each other’s cheeks.

“Is that the manuscript?” Your publisher points to the massive tome of printed-out pages under your shoulder.

“It most certainly is!”

Iris claps her hands together once. “I’m so excited to read it. Now sit, sit. We have lots to discuss.”

Over the next forty-five minutes, you both discuss the book itself, new book tour information starting in the new year, and everything in between. At one point, the conversation takes a turn when your friend and boss starts pointing out various men around the café. She’s always been keen to set you up with someone, as you have been incredibly single for a very long time now.

You wish she wouldn’t, though.

“What about that guy?” she points out a man at the order counter, but adds, “No, never mind. Too bland.” She eyeballs the room looking for eligible bachelors.

“Too gross.”

“Too desperate.”

“Too hipster.”

“Too happy.”

You laugh. “Iris, your husband is actual sunshine, remember?”

“Well, what about him, hmm?” Iris motions with her eyes off to the side - a man with a too-perfect coiff and a shit-eating grin. He winks at you.

You internally cringe. “No, no, it’s just, he’s not…”

“What? He’s not Chase Hutton? Come on, (Y/N).”

“I know, but Iris, I believe there’s someone amazing out there for me. I don’t know where, and I don’t know how, but I’ll find him. And he’s not that guy. Why do you have to bring this up all the time?”

Iris places a hand on yours. “Because I can’t stand seeing you lonely and waiting for someone who’s not real.”

“One - being lonely and being alone are two different things. And two - I’m not waiting for someone who’s not real. Here-” you slide the manuscript across the coffee table to her. “Read it and swoon. I did. Hundreds of times.”

Iris gives you a look.

“Let me know what you think,” you add, standing up and getting ready to leave.

“You’re leaving already?” she asks. “Stay, I’ll get you another coffee. I’m ordering you to. I’m your boss.”

“I can’t.”

“Listen, I’m sorry for that, (Y/N). I didn’t mean anything by what I said or for making you come out here. I just want you to get out, you know? You’ve worked so hard and are doing amazing work, and I know you’re still worried about Caitlin. Because I sure as hell am.”

“Yeah, it’s weird,” you muse at the mention of your mutual friend, “I thought she’d still need me to talk to about everything, but maybe she needs some space? I’m pretty sure she’s still in Africa doing Doctors Without Borders because I haven’t heard otherwise.”

Iris seems like she’s debating on saying something.

“Did they ever find her husband’s body?” she whispers.

“Ronnie? No, but no one could have survived such an explosion... But you know what’s even weirder? I got a package from Ronnie. Today. Which is totally impossible, though depending on when it was sent… I don’t know. It was just really strange.”

“Wow, yeah. God, I hope Caitlin’s okay. Can you imagine having your husband blown up? You’ll keep me posted if you hear anything?”

“Yeah… but yes, I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

***

Fishing out your keys from your coat, you can’t help but think about everything Iris said. How could she think you were lonely? You are a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need a man (but would like one very much, maybe)! But he can’t just be any man. He’s got to be brave, and he’s got to be strong, and yup, now you’re singing Bonnie Tyler in your head.

You turn the key in the door, but it’s already unlocked. I did lock it when I left, didn’t I?

It only takes you a few steps inside before you see it all.

Your entire apartment has been completely and utterly destroyed.

Furniture flipped, cushions ripped, bookshelves fallen and books scattered everywhere, glass broken. There’s so much going on in this picture that you almost can’t believe this has happened to you.

You bring a shaky hand up to your mouth. It’s nearly impossible to catch your breath because it’s been stolen from you out of fear. As you survey the wreckage, you give a jolt when your phone rings and vibrates in your pocket.

Damn phone calls, Jesus Christ!

“Hello?” you answer, eyes still fixed on the disaster.

“(Y/N), it’s Caitlin.”

Why is she calling me now, all of a sudden? It’s been forever.

“Caitlin?”

“(Y/N), I need you to listen to me.”

There’s a quiver in her voice, which is very unlike the Caitlin Snow Ph.D. you know and love.

“Cait, what’s going on?” you press.

“I’m in trouble,” she replies slowly. “Did you happen to receive a package from Ronnie? A small, brown package?”

“Yes,” you draw out the word, “Why, what is it?”

“Oh, thank God. Inside is a sort of GPS beacon for a kind of treasure? I don’t know anything about it, but that’s what these men are telling me. I need you to bring that device here to me in the Congo as soon as possible-”

“Caitlin, the Congo? My God, what kind of trouble are you in?”

“Please, just- I need you to go to the Pullman Kinshasa Grand Hotel. When you arrive there, call this number-” Your friend rattles off a series of numbers. “But listen, you cannot tell anyone. They said they’d kill me if you alert anyone.”

This is all too much, too fast. It’s almost impossible to comprehend. “I can’t go to the Congo! And what men-?” You hear the sound of a weapon firing up. “Okay, okay, okay! I’ll do it, I’ll be there!” You shout into your phone so these men can hear you.

But the line goes dead.

#reader insert #harrison wells x reader #harrison wells imagine #harrison wells fanfiction #nash wells x reader #nash wells imagine #nash wells fanfiction #harrison nash wells x reader #the flash imagine #the flash fanfiction

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a-square-minus-one · 5 years ago

Text

What Are You Doing?

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters or their stories. If I did they’d have been fucking in season 5. Said what I said.

This is for adult readers only. If you are under eighteen you should NOT be reading this. So please don’t.

Warning: For an English teacher, my grammar is pretty terrible.

Kinda spoilers for 10x06 but not really.

Just letting y’all know that there is no way I think either Carol or Daryl would be this confident on the actual show. Also this is so out of character for both of them. I know this lol but I still wrote it.

See y’all in hell.

She’s taking off her jacket when Daryl barges into her room.

“If you wanted me to undress for you, you could’ve asked much earlier,” she says, throwing her jacket on the foot of her bed. She’s taking her hair clip out of her hair when Daryl moves into her personal space. Her hand pauses. She barely registers the whispers of pine in the air from his sudden movement when he starts to talk.

“What are you doing Carol?” he asks. She knows exactly what he’s talking about by the way he says her name. She pulls the clip out of her hair and lets her silver locks fall against her neck.

“Taking my hair down. Probably gonna shower soon. Wanna watch?” Carol asks, partly teasingly, partly annoyed. Daryl’s lips remain in a stiff line.

“Stop.” he says. The word which usually comes out his mouth with pink flower buds of bashfulness attached to it comes out like a swift stab of a small switchblade. She feels her shoulders tense on instinct. “What are you doing?” he asks again. She rolls her eyes and moves to take off her fingerless gloves. Daryl grabs her hands swiftly. She narrows her eyes at him and moves her hands out of his.

“I do not know what you are talking about.” Carol enunciates, and removes a glove.

“You do-” Daryl starts. She rolls her eyes and begins to remove her other glove. He catches her hands again. “Stop it. You do.”

“Daryl it is the middle of the night, what are you even-”

“Stop.”

She looks at him and feels a weight quickly drop in her stomach at the feral, frenzied look in his eyes. Her eyes flicker down to where his hands are holding hers.

“What do you want me to say Daryl?” she finally asks. She suddenly wishes she had kept her hair up as it’s beginning to stick to her neck. She slowly moves her hands out of Daryl’s and deliberately, casually, removes her glove from her other hand. Daryl looks down at her hand and a chuckle sharp as barbed wire escapes his lips.

“You ain’t thinking. What. are. you. doing?” Daryl asks. She feels her lip twitch.

“You are not thinking. You would rather sit here until Alpha comes in and burns us to the ground? Until she kills Lydia? Judith?” Carol asks, her skin starts to feel tight and hot. She sees Daryl’s irises swallow his pupils and she swears she can hear a rumble in his chest.

“She wouldn’t touch them.” he says, his hasn’t raised his voice yet but she can hear the simmering anger beneath every word. Carol closes her finger tightly around the gloves in her hands. The fabric is the only thing preventing her from cutting herself with her nails..

“She did more than touch Henry.” Carol said, and she doesn’t even feel the pain she usually feels whenever she says his name. She just feels the burn of a hot iron in her chest. Daryl stumbles back a step.

“What’s your plan exactly? Wait until you’re close enough to take your shot? Then what? The Whisperers ain’t just gonna let you kill her. They’ll want blood.” Daryl’s words come out in rapid succession. She’s never heard him talk so much in so little time.

“They’ll just want one person’s blood.” she responds hotly. She regrets it instantly. Daryl takes a quick step towards her, eating up the space between them. He’s breathing so hard, his chest is hitting hers with every inhale.

“What did you just say?” he asks. She hasn’t seen him this angry since the farm. His voice is coming straight from his chest. A small part of her wants to step back but the heat burning between them urges her on.

“They’ll only want to kill me,”she says defiantly, chin pointed up towards him. There’s no way she can deny the growl that rips through his throat now.

“You gotta see me die first.” he bites out. She feels something explode deep inside her at his words.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with you.” Carol says. He steps forward, she didn't think it was possible considering how little space there was between them before. Now his forehead is pressed against hers. He’s only standing in front of her but she can feel him all around her. She can feel his breath against her lips. She could count the lashes on his lower eyelid if she wasn’t so angry.

She should be intimidated. She briefly registers that somewhere during their argument his hands found their way around her arms; they’re so big, they completely encircle them. She can’t run away. She should feel intimidated.

“You ain’t gettin’ it.” he says, his Southern drawl coming out thick. She can feel the vibrations of every word on her lips almost as if she said them herself.

“When everybody thought you was dead at the prison, I found ya. When you got taken by the Saviours, I found ya. When you were hidin’ away at the Kingdom, I found ya,” Daryl says. She can feel his hands tightening ever so slightly around her arms. She shoves her body against his. A piece of paper wouldn’t fit between them.

Her nose is tickling his when she says, “I don’t have the time to solve riddles, Daryl.”

“Ain’t no place in this life you can go where I won’t follow,” he says and they’re so close that his lips graze hers on the last word. Somewhere deep in the back of her head, she knows that she should step back but his lips are so close and she can still smell the pine coming off him. He’s firm against her and she feels something tug in her gut. She lifts her hand up to the back of his head and pushes him towards her, pressing her lips firmly against his.

She can almost cry out when his lips part slightly to receive her. She’s pretty sure she moans. But at this point she can’t register anything beyond the fire in her blood. The tug in her stomach is unbearable. She pushes her face as close to Daryl’s as possible. Her tongue peaks out of her mouth at the same time his does and she sends a thank you to the powers that be that they were always so in sync.

He moans against her lips and she feels a surge of heat develop between her legs. She wants to squeeze her thighs together to relieve some of the tension but Daryl moves his thick thigh between hers, sandwiching her right leg with both of his. Their feet get tangled up in one another and she feels herself falling back onto her bed. Daryl’s hands move to the side of her head as he tries to keep himself from squishing her. Daryl’s tongue is deep in her mouth. She can feel the scratch of his beard against her smooth skin. She reaches for his hands and places them directly on her chest. She moans into his mouth. She’s pressing her hand firmly against the back of his head, urging him to move even closer even though there is no more space left between them.

She spreads her legs a little thankful that she’s not wearing any underwear. She can feel the ridge of the zipper of her cargo pants against her clit. She moves her lips away from Daryl’s to cry out loud at the sensation. She can feel a rush of warmth between her legs. Daryl shifts ever so slightly, pushing his thigh firmly against her, causing the ridge in her cargo pants to shift against her clit again. She feels the tug in her stomach again and grunts. Daryl starts to kiss down her tender jaw line.

“Fuck,” she says. Her clothed nipples are hard pebbles against Daryl’s hands. She starts to frantically rut against Daryl’s thigh, hoping the friction of her cargo pants against her will be enough. “Daryl...mmm,” she moans. Daryl finds her lips again and pushes her head deep into her pillows with the ferocity of his kiss.

She can’t take anymore. She shoves Daryl’s hands away from her shirt and starts unbuttoning it. She only feels the cold air for a few seconds before Daryl’s hands immediately work over her skin, squeezing her bare nipples with his palms. Her back arcs into him. Her hands work quickly on his buttons until she feels his burning skin against hers. She shoves his hands away from her breasts again and reaches around his back to push his torso against her. Her fingers are running along the ridges of the scars on his back. She feels her nipples tighten against the skin of his chest. She moans into his mouth. He swallows it.

He reaches for the buttons of her pants and she’s embarrassed at how quickly her hips buck. She’s never been so eager. He pulls down her pants, unable to take them off completely because they’re tucked into her combat boots. Her hips jerk at the cool air causing her mons to bump against Daryl’s jeans. She spreads her legs and her clit throbs against the fabric of his jeans. She feels herself getting close.

“Please Daryl,” she groans, tugging helplessly at his jeans. He finally tugs them down and she can feel him hard against her hip. She reaches down aimlessly. He grabs her hand and places it on his thick dick. He groans when she moves her hand slowly over the tip, collecting pre cum so her hand can move more fluidly against him as she jerks him a couple of times.

“Fuck,” he says against her lips. He begins to kiss her frantically behind her ear. She moves her hips around until his dick is against her clit. She moves, feeling his ridges against her as she rocks her hips back and forth. The ball of fire in her lower stomach is on the verge of explosion. She can feel her hair sticking to her forehead. She almost cries when she feels Daryl’s hands stop her hips. That is until he rocks into her with one swoop. She screams out.

She hears him say something near her ear but his voice is muffled by the skin of her neck. He gives a particularly deep thrust and she moans, spreading her legs a little more.

“I won’t lose you,” she hears him say it this time. And beneath all the heat she can feel something smooth and slow settle over her. Her eyes water a little. She reaches up a hand and pats the back of his head a few times.

“I’m…mmm…right here,” she says, her voice sounds coarse, even to her. He angles his next thrust just right so that her clit is against his pelvis. “Daryl,” she whispers in a needy, warbled moan. He thrusts again and she knows she’s seconds away from her peak.

Suddenly her vision goes white around the edges and she’s reduced to bucking hips. Her hands move from Daryl’s hair, to his back, to the pillow beneath her. Finally Daryl grabs one of her hands and intertwines their fingers. She feels when he stops moving, going stiff above her. He groans one last time into her neck.

When her vision comes back to her she sees Daryl looking directly into her eyes. His bangs are tickling her forehead. One of her hands is beneath his button up, running aimlessly up and down his back. Her other hand is locked in his by her head. They should move but for a few minutes everything seems frozen. He’s just looking at her, breathing. His lips less than an inch from hers. She’s overwhelmed by how badly she wants to kiss him again. She thinks she moves her chin up a few times tentatively. But their lips never connect.

Finally Daryl moves off of her and pulls his pants up, buttoning them. He doesn’t bother with his shirt. He uses one hand to push back his hair and lets out a sigh. Carol awkwardly grabs her cargo pants at her knees and lifts them to her hips. She decides not to bother with her shirt either.

In silence she moves her head into the crook of Daryl’s shoulder. He puts his arm around her waist. She puts one hand underneath his shirt, underneath one of his nipples. They should be talking about it. But her body is starting to feel heavier. And Daryl still smells delicious. He’s firm and so warm beneath her. She’s drifting off into sleep before she realizes it.

…

She wakes up to sunlight shimmering in through the shear curtains in her room. She hasn’t moved much in her sleep. Her hand is still on Daryl’s abdomen. Her leg is over his. She looks up, careful not to shift too much. He’s still deep asleep.

As slowly as possible she moves her leg off of him. The shift in her position immediately makes her feel the physical remnants of the night before. She moves her hand out of Daryl’s shirt. Watching him closely, she carefully lifts herself out of his embrace.

He looks peaceful. His face doesn’t hold any tension and his bangs are pushed away from his eyes. She rarely ever gets to him sleeping so heavily. She looks down his chest, that’s moving rhythmically up and down. She looks lower, down his firm stomach, to where his jeans are hanging low on his hips. She resists the urge to run a finger over the trail of hair running from his belly button to below the button of his jeans.

She gets up from the bed. Daryl shifts in the bed and she stops all movement. Finally he relaxes again. She buttons up her shirt and swiftly puts on her jacket and her gloves.

She risks another glance at Daryl who is still breathing steadily. The sun sparking through the curtains paints his skin golden. She finds it hard to look at him. Her vision blurs a little and she turns to the door handle before she begins to regret her decision.

The handle is cold against her palm, so different than the warmth she felt against Daryl’s chest. She feels the weight of what she’s about to do settle on her shoulders as she turns the knob.

“I love you.”

She gasps and turns around, leaving the door slightly ajar. Daryl’s sitting up on his hands, his bottom lip wedged between his lips. Suddenly she’s run straight into a brick wall made of everything they both already knew. Sighing, she closes the door.

There was no running away from this one.

#caryl

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snow-pitch-grimm · 5 years ago

Text

A perfect Match

Note: I am so sorry for the long absence. It's been what? almost a month now. My schedule is a bit under control again so I'm hoping to do regular updates from now on.

Summary: In a world where those with magic are matched by fate, Baz and Simon are two idiots that can’t see what’s right in front of them.

Oh, and there’s a group of mages that’s not too happy about Natasha Pitch’s new leniency toward magical ‘infected’ creatures.

Creatures like Baz and Simon. (Someone help these poor boys)

Part 1, Part 2, ao3

Chapter 3: Saviour

BAZ

The party is starting to get into full swing when I turn around from talking to my uncle and spot him.

Simon.

For a second, I freeze but then shake it off. It would be unbecoming of a Pitch heir.

Despite my better judgment, I watch him out of the corner of my eye. He's a little softer than I last saw him. Rounder. Messier. But still lovely.

Back at Watford, Simon had been training in the guard, had been one of their finest. After he had been infected, they had kicked him out. A ridiculous action considering his power and talent but prejudice and bigotry didn't die easy. It hadn't kept him flourishing though. He had gone to university and wan now in his third year, like me.

He had, however, given up his strict training regime, evident from his rounder physique.

Merlin and Morgana, I want to touch him.

I wasn't ready to be this close to him. Hadn't expected to see him here after the last three years.

And yet, I shouldn't be surprised. He is the Salisbury heir and the Salisbury's have been pledged to the Pitches long before my family even became the head of this country's Mages.

Even if he would never inherit a seat at the table, his children certainly would and...

Yeah, no. Not going there.

I shake my head and move onto greeting the other guests. I must have lost my bearings for a bit because one minute I'm shaking hands with my uncle, the next I'm turning to the sight of Simon and Bunce standing in front of me.

And Merlin, if he isn't prettier up close.

No. No. Bad Baz.

"Hello Bunce," I say, extending my hand, "It's lovely to see you again,"

"Basilton," she smiles

"Hey Baz," says Simon, extending his hand as soon as Bunce and I are done

"Snow," I say, remembering how much it used to annoy him.

Now, he just smiles, "Still haven't let go of that one have you?"

"Well, it is your name, Snow,"

Simon lets out a warm chuckle and my heart does a little swoop.

What is happening here? Are the two of us having a civil conversation? Is this what adulting feels like?

"Well, yes I suppose it is part of my name," says Simon, "Also, if I'm not mistaken, I believe congratulations are in order,"

"Ah, yes," says Bunce, "Your twenty-first just passed, didn't it? I bet it was a wonderful event. The Pitches are known for their lavish ceremonies when it comes to the orbs,"

I smile at her, "Yes, my parents do believe in going all out,"

"Hmm. So exactly how happy was the event?" she asks, probably going for subtle but not succeeding at all.

"What Penny is trying to say is that we're very excited for you regarding this milestone in your life,"

And while it's a complete surprise to see Simon acting in a diplomatic way, I am glad he shut Bunce down. Orbs are a private matter. Only close family and friends are allowed to watch the ceremonies, no matter how big or small. Talking about somebody's orb behind their back is strictly forbidden and it is seen as slight to bring up somebody's orb to them without them bringing it up first.

Not that Bunce has ever cared for such things. Simon never did either but I suppose some things change. Or maybe he's just acting diplomatically because, well, it is a diplomatic meeting disguised as a party.

Either way, while I'm quite lax when it comes to talking about orbs and soulmates, there is no way I'm doing it in front of Simon. There's only so much my heart can take.

"Right," said Bunce, taking the hint, "Either way, lovely to see you again, Basilton. Simon and I should keep making our rounds. Have to make sure the adults can keep pretending there's no tension in the room,"

I snort and let them walk away. I'm about to head for the snacks table when I'm crowded by Niall and Dev.

"So," says Niall, "That was Simon?"

"Obviously," I say

"How are you?" says Dev, always to the point

"Fine,"

"Baz,"

"Really, I'm fine," I tell them, "It's not easy seeing him but I'm fine,"

"Okay," says Niall, squeezing my hand, "If you say so,"

I return the gesture, once again feeling grateful I had them. They keep me distracted for the rest of the night, laughing up old memories and making fun of the guests.

I'm so distracted by them that I don't notice the danger I'm in until I hear the sound of breaking glass and turn to see yellow flames cutting through the air.

There's no time to move. The flames are so fast and direct that there is no mistaking who the intended target is.

Me.

In the next three seconds, I'm going to be roasted alive in the presence of my friends and family.

Please don't let Mordelia see me burn to death.

Except, the fire never touches me.

The air shifts around and I'm being folded into something huge heavy by strong arms. I can feel the fire move over me, around me. The hat is almost unbearable but the fire itself doesn't burn me.

When the flame passes, the heavy fold around me moves away. I look up and gasp in surprise.

It's Simon. He's hovering in the air, his orange leathery wings gently beating, parts of his body covered in blue, silver and orange shimmery scales and his irises surrounded by a sharp golden circle.

He's beautiful.

For a moment, just a moment, it's like everything has stopped and we're the only ones in the room.

Then there's a crash and suddenly the various noises in the room wash over me. Children crying, people shouting and the angry yells of my attacker.

A few members of the guard have him on the ground. He has a fisted painted at the front of his bodysuit and my blood runs cold.

The Defenders.

When I turn around to see Simon's reaction, I realize he's gone. Looking further around the room I see a flash of orange at the double doors but he's too far away for me to do anything.

Instead, I let myself be pulled into the strong arms of my father as my mum fusses over me.

"Come Basilton," murmurs Father, "Let's get you out of here,"

I nod and let them lead me out of the room through a back door, away from where the guests are all trying to slip out.

"Mordelia?" I ask when I find my voice again

"With Daphne," says Father

I nod, "Good,"

"That boy saved you life," says mum

He certainly did.

SIMON

"Simon!" Penny calls out as I land right behind the Pitch Manor, hidden by some trees. Agatha is right behind her and quickly casts a spell to hide us.

"Are you okay?" asks Penny once they reach me

"Yesh," I say, "Yeah. I'm fine,"

"Are you sure," asks Agatha

"I am," I tell them, "I just didn't want to be around prying eyes is all,"

A year ago that might have been a lie but I'd come quite far in accepting my new normal. It didn't mean it made the staring any less awkward.

"Right," says Penny and then takes my hand, "Simon you saved his life,"

"Wow," I say, my actions finally hitting me, "I did didn't I?"

"Our hero," says Agatha, a smile on her face, "They'll probably want to thank you, you know,"

I shake my head, "Not tonight. I just wanna go home now,"

Both girls nod and Penny casts a glamour over me while Agatha keeps her spell in place.

"Let's go home, Simon,"

BAZ

Mordelia insists on giving me the longest hug of the decade before finally heading to bed. Once again I'm glad that my other siblings are too young to be part of the party otherwise. Mordelia is dealing with it bad enough as it is.

Daphne goes with her to put her to bed. My mum makes sure I'm alright then goes to make calls and meet with the heads of the other families.

It only leaves Father with me. He's puttering around my room as I sit on my bed. Moving things, picking up clothes, he's only using his action as a way to make sure I'm alright. He's not the kind of person to ask directly, especially since I'm an adult now.

I open my mouth to tell him I'm alright, that he should go help mum deal will the other families or help Daphne calm Mordelia down because there is no way she's settled down yet.

Instead, all that comes out is a broken sob.

Father instantly drops whatever he's holding and comes to sit by me on the bed. Pulling me into his arms, he gently rocks me while running a soothing hand through my hair.

"Someone tried to kill me," I whisper into his chest as the events of the night finally hit me, "Someone tried to kill me,"

"Oh, Baz," he murmurs kissing my hair

"Why? I just don't- I never- I didn't hurt anyone. I-why should, I've never done anything wrong," I say between my sobs

"I know, son," says Father, "I know. I'm sorry this happened,"

"Father," I whine

"Shhh," he murmurs, "It's okay. I'm here,"

I don't know how long I cry but eventually, I'm only sniffing and then those die down too. Once I'm calm enough, I pull away and look up at him.

"Will you-uh-will you stay here tonight?"

He smiles, "If you want me to,"

"Please,"

"Okay," he says softly, "Just let me get changed,"

I nod and sit waiting for him to come back. He comes wearing his pyjamas and holding a copy of Little Women in his hand.

I smile when I see and it and he returns the gesture.

"I know how much you loved it as a child," he says, "Even though I thought it was an odd choice for an eight-year-old. I figure it might help if I read it to you,"

I nod and we both climb in my bed. I lay down cuddled into his side and let his words wash over me.

'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on...

#snowbaz #snowbaz fic #simon snow #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #malcolm grimm

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the--sad--hatter · 6 years ago

Text

Name Calling (26)

FANDOM - MARVEL MCU

PAIRING - BUCKY X READER (female reader, no physical descriptions)

WARNINGS - ALL OF THEM, SMUT, VIOLENCE ANGST

DESCRIPTION - In which the ongoing and bloody war of words between you and Bucky turns in your favor when a disgruntled one night stand of his lets slip a secret when you run into her in the elevator… Now you have all the ammunition you need to destroy your enemy but you don’t plan on killing him quickly. Oh no, Bucky Barnes was going to suffer and you were going to enjoy every second. You just didn’t count on how much you would enjoy it.

Current Word Count - 74,382

Chapter Twenty Six - The Cat's Out Of The Bag

The Avengers were gathered in a meeting room in the tower, waiting on Ross. The mood was sombre. Their friend had just been dragged away to be put only god knows where and they hadn’t had the chance to explain to her why there was a video of her killing and nearly dying that existed to be leaked online in the first place.

“Who leaked that footage?” Sam asked the question they were all wondering.

“Docherty. He has to have been watching her, or having people do it for him more accurately.” Steve guessed.

“Why leak it today? Why now?” Rhodey enquired.

“She’s his Vernichtung, his little world ender. Having her being hailed as a hero must have pissed him off.” Tony said wearily.

“This is good. We’ve been looking for a way to get to him for a long time and we had nothing. Now he’s shown a weakness, something we can exploit. The angrier we make him, the more likely he is to make a mistake.” Natasha reasoned.

“First we have to get my little girl out of Ross’s clutches. I don’t trust him any more than I do Docherty.” Tony snapped.

“He’s right. Ross has been trying to get his hands on The Hulk for a long time, god knows what he’ll do with Vernichtung.” Bruce agreed.

“The X-Men said they would gave her sanctuary but that only works as long as nobody knows she’s with them. They won’t help break her out. The Avengers can’t be seen doing it either. I’ll have to take the fall for this, I’ll take her and we can go into hiding. Cap can you contact T’Challa? See if he can help?” Tony asked, pacing as he made plans.

“I’ll think we should take a page out of Romanov’s book and fight Docherty with his own tactics.” Bucky spoke up for the first time.

“That’s not a bad idea. It’ll push Ross into a corner and put Docherty off his game at the same time.” Steve mused.

“Plus it will put Docherty’s face on the map. It’ll be much harder fro him to hide.” Natasha added.

“For those of us not following?” Sam probed.

“The Vernichtung Files. We release them.” Bucky said.

“That’s the worst idea I’ve heard all day.” Rhodey stated.

“You want to expose Kit Kat to the world like that? No.” Tony said firmly.

“Tony the whole world knows what she can do and who she is. So let’s show them how much she’s endured and how many times she said no to using that power to hurt anyone.” Natasha said diplomatically.

“She’s a hero, we all know it. It’s time the world did as well.” Steve added.

Everyone but Tony and Rhodey looked convinced. Tony looked frazzled and torn but before he could press further, Secretary Ross came sweeping into the room.

“Where the hell is my kid Ross? You have no right to take her away like that, she gets to have a lawyer. As her father, her next of kin I demand to know where she is.” Tony insisted.

“You aren’t in a position to be making demands, any of you. You harboured an unregistered powered person and took them on active missions. If a fraction of what is on that footage turns out to be true, you’ve been sitting on the human equivalent of a nuclear bomb.” Ross said, his voice dripping with unbearable smugness.

“Then slap me on the wrists, put me in the naughty corner, prosecute me if you like. I don’t give a damn. I want to know where my daughter is.” Tony yelled.

“Oh there will be ramifications, for everyone. The UN will not let this slide.”

“You mean there will be ramifications for Stark and myself.” Bucky spoke up,

“I beg your pardon Mr Barnes?”

“There’s nothing on that video to suggest any other member of The Avengers knew about her. Matter of fact, Tony didn’t arrive until after. Maybe he didn’t know either.” Bucky said smoothly.

Ross’s jaw worked furiously as he tried to catch up to what Bucky was implying.

“The only person you can say with absolute certainty knew about Miss Starks abilities was me.” He continued.

“That’s not going to look good for anybody. Prosecuting a man you only recently pardoned. I’d hate to be you in that scenario.” Natasha said, catching on.

“Oh no, you can not spin this to your advantage. You really think you’re going to get away with this? The evidence speaks for itself.” Ross sneered.

“Speaking of evidence...” Dr Banner spoke and everybody turned to look at him. He smiled softly with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Were you aware that Benjamin Newlands was creating a deadly virus to unleash on a well populated country? Doesn’t he have an uncle on the UN council?” Bruce continued.

“He does, his father in law sits on the council as well.” Natasha added.

“In case you were wondering, yes we do have evidence. Irrefutable in fact. There’s a witness who worked on the virus, a paper trail showing Mr Newlands plans for after the virus was unleashed and a sample of the virus itself.” Bruce concluded.

“And you want to know the kicker Ross, the final damning fact? It was ‘deathwave’ who infiltrated Newlands home, destroyed the facility and obtained the virus so a cure could be synthesized.” Natasha said, hitting the final nail into the coffin.

“So you currently have the hero who discovered a traitor in the UN in your custody.” Steve summarised.

Secretary Ross had gone pale. They had him over a barrel and he knew it.

“It’s a good thing you decided to utilise a valuable asset to weed out the traitor and saved millions of lives in the process. Of course you had to hold off on having Miss Stark signing the accords, this whole sting operation only worked so long as nobody knew who she was. This was well played Sir.” Rhodey said diplomatically.

They all held their breath while they waited to see if the Secretary Of State would take the bait. He could take the messy path and throw her into a cell despite the backlash he would receive or he could go along with the plan they had just laid out. Turn her into the hero who saved the Accords from being tainted by War Crimes and Genocide.

“Before you say anything else Secretary Ross, there’s something you should see.” Natasha said.

Everyone looked at Tony and after a long moment he nodded.

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

“Breaking News! More details on the story of ‘Deathwave’, Tony Stark’s illegitimate daughter have come to light.” The news anchor announced.

“Well the cat is well and truly out of the bag now.” Rhodey remarked.

“We made the right move, now that crowd outside who already think she’s a hero is going to grow exponentially. Show people footage of a scared little girl standing up to a bully and then have The Secretary Of State announce she was secretly working for them to single handedly take down a madman who wanted to kill millions and by this time tomorrow the whole world is going to love The Newest Avenger.” Clint said.

“We made her The Media Darling and Dr Jack Docherty public enemy number one in one fell swoop. I’d call that a win.”

“Yeah, now all we have to do is find a way to explain to her why she doesn’t remember killing 200 people or being shot in the heart.” Sam snapped bitterly.

Bucky had had enough of listening to them all congratulate themselves and bicker. It was going to be a lot to process for her and forgiveness for all they had done wouldn’t come easily. Everytime he got somewhere with her something got in the way and he was sick of it.

Would this be the final straw? Would she give up on him, on them? Would she go back to hating him?

“WHO WAS IT?” Tony yelled, storming into the room.

“Wasn’t me.” Clint said immediately.

“Who was what Tony?” Steve asked calmly.

“Ross just called his men to have her released and brought back here. Only he can’t do that because someone broke her out of custody.”

His revelation was met with silence.

“Nobody wants to fess up?” Tony pressed, slightly urgently.

Nobody spoke up and a chill ran up Bucky’s spine. If none of them had broke her out, then who had?

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

You slowly roused from a deep sleep. The last thing you remembered was a lot of screaming, a klaxon blaring and a flash of red. You shot up into a sitting position, taking in your surrounding rapidly.

You were on a tatty sofa, springs digging into you. The room was musty and well lived in to put it politely. The door was kicked open loudly and your kidnapper/saviour came literally skipping into the room.

“GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE!”

The defensive stance you sprung into was instinctual but the red spandex clad figure ignored it and held out something to you.

“Chimichanga?”

“Who the hell are you?” You snarled at him.

“I’m Deadpool sweetcheeks, and you should really already know that but the author really wanted me to say it out loud so there was no confusion for the readers so I’ll let it slide.” He announced tearing open the foil wrapped Chimichanga and taking an obscenely huge bite.

“Alright Deadpool, did you rescue me or kidnap me?” You enquired.

“Technically both Princess Peach. Ooooh, that’s what I’ll call you from now on since I’m not allowed to say your name.”

“Alright… what?” You were utterly lost.

“Quick note. The last person to rescue you adopted you so by those rules, you have to call me daddy. Or Daddypool.”

“I am not calling you Daddy.” You insisted with a confused grimace.

“Daddypool it is.” He said, clapping his hands together in excitement.

He leapt onto the couch you’d woken up on and struck a heroic pose.

“Now let’s end this chapter so everyone can mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming grand adventures of the dynamic duo…. Princess Peach and Daddypool!”

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

Short but important chapter... I really really hope you like this. It's a creative gamble on my part. Please like it!!! *sweats nervously*

@nerdandproud-86 @harrison-shot-first@chook007@thejourneyneverendsx@thelostallycat@inquisitor-selvala@the-corruptor @iovher@kendrawr-kitkat@phoenix-whiskey-tears @the–real-wombat@buckitybarnes@fairislesheets@angieptt@meganjonezzzz

@dugan365 @fluffeh-kitty@memanda17@krystallynx@theonelittleone

@piscesbarnes @free-as-fishes@tarastudiesalot@captainamericasbeard

#bucky x reader #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #avengers x reader #hattersmarvelverse

370 notes · View notes

nicolewrites · 5 years ago

Text

i apologize for my divinity (it is never enough) - iv

hey hey i guessed correctly in saying this would be too long. with the notes i have, i’m hoping for one more part, but who knows at this point.

Rating: T+ Genre: Angst, Friendship, Family Characters: Byleth/My Unit, Claude R., Dimitri B., the Blue Lions, the Golden Deer Words: 8,019

AO3 | FFN

pt i | pt 2 | pt 3

iv - verdant wind

- ~ -

/ ethereal moon /

She awakens silently this time. No voice calls out to her from inside the deepest parts of her mind and no villager stands above her, concerned for her safety. Byleth is lying with her lower half in the river, soaked through. The Sublime Creator Sword is clutched in her hand. Her grip is loose around its hilt, but the sword is still glowing.

Byleth sits up and her head aches. Her muscles are sore and she's cold. She looks around. The ruins of the village at the foot of the monastery are abandoned and have fallen to ruin. The scenario is vividly familiar, but also different.

Sothis, she calls into her mind. Did you wake me again?

There is no response.

Byleth pushes herself to her feet and leans on the sword to balance herself. She squints up at the sun where it is half-hidden by clouds and frowns. It's mid to late afternoon, if her prediction is correct, but she has no idea when it is. She feels a cold uncertainty creep through her bones.

What happens if she woke too early? Or, worse, if she woke too late?

"Faith," she whispers to herself. "I must have faith that this is the right time."

Despite every aching muscle in her body, she turns towards the looming, half-destroyed monastery above her. She takes a deep breath and soldiers towards it. Her body protests the march with every step and she stumbles more than a few times. Her blade becomes more of a crutch than a weapon as she treks up the path.

The walk is familiar but different. Last time, there had been bodies of bandits lining her path all the way to the top of the Goddess Tower due to Dimitri's rage and carelessness. The paths are clear this time and it makes her uneasy. Perhaps the Golden Deer had other things to worry about than to show up at a place in complete disarray five years after their professor's disappearance.

She ascends the steps slowly this time. Her fingers trace gouges in the stone and she can only hope that she is on time. She memorizes the moment and compares it to the one in her head and she knows that it is the same, but it feels just slightly wrong at the same time.

When she reaches the top, she sees him. He's bathed in sunlight, staring out over the rest of the monastery. He looks different–older and more gathered–but she recognizes this Claude too. This is the Claude who tried to kill Dimitri at Gronder Field. This is the Claude who, when out of options, forfeited the whole Alliance and placed his trust in a former teacher and a formerly-mad prince.

Surprise writes itself across his face as he sees her. Then he smiles and it's the same troublemaker smile she was so familiar with from their time at the academy. The smile drops quickly enough as he walks towards her.

"Hey Teach," he says softly. His eyes are still the same sharp green that she remembers. They track across her face–searching and seeking. "You overslept."

The phrase is a joke, but the fear in her catches on the underlying accusation and she steps back. Her brow furrows and she tightens her posture to something less familiar. Claude seems surprised by her reaction and he steps forward, following her lead.

"My friend, you didn't really think I'd given up on waiting for you, did you?" he asks. "There was something you said to Dimitri and me before we went into that battle. It stuck with me and I couldn't get rid of it. You told us that people would need us and that we would see each other again."

"Claude," Byleth says, shifting her weight.

He studies her again. It's less familiar this time and more assessing. "Where have you been, Teach? It's been five years."

"I've been asleep," she says. The explanation feels flimsy in her mouth and the frustration that paints itself across her former student's face makes her wish she had more answers for him.

"Five years? You can't expect me to believe that. Except," he pauses, brow furrowed. "What you said to us back then. You knew this was going to happen."

It's not a question. It's an observation. Byleth bites her lip and her reaction is all Claude needs to confirm his suspicions. Uncharacteristic surprise takes over his expression and he spins away from her, running his hands through his hair.

"You knew what was going to happen." He says it again like he still can't believe it and Byleth feels guilt prickle at her. "That's why you wanted to know if we would keep our promise and it's why you knew I would be here." He turns back to her and the friendliness in his face is gone. "How did you know I would be here?"

Byleth's knees give out and she collapses. Claude doesn't hesitate as he breaks for her side, gripping her arms and pulling her into a more comfortable sitting position. He still looks uncertain, but seeing her collapse has made him less angry. Perhaps the regret in her eyes also has some part to play.

"Because last time Dimitri was here," Byleth says. "Because last time I went to sleep I awoke and I found him here and five years had past and everything had changed."

"Last time?" Claude echoes, surprised.

She tells him everything. He listens stiffly, but he doesn't move away from her. The admission that he was her second choice doesn't seem to phase him, but she is throwing an awful lot of information at him so maybe there's too much to be phased by. When she's done her cheeks are wet with tears and her breaths are shorter.

"You knew she was the Flame Emperor the whole time. You didn't tell anyone?" he asks.

Byleth nods. "I had hoped that I might change something enough that she didn't find it necessary, but I was wrong."

"That's why you were so shocked by what she said in the Holy Mausoleum; why it was so surprising that it was all in motion before you arrived."

She nods again. "I'm sorry, Claude. I thought about telling you everything back then, but I was sure you would have thought I'd completely lost my mind."

He shakes his head. "No, you were right. I wouldn't have believed you. I barely believed you about Jeralt and the goddess the first time. I'm sorry, Teach."

Byleth smiles sadly. "I know and it's not important right now." She looks him in the eye. "Tell me what has happened."

His expression tightened and that's all it takes for her to know and something inside of her breaks. She turns away and closes her eyes. Hot tears burn and she tries not to cry because it has always been a possibility, but she had hoped desperately that it wouldn't be true.

"Dimitri is dead," Claude says carefully. "The Kingdom fell with Fhirdiad and his death. There's been a bit of chaos in Gautier and Fraldarius territory, but they're leaderless. The Alliance is divided. House Ordelia and House Gloucester are supporting Edelgard while House Goneril, House Daphnel, and House Reigan oppose her."

Byleth looks around the Goddess Tower. The structure has decayed from the polished image of devotion it used to be. "Rhea is missing," Byleth surmises. "The Knights are looking for her, but they're not here at the moment."

Claude nods. "No one has seen her since the battle, just like you."

Byleth pulls away from Claude's touch and pushes herself up to her feet. "We should get down to the village."

Claude stands after her and frowns. "Teach, you've been asleep for five years. Going down there right now would definitely mean getting in a fight we can't win."

Byleth gives Claude a tiny smirk. "Five years, right? I promise I'm still sharp and I promise that we will win that fight."

He narrows his eyes, but Byleth knows he will never back down from a challenge.

- ~ -

Alive, alive, alive,

her mind sings as her Deer arrive. Marianne and Hilda and Raphael and Leonie and Ignatz and Lysithea and even Lorenz. They swing into battle seamlessly and they start to drive the thieves away.

A part of Byleth had known they would be here. Her Deer were loyal to a fault and, as Claude put it, a bunch of sentimental fools. Not one of them would have missed an opportunity to reunite as a class, even if there was no Millennium Festival.

Claude whoops when he sees them arrive. His wyvern–that's new, Byleth notes internally–and Hilda's swoop around each other. Leonie and Lorenz are mounted and maneuver quickly around the ruins. Lorenz even gives Marianne a lift, bringing the healer to Hilda's side when the now-flying noble needs assistance. Ignatz has a sword now, but he still favours his bow. His draw has changed too and his shots are more deadly and precise. Raphael bashes through everything without hardly shaking at the blows he receives. Lysithea calls dark magic and blasts down any armoured thieves.

Byleth wants to celebrate, but then she sees the assassin sneaking through the shadows towards Lysithea. Her voice catches in her throat and there's nothing she can do as the rogue slips forward, sword in hand, to attack. Suddenly, there's a crack and a loud gust of wind. The thief flies back and Lysithea turns in time to see him. Dark spikes spring up at a wave of her hand and then both she and Byleth are looking for her saviour.

Annette stands fifteen feet away, drawing up another wind rune, and she looks exactly like the war-hardened woman Byleth remembers. Byleth's breath catches in her chest. Across the battlefield, the Blue Lions emerge, each of them vicious and unrelenting. Mercedes joins with Marianne to unleash a blinding blast of white magic. Felix cuts down anyone who dares to get too close to Leonie. Ingrid covers Hilda's back in the sky. Sylvain spins his lance to use the extra range to take out a mage that gets too close to Raphael.

Byleth stands dumbly, rooted in place, as her students–current and former–unite to drive back the thieves with vicious efficiency. When it's done, they gather around her and Byleth doesn't know what to say.

Her Golden Deer are warm and there are hugs and squeezed hands and happy smiles. Her Blue Lions look more uncomfortable, but Byleth still can't believe that they are here and alive. She counts them–counts again–and the celebration in her mind ceases instantly.

"Ashe, Dedue, where are they?" she asks, turning to Ingrid.

Ingrid shakes her head. "No one has seen Dedue since Dimitri," she trails off, uncomfortable at the thought of the execution of her childhood friend.

"And Ashe was last seen with the Western Church," Annette answers. She looks tired and sad at the statement. "He went to try to get information on Lonato and none of us have heard from him since."

Byleth takes a deep breath. It makes sense. Last time, Dedue had been presumed dead while rescuing Dimitri so maybe he was just laying low in Duscur if the prince was really dead. To have lost Ashe stings, but she understands. She studies the rest of the Blue Lions.

"What are you all doing here?" she asks finally. The Deer shift behind her, appraising and wondering all the same.

Sylvain answers: "Well, Professor, you said you had hoped to see us all for the Millennium Festival, so I guess we all just took a chance." He gives Ingrid and Felix a meaningful look and Byleth recalls that the trio of them had previously reunited to search for Dimitri. She wonders if they have done the same this time.

"Right, well, we're all here now, so we might as well head back to the monastery," Claude interrupts.

Byleth nods slowly, shaking her head out of a fog of memories. "Yes. We have a lot to discuss."

- ~ -

/ guardian moon /

Three factions unite under a banner bearing the Crest of Flames to protect the monastery. The former Blue Lions fight for the Kingdom they have lost. The Knights of Seiros fight for the church itself and for the missing archbishop. The former Golden Deer fight for the Alliance that has barely not crumbled yet.

Byleth fights because it is what she knows. She cuts down Imperial soldiers until she feels numb. Her Nosferatu burns across Randolph as he falls to the ground, dead. Byleth stands above him, ears ringing and veins burning.

She faintly hears the flap of wings behind her. Hands grab her arms and forcibly turn her away from the dead enemy commander. Byleth finds herself staring into Claude's face. The Alliance leader looks concerned and Byleth's trance breaks. She shakes her head and the ringing in her ears vanishes.

"Teach?" Claude asks.

Byleth nods to him, forcing a smile. "I'm good. Let's get back to the monastery."

She walks away and her mind recalls something Sothis had said to her before she went to sleep:

"Why are you still lying to him?"

- ~ -

/ pegasus moon /

The moment she sees Ashe amongst the Kingdom forces opposing them, all strategy leaves her head immediately. Byleth sprints over fiery craters to get in range of him. She swings her Levin sword and cuts three of his arrows out of the air as she gets close to him.

Ashe fumbles to reload and Byleth closes the distance. "Ashe!" she yells to him.

His head snaps up and he recognizes her. "Professor?"

"Please, don't do this," she begs. "The other Blue Lions are here. Come with us," she pleads. She wants him to be Ashe, the loyal and chivalrous young man she remembers. The Ashe with a bright smile and winning touch in the kitchen that can always make anyone smile.

Ashe swallows hard and she sees the pain on his face. He knocks an arrow and Byleth grips her sword more tightly, shaking her head. He takes aim, raising his bow, and lets the arrow fly. It whistles past her ear as he misses her. There's a pained cry behind her and Byleth turns to see the shot embedded in the flank of an Imperial pegasus rider. She turns back to Ashe, hopeful, and he nods.

"I'm sorry I wasn't with you from the start," he yells to her over the roar of combat and the bubbling of lava around them.

Byleth lets out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "Shoot like that and I don't think you'll have many more apologies to be making."

- ~ -

Judith compliments the way the three different groups seem to work together as one. Claude transfers the praise to her, citing her leadership as the unifying trait. Then Judith tells them about Rhea.

Catherine and Seteth go tense immediately and Byleth feels cold all over despite the suffocating heat of Ailell. She had almost forgotten about the church's boundless devotion to Rhea. The idea of seeing the archbishop again makes Byleth feel sick and she's not sure why. She has so many unanswered questions about her parents and about Sothis. Reading Jeralt's diary for a second time has only made her more confused and she has no intention of letting Rhea get off without answering her questions this time.

Honestly, Byleth had completely forgotten about Rhea last time as well. The Knights had always been transparent in their goal, but the Kingdom was entirely devoted to destroying Edelgard and the Empire so it was easier to focus on that. It made her miss Sothis less after she had merged with the goddess. Now, thinking of the archbishop and the goddess makes her ache for the lilting, childlike voice that she had grown used to in her head.

Displeasure must show on her face because Claude steps forward and takes her by the elbow, turning her away from the conversation as the army makes preparations to return to the monastery.

"Are you alright, Teach? As soon as Judith mentioned Rhea you got this look like you'd just eaten something really sour."

Byleth gave a short laugh. "I didn't mean to, it just dawned on me that I'd almost forgotten about her. She was never high on my priority list last time and I never even found out if Edelgard had kept her alive after all these years. My father never trusted her after my mother's death as I'm sure you remember, so it makes me wonder if she's the reason I am like I am at all."

"Why you were connected with the goddess, you mean?"

Byleth nods. "Yes." She pauses, taking a moment to probe around in her head, searching for any of the warmth Sothis used to hold. There is nothing. "As weird as it is, I feel weird without her in my head."

Claude laughs lightly. "I mean, you shared that space for a significant amount of time. Maybe it just means you're getting more time to feel like yourself, finally."

Byleth considers his words. "Maybe," she consents. "Either way, I have a lot of questions for Rhea that I'm not letting her avoid."

"I'm with you on that one, Teach."

- ~ -

/ lone moon /

A week before they carry out their assault on the Great Bridge of Myrddin, Byleth checks in with her former students. The tension between the Kingdom natives and the Alliance natives seems to have faded almost entirely and more often than not Byleth finds her students in small groups that cross territory lines.

Annette and Lysithea put their heads together in the library and work through spell after spell with hardly a break. Mercedes keeps them company sometimes, but the older girl is often happier in the Cathedral keeping Ignatz company as he draws or paints.

Raphael, Leonie, and Felix train relentlessly. Their vastly varied styles from axe and brawling to bow and lance to sword and black magic creates some entertaining chaos, but it keeps them all well-balanced. Ashe trains with them sometimes, but he spends a lot more of his time in the Dining Hall preparing meals. Byleth asks him about it and he mentions that he still feels a bit bad that he started the fight on the wrong side at Ailell.

Hilda and Ingrid do aerial patrols together and Sylvain, Marianne, and Lorenz care for the horses and muck out the stables. Sometimes Hilda will bat her eyes at Lorenz or Sylvain and get them to do something particularly undesirable for her, but it makes Marianne hide a smile behind her hand and gives Ingrid something else to poke fun at Sylvain for so Byleth doesn't stop her.

Claude plots. He paces the Cardinals' Room and moves figures across battle maps. He studies schematics of the bridge and looks for every loophole he can find. He writes letters to his retainer and consults with Judith and Seteth and Lorenz and Byleth. He fills scroll after scroll with plans and tears them all apart. Byleth spends one afternoon sitting with him, but the chaos in which he works drives her up the wall until she has to excuse herself for some fresh air.

Claude enters the common room five minutes after her, sighing heavily. "I'm sorry. I'm stuck on this one choke point and it's been driving me crazy for several days."

Byleth waves a hand dismissively. "You'll get it. Take a break and breathe, Claude."

He flops entirely ungracefully onto one of the settees in the room and sighs again. "How did you take it last time?"

Byleth sits next to him and raises a hand to her mouth to hide her smile. "You finally figured out you could ask me, huh?"

He shrugs. "I want to do this my way. This is my insurance that my idea will work."

"With your help, actually. You distracted Count Gloucester in the north with Judith and we stormed the bridge while Alliance reinforcements were busy, taking on just the Empire. Of course, reinforcements arrived anyways because Lorenz was always too good at picking out when you were scheming."

Claude held up a hand, cutting her off. "Lorenz fought with the Empire?"

Byleth bites her lip. "Yes. Although I honestly think he only did it so that the Empire didn't just straight up invade Gloucester territory. When I faced him on the battlefield I managed to talk him down and he retreated." Images of Ferdinand flash in her mind suddenly and she frowns.

"Teach?" Claude questions.

"Dimitri killed Ferdinand. He'll be one of the generals stationed at the bridge. I wanted to try to get through to him, but Dimitri got to him first." She shakes her head and closes her eyes. "It wasn't pretty."

Claude is quiet for a moment and when her eyes open she sees that he looks like he's thinking hard and dismantling something in his head. "If I got you to him, could you talk him down?"

Byleth raises her eyebrows. "Claude, I just told you I didn't get through to him last time."

"I'm not talking about last time. I'm asking you if you think you can talk him down."

"Maybe," she consents. "If he's the same Ferdinand I faced last time, I'm not quite sure. But, I can try."

Claude stands up. There's a sharp clarity to his expression and his eyes twinkle. "I'll get you to him, I promise. Just be ready for me."

He starts out of the room and Byleth calls out to him.

"Claude!" He stops and looks back at her. Byleth frowns. "Don't base everything off of that."

He gives her a glimpse of his signature scheming smile. "Better practice your recruitment speech, Teach."

- ~ -

As the assault begins, Byleth isn't sure what to expect. She certainly isn't expecting Claude to basically drop out of the sky on his wyvern to flatten the two soldiers she had been facing off against. She spins the Sublime Creator Sword in her hand and stares him down. Claude holds out a hand to her, tucking his bow over his back.

His earlier words ring in her head and Byleth grabs his hand and lets him pull her up onto the wyvern. He takes off quickly, navigating through the chaotic skies past Hilda and Ingrid and Cyril to get to the corner of the fortress where Ferdinand is fighting. He swoops down close to the ground and Byleth takes the opportunity she is given.

She leaps from the wyvern and tucks and rolls as she hits the ground hard. Her shoulders ache from the impact, but she comes up slashing and takes out the rear legs of Ferdinand's mount. The horse screams in pain and throws the noble.

Ferdinand didn't see her coming and isn't expecting to be thrown so he hits the ground hard. Byleth sprints to him and lowers her blade against his throat. Ferdinand's eyes lock on hers and widen in surprise.

"Professor?"

"Ferdinand, I don't have to do this," she tells him. "Edelgard ruined your father and your family and she's poisoning the Empire."

Ferdinand's eyes flash defiantly and for a moment she is afraid of what he may make her do. "I am Ferdinand von Aegir. I fight for the Empire."

Byleth withdraws her sword and looks at him pityingly. "Even if Edelgard has set you up to die without a shred of remorse? Even if Edelgard has so systematically dismantled the Aegir name there is nothing left?" His resolve wavers and she presses forward. "Stand with me, Ferdinand and we will fight for the real Empire and we will save it."

She extends a hand to him. Ferdinand hesitates, but after a moment he reaches up to grab it. She pulls him to his feet and he nods to her. From there, Byleth almost misses what happens. One moment Ferdinand is standing at her side and the next moment he is shoving her to the side and there's a terrible crash of lightning and she smells burning flesh.

Byleth turns and throws her hand out, sending a wave of fire behind her. Acheron calls an arcane shield to block it, but he's smirking. Ferdinand lies crumpled on the ground, his armour smoking from the shock of the lightning that had struck him.

"Stand a traitor, die a traitor!" Acheron sneers.

Byleth's vision goes white and tugs on the cord in her stomach. Time winds back and she's staring down at Ferdinand with her hand extended. He's reaching for it when she pulls back and turns to see Acheron approaching. She sends white magic after him and Acheron deflects it away. She snaps the Sublime Creator Sword and lashes it out.

Acheron calls lightning and Byleth rolls, avoiding it. She strikes with her sword and Acheron falls. She turns back to Ferdinand to see him crumpled on the ground again. Pain sears in her chest.

"No, no, no, no!" she cries out, rushing forward.

Ferdinand's armour is smoking again. His eyes are blank, staring up at the clear blue sky. His hair is burnt and mussed and his chest is still. Byleth curls her hands until her fingernails cut into her palms. It should have saved him.

She tries to call on the Divine Pulse again, but her stomach turns and she's nearly sick. She rocks back from Ferdinand's body and stares at it blankly. The sound of the fighting around her fades and the battle starts to wind down with two of the commanders slain. Sylvain takes out Ladislava soon after.

Byleth stays kneeling on the stone staring at her slain student. Her student that she had gotten through to. Her student that was ready to join her. Her student who died a brutal death in every life she had seen him in.

Claude lands next to her, but Byleth is still numb.

- ~ -

/ great tree moon /

Byleth likes Derdriu. What she doesn't enjoy as much is the stubborn quarrelling of the Alliance Lords. When Claude had originally asked her to attend the Roundtable Conference with him, Byleth had been glad to leave the monastery for a few days.

The Roundtable is exhausting. The lords are frustratingly stubborn and selfish and none of them are too willing to give up troops to Claude's main forces when they claim they should be protecting their borders. Byleth herself isn't half the charming orator that Claude is, but she can see that even his patience is wearing thin.

By the second day, they have managed to convince most of the Lords to side with them. House Ordelia tries to hold out against them, but with Daphnel, Goneril, and even Gloucester voting in favour of House Reigan, their power is slipping. House Edmund tries to lessen their own commitment and then all of the lords suddenly want to be sending fewer troops.

It's exhausting.

Currently, Byleth is alone in the war room organizing maps of Empire territory and of Fort Merceus where the Empire is said to be stockpiling troops. Claude had disappeared several hours earlier with the rest of the nobles for dinner. Byleth had been invited, but she had wanted a break from the chaos. Citing the need for privacy to pray, she requested a meal be brought to her instead.

As the current, though unwilling, face of the Church of Seiros, none of the lords dared to argue with her request. Her meal had been sent up and she had been left alone. Still, the isolation felt unnerving and she was starting to tire of staring at maps and army figures and the mixture of hers and Claude's handwriting.

Just as she's folding up the last few maps, the door to the room cracks open. Byleth looks over her shoulder and sees Claude reenter. He has shed much of the regalia he has been parading around over the last two days and has exchanged it for a loose cream-coloured linen shirt and brown pants.

Byleth relaxes when she sees him. "Hi," she greets.

Claude smiles briefly. "Hi," he replies. "What are you still doing here? It's late."

Byleth waves him off. "I'm finished now. I was just about to head back to my room. How was dinner?"

Claude sighs and rubs his temples. "Exhausting. Every second I spend with these nobles is exhausting. Nothing here is simple as it is at home. There at least if someone disagrees with you they tell it straight to your face, often accompanied by a poisoned blade or two."

Byleth studies him for a moment. Maybe he's tired or distracted, but it is unlike him to let something so telling slip about his previous life before he was announced as Reigan heir. In telling him about Sothis and Dimitri and her first attempt, Byleth knows she has created a line of trust between them that he does not have with anyone else. As a result, she knows more about him than most people do. In all the time they've spent together, Byleth has pieced together that he's definitely not from Fódlan.

After she doesn't say anything else, Claude continues, "May I escort you back to your room, Teach?"

The nickname feels strange in this place. Between two adults, one of whom is heir to an entire region (Claude) and the other who has not aged in five years (Byleth). Still, the familiarity and the intent behind it makes her feel warm inside, so she nods.

They walk in relative silence back to Byleth's quarters. She's staying near enough to Claude that he's not seriously inconveniencing himself by walking her back, but the escort feels unnecessary to her. He waves her off.

"We've barely had a moment alone since coming here," he points out.

Byleth nods. "I hadn't even realized. I didn't know what to expect from this trip, but this certainly isn't what I was thinking."

Claude chuckles. "You could have saved me from a few particularly weak and embarrassing arguments in front of Holst and Judith today, you know. With your whole time-changing thing and everything."

Byleth rolls her eyes and shoves him. Claude rocks onto his heels and tips back towards her in response, laughing. He slings an arm over her shoulders and she feels the warmth that radiates from his body in waves.

Her stomach twists as she smiles at Claude's antics. Here in Derdriu with him, she feels safer and calmer than she has felt in a long, long time. Their every interaction feels genuine and real and since he knows the truth, she's not afraid of being in the moment with him.

Her moment of distraction causes her foot to catch on one of the expensive carpets and she trips, nearly dragging Claude down with her. Instead, they stumble into the wall together and Claude's full body collides with hers. He catches himself a little, but still ends up landing one hand on her waist and the other on her shoulder.

He's closer now–much closer–and Byleth can smell the wine he must have consumed with dinner and the stronger, familiar scent of pine that clings to him. She can see the darker green rings in his eyes and the tension in his neck as he swallows slowly. The playful smile has vanished and he looks a little nervous. His pulse hums in his neck and Byleth stops thinking.

She slides a hand up, across his shoulder and up over his jaw so it rests along the side of his face. Claude leans down with no resistance and lets his own hand glide from her shoulder to cradle the back of her head, fingers winding through her hair. There's a moment where it looks like he has given in to her, but then something clicks and he huffs out a heavy breath.

He presses their foreheads together and exhales. "Byleth," his voice is low and cautionary.

Byleth leans back a little, hurt prickling across her skin. "Claude," she replies, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"I think you're getting the wrong idea here, my friend," Claude says gently. Byleth tenses and prepares to throw all of her defences up. "I have no intention of playing second fiddle to His Royal Highness in anything, but this especially."

Claude's eyes are burning green. The hand at the back of her head plays lightly with her hair and the touch feels gentle. Byleth feels warm all over, but there's a chill in her chest at his words.

"Second fiddle?" she questions.

A sadder smirk turns up the corners of Claude's lips. "Teach, I had an inkling back at the academy, but when you told me everything, it clicked. You're in love with Dimitri."

He isn't wrong. Byleth knows that even though she didn't lead Dimitri's house this time, a part of her soul aches for him. She misses the young, idealistic prince and the cracked, determined young man he became.

Byleth closes her eyes. "Dimitri is dead, Claude. You're the one who told me that."

"He lived last time, didn't he? Same scenario."

"Last time was different," she argues.

"I disagree. Maybe you led his house, but you were still his favourite professor this time. You were one of the only people who he trusted completely and I don't think that changed," Claude says.

Despite the words coming out of his mouth, he hasn't moved away from her and he hasn't moved his hands back to safer, more platonic territory.

"Maybe I'm different," Byleth says before she realizes what the words truly mean.

Claude pauses. Byleth opens her eyes and sees Claude's face. He looks doubtful, but he can't hide the spark of hope in his eyes. Byleth twists her hand along his jaw, feeling the scratch of his half-beard along her palm.

"Byleth," he murmurs. "You still love him."

She takes the plunge. "And if I love you too?" The admission comes as a surprise to herself, but the warmth seeping through all of her bones due to Claude's close proximity assures her that it is the truth.

He laughs breathily. "Then I suppose I have an uphill battle ahead of me."

Byleth is done talking. Her other hand lands on Claude's shoulder. She pulls him down and kisses him firmly. Claude's hand tightens in her hair and the hand on her waist pulls her tighter against himself as he kisses her harder.

The kiss is like a fire. Claude is warm and his lips taste like wine and the lingering spices from whatever he had eaten for dinner. Byleth presses against him and slides her hands into his hair, wrapping her fingers around dark curls.

Claude breaks the kiss to groan softly. He tilts his head and presses a kiss to Byleth's cheekbone and then another at the top of her jaw. He pauses for a moment, resting the side of his head against hers. His breath is warm and makes her feel dizzy.

"If I don't let you go now, I won't be able to," he breathes.

"If I asked you not to let go?" Byleth replies. Her voice is breathy and her chest swells against him as she takes deep breaths.

Claude slides his head back so they're making eye contact. Byleth drops her hands to the centre of his chest where her fingers fiddle with the laces holding his shirt together—not undoing them yet, just making it clear she could.

"Byleth," he says.

She's pretty sure that her name on his lips is the sweetest sound she's ever heard. She leans forward to kiss him again. She pulls back so there is a hair's width between their lips.

"Don't let go," she whispers.

Claude doesn't hesitate. He crushes their lips together again and it's hot and hungry. He backs Byleth into the wall and cups her face with both hands. The kiss is intense and dizzying and entirely inappropriate for a hallway in his estate where anyone could happen upon them.

Claude's face dips into the crook of her neck as his lips and teeth scrape across her skin. Byleth wishes that her pulse would change so that he knew what he was doing to her. Her fingers fumble with his shirt until she has it mostly undone and her palms find warm, scarred skin.

"Claude," she gasps. "Room."

He laughs against her skin and presses a soft kiss to her collarbone. He pulls back to look at her, green eyes twinkling.

"Should I stay?" he asks.

It's the last hurdle he gives her. It's one last attempt for her body to revolt and call for Dimitri. But, just as one part of her mind aches for and misses the Kingdom's prince, the other half is drunk on Claude's warmth and adoration.

"Stay," she says.

He does.

- ~ -

Byleth makes it outside before she panics. As soon as she had finished speaking with Claude, Judith, and the others in the cathedral, she had headed straight for the 3rd floor of the monastery. She had ensured she was out of sight of everyone when she had started running, but she had sprinted the whole way up to the top floor of the monastery. She had stumbled into the star garden with her chest heaving. She strides to the edge of the garden and plants her arms against the railing.

There is an army marching towards Gronder Field under the banner of House Blaiddyd. Dimitri is ALIVE. There isn't a doubt in her mind that Dimitri is the one leading the charge down through Alliance territory towards the Empire. If he has gotten word that Edelgard could be at the Battle of Gronder Field, he will be there.

The thought of seeing him again makes her head spin. She knows what kind of man she'll come face to face with. She is afraid that this time there will be no turning him back to the light. She hadn't been there to guide him this time so she is afraid she will not be enough to guide him back to the light. Additionally, she now has to juggle the fact that all of the former Kingdom students (Dedue as the exception) were now fighting at her side under the Crest of Flames.

Byleth breathes deeply to try to calm her racing mind, but the fear is deep-rooted and cold. It doesn't help that half of her is still undeniably in love with Dimitri, but the other half is frozen in the stolen moment in Derdriu with Claude. She closes her eyes and tries to conjure an empty image in her mind.

People would be expecting her in the Cardinals' Room soon to discuss strategy and she needs to be calm. She breathes in, centring herself.

If Dimitri is marching on Enbarr, he has to have support. He likely has Gilbert and any remaining Kingdom knights. If he has come down through the north part of the Kingdom, he likely has the permission of House Galatea and probably military support from House Fraldarius and House Gautier.

She needs to speak to the Blue Lions.

Byleth spins from her position and sees Cyril standing in the doorway from the third floor, watching her awkwardly.

"Cyril," she starts.

He shakes his head. "It's okay, Professor, I won't say anything. Do you want me to get anyone?"

Byleth exhales slowly. "No, I'm alright. I just need to speak to Felix and Sylvain. Do you know where they are?"

Cyril ponders the question for a moment. "I would guess either the Blue Lion classroom or the Training Hall."

- ~ -

She finds them in the Blue Lion classroom. Mercedes is standing at the front of the room, staring out the window into the grassy courtyard with an uncharacteristic frown across her face. Ashe is restringing his bow at the table closest to her. He looks detached and almost a little scared.

Annette is holding Felix's hands in her lap. She looks nervous and the swordsman next to her has a blank, eerily neutral expression. Annette's hands rub over Felix's like she's trying to keep him grounded, but Byleth easily picks up that much of her tension is her own.

Ingrid is standing at the rear of the classroom, arms crossed, while Sylvain paces the length of the room. His armour clicks and clanks as he walks and he runs a hand through his hair looking irritated. Ingrid looks more pensive and she keeps glancing at Sylvain like she wants to anchor him to the spot to stop his pacing.

Ashe looks up as she enters and stands in a hurry, bumping the table loudly with his knees. "Professor!"

Byleth feels a lump in her throat. "Someone told you all," she murmurs.

Sylvain stops pacing to look at her. "House Blaiddyd. Professor, what is happening? Is the ghost of Dimitri leading an assault against us?"

Felix laughs coldly. "You haven't figured it out?"

"Felix," Annette pleads softly.

He shakes his head. "The Boar Prince himself will be leading that charge, I guarantee it." He pulls his hands away from Annette and stands up. He gives Byleth a challenging look. "My father will be there too and if Annette's father isn't I will be surprised. Do you expect us to raise arms against our own people?"

Byleth shakes her head emphatically. "I expect you all to deploy on the Empire side and to retreat any moment you feel uncomfortable or out of your depth."

"So you intend to kill the Boar then?" Felix asks.

"No," Byleth says before she can stop herself. She drops her gaze to the floor. "I could never."

"Claude would," a new voice says.

Byleth and the Lions turn to see Hilda in the doorway. She looks troubled but steps forward into the classroom.

"The moment the Kingdom army turns its attacks our direction, Claude won't hesitate. You know that, don't you, Professor?"

Byleth sighs. "That is exactly what I am afraid of."

"If Dimitri is there, let us get to him," Sylvain says firmly. "We will get him to back down."

"No," Felix says. "Sylvain, you weren't there so you haven't seen him like this." Felix looks disturbed, but he hides his discomfort behind a sneer easily enough. "There's not enough of him left to save."

With that, he hurries from the room. Ingrid lays a hand on Sylvain's arm and the pair makes eye contact before Ingrid continues on, following Felix. Sylvain huffs out a sigh and sits on a bench at a table.

"Not to be a downer, but how are you so sure that Dimitri is still alive?" Hilda asks.

Annette shifts uncomfortably. She reaches into the bag at her feet and pulls out two scrolls of parchment. "Felix's father wrote to him, requesting that he return to Fraldarius territory so that he could join in the Kingdom's revival. My father wrote to me as well, asking for me to stay far away from Empire territory in the coming months."

"There were whispers amongst the Western Church that someone interfered in Dimitri's execution and that was why everything was carried out in such a hush-hush manner," Ashe adds. "People were saying it was warriors from Duscur that stormed the capital on the day it was set for. And, well, we all know someone from Duscur who would have done anything for His Highness."

Hilda takes a deep breath. "Well, that's plenty convincing for me." She turns to Byleth. "Professor, if there is even a chance that you can get through to him, you have to try. The Kingdom could unite behind him and with the Alliance united behind Claude and the Church behind you, the war would be as good as over."

With that, Hilda spins and leaves the classroom. Byleth bites her lip and turns back to face the remaining Blue Lions.

"You knew him as well as I did," she says. "Do we have a shot?"

"I don't know, Professor," Annette admits. "He changed after he found out about Edelgard being the Flame Emperor."

Byleth nods. "I know. She knows who was responsible for Duscur," Byleth admits.

Sylvain stiffens. "What?"

"Patricia was a part of the plot herself because she wished to see Edelgard again. That betrayal cut him deeper than anything else ever could." Technically Byleth isn't sure if Dimitri knows that Patricia had been a part of the plot in this timeline, but it's close enough to the reason that he felt so betrayed by her and Byleth thinks that her Lions deserve to know this at least.

"I want you to know that whatever happens," she pauses to look each of them in the eye. "I will do everything I can to keep him alive."

The promise is the best she can do right now.

- ~ -

The fog that dances along the earth makes her nervous. Her hand is curled around her sword and she stands with her back straight and every sense on high alert as they approach Gronder. She has made this march before and she knows how it will end if she isn't perfect in every choice she makes.

"Byleth."

She turns. Claude is standing a few feet away from her. He's dressed for battle and his wyvern is waiting anxiously behind him. Byleth steps toward him and raises her chin.

"Claude."

They haven't had a moment alone since Derdriu and since finding out about the Kingdom's approach, Byleth hasn't wanted to try to process all of the emotions whipping through her head. Even so, there is hardly another person she would trust to have her back in a fight like the one they are about to head into.

"I will need you today, my friend," he says. "Your command will win us the day, I know it will. Don't lose sight of what's important."

The last comment makes her angry. She exhales sharply. "I know what is important. Don't forget what I told you."

She has made sure that Claude knows to avoid the hill in the centre of the field because she has no doubt that Edelgard has rigged it with explosives again. Despite his insistence on it as a strategic point, Byleth had forcefully pointed out that it isn't worth the lives that will be lost in taking it. Instead, she has directed him to head up the right side of the battle to go after where she assumes Edelgard's magic corps will be.

There's a horn that sounds, lower and brassier than anything from the Alliance. Byleth and Claude both tense.

"That's an Empire war horn," Claude murmurs. He immediately takes off for the front lines, pressing through their own soldiers.

Byleth doesn't hesitate before following him. She has almost reached him when she spots the volley of fire heading their direction. "Scatter!" she screams to the troops.

Magic rains down around them and Alliance soldiers and commanders scream and drop formation. Byleth pushes forward until she stands next to Claude. Here, at the front of the army, she can see out onto Gronder Field. Edelgard's army is in the south in perfect formation and her mages still have their hands outstretched from the initial blast.

Claude's jaw sets. His hands tighten on Failnaught and he very nearly gives the order at that moment, but he hesitates.

Byleth looks to the eastern side and she sees him.

Dimitri is alive, her mind whispers.

Dimitri stands at the head of his army. His expression is dead neutral. His right eye is gone. His hair is longer. Areadbhar is resting on his shoulder. He looks like the shadow of the prince that Byleth found in the goddess tower five years ago and her chest aches.

Claude lifts a hand and the Alliance archers lift their weapons into position, waiting for the command. Edelgard's forces do the same, but it is Dimitri who breaks first. The disillusioned man points his relic forth and Byleth sees the darkness consuming him emerge in full force.

The Kingdom troops charge and all hell breaks loose.

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