#blue represents peace. a monster who’s made others suffer should never know peace. i will never know peace ill always be at war with myself

[miss-tc-nova]

The Grandson’s Wish - Brain & Eraqus Pt 2/2

I really really love these two. Gods I need more Grandpa Brain stuff. 

By the way this 2 part mini-series was inspired by the song “You Will Be Okay” from episode 2 of Helluva Boss. I may or may not have cried...a little...

~~Part 2~~

              He stands there, staring at the door that doesn’t appear to be opening any time soon. Still, there’s a racket going on inside so he knows there are people home. Despite the potential scolding that awaits him, Brain lets himself into his daughter’s home.

              The foyer is empty, but the chattering floats in from the door on the left—one of the rooms meant to see temporary guests as Brain recalls.

              “But I like this one.”

              Standing in the middle of that room is Eraqus, surrounded by clothes of many colors while a trio of women sort through them and his mother watches on. The white haori is just slightly too big on him, but he’s still a growing boy. He’s currently busy giving his mother a pleading look while she’s far less impressed.

              “No. It’s too bright and you’re just going to end up ruining it,” the daughter says sharply.

              “I think it looks pretty good.”

              All eyes snap to the man in the doorway. One face lights up while another looks minutely inconvenienced, the other three are unknowable as the women bow—a common occurrence at the Grandmaster’s entrance.

              Beaming, Eraqus waves his too-long sleeve, but the daughter greets him with, “Dad, what are you doing here?”

              “My grandson’s entrance ceremony is tomorrow. He’s going to be a keyblade warrior so I thought I’d stop by to see how he was doing.” Brain glances around. “But uh…what’s all this about?”

              “He needs to look appropriate tomorrow so we’re picking out new clothes for him.”

              “Ah.” In reality, Brain didn’t really agree with the concept, but he never fared well arguing with his daughter about things like this.

              “Seriously, can we just be done?” pleads Eraqus, shirking out of the jacket. “I’ve tried on like a million things already.”

              Clearly exasperated with her son, the woman gives. “Fine. None of them have looked as good as the blue one anyway.”

              One of the women follows the daughter out of the room while the clothes are put away by the others and Eraqus slips behind a room divider to change. As the women pack up, Brain slips one of them a handful of munny in exchange for the white haori. The two boys then help them carry their items out to the cart outside before bidding them goodbye.

              Seeing as she hasn’t come down to start another conversation with him, there’s a good chance his daughter is busying herself with preparations for tomorrow, not that it really bothers Brain.

              “Well that seemed like a party,” he comments as they amble back inside.

              Eraqus, less enthused, groans, “Ugh, I kinda just want it to be over.”

              “Really?” Grandpa questions, concern creeping in. “You’ve been looking forward to this since you could reach my knees.”

              With a sigh, the boy flops onto the sofa. “I know, but mom’s taking it way too seriously. She made me practice the ceremony every night this week. I know she means well and appearances are important to her, but I feel like I’m gonna be sick.”

              This is exactly the life Brain worried Eraqus would grow into, but he’s been doing his damnedest to make sure the kid has some perspective above it all. Though perhaps Eraqus always would’ve been fine if he could pick out the things his mother is truly concerned with.

              “Yeah, she’s a very proper person.” The man sits beside his grandkid. “But sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.”

              Eraqus arches an ebony brow at his grandfather, only for both eyebrows to jump in surprise at the white fabric handed him.

              “Is this for me?” He sounds as if he dares not hope despite how longingly his thumbs run across the fabric.

              “Of course. Think of it as an early congratulations gift.”

              There’s that smile Brain enjoys seeing. “Thanks Grandpa.”

              On his feet, Eraqus pulls the jacket on and his grandfather lets out a low whistle. “Still lookin’ good, but you’ve got some growin’ to do, Sunshine.”

              The kid laughs, but the smile slips away as he sits back down. “Was it like this when you became a keyblade wielder? So stressful and formal?”

              “Oh no, but sometimes order is a good thing. In my day, people would just suddenly show up with keyblades.” Memories of his first mission—his first near death experience—trouble the man. “They didn’t know how to use them but were told to go to mysterious lands and fight the darkness. Survival rates were terrible, especially if you didn’t have any friends to keep an eye out for you.”

              “Really? But I heard you were a loner before you became a leader.”

              “Mostly,” Brain says with a smile. “I was pretty lucky your grandma had a soft spot for awkward guys.”

              “But you’re such a great leader now.”

              “Yeah, because of her. Your grandma taught me a lesson that gave me the light I needed to become a leader. She drilled it into my head that the bonds we share with other people are the most important things we can have.” He pokes at Eraqus’s chest. “That’s why, no matter where our paths take us, I’ll always be with you.”

              That seems to soothe some of the anxiety Eraqus has been building, but he’s still got some questions. “Do you think I could ever be as good as you?”

              “Kid, I think you’re gonna be leagues ahead of me.”

              Eraqus lets out a nervous chuckle. “I don’t know about that.”

              “I do. I’ll make sure of it.”

              “How?”

              The master gives a cheeky grin. “I just told you, now didn’t I.”

              Whether or not he understood that meaning, Eraqus returns the exact same smile.

              Grandfather and grandson visit for a while, perfectly comfortable in each other’s company unlike anywhere else. Even in his daughter’s house, Brain can be no happier than when he’s with Eraqus. Each and every time, he’s reminded of how much better the future will be with this kid protecting it. The Dandelion fought so hard to bring everything to this exact moment, but his heart always has that moment of relief knowing things will only get better for the generations to come. After all these years, Brain still can’t help feeling that Eraqus has made the suffering worthwhile.

              “Dad.” The Grandmaster’s gaze looks to the woman. She beckons him to follow.

              “Uh oh. What did I do now?” he grumbles as he stands, smirking when he hears Eraqus snicker.

              He joins his daughter in the foyer where she looks as serious as ever.

              “What’s up?” Brain asks.

              “I just got a message that there’s a Heartless problem and you’re the only one available who can handle it.”

              That’s does not sound good. “Oh yeah?” She nods. “Where at?”

              “The Keyblade Graveyard.”

              Icy claws seize Brain’s heart. He prayed almost every night that he would never have to return to that place. It’s full of dread and grief—but he is a master after all; a leader who must protect what he created.

              “Are you sure?”

              “Yes.”

              A low, steady breath is a meager attempt to contain the trembling that threatens to take over.

              “Okay. Just let me say goodbye to Eraqus and I’ll go.”

              Without another word, she leaves him be. Again, a moment is taken to carefully ensure not a single trace of his doubt is showing before he heads back for Eraqus.

              “Sorry kid, looks like I gotta go.”

              The boy hops up with worry in his eyes, but he has no idea. “But you’ll be back tomorrow right? For the ceremony?”

              Somehow, the man puts on a smile. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

              “Okay.” The relief in Eraqus proves Brain’s skimpy façade worked.

              By a nervous tic, Brain’s hat is adjusted. “Alright. You take care, Sunshine. And remember, may your—”

              “—my heart be my guiding key.” With shining granite eyes, he gives his grandfather a beaming grin. “I’ll never forget.”

              Laughing, Brain ruffles that wavy mess of hair. “Good. Now you save a seat for me, okay?”

              “Yeah.” Without warning, Eraqus steps forward to embrace him. “Be safe, Grandpa.”

              A bit taken off guard, it takes Brain a second to hug him back, but nothing could make him happier. The anxiety that had sucked the warrior in takes a hit; this kid doesn’t understand the confidence he instills in the old man. Maybe it’s not the future that’s lucky to have Eraqus, but Brain himself.

              That hat tips forward just enough to shield his stinging eyes from the world. “Will do.”

~~~~~

              Black shadows flitter from existence. With their disappearance goes all the noise, all except the heavy pants of the warrior himself. The peace following his victory is quickly tainted by the worry working into his mind.

              “I’m gonna be late,” he huffs.

              As the man sets out, an agonizing pain sears through his chest. Hot crimson seeps past his fingers, glistening in the moonlight.

              “Shit!”

              The threat had been more than he was prepared for. A beast he hadn’t seen since his days in Daybreak Town made its appearance—a beast usually taken on by teams of wielders. Well Brain succeeded in taking the monster down, but not without serious injury.

              A cloud of smoke appears, producing his lifelong companion; however, rather than their usual sass, the Chirithy looks concerned—that’s not a good sign.

              “Brain?”

              “Chi-chi,” he grimaces, clamping his hand down on the gash. “How much time do I have before the ceremony?”

              The feline hesitates but pulls a pocket watch from their purse. “It starts in fifteen minutes…”

              Legs trembling, he makes another attempt to leave—the result is the same. This time, his knees give out, sending the man to the ground.

              “Fuck!”

               Palms against the ground, his muscles quiver from the effort but make no progress. Desperation begins to set in beside the invading cold. This is the last place he was supposed to be; he should be at home, preparing for the entrance ceremony—he should be with Eraqus.

              No matter how hard he strains, Brain can’t push himself off the ground. Before long, he can’t even make the effort; all his body can do now is produce tears. They represent so many things fleeting through him: sadness, fear, anger—most of all, regret.

       “AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!”

              A gentle paw wipes away some of the water while another slips into his freezing fingers. “I’m so sorry, Brain.”

              An invisible weight in his chest makes it difficult to breathe and the cold is dissolving into nothingness. As the dark world grows darker, Brain’s last thought trail to his grandson.

              Forgive me, Eraqus…I’m not making it to the entrance ceremony. I’m sorry…

~~~~~

              Night drapes across the sky to welcome the stars. The salty air floats by, rotating turbines and ruffling hair. Boots clack against the stone as the young man makes his way along the docks.

              Life in Kingdom Hearts has been so serene; Scala has never looked so perfect, his friends are here, his wife is here, and there are no monsters to fight. It’s everything he’s always wanted, but Brain is far from happy. He’s only been here a few months and, while the freedom from all those responsibilities is nice, his end still haunts him.

              Today is the day of the Founding Festival; turns out it’s a holiday among the dead as well. Supposedly, this is where the all the lanterns end up. Brain didn’t really feel like celebrating, but his wife insisted. Admittedly, he enjoyed himself, but mostly he enjoyed her enthusiasm rather than the event itself. Seeing the lights rise from the water had also been quite the sight, but he didn’t participate in looking to see what the living were wishing for, instead, content to watch his wife do so. But it’s over now and the man insisted he needed a moment to himself.

              With a grunt, he sits at the edge of the water, staring out at the placid ocean. Guilt eats at his insides for being a downer given all the things returned to him, but it plays second fiddle to the heartbreak crashing in—this is the first year he didn’t spend the Founding Festival with his grandson.

              Sighing, Brain reaches up to clear his eyes. It’s a miserable attempt and he gives up, only to be met with a surprise.

              Before him floats a flickering light; it’s one of the paper lanterns, but the last ones arrived over an hour ago.

              Careful not to fall into the water, Brain pulls in the late-comer. Carefully, his hands turn it over. Printed on the paper is the wielders’ crest. It’s a popular pattern and he saw several of them earlier.

              A face, one so familiar it tugs at his heart, flashes in his thoughts. As if it had burned him, Brain releases the lamp, leaving it hanging in the air before him. The startled man stares in shock.

              This is from Eraqus…

              He hesitates, afraid to delve into the wishes of his grandchild. There’s no doubt that boy was heartbroken over his death, but Brain had no way of knowing if he held the broken promise against him. Maybe he didn’t deserve to guide such a bright young man; maybe someone else is better suited to lead him.

              No, I owe it to him. I told him I’d always be there…

              Chilled, ocean air fills his lungs as he tries to regain his nerve. Fighting the quiver in his fingers, Brain recaptures the lantern and focuses on his grandson’s wish.

              “I hope you’re proud of me, Grandpa.”

              Instantly, knees hit the stone. Teeth grit in a poor attempt to contain the overwhelming emotions. They easily destroy his petty resolve and there’s no use fighting the tears that patter to the ground. With every sob, his body shudders but, for the first time since his arrival, Brain finally feels at peace.

              Always.

[doves-wing]

Warriors Song Post

what up here’s a bunch of songs that i connect to warriors in some fuckin way. this took way too long and i’ll add more later because i couldn’t everyone in the tags lol

People in my Head by Oceans on Mars: Goosefeather - If the title wasn’t obvious enough as to why it fits him, the song is about hearing voices and going mad because of it. If that doesn’t fit Goosefeather, what does?

Twisted by MISSIO: Darktail - The whole song is about a bad guy with fucked up thoughts and how his dad was a shit but had a good mom. 

Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea by MISSIO: Bluestar - The song is about addiction and depression. And well, Bluestar has depression so there we go already but it uses the specific metaphor of drowining which is strongly connected to Bluestar’s character, so it fits even better! 

Everybody Gets High by MISSIO: Sol - It’s his tragic backstory. I mean if this was a human AU this would just be his backstory. Sol is an evil gay, makes sense if he had a homophobic upbringing which led him to drugs and eventually running away. Makes sense to me at least.

Kamikazee by MISSIO: Sol - This is a song about greed, desire, and dark hearts. Who has all three? That’s right, it’s Sol baby! The boy desires all the nice things in life and will not stop at anything to get them.

Best Friends by Grandson: The Kin - So I’m kinda cheating with this one as it isn’t a singular characer but my post, my rules. I feel as if this fits best when Needletail and the other apprentices joined The Kin. Thinking they’re so cool and shit.

Kiss Bang by Grandson: Leafpool/Crowfeather/Nightcloud - Okay again not a singular character but my post, my rules. Basically this song represents Crowfeather’s relationship with the two of them. In short: a fucking mess

Things Change by Grandson: Crowfeather - I’d say this is specifically about Leafpool soon after the badger attack, but could still work for him and Feathertail. Either way, this guy is dumb angst monster lmao

Saint Bernard by Lincoln: Mapleshade - This is a song about one-sided love and how the singer won’t be going to heaven. Also it’s fucking scary so Mapleshade :)

Hellbent by Mystery Skulls: Ashfur - It’s him about Squirrelflight. He does not care that she is in a relationship. All he cares is that the relationship she’s in, isn’t with him. All he wants is her and he truly won’t stop at anything to have her.

The Wolf by SIAMES: Tigerclaw - This is another song that’s about addiction but it has a strong theme about being out of your mind, and well, if you kill people I don’t think your sane. And in a way, Tigerclaw could’ve been addicted to killing. Either way many of this song’s lyrics (and especially the chorus) remind me of him so he gets this masterpiece of a song to himself.

Same Old Forest by Nathan Sharp: Firestar - This fits Firepaw/Rusty specifically but hey I prefer using the most recent names of a character in the title. Anyway though, this song is all about beginnings and wanting to be something (while also being a protaganist) and who could fit better than Firepaw? I mean one of the lyrics is literally: “Because compared to every child you know, you’re something else”. Tell me it isn’t about Firepaw.

Far Away by Nathan Sharp: Spottedleaf - This is a song sung by a female about the character from the previous song on this list, who knows that the character is destined for greatness. Tell me it isn’t sung by Spottedleaf. 

Time to Go by Nathan Sharp: Yellowfang - Yellowfang is the grumpy grandma we all know and love. If you know her and then listen to this song and say she didn’t sing it you’re so wrong it’s unbelievable. Did her savior just wake up? Yes. Is she going to push him out and force him to save the world now? Yes.

Drowning by Nathan Sharp: Bluestar - Look at the title. Okay but the song is about losing everything in your life and well, the water metaphors :}

Shell by Nathan Sharp: Bluestar (w/ Firestar) - I think this fits really well for Bluestar and Firestar’s relationship. Bluestar after having been almost murdered by her trusted deputy, Tigerclaw, has lost faith in everything. Fireheart is desperately trying to keep her what remains of her, alive. The chorus speaks for itself, she is a shell, almost entirely withered away. Just, it’s mostly Bluestar but the way the lyrics go it sounds as if someone is speaking to another character about Bluestar, which in this case is probably Tigerclaw and Firestar.

The Evil King by Nathan Sharp: Tigerclaw & Firestar - This is their final battle in song form. At the end it becomes a duet, but for the majority it’s Tigerclaw monologuing about why he should and deserves to win. How Firestar should’ve never come to the forest, as he was meant to rule the forest as his father did before him, unfortuneately this is a YA novel which means that evil can never win. 

Unaligned by Nathan Sharp: Ivypool - I imagine this is when she’s starting to realize that the Dark Forest isn’t good. That it’s full of evil cats, but because she’s only started to realize this their abusive teachings are still in her head, thus “You took me in, showed me love when I had nowhere to run” is a lyric. She’s done bad things by joining them, she doesn’t know if she can be good but she knows she doesn’t want to be bad.

Dead Silence by Nathan Sharp: Mothwing - Mothwing can’t get it out of her head that she is the daughter of Tigerclaw. The worst cat in the history of the Clans yet she chose to be a medicine cat, a peaceful cat who does no harm. Her intrusive thoughts won’t stop reminding her of how brutal her family as been. Her father first and then her brother, Hawkfrost, second. Maybe she is destined to be a violent monster, she knows it isn’t true but those evil thoughts say otherwise, and she can’t ignore them any longer.

Epcoh (TLT Remix) by Salvonic: Hollyleaf - After she ran away from the gathering, she had a lot of time to think about everything. She had time to regret her actions and came back to apologize, and hope that she would be accepeted. Just about everything in this song fits her and someone needs to make a map for her with this song because it fits her so fucking well it’s insane.

Terrible Things by Brick + Mortar: Ivypool - She sees no difference between her and her sister, Dovewing, yet her sister is consistently praised more than her and gets more attention. Ivypool then joins the Dark Forest as they claimed to have seen in her, what her Clanmates saw in Dovewing. Instead of dreaming, she fought hard to get the attention and mild praise of a few dead cats. She murdered cats for them and all she got in return was a free t-shirt.

Burn The House Down by AJR: Squirrelflight - Honestly this just gives me some lighthearted Squirrelflight vibes. More so when she was still an apprentice and wanted to be treated with the same amount as respect as a warrior but she tried to gain their respect in ridiculous ways, such as joining Brambleclaw on the journey to the Sundrown place, for instance.

G-G-Ghost by Steven Universe: Fallen Leaves - He’s just a ghost boy who wants someone to notice him!

Noticed by MandoPony: Sol - This theatre gay just wants someone to pay attention to him! And if you do look away, he might have to kill you. M i g h t

Nothing Personal by Night Riots: Darktail - He came to erase the Clans. He will wash away their history, he will make himself the leader of his own group and lead them with an iron fist, his ideology is correct. To the members of his group he is a shining star, a beacon of light and truth.

Contagious by Night Riots: Shadowpaw - This is more speculative but it seems to me that he could definitely start to think that he is bad, wrong. Because of the voice in his head. He is plagued with lies, just by existing he has broken the code. He has to remind himself, it isn’t his fault that he is shunned, looked down upon. But everything is wearing him down. Reminding yourself that it isn’t wrong to exist is tiring.

On the Line by Night Riots: Tawnypelt - Tawnypelt is the type to give all she has for her Clan. Sometimes she gets nervous but she fights through it because her Clan is what matters most. 

She Wants Me Dead by CAZZETTE: Crowfeather - This is just every female in Crowfeather’s life at him.

Bet on You by The Man Who: Mistystar - Back when Mistystar was known as Mistyfoot, she crtiticized her leader, Leaopardstar harshly. The latter did let her brother be murdered. Though Leopardstar would’ve risked her own life, among everyone in her clan’s life, had she tried to stop it from happening. Leopardstar made many mistakes throughout her life but Mistyfoot always came back to her, in the end she knew Leopardstar was only doing the best she could. 

Choke by I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME: Darktail - Only he would say the most fucked up things while having a genuine smile on his face and making it sound nice. He only cares for himself, and a distorted love for his mother, painting her as this perfect being who was ruined by his father. I have no doubt that he would do all the things in this songs, given he were able to of course.

Crossing a Line by Mike Shinoda: Leafpool & Squirrelflight - This is all about the truth of Holly/Jay/Lion and how they want to tell them, but don’t know how, and just that whole mess is this song. 

Play with Fire by Sam Tinnesz: Brokenstar - He is one of the most evil characters in the series, using child soldiers will do that though. He takes pleasure from seeing cats die, especially kits. He enjoys watching others suffer, especially if he can gain something by it. He forced WindClan out of the Clan territories because he wanted the extra hunting land.

Monster (Under my Bed) by Call Me Karizma: Tigerclaw - After his father left, Tigerkit felt alone. His sisters were dead, and his mother was heartbroken. He looked for friends in the shadows, hoping that they’d take form and want to play. It took some time but they took form in the shape of a cat. She was a transparent tortoiseshell, claiming to be of ThunderClan’s past. It didn’t matter to Tigerkit though, she promised to make him the strongest cat in the forest, in all of the Clan’s history even. That’s what mattered to Tigerkit. He wanted to be strong enough to take down any of his enemies and most importantly, his father.

Wolves (You Got Me) by DREAMERS: Fire/Raven - Firepaw is the new apprentice and oh no there’s a cute anxious boy. “Guess we’ll fall in love” they said, and then they did. Firepaw learned how to hunt, and fight. Though it was a bit harder because he was absolutely smitten with Ravenpaw.

Our Song by Vinyl Theatre: Sandstar (w/ Clan) -  (Med-Cat!Fire AU) This happens before the battle with BloodClan, when they’re still preparing. 

High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco: Hollyleaf - (Wind!Holly AU) - This is her coming home after leaving the tunnels and rescuing Dovewing, and Ivypool. She is welcomed back warmly by her mother, brother, and best friend (Heathertail)

[slytherin-puffskein]

Claws

@thefifth-marauder here it is ! I hope you enjoy !

Warnings: Angst, bloody scenes and light gore. You have been warned.

/ / / symbols are for flashbacks.

* * *

“Listen up, students, because I won’t be repeating myself. Grab your notebooks”

With a sigh, Barnaby obeys, fishing his notes out of his bag and grabbing his quill as well as his bottle of ink. On Snape’s desk, a very peculiar cauldron stands, with steam rising from it in spirals.

( Mmm... I wonder what it is )

But that question quickly vanishes from his mind as he turns to the man sitting next to him, a smile on his face. Laurent King, the most gorgeous boy he has even seen.

Or well, maybe he is a little biased, since that man is also his boyfriend... and that single word prompts a shiver to slide along Barnaby’s back, filling him with delight, but also an ounce of regret.

/ / /

“Quick, potions class is soon ! We gotta leave, now !”

Lau reached for the closet’s handle, but Barnaby pulled him closer against his chest, whining.

“Noooo, I wanna staaaaay ! You’re good at potions, Lau, you can skip, and I’ll ask for Penny to tell me what I missed...”

He peppered his freckled forehead with kisses, and Lau giggled softly.

“You know damn well that isn’t possible, Lee”

Indeed, he knew. But a man could dream, right !? He pouted, but his lips quickly curled into a smile as Lau tip toed to kiss him.

“C’mon, we’ve gotta go...”

“Alright... I wish this wasn’t so hard...”

Since they began dating, Barnaby made Lau promise one thing, and one thing only: their relationship shall remain a secret. No one shall know about it, because the information will inevitably reach his parents... and even though they are locked in Azkaban, they will very surely find a way to hurt Lau, and Barnaby refused for that scenario to happen.

Secret dating, it is.

But how bad he hated it.

/ / /

“Mr.Lee, care to repeat what I just said ?”

( Fuck ! Snape is looking at me ! )

Barnaby swallows with difficulty, and takes a look at his notes, only to realize he didn’t write anything since the beginning of the lecture because of how deep he was in his thoughts.

In short, he’s screwed. He anxiously looks at Snape, and bites on his lip.

“Ah, em, er...”

“Unfortunately, this is in no way what I said. Ten points from Slytherin”

And Barnaby have to use tremendous effort in order to not groan... but he immediately calms down as he feels Lau’s small hand on his thigh, immediately bringing him comfort.

If only he could kiss his cheek...

If only he could love him publicly...

But that’s impossible, isn’t it ? For now, he is doomed to hide his love for Lau... and needless to say, he wishes it wasn’t the case.

* * *

Turns out that today’s potion is Amorentia, and most students perk up as soon as Snape explains the potion’s uses.

Amortentia is the most powerful love potion to exist. Once ingested, it causes deep infatuation as well as obsession from the drinker, directed to the potioneer. Obviously, it only serves to imitate love, and a potion creating true love is yet to be created.

A love potion ? Barnaby immediately recalls Ismelda, and how she had tried to make him eat a sandwich containing some. Ah... thank Merlin he didn’t take a bite ! While he likes Ismelda, he only sees her as a friend.

Soon enough, they get to take a look at the potion swirling inside of the cauldron, and Snape’s instructions are clear:

Whoever approaching Amortentia can smell a distinct scent that represents who they love, and that smell varies for everyone.

Interesting... Barnaby takes a step forward, and leans towards the cauldron. So does Lau, and a few other students such as Merula and Rowan.

( An earthy, nature like smell... as if I’m wandering through a huge forest... oh, there’s also a faint scent of roses... and a subtle mix of caramel and honey )

Barnaby is quick to recognize whose smell he is smelling, and tries as best as he can to hide his blush.

Lau takes a look inside, observing the pink coloured potion with a soft, mother-of-pearl sheen... and closes his eyes as he lets that fresh laundry mixed with sandalwood scent engulf him. So perfect, so... Barnaby. His heart skips a beat, and he tries to not show his reddened cheeks as well... however, he definitely notices Barnaby’s. And Barnaby notices his as well.

And together, they smile.

* * *

“It’s so unfair...”

Barnaby’s words break the silence, and Lau tears his gaze from the star filled sky to look at his lover, squeezing his hand as they were laying on the grass near the Black Lake.

“What do you mean, Barny ?”

But really, he knows what Barnaby is trying to say. Maybe he’s just trying to ignore it. He watches as his boyfriend rolls on his side, facing Lau, their noses almost touching.

Laurent can notice the small tears threatening to drop off his eyelashes.

“Us... I mean, we should be allowed to just... be public, you know ? I... I hate having to hide our relationship, while everyone who has a boyfriend and a girlfriend can just show it off... it sucks ! Like, really bad !”

While Barnaby isn’t the most eloquent man, Lau can perfectly understand what he means... and nods slowly, pressing their foreheads together. If he concentrates enough, he can almost imagine them being away from Hogwarts at this very moment, laying on a large grassy field without any worries... just them stargazing and being free, only free.

Thinking of this feels good.

But that’s the thing about wishes: they feel good, and yet hurt terribly, because who knows the likeliness that they will eventually come true ? No one does.

And that was the most terrible thing about wishes: their uncertainty.

“I know it’s unfair, Barnaby, but... it’s the best thing to do, don’t you think ? I mean, you said it yourself. Your parents-”

“What if I don’t care anymore ?” Barnaby cuts him off, “They shouldn’t get to control my life like that ! They’re not even here, dammit ! They’re in Azkaban ! How can they hurt us, huh ? How ! I-It’s impossible, right ? Completely impossible !”

But both of them know damn well that it is, in fact, possible. Through the years, they had learn one thing: never underestimate a Lee, they might surprise you.

Barnaby surprised Lau in the best way possible... but what about his parents ? Even his grandmother ? Barnaby lets out a sigh, and pulls Lau into a tight embrace... because he needs it, frankly. He need to feel his boyfriend against him, otherwise he will lose his mind.

“So unfair...”

And Lau can feel the dampness of his own tears against his cheeks, as well as Barnaby’s.

“I know... I wish this wasn’t so hard”

* * *

They graduated. They married. They moved in together. They’re happy.

But since when does happiness last ? To get a rainbow, you must endure the rain. Now, the rainbow has seemingly vanished... and they had to get through yet another storm in order to find it again.

And that storm was no joke. That storm was no complicated exam offered by Snape, or even McGonagall. That storm was no mere nightmare you can simply wake up from.

That storm was known as the Second Wizarding War.

And it was nearing it’s end as the Battle of Hogwarts raged on.

First, blue had flashed through the sky, making the ground rumble, and soon enough the shield conjured by the Professors was destroyed. 

( Of course it got destroyed. This battle was meant to happen, after all. A mere magical shield wouldn’t have prevented it. Nothing would have )

Silence, for a moment.

Peace, for a moment.

But only a few minutes later, bloody chaos was the only thing happening on Hogwarts’ grounds. Students screaming, teenagers crying, members of the Order bleeding off, Death Eaters throwing out the most painful, deadliest spells out of wicked pleasure.

( Who does that ? Who smiles when they know they are making an innocent person suffer ? How vile is that ? )

A few dead bodies can be seen, here and there. A boy with his neck twisted into an unholy position, his tongue lolling out of his broken jaw. A girl whose left side of her face is entirely missing. Among them are also people who aren’t dead, but barely alive, clutching at their wounds and begging for help, only to be found by Death Eaters who are more than happy to finish them off.

Hidden behind a broken column is Laurent Dorian King, hissing in pain, gripping at his right leg.

His bloody, thorn to shreds right leg, thanks to a Blasting Curse.

( CONFRINGO, BASTARD ! )

He dares to take a look at it, and through all that bloody mess, he sees a hint of white, and it takes him a tremendous effort to not throw up. The pain is unbelievable, and it’s basically a miracle he didn’t pass out yet.

The rest of his foot is a few miles away as he dragged himself all the way here in an attempt to hide.

( I’m going to die here. I’m going to bleed out. I can’t call for help, Death Eaters will FIND me. I can’t run away, that’s IMPOSSIBLE. Please, please, let a member of the Order find me. Barnaby, Penny, Summer, Ethren, Sam... ANYONE )

But no one seems to come for him.

And once again, he is just as he was back in his childhood.

Alone. And in pain.

( at least when you were seven you had a fucking FOOT )

Suddenly, shadows approach him, and his blood freezes in his veins as he recognize Mr. and Mrs. Lee. As gorgeous as their son, but as menacing and terrifying as death itself.

Lau’s stomach churns in fear, yet anger starts to boil in his veins as he wishes to do unspeakable things to these monsters.

Laughter bubbles out of Mrs.Lee’s lips as she stares at Laurent.

“Well, isn’t that the man our son married ? What’s your name already, darling ?”

“Who cares about this Mudblood’s name” Mr.Lee groans. “Let’s just kill it and get over with it”

But Mrs.Lee hushes her husband, and, with steps as light and as graceful as a dancer’s, she walks to Lau and crouches in front of him.

“Come on, honey ! Look at him, he’s hurt... it’s not really fair play to kill him while he’s so, so bad, right ? He must be thinking of Barnababy, the poor little boy... aw, isn’t he the cutest ! You have to admit, our son has taste. Oh ! I think I recall his name, now ! Laurent, is that it ?”

Lau, however, can’t say anything. The pain in his leg is too strong for that... and even if he were uninjured, he wouldn’t have spoken to that dirty woman. Before he can do something, however, Mrs.Lee’s eyes widen in pure shock.

( good actress, or truly worried ? )

“Oh no ! Sweetheart, look ! His leg ! Oh my, how terrible it is... tut tut, Barnaby would hate to see this... I’m gonna fix you right up, honey, ok ?”

Gently, she taps Lau’s cheek, a comforting smile on her lips, but Lau can’t be fooled. Not with her blood red mouth, not with her vulture-like eyes staring right at him, not with her clawed fingers with long nails covered by black nail polish.

And he is right to not trust her, as she immediately digs her claws into his ripped flesh, playing with the bloody clots and giggling as she feels them squelch under her touch.

( plortch )

“Even worst than I thought...” she giggles as Lau’s scream rips through the air.

And as he feels her fingers, he only wishes one thing.

To die, so all of this will stop.

Swiftly, she removes her hand, and stares with interest at the poor, suffering man. Eventually, she stands up, and turns to her husband.

“I don’t think he’ll survive through this... unless we attempt the special treatment...”

“Barnaby...” Lau whimpers.

Mr.Lee nods, and raises his wand towards Lau.

( I love you, Barnaby... but you are right. I wish this wasn’t so hard... )

“Crucio”

[incorrigible-groupie]

why the "I lost my best friend" scene in Good Omens is the worst

(For four reasons)

Number one ! Someone on Twitter said that the last time Aziraphale was on the phone with Crowley, Crow said that he was with an old friend. So Az thought Crow was talking about someone else when he said « best friend ». Dumbass.

Number two ! That’s something I realized on my own, but when Az is in front of Crow - and let’s not talk about the fact that the only place, THE ONLY PLACE where he materialize is next to Crow, you know, like this is where he belongs… - when he is in front of Crow, he actually can’t see him. He is totally blind, go watch it again if you don’t believe me. So not only he doesn’t know Crow thinks he is his best friend. But even if one day he finds out, he will never know how much devastated Crow was, because he didn’t see him. AH.

Number three ! Does Crow see him, or does he just feel him ? Actually ? Like, Az can’t see Crow and Crow can’t see Az too ? It could make sense, that Crowley can’t see how Aziraphale was disappointed by the fact that he wasn’t his best friend, I mean he would have say something otherwise ! You know, being the annoying demon he is.

Also, Crow seemed surprised when Az stopped to talk to him, like he didn’t expect him to disappear, while we saw clearly that Az was dissolving… like Peter Parker after the Snap!

The fact that we could see it doesn’t mean that THEY could see it.

I have a theory that, we see Crowley as David Tennant and Aziraphale as Michael Sheen because we want to see them that way. The same reason why we hear them speaking english… why would they speak english, of all languages, is God British too? That would also explain why in 6000 years no one in the universe said « hey, they looked like someone I saw on a painting, or an old photograph ! » I mean technically Az and Crow don’t have faces they’re an angel and a demon, you really want to know how they looked like in the Bible ? Don’t. It’s actually terrifying. So maybe some people see them as women, some people see them as men or women of color. The only thing that never disappear is their… mark that represent them, you know like the snake or the golden stripes like… I wonder what is Aziraphale’s mark. Could be his blue eyes (you know like the Velvet Underground song) or his white hair, I mean he never change his haircut !

He never change his haircut... I think that’s most because, well angels and demons are not supposed to look like humans. The best thing about humanity, the thing that Aziraphale and Crowley adore, is this capacity to evolve. But when you’re an angel or a demon you can’t evolve, you have one job to do, one place to go, one thing to deal with for all eternityyyyyyy. BUT Crowley doesn’t give a damn about it, so you can clearly see that he evolves with the humans by watching his haircut, and Aziraphale is WAY to scared to do that. Because the angels are bitches with him, pushing him on the wall, probably even strangling him with his bow tie. (Let’s not talk about the fact that when it’s Crowley he trusts him so much that he’s not even scared, not even if he’s traumatized. OH MY GOSH.)

Anyway, about their appearance, Crowley and Aziraphale recognized themselves maybe because they just feel each other ? How would Aziraphale know Crowley was still demon otherwise ? You know, before the oysters thingy. Az knew Crow was still a demon but the other demons didn’t realize during the trial that it wasn’t Crowley, WHAT KIND OF COLLEGUES ARE THEY ??? 

(((By the way, the whole swapping moment, unbelievable. Every details the actors put on their way to play those character, with such love it’s… DAMN. Thank you so much whoever had the idea to put David and Michael together. I knew David thanks to Doctor Who and Jessica Jones (great season 1 and loved season 3), but I discovered Michael thanks to Good Omens. He is such a great actor and… I’m actually watching Masters Of Sex, a nice show by the way it’s like Sex Education but much mature, and way sadder. Like Michael Sheen is Otis, and Lizzy Caplan is Maeve, kinda. I watch Masters Of Sex, and I’m ace ! WHAT THE HECK ?? What was I talking about again ?)))

Number four ! I really, truly believe that Az and Crow think they are friends, BUT. That’s because they didn’t experience love the same way as we, humans, does.

What is love ? Baby don’t hurt me SORRY

But seriously who was the first one who loved Az and Crow « unconditionally » ? Yeah I’m talking about the Big One. Which I think is gender fluid, you can’t mess up that much while being a woman. Also Big One Almighty have a «woman» voice but it’s okay to call Them Lord ? Also okay to say They are Jesus’ Father ?

Oh yeah and let’s talk about Jesus, because it was a big deal for the angel and the demon. So the Almighty, their Creator, their Dad/Mum, Who should forgive everyone, smashed angels into the ground so they became demons, drown an entire civilization because They weren’t happy about it, let Their own son, Their own son, die ! If this is really the definition of love, then love is an abusive bullshit. Aziraphale is with the angels, who are supposed to be good so probably full of love, a love they like to demonstrate while choking him. And Crowley, Crowley… I really think he is sad about Jesus’ death like, it pushed him on his limits. After Jesus died, he cut his gorgeous hair for the first time, he began to be bitter with Aziraphale, he didn’t even search for Aziraphale ! I’m sure Crowley adored Jesus and it was like « well if even a demon can melt for that little fellow the Almighty must be so full of love for him » and then he was nailed on a cross ! I’m sure J stands for Jesus, and like do you know what are the initials of Anthony J Crowley ? AJC ! Like After Jesus Christ ! Am I going to far ! YES OBVIOUSLY !

All I’m saying is… Letting your son to suffer ? And to die ? Is that love ? Is that what Crowley is supposed to feel for Aziraphale ? Is that what Aziraphale think about Crowley ? Heck no. So they definitely are not lovers. Soul mate ? I saw that some people think Aziraphale and Crowley were one single soul before the fall, which is kinda true because in the first version of the Book by Pratchett and Gaiman there was only one demon. And after the fall their soul might have been split in two, one being Crowley and the other being Aziraphale and… they’re always together because they only feel complete when they have each other. Which is cute. But I don’t really like the fact that they aren’t their own soul, I don’t know. I don’t like the fact that they aren’t their own individuals. Also it doesn’t explain why Az didn’t even know what was Crow’s name while Crowley knew that Aziraphale had the flaming sword AHA.

(((Oh! Some people think that Az is War’s dad, because he gave the first weapon to humanity and I’m like… YES ! And Crow gave people knowledge and free will and to have free will is to have the right to not fight, so to make peace so in a way Crowley created Peace ? Does that make sense ?)))

My point is Az and Crow are really bad at their job because that’s all it is, begin a demon or an angel at the end, it’s a job. Gabriel, Belzebuth, they’re not doing it by conviction, they’re doing it because they think they were told to do so. Well, they have the conviction that they are following a Plan but you know, like okay so we’re on this side, the enemy is on the other side but it’s just like chess there are black pawns and there are white pawns. You just have to win.

And they all follow God’s Plan ? Which is weird because demons shouldn’t follow God’s Plan right ???? Does Lucifer was like « oh yeah let’s please the Big One by creating the being who can provoke the Apocalypse what do you mean I’m a rebel ? ». Lucifer didn’t look like Tom Ellis either, by the way. Maybe, you know, in American Gods way, the fact that we believe so much that Lucifer is a monster he became one, just like the fact that Adam believe Lucifer isn’t his dad made him… not his dad. 

The power of Faith humans have.

I don’t think that it was a test for humans, like yeah the Antechrist who was raised by humans decided that Earth was worth saving kinda mean we won because there is still hope for us can i hear a yahoo… 

But actually I think that God, as messed up as They may be, is the biggest shipper of us all. 

I think the all Apocalypse thing was a test for Aziraphale and Crowley. To show their true nature.

Like I said before, they sucked at their job. Which is what make them lovable. God probably knew and God probably wanted them to be free, free of Heaven and Hell because the Apocalypse was their limit. All the other missions they did on Earth were obsolete compare to that, so all they could do was to raise their voice this time like « no freaking way we don’t want to do this mission ». If God didn’t mess with the delivery of the baby, you know the exchange and all that stuff, none of this would have happened. Az and Crow had been together for 6000 years but this mission ? This mission showed them how much they want to stay on earth, and why, and yes of course one of the reasons is so they could be together pffff…

You know, if they didn’t have the opportunity to scare the angels and the demons so they should leave them alone (during the trial), their relationship surely wouldn’t have grown that much. Having lunch to the Ritz was a big step. They wanted SO MUCH to be together, and only their status was keeping them appart. I read a theory that the main reason why Crow hated to be called «nice», when it didn’t bother him before, was because being nice is something Az love about Crow. He doesn’t care that he shouldn’t be nice, clearly he doesn’t care what the demons think of him, he’s even prepared in case they try to kill him. (YOU KNOW THE KIND OF THINGS YOU DO BETWEEN COLLEGUES !) But Az does care about what his colleagues think because he is scared of them and so he can’t love a demon, even if that demon is nice. So, when Az calls Crowley «nice», it reminds of Crowley that not only Aziraphale likes him, but also that he shouldn’t be and that’s the reason why Aziraphale can’t be with him.

But now that they’re both free, Aziraphale can call Crowley « kind » and Crowley can imagine a future with Aziraphale, they can have a relationship. They can kiss, or not, if that’s not what they are into. Aziraphale could have a beard and no bow tie to be choke with. Crowley could have his snake eyes less obvious, his snake tattoo smaller. 

With a bookshop full of plants.

And maybe one day they will realize that love isn’t something that should be abusive or maybe they will find another human word that describe their relationship. But until then there’s no word to describe how much they are connected to each other. 

It’s simply… ineffable.

[gilbirda]

A bond made in Hell

So I did it! The Soulmate AU we needed (and I hope more people would add to it in the future!)

[Ao3][FF.net]

Neuro was a smart demon. He was, after all, the most intelligent demon in Hell; and even if that fact alienated him from his peers, he was proud of it. Not that he cared what the others though - his reasonings were a thousand years too advanced for them anyways.

That’s why he didn’t care one bit when he got a mark on his left arm. A soulmate mark. He scoffed at it like it was some kind of bad joke, a curse from one of his enemies. He had plenty to choose from. Thousands of years of existence was enough to amass a dignified amount of people that wanted you dead.

The mark was relatively small - a pair of smiling lips with all the teeth pointy. He knew a few kinds of demons that had teeth like those, of course he knew. But it didn’t matter.

Demons didn’t have a soul. Or a soulmate, that is. That type of courtesy was reserved for the humans and their short lives and their feelings. Demons didn’t have those, he didn’t have those. It was stupid to even consider that there was such thing as a soulmate for him, a demon among demons, the ruthless killer everyone feared.

A mistake. Yeah, it must have been a mistake for him to get such a mark on his body. No other demon had one and, who knows, maybe it was just another thing about him that was different? Even whether his “soulmate” was another demon or a human it didn’t matter - demons never dared get near him and he didn’t spend much time among humans.

He was curious, though, to see if this person existed. A mystery he couldn’t solve.

***

Yako was a normal girl, she considered. Ordinary. Common.

She was a normal teenager, with normal friends and living a normal life. She even loved her parents, which it seems it was unusual for people her age.

But there was one thing she hid from the rest of the world. She had a soulmate. How did she know? Easy, since the day she was born she had a mark on her body; a symbol that told her that out there existed someone made for her, only for her, and that once they found each other the world would make sense.

The girls at her school dreamed of the day the would find their soulmate. Everyone had a mark exactly in the place they would be touched for the first time by their soulmates, a tattoo representing their significant other. A rose in the back of the hand, a pair of glasses in one shoulder, wings on the forearm. Normal symbols, normal places.

Yako? She had one mark alright. She had what looked like a bird head with horns. Yeah. Horns on the top of the head. That creature didn’t exist on Earth, and she hoped it was just symbolic.

But the worst part wasn’t the monster tattooed on her skin. It was the location.

The inner left thigh.

Her soulmate, the one made for her, would touch her for the first time in her left thigh, a few inches over her knee. Sometimes her mind vagued into thoughts about how the hell this would happen. In what situation someone would touch her there without it being creepy? Maybe a doctor? An accident in the train? She hoped it was at least a bit romantic, even if deep down she knew that wasn’t the case.

***

Dead.

Her father was dead.

No… Killed.

Someone had crashed into her peaceful life and killed her father, having the nerve to make it look like suicide. She knew he didn’t take his own life, she knew her father, but her mother and the policemen that arrived at her house a few moments ago seemed eager to close this case as a suicide.

Idiots. All of them. Her father wasn’t suicidal! Something must be wrong! The closed room, the closed windows, it had to be a trap! Something in her gut told her.

“Morons!” she murmured under her breath as she closed her bedroom’s door. The room just over the one where her father was -

Yako shook her head, tears threatening to come out. The man was dead. She couldn’t change that.

But if she could demonstrate how it could be still considered homicide; if she could shut the mouth of the obnoxious man that talked to her like she was too young to understand her father’s passing…

She wished she knew how. She wished she could solve this riddle.

“I’ve decided,” she looked down at her hands, “I’m going to find my father’s murderer.”

“This is amusing,” a voice said from above her. “You should be smiling.”

Yako’s head snapped up but there wasn’t anything there. Not even a shadow.

“I came here as quickly as I could. Here’s where the tastiest riddle is, right?” the same voice called her from behind, making her turn and find a man standing horizontally on the wall, a crazed expression on his face.

She took a step back, her heart going fast with fear. What was this stranger doing in her room? She wondered if she could scream and call for the policemen downstairs, or maybe she would be dead before she could make a sound.

“What… are you?” her voice came weaker than she wanted.

“Me?” the creepy smile showed rows of sharp teeth. A chill went down her spine. “Ah yes. You humans give yourselves names.” He cocked his head, the corner of his lips going up even higher. “My name then is Neuro. The Brain-Eater Neuro.”

Yako blinked, the idea of screaming for help seducing her more and more. Please don’t kill me…

“I am a creature from Hell,” he continued talking as his face morphed like it was something normal to be turning into a freaking bird with horns! “I live to eat riddles.”

It didn’t matter to her anymore. Riddles, demons, bird, sharp teeth that looked like they could shred her into ribbons…

She had to get out. Run, scream, whatever; but get her far away as possible and as fast as she could. Her rage and anger dissolved at the fear those gigantic teeth provoked in her, too close to her face to her liking. She didn’t want to die.

So she turned and made a mad dash to the closed door, the shout for help on her lips. But Yako couldn’t make more than two steps, as a gloved hand caught her and lifted her into the air like she weighted nothing. Maybe for this monster she didn’t, she thought. Maybe she was going to be eaten.

The demon jumped to the ceiling, her legs firmly grasped in his arms, not caring if her underwear was completely visible or not.

“Huh?” she heard his deep voice and in the midst of her panic she looked away from the distant floor to the bird-demon’s face. He had turned back to the human façade, his eyes were looking at something else -

Her thighs.

In fact, he was examining the shameful tattoo in her left thigh, a beacon of ink uncovered in her upside down position.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Neuro asked without looking at her. “What’s is this doing in your skin?”

She tried to act as if his hands weren’t squeezing her legs with too much force. “My soulmate mark.” Came her strangled response.

“I already knew that, louse,” she blinked at the insult. “What I’m asking is why you have my face in your legs.”

It was her time to sound confused. With great effort, she craned her neck to check that, in fact, her tattoo resembled the horned monstrosity Neuro had presented himself as.

“I… don’t know?” Yako whimpered feeling her face hurt with all the blood accumulating. “Can you let me down, pleas -”

He did let her go before she could finish, dropping the human and letting her deal with the impact on her own. She gasped, feeling her right hip scream in white pain. It was going to bruise next morning, of course.

But Neuro didn’t give her enough time to cry for the pain, as he jumped down and prowled in her direction, kneeling between her legs and pushing them apart to see her mark under the light coming from the window. Yako blushed, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the human looking demon in such an intimate position.

“I can’t believe this,” he grumbled, shaking his head. The triangular beads in the tips of his hair softly grazed her skin.

“Are you not going to eat me?” she managed to get out, her voice a little bit more firm as she was still alive.

“Apparently not,” the demon smiled at her with zero real feeling behind the gesture. His eyes were inhumanly green, swirling with an emotion she couldn’t quite identify. “As we are soulmates.”

Yako blinked once. Twice.

“You are joking, right?”

“Nup!” he flicked her forehead. It hurt.

“How?”

“It seems that Fate has a very particular sense of humor,” the demon spat with distaste, looking down at her thigh once more as he unbuttoned his blue jacket.

“What are you doing?” she asked, but he ignored her and finished unbuttoning, taking off his jacket to show her the white undershirt underneath it, his arms bare for her to see.

“Do you recognize this?” he was smirking.

His voice became background noise as she focused on the very visible tattoo on his otherwise incredibly pale skin. There, on his left forearm, was a defined soulmate mark in the shape of -

She snapped a hand up to her hair clips. No. This could not be happening. This wasn’t real.

The human reached for the mark not caring that it was on a very real demon’s skin, maybe hoping that if she touched it everything would go away, he would go away, and she’d wake up in her bed. This had to be a nightmare.

But it wasn’t. Neuro’s skin was soft and really warm, yeah, and the mark was real too. Her hair clip design was on him, mocking her and her suffering.

“Hm,” Neuro murmured, making her look up. He was close, too close. “I always wondered why it was on my forearm. How ironic.”

Her touch. She was touching him and she was still alive. Her first touch on her soulmate’s skin.

Soulmate.

“We...uh…”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I dunno,” he shrugged.

She wanted to cry. Her fingers on his skin felt like a stranger’s for a moment. She felt like someone else. This wasn’t happening. She wouldn’t be made to spend the rest of her life with this demon.

Neuro was still smiling, chuckling softly at her obvious panic at the situation. She could feel his warm breath on her cheeks. She had never been this close to a man before. Yako blushed, despite her horror. Her eyes went down to his lips and his scary sharp teeth poking from behind.

Heart beating fast and her breathing unstable, she let herself be touched as the demon grabbed her chin with one gloved hand making her look up at him. Too close. Too warm.

Were they going to kiss? She didn’t know. He wasn’t human. She had never experienced finding her soulmate and as she never expected to, she never asked those around her that did. What was she supposed to do now? Live happily ever after? How? Neuro wasn’t even human!

Human or not, he leaned down and kissed her. Softly but not gently, the awkward way in which he crashed his lips against her told her that he didn’t know either how to proceed with their situation. Too stunned to protest, the girl didn’t move in time to push him away before he let her go and sat back to watch her, calculating.

It was in that moment that Yako felt like something snapped into place. Something, somewhere into her very soul was finally home and she felt complete in a way she didn’t know she wasn’t. The bond.

“Interesting,” Neuro’s voice made her focus on his face, his eyes, the understanding in them. He had presumably felt the same shift in their souls. He smirked again. “Interesting indeed.”

Yako had barely a second to gulp down and take a breath before he jumped in for another kiss.

[dumbledearme]

chapter forty-five—the fate we make

read Child of Land and Sea here

Act V — Walking On Water

Part VIII — We're off on a mission, we're tough; in good condition. We're short but standing tall. No fear!

Thalia said the Titan wanted to see Andy under the flag of truce, that he had a message from Kronos. Andy didn't seem to have a choice. The flag was as big as a soccer field and was carried by a thirty-foot-tall giant with bright blue skin.

"A Hyperborean," Thalia said. "The giants of the north. It's a bad sign that they sided with Kronos. They're usually peaceful."

"You've met them?" Andy asked.

"Mmm. There's a big colony in Alberta. I'm telling you, you do not want to get into a snowball fight with those guys."

With the giant, came a half-blood in armor, an empousa demon and a tall man in a tuxedo. The group walked leisurely toward the them.

"The tux dude is the Titan?" Andy guessed. Grover nodded.

The Titan stepped forward. He was taller than an average human. His black hair was tied in a ponytail. Sunglasses covered his eyes, and the skin in his face and arms was covered in scratches. "Andy Jackson," he greeted. "It's a great honor."

"Why? Are you a fan or something?"

"I think he was only being polite," Thalia pointed out.

"Well, he can-" Andy caught herself when she realized the half-blood was Ethan Nakamura. The son of a bitch. His nose looked like a squashed tomato which made her feel a little better. "Oh, you shouldn't have come here," Andy told him. "Now I'll be forced to hurt you."

Ethan glared at her, unsure if she was being serious.

"To business," the Titan got between them. "I am Prometheus."

With difficulty, Andy tore her eyes away from Ethan and shook the other guy's hand. "The fire-stealer guy who was chained to a rock with the vultures?"

Prometheus winced. "Please, don't mention the vultures. But yes, I stole fire from the gods and gave it to your ancestors. In return, the ever merciful Zeus had me chained to a rock and tortured for all eternity."

"And how-"

"How did I get free? Hercules did that, eons ago. So you see, I have a soft spot for heroes. Some of you can be quite civilized."

"Unlike the one beside you," she commented.

"Oh, demons aren't so bad," Prometheus eyed the empousa. "You just have to keep them well fed."

"I meant him," Andy specified pointing at Ethan and thinking of ways to make him suffer.

Prometheus smiled as if he too didn't like Ethan but was too polite to say anything. "Andy Jackson, let us parley." Prometheus laced his fingers. He looked earnest, kindly, and wise. The idea of fighting him made Andy sad. "Andy, your position is weak. You know you can't stop another assault."

"We can do this all day."

Prometheus looked pained. "Andy, I'm the Titan of forethought. I know what is going to happen."

"Also the Titan of crafty counsel," Grover put in. "Emphasis on crafty."

Prometheus shrugged. "True enough, satyr. But I supported the gods in the last war. I told Kronos: 'You don't have the strength. You'll lose.' And I was right. So you see, I know how to pick the winning side. This time, I'm backing Kronos."

"Because Zeus chained you to a rock," Thalia guessed.

"Partly, yes. I won't deny I want revenge. It was very upsetting what I went through. But that's not the only reason I'm supporting Kronos. It's the wisest choice. I'm here because I thought you might listen to reason. We have you surrounded. We know your numbers. We outnumber you twenty to one."

"You also have a spy."

Prometheus smiled apologetically. "At any rate, our forces are growing daily. Tonight Kronos will attack. You will be overwhelmed, Andy. You've fought bravely, but there's just no way you can hold all of Manhattan. You'll be forced to retreat to the Empire State Building. There you'll be destroyed. I have seen this. It will happen."

Andy shook her head. "I won't let that happen. Our future isn't set. I can change it. We can all change it."

"Understand, Andy. You are re-fighting the Trojan War here. Patterns repeat themselves in history. They reappear just as monsters do. A great siege. Two armies. And you are Troy. Do you know what happened to the Trojans?"

Andy felt again, that fear creeping inside of her. But she wouldn't let him see it. "You're going to cram a wooden horse into the elevator at the Empire State Building? Good luck with that, buddy."

Prometheus smiled. "Troy was completely destroyed, Andy. You don't want that to happen here. Stand down, and New York will be spared. Your forces will be granted amnesty. I will personally assure your safety. Let Kronos take Olympus. Who cares? Typhon will destroy the gods anyway."

"You expect me to believe that Kronos would spare us? That he has even a drop of mercy in his blood?"

"All he wants is Olympus," Prometheus promised. "The might of the gods is tied to their seats of power. When Kronos destroys Olympus, the gods will fade. They will become so weak they will be easily defeated. Kronos would rather do this while Typhon has the lost. But make no mistake, the best you can do is slow us down. The day after tomorrow, Typhon arrives in New York, and you will have no chance at all. The gods and Mount Olympus will still be destroyed, but it'll be much messier. Much, much worse for you and your city. Either way, the Titans will rule."

"I serve Artemis," Thalia said angrily. "The Hunters will fight to our last breath. Andy, you're not seriously going to listen to this slimeball, are you?"

"You both have courage," Prometheus said. "But the courageous die too. We need not be enemies. I have always been a helper of mankind."

"That's a load of shit," Thalia said. "When mankind first sacrificed to the gods, you tricked them into giving you the best portion. You gave us fire to annoy the gods, not because you cared about us."

Prometheus shook his head. "You don't understand. I helped shape your nature. I have been whispering in man's ear since the beginning of your existence. I represent your curiosity, your sense of exploration, your inventiveness. Help me save you, Andy. Do this, and I will give mankind a new gift – a new revelation that will move you as far forward as fire did. You can't make that kind of advance under the gods. They would never allow it. Bu this could be a new golden age for you. You know in your heart that Titans and their offspring aren't all bad. You've met Calypso. She made you see."

"That was different-"

"How? Much like me, she did nothing wrong, and yet she was exiled forever simply because she was Atlas's daughter. We are not your enemies. Don't let the worst happen," he pleaded. "We offer you peace."

Andy looked back at Ethan Nakamura. "Peace... If we take this deal, you don't get your revenge. You don't get to kill us all. Isn't that what you want?"

His good eye flared. "All I want is respect, Jackson. The gods never gave me that. You wanted me to go to your stupid camp, spend my time crammed into the Hermes cabin because I'm not important? Not even recognized?"

"People make mistakes. Gods make mistakes too. You ask us to respect vengeance?"

"Nemesis stands for balance! When people have too much good luck, she tears them down."

"Is that why she took your eye? Were you just too damn lucky?"

"It was payment," he growled. "In exchange, she swore to me that one day I would tip the balance of power. I would bring the minor gods respect. An eye was a small price to pay."

"Mother of the year."

"At least she keeps her word, unlike the Olympians. She always pays her debts – good or evil."

Andy punched him so hard in the face he fell backwards. "I saved your life! You son of a bitch, I saved your life! And you repaid me by raising Kronos and hurting Anthony! You want someone who keeps their word? Well, you got me, Ethan Nakamura. And I swear I will watch you die!" As soon as the words left her mouth, Andy regretted them. She knew she was just being mean, that she was just angry.

Although the fear that crossed Ethan's good eye kind of made it worthwhile. He grabbed the hilt of his sword, but Prometheus stopped him. "We're on a diplomatic mission." The Titan studied Andy. "It bothers you what happened to Luke," he decided. "Hestia didn't show you the full story. Perhaps if you understood..." He reached out. Thalia cried in warning, but before Andy could react, the Titan touched her forehead.

Suddenly she was back in May Castellan's living room. Thalia sat on the table while Ms Castellan bandaged her wounded leg. Anthony held her hand. Hermes and Luke stood apart in the living room.

"Why show yourself now?" Luke demanded. "All these years I've been calling to you, praying you'd show up, and nothing. You left me with her!"

"Do not dishonor her," Hermes warned. "Your mother did the best she could. As for me, I could not interfere with your path. The children of the gods must find their own way."

"So it was for my own good?" Luke cried. "Growing up on the streets, fending for myself, fighting monsters?"

"You're my son," Hermes said. "I knew you had the ability. When I was only a baby, I-"

"I am not a god! Just once, you could've said something. You could've helped when... when she was having one of her fits, shaking me and saying crazy things about my fate. When I used to hide in the closet so she wouldn't find me with those... those glowing eyes! Did you even care that I was scared? Did you even know when I finally ran away?"

Ms Castellan was singing aimlessly, but it was obvious the others could hear them.

"Luke, I care very much," Hermes said slowly, "but gods must not interfere directly in mortal affairs. It is one of our Ancient Laws. Especially when your destiny..." his voice trailed off and Andy finally understood. Hermes knew; he had known all along. He knew what would happen to his son and he did nothing to stop it.

"What?" Luke asked. "What about my destiny?"

"You should not have come back," Hermes muttered. "It only upsets you both. I'll speak with Chiron and have him send a satyr to help you get to camp."

"We're doing fine without help," Luke growled. "Now, what is my destiny?"

"My son," he said, "I'm the god of travelers, the god of roads. If I know anything, I know that you must walk your own path, make your own choices, even though it tears my heart."

"You don't love me."

"I do love you. Just... go to camp. I will see that you get a quest soon. You will get a chance to be a great hero before-"

"Before what?" Luke's voice was trembling now. "What did my mom see that made her like this? What's going to happen to me? If you love me, tell me!"

Hermes expression tightened. "I cannot."

"Then you don't care!" Luke yelled.

Finally, May stopped her singing. "Luke? Is that you? Is my boy alright?"

"I'm fine. I have a new family now. I don't need either of you."

"I'm your father," Hermes insisted.

"A father is supposed to be around. I've never even met you. Thalia, Tony, come on! We're leaving!"

"My boy, don't go!" May Castellan called after him. "I have your lunch ready!"

Luke stormed out the door, Thalia and Anthony scrambling after him. May Castellan tried to follow, but Hermes held her back. She collapsed in his arms and began to shake. Her eyes opened – glowing green. "My son," she hissed. "Danger. Terrible fate!"

"I know, my love," Hermes said sadly. "Believe me, I know."

The image faded. Prometheus pulled his hand away from Andy's forehead. Her face was wet with tears. She had to focus not to throw up.

"Andy?" Thalia called. "What... what was that?"

Prometheus nodded sympathetically. "Appalling, is it not? The gods know what is to come, and yet they do nothing, even for their children. How long did it take for them to tell you your prophecy, Andy Jackson? Don't you think your father knows what will happen to you?"

Andy held back a sob.

"Andy," Grover warned, "he's playing with your mind. Trying to make you upset." He could read her emotions so he probably knew Prometheus was succeeding at that.

"Do you really blame your friend Luke?" the Titan asked her. "What about you, Andy? Will you be controlled by your fate? Kronos offers you a much better deal."

Andy clenched her fists. "No. Tell Kronos... You tell him to call of his attack. Tell him to leave Luke's body and return to the pits of Tartarus. If he chooses to continue this war, then let him know we're right here. We'll be our own heroes. And we will write our own stories - to death or to victory. That is my message."

The empousa snarled but Prometheus just sighed. "If you change your mind," he said, "I have a gift for you." A Greek vase appeared in Andy's hands. The ceramic lid was fastened with a leather harness.

Groven whimpered. Thalia gasped. "That's not-"

"Yes," Prometheus said. "You recognize it. This belonged to my sister-in-law. Pandora."

"Pandora's box?" Andy asked.

"I don't know how this box business started. It was never a box. It was a pithos, a storage jar. I suppose Pandora's pithos doesn't have the same ring to it. Nevertheless, she opened this jar, which contained most of the demons that now haunt mankind – fear, death, hunger, sickness."

"Don't forget me," the empousa purred.

"Indeed," Prometheus conceded. "The first empousa was also trapped in this jar, released by Pandora. But what I find curious about the story is how Pandora always gets the blame. She is punished for being curious. The gods would have you believe that this is the lesson: mankind should not explore. They should not ask questions. They should do what they are told. In truth, Andy, this jar was a trap designed by Zeus and the other gods. It was revenge on me and my entire family. The gods knew she would open the jar. They were willing to punish the entire race of humanity along with us." Prometheus tapped the lid of Pandora's jar. "Only one spirit remained inside when Pandora opened it."

"Hope," Andy whispered.

Prometheus looked pleased. "Yes. Elpis, the Spirit of Hope, would not abandon humanity. Hope does not leave without being given permission. She can only be released by a child of man. I give you this as a reminder of what the gods are like. Keep Elpis, if you wish. But if you decide that you have seen enough destruction, enough futile suffering, then open the jar. Let Elpis go. Give up Hope, and I will know that you are surrendering. I promise Kronos will be lenient. He will spare the survivors." He stood and left, the others following him.

"What did he show you?" Thalia demanded. Reluctantly, Andy told her. "Ah... Yeah, that was a bad night," she admitted.

"What happened to Ms Castellan?"

"I don't know. Luke told us about the strange things she would say. What caused it... I have no idea. If he ever knew, he never told me."

"But Hermes knew," Andy said. "Something caused May to see parts of Luke's future, and Hermes knew what she had seen – that he would turn into Kronos."

Thalia frowned. "You can't be sure of that. Prometheus was manipulating you. Hermes did love Luke. I could tell just by looking at his face. And Hermes was there that night because he was checking up on May, taking care of her. He wasn't all bad."

"But it isn't right. Luke was just a kid. Hermes never helped him, never stopped him from running away."

"Andy," Thalia said darkly, "this is exactly why I joined the Hunters. It's easier to control our feelings, you know? Love... it stops being so overwhelming. We all have tough things to deal with. All demigods do. And like you said: people make mistakes. Mothers, fathers. Gods. But Luke... he made terrible choices. And he made them on his own. Nobody forced him."

"So you don't love him anymore?"

"Don't say that. I will never stop-" she stopped herself. "If you're worried about who loves who... Well, if Tony... I mean, if he has to face Luke in battle, I don't know if he can do it. From the moment those two met, they've had a connection. They don't share the same blood, but they are brothers. After that night... After we left his mom's house? Luke was never the same. He got reckless and moody, like he was trying to prove something. By the time Grover found us... well, part of the reason we had so much trouble was because Luke wouldn't be careful. He wanted to pick a fight with every monster we crossed. And Tony... he didn't think that was a problem. He likes recklessness, just look at you."

"Who are you calling reck-"

"Those two together..." Thalia continued. "They wanted to be heroes. All I'm saying is... don't fall into the same trap. Luke has given himself to Kronos. We can't afford to be soft on him just because we love him."

Slowly, Andy nodded. "Alright. I hear you."

"I'm going to check on the Hunters, then get some more sleep before nightfall. You should crash too."

"No, I don't want to. I'll only have bad dreams."

"I know, believe me," Thalia looked down. "But there's no telling when you'll get another chance to sleep. It's going to be a long night. Maybe our last night."

"Do me a favor then," Andy handed her the jar. "Lock this in the hotel vault, will you? Hope isn't going anywhere. Not while I'm around."

Thalia smiled. "You got it."

Andy watched her go then found the nearest bed and passed out.

[momma-eggy]

The smallest hero, he is dangerous

The evening is quiet.

A dull hush has replaced the bustling domain. Zora have turned in for the night and only a few remained out and about.

Sidon was one of them.

By now he would return to his father and share what he has managed to accomplish, then have the dinner that was prepared for him and retire to his room. It was what he did almost everyday.

But here he was, carrying a small sleeping child back to his room in an inn.

Sidon never thought he would do such a thing. He never expected to watch over such a small thing. Sure he liked children but he has never experienced one like Link before. Link had more bravery than most men, one would hardly believe the things he did. But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. Sidon had to get him dry before he fell ill. If that were to happen no doubt it would only cause problems. He couldn’t let his newfound friend suffer. He walked at a brisk pace, the inn coming into his line of view.

Once inside, he was meant with a pleasant warmth. A few patrons sat at the tables, exchanging stories or small talk. There was a quiet hum through the air. It was welcoming. Sidon found someone that could help him find Links room, a brown haired Hylian lady who worked at the inn recognized the sleeping child. She helped show Sidon to his room and that was all. Seeing how it was unfit to sleep in wet clothes, he tried to wake the boy.

Which was ultimately a horrible idea.

After a few moments of dull whining from Link, he was greeted with two very angry blue eyes. Sidon gave him a small smile before setting him down.

“ Do not give me that look. You simply cannot sleep in wet clothes. You will get sick. Come, get changed and you can go right back to sleep. “ Sidon said gently to the grumpy child. As child pointed to a small bag on the dresser, a silent request for Sidon to retrieve it. He did so with ease and brought it back to the boy. In that time, Link had lit the candle by his bed, kicked off his boots and was starting the process for removing his gear. Once his small belt had been removed and placed on the chair next to the bed, he then took the small bag from Sidon. Sidon watched as the boy produced a large tunic from the bag. It was clear that it was the only contents of it. The tunic was the same shade of green the boy was currently wearing only it was much bigger. Getting at what Link planned to do next, Sidon turned to give him his privacy. He listened as Link removed his wet tunic and hung it on the back of the chair. The sounds that followed were something being shaken then the bed creaking slightly. Seeing how Link must be dressed, Sidon turned to say his goodbye.

Though he almost didn’t want to.

Link was at the head on the bed and hanging his green hat off the post closest to him. The tunic he was now wearing was much too big, barely hanging on to him. He was certain it stopped at the child’s ankles. Link looked as though he was fighting the urge to sleep when he turned around to sit. It made Sidon smile a bit.

“ There now, feel better? I will not pester you any longer so you may rest. Sleep well my friend. I will see you in the morning. “ Sidon said as he coaxed Link to lay down. He picked up the hem of the thin blanket and covered the small boy in an attempt to keep him warm. Sidon couldn’t help but notice that in this state, Link looked so different from the boy he saw earlier. This child wasn’t risking his life to deliver a letter nor was he making the journey up a mountain. He was simply at peace and trying to rest. It was almost sad to think about. Did he have anyone that saw him as that? A child in need of a good night’s rest? How often did he sleep in the cold because he was a few rupees short of a night in an inn? It was upsetting to think that many ignored him but there wasn’t much Sidon could do to ease his troubles. Many didn’t seem to understand that Link had no one. He was alone in this strange world with only a name to look for. That broke Simon’s heart a bit.

Once Link was tucked in, Sidon brought back his hand as to not give into his urge to ruffle his blond hair. He didn’t get far before a small hand latched onto his. Sidon stopped his movements to give the boy a questioning look.

Link gave him a small smile before he signed his thanks. It caused a nice feeling to run through Sidon and he couldn’t help but let his smile grow a bit more.

“ You are very welcome. I would do this again in a heartbeat if I had to.” he said before he did give into his urge and ruffle the blonds hair gently. He said his goodnight again, this time getting one from Link. Sidon leaned over to blow out the candle and extinguish the warm light covering the room. In it’s place was cool darkness. It wouldn’t be long before Link was asleep. Sidon left quietly and made his way out if the inn, saying his goodbyes to the inn workers.

He had quite a bit to talk about with his father.

It was a few days before Sidon saw his tiny friend again.

Due to the day he essentially took off he was behind on many pressing duties. He had two days dedicated to just meetings and politics, discussing recent threats of monster attacks and rumors from the lands far away about the divine beasts acting strangely. Those took a while to calm down but they did and the respectful representatives went back until they were needed again. He then took a couple of days based solely on training. It took some work and sleepless nights but he managed to get the hectic schedule back in order. Meetings and training followed each other accordingly and he back where he started, struggling to find time for his people.

Yes nothing had changed.

Today was no different when he went to start the basic training drills for the soldiers. He greeted the Zora’s he saw on the way and thought about how the day would go.

He would walking into the training ground early, greet the few that were there and wait for the others to arrive so they could start. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

At least that was what he thought until he actually arrived and saw almost every Zora soldier there. Though they had yet to notice him which he found odd. Not that he cared, what they were huddled around thoroughly captured their attention. Half of his was worried about what he would see. A fight? Those were uncommon but not unheard of. Some monster being picked apart? Unlikely, that would be just reckless to bring something dangerous into the domain. Sidon didn’t have time to dwell on what they were marveling at before he heard a very familiar yell.

The unmistakable sound of a sword making contact with something solid rang through the grounds.

Then sounds of cheers and laughter.

Sidon momentarily forgot his manners as he moved a few Zora out of the way to see what in the name of the goddesses above was going on. He half expected to find some poor creature being forced to fight.

That would have been half right.

Sidon did not find some small monster being picked at or being forced to fight. No instead he found a sweaty, beaming Hylain child holding a sword twice the size of him. The sword was easily recognized as one you would find in the Zora domain but it was still dangerous. The weight alone was more than Link could handle and the size made it difficult not to hurt untrained users.

Especially if they were children.

Sidon had half the mind to take it away from him but he didn’t have the chance to before the others insisted he watch what this Hylain could do. He didn’t budge so easily.

“ Need I remind you this is a child you have given a weapon to? Someone that most certainly shouldn’t handle one such as this. Link you must understand that this is dangerous. So much could go wrong and I,” Sidon didn’t get to finish his concerns before the other Zora spoke up.

“ This is no child. He is small yes but please your Highness, watch this. You will have a change of heart. “ a large bus Zora said as he gave him a small smile. Said Zora then gestured for Link to proceed with what he was going to do.

Link smiled and straighten his stance. He wobbled a bit as he lifted the heavy sword and clipped it to his back. It took a moment to steady his stance and a longer one to prepare himself for the climb he was about to do. His small size was hard to go against training dummies meant for full grown Zora. Link had to resort to scaling a large wooden box in order to be at the same level as the dummy. Though the box wasn’t close to the intended target. It was in fact in the opposite direction. Sidon didn’t get a chance to ask what was going on before Link removed the sword from his back and leaped forward at the dummy, a loud shout leaving the blonds mouth. A soft “thunk” was heard as Link had stuck the day, sitting a few inches away from where a normal heart would be.

Laughter and cheers again were heard as Link dropped to the ground in landed on his feet. A Zora removed the sword from the dummy and handed it back to the boy, all the while Link was beaming at Sidon.

It had the Zora Prince thinking that maybe he was going about treating this child all wrong.

Instead of simply plucking the sword away from him like his better instincts tell him do, he smile smiles and sees where his mistake was.

“I see, my mistake. Forgive me for doubting your skills my friend. It is clear your talents extend farther than I thought they would.” Sidon says as he bows to the tiny male. Yes he was freaked out that this small thing could do something like that but it was insulting to treat him like he was weak. Link by no means was. He was just as skilled as any other soldier and should be treated as such. Sidon had to stop using his size as a limitation.

At least that’s what the more logical side of Sidon said to himself.

The more emotional, parental so to speak, told him that a child should not know how to handle such things. The small sword Link normally had was pushing it. Something bigger than the child himself was out of the question. It should have never been put in Links hands. He was a fighter, yes. He was skilled higher than most, yes. But he was still so young. Children his age should be handled with care. They shouldn’t have to rely on their sword skills to survive. Link was no exception. He should have the chance to be brought up in an environment where fighting was the last thing on their minds. But he couldn’t. As much as he wanted to, Sidon couldn’t control what the boy did. He had no say in his future. Link was the only person that did and that both pleased and frightened him. Sidon didn’t want harm to cross this boy and he felt it has more than needed. He wanted to keep him safe but the only way was to let him learn how to defend himself. This world was cruel, Sidon knew this. He just wished it showed mercy to one’s who needed it. If he took away Link’s fighting than he took away all Link had. A sword, bow and wooden shield where his main possessions. Many children had toys and such but Link didn’t. He was sure the blind didn’t even know how to play with such things. Sidon couldn’t take those away. He needed to help guide him with those tools. So he would.

“ I do regret to do this but I will have to bring this show to an end for now. These Zora have training of their own that they cannot skip out on. It will not be for very long and you are very much welcome to come back after it is over. I encourage that you do my friend. I would like to see what other weapons you can control. ” Sidon said as he flashed his small friend a smile. Link in return beamed at him before turning back to a much darker blue Zora. He shyly held the large sword out to the male before it was taken, the Zora thanking Link for his demonstration. Many others followed suit and continued until the child had said his goodbyes and left.

Sidon turned to the soldiers and training began as normal. Though he wasn’t as focused as normal, many things buzzing in the princes head.

He knew so little about his new friend but one thing was certainly clear.

The young blond was to be admired.

((I hope you like this part because the next one might be a little darker. ))

[swan1974-blog]

Swan and Sam dream

We Fade In Into Swan's Bedroom, We See Red And Black Bird Pattern Lava Lamp With Black Lava Floating In Red Water. Swan Sleeps Quietly. The Song Faust By Paul Williams Plays In The Background Paul Williams Sings In The Song,I Was Not Myself Last Night Couldn't Set Things Right With Apologies Or Flowers Out Of Place As A Cryin' Clown Who Could Only Frown And The Play Went On For Hours And As I Lived My Role I Swore I'd Sell My Soul For One Love Who Would Stand By Me And Give Me Back The Gift Of Laughter One Love Who Would Stand By Me And After Making Love We'd... Dream A Bit Of Style We'd Dream A Bunch Of Friends Dream Each Others Smile And Dream It Never Ends I Was Not Myself Last Night In The Morning Light I Could See The Change Was Showing Like A Child Who Was Always Poor Reaching Out For More I Could Feel The Hunger Growing And As I Lost Control I Swore I'd Sell My Soul For One Love Who Would Sing My Song And Fill This Emptiness Inside Me One Love Who Would Sing My Song And Lay Beside Me While We'd... Dream A Bit Of Style We'd Dream A Bunch Of Friends Dream Each Others Smile And Dream It Never Ends All My Dreams Are Lost And I Can't Sleep And Sleep Alone Could Ease My Mind All My Tears Have Dried And I Can't Weep Old Emotions May They Rest In Peace And Dream, Dream A Bunch Of Friends Rest In Peace, And Dream, Dream It Never Ends He Chose This Song Because He Would Literally Do Anything To Feel The Love He Had For Sam Again, Even If That Meant Selling His Soul. Swan Falls Asleep To It Again On Repeat Crying. (Dream Sequence) The Song Plays In The Dream The First Half, Then It Shifted To For The Life Of Me Lyrics By Paul Williams The Verses Saying When It's Almost Dawn And We're Talking With Our Eyes Loving With The Lights On To Watch Our Passion Rise Love Will Fill My Cup I Can Keep This Up For The Life Of Me (Intrumental Break) Once Upon A Time Should Be In The Future Storytellers Keep It In The Past Dreaming's What Improves Us Motivates And Moves Us You Won T Be My First Love But You Might Be My Last There Was A Intrumental Break He Felt Warmth In His Heart And Felt The Artist Knew Just How He Felt And Wrote The Song To Tell Him He Is Not Alone In His Suffering. Swan Says,I Felt So Much For Sam It Is Unfathomable! For The Life Of Me You'll Be My First Love And My Last.... Swan Smilies At Sam. Then The Song Lyrics Changed To Flying Dreams By Paul Williams The First Half The Verses Saying Dream By Night Wish By Day Love Begins This Way. Loving Starts When Open Hearts Touch, And Stay. Sleep For Now Dreaming's How Lover's Lives Are Planned. Future Songs And Flying Dreams, Hand, In Hand. Love It Seems Made Flying Dreams So Hearts, Could Soar. Heaven Sent These Wings Were Meant To Prove, Once More. That Love Is The Key... Love Is The Key. You And I Touch The Sky The Eagle And The Dove. Nightingales We Keep Our Sails Filled With Love. And Love It Seems Made Flying Dreams, To Bring You Home To Me... Then Finally Into This Strange New Feeling I'm Feeling Fine. The Verses Saying I'd Feeling Fine Filled With Emotion Stronger Than Wine They Give Me The Notion That This Strange New Feeling Is Something That You're Feeling Too Matter Of Fact I'm Forced To Admit It Caught In The Act, And Maybe We've Hit It Is This Strange New Feeling Something That You're Feeling Too? If This Is Love, It's A Rhapsody I'd Gonna Sing It Like A Song And If You're Singing It Back To Me Forget About Sophistication Keep It Simple That's My Style Love At Its Best A Pleasure To Make It A Chance And A Test I'm Willing To Take It If This Strange New Feeling Is Something That You're Feeling Too If This Is Love, It's A Rhapsody I'd Rather Sing It Like A Song And If You're Singing It Back To Me Forget About Sophistication Keep It Simple That's My Style Love At Its Best A Pleasure To Make It A Chance And A Test I'm Willing To Take It If This Strange New Feeling Is Something That You're Feeling Too He Felt He Loved Sam Infinite Times More Than She Would Ever Love Him. He Felt He Would Never Feel Love Again, Then Swan And Sam Were Waltzing Together To Lonley Hearts. Swan Says During The Song,Every Song I Choose Represents Some Form Of My Heart Break! Swan Chose Lonley Hearts The Song Because It Was Willy's And Quinn Song, The Real Reason Why He Did This Because The Lyrics Tell How Much He Loved Sam. Swan Wore His Black Outfit Willy Gave Him But Really He Was Wearing It Because Now He Felt Like Willy. Swan Says,Do You Know Why I'm Wearing Willy's Outfit It's Because I Was So Jealous Of Willy. I Wish I Had You Here So I Wouldn't Be! And It's The Way That Willy Loved His Daughter Quinn I Wanted Badly To Emulate That Kind Of Love For Us. Sam Says,Awe, Daddy! Swan Says, I Loved You Like Willy Loved Quinn. And Why I Did Think That Is It's Because That They Had The Perfect Father-Daughter Relationship. Then I Always Saw Them Together Happy,Loving Each Other. Then It Didn't Feel The Same For Me Until Now... I Am With You And I Feel Complete. Sam Broke Up In Sobs. Sam Says,Daddy, I Never Wanted To Leave You! Sam Gave A Broken Smilie To Swan Swan Sadly Smiles At Her And Closed His Eyes. Swan Says,I Know, Sweetie, It Is Not Your Fault. Sam Sadly Says,I Feel Bad About It. Swan Sadly Says,Please Don't Be. Sam Says,Why You Say That? Swan Says,I Know We Were Never Meant To Be Apart Forever. They Smilie At Each Other As Sam Slowly Laid Her Head On Swan's Shoulder. We Pan Over To See A Tree, Then Unknownly To Swan Willy And Quinn Are Secretly Watching Them In The Tree. Willy Says,Quinn,Swan Looks Really Happy. I Do Not Want To Break Them Apart But.. Quinn Says,Like My Daughter Quinnana He Deceived Her In Thinking He Was Good! I Know What You Were Thinking! Willy Says,Ready To Break Them Apart I Think Sam Is Getting Too Attached To Swan A Lot I Do Not Want Her To Be Hurt. Quinn Says,Daddy, No! They Argue About It. Willy Says,I Do Not Want Her To Be Hurt! Quinn Yelled,Sam Was The Only Thing He Truly Cared About, He Would Not Hurt Her, Trust Me! Daddy You Realize What Are You Doing Taking Away Swan's Only Happiness He Has In His Life!!!! Daddy, Please... Willy Shouted,Yes I Will And You Will Not Stop Me! Quinn Yelled,Fine. But You Might Regret It! They Get Out Of Hiding And Giving Serious Looks. Then Willy And Quinn Go To See Them, They Began To Break Them Apart. Swan And Sam Felt Horrified And Confused. Swan Yelled To Sam, I Am So Sorry! Sam Yelled,Daddy!!!! What Is Going On?!?! Swan Yelled,I Don't Know What Are You Two Monsters Capturing Us For?!? Willy Says,I Would Not Let You Hurt Her! Swan Yelled,Willy She Is My Treasure And All I Care About! I Would Never Do That! Let Go! Sam Yelled To Swan In Sobs, Daddy! Daddy Free Yourself! Quinn Says,Sam We Are 'Saving' You! Sam Ignored Quinn And Yelled For Swan,Daddy!!!! Swan Yelled In Sobs,Sam!!! They Both Felt Tremendous Heart Ache And Longing To Be Together Again. Then They Begin To Reach Out To Each Other As Willy And Quinn Break Them Apart Once More. Swan Says,For Pete's Sake Let Us Go!!!! Sam Says While In Sobs,Daddy, Help!!!! Swan Breaks Free Of Willy's Grasp Then Swan Hugged Sam Tightly He Felt Relieved Because He Hadn't Hugged Her In A Really Long Time. Then He No Longer Feels Her Touch And Her Body As He Saw Willy,Quinn,Samantha Who Was Crying Disappearing Before Him In His Own Very Eyes. In The Darkness With A Spotlight On Him, He Felt Utterly Lonely And Hopeless Again. Swan Yelled,You Will Not Get Away With Taking Sam From Me! Swan Now Sees Total Darkness Swan Felt A Little Disappointed Because He Didn't Want The Dream To Ever End. Swan Says To Himself,It Was Okay Until Quinn And Willy Showed Up. Swan Sadly Looked At The Picture Of Sam Beside His Bed And Felt Lonely. Swan Sadly Says,I Dreamt Of You My Darling We Were Dancing And Singing And Having A Good Time Until Evil People Came To Take You Away. Then Swan Fell Down On The Floor With A Blue Spotlight On His Room The Light Was Representative Of His Deep Sorrow. Then The Blue Lights Slowly Turns Into Red As Swan Closed His Eyes And Whispered,I Am So Angry At The Evil That Took My Daughter. He Had A Mix Of Emotions He Could Hardly Describe. We Slowly Fade To Black To See Sam Watching Swan In His Sleep And Petting His Hair Gently. Swan Smilies At This And He Finally Went To Sleep Peacefully Sam Faded Away As She Sees Swan Sleeping Peacefully.