#c: merik nihar

[taz-skylar]

1000 Picspams Challenge → #4 - The Witchlands by @stdennard

I guard the light-bringer, And protect the dark-giver. I live for the world-starte, And die for the shadow-ender. My blood, I offer freely. My Threads, I offer wholly. My eternal soul belongs to no one else. Claim my Aether. Guide my blade. From now until the end.

[im-not-corrupted]

Safi, No (A Witchlands Fanfiction) - Chapter Four

Written with @un-empressed​, who wrote Safi’s POV!

Chapter Summary:

Safi Recruits Vaness and Serafin is still an asshole to Vivia.

Read the other chapters here: Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three

Also on Ao3!

The plan had been going wonderfully. Safi 'accidentally' stepped on Merik's hand as he was tying his shoelaces outside of the school that morning. 

Surprisingly, he hadn't said anything. It was probably from shock. Safi didn't see why else he'd respond with an 'oh, it's okay' to her plainly sarcastic apology.

There was no way Iseult was right about him not doing what he did on purpose. In fact, he probably wanted to make her think he was nice. Maybe he wasn't as stupid as he seemed and sensed that she would get revenge. It was the only explanation for the half-hearted smile he gave her, and how fast it disappeared once he caught up to his friend.

Safi had no time to dwell on that, though. She needed to find Vaness, and then convince her to help them. Leopold doubted she could do that, and Iseult told her that bribery and corruption wasn't the way, but Safi couldn't care less.

Safi didn't disagree - she knew that Iseult will always be the more rational one out of the two of them - but she didn't care for being rational. Not when Merik Nihar was out there speaking over people and... And speaking over people. He was a despicable person and she was about to get him back for that.

It was hard to find Vaness, especially because Safi didn't know where to look. She only talked with her once, and that one time was wasted on pointless yelling. Pointless because of the fact that Safi was definitely not the bad guy in the situation, and also because she would never listen to constructive criticism, no matter how forcefully worded it was.

But no matter how hard it was, it was harder for Safi to admit to Leopold that she couldn't even find Vaness, much less convince her to help. And her hard work paid off, because she found her target ten minutes before class started.

"What?" Vaness asked as soon as Safi approached her. Well, Leopold had warned her that Vaness wasn't very pleasant. He had more experience with her, having, as he put it, tested her limits on several occasions. Safi didn't want to ask if he found out what her limits were, but the look on his face gave her all the answers.

"I need your help."

Vaness rolled her eyes. "What makes you think I would want to help you?"

"We have common goal." Vaness let out a mocking laugh, motioning for Safi to continue. "You want me to be quiet, and I am not going to shut up until I do everything in my power to make Merik Nihar's life living Hell. Your help would be very appreciated."

"So you're bribing me with what? Common decency that I will not get from you in any other way? Will you talk even louder to spite me if I reject your offer?"

Safi would have liked to say she wouldn't, but it was exactly the kind of thing she'd definitely do. She wondered how Vaness could have known that.

"Don't reject my offer and you won't have to find out." Vaness didn't seem impressed, but Safi guessed it took a lot to impress her. Still, she didn't look entirely unimpressed either, which Safi was very proud of.

"What you're asking me to do is petty and far below me, but I have nothing to lose. It might bring some joy into my days, but the moment it gets too much I'm out. Understand?"

Safi smiled triumphantly. "Understand."

"Good. I suppose I should give you my number, if we are to do this right," Vaness said, already pulling out her phone. If it was anybody else, Safi might have made a remark about how weird it was not to know your own phone number, but she knew that the alliance would be short lived if she did that. No, she needed to act cleverly. 

Safi opened her bag, trying to find her phone. Iseult lectured her about how she needed to start putting it in her jacket pockets or anywhere that would not make trying to find it a journey with seemingly no end.

Finally she found it between her books. The last time she found it in a short amount of time, it wasn't a good day for her. She had put her house key next to her phone and the screen was broken by the end of the day. Leopold still mentioned it sometimes. He thought it was hilarious. Iseult not so much, but she still found it funny the first time Safi told her.

Thankfully, this time her phone was exactly as it was this morning.

"Took you long enough," Vaness said. Safi had to stop herself from answering sarcastically. She had a feeling Vaness wouldn't appreciate it.

By the time Vaness told Safi her phone number, the bell rang. Safi walked towards her classroom, more joyful than she was before. Everything was going according to her plan. [x] Vivia Nihar was standing in front of her father again. She tried to mask it, she did, but it was hard to hide her disappointment. Again, her father had only called her in to complain to her about her studies. And Vivia didn't know why he had to - she was doing perfectly well in school. She was passing everything with straight As - maybe one or two Bs, but she was working on it. Why did she have to do more? Why couldn't this be enough?  But nothing was ever enough for her father, who believed he was a great example of what perfection should look like, despite how stupid that was. "Vivia," he sighed, as if that would convince her to listen. "You need to work harder. You only just passed Math." "But I did pass," she argued, but it was weak. Compared to her father, her voice was small, barely noticeable. "Doesn't that count for something?" "You need to do better. You want to get into a good college, right?" Serafin stared at her, an eyebrow raised. When she didn't say anything, he decided to instead. "Thought so. I want to see more improvement." Then he did that motion with his hands again, focusing on the file in front of him. Again, Vivia was left standing in the door way, a familiar sense of deja vu overcoming her. She couldn't count the amount of times her father had done the same thing. Was that all he cared about? Whether she was successful or not?  She waited for him to look up, to give her a small smile and ask how her day was. But that didn't happen, and she felt foolish for wishing it would. Surely she would know better after so many years of this? Instead she went upstairs, laying in bed and pulling her duvet up over her head. She debated listening to music, but she couldn't be bothered to get her phone, so she didn't bother. Besides, she didn't even remember where she put it. So she simply lay in bed, ignoring everything else. Until something vibrated under her pillow and she reached under to grab it. It was her phone, but she couldn't remember how it got there, and failed to see how it mattered. She smiled slightly when she saw a message from theriverstix. The two had talked for most of last night, and while Vivia woke up exhausted that morning, it was worth it. Theriverstix was incredibly funny to talk to, and Vivia was glad they had messaged her. theriverstix: Hi!! Vivia smiled, too, as she sent a quick 'Hi' back  theriverstix: How are you? She cheers on her lip slightly, fingers hovering over the keyboard on her phone, as she debated what to say. She wasn't the best, not after her father, but she wasn't overwhelmingly sad, either. In the end, she just sent, better now that I can talk to you. How are you? The reply came quick. theriverstix: I'm good! What do you mean, better now? Was there something wrong? Vivia wasn't sure how to reply to that. How did one reply to that? Oh, I'm alright, my father is just an asshole and doesn't actually care about me? She couldn't tell theriverstix that. Could she? Maybe she could. What did she have to loose? The chances of her ever meeting theriverstix in person was incredibly slim, so what did it matter? It could only end two different ways - theriverstix being sympathetic, or theriverstix not really caring. And based on their conversation last night, the last one wasn't really an option. She chewed her lip again before replying. There's nothing wrong. My father is just an asshole. Vivia rarely ever swore but she figured her father was worth at least one. theriverstix: Oh, that sucks. Do you want to talk about it? This time, Vivia didn't really say anything. Just - No, I'm fine. Anyway. How was your day? Her father was an asshole, yes, but she was used to it. She didn't want to talk about it. theriverstix: Ugh, don't even ask. Remember that friends' best friend I told you about? Vivia laughed slightly. She most definitely did remember. Theriverstix had told her all about it, actually. It was quite the story, of course. theriverstix: Great. Well, he decided to be kind to this one person he annoyed and wont stop being annoying. Smiling again, she typed, Oh, poor you. theriverstix: Yes, poor me! I'm not sure how much longer I can cope. Vivia grinned as she sent a few laughing emojis, conveying how funny she found this. theriverstix: It's not funny! It's hilarious, Vivia replied, because it was. theriverstix: ...well, maybe a little. Vivia was just about to reply when her door burst open, very dramatically. At first, she thought it was Merik - 'dramatic' was his signature style - and she groaned. She was not in the mood to be dealing with her brother. Thankfully, though, it was only Vaness, who strutted inside like she owned the place. Vaness didn't even bother with a 'hello', instead choosing to start a conversation with, "You will not believe what happened today." Vivia rolled her eyes and sat up, glaring at her friend. "A - hello to you to! B - What are you doing here? And C - what happened today?" Vaness, again, didn't bother with any explanation or responding to her 'hello'. "Do you remember that girl I told you about, Safi?" Vivia frowned, going through her memory of yesterday. She couldn't remember hearing about a girl named Safi, but that was to be expected. Vaness complained about at least ten people per day, for various reasons, so Vivia really didn't remember all of them. "Um, no." "You know, the girl who was spoken over by Merik?" Vaness frowned when she didn't show any recognition. "The one who disrupted the class by talking to her friends who offered to bury a body?" "Nope." Her friend rolled her eyes. "Well, Safi has come up with a plan to make Merik's life hell. And she wants me involved." Vivia raised an eyebrow. A plan to make Merik's life hell? She hated him, sure, but that was taking a bit too far. "Did you get involved?" "Yes," Vaness sighed. She raised a hand when Vivia opened her mouth to speak. "I know, it's beneath me. But she bribed me." "Did she, now?" Vivia asked, but she wasn't really paying attention. Her phone had vibrated. theriverstix: Hello? Did you die of laughter? Vivia smiled as she replied. No, my friend just decided now would be a good time to burst into my bedroom. "Yes, she did!" Vaness replied, sounding outraged by this. "She threatened to keep distracting me during class if I didn't join. Hey, you should join. Maybe you'd make some friends." Vivia rolled her eyes. She didn't care about making friends, and she certainly would not be involved in a plan to make Merik's life hell. "No thanks." She was perfectly fine how she was, and besides, she had friends. theriverstix: Hah, poor you.