#and that's why his father blinded him and threw him into the dungeon

[queerdeans]

Catch me, I'm falling — a Suptober ficlet

Summary:

When Cas falls from Heaven, Dean tears up the earth to find him.

So blind I can't see I am descending From heaven above So catch me I'm fallin baby

— Catch Me, I’m Falling by Pretty Poison

There’s the hunger. The cold. The way the pavement stares up at him, wet from the recently-fallen rain. There’s the feeling of being hunted. A constant creeping in his bones. His skin slick with near-panic. His muscles, ready to run at any time.

Castiel wonders if this is how Dean has always felt. He wonders if this, perhaps, is why Dean – his human – acts the way he does.

As much time as he’s spent watching the humans, living among them these past years, he wasn’t prepared to become one. Their needs are immense, their emotions so strange – stuck in his throat, confused. He is unable to tangle all of them, though he knows this main one from seeing it painted across Dean’s features – fear.

He finds himself clothes. He finds a city, a place where he can be discreet. He tells himself that he is safer here; warding tattoo on his body, faces in the crowd, faces into which his might melt.

He steals a sandwich from a trash can behind a restaurant. He sits on a stoop. He watches the street, the people who walk by. He wonders how they do it.

Sam’s taken care of.

Sort of.

It’s good enough for Dean. He can only handle one emergency at a time. He’s got Sam and his inner angel stuffed in the bunker, ready to rest up, and Crowley’s been chained up in the dungeon — with a good warning that the next time Dean sees him, there’ll be hell to pay, to which Crowley had asked, “Promise?”

He throws some clothes into his duffel and he’s in the Impala before he knows it. There’s no rest for the weary, right? The tires squeal as he hits the road.

The best he has is where he last heard from Cas; Longmont, Colorado, he’d said. So Dean heads there, taking the interstate, pushing 100 the whole way. He stops only for gas and a quick gas station coffee; pumps it into his body like he can go forever if he just keeps caffeinated, keeps the fuel level up, keeps on driving. Like maybe it won’t matter that the angels fell. Maybe it won’t matter that Sammy’s dying, held together by an angel Dean’s just hoping he can trust. Maybe it won’t matter that the gates of Hell remain just that: gates, not a locked door.

Once in Colorado, Dean follows the trail. He’s good at this. It’s what his father trained him to do his whole damn life: follow the trail. Whether it’s a monster or an angel or – well, a human – he knows the questions to ask, he knows what to look for. He dons a suit, flashes his badge, gets the security tapes he needs, scours footage. He gets license plate records. He drinks more coffee, splashes cold water on his face in a public restroom. Keep going, Winchester. He scowls at anyone who smiles at him on the street, snaps at those just trying to help.

He follows Cas’s footprints to a laundromat. The owner says yeah, there was a guy with a trenchcoat, he’d left it there and stolen some clothes. “Threw out the coat, it was filthy, wasn’t gonna donate it,” the owner says. Dean climbs into the dumpster himself to retrieve the coat. He carted it from car to car for so long; he’s not fucking leaving it now.

He follows his angel, his human, whatever Cas is now, all the way to a city.

He flashes Cas’s photo to everyone he sees, he gets closer and closer, he gets hopeful – and finally, he finds him.

Dean’s running on fumes, two days without sleep wearing his body thin, and when he sees Cas sitting on the back stoop of a restaurant, halfway down an alley, he stops the Impala and rubs his eyes. Is he seeing shit now?

But no, it’s him. Cas. He’s wearing ill-fitting clothes, certainly a far cry from the trenchcoat and suit. Dean doesn’t care, though; he gets out of the Impala and runs to him, to where Cas is sitting in the cold and dark, eating a sandwich.

“Cas,” he says, embracing him, pressing his face against Cas’s shoulder. And he stinks a little – like Cas doesn’t know humans need showers, or maybe he hasn’t had the chance for one – but he’s there, he’s corporeal, he’s…

He’s shivering.

“Cas, man, you good, you okay?” Dean asks, sitting down on the step next to him, one arm still wrapped loosely around his shoulders. The night is cold, and the streetlight above them is on the fritz – no demon activity, just normal old faulty wiring.

And they’re just two people – two humans, sitting together on a stoop.

“I’m fine, Dean,” Cas says, and he looks tired, too, his eyes drawn downwards, dark bags beneath them. “You didn’t have to come. You’ve been dealing with–”

“I’m here,” Dean cuts him off. Yes, he’s been dealing with a lot. But Cas is, well, completely unequipped to live as a human. Guy’s used to flying around and being mysterious, to never completing conversations and speaking vaguely about Heaven’s orders – what does he know about renting a motel room, about swiping a wallet when times get really tough?

Dean’s known hunger. He’s known desperation. He won’t let Cas face that alone.

“You should be with Sam,” Cas replies, looking down at his sandwich for a moment as if the object is foreign to him.

“Yeah, but I’m here. Sam’s good, he’s… he’s good.” Dean doesn’t want to get into it. Doesn’t want to risk Cas’s disapproval for the choice he made. He was desperate; he did what he had to do. He did his fucking best, like he always does.

“And you?” Cas turns his eyes on him. Startling blue, just as ever, but there is a glint behind them, perhaps a bit of water – perhaps Cas is crying, or about to.

“I’m good,” Dean says, waving a hand. He wasn’t the one who went through the trials. He wasn’t the one who nearly died. He wasn’t the one who fell from Heaven.

He’s fine.

“Let’s get you inside, get you warmed up,” Dean says, standing up and offering a hand to help Cas stand as well. Cas takes it with reluctance, his eyes failing to meet Dean’s.

****

When Castiel first met Dean, he could see right through him. This was when Castiel was pure angel; there as nothing else in him. He hadn’t met a human in well over a millennia, hadn’t interfered with human affairs at all. He’d spent his time with the armies of Heaven. He was a soldier, when he met Dean.

But Dean was expressive. More so than the humans around him. Perhaps it was because he was Castiel’s charge, but Castiel always felt he could see and understand what was going on beneath Dean’s surface. He could see into the core of him; he had the ability to sense whether something was wrong, whether Dean was injured or sick, and what was more, he had the ability to heal him. Many times, he’d done so, fixing up things that Dean didn’t know were broken – like that liver of his.

Now, as Dean’s showing him the hot and cold water knobs on the motel shower, Castiel is only looking at Dean.

“So usually, if you turn this even an inch to the left, whole thing gets cold,” Dean’s saying, a self-proclaimed motel shower expert. He tells Cas that motels across the whole country are essentially the same, that he’ll teach him the tricks of the trade.

Castiel touches his hand to Dean’s shoulder and Dean jumps, turns his face toward him. “What, what are you doin’?” he asks.

“It’s just strange. I can feel you…” Castiel rubs his thumb across the fabric of Dean’s shirt. “But I can’t feel you . Not how I used to.”

Dean looks sideways, back toward the knobs, the faucet, and says, “Yeah, okay, big guy. Let’s get you showered off. You stink.”

The shower is a strange sensation. Castiel has never been so connected to his vessel; though it is no longer a vessel at all. Now it’s just… his body. He has washed it before, though he has never had to pay as close attention to the temperature of the water, to its ebb and flow, to the slickness of the soap across his skin. It’s sensitive. The water burns if he twitches the knob too far in the wrong direction.

When he’s finished, he steps out into the room, forgetting the towel. He stands there dripping wet and sees Dean rooting around in his duffel bag.

Dean glances over at him, holding up a flannel shirt, and then looks away quickly. “Whoa, man! Hey!”

Castiel glances down at himself and it’s only then, only in that moment – he finally understands what Adam and Eve felt in the garden. They’d rushed to cover their bodies with leaves. Castiel had frowned from Heaven at the time, watching in confusion as they covered themselves, covered God’s own creation in shame.

Now, he hurries to do the same. He grabs the towel from its hook and wraps it around his waist as he’s seen Dean do, only it doesn’t quite work the same way, it’s not as easy as it’d looked. He’s fumbling with it when Dean’s hand catches his; he’s approached, and Castiel stills. Dean takes hold of the towel and tucks it into itself, pulling it tight around Castiel’s waist. His fingers ghost across Castiel’s hips.

“You’ve got a lot to learn,” Dean says, his eyes looking up to find Castiel’s. “But you got a good teacher, too.”

Castiel feels something low in himself burning, and he turns away, knowing this too is connected to shame. Dean clears his throat. “I have clothes for you,” he says. “You can just wear mine, we’re not so different in size. We can get you your own tomorrow.”

Castiel takes what he’s offered and gets dressed; when he looks at himself in the mirror, he sees Dean – the flannel shirt, the jeans that he’s seen Dean sleeping in more often than not.

“It’s not the most comfortable, but it’s better than what you had,” Dean explains, rooting around in his bag once again and producing a toothbrush and toothpaste. “Now, you’re gonna have to use mine, okay? We’ll go to the drug store in the morning.”

Castiel frowns at the toothbrush. The way Dean says it, that he’ll have to use his, sounds like there should be shame involved with that, too. How many aspects of human must involve shame? But he takes it, examines it for a moment.

“Don’t tell me I’m gonna have to teach you to brush,” Dean jokes, handing over the toothpaste tube as well.

“No, I… I believe I can figure it out,” Castiel replies.

In the bathroom, he brushes his teeth and then splashes water on his face as he’s seen Dean do so many times. He grips the edge of the sink and looks at himself, really examines his features. His . Jimmy’s, his – he feels as though he’s been crammed into something too small for him, something ill-fitting.

When he emerges into the room, Dean’s cleared his bags off both beds. He’s sliding the demon knife beneath his own pillow and he holds his pistol out for Castiel to take. “Here. Just a little protection. Never sleep unarmed.”

Castiel takes the gun in his hand and mimics Dean’s movements with the other bed; he slides it beneath the pillow and pulls back the covers. As he lays down, bringing them up over himself, his teeth chatter, loud in the quiet. He’s still cold, despite Dean’s shirt, despite the covers.

****

After shooting off a quick text to Sam to let him know he’s found Cas and they’re both okay, Dean reaches over to turn off the lamp. He pauses when he sees Cas’s back facing him, the undeniable rise and fall of a human body shivering.

He pulls the little cord to turn out the light and comes to lay flat, staring up at the stained ceiling. He’s done what he can – he gave him clothes, let him shower, let him use his damn toothbrush. But he feels uneasy. As much as he hates the day-to-day actions of being human, the little aches and pains that come with it, the neverending need to eat, use the bathroom, and sleep (the latter of which he desperately needs to do right now), he’s used to them.

Cas is… well, he’s a celestial being, he’s eternal – he used to be – and now… well, now he has to piss and shit like the rest of them.

Dean pushes his covers off himself and gets up. It’s only a step to the other bed. He nudges Cas’s form with his hand, and he can tell that Cas is already halfway asleep, though his body still shivers beneath the covers.

Dean pulls them back enough to slip underneath them, bringing his body to wrap around Cas’s, his arm coming up over Cas’s side. He presses his lips to Cas’s hair and breathes in the smell of the cheap shampoo. His eyelids fall closed, and after a few moments, Cas stops trembling and drops into a deep sleep, his body relaxing back against Dean’s.

It’s not long before Dean’s sleeping too, the difficulty of the past few days melting away from him as he falls into unconsciousness.

[darklinsblog]

Destiny’s Cruel Joke | Sandman Imagine

Summary: Years into his imprisonment, Morpheus realizes the daughter of Alex Burgess is his soulmate, so as a punishment he decides to take her prisoner.

Pairing: Dark! Morpheus x Burgess! Reader

Requested: Yes

Morpheus had always been a part of your life, growing up you would always sneak away into the dungeon and visit whom you would call Bubble Man.

Sometimes you would only sit right in front of him and you would stare at each other for hours until the security guards called your Alex or Paul to get you out of there.

The Endless watched you grow into this beautiful woman that would confide in him, even when he didn’t say a word. Maybe that was just it, because of his lack words you saw in him a twisted safe place, even through his intense stare and the mixture of blinding seek of revenge towards your family, the last thing he would do was judge you.

He felt neutral about you, he didn’t hate you, you were actually the one person of the Burgess family he would empathize with.

In all his years of imprisonment he had one important discovery, and it was that you, Y/N Burgess were his soulmate. For a long time he had been searching for you, for you to be a Burgess seemed to be a cruel joke of Destiny, even though in retrospect, Destiny was not the type to make jokes.

Finally Morpheus was able to break free from his prison, you ran to see what was going on and you stumbled upon the sight of two guards passed out and the Bubble Man completely bare and raging.

The man approached you, grabbing your wrist so hard, you felt like it would snap in two. “You’re coming with me” he spoke firmly, even when you tried to break free from his grasp but it was useless.

You tried to scream out for help from your parents, anyone. But Morpheus threw you over his shoulder and dragged you into the portal just as your father Paul appeared but it was too late as you both disappeared in a flash.

When you arrived to the Dreaming he kept you away while he went on with his quest in search for his totems.

As he came back to the realm, he came to your room with a big box he left at the side of your bed. You looked at each other, there was an indescribable tension between the two of you, a magnetism.

“Get changed and join me” he demanded

“Why would I do anything you say?” You defied him and he would lie if he said it didn’t arouse him, in a unorthodox way.

“Because you no longer have a life outside this palace, you may want to get used to it”

That was the last thing he said before leaving your dorm, he hated how empty he felt in your absence, the curious thing about soulmates is how your life seems to change once they enter.

You had to admit with time Morpheus intrigued you, although you put some resistance, the Lord of Dreams was an incredibly complex being but every time you felt like a some sort of affection towards him, his behaviors would confuse you.

Sometimes, that hard exterior of his would fade, you would have certain moments were things felt right between you, but as soon as you started to get more intimate or you were too close to one another, he would completely shut down again, leaving you frustrated.

Until one day, you were having a discussion as one of his nightmares put you in a dangerous situation, he had secluded you to your room with him as you were having a pretty heated discussion.

“You could’ve died! Do you not see that?!” Morpheus exclaimed

“Why do you care so much? You can’t even hold a conversation with me for five minutes before running off!” Morpheus was going back an forth in the room, uneasy, angry, frustrated. Like a tea pot that had been under the heat for too long and was ready to burst.

“Believe me Y/N, I have tried not to but it is beyond me” he explained the best he could, but you wouldn’t have it. So you stood up two inches away from his face, practically breathing on him. He hate to admit it, but he was weak when it came down to you, he was aroused by your constant question to his authority.

“I deserve a fair fucking explanation. Why do you still have me here? You could just let me go, be done with all this bother I seem to cause you”

Morpheus looked into your eyes, you were so close to him your noses were almost grazing each other, he could even feel your warmth, your scent, he could see every mark and blemish on your face. His whole body was screaming your name, he was dying to touch you as his breathing got heavier.

He couldn’t bare this torture a minute longer… so he grabbed you and pushed you against the wall and as your back crashed the solid surface so did his lips when finding yours.

It wasn’t a sweet, innocent kiss; no. This was a desperate, hungry, passionate kiss. So much that you could barely breathe.

This was the kiss of a man that had been trying to get rid of his feelings and those feelings were eating him alive.

A part of you thought this was wrong, it was perverse and obscure to be with the one responsible for taking your life away and torturing your parents.

But why did you reciprocate his actions? Why were you feeling the same hunger and lust this man felt for you?

After what seemed like an eternity, Morpheus pulled away and he stared at your rosy cheeks and plump lips as a result of your kiss.

“You are a Burgess, your family ruined my kingdom and your world out of greed. But you too are my soulmate Y/N Burgess” you blinked a few times, trying to understand what he was saying

“Your soulmate?” It was the only thing you were able to say, suddenly a lot of things made sense but that opened a new cascade of questions.

“Yes. I’ve tried to escape this countless times, but I can’t and it’s been killing me to deny the truth”

“What truth, Morpheus?”

“That I am meant to love you as you are meant to love me” he was looking at you so intensely it was scary, he seemed to want to run away again as he reincorporated.

“Why are you running from me?” You asked as you grabbed his wrists, you wouldn’t let him get away so easily this time. So he was forced to stare at you, he was trembling, he just wanted to succumb, but his conflicted mind was imposing his desires.

“Because I can only contain myself for so long. I fear that if I stay I might lose the few lapsus of decorum I have” the tension was unbearable, the air was dense and Morpheus couldn’t even look at you anymore.

“Fuck decorum” you said before going in for a kiss, he practically groaned in delight like an animal when he gave into you, he was getting his hands on any skin he was able to grasp, making you weak to your knees.

“Are you sure you want this?” He asked, you nodded, not trusting your own voice. “I need you to say it, Y/N”

“Fuck me” it was all you were capable of saying.

After that, Morpheus went feral on you, he kissed your neck, ripped your dress as he removed your underwear and in no time he was already inside you thrusting into you with such force he was practically fucking the absolute life out of you.

You could only moan and scream out of pleasure as you dig your nails into his shoulder and he pressed your thigh on his waist, giving him a power over you as he was able to sink deeper inside you. Your whole body was shaking as you were brutally fucked, drunken on the sensation of him and only him.

He loved this, having you like this, being inside you with such sloppiness and urgency, this wasn’t gentle or sweet, him taking you right in this moment was a barbaric act filled with adrenaline, it was the act of a man taking a woman in the most primal way.

This was about pleasure, not about rationality of moral. You were both so tired of overthinking everything, that for the first time you allowed yourself to indulge in your darkest desires.

You would worry about the rest, later.

But for now, you were together and the whole world could burn in the meantime.

[xmarchwarden-of-lothlorienx]

A World Away

Thranduil x fem!human!reader

Requested: Anonymous

Summary: “I want a modern reader thrown into mirkwood forest. Found and thrown into a cell by thranduil. During an escape attempt reader sees an animal and decides to rescue an animal and get caught by thranduil. He takes an interest and reader is treated as a guest. Thranduil starts falling for her and sends her to live with humans. “What did i do? Why are you sending me away?” And then during the battle of five armies she meets with thranduil again and fluff”

Warnings: a little swearing (like twice)

Authors Note: Splitting this into two parts so everyone can suffer (joking lol)

Edit: Not me trying to schedule this and realizing it didn’t post 🤦🏻‍♂️

__________________________________________

With every step, you could hear your heart pounding in your ears. Your adrenaline rush prevented you from noticing the sharp briars that tore at your skin and clothes. You could worry about that later. Your only concern now was making it out of this forest.

You had planned your escape from the Elvenkings dungeon for weeks. Today, the opportunity to put your plan into action had finally arisen. As you dodged fallen logs and low hanging branches, you thought of how you came to be here in the first place.

Your head was throbbing as you came to. You attempted opening your eyes, but the bright sunlight forced you to close them again. You could hear strange voices speaking in a foreign tongue. You attempted to move your hands, but they were bound. Forcing your eyes open a second time, you took in your unfamiliar surroundings.

You were in a forest, surrounded by men and women dressed in strange clothes. All of them had long hair that was intricately braided, revealing their...pointy ears? Okay, what on earth was happening here.

“Excuse me, but who are you people? Why am I here?” You voiced. One with blonde hair, you assumed he was their leader, snapped his head towards you.

“You were trespassing on our lands. You are now in the custody of King Thranduil. He shall decide your fate” You gulped. Oh lord, what had you done now?

You were ripped away from your thoughts when you tripped over something in your way.

“Shit!” You hissed at the pain now shooting up your leg. You turned and looked at what had caused you to fall. A small fawn lay trembling at your feet. It didn’t appear injured, but your conscience wouldn’t let you leave until you checked. You extended a hand to the fawn, but it flinched away. “C’mon, I won’t hurt you. I promise,” you reassured. As you were checking the animal over, the sound of a sword being drawn reached your ears. You turned to see the tall figure now standing behind you. You recognized him as one of the guards that had taken you prisoner when you arrived at this miserable place.

“I see we didn’t get very far,” the elf said sarcastically. You dropped your head in defeat.

“Damn my good conscience,” you thought.

___

The first time you were before the Elvenking, he had been perched atop his throne. This time, you met him in his private study. He was seated in a large chair, sipping a glass of rich red wine. He appeared unbothered. You weren’t sure if anything could sway him.

“Leave us,” he commanded the guards placed at the doors. He took another long drink of his wine, then placed it on the table beside him. Neither of you spoke, and the silence was deafening. Thranduil took a deep breath and gestured to the seat adjacent from him, ”Sit.”

You obeyed, the large plush seat nearly swallowing you. You fiddled with your hands-noting that they had been left unbound this time.

“Do you have any idea what the punishment is for those that try to escape my prison?” He questioned. You shook your head in response, not trusting your voice to remain steady. “A more barbaric king would likely have you put to death.” Thranduil noticed you becoming more anxious. “But do not worry, I don’t plan on doing such a thing.”

“O-Oh?” You stuttered.

“You must be quite clever to have out maneuvered my guards,” Thranduil continued as he poured another glass of wine. “It was surprising to learn that your escape failed because you stopped to help a fawn.”

“It wasn’t my greatest decision,” you admitted.

“Perhaps, but I think it’s ultimately been in your favor,” Thranduil hummed.

“What do you mean?” You questioned.

“What I mean is that I’ve reconsidered my original sentence. I believe I may have been quick to judge when you were first brought before me,” Thranduil paused. “I hear of all the happenings in this forest. Humans are typically uncaring of those around them. Despite your situation, you stopped to help another in need of aid. Quite a noble trait to possess, yes?”

“Yes, I suppose,” you replied. You had never considered yourself noble before. Helping others had always felt like the right thing to do.

“If it would be no trouble, I should like you to remain in Mirkwood-as my guest.” There it was. The point that this conversation had been leading to.

“I-Really?” You exclaimed. Just when you thought you were starting to understand how this world worked, you were blind sided once again.

“If you have family you would rather return to, I understand. We would be more than willing to supply you for your journey-“

“Oh, no,” you cut him off (which surprised him). “It’s not that. I just wasn’t expecting it is all. I appreciate the offer, and I totally except.” You were glad to finally move on from being a prisoner. The treatment in Thranduils dungeon was alright, but a prison is still a prison after all.

“Well, then,” said Thranduil, pouring a second glass of wine. “Let’s drink to the hope of newfound friendship,” he offered the glass to you. You accepted and raised your glass to him. A possible friendship with the king? Oh, this was going to be a story to tell.

___

Life in Mirkwood was very pleasant; spending your days exploring the endless gardens and library. You would share dinner with Thranduil once a week. Then twice a week. Then soon you would dine together most nights. You noticed how interested he was in your life-both before you came to Middle Earth and now.

What you didn’t notice were the whispers between the elves. Since the death of his queen, the king had been closed off. Now, he was showing such favoritism to a human woman. Sharing dinner with her. Strolling through the gardens together. Gifting her with clothes and her own dwelling. It wasn’t until Legolas brought it up did Thranduil notice how fond he had become of you.

“Ada?” Legolas asked one day.

“Yes?” Thranduil replied as he leafed through paperwork.

“I’ve seen you’ve become quite partial to (Y/N),” said Legolas.

“Hm, I suppose I have,” Thranduil paused from his work.

“Do you think you may have...romantic feelings for her?” Legolas hesitated before asking.

Thranduils eyes widened at what his son had said. “O-Of course not! Honestly, Legolas, I don’t see why you would say such things!” Legolas gave his father a look and turned to leave.

“If you say so,” Legolas teased before closing the door behind him.

Thranduil pondered over what Legolas had said. Yes-he could see it now. He had slowly become wrapped around your little fingers. Falling for you so slowly he didn’t even notice. He wanted to feel joy-could he have found a second companion at last? But he couldn’t help the guilt that clawed at his stomach. Many elves only married once. Though his wife was deceased, her soul still lingered in the Halls of Mandos. What then? Should he do you both a disservice and pursue his newfound love? Thranduil stood and paced the room, thinking of what he should do. Finally, he called to the guards outside the room. He had made his decision.

“How may we serve you, My King.”

“Tell Lady (Y/N) to pack her things. She must be gone by daybreak tomorrow. She is not to step foot in the Woodland Realm again, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

Thranduil felt sick. This was for your own good, he kept telling himself. To be with you would only hurt you both. It had to be this way.

___

You wiped away your tears as you packed. You didn’t understand. Mirkwood was your home. Thranduil had become your closest friend, but now he was banishing you? You thought the Elvenking liked you, even entertained the thought that he more than liked you, but not now. Now you felt foolish. Of course it would never work. He was a stupidly handsome immortal king. You were a human girl from a different world.

You threw the last of your belongings into your bag. The guards escorted you out of the castle. Before the cart you were placed upon moved, you took one last look at the kingdom, trying to absorb every detail. The coachman urged the horses forward, and that was it. You would never see Thranduil again. As night fell, so did your tears.

Little did you know, you weren’t the only one who cried that night.

Tags: @themerriweathermage

[kerie-prince]

black hair dye

George Weasley x Reader (fluff)

requested: (anon) hello! i was wondering if i could request? could u write george x reader, established relationship, him n fred are getting rlly into pranks (more than they usually would be i suppose) and one prank goes just a tad too far and reader ends up getting upset and hurt and fluff ensues :) i hope that’s alright, thank u sm! :)

warnings: use of the word "mudblood"

summary: you knew what you signed up for when you started dating one of the most devious (yet sweetest) boys in school. what you didn't sign up for was to get caught up in one of their devious plans

a/n: my first request since i started writing again 🥺💙 hope you guys like it!

(gif cred)

George Weasley loved two things: Y/N and pranking. In that order? Well, we’ll get to that later.

The mischievous smirk on his face, the dedication in planning, the certain glint in his eyes, and the contagious laughter from the aftermath had been some of the reasons you fell for the devilish Gryffindor boy.

On a couple occasions, you’ve assisted in some pranks with the twins. Your favorite one being the time that you had given Draco Malfoy a heart-shaped box of chocolates on Valentine’s day, chocolates that were actually puking pasties the twins made. You skipped across the hallways and stood in front of the Slytherin blond, twirling your hair in your fingers as you gave him the box and walked away. Madam Pomfrey had spent three hours helping him clear everything out of his system. That same day, George presented you with his own box of chocolates. It took a while to convince you that they were real chocolates, but once you decided on risking it, he asked you out. It was oddly romantic. Not just because it was Valentine's day, but that he asked you after doing probably the least romantic thing together. Not many girls dream of their crush asking them out after they just sent another boy emptying his guts out for hours.

That brought you to the present, in the Common Room studying for exams with Angelina and Hermione. Slughorn may have been significantly nicer and easier to follow compared to Snape, but that didn’t make his work any easier. As you had your nose in your book, hushed whispers and the familiar laugh that had indication of scheming flowed through your ears. The ginger boy walked towards you and placed a quick kiss on your forehead, “I'll see you later, love.”

Fred and George made a dash to their shared dorm with Lee. “They're at it again,” Angelina commented with her eyes still on the parchment in front of her.

“That's to say that they ever stopped,” Hermione jokes. There was no telling what the boys were planning this time. It seemed that with every prank, they had to outdo themselves in the next one. Like a competition only between the two of them.

As they were in their final year at Hogwarts, you always wondered if George would ever retire from pranking and go on to do other things after graduation. But you also couldn't imagine him doing anything else. There were talks of opening a shop after graduation thanks to Harry giving them his winnings from the Triwizard Tournament, but to your knowledge nothing has been set in stone. George was always happy when coming up with pranks, and when George is happy, so are you.

You read the time on your wrist watch and started packing your things. “Alright girls, I'm beat. We’ll meet tomorrow in the library, yeah?” the two girls nodded in your direction. Walking towards the girls dormitories, you could hear the twins and Lee laughing loudly from their room. Oh, boys.

—

In the Great Hall, you ate your breakfast as you read over your notes for Advanced Potions when George took his usual seat next to you. “Good morning my sweet.” He kissed your forehead as he did every morning. You tore your eyes away for a moment from the book to give him a smile and peck his lips. “Morning, love.”

“Studying as always, Y/N?” Fred asked from across. “‘Course I am. Someone has to be able to tell you what ingredients to use to make a stink bomb,” you teased. Your surrounding housemates laughed at your response. Fred and George went on whispering, presumably about their new plan. You and Angelina looked at each other with a nod of disapproval and laughed to yourselves. Moments later, Lee ran in the Great Hall carrying two bottles, one empty and one filled with a black substance.

“What are you planning now?” you interrogated. Lee and Fred gave George a nod for him to go on. “This, my love, is black hair dye. Muggles use it to color their hair.”

“Yeah, I know what hair dye is. Why do you have it- are you going to mix it with Ron’s shampoo?” your eyes nearly matched the mischievous look in the boys’ eyes around you.

“I like the way you think but no,” George replied.

“This dye is going into none other than Malfoy’s shampoo.” Fred completed. The twins went on talking back and forth completing each other’s sentences.

“Lee’s the only one that has access to the prefect’s bathroom,” George started.

“Considering that McGonagall doesn’t trust us to go in there.” Angelina scoffed, “I can’t imagine why.” The twins ignored her sarcastic remark and continued. “We’re going to steal his shampoo and replace it with the one we made with the black hair dye. He’ll go washing on and,”

“Blondie no more.” Lee completed. You could imagine it now, Malfoy walking around with greasy black hair. This would probably be Fred and George’s most devious plan. They have had their fun with setting random fireworks, hexing quills to move on their own, and candies that had some not so pleasant after effects. The more you thought about it, though, the more worried you became. The three of you had detention for weeks from the last stunt with Malfoy, and his father still holds the grudge against Arthur. Something like this would not only get them in detention until the end of the school year, Lucius could use his position at the Ministry to get Arthur fired.

It seemed as if your best friend had the same thought seeing as she had the same look on her face. “Love, don’t you think that’s a bit too much?” Angelina faced Fred.

“Nonsense. We got this handled.” The boys went on with their fun. You stood up from the table and gathered your things. Angelina joined you, not wanting to risk being associated with the boys and landing herself in detention along with them if they were to be caught. You walked arm-in-arm to the library where you’d surely find Hermione with a huge stack of books. “Boys,” your best friend simply said.

“Yeah, but what would we do without them?”

—

A week has passed since and it was now the night before your Potions exam. You hadn’t seen much of your boyfriend, knowing that he was being kept busy with his brother. As much as you love spending time with him, it was nice to get some work done. You had determination to get straight O’s for your last year and you were confident this exam would help you get it. The library was closing its doors soon, so you quickly grabbed all your things to make it back to the Gryffindor common room in time.

Your ink pot spilled over the table in the midst of the rush. Somewhere in your bag was a little package of tissues and you used the whole thing to try and clean up as much as you could. The ink was staining your hands but you could care less about it. Deciding that the ink was mostly wiped off, you ran out the doors and made a straight dash to your house.

Once you made it to your shared dorm room, you tossed your bag to the side and threw yourself on your bed and fell asleep in seconds.

—

The morning came and you groaned at the sunlight blinding your eyes. Your uniform was wrinkled up, hair pointed at every direction, and your breath was enough to get you up and out of bed. The girls around you laughed at the sight of your unruly state.

“Y/N, what is that on your hands?” Angelina chuckled.

“Just some ink. I spilled my pot in the library and tried to clean it,” you answered. In the shared bathroom, you casted a spell for your toothbrush to move around your mouth as you tried to wash off the ink. Unfortunately, it wasn’t letting up. The black ink was clinging to your skin and only seemed to be spreading around even more. It was starting to stain the porcelain sink when you decided that you’ll just deal with it for the day.

You bathed yourself, changed into fresh robes and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. Potions would be the first class of the day and you were confident in yourself to pass the exam. Before you could step into the Hall, someone grabbed you from their collar and dragged you to the opposite. “You’re coming with me, mudblood.” You couldn’t see who it was as their hood was covering their head, but the hand on you had the familiar silver ring on one of the fingers.

You questioned him as he dragged you to the dungeons. He forced you into Snape’s office, catching the professor’s attention with the slam of the door. You stood confused as to why you were brought to Snape’s office and it seemed he was confused as well. When you turned around to the boy behind you, you were met with a black-haired, red-faced Malfoy. His nostrils were flared and he had stains around his forehead and the back of his neck. You couldn’t help yourself when you started cackling at the sight.

“SHE DID THIS TO ME,” Malfoy accused with a pointed finger at you. Your laughs were dying down, and as you caught your breath, you faced him boldly. “Please, I have better things to do than petty things such as this.” He walked up to you and forcibly grabbed your hands and raised them to show Snape. “Look at this! This is clear proof she did this. Do something about this!” He demanded from the brooding professor. You had panic in your eyes as you realized the situation you were in. The ink on your skin matched with the dye in Malfoy’s hair.

“Professor, I swear I didn’t do this. You have to believe me,” you pleaded. Snape seemed unamused by the whole thing. “Then, Miss Y/L/N, how do you explain the stains on your hands?”

“I spilled my ink pot last night and tried to clean it up but it stained my hands,” you waved your hands in front of you. The situation was coincidental but even you thought it sounded suspicious.

“Rubbish, you expect me to believe that you happened to ‘clean up spilled ink’ the same night this happens to me?” Malfoy was raging as he pointed to his head. “My father will hear about this,” the famous words fell from his lips. In the middle of it all, you looked at the clock above Snape’s head and saw that you were now ten minutes late to Slughorn’s class. You were missing the exam.

“Please, professor. I didn’t do this. I’ve been in the library every night studying,” you continued begging.

“Were you with anyone last night to prove your innocence?” Snape put emphasis in his last word. You looked down and held your hands in front of you. “No, sir.”

“Then what am I to make when one of my students comes in looking like,” he paused to look at Malfoy, “that and your hands are in the state it is now?”

“But I didn’t do it,” you whispered with watered eyes.

“Alright. If you didn’t do it, then who did?” You couldn’t throw your boyfriend under the bus at that moment. Him and his brother were already on thin ice with the pretentious Slytherin. This would just make it worse. “I-I can’t tell you,” you stuttered.

“You can’t or you won’t?” Snape persisted. You stood silently, having counted that you were now thirty minutes late to class and there was no way you would be able to retake it. Slughorn was unusually strict about one thing; tardiness. “Very well then. If you won’t tell me, I’ll have no choice but to give you detention for three months,” Snape declared.

Your eyes nearly fell out in shock, “THREE MONTHS?” Malfoy had the biggest smirk on his face and his arms were crossed in victory. “And you’ll be responsible for putting his hair back to its natural state. Now get out.” He ushered you two out harshly and slammed his door in your face when you tried to plead.

The Slytherin boy just chuckled as he raised his hood and pranced away. The tears were falling from your eyes. You leaned against the wall with your head leaned back. Plans of straight O’s were out the window, but that’s not what really upset you. What worried you was having to deal with the wrath of Lucius Malfoy once he caught wind of this. And even with all this, you couldn’t bring yourself to be mad at George. It’s not like he spilled the ink on your hands.

You walked straight to your house with your head sulked down. When you started climbing the changing stairs, you heard your boyfriends’ laugh from above. “Y/N! Have you seen Malfoy yet? Godric, he looks terrible!” Fred gave him a high-five, “We did it again, Georgie.”

George’s laughter faded when he saw your tired face, tears dried on your cheeks. He cupped your cheek with his large hand and lifted your face up to look at him, “Love, what’s wrong? Did the exam not go well?”

“Got detention. I missed the exam,” you explained. Your voice sounded tired and all you wanted was to lay in your room for the rest of the day. You didn’t care about your other classes. “Detention? For what?” Fred asked from behind George. You lifted one of your hands and babbled ‘Malfoy’ before slipping past and walked inside the common room. The boys looked at each other in confusion before putting two and two together and made a dash for you inside.

“That’s ridiculous, you weren’t even a part of it this time,” George exclaimed. Fred non verbally agreed. They were appalled. “Did you tell them you didn't do it?”

“I did but when Snape asked who did, I couldn’t tell him,” you lowered your voice so they couldn't hear the last. But George did. Because of him, you missed out on the exam you have been desperately studying for and you got in trouble for something he did.

George left your room in a huff and started marching his way to Snape’s office. He couldn't hear Fred calling out for him, and you lost your breath from chasing after him. Damn those long legs.

—

Around dinner time, George walked into the Great Hall with one hand holding on to his shoulder as he moved the opposite one in circles. “What’s up with you?” Ron asked with raised eyebrows.

“Snape’s got me organizing his potions in both his office and supply closet. Man can’t organize to save his life,” George may have been uncomfortable, but he still had his signature smile. You reached your hands to massage his shoulder. “Why’d you do that?”

“Whaddya mean, love?” He looked clueless.

“Why did you get yourself in trouble? Aren't you worried about what will happen?” you whispered for only him to hear you. “I only told the truth. No need for you to take the fall. Anyways, I talked to Slughorn and he agreed to let you take the exam this Saturday at seven in the morning.” If at all possible, you fell more in love with George Weasley in that moment. You kissed him on the cheek, held one of his hands in yours and continued the night talking with friends.

“Hey Georgie, think we can top this one?” Fred looked over his shoulder staring at the wonderful victim of the previous prank. The Slytherin table were snickering at their Prince. Draco sat with his head down, threats not doing him any justice anymore.

“You're on, Freddie.” The twin boys shook their hands and started talking about ideas for what they’d do next.

Oh, Merlin.

—

requests are open!

[beautifulterriblequeen]

B2:S - Chapter 5

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be lots of Viren deets, Best Boy Soren deets, some writing/continuity stuff, worldbuilding appreciation and half of a theory, Detective Rayla, Moon Temple geeking, Claudium and dark magic, and more!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

(I know for darn sure that I wrote up a post for chapter 4, but I can't find it anywhere so I guess Tumblr ate it and I'll have to redo it at some point, but today is not that day)

Viren, my evil dude, my bad guy, coming in clutch with the worldbuilding and backstory again! If you want to know decades of information, you gotta talk to Viren. Or read his scenes, at least. Here, he seems to not sleep much when he has a big problem to analyze his way through. Solutions trump pretty much everything else in this guy's life, and he's had a really hard week with a lot of new and complicated problems. Of course he's getting sleep-deprived trying to find his way through them all.

Harrow put so much trust in Viren when he made him High Mage! He just threw himself extra hard at that Lady Justice blindfold, didn't he? Didn't really want to see what Viren was doing in his magic study, so he left Viren to his devices. And Viren has a lot of devices.

Also, this is fascinating: Viren made the secret passage to his "less official study" in Katolis Castle! And he was inspired to do so by the way his own mentor kept the Puzzle House. What else could a Puzzle House be, except a place with secret passages? Yay! secret headcanon that "the Puzzle House" is just "Katolis Castle" from Kid Viren's perspective tho

So either Viren built all of those passageways, or at least the ones to his dungeon. Which means he has to have, or know where to get, a stash of those glowing blue Moonshadow crystals. Hmmm.

I can't wait to learn more about Kpp'Ar and young Viren, btw. From this description of Viren and all his literal secret ways, it feels like another parallel between Viren and Runaan, with the whole "secretive paths, members only, insider knowledge" type stuff. Only the really cool members of this cult club get to know the secrets, and guess what, kid, you're cool now but you can never tell anyone, okay? Our secret.

Yeahhh, that'll never backfire in any way for either of them.

Kpp'Ar calling puzzles and secrets "man-made magic," though. Yes sir, knowledge is indeed power.

This chapter mentions Runaan by name, from Viren's perspective. Generally that would imply that Viren knows his name, even though assassins do not share their names, and Runaan didn't seem to give his to Viren in the first book. However, there was a scene in book one where the last paragraph switched perspective from Viren to Runaan - a technique that's very common in visual media like movies and shows and gives you that "ohoho they left the room and didn't notice this, but you do!" vibe. Using Runaan's name there in book one, where Viren couldn't see it but readers could, helps them keep track of the assassin's story arc while maintaining Viren's racism.

So in book two, in which Runaan has no onscreen scenes (alas), using his name in a scene that calls back to the events in book one helps us remember what happened in that dungeon cell. It would be a bit muddier to recall the specifics if Viren kept thinking about Runaan as "Elf." So I'm cool with the perspective nudge because it serves a narrative purpose: clarity. But I'm also enjoying the angst of considering that, somehow, Viren learned Runaan's name either during or after the coining spell. Mwa ha ha haaa. (Obligatory "Keep my pretty name outta your mouth" goes here)

Okay, back to Viren's scheming! He took the mirror because it was human-sized in a dragon lair. He knew it didn't really fit there, and that made it interesting, so he stole it. But he realized it was really powerful when Runaan wouldn't tell him squat about it - the assassin's instinct to protect Xadian secrets from human hands meant that Viren was holding a very powerful Xadian secret. And that just made him want it all the more. Ah, Runaan, if only your relationship with lying was, like, the exact opposite of what it is. Nyx could've spun Viren a believable tale in 2 minutes flat.

Also of interest: Viren considers his cursed coins to be a final fate. He expects Runaan to remain in his coin forever. With the Chekhov's coins still extant in the storyline, we can assume that they'll come up again eventually, but Viren has no current plans to do anything with his elf money except carry it around.

It's worth noting that Viren admits that he got impatient when he trapped Runaan in the coin. Runaan's first fate in Katolis was supposed to be death at Soren's hands, but Claudia "saved" him from that. His next fate was to become spell components, but Viren's frustration with his stubbornness "saved" him from that fate, too. So now he's in a coin, where no one can chop him up at all. Yay? No, boo!

We get one last line about Runaan before Viren shifts gears: he makes a point of noting for us that Runaan's shackles are still locked shut. However much of Runaan made it into that coin - body, soul, hair care products - he was magicked there, pulled right out of his restraints.

The creepy black liquid that Viren pours right into his eyes is the last of a powerful potion he got from Kpp'Ar, and its recipe is ancient! Humans used it back in the age of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world. And we get a delightfully creepy bit of description about the preparation of this serum, which makes it abundantly clear that it's a Moon magic-based concoction, harvested from eyeless vipers on a moonless night, with the threat of irrevocable madness ("madness" by whose definition, though) if it's done wrong-

Hang on. Hold up. This is a Plato's Cave reference. OH MY GOD.

No no I'm fine, this is brilliant. Sorry, sorry, I couldn't figure why there was so much description for a potion prep that Viren didn't even have to perform himself. But now I get it. I see the light. HA. I should make a separate post for this, it's amazing.

Anyway, for reference, the humans who used this serum were called the Oracles of Ophidia, and Ophidia is a taxonomy group that includes all modern snakes. Can you say "creepy ancient snake rites"? I can! Woo!

Viren activates the serum with a spell, but apparently he's never done it before. He's not sure if it's supposed to be hot and bubbly, and he worries that it's been tainted by moonlight.

Oh, I do hope so.

The magic potion hurts, a lot. Viren will do just about anything, to himself or anyone, to do what he believes is necessary. He just risked madness and blindness to find out what this mirror does! Viren. Can you just. Take a nap or something. Have a Snickers.

This chapter gives us a fun clue that I don't remember from the show: when Viren's vision clears and he can see, his reflection has white pupils and the room reflected in the mirror has inverted colors. You know where else has inverted colors?

You know who else got white pupils for a hot second?

Okay, now it makes sense! Viren and Lujanne were both seeing into the realm beyond life and death. Him with his moon magic potion, and her with her moon powers on a full moon night at the Moon Nexus. Which is Very Interesting! Is it a direct hint about Aaravos's location, or just a separate cool detail? Orrr, does it look like a direct hint because Aaravos is actually trapped in the world beyond life and death, but it's actually separate and we'll see something about white pupils again later on?

Viren really does have self-esteem issues, we all picked up on it with his rant at his reflection. He throws a fit when he catches himself wondering if he's actually worthless. In the book version of his tantrum, he shoves the mirror and hurls a candelabra instead of flipping a table. He didn't need to shove the mirror to set the fire, but it's in here. Foreshadowing that perhaps, if push comes to shove, Viren will choose himself over Aaravos? Giving Aaravos time to peek through and see that the coast is clear?

Soren, my boyyyyy. He has a rough night at the Moon Nexus because two sides of him are fighting with each other. He struggles to understand Callum's friendship with Rayla, and he also fantasizes about chopping off Rayla's head. One of these is a pretty ordinary thing to do. The other is Soren's internalization of what he needs to do to gain his father's approval. If he brought his dad a chopped off elf head every week, he'd probably feel a lot more confident because Viren would praise him a lot more.

Okay, okay, omg, is it just me, or does the "Moonshadow Madness" story, as it's told in the book, seem like Soren just doesn't know what a monsterfucker is? He thinks an elf bite puts humans under a spell. But vampires are sexy, and some people want them to do more to them than just bite them. A passionate kiss under the moonlight could look very bitey, especially if one of the participants has horns and you're already culturally trained to hate them. No yeah, I'm already headcanoning an actual human-elf kiss that got misunderstood by an observer long ago.

it's Lujanne isn't it, we all know, because what is a love spell but a sweet soft illusion, I mean how else does she get supplies for her Caldera, I ask you, and also Corvus was totally sent to investigate once and he told Soren at camp what he saw

And then back to magefam angst: Soren pretending that his sister's nose-tapping is stupid, even though he actually thinks it's cool, just because their dad thinks it's stupid. Viren, istg. Let your kids like harmless things. It's so cute that Soren taps his nose back at her, though! Like they have their own sibling code. I hope we get to see the nose tap again, especially now that they've chosen different sides. It could mean so much, that they're not too far apart yet.

Rayla knows what buttery pancakes smell like. I love this. Do Moonshadow elves have butter and pancakes, does Rayla eat a stack of eight giant pancakes in the morning? Orrrr it is just illusion food? I don't care, let Rayla have pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes. Pancakes will save the world. this message brought to you by the fact that I can't eat pancakes rn, send help

I love that Rayla is both sus of the pancakes and hungry, and that combines into a very motivated "I will get to the bottom of this" attitude. She kind of goes into Poirot Mode when she inserts herself into Soren and Ellis's conversation about Ava, explaining about the wolf's illusion leg and segueing into her claim that the pancakes taste sus. Claudia confirms she used dark magic, and Rayla is furious. It's different than the show's version in that it puts Rayla in detective mode, as the only Moonshadow elf in the scene, and boy does she take that role seriously. Also, she doesn't actually swallow the dark magic pancake bite. It ends up on the ground just like Lujanne's grubs from that earlier meal. These poor kids are so nutrient-starved. You guys gotta eat!!

Rayla's determination and prejudices and the fact that she super knows Harrow is dead all dovetail to make her try repeatedly to persuade Callum that Soren and Claudia are Not To Be Trusted. It's nice that the book keeps taking the time to point out that Rayla is Well Intentioned But Flawed, just like Callum and pretty much every other character in the show. No one is Right All The Time, no one Knows More Than Everyone Else.

Callum loving the sound of Claudia's unique voice is so wholesome. When you like someone, it only makes sense that you like all the things about them that they can't change - like the sound of Claudia's voice. Her choices with dark magic, not so much!

Claudia seems to have the same concerns Soren does about Callum's relationship with Rayla, but she comes out and asks him. The inherent possession implied in "your elf" is interesting, though. Elves are not people to Claudia. They're enemies who can be disassembled for the magic inside them. So maybe more like robots than living beings, if she knew what a robot was. Maybe she heard Soren's "Moonshadow Madness" story and realized he totally missed the kissing implications - but she didn't, and now she's genuinely worried that Rayla could kiss Callum under a full moon and enchant him to do her will. Good thing it's only a half moon, then!

Okay, Callum nervously making a puppet hand and then not knowing what to do with his hands and freaking out about itching and moving and pointy elbows is such a ND mood. The sudden stress of knowing that someone else is noticing your existence and maybe you're Not Existing Right, amirite? Ugh, poor Callum.

The Moon Temple! Omg it's so pretty in the description! Made to be beautiful and useful, full of knowledge but also allowing light and life inside (butterflies and vines). Lujanne, when can I move in, please? Also, it's all the more angsty because Lujanne is the only one who gets to see this beautiful place, but it has lots of chairs and shelves and tables, and it was meant to be used by lots of people. :(((

Claudia knows some of the runes on the walls. She isn't in a hurry to copy the rest of them down or anything, either. Her spellwriting is very precise, and she's a skilled mage. Her father would have made sure she was aware of the dangers of drawing sloppy runes, as much as he made her aware of the dangers of doing dark magic wrong. And the whole point of dark magic is that it's easier to learn than primal magic. Claudia supports her dad and their shared knowledge and life path. She's not gonna go nuts over an elf library she can't translate.

Side note: Between Claudia knowing some Moon runes and Viren building a secret passageway and a dungeon and lighting it with the same blue crystals that Lujanne and Ethari use for light--and Claudia exclaiming that she loves ruins--I wonder once more if there are really Moonshadow ruins somewhere in Katolis, which Viren has found and looted. Father-daughter relic hunting trip, maybe while Soren is away at camp? Omgsh that would be so wild!

Callum out here having a Viren moment with his "I feel powerless unless I've got magic that lets me help" vibes. God. I love their complicated mirroring. One of the hard differences between them is that Callum is very sure dark magic is bad because you have to kill stuff and take its power to cast spells, and he doesn't want to be a person who kills and takes like that. The line he walks to be nice to Claudia on their tour of the Cursed Caldera because he likes her, while telling her that he doesn't want to do her magic, like, ever, is so fine that it might as well be a shifting shadow on the ground. It's a very fitting conversation to be having during the half moon, with its tricks and little white lies.

Callum being out of the castle and his comfort zone, having to deal with the fact that the Claudia he loves is not quite the Claudia who's chasing him down across the kingdom, but of the two of them, he's the only one with a problem with this.

They say that if you really want to get to know someone, you should spend time with them outside their comfort zone - in heavy traffic, with a small baby, taking care of a new pet, trying a new skill, following unfamiliar directions, etc. While the castle is familiar territory for them both, Callum's never really found his comfort zone yet, while Claudia is pretty comfortable with her growing skill set. The creepy part starts to kick in when Callum begins to realize that Claudia's comfort zone encompasses a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it should make her uncomfortable... but it doesn't. But that'll be for a future chapter!

[aliypop]

And So It Starts Chap 2

Wordcount: 2,088

Warning: Slight Language

A/N : So I made a part two based off of episode 2 I don’t know why I went “Oh lets flesh a character out using the show loki” but oh well!

" Astrid, my love..." 

"Loki..." she asked. "Wait... Wait, if you're my real Loki, then tell me something only my Loki would know." Astrid said, her tempad in hand, ready to use it.

 "How many Loki's have you..." 

" Answer the question..." she snarled, ready to press the button to send him away. "Well... we used to walk through the gardens." he smiled as she laughed at him, "Anyone would know that... try something harder." her hands on her hips, 

"We once had sex on my father's throne... and we blamed it on Thor." he smirked, "Mind if I say it was one of our best chaotic moments..." he winked as Astrid nearly tackled him, "It is you..." she held onto him as if she were afraid to let him go again, of course, she did have her reasons.  

"Listen and listen well when I say this... I'm going to get us out of here..." 

"How are you planning to do that..." he stared at her in disbelief. 

"Well, I'm shocked you don't know your Astrid well enough." she smirked as she sat down on the table, "Was I not the one who told you how to escape Odin's dungeon or found the secret entrances into the kingdom," Astrid asked, looking at Loki as she fluttered her eyelashes. 

"Yes, that was you, O mighty boastful one." he smiled, placing a kiss on her hand. Her cheeks red as she straightened out her suit. 

"Now, just play along..." she smirked, "Mobius is going to think that I reprimanded you for pissing off Hunter B-15, so..." she looked around the room, seeing if there was anything she could pretend to torment him with as the sounds of footsteps crept closer. 

"Well, what's the hold-up..." Loki whispered. 

"If you knew what I had planned, you'd hate me..." she gave him a mischievous grin. 

"Is this my punishment for loving the goddess of choa- OUCH!" As the door cracked open. Astrid held Loki's arm behind his back as her other hand was pulling his hair with his body against the table, 

"Now, will you comply with me variant L1130?"

"No..." he spat, adjusting his head to look up at her, Norns did he wish that Astrid didn't train alongside him and Thor, "What was that variant..." she growled, "Play along..." Astrid whispered in his ear. 

"I yes... I comply..." 

"Well, you heard him, Mobius, get the man dressed..." she pushed him into the other agent, "You have odd methods, but you're the best." Mobius smiled, placing his hand on her back. As Loki glared at him, Astrid winked, replying with a simple "Well, what can I say. A win for the TVA is a win for us all." she nearly threw up in her mouth.

 "I'll meet you two in the lobby... I'll uh pick up the variant when you're finished." 

"Alright, buddy!" Mobius said, shooting finger guns at Astrid as she did them back. Midgardians and their weird greetings. She thought to herself, fixing her tie and suit jacket as she straightened out her pencil skirt from any imperfections and creases. 

"What was that about..." Loki grumbled, pulling at the collar of his shirt.

"Me pinning you against the table ... Because that was a diversion ..." she kept looking straight ahead as they passed minute men and other agents a few nodding at her. "No, you and Mobius... although I found that diversion of yours rather unflattering." he scoffed, 

"What do you mean Mobius and I..." she stopped him in his tracks.

"He touched your shoulder..."

"They do that... it's like getting praised for a job well done." she laughed it off, "If he does it again, I'll kill him..." he smirked, kissing her on the cheek. Astrid had almost forgotten how possessive and protective her Loki was. But she was glad to have him back nonetheless. 

In the lobby, there stood Mobius and the other minutemen as they went over the various Loki's and his powers, 

" Illusion projection and My favorite..." Mobius said, looking towards Astrid, who only had her head down, "You shouldn't have said that..." she grumbled. 

"Another two completely different powers, actually..."

"How..." Mobius glared. 

"Why would you ask him how..." Astrid let out a muffled groan. 

"Illusion projects involve depicting a detailed image from outside oneself which is perceptible in the external world. Patient casting entails recreating an exact facsimile of one's own body in its present circumstance, which acts as a true holographic mirror of its molecular structure ..."

 Loki nodded as he held his hands in his pockets. Mobius only sighed as Astrid glared at Loki, "Must you always be correct..." she gritted her teeth. 

"Must you be such a people pleaser ..." he asked as they walked through the portal and later through a tent of evidence where a TVA agent went missing. Astrid kept her focus on the evidence, which was a dagger much like Loki's, but next to it was a red amulet. One that she knew all too well, picking it up, she placed it in her pocket as she heard Mobius talk to Loki. 

"We have a saying in Asgard where there are wolf ears, wolf teeth are near." Loki looked back at the minute, "It means to be aware of your surroundings." he winked at Astrid, "Which is absurd because my people are, by nature, gullible fools."

"Not all of us..." Astrid walked by, "

"A trait that I, the god of mischief, exploited time, and time again, simply by listening. My teeth were sharp, but my ears sharper." 

"Astrid, what's his point," Mobius asked. getting annoyed, 

"Well, the TVA and the gods of Asgard are the same, Coming from one myself. Drunken with power and blinded by the truth. Thus those you underestimate will devour you, trust me, I know from experience..." she said an innocent expression on her face, 

"And knowing what I now know about his tactics, I can deliver you the variant, but I need assurance..." Loki stood next to Astrid, his hand around her waist. 

"Yeah..."

"Assurance..." 

"that he won't get disintegrated the moment this is all done." Astrid said, "That goes for me as well, by the way..." Mobius gave the pair a suspicious look as Hunter b -15 raised an eyebrow. She knew something was up. She just had to figure it out. Back at the TVA, both Astrid and Loki sat outside waiting for Mobius, who she knew would be furious. After all, it was a bit chaotic. Astrid knew that Loki had been stalling. It was always something he was good at when they were kids, 

Like the time she was late to her engagement party, or she'd break down in her chambers and missed royal meetings.

BANG!

The heavy wooden door alarmed the two variants as a very pissed-off Mobius stood between the two, "Astrid, I'll speak with you later..." he glared as he focused back on Loki.

 "That was your first lesson in catching a Loki. Expect the expected. You see, half the fun in being a trickster is everyone knows you're a trickster, and then many of your tricks can..." 

"Shut up!" Mobius growled, "What happened to the guy on the elevator who didn't like to talk..." he looked at him as he then thought about Astrid, "Was she on this too... " he asked, losing hope. 

"Did you turn Astrid against me or..." 

"Astrid is her own person, well Goddess ... what she chooses to do is on her accord." he glared. 

"Well, all I see is a scared little boy shivering in the cold, and you kinda feel bad for that ice runt... " he laughed " And as for Astrid, a sad little girl looking for praise and affection but only locked away in desperation..." he laughed watching as Loki balled his fist up. Mobius knew he struck a nerve. He didn't think the useless Goddess would have made him react that way. 

"We don't need your sympathy Mobius..." a silhouette of curls said from behind the wall, a tear pricking her eyes. "L1130, how about we get some work done..." she mumbled, hiding her face. The walk to the library was silent. Astrid had her head down in cases of files as Loki stole glances from her. He had never seen her so defenseless, at least not in his part of the timeline. "Darling..." he probed.

"It hurts all this time..." she read her files, "They were just tactics of fear..." he held her hand, rubbing his thumb over her skin, "He called you an ice runt!"

"Shush..." 

"Love, I know... but you said to play along and that we... Apocalypse," he whispered. Astrid looked confused, "Not to interrupt you, but I found the answer..." he laughed. 

"Which is..." 

"He's hiding in an apocalypse..." Thunder and lightning struck across the sky as both Astrid and Loki looked up towards it. The two continued to walk in apocalyptic Alabama. Using his magic, both Astrid and Loki were dried off, not a hair or cloth drenched. 

 "What the hell was that..."

"That was me using magic to dry us both off, so we don't announce ourselves with every squeaky footstep."

"Honestly, if that shocked you, this is all beneath us. I am a princess, by the way." Astrid smirked, walking towards the aisle. 

"Uh, no, you're going with team Loki and B-15." Mobius laughed, pulling her by the arm, 

"You can trust me. You've known me!" 

"Not long enough, Hunter B- 15. keep a close watch on this one..." he said, walking away.

"You're the TVA Agent they sent to hunt me down..." Hunter B-15 smirked, her back turned towards the two, "While you have something that belongs to me..."

"Me, I presume ..." Loki asked.

"Or possibly me?" Astrid questioned, "Although I don't see what I'd have that would be yours..." she clutched, trying to find the amulet necklace in her pocket.

"If anyone is anyone, you're me." 

"Lovely to meet you," Loki mumbled. 

"Looking for this sweetheart..." she asked, pulling the necklace out, 

"How did you..." 

"Enchantment is a clever trick, cowardly, a bit amateur-ish but clever." he laughed as Astrid clenched her jaw.

"Almost as cowardly as working for the TVA..." she turned to look at them both. 

"One small question: who are we to each other..." 

"You tell me..." She winked at Astrid.

"And here I was worried they found a better version of me..." she laughed before changing her appearance a few times, "You know I see why Thor hated that..." Loki grumbled. As the two split up trying to find the variant, Astrid felt a spark from the tip of her fingertips as she heard Loki thrown around. Wondering how on earth did he let himself get that weak in fighting. 

"If you had any, honor you'd fight me as yourself..."

"I have shit to do..." 

"Is it still murder if I warn them first..." Astrid asked 

"That's ugh... called a threat, darling...Ouch!" he got tossed again.

Astrid used her powers to fling the variant away from him and into a showcase of headphones. "That was uncalled for..." she took her hood down as Astrid looked up.

 She knew there was no denying that that was indeed a Loki. 

"But this isn't exactly about you..." she opened up a portal walking through it. Mobius and the minutemen arrived. 

"Wait!"

"Well, looks like they betrayed you..." 

"You idiots!, this is Lamentis 1," Sylvie grumbled

"Sorry, but I don't know what that means." Loki sighed, the two walking out of the tent as the sounds of distant screaming and a body nearly hitting the desert ground as she began to float gracefully, a meteoroid almost knocking her out. 

"To be fair, I have been falling for 20 minutes!" Astrid growled, getting dirt off her suit, using her magic to change her outfit into something that was a bit more her. "You are insane!" Sylvie sighed, "And you haven't you got anything better to do!" pointing towards Loki, 

"How rude..." 

"Very rude, especially for a Loki... " Astrid said, rolling her eyes. "I advise you not to call me that..."

"Or what," Astrid smirked her back against the wall. 

"One of you has a Tempad, and unless you give it to me, nobody dies." 

"Or we could stay in this mining shack and slaughter each other."

"In old Asgardian fashion." Astrid winked at the variant. "Or we become a team..."

"I rather we don’t do that..." she rolled her eyes. 

[desertsongpdf]

This is Galileo's War 

Except our freedoms are four, his were only three Freedom from Family, Freedom from Aristotle, Freedom from the Church

Galileo's family included a wine-drinking father who forced him to study medicine but didn't have the money to keep him in school; a manic-depressive mother; a lazy lute-strumming brother Michelangelo, who borrowed heavily from him to buy a job in a royal orchestra and later died insolvent, dumping in Galileo's lap one wife, seven children, one German nurse; two sisters Virginia and Livia, who made him ask for a two-years' salary advance to pay their dowries; a red-headed Venetian mistress, who, after bearing him three children, married a lover by the name of Bartoluzzi, who, of course, demanded a gigantic dowry; and a son Vincenzo, who was a complete financial incompetent but so considerate he left on Galileo's doorstep only one wife, one child

Which is probably enough bad relations for an underpaid math professor

But the real bogeyman was Aristotle

Never has the world so benefited because one man despised other, a blunt little Italian hating an armchair philosopher who'd been in the tomb for over twelve hundred years

Here's what Galileo did just to stick a few pins in Aristotle

He dropped those balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa He took a second look at the chandeliers in Campo Santo Cathedral He contrived a gadget for telling how hot or cold it was He found out why ships would float in water and cannonballs would not He tinkered with magnifying lenses in a hollow rube He discovered new stars, a mountainous moon, planets with satellites He dabbled in tides to prove the earth moved round the sun He

How's that again? The earth moves round the sun?

Oh Galileo, Galileo, what have you said? Anybody knows the sun moves round the earth, and in Pisa, Padua, Genoa, and Florence no self-respecting scholar will touch you with a forty-foot pole

Also, it is Heresy; enter, the Church

The laity in Milan blamed the plague on Galileo's new stars

The Pope gathered up his books and burnt them in Rome

The Inquisition tough guys threw him in a dungeon

And browbeat him

And grilled him

Until finally, 70 years old, ruptured, arthritic, half-blind, fearful of the rack and the stake, he broke down and blubbered that he would deny, damn, and condemn all his errors and heresies, that Aristotle was right, the earth was motionless; and triumphant the thugs left him with only a whisper he may or may not have whispered, "lt moves, for all that"

They sentenced him to say the the Seven Penitential Psalms once a week for three years

They buried him in an obscure corner of a side chapel of Santa Croce

Galileo, Galileo, come up from the tomb; you are going to War

Listen 

On the railroad yards of all the, men who kick out the college professors, the 100-lb. bomb and the 4,000-lb. bomb strike, as you said, simultaneously

ln landing barges that slip onto the beaches where the debt-ridden, brute-ridden peasant looks out to sea, the commandos synchronize their watches with your pendulum

Toward the harbors of cities where the great books are burnt in the public squares, the battleships navigate, as you directed, by the stars

Centering the crosshairs on a man who made the scholars feed on the slop of darker ages, the sniper aims his rifle with a a telescopic sight—your lenses in a hollow tube 

Whistling into the last pillboxs of the tough guys who fondle the old men with rubber hoses, the artillery shells fall, as you calculated, in true Galilean parabola

And if you with, Galileo, the infantry will charge the final objective shouting your whisper, "It moves, for all that!" knowing that what it moves around is now and always—high, clean, bright—the Sun 

Galileo Goes To War, by Preston Newman

[theron-darksunder]

Daily Writing Challenge 2020

Day 8 – Companion

In the first days of the Scourge Invasion…

In silent contemplation, he had kneeled beside the stream. Birds had chirped in the distance. The soft rattling and scurrying of some animal had drawn his attention as a soft, gentle breeze moved over the trees.  The forest was breathing, oblivious to the happenings that had torn his world asunder. Nothing cared that he kneeled, tired, hungry, hurting and lost.

Why have you come, Kael’deryn? His Mother’s words continued to ring through his head.

He dipped his fingers into the stream. Cool and cleansing and yet the blood that was on them did not wash away. He scrubbed his hands, dipping them deeper into the stream only to find that the scent of blood still lingered on him.  In a quick movement, he removed the bloodstained tunic only to realize that the blood has stained his chest and belly. It would never come out.

A sob escaped him, lost to the storm of emotions.  The soft bubbling of the water running over the stones was too peaceful to contend with the war within his mind. He had betrayed everything he had ever been taught and believed in.  He had breached the trust his own Mother had in him. For power? To save the high elves with a power he did not understand? The Scourge was unstoppable and when Amarhys had not stepped down, he had fought her. He had fought her, won and left the power he had been searching for behind.

He had committed the unthinkable.

The clashing of swords and screams were carried on the wind as the battle raged on.  The Scourge had moved upon his homeland with utter devastation and he had been too late to find Ryssa in the chaos. He had ran and his mother’s blood had set and stained his skin.  Would that he had gone to his sister’s side first.  She would have known what to do.

Instead, he found himself lost in the shadows of Eversong Woods, a coward and a failure.

Caw.

The sound of a raven jarred him out of his self-pity.  It made him look about the forest, annoyed that this creature would disturb his misery. “Leave.” He hissed through gritted teeth.  His jaw trembled with the effort of not falling into the despair he had just staved off.  In a hurry, he picked up his cloak and threw it over his bare shoulders.

Caw. Caw.

The infernal bird followed him.  He could hear the flapping of wings as it moved from tree to tree, staying out of sight but still managing to follow him. “Leave!” He yelled, letting his voice carry over the forest.  “I am not your ward anymore! I have failed the Ravensdawn family. I have betrayed…the name. I have failed…my people.” His voice cracked, turning on his heel.  He headed south, unknowing of what to do or who to go to. War waged in Quel’thalas and it would soon find him.

Caw.

The harsh, croak continued to follow him until he stopped, fully irate with the bird. He spun around, fire licking at his fingers as he searched the tree limbs for the forsaken creature. He drew back his hand only to catch sight of the bird.

It watched him intently as he came closer. It turned its head to the side, eyeing him with one violet eye before it let out another gurgling croak.  Before he could realize it, it dived from the tree and flew straight through his chest. It knocked him onto his back and left him staring at the pale light that still filtered through the trees.

His chest was on fire, a weight too heavy to breathe constricted around his heart. The pain tore at him, blinding him until only the sweet black of unconsciousness gave him release. It was only the voice of a woman that woke him. Rise Kael’deryn. This is not where you die.

He did not recognize the voice. He did not know the woman.

Get up, child. This is not the end of your path. Your servitude has only begun.

Sitting up, he saw the bird in front of him again.  She? He eyed the bird with disdain, shooing it away only for it to retaliate. It pecked at his hand and he jerked it back, nursing it against his chest. “What is this sorcery?”

I am Rosenthal and I have long waited to aid in your awakening. Times are dire and we have much to do.  On your feet, child of the Dawn.  The sun has yet to set on our family but we must hurry.

Kael’deryn stood, the pain still gripping his chest, the horror of his past deeds still haunting him. “What do you mean?”

You must return to the Manor. The Guardian of the Seven has fallen by your hand and you must take up the mantle. Return and retrieve Them lest the balance be upset.

A laugh escaped him at the sheer ridiculousness that the bird proposed.  Surely, he was losing his mind. He did not take orders from a bird even if they were his house’s icon.  “You mean the ancestral spirits trapped and presided over by my mother? Absolute rubbish.” He shook his head and began walking away from the bird only to hear the bird flap its wings.

Again, the bird transcended flesh.  Rosenthal hit him in the back and he found his soul torn from his flesh. Another excruciating pain rolled through him and then, he was weightless. In a panic, he tried to get back into his body only to catch Rosenthal staring at him once more.

You waste time, Kael’deryn. Your flesh will die and you will become but another one like me in a couple of minutes. Helpless lest the living aid you. Will you listen?

“Put me back…” He hissed, panicked that he would die at the … claws of a bird.

Only if you will listen.

“I will return to the Manor. Back to the depths of the dungeon.  Back to The Seven.  For what? My people are already dead and dying. My sister…”

More will perish if you neglect your path. You are the Guardian now. With them lays power but you must hurry or all will be for naught.

“I must have lost my mind. I am taking advice from a bird.” Unsure, he gave in.  What other recourse did he have? His mother was dead. His father lost. His sister likely dead at the hands of the Scourge. “You better be right, Rose, or I will haunt you. Tell me what I must do but put me back.” 

If there was a way a bird could smile, Kael’deryn believed he saw it.  As the bird sat on the back of his corporeal self, he felt himself being pulled back into his body.  Only when he was back into his flesh did he rise with that pain to his chest that was becoming all too familiar.

We fly.

Rosenthal took him back; led him over the fields of devastation that the Scourge left behind as he flew on the wings of the raven. His return to the Manor only served to remind him that he had murdered his own kin. Already, he had damned himself and now, as he stepped over his mother’s body and stained his boots with her blood once more, he claimed the seven canopic jars hidden in the shrine beneath the Ravensdawn Manor.

Each was carefully held to his body until one loosed.  One, lone jar shattered. The darkness within the shrine became absolute and complete. Kael’deryn could not see his own hand in front of him and then, there was nothing. He heard Rosenthal screaming his name but the Darkling had taken flesh.

Kael’deryn exited the Manor with nothing more than what he had entered. Rose, his companion, fled with him. To this day, she remains at his side, trying to fix the mistake she made in not protecting her ward from a being that had longed for millennia to be back within the flesh.

@daily-writing-challenge​

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Saving Adrien- Lukadrien June

I meant to do yesterday but spent tayed up the whole night the day before when I knew I had a 11 am meeting, that I almost passed out during. I got nothing done and passed out at like 5 pm and slept the rest of the night. I will e only doing certain days like I did for MariChat may only because I’m stil getting into the grove of writing for this fandom. I hope this one is good, more pre-lukadrien. Maybe if I had more time I would of expanded. I also hope I didn’t salt Lila to much to not get reblogged. I don’t really like her like most people so I hope I was tame. Enjoy. My Hero

“I got blankets,” Adrien began, stress evident in the quick snap of his tone, “and coffee, and tea in case you don’t like coffee, and a hot water bottle, and several takeaway menus, and Nathalie is on call in case I think of anything else, and-”

Swaddled six blankets deep on the couch, Luka couldn’t even raise a hand. He raised an eyebrow instead. “Just to clarify, is this a kidnapping?” he teased sarcastically.

Adrien paused. “…yes. Yes it is. And because you are my kidnapee, you have to be well cared for. Can’t have a dingy dungeon besmirching my image. Now, do you prefer duck or goose feather pillows?”

Luka let out a laugh. At least he had a comeback. He’d come over to Adrien’s house to get help in physics when his sister mentioned he was. he doing university level physics homework of his own free will. He asked and Adrien offered to tutor him. When he arrive with his latest test, with a high score, Luka suggested they take the day off, which judging from how Adrien was acting, was something he needed.

He was getting to know Adrien better, even though he couldn’t join his friends and classmates at their boat house as often. From what his sister and Marinette told him, it was usually because of his insane schedule and his insanely overprotective father – though he felt like father’s assistant could be added to that list based on how  she grilled him the first time he came over for tutoring.

Usually being in his room, it was like seeing him on the boat house, he looked free and his heart sounded happy. When he arrived today however, stress was radiating for him and the sounds from his heart sounded like an untuned violin. The insane way he was trying to make him feel comfortable added to that fact.

“Adrien, are you alright? You seem a little, stressed. Did something happen?”

“Oh, if you can count having to take Lila as my date to a premier. I don’t go out of my way to hate people, I gave Marinette the worse advice possible but I do think that sometimes people just need time. She got so many people wrapped around her finger, I don’t know what to do. I feel I’m being smothered by her cause I know she’ll try and mess with Marinette again if she doesn’t get her way. She said it would be good for the brand if we kissed and I’d rather kiss an Akuma who’s dangling me off the Eiffel Tower than kiss her.”

“Well, thankfully never had that happen to me but once she gets put in her place, she’ll learn. The lies will catch up eventually and it’s not like you have to actually kiss her.”

“I do since my dad said yes. I’ve begged, I’ve pleaded, nothing. I can’t even suggest Kagami because she’s in Japan to visit family.”

Luka could see this was truly bothering him. From what he heard, Lila wasn’t the nicest person to be around. He knew Chloe was also a lot but from what Juleka explained, she was Adrien’s best friend and would usually try and be a decent person to make him happy. Another tune he could hear from Adrien was hopefulness. Being homeschooled most of his life, the insane scheduled life, it didn’t take a genius to guess that when he was with his friends and his happiest that he hoped it would stay that way. If he felt smothered, there was a chance he would feel like he could lose that. Which was why he said what he did next.

“Would you like it if I went with you? I’m guessing from what Marinette told me about her, she’s the type to arrive by herself and dazzle everyone before pulling out the magic card, aka you. If you come in with me instead, saying that was planned, you’d catch her out on lying.”

Adrien, finally, stopped looking stressed and looked surprised. “What? Really? You’d do that for me?”

“Well I’m passing physics thanks to you and your my friend Adrien. You’re obviously upset and I want to make you feel better.”

a smile, small but smile none the less, grew on his face. “Thank you. This means so much.”

“No problem. I don’t have to wear a tux though, do I? Like my mom doesn’t care about rules, I’m not really a suit guy and I don’t know how quick Marinette could make one for me.”

“In a night probably but you don’t. It’s a fashion line permie for Comme de Garcon. If you know what that is, you in a leather jacket and nice jeans will be fine. Plus Jagged Stone is on the invite list and I hear he’s bringing Fang, so you’ll be fine.”

“Then pick me up on the way and we’ll make the front page together.”

the big smile on Adrien’s face was almost blinding. “We’ll be show stopping. Oh, let me get you out of this cocoon.

                                            _________________

“I know he said you could make a suit in like a day, but I didn’t realise you’re this good.” Luka said as Marinette threw option of what to wear on the bed.

“I did make the award winning feather bowler in a few hours and two CD covers for Jagged Stone in a day, even with getting involved with the whole Akuma incident that day.” Marinette bragged.

“So, you swear you’re not mad at me for doing this for Adrien instead of, suggesting you.”

“I’ve gotten over him Luka. Hard yes, but I had been treating him as an object for most of the time I liked him. He didn’t deserve that and once I took a step back and started treating him as a human, I realised that he’s human. And we’re actually better friends. I’m just glad your doing this for him. He must be so happy to not have to spend a whole night with Lila.” Marinette said as she started to hang up outfit options.

“Yeah. When I offered, he got this huge grin on his face. It was like looking at the sun.”

Marinette giggled. “Alya calls him sunshine boy on her phone.”

“Sounds about accurate. I like him with that smile on his face. The song his heart plays sounds, really happy.” he had this thoughtful look on his face.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you like that smile of his.” Marinette said airily.

Luka grew up with a sister, who while shy, could still be the stereotypical little sister. He knew that voice.

“It isn’t like that.”

“But you admit he’s cute right?”

“That’s not what this is about.”

Marinette shrugged. “Just pointing it out. I’m just saying that when you talked about his smile, Alya said I had the same look on my face. Alright, pick one.”

“That one, less layers.”

Loose shirt, usual skinny jeans, a favourite leather jacket and black scarf that easily hide itself under his jacket and just made it look like he had a bandana tied to his jeans if people didn’t pay close attention. Marinette had outdone herself again.

“I kinda wish you had one of those large rim hats.” She said stopping him from pulling off his usually accessories.

“Not really a hat person.”

“Can you tie your hair into a ponytail?”

once he did, she pushed him in front of his mirror. “Outdone yourself again Marinette.”

“Yes I have.”

“Luka!” Juleka called from above deck, “There’s someone here for you!”

“Don’t think I’ve heard her scream that loud.”

“You should see her during a horror movie. Thanks again. Get home safe ok?”

“Have fun.”

Another familiar voice he’d hear from his sister. He glared over his shoulder and she gave him an innocent look. She spent too much time around Alya if she was becoming this teasy.

Instead of the usual silver car, there was a limo waiting opposite the gangplank. He ignored the giggling from his sister and her girlfriend as he crossed it and Adrien’s bodyguard opened the door for him. Adrien was dressed to the nines in a classic suit with a smile to match. He could hear a bit of nerves but overall, Adrien’s heart of singing happiness.

“Hey, you look amazing.” Adrien greeted as he climbed in and the door shut behind him.

“Thank you. I asked Juleka for help and she called Marinette. Probably a good idea. She’s got some success under her belt I hear.”

“That she does. The scratch and sniff sticker on the Jagged Stone CD still surprisingly has it’s scent. Thank you again so much for doing this for me. You’re my hero, you have no idea. Also, you were right. My father said that Lila will meet us there. Nathalie is with her to make sure she doesn’t say anything so she has no clue either.”

“it’ll be perfect. I’m glad I could help. You seem happy with this and I’m glad. Seeing you happy is good.”

Adrien got slightly red. “Thanks. I know we don’t know each other that well, but I’m still really happy you did this for me.”

“I’m happy to.”

“So what should our story be? Alec is apparently supposed to be there and he’s about as instant for an interview as Nadja.” Adrien said.

Luka shrugged, “Whatever you want. I’m here to help you.”

“Ok. I’m nervous what Lila might say, but if I can get her to get Marinette back in school, I can do anything. I’m used to outdoing foxes.”

Luka let out a laugh. Soon they arrived, the flashes from the cameras just breaking through the windows. Adrien was on the side closest to them, so with a smile and an out stretched hand, he pulled Luka out of the limo. Like it was natural, Luka rested his hand on Adrien’s waist. The lights from the flash were blinding but he was able to make it over to where Lila stood with Alec without tripping. Even half blinded and stars in his eyes, he could tell Lila was not happy.

“Adrien. There you are. I was just telling Alec who my date was.”

“Oh. Who is it? I’m glad you were able to find someone.”

“She was just telling us it was you.” Alec said, face screaming about getting a scoop.

“Well she must be talking about another Adrien. My amazing tutor here asked me once he was told about the event.” Luka said, putting his hands on Adrien’s shoulders.

“you’re Luka Couffaine, guitar player of Kitty Section. You preformed on TVi on Bob Roth’s insistence. Alec pointed out. “How do you know Adrien?”

“He jams with us when he can and he’s my tutor for physics. The brain on this man is astounding.” he said, letting his head rest on his hand, being as close to Adrien as possible.

“Luka, stop. I’m getting embarrassed.” Adrien said, Luka noticing his ears getting red.

“But you’re so cute when you get red.” he teased.

“Love must be in the air with you two. Lila was telling us you’d begged her to go with you.”

“No, not really. I don’t know what she told you, but I barely talk to her in school. We don’t spend that much time together except for photo shoots but that’s barley. I’m sorry if you somehow misunderstood Lila. Did my dad say something? I could of sworn I told him I was bringing Luka.”

Lila seemed to be grasping for words. Luka could tell this wasn’t a usual thing for her. For some almost evil reason, Luka wanted to make her even more lost for words as he wrapped his arms around Adrien’s waist, his head still resting on his shoulder.

“I’m glad you did. I feel like I barely get to hang out with you. I plan on keeping you close to myself during the show.”

Alec was buzzing and Lila looked pissed. Nathalie thankfully appeared out of thin air before anything could happen.

“Adrien, we have to get inside.”

“Of course. Nice seeing you again Alec. See you at school Lila.” Adrien said, pulling Luka's arms off but still holding on to him as he followed Nathalie inside. She turned with a disapproving look on her face.

“Adrien.” one word seemed to say it all but all Adrien did was shrug.

“I told him I didn’t want to go with her. He should of listened.” wrapping an arm around Luka’s, he pulled them inside to find their seats.

“She didn’t look happy.” Luka said, easily sliding his hands into his jean pockets and still letting Adrien hold onto him. “I hope I didn’t go to far.”

“Rarely see her smile and you’re fine. She was mad and who knows what the rest of the night means but it was worth it.”

They heard screaming and Luka was tugged out of the way and against a wall as a glass door went sailing down the hall were they’d been standing. Adrien was close to him, hands firmly grasping Luka’s arms, breathing almost as heavily as Luka.

“My hero. Are you ok?” Luka asked. He felt his phone buzz as the usual Akuma Alert was sent.

“I’m ok. Come on, we need to get you somewhere safe.”

“Adrien!” he heard from outside. It sounded angry.

“Maybe let’s switch that.” Luka pulled Adrien into what looked like the entrance to the backstage area and led him to the sound equipment. “We can wait here and if they gets close, we’ll hide in the boxes.”

they ducked behind the boxes and Adrien started texting Nathalie.

“She said she’s stuck. I should go find her.”

Luka wasn’t an idiot. After meeting Marinette and Adrien for the first time and meeting Ladybug and Chat Noir after his mom was akumatized, he recognised the songs of their hearts. He knew Adrien was the famous cat in leather. Whether Nathalie needed help or not, Adrien needed to get out there and help.

“Adrien, I’ll go. Just promise me, you’ll be careful ok?” he meant more than just hiding.

“I will be. Go please, she’s near the entrance.”

he nodded and got up, knowing that Adrien would be ok and save everyone, but for a heart wrenching second, hoped he wouldn’t be truly hurt. Or that the Akuma was Lila with a grudge. He wouldn’t forgive himself if anything happened to him before he could transform.

[harveybwabbit92]

Skyrim: Touch the sky Ch1 Helgen’s chopping block.

The following is a non profit fan based story, TES Skyrim belongs to Bethesda, RwBy belongs to RoosterTeeth please support the official release.

=

I gain no profit from this nor do I own anything other then OCs and whatever sprouts from my imagination. Thanks for reading!

The feeling of cold and sound hooves hitting the frozen ground is what stirred Amon-Ra awake, her red eyes blinked and adjusted to her surroundings...She was in a wagon? the girl tried to move her long hair from her face only to find her hands tied. "Finally awake little one?" Amon-Ra looked across from her to see a blond man in a similar position, a stormcloak soldier she mentally noted she'd seen a few of them passing through Ivarstead...

Well run out of Ivarstead would be the proper term. the man gave her a tired smile "You were trying to cross the boarder, Eh? walked right into that Imperial ambush got captured with us and that thief over there." she looked to the right of her to see two more men.

One in rags and one gagged. Thief shot accusations at the Stormcloak as Amon-Ra got a look at the man next to her and the elven girl knew him well. Ulfric Stormcloak, of course he was just Ulfric the boy the last time she saw him, doubtful he'd remember her. The rare times they interacted was when he'd help her pick frost grapes,read and meditate, though their interactions became less frequent as he grew older.

As a child Ulfric never understood why she always wore a blindfold if she wasn't blind and was never allowed to leave the monastery? she had calmly explained that her eyes weren't normal and the monks and her father were protective of Amon-Ra's...condition.

"Got the Falmer's Bane, eh?" the man across from her broke her train of thought, both Amon-Ra and the thief looked confused "Falmer's what?" the thief asked before Amon could, "Falmer's bane on to the Nords they gain, Snow kissed hair and skin so white and fair, eyes red for the lost lives and blood they shed." The Stormcloak said unsure.

"At least, I think that's how the old poem goes?...either way she has it."

"My..mentor says it's called albinism where's she's from."

"Ah...so, she speaks."

"..."

The wagon driver snapped at them to quiet down, a few moments of silence the thief looked over at Ulfric and grimaced "What's his problem?" this caused the Stormcloak to glare at him "Watch your tongue Thief, you're in the presence of Ulfric Stormcloak. The true high-king of Skyrim." The thief went from annoyed to stunned. "Ulfric? But if you're here then..." the color drained from his face. "Divines where are they taking us?!" Amon-Ra may be sheltered, But she wasn't stupid. it was the end of the line, the white haired girl blocked out most of the chatter as she came to terms with this whole situation. Was this really how it ends? Her the last of her race and bloodline... does it really end here with her? All because Amon-Ra wanted independence?

The wagon came to a stop and they were ushered off, Lokir desperately prayed to the divines as he was yanked off the wagon. "Please don't kill us! we're not rebels!" the man pleaded but, it fell on deaf ears...as the imperial soldier keeping the list of names called for Lokir of Rorikstead. instead of stepping forward Lokir made a mad dash towards the gates only to get struck down by the archers.

Amon winced seeing Lokir's body drop lifelessly to the ground,then it was her turn Amon stepped forward the guard looked perplexed as he checked the list, checked every name and couldn't see hers anywhere "who are you..what are you?" The albino girl shifted uncomfortably she couldn't exactly tell them she was a Dark/Snow Elf ... then again she not technically an elf either.

"I am Amon-Ra of Ivarstead."

"I see... Race?"

"....Dunmer? I suppose." that wasn't a complete lie, her birth father was a Dark elf her mother was Snow elf mixed with ... let's just say her grandmother was something other worldly, What exactly? her teacher was never very clear on... Amon-Ra took after her mother in a sense, for she was neither Man nor Mer a beast would would better way describe it. but that's putting it lightly.

The imperial blinked a few times as he looked the young elf over, she certainly didn't look like a dark elf, but alas there was no time to ask nor dwell as he turned to the armored woman standing to the side unsure of what to do.

"Captain, she's not on the list."

The guard informed his superior who just sneered. "List or not Hadvar, she gets the block." she ordered Hadvar look back at Amon sadly. "I'm sorry, I'll see if we can send your remains to Morrowind." Amon-Ra went to protest that she wasn't born in Morrowind! but was shoved forward towards the line up. The villagers got a good look at her."They can't be serious! She's just a little girl!" one of the men yelled causing a the others to whisper among themselves. "The poor thing looks barely passed her 15th winter."a woman stated affronted. under different circumstances Amon-Ra would've giggled and took that as a compliment, being a 191 years old and all! but now? It was all just a bitter memory in her last minutes life.

The captain snapped at the villagers to be quiet as the first man step towards the block, Was when Amon-Ra felt it, her eyes turned towards the sky the energy in air it felt... disturbed, Something was coming... Then there was a noise it was distant at first but, loud enough to cause everyone to look up. "What was that?" Hadvar asked his eyes scanned around bemused. "Nothing of our concern, give him is last rights," the captain ordered the priestess gave the man his last rights or at least tried to till' the man told her to shut up and get it over with.

Amon-Ra looked away as the ax came down on him. the sound came again a little closer this time. "there it is again!" another soldier said warily the captain ignored it "Now the Dark elf!" she ordered Amon was shoved forwards towards the block. the girl felt her eyes burn as she knelt down *I'm sorry father...* she winced waiting for death only for a deafening sound akin to an explosion caused her ears to ring.

Amon-Ra's red eyes shot up to see a large black figure swoop down and land on top of the tower... a dragon!? The shock wave by the beast's landing caused the executioner to stumble and drop his ax and the town erupted into chaos, as soldiers scrambled to get to cover and their weapons, the townsfolk were scattered screaming in horror at the black mass that ravaged through Helgen.

Amon-Ra was frozen stunned at what she was seeing, only to be snapped out of it by Ralof who had grabbed her arm a dragged her into one of the towers. the white haired girl scanned the room they were in, few of the Stormcloaks were there catching their breaths. Ulfric included he looked up from an injured soldier as Ralof walked over to his leader, the two discussed what was happening while Amon ran up the stairs.

"Jump on the inn next to the tower, We're right behind you!" the blond called up to her, the girl nearly fell down when the side of the tower was ripped open and a torrent of flames shot passed her, she looked up to see a pair of red eyes staring back at her perplexed, Amon-Ra flinched as the dragon sniffed then in a low voice hissed at her " Hi ...Los Nid Joor-" the dragon was cut off by arrows hitting the side of it's neck, It whipped it's head in the direction they came from he roared moving away from the tower and went after the poor souls.

The white haired girl wasted no time hopping into the burning Inn across from the tower, and running down the stairs and into the street. she looked around frantically her gaze landed on a little boy, her stomach drop when she saw the black dragon land behind the child, before she even knew what she doing Amon-Ra ran over to him threw her arms around him and ran the child and herself behind cover; just as the dragon spat a torrent of flames right where he had been standing, Amon sighed relieved then looked down at the boy.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh."

What were you thinking? are you trying to die?!"

"No, I wanted to hel-"

Hadvar cut him off "Trolof take care of the boy!" he then turned to the girl "Amon-Ra follow me!" he ordered the red eyed girl looked back at the boy before following after the legate who led her to the keep, this was the first time Amon-Ra ever killed someone. after she and Hadvar entered the keep he undid her bound hands, he told her to find some armor and a sword. she complied while Hadvar kept his eyes trained on the door in case any Stormcloaks wandered in when she was done changing.

Hadvar looked confused at her now braided hair. "how did you braid your hair so quic-" he was silenced when he heard talking over head. they saw Stormcloaks behind a gate, and the legate thought they could negotiate with them, They didn't give them a chance the second they saw Amon-Ra and Hadvar they attacked! Hadvar did most of the work as Amon-Ra had never used her skills on a human before...

As they traveled deeper into the keep depths Amon didn't know what to feel, sure she was trained to be a warrior. but, that was for Grimm not humans! and this damn Iron sword was so dull and clumsy! She wished she had her Jörmungandr with right now, then she'd be back in the swing of things! after fighting their way through stormcloaks,giant spiders and sneaking passed a bear.

They were out! Amon quickly changed out of the armor and into mage robes she found in the dungeons, she calmly threw her braid around her neck like a scarf and pulled the hood up before joining Hadvar outside where she saw the the dragon fly over them, for a brief second Amon swore she felt it's gaze on her as it flew off into the approaching storm clouds.

When all was said and done Hadvar led Amon to Riverwood. stopping a few times to point out the guardian stones and bleak falls barrow, The albino girl had to hold her hair still, to keep it wiggling it always did that when she was curious. her red eyes left the scenic view, she then followed after Hadvar only to bump into his back. She looked at him then at what was bothering him... wolves a large pack of them.

Amon-Ra made sure the nord man wasn't looking at her, she used her eyes on the wolves, the pack all looked at her and whined before running off with their tails between their legs, Hadvar was flabbergasted as he sheathed his sword. "That was odd...wolves usually don't back off when they see prey." he said turning to the girl next to him who just shrugged seemly just as bemused as he was as they continued on the path by night fall they'ed arrived to the small town.

[nessamaurice]

Simple, Ch. 9 (Loki x F!Reader)

Masterlist

Summary: Tony and the Avengers are in desperate need of something like a “babysitter” to have an eye on Loki and teach him “how to human”. He decided to stay on Midgard over the dungeons of Asgard as punishment for his deeds in New York. That’s where you swoop in. A simple receptionist at the Avengers compound. You have to share an apartment in the compound with Loki and damn, he’s a really tough nut. With your open and kind character it seems that you are slowly cracking his shell. But suddenly things are getting twists that will change your life and your relationships there irreversibly.

Story rating: M

Chapter trigger warnings: torture, humiliation, human experiments, captivity, harming, suicidal thoughts, murder/death

Words: 3971

9

It's been a week now since you disappeared. Tony had found several bugs placed in his system that surveyed everything happening in the lab. It turned out most of them didn't work properly so they were useless but one did its job, a simple digital wiretap that recorded everything that was said. That was how they found out about you. Tony cursed and kicked stuff through his lab, angry with himself that this happened. Everyone was just exhausted, haven't slept properly and totally at their limits. They had to rest, otherwise their bodies would force them to. So they agreed on shifts to supervise the program Tony installed to search JARVIS for the virus that kept your bracelet from working. Unfortunately Loki was not common with the earth technology and was clearly not in the state of mind to learn it now properly, so he could do nothing, and it was killing him. All he felt was guilt and anger. He could have stopped you from leaving. He wanted to. But he didn’t. Why? Because of his damn pride. Once again in his life, his decisions led to pure tragedy, not only for himself but for so many more people. Again. And again. AND AGAIN.

Angrily he threw knives at the dummy at the gym. After hittng the same spot over and over again the knives clattered to the floor because there was no space for them to dig into the puppet. He got more and more furious as he stepped towards the dummy, keeping on throwing knives until he stood right in front of it. He started screaming and ripped the dummy in two with his telekinetic powers. He looked above and watched the stuffing slowly falling down on him like snow. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. Touching his neck he realized he was sweating. He never sweat on earth before? Turning around on his heels, he snapped his fingers to make his knives disappear back into his pocket dimension and went to his your rooms to get a shower, ignoring the mess behind him. He tried to distract himself with reading books but that didn't work at all. It was day seven now and after some heavy training he came out of his shower, slipped into his simple brown cloth trousers and green linen tunic, he stared out of the window. The silence was pressing down hard on him and he looked over to your winged chair. Your headphones were laying on it, just where you left them. He grabbed them, put them on and ordered, "JARVIS, play me Y/N's favorite music on this device of her." He closed his eyes, listening to your most loved songs, his wet hair soaking up the fabric on his back, thinking of you.

***

You didn't know how many days had passed, it was just you being awake and falling asleep. But you got four meals in your cell so you assumed it were four days. Together with the time you were forced in that lab chair you guessed it could be about one week now. It was so hard for you to bear the silence. You hated it, so you were playing music in your head, all the songs you knew the lyrics of. You startled as your door opened. Fieberbrunn was standing in the door, looking down at you.

"I think we can continue." His face was blank. He turned around and ordered, "Los, bringt sie wieder ins Labor. Aber achtet mir darauf, dass ihr ihre Wunden nicht zu sehr aufreißt, das wäre nur Energieverschwendung."

You wrapped the linen blanket tightly around your body like a towel as the guard stepped in. He grabbed you by your hair and pushed you along the corridors back to the lab. The sight of the chair let your heart rate rise. You tried to protest but the guard's grip was too tight and he just pushed you forwards. You were forced into the chair again, leather shackles closing around your wrists, ankles and a broad strap over your arms and chest. Fieberbrunn sat down in front of you and while he pierced you with several needles and stuck a bunch of electrodes onto you again. Ripping your blanket down to your hips to connect you with the monitors he explained, "We will make some tests now to prove if my father was right with his suspicions. The questions will not be about something you know, so you can't give wrong answers. The only wrong answer is not answering at all, and for that you have to get punished. Do you understand?"

Reluctantly you nodded. When he was done and turned on all the monitors, he turned around and looked at you. His gaze was empty, almost bored.

"Look at me. How do you think do I feel right now?"

"Bored. You don't really want to be here. But still, you are here for something you hope to find."

"Ah. Fine. Perceptive." He tapped something on one of the monitors. A little tingling shot through the electrodes on the shaved parts of your head.

"Wh- what are you doing?"

"You don't ask questions, you answer them. You are not allowed to speak unless you are asked a question." He didn't bother to look at you while he set up those rules. Studying the monitors he seemed to be pleased with what he saw. He turned one of your hands around in the shackles, palm upwards and laid his palm onto it. Instinctively you wanted to pull away but couldn't, so you were forced to touch his cold, sweaty hand.

"Now, tell me again, how do I feel. And don't answer right away. Concentrate, then answer." He said with the same bored voice and the same blank face.

You stared at him, but what you felt didn't suit to what you saw. Confused you said, "You... you are full of... anticipation. Curiosity. Hope, that your father was right. That you could fulfill his heritage. That you would have made him proud. And hatred, towards the Soldier. You want him dead, but you had to accept you are not in charge of such decisions. And... you are lucky that you aren't. You don't want the responsibility for all that's happening round here-"

His eyed widened and he retreated his hand in shock, pressing it to his chest.

You must have looked as shocked as he. "Why- why do I know this? How? Is it true? What is wrong with me?! What are you doing to me???"

Usually you should get punished for asking questions but Fieberbrunn was so in awe, he didn't realize the violation of his rules.

"Mein Gott, es ist wahr. Er hatte recht! Die ganze Zeit lang hatte er recht! Ich muss das sofort melden!" he exclaimed.

"What? What are you saying? What's going on here?!" Your questions were answered with silence. Fieberbrunn rushed over to grab the phone on the desk. He was speaking something in German, totally excited like a child. You stared down at your hands as if they would start to glow or sparkle any second. How did you know that? Does that come from the electrodes? What kind of tricks is he playing on you? Fieberbrunn hang up and came back. He run several tests with you for hours. You had to touch his hand, the hands of random lab persons. He regulated the electrodes and varied the stimuli to watch the differences in the outcome. You got the headache of your lifetime. As he recognized you getting too exhausted, he sent you back into your cell. He said he could only work on you properly if you were rested. The guard tore you down the corridors by your hair again, not bothering that you stumbled over the blood stained blanket, you had to leave it behind. In your cell were a glass of that thick liquid and a protein bar waiting for you. In that moment you realized that you haven't felt hungry or thirsty since your last 'meal'. You cowered down on your makeshift 'bed', trying to hide your nudity and chewed on that rubbery bar as you heard music playing. You looked around to maybe find the source, but didn't see anything. It took you a while to get that you heard the music in your head. It was like you were listening to your favorite songs, you didn't consciously think of each song and concentrated on it, they just played along in your mind. And there was something else. ...Someone else. You closed your eyes to concentrate on that certain feeling. Your breath went slow and deep.

"Y/N??"

You audibly gasped as you suddenly saw Loki standing directly in front of you, wearing your headphones. You totally forgot that you were completely naked as you stood up and stepped closer to him.

"No, don't touch me, this is just an illusion. If you try, the illusion will fade again." He looked all over you, brows furrowed and his eyes full of concern. "By the Allfathers, what have they done to you?"

You immediately hid your private parts and looked away, full of shame and agony.

"Y/N, listen, do you know where you are?"

Without looking at him you answered, "No, I woke up in a factory hall, naked and blinded by some kind of injection. They said it was meant to stay for one hour but I was unconscious for three. There was a giant iron machine connected to a conveyor. This building is full of corridors, cells and laboratories. I... they gave me a drug that opened my mind to my memories." Your voice almost died in the swallowed tears. "Tell... please tell my uncle... Uncle Tones... that I love him. Still. And always." Your voice finally broke into crying.

"Keep calm, my dear. We will find you and bring you home. Come on, beautiful lady, look at me." His soft words encouraged you to look at his worried face. "We will bring you home, to us. You are not alone."

You sobbed at his gentle promises. "Loki... Thank you. I-" you moved towards him and touched the illusion while you where speaking and the image of him disappeared in a shiny green glow. You came down to your knees, crying badly. You put your arms tightly around yourself since there was no one who could do that for you. As the tears slowly ebbed away and became more quiet again, you could still hear your beloved music. It made you smile and cry at the same time. Seeing his face again ignited your hope. You drew knew strength and said a thank you prayer. Just in this moment your door was opened and your guard took hold on your hair again, bringing you back to the lab. As you were strapped in that awful chair again, Fieberbrunn entered the lab.

"It looks like we don't have time to let you rest naturally. This will help." He held up a syringe with a cloudy blue liquid. Since you had no vascular access already he pushed the needle right into your arm. The cold injection run up your veins, letting them shine dark through your skin. It felt like an intoxication, all your senses wide awake. The light was suddenly so bright and every sound so loud.

"This time we will see what you can do to others." Fieberbrunn explained as he put a simple wooden chair in front of you. The clattering and screeching sounded like a whole battlefield in your ears. A guard brought another prisoner into the lab. He was in chains and overly confused. It was a man, around 50, looking totally devastated. As he realized that a young naked woman sat right in front of him, a dirty smile tugged on his lips. You felt so disgusted you just wanted to punch everyone in the face. Fieberbrunn stood beside you and turned your hand around again, palm upwards. He ordered the guard to place the prisoner's hand on yours. You wanted to pull away again, being disabled by the shackles. "Now," Fieberbrunn said to you, "make him cry."

Confused you looked at Fieberbrunn and back to the man in front of you. His eyes constantly wandering over your body. You felt his arousal and it made you sick.

"Go on. Concentrate on a feeling that makes you sad and send those feelings to him." Fieberbrunn instructed.

And you tried. You tried really hard. But no sad feelings were found inside you, just disgust. You loathed him so much it made your insides twist. Suddenly the expression in his face changed. His gazing stopped and he looked you straight in the eyes now. He wanted to pull his hand away but the guard didn't let him. He pressed his sweaty, rough hand onto yours. Slowly he started to mirror you. It looked like he started to feel extremely uncomfortable in his skin. Then he turned pale within seconds. He leant to the side and threw up on the floor.

"Well, not exactly what I ordered but it that's fine as well for the first time." Fieberbrunn said with a pleased tone. A small nod towards the guard and the prisoner was dragged away again. But he didn't stop to stare at you all the way long, in complete shock. Then, a little girl was pushed into the lab. "Komm her. Setz dich hier auf diesen Stuhl und nimm die Hand dieser Frau." Fieberbrunn commanded and the girl came over, sat down on the chair and took your hand. She looked in your face and you didn't need to touch her to feel her anxiety. "And now, make her cry. And I said CRY. Do what I told you or you get punished."

You stared at the girl for some seconds before you reacted, obviously too long. Fieberbrunn grabbed your face and slid a scalpel across your jawbone downwards. You and the girl simultaneously screamed. Shocked you looked at the girl that was covering the same spot on her face with her hand and then looked at it, as if she expected to see blood.

"Make her cry."

You concentrated and closed your eyes. You could never want to make a child cry. So you thought of something else. You on the shoulders of your uncle, running through the garden in the low sunlight of a late summer evening. As you opened your eyes again the face of the little girl was decorated with the most beautiful smile, pure happiness. You only heard Fieberbrunn sigh next to you, and before you could look at him he pressed your head into the high backrest. He placed his scalpel on your collarbone, pressed it hard into your flesh. You felt it scraping on the bone as you and the girl screamed and cried.

"See? That is crying."

This game went on for hours. New human lab rats, new commands. Every time you did not exactly what you were told you were either slapped or cut. At some point even Fieberbrunn started to get tired. He ordered a little break between the next prisoners. He rubbed his eyes and rolled a bit away in his office chair to pour himself a coffee.

This moment you saw something in your peripheral. Carefully you turned your wrist around and saw the soft green glow of the gem in your bracelet.

***

Just the second after Loki's connection got lost he rushed down to the lab. He flung the door open and told the startled Tony and Bruce what just had happened. He repeated the description you gave him and they began searching for buildings fitting the parameters. He grabbed Tony by his arm to stop him and added, "Tony, she knows who you are. They made her remember."

Tony turned paper pale within 2 seconds.

"She didn't assumed I'd know it, too. She just said I should tell her uncle, Uncle Tones, she'd still loves him. And always will."

Tony took hold on Loki's shoulder as he fought against the tears. Regaining countenance he just managed to mutter "Thank you, Loki.", then he turned to get the search on. Meanwhile the others came down to the lab and searched a radius of one hour distance with any vehicle for a factory that suited. After hours they could limit the results to four factories. They formed four teams and rushed to the landing site. Natasha and Clint took each one of Tony's cars, Steve hopped on his motorcycle and Bruce, Tony and Loki took the Quinn Jet. After half an hour of heavy reticence a green dot appeared on the map on one of the screens, accompanied by a modest 'ping'. The sound ripped Tony immediately out of his thoughts. He nearly jumped at the screen, zooming the map in.

"Oh. My. God. We got her. WE GOT HER!!!" He screamed. Finally his program was able to delete the virus and your bracelet was activated again. You were in the factory where the Quinn Jet was already heading to. Immediately Loki and Bruce were at Tony's side, staring at the screen before their joy kicked in (for each in their own ways; Bruce was loudly cheering, Loki drew a deep breath and closed relieved his eyes as his lips formed a soft smile). Tony was already informing the other team members and they changed their route. Suddenly Tony was hit by a horrific brainwave.

"JARVIS, turn off the gem on the bracelet, NOW!", he screamed at the screens.

***

Your eyes began to fill up with tears as you saw your bracelet shimmering in that beautiful dark, warm green. You concentrated on not to spit out a relieve laugh and quickly looked over to Fieberbrunn to check if he saw something. Luckily he was studying a screen while he drank his coffee. You turned your wrist back again and hoped so badly that they would find you before someone noticed the sudden glowing. Just as you stopped moving Fieberbrunn turned around and came back to you. He put his mug down besides you and said, "Okay, for today we have one last test. It's an important one, fateful for both of you. Bringt sie rein!" he shouted over to the door.

Your eyes widened as you saw the guard pushing the Doc through the door, dirty and chained, with a bloody lip. Her expression was as shocked as yours.

You cleared your throat, "Is... isn't that the do-, uh, nurse that looked after me?" You tried to sound unknowing.

"Uh, yes, could be. We got several of them. She tried to wake up one of our cryostatic soldiers and has to get punished." The guard almost threw her onto the interrogation chair in front of you. She looked horrified. As Fieberbrunn turned away for just two seconds she mouthed 'I'm so sorry', but you didn't understand what she was apologizing for. He unchained her and paid attention to your hands now and you got thunderstruck.

"Warte, was... What is that?" He turned your wrist around and it felt like your heart would break through your ribcage any moment. But just in the second he turned your hand around to look at your bracelet the light got dimmer until it was gone completely. You didn't know what was worse; that he could have find out that this wasn't just some jewelry or that your little green spark of hope died right away after like three minutes. You felt your heart crumble inside your chest.

"Hm. I guess just some light reflection. Okay, let's get this done. Alright. Now, think of suicide."

You just stared at him. "I'm sorry, what?"

He looked you dead in the eye before he said, "I will let you get away with this one now. But I won't repeat myself again. I'm sure you know that feeling. Maybe thought of killing yourself in the last few days. I want you to conjure those feelings of pure and utter despair and project them on her. That is her punishment. And a final test of your skills. This task is not easy so you will have a few minutes more time. Start now."

Your mind felt like it was about to explode. What should you do? They were going to kill her, that was out of the question. But you couldn't do it. How even? How should you bring someone only with your feelings to wanting to end one's life? You were torn apart. You didn't want to do this at any cost. No. Just no.

She felt what you were going through. She whispered, swallowing down the tears, "It's okay. I won't see tomorrow anyways. It's okay, sweetheart. I'm so sorry." She tried to share a smile.

Your mind was running in circles. No. No, you wouldn't do that. No, no, no, GOD NO! Suddenly everything broke free. Everything they had done to you, the humiliation, the torture, the pain. It was like every single cell in your body was on fire. But before you could contain yourself you saw the wave of raging anger and hatred hitting the Doc in front you. God... no... Her face was fury itself. She even moved too fast for Fieberbrunn to react. She jumped off the chair, grabbed it and smashed it right into Fieberbrunn's face. The wooden chair shattered into pieces and while Fieberbrunn was on the floor, trying to see what’s going on through the blood on his face, the Doc took the scalpel from the tablet next to you and rammed it into Fieberbrunn's chest. Just as she tore it out and got ready to stab it in again you heard a loud shot and she stopped mid-movement. The scalpel clattered on the floor tiles and she doubled over to the side, her eyes staring into void. Everything happened too fast, you had not a moment to process. The guard was rushing to you just as the lights went out and earpiercing sirens started to ring. For two seconds you were in darkness and as the red emergency light turned on you saw the guard standing still, mouth open before he got down on his knees and fell right on his face, a dark handled knife in his back. Behind him appeared Loki in his complete battle armor. He took back his dagger as he crossed the room towards you with like 3 steps. Though you were still naked and all over covered in cuts and bruises, your eyes were the only thing he looked at.

"Your saviour is here.", he almost whispered low and soothing as he cut open the leathery shackles that held you back. You were unable to speak, your mind on pause. He gently picked you up and you clasped onto his neck. You looked down at the dead bodies, but the Doc was the only one you really saw. In that second you knew her rigid face would haunt you for the rest of your life. You just shut your eyes, trying to ignore all the noise around that almost made your head burst as he carried you through the corridors. Suddenly you saw bright light through your eyelids. You squinted into the sun and shielded your eyes with one hand. It felt like you haven't seen the sun for years. The fresh air was so relieving and you sucked it into your lungs eagerly. Your drug flooded brain did its best to let your eyes adjust to the brightness and you looked around. Loki carried you straight to the Quinn Jet parking right outside. You heard a well-known noise and turned your head just to see Tony fly over you in his suit and landing in front of the Quinn Jet. It felt like someone would press the 'Play' button in your mind again. Suddenly you were so nervous. You wanted to run over to him and pull him into a tight hug, just like you remembered from the past. But how could you? Even if you'd explain it to him, would he even slightly believe you? You started trembling at the thought. Meanwhile you were only a few steps apart. Just as Loki carefully let your feet touch the ground again, Tony exited his suit, coming towards you. You had no idea what muscle to move next, completely overcharged. He kept eye contact with an expression that confused you; it looked like relief, but so much more intense. As he was only one step away, he opened his arms and with the next step he embraced you dearly.

"Honeybun.", was all he whispered into the nape of your neck. It hit you like lightning, you haven't heard that word for about a decade; couldn't even really remember it but, damn, it had impact. One single word, a simple nickname was all you needed to completely lose it. Your skin was all chills, hesitantly closing your arms around Tony's torso.

"Uncle Tones", you said, your voice breaking away under the heavy tears. "I missed you."

You didn't care that you were naked, you didn't care that all the cuts burned like pure hell because of the hug. You weren't sure if you would ever get out there again. If you would get the chance to see your uncle again, the last bit of family remaining. But all that happened right now. You hoped so much this wasn't just an illusion or a dream.

Tony was the first one to pull away. He gently laid a hand on the side of your face.

"Damn, bun, you look shit. Let's get you home, kiddo.", and a broad, genuine grin appeared on his face.

Taglist: @it-jinxed-us​, @humbledarkness​, @lunawitch19, @redryderdesigns​

[afterthelastreset]

Rules Of One’s Soul Ch 3 A Story and Memory

(Mak belongs to @coffincrawler)

What followed after that was a sudden rush of adrenaline kicking in when he realized what had just happened was real. That Jevil had actually pecked him on the mouth and took off laughing up the stairs towards the elevator on the 'outside'. He spun around and ran face first into the top of the metal bars, making him stumble back, hands flying to his face and groaning in pain. The metal clang rang out and he took a few seconds getting his bearings and remembering he had to duck down to get through the cell door, before actually stumbling forward and out of the cell door just as he could hear a very familiar sound.

Ding!

His head snapped up just as the doors began closing and Jevil gave off a tiny wave with his fingers."Jevil! Thou stupid worm! Stop thine doors from closing this instant!," he yelled up in frustration as he stumble-ran his way up the stairs towards him. The imp only giggled.

"The fun, fun has already begun Rouxls.~ To play the game you have to stay on light, light feet.~ Such a chaotic play.~"

"Why you insolent little-!" The rest of the door closed just as he reached the top step, his arms slammed into the doors just as insanely happy laughter echoed within it. Rouxls could feel his teeth grit in frustration as his ears pressed tighter to his head. Did that little worm really think he could just escape that easily?! .....Wait a minute. "FUCKETH THINESELF!!" His hands flew up to his head as he just realized, Lancer was still most likely up there doing who knows what!! "MINE BOY!!!" His voiced raised a pitch as his breathing picked up pace again.

That lunatic was on the loose and could do who know's what to anyone! He wouldn't let anything happen to his child if he could prevent it! And he would live up to that promise. The familiar buzzing of magic surrounded him making an almost static cloud of energy and soon a blinding blue light overtook his entire vision. For about 3 seconds his whole body felt like a part of said static energy, completely weightless before he all came rushing back together in one split moment. The blinding blue light disbanded and he opened his eyes to the completely different surroundings around him. A pair of Rudin guards had been startled of the sudden teleportation of the Duke of Puzzles and gave each other a quick look before blinking back up at their annoyed looking boss. The worm monster gave an annoyed look at the closed elevator doors up ahead and narrowed his eyes.

Taking a moment to right himself, he marched towards the doors. This was the first floor from the dungeon and the special cell way down below, so this would be the most likely stop for the crazy clown to step off from. Just as Rouxls thought, he could hear the running elevator approaching and sped walked faster to the doors. The two Rudin guards watching with confused faces behind him. Probably wondering why the Duke teleported out of nowhere and why there were bruises on his face. His face still hurt from his smack into the bars. But none of that mattered now as the elevator stopped with a ding noise and slowly opened-

"Thou art insane," he hissed when the door opened, "Doth thou knoweth you can't just walk-" He stopped and blinked. The elevator was completely empty. He stared unbelievably at the empty space for a good moment before shaking his head and sticking half his body into the empty space to turn around. "Are....thou invisible?" He reached an arm around to feel the empty air but he got his answer when a high pitches wail pierced the air followed by crashing noises and more shouting. "Shiteth!"

The two guards watched in confused worry as the duke ran back up the hallway with panic on his melting face, passed them and continued down the corridor before turning the left corner....Before looking back at each other again. The Duke however was running as fast as his legs could carry him towards the loud noises. Other guards and servants looked on with mixed emotions on their faces towards what happened to be the largest room on the first floor or at the Duke running past them all. The room's light became slightly darker and the smell of ash filled the air....Smoke? There was smoke in the building!? And where there was usually smoke there was fire, and the fire... The panicked adrenaline in his veins urging him on towards the rucus. The kitchen doors were thrown open as the panicked worm threw them open and looked around with a wild look in his eyes.

"What tis happening?! Where is he!? Wh- *cough cough* Where's thy fire?!," he shouted through a few coughs. The black cloud was coming from the corner of the room where a hathy was doing her best to fan the smoke away with a small towel which was currently pooling from an old oven. The poor hathy took one look at the duke before turning back to fanning the smoke faster whimpering apologies. The smoke began to make his eyes water and he turned his head to give off another round of coughing as the vile air filled his lungs. "What happened here?! *cough* I want aan-answers! *ach*"

"U-Um, s-sorry, Sir." Another hathy reached a tentacle behind their head sheepishly while giving the duke a sorry look. "B-But it's the first day on the job for some of our new recruits." He motioned to the panicking hathy still fanning the smoke from the open oven. "Uh....D-Dinner might be late tonight."

He waved a hand to dismiss them before turning and exiting the room. His eyes watered from the amount of smoke coming from one room alone. "Windows. Open thine windows!" He choked out between coughs at the still watching staff, they didn't have to be told twice as they scrambled for the giant windows lining the far wall. Rouxls hacked and coughed his way from the kitchen to somewhere he couldn't smell the ghastly stench anymore. Thankfully he didn't have to walk a long way to get clean air. He gulped a lungful of the sweet air and slowly began to regain some kind of composure. How humiliating that a simple overcooked roast could reduce him of all people into a sick dog so easily. How embarrassing. At least Jevil didn't start a fire....Oh. Right.

"Stupid, insolent, dammed hellspawn from thy deepest depths!!,"he shouted once he got his breathing back in order. The anger and anxiety flaring up made his eye twitch, alongside the dread of not knowing where Lancer was made him feel sick again. For all he knew the imp could be doing something terrible with Lancer. What if he was already in trouble? What would h-

"Lesser Dad?" He squeaked out a startled noise and turned to find the child no less than two feet from him. He stared up at the man with his tongue sticking out in a confused manner. "Why were you saying all those bad words? Did someone steal something from your shop again?"

He instantly sighed in relief from seeing the small child in front of him, he straightened back up immediately and gave Lancer a smile to his question. "No need to worry about that, mine littlest worm. I'm just relieved to have found you safe and sound and not being dragged into thine jester's schemes." He said the last words through gritted teeth.

Lancer was even more confused. "What does that mean? Did Uncle Jevil get his food?"

"Uh....T-Thou could sayest that, but thou doth not needst to worry about that right now." He gave a look around before holding out his hand to which Lancer instinctively grabbed. "Right now thou should really worry about other things."

"What other things? I'm done being king for the day, so now I can go ride my bike and see Ralsei!"

He sighed again. This would be a long night. "Lancer, thou doesn't simply just be done with being King for thee day. Being King is a life time thing, tis your responsibility as one of thee kings to uphold thine duties-"

"Oh, I already did that!"

"Thou has?" He rose a brow. Maybe there was hope yet for the boy's attention span. "In the hour I was....busy thou accomplished thy royal duties?"

"Well,....I had some help and I left all the paperwork on your desk like Dad used to do." Of course, he should've known better. More work for him later, but at least he'd have some excuse to keep his attention on other matters. He was dragged down to hunch over as the much smaller boy tugged on his hand towards the kitchen. "C'mon. I'm hungry-"

"I think I hast already lost mine appetite."

========================================================================== Being a single father to a spade child wasn't easy. He should know.

Feeding Lancer and trying to keep him out of trouble was no easy feat. Trust me, he's done this job for quite a few years but it was harder when one has to consider the fact that as a very energetic child and now as king he technically didn't have to follow the same rules he had to when he was simply a prince less than two months ago. But that didn't mean he didn't listen to Rouxls either, calling him Dad still and listening whenever Rouxls scolded him or gave him advice. But that didn't mean he still couldn't pull the 'I'm King now so you have to do as I say now' card, and Rouxls had to obey the laws set down by the king. And while worms were enough to content him for now, he had a feeling he'd be bothered again with the matter very soon

The rest of that day had gone by slowly....VERY slowly. The boy had him running around behind him for the remainder of the day, wearily looking his shoulder every show often out of habit, expecting you know who to show up magically at any moment, but no matter how many times he thought he heard the unruly laughing or feared of seeing that madman's smile upon his face like the other incidents between the two, it never came. It was probably just the darkness of the shadows that he always saw, but couldn't help but flinch at. It just reminded him too much of what really used to take place behind closed doors when the small bouncing boy wasn't looking. He still had nightmares of what he'd heard about at the hands of the Ex-King Spades or the rare times he'd walk in on something he'd rather forget but couldn't....Or the few times he....personally had his own demonstration of what happened when one displeased their king......Which Lancer didn't need to know about, not now or ever. He'd die before letting the child be tainted by his father's past actions.

"Lesser Dad?" The worm monster stopped his internal rambling and snapped his head back down to the small boy holding his hand. Lancer gave off a tired puppy sounding yawn showing off his mini fangs and bright blue tongue for a couple seconds before his mouth reclosed. He gave a tired smile up at him. "I'm starting to get tired from all this King stuff. Can I go to bed now?"

"*sigh* Of course. Even the greatest of kings needs their sleep." He gave another smile before looking over his shoulder again around the darkness of the hallway behind them for a moment. Lancer leaned sideways to take a look at what his father was looking at, when he didn't see anything he turned back to Rouxls.

"What are you looking at?"

"Uh..I- N-Nothing. I'm just tired as well." He gave off another fake smile to try and seem relaxed around the child. Tugging his hand gently to motion him along down the hallway. "N-Now thou was saying?"

Lancer didn't question the smile and just tiredly trudged along, trying to keep up with Rouxls's long strides in his tired state. He yawned again showing off his k-9s and inner mouth before reaching up a paw to rub at his face hole.

"I'm tired...."

"I can see that. Thou's had a long day haven't you?" He chuckled trying to lift the invading feeling of anxiety from bubbling up from the surrounding shadows. It's going to take a while to get over feeling constantly drained from the last person he took orders from.

"Mmm hmmm."

Rouxls gave a sigh before trying to walk a bit faster towards the royal bedroom. He had a few things to get down that night and needed to put Lancer to bed to have one less thing to worry about doing that night- He stopped when he felt Lancer's hand slip from his, and he turned around. The small boy stood there slightly rocking back and forth slowly blinking his tired face hole. He yawned once again and reached both paws up to wipe at his face. Rouxls stopped and stared at the child for a moment before sighing and shaking his head, his legs carried his back over to the spade where he stopped and leaned down, holding his arms out to either side of him. The small spade reacted instantly by reaching up and wrapping his arms around the worm's neck, Rouxl's arms instantly went around the child before lifting him up with a grunt. Lancer being a spade, was naturally bigger and heavier than any other child his own age due to the fact that he would grow to be HUGE adult like his father as he got over, so naturally the duke stumbled a bit on his first few steps carrying Lancer towards his bedroom. The small child sighed and snuggled into the cool feeling of Rouxls's skin. It was almost like a water bed, but firmer.

They went down the hall shuffling and grunting until reaching a door connected to the far wall. It was a bit difficult to balance a heavy child in one arm while trying to reach for the door with the other. He fumbled a bit, but managed to turn the knob before shoving the door open with his foot. It swung open with a creek and Rouxls shuffled his way into the dark room. He could still faintly see the small toys scattered across the floor and a few other various knick knacks here and there despite it though, and was able to kick most out of his way as he made it over to the bed. Upon reaching it, he sighed and once again did the juggling act of balancing a now sleeping Lancer in one arm as he reached over to pull back the blankets with the other hand all the while not trying to fall over himself. He ended up gently plopping Lancer down onto the mattress and accidentally waking him up in the process. He blinked a couple times before yawning as Rouxls pulled up the blankets to be level with his chest.

"Lesser Dad...*yawwwwwwnn* C-Could you tell me a story?"

"Aren't thou a little old for stories?" A small paw grabbed his hand as he was about to tuck in the small spade.

"Please?"

A small silence. And then he sighed again but this time with a smile. "Alright. But just a short one." Lancer happily complied to the tuck ins as the duke pulled the blanket farther up his body- "Once there was a King and Queen, and they eventually bore a son-"

"Like me?"

"In a way, but not everything was well." A grimace came to his face and he leaned back up from the bed. "Thy king was always a bit....unpredictable with his behaviors, but it got worse when his Queen vanished-"

"Where did she go?" The small spade questioned still blinking sleepily at him, battiling the urge to nap.

"*sigh* I wish I knew-...Uh- I mean-" He coughed and looked away. "N-No one really knewest where thine Queen went. She may have runneth away or went into hiding somewhere far away from her kingdom. You see-...Thee King's wasn't very nice to everyone despite thine Queen's patience o-or her kind words....but h-he loved her. V-Very much, and I guess losing her pushed him to thou's edge."

He gave off a spaced expression and almost forgot Lancer was still awake when he asked-

"What happened to them?"

He flinched and stuttered. "U-Uh...Well-...The King grew to be more...." Cruel, murderous, insane?? "....More distant to his true duties as his subjects king. H-He made a lot of....mistakes that everyone nay liked, nor did he do anything to fix said mistakes."

"What happened to the baby...?"

Rouxls chuckled and his face became the slightest bit softer. "The king's son grew up to be very troublesome, but also very kind and...determined. Everything the king once was but had forgotten. He...was the good that came out of something so evil. I still shan't ever knowest how but he did-"

"What....happened...n-next..?"

"Thy prince rallied an army of his own and defeated the evil king of course. And became a good ruler as he would've been either way, and grew up to be a happy man with a family of his own one day-"

"W-Wait." He sat up slightly and blinked up at him with his last awakeness power. "W-What about the mom? Did she come back?"

The Duke stared at nothing silently for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm afraid not."

"What? But that's not fair!"

"Well-..." He finally looked back to him. "Sometimes there are some people who nay have any happy endings to their stories, and sometimes stories don't have thine happily ever after at all....or completely. Some still deal with their own...uh- difficulties even after they get thou's happy ending-..."

He was interrupted by the sound of a soft snore and he glanced back to Lancer, who was happily asleep now. He sighed before reaching a hand over to pull the blanket up slightly before slipping his grip free. He took few moments just staring at the sleeping child before silently turning and taking his leave from the room careful to not step on anything on the way out and closing the door silently.

"We all have our happy endings eventually. But I'm afraid thou's is just in the beginning pages."

==========================================================================

The long walk back towards the Duke's own private courters was barely a blink before he ended up back in front of his old shop, usually the long walk would've taken at most fifteen minutes if he sped walked, but he had been a little busy looking over his shoulder every few seconds out of fear he was being watched or followed. His body shook with the slowly built up anxiety and fear that had been plaguing him since early that morning. But he didn't see or hear anything indicating where the deranged fool may have gone or where he currently was. H*ll for all he knew he could be back in that cell, or right behind him....or- GOOD LORD! Why didn't he check Lancer's room before he sent the child to bed?! Too late now though. The child would put up a fuss if he went back to wake him up over his own paranoia, and what would everybody else think if they saw his paranoid behavior? The other Kings could see him as a threat to the boy king and he was NOT about to be sent to be locked up with the Ex King Spades. The very thought made him shudder. No. He'd have to trust the guards tonight and find a way to deal with this madness in the morn-.....He froze.

"...W-What thy f*ck?"

Up ahead was the 'Hip Shoppe' as he called it. Every so often he'd get the occasional customer and earn a few extra dark dollars on the side, but what customer would come in the middle of the sleeping hour? That's what he thought when he saw a faint orange light moving about through the front windows of the shoppe. Why would anyone be there at this hour- His eyes slowly traced to the sign in the window that still said open, and he froze before eternally cursing at himself. He had stupidly left the open sign stuck in his window all day!...Come to think of it, when was the last time he actually put the sign away? ...No. You shouldn't be thinking of that now. Now is the time to ask, who the heck was in the shoppe and why?

For a moment he reconsidered going back to the castle and just sleeping in his office or getting some guards but the light suddenly stopped moving and he stilled stared at the shop from in the middle of the road leading up to it. His legs slowly began carrying him towards the shoppe. If this was some midnight guard trying to steal something or a theif, then they had another thing coming. The Duke of Puzzles wasn't the strongest monster, but he wasn't the weakest when it came to fights. He could always teleport away if it came too much. He just hoped it wasn't who he thought it was. If it was...

The light still hadn't moved as the duke slowed his pace before stopping a few feet away from the door, he stood there for a little while before shakily looking over his shoulder towards the darkened trees and shadows behind him...Yeah. No way he was staying out here. So sucking a breath he began approaching the door again before stopping directly in front of it. He stared at the doorknob for a long time before slowly reaching his hand out watching as it slowly wrapped around the cold metal. The door was slowly opened and the duke froze at the sight before him.

".....oh, sh*t..."

A lantern shown bright above the counter next to the register. It's soft glow illuminated a good portion of the shoppe...and the giant furry figure next to it. Though he didn't react when the door opened, he did react to the soft cuss mumbled with a flick of the ear and turn of his head. The figure was easily a foot taller than himself, covered in fur. His body looked old and worn from the many scars his face showed. Both froze as they made eye contact. A small silence followed as they stared at each other before the slightly taller one smiled.

"Well, well. Another visitor to rummage through the wares I see. Welcome Stranger." He greeted in a voice that sounded younger than the body it came from.

Rouxls stood there dumbfounded. "...Who...What art thou doing in mine shoppe?!" He looked past him at the counter and noticed a small box by the lantern filled with what he assumed the furry thing had been taking...Nonono. Not taking. Stealing. He narrowed his eyes at the figure, a new feeling of anger replacing the fear. "Thief!" He pointed a hand accusingly at the....cat?? It looked sorta like one. "What does thou think you're doing coming into mine shoppe and taking mine wares?! "

The cat didn't even flinch. "Oh, so you own the place?" Rouxls nodded with pursed lips and the figure hummed. "Oh, I see....Ahahaha. I think there's been a mistake. I was told the place had been abandoned by the previous owner a month ago. Never saw anyone so I assumed the rumors to be true."

".....Whom art thou?"

The figure chuckled again. "How rude of me. The name's Sham but spelt with an 'e a'." The cat thing held out a paw from the tattered cloak with a smile. "For give me. I didn't know someone would be coming back, so I have been helping myself to some of your stock whenever I got low this month. Mr...."

"Rouxls Kaard." He glanced down at the paw before frowning more and holding a hand to his chest. "Duke of Puzzles and Royal Advisor to King Lancer. Not to the mention thine owner of the very place thou stands." He was expecting the cat to start begging forgiveness for his mistake, what he didn't expect was this Seam to chuckle.

"Oh...So you're this 'Evil Duke' the jigsawries used to babble on about stealing their jobs." Rouxls sputtered at the cat's reaction as well as the term he just used. Evil?! Him?! Seam chuckled at the Duke's reaction before saying. "I do beg my pardon. I wasn't aware I was in the presence of nobility now."

"W-Well...Thou shouldst be!" He crossed his arms and pouted in a way Lancer would sometimes do (Gee! I wonder where he learnt that from?) making Seam chuckle again. "I-In fact, thou should be thanking me for not throwing thou's self in thine dungeon for theivory and trespassing!"

"To be fair, you were not here for over a month. I thought for sure it was abandoned just like many other things in this world-"

"W-Well it was nay abandoned!"

"My apologies. Would you prefer I put everything back? I could pay you back for what I remember taking but I lost count. These old stitches aren't what they used to be I'm afraid."

Rouxls just stared at him. Did-...Did this old cat just apologize and offer to pay for things he thought were abandoned?? He searched his face for any trickery but all he got was a patient smile back. He opened his mouth but glanced back to the small box on the counter for a second.....

"...N-No. I have nay time to deal with such trivial things this late at night,and I'm quite busy with royal duties to the kings!" He pointed behind him at the open door before saying. "Take what little things thou have taken and leave. I do not wish to see you unsupervised within mine courters again. Or next time I shan't show mercy upon thee."

Seam chuckled again before asking, "If that's your answer, then who am I to ignore the duke?"

Turning back around, the stranger grabbed the small box in one hand and the lantern in the other before turning towards the door. Rouxls had to step aside to allow the stranger to get past him and out the open door. Seam stopped and turned back around to give the Duke one last smile.

"Perhaps friend, next time you should consider locking doors."

Rouxls didn't get a chance to answer before he turned back around and began to shuffle away. He stood there dumbfounded before quickly going over to close the door and lock it tight. He turned his eyes towards the window to watch the stranger walk away becoming a shadow among the other shadows with the light. He watched from the window for as long as he could before giving off another sigh and reaching over to tug at the sign. Turning it around to say: Closed.

When would this stressful day even end?

Sighing, he turned to stumble his way towards the back. Back there was a room with a bed that wasn't a his office desk and chair he was very interested in sleeping in and right now he just wanted to sleep and nothing else. It didn't take him long to find it either. He sighed in relief just as he flopped face first onto the soft but dusty bed which made him cough a little bit but it WAS better than a desk and chair. He let himself sink into the soft, a heavy feeling sinking in as his eyes closed. He had a lot of stuff to deal with right now and didn't need to deal with anything Jevil or this theif Seam caused until tomorrow.....Wait a second. His eyes blinked back awake as his brain wired a memory.

Didn't-......Didn't Jevil mention a Seam??

[whatdoyouexpectthistime]

Fangs, Horns and Halos: Part 1

Fandom: Castlevania Type of Fic: Continuation from end of Season 3, with some OCs. Contains: Angst, fluff, smut, violence all the good Castlevania stuff. Will attempts be made maintain cannon characterisation? Yes. Will I feel the need to Karen because I’m a purist? If you have to ask this question then the answer is a definite, yes. This is my fic and I’ll do what I like - you don’t have to agree, but I’m not interested in your haircut or your nastiness. Can I, or an OC of mine be in it? It’s possible, I write my friends’ OCs into stories all the time. Maybe you should drop me a note and say hi!

Should I comment and reblog? Um, yeah, because that’s what keeps my interest and inspiration high and continuing writing. I’m also open to ‘wonderings’ and ‘suggestions’ so by all means, talk to me!

If you would like a tag, just let me know.

<3 B

@loverofdeath666

_____________________________________

Hector was used to the monstrosities his gift created - after all, one could not expect dead flesh imbued with a hell-soul to resemble perfection. That is why he now found himself paralysed, staring at the creature on the stone slab before him.

Not twisted.

Not teeth and claw and scale.

Not slime and acid and brimstone.

She laid in perfect proportion, not a single blemish upon her naked skin, with a crown of mahogany waves draped about her head. The generous round of her breasts rose and fell with steady breath, and though her eyes remained closed her long, dark eyelashes trembled with the suggestion of dreams.

When her fingers twitched he scuttled back, his Forgemaster’s hammer held in a bloodless grip.

It didn’t make sense, but there it was.

In a growing panic, he looked to the door, expecting Lenore to appear. She would sway across the room, disapproval if not rage hidden beneath the pale of her face and demand to know the meaning of such a creation.

This was not a warrior, a machine of war; how could he possibly explain the presence of this vision?

Destroy it?

Again he considered his hammer, but in this next moment of pause the woman sat, and blinked, her lips slowly parting.

“Say nothing,” he told her in a sudden fluster.

If he had forged her, she was bound to him, bound to loyalty and obedience as he was to Lenore.

“What is this?” she asked, demanded, her tone quiet yet somehow enraged.

Without waiting for him to respond, she swung her legs to the floor - but they seemed to lack strength and she wobbled.

The moment Hector’s fingers came into contact with her skin - a reflexive attempt to prevent her from falling - he was struck with an almost overwhelming sense of ecstatic dread.

Paradoxical joy and impending doom.

She was not cold or clammy like the death he knew, nor torrid and feverish as he knew Hell could be; no, her temperature was mild and pleasant, that of any woman waking from a pleasant nap.

Except she was obviously not any woman.

“What is that?” Lenore’s voice cracked from the foundry door, her normally placid expression a sharp reflection of venom.

“Ah,” Hector fumbled, his palm still flat against the woman’s hip, his grasp lightly holding her forearm. “I just…”

Before he could make a sentence resembling comprehensible, the unclothed woman pulled ree and stepped away from him, a little closer to Lenore.

“Did you forge this thing?” Lenore barked, peering through to Hector as if the brunette was transparent.

“This thing is unimpressed by your demeanour,” the woman announced, coldly glaring at the haughty vampire.

Not at all used to being reprimanded, let alone by a night creature - however it looked - Lenore blinked in shock: shock that a night creature bound to Hector, who was bound to her, could even be so insolent.

With all the speed of her ilk, Lenore lashed out, pointed fingernails going for the throat; but she let out an unflattering and most undignified cry, she found her wrist caught.

As if in slow motion - so unfathomable was what occured next- Hector watched Lenore be flung across the foundry like a spineless ragdoll. Awkwardly, she crashed into the stab, her head cracking solidly against the bloody stone as she cartwheeled over its gorey surface.

A panic exploded in Hector’s chest, though his thoughts remained his own on that matter of what Lenore deserved, he was compelled to fly to her assistance. Not that she really needed it.

With an inhuman shriek, she sprang toward her foe, a flash of heavy cloth across Hector’s field of view that…

… suddenly stopped…

… and dangled…

… in the grip of the woman, awe inspiring and majestic with the wide spread of black-tipped white feather wings spread out behind her.

“Wretched,” she growled into Lenore’s face, dark eyes flashing with terrible promise, “and accursed.”

Though astonished, Hector’s body was compelled toward Lenore, but he could not reach her before an impressive spray of blood painted nearby walls. A strangled croak emerged from Lenore’s crushed throat, ribbons of vitae winding down the naked woman’s arm until she tossed the vampire to the side.

“Bu… how?” Hector panted, his pallor more blanched than usual as he drew Lenore’s gasping body into his lap.

No answer was forthcoming.

The angelic woman darted for the window and did not pause; she leapt through the glass, a spray of glittering shards against the stormy night sky.

Then she was gone.

It was a long night.

Though Alucard told himself, over and over, he was better off alone because people simply could not be trusted, the betrayal by Sumi and Taka truly left him more lonely than ever.

As dawn extinguished the stars, he made his way out of the dilapidated castle and wandered through the forest with a fishing rod over his shoulder. Light began to filter through the trees, and animals awoke to provide a peaceful accompaniment to his morning trek to the river.

Upon reaching the gently sloping bank, however, his attention was drawn to the nearby growl of wolves and the harsh caw of crows. Against the green and grey, a white figure laid face down and half submerged - headless, no, head obscured by a tangle of hair and leaves.

The animals looked to Alucard’s first step in their direction, then fled the superior predator by his second. It seemed an unlikely place for a corpse to wash ashore, but Alucard noted the beginnings of a beaver dam had altered the river’s flow: but even over the water’s soft chatter, he could hear the faint sound of something not belonging to the forest. It might have been voices, or chimes, a choir in full song in a language he could not understand; it was beautiful, incomprehensibly divine and yet every now and then the Devil’s chord struck out a sinister whisper.

This caused him to hesitate, to be furtive and suspicious, but he could not deny the curiosity that eventually drew him within arm’s reach. It had the form of a woman, but Alucard had known enough monsters in his time to understand that shape alone meant nothing.

On high guard, he carefully crouched and touched against her shoulder blade.

He gasped, filling his lungs almost to the point of bursting.

With significantly greater urgency, he rolled the figure over and her limbs limply followed. She did not open her eyes, but now he could see the slow movement of her bare breasts - amid scratches and bruises, bite-marks and gashes. The map of her skin told him she had faced many attackers, and traces of congealed filth beneath her fingernails suggested monsters had been her foes; and yet she was still alive.

Silently, Alucard fought with himself.

The last people he had welcomed into his home had turned on him. Their skeletons - now picked clean by birds, insects and time - still adorned the steps of his castle.

But his mother flickered in his mind’s eye, looked out at the dishevelled woman, and he knew he could not just leave her here to die of her wounds or exposure.

That didn’t mean he was going to lay her upon a bed of roses nor give her the run of his abode. No.

With great caution he settled her in a room with slender windows - too narrow for a person to squeeze through - one with a fortified door. It was not quite a cell, it was not in the dungeon, but it was secure enough Alucard believed he would not have to worry about being unexpectedly pounced in his own bed.

Diligently, he tended to her wounds, then tucked her beneath warm blankets - always with the call to his sword on the very edge of his consciousness. During the whole process she did not stir, but the soft, compelling sound that lingered around her like an aura, became stronger, more certain.

“But no heartbeat,” he thought, though she was definitely not a vampire.

There were other things in the world.

As he sat by her bedside he contemplated what he’d do when she woke. Of course this depended on what and who she was, but even then the question remained whether he should send her on her way immediately.

But the ridiculous little effigies of Trevor and Sypha he’d made, reminded him how there was a part of himself that needed others now - if he was not to become like his father. He was not stupid, not blind to the traps laid out before him by loneliness.

Those that Dracula had fallen into.

“I ferried him to Hell,” a voice declared, soft but sure, and Alucard focused back in on his ‘guest’.

“Who?” Alucard frowned, his muscles tensing in readiness for confrontation.

“Your father,” she replied, peering up at him with eyes that cast back only his reflection.

Finally she blinked, and as if released from a spell, Alucard rose slowly from his seat.

“Who are you?” he questioned, tone edged with warning, but the woman remained still.

“I… don’t have a name,” she answered, frowning in consternation. “I am just one of many… and yet…”

Her frown became a scowl and she seemed to be in some pain.

“Perhaps you remember what you were doing naked fighting night creatures?” he offered, not moving to offer her sympathy or assistance.

“Fighting back,” she corrected through her teeth, then threw back the blanket. “And nudity is such a… human concept.”

In line with her statement, she didn’t seem the slightest bit abashed at her unclothed state, and was on her feet to inspect the bandages wrapped around her torso and one thigh.

“Hmm, I suppose I should thank you,” she murmured, flexing her fingers, watching them curl toward her palm and then extend again. “You’re the first to not try to kill me since I…”

She scowled again and massaged her temples, eyes half closed.

“Ugh, this body is so… so…”

Alucard bit his tongue to withhold the way he would have finished her sentence.

“No thanks needed,” he said instead. “I try not to kill everyone I come across.”

Her movements were graceful, she had a distinct poise and yet, she was studying herself like she was confused.

“Well that’s reassuring to kno…”

The end of her sentence broke off, her expression one of significant affliction.

As she crumpled, Alucard lurched forward to offer support before easing her back onto the bed.

“Why can’t they hear me?” she cried out, as pain ripped through her skull.

“Who?” Alucard prompted, half-couched before her with his hands at her elbows.

“My brothers. My sisters! Why don’t they come for me?”

Frustrated, Alucard found himself no more knowledgeable of the woman or her circumstances than when he’d found her - everything she uttered was only part of a whole, and he couldn’t fill in the blanks alone.

“I cannot answer that,” he admitted, softening his tone in an attempt to mitigate her distress. “But you are safe here.”

“Am I?” she exhaled, her following inhale slow, like she feared the expansion of her lungs. “Everything is in chaos,” she expounded. “My thoughts, my memories, not meant to be contained by this… this mortal flesh.”

“If not mortal flesh, then what?” he urged, and again she planted her gaze in his, a stare from which he could not look away.

“Death,” she answered, and as she spoke the word that inexplicably melodious choir thrummed in Alucard’s ears. “Souls conveyed to Heaven, souls condemned to Hell.”

“You said you’d ferried my father to Hell,” Alucard recalled.

“Yes,” she answered, her chin dropping a little. “For all the carnage wrought upon the world, born from his insatiable hatred,” she elaborated. “As you drove a stake through his chest. The fall of his head to the Belmont’s blade. The combustion of his body in the Speaker’s fire. I was there, Alucard, to judge his life, sentence his soul and escort him hence.”

Alucard’s eyes widened.

Of course the specifics of Dracula’s demise was not public record, nor had he shared his name with her - but she recounted his father’s death just as it happened.

“Are you suggesting you’re an angel?” he queried, and his hands fell away as she moved to stand once more.

“I was an angel,” she spat, a disgusted sound accompanied by the stretching rustle of wings.

Unfurled, they spanned the entire length of the room, brushing the brickwork with their dusky tips.

“Now… I....” she stammered, her eyes welling. “The Forgemaster has bound me to this plane… how?”

“Forgemaster?” Alucard repeated, his expression darkening, and the woman’s wings slumped, forming a cloak of sorts that seemed to hang from her shoulders.

“He keeps reaching out,” she sneered thickly. “I feel him, pulling at me, desperate to bend my will to his.”

“Forgemasters draw souls from Hell into dead flesh,” Alucard pointed out.

“I know what they do!” she shouted, her body pulsing with a suddenly light that caused the half-vampire to back away. “But here I am! And everything is so… so… broken!”

[izukiout]

Set me Free

Ranpoe Week 2019

Day 7: AU, Free for All

READ ON AO3!!

“You’ll regret this.” Poe hissed. “This isn’t justice.”

“It might not seem like justice to you,” The man closed and locked the door of the cell. “But you are far away from home, aren’t you?”

He walked away, and Poe wrapped his fingers around the bars to stay on his feet. He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes. He’d ever been this weak in his life.

“I’m innocent!” The room was spinning, and it was impossible for Poe to focus on the man’s body as he walked away.

“I believe you, honestly!” The man shouted back. “But what I believe doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“Stop mocking me! Do you know who my father is?”

That made the man stop. He looked over his shoulder and offered Poe a small smile; it looked ill, melancholic, almost haunted.

“All I know about your father is that he knows you’re here, and he didn’t even come to see you, let alone try and get you out. If he’s your best bet, then…”

Poe was too shocked, too caught up in thinking about what he’d just heard, that by the time the words sunk in, the man was already gone.

He sighed and backed away from the bars. He sat on the bed instead of standing there and hurting himself more. He winced, touching the wound on his leg. It wasn’t that deep, but God, it burned.

“You need to wash that.” Someone whose voice Poe didn’t recognize said.

Poe jumped a little on his seat and looked around. “Who- Who’s there?!”

“I think my name isn’t what you really want to hear right now. It would be better to ask me where I am instead.”

“Wh- what?”

“Oh come on. To your left.” The voice said, and Poe looked to his left.

“There isn’t-”

“Just kidding, I meant to your right.” The stranger said, and so Poe looked. He was once again met with a wall.

“Stop! Just- just show yourself already!” Poe was starting to think he was hearing voices in his head, and the thought scared him more than he’d ever admit; going mad was the last thing he needed.

“You know, you’re no fun!”

For a moment, there was silence. Poe held his breath, heart beating so furiously inside his chest he thought it might burst. He saw something tiny move from the corner of his eye.

The action was so brief that he wouldn’t have caught it if he wasn’t already looking at that direction, but Poe was sure; one of the stones on the right wall of his cell had moved, it had moved further back into the wall.

“Don’t scream, okay?”

Poe was about to ask what the stranger meant, when the stone was pulled back, leaving a hole in its place. Someone slipped into Poe’s cell through the hole, and fell on the ground with a huff.

Now. Poe didn’t exactly scream… but he did shriek louder than necessary.

“You- you- you- you just- did you- what- how- how did-”

“You’re taller than I thought!” The man completely ignored his broken, panicked questions and dusted himself off. “And try and breathe a little, will you? I don’t want you fainting on me.”

“How did you get here?”

“Are you blind?” The man - he had bright, green eyes, Poe noticed - picked a little hat that had fallen on the ground, dusted it off and placed it on his head. “Didn’t you see? I got in through the hole I made.”

“Through the- just who are you?” Poe sat further back on the bed, putting some more distance between him and the man.

“Introductions are so boring, let’s just get this over with already. I’m Ranpo, Edogawa Ranpo; but that doesn’t really matter, does it? Everyone call me by my number here, which is 1826!” He flashed Poe a grin. “And you are?”

“Edgar- erm, Edgar Allan Poe.”

“And?”

“What do you mean and?”

“Your new name, silly.” Ranpo placed his hands on his hips, narrowed his eyes and looked Poe up and down. “Your number.”

“Oh.” Poe looked at the number they had written on his left arm. “2410?”

“2400! There’s so many of us, how do they even feed us?” There was a pause, before Ranpo continued. “I didn’t come here to talk about the other prisoners though, I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?”

“You’re hurt.” He nodded towards the direction of his leg.

“It’s better than it looks.” Poe cleared his throat, covering the wound with his hands. “The cut isn’t that deep. It doesn’t hurt as much now.”

“As if that wasn’t obvious.” Ranpo got closer and when Poe squeaked, he paused and raised his hands in the air. “Okay, I won’t touch it. But you can’t leave it like that, it could get infected.”

“And why would you care if it did?” Poe furrowed his eyebrows.

“Because I need you! I need you for something very, very important!” Poe opened his mouth, but before he could ask what that oh-so-important thing was, Ranpo kept going. “And besides, if I help you now, you’ll owe me; and a good man always pays his depths, so you’ll have no option but to help me with that very important thing too!”

“And what if I don’t want to help you with that very important thing?”

“Oh, you’ll want to. There’s no doubting it.” Another wide smile touched Ranpo’s lips. He took a few steps backward, hands folded behind his back. “I could tell by your voice, but now that I’m looking at your face, I think you might be as eager to help me as I am with getting your help!”

“Where are you going?” Poe asked, just before Ranpo could get back into the hole.

“To my cell of course! I’m going to be back with some water, and bandages.” He paused for a moment, before he said. “Please don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

“I wouldn’t-” Poe started, but Ranpo was already gone. He heaved a sigh.

It didn’t take too long for him to come back. He held a wooden bowl full of water, a towel and a few bandages, just as he had said he would.

“Now, let’s take care of you.” He dragged out the word as he dipped the towel in the water. He sat down beside Poe and pointed at his leg. “Uh, I’ll need that.”

“Try anything funny and I'll-” Poe let Ranpo place his leg on his lap.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Ranpo started cleaning the wound and sighed. “I heard you say you’re innocent.”

“Because I am.”

“Then how come you’re here?”

“Have you ever heard of the saying ‘I was at the wrong place at the wrong time’?” A small smile touched Poe’s lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Countless times.” Ranpo returned the smile. He dipped the towel into the water again. “That’s what happened to you? There was a murderer and you were just walking by the moment the knights came into the scene?”

“How did you-” Poe winced. “Careful with that. It hurts.”

“There were some rumors. Murder isn’t a petty crime, you know. If you’d just stolen something you wouldn’t be in this prison. Then again, if you’d murdered an adult it wouldn’t have been that huge of a deal, but a child.” Ranpo paused his movements and looked up at him. “Killing a child is different.”

“I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Answer this question then.” Ranpo placed the towel down and picked up the bandages. “Why are you here?”

“Because somebody wanted me to be here.” He hadn’t thought that saying it instead of thinking about it would be as hurtful, or as embarrassing as it was.

“There we go!” Ranpo giggled. He seemed almost excited, much to Poe’s frustration. “See? It’s so much easier to talk when you’re being honest.”

“You knew I was innocent all along?”

“Maybe.” Ranpo shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t look like someone who just killed a child; didn’t sound like it either when you got here.”

“Why do you ask me all those questions if you already knew?”

“So I could move on to the questions I don’t know the answers to, of course.” Ranpo let go of the bandages and took a moment to admire his work. “What is the name of that someone who wanted to put you out of the game?”

“I don’t know his name-” When Poe saw Ranpo open his mouth, he quickly added. “But I’ve seen his face.”

“That’s not good enough though!”

“I know, I’m- I think it was someone from the council?”

“For goodness’s sake, Poe, of course he was from the council; but the council consists of thirty people - thirty old men who all manage to look alike - or did you not know?!”

“This isn’t the time. I’m- I don’t want to think about it.”

Ranpo threw his head back and laughed, shoulders shaking and mouth wide open. “You don’t want to think about it? I’m really sorry to tell you this, but that rat that got you here is the person you’ll be thinking of every single second you spend in this cell; not your mother, not your father, not your lover, only him.”

“How are you so sure?”

“I think I have more experience than you when it comes to what it feels like to live in the dungeons of the palace.”

“How long have you been here anyway?” Poe asked.

“About three years.”

“How long will you stay here?”

“Try and guess.” Ranpo rested his chin in his hand, tilting his head to the side. “When will I be allowed to leave this hellhole?”

Poe was silent for a long time. He wanted to say a random number of years, he really did, but the way Ranpo was looking at him - like he trusted that he’d get it right no matter what - made him change his mind.

“Never?”

“Bingo!” He clapped. “Just like you. That’s why I said you’d want to help me with that very important thing.”

“What-”

“Ah, ah, ah- let me finish! You and I are going to escape together!” The grin Ranpo wore at that moment seemed to almost be reaching his ears. “Doesn’t it sound like fun?”

“Fun?! Are- are you out of your mind?!” Poe moved away from him, and squeaked when his back touched the wall. Ranpo shook his head.

“You’re a bigger coward than I’d thought… but it shouldn’t be that big of a problem- come on, cheer up! I’m the miracle you’ve been wishing for and I’m going to help you - you believe in miracles, right? you seem like you do - but in order to do that you have to trust me, okay?”

“I just got here! Even if I agreed, I don’t even know-”

“Okay, now you’re acting like an idiot. We’re not going to escape today, so you can stop acting like you’re going to piss yourself. We’re going to wait for the perfect moment.”

“And you expect me to trust that you know when that perfect moment is?” Poe heaved a sigh and drew small, invisible circles at the corner of his head.

“Exactly! I knew you’d eventually get it! You’re better than the previous prisoner, you’re just so easy to convince!” Ranpo stood up and took the towel and the water in his hands. “The guards change every day, so don’t try to befriend them. If anyone asks about the bandages, they were right there when you came here, okay? You don’t leave your cell, ever, so there’s no way you’ll meet any of the other prisoners, so you should be fine. I’ll visit again tomorrow to see how you and your leg are doing, so be prepared!”

“W-wait- you’re leaving already?!” Poe tried to lift his body up from the bed with his hands.

“Stay where you are and rest! I know I’m a good company, but I need to be on my cell when the guards come to see if we’re all still alive tonight, so yes. I'm leaving.”

They didn’t say anything else, because the door at the end of the hallway opened with a screech, and Ranpo was gone.

The stone was back in its place, and Poe spent all night thinking about whether it was all a dream, all a trick of his wild imagination. When in the morning, Ranpo visited him again, Poe felt something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

It was a mixture of safe and threatened, and even though he had never felt that way before, the feeling wasn’t unwelcome.

Maybe he’d met Ranpo for the better. Maybe escaping wasn’t such a crazy idea after all, if he was to attempt it with Ranpo by his side.

[calcifermovesthecastle]

Absent in Body- Chapter 7

Chapter 6- https://calcifermovesthecastle.tumblr.com/post/185588753270/absent-in-body-chapter-6

https://calcifermovesthecastle.tumblr.com/post/615756135930183680/absent-in-body-chapter-8

You look from Asra to the tree, stepping forward. The chains surrounding the tree strain to reach you, and Asra pulls you back by your hand. 

“Lets find another way in, hm?” He eyes the chains warily, turning to smile softly at you. You look up at him, thinking hard. 

“How about…” You glance at the tree, looking down at the ground. “How about you go left, and I’ll go right. That should tangle the chains enough that they wont be able to reach us. R-right?” You look up at him again, unsure if you said the right thing, and he smiles and plants a kiss right on your mouth. 

“That sounds like the perfect plan.” He squeezes your hand, pulling back to go his own way around the tree. You stumble when he lets go, but he smiles encouragingly at you, so you square your shoulders and go right. One, two, three, four, five times around the tree, and the chains are wrapped up in a tangled ball, straining to reach you and Asra, but unable to. Asra slips his hand into yours again and kisses your temple. 

“Let’s see what’s behind that door,” He grins, walking forward with you. The golden doors swing open, and a flash of white light blinds you momentarily. You back away from the light source, gripping Asra’s hand tighter than a lifeline. 

When your vision clears, you see two figures standing in the doorway, staring slack-jawed at the two of you. You turn to Asra, only to see him with the same look of shock on his face. Nervousness creeps up into your throat, and you tug on his hand, trying to get his attention. 

“Asra? Are you- d- do you know them?” 

“Mom? Dad?” Asra’s voice is hushed, as if they’ll disappear if he says it any louder. He takes a step forward, tightening his grip on your hand. “You’ll come with me, won’t you?” 

“Of course I will,” You reply, squeezing his hand. His grip tightens as you two walk towards the doorway. A warm rush of air pulls you through the door together. The darkness gives way to a dozen hot springs and billions of stars. The two figures still stare wide eyed. 

“Asra?” It sounds like a trick of the wind, but you soon realize they had whispered his name. “....Asra!!” Both of them race forward, and only then does Asra let go of you, running towards them at the same time. You stumble again, backing up ever so slightly. Tears stream down all of their faces, and they collide into an embrace.

“I thought you were gone forever! I- I thought…” Asra’s voice catches, and the man strokes Asra’s hair, murmuring something softly to him that you can’t hear. You take another step back, uncertainty bubbling in your gut. “Dad…” 

“We always hoped we’d see you again… Asra…” The woman cups Asra’s face in her hands, kissing his forehead. He buries his face in her shoulder, his pained voice barely reaching your ears. 

“Is- is this a dream?” 

Your heart pangs, and a very real fear starts to creep up your spine, a lump forming in your throat. Is he going to stay here with them? Is he going to stop the search for your body? These are his parents. You don’t realize the tears that spring to your eyes, as you take another step back.

“I feared the same, but when you spoke… we knew.” She smiles softly, peering into his eyes. The man- Asra’s dad- speaks up. 

“Have you been safe? Have you been happy?” 

Another pang to your heart, and you look down before closing your eyes and sighing, casting a sad smile to the scene before turning and resting against the door frame, sliding down to a sitting position, your hands trembling. Anxieties creep in, and you try to reason with yourself. Asra wouldn’t just give up on you now that he’s found his parents. It’s not in his nature. You watch the scene, your eyes glazed over as you wage war on yourself. Asra turns and smiles, leading his parents over to where you sit. 

“At least I haven’t been alone all this time,” His voice, which is so close, snaps you out of your stupor, and your eyes clear to see his hand held out to you. Your heart swells as you take it, and he pulls you to your feet, his eyes flickering in worry as he realizes the swirling emotions rushing through your body. The woman smiles, looking from you to Asra. 

“Hearing that warms my heart. Would you introduce us?” 

Asra’s cheeks flush, glancing down at the- er- rather visible bruises on your neck before smiling back at his mom.

“Mom, this is Mc. Mc, this is my mother, Aisha. And that’s my father, Salim.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mc,” Aisha smiles warmly. Salim smiles, also greeting you. Words fail you, your mind racing a mile a minute. You haltingly offer your hand, which Aisha takes firmly, smiling. “I’m glad you’re here with him. Of all the ways to meet his parents!” She laughs, the corners of her eyes crinkling. Just like Asra. Thankfully, he speaks up, his hand wrapping around your waist. You lean against him, trying to calm down. He’s not leaving. He’s staying here. He’s with you. The rush of relief from those thoughts makes you lightheaded, making you thankful that Asra’s arm is around you so securely. 

“I thought you were dead! But- obviously you aren’t, so what happened? Why was your gate sealed with burning chains? Is this where you’ve been? Can you come home?” 

Salim sighs heavily. “We’ll explain everything, I promise. But, we can’t go home yet. The chains weren’t the only part of our imprisonment. We need to find our familiars. They were separated from us, and I’m sure they’re trapped somewhere in this world. We can’t leave without them.” 

“If- if you can’t leave without your familiars,” Asra reaches for Faust’s spot on his shoulder. “Then we’ll come with you to find them.” 

Both of his parents faces flood with relief. Salim speaks again, his eyes shining with a thousand smiles. “Thank you. We’d better hurry. Breaking those chains might attract...his attention.” 

“Who’s attention?” Asra looks from his mother to his father, at a loss. Salim doesn’t answer. 

Aisha holds her hand over a hot spring, forming an image from the steam. When you see it, you sink deeper into the crook of Asra’s arm, pressing your body tight against his. He tightens his arm around you comfortingly, glaring at the image.

“The devil trapped you here?” 

Aisha nods, her voice trembling. “It’s a long story. We’ll tell it as we go.” She starts walking, her pace quick. The rest of you follow, you and Asra in the middle and Salim at the rear. 

“How do we even explain? It all started so long ago…”

“We can’t dwell on our regrets, dear,” Aisha sighs. Asra keeps glancing at you, and you know he wants to talk to you privately about the anxieties that are continuing to swirl inside you, but he bites his tongue and listens to his parents. They start their tale by reminding him of their work at the palace, and Asra nods, recalling a distant memory. They go on to explain how Lucio threw them in separate, magic-snuffing dungeons for ruining his gauntlet. As they continue their story, A geyser erupts inches from your body, causing you to flinch back and stumble into Asra, who catches you and pulls you back as a crater opens up, seeping scalding steam. 

Aisha frowns, tapping her chin. “As much as I hate to say it, we should take separate paths for a little while. I’m not sure if the ground will support four people at once. There’s a longer, safer path down there that the two of you can take. Wait for us at the deep green stream at the end of the path.” 

Asra looks from the path to his parents, nervousness etched into his features. “What about you?” 

“We’ll stay up here. We know it well enough by now. I promise, we’ll see you soon.” Aisha smiles, nodding as you two pick your way down to the path. Asra’s reluctance to leave is obvious, as he keeps glancing up at them until you reach the correct path, finally turning to you as they disappear. 

“Are you okay? You’ve been awfully quiet.” 

“I-...” You glance at him before swallowing, pressing against a tree and sliding down to a sitting position. “I’m happy for you.” You smile sadly at him, your voice catching in your throat. “It’s not fair for me to say, but- but” You gasp, looking down at your trembling hands. “I feel like I’m losing you. The minute you let go of me and ran, I felt it, and I know it’s not true but I can’t stop this feeling. And I know they’re your parents and I won’t take that from you! So if you want to-” You halt, a deep, shuddering breath cutting your words off. Tears block your vision, and you stare blindly at your hands, your whole body trembling now. “If you want to-” You can’t seem to get these words out, and you put your face in your hands, taking a few deep breaths. “When we find their familiars, if you want to go home with them, you can. I won’t stop you. Because you deserve that! You should get to be with your parents! You haven’t seen them in how long? Asra, you don’t have to help me get my body back! You can go home if you want!” 

Asra looks down at you, absolutely tongue-tied. He opens his mouth several times to say something, but can’t seem to form the words. Eventually, he drops down to a sitting position and pulls you into his lap, his arms tight around you. 

“Mc…” He begins, stroking your hair. “This must be hard for you, and I’m sorry for not realizing. I-” 

“But it’s hard for you and I shouldn’t be crying and feeling this way when you have it worse-” You cut him off, your shoulders shaking, but he places a finger to your lips, cutting you off. 

“I know that you don’t have any memories from before you died. Who your parents were even who you were, and here I am, finding my parents after years of thinking they were dead. And I know you want to get back into your body, but-” He gasps, and you look up in horror to see him crying, too. “What do I even say, Mc? You want me to go back on my promise to you? I can’t even think about that! There’s no way I would or could ever do that to you. You are the love of my life!” He pulls back and seizes your face between his hands, staring into your eyes with such intensity that your heart stops. “I love you so much I brought you back from death! And I will never let you go! So we are going to save my parent’s familiars, send them home, and get you back into your own body so we can get you home. And we’ll close the shop for weeks or months or a year or however long you need and we will just live together and be domestic and visit my parents and be happy! I love you. I love you, I wouldn’t let death take you, and I won’t let this!” 

With an anguished cry, you launch forward and bury your face in his chest, sobbing yourself hoarse. He trembles against you, his arms wrapped tight around your body, shedding his own tears. Long after you’ve spent yourself, he pulls back to take a good look at your face. 

“Are we okay now?” His voice is quiet, gentle, and kind. The grief completely gone from his face, a smile plays on his lips, and he runs his fingers idly through you hair. You nod and smile back, and he kisses you softly, lingering for a moment longer. 

“What about you? Are you okay?” Your voice comes out in barely a whisper. He pauses for a moment. 

“I don’t know. I should be happy, finding my parents, and I am, but truth is I’m not sure if I even know them anymore.” He leans his forehead against yours, his eyes drifting shut. “I know it’s a hard question, considering the conversation we just had, but what do you think of all of this? How would you feel in my place?” 

“Er…” You pause, a great sigh exiting your chest. “I- I really don’t know. There’d be a lot of… complicated emotions… Kind of what you’re going through right now.”

“...Oh. I suppose part of me was hoping for a simple answer. Maybe something you could see that I couldn’t. But you’re right. It is complicated. I’m happy, sad, scared, even angry.” He pauses, looking past you, lost in thought. 

“This is a lot to take in. Anybody would be overwhelmed. I mean, look at me,” You laugh quietly. “They aren’t even my parents, and here I was, sobbing because of it.” 

Asra takes a moment to think, continuing to run his fingers through your hair absentmindedly. 

“You know, I gave up on the hope of finding my parents years ago. It was just...too painful. Mc, I already lost them once. What if they aren’t at the end of this path? What if something happens before we find Chimes and Flamel?” 

Chimes and Flamel? Oh… the familiars. You must have missed that part of the conversation. 

Asra continues, meeting your eyes. “I don’t know if I could handle losing my parents all over again.” He sighs, then smiles again. “No matter what happens, I know we’ll be together. You can keep me going through anything, Mc.” 

He hugs you tightly one last time, getting to his feet and helping you up, looking down the stone-lined path. 

“The green stream. Lets go.” 

[nobodyzhuman]

Don’t Trust Dumbledore ch. 40

Harry’s POV

Early the next morning, Snape woke them up just before Madam Pomfrey came in to check them over one last time, before sending them off to the Great Hall for breakfast. 

Draco had grumbled as his godfather shoved a pile of clothes at him and told him to get dressed. Harry had chuckled, watching the two of them, then of course Remus came in and did the same to him. 

Though all his amusement faded as him and Draco stood dressed, wands and school bags in hand at the Hospital entrance looking at each other. Neither were happy as it was time for them to go their separate ways. Every instinct in Harry screamed at him to stay close to his mate. 

He looked around the room, seeing that they were alone he grabbed Draco and pressed a quick kiss against his mate’s lips. Draco moaned and Harry was pushed backwards a few steps until he hit a wall. His heart raced as Draco pressed closer, warmth pooled in Harry’s stomach and he wrapped his arms around his mate’s waist. There was a low chuckle from Draco before the blonde pulled away. 

“As badly as I want to keep kissing you,” the blonde leaned forward and laid a quick kiss in Harry’s lips, but pulled away before Harry could return it, “we need to go.” Harry groaned and dropped his head. 

“I don’t want to,” he muttered. 

“I know,” Draco said gently. 

Footsteps coming towards them had them moving further apart.

“What are you two still doing here?” Madam Pomfrey asked when she saw them. 

“Nothing,” they said together, both turning towards the door and walking out. Harry’s stomach flopped when Draco headed down a separate hallway. He hesitated as he watched Draco walked away. Then with a deep breath he forced himself to continue towards the Great Hall. 

Whatever way Draco went Harry wanted to hex his mate, because it seemed Harry entered the large room first. It fell silent when he walked in and he could feel every person in the room eyes on him. Included the Professor at the staff table. Professor Mcgonagall and Sprout gave him a welcomed smile, while Snape barely looked away from his plate. The headmaster face smiled but it made Harry felt cold. He quickly made his way over the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione scooted apart making room for him on the bench between them. He gritted his teeth and sat down. 

He barely reached for his plate before his friends started talking. 

“Harry, can you tell us what happened?” Hermione asked leaning into whisper in his ear. 

“Yeah mate,’’ Ron said shoving eggs into his mouth. “Tell us about it?”

Harry looked down at his plate trying to rein in his anger. Did they really think that he wanted to talk about it? If he had really been kidnapped and possibly tortured for two months, why the hell would he want to talk about it with his friends. Especially right after being rescued.. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled. Hoping the frown and dropped gazed would hint that he didn’t want to talk about it. 

“Oh it’s okay, Harry,” Hermione said condescendingly. “Talking about it will help. It would be good for you to get it out.” Harry slide his eyes over at her, trying not to glare at the way she was speaking to him. She had done it before, but he never really noticed how superior she sounded when she spoke to him. He looked to his right, Ron didn’t seem to care, he was just nodding his head to whatever she said while eating everything in sight. Harry sighed. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said more firmly. Poking at his food, not feeling hungry anymore. He heard Hermione let out a frustrated breath.  

“Hey Harry,” a quiet voice said from behind him. Harry turned his head to see Luna. He gave her a smile,  he pushed his plate away and got up to give the younger girl a hug, “Hey Luna.” 

He put his hand on her back and tried to lead the Ravenclaw away from the Gryffindor table, but it seemed Ron and Hermione weren’t going to let him. Both his ex friends got up and followed behind him. 

“Luna,” Hermione said grabbing the other girl’s arm. “I saw the article your father wrote about Sirius Black.” Harry stopped, Luna easily stopping with him. “While I’m sure Sirius is grateful it doesn’t seem wise to draw more attention to him. The man his in hiding and now he is going to be on people’s minds. It will make it harder for him to remain unseen.” It was nice to know she used the same ‘I know better,’ tone with everyone. Harry thought. 

But out loud he said, “What article?” He saw Ron and Hermione looked at each other. There was a flash of worry in the bushy brunette’s eyes before she turned to him. 

“The Quibbler released an article about a week ago, talking about Sirius.” Hermione shot Luna a displeased look. “It accused the Ministry of mishandled his case.” She tisked, “While it was a lovely article, all it accomplished was antagonizing the Ministry.” Harry felt bad for the way she was talking about Luna, trying to make the younger girl feel bad about the article. 

“Did they?” He asked raising his brow at Hermione. She gave him a confused look. 

“Did they mishandle Siri’s case?” He asked looking her in the eyes. 

Hermione stopped and actually seemed to think about her responds. “That’s not the point,” she finally settled on. “The article put Sirius back in the forefront of everyone's minds. He is going to be in ever more danger now.” 

He knew what she was doing. And it pissed him off. She was trying to distract him by telling him that Sirius was in trouble. Make him forget about what the article said and focus on the harm it could do to his godfather. He wanted to snap at her, scream at her for being a horrible person instead he turned to Luna. 

“It’s okay. I bet Sirius loves that someone is looking out for him. He never minded a bit of trouble anyways.” Hermione huffed but Luna gave him a blinding smile. 

“Now,” he turned to look at his housemates. “I need to go to the dorm and then I’ll meet you in potions,’’ he told Hermione.” Looking back at the Ravenclaw, “can we catch up later?” 

“Of course Harry.” With that he hurried away from the other three. 

Once he made it into the common room, he had to stop and look around. How different the large room felt now. Not just different from his time in the past but different from his first five years here. This room had been his safe haven for so long but this time instead of walking in and feeling welcomed he felt his skin crawled. He bit his lip to stop from tearing up at the monumental loss. Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had ruined this too. 

Not wanting to dwell on it, he quickly rushed up the stairs and into the 6th year dorm room. Thankfully it was empty. He went over to his bed and found everything was back to where it had been before his and Draco’s unexpected trip. He wondered if everyone had just left his stuff there or if the headmaster only returned it the night before. He shrugged and pulled a shrunken trunk out of his robe pocket. 

Sirius had been the one to buy and pack it but Remus had handed it to him last night before he left the hospital wing. He told Harry they didn’t trust the headmaster not to have spelled or warded Harry’s belongings that had been left behind so they bought him new ones. All he had to do was switch out the trunks and give the old one to Remus when he saw him. The werewolf had promised to go over the map and cloak as soon as possible and get them back to Harry. 

Harry quickly threw everything laying around his bed into his old trunk, shrinking it, he put it in his pocket and placed his new one in its place. Then he opened the new trunk to find his potions textbook and rushed out of the dorms and towards the dungeons. He didn’t want to be late on his first day back. 

While he wasn’t late he was the last one in. And he almost let out a relieved laugh when he saw Dean sitting next to Hermione. The other Gryffindor went to get up when he saw Harry rush into the room, but Harry quickly shook his head and moved next to Blaise who had the only empty spot next to him. 

“Hey,” the Slytherian whispered. 

“Hey,” he replied with a smile. 

As Snape announced the potion the class would be making, and ordered them to get to work, Harry could feel the class’ eyes on him. 

“Your housemates are staring at us,” Blaise stated as the Slytherin started up the fire below their cauldron.  Harry shrugged, not really caring. “They’ll get over it.” The other boy snorted.

Harry walked to the supply cabinet at the front of the classroom, gathering everything they would need for their potion and rushed back to their table. He was hoping to avoid anyone that might want to talk or lecture him. 

Turned out Blaise was easy to work with. The taller Slytherin was good at potions but not a perfectionist like Draco or Severus. Which helped when Harry made his only mistake. Instead of getting annoyed or frustrated Blaise pointed out how to fix it and  went back to what he was doing it. It was a nice change and Harry decided he would rather partner up with Blaise from now on instead of having to deal with Hermione or Dean, who were the only two friends he had in potions this year. 

He felt a little bad after him and Blaise turned in their potion, Dean called out to him but Harry rushed out of the classroom and hid in a dark corner until he heard the hallway was empty. It was just he didn’t know where Dean’s loyalties stood. Was he really Harry’s friend or was he just anyone person pretending? He knew he shouldn’t just lump Dean in with the others but it felt easier than chancing it and finding out he was wrong. 

He sighed and peeked around the corner. Seeing it was empty he quickly made his way to Defense.  

Lucius POV

He was resting, not hiding, in his guest quarters when someone knocked on the door. He groaned. There were only two maybe three people that would seek him out, Draco was in class and no doubt the werewolf was in his own rooms, that left Severus. 

“Come in,” he called out, standing to pour the other man a drink. 

“You should have told me,” Sev scolded as he stormed into the room. His old friend stopped and stood in front of him. Lucius could tell Severus was fuming and he didn’t need to ask what the brewer was talking about. 

“Would you have believed me?” He asked looking up at his mate. 

Sev’s mouth opened and then slammed shut. The other man took a deep breath,  “I do not know. But at least I would have understood.” 

Luc sighed, “Sev,” he stood up and reached out to touch his mate’s cheek, the other man didn’t hesitate to close his eyes and lean into his hand. “I had to magic away my memories so I wasn’t tempted to change anything. How could I have told you and expected you to not have the same temptation.” A large part of him sung in pleasure when his mate leaned into his touch. They rarely allowed themselves theses small touches. It was too painful, knowing they belonged together but couldn’t be. The welcoming pleasant touches only reminded them of that. So they resisted, at least they did until instinct and desire override their less primal driven minds. 

“And what do we do now?” Sev whispered. 

“What do you mean?” He asked. 

Severus scoffed opening his eyes to glare at him. “You son is the mate of the boy-who-lived, whom our Lord wants dead. I know you, Luc, you’re loyal to the Dark, but not more so than to your son. Which means you have already started to plan? So, I ask again, what do we do now?”

He stared at his mate for a second before smiling softly. 

“For now, nothing. I do not know what Potter or Draco have planned but you are right, I will stand with my son.”

He frowned when Severus stepped away from him. 

“Lucius, you would be taking on Our Lord, whom we have sworn loyalty to. He is violent and dangerous.” Lucius tried not to acknowledge the worrying feeling growing inside his chest. 

“I know,” he said meeting his mate’s eye so the man knew he meant it. 

“You would also be taking on Dumbledore. He carries a lot of weight and most listened to his opinion or advice, those who don’t listen to our Lords.” 

“I know,” he said again, he wanted to reach out and pulled Severus close to him, because the more the potions master talked the more Luc began to worry. Would Severus side against him? 

“This is idoitic,” Severus said in a low voice, almost like a growl. 

“Sev?” He questioned moving to stand as close as he could to the other man, without touching him, “are you with me?” the question was whispered, as if he didn’t have the heart to say it any louder.  

His mate glared at him, “Of course I'm with you, you idiot! I’m just pointing out how stupid this is. And that we will be on our own. Only Potter and his friends at our side, against two of the strongest wizards alive.” His mate took a breath, “I am just wondering if we have enough allies to win.” 

Lucius smirked, “I think our Dragon and his mate, are a dangerous duo. Draco is intelligent, strong, and cunning, Potter is stubborn, smart, and more importantly angry. Plus both Dumbledore and Tom have giving him the means to take them down. They placed him on a pedestal, the whole wizarding world knows his name, whether they praise him or fear him. They gave him fame, which gives him power,  the very power he can now use to destroy them.” Severus tilted his head as if he was thinking over what Luc has said.

“Dumbledore, maybe, however I believe Tom will not be done away with by public opinion or wizarding law.” 

“Then we will kill him,” Lucius said, feeling one hundred percent certain that if the time came he could kill the man he once swore to follow. It would hurt, as he once viewed Tom as a friend but that was a long time ago. Somewhere along the years he went from Tom to Voldermort to my Lord, that distance would save him from him from feeling any guilt, afterall if it was between Tom Riddle and his son, Lucius Malfoy would always choose his son.