#everyone waiting for a reply from me please bear with me we’re fighting demons again

[lale-txt]

soft launch bonus chapter tonight 🩷

[monstersandmaw]

Female tiefling guard x human princess (nsfw)

Edit which I’m including in all my works after plagiarism and theft has taken place: I do not give my consent for my works to be used, copied, published, or posted anywhere. They are copyrighted and belong to me.

This has been up on Patreon for a week, and now it’s time to share it here!

Contents: a short, fiesty, gives-no-fucks female tiefling guard, some anti-tiefling sentiments from the other guards, a soft but 'don't mess with me' princess, an army of attacking demons, a minotaur best friend, and an nsfw scene to finish. Wordcount: 6756

A dull rumbling startled Salanei from her bed and set her reaching for the deep well of magic inside her in a heartbeat. The castle was shaking.

“Impossible,” she hissed, but other guards were tumbling out of their bunks all around her, some scrambling to draw weapons, others calling sparkling magic to their hands, though there were admittedly fewer of those. The castle was built on a promontory of black rock, harsh and stark against the chill morning light, but it was as old as the land itself and nothing should have been able to make the foundations shudder like that.

Unless…

Tilting her head to one side, letting her thick, messy, black braid slide down over one shoulder, Salanei opened her core of magic a little to the surroundings. At first all she found were the life-sparks of the other guards, but then, like a murmuration of birds on the horizon, she felt something far more sinister. “We’re under attack,” she yelled, stuffing her boots on and sprinting for the door. “Demons.”

The tiefling ignored the way the others dismissed her or scoffed at her - whether through deep-rooted prejudice or uneasy disbelief at her cry of ‘demons’ - and she bolted through the palace like a rabbit through its home warren. She didn’t think, she didn’t stop, she didn’t pause; she raced up back stairs and along half-forgotten passageways, and emerged, gasping, in what had once been an upper, open-air walkway that connected the main part of the castle to the residential wing. Her boots skidded on the rough stonework, grit and dust slipping beneath her soles, and she barely stopped before the gaping abyss into the courtyard below swallowed her.

Where a thick buttress of stone had arched across the space for centuries, now a smoking, singed stump of the bridge remained and the walkway was completely gone. “Shit.” Across it, she could see more of the royal guard backing into the part of the castle that would lead to the residential quarters of the princess after only a few staircases and passages. From the looks of it, they’d only just escaped back along the parapet in time.

Looking out at the landscape around the castle, she froze, horror icing over her veins.

Demons swarmed down the hillside and pooled around the outer walls of the castle to form a seething, foetid moat, their shapes as varied as the horrific noises they made; some with wings, some with horns, some with lashing tails and glinting claws. One or two of them breathed gouts of flame into the dawning sky, and from somewhere deep below at the curtain wall of the castle courtyard, the bellow of a bull in a blooded rage made her ears ring. A second later, the whole castle trembled again and a rain of fine particles and chunks of stone clattered down around her.

They were going to breech the wall.

“Fuck.”

The span across the gulf of empty air wasn’t so big that she couldn’t use a little magic to propel herself over it, and so, summoning a gust of air to spring her forwards, she leapt lightly off the stonework behind her and let the updraft catapult her onto the far tower. She landed hard but rolled through it and came to stand smoothly on her feet, finding herself face to chest with an enormous, familiar guard.

“Brandon, it’s…”

“Bloody chaos,” he said, falling into step beside her as they moved through the shrapnel-scarred archway and into the tower beyond.

The huge minotaur was about as broad across at the shoulders as Salanei was tall, and his huge war axe was cradled gently in his massive hands; ready. He was the only person who had ever treated her with any genuine respect at the castle, and the two were somewhat unlikely sparring partners more often than not.

“Who’s behind it?” she asked as they trotted down the stairs and a pounding, dolorous bell began to sound from the heart of the castle.

He shook his shaggy, black head, the patch of white at the front of his forelock dancing in the low light. “Not sure. Reports suggest they came from the west.”

“Dorhul?” she asked, steady pace stalling in time with her horrified, faltering heartbeat.

Brandon shrugged. “Seems likely. He’s always wanted to add the kingdom to his collection. With Ria’s father so ill…”

Salanei’s black eyes narrowed and she fought the urge to ram her hard horns against a wall with the wave of bitter spite that washed up inside her. The minotaur, clearly seeing the echo of a familiar urge bubbling up in the tiefling, laid a hand on her shoulder. It was so big, it engulfed the joint completely, and the weight of it steadied her. “Easy. We’ll get through this.”

“Where is the princess now?”

“The Elite Guard took her down to the undercroft.”

Salanei’s heart lurched and she stopped. “They’re taking her out by boat? Bran, that escape passage only leads to one place… if she’s caught out on the open water…”

“Dawn’s not far off. The sun rises over the lake,” he explained, but she could tell he was as unhappy with the plan as she was. “If the demons can even bear to look at the sunlight as it hits the water, they won’t see her. The glare will be too much. I think they expected to have broken through by now, but this castle’s a hard nut to crack, even with those numbers. It should buy her time to escape.”

He had a point. It was a flimsy hope and a prayer, but it was all they had.

They made it two floors down before the ring of steel and the snarl of demons reached their ears, and Salanei swore again, drawing deep on her reserves of magic so that it lapped like a vast lake a the very forefront of her mind; ready.

She flung a conjured talisman at the nearest demon’s head and the creature exploded into a mist of gore and black ichor. Not pausing to get splattered, she ducked low and aimed another spell - a lancing spike of ice this time - at a twin-headed monstrosity, one half of which was occupied with the head of a guard in its maw, the other half of which had just spotted her. The spike went through both skulls and pinned them to the wall before Salanei had even finished dancing lightly around them.

Quick and light as a mouse in a hay barn, she dodged and struck, until finally she was at the far end of the corridor. From behind her, she heard Brandon bellow a warning at her, asking her to wait, but she was gone like a weasel. Protect the princess. That had been what the old king had demanded of her in return for the shelter and comfort he had offered, and she had gladly accepted the trade.

Shouldering the door at the end of the corridor with a little extra magic behind the gesture, she burst through in a barrage of splintered wood and iron studs as the ramming spell cloaked around her shoulders made short work of it. Instantly, she found three spear tips at her throat, and she froze.

“Stop!” came familiar voice, and were it not for the glinting blades hovering so close to her pulse that she could see her blackberry-purple skin reflected in them, she might have gone slack with relief. “Let her go.”

“Highness,” Salanei said, bowing gratefully from the waist. “They’ve breached the castle from above, and they’re trying to get in from below. They’re only a floor above you now.”

She watched the princess’ freckled cheeks blanch, and she swayed ever so slightly before rallying her courage and pushing back her shoulders. “I have been advised that the undercroft is the safest route out of here, all things considered. Do you disagree?”

Before Salanei could reply, a guard stepped directly in front of her, his deep, maroon livery blocking her view of the princess. “Highness, we must leave. Now. Let the gutter rat fight the demons, but we have to get you to safety.”

Salanei’s lip curled back off her sharp canines and she snarled a warning at the soldier who ignored her completely.

It was a miracle that she even heard the soft tread of slippered feet on the stone floor above the clangour outside, but when the guard’s spine straightened and he shifted awkwardly back to where he’d been standing, Salanei almost snorted with laughter.

The princess’ face seemed carved from marble; all softness had shattered into hard lines, her eyes blazed green, her strawberry blonde hair falling behind her like a shield made of silk. “Repeat that,” she demanded in a voice low and deadly. When the guard stuttered himself into silence, she blinked. “Repeat that.”

“Highness,” he grunted. “Please, we cannot waste any more time! We must leave.”

“Repeat. That.”

“She’s a gutter rat, Highness. Everyone knows it.”

Stepping so quickly that no one saw her move, the princess darted forwards and backhanded the guard across the cheek. “I will not have someone spoken of like that, either in my presence or elsewhere in the castle. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, Highness,” he nodded.

“Salanei, come here,” she said, turning away. Before Ria had gone two steps, a demonic portal began to open in front of her. The flickering purple and red edges were ragged as an old scrap of fabric, and a vile, sulfurous gas billowed out of it.

“Shit! Get back!” The tiefling dodged in front of the princess and brought her hands together, calling a binding incantation to mind and willing the strands of the spell to stitch the portal together again, preventing it from opening. The wielder on the other side was strong, their will like iron, but Salanei’s was stronger. Years of being whittled down until she was nothing but muscle and magic and sheer force of will had made her almost unbreakable now, and she knew it. Knowing it was half the struggle with magic.

I am stronger than you, she chanted in her head. This portal will not open.

“I knew having a magic wielder in my guard would be a good thing,” the princess muttered in her ear. “I’m just sorry my mother was so against it.”

Salanei could only grunt with the effort of closing the infernal portal. Behind it, straining against the glowing strands of her spell, a rabid demon snapped its jaws, trying to slice through the counter spell. The mage on the other side didn’t have a spare ounce of concentration to tell the beast to get back. Where was the High Mage when you needed her? Probably bolstering the wards on the castle walls, trusting that the Elite Guard would protect the princess for now.

“Get out of here,” Salanei finally rasped, sweating with the effort. The portal was almost closed.

A hand landed gently between her shoulder blades, fingers splayed wide, palm pressing securely against her skin through the fabric of her dirty shirt, and Salanei gasped as a rush of fresh magic and strength washed into her. With a snap, the portal sealed shut and she whipped around to find the princess smiling softly. “Come with me,” was all she purred.

Salanei nodded, winded and mute, and still dizzy from the surge of golden life that had poured into her from the princess and mixed so easily with her own magic. When had she learned to do that?

The path out of the princess’ chambers was littered with demons. Salanei used every trick and spell she knew, darting here, warping there, slicing, slashing, stabbing, to clear the path while the guard huddled close around their princess and picked off any stragglers who got through. The guards encircled the princess as though she were a jewel and they the setting. Nothing was going to touch her.

Out on another vulnerable, spun-sugar walkway that would lead them directly to the tower that sat atop the cavernous undercroft of the castle, a cloud of tiny, winged demons - which Salanei recognised with horror as having once been harmless forest pixies - swarmed towards them out of the lightening sky.

“Shields!” she screamed back over her shoulder, preparing another spell. Her vision swam from the speed at which she was hemorrhaging magic in the princess’ defence, but she blinked the daze away and focused on creating a wall of fire. Momentum sent the first half of the swarm ploughing straight through it, incinerating their fragile bodies to cinders, but the rest of the flock doubled back and regrouped. With a second flurry of flaming hands, Salanei danced through them until nothing remained but broken, blackened wings at her feet like campfire ashes.

One floundered uselessly at her boots, and while the princess was herded towards the safety of that final tower door by her retinue, Salanei scooped the wounded creature up in one hand and heard its infernal language as little more than a hoarse whisper, like wind through the grasslands. Tapping two fingers to her temple, she directed her magic at the creature, and connected a blue thread with its own yellow spirit thread, and demanded of it, “Who made you?”

A flash of images swirled through the connection, but she had seen enough. “Dorhul,” she spat when she saw the tall, slender figure of the most hated man in the four kingdoms. The connection sputtered, and the creature that had once been a pixie fell limp in her hand. Dropping it, she spun and trailed after the princess, blinking black spots from her vision.

Down staircase after staircase they plummeted, until finally they burst out into the echoing undercroft. Groin vaults stretched away into the darkness like the canopy of an endless stone forest, and Salanei shuddered. It reminded her of the dank dinginess of the slums so viscerally that she almost heaved.  

“Don’t stop now,” Princess Ria whispered, pausing to find Salanei staring off into the darkness with wide, black eyes. “We have to keep moving.”

Nodding silently, the tiefling fell into step beside her, scanning the shadows for the faintest hint of movement, but it was still as a sepulchre down there.

The lap of water eventually reached her keen, tapered ears, and she looked up to see three small rowing boats bobbing in the shallow, underground dock up ahead. A narrow canal of water led out towards the lake, and as they all climbed into the boats, Salanei took a moment to admire the calm presence of the princess. It was a miracle that Dorhul hadn’t known about this entrance to the castle.

Ria, still clad in an incongruously soft, pastel pink gown that was spattered here and there with the evidence of their desperate escape, somehow looked as regal as she had sitting in the great hall in her father’s stead these last two years.

She had remained a steady, reassuring presence in the kingdom even as the king’s health faded away despite the High Mage’s efforts to heal him. In his absence, Ria had taken over the rule of the kingdom with the grace and justice that her father had instilled in her from a young age. The queen had died only a few weeks after her father’s sickness had presented, and Ria had mourned her for the appropriate weeks before getting on with the governance of the kingdom. Beautiful, refined, and achingly gentle, it was no wonder that the kingdom was in love with her.

Salanei swallowed thickly. Half the kingdom, and… her too.

Now, although there was the air of a frightened child about her delicate shoulders, she sat in the centre of the small boat as her guards rowed her away, her green eyes fixed on the retreating castle as they skimmed across the lake. Just as Brandon had said, the morning sun glanced off the surface, glinting like a cut gem as the castle burned behind them.

Salanei uttered a quick prayer under her breath for the minotaur who was presumably still inside the castle.

Halfway across the lake, the guards’ oars faltered with a splash. A vast wave of power pulsed from the heart of the castle and spilled out across the land in all directions, sweeping demons off the walls and parapets, scattering them to ash on the wind. The sheer, raw magic made Salanei’s ears ring and her chest tighten, but when she’d mastered herself again, she found Ria staring wide-eyed at the castle with a look of unbridled horror on her beautiful face.

“Highness?” Salanei croaked, barely resiting the urge to grab her shoulder and shake her gently. “Highness?”

“Father…” she choked. “My father is dead…”

Three thoughts raced through Salanei’s mind before it went perfectly blank again: ‘that means you’re the queen’, ‘if the king is dead it means he used a purging spell so powerful that it obliterated himself as well’, and ‘the castle is free of demons now’. “Should… Should we go back?” she finally croaked.

Ria just sat there in the little boat, her breathing shallow, her face ashen.

“Highness?”

Nothing.

“Ria?” she asked, reluctant to use her familiar name. She leaned forward to touch her arm, but one of the guards - a huge, leonine rakshasa - growled at her. Salanei bared her own canines at him and hissed like a cobra.

The sound of her bickering guards drew the princess out of herself, and Ria turned to them. “Please,” she whispered. “Not now. For the goddess’ sake, not now. Let me think.”

Chastened, they fell silent, though Salanei’s black eyes never left her princess’ face.

“We go back,” she finally said.

The leonine rakshasa’s ears pricked up and he growled softly as he said, “Highness, we only just got you out of there…”

“Look,” she said, her voice eerily calm as she pointed a trembling finger towards the castle.

A cloud of sparkling, fluttering sparks had risen like butterflies above the remnants of the highest tower, and Salanei recognised Maeva’s magical signature immediately. “The High Mage,” she whispered. “You think it’s a trap?”

Ria shook her head. “No. We have a code in case such a signal is ever used. Green with gold is a trap. Pink and pale green is all clear. We return. Now.”

The rowers turned the small craft around, and Ria sat with her jaw set and her fists clenched in the fabric of her dress, eyes intense, mind working. No one spoke or grumbled, despite how the guards’ shoulders must have been burning from the effort.

The princess ground her teeth, and muttered, “This is taking too long. It’s not your fault,” she added as a guard’s expression flickered momentarily. “You’ve all been wonderful.” Snapping her head up suddenly, the princess said, “Salanei?”

“Highness?”

“Can your tiefling magic teleport me from here?”

Salanei tilted her head thoughtfully to one side as she examined her reserves of magic. “If I do, I won’t have much left in the tank when we get there,” she said. “I’d rather not…”

“Do it,” Ria said. “That’s not a request. Get me to my father’s chamber, and Maeva can take care of the magic from there if needs be.”

Jartyn, a gnoll with half his ear missing and a huge burn scar on his face, interjected, “I really must object, Highness -”

Ria’s eyes flashed and he sat back, teeth clacking as he shut his mouth quickly.

However, she got control of her frustration and spoke in a gentle, if tense, voice. “I appreciate your concern, and I owe you all my life,” she said, gathering them all into the praise with a sweep of her emerald green eyes. “But my father just sacrificed his life to cleanse that castle, and now I must return to protect his legacy. If I don’t, there’s still a window of opportunity for Dorhul to step in and claim the crown and the kingdom amid the chaos. Do you understand?”

They did, and they all bowed as one.

“You will follow in the boat and attend me back at the castle.” Ria turned her gaze to the tiefling, and held out her hand. “Now, Salanei.”

Taking the princess’ hand in hers, Salanei concentrated every drop of will and magic on the king’s chambers. Teleportation was not something many could do, and it wasn’t something Salanei particularly relished. The familiar sensation of blurring at the edges announced that they were ready, and a heartbeat later, it felt like two magical grappling hooks had yanked them by the spine and guts and had torn them away to somewhere else.

The princess landed awkwardly beside her with a cry, collapsing against Salanei as they arrived in the bedchamber of the king, and the tiefling caught her. “I’m going to be sick,” Ria hissed a moment before it happened.

Salanei supported her and held her beautiful, long hair back, and then magicked all the mess away with an easy flick of her hand.

Clearly grateful, Ria straightened and turned to her. Her eyes were pink and her cheeks were pale, but she still looked so regal that Salanei’s heart twisted in her chest.

Then Ria’s eyes slid from Salanei’s face to the bed in the middle of the ruined room. The glass in the windows had been obliterated, blasted out into the courtyard below. The twisted remnants of the lead work hung like the gnarled roots of a ripped up tree from the casements, and the rest of the room was reduced to splinters and tatters.

On the bed, there was no sign of the old king at all, but where his head would have rested on the pillow lay the golden crown, and where his heart would have been was a glimmering opal. Salanei gasped when she saw it, following at a respectful distance, a pace behind Ria.

“That’s…”

“The heart of the Lunar Forge,” Ria whispered. “Yes. Imagine what hell a necromancer like Dorhul could raise with a focus like this… That must have been how he was able to wield so much magic just now too…”

Salanei shuddered, not wanting to think about what could have happened. The Lunar Forge sat at the heart of the castle, and beneath the light of a full moon, any weapons quenched in the pool of spring water had the power to destroy demons utterly. The focus of the power was that opal. It was the size of Salanei's fist and it thrummed with power. That power did not have to be used to focus the powers of the Lunar Forge though; it could be used at the heart of any ritual, to add unfathomable power, and if the necromage had got his hands on it, who knows what he could have brought into this world.

Ria picked up the stone and the crown and then sank onto the bed. When she looked up at the tiefling, another pang went through Salanei’s chest. Tears flowed silently down Ria’s face and the urge to embrace her surged inside Salanei. “Highness,” she whispered, her heart going out to the young woman.

Her face twisted, and sobs wracked the princess then, and her guard didn’t hesitate. She stepped in close and the princess folded forwards, throwing her arms around her wiry torso and burying her face in the filthy fabric of her shirt. Her tears dampened it until the flow finally stemmed as Salanei stroked the coppery hair and just stood there, taking her grief and fears in her stride.

“I can’t do it,” Ria whispered, still plastered to her chest.

“You will. You’re not alone. I know he’s gone, but you’re not alone. You have Maeva, and your guard, and… for what it’s worth, you have me.”

It took another few minutes before Ria leaned back to regard Salanei and drew in a deep, unsteady breath.

Taking a chance, Salanei reached out and thumbed the remaining tears from the princess’ blotchy cheeks. “You have me,” she repeated as her golden eyelashes fluttered softly. A moment later, the tiefling let go and spun, adopting a defensive stance as footsteps rang on the floor outside and someone burst in.

She relaxed instantly, adrenalin dissipating when the familiar red robes of the High Mage swirled to a halt and the older woman appeared to go through a similar gamut of relieved reactions upon seeing the tiefling. “Thank the goddess,” she breathed, leaning heavily on a long, slender staff. “Ria, child, are you alright?”

Mutely, the princess nodded and stood. She touched Salanei briefly on the arm as she passed, and sent a tiny rush of her innate magic into the tiefling. The tenderness of the affection made her sway on the spot where she stood and she smiled at the princess, bowing her head.

The Queen, she corrected, forcing herself to make the mental adjustment. That’s the queen standing there now, you dolt!

The severe figure of the High Mage was made all the more stark by the harsh daylight now flooding in through the empty windows. The wind at this altitude whipped right through the room, tugging at tatters of cloth and blowing papers around like dry, rattling leaves. Maeva drew the queen to one side and the two proceeded to talk in hushed voices, leaving Salanei with nothing to do except keep watch.

She crossed to the door at the sound of — she tilted her head and strained — hooves. Demon or friend…? Brandon’s telltale white forelock and black pelt drew into view as he trotted up the staircase and she relaxed.

“You’re alright,” he smiled, tugging her into a quick hug before stepping back. “Thank the goddess. When you disappeared like that — And… the princess?”

“Queen now,” Salanei murmured. “She’s fine.”

“Goddess shelter his soul, and long live the queen,” Brandon said under his breath.

“What’s the rest of the castle like?” she asked, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder and adding, “It’s a fucking mess in there.”

“Same,” he said, leaning on the door frame and suddenly looking extremely tired. “It’ll take weeks to clear the demons and the rubble, but whatever that was, it purged them all in one go. Damned powerful magic.”

“It was the king,” she said. “He sacrificed himself to save the castle.”

“Not just the castle then,” Brandon said darkly. “Saved the whole bloody kingdom with it.”

It in fact took just over a week to get the last of the ichor and demons out of the castle, but it did take much longer to clear the rubble.

Ria insisted on being crowned in the goddess’ temple at the castle, despite the fact that half the roof was missing. Maeva and anyone with even a scrap of magic had been drafted in to weave invisible supports over the roof timbers and pillars to stop it all from tumbling in and crushing the congregation.

Salanei stood at the head of the guard of honour, her blade raised as the queen passed beneath, and she winked at one of the kitchen girls’ daughters whom Ria had selected to be one of the four train-barers. The tiny child could hardly lift the heavy material of the excessively long gown, but she valiantly did her best, along with the other children who had been chosen from the families of the castle staff. It was a lovely touch, and it had only endeared the young queen more to her people.

As the queen drew level with Salanei, she didn’t stop or break her step, but she shot her a fleeting look in passing, and the tiefling’s heart leapt. Over the past few weeks, the queen had shown her a remarkable degree of affection. She’d raised Salanei to the prestigious position of the Queen’s Blade - her personal bodyguard. But where the two had hardly interacted before the attack on the castle, now Salanei found herself often being admitted inside her private study to discuss security and plans to bolster the castle’s and kingdom’s defences with magic and boots on the ground. On such evenings, it was not uncommon for their hands to brush or their gaze to meet, but whatever swirling emotions Salanei felt, she kept her thoughts to herself. This was the queen after all.

The coronation service went on and on, but finally the oaths were taken, and the queen, now formally crowned, processed out into the courtyard beyond to thunderous cheering and applause. Maeva sent a rain of enchanted petals down around her, and she addressed her people as their new leader. All the while she spoke, Salanei scanned the crowd, but to her relief, she found nothing but adoring faces and cheering people. She met Brandon’s eye from the front row of guards keeping the crowd back, and he nodded at her.

It wasn’t until Ria was back in her chambers, again with Salanei at her side, that she showed the faintest sign of her exhaustion.

She was silent while her maids undressed her, their nimble hands undoing the regiments of buttons. Finally, they removed removed the ridiculous gown from the room and found something more comfortable. In her humble, ignorant opinion, Salanei thought that the queen looked much better in plain dresses anyway.

Ria had decided, upon Maeva’s advice, to take the rest of the day to herself, and just as Salanei was preparing to stand guard outside her door, the queen took her wrist in her gentle, firm grip, and halted her.

“No, Salanei,” she said in a hoarse, tired voice. “Stay. Please.”

“Of course. What do you need?”

“I… I don’t know,” she said with heartbreaking honesty. “I don’t know what to do with myself.”

Feeling her body go slack as her heart went out to the young woman, Salanei said, “Shall I run you a bath, Majesty?”

On the point of replying, the queen paused and changed her mind. “Call me Ria,” she said. “Please. When it’s just us two in these rooms, please… call me by my name. I’m… I’m afraid that I’ll forget the sound of it now that I’m queen and there’s no one left to call me that…”

Bowing her head under the weight of that gift, Salanei nodded. “As you wish… Ria.”

With a smile, the queen reached for Salanei's other hand and squeezed her fingers in her own. “You’re so strong, Salanei,” she said, running her thumbs over the rough, scuffed knuckles and feeling the calluses from weapons training on her palms and fingers. “You… You’re so beautiful…”

The breath left Salanei in a rush as if she’d been punched in the solar plexus. “Majesty,” she protested, embarrassed and trying to pull away, but the queen held firm.

“I mean it,” she said with a fierce light in her eyes. And then she went soft with a sigh and said, “But yes, a bath does sound nice.”

“I’ll run you one,” Salanei offered, glad for an excuse to leave the room. Her heart was thudding and her skin felt hot all over.

“You’re not my servant,” Ria barked as the tiefling made to stride away across the room towards the chambers. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I’d like to,” she said. “Please.”

With a nod, Ria accepted, and ten minutes later, a steaming hot bath stood ready for her in the adjacent bathroom, the scent of jasmine heady in the air. When Salanei emerged, she found the queen undressing again, and struggling with a button right in the middle of her back.

“Help me?” asked the queen in a surprisingly shy voice.

Silently, Salanei crossed to her and freed the tiny pearl button from the back of the dress, revealing the smooth, warm skin of her back as the fabric parted and fall away. She had three freckles just to the right of her spine. The urge to brush her fingers down the length of the queen’s back from the nape of her neck to the waist of her dress was almost overwhelming, but she forced herself to step back. “Anything else?” she asked in a croak.

With a knowing, almost playful smile, the queen looked over her shoulder and said, “Fetch me a robe?”

Licking her lips, Salanei swallowed. Had Ria’s eyes always been so bright? Her hair so golden? Her lips so…

“Salanei?”

“Of course,” she chirped and turned abruptly to fetch a robe from the back of the bathroom door and bring it. When she found the queen standing completely naked in the middle of the room with her dress pooled around her ankles, she nearly cursed. Her feet stopped and she stood there, slack-jawed and staring.

“Are you going to pass it to me or not?” Ria giggled.

Flushing hot, Salanei handed it to her and looked away as she extended her arm.

“Don’t,” Ria breathed. “Unless you want to, of course.”

She had no answer for that.

“Salanei…?” the queen asked, sounding suddenly unsure. “What is it you want? Answer me honestly.”

You.

“I can’t,” she hissed, turning completely away.

Oh gods, I want you so much, she thought. I want to make you forget everything. I want to kneel between your legs and taste you. I want to sink my fingers into your heat and feel you let go. I want to give you what no other can give you.

The queen’s voice was steady as she asked, “If you could speak freely, what would you say to me?”

“Tell me I’m not out of line,” Salanei breathed. “Tell me —” she couldn’t finish it. It felt… blasphemous even to begin to voice her desires. This was the queen. And she was a gutter-rat tiefling from nowhere, with no family and nothing but her magic and her fighting skills.

“I want you, Salanei,” the queen said unflinchingly. “I want you, but I don’t want you afraid.”

Her lips parted when she heard those words, and she turned to face her queen properly. Ria still hadn’t done up the bath robe, leaving a column of perfect skin exposed between her covered breasts, and a soft nest of golden hair between her legs. Salanei’s fingertip ached to touch her just there and see if her knees would buckle at the contact.

Without a word, the queen turned and walked slowly towards the bathroom, leaving the door open. An invitation? Salanei stood there for a long time, listening to the slosh of the water in the huge copper bath as the queen got in and then lay back. Steam billowed out of the room, coiling along the floor like crooked fingers calling.

Swallowing, her heart thudding, Salanei padded into the bathroom and came to an uncertain halt. The bath stood in the centre of the small chamber, and the queen had her back to the door where she reclined in the steaming water. “Come here,” she said gently.

“Would you like me to stay?”

“I’d like you to do more than that, if you feel comfortable…” she purred, and as Salanei drew level with the bath, she looked up at her, features sharpening. “Don’t do anything you don’t want to, alright? I’m well aware of what I am, and what your station is. If… If you feel as though you’re… obliged in any way to… to…” tears filled her eyes but she refused to let them spill, and in a rush Salanei knelt on the cold marble beside the bath and put her left hand on the rim of the tub.

“No,” she said fiercely. “I want this. Trust me, I want this…”

“You can touch me,” the queen said in a low voice, tilting her head back. The bubbles just skimmed the surface of the water, but as she moved, fragrant waves lapped at her chest and Salanei glimpsed the roundness of her breasts beneath the water and the dusky pink of her hard nipples too. “Please…”

Salanei slid her right hand into the water, her plum-purple skin in sharp contrast to the warmth of the queen’s own, and she found the inside of the queen’s thigh, letting her palm play up and down it for a moment. Ria let out a long, broken moan and arched her back a little, and it suddenly occurred to Salanei that she probably hadn’t ever been touched like this. Aside from being dressed by her maids, she was always apart, always unreachable, always kept safely at arm’s length.

“I…” Ria faltered, her eyes still closed. “I never thanked you. I never found a minute, but… I should have made time. You’ve given everything to me, and you helped to save my life.”

“I made your father a promise,” she said, still just cupping the curve of her thigh in her hand, hardly daring to believe that this was happening. “And I grew to love you years ago. Your goodness, your grace, your kindness… You won me heart and soul, Ria. I’m yours. Always.”

A tear slid from Ria’s eye and disappeared into the dampness on her skin at her neck. “Touch me,” she whispered, voice intense, and Salanei complied.

She moved her hand further up her smooth thighs, feeling her tail coiling around her own ankle as her body heated up and she began to get wet from the sheer anticipation of touching the queen like this at last. How many nights had she touched herself with thoughts of the queen’s pleasure ringing in her imagination?

At the smooth glide of fingertips over her folds, the queen’s legs fell apart and she bucked weakly, sloshing water almost over the rim of the bath. Another moan escaped her and she let her head loll as Salanei repeated the gesture on the other side before circling her swelling clit and then nudging just beneath it.

A shudder ran through the queen and she gripped the edges of the bath as Salanei brushed against her, teasing and testing, finding out how she liked to be touched, where was too sensitive and what garnered her the most vocal reactions. Slow and firm seemed to drive her closer to towards her peak, while tentative and teasing made her buck and gasp, shivering and grunting with satisfaction delayed. Naturally, she drew out the process for as long as she could, and oscillated between the two.

“Please!” Ria finally gasped, curling forwards, knuckles white on the rim of the copper bath as Salanei ran one callused fingertip back and forth just between her clit and her entrance. It was far too slow and far too teasing. “Oh goddess… oh goddess…” she chanted, her whole body winding tighter and tighter. The water could not disguise the slickness that eased Salanei's attentions either.

In a single motion, Salanei slid two fingers deep inside her and crooked them, pressing against her walls while circling her clit with her thumb, and the queen shattered. Salanei was fairly certain she’d soaked through her own underwear, but nothing could distract her from the tight, clenching heat as pleasure ripped through the other woman and swept her away with it. She gave herself completely to it and convulsed, water slopping over the edge of the bath and onto the floor and drenching Salanei's loose trousers too.

“You’re so beautiful,” Salanei crooned as the queen continued to come. “Goddess, but you’re so beautiful…” She kept the pressure inside the queen’s body with her fingertips, easing her through it until finally Ria slumped back against the bath, her chest heaving, her eyes closed, and the softest, sweetest look of joy on her face.

When she’d caught her breath, she opened her eyes with a flutter of golden lashes and whispered, “I want to do that to you.”

“I’m yours,” Salanei replied with a wry smile, withdrawing her fingers and tracing a fond touch across her sensitive inner thigh without removing her hand from the water.

“Give me a moment to feel my legs again,” Ria said, “And then help me out of here, and I’ll return the favour. I do feel bad that you were on the floor though,” she said, a tiny frown pinching her eyebrows together.

Salanei laughed hoarsely and said, “If you knew how wet I was, you wouldn’t have said that.”

The queen went still, a surprised smile on her face. “That got you wet? Doing that to me?”

“You have no idea.”

With that, Ria stood somewhat shakily, water cascading down her perfect body, and, with her eyes practically glowing, said, “Show me.”

___

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[bleachanimefan1]

Oblitus Part 31

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

35 Days Left Until Extermination...

Up in heaven, Michael was sorting through paper work. Some were people who have died or was about to, and some that were far beyond redemption. He stopped at a photo of a man and a woman who were married. The two had met terrible fates at the time of their death. The father was mauled and killed by a bear during an hunting accident, while the mother was killed by a drunk driver.

Michael continued to read the article and discovered that the two couple had a daughter. There was something familiar about this that Michael couldn't place his finger on it. Then he remembered as he recalled that these were the two who wished to have a child but was having trouble doing so. He answered their prayer and helped them out by blessing them with a girl. Michael wondered what had happened to the daughter but there was no further answers as their story had stopped.

Michael sighed and leaned back and stretched his arms. This was too much for one angel to manage. Usually, it was just him or his brother, Gabriel, to do this, while the other managed the army, then vice versa. one of his brothers or sisters would help him, but they also had their own jobs as well.

"Gabriel, you picked a lousy time to leave," Michael sighed, tired. Then Michael heard a voice in his head. It was a voice of a woman praying. She sounded scared and desperate.

"Please, God. Please, help me. Don't let him find me.."

Michael looked out the window, down towards the city below him, confused.

Back at the hotel, everyone was still standing from where they stood, confused.

"Okay, what just happened?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know, but the radio demon had something to do with it," Vaggie growled.

Then, as if summoned by Vaggie's words, everyone heard the door shut as Alastor walked in, smiling. He stopped when he saw everyone in the lobby staring at him.

"Is there something wrong that I should know about?" Alastor asked. Then the next thing, Alastor was on the floor when Husk punched him. Alastor glared up at him, with glowing red eyes, angrily.

"You bastard!" Husk shouted. "What did you do?!"

Alastor stood up and brushed himself off. He looked back at the cat with a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Why Husker I don't know what you mean," he told him, innocently.

"Anna's gone!" Charlie told him. Alastor's eyes widen.

"And you were the last person she was with!" Vaggie shouted. "What did you do to her!?"

Alastor could feel everyone's eyes staring at him, waiting and demanding for an answer. Anna had practically turned everyone in the hotel against him.

"I didn't do anything to her. I only told her that I didn't want anything to do her anymore." Alastor explained to them. Everyone's eyes widen in shock. Husk growled. He grabbed Alastor by his suit slamming him into the wall. Alastor growled and grabbed Husk by his wings, tossing him off of him.

"Granted, I let it slide the first time you punched me. I advise you not to do that again," Alastor warned, with a strained smile, eyes glowing red.

"Why would you say something like that to her?" Charlie asked. Alastor opened his mouth to speak, but closed it.

Suddenly, an alarm went off. Everyone heard it echoing throughout the hotel as it came from the city. Everyone froze. That alarm was a warning for extermination.

"That can't be right," Vaggie said. "It's too early for that."

"Maybe, it's a fluke?" Angel suggested.

"That is not possible. The alarms are specifically designed to go off and warn everyone when they detect an exterminator nearby" Baxter explained.

Charlie shouted. "Then we need to find her now!"

In the City, Anna stared up at the exterminator, backing away from it, as they inched closer to her.

"S-Stay away! D-Don't come any closer!" Anna stammered nervously.

"You are the anomaly that I've been detecting," the exterminator hissed.

"I don't know what you mean?" Anna replied. "Stay away from me! Leave me alone!"

Suddenly, an alarm went off, making Anna jump as it did. The angel turned and threw their sword and it sliced the speakers, destroying them. Anna quickly ran while the angel picked their sword up then it chased after her. Anna quickly turned around corners, hoping to lose the exterminator, but the angel was still right behind her. She quickly ran through an alley.

As she did, she saw a demon picking through the trash cans, rummaging through it, for anything that it can sell or eat. Anna ran past him and the demon looked up, seeing her. But, it was the last thing that it ever saw as the exterminator had sliced it's head clean off! Anna eyes widen in horror as she saw what had happen. She continued to run while the angel was distracted and took cover in an abandoned shop. Anna looked around for anything that she could use to defend herself. Then she picked up a pipe, clinging it close to her.

"Please, God. Please, help me. Don't let him find me." Anna whispered.

"Praying is not going to save you, demon!" the exterminator shouted.

Anna screamed as she saw the exterminator as broke down through the ceiling and flew right in front of her. Anna swung the pipe smacking it right across the exterminators face. It's mask was knocked off as it slid across the ground. Anna's eyes widen in surprise to see that it was an angel, with blond hair and steel grey eyes, attacking her. But, aren't angel's supposed to be good? Why is one attacking her?

"I-I'm sorry! I -I didn't mean to!" Anna stammered nervously.

The angel snapped his head back, glaring dangerously at her, angrily.

"You heretic!" Gabriel shouted.

He picked Anna up by her throat and tossed her, sending Anna flying out the window, breaking it. Anna groaned as she sat up and looked down to see a large shard of glass buried deep into her leg. She whimpered as she tested it to pull it out, but stopped seeing more blood pour out from the wound. She couldn't move or pull it out because the glass could slice a nerve and lead her to bleeding out more. Anna heard a thud and saw the angel glaring down at her, with it's sword raised, ready to strike.

Anna screamed as Gabriel brought it down.

She close her eyes expecting to feel the blade slice into her skin. Then she heard a couple rounds of shots being fired. Anna opened her eyes to see the angel had flew away from her and was now across the street, glaring at the attacker. Anna turned her head and saw that it was Angel.

"Angel!" she called out. "How did you find me?!"

"It wasn't hard. I just followed the sounds of screams and destruction," Angel explained. "Are you okay?"

"Not really," Anna replied. Angel saw the large shard of glass in Anna's leg then he looked back at Gabriel, glaring at him.

"You just made a big mistake," Angel growled.

"If you had just hid then you would have lived," Gabriel said. "Now, you're going to die just like this one here."

"Are you going to shut your mouth or keep talking?" Angel smirked. Just as Angel blinked, Gabriel was already darting towards him with his sword.

Angel rolled out of the way and fired many rounds from his guns at Gabriel. Gabriel dodge the bullets and swooped down on Angel, picking him up and throwing him, sending Angel landing right on the hood of a car. The alarms beeped as he crashed into it. Angel groaned as he sat up only to see Gabriel coming down at him with his sword. Angel rolled off the car, just in time, and the sword pierced through the hood, where he was.

As Angel was getting up, Gabriel was right behind Angel. Anna's eyes widen in horror and tried to warn him, but it was too late. Gabriel had stabbed his sword straight through Angel's back. He pulled it out and kicked Angel, knocking him down.

"Angel!" Anna cried out. Angel groaned as he tried to get back up. Gabriel walked over and stepped on top of Angel's back, forcing him to the ground.

"Stop! Get off of him!" Anna pleaded.

"You demons belong in the dirt like you are. You are beneath us."

"Fuck you.." Angel spatted out. Gabriel raised his sword, to strike.

"No! Don't do it! Stop!" Anna cried out.

Suddenly, Gabriel was knocked off of Angel as a tentacle smacked him away. Anna, Angel, and Gabriel saw Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, Baxter and Niffty, and Alastor. Anna and Alastor's eyes met each other for a split second before Anna tore her gaze away from his, refusing to look at him. He felt a strange heavy weight in his chest, slightly hurt, and a little angry that she was ignoring him. He hated to be ignored!

Husk flew and landed near Angel, helping him up.

"What we're you thinking running off like that? Why didn't you wait?!"

Angel laughed weakly. "Nice to see you too, Husky,"

"Well, now this is a surprise! What is a exterminator like you doing here when it's not even close to extermination day!" Alastor smiled. Gabriel snarled at Alastor's words until he spotted Niffty near Baxter, who pulled her closer to him. His eyes widen in shock, seeing that Niffty was entirely human, with some demon like traits from her original demon form.

"What have you done?" Gabriel demanded. Charlie stepped up, smiling.

"Hi there, I'm Charlie, princess of Hell!" the princess greeted. "I have been running a hotel for sinners who want to redeem themselves.-"

Gabriel stared at Charlie for a second as she continued, ignoring her rambling speech. A stupid goofy smile, red rosy cheeks, curly blond hair...Gabriel's eyes widen, realizing who she was.

"You!" Gabriel shouted, angrily. Charlie stopped with wide eyes, paused in the middle of her words. "You are the daughter of that traitor!" He growled. Charlie laughed, nervously. "Now, now, there's no need for us to fight. We can talk this over reasonably-"

"I don't want to hear any lies that come out of your filthy mouth!" Gabriel shouted. "Do you have any idea what you have done!?"

Charlie blinked. "Uh, redeemed a sinner, of course!"

"You have messed with the natural order!" Gabriel hissed. "And for that. I cannot allow any of you to live!"

[fieryfantasybooklover]

It Would Never Be Light Again - A Roceit, Analogical, and Intruality fic

Prompt: "And just like that, they're all gone."

Prompt Credit: @obsessedalli

---------------------------------------------------

It was only supposed to be a joke. A fun little thing to do with no harm spilling over into reality. That’s what it was supposed to be. 

“Virgil! Logan! Come out we’ve got to go NOW!!” Roman shouted, practically breaking down the door to Logan’s room in his hurry and terror. Virgil and Logan sat bolt upright, wearing identical looks of confusion. “Roman, calm down. What’s going on?” Logan asked, adjusting his glasses and shooting Roman a questioning glance. “Please, guys, just come with me!! I don’t have any time to explain!! Please!!” Roman begged them, casting frantic glances all around them. It was at this moment that the lights flickered on and off, startling all three of them. “Ro, you’re scaring us. Tell us what’s going on!” Virgil insisted, refusing to move an inch. “Guys, I’m begging you with everything I have. PLEASE COME WITH ME!!” answered Roman, practically crying now.

It was at this moment that the lights completely sputtered out, plunging them into blackness. When the walls started rattling, shaking loose pictures and random objects resting on dressers. When a loud booming began echoing throughout the mindscape, seeming to reach into Virgil and Logan’s very bones. At this point Virgil and Logan realized that something was very, very wrong. Both wordlessly stood up, not sparing a thought for the abandoned tablet that had been watching movies on. Roman, making sure they were following him, turned and silently led them out into the pitch black halls. 

“Roman, you owe us a fucking explanation right. Now. What the hell is happening, and why is it happening?” Virgil hissed as the trio silently crept down the halls, not allowing themselves to think about why every disturbance had suddenly halted, leaving behind an eerie quiet and stillness. “I agree with Virgil. An explanation would be very prudent at this point Roman, Logan replied, also whispering. “Both of you, trust me when I say, this was never met to happen.” Roman answered as they rounded a corner, the door of the basement now in sight. “Patton and Janus are already there. Once we get inside, I promise I’ll explain everything.” Reaching the door to the basement, Roman turned the handle and it slid open with a groan. Gesturing for them to enter and descend down the stairs, Roman made sure they were well down before slipping inside himself and shutting the door with a click. 

Logan yanked on the string to the basement light, clicking the light bulb on and bathing the room in a yellowish light. This illuminated Patton and Janus huddling in the corner, doing their best to avoid notice from anybody… or anything. Both sprung up, faces flooding with relief. “Oh kiddos. I’m so glad you’re ok. We were really scared, but you’re safe.” Patton spoke all of this quickly, the words spilling out. Roman emerged from the stairwell, looking around at the group. Virgil whirled, not willing to wait any longer. “Ok Princey. It’s time you tell us what the hell is going on here, and why we’re running around like we’re trying to hide from the devil! And… where’s Remus???” Janus and Patton moved towards the group. At this moment, Janus spoke up. “I should probably be the one to explain. After all, this was all my idea. And I take full responsibility.” At this moment, Janus shifted his right arm and Virgil gasped. It was bloody and red, covering in gashes and claw marks. Logan’s eyes widened as both him and Virgil searched their brains for something, anything to say. 

“Since we have unleashed something that should stay very much locked up, I will give you the summarized version.” Janus said as he eased himself to a sitting position on a nearby crate, letting out a soft sound as pain as his arm jolted. “Well, let me see. Me and Roman were spending time together in my room, content. It was at this moment that I suggested we try something I had seen in a show I watched recently. This thing was some sort of ritual. Obviously, now I understand that this was a terrible idea. Roman, at the moment wholeheartedly agreed. So, we googled some obscure ritual chant and prepared.” Janus paused, inhaling deeply. 

“Oh my god Janus, please tell us you’re kidding. Please tell me you and Roman didn’t try some demon summoning ritual. PLEASE TELL ME YOU’RE NOT THAT STUPID!” Virgil screamed, tears running tracks down his face. Logan immediately rushed to his boyfriend, enveloping him in a hug and whispering calming things. “Vee, kiddo, please keep calm. Freaking out now will do us no good. At Least let Janus finish!” Patton said, eyes saying he knew exactly how Virgil felt. Roman said nothing, and one glance at him could tell you he wanted to vanish and never reaaper again. Virgil took a deep breath, choking his sobs down to nothing, before nodding once. 

Janus began speaking again at this, closing his eyes as he forced the words out. “We gathered the necessary materials and began this.” 

“Looking back, I truly don’t know what we were thinking.” Roman chimed in.

“Yes well, we did it nonetheless. Once we finished the chant, the candles went out and a wind seemed to echo through the room. We stepped backward obviously, more than a little spooked. Then, the candles came back on. And standing in the circle-” Janus once again paused, the words seeming to cause him physical pain. “Was something I wish I never EVER saw. It was terrifying, and ancient. Older than this world, and everything in it.” 

Everyone waited, the room quiet as a grave. “Well… what is it? What did you summon?” Patton dared to ask, hesitantly meeting Janus’s gaze. Janus inhaled deeply, and all of a sudden Virgil thought of an ask, waiting to strike the helpless tree. 

“It’s death. We unleashed death.”

The reaction was immediate. Virgil hissed and lept backward. Logan’s eyes widened, and he began to tremble. Patton’s eyes also widened, and he silently began to weep in fear and worry. Janus and Roman fidgeted, avoiding eye contact with every possible person and thing. But Logan could sense that it wasn’t over yet. “Guys? Is that all?” Logan inquired, stomach already sinking. It was Roman who spoke up this time, voice pitched to a whisper, cracking with fear and shame. “It breezed past the barrier, pushing us aside. Janus tried to fight it, and it nearly ripped his arm apart. It threw us into the wall like we were just flies. I think I heard it say something. ‘Foolish’, I think. Then it blew through the door. To Remus’s room.” Patton inhaled sharply, before gesturing for Roman to continue. “I heard him scream, and then he went quiet. That’s when we ran out the door to find everyone. We got Patton first, and then you two. And now, here we are.” 

Shock hung in the air like humidity as everyone did their best to process what they had just heard. Each side wore a different expression of fear, surprise, grief, or some combination of all three. Finally, Logan spoke up. “So, what you are saying is. You summoned death, unintentionally. Death did something to Remus and now we don’t know where he is. We are now hiding from this being for an undefined amount of time.” Roman and Janus nodded, and Virgil softly muttered “holy fuck” under his breath as he sat down. Patton said nothing, but his face said everything there was to say. He was terrified, and grieving. But he wasn’t going to give up yet. 

“Well, I must confess that I do not know what to do next.” Janus said, clutching a cloth to his arm that he had pulled from his pocket. “Nobody does kiddo. You’re not alone.” Patton replied, and Virgil and Logan nodded. Roman said nothing. It was at this moment that a howling echoed through the basement, and everyone stood bolt upright. Roman whipped his head around, looking frantically for the source, or the danger. When the shelves started rattling, they all silently met eyes and bolted for the stairs. Roman was the last up, staying to make sure that everyone got out. Shutting the door, they all took off down the hallway, fear chasing them like a hellhound the whole way. 

They ran down hallways, slowing to walks whenever Janus’s arm became too much to bear. It was still bleeding, leaving a blood red trail wherever they went. Roman led them in the general direction of the mindscape’s exit, but it wasn’t long until they realized they would never make it. It was too dark, everything was still shaking, and the shadows still stalked them. They dodged it several times, hiding around corners and inside empty rooms, but you can’t stop death. 

Logan was the first they lost. It happened so fast, so unexpectedly. The group was just going as fast as they could down the hall, and Logan was whispering to Virgil how he would listen to whatever band Virgil wanted once they were out of this. Roman was hugging as close to Janus as he could, and Patton was bringing up the rear. But then, a dark tendril reached around the corner and snatched Logan away. There was a scream of pain and then a sound, something not unlike a spattering of blood. Virgil screamed, bolting for Logan’s body, tears and pain and anger filling his eyes and face. Dropping to his knees beside Logan, Virgil barely noticed that the thing was gone, leaving nothing behind. Virgil sobbed, tearing, wrenching sobs as his heart was wrenched from his chest. “No no no no no Lo-Lo please wake up. Lo, I love you I can’t live without you PLEASE WAKE UP!! Please, come back to me!!” Virgil continued to cry, tears falling from his cheeks to Logan’s still, unmoving chest, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

Roman yanked him away from the body, but Virgil just dropped back down, begging Logan to come back to him. It took all of Roman’s strength to wrench Virgil permanently from Logan’s side, and he was crying the entire time. “Vee, come on. Please, we’ve got to go. I know you’re in so much pain. But please, we’ve got to keep going!” Roman said, begging Virgil with everything he had. Patton silently reached out, tears spilling out over his eyelashes, and gave Virgil’s shoulder a squeeze. Janus also knelt silently, hugging Virgil quietly, not uttering a word. Several minutes past, and then Virgil took several ragged breaths before standing, and the group silently moved on. 

Patton was next. This time, they caught a glimpse of a silhouette at the end of the hall before it vanished. And the silhouette looked vaguely like Remus. Patton barely had time to look surprised before he was incinerated, burnt to nothing in the span of only a few seconds. They stood there in shock, brains not fully processing what they had just seen. And then, reality came rushing back. This was the final straw, and now everybody openly sobbed. Standing stock still, staring at the spot where Patton had just been, wishing with everything they had to bring him back. “Come on Patton, please. I’m so sorry. Please come back. Don’t leave us.” Roman begged in his thoughts, drowning in an ocean of guilt. Finally, clinging to each other for support, the group continued to move, holding on to the hope of running or escaping with everything they had. But they knew it was worthless, that as they walked, it was only delaying the inevitable. 

As they trudged on, Janus silently whispered in Roman’s ear, saying everything he wished to say. “Ro, I love you with all my heart. And I always will. You’re fantastic, and the best person I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. I love you so much.” Roman turned, meeting the unshed tears in Janus’s eyes with his own sadness. “I love you too Jan. I love you so much. You will always be my prince.” Roman whispered back, and he wasn’t even surprised when Janus was yanked away from him. He wasn’t surprised when barely a second passed before a sword had embedded itself in Janus’s chest. It didn’t change anything though. It didn’t stop him from falling to his knees, losing every reason to keep going. It didn’t stop him from sobbing until his lungs felt like they had been ripped out and stepped on. It didn’t stop him from cursing and yelling and begging Janus to come alive again. “Jan no no no NO NO NO. I love you so much Jan-Jan, please come back to me!” Roman sobbed. “I will kill you!” he screamed to the air, fighting Virgil off as he tried to lead him away.

Roman gave in, eventually. Virgil gently pulled him up and on, Roman felt his soul wilt and die, fading to nothing, along with the boy lying on the floor behind them, stabbed through the heart. 

The two lost track of how many times they went in circles, aimlessly wandering, void of hope and spirit. When Virgil was yanked into the door of the bathroom they were passing and Roman heard the click of the lock, he snapped. Rushing for the door, Roman begged. “Please, whatever you are, please. You’ve already taken everything. Please please please please PLEASE just let my friend live!!!!” he shouted banging on the door. “Virgil! Answer me, I’m begging you!” Roman backed up then, launching himself at the door, trying to break it down. He smashed partially through it, and backed up to go again. “Virgil! Don’t worry, I’m coming!” Roman shouted, running for the door again. But then, an ear shattering crash echoed from the other side of the door, and the door flew open. Revealing Virgil, collapsed on the ground, surrounded by broken glass, head smashed through the mirror. Roman stood there, saying nothing doing nothing. 

But then, he very slowly stepped forward and walked to the broken mirror, before facing where his reflection would have been. “Just like that, they’re all gone. Dead and gone and never coming back. And it’s all because of me. My fault my fault my fault my fault. How could I have been so stupid? How-” Roman was cut off slowly by a trembling voice at the doorway. 

“Roman? It’s me.” Roman whirled to find his brother standing there. Remus was a sight for sore eyes, his clothes ripped and torn, covered in gashes and scrapes and trails of blood. “I can feel it inside me, fighting to take control back. I can’t hold on forever. It’s stronger than me.” Remus whispered, tears dripping from his face to the glass shard covered floor. “Remus what- Where have you been? What happened!” Roman asked, rushing towards his brother, all caution forgotten. But Remus backed away, shaking his head emphatically. “Stay away! It’s going to kill you! Roman, listen to me. Death… it’s possessing me. It took everything I had to wrench control away for a bit. And I can’t hold it much longer. When it gets control back, it won’t be happy. It already made me kill them all! Virgil and Logan and Patton and Janus. I could feel everything, even as I screamed and thrashed and fought it. It is the most awful, horrible thing. To see your friend’s dead bodies, and know it was your hand that killed them. Roman, please, you’ve got to kill me!” Remus cried, eyes pleading with his brother. He spread his arms wide, every inch of his body shaking and trembling. Remus repeated it again, quieter this time. “You’ve got to kill me.”

Roman’s face filled with confusion, eyebrows scrunched together. Then, realization dawned across his face. Realization that Remus was deadly serious. Roman shook his head many times, chanting all the while. “No no no I will not kill you! There must be some other way! I refuse to kill you Remus. You’re my brother, and you’re all I have left.” Remus said nothing, only drew a dagger from his jacket and tossing it onto the floor in front of Roman. “Please. You have to do this. I’m hurting too. I’m dying on the inside, grieving and guilty. And I know you are too.” Roman looked away, sniffling and wiping his face. “But please. Roman, you’re my brother. And I love you. But you have to kill me.” Remus said simply, no cracks in his demeanor. “Did you know that me and Patton were dating? We were going to tell everybody today.” Remus paused, silently crying. When he started talking again, his voice was filled with pain. “I had to sit back and watch as some thing made me kill the person I loved the most out of everybody in this world.” Roman started to answer, but then Remus doubled over in pain, gasping for breath. 

But he straightened up again, and now it was not Remus. Something else looked out from behind his eyes. Something cruel and cold. “Foolish human. You thought you could keep me trapped, once I was summoned? Idiot. And now, I’ve killed everyone you love. And I don’t plan on stopping here-” the thing was cut off as Remus’s body doubled over again. Roman rushed to his brother, disregarding the dagger on the floor. Remus stood up, once again himself. His face was covered in sweat, and he was breathing in quick little gasps. Making eye contact with his brother, Remus once again spoke. “Don’t you see, Roman? It’s stronger than me, and I can’t fight it forever. I will lose, and then you will die and so many more people. YOU’VE GOT TO KILL ME!!” Remus shouted, sobbing and pleading. Roman said nothing, but he seemingly came to a decision and bent over to pick up the dagger. 

Roman said nothing, but stared directly into Remus’s eyes. “I love you Rem.” Roman whispered before raising the dagger in one swift motion and slicing his throat open. Remus screamed, rushing to Roman’s side as his brother’s legs gave out and he fell to the ground, still twitching and bleeding. It only took a minute, but then Roman lay still. No life lingered inside him anymore. “No no bro please. Don’t leave now. You have to survive. I was the one you were supposed to kill.” Remus paused, pain rushing over him in waves. “You were supposed to live.” Remus whispered, sitting back against the wall, surrounded by destruction. 

This is your curse, the thing whispered to Remus inside his head. You couldn’t convince him to get rid of me, so now you have to live. I’ll leave you here. There’s nothing left to be worthy of my attention. Always remember, Remus Sanders -  Your curse was once to be alone. But now, your curse is to live. 

Remus screamed and threw his head back as he felt the thing leave him, rushing and roaring away in a shape of shadow and bone. He could barely make out its shape, shrouded in shadow, as it left the bodies behind and strolled down the hall. It turned once though, It turned, facing Remus directly. And doing nothing. Nothing but offering him a single, silent smile. And then vanishing into the air, like it had never been there. Remus cried then, huddling in upon himself. The thing was gone, but the darkness remained. Remus doubted it would ever be light here again, or happy. Remus screamed out then. “Somebody! Anybody! Please, just answer me! Please… I don’t want to be alone…” he trailed off, begging for something, anything, to hear him and answer. But nothing did. Everybody was dead, and Remus was alone. He was surrounded by a graveyard of souls, a place where life had once roamed freely. But not anymore. Life would never set foot here again, except for Remus. He would live on. Until death claimed him, like everybody and everything else. Until death claimed him, like it had claimed everybody he ever cared about. 

[shebeafancyflapjack]

King Takes Knight (Part 3)

This has a plot now. Sorta. I don’t know.

Part One

Part Two

(TW: Captivity, isolation, torture, humiliation)

A large wheel is propped up at the front of the stage, each with a panel containing a different word. Scorpions. Spiders. Bees. Bees with Teeth. Lightning. Ice Spears. Nickelback. Whipping. Flesh Tearing. 

“Time to spin the Wheel of Misfortune, Bad Janet.” Shawn instructs. 

After an obligatory slur, the Bad Janet dressed in a black, glittery showgirl outfit does as instructed. The crowd watching cheer out their predictions as they watch the wheel spin, panels clattering against the arrow at the top, slowing down with each second. 

The unlucky ‘contestant’ shivers against the stake in the centre. They’ve wrapped a blindfold around the top of his head so he doesn’t get to see the result. That would ruin the surprise, after all.

The clacking stops. The crowd laughs.

“Ah! Always a classic. Bring them in, boys.” Shawn strides up to Michael, grabbing him by the jaw and putting his lips to his ear; “You’re gonna go for a nice little swim, you stinking jellyfish. There are some creatures who are just eager to play with you...and they are very, very hungry. And horny. And electrified.”

Laughter ripples through the crowd again as a broken whimper escapes through the constrained lips. His chain is loosened, wrists still bound behind his back. There will be no attempt at ‘swimming’ in the tank that’s brought out.

“Don’t worry, Mike. We made sure to keep the water nice and cold for you. It will be like floating on the sea after the Titanic sunk. And we know how much fun those guys had.” 

Shawn yanks his hair back as he’s moved forward.

“Hold still. I want Bad Janet’s camera to get a good long look at you...We want your filthy humans to see their demon daddy at his best, don’t we.”

Another cringe, a helpless writhe, then he’s pushed forward into the tank.

-

“Turn it off.” Tahani requests, getting to her feet and turning her back to the screen, “Please, I can’t watch anymore.”

Janet does as requested. She’s already seen it all for herself. She hadn’t intended on showing the others, hoping what she described would be enough, but she’d had no choice.

She looks to Jason who’s staring forward, vacantly. Anyone who didn’t know him would think he was completely oblivious to what was going on. But she knows her boyfriend and knows, more than anything, the worry that’s going on behind those blank looking eyes.

Eleanor remains seated on Mindy’s couch, running her hands over her mouth, her skin much paler than it had been a few minutes ago.

“You see now why I have to go back?” Janet tells them; “This has gone on long enough.”

“She’s right.” Tahani doesn’t miss a beat; “I haven’t seen anything that awful happen to someone I cared about since....You know what, I’ve never cared about any famous person more than I do Michael to compare it to!” she wipes a stray tear from her eyes.

Eleanor gets to her feet; “Look, guys, I get it, I do. That wasn’t easy for me to watch either. But...we need to think about this.”

“What is there to think about?” Tahani challenges; “We need to save Michael! You saw what they were doing to him!”

“I know!” Eleanor responds, heatedly; “I wanna save him too but if we just rush in then we’ll be doing exactly what they want! This isn’t like last time when they didn’t know we would find out Janet had been swapped out - they sent us that footage hoping it would bait us into going back there! They want our Janet to reopen the tunnel because I guess their own Bad Janets suck at it.”

Janet watches as their team leader’s fingers twitch as she clearly struggles to remain pragmatic and reasonable against the distressing footage they’ve just witnessed. A part of her admires and respects Eleanor for thinking clearly. And there’s nothing in Janet’s omniscient mind that would question her reasoning. 

Yet, oddly enough, she wants to say ‘fork that’ and get...angry. That’s new.

“I hate to be the one to say it but we’re doing so well and they know this! They’re trying to sabotage us again by having us risk ourselves going back there, which is the last thing Michael would want.”

Jason finally pipes up; “I dunno, I think being pushed into a tank filled with giant electric piranhas, might not be what Michael wants either.”

It’s almost impossible for Jason to sound sarcastic, but Janet senses an undertone of it beneath his usual vague tone.

“Look....Michael knew the risks when he chose to stay behind, he told you guys to get out safe and not to reset...We would be making his sacrifice for nothing if we threw our progress away now...”

“How can you be so cold? He’s our friend!” Tahani stares at her.

“And I was the first one who wanted to go back for him when I saw he wasn’t on that handcart, remember?!” Eleanor snaps back, “Janet was the one who said to wait it out, in case he escaped!”

“I was wrong.”

Everyone goes quiet, their eyes turning to fix on her. She clenches her thumb tight in front of her dress.

“I’ve never been wrong about anything before...I didn’t think it was possible. But I was wrong about that.” Janet admits, her lip wobbling; “I thought they would just do what they did to me for all those months, lock me in a cell and have me watch Vicky’s bad rehearsals. I never thought they would...I hoped that Michael would...”

Jason gets up and quietly moves over, putting his arms around her. She puts her hand to his back, not having realised how badly she needed a hug right now.

“It was easier not knowing...Horrible but, you’re right...Now I can’t stop picturing what they’ve been doing to him. Poor Michael. He looked so...” Tahani’s fingers touch her hcest.

Small. Scared. Weak.

Alone.

“We only have a few months left. He’s lasted this long, if we can just bear through-.” Eleanor tries.

“No.” Janet responds.

She’s not used to saying that word.

Eleanor looks at her, sympathetically; “Babe, I know it’s hard, trust me-.” She tries to reach other to touch Janet’s wrist.

She moves back.

“No, Eleanor. I don’t think you have any idea how hard it is.”

“Oh, really? You don’t think that I’ve had to make sacrifices recently? Did you forget what I had to give up...What Chidi had to-?”

“Chidi gets to walk around in the fresh air, he gets to teach and do the things he loves, with only the mild anxious torture. You get to watch over him and make sure he’s safe and know that in a few months, he’ll remember you again.” Janet points out, “Michael is suffering. Every second he stays down there...and you know, as well as I do, Eleanor, what a baby he can be just getting a hangnail. He did that...to save me. To help us! And you just want to leave him there?!”

Eleanor exhales, looking a little knocked back. It’s about time someone knocked her out of the tunnel vision she’s locked herself in since this started.

“Of course not.” She replies, voice breaking; “I’m just not sure-.”

“He loves you.”

Eleanor stops. Her mouth opens, wordless. 

“You know it already, don’t you? You must know, you’re not stupid.” Janet tells her, “He loves all of you so forking much...If you don’t know that, I might need to check you didn’t suffer some sort of aneurysm when he gave your memories back, because I saw it all. I watched him start to grow tired of torturing you all. I watched him have to fake looking ecstatic when Shawn said he was being promoted and then, as soon as he was free too, have a freak out at the idea of having to betray you all. I watched him collect all the mementos he has of his time with you guys. I’ve listened him talk for hours about how he adores you all...”

Tahani and Jason both look solemn. Janet’s eyes focus on Eleanor.

“I watched him cling to your ticker tape for over a year. Never sleeping, never stopping...You were all he cared about in the Universe and was prepared to risk everything to save you all. And he’s never once asked for anything in return...He sure as There wouldn’t ask you to save him now. That’s why we should.” Janet rouses, “Jason told me about what happened that night before I got rescued. Michael did so much for you all and you were willing to risk losing him over a lie.”

“It wasn’t like that-.” Eleanor winces with guilt.

“He’s never stopped believing in any of you guys since he changed.” Janet cuts in, “And he’d literally jump into fire to save any of you! But you’re not willing to do the same for him? Damn...you humans. I’m starting to get why some immortals feel the need to torture you.”

That feels like too much to say. Being angry isn’t fun, it turns out. It almost conflicts enough with her Good nature that she feels ready to melt. No wonder humans say and do stupid things when they’re pissed off.

“Janet...You know what’s at stake here and why we need you-.” Eleanor tries again.

“So we should be willing to let Michael be in pain in order to win?” Tahani interrupts; “I’m sorry, Eleanor, but I’m with Janet on this one. If saving humanity means sacrificing our own then I want no part of it.”

“Oooh, good one.” Jason comments.

“Thank you.”

Eleanor rolls her eyes. Janet can see how torn up she is right now. It’s no easy position to be in. But neither is the torture dungeon where one of them is trapped right now.

She takes a step forward, reaching out to touch Eleanor’s arm.

The short human sniffs; “...Why did we have to teach him to be so....not selfish?!”

“If it helps, I don’t think you did. Michael might have learned ethics and morals from you guys...But that love he has? That...unconditional, reckless, self-sacrificing love? He found that all on his own. It’s easy for me, I was designed to care about humans. But Michael had to fight against every one of his natural, evil impulses to be our friend. You don’t have to love him back after what he did to you for all those years....But you should at least appreciate that.”

The humans have no words. So much for Janet’s not being one for speeches. But then she’s no ordinary Janet.

Enough chit-chatting. That’s just another few minutes Michael has had to suffer.

“You guys have shown you can run the neighbourhood with just Derek. You can do it again. I’m going to rescue my friend...my oldest, my truest, most loyal friend...” She repeats the words he said to her; “...Because I do love him.”

To love a demon, something else that seems to go against her natural instinct, as she feels her essence fizzle a little. Worth it.

[roseherondale]

Where Did Everybody Go?

Summary: Whumptober 2020 Day 8. Jace is injured and Kit tries to help.

Word Count: 1481

Warnings: Injuries, blood

Read it on AO3 here

Kit thrust the Seraph blade into the demon, hearing it hiss loudly, before spinning around and attacking the next. Jace stood a few metres away, doing the same thing, but with more grace than Kit. They had been fighting for longer than Kit could keep track of, but he knew it had been a long time from the ache in his bones and the exhaustion that overwhelmed him. They were outnumbered, and had been barely staving them off.

"Now might be a good time to do the magic thing, kid." Jace called. Kit barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"I still haven't got control of it." He admitted, feeling a pang of regret when he heard Jace groan in mild annoyance. Kit knew, realistically, that Jace wasn't mad at him, and knew that it was out of his control, but he still felt his cheeks flush in shame.

It was in that brief moment that it happened. Kit continued battling, when he felt a hard body slam into his, knocking him to the ground. He rolled onto his back and clambered to his feet, but stopped still when he saw Jace lying on the ground a spine protruding from his stomach.

"Jace!" Kit shouted, and then he saw a blinding light, emitting from his body, cascading outwards in waves of mist. It reached every demon and they all screamed as they died.

Kit barely noticed, nor had time to think about how he had cast magic again. Within an instant, he was at Jace's side, clutching his arm.

"Jace?" He asked in a small voice.

"Hey kid. How about you try the stele." He prompted, looking up at Kit. His skin was covered in sweat, and had gone pale. Jace had his hand on the wound, wincing, and it came away covered in blood. He looked beyond saving, but Kit produced his stele anyway and drew an iratze onto his arm. At once the rune faded from his skin and Kit's eyes flitted to Jace's in a panic, but he just looked resigned, as though he knew what would happen.

He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a phone but he had no service. They were in a clearing in the middle of a forest. It was just supposed to be a simple training exercise, but then they were ambushed. Jace noticed Kit's face fall.

"Okay, kid. I'm going to need you to do something for me." His breathing was becoming shallow but he still reached over and squeezed Kit's hand. "I need you to go find some signal and call Magnus. He'll get you out of here, back to Jem and Tessa, okay?"

"No. No, I won't leave you." Kit said, stubbornly, squeezing Jace's arm tighter, as if he could stop him from dying.

"Kit, please. I need you to be safe, okay?" He begged, closing his eyes. "I'll be okay as long as I know you are."

"I can't leave you." Kit insisted.

"Look, kid, it was a pleasure to help train you and get to know you, but you're going to have to say goodbye. Tell Clary that I love her, and I love you too, kid." He added as an afterthought. Kit felt tears gather in his eyes and he sobbed.

"Don't say goodbye. Please." He begged, clinging to Jace and drawing more iratzes into his skin.

"It's no use. It's my time."

"It's not. It should have been me." Kit said, remembering how he had pushed his own body out of the way.

Jace frowned, looking angry. "Of course it shouldn't have been you. I saved you without a thought because you're my brother; I would happily give my life over and over for you."

"No." Kit sobbed, "please, don't go."

"Hey, it's okay. Breath, Kit, look at me." Jace forced himself into a sitting position, his frown softened, and wiped the tears from under his eyes. "I've got you, okay. I just really need you to focus and get yourself home; can you do that for me?"

Kit nodded, shakily. If he hurried, then maybe he could get Jace some help. It was as if reality had set in, and he couldn't bear to watch Jace die. There was nothing he could do; he needed Magnus.

"Goodbye, kid." Jace said as he stood up, but Kit shook his head.

"I'm going to get help, but you need to stay awake." Kit said, determinedly.

"Okay." Jace agreed in a whisper, but when Kit turned his back and started running through the trees, he wiped tears from his own eyes.

Before Kit even reached the other side of the clearing, a portal materialised, and out stepped Magnus and Alec. They immediately rushed to Jace's side, and Kit headed back, feeling an immense wave of relief.

"Alec? Is that you?" Jace asked, his eyes fluttering.

"Yes, of course. Stay awake, okay?" He replied, crouching beside him as Kit approached.

"How did you know?" Kit asked, breathlessly.

"Alec's parabatai rune." Magnus answered, helping Alec lift Jace and taking him through the portal. Kit followed, like a puppy at their heels, as they appeared in the infirmary. There were already Silent Brothers there, and Kit realised that Alec must have told someone to summon them before he left.

Clary waited in there, nervously biting her lip, at the state Jace was in, but when she saw Kit, she put her arm around his shoulders, and led him out of the room, behind Magnus and Alec. Kit couldn't help but give one final glance behind him.

Once they were outside, Clary led him away from the others and sat him on a chair. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's Jace we should be worried about." Kit said, his voice rising.

"He's with the Silent Brothers now, there's nothing we can do, okay? But you're hurt, so let me help you." He looked at her in confusion, but when she turned over his hands, he saw that there were blisters from the Seraph blades and cuts from the demons. She drew an iratze and then brushed the hair out of his forehead. He winced, but then the pain faded away; he must have cut his head without realising.

"There, that's better. Let's get you some water as well." It occurred to Kit that the reason Clary was coping so well was because she was mothering him to distract her, and he let it happen, sipping the water she brought him as she surveyed him.

At long last, one of the Silent Brothers came out of the infirmary. He spoke within their minds.

He will live. The Silent Brother announced, and everyone let out a collective breath of relief.

"Can I see him?" Clary asked.

Yes. He will wake soon. Clary ruffled Kit's hair, then hurried through into the infirmary. Kit moved closer to Alec and Magnus, sitting on the floor opposite the doors, hugging his knees to his chest.

He couldn't imagine that Jace would want to see him; afterall, it was his fault that he was injured and he was about to leave him before Alec and Magnus had shown up. Jace must hate him; after this, he would never want to train with him or see him again, and Kit felt a pang of sadness wash over him.

He didn't know how long had passed, but he dozed off a little. Startled awake, by the sound of the door opening, he stared at Clary in the doorway, silhoutted in the witchlight.

"Kit, come on; he wants to see you." She smiled, opening her arm. He stood, clumsily and walked over. The second he got close enough, she drew her arm around his shoulders and guided him in. Jace was lying in the bed, still pale, but less ghostly, and Kit couldn't see the wound anymore, which made him feel a lot more comfortable.

"Hey, kid." Jace smiled softly, indicating to one of the chairs by his bedside.

"Are you okay?" Kit asked, and Jace nodded, his smile widening into a grin.

"Just a scratch." He promised, and Kit raised his eyebrows, knowing that it was much more, but didn't correct him. "I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's okay." Kit said, his voice cracking.

"It's really not... I'm responsible for you; I should have done better." The grin disappeared.

"It's okay now, though. We're both fine." Kit insisted, and Jace nodded.

"At least you got the magic to work in the end; that was my plan all along." He laughed.

"Well it was a stupid plan." Kit said, and Jace shook his head, mockingly.

"You need to start following orders though." Jace insisted, and Kit laughed, rolling his eyes. Clary smiled, stepping back, to give them a moment, and disappearing through the door as quietly as she could. As long as they had each other's backs, they would be okay.

Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed it! As always, let me know what you think and I’ll hopefully see you tomorrow :)

Tag List: @immortal-enemies (If you want to be added send me a message or an ask x)

[fiercedeitylink-x-linkeduniverse]

Chapter 5: Portal Shifting

Time's POV

I walked into the healers' house. I made sure to be quiet so I wouldn't disturb anyone else. As I made my way over to Fierce, I heard someone crying. Is that Fierce? I hurried forward. I opened the door and to my horror, I saw Fierce crying in his sleep.

"Dad please don't die! Please. I'm sorry Dad." He was shaking with the force of his sobs. I swallowed hard. I hurried over to Fierce. I gently placed my hand on his shoulder.

His whole body jerked and his eyes snapped open. The terror and pain in his eyes... They were similar to some of the boys after their nightmares, especially Wild's. I removed my hand and glanced around the room, looking for a stool or chair of some sort. I spied a stool, walked over to pick it up, and placed it right by Fierce's bed. I sat down and waited for him to speak. He struggled to sit up on his own, so I helped him up. He swiped at his tears.

"I'm sorry, I just... When Wind got hurt, it reminded me of my dad when he died. I just..." His voice trailed off and tears began pouring down his face. He swiped at them again before speaking.

"My dad died in my arms, there was nothing I could do... I wasn't strong enough to save the soldiers, I wasn't strong enough to save Termina, I wasn't strong enough to save my dad from Majora!" He choked out. I froze. Majora should be dead, I killed him. I made sure of it. This was my fault. I should've made sure there wasn't a way for him to come back. I placed my hands on his. They were squeezing the sheets tightly.

"Nobody should've had to fight Majora, let alone a teenager. That shouldn't have been your burden to bear. Majora will never hurt you again, I promise." I'm going to make sure that this monster won't haunt Fierce anymore.

"Thank you, thank you so much!" He began to sob and I wrapped my arms around him.

"It's going to be okay, Fierce we're here for you now." I felt him take shuddering breaths as he struggled to calm down.

"I have some explaining to do tomorrow. I want to tell everyone what's going on. I was planning on doing it later when I got more used to you guys... But I don't have a choice now."

"Fierce if you don't want to explain anything, you don't have to," I hugged him tighter, hoping that I could reassure him.

"I want to though. You deserve to know." He whispered. His voice this whole time was hoarse and raspy before he was injured but now it was much worse. I'm going to make sure he takes a health potion before he starts talking tomorrow.

"Go back to sleep Fierce. We'll be waiting until YOU'RE ready to talk." I squeezed him one last time before letting go.

"Thank you, Time."

"You're welcome, Fierce."

~~~~~~~

3rd POV

Time walked back to the inn, his mind swirling with the countless thoughts that were racing through it. He walked into the inn. Warriors and Twilight were up.

"He'll explain everything tomorrow." Time replied before they could even ask.

"Is he okay?" Four asked, having just gotten off watch.

"Honestly? I don't know. Physically he's mending. Mentally? He's... He's not in a good place right now. He needs our support, not our questions." Time's voice was quiet with the recent revelations from Fierce. The guilt tried to crushed him but he refused to give in.

"Who's-"

"I will," Legend spoke up. He got up and brushed himself off. He took the same position that Four had just moments ago.

~~~~~

Wind's POV

I sat by Fierce's bed while he slept. I want to be there when he wakes up. He saved ME. I want to repay him for what he's done for me. The only thing I can think of is to be there when he wakes up. He's been out for two days. Everyone is worried. Especially Time. It's like he... I don't know what's going on with him. Apparently, Fierce had told him something private. Fierce had planned to explain everything, including his journey. But he didn't wake up.

The healers said that there was more internal damage than they had anticipated. So his body was forcing him to rest up by making him sleep. Hyrule wasn't sure if that was the whole story. He pointed out that he had used massive amounts of magic and was forced to drink a TON of red potions. It had taken a toll on his body. I sighed and laid my head by Fierce's left hand. I froze when I felt his fingers twitch before his hand slowly ruffled my hair.

"Fierce?!" I choked. He smiled weakly back at me.

Fierce's POV

How long have I been out? It feels like an eternity. I heard someone sigh and their hair brushed against my fingers. Wind? I opened my eyes. Wind's head was by my left hand. I slowly moved my hand until it was on his head. I slowly ruffled his hair. I felt him freeze up.

"Fierce?!" He choked. I smiled weakly back at him. Tears started leaking out of his eyes and he launched himself onto my chest, sobbing hard. I let out a startled yelp. I winced in pain but didn't comment and wrapped my arms around him. Four walked in carrying a tray of food and froze when he saw me.

"Fierce! He's awake everyone!" Four hollered before walking over and placing the food down slowly.

"Wind, you're probably hurting him." Four murmured. I winced in pain.

"Sor-sorry. I just missed you," He hiccuped loudly and wiped away his tears. Everyone else walked in looking worried and relieved at the same time. Four and Wind helped me sit up. I winced and placed a hand on my chest and hissed. It's okay, you've been through worse.

"I have some explaining to do," I rasped. Four shook his head.

"Eat first, then we'll see what we're gonna do." His eyes had specks of red in them.

"Okay," I muttered and noted that my fingers weren't working right. I frowned and flexed them until the proper feeling returned. I rotated my wrists to get the blood flowing again. Wild watched me like a hawk. Hyrule didn't miss any details.

"Is that from previous damage?" Hyrule asked.

"Yes, I fell through a frozen lake and almost lost my hands to frostbite." I rasped and Wind snatched up my hands and start massaging them.

"Let me know when to stop," Wind replied. It felt really good actually. My ex-girlfriend would do this when my fingers got too stiff to move. I felt my ears flick back and forth as my hands fully relaxed and pain left them.

"Thank you," I whispered. Wind stopped and hugged me and hopped off so could eat. It took me longer than I would've liked, but I got to eat.

"Um, I know you have questions... But I can't explain everything... I went through a lot and I haven't had the time to process everything before I fell through the portal. I was out camping to give myself to process and recover mentally. I just wanted to clarify that first," I started coughing when I finished, my throat throbbing and my ribs screamed in protest. I heaved struggling to catch my breath, and Wind offered me a red potion. I winced before chugging it down. I gagged at the taste and wiped off my mouth.

"Thanks, Wind." I rasped. My throat feels better. I shouldn't start hacking my lungs out.

"So, about the sword... I found it on an ancient battleground. It was stabbed into the ground and had a red cloth tied to it. I didn't want to touch it, but my friend... She told me it didn't deserve to be forgotten so I took the sword home with me. I've been using it ever since. I um-" I fidgeted wondering how much I should tell them.

"Fierce, if don't want to explain something, just say so." Legend flapped his hand.

"... There is one more thing... I have two pieces of the Triforce." I held up my left hand. The Triforce of courage and power glowed briefly.

"Woah! That's so cool!" Wind grinned at me. I smiled back at him.

"I didn't necessarily want The Triforce of Power, but I couldn't let Majora get his hands on it." I rubbed the marking on my hand. My right hand was heavily bandaged... How did not notice that?

"Majora?" Legend's face turned a bit pale.

"As in the mask, Majora?" His eyes clouded over troubled.

"Oh... He's just a mask? He was a demon god where I'm from..." I muttered.

"His spirit was banished from the mask and it became a normal mask." Time spoke up, his one staring at the tiles.

"But somehow he came back to life," I finished for him.

"I tried to figure out how he came back, but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation." I scratched the back of my head.

"That's in the past. And that's where it's going to stay." Time stern tone caused everyone to flinch.

"Anyway, I want to apologize to you Fierce. I knew something was stalking us and I should've told you to explore somewhere else. " Wild's ears were flicking back and forth.

"There's nothing to apologize for. It wasn't your fault. We all knew something was off. If anyone should be to blame it's the monsters. They were the ones who harmed us," I wrapped an arm around Wind's shoulders.

"Alright, we should let Fierce rest. We need to get moving soon. I want to introduce him to Flora," Wild grinned.

~~~~

Sky's POV

Fierce was finally up and about now. He was very stiff and had some trouble breathing if he did too much. I could sympathize with him on that front. My asthma causes me to have trouble breathing from time to time. Fierce was constantly stretching making sure his muscles wouldn't get too stiff from not moving. Wind would copy him and it was pretty cute, watching Wind trying to mimic Fierce.

Everyone was getting their gear gathered up and ready to go since Fierce deemed himself ready to travel. He knew the limits of his own body but the healers were hesitant to let him go. They were worried he was pushing himself. Wild interjected saying he would teleport everyone there and he wouldn't be walking for too long.

But we didn't expect a portal to appear under our feet and cause everyone to be separated. I fell on my behind with a yelp. Fierce groaned loudly and I watched as he struggled to get out of the poor bush he landed on. "Do you need help, Fierce?" I gingerly climbed to my feet and walked over to him.

"I- grunt - Yeah. Help." I felt my lips twitched violently as I grabbed his arm.

"Holy birds! You're really stuck!" I pulled harder but he was stuck. Fierce's ears turned cherry red as he offered me his injured hand. I grabbed them both and pulled. I yelped as Fierce was suddenly set free from the bush and landed on top of me.

"Fierce, get off. Can't breathe!" I gasped out and he scrambled off. I coughed, getting my breath back, and sat up.

"Fierce...You just killed that poor bush." I started heaving as I struggled not to laugh. It was practically squashed. Fierce turned completely red briefly before I lost it and howled with laughter. Fierce was too embarrassed to even laugh. His ears pinned back briefly before climbing to his feet and offering me a hand up. I gladly took his hand. Fierce pulled me to my feet easily. I guess using such a heavy claymore requires you to be quite strong. Hyrule forbade him from using it until he was completely healed and Legend agreed. Apparently, Legend had cleaned off his blade for him and knew how heavy it was. He uses power bracelets but he could tell how heavy it was. I shook my head clear of my thoughts.

"Do you know where we are?" He asked eyeing the landscape.

"Unfortunately no. We'll have to get out of the forest before I can figure it out. I've been to everyone's Hyrule so far. But I don't remember being in any forests besides Wild's Hyrule."             I sighed.

"We need to find shelter. It's gonna rain." Fierce began rubbing his wrists.

"Weather affects your wrists too?" I asked worriedly when I heard him hiss.

"I can feel it getting cold. Probably going to be rain and sleet. Ouch!" His right wrist popped loudly to my horror. He cradled his arm to his chest hissing.

"Are you okay?" I hurried over.

"I- I won't be able to use my hand now. Gosh, darn it!" I unclipped my sailcloth from its clasp.

"Let me help. I can use this for a temporary sling until we find something else," Fierce's eyes were clouding over with phantom pain and he nodded. I made sure to be extremely gentle as I placed his right hand in the makeshift sling. He hissed loudly but didn't yelp. I tied the knot quickly so we could keep moving and find somewhere to hide from the oncoming storm.

~~~~~

It had taken some time before we had found a cave but it started storming midway to the cave Fierce had spotted. By the time we got there, we were soaked to the bone. Fierce was shivering uncontrollably and I immediately began searching for moss and bark to start a fire. I hunted quickly through my bag first to see if I had any bundles of wood leftover from camping. Thankfully I had some left. I quickly placed them in the fire breaker Fierce had somehow managed to create. He was in a fetal position trying to keep what little warmth he had left.

"Fierce, I hate to ask this of you... But I don't have any flint and steel to start the fire and you use a little bit of magic just to get it started? But no more than that!" I watched as he lifted his head and extended his left hand. He muttered a spell under his breath and the wood caught on fire.

"You need to change Fierce, your bandages will need to be changed." I pulled off my tunic and chainmail and set it somewhat close to the fire. I pulled out a spare tunic and slipped it over my head. Fierce whined softly in pain. I looked up and watched as he struggled to move his left hand. I walked over and sat down next to him.

"Let me take care of your tunic and wounds. You can't even move your fingers." I gently pulled off his gauntlets carefully but it still caused him great pain.

~~~~

After helping him change out of his wet clothes I made sure to immediately redo his bandages. One of his chest wounds was red from being rubbed with a soaked cloth. I winced and decided not to put anything on it. It was so raw that if it could make any sounds it would be screaming. Unfortunately, that means Fierce couldn't wear his spare tunic.  He was covered in goosebumps and shivering violently. I had wrapped his arm up after drying off my sailcloth and drying him off with dry cloth from my bag. I leafed through Fierce's bag trying to find a cloak he could use. Thankfully there was one he could use. I gently wrapped it around his shoulder and made sure he was covered.

Fierce didn't talk and was struggling to stay awake. I scooted the both of us closer to the fire to keep him warm. I had rearranged the bedrolls earlier so that we could sleep there when I was done taking care of Fierce. When everything was said and done, Fierce's head was buried in my chest. I wrapped my arms around him to keep him close so he would stay warm. I silently pleaded with the goddesses that Fierce won't be sick tomorrow.

~~~~~

Fierce's POV

I woke up to a vivid burning sensation in my chest. I hissed in pain and pulled away from Sky. I slowly sat up and to my horror, my wound was swollen and there was a liquid substance leaking out of it and down my chest. I gagged.

"Oh no! I was hoping this wouldn't happen!" Sky whispered and shook his head.

"Your wound is infected and Hyrule isn't here to help,"

I'm screwed.

[general-rusty]

Hazbin AU Swap

Alastor the host to hell's 6th most popular radio station, out got of him apartment to see the ruins from his balcony. He clears his throat and started to sing.

Chasing Happiness ♪ At the end of the journey there's happiness ♪ ♪ And to find it, how often I’ve tried ♪ ♪ But my life is a race ♪ ♪ Just a wild goose chase ♪ ♪ And my hopes, they were just a lie♪ ♪ Why have I always been a failure ♪ ♪ What could the reason be ♪ ♪ I wonder if the world's to blame ♪ ♪ I wonder if it could be me ♪ ♪ I'm always looking for hope♪ ♪ searching them with my tears♪ ♪ My schemes are just like all my dreams ♪ ♪ Ending every year♪ ♪ Some fellows look and find the sunshine ♪ ♪ I always look and find the rain ♪ ♪ Some fellows make a winning sometime ♪ ♪ I never even make the game ♪ ♪ Believe me ♪ ♪ I'm always looking for hope♪ ♪ Waiting to find the happiness♪ ♪ In vain ♪

In the streets of Hell

A Demon falls from the sky and lands on the ground. "Oh, I’m alive. I’m alive!" He said

A motorcycle runs him over and stop to drop off a leatherjacket wearing Niffty. "Heh. Thanks for the fun time, hot stuff." A male raccoon demon said.

"Yeah, yeah, listen. Keep this discreet, hear me? I can’t let it get out I’m offering my services to creeps on the street. It was a quick cash grab, ya got it?" Niffty said

The Raccoon scoffs, "Whatever you say, slut!" He laughs

"Ouch, ooh, such an insult!  Let me know when you come up with something creative to call me you sack of poorly packaged horse shit. Tell the mrs' I said hi. Schnookums." Niffty quipped

The motorcycle rides off

Niffty brush the dust off of herself. A hooded demon grab the cash out of Niffty's hand "Yoink!"

"Hey!" Niffty shouted

"Up yours, midget!" The hooded demon shouted. A rock falls onto the hooded demon.

Niffty gasps, "Oh my god! My money! Dang it!" She shouted

Up on Ms Cherri's ship.

"HAHAHA! THOSE WEAK SINNERS WONT DARE TOUCH MY TERRITORY OF DESTRUCTION! A WISE DECISION, THE POWER OF MY EXPLOSIVES ARE UNMATCHED! NOW ONE, ONE COULD COMPARE TO THE LIKENESS OF I!" Ms Cherri laughed. Cherri now wears a ugly red pantsuit.

"Gee, that is pretty good, boss!" One of Cherri's cherryboi yuppie minions said

"Yeah! You really showed them what for!" another Cherryboi said

"I loved it when you blow them up them with your grenade launcher." said a Cherryboi

"I wish she’d shoot me with her grenade launcher." cried a Cherryboi

Another Cherryboy pat his Cherrybrother's back.

"IN A FEW DAYS ILL DESTROY THE ENTIRE EAST SIDE OF THE PENTAGRAM! HELL WILL BE RUINED! AND EVERY ONE WILL FEAR THE NAME OF MS. CH-" Ms Cherri yelled.

"SSSLUT!" A wise guy shouted.

"DAFUQ!? WHO SAID THAT! WHAT DID YOU SAID SHITTY EXCUSE FOR A FRUIT!? SPEAK THE FUCK UP!" Cherri threatened.

A explosive egg bot was YEETED through the windshield and explodes in front of everyone.

Pentious now in patches and his top hat is a now flat cap, jumps through the hole in the windshield, "You looking for a fight, filthy whore? why won't you take your little whore house nonsense of my territory before I sssmasssh it." a support beam falls on to a cherryboi. "more..." Pentious threatened.

"OH YOU WANNA GO GRANDPA!? I HOPE YOU LIKE GUNPOWDER BECAUSE THAT'S ALL YOU WILL GET!" Cherri shouted while her Cherrybois surround Pentious.

The morning report. Two demons were at the desk. A oppressive suited man with white combed to the side hair and a gasmask for a face. And a frail white blonde woman with red eyes. "Good afternoon! I’m Tommy Trench." Tommy announced.

"And I’m Kate Killjoy. Chaos at a pentagram city today as a turf war is raging on the east side. Between notable Queen pin Ms Cherri Bomb and self-proclaimed wise guy Pentious." Kate reported.

"That’s right Kate! After the recent extermination, many areas are now up for grabs! Demons all over Hell are already duking it out to gain new territory!" Tommy reported.

"Those two seem to really be going at it, huh?" Kate repiled.

"Looks like they’re fighting tooth and nail for that hot spot!" Tommy pulls a tooth and nail out of the mug, place them on the desk, and smash them with his fist.

"And I’d sure love to get my hot spot nailed by him." Kate giggles.

Tommy chuckles, "You sure are a big pussy whore, Kate. Or should I say-" Tommy pours coffee onto Kate's crotch -Burnt Pussy."

"Not again!" Kate cried. Kate curled up in pain.

"Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with the host of Hell’s 6th most popular radio, who’s here to discuss his brand-new passion project! All that and more, after the break!" Tommy crushes the mug. "Suck it up you little bi-"

Backstage.

Alastor now a lot more tender and tweak like, and Husk which is wearing a withered red and black leisure suit. "Okay. You remember what to say?" Husk ask.

Alastor took a deep breath. "Okay! Let’s do this!"

"Look at me, and I’ll mouth it to you." Husk said.

"Come on, Husker! I know all of the currant slang terms! I just feel like we need to- I don’t know, make things sound more glamour and darb-" Alastor gasp, "Oh! What if I-"

"-sing a song about it?" Husk said.

Alastor chuckles, "You knew I was gonna say that."

"Because you're like a book. But please don’t fucking sing. This is serious." Husk stated

"Well you know, I’m better at expressing myself and my goals through song! It's my job after all." Alastor said.

"But this isn’t like the radio, Al." Husk

"Okay I’ll just have to resort to my impeccable improve skills." Alastor said with a southern bell accent.

Now with Tommy Trench.

Alastor walks up to Tommy. "Hi! I’m Alastor." holds out his hand.

"Tommy Trench." Tommy drops the cigarette and stomps on it. "I’d say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but that's a horseshit lie. You can put that away." Alastor pulls his hand back. "I don’t touch the mixes. I have standards."

"Yeah? How’s uh- how’s that working out for ya?" Alastor asked while a support beam falls down onto a crewman. "Can someone help me!" the crewman screamed in pain.

"Look, my time is money, so I’ll keep this short. We’re not here because we wanted you here, you’re here because Rodney couldn’t make it for his dating show."

Alastor looked past Tommy's shoulder to see Kate rolling her eyes.

"You might be some radio bigshot, but that doesn’t mean shit to me. I’m too rich and too influential to give a flying fuck about what some tux-wearing F list radio host wants to advertise." Tommy got into Alastor's face.

"But I-" Alastor stuttered.

"-So don’t get funny with me buddy, or I will fucking end you." Tommy threatened.

"And we’re live!" A crewman shouted.

Tommy ran back to his seat and Alastor walks to his seat. "Welcome back! So, Alex-" Alastor interrupts, "It’s Alastor."

"Whatever. Tell us about this new passion project you’ve been insistently pestering our news station about!" Tommy grips the handgun in his jacket.

Alastor clears his throat, "As most of you know, I have been here in Hell since 1933, and if you remember life wasn't easy back then, but as you can see life is a lot worse here than it was there. I always tried to see the good in everything around me. Hell is my home, and you are my people. We-" Tommy shoots a bug with that handgun. Blood splashes onto Alastor's face. "We just went through another extermination. We lost so many souls, and it breaks my heart to see my people being slaughtered every year. No one is even given a chance! I can’t stand idly by while the place I live is subjected to such violence! So, I’ve been thinking. Isn’t there a more humane way to hinder overpopulation here in Hell? Perhaps we can create an alternative way to change souls through… redemption? Well I think yes. So that’s what this project aims to achieve! Ladies and gentlemen, I’m opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!" Alastor announce.

...

"Y’know? ‘Cause hotels are for people passing through… temporarily."

In a dive bar in the hick part of hell. A bear demon laughes, "Is this guy for real? He thinks, you hear what this city boy thinks? he-' short laugh "-Oh, he’s nuts."

The camera man spoke up. "Stupid nig-"

Husk uppercuts the camera man.

"Look, every single one of you has something good deep down inside. I know you do. Maybe I’m not getting through to you." Alastor said

Husk sighs "Oh no."

Alastor snaps his fingers to bring his jazz band in.

♪ We have a dream ♪ ♪ We wish to tell ♪ ♪ And it’s just ball ♪ ♪ ‘Cause you’re one of a kind ♪ ♪ A charming demon belle! ♪ ♪ Now let’s give these burning fools a place to dwell ♪ ♪ (Take it, boys!) ♪ ♪ (Boo!) ♪ ♪ Inside of every demon is a cause ♪ ♪ We’ll dress ‘em up and give them a smile! ♪ ♪ (With a smile!) ♪ ♪ And we’ll chlorinate this cesspool ♪ ♪ With some old redemption flair ♪ ♪ And show these guys some proper class and style! ♪ ♪ (What’s in style?) ♪ ♪ (Oh!) ♪ ♪ Here below the ground ♪ ♪ I’m sure your plan is sound!  ♪ ♪ They’ll spend a little time ♪ ♪ Down at this Happy Ho-- ♪

Random demon: "Shut the fuck up! That is shit!"

Everyone laughs uncontrollably.

"What in the nine circles makes you think a single denizen of Hell would give two shits about becoming a better person? You have no proof that this little experiment even works! You want people to be good just… because?" Tommy and Kate laughs.

"Well, we have a patron already who believes in our cause, and she’s shown incredible progress!" Alastor shouted

"Oh? And who might that be?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, just someone named… Niffty." Alastor replied.

"The porn star?" Kate asked.

Tommy slowly turns around pointing that handgun at Kate. "You fucking would, Kate." Tommy turns back around. "In any case, that’s not even an accomplishment. I’m sure you can get that hooker to do anything with enough booger sugar and lube."

"Oh, I beg to differ. She’s been behaved, clean, and out of trouble for 2 weeks now." Alastor replied.

"Breaking news!" Shouted a crewman

Tommy pushed Alastor away. "We are receiving word that a new player has entered the ongoing turf war! Let’s go to the live feed!"

Shows Niffty kicking Cherryboi ass.

"Di Mi!." Alastor whispered.

"Dee Me indeed! It looks like the one who just joined the battle is none other than-" gasp "-porn actress Niffty! What a juicy coincidence! You must feel really stupid right now." Tommy said

Tommy and Kate laugh. "Ratings!"

Alastor gasped, "Don’t look at this!" He tried to hid the window on the greenscreen.

"Well, it sure looks like your little project is dead on arrival. Tell us, how does it feel to be such a total failure?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah? Well- how does it feel that I got your pen, huh? Dick?!" Alastor shouted.

Tommy went silent.

Alastor nervously laughs, "Sorry." Put the pen back.

Kate runs away while Tommy got the flamethrower

Back in the streets

"Hey thanks for the backup, Niffts!" Pentious shouted.

"You kiddin'? This is the best action I've seen in ages!" Niffty replied.

Pentious throws a egg bomb. "Where have you been anyways? I thought you died or something."

"Oh I wish! I've been staying at this dirty hotel on the other side of town. Some guys let me stay rent free if I play nice His words, not mine. These assholes are no fun! I’ve been clean for two weeks!" Niffty answered.

"Holy crap." Pentious replied.

"Well, sorta clean. As clean as you can get with a shitload of Bolivian marching powder." Niffty replied.

Cherri whips and ties Niffty up in a vine.

"Oh, harder mommy!" Niffty moaned.

Cherri gasp, "Daughter?!"

Niffty raise the brow in a "Da fuck?" way.

"You douches have no style! In war, the side remembered is the side with the most style." Cherri pop her collar up.

"Or the side that ain’t 6 feet under." Pentious replied.

"Speaking of style, what's up with the colors, it's red this and red that. Is it that time of the month?" Pentious quipped.

"Oh, well, that’s none of your goddamn business, now is it?" Cherri shouted.

"Oh yeah we're not suppose to talk about that." Niffty quipped.

"I’m going to blow you to bits!" Cherri threatened.

"Hm! Kinky!" Niffty quipped.

"Oh, not like that! creep!" Cherri replied.

Cherriyboi shoots at Niffty with a vine net gun.

"Not so cocky now, are we?" Cherri threatened.

"Y’know, you really gotta watch what comes out of your mouth. I’ve been making these sex jokes the whole-" Cherri pulls out a smg "-TIME! And it’s obvious ya ain’t catchin’ on-" Niffty kicks Cherri, takes her gun and shoots at the Cherryboi. "-I mean, it’s just SAD!

"So think you’re gonna get in a lot of trouble for this?" Pentious asked.

"Eh, what’s one little brawl gonna cause?" Niffty asked.

Back in the newsroom.

Alastor and Tommy are going at it fisticuffs, while the flamethrower is blowing fire to the right of the desk.

Kate runs into view of the camera while on fire. "Why won’t anyone help me?!" She screams.

Back in the streets. "Glad ya haven’t changed. You know you’re my favorite gal to party with!" Pentious shouted.

"You know it, you slimy snake. You ready to finish this?" Niffty asked.

"Hell yeah, baby." Pentious answered.

Niffty, Pentious, Ms Cherri, CherryBois, Alastor, Tommy, and Kate yelling in a 4 screen split.

In the Limo driving to the hotel Niffty was playing with the window

Husk carving a wooden steak and giving Niffty the death stare.

Niffty looks up to Husk, "What?"

"What? What?! What were you fucking doing?!" Husk shouted.

Niffty sighs, "Look I owed my snake buddy a solid! Isn’t that a “redeeming quality"? Helping pals with stuff?" Niffty shouted.

"Not with turf wars that result in genocide!" Husk shouted.

"Eh, you win some, you lose a few hundred, plus didn't you caused a Genocide." Niffty snickers.

Husk throws the wooden steak at Niffty which pierced throw the window.

"Aw come on, I had to! My credibility was on the line-" Niffty sighs "-I mean, what kind of reputation would I have if people found out I was trying to go clean? It just throws out my entire persona."

"Your credibility? What about the hotel? Your little stunt made us look like fucking clowns!" Husk shouted.

"No no no, hon. Clowns are funny! I made you look… uh, sad! And pathetic! Like an orphan, with no arms, or legs… Uh… oh, with progeria! Great! Now I’m bummed thinking about it! This thing have any liquor?" Niffty asked.

"Can you please just try to take this seriously?" Husk asked.

"Fine, I’ll try, just don’t bitch to your mother while you're fucking her." Niffty quipped.

"What was that you trying to be?" Husk got up and pulled out his knife.

"Whatever pisses you off the most. Is there seriously no liquor in here?!" Niffty shouted.

"I’m gonna kill her." Husk sat back down.

"Too late, hon. Wait, would that make me double dead? And where exactly do I go, to double Hell? Sorry, you’re stuck with me, bitch. Get used to it." Niffty laughs.

"Fucking bitch!" Husk mumbled.

"Listen, who cares if some jagoffs got hurt? Most of them are ugly freaks. Look around! Got a bunch of fuckin’ harlequin babies down here." Niffty said.

"You’re one to talk." Husk quipped.

"Hey! This body is flawless! Everyone wants some of me, and I’ve got the creepy fan letters to prove it!" Niffty pulls out a letter with stains.

"That was really not swell y’know, Niffty" Alastor said.

"Not Sweel?! After that trainwreck, there is no way anyone is gonna wanna stay at the hotel. All thanks to you and your selfish bullshit!" Husk shouted.

"Does that mean I don’t have a free room anymore?" Niffty asked.

Husk pulls the knife out again.

"Ah, well, shucks." Niffty snaps.

"Hey, come on, we don’t know if things are over yet. Try to relax, Husker. It’ll be okay!" Alastor reassured.

At the Happy Hotel

The three open the door. Husk sat down on to the couch to look at his hands, his mind goes back to the war.

Niffty went to the fridge to get a beer. "It’s probably a good idea to get some actual food in this place. Y’know, to feed all the wayward souls ya got in here." Niffty laughed, but then it became nervous laughter, and then she just stops.

Alastor went out to talk to his boss. "Hey Boss. Um, I know I keep calling, and you must want that kale paid back. But um, the interview isn't sitting pretty and... I don’t know if I’m going to make a difference. I don’t know what I’m doing. I could really use some advice, Boss. I think you're right about me. A-anyway, I’ll stop talking before this gets long." Alastor went back in.

A knock to the tune of Come On Eileen was on the door.

Alastor opens the door to see Charlie in her demon form.

"Hell-"

Alastor slams the door, and then open it again to see if he just saw that.

-o."

Alastor slams the door again. "Hey Husker?

"What?!" Husk asked.

"The Musical Demon is at the door!" Alastor nervously answered.

"Holy shit what?!" Husk drops the knife.

"Uh, who?" Niffty asked

"What should I do?" Alastor asked.

"Well, don’t let that bitch in!" Husk shouted

Alastor slowly opens the door.

"May I speak now?" Charlie asked.

"You may-" Alastor said.

"Charlie, pleasure to be meeting you, sweetheart, quite a pleasure. Excuse my visit, but I saw your riot on news and I just couldn’t resist. What a performance! Why, I haven’t been that entertained since the Great White show of 2003. Ah so many bodies." Charlie introduced

"Stop right there!" Husk pointed a M16 at Charlie. "I know your game. And I’m not gonna let you hurt anyone here, you spunky, quirky, musical harlot!" Husk threatened.

Charlie laughs slightly, "Hon, if I wanted to hurt anyone here... I would have done so already...." spooky demonic stuff pops up and then goes away. "No, I’m here because I want to help!"

"Say what now?" Alastor asked.

"Help!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Um, you want to help?" Alastor asked.

"With this ridiculous thing you’re trying to do! This hotel! I want to help you run it." Charlie exclaimed.

"Uh… why?" Alastor asked.

Charlie laughs, "Why does anyone do anything? Sheer, absolute boredom! I’ve lacked inspiration for decades! My work became mundane, lacking focus, aimless! I’ve come to crave a new form of entertainment!"

"Does getting into a fist fight with a upstage reporter count as entertainment?" Alastor asked.

Charlie laughs, "Absolutely, it's reality.  After all, the world is a stage! And the stage is a world of entertainment!"

"So, does this mean that you think it’s possible to rehabilitate a demon?" Alastor asked.

Charlie laughs, "Ha no. That’s wacky nonsense! Redemption, oh the non-existent humanity! Nononono, I don’t think there’s anything left that could save such loathsome sinners! The chance given was the life they lived before; the punishment is this! There is no undoing what is done!"

"So then, why do you want to help me if you don’t believe in my cause?" Alastor asked.

"Consider it an investment in ongoing entertainment for myself! I want to watch the scum of the world struggle to climb up the hill of betterment! Only to repeatedly trip and tumble down to the fiery pit of failure." Charlie stated.

"Right?" Alastor nervously asked.

"Yes indeedy! I see big things coming your way, and who better to help than I…" Charlie exclaimed.

With Husk and Niffty.

"Ah, so uh, what’s the deal with Smiles over there?" Niffty asked.

"Wait, you’ve never heard of her before? You’ve been here longer than me!" Husk shouted.

"Only for a decade." Niffty replied.

"The Musical Demon, one of the most powerful fuckers Hell has ever seen?" Husk stated.

"Eh, not big on politics." Niffty answered.

"Some fuckin' time ago, Charlie was let out of Lucifer's castle she rampaged the fuck out of everything and then she started podcasting her carnage through fucking songs people started calling her, the music demon.. That kind of raw power had never been harnessed by a mortal soul before. Strange song and dense numbers would play on the radio paired with terrifying screams and cries for help. She'd force victims to join in and those who wouldn't or couldn't got the worst of it. Sinners started calling her the Musical Demon. (How fucking original!) Many have speculated what unimaginable force enabled her to rival our world’s most ancient and destructive evils. But one thing’s for sure: She’s an unpredictable source of danger, a wicked spirit of mystery, and a violent monster of chaos the likes of which we can’t risk getting involved with unless we want to end up erased." Husk annoyingly exclaims.

"Bash ears much?" Niffty silently laughs, "She looks like a cinnamon roll princess!"

"Well, I don’t trust her!" Husk spat.

"To be fair, do you trust anyone?" Niffty asked. "Anyone."

Husk went to Alastor.

"Al, man, listen to me. You can’t believe this girl! She isn’t just a happy face! She’s a dealmaker, pure evil! She's Lucifer's daughter! She can’t be redeemed! And is most likely looking for a way to destroy everything we’re trying to do. And we don't want that." Husk stated.

"I know she’s bad, and I know she probably doesn’t wanna change, but the whole point of this is to give people a chance! To have faith things will be better! How can I turn someone away? I can’t.  It goes against everything I’m trying to do. Everything I believe in. I would be like them back then. Just trust me. I can take care of myself." Alastor stated.

"Alastor, whatever you do, do not make a deal with him!" Shouted.

"Don’t worry, I picked up one thing from them. “Ya don’t take shit from rich folk!”  Okay, so… Charlotte. You’re sketchy, and you clearly see what I’m trying to do here is a joke. But I don’t. I think everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better. So, I’m taking your offer to help. On the condition that there be no tricks or voodoo strings attached." Alastor nervously said.

"So it’s a deal then?" Charlie asked.

Alastor takes a gulp before he shakes her burning hot hands. Her hand burns Alastor's hand like a hot stove. Alastor cries in pain.

Charlie let go of Alastor hand and went to Husk.

Alastor went to the fridge to get something to cool his hand.

"Smile, my boy! You know you’re never fully dressed without one!" Charlie stated. "So where is your hotel staff?" She asked.

"Uh, well…" Alastor points to Husk and Niffty with his good hand.

Husk growls.

"Oh ho ho ho, you’re going to need more than that." Charlie stated.

"And what can you do you quirky cutie?" Charlie asked Niffty.

"I can finger you to heaven." Niffty replied.

"Maybe not..." Charlie said.

"Your loss." Niffty stated.

"Well this just won’t do! I suppose I can cash in a few favors to liven things up!" Charlie snaps, which cleans the fireplace and light up a fire in it. Charlie then pulled out a tall and dark demon from the fireplace. Charlie then shake it a little to get rid of the soot which reveals our white and pink Spider Boi Angel Dust.

"This tall friend is Angel!" Charlie said.

"Hello, my name is angel, it been along time since I saw any guy... IS ANYONE HERE GAY!? sorry, that was rude... OH MY! this place is disgusting, it really need the fabulous touch, which is weird cause I'm sure at least one of you is gay..." Angel went all around the room with his 6 arms cleaning and remodeling everything.

Charlie snaps again.

A gray female demon was at a bar talking to a male demon, "Okay that will be $50 for a hand- wohhhhhh" All kinds of demonic shit goes around Vaggie "¿Que demonios?" Vaggie notices Charlie, "YOU!"

"Veggie sweat heart glad you could make it!" Charlie exclaims and then hugs

"Don't you veggie me! I was working!" Vaggie pushed Charlie away.

"Good to see you to!" Charlie laughed

"What do you want?" Vaggie asked.

"Well sweaty I'm doing some charity work and I took it upon my self to volunteer your Service!" Charlie answered.

"Are you joking!?" Vaggie asked.

"No, I don't think so! I thought you could be the new face of this fine establishment!"  Charlie points to a pole. "With your fine smile and "past experience" this job was made for you!" Charlie stated.

"IM AINT DOING NO CHAIRTY WORK DO I LOOK LIKE SOME KIND OF A FUCKING JOKE!?" Vaggie shouted.

"Maybe, but don't worry,I can make it more rewarding, if you wish." Charlie projects all of the cute good times they had back then.

"What!? you can think you can buy me with a wink and some good memories!? Well you can!" Vaggie got up to the stage

"Hey hey, heyheyhey! NO! No pole dancing we're meant to be a place that discourages sin! Not some kind of… casino, brothel, man-cave-" Husk ranted.

Niffty jumps on Husk. "Shut up! Shut! Up! We are keeping this." Niffty pointed to Vaggie. "Hey." Niffty flirted to Vaggie

"¡Vete a la mierda!" Vaggie said.

"Sounds sexy." Niffty flirted.

Alastor went up the the stage, "Hello there my scantily dressed friend! Welcome to this fine or at least with your help soon to be fine hotel!" Alastor introduced himself.

"I lost the ability to love years ago, so unless you got cash you're not worth my time." Vaggie stated.

"So, what do you think?" Charlie asked.

"This is the Bees Knees!" Alastor bellowed.

"It’s… fine." Husk stated.

Charlie went in for a hug with Alastor and Husk, "This is going to be very fun!" Charlie clears her throat and push Husk away. ♪ You have a dream ♪ ♪ You wish to tell ♪ ♪ And it’s just laughable ♪ ♪ But hey sir, what the hell! ♪ ♪ ‘Cause you’re one of a kind ♪ ♪ A charming pal! ♪ ♪ Now let’s give these burning fools a place to dwell ♪ ♪ Inside of every demon is a waste ♪ ♪ But we’ll dress ‘em up for now with just a smile! ♪ ♪ And we’ll chlorinate this cesspool ♪ ♪ With some old redemption flair ♪ ♪ And show these simpletons some proper class and style! ♪ ♪ Here below the ground ♪ ♪ I’m sure your plan is sound!  ♪ ♪ They’ll spend a little time ♪ ♪ Down at this Hazbin Ho-- ♪

A explosion outside blast the door off and hit Angel.

Everyone walked out to see what was happening

"Ha! Well well well, look who it is harboring the musical freak! We meet yet again, Charlie!" Cherri shouted.

"Do I know you?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, yes you do! And this time, I have the element of- surprise!" Cherri maniacal laughs "I’m so evil!"

Charlie snaps to bring up her goat goons to destroy the ship.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa whoa!" Cherri started to scream as the goats started to destroy her ship and murder her Cherrybois.

Two of the goats grab Cherri and threw her at the wall. "Oh, that hurt!" Cherri screams.

The Goats took control of the ship and pilot it into the cracks where they came from.

The ship explodes when it got into the crack.

"Well I’m starved! Who wants some cake? My father once showed me a wonderful recipe for cake! In fact, they named it after him! You could say the kick was right out of Hell! Yes sir, this is the start of some real changes down here!" Charlie laughes

"The show starts! Now... Stay tuned." Charlie snaps changing the sign from, "Happy." to "Hazbin."

[lilacmoon83]

Finding You Always

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 222: Reverberations

Once the fireworks ended, people began to disperse and leave for their homes for the evening. The clean up crew was already deployed and the band was packing up. Leo and Elsa were preparing to depart for a short honeymoon aboard Pegasus. They had accepted Glinda's offer to stay at one of Emerald City's luxurious resorts for a couple days and were going there soon. But not before they sat down as a family to hear about James and Aphrodite's experience in the Underworld.

"Wow...so you were actually Anchises?" Leo asked.

"I was...and before you ask, no, Eros is not related to you by blood. Zeus explained that I'm only related to David in this life as James," James replied. Leo let out a small breath of relief at that.

"And the curse on you both...it's finally broken?" Snow asked. They nodded.

"Once George placed my mother's enchanted charm in my hand, it restored my memories. Or at least my real memories of this life and how we were in love," James replied.

"The man I was...after I lost her wasn't the real me, it turns out. After George stripped me of my memories of Aphrodite, he found a way to warp my mind and mold me into what he wanted me to be," James explained.

"My memories of James were erased too, by Blue and Hera," Aphrodite added.

"It wasn't much longer after that, maybe a year at most that I was killed. But this time, Zeus decided that he was tired of seeing her be hurt and bargained with Hades to deny my revival," he explained.

"But then Athena convinced him to allow James to be revived after he met the two of you in the Underworld. She said that, as my champions, you two could indirectly bring our curse to an end," Aphrodite said. Snow and David exchanged a glance.

"I...I don't think we did that," Snow said.

"Yes you did...Blue was exposed for what she is because of you. It led to all of this," Aphrodite replied. They smiled.

"We're just glad that you've broken the curse and you'll never lose each other again," Snow gushed, as she rested her head against David's arm.

"Yeah...but how did the Horned King know about the curse? Did you ever find out?" David asked. They nodded.

"We did...it was because James is the one that banished him," Aphrodite said.

"It's how we met in this life, but you and Hermes helped me banish him," he reminded her.

"But you saved me from him, just like you saved me as Anchises and Adonis," she gushed.

"Wait...who else did he save you from?" Emma asked curiously.

"Well...as Anchises, he found me near his home after a bad encounter with Clayton's ancestor. He, with the help of Blue and Hera, tried to trick me into thinking he and his consort were true love to get the chalice," Aphrodite revealed. Snow gasped.

"So that's how he knew about the chalice…" she realized. Aphrodite nodded.

"The knowledge of exactly what the chalice is and what it could do was passed through his family. Later on, Adonis rescued me from Clayton's grandfather, who tried to force me to...be with him," she said, with a shudder.

"Yeah...then Clayton tried to do the same. He wanted her to bear his heir and planned to take her to Atlantis so he could have control of the chalice," James added.

"Oh my God…" Snow said in outrage.

"That explains his obsession with you and the Chalice...and us," David replied.

"You have no idea...he told us himself. His plan was to replace you after Snow was forced to crush your heart. His last ditch effort to have a Divine heir was Snow," James explained.

"Of course it didn't happen, nor did he factor in that you wouldn't be able to have children after Bobby," Aphrodite added.

"Bastard...please tell me he's burning in hell," David said.

"Apparently worse than that. Nyx decided that Tartarus was even too good for him. She sent him somewhere called Gehenna, which apparently only the absolute worst scourges are sent," James said.

"Trust me...Tartarus is a picnic compared to Gehenna," Aphrodite confirmed.

"Good...that's the best news I've heard in awhile," Eva agreed.

"Yeah...now if we could just get rid of Creepyl so Nyx could send him there too," Leo said.

"And we will…" David assured, as he squeezed Snow's hip and she smiled at him.

"We will...and the power rests in your family," Aphrodite said.

"How?" Snow asked.

"Now that I have all my memories...I remember how to utilize the chalice and your star gems to their full extent," Aphrodite replied.

"Then let's do it," David said and she winced.

"The problem is...he'll see it coming a mile away," Aphrodite said.

"Then we have to find a way to take him by surprise," Emma said.

"And we will," Aphrodite promised.

"I guess Clayton is about to get his wish though," Natalie mentioned.

"Hey...no, this baby will be a Charming and his son isn't getting anywhere near him or her," David assured her.

"He's right…" James confirmed, as he looked at his father.

"Did you know about her? Did you walk out on her too?" he asked, a bit sternly.

"He didn't know," Natalie confirmed.

"I didn't...and I wouldn't have walked out if I did. I regretted that with David, as much as I regretted having to give you up," Xander answered. James seemed to accept that answer with less resistance than David did and for the moment, any other questions were quelled for the evening, for the hour grew late.

With that, they saw Leo and Elsa off and everyone else dispersed for the evening after a lovely celebration, despite the brief, rude and unwelcome interruption.

~*~

Jekyll stormed into his lab, with his partners in crime trailing behind him.

"I was so close…" he growled, as he angrily tossed one of the lab tables against the wall, shattering the contents and sending debris everywhere.

"Yes...that backfired quickly," Grimm agreed.

"It's those brats, as usual," Drizella said.

"Particularly the young one, it seems. He did have a significant hand in defeating Seth, after all," Grimm replied.

"What is your point!?" Jekyll snapped.

"My point is...those magical children will always block our path to victory," Grimm said.

"They will block my path to gaining the authorship and they will block hers to the Prince, just as they will block yours to Snow White," he continued.

"This device you created to keep him from touching her was ingenious, but the boy will always circumvent it," Grimm said.

"I still fail to see what your obvious statements contribute toward our success," Jekyll growled.

"I thought it was obvious...we have to isolate Snow and Charming from anyone else that can help them. Then you must be able to overcome the power of their chalice," Grimm reiterated.

"Neither of those is an easy task...but perhaps not impossible," Jekyll mused.

"What...what is this on my arm?" Drizella asked, as she noticed there was a large patch of grayed skin.

"I told you there may be side effects from the injection...it's probably wearing off," Jekyll replied.

"But I need magic if I'm to be the new Evil Queen! Can't you improve the serum?!" she demanded to know.

"I will make some adjustments, but none of this does us any good if we cannot thwart our enemies more completely," Jekyll said.

"Then we have work to do," Grimm replied.

~*~

He was trying not to, but he knew he was brooding again. He stood out on the balcony in the cool night air, only in his sleep pants. Snow was getting changed out of her dress and ready for bed, while he attempted to quell his feelings of anger and failure over Jekyll's latest strike and near victory again. He loved their children and was constantly in awe of their power. But he didn't want them fighting these battles for him. He wanted to take on and defeat Jekyll himself, once and for all. But with his demonic powers combined with his scientific ability to invent seemingly anything, he knew the odds were stacked against him. The image of that monster's hands on his beautiful Snow was seared into his brain and he seethed with barely restrained rage. He felt it start to ebb away though, as he felt her presence behind him. It was their mystical connection and irrevocable love that kept him grounded. She could banish his anger in an instant and the heat of her body behind him beckoned. He turned to her, finding her in a slinky white negligee and emerald eyes that pierced through him. Her eyes spoke to him and he cupped her face in his hands. Whatever fear remained in her slowly ebbed away in that moment at his touch. Their lips met in a smoldering kiss and her arms went around his neck. When their lips finally parted, they were breathless and gasping in ragged impassioned breaths. Her knees nearly gave out, as he kissed her throat and she pressed herself flush against him.

"I need you…" she pleaded.

"I need your hands on me," she begged. Jekyll had starved her of his touch for only moments, but it felt like a lifetime. Perhaps because he had meant to make it a lifetime. They needed each other like air and he had found a way to keep them from the simple act of touching one another, not to mention holding or kissing and it nearly broke them. Just the thought of not feeling his hands on her or his lips pressing against hers was enough to drive her mad and him as well. Never one to deny her anything, he swept her into his arms like she weighed nothing and carried her the short distance to their bed with purpose. David kissed her deeply and pinned her beneath his hard body.

"Charming…" she whimpered, as her body writhed beneath him and ached to be touched. She clawed at his waistband and managed to push his pants down his legs.

~*~

Their lips crashed together again and she moaned, as he gripped her thighs and parted them. She raised her arms and arched toward him, as he pushed her negligee over her head. She mewled, as his hands slid up her sides and to her breasts, cupping her firmly and his lips trailed down her neck.

"Charming…" she cried out again, as he raised up and sat back on his haunches. He pulled her up, straddling her in his lap, as he slid her onto his thick, pulsing cock. She hooked her arms around his neck and he began to pump in and out of her at a rapid pace. He rode her hard, taking her to a place of pure ecstasy, as they made love. As he took her, she hummed in pleasure and she slid her hands into his hair, gently running her fingers through it. They stared into each other's eyes and their shared heart pounded in sync. No words were spoken, but their eyes and heart spoke volumes. For them, this went far beyond physical and always had. They had always been so in tune with each other; a love that had always been on another level than most. Being one in heart and mind already made their connection awe-inspiring. So when they became one in body too, it was nothing short of purely magical and almost ethereal.

He shifted their positions and gently lay her on her back, as his pace became slow and languid, as he now glided deeply into her with each thrust. She lay writhing beneath his undulating body, legs splayed around him. With every thrust, he hit her sweet spot and slowly pushed her to the edge. As she neared her climax, her mewls grew in volume and she raked her nails along his naked back, as her entire body trembled beneath him. He had her right at the edge and her cries became whimpers, as her body begged to come. She was beside herself, her mind clouded in the ecstasy that was him taking her. His slow lovemaking was expertly extending her pleasure in a way only he could do for her. If there was one thing Charming was an absolute expert in, it was all things Snow. They could make love and fuck each other for eternity and it would never be enough for either of them. And she was determined to have him for eternity, despite another looming threat from Jekyll and many other adversaries. He watched her come apart and marveled at the sight. Snow...beautiful Snow, emerald eyes dark with love and lust for him, only for him. Red lips parted, as short pants of air were inhaled and exhaled. Her body writhing and glistening with perspiration, her back arching and her aching for his touch. Her round, full breasts bobbing between them and the moan she made when he put his hands or lips on them was one he wanted to hear forever. The feeling of thrusting inside her was pure heaven and he'd never tire of making love to her. When he was inside her like this, he could hardly form coherent thought and he liked it that way. He liked that it was him that made her dripping wet and cry out wantonly. Gliding into her slickness with slow pumps and feeling her tightness clenching around his cock, quivering and begging for release, was a feeling he wanted to feel for forever.

"Baby…" she whimpered, as she writhed and bucked in the wake of a powerful climax; one that only he could give her. He was close to his own and increased his pace, as the whole bed rocked with them.

"Snow…" he cried out, as he finally came inside her and they trembled together in the wake of their purely magical coupling. He collapsed beside her finally and they cuddled together, as their ragged breathing slowly returned to normal.

"We'll beat him, Snow...because he is never taking you from me. I'll find a way," he promised, as he kissed her forehead.

"I know...I have never doubted you, nor will I. You're the hero in my story, my love...my hero," she gushed, as he kissed her tenderly and they finally drifted off to sleep, thoroughly entwined together...

~*~

Three Days Later

"And Good Morning United Realms!" Le Fou announced, as the morning news show began once again.

"Welcome fellow United Realmers on our first day back from hiatus," Goldilocks said.

"As usual, there's no shortage of news. Just days ago, Prince Leo married Queen Elsa of Arendelle in the celebration of the year," Le Fou reported.

"But since this is Storybrooke we're talking about, it didn't quite go off without a hitch. After the happy couple exchanged nuptials, their reception was interrupted by a dastardly trio," Goldilocks said dramatically.

"Yes...Drizella Tremaine declared herself as the new Evil Queen, a mysterious man named Grimm seemed to issue a challenge to our favorite author, and once again the raging psychopath, Dr. Jekyll made another play for the fair and beautiful Snow White," Le Fou said.

"Yes...and this time, the United Realms' embattled pair had to be saved by their youngest son,"

"They are insufferable...seriously how do they still have jobs?" Paul asked, as he finally turned off the television, while Eva poured coffee into their travel mugs.

"Well...they're mildly entertaining I suppose, though I wish they would find things other than my parents to gossip about," Eva replied.

"Yeah, they definitely need to stop calling them news," he countered and she chuckled.

"Yeah...news, they definitely fail at that. But you know that gossip sells far better than news," Eva said, as she handed him his mug and kissed his cheek. He smiled and pecked her on the lips. Today, they were not headed to the hospital right away, but rather to her parents castle for a meeting. In the infamous war room.

It had been a very long time since her parents had called an actual formal council meeting at the table in the war room and never yet in her lifetime. But with the worldwide undertaking they were about to embark on with the Major, they had decided to convene it to discuss the operations they were about to embark on.

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded and they joined hands, before leaving their loft for the day.

~*~

Snow giggled, as they cuddled in bed together that morning.

"We really have to get up," she cooed, as he kissed her neck and his hands roamed in the wake of a bout of morning lovemaking.

"Remind me why we scheduled this thing so early?" he asked.

"We didn't baby...we scheduled it for eleven and it's almost ten," she reminded him.

"Really?" he asked. They had been awake for hours, but very busy since.

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, you know what they say...time flies when you're having fun," he said and she giggled, as he kissed her again.

"These last three days have been amazing," Snow said, as he spooned her against him.

"Mmm...yeah, but definitely not long enough," he replied, as he kissed her again.

Since Leo's wedding, they fortunately heard nothing from the wedding crashers and their most nefarious adversary. Instead, they had been allowed three blissful days to spend with each other and their family.

They had family picnics with their kids and grandkids, complete with horseback riding and campfires. They had taken romantic walks on the beach, family dinners at Granny's, and then the last day, they had spent alone together. And they hadn't left their bedroom much on that day.

"We should have pushed this back another day," he murmured against her skin.

"You know we can't...not if we want to take the first two cabal members down," she reminded him.

"Well…Italy is supposed to be romantic so I guess there's that," he agreed, as he slipped out of bed.

"Care to join me in the shower?" he asked, with a sly look.

"Oh, that is an offer I'd never refuse," she replied, as she took his hand and they hurried off to the bathroom.

~*~

Mephisto arrived in Milan and made his way into the luxury hotel where that evening's event was set to take place.

"So...you're here," a man said, as he met him in the lobby with a woman.

"Mr. Landers, I presume?" Mephisto asked.

"Yes Stefan Landers...and this is Ms. Erin Mercer," he replied.

"Perhaps we can go somewhere a little less public," Mephisto suggested. Stefan nodded and led them to the freight elevator, which descended below the hotel.

When they arrived, several levels below ground, the elevator door opened and he observed young women in cages, as well as empty cages ready to snatch unsuspecting young women from the modeling pool.

"So...this is your operation," Mephisto observed.

"Yes...and from what we've been told, you believe that they are coming for us," Erin said. Mephisto smirked.

"Oh, I'm certain of it," Mephisto replied.

"They will come tonight...and we will be ready for them," he added.

"And these two...they will give us the power you said?" they asked. He smirked.

"With these two...we'll have a first class golden ticket to the United Realms and all its power and treasure," he promised...

~*~

It had been a long time since they had held a meeting in the war room and the last time they did, many of the people in this room hadn't been born yet and the one person they used to combat was now one of their best friends and confidantes. How times had changed and evolved, only to come full circle to this moment.

The last time he had led a war room meeting, he had been dressed in his formal royal clothing or battle wear. But today, he wore a simple button down shirt and jeans, common clothing of this realm. But the casual clothing did not mean this was just a casual meeting. They were about to embark on a series of missions outside the comfort of the United Realms borders and taking on some very dangerous people that wouldn't bat an eye at slitting one of their throats. But they would be potentially saving many by taking down this network of corrupted people that purportedly were the people that really ran the world. So, as they always did, Snow and David would begin this new undertaking, despite the looming threat of Jekyll, who they still had to neutralize once and for all.

"Thank you to everyone for coming," David said, as he began the meeting.

"As you know, Snow and I are about to embark on a series of missions with the Major, outside our borders, to dismantle an evil underground network that poses a threat to us and potentially the entire world," David began, as he looked at her. She nodded.

"We've decided that the best way to approach each mission is to assemble a small team to go with us and rotate the team members for each mission," Snow said.

"For this mission, we're going to Italy and attending a high end fashion show. Supposedly, our first two targets are there and they reportedly run a very large global trafficking ring there," David added.

"David is right...and once we take down these two, it will put the others on alert. I will be honest, these missions will be dangerous, each one more so," the Major said.

"And we're supposed to be okay with you putting our parents in the line of fire to fight your battles?" Emma interjected.

"Yeah...I have to agree with Emma. Give me one good reason that we shouldn't wall off the United Realms and let your world deal with its own problems," Regina said.

"Ninety-eight percent of the population doesn't even know these people exist or that their lives are controlled by them," Patricia said.

"The same ninety-eight percent that doesn't believe in magic," Leo chimed in.

"True...but that doesn't mean they don't deserve saving," Patricia countered.

"She's right," Snow agreed.

"Mom...we love you and we love that you and Dad always want to help everyone, but this is so risky," Emma said.

"We know honey, but you know we can't turn our backs on this. Clayton is gone, but this network that he helped create is still doing his evil bidding," Snow replied.

"She's right...we need to take them out, because we know that there is no guarantee that even a barrier will keep these people out of the United Realms forever," David added. Emma sighed, but didn't argue that, because she knew he was right.

"Okay...well since you two are a walking target for mayhem, I volunteer for this first mission," Regina offered.

"We're not…" David started to say.

"Yes you are," all five of his children echoed before he could finish. He rolled his eyes and Snow smiled with a wince.

"We kind of are," she said.

"Fine," he relented.

"Elsa and I are going too," Leo announced.

"You two are still on your honeymoon," David protested. He shrugged.

"And Italy sounds like a great place for an extended honeymoon," he said, as they shared a smile.

"Besides...I think we may enjoy the danger and adventure just as much as the two of you," Elsa replied, as she and Snow smiled at each other.

"Okay, with the Major, that's a team of six," David said.

"You and Mom are going to hate it, but I probably should go on every mission with you," Bobby chimed in.

"You're right...I hate that," Snow said.

"Mom...my magic was the only one that defeated Jekyll's stupid crazy bastard sciencey invention," he reminded her.

"Language," she scolded and he sighed.

"The point is...you're probably going to run into Mephisto out there. You need me if you do," he said. David sighed.

"He's not wrong," he muttered and Snow huffed in annoyance.

"Don't worry Mom...he's got a lot of other magic surrounding him. You know Aunt Regina would blast the crap out of anyone that comes near him," Leo said.

"He's not wrong either," Rumple agreed.

"Fine...then I guess we have our team of seven. That's a good number," Snow said. David nodded in agreement.

"Then we should pack and leave soon," David said.

"How are we getting there? Using a bean isn't a great idea. We'll just freak out a bunch of people and Milan isn't exactly a harbor city," Leo mentioned.

"He's right, though I loathe the idea of a commercial airline and all the staring," Regina said.

"Can we even get on a commercial airline?" Bobby asked.

"There is too much red tape for that, not to mention that none of you have passports and the United States government doesn't even consider any of you citizens," Patricia said.

"That sounds like it could be trouble...especially since you've been fired," David replied.

"It may be...but you do have protections on the borders watching for a breach, right?" she asked.

"My men regularly patrol the outside borders," Fandral chimed in.

"Now that I'm back, I'll be reinforcing our magical protections," Aphrodite said.

"Aye...and if any unrecognized ships enter the Harbor, they'll call me immediately," Killan added.

"Then we shouldn't have anything to worry about for now. If they thought they could invade without it being a bloodbath, they would have done it already. But they have seen what magic can do," Patricia replied.

"So no Jolly Roger or plane. It has to be a portal, but how do we do that without freaking people out?" Leo asked.

"There is plenty of countryside just outside the city. You'd be fairly safe portalling there. I can give you coordinates if you can will the chalice to open in a specific location," Natalie replied. Snow nodded.

"We usually have no trouble willing the Chalice to do what we need," she said.

"Then it's settled. The team leaving Milan needs to meet back here in an hour," David replied. They nodded and dispersed, as Aphrodite approached them.

"Is it true that Blue is locked up?" she asked. Snow nodded.

"Fandral was able to capture her," she replied.

"Yes...she was foolish enough to come after Rose to try and keep her from reading your real story," Fandral said. Rose nodded and presented a book to her.

"You mean...it was in your library all along?" Aphrodite asked. Rose nodded.

"Yes...but it was cloaked and only appeared after you left. Aesop informed us that he was commissioned by Zeus to record the real thing and then it was hidden in our library by Hermes," Rose replied.

"When you left to learn the truth, it appeared," Fandral added.

"I'm sure Athena is responsible for that," James deduced, as the blonde leafed through the book.

"It's all here…" she said gratefully, as he put his arm around her waist.

"And Blue is where she belongs. She'll remain there until her Royal Tribunal that will decide her ultimate fate," David replied. James looked at his twin brother with scrutiny.

"You're really going to try her?" he asked. David nodded.

"But Royal Tribunal usually has one outcome. The death penalty," James reminded him.

"We know...and it's not something we will likely ever be comfortable with, but Blue's crimes are too devastating. She is too dangerous and a threat to the safety of everyone, as well as the sovereignty of every Kingdom," Snow said.

"She's right...she's more than earned this fate and if found guilty, then she'll be executed," David replied.

"We will never regret showing mercy, even to our enemies, but we've learned that not all of them deserve it. She's one that doesn't, especially since she has been trying to destroy true love for so long," Snow added.

"Between James and myself, as well as Zorro, I'd say we'll be able to keep an eye on things around here," Fandral said. David nodded.

"Yeah...we'll be on psychopath watch with Dr. Creepyl, but I think we should find out more about this Grimm guy," James said.

"Oh Fandral and I can talk to Aesop. He started to tell us a bit, but seemed reluctant to talk about his past," Rose replied.

"Perhaps in light of these recent events, he'll be more willing to tell us what he knows," Fandral said.

"Then I guess everyone has their assignments. Once this mission is over and we locate the next, we'll rotate a new team in," David replied, as they dispersed. Snow slid her arms around his waist and he kissed her tenderly.

"You were amazing, as usual," she gushed.

"If I am...it's only because of you, my darling. I...I just wish we had a clear, concise plan to take out Jekyll," he said.

"And we will...I'm fine," she assured him.

"I know...it just haunts me at how close he came this time. I couldn't touch you...it was torture. He knew it would be," David said.

"He's sick and evil...he gets off on tormenting me and pursuing you. He's the one evil we can't seem to shake," he added.

"But we will...there is nothing our love cannot overcome. He caught us off guard at the wedding, but there is no doubt in my mind that we would have found a way to defeat his device, even if Bobby hadn't intervened," Snow said, as she caressed his cheek.

"Have faith...our love has never let us down," she added. He smiled and kissed her again.

"You're right...it never has and it never will," he said, with renewed confidence.

"Now...let's pack. We may be going on a mission, but this is Italy and the prospect of going to such a romantic city with my husband is exciting," she replied. He joined hands with her and they returned to their room to pack.

~*~

The black sport utility vehicle drove along the winding roads of Maine and General Mendoza sat in the back, looking over the Nolan files he had seized from Major Donovan's office. He was in complete control of her operation now and had everything, except an item for entrance into the United Realms. But that wasn't going to stop him from exploring the rumored location of this mystical place.

He thumbed through David Nolan's file with great interest. He found it very intriguing how he had been found on a rural Maine road, bleeding from his side, with an infant in his arms. He had then spent ten years in a coma, only to awaken upon his daughter finding her way to him. She had only done so after having run away from a group home and he wondered how she had even obtained his location or even knew about him in the first place.

Even more interesting was Xander Nolan and his shadowy presence in this world for nearly as long as his son's. As an operative to the Collector, Xander had moved around the world in the shadows, doing the Collector's bidding, and evading law enforcement with ease. He had little on him, but that wasn't surprising. Clayton was a part of the Underground cabal that his own family was a part of, even if he ended up screwing them all over in the end.

In 1993, David Nolan awakened and disappeared into thin air with his daughter and only re-emerged more than thirty-years later in Seattle, not having aged a day. With him, his wife and five children came with him. Then after the supernatural events in Seattle, they disappeared again until two years ago when they popped up in Boston again. Major Donovan had a detailed explanation of everything, but he was still having trouble wrapping his head around such fantastical stuff, even after they saw it during the battle only weeks ago. He knew about his ancestor's travels and quests, but he had never put much stock in the more fringe nature of the story. Now he was realizing that it was all true. Traveling to far off realms, lost worlds, mystical warriors like the Dragon King and his betrayal of him...it was all true and thus he had a duty to continue his family's mission.

"Stop the car," he said, as his driver obeyed and he got out. These were the coordinates, but all he could see was woods. But that would not remain for long. He was determined to find a way in and for that, he made a deal with the Devil. He only hoped he came through soon. With that, he got back into the car and instructed his driver to take them to the nearest town. He was a patient man and he would find a way in.

~*~

On the other side of the invisible barrier, Zorro watched the man, as he looked around with scrutiny. He didn't know who this man was, but he clearly was clued in on their location, that was obvious.

"Keep patrolling. I'll be doubling our men," Zorro said, as he mounted his horse.

"I must inform Fandral of this development," he said, as he headed for Andresia.

~*~

Agent Green winced, as she finished getting dressed. Her stay in the hospital was thankfully at an end and she looked at the young doctor, who was writing on her chart

"You've healed nicely, but I have to insist you take it easy for a few days," Eva said, as she watched the agent look at her phone.

"Well, if I stick with Major Donovan, I won't have a job anyway," she replied.

"Then you know about her being fired," Eva said.

"Yeah...agent Harding texted me and gave me the rundown," Tessa replied.

"What do you plan to do?" Eva asked.

"Relax…I'm not going to work against your parents or anything. Agent Harding is going to need help on the inside of this thing," Tessa said.

"I thought you hated us and this whole thing," Eva replied.

"I do...but you did save me and I do not like the idea that I've been working for such corrupted people," she said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Eva replied.

"Did...did you happen to recover Agent Brooks' body?" Tessa asked.

"Yes...he's at the morgue and we were waiting to ask you if he had family," Eva replied.

"No…I'm afraid not. It was just him and he has no wife or kids. His parents are also dead," Tessa said, with a sigh.

"As his partner, I guess it's up to me," she added.

"We'll help you do whatever you need," Eva replied.

"If you can tell them to cremate him...then I can scatter his ashes in the ocean. He...he would have liked that," she replied. Eva nodded.

"I'll tell Doc and he'll take care of everything," she said.

"Doc?" Tessa asked.

"He's our medical examiner and Bashful is our forensic analyst," Eva replied. Tessa shook her head.

"This place is wild," she commented. Eva smiled.

"It can be," she agreed.

"Anyway...thank you for saving me," Tessa said. Eva smiled again.

"Paul and I can take you to Granny's to get a room for the night and then we'll help you find your way back to Boston after Agent Brooks' remains are taken care of," Eva said. Tessa nodded and followed her out.

~*~

The sparkling orange portal opened in the Italian countryside and the seven of them stepped through. Thankfully, there was no one around and Regina poofed a sport utility vehicle into existence for them to use.

"It will be a tight squeeze, but it will get us there," Regina said. Snow looked at her husband and he smirked.

"Or we could follow you in something else," he said, as the chalice glowed between them and materialized a motorcycle.

"Fine, ride the death trap," Regina commented.

"Relax...it's enchanted. We'll be fine," David said, as they willed the chalice into their rings to conceal it. They put helmets on, while David got on the bike and Snow got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. The others got into the car and they headed for the city.

~*~

James put the car in park and looked over at his wife. After spending the morning with their babies, they had dropped them off with Granny for an hour to come to the prison.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.

"Yes...and I can't wait for her tribunal. I want to see her behind bars," Aphrodite replied. He sighed.

"Okay...then we'll go," he said, as they got out and joined hands. They were allowed entrance and they took the elevator to the top level. Sneers and calls from some of the worst, high level criminals were ignored, as they made their way to the end and peered into the cell.

"Well, well...you're back from your little adventure," Blue said. She looked horrible. Her hair was matted and her makeup, what was left of it, was smudged. Apparently, she wasn't using the time allotted to her to clean up or even try to maintain her appearance.

"Yes...we are and your failure is complete, because we have broken the curse you placed on us," James hissed. She began to slow clap dramatically.

"Oh congratulations...now you get to live happily ever after with your bimbo and your brats," she growled. James advanced on her cell and wrapped his hand around her neck.

"And you...you'll face justice in your royal tribunal. The Goddess Nyx will then be waiting for you and has promised you a very unpleasant afterlife," he growled back. Aphrodite put her hand on his arm and he calmed down, releasing her and stepping back.

"And still...my only regret is that I didn't succeed in destroying her," Blue said, looking to Aphrodite with pure hatred in her eyes.

"I never did anything to you...except be born. Was the power of the Chalice so important to you that it warrants this hatred of me?" Aphrodite asked. Blue rolled her eyes.

"It was never really about you. Power is everything and when Rhea created the Chalice she gifted to your mother, I knew that it was the key to ruling all the realms. I also knew how foolish it would be to place it in mortal hands. That's why Hera and I knew we had to rid ourselves of your idiotic mother," Blue replied. Aphrodite glared at her.

"Once Hera married Zeus...it was supposed to be her Chalice. We would have still had to place it in mortal hands, but that's why we chose Clayton's bloodline. We knew their ambitious quest for power and control would serve us well," she continued.

"Imagine...all the realms under his control and thus ours. It would have been an ordered world," she said.

"You mean an enslaved world, void of hope and love," Aphrodite corrected. Blue snorted.

"Love...it causes only pain. Look at his brother and Snow White. They may have a blissful true love, but look at all the problems that come with it," she said.

"Love is worth any of the strife or problems," Aphrodite refuted. James smirked.

"Yeah...because love always wins. That's why you're there and we're here. And that's why anyone that tries to defeat love is either already dead or will meet that same fate as the Clayton family you seem to champion," James said smugly.

"Yeah...you definitely backed the wrong family," Aphrodite agreed, as they joined hands.

"Enjoy hell, you blue flea," she said, as they walked away, satisfied that the woman that had cursed them and caused so much pain was imprisoned. They had all their memories and their family was whole again, because love would always win out in the end.

~*~

Once they arrived at the hotel where the event was taking place, they arrived in their suite and proceeded to get ready for the evening. David wore a tux again and was stunned when his wife emerged dressed in a gorgeous white evening gown. It shimmered in the light and the bodice hugged her curves perfectly. The straps were very thin and the collar dipped in a low v. The dress was long, but had two daring slits up the sides and she sauntered toward him.

"Wow…" he said, as she slipped her arms around his neck.

"Wow yourself, handsome," she purred, as she kissed him passionately.

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded.

"I know we have no idea what we might be walking into, but I do know that we're going to face it together and eliminate two really bad people," she replied. He nodded.

"Together," he agreed, as they shared another kiss. He offered his arm to her and she hooked her hand on his elbow, as they stepped out of their room and prepared to embark on the mission ahead...

[melissatreglia]

Colder than Winter (Part 2)

(Again, this is an edit of an old RP done on this day in 2017. It was written by myself, @southerndragontamer​ and antisilverstorm at the time. Part 1 is located here, if you haven’t had the chance to read it yet. This part also contains a battle scene: relevant warnings apply.)

With a flash and an oddly muted sizzle, Alex arrived in the one clear spot of floor in their bedroom. They’re just about to breathe a sigh of relief when they realized Grace’s hand was no longer in their own.

“Grace?” They spun on the spot, desperately searching for a sign of their friend. But they were alone in their room.

“Grace!” They tore through the apartment checking every room. No, no, this couldn’t be happening. They had concentrated so hard. They had been so certain of every detail. Why hadn’t it worked? Why? Was it just a ploy by Dark? To keep her there? He’d seemed so concerned, but maybe it was all a ruse. The attack and everything.

Maybe they just screwed up really bad.

They stood alone in their living room, pulling at their hair, their breath uneven and shallow, their heart beating furiously. The gateway! Grace had mentioned something about the gateway. Maybe she had just ended up there? Maybe they needed to go get her back from Dark. 

They were going to fix this. They had to. Whatever it took.

They burst out of their apartment and took off sprinting towards where Ulysses and I still waited, as if the hounds of Hell themselves were on their heels. It was a long run, but Alex arrived at the gateway... panting, heart racing a million miles an hour, only to find just me and Ulysses, with Grace nowhere in sight.

“Grace? Grace!” Alex shouted, falling to their knees in exhaustion. Tears started to drip down their cheeks as they gasped with stuttering breaths. “Tell me she’s here! Fuck, tell me she’s here!”

I stared at them in confusion. “No. She’s supposed to be… with you…”

I exchanged a look with Ulysses. He gazed at me evenly, his expression as grim as mine probably was.

“Looks like we’re goin’ in, after all, blue boi. Let’s saddle up.”

“I don’t even know for sure she’s there.” Alex shuddered. “I don’t even know for sure she’s...” They cut off, their throat closed at just the idea. “I fucked up. I fucked up real bad.”

They climbed unsteadily to their feet, clumsily wiping tears from their eyes. “But I guess I have to go see. This was my mistake. And I,” -- they drew their knife, the weapon sliding out silently due to a coating of holy oil -- “I’m going to do whatever it takes to fix it.”

“We’re going to fix it,” I corrected them. “The Shadow Realm’s the last place you saw her, so it’s the first place we should go.”

I stepped closer to Alex, my voice becoming what I hope is a more soothing tone. “Look, Alex. You can’t go back there alone, I can’t just sit back and cool my heels while Grace may be in danger, and we need a demon guide so we don’t get lost.

“So we go together or not at all.” I sighed, feeling bad for not being as comforting as I’d like to be during this time.

But that was the problem: time. Or, more to the point, not having any.

“I can’t say the help isn’t appreciated.” Though they were speaking to me, Alex’s eyes remained fixed on the portal in front of us. “But if Dark wasn’t just being a manipulative asshole, then it’s a war zone in there right now. An I-don’t-know-how-we-survive kind of war zone. But if you’re certain...”

I turned to Ulysses. “Is the gateway ready to reopen?”

My demon companion frowned. “It should be… right abouuut… now.”

There’s a loud CRACK as the portal reopens. I nearly jumped out of my damn skin at the sound. “It didn’t make that sound last time!”

“Well, the last time, a Hellgod opened it,” Ulysses replied in a moderately annoyed tone.

“But it’ll be safe, right?”

“As safe as a trans-dimensional rip in the space-time continuum can possibly be.”

“Joy.” I offered my hand to Alex. “You ready, kiddo?”

They hesitantly took my hand, “Yeah. Let’s fucking do this thing.”

Ulysses took my other hand, and we stepped into it together.

It’s the same vertigo-inducing sensation as before, and Alex grabbed my hand tighter as up and down became vague concepts.

But they landed with their knife out in front of them, fighting back the twisting of their stomach, ready to take on otherworldly horrors. But we were greeted only by the same unending darkness. 

Our eyes went to the horizon, or where the horizon should be, searching for Dark’s ostentatious manor.

---------------------------------

For a moment, Grace just stood there stunned and hurt. Alex left me? Why? Did I do something wrong? No wait, maybe the coin only worked with one person... She shook herself out of her shock and looked at Dark. And paled at the anger she saw in His now pupilless obsidian eyes, an anger that could slaughter millions. But she wasn’t afraid, at least, not for herself. Oh Alex, my friend, I’m so sorry. But you ticked off the wrong Hellgod.

Dark looked angry enough to start breathing fire as He stepped away from her. His vessel cracked and this bone chilling, earth shaking roar of anger made her stumble slightly, almost falling to her knees.

“They had one task, a task they had set for themselves. To protect you. This is unacceptable. They have failed… and for that, they will die.”

She froze. His voice reverberated in her head, static and ringing in her ears. No! I don’t want Alex to die because of a mistake! Grace took a breath, holding onto any courage she had and walked over to the enraged Hellgod. She grabbed His hand and looked Him in the eye.

“Dark, I know your angry, furious at what just happened. I am too... but I don’t think Alex left me willingly. You saw how protective they were of me till now. That isn’t something you just fake, and they were the only one with a hold on the coin. I wasn’t, I just had their hand. I wasn’t touching the coin at all. And we may have thought of different places as well. Please don’t kill them for something that isn’t their fault.” 

“The coin would have taken you both, so long as you held onto each other and thought of the same place.”

He looked Grace in the eye. “I do not wish to be harsh with you, My love. But I ask you: Did I or did I not give clear instructions? And did you or did you not state exactly where it was you wanted to go?”

He took one of her hands in both of His. “My Grace, you weren’t in danger before, but you are now. You will be nothing more than prey to the other creatures of this Realm, if you stay for too long. And that… is because of Me.

“I will do everything in My power to ensure your safety. But your safety would not be in question now, had your self-appointed protector played their part.”

She nodded.

“Yes Dark, You did give clear instructions. And yes, I told Alex where I wanted us to end up. However, Alex was scared. I could feel them shaking and mortals don’t always think clearly in fear. They may have thought of a location they associated with safety as a response to their fear, instead of the location I said in case they couldn’t remember it clearly. If I know Alex as well as I think I do-and I do-They are most likely frantic right now in worry for me and on their way back here to help, if they can make a second trip.” She smiled at Him gently, chocolate brown eyes warm, setting her other hand atop their joined ones .

“My King, I was in danger the moment I revealed how I felt toward You. None of this I blame on You, Dark.” She leaned up slightly on her tiptoes and kissed Him sweetly a moment. “I trust You Dark, My King.”

Dark sighed and gently ran a hand through Grace’s hair. “I will do all I can to ensure that your trust in Me is never unwarranted.

“I will spare your friend’s life… but only because you asked.”

I’m so giving you a Gibbs-smack when you get back here, Alex, she thought, sighing softly as He stroked her hair. She smiled soft and grateful at Him.

“I believe You, My King. A seven-nation army couldn’t hold You back when Your loved ones are in danger. Now until the Calvary gets here what can I do? Can I still borrow one of Anti’s knives?” 

Meg ran back into the library, bearing arms like a member of a post-apocalyptic survivalist militia. “Everybody in the house has a weapon now, Daddy.”

“Grace will need one as well, for self-defense,” Dark replied. “One hopes it will not come to that, however.” 

Grace nodded, gently squeezing His arm. “I hope not either, but better safe than sorry.” 

Meg rifled through the handful of blades on her person. “Hmmm. I think this one might do it.” She offered a light dirk dagger to Grace. “See how that feels in your hands, if the grip is comfy.”

“Thanks.” Grace took the dagger from her and gave it a few light swings in the air away from them, testing how it felt in her hand. She nodded. “Yeah, it's comfy. I like this one.” 

“Very good.” Dark then turned to Meg. “I will need you to guard Grace. Do whatever you feel is necessary to ensure that she remains unharmed.”

Meg gave a minute nod. “Yes, sir.”

Dark pivoted on His heel and strode out the door. “Let’s go.”

Grace momentarily placed the dagger in her belt and started doing up her hair. “I need something to tie this up with, it's a battle hazard otherwise.”  

Meg ripped a band of cloth from the waist area of her shirt, and stepped behind Grace to pull the woman’s hair up. “I know this isn’t much, but we don’t have a lot of time before shit hits the fan.”

Meg worked quickly, tying Grace’s hair up in a bun. “Less to grab than a ponytail,” she said, then headed for the door. “Come on, you don’t want to miss the action.”

Dark eased to the front line of the small group that was the manor’s defenders. The rumbling sound increased, and everyone’s nerves were stretched bowstring tight. Then the enemy appeared from the darkness.

It was a horde bearing down on them. The rumble they had heard earlier was, in fact, the horde’s footsteps as they surged forward.

Dark glanced over to Anti, and nodded. Anti gave a nod in return, and it was clear that more had been shared between the two males than a simple glance.

Dark’s little patchwork group of defenders met the oncoming horde head-on, the sounds of the clash between the two sides ranging from angry roars to shrill screams, to the clank of metal on metal or the slick wet sound of rending flesh.

Meg was at Grace’s side, a whirling mass of knives impaling anything that threatened to get too near. 

Grace reacted as one mook got close to her other side but, doing her best to use her plus-size weight to her advantage, she slashed sideways. Black blood spurted from the wound she’d made in the demon’s torso and she could faintly see organs of some sort among it. Grace could feel the shock of what she just did but tried to block it from her mind. Do NOT panic, Grace! This is a VERY BAD time to panic!

She managed to dodge a demon that leapt at her. Meg helpfully sliced its throat open and it fell dead. The demoness whirled the blade around in her hand and stabbed at another’s eye. Fear-driven sweat dripped on Grace’s face. Meg was clearly the better fighter, but Grace was also doing her best simply to stay alive.

Dark could be seen amid the tightest clutch of the horde, sweeping away His opponents with the deadly precision of a buzzsaw. At least, that’s what I saw when we got there.

I wrenched the sawed-off shotgun from my back and loaded it with rock salt rounds, ready to fire.

“Looks like we’re fashionably late to the party, guys,” I pitched my voice over the raging battle, so Ulysses and Alex could hear me. “I’ll give you cover fire, you kick ‘em in the ass!”

When I fired the first round, I heard Grace shout, “Took y’all long enough!” I found myself chuckling, in spite of the seriousness of the situation.

Alex dove into the fray, with only one goal in mind: making it to Grace. But they never quite got there.

They knew where to aim, back and neck, under the arm close to the ribcage, kidneys to wound, back of the knee to incapacitate. But the non-human physiology of our enemies complicated matters, and the battle was pure hell. Bloody, close quarters, across a flat ground soaked in blood, and beginning to pile up with guts and corpses.

I was far enough away that I didn’t have to worry about being in the thick of it. But I was far luckier than my friends, in that regard. I didn’t give the demons a chance to get too close to me, either, loading and firing rock salt rounds as fast as I could.

I didn’t see what took Alex down. I don’t think they did either. A nasty set of claws, definitely, as Alex was wounded by a slash all down their back from shoulder to hip.

“Get Alex outta there!” I shouted at Ulysses, as Alex went down.

Bless the boy. Because the second the coast was clear, he draped Alex in a fireman’s carry, taking our half-conscious friend far enough away from the battle.

I stepped back a few steps further and hunkered down protectively beside Alex, reloading and continuing to fire rock salt at the demons who were busy trying to kill Dark’s crew.

Dark Himself was still kicking some serious ass out there, moving in a deadly ballet as if He were Neo in the Matrix. Showoff. For a split second, I was tempted to fire a round at Him too, purely out of spite. But I quickly realised just how dumb that would be. Better the devil you know, after all.

“Alex, you gotta stay with me,” I said to my friend, not entirely sure they can hear me. But I couldn’t let them pass out from the shock and pain. That would be all kinds of bad at the moment. “You gotta pull yourself out of it. You can’t sleep until this is over, then you can sleep all you need to. Okay?”

Alex mumbled something in response about a witch king and demons not being as cool as oliphants. It didn’t make a whole ton of sense, but at least it let me know Alex was alive -- albeit not all there at the moment.

I heard Grace scream for Alex, before something jumped on her, clamping down against her calf. Grace’s scream turned to one of pain, and Ulysses dove back in to retrieve her. She stabbed blindly at the creature trying to gnaw at her, and I got a shot off at the creature’s body. But it was Meg who made the killing blow, sliding her blade under the creature’s jaw and forcing it to let go of our friend, before slicing open the creature’s throat.

Meg’s eyes were black with fury as she shoved the dead demon-thing away, helping Grace up and handing her over to Ulysses. “Alex. I gotta make sure they’re okay,” Grace said, in between pants. Ulysses obliged, pulling her out of the fight and over towards me. 

“Hey, Miss Melissa, thanks for looking after us,” Grace said, clearly exhausted, and smiled weakly at me. She crawled over to Alex’s side. “Hey gardener, don’t die on me. I still have to smack you for not listening. Got it?”

Alex mumbled, “No. Not gardener… Rohan. And captain? Guardian? The citadel. It doesn’t fall, right? We win. Don’t want to miss the coronation.”

I heard Grace laugh in relief. Apparently, if Alex could make Lord of the Rings references, then maybe it wasn’t that bad, after all. “Alex, I’m not going anywhere,” Grace said. “It’s okay.”

A sudden ripple passed through me. Not a shiver of cold, or of fear, but of forethought.

Dark’s True Form. I can see it. Or the closest approximation my human mind can comprehend. It hasn’t happened yet. But it will soon.

He’s about to drop His vessel.

I immediately laid my shotgun on the ground and shielded the eyes of my wounded friends. “Guys, you don’t want to see this. Trust me.”

Grace jumped at my sudden movement, but obediently shut her eyes. She gently squeezed Alex’s hand. “Shut them, Merry. This won’t be pretty.”

“No, no, I’m not going to sleep. I can’t, Grace… I don’t want to go.” Alex’s mumbles were frantic.

On the battlefield, with a sizable amount of their enemies still present, Dark knew He couldn’t keep this up while still bound to His vessel.

He had heard Grace’s cry of pain, and that only fueled the fire in Him now. He stepped back as quickly as He could to a relatively untouched spot. Oily smoke shot from His vessel’s mouth then, as the body dropped lifelessly to the floor, the smoke coalesces.

His True Form emerged, talons splayed and wings bent but still beating in this supernatural darkness. His many eyes glared with undisguised fury, and His roar both pierced the air and made what passed for ground here tremble.

I heard Alex’s shriek of fear and pain.

The remaining demons taste fear for the first time as they looked upon this Leviathan, absorbed the inherent wrongness of it. A thing that even these demons do not fully understand. A thing that should not exist in this, or any, world.

But it does. By the gods, it does. And if any were merciful, they might spare a few lives to carry the tale of what had happened. But there is only one god present to hear their prayers and pleading… and He is not inclined to be merciful tonight.

He tore through the ranks of the horde without hesitation, His strength no longer bound by the limitations of human flesh.

He can also hear the thoughts of those around Him, the fear of both friends and enemies… and relief from one person. Dark, you’re alright. Good. Give these intruders no mercy, My King.

Dark heard that thought and snarled in pleasure at it. He continued to mow the pitiful demons down, until the only survivors were the ones who fought on His side for this evening.

The damage done, His bloodlust sated, He returned to His restrictive but familiar vessel. The empty body is once again the container for His essence, and the filter for Him to communicate with lesser beings.

Though He had not considered Grace a lower being for some time now. She is the exception that proves the rule.

He sat up, cracked His neck and shifted the joints from their atrophied state, then stood. Smoothing down His jacket once again, He made His way over to the small clutch of humans and demons.

I reluctantly got out of His way as He lifted Grace into His arms, bridal style, being careful of her wounded leg. Neither of us were willing nor able to let her go, but for different reasons.

“D-Dark don’t!,” Grace protested. “I-I’m heavy and You’re probably tired from the fight.”

“Nonsense,” I heard Dark say to Grace. “You are a feather, dearest.”

I rolled my eyes. Boy, He’s really laying it on thick, isn’t He?

“The term, ‘feather light’ isn’t something usually directed at me. For obvious reasons,” Grace said, clearing her throat. It was obvious she was trying to wipe away some familiar negative thoughts, even as she spoke. But she relented, laying her head on His shoulder.

Meg looked up at her father. “We have to get them out of here. This is no place for a couple of injured humans.”

Dark nodded. “Agreed. Let us proceed to the gateway.”

“Grace,” Alex murmured. “Don’t trust him. He’s a bad man, Grace. A bad, bad man. Melissa. Tell her. He’s a bad man. Shifty, missing shadow motherfucker. I don’t like him.”

Alex’s nervous mutterings pulled me out of my introspective state. “Alex,” I told them softly, close to their ear so no one else can eavesdrop. “It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”

“‘s not okay,” Alex slurred, trying desperately to stay awake. “She trusts him. Can’t…can’t do that. Grace. Melissa. You gotta watch her. She’s gone, I can’t. Wasn’t good enough. It’s empty, just like it always is.” But the fight is eventually gone from them, as the pain of their wounds becomes too much. “Damned nasty-ass spider.”

“Shh. Alex. You can rest now. You’re off-duty and I’m on the job.” I continued to whisper gentle and calming words to them. “It will turn out alright. I’ve got this.” I then turned to Ulysses. “Do you have enough energy to carry Alex through the gateway?”

Ulysses nodded. “I’ll manage.”

Grace looked at at Meg from her position in Dark’s arms. “Thanks for backing me up. You were a badass.”

Meg smiled and gave a slight nod, but otherwise said nothing.

The way through the portal was no different than the previous trip through it, and we arrived back at the meeting place we had all started.

“Ulysses, Dark. If you’d set them both down, gently.” I then turned to Meg. My eyes narrowed at her, because I remember how she treated me too. “You do exactly as I say. I want them both patched up.”

I walked over to the car, and open the boot. Rifling among the other objects in there, I pulled out a first aid kit. “We just need them stable enough to get them transported to a hospital. Meg and Ulysses, you both have special demon-y senses; you can see what I can’t. So it’s up to you two.”

Meg glared at me, obviously not liking having a human order her around. She turned to Dark and He gave her an encouraging nod. She sighed and squatted down and, between her and Ulysses, the cleaning and bandaging of wounds began.

Grace winced after playing with her glasses, and taking them off revealed that the skin on the bridge of her nose was raw. Another to add to the list of wounds and abrasions to patch up, and her hand came away with a little dot of blood.

But apparently that was enough for her. She began to shiver from delayed panic, face going waxy and pale. “Oh God what did I just do?! I-I killed-” She swallowed hard. “I-I killed demons! Holy shit!” She clung to Dark fiercely, as if He were her lifeline. “Don’t-Don’t let me go, Dark, My King, My Hades.” She began to ramble a little. “I’m sorry I got hurt, but Alex is my friend! I-I couldn’t leave them! I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at Meg, please! It wasn’t her fault.”

Alex had passed out… and perhaps that was for the best. The poor dear had been delirious from the pain.

Dark shushed Grace. “It’s quite alright, My love. I won’t leave you. Not now. Not ever.”

Yeah, about that... I definitely have a few reservations.

With a saccharine sweetness, I told Dark, “I hate to break up this lovely Kodak moment, but I’d like to talk to You, Dark. Alone.”

Panic returned for Grace. “No! Please don’t, please don’t. Don’t-Don’t leave me Dark! You promised!”

“Hush, love. It will only be for a moment. I’ll come back. I promise.”

“Yeah, I’m just borrowing your boyfriend for a few minutes,” I added.

She seemed to latch onto that, finding a little comfort, and the panic subsided. She nodded shakily, and finally released her grip on Him.

The shotgun felt heavier than usual in my hands as Dark and I walked far enough away where we wouldn’t be heard.

“Seems like Grace has gotten really attached to You,” I said to him. “Is it mutual?”

“Unequivocally.”

“Good, then You’ll understand this.” I fired a round of rock salt at Him, hitting Him in the kneecap.

He hissed in pain, doubling over, then gave a short and breathless laugh. “If that was for our last meeting, you stated your case clearly enough.” He straightened up. “You know rock salt can’t kill Me.”

“Oh, I know. But it sure stings like a bitch, doesn’t it?”

“Perhaps then, you’d care to explain why you shot Me?”

“It’s like this, Big Guy,” I finally told Him. “You hurt Grace or anyone else I care about, physically or psychologically, I’ll pump You so full of rock salt, You’ll be crappin’ Margaritas for a month. We clear?”

“I understand completely.”

“Good. You can go on then. Your girlfriend’s waiting.”

We returned to see a calmer Grace chatting with Meg about her injuries, watching as she and Ulysses worked. “How bad are they? Be honest.”

“Not great, but not that bad, either,” the demoness replied. “And you’ll probably be on crutches for awhile.”

“Will I lose it you think? I know the damned thing tore into it like a dog with a toy.” Grace winced. “And it hurts. A lot.”

“As long as we get you to a hospital, you’ll be fine,” Ulysses said. “You should both be fine.”

She breathed another sigh of relief. She turned then, perking up as she saw Dark and myself returning. Grace smiled at us, despite the pain.

“With what I just overheard, I believe we need to get you both medical attention.” Dark bent down and picked her up again. Once more Grace clung to Him. “Meg, you will carry Alex, and do be gentle with them. Wouldn’t want to waste your hard work now, would we?”

Meg nodded once and set Alex over her shoulder in a fireman's carry. Dark looked down at the woman in His arms.

“Now hold onto Me, dearest Grace. This may not be pleasant.” She nodded and shut her eyes... then the two demons start to move very quickly, away from me. Almost like they were in a really fast car with the windows down, but Grace was already half passed-out.

I sighed and began to pack away my first aid kit and the weapons into the car. This was definitely one for the books.

---------------------------------

When Grace came to, she was in the hospital. It was a familiar feeling, though not quite in the same context. Her leg was tightly bandaged and slightly elevated. She could hear a heart monitor beeping, but it wasn’t hers. It was from the bed beside her own.

Sitting up, she looked over and saw Alex in the other bed. Grace teared up at the sight of her friend. They looked a little pale, bandages all over their chest and stomach but were still breathing evenly. She looked at the heart monitor attached to them and was relieved that it didn’t waver. 

She whispered so as not to wake them. “I’m so glad you’re okay,  Alex. You really had me worried there. And I hope you’re ready to get smacked upside the head when you’re better, for not listening to me earlier. Then I’ll hug the stuffing out of you for coming back for me, despite the danger.” She laughed softly and laid back in the bed.

What a night this was, I dined with the Devil, in his own home nonetheless! I met His kids and they like me so far. And I got my first kiss. Then as if that wasn’t enough, I fought and killed demons! Oh I know no one will believe this. But maybe my new scar will help with that.

She turned over as best she could.

Alex was right. I shouldn’t trust Him. He’s a master manipulator, a seducer. He psychologically tortures people, for Pete’s sake! But I do trust Him because, despite that. He’s honorable in His own way, honest, loyal, funny, kind and caring to those He protects. It’s stupid, and probably insane, but I trust Him.

And… this isn’t a schoolgirl’s crush. I think… I think I’m a little in love with Him. Heaven help me.

Deciding to try and get sleep, she whispered, “Good night, Alex. Sleep well. Hope you feel better come morning.” 

Her eyes flicked to a dark corner of the room. She wasn’t sure if He was actually there or if she was dreaming it, but she decided it didn’t really matter. Maybe He’d hear her anyway. “Good night, Dark.” 

Grace fell asleep with a soft smile on her face.

[foreverwayward]

“Wayward Hearts” Season 1 Chapter 11: Salvation

Summary: As Sam and Dean begin the search for their father, a chance encounter with another hunter will change the roads ahead. Riley Munroe is a hunter, raised by her father after her mother tragically died when she was only six months old. Brought together by loss, grief, and the family business, Sam, Dean, and Riley join forces. They’ll find that their stories are intertwined and lean on each other as they search for answers and to avenge those they’ve lost. They’ll face evil, darkness, and hell itself…as a family.

Masterlist

Word Count: 9,350

Content Warning: language and violence

DISCLAIMER: any words or phrases in bold in the story are not my own and are credited to the writers of Supernatural.

**GIFS ARE NOT MY OWN**

Sam, Riley, and Dean sat in a small café in Omaha, Nebraska. A recent hunt had brought them into town, but there were no leads for other possible cases. The three were itching to get back on the road. Not knowing where John or the demon were, had them on edge. If they weren’t working, they were left alone with their thoughts and they all desperately wanted to avoid that.

Dean worked through newspaper articles and Sam searched the web for anything that might catch his eye.

As Riley came back to the table she huffed as she sat. “I’m so bored,” she whined. “We’ve been sitting in this town with nothing to do for a week. Someone give me something to shoot already.”

“I know,” Dean agreed. He sighed in frustration as he folded up his newspaper. “I couldn’t find one decent lead in Nebraska. Sam, please tell me you found something before we all lose our minds.”

“Uh--” Sam started as he scrolled through articles. “Well, a man named Daniel Elkins was found mauled in his home over in Colorado.”

Dean’s brow furrowed. “Elkins. How do I know that name?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell for me.” Sam exhaled deeply. “Anyway, looks like the cops don’t know what to make of it. At first, they said it was some sort of bear attack, but now they say they’ve found signs of robbery.”

The oldest Winchester reached into his bag to pull out John’s hunting journal. He flipped through the pages as Riley waited to see what he’d find. Dean turned the notebook in their direction and pointed to a name. ‘D. Elkins”.

Riley looked over the page and saw a phone number beside the name. “That’s a Colorado area code. Wait, are you thinking it’s the same Elkins?”

“Only one way to find out.”

------

After a long day’s drive, the hunters found themselves on a snowy Colorado mountain. 

A small cabin sat alone among the trees. The light from the moon illuminated the blanket of white. Nothing but silence filled the mountain as more snow softly fell to the ground.

Dean picked the lock and the three stood in the doorway with flashlights. They split up and looked for anything to give them more information on the man who had died there only days before. 

The home had been trashed. Furniture was overturned, items laid broken on the floor, and papers had been scattered and thrown about.

Sam and Dean walked ahead as Finn sniffed near the door. 

Riley bent down to see what he had found and picked up white flecks into her hand. “Salt. It’s all right in front of the door.”

“Are we talking ‘protection-against-demons’ salt or ‘oops I spilled the popcorn’ salt?” The cabin was small, so even in the next room, Dean could engage in the conversation as he rifled through Elkins’ desk.

“Well, it’s definitely a ring.” With Riley at his side, Finn began to sniff more through the house. He had been trained to know when something smelled off or strange. It had helped on hunts when it was just the two of them.

“You guys think Elkins was a player?” Sam asked.

“Definitely. Hey, guys…” Dean called. “Come check this out.”

The others found their way to him. Dean had a notebook opened in front of him. The pages were filled with random notes, newspaper clippings, phone numbers, information on supernatural creatures, and more.

Sam scanned over the pages. “Looks a hell of a lot like Dad’s.”

“Yeah, except this dates back all the way to the ‘60s.”

Finn’s whining could be heard in another part of the cabin and the three followed the sounds. When they found him, he was in the doorway of an office space. 

That one room had seen the worst of the fray. The floors were cluttered with debris, glass, books, and other odds and ends. With almost nowhere clear to walk, the hunters trudged their way through it. 

The dog continued to whimper at all the smells he picked up on. Blood stains covered the wooden walls and had found their way to the floor. Sam, Dean, and Riley had found where Elkins spent his last moments in terror.

Glass crunched under their boots and Riley looked up. The sunroofs had been shattered through. “Well, whatever came for this guy--there was definitely more than one.” She shined her light across the room. “This dude put up a hell of a fight from the looks of it.”

As they continued to search the room, Dean found what looked like an old wooden gun case among the chaos. It was empty and the shells it once held were missing as well. 

He moved his light to the other side of him and stumbled on what looked like scratches on the floor. Using a piece of paper and pencil, Dean rubbed the led over it to reveal a message.

“Sam, Rye…” Dean turned to give them the paper as they both studied it. “Three letters and six digits. It’s the location and combination for a post office box. ...that’s exactly how Dad does it.”

------

The team got back into the Impala after finding the right post office. Inside they had found an envelope addressed to ‘J. W.’ Riley sat in the back with Finn as the boys got in the front. 

They all debated whether or not to open it, wondering if it had been left for John.

A knock came from the driver’s side window and the hunters jumped at the sound. Smiling back at them, was John Winchester.

Seeing that he was coming for the backseat, Riley scooted over and made room as Finn laid in her lap. 

John got in the car and closed the door behind him. The three were shocked to see him.

“Dad! What are you doing here? Are you alright?” Sam had quickly shifted in his seat to look at his father.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I read the news about Daniel. I got here as fast as I could.” John looked over at the blue-eyed hunter beside him. “Saw you guys up at his place. I had to make sure you weren’t followed by anyone or anything.”

The youngest Winchester grew was almost jealous. “Wait. You came all the way out here for this Elkins guy?”

“He taught me a lot about hunting. We had a falling out years ago, but he was a good man.” Putting his hand out for the letter John said, “I should look at that.” When he was handed the letter, he opened it and began to read. “If you’re reading this, I’m already dead…” John paused as he read on. “That son of a bitch. He had it the whole time. When you three searched the place, did you see an antique gun? A Colt revolver?”

“No, sir,” Dean replied. “There was an old gun case, but it was empty.”

“The things that killed Elkins, they have it. We gotta pick up their trail.” John hadn’t even finished his statement before he was already getting out of the car.

“Wait, you want us to come with you?” Sam was stunned.

“The gun--if Elkins was telling the truth, we gotta go get it.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s important that’s why,” John spoke more firmly. He never had the patience for when his children questioned him. After a deep breath, he looked back at them. “We’re gonna be going after a nest of vampires. That’s what Elkins hunted--it was his specialty.” 

Hurrying back to his truck, John got in and started it up knowing the young hunters would be behind him.

Dean looked quickly back at the others and started up the car.

------

Later into the night, John sat listening to the police scanner in the subpar lodge they had all shared for the night. Sam had fallen asleep and so had Dean and Riley on their own bed as the cuddled up together. A tired Finn laid on the floor at the foot of their bed.

A call came through and John ordered everyone up. Groggy and disoriented, they all struggled to wake themselves.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked.

“Heard a call on the scanner. It’s the vamps.” John grabbed his jacket as he hurried for the door.

“What? How do you know?”

John turned to his son, slightly irritated. “Just follow me, okay?”

Still trying to fully wake up, the three grabbed their things to head out the door as Riley patted her leg for Finn to follow.

------

Riley was never a morning person and the lack of sleep started to hit her as they waited near the scene. She yawned. “Fuck, it’s early. Doesn’t your dad ever sleep?”

Sam leaned against the car, irritated that John had left them behind to talk to the cops. He didn’t feel like a partner, but like a child. 

John and his youngest son always butt heads, mostly because Sam didn’t believe in being his father’s soldier.

John walked back to the car and told them they were on the right trail and that the vampires had come through and taken a couple. “They’re headed west. We’re gonna have to double back to get past the roadblock”

“How can you be so sure?” Sam asked in defiance.

Dean mumbled under his breath. “Here we go again.”

“I found a vampire tooth at the scene.” Handing it to Dean, John looked at Sam. “So, yeah. I’m sure.” With that final comment, he headed back for his truck. “Oh, and Dean. You might wanna give the car a touch up so you don’t get rust. You even got a fucking dog in it for Christ’s sake. I wouldn’t have given you the damn thing if I thought you were gonna ruin it.”

Even little comments like that made Dean feel as if he was failing his dad.

Riley felt it too. It got under her skin how much control and power John had over the man she loved. 

Dean could face any monster head on and never doubt himself. But his greatest fear was not being enough for his father.

------

The two vehicles had been driving down the highway. Sam’s irritation with his father continued to seep from him. His hands squeezed around the wheel as he drove.

How pent up he was had been giving Riley anxiety as she felt it all. Negative energies and emotions were always harder to block out.

Trying to get her mind off of it, she offered her thoughts. “Odds are, those vamps drug that missing couple back to their nest.”

“That’s probably what Dad’s thinking,” Sam agreed. “Bu,t I wouldn’t know. The man won’t ever tell us what he’s thinking.”

“Alright, Sam. We spent the last entire year looking for Dad. Now, we’ve barely been with him for more than a couple hours and you guys already have shit between you?” Dean knew that was just how things were between his brother and father. He also knew that meant he would always get put in the middle.

Sighing, Sam replied, “No. It’s not like that. I’m glad he’s alright. I’m even happy that we’re all working together.” He couldn’t bite his tongue another minute as his tone changed. “He just treats us like children, Dean. Dad just barks orders at us and expects us to jump to his every command.” Sam’s anger grew and he began to vent. “He keeps us on some fucking stupid ‘need-to-know’ basis. This may have been alright when we were kids, but not now--not after everything we’ve been through. I mean even you, Riley. Are you guys just fine with him running the show?”

Riley just sat quietly knowing it wasn’t her place to speak on Dean’s behalf, no matter how much she wanted to.

“If that’s what it takes, Sam.” Dean was willing to humble himself to John. His phone rang and after he was given his order, he replied, “yes, sir. Got it,” before hanging up. “Take the next exit. Dad said he got the vampires trail.”

“How?” Sam asked with bite.

“He didn’t say.”

That was all it took for Sam to have had enough. Laying into the pedal, he sped up the car and passed his father’s truck. Whipping the Chevy around to a stop, John’s car barely missed the Impala. 

A furious John got out of his car and marched towards them as Sam did the same.

“Oh, shit. Here we go.” Dean was familiar with the fights they would have and hated every moment. He got out to be the buffer while Riley sat in the backseat trying to breathe through the storm of rage and anger that surrounded the car.

“What the fuck was that?” John barked.

Seething with anger, Sam addressed John. “We’re gonna talk. Right now.”

“About what?”

“Everything! Where are we going, Dad? What the hell is the deal with the gun? Huh? First, you say it’s too dangerous for us to all be together and then suddenly you need our help?”

Desperate to defuse the tension, Dean stepped up to them. “Come on, Sammy. Let’s deal with the vamps and we can do the Q&A later.”

“Your brother’s right, Sam. We don’t have time for this.” John stood stoically like the Marine he always was.

“Obviously, something big is going on, Dad and we want to know what!” The anger Sam had been keeping inside finally bubbled over as he yelled in his father’s face.

John took an almost threatening step closer to his youngest son and commanded for him to get back in the car.

“Look, you guys. We’re all tired. We can talk about this later.” Grabbing his brother’s jacket, Dean shoved his Sam towards the car. “Sammy, I mean it. Come on.”

“This is why I left in the first place,” Sam scoffed under his breath.

“Yeah! You left!” John had tolerated enough of his son’s disobedience. “Your brother and me--we needed you! You walked away, Sam. You walked away!”

“You’re the one that told me not to come back, Dad! You’re the one that closed that door, not me!” Sam began to shout as his rage consumed him. “You were just pissed off that you couldn’t fucking control me anymore!”

John reached out to grab Sam’s coat in frustration as the two were ready to fight. 

As Dean went to push himself between John and Sam, Riley stepped out of the car. Their rage had become her own.

“That’s enough!” she yelled forcefully as she slammed the door. “Sam! Get in the car. Now.” She turned to look at John and wasn’t afraid of him the way Dean was. Riley was firm as her brow furrowed. “Get back...in your car, John.”

As the Winchesters tried to calm themselves, clouds formed from their lips as their breaths hit the air. The tension was palpable.

“She’s right.” Dean looked at them both in frustration as he pushed them apart. “This is over.” John and Sam both got into their cars and Dean was left there with Riley as they tried to steady their breathing. 

“Fan-freaking-tastic,” he added sarcastically as he threw his arms up in annoyance.

------

The truck and Impala found their way onto a dirt road behind a row of trees. Ahead of them, was an old barn with beat up cars out front. The wind blew through the overcast morning and the leaves rustled as the trunks of the two vehicles opened revealing their arsenals. 

It was time to gear up. The nest was in that barn and John wasn’t leaving without that gun.

Luckily, tensions had died down to an extent since the stop on the highway. 

Everyone was readying themselves with machetes. They knew that the fastest way to get this job done was to be as stealthy as possible while the vampires slept. But if they were found out, beheading the creatures was going to be the only way out.

Finn would have to wait in the car, though Riley wasn’t concerned in the least. He was trained to stay quiet and would wait patiently for them to return.

She turned towards Sam as she strapped her gun holster to her waist. “Look, I’m sorry if I was out of line earlier.”

Sam scoffed with a smile. “Nah. I’m cool with you letting me know when I’m being a jackass.”

“Oh, so it’s okay when she does it?” Dean snarked. The others let out a small laugh.

As John prepared his weapons, he looked over at the young hunters. “You kids really wanna know about this Colt?”

“Yes, sir,” the boys replied.

“It’s just a legend. Well, I thought it was. I never really believed it until I read Daniel’s letter.” He turned to face them. “Back in 1835, when Halley’s Comet was overhead, the same night those men died at the Alamo, they say Samuel Colt made a gun--a special gun. He made it for a hunter. A man like us--only on horseback.” With a sigh, John continued, “the story goes, he made 13 bullets. This hunter used the gun a half a dozen times before he disappeared, the gun along with him. They say--this gun can kill anything.”

Riley’s face changed as the stress from earlier began to melt. Nothing else mattered at that moment. She looked at John as her heart practically jumped into her throat.  “...like the demon.”

“Yeah--the demon. Ever since I picked up its trail, I’ve been looking for a way to destroy that son of a bitch. Find the gun...and we may have it.”

The three young hunters stood frozen in time as they realized the Colt might be the key to the end of their lifelong nightmare. 

------

John, Riley, and the boys found a large barn window to the rafters that would give them a way in. One by one, they climbed in to softly land on stored hay. 

A foul smell of death wafted through the air as it mixed with that of the hay and dirt. The light that peeked through the panels of the barn would have to be enough to guide them.

The four spread out without a command. They worked like a well-oiled machine. Armed and ready, they meticulously moved through the barn through rows of hammocks. The vampires were fast asleep to avoid the hours of painful sunlight. 

On the opposite end sat a makeshift cage. Rusted fencing metal was used to keep in the nest’s prey. Six weak and fading people sat wasting away as they were slowly being drained of blood over time. 

Riley signaled towards Dean, motioning for them to head towards the prisoners. Dean went to work to break the hinges of the door as quietly as possible. 

Putting a finger to her lips, Riley told the captives to remain unheard.

The amount of fear and suffering she could feel as she stood there was about to make her sick. She had to fight to keep all the pleas for help that rang through her mind under control. Riley was overwhelmed hearing more thoughts than one at a time as the terrified victims feared for their lives.

While John found the back of the aged farm building to find the leader of the nest, Sam saw a young woman tied to a post. She seemed unconscious and wore a blood-stained white blouse. The girl had obviously been bitten. 

Sam pulled out a knife from its sheath and crouched down as he began to cut her free. When he looked up, her eyes began to open.

He whispered, “hey. I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?” 

The woman’s jaw dropped open as she released a horrifying and inhuman scream. She had been turned.

All of the hunters jolted at the sound of the noise, realizing their cover was blown. 

As if the girl had set off an alarm, the sleeping creatures woke ready to attack. 

John yelled as he came from the back, “run! Go! Go!”

Doing as he said, the three found themselves in a full sprint towards the entrance of the barn. They hurried into the embrace of the sun as they ran in the direction of the cars.

Sam, Dean, and Riley tried to catch their breaths as John came from the trees behind them. “They won’t follow--they’ll wait ‘til tonight. Once a vampire gets your scent, it’s for life. They’ll come for us.”

“Alright,” Riley said through her deep breaths, “so, what do we do?”

------

The motel room had every shade drawn as they prepared for nightfall. Sam and John sat alone in awkward silence while Riley and Dean had run an errand.

With Finn at his side, Sam sat on the bed stroking his fur as his father went through his research. The feeling of bad blood from the night before still hung in the air. Neither knew how to cross the bridge they had seemed to burn.

“I never told you this,” John’s voice broke through the quiet in the room as he played with a pen in his hand. “But I had college funds started for you boys. I wanted you to go and make something of yourselves someday.” He turned to look at his son. “This was never the life I wanted for you.

“Then why’d you get so mad when I left?”

“When your mother died, all I could see was evil. All that mattered to me was keeping you boys alive. I wanted you both ready. Except, somewhere along the line I stopped being your father and became your drill sergeant.” Sam went over to the desk his dad sat at, ready to hear what he had to say. “When you told me you wanted to go to school--Sammy, I was just so damn scared. You would be alone and vulnerable. I guess it just never really occurred to me to think about what you wanted. Maybe it was just because of how different we are.”

The silence returned, but with a different feel. The Winchester men breathed a sigh of relief as the air around them felt less thick. It was the first time that Sam had ever felt like he could begin to understand John. He never knew that the way his father reacted to him leaving wasn’t about control; Ii was about the crippling fear of losing his little boy.

“Dad,” Sam started. “We’re more alike than you think.”

“How so?”

“With what happened to Mom, and then to Jessica? I think we have a lot more in common than just about anyone.”

John mourned the fact that Sam knew the pain he had gone through in losing his wife. No one should have to endure that kind of suffering, let alone his child. Though as his tears formed in his eyes, there was a glimmer of hope--hope that their relationship could mend itself. 

A smile formed at the corner of John’s mouth. “I guess you’re right.”

The door opened as Riley and Dean came in. Dean held a brown paper bag in his hand as he held the door for her. After greeting Finn, Riley walked over to the desk to join Sam and John.

“We just stole blood...from a funeral home. How did this become our lives?” she asked with sass.

Dean chuckled as he removed a bottle from the bag. Thick blood filled the glass container that he sat on the desk. “That was a lot of security to protect a bunch of dead guys.”

Looking up at the others John gave his command with a single nod. “You know what to do.”

------

On the side of the road, late in the night, Dean leaned over the Impala’s open hood. The headlights were off as he felt around the metal engine.

“Car trouble?” the voice of a woman spoke out from behind him. 

Dean spun around to see a long-haired brunette. She was in washed out jeans with a matching vest that wrapped over her black long sleeved shirt. 

“Let me give you a lift. I’ll take you back to my place.” Her tone was seductive as she got close to the hunter.

“Pass. I mean, I’m into some kinky shit, but I draw the line at necrophilia,” he replied sarcastically.

The woman gave a chuckle before striking him with the back of her hand. Her strength sent Dean straight to the ground. 

As another vampire approached, the female creature grabbed Dean by the face and lifted him up in the air leaving his feet to dangle.

“You’re a forward one aren’t ya?” Dean grunted as he grabbed at her wrists. “I don’t usually get this friendly 'til the second date.”

“You know, we could have some fun. I always like to make new friends.” She lowered him down, still holding his face, and forced him into a kiss. When she was finished, she held him out in front of her.

“You know, I wish I could, but I’m not exactly on the market right now.” An arrow was heard whisking through the air before it thudded into the other vampire’s chest and another into her back. “Sorry. Looks like you may have pissed off my girlfriend.”

The vampire turned around as Riley walked out from the shadows with a crossbow in hand. 

John came from the opposite side with one as well while Sam held a machete. 

Looking at the other hunters, the vampire snickered, “barely even stings.” She released Dean ready to fight the others.

“Give it time, sweetheart,” John replied in a cocky tone. “That arrow’s soaked in dead man’s blood.” The creature gave a look of shock before falling to the ground nearly unconscious. Pointing to her body John ordered to the others, “load her up in the truck.” The remaining vampire was still alert, but on his knees. John glared at him, taking Sam’s machete. “I’ll take care of this one.”

------

A small bonfire had been set ablaze as Sam patrolled the area. 

John walked over from his truck with a sack of items that he handed to Dean. “Toss this on the fire--saffron, skunk's cabbage and trillium. It'll block our scent and hers until we're ready.”

“Ugh. This friggin’ stuff stinks.”

“That's the idea. Dust your clothes with the ashes and you stand a chance of not being detected.”

Riley turned to look at her boyfriend. “First you make out with a dead chick and now you smell like actual shit. How did I get so lucky?” she asked in sarcasm. 

Dean chuckled as he playfully went to kiss her. She cringed and pushed him away.

“They’ll come for the girl. Vampires mate for life, so she means more to the leader than the gun. The blood sickness will wear off soon though, so we don’t have a lot of time.” John closed up the trunk. “Thirty minutes or so and then you all get out of the area as fast as you can. I’ll have the Colt so I’ll handle the rest of them.”

“Okay,” Sam started hesitantly. “But afterward we’re gonna meet up and use the Colt together? Right?” There was a long pause as John refused to answer. “You’re gonna leave again and go after the demon alone, aren’t you?” He scoffed. “You know, I don’t get you. You can’t keep treating us like children, Dad.”

“You are my children,” John barked. “I’m trying to keep you safe!”

Dean couldn’t stand staying quiet any longer. “Dad, all due respect but, uh--that's a crock of shit.”

Riley’s eyes grew watching him challenge his father’s words. She wasn’t sure she would ever see a day where Dean stepped out of rank.

“Excuse me?” John was thrown by his son’s words.

“You know what Sammy, Riley, and I have been hunting. Hell, you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe.”

“It’s not the same thing, Dean.”

Crossing her arms, Riley stepped closer to be a part of the conversation. “So, what is it then, John? Why don’t you want us to be a part of this? This fight means just as much to us as it does to you.” Her words showed her lack of patience with the man.

He turned to face her. John always knew that Riley was a fiery woman but was still surprised she spoke out against him. “This demon? It's a bad son of a bitch. I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you all alive.”

“You mean you can’t be as reckless,” Dean bit back.

“Look...I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece. Your mother's death--it almost killed me. I can't watch my children die too. I won't.”

Riley braced herself as the emotions from the Winchesters began to engulf her. She was learning to always be ready for them whenever the family would have to talk.

“What happens if you die?” Dean stepped up to his father. “Dad, what happens if you die and we could have done something about it? You know I’ve been thinking. I think maybe Sammy's right about this one. We should do this together.” 

Sam nodded in agreeance.

“John,” Riley’s voice was softer and more pleading. “We’re stronger together. You know we are.” There was a moment of silence and Riley tried to read his thoughts. She could only catch pieces. It was almost as if his thoughts were too scattered to make sense.

Finally, John turned towards his sons. “We're running out of time. You do your job and you get out of the area. That's an order,” he said as he headed back for his truck.

The three stood there unsure of what to do. They knew there was no arguing with John, but there was no way in hell they were going to wait on the sidelines for the most important fight of their lives.

------

John was going to find the leader and make a trade for the Colt on his own. At that time, Sam, Dean, and Riley had gone back to free the prisoners in the barn.

Cars had been following John for quite a long stretch of road. He had been watching from his rear-view mirror, keeping an eye on their distance. With one more glance, he saw that the cars had gone. John turned his head to get a better look, only to see the fog rolling behind him. 

As he turned back to face the road ahead of him, John had to slam on the brakes as he saw the nest of vampires waiting in the road. The headlights created a glare in their eyes that gave them a strange, supernatural glow.

“Get out,” the leader ordered. He was tall with long shaggy hair and wore a black leather jacket. As John got out of the car the vampire continued. “I’m Luther. Who the fuck are you?”

“Name’s Winchester.” Reaching into the truck, John drug out the weak vampire. She was bound in rope and still groggy. “She’ll be fine.” He paused to look at their leader in the eyes, “...dead man’s blood.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“A trade. I want the Colt--the gun you took from Elkins.”

Luther started to laugh. “That’s what this is about? You think you can just shoot us?”

“Oh, I don’t need it for you. I’m saving it for something else.” The hunter gave a cocky smirk. “So, put the gun down or she goes first.”

Obeying the demands, the vampire placed the Colt onto the road. He stepped back to give a safe distance for the hunter to retrieve it. 

As John went to reach down for the gun, the drugged vampire had regained her strength and pulled from her restraints. She swung around and struck John with force, causing him to fall to the ground.

A snickering Luther walked over to John as he stood back up. The monster hit him hard enough to fly back into his door’s window. The glass shattered around John’s weak frame as he met the pavement once again as he was knocked out cold. 

Arrows shot through the air and impaled two of the nest members. 

Sam, Riley, and Dean had finished their mission, but weren’t about to leave John on his own. Orders be damned.

They charged at full speed into the road ready to fight. Dean swung hard, taking off one of the creature’s heads off as Sam fired another arrow.

Riley came out from behind a tree with her crossbow ready and Luther tackled her to the ground. She groaned out in pain as her back hit the floor and the wind had been knocked out of her chest. 

As he looked down at Riley, she could hear a strange hissing come from the monster. It wasn’t audible, though she could almost feel it in her bones. 

Luther’s cold hand grabbed her up off the ground and he wrapped his arm around her throat.

Dean immediately reacted to her being taken and turned towards Luther with the machete. His eyes were filled with hate and his blood boiled watching the monster hold onto her. “Let her go, freak!”

“Don’t,” Luther hissed. “Put it down or I snap her neck.”

Being too caught in the moment, Riley had no thoughts to attempt to send Dean’s way. She gasped for air as her throat began to feel squeezed. T

he moment she had to fight for air, Dean put his hand up in surrender. There was no way he would risk her life. His blade clanked on the ground as he conceded to the demands.

“You people.” Anger poured from Luther as he held tightly onto the hunter’s throat. “Why can't you leave us alone? We have as much right to live as you do.”

“I don’t think so,” a deep voice spoke out from behind him.

Luther turned to the voice, still holding Riley. He was met with the barrel of the Colt pointed in his direction as John held it firmly in his hand. 

Before Luther could respond, the hunter pulled the trigger. A loud bang exploded through the empty highway as a bullet found its target in Luther’s forehead. A large, almost rotted-looking circle immediately appeared at the entrance wound. Luther stumbled and released Riley. 

She gasped for air as Dean grabbed her to hold her close and Sam hurried to their sides. 

Blood seeped from the vampire’s skull and ran down his face as a mystical glow came from the bullet’s entry. A rush of wind blew in as Luther’s face quickly flashed an almost skeletal appearance. Black veins stretched out across his pale skin and he fell to his knees. He groaned out in pain as a light shot through his skull, finally snuffing out any life in him. The then still corpse landed on the ground.

Luther’s mate screamed in fury and pain. Her wrath and monstrous-like screams echoed in Riley’s mind. 

Another nest member took the woman by the arm and drug her away back to her vehicle. Once inside, the driver laid on the pedal and sped them away in a desperate escape.

John stood still in his spot as a satisfied grin curled at his lips. 

It was true. The Colt was real.

------

Riley filled up Finn’s bowl of water and sat it in the corner as she tidied up. Sam and Dean worked to clean off their gear after an eventful night.

“You boys ignored a direct order back there,” John stated as he walked in the door.

“Yes, sir,” Sam replied.

Dean looked at his father with no fear. “But we saved your ass.”

Sam’s face was shocked as he looked at his brave brother. 

Riley was bursting with pride for Dean. So much so, that she somehow found him even more attractive.

“You’re right,” John admitted.

“I am?” Dean was in no way prepared for that response.

Nodding his head, John looked at his children. “It scares the hell out of me. But you two are all I’ve got.” He turned to Riley and Finn. “Well, the four of you, I guess.” Riley smirked as she pet the faithful dog at her side. “You were right, Riley.” John looked at the three young hunters in front of him as he surrendered to their only chance of ending it all. “We go after this damn thing...as a family. Together.”

------

The next day, John had set up a station at the desk. Papers, pictures, news clippings, weather reports, and more were pinned to the wall behind him. Books were stacked on the desk and years of endless research was spread out.

Sam sat near John as they worked through his findings. Dean had been pacing when Riley came in from a walk with Finn.

“Good, you’re back.” Looking up at her, John motioned for her to come to him.

Dean gave her a kiss hello and they walked over as his hand found her waist.

“Look, our whole lives we been searching for this demon right? There hasn’t been a damn trace of it, until about a year ago. For the first time, I picked up a trail.”

“That’s when you took off.” Dean finally understood and John nodded. “Alright, so what's this trail you found?”

“It starts in Arizona, then New Jersey, and then California. Houses burned down to the ground. It's going after families, just like it went after us.”

“Families with babies,” Riley added.

“Yeah. On the night of the kid’s six-month birthday.” Sam and Riley turned to each other. “You both were exactly six months old the nights the demon came.”

“So, basically, this demon is going after these kids for some reason.” Sam began to walk away into a pace. “The same way it came for me? So, Mom's death--Jessica? It's all because of me?”

Riley’s head snapped in his direction. “So, what? Does that mean I’m to blame for what happened to my mom and to Deb? Is that what you think?”

“I don’t know, Rye. I mean, as much as it sucks, that’s kind of what it looks like.”

“For the last time,” Dean’s voice was filled with frustration. “What happened to everyone was neither of your faults.”

Sam scoffed. “Fine, so it’s not my fault, but it’s my problem.”

“No! It’s not your problem. It’s our problem.” Dean had listened to his brother blame himself for too long and he wasn’t about to let his self-hatred feed into Riley’s.

John stood and his chair squeaked on the wooden floors. “Okay, that’s enough.” Everyone took a moment to take a breath and calm themselves. “I don’t even know what the evil bastard wants with these kids. I wish I had more answers, I do. I've always been one step behind it. I've never even gotten there in time to save…” John couldn’t even find the words to finish that sentence as he hung his head in shame. “I failed them all. Just like I failed Mary,” he thought as he ran a hand down his face.

Riley could feel the conflict in him and in his thoughts. “Okay, so how do we find it before it strikes again?”

“There are signs. It took me a while to see the pattern, but it's there in the days before these fires signs crop up in an area.” John handed different papers with information to the three hunters. “Cattle deaths, temperature fluctuations, electrical storms. And then I went back and checked...they all happened in Lawrence, a week before your mom died and in Palo Alto before Jessica. Riley, the same things were going on before what happened to your mom and to Debbie too. And these signs,” he paused. “...they're starting again.”

“Where?” Sam’s tone was filled with a sense of urgency.

“...Salvation, Iowa.”

A lump formed in Riley’s throat as she came to a realization. She walked over to her canine companion and crouched in front of him. Finn licked her face knowing that she needed the comfort. A tear ran down her face and she sniffled. 

Riley cleared her throat. “Guys,” she started. Sam and Dean turned in her direction as she struggled to compose herself. “We gotta take Finn to Missouri’s. It’s too dangerous and we’re going through Kansas on our way to Iowa.” She wiped her face and rubbed the dog’s ears. “I can’t risk it.”

Dean moved over to her and she stood to meet his embrace. His hand rubbed up and down her opposite arm in comfort. “I know it’ll be hard, sweetheart. We’ll go get him when it’s safe. I promise.”

“I’ll give Missouri a call.” Sam grabbed his phone and made his way outside.

Riley squat down to the ground, looking Finn in the eyes and lovingly petting him. “I gotta keep you safe, buddy. But I swear, I’ll come back for you.”

------

In the Impala, Dean sat fixated on the road as he followed his father’s truck. 

Riley sat in the back. She strummed at the strings on her guitar in an attempt to take her mind off her aching heart.

Riley knew Missouri would take care of Finn--that he would be safe. Still, leaving him behind felt wrong. She knew how much she would miss him and she tried to ignore the tears that urged themselves from her eyes. 

Saying goodbye to Finn earlier that day was like a knife to her gut.

John’s truck pulled to the side of the road and Dean followed. The two cars parked as John got out and began to curse through his growing emotions. 

“Goddammit!” His hands ran through his hair before he struck the car in anger. “Son of a bitch!”

“Dad, what’s going on?” Dean asked as the three of them hurried his way.

“I just got a call from Caleb,” he paused as his head fell. “Jim Murphy’s dead.”

Riley struggled to keep herself in check as John’s inability to control his pain began to soak into her core. When she was vulnerable, the feelings she picked up on seemed to magnify to an unbearable level. 

She knew Pastor Jim. He helped take care of her and her father several times when they needed him most. Jim was a good man and a respected hunter.

“How?” she asked as her voice broke.

“His throat was slashed--he bled out. Caleb said they found traces of sulfur at Jim's place.”

“A demon?” Dean paused. “The demon?”

John shrugged as his hands found his jacket pockets. “I don't know. Could be he just got careless and he slipped up. Maybe the demon knows we're getting close.”

Sam’s jaw clenched. “So what do we do?”

“Now we act like every second counts. There's two hospitals and a health center in this county. We split up, cover more ground. I want records. I want a list of every infant that's going to be six months old in the next week.”

“John that could be an impossible number of kids,” Riley said in worry.

“So, we check ‘em all.” John began to shake as his anger rose thinking of his friend’s death. “This ends, now. I'm ending it. I don't care what it takes.” John turned towards his car and got in before slamming the door.

Sam, Riley, and Dean shot each other a look before hurrying back to Baby.

------

The Winchesters and Riley had reached Salvation. Their only hope of finding the families that were in danger was to search hospital records. Dean and Riley worked through the files of one hospital while Sam and John searched two others.

As Sam walked out of the Salvation Medical Center front doors, he flipped through his notebook of information he’d gathered. A familiar pain rushed through his skull as he clutched his forehead. It was another vision.

Flashes of a nursery in the middle of the night took over. A brown-haired woman walked into her daughter’s room as the sound of a train whistle blew from outside. Sam breathed heavily through the pain as he saw the shadow of the demon next to the cooing child. The next flash was the room set ablaze as the woman was pinned to the ceiling, screaming.

When it had finally passed, Sam’s head shot up. “A train.” 

He pulled a map from a pocket in his backpack looking for tracks nearby. Spotting where he thought he should go, Sam took off. He was going to find the house he had seen in his vision. Sam had to know if what he saw was real.

------

The hunters had all made their way back to the motel they had checked into. John sat with his hands clasped as he leaned against them. Riley and Dean sat side by side in silence as Sam told them all about his vision.

“A vision?” John’s tone went flat. “And you think this will actually happen to the woman you went and found because…”

“Because things happen the way I see them.” Sam rubbed his head still recovering from the lingering pain.

Dean looked towards his father. “They started out as nightmares. Then they started happening when he was awake,” he said as he got up to go pour a cup of coffee.

“It seems like the closer I get to anything involving the demon,” Sam winced, “the stronger the visions get.”

John stood in a huff. “When the fuck did you all plan on telling me this? Jesus, Dean, something like this starts happening to your brother, you pick up the phone and you call me.”

“Call you?” Dean asked in sarcasm. “Are you kidding me? I called you from Lawrence when we went back to the house. I called you when Riley’s aunt died.” 

“John, I called you when Dean was dying.” Riley had bitten her tongue long enough. “We got a better chance of winning the lottery than getting you on the phone.” She felt John’s energy shift. 

He knew they were right. Silence fell in the room as no one knew what to say.

“You’re right,” John admitted. “Although I’m not too fond of this new tone of yours, Dean, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He looked over at Riley. “You both are right.”

Sighing, Riley closed her eyes as she worked up the courage to ‘rip off the band-aid’ and tell John the rest. “It’s not just Sam.”

John’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to--” Dean started before Riley interrupted him.

“It’s okay, Dean,” she said putting a hand sweetly on his arm. “John, Sam isn’t the only one dealing with this stuff.” Riley took another deep breath. “I’ve been developing empathic abilities. I feel people’s emotions. And…”

John sighed, “there’s more?”

“I still don’t know how to control it...but, I can hear thoughts sometimes.”

“...telepathy.”

Riley nodded. “It all started around the same time Sam’s nightmares started.”

Again, the silence had returned. John rubbed his temples as he tried to absorb the overwhelming information. “What would Jackson think if he were here?” he thought.

“He wouldn’t judge me, John. He would tell me not to be afraid.”

John’s head shot back up to look back at her. His eyes were wide and he knew it was all true.

“Look, psychic abilities or not, we know the demon is coming tonight.” Sam knew they were wasting time. “And another family is gonna go through what both of ours did.”

“No, they’re not,” John replied in certainty. “No one is, ever again.”

Just as John finished speaking, Sam’s phone rang. Flipping it open, he answered. “Hello?”

“Well, hi, Sam. Long time no talk.”

The familiar and sinister feminine voice sent a chill down his spine. “Meg.” The others turn to Sam in a slight panic. “Last time we talked, you fell out of a window.”

“Yeah, that really hurt my feelings,” Meg teased. “Let me speak to your dad.”

“I don’t know where he is, Meg.”

“It’s time for the grown-ups to talk, Sam. Let me speak to him...now.”

Sam hesitated before he gave his father the phone. John brought it to his ear. “This is John.”

“Howdy, John. I'm Meg. I'm a friend of your boys. I'm also the one who watched Jim Murphy choke on his own blood.” There was a pause as John’s jaw clenched with rage. “...still there John-boy?”

“...I’m here.”

“Well, that was yesterday. Today I'm in Lincoln--visiting another old friend of yours. You and Caleb go way back, don’t you, John?”

“You listen to me. Caleb’s got nothing to do with anything. You let him go.”

Sam, Riley, and Dean jumped at the name they knew all too well. John’s heart sank in his chest.

“We know you have the Colt.”

Trying to compose himself, John lied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, okay, John. Well, why don’t you give this a listen?” Immediately, the sound of Caleb gasping and gurgling came through the phone. Meg had slit his throat. “You hear that? That's the sound of your friend dying,” she snickered. “Now let's try this again. We know you have the gun John, word travels fast. So, as far as we're concerned you just declared war. And this is what war looks like. It has casualties.”

“I’m gonna kill you. You know that?”

“Oh, John please, mind your blood pressure,” Meg taunted. “So, this is the thing. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. And your friends, anyone who has ever helped you, gave you shelter, anyone you ever loved--they'll all die unless you give us that gun.”

John swallowed hard as he realized he had no other option. “...okay. I’ll bring you the Colt.”

“There's a warehouse in Lincoln, on the corner of Wabash and Lake. You're gonna meet me there. Midnight, tonight.” Her voice was calm but stern. Meg knew she John him right where she wanted him.

“That's impossible. It's gonna take me about a day’s drive to get there. I can't get there in time and I can't just carry a gun on the plane.”

“Oh. Well, I guess your friends die, don't they? Such a shame. But if you do decide to make it, come alone.” The line disconnected.

John closed the phone as he looked up at his boys and Riley.

Sam shook his head. “Do you think Meg is a demon?”

“Either that or she’s possessed by one,” John answered.

Riley looked distressed as her mind went a mile a minute. “Oh, my god.”

“What is it?” Sam asked reaching for her shoulder.

“She’s possessed. It all makes sense now.” She scoffed as she began to pace. “When we were in the warehouse, I felt something. Well, actually...I didn’t feel anything. It was like she was a shell of a person--like there was nothing but darkness and emptiness inside of her.” Riley stopped and looked up at the Winchester men as another realization came over her. “I heard her.”

Dean could see the almost panic-like state she was in. “Heard who?”

“The girl Meg is possessing.” Riley sat on the bed in almost a moment of defeat. “I--I heard a faint, distant scream coming from her--like someone was crying for help. I didn’t know what it was at the time. But...I was hearing the woman trapped inside.” As she looked up, tears formed in Riley’s eyes. She felt she should have known that trapped woman needed her. What was worse was that the girl been left in there with the demon the whole time. 

Crouching in front of her, Dean took her hands. “Look at me.” His green eyes found her crying blues. “There was nothing you could have done. You did nothing wrong.” He wiped a tear that fell down her cheek. “I think you might be more powerful than we thought, Riley.”

“He’s right,” John agreed. “I’ve never even heard of anyone being able to do that.”

Sam bit his lip before speaking. “It’s so strange, mine haven’t evolved like that. It’s almost like Riley’s abilities are tied to souls--emotions, thoughts, presence...it’s their essence.”

“Well, whatever it is,” Dean stood to sit beside Riley. “We’ll figure it out.”

John turned to grab his things and start collecting his research. “I’m going to Lincoln.”

“What?” Dean couldn’t believe his father would cave in to their demands.

“It doesn't look like we have a choice. If I don't go, a lot of people die--our friends die.”

“Dad, the demon is coming tonight,” Sam pleaded, “for that woman and her family. That gun is all we got. You can't just hand it over.”

“Who said anything about handing it over?” John put on his coat as he readied to leave. “Look, besides us and a couple of vampires, no ones really seen the gun, no one knows what it looks like. We’ll go to an antique store--find another old revolver.”

“Wait a minute,” Riley said giving John a confused look. “You’re just gonna try and pass a fake and hope she doesn’t notice?

“I just need to get one that resembles the Colt. As long as it’s close, she won’t notice. I just need to buy a few extra hours.”

Sam understood where his father’s plan was headed. “You mean for us and Riley.” He paused and dread filled him. “You want us to stay here...and kill this demon by ourselves.”

“No, Sam. I want to stop losing people we love. I want you to go to school, I want Dean and Riley to build a home together if they want to…” John began to weep and his voice broke with every word. “I want Mary alive...I just want this to be over.”

------

Somewhere down a muddy road, the four hunters met under an old wooden train bridge. The rain softly fell and rippled in the pools of water at their feet as a whistle blew in the distance.

Dean pulled a brown paper bag out from inside his jacket and handed it to John. “You know this is a trap don’t you?” 

As he pulled back the bag, John could see an antique revolver. The barrel was long and silver and it had a brown wooden handle. It looked like a distant relative of the Colt. 

“That’s why Meg wants you to come alone.”

“I can handle her,” John smiled. “I got a whole arsenal loaded--holy water, Mandaic, amulets…”

Dean interrupted. “Dad, promise me something.” Riley hooked into his arm as his hands sat in his pockets and leaned into him to comfort him. “This thing goes south just--get the hell out. Don't get yourself killed alright? You're no good to us dead.”

“Same goes for you.” There was a long, drawn out pause between them. “Alright, listen to me. They made the bullets special for this Colt. There's only four of them left. Without them this gun is useless. You make every shot count.”

“Yes, sir,” both sons acknowledged.

“Been waiting a long time for this fight. Now it's here...I'm not gonna be in it. It's up to you three now. It's your fight. You finish this. You finish what I started. Understand?” John handed the Colt to Dean as he hesitantly took it.

“We’ll see you soon, Dad.” Sam tried to control the sadness and worry that swam through him.

The emotions between them all under that bridge were intense. Riley had stayed quiet trying to be their rock while she tried to steady herself.

“I’ll see you later.” John patted Sam’s shoulder with a smile before turning to leave. With one last look at his children, John got into his truck and the door slammed shut. 

As he drove away down the muddy road, the three stood where he had left them as they watched him disappear into the distance.

Riley reached out her hand for Sam’s and clasped it in hers. She pulled him closer to her side. Holding onto her brother and linked with the man she loved, they stood silently in the rain. 

They had never been closer to the end of it all. And as afraid as they were for themselves and for John--Sam, Dean, and Riley knew that they would fight to the end. ...as a family.

------

Chapter 12: Devil’s Trap Part 1

Please let me know if you would like to be tagged in the series :)

Series Tag List: @coffee-obsessed-writer @waywardmoeyy @00slayer @adoptdontshoppets @crystallstaircase @salt-n-burn-em-all @nerd-in-a-galaxy-far-away @becs-bunker @squirrelnotsam @fandommaniacx @death-unbecomes-you @cemmia @flamencodiva @aaspiringhero  @gemini0410 @love-nakamura 

[eurusholmmes]

Come Home To Me, Darling | t.s.

I am in such a tony mood and that would be why I reconfigured my mobile AGAIN i’m sorry 

Prompt: He can't sleep because every time he closes his eyes he sees Peter die in his arms. He's exhausted. He tries his best not to think about you, his love, at home - he doesnt know if you disappeared or not and he can't bear this. He goes anxious and borderline hysterical. So he finally manages to get back home and he's very afraid to look inside. When he finally does, he can't find you there. He sits there crying, but suddenly the door opens and you come in!

Requested by: { @piemeadows }

I am more then willing to make a tag list for the summer, so feel free to tell me if you’re interested!

** SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR **

The air on Titan is hot and thick, almost impossible for him to inhale as he trudges to what is left of the Guardians ship. He can’t shake off the feeling of Peters ashes sifting through his fingers, or the way Nebula vacantly stares at the remainder of the Guardians. The sun bears down on the shattered pieces of the Extremis armor, and Tony wants nothing more then to pry it away from his body and throw the thing into the freaking Sun.

They’re the only two left. Strange, Mantis, Drax, Quill, Peter... Oh Gods, Peter Parker. He wasn’t any older then seventeen years old. Had the remainder of high school, a career, a life ahead of him.. and Tony had just watched him turn to ash in front of his very eyes. 

  “Mr Stark, I don’t wanna go.. please don’t let me go-”

Tony’s chest hurts. His left arm is throbbing, as it always does, as he and Nebula drag themselves onto the ship. The longer he looks at this hellhole of a planet the more he’s to be reminded of the people he’s failed - and the boy he couldn’t save. 

  “There’s nowhere to go, Stark.” Nebulas gravely voice echoes from the cockpit. Tony manages the strength to lift his head just enough to gaze at her. “I can take us back to Earth.. but who knows what’s left there. It might as well just be ruin.” 

He opens his mouth to reject the offer almost instantly until it suddenly occurs to him that you might be a name in the long list of those who had vanished at the snap of Thanos fingers. 

  Your lips are the most intoxicating taste he has ever experienced. Better then the most expensive champagne, better then the sweetest fruit. It is the thought of those lips waking him up every morning that gives Tony Stark the willpower to return home to you. 

  “Come home to me darling,” You whisper into his mouth, hips perfectly aligned with his as your fingers card through his hair. He suppresses a groan as calloused fingertips dance up your sides to knead the exposed flesh of your stomach. “Come home.”

Nebula doesn’t understand humans. She doesn’t understand the intricate workmanship of their brains, the way they fight so hellishly for what they believe in. But what really doesn’t make sense to her is the fragility of the human heart. That’s why when she hears Tony inhale sharply and begin to sob hysterically that her brow furrows in confusion. 

  “Stark?” She calls out. Tony has collapsed to his knees in the middle of the ship, completely oblivious to the fact that they’re preparing to leave Titans atmosphere as he rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet. Nebula approaches him as softly as she knows how, suddenly remembering something that Gamora had told her long ago whenever she had first crossed paths with Peter Quill. It’s called anxiety, Nebula. Peter has a fear of abandonment after the loss of his mother, and for so long he was sinking into the abyss of his own fear, his demons clawing for a hold as he desperately searched for someone to be his anchor. Someone to overcome those demons and pull him out. He was looking for somebody to be his anchor, and that somebody was me. “C’mon Stark, we’re going to Earth. We’re taking you home.” 

  “Home.” Tonys fingers tightly grip the ends of his matted hair as his eyes screw tightly shut and snap back open almost instantly, because the picture of Peter disintegrating is playing on a loop behind closed eyelids. Tony can’t seem to calm himself down no matter how hard he tries - A thousand pairs of eyes are locked onto him, ready to scrutinize him for allowing his weaknesses to peer through the chinks in his armor. He can’t hear anything except the sound of his heart struggling to break free from his sternum - until he hears the softest whisper. “Y/n.” 

  “Come home to me, my darling.” 

What Gamora said makes sense to her now. While she had been Peter Quills anchor to the world, you were Tony Starks anchor to reality. But for you two.. it was different. You were the woman who kept him living.

Tony slowly lifts himself from the floor and collapses in the cot adjacent to the seats, allowing his body to succumb to the utter exhaustion that floods his bones as his eyes are cast towards the ceiling. His heart is screaming at him, urging him to sleep, but he can’t watch Peter disappear again. He can’t watch the only boy he’d ever considered a son die again. 

So instead of sleeping and dwelling on the wound in his side, he thinks about you. His wife, his anchor to the world, his home. 

Everyone on the Avengers had known for quite some time that their tech genius favored you above everyone else. Your armor had the best upgrades, your birthday gifts were the most expensive, and the smiles that Tony flashed were always brighter when looking at you. 

Pepper had been the one to inform you of just how badly his anxiety had become after the Battle of New York. How he rarely ever slept because the nightmares plagued him so badly that he could no longer rest properly. The first night you came to speak to him about it was when you actually caught him screaming amidst the twisted sheets of his bed, face covered in a sheen of sweat as he raggedly repeated the same name in a mantra. 

Y/n. Y/n. Y/n. 

  “Tony,” You whispered as you knelt at his side, golden light pouring from your fingertips as you tenderly caressed his temples. You had the ability to control dreams -- both pleasant and unpleasant -- which was why Pepper had asked you to do this to begin with. “Wake.” 

His onyx irises snapped open within a moment of the command, anxiously flickering around the darkness of his bedroom. It isn’t until his gaze falls on the soft pair of gold eyes only inches from his own that the tension in his body recedes and he allows his hands to shift upward and grip the fabric of your shirt. “Y/n.” He replied, sitting up against the headboard and pulling you into his lap. You’re momentarily stunned at the action but soon sink into the warmth of his embrace, choosing to focus on calming his mind as opposed to how safe you actually feel in his arms. 

  “The sun’s going down, sweetheart.” You allow your lips to graze the warmed skin of his temple as he nuzzles your shoulder until his face falls in the crook of your neck. It’s only a moment later that Tony falls asleep. “The sun’s going down.” 

It feels like seconds later that he feels the ship land safely, but as to where, he has no idea. Tony slowly maneuvers himself to sit up at the waist and slowly stands to his feet, hand firmly pressed against the wound in his side as he ambles to the cockpit. “I’ve never been to Earth.” Nebula says pathetically. “You’re going to need to give me coordinates to input.” 

The coordinates for the upstate Avengers Facility roll off his tongue much more fluidly then he expects them to, and for the entire time it takes to get to upstate New York, Tony dreads what he might find upon arrival to the Compound. 

  “Please God,” He’s never been one for religion, but prayer for your safety is his last resort. “Please.. I’ve done everything in my power to rectify my wrongdoings, to make this world a better place for my family-” The word leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. When was the last time the Avengers were a family? “And for her. Please.. just once, give me this. Let me come home to her.” 

The ship lands safely on the helipad of the Avengers Compound. If Tony hadn’t been injured at the time, he was sure that he would’ve sprinted inside at the first opportunity. But instead he took carefully precise steps into the inside of his home - eyes keenly peeled in search of your form. 

The silence was deafening. 

  “Please God-” He begged, fingers ripping at the Arc Reactor as the armor sank back into his body.  (AN: BEAR WITH ME I DO NOT KNOW HOW EXTREMIS ARMOR WORKS) “Don’t take her from me too. Please-” 

Tony is thankful Nebula has decided to wait in the ship while he inspects the Compound. He can’t allow someone else to watch him break at the seams - because he has lost so much and sacrificed more then he should’ve had to. But no one has thanked him for it. 

Where is his happy ending? 

Tears stream down his face as his knees buckle beneath him, and the pain from his flesh wound sears the entire right side of his body. He weeps for the Avengers, for Peter, for you.. 

  “Tony?” 

You emerge from your bedroom in that moment dressed in your gear, a suit very similar to the Extremis that would provide you passage to Wakanda in order to find out what had happened to T’Challa, Steve and Company. Your heart leaps into your throat at the ashy smell that accompanies the presence in the hall that FRIDAY had forewarned you about, but never had you thought it would be Tony. 

 “Y/n-” You dropped your duffel bag and sprinted down the hall straight into the arms of the man you loved, who inhaled sharply as your legs wound around his waist and your fingers fumbled for a hold on his hair. The two of you stumbled around the entryway like two missing puzzle pieces being brought back together for the first time. “Gods y/n... I thought I’d lost you-” 

  “You fulfilled your promise, Tony.” You pried yourself away from the warmth of his body and cupped his face in your hands, tilting his chin up just enough to capture his lips in your own. Tony moaned into your mouth at the familiarity of you, his tongue gently teasing your lips open to delve deeper into your mouth. When both of you pulled away due to the lack of oxygen, you were both smiling. 

Oh how you had missed that smile. 

  “Darling, you came home to me.”

[bigskydreaming]

builtfjordtuff replied to your post:

Teen Wolf no longer exists, Scott McCall is now a...

But does he date Berto?

Look, its simple. Scott likes Berto who likes Scott but who also likes Sam, but that’s okay because Scott likes Sam too. Who doesn’t like Sam? Well Dani at first, but we all know that’s a lie, Dani actually likes Sam a lot except for when she likes Xi’an. Who likes Kitty which is a bummer because Kitty’s a snob about being one of the X-Men instead of a New Mutant, and also is a bummer because Illyana likes Xi’an, but she also likes Kitty too, so like, she gets it. They commiserate over cups of hot chocolate while huddled on the couch griping about also, how hot is Amara, its totally not fair. 

Amara meanwhile also likes Berto and they date when he’s not dating Scott which is usually when Scott is dating Doug, who is just surprised he’s not doomed to just crush hopelessly on all of his classmates from afar, because why is the X-gene synonymous with So Hot My Eyes Bleed, science side of tumblr, please explain, he frantically types out before erasing it and instead typing Scratch that, mlm side of tumblr, how do I date boys, I did not study for this exam, halp.

But then you’ve got the Hellions to consider, because Manuel likes Amara but Manuel is a creep so Dani gives him nightmares that make him wet the bed for a month. Which makes Jimmy like Dani because Jimmy likes anyone who doesn’t like Manuel, and Dani likes Jimmy because have you seen Jimmy, duh. And Sam is conflicted because he still likes Dani but he also likes Jimmy and he complains to Berto, who was kinda busy spending time with ‘Mara. Rude, Sam.

 And then Scott pops his head up from the other side of the bed next to Amara and says don’t be dumb Sam, if you like them both, just tell them you like them both. And Sam hems and haws, and he’s like, but what if Jimmy doesn’t like me back? And Berto, Scott and Amara all give him the look something that dumb deserves.

“Wait, why aren’t you with Doug?” Sam asks Scott, who shrugs. 

“I think Doug dumped me for that alien dude we rescued from that other planet, Warlock? They’ve been doing this whole mind meld thing and talking at each other in computer and its uh....not really my thing. I mean, I like Warlock, but I don’t LIKE him, so....they can do their thing without me, its cool. Way I figure it, at least Doug had to go out of this world to find a better boyfriend than me, so I’m good with that,” he grins.

Sam, Berto and Amara all nod, because that is a very Scott take on things. He’ll be fine. Plus, he’s in bed with Berto and Amara, so there’s that.

Course, then the X-Terminators join the New Mutants and Rusty and Skids are clearly soulmates so they are Dismissed, how boring, the others all think. But Tabby takes one look at Sam and decides WANT, and Dani takes one look at Tabby looking at Sam and goes DO NOT WANT, and lots of explosions and make-you-crap-your-pants illusions become commonplace over the next few weeks while Sam and Jimmy sit there and just roll their eyes. 

And Doug’s like, why aren’t you guys doing something, I mean, you shouldn’t be okay with them fighting over you. And Jimmy gives Doug an “are you for real” look, and shakes his head. “They’re not fighting over us, they’re flirting,” he gripes. 

“We’re pretty sure they just haven’t figured that part out yet,” Sam sighs.

“And until they do, and figure out what they want to do next, we’re kinda stuck in Limbo,” Jimmy complains. Illyana pokes her head over the couch just long enough to realize nobody’s talking about the actual Limbo with demons and stuff, hence she doesn’t care, and she and Xi’an go back to trying to figure out how to figure out exactly how old Scott and Jean’s time-travelled from the future daughter Rachel is. But without, like, actually asking her, because then she’d know they were asking so they’d know if it was weird to date her, and god, how embarrassing.

“Well why don’t you guys just...do your own thing?” Doug asks Jimmy, still confused. See, this is why dating a machine lifeform from another planet isn’t the weirdest thing he could be doing with his lovelife. At least Warlock makes sense. Most of the time.

“Without Dani? That’d be like cheating.” Sam looks offended by the very thought. Jimmy nods in total agreement. 

“But....she’s flirting with Tabby, you just said. Isn’t that cheating?” Doug helplessly tries to compute. 

“Of course not, because she doesn’t KNOW she’s flirting,” Jimmy just sounds totally exasperated now. Error, error 404, Doug thinks. He tries to backspace but honestly, he has no idea where the fuck he took a wrong turn.

Sam just shakes his head pityingly.

The others are no help. Berto and Amara are cuddled up on the floor leaning against the couch and Scott’s laying slash draped slash sprawled across their laps. That shouldn’t be comfortable but he’s practically purring, which, bizarre, because he’s a werewolf, not a werecat. Then Julio saunters over, and even Doug knows that saunter is the only word for walking that deliberately. Hips don’t normally move that way, he’s pretty sure.

“So, you guys don’t really have a problem with complicated here, huh,” he grins, plopping himself into a chair next to them. 

“What was your first clue,” Berto deadpans. Amara eyes Julio appraisingly. Scott just burrows deeper into their laps and sighs contentedly. 

“Well...” Julio begins. Just then a few X-Men appear in the doorway with a bulky white-haired giant who’s half metal and all scowl. Julio’s attention is on the tall kid next to him who looks like the love child of a ballet dancer and an American Ninja Warrior, tackiness included. But like, he has swords. And a ponytail. Julio is in LOVE.

“Never mind,” he says, getting up and casually migrating closer to the newcomers. Berto’s eyes narrow.

“Is that what being dumped is like?” He demands. Amara just shrugs. It’s not like she knows either. Scott still hasn’t opened his eyes.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Cable, and his young protegee Shatterstar, “ Storm says. “Shatterstar is a gladiator from a war torn parallel universe. Cable is Scott and Madelyne’s infant son who was sent to the future, as I’m sure you all remember.”

Several mouths open at that. Bobby jumps in.

“Before jokes are made and lives are lost, you should all know that he has lots of guns, none of his father’s issues with using them, and zero sense of humor. I checked.”

Several mouths close. Illyana still looks tempted. Storm eyes her warily.

“Anyway, Cable will be taking over your instruction from now on. I trust you will show him the same respect and courtesy you would show any of us,” Storm continues.

“So basically, none at all,” Wolverine grouches. Jimmy, Illyana, Tabby, Berto and Amara all smirk at him. 

“So you’re from another dimension? That sounds hella cool,” Julio says, smiling up at Shatterstar, who is in fact a giant.

“The sad thing is, that really is his idea of smooth,” Tabby says loudly from across the room. Julio’s eyes narrow and said room begins to vibrate ominously.

“Oh for Chrissakes,” Wolverine mutters and stalks out.

Because poking sleeping bears is her favorite hobby, not that Julio could ever in his wildest dreams qualify as a bear, he’s an otter at best, Tabby directs the full wattage of her patented Here Comes Trouble grin at the bemused Shatterstar.

“You got any drugs, Shatty? Cuz Julio’s got the sex and the rock’n’roll covered.”

“Shut up Tabitha, GOD,” Julio yells, red-faced and stamping his foot. The room starts to shake and Tabby and Dani both giggle, then glare at each other.

“Ignore her, she’s the worst,” Julio says a little desperately. Shatterstar just tilts his head and smiles, still patiently bemused.

“I have no idea what is happening right now.”

Scott fucking cackles.

“Good, that’s fine,” Julio says, still a little manic. “Tell you what, want me to show you around the mansion and I can show you what’s what?”

“Reconnaissance,” Shatterstar nods approvingly. “An excellent suggestion.”

He follows Julio out the door, after the other boy flips of Tabitha one more time. She blows him a kiss. Berto eyes them both as they leave, frowning.

“Who even says stuff like reconnaissance? What a nerd. I can’t believe we got dumped for him.”

“Shut up, Berto,” Scott and Amara both sigh.

Two weeks later, Berto and Amara get sucked through a time portal into the future. Scott consults with various X-Men who have experience with such matters and observes the requisite period of not-mourning-because-they’re-not-actually-dead-but-we-cant-exactly-be-expected-to-wait-forever-seriously-we-only-dated-like-two-months-tops. He starts spending time with Justice from the New Warriors. Dani declares him a traitor and bars him from the weekly ‘All The Adults Are Dumb And This Is How The Mutant Revolution Should Really Go Down’ strategy meetings until Scott informs her of his secret master plan to seduce Justice and lure him to join the New Mutants where he belongs. Mollified, Dani rescinds her order of Acts of Petty Vengeance For This Lust-Born Betrayal and eyes him. “You do goofy so well I forget you’re good at devious. Change of plans. When the revolution comes, we should totally make you a spy.”

Scott beams at her.

“How come Scott gets to be a spy?” Illyana demands, popping out of nowhere. “I want to be a spy. I’m a teleporter. Teleporters make the best spies.”

“Not when they bring demons with them everywhere they go,” Dani arches a brow. Illyana narrows hers.

“What, I can’t have friends now?”

Scott hastily departs.

A month later, Berto and Amara return from the future, ten years older and maybe married? They’re not sure. The time travel experts among the X-Men can’t make a consensus on whether cross-time marriage vows are considered binding until Rachel comes back from the dead. Again.

“Eww, Berto got hotter somehow. That’s so obnoxious.” Tabby wrinkles her nose. Xi’an and Illyana’s glances at Amara (furtive in Xi’an’s case, blatant in Illyana’s) seem to convey a similar sentiment. Twenty eight year old Berto preens and a few shoulders relax. At least they know its not a shapeshifter now.

“Don’t be too smug,” Jimmy tells him. “Scott dumped you while you were gone.”

Berto’s smirk transforms into a scowl. Illyana throws a pillow at Jimmy.

“Hey! I wanted to be the one to tell him that.”

Scott ignores them both. “Come on, you can’t actually be mad. Look at you. You can rent a car by yourself now, it would never work like this. It’s too weird even for us.”

“He’s legal drinking age now and like a zillion other things, but your mind goes to ‘can rent a car’,” Tabby shakes her head in utter bewilderment. “Who hurt you?”

“It’s okay, Scott, neither of us is even a little surprised. We were only a thing for barely two months, we wouldn’t have expected you to wait,” Amara smiles reassuringly. 

“Agree to disagree,” Berto grouses. Scott gives him a Look and he rolls his eyes and subsides. “Fine. Is our clearly inferior replacement hot at least?”

“He has a cape,” Tabby says helpfully.

“It looks dumb,” Julio says, eyes focused on his guitar as he experiments with a chord position. Scott glares.

“Your face looks dumb.” Not his best retort, but he was a little sensitive about the topic of Vance’s cape because honestly, it did look dumb and he was a little worried Vance was the only one who didn’t get that. Is not getting that no eighteen year old needs to wear a cape one of those irreconcilable differences people break up over?

“You really got me there, killer,” Julio rolls his eyes, twanging out an especially loud and off key chord. “Bow wow.”

Shatterstar looks between them both, frowning slightly. “I’m still not sure how this works,” he says to Doug, who is completely absorbed in his laptop. Probably skyping with Warlock on the other side of the galaxy or something. “Am I supposed to be jealous here? Are they doing the flirting?”

Doug sighs. “Like I would know?”

A month later Scott’s master plan to seduce Justice into joining the New Mutants fizzles out when he and Vance break up. Not, it turns out, because of his cape, but because of Firestar. But no, we do not need to declare a blood feud, Dani, please for the love of god, for once just chill. She’s actually a very nice person and I’m happy for them both and no I do not want to talk about it let’s go to the Danger Room, I want to kill robots please and thank you.

He dates Berto’s clone for awhile, but then he turns evil and if capes are maybe an issue for Scott, supervillain monologues are definitely a dealbreaker. Even if Berto is like, the only person in existence who can pull them off. Course, Scott might be biased, oh no he’s biased about his time travelling ex’s supervillain clone who is also his ex. How is this his life? That’s it, Scott decides. No more dating time travelers, clones or supervillains. He is declaring a moratorium on all non-age appropriate, born in this era, on this planet, in this universe, potential suitors.

Two days later, Cable gathers them all in the den. Standing next to him is a teenager who looks like he could be his grandson, complete with glowing eye and a single white streak in his hair.

“Everyone, this is Nate Grey,” Cable says, sounding both pained and bored, as though he’s been through this a dozen times already and it hurt every time.  “He’s my younger self from an alternate universe and...”

“Oh no, he’s hot,” Scott groans. Tabby busts out laughing and falls off the arm of the couch where she’d perched. Nate looks at Scott with a quizzical frown, but two seconds later his lips twitch and he ducks his head and oh no, Grey, he’s a telepath ugh fuck his life this is literally the worst. Cable looks back and forth between the two of them, his frown deepening until its practically a canyon in his granite-stern face.

“No,” he says flatly. Scott flushes beet red.

“Shut up, you’re not my dad!”

He blinks. Where the hell did that come from? Jimmy and Illyana join Tabby in the dying of laughing.

“No, but you know who his dad is, right?” Julio drawls. “Cyclops. Which means if you marry our boy Nate here, who's basically a Summers, then we’d have two Scott Summers who both have sticks permanently stuck up their asses. How would we ever tell you apart?”

“I will rip your throat out with my teeth,” Scott says, eyes flashing and canines elongating, in what is supposed to be clear and obvious menace but for some reason Dani too is now on the floor. Ugh. Traitors, every last one of them.

Shatterstar throws up his hands in exasperation, turning to Doug. “Okay, is THIS the flirting? I’m not even mad, I just want to know!”

“Then why are you asking me?!” an equally exasperated Doug yells back. 

Wolverine enters the den, the kitchen on the other side his clear destination. He stops, takes one look around the room. Sniffs. Shakes his head.

“Nope,” he says as he turns on his heel and walks back out.

And that’s what you missed on Glee.

[andrewmoocow]

Gravity Soul chapter 9: To McGucket Mansion We Go, Drawing the Line in the Sand? (originally posted on August 8, 2018)

AN: And so ends the Quest for the Northwest arc! From here on out, things get pretty dark and angsty as our heroes' lives are put at risk, their sanity about to teeter off the edge and relationships put into jeopardy. Also, just wanna say I'd really like some of my works get their own pages on TV Tropes someday so if anyone can make that possible, I'd be honored. Now then, on with the chapter! 23-8-5-14 1-12-12 9-19 12-15-19-20 1-14-4 25-15-21'22-5 16-1-9-4 20-8-5 16-9-16-5-18 20-8-5 13-15-19-20 8-1-21-14-20-9-14-7 15-6 1-12-12 9-19 23-8-1-20 3-15-13-5-19 1-6-20-5-18 9 15-14-12-25 8-1-22-5 15-14-5 17-21-5-19-20-9-15-14 20-15 1-19-11, 25-15-21 19-5-5 4-9-4 25-15-21 1-12-12 18-5-1-12-12-25 13-9-19-19 13-5?

When we had last left the Mystery Meisters, they had set off on their night-long mission to save Pacifica Northwest from the alliance between Asura and Bill Cipher. They have already battled Medusa Gorgon and made peace with her former minions but now they had a new opponent to face, the Bloodsucker Mosquito and his partner Giriko. "So you wield Excalibur now brat?" Giriko wondered clashing the sawblade on his glove with Dipper's weapon. "Yeah, but are you working with Kishin Cipher too?!" Dipper shouted slashing at the Demon Saw. "Of course we are, we signed a deal with him to bring back our master Arachne!" "Who's Arachne?" Mabel called riding on Free's shoulders as the two dodged a squadron of his golems. "Medusa's sister, their old master that got killed by Asura!" Maka answered fighting Mosquito, who has now bulked up his upper body considerably. "And it seems they've gotten stronger as well since we last saw them!" "Speaking of which, group up with me everyone!" Ford commanded to his teammates and they all gathered around him. "I have a plan guys. Me, Stan, Spirit, Stein, Kid and Free go after Mosquito while everybody else is against Giriko. What do you think of that?" he explained. "Question! Doesn't that seem a bit unfair for both of us?" Patty wondered. "I don't care, we don't have enough time left before Cipher pulls off whatever they've got planned!" "If you say so Mr. Pines." Soos obliged as he and the others charged toward Giriko's golems leaving the Stan twins, Spirit, Stein, Kid and Free with Mosquito. "So it's just all of you now, huh? Well, guess I should finally whip out a form that I sadly didn't get a chance to try out." the Bloodsucker stated before he swapped out his more top-heavy form for something more insect-like, befitting his name. Mosquito's legs started to become more animalistic, his toes touching the ground and his nose significantly longer. "Behold, my form from 200 years ago!" he declared. "Wow, that's one giant bug." Stan quipped with a smirk. "We're gonna need a bigger flyswatter."

"Police Stinger!" Mosquito cried out before his body began rotating incredibly fast except for his head and his schnoz grew longer. "I'll have you know this form is both my fastest and features the most finest nose!" he explained zooming towards his opponents, but they were quick to narrowly dodge him. "He wasn't kidding when he said he was fast!" Ford exclaimed. "How do you think we should beat him?" "I got a plan! Free, you can do all those ice things right?" Stan asked the wolfman. "Of course I can old man. Why?" Free wondered. "Think you could use them to help us out here?" "Of course I can! Just get him distracted first while I work my magic." The elderly brothers and son of Death complied with a nod and charged at Mosquito with their weapons. "Take some of this!" Stan shouted socking the Bloodsucker in the eye while Kid fired at him with his guns. "And a little bit of that!" "Ingrate!" Mosquito growled in a deeper voice grabbing Stan and tossing him into a nearby tree. "Stanley!" Ford cried out for his brother before turning to Free. "Any minute now Free!" Amusingly enough, the werewolf was too busy cracking his knuckles to get ready to pay attention. "Free!" "Oh, sorry Mr. Pines." Free readily apologized before preparing one of his spells. "Wolf, wolves! Wolf, wolves!" he chanted waving his arms around again. "Ice Pillars!" Just then, a series of frozen columns began rising from the ground to surround Mosquito. "Now!" "You got it! Ice Bind!" the Man with the Demon Eye called further restraining Mosquito long enough for Kid to knock him down a peg and completely disable him. "He's finally down, now's our chance!" Ford declared aiming his magnet gun. "Anything you got Kid?" "Yes, yes I do." the Immature Death God replied. "Are you ready girls?" he asked his pistols. "Yes Kid!" the Thompsons cried before they declared in unison, "Let's go Soul Resonance!" Just then, a large round blue aura bearing the stripes in Kid's hair surrounded him, no doubt that this was his soul. The twin pistols then converted into a pair of metallic arm cannons forming over Kid's arms before he took aim. "Prodigious, I suppose this must be the Soul Resonance that Maka & Soul attempted. I have to conduct further research." Ford muttered to himself before he noticed Free changing into a more wolf-like form and an eye appeared in front of him. "And this must be one of Free's special abilities as well!" "DEMON EYE CANNON!" Free shouted before the eye unleashed a laser beam towards Mosquito simualtaneously with Kid's Death Cannon and Ford's magnet gun, seemingly disintegrating the Bloodsucker once and for all. "Well that was easier than expected." "I was awoken by the sound of lasers, what'd I miss?" Stan wondered now unexpectedly unharmed after getting tossed away. "Did you guys just blast that bug to bits and not invite me to watch?! What kind of people are you?!" he jokingly chastised his brother. "Thank goodness you're alive Stan. Now let's go help out the others against Giriko." Ford became relieved knowing his brother was okay when suddenly they heard a faint rumbling. "You know in any other circumstance, that might've killed me." Mosquito commented rising out of the ground now looking more like a normal handsome man. "But that wasn't even my final form. Cause I have more where that came from!" he declared charging at the team. "What even is that?! He never displayed this form when we first fought him!" Stein gaped before they attempted to dodge. "That doesn't matter now, he's headed for the kids!" Ford cried and they ran after him, hoping the others are doing alright against Giriko.

"Dipper, are you all right?!" Mabel cried to her brother who was busy running from one of the Golems carrying Giriko's chainsaw form. "Does it look like I'm alright?!" he replied screaming before Crona came to his rescue with a mighty slash of Ragnarok. "Thanks Crona." "You're welcome Dipper." Crona replied before stabbing another. "Dammit you're resilient kids." Giriko snarled getting up and wiping some blood from his mouth. "But you'll never compare to our master Kishin Cipher! With the combined powers of a dream demon and a Kishin, he is unstoppable!" "Not if we have anything to say about it, we'll save Pacifica and stop you guys!" Eruka cried before sicking a small tadpole-like creature on him. "Get him Tadpole Jackson!" she commanded and the creature readily obeyed and pounced Giriko, trapping his head within its jaws. "What the hell is this thing doing with my head?!" the former minion of Arachne cried struggling before he felt something round in his hand. "Wait, what am I holding?" The orb exploded in his hand, blasting Giriko back and sending Tadpole Jackson flying off his head into Eruka's arms. "You did good little guy." she gently cooed to him before Mabel gasped at the two. "You have an animal sidekick too?! Waddles would totally want to be friends with your tadpole thing!" "Thank you Mabel." Eruka smiled before the two of them spotted the Stan twins & their group rushing toward them. "Guys, Mosquito's comin' for you all and we gotta go, fast!" Stan cried as the Bloodsucker got closer to them. "Get ready you guys!" "I see the children are here as well! Allow me to purge them for you!" Mosquito exclaimed going faster before he dug his hand into Soul's chest like claws, scarring him. "Soul!" Maka, Crona, Dipper, Mabel and Black Star all cried out for their friend rushing to his side. "Are you alright Soul, please wake up!" Soul's meister cried as he clutched his wound. "I'm fine Maka, just gonna need tons of medical attention after this." "Lovin' the new look there old fart. Or should I say middle aged fart?" Giriko mock-complimented his partner's more handsome form. "We can argue later my boy, the old men managed to outsmart me." Mosquito firmly stated. "There's no hope for us here with their combined numbers, so I say we just deliver the blood and return to base." he suggested. "Master said to inject it into the one with the fez, and I think I know how to do so." "How bad is it guys?" Wendy asked Stein and Fiddleford as they examined Soul's wounds. "Good news, Soul will be fine. Bad news, we might be here a while to take care of him." McGucket gave his diagnosis. Meanwhile Stan turned to find Mosquito reverting back to his shorter form and leaping into the air. "Uh guys? We still got him to contend with." he cautioned before the butler spun his body like a rotor and zoomed downward towards Dipper and Mabel. "Kids, watch out!" he screamed jumping in front of the twins and putting himself in the Bloodsucker's path, falling victim to his Stinger. "Grunkle Stan!" the kids cried out. "Mr. Pines!" Wendy, Soos, Melody and the denizens of Death City added. "Stanley!" Ford screamed catching his brother in his arms. "Stanley, please wake up! I've already lost you once, I don't want to do it again!" "Guys, I'm okay. Just got this hole in my chest from the bugman." Stan groaned struggling to get up, only to cry out in pain from the wound. "Oy, must've really hit hard." "Well, looks like our job is done. See you all when the apocalypse comes!" Giriko casually bade farewell before he, Mosquito and his Golems walked away from them toward the mansion, leaving the Mystery Meisters alone in the forest.

Mere hours later, the crew remained to concoct one final attack on Kishin Cipher and help Stan & Soul recuperate from being assaulted by Mosquito. "Okay, now hold still knucklehead." Ford cautioned his brother as he tended to the large hole in his chest. "Hey, at least Stein ain't tendin' to me this time. He's an absolute madman I tells ya!" Stan commented glaring at Stein who was already taking care of Soul. Just then Dipper and Mabel walked up to him. "I can't believe you let yourself get in the way just for us." his great-nephew said. "We're so sorry you ended up like this as a result." "It's all right kids. I still did it for you two." Stan warmly stated hugging them both before his pain came back. "Aw hot Belgian waffles, that still stings!" he cried. "Like I said Stan, stay still!" Ford ordered his brother laying him down again. "Hopefully we're close to where Kishin Cipher might be hiding, I can feel it!" "Could it be over there in the horizon?" Liz asked and they all turned to find the mansion exactly where she pointed at. It was what was once the Northwest Mansion, but there was a menacing atmosphere surrounding it. "Well I'll be darned, that's gotta be mah Hootenanny Hut!" McGucket exclaimed before everyone else turned to stare awkwardly at him, no doubt confused about his choice of name for the building. "C'mon guys, calling it a mansion just sounded too fancy for me!" "We got no time to waste, Pacifica is in there and so are Bill & Asura!" Dipper announced. "If we don't stop those two soon, who knows what havoc they'll wreak upon the world!" Maka added with a recovering Soul by her side before he transformed into his scythe form. "The line must be drawn here, this far! No further!" she declared plunging the blade into the ground and literally making a line. "So are you ready as you'll ever be?" "Are you sure about this guys? There's a very good chance this is where we die." Eruka fretted gripping Blair's arm tightly. "Then perhaps today is a good day to die." Ford stated taking a stand next to Dipper and Maka. "Now who's with us?!" "We are!" the rest of the team all cried out raising their fists in the air before marching toward the Hootenanny Hut, ready for the final showdown against Kishin Cipher. But little did they know that they'll make a huge mistake.

Finally making it to the mansion's courtyard, Dipper & Mabel peeked from behind the gate to discover the water in the fountains were replaced with lava and the peacocks were now reptilian beasts. In place of the statue of Pacifica was one of Bill & Asura shaking hands while both Gravity Falls and Death City burned beneath them. And standing guard at the front door was none other than the Madness of Sloth. "He's got some tight security here!" Mabel exclaimed in a hushed tone before they were joined in snooping by Maka & Soul hovering over them, their heads inexplicably forming a column. "And he's got the cave troll formerly known as Mr. Northwest over there." Soul added before the column got taller until the entire party were spying on the courtyard. "Wait, how are we doing this?" "We're gonna need a distraction if we want to break into there. Got any ideas?" Kid asked the others. "Just use food to drive him away, then beat him over the head! That usually works in cartoons." Soos suggested. "Or maybe we could fake surrendering and sacrifice ourselves for the greater good." Crona added deadpanned, to the shock of everyone else. "Wow, way to bring the house down kiddo!" Ragnarok jeered popping out of his meister's vest to noogie him. "Why don't we use a decoy instead?!" "That's...actually a good idea Ragnarok." Tsubaki stated. "But which one is the real question." Just then Mabel and Black Star stood up with brave faces. "Our time has come." The Madness of Sloth thought he heard voices coming from outside the gate. Stomping away from his position to investigate, he turned his head to discover nothing there. Turning around to return to his post, Sloth then spotted Mabel covered in some red substance lying on the doorstep. "Oh the pain! All of this pain is so painful!" she cried out. "If only the master of this house would give me shelter from all the atrocities of humankind!" "What is your game commoner brat?" the Madness snarled looming over the girl. "This is no game my good sir! My family has shunned me for crimes so unspeakable, they are almost apocalyptic!" Mabel feigned shattered innocence. "I insist that I speak with your lord and become his ward! And he better have a double life as a nocturnal animal-themed crimefighter who has cool gadgets, his own cave and tons of mental issues!" "NOW!" The beast that was once Preston heard someone cry before he was suddenly tied up with a chain scythe. "Great acting there Mabel, you pulled off quite the overdramatic facade!" Blair congratulated her licking away the fake blood. "Thanks Blair. I think it was the ketchup that made it work." "You dare trespass on the lair of the omniscient Kishin Cipher?!" the Madness roared. "Prepare to be executed!" He summoned his giant bell and smashed it onto the ground, sending them flying back. "Guess it's finally time I put this feller to good use." McGucket stated pulling out his sonic banjo and playing a tune, repelling the bell's shockwaves. "Hey, it's actually working!" "Quick, while he's distracted!" Tsubaki commanded and they all raced to the door to try & open it. "Come on, open up you damn hunk of fancy wood!" Black Star shouted trying to push it down. "If I have to guess, whatever's behind this door has to be where Kishin Cipher is hiding!" Ford remarked before he gave up on the door. "How can we break it down now?" "I think I have an idea!" Patty chirped. "Anyone got something priceless I can use?" she asked. "I think I have one! Now where is it?" Stan responded before digging through his clothes and pulling out a large diamond. "Here we go, the Klopman diamond!" "Wait, THE Klopman diamond?! As in the cursed jewel that took the lives of many a rich woman's husband and served as a Saturday morning cartoon running gag?" Gideon cried in awe. "Wait, you actually took the damned diamond from that temple in Argentina?!" Ford scolded his brother. "The legends said it was associated with some kind of curse!" "Hey, those three bird spirits convinced me to search for it with a really catchy song!" Stan tried to defend his rather foolish actions. "I especially liked the one that looked like some duck in a sailor suit, kinda reminded me of you Sixer." Suddenly his brother shushed him while scowling. "Not another word Stan, now put that thing to good use." "Okay then bro." Stan answered resignedly before standing up and waving the diamond around in his hands. "Hey ugly, lookie what I got!" he called out to the Madness of Sloth. "A priceless cursed diamond, all for you!" The Madness turned to glare at Stan & the diamond before charging at the group, allowing time for McGucket to escape and join the others as they left the diamond in front of the door for Preston to smash through. "This is either your most brilliant idea or your stupidest. Though I guess there must be some middle ground." Ford commented before Preston crashed through the door, creating an entrance for the Mystery Meisters. "Can't believe that actually worked." Ghost-Eyes said before he gazed upon the beast now lying down on the ground. "You think he's dead?" "Doesn't seem like it, probably unconscious from bashing the door in." Spirit answered as they made their way for the door. "Well, guess there's no turning back now." "Seems like it Spirit." Ford declared before turning to the others. "Now does anyone have something to say before we go in there for the fight of our lives?" he asked. "I'd like to do one." Dipper said. "It's been a honor being your sister, great-nephew and friend everyone." "I really hope we can save Pacifica, if she's even still in there." Mabel added. "No matter what happens, we'll always stick together." Maka declared gripping Soul and Crona's hands tightly. "Bill and Asura won't stand a chance against the man who's gonna surpass God!" Black Star boasted as usual. "We will fight in the name of my father and the DWMA." Kid soon added. "And I'm gonna wear Bill's butt like a rhinestone slipper." Wendy stated. "Gonna be honest guys, maybe a few of us won't make it out alive." Soos admitted trying to be real. "Quick question, which one of you is a side character?" "Not now Soos, save the side character talk for later." Melody said. "Well we plan on redeeming ourselves for our past actions." Gideon said confidently, to which Ghost-Eyes, Eruka, Free and the Mizunes added with a nod. "And I want my house back!" Fiddleford exclaimed before spitting "Okay then, we're off." Ford announced quietly stepping into the mansion with the others following him. Dipper and Mabel took a moment to look over the unconscious Madness of Sloth and how they could save him. "What are we gonna do with him?" Mabel asked her brother. "We'll find a way for him to get better, I'm sure of it." Dipper assured her before they turned and continued on, fearful of what's to come.

Carefully stepping into the ballroom, the team noticed it didn't look that much different, the only exception being tapestries of people bowing before Bill, an image of Kishin Cipher's wheel carved into the floor and most of all, a large sack with a singular eye hanging below a giant hole in the roof. "This must be it everyone, this has got to be where Kishin Cipher is hiding!" Ford declared as they took shelter in the shadows of the room. "Now whatever you do, no one make a sound. Are we clear?" he ordered before he heard someone suddenly fart. "Okay, which one of you was it?!" "That may have been me dudes. I sometimes get nervous when we're in a creepy dark place and I'm told not to make a sound!" Soos confessed to the scientist before they suddenly discovered something glittering in the dark. "Hey, what's that over there?" Dipper wondered stepping closer to the object until he realized it was actually a gilded cage. "Guys, I think that may be where they're holding Pacifica!" "Why do you think that kid?" Spirit wondered as the others followed Dipper. "Because it seems like her entire life was like this before meeting me and Mabel." the boy added. "Now can someone help me lower this cage?" "I got this squirt!" Black Star boasted before he tossed his chain scythe at one of the cage bars, tied it up and lowered it to the ground. When the kids thought they would see their friend again after so long, they instead discovered the cage was now empty. "What the?! Where is she?" Maka exclaimed. "You think Bill had done something to her?" "Indeed we did Maka-chan." an all-too-familiar voice answered, that voice being none other than Medusa. "You again! What do you want with us now?" Ford shouted preparing his magnet gun. "And we won't let you beat us this time!" "Is that so my friends?" Medusa remarked putting on a fake innocent smile. "Well after I sent you all away, my master had assigned me to work on a particular project. Can you guess which one?" she quizzed the group, who all feared the worst while turning to gaze at the gilded cage. "If you're thinking about the girl, then you are indeed correct." Medusa stepped aside to reveal Pacifica, but she looked much different than when everyone last saw her. She was dressed in her usual clothing but her most peculiar feature was a metal helmet with a pair of three holes on both sides of the front and incredibly pointy teeth. "Is that you Pazzy?" Mabel muttered fearfully taking a few steps toward her friend. All was silent for a few moments until Pacifica harshly slapped the Pines sister aside, to the shock of everybody. "Mabel!" Stan screamed running toward his great-niece while the rest of the Pines tried to contemplate on what had just happened. "What's happened to Pacifica? Does it have something to do with that helmet she's wearing?" Dipper cried before the heiress summoned a katana blade and charged forward, about to stab the boy before he suddenly clashed her weapon with Excalibur. "Fool! It seems she is under our foe's control!" "The annoying blade is right child. I have experimented on the child hoping that she would come under the control of the Black Blood like her father, and it was a success." the witch explained proudly. "That helmet of hers allows us to make her our puppet by injecting the substance into her brain." "We gotta break that helmet and save her guys!" Dipper stated. "Here's the plan. Me, Maka, Kid, Wendy, Eruka, Free, Ford & Crona take care of Pacifica & Medusa. Black Star, Gideon, Ghost-Eyes, McGucket & Melody will rescue Mrs. Northwest. Finally, Soos, Blair, Mizune & Stein will try to help Mabel. Are we all clear?" "Roger roger!" Patty replied before she & Liz formed into Kid's pistols. "Can't believe I'm taking orders from someone I tried to kill last summer." Gideon growled before his team began searching for Pacifica's mother. "Don't worry dawg, we're here to help!" Soos exclaimed racing to Stan's side to assist Mabel. "And as for you." Dipper glowered at Medusa as his team took their battle stances and prepared for an epic showdown.

"Mabel? Mabel! Hey Mabel, wake up!" Stan exclaimed lightly smacking her great-niece on the side of her face. "Maybe if I try shaking her." "I don't think that's gonna work Mr. Pines." Soos commented before trying his hand at awakening his younger friend. "Hey hambone, if you wake up we'll get you pizza! With stuffed crust!" "S-stuffed crust?" Mabel moaned beginning to regain consciousness. "Yeah, you can eat it in reverse dude!" Soos continued on much to Stan's chagrin. "I can't believe we're having this conversation." he groaned before Mabel finally woke up in his arms. "Mabel, you're finally awake pumpkin!" "Grunkle Stan!" Mabel exclaimed hugging her grunkle. "Wait, what just happened?" she asked. "It's about Pacifica. She's been brainwashed by Medusa using the Black Blood and is already fighting your brother." Stein recapped for her. "She did WHAT?!" Mabel screamed angrily before glaring at Medusa who was currently fighting Dipper's team. "Oh am I gonna give her a piece of my mind for messing with my friends!" "Not so fast!" the familiar sound of Mosquito's voice called as he barreled toward them in his 100 years ago form with a Golem carrying Giriko's chainsaw form following behind. "Now is the time for us to finish the job!" "Heads up dudes, he's back!" Soos exclaimed running from the duo before Stein stabbed Mosquito in the shoulder with Spirit. "Don't try to run away now Soos, we still got these guys to handle!" Spirit exclaimed. "Right dawgs, for Pacifica!" Meanwhile Black Star's group was busy searching for Priscilla Northwest around the only part of the ballroom that wasn't caught in the midst of combat. "Now where could she be?" Gideon wondered looking around harder. "If I were a formerly rich women, where would I be?" Black Star added before McGucket suddenly got an idea. "Hey I know where she might be! There's this little trapdoor near that there lever that I use to keep my banjos!" "Excellent, let's see if we can open it." Tsubaki replied before they began searching for the trapdoor. Suddenly among the screams of battle, they heard a faint voice under the floor followed by some pounding. "Is anyone up there? Please help me!" "That must be the door!" Ghost-Eyes exclaimed before he felt around for the door. Finally discovering it, he bashed it in revealing the Northwest matriarch below, albeit with messier hair and nearly smeared makeup. "Oh thank you so much. You have no idea how torturous it was to be in there against your will!" "Ah don't mention Mrs. N, you can thank me, Black Star!" the young ninja declared. "The man who's gonna-ooh, mini-sandwiches!" He immediately became distracted by what the panic room contained. "And there's a coloring book as well!" "Listen, we've come to rescue you and your family from those guys. Is there any way we could get you out safely?" Melody asked. "I don't think that's important right now, just break the window over there!" Priscilla stated and Black Star, now out of the panic room with some mini-sandwiches in his mouth, smashed it. "Okay miss, now get out of here!" "Not so fast!" Medusa shouted firing a Vector Arrow at them. "Master Cipher shall not let you leave here alive!" she declared cornering the rescue team before she was bearhugged from behind by Free. "Oh no you don't ex-boss! This is for beating us up whenever we failed you!" "We're dona serving you Medusa, and Kishin Cipher as well!" Eruka added tossing a few Tadpole Grenades at Pacifica, who simply destroyed them all with her katana before charging at the frog witch when suddenly Dipper clashed blades with her again. "Listen Pacifica, I know you're still in there!" Dipper cried for his friend. "You got to fight it, just like how you fought against your family's reputation!" Pacifica once again still didn't speak before their blades started to clank against one another. "Fool, it seems giving her the cliched 'I know you're in there' speech won't work right now! It seems the only way to free your friend is to destroy that helmet!" Excalibur stated. "Right, but how?" "Get away from my experiment brat!" Medusa screamed getting between the two. "Any moment now, Kishin Cipher will reawaken and finish the job for us!" She then fired a Vector Arrow at Dipper who deflected it with a swipe of Excalibur before charging at the witch with a war cry. Then suddenly he was sent flying backwards with a Vector Plate into a wall before his barely conscious form was met with a disapproving glare from Medusa. "Pathetic." "I seriously need help here Excalibur! What do you got that can break Medusa's control over Pacifica?!" Dipper cried struggling to get back up. "Hm, I suppose I do have quite the trick up my sleeve. But you'll have to rap with me here boy." the Holy Sword stated bringing himself back to his temporary Meister's side and began to glow. "Here goes nothing." "Hey guys, what's happening to Dipper?" Wendy asked Kid. "I can't believe my eyes, he's actually doing it!" the son of Death declared in astonishment. "Doing what?" Ford inquired. "Accessing the power of Excalibur himself." The boy floated in the air with wings made of light forming out of his back while holding Excalibur aloft. "Impossible..." Medusa muttered before Dipper unleashed the full power of the sword. "Hero..." he prepared to zoom towards the witch and her puppet. "THE ATOMIC!" With a mighty slash, Medusa lost half of her torso & Pacifica's helmet was reduced to metallic shards, leaving the two of them to fall flat on their faces. "D-did he just-" Crona stuttered before the boy rushed to Pacifica's side and flipped her over on her back. "Come on P, wake up!" "You think she's...dead?" Priscilla asked beginning to shed a few tears. "FOOLS! I feel she is simply unconscious. I know because this isn't the first time I used that move." Excalibur stated. "Dipper, I think I know what'll work!" Mabel cried. "Try true love's kiss, that always works in the movies!" "What?! Mabel, this is no time to invoke cliched movie tropes, we don't have enough time left before Kishin Cipher wakes up!" Dipper exclaimed incredulously. "Just do it kid and let's get outta here!" Stan added. Everyone watched in anticipation as Dipper let out a long, exasperated sigh and puckered his lips, finally planting them on Pacifica's own pair causing her to finally awaken. "Oh, what happened? How long did I sleep?" "Uh for your information, they made me kiss you." Dipper tried to talk his way out of it before Mabel screeched in joy. "What did I tell you all?! It did work like in the movies!" "There's no time! We got Pacifica, now we just flee and find a way to cure her father!" Maka exclaimed trying to gun for the door until she was suddenly assaulted by Medusa. "You are far too late little one. He's finally waking up." She gestured to the large sack which started trembling a bit. "Better hurry before he slaughters you all." "She's right, let's go!" Eruka cried in fear before she was suddenly sent flying towards Kishin Cipher's wheel sitting below the sack as it fell down to the floor. "But before we can truly get things started, there must be sacrifices first. Like you, you filthy traitor." "What is even happening right now?!" Stan exclaimed as the sack began taking on a more humanoid shape. "That sack is really Kishin Cipher!" Kid replied fearfully before its transformation completed and clumsily stepped toward Eruka. "I'm coming Eruka!" Dipper cried out rushing to the witch's side before the creature took a knee and stared at the two with his hands clasped together...before he let out a loud, bone-chilling shriek. Dipper & Eruka started screaming as well in fear of Kishin Cipher before his screaming turned into insane laughter. "Oh you should see the looks on your faces, just priceless!" he cackled. "And your screams of terror were something else too, right guys?!" Kishin Cipher then tore off a portrait of a younger Pacifica with her parents to reveal an interdimensional tear colored dark purple, red & yellow that had a distinct smell of burnt hair. Ford immediately knew what this was. "The Nightmare Realm?!" "Rightio Sixer, hats off to you for getting it right!" Kishin Cipher complimented with a tip of the hat, also flipping the house upside down and back again. "My my my, what a main cast we got here!" he exclaimed menacingly. "And we even got my old friends the Pines family back for another round! Can I get a round of applause here nightmares and monstrosities?!" Sounds of an applauding crowd emitted from the entrance to the Nightmare Realm before a large red-faced creature with a permanent smile peered out of the opening, frightening the team all except for Ford who was determined to put Bill out to pasture once and for all. "You can't scare me anymore Bill! We still have the journals, which means we have access to your weakness!" the scientist declared pulling out Journal 3 but he was too late to realize it wasn't the real book. "Mushroom omelette. For this recipe, you will need any kind of mushroom, eggs, butter, wait just a tick. This isn't the journal..." "IT'S A COOKBOOK!" Stan screamed in terror. "Game over man, game over! Close the beach, women & children only, oh the humanity!" Black Star panicked before scooping up Liz in his arms. "Okay that does it! Screw you guys, we're going home!" the elder Thompson sister cried and the two rushed toward the entrance screaming until the Madness of Sloth, now having regained consciousness, halted them. "What did you do Kishin Cipher?!" Dipper shouted furiously but the fusion of Bill & Asura replied with a haughty sneer. "Lookin' for these?" he taunted summoning the original three journals from out of nowhere. "If you wanna get outta here alive, you'll have to give me what I want!" "And that would be?" Soul asked preparing for a fight before he felt himself picked up and dragged towards Kishin Cipher along with Stan. "Why you two of course! How does joining my Horsemen of the Apocalypse sound?!" the beast offered. "Over my dead body triclops! The day I side with an idiot like you is the day I die!" Stan argued back trying to free himself. "You guys get outta here, Bill here is mine!" "I don't think so!" Kishin Cipher mocked the old man before he let a few of his bandages capture Dipper, Mabel, Ford & Maka. "Either surrender yourselves now, or they pay the price!" he threatened strangling the four of them. "It's your choice." "Don't do it Stan, I'd rather die than lose you again!" Ford tried to reach out to his brother. "But then you'd still lose me because you'll be dead and not me." Stan rebutted just as Kishin Cipher tightened his hold on their loved ones. "So, what's it gonna be you two?" The two of them looked at one another, then at their family & friends before sighing in defeat. "Fine, you can take us. Just leave them alone." Soul declared. "Good choice Piano Keys." the monster congratulated the Demon Scythe before dropping the six of them and shoving Stan & Soul on the wheel. "Mosquito, the Morality Manipulator!" "With pleasure master." Mosquito said bowing before he pulled a level that dropped a glass dome over the two. "I'm so sorry kids, but I'm doing this for you!" Stan cried pounding on the glass. "Promise that you'll come back for us you guys!" Soul added as Kishin Cipher hovered over the dome. "And now, the finishing touch." "Get your filthy hands off my friend!" Kid screamed firing at him with his pistols and prepared a flying kick to the face before the Dream Kishin stopped him mid-attack. "Tsk tsk tsk. Stupid little brother." Kid froze in fear upon hearing Kishin Cipher call him his brother. Who really was Asura and how are they connected? He made a mental note to speak with Death about the matter as he fell to the floor. "Now where were we? Oh yeah!" the monster exclaimed before tapping on the dome sending an electric shock downward. "Now this is where the magic begins!" "Indeed. This version of the Morality Manipulator reacts to Black Blood which takes form by traveling through the holder's bloodstream to their heart & brain, warping their minds and their souls." Mosquito exposited as the painful transformation began. Stan howled in agony as his five o'clock shadow turned into a full beard and felt himself covered in head to toe in golden armor. Soul was in as much agony with his skin turning red, horns growing out of his growing head and his white hair disappearing. Their loved ones could only watch in shock & sadness over this until the shock disappeared signifying the end of the process and the dome ascended back to the ceiling, revealing the two's new forms. "Zoo-wee mama, you two are looking sharp!" Kishin Cipher exclaimed putting hands on both their shoulders. "I think I'll call you the Madness of Greed and you the Madness of Envy!" "Soul, please tell us there's still a bit of you in there." Crona whimpered tiptoeing toward his transformed friend before the new Madness of Envy grabbed him by the wrist. "There is no Soul, only the Ogre!" he hissed before punching Crona in the face. "Seems like the prophecy is down three mortals!" "Three mortals? But we still haven't cracked the bell yet." Dipper mused. "Unless it actually represents..." That was when he came to a realization. "The bell is Preston Northwest!" "Ding ding ding, you're our grand prize winner! Medusa, show him what he's won!" Kishin Cipher screamed imitating a game show host before the witch, now in a fancy red dress & an unamused expression, stuck her arm out with another on her hip toward the mansion entrance. "You my friends get an all-expenses paid vacation to my newer, funner world! Have a good time and never come back!" With a hearty cackle, Kishin Cipher finally tossed all of them out of the mansion, sending them screaming all the way through. "You know, it's times like this where I feel like singing!" he shouted rubbing his hands together before gesturing to Giriko at a piano. "Maestro?" The Demon Saw played a few notes on his instrument beginning a song. "Today's just so wonderful, I feel like chuckling," Kishin Cipher began singing before adding in a chuckle and pulled out a baby duck. "I feel all fuzzy inside like a duckling, full of tarantulas! And now that I'm here," He then prepared to snap his fingers making the portal to the Nightmare Realm grow bigger. "Tonight, it's gonna get...weird!" With that, he snapped his fingers causing the tear to split wide open large enough for all the interdimensional criminals and nightmares he called his friends to escape. Among them were a goblin with a pair of eight-balls for eyes, a literal walking set of teeth, a strange blue creature with a large keyhole shape in his forehead, a geometric shape resembling Bill only he was a blue rhombus, a pink demoness covered in white flames, a large demonic baby, a red hexagon wearing a bowler hat, a monster made up of various colorful squares connected together, a giant walking purple loaf of bread wearing a party hat, a lava lamp-esque demon also wearing a bowler hat, various eyes flying using bat wings and an army of odd human-shaped metallic beings led by four demons. The first demon wore a white top-hat and vaguely resembled a human but with distorted eyes. The second demon was a female that almost appeared nude with various markings on her bare front and a fur cloak. The third had no resemblance to a human and had a waning crescent moon for a head. Finally the fourth monster was all black with multiple sheets on top of one another as clothing. "Look at these creatures, not enough features!" Kishin Cipher continued picking up a kitten. "Cats should breath fire, bears should sing choir!" Squeezing the feline between his fingers making it spit fire, he then turned to a trio of bears who harmonized reluctantly for him. "Hm, very nice!" "Look at this tower, under my power!" The next act of insanity the Dream Kishin committed was turning the water tower into a sentient being with sharp teeth before he turned to the town of Gravity Falls itself, to the horror of the townsfolk. "Look at these people, puny and feeble!" Kishin Cipher then jumped down to town square to corner the fleeing populace and sat down on a nearby building. "Look, I'm just an abomination that's trying to save you." he falsely assured them. "From the delusions society gave you!" He emphasized that line by reversing gravity itself. "Gravity's a lie and so is the sky! Trust in the all-seeing, all-knowing, EYE!" With that, Kishin Cipher then telekinetically made giant portions of land rise from various parts of Gravity Falls to form a large pyramid to serve as his lair before zooming inside to continue his song. "Look at this money, who's that honey?!" he crooned making his own face appear on a dollar bill rather than George Washington. "Look throughout history, how could you miss me?!" He then made a grand gesture toward pictures of various historical events with Bill hastily scribbled into them. "Seriously, I'm like all over the place!" "Look at this weather, I could do better!" he then boasted stepping outside to mess with reality some more. "Mandelbrot rainbows, screaming tornadoes!" Kishin Cipher harmonized drawing an oddly colored rainbow over his pyramid like the logo of a certain film company and spun his finger around to create a perpetually screaming hurricane. "Look at this loser, drinking coffee!" The monster then glared at a brown-haired man dressed in red flannel sipping some joe, blissfully unaware of the chaos around him. "Now it's decaf!" With a wave of Cipher's finger, the man spit out his drink in shock. "Look at these people, calling me evil!" Kishin Cipher reached the conclusion of his song as he faced a group of citizens trying to fight back against him before he carelessly petrified them. "Right back at you, now you're all statues!" Rising up from the ground to take in the insanity around him, Kishin Cipher celebrated his victory as his friends wreaked havoc around the Oregon town. "Everything you know has disappeared, it's gonna get weird!" Meanwhile with the Mystery Meisters, they were recovering from being kicked out of Kishin Cipher's lair before they looked up at the sky in terror as Kishin Cipher began cackling victoriously. There were no words spoken from them all except for Dipper who had only one thing to say. "Weirdmageddon."

And so concludes Quest for the Northwest. Our heroes may have rescued Pacifica, but Kishin Cipher has won both the battle AND the war before either of them started! That's right ladies and gents, we've finally reached the endgame! This party will never stop, so join us next time for the dawn of Weirdmageddon II!

[codename-bewareofthefangirl]

Hi hi!! Can I ask for 14th sentence for AkaMido? Please with extra angst, happy ending and with vulnerable Akashi?

Yo, fellow fangirl! May your ships be canon. Can I request #14 sentence from the prompts for AkaMido? With extra bit of angst, happy-ish ending and vulnerable Akashi? #kthxbye

I don’t know if it’s the same fangirl or my writing triggered the same emotions in both of you, but I’m happy to comply! However, here it is. It took me a bit because I’ve always read that sentence as ironic, so I had to imagine a different angsty scenario! I hope you enjoy it! 

BROKEN

 Midorima couldn’t say that he was unhappy or thattheir relationship wasn’t going well. It was just…lacking. They had never had areal fight. It’s not that he wanted to argue with Akashi, but disagreementswere useful to grow, to understand how to synch with the other one. However, theystill couldn’t do it.

When Kise and Aomine fought, everyone in the cityprobably knew: one usually cried and screamed escaping away from the apartment,the other growled angrily and coldly, punching everything on his way to venthis anger. When he and Akashi fought, they had calm and collected discussions:they talked about the problem and resolved it in few days, sometimes after alittle cold war. That would have been perfect for Midorima, if Akashi had everstarted one. But he never said anything, never made a complain. Sometimes,Midorima could sense that he was unhappy or mad about something, but hewouldn’t voice his anger. He would plaster on his face that disgusting, fake,polite smile and say it was nothing. How they could grow together if he alwaysbottled everything inside of himself? It was like he was bearing theirrelationship and not enjoying it. He never relied on him for help, he neveraccepted to let himself fall or crumble. He still tried to be the perfect Emperor,someone who could do everything alone. But a relationship involved two person.

 Midorima had reached his limit.

Akashi was frozen on the spot in front of him, fakesmile at his usual place. Caught by surprise by Midorima’s explosion. He wascooking dinner while talking with Midorima, when an unpleasant thought hadcrossed his mind and he knew he had showed an irritated, forced smile, but hehad thought he had been enough fast to conceal it. However, Midorimahad slammedhis hand on the table and stood up glaring angrily at him.

“For how much time we have to go on like this?” hehissed, trembling for the anger.

Akashi took an unsteady breath and tried to smileagain.

“I don’t und-” tried to ask calmly, but Midorima shuthim up with a growl.

“You don’t understand? Are we even in the samerelationship?” asked bitterly, fixing his glasses.

The redhead boy stopped, turning completely to facehim. A grip tightened around his throat and he felt like chocking, but attemptedto hide it again.

“Shintarou, if I have done something that hurt you,please allow me to apologize.” Said in a low, soft voice, clenching his fiststo hide the trembling. The disappointed look in Midorima’s eyes was digging ahole in his heart. Where did he make a mistake again?

“You haven’t done anything Seijuurou! That’s the damnproblem!” replied Midorima in a cold, menacing voice, “You never do. You alwaysseem to put up with me, like a damn charity service. I should be your boyfriendbut you never rely on me, you never complain, you never open. Are we reallytogether or I missed something along the way?” asked ironically, lifting hishands to the air.

Akashi tried to reply, but his throat was dry andpanic was filling him. Had he messed up again? Why he couldn’t do it right likeeveryone else? He had tried his best. Why it wasn’t enough?

“I don’t need a babysitter. You know, sometimes it’slike we’ve never changed from Teikou.” That words paralyzed Akashi, red eyeswide open, but Midorima continued, “You’re going on alone, distancing all thepeople you’ve around from yourself. Me, included. You’re still the selfish Emperorand I start to doubt you’re ever going to change. You seem perfectly happy withhiding everything from me and with dealing with it by yourself. Well, I’m not.I can’t bear this treatment anymore. I can’t. I’m tired.”

A heavy silence dropped in the room.

Midorima stared at Akashi, waiting for a reaction.Anything was okay. Screaming, punching, insults, blaming, threatening, swingingscissors…anything. He just had to voice his anger. Midorima wanted to know whathe had closed up in himself, he wanted to see the mask fall. He had corneredhim now, he couldn’t escape.

But Akashi has stopped working, those words sinking inhim like heavy rocks and sharp blades. Fear and self-hatred had takenpossession of him. He had messed up again, for real this time. He truly felt ashe was still at Teikou. Still not able to understand people around him, failingon and on. He could never save himself, he just dragged the people he cared aboutthe most down with him. He was the egoistic Emperor.

Tears spilled from his read eyes and he couldn’t stopthem this time, streaming down his pale cheeks. He heard the laughter of hisother-self, ringing in his ears.

Midorima opened his eyes wide, startled, and froze inhis place. He had never seen Akashi crying.

“I’m sorry…” the boy murmured, voice cracked by pain,and, before Midorima could do anything, he escaped from the kitchen. He openedthe door of the apartment and tumbled in the corridors, running down towardsthe exit. His mind had gone blank, the beating of his heart deafened him andevery inch of his body was hurting and shaking. He rushed out the building insearch of fresh air but it didn’t made him lucid like he hoped, the raindrenched him immediately. A hard, mocking slap against his lost face. The skywas crying with him, the wind was as cold as he felt inside. He ran away,desperate and without knowing where to go. He just didn’t want to hearMidorima’s voice pronouncing the words of his nightmares: “We’re done.”

 Midorima remained paralyzed for a few seconds more. Infront of his eyes, he was still seeing the pained expression of Akashi, hispleading, scared eyes. The trembling lips, the clenched fists. The regrets onhis face. It was like he’d stabbed him, right in the heart.

This is not what he wanted.

He wanted to force him to open, to vent his anger.

“I broke him…” whispered, realization kicking in. Arush of nausea hit him. He didn’t want to make Akashi cry, he didn’t want tobreak him…he just wanted to know how to help him, how to support him, how tomake him happy. He wanted to be scolded and to be taught how to be by his sideproperly. He wanted Akashi to open up with him.

“Fuck!” he muttered, finally moving. A rush ofadrenaline flowing in his body. He ran out of the apartment, chasing hisboyfriend. The rain hit him hard in the face, clouding his visions but hedidn’t even bothered cleaning the glasses. He looked around, but Akashi wasn’tin sight anymore.

“He can’t be too far…” he mumbled breathlessly, hopingwith all his might to be right. A confused and shattered Akashi couldn’t bereasoning or functioning properly, so he had to be near. Trusting his instinct,he started running left.

Every step he took without seeing his red hair was aneedle stabbing his heart, every turn taken without any idea of where he wasgoing was another regret. Why he had to explode like that? Why he couldn’t dealwith it like always? Why they had to arrive at this point? What if it was thepoint of no return?

They had been two idiots, but Midorima wasn’t ready tolet got. He had already done it in the past, he didn’t want to lose Akashi’shand to his demons again.

Finally, he saw Akashi, staggering on the walkpath asif he was going to collapse soon. The gods had to have taken a likening tothem, since Midorima didn’t even know where they were. But it didn’t matter, hejust rushed towards the boy.

“Seijuurou!” he called, wet clothes glued to his bodyslowing him down.

Akashi, at the sound of his voice, jostled and triedto steady himself, running faster; luckily for Midorima, his body didn’trespond the way he wanted and the boy could catch up. He wrapped one arm aroundhis shoulders and the other around the slender waist, caging Akashi against hischest to stop him from running.

“LET ME GO!” Akashi shouted crouched, struggling andstartling Midorima, who had never heard him screaming like that; but the greenhaired boy didn’t let him go, tightening his hold.

“I’m sorry Seijuurou, I’m sorry.” He repeated in hisear to calm him down, resting his forehead on his shoulder. Akashi didn’t stopwiggling out of his grip, but Midorima was too strong in that moment and he tooweak-willed. He started sobbing though his teeth, cursing himself. What was heeven doing?

“I didn’t want to break you,” Midorima continued,hoping to reach him in time, “I didn’t want to make you desperate. I wished foryou to be angry with me, to vent your anger. You never complain aloud aboutanything, even when it’s clear you have something to say, but I can’t read yourmind. And I can’t be a better boyfriend if you don’t talk to me properly, Ican’t understand what to do to make you feel better. Please Seijuurou, stopfighting. I don’t want to lose you.” He whispered desperately, finallyloosening his hold. If he still wanted to run away, he was free.

Akashi held back his breath, the words of his guyfinally sinking in. Blinking, he did as he was asked, relaxing his limbsagainst his chest. Relief washed him over, finally understanding they were notgoing to break up, and a new stream of tears flowed out of his eyes. Or, maybeit was the heavy rain, he didn’t know anymore.

“I thought,” explained in a faint voice, “That youwanted to break up with me.”

Midorima growled.

“No, thank you.” Answered without doubts. Akashi couldfeel his heartbeat pounding against his back. Slowly, he turned to face him andgripped his drenched shirt, resting his head against him. The words escaped hislips in an angry, desperate, confused flow.

“I hate when I woke up and you’re not with me becauseyou’ve gone outside to buy the lucky item of the day. I hate that I’m always toone to take the initiative. I hate that you never say if you like my cooking ornot. I hate that you never take me to a basketball date. I hate that I’m stillbounded by the fear of losing you, of being abandoned because I’m not humanenough. I hate that I’ve not changed.” Confessed trembling, letting every,single thing had ever annoyed him roll down his tongue.

Midorima showed a faint smile, resting the chin on hishead and let him talk freely.

“Forget what I’ve said about you not changing, I wentoverboard because I was mad.” Explained softly, “And every time you feelinsecure, say it aloud. I’m never going to abandon you again. I love you toomuch.” Added with flushed cheeks, in an embarrassed whisper.

This brought, finally, a warm smile on Akashi’s lips.Those words were the balsam to his shattered soul.

“For the rest, I’m going to work on them. I promise.”Midorima continued, loosening his grip around him and pulling away to hold hishand, delicately interlacing their fingers.

“I’ve more.” Akashi warned him with a tentative,amused smirk and Midorima rolled his eyes, fixing his glasses; then he startedwalking and pulled him by his side.

“I guessed. We’ve all the time we want when we’rehome. And dried and warmed, if possible.” Reassured him, finally feeling thelong awaited calm and relief filling him, “W-we can take a bath together i-ifyou want…” offered blushing heavily, but trying to “take the initiative” tomake him happy.

Akashi let out a soft chuckling, beginning to findabsurd all the motives due to which he had always restrained himself withMidorima.

“I’d love too.” Answered genuinely giddy.

“T-that’s good.”

“Shintarou?” from his voice, Midorima could alreadytell that he was smiling wide.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

[iwritewithanaxe]

The Fire Hunt, Volume Three, Chapter 4 - Final

—This is ridiculous —said Leofsige, quickly raising his axe. None of his companions could answer him, the battle had begun.

 It was as if the two knights had fully regained their strength, and maybe more than that. Although the huntress and pack leader had just seen them tired, affected by the heat of the recently killed demon, the snow and the weight of their armor, they now had difficulty resisting their attacks.

 Sir Louis the Bald had wielded his shield in addition to his longsword, brandishing the blade with speed in wide arches around him, defending himself with the efficacy of a stonewall. With the back against his, Sir Lance the Secondary maneuvered his partisan like a storm, throwing countless strikes in so many directions, and at such a speed, that it was almost impossible to approach him.

 The four companions, along with the five human members of the pack, as well as the huge wolf and the bear, collided with each other as they tried to approach their rivals.

 —This is not gonna work —Emer told the leader, stepping back into the trees.

 —I see what you’re doing —she answered with a smile, doing the same—. Daireann, Pridbor, with me —just as she said so, the lookout and the apprentice also walked away from the fight.

 —Leo, Ellan —the huntress called. The demon and the dragonslayer reacted immediately.

 The druid, the fomorian, the guardian and the two beasts held the knights.

 —You haven't rusted, hairless, even with all that metal over of you —spoke the guardian, brutally approaching Sir Louis, their shields clashing and the battle-axe trying to catch the longsword.

 —Order and justice never rust, savage —the knight replied, hitting him on the head with the pommel of his weapon. The barbarian didn’t react, but a new mark could be seen in his helmet.

 Cunobelinos' claw strikes and charges did nothing against Sir Louis' armor. Paws and antlers could not pierce the metal, and the knight moved so precisely that it was impossible to grab him.

 That until an arrow forced him to raise his shield, and then a crossbow bolt bounced off one of his shoulder pads at the same instant the axe reached his torso. He threw a cut that, had it reached the guardian, it would have easily mutilated him. Then an onslaught of the druid took him to the ground.

 Meanwhile, a dagger from the demon and one from the lookout flew at Sir Lance. He was able to deflect one with his spear as he dodged the other, but then a four-pointed metal star, thrown by the apprentice, opened a wide cut on his face. He closed his eyes for an imperceptible moment, but it was enough for the fomorian, carrying two hand-axes, to make him release his partisan with a ferocious blow. Then the bear rammed him from the right flank, and the wolf from the left, knocking him down.

 —We just saved you from that demon! —Emer shouted as she saw both knights on the ground—. You could at least listen to us for a moment.

 —Never! —the Secondary replied to her, leaping to his feet and drawing his sword.

 —You can't fool us! You must answer for your crimes! —the Bald followed, spinning the long blade around him as he rose.

 —We haven't even met before! —the apprentice grunted, aiming a second four-pointed star.

 —If you ally yourselves with this savage, you cannot be much different —Sir Louis replied, staring at the guardian.

 —We brought you down once —said the leader of the pack, both tranquility and strength in her voice—, we’ll do it again as many times as necessary. Would you rather die like this?

 —There is no way that we will die before you do, before we see you pay for your crimes. There is no way —Sir Louis declared, his voice echoing as if several commanders were speaking in unison.

 —You don't know anything —the fomorian spat. His bark mask didn’t cover his mouth, and he showed crooked teeth in a primal grimace—. We're unbreakable.

 —Only the honor of a paladin is unbreakable! —said the eldest of the knights, like a war cry. He switched positions with his partner in less than a second, throwing a fearsome cut at the largest of the barbarians.

 The blade cut from shoulder to chest. The foment's expression of anger, in the little that his mask revealed, became one of disbelief. Maybe even in awe.

 The knight didn't even try to pull his sword out of the wound. He grabbed the morning star at his waist and struck the bear in the neck, lifting his shield at the exact moment to stop a charge from the wolf.

 Sir Lance in turn deflected the guardian's axe several times with few moves, feinting around him, dodging every attack of the druid.

 The daggers and stars thrown by the demon, the lookout and the apprentice had no effect. Only a few hit their marks, and in doing so, they were unable to pierce the armor.

 —It’ll be better for you to get away —the leader told the huntress, seeing that the bolts from both of them and the dragonslayer had no effect either—. This is going to get quite worse right now.

 —What's going on? —Emer asked, but she didn't need an answer. Both the guardian and the fomorian were roaring, moving faster and attacking more brutally. Rage had completely possessed them, and it seemed like the wolf and the bear too.

 —With those two like that, we can easily finish the pair of knights.

 —Don't kill them, please.

 —What?

 —You've already seen them face a demon.

 —And losing.

 —But before that we have seen them win. Remember, we must be united, even if we are not… In other words, we must…

 —Don't worry, I understand. We'll send them away.

 —Will you have no problem with the fury of your companions?

 —We have already fought beside them, I know how they function in their rage, and I know that they can be a danger to you. Get out of here now.

 —There's something you must know. Pay attention to the corpse of the demon we defeated. We've fought one like that before, and inside his head was a dragon skull.

 The leader was silent. She just looked at the huntress for an instant, then signaled her to get away and charged into battle. While the two were talking, the two barbarians and the two beasts had completely contended the pair of knights, driving even Cunobelinos away.

 The lookout drew two swords of different lengths, the apprentice a hand axe and a long curved blade, and they charge with their leader.

 —Let's go —Emer ordered, and she didn’t wait for an answer, hastening to disappear into the trees. Her companions followed her without hesitation.

 —Do not run away! —Sir Louis shouted—. Criminals without honor! —but he couldn't pursue them. The whole pack was upon him and Sir Lance, and the fury of the savages was overwhelming.

 None of the companions noticed that it had already dawned. They moved away among the trees, with Emer at the front, skipping roots and dodging branches.

 —Respectable leader —the demon suddenly called when they had been running for almost an hour already—, I think we've gone far enough.

 —It will be enough when we are out of this forest —she said to him, without stopping.

 Another hour had passed when they finally reached the open field. By some reason they didn't understand, there was less snow outside of the forest.

 —Why are we running away? —Leofsige wanted to know.

 —The two knights have a problem with us, not with the pack —Emer answered.

 —Those two have problems with everyone.

 —Well, more with us than with them. When they see they can't win the fight, they'll escape.

 —Which brings me to… right, why did you ask the leader not to kill them?

 —They don't deserve to die.

 —What?

 —You heard me. They fight for just causes, even though they are blind and obsessive.

 —How can you be sure? After this will you also protect the inquisitor?

 —Do you remember what happened last time? The inquisitor and his paladin escaped when they saw the pair of Frenchmen.

 —Yes, I remember, you think the Spaniard and his followers are hiding something, but we're not sure, we can't be. They are our enemies, all of them, they would kill us if they could.

 —The inquisitor would, no doubt, but the bald one… I doubt it. I think he wouldn't kill us or let us die if he had the chance. That's why I saved them from the demon attacking them. That's why I asked the pack to let them live. We need warriors capable of facing the demons, as many as possible, alive, if we want this world to survive.

 —Did you save them? Is that why that demon corpse was there?

 —That's right. I will stick with the idea that Sir Bald and Sir Secondary are not as bad as the inquisitor and his followers, as I stuck with the idea that those Spaniards are hiding something strange. If you disagree, why even call me a respectable leader?

 Leofsige looked at her silently for a long while. A few meters away, the dragonslayer had sat on the floor. The druid returned to his human form during the discussion, and had begun searching for seeds.

 —You're right —said the demon at last.

 —Are you sure?

 —Yes. I also want to believe not everyone is just as stupid. I want to see the two paladins fighting the inquisitors… and I want us to have every chance of saving this world from my relatives.

 The huntress smiled barely.

 —If you finished already —Cunobelinos called them—, we left behind two horses and a cart.

 —… I think… I didn’t realize —admitted Emer.

 —I know I didn't realize —said Leofsige.

 —The leader did realize —it was the voice of the apprentice, emerging from the trees a few meters away.

 —How did …? We have to start paying more attention, people have a habit of appearing on us from nowhere —the demon grunted, quite surprised.

 —Is the fight over? —the huntress asked.

 —Something like that —the young barbarian started—. The pair of knights escaped. The leader gave them some advantage before sending the lookout and the guardian after them, to make sure that they actually escaped, see that they didn't find you, all the fishing. The rest of us returned to the clearing, and there were the two horses, eating quietly, beside your cart, so I offered to come to you with them.

 —Thank you —Emer said to him—, to you and the whole pack. Facing those two knights is… difficult.

 —We noticed. Looks like you're very unlucky if that pair is after you.

 —You can’t even imagine —the demon intervened.

 —And now they will also want to pursue you —added the huntress.

 —Let them try —the apprentice continued—, it became clear to us that they don't get along with the forest nor the snow.

 —Hrm —Leofsige grunted again—, you're lucky. Now that that's settled, tell me what those things you threw during the fight were.

 —Something a traveler gave me. He said he encountered something similar somewhere far to the east, called them blades-hidden-in-the-hand, they’re quite practical. He also gave me my sword —when mentioning the weapon, the young man drew it. The blade was similar to that of a scimitar, but less curved and with a straighter tip.

 —Does that thing have a name? —the demon continued asking.

 —I know it does, but I don't remember it, so I call it a sword.

 —What happened to that traveler?

 —He made the fomorian angry.

 —Huh… speaking of that giant, how did it go with the wound he received?

 —He’s fine now. He's healed worse things without help. Troll blood is quite useful.

 —Huh… lucky guy.

 —Tell me something, little one, if you have time for more questions —suddenly spoke Cunobelinos, approaching the apprentice with heavy steps.

 —I caught up with you sooner than I thought, and I'll probably be back with the others sooner, so I'm in no hurry.

 —What formed your pack?

 —Our company, I think.

 —There must be something else. We do not follow our leaders just because they are there. I understand why the leader of your pack is what she is, but I want to know what brought you all to her.

 —We all come from cold places, we have always lived surrounded by rain, snow and ice. We know better than anyone else does that we must gather around the fire to survive.

 —I understand.

 No one else spoke. They bid farewell in silence, and the young man disappeared among the snow-capped trunks. Through thick clouds, it was clear that the sun was at the top of the sky.

 The huntress and the demon checked the cart before boarding it, and the dragonslayer mounted his horse. They advanced without haste or a clear direction, surrounded by nothing but small puddles, lonely trees, and an absolute calm.

 —Thinking of forming your own pack, Cuno? —Leofsige asked suddenly, seeing that the druid hadn’t even changed shape to continue the journey.

 —No —replied the enormous man, thoughtful, with his eyes fixed on the ground in front of him.

 —… Any other details? —the demon insisted.

 —It caught my attention. None of you is as… primal as the pack. Not even I am…

 —You're closer than any of us —Ellanher commented, smiling.

 —And yet here we are. Together. We have also gathered around someone in order to survive.

 —Then what makes you think so much? —Leo continued.

 —Perhaps there is still hope for people.

 —To survive? —Emer wanted to know.

 —To survive, and that surviving will be worth it.

 —You never thought you’d find more people so close to the earth, did you?

 —I thought the ransacker and I were the last. That when we die, no one else would ever worry about plants and beasts again.

 The huntress only smiled, and then so did the dragonslayer and the demon.

 They advanced unhindered until night came. On the outskirts of a small cave, with some berry bushes nearby and a river running beside it, they set up camp.

 The dragonslayer, without his armor, but with his spear a few centimeters away, slept within the cart. The druid leaned back on the ground, staring at the sky until his eyes closed. The demon and the huntress each set up a tent.

 —Hey, Leo —she called him all of a sudden.

 —What's going on?

 —Can you imagine what the pack will think when they see the dragon skull inside that demon?

 —Surely they’ll be quite mad, and they’ll have more desire to kill demons. I'd like to know how is it that a relative of mine ends up with a dragon skull inside it.

 —Perhaps the pack will discover it before us, and the brotherhood before them.

 —As long as someone discovers it, I’ll be happy.

 Without saying anything else, each one entered their tent. The night passed quietly, almost in complete silence, interrupted only by the howling of wolves in the distance and, perhaps, by what might have been the roar of a dragon.

 End of Chapter 4

 End of Volume Three