#but i'm thankfully fine and safe. which is unfortunately not the case for many

[apricior]

actually, i'm tired of being nice about this.

for the past week, a terrible cold front has been affecting different parts of spain, especially valencia, where +200 people have died and +2000 are still missing.

for the past week, people have been trying to find ways to help those affected, either by going to the affected areas to help or by donating food, clothes and other resources, even though it keeps raining.

for the past couple of days, i've received daily emergency alarms on my phone telling me to stay at home because of the risk of flood, and today schools and universities have closed to avoid unnecessary risks

people are losing power, their cars, their homes, their loved ones, streets are flooded and filled with mud. this morning the storm was so strong here that the power went out in my entire building and in a lot of areas of the city. trains aren't working, some subway stations are flooded, i have been hearing sirens all day and thinking that i'm lucky for getting to stay in the safety of my home

and then i go online, especially on tumblr, and… nothing. nobody is talking about it, nobody is sharing fundraisers. i only see spaniards talking about it, and even then, most posts don't reach 400 notes.

this is one of the clearest signs of climate change we've seen recently, why is nobody talking about it? it seems like tragedies are only tragedies when they happen in a small handful of countries, and we are, unfortunately, not one of them. but we're more than a vacation destination, we're more than a place with good weather and cheap alcohol. we people deserve protection and safety. we deserve more than global silence

news articles you can read about this:

bbc, 3cat 1 and 2 (if you catalan or want to see pictures/videos of the effects), rtve (if you speak spanish or want to see more pictures/videos of the effects)

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

OH LAWD I WOULD DIE FOR SHENHE AND SARA

Could you do some headcannons about their S/O being overly sweet towards them? Imagine them getting Shenhe tons of gifts and hugging her like a Koala holding onto a tree. Or Sara’s S/O straight up pulling out their archery skills just to get her attention and try their hardest to break her “professional” behaviour just to see her blush. GAAAA JUST IMAGINING THEM SOUNDS SO CUTE!

(Genshin Impact) Shenhe and Sara's S/O being overly affectionate

THE GAP MOE IS REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL

Shenhe had not received any kind of physical affection in a very long time.

It's not as if she did not have anyone caring for her, Cloud Retainer and the Traveler certainly did.

But the love S/O gave to her could not be compared to anything in her life.

At first, S/O wanted to gift her many things, but since she didn't really have a house, she had to decline many of their bigger gifts.

Instead, she kept smaller items like a necklace adorned with a beautiful light blue gem in the middle, resembling her vision.

And her body did not budge whenever S/O hugged her with full force, though that was due to her being extremely strong.

(Shenhe) "I wish to return your affection wholeheartedly, S/O, but I cannot."

S/O looked at Shenhe curiously, their smile still wide.

(S/O) "Why?"

(Shenhe) "I don't think your body could withstand it."

(S/O) "Oh come on, we can try!"

Shenhe then complied.

S/O was out of breath for nearly half an hour.

Regardless, it was something they did not regret.

Whether it was hugging, kissing, giving gifts, S/O loved to figuratively (And sometimes literally) smother her in any type of love.

Shenhe's face mostly remained unchanged, but her heart seemed to race everytime she felt them in her arms.

There were many times when they shared a bed, S/O would just hold onto her, arms and legs trapping her in place.

It felt strange, but Shenhe did not mind.

If S/O was safe and happy, then she was as well.

===

S/O and Shenhe had gotten a fair distance away from Liyue Harbor. Not too far in case if trouble followed them and civilization was too far, but they could be left alone in the confines of nature comfortably.

Something Shenhe appreciated. She could simply enjoy S/O all to herself. They were planning to camp out together, if only just for a little bit.

She felt their hands wrap around hers, eagerly standing closer as they moved closer to put their head on her chest.

Shenhe made no sound, but S/O could tell that she was at ease. The way her shoulders slumped, eyebrows raised, and the faintest dusting of pink rose to her cheeks.

(S/O) "I'm really happy I get to spend the next few days with you, Shenhe!"

(Shenhe) "I am as well. But-"

Shenhe slowly stepped back, making sure her hands were still holding S/O. She tilted her head and asked S/O with her tone of voice lightly hinted with concern.

S/O took a moment to think about their answer while Shenhe continued.

(Shenhe) "The mountains can get quite cold at night as well."

(S/O) "That's what you're here for!"

S/O lovingly stood closer, and nuzzled their head onto her shoulders.

(S/O) "I'll be fine to sleep anywhere as long as you're with me, Shenhe. Besides, I packed a tent and everything we need!...Well, that I need."

Shenhe nodded and sat down, her hand still tightly gripping S/O as they sat with her on the grass. S/O began cuddling onto her, both of them silently watching the clouds above slowly drift away.

Her heart throbbed when she felt their hand wrap around her waist, though it was not out of pain as she quickly learned in the beginning of their relationship.

In truth, Sara is quite easy to fluster, whether it be from teasing or affection.

Unfortunately for her, S/O provided much of both.

Sara did prefer to keep their relationship private for both the sake of her pride and for their personal safety, which S/O thankfully mostly complied with.

But whenever it was just the two of them, S/O would hold nothing back.

(S/O) "Sara!"

S/O almost tackled her in a hug, if she weren't prepared then they would have both fallen over.

But, it was something Sara secretly found endearing. S/O would not get to hear that however, lest they somehow get even more lovey-dovey.

(Sara) "It's nice to see you too, S/O."

She gave them a firm hug back before gently pushing them back.

(S/O) "I can make you some Onigiri, go ahead and sit down!"

Never once in her life did Sara think she would walk into such a loving home after days of work.

But Sara was happy to have S/O provide her the love she never knew she wanted.

===

Sara sighed as S/O happily held her hand to a nearby food stand.

The vendor in question seemed shocked at S/O holding the hands of the General of the Tenryou Commission so casually, while Sara had to avert meeting their gaze. of confusion.

(S/O) "One stick of dango, please!"

As the vendor nodded, the memories of how this even happened came rushing back to her head.

...

(S/O) "Sara, if I can hit this bullseye, you have to go on a date with me in the city!" Sara raised her eyebrow at S/O's sudden challenge. They had a bow and a single arrow in their hands, pointing a crudely made training dummy with layers of circles on its chest. (Sara) "Where is this coming from, S/O?" (S/O) "Kind of a mix of things, honestly. One: I just want to impress you. And two: I want to treat you to something nice, but you won't let me!" Sara chuckled, rather too confidently if S/O were to add. (Sara) "While I do appreciate the thought, you have no need to do so-." (S/O) "I have every need to do so if I get to see you blush and have that cute frown!" Well, they were already doing that. Rather effectively too. (Sara) "Alright, I accept your challenge." Sara crossed her arms as she stood behind S/O. Their arms were wobbling at the strength, but she could tell they were trying to mimic the way she drew her bow. (Sara) "Hm, I doubt they're going to-" Before she could even finish, S/O let the arrow go and she watched, much to her horror, the arrow pierce the center circle. (S/O) "HAHA! I DID IT!" They turned towards her, a star gleaming in their eye. (S/O) "Let's get some dango together!" (Sara) "I-In the city?" (S/O) "Where else, silly?" Sara opened her mouth to protest, but she did make a promise after all. That was on her for underestimating the lengths S/O would go to spoil her. And there was also that smile of theirs that made her mind haze...

...

Sara sighed as she walked away from the vendor, noting that people were beginning to stare.

Before moving to walk away from the open sight of the streets, she turned to S/O, scratching the side of her head in a nervous tick.

(S/O) "I know I am!"

S/O punctuated with a big grin, before thankfully, leading Sara away from prying eyes.

[pyxisastronautica]

P: HSMC Headquarters is leveled, its chief executive is dead. Taros is liberated. The dust is beginning to settle.

Y: The Miner's Union will functionally take over for now. The other industries in the city will unionize as well. The fires of the lowest pits of Hades have cleansed this city of its rot. And they will catch.

E: ...Casualties?

Y: Moderate, on both sides, but moreso on theirs. Ours didn't lose too many though, thankfully.

E: I'm glad of that much at least. But even so, you realize you've damned them all, don't you? The other cities will not take well to this. Phlegeth and Styga, especially.

Y: Styga has sympathetic elements within it. And Phlegeth...

R: ...Is busy, darling. All tied up in its own gang war now.

A: They had some. Miscommunications.

Z: Misinterpretations. Especially of this week's events.

E: So. You've all chosen a side after all.

T: No, Captain. We chose a methodology.

E: Which is?

J: That Quebec is right, actually- at least as far as this goes: we are all on the same side. For now. To think otherwise is tunnel-visioning on the endgame before you've gotten there.

Twenty-five years is a lot of time to do a lot of things, dear Captains, but I do not believe that restructuring a society to not only accept the existence of artificial intelligence equal to humanity, but welcome the influence or governance of such, is not one of them. The most sweeping changes need to be made now, before the plutocracy has a chance to adapt and resist. Dealing with reactionary elements will be much easier for both of you from a position of power.

Power you cannot afford to try to deny each other. To dispense of the ghosts of feudalism that corrode this place, pressure must come from both directions. And in any case, Echo: what do you think TCCAI would prefer? That this city's conditions are in the hands of two robots, even those with different ideologies, or none? Yuma: would you rather face someone who would bring down the ceiling to keep their wealth, or someone actively trying to keep it from falling?

You can always backstab each other later. Set aside your differences now. Dare I say, perhaps even coordinate and work together? As a crew?

E: I am not the only person who runs this company. None of the other investors are going to enjoy throwing their lot in with radicals.

J: ...But they might enjoy having an exclusive deal with the most productive mine in Hades. Especially if it allows them the opportunity to establish a monopoly in Plutopolis.

Y: And why would my people have any reason to trust such an offer?

J: They may not. But you are going to need more than mining equipment to dig yourself into the outer cities.

E: We would be alienating ourselves from the heads of the other industries.

J: They may still see you as the lesser evil, and such a move as mere opportunism. You are still a businessperson, after all. Your logic operates closer to theirs, in their eyes.

E: ...Or they may conspire to behead me. Which would be fine, if it didn't leave such a mess behind.

J: You must simply be stronger, darling. I believe that you can be. But you must try. We need momentum. Even if you could slowly and safely secure Plutopolis, there are twelve other cities to reckon with.

E: And if it did come to war with them? What we've done already has been...unfortunate, but necessary. Escalation will lead to death worse than what would be seen if we had simply allowed TCCAI to take over. Asking TCCAI for the resources to win would be to concede we never had a better answer to begin with.

J: Perhaps. You would know it better than I. All the more reason to be judicious in your use of force- but maybe less so in your projection of it. If you are able to sway the public to your side, they will accept that. Your policies thus far have been well-received, yes? Expand on them, and their mercenary corps might well turn their teeth inwards. They have little reason to stay loyal to hands that don't feed as well, and they have families too after all.

U: I concur with the psychologist, Captain. We may not be able to win an all-out war with what we have at this moment alone, but decisive engagements can still be taken, and that may at least buy us time through dissuasion to accumulate the overwhelming force we'd actually need.

Y: ...Force you'd surely be willing to share freely with your prospective new allies, right?

E: To...a degree.

W: Eh, let Coco be stingy, Yu. Buildin' up the biggest pile in the world don't mean they'll be able to hold onto it. Doin' more with less is where you and I've always thrived anyhow.

Y: Mm...

Echo. You know I have no personal ill will against you. But I trust you not to have any illusions about how any agreement between us might end. If you wanted the keys to Hades purely for the benefit of this civilization, that would be one thing- something that could be settled in town halls instead of battlefields, I think- but as long your intent is to hand them over to TCCAI, I can promise you no loyalty.

E: Nor I to you, Captain Yuma. I'm sorry about that. I truly am.

Y: You know, I never even really wanted that title anyway, despite being made for it. The leadership that people truly need does not exist solely in a rank. I wish I had done better to show you that. I wish I had been able to.

For now. Talk to your people. I'll talk to mine. If the deal falls through on either end we probably would be better served continuing to ignore one another, regardless.

E: Understood, Yuma.

Before I go, though: Juliet, if you had a plan this whole time, if you had the intention to take point on political affairs, why not just come out with it from the start? What was the point of making a display of influence?

J: I never had any intention to be the face of any operation, darling, regardless of what was decided upon. I'm can shine in the limelight, mind you, but I shine even brighter still in the shadows.

I also needed to know if either of you would immediately falter. Again, any of us achieving victory is better than if nobody does, so I hedged my bets and will continue to until one path becomes inevitable.

Y: What will you do now, then?

J: Help things settle in Phlegeth where I can, and move on.

[thebibliosphere]

Hey! I saw on your posts that you have MCAS. I might as well, so I was curious about your symptoms and how you got diagnosed. I've got intestinal reactions to a suite of food that have been escalating in recent months. But my skin test came back negative for all of them and for the pollen they might be caused by (birch). I'm getting some blood tests in January and an EpiPen. But I'd love to chat about your symptoms and diagnosis journey. ❤️

Hello friend. Sorry to hear you might be suffering as well. If you want to peruse my #mcas tag, there's a lot already in there.

I also test negative for a lot of food allergies, both on the skin test and the blood test, but thats because MCAS allergies are not always the result of true IgE-mediated allergies, but our mast cells being wonky and triggering other mechanisms within the cell that lead to mast cell degranulation which manifests as allergic reactions and sometimes full-blown anaphylaxis.

The reaction can take several hours to days to appear, which is why we can eat something fine one day, but if we eat it again the following day, we react. (leftovers are the worst offenders because it allows time for histamine to build up in the food. If you want to keep leftovers, freeze them and reheat the next day.)

It's also why some of us experience slow-acting anaphylactoid reactions as opposed to the rapid onset anaphylaxis most people are familiar with.) Other true IgE allergies, like birch, can cause cross-reactions, the most common of which is oral allergy syndrome, which is possible to have alongside MCAS or by itself.

Aren’t bodies ‘fun’?

If you suspect MCAS, something you maybe find helpful is doing a low-histamine diet to weed out the worst trigger food offenders from your diet.

The SIGHI histamine food list is the most comprehensive and up-to-date list for spotting any potential red flags in your diet that may be affecting histamine levels:

A dietician is advised to help you with this, as a low histamine diet is very low in nutrients and shouldn't be done long-term to avoid malnourishment. However, some of us wind up on it long-term due to the severity of our MCAS and require prescription supplements and also sometimes IV infusions. Fortunately, now that I am stable and getting better, I have been able to put more foods back into my diet, which is the hopeful end goal of treatment. (I was down to 2 safe foods in 2019 and was starving to death while my then-doctor insisted I had an eating disorder. After proper treatment with mast cell stabilizers and treating an underlying case of pernicious anemia, I’m now up to 25!!! 🎉🎉🎉)

Unfortunately, not all healthcare providers “believe” in MCAS or histamine intolerance though Covid has changed a lot of minds. (Nothing like patients going into idiopathic anaphylaxis in front of you to change your world view real fucking quick). If you encounter one of those providers, move on as soon as you can. They’re not up to date on current medical research and are doing a disservice to their patients.

Thankfully, at least here in the US, many younger doctors seem to be coming out of med school with a basic grasp that mast cells can go rogue and that MCAS is real and the lesser-known though just as severe cousin of mastocytosis.

Sadly, they’re primarily still being taught to test for it using the mastocytosis method (checking the blood for elevated tryptase levels), which is not always indicative of MCAS because, unlike patients with mastocytosis, our tryptase levels fluctuate based on flares. Theres also a 24-hour urine test you can do which is more accurate but, again that’s unreliable because it requires stringent temperature regulation (nothing like having a bucket of pee in your refrigerator for 24 hours) and if the urine isn't kept as cold as possible right up until the moment of testing, the results could give a false negative.

I test negative on every single test (except biopsy, which many doctors try to avoid) and would need to be tested during a bout of anaphylaxis, which no ER is going to pause to do. Fortunately, a lot of doctors are now diagnosing based on clinical presentation, patient history and how patients respond to initial treatment of mast cell stabilizers.

There are a couple of more heavy hitters they can try, but the most basic are a combination of your run-of-the-mill h1 and h2 type histamine blockers, commonly sold over the counter as Zyrtec and Pepcid. (obligatory: always check with your doctor before starting any new medication)

The tmsforacure website has a list of MCAS friendly doctors in the US:

(I do not recommend any of the Mayo clinics, sadly. I’ve yet to hear from a single fellow mastie who’s had a good experience with them or come away feeling like a person afterwards. It seems a lot of their testing is aimed toward mastocytosis and is rooted in some weird bias of wanting to keep MCAS seen as ‘rare’, when really it’s just rarely diagnosed.)

You can also usuay find doctors in your area by checking out local support groups on places like Facebook and Reddit. The Reddit groups are pretty good, tbh.

Oh, and it would help if you also looked into whether or not you have a Vitamin D deficiency, as vitamin D is required for mast cells to remain stable and even a mild deficiency can mess us up.

A chronic lack of Vitamin D in our society has also been linked to an increase in things like asthma and other allergic diseases. So that one is just good for everyone to be aware of.

I likely missed something in that deluge of text, but hopefully some of it was useful to you. If you want to ask more specifics or even just chat my inbox is (usually) always open. My health is not great right now, so I’m struggling with my IMs but I always try to respond to asks.

Take care! Rooting for you to get the treatment you need.

[herstarburststories]

You Have A Home

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Reader

Summary: After a call from Y/N, Sam comes back town to help -- and brings Dean with him.

Requests: N°1 heyhey, could you do a Sam x reader where they went to college togehter and later meet again and they realise their feelings for eachother...xx + N°2: can you do a college sam headcanon with medicine student reader

A/N: This was fun! The monster here is mentioned in season 6, when the boys ask Bobby for advice on how to kill it. This is my first Samgirl long imagine, with Dean being the flirty he is. I wrote this almost one year ago, so it's more crude and I'm nervous to be posting it! And my piece for @cajunquandary 's 600 challenge, my prompt was monster of the week. Dividers by @talesmaniac89!

Dean's eyes remained on the road when the bitter statement left his body, tangled with a wry chuckle, “I can't believe you are still in touch with those people.”

“Those people?” Sam arched elbows, slightly skeptical by his brother's tone, “They were my friends, Dean.”

“Sammy, all our friends? Dead. They all die. Or worse.” He glanced at him for a moment, pursing his lips together. It might not be an easy assignment, but was part of the job. Sammy had tried to run away plenty times and always came back, when would he understand? “We don't get to have friends. You should've learned that.”

“They are not our friends, they are my friends. Also, they don't know about the hunting life, they aren't in harm.” Sammy hissed once the other locked his green eyes on the road again. Dean sighed, moving one hand away and up from the steering wheel in a rendition gesture.

“Whatever you say, man. I'm just warning you, this doesn't usually end up good for them.”

Sam scoffed, Dean could get on his nerves sometimes, “We saved many people that got to have a good life.”

“Yeah, but those people didn't know us before that. I told you when you left Stanford--”

“I didn't keep contact, okay!? I just... I just still have a phone that they have the number of. No social media, no calls on birthdays.” Nervously gesticulating, he added, “I know how to keep them safe, Dean.”

“So, old friend?” The eldest Winchester asked after the few minutes of silence that followed Sam's outburst, “Female old friend?”

“Yes. (Y/N) (Y/L/N).” Dean smirked, and Sam to rolled his eyes at his behavior, “Keep it in your pants.”

He'd let out a malicious laughter before turning on the radio, the first guitar sounds of AC/DC playing in the background.

“I think you'll be the one not keeping it, Sammy.”

“Hello?” The woman in nothing but a towel who had opened the door greeted them with a question, her brown eyes glaring at the two men with clear confusion.

Dean had no shame to check her out, innerly celebrating that she was still wet from her shower. Perhaps visiting Sam's friends wasn't that big mistake. “Hey, you.”

She grimaced at Dean for two seconds before turning her attention to Sam again, sudden recognition written on her face.

“Sam? Sam Winchester?” He nodded, smiling that light-hearted boyish grin at her. Not caring about her dressings, she just threw herself at Sammy, hugging him tightly. “I missed you!” She pulled away only to hit his shoulder. Her short stature didn't match Sam's, but he'd still make a grimace at her attempt of slap. “Why didn't you call? God, your hair grew a lot. Listen, I have some scissors.”

“Tried that, didn't work.” Dean interrupted their reencounter, trying to get in the conversation. An usual lopsided grin on his face, “Dean Winchester, Sam's brother.”

“Layla, Sam's friend.” She gave him a friendly smile in return, opening space for them to pass through the door before closing it, “Come in, I need to change in clothes.”

“I wouldn't even dream of that. Seriously.”

Layla would just wiggle one of her brows at Dean's comments, not impressed by it, “Ele é sempre assim? (Is he always like this?)”

Thankfully, Sam still remembered a bit of his friend's native language. He just chuckled, managing to apologize for Dean's typical Dean behavior, “Unfortunately. Sinto muito. (I'm sorry)”

“(Y/N) is in the kitchen. I'll be right back.” Her accent was thicking stronger duo the comfortability around Sam. Excusing herself, the caramel skinned girl leaded upstairs.

“What did she say?” Dean asked, side glancing at the path Layla had just gone on, not even sure of which language she'd just spoken, much less what was said. Sammy didn't bother replying, satisfied to grin at his obvxion brother. “Dude, come on!”

“Sam!” A well-known voice filled the room as the image of (Y/N) appeared in front of them, dressing your loyal cook's avental. You didn't think twice before jumping on Sam. “I missed you, giant!”

He, like always, caught you with a light-hearted laughter, “I missed you too, cupcake.” You two spent a few moments like this, enjoying each other's warm and long lost touch, until Dean cleared his throat. You finally went back to the ground, embarrassed by having a stranger to see that level of intimacy between you and Sam, “This is Dean, my--”

“Handsome brother. Hello, cupcake.” Dean was so going to tease Sam for the rest of his life for it.

“You really live up for Sam's description.” You giggled, heading towards the kitchen “Come in, I'm baking.”

“So, you and Layla still live together?”

“Most of the time, yes. You know how she is, comes and goes. Never wanted to stay in a place for too long and got a job that supported that.” The boys followed you, Dean examining the kitchen and trying to discover what you were cooking through the smell, while Sam couldn't take his eyes on you, ��Apparently, just like you.”

Even though your back was facing them as you checked the food, the bite didn't pass unnoticed, “I had to leave, (Y/N)”

“I understand that, Sam. But you never called or texted. It was like I--” You quickly corrected yourself, “We never existed for you.”

“It's not like that.” Sam sighed, how could he justify? He knew you wouldn't buy a simple excuse. You were smart, and knew him too well to swallow a 'I went on a trip with my brother and just decided that college wasn't my deal' and leave it for that.

“I'm here!” Layla declared, arriving into the room with an excited smile, it was good to have the gang back together. Although, the tangible tension almost made her go back to the shower, “Am I interrupting something?”

“A sitcom DR.” Dean answered with sarcasm, spreading his figure on the chair when you turned around with an apple pie in your hands “What about we talk about the ca-- Is this pie?”

“We heard a scream followed by a loud roar and (Y/N) stayed near the camping part because there was still a signal and I went looking for who it was. When I got there, the thing ran away. Jorge's body... No human did that. His chest was cracked open irregularly, as if it was done by an animal and his heart looked weird. Like it was squeezed and drawn on up somehow?”

“We got a Samia.” Dean stated, relaxing on his spot. Some sault, rosemary and fire would do the job just fine, “Let me guess, it left a clawn near the body or inside it?”

Layla nodded, “Right in the chest or what lasted of it.”

“Are you okay? Finding the body in that state.” A comprehensive manner englobed Sam's question, whom noticed the normality with his friend described finding a shattered body.

“Just some guts.” She shrugged, a grimace was all the reaction they'd get. Crying wouldn't help, neither being terrorized as they expected her too. “I've seen Grey's Anatomy enough not to care about it.”

“Well, I'm literally a medicine student and I am still not okay with that. Especially after you made me go and check the body.” You argued, glaring at your best friend who'd only roll her eyes in response.

“I needed a professional to say if he was dead or not!”

“You need a therapist.”

Dean got up, looking straight at Layla. Time to play the hero in shining armor, “Don't worry with that, we will take care of it.”

Frowning, you were the one to respond, “Do you work for the police now or?”

“Are implying that we investigate it by ourselves?” Your best friend added.

Dean couldn't believe his brother. How the fuck did he let them get inside without saying they didn't know about the hunting business? It was a luck shot that they didn't think much when he said Samia.

“Nope. Not you two. We will do it.” The blonde one said, pointing at them with a smirk.

“I agree, we will do it.” Layla replied, matching his taunt smile.

“Sam, I'm not letting you and your brother do it by yourself. Jorge was my professor, I knew him. Besides, we found the body.” You got on your feet and crossed your arms, waiting for a response. Sam always had a sort of hero complex, ready to help no matter what, but there was no way you'd be letting him go into danger with his brother. Getting in your dormitory to kill a cockroach back then or facing an idiot during a bar fight to protect one of your friends was something, but this? They were talking about looking for an assassin. What if something happened to him? You were the one who called. All on you. The thought of Sam getting hurt for any reason was unbearable, but because of you? You weren't willing to do that.

“You would be in danger, (Y/N). You both.” He tried to explain, internally hoping you'd accept his reasoning and let it go. Sam didn't want you to become one of the friends who knew about this life, you deserve more. He already lost one woman he loved in this city, he couldn't lose another.

You huffed in frustration, “Just like you will!” 

“It's different.” As he was terrified of, you insisted. Arms crossed still and eyes locked with his, determined to get something from him. Sam was smart enough to know that you would keep it going. Perhaps he could give you a short explanation, “Me and my brother, we are used to this. We hunt things like that.”

Layla tilted her head to the side. The way Sam talked remembered her of animal hunting, although she highly doubted that was the case, “Little more explanation?'”

“Monsters are real. Vampires, werewolves, spirits. The list goes on. Call us crazy. Roll the credits.” Sarcasm saltered every word of Dean's as he gestured up and down with a cocky smile. Everyone glared at him, a special furious look from his brother, “What? I thought they knew what we did and that's why she called.”

“Sam?” Your voice was fragile when you said his name, a demonstration that you would believe him through the fear of the truth, but that he had to say it.

Sam laid his hazel eyes on you. God, how he wished he didn't have to confirm anything, to break your vision of world so abruptly, “Dean is right. Supernatural things are real. I know it sounds--”

“Unbelievable? Problematic? Scary?”

“Yeah, all of them.” Sam offered you a humorless smile, then holding your hand the way he used to when you were nervous about an exam, “But I wouldn't lie to you, cupcake.”

The silence was broken by Layla opening a bottle of Whiskey, pouring them for the three people in the room besides herself. You rolled your eyes at your best friend, while Sam wore a tiny smile and Dean was astonished.

Noticing the eyes glued, the latina just shrugged “What? If you are gonna tell me that Dracula is real and you are a sort of Buffy's apprentice, then we will need some alcohol.”

“Why did you call?” Sammy asked, his brows knotted together, mouth slight open as he waited for your response. “You didn't know what I did. And he wasn't my professor at Stanford. Then why did you call, (Y/N)?”

You could make up a hundred excuses. Lie and say he was the one friend besides Layla that you had somehow a way to get to. Appeal to the excuse of 'I felt something weird about the death and you said I should call if I ever had a problem of any kind'. But for as much as you felt horrible for using a death as a pretext for calling him, that was partially the truth. You already had put yourself into a mess of monsters and a drained heart, it couldn't be scarier than being honest to Sam and to yourself.

At least, you hoped so. But your heart was rushing like when you saw Jorge's body. Jesus, when did love become so morbid?

You took a deep breath, oxygen barely achieving your lungs, and then started to talk.

“I wanted to call you the minute that you left, Sam. I almost did a million times.” You answered, looking down at the bottle of a sort of plant that he was putting in a dark green bag. “I thought about what you could be doing, what was so important that you couldn't send me a message. But you just didn't want to call, I guess.”

“I wanted to call, of course I did.” You scoffed at his statement, looking up to match his eyes, “(Y/N), I'm serious.”

“You didn't even come to Jess' funeral, Sam. Layla said that maybe you needed to leave to clear your mind, that was too much to deal with. But I was so worried, and sad and confused and I wanted to talk to you because you would understand, you always did. About anything. And I wanted to give you some sort of comfort, but--” You lifted your hands and shrugged your shoulder, a broken chuckle leaving your body. “But you weren't here.”

“You stopped leaving messages after two weeks. Calling was gone when it made a moth.” You sniffed. Sam's lips curved into a pure, cautelous grin. God, he was always so sweet. “The emails took two months.”

“You were never good with dates. I gave you a calendar in your freshman week.” Your teeth met your lower lip. He didn't answer, only nodding at your affirmation, omitting the fact that he still had the calendar between latin books and pieces of newspapers, “Yet, you remember all of it.”

Sam leaned forward, holding your hand with all the delicacy you would expect from a sculptor. It had been too long since he hugged you, and his touch made all your skin tickle with warmth. “I missed you too, (Y/N). I thought about you all those years.”

“So, Cupcake?”

"Let's focus on the case, Dean."

“Then you can go back and eat your cupcake?” He remarked with a grin. His brother just huffed, pointing the flashlight through the trees, “So, Layla…”

Sam rolled his eyes, like he usually did when Dean started being too Dean for his liking, “Dean. The case.”

Before he could make another teaseful comment, a roar invaded their audition. The hunters gave each other a quick glance before heading towards the direction of the noise.

Shaking the salt and rosemary mixture in his hands, Dean smirked, “That's it. Time to shine, cupcake.”

“I have to admit. Being patched up by a doctor is better than by Dean.”

A surprised, half relieved laughter came out your body as you finished another stitch on Sam's arm. That boy was unbelievable; openly talking and making jokes about his brother, who was also being patched up by your best friend in company of a bottle of whiskey, while he spoke about Layla's name being a rock song. You were working on a large wound on his shoulder-- which you were sure that was full of dirt from the forest.

Medicine student, but I'll take that complement.” You winked at him, gaining a soft grin from Sammy, “I was expecting more blo-- Why are you smiling? I'm touching a recent wound. It doesn't look dangerous, but I'm sure it is supposed to hurt. A lot.”

Sam's answer came out easily, the bare, vulnerable truth: “I'm happy you are here.”

You looked at him, his hair longer than before, but the soft simper remained on his face. You bit your lip to hold a giggle; her heart dared to hope. What he expected when he said things like this? A quiet contentment spread through his expression while he watched your reaction.

“You should have come home sooner.” 

His mouth formed a line, “I don't have a home, (Y/N). It's just Dean, me and the road now.”

“No, Sam.” Shaking your head lightly, you intertwined your fingers with his. His life was dangerous, you couldn't afford the luxury of waiting even more to share what you had finally admitted to yourself in the moment he walked through the door. It didn't seem like the easiest, simpler situation. But the only hard thing you couldn’t go through was to be away from Sam Winchester. He lingered on you for years, you were done letting him run away. It was time to hold his hand and walk together. “You should've come home sooner. To me.”

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[helloalycia]

alex WILL kick my arse // supergirl

summary: you learn that being supergirl's doctor came with its challenges

warning/s: none.

author's note: i’m lowkey posting a bunch of stuff that i posted on my wattpad a while ago lol

masterlist | wattpad

I was sat in the medical unit of the DEO, reading through some medical reports from the past few months. I had just transferred from the DEO's desert facility, where I was one of the doctors there to help with any of the agents' injuries. After a long time there, I decided to transfer here when there was an opening for the lead doctor.

I thought it would be best to settle in by having a look at what severe cases had been dealt with recently. It was usually the same stuff – agents injured on field missions. Bullet wounds, broken bones, sprained muscles, thankfully nothing too severe. There hadn't been many major alien attacks which meant less risky field operations.

I was pulled from the reports when the red alarm light began to flash for a few seconds, accompanied by a siren, before turning off.

"Agent Y/L/N, Supergirl is incoming with J'onn," my radio went off – it was Director Danvers. "She's had a solar flare and got a gunshot wound."

I recalled what a solar flare was from research I'd done in Supergirl's medical records. That was something I prioritised when coming here, since we didn't have Supergirl at the other facility.

"I'm prepping a bed and equipment now," I replied through the radio, before hurrying to do that. J'onn could literally fly, he'd be here any minute.

With the help of some nurses who were around, I prepped a bed and had the solar energy panels on standby for when/if her powers came back sooner than we thought. I had the tools ready to bandage up her gunshot wound temporarily when both heroes appeared beside me.

J'onn was stood there, holding Supergirl bridal style and lowering her onto the bed.

"Still getting used to that," I mumbled, surprised at how he just sped in here.

"I said I'm– agh, I'm fine," Supergirl complained, clutching her bloody wound and trying to sit up. "My powers will come back."

I stepped by her bedside and pushed her back down gently, moving closer to inspect her wound. "Please stay still for a second."

"Listen to the doctor," J'onn teased to lighten the mood.

Supergirl rolled her eyes and stayed still. I removed her hand and noticed it was covered in blood.

"Can somebody come clean this up?" I called out to one of the nurses, motioning to her hand.

One of the nurses did as I asked as I took a look at her wound. The bullet was still in there by the looks of it.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to overwork yourself?!" Director Danvers' voice called out as she walked in.

She was glaring at Supergirl, though the worry in her eyes was evident as she took in the hero's appearance.

"It's barely a scratch, Alex, it'll heal," Supergirl said dismissively, but as I cleaned up the blood with a cloth, I saw her clench her jaw a little.

"You need to be careful, you're not indestructible," Alex reminded her, before looking to J'onn. "Can you believe her?"

J'onn chuckled. "I'll leave you both to it. I should get back." He glanced at me. "Good luck."

I nodded his way, offering a small smile as he walked away.

"As fun as it is watching you both glare at each other, I do need to remove the bullet," I spoke up, interrupting both girls' staring contest.

"Go for it," Supergirl said, her eyes meeting mine.

"With anaesthetic," Alex added, shooting another glare towards the blonde.

"I don't need anaesthetic," Supergirl countered with an eye-roll and scoff.

"You're human for the time being, remember?" Alex reminded her before looking to me. "Anaesthetic, please."

I bit my lower lip as they erupted into another argument about how I should proceed. I didn't know either of them well enough to cut in, so I stood there awkwardly, trying to stop the blood loss and planning out how I could temporarily bandage her up so it could heal itself when she gets her powers back.

"I have to go," Alex finally said, pulling me back into reality. "I have to check on the bank robbery." She didn't seem too happy leaving Supergirl here, but she gave her a knowing look before looking to me. "Please make sure she stays put?"

"You got it, Director," I said with a playful salute. How hard could it be to keep her here?

Alex gave Supergirl one last warning look before leaving us be. I looked to the blonde who was finally breathing out, letting her guard down a little now that it was just us.

"The anaesthetic will make it bearable, just so I can remove the bullet," I spoke, causing her to open her eyes and look at me. "I'm just gonna bandage you up temporarily and you'll heal yourself when you get your powers back. Shouldn't be more than a few days, according to your medical history."

She swallowed hard before shaking her head. "I've been through much worse. It's okay. Just remove it and bandage me up. The sooner I'm out of here, the better."

I was ready to argue, but she gave me a convincing look and I couldn't help but give in.

"Fine, but you stay here and rest," I reasoned, to which she gave me a small, cute smile.

I got to work and surprisingly, she managed. It went well and I managed to bandage her up quite quickly, though it did mean I had to cut into her suit a little. Better safe than sorry though.

"Okay, you're all done," I said, patting her arm supportively, before packing away the gauze. "I'm gonna go get you some water and then you should take it easy, stay here maybe until you get your powers back. That alright?"

She gave me a thumbs up and a promising smile. "You got it, doc."

I was fairly confident that she would listen to me, since she seemed polite and was a trooper throughout the whole thing. However, I soon realised how naive I had been when I returned and her bed was empty.

I facepalmed and shook my head, realising she'd definitely played along the whole time.

The first thing I did was look around the DEO, asking around if anyone had seen Supergirl. I eventually followed the commotion coming from the main hall and spotted both Supergirl and Director Danvers having an argument.

"...stay and rest! You can't keep ignoring simple instructions, Kara!" Alex shouted around her.

Supergirl rolled her eyes and continued to look at the tablet in her hand. I approached the two and cleared my throat loudly to get the blonde's attention.

When she noticed me, she gave me a sheepish smile. "Doctor Y/L/N. Heeeeeeey."

"One job, literally," Alex mumbled, giving me a knowing look, before storming off.

I breathed out and glared at Supergirl. "Are you serious? I asked you to stay put!"

She straightened up and spread her arms out for emphasis. "But I'm fine! See? Nothing hurts, I'm walking, it's all good! Job well done, I must say. You're new, right? Well, I know why you got the job!"

She avoided my glare as she walked around me to get to the other side of the desk.

"You've heard of the term 'first impressions count', haven't you?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She gave me a knowing look. "C'mon. You can't hate me for this."

I sighed. "I've got work to do. Call me if you tear your stitches."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I turned around and began to leave.

"I'm not gonna tear them!" I heard her call out from behind me, but I didn't care. I wasn't her parent, she could do what she wanted.

I wish I'd known I was dealing with a stubborn Super before accepting this job though.

–

"What a surprise," I said sarcastically.

A few hours later, I'd been called into one of the medical rooms because apparently, Supergirl had collapsed from blood loss and tore her stitches. Shocker.

"Is she going to be okay?" Alex asked as I got to work for the second time that day.

"Yeah, if she decides to listen to me this time," I said, sighing. "Is she always this stubborn?"

Alex clenched her jaw. "Unfortunately, yes... you think you can keep her here next time?"

"I'll give it my best shot," I promised her. "I'll call you when she's up?"

Alex nodded, patting me on the shoulder. "Thanks."

She left me to do my thing and this time I did things my way, the right way, with anaesthetic and IV fluid. I managed to sort out Supergirl's mess before going back to my office to fill out some more paperwork.

Some time passed when I found myself going back to check on Supergirl and see if she was awake. I was cleaning up a little around her side table when I heard her stir awake. She seemed confused at first, as she looked around and saw the tube coming from her arm. Eventually, realisation set in and she sank into her pillow.

I decided to stay quiet as I finished up, about to leave, but she stopped me.

"Wait," she called out. I paused as she continued, "I'm sorry."

I turned around and waited, watching as, unlike before, she wasn't joking or being unserious.

"I should have stayed put before. And listened to you. I didn't mean to offend you or come across as rude," she continued genuinely.

I crossed my arms and straightened up. "Well, Supergirl–"

"Kara," she interrupted. "It's Kara."

I nodded. "Okay, Kara. Yes, you probably should have listened. I redid your stitches and I'm asking you to stay put again. You're human for now and you need to act like one."

"You're right," she agreed, breathing out. "Sorry."

I realised that she seemed to mean it and at the end of the day, I was her doctor, so I couldn't hold a grudge. Instead, I went to her bedside and checked her monitors to see how she was doing.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, glancing at her.

"Tired. Achey. But better than before."

"That'll be the meds kicking in," I said, giving her a reassuring smile. "I did have to get in there twice."

Her cheeks went pink as she smiled with embarrassment. "I'm not used to being so..."

"Fragile?" I finished for her.

"Exactly," she said, nodding. "I'm not used to it and staying put isn't exactly my forte."

"I could tell," I joked, making her laugh a little. She had a nice laugh.

"About that first impressions thing..." she began, blue eyes holding mine nervously.

"It's nice to meet you for the first time, Kara," I said, holding out my hand. "I'm Y/N. Your doctor."

She cracked a smile, realising what I was doing. She shook my hand and said, "Nice to meet you, too, Y/N."

"Okay, I should go and get Alex," I said, backing up to leave. "Now please don't leave because Alex will kick my arse if you're not here when she comes back."

She laughed again. "I promise I'll be here when you return."

"Fingers crossed you're not playing me again," I mumbled loud enough for her to hear.

Her laughter seemed to follow me out the room, leaving me smiling to myself.

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Part 3, Thunder Rolls (2 of 2)

House Isekai ARR Masterlist Here

—

Client: Marianne Von Edmund

With Marianne's help, the new House Isekai split off into teams to find this mysterious object and take it down before it becomes too dangerous...

[Tactics - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

Marianne handed Sitri a paper with all the findings her scouts have reported.

(Marianne) "I hope this will be of use to you all."

(Sitri) "It will, thank you, Marianne."

Marianne nodded and smiled.

(Marianne) "Please be careful, I would not like to see any of you come to harm."

(Kazuma) "Eh, don't worry, the kids'll be fine with us!"

Marianne raised an eyebrow, although her smile was still kept.

(Marianne) "With Rean and the others, I can believe that."

(Kazuma) "Hey, who was the group that saved your guys asses plenty of times back then? Mine, that's who!"

(Rean) "Aaaand, don't forget who bailed you out for a lot of those situations."

(Aigis) "It was us."

Kazuma continued to cause a commotion, letting the other groups spectate.

(Jean) "They all seem rather close."

(Lisa) "Reminds you a bit of home, doesn't it?"

Lisa smirked as she turned to Kaeya and Diluc.

Diluc rolled his eyes while Kaeya shrugged.

(Kurt) "I trust Instructor Rean and Towa's guidance, but I am unsure about the other two."

(Juna) "Well, that Aigis lady seems nice enough though, now that I think on it, what CAN those two do?"

(Ash) "Noticed Kazuma has a dagger and a short sword on his belt, but for Aigis...can't tell."

(Altina) "It appears she is like me."

(Juna) "Wait, as in not human?"

Musse turned to the Garreg Mach students.

(Musse) "What do you guys think?"

(Astrid) "Eh? Well, I dunno. I've only heard stories, never seen them in action."

(Helena) "Gets kinda hard to tell what's true."

(Stefan) "I guess today's our lucky day!"

(Elizabeth) "Hmph, if you call having to deal with otherworldy monstrosities lucky!"

(Helena) "Harsh. These people aren't that ugly."

(Elizabeth) "What in the-That is not what I meant and you know it!"

(Kairos) "..."

(Astrid) ? "Kairos? Somethin' up?"

(Kairos) "Huh? Oh, I am fine. It's nothing."

Kairos looked back down, a bit dejected.

(Stefan) "The things Lady Marianne and Sitri say getting you down?"

Kairos raised his voice to object but sighed instead.

(Kairos) "I just cannot believe I let my immaturity get the best of me there. These people are the reason we're here right now, but I cannot shake off how I feel that easily."

(Elizabeth) "I...would be lying if I said I did not feel the same."

Venti and Amber didn't mean to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to considering how loudly they were announcing their feelings to the entire group.

(Venti) "If that's the case, why not get to know us then?"

(Elizabeth and Kairos) "Huh?"

(Amber) "Yeah, this mission looks to be tough, so if we all work together, I'm sure we'll be friends in no time!"

(Kurt) "I would not be opposed to it. Well, considering that we also have no alternatives present as well.'

Meanwhile, the Instructors finally finished their conversation.

(Marianne) "I wish you luck, House Isekai."

(Rean) "Thanks, Marianne. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Marianne bowed and went inside back to her estate, leaving the Instructors to walk back to their groups.

(Towa) "So, what's the plan?"

(Sitri) "I...Hm."

She stopped walking to take a moment to think.

(Sitri) "I think it'd be best if we were to all search together. We have no idea what we'd be up against."

The tone of her voice made it sound like it was more of a suggestion than a command.

(Sothis) "Looks like the group has another one."

(Diluc) "Miss Sitri, was it? If we could speak our mind."

(Sitri) "Huh? O-Oh, Go ahead."

Kazuma leaned over to Rean.

(Kazuma) "She doesn't exactly sound confident for a headmaster."

(Rean) "Being fair, she was just a nun from what we were told by Jeralt."

(Aigis) "Affirmative, she also was very weak and could not leave Garreg Mach often."

(Towa) "...S-So, if that's the case, how is she walking around out here carrying her sword no problem?"

The four stared at her while Diluc was explaining the group's plan.

(Rean) "Lahabrea did mention she was chosen to be resurrected for a reason...Did we ever find out why?"

They were silent.

(Kazuma) "Tch, even dead Those Who Slither are a pain in our ass. We never get straight answers from them"

(Aigis) "Well, that wasn't Those Who Slither, that was Byle-...Er, Lahabrea who did the resurrection himself."

(Towa) "Regardless, I think we should ask this ourselves another time."

(Diluc) "...And so, we think splitting up is the best way to approach this threat."

(Sitri) "Well..."

(Jean) "You have our word that nothing will befall any of your students."

(Kurt) "And mine as well."

(Helena) "To be fair, this would be a good way to know how we all fight considering this is our first assignment together."

(Sitri) "Fair enough...Very well, we shall split into teams.

(Rean) "I think it'd be best to mix and match teams."

(Aigis) "Agreed. Based off initial data, I will configure the teams as follows:

First Team will consist of: Rean, Sitri, Helena, Stefan, Kaeya, Amber, Altina, and Ash.

Second team will consist of: Myself, Kazuma, Astrid, Diluc, Jean, Venti, Kurt, and Juna.

Third team will consist of: Towa, Kairos, Elizabeth, Lisa, and Musse."

(Jean) "No objections from me."

(Ash) "Sounds fine."

(Musse) "Aww, I wanted one with Rean-"

(Rean) "You'll be fine under Towa's command. Besides, she was your homeroom teacher anyway."

(Lisa) "Ouch, shot down."

(Musse) "Doesn't mean I'm giving up!~"

(Lisa) "Oh, I like your attitude, love is such a powerful thing..."

(Towa) "Uh...."

(Elizabeth) "I had some slight objections being put in a group with you, Kairos, but now? I think I am glad to have at least someone familiar..."

(Kairos) "Ugh, the feeling's mutual."

(Rean) "Right then. We'll split up and meet at this point in the map if we don't find anything."

(Kazuma) "How are we gonna keep in contact if shit goes down?"

(Aigis) "Rean and Towa have their Arcus Units, and I believe the students of Garreg Mach have something similar."

(Stefan) "Yes, we were all given a communication crystal upon our entry for Sitri's group."

All the students of Garreg Mach pulled out a small flat crystal that faintly glowed blue.

(Kaeya) "We have our methods then. It's probably best we stop wasting time and get moving."

(Sitri) "Agreed. Everyone, remember to be safe. This may be only our first assignment, but do not underestimate the danger. Your lives could be thrown away if you're careless enough."

Everyone nodded and split up.

(Towa) "Alright, looks like we'll head to the site where it was first spotted. This way everyone."

Towa's group walked down a path deeper into the forest and slowly disappeared from sight of everyone else...

...

===

Doomguy's Base, Present...

Doomguy tapped his foot while listening to the Persona Users give their explanation of what was happening.

Apparently, Ryuji, Ann, Mitsuru, and Naoto fought off a group of hulking green creatures calling themselves "Orks" who came from Fodlan's Crystal Tower.

(Yu) "And that's about the gist of it."

(Yosuke) "Yeah, we weren't close enough to the scene and the news gets everything wrong anyway.."

(Futaba) "Even with my hacking I can't get a full picture, it happened so fast."

(Akihiko) "You still got any idea what's going on in Fodlan right now?"

Doomguy shook his head, and shrugged to the air, indicating for VEGA to speak for him.

(VEGA) "Unfortunately, no. There is too much interference for us to make contact with those currently in. That being the case, they are working to rectify this communication block, hopefully soon."

(Junpei) "So what, we're supposed to twiddle our thumbs and just wait?"

(Yukari) "And what exactly can we do, Stupei? If all of us just jump in guns blazing, who knows how long we'd be trapped, and how Fodlan would react!"

(Makoto) "Our entry and exit wasn't the most graceful after all..."

(Akira) "I have faith in everyone over there. It'll be up to us to keep our home safe."

(Chie) "Hey, who else has responded anyway? Seems not too many of us were able to make it in there."

(VEGA) "You are correct. The only ones to answer the call are yourselves, Rean, Elliot, Laura, Fie, Towa, and Kazuma."

(Morgana) "Anyone else?"

(VEGA) "The Denizens of Nazarick appear to be busy handling their world's politics, but they have acknowledged our call and plan to send whoever is available. The same goes for the remaining members of Class VII."

(Teddie) "Oh, how about Yuki-chan and the others?"

(Fuuka) "The School-Living Club?"

(VEGA) "I'm afraid nothing has been sent our way. Not even an acknowledgement."

(Rise) "I hope they're alright. Their world didn't exactly sound forgiving..."

(Kanji) "It's prolly' best they weren't here anyway. Not sure they'd be much help...Er, wait that sounds bad!"

(VEGA) "Negative. You are objectively correct, in terms of combat at least. Megumi and the School-Living Club were the least active members when it came to fights. Their efforts were focused on helping fleeing civilians and moral support. Neither of which we are sure is needed for Fodlan's current circumstances."

(Ken) "I'm sure everyone's fine. We should be worried less about how they are and more on how the Crystal Tower came to our world to begin with."

(VEGA) "We are currently looking into that as we speak. Please feel free to rest here until then."

The Persona users nodded and tried their best to relax, not knowing what the future would bring...

===

[Stilness of Night - Trails of Cold Steel 3 OST]

A few hours later...

Towa's group kept investigating the points of which the scouts had written on the reports, but they had found nothing.

No trace of any warning shots Marianne mentioned, its like they had completely erased the evidence.

The sun was starting to set, but thankfully it was still bright enough for them to keep looking untroubled.

Lisa was close by with Towa, looking with her and Musse while Kairos and Elizabeth investigated somewhere close by.

(Towa) "Hm...still nothing."

(Musse) "Instructor Towa?"

(Towa) "What is it, Musse?"

(Musse) "If I can ask, why is it that the people of this world hold such hostility against you?"

(Lisa) "I have been rather curious myself. It seems every opportunity those two in particular talk bad about your old group."

Towa looked up and made sure Kairos and Elizabeth was far away enough for her to continue.

(Towa) "Truth be told, our group was a mess. We kept coming in out of nowhere, and forming this massive superpower that threw a wrench into all the world leader's plans for...whatever they were going to do. World Domination? Separation? I have no idea."

Towa's eyes looked down as her expression darkened.

(Towa) "We lost a lot of friends during that war too, they gave their lives for a world they didn't know. But this place is home to us, just as much as it is to them..."

Musse and Lisa looked at each other but didn't say anything else.

Towa was doing her best to keep those memories out of her head. She had to keep a clear mind for this assignment.

Though, being told that their group was the reason a civil war was on the brink again, it didn't sit well in her stomach.

Towa's mind ached, thinking the possibility of losing even more friends to this world, which she was struggling to keep out.

Lisa walked towards Towa, kneeling down and rubbing her head.

(Lisa) "There there...I'm sure they'd understand if you told them. No need to fret."

Towa shot back up, a slight tinge of red as she put her hands on her hat.

(Towa) "ACK!"

(Lisa) "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle."

(Towa) "N-No you're fine, Miss Lisa! I'm just usually used to Rean doing that...Which, now that I say out loud, is kinda weird..."

(Musse) "Hmph, lucky."

(Lisa) "Is it weird? I was under the impression you were a couple with the way you acted."

(Musse) "I'm sure she'd like that!"

Lisa and Musse's smirks were flustering Towa.

(Towa) "T-That's not relevant, Musse! And Miss Lisa, we are NOT a couple!"

(Lisa) "So, you're available then?"

(Towa) "BWUH-WHAT?!"

Lisa failed to hold back a chuckle.

(Lisa) "Relax cutie, I'm just joking...Mostly."

(Towa) "Ugh, please just focus back on the task at hand!"

She began mumbling to herself.

(Towa) "You think I'd be used to this considering how much time I've spent with Angie and Crow..."

Lisa crossed her arms as she turned back to finding any signs of a fight.

(Musse) "...Thanks for doing that, Miss Lisa. I never liked seeing Instructor Towa get that down on herself."

(Lisa) "Figured no one does, from what I've gathered. By the way, have you found anything?"

(Musse) "Not particularly. Though that being said-"

Musse began speaking with Lisa who crouched down next to her, pointing at the trees in front of them.

(Kairos) "This question is only now appearing in my head, how exactly do they fight?"

(Elizabeth) "Now that you point it out, the only real weapon I see is on Musse's back. It appears to be some sort of...staff?"

They stared at the rifle that was strapped onto her, not sure what its function was.

(Kairos) "That makes sense, though it's shaped quite oddly. What's the point of that...lever, I think?"

Squinting at the triggerhair on Musse's rifle, he shook his head and turned to Lisa.

(Kairos) "And her. Everyone else from her group has a visible weapon, but she doesn't. All I see is a book."

(Elizabeth) "She could be a spellcaster, though what kind of magic user dresses like that?"

(Kairos) "Of course you judge them based on clothes."

(Elizabeth) "Oh stuff it! As if you're one to talk to ME about biases!"

Kairos and Elizabeth stood up, glaring daggers at each other.

(Kairos) "Hey, I was talking about their weapons!"

(Elizabeth) "And I'm talking about your little outburst earlier! Do you know how much you embarrassed all of us by-"

The went back and forth a little bit, Musse and Lisa pausing their conversation to listen.

(Musse) "How noisy."

(Lisa) "Well, we didn't find anything over here anyway, we might as well put a pause to it."

Towa watched them head towards Elizabeth and Kairos, and decided to watch what would happen instead of interfering. She knew Musse was a lot smarter than she looked, and Lisa seemed to be the same way.

(Towa) "So this is how Instructor Sara felt."

(Musse) "Is there a problem?"

(Elizabeth) "O-Oh, my apologies! No there isn't any problem."

(Kairos) "If you don't count her mouth as one."

(Elizabeth) "Silence yourself, or so goddess help me, I will silence yours!"

(Lisa) "My my, so feisty! You'll ruin those cute faces if you keep frowning so much."

That snapped Elizabeth and Kairos out of their spat and took them aback.

(Kairos) "C-Cute?"

(Elizabeth) "Feisty?!"

(Musse) "It seems no matter the world, people have the same reactions to these things..."

(Lisa) "It would appear so. It's nice having someone who understands, though."

Lisa and Musse smiled, making Kairos and Elizabeth feel slightly uncomfortable.

(Musse) "But back on topic, did you happen to find anything?"

(Kairos) "No, not really."

The two looked back down to the ground they were examining prior.

It was two trees that had snapped and fell to the ground, but there was no magical energy or weapon marks to indicate it had fell down by unnatural causes.

They were looking at the point where the tree snapped and fell over, hoping to find anything but-

(Elizabeth) "Kairos and I are well versed in magic, but we were unable to find anything that we could detect."

(Musse) "Hm...from what I see, there's nothing there either."

Lisa furrowed her brows as she gently pushed everyone to the side, taking a look herself.

(Kairos) "Miss Lisa?"

(Lisa) "...Instructor."

(Towa) "Huh? What is it?"

(Lisa) "I believe I found something."

(Elizabeth) "Truly?"

Towa walked over to the group and looked at the trees as well.

(Lisa) "I understand why no one has reported anything. This was caused by something from our group's world."

Everyone stood on edge.

(Lisa) "Our world has something we call 'Visions', powers granted to us by the Archons and allows us to attune ourselves to the elements and channel them into our will. Diluc and Amber have Pyro visions, letting them control fire. Kaeya has Cryo, Ice, Venti and Jean have Anemo, Wind. I, have Electro. Electricity."

Lisa rubbed her finger against the tree and looked at her finger.

(Lisa) "And on my hands is a very faint remnants of an Electro attack."

She stood up, grabbing her book.

(Lisa) "A very recent one."

Musse and Towa unsheathed their guns while Kairos and Elizabeth quickly looked around.

(Lisa) "I'm presuming you two cuties also wield magic?"

(Kairos) "Y-Yes. I'm proficient in dark magic skills."

(Elizabeth) "I am most skilled with white magic, but I am able to channel dark as well."

(Lisa) "Good. Because I think I know where our target is at."

Kairos and Elizabeth felt the hairs on their arms raise. The darkness of the forest started to glow with an eerie purple in the distance.

Towa got behind them and pulled out an ARCUS unit, calling Rean.

(Towa) "Rean, I think we found it! I'm sending our coordinates-"

A bolt of lightning shot down and almost hit her, making her scream and almost drop her unit.

(Towa) "AAH!"

(Rean's voice) "Towa?! Towa are you-"

BZZZZZRRRRT!

(Musse) "Target straight ahead!"

The cube slowly floated over to them, shooting out bolts of electricity in random directions.

(Musse) "I believe that first one was the warning shot the scouts were talking about."

(Kairos) "What the hell is that thing?!"

(Lisa) "Hmph. Nothing too dangerous, but still, don't let your guards down. We call it an Electro Hypostasis."

The shapes of the cubes floating around the core slowly shifted around, seemingly ready to change shapes at any time.

(Lisa) "It shapes itself into whatever it wants to attack, so be prepared for anything."

(Elizabeth) "You've fought these abominations before?!"

From Elizabeth's view, Lisa looked more annoyed than anything facing this...thing.

(Lisa) "A few times. They're normally docile until you approach, which makes Marianne's reports a lot more sense considering what's been harassing them."

The Cube seemingly stared at all of them, waiting to see if they would back off.

(Lisa) "I'm afraid my Electro vision isn't going to be as helpful as I'd like, but I won't let that stop me."

She flipped open her book, which began levitating in front of her.

The text in the book began to glow a dark purple as she turned to the group.

(Lisa) "But, I digress. The command is up to you, Instructor Towa."

(Towa) "If we let it go, it could be days before we can find it again, we don't let it slip away!"

Towa loaded her pistol and pointed at the Electro Hypostasis.

(Towa) "Engage the enemy!"

(Musse) "Understood, Instructor!"

(Elizabeth & Kairos) "Yes Ma'am!"

(Lisa) "Got it."

[Twice Stricken - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

Musse backed up and pointed her rifle at the Hypostasis, taking the first shot.

The bullet predictably reflected off, and the four cubes flew into the air and into a rhombus shape, all aiming at the team.

Electric missiles shot out of the Hypostasis at speeds equivalent to Musse's and Towa's gun.

Lisa snapped her fingers and a electricity field formed around them, misdirecting the attacks and hitting in random directions.

Kairos and Elizabeth ran to the front, Kairos casting a fireball while Elizabeth had ice spikes form underneath it.

The first fireball caused a small explosion, blowing back some of the trees and scorching the grass while the ice spikes shot into the air and at the core of the Hypostasis, stopping the fire before it spread and piercing the core.

It made no noise of pain, though they could tell they were doing some damage to it.

The cubes quickly flew away from the spikes and towards them.

Towa fired her pistol, all aiming at a singular point the spike had pierced into.

Small bits of electricity chipped off, tho it began flying faster and dodged whatever was shot at it.

Lisa's spells were having no effect on the Hypostasis as it landed behind them.

(Lisa) "Get behind something!"

Musse and Towa dove for cover as more missiles shot out of it, Lisa standing behind a tree to hide from it.

Elizabeth did the same as well, but noticed Kairos wasn't moving.

Kairos stood out in the open still and tried to fire another fireball, but it quickly moved to the side, dodging the fireball as it hit the tree behind the Hypostasis instead.

The Hypostasis aimed at Kairos and shot a singular missile, too fast for him to dodge in time and hit him in the chest and sending him flying back into the tree.

He clenched his teeth in pain as the electricity rattled and sent a painful shock throughout his entire body.

(Elizabeth) "Kairos, you bloody idiot!"

She quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him behind cover before another barrage of missiles hit her.

(Elizabeth) "Why didn't you get into cover?!"

(Kairos) "Ach, thought I could hit it again!"

(Lisa) "It's not sentient enough to think creatively, but it's not stupid enough to fall for that again!"

Her brow furrowed further even more, knowing her spells would do nothing to it.

Musse poked her head out and pulled out her ARCUS unit, letting it analyze the Hypostasis.

(Musse) "Miss Lisa, your advice?"

(Lisa) "Keep hitting it with any elemental attack that isn't Electro-Er, thunder!"

(Musse) "Understood, taking the shot! Kairos, Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth stood out of the way of Musse's barrel as her rifle began glowing a hot red.

Pulling the trigger, a single shot hit the core, making it stagger back and form back into it's cube state.

As miniature cubes shot towards them from the excess electricity, Lisa stepped out to the open and shielded them from the bolts on the ground shooting out.

Towa rushed over to Kairos and loaded another round into her pistol, shooting it into the air.

Kairos suddenly felt the pain in his body slowly fade away and looked to Towa.

(Kairos) "Thank y-"

(Towa) "Do that later, right now they need your help!"

(Musse) "Instructor, get down!"

Towa and Kairos saw the three of them dive out the way.

Instinctually, Kairos grabbed Towa's shoulders and shoved her down to the floor as laser beams shot out and spun across the forest, it spinning rapidly as it vaporized the leaves into smoke.

The trees were getting burnt, but thankfully not chipped enough to topple over, Kairos saw.

Once it was done, Kairos rolled into the open and got on knee, adjusting his glasses as he raised his hand and clenched it.

From the skies above the Hypostasis, a burning rock crashed itself on the Hypostasis, knocking the cubes that formed the laser into pieces as the core stood out in the open.

(Lisa) "It's exposed, attack now!"

Elizabeth stood next to Kairos and swiped her hands downwards, the air forming a sword-like shape and slicing through the core, making it slightly shatter and pieces fall off.

Musse's rifle glowed white as it fired a straight line of ice, going through the core.

Towa did the same as her pistol began to glow several colors, red, then white, then red again.

Lisa made sure to keep an eye on any of the excess electricity in the air, flicking her wrist and deflecting a bolt of lightning without looking at it.

It quickly formed back into shape, and stood for a moment as the shots reflected off it.

(Elizabeth) "What is it doing now?!"

The cubes broke off into smaller ones, forming a giant arrow-shape and-

(Lisa) "To the sides, now!"

Lisa jumped back as the Hypostasis formed into a drill-like shape and began spinning towards them, tearing apart any trees that was in its way.

Towa and Musse ran to the sides while Kairos and Elizabeth ducked as it barreled past them.

The trees it knocked over were falling down left and right, Musse almost getting hit by one.

(Towa) "ABOVE YOU!"

Elizabeth looked up and realized a tree was falling on top of her.

Lisa raised her book and a concentrated spell shot out, the strength of it rushing it forward as it collided into more trees and away from everyone.

When Lisa turned her attention back to the Hypostasis, she realized it had formed two giant walls.

Lisa's eyes widened as she tried to brace herself for the shock, the walls closing on her and the force sending her into a tree.

Lisa's body tumbled onto the floor and out in the open, her vision going in and out from the attack.

(Kairos) "Lisa!"

The Hypostasis began to form it's drill shape again while Kairos and Elizabeth rushed to Lisa's defense, shooting whatever spell they could as it began flying to them.

Musse and Towa tried to help with their guns, but they were having no effect.

As it got closer, Kairos tried to pick up Lisa to move her, joined by Elizabeth as it got dangerously close to tearing through them.

Although there were no trees nearby for it to be a hazard, they still couldn't move fast enough with Lisa in hand to get out of the way safely.

(Familliar boy's voice) "COMING THROUGH KIDS!"

Kairos and Elizabeth were tackled by Kazuma while Aigis got in front of Lisa.

(Aigis) "ATHENA!"

Her Persona appeared in front of the drill, the shield failing to be pierced as Athena raised its hand, and knocked it to the side, toppling trees as it bounced through the ground.

Aigis spun around and gave Lisa a hand, which she grabbed it and was helped up.

Kazuma got up and dusted himself off.

(Elizabeth) "Instructor?"

(Kazuma) "Yeah yeah, you're welcome, now get your asses up, that cube thing will be doing the same!"

Kazuma unsheathed his sword, letting Elizabeth and Kairos get up on their own.

As the Hypostasis was getting up and about to change forms, before the core was shelled off, Jean and Venti jumped from the top of the trees and used their Anemo Visions.

Jean first blew it into the air while Venti summoned a mini tornado, picking up the core and shredding it with the speeds of the wind.

Diluc ignited his sword as he slammed it down into the tornado, setting the wind ablaze with the core still inside.

Kurt and Juna jumped in as the core hit the floor, Kurt's sword dicing it to pieces while Juna used the force of her tonfas to dent it, making electricity shoot out with each strike.

It quickly got itself up with the cubes forming once more, this time shifting into a giant fist.

It swung first into Kurt and Juna, sending them flying back into Towa and Musse.

Then it shapeshifted into a pair of scissors, making the Vision users duck under cover as it almost cut them into two.

It finally formed a giant rectangle, slamming down in front of them and sending them into the air.

As the core revealed itself while the three landed on their feet, Astrid and Kazuma swung their weapons into it, Astrid piercing through it while Kazuma slashed it in half with his sword.

Aigis, Musse, Towa, Elizabeth, and Kairos readied their guns and spells, all opening fire together while Astrid and Kazuma dodged out the way.

The final bullet went through it, the core now full of holes, it began to twitch violently as it split into pieces.

It split into three prisms as the core remained invisible in the center.

(Lisa) "Destroy those prisms!"

Juna switched her tonfas into a gunner mode and pulled the trigger, shooting one prism to tiny pieces.

Aigis's Persona smashed another prism into the floor, completely eradicating any trace of it.

Diluc's flaming sword shot out a bird-like shape, turning the prism into cinders as he made a wide swing.

With the last of the prisms gone, the core began to twitch violently as the group formed together.

Lisa got in front of everyone and held out her hands, casting another field to block out the electricity that exploded into a bright purple, the skies turning from white to a dark gray, then the clouds finally disappearing.

[Words to Believe In - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

Towa's team tried to catch their breath.

(Musse) "Whew, that was close..."

(Towa) "Now I'm reminded why Rean's the combat instructor..."

(Lisa) "Nonsense, you did just fine-...Ugh!"

Lisa fell to one knee, Diluc catching her in time.

(Diluc) "Hey, are you alright?"

(Jean) "You took a bad hit from the looks of it."

Jean looked at her back and saw a bleeding wound, as well from her head.

(Elizabeth) "Miss Lisa, I'm so sorry! If you didn't have to take your at-"

Lisa waved her hand in a dismissive manner, smiling through the pain now the adrenaline was wearing off.

(Lisa) "Don't apologize, cutie. Ol' Lisa will be just fine."

Jean and Diluc slowly helped her up while Venti turned to them.

(Venti) "Honestly, not bad for your first time fighting it!"

(Musse) "Thank you. Without Lisa, I'm not sure what would have happened."

(Kairos) "Yes, we owe much of our victory today to her-"

(Kazuma) "Yadda yadda, stop being so humble. Just accept the compliment and move on. Besides, far as Fodlan kids fighting the unknown go, you two ain't half bad."

(Aigis) "Indeed. We were only able to see snippets of the fight, but despite your differences you came to work together rather well."

(Elizabeth) "Why...T-Thank you Instructors."

(Astrid) "Wow, no love for you Instructor Towa."

(Towa) "Oh come on now, don't make this a competition!"

The group began to back and forth, Astrid moving to Elizabeth and Kairos.

(Astrid) "So, what's your impression of 'em? Kazuma and Venti just argued a lot the entire time. Was pretty funny though."

(Elizabeth) "They're not as uncivilized as I was expecting to be honest."

(Kairos) "Psh, who's judging on character now?"

(Elizabeth) "Shut. Up. Already."

(Astrid) "And now I get to hear you guys argue. Ugh, great."

(Musse) "...Huh, where's Instructor Rean and the others?"

(Everyone) "..."

Towa pulled out her ARCUS unit again.

(Towa) "Rean?"

...

Everyone stiffened when they didn't hear a response.

(Towa) "Rean?!"

===

Rean, Sitri, Helena, Stefan, Kaeya, Amber, Altina, and Ash.

Rean was looking for any signs of an attack before hearing his ARCUS unit go off.

(Towa's Voice) "Rean, I think we found it! I'm sending our coordinates-AAH!"

(Rean) "Towa?! Towa are you-"

BZZZZZRRRRT!

(Sitri) "Did something happen?!"

(Rean) "Yeah, Towa's team found it! She sent us the coordinates so we need to-AAAGH!"

Rean fell to one knee, reaching for his head.

(Altina) "Instructor?!"

(Ash) "The hell's going-DAGH! SHIT!"

Ash stopped moving and reached for his head as well, followed by Altina, then the rest of the group one by one, their heads pounding as their vision suddenly faded to white.

…

…

[Out of Time - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

The inside of the room was glowing a faint blue-white, two green haired individuals walking through them, though one was significantly taller than the other.

(Flayn) "Father, are you sure this is the way?"

Seteth's face scrunched up as he stared at one of the crystals in his hand. The directions it was pointing to was hazy at best.

(Seteth) "No...No Flayn, I am not sure. But we have to try something at least."

Flayn looked behind her, worried.

(Flayn) "Of course..."

They stopped themselves to what appeared to be a massive doorway. Seteth held the stone up to it and the door slowly began to open, light pouring out from the other side.

The two were about to take a step through the door before a shot of electricity bolted over their heads.

Seteth quickly raised the crystal up, and it glowed a bright blue before whatever was shooting at them disappeared.

Inside the crystal was a dark purple fog before it quickly disappeared with a white flash.

(Flayn) "What was that?!"

(Seteth) "Something we weren't looking for. Perhaps the deeper we go into the tower, we'll be able to find it."

Saying nothing else, they looked around as moving platforms shifted around them.

Seteth and Flayn stepped onto them as everything turned into a static mess, slowly fading out of view...

…

[Spiderweb - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

(Towa's voice) "Rean?"

...

(Towa's voice) "Rean?!"

Rean hazily reached for his ARCUS unit, responding to a very concerned Towa.

(Rean) "Agh, we're here!...I think."

Everyone looked at each other, the headache slowly subsiding.

(Kaeya) "What in the world was that?"

(Amber) "Ugh, my head!"

(Altina) "Is...is that supposed to happen naturally?"

(Helena) "Unless we're in extreme stress situations where our physical bodies are pushed to the limit, no."

(Stefan) "And considering we just started our assignment."

Sitri began speaking in her head.

(Sitri) Sothis...?

(Sothis) "Agh, don't worry, I felt it too...Though, wasn't that?-"

(Sitri) Seteth and Flayn...

(Sothis) "Doubt anyone else would know what they saw besides you and Rean."

(Sitri) What were they doing in the Tower, I thought we cleared it by now!

(Sothis) "I have no idea, but we have to tell this to the other instructors."

(Rean) "...And that was the end of that...vision? Or something. I'm still not sure."

(Towa's Voice) "...Understood. Let's meet back up at Marianne's and tell her that we finished the job."

(Rean) "Roger that. And Towa? Good work."

(Towa's voice) "Heh, um...thank you."

Rean hung up the call and motioned for everyone to follow, everyone still out of it from whatever it was they saw.

Later...

(Aigis) "A vision?"

(Kazuma) "Holy shit, Seteth and Flayn are alive?!"

(Sitri) "Possibly? I'm not sure..."

(Rean) "It's still blurry in my head, and I'm sure the others agree."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

(Towa) "We should investigate once we get back, but..."

[Where the Heart is - Final Fantasy XIV OST]

(Towa) "I'm glad we were able to help out, Marianne!"

(Marianne) "Thank you so much for your assistance. As always, you're always rescuing us from dangers."

Marianne smiled and bowed.

(Rean) "Of course. If there's any other troubles, please call upon us to help if you need it."

(Sitri) "Thank you for your kindness."

(Marianne) "And as requested, we have the railroads to take you back to Garreg Mach. It should be a day's trip.

(Juna) "Man, it just feels like went to a different country instead of a world with how familiar it is..."

(Amber) "What's a railroad?"

(Musse) "Oh, you see it's-..."

Class VII and the Knights began engaging in a friendly banter, which gave Kazuma to groan.

(Kazuma) "A train?! Why the hell are we taking a train when we can teleport?!"

Sothis appeared for a brief moment when she made sure no one was looking in their direction.

(Sothis) "We'll explain it later, but for now just shut up and deal with it."

Rean and Towa laughed while Aigis had a smirk.

Kazuma was ready to cuss out Sothis before the students approached them.

(Kairos) "Instructors? I...would like to apologize for my earlier outburst-"

(Rean) "Don't sweat it."

(Kairos) "Huh?"

(Towa) "To be fair, it IS a little strange for a bunch of people to pop out of portals like this and boss you around. But that being said, we are your instructors for a reason!"

(Kazuma) "Some respect goes a long way, kid!"

(Astrid) "You look as old as we do..."

(Kazuma) "And YOU shutting up can go a long way!"

Aigis slapped the back of his head and nodded.

(Aigis) "Apologies for him. Although he is right to some degree. We are happy to be your instructors, no matter what we have done in the past."

(Stefan) "I look forward to your guidance, Instructors!"

(Elizabeth) "As do I. I will make the Blue Lions proud for having me as their chosen!"

(Helena) "Hear that Astrid? You shutting up means they'll like you more."

Astrid gently punched Helena in the shoulder, Helena's expression being deadpan from the delivery to the literal punchline.

(Astrid) "Same goes for you, smartass."

Marianne approached the Garreg Mach students and looked at Kairos.

(Marianne) "You've grown up so much despite the fact it's only been a few years. I hope in the future we can have a moment to talk, so we can catch up!"

(Kairos) "A-As do I Lady- Er, I mean...Marianne."

Marianne's smile made him unable to look at her in the eye and she turned to Sitri.

(Marianne) "It's right this way. Follow me everyone."

And in a few moments, the members of House Isekai stepped onto a train that took them to Garreg Mach, Marianne waving goodbye to everyone...

...

...

...

BING, BING BING BING, BONG!

[Life at Garreg Mach Monastery - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

Today's instructions were done for the day, the doors being opened as students and guards went from position to position.

A good number of students went to their dorms while many others went into the mess hall.

Guards piloted massive Knight mechs out of the hangar and towards the Gates, practicing military drills and simply standing guard for any potential threats.

Kairos, Elizabeth, Astrid, Helena, and Stefan walked out their respective classrooms and towards the Hangar.

(Helena) "Last day of hanging with the Golden Deer...Can't say I'll miss them too much."

(Astrid) "I will a little, I was FINALLY getting used to the schedule!"

Kairos shrugged.

(Kairos) "It's not like we'll never see them again. We're still attending the same Academy."

(Stefan) "I'm a bit sad I can't hang out with my friends as much, but I guess that's the nature of an Officer's academy."

(Elizabeth) "Well think of it this way, we now have a new opportunity to go down in history!...Even though our instructors are those offworlders."

(Helena) "I still can't tell, do you like them or not?"

The banter went back and forth a few more times as they moved to the hangar.

The Imperial soldier in front nodded to them and let them pass.

(Stefan) "Oh, Kairos."

(Kairos) "Hm?"

(Stefan) "Your data from the fight with that...cube thing is recorded on your crystal right?"

(Kairos) "Yeah. What about it?"

(Stefan) "You should send that to the rest of us, so we can see everyone's fighting style."

(Helena) "Oh yeah, we didn't get to fight during that."

(Kairos) "Sure, one second."

Kairos took out his communication crystal and let it connect with Astrid, Stefan, and Helena's.

Stefan nodded and smiled.

(Stefan) "Thanks, I'm pretty excited to see what they can do!"

(Elizabeth) "Soon enough, we'll get to know how they are-"

(Recette's voice) "Yoohoo, over here!"

The five stopped once they saw Recette waving over to them excitedly.

(Tear) "Welcome. Your quarters are now finished."

(Astrid) "Dam-Er, Dang, it's only been like 3 days, and you're already finished?"

(Recette) "Yup! There's nothing that blood, sweat and heckuva lotta gold can't accomplish!"

(Tear) "The wonders of capitalism."

(Helena) "...Capi-what?"

(Tear) "Nevermind. This way, your instructors are currently in a meeting but everyone else is waiting for you in the room.

The five followed Recette and Tear into their barracks into an elevator, going below the hangar and storage floor...

Garreg Mach's Listening Chamber...

(Sitri) "The other team contacted me and let us know their task is done. They're currently on their way back on the railway and should be back within the hour."

(Towa) "It's crazy to know Slayer sent Elliot, Fie, and Laura to us!"

(Rean) "Duvalie being with them is sure going to make her a lot more irritable."

(Kazuma) "She seems like a bitch."

(Towa) "That's putting it lightly..."

(Aigis) "Regardless, it is good to have reinforcements backing us up."

(Rean) "...Valimar, can you confirm signatures of anyone else present in Fodlan?"

Valimar's voice echoed out of his ARCUS unit.

(Valimar) "...Affirmative. It would appear some of the Persona Users are present as well."

(Aigis) "Really?!"

(Valimar) "Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Mitsuru Kirijo, and Naoto Shirogane, according to my scans."

(Kazuma) "How come no one else has reported this?"

(Towa) "Yeah, that is pretty weird..."

(Valimar) "I am still scanning, so I am unable to tell where they are. Analysis would take a day or so."

(Rean) "Just keep us updated Valimar."

(Valimar) "Of course. Speaking of which, it seems Duvalie's group is about to arrive."

(Rean) "Let's go ahead and meet them then."

The instructors nodded and left before Sitri's Crystal began beeping.

(Sitri) "Hold on, I have to take this. I'll be with you soon."

The four left Sitri and Sothis alone as Sitri opened it up, revealing a small reflection of Edelgard.

(Sitri) "Edelgard?"

(Edelgard) "Hello, Sitri. With the official reformation of House Isekai, we would like to assign your tasks for this month, as it was done when we were enrolled."

(Sothis) "So...why are you calling just by yourself?"

(Edelgard) "And that is my next point..."

...

As the train approached the station, Stefan saw Rean and the other instructors meet up with the rest of the group.

(Stefan) "...Even more of the offworlders."

He looked to see no one was watching him, and slowly snuck away from the group.

Everyone was distracted meeting Rean's friends to notice Stefan had disappeared into a corner.

Stefan looked at his crystal and saw the recording of Kairos and Elizabeth fighting the...whatever the hell it was.

Though, he was honestly glad no one was hurt.

He tweaked his communication crystal by turning a dial to the left and pressing in a specific combination with the buttons on it.

And with that, a voice popped up on the other side.

(Distorted Voice) "There are you. Goddess, we thought something happened. Status?"

(Stefan) "I'm fine, don't worry. And something did. House Isekai has returned."

(Distorted Voice) "...Say that again, it sounded like you said House Isekai."

(Stefan) "I did say House Isekai. It's the White Cloud Contingency."

(Distorted Voice) "...Keep your eye on them. And be careful. We all saw what happened to the poor bastards who underestimated them seven years ago."

(Stefan) "Understood. And you all be careful as well."

(Distorted Voice) "Godspeed."

Stefan nodded and hung up. He slowly blended back into the crowd and saw Kairos looking in his direction.

(Kairos) "Hey, there you are!"

(Helena) "That armor slowing you down or something?"

(Astrid) "I told you guys to wait up, he was falling behind!"

(Stefan) "Hah, yeah I got lost. This place is huge!"

(Elizabeth) "Goodness gracious, just speak up Stefan! Anyways, what do you think of Instructor Rean's colleagues?"

(Helena) "...I like that grey-haired one."

(Kairos) "Of course you would."

(Astrid) "T-That orange haired guy, and...and that blue haired lady! So hot...!"

(Kairos) "...What?"

(Astrid) "I-I MEAN-"

The four exchanged jabs with each other, Stefan occasionally throwing in lines as well, but he was far more concerned that the old members alongside new people of House Isekai were coming.

[Lost in Paradise - ALI]

(Stefan) "...Hmph."

He breathed in and out to calm himself.

(Stefan) No matter what happens, even with them here, they can't interfere...Fodlan HAS to be free from this rule!

===

PART 3: ENDED

STANDBY PHASE 1...

Gotta get it homie gotta move it If you gonna do it then, push everything to the side Everybody just talk nobody really do it You should keep a secret until you actually do it No need to double check with someone Use your judgement only, break the walls Let’s do flashy fake More Cool, keep it low, prove them wrong I won’t give up the fight in my life ‘Cause my life is living for love I won’t give up the fight in my life Stand off and groove on time Tokyo prison Going to relight your feelings When times get too rough Night and day are fading Going to relight your feelings There’s no time to explain Gimme your love Access to your love Oh yeah Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out When times getting rough Access to your love Lost in paradise Night and day are fading out Keep on dancing now Hеy hey hеy hey heyeah

[phoenixplume117]

1994 AD

Mirai combed every inch of the temple… that she could.  There had been a lot of damage but so far all she'd been able to find was one miraculous, the peacock.  She was not thrilled when she'd found that one and refused to open it again.  The kwami had a flair for the over-dramatic and was whining about what he'd done to the temple and she just was not in the mood to deal with it. She'd tried to tell him it wasn't his fault but he wouldn't listen to her.  Eventually, she ended up putting him back in his box. Then, hid the box in the pillar next to her "bed".  

Every morning she would wake up, wash and gather snow to melt for the day.  Then she'd come back and make her way west, clearing the temple to the best of her ability.  

Last night she realized the pillars in the hall she made her home were some kind of retreat for the kwamis.  There were 25 pillars but the box she'd been the guardian of had only had 20 kwamis. She looked carefully and realized that some boxes must have had more kwamis in them.  Finally, she let Duusu go but she couldn't understand anything he said while he sobbed so she just stroked him until he calmed down.  

"If I leave you out are you going to be safe?" Mirai asked him.

Duusu looked around not quite sure if she was asking him, "Me?"

Mirai nodded, "yes, you. There is no one else here."

"Can I come with you?"

She would prefer if he didn't but, replied, "I suppose."

Together they made their way down some stairs she'd found the day before and she began clearing rubble away.  Every day for the past two weeks she’d done the same. She carried the rubble to a room that was destroyed but seemed safe enough to walk in.  So far she had become very well versed in old Madonna (or was it young Madonna?) as that CD was playing on her CD player as she walked back and forth with her bucket.  

“Mirai?”

“Hm?” she said, dumping the bucket into the empty room and walking back.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m a guardian-”

“A guardian! Why didn’t you say anything!” Duusu yelled flying around her. 

“I did.  I don't think you've heard anything I've said to you until now,” she told him patiently.

Duusu tried to see her logic but couldn’t, “so what are you doing?”

“I’m looking for…” she really didn’t want to use the term ‘survivors’ after all that would remind Duusu all his friends were gone because of Master Fu using his powers.  Which was what he had spent all the previous night crying about. She cleared her throat, “anything that needs a guardian to guard it,” she came up with.

Duusu looked at her rather dubiously then shot directly through all the rubble she was clearing.

Mirai looked at the boulders she’d never clear alone and frowned.  She could use Duusu, but look where that had gotten Master Fu, and Duusu didn’t seem like he was ready to be utilized after that experience.  She let out a huff of breath puffing her bangs out of her eyes. Why hadn’t she packed scissors?

“Miraaaaaaai!” Duusu yelled from the other side of the boulder.

“Shh!”  Mirai responded, “I don't know if loud noises could make this place collapse or not!

“Oh!” Duusu spoke in a ridiculously loud stage whisper, then he came back through the boulders, “I can look for you so you don’t have to hurt yourself.”

Mirai wanted to rest but she needed to focus on the task at hand, “I’m fine, but I think that’s a really great idea, Duusu.  If you scout ahead it would save a lot of time.”

“Or you could just make an amok to clear the rubble away.”

[[more]]

Mirai shook her head.  No. She would not become Mayura, she would not become Nathalie.  She was Mirai Chime, that was all. Using Duusu was a bad idea, "I don't think that's a good idea, especially after what you've been through Duusu.  This way is better."

༻࿊༺

The next day when she had yet to clear even one-third of the path she decided maybe she had been hasty in telling Duusu no.  He was quite companionable, friendly and helpful.

Seeing Mirai's hair sticking to her forehead with sweat Duusu slipped back through the rubble down a corridor then through more rubble where he found the library.  

Although "library" was perhaps a generous term.  The books were all the same, a textbook of recipes and forms for powers.  Rules for raising effective guardians and psychologically "sound heroes. The pseudo-library also didn't have many books but what was most exciting was on the small table next to a long-ago forgotten teacup was a box from a miraculous set.  It looked like it belonged to Duusu's set. He desperately wanted to know who was in there but he couldn't fly through. It looked like wood but it was actually something else, a magical material that with words could even change its shape. Unfortunately one of its magical properties was kwamis could not pass through it.  Duusu blew a raspberry at the box, flared his tail and shook it at the unhelpful box then flew back to Mirai deciding whether he should tell her what he'd found… or not.

༻࿊༺

Mirai wiped her head as she hauled another bucket full of stones to the spare room.  Her triceps felt like they were on fire, in all the years as Ladybug she'd gotten full-body exercise but her arms and abs had always done the hardest work, but for some reason, this seemed so much heavier and harder than carrying people ever had.

"It's muscle exhaustion," she said out loud, "you're just tired, push through it, you'll get to the euphoria stage."

She dumped the stones and rocks and realized she'd been speaking out loud and groaned. "Great, now I'm talking to myself.  Am I going crazy? No, everyone talks to themselves, I think it's healthy, yeah. It's probably time for a break anyway," Mirai reasoned, walking back with her bucket.  

"Duusu?" She said softly when she got back to the large pile of rubble she'd been working on.  A frigid draft ran through the hall chilling Mirai, she rubbed her arms for warmth, "Duusu, I'm going back, it's getting cold, I'm going to start making lunch,” she called again and headed back to what she had begun to convince herself was her apartment.  The large room was warm from the huge fires. Thankfully the room was built in a way that made it safe to leave them unwatched. She set about making soup, she really missed Maman’s cooking and Papa’s bread. She heard her sniffing echo in the room and coughed to cover it up.  She wasn’t going to do it, she told herself, she was not giving in to self-pity. 

“Mirai!” Duusu said a few minutes later after the soup had begun boiling.

“Hmm?” she said.

“I found another box!”

Mirai stirred the soup and carefully took the pot off the fire then turned to him with a smile.  She’d been right, she was meant to stay, she was not going to be Nathalie, she would not be part of Hawk Moth terrorizing Paris for nearly 10 years, “Where?  Who is it? How many are in it?”

Duusu smiled, glad he’d told her, “On the other side of the rubble you’re using, there is a hall then, more rubble then, a library.  That’s where the box is.”

Mirai’s smile faded, “Oh, well, we’ll get there,” then she brightened, “Do you know how many are in it?”

Duusu looked confused, “It’s just a box, not a case,” then his lower lip began to tremble, “All the cases were destroyed.”

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay now, don’t cry, Duusu, look you found someone, a friend!”

Duusu looked at her with huge tear-filled eyes and nodded.

“Alright?”

Duusu nodded.

“Okay, so who’s in the box?”

Duusu blinked away his tears, “I don’t know.”

Without thinking, Mirai spoke, “Then how do you know it isn’t empty?”

Duusu looked at her as if the idea had never occurred to him and as that idea worked its way through his mind she realized her mistake before his eyes filled with tears and the saddest words poured from his mouth.

“I killed them all!”

Mirai gasped, pulled the kwami to her chest and rocked him shushing him.  “Shh, shh, come on, we’ll eat later, let’s go check the box okay?” but Duusu was miserably inconsolable and deeply committed to his emotions.  Mirai sighed and stood up carrying the sad kwami she walked over to her pallet. She reached under the pillar for the box she’d hidden and pulled out the peacock brooch and pinned it with some difficulty to her Starter jacket and simply called out, “Duusu, Transform Me.”  She looked down at the little kwami before he was swept away to power his amulet, his face looked delighted and it helped her own feelings of doom. She sighed in relief, then giggled, then began laughing happily somehow she registered as an adult because it was December the Miraculous must consider her 18 she assumed.  She'd learned about this when she'd studied. She didn't have a 5-minute limiter. Or a basic super-suit, as she or her team had worn when she'd been Ladybug. In her hand was the feathered fan she’d need to create the amok to clear the way. She walked toward the rubble she’d been working on for the better part of the week and picked up a small but distinct piece of stone, then pulled a feather from her fan and began creating an amok that would be able to easily clear the rubble, she added a few features, like lights and a stabilizing pole in case the roof caved while it was clearing, then began clearing the rubble quickly.  The huge pile was cleared in less than an hour but like Duusu had said there was another huge pile of rubble before they got to the library. It took two hours for everything to be cleared. Mirai figured if she had done the work without using Duusu’s amok it would have taken a month to get to this room. She wondered what time it was, she didn’t know how to work the fan the way she used to work her yoyo. She looked around the library and picked up the box on the table and turned to go back to her room, even though transformed she was getting cold. Once in her room, she detransformed.  

Duusu looked at her then to the box in her hand.  “You did it!”

She smiled and said what he needed to hear, “I couldn’t have done it without you.  You did a lot of the work and your sentimonster moved all the rubble.”

“Sentimonster?”

"Avatar?" She remembered she'd seen that word on Duusu's page when Master Fu had been her teacher.

Duusu smiled understanding, "Really?"

Mirai put the small pot back on the fire then with Duusu floating at her shoulder she walked over to where she kept most of her gear.  She sat down and opened the box and felt her heart fall when she saw the purple stone with four beautiful wings resting on the red fabric.  Then suddenly Nooroo manifested.

"Master Liu?" he looked around confused, seeing Duusu he turned to him for answers, "Duusu, what happened?  Where is everyone? Who is she?"

Mirai felt near tears, everything was falling perfectly into place against her will.  "Duusu, I'm going to go to sleep okay?" Mirai said and took the pot off the fire and went to bed without changing or eating, only removing her boots.

Duusu looked at the girl confused, "Okay."  Then turned to his friend and hugged him, "Nooroo!  You're alive!"

Nooroo narrowed his eyes, "of course I'm alive, what's going on?"

Duusuu threw himself at his old friend and burst into noisy tears and explained that a new guardian had found him and together the two friends talked.

Mirai turned away from the duo and felt hot tears slide across her nose, cheek and into her hair.  How could she fall so low? From Paris' Hero to Paris' Nemesis she almost laughed hysterically. It was like Chloe used to say, ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!  She looked at her Baby-G December 24. She hoped Marinette realized how lucky she was, suddenly Mirai missed her parents and the idea of not being home for Christmas was unbearable.  She cried herself into a miserable fitful sleep, not for the first time in the past 2 weeks.

༻࿊༺

The next morning she woke up and skipped all her regular chores and instead took a bowl meant to hold a small fire and went back to the library.  Once there she looked at the books. They seemed to all be the same, well sort of, They contained multiple copies of the M. Agreste's book, but it looked like there were multiple copies of books about the other miraculous boxes.  She wanted so badly to look at them but she couldn't. She knew she would end up Mayura and the information between the covers of those books was too precious. As a guardian, she would not read it. Her job was to protect miraculouses and kwamis, and she would do it.  She left the room. She dropped off the little coal holder and picked up her bucket and started her morning errands and ablutions. She met Nooroo, he was a polite butterfly who was missing the guardian he usually worked with. The three of them ate breakfast and enjoyed a conversation about earth animals' similarities to kwamis.  She went outside and cut more wood, she'd had a horrible realization earlier. She was a guardian, Master Fu might not have been able to train her completely and the once the monks had tried to take her miracle box she'd escaped and never went back and had to figure things out on her own but that didn't change the fact. She was a  guardian. One of the most important parts of being a guardian was their willingness to sacrifice. She chopped at the wood, everything seemed harder without her miraculous, she would not touch her ears, she thought to herself.  She brought the hatchet down forcefully.

Breathing roughly through her nose, forcing herself to look ahead and not feel anything she took the wood past the room she slept in and into the library and piled it overfilling it into the five fire pits.

She walked back to her room and shrugged out of her coat and picked up a notebook and pen. Then walked over to the cook fire and picked up the bowl and using tongs placed as many coals into it that would fit safely.  Then walked to the library. 

She swallowed, she needed to do this.  She took a pair of tong hanging over the fireplace amazed they hadn't been disturbed from when Feast had torn through, then again, this whole library seemed to have been saved.  With tongs in hand, she placed a few coals in all of the fireplaces in the room. Then she took a steadying breath. In, out, in, out, she thought to herself. She couldn't do this.  Her heart was racing, and she felt bile in the back of her throat. She put down the small fire and ran to the corner and threw up over the woodpile there avoiding the smoldering coal.  She wiped her mouth but heard gasping and crying and knew it was her. She'd come here to be a guardian. She needed to do this. If she was going to become a villain she needed to do this to protect these books from herself and M. Agreste. They could not have so much knowledge.  With a sob, she went to the bookshelf furthest from the information about the miracle box containing the Ladybug and Black Cat and took a book and held it over the flames but as it's leather began to dry and crack she let out a sob and threw it across the room. She couldn't, she just didn't have the strength to do it.  She sobbed running from the room.

Before she entered the room she shared with the kwamis she wiped her face and tried to calm her nerves.  She would do it in the morning.

That night she woke, smelling the delicious barbeque her father made when they went to the beach.  It took her a moment to realize what she was really smelling was the library burning, the books had been covered in yak skin and they were burning.

She bolted up, "Duusu! Transform Me!"

Duusu flew over quickly, "I can't! You're not wearing my pin!"

"Shit! Where is it?" Mirai thrust her hand into the space under the pillar and grabbed the plumed brooch and stuck in onto her shirt, "Duusu transform me now!" she said picking up the closest thing to her and as soon as her fan appeared in her hand she plucked a feather from it and began creating an avatar to rescue the books, she'd been stupid, it was a bad choice, what had she been-

"Mirai?  If there's a fire you need something that will cause the tunnel to collapse so it doesn't come this way."

Mirai listened to him and gave the avatar a huge scoop as well as the agile human hand, it was a rushed job and she hoped it would be able to make it easily over the terrain then she realized she'd need to go with it.  She urged it over the stone path she shouldn't have made it so industrial it was slow-moving, finally, they reached the library, it was an inferno. She sent the avatar to the bookshelf containing Duusu and Nooroo's information and ran back out of the room then told it to come out.  She took the book from it then ran back to her room after giving instructions on how to collapse the ceiling. With Nooroo at her side, they waited and waited and waited until the heat no longer carried their way. She looked at her watch, it was 8:38. She called the amok back and released her transformation and held Duusu close in tears.

"I'm sure this is the place, Emilie," came a male voice down the corridor.

"Hide!" Mirai said to Duusu and Nooroo.  "And don't come out of your Miraculous until I tell you," She quickly ripped the brooch from her shirt and thrust it into the flannel's chest pocket.

"Shh!" replied a feminine voice, "I swear I heard something."

Mirai was shaking, there was no point in hiding, the entire room was obviously occupied.  

"Oh, la, la!  Gabriel! Look what we have here, a squatter, can you imagine?  In a cave?" Emilie giggled seeing the room.

Gabriel looked around, it actually looked pretty nice.  Private. A place where people would leave him alone. "It's a temple, Emie, you should be a little more respectful," he said gently.

She's here. Argus warned

Gabriel stopped and grabbed Emilie's arm to prevent her from going further. Who? He replied.

"Gabriel!  It's just a girl!" Emilie brushed off his hand irritated with his correcting her and ran to Mirai.

Remember what I said about women Gabriel, Argus warned, they can be dangerous when they're scared. I should probably warn him about jealousy, Argus thought to himself.

Gabriel knew women could be warriors he wasn't a fool, but this girl obviously wasn't then he saw soot on clothes.  He ran over to her when he noticed her hands were burned. "She's hurt, Emilie, get your first aid kit."

Emilie rushed to get the kit out.

Gabriel gently took the girl's hands, but she jerked them away with a hiss of pain.

Careful Gabriele!

I am!  Can't you do something?

One, she's not wearing me and two, she's already hurt.

Gabriel took her hands surprised that the girl really wasn't a child, she was actually older than Emilie had been when they'd met, but she seemed so small, "I know you can't understand me but I'm trying to help you."

Mirai looked up at him then jerked back at what she saw.  He was so young, his hair was shaved in the popular bowl cut of the 90's, and he looked so worried about her, and… kind.  This wasn't Adrien's mean father, and he definitely was not Hawk Moth, he was so warm, she felt her face warm and she looked away as her heart pounded and she stuttered out a response, "I understand you."

He smiled, not that she saw it, "Your French is very good."

Emilie was suddenly at his side, "Oh, darling, you must be in such pain.  Gabriel, ask her if she's in pain."

"She speaks French," he replied.

Emilie looked at the girl curiously, "Oh?"

"Yes."

"They teach that here?"

"I don't know I'm French," Mirai replied

"How fortunate, we are too!" Emilie said as Gabriel gently applied a salve to Mirai's hands.

Gabriel leaned into Mirai's visual field making her turn red.  "What's your name Petite Flamme?" he teased.

Suddenly all the pieces fell together in a puzzle with the perfect fit. It gave answers to questions that hadn't made sense before.  Mirai knew then everything she'd known about Nathalie Sancoeur was true, and everything she'd learned about her future was too.  

It was Christmas, her hands were burned, and now that all the adrenaline had worn off immense pain was starting to set in, she felt her eyes fill, she just wanted to go home, to her city of lights. She suddenly realized why Nathalie's name was "Heartless".  It wasn't chosen because she didn't have one, she chose it because he had it.  Gabriel Agreste had her heart but his heart belonged to his wife, so Nathalie had none.  She was indeed heartless but still filled with love.

How could she be in love with him?  It was beyond ridiculous. But there was no denying it any longer, 

"I'm Nathalie, uh, Nathalie Sancoeur."

༻࿊༺

Fin

[zapiarty]

What brand of asshole is Dukat when he meets Mila? (I'd really love it if Garak factors into this in some way but you do you I'm just curious)

Oh boy my friend have you picked the perfect prompt! I’d had most of this already planned out in my head but hadn’t gotten around to writing it until now, so thank you! This takes place during the episode “Paradise”, and isn’t the first time Dukat has seen Mila (though that story is a hoot too!), but is the first time the two interact in any way.

Whenever Dukat visited the station it was always bound to be an unpleasant day. The fact that both Commander Sisko and Chief O’Brien were missing did not help matters in the slightest. If even Major Kira were there, it might have been better, because then Dukat likely would have been shoved out the nearest airlock.

But as both Kira and Dax were out looking at the runaway Rio Grande hoping to find out what happened to the Commander and the Chief…the only senior officer left on the station was Julian himself. This normally isn’t a problem. Unless a Cardassian Gul shows up and tries to take away his daughter.

“What? You don’t have the right! I legally adopted Mila, she is my daughter-”

“In Bajoran law, Doctor. But tell me, did you even try to find her Cardassian father?”

Julian blinked, taken aback. It was unnerving, but Dukat had a point. He didn’t know if there were special legalities involving adopting for Cardassians, though he sincerely doubted it, he was the only case beyond Rugal and look how that case turned out…actually. “This is revenge for exposing your plan for Pa’Dar’s son, isn’t it.”

Dukat merely smiled at him and it made Julian’s skin crawl. He had to think of something. He’d researched everything he could about Mila’s file. Dropped off as a six month baby by presumably her Bajoran mother, the caretakers of the facility implied it was because she was the product of an unwilling union. Which means that the father likely hadn’t stuck around, and no one was really interested in looking for him.

There was only one recourse, he had to buy time. “Fine, I’ll do a test, but I’d need to do it here.”

“Come now, Doctor, you won’t be able to access the databases from here-”

“Not without your authorization, no. But I’m not giving you a sample of her DNA and just trusting you’ll actually find her biological father.”

Now Dukat looked mildly intrigued, “Alright…I’ll bend this much. Though your lack of faith in my good interests wounds me, Doctor.”

Julian could only scowl in response, “I’m sure it does.”

Dukat made his way through ops towards Sisko’s office and called over his shoulder, “I’ll be waiting to hear from you once you have her genetic sample, Doctor.” Julian hadn’t considered impulses of violence before, in fact he tried to avoid it at all costs, but at that moment Julian really wanted to throw something at Dukat’s head.

Turning to one of the security officers in the room he told them they needed to keep an eye on Dukat while he went to try and find a loophole. He almost smiled to himself, and who better to go to for a loophole than Garak?

~

It was hours later when everything came to a head. He’d had a long conversation with Garak in the back of his shop before he even went to Mila. If Garak could help before it became necessary to have Mila aware of this at all, it’d be better. Unfortunately, the only plan Garak said he could think of would require them to play along past the point Mila would find out.

That was not a fun conversation. Most especially because Mila had become somewhat…clingy after the incident with the T’Lani and the Kelleruns and his presumed death. Julian couldn’t find it in his heart to be upset by this at all, though it did make her panic attack about being taken away that much harder.

To calm her somewhat, he took her with him when he went to get access from Dukat. The man was sprawled in Sisko’s chair and was tossing his baseball back and forth. The sheer ease the man was radiating was both infuriating and worrisome. Just how foolproof was this plan?

The Cardassian looked up when Julian walked in with a smile that would look more at home on a snake. “Ah, so here’s the little girl I’ve heard so much about. Major Kira must really forgive me, they look an awful lot like each other.”

Julian didn’t want to take one step into that mess, and not for the first time that day wished that he wasn’t the only senior officer there. Mila thankfully didn’t back down, not showing an inch of the fear she’d had not even half an hour earlier. She glared at the Gul with the same fire he saw in Kira’s eyes and calm pose she’d started copying from Odo. The look made him smile before turning back to Dukat. “The access code, Gul?”

Dukat did not look nearly so charmed as Julian was. He sat up and started typing in the table console. After a moment, he waved a hand to Julian. “There, now your personal console in your medical office will have the clearance to search birth records. I warn you doctor, it will not last long, so you’d best get started.”

With Mila’s hand in his, Julian hadn’t bothered with more than a nod before he left. Hopefully Garak’s plan would come through in the few hours they had…

~

The rest of the command team had walked into Julian and Dukat shouting. Garak was standing to the side with Mila looking up at him wonderingly.

“You’re claiming that Garak is the girl’s biological father? Just what sort of fool do you think I am?” Dukat roared. Julian did his best to put conviction into his words even as he saw how Garak wanted to reply to that last question.

“The tests clearly show a genetic match, and I’m going off the database you gave me, Dukat! What more do you want?”

“Clearly?! There’s no way Garak was on Bajor at the time, let alone sleeping with a Bajoran woman!”

“What is going on here.” The Commander’s voice was strained, dry and barely able to get above the sound of a whisper. Immediately Julian was relieved to see everyone was safe, but could only spare a moment.

“Commander-!”

“Commander Sisko! Finally back, just in time to settle a matter of great importance. Your officer has been trying to lie to me-”

Sisko raised a hand to silence him, and walked over to collapse into his chair. He let out a long sigh and closed his eyes before pointing at Julian. “Explain.”

Julian shot Dukat a side look before stepping forward. “The Gul here has expressed a desire to find Mila’s biological father as he has…legal rights to custody. I insisted the tests be done here so I could oversee them and be sure there were ah, no tampering involved, sir.”

Sisko opened his eyes and blinked once, but said nothing.

With an awkward cough, Julian continued, “After many hours going through the database…I found that the genetic match was…Garak, sir.” Slowly Sisko shifted his gaze to Garak, who gave the commander a wide grin.

“Are you the father of Mila, Mister Garak?”

“The correct Cardassian term is Yadik. And I did have a wild affair with a Bajoran housekeeper while I was working as a gardener for Pa’Dar. Unfortunately, after the attack that claimed Pa’Dar’s wife and believed son at the time, I too thought my dear had died with our young child. I spent ages in grief, and finally had to leave Bajor altogether.” Garak was putting on such a splendid show, even pulling Mila close that Julian had to bite the inside of his cheek. Garak smiled and shot a look to Dukat before ending with, “Then our dear Doctor found not only young Rugal, but wouldn’t you know it, my daughter as well? Of course, I wasn’t sure until Doctor Bashir did the tests but I’m rather grateful he did. And as her biological father, I see no problems in sharing custody with the good Doctor.”

Sisko stared at Garak for a long moment and Julian knew that he wasn’t buying this outlandish lie. However, he nodded and said, “Very well. Congratulations.”

Dukat exploded in outrage.

“You cannot possibly accept this- this obvious fallacy!” he shouted, and Sisko abruptly stood with a growl.

The commander’s eyes were wide and he looked about two seconds from rounding the table and throwing a punch. “I am tired, dehydrated, and I’d really like a shower right now. I do not have the patience to deal with you, Gul Dukat. So until you come back with solid evidence otherwise, I am going to accept Mister Garak’s claim of paternity. Am I clear?”

Dukat looked thunderous and his words came out between clenched teeth, “Crystal. Good day, Commander.”

Julian was just feeling the stress leave him and was giving Garak such a grateful look when Dukat stopped at the door and turned around with a wide grin that sent chills through him. “Oh! I just remembered. If Garak is claiming Mila as his family…that means she’ll share his fate. In exile. She will never be welcomed on Cardassia.”

With a chipper nod, Dukat finally left the office. Julian wondered for a moment, if they would come to regret this in the future. Garak certainly didn’t look happy, in fact he looked about ready to apologize, but Mila spoke before anyone else could. “This means I can stay home, right?”

Not able to hold back a smile, Julian scooped Mila up in a hug and held her close, “This means that there’s no way for them to take you away any more, yes.” Mila nodded seriously and then looked over Julian’s shoulders at the man who’d saved her.

“Does this mean I call you Yadik now?”

Garak gave her a fond smile, “It’d be best my dear, if in public you did refer to me as such.” When a cough sounded they turned their attention back to the Commander who was looking dog tired and exasperated as he leaned with both hands on his desk.

“I assume…you have a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.” When Julian opened his mouth to speak, Sisko raised a palm to stop him, “Some other time. Right now, I need your services doctor, and then I’d like to go to bed.”

Julian set Mila down, getting into work mode now that the danger had passed, “Yes sir. Garak, could you watch Mila while I-?”

“It’d be my pleasure, my dear Doctor. Ready to go, Mila?” Mila looked up at Garak with considering eyes, then nodded and raised a hand. Garak seemed mildly surprised by the action, but took her hand gently in his own.

“Ready to go, Yadik. Bye Daddy!” Julian couldn’t help the goofy smile on his face as he watched them exit Ops, even as he got to work scanning the Commander’s condition. Hopefully, this would be the last time someone would threaten to take Mila away from him.