#but still odd considering she’s not even mentioned as the champion up until you walk into her champion room

[ranger-kellyn]

I still just. Love. How in X&Y, the game starts off like, “Mega Evolution?? Never heard of her.”

Then goes to, “Mega Evolution? I’ve heard OF her….but it can’t be real, right?”

To, “I AM THE MEGA EVOLUTION GURU. FIGHT MY MEGA FOR THE CHANCE TO ALSO USE MEGA EVOLUTION….but it’s still Rare. :)”

To Lysandre using mega evolution.

To the literal REGIONAL POKÉMON LEAGUE CHAMPION. WHO IS ALSO. A FAMOUS MOVIE STAR. LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THE REGION PROBABLY KNOWS HER NAME. Having her ace be a Mega Gardevoir.

[wordsablaze]

16~ i’ll be here like you were

tell me your problems (i’ll chase them away) Internal scars can be difficult to deal with but Eskel vows to heal any that Jaskier is weighed down by if it’s the last thing he does…

A/N: it seems june is way too warm for angst so we get even more softness instead...

previous chapter

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@random-nerd-3 @betaray-jones @w-s-kibela @in-love-with-writing002 @screaming-flapjacks @havenoffandoms @lasaga666 @mayastormborn @alllthequeenshorses @little-piece-of-tamlin @selectivegeekwithstandards

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It’s not that Eskel had been struggling to maintain their seated positions or anything, it’s just that after Jaskier’s head had fallen into his lap for the second time, he’d decided that moving to the bed was a better idea.

And he’s right, because Jaskier wakes up with a yawn and a very confused noise, followed immediately by a quiet but hopeful, “Why isn’t my neck all stiff?”

“That would be because I moved you,” Eskel replies softly, but not softly enough to avoid Jaskier’s breath hitching as he realises his pillow is in fact a witcher.

Eskel expects the hitch in his breathing to be followed by him springing to his feet or something but Jaskier only yawns again and lets his head flop back down even as he stretches his limbs a little. “How very considerate of you, darling, thank you.”

There is a very very small part of Eskel’s mind that wonders why Jaskier hadn’t called him his darling as opposed to just generally a darling, but that small part is quickly squashed down by the rest of his intelligence reminding him that he really ought not to base his standing with the bard on something as trivial as groggy mumbling.

“Wait, why are you still in bed?” Jaskier asks after a moment.

“I didn’t want to wake you,” Eskel replies honestly.

“But you’re a witcher…”

When Jaskier says nothing more on the matter, Eskel frowns. He runs a hand through Jaskier’s hair - only to push it out of his eyes, of course - before nodding as best as he can whilst lying down. “I wouldn’t want to disturb you even if I were a goat,” he says.

Jaskier snorts, then pulls himself right and tilts his head to the right. “A goat? I can’t say I have much experience with goats but aren’t they more of a violent species?”

“And witchers aren’t?” Eskel asks, raising an eyebrow as he too sits up.

Waving a hand dismissively, Jaskier shrugs. “No more than necessary, of course. It wouldn’t do for a witcher to be incapable of violence, after all, whatever would I sing about in taverns then?”

Eskel hums in agreement but he’s pretty sure Jaskier could sing about something as mundane as apples and still captivate an audience. Speaking of, Jaskier seems to actually realise he’s awake as soon as he mentions singing and is on his feet before Eskel can decide whether or not to voice his thoughts. Ah well, maybe next time.

Turns out watching Jaskier stumble around and assemble himself is just as amusing every time he does it. It’s honestly also a little impressive how quickly he can go from sleepy and only vaguely coherent to more or less professional and composed.

“Well, are you coming?” Jaskier asks once he’s ready and dressed.

Eskel blinks. “Where?”

Jaskier smirks and opens his mouth, pauses, then closes it again. He clears his throat as he gestures towards somewhere through the window. “To the tavern?”

He shakes his head. “I should go check on Scorpion, maybe next time.”

“Of course! Scorpion, right, of course, your noble steed. I’ll just, uh- I mean, alright,” Jaskier replies, waving a goodbye before leaving with his lute in hand.

Eskel only briefly dwells on the feeling that he’s done something wrong before also getting ready, finding himself in the stables and being headbutted by Scorpion before he knows it. He looks around to make sure he’s alone before saying anything just to avoid the air being filled with ash and disappointment again. “Hey, girl. You’ve probably been worried, right? Well, it turns out the bard is more skilled than I’d assumed. But you probably knew that since you both got me back together, huh?”

He narrowly avoids having his foot stepped on.

“What was that for?” he asks incredulously. Scorpion just huffs at him. Then bites at his pockets, which is odd because he didn't actually remember to put any- oh.

“I guess you really won him over,” Eskel says as he offers her the sugarcubes, but now he’s torn between making sure she doesn’t bite his fingers and wondering how Jaskier knew to put treats in his pocket, not to mention how he did so without him noticing.

It’s not difficult to assume that’s a habit creeping in from all the time he’s spent with Geralt; Roach is one of if not the most spoiled horse on the continent. But it is difficult to decide whether he should ask Jaskier about it, whether it would be accepted gratitude or just another painful reminder. In the end, Scorpion finishes her snack before he’s decided, which is a little annoying because he’s usually not so indecisive about anything. Well, Jaskier is hardly just anything so that almost makes sense, but still.

“That’s my epic tale, our champion prevailed. Defeated the villain, now pour him some ale...”

Eskel frowns as he walks into the tavern, immediately looking for Jaskier to see if he’s alright. And surprisingly, he is. Not that Eskel would rather he wasn’t - and in fact he’s very relieved that singing about Posada isn’t causing any problems - but he has no idea how Jaskier suddenly seems more willing to accept that request. Gods, bards are confusing.

“Toss a coin to your witcher, oh valley of plenty!”

And someone does.

Eskel blinks at the little hand dropping a coin onto the table, the little hand that’s attached to a young girl who’s beaming up at him as if he’s saved her entire family or something. “You’re not my witcher but I wanted to give you a coin anyway,” she says loudly.

“Uh, thank you,” Eskel mutters, careful to keep his face angled just enough that he doesn’t scare her away and ruin her smile.

Not that he should have worried, because she very casually frowns at him, picks the coin back up, and pokes his leg. “Do you not like coins?”

He shrugs but politely holds his hand out, letting her firmly place the coin into it and offering her the best smile he can manage because he doesn’t really know why she hasn’t run off to her parents yet. “I do, it’s lovely. Thank you again.”

“Was the monster really scary?” she whisper-asks as she leans forward, her eyes wide and curious.

Eskel knows the women on the table behind him are listening in, he can smell that they’re suspicious of him, but they make no move to interfere so he just shrugs and leans forward too. “It was mostly just ugly,” he whispers.

The girl giggles and rocks back on her heels, shaking her head at him. “Like Uncle Luka?”

“Probably not, unless your Uncle Luka has green skin.”

The girl’s eyes widen again. She pauses as if she genuinely thinks her uncle might have green skin and then shakes her head. “No, he’s just the normal ugly. What kind of green was the monster’s skin?”

He genuinely has no idea how to answer that in a way she’ll easily understand. And thankfully, he doesn’t have to. “The kind of green you see after it’s been raining a lot and all the grass has been squashed into the bottom of a really big puddle,” Jaskier says, kneeling in front of the girl with a soft smile.

“Eww!” she laughs, turning her attention away from Eskel and towards Jaskier, who spares a moment to smile at him before producing a flower from nowhere and holding it up in front of the girl’s nose so she has to go cross-eyed to look at it, laughing harder as she does.

“A daisy for Daisy,” Jaskier whispers, winking at her.

The girl - called Daisy, apparently - all but snatches the flower, then turns on her heel and waves at him. “You can give the coin to your bard if you don’t like it, by the way. Mama says you should give things you don’t like to people who do like them so everyone’s happy.”

Jaskier snorts as she finally leaves and jumps up into someone’s lap a few tables away, but there’s a redness blooming across his cheeks as he slides onto the seat opposite Eskel. And Eskel’s not sure about his own face but he’s pretty sure he looks just as startled because he genuinely had not considered that being called Jaskier’s witcher would lead to Jaskier being called his bard.

“You don’t have to be,” Eskel blurts.

Jasker raises an eyebrow at him. “Be what, darling?”

“My bard.”

Apparently, the sour scent of worry and doubt never gets any easier to deal with. Eskel’s already lost any appetite he may have had by the time Jaskier remembers how to breathe and some of the sourness fizzles away from the air between them, just enough so that it’s not quite overwhelming.

“You don’t like that?” Jaskier asks slowly.

“No, I-” Eskel pauses, confused. “I thought you wouldn’t like it.”

Jaskier blinks at him. Twice. Then he sighs and lets go of his lute, placing it down beside him. “Don’t go anywhere, I need a drink before we have this conversation.”

Well, that sounds terrifying.

His only comfort while he waits for Jaskier to return is that he smells softer and warmer again, which can only mean they’re about to have a useful conversation instead of some kind of argument. Still, his muscles don’t relax until Jaskier places a drink in front of him and smiles, not quite sadly but not exactly happily either - it’s confusing but it’s a nice smile nonetheless.

“I believe you’re under the mistaken assumption that being my witcher is an unrequited belonging?” Jaskier asks eventually, leaning an elbow on the table and resting his chin on his palm.

Eskel shrugs. “Like I said, you’re free to leave whenever you wish.”

Jaskier laughs quietly, his head tilting a little to the right. “And what makes you think there’s anywhere else I’d rather be than by your very handsome side?”

“I just don’t want- I mean, I would hate to quell the adventures you seek,” Eskel admits.

There’s a moment of silence before Jaskier reaches across the table and curls his fingers in a grabbing motion until Eskel frowns and offers him his hand, which he immediately takes and gently squeezes. “Eskel, my darling, you are walking along a very dangerous path somewhere between painfully considerate and painfully foolish. And I should know, for I’ve been told I’m an expert at the latter.”

Eskel laughs before he can think about it and judging by the look in Jaskier’s eyes, that was probably his intention. “You’re not doing too bad right now,” he replies.

Jaskier shrugs. “I might not have lived as long as you but even I’ve been around long enough to learn when I’m overstaying my welcome.” Before Eskel can ask anything about that, Jaskier clears his throat and continues, “Let me explain this another way: name a tale of mine that you particularly enjoy?”

A little blindsided by the question, it takes Eskel a moment to think of what to say. But it’s not a difficult choice; there’s one ballad about a warrior who’d been entrapped by a wraith for days until his beloved had arrived to remind him what he’d miss out on if he succumbed to someone else’s misery that had been stuck in his head for almost an entire year. “The knight in the tower,” he answers.

“Interesting choice,” Jaskier tells him in a way that implies he’s made the right choice, then leans even closer, lowering his voice. “I’m going to let you in on a very small and privileged secret now: I based that entire story on Geralt accidentally locking himself in the wrong stable overnight one time.”

Eskel blinks. Then bursts out laughing. He bites down his amusement as quickly as possible but not before he sets Jaskier off, and it takes several minutes for the bard to stop laughing. Once he has, he grins widely, squeezing Eskel’s hand again. “Do you understand me now? I’m not in desperate need of the adventures you imagine me to be, I only require the slightest of inspiration and I can assure you that your company is more than enough.”

He thinks he does understand, but he also has another pressing concern: “So the knight’s beloved was actually…?”

Jaskier smirks and nods. “Roach.”

Melitele help him, he’s unfamiliar with this pleasant ache of amusement and he’s not sure how he’s lived without it for so long. As soon as they’ve both recovered from laughing, he squeezes Jaskier’s hand back. “I would be honoured if you were to… if you were to be my bard.”

“Luckily for you, then, everyone here already seems to believe I am. And I have no interest in disagreeing with them,” Jaskier says, his voice barely above a whisper.

“And everywhere else?” Eskel asks, just wanting, needing to check he’s understanding this right and not just wishfully extrapolating.

Jaskier shrugs. “I’m a bard , Eskel. I can guarantee you my songs will travel faster than we can and our reputation will precede us wherever we go.”

Eskel chuckles. “You’re placing a lot of faith in your songs, bardling.”

“Wouldn’t you, if you were me?” Jaskier asks, raising his eyebrows, and when he considers the dramatic tale of the wraith that had apparently been built upon nothing but an embarrassing story, Eskel decides he has no reason to argue. Besides, confidence is a good look on practically anyone and Jaskier is no exception so it'd just be rude of him to ruin that for the sake of it.

“Perhaps,” Eskel finally replies with a shrug, but he’s certain the smile that won’t leave his face gives him away. Not that he minds, if he’s honest, because it’s only logical for his bard to be the one who reads between his lines. And oh, what a scarily beautiful notion that is.

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yes i used a random child to prompt character development, cliché is my middle name ;)

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thanks for reading! masterlist | witcher sideblog: @itsjaskier | next chapter

[reversecreek]

struts onto the dash carrying this deliriously wriggling little elf in my arms like a swaddled bebe......... they’re genuinely my oldest muse of all time i think i created them when i was like. 13 possibly. n i haven’t written them in Years but. i’m literally so excited to jst vibrating w muse. smiles at u all demurely..... they have risen. u can find their pinterest here n their playlist here.

* alana champion, nonbinary + they/them | you know nyla palmer, right? they’re twenty-two, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, eight months? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to 6669 (i don’t know if you know) by neon indian like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole a two headed doll of a prairie girl with stitched on rabbit ears and butterfly wings, befriending shadow puppets & finding god with your eyes open underwater in a public pool you broke into thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is march 2nd, so they’re a pisces, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt she/her  )

HISTORY:

was born in georgiaaaa georgiaaaa (phoebe bridgers voice holds my bang...) to a vry honest hard working man named george (omgggg he’s called GEORGE and he’s from GEORGIA? ahaaaaa fuckk ur jestinggg) nd a woman who did her best named pamela..... george worked on a construction site n pamela was a pharmacist..... their house was this small rickety white thing with a wrap around porch n a very rabid overgrown garden tht kind of looked like the earth ws trying to reclaim it bc nobody ever hd the time or motivation to mow the lawn.... there ws literally a piece of fold out furniture just entirely submerged by weeds n foliage

nyla ws always closest w their dad george..... he hd this way of looking at the world tht was seeing the best in all of it.... he took them on long walks where he talked abt how u have to respect the trees bc they’re breathing fr us n we’re breathing fr them..... he hd a strange whimsical sense of humour n a gnome alter ego called grundlebolt who always tickled them..... in a way this closeness created a distance between nyla n their mother but not so much that it ws rly a problem. just enough tht nyla sometimes waited until their mother ws out of eye n ear shot to tell their dad they loved him bc they didn’t wna make her sad >_>

(mental health, death & grief tw) pamela always struggled w her mental health but george ws great n understanding n knew how to help her thru this... nyla didn’t get it too greatly at a very young age bt they knew their mum got “the sads” sometimes (how their dad wld explain tht she needed to lay down in the quiet for a while or why she’d stood at the stove n let the dinner burn until the smoke detector went off without doing anything abt it). when nyla was 14 they got home one day to a police car in the driveway n came prancing in exuberantly as they always did. immediately hugged the legs of an officer bc this is hw they wld greet everyone they ever met. they only realised something was wrong when they let go n saw their mum sat at the table crying. essentially there ws an accident at the construction site george worked at n :/ yeah. 

(jst mental health & grief tw now) this rly had an intense ripple effect on everyone tbh. pamela’s mental health deteriorated quite a lot without george there as her rock n nyla sort of had to step in as best they cld but it was....... hard. some days she ws better bt some days nyla had to sit her in the bath n stroke a wet sponge over her back bc they didn’t know how else to calm her down. nyla always had a very overactive imagination which george encouraged bt it ws like. losing him rly opened a window in nyla’s head n all rationality went floating out of it. their dreams seemed more real than being awake. fantasy wasn’t jst the way they coped bt it was the way they thought n the way they saw. everything on earth was alive. the trees n the clouds n the wall with a brick missing at the bottom of her road n especially their dad. their dad was alive in everything in nyla’s head. the sun shining extra bright in the morning was george. ponds were a veil they could dunk her head under and find george waiting on the other side. reality rly just pulled the plug n said bye tbh n they were ok w that <3

(abuse implied tw) their mum remarried too fast to a man named stephen n it was jst not a good arrangement. he was Not a nice man. i won’t go into this but home wasn’t a nice place for nyla any more n after a couple of yrs stephen wound up asking them to leave n their mum said nothing to contradict tht. there’s more to this bt long story short nyla left <3

(drugs tw) they couch surfed fr a while before settling living w their best friend. they got up to like... all sorts of trouble n grew up far too fast. nyla’s lack of sense n realism hd a habit of getting them into some sticky situations n these few yrs were a rollercoaster where they got by on the skin of their teeth. when they think of high skl they think of gravel and skinned knees and sucking sherbet dunkers to ignore the taste of pennies in ur mouth and getting lost in the woods a lot bc they’d take FAR too many drugs n be lead astray having conversations with kind trees whose branches held their hands

(drug mention) got by on odd jobs like making candles n selling them at market stalls. leaf blowing at cemeteries. face painting fr children’s parties (where they were blatantly high). random stuff. all over the place. in this time them n their best friend also hd a sugar daddy named tony who always wore very impressive colour block suits n mink stoles n jewelled fedoras n hd a swanky apartment w marble floors. rly just. surreal. lots of strange stories frm this time.

things kind of blew up in their friendship group n they fell out w their best friend raya bc she slept w this guy aj who nyla hd been madly in love w for yrs.... he was a Stinker n honestly so ws their best friend so good riddance i say bt obviously it felt like having their entire world flipped upside dwn fr nyla.... they split after this came out bc they just did Not want to b around these ppl any more n they decided to leave w this guy frm a band they barely knew tht much save fr a one night stand to tour w them..... this ws another whirlwind. jst chock full of them. it ws similar to being on a teacup ride at a carnival n spinning round n round n only knowing u were surrounded by lots of lights. tht’s how they’d best describe their time on tour.

SO in terms of them coming to irving 8 months ago they came w the band.... they honestly did pretty well on tour n wound up renting a big beach house on dorado as a kind of “retreat” sort of place fr them to shack up in while they worked on writing and recording their first big studio album (they gt signed w a label so it’s all vry exciting stuff). nyla among like 3 others were allowed to stay w them too bc they hd a lot of fun on tour. literally jst. taken on as professional groupies essentially. nyla loved it bc they’d never seen the ocean n when they first got there they jst threw off all their clothes n ran straight into the water. it was 3pm on a tuesday afternoon. they got arrested fr public indecency n didn’t get why bc they were like but i just wanted to hug the ocean u silly little oinker? i picture the beach house as like. the loudest one on dorado.... comes alive like a jungle at night..... they r probably bad neighbours. anyway. onto personality puts hand on hip.

PERSONALITY:

sets out patio furniture on someone else’s lawn n jst takes a seat n leans back like ahhhhh vat a nice day to be alive ya! (swedish accent suddenly bc they think it’s fun). they come out n start yelling n they’re jst so confused they’re like hey wat’s the big idea hey wat’s go on here why u angies why this happen?

likes drawing imaginary veins over their arms in all different colour blue pens in a sudden fit of hyperfixation n then forgets all abt it n goes out like tht n scares several townsfolk bt they’re oblivious they’re jst in her own world loving life already onto the next fixation. has many many different fads like this. one day will jst start snipping up a bunch of magazines bc they’re like EYES ARE COOL N THEY SEE EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P n they’ll stick a bunch of them over their wall n then forget they was doing that n leap onto the next. quite a pattern. bt they love the vein thing a lot it makes them feel like a walking planetarium like they have their own constellations

sometimes jst doesn’t make sense. they’re honestly kind of strange. pops up in places like they suddenly materialised there n it’s like how did u get there where have u been when were u last seen are u ok. has the energy of an ancient deity frm deep in a mountain cave n an ambiguous forest sprite all at once..... talks shit honestly. abt anything n everything. sometimes outrageous. sometimes plain incoherent. like what are u talking about? i dnt kno. even i dnt kno sometimes.

luvs stick n pokes will let anyone tattoo whatever they want on them for the price of a gummy bear kindly placed onto their tongue n swallowed whole

has this obsession w being underwater w their eyes open luvs it. calls it their tadpole time. runs baths just to lie there blinking looking around n drifting her arms. best friends w the bottom of any local swimming pool n hs probably given it a quick kiss so it knows they’re bff’s n then got sick bc there’s sm germs in a public pool. says the kgb probably poisoned their oatmeal n r finally here to deliver on their promise n THAT’S why they got sick unrelated to the pool incident. what promise? noone knows.

unclear if they believe what they say or if they jst has a very expanded sense of humour where they nvr let on if they’re joking.... lines r blurred a lot..... 

loves excitedly shouting things. sometimes just screams at the sky bc they say it’s good to let the creatures in ur belly fly out every once in a while otherwise their wings get sore.

(drugs tw) still does an excessive amt of hallucinogens n it kind of shows. very bad fr their brain bt we’re going to ignore it.

dresses fun n strange n eccentric n careless. loves to experiment. does nt care abt what’s considered to be societally appropriate. living in their own world.

sleeps around a lot... jst doesn’t rly see sex as a big deal.... very free w themselves in that way..... sometimes greets their friends w a kiss on the lips they’re like awww :) kisses <3 when they run into them in the middle of the cereal aisle n then pulls away n suddenly breaks into a box tht has a free toy in it bc it’s a banana with googly eyes n that’s the best thing they’ve ever heard in their LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n isn’t he so HANDSOME????? enchante indeed my good sir ;)... gives the toy a kiss too.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

other groupies of the band: self explanatory a little.... i dnt have a name for the band yet bt all can b worked out..... i picture them as kind of. not that nice but like. there for a good time........ rock genre.... bit chaotic...... to say the least........ they dnt have to have come there w the band like nyla n the others they cld have been adopted in their time there.... whoever wld b wild n down fr a good time <3

chaotic trash goblin friends: idk what this title rly means it just came to me in a vision....... jst ppl tht r rly kind of off the rails n don’t care abt anything...... they r who nyla tends to mesh very well w......... they rly r living in their own world n by their own rules n they like ppl who do this too <3 inevitably they get up to no good n party far too much...... cld be angst to this if they enable each other’s bad habits...... world’s our oyster. opens my office door. let’s talk abt it.

nyla set up camp on their front lawn: maybe jst w a fold out chair. maybe w a literal pop up tent w someone else too. genuinely so bizarre of them bt that’s what we’re dealing with. they poke their head into the tent n nyla’s lying down crunching on a cracker crumbs over their tits n they just hold it out to them nt even fully consumed n are like hey polly want a cracker? :)

they responded to her craigslist ad: they posted one saying they cld cleanse their house of demonic energy bc they’re an all seeing eye in touch w the spirits. this is a lie. they came n waved sage around n did a little dance as they did it w bird sounds playing on a special cd they brought fr the occasion (had weird indistinct doodles over the case it ws brought in) n then ws like OOH! scary.... n jumped at something in the hall. they go in thinking maybe they’ve seen a ghost bt they just were startled by their own reflection in a mirror n is like. scary mirror placement...... might wna reconsider that........ they charge them merely 10 dollars fr their time n is like this was so fun we shd do it again some time :) also i think u have mould on ur bathroom tile! vanishes. they dnt recall them ever going to the bathroom.

came knocking asking for items for a garage sale: yes. u heard that right. they’re asking for ur muses things to set up their own garage sale. selling items that do not belong to them. they think this is a genius business strategy n don’t understand why ppl think this is so strange or why they cant just ask ppl to donate them things to sell bc hey they’re an entrepreneur? they even had a pencil behind their ear when they knocked on the door so why aren’t ppl taking their business seriously? probably got distracted several times trying to explain their pitch n chattered abt random other things instead.

honestly anything... fwbs... flings... good influence... someone who cnt stand the fact they’re barely coherent.... someone they stopped on the street one day n asked for their opinion on water beds.... we cn do literally anything. fling ur chara my way n we can talk.

[collecting-stories]

Enchanted - Gilbert Blythe

Request: Okay great! Can I request a Gilbert blythe x reader when they’re dating but then reader sees Anne and Gilbert having a friendly hug and she misinterprets it as something else and Gilbert tries to apologize. in the end they make up and it’s all fluff?

A/N: Based off Gilbert Blythe from the Netflix adaptation Anne With An E. 

\\\

The train ride in from Toronto was both longer and shorter than you wanted it to be. Gilbert sat beside you, fiddling with the cufflinks on his jacket sleeves as the train jostled along toward Avonlea. There had been a ferry ride from Halifax as well. The summer was setting in and Gilbert had asked you to come to Avonlea with him to meet his business partner and housemate Bash and Bash’s daughter Delphine.

“Ever since my father died, they’ve been my family.” Gilbert had explained.  

There were other people he had mentioned as well. Friends from school, Moody, Diana, a girl called Ruby who had been obsessed with him in her youth.  

“I didn’t know it at the time, obviously, but Moody’s told me in great detail.” A whole anthology of his life had been shared with you since September.  

And then there were the Cuthberts. He mentioned Marilla and her brother Matthew, both having been good to him when his father passed. But most of all he spoke of Anne. Close friends and rivals throughout their years together, she seemed to be the antidote to every story he told. The heroine in all his tales of the Island. And while you were excited to meet her, you would have been lying to say that you were also terrified. Who was this Anne and how could you compare to someone as magnanimous as her?  

You weren’t sure if the knowledge that you would be staying with the Cuthberts made it worse or better. He had written to Anne to ask if you could board there for the summer while you visited him, a mark of a serious courtship surely, but still you couldn’t find yourself totally calm during the ride.  

“Are the Cuthberts meeting us at the station?” You chanced to ask, realizing that you weren’t entirely sure what was going to happen once you arrived in Avonlea.  

When Gilbert had asked you to come home with him for the summer you had been surprised and, though you hated to admit it, a tad bit reluctant. You and Gilbert had met through a friend of a friend way back in September at the beginning of the school. Both students from small towns who had excelled. Both formerly betrothed, though you more than he, who had rebelled against the prospect of a richer future in the interest of an educated, self-fulfilling future. A rather progressive woman, in action and speech more than trend, like so many of the women who had been present in his life before.  

“I’m not entirely sure how I should go about this,” he had started, already proving himself to be clueless when it came to courting, “I’ve been to tea before and I’m sad to say I’ve forgotten all the rules.” The easy smile made up for his forgetfulness.  

You could hardly remember either, getting lost in the romantic nature of his eyes that Ruby and Anne had both experienced in his early school days. “It’s quite alright, surely between the two of us we can navigate.”

And so you did. Navigate. Through the beginnings of a relationship and the beginning of college. It was odd, to find someone who so championed your education and put priority on the finishing of college before anything else. You expected him to treat the relationship casually then, just friends who knew that they liked each other. But he didn’t. He was serious about it and, as such, invited you to visit for the summer.  

“I can’t wait for you to see Avonlea.” Gilbert mentioned, eyes fixed on the passing landscape.  

“I’m looking forward to it.” And you were. Spending more time with Gilbert, seeing where he was from, meeting the people he considered part of his family. That all sounded spectacular to you.  

-

The train arrived in Avonlea a short time later. Gilbert exited before you in search of the luggage.

“It’s never where they say it will be.”

You stood, waiting for him, on the platform. You’d taken plenty of trains in your lifetime but somehow stepping onto the platform in Avonlea felt different. It was as if you were a child again, riding for the first time, nervous of your surroundings and unsure who to ask for help. It was all very overwhelming and in an instant, the bustling crowd had seemed to swallow Gilbert up, his figure disappearing behind a cloud of smoke. You considered calling out to him. Should you chance him realizing that you were having the most pathetic of panic attacks.  

Off to a good start in Avonlea.  

Through the smog and the voices for the crowd your ears caught the distinctive sound of an accent, one native to an island, calling Gilbert’s name. You remembered his stories about his business partner and practical brother Bash and decided the Gilbert being called was yours. Heading through the smoke you arrived on the other side to find a small gathering of people, Gilbert at the front of them. You had come through in just enough time to see a young woman with long red hair hug him. A much friendlier hug then you would have expected someone to give, even with small town etiquette not being as reserved as the city.  

But you recognized that redhead immediately, regardless of never having seen her before. It was Anne, it had to be. The Anne that Gilbert had talked about from school. The Anne that he corresponded with.  

“Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry I was just coming to get you.” Gilbert’s hand at your wrist and his sincere apology carried you back to the reality of the platform. You were standing there, center of attention now.  

“Quite alright.” You smiled, filing the uneasiness away for later. You would be upset when you were alone. Though would you truly be alone? You were to stay with Anne after all.

“Let me introduce you.” And just like that Gilbert was going through the odd, makeshift family that he had assembled. You were hugged by Anne as well, and nearly everyone else. Bash teased that there would be plenty of appraising done that night over dinner though you seemed to win him over quite easily when you offered to hold Delphine during the ride back to Gilbert’s farm.  

Try as you might the carriage ride home filled you with dread. Even Delphine couldn’t distract you from the tortuous thoughts in your head. Had you come all this way to Prince Edward Island with Gilbert only to have him tell you he loved another. And what if he never told you, what if he just continued on, in some elaborate rouse where you were his intended (something he had made perfectly clear before proposing the idea of PEI) but he was thinking of someone else. Someone who had leagues more history with him than you could every accumulate.  

The first stop, once the carriage had arrived outside of the Blythe family farm, was the tour. While Bash took Delphine inside Gilbert took you along the grounds. Your hand was tucked in the crook of his elbow as he walked you about, pointing out parts of the land and supplying humorous antidotes to accompany the visuals.  

“And here Anne,” he began, telling the third story in a row that featured his redheaded best friend.  

“You have a lot of stories about Anne.”

“I suppose so.”

“More than anyone else.” You continued on. You were no longer on the train platform or in the carriage. You wouldn’t stay a moment longer to be second fiddle to Anne Shirley-Cuthbert, however charming she had already proven herself to be.  

“I...hadn’t noticed.”

“Well, unfortunately,” you took your hand back, here in the orchard grove, “I have. I didn’t come all the way from Toronto to be humiliated Gilbert.”

He looked rightfully confused. Everything until now had felt perfectly normal between the two of you. He’d hadn’t sensed the change in attitude, in fact it had come out of nowhere to hit him in the gut. “I don’t know what you mean?”

“Don’t you? I make a world of excuses for your correspondence with another woman, knowing how much Anne means to you but then we arrive here and it feels as if I've been making those excuses to myself as well. Have I? Am I so delusional to think that it’s only friendship you feel for her?” You confessed, thinking back to the hug at the platform. The way she had thrown her arms around him in excitement.  

“Anne and I are just friends. I’ve told you that.” Gilbert replied.

“Why don’t I feel like that?”  

“Avonlea is my home and the people here are my family. I love and care for them all deeply. And that’s why I wanted to bring you here. So you could know them too and so you could consider if, maybe, in the future, you could make Avonlea your home too. I love you, and I meant what I said before we came out here. I want a future with you, a family with you, and I want us to make a home. Here, if you could see yourself here.” Gilbert said, concern marring his features. Had he not been clear?

You crossed your arms and turned your head away, looking out passed the rolling fields of the farm. What could you say? You loved him too. The thought of starting a family with him here, on this island, was a wonderful thought and you wanted nothing more than to be part of his life.  

“Once, when I was much younger, I admit I felt something toward Anne but we’re only friends. She’s been a big part of my life since she came to Avonlea and helped me become the person I am. A person who loves you. Who would never hurt you. Please, you have to believe me. Anne is my friend but you and I...you’re the person I imagine spending the rest of my life with.” Gilbert continued.

“I love you as well...I guess I’m just nervous to be here. To meet your family and friends and know them.” You admitted, looking back at him. Gilbert looked near heartbreak, his usual bright eyes a sad, drowning, blue.  

“They love you already, trust me.”

“I really do like Anne...I think we would be great friends.” You had heard certain parts of her letters read allowed when he found bits funny or was reminded of something you might have said. You had thought that she sounded like she could become a good friend of yours, someone you could rely on here in Avonlea and you had looked forward to meeting. “I think I’m just so nervous I made myself jealous.”

“There is nothing to be jealous of.” Gilbert reassured. “Shall we finish the tour?”

“Please? I want to see everything before dinner.” You replied, taking the arm he offered once more. You looked back around the orchard one more time, “are we alone?”

“Bash is at the house with Delly.”

With that knowledge you leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Alright, show me the rest of this enchanted island.” You said, using Anne’s words from earlier. Enchanted. You imagined this summer would be.

-

I imagined this being done yesterday but my youngest sister decided to give me a minor panic attack and I spent most of the day freaking out when I meant to be writing. 

[halothenthehorns]

THE FOUR CHAMPIONS

"Merlin's shit-"

"I'm going to kill someone-"

"Can't go one bleeding year-"

"Got to be a way he doesn't do this-"

Maybe it was because of the way Harry was acting that hadn't left them so surprised, maybe it was because by this point they were just so sick but unsurprised at Harry being dragged into everything, but whatever it was, they skipped right to angered disbelief and began shouting at once of the injustice of this.

Harry only half-heard something going on around him. It just didn't seem real, and yet it explained what had been bothering him since Percy had brought this up over the summer. He did compete in this bloody Tournament, and something went wrong.

    "-to hell he can't! Just put him back on the train. He can go stay at the Burrow for the year, problem solved!"

"Oh hey, the train," Lily said with a sideways look at her son. He was still running his hand through his hair in a vain attempt at flattening it, his eyes vacant and in no way showing he was following a word of what anyone was saying. When Lily just kept getting odd looks from the others, she got up to sit on the table in front of him, then leaned in close to Harry and tapped him on the shoulder, waiting until he fully looked at her before explaining. "I just thought of a way Hogwarts would have gone to the other schools: They'd have taken the train. It is magical after all, so as long as it was given a destination, the tracks and a station would appear with the train as needed."*

Harry gave his mother a weary smile. Clearly talk of this Tournament wasn't actually making him feel better, but it was still nicer to think of that train going to some other school without him where he wouldn't have even been involved, so he finally engaged her back by saying, "That's pretty cool, but where would the Hogwarts students sleep once they got there? Remus didn't exactly look comfortable when he did." He finished with an attempt at a smile towards him.

Remus returned it at once, the boys finally relaxing when they saw Harry was at least trying to act normal again.

Lily said right back, "Magic, love. Those compartments could easily be converted to mini bedrooms once they arrived. It would actually be easier than squeezing all of Beauxbatons into that carriage."

"About as comfortable and roomy as the Durmstrang boat," James finally agreed.

Sirius was still grumbling foully under his breath, glad that Harry was at least coming back around, but still unable to stop himself from pressing the point he'd been trying to make. "Here's me agreeing, yes that would work, but that's not the point now! Harry shouldn't have to be in this Tournament. Someone set him up, so he should be able to leave school until it's f'ing over!"

Remus sighed, giving him a pitying look as he reminded, "You know as well as I do why that wouldn't work. Magical contracts are binding. You can't just pay a fine when you don't do it. Harry's name would be as bound as the other champions. If he didn't compete, something really bad could happen to him. His magic could be in danger. Merlin, I don't really want to know specifics because no one's ever broken one and lived long enough to say it."

Sirius groaned, raking his hand through his hair so hard in frustration he was likely to pull out a few strands, and didn't care one bit.

They all looked absolutely miserable, just so tired of hearing about Harry's life like this. This Tournament was going to be dangerous. Harry was going to have to deal with even more terrible things than he'd already had to before, and that was saying something!

James' mind kept flickering around, his face purely sour as he tried to come up with something else to say, but what came out wasn't particularly helpful. "You know, I think I'm really starting to hate this holiday."

Harry gave him a surprised look, but before he could even ask he'd continued, "It's apparently the day we're going to die." He only paused for a moment to grimace in disgust at that sentence.

"Your first year you got attacked by a troll-"

"But that's the day Hermione and I became friends," Harry reminded, "so I'm rather fond of that memory."

"No, I agree with your father." Lily huffed, ignoring the fact she'd always liked this holiday as her and James' anniversary for their first date. Now didn't seem the time to indulge this. "Because it also happens to be that same day Mrs. Norris was attacked, and that awful Chamber mess happened."

"Plus that was the day Sirius apparently lost his marbles," Remus added.

Sirius simply shrugged, having nothing to add to that but "agreed, this holiday sucks."

Harry really couldn't disagree that he didn't seem to have a very good track record for this particular day of the year. Still, looking around at all of them, he couldn't resist a smile either. For some reason the mention of Hermione had made his mind want to flicker to something else, like he should be angry, but not at her, maybe one of his friends though? What would Ron and Hermione do that could actually make this feeling worse? It was such a contrast to watching his family now, so outraged on his behalf they were all clearly stewing and trying to come up with some way to get him out of this.

Still though, Lily did marginally relax as she watched her son regain his normal composure. Sadly this only kicked up her anger at the situation another degree. She got to her feet and began pacing the length of the couch as she stormed. "I still want to know how the bloody hell this happened to him! How did his name even get put in? Someone had to have done this to him! And why!? What on earth could be the point of doing this to him!?"

"My money's on Moody," Sirius smirked.

Harry only had the smallest moment to glance in surprise at his Godfather, opening his mouth with that old look of something flickering in his eyes, when James snorted, giving him a sideways look as he told him, "You know, sometimes I think your jokes are actually your mind trying to warn the rest of us how crazy you are."

Sirius' grin widened. Of course he didn't mean it of the head Auror, even if he was retired now, but it was making him feel better to at least pretend this was a joking situation. "Well, look at it this way: every single DADA teacher Harry's had has had some interest in Harry. It's definitely in Moody's capability to pull off a stunt like this."

Lily just sighed before saying, "Can someone offer up a real solution before he starts accusing Ron next?"

"Oi!" Sirius pouted, but didn't argue the point, recognizing he wasn't making anyone else feel better by his picking.

At least Sirius' fun had turned off the harder question Lily asked, why would someone do this to Harry. It wasn't hard to think up the reason. Their boy seemed to have more enemies than friends it felt like, but it didn't really help them to start listing them. Top of their list was Voldemort, and by extension any Death Eater he had at his availability. True, they only knew of one at the time, but he was off somewhere else, scheming something else. That did leave the nasty suspicion they had that there were two current Death Eaters around Harry at school, but as much as they hated Snape, and had a very growing dislike for all the suspicions they already had about Karkaroff, it was mind blowing to think either of them could pull this off under Dumbledore's nose.

Their opinion of the Headmaster was at an all time low considering everything they suspected, and basically knew even if they weren't there to see it all, involving his hand in Sirius' jail time. Still, that was the outside world, this was his bleeding school! He should be able to have stopped this from happening!

They had no answers, and no one to ask.

Considering Lily had thrown the book to the ground and kicked it into the wall in her temper to take her shock and hatred of this situation out on something, James had to walk across the room to go and fetch the book. None of them had even marginally calmed down, but they did come to the same realization James had. This had already happened to Harry, he had lived through whatever they were fixing to find out, and that was the most important thing to them. Whatever came next, Harry had survived.

James tried his best to steady his breathing so that when he found his right spot, he didn't keep screaming bloody murder about this. It was best he didn't anyways, because even in their shouting, Remus was the only one who hadn't gotten up in his outrage, still too sore and curled up into the chair with a very fussy baby now. His infant son's agitated whining at this mess only accented how the rest of them were feeling though, so it wasn't exactly as calm an environment as he was trying for as he began.

Harry just sat there with every eye in the hall on him, convinced he'd heard wrong.

"I feel like everyone in the hall wouldn't be looking at you if that were true," Remus grumbled low enough Harry couldn't hear.

There was no applause.

Sirius made a breathy noise, like he wanted to laugh at Harry's expense for that but he couldn't really get it out.

Instead a buzzing, unpleasant, noise was growing. McGonagall reacted first, getting to her feet and sprinting to Dumbledore's side to whisper something in his ear.

"I can only imagine what she's got to say about this," James sighed.

"Hopefully something along the lines of, I know the perfect solution of how to get him out of this," Lily huffed.

Harry turned to face his two friends, telling them he hadn't done this.

Harry sighed with pure misery. Somehow he just knew that was going to pop up a lot. It didn't make him feel any better that saying this to his two friends gave him an aching feeling, like one of them wouldn't even believe him. That couldn't possibly be true, right?

Neither answered.

At the staff table, Dumbledore repeated Harry's name, telling him to come up there. Hermione had to give him a push to get him to move.

"I'd need more than a push to get my behind up there," Remus shuddered.

Harry got to his feet, feeling wooden all over as he stumbled between the wide eyes of the Gryffindors and the stone faces of the Hufflepuffs. It seemed to take forever as he came forward, feeling like a spotlight was on him the whole time.

Lily sighed deeply, shifting in her place and having to stop herself going over to her son, snapping at anyone for staring too long. This wasn't his fault!

The buzzing kept growing louder as every eye in the room wouldn't look away from him.

He finally approached Dumbledore, who continued by telling Harry to go through the door like the others had.

"Honestly, this is one time I wanted him to get special treatment, put him somewhere else, like the train home," James ground out. He didn't care how bad of an idea it was logically, he wanted someone to do something other than just stare at his boy!

He wasn't smiling.

"Be a little more worried if he was," Sirius mumbled.

Harry kept going, edging around until he passed Hagrid, who neither waved nor gave any of his usual greetings as he too stared at Harry the whole way.

Harry was getting more despondent the longer this kept going, remembering all of those shocked faces and just wanting to scream that he hadn't done anything.

His face looked as astonished as everyone's.

"Anyone want to place bets on when this is going to wear off?" James moaned, just trying to say something that didn't depress him for just a second, though it clearly didn't work when everyone else ignored him.

Finally Harry passed through the door to see the three champions in a small circular room, covered with portraits over a fire. Harry found them imposing in the firelight.

Lily had her hair wrapped so tightly around one finger it was beginning to hurt, but she didn't release the strands, just kept pulling harder in agitation of picturing her Hare Bare having to go through all of this.

Fleur was the first to notice him, asking if he was there to tell them to come back into the hall?

"No, they wanted to make sure Hogwarts' mascot got shoved into this bloodbath as well," Sirius growled. All four of them looked at him like they were really going to do more than smack him this time, but when Sirius put his hands up in surrender meaning he regretted his own joke, no one acted on it, no matter how much they wanted to.

She thought Harry was there to give a message, but Harry couldn't come up with a way to answer.

"I still don't either honestly," Remus snapped.

He simply stood there, watching them, as it occurred to him how much taller they were.

Sirius plugged his nose to stop a snort of laughter, knowing he'd have loved to pick on both Harry and James for that any other time as they were usually on the shorter side even when they were the same age as those around them, but knew he couldn't have gotten away with it. Still, he regretted his missed opportunity the moment it passed, because no matter how stressed they all were for this, some humor really would have done them good for even a moment.

The first person to enter behind them was Bagman, who came bouncing in and grabbed Harry's arm, dragging him farther into the room as he exclaimed how extraordinary this was.

"NO!" Lily snapped at once. "I do not care for one second what the bloody hell you think is going on, but this is not extraordinary or anything else! My son-" she strangled herself off, her cheeks puffing up with indignation but clearly trying to hold off another shouting fit that this was Bagman's first reaction!

The others didn't look any better, Sirius in particular looked like he'd been smacked. What was Bagman playing at, trying to make this look like a good thing? Everyone should be trying to work on a way to get him out of this!

Turning to the other champions and shouting about how they had a fourth champion!

Lily couldn't seem to stop herself constantly uttering the word 'no' under her breath, and didn't seem likely to stop until something else happened.

Remus gave an exhausted sigh at that declaration, still trying to work out in his head how this had been done. That Goblet was one of the oldest of magical items. It would take something really powerful for it to have broken and spit out four champions. The question of who on earth could have pulled this off was still open ended, though, as they had no actual suspects.

Krum and Cedric looked more surprised, though hardly reactive. Fleur, though, gave her hair a toss and began laughing, saying Bagman had made a good joke.

"I wish," Sirius sighed, though even he'd admit this was never funny to begin with.

Bagman was shocked, saying this was no laughing matter. Harry's name had just come out of the Goblet. Krum and Cedric's expression continued growing more confused,

"I almost envy the reaction," James groused.

while Fleur frowned telling him there must be some mistake.

"Well, she's got that one right," they all agreed.

Harry couldn't compete, he was too young.

"Ironically, that was only a rule this time around," Lily sighed, "and still not my biggest problem."

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise, the first time he'd actually tried to speak to any of them since his name had come out, so though Lily didn't look happy she explained.

"I know you can handle a lot love, I've seen that proven time and again. No, what I, we," she quickly corrected since all of the boys housed the same face she did, "are so mad about is that you didn't volunteer for this. If you had, well, I can't say I'd be pleased, but, Merlin help it, I can't pretend you haven't dealt with this dangerous mess before. It would have been your decision at least. No, the fact that someone put your name in, forcing you to do this, that's why I'm going to be putting someone in their place," she finished with a dangerous flash to those green eyes.

Harry looked around in surprise, but when he saw nothing but agreement from the others, he felt a flash of warmth finally chase away that cold dread. No, he still wasn't happy about this situation he'd landed in one little bit, but the absolute fact that his parents were so infuriated on his behalf, not because they hadn't a shadow of a doubt he could handle this, but because he'd been forced into this, left him feeling almost giddy.

James couldn't stop himself from smiling just a bit as he kept going now. At least his son finally looked almost back to normal now.

Bagman agreed this was amazing, but since the age restriction had only been put in place this year it should be overlooked. The Goblet had used his name, there was no ducking out.

"Please stop saying that, though," Sirius pouted, not really exaggerating it much as he continued. "The point is, he shouldn't have to do this!"

"Where's Dumbledore?" Remus agreed with a heavy sigh. "Maybe he could, I don't know, if the Goblet was tricked once, can't it be convinced again to take his name back, or something?!"

"You let us know if you figure it out," James huffed.

It was all down in the rules, he was obliged

"If you put your name in," Lily stressed the word "you" for emphasis like she was speaking to a two year old. "Harry didn't, so he isn't obliged to do anything."

"I think it's moments like this where I hate magic," Harry agreed.

to do so and just do his best!

He was cut off by the entrance of Dumbledore, Crouch, Karkaroff, Maxime, McGonagall, and Snape.

"Why is Snape there?!" Sirius fired up at once, finally having something else to put his temper on. "Everyone else, I don't care, but, bloody hell, can he just not be there for one second!? He has no part of anything going on. Merlin, he'll probably start a cheer squad for this happening to my pup!"

"Malfoy'll be captain of that," James agreed just to finish the joke. He couldn't muster up an ounce of humor for it though.

Harry could still hear the noise coming from the Great Hall before McGonagall shut the door, and Fleur darted to her headmistress at once, telling her that they were going on about this little boy competing with them!

Harry finally felt something other than numbness, anger. Little boy?

"Oh, that's what got through to you, then?" Remus asked mildly.

"You want to insult a boy, you start calling him little," Lily agreed with an almost amused smile, which increased to actual laughter when indeed every boy in the room looked agitated at her.

Maxime drew herself up to her full height,

"I can believe how scary that is," James nodded absently.

her head brushing the ceiling as she swelled at Dumbledore what the meaning of this was?

Karkaroff said that he'd like an answer for this as well, two Hogwarts champions? There was nothing about that in the rules, or had he not read them properly? Giving a cruel laugh at the end.

"Guess people really will be calling Hogwarts biased now." Harry rolled his eyes, thinking back when this had just been a recurring joke, he'd never expected this as an end result.

Maxime agreed there was nothing saying Hogwarts would have two champions, it was unjust!

"Agreed," all five of them muttered.

Karkaroff added on that the age had restricted them bringing more from their schools.

"Yeah, I feel like you only would have brought one if you could get away with it." Sirius rolled his eyes.

Snape said his due, saying it was Potter's own fault.

Lily's hand twitched, her face so murderous in that moment the others had to fight down the urge to duck as she looked likely to draw her wand and do something irreparable to Snape for saying that. She was as sick and tired of hearing about him as the others, seeming to regret every moment she'd ever stood up for him previously as she could no longer even think about him without wanting to scream in his face for starters.

James felt the exact same way, the murdering part as he'd never pretend to stand up for Snivellus if his life depended on it, but he kept going with only the faintest hope Dumbledore would kick his slimy butt out of there before he could keep going long.

Saying it wasn't Dumbledore's fault Potter had decided to break the rules, he'd been doing that since he arrived here-

Dumbledore cut him off.

James looked so furious by the time Dumbledore had cut in, Sirius and Remus decided Snape should be lucky James hadn't ever managed to find some way to take a limb off in school, because he'd clearly do it now.

Then he turned to Harry and calmly asked if he'd put his name in the Goblet of Fire?

"Least Dumbledore didn't lose his temper on this," Remus huffed.

"I've never seen Dumbledore lose his temper over anything," Sirius sighed. "It'd be really weird to even picture it."**

Harry said no at once, while Snape made a soft noise of disbelief in the shadows.

Lily made a murderous noise of disbelief in plain view for everyone to see.

Dumbledore, ignoring Snape, then asked if he'd asked one of the older students to do it for him?

"Would that work?" Harry asked in shock. That was an even simpler solution than the Aging Potion.

"I, well sort of, I can kind of picture it at least," Remus said with crossed eyes. "If the Goblet works so that it takes the essence of the person who put the paper in, well it would be absorbing the person, not the name on the slip. So if another person wrote Harry's name down, and the Goblet accepted that name to go with the person who put it in, well I couldn't see why this wouldn't work."

"You'd really have to work on an older student to convince them to give up their chance for you," Sirius agreed in tones showing how impossible that scenario would be.***

"What about a Polyjuice Potion then?" Harry asked. "You'd turn into someone physically old enough."

"If Dumbledore had the thought to set up against an Aging Potion, he'd most likely have done it against all Potions. If you had one in your system, I don't think you could get through," Lily explained.

"Problem is," James ruffled up his brow as he sorted through this, "what would be the point? No one would do that as a joke, because anyone who put their name in would want their own go at it."

"No one was suggesting this as a prank," Lily muttered with pure mutiny.

"Oh, he knows," Sirius sighed. "No one here's pretending a student is powerful enough to do this to the Goblet. Even Hermione couldn't get away with that. No, it would have to be someone at Dumbledore's level of magical power, and how someone managed to do that without Dumbledore realizing is still what's getting to me."

Harry sighed. Clearly they were as lost as he on that front, so he kept at the other thing instead, at least that didn't explicitly have to do with him. "But now I'm really thinking about this, couldn't a whole school do that as a form of cheating? What if every single Durmstrang student just put down Krum's name, that way the Goblet would have no choice but to shoot out that name?" His frown increased as he jumped to, "what if it wasn't the Goblet that was magicked, but every person at Hogwarts who just thought they were putting their own name, but really put mine? Though," he quickly amended when he could sense how wrong that was even without letting the others deny this, "I guess that would be just as hard to pull off around Dumbledore."

"And wouldn't explain how Cedric got in, and a fourth name came out," James agreed gently. Still, they were all happy to at least have seen him try. It was good to see him trying to throw those kinds of things out there, as it meant he wasn't solely trying to rely on his mind for answers anymore, which only ever led to hurting him.

Again Harry said no, and Maxime said he was lying at once, while a shake of Snape's head showed he agreed with her.

"I am going to rip his head off," Sirius said sincerely.

McGonagall stepped in, saying Harry couldn't have crossed the age line, while Maxime pointed out Dumbledore must have made a mistake.

"Now she's just being ridiculous." Remus rolled his eyes. "We've seen an abundance of evidence it's stopped a number of students, so why on earth could Harry get around that?"

"Can someone please stop blaming Harry and instead get to how he doesn't have to do this?" James agreed.

Dumbledore agreed this could be a factor, while McGonagall told them all they were being ridiculous. Harry couldn't have crossed that line, and if Dumbledore says he believes him that should be good enough for everyone!

"Thank you, McGonagall!" Lily nodded sharply, happy at least someone was around to keep these idiots in their place.

She shot a very angry look at Snape.

"Well deserved, that," Sirius nodded along.

Karkaroff turned to Bagman and Crouch then, saying they were supposed to be the objective judges, and they had to admit this was irregular.

"Oh, no one's arguing this is irregular," Sirius rolled his eyes.

Bagman still had a smile on his face, while Crouch had been standing silently in the shadows this whole time.

"Actually more surprised he hasn't spoken up by now," Lily said briskly. "Put his bleeding opinion out in the open of all of this."

He looked ghastly in the dying light, but he spoke in his usual curt tone as he said the rules must be followed. The Goblet of Fire had chosen him, so he was now bound for the Tournament.

"No!" Lily snapped again, sick of this being everyone's go-to answer. She was seconds away from getting to her feet and stomping her way to Crouch's house and telling him off next. "You find a bleeding loophole and get him out of this!"

"If there's a way around getting an underage student into the Goblet, there should be a way to get him out of it," James agreed in seething tones.

"It was a rule an underage student shouldn't be in," Remus agreed with an ugly look in place, "but then again, isn't Crouch the one who decides what rules should and shouldn't be followed?"

Harry looked at him in surprise at this. Clearly something had just gone over his head, but even though James agreed he didn't notice Harry and instead kept going.

Bagman seemed to decide that made the matter closed while giving a charming smile to everyone.

"I do not like him anymore," Sirius growled, any shine gone to be replaced by a murderous growl in his voice. Quidditch player be damned, no one should be in a good mood while this was happening to Harry.

Karkaroff insisted this wasn't right. He wanted all the names of the students resubmitted until all the schools were even!

Lily opened, then closed her mouth, shutting her eyes for a moment before opening them and saying "actually, that seems fair."

"Wish I could say otherwise," James sighed, "but the man's got a point."

"That doesn't solve our problem," Remus sighed, keeping the baby in his lap as close to his chest as he could like he feared someone was going to wrench him away any second and throw him into this Tournament. "Harry's still stuck in the bleeding middle of this, but it might take some of the heat off of him if they do pull that off."

No one looked remotely happy, but if this was the solution that everyone ended up coming to, it would have the benefit of Harry not being the sole attention anymore at least somewhat.

Bagman reminded the Goblet had gone out, and it would not reignite until the start of the next Tournament.

"So tell it to do otherwise!" Sirius snapped in outrage. "It's a magical object, use some f'ing magic on it and get it to do what it's told!"

Karkaroff exploded at them all, saying Durmstrang would take no part of this! He was tempted to just leave now!

"You know it's sad when I can't even say he's not wrong," Lily moaned into her hands, pressing her face so tight into them in frustration she was leaving nail marks on her forehead. "I'd be just as bleeding pissed if this was happening from another school."

A new voice told Karkaroff how stupid that was, leaving his champion. They've all got to compete, which was convenient.

"Now why couldn't this one have been here this whole time instead of Snape?" James huffed, thankful someone else had stepped in, hoping against hope whoever would find a way out of this for his son.

Moody had come in, while Karkaroff turned nasty eyes on him and told him no one understood why this was convenient.

"Pretty sure he's saying what none of us want to hear," Lily mumbled, still not removing her face, her curtain of red hair hiding most of the act, and she didn't look likely to move until her Hare Bare was pulled out of this.

Moody told that it was obvious, someone put Potter's name in so he would have to compete.

Maxime exclaimed it was so Hogwarts could have two bites at the apple, and Karkaroff agreed with her: he'd be lodging complaints against everything he could.

"And a number of other things, which do absolutely no good," Sirius rolled his eyes in pure contempt. "If I could have a go at the Goblet, I'd be doing it now as well."

Moody reminded if anyone should be complaining, it was Potter, but he'd stayed quiet.

"He's actually got a point there," Remus raised a brow at him. "You haven't spoken a word."

"I kept hoping someone would find a way to get me out of this." Harry shrugged, choosing not to add on he hardly ever liked speaking when adults were around discussing him, probably one too many years of the Dursleys had put that into him. They always somehow managed to make it clear if Harry's name was in the conversation he should keep his mouth shut, not that they ever included him in any other discussion either. "Besides," he finished out loud to get rid of his trailing thoughts, "couldn't think up anything to say. I hadn't done anything."

Fleur bit back he was the last person who would complain, he was getting the chance many would die for!

"Oh, please don't say that," Lily sighed, finally raising her head to give a stank eye at the book. This French girl continued to agitate her the longer she spoke.

Moody agreed maybe Harry's death was the end game here.

"That's why I didn't want her to say that," she snarled when James got that out looking more than a little sick after doing so.

Sadly, they'd already realized this, but with any luck maybe Moody would suggest someone who could have done this to Harry they hadn't thought of.

Silence rung in the room. Bagman lost some of his good mood

"Finally an expression that doesn't read, 'oh this is brilliant!'" Sirius snorted.

while he bounced on his heels in unease as he told Moody off for saying that.

"Oh, how I wish he was wrong," Lily hissed.

Karkaroff reminded Moody hadn't made his day until he found six attempts on his life.

"And how do you spend your mornings?" James snarled. Moody and McGonagall were the only ones sticking up for his son so far. He wasn't going to let someone have a go at them without returning. "In fact, maybe you should start that practice!"

He was clearly imagining things. Moody glowered at him, reminding that it took someone with more skill than a fourteen year old to do this to the Goblet.

Maxime demanded what evidence he had of that?

"Logic," Remus raised a brow.

"Common sense," Sirius agreed with a sigh.

"Something any adept person would know," James sniffed.

Moody reminded how it must have taken a powerful wizard to Confound the Goblet into thinking there were four Champions, and put Harry's name down as the only entrance from an extra school.

Karkaroff told Moody he'd thought this through quite well,

Harry felt something just as cold trickling towards his stomach, for the first time wondering on Karkaroff, at what he'd said...and for an inexplicable reason going back to Sirius' earlier joke of who'd done this to him...

and while it was smart, last he'd heard Moody had taken a birthday gift and broken it in fear it was poisoned, so he should forgive them all for not taking him seriously.

"I'd be worried if you did treat him like me," Sirius agreed with an ingenious smirk in his opinion, and when Harry snapped out of whatever that face was and laughed, it was worth it.

Moody reminded it was his job to think like Dark wizards, Karkaroff should remember that.

"Well, there's our proof, as if we needed any more," James sighed. "Karkaroff was, or is, I guess, depending on what time we're talking about, a Death Eater."

"Never heard of him before, though," Remus gave an absent shrug, "so either he's not very high in the ranks, or hasn't joined yet."

"Or we've gotten a spot more dodgy information," Sirius scowled, for the first time really thinking past that rat's betrayal and jumping on the fact that it wasn't just James and Lily he'd got killed. How many more people would that rat get murdered for Voldemort, how soon until he started telling Death Eaters their plans instead of them figuring out theirs?

The others were confident they knew where Sirius' mind had gone, but they were already in a foul enough mood without something else like this being brought up just now, so no one asked him for details.

Dumbledore gave a warning to Alastor, and it took a moment for Harry to realize who he was speaking to.

That managed to snap James onto something far more pleasant at least, as he began giggling at once, managing to get out, "It took you how many months-" before he broke off into a bit more chuckling.

Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly, but none of them had seen that eye in person. If they had, they wouldn't have questioned him using that as a name either.

Then again, Mad-Eye could hardly be his real first name.

"Oh, but it would have been so much more interesting if it was," Lily agreed mildly.

Moody stopped speaking, though he still kept a distasteful eye on Karkaroff's hateful one.

Dumbledore continued speaking, saying that however this happened, it didn't appear they had another choice but to accept it.

"NO!" Lily snarled in outrage, this time joined in by everyone else as Harry watched. It was his mother, though, who kept going in a full-blown, no-longer-able-to-bottle-it-up tangent as she really did get to her feet, pacing the length of the room in a towering outrage. "I am so bleeding sick of seeing him just saying, okay, Harry's going off to do this insane thing, let's see what happens!"

Remus opened, then closed his mouth as he couldn't come up with an argument for that. The only time he may have tried for some defense was in Harry's second year when Dumbledore hadn't even been around there at the end, but even still with that odd advice he'd given indicating he'd known Harry was around, he hadn't offered words of caution trying to deter Harry. He'd instead said the very thing Harry had repeated in calling Dumbledore's bird to him. Coincidence? Maybe, but as this was the fourth time it felt like Dumbledore was in no way hindering any of this happening to Harry, he couldn't really believe it as much anymore.

James and Sirius exchanged a look that spoke volumes, but honestly felt the exact same way as the other two. Dumbledore had abandoned Sirius when he needed him most, and they'd never forgive him for that. They even suspected he had a hand in convincing Remus Sirius had done all of those terrible things. He was the only one who could have done such a thing to make Remus think the worst of Sirius.

Harry felt something crumbling inside him, though he realized it was already cracked beyond repair anyways. This was just more coming out. He knew in his younger years he'd believed Dumbledore could do anything, but now because of last year, and now this, he knew that illusion would never come back.

Still, James kept going, which did not make one beat of Lily's pacing skip. She kept stalking back and forth, wearing out the carpet like that would somehow help.

Both Cedric and Harry would have to do this.

Maxime tried to cut in, but Dumbledore said if anyone had an alternative, he'd love to hear it.

"That's true," James grumbled. "Everyone else has been doing nothing but complaining, but I haven't seen one bleeding person actually trying to offer up a solution."

Silence. Everyone was now glaring at Dumbledore, except Bagman, who gathered his excited nature back.

Sirius started grinding his teeth to fight back the urge to snarl a few more death threats at someone he never believed he'd direct them at.

He decided it was time to move forward, asking Barty if he'd like the honor of telling the champions what they would be up to first. Crouch seemed to come back to life at being spoken to.

"What's got him so distracted?" Lily raised a brow in surprise, finally stalking to her seat, though it wasn't making the situation any better. "What on earth could be going on that's demanding more of his attention than this?"

Harry sighed, that old feeling returning, making him sure that he knew an answer at some point, and he wasn't too eager to learn this one.

The longer Harry watched him, he noticed that his skin looked unhealthy and far more wrinkled than it had at the Cup.

"I would feel bad for him," Remus sniffed, "if he deserved it. It's his own fault for firing his help and acting like a prick to everyone he doesn't deem worthy."

His voice was as crisp as ever as he told the four of them, the first task was to test their daring,

All five of them gave a few terrible mutterings, still wishing more than anything Harry's name wasn't in that, that they could be hearing about this like Harry should be through the rest of the school amongst rumors and in the stands. Now they were going to have to hear what the Triwizard decided daring was, and Harry would be in the middle.

as it was important for a wizard to face courage in the unknown.

"Well, Ron was right," Harry huffed without a trace of humor. "I've lived that part."

None of them looked remotely pleased about it.

He gave the date of when this would be happening, and that it would take place in front of the panel of judges. The champions were not to ask for help from anyone regarding anything during the Tournament.

"Right, I can see that happening." Remus rolled his eyes.

They would go into this first task with only their wands,

"As opposed to the other challenges? Are they going to take their wands away?" Sirius rolled his eyes, though he shuddered at the thought, not even wanting to imagine that kind of horror.

and they would receive further instructs on the second task after the first. Also, all champions were exempt from the end-of-year finals.

"Finally, the bright side," James sighed, sounding like that was still the worst news in the world. He'd give anything for Harry to be taking those stupid exams rather than this!

"Well, how does that work though?" Harry asked. "Everyone else would be in seventh year. They'd have to take their N. E. W. T. s, right?"

"I feel like winning the Triwizard Tournament is your job application." Sirius rolled his eyes, and Harry realized he wasn't really kidding. With the amount of fame and prize money this came with, it really wouldn't be difficult to find a job with those standards behind you, and you had plenty of time to look.

He turned to Dumbledore to indicate he was finished, and Dumbledore kept watching him with concern.

"Guess he really does look bad." Lily rolled her eyes, unable to find it in herself to actually feel anything for it. It felt like compensation for some of the more ruthless laws he'd been passing of late finally catching up to him.

He asked if Barty would like to stay the night at Hogwarts, but Crouch declined, saying he was too busy. He'd left Weatherby in charge,

Sirius finally managed a real smile this chapter, sad that he couldn't do more at that joke.

and while he was enthusiastic, he may be a little overtly so in this case.

"Didn't know there was such a thing," Lily said, still more grimly than with any amount of humor, but at least they were trying again.

"If there was, Percy would hit it." Remus attempted a smirk.

Dumbledore asked if he'd at least like to have a drink, and Bagman jumped in saying Barty was being ridiculous! Everything was happening at Hogwarts. What could be more exciting than that? Crouch gained some of his impatience back as he told Ludo he would not indulge this.

"Good to know he's not too sick." James rolled his eyes.

Dumbledore offered to have a drink with the other two heads of the schools, but Maxime and Fleur stalked out,

"Can't even blame them," Harry sighed.

into the now silent Great Hall, speaking in French.

"Don't need a translation for that," Remus grumbled.

Karkaroff summoned Krum to him, and they left as well, though in silence.

"Krum didn't say a word during that," Sirius realized in surprise, somehow actually thankful at least one of his Quidditch fascinations this year hadn't managed to tick him off yet.

"You'd think he'd be just as outraged as Fleur," James nodded in agreement.

"He was making a lot of the same faces as Cedric," Harry shrugged, "switching between surprise and confusion. Maybe some contempt in there."

Dumbledore turned to Cedric and Harry, telling them to get off to bed, now smiling at the two.

"I still want to strangle him with his own beard," Lily snarled. "Smiling at a time like this, can't someone at least pretend to be upset!"

"I think we're doing that enough for all of them, love," James sighed.

Reminding that their respective houses would want to be celebrating this.

The two left, and only when they made it to the Entrance Hall did Cedric point out that they'd be playing against each other again.

"I'd listen to a hundred Quidditch matches over this," Lily groused.

Harry agreed, his mind not on the conversation, though. Cedric did catch his attention as he asked how Harry had pulled it off.

"If Harry didn't tell them, what the bloody hell makes him think he'd admit it to him?" Sirius snapped.

"He's not any more special than those arse wipes," James agreed.

Harry gave a mild frown at them both, finally understanding why he would have felt so agitated at Cedric this year, as he was sure once the shock wore off, he'd look at Cedric as a rival again. It still didn't explain that other feeling, this want to defend him and not hear a bad word against him. Considering the last time he'd felt this was towards Dobby, and he'd made a few attempts at making Harry's life hell, he didn't feel like sharing that this time.

Harry insisted he hadn't, and Cedric clearly didn't believe him for a second.

Any feelings he would have anyways slipped away at once as his lip sneered in protest along with the others, outraged at once no one believed Harry about this!

He walked off towards the Hufflepuff common room then, and Harry was left to climb the stairs in silence. Was anyone going to believe him except Ron and Hermione?

Harry's breath released in a sudden rasp, looking like someone had just kicked him when he was down. They all thought it was just lingering agitation at what Harry was thinking, though. Even Harry himself had no idea why he'd felt anything for that.

Harry found the idea ridiculous. Why would he want to go up against those who had three years of magical learning over him? Sure he'd fantasized about entering,

"So did every other person at that school," Remus snapped, "and if they say otherwise, they're bleeding liars."

but he hadn't really meant it, he was never serious about entering.

"I'd be a little more concerned if you did think I'd enter," Sirius said at once, none of his usual humor in his favorite joke, but meeting Harry's eyes anyways with a spark of amusement nonetheless.

Harry managed a sour-filled smile for him, but not because the joke had quite worn off yet. He was just a little too distracted still to really give the laugh.

Someone had done it to him, though, and he got the feeling it wasn't meant as a treat.

"If someone really thinks that, they need a dictionary," Lily scowled.

To watch him make a fool of himself? They'd get their wish.

"Now, I don't think that's really all fair," Sirius sighed, still trying his hardest to get a smile going. "Give yourself some credit."

"No," Harry said back, deadpan.

To get him killed? Was Moody just being his paranoid self,

"So far, I think he's actually been the perfect amount of paranoid," James said with a shrug.

did someone really want him dead?

"I hate that I know the answer to that," Remus scowled.

Well, yes, Voldemort certainly did, but he wasn't anywhere near Harry. He was in hiding, feeble and powerless.

"Well, that's not entirely true," Lily murmured, shrinking just a little closer to Remus and her son.

Yet when Harry had dreamed about him, Voldemort hadn't been alone, he'd been with Wormtail, plotting Harry's murder.

"Thank you, because I hadn't remembered that recently," Sirius scoffed, his too-dark eyes still trying to keep Harry's, to show he didn't really blame his pup for thinking about this.

Harry was shocked to find himself in front of his portrait hole, and that the Fat Lady wasn't alone. Harry recognized the wizened old witch next to her as one of the ones from the portraits in the room downstairs.

"The portraits are the biggest gossips in that school," James muttered randomly, his mind happily latching onto anything old and familiar.

She must have run all the way up here to beat Harry. The Fat Lady looked down at Harry, asking if it was true he really was a champion? Harry replied Balderdash, and the other painting shouted it wasn't a lie!

"Timing," Remus rolled his eyes, missing the time where he would have laughed at the fortune of this password happening in relation to this.

The Gryffindor guardian eased her friend this was merely the entrance word before opening. The noise she opened up to was deafening, as seemingly every member of his house reached forward and pulled Harry in to congratulate him, the twins getting there first as they told Harry he should have said something about entering, looking half annoyed and half impressed.

Sirius groaned into his hands, wanting to laugh along with the twins like he always had, but wanting to smack them a good one for not giving Harry a chance to explain himself because he hadn't done this.

Everyone else was the same. They'd procured food, and kept trying to force it on Harry, despite Harry trying to say he wasn't hungry, and in no mood to be celebrating.

"Never thought a celebration would depress me so much," Remus grumbled.

Lee Jordan had found a Gryffindor banner somewhere and had decided to tie it around Harry's shoulders, all of them asking how he'd gotten over that Age Line.

"And not one bleeding one of them got the picture that you hadn't," Lily seethed, wishing Harry would shout it in someone's face already. He was so clearly upset and frustrated by this.

He kept saying over and over that he hadn't done it, but for all the notice he got he may as well not have answered.

James was opening and closing his mouth, clearly having reached the level of too outraged to speak on his son's behalf anymore, so forced himself to keep going in hopes Harry would just leave.

He began shouting at George that he was serious,

"No, I am," Sirius muttered under his breath, more out of obligation than anything at this point.

he just wanted to go to bed! He nearly knocked some of the younger kids over as he finally bolted up the stairs.

"About bleeding time," Sirius huffed. "Where were Ron and Hermione in that mess? They should have been there to at least try and keep that horde off of you!"

Harry didn't answer, and he was getting the ever growing feeling he wouldn't like it when he got one.

He went into his dormitory to find Ron laid out on his bed, and as Harry entered, Ron said hello.

"That's his response?" Remus rolled his eyes. "Hello?! I would have thought he and Hermione had rehearsed another conversation to try and calm him down!"

He was grinning, but it was a very odd, strained sort of grin.

"What?!" Lily balked, sure she'd heard him wrong.

James didn't answer though, didn't even glance up as he kept staring down at the pages, getting a very bad feeling about this...

Harry realized he still had that banner on, and struggled for a few minutes to remove it with Ron simply watching.

"Awkward silence," Sirius muttered into the room, which had somehow joined the same atmosphere.

When Harry kicked it back out of the room, Ron told him congratulations.

"Please tell me he was being sarcastic," Remus demanded, a furious glint lighting his eyes. "I am begging you to tell me, James, that there was some sarcasm in there."

James did not respond, his face going slack and pale the more words he kept pressing out.

Harry demanded what Ron meant, watching that grin become more of a grimace. Ron explained he was congratulating him getting over that Age Line, and asked how he'd done it? The Invisibility Cloak?

"Why would he, what-" Lily tried to stammer out, her face growing steadily more red the more she couldn't snap out a question.

Harry reminded him the cloak wouldn't work. Ron accepted that, adding on that he would have expected Harry to tell him if that were it, because both of them could have fit under the cloak, but Harry must have found some way to do it!

"He would have told you if he had!" Sirius howled in outrage, the shock finally wearing off, and he began trembling with rage. "How can Ron, of all people, think you'd done this! He's not heard a word from you, and he's really saying you did this!"

Harry's mouth was left hanging open, the expression of mingled fury and disbelief still not quite covering the hurt that was quickly rising. Something had been trying to warn him of this, but even with it resurfacing clear as day, Harry didn't want to believe it. He'd always known Ron had some jealousy issues, but this?! He now couldn't decide what hurt worse, someone putting his name in the tournament, or his best friend treating him like this because of it.

Harry said, again, he hadn't done this, someone had done it to him. Ron just raised his brows at him, asking why would someone do that? Harry felt like it would be too melodramatic to say 'to kill me.'

"Sadly, I can believe it's accurate," Lily hissed.

Ron's look did not change as he told Harry he could tell him the truth, it's not like he was going to get in trouble so there was no need to lie.

"I wouldn't tell him the truth now if he begged me," Remus sneered with as much fuel as he could. "Not the way he's acting."

Dumbledore was letting him play, Violet the portrait had told them all.

"Letting him," James repeated crossly, his voice still coming out too quietly, though. He hadn't quite seemed to get past his own disbelief at the situation yet and was still floored on that.

Harry now shouted back he hadn't put his name in!

"Oh, I'm long since past angry," Sirius growled, entirely sick of this whole bleeding school treating Harry like this, now someone who'd supposedly been a friend had joined in.

Ron believed that as much as Cedric, and everyone else, reminding how Harry had said last night he'd find a way to put his name in when no one was watching.

"And you once thought you could turn a rat yellow with a spell a three year old knew wasn't real. You don't see him holding that against you!" Lily half shouted, a muscle going off in her jaw she didn't seem aware of.

Reminding he wasn't stupid.

"Could have fooled me," Remus snarled.

Harry told him he was doing a really good job of proving otherwise. Ron wasn't even pretending anymore, telling Harry he should get to bed for his big photo shoot tomorrow!

Remus made a noise of pure outrage. He hadn't believed he could be more disgusted with the situation Harry was in, and here was Ron of all people proving him otherwise! The baby in his arms began fussing, and Remus was having a very hard time settling him back down when he couldn't even pretend at that emotion himself anymore.

He pulled the hangings of his bed shut around him, and Harry was left staring at a shadow of one of the few people he'd been sure would believe him.

James slammed the book shut with a sharp snap.

HPHPHPHP

*A lot of you suggested the train as an option, so I'm not going to single any one person out because I loved them all so much, but thanks again for the offer. The more I thought about it, the more I realized what a cool idea it was! Sorry if I came across as a jerk to anyone for my initial turn down of it to anyone.

**Come on, you know I had to make a joke about that.

***This and one other are thrown around all the time to kingdom come about a plot hole in the series, and I'm sure you all know what the other is and I'm already working on a far better explanation for it, but for this one in particular...yeah I couldn't really come up with anything. Magic can be outwitted as has been shown, but in this particular instance I think Sirius said it best, just because it could have happened, doesn't mean anyone could have been talked into getting away with it. All that prize money and glory couldn't have been talked on to my slip of paper.

[kerosene-insomniac]

To Be So Lonely

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Midoriya Izuku

Warnings: Violence, mature language, homosexual behavior, alpha/beta/omega dynamics, major character death (not bakudeku)

Word Count for Chapter: 1,701 words

Summary: Midoriya Izuku has always wanted to be a musician. Something about the lyric working with a melody to convey his feeling just made his heart race. After his father died when he was three, Izuku has always relied on his mother. She worked two jobs to care for him and always supported his dreams. But when his mother is diagnosed with breast cancer just after he graduated high school, Izuku has to shift his focus. 

Now he’s working two jobs and takes care of his mother with the help of his gay neighbors. In an attempt to learn self-defense, Izuku takes a few classes at a local gym. It’s there that he meets Toshinori Yagi, an older beta who used to be a professional heavyweight boxer. Yagi notices Izuku’s potential and encourages the small omega to eventually go pro. So, in order to make more money, Izuku eventually agrees.

Bakugou Katsuki has only ever wanted to fight. Orphaned as the young age of four, Katsuki has been fighting to live for his entire life. Fighting is all he’s ever known. After fighting underground for a couple years, Katsuki is noticed by Todoroki Enji. The older alpha takes him in at 19 and names him the official successor of his legacy (especially since all of his actual kids hate him). 

Now, Katsuki is 25-years-old and the professional heavyweight champion.

In a whirlwind of events, Katsuki meets Izuku in the unlikeliest of places. He watches the small omega perform and can’t help it feel extremely protective and absolutely enamored with him. The older alpha gets to meet him and say goodbye without even learning the omega’s name. Katsuki isn’t sure that they’ll ever meet again. 

That is, until Katsuki officially meets Izuku at a professional lunch with his manager’s rival.

{OR}

The one where Katsuki is a professional alpha boxer with arrogance issues and Izuku is a stubborn omega that’s way little too reckless with his well-being. 

With a wacky cast of characters (including three idiots, a manly best friend, a traumatized bastard with daddy-issues, and many more) absolutely hell-bent on getting them together, neither men can seem to catch a break

{0.3} Special

“There was something beautiful about his scars, something lovely about his fallibility.”

― Grace Curley

K A T S U K I

“Square your shoulders.”

Katsuki ignored the monotonous voice and delivered three jabs to the blue punching bag in front of him. Honestly, he’s imagining the bag as Todoroki’s stupid face.

Stupid.

Fucking.

“You look tense. Maybe you would like some soba-“

Katsuki growled and dropped his stance, whirling around to face the other alpha. “Shut the fuck up, Icy Hot! Focus on your own bullshit!!”

Todoroki blinked, sipping his tea. “It’s not as entertaining.”

It’s been two days since Katsuki’s adventure at the bar. For some odd fucking reason, he can’t stop thinking about a certain freckled nerd and the bandages on his hands. To make things much worse, Shinsou has been ignoring his attempts at contact.

Now Katsuki’s training at his manager’s professional gym. He’s been with this manager for six years and wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.

However, his manager’s son definitely makes Katsuki consider leaving.

“Stop pissing me off.” Katsuki grumbled, turning to face the punching bag again.

Todoroki chuckled, but the tone was still indifferent. “You’re the one getting mad, Bakugou. You should control your emotions better.”

Katsuki scoffed, using his forearm to wipe sweat from his brow. “Shut the fuck up. At least I don’t have a meltdown every time someone boils water.”

“You should come up with better comebacks.”

That was enough to make Katsuki freeze.

“I have enough survival instincts not to tell you. Stick to the shitty nicknames.”

Katsuki swallowed thickly, blinking multiple times in an attempt to snap out of his daze. Now, thanks to Icy Hot, his mind was preoccupied by freckles, green eyes, and the smell of chocolate cherries.

His mind had been a muddled mess since that night.

“Bakubro! You good?”

Katsuki snapped out of his daze again and locked eyes with a worried Kirishima. The other alpha was watching him with obvious concern.

He nodded. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound so sure.” Kirishima murmured, glancing at Todoroki. “You have a tournament tonight, so we can’t afford you overworking yourself.”

Katsuki immediately bristled at the alpha’s tone, his eyes flashing angrily. “Stop looking down on me, Shitty Hair! I don’t need your fucking pity and I don’t need your concern!”

Kirishima didn’t even flinch. “There’s no need to be so defensive…”

“Fuck you, I’m not defensive!”

“You’re just proving my point!”

“Fuck your shitty point!”

Todoroki, who simply watched the interaction with bored eyes, finally cleared his throat and made both alphas freeze. “Perhaps this is about the potential celebrity that’s supposed to be at the tournament?”

Katsuki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Hah?!”

“All Might is supposed to be involved in the tournament.” Todoroki murmured, pursing his lips.

That was enough to make Katsuki’s nerves much worse.

Todoroki ignored Katsuki’s gobsmacked expression and focused his gaze on the laptop in front of him. “Father had been raging about it for days. Apparently Toshinori has chosen a successor.”

“No way!”

Kaminari’ s voice echoed throughout the gym as he raced towards them with Mina and Sero hot on his heels. If Katsuki wasn’t so shocked, he would’ve yelled at the lot of them for running inside.

Yagi Toshinori, or All Might, had been a famous boxer back in the day. He was best known as the beta who took on an alpha heavyweight champion and won.

He was easily Katsuki’s favorite boxer.

Toshinori had retired years ago and disappeared from the public eye. He didn’t come to tournaments and definitely wasn't associated with the community. So the idea that he had chosen a successor was mind-blowing.

If anything, Katsuki felt jealous.

“Bakugou? You look pale.”

Katsuki snapped out of his daze and glared in Todoroki’s direction. “Do you know who his successor is? What’s his weight class?”

Todoroki hummed, looking at his laptop again. “According to the website, his name is Izuku Midoriya. Light Heavyweight.”

“He must be a beta.” Kirishima murmured thoughtfully.

“Actually, it doesn’t say.”

Katsuki stood up a bit straighter at Todoroki’s words, his heart thudding in his ears. “It doesn’t say? Everyone is required to list they’re secondary gender when applying.”

Todoroki shrugged. “It only lists his name, weight class, and type of fight. There’s no picture or mention of his gender. Apparently this is his debut tournament, but he’s been underground for the past year.”

“Is he boxing?” Mina asked, obviously invested.

The alpha sighed indifferently. “Kick-boxing. Honestly, I’m more excited to meet the beta who kicked my father’s ass.”

Katsuki huffed to himself and focused on the punching bag again. He wouldn’t be fighting All Might’s mysterious successor, but he had the urge to show him who’s boss.

What could be so fucking special about Izuku Midoriya?

********

I Z U K U

“Parry or guard, Deku!”

Izuku huffed and guarded his face with his forearms. He was sweating wildly as Uraraka directed high kicks towards his face. The green mouth-guard between his teeth was clenched tightly as he concentrated.

Uraraka had been doing this much longer than him, so her skills were a little more precise and powerful.

But she also takes a second to get her bearings after kicks or jabs.

Izuku waited a split second after her last kick to pull his left leg back and swing it to hit Uraraka’s torso head-on.

Uraraka gasped on impact, caught off-guard.

That’s all Izuku needed.

In quick succession, Izuku delivered three jabs and ultimately finished with a right hook to take down his opponent.

Sure enough, Uraraka collapsed on the mat.

Izuku straightened his stance, panting wildly as he used his wrists to maneuver the head gear off of his curls. He was sweating like a pig, dressed in a form-fitting tank and spandex shorts.

Uraraka was panting as well, spread eagle on the mat. “That was good, Deku. Wasn’t expecting a roundhouse kick.”

“I can’t let you win every time, Uraraka.” Izuku huffed, chuckling lightly.

Before the female omega could respond or even think of a witty response, a gruff and familiar voice spoke first.

“Excellent job, my boy.”

Izuku glanced to the side, where two betas had been watching the sparring match. Shinsou was one of them, sipping on what looked like iced coffee. The other, however, was Izuku’s teacher and close friend.

Izuku bowed, his face hot. “Thank you, Toshinori-sensei.”

“Your reflexes have improved quite a bit.”

Uraraka sat upright, humming in agreement. “Compared to yesterday, Deku managed to study my reflexes and react accordingly.”

Toshinori grinned, leaning on his cane as he walked over. “I noticed that as well. He’ll need that skill, especially since all the alphas tonight will try to crowd him and get a solid hit.”

“They'll have to catch me first.” Izuku muttered, wiping his brow.

The blond beta chuckled at his response. “That’s correct, my boy. If you stay light on your feet, then it should be fairly easy.”

Izuku nodded, still slightly out of breath.

“However, we do need to discuss something.”

This doesn’t sound good.

Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed in obvious confusion, his stomach already churning with anxiety. Toshinori looked serious and stressed, which was a tell-tale sign that something was wrong.

“Endeavor reached out to me today.”

Endeavor?

Izuku shared a glance with Shinsou and Uraraka. “What did he want? I thought he only reached out to try and challenge you to a rematch?”

Toshinori’ s mouth twitched slightly. “He’s very intrigued with the fact that I’ve been training a successor. He’s offered us a chance to train at his gym and spar with his successor.”

“Why would he do that?”

The elder beta shrugged, smiling lightly. “I think it might be his way of sizing up the competition. Personally, I think it’s a good idea.”

Izuku cringed. “Endeavor’s gym is full of raging alphas with pride issues. I really don’t want to put up with courting requests or the assumptions that I need extra assistance from them.”

“But he has access to better training gear.”

The green-eyed omega sighed, his boxing gloves feeling heavy on his hands. “I’ve heard of his successor, sensei. From what Shinsou has told me, he’s loud and aggressive in or out of the ring.”

Uraraka, who was watching the conversation, rolled her eyes. “Just give him an attitude adjustment, Deku.”

“It’s not that-“

Shinsou, who had been listening silently, effectively cut him off. “You’ve already met him, Izuku.”

What?

“No, I haven’t.” Izuku murmured, hopelessly confused.

The purple-haired beta chuckled, placing his iced coffee on a table before approaching them. “He’s the alpha who insisted on walking you home after kicking Dabi’s ass.”

And just like that, Izuku couldn’t breathe.

Hell, he couldn’t even process the information.

Blondie, who Izuku had pushed to the back of his mind, was nothing like Shinsou’s description of Endeavor’s successor. He was rough and loud, but he did make any move to attack him.

However, Blondie did assume that Izuku was helpless.

This can’t be the same-

“Deku, you’re mumbling again.”

Izuku froze, his skin immediately reddening as he glanced around the room. “Oh. I didn’t realize that I was….”

Shinsou raised an eyebrow at Izuku, grabbing a gloved hand and beginning to unlace the wrist. “I guess he made an impact on you, too. He won’t stop harassing me about your wellbeing, you know.”

“What?” Uraraka screeched, making everyone else wince.

Izuku sighed, ignoring the nervous flutter in his chest. “He probably thinks I need protecting. How does he know that you’re friends with me?”

The beta shrugged. “I was out with Denki and his friends that night. We went to the bar you perform at and Bakugou basically started drooling.”

“He’s sounds proper infatuated, Midoriya.”

Izuku groaned at Toshinori’s teasing tone, using his newly freed hand to rub his face. His bandages felt rough on his skin, but it was nice. “Not you too, sensei. I’m sure that this Bakugou person is just looking for a boost to his ego.”

Toshinori chuckled, obviously amused. “Be that as it may, I already accepted Endeavor’s request. We’re having lunch with them before the tournament.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to that.”

His teacher grinned. “I didn’t give you a choice, my boy.”

*********

[ryuubees-moved]

summary ; ryuunosuke finds that the moments he spends with his new friend hachimitsu are like espresso shots: small and fleeting, yet nonetheless revitalizing...then again, perhaps it’s more than a simple friendship that’s brewing.

pairing ; ryuubee (ryuunosuke tsunashi x hachimitsu aino)

a/n ; let me just start by saying that love is one hell of a motivator, apparently—i wrote this in 5 days and it ended up just under 4.5k words?? which is the most i’ve ever written in that short of a time period,,,crazy.

anyways!! i thought it’d be fun to do something special for our three month anniversary (especially considering i forgot the day and missed the last two but shhh), so this is a little trip down memory lane with a little lot of oblivious pining on ryuu’s end. it’s a far longer read compared to my last fic, but i hope you give it a go and enjoy it!! 🤎

ryuu remembered their first meeting like it was yesterday.

night had begun to settle over the city, bringing with it a faint chill as he walked home from a hectic day. it was still hard to believe that they had won at the black or white competition little more than a month ago, but, since then, the skyrocket in popularity that came with their victory had left him with busier schedules than before. it wasn’t that he minded—though it was hard work, he still enjoyed it—but he’d found that free moments like these were becoming increasingly difficult to come by. and when work typically consisted of not only rushing between rehearsals, publicity stunts, and the like, but mediating the ever-frequent spats between his two groupmates as well, he’d come to appreciate these quiet moments where he finally had time to think and unwind.

it seemed that the night had other plans for him, however, as his train of thought was cut short at the sound of a familiar melody playing from nearby—all too familiar, in fact, he noted as he stopped in his tracks for a moment. after all, that was definitely one of their songs he was hearing, wasn’t it? it may have been one of their newer releases, but it was still easily recognizable—and, from what he could hear, whoever was playing it sounded good.

his curiosity piqued, he resumed his walking, the melody growing louder as he followed it to its source. eventually, he stopped at the door of a small café situated along the street, the sign hung above the door reading "kumamai café," accompanied by a little bear drawing that he assumed was the store mascot. his hand rose to the door handle, resting there for a moment as he debated whether or not to enter, but eventually made up his mind, readjusting the mask on his face before stepping inside.

the bell by the door chimed softly as it closed behind him, though it was paid no mind as he laid his eyes on the singer. she was seated on a stool towards the back of the café, her gaze on the guitar she was strumming as she led into the chorus of the piece. it was new, hearing a song like theirs in an acoustic form like, but it was far from bad. maybe it was the way the accompaniment carried through the microphone, or the way her voice lilted along every phrase, but he soon found himself lost in the melody, hanging on to the notes he knew by heart.

and then, as suddenly as he’d heard her, it was over, the strum of the final chord snapping him from his trance. as the guests began to applaud, and him with them, she looked up from her instrument with a smile.

"alright, that’s all for tonight!" she announced cheerily into the mic. "thank you all for coming to listen!"

oh, that was it? it seemed he’d only caught the tail end of her performance. the applause quickly simmered down, the members of her audience returning to whatever conversations they may have been engaged in before. his attention remained on her, though, watching as she slipped off of her stool and began to set about clearing her things. noticing she seemed to be stuck doing so alone, he made his way over to her to offer some assistance.

"need any help with that?"

"oh!" the girl glanced in his direction as she continued wrapping up the cord from her microphone, flashing him an appreciative smile. "if you don’t mind! i just need a little help carrying all of this back to store away until next time."

he gave an affirmative hum and set about picking up some of the heavier-looking items, following after her as she led him to the storage cabinet in the back of the café, directing him as to where it all went.

"…and that should be the last of it!" she concluded, brushing off her hands on her jeans before turning to face him fully. "thanks for your help, um—"

she cut herself off abruptly as her eyes landed on him, shock and realization slowly dawning on her face. "wait…you’re—!"

she’d recognized him? well, considering she had just been performing one of his group’s songs, maybe it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. tenn had always told him that he and gaku were still pretty noticeable despite their disguises, especially now with their popularity on the rise. "ah, yeah," he confirmed her discovery, his hand rising to the back of his neck as he chuckled sheepishly.

at that, she clasped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as saucers. "oh my god, i’m so sorry! i didn’t even notice, and you…" she trailed off, struggling to find her words amid her disbelief. "…you heard me?"

he nodded, lowering his mask and offering her a smile—they were the only two back there and she’d already figured him out, so he supposed it was alright. "only that last one, but you sounded good! i was impressed by what i heard, especially considering that son hasn’t been out very long."

a squeal escaped through her bit-back grin, practically bouncing in her place as she flapped her hands excitedly. he had to admit, it was quite endearing to see.

"you’re kidding! you really—" she cut herself off with a breathless laugh, growing more awkward as she began to settle. "sorry, i just…i’ve been doing this for years, but i never would’ve expected this! it’s like a dream...i mean, you’re here, and you heard me singing your song, and you…you liked it?"

once again, he answered with a simple nod, which seemed to be more than enough to brighten her features once more. even so, she cleared her throat in an attempt to calm herself.

“well, i suppose i probably shouldn’t keep you! i’m sure the life of a black or white champion is a busy one, and i wouldn’t want you wasting your free time like this,” she mused, adjusting her glasses with a sheepish expression. “thanks again for your help, ryu—er, tsunashi-san.”

“happy to help,” he replied with a chuckle. “and it wasn’t a waste at all! this was just the break i needed to end my day.”

“really?” she blinked at him owlishly. “well, if that’s the case, i’ll be doing another one of these again a week from now, if…”

she trailed off, but it wasn’t hard to figure out what she was implying. then again, maybe it was because he had found her hopeful proposition so appealing. “i’ll keep it in mind, um...”

“aino hachimitsu,” she finished for him. “sorry, i guess i forgot to introduce myself.”

“it’s alright, don’t worry,” he assured her. “well then, aino-san, i’ll try to stop by if i can.”

sure enough, he’d managed to stop by that next week—and the next, and the next, until the two found themselves settling into their own little routine before they even realized it. they certainly had their share of awkward moments, of course, but even so, he found that being around her brought him an odd sense of comfort he couldn’t quite place. he’d come to appreciate the nights he got to spend just talking with her in the back of the café, away from any stresses of work or fan’s prying eyes.

"you seem tired today, tsunashi-kun. you didn’t have too much trouble at work, did you?"

well, away from all but one.

"no, work’s been the same as usual," he assured her, though he could still see the doubt in her eyes as she stared him down from her chair. "things have just been a little busier with the concert coming up, that’s all."

"oh, that’s right! that’s in a few weeks, isn’t it?"

"mhm. are you going?"

"of course, i have my ticket and everything! i even splurged a little and got myself a good seat," she declared, puffing her chest out proudly while he chuckled at her response. "i was glad i managed to get one before they sold out, honestly."

he was relieved by the fact, too, though he didn’t mention it. it was true, their notoriety made tickets hard to come by, typically selling out within a day or two. he was certainly experienced in his work by now, but that wasn’t to say that he didn’t still feel that pang of nerves before a performance. just knowing he’d have a friend out there in the audience cheering him on already helped to put him a little more at ease.

"how have you been, though?" he asked after a moment, moving their conversation forward. "i assume things have been normal here?"

"yep! business has picked up some, but otherwise it’s all good here," she answered, though she grew more sheepish as she went on. "between you and me, though, i think some people have caught on to the rumor that you’ve been coming here. i get questions every once in a while from a couple customers."

"oh, really?" that was a cause for concern. his visits hadn’t caused them any trouble, had they? hachimitsu seemed to be fine with it and her boss had never complained, but he didn’t want to end up making them overwhelmed later on. and what if it sparked some odd rumor about the two of them? tenn and gaku would never let him hear the end of it, and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to know what president yaotome would say on the matter, considering it definitely wouldn’t be anything good.

"oi, earth to tsunashi!"

a poke on his shoulder accompanied by her raised voice served to startle him out of his worries, and he looked to his companion to see her staring at him with her brows furrowed. however, as she heaved a sigh, her expression softened upon successfully regaining his attention—he wasn’t sure how long she’d been trying.

"it’s nothing to worry about, okay? i promise we’ve got things under control here," she told him sincerely, a laugh escaping her as she continued. "it’s not like this is some sort of big scandal or anything, after all! i’ve just had to disappoint a curious fan or two with a little 'oh, i wish i could say i’ve met him!' you know, waxing poetic and all that.”

finding her laughter infectious, he couldn’t resist the amused smile that tugged at his lips. "little do they know, huh?"

"little do they know," she echoed, a similar look gracing her features. "so no stressing here! i wouldn’t wanna lose my vip audience because of a couple fangirls. that, and i really enjoy your company."

"alright, i’ll take your word for it, then." his smile had only grown at her comment, touched by her reasonings and glad to hear that she appreciated these moments as well. in only a few weeks, it seemed that she already had a knack for knowing how to make him feel better. "thanks, aino."

"of course! now, moving on...since you’ve obviously been spending a lot of time prepping for your concert, are there any fun work stories you can share with me?"

he laughed at her request, his concerns dissipating as he put them behind him. "well, there was this one moment today when—"

"hacchan!"

a voice cut in on their conversation, and the two turned to the doorway to see the café owner standing there.

"sorry, i didn’t mean to interrupt you two!" he apologized, bowing to them both before turning to his employee. "i just wanted to let you know that i need to head out for the night. you don’t mind closing up tonight, do you?"

"not at all! i’ve told you i can take care of closing on these nights, kumamoto-san," she replied, getting up from her seat to grab the keys from the man. "did you want me to go ahead and do that now?"

"no, no, you two take all the time you need. i just thought i’d let you know. goodnight, both of you!"

they both offered their goodnights, and ryuu watched as she stared after her boss for a moment before turning back to him, hurrying back to her seat with an eager grin, one that he couldn’t help but mirror.

"so, where were we?"

"happy new year!"

hearing hachimitsu’s voice through the phone, cheerful as ever, immediately brought a smile to his face. it was still hard to believe that a year had already come and gone, especially considering all that had happened within the past months. between all of the concerts and events they’d participated in (or not, he noted, considering the sound ship incident), their newfound rivalry with the still-new idolish7, and, as of that night, their big showdown at black or white, the past year had felt full of unforgettable events.

"happy new year! did you watch the competition?"

an incredulous scoff sounded from the other end. "are you kidding? me, watch black or white? i wouldn’t miss it for the world!"

"just thought i’d make sure," he said amusedly, a soft chuckle escaping him. "so? what did you think?"

"oh my god, it was amazing! i’ll have you know i got chills watching both of your performances, even from the television," she told him. even without seeing her, he could recognize her excitement from her voice, easily able to picture the grin on her face and the sparkles in her eyes she always had when talking about things like these. he always enjoyed listening to her ramble on about the pieces she got interested in, whether he knew them or not.

"yeah, idolish7 did a great job, didn’t they? i think we all nearly started cheering them on."

"right? they just have this draw to them or something."

"i think so, too. they definitely earned that win tonight."

"hey, you guys deserved it just as much! i was impressed that the votes were so close," she noted, quick to jump to their defense. "i’ll have you know i voted for you guys, of course. i even got my family in on it, too!"

"really?"

"yeah, of course! what, you think i wouldn’t be rooting for you? i thought you knew me better, ryuu."

"no, that’s not it! i’m glad to hear it, hachi." he laughed at her antics, but couldn’t ignore the fluttery swell in his chest at her words of support. well, he supposed it was just because he was happy to hear that she was that dedicated to his group, like when their fans started cheering for them after the winners announcement at the competition. settling on that conclusion, he pushed the feeling away, moving the conversation along. "let me guess: you’ve already started trying to learn the songs, haven’t you?"

it was silent on the other end for a brief second, giving him the answer before she even spoke up.

"…i may have recorded the show so i could go back and try to figure out the chords, yeah."

"i thought so," he mused with a laugh. it seemed that every time they or another group released a new song, she’d always managed to pick it up within the next week or two that he saw her. then again, he may have been one to help every once in a while when he could. "how far have you gotten?"

"ryuu, you guys only sang them earlier tonight. i’m not a wizard, y’know," she answered jokingly. "the melodies are easy, but i’ll have to go back and listen to you guys a couple of times first before i really get the hang of the accompaniment. i might try to pick up re:vale’s song while i’m at it, too…"

"you should! they were phenomenal—though i guess i shouldn’t expect less from the overall winners."

"right? they were bound to come out on top with that!"

"well, if you want, maybe i can let you take a peek at my sheet music the next time i’m there?" he offered, "that way you can focus more on the other two, if you think it’ll help."

"ryuu, what do you think i’m going to say?"

he couldn’t help his amusement upon hearing the barely-suppressed excitement in her voice. "alright, i’ll be sure to bring it with me, then."

"yes! i can’t wait!" she cheered, going on hopefully. "next week?"

"next week," he agreed with a smile, feeling that warm, fuzzy feeling again at the prospect. it had been a little while since they’d last met up, what with the holiday rushes and crammed schedules, so he was looking forward to seeing her again. he opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted as another voice cut in.

"ryuu, are you coming? you’re the one who said we should do this…"

"i’m coming, just give me a minute!" he called back, before returning his attention to his phone. "sorry, we’re going out to celebrate our performance. i probably shouldn’t keep them waiting any longer."

"even though you lost?"

"yeah, i thought it’d be good for team morale!"

"oh, gotcha! yeah, i wouldn’t leave them hanging like that," she reasoned amusedly. "you go have fun! i’ll be waiting for you next week!"

"we will," he replied, "and don’t worry, i’ll be sure to remember my music. goodnight, hachi."

the little bell chimed softly as he entered the café, exhaling a content sigh as warmth returned to his body after the winter chill outside. his final rehearsal for the day had run longer than expected, so he could only hope he’d gotten there before she’d gone.

"oh, you’re here!"

looking over to the counter, he was relieved to see her standing there, thus proving his worries unnecessary. she placed the dish she’d been cleaning in its rightful spot before bounding over to him, face alight with happiness.

"sorry i’m late! gaku arrived a bit late from a shoot, so we started later than planned," he apologized, a sheepish smile on his face. "i left as soon as we were done."

"no worries! i figured it had something to do with work since you never texted me about cancelling," she assured him, though her attention quickly shifted as she eyed the folder in his hand, breaking out into a grin. "is that what i think it is?"

"i promised you i’d bring it today, didn’t i?"

"hey, i’m just making sure!" came her defensive reply, though her eyes danced with amusement. "i have to finish up a few things for kumamoto-san first, but can i take a look at it after that?"

"that’s what i brought it for," he pointed out with a laugh. "if you want, i can help you with those, too."

"are you sure? it’s my job, you know. i don’t wanna put you to work after you’ve come here to wind down and all…"

"i don’t mind! besides, the quicker you finish them, the more time you can have to read over the music, right?"

she pondered over his reasonings for a moment as he made his way behind the counter, but eventually gave in with a nod. "yeah, i can’t argue with that," she admitted, before sighing exasperatedly. "honestly, ryuu, you do too much for me."

he only chuckled at that, and the two set themselves to work finishing up her tasks for the day. a comfortable silence settled over them as they worked, save for the occasional bits of small talk they’d throw out to pass the time. he couldn’t help but find the situation comfortably domestic, a thought which sparked a flutter in his stomach that caught him by surprise. it wasn’t a new feeling by any means—in fact, he’d felt it a small handful of other instances in their times spent together—but he had never been able to place exactly what it was. still, he wasn’t given much time to dwell on the matter, not as hachimitsu brought up another story of hers that quickly stole his attention.

the minutes passed by on the clock above the counter, but between the two of them, it didn’t take long until each of her assigned chores were taken care of.

“...and that should be the last of it! thanks again for pitching in.”

“of course! i told you i’m happy to help,” he answered as the two stepped back from the counter.

“yeah, i know, i know,” she sighed lightheartedly, giggling softly as she removed her working apron. “i’m gonna go put this back real quick, but i’m checking out that music as soon as i’m back!”

he had no time to respond to her claim as she rushed off eagerly, staring after her retreating form for a moment before making his way back over to where he’d laid the music in question down upon the counter. surely she’d want to waste as little time as possible, he thought to himself, chuckling lightly at the notion as he opened the folder to the first page.

“okay, okay, i’m back! let me see!”

once again, he was given next to no warning other than her call before she was back by his side, nearly bouncing with anticipation as she began to look over the notes in front of her. ryuu, however, found himself more focused on the fact that she had practically pressed herself flush against him to get to it, a realization which only brought back that fluttery feeling, along with a warmth to his face.

seeming to notice their proximity only seconds after him, she quickly jumped back, a blush dusting her own cheeks (it was cute, honestly...not that that was important, though). “oh my god, i’m so sorry! i was so excited, i just—”

“i-it’s alright!” he cut her off with a response he could barely squeak out, clearing his throat in an attempt to both calm and hide his sudden nerves. “you just surprised me, is all.”

she eyed him a moment longer, but said nothing, simply settling back into her position as she pored over the melodies. despite his initial reaction, he settled back in close beside her nonetheless, answering her questions and providing commentary on some of the sections she found tricky or confusing. her body felt warm against his own, fitting against his side like a puzzle piece, and he couldn’t help but admire the way her eyes seemed to shine behind her glasses, her gaze trained devotedly on the pages in front of her, or the way her lips pursed in concentration, humming a line or two to herself every so often.

he was certain he was staring, but couldn’t bring himself to look away. that fluttery feeling returned, but this time he found it bearable…almost comfortable, even.

and though he still didn’t quite know what it was, as the night drew on in her company, he hoped it would last forever.

"oi, ryuu!"

he jumped, startled, as he was quite literally snapped out of his reverie, turning in time to see gaku’s hand return to his side as he stared at him exasperatedly. "are you even listening?"

"ah—no, sorry," he admitted sheepishly, offering his friend and groupmate an apologetic look.

the group leader only sighed, hands braced against his hips. "honestly, you were like this all of rehearsal, too! you know you can tell us when something’s bothering you, right?"

"oh, no, nothing’s bothering me!" he assured him, feeling a pang of guilt over potentially causing them any concern. it was true, the thoughts plaguing his mind were anything but concerning. it was just that—

"you’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?"

his eyes widened, and he turned to face their center, who he found eyeing him with a pointed look.

"what was her name again? something like—"

"hachi," ryuu answered quickly—perhaps a bit too quickly, he noted, judging by the identical looks of surprise on tenn and gaku’s faces.

tenn was the first to recover, though, a faint huff escaping him. "well, you can do what you want with your time. just do us a favor and don’t let your little crush get in the way of our work."

wait, what? as his words registered, ryuu felt a rush of warmth to his face. "no, wait, you don’t understand! it’s not like that!"

"i’d say! your crush is anything but little," gaku noted with a teasing smirk, though it was quickly replaced with a glare to their third member upon hearing him mutter a judgmental "like you’re one to talk."

but as the two soon devolved into their usual bickering, he couldn’t bring himself to step in and break them up, his focus occupied with mulling over their claims, however teasing.

that couldn’t be it, right? they were just messing with him. sure, despite what his public image might’ve suggested, he’d had very little romantic experience, but he was certain he’d be able to recognize if he’d fallen for someone.

hachi was just a close friend, after all! they’d known each other for a little over a year now, which was certainly enough to consider her such. it was natural for him to look forward to seeing her, or want to be close to her, or feel his heart swell whenever he made her smile or laugh, or—

oh.

oh.

the realization crashed over him all at once. that was it. the nervous jitters, the giddy rushes, the warm, fuzzy feelings...it all made sense, and at that moment he wondered how he’d failed to notice it sooner. how was it that his friends managed to piece it together in teasing, when with all the time he’d spent with her, he hadn’t figured it out?

he couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of the situation, the sound of which caused the other two to break off their argument, turning to him with curious expressions.

“sorry, sorry!” he managed to say as his amusement died down. “i just realized that you two might be onto something.”

they shared a look, before turning back to him.

“might?” gaku asked incredulously, raising a brow.

“okay, fine, fine, you’re definitely onto something.”

and despite the grounding realization, he felt as though his heart was lighter than ever.

[efrmellifer]

Célèbre

“You know, Etien, I still cannot believe you agreed to this, when it feels as though you only just returned from your year-long sojourn.”

“I’ve never been to a proper Ishgardian gala,” she replied, meeting Aymeric’s eyes in the mirror with a smile. “Well, I suppose excepting our wedding reception. So this would only be my second one.”

Aymeric laughed softly. “Then it would stand to reason that we had better make it special, hmm?”

“What do you mean?”

He settled his hands on her shoulders, his palms warm on her skin even after she’d soaked in hot water. “What did you plan to wear?”

“The dress from Starlight,” she replied, turning to look at him. “Did you have something different in mind?”

“I did,” he admitted. He stepped to his armoire, aware of Etien’s gaze on him, and peeled back a layer of linen over a garment hung there.

“Oh,” Etien breathed, only just audible where she sat. “My goodness.”

“Do you like it?”

“I love it. Ye gods, how long has this been here? How did I never find it?”

“Well, you aren’t prone to snooping, so that would explain it, I think.”

Etien giggled. “Fair enough. Can I put it on?”

“You may, though you might require some assistance, as it does lace up the back.”

“I could lace it up myself, I’m sure.”

“Let me help you? Please, Etien. I missed getting to do these simple things for you that one settles into in the everyday. We… have never really had an ‘everyday,’ have we?”

She exhaled sharply but quietly through her nose, rising from where she was seated before the mirror. “No, we haven’t. What was the longest we had? A fortnight? A moon?”

“Long enough to form habits to miss when it was over.” Aymeric sighed, handing the dress to Etien so she could get into it and do up the busks.

“That is the size of it.”

He watched her start at the bottom and work her way up, the boning conforming to her body as the dress took its proper form around her.

“Wow, it looks like the night—Aymeric.”

“Yes?”

She looked up at him, teeth glinting as a sly smile spread over her lips. “The night sky?”

He returned the smile, glad his thinking had been understandable to her. “After drawing the fabric of night across Norvrandt, I only thought it fair that you drape it over your body to conclude. It looks quite lovely.”

She looked down, examining the dress now that it was on her, considering the flecks of shimmering silver, stars in a bed of deep blue. The crystals accentuating her bust served much the same purpose, though despite their glint, they were more like clouds on the horizon.

She nodded in approval, stepping closer to Aymeric again and turning, offering the loose lacing to him.

“You’ll let me know the second it’s too tight, yes?”

“Yes, but I don’t think you can crush me more than the weight of—all right, ease up a little.”

With a little chuckle, he slackened the laces. “Better?”

“A little tighter, please.”

“Remember, you will want to dance.”

“Oh, will I?” She gave him an easy, amused smile. “I know. I just like the pressure that firm lacing brings. It feels more secure.”

Aymeric tugged the laces, holding them and slowly pulling them until Etien said with a nod, “Perfect.”

He tied the laces into a bow, commenting, “Not to mention, the guest of honor has to be resplendent.”

“Guest of honor?” Etien crinkled her nose slightly, striding across the room to grab her sapphire earrings.

“Indeed. Let me see what Estinien’s invitation to this event said.”

Etien paused in slipping the earring into her piercing. “Why do you have Estinien’s invitation?”

Without looking up, Aymeric answered. “He brought it here to ask me what I knew about this, and I had to tell him, as shockingly little as he did. But, this is how it reads. You are cordially invited to the Fortemps residence to join the family in celebrating the return of Etien Mellifer de Borel, champion of Ishgard and sister to Lord Artoirel, Count de Fortemps. Guests are also encouraged to offer their congratulations to her and her husband Ser Aymeric as they celebrate their first year of marriage.”

“Well, it’s been two, hasn’t it?” she asked, squinting to help herself remember as she scrutinized herself in the mirror.

“Only the Fury knows that, my dearest.”

A wistful look came over her. “Was it really a year ago?”

“It was. Though it feels longer when you recall that we spent a fortnight in the Black Shroud and we were called back to Ala Mhigo nearly as soon as our feet had touched the stones of the airship landing again.”

“Oh, right, and it was so cold when we got back.”

“A misfortune of the changing seasons.”

Etien responded in the affirmative with only a soft “Mm” in the back of her throat. The seasons. It felt like she hadn’t experienced a season in years. That was what had thrown her internal clock off the mark for so long after she’d started adventuring outside the greater Twelveswood.

Eventually, the systems of her body had adjusted to the new normal of traveling to and fro between wildly differing climes and locations, and she’d been learning to deal with that in its time, as well. And it was certainly better to do so here at home, where there was no gritting her teeth and pressing forward despite the sensations low in her belly, the flick of her tail a beckoning flag to anyone who could interpret the signal.

But she didn’t want just anyone. She wanted the man now holding out her fur-lined cloak to her, so they could step out and take the short walk to Fortemps Manor.

Not the Nuhn. Her husband.

Etien shrugged into the cloak, her earrings swaying where they dangled from her ears, and feeling suddenly both very mature and like she was playing dress-up in clothing that was too grown-up, too fancy for her.

As much as she had enjoyed how she looked in the mirror, as much as she liked wearing pretty dresses, being dressed now in something so fine, boned corsetry and crystal-studded netting, felt odd compared to the leather and metal layers of the armory.

But then, she didn’t want to always be the battle-maiden. She quite liked being a happy housewife, soft and in love. She even didn’t really mind being a noblewoman in title, even if it didn’t feel quite right.

She took Aymeric’s offered arm and let her chin lift in something akin to pride as they strode to the door and out into the crisply cold night. She could play this role as well as any other, frippery and furs the uniform of the high houses.

A cheer went up as Etien and Aymeric’s outerwear was taken, a few guests lifting their drinks and calling their greetings.

Etien’s ears moved to dip in embarrassment, but they flicked forward again as she fought the urge to be  overly modest.

She waved to the people still looking at her, giving them as wide of a smile as she could manage. She slipped her hand into Aymeric’s, leading him away from the door.

“We had better go find, Artoirel, don’t you think?” she said, the look in her eyes shockingly urgent to him.

“Of course. Lead the way, if you think you know where he is.”

They found Artoirel and Emmanellain sitting together, Artoirel making his way through a story he didn’t seem to want to be telling, Emmanellain lounged boredly beside him.

Both looked up as the pair approached, overjoyed at the distraction to ease their respective burdens.

“Etien! I’m so glad you have arrived,” Artoirel said, taking her elbows to pull her closer and press a single kiss to her cheek. “You have saved me from the most dull conversation I may ever have had. Though I feel they may want to hear your stories now,” he told her, voice low so only she, Aymeric, and Emmanellain could hear him.

The three of them laughed. “Yes, it’s good to see you, too,” Etien replied. “Go, host your party. Hopefully I’m as good of a storyteller as I am an archer.”

“Is that not part of being a bard?” Emmanellain asked, sitting down again.

“Well—it is,” she began.

Emmanellain just chuckled as he took a sip of the wine he’d put down when she’d arrived.

“Were there no skirts you were seeking and pursuing?” she asked him, sitting down herself, smoothing the material of her dress over her knees, spine straight.

She ran through every story she could share without revealing so much of the truth—tales from the Crystarium, mostly, all the details removed so she had only traveled to “a distant city”—and could feel herself beginning to fade and falter.

For a blessing, again, someone approached the couch she was now perched on, having replaced Artoirel before.

And when she looked up to see who it was, she broke into a wide smile, more genuine than her earlier one.

She moved to rise, but was encouraged to stay seated as he approached, sliding his fingers under hers.

Estinien lifted Etien’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss just above her knuckles, so her wedding ring hit his chin. “Viscountess.”

“Estinien, please,” she murmured.

“Lady Borel, then.”

“Estinien,” she repeated, her voice slightly more affected.

“Etien. You look radiant. Let me guess, Aymeric picked that dress out?”

She looked down at the dress, admiring it again. “He did. Another winner. He dresses me so well.”

“Fine taste in wine, fine taste in a woman, and fine taste in her clothing, that’s our Aymeric.”

She looked up to see Aymeric blushing under their praise, trying to hide it in the crystal goblet Estinien had handed him. Her eyes crinkled and lip pulled back in a playful grin. “Truly.” She sighed, dropping her hands to her lap. “I tire of chatter.” She rose. “Can we dance, Aymeric?”

He stammered for a moment, handing over his glass and giving Estinien’s back to him, one in each hand. Then, he offered his hand for Etien to take, and lead him to the space cleared for dancing.

The hired musicians were playing a slower song, a waltz they were fond of, when Aymeric and Etien reached the dance floor. So it was even easier to flow with the music, natural as walking.

“Is this the first time we’ve danced since you came home?” Aymeric asked, tilting his head as they turned.

“Certainly for longer than a single boxstep as we maneuvered around each other,” Etien admitted. “We still don’t dance enough.”

“Hard to find the time, when the battlefield has to take precedence over the dance floor.”

“But not right now. Ghimlyt is quiet, Norvrandt is at peace, and the Coerthan night is cold and beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” Aymeric replied.

Etien’s eyes closed slowly, accompanied by a light sigh as she accepted the compliment. “I’m blessed to be welcomed home and celebrated by a loving family and in the treasured company of my darling husband. Anyone would look beautiful when they were so happy.”

“I’ve half a mind to kiss you right now.”

“And why not the whole mind, ser?”

Laughing, Aymeric drew her closer and bent to kiss her.

It was a quick, chaste thing, and yet a whisper and a whoop went through the guests assembled. Caught.

Etien giggled, lifting a hand to her lips as they both stepped back, putting some distance between their bodies.

“There are some things which are somehow never acceptable,” Aymeric sighed. “Shall we continue this elsewhere?”

“That was why not the whole mind, wasn’t it?” she asked as they scampered down a hallway.

“I don’t suppose we can fault people for holding onto social rules that don’t cause anyone any real harm,” he said with a light shrug, moving closer to the window they stood before, watching the night sky mirror Etien’s gown in a darker, more wintry shade. “It likely will become something of the city-state’s quirk, eventually a value of the elderly that the youth ignore despite being chastised, and then someday, be gone completely. Perhaps that will be the sign we’re fully a part of the Alliance.”

“I refuse to make a habit of asking about Alliance politics, when I’m only there to offer my feet-on-the-ground perspective to half the leaders attending, but are you not already an integrated part? After all that to-do before the Sultana’s banquet, and then after Azys Lla? I admit, I was fairly distracted in both circumstances, but I could have sworn… and if they insist on dragging three-quarters of the Congregation out every time a cannon goes off--”

“Etien,” Aymeric said quietly, taking her hand. “I know I started it, but we aren’t here to speak of the Alliance. We’re here to celebrate that you’re finally, finally home. And, to people who paid attention, to  rejoice in the anniversary of our union.”

“Right,” she replied, voice soft as her gaze turned from the window to their threaded hands between them. “Happy anniversary, darling.”

“There’s no poetry already written or that I could compose now that would fully capture how this last year—these last two years, the three years I’ve had the privilege to know you—have been the most joy-filled of my life, for all the hell we’ve seen within them. I only wish we had ever gotten to spend much time together in that span.”

“What, stolen moments in your office and long weekends of me pretending I was your average runaway-turned-immigrant to Ishgard weren’t enough?”

“No,” he admitted. “I accept it, because all the time I get to have with you is precious, and because we both have the pressure of our acquired positions, but… sometimes I do wish we were ‘normal’. That we didn’t have to pretend.”

Etien was silent for a while, the mix of moonlight and distant lighting of the house making her eyes glisten—or perhaps that was a result of held-back tears. She blinked twice rapidly and then gave her response. “Me too.”

Far away on the dance floor, the music swelled, and with it, Aymeric’s heart. Despite the world and the myriad duties they had to fulfill in it pulling them apart, how many moments had they had like this? Where it was just the two of them, ensconced in their own little world where the stars shone only for them?

He could think of a few times, and in them, he had always felt so alive. Alive and in love, there with Etien and knowing that no matter what happened in the next moment, who needed them and what had to be done, those moments were theirs. And they were spending them together, wanting to be nowhere else.

If he had to steal them, then he would be the best thief the world had ever seen.

“You know,” he mused, trying desperately to lighten the mood and make up for bringing it so low, “out there, they can stop us from expressing our affection, but when it’s just the two of us, and we are supposed to be celebrating…”

Etien took a second, but then she gave him a grin, the one that made her eyeteeth glimmer in the moonlight. “When could they ever really stop us?”

She rubbed his thumb while they still held hands, then let him pick her up and met his lips with her own eagerly, one hand cupping his cheek, fingers catching stray strands of his hair between them, and the other arm slung over his shoulders. The typical position for when he held her aloft like that, attempting to support some of her own weight, but trusting him enough that she didn’t need to worry about letting her legs hang unsupported. She didn’t scrabble for purchase. He had her, as he always had her.

They broke for breath, and when she’d had her fill of air, she spoke. “I didn’t get to say it before, foolishly choosing to joke, but I want to make sure it’s said. I was nervous the day we met, even though Haurchefant told me I had nothing to worry about. I don’t think he had any idea what the years held for us, but he was right regardless. These have been three of the longest years of my life, but it’s like I said in my letters. A life with you is better than any alternative. I want slow years with you, so I can savor the time… rare though it is.”

“It won’t always be.”

“That’s what I’ve been praying for.”

“I intend to make it so, sooner rather than later.”

“Oh, please do,” she breathed, pulling him in again for a more heated kiss.

They separated when they heard footsteps, but it was too late.

Estinien had taken in the tableau, familiar though it was, in some ways. Etien’s right ear visible to the side of Aymeric’s head, a leg hooked over his hip, one exposed silver pump glinting in the dim light.

And then, the sheepish expressions, until they saw who it was that had come to them.

“I had come to bring you your abandoned wine, Aymeric,” Estinien began, “but I see you’re drinking deep of something else.”

“Aye, well…” he cleared his throat. “You’re welcome to join us, if you can keep quiet.”

“Oh, not a peep,” he assured the couple. “I cannot say I wouldn’t have been more shameless if it had been me.”

“It can be,” Etien said. “Would you say we’ve been here long enough, Aymeric? I never know how much time needs to pass before we look rude.”

“We had better take another turn talking to people,” he said with a near groan, taking his wine from Estinien. “Then we can leave. Bag up some celebration to bring home.”

Etien giggled, hooking her arms through both Aymeric’s and Estinien’s for a moment, before they went back into the party.

She would certainly be more a lively guest with that to look forward to.

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 215: The Adventure Begins

Dione caressed her sleeping daughter's face, as her husband stood behind her and held her close.

"She's been through so much…" Dione mentioned.

"I know...and much of it is my fault. I am sorry, my love...I failed you and our precious daughter," Zeus apologized. It sounded incredibly foreign coming from him, because Zeus was not known for apologizing to anyone for anything. But Dione was different. He had been a different man with her and without her had become something she didn't recognize.

"I forgive you and it's not all your fault. We know now that there were those determined to hurt our daughter, simply due to their hatred of us and desire for the power I gave her," Dione responded.

"Where is Hera now?" Zeus asked the Goddess of the Underworld.

"In Underbrooke...as you can imagine Hera has much unfinished business," Nyx answered.

"I don't care...bring her down here. I want judgement!" Zeus hissed, but Dione stilled him.

"She will receive it...but our daughter deserves to confront her with all that she has done to keep her from her true love," she reasoned. Zeus' anger dissipated slightly and he conceded her point for now.

"The Collector...is he in Underbrooke as well?" Dione asked.

"He is...sitting in the cushy Mayor's seat. If you'd like them both brought down here...it can be arranged," Nyx said.

"Yes...they will face my daughter when she awakens and then receive judgement," Zeus replied.

~*~

Flashback

Aphrodite hummed to herself, as she passed her time in her mother's garden. Now that she was gone, she was determined to take care of the flora her mother loved so much, especially since Hera had no interest in it. Her mother's chalice sat atop a pedestal in the center of the garden, surrounded by the most beautiful display of flowers one could ever imagine.

"Aphrodite…" Blue said, as she appeared and the blonde smiled. The Blue Fairy, loyal to her father, had always been kind to her.

"Hello Blue," she greeted.

"I think I have found a pair worthy of your mother's chalice," Blue revealed in excitement.

"You have?" Aphrodite asked.

"Yes…I will show you," she replied, as she took the young Goddess' hand and brought her to the viewing pond.

"Did they have a spark?" Aphrodite asked.

"A spark?" Blue asked in confusion.

"Mother said that I would know the pair to bestow the chalice to when they shared the first spark of true love. It is very rare and only happens to the truest of loves. It is sparked and creates life, usually in the form of a true love sapling," Aphrodite explained, recalling her mother's stories.

"Oh...well, I don't know about that, but I assure you that this pair is deeply in love like I have never seen," Blue lied, as a couple appeared in the waters.

"Oh...who are they?" Aphrodite asked.

"The man is an explorer named Sirius Clayton and the woman is from a noble family from Thebes. Her name is Beryl Tsaoussis," Blue replied.

"Can I meet them?" she asked.

"You know how leery your father is of you interacting with mortals. You are the Goddess of beauty. Mortal men and Gods alike clamor to make you theirs," Blue warned.

"But I must meet them if I am to determine they are my champions," Aphrodite insisted.

"But I can be the messenger for you...and present the chalice to them," Blue offered.

"Ohh...you don't know, do you?" Aphrodite asked.

"Know what, dear?" Blue asked.

"Mama feared that some would try to take advantage of the chalice's power, so she put protections on it," Aphrodite replied. Blue frowned.

"Protections?" Blue questioned. The blonde beauty nodded.

"Besides Daddy and me, only those I choose as my champions can touch the Chalice. Anyone else will be incinerated, because mama knew that some would seek its power and if it fell into the wrong hands...then evil would reign and doom the entire realm," Aphrodite replied. Blue was seething inside. This was a complication neither she nor Hera had foreseen and the latter would be livid as well.

"But now that you've brought them to my attention, I can observe them for a spark and if they're the ones...I will deem them my champions, just as my mother would want," Aphrodite declared. Blue forced a smile and nodded.

"Of course dear...I will go now and observe them from afar as well," Blue said, as she shrank into her fairy size and left Olympus. Hera would be furious when she learned of this complication in their plan and they would have to come up with a way around this road block.

~*~

Present Day

Rose closed the book and sighed, digesting all that she had read. Her husband looked at her, as he had been reading along with her.

"I had no idea the Collector's family went back so far," Fandral mentioned.

"It makes sense though. His ancestor was promised the power of the chalice and he obviously never got it," Rose said.

"Yes...that would explain Clayton's obsession with it," Fandral agreed, as she put the book aside for the night.

"I had no idea Blue's deception went back so far and so deeply. I almost fear to learn what she did to Aphrodite, but I know we must. She deserves justice," Rose said.

"And she will have it. The Blue Fairy will not evade me forever. Zorro has enlisted Maleficent's help to track her," he replied. She smiled at that.

"Can you believe that Zorro had a child with Maleficent and didn't even know it?" she asked. He chuckled.

"With Zorro...yes, I can believe that. He considers himself quite the catch," he joked. She looked at him slyly.

"Perhaps, but for me...you are the ultimate catch," she said, as she climbed into his lap and straddled him.

"I am the man I am, because of you, my angel," he assured her, as she kissed him passionately.

"I love you...so much," she breathed, as their lips parted briefly, before meeting again. He took her in his arms and gazed up at her with love shining in his cerulean eyes. Their lips met again and passion consumed them well into the early twilight hours.

~*~

They boarded the Jolly Roger early the next morning. David stood at the side of the ship, with Snow in his arms, still brooding a bit about everything that had happened, while the agents brought the two prisoners they had taken into custody on board.

"Ugh...travel by sea. I guess we should expect nothing less from such cretins," Malina complained.

"Hook...can you show them the brig, please? If I have to look at either of them more than necessary, it won't bode well for their health," David said.

"Aye mate...this way," he said to the agents.

"Your attempts to be menacing are weak at best, Prince Charming...you'd retch if I told you half the things I've done to people," Dr. LaGuerra leered.

"Ah...and you, fairest one. I would enjoy making you scream…" he continued. Charming snapped at that and his fist connected with the sick doctor's nose at that, knocking him head over heels.

"You...uncivilized brute!" he cried, as blood gushed down his face.

"You broke my nose!" he accused.

"You're lucky that's all he did, mate. In my days as a pirate, I would have tossed your bleeding arse into shark infested waters for much less than what you just did. Trust me...threaten one of ours and you will meet a gruesome end," Hook warned, as he led the agents and their prisoners below deck to lock them in the brig.

David's glower on the monster of a man continued until he was out of sight and Snow gently caressed his face, regaining his gaze on her, which instantly softened.

"Letting a monster like that keep breathing is looking like a worse idea by the moment," he feared.

"He can't hurt me...you'd never let him," she said confidently.

"People in this circle have hurt you before...and I couldn't stop it. Clayton...Dr. Facilier…and Jekyll," he rambled, but she stopped him with a finger to his lips and shook her head.

"No...you always saved me and I know you always will. You're my hero," she said, as she kissed him tenderly and pressed her forehead against his.

"You're my Prince Charming...and when I am in your arms, I know that I am safe and loved. Please know that...please know how safe you make me feel. How loved, how beautiful...only you, my love," she added, as their lips met again, with more heat and passion this time. He relaxed a bit, as Hook took them into open waters and Snow rested her head against his chest, reveling in the feeling of his arms around her as always.

~*~

"Hey...you okay?" JJ asked, as Summer cast a glance at her parents. She smiled at him and nodded.

"Yeah...just a little worried about Daddy. We're not really used to seeing him angry. I mean, not that he'd ever take it out on us or Mom...I'm not worried about that. It's just hard to see him and grandpa at odds," she mentioned. Nora snorted nearby.

"If that's your biggest problem, sweet cheeks, then you're more privileged than I thought," Nora commented.

"Maybe I haven't experienced the hardships you have, but my family has been through a lot," Summer said defensively.

"So when you had a bad dream when you were a little girl...what did you do?" Nora asked. Summer blinked.

"I...I went into my parents room and Daddy would lift me into bed with one arm and put me between him and Mom. She would dry my tears and cuddle me close, while Daddy would light a candle to chase the nightmares away," Summer answered.

"Wow…" Nora scoffed.

"That's even more perfect than I thought it would be. If your Dad is mad at your grandpa and that's your biggest problem, then you're doing better than ninety nine percent of people," Nora said, as she walked away. JJ sighed.

"I'm sorry about her," he apologized.

"She had a bad childhood?" Summer asked.

"Yeah...her parents were drug addicts. The state took her away from them when they went to jail when she was ten. She came to live with me and my Mom. Things were good for her then, but she never really got over those first ten years. She's had a chip on her shoulder since then," he explained.

"Wow...no wonder my problems seem stupid to her," Summer said.

"Hey...that's not true. She still doesn't have the right to dismiss your problems, no matter what. Besides, it's not really that. Nora just has that kind of complex. No matter who it is, she'll make a case that she's had it ten times worse," JJ replied.

"Maybe…I still feel bad for her though. I mean, I have great parents and I'm so grateful for that," Summer said.

"And you should be and I think it's really sweet and wonderful that you still worry about them when they're facing adversity," JJ replied, as they shared a smile.

"Ignore Nora. She could be in the room with a victim of the most unspeakable crime and she'd make a case that she somehow has it worse," he explained.

"She's not very nice...but I still feel bad for her. I hope she can find love someday," Summer said. He smiled at her.

"You're probably the kindest person I've ever met and I hope that for her too, but she has to stop getting in her own way," JJ replied. Summer nodded.

"Well...my parents did eventually win over the Evil Queen and helped her learn to love again, so I wouldn't count them out yet," she said. He smiled.

"I hope you're right...but Nora is a piece of work," he replied, as they continued talking and getting to know each other.

~*~

"Wow...that guy is a huge douche-bag," Leo commented, as he saw his twin shiver.

"He's pure evil...I always hoped I'd never meet the man on the other end of those screams we heard in Atlantis," Eva said.

"He even looks at Mom again...then I doubt he'll live to see another day," Emma replied.

"You think Dad will forgive gramps?" Leo asked.

"Of course he will...he just needs time," Emma replied.

"Are you angry at him?" Eva asked.

"I mean...he could have helped you get to Dad sooner," she added and the blonde shrugged.

"Not really...I mean, yeah he probably could have. But if he defied Clayton...he also could have died," Emma said.

"Dad will see that...and soon, I'm sure," she added.

"Yeah…Mom has her ways of getting through to him," Eva agreed. Leo sighed.

"I can't believe we're headed for Peru. You think this Cibola really exists?" he asked.

"We're the children of Snow White and Prince Charming. I think at this point we need to be asking ourselves what's not real, because that's a way shorter list," Emma replied.

"Of all the things Clayton found though...it was never this," Leo pointed out.

"Maybe he didn't have the right key," Eva mentioned, making her siblings look at her.

"What do you mean?" they asked, almost in unison.

"Well...okay, so there has been a few books and movies on this subject in pop culture and in some of them, there has always been a key or puzzle of some kind that needs solved," Eva explained.

"In the 1980's, there was an anime about the cities of gold, which was loosely based on a book called the King's Fifth. And in the anime, there were two special medallions that were needed to open the gates," she explained.

"So you think the reason he never could find it was that he never had the right item or key?" Leo asked. She shrugged.

"Could be. I mean in the movie National Treasure, they needed an ancient map in the form of wooden, carved planks and in the Road to El Dorado, they needed a legendary map as well," Eva replied.

"Do you think that quipu Natalie wanted so badly is the key?" Emma asked.

"It's hard to say, but quipus usually store information. It's more likely that it's directions to a map or key of some sort," Eva replied. Leo looked around and stepped closer to his siblings.

"Have we considered that the chalice might be the key?" he asked in a hushed tone. His sisters looked at him in surprise.

"I guess...it's definitely possible," Emma surmised.

"Everything always comes back to it...and we know Clayton was obsessed with the chalice," Eva agreed.

"Which means, once again, Mom and Dad are going to be in the middle of this crap again if that turns out to be true," Leo sighed.

"It would make sense if only those deemed worthy could find it or enter it," Eva agreed.

"Okay...but none of us, least of all Mom and Dad, care about gold or riches," Emma said.

"Which probably makes them worthy," Leo reasoned.

"True...but my point is that we're going to stop Junior from murdering people for this information. That's the whole point of this mission," Emma said.

"And?" Leo asked.

"I think she means that we carry out that part of the mission and be done. We stop him from hurting people, neutralize him and our wayward Aunt we just found out about and then we're done," Eva replied.

"Exactly and we get permission to take the quipu back for safekeeping in Milo and Kida's museum. If it's really the key to some kind of treasure, then it should probably be locked away somewhere that it can be protected," Emma said.

"I like that idea...none of us need treasure and usually that kind of treasure just breeds trouble," Leo agreed.

"We know that if that quipu reveals that the Chalice is the key that Junior will do whatever he has to in order to force Mom and Dad to find that treasure for him. I say we shut it down and stop him cold," Emma said.

"Then we better hurry. The Jolly Roger is fast...but they still went by plane. They're going to beat us," Leo replied.

"Yeah...but not by much. I'll see if I can offer some more magic in the sails," Emma said, as she went to tell her husband their plan.

"I just hope we're not too late to help the people he's after," Eva fretted.

"We'll make it...like Emma said, this ship is almost as fast as a plane would be," Leo offered. She nodded and decided to call Paul to give him an update, while Leo decided to do the same with Elsa.

~*~

Flashback

"This is a disaster!" Hera raged, as she stormed around her Temple.

"I know it is a setback, but I have already informed our subjects that they will have to meet directly with the Goddess and be very convincing," Blue said.

"Oh, it's just like that sanctimonious bitch, Dione, to pull something like this," Hera hissed.

"Yes...it appears she foresaw something like this. But giving it to her naive daughter is foolish and we will prove that," Blue assured.

"We had better. Without it...I cannot dethrone Zeus and gain full power over the skies," Hera said.

"You will be supreme Queen and Zeus will fall. And the best part is...that we'll use his precious daughter to orchestrate his demise," Blue replied.

"Go...make sure nothing goes wrong during their meeting," Hera urged. Blue obeyed and shrank into her fairy size, before returning to Thebes to do as instructed.

Beryl and Sirius kissed passionately, as Aphrodite observed them in the woman's home.

"I cannot tell you what an honor it is to host you in our home, Goddess," Beryl gushed, as she poured them more wine.

"You have been a very gracious hostess," Aphrodite agreed, as she tried to discern the feelings she was getting from them. On the surface, they seemed very in love and genuine...but there just seemed to be something off that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Oh mother...please give me your guidance," Aphrodite prayed silently.

"We plan to get married in the garden in just a few days...would you honor us by attending?" Sirius asked.

"I would love to attend, but I must be perfectly honest with you. There has been no spark between you. While I don't doubt your love...there must be a spark to take on the mantle of my champions," Aphrodite replied.

"Oh...you mean a sapling?" Beryl asked. Aphrodite was surprised by her knowledge. No one but she and her parents were aware of the true love sapling, save for Blue, of course.

"You created a sapling?" Aphrodite asked.

"Yes...it was the most extraordinary thing. We were in the gardens and it grew before us. Would you like to see it?" Sirius questioned.

"I would very much like to see it," Aphrodite said, as they led her into the garden and to a baby tree and had clearly just been planted. Her heart sank and she felt that she had been made a fool. They must have thought her to be stupid and that she wouldn't know the difference. Mother had warned that there would be those that would try to deceive her for power and that she would instantly know an imposter from the real thing. But she did not let on yet.

"Extraordinary," she lied, as she looked at them and saw the hunger for power in their eyes.

"So...we can be given the Chalice, correct?" Beryl asked. Aphrodite nodded.

"There are some preparations I must do...but we can meet tomorrow for the formal presentation," the Goddess replied.

"Excellent...we shall see you then," Sirius said, as Aphrodite disappeared in a puff of orange smoke and then reappeared in her father's Temple. He was away at the moment, with Hermes, to another realm. They were observing some other Gods, one named Odin, and his battle to lock his destructive daughter, Hela, away and stop her slaughter. She couldn't rely on him to help with this one and therefore, she had to expose them herself. Fortunately, her mother's looking glass would help her gather the Intel she needed and if they really were imposters, then it would not take them long to show their true colors.

~*~

Present Day

"You know, I should have known," Tink mentioned, as she looked up from her copy and she lounged in one of the comfy chairs in Rose's library.

"Should have known what?" Rose asked, as she looked up from her copy.

"Wow...you're further along than me," Tink mentioned. Rose smirked.

"I read...a lot," she said.

"You have a point. Anyway, I mean that I should have guessed that at least part of Blue's hatred stems simply from being found out by Aphrodite and being denied power," Tink replied.

"It certainly looks that way. She tried to create her own true love couple to get the chalice and I imagine it ended up blowing up in her face," Rose said.

"It's all starting to make sense. This has to be why she tried to worm her way into Snow and Charming's good graces back in the Enchanted Forest," Tink replied.

"That does make sense. Without the curse, they would have ruled two Kingdoms in Misthaven. And she would have been an adviser, trying to use and manipulate them at every turn," Rose surmised.

"Thankfully...her lies about the wardrobe made Snow and David doubt her or she might have retained her place of trust at their side," Tink said.

"Hera could have ended up being a problem too. Never thought we'd thank Seth for that small favor," Rose replied. Tink scoffed.

"That's for sure. I still say Snow should have just left her as a garden gnome. We'd all be better off," the blonde said.

"Is that so?" a voice said, as Blue appeared in the room and they jumped up.

"Well...come out of hiding finally, murderer?" Tink asked snidely.

"You always did have a wicked tongue," Blue hissed back.

"Oh, she's not the wicked one...that's you," Rose assured.

"You're going to give me those books now," Blue demanded.

"It's too late to stop the truth from coming out. Aphrodite and James are finding out everything they need to know in the Underworld right now," Tink boasted. Blue frowned and she became enraged, as she used her stolen wand to vault blasts of magic in their direction. Rose dodged, while Tink countered with her own wand.

"You can't win against me…" Blue said smugly, as one of her blasts hit Tink, knocking her down.

"No!" Rose cried, as the fairy turned to her.

"I guess I'll be adding you to my kill list, Rose Red, unless you give me that book," Blue threatened. Rose was silent in her refusal and Blue raised her wand.

"Then so be it," she hissed. Rose gasped and closed her eyes, but the blast never came, as Fandral deflected the magic expertly with his sword.

"Drop the wand, gnat…" Fandral warned.

"Or what?" she challenged.

"Or we'll find out if your magic is a match for an Asgardian warrior," he responded. She smirked.

"Magic is always far superior to brute strength," she boasted.

"Oh, I'd put my money on Fandral in a battle, but we don't want you dead," Zorro said, as he surprised her by sneaking up from behind and pouring squid ink on her.

"You tricked me…" she realized.

"I didn't like it when my lovely angel suggested that she be the bait for you...but as always she was right and it worked," he said, as he put his arm around Rose's waist.

"She is a genius, as usual," he boasted, as they shared a tender kiss. Tink walked up to her with a smug smirk, took her wand, and put a magic suppressing cuff on her.

"Enjoy prison...because you're never getting out," she promised.

"You hope," Blue growled, as she was led away by Fandral's men.

"Well...now that she's finally caught, I'll keep reading since I'm behind and let you two enjoy this victory alone," Tink said, as she made her exit.

"You were amazing, as usual, my love. Always my hero," Rose boasted, as they shared a tender kiss.

~*~

There were choked sobs in the room, as Johnny used his fists on the man. Things had started off peacefully when they arrived in a small village near Cusco, the village of the Golden Condor, which was tucked away in the Andes Mountains and on the path to the famed Machu Picchu. Ancestors of the Inca dwelled there, but none still spoke their dead language. None but one teenaged girl. A prodigy in many languages, including the one of the Inca people that was very nearly lost for all time.

Natalie had tried to peacefully persuade her family to allow her to translate the quipu, but the girl's father had seen right through her and knew exactly what she believed the quipu to be. A path to an ancient treasure that, if it belonged to anyone, it would be their family and people. When he refused, Johnny had stepped in, despite her protest, and began to use his grotesque methods to force them into submission.

"You can make this very easy, mate...all your daughter has to do is translate the damn knots and strings for my lovely companion and we will be on our way," Johnny said. The man coughed up blood, while his wife cowered in the corner, holding their crying teenage daughter.

"Never...you could never be worthy of the secrets of our ancestors," he refuted, earning him another vicious punch to the gut and more crying out from his family.

"Johnny stop...this is sick. He's not going to tell us anything," Natalie implored. He smirked.

"You're right...let's go right to the source," he said, as he grabbed the young girl's arm. Her mother cried out and tried to grasp her daughter, but he pulled her away.

"You are quite the young beauty," he mentioned.

"Now...all you have to do to keep your parents alive is translate this for us," he said. She looked at him fearfully and then relented, as she took the quipu in her hand. She spread it out on the table and studied it for a moment.

"Well?" Johnny asked impatiently.

"It's very complicated to translate. I need time," the girl replied.

"Well...we don't have a lot of time and neither do your parents if we don't get this translation," he warned.

"Easy...she's right. These things are not easy to read or there would be more people that could do it. And she's just a kid," Natalie chided. He was silent, as the young girl tried to decipher the hidden message. She gasped, getting their attention.

"What is it?" Natalie asked.

"Um...this quipu was created by an ancient Inca Princess...one that I'm named after," she revealed.

"And of what significance is this?" Johnny questioned.

"This Princess...she left our homeland for another and became a Queen. The Dragon Queen," she revealed. The greed practically bled from Johnny's eyes at that point.

"Then...this is it. This will lead us to a massive treasure, yes?" he asked. Before she could answer, a portal appeared and Snow and David walked through. Thalia drew her gun, but Regina tossed a fireball at her, causing her to drop it and she found her wrists restrained in zip ties with a wave of the former Queen's hand.

"Don't move," David warned, as he leveled his gun at the Collector's son, while Emma confiscated his gun. Rumple restrained him as well and Xander approached Natalie, as their eyes met.

"You gonna tie my hands too?" she challenged.

"Only if we need to," David interjected, as Snow turned her attention to the young girl and her family. The girl looked at her in astonishment, as she set the chalice down.

"Don't worry...we're here to help," Snow said.

"That...that's the chalice of Venus!" she said.

"You know what this is?" Snow asked. She nodded.

"My family...we are descended from the Inca Princess that left our homeland to become the Dragon Queen…" she revealed, as Eva knelt beside the man she assumed was the girl's father.

"It's okay...I can heal you," she assured. He looked wary, but then nodded, as she healed his minor wounds. He looked at her in amazement, as he felt instant relief from the pain.

"You are the ones the legends speak of…" the girl's mother said. Emma sighed.

"Boy...you were on point with this one," she told her sister.

"Believe me...I wish I wasn't," Eva said.

"Your ancestor was the Dragon Queen?" Snow asked curiously. The girl nodded.

"Can you tell us about that?" she asked.

"We can...but not with them," the girl replied, as she looked at the others, mostly Johnny. Snow smiled.

"Don't worry...that's why we came. To stop them from hurting you and stealing a legacy that doesn't belong to them," she said.

"I'm Snow White," she introduced herself.

"My name is Zia. Zia Ramos," she replied, as she was instantly trusting of Snow's warmth and kindness. She stood up and started to stumble, but felt someone catch her. She looked up, seeing a boy about her age.

"Careful…" Bobby said. She smiled.

"Thanks," she replied, as they shared a long gaze.

"We'll put these three in the brig and then come back. Then you can tell us about the legend," David said.

"Wait!" Natalie called, as they looked at her.

"I've searched my entire life for Cibola...I deserve to hear this," she said.

"You deserve it? The same way they deserved your harassment and assault?" David countered.

"Believe it or not...I protested that part of it," she insisted.

"If you stand by while he abuses people, then you're no better than him," David argued.

"Wow...it must be so nice up there on your pedestal. I thought you at least understood that things aren't always so black and white," she countered.

"She's right...she's not part of them. She's part of us," Xander interjected. David scoffed, but didn't protest further, as he felt Snow slip her hand in his.

"Well...that didn't take long. You've known you're a Charming less than a day and you've already betrayed me," Johnny accused.

"I'm not betraying you...but if this is real, I need to see it, even if I can't touch any of it. Trust me...they clearly don't want me," she replied.

"Natalie…" Thalia started to say.

"Save it mother...you're not changing my mind," she said. Rumple waved his hand and Johnny and Thalia disappeared, having been sent to the brig aboard the Jolly Roger.

"Okay...now you can speak freely," Snow said. Zia nodded.

"These are my parents, Santo and Irina," she said.

"Thank you...for saving us," Irina said. Snow smiled.

"I'm just glad we got here in time," she replied.

"This is my husband David. Our children, Emma, Leo, Eva, Summer, and Bobby. And these are our friends," Snow said.

"There is somewhere we should show you...since you are the Queen's successors," Santo said.

"Yes...it is a bit of a trek, if you're able," Irina added.

"That shouldn't be a problem," David agreed, as they followed them through their village and onto a mountain pass way. It would seem that their journey here had just begun.

~*~

Flashback

"You were right," Sirius said, as he poured a drink.

"She bought our story," he said, as he sipped at the amber colored liquid.

"Just don't mess this up or let your guard down. Zeus is away for another day or so. We must get the chalice before he returns and becomes wise to our plan. He'll know instantly that you could never be worthy of his precious dead wife's chalice," Blue said. Sirius smirked.

"So Zeus knows of me...I must be doing something right to have such a reputation," he boasted.

"Oh he knows of you and doesn't approve of anything you do. Fortunately, he lets mortals have their free will," Blue replied.

"And if he were to find out? I imagine the penalty for deceiving his precious little flower would be horrific," Beryl said.

"That's why he can't find out," Blue replied.

"Don't worry...everything is going according to plan," he said.

"Now...if you'll excuse me, I have another deal to tend to," Sirius said.

~*~

Aphrodite watched through her mother's magic looking glass, seething the entire time. She was watching Sirius Clayton, the man that claimed Beryl was his one true love, kiss a random woman he had met in a tavern that evening. But that wasn't the full scope of it. Thanks to her mother's looking glass, she had discovered Blue and Hera's plot to obtain her mother's chalice by deceiving her with this mortal pair. If she chose them as her champions, then they would have access to an incredible power that would rival her father's. He would be furious when he found out and likely punish all involved in the plot. But not before she had her own say in their punishment by confronting them.

She disappeared in a puff of orange smoke and reappeared at the entrance to the tavern, before bursting inside.

She drew instant attention, of course. She was the Goddess Aphrodite, after all, and was well revered for her beauty and kindness in Thebes. But she was not feeling kind at the moment, as she stormed over to Sirius Clayton's table.

"You must take me for quite the fool, Mr. Clayton," she hissed.

"Goddess...this isn't what it looks like," he stated.

"Oh, I think we know it's exactly what it looks like. Don't play dumb...I know all about your plot with the Blue Fairy and my devious step-mother," she growled.

"You and your impostor fiance will never touch my chalice or have its power. And when my father returns...he'll most surely punish all of you for your attempted coupe," she said angrily, as she disappeared in a storm of orange and reappeared on Olympus, where her step-mother sat in the Throne that once belonged to her mother.

"I know everything…" Aphrodite said angrily.

"So it would seem. Do you plan to tattle to your father?" Hera challenged.

"That you're plotting to get my mother's chalice and overthrow him? How can I not?" she questioned hotly. Hera smirked.

"That's unfortunate," she said.

"I'm sorry...but my father must know the woman he has married," Aphrodite replied.

"No dear...I meant unfortunate for you," Hera said, as Blue appeared and distracted the younger Goddess.

"And you...father trusted you, but I will make sure he knows where your loyalty is. And you will never have the power of my mother's chalice," Aphrodite warned.

"Don't cross me, you little tramp. If I can't have that power...then I'll make sure you suffer...eternally," Blue growled. Aphrodite saw the sneak attack out of the corner of her eye, but it was too late to dodge it.

Hera hit her with a massive blast and she screamed, as she fell from Olympus and to the Earth. Blue and Hera looked down to where she fell with pleased smiles.

"What if she survives?" Blue asked.

"Oh, she'll survive, but she won't remember the last few days. I laced that spell with the evaporated waters of Lethe. She'll awaken confused and when Zeus returns, he'll retrieve her. We can blame her peril on the mortals in Thebes. Zeus will react with fury and ask questions later," Hera said.

"And what of the chalice?" Blue asked.

"There will be another opportunity. She'll choose her champions eventually and we'll do everything we can to manipulate them. We will have the chalice," Hera replied.

~*~

Aphrodite whimpered, as she lay semi-unconscious at the bottom of a mountain in the Greek countryside. As she opened her eyes, a shadow fell over her and she looked up to see a handsome, shaggy haired man above her.

"Help…" she croaked, before passing out again. The young man put down his shepherd crook and lifted the beautiful woman into his arms, before carrying her back to his farm to get her the help she needed…

~*~

Present Day

Snow and David trekked along the mountain pass, following the other family, hand in hand.

"You seem a bit more relaxed," Snow said, as she nudged him and he smiled over at her.

"Well…Johnny Clayton is locked up, which means the world is automatically safer," he replied.

"And you didn't lock your sister up," she mentioned.

"No...Dad did that. I would have," he replied.

"Mmm…I know you better than anyone, Charming. You love your family...and she is your blood. That means you're going to help her when she needs it," Snow countered. He sighed.

"What if she doesn't want this family? What if she doesn't want my help?" he asked.

"It's obvious to me that she has a bit of an obsession with finding this supposed fabled city...but she doesn't seem like she wants to hurt anyone to do it," she replied.

"No...she's content to just stand by and let her evil boyfriend do the dirty work," he complained.

"David…" she chided.

"She made bad choices, but I know you...and you want to show her a better way. That's all she needs," Snow reasoned. He sighed.

"You just can't let me be mad and brood a bit longer?" he half joked. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"You're not an angry person. You have to try really hard to stay mad...even at your father and while the brooding can be sexy, I think it's time all come together," she said.

"Think about it...if we're the only ones that can access this mysterious place, then that means we have the power to give a piece of ancient culture back to the people it is intended for," Snow said. He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her hair.

"No one is as good as you...and the fact that you're mine still humbles me every day," he whispered.

"If I'm good...it's because I have a man that loves me so deeply and incredibly that it still takes my breath away on a daily basis," she replied, as they stopped and he took the opportunity to kiss her passionately.

"This is it," Santo said, as they arrived at a flat plane along the mountain path, which had oddly shaped rocky outcroppings.

"And...what exactly are we looking at?" Leo asked, not seeing anything of significance.

"We cannot see it...but the Chalice of Venus will reveal it," Irina replied.

"Our Princess, Zia Troyano, was the Inca's brightest star. She was set to bring peace to our people and out of our bloody past. With her as Queen, the Inca would have become peaceful. There would have been no more war or conquering of other tribes," Santo said.

"But then the conquistadors came and the Inca were conquered. Her father, King Upanki, used the secret sorcery of the Inca to force Zia to escape this land before they were overtaken by Pizarro's army," Irina explained.

"Let me guess, that secret sorcery was a portal," Eva deduced. She smiled.

"You are very bright and correct," she praised.

"So that's how the Dragon Queen ended up in our home realm," Snow realized.

"Yes...she left for a short time and returned periodically to tell her story to those that remained. She became a legend and used the power of the chalice to conceal our people's remaining knowledge and treasure," Irina said.

"So...this is where the city is? Inside this mountain?" David asked.

"No...but the answers are likely here, in the place she called home when she was here in this realm," Irina replied.

"And once inside, I can read the quipu," Zia added. Snow and David raised the chalice and it glowed. They all watched in amazement, as the rocky outcroppings formed a gate with a giant golden colored bird above it.

"Her husband's symbol may have been the Dragon, but hers was a golden condor," Santo said, as the gates swung open. They walked through the gates and found themselves in a luxurious castle. Among the items with an ornate, golden Throne were shelves filled with scrolls, stone tablets, and various other artifacts, including dozens of quipus.

"And...you've never seen any of this?" Snow asked.

"N...no," Irina said in amazement.

"This is...all thought to be lost to our people," she uttered.

"She was protecting it from conquerors and outside governments," Regina realized.

"This is amazing…" JJ mentioned. Summer smiled at him.

"I mean, I thought it was cool when you said you'd been to Atlantis, but this is better," he said, as they looked at the collections of jade statues. Summer smiled.

"Trust me...it is. Atlantis could have been great if Clayton hadn't made it into a prison," Summer said.

"But this...is better," she agreed.

"But it's still not Cibola...so what's in that quipu?" Natalie asked impatiently.

"You can't have any of it...it's not yours," David countered.

"Doesn't mean I still don't want to see it," she said.

"This stuff isn't going to fulfill your life…" he warned.

"Oh...so you have a sister for five minutes and I'm already getting the big brother lectures," she said sarcastically.

"He's right...you have a family. One that's willing to fight for you," Xander said.

"That's rich, coming from you," she countered.

"I made a lot of mistakes. I'm trying to make up for them with David and I'd like to do the same with you," he confessed, as she gave him a long look.

"No need...I've gotten along just fine without a father and a brother. I want to see it and then we can be done," she replied.

"I'm with her. Let's get this over with. This story will get me a decent payday once I report it," Nora said.

"If we let this get out, people wanting a payday will come out of the woodwork," Belle reasoned.

"She's right...and that begs the question on what your government will do for this, Major Donovan. We know that it has killed for far less than this," Rumple interjected, as they looked at Patricia.

"He's right...they can't be in on this," David said.

"David...it's not that simple," she argued.

"It is that simple. I'm willing to help you take down people like Clayton. I will not have you or anyone else destroying a culture that doesn't belong to them," he replied. She sighed.

"Well...it sounds like I can't get to any of this without the chalice, so there's no need to report any of it," she relented.

"Are you serious? If I can't report any of this...then why the hell am I even here?" Nora asked.

"Good question," Leo deadpanned.

"Go ahead...no matter what, we have ways of protecting you," Snow assured the girl, as she spread the quipu out on the floor and began attempting to decipher it once more.

"To be read only in the presence of my successors. Only those chosen by the Goddess Aphrodite can be trusted with the legacy of my native people and will make sure the treasure is protected," she recited.

"When the Conquerors were coming, we used the ancient sorcery of our people to conceal the city. Only those chosen by true love can find it among the ruins of the lost island of Mu. The island was destroyed by an evil man, bent on collecting the culture for his own and used the powers within the vast city of Atlantis to destroy most of the island," she recited.

"Clayton...or his ancestors," David realized.

"But some survived and I sustained them with magic. Only the chalice can reveal it," Zia said, as she looked up.

"The quipu has coordinates," she added.

"Then I guess we're going to this island. Can you translate the coordinates?" Snow asked.

"Yes…I just need something to write it down with," she replied. Regina poofed her a pen and paper, which she proceeded to use. When she was done, she handed the paper to the former Queen, who then handed it to Hook.

"I need a map…" he said, as Rumple conjured one for him and he used it to plot the location.

"Here…" he said.

"In the middle of the Pacific ocean?" Emma asked.

"There are no landmasses in this location, at least that can be seen," Hook replied.

"It must be hidden like the quipu said," Regina surmised.

"We encourage you to go...if our Queen entrusted this to you, then we trust you as well," Irina said.

"Yes, unfortunately, we are needed here and cannot go," Santo added.

"But Papa...we have waited for something like this for a very long time," Zia argued.

"And that's why you can go with them...this is your destiny, little one, though we will worry endlessly," Irina fretted. Snow stepped in.

"We'll take care of her and bring her back unharmed," she promised and the other mother nodded.

"Then we should go and get back to the Jolly Roger. Looks like this adventure has just begun," David said.

[sad-goomy]

what is probably the first in a series of vignettes of older!lonashipping in Galar because self control? don’t know her :)

featuring appearances from Magnolia, Sonia, and Leon! no spoilers for SwSh

Gladion knows that Moon is relatively good friends with Galar’s Champion.

It doesn’t make it any less strange to see in person.

They decide to start their vacation in Wedgehurst, because Gladion is fascinated by the Dynamax research Professor Magnolia has done (and it’ll be his only work-related activity, he swears), and Moon is just excited to see Leon before he goes off to prepare for the battle season. Even a few days before the opening ceremony, he only has time to visit for tea on their third and final afternoon in Wedgehurst.

As Magnolia goes over her sensor’s most recent readings at various power spots, Gladion listening intently and making a few notes on his tablet, Moon sets up tea in the kitchen, brewing a pot and laying out the snacks that Sonia bought that morning. She has a small smile on her face as she hums a rhythmless tune, excitement radiating off her to the point that Gladion pauses, watching her for a minute with his own smile tugging up a corner of his lips.

“–and I’d go on but you’re a wee bit distracted.”

Gladion flinches, turning to see Professor Magnolia giving him a smirk, and he tries not to wilt sheepishly at being caught. “Sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize,” she says, waving off the very notion with a hand before she continues with a pleased hum, “It’s lovely to see. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two were married.”

He pales, fumbling with the tablet in his hands as he tries not to drop it, clearing his throat. Magnolia’s eyes widen a fraction, and she’s quick to give his arm a pat as she shakes her head. “I don’t mean anything by it, dear. You two are still young, no need to worry yourselves over things like that.”

Too late, Gladion thinks to himself, because he knows that tucked away in his suitcase, buried under a pile of folded shirts, is a velvet ring box that he’s had for months now; he bought it the same day that Moon first brought up that she was thinking about marriage. They’ve since both agreed that they’d like to get married, and Gladion knows this, and he thinks about it constantly, and yet every time he thinks he’ll propose, he psyches himself out. He packed the ring for no real reason, considering he hasn’t exactly planned anything for a proposal during their trip, but even just a week in it has him on high alert, suddenly itching to drop to one knee despite the Butterfree still in his belly.

With a firmer grip on his tablet, and avoiding the professor’s eyes, he mumbles, “We’ve, uh, actually been talking about it. No set plans, though.”

“Well then I expect a wedding invite in the future – consider it payment for our little lessons.”

He chuckles, a faint blush on his cheeks as they go back to the readings, though it’s considerably harder for him to focus now with things like weddings, proposals, and Moon knocking around in his head.

It’s probably for the best, then, that they’re interrupted just a few minutes later by the door opening, Sonia’s Yamper yipping as he runs in, Sonia herself following behind as she declares, “Delivery for my favorite Champion.”

Leon’s figure fills the doorway, and Gladion realizes that while Moon has been around him at conferences, he’s never actually seen the Galar Champion in person. He cuts an intimidating figure, broad shoulders made all the broader by the fur on his cape, and the flame of the large Charizard still in the yard gives him a bit of a halo.

For a brief second, Gladion is impressed.

But then Leon’s face pulls into a pout, and his voice is pitched and petulant as he whines, “Aww, but Sonia...”

The young woman in question rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling all the same. “You’re a close second, if it’s any consolation.”

“You’re my second favorite Champion, too.”

Moon smirks at the two by the door, arms crossed. Leon’s grin grows as he throws open his arms, laughing, “C’mere you bully!”

She does, throwing her arms around him in a hug as the two mention how long it’s been since they’ve last spoken, how they’ve missed each other, and Gladion has to keep from snorting at the sight. Moon is 5’2” on a good day, and Leon’s got a solid foot on her, engulfing her in their hug.

Sonia goes to pull up another chair to the kitchen table, Magnolia walking over to take a seat as Gladion sets down his tablet and heads towards the pair. His footsteps draw Leon’s attention, who smiles at him as he extends a hand. “Gladion, right?”

He nods, shaking Leon’s hand as Moon steps to his side. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“Same here – you're a proper legend at Battle Royals.”

Gladion blinks, more than a little surprised that the Galar Champion has even heard of Battle Royals, much less actually seen a match. Alola doesn’t broadcast them internationally, but when he looks to Moon to share his confusion, she’s instead sheepish.

“I may have forced him to watch all the matches I had recorded on my phone.”

“It was a lot,” Leon adds somberly, eyes lost in a memory before he blinks out of it, a fire in his eyes as he smirks. “She also tells me all about what you do at Aether, but if I’m being honest mate, I can’t make heads or tails of it. Sounds impressive, though.”

Moon laughs, and when Gladion looks down at her, she gives him a shrug and smile. “I brag about you a lot at those conferences, but it’s your fault for making it easy.”

And the way she says it, so simple and earnest and warm...Arceus, should he just go get the ring from his luggage right now?

Leon snaps him out of his thoughts, though, clenching a fist as his eyes ignite. “We have to organize a Battle Royal; I’ve been thinking up some strategies and–”

Magnolia clears her throat, drawing the trio’s attention to the table where she sits next to Sonia, who’s watching them with an amused twinkle in her eye and a cookie in her mouth. As the professor finishes pouring herself a cup of tea, pausing in adding a sugar cube to chide, “If you must battle, at least wait until after I’ve had my tea. Now sit before it gets cold.”

Leon deflates, but agrees with a sigh, Moon and Gladion chuckling as they follow behind him, careful not to trip over Sonia’s Yamper as the Pokemon dashes back outside, intent on playing with the Charizard still in the yard. As they fill their plates with cookies and fall into conversation, Gladion takes another moment to watch Moon, this time as she talks with Leon.

It’s a little strange to see her like this – he's so used to her being reserved, and she still is, but she’s also playfully punching Leon in the arm, a little extra dry in her humor. He sips his tea, hiding a smile when he realizes that the “bro energy” she likes to tease Sun and Hau for supposedly having hasn’t totally escaped her, and he now has a front row seat to it.

Next to him, Sonia chews on her cheek as she leans towards him, whispering conspiratorially, “Bit odd, isn’t it?”

“Like watching an unlikely interspecies friendship,” he agrees, and the two share a snicker, drawing the other three’s attention.

Moon hums, her right hand reaching out for his under the table, interlacing their fingers as she smirks. “What’s so funny?”

Gladion gives her a lopsided smile, squeezing her hand under the table. “You are.”

“I’m downright hilarious, but how so this time?”

“You have a funny face.”

“Then why do you enjoy looking at it so often?” Moon grins as he rolls his eyes with a chuckle, but when she opens her mouth to continue, she pauses, seeming to remember they’re very much not alone and glancing at Leon out of the corner of the eye.

Who only smiles, far too confident as he asks, “So how long have you two been married, anyway?”

To which Gladion pales, Moon splutters as she pretends to find her tea incredibly interesting, and Sonia very nearly throws a napkin at the Galar Champion before steering the conversation towards the upcoming battle season.

And so they go on with their tea, Gladion and Moon’s hands remaining linked under the table as they listen to Leon retell his latest battle with Raihan, Sonia interjecting with a few cracks at him as the others laugh. As the last of the day’s sunshine filters in through the windows, a pleasant tranquility settles in the kitchen, one that not even Leon’s gesticulating can pierce.

It’s quite a surprise, then, when Sonia glances over at the clock and realizes over two hours have passed. She looks across the table at Leon, raising a brow as she says, “This has been a lovely little chin-wag, but don’t you have a dinner to get to?”

“Ah, nearly forgot,” he mumbles, his chair scraping against the floor as he stands with wide eyes, “Thanks Sonia.”

Hop and his friends are probably still preoccupied with their starters, but he did promise his mother that he’d be home in time for dinner. Still, he looks a bit crestfallen when he glances back down at Moon and Gladion, feeling like he hasn’t nearly had enough time to catch up with the Alola Champion, and he’s only scratched the surface of the Aether President’s cool exterior.

Sonia stands, mumbling something about having to lead him back or else he’d end up wandering in Slumbering Weald as her grandmother nods. Moon and Gladion follow suit, preparing their goodbyes when an idea smacks Leon across the forehead, his eyes lighting up as he looks around the table. “Say, why don’t you all join us?”

The others pause, Gladion and Moon exchanging a look before she mumbles, trying to contain her excitement, “Are you sure?”

“No doubt my mum’s gonna grill up too much food anyway, and Hop and his mates would lose their minds to meet another Champion and Battle Royal ace.” He nods, giving Magnolia and Sonia a grin as he adds, “You know you’re always welcome, too.”

Magnolia hums, standing and retrieving her cane from where it leans against the table. “Since you asked so politely.”

Sonia smiles, looping an arm around Moon and Gladion as she pokes her head between them, turning to look up at the blond as she chuckles, “What do you say, Gladion? Fancy a chance to take field notes on the interspecies friendship we discovered?”

Moon rolls her eyes, and Gladion laughs softly, shaking his head. “Can’t pass that up.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” Moon warns without a hint of acidity, giving their interlocked hands another squeeze as she teases him.

He smirks. “You think I’m cute?”

“Well do you think I am?”

Sonia gags. “You’re both disgustingly sweet, is what you are.” They all share a laugh as she brushes past them, clapping a hand on Leon’s shoulder as the two head out the door, leading the way up the path along with Yamper and Charizard.

As they walk towards Postwick, holding hands, Moon stops him for a moment, leaning up (and with a little help of him leaning down) to place a kiss against his cheek, whispering against his skin, “I think you’re very cute, by the way.”

And it takes every ounce of impulse control within Gladion to keep walking, and not turn around and get that ring out.

[cerisewrites]

𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄

This is a piece I wrote a year ago for my portrayal of villain Yaoyorozu.

TW: Mentions of Sexual Abuse, Violence, Gore

《 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑹𝑺 》

𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑟. 𝑂𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒.

"So this is what it's like."

Yaoyorozu watched the man's eyes widen, brimming with an awe stricken radiance she'd never seen in him before. It was like seeing a child witness a simple card trick for the first time- confusion, then wonder, then belief. For a moment, it looked as though the impossible was a thing of the past. It seemed like everything was okay.

And then it wasn't.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Beautiful? What was so beautiful in a world such as theirs? The creator's eyes moved from left to right, taking in the different hues that surrounded them. Grey. Darker grey. Black. Nothing out of the ordinary, and much less, nothing beautiful. Perhaps this was another one of his games. Maybe he sought to compliment her. Yes, that was it. It was another one of his moments of charm. He was trying to confuse her, only to tell her that he was talking about her the entire time. It couldn't have been anything else.

"I've always read about color theory," he began, looking up to the sky, "I thought if I studied enough, if I memorized the different kinds of grey that there were, it could prepare me for this moment. I was mistaken. No amount of reading could amount to this. It's...ethereal, isn't it? What color do you think they call the sky?"

A soft spring breeze passed by, the rustle of leaves it produced cutting through the silence between the two. Yaoyorozu looked to the clouds, allowing a hollow smile to grace her features as she watched them inch across their silvery domain. A few stray sakura petals danced around the pair as the winds carried them away in a whimsical path: past her hair, a little ways from her eyes, and then beyond. It was like they were there only to mock her. What color was the sky? Did the petals of the fresh blossoms look the same?

"I agree," she opened her mouth as the plants around them came to a halt, and the wind left them a faint goodbye, only to sully the opportune tranquility that had been given to her with a lie, "It's much better than what I imagined."

—

Beneath the vast blanket of stars, the figure clad in black stood amongst the trees of the forest, well enough to be hidden, but still able to acquire the view they desired. The sight below the ledge was one that was rare in the advancing world. It had been long since they had seen so many trees all together in one area, and in the middle of it all, was the Roman Empire in its prime. It could not be admired for much longer, however. They were not there to bear witness to the emperor and his glory. They were there for the game: the conquering of the conqueror.

Heroes and villains existed only as euphemisms. There were only two sides, two things that brought both balance and chaos to this world. Born from red; the red of passion, and a red thicker than water. There was only love and death.

Death looked to the girl on the ledge. Undoubtedly, she was its most beloved follower. Though she had spent her entire life perfecting herself, fitting into the mold that had been set by everyone except for her, Death knew from the very beginning that she was meant for something else. A creature so chaotic in nature was not fit for the side of Love. No matter how hard the heiress tried, Love had turned her away, time and time again. Still, she continued in her pursuit, until at last, Love reared its ugly head and gave her what she was looking for.

There was a struggle, conflicting ideals clashing within the brilliant woman's mind. Of course, she was a hero. Her job was to keep the peace, and provide the people with a sense of security. But all her life, she'd been hung up on nothing but obligation. It was always about what she should be, what she should do, instead of what she wanted. This, right now, was not heroism. It was the execution of a personal desire, the worst of its kind. A desire built on wrath. Anger. Disdain. This wasn't right, and yet, that only left her wanting more.

Death let a lowly chuckle escape its mouth. From the moment it had seen her, it knew what she could do. It knew she would not fail. For the first time in decades, Death could feel a warmth building up in its chest, that pulled the edges of its lips into a smile. Over the ages, it had its champions. The kingdom of Assyria, Attila, Julius Caesar, and Elizabeth Bathory, to name a few. At long last, after years and years of lying in wait, simply watching as Love conquered the world, Death had found its champion once more.

—

"Where is Amelia?"

The emperor's booming voice echoed throughout the emptiness of his own hall. His subjects looked to each other comfortably, unsure of what to say. It seemed as though any answer they gave him would only fuel his anger. But keeping their silence would enrage him all the more.

"We last saw her in the kitchen, Sir," one of the maids finally spoke up, bowing her head as she spoke. Cowardice danced within her tone. Roman could sense it. He always had a knack for sensing the vulnerability in others, and how he could twist it to work in his favor. This was how he had survived for so long, along with his lies.

Roman. This was the name of a powerful business man, who had made it far in the hero industry despite having a quirk that wasn't considered efficient for combat or for business. Only his rather ordinary wit and will had pulled his agency to the top ranks, enough to bring him fame, followers, and some of the strongest heroes under his care. He had other subjects under his care as well. These subjects, in particular, he cared for in more ways than one.

He loved how he so cleverly dressed them up for himself. Pristine cloths of black and white, with not a crease in sight. Bonnets tied near the napes of their necks, black stockings that would go up just above their knees, a pair of classic Mary Janes to go with it all. He had cared for them in more ways than one, but they would never remember. All it took was skin contact, and he could pick and choose what parts of the day would remain suppressed in their brains. Indeed, his ordinary wit and will had served him well in his business, but his quirk served him even better in times of pleasure. Perhaps, it was sick. Perhaps it was abusive. Could anyone blame him, though? They were beautiful women, and with a capability to not ever get caught, why waste the opportunity?

The emperor was more than certain the maids would never find out about his...special treatments, and nobody would ever find out about the Praetorian Guard. His confidence was warranted, in that he'd never been suspected of anything of the likes before.

Yet we must never forget, it was hubris that became the downfall of Icarus.

The man turned his heel, promptly heading down the long corridor towards the kitchen where his favorite subject was said to be at duty. This came as no surprise to him, as she was the best cook of all the servants. But they'd talked about things like this before. When he wanted to see her, he wanted to see her. She was to come to him immediately, regardless of what she was doing, if she wanted to keep her job. "The things I'll do to this girl..." he muttered under his breath, clenching his fists as he walked. The gesture was one of combined greed, and anger.

"Amelia."

He announced her name to an empty room, as he swung the door open with his one hand. The man paced around the room thoughtfully. Strange, it wasn't like her to leave her station like this, with knives still on the counter and ingredients left unattended at the chopping board. The only thing that could be heard within the confines of the small room was Roman's footsteps, and the constant bubbling of water from a pot on the stove. A sweet, fragrant aroma filled the air, the likes of which Roman had never encountered before. It seemed as though his servant had outdone herself today, and for good reason. The emperor's family would return today from a long trip.

His interests piqued, Roman slowly approached the pot left on the stove. Upon carefully removing the lid, the emperor was met with a strange, orangey stew, that had a mix of rather ordinary ingredients. Potatoes, carrots, a mix of red and green papers.

What was in there that was creating such a wonderful smell?

He grabbed a wooden spoon, poking around and stirring at the mixture. Soon enough, something arose from the stew. The ruler turned it over a few times as he tried to make of what it was. The color was a beautiful sort of brown. The texture, however, was dense against the spoon, and its shape was most unusual. "Chicken feet..?" he muttered to himself, knowing full well that it was something he would never want to ingest. Then it dawned on him.

A hand.

—

The head maid of the manor hastily walked through one of the many corridors of the empire. There was something urgent she had to tell Roman, though she couldn't find where he was even after what seemed like an eternity of scouring the property. She scolded herself quietly, wondering how she hadn't thought of checking the kitchen earlier. Amelia was his favorite maid. It made sense that he would look for her. The head maid, Theodora, found this gravitation odd and inappropriately out of proportion. Yet who was she to question the work of a king?

"Sir," she called out as she saw him almost trip out of the room and into the hall. He seemed shaken, like he was going to fall over nothing. Eyes wide, and breathing ragged, Theodora couldn't help but notice the significant difference in how he was acting. "Are you alright?" she asked. He didn't answer, only staring at her with a look glazed with panic. Theodora cleared her throat, straightening the cloth of her skirt out of habit. "Miss Yaoyorozu approached me in the gardens, Sir. She says she has something for you in your office."

"That's not possible."

"Sir?"

"You lie."

"Sir, I wouldn't-"

"Liar! That's not possible...She shouldn't be alive. No...No. You're wrong."

She could only watch the emperor's outburst of disbelief. The next thing she knew, his hand had a tight grip on her wrist, and he was pulling her through the hall. "Stay with me," he said. The tone he used was proud and unwavering, but Theodora knew he was scared. The plan at the moment was to escape the property. Everything else was secondary.

So like the wind, the king and his servant made their way through the winding halls of their home, one that was soon to collapse. In the midst of their escape, Roman's mind was swimming in a frenzy of aimless ponder. His wife and daughter. Were they alright? Had she known about their return? What happened to the rest of Amelia? Why him? Why now? The events that transpired replayed in his mind as a blaze. The guard had caught onto a lead, one that would take them back to him as the mastermind behind it all. He was sure they would be displeased with his puppetry, and so he sent out a group of younger, stronger warriors to take care of them: to drown them in fire and erase them from the earth. The agency would label it all as a tragedy that came hand in hand with heroic duty.

What he failed to account for was no matter how powerful the warriors he sent were, none of them could compare to the sheer magnitude of Yaoyorozu's intelligence.

He had been outwitted and outplayed, just like all of her other foes. All of his sins had finally caught up to him.

Soon, the pair had found themselves once more in the great hall, where the last maid of the house was. Helen was sweeping the granite floors as usual. The air was quiet, eerily so. Only the chiming of the crystal chandelier that hung high overhead could be heard. For a moment, everything was calm. And then the emperor saw something dash above him, clad in black cloths that sprawled back behind them to form something that looked like a pair of wings.

"Helen!"

The chandelier came crashing down.

—

"I know you've been told that I've left you a parting gift in your office. Look at it."

Roman could only stare in horror at the mass of upright sticks only a few feet away from the door. The metal had been painted an iron crimson, adorned with bits of flesh and skeletal white peeking from the mutilated carcass. In an ultimate act of self sacrifice, or what he viewed as possible redemption, he let her go. He stayed, thinking that if Yaoyorozu had business with him, he would let no one else be the victim. Theodora made it out the doors successfully, but after taking a few more strides, metal blossomed from the ground and stopped her, quite literally, dead in her tracks.

In a panicked daze, the emperor made his way to his office. It was over. There was nothing else to lose. With how well calculated this scheme was he was sure his wife and daughter would not return. He would soon follow them, wherever they ended up.

He opened his door. A blue marble fell from the mahogany bookshelf. It rolled down a green chute, past a series of yellow tiles, triggering a white thread, and finding rest at a silver spoon as the components of the overly complex machine operated sequentially, like a dramatic, stretched out game of fucked off dominos. Until eventually, Roman's safe had opened itself, and from it poured a foul smelling pale gas.

For the first time in her life, Yaoyorozu could see colors.

[ibijau]

Hey can you do a scenario who Link and Revali are kissing or something in their room at the castle when Zelda and Mipha walk in on them. And Link freaks out and Revali has to confort him and at the same time deal with the prinesses?

I’ll try to write something funny! I told myself, and then I didn’t. Warning for some references to homophobia :D

They had found an old quilt in a corner and laid it on the ground to make things more comfortable. The dusty smell had seemed to bother Link a bit at first, but he had soon forgotten about it when Revali sat down with him. It would have been better if they’d had a proper bedroom, but Link virtually lived with the princess while Revali shared quarters with the other champions when he was in town. This was the only way to be alone together at last.

With great care, Revali brushed his fingers against Link’s cheek, marvelling at the smooth, naked skin. It was warm, quickly getting warmer from the blush spreading there. And just as warm were the hylian’s fingers on the side of his beak, touching the hard surface lightly before brushing against dark feathers, then digging under to find his own skin which burned at much as Link.

Link was was grinning, staring at Revali as if he were the most wonderful thing in the world. It had taken them so long to sort out that they did not hate each other, and longer still to find a place where they might explore each other at peace.

Neither of them had much experience beside what they had learned from their own bodies. Revali knew hylians were a little different, it was impossible to miss, but they’d find a way to make it work. So long as he could touch Link and be touched by him…

Link leaned towards Revali and pressed his mouth against his beak for a second before pulling back. He tilted his head, as if considering he had enjoyed doing that, then did it again, covering Revali’s beak in shy kisses before doing the same to his cheek, burrowing his face among black feathers until he could nearly touch skin. Odd but not unpleasant, Revali decided, his arms around the hylian’s shoulders to pull him closer.

Not to be outdone, Revali nuzzled the tip of his beak against Link’s shoulder. There were too many layers of fabric though so he pulled away from the hylian’s kisses so he could brush his beak against the warm, tender skin of his neck. Link allowed it without complaints, then gasped and shivered when Revali gently pinched at that delicate skin.

“Again,” Link asked, grasping at Revali’s shoulder.

The rito swiftly obeyed, glad to have found something that worked regardless of species. He had to be careful, Link’s skin marking easily. The last thing Revali could want was to hurt his friend, but this wasn’t enough. They hadn’t discussed how far they were willing to go that day, but Revali was quickly overcome with a need to see more skin. He felt Link tense when his hands move to undo his belt, but the hylian did not try to stop him then, nor when he scrunched up that blue tunic and pushed it up. On the contrary Link helped the annoying piece of fabric disappear, and took care himself of his undershirt.

So much pale skin immediately became accessible, and Revali loved it. He nuzzled against firm muscles and lovingly pinched here and there, enjoying the gasps and small cries that got him, the way Link pet his feathers so tenderly then pulled sometimes, just hard enough to feel good.

They hadn’t discussed what they would do but Revali’s blood was boiling and a quick look down told him Link too was getting excited. It wasn’t a bad place to make love for the first time.

Or it would have been, if the door hadn’t opened, startling both of them.

“I don’t know why it was closed,” Zelda giggled as she came in. “I’m glad I have the key though, and… Oh ! What are you two doing here?”

Before he could answer, Revali felt Link push him away, saw him jump to his feet and desperately look for the tunic he had so seductively tossed aside just seconds earlier. Revali too stood up, spreading his wings to hide his friend from the two princesses. Because it wasn’t bad enough to be found by Zelda. No, Mipha had to be there too, blushing and trying to catch a glimpse.

“What are you too imbeciles doing here?” Zelda asked, as cold and regal as her father. “This had better not be what I think!”

“Well maybe it is!” Revali goaded her.

“It’s not what you think!” Link shouted at the same time.

Revali turned to look at him, hurt by that denial and ready to get angry. Instead he felt sorry for his friend.

Link, brave to the point of recklessness, was terrified. He clutched his tunic to his chest like a shield, teeth clenched as if he were in pain, everything in his posture saying he was ready to bolt if threatened. And Revali had heard rumours about hylians and their ideas of morals, he had noticed Link was more careful around him if people might see them. But he’d thought it was just misinformation and shyness respectively.

“If you tell anyone I will kill you,” Revali hissed towards the two girls, spreading his wings even more to shield Link from their prying eyes.

But then he noticed how Mipha was holding Zelda hand, her other hand on the hylian princess’s shoulder in a gesture as protective as his own.

“If you tell about us, I’ll tell about you,” he corrected himself. Zelda paled at the threat. Good.

“Revali, stop !” Link pleaded behind him. “Zelda, don’t tell, it’ll never happen again, I swear, please don’t tell anyone. If the king hears… ”

At the mention of her father Zelda trembled, looking ready to faint.

“This was careless of you!” she still found the force to say. “Anyone could have discovered you! Don’t we have enough enemies without you trying to bring shame upon us?”

“OUT!” Revali yelled. “Out and if you say another word to him about this, now or ever, I will claw your eyes out and feed them to pigs!”

For a second Zelda froze before a glint appeared in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, then stopped when Mipha squeezed her hand and threw her a pleading look.

“We’re not done talking about this,” the hylian girl still threatened. “Learn to be careful!”

Revali took a step toward her, but Link grabbed his waist just as Mipha pushed her friend out of the room, carefully closing the door behind them.

Once they were alone again, Link all but collapsed against Revali’s back.

“She’ll tell her father,” he whispered, clinging tight to Revali as though he might fall otherwise. “They’ll punish us for this. You have to leave while you still can, you must. If they hurt you, I will…”

Slowly, carefully, Revali turned around so he could properly hug his friend. Link was shaking, his head down and refusing to meet his eyes, terrified beyond words but even then he wouldn’t let go of Revali.

“She won’t tell a soul,” Revali promised, nuzzling Link’s hair. “She won’t dare. Not when we also have dirt on her.”

That surprised Link enough that he looked up, letting Revali see the tears threatening to spill at the corner of his eyes.

“Why do you think she was here with Mipha?” Revali asked. “If she denounces us, she loses everything too.”

If she dared to hurt Link that way, Revali would make sure she’d pay. He was almost sure she wouldn’t though. He didn’t have a too high opinion of Zelda, but even she wouldn’t be such a hypocrite.

“Zelda and Mipha?” Link gasped. “But I thought…”

He blushed and looked away. As if Mipha’s crush on him had been some secret that might have escaped Revali’s notice and Link should have hidden. Ridiculous little hylian, trying to avoid making him jealous.

Mipha was sweet, but Revali had never once feared her competition.

“Guess she moved on. Good for her and good for us.”

Link nodded, smiling even when he was still so shaken.

The smile didn’t last though.

“Zelda was right though. We should have been more careful. If anyone else had found us…”

He shivered at the idea. Revali pulled him closer, covering him with his wings as if he could protect him from the whole world.

He had wondered sometimes if there was anything in the world that could scare Link. Now that he knew, he wished he had never found out.

“Next time I’m taking you up to Vah Medoh,” he grumbled. “Let’s see if anyone disturbs us there.”

He felt more than heard Link’s soft laughter, some of the tension leaving the hylian’s body.

“Now that’s a sure way to offend the Goddess and all her priests,” Link noted, distractedly petting Revali’s back.

“She should have thought of that before making you so lovely. I might be the magnificent Revali, I am still only a rito. I see someone perfect for me and I want them.”

Again Link laughed, a little more earnestly this time, relaxing and holding Revali closer.

My hylian, Revali though fiercely. Mine and if anyone tries to harm him I’ll destroy them, be they a king or a Goddess.

[notquitedickens]

Internal Prejudice (Draco x fem!reader)

Requested: Yes (not that close to the prompt but it’s fine)

Word count: 1.5k+

“Why must she hang around those idiots all the time?” Draco mumbled, watching as (y/n) walked through the courtyard, sandwiched between the Weasley twins.

“What was that, Draco?” Pansy asked from across the misshapen circle of Slytherins. “I couldn’t hear you from over here.”

“He was talking to me, Parkinson.” Blaise stepped in, saving Draco from being pestered by the girl when in actual fact he couldn’t hear Draco even though the boy was sitting next to him.

The girl fell silent, glaring at Blaise for ruining her chances of talking to Draco. Draco had hardly sent a look her way over all the time that they knew each other, preferring to stand alone rather than dancing at the family balls. When he was forced to speak to her it was short and harsh, his thoughts much more occupied by the Gryffindor prefect who he spent most of his classes thinking of. She was older than him, only by a year, but had always seemed much more mature than any student in the school. He gathered it was from the fact that she was forced to grow up faster than most wizards and witches. That’s why he admired her, the way she was so mature and moved with such carefree elegance. He thought he went unnoticed like Pansy was by him.

“You know you could go talk to her right?” Blaise whispered, drawing him back out of his thoughts.

“She willingly ignores me at all times,” Draco states louder than expected, drawing the attention of the rest of the group.

“No, I don’t.” Pansy responds with furrowed brows.

“For fuck's sake Parkinson, he has never once been interested in you, let it go.” Another girl in the group scoffs, someone that Draco never really spoke to but still would prefer over Pansy any day. “Literally everyone except you can see how he looks at that Gryffindor.”

“You fancy a Gryffindor? You aren’t becoming a blood traitor like those Weasleys are you?” Adrian scoffs.

“Is it really being a blood traitor if she’s a pureblood?” Draco rolls his eyes, shutting up the complaints. “So what if she actually cares about something other than her status in the wizarding community?”

At that moment Pansy stormed away from the group, quickly being followed by Adrian. The rest of the small group maintained their positions in the group despite their confusion.

“Is someone making Malfoy soft?” Blaise smirked.

“Can it, Zabini.”

(y/n) watched the boat that was sitting on the lake that year gently rocking under the autumn breeze. The movement of burgundy cloaks across the deck was oddly calming as they sauntered across the deck like puppets. A few were balanced precariously on the railings at the side of the main decking, a pair of them in the crows nest and a handful making their way back to shore in the smaller boats that were brought alongside the large vessel. The boats came rapidly over the lake, much faster than the boats she had used in the first year to get to the castle. There was something about the lake that just brought back memories from any point in time while at Hogwarts.

“I knew I’d find you here.” George dumped himself down next to her. “I thought I’d just let you know that Malfoy is being nice to all of us, Harry included.” (y/n) chuckled, hardly believing the words that were leaving the pranksters mouth. “I’m being serious, he even asked where you were.”

“Georgie, Draco Malfoy doesn’t do anything without a reason. I’m sure him being nice could just be a cover-up for one of his families cruel schemes.” She rolled her eyes. “Remember Harry’s second year, that bloody family got your 11-year-old sister possessed just so the fucking dark lord can come back. The guy got defeated by a two-year-old the first time and by teenagers ever since. I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to last long if he does find a way to get back.”

He sat silently for a moment, thinking over the words that had just spilt out of her mouth in her wave of disbelief. “I’m holding you to that.”

“Let’s just hope he doesn’t find a way back.”

George pulled her into his side, soothingly rubbing his thumb over her arm. “Even if he does, you’re smart enough to survive.”

“Yeah, It’s you Weasley kids I’m worried about. I know Bill and Charlie can handle themselves but the rest of you need to be babysat even now.” She teased, despite the tears welling up in her eyes. “I just really don’t know what I’d do without you redheads.”

“Probably go and marry the girl or boy of your dreams, write a book like your grandad, somehow survive as long as him.” He shrugs, trying to cheer her up.

“That sounds so mundane.” She used the given leverage to change the subject. “I’d much rather have something to write about, perhaps I’ll become a curse breaker.”

(y/n) was blissfully aware of Draco’s attempts to get close to her during all of their brief yet pleasant conversations during breaks between lessons. During any free time that was mutually shared, she was around her other friends. He almost managed to sit next to her in the library before Cedric sat down next to her with a piece of parchment in his hands and a textbook that was identical to the one she was working out of. Neither of them left until it was time to go back to dorms, Cedric being the total gentleman and walking her back.

The second time he was inches from having a proper conversation with her was when she was waiting by herself in the courtyard. This time his opportunity was snatched away by his own best friend. Blaise had caught her, initiating a conversation about the next time her family would visit his, the two of them eventually leaving the courtyard and making their way elsewhere.

Blaise had led (y/n) into the Astronomy tower, fully aware that nobody would be in it at this hour. It had become a frequent occurrence since he came to Hogwarts, the two of them skipping dinner and talking like they would at every large family event that was held when the two of them were children. They had both been taught the pureblood ways of having flawless manners in public but neither of them was really capable of accepting the ideals that the traditional families kept. Neither of them was in traditional pureblood families, his mother never took part in the first war and hers fought alongside the Weasleys. However, when he went up to Hogwarts he was forced into acting stereotypically like a Slytherin pureblood despite hoping he’d be in Gryffindor like she was. It was the only time he could be himself.

“You know that Draco means no harm, right?” Blaise had asked at some point during their conversation.

“I know he wants something.”

“He wants you.” Blaise rolled his eyes at her obliviousness. “He likes you and wants to go to the Yule Ball with you.”

“Tell him I’m flattered but I’d much rather go with someone who isn’t a rude, racist, fake piece of shit.” (y/n) snapped, sick of everyone mentioning Draco to her these days because of his sudden change in personality.

“He hasn’t asked you yet?”

“He hardly speaks to me.”

“I guess he’s having second thoughts.” Blaise sighed, losing all faith in his friend now that he has lied to him about the progress of the relationship with (y/n). “You deserve better than Malfoy anyway, especially if he isn’t willing to break his status to even talk to you.”

“Says the guy who fakes being a stuck up pureblood.” (y/n) rolls her eyes.

“Now I have everyone in that house scared of me, it’s unnecessary to keep up the act. Why else do you think nobody has beat Malfoy into growing up? I’m willing to sacrifice a few of those assholes if you are willing to go to the Yule Ball with me?”

That’s exactly what they did. (y/n) arrived at the Yule Ball with her arm entwined with Blaise’s, her red gown strongly conflicting with his green tie. The two of them turned heads more than the champions did when they eventually joined that first dance of the night. The pair laughing about the first time they were forced to dance together by her parents years ago, back then she was taller now there was a clear difference. Shortly after the dance was over they were joined by the twins, George stealing you away for a dance while Blaise went to go get drinks when he was actually going to nag Draco just a little bit more. George had ended up stepping on her toes more than she would have liked, each time causing her to tease him about Bill being much better at dancing with her. They somehow managed to finish the song, Blaise returning with Draco in tow and multiple cups.

The group sat at the table, an odd mix of Gryffindors and Slytherins sharing the same table. Surprisingly they all held a calm conversation for at least an hour before another slow song began to play. A soft nudge from Blaise caused Draco to ask (y/n) to dance, which George rapidly accepted for her, forcing her out of the chair and towards the dancefloor. The pair started with an Umbridge-worthy gap between them.

“You know you could have just talked to me before the dance right?” (y/n) rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have to go through my friends. Although the change was appreciated, it did make all of us believe that you were scheming until Blaise told me you liked me, even if my first reaction was to call you names.”

He remained silent, thinking over his words but she beat him to it.

“It was fighting your internal prejudices that took you so long wasn’t it? It took me all this time to take in what Blaise told me as truth.”

“How are you so good with words?” Draco blushed slightly at how well she could read him.

“The great Draco Malfoy, blushing?” (y/n) teased, catching sight of her friends cheering them on and finally realising that they had started dancing closer together and the song was almost over.

“It’s caused by being around beautiful people.” Draco hesitated. “Who is willing to give me a chance?”

“Keep up being nice to my friends and I’ll consider it.” (y/n) winked, making her way back over to the table of her smirking friends.

[livvywrites]

tmq excerpt

this is from chapter 4, and is my most recent section of writing. i don’t have a last line tag to blame this on tho :p

for some reason i really like this section, so have some of my babes interacting~

The door opened again, this time letting in Lyr. His face was flushed, making already dark skin look darker, and his eyes were a bit wild to match the grin on his face. His hair was a mess. “Suppose we’re going to wait to eat until everyone arrives?”

“That is polite,” Aishlynn said. She held out Alinora’s untouched wine glass. “The drinking can start now, though.”

Lyr took it. “Ever miss the stuff the tribes brewed up?” he asked, plopping down in a seat at random. “No one else ever seems to brew it quite strong enough.”

Aishlynn snorted, but must have spotted Alinora’s look of confusion and said, “Slaeyrs have a difficult time getting drunk. However, what gets a Slaeyr drunk isn’t so pleasant for a non-Slaeyr. Accidents have happened.” She grimaced. “Word has spread more or less by this point, but there are always those who think they can handle it.”

“Some of ‘em can,” Lyr said. “Healers say most of them die from the alcohol. Gets into their liver, or maybe their brains, and poisons ‘em. Same thing happens after a lifetime of drinkin’. That’s what Slaeyr grog is—a lifetime of drinkin’, boiled down to one cup. ‘Course, that’s the really strong stuff. We have some weaker, for the more lightweight Slaeyrs. Some non-Slaeyrs can handle that, though not more than a glass or two. Hate to keep with the stereotypes, but they’re usually dwarves, orc, and tauros.” Lyr shrugged. “But yeah—Slaeyr grog is dangerous stuff.”

Alinora considered. “It has to do with your internal healing magic, doesn’t it?”

Lyr raised his glass. “That’s what they say. Liquor dulls the senses. A kind of poison your body purges the next day, usually accompanied by a raging headache.” He grinned. “Slaeyrs are immune to most poisons and liquor is no different. All it is for us is a taste. Sure, we can outrun the healing process by drinking great amounts at a time, but that just results in a little dizzy feeling and a mighty need to piss. So most of us don’t bother.”

The door had opened it again, while he was speaking. Ava stood there, Talitha behind her. Ava frowned. “Why are we talking about piss?”

Lyr raised his glass again. “We were talking about wine. This tastes good, Tali, where’d you get it?”

Talitha shrugged. “Some port or another. Don’t expect too much of it, though. I don’t have a lot of it. Tonight’s a special night, though. And speakin’ of it bein’ special, you’ll have to pardon me a moment. I need to put my earrings in.” Talitha walked past the table—Ava had taken a seat next to her brother. The only spot open was on his other side, which was also next to Alinora.

“And here I thought you hated getting all dressed up and fancy,” Lyr said, grinning.

Talitha snorted. “Other people’s idea of fancy,” she corrected. “Skirts are all well and good, but I’d much prefer my legs in a pair of trousers, thank you kindly.” She opened a drawer. “I’m afraid these earrings aren’t simply for decoration. I’ll explain more in a moment.”

Talitha’s ears glowed purple for a moment, and then stopped. She put the earrings in, and gave each of them a soft tap. Alinora couldn’t see it, but she assumed the runes glowed a moment before beginning to work.

Talitha rolled her shoulders, and came to sit. Now that she was closer, Alinora could see that her earrings were made of pearls. Fitting, for a woman of the sea.

“A few years ago, now, I lost my hearing to a cannon,” Talitha said. “I stood a little too close, and, well, they’re a little bit loud. It was painful at the time, and very disorienting, but I’ve learned to work with. I have a spell I use, but using it too long makes my ears all hot and itchy. The enchantment is better, but things get garbled, and if I’m not careful, I speak a bit too loud. My crew and I have developed a language we speak with our hands, though.”

Alinora nodded. “We have something like that in the guild I lived in,” she said.

Talitha beamed at her. “You’ll have to teach me the signs, then,” she said. “Our language is small and still building. I’d like to see if the ones you know could help it.”

Alinora inclined her head. “Does it help, when you have the earrings in, for us to speak louder?”

Talitha hummed a moment. “No,” she said. “Not really. It helps if you speak… not slowly, but not quickly either. There needs to be a space between the words, so the enchantment can fit between, but too much space, and it gets lost. Too little, and it gets stuck.”

Alinora nodded, as if this made perfect sense. It did, kind of, but at the same time, it kind of didn’t. She supposed that was magic in a nutshell, though, at least for her.

That piece of information shared and digested, Lyr said, “Elaena’s not going to join us, then?”

Talitha shook her head. “She doesn’t need to eat,” she said. “And more than that, she wants us all to get to know each other. Like a team.” She shrugged. “Or so she said. I think, personally, she just wants a bit of alone time, or maybe some time to go check in on things in her realm. There’s trouble afoot there, I think.”

Lyr squinted. “What makes you say that?”

Talitha poured herself some wine, and for Ava as well. She offered some to Alinora, but Alinora shook her head, and she put it down. “None of us have seen Death,” she said. “Elaena said that Death has sent her to help us, but he has not shown himself. There was no vision of him saying he would send a helper. There was no vision of him that came to us when we all met. I know that you can’t put much stock in the old tales, but everyone says the gods have always had a personal hand in the monuments of history.

“And if ever there was a monument, this is it. This one is ours. But the gods are not here helping us forge it—they are away, and in their stead, they send a daughter. An old one. One who knows more than she says, but a daughter nonetheless. However powerful she may be, she is not a god.

“And that is why I think there is trouble there. Trouble that keeps their hands away—the kind of trouble that might drive a man to end the world, if he caught a glimpse of it.” Talitha sipped her wine calmly.

Aishlynn glared. “Why haven’t you said something about this before?”

Talitha looked at her. “I thought it was obvious.”

That only made the look on Aishlynn’s face worsen, but Talitha didn’t even bat an eye at it.

“Look,” Talitha said. “I didn’t mention it because it wasn’t worth being mentioned. The gods will handle their own problems, or they won’t. Either way, there’s nothing we can do about it. But we can do something about Kai’os, because for all his wanting, he isn’t a god yet. He’s a mortal, and so are we, and that’s something we can handle. Especially with a reaper, a magic sword, and a woman who steals magic. Even if only temporarily.”

This made more sense than her explanation about the earrings. But there was still a flaw to it, and in that flaw, Alinora realized something:

Elaena hadn’t told the others about Fate.

Alinora was the only one who knew about the treachery of the Spider, and the hand she had in Kai’os’s fate. The question was: why? Why hadn’t she told them, when they would be facing down her champion himself?

The answer came easily: because Talitha was right. For all that Alinora had the power to be unseen by an all-seeing eye, they were still just mortals. And mortals were not meant to bring down gods.

(Which only made Elaena asking her to do it all the more odd. But that was something to be puzzled out another time.)

Talitha waved her hand. “Enough about that. We should eat. And while we eat, perhaps we could do some strategizing. Or some good old fashioned getting to know each other.”

“I don’t think there’s much strategy to be had until we know more about the sword,” Ava said. “But getting to know each other… that sounds more productive.”

“No, it doesn’t.” For a moment, Alinora thought she had said it out loud, but the voice was all wrong. Aishlynn had been the one to speak.

“Don’t mind her,” Talitha said. “She’s grumpy. And a sourpuss. No one said you had to participate. Just listen, if you like.” She shrugged. “I’m more than happy to talk about myself.”

“That I’m aware of,” Aishlynn grumbled.

This only made Talitha laugh, but a great many things made Talitha laugh.

taglist: @quartzses; @idreamonpaper; @runningonrain; @witchywrite; @queenofsquirrelsstuff; @margaretcroftwrites

[closetofanxiety]

Let’s Get Ready to (Review the Royal) Rumble!!

I watched all 11 hours of this thing, so I might as well jot down some thoughts

Rusev w/Lana vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

This was the first WWE pre-show I’ve watched in a long time. Lots of banter from the panel, which included Shawn Michaels. I’m not sure how often I will watch the pre-shows going forward. This match existed, and it concluded with a title change. Nakamura is your new United States champion. Lana took a bump and hurt her ankle in storyline. “Lana, get up!” Rusev yelled at his prone wife after she was knocked off the apron. Show a little more concern there, Rusev. Later in the show this would turn out to be a momentous ankle injury

Hideo Itami vs. Buddy Murhpy vs. Kalisto vs. Akira Tozawa

I haven’t watched 205 Live in forever, but I hear Mike Kanellis is there now. This match was not as sensational as I had expected, but it had some good spots. No reason for these guys to go full-tilt, I guess. They’re wrestling as the crowd files in to Chase Field, and when it’s done they go back to 205 Live. Kalisto should have won by default, as he is the only member of this quartet who weighs 205 pounds or less. He did not win, though, and Buddy Murphy remains your cruiserweight champion. In a year, perhaps this match will feature Kushida, Trevor Lee, Sonjay Dutt, and Kalisto. Always Kalisto. Poor, lost Kalisto.

Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

Although it would later become clear why this went on first, it was still a little surprising. And, to be honest, I did not love this match. It finished up very well, but until the last five minutes or so it was a lot slower and more tentative than I would have expected from these two. It ended on something of a surprise note, with Becky tapping and Asuka retaining. They’ve  succeeded in bringing Asuka back from the foggy post-Wrestlemania wasteland in which they stranded her. What happens to her now? Another feud with Charlotte? They should bring up Io Shirai and Kairi Sane and form a new version of Triple Tails. They will not do this.

The Bar vs. Shane McMahon and The Miz

Mark and I watched this entire match barely 12 hours ago, and now all I can remember is Shane McMahon doing a credible Shooting Star Press. Few things in pro wrestling are more boring, in 2019, than the state of the Smackdown tag team title picture. And now there are new champs. Perhaps this is the beginning of splitting up The Bar. They’ve been a tag team since September 2016. They’re both terrific wrestlers and have had many good matches, but there’s nothing about them that really sticks with me. It doesn’t help that they have one of the worst tag team names in the history of pro wrestling.

Ronda Rousey vs. Sasha Banks

I was surprised to see this match was almost 14 minutes long. It felt like it went by quickly. This was the best Sasha Banks match I’ve seen in a looooong time, and maybe Rousey’s best WWE match to date. She looked really good. The work with Gulak is paying off. Sasha also looked like the relentless competitor we remember from her NXT days. I enjoyed this match a lot. Based on what happened the last time I mentioned Ronda Rousey, I now expect to get several anonymous messages calling me a fucking imbecile. That’s OK. It’s true, I am a fucking imbecile, but Ronda Rousey is still good in a wrestling ring. After the match, Sasha held up the Horsemen/women sign. If Rousey is finishing up at Wrestlemania, I’m not sure they’re going to have time for the epochal Clash of the Horsewomen. Hey! One good thing about this match in particular is that Rousey didn’t win with her armbar. That’s good storytelling; it establishes her as a multi-tool threat. 

Royal Rumble (women)

The last 5-10 minutes of this were an absolute blast, with Lana being unable to walk out because of her ankle, and Belfast’s Fit Finaly giving the green light to Dublin’s Becky Lynch to enter the match in Lana’s place. Cue a recording of the Wolfe Tones’ “We’re On the One Road.” When the field narrowed down to Becky, Charlotte, and Nia, it was a great moment. I am not a big Nia Jax advocate, but based on the crowd reaction, she is the top heel in the women’s division. Becky winning was a legitimately cathartic moment, and kudos to leathery madman Vince for making the right call. Unfortunately, the rest of the match was kind of a slog. The surprise entrants were great, and I was particularly pleased to see Io Shirai, Kairi Sane, and Candice LeRae. I once saw Candice LeRae wrestle in a tiny performance space that normally hosted noise bands and avant-garde literature readings. People on Twitter were complaining there weren’t enough “Legends” among the surprise entrants, but come on. The pool is not nearly as deep for the women as it is for the men. The biggest women stars of the Attitude Era tended to not be wrestlers, which actually was kind of true of the WWE women’s division even after the Attitude Era. They’ve already had Trish and Lita at the previous Rumble and the Evolution PPV; at some point, it’s not a surprise anymore. It’s also good to build up the future than to be like “Remember Kelly Kelly?? Well, here she is for three minutes of listless punching!” Maria Kanellis counts as a legend by that math, and she was in the Rumble. That was kind of a surprise. I had no idea what she and Alicia Fox were doing. It seemed like challenging absurdist theater, like they spontaneously decided to act out a scene from an Ionesco play. Talk about going into business for yourself. Swoggle also appeared and chased Zelina Vega around with a lascivious look on his face, which was, uh, unexpected. 

Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles

First, let’s consider how great it is that a WWE championship match featuring two of the most popular wrestlers on the roster is in the cool-down spot after a women’s match. That genuinely rules. That would have been unthinkable as recently as two years ago. As the women get more and more popular, those Saudi shows are going to get harder to pull off. Hurry up with those reforms, Prince MBS! Haha, just kidding, they’re not going to reform their brutal autocracy. Oh, right; this match. This was a chore to watch. It was so boring. It was not helped by its spot on the card, but this listless, will-this-do performance wouldn’t have been good in any spot. These are two of the best wrestlers of the last 30 years, but sometimes it just doesn’t click. It did not click here. I was relieved when Erick Rowan made his mysterious (re)appearance because I knew it signaled the match was almost over. It seems they’re going to make Rowan some kind of eco-brute, helping Daniel Bryan advance his monstrous agenda of caring about the planet. Fine. At least he’s not dressed like a second-tier TMNT villain anymore.

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Finn Balor

By contrast, this was a hoot. They knew they had to recapture the crowd, and they went at it full-tilt for eight minutes. The story here was great: Brock was surprised to find himself being pushed to his limits by this lithe little Irishman, and so after he won, he lashed out like a petulant, over-the-hill bully. An example of how you can tell a great story in an eight-minute match. Not every big match has to be 25 minutes. Especially not that dogshit Daniel Bryan-AJ Styles match. It would have been great to see Finn win, but the Irish have to content themselves with Becky’s Rumble win tonight.

Royal Rumble (men)

This moved along at a quicker clip than the women’s rumble, perhaps because it was nearly 11 p.m. EST when it started. Damn and heck, this was a long show. It was lots of fun to see Jarrett come out in his ridiculous 1990s gear. HUGE missed opportunity by not having Honky Tonk Man come out, but you can’t have everything. Johnny Gargano looked great, Andrade looked great, Kurt Angle looked very, very old. The best moment was when Mustafa Ali eliminated his current antagonist, Samoa Joe. The incomprehension and fury on Joe’s face were magnificent grace notes. Joe is such a great addition to the roster. It’s crazy that it didn’t happen sooner. No Way Jose was essentially used as a quick punchline. Boy, that guy’s main roster tenure has not been pretty. The big surprise I guess was an enraged Nia Jax coming out and entering herself in the Rumble and then taking four guys’ finishers. CUE: CONTROVERSY. WWE’s been dipping its toes in intergender wrestling for a bit, but it’s hard to see them going whole hog. Nia is one thing, but imagine the response if it was Alexa Bliss being ethered by Randall Keith Orton. Seth Rollins was the odds-on favorite to win (although I picked Drew McIntyre, going with my heart rather than my head) so it feels a little anti-climactic that he actually won, but whatever. Afterwards, he pointed to the Wrestlemania “sign,” which was a computer graphic visible only to people watching on the network, so to those in attendance it looked like he was pointing out the place where he spotted a UFO. 

[loquaciousquark]

4th Solace. I’ve just realized I’ve missed the worst of the summer heat thanks to the Arishok’s oversized toothpick. If I’m being honest, not a bad trade

Odd thing happened today. Gamlen was here visiting again--which, that has been odd enough, for all that I've been glad to see him (even if his concern throughout my whole recovery has been markedly acidic). We were in the library, three layers deep into Bodahn’s date buns, when all of a sudden Orana knocked and announced Lady Audrey and her son, Stinton Forrester, were here to visit. They live about seven estates down the way with the extravagantly bitter Lord Willem Forrester and his unkinder mother, and I don’t think we’ve ever spoken to each other in our lives.

Anyway, in they came. She was in purple silk and he had a suit with puffier sleeves than my entire wardrobe; Gamlen was in his workcloth shirt with the seam I mended in pink thread two years ago, and I had a grease stain on my pants the shape of Antiva from that time we stumbled into the raider tripwires in Darktown.

I will say the shower of crumbs as I stood to greet them was remarkable, as was Toby’s alacrity in removing them from the carpet. After that scintillating beginning, though, I wasn’t sure what to do, so we ended up perching on the chairs and staring at each other for a good bit. Eventually someone ventured a remark on the weather and someone else responded in kind, and then we were making the small insipid talk I’ve heard at every one of Mother’s parties, and even Gamlen restricted himself to quiet snorts and rolled eyes instead of his usual biting commentary.

To be honest, that worried me more than anything else. Lady Audrey was never a great friend of Mother’s so far as I knew, but for the solicitousness of her concern over my injuries I might have thought she and Mother were the closest sisters in Thedas. Endless questions about my comfort, my recovery, endless advice on salves and creams to reduce scarring. Stinton just sat there and stared at me. I don’t think he said ten words.

They stayed just long enough to make the room thoroughly uncomfortable, then sailed out in a silk cloud. Stinton smiled at me when Orana came to walk them out. I’d forgotten two of his bottom teeth are turned sideways.

I haven’t the faintest idea what just happened.

Later

Gamlen says Stinton intends to court me. I say Gamlen needs to stop drinking the moonshine Jo Mallen makes with goose dung.

11th Solace. Steaming hot. Suppose I haven’t missed the summer after all

Stinton’s been back to visit twice. As have Orwen, Pelarie, Derrick, Braeden, Sage, and every single one of their mothers.

Shit.

19th Solace. Stormed hard but cleared up by midmorning. Everything marvelously dank, just like it should be

They’ve set the ceremony to make me the city’s champion for the last day of Solace. Stinton’s hinted three times he’d like to arrive on my arm. Or--me on his, as I suspect he’d prefer. He’s stopped coming with his mother. I wish he’d stop coming at all. He has the most abominable habit of saying my name every few words, as if he wants me to be absolutely certain I have his full attention. Feels more like he’s trying to piss dominance over a prize bitch.

No one’s called me that name since Mother died, and even then it was only when I’d been caught making trouble. It’s not for you, you pompous prick.

23rd Solace. Hot again. Foundry smoke’s been drifting over all day. Wish the smell would be kind enough to blow elsewhere, tired of nightmarish memories

Pelarie Ashbridge is entirely too shy to be caught up in this mess. She barely comes up to my shoulder for all that she’s over twenty, and no matter how her maid dresses her in cashmere and taffeta she still seems like a girl forced too far too soon. The only time I’ve ever really seen her smile was when I told her about the time Carver and I stole a sackful of unripe pears from Barlin and were sick for three days afterwards. Of course, that only lasted until her mother The Most Dour Woman In Thedas pinched out a smile and said something about how all children must learn to be ladies eventually, and Pelarie’s smile fell off her face like an anchor’d been tied to it.

Joke’s on her, though. I was nineteen when we did it.

(She certainly didn’t care for my pointing that out, especially given my glee in the doing. Pelarie smiled again, though, so I suppose it was worth the spite.)

Flames, but I wish these idiots would stop using their children as leverage. For all Mother’s faults, she never once tried to sell me for profit.

27th Solace. If I imagine hard enough, I can almost convince myself the city’s beginning to cool

If the hand is shakier than usual, it’s because I’m laughing hard enough I can barely breathe.

We came home--Andraste’s glorious girdle! I’ve got to get through the setup before the punchline, but the delay might very well kill me. We were out on the Coast today for Aveline, rooting out some smugglers who’ve been peddling qunari detritus at a tidy profit. First real fight since the Arishok--did fairly well, all things considered! Mana’s still a trifle weak, so some of the firestorms were more like fire trickles, but the battle ended with them dead and me with only a cracked shin, so all in all a resounding victory so far as I’m concerned.

Invited everyone over to celebrate, naturally, but Sebastian was already pushing late for Chantry services and Aveline had dinner plans with Donnic, so in the end it was just Fenris and me walking back to Hightown together.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but I told him about these fool visits at Wicked Grace last week. He hadn’t laughed like I’d thought, just gone...quiet, I suppose, is the best word for it. Frowned at his cards for three hands and lost every coin he came with, then excused himself early. I hadn’t meant to go after him--Maker knows his running wouldn’t thank me for the chase--but I saw him fiddling with that damned red band on his way out and knew right where his mind had gone.

Caught up to him right outside the door. It was cool for Solace, I remember, because his northern arms had gone to gooseflesh in the chill, and he’d actually shivered when I’d touched his shoulder to turn him. Wouldn’t meet my eyes, either, for all he stayed put, and it wasn’t until I reached down and tucked my fingers around his wrist (the wrapped one) that he came back to a little life.

I don’t remember exactly what I said. More than I should have--I’m fairly certain I offered to start hanging paint buckets above doors at his druthers--but it only garnered the slightest smile until I stepped a hair too near and he moved just a bit too close and--all at once--I had nothing to say.

All this time, and that was all it took. The slightest lean in instead of away, and my heart leapt so high in my throat I could hardly breathe.

I told him I wasn’t going anywhere.

I didn’t say anything else. I didn’t know what else to say, but he looked up when I said it, and that uncertain smile shifted into something a little deeper, and then he closed his eyes and his forehead came up against mine for just a moment or two, just long enough for a breath that took a thousand years with it on the exhale.

He left after that, and I didn’t try to keep him.

Funny, I don’t feel like finishing this now. I’ll come back to it another time.

Later.

All right. I’m three shots of Antivan liquor and most of a rotisserie chicken in, so let’s get on with this.

We came home from the Coast, is the short of it. It was easy enough between us after that conversation so I wasn’t thinking about much, just enjoying the walk, and then we came in and who should be sitting in one of those overtall embroidered chairs in my library but Lord Stinton Fucking Forrester in orange and ivory silk and slashed sleeves.

His face. Oh, Maker and his Bride, I’m crying at the thought of it. That pristine little suit, and in we come covered in blood and mud and sand with Fenris picking sinew out of his cuirass. I might as well have struck him upside the head with a frying pan.

Gaping isn’t a strong enough word. I started laughing the moment I saw him--couldn’t help it, too absurd--and managed to struggle through an introduction while shaking bone bits out of my hair. Stinton barely got out a stuttering hello, looking at me the whole time like I was quite alien, but Fenris--Fenris! that insufferable magnificent ass! gave such a deliberate flourish of his sword before sheathing it and setting the whole massive thing one-handed against the wall. Then he gave Stinton the most Tevinter half-bow that managed to signify more disrespect than a formal Kirkwall snubbing ever could, and I had to bite down on my tongue to check the giddiness.

Even that would have been enough. But then Orana--and Maker bless every bone in her body, for I think she dislikes Stinton as much as I do--came in with a bowl and a handful of rags the way she always does when we come home covered in gore, and kept a gloriously bland smile on her face the whole time we wiped off the worst of the blood. She even asked how many we’d killed this afternoon (which she hardly ever does), and pretended it was a perfectly normal thing when Fenris answered her with “sixteen.”

It was possibly the most Tevinter-esque conversation they’ve ever had in front of me, and my heart’s still singing for it.

Anyway. This continued on in the same vein for several minutes, Stinton looking nervously between the two of us, until there was an unfortunate lull, whereupon Stinton took it upon himself to ask how long Fenris had been serving in my household.

Oh, journal, but I bristled. Fenris hardly seemed concerned--resigned only, which I hated just as much--but I kept my temper enough to inform him quite frostily that he was a dear friend and had been so for years, and I had been honored to fight in his company today.

Which was all true, though I haven’t the faintest idea who was more surprised between the two of them.

Stinton didn’t stay much longer after that. He looked as though he still wanted to speak to me privately, but the Void would have to tear open my library before I’d ask Fenris to leave it for Stinton’s sake, and he left within a few minutes of Orana carrying away the bloodied bowl. I wasn’t sorry to see him go.

Then it was just Fenris and me left, and a silence that ought to have been awkward but wasn’t. Instead it was just comfortable, the both of us tired after the fight and that fool and willing to forget them as fast as we could.

I asked him if he’d come with me to the ceremony. As a friend, if he wanted, but I said I’d like to have him there.

He didn’t answer for a long time. Then he said no, which didn’t surprise me, but he looked sorry to say it, which did. He said he’d make a poor showing in dented, stained armor and he hadn’t time to get new things. I said I wouldn’t care in the least--it was him I wanted there, not his clothes--which made him laugh even if it didn’t change his mind. He said it would be a bad idea to draw attention to himself given both Danarius and the fact that he’s still squatting in that rotting mansion.

I couldn’t argue with that. So. He left, and I’m left to Varric and Sebastian as my only acceptable escorts. Not that I don’t--but--well. I knew it was a long shot.

Well. Nothing to be done about it now. It was still a wonderful thing to see Stinton slinking out like the weasel he is.

29th Solace. The day before my doom is fittingly dreary

Felt bad all morning over mocking Stinton to his face yesterday. Sent a note to him this afternoon asking him to come by for a few minutes so I could apologize.

He accepted it, ungraciously as it was given, which made me feel even worse--right up until the point where he told me he’d be happy to continue his attentions towards me only if:

a) I stop “trouncing about with Kirkwall unsavories”

b) I tone down my use of magic--so difficult to overlook when I keep throwing it in people’s faces

c) I dismiss the elf from my service (not certain if he means Fenris or Orana, though given his sneer I suspect the former)

d) I stop permitting Lady Ashbridge to bring Pelarie to visit, and Orwen and Braeden and the rest, no matter how gentle Pelarie is when her mother’s not crushing her under her heel.

I’m not often stunned speechless, and I’m pleased to say this was no exception. I’ve forgotten exactly what I said, but I know at one point I used the phrase “barbaric bollocking boor” and was fairly pleased with myself. His face turned all sorts of colors but ended a mottled red, and when I was finished he turned and walked right out the door without waiting for Orana.

Burned that bridge right to the ground, I suppose. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

30th Solace. Cold. Grey. Blustery. Pfeh

Orana has been at me for hours with more perfumes and salts than a magister’s bathhouse.

Just put me in the damned dress and let me go. No one who likes me will be there except Aveline anyway, and she’s seen me naked and covered in mud. That was one memorable trip up Sundermount, I’ll tell you that.

She’s coming with a fistful of gold pins for my hair. Maker save me

Later

The carriage is at the door; I can hear its squeaking wheels and Sebastian’s just come in the foyer. I can hear his voice from here. I asked Orana if I could pretend to be dead and she said she didn’t think the ruse would take. Damn her

Snuck the journal in my useless clutch. Serves her right. I’m drowning in poorly-scented sweat and Stinton keeps sneering at me across the floor. Pelarie’s here, though, and I’m determined to dance with her at least once to get her mother off her back. Sebastian’s been a darling to take my temper and he looks marvelous in russet and white and gold. Plus he knows the dances, which makes me look a good deal better. He’s dancing with the oldest Allencourt girl now. I foisted him off to spare him from me awhile--she’s sweet, if a bit dim, and guaranteed not to snap when he offers her a canapé.

Music’s changing again. How much longer?

Ceremony’s done but I can’t leave yet. Snuck off to some fainting room and locked the door--Cullen of the templary curls offered to escort me to get some cooler air but I said I’d rather avoid any surreptitious branding, which I think genuinely shocked him. Meredith didn’t seem to hear for all she’s been staring at me all evening, so I suppose I should count myself lucky and shut my mouth.

Aveline’s here. She’s in uniform, but it might as well be a golden gown for how adoringly Donnic’s watching her. Lucky thing.

Too many people altogether, all looking at me. Orsino, Meredith, Cullen, Elthina--even Bran showed up and brought me a champagne flute. I asked if it was poisoned. He looked at me sourly and said if he’d meant to poison me, he’d have done it when I was still the vagabond refugee fumbling with a wineglass in the Viscount’s office. 

People keep knocking. Told them to go away but I guess I can’t have fainted then

Sebastian says I can leave in half an hour. The Champion of Kirkwall gets an iron circlet and a medal and a piece of paper in the mail. The medal’s in the clutch, but there’s not much to do for this damned circlet. My forehead’s going to be dented for weeks

Later

It’s almost three in the morning, but I’m finally home. The candle’s nearly out so I’ll keep this brief as I can, but--

Fenris came.

It was just for a few minutes, so quick I might have blinked and missed it. I’d stepped out for the last time--the Viscount’s gardens back right up to the great hall, and there was a wonderful shrubbery thing in a great brown pot that hid me marvelously in the shadows, even with the crimson satin. Only this time I stepped out and--there was someone already behind it.

I will say I repressed the scream admirably. I can’t say I didn’t stumble back with the most ignominious trip into the gravel I’ve ever had, except the shadow reached out and caught me.

Maker. I even write besotted.

Knew him as soon as I felt his hand. Knew the calluses well enough, certainly, but the lyrium I’d recognize blind and deaf and dying. He stood me on my feet, and I looked at him, and...

Sometimes, in Lothering, Bethany and I would go out to the creek that ran behind our fields. There was a wild hydrangea bush there, taller than the two of us together, and in the last days of spring we’d find the little buds and Bethany would coax them with her magic to see if she could get them to bloom. She was much better than I was at it--I tended to get impatient and wither them instead--and most of the time they’d only open a bit, only slivers of brilliant purple peeping out between waxy green sheaths.

Sometimes, though--sometimes, if everything was perfect--she’d thread her magic into the leaves and I could see it take, could see the leaves growing and greening and beginning to furl away, and the bud would swell and swell and swell until all at once the bloom would burst open--in perfect silence--and a glorious purple blossom larger than my head sat in her curled fingers.

They were beautiful. And I...

That happened in my heart, when I saw him. Silent and sudden and beautiful and overwhelming, and there was no going back after it opened.

He wasn’t in his armor. He’d found a dress tunic--Tevinter in style, high-collared, but with long sleeves that gathered snug at his wrists, and black trousers that fit him beautifully, and I’d never felt so near crying from gladness in my life. I don’t know where he found them. I don’t care.

He said he couldn’t stay, that the guards would only ignore so much, even well on their way to drunk, but he misliked the idea that his fear of Danarius might control him even now. He said he knew I needed no protection from fools (like Stinton, implied), but if I needed refuge from their mothers...

I shouldn’t have hugged him, but I did, and I don’t regret it. He held me back, so he couldn’t have hated it that much.

I told him he was the best thing I’d ever seen. He told me I was beautiful, and he didn’t let go of me until I’d pulled away first.

Lady Everlyn came out only a few seconds later with Braeden at her heels, so there wasn’t much more to the moment, but he was still watching me when I stepped away to keep him hidden. I told him he’d be standing up with me next time, not hiding behind a bush. He said, “Hm,” but he was smiling when he did.

The candle’s long out and I’ve been writing by magelight for twenty minutes. I’d better stop before Orana ties me down with my own bedsheets.

(I’m determined there will be a next time. If nothing else, I need to see him in those trousers in proper light, not in the shadow of a shrubbery.)

(He came for no other reason than I wished him to and he’s kind, even if he doesn’t want anyone to know. If he’s trying to make me forget him, he’s gone the wrong way about it.)

(My face is so flushed the damned iron circlet feels like ice.)

(He said I was beautiful.)