#finally got around to finishing up Lightbringer can you tell

[helldiver-of-florida]

I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I

[cellsshapedlikestars]

I'm loving all your one-shots!

For a prompt, how about Jon's known Sansa as his best friend's sister all his life, but they meet each other online (maybe on a role-playing fantasy game or on an anonymous twitter post?), not knowing who the other was and start flirting and catching feelings?

I can't believe some of these prompts are from... what, 7/8 months ago??? And I still have more, I'm sorry if anyone has submitted a prompt and I haven't gotten to it yet!

But thank you for sending this one, it was fun! It also, as usual, turned out longer than I expected.

read it on ao3 here:

ephemera, chapter 34

The first time Sansa plays a video game, she's attracted to the bright colors and the rainbow racetrack, there's even a princess character in a bright pink dress, and she tentatively asks Robb if she can play (Robb groans and makes a fuss, and it is, ultimately, Jon who hands over his controller to let her try). Except Sansa keeps sliding off the track into a pit of blackness, and she falls so behind that Robb and Theon and all the computer characters cross the finish line while she's still way back, and she ends up shoving the controller back at Jon and running up the basement stairs nearly in tears, vowing to never play a video game again.

That resolve lasts a solid ten years, until two months into her second semester of college.

The first semester had been a dream. She finally got to go south, she'd been swept up in a new relationship with perfect Joffrey Baratheon, and she made a whole slew of friends.

Except Joffrey wasn't perfect, and it turns out, all her friends were Joffrey's friends, and so when they broke up, just before Christmas break, she found herself still in the south the next semester, but now alone and ostracized by the clique that had initially taken her in.

Humiliated by the breakup and the loss of her friends, she holes herself up in her dorm room all January, only leaving for classes and the lunch hall, where she grabs food and rushes back to her dorm to eat alone.

February is the same.

Around the beginning of March, she gets bored and lonely enough to do something she never thought she'd do – check out that game Bran keeps talking about nonstop.

She really has no idea what an MMO is, and then they go ahead and tack on even more letters. MMORPG means absolutely nothing to her.

Still. The artwork is sort of pretty and it seems like high fantasy, which Sansa always loves, even if she pretends she doesn't anymore. Elves and dwarves and knights and heroes and magic swords and unicorns... So she creates an account and spends a ridiculous amount of time creating a character. Lady Alayne, she calls herself.

And then she is thrust into the world of Legends of Lightbringer.

…

For all that Sansa had wanted to run back home after losing Joffrey and all her friends, she doesn't.

She stays in the south, keeps going to her classes, and eventually makes a few new friends who may not be as glamorous as the ones she made first, but who are infinitely better for her.

And, of course, she keeps playing.

Eventually, she realizes that if she wants to get her hands on certain items, or pass through certain levels, she needs a guild - a group to help her fight, that would have people with different classes and skillsets than her. It's nerve-wracking, trying to choose, and there are so many. She stays away from the one she knows Bran is in, because that would be weird. (Not that she told Bran she was playing. She hasn't told anyone she's playing this. She honestly isn't sure anyone would even believe her if she did.)

In the end, she settles on a group for Winterfell locals. She tells them she's currently in school in the south, but from Winterfell originally and missing home, and they welcome her into their party (though honestly, she thinks it was less her sob story and more that they really needed a replacement cleric, but still).

…

In their first raid, they lose.

Sansa blinks away tears of humiliation as one of the party members, some jerk named DreadfulBastard69, goes off in the group chat about her - horrid things about how they should never have let a girl into the group. (He doesn't say it like that, though. He says much, much worse things that Sansa will never repeat to anyone.)

She almost leaves the group and disables her account, but through the tirade, she sees something else.

Daeron_Dragonwolf: leave her alone

Daeron_Dragonwolf: we lost because we haven't practiced in a while

Daeron_Dragonwolf: not because she's a girl

Daeron_Dragonwolf: so shut the fuck up

Which, in turn, causes the other members of the group to chime in that they didn't blame her, either.

MaesterSamTar: plus, we don't even know if she is a girl

MaesterSamTar: you're making assumptions based off the username

As this is happening, she gets a DM from Daeron_Dragonwolf.

Daeron_Dragonwolf: sorry about him

Daeron_Dragonwolf: he's the worst

Daeron_Dragonwolf: don't listen to any of it, you did a great job for your first dungeon run

LadyAlayne286: thanks

LadyAlayne286: I'm still new to all this, so if there is anything I did wrong, please let me know

LadyAlayne286: I promise, I'm a quick learner

She actually isn't so sure about that part, but she's going to try as hard as she can to be the best cleric, so they never regret her.

…

Three days later, in a vote she isn't involved in because she's still too new to the group, DreadfulBastard69 is kicked out.

Sansa can only feel relief. Those three days had been a mild sort of torture for her – every time the group chat pinged, her heart would stutter, just waiting for DreadfulBastard69 to start up again. But now he's gone and she can breathe easier.

Secretly, she thinks she has Daeron_Dragonwolf to thank.

…

She grows closer to the whole group, but it's Daeron she feels the most comfortable talking to solo. Sometimes when their guildmates are being idiots, Daeron will side DM her in discord, because – in his words – he needs someone rational to talk to.

She thinks Daeron is a him. She's pretty sure the whole group are boys, just from the way they talk, and she knows they range anywhere from twenty to forty. Sansa's the youngest, just turned nineteen, though she lied when she initially joined and said she was already nineteen, because she felt that saying she was eighteen would sound fake. Like maybe they'd think she was a kid trying to get into an 18+ only group.

They're all nice, but it's Daeron who truly makes her feel welcome.

…

Summer break is a godsend.

She's back in Winterfell, and Jeyne and Beth are here and she feels like herself again. It's curious to her that she doesn't lose interest in the game, now that she doesn't feel lonely. She still stays up much too late raiding with her group, though she's having a harder time doing it on her laptop. She wishes she had her desktop, but that's back in her dorm.

Daeron_Dragonwolf: how's break?

LadyAlayne286: good to be back home

LadyAlayne286: except for my little sister. She's still a terror

LadyAlayne286: you?

Sansa looks up, to where Arya and Rickon are shooting at each other with water guns. Arya's already threatened Sansa with it five different times, even though Sansa's just sitting here on the chair by the pool and not bothering anyone. Robb and Theon are in the pool, but Jon isn't with them – he sits on one of the chairs on the other side, on his phone.

Daeron_Dragonwolf: at my best friend's house

Daeron_Dragonwolf: it always feels weird on breaks now. Like we revert to being back in high school when we see each other

In the distance, she can hear Robb and Theon messing around, and she rolls her eyes.

LadyAlayne286: I know exactly what you mean

…

Sansa's in class when she comes to the realization that Daeron might be her best friend.

That's ridiculous, though.

Sure, she's been talking to him for over a year now, pretty much every day at this point. Sure, she tells him things she doesn't tell her King's Landing friends, because even though they're nicer than Joffrey's crew, they'd still judge her. Like, she's been playing Legend of Lightbringer for over a year, and the only person in her real life that knows is Jeyne. She would never dare to tell her King's Landing friends.

She and Daeron talk about non-game things – at first, it had just been what other games they play (none, for Sansa), and then what other sort of media they like (they both love Lord of the Rings, though he also loves Star Wars and she thinks space is boring. This caused a nearly two hour long argument that she thinks, to this day, still isn't resolved).

Somehow, without her even realizing, they'd started talking about real things, too. How isolated she still feels in the south. How he isn't sure what he wants to do with his life once he graduates.

It was Daeron she messaged first when she caught Harry cheating.

But Daeron can't be her best friend, because she doesn't even know his real name.

In the beginning, she was too wary of talking to strangers on the internet, and so she made sure to never give any identifiable information about herself, except that she's from Winterfell and going to school in King's Landing. She never uses names, even with Harry. Daeron's mostly the same – she isn't sure if it's because he's also thinking about stranger danger, or if he simply picked up on her hesitance and kept himself at a distance, too.

And yet, she still trusts Daeron more than she trusts most of her friends, and what does that say about her?

…

Beginning around year two, some of their conversations turn flirtatious. Sansa's pretty certain she starts it, because Harry was cheating on her and it felt nice to flirt with someone who... well, couldn't really do anything about it, because he lived halfway across the country.

It's never anything outright, and she always pulls back when she thinks she's going too far, but still.

She knows she shouldn't.

(Except, when she has a notification on discord, she gets butterflies in her tummy, and more than one person has commented that she's always smiling down at her phone.)

…

LadyAlayne286: tell me not to punch my brother at his own graduation party

Daeron_Dragonwolf: I don't know if I can tell you that

Daeron_Dragonwolf: what's he doing?

Sansa looks up at Robb and his new girlfriend, Jeyne W. Ever since they started dating, he's been absolutely smitten, to the point where it's bordering on annoying. Arya agrees with her, too, and it's never a good sign when they agree on something.

LadyAlayne286: I don't know, being cutesy with his girlfriend

LadyAlayne286: maybe I'm jealous

Daeron_Dragonwolf: I get it

Daeron_Dragonwolf: my best friend just started dating someone, and they're so in love it's almost sickening. I'm at his grad party now, you'd think it's actually their engagement party with the way they're acting

LadyAlayne286: yes!

LadyAlayne286: like, stop rubbing your happiness in my very single face

LadyAlayne286: but also I guess I'm happy for him because he's my brother and I love him

Sansa looks back up at the party, scanning the crowd to see if anyone else is as annoyed with Robb as she and Arya are. Bran doesn't pay much attention to most things, and Rickon is only now discovering girls. Theon seems a bit put out by it, though. He doesn't like Robb's attention being pulled from him.

Her eyes find Jon, and she wonders how he feels. He's looking down at his phone in one hand, a beer held in the other. She wonders who he's texting, because she's pretty sure he broke up with the girlfriend he'd had since high school a few months ago. Does he get that jealous feeling in the pit of his stomach when he looks at Robb and Jeyne?

If he does, she can't tell, but then again, Jon's always been good at hiding his feelings.

...

Three years.

They've been doing this for three years, she should have seen it coming.

Daeron_Dragonwolf: did you wanna maybe meet up when you're in town?

When that message comes through, she agrees readily, even though she knows, on some base level, it's probably a terrible idea.

Neither of them tell the rest of the guild that they're planning to meet. She thinks Daeron knows that wouldn't go over well. As it is, they sometimes get flirty in the group chat and it's always met with protest, because what happens if something goes wrong? Then the group gets messed up.

Sansa doesn't care. She wants to meet Daeron.

She doesn't even care what he looks like. It's funny – whenever she thinks about him, she thinks about his avatar, or his discord profile picture. Obviously he isn't a cartoon medieval knight, but in her head he is. She can't even fathom what he might look like IRL.

It isn't until she's at the airport, waiting for her flight home for winter break, that she finally plucks up the courage to ask what neither of them have yet.

LadyAlayne286: how will I even know it's you?

Her heart races as she sees him start to type. Stop. Start.

And then a picture comes through that...

Everything around her seems to go dull and distant. All she can see is the selfie he sent, with the caption underneath: my name's Jon, by the way.

She stares that the picture for so long that she's startled out of her daze by her flight being called, and she closes out of discord, turns her phone on airplane mode, and puts it in her bag.

…

Robb picks her up at the airport.

Her older brother Robb.

Whose best friend is Jon Snow, who she has known practically her whole life.

…

By the time they reach home, she's come to the conclusion that Jon is not Daeron.

No.

Daeron has been playing with her this whole time. Daeron is some sort of elite hacker who figured out who she was IRL and went to her social media and picked out someone she knows. He's pretending to be Jon to ease her into meeting him. Clearly he's planning to kidnap and murder her.

Of course that's what happened. There's no way she's been talking to Jon Snow for three years and never realized it.

(Though he does like Star Wars, she remembers. And he graduated the same time as Daeron said he did. And he did live with his mom until recently, when he finally moved out on his own.)

…

Jon is around.

He always is – always has been.

But... when did he become handsome?

He isn't her type, really. His whole vibe is a bit rougher than she'd normally go for, but... his eyes are pretty. And so is his mouth. He fills out his holiday sweaters really well, and she starts to think there really is something to that dark and brooding trope.

When Jon was a teenager, he was so sullen and moody, but he got much better once he went to college. Except, at the Stark's annual holiday party, he seems like he's back to his teenage ways.

“What's wrong with Jon?” she asks Robb casually. Cool, calm, and collected. She doesn't actually care. She's just a concerned citizen.

“Some girl won't text him back,” Robb rolls his eyes.

Sansa's stomach lurches, and she excuses herself to the bathroom, where she pulls out her phone and opens discord for the first time since she stepped off the plane.

Daeron_Dragonwolf: how was your flight?

Daeron_Dragonwolf: are we still meeting up?

Daeron_Dragonwolf: if you don't want to, that's fine

Daeron_Dragonwolf: it's no big deal

Daeron_Dragonwolf: Alayne?

…

Sansa knows she shouldn't be here.

She walks into the holiday market in Wintertown Square, eyes scanning the crowd. She never answered Daeron, so maybe he won't show up, after all. Why would he? She ghosted him.

But there, sitting at a wooden table near the food stalls, is Jon Snow.

His phone is sitting on the table in front of him, next to the cup of hot chocolate he bought. His leg is bouncing beneath the table, fingers drumming on the the top.

Her stomach lurches again, and she knows she needs to make a choice.

Does she go home and open discord and tell Daeron she got cold feet? Or does she go up to Jon and tell him she's Alayne?

She wants to do the first, because she's a coward. If she leaves now, everything can go back to normal, and she can keep pretending Daeron and Jon are different people.

Instead, her feet move, and she weaves her way through the crowds and sits on the bench opposite Jon. He startles, but then relaxes when he sees that it's her.

“Sansa,” he says, turning off his phone screen quickly, but not quick enough that she doesn't recognize discord. Her phone hasn't gone off, so he hadn't sent her a message. He's just waiting, and that makes her ache. He looks around, then back at her, and says, “are you here alone?”

“You're alone,” she counters, because that's easier than the truth.

“I'm meeting someone,” he says, though his mouth twists into a frown. He doesn't actually think Alayne coming, and yet he still showed up.

“I'm meeting someone, too,” she says quietly, and his brows raise. Then she takes a deep, steadying breath and says, “hi. I'm Alayne.”

Jon stares at her for a beat too long, before his frown twists even further. “Did Robb put you up to this?” he says, shoulders bunching up defensively, face quickly reddening under his beard.

“What?”

“I never should have told him,” Jon grumbles, eyes darting around, looking at anything but her. “Tell Robb I say ha ha, very funny.”

There's an immediate rush of tears to her eyes, because... Because of course Jon doesn't believe her. He's supposed to be meeting a girl, one that he's been flirting with for a year, and she's just Sansa, Robb's stupid little sister.

Without another word, she stands from the table and sprints away from it. Jon calls after her, but she doesn't stop until she's back at her car, and then she pulls out her phone.

LadyAlayne286: you're a jerk, Jon Snow

…

Two days later, there's a knock on her door.

“Go away,” she grumbles, but it's muffled into her pillow and the knock comes again. “I said go away,” she calls, louder, rolling onto her back.

“Sansa,” she hears, and she bolts upright at the sound of Jon's voice. “Can we talk?”

“Go away,” she repeats for a third time, except this time it comes out a bit wobbly.

There's a sigh. She's heard that sigh before, too many times to count.

Because she's known Jon practically her whole life.

“Please?” His tone has taken on a pleading quality that tugs at her, but she makes herself sit silent. Another sigh. “If you don't open the door, I'm just gonna talk through it. Really loud, so everyone can hear.”

That makes her spring out of bed and she unlocks her door and cracks it open. “Go away.”

“Sans, please talk to me.”

“Don't worry, I'm not gonna quit the guild. I'll wait until you find a replacement for me, I won't leave you guys hanging.”

But she will leave. She thinks she might stop playing entirely.

She starts to shut the door, but his foot jams into the opening, which surprises her. Jon isn't pushy – in fact, she'd almost say he's a bit of a pushover. He tends to let Robb and Theon do whatever, and he goes along with it.

With an annoyed huff, she lets go of the door and backs away, and he follows her into the room, shutting it behind him.

“What do you want?” she asks with her arms folded across her chest.

“Why did you ghost me?”

That takes her aback, and she feels guilt pull at her. All she can do is shrug pathetically, which doesn't seem to satisfy him. “I was surprised, okay? I didn't know how to respond.”

“Well,” he says, “I was too.”

“But I didn't accuse you of... you really thought I'd do that?”

He sighs, and his shoulders slump a bit. “I told Robb about you – Alayne – and he gave me so much shit for it. Said I should try meeting a girl in real life.” Jon's face is red again, and Sansa decides she might slap Robb after all. He knows how much of an introvert Jon is, but sometimes he says things that are so inconsiderate, even if he doesn't necessarily mean them to be.

“I wouldn't do that.”

“I know,” he sighs, a hand coming up to scrub at his still-red face. “I know, I overreacted. I just couldn't wrap my head around...”

“Around me?”

“At first I couldn't... you're Robb's little sister and it's not like I don't know you're pretty-”

“You think I'm pretty?”

That gets her a scowl, which actually makes her smile.

“I didn't know if I could make myself feel what I felt for Alayne,” he says, and her smile fades. “But then I went back and reread a bunch of our old messages, and all the sudden, it was just... you. It was you telling me to not settle for that sales job, and you telling me I should get a dog, and you being so dead wrong about Star Wars-”

“Space is boring,” she whines.

“It's not bor- you know what? We're not doing this now. The thing is, you're my best friend's little sister, and you're in the guild, and I don't want to lose you. I don't want to ruin things because...”

Because he thinks she's pretty. Because he had feelings for Alayne.

“I know,” she says. “It's why I didn't know how to react to your photo. It was like, all the sudden, I was seeing you in a completely new way.” He nods, looking relieved that he's not alone. “So, I think we should test it.”

“Test it?”

“We should kiss. If there's nothing there, then we go back to normal. No harm, no foul.”

There's hesitance in his eyes, but his tongue darts out to wet his lips and a thrill goes through her. “Yeah, alright,” he says, voice lower now.

She takes a step forward and stands on her toes and wraps her arms around his neck and she presses her lips to his. She means it to be just that, but she can't quite make herself pull away. His lips are so soft and those butterflies in her tummy are swirling all over the place, and then his arm loops around her back and he pulls her closer and his head tilts as he deepens the kiss and Sansa knows there's no going back. They've ruined everything, they can't take this back.

They kiss until she needs to pull back for air, and as she's panting for breath, he's doing the same. Then his lips pull into a half-smile and he says, “so. Did we pass the test?”

“With flying colors,” she grins, and his arms tighten around her waist. Then her eyes widen and she pulls back slightly to see him better and says, “Daeron? How did I not put that together!”

Back when they were kids, back when they played come into my castle and monsters and maidens, Jon would always proclaim himself Daeron the Young Dragon.

Jon scowls at her again and tries to pull out of her arms, but she keeps them locked around his neck as she starts to giggle.

“Don't act like you aren't into it,” he grumbles.

Dragons and knights and elves and dwarves... and him.

“I'm very into it,” she grins, and leans back in for another kiss.

[mm2305]

The anniversary

Fandom : Lucifer (tv series)

Warnings / words : none this is pure fluff / 2.1 k

Pairings : Lucifer Morningstar x Chloe Decker 

Disclaimer : none of these characters are mine ,rights to the rightful owners

Description :  After Lucifer's return from Hell, Chloe has made preparations for their six month anniversary as a couple.

Author’s note : Hello everyone! I wrote and posted this back in June but I just realised I only posted the link to the ao3 and never the fic itself! Better late than never right? English is not my first language so please be kind. Also a big thank you to my amazing beta @forever5hines  / @tossacointoyourmorningstar .

Enjoy!

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

It's funny how life turns out, isn't it? If someone had told Chloe 4 years ago that she would fall in love with that jerk, Lucifer Morningstar, she would have laughed in their faces. But here she is, shopping for their six month anniversary.

There were several obstacles in their way. The more they worked together, the more Chloe liked him. He had adopted the character of a playboy, a diva, but it wasn't exactly who he was. He was all these, but he was also smart, honest, respectful and supportive. He had a softer side which he chose to hide, in order not to get hurt. The only one who broke through his facade, was her. From then on, he did everything in his power to keep her safe. Dealt with Malcolm, his mom, his brother, Cain, went to Hell twice to save her.

When she learned the truth though,she ran and conspired with Kinley, tried to poison him. Betrayed him. Abandoned him. Even though they continued to work together after a while, nothing was the same anymore. She realized that she was in love with him and as  time went by, she accepted him too. All his sides. The good, the bad and the crispy.

He had to leave though. That night at the balcony she finally told him she loved him. Even though she begged him to stay, he left. It was partly her fault, because she brought Kinley to Los Angeles. Kinley then brought the demons up to Earth. She understood why he left. The demons had to be contained. And only Lucifer could do that.

Six months later, he came back, putting an end to both his and her misery. From then on, they began talking about their feelings and visited Linda a few times. In the end though, they decided to get into a relationship.

They were happier than ever before. Worked together, spent lots of time with each other, had dates. Of course, they had their problems too. Lucifer was still struggling to believe that there were people in his life who loved and appreciated him. To him, it seemed like a good dream, that's bound to end very soon. Chloe reassured him many times,but the feeling remained rooted deep in his heart. Chloe, on the other hand, was dealing with her own guilt. She tried to poison and hurt him. She wondered, even now, why the hell she tried to do that. What she also wondered, was if she was good enough for him. Chloe Decker, a human, a nobody , good enough for the Devil? The Lightbringer? They both had to work on their feelings, that's for sure.

At the moment, she is at a mall with Ella. It's their six month anniversary the next day and she had prepared a dinner at LUX for herself and Lucifer. For this reason, she wanted to get a new dress. Maze was babysitting Trixie and Linda had a therapy session scheduled for a patient. Only Ella was available. The problem is that they've been searching for hours and they've got nothing so far.

"Come on girl, tell me how's the relationship with the Devil going?", Ella inquired.

"It's been good. More than good, actually. He makes me very happy.", she replied smiling.

"I can see that. You're glowing Chloe. He is too. I've told you that I ship Deckerstar, haven't I?"

" Yes Ella. Many, many, many times.  Anyway, I'm telling you, if we don't find anything in the next 30 minutes, then I'm going to wear one of my own dresses. It's been 3 hours and we haven't found anything! " she complained pouting just a little.

" Oh shut up Decker. Look I found this. It's beautiful, isn't it? "

" Mmm… I'll try it. In fact that's the last I'm trying. Then I'm going home. " she said taking the dress from Ella.

When she came out Ella gasped in awe.

" Oh my God! You look gorgeous!", she commented  shocked.

"Really? ", asked Chloe turning around to look at herself in the mirror.

Ella has excellent taste , she thought. No one could deny that. This satin dress was simple but elegant. Not too formal, but still perfect for her purpose. It had a color almost identical to her eyes. Icy-blue. The fabric soft and feeling wonderful on her skin. The dress hugged her figure but it wasn't clingy. It reached to just a little more than her knee. It really was perfect for her.

"I'm getting this.", she decided after a few moments.

                                                 ***************

Lucifer loves speed. It makes him feel free and freedom and free will are things he has and will always stand up for. At the moment, he is racing through the highways of Los Angeles, in the comfort of his beloved, black Corvette,at high speed. The air landing on his face as he passes through the roads, the whole feeling of freedom, still seems incredible to him. That's one of the main reasons he bought a convertible. Something else he loves even more than this though, is his beloved Detective. Chloe. He's known her for years, and she wormed her way into his heart, since the first moment he met her. They've been through a lot. His mom, Cain, her leaving and coming back, and the most recent: him going back to Hell.

The night he left, when she told him she loved him, accepted him completely, he thought his heart would burst out of his chest. Seeing his Detective's tears and pleads for him to stay, broke his heart in a thousand little pieces. However he couldn't risk the safety of his friends and the family he had here. When the problems in Hell were resolved, he came back. Doctor Linda helped him a lot after that. Chloe too. For him it was much much more that six months down there. In the end though, they managed.

Tomorrow is their six month anniversary. He got her a ring. Not an engagement ring. A promise for the future. That he'll always be by her side no matter what. Love her, protect her. Anything she needs,anything she desires. The stone was the exact color of her lovely eyes. A favor called in here and there, helped him achieve his goal.

After a few more minutes going around, he set for LUX. He had a few matters to attend to and he was needed there. He'd meet his Detective tomorrow.

                       *******

When Chloe came back from her shopping spree (she ended up getting a pair of short-heeled shoes, in the same color as the dress), she was exhausted. After taking a quick shower and brushing her teeth, she proceeded to hog the bed, like someone once told her.

Chloe woke up with a smile the next day. Checked if things were going well, ate breakfast, spent some time with Trixie. Then she started getting ready. Followed her skin care routine - the results were amazing, soft skin and all -, showered and shaved thoroughly. Then she dried her hair and styled it into waves. Afterwards, she did her makeup. Simple, not heavy, in light colors. Lastly she put on her dress and shoes. I do look pretty good, she thought while looking at herself one last time at the mirror. She took Lucifer's present with her, too.

One of the very few things she had left from her father were his cufflinks. She wanted to give them to him. Not even Dan knew about their existence. She had gone to a jewelry store to get something extra etched on them. She added an 'M' in the outside and a 'C' on the inside. In this way she wanted him to understand, how much he meant to her. With the 'M' they would become his own , while with the 'C' she wanted him to have a part of her with him. Will he like them though?, she wondered anxiously. To her it was something important, but could that measure up to the person who created the stars? Come on Chloe, relax. It's going to be alright. With that she went out of her house, to get to LUX.

                                                    *************

Everything was ready. Lucifer's favorite dishes were ready to be served. The candles around, check. The DJ ready to play a special song for tonight, check. Comfortable, low lighting, check. Lucifer…check.

They both gasped at the sight of the other. Lucifer was wearing a black tuxedo, with a white shirt and a red handkerchief. He looked sharp and  very handsome. Chloe was wearing her new dress, looking absolutely gorgeous.

"Darling, you look exquisite," said Lucifer with adoration.

"I could say the same for you too, Lucifer", replied Chloe with a radiant smile.

"How about we sit down babe?"

"Of course, my dear."

After sitting down and getting their food, they made a toast.

" To us. May this be the first anniversary of many more to come"

" To us, love." he replied with a clink of their wine glasses.

They talked about the future, laughed about Trixie's adventures at school and when they finished their dessert they went on to exchange their gifts.

"Lucifer,I didn't buy you anything… Instead, I wanted to give you something special.These are my dad's cufflinks. I added something though...On the outside you'll see an 'M' for 'Morningstar'. On the inside,however, there is a 'C' for 'Chloe'...I wanted I'd give you a "piece" of me through this to have with you… If you don't like it, it is possible to have it changed… I just wanted to give you something that is very important to me, because you are one of the most important people in my life and… "

"Chloe, darling, I love it. In fact, you have rendered me speechless. Thank you so much, my love. ", he interrupted her giving her a genuine smile.

"Do you really like it or are you saying that just to make me happy? I mean, this isn't some of the extravagant things you're used to and I don't know… Maybe you would like something else… ?",she asked him nervously,looking at her feet.

"Chloe, love, look at me.", Lucifer told her lifting her chin to look at her lovely eyes. "You know I don't lie, don't you? Then trust me when I say that this is the best gift I've ever received. I know just how much your dad's death hurt you and by giving me one of his belongings…You've made me so happy and grateful, my dear. So, you don't need to worry about that alright? "

" Okay ", she sighed.

"Now it's my turn," he announced opening the little, black, velvet box. Chloe gasped.

"It isn't an engagement ring. It's my promise to you. I want to promise you that I will always be by your side. Your friend, your partner, your boyfriend, whatever you desire. Protect you, cherish you, support you in everything you do. Anything. You are the light in my life  and you've touched my heart in ways nobody ever has, in my long life. I want you to know I love you so much," he confessed while putting the ring on Chloe's finger.

" Oh Lucifer… I don't know what to say… Thank you, honey. I love you too, " she added hugging him.

"Dance with me? ", she asked him after a few moments.

"Anything for you, my darling. "

Chloe then signaled the DJ to put a very specific song on.

As they swayed, she whispered the lyrics to his ear.

"Do you feel my heart beating,

 Do you understand

 Do you feel the same

Am I only dreaming

Is this burning an eternal flame "

" Do you understand Lucifer? I love you with all my heart and I will always stand  by your side, too. Always.", she whispered teary-eyed but looking straight into his eyes.

"Even if I am the Devil? Who has tortured countless souls in Hell? A monster, like many others think?"

" Even if you are the Devil,who did his job in Hell. The Devil, who has been through many things, but never gave up. The Devil who is loving, adorable, caring, good-hearted and dangerous only to those who hurt his friends and family. The Devil who is a perfect boyfriend and  whom I love with all my heart. ", she replied tearfully.

" I love you too,my Detective. Let's continue dancing, love, shall we? ", he said kissing her sweetly.

And they did. The rest of the night was spent between the two of them. Lost in each other, their emotions, touches and kisses, they continued to sway on the dance floor. In their own, strange for some people, perfect for them, little world.

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

Thank you for reading!!!

[sandersstudies]

Quirky - Chapter 7

A High School Superhero AU - Sanders Sides

(Will add tag list in a reblog! If I miss you, please let me know ASAP - As always, asks, comments, messages, reblogs, and keysmashes are more than welcome.)

Attention: This chapter has some mild sensitive content. Warnings in tags!

Chapter Six

Chapter Five

Chapter Four

Chapter Three

Chapter Two

Chapter One

You can now also find the fic with the same username and title on AO3 :) Feel free to stop by and leave kudos!

***

Roman wasn’t used to shrinking down into his shoulders, but found himself doing it as he walked from the school to the street. He took quick glances toward the road, watching for the car his mother had promised to send. Rafaela, Kenny, and Kai passed, with Rafaela swinging into her mom’s car and the boys climbing onto the school bus. If there was anyone Roman didn’t want to see him, it was those three. Oh, and maybe Patton and his mind-hearing quirk.

The white Subaru he’d been waiting for pulled up, and Roman exchanged the family code phrase with the driver before he slid inside and the car pulled away. Private drivers were just one advantage of having ex-hero parents. Roman leaned against the window and caught a glimpse of Virgil and Logan walking in the same direction. Those two had certainly become real buddies, now. He supposed it came with being weak-quirked.

But then again, Roman remembered, maybe Virgil wasn’t weak-quirked. Roman still wasn’t sure what had happened to that beam in the Ruins Zone, but it didn’t seem like the work of somebody like Virgil. What was next, Logan blowing up a building? Roman was tempted to force a laugh when one didn’t rise naturally. He hadn’t been laughing much lately. Virgil’s weird little stunt today hadn’t helped. Roman’s mind had raced through the scene a dozen times unbidden. The feeling of his knuckles slamming against the wall (two of his fingers had scraped and bled). The harsh light overhead, blocked by the heavy shadows of the ruins. The groaning that had become a roar over his head, and the dark shadow over him vanishing as the beam flew away. Turning to see Virgil. “Shut up, lightbulb.” It was interesting. Roman hadn’t seen Virgil bristle quite so much before. For a second, he could actually imagine the pipsqueak passing the entrance exam with that kind of annoying spunk.

Roman felt warm with anger, and squashed the feeling down his throat. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. He began counting street lights, and got to twenty-four before the car pulled into the parking lot of West Izuku Hospital.

“Thanks,” he said as he got out.

“Would you like me to wait for you, Mr. Lightflight?” the driver asked.

“No, that’s okay, thanks. I’ll call in a bit.”

Roman felt himself shrinking again as he walked through the revolving door of the hospital and up to the receptionist’s desk. The secretary was the same woman who’d greeted him yesterday, and she double-checked the room number for him before he thanked her and walked toward the elevators.

When the doors opened, a doctor and nurse got off before Roman got on. As he did so, someone shouted, “hold the elevator!” from somewhere behind him, and he turned to press his hand against the sliding door. A middle-aged woman with a load of balloons skittered inside, the bumbling balloons making dull bonking noises as their bloated bodies bent against the door and one another. Once the woman was inside, the balloons took up most of the elevator, and Roman was struck by the sudden image of the elevator ascending through the hospital ceiling and floating away with the power of helium.

“Thank you, young man,” the woman said. “Could you press floor three, please?”

Roman obliged, also pressing the button for the fifth floor.

“Sorry about the balloons,” the woman said. “My sister just had twins, a boy and a girl, so I just had to pick up balloons for both of them.” The mass of pink and blue seemed self-explanatory to Roman, but he hummed in understanding, and the woman took it as a cue to go on. “My sister just loves balloons. Usually I bring flowers when there’s a new baby, but I thought she’d like this better. Who are you visiting today?” Before Roman could answer, the elevator chimed and the woman clucked. “Oh, this is my stop. Have a nice day!” The balloons squeezed and complained squeakily again as she got off, but finally gave in and popped out of the door to follow her down the hallway of the maternity ward. No one else got on, and Roman rode alone to floor five.

“It’s Roman, isn’t it?” one of the nurses at yet another desk said as he got off the elevator. Roman didn’t like the dripping sympathy in her voice, but he nodded.

“Your dad’s awake now, I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see you.” She smiled with only her lips. “Would you like me to show you the way again?”

“I can find it myself,” Roman said. “Thanks, though.”

“Just let us know if you need anything.”

Roman hummed another response and hurried down the hallway. He counted floor tiles for an excuse to look at his feet, only glancing up to keep track of room numbers. He reached thirty-two tiles, because 519 was at the end of the hall. He knocked on the doorframe before entering.

The Flying Falcon peered up from behind a newspaper. He’d been reduced to his civilian state, wearing a pair of reading glasses and a hospital gown. All his hospital paperwork, of course, had listed him as Joseph Martin.

“Hey, son,” he said, extending one splinted hand toward a seat near his bed. “The nurses told me you came by before school this morning, sorry for sleeping in.”

“Didn’t want to bother you,” Roman said, standing just inside the door. His eyes were drawn to his fathers’ chest, now covered by a hospital gown.

“Come on and sit,” Roman’s father insisted.

Roman sunk into the seat. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better, don’t worry about it.” He waved his un-splinted hand dismissively. “Did Mamá tell you what the doctors said? A sprained wrist, and two fractured ribs that-”

“Punctured the lung,” Roman finished. “I heard.”

“That was some car accident,” he went on, shuffling the pages of his newspaper. “I think I’m very lucky.”

“Right,” Roman said.

***

Rafaela, Kenny, and Kai had completely vanished by the time Roman raced down the alley after them, police sirens still ringing in his ears. He didn’t remember much of his sprint home, only arriving at the front door and fumbling for his key to let himself in. He opened the door and drew it closed silently behind him. His chest was heaving, and he felt like someone had wrapped their first around his esophagus. He started for the stairs when he realized there was a light shining from under his parents’ bedroom door. There was a hushed voice speaking upstairs.

Roman swallowed. Maybe if he was quiet, he could sneak up the stairs and into his room before his mother even realized he’d been gone. He took two steps upward in silence, and took the third with more confidence, only to have it squeal under his weight. He froze.

“One minute, please,” he heard. There was a shuffle before the door of his parents’ room swung open and his mother’s face peered out.

“Eres tu, mi principito?” she asked. She rubbed one eye. Both were red, but there were no tears on her cheeks. “What are you doing up so late, sweetheart?”

“Sorry for waking you up, Mamá,” he muttered. His mouth was dry. “I was just getting some water.”

“You’re sweating,” his mother said, setting down her phone and walking down the stairs. “Do you feel sick?” She pressed her palm against his forehead.

“I feel fine.”

She gently cupped his face. “Hey, honey, I have something to tell you, okay?”

Roman couldn’t make eye contact, so he stared past her ear. “What?”

“Your father was in an accident on his drive back from the university,” she said. “He’s gonna be okay, but I’m going to go to the emergency room to see him.”

“I’m coming too.”

“Oh, honey, you know I want you to, but if you’re not feeling well-” She touched his forehead again.

“I’m okay.”

She paused for a moment and blinked softly at him. “Okay. Take my keys and start the car. I’m going to wrap up this phone call and be right out.”

“Is Dad on the phone?”

“It’s our old agent from hero work,” she said, starting up the stairs. “Lola, you remember her?”

“Calling about a car accident?” Roman said, sudden anger rising in him.Was this agent lying to his mother, or was his mother lying to him?

“They...monitor these things, honey,” the one-time Lady Lightbringer said without turning around. “It’ll be okay, I’ll be right out.”

***

“Mamá told me that Lola Brown called,” Roman said.

“That’s right,” his father said, staring down at the newspaper. “Very nice of her. You see this here?” He held up the paper. There was a photo of Multi-Man, an old one from the height of his hero career, and a headline about his arrest.

“Yeah, everybody at school is talking about it,” Roman said.

Joseph nodded and sucked his lip. “He was a really good man,” he said. “Interned at my agency when he wasn’t much older than you. Very bright kid, really dedicated to hero work. Can’t imagine what happened.”

“What did happen?” Roman asked, feeling anger in his stomach again. “What did he do?”

His father chuckled. “It’s all hearsay, of course,” he said. “Some kind of attack outside city hall. If I hadn’t been in that car accident maybe I’d have trotted up there myself!” He laughed, and his hand flew to his side. “Ah, this is just another sign it’s time for me to leave hero work in the past. I’m getting to be too old.”

“You’re not old, Dad,” Roman said, trying to sound cheerful.

“Not too old yet,” Joseph admitted. “Still too young to like being cooped up in here. They say it’ll be another couple days before this thing can come out.” He prodded the tube that was snaking out of the sleeve of his hospital gown.

“I’m sorry,” Roman said. “Did Mamá visit today?”

“She dropped by and brought lunch,” he responded. “I’m not much of a fan of hospital food.”

“She didn’t really tell me much about the accident,” Roman said cautiously. “What happened?”

Joseph paused and rustled the pages of his newspaper. “Gee, I...well you know what, I barely remember it. One of those funny things that happens, I suppose.” He tapped his forehead. “Doctors say I was lucky to have no concussion. But tell me about school, Ro,” he said, swerving from the topic. “I missed your first week, how’s it been?”

“Well, you heard about Mr. Sanders,” Roman said. Joseph smiled sympathetically. Roman went on. “A bunch of the students were really upset, and all.”

“Does ‘a bunch of students’ include one named Roman Lightflight?”

Roman shrugged. “Trying to focus on studying, I guess.”

Joseph grinned. “Just like your mom,” he said. “My very first semester at UA, I remember she was top of the class. Everybody, even the teachers, started saying, ‘that Ximena Alcérreca, she’s the one to beat!’ I miss the old place, every once in a while.”

Roman faked a smile of pride at the comparison to his mother, but wilted internally, knowing that the praise was given unfairly. He couldn’t remember a single thing Mr. Picani had said in literature all week. Had he even had a pencil out for biology?

“Do they still set you right to work with training?” his father asked.

“We did a bomb exercise,” Roman said. “Heroes against villains. I was a hero.”

“Well, that wasn’t just for the exercise,” Joseph said. “Did you win?”

“...Yeah.”

“That’s good! That’s great! I’m sure your classmates were blown away!” His eyes had lit up (less literally than Roman’s often did), and Roman wondered if his father was remembering his own time at UA. “Mamá said your class had a field trip to USJ today, how was that?”

Roman saw Virgil, cheeks flushed with anger and purple hair bristling and hazel eyes flashing, illuminated a moment in his head. He shifted to hide his scratched hand behind him. “It was okay.”

“Your class had fun?”

Roman swallowed. “Yeah, well, it’s nice having some kids from middle school there.”

“I’d hope so,” Joseph said. “It’s the best prep school in the area. Rafaela and Kai and….Kenny, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Going to ditch your old man today to hang out with your pals, then?”

“No,” Roman said, a little too sharply. Joseph paused.

“Been a falling out?” he asked.

Roman shrugged.

“It happens,” Joseph insisted, shifting his weight in the hospital bed so he could reach Roman’s shoulder. “When a group of people move to a new stage in life, like high school, sometimes they start to go their separate ways,” he said. “It’s not a bad thing. Sometimes it makes you realize who your real friends are.”

Roman stifled the pain in the center of his chest. “It’s just tough,” he said. He straightened his shoulders. “But I’m gonna do it, Dad. I’m going to graduate and be a hero and everything.”

“Well, don’t underestimate the power of having friends by your side,” his father responded. “Being a hero doesn’t always mean going it alone.” One of his hands wandered vaguely to his chest and rested over where his broken ribs were. He seemed to suddenly come to himself and spoke again. “Any new friends, then?”

“Not really,” Roman admitted. “Well, there’s this one kid…”

His father didn’t fill the gap.

“There’s this other kid who got in on recommendation,” Roman said. “Patton something.”

“Nice kid?”

“I guess so.”

“Powerful quirk, I’ll bet.”

There was a pause. “I think I’m gonna get going, Dad,” Roman said, standing up and shouldering his backpack. “I want to get home and...study.”

Joseph looked taken aback only a moment, and then nodded vigorously. “Exactly what I like to hear,” he said. “Well, give your old man a hug and I’ll let you head out. Probably gets pretty stuffy sitting too long in a hospital, huh?”

Roman reached in for a hug, awkward from his father’s angle. “I’m really glad you’re doing okay.”

“Well, no car accident is going to knock down the Flying Falcon, is it?” Joseph Martin asked triumphantly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow.”

Roman made a point not to make eye contact with the nurses as he shuffled into the elevator. As he descended, he made a brief call to his driver. The elevator picked up two men from the fourth floor and then sunk to the first. Roman’s phone buzzed cheerily with a text message as he stepped off.

Rafaela. Hey dude I know stuff is weird but whatevers going on w your dad i hope everythings ok

He swiped to dismiss the text and started to put his phone in his pocket. It buzzed again and Roman felt a crinkle of anger in his cheeks before he saw the word “Mamá” on the screen.

Know you’re probably still at the hospital, have to head out for a little while and might be hard to get a hold of. Contact Lola if there’s an emergency. Pizza in the freezer for you. <3

<3 U, Roman replied. His ride arrived quickly, and Roman drummed his fingers against the side of the car as he climbed in.

“Back home, Mr. Lightflight?” the driver said, already turning in that direction.

“Take me to city hall, first.”

***

Roman had watched his mother’s face from the first moment they entered the emergency room (which was calmer than he’d expected). The one-time top hero was not one to show her vulnerability. But Roman had felt her grip a little too light on his arm, had heard her voice a little too high, had seen her leg bounce with anxious waiting. They had entered the place where the Flying Falcon was flightless on the gurney, chest half-exposed to reveal bruises and a small tube protruding from his chest. It was only for a moment when, as she held her husband’s hand, Roman had seen the fire of Lady Lightbringer in the tears suspended in her amber eyes but not falling. When she had stood to touch Roman’s shoulder, she was strengthened instead of wavering, and for a moment Roman had been afraid of his own mother.

[nineteensixtieschikadee]

Arya Stark’s Death & Nissa Nissa Theory

!!DON’T WORRY, THIS ISN’T A SPOILER FOR S8!!! (Probably.) But this is however, a potential (maybe) spoiler for the books and A Dream of Spring. 

Ahhhhh, it’s that time of year again where I post my GOT/ASOIAF theories So let’s get right on it. Because the show doesn’t really touch base on these things and if you’re a show-only fan, I’ll just do a quick recap. (You’d be surprised as to how many show fans don’t know these stuff.) Pretty sure the show has never mentioned Nissa Nissa before.  

So I’m sure we all know who Azor Ahai is. The Prince Who Was Promised. Same thing. Today, we’re going to talk about his wife. Nissa Nissa. So if you don’t know who Nissa Nissa is, she was Azor Ahai’s wife. Who from based off legend, died when AA thrusted his sword through her heart to forge the legendary sword, Lightbringer. AA worked thirty days and nights to forge the hero’s sword. But when he tempered it in water, the sword broke. So he worked fifty days and nights to forge another sword and tempered it in a lion’s heart. But the sword broke again. Until he worked one hundred days and nights, and eventually, he finished and drove the sword through NN heart. And with her cry of anguish, ecstasy, and courage, the sword forged into Lightbringer Her blood and soul went into the sword to beat the Others. (White Walkers.) Some people think that NN could be Daenerys. She definitely has the traits to be NN. And some people think NN was Lyanna. Rhaegar thrusting his “sword” into her to bring forth Lightbringer, (Jon.) Some even think it’s Sansa? So here, I wanna talk about Arya, and how she could potentially be NN, at least in the books. BOOK SPOILERS DOWN BELOW. 

As obvious, this is a Jonrya post because I’m basing AA off Jon. In the books at least, this is a theory I’ve had in mind for the longest time. In the show, it might just be Dany, but in the books it could be said otherwise.

We know for a fact that before GRRM wrote AGOT his intended goal was to have Jon and Arya fall in love with each other, and have some sort of “star crossed” lovers arc because of Jon’s vows and Arya thinking that they were siblings. And while the Jon/Arya romance storyline isn’t drafted in the books now, you can tell that some of GRRM’s original ideas about Jon/Arya still made it onto the page. He clearly has Jon and Arya set up for something VERY, VERY, IMPORTANT for the endgame of ASOIAF. And I for one, think that Arya will be Jon’s NN. 

Jon’s whole storyline in ADWD is basically about Arya. Most of his thoughts and motivations are about her, and in the end, he DIES for her. I kind of like to think of this as a nice parallel IF Arya were to become NN. Bc Arya is always associated with DEATH. That’s her whole arc. It’s murder, killing, revenge. But she’s also broken, and she struggles with losing some of her identity bc of death. We can speculate from some of TWOW chapters that Arya might learn of Jon’s death at the wall. And to me, I think that might become a breaking point for Arya. It could be the driving force for her to finally leave Braavos and go on a whole murder rampage or something to avenge her favorite brother’s death. She’ll go home because of Jon. Obviously we know that Jon’s going to come back, but he probably won’t be the same. 

We know that they’re going to reunite in the books, bc that was confirmed by GRRM. The Starks would reunite. And we know that GRRM has been setting up some sort of big clash with Jon and the Others. So maybe after his resurrection, Arya comes back and they reunite he’ll focus more on fighting the Others and leave the Watch. Since he’s died and all that. Obviously he’ll probably have to avenge his death first or something. But in the actual endgame, if he is set up to become AA, his NN will be Arya. I know people might suspect that it’s Dany, bc from the looks of it on the text, there’s enough evidence to support that. But I think that like the N+A=J theory, Dany being NN is a RED HERRING. (Don’t get offended if you believe in N+A=J 😂😂) 

Jon falling in love with Dany is plausible. And by taking a look at the evidence, Jon and Dany can be the tragic lovers tale. Though I think Dany’s story will end in another way, that doesn’t involve her getting stabbed in the heart with Lightbringer. We know from the text that Dany is suppose to get betrayed 3 times. One for love, one for blood, and one for gold. 

“Three fires must you light… One for life and one for death and one to love… Three mounts must you ride… One to bed and one to dread and one to love… Three treasons will you know… Once for blood and once for gold and once for love…”

If we interpret the text, the one that hasn’t happened yet, is the betrayal for love. And I think it’s going to be Jon. However, while people assume that the betrayal will be something like he kills her to stop the Others or he betrays her for the throne, I don’t interpret it like that. I interpret it as Jon will LEAVE her FOR love. His love for his sister. (This is HUGE speculation tho.) Mirri Maz Duur for blood, Jorah maybe for gold, (as in to return home), and Jon for love. Maybe that’s her 3rd betrayal. Jon leaving Daenerys for Arya. Exactly how he’s going to betray her for Arya, i’m not sure yet. 

But more on the text, one firm reason why I also believe Arya is NN, is because of this passage in her first chapter in AGOT: 

“You had best run back to your room, little sister. Septa Mordane will surely be lurking. The longer you hide, the sterner the penance. You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.” 

I find it interesting that this quote comes from Jon himself. It almost feels like this quote is an omen to her death. The “longer she hides, the harder the punishment will be.” In the coming books, I see it as Arya will have to make a CHOICE. What that choice could be idk. But I suspect it might have something to do with the Others and with Jon. Because in the next line it says that she’ll be “sewing through WINTER.” Maybe her choice will be something like abandoning her anger and revenge in favor of duty and saving the realm. The longer she takes to choose between those two things, will cost her. The punishment being the realm destructs, and everyone she loves dies, etc. Maybe she will have to choose between avenging her family, or becoming this some sort of deity to save the people and the world. And that last line in the passage, “When winter is over and spring comes, they will find her with a “needle” still in her, with her hands wrapped around it.” To me, I interpret this as the sort of “aftermath” of Winter. If she were to choose to save the realm, this is meant to mean that the people will “remember” her and remember what she’s done in order to save them all. When they “find her body with a needle still in her,” it means the people will acknowledge her sacrifice. Songs will be sung and stories will be written about her. And of course the “needle” could mean the flaming sword Lightbringer that has been stabbed in her, and frozen between her fingers. That was the sword that saved the realm all through winter, the one that killed her in order to make the ultimate sacrifice. It’s all so deeply metaphorical in a way. 

But ultimately, the reason why I think Arya is NN and Jon is AA, is because of how well it fits their respective story arcs. It’s no doubt that Jon and Arya love each other. Whether it’s romantic or sibling love, that’s up to you to interpret. But Arya and Jon would die for each other. At least in the books. Jon throughout the series constantly thinks of Arya. Knowing that he might see her again is what pushes him to strive and continue living. And in Dance, Jon is so conflicted between “love and duty” because of Arya. And in the end, Jon chooses love over duty. And because of it, he dies. He gets killed because of his love for Arya. ”What do you know of my heart priestess? What do you know of my sister?” And in the books, it’s mostly Jon that helps Arya to strive to continue living. So she’ll be able to see him again. Jon helps her regain a little of her humanity. Sure Arya loves her family, but throughout her journey, it’s JON who she always tries to go back to. To the wall where Jon is. Because of Jon, she strives to never forget that she is a STARK. Arya’s arc is constantly attributed with death. She can be a sort of champion for death. And Jon’s arc is all about life. He fights for life. How fitting and tragic would it be, if by the end of ASOIAF, it’s Arya that will die FOR Jon. Like how he died for her. She will choose to sacrifice her life to save the people like how Jon chose to sacrifice his life to “save” her. Arya will choose to do her duty to save everyone she loves, and Jon will do the same. Yes love is the death of duty. But this time around, love will be the source of duty. It will be the bringer of life. (It’s all so biblical and full of ironies. Something that GRRM loves.) 

Anyways I went off. Congrats if you made it to the end of this. 😂😂 It all feels like weird fan fic lmao. Please feel free to counter-argue me, I wanna know your guy’s stance too. :) 

Also this post was originally a comment I made on a reddit post regarding Arya being Nissa Nissa. I wanted to share it here too. You can find my comment and the forum here: https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/bhot1g/spoilers_published_theory_arya_is_nissa_nissa/ under the username chikchikachikadee. Which is also the username of my main blog here on tumblr. 

[strainingfororiginality]

13.6 - Redemption

Note from Author: It has been weeks since the last update and I’d only gotten halfway through this chapter when I realized it was already longer than most other updates.   With some convincing persuasion from one of my eager and lovely readers, I’ve decided to split it into two updates.  I hope you enjoy!

Hey - Matisse & Sadko Remix - Fais, Afrojack, Matisse & Sadko

Sandalphon took a wide stance and faced the newly opened gate. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, both in mind and in spirit. Uttering encouraging words to herself, she nodded. "Alright then. Now for the hard part."

"What … hard part?" Uriel asked from behind, though she had no intention for him to hear her and even less intention to answer his question. She wasn’t even certain if anything was happening until the chamber began to rumble. She expected it to be jarring. In fact, she had only seen how uncomfortable it would be, but the actual pain was even more than she assumed and her legs buckled. Her palms flew forward as she gripped the sides of the well to steady herself. “Oooof!”

Uriel nearly caught her in the stumble, but her words were firm. "Do not touch me … please … don’t … I can’t do it if you’re touching me ..." Everything ebbed and flowed all around them. Everything around them danced and waved and she nearly vomited into the well itself.

"What exactly are you doing, Andy?" His words were both slow and fast. She didn’t have it quite right yet. The rock cave vibrated in waves, the ripples moved out and beyond their remote location. Everything was ...

"I have to …" She twitched. Her jaw clenched. Her hands gripped the stone until her knuckles turned white. “... speed it up … and slow it down … or they all won’t make it through … before ...”

"Speed it up?" Uriel swallowed. “Speed what up?”

"Heaven must spin faster …" Everything sped up, but then slowed. Dammit. She gasped and pinched her eyes shut. Her brows furrowed madly. “As fast as Hell … but only the lower levels …”

"You just finished telling me that if we’re out of alignment … we’ll spin out of control."

"I know …" Ooof. Good lord. The nausea weighed heavily inside the pit of her stomach. Her shoulders heaved as she bit into her lower lip. As soon as she would speed it up, everything would grind down again and she craned her head to the right. “I know what I said, brother … let’s just hope it doesn’t, yeah? And it doesn’t help with you rattling in my ear!”

"Fine. Whatever. Why am I still here again? To twiddle my god-damn thumbs?"

She could feel him step away as she tried and failed again. Everything slipped back. "Shit." Letting the well go, she stood and shook herself off as the tiniest of winds blew through her hair. “Yeah, yeah. Ok. Ok. No worries. No worries. I’ve got this. I’ve got this.” Glancing back, she glared at the angel who had opted to cross his arms and lean his back against the wall rather than bother with a continued argument. She knew what she had to do and as she swung back to the well, she cringed. She had hoped she could just spin one gear faster, but it wasn’t possible. Of course it would slip. They were gears afterall. She would need to spin two of them. If Heaven was to move faster, then Hell would need to move slower.

She closed her eyes and relaxed her form. The gears cranked and she moved her hands blindly across them, gripping their teeth. She stood her ground and for a moment, the cave thundered and shook before everything slipped marvelously into place.

The hum that emanated from her was both satisfying and excruciating. Her body convulsed and just as she opened her eyes, she saw the first soul step through.

"Where? Where am I?" The old woman asked, bewildered and confused, and Uriel snapped to attention, touching her arm and pointing her towards the large door as he ushered her towards the chamber’s exit. The next soul stepped through immediately.

"You’re home now. You’re safe." He guided her out before turning to the next soul just as two more funneled through. They stepped around the Wheel and began to crowd the small room. Sandalphon’s smile could have lit up the entire room as she heard her Traveller quake across the Nexus, flicking it back on for this specific message and her relief only grew because the Nexus would need to be fucking purring like a kitten for the next part to happen.

Camiel, Jophiel, Zadkiel, Simiel, Oriphiel, Raguel. To the Well of Judgement. Quickly now. You are needed for the Rapture.

A dozen souls now. Two dozen. As the Elder Elohim arrived, they aided in funnelling the souls out of the area and suddenly two dozen became a hundred, and then two hundred. Sandalphon clenched her jaw and ground her teeth. Almost there ...

Three hundred ...

Four.

Five ...

Devil Inside (Epic Trailer Version) [ feat. Casey Hensley] - J2

Here come the woman

With the look in her eye

Raised on leather

With flesh on her mind

Words as weapons

Sharper than knives

Makes you wonder how the other half die

How the other half die

Makes you wonder

The woman in black placed her hand on the glyph etched into the stone slab. She could sense the violet energy pulsing through it, tickling her dark fingertips. And though she couldn’t feel anything beyond its barrier, she knew the Morning Star’s body laid beyond its obfuscation. She was closer to him at this moment than she had been in millenia and her body flooded with nervous bumps.

"Are you nervous? You look nervous. Should I be nervous?" Deebaj prodded her. “I’ve never seen you nervous.”

"It is not nerves, Sun King." She glanced at the golden-haired Djinn lord. “It is relief. I am so tired of hiding in these shadows.”

She took the deepest of breaths. Short and dramatic as she felt the Wheel begin to spin the gears of time. A near smile crept upon her hidden mouth, but it fell away as time ratcheted back to normal. She felt the angel try again and then again … and then again.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake …" She gripped the edge of her niqāb and thrust it away from her face. Her back was still to the men but did her anonymity really matter anymore? After this, her secret would be out. And nothing could be stopped now. She pulled the fabric constraints away from her visage and cast them to the floor. “Must I do everything myself?!” Lilith pushed her shoulders back and took a massive breath. Closing her eyes, she reached out, beneath and behind Sandalphon. Just out of the Angel’s perception and she gripped the gears with her mind. The angel nearly had it, but as Lilith steadied her, everything began to hum in perfect unison. “Ahhhhh … Yes. There it is, my sister …”

As she pulled away, she opened her eyes and felt her Morning Star snap from this world entirely. "It has started … Lucifer has gone dark."

"It’s time?" Deebaj asked and reached to place his hand on the slab, but Lilith caught it quickly, swatting it away.

"No! Not yet, idiot! He is not the one we need to be blind. The other must go dark ..." Lilith felt exhilarated. Her heart pumped furiously in her chest and the blood thundered in her ears.

"So … the Morning Star is really gone?" The Sun King chuckled. “I still can’t believe that little halfling actually beat the Lightbringer himself.”

"He is not gone!" She spat at the ignorant assumption. Of course he was not. She would not have agreed to such terms. Her eyes closed as relief washed over her face. Her shoulders relaxed and she peeled all of the constrictive outer clothing from her body, allowing it to drop on the ground as she stepped out of its pile to reveal a tight tank top and jeans. The men behind whispered in disagreement and she stretched her arms high above her head. No more hiding. No more covering. No more false subjugation. “And the halfling was never meant to beat him … She was always meant to push him to the only one who can save him.”

No Man’s Land - Zack Hemsey

No man alive this planet can illuminate your path

No guide that came before can show the way beyond the pass

No footprints on the trail for you to follow in the tracks

For you to make it there you have to leave without the map

And no amount of pleading can release you from the trap

There’s no degree of toil that can serve to bridge the gap

You can trek across the plains without much weight upon your back

But if you’re tortured in your mind, you will crumble from the facts

So flee the shelter for the storm before the caves collapse

Everything paused and she stood, leaving Lucifer crouched and frozen in the middle of the dead campfire as she spun around to take in her changed surroundings. She half expected to see her sisters all still sitting there, but ... they were alone. The confluence was empty and quiet, completely serene in this eerie final moment of its existence.

Her hands trembled and her stomach churned over the situation as her decision sank in: the spark had been ignited and it was going to ripple out from the very center of him … no matter what she did now. No matter what anyone did.

Eventually, she would need to let time flow. Eventually, she would need to accept the fate she had delivered to herself. Eventually, she would need to let herself end, but she wasn’t quite ready for that yet and so she stepped away from the the logs and the dead campfire. Letting her hand brush against the waist high grass of the surrounding field, she began to explore as she stared up into the perpetual twilight of the multi-colored, cloudless sky of the confluence. It wasn’t brighter on any particular horizon and so she picked a random direction and began to walk, curious of how big this strange world might be.

It wasn’t long until she came to an edge and found the ocean. When she first arrived, she had heard the waves crashing from afar and as she squinted out across the now still water, she saw no end to it. Crossing her arms, she decided to walk to the right, and began to follow along the curved water line as she considered her decisions and actions that led them to this moment.

In the beginning, before the world changed, she had been afraid.

She had always been afraid. Her fear had stemmed from the first moment she took breath and she often wondered if everyone experienced life this way. And it wasn’t just one thing. It was everything. Afraid of heights. Afraid of failure. Afraid of life. Nothing she had ever done had mattered in any way and she had always been afraid nothing ever would. She had never been strong or powerful or courageous enough.

She had been weak.

She had only ever been weak and she knew her weakness was not only in her body, but it permeated every inch of her being. Weakness of mind. Weakness of character. Weakness of emotion. Weakness of appearance. She lacked so much and she had made so many mistakes. Her life was full of more blunder than success.

She had been alone.

She had no family left. She had no friends and she was certain Ellie didn’t count. It never had. That friendship hadn’t been out of choice, but rather, it was manufactured out of necessity … necessity for this sacrifice. For her sacrifice.

And she had been a complete failure.

Not in every way but just in the only way that mattered. None of her impressive feats and accomplishments had mattered at all in the end, because she was a failure in the most fundamental and important way.

As defiant as she was, she had still tried to change, to fit into the world, but then the world had changed instead and she relished in it. The false masks of humanity were thrown aside and false strength was punished. The truly weak were outed for what they really were. Fake and hollow and without merit. Evolution had taken humanity by the neck and it was purged. She was no longer found wanting. When so many had fallen, she was cast into the fire and she rose from it.

And then … after she had survived the fire on her own … there had been Quintus …

She grinned at the memories of him. All of them. In all his strange and antiquated tendencies, his harsh and often rude manners, his utter lack of small talk or need for candidness. He was himself in every instant and he never showed shame for it.

She questioned now … Was it him with which she had fallen in love? Or was it how he made her feel? Did the difference between the two even matter? She felt like it should and she accepted it did and she decided it was more the former than the latter. He had not judged or pitied. He had not chosen to see her for only what she was lacking, but rather what she could offer. Her differences were never a weakness, just like his own, but they were an asset. In fact, he had held her to the highest of standards, refused to accept anything less, and desired her like none other.

She could have survived without him, but knowing him had made her better. But then when he was gone, the world started to slip back into what it was before. Slowly at first, but then quicker with time, it found a footing in the superficial and fickle nature that had led to its downfall in the first place. Old habits die hard and she saw the survivors reverting to what they had been before the fall.

Whatever place Dawn felt that she had earned slowly melted away and there was no place for her again. In that life ... For months she fought it, but she fully accepted it when Gus laid eyes on Anya again and she felt his heart flutter towards the woman’s beauty. He was a good man. He would have stayed with her, but she knew that wouldn’t be fair to him and she recognized that terrible feeling because her ex had felt that way as well. When they looked at her, there was nothing but judgement and pity. The former towards her, and latter towards themselves.

Perhaps if she couldn’t feel their emotions ... if she could have just been blind to the unfair reality of what she was to them, then she could have feigned happiness. She always thought it was in her head ... how she always knew what they felt ...

Her Mother … despised her daughter’s differences. She regretted having her.

Her ex … pitied himself for the responsibility of being stuck with someone so plain. It weighed on him over the years. His eyes wandered often and she felt it … every single time.

Gus … punished himself with an overwhelming sense of responsibility, and what they had was nothing more than that. His heart was never in it. He never loved her, not in the way that she needed. She never felt that from him. He was just a man and like every boring man she knew, his emotions did not expand past his eyes.

Ellie … was always so proud of her. She had driven and pushed and motivated. She knew there was potential where Dawn didn’t think any existed.

Michael … protected and taught and nurtured, in his own fucked up way. Everything he had done had been out of necessity, desperation, and compassion. She wasn’t the only one he had to worry about. He had an entire family to care for, and she was only a small piece of what he needed to protect. He was broken in much the same way she was. They shared this failure together.

Quintus … accepted and embraced and loved and desired her. It is such a simple but powerful thing to be desired and until she really felt, she had no idea how much she had been starved for it.

She thought of his painful sting the first time they met. She thought of the kisses most of all. Of that unreturned kiss in the subway and then the very-much returned kiss in the dream and then, the kiss on the couch and then subsequently in the tiny cabin. And then she remembered her dream of Rome. They were walking hand in hand down the cobblestone streets. Her inner optimist had hoped it to be a glimpse of the future …

And Lucifer …

She looked down and recognized her own footsteps in the sand before her. She had come full circle already and it was no more than a mile. This place, the powerful Confluence, was just a tiny island in the sea of time and she turned back towards its center, trying to retrace her steps precisely. She found the Morning Star exactly as she had left him: crouched and frozen in the center of the dead campfire circle.

Nodding, she breathed out. She was so tired and it was time. Ellie had told her that she could not be fully fixed until she finished breaking, and that it had now finally happened, but her friend had been wrong. Dawn would never have time to fully heal.

She knelt beside the Morning Star and relaxed her body, allowing just a trickle of time to flow. She turned the spout just far enough so that infrequent, single drops could escape through its spigot. It was just enough for the Lightbringer to consciously become aware of her. Everything around them crawled.

"Aurora?" His brows pinched as much as they could. His finger twitched as he tried to move, but the energy rippling from the center of him prevented him from shaking her shoulders. “What … what have you done?”

"I’ve won." All of this. Everything he had done. She knew him. This had been a game. An infinite game that she had made finite. She smiled. It wasn’t sinister or smug. It was a smile of acceptance and victory. It was a smile of pride. “You’ve lost and I’ve won. I am the captain of my soul.”

The Forgotten - Zack Hemsey

Formless cuz your forms are shameless

You’ve forgotten where you’re from

And all your flaws that made you famous

Threats are painless, aim this at your heart to make the pain lift

Shape-shift on this track to scratch your name right off the game’s list

The Sun Hunters swung into an open window and Raum followed closely behind them. Even with their sizable force, they made good time and moved swiftly across and through the rocks. He gazed at the two dozen men.

"I’ve got point."

"Sir." Vaun waved him to the front of the group.

Raum moved towards the shut door, but before he reached for the handle, the marid paused. It was time. Closing his eyes, he allowed his human facade to melt away. It had been so long since he had taken his birth form and as the change rolled over his spirit, the strigoi took a step away from the devil.

Flicking his head to the right and then to the left, his bones cracked. His body grew and changed. He was already fairly tall, but his spine stretched an additional six inches and his chest widened several more. His skin reddened. His feet hooved. His eyes turned black and yellow. His canines and ears pointed. Black horns erupted from each side of his temple, forcing his ears down as the width of each neared the size of his own neck.

Though he had missed it, Raum hated this form now. His brother’s dark reputation had tainted it. Once, the Marid had been seen as powerful, beautiful, and strong. But now, they were the very embodiment of Hell and seen as that of the devil himself; evil and repugnant.

But he accepted it now because In this place, at this time, it would be far more useful than feigning human. Flashing a fanged smile, he turned back to the strigoi and found their eyes wide. They had seen fallen angels. They had seen Ifrit. They had seen many lesser Djinn. They had even seen a Giant Sun God himself, but they had yet to lay their eyes on a full blooded marid. "Ready?"

Vaun drew his sword and nodded compliance before Raum breached the hallway. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but entirely empty had never crossed his mind. The strigoi worked around him, moving with silent swiftness around each bend in the path. At each corner, they found nothing awaiting them down the next long collider. He thought they might be alone until the distant sound of dragging and shuffling pricked his oversized ears.

When the prey was in full view, ambling away from them down the hallway, Raum drew his blade and held a palm back to the Sun Hunters, silently commanding them to stay and then he advanced on the thing.

He was nearly to it when his intended target turned around. "Ummm … Sir?"

Sir? This thing believed him to be Shaitan and Raum froze in his advancement, blinking. "Halaz …" He remembered this Nasnas, one of the accursed half things. A good soldier, but not overly bright … obviously.

"I thought you were … with the Lord?" The Nasnas glanced behind himself with his half-head and pointed his only arm down the path the other direction.

"Ah, yes. I was … " Raum cleared his throat and glanced down at his drawn blade as Halaz eyed the weapon suspiciously. The marid feigned a weak smile and resheathed it slowly. “I was just on… uh … my way back …” Raum scratched the back of his neck and stood straight as the half-monster hopped past him.

"Very good, sir."

"Halaz …" Raum called to the lower minion and the pitiful being turned to him slowly, but fully. The thing was clearly nervous about something.

"Sir?"

"Where is everyone?"

"Sir?" The thing tilted his half-head and his lone brow furrowed. “You ordered everyone to the gate. Everyone.”

"Right. I know … but … " The Marid smiled. “I mean … Exactly. So why are you still here?”

"I …" The halfling looked down in shame. “I am so sorry, sir. I did not wish to leave my … catalogue. I … I have kept a journal of our time here and I do not wish to … “ The being sighed heavily and fished a leather bound book which had been hidden within his shirt. He held it out, expecting Raum to confiscate it from him. “I … I want our real story to be known. I did not want us to be remembered as … the devils we have become …”

"Halaz." Raum reached for the trembling thing. Empathy bombarded the Marid and he pushed the offered book away with his right hand and gripped Halaz’s shoulder with his left. “Go to the gate. Go now. No more delays, do you understand me? Go to the front. Tell them I sent you there. Now.”

He looked up into the Marid’s eyes and nodded. Making good time, he hobbled around the corner and came face to face with the hidden strigoi. "S-s-s-sir … ??" Halaz’s eyes found Raum’s again and his voice cracked as actual recognition danced across his half-face. “Sir … Sir ...”

"It is good to see you again, Halaz." Raum winked, accepting the minion understood his true name. “Go to the Gate now. Make sure our story is known. Do you understand?”

The halfling nodded and hopped passed the Sun Hunter force. Vaun carefully watched him hobble by before glancing to Raum. "He’ll warn others."

"No." The Marid shook his head. “He won’t.” Raum turned and his cautious stroll turned brisk as the revelation they didn’t need to sneak anymore fully sank in.

Absolute silence. Both armies. All four Hayyoth. Nothing moved. Not even the Nazi that held his breath as he questioned his own action. Stillness crawled over the area and now the only sound was that of the wind as it whined viciously through the jagged rocks and kicked up dust into the hot, humid air.

The other three Hayyoth were still on their backs, but Raphael was already cradling her empty, limp shell in his arms. The sparks of their divinity were so hot that it had fused the surrounding sand and the ground was covered in glass shards.

As he began to pull the shaft of his staff from her impaled body, sliding it out of the passage the Nazi had sent it, into her back and through her lungs and ribs, nearly grazing her heart and he stitched the skin, muscle, bones, and cells back together as purple energy flooded across her skin. There was no divinity left in her now. The staff had stolen all of it. Hers and that which Lucifer had shared with her.

Thomas stuttered from behind. "I am sorry, Sir … I am … I … I thought it necessary. The Master said … I am so sorry--"

"It was. It was necessary." Raphael did not tear his eyes from her blank stare as he reassured the stammering strigoi without gazing upon him. “You did good, Thomas. You did good.” The Traveller waited, his breath bated, his grip on her firm, and his brothers finally began to stir. Gabriel was first to rise again. And then Ozryel. Both gazed down at the empty shell in his arms, unable to physically voice what was on their minds, though their worry was thundering across their minds.

And last, Michael was to his feet …

Raphael still didn’t look away from her eyes. "Don’t do this …" he whispered and, as he knew they would, his brother’s agony began. “I’m sorry …”

"What happened? What happened?!?!" Michael clambered forward, reaching out to her but Ozryel caught him. The angel already knew what happened. “No. No!” He fought to fall forward but Ozryel held him back. “NO! Raphael! Where is she?! Where is SHE?! What did she do?!?”

"She took him to the confluence." Raphael closed his eyes and embraced her, holding her tight against him, he buried his face into her neck and whispered into her again, knowing she could not hear him. “Please don’t do this … please …”

"No …" Michael fought Ozryel’s arms, but in his weakness, he collapsed into them. “No … why would she …”

"Because … it was the only thing that could be done. She saved … everything."

Silence. In this brief moment, even the wind held its breath …

"What? Sorry … but … " Scratching the back of his neck, Gabriel asked as his ignorance finally overwhelmed him. “What the fuck is the Confluence?”

I Can Get It Back - Zack Hemsey 4:40+

Cuz now I'm pushing forward and nobody dare oppose

Now I'm moving faster while that ticking clock slows

And now I'm climbing higher like the ground can't hold

So I don't plan on stopping when this summit plateaus

I'm that invasion of the body by the soul

Sickened from the cold but soon a certified whole

Never one to fight but I just hit it on the nose

It took my spirit, but I got it back, case closed

His powerful legs pounded against the rocky ground as he outpaced the lesser fallen charging around him. If he hadn’t been pushing himself to his very limits, he might have felt the low rumblings that had finally reached the top level as the very foundations that held the structure of Hell together began to fracture and break apart beneath them, but he was entirely distracted with the passion of battle.

His sword was already drawn in his right hand and both arms trailed behind him while he sprinted through the tail of heat left by the Titan in full fury. The legion had spread out from their phoenix leader in an triangle pattern as Prometheus was leaving such incredible heat in the wake of his burn.

The form of the advancing force was quite advantageous. They would ram into the much larger army like a fiery wedge and Quinlan had every intention to be at the front of that marvelous impact. He pushed himself harder and faster than he ever had before, taking the direct heat from the Titan as he trailed directly behind. All of his other battles had been against mere men and his excitement brewed and bubbled under his focused surface.

Persephone was no longer the voluptuous redhead that he saw jump from the cliff edge. She was that marvelous dragon again. Basilisk Prime. And all four of her legs pounded, full-sprint, pacing to the right of the Sun God. As she came fully in view before Quinlan, her head flicked back to acknowledge his presence and she edged to the right, giving the dhampir the space to pace them, in the very front, in the very center. Quinlan took the offer and smiled as he emerged from the heat trail.

And as he came to the very front, the moment he was aligned perfectly with the seraphim, a glorious whirlwind danced up before them, leading the charge and kicking up the sand, the dirt, the rocks, everything it could, in a viscous trifecta of massive dust devils.

But this was entirely expected … for as history itself remembers, as Plutarch himself wrote, the wind had always been on the side Quintus Sertorius.

They crashed viciously into the Army of Hell and this moment was no different. Certainly the enemy had felt the rumbling of something large, and some soldiers turned towards the distant quaking. Some even attempted to run at the last moment, but there was nowhere to go and the sand had masked the truth of the impending impact. As the Titan sparked the moment of contact, a fourth of their opposition was simply gone without even the time for the souls to scream at their own tortuous destruction.

Perhaps Quinlan should have taken the distance of the gregori and djinn in tow as a careful warning, because he felt his soul begin to singe at the start of the blast, but The Maiden’s speed proved unmatched even against her brother Titan’s. Her claws gripped Quinlan’s rib cage and she came up to two feet and turned her back to Prometheus’ fire. The Earth elemental’s arms wrapped him and her endurance, no doubt created for this very purpose, shielded the dhampir against The Face of God.

What followed was absolute silence and her grip on Quinlan eased. His boots hit the dirt and he waved at the dust that stung at his eyes and face. They heard ... nothing. Not even the force that had charged behind them.

The smoke and ash were so thick he couldn't even make out the Titan any longer. Slowly, the gentlest of breezes rolled through the area. Where the back of the army had been, there was nothing but charred earth. From a great distance, he heard coughing and then voices. The wind swept the area again and the remaining army was a good quarter mile from their location.

"Deodamnatus …" All of those souls. All of those soldiers. Gone.

Shaking the soot from his coat, he made it no more than two steps before her claw gripped his shoulder. The massive grin painted across her face concerned him and he might have asked what she had in mind, but her hold on him shifted to his torso and then tightened as his feet left the ground. Uh oh. Quinlan cringed. "Hold tight to your mini-pigsticker, halfing."

Oh … Oh gods … oh … gods ....

She was running at full sprint and then she threw him. In a beautiful and perfect spiral. When he understood what was about to occur, his body grew rigid. His grip on the sword solidified and she thrust him perfectly through the air, sending him like a spinning spear into the heart of the force ahead.

He kept his arms tucked in tight until the moment before he would launch into his first target and then his arms relaxed, allowing the blade to cut savagely around him like a saw. Everything in his path was cut down. Arms, legs, torsos, heads. He rent them asunder and soldiers tried in desperation to leap from his path.

The sword’s edge ricocheted against the hard ground as his velocity slowed and the trajectory of his path curved down, putting his head in a direct collision with the ground. On his final revolution, he thrust the blade into the dirt, hilting it entirely as his body swung around and his boots found the ground and skidded to a marvelous halt.

No soldier made any immediate movement. Quinlan’s dizzy head swam, but he feigned perfect level headedness as he stood entirely erect and then spoke. "You have all been misled!" He yanked the sword from the ground, cracking his neck from side to side as they regarded him and fully accepted who it was that stood before them, perusing his Hayyoth features. Not even one of them had moved yet and he took the opportunity to try and sway them further. In fact, he could not help himself but try. “You know who I am!”

The first wicked-souled man stepped forward to foolishly challenge him, and the dhampir rid him of his head with a mere flick of the wrist. Smirking, he continued to speak. "Were you not once The Rebellious Ones?!" He bellowed to the fallen riddled amongst the confused and most wicked of human souls. “Pitiful that you bow before such a pathetic tyrant child!”

There was a movement to the left that caught his attention and the dhampir turned to address the next to challenge him. This was an Infernal Djinn. An ifrit; a being of half-fire, half-spirit. His skin rippled with waves of heat and his horns maintained a fiery crown above his red-skinned head.

He towered over Quinlan by several feet as he scoffed at the dhampir’s words. "I bow before no one … not even you." He swiped at the dhampir with a hand full of black claws and though his speed was impressive to say the least, it could not match the dhampir’s own. Quinlan sidestepped the motion, grinning as familiar footfalls grew closer to them. His heel was into the back of the Djinn’s knee as he thrust it forward causing the larger creature to buckled before him … to his knees.

A trine of Gregori moved to aid but she broke through the dust cloud looming behind, swatting one away with ease and grabbing the other between her massive jaws. She crunched hard before flinging him to the side with a flick of her head. The last writhed uselessly from beneath the talons of her hind legs and she screeched so loud the rock trembled on the ground and she stood her ground beside Quinlan.

His arm found its way around the Infernal’s neck and he whispered down into the Djinn’s ear. "And yet … you now bow before me … do you not?" There was pathetic resistance and he flexed the muscles of his arm as he whispered it again. “Yield.” One nod. This was all that was needed and he pulled back, placing his boot squarely on the Ifrit’s back, he thrust the Djinn to his face and into the dirt before him.

"I am the son of Sempronius Densus!" If only he had known Honoria’s true last name, this would have held even greater weight among these fallen. His lip sneered as he proudly claimed Ozryel as his maker. “And the offspring of the Angel of Death. The True Right Hand of God! Stand with us or burn!!!”

Us. The timing was perfect because the Titan was in motion again. Quinlan could hear his thundering fists rocking the ground.

He wasn’t expecting what happened next but he didn’t resist it. Her claws were around his torso again and she flicked him up and onto her back. He normally rode into battle on horseback but this was very different. There was no saddle to hold him in place and his heels pinched at her sides. He gripped a handful of her scaled flesh in his left hand as he thrust his blade into the air with his right. A savage and barbaric scream escaped his lungs as she roared in rhythm with him.

At first, he assumed his speech had no effect, but rebellious words and thoughts rippled through the army and in a beautiful wave of final defiance, the Djinn and Gregori turned their blades to the wicked human soul beside them as Prometheus finally emerged from the dust behind. His legs and arms beating against the ground as he thundered passed Persephone, striking anyone and everyone away with broad sweeping ape-like strokes.

As he and his dragon steed galloped into the heart of battle, and as their Djinn and Gregori forces finally caught up from behind, Quinlan found himself laughing. He picked off what targets he could, flicking his sword from left to right, while trying to maintain his position upon his fast dragon stead.

It was very unlike her to remain so quiet, and when she finally did speak, he fully expected the immaturity that accompanied it.

"I told you you’d like riding me ... didn’t I?"

Seeing is Believing - Zack Hemsey

Adam laid a hand on the priestess’ helpful shoulder. When he had approached her first in Purgatorium, as her original memories came back into focus, she was more than eager to help. "Keep them moving." He instructed. “I’ll be back shortly.”

"Where are you going?" She urged the next one through the now open portal and the soul was whisked away, dissolving into the stream of light that shot up and beyond the ceiling. The next stepped up and she held an open hand, guiding the old man up the steps and into the energy.

"I must do one more thing." Adam wasn’t sure if he should really voice it and he decided against a full explanation. It was unnecessary. “I will be back. Keep it moving. Quickly.”

He left the chamber and walked down the line of thousands of people. Down the long, long corridors until he came to the round staircase. Where the people were lined up from above, he diverted and went down. His steps were swift and he began to jump several levels, running his hands against the wall and the newly forming cracks. The further he went, the larger the cracks were becoming and a low vibration rattled the ground beneath.

"I know what I’m doing." He assured the voice that rang with concern in his ears. “I’ll be back in time … I know. I know … I just can’t … leave him there. It’s not right.”

And when he was back to the level before the bottom, he did not waver to turn the knob on the newest door and the pitiful figure within fell forward. He had been sitting with his back against the door and Adam bent, helping the older man to his feet. The soul had been a boy when he arrived here, but that was a very long time ago.

"Who are you?" Zach allowed the prophet to pull him to his feet, squinting into the sudden onslaught of light.

"I am your salvation, Zachary. Quickly now. Come on."

"I don’t deserve … salvation."

"Perhaps not, but I offer it nonetheless. Shall we?" Adam waved a hand towards the exit, but the man hesitated. “Do you not wish to see your father?”

"... father? …"

If not for the utter silence, he wouldn’t have heard that tiniest of whispers repeating his last word. If not for his utter blindness, his sensitive ears wouldn’t have even heard it. This was not Zach.

"... father? …"

Adam held his breath. The whispered word repeated and Adam’s heart cringed.

"... father?"

He was familiar with the intonation of this voice, but nothing more. It was now old and harsh and different, yet he still heard that child in it, the soul he knew.

"S-s-sir?" Zach tugged at Adam’s arm, desperate to be away from the cells.

Adam touched the face of this criminal and compared his crimes to that of his own son’s. Zach had caused so much more pain and death compared to that of his own offspring. There was a moment of remorse, a tiny instant of possible forgiveness, until Adam remembered Abel’s face and Abel’s voice ... which he would never hear again.

He thought of Abel’s beautiful soul and he cracked completely. Convulsing forward as every bit of anguished emotion he hid poured forth from the prophet’s being and he gripped his own forehead. Tears streamed down his dirty face.

"I can’t …" He shook his head as he remembered Abel’s laugh. He remembered his son’s joy and wonder and mercy. He remembered the love. “I’m sorry …. No …. I won’t.”

"Sir? Won’t … what?" Zach asked.

But Adam wasn’t speaking to him. He was speaking to the voice that consoled him from within. The voice that urged him towards forgiveness, towards retribution, but the prophet couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Not yet … in fact, never.

Abel’s soul was gone and there was nothing that could fix that. There was nothing that could change what Cain had done.

"Nothing." He gripped Zach’s shoulder. “It’s nothing. We need to go … now.”

Zach nodded and stepped forward, gripping Adam’s hand as if the blind man needed his guidance and before the prophet was entirely out of range, he heard the word one last time, but this time it wasn’t a question or a plea. This time it was acceptance and just a statement of fact. This time it was angry.

"Father."

Betelgeuse - King Creosote

Oh I have travelled far

To douse the astro fire within my heart

Drop off the radar screen

My ship has set course for the space in between Orion's Belt and Betelgeuse

I may not be back

I may not be back

Believe me

Peace at last, please

"This is not what I wanted, Aurora …" EL’s voice cracked as it exposed more emotion than she thought he was capable. “This isn’t a win. You didn’t--”

Between my desire ...

She giggled. He was grasping and she knew it. "We both know I don’t belong there … I never did, EL."

"No. That’s not right. It can’t be right." He couldn’t move. The spark had gripped his body and he felt it growing, emanating out, so very painfully slow. If he could move, he would have shaken her. He would have … done something ... “No. No. No … That’s why I hate it so much. That’s why I loathe it …”

… And your spasm.

"Because I don’t belong there? That’s why you want to destroy it?" She laughed again and shook her head over even the thought of it. “Don’t blame this on me. You’ve always hated it.” She relaxed fully into the sand. Her bottom sinking into the back of her heels as her knees dug holes. “Nothing would have changed that.”

"I wanted to remake it. To reshape it. It was broken. Every soul that came to Hell. Every ugly soul. I could see it. Something isn’t right about it. Father knew that … He always knew it wasn’t perfect. He knew he had created something … broken. I wanted to fix that. I wanted to make it perfect."

"That’s your problem. That’s its problem." She took a deep breath. “Don’t you get it, EL? It’s that obsession with perfection that makes it all so very … broken ...”

"How fucked up of a creation is it that something as beautiful as you … feels as broken as you do."

Between your potency ...

"It’s because I am broken, EL. I don’t belong there. I wanted to …" She looked down into her empty hands, as if she expected to find something there, and when she didn’t, she shook her head. “

"You aren’t the failure. It’s the failure … it failed you. Creation failed you ... just like it failed me. Please ..." He didn’t want this. Oh god. He didn’t want this …

… And my existence.

"I’m not so dumb to buy that excuse ..." She nearly laughed. “I know your silver tongue. I know what you are trying to--”

"All this time … all these years … I only saw it only through the eyes of the most damned … through their memories." It. Earth. Mankind. “Through the darkest and grossest souls that earned their way into my kingdom … through the most broken and despaired and evil. I knew I was seeing the worst of it and I understood that. I did have hope … but then I saw it through your eyes and ...”

"So it is my fault." Her face fell. “We both know I was never meant to belong to that world.” This smile was weak and disingenuous. “That’s on me … but not on it. That’s just evolution.”

The spark was now past his diaphragm and if he could move, he would have lunged forward, but the power had him and he was a prisoner to it. "Go now. Run. Leave me here … alone. As I’ve always been … as I was made … You don’t have to be here. Please. I don’t want you here. Not like this. This isn’t what I wanted … "

Between our essence ...

"You still don’t get it, you silly bean." She touched the very tip of his nose with right index finger and the simplest of gestures tore at him. She wasn’t afraid of him and it had been so long since anyone had treated him with such … equality and candor. “You’ve never been alone. Neither of us have.” She smiled again. This time genuine and his brows knit with confusion. “You didn’t have an other. You had four.” He shook his head, but offered no words to refute this claim. “And then you had five.”

Had. She was already speaking about herself in the past tense.

"I … You need to go … now." His rainbow eyes squinted in frustration. “Aurora, you have to--”

But she couldn’t and he knew that. They were tethered here together. If she went, so did he. And some small part of him accepted, that even if she could, she wasn’t going to leave him here … alone. "I’m not going anywhere."

… And our descent

"It’s too late, Aurora. I can’t stop it." He shook his head. His body heaving with deep, emotional breaths against her embrace. “I shouldn’t have … I so sorry. I was angry … I was …”

"I know."

"Nothing can survive this."

"You will survive." She nodded. “I don’t know where it will leave you. I’m sorry for that. I hope you find your way back home.”

"Please … go. At least try to go ..."

Falls her Shadow ...

"I can’t. There’s nowhere left ..." She held his shoulders, touching her forehead to his. Her connection to everything else was gone. She had pulled him along and severed everything else so that no one could follow.

"Aurora …" The chain reaction was still meandering slowly from his center but nothing would survive this. Just as he had shown her Raphael’s release in Sodom and Ammorah, she knew the cost.

The Confluence. The Prophet’s sight. And her soul. Everything that she was, everything that she felt, everything that she was, was here … with him.

For Thine is his Kingdom ...

She touched his chest, laying her palm across his sternum. "You didn’t need her, you know that right? I don’t know what will happen to you, but … you don’t need her to find happiness."

"And you didn’t need him." EL countered. The blast was nearly to his skin.

"No I didn’t … but damn did I love him …" That grin. It was half joy, half agony. She gripped his clenched hands. “If you find your way back … please tell him I was brave. Tell him …” And then she giggled. He couldn’t tell if this release was out of sadness or glory, but as she shut her eyes tight and opened them, he understood it was the latter. “Tell him … we’re even. He did the same to save me … didn’t he?”

"Aurora … I …" It was beyond the barrier of his skin now and she shuddered as it tore into her hands.

No. No. No. This isn’t what he wanted. This isn’t … this is the opposite of what he wanted …

He had no control over the spark. He had no control over his divinity, but he did have control of his mind and as the pain cracked her face and her body trembled further, he made a choice.

"This is the way this world ends …" She whispered. Her eyes pinched shut and she let go of her hold on time.

He reached out, in blind desperation at first, but then intimately and he tugged gently on the tiniest of threads that he found still waiting for him. Still open to him. After all this time. After everything he had done. He turned away from it long ago and he had never looked for it again. He had never even felt for it, but it was still there and his heart lurched at its presence.

He had vowed long ago he would never touch this thread again …

It was dangerous, because he would be raw. He would be open. Exposed. In all of his flaws, in all of his emotions, in all of his torments … There would be no hiding. He would never be free of it again if he tugged on that string.

This is the way his rule ends ...

And without hesitation or fear or resentment or delay, the Lightbringer reached out and rejoined the Nexus. For the first time in millenia upon millenia, the Traveller accepted his hand and his heart. Without remorse, without judgement, Lucifer fell into his brother’s outstretched arms and ascended again.

This is the way our world begins ...

In this vulnerable moment, EL chose something other than his anger … other than his revenge … other than his defiance … In this precious moment, EL chose something other than himself. He grab the thread with both hands and yanked it hard.

I have you ...

He cringed as Raphael’s arms wrapped around him and he breathed relief the instant the blast was entirely expelled from his spirit and he felt them being pulled from that place into something he had missed. Into something he had needed. Into something beautifully familiar.

I have you … both.

He whispered into him and EL tenses at his voice. He tried to pull back from his brother’s impending embrace. It was instinct. It was pure reaction. He had been alone for so long that he flinched at the contact of Raphael’s soul as it grazed against his own.

I have you … my little brother.

The Traveler gripped his brother’s head and pulled him closer. He would not permit the Lightbringer to pull away though Lucifer futilely pushed against his chest. Raphael’s hands were firm and unrelenting as he placed his temple against his brother’s.

… and I’m never letting go again.

Not with a bang

Lucifer’s hollowness filled as he accepted the embrace and returned it, his arms wrapping around Raphael’s torso, there was the tiniest of whimpers as he wept into his brother’s heaving chest.

… but a beautiful whimper.

David Becomes Goliath - Zack Hemsey

Her precious confluence. Her most beautiful creation …

If Lilith had time to mourn, she would have doubled forward and allowed the tears to flow, but she didn’t … Not now. Perhaps later … Perhaps she would cry later. Unlikely though. This was all part of her plan.

The Traveller snapped away and for the very briefest of moments, the Nexus was empty and Lilith knew she would only have one chance at catching this split second. Everything halted around her and she flexed her time bubble out and around the Marid king and the men behind them.

"Now?"

"Now. It is time to light it up, little kingling." She gave Deebaj a single nod and the blonde Djinn turned to face the massive door.

"Finally." He looked down at the pendant in his palm. “This better not kill me.” Deebaj quipped and breathed deeply as he gripped the tiny glass tube in his fist until the glass popped, piercing into his skin and the single drop of Lucifer’s blood mixed with his own. The power of the blood surged within him and his body burned at its contact. “Whoa …” This drop was the last thing she had of her Lightbringer. This drop, she had been saving for so long because a Mark of Power can only be subdued with the blood of a Hayyoth.

The glyphs on the door were Raphael’s masterpiece. An alarm system etched with such careful power that he would have felt even the slightest tampering. Its spider webs stretched into the Nexus itself and the Traveller would have felt even the slightest of tugs.

The door, the tomb, and the sarcophagus within were constructed by Ozryel. Stitched together with atoms so dense and tightly woven that even the strongest of men wouldn’t have been able to break through it in a thousand years.

But the heat from a Marid king was hot enough to melt even the Celestial Blade itself ...

He pushed a nervous palm against the tomb’s closed door and as the glyphs burned with light, bowing to the Hayyoth divinity that coursed through his trembling hand, the rock began to melt at his impressive intensity.

"Quickly! I cannot hold this forever!" She snapped her fingers once the door was a puddle on the ground and the men piled into the inner chamber before them. Setting up the metal harnesses around the massive coffin, they began to wrap, wedge, and lift it. Motorized winches were brought in, but she waved the king over. “Quickly!”

"You sure you don’t want me to just open it now?" Deebaj grinned and raised an eyebrow. “You don’t wanna give him a kiss?”

"No." Laying a palm against the sarcophagus lid, she smirked, tapping her finger tips against it. “Not yet. He needs to fall just a bit further still.”

But the men struggled to get the proper leverage on the multi-ton coffin and Deebaj stood idly, staring at his bloody hand as they finally began to lift it from its resting place.

"You are really going to just stand there?" She shook her hand at his laziness. “You are stronger than all of these men combined.”

The smiling Sun King leaned his back against the chamber wall and shrugged. His grin was as sinister as they came. How she hated it. How she hated him. "Come on now. You know I don’t like to get my hands dirty … unless there’s proper … reward." He gave her a wink and she hid her bubbling revulsion.

"Your hands already seem to be fairly dirty." She stared down at his blood palm and he fished a clean, white handkerchief from his suit pocket, wiping the dried blood away from his already healed skin.

"How did it feel?" She prodded though she already knew the feeling of that power coursing through one’s veins.

"Intoxicating.   Unlike anything I've ever felt ..." He admitted and then countered her previous statement. “You’re just as lazy … You aren’t exactly weak either.”

"Such a gentleman." Of all the Djinn kings she could have saddled herself with, she was most annoyed it had to be this one. In all the possibilities she had looked into, the other six kings would have all had a moral and ethical dilemma in standing against the Hayyoth and freeing Lucifer’s body, but Deebaj was as smarmy as they came and when he winked at her again, she looked forward to the end of their partnership.

"I didn’t hear you complaining about my manners last night … or the night before … or the night before that … or--"

"Enough!" Oooof. She rolled her eyes though he had a point. He was gifted in more ways than just making celestial fire. The sarcophagus swung wildly when a harness gave way under its weight as they were trying to guide it into the back of the awaiting truck. Deebaj moved instantly, gripping the corner before the entire thing slid out of the straps. A normal man would have been crushed.

"Fucking fools!" She bellowed and the men moved to re-secure the wayward strap. “What are we paying you for?!”

But it was done and secured. Deebaj offered her a hand to join him in the bed of the covered truck and she accepted. She pulled a tarp across her love’s prison and Deebaj slapped the side of the fabric.

"Lets go!"

The truck bounded along the desert and everything flowed again as she smiled and then laughed … and then cackled.

Sandalphon buckled when the Confluence snapped from existence. She wasn’t sure if it was her handle on the gears that made the sensation so unbearable, but she held them even as her body collapsed. Uriel was pulling her back to her feet before she realized what had happened.

"Andy! What the--"

"You asked why Dawn …" Her mind swam with stimuli. It beat down on her from all around. It was all new and strange and absolutely unknown. “Why her … because we needed a way to get a Hayyoth into the Confluence. But you see, it was only open to prophets.” Was. “But Hayyoth are connected to each other in such a uniquely fundamental way ... Their minds are woven together … we needed … someone who was both ...”

"Into the Confluence?! Why would you need to get a Hayyoth into …" He realized and his face fell with understanding.

"No matter what we did, Uriel. No matter what path we took … Lucifer was always going to pop."

"But ... the Confluence?" Uriel blinked. “That’s a hell of a price to pay.”

"You’re telling me?!" She snorted. “It had to be something.” Sandalphon closed her eyes and she felt the last fragments of its connection rip away from her mind. “It had to be somewhere.” The last vision from it was always the one she knew would happen. The last flash that she ever saw of the future was always Raphael. Smiling in pride as his arms collapsed down around both of them. “The Morning Star was always going to blow. He had grown too powerful.”

And then she remembered that first night on the small beach, sitting across the fire from her co-conspirator:

"You want to sacrifice the Confluence? You want to ... blind us all?"

"Would it be so bad?" Lilith’s smile was genuine and she took a deep breath. “When he asked me to blind him … when Adam begged me ...” She poked at the fire. “He cried, but when it was done and he laughed.” She looked up into the twilight sky. “I would rather be alive and blind, than nothing at all.”

"What did … he say it was like?" The Wheel’s curiosity piqued. “Not knowing … everything?”

"Freedom. Actual freedom. He said it was like … being born all over again." Lilith took a handful of the sand and let it slip from her grip in a steady stream back to the ground. “He said … you cannot understand wonder until you experience it … until you experience the unknown.”

The Morning Star’s throne room was exactly as Raum had imagined. Wicked and sinister. By design, no doubt. The grey granite walls had been carved to resemble the rib cage of a long and massive creature. Its bones curving around the room in an embracing fashion and its spine running along the ceiling before running down the far wall, directly behind the throne itself.

He wasn’t sure what the chair itself looked like, as the Morning Star covered it entirely from view. Red tendrils of threads erupted from every inch of his skin in lines down the sides of his body, head, arms, and legs. They connected to everything around them, overflowing the throne, running over and into the ground and ceiling. The glowing, living vines throbbed with a heartbeat of pulsating energy. Though Lucifer’s eyes remained closed, Raum dared not even utter a breath for fear his other senses might still be keen, his strigoi companions did not show as much caution.

"Whoa. Is that …?" Vaun asked from behind, the question trailing off but its subject was obvious and Raum nodded.

"Yuuuuup." Their eyes trailed the veins of light on his right side, as a hand full of them branched off and ran into something ominous looking carved directly into the wall. Almost nautical in design, a series of gears wound together and in the very center of it all, there was a wheel, no more than two feet in diameter, similar to that of a bulkhead door handle.

There was little doubt this was what they were here for and Raum took one step towards it before he heard and then saw Shaitan.

"I’ve been waiting for you, my most merciful brother." His identical twin greeted.

His younger brother, having been born second by only five seconds, stood at the large, round, broken window, exactly opposite the room from the throne. His hands clasped behind him as he stared down into the ensuing carnage below. His sword still securely sheathed at his side.

As he turned to face them, he smiled and Raum was thrown. It wasn’t a grin of challenge nor of animosity or even annoyance. He knew his brother and this was a smile of beautiful recognition and relief. "Tell me … Have you come to open or close the gate?" Both marid glanced at the controls on the far wall.

Raum hadn’t been entirely honest with the dhampir of his true plan concerning this very question. When he had actually voiced his intention, he was surprised when there was no push back from Vaun and the Sun Hunters. Quintus was right. They were good soldiers. And they understood the need for sacrifice in this instance. "After the boy is through, I plan to close the gate. Until then … we’ve come to make sure it remains open."

"Yes. Very good. That’s what I assumed." Shaitan nodded as he took a seat on the bottom of the circular window sill and placed his hands on top of the end of his broadsword’s hilt. “It’s just a spin of the wheel. Righty tighty. Lefty loosey. Or you can simply cut the lines of power, if you really want to close it quick and nasty.”

Built for This Time (Music Video Version) - Zayde Wolf

Standing there on the edge

Ain't scared of what’s ahead

Walking up like revenge

I was built for this time

Bleeding red like the sun

Taking over everyone

Watch me as I overcome

I was built for this time

"What’s your game, Shaitan." Raum pointed his sword and squinted. He was expecting a fight. He was expecting an argument. In fact, this was the very opposite of what he thought would occur. “Have you booby trapped it?”

"Booby trapped it?!" The Djinn nearly snorted as he scoffed at the accusation and stood. Everyone, including Raum, took a solid step back. “Psh. Please. Is that really what you think of me, Raumaniel?”

"I don’t know what to think of you anymore, but I don’t blame you for your corruption. Everything that has happened has been the fau--"

"If I had wished to move against you, brother, I would have done so the moment the boy cut his way out of Purgatory. Or perhaps the moment before he severed the Titan’s bonds ..." Raum’s left eye twitched and he kept a distance from his brother as the identical Marid approached him.

"What? What are you on about--"

"I knew the instant you escaped from Purgatory. I’ve been watching everything you’ve been up to ..." Shaitan waved an open hand towards a round table beside the throne, although “table” was the wrong word to adequately describe it. It was at least six inches thick and filled with clear, still liquid. A glow emanated from within it and Raum craned his head to the right as he glanced over.

"You knew?" Raum didn’t believe him. “You … knew … ? Bullshit.” He moved towards the device and looked down into it. It was a display of some kind. There was a series of boxes, each filled with a live view. One showed the Battle currently underway. Another, showed Purgatorium. Another, the Staircase. Tartarus. Prometheus’s cell. All of it. All of the places they had been. Raum touched the surface of water over one of them and the video rippled out to fully expand across the visible space. It was a close up of Quintus’ tear in Purgatorium. He was telling the truth. Shaitan had watched them escape. “Why … why didn’t you stop us?”

"Stop?" Shaitan chuckled at the thought of it. “I could have delayed at best. The boy already bested me once. With the Maiden and the Prophet Prime … and you … by his side … we could have merely slowed you at best. And what would have been the point?”

"You couldn’t have stopped us? Is that the only reason?" Raum knew it wasn’t. He watched his younger brother stare down into his empty hands and all pity he felt for him washed away with the gentlest of laughs that escaped Shaitan’s lips.

"I heard what the boy said. What Lucifer really intended to do. It is not freedom. He lied. I thought … all this time … I despised myself for what I had become … for what I had lost. For the reputation that I tarnished. For the damnation and the groveling and ... I thought … when I bowed to him, I had compromised everything I was … everything we were."

"Desperation makes fools of us all."

"No. You don’t understand." Shaitan smiled. “It was not desperation. It is destiny. My destiny. This is where I was always supposed to be.” The Djinn waved both hands, palm up, around him. “In this position of power. In this room. At this time. I was always supposed to be here. I knew it when I watched Humanis Prime talk the Basilisk Queen down … Nothing was what it seemed and this is where I was always meant to be. I was never forsaken. I was chosen by the Wheel, by Fate herself. She chose me for this task.”

"And what task is that?" Raum cautiously took a step forward, lowering his blade no more than an inch.

"To stand between them …" He glanced to the army below. “Between you …” He grinned at him. “... and him.” Shaitan cackled as he waved a hand towards the Morning Star. “This whole time … The Prophets knew … God knew … I was their inside man and I had no idea!” There was more he wasn’t saying and he closed the distance between his reluctant brother, pointing to the water screen. “You’ve missed the best part. May I?”

Raum looked down and touched the water again, reverting the screen back to the previous view and he stared at all the tiny windows. Shaitan reached forward, across his brother, slowly at first as their eyes met and Raum’s tension abated. The Djinn touched one of the many staircase views, maximizing it to the view port. The video had been speeding along, but slowed to read time once maximized.

"What is that?" Raum’s curiosity piqued and his sword fully lowered as his eyes grew wide. The staircase was full of people, shuffling quickly along. “What the fuck is that?”

"Adam." Shaitan laughed again. Genuine and pure. His tongue flicked against his fang as he exited the view and touched another tiny box. It was a small chamber, filled with a brilliant light and Adam was rushing people into the stream. “He has emptied Purgatory.”

"But why … What is that?" Raum tilted his head. “What is--”

"Gentlemen … ?" Vaun said lowly from behind, but the brothers ignored, carrying on their much needed conversation.

"Home, brother." Shaitan gripped Raum’s shoulder and squeezed it. Relief. Love. Hope. “That is our way home. It leads to Heaven.”

"Gentlemen … ?"

"That son of a bitch …" Raum’s upper lip curled and his nostrils flared as he stared at the prophet shuffling along the line of people. Raum turned towards the large, broken window and flicked a hand towards it and the battle ensuing below. “Then what the fuck was that all about?! If we could have just--”

"Sir … Sirs?"

"A beautiful distraction … of sorts. A very clever sleight of hand." Shaitan stated the fact simply.

"But … why? Why do they matter?" Raum pointed to the people of purgatory.

"Before Michael faltered, Lucifer originally planned to destroy the gate."

"That’s not possible. That gate is indestructible. It was made by God himse-"

"We’ve both seen the destruction Ozryel is capable of with one single soul. Imagine the scale of that … for hundreds of thousands. For millions."

"Jesus … He was going to … destroy them all?" Raum shook his head at the thought of such an act.

"Was? If he doesn’t get his way, I’ve no doubt he’ll--"

"SIRS!"

Raum swung around with absolute annoyance. He would have demanded a reason for the interruption, but none of the Sun Hunters, including Vaun, were looking at the Marid. Their eyes were locked onto the throne as Lucifer’s fingers had begun to twitch.

"Shit." The whispered word escaped Raum’s lips and no one moved a muscle. “Is that supposed to happen?”

It was just the very tips of his fingers. Once, twice, three times and then entire digits began to move. Then his face. His mouth opened first and his jaw flexed.

"Shaitan … ?" Lucifer’s voice was groggy and dry; everyone glanced at each other. “Shaitan …”

"Sir." The Djinn stepped forward and Lucifer’s eyes cracked open briefly but then shut again, the light seeming to be painful.

"Is …" He cleared his throat and the tendrils began to move, just slightly as the Morning Star gained his bearings. He swallowed hard. “... is the gate still open?”

"The gate, Sir?" Shaitan glanced at his brother and both Djinn shrugged to each other as Raum raised his blade, but Shaitan pushed it down shaking his head as if he was mad. What should they do?

"YES. THE GATE. IS IT STILL OPEN?!" Lucifer’s hoarse voice forced the question out thick with desperation.

"Yes, sir." Shaitan answered and he flicked his head towards the door, instructing them to leave, to sneak away, but Raum shook his head. There was no way they were leaving him to close the gate.

"Help me up … please … help me to the gate …" Lucifer tried to open his eyes again, but pinched them shut and the tendrils that held his body began to slowly pull back into his form. “We’re leaving …”

"S-s-s-sir? Leaving? Your … body? Why are you back? The woman--"

"She’s a sneaky little thing, but I haven’t lost shit yet ... she’s weak now. She won’t be able to resist me again." A sinister smile spread across his face and Raum’s heart pounded at the words. No. “‘Sides, I don’t need a body to control the army.” No. “Get me to the gate … Quickly. Before my brother can close it again …” The tendrils continued to retract from the throne and the ceiling and the floor as the Morning Star pulled himself back together.

The Djinn exchanged glances as the situation took a sharp turn. He had come to ensure his brother did not close the gate on the escaping force below, but they could not allow the Morning Star the same freedom. Both Marid glanced back at the gate controls and the lines of power that flowed up from it.

"Shaitan? Did you hear me?" Lucifer coughed. “Shaitan …?”

Raum stepped towards the gate control. A single nod from Shaitan and a single nod from Vaun. He needed their consent for what his next action meant for everyone in this room and everyone in battle below, for the fate he was resolving them all to.

Before he swung his blade through the pipes of coursing power, severing the gate’s mechanism and power, closing it the "quick and dirty" way, Raum pinched his eyes shut the moment the Morning Star fully opened his.

"Noooooo!"

[agent-7-at-your-service]

Future Plot: Project Prometheus - Chapter 4 Part 2

(( Sandra, Justinian (Not in this chapter), Telemachus (Not in this chapter), Iruka (Not in this chapter), Pyrrhus/Chaodis (Not in this chapter) belong to me

Camille, Lee, Depiction of Callie, Janine, Malina (mentioned), and Pacling (Not in this chapter) belong to @inklingleesquidly

Nebula (Not in this chapter) and Wish (mention) belong to @myzzy and @agenttwo  

Mysteeri belongs to @dreadangel

Designs of Marina and Wish belong to @teamuntyblue

Emerald and Sapphire (Not in this chapter) belong to @twelvetailedkitsune and @son-of-joy

Celeste belongs to @alpinesquid

Champion of Janus belongs to [classified] ))

While Camille fell asleep in the Bath of Zeus, submerged in water, Jovana appear over a ledge, watching over Camille. Jovana did swear to protect Camille after all. Malina and Wish were also out at night, taking a walk as they having trouble sleeping. Sandra, who was also having trouble sleeping, decided to accompany the two. Ares, Celeste, and Mysteeri remained in the cabin.

Jovana took out her unknown silver stone and used the powers contained within it. As the stone glowed, her two .96 Gals floated in mid-air again and survey the area while ensuring protection. Jovana falls asleep while standing.

When Camille opens her eyes, she is now Princess Camilla Penthesilea. She is in Morpheus's dream realm again, reliving the lives of the Greek heroes.

She gets up finding herself being carried by Callie. The Hunt was traveling through a valley near Mount Olympus, heading to a destination that isn't Pimpleia. Emerald, Janine, Lee, and Morpheus were trailing behind.

"Morning, Cammy," Callie began before putting her down.

"Ugh... how long was I out, Mommy?" Camille asked.

"Not that long," Camille replied, "But you woke up just in time. Morpheus told us to reach the Bath of Zeus."

When they arrived at the Bath of Zeus, it's a lot different than it is today. There's a temple built over the water source in honor of the marriage of Zeus and Hera.

There, a faction was already there, waiting for their opponents; however, there was only one member in that faction: an adult inkling in a tunic and cloak, wielding a fennel stalk staff and an orb of blazing fire. He can be seen sitting on the steps of the temple. His ink hair is beige with the ends being that of ashes, his eyes are orange, and his skin is light but covered in ashes. There were ink stains on his tunic in the right abdominal area, looking like he was bleeding.

"Why hello there." The stranger began. He sounded welcoming until he saw Morpheus in among The Hunt. He looked confused."God of Dreams?"

Morpheus yawns, making another lamb's bah. "That's me." He gave a slight smile. "How are The Lightbringers, Prometheus?"

"I'm what's left of my faction," Prometheus replied, "Why are you with The Hunt?"

"I'm just their guide through the afterlife," Morpheus answered.

"I thought that was Hermes's job." Prometheus gets up and approaches Camille. "An Amazon?"

"Princess Camilla Penthesilea," Camille began, "And you are...?"

"My name is Prometheus, son of Iapetus the Forger of Mortality and of Asia Clymene the Oceanid." Prometheus bowed. "The blood of Uranus and Gaia flow through my veins."

"That makes you--" Camille remembered Iapetus, one of the 12 Titans that declared war on her home.

"--A Titan," Prometheus finished.

"Shouldn't you be more...... gigantic?" Emerald asked, having heard a few stories of the Greek Mythos when she was young. "And why take up the challenge of The Trials?"

"It's an interesting question I get from Mortals like you, Hyacinthus," Prometheus replied to Emerald, "Most second-generation Titans would be a lot shorter because one of our parents isn't a Titan. Then again, there was Cronus and Rhea, but that was entirely different."

"But why participate in the Trials?" Emerald repeated.

"The Judges of the Underworld have allowed me," Prometheus explained, "And despite my deity status, Zeus has exiled me and left me chained to a rock with his eagle feasting on my regenerating liver. That was until his son freed me, but in the end, I have nowhere to go and no way to return to the heavens."

"So you're taking up this chance to return to Olympus?" Janine guessed.

"You are absolutely correct, Atalanta." Prometheus smiled at the young Janine. "But meeting a new faction like yourselves, I've decided to help you all."

"Then who is going to be our opponents--?" Emerald asked before the opponent finally came.

A warrior charges in and pushes Prometheus into a temple wall. The warrior appeared with a head of a leopard, and her ensemble consists of a snake wrapped around her head, gold bracelets on their wrists, and a dress of faded ivy-green fabrics, fox skins, and fawn skins. She is armed with a thyrus and a ritual dagger. The warrior spoke with a woman's voice.

"So you guys must be our opponents!" The leopard-headed warrior began. "A bunch of heretics who do not share the in Dionysus!"

"Wha....?" Callie looked both confused and amazed at the warriors' entrance. "Who are you?"

"The name is Ino, a descendant of Queen Ino Leucothea of Thebes! This is my cult! " Ino whistles for her allies. Three of them stand by Ino's side as her close followers. "We are Maenads, the Wild-Fox Nurses of Dionysus!" She then notices Prometheus. "And let me guess, you're recruiting this stupid titan?"

Ino's allies were more leopard-headed warriors in similar attire. In addition, there were foxes, tigers, and cheetahs accompanying them.

"And... that's not good..." Callie now looked a bit nervous. Lee stood close to Callie, sharing a bit of that nervousness too.

Camille wasn't afraid of the Maenads for she has already seen someone with a feline head before, Sandra's Lion-headed form. And despite having just met Prometheus, she can tell Ino and the Maenads are the opponents for today.

"I ain't afraid of you guys," Camille stated, "You think a bunch of women wearing cat heads is gonna scare me? You're all patoots, ya hear me."

"Camille, I don't think..." Emerald looked concerned.

"What? They really are patoots like Agamemnon and the Unbowed if they're going to make an entrance like that," Camille added, "What a bunch of show-offs, worshipping this god of theirs."

The Maenads gasps and their animal companions hiss and growl at Camille. Lee, Callie, and Janine looked at Camille in slight disapproval. Prometheus and Morpheus should've warned Camille about the Maenads and how they can get easily offended.

"What did you say, you little pipsqueak?" Ino asked in a pitchy hostile tone.

When Ino removes her leopard-headed hood, she is revealed to be a beautiful woman with yellow kelp hair and pale skin. Her eyes were nothing but pure yellow and her lips were as dark as the decay of plants. There is a live snake wrapped around her head like a bandana. She had the most psychopathic look on her face with the iris in her eye being shrunk while her smile is filled with joy. This look is directed towards Camille.

"Do you know who you're talking too?" Ino rambled. "We are the wildly vibes of the party, the frenzies of all cults, and the most devout to the gods, especially to Dionysus! Yet, you call us show offs?!?! I'll have your girdle as a trophy, Amazon!!! In fact, I'll strangle you with that girdle!!"

Prometheus steps closer to Camille and whispers into her ear. "You shouldn't have done that, Camilla. The Maenads takes every criticism and smack as an offense, and they their reactions are very extreme. Orpheus rejected them, and he got shredded to pieces. His head was then jammed into his own harp before being thrown into the ocean."

"Whoops.... well, too late." Camille sighs deeply. She knew she'll regret what she said, but there was no time for that.

"What are ya whispering, titan? More smack about us!?" Ino fumed. "Just wait until you see the Maenads beat ya guys in the Trial of Races!"

"Tisk, tisk, tisk, Princess Camilla, you mock the Maenads before a battle?" Aeacus voice drew attention, having both Prometheus, the Maenads, and the Hunt look up at the stars. "I bless you good luck then. These ladies will now do what they can to bring you down even to the point of putting you to rest, denying you your path to ascension."

"The object and rules of The Trial of Races is like any other race," Rhadamanthus' voice explained, "You shall start your race from here to the location we've chosen for you. You can complete the race in three ways: by foot, by chariot, or a mix between the two. Like the Trial of Battles, you will have teams representing your faction, and you and take out each member and exile them for a time. However, if you take the whole faction out of the race, you'll win immediately."

"Meaning no respawns..." Lee analyzed.

"Exactly, Orion," Minos replied to Lee.

"Unlike the Trials of Battle, you do have teams representing your faction, but only three will be participating," Minos' voice added. "And no companions will be allowed by your side. That means your animal companions, Ino!"

"Oh up yours!" Ino rudely reacted.

"What was that, Ino? Do we have to go over this the fifth time?" Aeacus questioned.

"Let's just get the race started!" Ino hasted.

Temple doors open and a 12 bronze automatons push out six chariots for both the Hunt and the Maenads. Ino and two other Maenads hop into three of those chariots. The Hunt would have to decide among themselves on who should represent their faction.

"Camille, you're obviously gonna have to take part in this race," Morpheus noted, "You need two more to participate by your side."

"Who said I'll be leading?" Camille raised an eyebrow. "I'll just have Mommy and Daddy help out again--"

" Sweetie, I think we need everyone to be a team player here," Callie insisted.

"And I know the one that might offer your help," Prometheus suggests, "Your friend Hyacinthus." He looked at Emerald.

Emerald looked confident to join Camille in this Trial. She armed herself with a sling, a bag of smooth rocks, a set of daggers, and a short sword. Camille nods, allowing Emerald to participate. Emerald gets in one of the three chariots for the Hunt.

Soon there was a bit of chattering. Icarus the flying squirrel flies up to Camille and lands on Prometheus' shoulder. Icarus is dressed in a small green feathered cape and a small leather belt with a scabbard. He is armed with a thing short sword the size of a knitting needle.

Icarus blinks, looking at Camille with a chivalrous look on his face.

"Awww... you look so adorable in that cape!" Callie complimented. "Camille, deary, let him join!"

"It won't hurt to just mix up the teams," Janine reasoned

"Wait, wait, wait, those Judges said we have to reach the finish-line either by foot or by chariot," Camille pointed out, "Icarus can't fly and even if he can run or scurry or whatever, he'll end up exhausted."

Aeacus, Rhadamanthus, and Minos can be heard muttering.

"No rule against flying," Aeacus concluded.

"See, they're allowing Icarus to join." Janine smiled. "Let's show those Maenads!"

"Oh... oh alright." Camille folds her arms, smirks and shakes her head at Icarus. "I got your back, Icarus, okay?"

Icarus nods and glides off flying over Emerald's chariot. Camille gets on one of her chariots and prepares a battle-ax, a shield, a bow and arrows, and a handmade brush. This handmade brush is made of her bronze spear and a few cloths doused in ink. Some jars of ink were secured in her chariot just in case.

"Strange weapon you got there, Camilla." Minos is pointing out Camille's handmade brush. "Then again, Hephaestus would be giving his blessing to you for such craftsmanship."

Camille, Emerald, and Icarus prepare at the starting line with Ino and her two allies. A bronze automaton runs over with two flags, one green and one orange.

"You all might want to not flip out about what's gonna happen next," Prometheus warned.

"Why?" Lee wondered.

The Hunt and the Maenads started turning to dust and disappear. It was only Camille, Emerald, Icarus, Ino, and two of Ino's allies. Only Emerald was a bit shocked.

"They're now at the destination," Rhadamanthus explained.

"What is our destination?" Camille questioned.

"The Necromanteion in the city of Ephyra," Aeacus answered, "Make your way to the West and reach the other end of Greece! Now ready... set... go!"

The chariots started moving, the horse pulled with all their strength while the wheels were turning. Icarus just continues gliding, following Camille's  and Emerald's chariot. Ino gave Camille a throat-slash gesture, threatening to kill her in this race. It doesn't bother Camille as she knew this is just a dream and that she won't literally die. Also, she has Morpheus at her side, and he is making sure she fulfills the completion of all the Trials.

So far, the racers reached 5 miles, and Ino was about to take action in attacking Camille by ramming her own chariot with Camille's. Ino's two allies dealt with Emerald, making sure that Emerald doesn't intervene and rescue Camille.

"Hey!" Camille reacted. "Watch it, leopard-head!" Camille took out her battle-ax.

"Make me, Amazon!" Ino responded rudely. She rams her chariot into Camille's, attempting to leads her into a chariot accident.

Camille and Ino butt-heads and growled at each other but they had to split up to avoid a collision with some rocks. Ino has a wild sand cat by the scruff and she throws it at Camille's face.

"Ahh!! What the hey-hey!!" Camille shook the wildcat off and continued manning the chariot. She has a few cuts, but they were nothing to her. "Really funny. Watch 'til ya see this!" Camille goes ahead of Ino and makes a turn.

This stops Ino's chariot horse and they stumble. Ino falls off her chariot.

"Oh, I'll get you for this--!!" Ino splats before she can finish her reaction.

"Eliminated. Two more of Maenads to go," Minos reported.

"And with the leader gone, it makes this whole trial too easily," Rhadamanthus commented, "Atalanta should've been in your team. That way they would’ve surrender easily."

Camille continues the race with Icarus and Emerald by her side. Two of Ino's Maenads are behind them with slings and bows ready. Icarus does a u-turn and gives Camille and Emerald time to take the opposition down by distracting that them.

Camille and Emerald look at each other and smile. They decrease their speed so that they can surround their opposition on both sides. Emerald uses her sling and threw her daggers on one side while Camille relied on her hand-made brush on the other sides. Camille knocked one of the Maenads off their chariots with the brush, leaving one Maenad left in this race.

The flying squirrel, Icarus, has his knitting needle-sized short sword in his mouth and he gets into the Maenad's face to distract her. With the Maenad's chariot making a twisting motion because of Icarus' distraction, Camille prepared her spear and Emerald prepared one more throwing dagger.

Emerald threw her dagger with precision to make the Maenad let go of her chariot ropes.

Camille rode her chariot ahead of the Maenads, turned her body to face the opponent, and throw the spear at her. That spear hits the Maenad and she is thrown off her chariot, causing her to splat.

"And it is done!" Aeacus declared.

Camille, Emerald, and Icarus immediately arrive in the city of Ephyra and a temple of bone-colored marble can be seen built into a quarry-like trench. Three rivers pass through this city and ended at that temple, and they were one of the many rivers next to Styx that connects to the Underworld. This temple is The Necromanteion.

Callie, Lee, Janine, Prometheus, and Morpheus were there along with Ino and the Maenads. Ino and her two allies look even more hostile and pissed since they lost to the Hunt.

When Camille, Emerald, and Icarus stop at the entrance of the city. Camille and Emerald get off their chariots, and Icarus lands on Camille's shoulder.

"In the name of Olympus!" Camille and Emerald triumphantly chanted. Icarus copied them, his words were all chattering and squeaks.

"The Maenads will get you for this!" Ino threatened. She then leaves with her faction while the Judges of the Underworld continue.

"The Hunt's Trials of Race is now complete," Minos declared, "Their next trial is the Trial of the Slayers. Where it will take placeis up to the stars."

"As for the Maenads, they must continue their Trial of Races," Aeacus added.

"Continue forth, The Hunt," Rhadamanthus commanded.

--

Camille and the Hunt encamp away from The Necromanteion by the advice of Prometheus. He warned that it's dangerous to be near a gate to the underworld. They already had dinner that night, and Camille had to look up at the sky again. Prometheus is there to accompany her.

"You did quite well there, Princess." Prometheus was examining the brush Camille made. "And I must agree with the Judges. Hephaestus would be proud of this. This is beyond a mortals technology."

"Yeah, it is." Camille is too busy looking at the sky with her sea glass spectacles.

Two constellations are now detected in the night sky: Hydra and Sea Serpent and Cancer the Crab. Hydra's brightest star, Alpha Hydrae (Alphard), and Cancer's brightest star, Beta Cancri (Al Tarf), both pointed south to a place called Lerna.

"Lerna," Camille stated.

"That's south of Mycenae. We should take the time to practice while on the way to that city," Prometheus advised, "Your faction doesn't know every other opponent faction roaming around the Classical World."

Camille looks at the second-generation titan with annoyance. "You sure take these trials seriously, what's the deal?"

"It may seem like a game to you, but in the end, we find something interesting," Prometheus lectured, "Like finding out something about the other descendants of the Primordials."

Camille hasn't paid attention to Hephaestus' lesson about the Primordials and the other descendants. She looked at with with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't you have something important to do than just meeting with your parents?" Prometheus asked. He somehow knew that Lee and Callie were personifying Orion and Merope. "I know they're being held hostage by Moros, but he would just keep them in a cage forever."

Camille gave him her full attention.

"How do you know...?" Camille gave a suspicious look. She then felt a sudden sense of fatigue that just came to her in seconds.

"Don't bother with personifying as the Amazon Princess that chose you, Titan-Slayer." Prometheus shows orange fiery eyes. "I know who you are behind that persona."

Soon, Camille collapses to the ground and closes her eyes. She is now leaving Morpheus' Dream realm and returning to where she was sleeping: the Bath of Zeus.

[paprus-teutonic-knight]

me since like. book 4.

I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU LYSANDER I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I