#fanfic rewrite

[kollux748]

A Bond of Ice and Fire

(Jacegan ABO-fanfic idea rewrite)

(I finally learned that there’s a “read more” option so I don’t take over your fyp with this long-ass timeline fic…)

Set-Up Details:

ABO Westerosi dynamics

Most dynamic presentations occur around the age of 10-14. The earliest recording of a presentation was actually Aegon the Conqueror, at the age of 8 as an Alpha.

Valyrian Alphas and Omegas are rare; a class where the old Valyrians would (with magic at the time) change their sexes accordingly to match the ideal parts of their presentation (Alphas with cocks, Omegas with cunts).

The change is most painful for a male Valyrian Omega, as it often involves castration and months-long process of the body developing a female productive system. The change often made it easier for male omegas to handle birthing.

In regard to politics and power…

Alphas and Betas typically hold the positions of power; where Alphas are seen as leaders and wise protectors, and Betas are their advisors.

The Hand of the King is typically a Beta-held position. They provide an even mind that may sometimes think clearer and have more patience than their Alpha lords or King.

Omegas scarcely hold such positions. It is oft only after they are married to an approved Alpha that they are recognized and uncontested as a leader. Female Omegas are deemed less than optimal for leading, while Male Omegas tend to be reluctantly accepted.

Dorne is of the few that do not see Omegas as such weaknesses; all designations are given a fair chance.

True/Fated Mates

A sort of “you know when you know” feeling at the time of mating. Commonly occurs in Alpha and Omega pairings, which are the most desirable and admired bonds. Rare in Alpha-Alpha, and Omega-Omega pairs. Almost non-existent with Betas; it is often believed by the Faith and bigots that Betas are deemed unworthy of such a distinction.

It is most evident when biting mating glands. When the bonding is true, nothing is secret between the mates. They feel as if they are “one flesh, one heart, one soul”; which is where that phrase from the Septon’s blessing originated. It feels otherworldly, an experience that one would dare to compare to be of the final paradise, or even greater. If one was to ever be unfaithful to their true bonded mate, they would feel a great pain in their soul reflecting that of the unforgivable infidelity committed.

There is very rare chances that a person might have more than one true mate, and experimentation is often avoided considering that should particularly an Alpha’s soul reject a bonding, they’d tear apart their attempted mate. One such example of an Alpha having multiple mates is Sharako Lohar.

Unfortunately, amongst higher-borns, finding one’s true mate is next to impossible due to the restrictions of status. While true bonds are well-respected and treasured, status matters more to most. As such, those who may have found their true mate in a mere commoner go without them. This particularly true for Targaryens, considering they oft tend to marry within the family.

Valyrian Alphas:

Baela Targaryen (b. 116 AC - presented at age 12, mid 128 AC)

(Notable) Alphas:

Viserys I Targaryen

Daemon Targaryen

Rhaenyra Targaryen (presented at age 12)

Rhaenys Targaryen

Aegon II Targaryen (b. 106 AC - presented at age 12)

Aemond Targaryen (b. 110 AC - presented at age 10)

Joffrey Velaryon (b. 117 AC - presented at age 12, early 129 AC)

Cregan Stark (b. 108 AC - presented at age 11)

Harwin Strong

Simon Strong

Criston Cole

Alyn Velaryon

Alysanne Blackwood

(Notable) Betas:

Corlys Velaryon

Laenor Velaryon

Larys Strong

Otto Hightower

Addam Velaryon

Valyrian Omegas:

Jacaerys Targaryen (b. late 114 AC - presented age 13, early 128 AC)

(Notable) Omegas:

Alicent Hightower (presented at age 12)

Helaena Targaryen (b. 109 AC - presented at age 10)

Daeron Targaryen (b. 114 AC - presented at age 12)

Lucerys Velaryon (b. late 115 AC - presented at age 11, late 126 AC)

Laena Velaryon (presented at age 12)

Rhaena Targaryen (b. 116 AC - presented at age 12, mid 128 AC)

Arra Norrey (b. 112 AC - presented at age 12)

Sabitha Frey

Non-presented/Children:

Jaehaerys II Targaryen (b. 123 AC)

Jaehaera Targaryen (b. 123 AC)

Rickon Stark (b. 128 AC)

Aegon III Targaryen (b. 120 AC)

Viserys II Targaryen (b. 122 AC)

(Late 114 AC): Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen gives birth to Jacaerys Velaryon (Strong). Aegon II Targaryen has (age 8) and Aemond Targaryen (age 4) dote upon their young nephew despite Alicent’s reservations towards them bonding with their future rival for the throne. Viserys I Targaryen sits with the babe on the Iron Throne and tells him “One day this will be your seat, lad” and he has him share a wet-nurse with Alicent’s own babe Daeron Targaryen. Alicent is wary due to Jacaerys’ plain features (lack of silver hair or purple eyes). Harwin Strong visits him in secret every now and then, and stays by Princess Rhaenyra’s side as much as is publicly appropriate of his station.

3-4 months/moons pass, and rumors have grown loudly, telling of Rhaenyra’s infidelity towards Laenor due to Jacaerys’ looks, originating from a few maids and knights in service of Rhaenyra. Although she adores her firstborn, Rhaenyra is heavily agitated and upset by the rumors, though she soon learns that she is with child again. In the hopes that this new child will bear the colorings of a true Targaryen, Rhaenyra considers ridding herself of Jacaerys. After one particular blowup with Alicent, she decides at the dead of night to pay one of her maids heavily to take Jacaerys away from the Red Keep, and pays the Kingsguard men who were guarding Jacaerys’ nursery for their silence. Jacaerys’ bonded hatchling, Vermax, leaves with the maid and her precious cargo as he refuses to part from the babe. The maid goes to a brothel on the Street of Silk, which is about the last place anyone would think to look for a babe, abandons Jacaerys in a random room. This room turns out to be the occupancy of Lady Mysaria, the proprietor of the certain brothel.

Ser Harwin Strong learns of the treachery later in the morning and begs Rhaenyra to allow him to find and keep the babe at Harrenhal, to raise him as his own in secret. However, it is too late and Jacaerys is lost to them. While Rhaenyra is in depressing turmoil over her grave decision, Ser Harwin raises the alarm and the Red Keep is sent into turmoil as Viserys I demands his beloved grandson to be found. Lady Mysaria hears of the Kingsguard searching for a babe and his dragon, but knows that she could be accused of stealing the young Prince and killed for treason against the crown; for who would listen to the cries of a common whore?

Weeks pass, and the royal family and Ser Harwin mourn the loss of their youngest. Alicent suspects Rhaenyra, despite her visible grief, plotted the loss of her child to hide her affair but she cannot speak on it to anyone but her father and Ser Criston Cole.

(Late 115 AC): Lucerys Velaryon is born. Viserys increases the guard on his rooms, and Ser Harwin Strong is assigned his sworn shield. Rhaenyra is warned by Ser Harwin not to abandon Lucerys too, otherwise he would bring them both to ruin with his reaction (telling Viserys or Alicent that the rumors of Jacaerys, and now Lucerys’ parentage were true. Harwin would be put to the sword immediately, and Rhaenyra would lose her inheritance as heir to the Iron Throne at the least. At worst, she would also lose her head). Rhaenyra soothes him, telling him that she would never dare again to rid herself of any of her sweet children. Aegon takes a liking to Lucerys, however Aemond is wary of getting attached to another babe.

Rhaenyra takes permanent residence on Dragonstone a few months after Lucerys’ birth due to her and Alicent’s dangerously souring relationship.

(119 AC): Vermax, having grown as a free dragon and being the unknown cause of the missing sheep, lives hidden away on the beach of King’s Landing. Jacaerys (age 5) makes nightly visits to him. Jace takes his first flight one night in the summer, albeit saddle-less. He learns to wear gloves after having various cuts from clinging to Vermax’s scale and neck spikes. They sometimes fly as far out to Driftmark and Dragonstone, but never close enough to be seen by anyone or any dragon. Vermax expands his hunting ground to nearby lands across the bay, where he may be less discrete in his hunt for food, and his taste palette grows to include wild game.

At the brothel, the Blue Pearl, Jacaerys is known by most of the working prostitutes as Mysaria’s son and in shared secret, the lost Prince of the Red Keep. He works around King’s Landing during the day for spare coin to buy new clothes and food, and during the evening he is either confined to his bedchamber with the door locked or stays the night on the beach with Vermax. Mysaria dislikes the thought of Jacaerys witnessing the depravity of the brothel during the night, especially when the oath-breakers of the Kingsguard men and the Gold cloaks come.

(120 AC): Ser Harwin Strong is removed as Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Lucerys’ sworn shield after a confrontation between Ser Criston Cole and him at King’s Landing. He is murdered by fire at Harrenhal with Lord Lyonel Strong. Larys Strong inherits Harrenhal. Aemond Targaryen presents as an Alpha.

Laena Velaryon dies in childbirth and her funeral is held on Driftmark, along with Ser Laenor Velaryon who was killed by his companion Ser Qarl.

Joffrey Velaryon, at age 3, is named heir to Driftmark.

Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen marry by the Old Valyrian tradition in the Spring and do the dirty on the beach (bruh, that’s wild though that she moved on so fast to Daemon after Laenor and Harwin’s deaths).

Aemond Targaryen seizes the opportunity to claim Vhagar and is taken on his first flight. Jacaerys and Vermax happen to be flying overhead near the shores of Dragonstone when Vhagar surprises them, and in his fright Vermax loses balance (experiences turbulence) and crashes onto the beach. Aemond has Vhagar land so that he can check on the fallen dragon and encounters Jacaerys for the first time in years, though he does not recognize him. Aemond being only 4 at the time Jacaerys was named does not remember his first nephew’s name.

Aemond apologizes to Jacaerys for scaring him and Vermax, and they resolve to be night riding friends when he learns that Jace lives in King’s Landing and takes nightly flights around Blackwater Bay. Aemond returns to Driftmark while Jace stays on the beach of Dragonstone for the night, allowing Vermax to rest a bit after his crash.

Upon his arrival, Aemond is confronted by Lucerys, Baela, and Rhaena, and loses his eye by Lucerys. In the morning, the Targaryen-Hightower family leaves for King’s Landing.

Aemond slowly recovers from his injury and learns how to navigate with one eye. A few months pass before he feels well enough to anxiously meet with Jacaerys on the beach of King’s Landing. Jace was upset that Aemond never came in those months and resigned that his new friend had forgotten about him. That upset turned towards the people who dared to hurt Aemond once he explained the reason for his absence to Jace.

Aemond teaches Jacaerys High Valyrian, starting with simple greetings and dragon commands. Vermax and Vhagar forge a bond liken to that of a grandma and her hyperactive grandson. Since Vhagar is too big for the dragonpit, she is Vermax’s constant companion on the beach of King’s Landing. Vermax likes to climb on top of Vhagar, and sleeps on her or under her wing at times.

Aegon grows curious of his brother’s nightly disappearances, but Aemond does not want to tell him of his only friend for fear that he will steal Jacaerys and turn him into another one of Aemond’s bullies (as he did with Lucerys and their own youngest sibling, Daeron). Although, most of their source of torment originated from Aemond lacking a dragon…

Rhaenyra gives birth to Aegon III Targaryen in the Winter.

(121 AC): Alicent finds out that Aemond has been sneaking away at night to the shore of King’s Landing and questions him, though he tells her that he is simply enjoying his possession of a dragon after so many years without. Sensing he is withholding something, she has the twins Ser Arryk and Ser Erryk follow him one night, and they find out about Jacaerys. Alicent has him seized the next night he and Aemond meet, much to Aemond’s dismay. Vermax tries to protect Jace, but he and Vhagar are kept back by a few dragon-keepers.

Alicent meets Jacaerys, and comments on his features, recognizing some of Rhaenyra’s traits in his face. With Otto’s support and much to Aemond’s content, she decides to foster Jacaerys. The first step is to re-introduce him to Viserys, who is very delighted to reunite with his first grandson. He has a letter written to Rhaenyra about Jacaerys’ reappearance, however the raven is never sent and the letter is burned. A letter from her is forged by Alicent and read to Viserys by a maester, saying that Rhaenyra wishes for Jacaerys to be raised in the Red Keep and to be given the inheritance of Harrenhal for his troubles. Larys Strong is pressured by Otto Hightower to relinquish his lordship over Harrenhal so that Jacaerys may have it with no contest, and Viserys grants the request of his beloved daughter, despite the rumors that may rise.

“King Viserys I Targaryen and his Queen Alicent Hightower hereby recognize Prince Jacaerys Targaryen, son of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen of Dragonstone, Heir Apparent to Dragonstone and Harrenhal.”

Viserys likes to steal Jacaerys away to his bedchamber and talk to him about histories and architecture while working on his diorama. Alicent is relieved that Viserys is distracted by his grandson; that Jace can keep his attention and provide him company while others scheme unbeknownst to Viserys.

To Aemond’s relief, Aegon and Jacaerys’ “friendship” (which is non-existent because Jacaerys does not like Aegon due to him being a lecherous drunk half the time their in company with each other) does not evolve into bullying him. Jacaerys likes to spend more time with Helaena, but he enjoys Aemond’s company most often whenever he is not otherwise occupied by Viserys, or the maesters who teach him how to be a proper prince and well-educated, future ruler. Helaena and Aegon occasionally join Aemond and Jacaerys on flights around King’s Landing; Vermax, being the smallest of the dragons, dances in the air around Dreamfyre, Sunfyre, and Vhagar. Tessarion is still too young to bear the weight of Daeron, so the young prince enviously watches them until one of the riders (most of the time it’s Helaena or Jacaerys) takes notice and lets him on their dragon to fly with them.

After Helaena and Aegon’s twins are born, Jacaerys keeps Helaena company in the nursery. He loves to hold them in his arms and they in turn adore slobbering his curls in their mouth. There is a small moment of conflict when Jaehaera’s first word is calling Jacaerys “dada”. They have to shove Aegon into the babes room because it becomes clear Jacaerys is visiting and holding them more than their own father is.

Jacaerys is set to move into Harrenhal when he is ten-and-three so that he may transition into being the Lord of Harrenhal when he comes of age at ten-and-six. Until then, he will be educated by the maesters (and Viserys in history), trained in weaponry by various knights and Aemond, and assigned Viserys’ cupbearer during the council meetings.

On a rare occasion, Jacaerys makes his way down to the Street of Silk and visits the Blue Pearl. Mysaria is thankful that he is no longer living in the brothel and he did not mention having been raised by anyone, lest the King or Queen send their Kingsguard for their heads.

Dragonstone and Driftmark remain ignorant of Jacaerys’ presence in the Red Keep.

(127 AC): At the beginning of the new year, Jacaerys bids farewell to King’s Landing and takes residence in Harrenhal, where he immediately begins to plan out reconstruction and renovation of the damaged castle.

Cregan Stark has held lordship over Winterfell for over a year now with his mate, Arra Norrey, after overthrowing his uncle and three cousins.

Viserys’ health begins to decline in late Summer, but he invites his daughter Rhaenyra and her family on Dragonstone to King’s Landing for a celebration and merriment with Alicent and her sons. Much precaution is made by the Greens to make no mention of Jacaerys, and Viserys believes that Rhaenyra does not need any updates on her son as he has sent letters (that have all been never written or were burned), though he does come close at one point concerning the renovation of Harrenhal. The mention of the largest castle in Westeros causes Rhaenyra to flinch, thinking of it only as the scourge that took her one of her true lovers.

After the festivities end with Viserys needing to be taken to bed, a fight breaks out between Aegon, Aemond, Lucerys, and Joffrey, and causes Rhaenyra to send them back to Dragonstone. Fueled by the toasts of reconciliations, Alicent thinks to inform Rhaenyra of having found Jacaerys, but holds her tongue when remembering that he was gone because of her in the first place.

(128 AC): In Spring, around the third moon of the year, Jacaerys falls ill due to presenting and transitioning as a Valyrian Omega. Castellan Simon Strong sends word to King’s Landing, having no knowledge of what ill Jacaerys suffers. Aemond Targaryen goes to Harrenhal with a few of the Red Keep’s maesters with more knowledge of the Old Valyrian histories and traditions. He oversees the protection of Jacaerys whilst he is vulnerable for nearly 6 months/moons. During this time, he meets Alys Rivers and feels interested in pursuing her once Jacaerys is well.

Within the 6 months, Arra Norrey gives birth to Rickon Stark, but sadly dies in childbirth.

Lady Baela Targaryen presents as a Valyrian Alpha while residing in Driftmark under Princess Rhaenys’ care. Daemon and Rhaenyra hold a feast when she arrives on Dragonstone to celebrate. Lady Rhaena Targaryen presents as an Omega a couple days after.

In late Autumn, Lord Corlys suffers a grievous injury in the Stepstones that causes turmoil over the inheritance of the seat of Driftmark. Vaemond Velaryon openly contests against Prince Joffrey Velaryon for the claim to the throne of Driftmark and Lord of the Tides. Larys thinks to use Prince Jacaerys to support Vaemond Velaryon’s claim, however with him still weak and recovering from his transition, he cannot come to King’s Landing in time for the petitioning and provide proof to back Vaemond’s claim that Rhaenyra has committed adultery. Vaemond Velaryon is beheaded after insulting Rhaenyra and confidently claiming her sons to be bastards.

During the petitioning, Rhaenys announces her acceptance as the grandsire (mother) of Baela to betroth her Prince Lucerys. Rhaena’s hand is open for marriage on the condition that Prince Joffrey Velaryon does not present as an Alpha.

Unbeknownst to Viserys, no one of Dragonstone and Driftmark know that Jacaerys is the heir apparent to Dragonstone, which would mean Lucerys would properly be the heir to Driftmark, and Joffrey heir to Harrenhal, should Jacaerys permit it so.

It is this missing information that causes quite a stir of confusion when Viserys announces that Prince Lucerys is the unquestionable heir to Driftmark.

(129 AC): Joffrey Velaryon presents as an Alpha and his official betrothal to Rhaena Targaryen is announced. Lucerys and Baela reside on Dragonstone, preparing to be the future King and Queen of the 7 Kingdoms, while Joffrey and Rhaena reside on Driftmark.

While Prince Jacaerys is visiting King’s Landing, he witnesses the trial of several knights of the Kingsguard who have been declared to be oath-breakers (their vows of chastity being forgotten for the whores of the Street of Silk). Viserys offers the dishonored men two options: death by the sword or serving up North at The Wall in the Night’s Watch as repentance for their transgression. A majority of the accused chose the Night’s Watch. Having heard Viserys’ tales of the North, Jacaerys wishes to go to the North with them. Viserys is hesitant to send his favored grandchild so far away, still haunted by his disappearance so many years ago; however, he relents it as an experience every Targaryen should have at least once in their life. Viserys tells Jacaerys to meet with the Warden of the North, Lord Cregan Stark at Winterfell before proceeding to the Wall and has a raven sent to said lord as the escort leaves King’s Landing.

As Jacaerys and Vermax escort the party of dishonored and their keepers through the Riverlands to the North. They are offered rest at a near-completely renovated Harrenhal before going further. Vermax only ends up eating two of the company of 22 ex-Kingsguard men.

Upon their arrival, the company is greeted by Cregan Stark and other lords of his host. Cregan offers to the weary, exhausted, and cold men of the escort to rest in the castle while he takes the oath-breakers seeking repentance to The Wall. Only Jacaerys is interested in continuing up North, as a Prince of the Targaryen dynasty should. Before they are to leave, Cregan has Jace change into thicker clothes appropriate for battling the Northern chill; noting that even with the heat of his dragon and the blood in his veins, the prince was shivering like a leaf in the wind under the cover of Vermax’s wing.

Vermax is notably irritated by the cold, and his temper grows worse the more North they head to Castle Black. As they arrive, Jacaerys does not think to land Vermax yet, seeking to see beyond the Wall. All who take notice of the rare sight of a dragon in the North watch as said dragon flies closer to the Wall until Vermax suddenly shrieks as if he was struck, and veers away to land a few kilometers away from the Wall.

After having a brief visit to the top of the Wall and upon returning to Winterfell, Cregan and Jacaerys discuss various histories and traditions of their cultures, as well as partake in hunting, feasting, and training together. What was originally thought to be a brotherhood fostering turned into something else the longer Jacaerys stayed in Winterfell and bonded with Cregan. Despite the bitter cold, he could not find any desire to ever leave Winterfell and the Lord Stark behind. Jacaerys is not alone in this feeling; Cregan discusses his feelings regarding the prince with many of his lords who are close friends of his, including Lord Cerwyn, who suggests Cregan to follow his heart and jests for him to be careful not to hurt this dragon, or else others may follow and burn them all to the ground.

Cregan decides to officially begin courting Jacaerys in the summer; writing to Viserys I for his permission and blessing to do so before he hails Jacaerys with beautiful custom trinkets, weapons, and clothes; as well as bountiful meals of game provided for he and his ill-tempered dragon that resides in the crypts below Winterfell. He also opens the doors to his private life to Jacaerys, including getting to know his son, Rickon.

Viserys delightedly agrees with the marriage and the people residing in the Red Keep bear witness one of his last few great fits of joy and happiness. For several nights, Alicent is subjected to Viserys’ reciting of Aegon the Conqueror’s dream, the Song of Ice and Fire.

Jacaerys is embarrassingly oblivious to Cregan’s way of courting because in the South, at least with the Greens, courting is not practiced. Aegon and Helaena did not go about courting, rather they were betrothed and kept separate until the day of their marriage. He resolves to start giving Cregan small gifts of his own, whatever he can think the lord would like, which greatly pleases Cregan. That is until one day—it is now approaching Autumn, Cregan has been courting Jacaerys for a whole two months now, though he believed Jace was knowingly reciprocating the courting—Jacaerys asks Cregan innocently why he is honoring him with so many gifts, and the question renders a few eavesdroppers (including Lord Cerwyn) speechless as Cregan, confusingly astounded, answers “I’ve been courting you…my prince.”

Suffice to say, Cregan Stark and Jacaerys Targaryen mate under the Heart Tree of Winterfell a few nights later, after preparations for a wedding feast are complete—to take place before the actual wedding because bonding tends to take a while…several days in fact. At the time of the exchanging of bites, Cregan and Jacaerys discover they were bonded by fate; a true bond.

While Jace and Cregan are preoccupied in their days-long mating, the castellan of Winterfell takes the liberty to write to King’s Landing of their official mating. Viserys I expresses his congratulations and wishes for the newly bonded couple to come to King’s Landing; to hold a tourney and invite all the kingdoms and their houses to come and celebrate the true bond of a Prince of the Targaryen dynasty to the Warden of the North; a pact of Ice and Fire sealed by love and fate.

Unfortunately, Winter is looming over Autumn’s end, and the North must finish their preparations for it with unbroken focus. As such, the festivities in King’s Landing are postponed until Spring.

In late Winter, around the eleventh month, Jacaerys visits the maesters after a particularly bad day of not being able to keep down anything he eats, and is informed he is with child (has been for 2 months/moons now). Although delighted by the thought of having another child, Cregan grows increasingly troubled with worry that he may lose Jace to the Old Gods in the throes of childbirth, just as he did Arra.

(130 AC): In the second moon—as Winter subsides from the North—, King’s Landing is in a slight chaos preparing for the tourney and other various wedding celebrations for Lord Cregan Stark and his beloved true mate, Prince Jacaerys Targaryen. Preparations include the cleaning of chambers for the arriving Lords and Ladies, and other representatives.

Jacaerys is four moons with child, and Cregan would rather them stay in the North comfortably until he gives birth so as to not risk putting a strain on his body, but Jace is stubborn and wants to ride Vermax to King’s Landing anyways. And that is how Cregan ended up as the first and only North men of the century to ride a dragon. Jacaerys’ pregnancy has also caused both Vermax and Cregan’s protective instincts to ramp up, so naturally any perceived slight or attack towards Jace is responded with either a near biting of the head or with Ice shoved in the face.

The protection detail only worsens in Jace’s opinion when he arrives in King’s Landing and sees his Green family for the first time in months. Being so far North, the envoy of Winterfell are the last few of the great Houses of Westeros to arrive in King’s Landing.

This is the first time Rhaenyra sees her lost son, and she is visibly shocked by his name and his faces that reminds her so of Ser Harwin Strong. She longs to reach out to him, to hold that beautiful boy that was hers, but not hers anymore, in her arms—to whisper, shout, scream a thousand and more apologies for her impetuous abandonment.

Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys are also shocked at the reappearance of their first claimed grandchild, and resolve to speak to Rhaenyra after the welcoming is finished.

Viserys is ecstatic over Jacaerys’ pregnancy, yet another celebration in the festivities. Alicent, Aemond, Aegon, and Helaena congratulate Lord Stark in their own ways before doting over their beloved step-grandson/nephew. Helaena remarks that pregnancy is not terrible, but it wasn’t fun for her, but Jacaerys is taking to it quite well.

The grand feast is a show of great splendor. Game of all kind are provided, and some of the Northern men remark at having never seen so much bountiful harvest in all their life. Viserys insists for Jacaerys and Cregan to sit with the royal family at the high table. Due to the occasion, Viserys has Jacaerys sat directly to his right, instead of Rhaenyra as would be customary. Cregan is sat between Rhaenyra and Jacaerys. Viserys especially enjoys speaking with Cregan the entire dinner and suggests for the Lord of the North to visit his chambers in the next few days so that he may share his diorama with him.

Later in the night, Rhaenyra manages to pull Jacaerys aside, although he is not thrilled to be in her presence. A small quarrel of words breaks between them.

“Did you think I would have dark hair, mother? When you took Harwin Strong into your bed, did you think I might favor him, or did it not cross your mind?”

Nothing Rhaenyra says soothes the fire raging in Jacaerys’ heart, and his angered grief causes Cregan to look for him and intervene before he loses control of his emotions, which is not good for their unborn child. They retreat to their bedchamber where Cregan can go about soothing Jacaerys with cuddles and kisses, while listening to him rant about Rhaenyra’s audacity to ask for forgiveness after all this time.

Lucerys and Joffrey question Rhaenyra about Jacaerys while the hosts of Dragonstone and Driftmark are gathered in one room. Corlys and Rhaenys tell them of their older brother who was lost to them a year before Lucerys was born. It shocks both brothers; where Lucerys begins to feel ill, Joffrey asks why they were never told they had an older brother. The answers come variously: “It brought too much grief to our hearts.” “I didn’t know when to tell you.” “It never seemed to matter. We thought he was found by the Stranger.”

The matter concerning the succession of the Iron Throne, Dragonstone, and Driftmark is discussed between the adults in the room (Daemon, Rhaenyra, Corlys, and Rhaenys) while Baela and Rhaena are asked to escort their betrotheds away. Rhaenys reminds them of Viserys’ odd comment that is now not so odd to them: Lucerys was the unquestionable heir to Driftmark. It meant that it was Prince Jacaerys Targaryen who was the heir apparent to Dragonstone, Rhaenyra’s true heir to the Iron Throne.

A Stark will sit on the Iron Throne.

Corlys, ever grasping for placing his house, his blood in the succession line for the Iron Throne, is seemingly frustrated as Jacaerys is no longer claimed as a Velaryon before the people of Westeros, rather he is only recognized as a Targaryen. Jacaerys in position as the Lord of Harrenhal, unofficially Lord of House Strong, only makes matters worse as it casts speculation that Viserys underhandedly recognizes him as the son of a Strong. This causes the shaking rift between Corlys and Rhaenys, and Rhaenyra.

Rhaenyra realizes that the Greens—Alicent—have known about Jacaerys for years and kept him a secret from her. At this revelation, she storms through the castle to find her ex-friend, and Alicent and her shame each other for their actions, neither giving the other true forgiveness. Before leaving the argument, Alicent tells Rhaenyra that she has no one to blame but herself.

For her adultery that she does not lay claim to fault for.

For her ridding of her own babe that she does not lay claim to fault for.

For having two more children of the same nature as him.

“Did you ever think that perhaps his anger lies in that you abandoned him, only to turn around and have two more plain-featured bastards just like him?”

The tourney commences the next morning with Jacaerys bestowed the honor of the Queen of Love and Beauty. Cregan and Jacaerys are sat with the royal family, this time separate from Viserys. Jacaerys sits between his mate and his estranged brother, Lucerys. Despite their circumstances, Lucerys decides it is best to get to know his newfound brother and his lord husband.

Jacaerys has mixed feelings about Lucerys. On one hand, he has gained four younger siblings (Lucerys, Joffrey, Aegon III, and Viserys II) whom he feels drawn to connect with. On the other, Lucerys is the reason Aemond is known as “One-Eye” and he is Rhaenyra’s claimed heir to Dragonstone, although this last part is really only acknowledged by Rhaenyra and Daemon. In the eyes of the majority, Jacaerys is the only legitimate of Rhaenyra’s bastards who holds claim to her titles and inheritances.

Jacaerys goes back and forth from conversations with Lucerys and Joffrey to Cregan the entire tourney. At some point, he begins to fall asleep from his spent energy and its effects on his pregnancy. Cregan carries him to their chamber to rest on a proper bed, and Aemond takes Jacaerys’ seat to warn the brothers, mostly Lucerys, to stay away from him. Lucerys does not understand why, as they are brothers by blood—which Aemond remarks that unlike them, Jacaerys is legitimized. They are not worthy of calling Jacaerys “brother”.

Joffrey, as quick to anger as his sire was, proceeds to start a brawl amongst the royals by punching Aemond in his missing eye, which halts all other activities in the tourney in favor of watching the princes of the realm scream and fight. In private, Viserys admonishes all of them for embarrassing the royal family in such a way. Never has the kingdoms seen the Targaryen dynasty as shattered as they are. He punishes all four (Aegon, Aemond, Lucerys, and Joffrey) by refusing them to participate in the remaining festivities for the day and denying them dinner.

Jacaerys is not seen the rest of the evening either as he is having a rare day of peaceful slumber that Cregan does not want to wake him from. They are provided a basket of dried meats, cheese, and bread for when he does wake up in his hunger.

The next day, Viserys, Jacaerys, and Cregan are not in attendance among the royal host as the addled King managed to grab hold of them passing his chamber. Jacaerys learns of the Song of Ice and Fire, which Viserys believes to be the child or future descendant of Cregan and Jacaerys. Cregan is familiar with the prophecy, as it is a tale told from one Stark to another. His own father beckoned him before his deathbed and recited it to him.

“With your true bond, House Targaryen and House Stark will forever be tied together. Your children of ice and fire.”

Jacaerys and Cregan find more meaning to their fated bond, a marriage of love and duty that is often lacking one or the other in royal marriages.

They take to relaxing under the Weirwood Tree in the evening, skipping the tourney viewing of the day, so that they may delight each other in a different climate than the cold they fell in love in. For one, Cregan much appreciates being able to see Jacaerys in less thicker clothes than the furs he must pile onto the shivering dragon at times. The clothing of the royals and other high-borns of the South are far more extravagant than Northerners like Cregan are used to. He admires to fine fabrics, styles, and jewels that accentuate Jacaerys’ beauty in the lovely Spring.

At the end of the tourney, a grand feast is held to celebrate the champion who upheld Prince Jacaerys’ honor as the queen of love and beauty throughout the battles. This honor belongs to that of Ser Davos of House Blackwood.

Jacaerys and Cregan are requested by Viserys to stay in the Red Keep until Summer’s end, though Cregan is slightly hesitant to do so in consideration of Winter preparations, as usual. Still, his wits cow-tow to the desires of the feeble old man who happens to be his grandfather-in-law and King. Part of it is driven by the strain the pregnancy and travel are putting on Jacaerys, and by Summer’s end, their child should be born.

The downside is that Rhaenyra and her family were also invited to stay at King’s Landing until then, meaning there was more opportunities for Rhaenyra to upset Jacaerys with her very presence, and Daemon constantly glaring at them didn’t help any matters. Daemon plots how to get power back into his own lineage. It is bad enough that his daughter Baela is clearly no longer to be the future Queen of the 7 Kingdoms, lest he find a way to rid the world of the complication that is Jacaerys Targaryen and his hulking mate, Cregan Stark, who walks around King’s Landing with a Valyrian sword on his back. His most effective plan would be to send Jacaerys into early labor, effectively causing him to lose the babe and potentially his own life in the process. The biggest problem standing in Daemon’s way of going through with it is the constant presence of either or both Cregan and Aemond in Jacaerys’ vicinity, ready to dispose of any potential threat to his health.

Jacaerys finds himself not wanting to hold onto his grudge against Rhaenyra for the rest of his life. Cregan advises him to either try his relationship with his birth mother, or set the boundary for them as a Princess and Prince of the realm, nothing more. Rhaenyra gladly accepts the former route and they have a great emotional dump on each other that results in Cregan and Daemon finding them cuddled in each other’s arm with red eyes and puffy cheeks. The relationship between her, Lucerys, Joffrey, and Jacaerys grows strong, while Daemon sulks about none of his plans being able to be implemented (not without the support of Rhaenyra, who would never let anyone harm a hair on his pretty head).

“I cannot forgive you for abandoning me. But I do not want to live with this haunting me until my dying day. If you are willing to respect me as your son, I will claim you as my mother in more than name.”

Jacaerys goes into labor in the sixth month of the year on the 25th day. Cregan finds that he’d much rather face the threat over the Wall than to see anymore of his mate(s)—Cregan is having flashbacks to Arra’s birthing of Rickon—in such pain during birthing, but he dutifully stays by his sweet prince’s side and gives him the support and strength he needs through their bond. Rhaenyra sits on his other side, comforting him and herself as best she can (running her hands through his sweat-soaked hair, holding his hand, whispering endless encouragements and reassurances to him).

Outside of the labor chamber, Aemond and Helaena anxiously pace around each other while Alicent prays to the Faith of the Seven, specifically the Mother for Jacaerys and his child. For once, the princes of the realm gathered do not fight, for they are all preoccupied by the occasional loud cries of labor.

A few hours pass before the babe is born completely, much to the relief of the royal family. A couple of maesters had been bodily thrown out of the room by Cregan after suggesting they perform the more intrusive and defiling surgery on Jacaerys when they had grown impatient and worried the babe was stuck; Aegon had spat a mouthful of wine onto them (some also spraying onto Joffrey and Daemon, much to their displeasure) as Rhaenyra’s loud remark of “sniveling cunts!” followed their leave.

The babe is a girl named Alysanne Stark, firstborn of Cregan Stark and Jacaerys Targaryen. She is brought to Viserys, who revels in her grey eyes and dusting on dark on her head.

(131 AC): As soon as Spring begins anew, Jacaerys and Cregan return to Winterfell with their newborn daughter. Rhaenyra leaves for Dragonstone with her family following their leave.

3 year old Rickon Stark takes to his new sister with jubilance and adores her in the cradle. Winterfell has their own celebration of the birth of Lady Alysanne Stark, which is wilder than the royal stiffness of King’s Landing, much to Cregan’s comfort of the familiar chaos that comes with the Northmen.

In the third month, Viserys I Targaryen dies. Prince Aegon II usurps Princess Rhaenyra as the King of the 7 Kingdoms, and under the advisement of the Dowager Queen Alicent and the Hand Otto, he offers Rhaenyra the title of Queen of Dragonstone, and to legitimize her sons Lucerys and Joffrey so that they may hold the titles and inheritances of their claimed and birth fathers. Lucerys would be officially acknowledged as a Velaryon, and heir as Lord of the Tides to Driftmark. Joffrey would be named Lord Strong of Harrenhal upon his coming of age, as Prince Jacaerys Targaryen lives in Winterfell and has chosen to reside permanently by his mate’s side as the Lord Consort of Winterfell.

The war of ravens begins, and Cregan has received several letters from each side as his silence to both of them continues. Jacaerys remains conflicted in joining the war, as he is beloved by both the Greens and the Blacks now. Rhaenyra sends Lucerys to the North to personally speak with the non-responding Lords and Ladies of the great Northern houses, while Prince Joffrey is sent to Storm’s End.

Prince Aemond was sent by the Greens to the North nearly a week in advance, as the House Baratheon declared for the Greens after arranging a marriage between Prince Aemond and Lady Floris Baratheon by ravens. Aemond is treating at Winterfell when Lucerys arrives on Arrax. Cregan and Jacaerys are deeply troubled at having both of them in the North, in Winterfell, considering their troubled relationship.

Cregan and Jacaerys decide that the North and the ever-looming threat beyond is far too important than a war of succession, especially since Viserys assured them that their marriage assured the Song of Ice and Fire to be true. As such, they send Aemond and Lucerys back. Jacaerys begs both their forgiveness for not being able to choose between who he loves more, but ultimately his loyalty now lies in the North with his Lord husband.

“I will not fight you. I came here as an envoy, not a knight.”

“You came here as a craven and a traitor. I will have your eye or your life, Strong.”

As they leave, Aemond confronts Lucerys about his daring treason and chases him through Winterfell to their dragons. Jacaerys notices the sudden ill atmosphere and sees Arrax fleeing above Winterfell with Vhagar tailing him. Worried, he rushes to ride Vermax to ensure they don’t harm each other as they are both messengers.

Cregan has a group of men saddle up with him quickly to follow them, to provide ground support should it be necessary. Lucerys loses control of Arrax above Winter Town, and Arrax turns around to attack Vhagar when she comes too close to him. Both Aemond and Lucerys attempt to regain control of their dragons while Jacaerys tries to help by flying Vermax around Vhagar, reminiscent to their old days when they danced in the sky.

Cregan witnesses as Vhagar breaks through the clouds and lunges for Arrax. Before her jaws clench down on the white pearl dragon, Vermax bulldozes into his side, sending the frightened dragon with Lucerys crash-landing into the snow a couple kilometers away from the outskirts of Winter Town. Meanwhile, Vhagar bites into Vermax’s right wing, tearing it off while Cregan and Aemond watch in horror as the emerald dragon free falls to the ground, his scorching blood melting inches of snow below him, painting what’s left in dark red before he crashes.

Jacaerys, having neglected to tie himself down to Vermax’s saddle in his hurry to meet Vhagar and Arrax, is thrown a couple feet from his mount and rendered unconscious by the rough landing. Aemond desperately lands Vhagar to check on his friend, but by the time he reaches them, a distraught Cregan has Jacaerys cradled in his arms. He draws his great sword at the sight of Aemond, and Lucerys a few feet behind him, and demands for them to leave Winterfell at once and to never return, lest they wish to taste his steel.

Vermax is carefully guarded by trusted men and fed a decent amount of game as he heals. At night, fires are built around him to provide him more warmth until he can move himself to the hot spring pools. When he wakes, Jacaerys regularly checks on him. He falls victims to morning sickness and dizzy spells again a few weeks later, with his and Cregan’s second (third, counting Rickon) child, Sara Stark.

Neither the Greens nor the Blacks gain Lord Cregan Starks support, and a few other Northern houses stay neutral with the Warden of the North.

(Late 131-132 AC): News of Rhaenyra Targaryen’s death is announced, and Jacaerys travels South with Cregan to retain order of King’s Landing. Despite their lack of involvement in the war, they received information regarding the events transpired and the ever-rising death toll.

Lucerys Velaryon and his dragon Arrax were felled in the Battle of the Gullet.

Joffrey Velaryon dies attempting to ride Syrax away from the Dragonpit

Daemon and Aemond Targaryen die together in the God’s Eye, which is on the shores of Harrenhal.

Aegon II Targaryen is poisoned by his own council, and Helaena Targaryen commits suicide in her grief.

The remaining Blacks wish to crown Jacaerys as the King of the 7 Kingdoms and Cregan as his Prince Consort, however in his grief, he abdicates the throne to his young brother Aegon III. Cregan accepts the (temporary, in his intentions) role as the Hand of the King. Cregan puts traitors (regardless of alliance) to the sword (the Hour of the Wolf), while Jacaerys mourns his broken family with Alicent, Jaehaera, and Aegon III being the only survivors.

Lord Corlys is condemned by Cregan as a traitor, along with Larys Strong. The Blacks contest Corlys’ impending execution, as he played a role in ending the war however devious his route was. It is only after Alysanne Blackwood confers with Jacaerys, and the prince expresses his desire to end the killings and return to Winterfell, that he is convinced to spare the Lord of the Tides.

Prince Jacaerys Targaryen and his Lord husband return to Winterfell and greet their three children. The Winter Fever hits Westeros, taking Alysanne and Jacaerys’ unborn child when he falls ill. Jacaerys is lucky to survive, and it takes him nearly a year to recover fully from the sickness.

By his death in 158 AC, age 44, Jacaerys has given birth to 11 of Cregan’s children, at least two of them twins. The maesters report the cause of his death unknown, but he suffered from eclampsia (seizures and coma) and slept to his death. His daughters and sons spent their days watching him wilt away either weeping by his bedside or busying themselves in hunting and training as outlets for their anger towards the Stranger (born of their Omegan parent’s religion) for having them suffer so. Vermax bonds with Jacaerys’ gentlest daughter, however, he remains bound to the land having lost his right wing at the start of the Targaryen War of Succession.

Cregan Stark passes in 160 AC at the age of 52. It is said that he fell ill in mourning Prince Jacaerys’ passing and could no longer bear living without him.

Credits:

[broken-everlark]

Probably going to rewrite Black Cat. Idk. I just think I messed up a few things with the plot..

[moonlit-mystery-writer]

Woo! Finally making this lol. This is the more official post for my KHR Rewrite.

Not only is it cross posted on:

Ao3

Quotev

But we also now have an official Discord server for it!!

Please feel free to join me, not just for the story, but for KHR stuff in general!

[bobfloydsbabe]

ANNOUNCEMENT | jake seresin series

I know so many of you love and adore my Jake fics. It’s also how many of you originally found my work. I started posting fics in this series 1.5 years ago, but I’ve grown as a writer since then, so I’ve decided to revamp and rewrite the series.

I’ll slowly but surely roll out the rewritten chapters and will update the Turning Tables masterlist as I go. The original versions will remain available to read since I still want to be able to see how far I’ve come.

I hope you’ll support this decision and the fic itself!

TAGLIST: @blue-aconite, @kmc1989, @thedroneranger, @dizzydisaster, @dempy, @bluezraven, @desert-fern, @fandom-princess-forevermore, @cherrycola27, @callsign-magnolia, @shanimallina87, @keyrani, @jessicab1991, @roostersgirlfrxend, @xoxabs88xox

[will-graham-crackers]

“It isn’t that the dead don’t talk, we’ve forgotten how to listen.”

Remaking my Hannibal x Alice By Heart crossover because I wasn’t too happy with it and writers block has well and truly been kicking my ass…… BUT I’VE BEEN SO LOCKED IN

Angst is to be expected, you guys don’t get a happy ending this time

Here’s an updated “cast list” (get it? cause it’s a musical)

Alice: Hannibal Lecter

Alfred/White Rabbit: Will Graham

Cheshirepuss/Tabitha: Abigail Hobbes

Queen Of Hearts/Red Cross Nurse: Jack Crawford

Doctor/Jabberwock: Frederick Chilton

Mad Hatter: Francis Dolarhyde

Dormouse: Abel Gideon

Caterpillars: Tobias, Franklyn

Duchess: Margot Verger

Clarissa: Alana Bloom

Mock Turtle: Freddie Lounds

(Dinah the cat in Alice in Wonderland isn’t in Alice By Heart but I like to think she’d be the Stag)

[justinewt]

In Extremis - THOSE ABOUT TO DIE REWRITE Chapter Eight

[THOSE ABOUT TO DIE MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: They were restless, with the threat of Ursus hanging over their head like a sword of Damocles. And it almost felt like it fell, about to cut off their heads when Tenax was rescued from a fire, his leg broken. Aldea was in great distress to see him in such pain but they were far from being out of the woods.

Words: 5.1k

Warnings: title means "in an extreme situation" and/or "at the point of death" // Those about to die spoilers (episode 6 "Blood Relation" & episode 7 "Death's bed"), angst, broken limb, blood, murder

The next few days were greatly anxiety inducing. After Ursus killed the Felix, they were waiting to see what he would do next, if he would do anything at all because since bringing the money to the corner room in Tenax’s insula on the Cispian Hill, things seemed to quiet down, or maybe he wanted them to think so. Tenax wasn’t reassured if Aldea stayed home, rather wanting her to be either at the tavern or at the stables with her brothers, as long as she was out of Ursus’ reach because he couldn’t bear to find her dead like the young boy, nor could he bear to imagine what Ursus might do to her before killing her. The thoughts going through his head must have been pretty nightmare inducing as he barely slept, waking up in the middle of the night, at the slightest sound whether it be a random citizen walking down the street or the wood flooring cracking. At home he was restless, always on alert. At the betting tavern, he went about his day, working, acting like nothing was going on and those not in the know would never suspect a thing. She tried not to think about it, but it felt like Damocles’ sword hanging over their heads and it put such a pressure on their shoulders. It was hard to completely ignore it.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted, at the end of the month of Augustus, the ground violently shook under their feet and everyone panicked, running around to go get cover. Aldea was at the tavern when it happened and at first, she didn’t know what was happening. Dacia was about as confused as he stood in front of her to shield her. The earthquake lasted quite a long time, so much so it was hard to keep her balance and she clinged on Dacia’s arm. It eventually stopped, but was quickly followed by thick, white and grey ashes washing over the streets of the city of Rome. People covered their mouth and nose with their veils and cloaks, and the streets had emptied out completely. The ash had covered the tables and other pieces of furniture in the tavern. She coughed, holding her cloak to her face and helped sweep the ashes off every surfaces.

Dacia took the hand broom she was using, and she watched as he shoved it into the hands of a man who had recently begged Tenax for a job. She stared at him. He had gotten down on his knees and begged, and from what she understood, he was the man who had bet – and lost – his wife’s shares of the Blue faction which had allowed Tenax to have enough money for the Gold faction. Dacia then urged Aldea to go sit down and she sketched a faint smile, acquiescing. He pushed the other man in the same direction, his tone of voice much less friendly, ordering him to clean a seat for her. She didn’t want to sit on her ass and do nothing while others worked but being bent over made her back ache. She stood up when she saw Jula rushing in the tavern. The young girl embraced her older sister. A second later, Tenax turned up and Cala, Aura and Aldea watched from a distance at the two talking behind the curtains. She had a new piece of information for him it seemed.

“We have been away for too long.” Claudia said once Tenax sent the girl on her way. He stood by the curtains, his arms crossed over his chest. Aldea walked over to her husband. He turned his head towards her, watching her approach while her eyes followed Jula as she and Claudia left urgently. The girl had to be back before her mistress noticed her absence.

“How are you?” He asked, softly. She met his gaze.

“I’m all right.”

“When Cala goes home. Go home as well. I don’t want you to linger at the stables. You’ll see your brothers later.”

“I understand. What did Jula come to say?” He took her arm in his hand and squeezed gently.

“I’ll tell you later. For the moment, I need to go meet with Domitian.” And on those words, he left the tavern. Aldea stuck around until Cala and Aura went home and she followed suit, as asked from her by Tenax. With the threat of Ursus hanging over their heads, she didn’t want to wander in the streets on her own and she only knew of Elia being at the stables with Gavros. She didn’t know where the two others were. It didn’t matter. She would meet with them at some poing in the following days. She must have fallen asleep before he came home because when she woke up the next morning, he was beside her in the bed. “You seemed to be sleeping well.

“I was.” She smiled, leaning on her hand to sit up and press her lips on his before lying on his chest, resting her head in the crook of his neck. “So, why did you go meet with Domitian last night?”

“Consul Marsus and some senators were planning a coup to destitute the emperor.” He explained. “I had to go tell him, so he could win back his brother’s trust and reinstate our Gold faction. Titus had them all arrested for treason.”

“When will know if you got your Gold faction back?”

“I’ll have to wait until Domitian calls for me, but I’m sure it will happen soon enough.” They cuddled in bed a little longer, until Cala said she was going to go open the tavern and he got out bed, got dressed, kissed Aldea goodbye and left. She eventually got out of bed as well, ate some breakfast and had Claudia walk her to the stables of the Circus Maximus. As they walked throught the streets, they heard people talking about what had happened, Mount Vesuvus erupting and all the refugees it led to Rome. She stayed with Elia, chatting and brushing the horses, doing light work around the stables, leaving the heavier things to the actual stablehands. When she went home with Tenax at the end of the day, he seemed quite content and told her how his discussion with Domitian went. It went very well. The Gold faction would be reinstated and on top of that, he talked Domitian into letting him lead the preparation of the inaugural games of the amphitheatre he had been building for years and whose work was finally nearing completion. She always thought she couldn’t be prouder of him, and yet he continuously showed her how cunning and smart he could be. He now needed to get Scorpus back on their golden chariots and out of his contract with the Whites, but she wasn’t too worried. He would handle it easily.

By the next race the following day, he had gotten his hands on new chariots and got Andria and Scorpus back on the tracks. She went to sit by his side, the gold faction’s banners set on either side of them. The crowd was cheering, chanting Scorpus’ name and she smiled, following her brother’s progress in the race with attention and an excited smile stretching her lips. Both White faction’s driver got into shipwreck and a bunch of people from the audience just got up and left, as did Tenax, holding Aldea’s hand proudly once Scorpus crossed the finishing line, victorious. She returned to the tavern with him, but they would soon part ways as she really wanted to go see her brother and congratulate him.

“Ah, the victorious faction owner, and his beautiful wife.” Cala exclaimed, coming up to them. Tenax gave Aldea a nod and she let go of his hand, walking in the opposite direction, heading for the stables. His brother, Andria, must have been in the drivers’ changing room still but she was obviously not going to walk in there. She waited and hugged him as soon as she saw him. She then went home with Tenax. The door was unlocked. Cala was standing in the kitchen thoughtful, holding her arms to her chest.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“A dark day.” She said with a sigh, shaking her head.

“Agreed… at the moment.” She walked around the table and stopped, starign at him, letting her arms hang along her body. “What is that look?”

“I’m reconsidering my association with you.” He turned around as she closed the door to her room behind her. He shared a glance with Aldea, and he looked quite taken aback and disappointed to hear those words. They sat down at the table to eat and drink something before going to bed but just a moment later, they heard running in the stairs at the center of the insula and Woola’s voice rose behind the door, urgently calling Tenax’s name.

“Big man, whip scars on his face.” He was panting. Cala came out of her room and walked across the kitchen as he told her to lock the door and followed the young boy. Aldea could feel her heart beating faster. She had stood up only to sit back down and nervously take a sip of her wine. She had a bad feeling about this and feared that something would happen to Tenax when he encountered Ursus again.

“What if he kills him?” It was clear in her sentence that she didn’t mean Tenax killing Ursus, but rather the opposite. She was frightened. Cala sat in front of her, wrapping her hands around hers, making her look up at her, giving her a nod that was meant to be comforting but it didn’t shake off the sickening feeling of worry that turned Aldea’s stomach upside down. The moment Tenax stepped out of the apartment, this feeling washed over her, overwhelming her to the point she couldn’t stand up. Her legs felt weak, even while sitting. Cala didn’t reply. She wasn’t sure that Tenax wouldn’t die that night. She couldn’t say anything. They stayed there in silence for almost an hour, when one of the kids came running back to the insula and pounded on the year, shouting, calling out Cala and Aldea’s names. The two women immediately stood up and Cala rushed to the door. It was Tenax. Something did in fact happen – a fire happened. The insula where he was supposed to find Ursus had been set on fire. Her husband was stuck in a fire, who knows in what condition she would find him. She thought he was dead. Aldea took a couple shaky breath, her lip quivering and a hand compulsively rubbing the base of her neck and her broken collarbone. Claudia gave Aldea her arm, to give her some support as they all went after the child, briskly climbing down the single flight of stairs and ran down the streets, quickly reaching the Cispian Hill. Cala and Aldea let out gasps and the latter’s eyes widened in horror.

“A physician, go quick!” The Numidian woman turned around, gesturing at Nica and the girl ran off. Cala stood in Aldea’s way, blocking her sight but she had seen him. He was unconscious. They carried him to a cart. Aldea sobbed. She took sharp breaths with difficulty, gasping as though no air was going into her lungs. The man pulling the cart behind him ran while everyone followed. Cala and Claudia had their arms around Aldea. By the time they came back home, the sun was rising and Tenax had woken up, in utter pain as Cala and Claudia took him to the room and helped him on the bed. Aldea walked back and forth in the kitchen, a hand to her forehead, concerned, and the other resting on her hip. She forced on her eyelids, closing her eyes shut with a sob as she heard Tenax grunting and yelling. She opened her eyes, letting her hands fall along her body before joining them at her waist, fidgeting with the tip of her index finger and looked towards the bedroom when it got quiet. She saw the physician and his assistant enter their home and, taking a deep breath, she followed them but stayed outside of the room. Tenax’s leg was broken, the bone sticking out. it wasn't so much the sight of the wound that affected her but rather feeling Tenax's pain. Every inch of her body ached from knowing he was in pain, and imagining how much pain he was in. She had been in quite a state of distress when Elia broke his leg when he was younger, and she was beyond distressed now.

“I came as quick as I could.” The man said, walking to the other side of the bed, where Tenax was lying. The assistant set up their portable box on the dresser and followed his master’s requests. And at one of his requests, Cala and Claudia untied the laces of his sandals and took them off. Tenax exhaled and groaned. He shook his head when the physician brought a cup of tincture of poppies to his mouth but ended up drinking it reluctantly. His breathing was laborious. They pulled the bedcover. “When I say “pull”, slowly and steadily, when I say “release”, very slowly.”

They hadn’t even done anything yet, Aldea was already turning her back to them and sped walk to the kitchen, sitting down and cupping her face with her hands, gasping and crying when she heard Tenax screaming at the top of his lungs as they were setting the bone back in his leg.  The yelling subsided. Tenax exhaled rapidly, grunting. Aldea’s heart sank. She held her breath, straightening up and looking towards the bedroom when he went quiet. Dacia barged in, crossing eyes with Aldea – she was a mess, breathing shakily, her eyes red and cheeks wet from crying – and turned to Woola standing nearby while the rest of the orphans waited anxiously outside.

“What happened?” He enquired.

“It was that shit, Noro… He set him up.”

Claudia went to the door, to close it, “He is alright. Go.” She then prepared the hot water and Cala went to Aldea, taking her in her arms, rubbing her back. The young woman desperately tried to steady her breathing. They broke their embrace, going up to the physician when he and his assistant walked out of the bedroom. They anxiously looked at him.

“If he moves at all, it will unset the splint and he’ll lose the leg. Tie him down if you have to. Three balls of resin with wine, morning, noon and night.” He put the resin in Cala’s hand. “He’ll want more. Don’t give it to him.”

“I understand.” Cala nodded.

“If there’s a hint of rot, come get me at once.” A hand to her stomach, Aldea took a deep breath, quietly this time and exhaled, while Cala closed the door.

“Noro, that treacherous dog. I should have known.” Dacia frowned worriedly, looking at the bedroom, taking a few steps towards Aldea, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. He was deeply loyal to Tenax but to her as well and felt for her.

“Well, he’s dead now.” Cala spoke. “But the one who did this to Tenax lives, and if he hears he has survived, he will come back for him.”

He turned towards her, “I’ll post guards. Men that I can trust.”

“Well, keep them hidden. Let the one who did this think he’s dead. Now… go to the apartment on the Cispian Hill, where he’s been putting the gold. See if it’s still there.” She spoke as though she was in charge, giving orders to Dacia, and something about her really made Aldea want to listen to her, despite wanting to go to Tenax’s bedside. The latter held her hands at her waist, standing by quietly but as Dacia argued, and Cala walked to the kitchen, she turned around and went to see Tenax. His chest heaved with his breathing, regularly. She carefully sat on the edge of the bed, softly taking the hand resting on his chest and stared at his bloodied face. She looked over her shoulder when Cala came in, carrying a bowl of what she assumed was the hot water prepared by Claudia.

“He will be okay.” She whispered as she set the bowl on the nightstand. Aldea’s only reaction was a sigh through her nose. She took the cloth she was being handed and began to clean his face after soaking it in the water, gently cleaning the blood off his face. She stopped, and they both looked in the same direction – towards the door. Footsteps were approaching. Cala took out the pin from her hair. It was long and pointy. She gave Aldea a look and walked to the door with light steps. Someone started knocking. She heard Aura’s voice from afar and relaxed, resuming what she was doing, cleaning Tenax’s face. Once she was done, she put away the piece of cloth and sighed as she went to stand near the window, holding her arms to her chest, peeking out in silence until she heard Tenax’s voice.

“Stop.” His voice was faint. She looked over her shoulder, wondering what was going on. It was a nightmare. “Please… stop.” He repeated himself, faintly and fearfully, the hand on his chest twitched.

“Shhh, Tenax… Tenax, wake up.” Cala came in at the same time, to check on him. Aldea sat by his side again, taking his hand, wrapping it with hers. He woke up and as he set his eyes on Aldea, his face relaxed and he calmed down and squeezed her hand, swallowing harshly.  

“You were in a dream.” She added, sitting on the other side of the bed. “You’re in your room. You’re safe.”

He rolled his head on the pillow, looking at Cala. He seemed somewhat out of it as he spoke, maybe a mix of how exhausted he was and the tincture of poppies. Aldea listened quietly. He told Cala about his past, how he lived with a great family when he was a boy, just as he told her, some time after they had met and gotten closer. He went on to talk about the master of the house he lived in, and how he liked boys, such as himself, but mostly Ursus.

Cala cut him off softly, “Stop. This is tincture of poppies talking.” She stood up, stepping towards the open bedroom doors.

“No. It’s me.” She stopped in her tracks. “Ursus and I lit a fire to escape. I got away… but Ursus was caught… because of me. He suffered… but I…”

“You did what you had to do.”

“That is what I always tell him.” Aldea spoke in hushed tones, locking eyes with Cala.

“I don’t know what I’ve done. He needed me…” His voice cracked. “…and I left him there.” He then waved his hand around, pointing next to hime, asking for more tincture of poppies and grabbed Aldea’s forearm as she let go of his hand to get him some tincture in the small cup. She slipped her hand behind his head to help him gulp down the drink. “More.”

“That’s enough.” Cala spoke. Aldea put down the cup, she heard the physician too. She wasn’t to give him any more of it, not right now. He began to argue with Cala, trying to get Aldea to give him more.

“You work for me, not the physician—"

“She works for you by obeying the physician, and I care for you by obeying the physician.” Aldea said, taking the hand he was pointing at Cala. The way he was looking at her, it was as though he stared into the depths of her eyes, hanging on to her every word. When she glanced at Cala, she saw a subtle smirk lift the corner of her lips. The woman seemed amused and happy to see her speak up and as she could see, her husband was actually listening to her.  She was so used to being quiet and letting others speak in her place, listening and staying in her place, she didn’t think her words had any actual weight to them, at least with Tenax, because of course, outside of these walls, it was very different. She did still need someone to speak for her out there.

Dacia walked in, interrupting them, “It’s gone. And no sign of this Ursus.”

“I sent him to see if the gold was still there.” Tenax rolled his head on the pillow, looking at Cala. She then left the apartment with Dacia, to go open up the tavern, as usual. Aldea stayed home. She didn’t want to leave him alone and she planned to stay home, to care for him, until he didn’t need her to anymore. She did as the physician told her and Cala, giving a ball of resin two more times that day, with a cup of wine, and a small amount of tincture of poppies to help with the pain when it became too much. Because of the medication, he fell into exhausted slumber and slept through the whole night. Aldea woke up with a start the next morning when he started yelling, terrified at the sight of his leg in a sling. Cala was alarmed by the screaming and barged in to check on him. He urged the two women to help him up.

“No, no, no! Do that now, and you lose the leg.” Cala rushed to his side of the bed and warned him.

“Poppies.” He requested, frantic. Aldea held his hand, and he squeezed, breathing heavily. “Come on!” He waved his hand around so she would hurry up and drank the tincture with a grunt.

“More at midday.” She said before leaving to go set up for betting. He winced, letting himself fall back on his pillows, his fists to his eyes. Aldea followed Cala with her eyes when he put his hand on her arm, making her look at him.

“Go with her. Go see your brothers. There’s a race today.”

“But—”

“Go. Come back with Cala at midday.” She acuiseced, leaning forward to place a kiss on his lips and she called Cala’s name as she heard the latter open the door, urging her to wait for her while she quickly got dressed and then followed her outside. As they neared the Circus, they heard the drums that always sounded, echoing through the city of Rome, before a race. As she was about to head for the entrance to the stands, Cala stopped her.

“Aldea, you understand that some of his enemies need to think him dead, and some need to think him alive?”

“Yes.”

“Your behavior needs to keep them guessing. Do not look too relieved, but do not look too worried either.” Then she let her go and they parted ways, Cala went to the tavern while Aldea didn’t go sit by the golden banners of Tenax’s faction, not wanting to be seen there on her own, when she wasn’t even an actual faction owner and not wanting the patrician or Domitian to see her up there, she went under the stands, watching the race through the openings at the top of the doors. The two Gold faction drivers would stop by this door when the race was over. She couldn’t wait to see Scoprus and Andria race together again. This was the only thing that brought her some happiness today. She was glad to see Andria as expected but was surprised not to recognize Scorpus on the second rig. She squinted her eyes, trying to see better and recognized Fonsoa. She gripped the edge of the opening, quietly cheering them on. A large smile stretched her lips when the horn sounded Andria’s victory. She chuckled, listening to the crowd clamouring. The stablehands present opened the doors, running to the rigs while her brothers stepped off them. She waited in the shadows, her hands at her waist, with a smile that she was now trying to contain. She noticed something moving from the corner of her eyes and looked over her shoulder, crossing Scorpus’ disenchanted look. His eyes were wide.

“Scorpus, where—” She cut herself off as he swung around on his heels and left, probably heading for Tenax’s place in the Suburra. She wondered where he had been, leading to Fonsoa taking his place in the race but she didn’t think too much about it and turned back to her brothers as they approached, congratulating them and embracing them, prouder of them than she could ever imagine. She went back with Cala after the latter had collected the winnings from the race. Aldea pushed the bedrooms’ doors open and walked around the bed, sitting on the edge, next to Tenax. He had unwrapped the bandage around his leg, exhaling painfully, breathing heavily.

“Shhh, lie down. Let me do it.” She said, gently pushing away his hands. She used some water to clean the wound, tapping around it very lightly before grabbing a new roll of bandage while Cala spoke.

“Hasn’t gone black, which is good.”

He sat up, “Where’s the tincture of poppies? I tried to find it.”

“Which is why I hid it.”

“Bring it to me.” He demanded, speaking through his gritted teeth as Aldea lifted his leg, inhaling sharply. She carefully and slowly wrapped the bandage around it.

“No.”

“You overreach yourself.”

“That I do. And… I overreached myself at the races today, as well. We took bets after the bell.”

“What?” He punched the mattress. “They’ll shut us down.”

“Calm down. We weren’t caught.”

He frowned, and glaring at her, “I can’t afford the risk.” At the same time, he finished his sentence, Aldea tied the bandage. He inhaled through his teeth, with a grunt.

“Perhaps you’re right.” She said with a sigh, before bringing her fingers to her mouth and whistling. The kids walked in the bedroom, one by one putting down half a dozen of small sacks on the bed. Coins jingled inside.

“All from today?” He asked. “All right. Well, just don’t get caught. And go and see Claudia. She’ll give you some rewards.”

“Yes!” Aldea smiled sweetly at the sight of the children’s joyful reactions, cheering. They left with the homekeeper, leaving Cala standing there, her arms crossed.

“We will need to renegotiate our deal.”

“I’m ill. Come back later.” She turned around and left and he let himself fall on his pillow, leaving it to Aldea to put away the bags of money. She pressed the tile on the wall by the bed and opened the secret door, storing them there. A few minutes later, Nica came back, holding fruits in her hands and jogged to Aldea.

“Want some? It’s good.”

“Why thank you, mi hija.” She returned Nica’s smile and took the fruit. Aldea looked fondly at the girl, caressed her hair and placed a kiss on her forehead before she took off running. Aldea took a bite of the fruit, walking to the other side of the bed to lie down next to Tenax. She spoke, imitating the accent and voice of her brother Andria with a chuckle, “You’re such a natural, Aldea.”

“He’s not wrong.” He raised his eyebrows, putting his arm around Aldea as she lied against his chest, her head resting in the crook of his neck. They napped and cuddled. She later gave him some more tincture of poppies for the pain and night came around, and in the blink of an eye it was morning – three days had passed since the fire. That day, there were some more drums sounding throughout the city, but it wasn’t a race, it was a gladiator fight, which didn’t interest Aldea, and never did so she stayed home, caring for Tenax as she had done since the incident. She brought him some food in the evening and went to lie down against him, quickly dozing off while he stared at the ceiling, taking in the restful silence. She slowly came out of her sleep, with a sleepy moan, when she felt Tenax move. In a whisper, he told her to wake up and she rubbed her eyes, confused, until she heard the heavy footsteps climbing the stairs of the insula. Her confusion was soon replaced by worry, thinking it was Ursus coming for him, which it probably was. He exhaled, puffing out his cheeks and grunted when he put his feet on the ground. Aldea swiftly rolled off the bed and he held onto her for support.

The loud footsteps grew menacing as they approached the front door. Tenax hoped towards the window and Aldea brought her hand to her mouth, muffling a shocked gasp at the sight of the man lying on the ground, with his throat slit. He was one of the men Dacia had put on watch around the insula. She was startled when the door was kicked opened, slamming against the wall. Tenax tightened his grasp and led her to the other side of the room, to the secret door. As they turned around, a floorboard creaked under Tenax’s foot and Aldea held her breath for a second, but they managed to hide before Ursus burst inside the bedroom, shouting, calling Tenax by his birthname. He held his knife in front of him, Aldea behind him, and they waited until Ursus’ footsteps receded, and they heard him leave the apartment. Only then did they come out. Aldea swept around the room with her gaze and saw the way Tenax stared at the bed. She let out a cry at the sight of Dacia’s severed head. Tenax sighed and held her, exhaling sharply. Ursus was going to kill all of them if they didn’t stop him.

Aldea glanced at the head with wide eyes, “Cala. She’s at the tavern… He’s gonna go look for you there. She—”

“I need to get there.”

“But your leg—”

“He is going to kill her.”

“Be careful. Please...” He kissed her and she let go of him. He went to get his crutches and quickly hopped away. It would take him longer than Ursus in order to get to the Circus. He had to hurry. Aldea anxiously paced around the apartment, breathing heavily, fearing once again for Tenax’s life. She exhaled audibly, relieved, when he did return almost an hour later. Cala’s face was covered in blood, and she stared at her in concern. The latter gave her a nod, to reassure her and Tenax drew her into a hug.

“He’s dead. It’s over.”

[To be continued…]  

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Published (09/06/2024) by Andrea

[fireteam-survivor]

Got bored last week.

Started rewriting one of my Destiny 2 Fanfics. 7 Chapters into the rewrite so far.

I'm going to rewrite it all and then just update all 24 chapters.

[floraracoon]

Gems of Dupont - Rewrite

Since it's been bothering me these past few days, this is a list of how I would rewrite a fic I wrote last year, called The Gems of Dupont on Ao3 if I were to do so.

Spoiler Warning if you want to read the fic then read this

Premise: There is a group of students who while anonymous, are known to have a lot of power. Namely, they have a history of getting rid of unsavory figures in the school or associated with it. Their current targets are Marinette (stalking, minor abuse of power, and her actions towards her 'rivals'), Adrien (bystander, actions as Chat Noir towards Ladybug, etc.), Lila (obvious), Alya (misinformation, slander, and something else), Mme. Bustier (bystander, emotional manipulation, poor teaching methods), Mr. Damocles (fraud, neglect, etc.), and Fu (facing the consequences of his own actions)

Problems: A scene that I did not flesh out enough to show the reasoning behind it, too many characters involved in the takedown, illogical plot points, involving characters that make no sense, and moving too fast due to me losing interest but not wanting to go on hiatus or abandoning the work.

The Rewrite:

Establishing the Gems -

The sign of the Gems (a wreath of gems on Mme. Mendelieve's door) is shown, causing rumors to spread through the school

Adrien, Alya, and Lila ask what they are, giving them the full explanation

The Gems are a group of six that every year go through and gather evidence of people's wrongdoings, before giving them to those that would cause the most change. This most of the time results in someone leaving the school. When they are done, gems are left where the person sits. Each gem represents something, and while there are six Gems, there are more gems.

Chloe scoffs out loud while Lila internally scoffs. Chloe thinks she is immune, as she has never been hit before. Lila scoffs because she thinks she hasn't been caught, to begin with.

Cut to a group chat, where two people are arguing over the nicknames they have in the chat. "Eye candy" seems particularly frustrated and claims they bring something more to the team than their good looks.

Safety Measures -

We see a week pass, with people becoming more and more anxious waiting for something to happen. Some sign that this wasn't a fluke. The first week is always when it is that they send out the warnings, where are the warnings?

But one day, as Nino walks in, having not arrived with Alya due to her running off to record an akuma fight, he finds a note sitting on his desk. The note contains a list of numbers and timestamps. A small doodle of a gem sitting in the corner.

On another day, Rose finds a small slip of paper that has Prince Ali's phone number on it, also with a small doodle of a gem in the corner

Luka opens a note left on his bed. He finds the chords for a song, with no lyrics. Each page has small annotations of cherry blossoms in places where lyrics would be, and a doodle of a gem in the bottom corner.

Kagami is surprised when a note falls out of her locker, with a message in brail saying "He hesitates, where is his backbone?". A gem is engraved on the page

The first -

Alya is the first to go down. After a fight between her and Nino that results in their break up, she learns that her parents got a similar note to the one that started the fight.

The numbers and timestamps were coded for different videos on the Ladyblog. The one for Nino was instances where Alya endangered him and those around him. The fight was about her recklessness, and her want to get up close to akuma fights with little regard for her safety.

The one her parents got, however, was every single time she had endangered herself.

The two of them were busy with work often, so they only really watched the videos Alya sent them. Often those were the ones where she stayed safe for the most part or had a lot of views.

So they opened her blog, to investigate what these timestamps were, only to find their daughter once again throwing herself into situations she shouldn't have. Along with countless posts trying to figure out the identities of people who were trying to protect the city and a single post that had them questioning her integrity.

The next day, Alya was pulled into distanced learning. She was also grounded until further notice, with no blog posting for one day per timestamp listed.

Will continue this post tomorrow, as this is getting really long

[bbbatcave]

"As the sirens rang in Aldrich station and the Germans dropped their bombs on London, Hannibal found himself lost in Wonderland once again. Instead of the cloying, sickly-sweet odor of death, he could smell the freshly-cut grass of the croquet field."

Chapter 1 of Down The Hole is finally up! I'm really glad I remade it to be honest. :3

Aaugh I promise I'll write more

[aliypop]

That's Alright for Such a Night

(Rewrite Chapter 3)

Word Count: 2.742

Writers Note: So far I'm enjoying rewriting this

Warning: mostly fluff / Historic Language and Values

Pairing: POC OC x Elvis

Plot: During the Louisiana Hayride two breakout stars meet in a rush only to learn they've dealt their cards in the hands of fate.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

  Memphis, Tennessee,1955

"How would you like to consider headlin' for Elvis and The Blue Moon Boys?"Hank Snow asked. Cecelia had tried her hardest not to blow her cool. Besides, he was the second Hank she wanted to meet. 

" Why do you ask?" Cecelia questioned, Elvis still standing by her side.

"Well, you're a crowd-pleaser if I ever did see one." He laughed, "Course, you'll need a bit of rebranding, a band even." He smiled at Cecelia as she looked at Elvis, who had a big smile on his face,

"So whaddya think Ms. Valmos, Mrs. Valmos," Hank looked at both women, waiting for an answer. 

"Seems you've got yourself a done deal," Cecelia said as she shook Hank's hand.

"And I'll be there too." Midge merged into the conversation, causing Cecelia to groan. Did anyone think she was capable alone on her own?

Nashville, Tennessee, August 21st,

"TIME TO GO!" Midge shouted, knocking on the front door of Valmos Manor. It was two in the morning, but Cecelia was up and ready and dressed. Rollers were still in her hair as she had on her scarf, "Good morning Elvis..." she said, a bit sleepy, as she kissed her poster.

"STOP KISSIN THAT DAMN POSTER!" Midge said for all of Tennessee to hear from the porch. Great, now Cecelia was both tired and humiliated. Walking down the hall with her suitcase in hand, she made a trip to the guest room, which was where Rosa had still been 

"Sleeping." Rosa softly shouted, turning again in the soft bed. 

"Midge is waiting outside." Cecelia groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Let her wait." Rosa laughed, "It's our tour anyway."

"One, it's not "our" tour. We're headlining. Two, we have a long drive, so get up!"

"Does it matter?"

"You'll miss Scotty naked," Cecelia smirked, 

 Rosa tripped on the floor, rushing to get ready. A naked Scotty Moore was all Cece had to say. Rosa brushed her teeth, washed her face, and doused herself in perfume. Midge, however, had been honking her horn non-stop, telling the girls it was time to leave.

 Behind Midge were Scotty, Bill, and Sam, with Elvis in the passenger seat, combing his hair in the mirror. Sometimes, Midge wondered if he was vain or if he admired looking nice. 

Midge looked at her niece, who had already been sleeping against the window. She had black hair like her mother, green eyes like her father's, and very light skin to the fact she was damn near close to passing, but those weren't the reasons she was sitting in the passenger seat. It was because she could play the bass fiddle and carry a note. Daphane was the secret weapon for the tour.

"There is no trace of a naked Scotty Moore," Rosa growled at Cecelia, who was putting her suitcase in the trunk and saying to herself it was too early for this.

"Please get in the car." Cecelia wailed. 

"Okay, okay. Rosa threw her bags in the trunk, her head turned back as she heard a horn.

"Hiya, sweetheart." Scotty winked as Rosa waved back at him. Both Midge and Cecelia wondered what that girl saw in him.

"Do you mind if I help you with your bags?"

"I wouldn't mind at all." Cecelia gulped as she saw Elvis walk over. Even at two in the morning, the boy had the nerve to look so beautiful. Oh, how God cursed him to look so dashing.

 "You look pretty," Elvis said. Even without makeup, she was an angel. And under the fluorescent street lights. How did God make such a beautiful girl, and how was he so lucky to gaze at her and smell her rose-scented perfume? 

 "You do, too. I mean not pretty, but beautiful, I mean handsome!" Cecelia's stomach growled as Elvis let out a laugh. She was charming, shy a little, but it was cute. When he heard her stomach growl, Elvis had pulled out a half-eaten sandwich, 

"Would you like some? I wasn't gonna finish it, no way." Elvis had said, lying a little, but he could always eat. It was about appeasing this little lady that was more important.

"What's on it?"

"Banana's peanut butter and bacon," Elvis said, shrugging his shoulders. Cecelia was hesitant as she took a bite. Surprisingly, the texture wasn't bad, And the peanut butter leveled out the salt and sweet. Leaning over for another bite, Elvis looked at her, "You want the rest?"

"Yes, but I owe you breakfast." Cecelia smiled at him, taking the sandwich as they got in their cars,

 "Do I even want to know who gave you that sandwich?" Midge asked, shaking her head. Usually, she'd lecture her about taking things from strangers, but the last time she checked, she wasn't Denise. 

"It was Elvis Aaron Presley~" Rosa sang as Cecelia blushed, "Ooh yall are swappin' spit already." 

"Can it, RoSa!" Cecelia blushed, flustered in the face. 

The first few hours were peaceful. The girls were all asleep, and Midge was lost and alone in her thoughts. The radio was playing Only You, and the sky was still glittered with stars. Midge was in the zone. But behind Midge was the bachelor mobile, known as Elvis and the boys with their blazingly loud music. Elvis was strumming his guitar along to the beat of the song Speedo. Bill was asleep, and Scotty couldn't wait for morning so someone else could drive. After all, he could only actually see good out of one eye.

The sun was rising and hot, with a chilly undertone of fall. The girls all started to stir like little creatures, and Midge knew. They'd be hungry.

Arkansas, 1955

"Good morning, girls." Midge said, parking into a diner she had seen on an exit sign.Cecelia and Rosa took the rollers out of their hair. If she hadn't packed her makeup bag, she'd been putting that on too, but as the two were about to head out all they heard was a high-pitched scream.

 "CECELIA VALMOS IS ON MY AUNTS CAR!"

"Midge. Who's this?" Cecelia asked, blinking a bit at how loud she was.

" Daphane Fontana, my niece and the third member of Cecelia and The Garnets." Midge shrugged, 

"YOU'RE SO PRETTY IN PERSON AND I KNOW ALL YOUR SONGS AND-"

Cecelia applied lipstick while turning her scarf into a bow around her neck. 

"Welcome aboard." Cecelia smiled, opening Daphane's door.

 Rosa was already out linking arms with Scotty and peppering him kisses,

"We're going to jail," Cecelia mumbled, 

"Oh, lighten up." Rosa grinned, 

"Fine, but I'm not responsible for you if you get caught! It is 1954 you know!" Cecelia sighed, rubbing her temples, Rosa gave her the finger as Cecelia growled in anger, she sometimes cared way too much. 

 "Handful already?" Elvis asked,

"Rosa and her antics, not to mention Daphne, who's a fan of mine, and supposedly I'm responsible for making sure she knows every word and note in the songs." she groaned," Pres, I wanna go to sleep and eat until I combust," she pouted as she was lying in his lap. The breath in his body left him. He didn't know where to put his hands except for her cheek. Was that normal for a guy to touch a lady he was getting to know?

"Uh, Cece."

"Hmm." Her tired eyes looked up at him. 

"It's kinda hot out here."

"Oh, right."

 Elvis helped her up as they began walking into the restaurant. They had gotten stared down, but Elvis didn't Care. Of course, Arkansas was nothing like Louisiana or Beale Street, but it still shouldn't have mattered who he was walking in with. Besides money was green and everyone had it,

"We'll catch up with you after breakfast." Cecelia smiled. Daphane, Rosa, and Midge all walked toward the colored side of the restaurant,

"You sure," Elvis asked as Cecelia nodded. They sat down at the table in the back. Cecelia could hear the millions of girls screaming. A soft chuckle left her throat as she saw the look of the younger black patrons whispering to each other.

     "That's Cecelia Valmos..."

                   "Cecelia Valmos...."

                                           "Wait, and Rosa Calhoun..."

"Would you like an autograph or photo... They'll last longer." Cecelia asked as a herd of teenagers gathered around them, 

"This is Daphne, by the way. She's a part of our new group, Cecelia and The Garnets," Rosa introduced her as she was signing menus, napkins, and even hands. 

Looking over her shoulder, Cecelia had caught a glimpse of Elvis. Girls nearly threw themselves at him, and guys tripped to get to him. Midge saw the look in her eye as she knew what would happen. A riot, 

"You're going to cause trouble, kid." Midge laughed, watching Cecelia fluff out her curls some more.

"Eh, sue me." she shrugged,

"CECELIA VALMOS!!!!!" 

Who knew that many white teenagers knew of her existence? Elvis took a deep breath as he stood next to Midge. Exhausted at his newfound fame. 

"This is your fault, Presley."

"I didn't do nothin..." He gave her, his charming smile as she laughed, 

"I'm too old for you and married Casanova." Midge joked as he laughed with her,

"Do your parents know? I sing to you in your rooms every Saturday night." Cecelia laughed, flirting with the guys as Elvis's cheeks got red, 

"She could sing to me every night." 

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that..." Midge laughed yet again. 

"ELVIS PRESLEY !!!!!" 

And there it was, the sea of black teenagers mixing in with the white teenagers, and suddenly, it was a notion of being asked to leave, 

"Is this going to be my life now?" Daphane asked

"That's a great question kid." Midge shook her head,

"So, is that a no-go on breakfast?" Elvis questioned as Scotty groaned, 

"Do you only think about food?"

"Sometimes I think about girls too." Elvis laughed. 

"There's a McDonald’s, and when we get there, all you are staying in the car!" Midge grumbled. 

As their journey continued, it was nightfall again, and they had a small one-night concert in the city. Daphane was going through music. and what outfit to wear. Rosa was somewhere necking Scotty in the dressing room, and then there was Cecelia, sitting outside looking at the stars. 

"Nervous?" Elvis asked, sitting next to her, the wind blowing the scent of his cologne her way, 

"A little." she sighed,

"Wanna tell me what's on your mind,"

"It's nothing, kid," she looked at him, 

"Kid..." he laughed, "Cece, I'm probably older than you,"

"Oh yeah when's your birthday." she chuckled,

"January 8th, 1935," Cecelia gasped as her eyes got wide, 

"What's wrong."

"I'm January 7th, 1935!" she grins, "Which makes me older than you by a day!"

"Eh, you're just one-day-old expired milk." He playfully rolled his eyes at her. The two laughed and carried on. She was amazing from what he had seen of her so far. She was gutsy, brave, classy, yet funny, all the things that made him fall in- 

"Elvis..."

"Yeah, what's wrong..."

"What if I go out there and they hate us." 

"Well, I don't hate ya, so there's that." he winked at her as she playfully shoved her. 

"You're nervous 'cause you care about what you're doing."

"I guess you're right..." she smiled. Elvis booped her nose as she blushed,

" I know I'm right. If you didn't care about the music you do, you wouldn't be here." he smiled as his hand began tickling her ribs and she doubled over laughing. She was ticklish! 

This was going to be a field day for him. He kept going as she kept laughing harder. Cecelia would get him back. Both of their laughter filled the great outdoors. Cecelia was on top of him, taking note of some of the skin of his stomach being exposed,

"Don't you dare..."

"Ticklish there, Mr. Presley."

"Very..." shit, why would he say that!

Cecelia took her soft hands and began to tickle him as he tried to hold back his laughter. Her thighs were on both sides of him as she focused on getting him to laugh, "Cece! Stop!" he kept laughing, tears in his eyes as he then went back to her hips, causing her to nearly collapse again in laughter. Their faces were nearly inches away. She could feel his wavering breath on her lips, and he could feel hers on his ear. The moon was full and beautiful. Stars shining. But all he could focus on was the angel on top of him. Elvis was a devil in disguise. Cecelia was now on her back, looking into his hypnotically appealing eyes. 

"Hi there..."

"Hello..." she flipped him back over. She didn't know what was taking over her, but something told her she had to do this, Cecelia leaned closer, 

"I shouldn't..."

"Shouldn't what?" 

"Cecelia, where are you? Ceceli- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO -"

Both Elvis and Cecelia got off each other as Midge shook her head.

"Tickle fight!"

"Tickle fight my ass..." Midge groaned, "You're not even dressed." 

"Earth Angel, Earth Angel..." Cecelia was in the dressing room singing as they were getting ready to head to the motel, "Will you be mine..." Rosa noticed how she was giggling,

 "What's gotten into you?" Daphne asked.

"I might have, uh almost kissed Elvis..." Cecelia said to Daphne.

"You did what!" Scotty looked at Elvis,

"I didn't kiss her," Elvis blushed hard, "Well, we almost kissed," he smirked, fixing his hair in the dressing room.

"I mean, you can kiss your friends, right?" Cecelia asked,

"I mean... I've kissed Scotty in places that I would consider very friendly." Both Daphne and Cecelia gagged, 

"I mean, I've kissed Rosa..." Scotty smirked as Elvis laughed,

"By kiss, you mean fucked her Scotty," Elvis laughed harder,

"Yes, mother, of course not mother." The concert was finished for the night, and both bands found themselves in a hotel, bought with the money Denise had stowed away. "Everything's fine. We should be in Texas by tomorrow, noon time." Cecelia sighed. She couldn't sleep, so here she was, taking a call at 4 a.m. in the hotel lobby.

 "I'll be sure to get some sleep." She then hung up the phone. Curling up in a chair, Cecelia went back to reading her comic books while also reading the horrid articles Jet had said about her. It broke her heart. 

"Can I join you?"

"Sure it's an open area." Cecelia shrugged until she saw Elvis tuning his guitar, 

"You like comics?"

"Yeah." she looked up at him,

"Well, I got a question for ya then."

"Hit me with it,"

"Okay, so do you think Captain Marvel Jr. could kick supermans ass?" Elvis asked, 

"Realistically, no, Superman would throw him further than the rock of eternity. Now, Batman, he could kick his ass!" she grinned as Elvis held onto his heart,

 "That raises the question, Wonder Woman vs. Batman?"

"Wonder Woman. She's a demi-goddess, and Batman is human, but with that said, he has an advantage because he's human. But if we're talking, Jay Garrick for the win."  

"Guess you got a point there," he laughed, "But I still think Captain Marvel Jr. Would win." She laughed hard as she looked at him, 

"If that keeps you up at night." She shrugged, 

"Say what's keeping you up at night." 

"I don't know." She looked at him, "I'm a bit worried."

"Worried?"

"You wouldn't get it..." 

"Try me," he was by her foot like a puppy,

"I guess I'm worried about how people may perceive me." she sighed. 

"Perceive you?" 

"Yeah, my mother wants me to have the girl next door image... Doris Day, but I like Peggy Lee," she smiled, "She's classy but edgy" Elvis smiled,

"I wanna be the Rita of music, or Lena Horne on camera, or gutsy and funny like Lucille Ball!" she sighed, 

"I wanna be so many things but." 

"But what, you wanna make a name for yourself, and be all those things, don'tcha." 

She nodded, 

"Well, I wanna be the next James Dean." 

"I once got a kiss from him," she giggled, "I think you can do it!"

"What kiss ya better than James Dean?"

"No, be the first you." She looked at him, "I mean, you gotta follow that dream I guess." Cecelia smiled,

"You need to take your advice to Cece. You're so confident in yourself. And also not."

"That's not true!"

Taglist: If you wanna be tagged let me know!

@darkmoviesquotespizza

@sissylittlefeather

@richardslady121

@thegettingbyp2

@presleyenterprise

@sissylittlefeather

@dkayfixates

@rjmartin11

@thetaoofzoe

MORE TO COME IN CHAPTER 4

[t-bird510]

”The Theader is an amazing place…It’s almost like Magic to me…”

“The Gigantic red Curtain…and the Lights…”

“The show is about to begin…”

☁️-DANGANRONPA THEADERS LIGHT REWRITTEN-☁️

This is my Rewritten version of my Fangan Danganronpa Theaders Light! This is a Fangan created by me along with the characters in this story!

This story is set in a AU version of the Danganronpa universe with some small changes to keep the story and universe intriguing and fresh.

The Original version of the story isn’t finished yet! But that doesn’t mean it’s cancelled! This version is gonna have a Better Chapter 1 and Better prologue and it will fix some of the issues and keep things interesting.

This Fangan is also inspired by these games…

1 - Balan wonderworld

2 - Persona games

3 - Disney infinity

4 - Nights into dreams

[cosmetichorror]

Hi yes I’m writing the requests but I’m just now getting out of burnout so take this wip of a rewrite

——👻

Ghosting

——👻

The fire crackles joyfully in the late evening, its flames lick and dance at the cool autumn breeze. A soft tune wafts through the campsite alongside the smell of fried greens.

Sky’s fingers pick perfectly at his lyre so effortlessly, a relaxed look on his face that says he might not even be trying. Wind taps his feet impatiently while Warriors chuckles and ruffles his hair, telling him to keep patient. The rancher brushes Epona, letting her fur fall back into its rightful place after a long day of riding in the sun, all while Time and Four work on sharpening everyone’s swords to pass some time. Hyrule and Legend seem deeply engrossed in a conversation, and Wild thinks it should theoretically be a rather calming day. No monsters so far, just a little ways away from Twilight’s Ordon village, and a nice meal in the pot. Of course, calm is quite the opposite of how he feels.

There's a vice gripped tightly around his soul, squeezing and restricting, making his head feel heavy. His joints have grown stiff and his skin far too tight to his liking. He resists the urge to dig his nails into his flesh to alleviate some pressure. He sighs as he stands and excuses himself,

“I’m going to patrol the perimeter.”, standing and walking off before anyone can protest.

Leafs and sticks crunch and snap underneath his boots as his tense chest longs for ease. As the forest clears up, he finds himself in a nice little area that would have done well for a second camp. Sitting himself down on the ground and letting out a breath as he lets the tension slowly release.

Much like the flames of the campsite bonfire, blue flames lick and dance at the air surrounding him in a somber tune. A breath he didn't know he was holding lets itself out of his rotten lungs as he lets his head lolled back.

Being a ghost is easy in some aspects– but only when you’re alone and not surrounded with other people who aren’t aware of your special conditions. Wild finds himself feeling guilty for

Hiding such a big secret from these people who became like family. But how would one even explain such a thing? How do you tell your brothers that you’re dead? The very prospect makes his head spin more than it already is.

Wild sighs and pulls his knees up to his chest. With every aching day he can feel his body fading away, and it's painful in more sense than one. Death is a prospect he tries to avoid in what's left of his life. After all- he's only half dead. The idea of being fully dead makes his chest feel tight, as if death himself had grabbed hold of his lungs and began to squeeze with his boney fingers.

He lets his head fall atop his knees as he tries to change the subject at hand. He won't disappear soon– right? Of course, the what if still lingers in the back of his mind. What if he disappears in the middle of the night? What then? What will the others think?

A groan falls out of his mouth as he falls back onto the grass and spreads his arms out, staring up at the evening sky. The sunset is rather soothing this evening. And as the clouds float ahead he fruitlessly reaches his arms up to the sky as if to grab hold of one, his eyes illuminated with a slight glaze. He feels timeless in this moment, until a small, shaky voice called out to him,

“...Champion?”

And he could have sworn what's left of his soul left his very body as he jolts up, yanking his head towards the source of the voice, his eyes falling immediately on Wind. The sailor looks conflicted, as if hurt but not entirely surprised.

[moonlit-mystery-writer]

Now that I’ve updated chapter 1 and 2! Let me reintroduce my

KHR Rewrite!

Here’s the Ao3 Link!

Here’s the Quotev Link

Here’s the Link to the Discord Server for It

My old cowriter had to drop out due to scheduling issues and some loss of interest. But that’s okay!

Also thank you so much to @lixenn for helping me edit chapter 1 and 2! Chapter 3 will also be updated eventually, but I can’t guarantee when lol.

Update: Chapter 3 updated!

[noperopesaredope]

The Sounds You Hear in the Dark (Rewrite): Chapter 1

Link to Ao3 Version

The walls were whispering.

It was about a week since the accident when it started.

Varian didn’t really notice it at first, too absorbed in his work to really be aware of anything around him.

He barely ever heard his stomach roar with hunger when he forgot to eat for a few days. He barely heard Ruddiger chittering in his ears, desperately trying to get Varian to go to bed as the raccoon tugged at his boy’s clothes. He barely heard his own shout of pain whenever he accidentally spilled a more dangerous chemical onto his skin, quickly brushing it off and continuing what he was doing.

Varian barely heard anything anymore.

The only thing he could ever hear was the sound of his father’s voice calling after him, the voice that filled not his ears, but his mind. It was louder than anything out in the real world ever could be.

Then again, the sounds in the mind were often the loudest noises in the world.

Perhaps that’s why the first sound to break through Quirin’s voice was not the sounds of the torture Varian was carelessly putting his body through, but the whispers coming from the walls.

The first time he noticed them was one of the few nights without nightmares.

He had been up for- how long had he been up? Varian couldn’t remember.

He barely remembered the last time he had gotten a good night’s sleep.

Which is probably why he had no nightmares that time around.

His brain felt muffled, and it was like each thought was trudging through a muddy wetland.

Varian could barely hear Quirin’s voice. He could barely hear his own voice.

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of calm relief, an emotion that made him feel slightly guilty.

He didn’t deserve this peace after what he had done. He deserved to feel the constant guilt which came from hearing his father’s cries every night.

But perhaps it was because of his father’s mercy he had received this moment of blissful silence.

So he accepted it.

Varian finished his latest concoction, waiting for it to cool down in a few hours.

He let the silence wash over him, if only for a moment. He knew it would likely end soon enough, so he might as well take it in while it lasted.

Then, in the silence, he heard it.

When you are constantly hearing someone talking, you tend to block out the white noise.

You don’t hear the ticking clock on the wall as you hold a conversation or listen to a lecture. Your brain is ignoring the tick, to the point you don’t even realize the clock was ticking at all. That’s what Varian had been doing for the past week.

But now the talking was gone. Now he was sitting in silence.

And when you sit in silence, doing absolutely nothing, you begin to hear the clock ticking.

It was subtle, at first.

But Varian’s mind quickly became curious the moment he noticed the quiet sound in the background.

He listened closer, waking up a little more.

It almost sounded like…whispering. From the wall.

Which wall? He did not know.

All he knew was that it was coming from somewhere inside the house.

It was better than the haunting voice of his father, but not by much.

The whispers unsettled him somehow, giving him a sense of dread. He knew in his heart that the whispers weren’t good.

He tried to ignore them, but alas, his fate was sealed.

From then on, Varian was aware of the whispering.

Once he noticed it, he couldn’t stop hearing it. It was maddening.

Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, constant whispering.

Quiet, almost ineligible, yet so, so very loud.

Hearing them was like when Varian’s leg or foot fell asleep, but the sounds covered his entire body. It wrapped inside him and latched itself to every corner of his being.

Slowly, the paranoia crept in.

He began wondering where the whispering was coming from.

Yes, it was from the walls, but how? Who? Was someone inside his house and he had no idea? Why were they here? Were they planning to hurt him? What were they saying? Why whisper so loudly that he could hear them? Did they assume that he would never be able to find them, and thus they had no reason to be sneaky?

That last part wouldn’t have been surprising to Varian, but he nonetheless felt slightly insulted by what he perceived to be the beliefs of the people he had constructed in his head.

Unfortunately, Varian had no evidence and nothing to work with, so he elected to simply ignore the issue.

Besides, he was too busy to actually do anything about the problem. So he tried his best.

But the whispers still haunted him, and they would eventually get worse.

The whispers were louder than usual one night, and Varian, as per usual, had not slept in a while.

His hands shook as he worked, both due to disorientation and tension. His paranoia was at an all time high that night.

It’s no surprise that his mind began to crumble ever so slightly. 

For the first time, the voices were a bit clearer than usual, and Varian could actually hear and understand what they were saying to him. What they were saying about him.

“Stupid boy, trusting that the princess will come back for him.”

“She’ll never help him.” 

“She left you to die.” 

“She abandoned you.” 

“You can’t trust her.” 

“She’ll tell everyone where you are and they will kill you.”

“Everyone wants to kill you.” 

It was as though the walls were closing in around him, and the world tilted ever so slightly.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t continue to just ignore them.

There had to be people in there. There just had to be. There was no other explanation. Where else could the voices be coming from besides people?

The real question was: why were they tormenting him like this?

“Who are you?! What do you want from me?!” He shouted, demanding them to listen to him for once rather than drown out his voice like they always did.

And yet, despite the loud volume at which he spoke, the whispers somehow sounded louder than him, while still being quiet.

And now they were everywhere, flooding the room, while still primarily coming from that damn wall. Varian felt a surge of rage, hatred even.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t handle this. He had been holding it together since the accident, but this was the final straw.

“Leave me alone!”

And still, they did not.

“They are watching you.”

“They want to hurt you.” 

“Everyone uses you for their own personal gain. Why else would they keep you trapped here?”

“Every one of your ‘friends’ has broken a very important promise. You can’t trust them. They will use you or betray you.”

Varian turned to one of the walls, the closest and loudest one.

That’s it. He was done playing. He was going to get them out of his home, one way or another.

Varian stormed out of the room, the voices following him as he walked through the halls of the dilapidated manor.

He opened his father’s personal tool closet and picked up a massive sledgehammer, the biggest one they had.

He dragged it behind him as he stomped back to the lab, his weak arms pumping with adrenaline.

Varian marched back up to the loud wall, glaring.

They had been haunting him for a week. They had prevented him from working. They provided only pain when he was already brimming with agony. They were just another addition to the list of all the things wrong with his life.

No, they were everything wrong with his life right now.

Varian had had enough of it already.

He steadied himself, hammer over his shoulder as he prepared to take a swing at the wall.

“If you don’t stop right now, I will fucking kill all of you!” Varian shouted, his anger clear as day. The voices ignored his threat.

They began overlapping each other in a messy symphony, still comprehensible, but lacking rhythm or harmony necessary for it to be anything more than random ramblings. 

“What if they put you in the amber too?” 

“Your fault, your fault, your fault” 

“Drink the chemicals, they will cure you” 

“Stupid child”

“They want to kill you” 

“You must burn the house to get set free” 

“Honestly, how could you have thought they ever loved you?” 

“She knew the whole time. She made sure you wouldn’t get back in time” 

“Stupid child” 

“She wants you to be alone” 

“Stupid, so stupid” 

“All you ever do is disappoint everyone” 

“We’re your real friends” 

“Why do you always fail at everything?”

“Your father must hate you”

“Shut up!” Varian screamed in frustration, and swiftly slammed the sledgehammer into the wall.

The effect was immediate, as the wall began to crumble away. The walls had already been greatly weakened by the rocks, and a sledgehammer slamming into one of the walls would easily be the final straw.

Varian panted and heaved in exhaustion as he watched the stones collapse, filling the air with dust.

He should go to bed for a little. The action of swinging such a heavy object was making him more fatigued than usual.

Still, he remained in place.

He needed to know. He needed to know.

How could anyone get inside the walls of his house?

Varian used what little strength he had to ready his hammer in case whoever was in the walls decided to attack.

But when the dust finally settled, there was nothing there.

In fact, the wall was an extremely thin one, far too small for it.

There was no way there could be a person in his walls.

There was nothing in the walls.

So what was Varian hearing?

It took a moment for Varian to realize that the walls were still whispering.

[mayday396]

I accidentally created a Rewrite Fanfic plan for a Singaporean Drama called "Mata Mata", a Police and Historical Drama I grew up Watching and one of the few Local TV shows that inspired me alot.

So Far all I got is:

Closeted Bi-panic Seng Hock

Hani gaslights

Siew Lan gatekeeps

Elizabeth girlbosses and girlfails

Henry hate Londoners

War PTSD and Flashbacks

Show all sides of History

[justinewt]

The Two-Horned Beast - THE 100 REWRITE Chapter Twenty-Five

[THE 100 MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

Summary: Raven was saved but the group wasn't out of the woods just yet. They still had to find a way to really put an end to Alie. Thanks to a book written by the hand of the woman that made the AI, they found a new lead, a Grounder named Luna, who might be the key to all this.

Words: 4.8k

Warnings: The 100 season 3 spoilers (episode 12 "Demons"), fluff, some romance, guns, knives, blood, stabbing, attempted & actual murder

The sun had risen in the sky as they drove full speed across a field. They drove all night really, with Bellamy at the wheels. Clarke was at the front with him, and Michelle was sitting at the back with the others as they all began to plan out their next moves to stop Alie and her army of zombies. They had saved Raven from her grip, but the latter was far from being the only one that was being mind controlled. Michelle looked through the windshield, listening to the conversation with one ear, leaning forward on her lap. She was wondering about the situation in Polis. Her father was there, and she hoped he was safe. For the time being, they were headed for Arkadia. It was probably fine to return since Alie and her minions were trying to find them and they were far from the trading post already. 

“Becca’s journal is amazing.” Raven exclaimed, carefully flipping the pages of the old notebook. “At 26, she found a pathway to access a human mind. That same year, she had to lock up Alie, because her answer for what was wrong with the world was “too many people”. She was 27 when it launched the bombs.”

“What did she write about the Flame?” Clarke twisted on her seat, turning towards them.

“Alie 2.0. She saw it as a way to atone for her sins. She designed it to not just access a human mind, but to merge with one. It could never wipe us out, because it would be one of us. She put it in herself first. Altered her genes so her body wouldn’t reject the implant.”

“Bekka Pramheda, the first Commander.” Michelle glanced at Clarke. She nodded to herself before looking at the others, crossing the gaze of her best friend before she focused back on Raven. “The gene therapy made her blood black, didn’t it?”

“Yeah.” She said quietly, surprised that she knew this detail without having read the diary. She wasn’t the only one that was surprised.

“How did you know that?” Octavia enquired.

“Nightblood. That’s where it came from. Somehow it became hereditary. Luna has it. That’s why we have to find her. If she can access Alie-2…”

“She can tell us how to stop Alie-1.” Octavia said, concluding Clarke’s statement.

“Get back to the mind pathway.” Monty spoke, taking a closer look at the Flame. “If Alie uses it to upload our minds to the City of Light, then there’s a chance my mo’s still alive.”

“That depends on your definition of “alive”.” Raven’s words must have shattered his hopes, but he shot his mother. The woman’s body wasn’t alive anymore and whatever was left of her in the City of Light, wasn’t her. Seeing him like this made Michelle quite sad and it made her think how if her father happened to take the chip, she wasn’t sure she would have the guts to shoot if he put someone in danger. She hoped she would never have to kill him to save someone else because if her father, her only remaining parent, died by her own hand, she would never survivre it. Losing her mother broke her and she didn’t even see her pass away, so it would be the last straw. She would never recover from it.

“Eyes sharp. Weapons hot. We’re almost home.” Bellamy spoke up as they approached Arkadia’s grounds. He called for Harper and Miller over the radio, telling them they were a couple minutes away from camp, but no one replied. It wasn’t a good sign. Michelle straightened up, stretching her, craning forward to look through the windshield. She couldn’t see Arkadia just yet. They were still too far but once they saw it in the distance, and noticed the gates were wide open and there was no one in sight, they stopped the vehicle. Some of them got out with their weapons, walking alongside the car, Jasper standing up at the back, sticking out through the roof opening and Bellamy had left the wheel to Michelle. She wouldn't have minded coming outside with him, Clarke, Octavia, and Sinclair; she was a pretty good shot, but he had insisted that she stay inside the Rover. Her assumption turned out to be correct though, Alie and her minions had deserted the place, probably since last night. From inside the car, she couldn’t really hear what the others were saying but she heard Jasper note that no one was there to fix the gate. It was like a ghost town as they slowly progressed inside the camp.

“Maybe they saw the open gate and went in for Lincoln’s book.” Jasper added, talking about Miller and Harper. Bellamy was still trying to get a hold of them, but no one was responding. When she looked in the mirrors and saw her peers stopping in their tracks, she slowed the car and turned her head to Raven, sitting in the front seat next to her. She met her gaze and she understood they had stopped by the pool of blood that must have soaked the grounds ever since Lincoln was shot by Pike. She gulped and they continued on their way to get the grounder’s book. It was supposed to guide them to other Grounders that could help them to stop Alie, with all that nightblood stuff. As they approached the hangar, the doors opened and she drove in, opening the window and popping her head through, to hear what Bellamy was saying. He looked at her after telling Jasper to close the roof.

“Turn the Rover around. We may need to get outta here quickly.” She nodded and sat back into the driver’s seat, waiting for the others to get out from around the vehicle to turn the car around. The doors of the hangar closed shut behind them with a thud. As the group looked around the large room, she did as Bellamy asked and then jumped out of the car. Climbing up the small flight of stairs, she, Raven, and Monty joined the others around the table where a bunch of stuff was scattered, decks of cards, half-empty plates and drinks, as if people just got up and walked away, leaving everything behind to rot, without a second thought. “We’re in and out. Pack as much gear as you can into the Rover.”

“I’ll get the map.” Octavia left almost as quickly as she spoke. Jasper went along with her. As she watched them walk away, Michelle was reminded of the fact that her precious jacket was still lying somewhere in Bellamy’s room, and she wanted to get it back before they left camp again. She was about to mention it to Bellamy, parting her lips, turned towards him, when Raven came from behind her and spoke up.

“What’s the rush? They won’t be coming back.”

“How do you know?” Clarke asked.

“Alie’s mission is to chip everyone. It wouldn’t make sense to return to a place she already took.”

“It might make sense if there was someone in that place, you, who could tell us stuff like that.” Raven agreed with Sinclair’s point, and they all went in different directions. Only Michelle went after Bellamy and he looked over his shoulder, hearing her footsteps. She still wanted her jacket, even if she was wearing her father’s ever since the group parted ways with him, Pike, and the Grounders. He nodded at her request, and they walked through the door towards the inside of the Ring, heading for Bellamy’s room. The two of them walked inside the room and Michelle kind of looked around while Bellamy opened a wardrobe next to his bed. He let his gun hang to his side as he took the jacket from a hanger. She took off the large, black guards’ jacket that her father gave her so she wouldn’t be cold and put it down on the desk while he handed her vest to her.

“Thank you.” She said as she took and put it on, one sleeve after the other. Then, she picked up her father’s and put it back on. She noticed Bellamy watching her as she got dressed and she looked at him with a chuckle, the corner of her lip stretching into a smirk. “What?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head, looking away, and she took a step towards him, taking his hand, intertwining their fingers as they locked eyes. His eyes went down to her mouth for half a second and he cupped her face in his free hand, pressing his lips against hers. Their kiss grew more passionate as time went on and he let go of her hand to slip his fingers in her hair, at the back of her head. Her whole body felt like it was lit on fire when they broke their embrace, resting his forehead against her cheekbone. She was catching her breath, as if she had forgotten how to breathe properly and she heard Bellamy chuckle. She smiled, telling him not to laugh, playfully pushing him away, shaking her head and he caught her arms, pulling her back towards him into a hug and she wrapped her arms around him, warm under his jacket. She could feel him breathing in her hair while she rested her chin on his shoulder, closing her eyes. It was the first, real intimate moment that they had shared in many months and damn, how she had missed it. The words I love you, would take a little longer to be spoken out loud though.

“All right let’s go look around. We don’t know know how much time we have right now.” She broke the embrace and he nodded. They left together, exiting the Ring through the front door. She didn’t have a gun, so she remained behind Bellamy as he kicked open the door to the armory, holding his gun up in case he came face-to-face with someone. It was empty. She stepped in after him as he opened a mesh cupboard inside which they could see a bunch of automatic shotguns lined up. He checked the content of the boxes stored underneath. They were filled to the brim with bullets. He grabbed the radio at his belt and contacted the rest of the group still inside the hangar. 

“Everyone finish what you’re doing and meet us at the armory.”

“Why? What’s going on?” Clarke was the one to respond.

“You’ll see when you get there. We just got lucky.” While she told them they were on their way, Bellamy picked up a gun, filled a charger with bullets and gave it to Michelle. The latter started walking back and forth outside the door, looking around the camp, alert, and turned to Bellamy while they waited for the others to join them. Her mind was really making her do comparisons between what she now had with Bellamy and what she once had with Murphy. She didn’t want to keep thinking about both the relationships she had ever had but her conclusion was that the two were diametrically opposed. Maybe it was because she had grown since they first landed on the ground, and because Bellamy was a few years older, but their relationship had a much more mature feeling to it. The nature of their feelings for each other was very different from when she was with Murphy. When he left, she realized, even if he did love and care for her, she most likely loved him more than he did. She mentally shrugged, thinking it would have ended at some point but the fact that he just got up and left, with Jaha, it still bothered her. She shook the thought away when Clarke’s voice reached their ears. She was calling out their names weakly, panting and Bellamy caught her before she fell, giving her support so she could stand. “What is it? What’s going on?”

“Emerson.” It was just one word, well a name really, but the three of them were very much aware of what it meant. The guy from Mount Weather, who they thought they had gotten rid of already, was back, harder to kill than a cockroach. The trio then walked into the ring, with Bellamy and Michelle walking in front of Clarke, their heads tilted, eyes glued to the viewfinder lens, guns up, flashlights on.

“Where’s Monty?” Bellamy enquired.

“Emerson took him. Why?” She frowned, trying to understand what Emerson’s motivation was. He grabbed his radio and tried to make contact with his sister, stopping in their tracks.

“Octavia, can you hear me? Come in.”

“Jasper was with her.”

“Jasper, are you there? Say something.” The only answer they got was a static sound crackling on the other end.

“Maybe Emerson got them too.” Michelle said quietly. Clarke looked down, frowning, shaking her head.

“Miller, Harper, Bryan… This is all my fault. I let Emerson live.”

“What are you talking about?” Bellamy looked at Clarke, blinking in confusion before exchanging a glance with Michelle. She had no idea what she was talking about either, but their friend seemed preoccupied. Her eyes went from one to the other.

“In Polis. I had a chance to kill him, but I let him go.”

“Bellamy, what’s wrong?” Raven’s voice came over the radio, interrupting their conversation.

“Raven, are you okay? Where are you?” He immidietaly asked.

“Still in engineering. We’re fine.”

“Raven, listen to me. Emerson is here. Are the others with you?” Clarke spoke up, taking the radio after Bellamy handed it to her. Raven replied in the negative. She was alone with Sinclair. Clarke then gave them instructions to lock down the hangar bay and to not let anybody in but the three of them. They had yet to find their other friends, who were probably held somewhere by Emerson. They ran there but when they came at the door, shouting out the mechanic’s name, banging on the door, no one answered, and the hangar was plunged in the dark. They left, running around the ring to get to the other door. When they reached the large door from the outside, it was just opened slightly, leaving a thin thread of light penetrate inside. Slipping through the opening one after the other, the two childhoos best friends kneeled next to the lifeless body of Sinclair, lying on the ground, a large stain of blood on his t-shirt, and blood running down his mouth. His dead eyes stared right back at them, frozen, and empty. Clarke still went to check his pulse, but it was obviously too late. He was already gone. She closed his eyes. Michelle sighed and got up, her hands on the gun hanging across her shoulders, glancing around the hangar. Raven was nowhere to be seen.

“He took Raven.”

“We’re too late.” Bellamy added, but Clarke somehow disagreed. She turned her head to them.

“He didn’t kill Monty or Raven. He would’ve left their bodies. Michelle is right, he took them somewhere.”

“If you’re right, Octavia and the others are there, too. Where would he be taking them? They could be anywhere. How does he even know his way around?”

“He was here. You were in Mount Weather.” As she talked, Clarke was already thinking, and she came to the conclusion that the man that had them running around the compound looking for their friends, had taken them to the very airlock in which he had been detained before. It only made sense that he would lock them up in there. She snatched the radio from Bellamy’s belt. “Emerson. I know you’re listening. We need to talk.”

“I don’t need to do anything.” They heard grunts in the background, confirming that he did have their friends with him. Clarke had their back to them, facing the hangar’s door and Michelle and Bellamy looked at each other. “You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“And now you’re here to kill me, is that it?”

“Something like that.”

“Then let my friends go.” She tried to bargain with him, offering to give herself over if he did what she asked. Of course, neither Michelle nor Bellamy wanted this to happen. She turned to them. “I know what I’m doing.” Michelle gave her a firm nod, trusting her, though this whole ordeal worried her.

“Come to the airlock. No weapons. Right now.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Bellamy stopped her as she walked away with a determined step. She was set on saving their friends and they didn’t disagree with this but neither of them wanted her to sacrifice herself.

“Look, when it’s over, take this to Luna. Promise me.” She took the Flame out of her pocket and handed it over to him. Her eyes went to Michelle who didn’t like the way she was talking about all this, as if she was going to die going to the airlock and there was nothing to do about it. She didn’t the decisiveness of this moment. Bellamy slightly squinted his eyes, shaking his head.

“No. You’re outta your mind your mind if you think we’re letting you do this alone.” Though she stayed quiet, used to go along with the flow of whatever Clarke wanted to do, Bellamy didn’t even think about it and included her in his statement, knowing that she was as much against this as he was. And in other circumstances, she would have sketched a smile, because he was right. Clarke glanced at Michelle before putting her gaze back on him.

“This is my fault. I’m not letting anyone else die for my mistake, okay? So take it!” She didn’t raise her voice, but her tone and gesture were strong and direct, urging him to take the flame from her hand.

“Are you through? I don’t know what happened between you and Emerson in Polis. But I do know that letting him kill you here today is a stupid plan.”

“You got a better one?” He pinched his lips and shrugged; his smirk tinged with sadness.

“You distract him, we shoot him.” Clarke let go of her original plan to just surrender herself to the mountain man and nodded to Bellamy’s proposition. She looked down at the flame while Bellamy stepped away. Now, they had to put the plan into motion, and hope it would go smoothly but what Emerson would do, and his reactions were out of their control. Clarke walked a few feet ahead of them, with Bellamy and Michelle with their guns right behind. They stood behind the corner, hidden in the shadows while she held up her hands and approached the airlock.

“I held up my part of the deal. Your turn. Let my friends go.”

“Tell Bellamy to show themselves first.” He must have seen Bellamy’s shadow, or he simply knew the girl would never actually come alone but they were both reminded that even though Michelle knew the man’s name and who he was, he probably didn’t even remember her, other than being that one Asian girl who was Clarke’s friend. She wasn’t even sure he remembered that she was one of those who basically got her thigh drilled into and almost died, if it weren’t for Clarke opened all exits of Mount Weather. The two gunsmen glanced at each other.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about...” She tried to lie, and he knew it. He grunted and Octavia let out a scream, prompting Bellamy to come out of hiding, telling Michelle to stay back with his eyes. She gave him a nod, standing her back to the wall to conceal herself better. He kept his gun ready to fire as he stepped into the hallway.

“Good. Now, take out the clip, throw it down the hall, put the gun down and get inside.”

“Please, you wanted me.” She tried to talk with him, but he wasn’t here to listen to her pleading. Surrending herself in exchange for her friends’ lives being spared, but something was off. He really wanted Bellamy to come into the airlock. The latter gave in, telling him to stop. Michelle didn’t know what Emerson was doing but she guessed that he must have been holding Octavia at gunpoint or something like that, for the young man to be this nervous. He did as order, took out the clip and kneeled, putting down his gun, along with the rest of his weapons, which included the two knives he had. He threw them away, making them slide down the hall and their course stopped right in front of Michelle. If it came down to it and using her gun was too dangerous, she would pick up one of the blades and use it against Emerson. It was clear that Bellamy took advantage of the fact the man was clueless about a third person being there. He then put his hands up in the air and walked towards the airlock, disappearing from Michelle's sight. She heard Emerson’s voice addressing Bellamy followed by Octavia grunting. Michelle was practically glued to the wall, taking deep, quiet breath, ready to step in. She clenched her jaw, hating the fact that she was blind to what was now happening, right around the corner. She listened to Emerson giving orders to Clarke, telling her to get down on her knees and put her hand behind her head. There were footsteps, certainly Emerson, followed by a beeping sound and the airlock door closing.

“No- You can do anything you want with me. Okay? Just let them go.” Hearing him grunt, Michelle peeked. Emerson was his back to her, holding Clarke the collar of her coat and pushing her towards the closed space. He put his arm around her neck, his handgun against her head, pressing her against the glass. Michelle then thought, using her gun would put Clarke’s life at risk, while using a much sneakier weapon such as Bellamy’s knives, would give her a bigger chance of neutralizing Emerson. She let go of her shotgun, letting it hang to her side and picked up both blades to her feet, holding the handles tightly. And she waited for the right opportunity to come out. Not knowing if he had his finger on the trigger didn’t help her determine when to act either and she couldn’t risk Emerson seeing her, it would fuck the whole plan up as well.

“You murdered 381 people. You took the lives of my children, my brother, my friends. Did you really think that I would be happy with just one life in return?” When she heard him step back, dragging Clarke with him, she took another look. The gun was now aimed towards the ceiling. He put his arm back around Clarke, right across her chest and used his free hand to uncover a glowing red button. She came out of hiding as he pressed it. A voice over PA announced that the airlock was being emptied of its oxygen. He looked to asphyxiate their friends. She took advantage of the loud, dull noise covering her steps and she rushed towards him, driving the blades of the daggers right into his skull with a grunt. A gunshot went off as he collapsed, dragging Clarke with him. She broke free from his grip and rushed to the airlock control panel to open the door. Michelle just then processed what she did and though she didn’t feel bad about it, she couldn’t help but stare at Emerson’s face, his empty eyes staring back at her. She realized her fingers were trembling, so she closed her hands into fists. The two knives looking like horns that had grown on the sides of his head. Clarke got up, stretching out her arms to reopen the airlock. Their friends inside weren’t exactly passed out but a little lightheaded from the lack of oxygen, breathing heavily, while the two were getting rid of Emerson. Michelle stepped over the man’s body, helped Clarke up. As she freed one of them, they helped free each other. Michelle went to untie Bellamy from the wall and frowned in frustration since her hands were still a bit shaky. She felt his gaze upon her.

“Are you okay?” He asked quietly.

“You’re the one that’s restrained. I’m fine.” He grabbed her hand and glanced over his shoulder at Emerson. She huffed, following his eyes, and stared at the dead body. The knives sticking out of his heads, a pool of blood all over the floor and trickles having flowed across his face. His eyeballs were hidden, covered with a red layer. It wasn’t the first she had had a deadly weapon in her hands, but it was the very first time that she stabbed someone this violently, in the head, and not just with one knife, but two at that. She didn’t have such a hard time shooting at people with a gun but using bladed weapons did shake her up a little. She didn’t even think, she just did it to save Clarke. Seeing that she was staring at Emerson, he stepped aside, blocking her view, making her look at him.

“You did it to save Clarke.”

“Yes, I know why I did it.” She pinched her lips, not reacting the way she would have wanted to. She answered abruptly when he was only trying to help her. But he understood and only looked at her with concern for her on his face. She locked eyes with Clarke and Octavia, who noticed them holding hands and the latter were surprised to say the least. They obviously didn’t expect to see their siblings together. The group then eventually walked outside, dragging Emerson’s body away. At nightfall, while they were putting things away, they saw Bellamy walk through the gate, carrying a large body wrapped in a body bag, in his arms.  Because of the weight of the body, his gait was a bit slowed down, and his steps were heavy, sinking into the mud. He put it on the ground and took a step back while Octavia fell to her knees. She raised her hand to uncover the head and hesitated for a moment before finally doing so. It was Lincoln.

Octavia's sobbing turned into hearbreaking wailing. The rest of them were all silently standing there. Michelle felt her pain, though it was not over the death of the same type of love, she had cried just as hard over her mother. It made her want to cry and she felt a tear had run down her cheek. She swiftly wiped it away. They built a pyre and put both Sinclair and Lincoln’s bodies on it. Raven went forth, saying her goodbyes to her former mentor and stepped back while Octavia lit the pyre, pronouncing words in trigedasleng. Your fight is over. They all repeated those words in unison. While Michelle said it for their two peers, her eyes rose to the starry night sky and her thoughts went to her mother and she stared at the fire, losing her gaze in the dance of flames until Octavia's voice rises above the loud crackling.

“It’s time to go. I’ll get the map.” Bellamy watched her walk away, swallowing harshly. As he turned back towards the fire, he felt a hand hold his and his eyes went down to his hand and then up to Michelle’s face before they both observed the fire for a moment. After a while, they all went to the hangar to put their things into the rover and get ready to leave. Clarke was putting the flame back in its box and Bellamy was carrying boxes of weapons into the back of the car. Michelle was next to her childhood friend. The three exchanged a nod as he walked past them.

“Hey, we’re leaving. Why aren’t you ready?” Bellamy asked Raven and Monty as the two approached.

“We’re not going with you.” She then said, being helped down by Monty. “I can barely walk, and my shoulder is killing me. But my brain’s all kinds of awesome.”

“She remembered that Alie downloaded herself into the Ark mainframe. If the code is still there, we might be able to find a back door.” Monty added.

“I’m guessing once you connect Alie-2 to Luna, we’ll need to access Alie-1 to take her down.”

“Miller.” Bellamy called to the young man in the background, with his boyfriend and Harper. He motioned towards the other two.

“I’ll keep ‘em safe.”

“I’ll keep them safe.” Harper said, repeating his words with a smile.

“How about you? It’s gonna be dangerous.” Bellamy turned his head to Jasper.

“You know me well. I’m in.” On his words, Bellamy walked off while Clarke and Michelle said goodbye to their friends. Octavia went directly inside the car. Clarke went to the front with Bellamy and Michelle joined Octavia, followed by Jasper. The humming noise of the engine starting sounded in the hangar as Raven shut the backdoor and they drove away. Next step was finding this Luna and find a way to get rid of Alie once and for all.

[To be continued…]  

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Published (02/24/2023) by Andrea

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