#but making sure her death is exploited in every way he could? Irredeemable.

[dxxtruction]

Another post on Armand's decisions because I need to just write down my incoherant thoughts.

I think Armand didn't care what happened with Claudia and Madeleine in the slightest, they could've ran off together or burned and he wouldn't care. Honestly, it seemed he'd been trying to get Louis to feel the same way. He always saw them as a doomed inevitability, but this can not be said the same with Louis.

Fact is there's a conflation of motivations that doesn't make a lot of sense if Armand had no intention or desire to ever save Louis. Yet maybe the point is Armand couldn't even make complete sense of his own motivations himself. He didn’t want anyone to die I don’t think, his allegiances were everywhere to the point he only really had himself. He couldn't tell Louis no, he couldn't tell the coven no either. Pulled in two directions up to the very end. He needed the coven appeased, the coven he never wanted but wouldn’t wish death upon, what he wanted was Louis, while the coven wanted him and his little family dead. Then it comes to it that he could have Louis, but at a cost that they go through with a trial. The trial he directed. So then it's about how Louis could die after a brief happiness or he could find a way to save him - through being close to the whole thing maybe. He's still directing the trial when it comes time. And to that point he may not have known what to do to save him, so just play into it. But I think he'd have still desired being a savior, cause Louis is what he really chose. He maybe legitimately just didn't know if he could be.

And, I don't think he could.

Him being powerful enough to prevent it all is an assumption we've just taken to heart because he has proven capable of a lot. I think Armand's aware of his power - he kept the coven at bay for as long as he can with it - but I think he's also aware of its limits. If thirteen bloodthirsty vampires all came after him, a lot like what had happened with Marius who was also incredibly powerful and ancient, I think he's in his mind that he couldn't take that on. Especially if he'd never desired killing anyone. It stands to also reason these limits are such that he probably couldn't have controlled the entire audience the way Lestat did. Maybe memory is being wacky and he tried as we saw, but it was Lestat who really succeeded, one upping him. Or maybe he'd just given up the hope for it and so it came as a complete surprise.

You also have to think about how beholden the laws are to the coven. Armand's been at the point where he kind of doesn't care for them, or at least he's become lenient and curious about the alternative when it comes to Louis, but the coven is founded on their principles or it wouldn't hold together. So, it's either to dissolve if Louis and Claudia, and Madeleine were to all show the laws can be broken without consequence. Or be mutiny, which is what did happen, and so if he doesn't let those happen then no one lives not even him. This is something that Armand has in mind when going through with it, I'm sure. Still plotting some way to save Louis, but he isn't powerful enough to sway the inevitable, so he figures he has to go along to at least save himself. If anything happens he wants to end up alive.

This may be the reason he needs the coven to keep existing, even though he hates it, it offers him something that's more written in stone, something guaranteed to last so long as consequences are had. It does pain him to do this but the coven was holding the keys to his very life over his head (Which I'd argue makes this whole thing a lack of a choice) and he'd rather stick to his life being miserable than die along with them. Much as Armand really wants love he'd feel safer in this 'forever' thing. I think he's being truthful when he says this.

I think it's truthful as well he was degraded with Santiago's take over, he wasn't secretly leading anything by the time the play was happening. 'The choice' was something Armand felt building he just didn't know when or how it would happen. Santiago being the one to come up with the plan in secret which included trapping Armand to join them or not seems to fit. 'we can kill you now or you can make yourself useful, your choice.' That could've happened at any moment but I think the night Madeleine is turned is probably when they confronted him. Santiago wanted control from Armand so he gets him where it hurts most, forcing a betrayal he wouldn't be able to refuse. Of course he could've tried to fight back, and he did say he could've, but of course there's just this large part of him who would love to be debased from leadership. It's sort of an easy choice to go along and keep going along, when it does debase him, he does get his love as he always wanted him for even just a short while, and ultimately he will live. I don't think he fought very hard. I don't think he found it in himself to.

I think he rides so hard on the he could not prevent it train because he never actually acted to know whether or not he really could've, adamantly believing at the time he couldn't. Coming only to regret it later that he hadn't done enough. He saw how actually easy it was to take the whole coven out when Louis did it, and knew from then on he probably could've done something. He'd rather say anything until it's true instead of be honest with what he really knows.

It may be true as well though that when this play was first conceived, and through rehearsal, he may have been of the shared opinion Claudia and Madeleine would be better out of the picture. Not for laws but selfish reasons. Which would be just another layer of sway over his choice, maybe even another reason why he took the role in it that he did. It was personal to him, he felt Claudia was a lot to blame for things turning out like this. So if he couldn't say no to it, at least he'll exact his little revenge for how Claudia had to go and ruin everything. But again I don't think he actually cared so long as neither of them were being disruptive to his life. Awful thing is he probably thought up till it was too late that they would be. If he really could've prevented anything it was to not let his own spite rule him so much, maybe then he would've prevented a whole lot more.

Now clearly none of this is justified, there was a heavy amount of coercion but I think Armand is very much to be held responsible for what went on in Paris, and his own actions to take part in this as closely as he had were deplorable. His inaction culpable. He's responsible for all the lies and manipulation that took place as a part of this too. And thereafter.

Anyway stay away from cults.

[bleached-d-soul]

Size Queen Not

(A commission for the friend of my good friend @the-wayward-arc)

Schnees got whatever they wanted.

It wasn’t a rule. It wasn’t a creed either.

No, the Schnees getting their hands on whatever their hearts desired was a simple matter of fact. A law of nature, if you will. If they wanted a newer and bigger mansion, they would get it. If they wanted best training and education, they would buy it as well. What money couldn’t buy, they would simply get it through their connections. And if those failed, then the Schnees would just have to get their hands dirty.

Just because they were rich, that didn’t mean that they lacked power or determination to achieve their goals. After all, her grandfather was of humble origin who built the world’s greatest empire solely through his sheer effort and skill. The same qualities that were in her blood, after all.

No matter what it was, a true Schnee would never settle for anything less than perfection because a Schnee simply deserved only that of the highest quality.

Which is why Jaune Arc would never cut it as her boyfriend.

“Oh come on, Snow Angel, why won’t you give me a chance? Just one?” Jaune Arc smiled and bowed in a manner he thought elegant or charming. Which it was not. “I promise you, one date and I will never bother you again?”

It wasn’t the first time Jaune tried asking her out. Not that she could blame him. Weiss knew her value and understood why she attracted many guys\ and some girls’s interest. The difference between those people and Jaune was simply the fact that the former understood that they shouldn’t even try approaching her. A simple conclusion for anyone with a good enough brain.

Which Jaune Arc, to her own frustration, lacked.

In addition to his clear lack of common sense, he wasn’t as strong or as skilled as she wanted her lover to be. He certainly lacked the wit and charisma as well. But those flaws, along with his poor taste in clothes, music and hobbies, were mostly ignorable or fixable. Give her time and opportunity, she could mold Jaune into the perfect man for herself. No, what most certainly excluded him from her list of potential relationship candidates was a simple irredeemable fact.

Jaune Arc was simply not a man enough.

“And why would I even bother with a pencil-dick like you?”

Perhaps, she could have - should have - not phrased it so crudely. Especially with how the whole cafeteria fell silent the very next moment, save for a couple of people laughing or jeering at the boy’s expense. She could feel the attention of everyone on her and Jaune but didn’t let herself be bothered by it. She was a Schnee. And a Schnee always stuck to their words and actions.

No matter who and how much got hurt.

“Look, Jaune, I am sure there is a girl who might actually be satisfied by you, I really am. I just don’t think I am that girl.”

More quiet laughter and insults were thrown his way. Not that Weiss cared or even considered. She was already fed up with Jaune’s pathetic attempts at flirting so much that another one would end with him meeting a very sad and bloody death.

Of course, it was not his fault he was born with a small dick that could never properly satisfy her. Honestly, she kind of felt bad for him and whichever poor girl hooked up with him. But she didn’t feel nearly bad enough to even entertain the thought of dating him let alone having sex with him. She would never risk her own happiness or satisfaction out of something as dumb as pity or sympathy.

“Do you get it now?”

He was silent. When he spoke, his voice was trembling.

“I get it, Weiss,” the blonde cast his gaze down on the floor. After saying that, he looked up looking so sad and yet hopeful. “I am really glad you-”

Whatever he had to say, she didn’t have any time or desire to hear and promptly returned to her breakfast. She wouldn’t let him worm his way into her graces with his sad eyes and pitiful face. She didn’t care for the similarly pitiful looks his or her own teammates threw he way either. And honestly, why would she? Would any of them settle for a guy who couldn’t keep up with you out of pity? What kind of relationship would that be?

Which is why Weiss, without any shred of regret, just got back to her lunch.

“You know, maybe you were too harsh on the poor guy, Weiss,” Yang said, without a small hint of awkward attempt at a joke. “ I mean, you didn’t have to go and bite his head off like that.”

“And in front of everyone like that,” Ruby chiped in.

She wouldn’t have any of that.

“I have already given him enough hints to get that I am not interested, haven’t I?” when there was no answer, she smirked victoriously at another agument won. “It’s his fault for not getting a message before the situation came to this.”

Judging by the frowns and small scoffs, her team didn’t agree with her. Not that it mattered. In time, they would see things her way and understand that she was in the right. After all, a Schnee never made a mistake.

And Weiss was a Schnee to the brain of her bone.

_______________________________________________________

That time passed and the day she rejected Jaune became one of distant memory. She was only thankful to whoever was up there that the harsh rejection seemed to work on the blonde buffoon. Not a single confession or embarrassing display in weeks was the development she desired, deserved and finally got. Especially now that she had a prime beefcake like Neptune making not so subtle attempts to gain her attention.

You see, as unpleasant as sterotypes were, some of them were true. Atlas and Vale men were rumored and often proved true to lack when it came to the sexual prowess. She wasn’t quire sure why but that hardly mattered. On ther other hand, people of Mistral and Vacuo were well-known for their exploits as lovers. Mistralian men were known as passionate and insatiable lovers, their exploites immortalized in countless works of Remnant’s best artists. And people of Vacuo had to establish official polygamy system simply because of how many women found them dissatisfied with their Kingdoms’ men after once tasting the love of the Vacuoans.

Why, she knew that mom didn’t hire those Vacuo guys to be her coaches for their experience and skills. And it’s not like Winter loved to take vacations on Mistralian beaches out of her love for hot sand and salty water.

When it came to her family, Weiss knew fully well of how her parents’ married life was less than perfect and how neglected she and Winter grew up as a result of it. She doubted anyone didn’t see that.

It was evident from all the silent treatments and passive-aggressive quarrels she was a witness for for as long as she can remember. It was only a couple of years back when she saw just what all those well-built faunus came to meet her mom for that she realized that Jacques not only was a poor father and husband but also complete waste of a human in bed.

Which is why Weiss promised herself that not only she would find and claim the biggest roughest guy she could find, but also that she would never ignore her own happiness for the sake of others.

And boy did she score with Neptune!

Neptune had it all. He was smart, unlike Jaune. He had charisma and wit, something that the blonde lacked. He was a proper fighter with amazing weapon and on-field experience, which couldn’t be said about Arc. And he was from Mistral, while Jaune was from Vale. Full marks in every category!

Of course, that didn’t guarantee tthat she would choose him as her boyfriend. No, she was not that easy. First he had to prove he could be an adequate partner outside their bedroom. Movie dates, restaurant dinners, picnics in the park and all of that other chick flick stuff. So far, Neptune did quite well on all of those. He treated her properly like a lady such as her deserved.

And soon he would fuck her like a Size Queen slut like her desired. And by soon, of course, she meant today’s date. She finally decided that Neptune was worthy of fucking her. After a nice dinner, she would lead him into the hotel room she had already booked and would finally enjoy the cock she rightfully deserved. And Neptune? He would finally enjoy the woman who can take his full length and vigor. And come tomorrow, they would-

“Hey, Schnee, got a minute?”

Weiss huffed as her thought process was interrupted. She looked around the locker room only to find herself alone with Vernal Wennbar, a major troublemaker and a lout in general. Just what could an exchange student possibly have to say to her other than try and bully her into her little servant again? “What is it, Vernal? I am in a hurry so you better not be wasting my time.”

Something was different from normal, that much Weiss gathered from how wide and smug the tomboy girl grinned. No scowling or snapping or growling, just a self-satisfied smile that only one who had complete upper ground could have.

“Oh, don’t worry, I just really wanted to thank you for tearing that Arc hunk a new one. You did all of us girls a major favour with that.”

Weiss smiled at the praise, enjoying another confidence boost. Then again, of course, she was right about Jaune and, therefore, in her actions against him. No doubt that many girls found his lousy courting attempts as frustrating and pathetic as she did. Hell, she could even imagine Jaune seeking pity sex from some of them only to be turned down once the girls saw how inadequate he was.

“You and the other girls are most welcome,” she let her pride be shown with a big smile. “Hope he doesn’t bother anyone anymore.”

“Heh, I would say it is the opposite.”

Excuse her?

“Whatever do you mean?”

Vernal smiled, this time less like a self-satisfied school girl and more like thief who showed off the stolen loot.

“Oh, you know, after your rejection, a couple of girls around here got curious over just how little the little boy blonde was. So they snuck into the shower room after the combat class with their phones ready for grade-A prank…” the girl drew out her scroll and showed the picture of the team NDGO. “You could say they got exactly what they wanted… And definitely more than they could take.”

Weiss stared at the picture of four girls before her, not quite able to make out their faces at first. The quality of the picture was perfect, but it was just how white and messy their faces were that made telling them apart difficult. Nebula - if she remembered right - was the one holding the camera and the one who looked the least fucked of the four. The others? Eyes rolled and tongues out, faces covered in thick white cream of semen, her teammates looked less like huntresses and more alike a well-used fuckdolls.

Which, Weiss suspected, was exactly how they got treated.

But the true star of the picture were not the girls in it or how well-fucked they were. No, instead, Weiss’ eyes were drawn to the thick fat piece of manmeat that all four girls rested their heads next to. Covered in lipsticks marks and girls’ juices, the hot rod of the thickest flesh she had ever seen was just as hard and big as she imagined a perfect Alpha cock to be. And that was after thoroughly dominating these four girls? Who? Who did it belong to?

It certainly couldn’t have been Jaune Arc.

“You are dripping, Schnee,” Vernal chuckled and Weiss noticed just how damp her panties got, the thick sticky juices running down her thighs without shame. “Not gonna blame you though, I fucked myself stupid with one of my toys the first time I saw it. Not that I could ever go back to those after tasting the real deal.”

With a swipe of a finger, the picture changed to the new one. This one showing off Vernal in all her fucked stupid glory. Whereas the picture before showed off only the faces of girls, this one showed exactly just how thoroughly this person had fucked the girl. Her neck and thighs were covered in raw savage bite marks. Her body was flush, the burning red hand marks all over her body. Even though it was no video, Weiss could swear she could see the twitching and convulsions of the girl’s body.

“You can’t see it here, but the guy made sure to really stretch me out down there,” Vernal sighed, her body shaking momentarily as she seemingly relived the fateful night. “I mean, I had my fair share of guys, but this one? This one is definitely a keeper. Only problem is there is very wild competition for him now. Rumor is, even Goodwitch is after him what with the sudden extra classes she assigned him.”

She wouldn’t be surprised if every woman was after someone with that meatstick between their legs. Just who the fuck was it? She saw the blonde pubic hair so it had to be a blonde. There were quite a lot of guys with hair like that. The first one who came to her mind Neptune’s teammate, Sun. Then again, the chances that she knew someone that hung were minimal.

“Vernal, I will seriously pay you if you tell me the identity of this man right now,” she presented her credit card. “Just name the price and the name.”

“I already told you, didn’t I? This is the Tiny Dick Arc you blew off a couple of weeks ago.”

Weiss growled. Impossible. Simply impossible! “Cut the bullshit already! There is no way this far hot thing belongs to Jaune Arc of all people!”

There was no way this was true. Absolutely, no fucking way Jaune was actually this hung and she rejected him. It was just some messed up and very unfunny prank from Vernal. Just an annoying attempt to get under her skin.

And by Gods did it work.

“Do you think I am stupid or something?”

Vernal chuckled, “Well~ You did turn the boy down before even seeing what he had to offer. And in such a public and humiliating manner to boot! No way he is fucking your brains out now. And now as all the girls are getting some of that as hard and as much as their bodies can take, you here are chasing after that Blueberry of yours. So yeah, I think you are pretty stupid.”

Weiss was about to argue when the other girl’s phone buzzed with new message.

“Oh look, here comes the one with the face in it!”

Weiss felt her legs grow weak as she recognized not just one but all three faces on the picture. Jaune looked unusually smug, a far cry from the awkward jibbering mess she usually talked to and saw. Meanwhile, Blake and Ruby, with looks of pure ecstasy and lack of regrets, seemingly stared her down from the other side of the screen. No,,, This couldn’t be happening…

Someone had to wake her up from this nightmare.

“Welp, my job here is done,” Vernal smirked as she sent Weiss an invite to some chat. “Just so you could see what the rest of the girls have to say about the blondie. Take care, Snow Angel~!”

As Vernal left, Weiss stared down at the invite to the chat group. Was it all true? If she accepted this invite, would she really see the countless girls who tasted that delicacy of a meat rod? Worse yet, would it actually prove that Jaune was the one giving it out to every single willing girl on campus?

With shaking finger, Weiss tapped on the invite button.

Two minutes in, she was rubbing herself stupid on the cold wet floor.

_____________________________________________________

“And then he just went at it like a beast~! Gods, you should have been there, girls. I thought all of you were exaggerating when you said he could do it for hours, but boy was I wrong!” Coco sighed dreamily as she showcased her cum-stained sweater and jeans. “Normally, I would skin the guy for ruining my clothes buuuut… He was all worth it~!”

“And then BAM! He goes all ten inches down my throat!” Neon laughed hoarsely. “I would say more but it reaaally hurts to talk right now.”

“I swear I never saw Arslan look like that!” Reese grinned as she sat next to the unconscious lioness huntress. “Just look at this stupid smile of hers! Jaune must have fucked her brains out with that dick of his!”

More and more, Weiss watched with growing frustration as the girls sang praises about that blonde doofus. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were not for the seemingly endless stream of pictures and videos.

Coco was fucked dressed up as a slutty nurse, whore of a cop, horny teacher and even some superheroine based on squirrels. Needless to say, none of her outfits survived the blonde and his bestial passion as he tore her clothes off reducing them to nothing but rags.

Neon’s makeup was a mess but the rough throatfucking seemingly made up for it without any problem. Between moments of breathing and rest, she made sure to mock and ridicule Jaune with petty insults only to be silenced once more and fucked even more mercilessly.

Arslan let out the string of curses, swearing her mind off as Jaune plowed her tight ass while Reese was furiously rubbing herself against his leg like a bitch in heat. Once he came inside the poor lioness, the lime-haired thrill seeker pounced on her teammate. As she started eating out her friend, Reese eagerly shook her ass in a desperate attempt to get Jaune to fuck her too.

Those girls Emerald and Cinder looked to be in complete and utter bliss as they services Jaune’s enormous cock. While Emerald was dutifully polishing his loaded nutsack, Cinder passionately bobbed her head up and down the blonde’s thick shaft.

May Zedong, bound and gagged, was taking the roughest anal pounding. While the two girls - twins that Weiss had never seen before - were begging for Jaune to do them next. As the video later showed, he did so until the two were so drunk on his cum they actually started making out with each other!

Even the rumor about Professor Goodwitch was true! Reduced to a pathetic display so unlike herself, their professor was on all fours with her own pointer stuck in her asshole as she begged for her Master to come and breed her!

And no matter what video she watched it, it all ended with the girls fucked into sweet submission as they all but worshipped Jaune after that. Even worse, the entire chat was filled with the girls thanking Weiss for starting it all.

What pissed her off even more was her inability to stop fucking herself to those videos!

“Oh God… Gods above…!” Weiss bit her lip as she drove her largest dildo inside her tight dripping pussy. Back and forth, she thrusted it with all the speed and strength her arms allowed. “I am cumming! Cumming~!”

With a loud whine, she squirted again, her juices spraying all over her bed. Her bedsheets were as drenched in her essence by now, but she couldn’t stop. With every single video she watched, she found herself in less and less control of her body.

“Nghhh,” she let out another shaky breath as she lost any strength. Her legs were jelly and her mind was a mash. She needed a real dick… A proper hard and hot cock to violate her pussy and ass… “D-Damn it…”

She needed a cock. She needed a cock in her little needy pussy. She needed someone to fuck her into a bloody mess!

Her phone buzzed with a sudden voice mail.

“Hey, Snow Angel! It’s me, Neptune. I wanted to ask if you wanted to go out for some Mistralian cuisine? There is this new place I found and I thought we should check it out. What do you say?”

Weiss’ mood brightened. Yes, this was her way out of this desperate state. Sure, she would have to break a few of her own rules but by Gods she was getting laid. Neptune and her would go on a lovely date in a good restaurant. Have a magical romantic evening. And then he would throw her down and show what a real man was like in bed. Heh, she was sure that Neptune was even bigger than Jaune!

“Meet you at six!”

And after that, she would post all the pictures and videos she wanted in this godforsaken chat. And then she would show all these stupid girls how pathetic they were for running after Jaune Arc while she snatched the prime-class meatstick for herself and only for herself. No one would doubt her judgement again. No silly slut would condescend to her again. And then…

The world would be right as it should be: Herself a winner and others losers.

___________________________________________________________

“You are in a really good mood today! Something great happened to you?”

Weiss laughed lightly at his joke, enjoying their nice little walk from the restaurant. Everything was going according to her plans. A romantic movie that didn’t shy away from nudity and slow sensual sex scene. A candlelit dinner with the food pakced full of ingredients to leave them both filled with unreleased libido and enough hunger for each other.

And now, to top it all off, they were at Crimson Crest.

The establishment was one of infamous reputation among those who lived an active and very… passionate lifestyle. Most people only knew this place as very eccentric BnB place or a ridiculously expensive diner. But Weiss, thanks to her connections, was very much aware of the true reason why people came here.

Crimson Crest was, crudely put, the Heaven for the Depraved.

All the comforts and toys and tools to enjoy the experience with your partner or partners to the fullest. And, of course, absolute secrecy. While she planned on sendind the proof of her superiority to the girls, it was her right to do so. Not some sleazy receptionist’s.

“Oh, Weiss and Neptune? What are you guys doing here?”

For a moment, Weiss’ heart skipped a beat as she recognized the voice. What was she doing here?

“Yang,” Weiss said, not hiding her lack of enthusiasm. She had no quarrel with the blonde but she wanted to get to fucking Neptune as soon as possible and idle chat was not worth wasting time on. “As you can see, Neptune and I are on a date. Why are you here though?”

“Weiss? Neptune?”

The answer came from the behind them, in the form of an awkward-looking Jaune. The second their eyes met, the awkwardness was pushed back and replaced by the well-rehearsed confidence in the eyes of the blonde. He was putting on act - trying to look much calmer and stronger than he really was. Was it an attempt to not show weakness in front of her after the rejection?

Before either her or him could speak, Yang skipped over to Jaune and wrapped her arms around his, resting her head on his shoulder. The eager and smug grin she wore only pissed Weiss off more for some reason. “It was nice to chat, Weiss. But I think Jaune and I should continue on witt our date, right, Jaune?”

“R-Right.”

And so the two left upstairs, no doubt to add another video into the already enromous archive on the damned chat of theirs. Weiss growled as she watched Xiao Long sway her hips, shamelessly showing off her ass. She grew even more annoyed when she noticed the mezmerized look on her date’s face as he watched the two blondes walk away. Damn it, if he wanted to watch them so much…

Weiss had an idea.

“Sir?” she turned to the receptionist, flashing her platinum card. “Care to tell where that couple is staying?”

While the others would have to watch from the screens, Weiss would make sure Xiao Long got a live performance of a true Alpha Stud and Size Queen.

__________________________________________________________

Jaune couldn’t believe how much his life had changed in the past few weeks.

When he first came to Beacon, getting a girlfriend was more of a dream than a feasible goal. Being who he was, he was far more concerned with surviving the experience and learning how to fight properly. Back then, who could even imagine he would end up as popular with girls as he was? Certainly not himself.

Jaune whistled to himself as he checked his now much busier schedule. A breakfast with Ciel. Training session with Pyrrha and Arslan. Massages for the team CMSN. And then some extra classes with Glynda. That is, of course, unless some of the girls intercepted him and got him to fuck them into sweet surrender as they did it every single day before.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

He expected one of the girls. Or maybe Ren who forgot something before going to town. Instead, it was Weiss, in all her snow-white perfection. The perfection he grew to ignore after the public humiliation at her hands. Ironically enough, said humiliation was what started the chain of events that led to him becoming the center of all the girls’ attention.

Not that any of that attention helped his view of her.

“…Hey, Jaune. How have you been?”

“I am fine,” he said with a bit more bite than he intended. “What about you?”

“Great. I… I have been great.”

His pettiness reared its ugly head.

“Oh, and what about Neptune?”

Weiss looked away, refusing to look him in the eyes. It has been a week since the two met again in the Crimson Crest. Yang made sure he was much busier enjoying himself with her than thinking of Weiss and Neptune. And for the first ten minutes, they did. Until Weiss, who he rightly assumed took the room right next to theirs, made a show of giving her first time to Neptune.

While taking not so subtle shots at him and Yang and all the other girls he slept with.

Her condescending rant about how girls at their school chased after unworthy guys and spread their legs for anyone with halfway-decent dick was something straight out of trashy porn Blake loved to read. Jaune was almost ready to leave with Yang when they heard Weiss unzip Neptune’s pants and then… Then nothing. Complete and utter silence.

What followed was Weiss’ awkward stammering and attempt to salvage the situation as she continued to praise Neptune’s cock in exaggerrated tone in a cheap attempt to make herself look better. Or sound better, to be correct.

Meanwhile, Jaune and Yang made sure to go at it extra hard. Jaune would lie if he said he didn’t enjoy putting extra effort into satisfying Yang as he listened to Neptune and Weiss’ much more subdued and akward lovemaking session. It wasn’t even ten minutes before Neptune told Weiss he was cumming. And it was not even an hour before the two of them would make another attempt at the passionate wild sex the two blondes were having.

From what Yang told him, once she was back in the dorm, she found Weiss desperately fucking herself with a bunch of dildos. A pitiful sight, as Yang described.

“N-Neptune is good. He is alright,” Weiss lied, her voice shaking. “Look, Jaune, can we talk? A man to a woman?”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t want or need to.

“Okay, I will begin,” she straightened her back and put back that same prideful look he fell in love with before. Now it just seemed like mask ready to slip off at any moment. “I understand that recently you have made quite the reputation for yourself among the local girls. There are lots of stories and, more importantly, proof of that. And so, in light of the recent development, I believe that you proved you can handle me like a real man. So rejoice, Jaune, because I am giving you a chance at relationship with me.”

… What?

“Are you serious right now?”

Weiss gave him a proud smirk. “You can’t believe your own luck, I understand,” She clearly mistook his frustrated shock for happy surprise. Then again, with her ego, he should have expected that much. “Of course, there are some rules to establish first. Effective immediately, you are not allowed to waste time on those unworthy little tramps. You have a real woman with actual needs to satisfy. Second of all, I-”

He wasn’t having any of it.

“W-Wait, where are you going?” SHe stood between him and the door, looking positively annoyed as if she was doing him a favor here. “Jaune, I know I might have been rude, but you are being ridiculous acting like this right now. You do know that Schnees rarely give a second chance to-Ouch!”

Jaune raised an eyebrow in surprise as Weiss found herself knocked forth by the door. Ignoring the groaning form of the heiress on the floor, Penny walked in with the widest smile on her face, “Good morning, Master Jaune! Mistress Ciel sent me over to retrieve you for breakfast. She is really missing her special cream in her needy pussy and growing impatient!”

Weiss looked absolutely speechless as the redhead grabbed Jaune by his bulging crotch, her smile turning sly and needy.

“And I myself could use some more lessons on the art of sex. Are you done with Miss Schnee over here?”

Jaune looked over at Weiss. Who, for the first time in all the months he knew her, looked lost and confused and ready to beg.

“Yes, we are done here. Let’s go, Penny.”

Jaune hoped Weiss would get the message and leave him be.

He was wrong. He didn’t know just how far a Schnee would go to get what a Schnee wanted.

You know how many guys want a girl who would be crazy for them? Countless.

In their fantasies, it is always this hot crazy girl who is ready to do anything to get you for herself. And sure, once upona time, Jaune himself thought that would be something great. That is, until Weiss decided to be that girl.

There were no cookies with her hair in it or creepy love letters. Instead, there was the neverending cycle of stalking him and trying to bribe him with money and gifts. And that was her restraining herself. On the worse days, she would sneak into whatever room where he was having sex with another girl and demand he fuck her there and then. Needless to say, Weiss killed the mood more than a few times.

He had to talk and fuck Neo and Cinder out of murdering her. Ciel and Arslan, too.

It was clear to him now that there was just no way to walk away from this.

“You win, Weiss. Let’s go.”

Which is why he would make sure that she never tried to have sex with him again.

As they entered the room in the Crimson Crest, Weiss pressed herself against Jaune, sealing their lips together. Hunger. Need. Desperation. Triumph. So many things he could feel in just her kiss. Pushing him onto the bed. Weiss made a show of stripping out of her dress. Her light flawless skin shone in the light of the room as she was left in nothing but violet lingerie too scandalous for the heiress like her.

“Let’s start with an appetizer.” She purred as she kneeled before him. Pulling out his cock, the heiress let out an ecstatic giggle as she breathed in the smell of his sweat and precum. “Enjoy this moment, Jaune. No men will ever have a Schnee kneel before him like this.”

And then she took it in her mouth, hungrily sucking on the swollen tip like the sweetest lolipop sheever tasted. She went further, taking his cock deeper as she struggled to properly swallow it down. Jaune found himself unimpressed. Maybe two or three months ago, he would be moaning in pleasure but now things were different.

As Weiss struggled to go further than four inches of his cock, Jaune couldn’t help but think of other girls. The alluring hunger of Blake as she acted like his own cum-craving pet. The adorable joy Ruby expressed at learning how to properly service him with her mouth. The sheer passion with which Yang sucked him off. The boundless energy in Nora. The skill and surprising ferocity in Pyrrha.

Cinder. Steele. Emerald. Neo. Arslan. Reese. May. Vernal. Ciel. Penny. Nebula. Dew. Gwen. Octavia. Glynda. Melanie. Miltia. And countless other girls came to his mind as Weiss tried and failed to perform an adequate blowjob. Honestly, the only thing that kept him hard at this point were the memories of being serviced by other girls.

So much for the Size Queen, he guesses.

Finally, after ten minutes of fruitless attempt to go lower than the tip, Weiss, with her face in tears and sweat, smirked, “I believe you must be close to cumming by now,” she said, still either too delusional or too stubborn to admit that she was out of depth, “But don’t worry, I won’t let you cum before you get the taste of the main course.”

She laid down before him, legs spread as her cunt dripped in needy expectation. Jaune tapped his erect cock against her swollen red pussy before inserting it inside. One inch. Then another. And then-

“STOP!” A sharp shriek cut through the air, making Jaune wince in surprise and roll his eyes a second later. He looked down at Weiss, her face was red and eyes were full of tears. She was breathing heavily, hands digging into sheets. “P-Pl-Please, p-pull it out! T-Too big! You are t-t-too big!”

Jaune stared at Weiss’ writhing and whining form in shock. Four inches. Four fucking inches and she was in tears, begging for him to pull out? After all that crap about being size queen and how only real men deserved to fuck her? After that fucking humiliating stunt she pulled on him? After weeks of nagging him to do it with her… She folded after four goddamn inches?!

Talk about lacking self-awareness.

“She is pathetic, isn’t she?”

Both looked over the entrance, where a smirking Vernal stood like a cat who caught her pray. Like a cat who did so not out of hunger but just pure amusement. .

“I mean, really, she talked all high and mighty about how no man shorter than ten inches was worth her time, and yet…” Vernal walked over to them and dragged Weiss onto the floor. With a vicious grin, she stomped on the heiress’ sensitive cunt, eliciting a cry of pain from her. “It appears the heiress bit off more than she could chew. Honestly, this is such a waste of a good damn cock.”

Vernal licked her lips before grabbing Weiss discarded panties. With the look of utter indifference, she used them to wipe off the heiress’ juices off him as if they annoyed her. Which, knowing how possessive and territorial she could be, was quite possible. Without even looking, Vernal threw the used panties onto Weiss’ face and barked a laugh, “Beat it, Pillow Princess. Jaune has a real woman here with him now.”

Weiss tried to disagree.

“W-Wait, this is my cock!” Weiss whined a she shakily tried to stand up. “Jaune! Tell her to get off you right this instant! I am ordering you as your-”

“Nobody is holding you here, Weiss,” Jaune growled out with the glare that made her silent. And wetter than she would admit. “So you can either leave now and go back to fucking yourself with toys or Neptune’s tiny prick-”

“-Or you can stay and watch what real sex looks like,” Vernal smirked as she mounted atop Jaune. “And then go fuck yourself stupid with your toys.”

With that said, the two started making out to Weiss’ growing horror and arousal. Unlike their kiss before, Jaune kissed Vernal back, their tongues locked in hungry lustful battle for dominance. It was nothing like their stiffer and more mechanical one… No, Vernal and Jaune were not two teens trying to prove something. But two animals hungry for each other in all the ways Weiss knew she could never satisfy Jaune or any other man.

The bed creaked under them, the sound of their hips slamming into each other echoing through the room along with moans and groans.

With her confidence shaken, Weiss silently watched, her fingers playing with her lonely pussy. It hurt… It hurt watching Jaune make out with Vernal. His strong hands roaming all over her body, his fingers digging into her shapely ass. The mixture of envy and despair and lust boiled and raged inside of her as she watched the bandit girl bounce up and down Jaune’s enormous length. It was clear that she didn’t do so with ease but the sheer pleasure she received from it obviously made the pain worth it.

“Ah~ Don’t stop, Jaune! Keep fucking me like that! Yes, just like that!” Vernal moaned as she forced herself further down his cock. “Skap my ass, Jaune! Slap my fucking ass, you-”

Before she could finish, Jaune started mercilessly spanking the girl’s bare ass red. Weiss stifled a cry at the mere thought of getting the same treatment. Her pale flat ass could never even handle such treatment… She was sure that if Jaune were to spank her like that, she would be rolling in tears on the ground. Their pace quickened, the two going at it wild like animals.

“Cum inside, Jaune! Please, please, please, cum inside and mark me right now!”

Weiss watched mezmerized as Jaune thrust inside Vernal one final time as Vernal let out a cry of ecstasy. She could see Jaune’s thick potent seed fill the bandit girl to the brim until some of it started leaking down. She wanted it so bad… If not get it inside, Weiss was desperate enough to run over and lick it off the dirty floor. But who was she to do so? She was no Alpha Bitch, Vernal was.

And her?

She was just fingering herself like a complete and utter loser. Imagining it was her who got to ride Jaune like a stud he was while the other girls watched with jealousy and despair. At least, she did so at first until her mind refused to let her enoy such fantasy. Instead, the other scenario played out in her burning little mind. Not even a fantasy but quite possible future.

One where she followed Jaune around like an obedient little pet. Always there when he would add another girl to the growing list of women who fell for him. Always there to watch as he fucked some other woman into complete submission as she fucked herself with her fingers like a brainless addict she was becoming. Denied and humiliated, always talked down and demonstrated how inadequate she really was…

Gods, why the fuck was it making her so hot?

“Hey, Ice Bitch,” a derisive voice of Vernal shook her out her stupor. Looking down at her with the expression of absolute glee, the bandit pressed her foot against Weiss’ all-too sensitive cunt, “Enjoying the show? Never took you for the freak who likes to watch. Then again, what else is a lousy little cunt like you good for?”

Her eyes burned with tars as she struggled to not break down. But it was not just the words being thrown at her but how they made her feel. Despite the anger and despair, Weiss found herself craving more. She wanted more of this humiliation. To be talked down and have her face shoved into how useless and pathetic she was.

“Oh look at this,” Vernal grinned as she spread her pussy lips in front of Weiss. The heiress watched with baited breath as some of the thick sweet semen leaked out of her abused twat. “You look so stupid right now, like a starving woman with bread dangled in front of you. But hey, since Jaune is never fucking a weakass bitch like you, I might give you a taste… If you tell me just how pathetic you are.”

To debase herself just for the taste of Jaune’s cum? No, horny or desperate, none of that mattered. She was a Schnee and a Schnee would never give up their pride even for all the riches and power and-

“I am a weak little whore, Mistress!”

She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t fucking do it. As she broke down, pathetically fingering her tight little pussy like a shamewul little slut, Weiss watched as Jaune came behind Vernal and wrapped his strong hands around her. They started kissing again, not even paying attention to her as she continued to talk about how weak and useless she was feeling right now.

“I-I was such a dumb little bitch… Thinking I was some Size Queen when I can’t even blow a real man like Jaune-”

“That’s ‘Master’ for you, bitch,” Vernal sneered, slapping her across the face. “Make the mistake again and I will lock your needy little cunt in a chastity belt and throw away the key.”

“M-My deepest apologies, Mistress. This dumb cunt is unworthy of your patience,” she felt her chest tighten at the amused looks her owners threw her way. Yes… Owners… She wouldn’t dare to look at them as anything else now. “Please, I know I am not worthy as a lover or even a fucktoy for Master, but please, let me watch! I will be a good servant and slave! Whatever you say, I will do it! Just let me stay by your side!”

And with that, Weiss sat up straight, looking up at the two other students like an obedient little pet. What could they tell her? It mattered none. If they told her to serve as their maid, she would do it. She would cook and clean and serve as their toy whenever they wanted. If they told her to strip naked and walk across Vale on all fours like a dog, she would be rip all her clothes and wear only a leash.

“P-Please… I am begging you.”

She watched as the two silently exchanged their thoughts. Jaune, to her horror, looked annoyed if nothing else. Which was his right. A pathetic bitch like her was of no worth to someone who could literally have any girl serving him. But Weiss found hope when Vernal looked her up and down, appraising her worth like a piece of meat. Finally, it was Jaune who spoke up first.

“Fine, Weiss, you can be my slave. But don’t try anything dumb ever again,” he grabbed her small flat tits and squuezed, making her squirt all over the floor. “You are beneath all the girls for me, remember that. Which means that any of the girls are your superior and have the full right to do whatever they want to, am I clear?”

“Yes, yes! Crystal clear!” she nodded eagerly, watching Jaune’s semen run down Vernal’s legs. “M-Master, may I please Mistress Vernal for you to fuck again?”

Jaune sighed and Vernal snickered. “Fine, but you better do a good job at it.”

“Yes, sir! Thank you so much, sir!”

It wasn’t long before Vernal was lapping up Jaune’s cold but no less delicious semen from Vernal’s cunt. Without much care, Vernal ordered her to perform a little show for Jaune while she was at it. And so, her mind busy and hot, Weiss shook and wiggled her ass for Jaune to watch. She knew she didn’t have as great an ass as Nora or Yang. Which is why her improvised twerking was all the more desperate.

Like a dumb animal, she followed their orders to the letter. She spanked her own ass till it was raw and red. She stuffed herself full of toys and vibrators until she could swear her pussy and ass would be torn apart by adding another. All night long, she was nothing more than a toy. She listened and obeyed and enjoyed every single second of it. She, a Schnee, was nothing more than their obedient little mindless servant.

And she was right where she belonged.

Later on tonight, she would post a video of herself on a leash. The video where she would happily announce that she officially belonged under Jaune’s heel and, by extension, under the heel of every woman he allowed. And from then on, there wouldn’t be a day when some girl wouldn’t make her watch as they pleasured Jaune. And Weiss? She would be there to watch and serve Jaune and his lovers.

She was who she was.

Not a Size Queen…

… but a Cuckquean Slave.

#rwby

[ourlittlesecretokay]

3, 7, 8 (I love these btw)

Thank you!! I combined the last two, because I have executive control and a power complex

The way you said “I love you” with a scream

The way you said “I love you” as a thank you

The way you said “I love you” as an apology

“I don’t see why you care so much!”

“I don’t care!” She punctuated the statement by a shove, knocking him back a step.

“Fine, if you want to be a child about it, that’s fine.” He waved the papers in the air, equal parts exasperated and exhausted. “Pardon me for, oh, I don’t know, caring about your opinion!”

“I don’t see why you would bother! I don’t care!”

“Evidently!” But then she was slamming the kitchen door in his face, and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t let it drop.

“No!” storming in, he let the door bang open, “You do NOT slam doors in my face!”

“Since when?” Turning to face him, she stood stiff, her arms crossed. Didn’t he have sense enough to leave her alone?

“I told you I’d take it out if it bothers you so much!”

“I’m not bothered!”

“You are LITERALLY only hurting yourself here!”

“What, are you offended I’m not more jealous?”

“Jealous? We’ve moved past jealous into enraged. Jealous would be much more reasonable! I could work with jealous!”

“Well I’m not! You do whatever the hell you want!”

“Oh my g- It’s just a script!”

“A script which YOU wrote.”

“No, not me, i-”

“Sorry, not you, whatever fucking alias you’re using for this one!”

“Language.” The corners of his mouth turned down, still finding the time to reprimand her. “I asked if it was going to be an issue, and if it’s not-”

“It isn’t! I genuinely do not see why you would possibly think I’d have an issue with it.”

“Well now you’re just overdoing it. Seriously? It’s just a play. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Of course it doesn’t! God, you’re so stupid!”

“Fine, you know what? I’m keeping it in. If you’re so OBVIOUSLY unperturbed by it, then it won’t be a problem!”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

They stood in silence, neither one looking at the other.

“It’s shitty writing anyway,” she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

“EXCUSE me?”

“I said, it’s shitty writing! You’re a bad writer!” Her finger jabbed at his chest. He scowled, irritated beyond belief.

“Oh, because you could do so much better?”

“I could! Who even talks like that? God, if the audience isn’t already nauseous from watching you makeout with someone on stage, this dialogue will put them under for sure!”

“That-” he gestured with his finger, trying to keep his anger coherent, “is uncalled for!”

“Oh, and I’m the oversensitive one? You’re the one throwing a hissy fit over an honest critique!”

“You’re not being honest nor fair!”

“What can I say, maybe you’re a bad influence after all.”

“Look,” he held his hands out in surrender, “I’ll take it out. All you have to do is say you want me to.”

“I! Don’t! Care! I’m just trying to keep you from embarrassing yourself. It sounds like you’ve never met a woman in your life! I mean, honestly,” snatching the papers from his hand, she began to read aloud, “‘Now that I know you exist, how could I ever survive without you?’ What the hell is that? No self-respecting woman would ever say that!”

“Maybe they would, if they weren’t so impossibly callous.”

“Callous!”

He shrugged, “I’m only speaking hypothetically. If you choose to take offense to that-”

“Okay, then what about this,” she jabbed at the paper irately, “explain just what the hell this is supposed to be.”

“It’s a love scene.”

“It’s something, alright. ‘You tremble beneath my hand like a shivering mollusk?’ Honestly, who talks like that?”

“Don’t be mad simply because you don’t have the soul of a poet!”

“Oh my god,” she shook her head. “If you’re gonna exploit loopholes in our marriage, at least have the dignity to do it right!”

“It’s a play, it doesn’t mean anything!”

“But you wrote it!” She slammed the script down on the counter, “You sat up all night and imagined how it would feel to sleep with another woman, wrote it down, terribly, I might add, and plan on sharing it with everyone while I sit there trying very hard not to look like an idiot while you make out with some lady on stage!”

“So it DOES bother you?”

“Yes it bothers me!” She lifted her hands up, exasperated, “It bothers me so damn much! It bothers me that you are so much more concerned with how things look for you that I can go to hell so long as I make you look good while doing it!”

“It’s not that deep-”

“No, it’s not! That’s the problem. You’re so fucking vain, anything beyond an inch of depth puts you out of your league. You want to kiss women on stage? Fucking whatever. Just write something better than a Shakespearean porno opening.”

“You think it sounds like Shakespeare?”

“I think that you’re an incomprehensible idiot!”

“Watch it!”

“No, it’s okay, I’m a fucking idiot too! I should have known better than to love a man who’s more in love with his ego than me.” She slammed the papers against his chest. Catching them in his hands, he looked at her quietly. She took a shattering breath in, gritting her teeth. Feeling rather awkward, he cleared his throat.

“Do you really think I wrote a play just to cheat on you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe,” she shrugged, not meeting his eyes, “I’ve never pretended to understand you.”

“No offense, but if I wanted to cheat on you, I would just do it. Do you think writing plays is easier than just kissing someone?”

“With dialogue like that? Yes.”

“That’s cruel.”

“It’s true.”

Stepping forward, he caught her face between his hands, brushing her hair back, “You’re impossible, you know.”

“Hey, I-”

“No, it’s okay. I like my women difficult.”

“Not the line to use right now.”

He laughed, amused at her irritation. “Do you really think I would be so unkind?”

“Yes.”

“Poor Violet, so mistreated by her unkind husband.” Still smiling, he kissed her forehead. “It would be poetic though, wouldn’t it? Using theater both to catch and leave you?”

She scoffed, “Maybe you should write a play about that instead.”

“Maybe.” He paused, quiet. “I can’t believe you think my play is bad.”

“Well, it’s not IRREDEEMABLE, persay. It’s just… not good.”

“You wound me, Countess.”

“You deserved it.”

“Perhaps I did.” Amused, he kissed her lips. “Although, in the future, may I recommend just admitting your infatuations? It would save us both a lot of time.”

“Infatuation might be too strong a word.”

“Obsession? Adoration? Passion?”

“You’re pushing your luck.”

“Let’s see how far it takes me then.” Smiling, he kissed her again, leaving the script forgotten behind in the light of her favor.

The way you said “I love you” as a thank you

The way you said “I love you” as an apology

“I’m FINE.”

“Nope,” she pushed at his back, trying to steer him back upstairs, “you most certainly are not.”

“I don’t see what you’re so upset about. It’s not-” his protest was interrupted with a hacking cough.

“It absolutely is, and I will not have you germing up my nice clean house.”

“I’m not even sick.”

“Then you won’t mind taking a day off anyway.”

“I’m not-” but then she was shoving him into the bedroom, a woman determined, and he knew there was no point in arguing. “Fine. If you want to do all the work yourself, be my guest.”

“Sounds good. Now please, try to get some sleep.”

“If anything at all happens, you come and get me.”

“What’s going to happen? I swear, you’re so paranoid.” Tugging off his jacket, she pushed him towards the bed.

“Will you at least bring me food? I might as well get something out of this.”

“Sure. Just, please. Stay put.”

“If you insist,” he clicked his tongue, more amused than annoyed.

She didn’t become worried until it became two hours since she’d last heard from him. Usually his silence indicated some sort of nefarious plot, and now she was worried he had actually managed to sneak out. However, when she came up, food in hand, she found him pale and sweating in a shallow sleep. He awoke when she carefully set the mug on the table beside him.

“Violet,” he whispered.

“Yes?”

“I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying.” Lightly, she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You have a fever, but you’re not dying.”

“I’ve been poisoned.”

“You’ve not been poisoned.”

“After everything, this is how it ends.”

“Okay, actor man.” She handed him a glass of water, “Here, drink this.”

“And so I go,” he closed his eyes, his voice low and hoarse. “Not with a bang but a whimper.”

“Alright. I’ll go pick up some cough medicine. Try to drink that entire glass by the time I’m back. Do you want anything else?”

“Whiskey.”

“Not whiskey.”

“You can’t refuse a dying man his last wish.”

Not bothering to respond, she opened the window, letting in some fresh air, “If you’re up to it, take a cold shower. It’ll make you feel better.”

“You’re a terrible nurse.”

“Something tells me you’re an even worse patient.”

“I crave the release of death.”

“Okay, I’ll be back.” She patted his head placatingly, shutting the door quiet behind her.

He could not remember the last time he had been so horribly inconvenienced. He was a busy man; he didn’t have time to get sick. Quarantined to his own sweaty solitude, the minutes ticked into hours. Eternities flew by, dizzy and achy timeless expanses. He didn’t know it was possible for your very bones to ache.

It had finally caught up with him; every single terrible thing he had ever done ever, and now he was paying the price. Damn her for leaving him in this state. It was as if she didn’t even care. Maybe he would die, just to show her. Then she’d be sorry. His revenge fantasy easily turned over to a daydream about her as a more sympathetic nurse, crying over his lowly state, stroking his face and remarking upon how very very brave he was. He closed his eyes, the pressure in his head pounding against his skull.

When he opened them again, the light had moved across the walls. It took him a moment to realize he had been sleeping, for all the good it had done him; he was just as tired and groggy as before. Looking over, he saw her placing some more things on his bedside table.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. How are you feeling?”

He shrugged feebly, forcing out a weak cough.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’ve fended off death thus far. Here, sit up,” pulling at his shoulder, she managed to get him somewhat less horizontal. “Take this.”

“What is it?”

“It’ll bring your fever down.” She dropped a white pill into his hand.

“I’d much prefer a cyanide capsule.”

“I’m sure you would.” Handing him the glass of water, she stared at him until he successfully swallowed it. “And let me get this, you’ve sweat clean through it.” She tugged at his shirt, snapping the buttons open and pulling it over his shoulders. Grateful for the cool air, he lay back down, exhausted and dizzy but mostly embarrassed at being so entirely undone.  

“I’m not helpless, you know.”

“I’m aware.”

“I’m still a lethal force.”

“Of course.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know.”

He almost felt bad for being so irritable, but it was utterly beyond his control. His own body was conspiring against him. He heard her move a few more things around and then she cleared her throat quietly, touching his arm lightly.

“Alright then. If you need anything-”

“Wait,” he caught her wrist, holding her beside him. “Can you stay?”

There was a moment’s pause before she responded. “Sure.” The mattress sank beside him as she perched on the edge, stroking her fingers over his hair, “Should I just be quiet, or?”

“No, keep talking.” His voice was more mutter than speech. “It’s nice.”

“Do you want me to read to you? I mean, I can, if you want.”

“That depends. Do you have anything good?”

“I absolutely do.” He heard her shuffling things around once more and then, settling gently, she began to read aloud, her free hand still stroking his hair, “Miss Adela Strangeworth stepped daintily along Main Street on her way to the grocery. The sun was shining, the air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy rain-”

“Wait, wait,” he stopped her, “are you sure this is good? Because it sounds like it’s gearing up to be absolutely awful.”

“Trust me,” he could hear the smile in her voice, “it’s good.”

“Alright. But if it’s boring, that’s on you.”

“A risk I’m willing to take.” Clearing her throat, she began again where she had left off. “Let’s see… The air was fresh and clear after the night’s heavy rain, and everything in Miss Strangeworth’s little town looked washed and bright.”

“Violet?”

She sighed, “It won’t get any better if you don’t let me get anywhere.”

“No, it’s not that. I just… love you, is all.”

Smiling, she stroked his forehead, brushing his hair back. “Feeling guilty about yelling at me?”

“Somewhat. But mostly I just thought you should know, since this is the end and all.”

“Oh, of course. Should I continue?”

“Please.” Closing his eyes again, he let her carry on.

It was well into the night by the time he awoke next. She was still beside him, her finger tucked between the pages of the book where she had left off. The silly girl had fallen asleep in her clothes. Quiet as he could manage, he sat up, pulling her shoes off for her. She stirred, groaning awake.

“What time is it?”

“Late.”

Rubbing at her eyes, she sighed, “How are you feeling?”

“Pretty terrible. I’ll survive, though.”

“Glad to hear it. God, why is it so hot in here?”

Smirking, he reclined again, pressing a kiss to her forehead before pausing, pulling back ever so slightly, “Violet?”

“Yes?”

“You might want these,” reaching over her, he guiltily handed her the bottle of pills.

She sighed, “Perfect.”

“I love you.”

“I know, I know.”

He kissed her forehead again, her flushed skin hot beneath his lips, “Anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Here,” smirking, she handed him the book, settling against his shoulder, “you can take a turn.”

“Fair enough.” Leaning his cheek against the top of her head, he waited for her settle, and then as softly as he could manage, he picked up right where they had left off.

[urchinassassin]

Which Way Home

Every day since Ala Mhigo had fallen, Bernard Undertaker had clung to a single, all-consuming hope. Through Garlean interrogation, through every apparent betrayal he committed, through every lie he told, every step he took, through his false marriage and all the degradation and humiliation and pacification the Garlean Empire heaped upon him, he remained in control. He remained, he knew, his own man. He remained loyal to his city above all else, because he knew what it would take to bring Ala Mhigo back: Ashley Riot.

It was an absurd thought, any observer might have noted – one man wasn't going to spring a revolution. One man wasn't going to turn the tides. And even if one man could, Bernard had sold hundreds to the Garleans – betrayed the people he claimed to act in service of time and time again to save his own skin. He would be considered, if his acts were reported, one of Ala Mhigo's greatest traitors. History would write him as compliant in the Garlean occupation, as a supporter of the mad king Theodoric, as an unquestioned and irredeemable villain. If given the opportunity, Ala Mhigo would see him executed for his crimes. He would be tossed in a mass grave with other Garlean sympathizers, and that would be his story closed.

He had accepted that when the first Garlean boots had crossed the city gates and he had recognized what had to be done. He had accepted that no matter what, his own survival would be necessary. He had accepted that he would need to do things that no one else could ever understand in order to maintain his position, because standing obstinate against an overwhelming force was suicide, and no matter how “noble” historians claimed a last stand to be, it would accomplish nothing.

Selling out individuals who played at being a resistance? Selling out teenagers with stolen grenades who would blow up a single magitek reaper and think they'd won the war? Selling out old men who'd rather die a hero than live on their knees? Wasn't he just giving them what they wanted? A good many of them had never wanted a free city, Bernard knew. They wanted everyone else to see them. They wanted the others to see that they were true Ala Mhigans. It was the false, overemotional, idiotic pride that Bernard had always seen in those around him and had exploited his entire life. All he did, then, when he sold out the locations of weapon caches, when he informed on people whose idea of a revolution consisted of half-baked assassination plans without the smallest chance of success, was give the fools what they really wanted. If they were remembered at all, they'd be remembered as heroes, and he a villain.

That was what made Ashley Riot so important.

The people couldn't unite behind a villain. When the revolution came, when the armies marched on the city and he saw their flag fly again, when the altars to Rhalgr were restored, when the Garlean army was crushed beneath a proud city's populace, they would never follow a villain.

Bernard couldn't be a hero and survive, but Ashley could. Former Kingsguard or no, Ashley Riot was a man whose tale could be spun into a legend that could save Ala Mhigo in its own right.

It had been crucial to internalize that truth for the past twenty years, rather than simply admit that Ashley was one of only two friends he had ever had. To sacrifice others for the sake of a hero was tragic justice; to sacrifice others for the sake of a friend was the act of a selfish man and a coward.

Ashelia had gone to see her father, and Bernard knew Ashley was under some kind of Garlean control. He suspected Ashley Riot would've chosen to die fighting rather than make the choice Bernard so readily had, and that meant the Garlean bastards had some sort of leverage on him. Perhaps Ashley thought his family were their hostages. Perhaps he thought they were dead, that he had nothing else to live for. Whatever it was, Bernard knew which path Ashley would take. He knew Ashley too well, and some things never changed. There was only one path to Ala Mhigo beyond Baelsar's Wall that was fast enough, secluded enough, and lightly-traveled enough for Ashley Riot. So Bernard stood and waited.

Eventually, he knew, Ashley would come.

It wasn't two bells before he was proven right – a man nowhere near as touched by age as Bernard was came through the woods at a full sprint. A vision from the past. He looked half dead from exhaustion. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. That may very well have been the case.

And Ashley saw him, too, and showed nothing. This wasn't Ashley the friend, this was Ashley the Riskbreaker. Ashley was working, just as when Marco had died, and Bernard recognized immediately this was going to be difficult. The spear, drawn and leveled at Bernard so quickly it looked almost as if Ashley had been carrying it the entire time, confirmed Bernard's suspicion.

Be that as it was, for the first time since Marco's death Bernard found himself unable to suppress an emotion: he actually, genuinely grinned at his friend.

“Hello, Ashley Riot.”

But Ashley didn't move, didn't blink, didn't twitch. Bernard considered his tone, and his words, carefully. Ashley must have recognized him, he realized – had he not, Bernard would have a spear through his chest. Somewhere, then, was the Ashley he knew.

Maintain courtesy. Don't give him a reason to attack. Keep him talking. He's not like to interrupt you. If you're an enemy, he'll want answers. He'll want something.

“Please,” Bernard continued. “I know I haven't aged as gracefully as you have, but surely you recognize me? Or is my assumption the Garleans did something to your head correct?” Friendly condescension. Connect emotionally. Present as a friend, present the idea he's being manipulated. Lay the groundwork. Don't frame as an accusation, frame as an option, as a possibility – you're not ordering him, you're offering an explanation to him.

“Don't.” Ashley said. His voice was raspy. Bernard suspected he hadn't used it much recently. Had Ashelia not found him after all? Ashley took a deep breath. Bernard recognized he was preparing to attack. Defuse this. He's not himself. You have to break him free.

“Are you going to put the spear away or not?” Get the weapon down. You can't beat him in a clean fight. It's been too long. You don't have surprise. You don't even have your weapons ready. He's got reach, drive, conditioning. Probably hasn't stopped fighting for twenty years. “I've looked too hard for you to fight you. I'm old. All my fighting is with words and information now. I certainly doubt I could fight you to a draw, let alone beat you.” Be ready to draw. Ashley will aim for the heart. Get the spear away, get inside his range, and I'll have a chance.

Best not to think of that.

Bernard's familiar, the ahriman his son had dubbed “Ahri”, manifested behind him, sensing the stress his master was under. Ashley didn't lower the spear, but his posture, the movements of his eyes shifted almost imperceptibly. Good. He's thinking. If he keeps thinking, he won't attack, and I won't have to take this further.

“What did you do to her. To both of them. To-” Ashley cut himself off. He was struggling. Fighting. Good.

“I tried and failed to save Alma. Tia I had no contact with until quite recently. To be honest, I wasn't even aware they'd made it out alive. The Garleans made sure of that.” Grab a fact, something easily proven, something he could find out from a commoner. “But when Gaius van Baelsar is killed by a Riot, the word spreads.” To Bernard's surprise, Ashley gritted his teeth.

He hasn't heard? They'd have locked him up until it was old news, then. Ah, but if he runs and asks someone, he'll get the answer and know I'm right, and I still win.

“That's what I'm to think, then? When you never cared one whit for them to begin with?”

And for the second time, Bernard's self-control slipped. Somewhere inside himself, he knew Ashley didn't know. Couldn't know. But the fact he had given so much and the man he gave it for dared to accuse him of this was too much. His temper flared and his voice grew much harsher, as an angry parent's. “You have no idea what I sacrificed so this day could come, Ashley. You have no idea how many are dead, died on your behalf. Died so I could find you. Died so I could make certain your daughter was safe, once I knew she'd survived at all. It doesn't matter if I liked Tia,” Which is good, because she's nothing close to what you deserve and frankly you should never have stuck with her to begin with, oh Rhalgr do I want to show you how right I was but now is not the time- “what matters is that you cared about them. That was enough to give all I could for them.”

And Ashley looked so angry at Tia's name, looked more poised to strike than Bernard could ever remember seeing him. Finally, his friend spoke, in a quiet tone that told Bernard just how dangerous Ashley was in this moment: “You murdered them.”

And there it was. That was the lie that turned Ashley Riot into a Garlean agent. That was what it took to make him betray his city, betray his people. It all made sense, now. But it was no less disappointing. Did he actually care that much about his damned wife? About a daughter he hadn't known but for a few years?

Either way, now Bernard had to talk. He knew Ashley wouldn't interrupt him, and that meant he had to say all he could before Ashley could stop him. Give him a reason to think. Give him information to digest. More, and more, and more. Drown him in it. Overwhelm the lies. “So that's what they've got you believing! There it is. That's what it would take, then. It does make sense. The only thing that would keep Ashley Riot from his family is the lie that they lie dead. No, Tia and Ashelia are both alive. Ashelia has her own free company. Has dreams about her father all the time. My best guess is there's some sort of connection, there. It seemed to run both ways.” Take advantage of that. It's something he can't deny. Hit him in the face with it, break the wall down. “Did you see me in a dream, recently? In a red room?”

And Ashley's eyes widened. Surprise. Disbelief. Perfect. Keep going.

“I told you to go to Camp Dragonhead,” Bernard continued, taking advantage of the hesitation. “I was so certain you'd be there. But of course you weren't. You were on a mission, weren't you? Nothing ever has deterred you when you're like that.”

Ashley didn't move. Didn't speak. Didn't react. But Bernard knew he was fighting with himself. Excellent. That meant Bernard was winning. Keep at it. Make yourself too valuable to kill.

“I'll take you to meet your daughter, if you like.” Whatever you do, don't mention Tia. Don't say what happened to her. Don't mention what she's become. How can you spin it, without lying? If he senses a single lie, he'll think it's all a lie. But mentioning her as a godsdamned addict and mistake of a mother could push him to violence. “I don't think it a good idea for me to go to Little Ala Mhigo. Where Tia is. I'm not a popular face there.” Excellent. Does Ashley know anything at all about Little Ala Mhigo? Elaborate. “I would have expected Gundobald, of all men, would understand my position. But here we are.” As if I'd be stupid enough to actually approach the man. Please. With his connections, he already knows what I've become in the eyes of the Resistance. But Ashley doesn't.

And Ashley still did not lower his lance, but he seemed to calm the barest bit. And yet the threat was still there. Ashley said nothing, and Bernard said nothing, and the sounds of the forest filled the air for several minutes. He had said his piece, and would wait for Ashley's response. He had grown used to waiting.

“They told me you were dead,” Ashley finally said.

“They told me you were dead. And I knew from the start it was a lie.”

“You – you had your agents come for them. There, while we were on- on the hill. Tia's throat was slit, Ashelia was-” Was Ashley going to cry? Seriously? “...Like-”

Like Marco, eh? Let's hit him with the best response. The most logical response. If he thinks me a liar, he won't believe a denial. So let's attack from the side.

“Why would I?”

“He would never have died, if not for me. He was in that bar that night on a favor for me. And then I sacked the temple of his faith. Named my daughter after him. Took in his... his stupid dog.”

That?! You think THAT is enough to kill you over?! As if I'd have let you live that long if I blamed you! As if I would've waited. Is that REALLY the best those three-eyed bastards could do? And you FELL for that? Gods, Ashley, this is ridiculous. They must've torn you apart to break you enough to believe this sort of nonsense. His control was slipping again. Ashley must have recognized how annoyed he was getting, how irritating this whole scenario was. How frustrating to have his friend back, only to have him so far away. Let's come from another tact. Let's point out why this whole event is ridiculous. He responded too quickly to question my motives, but he certainly knows my methods. They didn't erase who I am, just added a lie about what I did.

“Do you remember Gustav?” Bernard asked. Ashley took a moment to nod. Good. This'll be easy.

“Gustav is the only man I ever recruited who was able to shadow you, and you put the fear of Rhalgr in that boy. He wouldn't have agreed to so much as follow you if I had a knife to his mother's throat. Who am I supposed to have sent to kill you and your family?”

“I turned my back only for a moment. I got soft.”

“What sort of idiot do you take me for that I would try to kill you in an open expanse where you could easily see assassins coming? If I were going to kill you it would've been just outside your door.”

That much was certainly true. It wasn't an exaggeration to say Bernard always kept a plan on hand for killing anyone he'd ever talked to, should he have to, and not even Ashley was excluded from that. “It would've been quick, because I know you, and I know it would have to be an instant death or you would kill absolutely everyone around you on the way down. And further, if I was going to kill you, I'd have done it myself. What sort of idiot sends men to kill your family first?” In all honesty, he was offended at how stupid Ashley clearly had to think he was. Garlean torture is thorough. It doesn't have to make sense to him with enough force. But this makes it all the easier to break it down.

“The sort who's more intent on teaching a lesson.”

Well, he had done that before. Can't say he wouldn't ever. How could he approach this? Wait, I've got it. “To whom? If I killed you, everyone in my organization would worry for their own lives. That sort of fear breeds revolt. There would be absolutely no gain.” He hesitated, considering if he should go this far, but it was time to. “Besides, I've already accepted whose fault Marco's death was. It wasn't yours.” It was mine. “Frankly I can't comprehend what sort of lapses in judgment it takes to look at what happened and blame you.” It was all mine, and it's your fault I have to think on it again. You'd better appreciate that.

Ashley took a single step forward, but didn't seem like he was going to strike. Indeed, it seemed almost as if he was going to run past. To run away. Easier than accepting the truth. You're not getting away. “Don't go back to Ala Mhigo,” Bernard said. “Not until the revolution comes. They'll find you, refit your mind with the lies they've clearly already implanted. I won't allow that to happen, Ashley.” Even if I have to kill you and die trying. You're better a corpse than a slave. Grey will be taken care of whether I'm here or not. “Everyone else has left or died. My organization is filled with Garlean footpads and cockroaches.” He won't care about them. Ah, but I've an ace. “Your family isn't there.” The thing you'd betray your city over should be enough to betray the Garleans. “Go and be with them. You can meet my son, too. It'd do him good to meet a proper man.”

Did I mean that as an insult to myself, or the Marbrand boy? Or both? Regardless, something changed in Ashley. He did not soften, but some part of him behind the eyes at last grew calm. Ah, of course. He just needed orders.

“That's what you've been doing these twenty years, then? They've kept you well-hidden.”

You have no idea. “I have done precisely what I had to do to stay alive, because there's no one else in this world who was going to save you.” The only ones left who even knew you are your family. “And when the revolution comes, someone has to be there to throw open the gates.” And accept what comes next.

Ashley clearly thought it over, then nodded. “Ashelia, she's...”

“An extremely capable commander in her own right, though far too trusting for my standards and more attached to her personnel than she ought be. She's also married. To the Marbrand boy. He's an idiot, but a kindhearted one. Were he a problem he'd already be dead.” But still, it seems picking people beneath your level is a family trait. An irritating one. Do I tell him I attended the wedding and it was by their standards a good one? No, that throws us off track. Threatens his stability by reminding him how much he's missed of her life. “She's adopted my son. It's a strange state of affairs. But it's what the both of them want, so it doesn't exactly bother me.”

“Your son.” Ashley seemed to think this absurd. And it was, to be fair. “Your son.”

Bernard sighed. Of course. He would dwell on that. The only good thing about Marco not being here is that I don't have to put up with this from him, too. “Yes. Get it out of your system. The Garleans assigned an agent to play my wife and made it clear my life depended on her having a child. That's what this one is for.” He jerked his thumb at Ahri. “The boy named himself Grey. Much better than 'William Noctine.'”

Ashley seemed to be thinking for a moment, then blurted out another question. “What of Tia?”

Gods, do we really have to do this? Can't you just go back to Ul'dah and be with your daughter and forget about that waste of flesh and bone? No. No, of course you can't. You idiot. How am I going to explain this? “...Tia is currently residing in Little Ala Mhigo.”

“Little Ala Mhigo? With the Resistance?”

No, Ashley, in a pit in the dirt with smoke in her lungs. And missing, now. Stupid woman. I told her he was coming back, and she goes off and gets lost.

Ashley must've picked up on what was going on, because he pressed the issue. “What is it?”

“She was ill for some time,” that's a nice way to phrase it. Sure, her illness was her own fault and her own doing and ruined your daughter's childhood, but this makes it sound so much nicer, doesn't it? She can explain it herself. It's on her, not me. It wasn't my decision to ruin her life, so she can take the responsibility herself. “And then she got better. And then she walked out and hasn't been back. It's been difficult to get reliable agents in the camp,” if only you knew, Ashley, that I have to rely on a Silverbrand even more useless than the rest of their kind “and I've been unable to learn where she went or why.”

Ashley was quiet for a moment. Bernard had nothing more to add – anything else would raise questions he didn't want to ask. When lying, too much information could bury one deeper. “Thank you,” Ashley finally said, and Bernard was relieved he hadn't asked anything further.

“If I had known she had planned to leave, I would have tried to impress upon her how important it is she stay. I'm sorry.” I should've had her tossed in a cell, somehow, with a crime I could easily free her from. And I would have, if this was Ala Mhigo, but Ul'dah doesn't work the same way, now does it? Maybe I could've bribed a mercenary to lock her up, or done something else. But then you'd hate me for it, wouldn't you, Ashley? And that sack of bile isn't worth that.

Ashley shook his head. “I suppose there's only one place left for me to go now.”

Where's that? If the answer is 'looking for Tia', I'm going to wait 'til you turn your back and hog tie you, you son of a bitch. If anyone can keep you out of harm's way, it's that daughter of yours.

“...I did meet her, deep in Dravania.” Ashley said. So she did succeed. “She saved my life."

...What? I must've misheard him. Or he misspoke.

“She saved your life?” The nod Ashley gave him was completely serious. She saved his life? That girl? The one with her fancy armor playing at military command, not invested enough in finding her father to commit to it until she'd finished playing war with the Ishgardians? The one too busy building airships to reunite her family and too soft to punish anyone adequately? The one that lets in strays like she's running a charity? That one, that child, that's who saved Ashley Riot, the greatest fighter Ala Mhigo ever produced? How did that happen?

“She is a woman grown, one who has carried far too many burdens.” Ashley said. Bernard barely registered it, still trying to figure out how she could possibly have saved Ashley, but nodded anyway out of politeness. Never mind, there'll be time to figure that out later. There was something else I should warn him about. Something more important, right?

Right. “By the way, there's something you may want to be aware of. It worries me, at least. Gerrith Gaffgarion is still around, and with Garlemald losing one of their prized agents, it's possible a man like him may be hired to bring you back. Age has not weakened him. There are others out there, but he's the only mercenary I'm aware of that might actually pose a threat to you.” He was definitely a threat to me, back then, and if what I've heard is true he's only gotten to be more of a bastard with age. “I regret not killing him when I had the chance.”

Ashley sighed, and Bernard felt the weight of his friend's exhaustion in that sigh. “Of all the people to survive these twenty years...”

“I'm going to be frank with you, Ashley. You're the only good man left.” And I'm why.

But Ashley shook his head, clearly not believing Bernard. “I've lived half my life as a lie, Bernard. No matter what they did to me, that will not change."

No you don't. Don't pull your self-sacrificing nonsense on me. “There's no blame in being a victim.” The answer was immediate, forceful. He wasn't going to accept an interpretation of the situation other than his own.

But infuriatingly, Ashley shook his head again. “It's as you said. Only a fool would think to put the pieces together as I did. I never did remember burying either of them. And Alma, she was... there were never any memories of what became of her.”

“Gods damnit Ashley,” Bernard said, barely suppressing how furious he was getting. “There's no man in this world could endure twenty years of Rhalgr only knows what they did to you."

“Isn't there? I would imagine Ashelia endured it with me.”

Who cares about her? She didn't want you freed enough anyway. "I didn't sacrifice what I have so you can feel guilty for something you've no fault in.” Hundreds dead. Two decades I spent with a collar and a leash, bending over backwards for those smug sons of bitches. I may as well have killed every last man who didn't leave with my own hands. I sacrificed my freedom, my name, my plans, my position, my power - my legacy - and I certainly didn't give it all up so Ashley Riot could be little more than a shell of a man. A walking corpse.

But what if he is? Something deep within Bernard asked, something he'd been silencing for twenty years. What if you did waste it all? What if this was all the path of a fool? If you hadn't been so obsessed with keeping him safe, you could've left the city before they marched in. You could've run your own Resistance from outside, revered as a patriot instead of reviled as a traitor. You could've put your hooks into the other cities, forced their hands a decade ago. Freed your city by now. Saved them all. Kept your name.

And maybe, if you'd done that, Ashley would've been saved anyway.

Bernard's limbs tensed, his heart raced. He suppressed his rising panic, but he couldn't quell the anger in his voice. “You need to live, not be some echo of a man engrossed in imagined losses and blaming himself for crimes he's innocent of.”

“I saw the signs. The holes in their patterns.” And their blades, surely. I'd bet my life you've far more scars now than you had twenty years ago. “I thought the worst of you.” So did I. “And I played along even when I had my doubts.” So you could survive. “Even when I saw my countrymen broken and beaten in the streets.”

Focus. Break his will. Get this stupid idea out of his head. Think. How do we do this? “In all your life have you met a man harsher than I am?” This'll work. Appeal to his knowledge of me. “If I tell you it's not your fault, then it isn't. Would it help to hear your daughter say it, too?”

“You misunderstand me," he snapped. He turned from where he stood overlooking the Shroud, his gaze sharp but steady on Bernard. "I will keep moving forward.”

You'd better, you bastard. “Good.”

“But in my own way. I cannot simply take from what my daughter has built through her own deeds. If my dreams were any indication... she and hers truly have a chance.”

Maybe. Better than the Resistance, at least. “...Perhaps.”

“Where will you go from here?”

...Where WILL I go? I want to go with him. I don't want to go back to the Garleans, to the cat and mouse game. To playing at being their dog. “...I'm not sure. I hadn't planned past this point.”

Ashley chuckled at that. Briefly. He WOULD think that funny. I suppose this is only the second time I didn't have a plan, isn't it? “Would you go to the Sandsea?” he asked.

And live with that lot again? With Ashelia's feigned pleasantries? Watching men and women who should be fighting sit around and drink tea and talk nice to each other? Throw away the chance to help my city? Look my son in the eyes and know he'll always see me as a demon? Deal with being a burden on him? Absolutely not. But I can't word it that way, now can I? “If I abandon Ala Mhigo, I discard my chance to be useful in liberating my home.” How sickeningly patriotic of me.

Ashley nodded. “I'll look after Grey for you.”

Maybe you'll be the father figure he needs. “See to it he doesn't end up like us. He deserves to cling to his dreams. I worry your daughter may try to push him along our path.” She likely wouldn't on purpose, but oh is he the type to use her as an excuse to fight. Little would-be hero. Would've joined the Resistance, eventually.

“I will.” Another moment of silence, which Bernard soaked up. Twenty years of waiting, and he was still savoring the moment. He knew it would soon come to an end. “How are we to communicate?” Ashley asked.

“Anything you say to this one I'll hear. He'll hang around my son from here on. It started as a way to make certain he didn't die. I also kept record of everything that has happened since the Garlean attack in a book in your daughter's study. You certainly still remember how to read between the lines, I am sure.”

Ashley cast a little glare at the voidsent. He didn't seem to like it, and Bernard found this more amusing than he should have.

“Keep in touch, then. I'll do the same.”

“Of course. Good seeing you again, Ashley.” How ridiculous, to put it that way. As if it had only been a day.

“...And you. I'll send Ashelia your regards.”

“Thank you.” Bernard watched Ashley set off again, presumably towards Ul'dah, but walking this time. He stood there, watching his friend disappear, and dwelt on how easy it would be to follow him. To abandon his city. He'd weathered two decades, he'd weathered an entire generation. Did he really need to stick around, still? And what if the Garleans executed him upon his return, after having been gone for so long?

But with Ashley at rest, I can't betray Marco. I still have a handful of cards to play.

He turned, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and walked for a home that hadn't been home in a long, long time.