#and hey maybe this is all for the best because the emperor learning to act more like a decent father might stop the heresy

[mothiir]

little rabbit, the bad ending

Inspired by reading about the big e’s mind control powers on @moodymisty’s asks and yeah this happened. It’s pretty bleak and answers the question- what happens when the emperor keeps hold of what he wants?

It is by no means the first time she has dreamed of the Emperor; he invades her dreams as he invades her body, appearing sometimes as a towering pillar of golden flame, sometimes as a slavering wolf with blood on its breath, sometimes as a a conquering barbarian, standing taller than any man she has ever known, hewn from copper and red stone, with eyes of fire. This time, he relaxes on a golden throne, his toga clean white linen, draped loosely over his muscular shoulders. She knows she is dreaming, because she can look at him without the well-accustomed headache — and because she can see out of both eyes, rather than having her right eye covered in a milky red film. 

“How dare you?” she says, giving voice to the words she swallows down during the day — oh how she hates how he forces her to choke down so much; her emotions, her thoughts, his damn cock. “How dare you sit there, and pretend to be humanity’s saviour? You’re not a damn saviour. You’re a tyrant.”

He watches her impassively, and says nothing. Emboldened, she draws closer. In the manner of dreams, their surroundings are hazy and undefined; it is like she walks through early morning fog. 

“You say you will save us all, but what from? You won’t say. You won’t tell anyone anything. You destroy what does not bend. You treat your sons as tools. They are human! We are all human! And you tell them that they have to purge what makes them human, all the love and the joy and —“

Her voice catches. 

“Roboute loves me! And I him! And you took me! You took me, and you won’t give me back, and you — you r-r-rape me, and you toy with me, and if I am truly nothing to you, as you claim — I hear you claim! — then why don’t you just let me go?”

She dashes tears from her eyes. It’s a dream. She can cry from both eyes, here. 

“What happens if you get your way? If humanity becomes like you? Cold and cruel and uncaring? If we lose our ability to love? To care? To sing and dance and — and create? If every civilisation we meet is destroyed? If everything is made in Your image? Then what? We’d be a shell! Humanity would not be human anymore! We would be a shadow. You’d sit there and rule over a universe of grey automatons, manifestations of Your will. Is that what You want?”

She stops before the throne. He’s not towering over here, here, when her mind can reduce him to the proportions of a man, not a divine being that denies its divinity. He is a tall man, but still a man. She can look him in the face.

”You claim not to be a god, but you act like one. You want to be a god but answer no prayers. You want to be obeyed as a father but not love like one. You’re a hypocrite. A coward. Dodging responsibility. Dodging everything.”

Breathless with rage, she stops, waiting for the dream-Emperor to respond. When he does, a thrill of fear races down her spine. 

“How interesting.“

Her mind can replicate much, but not that — not the reverberating echo of the Emperor’s true voice. This is not a dream. Against all probability, this is him. 

(Of course it is.  He’s a psyker, the strongest psyker that ever lived, and to him the minds of humans are just another plane to wander.)

”I have seen the future. I have seen the horrors that await our kind. I have torn myself apart and built myself anew to avoid them. And yet…maybe. Maybe some amendments are required.”

”I don’t understand — “

He catches her by the waist, and pulls her into his lap, smiling down at her. His eyes are the heart of a sun. His mouth is the throat of a forest fire. Be thou afraid —

“You do not have to. But you are correct — Roboute does love you, and it pains him to see you so. I will fix this. I will fix everything.”

The light blinds her. And she wakes. And she doesn’t. 

—

Roboute Gulliman, Primarch of the Thirteenth, walks beside his Lord Father, discussing their latest campaign against a nasty strain of orks in the distant reaches of the eastern Imperium, and how best to deal with them. It is an honour to be so close to the Emperor, and he feels his approval like a golden balm as he presents strategies, and the Emperor congratulates him on having such a sharp mind. It would be so easy for one so powerful to be a distant, unreachable god-like figure, but the Emperor is not — he may not have raised Roboute, but he is wholly his father. Roboute barely recalls his foster-father’s name these days. 

A slight disturbance draws his attention; a human woman, clad in an ornate gold gown, ducks out of one of the side rooms. The Emperor beams at her. 

“Excuse me, Roboute. I think my consort needs my attention. She is a needy little thing — and quite insatiable.”

Roboute’s cheeks colour a little — he’s no Leman or Horus, happy to trade bawdy jokes with the Emperor — and he politely averts his eyes as the Emperor scoops the woman up and plants a kiss on her, his tongue sliding between her parted lips. 

“How’s my girl? Restless? Be at ease; I’m almost done here, and Roboute will be on his way — and you’ll have me all to yourself.”

He settles her on one of his hips, and nips at her throat. She’s looking directly at Roboute, her expression quite unreadable. Roboute realises he’s being unfanthomly rude, and offers a little courtly bow. 

“My lady. It is a delight to make your acquaintance. I have heard tales of your beauty, and I can see that they were all correct.”

”Thank you, my Lord Primarch,” she says, her voice tiny. 

“She’s more than a beauty,” says the Emperor, fondly. “She keeps me human, don’t you my love? She shows me how to not lose sight of the small things, when the grand design occupies so much of my attention. Without her, I fear I’d forgot how to relate to humans at all!”

Roboute chuckles politely, but there’s something about the woman’s gaze — something so sad. Maybe —

A flash of gold out of the corner of his eye — probably the sun reflecting on the walls. The thought vanishes. He will head out soon, out to war for the sake of his father, and for humanity. His great purpose. His birthright. 

And all he ever wants, and all he ever wanted.

[crossdressingdeath]

*cracks knuckles* alright, character development asks for your boy: 6, 8, 11, 19, 29, 30. -@veilkeeper

(The character development asks)

6: What companion are you platonically close with? In my first run Kyvir was closest to Gale (I don't know what I did with him, but his approval skyrocketed so fast) but I'm currently going back and forth between him and Wyll in terms of story. The dynamic of the monster and the monster hunter is sososososo good, and the idea of Kyvir's closest friend learning he's Bhaalspawn and responding with "Well, that explains a lot" and everything after refusing Bhaal where Wyll's just incredibly proud of you... good shit. Also, daddy issues gang. But also the angst of Kyvir's best friend learning what he did in the past and barely being able to look at him, Gale's dialogue at the inauguration is so much... I genuinely haven't decided, I'm gonna go through their dialogue more carefully this run. Maybe it starts as Gale and then switches to Wyll in act 3 just from Gale taking the whole Absolutist thing so incredibly badly and then getting kidnapped before they can hash that out...? I don't know, much to think about. (I also considered Karlach but the whole Gortash thing was just. too much angst. tone it down like 5%.)

8: Who are they suspicious of? I don't know if suspicious is the right word, but he's the most distrustful of Wyll at first. Both because he can't believe anyone is as perfect as Wyll appears to be and because for some reason monster hunters get his hackles up. It would've been Astarion or Lae'zel if it wasn't for Astarion failing so hard at pretending he's not a vampire that Kyvir didn't even notice he was trying to hide it (he fully just thought Astarion was sensitive about it and so didn't bring it up) and both him and Lae'zel being really quite up-front about how they're not the greatest people. Shadowheart a little bit because she's so obviously lying her ass off before admitting she worships Shar, but also she's really obvious so he's not that worried. He's also suspicious of Jaheira when she first joins up because the Urge doesn't like her and this is a little before he realizes what's actually going on with that; he would have been distrustful of Minsc too, but Jaheira vouched for him and by that point Kyvir trusted her to at least not stab him in the back for no reason, so that was fine.

11: Weapon of choice? In this run mostly warhammers (specifically Faithbreaker and Ketheric's warhammer), and Nyrulna in act 3 (glowing trident go brrrrrrrrr), but since I intend to reclass him as a bard he won't be able to do that anymore. So that kind of remains to be seen. (Definitely giving him Orin's sword in act 3, though.)

19: How do you think they'll meet they're end? I remain convinced that redeemed Durge is fully immortal because Jergal won't let them die, so... what end? More seriously, if he does die it'll be in a dramatic battle against a grand force, the sort of fight that the bards will sing of for a thousand years! ...Or possibly he'll get stabbed in a back alley because he can't not be a little shit even when he really, really shouldn't. But probably Astarion and Halsin won't let that happen.

29: Does your Tav want to utilize the tadpole powers or not? Kyvir's head is quite messed up enough as it is, thank you very much. He is not touching the tadpole powers. Also, even aside from the "Hey, I don't need more brain damage" situation the Emperor's non-illithid disguise is juuuuuuuuust off-model enough (thanks to all the brain damage keeping the Emperor from getting a good look in his head) that it sets off some alarm bells for him so he was never going to trust the guy enough to start messing with the tadpoles anyway.

30: What's your favorite thing about your Tav? ...Hm. My favourite thing? Well, it's a bit basic, but I love the "pretending to care while not caring at all can get you far in life, but watch out" thing he's got going on. Enough of his life pre-amnesia stuck with him that he doesn't want to get near anyone, but his companions are all such messes that he can't not. In general I'm having a lot of fun playing with Kyvir's memories and how much he remembers the lessons they taught him even with the memories themselves gone, but mostly my favourite thing right now is the "defrosting ice king but no one realizes because he's really good at pretending to be super friendly" bit he's pulling off throughout most of the story by virtue of being one of the only members of this party with decent charisma, at least in act one. ...Also all the Durgetash posting he's inspiring but that's only partially related to him.

[strangermask]

The Witch

It was a dark night in Tempus. The realm was starting to crumble, and everyone was afraid of losing their homelands. Their rulers, the fire god and ice god, passed away many years ago. While the two sides were still at war inflicted by their gods, they were still worried about losing their lands.

So they turned to the Witch of Under. She heard their pleas and decided to help. She searched through all the realms to try and find reincarnations of the two gods. Her search seemed almost hopeless until she stumbled upon a realm not connected to the Tempus chain.

Ninjago. A strange name for a realm, but it had just what she needed. A person who could wield fire and an android who could wield ice. They weren’t reincarnations, but they were close enough. So the Witch shared news of her discovery to the people of Tempus. She excluded the part of the two not being reincarnations. That would just cause trouble, and the realm needed a stable ground soon.

So the Witch went to grab the two mortals to turn them into gods and make the realm stable again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gods, this better be worth it,” the Witch said. “I went through a lot of trouble to find something like you two. And I’m not giving up now.”

The Witch made it to the living place of the fire and ice. If she recalls correctly, the fire was named “Kai” and the ice was named “Zane”. And, unfortunately, they were with others in the living place.

The Witch saw Kai and Zane come out with a green boy.

“Well, that was unsuccessful,” Kai sighed.

“Sorry, guys,” the green one said with an apologetic look. Wonder what happened.

“It’s not your fault, Lloyd,” Zane reassured. “I’m sure Master Wu will come around.”

A Master? Master of what? Maybe the Witch should have done a little more looking.

“But I feel bad,” the green one spoke again. “You guys shouldn’t have to be taken off missions because of things that happened in the past. It wasn’t either of your faults.”

“Hey, it’s alright, green bean,” Kai gave a smile. He seemed sad behind the eyes though. “It’s not your fault Wu is being a bit of a grump, and we appreciate that you tried.”

The green one had their hair ruffled by Kai. The Witch was now curious. Maybe if the cards set down by the Master are right…

“Well, I should catch up with the others,” the green one said. “I’ll see you all when we get back, right?”

“Of course, see ya soon,” Kai smiled.

The green one left. As soon as he did, Kai and Zane dropped to the floor in despair.

“This sucks,” Kai huffed.

“Agree.” Zane responded.

“I mean, Wu’s never had a problem before. Why is he now acting like this?”

“I’m uncertain. He said that it’s for the best, but I’m having trouble seeing that.”

“I’m just… Why is he holding the past up against us now? I mean, we’ve made mistakes, but we’ve learned!”

Zane and Kai were silent. The Witch waited longer to see if they both spoke further.

“… Do you think… He’s afraid of us being corrupted because we once were?” Zane asked.

Kai winced at that.

“… Yeah,” Kai answered hesitantly. “And that’s the part biting me.”

The Witch raised her eyebrow.

“To be honest, I still feel some guilt about the green ninja thing,” Kai said.

“You do?” Zane asked.

“Yeah. I know, it’s been a long time but… it haunts me. Especially since I almost hurt Lloyd.”

“… I connect with the feeling. I have attempted to get past my time in the Never Realm. But… it seems everything that I have tried doesn’t help.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault.”

“But it was mine as the Ice Emperor. I caused pain to everyone in that realm.”

The Witch pulled out a mini book and pen. She started writing, listening and planning

“… Well, to be fair in a way to make you feel better, Wu was kind of the reason it all started,” Kai said.

“… Explain?” Zane questioned.

“I mean, Wu was the one who caused this. He kept scolding us and kind of insulting us because we weren’t doing anything. I mean, it made everyone feel like we weren’t enough. So we did what we could to prove we were still enough.”

There was a small moment of silence.

“Then I could say the same to you about the green ninja,” Zane said.

“Huh?” Kai spoke, visibly confused.

“When Garmadon was here and you fought him the minute before you unlocked your true potential. I heard what Wu said to you about your true potential being dangerous. And I saw something shatter in your eyes.”

“Oh! I, uh, well, you know. I mean, he-”

“Kai, what Wu said to you was unfair. Plus, he’s seen every previous master of fire. He should have known better than to tell a lie if he’s seen them unlock their true potentials.”

“Zane…”

“You like to give us advice and comfort but try to deflect it when we use the same on you. If you want to blame Wu for my guilt, I can do the same to you.”

“… I feel like you should take my advice less.”

Zane pulled Kai in.

“Maybe. But, you do give good advice.”

The Witch wrote down in her mini book.

“… But we can’t really blame Wu, can we?” Kai asked.

“… I’m afraid not,” Zane said. “We can’t pin everything on him when something bad happens. He has helped us in some ways.”

“Right now, my only wish is to find somewhere to get away from all this ninja stuff. It was nice and fun at first.”

“But it’s starting to wear down.”

“Yep.”

“It would be nice to get away.”

The Witch closed her mini book.

“And I can give you both that,” the Witch finally announced.

Kai and Zane immediately looked up. They stood in fighting positions.

“I rather do this without fighting, so I’m just going to use a small spell first,” the Witch said. She spoke in words none of the boys could understand. But it was causing aches in Kai’s head. He fell to the ground.

“Kai!” Zane ran over to the red one. “What are you doing to him!”

“Just a small hypnotic spell,” the Witch answered. “Though I must make note that it doesn’t work on androids. I’ll just use another way to take you.”

The Witch then pulled out two small rocks and tossed them to the two. The rocks hatched into vines that entrapped both of them. The fire one was now in the hypnotic state, but the ice one was struggling.

The Witch was about to leave when a very elderly man came outside. He looked shocked. The Witch guessed by the apparel that this must be the Master. So why not have some small fun with final words?

“You know,” the Witch started, “If you took better care of these two and were more careful with words, I think they wouldn’t be trapped. But it is lucky for me with cards you put down. Now I have a way to keep my home alive for longer.”

Before she could hear whatever the Master would say, the Witch disappeared. She made it quickly back to her home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Witch returned to Tempus and told both sides of the news. She informed them that she must prepare the reincarnations for their roles again. That included erasing their memories so they could live freely without the pain in their past. They will receive their powers again to keep the land flowing. They will regain all of their god aspects and parts.

Both sides rejoiced and waited ecstatically. So the Witch went to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai was awakened out of the hypnotic spell by Zane. These fire and ice ones seem to be big companions. Shame that will be against each other. The two also seem to notice the Witch come in.

“Where are we and what do you want with us?” The ice one asked coldly.

“You are in Tempus,” the Witch answered, pulling out a book. “It’s a realm outside of your realm’s connection. Which means the only way to access it is to have a very powerful object, like I do, to travel across. No other way of realm jumping will be possible.

“Now onto why I did this. This realm is dying because our two gods decided to fight to the death literally. Now they’re gone, and we don’t have anything to stabilize it. So when I saw that you two were of fire and ice… you can see where I’m going.”

“Fire and ice?” Kai questioned. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a fire-ice realm. One side is full of fire people, one side is full of ice people, and the middle is… we don’t talk about the middle ground. The fire people are the Aestas and the ice people are Hiems.”

“Are you going to use us as batteries?” Zane asked with a very aggressive tone.

“No! What even is a battery? Look, you two are just going to keep the realm stable! Also rule each side separately.”

Kai and Zane were silent.

“I think you made the wrong choice,” Kai stated.

“Why? Because you guys have guilt of things? I have a solution for that and it’s called mind wiping.”

“You’re going to erase our memories?” Zane asked.

“Yep. It also takes away any goals to escape, so double the shoots!”

“You can’t do that-”

“Oh, right. You have some kind of memory vile. I’m just gonna deal with that real quick.”

The Witch came over to Zane and opened the compartment.

“Excuse me!” Zane yelped, cheeks turning blue.

“Memory, memory, memory, ah-ha!” The Witch exclaimed happily. She pulled out a wand and tapped the memory switch. With a blink of an eye, the switch was gone. “There we go. Oh, but that looks a bit weird… Oh well, not like I’m gonna look into your guys often.”

The Witch closed the compartment.

“What is your deal?” Kai asked, now him holding the aggressive tone.

“My deal is that I receive a way to keep my home alive, and you both to get to live peacefully in your own elements as rulers. I think that’s a good deal.”

“But-”

“Ah ah ah, no. You two are the only hope I have. I just hope you both last longer than the first gods.”

And with a snap of a finger, the life of Ninjago disappeared.

[envythepalmtree]

Lanfan headcanons

These were requested a while back, so here they are!

[ID: Shot of Lanfan. End ID]

1. Her full name is Liáng Lánfān 梁蓝帆

Lanfan's Japanese name ランファン translates to 蓝帆 Lán fān in Chinese, which means "blue sail." Liang 梁, and its variants, are used as a surname in China, Indonesia, Korea, Vietnam, the Phillippines, and more and it means "bridge."

After Ling became emperor, Lanfan was crucial in the movement to abolish the clan system and restore relations between different (former) clans. It took years, but Ling and Lanfan acted as bridges between groups to bring peace Xing.

When I ran this name by my mother, she commented that it sounded a bit like a tongue twister. It is a bit hard to pronounce. And far before Lanfan started training to be Ling's bodyguard, when they were both small children, Ling had trouble pronouncing her name. But Ling's mother told him how important it was to say the proper names of his clan members, and he was the first child Lanfan played with to say it right.

2. Her childhood

Lanfan is part of a retainer family to the Yao family on her mother's side. When she was growing up, it was her grandfather Fu and her mother who acted as the chief bodyguards to Ling and his family. Because her surname did not match the name of the retainer family (which I will not say because spoilers for a fic), she wasn't immediately in line to be Ling's top bodyguard--they had a couple of cousins in mind as well.

They began teaching her the same topics any Xingese child would be learning at school, like Classics and math, but she didn't have much patience for it and, at nine years old, would repeatedly remind her teacher and parents that she wouldn't need to know poetry or multiplication to serve the Yao clan. (That wasn't exactly true: Some of her family members served as accountants. Someone needed to manage the clan's tax policy.)

Eventually, they gave in and put her in combat classes with kids much older than her. She wasn't naturally talented at fighting, but worked super hard out of spite and by the time she was thirteen it was clear she was the best.

She was, however, pretty talented at making explosives. Maybe it was irresponsible of the Yao scientists to allow an extremely young girl to help with their experiments in designing effective ones, but hey. She was helpful.

3. Her and Ling

It was Lanfan's idea to travel to Amestris and look for immortality as a means of getting Ling onto the throne.

Lanfan wasn't a political strategist. Ling had advisors who were well versed in political theory who were helping him figure out how to raise the clan's status and get him to the top. Lanfan considered herself more muscle than brains (unusual in a world where men acted helpless and women had to do all the logic), but she thought that the advisors' ideas were too small, too safe. The Yao clan had powerful rivals, and they'd lose too much if one of their rivals took the throne. They needed to think bigger.

That isn't to say she wanted to take Ling across a desert into a dangerous country. Who wants their beloved prince taking such risks? But Lanfan knew he wanted to get to the top and wanted to take risks.

It wasn't until they were both in a foreign country that they realized their feelings for each other. But a romance between the Yao prince and his bodyguard would be the furthest thing from convenient. If they wanted to be together, there was a lot they needed to change about their country first.

(A Xingese-Amestrian colonel with some painful ties to Ling's and Lanfan's family was trying to become the ruler of Amestris. He had a lieutenant. Both the Amestrian and Xingese pairs had countries to change before they could be real couples.)

[erzaguin]

Huntmira Week 2021 Day 2: Childhood Friends

Alright children, do you see that little boy over there with blond hair? I want you two to go make friends with him ok? Beamed Odalia as she fixed the twins' hair and uniforms making sure they looked perfect. 

“Yes mommy” answered the twins in unison. Today was going to be their first day of pre-school and as luck would have it they would be in the same class as Hunter, the only known relative of emperor Belos. Odalia saw the potential benefits of having the twins befriend the emperor's young nephew and she would make sure to cease the opportunity. 

"Oh and Emmy make sure to watch out for your brother ok? Keep him out of trouble" said Odalia as she fixed her daughter's hair. "I will mommy" replied Emira cheerfully as she held on to Edric’s hand to keep him from running off after something he saw. "That's my girl, now go say hi to your new best friend." beamed Odalia as she gave the twins a light push in the direction of Hunter. 

Hunter was standing by himself as far away as he could from the other kids. He didn’t like being around them and most didn't want to be around him either. They were afraid of him or to be more exact they were afraid of his uncle. Most people saw him as someone they should not approach but should always be nice to because they did not want to upset his uncle. But Hunter was used to this. Children would not approach him and adults were always overly nice to him. All he wanted to do was go home and be by himself. He didn’t understand why he had to go to school with all the other children. They could just as easily have teachers go to him but his uncle insisted he needed to learn to interact with others. 

“...Hey, hey, can you hear me?” puzzled Emira as she waved her free hand in front of Hunter's face. “Maybe he can’t? Should we tell one of the teachers?” remarked Edric as he looked around for an adult. 

“Stop that I can hear you just fine” retorted Hunter a bit annoyed but also surprised at the sudden appearance of the two children in front of him. They looked almost identical. They both had emerald green hair and golden eyes with the boy having a mole under his right eye and the girl having a mole under her left eye. “Why do you guys look the same?" said Hunter , puzzled by their appearance. 

“That’s because we're twins silly. I’m Emira and this is my brother Edric” giggled Emira as her brother waved with a big grin on his face at the confused boy.  “What’s your name?” asked the twins simultaneously. 

Hunter was not used to having this type of attention. People were usually very formal when speaking to him but these two were acting extremely familiar. He knew that this is what he wanted but he could not help but feel annoyed at the pair. He felt like they were making fun of him with how they looked at him. But he had promised his uncle that he would try to get along with the other kids and make friends. Maybe he could make friends with the odd pair and that would make his uncle happy. He straightened up to seem more confident and stated “My name is Hunter.” 

To this the twins seemed to light up and both exclaimed at the same time “Hi Hunter do you want to be our friend?!” Hunter could not believe his luck making friends would be easier than he thought. “Yes I’d like that.” declared Hunter thinking about how he would go home and tell his uncle he had made two friends on his first day. 

Although Hunter had not been ready for what was to come. As soon as he agreed to be their friend the twins let go of their hands and took his. For the rest of the day they were glued to him. They sat next to each other in class and would only play with him during free time. It was actually kind of nice being around them. Although they were a little too comfortable being around him and that could get annoying. They were always too close to him and they liked holding hands. Hunter was not used to so much physical interaction with people. They also liked pulling pranks which Hunter was not a fan of. But they were also not afraid of him and they treated him like he was just another kid which he appreciated more than they would ever know. 

As the day went on Hunter realized that the other children would not approach the twins either. He felt that it might be because they were hanging around him. He  did not like the idea that they would be isolated because of him so he voiced his concerns to them while they waited to be picked up at the end of the day and told them that it was ok if they did not want to be his friend. To which they responded “Oh no this is normal” responded Edric who seemed to be more concerned with something in the distance “yeah most kids think it’s weird that Ed and I look the same and they also seem to be scared of us for some reason” said Emira casually as she nudged her twin to get his attention. 

“Really? But you guys are so good at talking to people” Questioned Hunter. Emira just shrugged before giving Hunter a mischievous grin “Where you worried that you might lose us?” Edric quickly picked up on what his sister was doing and added in a teasing tone “Don’t worry you are our best friend now which means you’ll never be lonely again’ and then as if on que both twins hugged Hunter while cuing reasuring words. Hunter did not like that they were making fun of him but before he could respond a lady with hair the same color as the twins with sapphire eyes approached them. 

“Aww, would you look at that my little ones made a new friend.'' beamed Odalia as she approached the trio. Upon seeing their mother the twins exclaimed in unison “Mommy!” ‘Hello my darlings, who is your new friend?” Asked Odalia in a tone that unsettled Hunter but he did not know why. The twins introduced Hunter to their mother as their new best friend to which she seemed to be a little too happy about. She asked the three to get close together so she could take a picture of them. The twins took to either side of him and held his hand. Hunter was still a bit annoyed at them but he allowed the picture to be taken.

Once they were done they said their goodbyes and promised to hang out again the following day. Odalia made sure to let Hunter know that if he ever wanted to play with the twins outside of school he was always welcome to come visit them at their house. Once they were out of ear shot Odalia made sure to praise the twins for being able to make a new friend. 

[tar-oh]

Pick a Pile: What do you need to hear right now?

Good news, folks! My semester is over! So, hopefully, this means my stress levels will not be as high and I'll have more energy to do more pick-a-piles! Today we're going to look at what you need to hear. Gonna be honest, all the piles seem related. It could be that they all hold a message for one person, or they're continuations of the others? Or they could be messages for people in situations that are related to one another? I'm not sure, but there's some connection between all three tbh. However, only read what you're feeling called to read. That means you can have more than one pile. I also have to put my normal disclaimer here: This is a general reading. Not all of it is going to apply to you. In addition to this, this is current energy and it can change by tomorrow. There is such a thing as free will, and we all need to remember that. If you do find that you resonate heavily with one (or two or all) of these piles and you want to know more, I am available for readings. Just DM me about it and I'll get back to you ASAP. I also have my cashapp and Paypal listed in my bio if you feel the need to tip (but it's not required) So, for the piles, pick an outfit worn by Fran Fine in season 1 of The Nanny!

Pile 1:

Cards: Cat, Eclipse, Saturday morning cartoons, Picollus, Alastor, Voices, Flying Without Wings, 7 of Cups, 6 of Wands, Wheel of Fortune, Full Moon in Scorpio, Friendliness, Joy, Page of Wands, The Emperor, The Hierophant

Oof I just got REALLY warm. I'm not sure what that means, but I think some are you are furious at someone. Well, you're asked to release the negativity (Full Moon in Scorpio), and also the bottom of the deck of the Moonology cards was Bring Love Into the Situation. The song on currently is Are You on Your Way by Middle Class Rut, and I take this to mean...are you coming home? Like, to yourself. I think some of you have allowed others to influence who you are, losing sight of who you are. There's something coming, or maybe this has already happened, but it's good. Possibly an achievement? However, there are underlying issues within this or around you. I take this more as outside voices, that part about being influenced by others again. I think the Voices card is one thing to look at about this. From this, I get two things. The first being that you need to listen to your own voice, your own judgment. The second is that you should ignore any voices on the outside. By this I mean, like family or friends. I really get that some of you have family or friends around you that are giving you their advice, but that it's no good. The Picollus card talks about long-standing feuds (specifically family feuds) and the Alastor card talks about not being vengeful. So I think maybe there are some not-so-kind things that are being said, either about you or others and you're being asked to not listen to them.

But, with the 6 of wands, wheel of fortune and Flying without wings, I see that there's something you're about to achieve or have just done. The bottom of the deck for the tarot was the tower, so for some, this is sudden. Maybe a promotion? Or, graduation, so a culmination of things leading up to something. But, I'm seeing that this can only be good if you're careful with where you get advice from and how you act. I'm not saying to ignore all advice, but I think when you hear advice, you're aware of what's good for you/will work for you and what won't. With the eclipse card, I can see that there are some things that may be unknown to you right now, and maybe this tower card on the bottom is coming energy (or past, depending on where you are at). The energy of this pile is NOT bad. It's more cautionary. There's a lot here about your shadow side, and I really want to stress that your shadow side isn't something to hate. It's a part of you. So I think you're being asked to be mindful of your actions towards others but also other's actions towards you, while also being kind to yourself?

Moving Along by 5sos came on. I was going to say that it feels like some of you are moving on from something, and maybe it's a breakup or a past failure, but now you're moving into better times like you're succeeding with something else. Moving on. But, I think there's a bit of fear here. For a few, there's resentment. I'm not saying you don't have the right to be resentful, but in the cards, there is a warning to be careful not to allow that to overtake you. The bottom of the Witches Oracle is Greet the Darkness, and this tells me that if you are feeling that resentment, you're being called to feel it. I don't think you can just ignore it, because it will eat away at you. However, you're being asked to feel it and then let it pass. So, again, kind of goes back to moving along, right? You also are being asked to find your voice and not use other's voices to dominate your thoughts/actions.

You know, it's not even a song that came on, but I was thinking about Harry Styles' song, Treat People with Kindness and I kind of am getting that message here? Like, I think overall, this is just a call to be good. Like, to discern what you hear, but also to be the best you can be. Do not to give in to the temptation of being a less than stellar person. I think it's a warning to be careful. Like, an ego thing?

I feel like there's something missing though? Like, I'm at the edge of what the overall message of this pile is, and they all seem to connect, but it's on the tip of my tongue and it won't come out? So, I wonder if there's also a need to speak up? We did get Voices. Also 7 of Cups can be about having too many choices that you're stuck trying to decide. It can also be about being stuck in the clouds. So, maybe there's a need to figure out what you want to say and say it? As concise as possible, but not too blunt? I had to go back and pull a couple more cards from some other decks (so, the Moonology cards are part of that). The other two cards I pulled from my Affirmators! deck and they were Joy and Friendliness. So!!! Yes, please treat people with kindness! But I also think this is kind of a treat people the way you'd want to be treated, so like, greeting meanness with a smile? Don't Take the Money came on, and I'm really noticing the line: "Buy back the secrets". This song is ultimately about not giving in to greed. Like, not choosing greed over love, and I think that's part of this message. I can see this resentment bubbling under the surface and I sound like a broken record by now, but? I think you're not really meant to allow it to bubble.

Also, I think you guys are my music group because I got SO many songs for you? I also was all ready to wrap this up, thinking "Well, there's that, I think I'm done." But again, I was still feeling like I was missing something and then a song called Something Left To Give by The Starting Line came on, so here I am pulling more cards. We got Page of Wands, The Emperor, and The Hierophant. But then...the bottom of the deck was The Tower again? So, first off. I think a lot of you are definitely ignoring something, like a lesson you're meant to be learning? And I think it has a lot to do with surrounding your ego and maybe reaching into the shadows. But I also think it has to do with holding grudges while also holding onto toxic things, such as thoughts or people? I think, with the Emperor and the Hierophant here, you have the ability to be kind while also upholding your boundaries, but I think this is less about how you are and more about how you need to be. And sometimes...that's about upholding boundaries with yourself, whether it be letting go of certain behaviors or thoughts, or making sure other people do not cross those boundaries. Another thing I'm getting is that there may be certain beliefs you hold about yourself or others, or even the world, that need to be changed. I get this "My way or the high-way" feeling from the Hierophant and the emperor, and I think that if you have this attitude, you're being asked to really rethink that. It's okay to not be right all the time, and it's also okay to make mistakes. It's also okay to change your mind. To find that what you once believe doesn't really hold up anymore. I just think it's SOMETHING to get the tower on the bottom of two different decks, and I think this is about well, I'm getting shipwreck imagery in my mind. Crashing those beliefs? Wrecking them? Burning them down and starting over. Saying to yourself: "Hey, I don't really need this anymore. It doesn't match who I am now and where I want to go. I can let this go now." And, this can apply to more than just beliefs. I am using the Daemon tarot and the bottom deck energy was brooms which has the same meaning as the Witches Oracle Brooms card: Cleaning. It can mean physical cleaning (and it IS spring. I know I need to clean lol), but it also can talk about purification. So, purging those beliefs that do not fit anymore and getting rid of what does not serve you. What is not working for you anymore? What isn't helping you be the best person you can be? It's not about quitting things cold turkey one morning. It's about slowly allowing those things to fall away. So I'm not saying you need to get up and both physically and metaphorically clean your life. I'm just saying, to start that process. Ya know? Getting a garbage bag ready and filling it as you go.

I really think there is something good happening for you but I think you need to keep yourself grounded in reality and to be the best you can be while this is happening. I also think you need to not allow others (or your own self) to get to you. I don't see anything in here saying you are a bad person, I just see that there's a reminder being made to be good and be the best you can be, which also includes making sure that what you have in your life is good for you. Nothing drastic has to happen (if you don't want that), but mindfulness is needed.

YIKES, that was long lol Also, side note, the bottom card for my Dreams deck was Animals, and I think if you've been having a lot of dreams involving animals, this was meant for you especially. I could barely fit all the cards in this picture, so I didn't take a pic of the animal card, but if you're dying to see it lmk lol The bottom of the Affirmators! deck as Trust. It just talks about how you know you'll be okay. Personally, when I'm having really bad days, I usually write in my journal "I am okay. I will be okay." Idk, just something I do that helps me. It's small, but it gives me hope. Songs: Kamikaze - WALK THE MOON Moving Along - 5 Seconds of Summer (the bass in this song is honestly top-tier :) ) Are you on your way - Middle Class Rut Treat People With Kindness - Harry Styles Don't Take the Money - Bleachers (Specifically the version Ft Lorde) Funny Business - Alice Merton The Abyss - DBMK

Pile 2:

Cards: Full moon in Gemini, Beauty, 5 of Cups, 9 of Cups, 6 of Cups, Murder, Pineapple, Confetti Rainbow, Money Green, Passing Notes, Nature Spirits reversed, Lamia, Astaroth, Cali, Knight of Pentacles reversed, 4 of Wands, King of pentacles

This group has a very specific message that comes out. It took a bit to get there, but I wanted to say that this is a specific situation. If you were called to it, then by all means carry on reading. However, if you find that you do not vibe with what this is saying, then this might not be your pile. However, I think there also might be a few bits here and there for some people, and not the whole message, so maybe try it out first.

First off, I get similar vibes to pile 1, but this pile seems more to be in a victim mentality. I'm not saying you don't have a right to feel that way, but I'm getting that there's a line and that you're either already past it, or you're near it. That line draws a boundary between feeling sorry for yourself and on the other side: feeling sorry for yourself that you play victim, never taking responsibility for yourself/actions. Get a defensive energy (I wouldn't be surprised if you were reading this and thinking that it may not be your pile because you're denying it? Hey, I do that all the time. I'm pretty guilty of this). I think a lot of you have had a tough time recently, or are still in the thick of it. I'm here to say that it will pass, but that you can't allow this to turn you bitter. Nor can you use this to take it out on other people. There's a strong message about making sure you don't do that. Also, not to manipulate others? I think there's a possibility of falling into this mentality that you're the victim and may be manipulating people into feeling sorry for you. I just get a weird manipulative vibe and I think maybe some of you can have the tendency of doing this, possibly even without being aware of it.

There's also a message of lightening up, allowing yourself to have fun. To stop focusing on the negative aspects of a situation, and find the humor in it. It may be something hard to do right now, but I think you'll find that maybe one day soon, you'll be able to do so.

Also, there's another side note about someone else? This can be a father figure, a boss/ceo figure? This could just be someone who embodies the King of Pentacles (he's the CEO type, has his shit together, is stable, more on the materialistic side of things, etc.). Whether this is you (could be!) or someone else you know/will know, I don't get bad vibes. I mean, I pulled the 4 of wands with that card, so I think it's kind of this stable energy whoever this is. However, there also is the Knight of Pentacles reversed, which can represent carelessness. The Full Moon in Gemini talks about being careful with one's words, like that whole "Less is more" idea when communicating. I think these two go together, and I think it just is someone who is a little too direct and blunt. I get work vibes tbh, so I think this could involve your workplace, so possibly a boss? Passing Notes talks about gossip/rumors, so I think this is like...A warning not to gossip or even to not believe everything you hear? I don't get any romance vibes but I think this could involve something that never took off? Oh, I was going to delete that, but I actually listened to what the song I was hearing was saying, Contagious by Boys Like Girls. This has sent me down a whole other path for another message lol

So, this might apply to some of you, but I think you may be involved with someone (or want to be?) who is the King of Pentacles, but they're kind of horrible at communication (or one of you is). I think they're more money-focused, and maybe they hear shit about you that has shaped their opinion about you (or vice-versa). But despite this, they like you. I think they don't quite know how to express themselves, and maybe you're feeling down about this because maybe you don't think they're into you? I still think this is work-related though. That, or this is someone who is just super focused on their work. But, I have 9 of cups and 6 of cups, so I think you're kind of what they're looking for and maybe they feel at home with you.

For some, you're being warned about this person. They can be manipulative/play the victim. For others, maybe they do that, but I think it's something being worked on. Either way, someone in this situation is having a lot of trouble expressing themselves. There is anxiety surrounding this situation. I get it on both sides. But I think for some there is some communication coming. Or at least an action that will communicate things. It seems like something practical if it is an action, but friendly. OMG what kind of relationship is this? Like what kind of a dynamic do you have? Because Drug by Simple Creatures came on after and it just feels like the song Contagious. Like this idea of being addicted to the way someone makes them feel? I think this is someone that can compartmentalize their feelings...but I think with you...it's harder? Okay, now I'm just getting nosey...I want to explore whatever the fuck THIS is further, so I'm going to pull some more cards.

SHHH Don't tell the other piles I got really fucking nosey and pulled more cards. :/ So, what I get about this King of Pentacles person is that they may already be pretty established in their life? I got Ten of Pentacles, which talks about that happy family, but like. More-so, the material aspect, like needs being met. This could just mean someone who's got their own place and a good position in their job. With the Knight and Page showing up, I think that if this is work-related, you're under them in terms of position? I get this message a lot actually, about a boss/employer relationship? So, I think this is an ongoing thing. Who is this for? Lemme know if this is you lol bc this comes up so much and like. I don't think it's me because I don't have a love life to speak about. Just crushes on unavailable men. Anyway, I think that whoever this is, they can't express their emotions. This could be because of someone else in the picture. There are a lot of court cards here, also, bottom of the deck for this is The Empress. So a mother, either there is or the mother of their kids if they have kids? Or someone who they see/saw as the mother of their future kids? Could be roles reversed, and that this is the father. Take whatever resonates doesn't have to be a woman and the king does not have to be a man. But, I think this burdens them. Like, they have a lot of responsibilities that rest on them, and they're unable to express what they want to express to you because they're "chained" to these feelings. You know, I almost get like...Less another relationship and more a social standard, or company issue because in both the Page of Hazards (pentacles) and the Empress, there are kids being chained to something (They ARE zombies but...interesting that two cards that have chains are pulled...). Even more interesting is that the kid in the page of hazards is chained to a mailbox with cobwebs, so I get communication issues with that. I think it's both hard to express their feelings because they're not someone who does so openly or easily. But also, they just cannot because of external circumstances. So, like If you came here because of some work/love situation...Then. There ya go...The feelings are there, but cannot be expressed. At least, not at this time. And maybe that's where that victim mentality comes in? Like, a "Why me?" or "Why can't it be easier?" Because I kind of relate to this pile, and I get how fucking annoying it is to hear "The feelings are there but can't be expressed". It hurts, I know.

But. Here I am to remind you that you got that Beauty card, right? I wasn't sure how it really factored into all of it, and was just going to use it as a reminder of your beauty, and I guess I am doing that now. But I'm also going to tell you something someone once told me: You deserve someone that will give you their time. By that, you deserve someone who feels for you and can openly express how they feel for you. I'm not saying this King of Pentacles person is a bad person, or that they're not for you, but it just seems like right now is not the time for this to work out. I don't see anything that says it won't work out, but on the other hand, I don't see anything that says it will. I think its just one of those things where you're going to have to be patient with. The song I ended your reading on is Space Travel by Yellowcard. It's about getting lost in someone and loosing who your are within this other person. Like, loosing your personality. I'm not sure where you are with this person, but I think this is reminding you to take care of yourself first. Whoever this person is, they have other things they need to take care of first, too. I also think they're putting themselves first. I don't want to say move on entirely, because that can be hard. It can seem impossible some days. I do want to say, however, that you need to make sure you're not waiting around on this person. There are so many other people in this world, and I find it impossible that you only find "it" (whatever "it" is that you found within this person) with this one person. Which, again, sounds like an impossible thing to say. Like that saying "there's other fish in the sea". I personally hate when people tell me that. But, one day you're going to have a memory of this situation and it's not going to ache as much. I can't guarantee there won't be a sting, but I can guarantee that with time, it feels better. Songs:

Slow Burn - Kacey Musgraves Contagious - Boys Like Girls Drug - Simple Creatures Space Travel - Yellowcard

Pile 3:

Cards: 4 of Pentacles, the Empress, the Emperor, Hanging at the Mall, Clouds, Gel Pens, Lamia, Andras, Pumpkin, Being Lost/Losing Something, Ideal Partnership, New Moon in Sagittarius, New Moon in Libra, King of Wands, 9 of Wands, Wheel of Fortune This pile seems related to the other two? I'm not sure why but all the piles had this weird "Spring cleaning" theme, about clearing what isn't working. But this pile seems to specifically be about love. So, I think if you're trying to move on from something/someone, this is a sign that things will be turning in your favor. Firstly, we pulled the emperor AND the empress. However, similar to how in Pile 2, where I felt the King of Pentacles in that pile was someone unable to express their emotions (its so odd that I got that, because I also got an emperor vibe but didn't pull it, but here it is in this pile?), I get that...this could be you? Because the New Moon in Libra suggests that someone is coming into your life that CAN express their emotions, but in one of the songs that came on, Headphones by WALK THE MOON, there's a line where he sings: "I wanna open my heart, but you won't open the door." Similarly, there's a part in Eyes are Red (Don't be Afraid) by Deep Sea Diver, where she sings "Don't be afraid". I kind of read into this song is about expressing one's feelings. But, we have the 4 of pentacles here, and it can be about hoarding. And in this sense, I'm getting...hoarding feelings? Like, keeping them in. But, they're there, at the tip of your tongue, they just can't get out. I think for some of you, this comes from past hurt. You closed your heart and you're afraid to express yourself, but I think you're being asked to allow yourself to heal while being open about your feelings. I think there is someone coming in (King of Wands), who is going to want to know about you and you're going to be a little worried to open up? But, these cards say it's okay to open up. You have two cards that indicate luck, and also you have a card indicating that you're protected (Pumpkin talks about being protected). I think this "Spring cleaning" is more about clearing out your emotions...letting them out? I think once you open up more, you're going to find that there are a lot of opportunities for you, you just need to be open to them. I think you're getting there, though, and with the Empress, I can see that you're healing from something. I always get that "nurturing" vibe from that card, but I definitely am reading this as you nurturing yourself, but maybe this involves you keeping things inside? Nevertheless, we got a pair, the Empress and the Emperor, so I could also read this as counterparts. I'm reading them as mostly you but I also can see this as you and someone else. One interesting thing is that I see the guy on the 9 of wands following the King of Wands. Not sure if that makes you feel of anything, but I read 9 of wands as persistence. This makes me think of the song Ends of the Earth by Lord Huron (which came on during this reading). The idea of following someone to the ends of the earth (let's hope they're not a flat earther...). I think this is someone really dedicated to you if you let them be. This song is also really beautiful and gives off this certain vibe that I can't really explain. It's like...One you need to experience? But I think this person could give off that vibe to be honest. I don't even know how to word this. Omg, there's a part in this song where he sings "I was a-ready to die for you baby, doesn't mean I was ready to stay." A SAGITTARIUS VIBE THAT WAS WHAT I WAS SEARCHING FOR! I've read that people with prominent Sagittarius placements need to have room. So, I wonder if this is someone (or even you) that needs to have that space? That's what that song feels like to me, though! I also kind of am thinking about that Ideal Partnership card and how it says that what your looking for is looking for you. There's a song that came on called First Grade by Max Leone, and he sings "I think about working out something with someone like you. I've looked

around, never found something or someone like you." I think that this is a person that definitely wants to pursue something and I think that this is telling you that you need to be open to it if you want something like this to happen. I think this song also highlights the need for action but being afraid to take action. I don't really see too many action-oriented things, but I see that being social is kind of something that needs to happen? I do get a Fool vibe from this, though. Like, taking a leap/risk? I don't know what kind of a risk, but I can see that you're being called to action in some way. In Pile 2, one of the messages was this need to not allow a victim mentality to take over. I could see that in here as well. I think it's like, whatever you went through in the past to make it hard for you to open up, happened. You have the right to feel that pain. But, then, you also have to move on at some point and heal? The Couds card talks about shifting and adapting. I don't have too many other cards about adaption, outside of maybe the 9 of wands being about persistence (and by this, I mean persisting change within?). I could take the 4 of pentacles, though, and say that this idea about not budging and "hoarding" your feelings definitely needs to be gone. I think this also is more than just about love. This can also be about making friends, in general. I think there's a sense of loneliness in this group that I didn't really feel for the last two groups. I almost wonder if this group is...the other end of group 2? Because there was someone else within that energy, and I could see you being that other person lol Whatever the case is, the big message of this group is to open up and not hold your emotions in. Songs: The Scientist - Coldplay (this has nothing to do with this reading, but I found out today that Chris Martin had to learn how to sing this song backward so that they could film the video in reverse so now it's extra weird watching it) No News is Good News - New Found Glory Ends of the Earth - Lord Huron First Grade - Max Leone

[iturbide]

Actually, could you clarify what happens in the scene where Dimitri learns Edelgard is the Flame Emperor? Like, what does “might have murdered her if not for Claude” mean? Like, did he actually make an attempt on her life or did he just consider it? It sounds like a very intense but complicated scene, I do not want to make assumptions about it.

You know what? I actually have the better part of that written out so I'll just give you the scene itself (starting with Dimitri's PoV and transitioning to Claude's at the * break near the end)

“Hey, you never know,” the archer winked. “Maybe we’ll have some miraculous fix -- like that tea for headaches.”

“I...do thank you, Claude, for your generosity, but I don’t imagine this will do more than dull the edge from it.”

“You could at least give it time to take effect before dismissing it,” the princess chided.

“Nothing else has worked in the past, why should this be different?”

That was rather more than he’d meant to say. The pain had a way of making his judgment lax.

“...does it usually go away on its own, then?” the Leicester heir ventured.

“...it does not go away,” Dimitri sighed. “It only sharpens or dulls.”

“For how long?” Edelgard frowned.

“...since Duscur.”

Silver or not, he doubted his teacup would survive much more abuse, and set it aside before folding his hands tight. Claude reached out to touch his shoulder, offering a comforting squeeze that the prince barely felt. “It must have been hard, losing your dad, and then all the turmoil after…”

“I was there.”

The whispered words left a deafening silence in their wake. “I was the only survivor. My father, my step-mother, my friends...most everyone I knew and cared for died in the attack, by the blades of our attackers or by the flames that consumed our caravan. I can still remember...the faces, the screams, the tortured last moments of every soul lost that day…”

He could hear them now, ringing in his ears, nearly enough to drown out the sound of his own voice. Bowing his head, he pressed his hands tight against his brow, drawing in a slow, unsteady breath. “Ever since, the ache has been there. Sometimes it grows worse, but even at its best it never truly fades. Food and drink have no taste whatsoever. All that remains is the pain, and the memory of those beasts that slaughtered my family.”

“...the people of Duscur, you mean,” the princess ventured.

“No,” he growled. “The people of Duscur did not commit that vile act. I saw the true culprits that day: pale as death with blades of black steel, and mages in beaked masks raining fire down upon us all. The people of Duscur bore the blame for a crime they did not commit, but no one would listen to me -- they told me I was in shock, confused, mistaken, but I know what I saw. And so I know that the Flame Emperor bears the blame.

“Impossible,” Edelgard scoffed.

“The same masked mages I saw that day have been present each time he appeared,” Dimitri snapped. “He commands them -- leads them -- what other explanation is there?”

“Our professor told me that they spoke with the Flame Emperor, who insisted he was not involved in the incident at Remire Village,” she pressed. “You cannot say with certainty that he was involved in Duscur.”

“You would believe that monster!?” the prince scoffed.

“We have no reason to disbelieve him--”

“He kidnapped a child!”

“Or even if he didn’t, he orchestrated the escape of someone involved,” Claude pointed out.

“Yet if your theory is true, and Flayn is in fact a dragon…”

“What, you think that gives them the right to kidnap and torture her?” the archer asked.

“She’s not human--”

“She’s still a living being. She feels fear and pain, just like you do.”

“I’m sorry, Flayn is a what now?” Dimitri interrupted.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I didn’t have a chance to fill you in. It’s, uh...well, it’s my conspiring that I can’t put on hold, y’know. We’re thinking Flayn is Saint Cethleann and also a dragon.”

Dimitri was quite glad to be sitting, because he feared he would have fallen otherwise. As it stood, the archer’s words left his head spinning so violently that he rather felt like laying down. “Look, it’s complicated, I can explain later if you want but right now just operate under the assumption that Flayn is actually a dragon in disguise.”

“...quite a convincing disguise,” the prince mumbled.

“Right? It’s easy to take her for the sheltered daughter of an old noble family, with the way she talks.”

“I think we’re veering far from the topic at hand,” the princess warned.

“Are we?” Claude replied. “Because I think it says a lot that Flayn can sit in a classroom with a bunch of human students and pass for one of them without anyone batting an eye. You’re gonna say that just because she’s different, she doesn’t deserve to be treated with the same respect you’d show anyone else here in the monastery?”

“You mean scraping and bowing as Rhea demands?”

“Did I say ‘the same respect you’d show the archbishop’?” the Leicester heir shot back. “No, I said anyone else here. The respect you’d show Petra, or Bernadetta, or Dorothea, or Lysithea.”

“But she is--”

“What. Not like us? Are you really gonna say ‘it’s okay for her to be snatched away from her loving family in the dead of night, kept in a dungeon, and bled for who even knows what purpose because she’s not human’?”

“I’m only saying that it puts her abduction in a new context worthy of consideration,” Edelgard replied carefully.

“Not really,” Claude scoffed. “All it does is explain why she was targeted. It doesn’t change the act itself.”

She sighed, touching a hand to her brow. “Regardless. Assuming we can take the Flame Emperor at his word--”

“Which I doubt,” Dimitri muttered.

“...then perhaps Duscur was another case where Solon acted of his own accord. The Flame Emperor did say that more violence would surely follow if they were left to their own devices -- perhaps Duscur was simply an earlier case, and Remire the most recent.”

“That sure is a lot of ‘if’s,” Claude mused. “So, tell me, Princess: is there a reason you’re advocating so hard on the Flame Emperor’s behalf?”

She met his gaze without expression. “I think it merits consideration.”

“He is involved with kidnappers, murderers, and monsters who hold no regard for human life,” the prince growled. “That speaks plain of his character.”

“Perhaps he has no alternative but to associate with them.”

“Wow, you’re starting to sound like me with this wild speculation,” the Leicester heir remarked. “Where’s it all coming from?”

“As I said, I believe all possibilities merit equal consideration--”

“And yet you can’t imagine that Flayn is anything but a monster?”

“We cannot condemn without evidence of a crime, and association alone is not criminal,” she pointed out.

“Are you the Flame Emperor?”

Everything went still and cold and deathly silent. Dimitri found himself unable to breathe while Claude sipped his tea, watching the Adrestian princess over the rim of his cup. “What possible reason could you have to ask that?” she asked.

“Oh, I’ve got lots of reasons,” he smiled, setting his drink aside. “You’re never around when the Flame Emperor shows up, for instance: the first time, in the dungeon where Flayn was being held, you helped Hanneman get Manuela to the infirmary, but he claims you left immediately once she was in the monks’ care. The Knights of Seiros didn’t even know what was going on until Teach carried Flayn out, so you obviously weren’t calling in the cavalry. Which, y’know, I thought was weird, but I was willing to call it a coincidence: maybe it took longer to get Manuela to the infirmary, and the fighting was done before you could get the word out.

“But then in Remire, you’d gone looking for survivors, and the Flame Emperor vanished when Hubert showed up in an absolute frenzy because you’d disappeared. Hubert is practically glued to your side at all times unless you specifically order him not to be. Petra said he’d gone with you when you went searching, too. I figured it was possible that you split up and he was alarmed when he couldn’t find you on finishing his rounds -- but then, why couldn’t he find you? The man’s as methodical as they come, he would have searched everywhere before panicking. Possibly twice. With magic, even, who knows. So where exactly did you go?”

“I…”

“And now here you are, advocating that the Flame Emperor -- the man who, up to this point, we’ve viewed as the one in charge of the forces that kidnapped Flayn and caused that disaster in Remire -- isn’t in control at all. That in spite of his big talk, he’s being used as a front for the real villains, just like the people of Duscur were. So what if -- and, of course, this is all just speculation -- what if Hubert faked that panic to give the Flame Emperor an opening to escape in Remire when things looked like they might get ugly? After all, Teach said they wanted to pull a sword on him. Hubert doesn’t fake for just anyone -- he can’t even figure out how to smile without scaring Bernadetta into a dead faint. Pretty sure the only person he’d convincingly do that for...is you, Princess.”

She sat with her back straight as a lance and her shoulders perfectly squared, her stare sharp enough to cow a lesser man. But Claude did not so much as bat an eye, instead leaning toward her with that knife-sharp grin curving across his face. “Teach knows, don’t they? It’s why they’ve been giving you that look every time we have tea. They told you to tell us, and you hadn’t yet.”

“And you claim that I’m the one guilty of wild speculation?” she mused.

“Hey, I admitted up front that I was just throwing darts at the board,” he shrugged. “But I’ve got more hard evidence than you do to back your Flame Emperor notions...unless, that is, you know first-hand that what you’re saying is fact. Because you and the Flame Emperor are the same person.”

“Edelgard?”

They both looked toward him. But Dimitri had attention to spare for Edelgard alone, meeting her icy gaze without blinking for fear that he might miss her reaction. But she said nothing, and the silence filled with the howls of the dying and the crackling of flames and he needed something else, anything else, to drown it out. “Do you know who the Flame Emperor is?” he breathed. She inclined her head, very slightly, and the din mounted, the ring of steel crashing in time with the pounding in his skull. “Who?”

“...I am the Flame Emperor.”

The whispers swirling around him built into a deafening howl.

And from the place deep in his core that he’d tried so hard to lock away, the darkness rose to claim him.

***

Claude had all of three seconds to grab Dimitri before he could wrap his hands around Edelgard’s neck.

Ultimately, tackling the prince didn’t do much (he’d severely underestimated how strong the man was), but it did give the princess enough time to lunge out of the way before Dimitri could latch onto her. “MONSTER!!”

“You don’t understand!” Edelgard insisted while the archer futilely tried to restrain the snarling prince. “Had I known what they were doing in Remire I would have found some way to stop it, and I only learned what happened in Duscur long after the fact--”

“SILENCE!!”

Dimitri’s hand fisted in Claude’s shirt, and suddenly he was lying on the floor, stars winking through his field of view as he stared up at the ceiling. Struggling back to his feet, he blinked a few times in a desperate attempt to make his head stop swimming; it didn’t do much good, and he still ended up lurching into the desk, using it to prop himself up while he struggled to get his bearings. The princess was doing an admirable job of keeping out of reach, but in such a small space, it was really only a matter of time…

Well, only one thing for it, then.

He threw the door open and blew a short, sharp whistle. She ducked aside from another lunge, looked toward him -- and nodded, throwing herself out into the hall. “Get Teach,” he said. And before she could reply, he slammed the door closed again, pressing his back to it and bracing himself for the worst.

Dimitri skidded to a stop in front of him, chest heaving like a winded animal, trembling with rage but managing, if only for a moment, to restrain it. “Get out of the way, Claude.”

“Can’t do that, Your Princeliness,” he grinned.

“Move. Now.”

“Take a breath, Dimitri.” He lifted his hands in a placating gesture, drawing in a slow, deep breath and letting it out in an easy sigh. The prince made no move to imitate him, though, eyes narrowing as he took a heavy step closer. “Let’s talk about this--”

“She is a monster!!”

His roar shook dust from the chandelier. “Why would you defend her!? You know full well what she’s done--”

“I’m not defending her,” Claude snapped. “Look, I’m not happy about this, either. But we can’t kill her.”

“We cannot let her go free,” Dimitri growled, planting his hands on the door just over the archer’s shoulders (and suddenly his great idea seemed somewhat ill-conceived, since the hinges were screaming in protest).

“She’s not gonna get away,” he promised, meeting the prince’s gaze steadily and wondering if Dimitri could even see him, as lost as he was in his anger. “But there’s something a lot bigger than her out there, and she’s the only person who has any concept of just how dangerous it is. We need her alive. So I can’t let you go after her.”

He watched the young man’s hands clench and unclench, his wild eyes fixating on the archer still standing in his way, and for one worrisome moment Claude thought that the prince might settle for taking his anger out on the closest moving target. But that moment passed, and Dimitri turned away, stalking to the far side of the room and staring out through the windows. “Get out.”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

[prismadog]

Found Family AU character facts (part 3)

apparently, I can't just leave this at one or two, I have to do more than is required for this au - such is the way of life I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

for these, I'm only doing a sort of pre-story type thing, ya know, like their origins, who the characters were before they all knew each other. if I didn't condense these down to that point, well, we'd be here all day reading practically an entire book on one single character [I think I'm exaggerating here?]

this one got a bit long so I'm putting it under the line.

hey uh, are any of you actually interested in their backgrounds? idk if that's something that interests people or not but I'm writing these and it just makes me wonder, y'know? [of course, now that I've started, I can't just stop, there's still so many characters. but still...curiosity and all's got me wondering]

Sausage

Sausage is a dwarf of Mythland who was born a single child to the Dwarf King. ever since he was a child, he dreamed of being a mighty sorcerer that could use all kinds of magic but being a dwarf, magic comes a lot harder to him than it would a human or another magical creature - such as his good friend Gem.

the kingdoms of Mythland and the Crystal Cliffs were close allies and have been for generations - the Grimlands does not exist at this time. Sausage grew up alongside Gem and fWhip of the Crystal Cliffs - he revered Gem and her magical abilities, and found a close friend in fWhip due to neither of them being able to wield magic. Gem did try to teach Sausage magic despite the lessons never producing even a spark of magic - that of course didn't stop him.

he and fWhip would often get into trouble, playing pranks and whatnot on the people of the two kingdoms, and sometimes they could convince Gem to join in with them.

the trio stayed close friends through the years, and when Sausage's father was slain in battle against a pillager raid the siblings were there mourning alongside their friend. he took vigil at his father's final resting place for an entire day, as is tradition, then the next day he held a celebration in honor of the fallen King, with a feast to finish off the night.

Sausage was crowned the new Dwarf King within the week and his friends were there for his coronation - fWhip, ever the tinkerer, set up a firework display for him, and Gem gifted him with an old spell book written by a Mythlandian and enchanted rings that provided protection.

things became hectic around this time, what with being a new king with new duties and protecting his empire from pillagers, and he can't see his friends as often. Gem also gets busy with her studies and fWhip starts exploring the mountains - something that the people of the Crystal Cliffs don't do. in this time, he also adopted a pup that he named "Bubbles" and she became his second in command.

several months later, he gets word that his friend fWhip has gone missing. he drops everything to travel to the Cliffs and be at Gem's side - she tells him that fWhip has been missing for quite some time and she blames herself that she never noticed. he comforts her and they go out on a search for him, which unfortunately results in nothing but a few belongings found deep within the mountain and a journal.

Gem holds a funeral for her brother and Sausage stands vigil once again for a loved one. he offers Gem any aid that Mythland can provide and she graciously accepts. he visits her from time to time after the event but eventually, he just gets busy and more time drags between each visit.

his kingdom prospers with a plethora of new buildings - an iron farm, a forge, new docks, bigger and better homes for the people, and all kinds of other things. one thing that stands out from the rest is a summoning circle - this, he uses to sacrifice the crimson sheep of the land in the hopes, not for power, but for knowledge and guidance, and that one day the gods - whoever may be listening - will return his friend to him.

he gains quite a bit of knowledge in the ways for forging weapons imbued with magic and using anothers' magic to alter ordinary everyday things - such as a dark oak tree or even a mushroom. this is all for the benefit of his kingdom so he doesn't see a problem with his sacrifices, despite what his advisors may believe.

he met with other rulers, some he'd been neglecting to talk to, and others who were just coming into power. one of the first new rulers he met was Pearl of Smallholding - a chaotic girl with flowers in her hair and a grin that never fades. another was the Codfather, Jimmy Solidarity-Shadow - one of the merfolk who's kingdom rose slowly from the swamps and without anyone seeming to notice. months after meeting these two, another kingdom arose, this time practically overnight, and the ruler was none other than fWhip of the Crystal Cliffs - his best friend - but this time, fWhip was the Count of a near-barren plains dubbed the Grimlands.

the trio celebrated fWhip's return and Sausage, once home, thanked whatever gods that had brought his friend back. visits between the three kingdoms became commonplace again, as well as visits to the new Cod Empire - though, those were to pick on the new ruler there.

Sausage did learn not to take things too far in teasing the Codfather because one day, he and fWhip had set up a "minor, harmless" trap and when the Codfather got injured and bedridden for a few days, well, they found out that Queen Lizzie of the Ocean Empire was not someone you wanted to anger. after, they did continue their teasing but they kept it well below danger levels.

a year or so after fWhip's return, Sausage met another new ruler who had just come into power and who's kingdom had been lost to the world for ages - King Joey Graceffa of the Lost Empire. Joey took interest in his sacrifices and his borrowed magics, maybe a little too much interest if the bloodlust in his eyes was anything to go by.

Joey

Joey is born the youngest of three children to the Emperor of the Maztec Empire - his siblings being the princesses.

he, like all others of the royal family, are born with parrot wings to match the local parrots of the jungle. he often used his wings to escape his lessons, though being third in line for the throne, he was allowed lenience to goof off and have fun anyway since the throne always went to the eldest.

but, Joey was the jealous sort as well and would often play dirty pranks on his sisters, and most times, they ended in some injury. though, he was also quite intelligent and could almost always pin the blame on another, usually on someone of the lowest class - the mudbloods who were more of a hybrid of cat and human.

one such dirty prank went horribly wrong and his eldest sister lost her life. it had involved a cave, the cave collapsed, and she got caught in it. he watched her struggle for some time, oddly curious about it, but eventually went and got help. the healers tried to help her but she soon passed on.

a funeral was held for the princess days later and she was cremated - as is tradition for royalty. life moved on, as it does, and the second princess became next in line.

after the death of the first princess, he became a little more interested in the act of dying than a boy should. he was curious and wanted to find out more about death, and the mudblood people were right there for him to experiment with. he made sure to only take one person every so often for experiments - the jungle could be a dangerous place and was often unkind to wanderers so if one or two people went missing every few months, then who was to know?

aside from secretly pranking his sisters and stealing away the lower class, he would spend time with the gentlemen of higher standing - the purebloods who were humanoid cats and certainly looked it. he would pick one to mess around with, or two or three if he so desired, until he eventually grew bored and discarded them like they were yesterday's trash.

his remaining sister, nearing her adulthood, started dreaming of leaving the kingdom to explore the world - she'd always wanted to but their parents would never permit it, nobody entered the kingdom and nobody left. he would stay up late with her on the nights he grew bored of gentlemen, and talk to her about her dreams.

with her becoming an and their parents getting older, he worried that soon, she would be taking the throne. so, he thought up a plan and talked with her about it - he could get things set up and all she would have to do is follow through, and before she knew it, she'd be exploring to her heart's content.

she was nervous, of course, but Joey is a charmer and used that to his advantage. he convinced her it was the best option for her if she didn't want to be tied down, and she could always return if she wanted. she agreed, wrote a farewell scroll that she gave him for safekeeping, and followed him one night to a secret area where a boat and some supplies were waiting, as well as one of his callers.

this she was confused about at first until Joey showed his true colors and killed her in cold blood. he then casually sent the gentleman off in the boat with his sister's body, promising him great rewards for his return if he got rid of the evidence.

he then returned home and set out the farewell letter in her room where it would be found, and went to bed. he awoke to the news late the next day, and also with a visit from his accomplice.

a few weeks later and there was no word from the princess and the guards sent out to search for her found no trace. though his parents prayed she was well, they still mourned her leaving. Joey was to be next in line should the Emperor and Empress pass and he celebrated in secret with the gentlemen who helped him - then when he got bored shortly after, he killed him too in the same cave his eldest sister died in and left his body to the mobs.

when he neared adulthood - only months away - he started his next plan for his rise to the throne. he acquired a poison that would imitate a deadly disease but not be curable by any known remedies. he used this on his father over the next several weeks and watched with secret glee as the Emperor grew weaker and weaker and the healers floundered about trying to cure him.

preparations were made, the Emperor passed on with few final words, and days later a funeral was held for him as well. his urn was placed next to the eldest princess' once everything was done. the Empress mourned the loss and Joey stood at her side.

he watched as her grief began to consume her, she spoke of loss and wishing she could join her husband, Joey listened to her words and wondered about what Maztec would do if she left too. she said it would be in good hands - he was a capable young man and if he ever needed help, there was a council of advisors at his side.

over a week later, the Empress took her own life, leaving behind a letter to her only remaining child. a third funeral was held, his mother cremated and laid to rest beside his father and sister, and he was crowned Emperor of the Maztec Kingdom.

Joey was free to do as he wished and he gladly accepted the freedom - everything was good and he was King.

but over the next several years, he found himself growing bored - not even building new temples kept his attention for long. he eventually started exploring, just a little ways, from his home and eventually came across the edge of the jungle which met the edge of a more barren land.

he visited the boarder a few times, curious about this other land, but never crossed it. then one day he met Count fWhip of the Grimlands - the name of the barren land. they spoke for some time at the boarder of their kingdoms, and set up a couple future visits to one another's kingdoms - fWhip visited his first, then he visited fWhip's.

at the visit to the Grimlands capitol, fWhip invited him to the next Gathering of Empires - apparently there were 9 other rulers out there besides the two of them, and one even had wings too!

he accepted the invitation without a moment's hesitation and at the next Gathering, his kingdom - the Lost Empire as it was written in old history books that an ally of fWhip's had found - became known to the rest of the world.

he found that the other winged ruler - Scott Smajor of Rivendell - was a very cold and distant person. but, the others were friendly enough, especially the Dwarf King - J Sausage of Mythland - and he took an interest in the man and the magics he was studying.

they became friends, and he by default joined an alliance with fWhip and Gem who were allied with Sausage.

[that-random-chaos-entity]

How does your OC display love? What are some habits your OC has picked up?

Forgive me as this is a LONG post, but I felt it would be better to show, rather than tell, this one:

Words could not describe how awkward Perturabo felt being back in the Emperor's palace. It would have been bad enough if it were just his deadbeat father, a half-rotten corpse sitting in an overglorified golden life-support casket, ignoring him as per usual. But it wasn't just his father; so many of his brothers had come for this... ...this Sanguinala... ...in many ways it almost felt like the Heresy had never happened.

Vulcan, Corvus, Fulgrim, ROGAL FUCKING DORN, Magnus.... ...hell, even SANGUINIUS had come back from the dead. Raised by the same mysterious chaos entity that had turned Perturabo's world and soul inside out. Made him live his own life over and over again, through the eyes of the people around him, until he got the point. The people he impacted. The people he used, abused, and destroyed without a second thought. The people he...

...Perturabo shook his head, the physical action somehow dislodging the poisonous psychic tumor from his soul. Even though that parasite was long gone and the Eye of Terror no longer loomed over him, it had been feeding on his twisted spirit for so long that its blasted and withered hide still bled for it. Casting his self-destructive thoughts into the warp. This was a good thing (or so the Lanky Llama said). Though sometimes, when he started to brood and sulk, things would get... ...gummed up. He could shake any errant clots loose himself, but nobody helped the darkness bleed out of him like Nehetari.

And holy shit did he wish she were here right now. When she and her robotic people were around... ...the Lord of Iron actually felt like... ...himself. Or the version of himself that he wanted to be, anyway.

But no, "No xenos allowed at a family gathering," the Emperor had said. Not that it even would have mattered if they were; it was one of those weird weeks where the lanky llama disappeared on him and holed up in her room by herself. Something about a "Necrontyr biological cycle," that would, "likely make her act inappropriately," or "embarrass herself and him," but she would say no more on the matter.

Of course it would happen over the day when he needed--erm could have used her presence the most.

"Aren't you going to open your gifts, brother?"

Perturabo snapped out of his brooding to see Magnus looming beside him. It took him a second to process what he said, but when he did he scowled.

"Gifts Magnus? Really? Do think anyone here would ever give me a gift?"

"Excuse me! What am I, grox manure!?" there was no real irritation in Magnus's voice. He gestured to table in front of Perturabo, where three gifts sat that he could have SWORN were not there before. "And if you must know, you're the only brother here I saw fit to even GET a gift for."

"Aside from Sanguinius."

"Well... ...yeah..." the Crimson King shuffled his wings awkwardly. Both primarchs stole a glance at the MOUNTAIN of gifts that their brother had received. "...b-but he doesn't count."

Perturabo sighed. He didn't feel like feeling jealous of Sanguinius right now. Instead he grabbed the first package; it was obviously Magnus's gift. Whatever was in it was so warp-touched that it levitated a solid three feet off the table and changed size randomly. It turned out to be a small inter-dimensional rift that contained a book of arcane engineering, one that Perturabo had surprisingly not seen before. He thanked his brother; something that drew a surprised look from Magnus and a complimentary hug that Turbo awkwardly returned. The second gift was from Sanguinius, as it turned out, and when he opened the box he saw his own face, reflected in a simple yet elegant mirror. After a moment of wondering if this gift was actually meant for Fulgrim (clone fulgrim), he saw the inscription on the box lid which read, "to my big brother: it brings me joy to see happiness in your eyes now. I hope with this you can see it too."

Perturabo swore under his breath and slammed the box shut, furiously hoping that Magnus hadn't heard him sniffle just a tiny little bit. It was a moving gift to be sure, but after everything that had happened... ...somehow it just made the Lord of Iron feel like garbage. Well... ...more so than usual.

Thankfully, quick-thinking Magnus directed his brother's attention to the third gift. In fact, if he didn't know better, Perturabo would have sworn Magnus seemed even MORE excited for him to open this gift than his own.

"What is... ...is this from...?"

"MHMMM!" Magnus's enthusiasm was all-consuming, his grin audible in his tone. "She asked me come and pick it up from outside her door earlier this morning."

Perturabo's melancholy dissipated into a wave of curiosity. What sat before him was a perfect cube of blackstone, though if he knew anything about Nehetari, he knew that wasn't all there was to it.

Sure enough, when he picked it up, glyphs flashed along its side.

"Is... ...that..."

"Necrontyr," Perturabo murmured in deep concentration. "...and not just any form of Necrontyr; this is Ksakhemet Script."

"What?"

"Think of it as our high gothic. Except it's as if we had a high, HIGH gothic. Only the three Necrontyr kings and their families even knew how to speak this script, let alone how to read and write it. It is ancient, according to Nehetari... ...it's from a time even before the Necrontyr first started their galactic expansion."

Those statements alone were like a different language to Magnus, but his lust for ancient knowledge ignited like a blazing inferno. He would absolutely have to grill both Perturabo AND his xenos companion for more information once she was.... ...*ahem* no longer indesposed.

Perturabo turned the cube over and over in his hands, reading the ornate lettering as best he could. He'd only just started learning how to read Ksakhemet; he couldn't speak it properly because he lacked the extensive Necrontyr vocal range, but the lettering started to make sense the more he plied his fantastic mind.

"It is... ...a puzzle cube. I believe."

"D'AAWWW... How sweet...!"

Perturabo punched his brother in the shoulder, but it phased through his immaterial form.

"Shut your mouth!" He could already feel the heat creeping up his neck and he HATED it. Although he had to admit he was a little touched, if amused, that Nehetari had put together such a... ...thought-out gift.

And well-thought-out it was indeed! It became clear to the Lord of Iron that this wasn't just some slide and lock, physics based puzzle toy for mortal children. It was a custom-made testing tool designed to challenge his understanding of spacial compression, sub-atomic energy transfer, and even Necrontyr cultural theory. Each segment was challenging, unique, and soon he found himself absorbed. Magnus tagged along for the ride of course, and his respect for Nehetari grew each time he heard his brother growl in frustration, or give a small "...Ha! So that's it..."

"She has... ...quite the impressive mind. Especially for a xenos."

Perturabo grunted his affirmation. "...you don't know the half of it. She makes the Hrud look like a bunch of children." With a click the puzzle changed shape in his hands again, "...I would even say she has a mind similar to ours."

"...you don't say..."

"Hmph, she's DEFINITELY smarter than Dorn. I know that for sure."

Magnus chuckled. Of course she was.

The Lord of Iron didn't realize it immediately, but the puzzle cube was meant to serve another function, not just being an intriguing mental exercise. The more he fidgeted with it, the more time passed. Not by some technomantic power or magical means; he was just so absorbed in Nehetari's gift that he didn't notice his brothers packing up their gifts and starting to drift around and away from the throne room. Magnus, realizing he wouldn't be much help with this exercise, had taken notice of the custodes' Captain General (the one they call "kitten") and had begun to chat with him. Sanguinius was now at the Emperor's side, trying to pacify an impatient and belligerent Angron who just wanted to go celebrate Khornnuka with Lotara and Kharn. Corvus had dissapeared to... ...somewhere, and Vulkan was... ....had he somehow jackknifed himself into the psychic fireplace that the Emperor created!? Russ was laughing at him and drinking himself stupid (not that he had many IQ points to lose in the first place), but thankfully nobody was paying any attention to Turbo. Huh, who'd have thought; Perturabo was actually HAPPY that he was being ignored right now.

With a satisfying ding the cube shifted again, and to his surprise, glyphs flashed indicating that this was, in fact, the final challenge.

"Let's have it then. I'm ready..." the Lord of Iron grinned. He flicked the raised pad below the text and the final task scrolled across blackstone. Surprisingly, this time it was in High Gothic.

"...who is... ...my... ...favorite... ...human?"

He stared at the screen, dumbfounded. "Really? After all that, the last puzzle, is 'who's my favorite human?' Really?"

But wait... ...was the answer actually as easy as it appeared? Perturabo wanted to put his own name, but what if he was wrong? What if he wasn't her favorite human? He was hardly even "human" in the first place. Maybe she meant a true, normal human? But if this was supposed to be a present for him, why would she blatantly make him answer that her favorite human WASN'T him. What if...

"Hey nerd, the answer's obviously you."

Perturabo jumped to see Leman Russ passing him.

"What the-! Whe-how did you... ...you can't read!" Perturabo stammered. There was no way Leman just waltzed over here...

The Wolf Lord grinned, "Hey, ye nerds aren't the only ones who know how teh learn things. If I taught meself teh read Fenrisian runes, I can teach meself teh read some wolfin' High Gothic!"

"..."

"...that and I may or may not have used some of meh own psychic powers to read yer mind. You know, teh fill in teh blanks."

Considerably less impressed, Perturabo grumbled as he keyed the letters of his name into the cube. With another ding and a flash of green light, previously invisible cracks along the cube's surface began to glow and the cube began to shift one last time. When it finished, a tiny black tray was left in its place, revealing... ...a letter? And a pict?

"What's all this now?" Leman reached towards the tray.

Perturabo snatched it away, "Fuck off Russ! This is MY gift!"

"Oooh, is this from yer GIRLFRIEND!?"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!"

"Hey fuck you Leman!" Oh boy, here comes Magnus, "Like you could ever understand the subtlety and genius that went into that puzzle box! Let him enjoy his gift in peace!"

"LeT HiM eNjOy HiS gIfT iN pEaCe!" Leman crooned. "Shut her trap and go back teh yer boyfriend, yeh big red canary."

Magnus puffed up in outrage and looked about ready to turn Leman inside out. When Perturabo noticed Sanguinius inbound, no doubt to dissolve the impending battle, he took his chance to dip out. And by "dip out" I mean grab the tray and its contents, and duck under the table. It would hide him for all of a second, but that would be as long as it would take him to read the letter.

Or it would have, if Leman hadn't, SOMEHOW, been able to reach the tray before him. He snatched up the letter, practically from between Perturabo's fingers, and with utter horror the Lord of Iron watched as his brother brandished the page, cleared his throat, and began to read:

"Perturabo..."

"FUCK YOU LEMAN THAT'S NOT YOURS!!" Magnus howled. Perturabo roared in fury. Both brothers made a mad lunge at the Wolf Lord but he dodged, shit-eating grin on his face as he continued reading.

"...Perturabo,

I'm sorry, but I...."

"....failed you?"

At the mention of the word "failed", Perturabo's onslaught faltered, as did Magnus's. Leman's grin died on his lips as he read the next line, his eyes widening for a moment before they squeezed shut. He then passed the letter back to Perturabo, mumbled a barely audible apology, turned, and without a word walked off.

"That's not what I... ...uh... ...expected?" Magnus muttered. "He looked like a kicked pup. What did that letter..."

Perturabo clutched the paper looking the most feral Magnus had ever seen him.

"...you know what, never mind. That letter's meant for you anyway." He added quickly. "I'll be in the library if you need me, brother."

And just like that, Perturabo was alone. Well, mostly; the Emperor was still there, but he was oddly quiet. Sanguinius was watching him too, but from a discreet distance.

The Lord of Iron backed up into the corner of the room, still riled up but looking a little less crazy. Once he was satisfied that NOBODY ELSE would attempt to confiscate his stuff, he finally began to read what Nehetari wrote for him.

"Perturabo,

I am sorry, but I failed you. You said you wanted your brothers' appreciation for a Sanguinala gift, but of all the ones I interviewed asking for an appreciative memory they have of you, the only ones who gave me a response were your brothers Magnus and Sanguinius. So instead I instigated a situation to make one (please reference the included image). If your brother's expressions are to be believed, then I believe they all enjoyed attacking your snow bunker. I certainly enjoyed helping you defend it.

May you have a somber and pleasant celebration,

The Mehlrose,

Nehetari of the Szarekhan Dynasty.

Heir to the Silent Throne."

...Perturabo couldn't believe it.

He's asked for that as a JOKE. He hadn't actually been serious. When she's approached him, asking what he wanted as a "Sanguinala gift," he'd been in the middle of a complicated programming script and had said that just to get the point across that he didn't want to be bothered.

Slowly, and with a shaking hand, he lifted the pict from the tray and turned it over.

And she was right. This shot must have been taken by one of her tunneling scarabs. Or maybe one of her guard as they were circling the perimeter, hurling snow and distracting Russ. But however it was taken, somehow it was able to get a perfect shot of every primarch, including himself and Nehetari, hurling fucking snow or getting completely dunked on, but every single one of them had varying degrees of stupid fucking grin on their faces. Even Corvus was smiling!

It struck him: had that been her plan all along?

Minutes passed, and finally the Emperor himself spoke up. "My son, you're shaking like a Dark Elder nightclub on a Tuesday."

Perturabo didn't hear him. It took everything he had just to hold the pict in his trembling hands.

Why? Why. Why would she bother. How did she... ...why, why, why WHY? HOW!? When did she even have the TIME to plan this out!? There was no way. And not for him. Why? Why for him? And ALL OF THEM. How could she have known they would ALL come?

"Brother, are you ok?"

Perturabo snapped out of the loop to see the Angel standing beside him with a hand on his shoulder. He hadn't realized just how loudly his two hearts had been thundering, how BADLY his whole body had been shaking, until he felt that steadying touch. Instinctively he tried to regain control over his mind and body, and stowed the pict away in his belt.

Sanguinius asked no questions; he simply nodded.

"I'm going to find her..." Perturabo's voice sounded like sandpaper. He could feel the tears rolling down his neck, but he ignored them. "...I don't care if she FUCKING KILLS me; I am going to find her. She has no right.... ...she had no right to... ...to..."

"...go ahead brother." Sanguinius's smile was warm with understanding.

Salvaging what little dignity he felt he had left, Perturabo straightened up, turned on his heel, and walked shakily out of the throne room. He disappeared into the darkness, leaving his father and his brothers to stare after him in wonder.

(Sorry this is such a long post, but I started writing it and just went to town. I wanted to SHOW, rather than just tell, the kinds of things Nehetari does for the individuals that are important to her)

@gracia-regina @ask-a-scheming-sorcerer @luwupercal

[uniarycode]

Dawn and Dusk

Series: Xros wars/Hunters

Written as part of @digiweek. Day 4, prompt: dark/light

Set shortly after the hunters go to Hong Kong.

Wordcount 2966- a bit heftier than the rest of what I've been posting

Trigger Warning: Suicidal thoughts.

Yuu did not bring many friends home to the Amano penthouse, but whenever he did the reaction was the same: pure, unabashed jealousy.

His parents were obscenely rich, he was wise enough to recognize it was more than just well off. His home was a middle school student's dream: indoor hot tubs, rooms one could reasonably play basketball in, and no parental supervision. Now, out on the balcony, he could look down and see trees the size of Legos, and a view that stretched out to the ocean. Most kids his age could not help but be envious. To Yuu however, only one feature stood out prominently.

Just how empty it was.

That void grew greater in its sheer size. Ceilings twenty feet high only served to underline just how little there was left to fill the silence. The distance between himself and those he could see on the ground, more metaphor than physical.

His recent trip to Hong Kong had only made this emptiness grow. He loved his sister, and while he’d thought himself used to her absence, it now rushed back to him in full force. They had spent years together in this home, and no matter how many corners it had, each and every one of them hid a precious memory between the pair.

His parents were away; his parents had always been away. Working, logging thirty hours every day to ensure that both he and his children’s children would be able to maintain this life of luxury with no effort on their own part.

So devoted were his parents that the very idea of indulging in such opulence like creature comforts or family were beyond them.

It had taken years for Yuu to associate the concept of ‘father’ with the man who bore the title. And in turn, possessed by Harpymon as he was, his father had not recognized him at all. Next to the protective love for his daughter, the son apparently did not matter at all.

Of all things, Yuu had been mistaken for a prospective suitor, which was certainly not something he wanted to unpack.

And that had been the first time he’d seen his father or his sister in months. Only once before in the year since returning from the digital world had he seen them together. He didn’t hate Nene, he couldn’t hate Nene, but even still, having her leave him like this…. Resentment wasn’t the right word. Bitterness was closer but didn’t quite fit. Envy was the most accurate of the bunch.

Yes, he was envious of Nene, for being able to go out there alone and fulfill her dream, while leaving him behind staring into memories of the past.

“You’re just like Nene.” He’d been told many times, from those who thought it a compliment. They were wrong, he’d initially believed they were wrong on both counts.

Yuu was smart, he knew it, even if he tried to be modest. Concepts just fit together to him in ways as naturally as walking. He even struggled to tutor others. The very idea of not understanding something was one of the few things he himself struggled to understand.

Nene was also intelligent, but it was far from natural. Whatever she did, she threw all her effort behind. With her being the eldest and thus the designated heir, failure was not an option, and she took advantage of every resource necessary to outcompete and outlast the others.

There was only one word he could think of to describe Nene at her most focused: Ruthless. There was no doubt about the success of the Amano corporation under her leadership, she would crush everyone she needed to crush and think little of the consequences. Even in her current profession: becoming an idol was merely a test of how far she could push herself, and Yuu sympathized with any who made the error of underestimating her.

But then, Yuu sympathized with everyone. That had been the other difference he’d believed existed between the siblings. From the lowliest ant to the grandest emperor to the most heinous criminals, he couldn’t stand to harm any of them.

Even the girl who would break the rules to try to steal his friends and swore to turn him into her prisoner, he just couldn’t bring himself to do any lasting harm to. He simply told himself if he was kind enough, if he showed how outmatched she was then Airu would eventually come around, or at least get the help she needed.

His parents had learned his bountiful generosity early. They only sent gifts these days, any allowance would immediately and indiscriminately be forwarded to various charities. He had never seen the problem with it; there were millions who needed money more than him.

He had, in childlike fantasy, seen that as the main distinction between himself and his sister. She had been named for dusk, and he for dawn. She had thrived in cut-throat competition, he had blossomed in a world without scarcity. She was the harbinger of darkness and despair, and he would be the one to lead others to the light.

And yet, he had, with these hands, “So easily…”

And she, in all her ruthless determination, had halted him, saved him.

Even if he didn’t deserve to be saved, maybe it had been out of her own selfishness. Why was his life worth any more than those he’d ended, those he’d tortured? Simply because she knew him and had an emotional attachment? But even that was a blemish on her, sticking her neck out for the likes of him. And he’d done it so easily before, with so little prompting. Who was to say he couldn’t do it again? “Wouldn’t it have been better if I wasn’t saved at all?”

He discovered a surprising bonus to just how long the drop off the balcony was.

“No good, No good.” A voice called out from his pocket. “Thoughts like that are no good at all.”

He stilled his breathing and took a step back. Damemon was right of course. There would be no penance found in death. He couldn’t die now, with the hunt on and needing to help with the digiquartz; his death would be only one more burden he was imparting on those around him.

But he needed to be careful. Damemon was no longer the only Digimon in his Xros loader. He had hunted Superstarmon. That was the point of the hunt, to capture all the Digimon, lost in the Digiquartz.

But the simple idea made his stomach turn. Digimon were living beings, with hopes and dreams, they didn’t deserve to be hunted for sport any more than Taiki or Nene did.

He didn’t feel bad about hunting Superstarmon, the Digimon had himself been hunting Taiki. What worried him, what scared him, was how much he had enjoyed the act of hunting. Of manipulating Tagiru and Ryouma into a situation where he could steal all the glory. Of joint-crossing with Taiki, something that he had been the only one of the original Xros Heart generals to never actually do. Of sneaking Tuwarmon in at the end to steal the capture out from the other hunters.

If he found himself enjoying fighting a bit too much, if he found himself taking joy in the pure act of hunting like Tagiru did, or sacrificing morals for his goals like Airu did? Could he? Would he go back to those times? If he would, shouldn’t he do anything it took to prevent it from happening again? Even if….

He shook his head. If nothing else this last year had proven just how wrong he had been; being compared to Nene was a compliment he didn’t deserve.

His empathy prevented him from truly stopping deranged criminals before they hurt more people. His aptitude was a gift born of biology and circumstance, not an accomplishment to be paraded around.

Even now, he was paralyzed by his own darkness, wallowing in it. While she was on stage, inspiring thousands, becoming the light that kept them moving.

Damemon popped out of his Xros loader. “You need to talk these things through, you can’t just keep it all bottled up.” His partner said.

Talk to whom? This was one subject that he couldn’t even breach with Damemon. ‘Sorry I’m so terrible you had to fight for evil and die’ was even more destined for disaster than his current train wreck of thoughts. “It’s no worse than normal.” He said.

“This is normal?” Damemon asked, seeing through him in an instant. “You need a better normal.”

“It’s just.” He exhaled. “I don’t know.”

And he didn’t. This wasn’t the answer on some test, and he was too wise to search his own knowledge of psychology for an answer. There weren’t any therapists that he could confess to without being either dismissed or thrown in the looney bin. “I got spirited away to another world and became a villain.” is the plot of some anime, not real life.

Tagiru wouldn’t understand. Taiki...might, he was at least physically present and could understand the magnitude of it all. And Taiki was the one who had originally broken through his wishful thinking. But Taiki also tended to attempt to shoulder all burdens by himself, even if there was nothing he could do. There was no reason for Taiki to exhaust himself just for Yuu’s sake.

And somehow, he was too embarrassed to share this weakness with his leader.

“I’m telling you it’s no good.”

It took a few seconds for Yuu to realize his partner wasn’t talking to him and had instead taken advantage of his introspection to swipe his phone.

“Hey.” He objected, reaching down to reclaim it. “You can’t just go calling people.”

“Yuu, are you okay?” His sister’s voice called from the other end of the phone “I’m heading over.” She declared.

“No. I mean, yes. I mean, you don’t have to, you can’t-” The line was already dead, he didn’t know how many of his feeble protestations she heard.

The average flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo took over four hours. How Nene left her apartment, procured one, and arrived at his door in less than 2 he didn’t bother to ask. It would have at least required breaking the sound barrier.

But then, barriers had never stopped her before.

“What’s up.” She asked simply

He did his best to muster a scowl. “You didn’t have to come all the way out here; I can take care of myself.”

As was his custom, Damemon destroyed whatever farce Yuu presented. “It’s no good, Yuu’s been having no good thoughts.”

“No good thoughts.” She said quietly, looking between them. “Yuu, you have to understand that wasn’t your fault.”

He quaked but did not respond, her hand reached out to rest on his fist as she repeated herself. “It was not your fault.”

“But it was.” he drew back, “It was my fault. If it hadn’t been for me, then hundreds, thousands, who even knows how many! They all wouldn’t have had to suffer! None of them would have had to die!” he threw his arm out, knocking over some cabinet, a priceless vase colliding to the floor.

Nene seemed unfazed by his outburst, “Bugramon was the one who chose the path of war. You had nothing to do with that, he chose to make them suffer, not you.”

“I chose! I saw them suffering, I saw their pain and I ignored it. No, it’s worse: I enjoyed it! I felt like a god, being able to choose who won and who lost. Using some as pawns to die and keeping others alive for my win.” His voice dropped. “Bugramon didn’t do that. I was the one who did it.”

“That wasn’t your fault either. Darknightmon tricked you. Even I -”

“-Because of me!” he shouted “He used me to enslave, he used me to manipulate you. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to stain your perfect hands. -”

“-Perfect?”

“- God I’m such a screwup. You’re the heir, you’re the eldest. Literally no expectations on me except ‘don’t mess things up’ and I turn both of us into mass murders.”

He felt her arms wrap around him, pulling him close. He couldn’t find the strength to break free, so he stayed there, staining her shirt with his tears.

“I am not perfect.” She said “You are not a screwup. And neither of us are mass murders.”

“We, we.” He couldn’t bear to say it. “It doesn’t matter if they came back. I still…” he unleashed another bought of sobs.

“No good, that thinking is no good.” Damemon insisted. “Death is different to us Digimon. It is unpleasant yes, and best to be avoided. But it’s not like humans do. Digimon never completely die.”

“We are not mass murders.” Nene insisted. “That doesn’t make what either of us did okay, but neither of us are truly murders.”

He wasn’t sure he agreed. His fingers curled into fists. “Even if Digimon come back, humans wouldn’t, right? Taiki had to trick the rose to be set free, you couldn’t just kill him and revive him. And he, I almost.” he couldn’t even bear to say it. “…It was so close.”

Yuu felt a bile burn in his throat, remembering just how little effort more he would have needed to snuff a life out completely. “You too Nene. If Minervamon hadn’t hidden in your Xros loader. In that case I would have, and you would have….”

“But you didn’t,” she said, “and you didn’t intend to. There’s no point worrying about what could have happened if it didn’t happen and you never intended for it to happen. I know you would never want to hurt me.”

He shook his head. It was easy enough to say no harm done, but his nightmares disagreed. Whether or not he was intending to kill her, he was certainly intending on putting a blade through her heart. And he almost did.

She took advantage of his silence to score one more point. “And I am far from perfect. I’m not like you, I stumble more than anyone. Grandma did use to say, it took me a year to learn how to walk, you did it on your first try.”

What did that matter? It wasn’t the first attempt anyone remembered, it was the last one.

“But you always stand back up, and right now, I, I don't.” he swallowed. Everything came to him as easily as walking, and yet, “I don’t always know if I should?”

His sister didn’t respond at first. Perhaps even she was caught off guard by his confession. But then, stumping Nene was a feat he dare not have the audacity to claim.

She held him, bringing them to the ground. One hand rubbed his back, up and down, up and down. “You know, if something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

“You would survive.” He muttered, “You always seem to.”

“In name, maybe, but I wouldn’t enjoy any of it. I can’t see life without you.”

He continued to sniffle. God, he was so pathetic, crying here like a baby. “I’m not worth it-”

“You are!” she insisted. “You are worth it all. If anything, your biggest issue is you don’t know your worth; you’re too selfless, you value everything else above yourself.”

“I-I-I” she pulled him into her shirt more fully, muffling his resistance.

“One of these days I’ll teach you to be selfish like me. Until then, we’ll have to weaponize that selflessness of yours.” She pulled him away and stared him dead in the eye. “I want you to promise me, whenever you feel like you can’t keep going, whenever it feels like too much, you’ll find a way to pull through. For me.”

He took a few deep breaths. “That’s awful selfish of you.”

“I said I’d teach you to be selfish like me. You’re learning from the best.” She said “Promise.”

“I could never break a promise with you.”

They stared at each other for a few more seconds.

She took a deep breath. “I told you I stumble more than anyone. I’ve faced failure after failure. Going to Hong Kong, Father cut me off. I had no money, no connections, I had to start from zero. I thought there was no way I could keep going more times than I could count.

“And when those times come, I think of you. I think about how you’d stop everything, just to give a funeral to a butterfly. I think about how you’d always try to help everyone, even when too young or too small to be of any real use. You are my light, the thing that keeps me going even when immersed in darkness.”

Her hands were now on the side of his face, forcing him to look at her. “Now promise. Promise me that wasn’t all in vain. Promise me that I won’t lose my reason for continuing to push myself. Promise me you’ll keep going, if only for my sake. That’s all it has to be for now.”

Yuu took a deep breath, body shaking as the request percolated through him.

“I promise.”

She smiled, and pulled him close again, suffocating him in her embrace. “And now your first lesson in selfishness: Just let it all out. Don’t worry about me or Damemon or anyone else.”

That night Yuu released a year’s worth of tears.

Note: one etymology for Yuu is twilight, which doesn’t have to mean dawn, but it kind of fits here.

[geekgemsspooksandtoons]

You’re Not An Awful Parent

This is basically a birthday gift I wanna write to my good friend/bro @pikablob 

I hope you don’t mind this. The title was tricky, originally it was Calm With You. But I just changed it...like, I just thought of the titles. And I’m in the Joheda tag right now making this. This is basically an expansion/remake of this Joheda bit I sent to you in a message...I felt like it was easier to use that as my inspiration. Including use some of my stuff I have wanted to write about.

I just really love these two characters a lot. To the point, I will admit, I do selfship myself with these two. But considering you started to ship these two and I was hesitant at first. Despite I originally thought about them before...I’m glad I started loving this ship. 

This likely takes place in my Cartoonverse. Or whatever you want to see it. Yet it will likely take place in that. I hope you love this, and I’m gonna try my best writing it. Because I like these two a lot. Here I go.

So I just finished it, and I saved it once as a draft in case. I changed the title from It’s Calming With You I think. I pressed too much crtl z that I erased the last sentence...I hope you folks like this. I really hope so.

Johanna had all sorts of weird feelings. It felt weird to her maybe because she hadn’t been like this in such a long time. She was a grown woman and...it felt awkward having these feelings...it was like when she was with the man who was her husband.

Her relationship with the man only lasted for a few years. But due to personal issues, he left her and their young daughter. Despite Johanna tried to act like it was fine, it did kind of hurt he left. At times he remembers his name, sometimes she forgets it. But she still recalls he had the same hair color as their daughter.

She felt like after that, she may not feel this way again...then Eda Clawthorne showed up in her apartment one day out of nowhere.

Despite a rocky start, and having Eda return what she had stolen from their apartment. She wasn’t a bad person. Yeah, Eda was wanted by the Emperor's Coven, but that was a whole other story. She was genuinely nice when she wasn’t being sassy or whatever else. Eda was mainly pleasant to talk to, despite how different they are. It was very nice to have an adult friend to talk to that didn’t look at her strange or possibly belittle her. 

There was also the fact that Eda’s relationship with Hilda was pretty great. At times, it seemed like Hilda enjoyed being with her more. And that made her sad...especially recently with how she thinks she’s being too controlling of Hilda going out on adventures...but that was another subject.

Johanna liked men, she always did. There was nothing wrong with that. But to her, trust was a very important thing. But...these feelings for Eda felt...so awkward...she felt like she was some shy teenage girl. And to make matters worse...Eda was indulging in it. Saying sweet stuff to her which would make her blush. 

Was it...a crush? It had to be, even though if this happened when she was a teenager. Her parents would’ve been upset with her. She never really considered this...feeling towards women. Maybe the aftermath of her husband leaving made her ignore wanting love. Sure, there were always some beautiful men out there. But she always focused on Hilda. To make sure she was safe. That’s what was more important to her.

But because of that...maybe Hilda was right? What if she was being too hard on her? What if she should’ve trusted her more? It was the events with the Black Hound and other things that seemed to have made her reconsider some things. Despite Trolberg was a very easy going place...she just grew paranoid and worried for her daughter. Especially after recent events with a break in once when Hilda had gone out with her friends.

It was night time at the apartment, and Eda wanted to visit them. She was disappointed when she learned Hilda was staying at Frida’s house. But she stayed behind and had some dinner with Johanna...

Johanna just really wanted to talk with Eda, about Hilda and her words. Maybe she would give out some good advice, and she just needed it from someone who has some experience in a way...despite her experience might be...stranger than hers or not.

The two ladies sat on the couch. The tv was on, it was a inoffensive channel Johanna decided to put on. Eda wasn’t really in on it, but she didn’t seem to mind. At that point, Johanna just put on the channel because it was mainly family related, something friendly, and possibly make be background noise.

During their time watching the tv, Eda put her left arm over Johanna’s shoulders. It made her blush, but Eda smiled seeing that. For a couple of minutes, she just wanted to talk to Eda soon, and now it was that time.

“Eda”.

“Yeah?” Eda asked.

“I...really want to talk about something important. It’s about Hilda.” Johanna told her.

“Oh, alright.” Eda was curious. What did they need to talk about? Was it about what Hilda had complained to her a while back? Johanna decided to turn down the volume of the tv with her remote, and she sat it back on the arm rest of the couch. After that, Eda took her arm off of Johanna’s shoulders and just put them behind the couch.

“Is everything alright with Hilda?” she asked her.

Johanna didn’t know how to answer that right away. She wanted to say everything was fine...but her recent interactions with her daughter bothered her. Such as the point of literally grounding her because of the Cauldon Island incident. She had to be honest, but she didn’t know the right words.

Eda just looked at her. She could tell Johanna was trying to find the right words to say. Johanna just had her arms in her lap, looking at the ground, and wondering what to say. But considering what Hilda told her before, Eda guessed what she might wanna talk about.

“Is it because she didn’t be honest with you recently?” Eda decided to just say it. Because it was likely the thing she wanted to speak about. But the moment she said that, Johanna’s eyes widened.

“Wait...she told you?” Johanna sounded surprised when she heard that.

“Well...yeah...we had a long talk about it.” Eda admitted to her. Hearing that shocked Johanna for some reason. While she could trust Eda, but it’s the fact Hilda talked to her first instead of herself. 

“She...went to you...instead of me?” Johanna putting her hands up a bit, sounding stressed, and possibly feeling heartbroken by the reveal of that. “But...we were supposed to talk about it first.” She kept getting more confused and was sounding more sad. As if Hilda didn’t trust her to tell how she felt. She kept rambling to herself until Eda stepped in.

“Hey, hey, hey Jo...calm down okay?” Eda grabbed Johanna’s right hand with her right hand, while she patted her back for reassurance. “Take a deep breath okay. Breathe in, breathe out. Follow my lead, okay?” she told her friend and she listened. They were breathing in and out, and Johanna felt better after that.

“Thank you Eda.” She told her, closing her eyes. “So, she told you about me grounding her and me being more worried than usual?” 

“Yeah, she did talk to me about it. And we had a talk about it. I can understand of why she would be bothered” Eda continued on. “It was a long talk actually. And I wanted to also check if you were okay too.”

“Really?” Johanna looked back at her.

Eda only nodded and smile. “I mean, that’s why I was bummed out when I learned she wasn’t here. To be honest, it makes me feel warm inside when she sees me show up. As if I’m maybe a celebrity. It’s actually pretty cute.” Eda continued on. While she had Luz admiring her and trying to teach her to become a witch. There was something wholesome of Hilda always liking Eda’s company. Despite they got off the wrong foot.

“...I’m an awful parent.” Johanna said as she looked at the ground. With her hands in her lap again.

“...what?” Eda said, sounding surprised by that.

“I just...God” Johanna put her left hand over her nose. “I just can’t take it...or I worry too much. Ever since so much stuff happened. I’m getting more scared for her to be out there. I know she can take care of herself. But it scares me because with recent things that have happened.” She just looked at her hands, and her irritated voice started to sound like she wanted to cry.

“Recent things?” Eda asked.

“It’s not just the fact she’s been lying to me a dozen times. But it’s the fact ever since this break in at one point, and whatever has been happening with this city. I’m just worried for her, and I think she’s started to hate me for it.” At the moment, Johanna sounded as if she was gonna cry.

“I’m just worried that some horrible person is gonna take her away while my back is turned. Or I’m not gonna be there to help her. As if I’m starting to feel weak and helpless...I don’t know what’s been going on it’s just” Johanna choked a bit because she was starting to tear up.

“Hey...Jo...it’s okay.” Eda tried calming her down. Putting her hands on her shoulders.

“My husband left me long ago because of maybe stuff like this. I don’t know anymore. And I’m just...I’m terrified I won’t see her again. And I’m upset by the idea I’m a horrible mother because you are able to protect her and I’m not. Look at me? I’m just some graphic designer and you’re a bloody witch! You’re everything she wants in a mum! And I’m just...normal! She won’t be honest with me, and she hates me!” She cried out, and then put her hands over her face. She started to cry more.

Eda hated seeing her like this. It hurt her seeing Johanna talk about herself this way. Going far as putting herself down because of recent events.

“And...I feel weird...about whatever we have going on!? I...is it a bad thing? I do like men, but...why do you even hang around me? I’m not like anyone you might’ve met at the Boiling Isles...I’m just a mum who might just get kidnapped, or just doing graphic designs while her daughter goes on some adventures behind her mother’s back.” Johanna said.

At that point, Eda may of found out what was bothering Johanna even more. And she knew she had to make things better. She grabbed Johanna’s head and turned it to face her own slowly. With her hands still on Johanna’s cheeks.

“I want you to listen to what I have to say...your daughter doesn’t hate you. She never hated you. We talked about how maybe you’ve being too controlling. But I did talk to her that you’re just maybe worried...and that you both should be honest with each other...but what I didn’t know is what else you had on your mind.” Eda continued.

“Hilda may possibly consider me a fun mom, and I love hanging out with her. But I am not the one who plays Dragon Panic with her. I am not the one who changed her diapers. And I’m certainly not the one who raised her to be person she was...that was you...not me. YOU.”

Eda really wanted to hammer the point she wasn’t Hilda’s mother. But Johanna was her mother. That no matter what Hilda thought of Eda, Johanna was Hilda’s real mother.

“Listen...I understand being scared for her while she’s out there. Trust me, my magic is weakened and I have to make sure there is food on the table for Luz. But I didn’t want her to worry about that. You need to be a bit more open. You need to make her feel comfy about going on adventures. You’re not always gonna be there to protect her. She’s gonna grow up, and you can’t always have this grip on her. But it’s fine you’re scared.” Eda continued on.

“So no...you’re not an awful parent. You make mistakes. We all do. And I hate it when you talk about yourself like that. It hurts me more to see you cry. You’re not just some human who’s a graphic designer...you’re honestly one of the kindest people I know...and I still feel awful of how we met. I just want to make sure you feel alright and safe...okay.” Eda told her. 

“....you really mean...all of that?” Johanna asked her, sniffing a bit. But it seemed like she stopped crying.

“Yes...I meant every word. You’re not weak and helpless, and like I’m grateful that I met Luz. I’m glad to have met you and Hilda.” Eda just hugged her after that.

Johanna felt so shocked. The warmth Eda gave her, and the hug felt so reassuring. It was beautiful that someone did understood her, but also telling her what she needed to do. But also someone who told her that she wasn’t weak or helpless. She really needed to hear this from her. After her eyes had be widen for the hug, she closed them, and hugged Eda back.

“Thank you Eda.” Johanna told her.

“No problem...it’s fine...we both needed to let some stuff out didn’t we?” Eda told her. “And we can sit here as long as you want.” 

The two women just sat on the couch for about five minutes. They were just embracing each other. 

“I’m sorry...for stealing your stuff and that I possibly made you feel worse.” Eda told her. Sounding sad as well.

“It’s okay...I had forgiven you already...but I didn’t know you still felt awful...I don’t hate you.” Johanna told her back. Wanting to reassure Eda of their first encounter. Hearing that made Eda felt relived even more. Despite Johanna had forgiven her long ago, it was nice to hear the confirmation again.

“So.....you still like men right?” Eda said playfully.

Johanna’s eyes widened, and they got out of the hug.

“I mean...just...I’m sorry if I upset you in anyway. I...feel confused. We’re not in a relationship...I don’t know if we have a thing...I just...feel weird around you. But I think it helped me realize some things. I just haven’t felt this way since my husband left...and while you are always flirting...I really enjoy your company.” Johanna said while blushing.

“You’ve never upset me. And hey...sorry if I...get too close at times.” Eda said.

“No...it’s fine...I think...I just don’t get a lot of affection like that. I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship yet...but I again...enjoy your company. You make me feel better.” Johanna told her.

“Awwww, I understand. I just...want you to feel loved you know? But I never wanna make you uncomfortable. I will admit, I love seeing you as a blushing mess.” Eda said with a smile. “If you don’t want to pursue a relationship, that’s fine. I don’t wanna push that on you. But I will be around if you ever need to talk or anything. Whether it’s about Hilda, us, or anything else. Just...use that weird Nowhere Space you guys use...if Tontu doesn’t mind.” Eda said, comforting Johanna.

“And besides...I don’t mind preferring men. I mean...I’ve been with a lot...some are good...some aren’t so good. A lot of them were nice looking...not as nice looking at you.” Eda said back at her with a smile. Which made Johanna flustered. “But you know...trust is key.”

“Yeah...that’s what I think is important too.” Johanna admitted that.

“...hey...if you don’t mind...do you wanna talk about...your husband?” Eda asked her.

“...I think I’d rather not. I think talk about enough things already.” Johanna said while stroking her hair.

Eda decided to grab Johanna and bring her close to her chest.

“Alright. If we’re gonna stop talking. Then we’re gonna do this.” Eda said playfully.

“What are you doing?” Johanna asked.

“I want you to lay on me...I’m just...kind of hugging you. Trust me...I think you need it.” Eda told her.

“Eda. I need to wash the dishes.” Johanna told her.

“Uh uh...screw the dishes...you’re staying here until I feel everything is better okay?” Eda said, not giving Johanna much of a choice. But she didn’t mind it. Being in Eda’s arms and just on her chest felt comforting.

“What about the elixir?” Johanna asked.

“Already had some before I got here. I packed one in case. You’re not getting out of this, trust me.” Eda wanted to make sure she wasn’t gonna let go for a while. “Now...who’s the most beautiful woman in Trolberg?” She asked.

“....I am.” Johanna blushed when hearing that.

“Damn right you are Jo...damn right you are.” Eda said while keeping Johanna close to her chest.

It was gonna be a long night. While Tontu kept to himself, and Twig and Alfur were with Hilda. The two women kept to themselves, and Johanna wouldn’t mind being just stuck in Eda’s arms for a long time. As the witch stroked her hair gently, and just wanted to make her friend she cared about a lot feel comfortable. Johanna deserved that after everything she’d been through.

[just2bubbly]

The Brootp that accidentally  became the OTP!

Masterlist

Rumors and Affairs: Chapter List

//This is the update of The Father She Never Had!

A/N: The title is ironical so don’t get confused!

Cinder’s POV-

Thanks to Torin she felt good again, she decided to act on his suggestion and hence she was here, trying to comm Thorne and Cress.  

It was Cress who picked up the call and enabled the netlink connection. The Rampion was in the view behind her and from her stay in the satellite it seemed like she was in the galley.

“Hi Cinder!” she said excitedly. She would not seem so excited after she hears what Cinder had done.

“Hey!” she replied rather uninterestedly.

“How are you and Kai?”

“We are doing well. What about you and Thorne?”

“We are absolutely fine. How’s the baby?”

“The baby is healthy as well.”

Thorne poked his head inside the net-screen and with a smug face said,” Oh! What’s my favorite royalty doing?”

She looked numbly at him. She was far from fine even though she just told Cress that she’s fine.

Sensing that everyone has gone silent, Cress started talking trying to establish a conversation.

“Thorne and I have been coming up with baby names. Do you want to hear them?”

She had asked each of her friends to suggest baby names. Kai and she were already thinking about naming their child Peony or Rikan after their loved ones. However both of them were quite against the notion of naming their child after dead people even though they were dear to them. Winter was quite enthusiastic about this activity. She had already suggested the name-‘Aruna’ for a girl which means ‘moon love’ in Japanese. Kai liked it. Wolf had suggested ‘Astra’ for a girl who means ‘star’ and Cinder liked this one.

“If it’s a boy then Kale otherwise Nysa for a girl.” Cress suggested.

“Do you know the gender of the baby?” Thorne asked.

“No, Kai wants it to be a surprise.”

“Can you tell the gender of the baby because of your cybernetics like you had realized that you were pregnant before doing a test?”

“Dunno, are you curious?” She asked teasingly.

“NO! I am just saying that if the gender was known then finding the name would have been easy.”

Cress and Cinder snickered. Not knowing the gender was driving Thorne mad in a way.

“Why did you comm, Cinder? Tell me it’s because you just can’t resist my charms.”

“Captain” Cress scolded. Cinder smiled at the pair. She was waiting for Thorne to propose and see Cress’s elated face. Needless to say, Cress was in love with Thorne before she had even met him.

“Sorry to burst your bubble but Kai is more handsome than you so I would have commed him instead if I wanted to see a handsome face.”

“That hurts.” He said faking the hurt look.

“Serves you right.” Cress and Cinder muttered at the same time. He grinned at them, devilishly. 

“Besides I had commed for another reason. I wanted to inform and have some advice over something that I messed up maybe.” She said tensing up.

“You are asking me for advice?” Thorne asked, his brows rising.

“I am asking not saying that I will follow your advice. Didn’t I just say the word ‘inform’ or did you not hear it?”

“What’s wrong with you Cinder?” Cress asked worriedly.

“Yeah, What’s got you in a black mood?” he added.

She should not take out her anger on Thorne. She should be calm and collected. Damn herself and her hormones.

“I am sorry. I should not take my anger on you.”

“It’s okay. That’s what friends are for.” Thorne assured her.

“What did you want to tell, Cinder?” Cress asked.

How could she tell them that she had with her nonsense zoning out confirmed rumors of an affair?

“I did something.”

Seeing that Cinder was going to take a long pause, he asked, “And what’s this something?”

Ah! Why can’t Thorne just keep quiet for a while?! Stars above, telling Kai was so easy as compared to Thorne and Cress.

“I zoned out in a meeting and accidentally confirmed the ongoing rumors about you and me.” She stuttered.

“Uh! Which rumors?” Thorne asked.

“Really Thorne for the person who travels around the world, don't you keep yourself updated with some news.” It appeared that Cress knew about what she was referring too. Cinder had already guessed this because IT WAS CRESS- she knew the internet rumors like the back of her hand.

She glanced at Cress. She was trying her best to maintain a neutral face and not make it more awkward for Cinder, as if it could change anything else.

“Captain I think Cinder means the rumors which mention that you and her are dating without Kai knowing about it.” Thorne’s expression changed from confusion to horror and revulsion.

“Are they the one Cinder?” he cried.

Ashamedly, she nodded my head.

“Shit! No wonder you are acting so bizarre.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be shouting at me?” she whispered.

“Well I am supposed to but what the hell did you actually do?”

She explained both of them her situation and saying that Thorne was a bit angry would have been the understatement of the century. Cress casted some pitying glances along her way but both of them were truly disappointed in her.

“Well you are really in trouble, have a good time convincing people that we are not dating.”

“I am really sorry.”

“It’s not just your problem Cinder; do not blame everything upon yourself.” Cress said reassuringly.

“Besides, didn't Kai already come with damage control plans?”

She could not really look in both of their eyes and speak with them. Hence, she kept her eyes low and murmured something unintelligible. She felt like a disappointing coward, was she really the same person who had killed Levana, a tyrant?! 

A headline popped up in her newsfeed stating how “The Emperor will himself address the rumours about the Empress’s courting tomorrow.”

“-He looked miserable and heartbroken upon hearing the news and well it was supposed to happen but he appeared truly devastated on the comm and I am worried.. ” she mumbled.

“Cress can Cinder and I talk alone for a few minutes?” Thorne asked. Hearing this, her head shot up rapidly, Thorne had made some unspoken conversation with Cress already. Something that was clearly not meant for her to see.

Cress left the room only to make Thorne and Cinder avoid each other's eyes for an eternity.

“You screwed up really bad Cinder, huh?”

“If you are going to make me feel worse in any way then let me tell you that internally I am drowning in an ocean of misery so don’t do it.”

“This is not a big joke Cinder, Kai is obviously feeling sad and so am I. Didn’t I tell you that I was supposed to propose to Cress? I can’t do it, Now that you have made this mess.” He spoke glaring daggers at her.

“I am sorry Thorne.”

Thorne berated, “You better be.” She had dragged so many others along with her.

“I am supposed to take a pre-paternity test tomorrow to give an official statement regarding true parentage of the heir.”

“I really feel sorry for you Cinder.”

“You won’t believe how calm everyone is reacting then what I had expected?!” she said honestly.

“Did you want Kai to shout at you or what?” he jokingly asked.

“Not like that Thorne but why can’t you just be like Cress- all assuring and caring?”

“I hope you solve this problem soon- wait! I had this brilliant idea.”

“Hmm.. Not sure if I want to hear this one” preparing herself to hear whatever he had to suggest.

He glared at me and continued,” How about I declare my unconditional love to Cres so that the people would have something else to talk about and they would probably believe that we are not dating”

“The idea is not what I expected but don’t you think that would look like a forced political move? Furthermore won’t it sadden Cress?”

“Yeah” he said with a crestfallen face “what a foolish idea!”

She had wanted him to suggest glamour-ing the journalists into declaring their reposts as void. She personally had liked this idea for a few moments before realizing that ‘It’s such a Levana thing’ to do. Cinder did not want to be a dictator or a tyrant anytime soon.

“Did you tell Iko about this?” he questioned.

“Why would I do that? I have not lost my mind yet. Besides she would kill me upon knowing this. Don’t you know her?” she bawled at his absurdity to ask something like this.

“Okay, no need to shout it.”

“I am afraid,” she admitted.

“Why?”

“Kai is coming today and I don’t know what to expect.”

“He would understand and you know I should not say this.. But I would” he mumbled but then continued with some sort of renewed vigor “I think ‘you both can and will work it out!’” he exclaimed with some new found profoundness

“Really Thorne? Work it out, what kind of garbage advice is that?”

“You should become polite like royalty is supposed to be. Learn from Winter!”

“How about you start giving advice like Jacin then huh?” she retorted.

“Believe me Cinder you would not like me then.” He said making a face at the idea of him acting like Jacin.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” she yelped after seeing the numerous messages on her retina scanner.

“What happened?”

She saw Torin’s message on the portscreen. Kai’s plane had landed and how long had she been talking with Thorne that it was afternoon already?!

“Kai is here.”

“Logically you should be happy but you don’t look like that-” she glared daggers at him. If looks could kill, Cinder would be a serial killer.

“Look who’s talking about logistics” she whispered under her breath.

“Don’t you have to go and greet/welcome him probably?” he said making her remember about her Empress duties.

She should already be present to greet Kai but here she was talking  with Thorne. She had convinced herself in believing yesterday that she was an irresponsible Empress and wife. Now that she made such daft mistakes she was questioning why she had not convinced herself before.

”Yeah, why am I forgetting stuff and being an idiot? I am really sorry for the mess I made but I have to go Thorne, Bye!”

“Tell Kai that I said-” Before he could complete, she had ended the comm.

There was no time to waste. She hurriedly left the chambers only to bump into the person she most wanted to see and avoid right now.

__

A/N: I did not give my best, so this is bad. Bear with me!

[some-dr-writings]

Teruteru, Ryoma and Gundham cooking with their S/O

Teruteru Hanamura:

·       Ah, Teruteru, without a doubt the most famous chef in Japan, who hadn’t heard of him? His face was practically plastered on the front of every cooking magazine. And his cooking was incomparable, anyone would pay top dollar, hell even sell most of their belonging for even a chance to taste his delectable creations!

·       And you, his partner, wanted to cook for him. Sure, he had taught you some things, but oftentimes those lessons would dissolve into Teru pampering you and slipping you into a hot bubble bath while he cooked for you.

·       Not this time though! You see, Teru was out working so there was no way for him to take over the cooking! For all the times he had cooked and pampered you, you wanted to return the favor! Just at least once.

·       Teru always took such great joy in treating you like royalty, like you were the center of the universe! As nice as it was, a part of you felt some guilt, you wanted to show him just how much you love him too, not just the other way around. So, you were determined to have a nice hot meal ready for Teru when he arrived back home!

·       You had thought of this for a long time so, the moment Teru had left for work, you already knew what you would make, a chicken, broccoli and rice casserole!

·       Knowing it only took about an hour to make, you simply set up the ingredients so they’d be ready to go when it was closer to the time Teru would return.

·       As the time had arrived and you were whisking a handful of cheddar cheese into the simmering sauce, you heard the last thing you wanted too in that crucial moment. “Oh, Honey Dumplin’~ Guess who’s home early today!”

·       “Oh? What’s this now?” A sly smile crept on those lips as he mischievously eyed your frozen form surrounded by the ingredients. “Uhhh, this is not what it looks like?” In the moment it was the best excuse your mind could sputter out. “Not what it looks like, now is it?” “Y-yes. I’m… uh… making a witch’s brew! That’ll curse you to become a frog if you dare come into the kitchen, so shoo!” Your mind didn’t even have enough stability in the moment to even comprehend exactly the jumble of words you spit out as you raced to block Teru from the kitchen. “Hmm? A witch’s brew? Well, I must say the ingredients for this ‘witch’s brew’ look almost as ravishing as you, so much so, I don’t know if I can keep myself away!”

·       With his smaller stature Teru managed to slip past you and already took a quick taste of the sauce. “Ah~ Absolutely scrumptious!” “Really?” “Of course! I can taste the passion you’ve poured into this!” With a smile you quickly began to explain the techniques you were using.

·       Very soon Teru stood beside you acting as your assistant. At times he started to take over, but you suddenly came up with a plan. Taking several hairbands, you cuffed one of your hands to Teru’s making sure he couldn’t wander off and start cooking on his own.

·       When the meal was finished, standing side by side, you and Teru ate the casserole on a kitchen counter too excited to try it to bother taking it to the kitchen table. Both of you hummed an awed at every bite.

·       “Sweet pie, we should make this a tradition.” “Cooking together?” Teru lightly shook his head, then held up your still clasped hands that held one another. “No, cooking like this.” Suddenly jerking his hand back, you were suddenly pulled closer. “Cooking like this is so enticingly intimate, don’t you think?”

  Ryoma Hoshi:

·       Cooking had always been your go to thing when you were stressed. Something about the smells, and the delightful crunching sounds when chopping, and in the end having something to share with others had this way of placing your heart at ease like no other… The type of ease you wished you could give Ryoma.

·       You and Ryoma had been best friends for years before becoming a couple. Honestly becoming a couple just… sort of happened? It was just so natural over time neither of you noticed ‘till one day you both realized that you had both referred to the other as your partner for years. In that time, you got to learn about each other too the point at times it seemed you knew Ryoma better than he did himself or Ryoma knew you better than you did yourself.

·       So when Ryoma was having an especially bad day, the kind of day where everything that could go wrong did go wrong - the kind of day where his past seemed all consuming, clinging to his every thought with a death grip, sinking him deeper and deeper into that bleak madness - he didn’t question you when you asked him to cook with you.

·       You wanted to help him, but in your time together you knew that when Ryoma got like this there wasn’t much you could do other than tell him you were there for him. But maybe this time could be different? You cooked for him before, but never with him. Maybe at the very least this could distract him, even just a little.

·       “Say, Ryry, want to make… Oh, how about a meat pie! We can use up the left-over meat from the tacos last night!” “… sure.” From that hollow tone alone you could tell he wasn’t with you, he was back in that awful time.

·       “Ryry, here. Use this to mash the potatoes, would you?” “Yeah.” You made sure to not have Ryoma do any chopping in his zombie like state, fearing he’d accidently cut himself and not even realize it.

·       “Ryry, see the spices I placed on that counter?” “Yeah.” “Would you measure 1/8 teaspoon of each?” “Alright.” As Ryoma was measuring out the spices you found yourself getting lost in the sizzling sound of the ground beef and pork in the saucepan. The crisp pops and the gentle scrape of the spoon against the pan bottom was just so incredibly lovely.

·       “S/O?” Yes?” “Where do you want the spice to go?” “Right in this pan here.” “… Just toss it in?” “Just toss it right in!” Each time Ryoma tossed a spice into the pan you noticed how he’d linger longer and longer by your side. “Ryoma?” “… It smells good.” “I know, right!? Oh, hey! Why don’t you mix this with the mash potatoes while I set up the pie crust!” Your heart melted seeing a smile twitch onto his lips as he just looked at you for a moment. “Sounds good to me.”

·       It was plain to see the sheer joy radiating from you. You actually got him to engage in this! Even if it wasn’t much, it was SOMETHING! You actually helped him even on one of his worst days!

·       When the pie was done you ate, happily humming to yourself. “Hey, S/O.” “Yeah Ryry?” “Thank you… Mind having me as an assistant when you cook next?” “… Ryoma!” You launched at him, tackling the man into a hug almost knocking both of you onto the ground in the process.

·       From that day forward you always made sure to cook with Ryoma at least once a week. Quickly Ryoma even tried cooking on his own, and presented each of his dishes to you, asking for critique or advice on techniques. And each time you gave him advice or cooked with him, Ryoma always thanked you, for everything you had done for him.

  Gundham Tanaka:

·       “My Dark Emperor, I should have expected that one of your mighty caliber had the required unholy abilities to concoct the nourishment the Twelve Zodiac Generals so crave! My Emperor, I must make a humbling request as your soul’s mate, unlock the sleeping spells within myself to achieve such a feat!” A light laughter bubbled up from you seeing how Gundham was so excitedly feeding his generals the treats you had baked for them. This wasn’t the first time you had done a little cooking for Gundham’s beasts let alone for the Dark Devas and their offspring, but you seemed to finally get just the right combination of ingredients the hamsters just couldn’t get enough of.

·       Truthful you hadn’t been cooking for too long. You actually took it up because you had a crush on your now boyfriend and wanted to get his attention by making treats for his beloved companions. Eventually you began to cook food for yourself and for him. But now you finally achieved your goal of making something the Zodiac Generals loved! And seeing that sparkle in Gundham’s eye as he asked to cook with you made the moment even sweeter than you could have ever imagined.

·       After gathering the ingredients, you and Gundham practically raced to your kitchen. “Okay, first let’s wash our hands, that’s the first step to cooking anything!” As you took your own advice you noticed Gundham kind of just… stayed back? It was then from the corner of your eye, you saw he was unwrapping the bandage around his hand and arm. For a moment you froze. This was the first time you’d see him without it wrapped around his arm and hand. It wasn’t that big of a deal really, but… as odd as it may sound, it was strange realizing it wasn’t just a part of him. It was just always there…

·       Then seeing what was underneath. Absolutely riddled with scars new and old, each one seemed to be from a different creature. Except for the hamster bites, those were the only ones that seemed to repeat. “Taken interest in my battle scars I see.” “Oh, I was staring, wasn’t I? Sorry!” “There is no need to apologize, it’s… it’s only natural for one to examine their partner’s past injuries, they tell many a tale only the bearer would know.”

·       As you did some set up for the next step you asked Gundham to do some mixing. “Uh, Gundham, you need to fold over, here, just let me show you.” Momentarily taking the bowl and spoon you showed your Dark Lord the proper technique. Then you passed the bowl and spoon back. “… You’re still doing it wrong.” Just as you were reaching your hand out to take his own to help him through the motions you stopped yourself. Even after you had gotten together you only ever held Gundham’s bandaged hand… which was now not bandaged. Maybe an oven mitt would do? “… Perhaps… despite us being trapped within in the confines of these mortal coils, just as I am poisonous to the touch, as my eternal partner you… resist it… even without the protective cloth with it’s magical properties… you won’t get hurt.” Your heart pounded in your chest hearing those words and seeing that florescent blush burst on his cheeks. All you could do was nod. “… Are you sure? I can get a mitt if you’d be more comfortable.” “I’m sure, and should your body have an adverse reaction, the Twelve Zodiac Generals shall counteract the poison long enough for me to prepare a cure.” As gently as you could, you placed your hand atop his, and showed him how to properly fold over the mixture. Though both of you were distracted by the thudding of your own hearts, wondering if with how close you were, if the other could feel that racing beat.

·       When you had finally finished the Generals ran up to you and they tried getting to the small bag of treats. It was so fun seeing them race around in excitement and feel them rip the treat from your fingers. As you reached in to get another treat something flinched inside. Gundham had reached in his still unbandaged hand at the same time as you. “My Emperor, I-” “Hey, it’s okay. You took a big step today, and I’m proud of you. We don’t need to push you farther than you are comfortable with.” You then leaned your head onto his shoulder. “… I thank you for always being so understanding.”

·       It became a regular thing to bake treats for the Zodiac Generals and the other creatures under Gundham’s care. Once a week Gundham would visit you at your place to make more treats, much to the Devas’ and their children’s protest if it wasn’t for them. And each time, it seemed Gundham would mess up on something and need your hands-on assistance to get it right. And each time without fail you always found your heart racing in time with his.

[sepublic]

Eda and Willow

           All right, but @megadan94 brought to my attention that Eda and Lilith parallel Willow and Amity, and I’m kind of caught up over this idea?

           There’s that idea that a perceived power disparity separated the two… In Lilith’s case, she saw herself as weaker than Eda. Amity saw Willow as weaker than her, or at least her parents fed this idea into her head and used it as justification, until even Amity began to believe in it… At least to the point where I believe Amity low-key began to blame Willow for not being strong enough to be her friend. Obviously the parallels aren’t one-to-one here, but they never were amongst various character’s compared and contrasted relationships…

           Additionally, you have Eda and Willow as being innately talented and powerful, much moreso than Lilith and Amity! Lilith talks a lot about having to work smart to keep up, and Amity of course likely has her own natural skill as well; But it’s not as much as Willow’s, and it’s not enough to keep up with her parents’ incessant expectations, so she really has to invest so much time and energy into being the absolute best. Amity and Lilith, of course, also want to be in the Emperor’s Coven- Well, Lilith wanted to and then WAS, but now she’s left and is open to realizing how much it truly sucked in retrospect. Amity and Lilith both have a lot of genuine skill and talent; But they constantly feel the need to be better regardless, because they’re always compared to someone who’s naturally better…

           In this scenario, we have Lilith comparing herself to Eda, competing for that spot in the Emperor’s Coven- And then we have Amity likely being set up against Emira and Edric. It’s a mutual feeling of never being good enough, and not being able to recognize your own worth… Likewise, Eda and Willow are incredibly powerful, although both were restricted by the Coven System, and left unable to really explore their talents. Eda couldn’t pursue all forms of magic, Willow was stuck in Abominations… It’s only by an act of defiance to the rules that they’re ultimately given the chance to explore themselves. Eda and Willow also arguably have a nurturing side to them, compared to others in the show; Eda has her motherly instincts with the Bat Queen’s children, and Luz and King for that matter… While Willow is incredibly nurturing to her plants, and encourages the best growth out of them.

           Eda and Willow encourage others to be the best they can be; And you can make that comparison between them and Luz, who plays a HUGE role in both of their lives, too! And while it’s not overt, and possibly more speculation than actual canon… It’s worth noting that even with Willow’s past issues with Amity, she never really brings them up, nor does she get in the way of Luz’s friendship with her. Maybe she might’ve brought it up out of potential concern for Luz; But otherwise, Willow didn’t want to impose her own experiences onto Luz’s, and she wanted Luz to form her own opinions on the subject.

           And that’s… A LOT like Eda’s stance on Luz, joining Hexside! Hexside hurt and traumatized Eda, just as Amity did to Willow- But Eda still recognizes the worth of Hexside and what it has to offer, just as Willow knows that Amity isn’t inherently terrible and was a good friend in her own way. Eda and Willow know that Hexside and Amity mean a lot to Luz, and they don’t want to get in the way of that; At least, they don’t want Luz to get hurt. But they also recognize that their experiences may not be universal, that things may have changed- And sometimes they won’t until you put a step forward and let your loved one participate. Eda and Willow have rightful reservations about the institution/person that Luz wants to engage with…

           But in the end, they decide that Luz deserves the right to form her own opinion. They don’t want to hypocritically impose their own will onto others, and tell them what to do; Not after going through the same, with Eda and Willow oppressed by the Coven System respectively. And by letting Luz engage with the institution/person that hurt them… It enables Eda and Willow to make amends through Luz, and emerge so much happier as a result! By letting Luz do what she wants, Eda manages to change Hexside for the better, and Willow also does the same to Amity- They both indirectly help the thing that hurt them, and ensure that nobody else is hurt by it either! Eda and Willow just don’t want others to be hurt like they were… And by being emotionally mature and recognizing this, they open the true opportunity to protect not just Luz, but really anyone who would interact with Hexside/Amity…

           It also allows Eda and Willow to make peace with a painful past, too! Because Eda DID enjoy her time at Hexside, she had fun with Grudgby and loved learning, even if a lot of her curriculum wasn’t exactly legal… And Willow truly enjoyed Amity and cared for her and vice-versa, just as Bump really wanted the best for Eda, he was just scared by Belos! Just as Amity wanted the best for Willow, but she felt pressured by her parents… One way or another, Eda and Willow recognize the circumstances behind their split as a bit more complicated and nuanced than the other person being terrible- And this applies to Eda recognizing that Lilith was also indoctrinated by the Coven System herself. Which, coupled with their sisterhood and Lilith’s change of heart, prompts Eda to make the steps to forgive her… Or at least make amends.

           This is all making me imagine Eda being hesitant about Luz and Lilith interacting later down the line- But possibly not wanting to get in the way of either of them. Because she sees how much happier the two of them are for it, she doesn’t want to unproductively bring up old pains if it only means causing a rift… And Eda knows that Lilith could really benefit from some new connections, and by getting to know Luz, Lilith can respect her surrogate daughter and better understand Eda’s own decisions in life. Obviously I can see Eda being hesitant- But she just wants the best for people in the end.

           Then, you have Eda and Willow being ostracized. Bullied, treated as lesser, having their status as Witches questioned; Eda is called the Owl Lady, no doubt treated as a freakish monster, and loses her magical ability as the curse progresses. Willow is called Half-a-Witch and repeatedly bullied and tormented, until she really begins to form a negative view of herself, if Inner Willow’s raging state in Understanding Willow is any indication… Both Eda and Willow have a crisis of self-identity, of how they perceive themselves. But ultimately, Eda learns to overcome this, while Willow does so as well- Especially with Luz’s help! Both of them have also become rebels to the Coven System in their own way… Eda’s reasons are obvious. It took a while for Willow- But after seeing the injustice done onto Eda of all people, fittingly enough… She takes a stance.

           Willow rallies an entire crowd at the Conformatorium to vouch for Eda’s release, thereby planting the seeds of revolution (ba-dum tsss) in a way that Eda always wanted to as a kid, but never quite could… Up until Luz arrived. When Luz the outlier arrives, she really changes things for the better, and spurs Eda and Willow to put themselves out there, to be themselves- To believe in old passions and connections they miss, while also learning to grow as individuals too! Eda learns to connect with society again, ultimately leading to her having a hand in making a change through Luz; And Willow learns to stand up for herself, recognize the injustice of Belos, and lead a protest!

          They can both be powerful leaders and symbols of rebellion in their own right, so it’s appropriate that Eda and Willow serve as focal points for the revolution’s beginning in the season finale… Eda’s treatment being an example of what’s wrong with the Coven System, and Willow pointing this out to others. Willow recognizes Eda for who she is, and while a lot of this is no doubt influenced by Eda’s connection to Luz… It’s with Luz that I see Eda and Willow potentially connecting with one another more, later down the line. Maybe they have a discussion or at least see the similarities; I can see Eda thanking Willow or feeling indebted in her own subtle way, while being proud of Willow’s rebellion and encouraging it. Eda inspired Willow in her own way… And really, who’s to say Willow doesn’t inspire Eda, too?

          Willow’s friendship with Luz shows Eda that there’s a lot Hexside can offer the girl; Interactions with kids her age, to name one of them! And Willow vouching for Eda shows that Eda is a worthwhile person… The protest leads Eda to realize she DID leave an impact, that others appreciate her, and it’s not just Luz or King that like Eda! Even this rando kid appreciates Eda… It was Eda who brought Luz to the Boiling Isles in the end, and it was Eda’s maturity that led to Luz getting to hang out with Willow more at Hexside. Willow appreciates Eda for who she is for Luz, and how this indirectly led to Luz’s impact on Willow; And the same could be seen vice-versa, too! Eda doesn’t care much for Willow, but Luz does, so who is she to judge- Luz deserves to interact with other kids her age, make connections with the students! And it’s all just bringing me back to Really Small Problems, how Eda includes Willow as among being her ‘dumb kids’…

           Obviously Willow already has two loving fathers who are married to one another- But hey, who’s to say Eda can’t be a fun aunt to her? The more the merrier… I’d love to see Eda and Willow, subtly if not openly, recognize a shared solidarity and kinship among them. Maybe Eda says that she knows how Willow felt, when Willow brings up past frustrations with the Coven System; And I’m just enjoying that one time Eda pulled Willow’s hood over her head at Covention! Maybe Eda can teach Willow to really revel in and embrace herself, to unapologetically practice self-love, the way Eda learned. In some ways, Willow is like Eda as a kid- But things turned out better for her, than they did for Eda in the past… And Eda, she’s glad and happy for this, that nobody else has to go through what she did! And Willow can show her that, hey, things can turn out better for Eda too- Not just for the present, but even retroactively with old mistakes and grievances addressed.

[atomicblasphemy]

7 x 1

After the worse defeat in Banshees history, the players try to process the loss. And Boscha learns of her new responsibilities to the team.

“Okay guys, I know… Today didn’t… Go as planned. But we have to keep our heads held high right now, next season is around the corner and...”

Last time something like this happened people were burning Hexside jerseys and flags in the streets.

“Boscha...”

Last time something like this happened riots broke out through Bonesborough.

“Please… I know you’re the captain and all that, but...”

Last time something like this happened the Emperor himself had to step in, declare a state of emergency in the whole realm.

“Just shut up.”

And last time, years before any of the current players in the Banshees were even born, the humiliation was nowhere near what they experienced today. Semifinals, home-field. No, this hadn’t been mere humiliation, humiliation was what that Half-a-Witch and Amity – along with that… human – did to them that other day. This, this was tragedy. Epiderme’s team were not witches, they were machines, that’s the only explanation Boscha could come up with. And that didn’t convince her, not one bit.

Normally, Boscha wouldn’t stand for Skara’s insubordination. It would be bad enough it they weren’t wearing the Banshees’ uniform. Still at the end of the day she was her best friend, that granted her some privileges. Now, however, they were in their uniforms and Boscha was the captain. All fight had left her after Epiderme’s third goal, however. And what they heard and saw from the many fans wearing their blue and yellow colors didn’t help her to get some optimism back.

The four of them were alone in the dressing room, Skara’s voice lacking any sass, let alone alone her usual bubbliness. Off to the side, a few feet away, Cat tried to debatable success to console a still softly sobbing Amelia. “I only wanted to bring my people joy” the crying girl moaned over and over, in a lower volume every time. None of them could actually look at each other. None of them could start to point fingers and throw blame around, not yet at least.

Worse part was that should they have kept playing the way they did up to that fulminant counter-attack that resulted in Epiderme’s first goal they could have won. They dominated the first ten minutes or so of the game, barely giving any breathing room for their adversaries. Then the first goal came and whatever motivation, that old flame, they still harbored vanished. Their tactics broke down. But tactics was a generous way of putting it. Only a madman would have Skara in a starting position, and those were her own words in the locker room after each and every training session.

And it was the wrong moment for this sort of thing to happen to Hexside. The scandalous decision to have a human exchange student was just the tip of the iceberg. The school as a whole was ongoing a slump of sorts, under-performing in academic and sportive competitions alike. While once upon a time parents would enroll their children as soon as they knew they were expecting, Glandus and the other schools serving as something of a plan B, now Hexside was turning into this second echelon. Some, like Boscha herself, would place the blame on Bump’s somewhat erratic methods. His stubbornness in one hand, his weird pedagogic gambles on the other, and, of course, his rotten finger when it came to picking staff. Today’s tragedy was but a symptom of a more pervasive condition, that was her conclusion.

But Bump wasn’t the sole culprit here was he, Boscha? The time for pointing fingers arrived.

“Guys… I… We all are to blame here…”

Before continuing, the captain was cut off by the striker, the striker that for just the third time ever started a game in the bleachers. The one that was still trying to console the left fielder.

“Are we? Are we really though? I mean, four of seven goals came from your side of the field, the side you were the one supposed to be defending.”

Boscha’s mouth stopped in it’s tracks, she couldn’t refute her friend. Sure, she could throw her usual words to get her back to her place beneath her. But today wasn’t the day for something like that.

“Cat, back off a bit, will you? We all are feeling the same way, and it was the first time she played that position.”

“Come on Skara, you know I’m right. She is all talk before the game, but now she just won’t act like a captain. That’s a cap out.”

Skara, leaving out a tired sigh looked Cat in the eyes and, carefully, rebutted.

“Look, all I’m saying is that nothing good can come from this argument. Seriously. It wasn’t Boscha’s fault alone. Heck, we all really have a share of the blame.”

Cat just huffed. “Wish we got Willow instead”, she muttered under her breath.

“HEY!”

“DON’T HEY ME, BOSCHA!”

“YOU TAKE THAT BACK, RIGHT NOW!”

“NEVER!”

Amelia gingerly placed a hand on Cat’s shoulder. The girl’s anger seeming to seethe, she lifts both her hands, open, in front of her face. Looking down, avoiding the captain, she sits down.

They all sit there, silent, for a long time. Amelia’s sobs subsiding. Cat’s muscles relaxing as she calms herself down. Skara looking straight ahead, studying Boscha’s void expression.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to...”

Cat finally let out.

“Sure… Just don’t do that again.”

The mood around Hexside and the whole town, at least the part that rooted for Hexside, had been optimistic since the tournament started. It had been a while since the Banshees had this amount of support. It wasn’t because they had a particularly prodigious roaster. They were okay, but far from capable of overwhelming any qualified opponents. No, the reason for the optimism was simply due to that being the first time a single school was hosting all matches. A series of –  rather suspicious one might say - beast attacks prevented the other schools from hosting any events, the only option the league had was to have Hexside receive all the spotlights. It would be the first time in history Glandus and Epiderme would host Grom Night outside their premises, and together no less, as to be able to afford the venue’s rent.

And Bump took as much advantage of the roll of the dice as possible, it was the school’s first chance in years to shift their decaying image and more then a few conspiracy theories were floating around the hallways and streets. And if the spotlights were on Hexside, on the Banshees, then all that means was that they also were on Boscha, on the team’s glorious, spectacular, competent captain.

This had been the game with the most press coverage any of them ever played. The  stands were filled to the brim. The colors of blue and yellow taking over taking over the stands, the shouts of support bordering on overwhelming. Boscha was born for a day like this, her underlings were visibly anxious.  But not her, she knew the only possible was victory, confirmation of who she was. If the arena had been a chocolate box she’d devour it in one bite. And as any captain would, she tried to convey to the rest of the team what she was feeling. They could not mess this up for her, it was important that they remembered that, but it was also important that they remembered that the four of them combined were far superior than Epiderme’s team, despite them being on an undeniable winning streak and being traditionally one of the most competitive teams in all of Bonesborough or even the whole Isles, much like the Banshee’s themselves. Matches between those two were always neck to neck, often ending in draws with few scored goals, if any. The coach echoed Boscha’s position thoroughly, he was after all the one that led up to about a fifth of Hexside’s many titles. Him being the one on the side lines was maybe the main cause for optimism among fans, he came back from retirement just for this season after all. His professional image was on the line much like Boscha’s. Both were confident they managed to convey the importance of the game to the pale looking girls.

“Where’s coach, by the way?” Boscha asked, breaking the silence.

“Scolari? No idea.” Skara answered.

“Last time I saw him he was storming off, saying something about how the press kept on ganging up on him or whatever. Pretty sure he left before punches started flying.” Cat continued.

“Oh...”

Having calmed down, Amelia now browsed her scroll seeming oblivious to the others’ conversation.

Eleven minutes. A shock with Epiderme’s first goal, but that came with the nature of the game. All they had to do was to make a goal of their one and they would be back in equal footing, Boscha doing her best to ignore the many ways she could have avoided that score, Skara and Amelia looking lost but trying to muster on some determination. Twenty three minutes, the difference increases. Twenty four, Boscha fails again. Twenty six, they would need to put up the best performance in Banshees’ history to turn this into so much as a draw, the stands growing deafeningly silent, Boscha failed again. Twenty nine minutes, Boscha failed again, the other team looking ever so slightly less enthusiastic in their celebrations. This couldn’t be real.

As they left the field after the referee declared the end of the last half she saw, they all saw, the booing, crying, lost faces in the audience. That illusions track kid, one third of the human’s trio, clenching those flags to his chest hugging them like a baby while his father tried prying questions about their performance from Scolari. This all felt like a dream, Boscha was just not capable of failing this badly, she was just not capable of belief herself capable of this kind of failure. And she couldn’t wake up.

“Hey… They are making a live interview on Penstagram. Epiderme’s team, I mean.” Amelia finally said, seeming to get back into the conversation.

The other three just look at her, expectantly. Taking that as something of a confirmation she raises her scroll’s volume.

“… shocked too. We didn’t expect the game to go as it did. Hexside, the Banshees, they did so much for Grudgby. I mean, so many of their old players are personal heroes to anyone who loves this sport. So yeah, we didn’t want to humiliate them, we have a ton of respect for their team so during the break we all agreed to take a bit of a step back, you know, show proper respect to their history. We are proud of winning, but not of how we won. So we tried to keep our heads on the game and we were lucky enough to score twice more. Here’s to hoping they can manage to fix the problems they’re having right now. The sport deserves and needs the Banshees we’ve always known back. Now we gotta start thinking about who we might face in the finals. Both teams...”

Amelia turned her scroll off. They heard all they needed.

How kind of them.

The uncomfortable silence in the locker room only grew louder.

With the game undeniably settled by a seven neill score half way throw the second half the stands steadily grew more and more empty. Only a few of the fans still there to see Cat score their consolation goal after replacing Skara. They only managed to do something resembling sport again in the very last minute. Those few last fans alternating between boos and supportive chants about “Hexside pride”, but the cheers were so timid might as well not have happened at all. Boscha would take the former over the implicit pity of the ladder any time.

Before today, the Banshees were known as the best Grudgby team in Bonesborough’s history. Whether this title would now go to Epiderme or someone else Boscha didn’t know. But it was high time she made peace with the fact it wasn’t theirs anymore. That she was the captain during the team’s - no, the sports’ - greatest fiasco. But Boscha was stubborn, she still wouldn’t take this hit alone.

Before she could dwell further, Amelia asks a question that seemed to be burning on everyone else’s  minds.

“What now?”

“What you mean?” Boscha can’t turn to see her as she asks.

“Well, Boscha… You’re the captain… You are the one who decides. We have been talking though… Before the game, I mean. For a few days actually.” Skara, the second in command was the one to ask.

“I’ll figure something out… Wait, you’ve been talking? About what?”

“Yeah… Sorry about going behind your back… You just seemed so, I dunno, hyped. It was kinda cute and we really didn’t want to make you worry, but...”

“But we been kinda expecting something like this to happen actually. I mean, we wanted to believe your speeches... But yeah… So…”

Cat was the one to continue, every word both from her and Skara were deliberate. They had known each other for so long, was she really the type of friend that called for this type of carefulness when breaking bad news? Was this the kind of stuff that made the Blight leave their click? She shouldn’t be thinking about any of that, not right now.

“Okay then… Stop dancing around the issue and give it to me straight.”

“Well, that will be a bit hard” Amelia, showing some agency said to the curt nods of agreement from the other two. “But, I guess the main thing is the leadership style we’ve been having. Not you, not just you. But… coach was… tough, and pretty boneheaded… I mean, we all tried to convince him that Skara should not be a starting player, that she is our fastest player sure, but she hasn’t the endurance for the whole game, she can pull off counterattacks, so she should always enter later when the other guys are already too tired to keep up. I mean, that’s how we always played and it always worked well enough. But no. He wanted to use the same tactics as he used way back when. Anyway… I guess my point is I think, we all think he’s the first and foremost culprit. And well, I mean, I guess you didn’t really… help… But…” The desperate girl shoots pleading glances to both Cat and Skara.

“Look, all we are trying to say is: your leadership style is not exactly the best for a captain, and his is definitely not the best for a coach. We know it, you know it I guess, Bump knows it, the fans know it, literally everyone knows it. So… We figured a few changes need to be made.”

Cat, with a rather coy tone of voice, took the lead again. For whatever reason there always seemed to a silent agreement between the four of them that she should always be the one to break the bad news, especially when Boscha was to be the recipient. Like that one time when Amity had to cancel their sleepover. Even those outside their tight social circle seemed to acknowledge this, like that time when the professor had Cat be the one to announce to Boscha she was on the brink of failing her Into to Beast Keeping class. Despite Skara being her closest friend, Cat was the better one at disarming the captain.

Of course, in a time like this this only sounded ominous. But something else was bugging her.

“What you mean my leadership style?”

“Boscha, come one. I mean, seriously. Do you really think yelling ‘do this or that for me’, or ‘my legacy as a Grudgy player depends on you’...”

“Don’t forget  the classic ‘I swear to Titan guys, you can’t mess this up’.” Skara commented.

“Or ‘If we lose today because of you I’ll haunt all of you in your sleep. See you in your worst nightmares.’” Amelia added.

“Yeah… Do you really think any of that helps? As a captain, as someone that’s on the field with us?” Cat finally finished.

“Come on… You know I wasn’t being serious right? I can’t be that bad...”

As she watched her fellow Banshees trading wary glances with one another, Boscha just sat and waited. With none of them saying anything, she chose to get back to the main topic.

“In any case… What do you mean change?”

“Well… You see. Here’s the thing. This leadership style of yours… It isn’t entirely ineffective. Titan knows we wouldn’t have passed the quarter-finals without this… Rough nudge… And it actually is better than what coach has been giving us since day one. I mean, you both were always essentially saying the same things but at least with you we have a bit, at least a bit, of reason to actually care, a bit. Sooo… We were thinking… And we talked to Bump about this already… Again… Sorry for going behind your back on this one… He said it isn’t entirely impossible… But you kinda have to be the one giving the last say...”

“Can you please, for the love of the Titan, just say it already?”

“Boscha.” Uncharacteristic firmness in her voice, Skara called her friends name. “We want you as the Banshee’s next coach.”

“WHAT?”

“We want you as the Banshee’s next coach.” She repeated with the exact same voice tone, not even a semblance of wavering or stuttering.

“I heard that… But… Doesn’t the league forbids it?”

“It does… But there’s a loophole in the rules.”

“A loophole?”

“Yeah, it means the rule book wasn’t all that well written and that there are specific ways to interpret it so we can do something that would otherwise not be allowed.”

“I KNOW WHAT THE WORD MEANS… I just… What, pray tell, is this loophole?”

“Well… You see, according to Bump, all it says is that in order for someone to be a coach they need to be a part of the school’s staff, as in an employee of the school, pay check and all. It doesn’t say anywhere that they can’t also be a student at the school in question.” Cat took back hold of the conversation, sending shivers down Boscha’s spine.

“So… What are you saying is that I will become a teacher or something before graduating? How would that work? I also still to play, you know.”

“We’ll get to that last part eventually… Anyway… I said staff, not faculty. You wouldn’t get any classes, according to Bump… So… You know Kyle right? That old janitor that was working at Hexside even before our parents went there? He is needing a break, according to Bump. He just can’t handle full time work there anymore and… Well… Bump has been scrambling to find a suitable replacement.”

“...”

“You see… Kyle’s... specialty... is actually illusions. Now that I think about that kinda explains why so many of our classrooms smell like mold. But anyway… So… The best case scenario for Bump would be to hire someone more capable at potion making. You know, someone who could make and use appropriately all the cleaning potions… Aaannd. Well… That’s pretty much what you’d be doing?”

“Oh… Just that, huh? You say it like it’s ‘just’ that. Like it’s nothing. I have an image to keep, you know?”

“I know, I know… Look. It would be just a part time thing. Besides, you’d mostly just be cleaning the bathrooms. All you’d need to do is to put up a sign, shut the door, and no one would even know you’re there. And you’d be getting paid. Sure, not a lot but something. So yeah, Junior Janitor Assistant.”

“You know there’s no way I’ll agree to that, don’t you Cat?”

Skara stands up, slowly stepping closer to Boscha, her eyes never leaving the captain’s. She kneels down in front of her friend, her oldest friend. She places a place in the witch’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

“Boscha, I’m not happy to ask you this, the girls aren’t happy with it either. Heck, I think that if Bump was here he wouldn’t be happy about it either. But the truth of the matter is that we need you, Hexside needs you, the Banshees need you… to clean some very, very clogged toilets.”

“Why can’t one of you guys do that?”

“Because you are the leader. This should be obvious, Boscha. You are the leader and we follow you. But this time… This time for you to lead us… You’ll need to clean some extremely dirty toilets. And yes… This does include that one on the second floor that has been closed off for a couple of years for mysterious reasons. Bump was clear on that part.”

“This is a joke right?”

“Do I look like I’m joking, Boscha?”

Skara was right, all their faces revealed nothing but the utmost seriousness of their predicament. The kneeling girl continued.

“Either you do that or, and this is what Bump told us, we’ll have to ask Bob.”

“Bob?”

“Bob.”

“A Bob.”

“THE Bob.” The girl solemnly shock her head from side to side.

The madness in Skara’s words was impossible.

“Bob Bob?”

“Bob. Bob Bob.”

The room grew silent as the concept sunk into Boscha’s mind. After a long moment of disturbing quietude she finally mustered the much needed courage.

“No… No… We can’t have that.” A deep sigh, all her eyes looking even further defeated. “Fine… I’ll do it… But people can’t know about it, I swear. This is between me, you girls, and Bump.”

“And Kyle.”

“Yeah, sure. Kyle. No one else.”

“Promise.” They all said in unison. Amelia timidly complemented. “Thanks, Boscha. We can visit you during your shifts if you want.”

Deadpanned, Boscha responded.

“You guys just want to watch me humiliating myself, don’t you?”

“NONONONONO… No… No… Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous… No...”

“Sure… Sure…”

“And look.” Cat said, trying to get the conversation back on track. “Bump even said he can make it look as though you’re just doing office work. Anyway… You start on Tuesday and your shifts are on the afternoons.”

“Tuesday? Isn’t that the day the Human said she take over the kitchen and make us… what was it? Tacos? She seemed pretty pretty worried about the ingredients and how we’d… agree to them… whatever that means… Can’t I start literally any other day?”

“Nope… Bump was adamant - yes, Bump - it has to be on Tuesday. This Tuesday to be more specific. Yup, Tuesday you’ll start on your new job. And we’ll be there… Cheering you on. Yes, cheering.”

“Well...” A stoically empty façade on her face, Boscha continues. “Could be worse I guess… I don’t know how it could be worse, but yeah… Too bad I’ll have to stop playing though… I’ll miss it.”

Skara, a small and sincere grin forming on her lips.

“Not necessarily… The rule book doesn’t say anything about the coach also playing either.”

“REALLY?”

Finally some good news came Boscha’s way. She couldn’t find it in her to contain the sudden burst of excitement.

“Yeah, really.” Skara continued. “But…”

“There’s a caveat, should be obvious really. Have you ever coached anything before Boscha? It isn’t the same as being captain. You’d need some time learning to do it, not to mention all the adjustments you’ll need to make in our training plans, tactics, and so on… So… You’d eventually be able to carry on both role, but not right from the go… In the mean time you’ll need to find someone who can replace you… Temporarily, of course.” Said Cat.

“Oh no… Nonononono. Don’t you even think about suggesting that. I know where this is going and NO. Absolutely not.”

“Boscha… You know well enough who is the person in all of Hexside that’s most suited for the job.”

“No, that’s going too far. I am not asking her, anyone else. Even the human.”

“Boscha… You need to give up on your pride. You need to ask Willow to join our team. To join us. It is the only way. Together, all of us will make a team that will conquer all adversaries.”

“No. That’s impossible. I’ll never do that.”

“Look into your heart, Boscha. You know this is the only way.”

“Nooooo...” She whimpered… This was her least favorite part of today. So far at least.

But it was a losing battle and she stood alone.

“Fine… I’ll do it.. I’ll ask the Half-a-Witch to join the team...”

“Willow.”

“What?” Boscha growled. Low, menacingly.

“You’re not asking the Half-a-Witch to join the team.” Cat stated matter of factly, defiantly even. “You are asking Willow. Boscha… It’ll be a negotiation. You’ll to need convince her to join us, to flex all of your… charisma… on her. You can’t do that if just go around insulting her all the time.”

“But… Come on, I get why I need to be the coach instead of any of you. But why this? Why do I have to be the one to this.”

The answer came immediately.

“Because you’re pretty much the main reason why she’d refuse.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement as clear as day.

“I… Fair enough… Fair enough. You know what? I’m the captain in the worst defeat in Banshees history, my reputation is probably all gone, and today I also learned I’ll have to clean toilets on a daily basis. What is another loss compared to all this. I can do this. I can do this… I… I can do this. I mean, even I can admit I don’t have much face left to save. So yeah, let’s just get this over with then. I’m gonna shoot her. A TEXT. I’m gonna shoot her a text, Titan danmit you don’t need to look at me like that. Anyway, does anyone have her number?”

“Sure” Came all three voices, Skara and Cat reaching for their scrolls.

“Seriously, all of you? I can understand Amelia, but you two as well? You know what, you know what? I don’t care. Nope, I don’t care at all. I’m serene, beautiful, powerful young witch that doesn’t care about stuff like that anymore.”

“Don’t you think you should, I don’t know, do this in person?” Skara ignores Boscha’s remark.

“I will. Just gotta set up a meeting with her or whatever, get off my back.”

“Sure… Look, we’re here to help, you don’t need to get all snappy like that.”

“Skara, I swear to Titan… Just give me her number already.”

She, with her lovely lovely friends’ assistance, manages to write a short, to the point, message to the Half-a… Willow. She messaged Willow. It was a polite, some might even call elegant, thing. She didn’t dwell on it, not on the text, all of the girls were insistent on that being something she’d have to do when face-to-face with Willow, but she tried to convey some degree of repentance over her previous treatment of the girl. Her hopes of it being effective were slim to non-existent.

All done, she remains sat on the bench. She remains there for a long while, the silence returning to the dressing room as the other, concerned, members of the Banshees watched her, waiting for her next move. Head downcast, jaw clenched tight, rubbing her closed middle eye with a couple fingers she tries to process the day. Finally, through gritted teeth, she lets out.

“Guys… I hate you… I hate each and every one of you.”

Had Boscha been looking at them she would have seen their relieved smiles, or maybe even the quick wink Cat shot Skara, who nodded in response before answering the former captain.

“We love you too, Boscha. Now. Come on, lets get out of here. We still have to face the music.”

“Titan...” Boscha said, standing up. “I almost forgot about that… I guess we have no choice, do we?”

“Nope, not at all.”

“Lets get this over with then.”

As they left the dressing room together, as a team, Boscha felt the scroll in her back pocket vibrating. She grumbled at the thought of her future. “For the Banshees”, she thought, less than enthusiastically.

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 5 Part 1

Hello all, I come before you with another chapter of Midnight Striga. Just to let you know, this chapter will mark a shift in the tone of the story. While this shift will not apply to every chapter, and certainly not every scene, things will now move a bit differently. Thank you.

With a sigh, Amity Blight, scion and heir-apparent to Blight Industries, tied back her hair into its usual short tail. And at that, she had officially completed her preparations for today, the day of the Covention. There, she would be presented by her Tutor, Emperor’s Coven Head Lilith, as a standard of excellence. While normally Amity didn’t particularly care to be used as a living advertisement, for a position as prestigious as the Emperor’s Coven, it honestly brought a small smile to her face, a sign that her skills were being acknowledged. Nothing like her mother’s annoying “Private Sales” she had to put up with.

A ding caught her attention. Turning to her scroll, she read off the new message.

Hope it goz great!! Gonna be watching, you rule!!! ~Skara

Amity allowed a soft smile to cross her face. She was surprised, pleasantly so, how much hers and Skara’s relationship had grown. A girl she had originally written off as a mean-spirited bully actually had a lot of depth to her; sure, she was catty, she could be bratty, and was an absolute gossip machine, but she was bright, funny, and always willing to help her. If Amity knew of a way to head back in time, she’d probably try and talk herself out of pushing away Skara. She frowned. Maybe if she had been a better friend to Skara, or at least tried to be a friend at all, Skara wouldn’t be so broken up over Boscha.

Amity scowled at the thought of the three-eyed Witch. She had never had a high opinion of the other girl, she honestly had a high enough opinion about herself for the entire city, but that day, any respect she may have harbored for her died in flames. She snorted at the thought, remembering those strange flames Boscha had been throwing around that day. She had heard the story from Skara, that Boscha wasn’t in her right mind; frankly, Amity didn’t care. Boscha had always been a certain level of difficult, but Skara owed the girl nothing, and still defended even her worst actions.

Boscha was lucky she had been avoiding everyone for the last few days; otherwise, Amity would’ve personally informed her of her… displeasure. Still, today was an important day for her future, no reason to ruin her mood thinking about painful things. Yet, Amity couldn’t help but have her mind wander back to that day; she had humiliated herself, acted rashly, and most likely ostracized herself even further from Willow, and she offended someone she had never even met before because she couldn’t control herself.

Amity’s eyes narrowed. That human girl was an oddity; her kind were not from the Demon Realm, so how did she get here? How did she stop Boscha’s rampage? Amity needed to know. The next time they met, while she would certainly apologize for her conduct, she wasn’t walking away without a guarantee to get answers.

Chomping down on her lighter’s flame, and wasn’t that still a weird thought, Boscha languidly ambled along, having gotten up and ready early so she wouldn’t have to interact with her parents. The Covention was today, one of the biggest events of the year, especially for Hexside Students. Boscha scoffed. She had never really gotten what the big deal was; before, her future was set on the image of being a professional Grudgby player, so the whole Coven thing was an annoying distraction at best. Even now, when she felt lost inside, she didn’t get the full appeal.

Although… she would admit to being rattled from her confrontation in the rain. A shudder crawled up her spine as she recalled the Owl Beast, it’s Witch-like face twisted into an animal’s leer. If something like that came to those who defied the Coven System, not that she necessarily believed it, then she would try to toe the line a bit, at least in public. But, when she recalled that fight, the way her blood pumped, her heart raced, the heady scent of fire filling her nose, she couldn’t fight the feral smile that crawled across her face.

Boscha wanted to fight again. It was something she just knew she had to do. Just thinking about it, the threat of violence and the clashing of strength and skill, made her feel so alive!! But… the screaming would come back if she fought for real, she knew it. She could even hear it now, the screaming, the accusations. Boscha slapped herself, forcing her mind away from the thoughts that were coming.

Still, it was a new day, something she should make the most of. She should probably check out the Covention today, if only to keep word spreading that she was a no-show. She couldn’t help but feel worried though. Would Willow be there? Would Amity? ...Would Skara? Biting her lip, Boscha trudged along, lost in her thoughts, heedless of the eyes in the shadows tracking her every move.

Eda sighed, bored out of her Titan’s damned mind. Business was slow today, but she couldn’t risk the possibility of missing out on a sail, even if it meant having to put up with Luz and King reading those Titan awful books. Seriously, that flowery language was a disgrace to magic!! But… she couldn’t ruin their fun, not after that night. She had just gotten the house all back together, to Hooty’s relief, and Luz had been making sure she had her potion taken every morning before she did anything else. It was sweet of her, if annoying.

Now if only she had something to get through this stupid BOREDOM!!! She let her mind wander to her newest tenant, one who had been rapidly worming her way into Eda’s jaded heart. She wasn’t sure how, but the kid had managed to eek out a soft spot with her, much to her bemusement; maybe it was the little hints of something not being right, the way she clammed up about her past, the oddly large collection of magic books and texts, or the strange injuries she had that, while healed over, seemed to weigh on her at times. 

The kid had secrets, and had shared barely nothing about them, but Eda wasn’t one to pry. But if those secrets got her hurt, then even if it made Luz hate her, she’d pry them out and do everything she could to keep Luz safe and hearty. ...Titans, she was going soft!! Better prepare a crime to keep herself nice and tough.

Hello, it looked like they’d have a customer after all! If she wasn’t mistaken, it was that one kid, the human fanatic that came around every so often, what was his name… Goops? Whatever.

“Welcome!” She cheered, putting on her most customer friendly voice. Her eyes scanned the two, taking note of the details, specifically the lack of uniforms even though it was a school day. A chill ran up her spine. “What can I interest you two fine Witchlings in today?” Maybe she was hamming it up a little, but she needed something, dang it!

“Um, actually, Miss Owl Lady,” The girl, a stout thing with a friendly look to her, a noticeable amount of fearful respect in her eyes. Normally, Eda would’ve found it amusing, if she didn’t now have a better understanding of WHY Witchlings looked at her like that. She was going to have words with Lily next time they met. “We actually came to see Luz?”

“Yeah! I would normally LOVE to buy one of your treasures,” The Goops kid said with his usual enthusiasm, if not tinged with disappointment. “But we really have some awesome news to share with Luz!!” He certainly rebounded quickly, Eda would give him that.

Eda opened her mouth to reply, only to close it as Luz came walking up, King trotting at her heels. He was doing that weird breathing thing again, something that helped with those crazy spells of his, and wasn’t that a thought! “Hey, Hexsiders!” Luz smirked cheekily as she walked up. “Willow, Gus, what brings you two here? Isn’t it a school day?” She asked.

“Nope, not today!” Willow cheerfully said, Goops nodding along beside her. “The Covention’s today!!” Ugh, that thing!? No wonder the market was abandoned.

“What’s a Covention?” Luz asked, looking confused, and just a bit bored. Eda was never so proud to see a child wilfully dismissive of authority before!!

“It’s when the Covens put on a big expo to show everyone what they can offer!” Gus cheered. He settled down a bit for his next. “We were wondering if you wanted to come with us?”

And there was the moment Eda needed to start intervening! “Oh no!! No tenant of mine is ever going to set foot in that den of conformist propaganda! Coventions are for people who have no ability to question their lot in life and blindly accept whatever crap that authority spoon-feeds them.” She stated firmly. At the affronted looks of the two kids, and Luz’s own flat look of disapproval, Eda huffed, but relented a little. “No offense to you two.” Hey, she wasn’t going to completely back down!

The girl, Willow, Eda thought, shook it off. “Well, maybe coming will help convince you to find a coven to join!” She said trepidatiously, giving a hesitant smile. Now, ordinarily, Eda would’ve used a spell to mess with her for saying that, but after learning what she had about her reputation… she decided to go with a gentler touch.

Eda sighed. “Look kid, there is no possible way I will ever join a Coven. Even if they forced me, I would literally rather die than be in one,” She stated bluntly, steadfastly ignoring the shocked looks her statement provoked. “I don’t know exactly what you kids have been told about me, not fully at least, but there is nothing a coven can offer me that I might want.”

“B-but a Coven gives you a place to belong!” Goops exclaimed.

“Already got one, it’s called my house.” Eda replied, checking her nails.

“It helps you make friends!” Willow followed up.

“I can do that without a Coven, and the kind of people who would be friends with me wouldn’t care if I was in one or not.” Eda said, summoning a file.

““B-But, But!”” The kids stammered.

“Look.” Eda snapped lightly, trying to hold in her temper. “I don’t need to be in a Coven. I am happier without one, and I always will be happier without one. I’m not gonna force my beliefs onto others, however much I might want to sometimes, so the least you two could do is respect mine, okay?” She finished softly. The two meekly nodded.

“I think we should go.” Luz offhandedly mentioned, piping up for the first time since the back and forth started.

“””What!?””” The three shouted, Willow and Gus in glee, Eda in shock.

“Yeah, we’ve got nothing better to do,” Luz shrugged, gesturing to the abandoned market around them, before continuing, “And it gives me an opportunity to check out more of the Isles. And Eda, are you seriously gonna pass up the chance to shake down a bunch of Coven Stands for everything you can get?” She grinned, arching an eyebrow in challenge.

“Using my pride against me, eh?” Eda mused, before snapping her fingers. “Ah nuts, you sold me. But,” she drawled, shooting a look at the two Witchlings, “Absolutely no talk of convincing me to join a Coven, got it?” She said gravely, getting rapid nods from the two. Eh, Eda was willing to milk her worse-than-realized rep for as long as she could.

As the group set off, they were utterly ignorant of the rustling in the trees behind them.

A bloody scream ripped through the Guard’s throat. Why was this happening!? He was just doing his job!! Did these psychos not realize who they were challenging going after a guard like this??

“Quiet.” A gravelly voice, like stone shattering and scraping against steel, drawled from the dark, twisting the knife stabbed into the guard’s ribs. He screamed again, only to be cut off by a hard slap against his mask, so strong he felt his jaw loosen. “We don’t want to hear a peep from you unless it is to answer our questions.”

“DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHAT YOU’RE DOING!?” The Guard demanded, fighting through the pain. “I am a member of the Emperor’s Coven!! If my body turns up with obvious signs of torture like this, the Coven will rip you to shreds for trying to challenge them!!” There… maybe that would get them to comprehend their position!!!

The shadowed group paused, as if in contemplation of his words. Then, one of them snickered, then another, and another. And the entire crowd, a veritable army really, started laughing to the heavens, as if what he had said was the funniest joke in the world, fit only for the Titan’s ears.

“Gilihihihihihi!!” An oily, sickly voice laughed from the shadows. “As if any of these backwater weaklings could challenge us?” A note of hysterical madness crept into the stretched out figure’s voice, when suddenly, his long thin arms darted forward. For a moment, the guard didn’t realize what had happened, until a familiar wetness dripped down his palm. He screamed. Giggling, the figure stretched his hand out of the shadows; resting in his palm, were four of the guard’s severed fingers, ripped directly off his hand. The figure lightly tossed the digits up and down… and threw them back down his gullet, a sick laugh ripping out of his throat after he finished swallowing and chewing the bits.

“Now, now, we need him alive to answer our questions, gentlemen.” Another voice peaked out of the dark, this one smooth, polite, and as cold as the coldest nights on the Knee. “We wouldn’t want him to feel stubborn enough to deny us, now would we?” The cold voice chided, getting solemn nods from the other two figures nearest to the guard, almost like children being scolded by their parent. “Now, my good man, we’ve been at this for hours! You’ve resisted our attempts at bribery, even spat into the faces of my soldiers. Why, we even had to remove that left eye of yours to make you realize we weren’t bluffing!” He proclaimed, holding up the eye in question, the guard’s own familiar tawny coloring staring back at him. The figure bent down, smirking. “Now, just tell us what we wish to know, and your suffering will come to an end, okay? Otherwise…” he sighed, gesturing to the chuckling figures behind him, many hoisting up cruel instruments, such as hooks and skinning knives, all aimed towards him. “We’ll have to use you as a message for the next guard.” He finished ominously.

“N-next!?” The guard whimpered, finally realizing they were willing to kill him, to torture him to death for what they wanted to know. And just like that, all the wind left his sails, his resistance crumbled. “I’ll tell you.” He whispered. “Anything I know. Ask away. If I know, I will tell you.”

“Good.” The figure smirked. As he rapidly rattled off his questions, gesturing to his cohorts to record the guard’s answers, his smirk grew more and more as the guard answered in detail. About the Covention. About the special guest. About all the people who came to see it. About what it meant for the Emperor’s Coven. “Thank you, my good man.” He sincerely stated. Then, without preamble, he slashed his dagger across the guard’s throat, relishing the shocked horror and betrayal as the life fled his eyes as his blood poured down his front. He could even divine the question. Why? “I said your suffering would end.” He whispered to the soon-to-be-corpse. “I never said you would live.” And with that, a look of utter despair coated the foolish guard’s eyes… and they turned lifeless.

Tossing his knife to the figure who had eaten the guards fingers, ignoring the sound of the blood being licked off the blade, he calmly ordered his men to move, the large group mobilizing around him. As they exited the dilapidated castle they had appropriated from the recent demise of that rotten Octopus, he grinned in satisfaction as strategically placed flames went off, consuming the structure, and any trace he and his organization were ever there. ‘We shall devour this world.’ He thought, chuckling darkly. ‘And not even their precious Titan and Emperor will be able to stand against us.’