#cassandra stjerne

[lovevalley45]

#fictober24 - day twenty-two

"Why are we doing this again?"

original fiction (dungeons and dragons) (continuation of yesterday's prompt)

word count: 1464

tw: implied drug use (for comedic purposes)

Of all the things Darius could be doing on a Friday night, hanging at a house full of business majors was far from his favorite. 

He could have been meeting up with his friends to hear about the latest drama they were all getting up to. He could have been at home with his cat, Olea, and a National Geographic documentary. Hell, he could have been stuck at one of Dr. Vallus' boring soirées, schmoozing professors and drinking free champagne. 

Yet, he was here, watching the crowd. 

Beside him, Cassandra nudged his shoulder. "That's him." 

Darius eyed the group of people that had just walked in, talking with one another. "Which one?" 

"That guy." She gestured towards a skinny guy with long, blonde hair. He had a face that annoyed him on sight. 

"Really? That guy?" 

"Don't judge my taste," Cassandra said. 

"Well, you roped me into helping you get one over on this guy, so I can judge all I want." Darius turned to her. "Seriously, why are we doing this again? Do you really care about this guy that much?" 

She looked down into her beer, as if the narrow neck of the bottle was easier to face than his gaze. "Call me prideful. Or spiteful. But it's not that he pretended I don't exist. That professor already hates me, and he makes it so much worse." 

He took another look at him - Galsariad, or whatever his dumb name. There weren’t many people he hated on sight, but he had pretentious, trust fund kid vibes that set off warning bells in his head. He’d spent too much time in private school as the only kid there on a scholarship, both the only Black kid and the only kid from the backwoods. Fuck it, he decided. “Yeah. Screw this guy.” 

“See, I knew you’d get it.” Cassandra stood on her toes, even though she already looked over the heads of everyone else in the room. “Where’d Milo go?” 

“He’s probably taken my car and ditched us,” Darius said. 

She shot him a withering look. “He knows his part in our plan.” 

“Doesn’t mean he’ll want to participate.” 

Cassandra rolled her eyes, but he knew she agreed. Darius didn’t understand why she’d picked Milo to be their man to drag Gal away from his friends. Though he hated the guy on principle, he could’ve seduced him away. In fact, he was ready to, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie as she continued to look around. 

“Okay, please don’t take my mortal enemy to bed,” she said. “Milo will come through.” 

He still had his doubts. But it wasn’t long until Milo appeared. He touched Gal on the arm, saying something that neither of them could hear over the music. As Gal nodded and headed off, Milo shot them a look. It didn’t take much interpretation to know what he was thinking - You so owe me. 

As they waited for an appropriate time to pass before they could follow him, Darius asked, “What’d you tell him to say again?” 

“Try to sell him coke,” Cassandra said casually. 

He nearly choked on his beer. “What?” 

“What? This is why I sent Milo to do. He looks like a preppy guy with access to coke. You look like you deal weed.”

“Rude.” 

“The earthy, hoodie-wearing, slacker vibes you give off don’t help you there,” Cassandra told him. “Even if I know that you’re a snob for a good wine and… have you ever even smoked weed?” 

“There was that one time Zenith came over when you weren’t home,” he mumbled. 

“Oh my God,” she said. “Why did you never tell me that?” 

“Later.” Darius threw back the rest of his beer. “Let’s go.” 

The crowd parted as the two of them walked towards the stairs. He had scouted out the house earlier and determined where Milo should lure Gal: a bedroom of one of the house’s inhabitants that was left unprotected, but had an air of college boyness that would kill the mood for any potential hook-ups. It made him wish that Cassandra had one of the scented candles she’d lit around the apartment in her purse, but he doubted she had considered that in her planning. 

Besides, committing arson was not in their plan. He wasn’t a chemistry major, but he figured some of the fumes in that room must have been combustible. 

When they stepped into the hall, Darius let Cassandra lead the charge. Being in the trajectory of her wrath was not his idea of a good time. 

She wasted no time heading to the room they'd designated for their confrontation and opened the door. "Hey, boo. Miss me?" 

Darius peered into the room to catch Gal's surprised face. He pitied him for what was going to come. Only a little

As Cassandra walked in, he followed and shut the door, standing in front of it. He wasn't very good in a physical fight, but he looked deceptively imposing enough that he would take standing guard. 

"What the hell?" Gal asked. 

Milo looked up from the desk, putting on his best innocent face. And- 

"Milo!" Cassandra cried, taking in the lines of white powder on the desk. "I didn't think you actually had cocaine on you!" 

Somehow, Darius found it hard to be surprised. Of all the things Milo could be up to behind their backs, dealing drugs was the tamest possibility. 

Their roommate merely shrugged. "I didn't do any. Designated driver, remember?" 

Gal backed up as Cassandra started rifling through her purse. "What is going on here?" 

She pulled out her tablet. "You are getting blackmailed."

Darius leaned forward. "I don't think you're supposed to tell people when they're getting blackmailed." 

Milo agreed silently, having dropped into the desk chair to spectate. He had a feeling that he'd gone along with their plan because he wanted to see just how things would unfold. 

He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought the same. 

Gal sat on the edge of the bed, hands laid in his lap. "Well. What do you know?" 

"I know that you forged your letters to get into Waterdeep University's masters' program. I did some sniffing around - you know, you should tell Dr. Teflon to get a better lock on her office door-" Cassandra tapped on her tablet. "Your professors at Jigow State - wonderful school, I nearly considered it - say you never consulted them for a recommendation." She turned her tablet out. "Why did you lie?" 

"You're insane," he said. 

Unfortunately, Darius kinda had to agree with him there. He had no clue how Cassandra retrieved that information, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to ask. 

"I'm right. I can prove it, and I can send that information to some high-up people in the university. The Dean of the College of Natural Sciences like to drink with Dr. Vallus, doesn’t she, Darius?” 

He didn’t like using his connections on campus like that. But he nodded, solemnly. “Dr. Vallus and I are real besties.” 

Gal started to sweat. “And you’re going to tell her I do coke?” 

“No,” Cassandra said. “I’m trying to ruin your career, not get you thrown in jail.” 

He sighed in relief, hanging his head. “Fine. What do you want?” 

“I want you to change my grade on my paper for Teflan’s class to an A. I did A level work! And you gave me a C.” 

“All this over a C on a paper?” Milo asked, arms crossed over his chest. 

“Shut up, coke dealer,” Cassandra said, holding a hand up. 

“Fuck. Fine.” Gal raised his head. “It was a B- at best, though.” 

“So you did grade me down!” 

“Okay, I did.” He stood up. “I will fix your grade. And I will make sure that you pass this class and any other class that I have to TA. Shit.” 

Cassandra put her tablet together satisfied. “Deal.” She turned to Milo. “Did you charge him for the coke?” 

“Yeah,” he said. 

Darius sighed dramatically. 

Gal started to stand up. “I’m just gonna go-” He walked up to him nervously. 

Cassandra shot him a look, and he stepped out of the way. Gal scammered out of the room, shutting the door behind him with a slam. 

“Don’t just leave your coke in here,” she said, before following him back out into the hall. 

Milo turned to Darius, as if waiting for him to make a comment. 

“If I ask questions, will you kick me out?”

“Yes.” 

“Okay, fine.” He tucked his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. “I think I’m ready to go home.” 

“Agreed. I just have to-” Milo waved his hands over the desk. 

Darius turned to head out. “Alright.” 

At least he’d have quite the story to tell his friends.

[lovevalley45]

#fictober24 - day twenty-one

"We've done worse."

original fiction (dungeons & dragons... sort of)

word count: 926

Cassandra considered herself the most chaotic of her roommates. 

It wasn’t a hard statement to make. While Milo was sketchy, he still seemed to be a practical guy. Meanwhile, Darius just seemed a tad too… morally upright. But she was, and always had been, a wild card. 

Still, that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy trying to drag them into her shenanigans. 

“Aren’t we a little old for partying?” Milo asked, turning back to look at Cassandra from the passenger seat. 

“You act like we’re decrepit,” Darius said. “But of all the parties to go to, a party thrown by your business major classmates?” 

Cassandra grinned. “Come on. Business majors party the hardest.” 

“If you two get too drunk, or high, or whatever, I’m not babysitting you,” Milo declared. “And I’m charging you a cleaning fee if you vomit on my carpet.” 

“You don’t even charge us rent,” she replied. “I seriously doubt you will.” 

He grumbled as Darius parked his energy-efficient sedan that was way too cramped for any of their long limbs. She should have just offered to drive her van, but it was too unreliable. Darius had offered to ask one of her friends to take a look at it after it started making a frightening clanking sound every time she drove them to class. However, Cassandra knew exactly which friend he’d call, and she had heard too much of her incestous reputation to want to meet her. 

As she got out of the car, she smoothed down her long skirt. Her flowing attire was maybe illl-equipped for the party, but she was better than Milo looking more formal than casual in his long-sleeved button up. Then there was Darius, looking right like the business-y frat bros they’d be rubbing elbows with in his plush purple hoodie, tossing his keys to Milo. 

“Don’t lose them,” he warned. “This car is my baby.” 

“I won’t. That’s why I’m the designated driver, remember?” Milo asked.

Cassandra led the charge up the stairs and knocked. When the door opened, she was greeted by Brad, one of her classmates. 

“Hey. Cassie, right?” Brad asked, leaning against the doorway. “You made it, nice.” 

“It’s Cassandra.” She would allow friends to call her Cass, but never Cassie. And Brad was far from a friend. “You said I could bring some friends?” 

Brad looked behind her at Milo and Darius. Although they were both shorter than her, they were both still imposing looking Black dudes. At least Darius didn’t have resting bitch face like Milo did. She knew she had been expecting her to tote some hot, witchy chicks along with her, not them. But she wasn’t here for that kind of party. 

Besides, the friends she had were not hot, witchy chicks. Mostly. 

Still, he pushed the door open wider. “Yeah, come in, come in.” 

The three of them followed him inside. Music pumped through the house, the lights turned down low. In the front room, there were a group of guys drinking and laughing with one another, but they stopped as they came in. 

“Can I wait in the car?” Milo asked, barely audible over the music. 

“No,” Cassandra said. “Hey, guys. Where’s the beer?” 

“In the kitchen,” one of them said. “Hey, don’t I know you?” 

In the darkness, it was hard for her to tell if she recognized him. Even if she did, he probably blurred into the sea of white people in her classes. “We probably have class together.” 

“Right.” He turned back to his friends and resumed the conversation. 

Brad went and sat with them, leaving the three of them to fend for themselves and find the kitchen. 

Darius leaned into her ear, following behind her. “Are you gonna tell us the real reason you brought us here?” 

As they stepped into the kitchen, she turned back to face him. “Fine.” 

Two girls were leaning against the kitchen, chatting over their beers, but Milo shot them a look and sent them scurrying off. Not for the first time, Cassandra wondered if he’d been in a gang before he’d decided studying religion was more his speed. 

She went to the fridge and pulled out two beers, plus a Sprite for Milo. “Here’s my confession,” she said, whirling around. “I’m here to get revenge.” 

“Revenge?” Milo asked. 

Darius took a beer from her. “Gal.” 

He frowned. “That TA that ghosted you?”

“Can you ghost someone in person?” 

“He’s certainly managed it,” Cassandra said. “I heard he’s going to be here tonight. I’m going to make a fool out of him.” 

Milo tipped his head back. “Don’t tell me that’s why you’ve dragged me here.” 

“It is.” She handed him his soda, bumping his arm. “Come on. We’ve done worse.” 

“We? Why do you presume I’ve done worse?” he asked. “Why not Darius?” 

“I’ve done… trickery,” Darius said, unconvincingly. “And no offense, Milo, but you definitely have some dark past that you refuse to tell us about.” 

“Nothing that you can prove,” he mumbled. 

Cassandra opened her beer. “Listen. I’m not saying we’re going to murder the guy. I just need… some accomplices.” 

Darius threw his arm around Milo. “It’ll be a bonding experience.” 

“I think we bond enough.” 

“Says the guy who has his own bathroom,” Cassandra teased. 

“I-” He brought his Sprite to his mouth. “I never should’ve looked for roommates.” 

“Well, now you’re stuck with us.” Darius freed him from his grasp. “So, what’s the plan, Cass?” 

She took a sip of her beer and grinned. Maybe she hadn’t been completely correct about her roommates. 

[lovevalley45]

#fictober23 day twenty-one

"Just in case this doesn't work."

original fiction (dungeons & dragons)

word count: 587

Cassandra was always writing. 

Whenever she had a free moment on a rest, it wasn’t surprising to find her writing in her journal or updating her star maps. Even now, trying to catch their breath before they went back to Cael Morrow, she was writing. 

Dear Mother,

If you’re reading this letter, I’m dead. 

She often thought she had been a terrible daughter. She supposed it was too late to start trying to rebuild bridges. A while back, the last time they were in the Great Sand Waste, Cassandra had written a letter and left it abandoned in the bottom of her pack before they got back to Anh’karel. 

Now, the first and last letter she would send to her mother would be informing her of her death. 

It was nihlistic. Odds seemed bad, especially for her and Zenith. They had a whole fleet of Vermilion Dream fuckers to deal with running on fumes. At least everyone else had gotten to sleep. 

Cassandra dipped her quill back in her ink, ignoring the spread of ruidium on her hand. What to even say to her mom? Sorry that I left home and didn’t write for a decade, now I’m dead?

Eventually, she put her quill to parchment, and wrote. 

There are things that I fear I’ll die without saying to you. And although it has been over a decade, I know apologies are in order. I was a foolish child. I thought I knew more than I did. But sometimes, I was right. 

I blended the best of what you taught me with my own experimental studies. If it wasn’t for you and Father, I wouldn’t be half as successful as I am now. For the stars’ sake, I’m writing this before I face off a cult of megalomaniacs in a lost city! 

I’m not writing to brag. Well, not entirely. In these past few years, I worked to make a name for myself so you couldn’t discredit what I did. If I could prove to you that I was successful, that I made an impact on this world, I could come back to you with some sort of pride in my heart. 

I’ve lied and cheated to get my way. But I’ve also done noble acts, helping people and being brave. I want to make you proud. It’s what I’ve always wanted. I just hope you’ll finally see it someday. 

Beside her, Zenith stirred. “Whatcha writing?”

“A letter,” Cassandra told them. “Just in case this doesn’t work.”

They readjusted their mushroom hat. “Well, shit. If only one of us makes it out, at least you’ve got the Feywild’s best messenger on call.”

“Hope you have fun running to the mountains,” she replied. 

“Okay, maybe you’ll have to find a different way to get that up there,” they said. 

She smiled. Zenith always knew how to get her mind off the more dreadful part of their adventures. 

Cassandra went back to writing, finishing off her letter before they had to leave. 

If you receive this letter, know that I loved you, even when I left. I missed you, I missed home. I wanted to come back. But by now, I think you’ve gleaned that won’t happen. 

May the stars be in your favor,

Kassandra

She let the ink dry before she folded it carefully. On the back, she wrote Deliver to Kalliope Stjerne.

All she could hope is that it’d get buried and lost like her other letter. But she had a feeling she wouldn’t be that lucky.

[lovevalley45]

#fictober22 day ten

"It's my name on the line."

original fiction (dungeons & dragons)

word count: 562

By now, Kassandra was used to bickering with her mother. It was the only time she felt like she had her full attention, when she wasn’t telling Katharina to tutor her or telling Kaleb and Klaud to listen to their sister. 

This fight, though, was the last one they’d have for a long time. 

“I don’t think you truly understand how important this position is, Kassandra,” her mother was saying. “I can’t have you coming with me unless I know you’ll behave.”

“Behave?” Kassandra scoffed. “You’re asking me to pretend to be someone else.”

“I’m not asking that. Just don’t spread any of your nonsense, please. No cards, no trying to tell the future-”

“Then what is our job?”

Her mother sighed. “It’s my name on the line, Kassandra. Our name. We earned the name Stjerne for a reason.” 

It always came down to this. Her mother would never, never agree with her. When Killian had turned away from the family legacy to embrace another circle, her mother had welcomed it. But when Kassandra wanted to honor things different, that was when things went bad. 

“I know, Mother. I studied the stars. Katharina knows that I know my stuff.”

At the mention of her name, her older sister glanced up. Katharina rarely stepped in, not wanting to challenge their mother’s authority. That time was no different. 

“Yes, Kassandra. But your methods… any veering from tradition is frowned upon. We stick to our star maps. Not… silly cards.”

It wasn’t the first time she’d heard it, and certainly not the first time from her mother. But Kassandra stood up from where she’d been sitting on the couch as she got lectured at. Although her height would have been intimidating to anyone who wasn’t a Goliath, her mother still had a few inches on her. “I’ve earned my tattoos. What can they do, take them away?” she asked. 

“Kassandra, please.”

“Fine. Go without me. But I might not be here when you come back.”

She turned to head to the room she shared with Killian. But as she stepped into the hall, she felt Katharina’s hand on her shoulder. 

“Please, don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about going,” she said.

“I’m old enough,” Kassandra said. “I’ve been saving up money, I can make it on my own.”

“It’s just one fight-” Katharina started to say.

“It’s never one fight!” She cleared her throat, moving her sister’s hand. “We’re just clearly too different. I have to find my own ways. I have to… I’ll actually go help people out there. And then she’ll see.”

“If you stay until we return from the summit, things will cool off.”

Kassandra sighed. “For how long?”

She opened her mouth to say something, but Katharina back at their mother, still fuming in the other room. “If you do leave… keep in touch. Please.”

“I’ll try.”

Her room was empty when she stepped inside and started to gather her things. She grabbed her old star maps, her cloaks, but paused over her journal.

The first page had her name written in her neatest lettering - Kassandra Stjerne. But she grabbed a quill off her desk and crossed it out, leaving a new name in its place: Cassandra.

Her mother had thought her name was on the line, but if their name was so fragile, Cassandra could leave it behind as well.