#and then when we tell ambrose he's just like “oh. too bad. well anyways-��� AND IM LIKE WELL THATS THE REASON!!!!! NO WONDER HE'S FUCKED UP

[anxiously-sidequesting]

So I don't know if it was ever revealed how Duncan felt when we killed Malistaire all three times but I'm wondering if maybe some part of him could hate us for that too. Like you hear that and you go "but why. Malistaire was terrible and even Duncan knew that(?). Why would he hate you for getting rid of him."

But like I think it's so....... interesting in a very, very, very sad way how Duncan so easily latches onto anyone who directly feeds into his delusions of grandeur. And that's no fault of his own that he was manipulated by the nasty Schism but when you think about how desperately clung to the idea that Malistaire, easily one of the greatest necromancers any of us had ever heard of (at that time), somehow actually recognized Duncan's talents (even when canon supports that Duncan wasn't all that talented, at least no more than the next necromancer) and then praised him for it so often that Duncan believed that he would be the next Death Professor is. I mean ☹️

So like with that mindset I unfortunately feel like it would be quite easy to twist even Malistaire's death as something that's horrible and awful and all our fault. ESPECIALLY if the Schism was feeding into Duncan's already broken mind and shattered ego and was constantly telling him that everything bad that ever happened to him ever in his life was Our Fault. That's like a realistic conclusion that someone like Duncan could come to

And like, at this point in time, are Malistaire's crimes even a factor in how he thinks????? Was Duncan ever able to separate Malistaire's talent and skills and prowess from the terrible and awful things he did? If Duncan wasn't able to consciously tell that distinction in the first place I can't imagine it would be any better during the years he was being manipulated and isolated and lied to

Like in Duncan's mind it probably isn't, "maybe I shouldn't idolize a national criminal, or idolize anyone at all for that matter, and aspire to be like someone so harmful when I can recognize my own talent and build from there" it's probably more like, "you (the wizard) permanently got rid of a brilliant mind, an innocent person who just made a few mistakes, and someone who believed in me no matter what just so that you could be the better than me and loved by everyone else" and that's! very sad actually!

[illusioninfnty]

"i'll do anything!" ↠ day 23 ; virginity loss

↠ bo sinclair x reader

fandom: house of wax word count: 2.8k warnings: nsfw 18+, bimbo!reader, reader has shitty friends, coercion, corruption, dubconish, fingering, blowjob, cum swallowing, dirty talk, kind of semi-public sex, unprotected sex, creampie, pervy!Bo, allusion to murder, the plot is like a bad porno but i promise this is good guys

kinktober m.list || read on ao3

“God, did you forget to fill the tank again?”

You lean over from the backseat to take a look at the fuel gauge, and see the arrow is nearing empty. You furrow your eyebrows. “I was sure it filled up all the way,” you murmur. You try to recall when you all last stopped at a gas station, and how your friends delegated you to fill up the car while they went into the shop and bought snacks.

“Well it obviously didn’t, you idiot!” Your friend jerks the wheel and pulls over on the side of the desolate road. “This is why we never like to go anywhere with you.” 

You bite your lip, holding back tears. It wasn’t your fault that you were so forgetful sometimes, always getting distracted and lost in your thoughts.

This was supposed to be a fun road trip with your three closest friends, celebrating your college graduation nearing. But after a car karaoke session that went on for too long made you guys miss an exit, you’d been stranded on empty roads with nothing but trees surrounding you for quite a few miles now.

Your friend sitting in the backseat with you turns to face you, her arms crossed against her chest. “You should be the one to go find a gas station,” she protests. “It’s your fault we got stuck out here anyway.”

Your two friends in the front row look back at you and then at each other before nodding in agreement.

You crane your neck to look at the journey that would be ahead of you. It looked as though it continued to stretch for miles and miles with no end in sight, only the empty road and dying trees.

“By myself?” you ask hesitantly.

All three nod in unison.

You huff in defeat, unbuckling your seatbelt and stepping out of the vehicle.

“I’ll try to be back—”

They slam the door in your face before you can answer.

“—Soon,” you finish before sighing and starting the long walk, hoping to find some destination before it got too dark.

~

Bo was not expecting to see a pretty little thing like you around Ambrose when it was nearing dusk, especially all alone. You had your arms wrapped around your bare midsection, and even from his spot inside the gas station he could see that you were shivering from the cool air as the sun set. You were looking around frantically, and he could tell immediately that you were lost and looking for help.

He smirks. Oh, he’d help you, alright. Bo took that as his cue to reveal himself to you. He wipes his hands with a dirty rag and tosses it aside, exiting the station.

You hear the ringing of the bell as Bo opens the door, and you turn your head towards the source of the sound. You scurry on over, seeing Bo in his mechanic’s uniform.

“Sir! Hi!” you start, fumbling over your words. “You work here, right? Do you have some gas? My car—well, it’s my friend’s—but it’s, like, miles back there and we ran out.” 

Your eyes then shift to the side and he could tell you were embarrassed. “It’s kind of my fault.”

Hmm. Sir. He liked hearing that come from your pouty lips.

Bo gives you a toothy grin. “Don’t gotta worry your head ‘bout it, sweetheart. I’ll get ya all settled. Come with me.” He slides his hand across your lower back, just barely grazing your ass. You gasp under your breath at the feeling, and Bo can’t help it when his cock stirs at the sound.

As you walk into the gas station, Bo scans you up and down. He notices that you have nothing on your person but your clothes, and even then it’s just little scraps of a skimpy top and skirt—which means you must’ve forgotten a wallet, too. His grin widens even more.

Reaching behind him without you noticing, he cranks the thermostat down. The air gets cooler within seconds, and Bo revels in seeing your nipples harden as they poke through your top.

He goes to find a can of gas, rolling up his sleeves as he plucks it from a top shelf. He notices when you gulp and stare at his muscles as he flexes them subtly.

You were such a cute little doll. He was going to have fun with you.

He plops the can on the counter. You go to reach for it, but he holds a hand out. “Ten bucks, little lady.”

Your eyes bulge almost comically and it takes all of Bo’s strength not to laugh at your expression.

“Wow, that’s a lot more than I thought it would be,” you say nervously, shifting on the balls of your feet.

Bo exaggerates a sigh. “Times are tough out here, owning a small business like this. We don’t get many customers out here.” He opens his hands to motion to you the desolate town of Ambrose.

You completely buy into his bullshit excuse, nodding your head in complete understanding. “Oh my god, that sucks, like, a lot.” Patting down your lame excuse for a shirt, you look up at Bo with wide eyes, jaw dropped in surprise. “I forgot to bring my wallet!”

You were such a dumb little thing. What were your sorry excuses of friends thinking, sending you off all alone?

“I’m so sorry, sir!” You clasp your hands in front of you in a pleading manner, looking up at him with big, watery eyes. Bo holds back a groan. Jesus, those eyes could make a man cream his pants if he wasn’t too careful. “Please, is there anything I can do to pay you back? I’ll do anything!”

Bo pretends as if he’s thinking long and hard. Oh, he knew exactly what you were going to do as payment.

“You know, I get lonely sometimes,” Bo starts, a mock frown on his face. “A cute lady like you could really help a man like me out.” He shuffles up to you, and palms your ass under that sorry excuse for a skirt.

“Oh!” You gasp, grabbing onto his arm. “That’s really sad, sir.” You look lost in thought for a moment before continuing. “I don’t know if I can do that for you though.” You bite your lip, looking unsure of yourself.

“Aw, you gotta be kidding,” Bo clicks his tongue, rubbing his hand around the plumpness of your behind. “I bet you’ve helped lotsa guys out, huh?”

“A-actually,” you look down in shame. “I’m a—” you lower your voice to barely over a whisper, “—virgin.”

Bo blinks. That wasn’t a response he was expecting from you. So the slutty clothes were just for show, was it?

“Oh really?”

You nod, blatant regret all over your face. “I don’t think it’ll be good for you, ya’know, since I haven’t really had any practice and all that.”

He puts a smile back on, laughing gleefully and patting you on the shoulder, rubbing a thumb between the groove of your collarbone. “Well, that’s no problem for me, sweetheart. I can teach ya!”

Your eyes lighten up. “You can?”

“Sure I can!” He starts to undo his belt, throwing it aside on the counter. “Just need you to get on your knees for me and I can show you what to do.”

His cock jumps in anticipation, looking forward to seeing your juicy, plump lips wrapped around—

“Wait a minute!” you cry out, interrupting his fantasies.

Bo pauses in his movements, his jaw ticking at your interruption. “Yes?” he askes, concealing his frustration.

“What’s your name? I don’t wanna do this without knowing it.”

He sighs and points to the nametag on his jacket. “I’m Bo.”

You slap a palm across your forehead and nervously giggle. “Oh jeez, I should’ve known to look first!”

“That’s okay, sweetheart,” Bo mutters through his teeth impatiently. “Now lemme help you out, alright?” “Oh! Yeah, sorry!” You—finally—drop to your knees in front of him. “What do I need to do?”

The sight of you in front of him like that, so eager and pliant, had his cock jumping in his pants.

Bo lowers his jeans and boxers, his hard cock now revealed to you. He wraps a hand around the base stroking his full length as it puts it on display for you.

“That’s…big,” you murmur. You look up at him, concern plastered across your features. “I dunno if it’s gonna fit.” Your eyebrows crease together and those damn pouty lips of yours come out again.

Bo bites his cheek to conceal his smirk. This was gonna be a lot more fun than he thought. “I told you, that’s what I’m helping you with, ain’t I?”

You nod.

“Great. Now open those pretty lips up for me.”

You open your mouth as wide as you can, giving Bo a perfect hole to stick his cock into. He guides himself inside you, hissing as the warmth of your mouth envelops his length.

“Good girl,” he praises. He begins to thrust his hips slowly, your lips latching onto him as he does so. “You gotta let me move, sweetheart.”

“Sorry,” you mumble around him, and he groans at the vibrations that travel up his cock.

Your lips loosen and you start to suck on his cock, the suction of your lips making shivers of pleasure run down his spine. He grips the back of your head, controlling the pace of his thrusts.

“Fuck, look at you,” Bo hisses. You look so pretty and innocent with his cock stuffed down your throat, gags escaping your lips. “You’re a natural. Sure you haven’t done this before?”

“I told you—!”

Bo slaps your cheek, shushing you. “Stop talking.”

You nod obediently, the action making him pulse inside of your mouth. His grip on your hair tightens as his thrusts become harder, more primal. He fucks your mouth with vigor, ignoring your gags and the way your nails dig into the skin of his thighs.

He cums faster than he’s ever had before, groaning as his hot release coats the back of your throat. You cough around his cock, spurts of liquid splashing against your cheeks.

“Swallow it,” Bo commands.

You gulp harshly, your lips still secured around his cock. The extra pressure has him bucking his hips and like a good girl you swallow all of his cum. He pulls his cock out of your mouth, and you begin to cough and sputter as you regain your breath.

“Is that it?” you question him.

“Baby, I still gotta get rid of that virginity of yours.”

“Oh.” You giggle behind your hand. “Right.” You start to strip, only taking a couple of seconds since you’re practically naked already. “What do I do now?”

Bo’s cock hardens back to life at your nude form in front of him. Your nipples are hard, attached to your perky breasts that bounce up and down right in front of his eyes. He stares lecherously, licking his lips. “Now that you got my cock all wet,” Bo rubs his length, now slick with his cum and your saliva, “I can stick it in your pussy.” You bite the inside of your cheek and nod, your eyes flicking between his face and his cock. “I know I asked before,” you begin, and Bo moves to place your hand over his cock, “but will it really fit?”

Lord, he was really starting to understand why your friends let you go alone.

“Yeah, I told you, I’ll make it fit.” He lifts you from the back of your legs and places you on top of the counter. He brings his thick fingers to your pussy, sticking a fingertip inside.

You gasp and arch your body into him, throwing your arms around his broad back. Your bare breasts brush up against his chest and he relishes in the contact. 

“That feels really good, Bo!” you cry out. He adds a second finger inside of you, pushing the digits in deeper. He can feel how wet you are and the way you clench around him so desperately. Your hips jerk into him unsteadily, chasing the pleasure his fingers bring you.

He chuckles. “It’ll feel even better when I stick my cock in you.”

Bo removes his fingers, basking in the way you whine as he pulls them out, leaving you pulsing and desperate to be around him. He lines his throbbing cock with your entrance and pushes himself in without hesitation.

“Bo!” You scream, nails digging into his back. Little gasps leave your mouth as he begins to thrust in and out of you. Your pussy grips him like a vice, and it’s difficult for him to move inside you with you so needy for him.

He shushes you, gripping your cheeks and watching as tears leave your eyes.

“It hurts,” you whine to him. Your nails grip onto him as if your life depended on it.

He shoves his face into the crevice of your neck, placing kisses upon it. “Gotta relax a bit for me, okay?” he coos into your ear. “Or it won’t feel good for you.”

“You promise?” you ask through glassy eyes.

He nods, and feels as you unclench just a tad around him. Bo is able to rut himself into you harder now, and he can’t help but be more forceful with his thrusts as it causes your breasts to bounce right in front of him.

“Look at that.” He motions towards where the two of you are connected, his cock pulsing at the way your blood and juices coat the base. “Look at how we're connected now.”

Oh wow,” you gasp in awe. “That’s kinda romantic, huh?”

Bo doesn’t respond. If you wanted to put it that way, he wouldn’t stop you. He ignores the way his heart stutters in his chest.

His hips continue to pound into you, your body bouncing along with the power of his thrusts. The whines that come out of your mouth sound so angelic, and Bo has to fight the urge to kiss you.

“I—I think I’m gonna cum,” you moan out, your head thrown back and your eyes are scrunched up in pleasure.

Bo didn’t need you to tell him that. Your pussy goes back to clenching down on him, your walls tightening around his cock, fitting themselves to the shape of him. He curses quietly into your neck. He never wanted to leave the warmth of your pussy.

“That’s it, baby,” Bo coaxes you. He moves a finger to your clit, enjoying the way you jolt at the newfound sensation as he rubs circles on the bead. “Cum around my cock.”

“Cumming!” Your voice is squeaky as your legs come up to wrap around his backside, and you finally reach your peak. Your pussy tightens around Bo even more, and he can’t help it when he cums for a second time as you squeeze every last drop out of him.

You pant heavily as you come down from your orgasm, sweat rolling down your temples despite the cold air of the station that surrounds the two of you.

Bo’s own breathing is heavy, something he’s not used to much. You squirm out from beneath him as you drop from the counter, legs still shaking from the aftermath of your orgasm. You bend down to gather your scraps of clothing, and Bo has to take all of his strength to conceal his groan as he watches his cum slowly leak out of your pussy.

“Leaving so soon?” Bo didn’t know what compelled him to say that. You were just some cute college kid passing through that was a chance to get his dick wet. Yet there was something about you that drew him to you, like a moth to a flame.

You shimmy back into your clothing, and he notices how you ignore the trail of his cum that runs down your thigh. “My friends’ll be mad at me if I take too long getting back.” You pause in your movements. “I can take the gas now, right?”

Bo’s heart drops in his stomach. He realizes quickly that no, he wasn’t going to let you take the gas. In fact, he wasn’t going to let you leave at all. He wanted you—needed you—here with him. He couldn’t let a pretty little thing like you just pass by him like that.

He glances outside quickly. The sky's already turned to a pitch black hue, and he knows there’s no streetlights on your way back to where your friends wait for you. He turns back to you as you stand awaiting his answer.

“It’s pretty dark out there, little lady.” You peek over his shoulder, and your eyes widen as you realize just how late it had gotten. “It ain’t safe for you ta’ be out walkin’ all alone. Why don’t you stay over at my place for the night?”

“B-but what about my friends?” A pout overtakes your face and you look up at Bo with puzzled eyes.

Bo smirks, holding you close to his chest and running a hand over your hair. “Don’t need ta’ worry about them, sweetheart. My brother’ll come an’ fetch ‘em.”

[aboutcustardcreams]

I apologize in advance if there are any mistakes, I've written most of it on the beach earlier today and I might have had the sun in my eyes :P Hope it's enjoyable anyway!

The monster within you

Five

Six

"So, how do we do this, exactly?", you can't hide the fact that you're nervous, it shows in your eyes.

Cordelia is leaning over the kitchen counter, across you, whereas Zelda stands next to her, rather pensive. "We should cast a protective spell, to begin with," the Directrix nods at her words. You can tell she is equally nervous and tense.

"That would definitely help, wouldn't it?"

Cordelia nods at your hopeful tone and reaches out a hand towards yours.

"It surely can't hurt," Zelda continues, sounding mildly ironic. You're well aware a part of her believes you shouldn't be doing this, for the simple fact that the artifact is both cursed and blessed. And it means so much that she is letting you decide freely, despite being completely against it.

Sighing, you turn towards her and call her name in a soft plea. Her clear eyes stare up at you, as she hums back.

"Don't be so scared, it's gonna be alright. We are a great team."

You weren't just saying those things because you wanted to reassure her. You were saying those things because you believed them. A whole family of powerful witches had your back, so what could possibly go wrong?

"Ehm, there's something you should know, Celeste...", it's Ambrose speaking now.

All eyes turn towards him at once.

"What is it?", Zelda questions, with a certain urgency in her tone.

He stalls and rubs his hands together, " So , as I already told you, I read about Lucia's relic before, and everything they have told you about it, is true. Meaning that, you'll see your family, but it could happen anywhere , and in any timeline."

"Timeline?" You frown and he nods.

You're pretty sure Zelda cursed under her breath but it was too subtle to be heard.

"You could be jumping back, forward in time, or staying in the present, the possibilities are quite a few."

Nodding hesitantly, you later add, "it doesn't sound so bad."

Zelda almost chuckles, "Sweetheart, there's nothing worse than time traveling."

You lightly roll your eyes at her dramatics, "But maybe I'll stay in the present, so no damage can be done."

Cordelia sighs tiredly, "Zelda has indeed a point," she remarks, "but so do you," she looks at you, making you smile.

The redhead shallows, feeling her throat suddenly too dry for her liking. She then circles the kitchen's counter so that she now stands by you.

"I want you to listen to me very carefully," she takes your hands in hers, her thumbs immediately skimming over your skin, "you can't, under no circumstance, change a thing about the past. If you do, you will affect our very present irreversibly," her voice falters for how scared it sounds.

You hum and nod, "now you listen to me," mimicking her tone, you lift Zelda's hands to your mouth to place a gentle kiss on her knuckles. The sole gesture arises a blush upon her cheeks, but you don't mention it, preferring to cherish it in silence.

"Why on earth would I ever want to change the past if it led me to you and Delia?", Zelda bows her head slightly, as to hide the small smirk that has just played out on her features, "I'd be an absolute idiot," you finish sarcastically.

Her eyes lock back with yours and then lets out a quiet chuckle, "you can say that again."

You roll your eyes, "I believe I deserve some credit here," you mutter, playfully poking her shoulder.

"We trust you," Cordelia interjects, touching your forearm.

"Oh, really?", you mock teasingly, and both snort.

"Come here, silly," you find yourself smiling from ear to ear when the Supreme pulls you into her protective arms for a hug. You can feel the thumping of her heart against yours, so intense, you try your best to soothe it, by brushing her hair with your fingertips, "we just want to be sure you're really sure about this."

"I am," you mutter. "This isn't a decision I'm making lightly. It's important to me."

Cordelia pulls away just a bit so that she can cup your cheeks, "alright, then. Zelda may not say it out loud but we are on your side and we will always be."

Zelda clicks her tongue, feigning annoyance, "you're both so frustrating."

"Are we?", you quickly turn around to peck her lips.

You whimper when she bites your bottom lip, then mutters, "you have no idea."

"I hate to interrupt this moment, aunties, " Ambrose clears his throat, feeling like he is seeing way too much for his liking.

"I don't know how I feel about being called auntie," you whisper to Cordelia, who simply giggles in return.

Zelda sighs and looks at her nephew, "what now?"

"There's more to say, I'm afraid."

"We are listening", Cordelia says.

"Basically, if something were to happen, we cannot reach you there," he looks directly into your eyes, as he speaks. You clench your jaw, not daring to interrupt him just yet. "We can try to pull you back with a spell, but our success depends on you."

"I wasn't exactly expecting all of you to jump into my reality, if I'm honest," you give a nervous chuckle as you cross your arms over your chest.

Zelda's hand slips protectively around your waist, squeezing more than she would like.

"Oh and one last thing..." Ambrose trails off, as if he has just remembered something very important. "A minute here is like twenty there, or something. Time runs differently for some reason."

Your eyes open wide then, as you just remember what the salesman told you about the relic, "the globetrotter said I shouldn't keep it on for more than one minute. I thought it was silly because, I mean, what can you possibly do in one minute? But now it makes sense."

Zelda pulls her hand back and scoffs indignantly, "and when exactly were you going to tell us such an important thing?"

You gwan at your bottom lip, "I'm sorry!", you didn't mean to keep it a secret, it had simply slipped your mind.

Even Cordelia seems disappointed, but you can't blame her.

"You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached to your neck," she snaps.

You had it coming, so you accept the tease with shoulders down, "a tad exaggerated, but I suppose I deserve it."

"Any important detail we should know before getting started?", Cordelia asks, rather impatiently now. You and Ambrose share a look as to see if he had more in store for you but that seemed to be all. So you shake your head, "I believe we are all sorted out."

"Alright, let's move to the lounge room, then," she continues.

You nod, taking the first steps, with everyone else following behind.

Zelda leans closer to your ear, "If you get killed, I'll resurrect you and kill you myself," her fingers tangle in your hair a bit possessively.

You chuckle and tease back, "I give you my permission."

"But I don't", Cordelia quickly interjects, stepping in between the two of you.

You groan. "Ladies, make up your mind while I go find my parents," with the relic in your hands you sit down on the couch.

Zelda snorts, her attention quickly shifts to the object in your hands and you find yourself looking at her.

"Help me out?", she nods softly and takes it from your hands before sitting down behind you. Cordelia kneels down on your front instead and keeps her hands on your knees, offering you an encouraging smile. Ambrose stands next to the chimney.

"Are you alright?", she whispers.

You nod your head, "I just hope everything goes well with them. "

"It will, babygirl," there's something incredibly reassuring in her warm brown eyes.

"You can't promise me that," you sigh, with a small smile. "But I appreciate your words."

She chews on her lip before adding, "Promise me if something seems off, come back to us. We can figure it out together."

"Pinkie promise," you lift your finger and she chuckles softly as she intertwines it with hers.

"I wouldn't bet on it, Cordelia. Celeste has, after all, the savior syndrome," the redhead replies dryly.

You scoff, "you have no choice but to trust me on this."

She frowns as she leans closer to you, "I do trust you," her lips curve in a coy smirk, "most of the time..."

Your mouth falls partially agape, "excuse me?"

"Girls ," Cordelia interjects with a firm tone, before you and Zelda can start one of your usual bickering. She feigns innocence and you glance at her with narrowed eyes, but decide to drop it.

"Let's get this over with," you announce, nervously rubbing your thighs, "Zelda, go on please."

The redhead hums and wets her lips, repeating to herself like a mantra that's just one minute. Her breathing is so close to your ear it sends goosebumps over your neck as she carefully puts the blindfold over your eyes, making sure it's nicely tied.

"Relax, Zee..." you tell her, feeling her fingers trembling.

"I'm very relaxed, thank you very much."

When she is done with that, she puts her hands down so slowly, as to be prepared to take the relic off any moment from now.

"Now, what?", you ask, a bit impatiently.

"Try closing your eyes, babygirl," Cordelia suggests.

You nod your head and do as she says.

Zelda wants to add something but Cordelia gives her a look, mouthing "not now," at her direction.

She eyes her confusedly, but then understands that you probably need to focus. And as you do, something shifts rather quickly. Your body turns stiff, and when she tentatively calls your name, you don't answer.

"What's happening?", she can't hide the fact that it alarms her.

Cordelia takes a steady breath, "it's like what Ambrose said, she can't hear us. But she is fine."

The boy nods when his auntie looks at him for confirmation.

"But... how can we be sure?", she insists, placing a hand upon your back.

"I'm the Supreme, silly. Trust me," her voice is soft but slightly teasingly.

"Let's get started with the protective spell, then," Cordelia nods at her words, and takes her hand in hers, while still keeping one on your knee, "Ambrose, you count the seconds from now."

He nods, giving her thumbs up, "I'm on it, auntie."

 

It all happens in a blink of an eye, both figuratively and literally. You're not sitting in the lounge of the Spellman's Mortuary anymore, but standing in the most unreal landscape you've ever seen in your life. Neither Zelda nor Cordelia are in sight, exactly how Ambrose had anticipated. You're on your own.

You wonder if you disappeared from their sight too, or if maybe your soul kind of astral projected, while your body was at the house. Sighing, you take hesitant steps towards what appeared to be a cave crossed by a stretch of water, much wider in the distance.

It's desolate, cold, and heavy there. The air is crispy, but also suffocating in a way. You don't know whether to blame the cold or the deafening quietness. Without having real indications as to where to go, you follow the path along the river, keeping your eyes open to spot anything that could serve your purpose.

After a while, your steps come to a halt, your eyes spot something on the other side of the river, like a shadow in the water. As you squint your eyes, you lower yourself on your knees and lean as further as you can, burying your palms in the dirty soil underneath, "Is anybody there?"

You're sure there's something in there, the water seems rippled in that same spot. Your eyes open wide, when you hear a sound very similar to a grunt, "Hello? Can you hear me?" Now you're sure there's somebody there, staying very still in a frozen river.

You reach out a hand towards the water, dip your fingers in and immediately hiss at how cold it feels, " Fuck, someone should really kick on the heat in here," you mutter to yourself. You get up again, desperately thinking of a way to reach the other side of the river, without having to pass through the water. You try to call upon your magic, once, twice, but it doesn't work out. All you can manage to summon is a pathetic sparkle at your fingertips, barely warm enough to dry your skin. "Look, I'm here to help you, alright? Are you stuck?", you can't hide the concern in your tone; if there's a person lingering there, they are probably freezing to death. Moreover, there's a high possibility that whoever that is, is part of your lineage.

"Please , answer me," your voice slips louder than intended and it echoes through the rocky walls of the cave. You're not sure if you had caused it, but the ripple expands, almost to your side of the river. You bend down again, a glint of hope flashes through your eyes, when you spot a bit more clearly that same shadow of before, slowly moving.

It's a man. Maybe...

It breaks your heart when you finally lock eyes with him. It seems like he hasn't slept in days, despite the tiredness glazing his bluish orbs. He's not shivering, which you find impossible considering you are freezing.

"What got you screaming like that?", he whines, "I was finally sleeping," you can't help the crease forming in between your brows.

How can someone fall asleep in a frozen river?

"With all due respect, sir, I don't think you should fall asleep in there," you stutter out, feeling kind of dumb for having to state the obvious.

He chuckles as first response, "This is the Cocytus, dear, my new forever home, so I'll do as I please."

Your eyes snap open as you start to collect the dots. If that's true, it meant that you had ended up in another realm. Hell precisely. "So we are..?"

The man nods, "In Hell, I'm afraid, yes," a cloud of vapor comes out of his mouth, "welcome to the land of the damned!" He echoes almost theatrically.

You grimace in response, feeling suddenly uneasy. Your mind is filled with so many questions, but time is hardly on your side. Ambrose gave you twenty minutes to figure everything out, and it didn't help that you had no idea of how much had passed already. If that man was who you thought he was, it meant he was a bad person considering where he was confined. However, he didn't exactly look like one to you.

"Can you get out of there?", you ask, without really looking at him now. Your eyes roam around your surroundings, to mentally calculate the distance between you and him.

"Out of Hell? I don't think so", he scoffs. You wet your lips then swallow nervously, hating to be thinking what you're thinking. "Besides, I can't feel my limbs anymore, I can barely turn my neck and blink. So no, I can't think of anything that would work."

You nod slowly, arms over your hips as you take slow, steady breaths as far as possible.

"Alright," you announce, then take off your shirt. 

The man squints his eyes in disbelief, "what exactly are you doing?"

If he was shocked by the choice you were making, you were shocked by his indifference to his fate. The fact that he accepted his punishment had been enough to unsettle you and turn your stomach upside down.

"It's okay, don't worry," next thing you do, you take off your shoes, "I can help you," staring at the river you  try figuring out how deep the water is.

The man's frown deepens, "you don’t want to do this."

You ignore him. He is probably standing, not floating, which means the bottom isn't as profound as you had previously thought. You can tiptoe till there, get him out, and gather the answers you're looking for. It sounded so easy in your mind, while in practice it was the stupidest plan ever made up.

"Respectfully, you’re insane," he insists.

You huff and roll your eyes, "Funny. I get that a lot."

"Why would you willingly enter the river?"

You gesture with your hand kind of exasperatedly, " Because I need to pull you out, obviously."

"You really don't," he quips. "I'm cursed here. If they were to find out..."

"Who?" Shrugging you look around you, spotting absolutely nobody else. "Plus, I know the Queen of Hell, I'm sure she will be lenient," you're not one hundred percent sure Lilith will be on your side on this, but she did tell you you could count on her if you ever needed a hand. That alone had to mean something.

"There's a Queen now?", he half yells, "what happened to Lucifer?"

You chuckle amusedly, before answering, "You've really been stuck in here for quite a lot, haven't you? He died, was killed actually," you clarify. "But it's not important, he deserved it."

When you finally dip your feet in the river, you inhale a long shaky breath, "Oh my— Fuck! " You bite your tongue then mutter a quick apology. The water is colder than you had imagined.

He grins, and looks at you like he is enjoying a show, “don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”

“I don’t need lessons right now,” you exhale deeply then hold your breath in the poorest, useless attempt to unfeel the cold. You trick your mind that it actually works before forcing your body within the river until your feet touch the bottom. In a matter of seconds, you start gritting your teeth, "this is an absolute nightmare.”

"That's why I was pissed when you woke me,” he deadpans. 

"Oh I'm so sorry I'm trying to save your life!"

"I'm already dead, what are you talking about?", he frowns incredulously.

You groan, and lift your hands up, "your s-soul then!", your limbs feel as heavy as boulders already. It's hard to move, to breathe and focus and that man isn't making it easy. 

He clicks his tongue and nods slowly, as he studies you, " Yes , you're completely insane," you're not sure if he is mocking you, scolding you or showing you some sort of apprehension. Whatever that is, you ignore it and focus on your steps towards him. 

"Do I know you, perhaps?", he later adds, noticing you’ve fallen quiet.

You take a moment to think about it. Does he? How funny would that be if you were trying to save a soul that had nothing to do with who you're looking for.

"Well, I don't know... maybe?”, you wiggle your fingers underwater to see if they are still responsive. It’s like when you try texting someone in the middle of winter without wearing gloves, but ten thousand times worse. “My name's Celeste Payton. Do you remember how you died?"

You wait to see if your name elicits some sort of reaction, but he remains unfazed. You’re good at pretending it doesn’t hurt though. 

"I was killed— one would call it an accident, but it really wasn't. Let's just say that the woman I thought I fell in love with wasn't exactly who she said she was."

Could that be your mother?

"S-she killed you?", your voice trembles.

When you're finally standing next to him and you take a moment to better observe his features.

He has blue eyes, deep and full grayish eyebrows, maybe black once, his hair is short, damp and slightly grizzled to the sides. His lips are blue, the shape of his jaw is angular, well defined, the shells of his ears as red as fire, probably in response to cold.

When he nods, your heart drops, "I'm sorry..."

"It's alright. It's not that I didn't try to do the same," he blurts out, with a cheeky grin.

"I'm sorry, do you mean taking your own life?", you ask carefully.

He scoffs, "of course not. I meant killing her."

" Oh , o-okay." You're not sure if he is serious or joking about it, however it creeps you out. "Relationships can be quite... challenging."

That's probably the stupidest comment you could think of. But he laughs, so you don't take it as a total failure.

"We need to get out of here."

You find his hands underwater and squeeze them as much as you can while pulling him towards you, however it's harder than you had anticipated considering he weighs like a lifeless chunk of ice.

"I told you I can't feel my limbs. It's been too long."

You let out an exasperated grunt, not directed to him but to the entire situation. "I know. It's not your fault."

If only your magic had worked, you'd have transmuted him out of the river, but of course, Ambrose had failed to mention that to you.

"Try to lean on me. I'll drag us both out," you have no idea how you were going to do that, but you were willing to try.

"But this is where I need to be. My soul is damned."

You click your tongue, "I'm not exactly sure what you did to end up here, but from what you told me, you didn't kill anyone, have you?"

"No, but I've tried," he admits, and again you spot no shame nor regret. You genuinely don't know how to respond to that until you do, "and failed. That must mean something. You don't deserve to be here."

He laughs lightly at your comment, but there's something dark in the way he sounds. You really hope you're doing the right thing. You can almost hear your girlfriends' disappointed voices telling you how irresponsible, reckless, completely insane your idea is. And maybe it is, but there’s nobody here stopping you, so you decide to take that as a free pass to do your thing. 

You lift both his arms and pull them around your neck, "Time to get out of here."

"Alright..." he doesn't have much willpower to fight your movements, so he just lets it happen. "Are you even dead?", he wonders.

You shake your head no, "if we don't hurry, I will be," when his body finally leans over your back, you feel yourself go down a bit. Water gets up your nose and you cough a little, curse again and readjust yourself as quickly as you can. "Sorry," he chuckles, and this time the sound is genuinely amused.

"No worries,” you grunt ironically. 

"So you decided to ‘save’ my soul, right? But why? I don't know you."

"Let's speak about complicated matters once we are out of this river," you groan when you feel his body slip a little, out of your grasp. You bend your back to allow him to crawl back over you, and damn if it hurts. Normally water should be able to reduce the weight of things, but that rule doesn't seem to apply there. Everything feels heavier. Everything is heavier.

"I know it's hard but, please, hold tight. "

Breathing becomes painful at every passing second, and you wonder if the struggle you're feeling is showing at the Spellmans Mortuary somehow. If yes, you're sure both Zelda and Cordelia are already trying everything in their power to bring you back. But you wouldn't allow it before getting a couple of answers first. With one last great effort, having reached the border of the river, you try to pull yourself up.

The man's hands reach out the soil for the very first time, and suddenly a wave of energy, maybe the adrenaline kickin in, rushes through him and he crawls on top of you, climbing over your back and shoulders and forcing you underwater. 

A sudden piercing headache hits you hard the moment your head goes down. You hear the whispers of so many souls in that exact moment, so loud, your ears feel like bleeding. It takes you longer than you'd hoped to reemerge from the river and when you do, you feel being pulled out. You gasp so loudly, when your back finally touches the ground and your chest rises and falls so quickly, you need to place a hand upon your heart to calm yourself. 

He had saved you. Fair enough considering you saved him first.

"Are you alright, kid?"

"I-I'm no kid. B-but yes, I guess," you stutter, desperately searching for your shirt. Why wasn't he shivering? "J-just.. free— zing."

He chuckles, "you'll get used to it."

"Y-you n-never t-told me your ..name," you later add, blinking repeatedly, as droplets of water freely fall from your hair and lashes.

"You never asked," you roll your eyes at his response. He’s got a sense of humor. "Anyway, it's Peter. Peter Blake."

You nod and sniffle, wiping your face with the back of your hand. The globetrotter had been right after all, Payton wasn't your real last name. Blake was, hopefully.

"Would you like to finally tell me why you saved me?"

When he turns to look at you, you bite your bottom lip nervously. That was the moment of truth. When you’re about to explain yourself, a very familiar voice comes in your head, muffled as if it was from underwater. A pull in your shoulders is what follows, but nobody is touching you. You ignore it.

"I-I have no idea how you'll feel about this, but I'm a w-witch," you trail off. "I'm using a powerful relic to be in two places at the same time, here and on earth. And I..." you pause a second, noticing something darkening Peter’s eyes. "I'm not here to hurt you. I believe you're my father and I'm so sorry you're..." you're speaking so fast right now, feeling on the verge of a sudden panic attack, because the last thing you want is him fearing you. 

"My.. daughter?", he repeats, his face turns even paler.

You nod, giving him a hopeful smile, “Yes. I finally found you.”

Celeste, that's enough! Your time is up!

It's Zelda, you hear her loud and clear this time. But you can't leave now. Not yet.

"So you're hers," his voice is veiled with disgust as he speaks, but you don't understand what he means.

Your heart breaks at the venom of his tone, “what?”

"I thought you were dead!", he looks mad and you don’t know why. 

Slightly shaking your head, you try to reach out for him, to touch his forearm, but he withdraws from you, glaring at you as if you had just grown a second head.

"Don't you dare touch me," he snaps angrily, crawling backwards from you. "You're just like her! A disgusting monster!"

A single tear slides down your cheek, "a-a monster?" I don't understand..."

"Just like your mother. That would explain how you ended up here without being dead."

Now you’re sure it’s your mother to be the witch of the family and your father is indeed a mortal, with a very ill regard about witches. That's what he meant by you being a monster, you suppose. The mere fact of having powers was enough for him? It sounded too much like a dejavu to you. Your adoptive parents turned their back on you for the same exact reason. You couldn't be doing this again. It was too much.

"Please, I'm not a monster. You have to believe me."

You feel your entire body tingling and when you look down at your hands, you notice you're ... fading. No. They are pulling you back.

"I want nothing to do with you!"

You want to pretend his words don’t hurt you, but they do. The woman that killed him is your mother, but why did she do that in the first place? 

"Who's she?", you urge, quickly getting on your feet, "my mother, who is she?"

Baby girl, follow my voice, I beg you.

"So don't you know?", his voice is barely above a whisper now.

You shake your head helplessly, "Please—!"

Next thing you hear is a painful stinging in your ears that forces you to cover them and shut your eyes with force. You don't grasp your father's answer; you're not even sure he gave you one at this point. When you open your eyes again, you see black, then white, then crimson red, until you finally put to focus the faces of two very concerned witches. Zelda and Cordelia are hovering over you with eyes glazed with tears. Their hands are all over you and you frown when you spot their fingers covered in blood.

"What?" you gasp, finally opening your eyes wide and quickly sitting up, "what happened to you?"

"To us?", Cordelia shakes her head in disbelief. If it was possible to breathe fire like a dragon, Zelda would be doing that right now. 

"You're bleeding," you point out. "Both of you."

"This isn't our blood, you idiot," Zelda's voice is a mix of worry and slight annoyance.

Your eyes knit in a frown. Her hands run on your cheeks and her thumbs graze over your skin, with a certain urgency and care, working as if they were pushing away some sort of dirt from your face. 

"I don't understand...", you feel a bit lightheaded, but overall you're fine.

"You were out for more than three minutes," she gnaws at her bottom lip while her hand reaches out towards yours.

A wave of guilt rushes over you, "I’m sorry, I- I was busy and–"

“Busy?” a snort comes from behind you. You hadn’t even realized she was there. And you thought she wouldn’t know you invading her kingdom.

“Lilith, I–I can explain,” you stutter as if you were back in the lake. She hums incredulously and clicks her tongue mockingly, "you could start by telling me why you would do something so dumb like voluntarily dive into the Cocytus,” she crosses her arms over her chest and stares deeply into your eyes, while both Zelda and Cordelia’s faces lose color.

[2n2n]

ch99 LETS GO WOO--!!! this ruled I love it here at the aidairo!! Man I feel like I have such pretty tame expectations of things often as I don't expect 100% of a work to be to my taste and interests, but I get blown out of the water every single twist and turn.... HOO HOO HOO HOO *running around in a circle*

couldn't be off to a better start.. I feel like Aida loves to draw these first person PoV Tsukasa is leaning down to talk to you direct eye contact panels... and I luv to see them (: babygirllll

Ah... a lovely, shining example of Tsukasa's ability to peer through people... he struggles always, to understand when, and why, people don't act upon their honest desires. Why not do something, if you want to do it? Why not stop doing something, if you hate it?

He looks so strikingly like Amane here, it's incredible. A rare Tsukasa with semi-lidded eyes, a more shadowed expression, so his pupils are cast in the amount of shadow we see in Amane's (at least, thats what I see it as!)... situationally the Yugi's eyes resemble one another's purely due to lighting conditions, since their eyes only look different 'cuz of how they hold their gazes on things... Tsukasa's natural wide stare... I just love when we get to see him pulled closer to Amane's sortof glance...

Cutting to the point... ugh. LOVE it. Love Tsukasa's interest in intentions and emotions. The truth of you... LOVE IT. Love Mitsuba really looking so crazy... love him being RIGHT!!! You just HATE that you crave it and it's so delicious to you.... mmmm. Ah its a perfect Tsukasa situation ♥

anyway, I LOVE this setting, what an absolutely scary and atmospheric space to be in, the goddamn tech and sump and whatall backend of the aquarium.... pipes and tubs and gauges and tubs. Really claustrophobic and perfectly 'trapped'. Feels so yabai. yabai yabai. Perfect little box they're sunken into....

sorry, incredibly funny mitsuba oogie boogies into a pile of bugs. Extremely laughed out loud.

love this irrational moment of jealousy lol. Why can't you just be grateful someone out there kept Mitsuba together </3 stupid caveman.... </3

a perfect reveal... couldn't be a more 'oh... oh, gosh' moment... as this all is, it felt like, "how incredibly crazy to go TO the Minamoto household-- if Teru had bolted out the house and not Kou, Mitsuba would simply be kerplooded...." how miserable that Mitsuba aimed for that outcome. Was relying on it. What an interesting feeling, to see Kou, instead, and have to shift gears... the monumental suicidal vibes of the outings... and frankly I love Mitsuba's impatience and fussiness in light of that... it reminds me of suicidal Rasphard Ambrose from AidaIro's old VN ahaha, telling the tsundere neige "comfort me better." lol. Good on you Mitsuba.. you need to boss and bully Kou right now, it is your right...

could not be a more perfect situation to test Kou. agog at how artfully wonderful. Hey bitch who wants to be an exorcist soooo bad, I'll give you something to exorcise..... ooo how about you think about your dang profession critically for a moment!

I love the 'beat' where Mitsuba tries to read, judge, very carefully, Kou's response. He doesn't trust him to really understand this request. He's not willing to endure humiliation about this! None of Kou's idiocy. Either willing to 'help' or not.

Freakin' reminds me of Rasphard too, with the 'joking' after saying things that belie the real intent, deflecting fast...!

Kou's response... wuh, lol.

SO funny that Kou is experiencing this epiphany selfishly, processing it almost as a kind of rejection! You lied to me </3 Extremely AidaIro actually.... (well, again reminds me of how Estelio in Narisokonai Snow White takes his twin brother's suicide as a kind of abandonment/rejection of him... and I have a theory that Amane and Tsukasa, and the shinjuu, also may tie into an emotion like that-- that perhaps Tsukasa attempted to kill himself to alter fate, but Amane perceived it as Tsukasa 'leaving' him, and killed them both to stay together....). Its funny that Kou was so fussy and shitty the whole time, but, he's mad to learn you had an ulterior motive and weren't engaged in the same earnest way. The sweetness of the day's been overwritten by this hidden agenda. He feels betrayed-- but it's not really the time for that, now is it? It's not a very sweet reaction to Mitsuba's confession of being self-destructive.

I really didn't know it mattered so much to Kou that it be an authentic experience, and that this taints it. Really funny its his priority, emotionally, here ... it's genuinely interesting though. He's a very childish/immature person, so this being his reaction fits well.

detour, Mitsuba looks really nice with his hair unpinned and disheveled! My favorite look for him thus far. Nice and raggedy... I don't really like his groomed up look, this messy one's much better....

he handles all conflicts with screaming, bullying and bullrushing </3 as expected of Kou.... but I like how awful this all is

really freaking visceral! fighting fuckin hard! Lol, 'I said no!" ... love the claustrophobic setting coming home to roost. Mitsuba's wobbling, haggard, weak, amputated form up against Kou's real wild gorilla tactics. It's so dreadful lol! Grabbing him by the god damn ankle! Slamming him to the ground!

we here at the Aidairo love to make panels that look like this lol.... you know all I'm thinking about is that shinjuu and how lit its gonna be!! feel like this sorta stuff is 1/10th of what the shinjuu will be....

like a caveman. blunt brute strength, force, aggression... it makes Tsukasa feel graceful and friendly.

insulting his very reasons for being ~suicidal.... you suck sooo bad Kou! Screaming and throttling and berating for being stupid, 'so what'ing his reasons for feeling dehumanized and self-hating, HOO you wonder why Mitsuba tells you nothing? Its just like in Picture Perfect... just hollaring like an ape defensively. But this time it's so incredibly horrible it's more interesting than ever. So obliquely a defensive emotion, brought on by insecurity (you don't rely on me), jealousy (you rely on Tsukasa, you talk to Tsukasa), betrayal (you intentionally mislead me). Taking out his anger and frustration on Mitsuba! Its a panic response, but it speaks to Kou's handle on his impulses.

absolutely incredibly reveal ♥ VORE MANGA VORE MANGA VORE MANGA!!!!!!!! GET BIT, KOU!!!

What a PERFECT thing to saddle Kou with-- a kaii that is his friend, that is DANGEROUS. That is a DANGER TO HUMAN BEINGS. Its time to learn some sympathy for complicated beings and situations, the very sorts of things your job exists to exterminate!! But it's also crazy human-centric, that Kou just can't understand the problem up until here. As if killing/eating kaii is no problem and easy-- like, geez, Kou, eating live bugs or mice or something would be ENOUGH to make someone horrified and feel like a monster, plucking apart bloody bodies and digging through viscera in excess would make most people mindbroken after long enough! Never mind the sheer amount and the inhuman sensations of desire and need for it going on here, the deep satisfaction and the grotesque nature feeling like its destroying Mitsuba's entire self-image.

WELL, ANYWAY, KOU BEING AN INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLE ASIDE, what a wonderful moment. I find it funny that Kou really needs his own personal little buddy kaii to learn any kind of sympathy for the struggles of being something 'dangerous'. The Minamoto family take it upon themselves to determine 'dangerous' and exterminate it. It's effectively like the friend of a cop revealing they hold criminal intent, lol.... time to see how much destructive possibility YOU will tolerate, how about ;) Nene-chan will put up with quite a lot ♥ is it so simple to determine when someone's 'too far gone' ♥? Mitsuba is trying to tell you he is.... ♥ he's scared of himself.... ahhh its so delicious ♥ decadent situation to put Kou into. We need to put the Minamoto dogma thru tests! YOSH

jealous that Tsukasa gets access to what he doesn't </3 extremely funny of Kou, and EXACTLY what I wanted to see revealed. All his spite and aggression towards Tsukasa has layers! Ugh, so petty it's funny and delicious. Hoo hoo hoo!

boohoo </3 you think I'm weak </3 you trust Tsukasa more than me </3 you run to him in danger </3 or maybe its that Tsukasa chases down Mitsuba, has knowledge of what he needs, is willing to do a fat lot of work to assist him, explain things gently and calmly and honestly, while all you ever do is forget he exists, until he shows up in front of you :)? Why wasn't he your first priority after the severence? You want Mitsuba to do all the legwork? You distractible oaf....

after all that though, I'm glad Kou WASN'T rewarded for the screaming beast tactics! I'm glad that shit got him bitten!! I'm glad that CRYING and whining gets him much farther! I swear to GOD, Mitsuba isn't even so sure you LIKE him! He's really receptive to this...!! But, really, who is ever crying to Mitsuba? Tsukasa, Natsuhiko, Sakura, Nene, Hanako? Who is begging him for attention, who is crying for him? Nobody....! Mitsuba is always sinking fast into a 'victim' schtick and crying and whining, desperate for attention himself... seeing this, its like-- ah!-- it would be so ideal if someone else could be more pathetic than him....

after all that fuss, I love this for Kou's delayed, final 'crash' response.... his immediate response to it all is just a frenzied high of anger/aggression/violence... I like that finally voicing the root insecurity/inferiority complex (all Kou is composed of....) and upset that Mitsuba relies on Tsukasa (how does it feel to always hear that name from his mouth, time and time again, after a crisis like the Picture Perfect, Severance?), instantly renders him so inert. I like the pathetic crossed legs here lol.

boy. and I think Hanako is childish with his feelings about Nene-chan. If Hanako is a true blue 13-year-old-boy in his emotional expression and fussiness, Kou is like a freaking 5 year old. Sheesh. He really. Has the lowest maturity. This is the rawest, most vulnerable Kou we've seen!!! He's REALLY been coddled and never challenged for his life! His brother REALLY sheltered him but GOOD. Kou's an absolute mess! It's interesting the extent of it. I mean I'm always here to tell you Kou is The Dumbest One Here, but, awoof. Well I'm satisfied by it all. Its best when things are so extreme (: He makes Mitsuba feel so worldly and respectable lol.... Kou, you kid.... child.. big baby.

I'm glad Mitsuba can see past the defensive stuff easily at this point... Kou really can't let it go.

I've never really known how the Mitsuba and Kou dynamic could go anywhere-- two tsundere really don't make a match to me, and in every interaction, in the past, they really felt at a standstill with one another's stubbornness, and compulsive rudeness. Both of them don't express vulnerability in a productive way. They both leap to insults and yelling. It often feels like no headway occurs. But I like to see Mitsuba have to interact with someone emotionally wrought over him, even jealous and feeling robbed of a moment/opportunities of closeness. It's really what Mitsuba needs... he needs to see he has an effect on anybody, it's his entire complex. Seeing it all laid out like this, I can see how a guy with an inferiority complex (Kou) and a guy with an attention deficit (Mitsuba) could be interesting and ultimately feed one another, if ONE of them could just take the hit of being vulnerable first. Mitsuba's just so massively socially neglected and feels insignificant. Kou feels insignificant, too. Mitsuba feels nobody seeks him out, or wants him, while Kou also feels nobody seeks him out as someone to rely on. It's pretty fascinating to have one person have such a wealth of attention/coddling, but no sense of value despite it (Kou), and another person with a dearth of attention, with no sense of value due to it (Mitsuba).

I mean, in defense of Kou, Teru has been lying to him so profusely for his entire life, he may as well not know him at all. It's not a meaningfully intimate relationship, despite being his most dominant presense in his mind. It's majorly built on performances and facades on Teru's part, and then Kou meets Teru's undercurrent of pain and suffering with an utter 0 perception stat. Rather than being trusted with being an exorcist, Kou really oughta beg for Teru to trust him with his trauma and the weight of it ... I think Teru tried to in that conversation and, maybe he will continue to. I think Teru realizes how badly he's set up his and Kou's relationship to fail... fail brocon

ahhhhhh all really exciting stuff. I really prefer a Kou chapter like this to the sword-fightan shounen-hero-catchphrase-spoutan ones (: his extremely stunted emotions are an intrigue. Such a busted little idiot. And, I really like how Mitsuba took the first shot with being vulnerable. Proud of him. It's a bit sad Kou met it with a sense of rejection, because it's so beautiful Mitsuba would try to trust Kou point blank with euhrrrr euthanizing him. That really is, in Mitsuba's mind, in this state, begging Kou to help him. It's trusting Kou with his entire existence. It's hoping Kou will be able to understand his pain. Kou,, doesn't,,,, emphatically so, but at least he got somewhere by the end of it all :B and you know. He shouldn't give up yada yada.

Wonder if we'll pop over to a B plot or stick here....

[writing-good-vibes]

What if Roger somehow makes his way to Ambrose and tries to bring Corey home..and what if, in this case, Micheal wasnt there to stop him..but Bo was 👀

oh anon, how this got me thinking. the very short answer for you is: roger would be dead. end post.

but that's jumping ahead, so lets go back just a little bit, we have a lot of questions to grapple with.

why is roger trying to find corey in the first place?

say corey got out of haddonfield without much suspicion -- it was awful easy to let the cops assume michael, the notorious killer, killed all those people -- he just wants to wash his hands of the whole place and ends up finding a new home in ambrose. a home with someone who understands, someone who is making him worse but corey doesn't care anymore because anywhere is better than back home.

maybe roger feels bad, thinks corey is having a breakdown after his momma was killed. he knows better than anyone what corey has been through, and he also knows that corey always listened to him. he thinks if no one else is going to save this kid from whatever trouble he's getting himself into by running away, then it's going to be him. maybe he even sees it as making amends for everything the town did to corey after the accident -- roger knows corey didn't kill jeremy but he's never told corey that. maybe if he can just tell corey that he knows it was an accident, that he doesn't blame him, it'll bring corey back from the edge.

now, what would corey do if roger showed up unannounced?

corey knows the routine, he's helped bo and vincent catch their prey more times than he cares to think about. he knows that's what's going to happen to roger. but roger recognises corey -- how couldn't he recognise him? -- and makes a scene before corey can get even one word out.

bo knows something is up, and while they leave roger in the garage, bo takes corey downstairs to "have a word". corey ultimately spills everything, that roger was his boss and they used to sleep together and it didn't end well. he's hesitant to tell bo about the accident because even the twins don't kill kids, but he does anyway. and bo understands, because of course he does. bo isn't jealous of roger, why would he be? knowing about roger even reinforces bo's want to keep corey around -- i mean, this proves corey's "relationship" with bo isn't his first rodeo, he's been so dutiful for someone once, he can be for bo too.

corey was never going to leave with roger -- why would he ever want to go back to haddonfield? but does he really want roger dead? or, more aptly, does he want to kill roger himself, or let bo do it?

seeing roger again unsettles corey. they haven't seen each other many, if any, times after the trial and corey never felt like his feelings of anger and heartache and grief could be valid because it was the allens who were allowed to suffer.

corey knows roger is going to end up dead, so he wants to get everything off his chest. bo is his usual "charming" self and brings take roger up to the house. roger figures out that corey must have a thing with bo, he can see the way corey looks at him, see's how corey reacts when bo talks to him. but roger also knows that corey probably just latched onto bo because he's in a vulnerable place, just like he was when he latched on roger.

they let roger talk -- asking corey to come back to haddonfield, telling him he knows jeremey's death was an accident and he doesn't blame him, telling him they can work things out and that it's okay. everything will be okay. corey hears him out but doesn't hear him, he's been through too much to forgive roger now.

corey says everything he wishes he'd said years ago. how much he liked roger, how he knows roger was just using him, how everything is roger's fault. roger still thinks this is some breakdown, so he listens and tries to reason with corey -- he's sorry, he is, but corey really needs to come home. there's a strange tension there because what does roger mean by home? corey has no home, his parents are dead, he's barely gone under the radar for the murders. surely roger doesn't mean home with him? after all this time, corey isn't going to be fooled into thinking that roger still cares about him, that they're going to be together.

so, who kills roger?

corey loved roger once, or thought he did anyway. killing him would be hard, but he's already killed his momma so how hard can it really be to kill some guy that used to fuck him?

bo is chomping at the bit, he's more than happy to do it himself, but he can see something rise in corey, all the past hurt and anger comes back to the surface. i think watching corey kill roger would get bo's rocks of more than if he did the job himself. he encourages it, he watches, he cheers it on. bo praises corey for it, and we all know how much of a sucker corey is for praise.

i don't know if roger would end up as a statue. maybe he would, vincent has no reason to waste a perfectly good body, but corey wouldn't be happy about it. his only ask is that they put roger somewhere corey doesn't have to see him frequently.

[slasherhaven]

how would the slashers be when they have a crush on there future s/o and when the s/o breaks up with there boyfriend/girlfriend? the slashers and s/o are friends, so the s/o goes to them crying/ to be comforted telling them what happen, how would the slashers react?

The Slashers reacting to their Future S/O coming to them for comfort after ending their current relationship:

Thomas Hewitt

As soon as you finished speaking with you partner, now ex-partner, you headed to the Hewitt household because you needed to see Thomas. He always made you feel better.

You knocked on the door and Luda May let you in, seeing the tears in your eyes. You’ve known the family for so long that she considers you family, she offers to talk to you and make you something to drink but you just told her that you were there to see Thomas. She understands and tells you where he is.

When Thomas sees you, he knows that something is wrong and is instantly worried.

You just sighed, hurrying over to him and wrapping your arms around him. He instantly returned your hug, holding you and letting you cry if you needed too.

He will listen to you talk about what happened, wanting to know everything, wanting to help you anyway he can.

He hates them. He hates them for hurting you. But he quickly forgets about them, focusing on you once again. You’re what’s important.

Thomas knows that he loves you but he had accepted that you were with somebody else. You were his best friend, his only friend, and you meant the world to him.

He absolutely means it when he tells you that you’re the best thing that they would ever have and that you would find somebody who realises that. 

Maybe that was the moment that you truly saw what had been in front of you this whole time, that Thomas was the one who thought you were the best thing he had ever seen, the person who would appreciate you how you deserved.

Michael Myers 

How you ended up befriending Michael Myers is a mystery. You were probably childhood friends and he must trust you a whole lot to be okay with you having a normal social life.

Still, he is your friend who has been dealing with some very confusing romantic feelings for you, so he is extremely protective of you.

When you come home teary eyed, he assumes somebody hurt you and is furious. Not that you could tell unless you noticed the clenching of his fists.

You just blurt it out when you see him. “We broke up!” he wasn’t expecting that...

He could....kill them for you? Oh, you don’t want that? And you’re quick to tell him that you don’t want him to kill them because you knew what he was thinking as soon as he moved towards the door.

Michael is just silent so you can only guess he is listening as you talk, telling him that it was for the best.

He’s not going to make a move to comfort you, but his presence is kind of comforting, at least to you. He was there to protect you and he was, seemingly, listening.

In the end, Michael didn’t really know what to do but you seemed satisfied with just having him around when you were upset. So...he just stayed while you worked through it.

Jason Voorhees 

You spent as much time with Jason as you could but you still had a life outside of the abandoned camp and he understood that. You were his friend and he didn’t want to take that away from you.

He loved your visits and hearing about your life, it was a bit of normalcy for him. He is nearly completely selfless when it comes to you, he would do anything for you, and despite his growing feelings for you he listened to you talk about your partner and supported you.

Jason was overjoyed when he saw you approaching his cabin, always glad to see you, but he quickly became concerned when he saw the sadness on your face. Something had happened...

He’s quick to approach you, greeting you and asking if you’re alright.

He’s comforted you before over things, but he was still a little surprised when you just hugged him, telling him everything.

He’d hold you without a single complaint, and he would listen to everything you had to say.

Of course he welcomes you into the cabin, ready to help in whatever way he can. If you want something to eat or drink, he’ll get it, he’s been keeping better food around since you started visiting. He would also get you a blanket just to make you comfortable.

You would probably stay at the cabin that night with Jason, he was your best friend and he always made you feel better. You wouldn’t want to be anywhere else after having a bad day.

Brahms Heelshire

You and Brahms had an agreement. You would stay after discovering the truth but you had to be able to have a normal life. 

He is an incredibly jealous person but you were the best thing to enter his life in a very long time, as long as your partner never came into the house he could try to look past it.

He knew it was wrong and he actually felt bad about it but he was glad that you and your partner had broken up. Now he could finally have you all to himself.

But how sad you looked when you returned home just made his heart ache for you.

Despite you and Brahms having grown very close, you didn’t expect a sympathetic reaction when you told him about the break up. 

You knew he was jealous, that he had a crush on you (he wasn’t good at hiding it), and you thought he would be happy.

However, you were pleasantly surprised when Brahms innocently pulled you into an embrace. “I’m sorry, Y/n” he touched the lips of his mask to the top of your head before stroking your hair.

It wasn’t what you expected but you were grateful for it, tightening the hug as you buried your face in his chest, glad for the comfort.

He can be surprising comforting, holding you and reassuring you. He’s very honest with his opinions, saying that they didn’t deserve you, that you are too good for them, and that you belong here with him.

And, well, it was difficult to disagree as you made yourself comforting on the couch as he held you.

Bo Sinclair

As soon as you walked into the house, Bo was about to come and greet you with a flirty comment and a smirk but stopped when he saw your face. You looked upset.

He didn’t falter too much, asking you what happened. Then you told him that you and your partner had broken up, and you came right here.

Even though you had made it clear that you had been in a relationship and just his friend, Bo enjoyed flirting with you.

But now, for once, he wasn’t flirting. He let out a sigh and started to act more seriously.

“C’mere darlin’” Bo’s voice was surprisingly soft as he guided you towards him. He genuinely cared about you, you were one of the few people he cared about, and he didn’t like seeing you upset, especially because of some asshole who didn’t know what they had. “It’ll be alright.”

His embrace was comforting, making you feel safe, and you allowed yourself to just let go and be vulnerable. 

Bo is not good at comforting people but he’ll hold you if you need it. Then he’ll grab two beers and let you talk about what happened.

Deciding to be a decent person, he would lay off of you for a little while until you seemed to be doing better, but then you can bet that the flirting is going to be more than ever now that you’re single.

Vincent Sinclair

Vincent loved whenever you visited, it stunned him that you visited at all. You left Ambrose, you didn’t have to return, but you always did. All because you were his friend.

What he hates most is seeing you upset, he just thinks you deserve all the happiness in the world.

So when you knock on the door of his workroom and he opens it to see your teary eyes, he just wants to help.

Of course he ushers you inside, expressing his concern and asking what was wrong.

You tell him everything about the breakup and were honest about how you felt.

When you asked him if he could just be with you for a while, he instantly agrees and holds you for as long as you need.

Vincent is a little more surprised when you asked him if you could stay with them for a little while, at least tonight. You really didn’t feel like driving home but you hadn’t packed to stay in town. But he agrees, understanding that you didn’t want to be alone.

When Bo asks what the hell is going on, Vincent give him the short story that you had broken up with your partner, and of course Bo patted his twin on the shoulder and told him go for it.

Yes, Vincent had feelings for you and both of his brothers thought it was obvious but you didn’t seem to be aware of them. However, Vincent was more concerned about making sure you were alright than trying to confess his feelings for you.

Now simply wasn’t the time and in the end he just wanted the best for you.

Lester Sinclair 

After the break up, you went to the first person you thought of. Lester.

You didn’t feel like seeing Bo and dealing with him, so you went straight to Lester’s house outside of town. But he wasn’t there.

You were best friends and you were often at his house, so you just let yourself in and waited for him.

When Lester returned home, he saw your car and was just excited to see you. He entered the house with a grin, assuming you would be in a normal mood and greet him with a hug as usual.

You did technically greet him with a hug but he had seen the teary look on your face as you embraced him. 

Lester instantly wrapped his arms around you, asking what was wrong as he comforted you. He just wanted to hold you and make sure you were okay.

You had told him about your partner before and how things had been different recently and, despite his feelings for you, Lester always told you that things would be okay and that it would work out.

He would let you stay at his house, just being a supportive and caring friend that he always was.

“Thank you Lester, you’re the best” he hates that you’re upset and that you were hurt by somebody you cared about, but he smiled slightly into your hair as he held you. 

He would do right by you, he promised himself that.

Bubba Sawyer

As soon as you show up at the Sawyer household, clearly upset, Bubba is worried about you.

He’s your best friend so of course you went to him after the break up, and once the two of you went to his room to sit down, you told him everything.

Bubba didn’t really know what to do. He wanted to tell you that everything would be okay, that he’s here for you, and you got the general idea of that from his noises of concern. 

He wishes he could more easily express those reassurances but will settle for just holding you, whether you need to cry or not.

And he’s a great listener! He’ll let you talk about it for as long as you need. 

Bubba will hold you and comfort you as much as you need but if you need to just forget everything for a little while get him, Nubbins and ChopTop together to cheer you up. You’re family now and they don’t want you to be sad.

Billy Lenz 

How does one befriend a pervert living in your attic that keeps making inappropriate phone calls to your house? You don’t even know, it was a bit of a blur. You just grew used to him, you finally met him, and now he was pretty much your best friend.

It was actually more surprising to Billy than to you.

After the break up, you returned home and were met with a silent house.

As if he was waiting for you, the phone starting ringing only seconds later. You answered it but Billy instantly heard that something was wrong just from your voice.

When he asked what was wrong, you simply told him that you and your partner had broken up.

He instantly hung up the phone and for a moment you thought that was it, until you heard him scampering down the stairs in a hurry to get to you.

You are his best friend, his only friend, and he cares deeply for you. 

He can still make inappropriate comments and jokes but you were used to them. You also had a feeling that he had a crush on you, just from the way he acted, but you weren’t thinking about any of that in that moment.

Billy was quickly asking you if you were alright and pulling you into a hug, assuming that was what he was meant to do. You assured him that you were fine, just upset by it all.

Billy can be unpredictable and not really the most supportive or reliable person but he was trying really hard, listening to you tell him everything that happened.

Asa Emory (The Collector)

You had told Asa about your relationship before. Despite being a little cold at times, he had somehow become a close friend so of course you mentioned it too him.

At first he didn’t seem to care too much but he eventually started to become more interested, like he wanted information on your relationship. Unknown to you, this was happening because he was starting to accept his feelings for you.

Anyway, he instantly knew something was wrong when you arrived at his house. You knocking on the door and him opening it to see your saddened face.

He invites you in and quite bluntly asks you what happened, and you confess that you and your partner broke up.

Yes, of course he is interest in this. He has developed feelings for you and now you were single, that’s an interesting development. 

However, you are his friend first and he does genuinely care about you.

So, he pushed away those thoughts and listens to you talk about what happened, even comforting you when you need it. 

You see a softer side of Asa when you’re upset and he’s attempting to comfort you.

Jesse Cromeans (Chromeskull)

You had started out working for Jesse as an assistant (well, that was your title) and the two of you had become close friends while working together. 

You swore that you spent more time with him than your partner, and maybe that had been one reason for your break up. 

As soon as you and your partner broke up, you texted Jesse the short version. Something as simple as: “Broke up. Need to talk” and he instantly sent a car for you.

If Jesse cares about you, he will do anything for you. You’re his friend and he’s well aware of his deeper feelings for you, so he’s not going to let you deal with this on your own.

If you’re angry with them, you can rant as much as you like and he’ll listen. If you’re upset, he’ll let you cry against him.

He’ll tell you that you’re too good for them, that you deserve better and that he’s sure you’ll find that person soon. He’s...surprisingly supportive?

And he’s taking you out! Whatever you want to do, he’ll arrange it. His best friend is heartbroken and it’s his job to fix that. Anything for you.

Jesse hates them for hurting you but won’t hurt them for your sake (I mean...unless you want him too, I guess), break ups happen and he knows that. Plus, he has to admit that he’s never thought your partner was good enough for you, and of course...he has had a thing for you for a while now.

Otis Driftwood 

When you show up to the house, upset and searching for Otis, he isn’t quite sure what to do with that. If you came in angry at your ex, shouting and frustrated, he could work with that, purposely riling you up.

But you’re calm, just effected by the fresh break.

Otis isn’t great at comforting people, he has next to no experience with it so he’s not completely sure what to do.

If you want your ex dead, he can do that but...if you don’t he’s a little more lost as to how to help. Thankfully, you talked him out of killing your ex and he settled for other ways to comfort you.

If you want some sort of physical comfort, just hug him. He’s not going to push you away, he’ll hold you when you cry or hold you just because you want to be held. It will be quiet but peaceful, and he remembers that he likes holding you like this.

He lets you talk about the break up as much as you want, listening surprisingly intently.

Do you need a drink? Something stronger? If yes to any of these, he will get you what you need and the two of you will just have a good time to cheer you up. 

Otis is a particular taste but he always manages to make you smile.

Baby Firefly 

As soon as you show up on her doorstep with tears in your eyes, she has a good idea what happened because you always confided in her about your relationship.

She invites you in and she comforts you.

Baby is the best at making you feel better because you know that when she tells you that you are amazing, she means it.

She’s quickly telling you that you can do better and that they didn’t know what they had, it’s their loss.

Oh and, if you let her, she is taking you out! She hates seeing you sad and she wants to cheer you up. She wants to take you out and help you have some fun.

And who knows, maybe you’ll realise the right person for you has been right by your side this whole time. 

[crysalita]

Left Behind

Bo Sinclair x Reader

Word Count: 2439

Warnings: Suicide mentioned when Bo is telling the story about Trudy.

I had to admit that I never actually wanted to be here, on a road trip that is, but somehow I had managed to find myself getting an invite from Carly, who claimed there needed to be more girls. I reluctantly agreed to tag along, and so far I was regretting that poorly made decision.

I was a third wheel as I lagged behind Carly and Wade. I felt as if all I had done so far since we arrived in this town was either roll my eyes or sigh at their constant flirting. If I had of known that this is what my day was going to consist of then I would have said no in a heartbeat.

The small town we had arrived in gave me strange vibes, whether it was because the town was oddly empty even though we could hear chatter, or whether it was because of the two men that we had come across.

Bo, the man that works at the gas station, spent most of the time eyeing me down after the run in at the church, I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“So, Y/n. What did you think about Bo? He seems to have taken quite an interest in you.” Carly teased, nudging my shoulder.

We were in the gas station looking for whatever part that Wade needed.

“Don’t be stupid, he was just being friendly.” I scowled.

“Coming from a guys perspective, he definitely finds you hot.” Wade spoke up.

I sent him a glare. “Just look for that part.”

“He’s got everything, but a 15 inch. I’ll just have to use a 16 inch.” Wade grabbed a hold of the strap that he needed, but we were startled when we heard another voice.

“Are you planning on stealing that?” When I turned around, I was met with Bo leaning against the door frame, still in his suit and tie. I had to admit that the suit did look good on him.

“No, we just didn’t know how much longer you were gonna be, and you know, we didn’t wanna interrupt again.” Wade rushed out. “But I left you some money on the counter, but you don’t even really have the right size. You don’t have any 15 inches.”

“I do at the house.” Bo replied, not looking in the slightest bit like he was convinced by Wade’s constant stuttering, I couldn’t blame him though, Wade made us look more suspicious than we actually were.

“Look, I hope you’re not getting the wrong idea that we’re in here.” Carly attempted to ease the tension.

“Yeah, we already feel bad enough after interrupting the first time, we just didn’t want to do it again.” I smiled politely. In return, Bo sent me one of his own smiles and gestured for us to come out of the shed.

“No worries. That was in the past. We can move on from that.” Bo replied as he held the door open for us.

“You keep fan belts at your house?” Wade asked.

“I get things delivered there when I’m not here. Look, if you want to hold onto the 16, that’s fine by me.” Bo was looking more agitated by the minute.

“No, it’s okay.”

Bo led us outside of the gas station and we began our journey to the house that Bo lived at. My legs were already tired enough as it was from all the walking we had done, and I honestly wasn’t trying to do anymore.

“So, is it too late to sign Carly up for that beauty pageant?” Wade asked with a smirk on his face.

“Now unfortunately it is, well at least for you-” Bo turned and nodded in my direction. “-Because you have won, hands down.” I blushed slightly at his comment but shook it off quickly as I looked away.

“Thank you.” I mumbled. My gaze landed on Carly who was giving me a smug smile to which I rolled my eyes at.

“That house of Wax is pretty cool.” Wade changed the subject. This caught Bo’s attention.

“You went inside?”

“Yeah, it was unlocked.”

“I did try to tell them they shouldn’t, but they both happen to be very stubborn.” I didn’t dare step foot into the House of Wax. Knowing myself I would probably end up ruining the art in there, and I would never forgive myself if I destroyed someone’s art that they, more than likely, spent hours trying to create. I did manage to get quick look inside when Carly and Wade entered, and it truly was amazing.

“Everything seems to be unlocked ‘round here, don’t it? Thank you for having respect.” I was rewarded with another one of his smiles that really did compliment his face, although he did use quite an odd choice of words as it made him seem all the creepier.

I shared a look between the other two, who were also very creeped out.

“I did get a look inside though, when they opened the door that is, and the wax sculptures are amazing.” I complimented. I was a bit bummed out that I couldn’t see the artwork up close to see their full detail, but my conscious got to the best of me and now I was glad that I didn’t go in.

“Yeah, people used to come and see it from miles away. Trudy was the main artist.” I could imagine the amount of people that I wanted to see it, but for some reason there wasn’t any.

“What about Vincent?” Carly questioned. “I saw his name on a lot of the work.”

“One of Trudy’s boys.”

“That family must be very talented. Are any of them still around? I would love to meet them, and maybe they could help me out with some of my own art.” I commented.

“Oh- no. It’s a horrible story. Trudy’s husband, Doctor Sinclair, he was a doctor. He got his licence revoked for doing surgery’s on the side, you know, stuff that most doctors wouldn’t do. So, he moved him and Trudy out here to Ambrose, made a fresh start in medical practise and Trudy found her calm with the whole wax sculpture thing.” Bo explained as we walked past the House of Wax. “It was her dream to do something incredible here. Then she had a couple of kids-”

“What’s so horrible about that?”

“Trudy got a cyst in her brain, she just started rottin’ away.” My eyes widened as Bo continued the story. It was really starting to take a dark turn. “Couldn’t work no more, she went crazy, and it got so bad, that Doctor Sinclair had to strap her up to the bed. The whole town could hear her screaming from the house. And Doctor Sinclair was so depressed that he couldn’t save her he-” Bo creates a gun with his fingers and pretends to shoot himself in the head. “Blew his head right off.”

“That’s horrible.” I mumbled.

By now we were approaching the last house on the road, meaning this was where Bo was staying. The sky was getting darker and darker by the minute, making the situation all the more terrifying.

“Hey, uh, why don’t you three hop in, and I’ll go get that fanbelt for ya’” Bo opened the door to his car and gestured for us to hop in.

“No, we actually have some friends picking us up where the roads washed out.” Carly interrupted.

“I’ll give ya’ a lift there. It’s the least I could do then for making ya’ll wait.” Carly and I both turned to Wade who was nodding his head.

“Could I use the toilet?” I asked Bo as Carly hopped into the car.

“Yeah, of course. You said you need to use the can too, didn’t ya?” Bo faced Wade. He then proceeded to ask Carly the same question before he led us into his house.

The house was nothing less than what I expected, not that I expected much. To no surprise, it was quite messy, but I couldn’t hold that against Bo, as he most likely wasn’t expecting guests.

“So, where ya’ headed too anyway?”

“Uh, where just headed to a football game.” Wade answered.

“Bathrooms just down the hall. Let me get out of this jacket and tie, and I’ll get the fanbelt. I have another bathroom upstairs for ya’ to use.” I followed Bo up the stairs as Wade walked down the hall. I began feeling nervous as now I was left alone. “You interested in football?” Bo cocked his head to the side as he looked at me. I found myself staring a little longer than I should have, which Bo took notice of too, as his lips twitched up into a sly smirk.

“No, not really. Just here for Carly.” Bo nodded his head along with what I was saying before he popped another question, a very unexpected question.

“I take it ya’ single than?”

“What makes you think that?” I stammered.

“Well, considering those two are tied to the hip, that would most likely mean that if ya’ were seeing someone, then they’d be 'ere too.” Bo explained as he shrugged off his jacket. “And if it were me, I wouldn’t let ya’ out of my sight. Especially in a town I’ve never been in.” Bo opened a door that revealed to be the second bathroom he owned. I walked in and closed the door and instantly let out a breath I didn’t realise I was holding.

This man was making me feel all kinds of things, and I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing.

I did my business and exited the bathroom to see Bo waiting outside, this time he was dressed in casual clothing, and no longer rocked a suit and tie. I had to admit that this man could certainly pull off both looks.

“Did you need help getting anything? I don’t mind helping.” I offered.

“That would be nice, thank you.” I followed behind Bo, who led us into the garage that was covered in tools and what I could only assume was car parts.

“Is it always this quiet in town?” I watched as Bo gathered some things and placed them in crate he had. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do, so I waited where he had placed down the crate.

“Depends on the day, I guess. Sometimes it can be noisy, believe or not, and some days it’s dead silent. Today just so happens to be one of those days.” Bo mumbled.

All of a sudden the lights were cut off and everything went pitch black. I immediately put my arms out to reach for something to grab a hold of. “Bo?” I held my hand out in the direction of where Bo was last stood. “Bo? Where are you?” I felt his hand come in contact with my own.

“I’m right here, sweets.” I was thankful the lights were off so Bo couldn’t see the blush spread out across my burning face. “I don’t know what happened.” The sound of metal hitting the ground echoed throughout the garage, and then I heard the sound of the horn from outside.

“They must be waiting for us.” I muttered to no one in particular. The lights then turned on and I found myself extremely close to Bo as his chest was almost plastered to my back. “Sorry about that. That was childish.” I apologised I pulled myself away from Bo.

“Nothing to be sorry for. Ya’ get a little scared of the dark, nothing to be ashamed of.” Bo picked up the crate of tools. “I’m going to take this stuff out to the truck. Would you mind finding the wrench for me? It should be in one of the drawers over there.” Bo nodded his head in the direction of where the cupboard filled with drawers were before he exited the garage.

Everything felt scarier now that I was alone and everything around me was silent. I could hear my own breathing with how silent it was, and I hated it.

I searched through the different drawers before I found the wrench that I was looking for.

I began hearing shouting from outside and I quickly made my way outside, only to find the truck driving away and Bo standing outside, the tools scattered across the ground. “Bo, what happened?” I slowly approached Bo who was seething with anger, that was until he turned around to me. His face relaxed as he locked eyes with my own.

“Your little friends just decided to drive off with my truck. I guess they forgot that there was a third one with them.” My mood dulled at his words. How could they just leave me like that? “Hey, don’t let them get ya’ down. You don’t need 'em. Especially after the way they’ve acted today.” That didn’t change the fact that someone that I considered to be my best friend, had just left me behind to run off with her boyfriend, did I ever really mean anything to her. “Listen, I have another truck at the station, if ya’ like, we could walk down tomorrow morning and I could drive ya’ where you need to go.”

“That’d be great. Thanks.” Bo walked back inside, forgetting about the tools that were lying all around.

“You can sleep on the couch for tonight. I’ll get ya’ some blankets to keep ya’ warm. Did ya’ want something to eat?” Bo yelled out as he walked up the stairs.

“I’m good.” I called back. I sat down on the couch and stared off into nothing, this day was going horrible. I sighed as I placed my head into my hands and tiredly rubbed my eyes.

“Hey, ya’ know. I’d love to see ya’ some more. I wasn’t lying when I said ya’ were pretty. Definitely caught my eye.” Bo placed down the blankets on the end of the couch as he sat down beside me.

I found myself blushing for what felt like the millionth time today. “Really? I’d like to see you more too.” I whispered, looking everywhere but the man beside me.

Bo placed his finger on my chin and guided me to look in his direction. “Look at me when ya’ speak. I want to see ya’.”

Before I knew it, we had spent what felt like hours talking on that couch before I eventually got tired and fell asleep, and that was definitely the only good part about my day, getting to talk to Bo.

[chasingpj]

𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝

"You only want to stay because of your little boyfriend. Is he more important to you than us?“

pairing: percy jackson x child of hecate!reader

words: 5,297

warnings: angsty, mentions of breaking down

timeline: post sea of monsters

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a/n: i'm so fried after editing this, if i missed any typos, i'm sorry. as always, let me know what you think! i love getting feedback from you guys!

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Your siblings sit in a half-circle at the back of the Hermes Cabin, ready for their lesson. James lays out the materials you’ll need for the potion he was demonstrating today: the mortar and pestle, herbs, spell books. He has almost everything except for the sand, which was the most crucial ingredient. So, he had sent you to retrieve some from the dunes since you were the only one who didn’t need the lesson Ernest was teaching.

Ernest stands in front of Sage, Alice, Lou Ellen, and Atticus, lecturing on the properties of sand. Your siblings listen attentively, taking notes in their notebooks, all of them but one. Ernest looks up from reading a part of his book of shadows, noticing Atticus is distracted by his familiar.

"Atticus, are you listening?" Ernest asks, raising his eyebrow as he closes his book. Atticus cradles Harvey in his arms as if he is a newborn baby, his finger scratching his tummy as the animal curls up towards his chest. He doesn’t notice the other staring at him for a few seconds, looking up after realizing he had stopped talking.

"Me? Yeah, dude. I'm listening," Atticus bluffs, and Ernest squints, leaning back on the desk behind him.

"So what did I just say?"

"Atticus, are you listening?" Atticus repeats, smiling as his sisters giggle beside him. The corner of Ernest’s mouth tugs into a slight smirk as he rolls his eyes.

"What did I say before that?" He clarifies. Atticus sways in his place, continuing to soothe his tired familiar, and he hums, trying to recall what they were discussing. He’s quiet for a while before grunting. He really wasn't listening, too distracted by his surroundings to focus. Ernest pretty much lost him at “alright guys, today…” However, he remembers you volunteering to get sand after James realized he forgot to get some himself.

"Ehm… I don't know. Something about sand?"

Ernest sighs, "Yes, I was talking about sand. Can anyone catch Atticus up on the properties for sand?"

"Different sands have various spiritual properties, but the lake sand that you're using today can be used in spells for self-reflection and grounding," Travis chimes in all of a sudden. He's laid down in his bed, holding a comic book over his head as he looks at the group.

James turns away from the materials, amused that the other has probably been listening this entire time. It was the middle of the day, so the Hermes cabin was pretty empty since everyone was out doing their own thing. The only other people in the cabin were the Stoll brothers and a handful of their siblings. James chuckles,

"Travis, you want to be a witch too?" He jokes, and Travis shrugs,

"I practically am already. I'm always listening to your lessons," he admits amused, returning his attention to the comic book he was reading.

"Everyone has a little witch in them. See Atticus; even Travis was listening," Alabaster teases.

Atticus grunts, "Yeah, yeah. I was trying to put Harvey to sleep!"

“You act like he’s a baby that needs to be coddled!” Sage raises her eyebrow. Atticus had always been super affectionate with Harvey. She swears she’s never seen Atticus and Harvey separated for long like the way you and Ambrose have periods where you’ll be apart. When Ambrose knew you were safe, he’d usually wander off to find your siblings or mess around with monsters in the forest, so he wasn’t with you 24/7. But Atticus managed to have Harvey with him all the time.

“Do not judge my parenting! He likes being held,” Atticus defends Harvey, and Lou Ellen rolls her eyes.

“Parenting? You sound like a single dad.”

Alabaster snorts, “anyways," he cuts in, grabbing both of their attention. "we can start the potion whenever Y/n decides to come back with it," he says as he sits down in a nearby desk chair.

Lou Ellen hums, "she's been gone for almost 40 minutes now. The dunes are on the other side of camp, but it shouldn't take her this long?"

"Maybe she got sidetracked?" James shrugs. "We can go look for her if she doesn't come back in another 10 minutes, but I'm sure she's fine.”

"I'm here!" You announce as you burst through the cabin door, Ambrose running next to you. He runs through the wall, rushing to join your siblings. You sigh, your arm coming up to wipe your forehead that was a little damp from sweat, and your cheeks are a little flushed from being in the summer heat.

"Look who decided to come back," James announces, shaking his head in playful disapproval. You smile sheepishly, too caught up in your breathing to say anything as you pass the jar to him. You return to your spot between Lou Ellen and Atticus, hoping they wouldn't ask too many questions.

"What took you so long?" Lou Ellen asks, her voice concerned. You clear your throat, attempting not to sound hesitant as you come up with a lie on a whim.

"Oh uh, I just got distracted… some of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin were hanging out at the dunes, and I got caught up in conversation," you stutter a little, suddenly feeling nervous as Atticus squints at you. You accidentally meet his stare before looking away fast, turning so that your back is facing him.

"You're lying," he declares. You scoff,

"No, I'm not!"

"I'm your twin, y/n. I know when you are lying!" He reminds you, and you groan.

You and Atticus have always had this weird twin sense. You both can tell when the other is lying because you could pick up on each other's emotions really well. You thought maybe if he didn’t see your body language, he wouldn’t be able to pick up on your lie, but of course, he didn’t need a visual to know that you were nervous. You could also feel each other's pain to a certain extent which has always been annoying. Atticus was pretty accident-prone when he was younger and, well, still is. This meant any bumps and bruises he managed to obtain, you would always get dull aches in the same area. The most annoying part of it all was that the more severe the pain, the more you felt. Once you had period cramps so bad, you both had to call out from school because he was also curled up in his bed, declaring that he’ll never make period jokes again in his life.

You weren’t sure why you had this connection with your brother. Since you’ve had it your entire life, you had thought this was a regular thing, but you’ve recently found out that it wasn't normal at all. You just assumed that it came with the quirks of being children of a sorceress goddess. You had to admit that it was cool, but at times like this, you wished you didn’t have it because Atticus called you out a lot.

You didn't want to admit you got distracted by Percy in the combat area. On your way back, you saw him practicing with the test dummies. You watched him practice for a few seconds, and you had no intention of stopping to talk to him initially, but when he caught you walking by, he called you over.

"Admit it, you were nervous," Percy laughs, continuing to tease you about how you ran away from him during Capture the Flag. You scoff, nudging his shoulder,

"Of you? Please,” you deny even though you were nervous about going head-to-head with him, but he didn’t need to know that. “It doesn't matter if I ran away because I still won!” You stick your tongue out at him, and he smiles,

“You should still practice your sword fighting, Y/n. You can’t always run away from a sword fight,” he points out, and you frown,

“I’m not a close-range fighter. It’s just how it is.” After declaring that you “failed” in sword fighting, you were a bit insecure about your abilities. It was a good and bad thing because after your “failure,” you delved into your magic studies, and you were proud of how much better your abilities have gotten. You could confidently say that you are now a more powerful and seasoned witch than you were at the beginning of the summer. The bad part was that you never stepped foot in the combat area again. The dagger you carried around barely saw the light of day, strapped in its holster most of the time.

"Well, one day, you might not have a choice… c'mon Sabrina Spellman, show me what you got," he jokes as he gets into his stance. You smile, putting the jar of sand down before taking your dagger out of its casing.

"I don't got much to show," you say playfully.

You thought that you'd just go one round with him, but the next thing you knew, he was giving you an entire lesson. He sparred with you a few times, analyzing how you fought and he gave you tips here and there. He was helpful and patient, and you did walk away knowing a few new things.

You swallow as you feel the stares of your siblings, now interested as to why you lied. You try not to become more flustered as you recall the feeling of Percy standing close behind you. His touch was gentle, hands slightly calloused as he adjusted the way you held your dagger, and with light fingertips, he moved your limbs, putting you in a stronger stance.

You shake your head, fiddling with your fingers, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you trailed off, hoping Atticus would drop it. You turn to your brothers, James preparing everything, but Alabaster and Ernest were just as interested as the others regarding where you could have been.

"She was probably with Percy,” Connor mocks, a sly smirk on his face as the whole cabin filled with Ooo's and amused chattering. Your shoulders slouch, head hung low, and you felt like you wanted to crawl in a hole.

"Were you actually?" You hear Atticus asks with amusement in his voice. You don't move from your place, keeping quiet. You knew there was no use in denying it because Atticus would easily sense the lie.

"She definitely was!" Alice squeals when you don’t say anything, and you glare at your sisters, making them giggle.

Lou Ellen nudges your shoulder, "what were you guys doing? You looked flustered when you walked in here,” she teases and winks.

"Probably making out!" Connor butts in before you could answer, and you gasp, snapping your gaze to him.

“We were just sparring!" You blurt out, and Connor laughs at how defense you suddenly became. The last thing you wanted was rumors leaving the cabin, and you groan as your sisters start pestering you with questions, along with the assumptions of your other cabinmates.

"Okay! Okay," Alabaster shouts a little over the chattering. "We need to focus. You guys can talk about that later," he says, and silence falls amongst your siblings. You nod, relieved that you get to avoid the topic for now. You watch as they exchange looks, silently communicating something to each other. You had an idea that it had something to do with you as Ernest’s eyes flicker in your direction and Alabaster’s face hardens. James gave them a dismissive wave with his hand as if he was telling them not to worry before continuing to sort out the materials in front of him.

"Let's start this potion. Some of us have chores to do," James cuts through the silence as he grabs the mortar and pestle and sits down in front of you and your siblings.

As James puts the potion together, carefully showing you how to cut and crush certain herbs, Ernest sits beside him, explaining the steps carefully. You lean a little forward, focusing on the lesson, and you diligently write notes in your notebook, trying not to miss any crucial details.

“Take good notes; I’m copying those,” Atticus whispers in your ear, and you squint at him playfully. His arms were too occupied with Harvey, so he was just watching the demonstration, confident that you’ll take thorough notes for him to copy. You shake your head, turning your attention back to Ernest as he speaks. After demonstrating it, they pass on the materials to you guys, and it was your turn to try it out.

The potion was a little too easy for you, and you find yourself growing a little bored as you put everything together. It annoyed you because you felt like your brothers were going easy on you and you were itching to get into the more advanced stuff such as healing potions or something like a disguising potion.

Out of your three older brothers, Ernest was the most knowledgeable about potions. He was always helping out in the infirmary, making healing potions for the Apollo kids to use. Sometimes the Hermes kids would ask him to make potions for pranks, and you’ve even seen some of the girls from the Aphrodite cabin begging him to make love potions for them. Usually, Ernest would decline their requests, giving lectures, especially to the Aphrodite girls, why a love potion is a terrible idea. But in the times that he has agreed to do them, the results were always hilarious. Once, he made a Hilarity Potion for the Stoll brothers that turned the Ares cabin into a bunch of giggling messes for 24 hours. Until that day, you’ve never seen someone giggle aggressively before.

You were the first to finish the potion, bottling it up in a miniature glass jar before pushing the cork into the top. You carefully wired wrapped the jar, attaching it to a necklace and fastening it around your neck. After being praised by your brothers, you were off to do the chores that were given to you by Connor as repayment for not ratting you out to the Aphrodite Cabin about your spontaneous meeting with Percy at the docks.

You were done right in time for dinner, the time passing as usual as you and your siblings talk and laugh at the table. Soon, you were singing along to the songs at the campfire, and by the time it came to an end, your eyelids were heavy with fatigue. You knew then that you were not going to study into the night as the soreness from sparring with Percy started to settle in your muscles. When you arrived at the Hermes cabin after washing up for bed, you could barely keep your eyes open. The last thing you remembered was mumbling a good night to Atticus and turning over in your bed.

Your dreams were always weird, so when you’re taken to a meadow in the middle of nowhere, you weren’t surprised. Actually, you were pretty content, preferring this scene instead of the bizarre settings you often came across.

You swore you could feel the soft summer breeze blowing on your face, and you take a deep breath, basking in the fresh air. You look out at the grassy land ahead of you, noticing you were standing at a crossroad. Two gravel roads stretched in either direction, one path seemingly identical to the other. You turn around to study your surroundings further. You squint, hand hovering above your eyes to protect them from the shining sun that's beginning to set behind the hills. The valley was still; the only sound you could hear was the wind whooshing past your ears, and you felt safe.

“Come with us, y/n.” A familiar voice cuts through the stillness, and you gasp, looking in the direction it came from. You find Alabaster standing on the left road, James and Ernest standing beside him. You felt your stomach turn as their eyes darken. Your arms wrap around your frame as the once warm wind turns cold. Dark clouds roll in, splitting the sky in half as the right side remains the same sunny meadow. Groans of thunder echoed throughout the land, and you can sense an eerie presence lingering in the air.

“What?” You whisper to yourself, noticing Atticus standing on the right road.

“No! Don’t,” he shouts, his expression glazed over in fear, and you step back.

“Don’t listen to him. We know what’s best for you,” James says, his arm extended out for you to hold, and you shake your head. “Come with us.”

“No! Come with me!”

“Come with us!”

You feel your heart racing in your chest, the screams of your brothers sending goosebumps to your skin. Their voices become more desperate, and you can hear the grief and panic in their voices.

“No, no, no. It’s a dream… you can change it,” you whisper, becoming overwhelmed as the thunder grows louder and so the desperation in your brother’s wailing. You stare down at the ground, and your hands are pressed firmly over your ears. You try to concentrate on shifting into another dream, but before you could, you felt as if your body was sucked into a vortex. A distant voice calls your name, and you groan, your vision blurry as your eyes flutter open.

Alabaster stands over you as he nudges your shoulder softly, whispering your name until you finally wake up. “C’mon, get up.”

You lazily sit up in your bed, your surroundings fuzzy as Alabaster guides you to stand up. You assume that it must be morning as you slip your feet into your slippers and you rub your eyes. It didn’t take you long to notice that it was still night time and you whine softly, confused and annoyed that you were woken up from your slumber.

“Al? What’s going on?” Alabaster doesn’t answer, grabbing onto your wrist, and you were too groggy to protest, following him to the back window of the Hermes cabin. You stumble a little when you land on the grass, Atticus coming to your side and grabbing on to your other hand. You don’t even notice the nervous look on his face or the way his hand was shaking, too busy attempting to stay awake.

Your vision was still fuzzy, and you lay your head against your brother's arm, feeling Ambrose’s mouth tugging on your shirt frantically as Alabaster leads you into the forest. You don’t know what it was, but you had this feeling that something was wrong and a soft sigh leaves your lips as you gather your strength to get out of your grogginess.

“Wait… wait!” You snatch your arm from Alabaster's hold. “What’s going on?” You ask as your brothers turn around.

“We’re leaving,” Ernest says, and you furrow your eyebrows. “We’re going to join Kronos’s army.”

“We? Are you insane?” You felt your heart drop to your chest, and you tried to look for any sign that they were joking.

“Come with us, Y/n,” Alabaster pleads, and you feel goosebumps forming on your skin as you get an overwhelming feeling of deja vu. The tone of his voice, the way their eyes darkened, was the same as the dream you just had. Your brothers glowered down at you, waiting for your decision.

"No… no, this isn't right,” you whisper. You let go of Atticus’s hand, just now noticing how tight his grip was. You wipe your shaky palms on your pants, and for a moment, you thought you were still dreaming. At least, you were hoping that you were still dreaming. You scan your surroundings, trying to find a sign that would tell you that this wasn't real, but you don't find one.

“There is no reason to stay here, to fight on this side. Kronos will win the war. The camp doesn’t stand a chance,” Alabaster declares confidently. Your mind wanders, recalling the dark stormy clouds that loomed over your brothers in your dream and the eeriness that took over. You could practically feel your pulse in your ears, grasping the fact that your dream was a warning.

“And how are you so sure?” Your voice quivers, and you sigh in disbelief.

“Because mother told me,” Alabaster says, and your head jerks back, your eyebrows furrowed.

“Mother? She spoke to you?”

“Yes. She’s fighting for Kronos, and she believes it is in our best interest to join her.”

A wave of emotion washes over you all at once. You were shocked, furious, even a little jealous. Your mother never came to speak to you. You knew that she tended to favor your more powerful siblings. Your older brothers have talked to her a few times, and the reminder made your chest feel heavy. You knew she looked after you, obviously. She had saved your life by sending Ambrose to you and your brother's aid. You prayed to her daily, and she occasionally sent you signs that made you feel she was there with you — but coming to see you? That was a privilege that you weren’t worthy of; at least, that’s what it felt like.

Your fury came from the fact that your mother was the motivator of all this. Why would she persuade your brothers in her own interests? Weren’t there rules that your godly parent couldn’t interfere with certain things? You weren’t sure what the rules specifically were, but this didn’t feel right. You shake your head,

“Mother isn’t omniscient. She doesn’t know who will win.” Your fist is clenched hard on your side, and you watch as Alabaster’s expression hardens,

"You're only fighting on this side because of your little boyfriend. Is he more important to you than us?"

"Boyfriend?! What are you talking about-”

"I'm talking about Percy! Don’t think we haven’t noticed you hanging out with him. Sparring together? In the strawberry fields together? You guys were practically flirting at the campfire, and Connor told us that you’ve been meeting him at night. Is that true?"

You feel your face get hot, but it wasn’t at the accusation of Percy being your boyfriend but the rage that was swirling in your chest. You hated that he thought you would compromise your loyalty to your siblings for a boy. That wasn’t true. In the right circumstances, you would always put your siblings first because you knew they would do the same. But this wasn’t about Percy; you haven’t thought of him until Alabaster brought him up. This was about loyalty to the camp.

"He's not my boyfriend. It doesn’t even matter what side he’s fighting on. I couldn’t care less. Al… this- this is about family!"

"Family?! What?”

“The camp,” you say shakily, and you shift on your feet as a sarcastic laugh leaves Alabaster’s lips.

“The camp? You mean the camp that doesn’t deem our mother worthy of her own cabin? We’ve been trapped in that Hermes cabin since the beginning. Half of us didn’t even have a bed to sleep in the first summer we arrived. You and Lou Ellen had to cram in a twin-size bed the first couple of weeks until you got lucky and something opened up. Y/n, they don’t care about us. They toss us to the side, barely give us a space to learn our magic. This camp isn’t family. We're your family, Y/n. We understand you the most. We share the same powers, the same mother. We care for you."

You look down at the ground, hating that you were unable to deny that the words he spoke held truth. The children of minor gods were treated differently. You didn’t have a cabin dedicated to your godly parent, and that was enough to make you feel lesser than. You remember Ethan Nakamura saying in passing that being forced to sleep in the Hermes cabin was pretty much an odd punishment for not being a child of one of the 12. You remember laughing and brushing it off, not thinking much of it at the moment, but now, it suddenly occurred to you that he wasn’t joking at all. He was dead serious.

You have to admit that the living situation wasn’t ideal. It affected how you were able to study your magic and came with annoying inconveniences. You slept in a sleeping bag for your first summer, tucked away in the corner of the room with Atticus. The system in place for who gets a bed was set up by seniority. The longer you've been at camp, the more secure your sleeping arrangements were. You only got a bed because, at the beginning of the summer, a good chunk of kids had left to join Kronos’ army, which bumped you up on the waiting list.

You almost gave in, only so that you'd be with your siblings. If you stay, most of them will be long gone, and you'll be forced to fight them on the battlefield, but you couldn't leave. It didn’t feel right to compromise your loyalty to the camp. Though there were days where you did feel like an outcast, you couldn’t ignore the times you didn’t. Your friends here were important to you too, and you’ve always seen the camp as your haven. It was the only place where you didn’t have to worry about monsters or entities. Sure, some people at camp saw you as some freak, but you never felt as much as a freak here as you did in the mortal world. In the end, it boiled down to one question. Did you want to fight alongside your friends for a camp that brought you a sense of comfort? Or will you fight for a bitter, greedy titian who’s only using you so he can have the throne?

"No, I’m staying,” you say with a tight jaw, looking up to meet Alabaster’s eyes. You kept thinking of the dark clouds, the thunder roaring in the background, the way the valley darkened. That was a warning. That was a clear sign to run the other way, to not walk into the storm.

"Atticus?" Alabaster shifts his gaze to your brother, who stands beside you. Your entire body tenses up, your teeth chewing at the inside of your cheek.

He couldn't go. You couldn’t bear the thought of being without him. Though you were sure that he would be on your side, it was then you decided that if Atticus left, you were going to leave too. You hated that you were second-guessing him, but you weren't sure what to believe after this whole thing being pulled by Alabaster.

"... I'm staying.” His voice is more confident than you expected it to be, and you sigh out shakily, feeling the weight of dread lift from on your shoulders. You’ll still have your twin, and right now, when you felt like your whole world was falling apart, that’s all that mattered.

"You both are fools," Alabaster hissed, and your fist clenches, gaze snapping up.

"You’re the damn fool. How are you so sure that if Kronos wins, everything will suddenly be better? Alabaster, he’s feeding off your anger for his own agenda. You really think if we fight in his little army, he’ll care about us?” Your voice cracks, you scan the crowd of your siblings looking at you. You peer over at your sisters, who were huddled behind your brothers.

“Sage, Alice, Lou Ellen? This isn’t right. We- I- don’t go, just stay here at camp,” you plead, hoping that if you could persuade them to stay, maybe your brothers will forfeit their plan. “I have a bad feeling. I had a dre-”

“Stop,” James barked. You couldn’t help but cringe; the way his eyes narrowed at you was something you’ve never seen before.

“The odds are in Kronos’ favor. He has a bigger army. His allies are strong. This camp doesn’t stand a chance. You asking them to stay is the same as asking them to die,” he declares. “Mother says if- when he wins, she will take care of us. We can live and study with her, she promised.”

Your eyes sting with tears, and you close them, fingers anxiously peeling the skin around your nails. It was way too good to be true. That’s probably something you’ve always wanted, to live as a coven with your siblings. You only wished for a conversation with your mother, but the opportunity to learn from her directly was tempting. Still, you thought about the chaos that would reign across the country, across the world. You didn’t understand how a world under the rule of Kronos could be any better than the world you had now. And you deduced that it would probably be even worse.

“It’s all bull,” you spat, and you scoff. “I’m asking them to die? Take a look at where you’re taking them! This is mad. Guys, please,” you plead again. You frown as Alice and Sage refuse to look at you, huddling close beside each other.

“I- I’m staying,” Lou Ellen suddenly breaks the silence, and you feel a rush of hopefulness. Her head is lowered in a bow, avoiding the stares of your brothers as she walks to you. You reach out your arms, grasping her hand the moment she was close enough. You hear Ernest scoff, turning around to look at Sage and Alice.

“Anyone else would like to stay?” His tone is harsh, cutting through the night and Alice and Sage stare at the floor. You could tell from their trembling hands that they were scared. If they felt any conviction, any second thoughts, they didn’t dare to speak up.

“Let’s go before we get caught out here,” Alabaster announces, and you meet his eyes one last time.

“We’ll see you on the battlefield, sister.”

The walk back to the Hermes Cabin was silent. You hold on to Lou Ellen’s equally clammy hands, the three of you shaken up from what just happened. A part of you still couldn’t even believe that this is how your night played out. You glance at Atticus, his face expressionless, but you knew his mind was scattered with a million thoughts. If your own grief wasn’t enough, you were met with the burden of the grief radiating off of him.

Atticus coped with things differently than you did. You were quick to cry when you’re sad, scream when you were angry, but he bottled it up. He would bottle it up until all his emotions boiled over the limit. Even then, he was private, never letting it out where people could see him, but no matter what, you felt it, and no matter what, you were there comforting him.

He meets your gaze, and you take in the sadness on his face. The sight of his sorrow made it hard to hold back your tears. You knew that when Al called his name, he felt your panic. He felt your dilemma. You didn’t exactly know his stance on the impending war, but you knew at that moment, Atticus made his decision because he didn’t want to be separated from you. He manages a sad smile as there is a mutual understanding of this between the two of you. He slings his arm around both you and Lou Ellen’s shoulders in a failed attempt to lighten up the situation. He swallows hard,

“We’ll be okay,” he musters out, and as confident he wished to sound, the weakness in his voice was unavoidable. You suppress the sob that threatened to leave your lips, a tear falling down your cheek, and you nod,

“Yeah, we- we’ll be okay.” Your voice falters.

and hopefully, they’ll be okay too.

masterlist taglist: @nct127bee @xxyrr

[gayaristocrat]

Lupercalia (Nicholas Scratch X FtM Witch Reader 3/4)

Pairing: Nickolas Scratch x FtM! Reader Words: 1.1k+ Summary: Final ritual of Lupercalia, and it seems the the red riding hood is hunting the wolf. Notes: I have decided to continue this series because this story is in my Kinkmas 2020 Writing Challenge List and I decided to continue it. Also, I hope I don't give anybody dysphoria or anything, if I do then I deeply apologies. Also I hope there are no spelling errors or grammatical errors, if there are any, then please dm/inbox me and let me know what I need to fix.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

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After going to the Valentine’s Day dance at Baxter High, let’s just say it was very eventful. Long story short Nick and I ran into Amalia, his werewolf familiar, in the library at Baxter. Nick attempted to temporarily banished her successfully, and when she came back for him in the woods, he had no choice but to kill her. He was pretty emotionally destroyed about the whole situation, but he managed to cope with his loss and grieve her. I was there for him through every step, and once he was able to heal we had to continue the Lupercalia ritual.

“After the hunt, all I can say is poor Melvin doesn’t know what’s in store for him” Agatha says with a sinful chuckle as she pulls up her black stockings. Prudence laughs at the though of how pitiful she thought Melvin was before she contributed to Agatha’s degradation. I take glances at them as I clip together my own maroon cape and red stockings all while listening in on their conversation. “Can you imagine? A virgin, at his age? You’ll be gentle to him won’t you sister?” She questions to Agatha. “And afterwards Prudence, we’ll share him. It’s been a while since we’ve had a virgin.” They shiver with anticipation as they imagine dominating the poor boy.

“Sorry to crush your hopes sisters, but unfortunately for you I initiated Melvin the night of the Courting.” Dorcas chimes in with an ‘matter-of-fact’ tone. Prudence and Agatha question her on why she didn’t stay abstinent as required, but then again they should have known she was gonna go in for the kill. Dorcas asked if Prudence stayed abatement, but like she always says, “A girl doesn’t kiss and tell”

All three of them put their capes on as they head to the doors of the dormitory. Now you may be wondering why I’m in the girls dorm room. Well, since 99% of the guys in the boys dorm room have unbelievable toxic masculinity I didn’t feel comfortable being around them. So I was allowed to switch and stay with the girls, which they welcomed me with open arms, and since then, they played a part in helping me during my dysphoric breakdowns. Also, staying with the girls also allows me to be closer to my sister, Sabrina.

The trio turn to me and tease me about spending the night with Nick. “ Poor y/n, this is your first time spending the night with someone huh?” Dorcas says in a fake pitiful tone. Prudence chimes in after her, “You better prepare yourself because Nick can be a wild animal, and I know from personal experience when he was in an orgy with me~” she slyly says in an attempt to make me jealous.

“Honestly I don’t care how many people Nick slept with. That was way before we were ever in a relationship. Him sleeping around in the past is his business and has nothing to do with me.” I say as I stand my ground. Nick has been loyal to me since the beginning of our relationship, so whatever he did back then won’t make me jealous because I know for a fact I’m secure with him. I love the Weird Sisters with all of my heart, but sometimes they really get on my nerves when they do shit like this.

Prudence smirks in defeat and lets out a sigh. “Anyways..are you coming y/n?” She says. “In a minute-“ I respond pausing to look at myself in the mirror to make sure I look okay before I continue, “I still need to take my berries of phylaxis, then I will be ready to go”

—————-Later That Night————

The witches and the warlocks are gathered back in the woods. Everyone is radiating high levels of hormonal energy, the girls lusting after the boys and vice versa. The full moon is out, cascading us below it, illuminating our surroundings with a healthy light blue glow. Ambrose once again is leading everyone through the last ceremony of the ritual.

“Welcome to the final night of Lupercalia!” He shouts with authority as he stands on the dark mahogany wooden platform, as he speaks, you could see his breath in the cold air. “The hoods hunt wolves, witches hunt warlocks, and the outcome of the hunt shall determine the year ahead. Will it be bountiful or barren? Fruitful or fallow?” He says adding suspense. “Wolves are you ready!?” The warlocks howl in response to him before he blows the horn and send them on their way, running through the woods. Ambrose pauses for a few seconds to let the howling and energetic boys get a head start, then turns to our remaining group. “And hoods, are you ready!?” The girls and I also howl in response, causing him to blow the horn again signaling is to chase after the guys.

The girls and I start running into the dark foggy woods to chase after the boys, bobbing and weaving through the trees as we desperately try and catch our prey. Pools of red capes billowed behind as we ran through the woods, speeding up to the shouting grey furs. Once the hoods caught up to the boys, they pounced on their backs, some rolling around on the ground and falling on each other. I searched all around trying to find Nick as quick as I can and pounce on him to claim him as mine before anybody else tries to get to him before I do. I searched for him all around, but all I could see were witches pinning their claimed warlocks on the ground and on the trees.

More screaming echoes through the woods and the thrill heightened our senses as if this was a game of cat and mouse, in this case, hoods and wolves.

As I attempt to avoid hitting trees and rocks, I see Dorcas caught up to me, running along side me as she chases after Nick too. “Find someone else y/n, I don’t care who it is, or what the ritual said. I. Want. Nick.”

“Look Dorcas-“ I say trying to reason with here, but still paying attention to where I’m running. “-Stop trying to go after my boyfriend and just go be with Melvin!”

“Oh and also, you might want to watch where your running before you trip on something” But of course, she didn’t head my warning and refused to pay attention, which in turn made her trip over a rock and fall flat on her face.

I keep moving and ignore her failed attempts of calling my name for help to distract me. As I keep going I see what looks like a familiar bulky silhouette, dodging the trees left and right and trying not to bump into other people. I feel my feet automatically pick up speed as I get closer and closer to him, then I finally pounce on him, making us roll on the ground for a minute before we stop.

After a while I finally manage to pin him down on the soft grassy ground with a tight grip on his wrists as both of our chest heave up and down to catch our breath. Nick and I lock eyes as a smirk creep up onto his face before we both leaned in for a intimate kiss.

“Looks like little red riding hood caught the big bad wolf this time~”

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Finish the fic? Leave a like and comment if you enjoyed it. Also, give it a reblog too!

[earlysunsetsoverambrose]

Fool For You (2/4)

Lester Sinclair x f!Reader 

Warnings: Cursing

A/N: Part 2 of a request for @mynameisliterallycash!

When Lester said he was getting dog food, you figured he meant one or two small bags. Instead, you watched as he hefted two huge bulk bags of food over his shoulder. They each had to weigh around fifty pounds and he carried them like they were nothing. Your eyes widened as your jaw dropped, awestruck by the casual display of muscle.

Dazed still, you trailed after him to the checkout. While he made idle chatter with the clerk, he was completely unaware you were wrapped up in an entirely different check out of your own. Heat rose to your cheeks, allured by Lester’s physical strength as daydreams of him literally sweeping you off your feet flooded your thoughts. He turned around, snapping you back to reality as you tried to wipe the dopey expression off your face.

“Alright then, ya ready to –” Lester stopped short, sending you a puzzled look, “Hey are ya okay?”

“What? Of course, I am. Why are you asking?” you responded rapidly, embarrassed you’d been caught staring a third time.

“Ya sure? Ya look a little red. Ya ain’t gettin’ sick or nothin’, are ya?” Lester said concerned. He reached out his free hand and pressed its back against your forehead, “Don’t feel like ya got a fever.”

“N-no, I’m fine,” you stuttered, his hand against your head sending static through your brain as you tried to come up with an excuse, “It’s just from the cold air today, I think.”  

“Okay, if ya say so.” Lester shrugged as he gestured for you to follow him out the door. You cleared your throat, thankful for the gust of wind that cooled the fire trapped in your face.  

“You sure you don’t need help with those?” you asked.  

“These? Nah, they ain’t so bad,” Lester responded, “You oughta see some of the bucks I gotta haul ‘round. Damn things weigh a ton! Nearly threw out my back once tryin’ to throw one on the truck.”

“Never knew you were a regular strongman. I guess it never occurred to me the deer can’t carry their own dead weight.” You said with growing admiration.

“That’s what I’m there for!” Lester said gleefully as he tossed the bags in the back. He closed the bed and rested against the truck as he crossed his arms.

“Well, thanks for taking me along for the ride, anyway.” You said, leaning next to him.

“Sure thing! I love bringin’ ya ‘long like this,” Lester told you, affectionately nudging you with his elbow, “I’ll tell ya, havin’ someone to talk to wouldn’t hurt during my day job neither. Might go a long way makin’ some of the time go by. Gets a little too quiet drivin’ ‘round all day all by myself.”

“Well, would you mind if I tagged along once in a while?” you proposed, looking up at him.

“Ya’d do that? I mean, ya’d really want to?” Lester asked excitedly, “It can get kinda gnarly.”

“Sure. Why not? Can’t be any gnarlier than Bo on a bad day. It’s got to be better than sitting around getting old in Ambrose.” You said, smiling back at him.

“Ya really don’t have to, if ya don’t want.” He said, giving you the option changing your mind.

“I know I don’t, but I would really like to go with you. That is, if you don’t mind.” You could practically see him vibrating with joy.

“Mind? Course I don’t mind! We’re gonna have so much fun together, I promise! Thanks, Y/N! You’re the best!” he exclaimed, elated. He jumped up from the truck and wrapped you up in a tight hug, swinging you back and forth. You couldn’t contain you laughter, even if you couldn’t breathe with the way he was squeezing you.

Lester set you back down, leaving you with only a ghost of the feeling of his warm embrace. You lingered in place trying to memorize the sensation while he went ahead to open the passenger door for you without a second thought. Once you were seated, he closed the door and got back in beside you. He threw you a carefree smile as you took off once again.

The two of you made lighthearted conversation on the way back to Lester’s cabin. You started going back and forth about the art of catching various animals that try to make a home in your garbage. Well, it was mostly Lester walking you through the process, breaking it down by species. You listened to how he had basically mastered the art of pest wrangling without killing them. Your heart swelled hearing how insistent he was that killing them wasn’t necessary. He never wanted to hurt anyone or anything if he could help it.

You were just about to ask him a question, when he abruptly hit the brakes. You both lurched forward before falling back into your seats. You glanced around, collecting yourself from the sudden stop.

“Is everything okay? Why’d you stop?” He didn’t answer, as he began to carefully scan your surroundings, “What are you looking for? Lester?”  

“There she is!” Lester shouted, pressing his face up against his window, totally distracted from your questions. He smiled back at you over his shoulder, “Follow me!” He threw his door open without another word and jumped out, anxiously waiting for you to join him.

“Follow you where? Wait for me!” you called after him. You swiftly slid out of the car and onto the ground, clueless as to why you stopped here of all places. Lester darted ahead, chasing something you couldn’t see. You did your best to follow close, but he ducked down into the grass. You jogged to where he disappeared to find him on his knees, reveling in an assault of kisses from a delighted stray dog. Surprise took over your features, thrilled to be meeting a new friend.

“I missed ya too, girl!” Lester gasped through his uncontrollable laughter, echoing through the woods, “Ya been good a doggy? I bet ya have! Hope ya ain’t been too lonely out here!”

“Who’s this, Lester?” you asked in gentle voice, immediately enamored with the dog before you. She was about Jonesy’s size, with a blonde shaggy coat. She looked young with energy and enthusiasm that gave Lester a run for his money.

“Oh, Y/N! I’d like ya to meet Buttercup!” Lester said as he separated himself from the dog’s abundance of affection, “Buttercup, this is my friend Y/N!”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Buttercup.” You said as you got down to offer your hand for a sniff. Buttercup took a few whiffs before deciding you were in fact a friend. Her tail wagged back and forth as she allowed you to pet her as well, “She’s so cute, Lester!”

“I know! Ain’t she the sweetest?” Lester concurred, “I found her snoozin’ in a patch of buttercups, so that’s what I started callin’ her!”

“How long has she been here?” you asked, scratching Buttercup behind the ears as she jumped up to rest her front paws on Lester’s shoulders, licking his face once more.

“A while now, I see a few strays runnin’ ‘round while I’m workin’. So, I try and visit with ‘em, if I can. But I left some bowls to fill when I’m on my route, case they get hungry.” Lester managed to gesture to an empty bowl a few feet away from you despite being smothered by more kisses. That explained the industrial sized bags of food. “Speaking of which – you hungry, Buttercup?” she barked in response.

Lester grabbed the bowl and jogged back to the truck to fill it with Buttercup in tow. Your eyes followed after him, the dopey look returning to your face. He conversed with Buttercup like an old friend as he scooped out her food. He was so attentive and kind, listening to her response and matching her excitement. They made their way back to you, thick as thieves. Lester set the bowl down when he made it back next to you, petting Buttercup while she dug into her meal, “Now, don’t eat so fast ya get sick, there’s plenty where that came from. Ole Lester’s got ya covered.”

You let out a deep sigh, endeared by the scene before you. Lester treated every person and creature with such consideration and care; and he never asked for anything in return. He had so much love in his heart and he was willing to share it with anyone who wanted it. With as much as he gives to everyone else, you wondered if anyone had ever told him how much they care about him or appreciate his presence in their life. He deserved to have someone who could give him back all the love he put into the world.

You wanted to be the one. You would finally treat him right. He all but stole your heart and he deserved to hear it from you, even if he might not feel the same. The consequences suddenly didn’t seem to matter so much in this moment. You wanted him to know how important he really was to you, because everyone deserves to know they are loved. You needed to tell him now while you were brave enough.

“Lester, there’s something I need to tell you.” You started, heartbeat racing in your ears, drowning out all the doubt and second thoughts. He perked up, listening close.

“Ya can tell me anythin’, Y/N. Ya know that.” Lester said softly, that warm smile pulling at your heartstrings again.

“Lester…I lo–” a deafening crack of thunder cut you off. With that, Buttercup hightailed it back into hiding. You gasped as you stood, starting after her, worried she may get lost or hurt in the impending storm. You moved to run after her, “Oh no, Buttercup, wait!”

“Hold up, Y/N! Ya can’t catch her, believe me, I tried.” Lester called to stop you, “I tried gettin’ her in the truck a few times to go to a shelter, but she don’t like it. If she ain’t ready to go, we can’t make her. She’ll come ‘round when she’s ready.”

“But we can’t just leave her out here.” You said, searching the area for any sign of her.

“Don’t worry ‘bout her too much, she’s a survivor.” Lester said, putting a comforting hand on your shoulder. “’Sides she’s got a little hideout not far from here. I found her there a couple times and left a few blankets after makin’ sure it wouldn’t cave in on her. It’ll keep her nice and dry ‘til this blows over. Alright? She’ll be safe, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” You asked, almost tearing up at the thought of her shivering somewhere all by herself.

“Sure as my name is Lester Sinclair. We can even come check on her tomorrow, if ya like.” Lester offered, “But we really oughta get outta here ‘fore the rain starts.”

“Okay,” you said hesitantly, “Promise we can check on her?”

“Yes ma’am, I swear. Cross my heart.” Lester assured you, drawing an X over his chest.

You both started toward the truck once more. You silently cursed the weather for interrupting your confession. The moment had passed and the doubts had returned to their work. Despite this, the affection swelling in your chest still pulled you to act on some part of it.

Without thinking too hard for once, you took Lester’s hand in yours. He glanced down to your linked hands and then back at you.

“Are ya scared of thunder storms?” He asked curiously.

“No. Why?” You responded, confused where he got that idea.

“Ya just look a little nervous is all. Thought ya might not like thunder or somethin’.” Lester explained, “I know storms used to scare the hell outta me when I was a kid. Never used to like ‘em one bit, ‘specially if I was by myself.”

“No, I kind of like storms.” You told him.

“Oh, then are your hands cold or somethin’?” Lester asked, gesturing with your connected hands, trying to understand the reason for the spontaneous handholding.

“Uh, well, not exac–”

“Cause ya look a little rosy again. Just makin’ sure ya ain’t gettin’ frostbite or nothin’.” He interjected.

“No, I’m okay.” You told him with your hundredth sigh of the day.

“Well, just in case. Take this.” He said as he released your hand and took off his hat to pull it over your eyes with a chuckle. He readjusted it on your head, revealing the way he was beaming at you. You rarely got to see him without his trusty hat. Even with his hair being a little sweaty and sticking every which way, it was still ridiculously tempting to run your fingers through. The energy radiating from him was so wholesome and pure. Looking at him, you could swear the clouds lifted and the sun was shining all of a sudden. He squeezed your cheeks in his hands, with a laugh, “There, now ain’t that better! Nice and toasty.”

“T-thanks, Les.” You stuttered, reaching up to feel the soft fabric of his hat, the heat in your cheeks only growing more intense under his hold on your face.

 “My pleasure! I gotta say ya look mighty cute right now. Helluva lot better than I ever looked.” He told you, releasing your face and patting you on the back, “Now, let’s make like Buttercup and get to shelter!”

You made it back to the truck right before the heavy rain started pouring down. Lester took off down the road again, toward his cabin. You watched through the window as the storm raged on outside, matching the storm in your mind. The time had felt so right to tell Lester everything, but now you weren’t sure. What you were sure of, however, is that you needed to tell him soon. You thought you might actually burst if you didn’t. You couldn’t keep living like this.      

[antialiasis]

Jean’s Family Interview

I noticed a while back that, although I posted a link to this before when I wrote it in 2016, it was just linked to the post in the Serebii thread where it was originally posted, and the link is no longer functional since an upgrade to the Serebii.net forums. It might be possible to just update the link in that post, but it’s kind of annoying that it’s offsite anyway; I’ve been wanting to archive this one properly on here with the rest of the non-canon Morphic extras. I’m still pretty fond of it; several favorite bits in here that just really tickle me.

This was originally posted in a “Character interviews” thread; the questions Jean asks actually came from Negrek, who started the thread, as interview questions to ask any character, but I wound up writing it as an in-character interview. It takes place sometime pre-chapter seven. Featuring: Dave explaining how fine he is, his dubious parenting skills, Jean being cute, and their relationship.

Dave was drinking his coffee and reading the paper on a Saturday morning (for some value of morning) when something touched his shoulder. He jumped to turn around, yanking the cup with him and sending half of the coffee splashing into his lap.

“Shit fuck Jesus Jean, where’d you come from.” She was standing behind him, clutching a notebook to her chest, the grin on her face vanishing. “Don’t do that. Christ.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, worried, hanging her head, ears lowered, puppy eyes in full force. “I’m sorry, Dad, I didn’t mean to…”

He grabbed a tissue from the kitchen counter and tried to wipe most of it off his jeans. He waved his other hand at her. “It’s… it’s okay, I’m fine. It was getting cold anyway.” He sighed. “What’d you want?”

Instantaneously, she perked up again. “I had English class yesterday,” she said, “and we’re supposed to interview a family member over the weekend! Can I interview you? I made questions and everything!” She proudly held her notebook forward.

“Oh.” He slumped back into his chair. Well, he could change his jeans when this was done, he supposed. It wasn’t like she had any other family members to interview. “Yeah, sure, Jean. What kind of interview?”

“Just an interview,” she said, shrugging.

“Are you going to read it out in class or what?”

“No. Just submit it to the teacher.”

“All right.” Jean’s teacher didn’t like him much, as far as he’d gathered from the parent-teacher conferences, but hopefully she wouldn’t take that out on her. “Fire away.”

Her brow furrowed.

“That means ask the first question, Jean. It’s metaphorical. Nothing to do with fire.”

“Ohhh.” Jean’s eyes lit up with understanding as she gave a sagely nod. She sat down at the other side of the kitchen table with her notebook and pencil and cleared her throat. “How would you introduce yourself to a stranger?”

“Uh. David Ambrose, Heywood Labs?”

Jean nodded, writing eagerly. “Next question… where do you live?”

“What.” She was looking earnestly at him. “What… you know where we live, Jean. So does your teacher, for that matter; it’s in the school registry. What kind of interview question is that?”

“She said we can ask questions we know the answers to so we can get them in the person’s own words.”

“But…” He stopped himself. “All right, if somebody else who doesn’t know that just, like, stopped me in the street and asked that, I’d say… no, hang on, that’s… no. What kind of interview question is that?”

Jean brought on the worried puppy eyes again. “Are my questions bad?”

“No, no, they’re fine, Jean.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Just say Grace City. That’s all. If random people you don’t know ever ask you where you live, that’s what you should say.”

“Not the street address?”

“No. Only tell that to people who really need to know it, all right? There could be some bad people out there who’d… Look, just give me the next question.”

“Okay.” Jean carefully wrote the two words. “What’s your family like?”

“Uh. Family like what? Family like you, or family like your g…” She looked up at him, curious. “One daughter. That’s all.”

“You’re supposed to say what she’s like,” Jean said, grinning.

“She’s beautiful and smart and half-Vulpix and one day she’s going to Flamethrower anyone who asks her personal questions in the street.”

“Yeah!” She pumped her fist, pure delight on her face as she eagerly started to write. Dave couldn’t help smiling a bit. He reached across the table and ruffled her curls.

“All right, here’s the next one,” Jean said when she laid down her pencil. “What do you want to do with your life, and how does what you’re doing now relate to that?”

Dave blinked. That was quite a shift. “Uh, well, what I’m doing now is raising you, and doing research on how you guys work and why you developed the way you did, and working on developing ways to make things easier for you, and also trying to fight for you to have a decent life like everyone else because some ignorant swathes of the population think you’re not entitled to basic fucking human rights.”

Jean nodded, her pencil moving meticulously across the paper.

“You know when I use words like that, you don’t write them down, right?”

“Yup.”

“Great, smart girl.”

“And the rest?” she asked, looking up.

“The rest of what?”

“The question.” She looked down to read it again. “What do you want to do with your life, and how does what you’re doing now relate to that?”

“Well…” He paused. “I expect this is what I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life. I mean, I better fucking hope you outlive me.” It struck him as he said it that most of the morphs aged faster than normal, Katherine and Mia fastest of all, Jean too. They couldn’t know anything about what the morphs’ lifespans would be like, it was pointless to even think about and they all knew that, but –

“Oh. But what did you want to do before you made us?”

“I don’t know, just… science, research. Something to keep my brain occupied.”

Jean nodded and wrote. “Next… what’s your most unusual trait?”

“Heh.” He scratched his head. “Well, I figured out how to combine human and Pokémon DNA and it’s probably going to lead to the biggest medical advances in centuries. That’s pretty fucking unique. Also, I can string together a logical argument. You’d be surprised how rare that is.”

“What’s a sure way to make you angry?”

He grimaced. “How about shoving religion in my face? Don’t even get me started.”

Jean nodded. “What’s your biggest accomplishment?”

“See question… whatever the question was where I talked about combining human and Pokémon DNA and the biggest medical advances in centuries.”

“What decision do you most regret?”

His first thought, of course, was in no way an appropriate thing to say in this interview, or to Jean at all, ever. And, he realized upon the reflection it took to complete that thought, not actually true.

“I…” This was harder than it should be, God. “I regret yelling at you earlier,” he ended up saying when he couldn’t think of anything better. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Jean said brightly. He tilted his head to see what she was writing: I regret yelling at you –

“I… are you sure you should write that?”

“It’s what you answered,” she said.

“Okay, no, hold on, I…” He stopped; she looked at him expectantly. Well, so what if her teacher would think he was a terrible parent. She thought that anyway. And if he went around taking back apologies to his daughter because they made him sound bad, she was probably right. “…Never mind.”

“Next question?”

“Sure.”

“What do you think is the most important thing for other people to understand about you?”

“Huh. What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, sometimes people are afraid of me or think I’m weird because I’m part Vulpix,” Jean said. “So I’d want them to understand that I’m just a girl like them and I’d only hurt bad guys.”

Dave raised his eyebrows. “Well, I don’t think I’m terribly misunderstood,” he said. “I say what I mean, and if people don’t like it, tough. Who cares what they think, anyway? You shouldn’t care what any of those people think about you. They’ll never understand you’re just a girl like them, but it doesn’t matter because they’re idiots.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling. Again he looked to see exactly what she was writing; she left it at I say what I mean, and if people don’t like it, tough. Part of him wanted the teacher to see the rest too, but it was probably better this way.

“Last question,” she said when she looked up. “If you could change just one thing about yourself, what would it be?”

“Change? I don’t want to change anything about myself. If I wanted to, I would’ve changed it already.”

“But what if you wanted something like a tail or a fire sac?”

“Well, I don’t. No offense.”

“There’s nothing you’d want to change that you can’t?”

“No, why would I? I look fine, I can do everything I want to do, what’s not to like? What, do you want to change stuff about yourself? Because you’re perfect as you are.”

Jean shrugged slightly. “I wish I screwed up less,” she said, averting her gaze. “I always make my friends mad at me and I don’t understand why. And if that coffee had been hot I could’ve really hurt you, couldn’t I?” She looked back up at him, eyes glistening with tears.

“What? Oh, no, Jean, that’s not…” Shit. He never knew what to say in these moments. He leaned forward on the table. “Look. It’s not your fault. None of it’s your fault, all right? If your friends get mad at you for no reason, that’s their problem, not yours. They’re… they’re probably just prejudiced morons like the rest of them and don’t deserve you anyway, okay? And forget about the coffee. Just… pretend that never happened. Okay?”

“But it did,” she said miserably.

“Look, everyone screws up sometimes. It’s okay. It’s no big deal.”

“Even you?” she sniffled.

“Well, yeah, sure, sometimes.”

Jean wiped her face with her hand. “Okay.”

“Great. Is that the end of the interview, then?”

“Yeah.” Jean nodded as she stood up and picked up her pencil and notebook. Then her ears perked up again. “The teacher said next week we might do a follow-up interview with more questions. You’ll do that too, right?”

Dave sighed. “Yeah, sure. Just let me know.”

Jean bounced off to her room, back in her regular mood. He shook his head. Better be prepared for that, then.

Now, though, he needed to change his jeans and make another cup of coffee.

[wordsablaze]

Ch.8. Beneficial Blue

Blue Buttercup Almost like buttercups, it took Jaskier a lot of time and trouble to bloom and find his place in the world, but it wasn’t all so golden… (aka: yennefer was his mother way before he was jaskier)

A/N: can’t even see canon anymore but soft yen is worth it imo :p @dauntless-hufflepuff-pride x

previous chapter

-

It’s three days before they need to leave the house again.

“Yenny, why are you frowning?”

Oh, and she’s taken to frowning a lot over said three days. She can’t help it, she’d felt something wrong with Lord Ambrose’s house and Julian had said the same.

“It’s nothing, Julian. Are you hungry?”

Julian shakes his head, simply curling back into her lap again as he starts playing with the fabric of her dress, which seems to be a nervous habit of his. She can’t understand how it brings him comfort but she can’t bring herself to stop him either.

(It’s somehow comforting to her too.)

A part of her hates this, hates that she can feel so… comforted… by someone so small and fragile and confusing - It’s dangerous and she doesn’t like that.

“Do we have to go back?” he asks, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Yennefer sighs, running her fingers through his hair. “We do. You can stay here if you want but I’d rather you were with me.”

He tightens his grip on her dress and makes a strange noise before replying, “Stay with you, like you said.”

(She can’t believe he still wants to stay.)

“Okay well, we’ll have to leave soon then. Are you ready?”

Julian finally sits upright and stares at her, almost amused. “Aren’t we matching again?”

Yennefer doesn’t know how to comprehend the fact that four words can mean so much to her so she just settles for nodding and watching as he grins before running off to go find his chemise.

She takes the very brief moment of solitude to inhale and exhale slowly. She’s not paranoid, of course not, but even a simple job is different now that she has someone else to be worried about.

Maybe everyone at Aretuza had been right in thinking that life should be a one-woman show and that needing other people or having other people need you is just a euphemism for having a weakness, a liability, a way for things to go wrong and-

“Yenny, I need help with the buttons!”

(Either way, it doesn’t feel right to deny Julian her help.)

“Hang on, Julian,” Yennefer sighs, kneeling down to see what he’s done.

It’s not that bad, to be fair, he just seems to be struggling with doing up his doublet again. She does it for him without questioning it, only for him to frown at her. “You can’t see the matchy jewel!”

“The what?” Yennefer blinks.

Julian pokes her shoulder. “My new jewel. You traded for it.”

Oh.

(She’s pretty sure she’d trade almost anything for him if he needed it.)

“Your necklace? Hang on…” she trails off, unfastening the top button so he can pull the necklace out and have it on display.

She doesn’t tell him that she’s reinforced it with magic so it will never fall off or get lost. The only way it will come off is if he removes it himself but he’s yet to show any signs of wanting to do so.

“Are you ready to portal now?” she asks softly.

Julian nods, but lifts his arms above his head, curling his fingers. She sighs but lifts him up with one arm, making sure he’s secure before creating a portal and stepping through it.

He makes a pained noise as they do, clinging onto her as if his life depends on it. But a few moments of her stroking his hair later, he grins widely. “Your magic is fun.”

(He always says that as if she isn’t capable of destroying the continent.)

“Let’s go find this rogue mage, okay, little one?” she asks instead, lowering him to the ground and letting him take her hand as they start walking, following the trail of uncontrolled chaos that seems to buzz in the air.

It’s not long before they reach what looks like a small hut. “I wish these idiots had better decoration skills,” Yennefer mutters.

“Yours is way nicer,” Julian agrees, and she’s abruptly reminded that she might need to be careful what she says if there’s someone else with her. It really wouldn’t do to have Julian call unhinged mages idiots, now, would it?

“Who are you?” someone asks sharply, drawing their attention to the man standing at the doorway.

Julian gasps and steps behind her, his free hand clutching at her dress once again.

(It’s oddly satisfying.)

“Yennefer of Vengerberg, here to determine whether or not you’re actually Lord Ambrose’s problem.”

“Leave now and I won’t be forced to fight you,” he replies, all but growling at them.

Yennefer rolls her eyes. “You wouldn’t last five minutes but do go on wasting your breath if it pleases you.”

The other mage lowers his hands and looks over them both, shaking his head. “I’m not the problem here and I have no intention of orphaning the boy. Haven’t you been to his manor yet?”

She’s not sure what he means because there’s no way someone with such appalling aesthetic sense could defeat her and there’s no way he could know who Julian’s parents are, but she chalks it down to him being somewhat crazed.

“What about his manor?”

(She doesn’t like the idea of having missed something.)

Julian steps out from behind her and squeezes her hand. “It was bad energy, like you said.”

The other mage looks at Julian in shock and Yennefer is immediately hit with the urge to remove his eyes for daring to do so. But before she can say anything, he nods at Julian. “Yes, exactly. There’s another mage staying with him and poisoning this town.”

Yennefer shakes her head. “That’s a heavy accusation to make for someone surrounded by chaos. Where’s your proof?”

“You weren’t following my trail, Yennefer of Vengerberg, you were following the residue of his magic on me,” the other mage says, stepping inside his hut with the nerve to assume she’s going to follow.

She immediately has every intention to set the place ablaze but Julian tugs on her hand so she decides to let the mage live for a little longer. Just until she knows what’s happening anyway.

(If Lord Ambrose is playing her, he’s not getting away with it.)

“What’s your name?” Julian asks the mage.

“Marcio, and you?” the mage, apparently called Marcio, replies.

Julian glances up at Yennefer before replying, which warms her heart just a little. When she nods, he turns back to Marcio and grins. “I’m Julian.”

“Where are you from, Julian?” Marcio asks as he searches a very disorganised desk.

Yennefer squeezes Julian’s hand as he shuffles uncomfortably and clears her throat. “He’s with me. Now, are you going to make a fool of yourself for much longer?”

Marcio sighs. “I made a note of every time someone went missing. And each time, there was a witcher in town to slay a monster exactly a week later.”

At that, Yennefer’s curiosity piques. Along with confusion and the slightest of awe, because if what Marcio is implying is actually happening, there’s a darker shade of magic involved that really shouldn’t even be possible.

(But it also shouldn’t be possible for anyone to desire being with her as long as Julian has and yet here they are.)

“What kind of monster? Big scary ones with lots of teeth?” Julian asks, his eyes wide.

Yennefer blinks, almost having forgotten that he’s a child and had never seen a bestiary of any sort.

Shifting uncertainty, Marcio nods. “Sometimes. It’s rarely the same one twice.”

“Are you going to fight them, Yenny?” Julian looks back up to her, no doubt in his eyes that she can do such a thing. Gods is it empowering to see the faith, however misplaced, that he has in her and her abilities.

She nods at him. “Of course. But first I think we need to figure out where they’re coming from, monsters don’t usually have a rota.”

(Not even the ones inside her head.)

Marcio chuckles. “They’re coming from Ambrose’s manor. I haven’t been able to get closer than a mile or so.”

Yennefer raises an eyebrow. “We were inside just a few days ago.”

“The mage knows of me and my attempts to stop him but you weren’t a threat to him-” he holds his hands up, fingers splayed, as Yennefer narrows her eyes- “only because you didn’t know what I know about him.”

“You’re lying,” Julian blurts.

Yennefer resists the urge to look at him and instead watches Marcio glance at him nervously, his teeth briefly worrying his lip before he laughs. “Why would I lie to you?”

(She’s so tired of everyone lying to her.)

She shifts her gaze to the room they’re in, searching for anything to verify his version of the truth. Amongst all the chaos and clutter, there’s nothing to suggest he’s making things up, except for…

“Is that him?” she asks, nodding her head to a scribbled drawing that’d clearly been discarded in anger. One of the men in the drawing is clearly Marcio but the other she doesn’t recognise.

Marcio follows her gaze and pales just enough to confirm her suspicion. “You were working together on whatever it is happening in this town, weren’t you?”

Julian steps behind her once again as Marcio’s smile curls into a grimace, both of his tiny hands now clasped around hers as he goes quiet, clearly waiting for her to do something, seeking her protection.

(How dare Marcio even talk to Julian through his lying teeth.)

“It wasn’t my fault! It wasn’t meant to be like this, it was just-”

“Toying with chaos that you couldn’t begin to understand?” Yennefer interjects, clenching her jaw. “Mages like you don’t deserve magic.”

Marcio steps back at the venom in he words, as he should, but he doesn’t give up, shaking his head slowly. “I wasn’t lying before, I swear it. He really is responsible for the disappearances and I need your help.”

“Yenny doesn’t need yours,” Julian says quietly.

(It takes all her willpower not to smile at that.)

Not that Marcio would have noticed because he’s too busy looking startled. “Please, there are innocent people in this town.”

Any other day, Yenenfer would have rolled her eyes, told him that there are so-called innocent people everywhere, and left him to clear up his own mess. But any other day, she wouldn’t still be internally smiling at the trust a small child has placed in her.

She sighs. “I couldn’t care less about your pathetic partnership and its failure. I will do what I came here to do and if you even think about interfering, I will see you as part of the problem. Do you understand?”

“He does,” Julian replies for him, grinning.

Marcio stays silent as Yennefer sends him a biting glare and leads Julian out of the hut, back towards the manor. He remains silent as they leave, for which she’s grateful as she’d rather not expose Julian to the sight of a dead mage just yet.

(He deserves better than her violence.)

“How did you know he was lying?” she asks Julian.

He just shrugs. “I don’t know. His words weren’t right, that’s what always happens when people lie.”

Yennefer can’t figure out what that means but she doesn’t push him to explain because she doesn’t want to know who else had lied to him. Well, that’s a lie, she does want to know, but she doesn’t want to upset him by asking.

And anyway, he’s one of very few people who have actually managed to help her so she doesn’t mind giving him the benefit of the doubt. She just nods at him. “Let’s go fix this mage problem, okay?”

Julian nods back eagerly. “And then can we have jam again?”

This time she can’t help smiling, she really can't. So she lets herself do so and nods. “Of course, little one. We can have all the jam you like.”

“Thank you!” Julian beams as if she’d just promised him the moon and stars.

(She would promise him those as well in a heartbeat.)

As the two of them continue walking, she makes a mental note to somehow acquire more jam on their way back.

-

one day i’ll crosspost to tumblr with no delay, but yesterday was not that day...

-

thanks for reading !! masterlist | witcher blog: @itsjaskier | next chapter

[rpgexperience]

My servant Devil - session 24

The session ended in...well... as many times before. So check out Wattpad for the proper smut. 

“Abigail? What’s wrong? Are you crying?” Ambrose asks worried, hugging her so she can hide in  his chest. “N-no. I- I’m fine.” Abigail sniffles, quickly trying to dry her tears. She is surprised that he’s back. He claims that he has just arrived and went to see her but she wasn’t home, so he went to the town, hoping to bump into her. He asks what happened and why she’s crying, worried, brushing her tears away and handing her a handkerchief. “It- it doesn't matter… Can you take me home?” Abigail looks up at him desperately. He nods: “Of course,” puts his arm around her and guides her through town to his horse, a beautiful tall grey stud. He helps her up on the horse, then elegantly gets up himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso. 

During the journey, Abigail questions him about his journey, trying to keep the conversation away from her. Ambrose says that he had business meetings in Edinburgh, made contracts with new tea suppliers, met up with the Elvish tribes from the North, who seem worried about the current situation. Apparently there were some attacks, but the Elves are strong and know how to protect themselves. He assures Abigail however that she doesn’t need to worry about them, sounding very annoyed. There is something more to this, something hiding behind his eyes but Abigail is too distraught to notice. 

When they reach the mansion, Ambrose elegantly slides off the horse, helping Abigail down as well. She thanks him but he just smiles, happy that he found her. He places a kiss on the back of her hand: “Abby... I wanted to talk to you. About what happened... before our travels. But I understand you are distressed today,  so I would like to make a proposal. Why don't you accompany me tomorrow to watch the race?” Race? Abigail isn’t sure what he talks about but simply nods. He grins fondly and tells her to be ready the next day at lunch, then gets back up on his horse and leaves. 

Abigail sadly walks to the office and takes out Ambrose’s book about demons, hoping to find something to mend her broken heart. She reads for a while and learns to perform a ritual to summon a demon. She sets the book aside and thinks for a moment. Does she want to bring him here? After a while of hesitation, she decides against the idea. What would she tell him anyways? How would he appear? Naked in a middle of something? No. She doesn’t want to see him now anyways. 

She shuts the book and walks to her bedroom. Somehow manages to get rid of her dress, then curls up in her bed, hits the pillow few times. Idiot! What was she thinking? Trusting a demon like that… Of course he had no interest in her! Tears stream down her cheeks, crying herself to sleep.

She sleeps very long, until eventually she is woken up by a soft knock on the door. It’s just Kathy, announcing Ambrose’s arrival to the mansion. Still no sign of Lucian. Kathy leaves to bring Ambrose to the tea room while Abigail gets up. She’s lucky and manages to dress herself without anybody’s help, smiling proudly when she sees that she managed to get herself looking all pretty and needs no Lucian for it. 

Ambrose is waiting in the tea room, looking out of the window. “I apologise, I didn't mean to surprise you, I just couldn't wait to see you again,” Ambrose greets her and compliments her looks. He then offers his arm and leads Abigail outside and into a beautiful white carriage waiting outside the mansion. 

 They ride to the races, Ambrose sitting shamelessly close to Abigail inside the carriage, their knees brushing. Abigail thinks about moving away but in the end she stays, this is nothing compared to what he did, right? Ambrose asks about her mission to Germany, doesn’t seem particularly fond of Lady von Lichtenburg, apparently he had asked her for help and she refused.  They arrive at the races, exit the carriage and he offers that Abigail should take him with her instead to which she admits that she was ashamed in front of him and hence needed a bit of a change of scenery. “You don't have to be ashamed in front of me Abigail,” he says, then leans down to whisper to her ear: “I very much enjoyed our night together and I would very much love to see you entirely relaxed like that again.” He runs his fingers down the side of her ear and neck. She giggles and grabs his hand: “We’re in public Ambrose!” “Oh but who would say something? You are lady Maglocke you can do anything you please.” Abigail blushes and suggests to go to the area where all the guests are gathering, hoping to stop his inappropriate behaviour. Ambrose leads her to the running court and up a terrace where all the fancy people are relaxing and lounging. They look very surprised to see them there and soon start whispering and giggling. Abigail looks down ashamed and walks to the front to pretend to watch the horses interested, trying to ignore the gossiping people. Ambrose stands next to her, placing his hand right on her bum. “Ambrose…” she hisses at him, saying that she would like a drink, hoping to make him walk away and stop this. But he instead just calls one of the waiters walking around. Fortunately he at least has to grab the two drinks, handing on to Abigail. After that he doesn’t return his hand to her bum but rather steps right behind her, pressing his crotch against her, at least this way shielding the view from all the people. 

Abigail complains that people are already gossiping about them, so there’s no need to feed the rumours. He leans down and whispers into her ear: “Oh but the people are desolate when they have nothing to gossip about. Just let them have their fun.” He brushes hair behind her ear and softly nibbles on it. “It's been way too long that I had to be without you. Every night I have been dreaming about how it felt, to hold you in my arms, to be so close to you, close like nobody else before me.” He wraps his arms around her, pulling her closer, sneaking one hand to cup her breast, mentioning that her chest is larger than he remembers. He leans down and nibbles some more on her ear while massaging her breast, while he’s getting a little hard, twitching against her bum. Abigail is looking around nervously, hoping for nobody to see. 

A very quiet moan escapes her lips as he slips his hand down her tummy to stroke her core through the dress. “I knew you secretly like it,” he whispers seductively into her ear. She grabs his hand to stop him: “That’s not the point though. We are in public and there's a crowd of noblemen right behind us.” Ambrose doesn’t let that stop him though and argues: “So? They have not even half the fortune you have. Compared to you they are peasants. Nobody would ever dare to raise their voice against a Maglocke. Besides... if you would finally make our engagement public there wouldn't be a need to worry about this at all.” Abigail pulls back a bit and looks at him surprised, engagement? Since when were they even engaged? 

Suddenly Ambrose makes a step back and falls to his knee, taking her hand. Abigail watches him frozen, oh no, no, no, no, don’t do this. But he did: “Abigail Maglocke, I have already made my intensions very clear to you. You have fully enchanted me the first moment I saw you and ever since then I am under your spell, I cannot think about anything else. I will not find peace until you will finally accept my courting. So please, will you end my suffering and marry me?” He then takes out a little black box and reveals a large diamond ring. Abigail looks at all the people watching, not knowing what to do. Her mind and heart are racing. She’s not ready to tell him yes! She cannot say no in front of all the people, especially since they all know what happened. She comes up with no other plan, then fake fainting. 

Abigail faints like a bad actress, enough to convince the people in the back rows but people have seen this before and some make the conclusion that she has only fainted to escape from having to give the lord an answer. Ambrose catches her in her arms. He carries her over to a lounger, a few butlers start to tend to her, fanning her, while Ambrose sits next to her, holding her hand. While she continues pretending to be out, she can hear the gun being shot and the horses start to run. This catches the attention of the crowd which moves to the railing. She assumes it to be safe to slowly start waking up now. Ambrose looks at her worried, cupping her cheek. He helps her sit up and suggests going home. He refuses to let her stand up and instead picks her up bridal style and carries her to the carriage. He lies her down there, placing her head on his lap. He strokes her hair as they quietly return to the mansion. He then also carries her to the mansion and to her bedroom, placing her on the bed. “Let me help you get out of this dress to be more comfortable,” he offers and without waiting for confirmation or permission, he starts undressing her, completely destroying her dress,  until she’s only in her under-gown. 

He grins down on her: “Oh Abby, you really have matured in the best way since I last met you.” He cups her breasts again, massaging them in rough motions, squeezing them a bit in his hands, then leans down and starts kissing her roughly, hungrily. He roughly parts her lips, thrusting his tongue into her mouth and behind her teeth. He pulls her dress up, caresses her tummy for a moment, but then continues running them up to her breast and pinches her, until her nipples get very excited while she moans from his touches on her over-sensitive breasts: “You can deny it as much as you want, but your body is speaking to me, I see how excited you are to see me again too.” He takes her arms and pins them down, now climbing up on top of her and attacking her again with his rough kisses: “This is what you get for fainting on me like that in front of all the people.”

[...]

Abigail lies deadly in the bed under Ambrose. He watches her for a few moments, then gets up, buttons his trousers back up in a very business manner and clears his throat. “Well then, I will leave you to recover. I hope to see you again soon, lady Maglocke,” he bows his head lightly and walks out. Abigail stares after him shocked that he just got up and left like that, opening her mouth emptily a few times. In the end she just wraps herself in her duvet, turning away from the door, taking a nap, relaxing for the rest of the day. 

[slasherhaven]

hi there!! if it interests you and you'd like to write it, may I request reader getting hurt and/or taken by visitors and Bo Sinclair kind of losing it?? (i picture it as before they get together possibly? and it can turn into either nsfw or stay sfw and fluffy)

Bo reacting to his future S/O getting hurt:

You had seen Bo angry before, of course you had, it was a common occurrence in Ambrose. Sometimes he just had a bad day and was in a bad mood, meaning that he had to put you all in a bad mood as well. But it was worse when a group of visitors had come into town and things hadn’t gone his way, that’s when you would all avoid him because it wasn’t worth the trouble.

But this...this was nothing like those times.

You had never seen Bo this furious. A group had come into town, which you were used too now, and things had gotten out of hand. One of the men had escaped and ran right into you when he was trying to find a way out of town. When he saw that Bo was catching up with him, he panicked, grabbing you and holding you in front of him, a blade pressed to your throat. 

“Bo...” you couldn’t even be sure that Bo liked you all that much, but you hoped that he wasn’t about to let you die. Your gaze flickered down to the shotgun in his hands, surely you would be fine...right?

“Let her go” Bo demanded lowly, giving the man a chance to do this the easy way. 

“Let me leave and I won’t hurt her” the man bargained, making your eyes widen some more. There was no way Bo was about to let a victim go, no matter what.  

“You know I can’t do that” Bo was acting completely unfazed, and you hoped it was just an act. He could be difficult to be around but surely you grown on him just a little during your time here. 

“Bo, please” you pleaded, getting his attention back on you. 

He looked over you, seeing how you were grabbing at the mans arm and trying to pull the blade away from your neck. You were looking at him with panicked eyes, silently pleading with him to help you. He could feel the rage burning in his chest. The thought of this man hurting you, or touching you at all for that matter, made Bo furious. 

“Let go of her. Now” Bo demanded more sternly, but the victim only tightened his hold on you and pressed the knife harder against your neck, making your breath hitch. 

“I-I’ll kill her!” the man threatened, making your eyes tear up. 

Bo looked between you both before letting out a breath, slowly lowering the gun and placing it down on the ground. “It’s down, alright?” he stood back up, raising his hands in surrender. 

Bo stepped forward but that only made your attacker panic. “D-don’t come any closer!” he warned, adjusting his hold on you. 

“Just making sure my friend here is alright” Bo suddenly sounded calmer as he continued to approach. He was a good actor, you could give him that. 

Once he was close enough, Bo grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it away from you, while simultaneously grabbing your arm and pulling you towards him. You let out a sharp yelp when the blade of the victim’s knife cut into your shoulder, the sudden movements resulting in a painful accidently. Still, it was better than the alternative. 

Bo had pushed you behind him, quickly overpowering the man and grappling him to the floor. The two of them struggled but he was clearly no match for Bo, since he was landing blow after blow, making you cringe. If you hadn’t just been threatening to kill you, you would have felt bad about the beating he was getting. 

You couldn’t be completely sure about what happened next because Bo had snapped at you to go back to the house while he took the man to wherever it was that he took victims. That unpleasant basement of his. 

Now it was late, all of the victims having been thoroughly dealt with, and you were back at the house. When Vincent had gotten back to the house, seeing you holding your bleeding shoulder, he kindly offered to help patch you up. 

You both instantly knew when Bo got home, he had alerted you to his return when he slammed the front door shut behind him.  

“Y/n! Where are-” Bo began to call for you but cut himself off when he stepped into the kitchen, finding you and his brother there. 

You were sitting on one of the kitchen chairs with your shirt unbuttoned just enough to reveal your wounded shoulder, while Vincent stood in front of you, cleaning your wound. 

“Get to work, Vincent. I’ve got this” Bo ordered but Vincent seemed hesitant, he was clearly angry and Vincent wasn’t sure if he should leave you with him. “I’ll take care of it” he snapped, annoyed that his twin wasn’t listening. 

Vincent looked at you and you just nodded, assuring him that you would be fine, before he left the room. Probably heading to his workroom. 

Without saying another word, Bo walked up to you, grabbing the cloth that Vincent had been using and took over cleaning the blood away from your shoulder. 

“Ow!” you exclaimed at his rough-handedness. “Could you be a little gentler?...please?” you asked quietly. He gave you an annoyed look but his touch did soften. 

“Why didn’t you do something about this earlier?” Bo questioned but it sounded like he was scolding you. 

“Tried, couldn’t really do it by myself and it wasn’t bleeding that bad. Vincent offered to help when he got home, though” you explained. “Did you deal with that guy?” you asked after a moment of him not saying anything. 

“Yeah” he answered shortly, focusing on cleaning up the dried blood that had dripped down from your shoulder. 

“What did you do?” you weren’t really sure if you wanted to know but you were curious. 

“Nothing for you to worry about” Bo muttered, dropping the cloth down onto the kitchen table and grabbing a bandage. “Why where you down there anyway?” he asked, securing the bandage to your shoulder. 

“I thought you all had it handled” you shrugged, wincing at the way it made your shoulder sting. 

“Well, we didn’t and you almost got yourself killed” okay, now he was definitely scolding you. 

“You’re mad at me for this?” you asked in disbelief. 

“How many times do I have to tell you to just stay at the house?” he asked, snapping at you, frustration clear in his voice. You knew you had to tread carefully around him now. 

“Bo-” you started but instantly shut up when he grabbed your jaw in one hand, forcing you to look up at his face. 

“This is your own fucking fault” he accused you. Why was it always 1-100 with this man? 

“...surprised he was even alive after that beating you gave him” you commented casually, hoping to calm him down a little. He just squinted at you. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so mad...and I’ve seen you mad plenty of times” you continued and he released your jaw. “Did you take him to Vincent?” you asked, now that it seemed like he was more open to talking. 

“...no, he...wasn’t in any state for Vincent to work with. I had Lester take care of him” Bo told you.

“...you really were mad at him, weren’t you?” you asked rhetorically. You couldn’t imagine the state Bo must have left him in, you were happy not knowing. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were worried about me” you smiled a little. 

You really hadn’t been sure if Bo cared for you at all, he never acted like it did, but this whole thing was making you change your mind. 

“But you do know better” he scoffed before turning around to leave. 

“Sure do” you nodded to yourself. “Hey, Bo?” you spoke up, standing from your chair, and stopping him before he could walk away. “Thank you for helping me out” you finally thanked him. He did save your life after all. 

“Didn’t do it for you” Bo assured you but you just smiled. 

“Sure you didn’t. You didn’t beat that guy up so badly because he was threatening to hurt me, and you didn’t insist on helping me with my shoulder when Vincent was perfectly capable of it” you sarcastically agreed. 

“...remember to change the bandage” he mumbled under his breath before turning to leave again. You were getting under his skin, but you didn’t want to stop. 

“Wow, you really do care” you chuckled. 

“Stop it” he warned, turning back to you with a stern expression. 

“I never thought I’d see the day. Bo Sinclair, caring about somebody other than-OW!” you were harshly interrupted when Bo grabbed your arm, pulling you towards him. 

Okay, so maybe he grabbed the wrong arm but he wasn’t about to admit to that mistake. 

You firmly planted your free hand on his chest to stop yourself from colliding with him too hard. You looked up at him with widened eyes, surprised by the sudden gesture. 

“You need to watch your mouth” Bo warned you lowly. 

“Yeah...wouldn’t want me to get into any trouble” you breathed, attempting to joke but it came off weakly. You hated just how fond of Bo you had become, it took longer for him to grow on you than it did his brothers, but you had developed some feelings for him. 

Bo’s gaze flickered over your face, like he was trying to figure out what you were thinking. Raising the hand that wasn’t still holding onto your arm, he placed it on the back of your head, fingers curling in your hair as he pulled you forward again, meeting your lips with his own. 

The kiss certainly caught you off guard, the hand on his chest gabbing a fist full of his tee-shirt, but you returned it. The kiss started heated, but you had never expected any different from Bo. 

Bo walked you backwards, and you moved through the kitchen willingly, foolishly trusting him to guide you. When your back hit one of the kitchen counters, Bo lent down and lifted you up with each, sitting you on top of it. 

“Watch the shoulder” you chastised, hissing a little at the stringing in your shoulder. 

“Shit” Bo cursed, pulling away to look down at your bandaged shoulder. “You’ll be fine” he assured you dismissively. 

“Oh, so now I’ll be fine?” you cocked an eyebrow at him. Wasn’t he just scolding you about being more careful and about how you nearly got yourself killed? 

“Shut up” Bo sneered before pulling you into another kiss.

Well...at least now you knew why he had gotten so worked up about you being in danger.

[lynelovespopculture]

CHILLING ADVENTURES OF ZELDA CHAPTER  2-SECRETS AND CURSES

Turns out that telling Hilda about her pregnancy was the easy part. The hard part? Getting Hilda off her back! Zelda submitted to a complete physical exam and she and the babe passed with flying colors. Zelda knew she would, she was an experienced mid-wife as well so, of course, she would take extra care of herself when it came to her own baby. Yet, try to tell Hilda that! From the time they completed her exam until it was time for bed, Hilda constantly fussed over her. Yet, the sisters both agreed on a family meeting tomorrow evening in order to tell Sabrina and Ambrose the news. Zelda added that they should invite Prudence to join them because, despite her and Ambrose being in a weird place now, Zelda cared deeply for her stepdaughter and understood the babe she now carried was her half-sibling. Hilda’s fussing began again the moment Zelda opened her eyes the next morning and continued all through breakfast. At one point, it got so bad that Zelda thought about killing Hilda and tossing her in the Cain Pit. On 2nd thought, maybe not. The last time Hilda was in the Cain pit was terrifying, it was the first time Zelda prayed to Hecate, with all their  sister witches, for Hilda’s safe return. The moment it seemed that Hilda was gone forever was the longest and scariest moment of Zelda’s life.   Zelda swore that before Hilda’s hand pushed through the dirt, Zelda was 1  second away from digging  up the grave by her fingernails. Anyway, Hilda had ever suggested that  Zelda stay home today. What for?! Zelda wanted to yell at her baby sister. She had 6 months left of this  pregnancy, surely the  Academy couldn’t do without its headmistress for half a year! Still, Zelda found herself reassuring Hilda that   she would walk to school rather than teleporting. It took her much longer than she originally thought. When Zelda finally got there, she found herself turning left rather than to the right and to her office. Zelda stopped by the school’s infirmity where she found Prudence tending to Dorcus. Dorcus had been killed by Blackwood 3 months ago and although the Cain pit had worked its magic on both her and Elspeth, for some unknown reason, recovery was always much so for witches that weren’t Spellmans.

Zelda approached the girls and greeted them with a big smile. “Good morning, Dorcus. Hello Prudence. How are  you ladies today?”

“We’re fine, Mistress Spellman.” Prudence answered for herself and the other weird sister.

“We were just talking about Agatha.” Added Dorcus. “We’re worried about our sister, Mistress Spellman. Is there any news?”

Zelda frowned. “I’m sorry, girls,  but no.  There is no news, no one has seen any of them in months.” Zelda was sorry to have be the bearer of such bad news she changed the subject, fast. “Dorcus, sit up please, I’ll like to see how you’re healing.”

Dorcus obeyed and Zelda was pleased to see the girl pulled herself up with very little effort. The oldest witch moved to sit behind Dorcus and gently pulled the nightgown up to look at the wound then Zelda stood. “Getting smaller every day. I  won’t be surprised if you were up and walking around by next week.” Papers appeared magically in Zelda’s hand. “Plus, if your work continues like this, you may be able to graduate earlier than planned.” She handed Dorcus her corrected assignment and turned to Prudence. “May I have a quick word with you, out in the hall?”

“Of course.” Prudence nodded. “Be right back, sister.”

“Take care, Dorcus,” Zelda said.

As soon as they stepped into the hallway, Prudence wore a worried look.  “Did you lie? Is it my father? The twins? Agatha?”

“No, there’s no new information.” Zelda reassured her. “I simply wanted to ask you if you had any plans for this evening?”

“Oh.” Prudence wasn’t expecting this. “Nothing, really. Why?”

“Hilda and I are holding a family meeting tonight  and I would like you to join us.”

Prudence was confused again. “You want me at a family meeting? But I’m not a Spellman.”

“You may not be a Spellman,” Zelda said slowly. “But you are still my stepdaughter, and in my book, that makes you family.”

Prudence smiled but still seemed anxious. She looked up at  Zelda though her lashes. “Will Ambrose be there?”

“Yes, he will,” Zelda answered, her tone only slightly shaper, “but don’t worry. My announcement has nothing to do with the two of you, I promise.  You don’t have to sit or speak with him if you don’t wish to. It’s just that it took me the entire day yesterday to summon the courage to tell my sister my news. I rather not waste the rest  of the week chasing down you, children one by one.”

Prudence now looked amused. “Alright, I’ll be there.”

“Wonderful. 7 o’clock? My place?”

The younger witch nodded as a bell rung.

Zelda was startled. “Why on earth is that bell ringing? It’s far too early for morning assembly!”

“No, Mistress Spellman. The bell is right on time. See?” Prudence pointed at a nearby clock.

Zelda sighed. “Walking takes too damn long. I don’t know why mortals do it.”

 That afternoon found Zelda working at her desk. After correcting classwork, Zelda wanted to work on the school’s budget. She searched for the ledger all around her desk then groaned when she realized that she had forgotten it at home. Secure in the knowledge that Hilda was in class, Zelda stood up and said the words that teleported her home. She found the dumb book and was to leave again when the doorbell rang.

Zelda slung her head back. Unbelievable! “Could someone get the door, please?” Silence. “Sabrina? Ambrose?” After even more silence, she even  tried, “Hilda!” Nothing. “What is even the point of keeping the funeral home open if no one is home during the day to  run it?” Zelda muttered to herself as she walked through the front parlor and opened the door. On the other side stood a harmless old lady who smiled up at Zelda.

“Hello, dear, “ The old lady said. “I’m afraid I’m having a bit of car trouble. I was wondering if I could use your phone, just for a moment?”

Zelda sighed. “Come in.” Zelda backed up to allow the old woman to pass by her. “Please make it quick,” Zelda said as she shuts the door.  “I’m in a hurry.” As soon as she turned, Zelda could feel rough hands pushing her up against the door as well as cold steel against her throat as Zelda looks into the eyes of Blackwood.

“I can’t believe you actually fell for that! I mean, it’s the oldest trick in the book!” Blackwood laughed. “You stupid, Spellman whore!”

“I’m not  a whore!” Zelda spat. “As much as I regret it, every  single day, I’m your wife and I’m going to have your child!” Zelda gasped. The moment the words left her lips, she regretted them, wished with all her heart she could take them back, but it was far too late for that.

Blackwood seems dazed and lowered the knife from her throat. “You’re pregnant?”

Zelda was unsure of what to do or say next. Should she lie? Just kidding? Deny he was the father? Shove him away? Kneel him in the groin?  Before she could decide what to do,  Blackwood let out a cry of pain. Zelda looked down and saw that his left wrist, the one that held the knife, was being twisted,  but by who?  They were alone and Zelda hadn’t spelled him. Yet, the twisting continued until he had to drop the knife. He looked at Zelda and just before his nose started to bleed massively. Blackwood tried to stop the nosebleed with his hands, and he turned his back to Zelda.

“Not now, you pathetic little weakling! If you were stupid enough to make another Spellman, it’s just one more for me to kill!”

“I’ve told you before to stay away from Zelda  and her family!”

Who is he talking to? Zelda wondered.

When he had cleaned up the blood and turned back to Zelda, he smiled at her and his eyes were soft. “A child, Zelda. Our child, do you know how long I’ve  waited for this?”

Zelda had just enough time to return his smile before Faustus groaned and grabbed his head as if he suddenly had a massive headache. “Run, Zelda. I can’t hold him off for long.”

She touched his arm. “Faustus, what’s wrong with you? What’s happening?”

“Just go, Zelda.”

“I won’t leave you like this.” She objected.

“JUST GO!” He spoke in Latin and  suddenly Zelda was back in the office at the academy.

“What was that?” She wondered out loud to no one.

 “Maybe we should do this other night.”

“Maybe you should learn to trust the  children and stop putting things  off.”

They had just finished supper and both  Spellman sisters were huddled at the sink, washing dishes. It was nearly 7 o’clock and Zelda was feeling anxious about sharing her news again.

“Apparently, you feel anxious sharing news of this pregnancy with anyone.” Commented Hilda.

Anyone but the mad father. Zelda thought. She had replayed her bizarre meeting with Faustus this afternoon a million times in her head and still had no idea what to make of it. Zelda finally decided that until she knew what it meant; she would keep it to herself.

“Well, we’re all done here,” Hilda announced as she placed the last plate in the cupboard. “Shall we call them down?”

Zelda sighed but nodded her head. Hilda left the kitchen briefly.

“Sabrina! Ambrose! Could you come down here, please? It’s time for a family meeting!”

Meanwhile, Zelda braced herself and lit up a cigarette. Soon, all  Spellman family members were sitting around the kitchen table.

For a long time, Zelda said nothing, so Hilda took the lead. “You see, my loves, we have news.” Sabrina leaned forward but Hilda saw this and raised a hand. “Before you ask, it’s not Father Blackwood or anyone else who is with him. This is good news for bloody once.”  Hilda smiled at Zelda as a knock was heard and Prudence appeared in the doorway.

“Hello?”

“Why is she here?” Asked Ambrose.

Prudence got defensive. “I was invited!”

Ambrose shrugged. “Fine, then, I’ll go!”

“Sit down! Both of you!” Zelda proclaimed, standing up. “This news is hard enough to tell you at all! You can at least give me 5 minutes of your time.”

Ambrose and Prudence both sat down across from each other as Sabrina held Zelda’s hand.

“So, what is this news, Aunt Z?”

Zelda sat back down, took a break and said it. “Children, I’m going to have a baby.”

“That wonderful!” Sabrina cried out.

Zelda tried not to make a face. “It is?”

“Of course,” Sabrina seemed excited. “So, when are you and Mambo Marie going to adopt?”

Suddenly, Zelda felt like banging her head on the table, repeatedly. “No niece, you don’t understand. This has nothing to do with Mambo Marie, in fact, we broke up yesterday. I was actually referring to the fact that…I’m currently 7 months pregnant.”

Ambrose was the first one to put it together. “7  months?! Then Father Blackwood is”

“the father, yes.” Zelda finished for him.

Ambrose was silent, but only for a moment.  “How are you feeling, auntie? Are  you healthy?”

Zelda smiled. “I am. Thank you, Ambrose.”

Sabrina was confused.  “How can you be having a healthy pregnancy? You drink regularly, I mean, you’re smoking right now and how are you in your 7th  month? You’re not even showing.”

“Sabrina,  love,” Hilda answered. “I think you’re confusing this pregnancy with a human one. Alcohol and smoking is not harmful to a witch’s body, before, during or after pregnancy and a witch pregnancy is 13 months so it’s rare to start showing before the middle of the 8th month, even later for a lean woman like your Aunt Zelda.”

“But she’s healthy?”

“Completely.” Hilda nodded. “I gave her and the baby a complete physical and I’ m happy with the results.”

“What about the shooting?” Ambrose asked.

“The fact that Zelda and her baby  both survived the shooting is nothing short of a miracle.” Hilda continued.

Zelda was happy that her family was more worried about her and the baby’s health than who the father was. Yet she was still worried about 1 thing.

“Prudence?  You haven’t said anything yet. Are you alright?”

Wordlessly, Prudence got up, stalked out and a moment later, they all heard the door slammed. Hilda started to rise,  but Zelda placed a hand on her sister’s arm. “No, I’ll go.”

 Zelda found Prudence on the far side of the deck, arms folded and staring up at the moon. Zelda placed herself beside her slowly. “I’m sorry if the news came as a shock.”

Prudence turned her head to look at her stepmother. “No, Sister Zelda, I’m sorry. It was a stupid, childish way to react.”

“And why did you react that way?” Zelda questioned slowly, gently.

“I just thought I didn’t protect my sisters; I didn’t protect the twins and what if this baby is another sibling I can’t protect. I’m  so angry and I’m taking it out on the world, especially poor Ambrose but the fact remains that it’s all my fault!”

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit lost. What’s your  fault?”

“Everything!” Prudence pounded on the railing. “If I hadn’t betrayed you and told my father that Leticia was alive and where she was,  who knows where we be? The twins could still be babies, Dorcus wouldn’t have died and Agatha wouldn’t be lost or-“

“Or we could all be locked away in the dungeons or we could all be dead,” Zelda said sternly. “We will get the twins and Agatha back 1 day, I promise you. You know that I love  the twins like they  were my very own, but I had a hard time holding on to them because I have  no blood claim to them.” Zelda placed a hand over her middle. “With this baby, it’s completely different.”

“I know,  and I also know that you’ll  be a wonderful mother to my new baby brother or sister.”

Zelda smiled. “Thank you, child. That means a lot.”

Prudence gave a short, bitter little laugh. “You want to know something completely crazy? Sometimes, I still miss him. I miss my father. Not that raving lunatic that would kill anyone of us on sight but the man he was before, from earlier. I remember that when I was little, even before I knew he was my father, he used to give me piggybacks rides, day or night, no matter how busy he was. He used me to sneak me in treats,  chocolates or little candies, always 4 at a time. 1 for me, 1 for both my sisters and 1 to save for later and-“ Prudence drew a breath as if forcing herself to stop. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. That man is gone now. Crazy, right.”

“No, dear child, not so crazy. In fact, something happened today that-“

“Who is that?”

Zelda turned so she could see what Prudence was seeing. Standing right before the Spellman house was an odd little man who appeared to be dressed in a grey bellhop suit.

“I don’t know who that is,” Zelda responded. “But I’ll deal with him. Get back inside the house.”

“Actually, I want to go back to check on Dorcas.”

“Fine, just take the backstairs.”

Prudence nodded and the 2 women went in opposite directions. The bellhop guy came closer as Zelda came down the front steps.

“Are  you Zelda Blackwood?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s actually Zelda Spellman, but yes.”

“Hi, I’ve come to bring you to hell.” He said cheerfully.

“Oh, really?” Zelda couldn’t tell if he was supernatural or an  insane mortal.

“You are Lilith’s midwife, right?” Zelda nodded, even with everything going on, she couldn’t believe she almost forgot about Lilith and the dark lord.

“You need to come with  me, now.”

“Alright, just let me go get my medical bag.”

Without warning, the bellhop reached out and grabbed Zelda’s wrist in a death grip. “If you ‘re not back in 5 minutes, I have my orders to hunt you down, drag you to hell and you will not return with any of the information you seek!” He hissed unexpectedly.

“I’ll be right back,” Zelda said firmly and shook herself free. When she was out of the bellhop’s sight, Zelda ran into the house and straight to the kitchen. “Hilda! Hilda has Sabrina and Ambrose went back upstairs?”

“Yeah.” Hilda nodded. “How’s Prudence?”

“What? Oh, she’s fine but right now, we have more pressing issues to attend to. Outside is Lucifer’s minion is outside. I’ll apparently start attending to Lilith tonight.”

“What?  Now?”

Zelda nodded as she went to get her medical bag out of the hallway closet.

“You know Zelds,” Hilda said. “I’ve been thinking, with your  condition and everything, maybe I should go be Lilith’s midwife in your place.”  

Zelda stopped and looked at her sister. “That’s a kind offer, Hildy, but you know how tricky the dark lord can be. If he asked for me, there must be a reason.

Hilda nodded. “You’re right.”

Zelda sighed. “I hope I won’t be long and just in case they ask; please tell the children I’m just doing bed check at the school. We shouldn’t bother them until we know more.”

Hilda nodded. “Okay.” Zelda started to walk away. “Oh, and Sister?  Be careful.”

Zelda nodded and was gone.

 She let the bellhop lead her to hell. It was funny how if only a year ago Zelda would be wide-eyed, trying to take in every single detail of the kingdom of the dark lord she had worshipped since childhood. Now, Zelda kept her head down as she followed the bellhop into hell’s palace and into Lilith’s bedroom.

“Zelda Spellman?” Lilith shrieked as Zelda rounded the corner. “Of all the witches in all the realms, you asked Zelda Spellman, to be my midwife?”

“Calm yourself, Lilith. Remember, I know best.” Lucifer then noticed that Zelda in the doorway. “Aw, Lady Blackwood! Right on time. I’ll just leave you ladies to check on the welfare of my son in peace.”

“I feel the need to remind you that I’m only doing this to get that information about my brother you promised me.” Zelda said. “Be ready.”

Lucifer bowed out of the room mockingly. For the next hour,  Zelda carried out her midwife duties with as little conversation as possible.

Lilith broke the silence. “Are you scared of me?”

Zelda looked up. “I’m not scared of anything or anyone.”

“Well, thank you for doing this for me.”

“I’m not doing this for you. Your master has information that could affect my family and I need to know what it is.”

Lilith rolled her eyes. “Your family. You really would do anything for them?”

“Yes. I would kill or die for any one of them.”

“Even your baby? Oh, don’t look so shocked. You know the dark lord knows everything. Frankly, I was shocked that you agreed to do this, considering Blackwood’s role in this.”

“What does any of this have to do with Blackwood?” Zelda asked.

Right on cue, the bellhop showed up. “All finished?”

Zelda stood up. “Yes, we’re finished.”

The bellhop told Zelda she would see Lilith once every month until the baby was born. He led Zelda to the dining room where Lucifer sat waiting.

“Aw, Lady Blackwood! How is my son?”

“The baby is fine,” Zelda explained, putting her bag down and sat down. “Yet, Lilith is not far along enough to determined gender.  She’s 4 months,3 weeks and 5 days pregnant. The date sticks in my mind for that was the very night I was shot. But I’m done talking.” Zelda sat back. “It’s your turn.”

Lucifer smiled calmly and sat back. “So, our deal was prenatal care for information, right?”

“Right but not just information. You said that my brother, Edward was keeping yet another secret from our family and I’m so ready to know what that secret is.”

“Years ago,” Lucifer started, “Edward came to me begging to marry the mortal, Diana. To gain my permission,  Edward agreed to sign the book of the beast on  behalf of his  firstborn child.”

Zelda was unimpressed. “I know all this!  I was Edward’s witness when he did sign Sabrina’s name in your book. You have to do better.”

“Really, Lady Blackwood. You need to learn some patience. I was about to say that signing Sabrina’s name in my book was Edward’s idea. Since all my followers sign their names when they’re 16 anyway I thought Edward’s idea was a little weak; so, I added my own 2nd condition and Edward agreed to it.

“There was a 2nd condition to marry Diana?” Zelda suddenly found it hard to breathe.

“Indeed.” Lucifer waved his hand and an open book appeared on the table before Zelda. “Read the last entry of the page.”

Zelda sighed and read out loud. “In order to marry the  mortal, Diana Sawyer, I, Edward Theodore Spellman, do agree and vow to do the following; to sign my firstborn child’s name in the book of the beast and to condemn the marriage of a close relative. Wait, this makes no sense. Edward never mentioned a 2nd condition and ‘condemn the marriage of a close relative’, what does that mean? Who’s the close relative?” Zelda looked up to find herself sitting in a chair at the table inside her own kitchen. “What?” Zelda looked to see the book she was just looking at was gone. “Damn it!” Zelda closed her eyes and held her head in her palm.

“Aunt Zelda?” Zelda looked up to see Sabrina near the kitchen entrance. “Are you okay? I didn’t hear you come home from the academy.”

“I just teleported home,” Zelda answered as she watched Sabrina get herself a glass of water.  “Sabrina, where is your Aunt Hilda?” Zelda tried to keep her tone as calm as she could.

“She went down to Dr. C’s a while ago. Well, back to homework.” Sabrina sighed and started to exit the room. Then she turned back. “Oh, Aunt Hilda did call an hour ago. Something about  eloping.”

“Eloping?!” Now Zelda couldn’t hide her panic.

“Relax, Aunt Z, I’m sure she was kidding.”

“Of course.” Zelda smiled and kept it in place until Sabrina went upstairs. When Sabrina was out of sight, Zelda raced outside and down the stairs. Once in the yard, Zelda took great care not to be seen by any of the house windows before she teleported herself downtown and right in front of the bookstore. Zelda rushed in the door.

“Hilda?! Dr. Cerberus?! Hecate, please be here!”

“Zelds?” Hilda came up from the back, Dr. C right behind her.

Zelda put her hand on her chest. “Hildy, you are here! You called Sabrina and told her you were eloping. Please tell me you were joking.”

Hilda smiled. “Of course, we were joking. Zelds, calm down. Think of the baby.”

Zelda closed her eyes and let out a breath of relief. “Sister, we have a problem. My 1st instinct was right.  Edward was keeping a big secret from us.”

“I’ll go make some tea.” Dr. C offered.

 “So, let me this straight,” Hilda said 20 minutes later over tea and cookies. “In order to marry Diana, Edward agreed not only to sign Sabrina’s name but also to condemn the marriage of a close relative.”

“Yes.” Her sister nodded.

“Well, maybe it’s not true,” Hilda suggested. “The dark  lord isn’t exactly known for his honesty.”

“Oh, it’s real,” Zelda assured her. “I saw the book; it was definitely Edward’s handwriting. Plus, if it was a lie, Lucifer would’ve drowned me in details but he basically just gave me one sentence for one appointment. I won’t know more for an entire month.”

“Well, you know what they say. The devil’s in the details.” Dr.  C said.

Hilda smiled at his bad pun while Zelda just rolled her eyes.

 It was those exact details that drove Zelda crazy. Over the next few days, as much as she tried to busy herself with school and family, her mind was filled with questions. Which marriage had Edward condemned? Was it a marriage that already happened or was it one that was, yet to be? If so, could it be prevented? Condemn the marriage how and how close a relative would it have to be? The Spellmans were an ancient family with many, many distant cousins. Maybe Edward somehow tricked Lucifer by making sure that marriage never took place. No, Satan never would bring something utterly useless to her attention, and Edward would have said something!  These thoughts went round and round in Zelda’s mind like a hamster on a wheel.

By the 4th night, Zelda was dressing for bed. Her mind was desperate for answers but, she had none, and she was searching. Yesterday, she invented an excuse to borrow Edward’s journal from Sabrina. She read half of it last night and the other half in the morning and found no even a clue about a condemned marriage. Zelda and Hilda bid goodnight to each other and turned off the light. As Zelda got comfortable in her bed, Zelda found herself thinking about hiding places that could hold Edward’s secret. She knew every secret hiding place in the Spellman house and would have found any of Edward’s secrets long ago. That’s left the school, maybe, the office…

The office! Zelda’s eyes snapped open. Zelda’s mind went back a week when she and Mambo Marie stumbled across a secret button that loosens a panel. Life got busy and Zelda forgot all about it, until now. Zelda looked over her shoulder to find Hilda asleep. Zelda whispered the words and teleported herself to her office. Wearing nothing but her nightgown and bare feet, Zelda tiptoed to the door and looked in the hallway. All was silent and dark, it seemed like everyone was asleep. Zelda closed her door and switched on her desk lamp. Zelda then moved the globe statue, bent down and found the small button. She watched the panel that moved just like the last time it was pressed as she  pressed the button and the panel moved once again.

“Now, let’s see what you’re hiding, Edward.”

Zelda pushed the loose panel aside and pulled a small stainless steel box out.

She bought the locked box to her desk and sat down.  Locks to witches are child’s play. Zelda stared at the lock for 5 seconds before it popped open. She opened the lid and found a photo of a black panther, a pearl necklace and some plain black notebooks labeled from 1 to 10. Zelda took the 1st notebook, opened it and found that the handwriting wasn’t Edward’s. It was Faustus’s.

 Once Zelda had started reading Faustus’s old journals, she just couldn’t stop. It was like finding a really good book, a page-turner that she just found impossible to put down. Even when she was supposed to be doing other things like teaching class, saying mass, preparing lessons or doing anything else, Zelda found herself thinking about the journals and when she could read more. The fact that Faustus was the author of all this only made it more compelling. Faustus had told Zelda he had a difficult relationship with his father, but the more Zelda read from the first journal, the more Zelda realized how much he downplayed it…a lot. Zelda was horrified as she read about the serious level of mental and physical abuse a young  Faustus suffered from both his parents. Zelda was also very touched as she read on and discovered how Faustus’s schoolboy crush developed into genuine mature love and respect of a young man for his sweetheart. Zelda remembered how angry and annoyed she felt that Faustus wouldn’t propose to her when they were young. Last year, he confessed that he had asked Edward for her hand and the entire conversation was recorded in 1 of the journals and Edward’s reply was downright cruel.  Zelda was so consumed with the writing of the journals, that the days blended and before she knew it, 2 weeks had  passed and one day, after mass, Zelda summoned all her courage and announced her pregnancy to the entire coven. Sure, she got a few evil looks, but most were supportive and happy for her, most.

“You’re pregnant?  How are you pregnant?! You should have told me yourself!”

It was Monday morning and Zelda was sitting at her desk, in the middle of yet another journal when she looked up and saw a  very angry Mambo Marie. “Is something wrong?” Zelda asked.

“Yes, something is wrong! I walk into the staff room, this morning and everyone but I knew you were pregnant! You should have told me yourself!”

Zelda stood up. “First of all, if you insist on yelling at me, you can at least close the door. Secondly, other than my family, I told everyone in the coven at the same time, yesterday at mass.”

“But I don’t go to your mass. I have a different faith than you.” Marie called over her shoulder as she went to close the door. “Could you have told me yourself?”

“I’m sorry, Marie. I forgot.”

“You forgot? You forgot?!”

“Yes, I forgot! On top of this baby, I have a million and 1 things to do! Between running this school, caring for my family and not to mention breaking my head over trying to figure out Edward’s latest secret.”

“You at least owe  me-“

“I’m 8 months pregnant and we only met 5 months ago. I don’t owe you a damn thing!” Zelda snapped.

“They’re laughing at you, you know, the coven, this school. There are already whisperings everywhere that Blackwood is the father!” When Zelda looked down, Marie’s eyes bulged. “You mean, he really is! Wait until I tell the others that their leader, their high priestess and the headmistress is sleeping with the very man who wants us all dead!”

“It’s not like that!” Zelda growled. “Faustus is, he has changed. For 16 years, he was this coven’s high priest, even before that he was a respected and gifted teacher here at this academy and even before that he was a brilliant student here, always flipping back and forth for top grades with 1 other student and I was that student!”

“Then what changed?”

“I don’t know!” Zelda rushed to the fireplace. An excuse to turn her back to the other woman before Marie could see the tears in her eyes. “You have no idea how badly I want the answer that question,” Zelda continued once she composed herself. “Granted, Faustus never was perfect by any means, but I never expected him to turn into a raving lunatic literally overnight.”

Marie softly placed her hand on Zelda’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Cherie, truly I am. I shouldn’t have stormed in here and started yelling at you. I came in here to ask you something. Do you break up with me to protect me from Blackwood?”

“Yes,”  Zelda confessed.

Marie nodded. “I thought so, my poor baby. But I have something that can help.” Marie pressed something small into Zelda’s palm. “I thought you might be afraid to get rid of this mistake on your own, I figured that’s  why you let this get so far so I’ll aid you.” Marie whispered and kissed Zelda.

Zelda looked down at the tiny vital of blood-red liquid in her hand. Zelda thought she knew what this was but, for Marie’s sake, she had better be wrong. “What is this?” Zelda demanded.

“It’s easy, ma Cherie. All you do is put this, all of it, into the tea you have with your dinner tonight, have a deep, long  sleep and by sunrise, there will be no more baby, and we can resume our romance.”

Zelda nodded knowingly, as her anger returned 100 times hotter. Zelda gripped the vital before she tossed it into the fireplace. Then Zelda had to walk away because of the temptation to slap the voodoo witch was just too great.

“Hey!” Marie objected.

“How dare you?!” Zelda hissed. “You walked in here, after talking to some of the staff, not to talk to me, not to support me,  but you just start screaming at me and when we finally calm down, you say that your original intention for coming in here was to slip me an abortion potion?”

“I am supporting you. I’m trying to help you. Like I said, I thought you might be afraid to get rid of this mistake on your own. That is why you kept this to yourself for so long, yes?”

“No!” Zelda objected. “The reason I kept this to myself was that I knew that the witch’s council has no say about this pregnancy after the 7th month, even if the father is a wanted criminal. That should tell you how much I want this child. For Hecate’s sake, I’m a trained mid-wife, Marie. I know how to end a pregnancy and if I wanted to end this one, I would’ve done it months ago and not made it common knowledge to the entire coven.”

Marie looked confused. “Wait, you’re a midwife? I thought you were a teacher.”

“I’m  both, actually.” Zelda was just now realizing how little she and  Marie knew each other.

“Whatever.”  Marie shook her head. “If you have this child, you’ll  be bound to Blackwood forever.”

“I don’t care.”

“We had a good thing starting between us. You are willing to turn your back on that and for what? To raise Blackwood’s bastard!”

Zelda took a step forward. “I realize that having Blackwood blood will give my child problems down the line but being a bastard won’t be 1 of them.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m married, Marie, for almost 10 months now.”

“But you said you had almost no experience-“

“I lied!” Zelda snapped. “Just like I lied when I told you that the kids were mocking me when they called me Lady Blackwood, it actually my true legal name. I’m 8 months along with my husband’s child and I swear that no one in the world will harm my baby!”

Mambo  Marie crossed her arms. “I can’t  be with someone who would keep a murder’s child.”

“I can’t be with someone who would  blame an innocent child for the sins of the father!”

“Fine!”

Fine! Unless you have any school matters to discuss, get out of my office.” Zelda watched her go, knowing she had made the decision. She then returned to her desk and the journal she was reading. Turns out, Zelda announced her pregnancy just in time. For 2 nights later, she toweled off from a bath, Zelda discovered a tiny, yet growing baby bump. In wonder, she touched it and smiled.

“Hello, in there. I don’t want you to worry. Mommy loves you so much already. Your aunt Hilda, your sister and your cousins all are excited to meet you and I will never let anyone hurt you.”

 “Zelda Spellman, get to bed!”

“I told you, Hilda, 5 more  minutes.”

Hilda put out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table with her sister. “You told me that 2  bloody hours ago. It’s 2:20 AM.“            

It was only then that Zelda finally looked up. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” Hilda nodded. “I know I told you at your check-up this morning that you and the babe are still doing great, but you still need to sleep.  You’re at the school all day and you’ve fallen into this habit of reading all night. When are you supposed to get your rest?” Zelda's only reply was to drop the book she was holding and stretch.  Hilda glanced at the notebook on the table. “Which journal are you on now? Number 6?”

“Number 7,” Zelda corrected “I gave 6 to Prudence, for some passages, concerned her mother and I felt it was only right for her to have it.”

Hilda nodded understandingly. “At least, are you finding answers? Do you know whose marriage Edward doomed?”

“No,” Zelda sighed, getting up from the table to get herself a glass of milk. “If anything, I’m more confused than ever.” Zelda sat back at the table. “Hilda, what did Edward tell you about Faustus and Constance’s courtship?”

“Not much, why?”

“Please, humor me.”

“I think Edward told me that they were pen pals and over a year, the letters turned romantic and they were married less than a  month after Constance moved to Greendale.”

Zelda nodded. “That’s always the story I was told too.” Zelda picked up the journal. “But this paints a very different picture. Faustus writes that he didn’t even know Constance when she moved here and that Edward blackmailed him into that marriage.”

“ Blackmailed him? How?”

“Faustus wrote a senior thesis, an article about demonology,” Zelda explained.  “I knew that it took him years to perfected it, to get it just right, and when it was finally ready, Edward threatened not to publish it unless he married Constance. This was Faustus’s life work, not publishing it would have been career suicide. Edward had no right to hold it over his head. And it’s not only that, when it to  Faustus, Edward only told us half-truths if not complete lies.”  

“Yeah, but Zelds, these journals were written by Father Blackwood. Are you sure that you can trust any of these writings?”

“Faustus’s official journal is in the academy’s archive, just like all the other high priests. I found these in a hidden place in the office,” Zelda told Hilda. “Along with the journals, I found a picture of a black panther, which I learned from reading the journals, is Faustus’s familiar. I also found a pearl necklace which I still don’t know who the owner is. He had no  reasons to  lie in these journals, the writings are way too  personal.”

Hilda made a face. “Sounds like a lot of wondering  for a man who wants to kill us.”

“I’m not even sure about that anymore since-“

“Since what?”

Zelda could’ve kicked herself. “I wasn’t going to tell you this until I knew what it means, but the night we told the children about my pregnancy, I-I saw Blackwood.”

“What?! Where?!”

“Here, at the house. He used the glamour of an old woman; I was in a hurry and not paying attention, so I let him in and he did attack me but when I told him about the pregnancy”

“You told him about the pregnancy?!”

Zelda shrugged. “It just slipped out. But it turned out to be a blessing because he tried to stop himself.”

“Tried?”

“It was so odd, Hildy. He was arguing with himself  and it was like he was fighting with himself from the inside. It was Faustus who teleported me to safety.”

Hilda sighed as both sisters got up from the table. “A condemned marriage, secret journals and 2 sides of Father Blackwood. What does it all mean?”

“I don’t know.” Zelda switched off the light. “But I fully intend to find out.”

 Nearly 3 weeks later, Lucifer summoned the bellhop.  “It’s time for an update on my son. Go fetch Lady Blackwood.”

“No need, gentlemen.” Zelda came into view. “Here I am.”

Lucifer smiled. “Lady Blackwood, right on time. Edger to serve me again?”

“Edger for my next payment. Shall we?”

The bellhop led  Zelda to Lilith’s room and the 2nd appointment was underway.  It went just as well and as quick as the 1st time.  

“How’s the baby?” Lilith asked.

“Fine,” Zelda replied, anxious to get back to Lucifer to shed light on Edward’s secret.

“Could you pass me my dress, please? You’re closer to it.”

Zelda looked behind her where Lilith’s dress was hanging on the back of a chair. Zelda sighed as she went to get it. However, as soon as Zelda touched the dress, the room changed around her, and she was somewhere else. Zelda blinked; she was in what appeared to be a narrow hallway. The sound of dripping water made Zelda’s head turned left. She saw a bathroom, in the middle of the room was a  standalone bathtub. Nobody was in the tub, but it was filled with murky water.

“Demoness, are you sure this will work?”

“What do you care? I promised you the mark of Cain either way.”

Zelda couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  Zelda’s heart was in her throat as she turned her head right. The room was a bedroom and at that exact moment, there was a couple having sex but not just any couple. Zelda could see Lilith’s head on the pillow. She couldn’t see the man’s face, but she knew those tattoos anywhere.

“Faustus?”

A clock rang out and Zelda noticed the time and because there was a calendar under the clock, Zelda also knew the date.

“No!”

“Hey, where is my dress?” Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder, and as suddenly as she left hell, she was back. As soon as she saw Lilith, Zelda  grabbed the other woman’s arm roughly, backing her against the wall, pinning her thereby putting her arm against Lilith’s throat.

“What game are you playing at?” Zelda demanded.

“What? I just asked you to pass  me my dress?”

“Oh? Did you spell it for the moment I touched it, I was set up that I knew that the mortal that shares your face shot me at the exact moment you were in bed with my husband!”

The bellhop showed up just then. “Lady Blackwood, are you done? The dark lord will see you now.”

“Good. There’s something important to tell him.” Fuming, Zelda followed the bellhop to the same room where she met Lucifer the 1st time. As soon as she saw him, she dropped a bombshell. “It’s  not your baby.”

“What?”

“Lilith showed  me the night she conceived, and it wasn’t you in her bed.”

“Oh.” Lucifer dismissed easily. “It’s my child. I was just wearing Blackwood’s skin when it happened.”

Zelda was confused. “Wait,  if you were still using Faustus’s body when the child was made, wouldn’t Faustus’s sperm have to-“ Zelda stopped herself and held up her hand. “Never mind. I really don’t want to know.”

“I’m impressed, Lady Blackwood. Most wives would have stomped off in a jealous rage.”

His smug smile told Zelda everything. “It  was you who spelled the dress, to test me.” His smile only grew bigger making Zelda extremely annoyed. “Whatever, I don’t have time to play games. The babe and its mother are doing well. Now, I’ve come to collect payment. Tell me whose marriage Edward  condemned and how.”

Lucifer shook his head, “No, no, no. Those are too many juicy details for 1 visit.”

“What if I could  sweeten the deal?” Zelda pulled out a small envelope from her pocket. “This has the child’s first picture as well as the gender.”

“Lilith has already assured me that it’s  a boy.”

“Do you trust Lilith then? The same Lilith who betrayed you, trapped you and tried  to take over your kingdom. The same Lilith who has every  reason to tell you that she’s carrying  your son and  heir?”

Lucifer said nothing; he just snapped his fingers and a book appeared on the table and he held out his hand for the information. He took it greedily when Zelda passed it to him before Zelda sat down and read what was in the book. Zelda gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

“No! I don’t believe you! You’re lying! Edward would never do this!”

“I’m sorry, do you not  know your own brother’s handwriting?” Lucifer sounded bored. “It’s right after signing  an infant Sabrina’s name in the book of the beast  and you know that’s true.”

Zelda read the passage again, out loud as if that would make it more real. “I, Edward Spellman, do hereby condemn the marriage of my sister, Zelda Spellman to Faustus  Blackwood. Should this marriage ever come into being the groom will suffer from insaniam maledictum spell. This curse will come into effect as soon as they are pronounced husband and wife.”

Lucifer was done with her. Zelda could feel herself being teleported. She ripped the page out of the book. A second later, she was home and still holding the page. Zelda saw that her sister was nearby.

“Hilda, I think it’s time we told the children what’s going on.”

[demoncryptspanties]

Time After Time

Part 1

Masterlist

Ambrose Spellman x reader

A/N Okay so this is the first part to something I have been trying to finish for so long, I’m sorry it's so long after the second season came out but yeah. Here ya go, I guess. 

When you first met Ambrose, the moon was heavy in the sky. Stars making it seem like it was daylight, almost like a painting, as if someone had painted the sky. It felt like a dream. He wasn’t supposed to be there, he was in Spain, bearing witness to art and culture. Things he said later were incomparable. You were running, away from something, responsibility. It seemed like fate for the two of you to find yourself on that bridge. You were looking over the river, a hood pulled over your head. The community here were almost all witches and Warlocks. There were communities like this scattered across the world, little pockets of people just like you, hiding from humanity.

 You seemed to be seeing something in the water, at first you thought they were leaves until they started to glow. Fish glowing about as bright as the moon swimming in small circles. You were mesmerised for a second or two before you looked up realising that it wasn’t, you’re doing. A man stood at the other end of the bridge, a soft, welcoming smile on his face, his hand opened and faced towards the water.

“I hope you don’t mind. You just looked a little upset over something.” He called from his place, walking towards you.

“Not at all. Apparitions aren’t exactly my forte, I’ve never been able to do something so intricate.” You said an easy smile on your face. You felt safe, considering you had never met the guy and you were alone on a abridge at night in a town full of magic users.

“It’s easy really. You could probably do the same with a little practise. So, what exactly is your forte?” He was about an arm’s length away from you, the urge to move closer was there but you resisted it.

“Potions and healing. My parents think that with my ranking within the coven it would be best suited to serving the coven and eventual husband.” You don’t know why you felt so comfortable opening up to him, but you did.

“Is that why you’re here on a bridge at 3am.” He asked his soft smile never wavering.

“No that is because of the proposal that I just found out about.” You said finally facing him.

“Forgive me but I don’t see how that is much of a problem, should you not be happy.”

“Well yes, I suppose. It does help that he is somewhat attractive. He’s also supposed to be the next high priest of the coven but. I…don't really like him like that. At all. He’s great as a friend but marrying him, I could never.” You seemed in shock of how much you revealed to the stranger but at ease, once you had finished.

“You could always run” The look on his face was completely serious.

“No. I can’t. My sister got excommunicated, I’m all my family have left to restore the image. Besides, maybe I’ll feel different when he actually proposes.”

“Life is way too long for us to live life unhappily.” With how close the two of you were standing, anyone walking past would think you were lovers.

“That was rather philosophical to say at 3am.” You chuckled lightly.

“Perhaps but I’m not wrong. You should at least think about it” He moved away from you walking towards the opposite side of the bridge he entered from.

“You’re leaving without at least giving me your name.” You asked a confused expression following the man.

“Yes. I tell my philosophy and leave. It’s more mysterious this way. The town isn’t big perhaps we will see each other in daylight” He stopped to say.

“And if we do see each other, what is that. Fate” 

“Yes” You didn’t hear what he said after that if anything, but a soft smile fell upon your face anyways.

You hadn’t slept well, having so much to think about but the light woke you, coming through the thin curtains of the house you were staying at. The walls themselves were a light beige going well with the light blue curtains and door. 

You decided that since you only had 4 days here until you returned to England to start your writing course that you should explore the small town. The paintings were supposed to be magnificent here and the general atmosphere of the town had you wanting to explore. The market was not too far away from the home, a five-minute walk at most.

The snake that was previously wrapped around the bedpost moved itself to your wrist, adorning it like a set of bracelets. Head resting just above your wrist, her tongue long enough to swipe just past your fingers. She was a gift from a close friend of yours when you turned 9, you named her Selene. 

It was warmer than you anticipated, the close-toed shoes you wore seemed to be a mistake by the time you got to the market. It was bustling with what seemed like the whole town, people rushing to the stalls with fruits and meat. You walked quickly to the bakers stand you encountered on your first day, the smell of fresh bread seemed to be heightened by magic.

“Good morning Jacob, could I have the one with the seeds.” You asked a sweet smile on your face. You pulled out a few coins before a voice sounded behind you.

“So, it was you who the good bread was reserved for.” The voice was teasing and familiar.

“We both know that I had marginally better charm than you Angelica” You replied pulling her into a hug. “Is there a reason my favourite sister is in Spain”

“Well, there are perks of being excommunicated, such as being able to roam free. It has been a while though how have you been. Fill me in” She said paying for you and leading you away.

You spent the entire day catching up, although you see her about every month, since she wasn’t talking to your parents the night chatter and sneaking around in comparison to talking openly was exciting. She spoke of her travels and her pursuits. Hoping to spend the next few days with you.

The two of you explored the town, you looking over her head at times to see if you could catch the man from the bridge but you didn’t seem to. Taking his comment about fate to heart you guessed that you were not supposed to see him again and stopped looking. 

You were due to leave in the evening so you had about 5 hours before you should be at the docks. Your sister took you to a café near the house you were staying at. While sipping tea you decided to fill her in on the proposal

“Jude is supposed to propose to me after my course is finished.” You said interrupting her chatter about the weather in Paris.

“That is 3 years away you have time to prepare,” she said eyebrows furrowed.

“I don’t want to marry him, and 3 years is not that long for witches.” You took a deep breath and looked back at her.

“I suppose your right. If you want me to tell you to do it, I won’t. You know I cannot stand our parents. If you don’t want to marry him refuse.” Angelica moved her cup away from herself, shifting so her legs were crossed the other way.

“It isn’t that simple. They’ll disown me” You whispered the reality of it only hitting you now. 

“They did the same to me. It’s not so bad,” She had a reassuring smile on her face, but it offered you no comfort.

“I’ve just never been on my own like that before, at least I had them to fall back on. No money or place to stay. You were able to do it because you’re you. You’re brilliant and independent. I can’t. I am way to shy for that” She chuckled reaching out for your hand.

“You’ll be fine. If worst comes to worst, I’ll find you and take you with me.” Your eyes lit up at the assurance. You could say no, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world. 

She helped you take your things to docks and gave you a kiss and a wave as the boat drifted away, much like your anxieties for the coming years.

England itself was dirty and wet a lot less magical than was described to you. It was muddy and stank. It really did lack all the culture and feelings of the town in Spain, but this would be where you would spend the next three years, so you tried to suck it up and think of the upsides. That proved harder than you wanted.

By the time you got to the small cottage you would be staying at in the mainland, it was late. Late as in almost 3 days after you had arrived and also late in terms of the sky was already dark. Not quite pitch black but the want for a candle as you walked up the gravel steps made it seem later than it was. Selene was relaxed wrapped loosely on your upper arm shielded from both the cold weather and the dark sky and absent moon.

You gave two hesitant knocks on the door, waiting a full minute before hitting it again with a lot more ferocity than you anticipated. The door opened seconds later revealing a round-faced woman with a washrag on her shoulder.

“Oh, dear you must be Y/N, I’m Louise owner of the house but all the kids just call me mama” She ushered you in quickly closing the door behind you and muttering something under her breath. “You must be a little hungry, today's journey was pretty long, but first let me show you to your room.”

You heaved the trunk you had with you, seeing you struggle, Louise flicked her hand and the trunk started to float about two inches from the floor. “Thank you, um, Louise.”

“It’s no issue dear,” The stairs were immediately in front of you and you followed her up to the second floor. The landing revealed what seemed, you counted to be 6 doors, Louise walked confidently to the furthest one opening it and letting you through. The setup was almost identical to your room in Spain besides the colours of the room which were mostly mint and blues and greens to complement it.

“Each room has a bathroom; the rules are the same as my sisters in Spain so you should be familiar. The only difference is, of course, there are other children who go the school here. There are no set mealtimes but if I’m around you can always ask for a little something, I do love to cook. I’ll whip something up while you settle in. Oh, and another difference from Spain, there’s a curfew of midnight. Although this is witch country it’s not safe for anyone after that time, I hope you understand.” 

She didn’t go into more detail about the curfew but gave you a soft smile and left. You sighed gently pulling out your small number of belongings from your trunk. Although you liked to travel light there weren’t an abundance of outfits for this weather which you would have to rectify. A shopping trip would be ideal but without Angelica the idea of it made you shift uncomfortably.

Sensing your discomfort Selene came out from her place under your cloak and to the edge of your hand. You gave her a soft pat on the head and put her on the top of the open trunk. She looked back at you with a sense of wonder an innocence that could only be present in an animal. The little number of clothes you had were in a cupboard within the next half an hour.

You took a minute to appreciate the little pottering you did and sat down on the queen-sized bed in the middle of the room. The distant sound of rumbling pulled you out of your thoughts, walking downstairs the unmistakable smell of steak filled your nose eliciting a response from your stomach that even made you stop for a minute. 

Louise was in the kitchen, mixing a batter, humming a soft tune that made you feel at ease.

“You settle in alright dear,” being an empath, she was able to feel your presence as soon as you walked in.

“Yes, thank you. I’m sorry but can I serve myself a piece of that, it looks really good.” You were drawn to the table, feet moving at their own will.

“Yes, of course, that is why I made it.” Her response put you into action immediately, you had a plate made in under a minute, scoffing your food down way too fast. You made an effort to leave a small piece of steak for Selene that you would bring up later.

“The town looked nice when I went past.” You said in an attempt to make conversation.

“Yes, it does. Clara can take you around tomorrow. You were supposed to meet her today, but she got a little occupied somewhere, but she’ll be here tomorrow for breakfast. Clara is a year above but took the same classes so she can tell you about that as well.” The two of you settled into meaningless chatter until her cake was ready. Just like the steak, it was delicious, and you were not disappointed.

You still hadn’t seen anyone else who lived there but there was still 2 hours till curfew. You found out that as well as you and Clara, there were two other boys, Jacob and Tom, and another girl Lilac. Lilac was also a year older than you, taking marginally different classes than everyone else, Louise described her as a bit of a daredevil, she seemed likeable enough, but you, of course, would have to judge that.

Jacob was in his final year and wasn’t around much. Tom though was in the same year as you but stayed here through the summer. He again took different classes than you, except the conjuring course meaning you would see him there. Louise conveyed that he was a pretty quiet and shy, keeping to himself for the most part.

You retired to your room shortly after, seeing that Selene was missing and leaving the steak on the top of the bedside table. It seemed to be minutes after you changed and sat in bed, that you were out cold. The morning came too quickly for comfort, the stress of the journey catching up with you.

Groggily walking downstairs, you were met by Louise and a pretty black-haired girl who immediately introduced herself.

“I’m Clara, and you must be Y/N. after breakfast, Louise said that I should take you around town if you’re up for it.” Her energy made you smile, and you agreed. You made a cup of tea and ate a couple pieces of toast before putting your shoes and cloak on to leave. Selene was still missing but you paid no mind, she was rather independent when she didn’t want attention.

The two of you walked down the gravel path in what a silence until Clara cleared her throat lightly. “I heard you’re doing the writing course. You have the guest speaker this year, some prodigy who comes down every other year. He published a poetry book at 17.” 

You perked up at the mention of a prodigy, “Really, that ought to be interesting.” You settled into gentle chatter while she showed you around the town. You bought a few cloaks to wear and thicker clothing, as well as a pale blue dress for an occasion. By the end of the day, you had a heavy bag and a hungry stomach.

You two ate dinner together still engrossed in chatter, Selene appearing to steal a piece of meat and settled in your lap. 

“You know you aren’t allowed familiars in the academy, right?” Clara asked sipping on a cup of hot water.

“Yeah, I heard. Is there a particular reason why?”

“No, it’s just a common rule among schools for us. Perhaps because some people like you have snakes while others have mice and bugs. It’s easy to get eaten.” You shook your head in agreement and then said your goodbye retiring again to your room to lie in bed.

You took out the silver hand mirror gifted by your sister, your mothers face revealing itself after a moment.

“Hello, sweetheart. How are you it’s been a couple days, how was the journey?” She had a tight smile on her face, clearly, she was also going to pretend the argument didn’t happen.

“Fine, the journey was long but nothing a good night’s sleep couldn’t fix.” You didn’t give her the satisfaction of a smile, eyes frowning slightly.

“Right, that’s good.” She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. 

Your dad seemed to save the day, eyes lighting up when he saw you. “Sweetheart how are you. How is England, how was Spain.” You answered with a soft smile and a laugh. Your mother left the room with a scoff handing your father the mirror.

“It was great dad. You know there’s a famous writer who is speaking to us about the course. I also saw Angelica in Spain. Oh, and I had a really interesting conversation with this guy on a bridge.” His eyes lit up at your enthusiastic reply.

“Tell me about it.” You did, taking about an hour of conversation. You and your father had always been close, the events that he disagreed with making you two closer. Your mother had yet to tell him about the engagement, but you left that for her to do when she felt like it. By the time you had finished, you were truly ready to sleep with a small smile on your face. 

The next week passed quickly. You had small run-ins with everyone in the house, opting to spend a lot of time with Lilac as you two had gotten on well. Your conversations with Clara although polite felt a little forced after that day, something rubbed you up wrong about her. Tom and you only engaged in niceties, but he made an effort to smile when he saw you and he liked to feed Selene whenever he saw her. Jacob, on the other hand, was rather cold to you but Lilac assured you he was like that with everyone.

The first day at the school went as you would expect, the introducing of subject’s and classmates. Aside from the one class, you had with Tom you mostly kept to yourself. Perhaps it was the fact that you weren’t a local, but the others were rather cold towards you. Then again, they are Witches and Warlocks. The introduction to both writing and conjuring were interesting. Whereas the others you had previous experience in, conjuring ended with a slight mishap in demon handling resulting in a small issue with containment but a classmate of yours had fixed that quickly. 

The writing course was as you would expect from a mortal course. The only strange thing was those in attendance. There was another girl from conjuring and another from healing but other than that the room was filled with other Warlocks. Perhaps it was due to how mortal studies were optional but also that it wasn’t a traditional sort of mortal studies, that and female writers of fame were rare. 

The teacher outlined the course and how the week after, the guest speaker would give you some help and stick around for the month as he had studied here briefly. You were tasked with creating a piece for him to read and grade as a test of your abilities in technique. The eccentric nature of your teacher encouraged you further, writing ideas in the small notebook you had kept on you.

The best ideas you had been told by your father were those that had been closest to real life. So, you decide to draw on your experiences the most prominent in your mind being your meeting with the man on the bridge. You spent the week working on the poetry paying attention to the techniques your teacher kept talking about. By the next week, you were happy with it reading over it a final time to make sure it was perfect before school.

The day couldn’t have gone any slower lunch finally there where Lilac was waiting in the cafeteria. 

“So are you excited,” she asked a small smirk on her face. “I heard he’s hot.”

“Well yeah but that doesn’t matter he’s good which is what I actually care about. Professor Hunt refuses to tell us his name though. Off-topic but is that soot in your hair?” She laughed lightly, shaking the soot out of her hair.

“Yeah, there was a small hexing mishap. It’s fine - the fire was contained - for the most part.” Her eyes contained a glint of delight making you laugh shaking your head at her.

“Did you set that boy on fire.” Her eyes seemed to light up a huge smile gracing her face.

“Yes, but he has been tormenting me for a year. I mean the burns really aren’t bad. I promise.” You shook your head at her chewing on an apple you had. “So, what did you write for the class. What is it about, anything saucy?” She raised her eyebrows at you.

“No. it’s just about this guy that I met.” You smiled lightly.

“Oh, one week here and you have already developed a crush.” She laughed at you.

“Anyone here, Satan no. I had this conversation with a guy in Spain. I mean it really doesn’t matter I won’t see him again. He made little illusion fish it was cute okay. Stop looking at me like that.” One of her eyebrows were raised a smirk present on her face.

“Did you get his name?” 

“No, he refused to give it to me, saying that if we should ever meet again it shall be through fate,” you said with an exaggerated English accent.

“So, he is English then?” The smirk was still there it seemed to get more prominent the more you spoke.

“Well yeah. Did I not mention that?” You looked at her a little confused.

“No, what did he look like, maybe he goes here.”

You sighed deeply, “doubtful this is a big place and he didn’t seem like a student. Honestly, it's fine it was one conversation it really doesn’t mean anything.” 

“Well you never know, maybe it is fate.” You shut down the subject after that asking for the exact story of Lilacs hex ‘mishap’. Lunch seemed to end quicker than usual because before you knew it you were walking towards the classroom.

You entered a few minutes early, a couple students already there and some of the older students were waiting around, including Clara, you suppose to meet the guest. Even though there was a lot of talk about the guy the probability that half the people in this room would know he was, was minuscule. There were a number of writers in the community and age was also a funny number. 

You settled down on your desk making polite talk with Clara. The older students seemed to trickle out and were hanging around outside when your professor appeared the guest hot on his tale. You whispered a small “Judas priest” under your breath when you saw who it was. Yes, he did look marginally better in daylight. He had a soft smile on his face until he noticed you, the smile getting noticeably bigger. You were lucky your seat was at the back so no one could see your flustered state. 

“So, this is our guest today and well for the month, Ambrose Spellman. He’ll be a consultant for you students for a month, lucky you.” Your professor didn’t seem that enthusiastic about the situation.

“yes, that is correct. Well, I’m not sure how many of you know but I published a poetry book when I was 17, I studied at Oxford and then did a poetic history course here which is why professor Daniel seems so eager to have me here again.” There was a little chuckle that went along with that but in all honesty, you were much too anxious about the poem you wrote to notice.

“So, I hear you all wrote poetry today. Well as you share with your peers and your professor, I shall go around give pointers.” Your professor made a hand motion and the room began to murmur getting louder by the second.

Ambrose seemed to make a B-line for your desk, ending up in front of you before you had a chance to focus. “Hey.” He paused waiting for you to address him, but you were so lost in your own thoughts that you didn’t respond.

“Well now that you know my name, I suppose it’s only fair you tell me yours,” the smile on his face was sweet and inviting snapping you out of your dazed state.

“Yeah its, Y/N Y/L/N” You cleared your throat and tried to look anywhere else but him. A large portion of the room seemed to be focused on you making you squirm slightly.

“Well how about the poetry you wrote,” 

“I didn’t write one this week I forgot.” You refused to meet his eye even though he took up the better portion of your view.

“Yes, you have I can see it on the desk” He picked up the sheet of paper quickly before you could move to grab it. In fear of embarrassment, you looked down at your lap hoping he wouldn’t read it out loud but of course, you wouldn’t be so lucky.

It wasn’t the content you were afraid of, more of his reaction at who you were obviously talking about.

Perhaps it was the fish, glowing underneath the reflection of the moon,

Perhaps it was the moon itself, the soft glow highlighting the softness of his eyes,

Perhaps it was the smirk, the advice it gave, the dreams it gave me

Or maybe it was the promise of fate, that we would meet again.

“Was this about anyone in particular or what?” A teasing smirk was evident on his face. The students that were around you seemed interested and stopped talking though the rest of the class were eager to discuss their own writing.

“Just someone I met a while ago, I’m not sure who he is,” You had a soft smirk on your face, unaware of the stares the two of you were getting. 

“Is that right,” He paused for a moment before continuing, “Well I suppose I should get to the rest of the class, but here some pointers.” He took a pencil from your desk and sketched a few things onto your paper. From the angle, you couldn’t see what he wrote and so waited until he finished.

He handed the piece back to you, everyone turning back to their own work waiting to see who he would go to next leaving him to give you a soft smile and a wink before moving to one of the other students.

You pulled the paper back to you, he had said ‘Short but sweet, impressive especially for a beginner. Maybe a little more emotion. Perhaps I could give you a few pointers over a meal. Meet you at the Library after last period.’ You smiled folding the piece of paper and putting it into your pocket. You carried on with the whatever your professor had asked you to do while watching Ambrose around the room.